n thy conscience; become a worker together
with me, and realize the plans of my love." And that voice--I hear it
within myself. Ah! I know that voice well, I know the secret attraction
which, in spite of all my miseries, draws me towards that which is
beautiful, pure, holy, and says to me: This is the will of thy Father.
But I know other voices also which speak within me only too loudly: the
voice of rebellion and of cowardice, the voice of baseness and ignominy.
There is war in my soul. Enlightened by this inner spectacle, I cast my
eyes once more over that world in which I have seen shining everywhere
some divine rays; and I see that by a triple gate, lofty and wide, evil
has entered thither, accompanied by error and deformity. Then I
understand that all may become profane; I understand that there is an
erring science, a corrupting art, a moral system full of immorality. But
these words take for me a new meaning. There is no sacred evil, there is
no profane good; there are no sacred errors and profane truths. Where
God is, all is holy; where there is rebellion against God, all is evil.
And so the God who is my light is my fortress also; my heart is
strengthened while it is set at liberty, and I can join the ancient song
of Israel:

Jehovah is our strength and tower.

Yes, Sirs, God is in all, because He is the universal principle of
being; but He is not in all after the same manner. God is in the pure
heart by the joy which He gives to it; He is in the frivolous heart by
the void and the vexation which urge it to seek a better destiny; He is
in the corrupt heart by that merciful remorse which does not permit it
to wander, without warning, from the springs of life. God makes use of
all for the good of His creatures. He is everywhere by the direct
manifestation of His will, except in the acts of rebellious liberty, and
in the shadow of pain which follows that evil light which leads astray
from Him.

Having said that the idea of God the Creator alone satisfies the reason,
and raises up, upon the basis of reason, man's conscience and heart, I
should wish to show you, in conclusion, that this idea renders an
account of the great systems of error which divide the human mind
between them. Truth bears this lofty mark, that it never overthrows a
doctrine without causing any portion of truth which it may have
contained to pass into its own bosom.

What then,--apart from declared atheism, from the dualism which has