We are lost in a boundless uncertainty, when we try to go beyond the limits of human powers. Thus, after having collected all the forces of our souls, to enable us to penetrate the existence of a God, we ought not to exhaust ourselves in subtleties, vainly endeavouring to conceive in a just acceptation, and under evident relations, various attributes of an Infinite Being, who has chosen to make himself known to us in a certain measure, and under certain forms; and it is too much to require of the worshippers of God, to defend themselves against those who contest his existence, and dispute about the nature of his perfections. I am far from supposing any obstacle to the execution of his will; but I should be full of the same religious sentiments, if I knew that there existed order and laws in the nature of things, which the Divine Power has a faculty of modifying, and that it cannot entirely destroy. I should not less adore the Supreme Being, if, at the same time, his various attributes were in constant union, it was nevertheless, by degrees, that he produced happiness; I should silently respect the secrets which would escape my penetration, and wait with respectful submission, till the clouds were dissipated which still surrounded me. What then! always in ignorance and obscurity? Yes, always: such is the condition of men, when they wish to go beyond the limits traced by the immutable laws of nature; but the grand truths which we can easily perceive are sufficient to regulate our conduct, and afford us comfort. That there is a God, every thing indicates and loudly announces; but I cannot discover either the mysteries of his essence, or the intimate connection of his various perfections. I plainly see in a crowd the monarch encircled by his guards; I know his laws, I enjoy the order he has prescribed; but I assist not at his councils, and am a stranger to his deliberations. I even perceive, that an impenetrable veil separates me from the designs of the Supreme Being, and I do not undertake to trace them; I commit myself with confidence to the protection of that Being whom I believe good and great, as I would rely on the guidance of a friend during a dark night; and whilst I have my foot in the abyss, I will depend on Him to snatch me from the danger and calm my terrors. If we might be allowed the comparison, we should say, that God is like the sun, which we cannot stedfastly gaze at; but throwing our eyes down, we perceive its rays and the beauties it spreads around. However, men who, either through a mistrust of their understanding, or the nature of it, have only by their reverence an intercourse with God, feel most forcibly the impression of his grandeur; as it is at the extremity of the lever that we strongly experience its power.