ght
line and a point. Nothing appears so different nor so dissimilar as these
figures; and yet there is an exact relation between each point and every
other point. Thus one must allow that each soul represents the universe to
itself according to its point of view, and through a relation which is
peculiar to it; but a perfect harmony always subsists therein. God, if he
wished to effect representation of the dissolution of continuity of [340]
the body by an agreeable sensation in the soul, would not have neglected to
ensure that this very dissolution should serve some perfection in the body,
by giving it some new relief, as when one is freed of some burden or loosed
from some bond. But organic bodies of such kinds, although possible, do not
exist upon our globe, which doubtless lacks innumerable inventions that God
may have put to use elsewhere. Nevertheless it is enough that, due
allowance being made for the place our world holds in the universe, nothing
can be done for it better than what God does. He makes the best possible
use of the laws of nature which he has established and (as M. Regis also
acknowledged in the same passage) 'the laws that God has established in
nature are the most excellent it is possible to conceive'.

358. I will add to that the remark from the _Journal des Savants_ of the
16th March 1705, which M. Bayle has inserted in chapter 162 of the _Reply
to the Questions of a Provincial_ (vol. III, p. 1030). The matter in
question is the extract from a very ingenious modern book on the Origin of
Evil, to which I have already referred here. It is stated: 'that the
general solution in respect of physical evil which this book gives is that
the universe must be regarded as a work composed of various pieces which
form a whole; that, according to the laws established in nature, some parts
cannot be better unless others become worse, whence would result a system
less perfect as a whole. This principle', the writer goes on, 'is good; but
if nothing is added to it, it does not appear sufficient. Why has God
established laws that give rise to so many difficulties? philosophers who
are somewhat precise will say. Could he not have established others of a
kind not subject to any defects? And to cut the matter short, how comes it
that he has prescribed laws for himself? Why does he not act without
general laws, in accordance with all his power and all his goodness? The
writer has not carried the difficulty as far as t