USELESS PAIN.
[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPEOTLTOR.1
SIR,—Speaking of a controversy in the Contemporary, you nay, "None of the Universalista seem to us to face the mystery of pain, or explain why, as God tolerates useless pain for a time— as, for instance, ear-ache or colic in a baby, who forgets it all— he may not tolerate pain for ever." May I say a word or two on the implied assumption that some kinds of pain are certainly useless ?
The baby forgets all about its ear-ache or colic. True, but the pain has had an effect, for good or evil, in moulding its character. Again, those who have seen it suffering have been moved perhaps to sympathy. But the chief point I would insist upon is that the pain which seems useless now and is forgotten may be a factor in the education beyond the grave. All suffering is, I presume, ultimately due to some violation of divine laws, and the knowledge of the pains which others have suffered through our sins may be one of the things which teach us how bad a thing sin is. To those who believe in a righteous God, the pre- sumption is that no pain is useless ; and I do not see how this presumption can be disproved, till we can trace all the direct and indirect consequences of such pain.—I am, Sir, &c.,
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