d not permit men, in these ages, to dispense with
the observation of these practices: that education, hereditary tradition
transmitted from immemorial time, the universal belief and consent of
different nations, the precepts, and even examples of philosophers; that
all these, I say, made the practices in question appear venerable in their
eyes: and that these ceremonies, how absurd soever they may appear to us,
and are really so in themselves, constituted part of the religion and
public worship of the ancients.

This religion was false, and this worship mistaken; yet the principle of
it was laudable, and founded in nature; the stream was corrupted, but the
fountain was pure. Man, assisted only by his own light, sees nothing
beyond the present moment. Futurity is to him an abyss invisible to the
most keen, the most piercing sagacity, and exhibits nothing on which he
may with certainty fix his views, or form his resolutions. He is equally
feeble and impotent with regard to the execution of his designs. He is
sensible, that he is dependent entirely on a Supreme Power, that disposes
all events with absolute authority, and which, in spite of his utmost
efforts, and of the wisdom of the best concerted schemes, by raising only
the smallest obstacles and slightest disappointments, renders it
impossible for him to execute his measures.

This obscurity and weakness oblige him to have recourse to a superior
knowledge and power: he is forced, both by his immediate wants, and the
strong desire he has to succeed in all his undertakings, to address that
Being who he is sensible has reserved to himself alone the knowledge of
futurity, and the power of disposing it as he sees fitting. He accordingly
directs prayers, makes vows, and offers sacrifices, to prevail, if
possible, with the Deity, to reveal himself, either in dreams, in oracles,
or other signs which may manifest his will; fully convinced that nothing
can happen but by the divine appointment; and that it is a man's greatest
interest to know this supreme will, in order to conform his actions to it.

This religious principle of dependence on, and veneration of, the Supreme
Being, is natural to man: it is imprinted deep in his heart; he is
reminded of it, by the inward sense of his extreme indigence, and by all
the objects which surround him; and it may be affirmed, that this
perpetual recourse to the Deity, is one of the principal foundations of
religion and the strongest band b