"You remember Frederick the Great, as he was called.  Alas! he was great in infidelity as well as in war; and he delighted to gather round him those who shared in the same unbelieving views.  God and his truth were subjects of ridicule with them; and a bold man indeed would he be who would venture to say in their presence a word in favour of the gospel or of respect for its divine Author.  But there was such a one amongst those who had the privilege of sitting at the king's table; an old grey- headed man of rank, who had fought his country's battles nobly, and whose wise counsels in state affairs were highly prized by his sovereign.  He was dining one day at the palace, and saw all round him none but those who made a mock of sin and religion.  The conversation flowed freely, and the smart jests of Frederick called forth similar flashes of wit from his different guests.  The subject of Christianity soon came up, and was immediately handled in the most profane and bitter style by the king and those around him.  No wit is so cheap as profane wit; for the devil seems to give a special facility of sarcasm to those who attack God's truth; and, besides that, there seems nothing which ungodly men relish so much, for giving point to their blasphemies, as Scripture facts or words misquoted, misapplied, or parodied.  So the gospel and its Founder were bandied from tongue to tongue as a theme for unholy mirth.  But presently there was a pause and a dead silence; for the grey-headed old soldier, who had sat perfectly silent and deeply pained, as he listened to the unhallowed talk of his companions, rose to his feet, his face flushed, and his hoary head bowed down.  What was coming now?