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 an openness to conviction, or a willingness
to receive after proper proof; not a determination to believe
without investigation. He also pointed out to me what I was less
prepared to hear, that the charity spoken of does not mean, as I
supposed it to express, conscientiousness, but love and
good fellowship, in action and speech; in fact, more in accordance
with the sense in which the word is commonly understood.
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