"the shade of a cocoa-tree, picked up one of

"it's nuts that lay on lay on the ground, and set "about making a lamp of the shell, a wick of the outer husk, and squeezed a little oil from the "kernel to put into his lamp. While the black "man was thus employing himself, his blind mas"ter said to him with a sigh: Is there then no such "thing as light in the world? Yes, that of the Sun,

replied the Negro. What is it you call the Sun, "resumed the blind man? I cannot tell, answered "the African, all I know is, that his rising is the "commencement of my labours, and his setting ter"mination of them. His light interests me less than "that of my lamp which illuminates my cottage; with "out it I should not be able to serve you during the "night. Then, holding out his little cocoa-shell, "said: There is my Sun. At this part of the con"versation a man of the village, who walked on "crutches, fell a laughing; and believing that the "blind man had been so from his birth, said to "him: Know that the Sun is a globe of fire which "rises every day out of the Ocean, and sets every "night toward the West, in the mountains of Suma"tra. You would see this yourself, as we all do, "had you the blessing of sight. Here a fisherman "interposed, and said to the cripple: It is easy to 'perceive that you have never travelled far beyond "the limits of your village. If you had legs, "and could have made the tour of Sumatra, you must have known that the Sun does not set in it's "mountains: but he issus every morning out of the Sea, and dips into it again every evening to cool himself; this is what I see every day along the coasts of the island." An inhabitant of the "Peninsula

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"Peninsula of India then said to the fisherman: "How is it possible for a man of common sense to "believe that the Sun is a globe of fire, and that "he every day issues from the Ocean, and plunges' "into it at night without extinguishing him-' "self? Learn then that the Sun is a Denta or Divinity of my Country, that he rides every day through the Heavens in a chariot, turning round "the golden mountain of Merowa; that when he undergoes an eclipse, it is owing to his being "swallowed up by the serpents Ragon and Kétou, "from which he is delivered only by the prayers "of the Indians on the banks of the Ganges. It

is a very ridiculous ambition for an inhabitant "of Sumatra to pretend that he shines only on

the horizon of his Island; it could have entered "into the head only of a man whose navigation "has been limited to the paddling of a canoe." "A Lascar, the master of a trading vessel that

lay at anchor, then spoke to this purpose: "It is an ambition still more ridiculous to ima-, gine, that the Sun prefers India to all coun"tries of the world. I have navigated through "the Red Sea, along the coasts of Arabia, to Madagascar, to the Moluccas, and to the Phillippine Islands; the Sun enlightens all those coun"tries as well as India. He does not turn round “a mountain; but rises in the Islands of Japan, "which are for that reason called Jepon or Ge

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puen, birth of the Sun, and he sets very far to "the West, behind the Islands of England. I am "very sure of it, for I have heard it related by "my grandfather, when I was a child, and he had "sailed to the very extremities of the Ocean. He

was

"was going to proceed, when an English seaman "of our ship's company interrupted him thus:" "There is no country where the course of the Sun "is better known than in England: be assured "then that he no where rises or sets. He is inces"santly making the circuit of the Globe; and I

am perfectly sure of it, for we have just perform"ed the same round, and met him wherever we "went." "Then taking a ratan from the hand "of one of his auditors, he traced a circle on the "sand, endeavouring to explain to them the course "of the Sun from tropic to tropic; but not being "able to make it out, he appealed to the testi

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mony of the pilot of his ship, for the truth of every thing he would have said. This pilot was "a wise man, who had heard the whole dispute "without interposing a single word; but when he

46

perceived that all the company kept silence to "hear him, he spoke to this effect: "Each of you is trying to mislead others, and is himself "misled. The Sun does not turn round the Earth, "it is the Earth which turns round him, present'ing in succession, every twenty-four hours, the "Islands of Japan, the Phillipines, the Moluccas, Sumatra, Africa, Europe, England, and a great many other countries. The Sun shines not for one Mountain only, one Island, one Horison, one 66 Sea, nor even for one Globe; but he is at the 66 centre of the Universe, from whence he illumi

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"

nates, together with the Earth, five other Pla"nets which likewise revolve around him, and of "which some are much greater than our Globe, "and at much greater distance than it is from

4

"the

"the Sun.

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Such is, among others, Saturn, of 30,000 leagues diameter, and at the distance of "285,000,000 of leagues from the Sun. I say nothing of the Moons which reflect on Planets re"mote from the Sun his light, and are not few in "number. Every one of you would have an idea "of these truths, if he only turned his eyes in the 'night towards the Heavens, and if he had not the "ambition of believing that the Sun shines for his

own Country only." "Thus spake, to the great "astonishment of his hearers, the pilot who had "steered a ship round the World, and observed "the starry Heavens.”

"It is equally true of GOD, continued the disciple of Confucius, as of the Sun: every man be"lieves he possesses him exclusively, in his own Chapel, or at least in his own Country. The People of every Nation believe they have enclosed in "their temples Him whom the visible Universe cannot contain. Is there, however, a Temple once to be compared with that which GOD him"self has reared for collecting all mankind into "one and the same communion? All temples in "the World are made only in imitation of that of "Nature. We find in most of them lavers, holy"water-cisterns, columns, arches, lamps, statues,

inscriptions, books of the law, sacrifices, altars "and priests. But what Temple contains a cistern "so vast as the Ocean, which is not to be contract"ed to a shell? Where do we find columns so "beautiful as the trees of the forest, or those of "the orchard loaded with fruits? Where an arch so lofty as the vault of Heaven, and a lamp so bright as the Sun? Where shall we behold statues

so interesting as a multitude of human beings "who love each other, assist each other, talk one "to another? Where inscriptions so intelligible, "and more religious than the bounties of Nature "herself? A book of the Law so universal as the "love of GOD founded on a sense of gratitude, "and as the love of our fellow-creatures founded "on our own interest? What sacrifices more af

fecting than those of our praises to Him who "has given us all things, and of our passions, for "the sake of those with whom we are bound to "share all that we have? Where, finally, shall we "look for an altar so sacred as the heart of the 'good man, whose High-Priest is GOD himself? Thus, the farther that man extends the power "of Deity, the more nearly will he approach to the

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knowledge of Him; and the greater indulgence "he shews to men, the more closely will he imitate "the Divine goodness. Let him therefore who enjoys the light of GOD diffused over the whole

CA

Universe, beware of despising the poor supersti"tious creature, who perceives only a little ray of "it in his idol; or even the Atheist who is totally "destitute of it, lest, as a punishment of his pride, "he should be made to partake of the fate of that

Philosopher, who, attempting to appropriate to "himself the light of the Sun, became blind, and "felt himself reduced, in order to find his way, to " employ the lamp of a Negro."

Thus spake the disciple of Confucius, and all the company in the Coffee-house who had been conténding for the excellency of their several Religions, maintained a profound silence,

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