Page:The Present State of Peru.djvu/298



TO be acquainted with the Supreme Being, man does not need the instruction of a master, but has within himself a light emanating from the divinity, which fails not to point out to him his maker. On this account, nations have at all times agreed, that there is a deity, the artificer of the world, by whom it is governed and preserved. Nature herself affords the strongest evidences of his existence and power. The celestial vault, adorned with luminous stars which usurp the empire of night; the sun, the sovereign ruler of years and days; the plains covered with flowers and golden harvests; the quadrupeds which tread the earth; the birds which skim the diaphanous region of the air; and the fishes which inhabit the liquid element of the waters; magnify the glory of the Eternal, displaying the magnificence and skill of his hand. Man alone, departing from the paths of light, follows the obscurity of his aberrations, substituting impiety for religion, and ascribing to the creatures the worship which is required by his Lord.

The insolent Ham, loaded with the maledictions of his father, and not having been instructed by him in the worship which