( i )
THE
AUTHOR’S INTRODUCTION
TO VOLUME THE SECOND.
I KNOW not, whether among the multitude of interesting objects which history offers to our reflection, there are any more worthy to engage our thoughts, than the different Religions which have appeared with splendour in the world.
It is on this stage, if I may be allowed the expression, that men are represented, as they really are; that their characters are distinctly marked and truly exhibited. Here they display all the foibles, the passions and wants of the heart; the resources, the powers and the imperfections of the mind.
It is only by studying the different Religions that we become sensible how far our natures are capable of being debased by prejudices, or elevated, even above themselves, by sound and solid principles. If
