I  must  begin  by  saying,  with  all  due  deference
to  my  anonymous  friend,  that  \he.  last  part  of  his
letter  is  hardly  to  the  point,  being  a  mere  repeti-
tion (I  hope  he  won't  be  shocked)  of  the  whole
spirit  of  the  first  chapter  of  '  Roots.'  The  one
thing  I  tried  to  paint  most  conspicuously  was  my
young  friend's  intense  appreciation  of  the  utility
to  mankind  of  the  dogmas  he  thoroughly  dis-
believed in,  and  the  impossibility  at  present  of
men's  discarding  them  without  harm.  It  seems
a  truism,  at  first  sight,  to  say  that  a  thing  not
perfect  may  do  enormous  good,  even  through  its
imperfections,  but  it  is  a  truism  not  yet  acknow-
ledged as  a  truth  in  the  world  of  religious  thought.
Who  ever  knew  a  missionary  who  thoroughly
appreciated  the  good  that  was  daily  being  wrought
by  the  religion  he  was  trying  to  supplant  ?

Now,  my  young  friend's  strongest  characteristic
was  this  power  of  liberal  perception,  springing
from  a  firm  belief  in  the  omnipotence  and  omni-
science of  the  unknown  Creator,  which  taught  him
to  look  for  a  use  and  a  purpose  in  everything.
The  most  enthusiastic  priest  could  scarcely
believe  more  firmly  in  the  practical  service  per-
formed by  what  the    'obscure  well-wisher'  calls,


22  ROOTS

in  metaphorical  language,  quadrants,  compasses,
anchors,  telescopes,  log-books,  etc.  ;  but  he  would
say  that  their  practical  utility  was  quite  apart  from
the  question  of  their  being  perfect  Divine  truth.
