were given to be used freely, but not audaciously, to discover, not
to pervert the truth. Why were so many things presented as through
a veil, unless to stimulate our efforts to clear away the veil, and
penetrate to the light? I think it is plain that St. Paul, while he
calls upon us to believe, never intended that we should be
passively credulous. [Footnote: My son might have further enforced
his view by a passage from St. Paul, 1 Thessalonians, chapter 5
verse 21, had it occurred to him: "Prove all things; hold fast that
which is good." By this the apostle implies, according to
Archbishop Secker's commentary, all things which may be right or
wrong according to conscience. And by "proving them" he means, not
that we should try them by experience, which would be an absurd and
pernicious direction, but that we should examine them by our
faculty of judgment, which is a wise and useful exhortation.]
Credulity was one of the most prominent engines of the Romish
Church, but there was a trace of sense in their application of it.
They taught that the ignorant and uneducated should have faith in
the doctrines introduced to them by their betters, and those who
had found time to investigate the matter; but some, in the present
day, support the monstrous delusion that enlightened and
well-trained intellects, the most glorious of all the earthly gifts
of God, should bow to canting and illiterate fanaticism. . .

Adieu for the present, my dear mother, and believe me ever
your affectionate, and I hope unbigoted son,

W.J. WILLS.

. . .