The Song of Solomon : and the Lamentations of Jeremiah

iii.37-9-] GOD AND EVIL 223
the evil exists as surely as the good. The elegist does
not attempt to deny this, or to minimise the fact. He
never calls evil good, never explains it away. There
it stands before us, in all its ugly actuality, speculations
concerning its origin neither aggravating the severity
of its symptoms nor alleviating them. Whence, then,
did this perplexing fact arise ? If we postulate some
other source than the Divine origin of good, what is
it? A dreadful mystery here yawns at our feet. It
evil came from an equally potent origin it would contend
with good on even terms, and the issue would always
hang in the balance. There could be nothing reassuring
in that tantalising situation. The fate of the universe
would be always quivering in uncertainty. And mean-
while we should have to conclude, that the most awful
conflict with absolutely doubtful issues was raging
continually. We could only contemplate the idea of
this vast schism with terror and dismay. But now
assuredly there is something calming in the thought of
the unity of the power that distributes our fortunes
for this means that a man is in no danger of being
tossed like a shuttlecock between two gigantic rival
forces. There must be a singleness of aim in the whole
treatment of us by Providence, since Providence is
one. Thus, if only as an escape from an inconceivably
appalling alternative, this doctrine of the common source
of good and evil is truly reassuring.
We may pursue the thought further. Since good
and evil spring from one and the same source, they
cannot be so mutually contradictory as we have been
accustomed to esteem them. They are two children of
a common parent ; then they must be brothers. But
if they are so closely related a certain family likeness
may be traced between them. This does not destroy
;