It may not be altogether improper to remind the reader, that hitherto our discussion has been concerning the prevailing Religious opinions merely of _professed Christians_: no longer confining ourselves to persons of this description, let us now extend our inquiry, and briefly investigate the _general_ state of Christianity in this country. The tendency of Religion in general to promote the temporal well-being of political communities, is a fact which depends on such obvious and undeniable principles, and which is so forcibly inculcated by the history of all ages, that there can be no necessity for entering into a formal proof of its truth. It has indeed been maintained, not merely by Schoolmen and Divines, but by the most celebrated philosophers, and moralists, and politicians of every age. The peculiar excellence in this respect also of Christianity, considered independently of its truth or falsehood, has been recognized by many writers, who, to say the least, were not disposed to exaggerate its merits. Either or both of these propositions being admitted, the state of Religion in a country at any given period, not to mention its connection with the eternal happiness of the inhabitants, immediately becomes a question of great _political_ importance: and in particular it must be material to ascertain whether Religion be in an advancing or in a declining state; and if the latter be the case, whether there be any practicable means for preventing at least its farther declension. If the representations contained in the preceding chapters, of the state of Christianity among the bulk of professed Christians, be not very erroneous; they may well excite serious apprehension in the mind of every reader, when considered merely in a political view. And this apprehension would be encreased, if there should appear reason to believe that, for some time past, Religion has been on the decline amongst us, and that it continues to decline at the present moment.