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.
. . .
This letter was the last but two he ever addressed to his mother,
and I have not transcribed the whole. It is long and discursive,
considering how much he had on his hands at that time, and how
completely he was occupied with the pending expedition. In his next
he refers to some apprehensions expressed by maternal solicitude
that his religious convictions might be altered by a friend who
entertained extremely different views. "I intended, my dear
mother," he says, "to have replied at length to one of the remarks
in your last, but I fear I must be very brief. Your idea that I am
influenced by--'s notions of religion is amusingly erroneous.
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