Till the earth be the same in each region--till the same circumstances surround every tribe--different impressions, in nations yet unconverted and uncivilized, produce different deities.

Nature suggests a God, and man invests him with attributes.

Nature and man, the same as a whole, vary in details; the one does not everywhere suggest the same notions--the other cannot everywhere imagine the same attributes.

As with other tribes, so with the Pelasgi or primitive Greeks, their early gods were the creatures of their own early impressions.
As one source of religion was in external objects, so another is to be found in internal sensations and emotions.

The passions are so powerful in their effects upon individuals and nations, that we can be little surprised to find those effects attributed to the instigation and influence of a supernatural being.