They believed that Jupiter
Optimus--Jupiter Maximus--was lord of the universe, and that he
had appointed the Romans to become the chief of men, provided they
followed his commands--to brave all difficulty, and to stand up with
an invincible front--to be ready to do and die; and also to have the
same sacred regard to veracity, to promise, to integrity, and all the
virtues that surround that noblest quality of men--courage--to
which the Romans gave the name of virtue, manhood, as the one thing
ennobling for a man.
In the literary ages of Rome, that had very much decayed away; but
still it had retained its place among the lower classes of the Roman
people. Of the deeply religious nature of the Greeks, along with their
beautiful and sunny effulgences of art, you have a striking proof, if
you look for it.
In the tragedies of Sophocles, there is a most distinct recognition of
the eternal justice of Heaven, and the unfailing punishment of crime
against the laws of God.
I believe you will find in all histories that that has been at the
head and foundation of them all, and that no nation that did
not contemplate this wonderful universe with an awe-stricken and
reverential feeling that there was a great unknown, omnipotent, and
all-wise, and all-virtuous Being, superintending all men in it, and
all interests in it--no nation ever came to very much, nor did any man
either, who forgot that.
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