admire the freedom and bluntness of the uncivilized; but more
personal experience showed me the dark as well as the bright side,
and brought out in their due prominence the advantages of the
conventionalities of good society. While in the bush, this
conviction only impressed itself partially, but a return to town
extended and confirmed it. When we are in daily contact and
intercourse with an immense number of persons, some of whom we
like, while we dislike or feel indifferent about many others, we
find a difficulty in avoiding one man's acquaintance without
offending him, or of keeping another at a distance without an
insult. It is not easy to treat your superiors with respect void of
sycophancy, or to be friendly with those you prefer, and at the
same time to steer clear of undue familiarity, adapting yourself to
circumstances and persons, and, in fact, doing always the right
thing at the proper time and in the best possible manner. I used to
be rather proud of saying that it was necessary for strangers to
know me for some time before they liked me. I am almost ashamed now
not to have had sense enough to see that this arose from sheer
awkwardness and stupidity on my part; from the absence of address,
and a careless disregard of the rules of society, which necessarily
induce a want of self-confidence, a bashful reserve, annoying to
sensible people and certainly not compensated for by the possession
of substantial acquirements, hidden, but not developed, and
unavailable when wanted. I find now that I can get into the good
graces of any one with whom I associate better in half an hour than
I could have done in a week two years ago. I know no one who puts
these matters in a better light than Lord Chesterfield in his
Letters to his Son, which you most probably have read.

Since I wrote to you last, I have received some light on the
subject of FAITH, which I was not at that time aware of. In a
discussion with a gentleman on religious matters, some remarks were
made upon faith and charity, which led to an analysis of the
original Greek word used to express the former by St. Paul, which
has been translated "faith," and is generally accepted in the
ordinary sense we attach to that word in English; namely, an
implicit trust in what you are told, without question or doubt. But
this friend of mine, who is a splendid Greek scholar, called my
attention to the fact that the Greek word, for which we have no
exact equivalent, means