They could not prevent the sun from taking his departure at the close of day. They could not resist the strong force of wind or wave. They were mere driven chaff; as pygmies whom these giants could easily overthrow; as creatures of a day in the presence of these, seemingly, ever-enduring beings. So man passed from the worship of God to the worship of the works and forces which God had made; from reverence for the Creator to reverence for the created. THE FIRST HYMNS AND PRAYERS. Reverence for the gods was not merely a silent observance and awe-stricken contemplation of the great powers at work in nature. The observers felt that these beings held some relation to themselves, and that praises, prayers and offerings would not only be acceptable to the gods, but that they were really demanded in order to avert the anger of the gods or secure their favor. Hence the earliest literature of the race is devoted to singing the praises or invoking the aid of the gods. Priests were soon selected to represent the people at the seasons of sacrifice and to give themselves more continually to prayer than would be possible to men generally. The worship of these early days was exceedingly simple and the priests possessed no unusual powers. As Whittier has expressed it: “The morning twilight of the race Sends down these matin psalms; And still with wondering eyes we trace The simple prayers to Luna’s grace, That Vedic verse embalms.” The American Indians, the Aztecs of western South America, the early Hindoos, the Chinese and the Parsees all exhibit in their sacred writings this nature-worship. Traces of it are still to be seen in the Parsees’ worship of the sun, in the worship of heaven and earth among the Chinese, in the Indians’ reverence for the Great Spirit, in the Peruvian sun-worship and in many other features of worship among the heathen nations of to-day. Let us look at some specimens of early religious poetry. The first is from Monier Williams’ translations of the Vedas. Varuna is the god of the “moisting sky,” Agni is the god of fire, Sūrya, the sun-god, Indra the atmosphere-god. “The mighty Varuna, who rules above, looks down Upon these worlds, his kingdom, as if close at hand. When men imagine they do aught by stealth, he knows it. No one can stand, or walk, or softly glide along, Or hide in dark recess, or lurk in secret cell, But Varuna detects him, and his movements spies. Two persons may devise some plot, together sitting, And think themselves alone; but he, the king, is there-- A third--and sees it all. His messengers descend Countless from his abode, forever traversing This world, and scanning with a thousand eyes its inmates. Whate’er exists within this earth, and all within the sky, Yea, all that is beyond, King Varuna perceives. The winkings of men’s eyes are numbered all by him: He wields the universe as gamesters handle dice.