resolved, by God's help, to find out both what it said and what it
meant, on every important point of truth and duty.

1. I became sensible, very early in life, that the doctrines I had
received from my teachers were, in some cases, inconsistent with each
other, and that they could not therefore all be true; and I was anxious
to get rid of this inconsistency, and to bring the whole of my beliefs
into harmony with each other.

2. I was also anxious to bring my views into agreement with the
teachings of Christ and His Apostles. I wished every article of my
belief to rest, not on the word of man, but on the word of God. I
believed it to be my duty to come as near to Christ as possible, both in
my views and character. And I wished my style of preaching and teaching
to be, like His, the perfection of plainness and simplicity. I felt that
my chief mission was to the masses,--that I was called especially to
preach and teach the Gospel to the poor; and it was my wish to be able
to make it plain to people of the most defective education, and of the
humblest capacity.

3. I was further wishful to see an agreement between the doctrines which
I gathered from the Sacred Scriptures, and the oracles which came to me
from the works of God in nature. If nature and Christianity were from
the same All-perfect God, as I believed, their voices must be one. Their
lessons of truth and duty must agree. They must have the same end and
tendency. Christian precepts must be in harmony with man's mental and
bodily constitution. They must be conducive to the development of all
man's powers; to the perfection and happiness of his whole being. They
must be friendly to the improvement of his condition. They must favor
every thing that is conducive to his personal and domestic happiness,