men compel Him to change His conduct in regard to them. Can a being who
is sometimes irritated, and sometimes appeased, be constantly the same?

LVI.--EVIL AND GOOD ARE THE NECESSARY EFFECTS OF NATURAL CAUSES. WHAT IS
A GOD WHO CAN CHANGE NOTHING?

The universe is but what it can be; all sentient beings enjoy and suffer
here: that is to say, they are moved sometimes in an agreeable, and at
other times in a disagreeable way. These effects are necessary; they
result from causes that act according to their inherent tendencies.,
These effects necessarily please or displease me, according to my own
nature. This same nature compels me to avoid, to remove, and to combat
the one, and to seek, to desire, and to procure the other. In a world
where everything is from necessity, a God who remedies nothing, and
allows things to follow their own course, is He anything else but
destiny or necessity personified? It is a deaf God who can effect no
change on the general laws to which He is subjected Himself. What do I
care for the infinite power of a being who can do but a very few things
to please me? Where is the infinite kindness of a being who is
indifferent to my happiness? What good to me is the favor of a being
who, able to bestow upon me infinite good, does not even give me a
finite one?

LVII.--THE VANITY OF THEOLOGICAL CONSOLATIONS
IN THE TROUBLES OF THIS LIFE. THE HOPE OF A HEAVEN, OF A FUTURE LIFE,
IS BUT IMAGINARY.

When we ask why, under a good God, so many are wretched, we are reminded
that the present world is but a pass-way, designed to conduct man to a
happier sphere; we are assured that our sojourn on the earth, where we
live, is for trial; they silence us by saying that God would not impart
to His creatures either the indifference to the sufferings of others, or
the infinite happiness which He reserved for Himself alone. How can we
be satisfied with these answers?

1. The existence of another life has no other guaranty than the
imagination of men, who, in supposing it, have but manifested their
desire to live again, in order to enter upon a purer and more durable
state of happiness than that which they enjoy at present.

2. How can we conceive of a God who, knowing all things, must know to
their depths the nature of His creatures, and yet must have so many
proofs in order to assure Himself of their proclivities?

3. According to the calculations of our chronologists, the earth which
we inhabit ha