Punch,  61 (1871), 269.

A Young Positivist

D M *

Genre:

Drollery, Illustration

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

D M *

Subjects:

Positivism, Religious Authority, Astronomy, Miracle


    Depicts a parson asking a boy to define a miracle. The parson asks the boy to respond to the claim that the sun shone at night, and the boy answers that he would take such a claim to mean that the sun was in fact the moon. The parson asks the boy to interpret the same claim having been 'told' that the bright object was the sun, and the boy answers that he would then interpret the claim as a lie. The parson insists that he is not a liar but the boy claims that he would think that the parson 'wasn't sober' were he to insist that the sun appeared at night.



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