UNCLE IN ENGLAND. 135 



it has been remarked, that in the early records 

 of almost every country we find that the sun and 

 moon were regarded as deities ; and that fire 

 was the constant emblem under which they were 

 worshipped. 



" The prevalence of these idolatries after the 

 deluge may be inferred from various passages in 

 the Scriptures ; and particularly from the direct 

 prohibitions contained in the laws that were given 

 to Moses. But amidst all the depravities and 

 abuses that had thus disfigured the patriarchal 

 religion, the belief in the necessity of expiatory 

 sacrifice was constantly maintained ; and though 

 the horrid corruption of that tenet gave rise to 

 the sacrifice of human victims, there is no doubt 

 that they dimly shadowed out a general belief in 

 a future divine victim. Thus you perceive that, 

 revolting as all these impious corruptions were, 

 yet they had for their original foundation the 

 very principle of the system of atonement and 

 redemption ; that * without shedding of blood 

 there is no remission of sins.' 



" The consideration of the other two dispen- 

 sations we must defer, my dear Bertha, to another 

 opportunity." 



22nd. Mary and I went this evening in search 

 of the moth of the little pear-leaf caterpillars : we 

 shook a gooseberry-bush, and numbers of them 

 came forth. They fly in the day-time, never 



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