as not
the luck to throw the required number, will be precipitated forever into
an obscure cell, where my justice exacts that he shall be burned by a
slow fire." Upon this threat of the monarch, they regarded each other in
consternation; no one willing to take a risk so dangerous. "What!" said
the angry sultan, "no one wants to play? Oh, this does not suit me! My
glory demands that you play. You will raffle then; I wish it; obey
without replying!" It is well to observe that the despot's dice are
prepared in such a way, that upon a hundred thousand throws there is but
one that wins; thus the generous monarch has the pleasure to see his
prison well filled, and his treasures seldom carried away. Mortals! this
Sultan is your God; His treasures are heaven; His cell is hell; and you
hold the dice!

XCIII.--IT IS NOT TRUE THAT WE OWE ANY GRATITUDE TO WHAT WE CALL
PROVIDENCE.

We are constantly told that we owe an infinite gratitude to Providence
for the countless blessings It is pleased to lavish upon us. They boast
above all that our existence is a blessing. But, alas! how many mortals
are really satisfied with their mode of existence? If life has its
sweets, how much of bitterness is mingled with it? Is not one bitter
trouble sufficient to blight all of a sudden the most peaceful and happy
life? Is there a great number of men who, if it depended upon them,
would wish to begin, at the same sacrifice, the painful career into
which, without their consent, destiny has thrown them? You say that
existence itself is a great blessing. But is not this existence
continually troubled by griefs, fears, and often cruel and undeserved
maladies. This existence, menaced on so many sides, can we not be
deprived of it at any moment? Who is there, after having lived for some
time, who has not been deprived of a beloved wife, a beloved child, a
consoling friend, whose loss fills his mind constantly? There are very
few mortals who have not been compelled to drink from the cup of
bitterness; there are but few who have not often wished to die. Finally,
it did not depend upon us to exist or not to exist. Would the bird be
under such great obligations to the bird-catcher for having caught it in
his net and for having put it into his cage, in order to eat it after
being amused with it?

XCIV.--TO PRETEND THAT MAN IS THE BELOVED CHILD OF PROVIDENCE, GOD'S
FAVORITE, THE ONLY OBJECT OF HIS LABORS, THE KING OF NATURE, IS FOLLY.

In spite