mind towards the truth." (P. 23.) And what was the state of the public mind fifty years ago? In the middle of the last century Voltaire and his impious associates formed their conspiracy against Christianity, and labored diligently, in their unholy vocation, to overturn the Church of Christ, and to bless the world with the reign of infidelity and Atheism. Their efforts were crowned with most alarming success. Frederick the Great of Prussia patronized Voltaire. Princes and crowned heads were poisoned with infidelity. The French Revolution burst forth like a terrible and destructive volcano. Infidelity became ascendant. Religion was laughed to scorn. The Sabbath was abolished. The goddess of reason was enthroned and worshipped. The baneful influence of infidelity and atheism was spread more or less over a large part of Europe. Nor did this country escape the miserable contagion. Such was the depressed state of religion and the prevalence of infidelity about fifty years ago, that a venerable Theological Professor advised his pupils (the writer heard him) to prepare their minds for a season of persecution.
