ands, and miscall it a dispensation
of Providence. The only application of that "technical" term that I ever
heard with pleasure, was that of the delightfully _devout_ old Scotch
lady, who said, "Hech, sirs, I'm never weary of reflecting on the
gracious dispensations of Providence towards myself, and its righteous
judgments on my neighbors!" Doubtless, God has ordained that sin and
folly shall produce suffering, that the consequences may warn us from
the causes. Madame de Stael, whose brilliancy, I think, has rather
thrown into the shade her very considerable common sense, has well said,
"Le secret de l'existence, c'est le rapport de nos peines avec nos
fautes." And to acknowledge the just and inevitable results of our own
actions only as the inscrutable caprices of an inscrutable Will, is to
forego one of the most impressive aspects of the great goodness and
wisdom of the Providence by which we are governed. Death, and the decay
which should be its only legitimate preparation, are not contrary to a
right conception of either. But instead of sitting down meekly under
what godly folks call "mysterious dispensations" of the Divinity, I
think, if I took their view of such unaccountable inflictions, I should
call them devilish rather than Divine, and certainly go mad, or _very
bad_. Bearing the righteous result of our own actions, while we suffer,
we can adore the mercy that warns us from evil by its unavoidable
penalties, at the same time remembering that even our sins, duly
acknowledged, and rightly used, may be our gain, through God's merciful
provision, that our bitterest experience may become to us a source of
virtue and a means of progress. The profound sense of the justice of our
Maker renders all things endurable; but the idea of the arbitrary
infliction of misery puts one's whole soul in revolt. Wretchedness
poured upon us, we cannot conceive why or whence, may well be
intolerable; suffering resulting from our own faults may be borne
courageously, and with a certain _comfort_,--forgive the apparent
paradox--the comfort is general, the discomfort individual; and if one
is not too selfish, one may rejoice in a righteous law, even though one
suffers by it. Moreover, if evil have its inevitable results, has not
good its inseparable consequences? If the bad deeds of one involve many
in their retribution, the well-doing of one spreads incalculable good in
all directions. It is because we are by no means wholly selfish, tha