ing an elder Scripture more authoritative than the divine oracles themselves. " Thou seest, my sister," said the enthusiast, " that our maturity like our childhood is amused by fables : hence do the ignorant believe that this great array of worlds was formed for the contemptible purpose of revolving around our insignificant planet, and all the glittering circle of the stars made to serve no better end than to enliven a winter night." " In truth the doctrine savors much of the arrogance of man," gently returned the queen, " and reminds one of the false systems of a monarch who considers his subjects but tributaries to his pleasure." " False systems," returned the astronomer, apparently unheeding the point of her remark, " have disgraced the world in every age. Pythagoras approached nearest the true idea, and yet was lost in the wilderness of error." " Heaven save us from a fate so evil," solemnly ejacu-lated the queen. "The philosopher, who rejecting the dogmas of the church, listens to the voice of Nature speaking to the ear of reason, is in no danger of error," said Alphonso pom-pously. " Thy Mosaic Testament asserts that God created the heavens and the earth in six days ; but they bear no marks of 6uch creation. Their course is eternal. And as for appointing the glorious sun with no higher mission than to enlighten the earth, had the Almighty called me to his counsel, I would have taught Him a wiser plan of compassing day and night." Shocked at his impiety, Eleanora calmly replied, "The Holy "Word which thou despisest, directs us to ' prove all things.' How canst thou sustain such assertions ?" Alphonso, pleased with what he considered her docility, lifted a small globe, and placing it at a convenient distance from the lamp, caused it to revolve upon its axis, making her observe that the regular vicissitudes of light and dark-ness were produced without any change in the position of the luminary. ELEANORA. 421