***********************

LETTER II.

On EVILS of Imperfection.

SIR,

IN

N pursuance of the plan proposed in my last, I shall now proceed to examine into the Nature of each particular kind of Evil, and in the first place of those therein denominated Evils of Imperfection; which are in truth no Evils at all, but rather the absence of some comparative Good; and therefore I fhall not have occafion to detain

you long on this part of my subject.

No fyftem can poffibly be formed, even in imagination, without a fubordination of parts. Every animal body must have different members, subservient to each other; every picture must be compofed of various colours, and of light and shade; all harmony must be formed of trebles, tenors, and baffes; every beautiful and useful edifice muft

S 2

muft confift of higher and lower, more and less

magnificent apartments. This is in the very

effence of all created things, and therefore cannot be prevented by any means whatever, unless by not creating them at all: for which reason, in the formation of the Univerfe, God was obliged, in order to carry on that juft fubordination fo neceffary to the very existence of the whole, to create Beings of different ranks; and to beftow on various fpecies of animals, and alfo on the individuals of the fame fpecies, various degrees of understanding, ftrength, beauty, and perfection; to the comparative want of which advantages we give the names of folly, weakness, deformity, and imperfection, and very unjustly repute them Evils; whereas in truth they are bleffings as far as they extend, tho' of an inferior degree. They are no more actual Evils, than a small eftate is a real misfortune, becaufe many may be poffeffed of greater.

WHATEVER we enjoy, is purely a free gift from cur Creator; but that we enjoy no more, can never fure be deemed an injury, or a just reafon to question his infinite benevolence. All our happinefs is owing to his goodness; but that it is no greater, is owing only to ourselves, that is, to our not having any inherent right to any happiness, or even to any existence at all. This is no more to be imputed to God, than the wants of a beggar

to the person who has relieved him: that he had fomething, was owing to his benefactor; but that he had no more only to his original poverty.

THEY who look upon the privation of all the good they fee others enjoy, or think poffible for infinite power to bestow, as pofitive Evil, underftand not that the Univerfe is a fyftem whofe very effence confifts in fubordination; a fcale of Beings descending by infenfible degrees from infinite perfection to abfolute nothing; in which, tho' we may justly expect to find perfection in the whole, could we poffibly comprehend it; yet would it be the highest abfurdity to hope for it in all its parts, because the beauty and happiness of the whole depend altogether on the juft inferiority of its parts, that is, on the comparative imperfections of the feveral Beings of which it is compofed.

Ir would have been no more an inftance of God's wisdom to have created no Beings but of the highest and most perfect order, than it would be of a painter's art, to cover his whole piece with one fingle colour the most beautiful he could compose. Had he confined himself to such, nothing could have existed but demi-gods, or archangels, and then all inferior orders must have been void and uninhabited: but as it is furely more agreeable to infinite benevolence, that all these should be filled up with Beings capable of enjoying

S 3

enjoying happiness themselves, and contributing to that of others, they must neceffarily be filled with inferior Beings, that is, with fuch as are less perfect, but from whofe existence, notwithstanding that lefs perfection, more felicity upon the whole accrues to the Universe, than if no fuch had been created. It is moreover highly probable, that there is fuch a connection between all ranks and orders by fubordinate degrees, that they mutually support each other's existence, and every one in its place is abfolutely neceffary towards fuftaining the whole vast and magnificent fabric.

You fee therefore, that it is utterly impracticable, even for infinite power, to exclude from Creation this neceffary inferiority of fome Beings in comparison with others. All that it can do is to make each as happy as their respective situations will permit and this it has done in fo extraordinary a manner, as to leave the benevolence of our great Creator not to be doubted of; for tho' he cannot make all fuperior, yet in the difpenfations of his bleffings, his wifdom and goodness both are well worthy the highest admiration; for, amongst all the wide diftinctions which he was obliged to make in the dignity and perfections of his Creatures, he has made much lefs in their happiness than is ufualiy imagined, or indeed can be believed from outward appearances. He has given many advantages to Brutes, which Man

2

cannot