Nay, Raoul, it is _not_ thy way of _thinking_, but thy fashion of
_talking_, that makes the difference between us. No one who _thinks_ can
ever doubt the existence of a being superior to all of earth and of the
universe; and who is Creator and Master of all."

"Of a _principle_, if thou wilt, Ghita; but of a _being_, I ask for the
proof. That a mighty principle exists, to set all these planets in
motion--to create all these stars, and to plant all these suns in space,
I never doubted; it would be to question a fact which stands day and
night before my eyes; but to suppose a _being_ capable of producing all
these things is to believe in beings I never saw."

"And why not as well suppose that it is a being that does all this,
Raoul, as suppose it what you call a principle?"

"Because I see principles beyond my understanding at work all around me:
in yonder heavy frigate, groaning under her load of artillery, which
floats on this thin water; in the trees of the land that lies so near
us; in the animals, which are born and die; the fishes, the birds, and
the human beings. But I see no being--know no being, that is able to do
all this."

"That is because thou know'st not God! He is the creator of the
principles of which thou speak'st, and is greater than thy principles
themselves."

"It is easy to say this, Ghita--but hard to prove. I take the acorn and
put it in the ground; in due time it comes up a plant; in the course of
years, it becomes a tree. Now, all this depends on a certain mysterious
principle, which is unknown to me, but which I am sure exists, for I can
cause it myself to produce its fruits, by merely opening the earth and
laying the seed in its bosom. Nay, I can do more--so well do I
understand this principle, to a certain extent at least, that, by
choosing the season and the soil, I can hasten or retard the growth of
the plant, and, in a manner, fashion the tree."

"True, Raoul, _to a certain extent_ thou canst; and it is precisely
because thou hast been created after the image of God. The little
resemblance thou enjoyest to that mighty Being enables thee to do this
much more than the beasts of the field: wert thou his equal, thou
couldst create that principle of which thou speakest, and which, in thy
blindness, thou mistakest for his master."

This was said with more feeling than Ghita had ever before manifested,
in their frequent discourses on this subject, and with a solemnity of
tone that startled