ordinary train of their sensations, and on all occasions it appears to me
more natural that a change should take place in the human mind than in
the order of nature. The popular opinion of the people of Judaea was
that certain diseases were occasioned by devils taking possession of a
human being; the disease was cured by our Saviour, and this in the Gospel
is expressed by his casting out devils. But without entering into
explanations respecting the historical miracles belonging to
Christianity, it is sufficient to say that its truth is attested by a
constantly existing miracle, the present state of the Jews, which was
predicted by Jesus; their temple and city were destroyed, and all
attempts made to rebuild it have been vain, and they remain the despised
and outcasts of the world.

_Onu_.--But you have not answered my objections with respect to the
cruelties exercised by the Jews under the command of Jehovah, which
appear to me in opposition to all our views of divine justice.

_Amb_.--I think even Philalethes will allow that physical and moral
diseases are hereditary, and that to destroy a pernicious unbelief or
demoniacal worship it was necessary to destroy the whole race root and
branch. As an example, I will imagine a certain contagions disease which
is transmitted by parents to children, and which, like the plague, is
communicated to sound persons by contact; to destroy a family of men who
would spread this disease over the whole earth would unquestionably be a
mercy. Besides, I believe in the immortality of the sentient principle
in man; destruction of life is only a change of existence, and supposing
the new existence a superior one it is a gain. To the Supreme
Intelligence the death of a million of human beings is the mere
circumstance of so many spiritual essences changing their habitations,
and is analogous to the myriad millions of larvae that leave their coats