We feel that we are under the hand of an invisible being; this is all; we cannot advance one step farther. It is mad temerity to seek to divine what this being is--whether he is extended or not, whether he is in one place or not, how he exists, or how he operates. SECTION II. I am ever apprehensive of being mistaken; but all monuments give me sufficient evidence that the polished nations of antiquity acknowledged a supreme god. There is not a book, not a medal, not a bas-relief, not an inscription, in which Juno, Minerva, Neptune, Mars, or any of the other deities, is spoken of as a forming being, the sovereign of all nature. On the contrary, the most ancient profane books that we have--those of Hesiod and Homer--represent their Zeus as the only thunderer, the only master of gods and men; he even punishes the other gods; he ties Juno with a chain, and drives Apollo out of heaven. The ancient religion of the Brahmins--the first that admitted celestial creatures--the first which spoke of their rebellion--explains itself in sublime manner concerning the unity and power of God; as we have seen in the article on "Angel." The Chinese, ancient as they are, come after the Indians. They have acknowledged one only god from time immemorial; they have no subordinate gods, no t mediating demons or genii between God and man; no oracles, no abstract dogmas, no theological disputes among the lettered; their emperor was always the first pontiff; their religion was always august and simple; thus it is that this vast empire, though twice subjugated, has constantly preserved its integrity, has made its conquerors receive its laws, and notwithstanding the crimes and miseries inseparable from the human race, is still the most flourishing state upon earth. The Magi of Chaldæa, the Sabeans, acknowledged but one supreme god, whom they adored in the stars, which are his work. The Persians adored him in the sun. The sphere placed on the frontispiece of the temple of Memphis was the emblem of one only and perfect god, called "_Knef_" by the Egyptians. The title of "_Deus Optimus Maximus_" was never given by the Romans to any but "_Jupiter, hominum sator atque deorum_." This great truth, which we have elsewhere pointed out, cannot be too often repeated. This adoration of a Supreme God, from Romulus down to the total destruction of the empire and of its religion, is confirmed. In spite of all the follies of the people, who venerated secondary and ridiculous gods, and in spite of the Epicureans, who in reality acknowledged none, it is verified that, in all times, the magistrates and the wise adored one sovereign God. From the great number of testimonies left us to this truth, I will select first that of Maximus of Tyre, who flourished under the Antonines--those models of true piety, since they were models of humanity. These are his words, in his discourse entitled "Of God," according to Plato. The reader who would instruct himself is requested to weigh them well: