130 Earth-burning. [Part. II. 



It is implicitly followed in France to this day ; as it is 

 by the great mass of common farmers in England. All 

 the foohsh country sayings about Friday behig an vn~ 

 lucky day to begin any thing fresh upon ; about the 

 noise of Geese foreboding bad weather ; about the signs 

 of the stars ; about the influence of the moon on ani- 

 mals : these, and scores of others, equally ridiculous 

 and equally injurious to true philosophy and religion, 

 came from the Romans, and are inculcated in those 

 books, which pedants call " classical," and which are 

 taught to " young gentlemen " at the universities and in 

 academies. Hence, too, the foolish notions of sailors 

 about Friday, which notions very often retard the ope- 

 rations of commerce. I have known many a farmer, 

 when his wheat was dead ripe, put ofl" the beginning of 

 han-estfrom Thursday to Saturday, in order to avoid Fri- 

 day. The stars saves hundreds of thousands of lambs and 

 pigs from sexual degradation at so early an age as the 

 operation would otherwise be performed upon them. 

 These heathen notions still prevail even in America'as 

 far as relates to this matter. A neighbour of mine in 

 Long Island, who was to operate on some pigs and 

 lambs for me, begged me to put the thing off for a 

 ■while; for that the Almanac told him, that the signs 

 were, just then, as unfavourable as possible. I begged 

 him to proceed, for that I set all stars at defiance. He 

 very kindly complied, and had the pleasure to see, that 

 every pig and lamb did well. He was surprised when 

 I told him, that this mysterious matter was not only a 

 bit of priest'craft, but oi heathen priest-craft, cherished 

 by priests of a more modern date, because it tended to 

 bewilder the senses and to keep the human mind in 

 subjection. " What a thing it is, Mr. Wiggins," said 

 I, " that a cheat practised upon the pagans of Italy, 

 " two or three thousand years ago, should, byalmanac- 

 *' makers, be practised on a sensible farmer in America !" 

 If priests, instead of preaching so much about mysteries, 

 •were to explain to their hearers, the origin of cheats 

 like this, one might be ready to allow, that the wages 

 paid to them were not wholly thrown away. 



202. 1 make no apology for this digression ; for, if 

 it have a tendency to set Uie minds of only a few per- 



