ery one that I did not see in
others. I could see things in some Protestants, which I thought
Catholics would do well to imitate; and I could see things among
Catholics, which I thought Protestants would do well to imitate. I could
see things in Quakerism, which it would have been to the honor and
advantage of other Christians to imitate; and I could see good things in
other Churches which Quakers would have done well to copy. I could see
even among Unitarians of the older and better class, an attention to
matters practical, a naturalness of style, and a freedom from certain
anti-christian expressions and notions, which it would have been well
for orthodox Churches to have made their own; and I could see where
Unitarians had both gone too far through their dislike of orthodox
error, and fallen short of truth and duty through dread of orthodox
weaknesses or imperfections. And I had an idea, that it would be well
in all Churches, instead of avoiding, or scolding, or abusing one
another, to study each other lovingly, with a view to find how much of
truth and goodness they could find in each other, that they could not
find in themselves, and how much of error and imperfection they could
find in themselves, that they did not find in others. I saw that no
Church had got all the truth, or all the goodness, and that no Church
was free from anti-christian errors and defects. I saw that to make a
perfect Christian creed, we should have to take something out of every
creed, and leave other things in every creed behind; and that to secure
a perfect exhibition of Christian virtue, and a perfect system of
Christian operations, we should have to borrow from each other habits,
customs, rules and machinery in the same way, and leave parts of our own
to fall into disuse.

And I was willing to act on this principle. I saw that Christ and
Christianity were more and better than all the Churches and all the
creeds on earth put together, and that all the Churches had errors and
faults or failings which Christ and Christianity had not; and I had an
idea that one of the grandest sights conceivable would be to set all the
disciples of Christ to work striving to get rid of everything
anti-christian, and to come as near to Christ, and to each other, as
possible, both in truth and virtue.

But to proceed with my story.

I frequently spoke on religious subjects with my colleagues when we met,
along with the leading laymen, at the houses of our fr