"
"Yes, the untutored of every age and country observe more closely the
operations of nature than the educated. It is their only means of
learning. They see certain movements in the beasts and the birds before
certain atmospheric changes, and their superstitions influence a
belief, that sentient and invisible beings cause this by communicating
the changes going on. The more sagacious and observant, and I may add
the less scrupulous, lay hold upon this knowledge, to practice for
their own pleasure or profit upon the credulity of the masses. There
are very many superstitions, miss, which are endowed with a character
so holy, that he who would expose them is hunted down as a wretch,
unworthy of life. The older and the more ridiculous these, the more
holy, and the more sacredly cherished."
"Are you not afraid thus to speak--is there nothing too holy to be
profanely assaulted?"
"Nothing which contravenes man's reason. Truth courts
investigation--the more disrobed, the more beautiful. Science reveals,
that there is no mystery in truth. Its simplicity is often disfigured
with unnatural and ridiculous superstitions, and these sometimes are so
prominent as to conceal it.
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