13. There is a further consideration that should not be overlooked,
namely: that if you desire to discover the exercise of the distributive
Justice of the divinity, it is not sufficient to examine only the
present; the past and future must also be considered. Those who, in a
former life, were slave-owners, if they abused their power, will be
enslaved; and this change would be useful to them. It impoverishes
those who have badly used their wealth; for poverty is of service
even to virtuous people. Likewise, those who kill will in their turn
be killed; he who commits homicide acts unjustly, but he who is its
victim suffers justly. Thus arises a harmony between the disposition
of the man who is maltreated, and the disposition of him who maltreats
him as he deserved. It is not by chance that a man becomes a slave,
is made prisoner, or is dishonored. He (must himself) have committed
the violence which he in turn undergoes. He who kills his mother will
be killed by his son; he who has violated a woman will in turn become
a woman in order to become the victim of a rape. Hence, the divine
Word[80] called Adrastea.[60] The orderly system here mentioned really
is "unescapeable," truly a justice and an admirable wisdom. From the
things that we see in the universe we must conclude that the order
which reigns in it is eternal, that it penetrates everywhere, even
in the smallest thing; and that it reveals an admirable art not only
in the divine things, but also in those that might be supposed to
be beneath the notice of Providence, on account of their minuteness.
Consequently, there is an admirable variety of art in the vilest
animal. It extends even into plants, whose fruits and leaves are so
distinguished by the beauty of form, whose flowers bloom with so much
grace, which grow so easily, and which offer so much variety. These
things were not produced once for all; they are continually produced
with variety, because the stars in their courses do not always exert
the same influence on things here below. What is transformed is not
transformed and metamorphosed by chance, but according to the laws of
beauty, and the rules of suitability observed by divine powers. Every
divine Power acts according to its nature, that is, in conformity with
its essence. Now its essence is to develop justice and beauty in its
actualizations; for if justice and beauty did not exist here, they
could not exist elsewhere.