ntributor to one of our valuable serials writes: "I take the
following extract from a little book published under the auspices of
Dr. Barnardo. It is the 'truthful narrative' of a little sweep-girl picked
up in the streets of some place near Brighton, and 'admitted into Dr.
Barnardo's Village Home.' 'She had apparently no knowledge of
God or sense of His presence. The only thing she had any reverence
for was the moon. On one occasion, when the children were going
to evening service, and a beautiful moon was shining, one of them
pointed to it, exclaiming, 'Oh, mother! look, what a beautiful moon!'
Little Mary caught hold of her hand, and cried, 'Yer mustn't point at
the blessed moon like that; and yer mustn't talk about it!' Was it
from constantly sleeping under hedges and in barns, and waking up
and seeing that bright calm eye looking at her, that some sense of a
mysterious Presence had come upon the child?" [225] To this query,
the answer we think should be negative. The cause more likely was
that she had heard the common tradition which is yet current in East
Lancashire, Cumberland, and elsewhere, that it is a sin to point at
the moon. Certain old gentlemen, who ought to be better informed,
still touch their hats, and devout young girls in the country districts
still curtsey, to the new moon, as an act of worship.

The American races practise luniolatry very generally. The
Dakotahs worship both sun and moon. The Delaware and Iroquois
Indians sacrifice to these orbs, and it is most singular that "they
sacrifice to a hare, because, according to report, the first ancestor of
the Indian tribes had that name." But, although they receive in a
dream as their tutelar spirits, the sun, moon, owl, buffalo, and so
forth, "they positively deny that they pay any adoration to these
subordinate good spirits, and affirm that they only worship the true
God, through them." [226] This reminds us of some excellent
remarks made by one whose intimate acquaintance with North
American Indians entitled him to speak with authority. We have
seen from Dr. Legge's writings that though the Chinese worshipped
a multitude of celestial spirits, "yet the monotheism remained." Mr.
Catlin will now assure us that though the American Indians adore
the heavenly bodies, they recognise the Great Spirit who inhabits
them all. These are his words: "I have heard it said by some very
good men, and some who have even been preaching the Christian
religion amongst