Page 29. Your Lordship writes thus, "When they profess to think and act under the immediate guidance of a divine Inspiration." And does not your Lordship think and act by the same rule? Why, otherwise, does your Lordship pray when you administer the holy Communion, " that God would cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of his Holy Spirit?" Page 31. Your Lordship says, "when they speak of their preaching and expounding, and the effects of them, as the fole work of a divine Power." And would your Lordship have me ascribe any, the leaft thing to myself? The good that is done upon earth, doth not God do it himself? Does not the Apostle say, "Not that we are fufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves, but our fufficiency is of God?" And where then, my Lord, is the absurdity of ascribing the effects of expounding and preaching to the sole work of a divine Power? Again, (page 33.) "When they boast of fudden and furprizing effects as wrought by the Holy Ghost, in consequence of their preaching." Where, my Lord, is the enthusiasm of such a pretenfion? Has your Lordship been a preacher in the church of England, for fo many years, and have you never seen any fudden or furprizing effects, consequent upon your Lordship's preaching? Was this my case, should I not have reason to doubt, my Lord, whether I had any more than a bare human commiffion? Or might I not take up the Prophet's lamentation, "O my leanness, my leanness!" My Lord, the gospel, 'like its author, is the fame yesterday, to-day, and for ever; and, if preached as it ought to be, will prick numbers to the heart, and extort the cry of the trembling goaler, "What must I do to be saved!" as surely now, as it did seventeen hundred years ago. These then are the sudden and surprizing effects, my Lord, I always defire to have, and I heartily pray God, your Lordship and all your clergy may always fee such effects in confequence of their preaching. (Page 34.) "When they claim the spirit of prophecy." What I have faid about my fuccess, God has been pleased fulfil already. What I have faid about sufferings, they who without without cause are my enemies are fulfilling daily. And as for the promises mentioned in my Journal, I freely own there are some particular promises, which God has so strongly impressed, and does still imprefs on my heart, that I verily believe they will be fulfilled. (Page 35.) "When they speak of themselves in the language, and under the character of Apostles of Christ, and even of CHRIST himself." If I am not to speak in an apoftolical language, why did my Lord of Gloucester give me an apoftolical commiffion, "whose fins thou doft forgive, they are forgiven; and whose fins thou dost retain, they are retained?" And I hope, my Lord, using the words which JESUS CHRIST used, is not taking upon me the character of CHRIST. (Page 36.) "When they profess to plant and propagate a new Gospel, as unknown to the generality of minifters and people, in a christian country." 'Tis true, my Lord, in one sense, mine is a new gospel, and will be always unknown to the generality of minifters and people, even in a christian country, if your Lordship's clergy follow your Lordship's directions. For what says your Lordship, (page 46.) "I hope, that when your minifters preach to you of justification by faith alone, which is asserted in the strongest manner by our church, they explain it in such a manner, as to leave no doubt upon your minds, whether good works are a necessary condition of your being justified in the fight of GOD." But pray, my Lord, where has the scripture made good works a necessary condition of our being justified in the fight of GOD? St. Paul says, " by grace ye are saved, through faith, not of works, and that, least any man should boaft. For eternal life is the gift of God through JESUS CHRIST our LORD." Your Lordship exhorts your clergy to preach justification by faith alone, and quotes the IIth article of our church, which tells us, " we are justified by faith only, and not for our own works or defervings." At the same time, your Lordship bids them " explain it in such a manner, as to leave no doubt upon their minds, whether good works are a necessary condition of their being justified in the fight of Gop." Your Lordship, in my opinion, could not well be guilty of a greater inconsistency. This, my Lord, is truly a new Gospel. I am sure it is not what the Apostles preached; and it is as contrary to the doctrine of the church of England, and the whole tenour of the gospel, as light is contrary to darkness. Had your Lordship insisted on your clergy's preaching up good works as a necessary fruit and consequence, instead of a necessary condition of our being justified, your Lordship would have used your authority aright. For we are commanded to shew forth or declare to others, that we have a true faith by our works. And the 12th article of our church says, that "good works follow after justification;" and how then, my Lord, are they a necessary condition of our justification ? No, my Lord, falvation (if the gospel be true) is the free gift of God through JESUS CHRIST. Faith is the means whereby that salvation is applied to our hearts, and good works are the necessary fruits and proof of that faith. This, my Lord, is the doctrine of JESUS CHRIST, this is the doctrine of the church of England, and it is, because the generality of the clergy of the church of England do not preach this doctrine, that I am resolved, God being my helper, to continue instant in season and out of season, to