“All that,” replied Mr. Merton, “would be very conclusive, if the facts or phenomena did not exist to give it a flat denial. Here are the facts, and whatever origin you assign them, they remain, in themselves considered, the same. You assign insanity as their origin. Be it so. But would a God who is love, who is wisdom, who is omnipotence, suffer his children to be afflicted with so grievous a disease as insanity, one so terrible and so humiliating in its effects? Insanity must be subject to his dominion; and why then does he suffer any one to become insane?” “Many of these facts, as you call them, are the result of mere jugglery and sheer imposture,” answered the Doctor, “and do not deserve a moment’s consideration.” “Be it so,” replied Mr. Merton. “But how can God permit such jugglery and imposture?” “They are the works of man, and the results of evil passions,” promptly replied Dr. Corning. “Very good,” said Mr. Merton; “but whence these evil passions? and how can God, consistently with his perfections, permit them to produce such pernicious effects? You see, my dear Doctor, turn which way you will, take what ground you please, your argument can always be retorted. As far as the Divine perfection is concerned, it makes no difference, since the facts really exist, whether you ascribe them to Satanic invasion or to insanity, to the evil passions of man, or to the elemental forces or inherent laws of nature; for, on any of these suppositions, you ascribe them to a created cause, dependent on God as first cause for its very existence, and therefore a cause that cannot operate without his permission. The whole question resolves itself into the old question, then, of the origin of evil. Evil certainly could not exist without the permission of God; and yet you yourself concede that evil does exist. How can God, consistently with his perfections, permit it? This is the question; and, if he can permit it at all, he can as well permit it when produced by one agent, as when produced by another.” “But that,” said Dr. Corning, “is a question for you to answer, as well as for me.”