ChapterXIII。
Thispeoplehaveareligion，and，whatevermaybesaidagainstit，atleastithasthesestrangepeculiarities：firstly，thatallbelieveinthecreedtheyprofess;secondly，thattheyallpracticethepreceptswhichthecreedinculcates。TheyuniteintheworshipofonedivineCreatorandSustaineroftheuniverse。Theybelievethatitisoneofthepropertiesoftheall—permeatingagencyofvril，totransmittothewell—springoflifeandintelligenceeverythoughtthatalivingcreaturecanconceive;andthoughtheydonotcontendthattheideaofaDietyisinnate，yettheysaythattheAn（man）istheonlycreature，sofarastheirobservationofnatureextends，towhom’thecapacityofconceivingthatidea，’withallthetrainsofthoughtwhichopenoutfromit，isvouchsafed。Theyholdthatthiscapacityisaprivilegethatcannothavebeengiveninvain，andhencethatprayerandthanksgivingare55acceptabletothedivineCreator，andnecessarytothecompletedevelopmentofthehumancreature。Theyoffertheirdevotionsbothinprivateandpublic。Notbeingconsideredoneoftheirspecies，Iwasnotadmittedintothebuildingortempleinwhichthepublicworshipisrendered;butIaminformedthattheserviceisexceedinglyshort，andunattendedwithanypompofceremony。ItisadoctrinewiththeVril—ya，thatearnestdevotionorcompleteabstractionfromtheactualworldcannot，withbenefittoitself，bemaintainedlongatastretchbythehumanmind，especiallyinpublic，andthatallattemptstodosoeitherleadtofanaticismortohypocrisy。Whentheyprayinprivate，itiswhentheyarealoneorwiththeiryoungchildren。
TheysaythatinancienttimestherewasagreatnumberofbookswrittenuponspeculationsastothenatureoftheDiety，andupontheformsofbelieforworshipsupposedtobemostagreeabletoHim。Butthesewerefoundtoleadtosuchheatedandangrydisputationsasnotonlytoshakethepeaceofthecommunityanddividefamiliesbeforethemostunited，butinthecourseofdiscussingtheattributesoftheDiety，theexistenceoftheDietyHimselfbecamearguedaway，or，whatwasworse，becameinvestedwiththepassionsandinfirmitiesofthehumandisputants。\"For，\"saidmyhost，\"sinceafinitebeinglikeanAncannotpossiblydefinetheInfinite，so，whenheendeavourstorealiseanideaoftheDivinity，heonlyreducestheDivinityintoanAnlikehimself。\"Duringthelaterages，therefore，alltheologicalspeculations，thoughnotforbidden，havebeensodiscouragedastohavefallenutterlyintodisuse。
TheVril—yauniteinaconvictionofafuturestate，morefelicitousandmoreperfectthanthepresent。Iftheyhaveveryvaguenotionsofthedoctrineofrewardsandpunishments，itisperhapsbecausetheyhavenosystemsofrewardsandpunishmentsamongthemselves，fortherearenocrimestopunish，andtheirmoralstandardissoeventhatnoAnamong56themis，uponthewhole，consideredmorevirtuousthananother。
Ifoneexcels，perhapsinonevirtue，anotherequallyexcelsinsomeothervirtue;Ifonehashisprevalentfaultorinfirmity，soalsoanotherhashis。Infact，intheirextraordinarymodeoflife。therearesofewtemptationstowrong，thattheyaregood（accordingtotheirnotionsofgoodness）merelybecausetheylive。Theyhavesomefancifulnotionsuponthecontinuanceoflife，whenoncebestowed，eveninthevegetableworld，asthereaderwillseeinthenextchapter。