declare it unto all men, let the consequences, as to my own private person, be what they will. As for your Lordship's blaming me for rafhly censuring the clergy, for their practice, none are concerned, but my indolent, earthly-minded, pleasure-taking brethren, (page 39.) And surely, your Lordship will not stand up in their defence. No, I hope your Lordship will not fail to rebuke them sharply. And as for your Lordship's suspicions, page 50. (For your Lordship's fake I would not mention them) I hope my life and doctrine will always prove them to be groundless. Would time permit, I could now proceed to fatisfy your Lordship more particularly about the case of Mr. Benjamin Seward: but as that is done in a letter sent to my Lord of Gloucester, and as I am now to embark in a few hours, I hope your Lordship will excuse me, if I only add my hearty prayers for your Lordship's temporal and eternal welfare, and subscribe myself, my Lord, Blendon, Monday, Your Lordship's obedient, though unworthy fon and fervant, G. W. The The letter above mentioned, as fent to the Bishop of Gloucefter, was occafioned by the Bishop's acquainting Mr. Whitefield, in a letter, " That he ought to preach only in that congregation to which he was lawfully appointed." This produced the following answer. I My Lord, Thank your Lordship for your Lordship's kind letter. My frequent removes from place to place prevented my answering it fooner. I am greatly obliged to your Lordship, in that you are pleased to watch over my foul, and to caution me against acting contrary to the commission given 'me at ordination. But if the commission we then receive, obliges us to preach no where but in that parish which is committed to our care, then all persons act contrary to their commission when they preach occasionally in any strange place: and consequently your Lordship equally offends, when you preach out of your own diocese. As for inveighing against the clergy, (without a cause) I deny the charge. What I say, I am ready to make good whenever your Lordship pleases. Let those that bring reports to your Lordship about my preaching, be brought face to face, and I am ready to give them an anfwer. St. Paul exhorts Timothy, "Not to receive an accusation against an elder under two or three witnesses." And even Nicodemus could say, "The law suffered no man to be condemned unheard." I shall only add, that I hope your Lordship will inspect into the lives of your other clergy, and cenfure thein for being over-remiss, as much as you cenfure me for being over-righteous. It is their falling from their articles, and not preaching the truth as it is in Jesus, that has excited the present zeal of (those whom they in derision call) the Metho dist preachers. Dr. Stebbing's sermon, (for which I thank your Lordship) confirms me more and more in my opinion, that I ought to be instant in season and out of season. For to me, he seems to know no more of the true nature of regeneration, than Nicodemus did, when he came to Jesus by night. Your Lordship may observe, that he does not speak a word of original fin, or the dreadful consequences of our fall in Adam, upon which the doctrine of the new birth is entirely founded. No: VOL. IV. like other polite preachers, he seems to think in the very beginning of his discourse, that St. Paul's description of the wickedness of the heathen is only to be referred to them of paft ages: whereas I affirm, we are all included as much under the guilt and confequences of fin, as they were; and if any man preach any other doctrine, he shall bear his punishment, whosoever he be. Again, my Lord, the Doctor entirely mistakes us, when we talk of the sensible operations of the Holy Ghost. He understands us just as those carnal Jews understood JESUS CHRIST, who, when our LORD talked of giving them that bread which came down from heaven, faid, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" Indeed I know not that we do use the word sensible, when we are talking of the operations of the Spirit of Gon. But if we do, we do not mean, that God's Spirit does manifest itself to our senses, but that it may be perceived by the foul, as really as is any sensible impression made upon the body. But to difprove this, the Doctor brings our Lord's allusion to the wind in the third of St. John, which is one of the best texts he could urge to prove it. For if the analogy of our LORD's discourse be carried on, we shall find it amounts to thus much; that although the operations of the Spirit of Gop can no more be accounted for, than how the wind cometh and whither it goeth; yet may they be as easily felt by the foul as the wind may be felt by the body. My Lord, indeed we speak what we know. But, says the Doctor, " These men have no proof to offer for their inward manifestations." What proof, my Lord, does the Doctor require? Would he have us raise dead bodies? Have we not done greater things than these? I speak with all humility; has not God by our ministry raised many dead fouls to a spiritual life? Verily, if men will not believe the evidence God has given that he sent us, neither would they believe though one rose from the dead. Besides, my Lord, the Doctor charges us with things to which we are entire strangers, such as the denying men the use of God's creatures. Encouraging abftinence, prayer, &c. to the neglect of the duties of our stations. LORD, lay not this fin to his charge! Again, he says, " That I suppose Mr. Benjamin Seward to be a perfon believing in CHRIST, and blameless in his conversation, before what I call his conver |