of obscuration, again enlighten the world and aid in re-establishing the
reign of reason, which they had carelessly enjoyed without assuring its
foundations.

[1] This has been shown very clearly by Professor Jackson in the article
on “Socrates” in the Encyclopoedia Britannica, last edition.

[2] He stated the theological difficulty as to the origin of evil in
this form: God either wishes to abolish evil and cannot, or can and will
not, or neither can nor will, or both can and will. The first three are
unthinkable, if he is a God worthy of the name; therefore the last
alternative must be true. Why then does evil exist? The inference is
that there is no God, in the sense of a governor of the world.

[3] An admirable appreciation of the poem will be found in R. V.
Tyrrell’s Lectures on Latin Poetry.

[4] For the evidence of the Apologists see A. Bouché-Leclercq, Religious
Intolerance and Politics (French, 1911) —a valuable review of the whole
subject.

[5] This is Gibbon’s translation.



CHAPTER III

REASON IN PRISON

(THE MIDDLE AGES)