54 HISTORY OF THE [BOOK. j. 



been sufficiently noticed. If their devotion, as we have 

 seen, was the offspring, not of gratitude, but of 

 fear; if they were less sensible of the goodness, 

 than terrified at the judgments of the Almighty, it 

 should be remembered, that in the climate of the 

 West Indies, the tremendous irregularities of nature 

 are dreadfully frequent; the hurricane that sweeps 

 nations to the deep, and the earthquake that swal- 

 lows continents in its bosom. Let us not then hasti- 

 ly affix the charge of impiety on these simple people, 

 if, when they beheld the elements combine for their 

 destruction, they considered the divine Being as infi- 

 nite indeed in power, but severe in his justice, and 

 inexorable in his anger. Under this impression, the 

 mind, humbled to the dust in the consciousness of its 

 own imbecility, and scarce daring to lift up a thought 

 to the great cause of all things, fondly wishes for 

 some mild and gracious interpreter; some amiable in- 

 termediate agent in whom to repose with confidence., 

 as in a guardian and a friend. This desire increasing, 

 is at length exalted to belief. The soul, seeking re- 

 fuge from its own apprehensions, creates imaginary 

 beings, by whose mediation it hopes to render itself 

 less despicable in the sight of the Supreme. To these 

 its devotions are intrusted, and its adorations paid. 

 We may lament the blindness of these poor savages, 

 and exult in our own superiority in this respect, 

 but let us not forget, that in the most cultivated peri- 

 ods of the human understanding, (before the light of 

 Revelation was graciously displayed), a similar super- 

 was practised by all the various nations of the 



