CRUSOE AN ICONOCLAST. 698

be honoured by him, sunk and degenerated to a degree so more
than stupid, as to prostrate itself to a frightful Nothing, a mere
imaginary Object dressed up by themselves, and made terrible to
themselves by their own contrivance; adorned only with clouts
and rags; and that this should be the effect of mere ignorance,
wrought up into hellish devotion by the devil himself, who, envy-
ing to his Maker the homage and adoration of his creatures, had
deluded them into such gross, surfeiting, sordid, and brutish things,
as one would think would shock Nature itself.

But what signified all the astonishment and reflection of thoughts?
Thus it was, and I saw it before my eyes, and there was no room
to wonder at it, or think it impossible. All my admiration turned
to rage, and I rode up to the image or monster, call it what you
will, and with my sword cut the bonnet that was on its head in
two in the middle, so that it hung down by one of the horns; and
one of our men that was with me took hold of the sheep-skin that
covered it, and pulled at it, when, behold, a most hideous outery
and howling run through the village, and two or three hundred
people came about my ears, so that I was glad to scour for it, for
we saw some had bows and arrows. But T resolved from that
moment to visit them again,

Our caravan rested three nights at the town, which was about
four miles off, in order to provide some horses which they wanted,
several of the horses having been lamed and jaded with the badness
of the way and long march over the last desert ; so we had some
leisure here to pu my design in execution. I communicated my
project to the Scots merchant of Moscow, of whose courage I had
had suflicient testimony, as above. I told him what I had seen,
and with what indignation I had since thought that human nature
could be so degenerate. 1 told him I was resolved, if I could but
vet four or five men well armed to go with me, I was resolved to
go and destroy that vile abominable idol, and let them see that it
had no power to help itself, and consequently could not be an object
of worship, or to be prayed to, much Jess help them that offered
sacrifices to it.

He laughed at me. Says he, ‘‘ Your zeal may be good, but
what do you propose to yourself by it?’ ‘“ Propose!” said T, “ to