Yet I believed in missions. I believed that it was the duty of all to
share their blessings with others; to give to others the light that God
had bestowed on them,--that though _pagans_ might be saved without
Christian light, if they lived according to the light they had,
_Christians_ could not be saved if they did not, as they had
opportunity, _impart_ their superior light to the pagans.
I respected the good moral principles, and the portions of religious
truth that I found in the ancient Greek and Roman authors, just as I
lamented and condemned the moral and religious errors that I found in
Christian books.
"I seized on truth where'er 'twas found,
On Christian or on Heathen ground,"
and made it part of my creed: and I warred with error though entrenched
in the strong-holds of the Church. I respected what was true and good in
all denominations of Christians; and even in all denominations that
_called_ themselves Christians, whether they came near enough to Christ
to entitle them to that name or not. If I saw anything good in the
creeds or the characters of other denominations I accepted it, and tried
to embody it in my own creed and character.
And I did, as I thought, see good in every one that I did not see in
others.
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