IGNORANCE. 229 



Thus it is that human intellect of the 

 highest order, ever prone to apply the 

 rules of science to things beyond its 

 reach, becomes lost in perplexity and con- 

 founded by a sense of its own incapacity. 

 And thus it ever will be, till that great 

 change takes place, when the wonders 

 and the secrets, as well as the glory, of 

 the Deity, shall be made manifest to all 

 those who have been true believers in, 

 and faithful followers of, His holy Word. 

 Therefore, as to a knowledge of animal 

 life in either Venus or Jupiter, or of 

 the purpose of the Almighty in creating 

 spheres at such immeasurable distance 

 from our planet, and solving the problem 

 of the plurality of worlds, the ignorant 

 peasant is on a par with the Astronomer 

 Royal, or the first scholar in Europe.* 



* When the subject lies so far beyond our reach, the 

 difference between the highest and the lowest of human 

 understandings may indeed be calculated as infinitely 

 small. GIBBON. 



