to do it, the only aperture through which any ray of light can reach them. It is not, however, a single class of society which derives an habitual assistance from religion, it is all those who have to complain of the abuse of authority, of public injustice, and the different vicissitudes of their fate; it is the innocent man who is condemned, the virtuous man who is slandered, the man who has once acted inconsistently, and been censured with too much rigour; all those, in short, who, convinced of the purity of their own conscience, seek for, above all, a secret witness of their intentions, and an enlightened judge of their conduct. A man of an exalted character, endowed with sensibility of heart, experiences also the necessity of forming to himself an image of an unknown Being, to which he can unite all the ideas of perfection which fill his imagination; it is to Him that he refers those different sentiments, which are useless amidst the corruptions which surround him; it is in God alone that he can find an inexhaustible subject of astonishment and adoration; and with Him alone can he renew and purify his sentiments, when he is wearied with the sight of the vices of the world, and the habitual return of the same passions. In short, at every instant the happy idea of a God softens and embellishes our path through life, and by it we associate ourselves with delight to all the beauties of nature; by it every thing animated enters into communication with us; yes, the noise of the wind, the murmurs of the water, the peaceable agitation of plants, all serves to support, or melt our souls, provided that our thoughts can rise to a universal cause, provided we can discover every where the works of Him whom we love, provided we can distinguish the vestiges of His footsteps and the traces of His intentions; and, above all, if we can suppose, that we ourselves contribute to the display of His power, and the splendour of His goodness.