Page:Robert Carter- his life and work. 1807-1889 (IA robertcarterhis00coch).pdf/103

Rh towns would come in for the purpose of joining the charmed circle. The Princeton and Union Seminary Professors were often there. None of them were more revered and beloved by Mr. Carter than Dr. James W. Alexander; but there was a long list of others whom he delighted to meet. Among the honored names are those of the Hodges and Alexanders, of Drs. Miller, Smith, Skinner, McElroy, Potts, Krebs, Murray, Phillips, Hutton, and Cuyler.

Episcopal and Methodist bishops and clergy, ministers of the Baptist, Dutch Reformed, and other denominations, mingled with the rest, and it almost seemed as if it might be said that the idea that there is “no sect in heaven” had been realized on earth. In Mr. Carter’s heart the unity and brotherhood of the Church of Christ was an accepted fact. Among his dearest personal friends were Bishop McIlvaine and Drs. Tyng, Newton, and Muhlenberg of the Episcopal Church, all of whom were frequenters of the symposiums at his store. On his list of authors there are as many Episcopal as Presbyterian names, and Baptists, Methodists, Congregationalists, and Quakers are all represented. It may astonish some of his orthodox friends to know that there are even Unitarian and Roman Catholic names on the list. And yet he was most conscientious in regard to never publishing anything which he did not personally accept as true, and calculated to do good.

He was so careful in regard to publishing nothing that he could not approve, that he seldom published anything that he had not read. There were a few of his authors whose opinions he was as sure of as he was of his own, and whose writings he accepted without reading. This careful supervision involved an