by transferring the origin of evil beyond the sphere of visible
things, is a poor substitute for a solid and satisfactory solution of it.
The great problem of the moral world is not to be illuminated by any such
fictions of the imagination; and we had better let it alone altogether, if
we have nothing more rational and solid to advance.

Section II.

The hypothesis of the Manicheans.

Though this doctrine is ascribed to Manes, after whom it is called, it is
of a far more early origin. It was taught, says Plutarch, by the Persian
Magi, whose views are exhibited by him in his celebrated treatise of Isis
and Osiris. "Zoroaster," says he, "thought that there are two gods,
contrary to each other in their operations--a good and an evil principle.
To the former he gave the name of Oromazes, and to the latter that of
Arimanius. The one resembles light and truth, the other darkness and
ignorance." We do not allude to this theory for the purpose of combatting
it; we suppose it would scarcely find a respectable advocate at the
present day. This, like many other inventions of the great intellects of
antiquity, has entirely disappeared before the simple but sublime
doctrines of the religion of Jesus.

M. Bayle, it is true, has exhausted the resources of his genius, as well
as the rich stores of his learning, in order to adorn the doctrine of
Manes, and to render it more plausible, if possible, than any other which
has been employed to explain the origin and existence of evil. But this
was not because he sincerely believed it to be founded in truth. He merely
wished to show its superiority to other schemes, in order that by
demolishing it he might the more effectually inspire the minds of men with
a dark feeling of universal scepticism. It was decorated by him, not as a
system of truth, but as a sacrifice to be offered up on the altar of
atheism. True to the instincts of his philosophy, he sought on this
subject, as well as on all others, to extinguish the light of science, and
manifest the wonders of his power, by hanging round the wretched
habitation of man the gloom of eternal despair.

Though this doctrine is now obsolete in the civilized world, it was
employed by a large portion of the ancient philosophers to account for the
origin of evil. This theory does not, it is true, relieve the difficulty
it was designed to solve; but it shows that there was a difficulty to be
solved, which wou