' ON MATTERS OP BELIEF. 87 



infant ftate of humanity allowed. Rude fenfual men 

 require a vifible and palpable god. Penetrated by a 

 powerful but obfcure fentiment of the divine in nature, 

 but incapable of elevating this fentiment to a purely 

 rational idea, they filled the whole univerfe with divine 

 exigences, and formed to themfelves deities according 

 to their wants. They wanted gods that would defcend 

 to them, difcourfe with them, take up their concerns, 

 help them in hunting and fifhing, be their leaders in 

 war, and tell them in doubtful cafes, what they fhould 

 do, and from what they fhould abftain. As they re- 

 quired and expecled fo much from their deities, they 

 found it but reafonable on their part to do fomething 

 for the gods, and to teftify their gratitude and reve- 

 rence by facrifices, vows, donations, monuments, tem- 

 ples, altars, and flatties. Mankind imperceptibly ac- 

 cuftomed themfelves fo much to the idea, that they 

 confidered all the good that nature and the concurrence 

 of things afforded them freely, or bellowed on them 

 as the fruit of their own diligence and ingenuity, as the 

 voluntary gifts of certain divinities. But nature was 

 always nearly as bufy in doing evil as good to mankind 

 — all the operations of nature that were hurtful and 

 mifchievous to mankind were therefore in like manner 

 attributed to the gods. Earthquakes, inundations, fa- 

 mines, blights, deftruclive difeafes, terrible tempefls, 

 ftorms that deffroyed the hufbandman's hopes, were 

 looked upon as the fallies of their indignation, which had * 

 been incited by known offences or unknown affronts. 

 This at length was carried fo far, that with feveral nations 

 even certain vicious paffions and actions, when they 

 brought unufual diftrefs on whole families and tribes^ 



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