I grasp this walking cane: those are the facts propounded to your sense of vision. Now, do you mean to say, that you could, by effort, so controul your understanding, so far cause volition to stifle belief, the belief and knowledge induced by sight, as to give credit to an assertion, "that I held the stick with my right, and touched you with my left hand?" The answer is obvious: "certainly you could not." And yet, if will and belief were properties dependent and inseparable, you would be able to do so; you would possess a mental power of confounding and merging one in the other but the converse being manifest, they stand independent. And this brings us to faith itself, which by the confession of its votaries, from its application and essential ingredients, is in every instance the opposite to belief in proper signification. Belief is open-eyed, resistless conviction; faith is blind credulity in unseen, unheard propositions; a confusion of properties in themselves incapable of mixture; an attempted reconcilement of contradictions. All dealers in particular systems have exacted the tribute of faith from their disciples, as precursive to initiation in their doctrines; well knowing, that when independence of mind is once parted with, the transition to bigotry and ferocious prejudice

D

is short and easy.

Nature, the universal

system demands no such sacrifice, no such incongruities; belief in her propositions strikes the mind at once, without violence, without infraction of primary laws, because the mind and those laws are derivatives from herself.

I shall here introduce an episode to beguile the tediousness of my tale.

Suppose now, just at this instant that we have drawn our seats to opposite sides of the fire, the figure of an animal very much resembling ourselves, should suddenly pounce through the ceiling and alight between us, with a stare and a "wheugh!!" what should you say? "Why," said I, "I really don't know :" "No more do I," said L, "but I dare say we should both be somewhat startled."-"But suppose further, that this lad, after giving his head (we'll allow him a head) a sort of clearing shake, was to begin thus: "I dare say you are devilishly surprised to see me here ?'” we should nod, "Yes,"" And faith! I hardly know what to make of the matter myself, but I begin to suspect my having come a long way in a short time:" (another nod, less positive, implying "probably you have.") He continues; "You must know I am an inhabitant of the Earth, or rather was so, and should not wonder if this was our moon; don't I look

blue?"-"Why, yes, rather so," I should interrupt: "but how the devil came you here?" "Upon my word," says he, "I can't tell; I'm a matter-of-fact man, and don't like to speak positively to what I don't understand: perhaps I dropped, why not?"-" Well," I should say, "perhaps you did; but, come how you may, you are heartily welcome, as a benighted traveller, in the first place; and secondly, because you are just the man I want to converse with: I should guess, from the decisive sharpness of your visage, you are a person of unimpeachable veracity, and would not wilfully deceive any one, which is a character rather scarce with us; favour me with an hour's chat, as to what takes place in that earth of yours; I have always had a longing to know, with some degree of certainty, how matters are in your orb; for I have an idea that, by that, I should have a good clue to guide my conjectures as to the rest: this is an excellent opportunity, the more grateful because unexpected, so now sit down and be comfortable. Oh! perhaps you will do as we do? (shewing pipes :) He says, 'I have no objection;' fills, and lights with the air of a man used to tobacco; inhales in silence a few scientific whiffs, spits with peculiar goût, and begins.

"I am afraid our club will wonder where

I am, but really you are so pressing! and as I don't seem likely to get back just at present, I will endeavour to satisfy your curiosity. You must know then, we of the club (its quite select and genteel,) are much divided in opinion as to the origin of our globe. Some cavillers, less orthodox than the rest, say that we know nothing about the matter, and never shall; but our President declares that the secret of the construction of it, and of its inhabitants, was specially entrusted to a particular tribe of our forefathers, as depositaries of this mystery, and that from their Records we learn the truth to be this, videlicet: "That notwithstanding the fact of our finding many insulated, indigenous breeds of men and animals, they are all descended from one couple of ancestors. Our two propagated-very comfortably a good while : in the course of succeeding generations, their offspring got so outrageously wicked, there was no bearing it. The Being, who had made all things for his own good pleasure, accordingly resolved to destroy them by a general inundation, to thin them down well, and begin afresh. In pursuance of this plan, he gave timely notice to a very good sort of man, (I forget his name,) and bade him be on the alert: the latter, being good at taking a hint, like a sensible person, made all haste, and got him

self and a few particular friends into a vessel; the very first that was at hand: they had hardly made all right, before off she floated, and every soul perished but this worthy group. They, of course, were in clover; nothing the matter: 'Here's a pretty kettle of fish,' said one of the boys! I'm sure,' whined one of the girls, I don't see any fun in it; we shall have no quadrilles all the season!'-' Hold your tongue, hussey;' said one of the elders,

you are always grumbling, think yourself well off; we'll manage to make up a set among us: hang me if I have'nt forgot my fiddle though! never mind, we shall have a pleasant voyage, and make shift, somehow.' And so they did; they had a brace of rattle-snakes as castanets, (we have plenty in our bogs) wreaths of scorpions for diamond sprigs, for they had some fat ones with them, and boa-constrictors and tigers for spectators, and danced as merrily as possible. To be sure, the pretty dear girls were a little nervous at first,' the tigers did leer so!' but, like other quadrille-dancers, they soon got over first impressions; and upon the whole, had a pleasant sort of water-frolic enough. I forgot to tell you, they had taken a few of each sort of the animals found on our globe, on board with themselves, in order that the breeds might not be lost. When the water