THUS gently sang the Lady Philosophy with dignified mien and grave countenance; and when she ceased, I, who had not thoroughly forgotten the grief within me, interrupted her as she was about to speak further.'
Herald of true light,' I said,' right clear have been the outpourings of your speech till now, seeming inspired as one contemplates them, and invincible through your reasonings.And though through grief for the injustices Isuffer, I had forgotten them, yet you have not spoken of They what I knew not at all before.But this one thing is the chief cause of my grief, namely that, when there exists a good governor of the world, evils should exist at all, or, existing, should go unpunished.I would have you think how strange is this fact alone.But there is an even stranger attached thereto:
ill-doing reigns and flourishes, while virtue not only lacks its reward, but is even trampled underfoot by wicked doers, and pays the penalties instead of crime.Who can wonder and complain enough that such things should happen under the rule of One who, while all-knowing and all-powerful, wills good alone? '
Then she answered: ' Yes, it would be most terrible, monstrous, and infinitely amazing if Page 103it were as you think.It would be as though in a well-ordered house of a good master, the vilest vessels were cared for while the precious were left defiled.But it is not so.If our former conclusions are unshaken, God Himself, of whose government we speak, will teach you that the good are always powerful, the evil are always the lowest and weakest; vice never goes unpunished; virtue never goes without its own reward; happiness comes to the good, misfortune to the wicked: and when your complaints are set at rest, many such things would most firmly strengthen you in this opinion.
You have seen now from my teaching the form of true happiness; you know now its place: let us go quickly through all that must be lightly passed over, and let me shew you the road which shall lead you to your home.Iwill give wings to your mind, by which it shall raise itself aloft: so shall disquiet be driven away, and you may return safe to your home by my guidance, by the path I shall shew you, even by myself carrying you thither.
'Yea, airy wings are mine to scale the heights of heaven;when these the mind has donned, swiftly she loathes and spurns this earth.
She soars above the sphere of this vast atmosphere, sees the clouds behind her far; she passes high above the topmost fires which seethe above the feverish turmoil of the air, 1 until she rises 103:1 -- This and some of the following lines allude to some of the theories of the early Physicists.Page 104to the stars' own home, and joins her path unto the sun's; or accompanies on her path the cold and ancient Saturn, maybe as the shining warrior Mars;or she may take her course through the circle of every star that decks the night.And when she has had her fill of journeying, then may she leave the sky and tread the outer plane of the swift moving air, as mistress of the awful light.Here holds the King of kings His sway, and guides the reins of the universe, and Himself unmoved He drives His winged chariot, the bright disposer of the world.And if this path brings thee again hither, the path that now thy memory seeks to recall, I tell thee, thou shalt say, " This is my home, hence was I derived, here shall I stay my course." But if thou choose to look back upon the earthly night behind thee, thou shalt see as exiles from light the tyrants whose grimness made wretched peoples so to fear.'
'Wondrous,' I cried; 'what vast things do you promise!
and I doubt not that you can fulfil them.I only beg that you will not hold me back with delays, now that you have excited me thus far.'
'First, then, you must learn that power is never lacking to the good, while the wicked are devoid of all strength.The proofs of these two statements hang upon each other.For good and bad are opposites, and therefore, if it is allowed that good is powerful, the weakness Page 105of evil is manifest: if the weakness and uncertainty of evil is made plain, the strength and sureness of good is proved.To gain more full credit for my opinion, I will go on to make my argument sure by first the one, then the other of the two paths, side by side.
'It is allowed that there are two things upon which depend the entire operation of human actions: they are will and power.For if the will be wanting, a man does not even attempt that which he has no desire to perform; if the power be wanting, the will is exercised in vain.Wherefore, if you see a man wish for that which he will in no wise gain, you cannot doubt that he lacks the power to attain that which he wishes.'
'That is plain beyond doubt.'
'And if you see a man gain that which he wishes, can you doubt that he has the power? '
'No.'
'But wherein a man has power, he is strong; wherein he has not power, he must be counted weak? '
'Yes.'
'Do you remember that we agreed from our earlier reasonings, that the instinct of all human will, though acted upon by different aims, does lead with eagerness towards happiness? '
'Yes,' said I,' I remember that that too was proved.'
'Do you remember that happiness is the absolute good, and that the good is desired of all, when in that manner happiness is sought?
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'I need not recall that,' I said,' since it is present fixedly in my memory.'
'Then all men, good and bad alike, seek to arrive at the good by no different instincts? '
'Yes, that follows necessarily.'
'But it is certain that the good become so by the attainment of good? '
'Yes.'
'Then the good attain that which they wish? '
'Yes,' said I,' it seems so.'
'But if evil men attain the good they seek, they cannot be evil? '
'No.'
'Since, then, both classes seek the good, which the good attain, but the evil attain not, it is plain that the good are powerful, while the evil are weak? '
'If any doubt that, he cannot judge by the nature of the world, nor by the sequence of arguments.'
