t80(5.] 



Original Letters. 



S6l 



tnoves from place to plaCe prevented my 

 aiifwering it foouer. I am greatly obl;^;- 

 ed to your Lordlliip ia that you are pleaf- 

 ed to watch over my foul, and to caution 

 me ajiaiiift ai^tins; contrary to the com- 

 tnillion given me at my ordination. But 

 if the comniilVion wc then receive obhges 

 us to preach no where but in tiiat piirilh 

 which is committed to our care, tlien all 

 perfons act contrary to tlieir conunilfion 

 ■whew they preach occullonally in any 

 Ihauge place. And coni'e'juently your 

 Lordlhip equally o!fends when you preach 

 *)ut of yuurovvn diocefe. 



" As for inveighing againft the clergy 

 (without a caufe), I deny the charge. 

 NVhat 1 fay, I am ready to make good 

 whenever your Lordlhip pleafes. Let 

 thofe that bring reports to your Lordlliip 

 about my preaching be brought face to 

 face, and 1 am ready to give them an an- 

 fiver. St. Paul exhorts Timothy not to 

 receive an accufation againfl an elder un- 

 der two or three witueifes. And even 

 .N^icodemus could fay, that the Law fuf- 

 tered no man to be condemned unheard. 

 I (hall only add, that I hope your Lord- 

 lhip will infpett into the lives of your 

 ether clergy, and cenfurc theiii for being 

 aver-remij's, as much as you cenfure me 

 for being over-righteous. — It is their fall- 

 ing from their articles, and not preaching 

 the truth as it is in Jefus, that has ex- 

 cited the prefeut zeal of (what they in 

 derilion call) the Methodht Preachers. 

 Doctor Stebbing's fermon (for which I 

 thank your Lordlhip) confirms me more 

 and more in my opinion, that I ought to 

 be inltaut in feafm and out of fcafon. 

 Tor to me he feems to know no more of 

 the true irature of regeneration, than Ni- 

 codcmus did when he came to Jefus by 

 night. — ^Your Lordlhip may obfcn'e, that 

 he does not fpeak a word of original iin, 

 or the dreadful confequenccs of our fall 

 in Adam, upon which the dottrine of the 

 new-birth is entirely founded. No, like 

 »)tiier polite preachers, he feems to think 

 in the very biyinning of Iris dilcourfe, 

 that St. Paiil'M delcription of the wicked- 

 nefs of the heathens is only to be referred 

 to them of palt ages. VVhereas t atfirrn 

 we are all as much included under the 

 guilt and coiifequetices of iin as they 

 were. And if any man preach any other 

 doctrine, he (hall bear his punilhment, 

 whofoever he be. — .A.ain, ray Lord, the 

 Dottor entirely niiliakes us when we talk 

 of ihc fen fible opciutiong of the Holy 

 Glioft. lie underltanda usjnft us thofc 

 carnal .Jews underfiood Jefus Chrift; who, 



■when our Lord talked of giving them tiiat 

 bread which came down from Heaven, 

 laid, ' Mow can this man gi\e us his flellj. 

 to eat r Indeed I know not that we da 

 ul'e the \\on\j'c/iJible when vvc are talking 

 of the operations of the Spirit of Uod. 

 But i. ue do, we do not mean that God's 

 Spirit does manifell itfelf to ourjhijes, 

 but that it may be perceived by the loul, 

 as really as is any feniible imprelfioii 

 made upon the body. But to riifprove 

 this, the Doctor brings our Lord's ailu- 

 fion to the wind in the third of St. John, 

 which is the belt text that he could urga 

 to prove it. For if the analogy of our 

 Lord's dilcourfe be carried on, we (hall 

 find it amounts to thus much — ' That al- 

 though the operations of the Spirit of 

 God can no more be accounted for than 

 how the wind cometh and whither it go- 

 eth ; yet may they be J'flt as really by 

 the Ibul as the wind may be felt by the 

 body.' My Lord, indeed we fpeak what 

 we know. ' But,' fays the Doctor, ' thefe 

 men have no proof to oii'er for their iii- 

 ward manifeliations.' What proof, my 

 Lord, does the Doctor require } Would he 

 have us raife dead bodies .? Have we not 

 done greater things than thefe } I fpealc 

 with all humility, has not God, by our 

 miniftry, raifed many dead fouls to a fpi- 

 ritual life } \'erily, if men w ill not be- 

 lieve the evidence that God hath given, 

 that He hath lent us, neither would they 

 believe though one rofe from the dead. — 

 Eehdes, my Lord, the DoCtor charges us 

 with things we are entire ftrangers to, 

 fucli as, ' denying men the ufe of God's 

 creatures, encouraging abllinence, prayer, 

 &c. to the neglett of the duties of our 

 ftation.' — ^Lord, lay not this fin to his 

 charge. Again, he fays, I fuppofed Mr. 

 Benjamin Seward to be a perfon be/iev- 

 ingin C/(?(/^,aad blamelefs in his conver- 

 facion, before what I call his converfion. 

 — But this is a dirett untruth. For it 

 was the want of a living faith in Jelus 

 Chrill, which he now has, that lie was not 

 a Chrillian before, but a mere moralift. — . 

 Your Lordlhip knows that our article 

 fays, ' Works done without the Spirit of 

 God and true faith in Jefus Chrift, have 

 the nature of fin.' And fuch were all the 

 works done by Mr. Beujauiin Seward be- 

 fore the time mentioned in my Journal. 

 — Again, my Lord, the Dottor repre- 

 fents that as my opinion concerning the 

 Quakers in general, which I only meant 

 of tliofe I converfed "ith in particulai-. 

 But the Doctor and the rell of my reve« 

 rend bretlueu ai-e welcome to judge me 

 Z z &v 



