or obtain from other
countries, whatever is most worthy of possession; and the two good things
which Ellen considers the greatest pleasures of existence, are undoubtedly
to be had here in perfection; but I must own I should like to see Barbadoes
prodigiously, for a property which none of you have yet mentioned."

"What, have not _I_ mentioned it?" said Matilda.

"No, Matilda; you have been so much taken up with fine verandas, grand
dinners, kneeling slaves, luxurious palanquins, orange groves, and
delicious sweetmeats, that you have never once boasted of your pure air,
and the glories of your evening sky, where all the planets shine with such
a glowing lustre, that, Mr. Edwards tells us, Venus is there a kind of
moon, in the light she sheds upon the earth, and those stars which are
scarcely to be discerned here, are beheld in that enchanting air as bright
as the stars of Orion with us."

"Well," cried Charles, "that must all be because Barbadoes, and the other
West India islands, are so much nearer the sun, and I cannot say I have any
desire to be in such a hot neighbourhood."

"No, Charles, that is not the reason; for although it is the fact, yet you
cannot suppose that their difference can be perceptible, in that respect,
to those heavenly bodies which appear to resemble only diamond sparks, from
their immense distance. The brilliancy of which I speak arises from the
greater purity of the air: we frequently see objects here through a kind of
veil, which, though too thin to be perceptible, has yet its effect upon all
objects: in some cases it alters, or rather bestows, a colour which does
not properly belong to them; frequently impairs their form and beauty, but
sometimes adds to their sublimity, and invests them with imposing
greatness, proportioned to the obscurity with which they are enveloped."

"I don't understand all that Edmund says," observed Ellen, "but I should
be glad to know whether something is not the matter with the sun when it
looks copper-colour like the lid of a stewpan; because in summer-time, I
remember, when we were out in the fields, it used to be bright golden
yellow, so glorious and full of shine, as it were, that looking at it, even
for a moment, made my eyes ache, and thousands of black and green spots to
come into them."

"My dear Ellen, though you did not understand all the words I used, it is
yet plain you did comprehend the sense, as you have brought forward an
example of this effect