Chapter XIX

So sat I talking with my mind.
I did not long to leave the door
And find a new church, as before,
But rather was quiet and inclined
To prolong and enjoy the gentle resting
From further tracking and trying and testing.
"This tolerance is a genial mood!"
(Said I, and a little pause ensued).
"One trims the bark 'twixt shoal and shelf,
"And sees, each side, the good effects of it,
"A value for religion's self,
"A carelessness about the sects of it.
"Let me enjoy my own conviction,
"Not watch my neighbour's faith with fretfulness,
"Still spying there some dereliction
"Of truth, perversity, forgetfulness!"
Better a mild indifferentism,
"Teaching that both our faiths (though duller
"His shine through a dull spirit's prism)
"Originally had one colour!
"Better pursue a pilgrimage
"Through ancient and through modern times
"To many peoples, various climes,
"Where I may see saint, savage, sage
"Fuse their respective creeds in one
"Before the general Father's throne!"