504 THE OCTAVIUS OF altars,inasmuch as theyare persuaded that God can be circumscribedby no temple,and thatno likenessof Him can be made. But He is everywherepresent,sees all things,eventhemost secretthoughtsof our heart; and vre livenear toHim, and in His protection. u But do you think thatwe concealwhat we worship,if we have not temples and altars1 And yet what image of God shallI make, since,if you thinkrightly,man himself is the image of God ? What temple shallI build to Him, when thiswhole world fashionedby His work cannotreceiveHim ? And when I,a man, dwell farand wide,shallI shut up the might of so greatmajesty withinone littlebuilding? Were it not betterthat He shouldbe dedicatedin our mind, con secratedin our inmost heart? Shall I offervictims and sacrificesto the Lord, such as He has produced for my use, thatI should throw back to Him His own gift? It is un gratefulwhen thevictimfitforsacrificeisa good disposition, and a pure mind, and a sincerejudgment.1 Therefore he who cultivatesinnocencesupplicatesGod ; he who cultivates justicemakes offeringsto God ;he who abstainsfrom fraudu lentpracticespropitiatesGod ; he who snatchesman from danger slaughtersthe most acceptablevictim. These are our sacrifices,these are our ritesof God's worship; thus, among us,he who is most justishe who is most religious. But certainlythe God whom we worship we neithershow nor see. Verilyfor thisreasonwe believeHim to be God, thatwe can be consciousof Him, but cannot seeHim ; for in His works, and in allthe movements of the world, we behold His power ever presentwhen He thunders,lightens, dartsHis bolts,or when He makes allbrightagain. Nor shouldyou wonder ifyou do not see God. By the wind and by the blastsof the storm allthings are driven on and shaken,are agitated,and yet neitherwind nor tempest comes under our eyesight Thus we cannot look upon the sun, which isthe cause of seeingto allcreatures: the pupil of the eye iswithdrawn from hisrays,the gaze of the beholder 1Accordingtosomeeditions,"conscience."