3i8
fphere of his own obfervation , are not fo refined. th
He fnppofes that there is a diftinct caufe of every ar
remarkable effedt, and afcribes to a feparate power t0
every event which attradts his attention, or excites £■
his rerroi. Ke fancies that it is the province of one in
deity to poin f the lightning, and, with an awful M
found, to hurl the irrefiftible thunderbolt at the 1® 1
head of the guilty; that another rides in the ^
whirlwind, and, at his pleafure, raifes or ftills ad
the tempeft; that a third rules over the ocean; era
that a fourth is the god of battles; that while fa
malevolent powers fcatter the feeds of animofity fc
and difeord, ana kindle in the breaft thofe angry the
paflions which give rife to war, and terminate in nut
deftrudlion, others, of a nature more benign, by fa
inlpinng the hearts of men with kindnefs and oft
love, ifrengthen the bonds of focia! union, aug- art!
roent the happinefs, and increafe the number of tie:
the human race. he
Without defeending farther into detail , or Cm
attempting to enumerate that infinite multitude of die
deities to which the fancy or the fears of men have 1
allotted the direction of the feveral departments tins
in nature , we may recognife a ftriking uniformity ! htyof features in the lyftems of fuperftition eftablifhed 1 st
throughout every part of the earth. The lefs men fct
have advanced beyond the ftate of favage life, It*
an-;l the more Render their acquaintance with the o!
operations of nature, the fewer were their deities alt
in number, and the more compendious was their it
theological creed; but as their mind graduallyopened, and their knowledge continued to extend,