20 



A NEW HISTORY OF 



whole world was under a pleasing delusion. Still, 

 every thing went wrong in the planetary system. 



At last, in lucky hour, the sun was proved to 

 stand still ; and then an immediate change took 

 place. Away went all the poet's fictions : — man 

 saw his error, and he rectified it ; — and he found, 

 for the first time, that the earth and all the 

 heavenly bodies perform their revolutions in perfect 

 harmony, and in proper time. Might I be here 

 allowed to compare small things with great ones, 

 I would say, that up to the present time, the 

 monkey has been placed in the same false position 

 that the sun formerly maintained: — and I would 

 express a hope, that when I shall have clearly pointed 

 out the error, my readers will have no hesitation 

 in conceding to this interesting animal, the real 

 sphere of action which nature has allotted to 

 it ; and that, they will allow it (as we now allow 

 the sun,) to act its proper and legitimate part in 

 the vast drama of the creation. In a word, I will 

 remove the whole family of monkeys from the 

 ground to the trees. There, and there alone, 

 ought we to contemplate the nature, and the move- 

 ments, and the entire economy of the monkey. 



For many years during my boyhood, I myself 

 had very erroneous ideas of the sloth ; having read 

 his history in the works of one of the most talented 



