But, as for the Indians, so far from
letting them into any of his secrets, his strong desire was now to
throw dust into their eyes, in all possible ways, and to make their
well-established character for superstition subservient to his own
projects.
Boden was far from being a scholar, even for one in his class in
life. Down to this hour, the neglect of the means of public
instruction is somewhat of a just ground of reproach against the
venerable and respectable commonwealth of which he was properly a
member, though her people have escaped a knowledge of a great deal
of small philosophy and low intriguing, which it is fair to presume
that evil spirits thrust in among the leaves of a more legitimate
information, when the book of knowledge is opened for the
instruction of those who, by circumstances, are prevented from doing
more than bestowing a few hurried glances at its contents. Still,
Ben had read everything about bees on which he could lay his hands.
He had studied their habits personally, and he had pondered over the
various accounts of their communities--a sort of limited monarchy in
which the prince is deposed occasionally, or when matters go very
wrong--some written by really very observant and intelligent
persons, and others again not a little fanciful.
Pages:
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502