At the beginning, the conflict was not designed
to be a revolution but only a judicious expedient for the improvement of
the colonial laws.[68] Wise rulers, governing for the best interests of
their country, have generally found that the most discontented of their
subjects are the most skeptical. Infidelity and error have
systematically arrayed themselves against civil authority. This
infidelity does not always assume the same type; for, while in Germany
it was a general disbelief in the authenticity of the Scriptures, in
France it was the rejection of the existence of God and of the
immortality of the soul. Even Robespierre testified before the French
National Convention of 1794, that "the idea of a supreme Being and of
the immortality of the soul, was a continual call to justice, and that
no nation could succeed without the recognition of these truths." A
revolution in Christendom, which has its basis in the skeptical nature
of man, or in an anti-scriptural idea, may succeed for a while, but it
must eventually fail; because, like a vessel without compass, chart, or
star, it lacks the cardinal elements and safeguards of progress and
security.
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