Influence, which, in all Probablility, Fast-Days will have upon
Believers, that assist in the keeping of them.

Hor. What Influence is that, pray, if it be not Religious?

Cleo. That they will inspire, and fill the Men with fresh Hopes, that
God will favour them and be of their Side. The Reputation of those
Days, that they avert the Divine Wrath, and are acceptable to Heaven,
is, in a great Measure, the Cause, that they have this Influence upon
the Men. The Heathens harbour'd the same Sentiments of their Publick
Supplications; and it has been the Opinion of all Ages, that the more
Solemn and Respectful the Addresses are, which Men put up to the
Deity, and the greater the Numbers are that join in them, the more
probable it is, that their Petitions shall be granted. It is possible
therefore, that a Politician may appoint Extraordinary Days of
Devotion, with no other View than to chear up the Soldier, revive his
Hopes, and make him confident of Success. Men are ready enough to
flatter themselves, and willing to believe, that Heaven is on their
Side, whenever it is told them, tho' they have little Reason to think
so. But then they are unsteady, and naturally prone to Superstition,
which often raises new Doubts and Fears in them. Therefore Common
Soldiers are continually to be buoy'd up in the good Opinion they have
of themselves; and the Hopes they were made to conceive, ought often
to be stirr'd up in them afresh. The Benefit that accrues from those
Extraordinary Days of Devotion, and the Advantages expected from them,
are of longer Duration, than just the Time they are kept in. With a
little Help of the Clergy, they are made to do Good when they are
over; and two or three Days or a Week after, the Usefulness of them is
more conspicuous than it was before. It is in the Power of the
General, or any Government whatever, to have those Days as strictly