RESEARCH 205 



and elegance of his style, the apparent soundness of his 

 logic, the novel and pleasing form of his narrative, or the 

 highly finished and interesting account of his travels — 

 to doubt the truth of our holy religion. I had indulged 

 in poring over authors, in my leisure hours — whose 

 arguments, founded on indefatigable research and direct 

 testimony, confuted the reasoning and exjDosed the 

 sophistry of the French philosopher's insidious attacks ; 

 and in searching for myself, I had become acquainted 

 with many authors, sacred and profane — ancient and 

 modern — whose writings, in the remotest degree, had 

 reference to this all-important subject. 



Consequently, I had but to refresh my memory with 

 Tacitus and Suetonius, and the writers on ecclesiastical 

 history, to furnish me with the necessary incidents for a 

 subject that comprised a period when our creed was in 

 its infancy, and when its growth was expedited by the 

 very means taken for its destruction. 



Meeting my friend shortly after, I asked him if he had 

 begun his poem. 



He replied, " No ; have you done anything ? " 



"I have put together about forty lines or so ; if you 

 will call this evening you can see them, and you can 

 judge for yourself." 



He did so, and while I read he listened very atten- 

 tively. When I had concluded, he acknowledged that 

 they were very beautiful, but assured me that they 

 would not win the prize. 



I then, of course, gave up all hopes of being of any 

 assistance to him, but, from fancy, I pursued my task. 



Not long after this interview I was summoned to 



