The Woman.—Our first conversation, my father, has left me a sense of alarm at my profound incompetence as regards the “great argument” on which you are entering. Since the doctrine of the universal religion is one and the same thing as the Positive Philosophy, my mind seems too weak, or at any rate too unprepared, to grasp its explanation, however simple you may make it. I bring with me nothing beyond a full confidence, a sincere respect, and an active sympathy for the doctrine which seems calculated, after so many failures, at length to overcome our modern anarchy. But I fear that something more than these moral dispositions is needed for me to enter with any chance of success on so difficult a study.

The Priest.—Your uneasiness, my daughter, calls for some introductory remarks, which I hope will soon reassure you. Our sole object here is to effect, for the new religion, a general exposition equivalent to that which formerly taught you Catholicism. This second operation ought to be even easier than the former, for not only is your reason now mature, but the doctrine is, by its nature, more intelligible as always demonstrable. Remember, besides, the admirable maxim which our great Molière put into the mouth of the man of taste in his last masterpiece—