Page:Armatafragment00ersk.djvu/421

 ¬been wound up ; and so indeed there had, be- cause the proof was irresistible that his church bad shut her doors against the highest proofs of religious sincerity, and thrown them open to self-interest and falsehood. ¬I did not chuse, however, to mortify him by this declaration, but contented myself with re- peating my admission that every national church was fully justified in publishing its own creeds, and that such professions should, in a religious sense, be considered as the national faith, but not so as to touch the consciences of men by exclusions of any description for differing only as to mysteries, the truth of which no church could perfectly know, and which were immaterial if they could be known. — " How far," I said, " are we distant from that beautiful bridge, which promises to be as immortal as the victory it has recorded ?" — " Above a mile," he answered, " but I cannot comprehend the meaning of your question." — " Then I will tell you," I answered, " in a word." ¬ Some ¬