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CORRESPONDENCE.
Perhaps Mons. Arnaud will not find this outline wholly unworthy of his consideration, especially since he has been somewhat occupied in the examination of these matters. If he finds obscurities I will explain myself sincerely and frankly, and if he finds me worthy indeed of his instruction I shall try to behave in such a way that he shall find no cause for being dissatisfied on that point. I beg Your Serene Highness to enclose this with the summary which I am sending and to forward them both to Mons. Arnaud.
SUMMARY OF THE DISCOURSE ON META-PHYSICS
- Concerning the divine perfection and that God does everything in the most desirable way.
- Against those who hold that there is in the works of God no goodness, or that the principles of goodness and beauty are arbitrary.
- Against those who think that God might have made things better than he has.
- That love for God demands on our part complete satisfaction with and acquiescence in that which he has done.
- In what the principles of the perfection of the divine conduct consist and that the simplicity of the means counterbalances the richness of the effects.
- That God does nothing which is not orderly and that it is not even possible to conceive of events which are not regular.
- That miracles conform to the general order although they go against the subordinate regula-
