“He whose power these snowy mountains, whose power the sea proclaims, with the distant river--He whose these regions are, as it were, His two arms:--Who is the God to whom we shall offer our sacrifice? “He through whom the sky is bright and the earth firm--He through whom heaven was stablished--nay, the highest heaven--He who measured out the light in the air:--Who is the God to whom we shall offer our sacrifice? “He to whom heaven and earth, standing firm by His will, look up, trembling inwardly--He over whom the rising sun shines forth:--Who is the GOD to whom we shall offer our sacrifice? “Wherever the mighty water-clouds went, where they placed the reed and lit the fire, thence even He, who is the only life of the bright gods:--Who is the GOD to whom we shall offer our sacrifice? “He, who of His might looked even over the water-clouds, the clouds which gave strength and lit the sacrifice, He _who is God above all gods_:--Who is the God to whom we shall offer our sacrifice? “May He not destroy us--He the creator of the earth; or He, the righteous, who created Heaven; He who also created the bright and mighty waters:--Who is the God to whom we shall offer our sacrifice?” * * * * * The creed of a plurality of gods was one that carried in itself the seeds of its destruction. But there was another cause of weakness in their mortal attributes. Deriving their existence from the life of nature, they were subject to the accidents which that life involved. Thus, the sun at noonday might glow with splendour, but at night it was conquered by the shadows, and in winter it seemed to yield to some stronger Power. The moon waxed and waned, and was frequently eclipsed. As nature is subject to change, so also must be the gods that represent its forces and aspects. Such instability, such inherent weakness could not long satisfy the human mind; having risen to the height of the idea of one God, it next demanded that that God should be immutable. What rest, what contentment would it find in the supposition of deities as changeful as the winds? Tossed about by the currents of passion and feeling, buffeted by adverse circumstances, the soul yearns intensely for something fixed, something absolute, something unaffected by vicissitude, and finds it in the Divine Being, the same to-day as yesterday, and the same to-morrow as to-day.