I.IBKARY OF THE AT PRiafCETOJV, W. J. PON \ 'HON OF S A M IJ E L A O N K W , ir Fil IL AlrK L V H 1 A. PA. No .^. 9^, ;g< ;— --> jio f__j i are^ r |j A7/e//; Sectio:. OCC 5 ^C£-- ther it be too foon to prepare, for what may happen the 'very next hour. — Perhaps you are a little Jhocked at the found of the terms " folemn cou?ifcL" But, wherefore f Ought not that advice to be replete with folemnity, which relates to events thi mod folemn. conftdcr; is it not folemn, to be lick? Is it not Jiill more foknm, to die? Is it not ten thoufand times more fo, to be brou'^ht to judgment ? Jnd, to receive from the mouth of the Judge of heaven and earth, a fentence ntver to he reverfed, for an etendty of either blifs or wo ; is not this an event, in all its circumfiances fo folemn, as to admit of no parallel whatever? To all thefe fcenes, as they will occur in folemn and inevitable iucceffion, ycu mufi one day be a wit- Tiefs. JVould you wifh then to banijli the idea of them from your thoughts f Or, are you unwiliin(^ to read now, what you will, ere long, fee as a folemn fad ? God forbid ! Rather, let me hope, that you ivill be iieither flartled at the title, nor offended at the fubjejf of the pamphlet. Read it with candor : compare it with fcripture. And, after you have well weighed its contents in that impartial balance of the faiiLluary, may you be con- Jirained vHI. P R E F A C E. ftrained to admit the force of truth, and to how to its authority. Then you will kn^w, that the great doBrines of the gofpel, which treat of fuh- jecis of the great eft folemnity, lead no more to me- lancholy than to levity: — that, to be truly firious and viopijh, are as little allied as health and difeafe, light and darknefs : — and that a faving knowledge of the truths of revelation, is the grand cordial for low fpirits ; the balm of life j the foul's fun- fhine in death ; and the key of paradife. May the grace of God incline you to enter upon the im- portant trial f And may the blejjing of Heaven crown the experiment ! " Then /hall you know, if you follow on to know, the Lord, that his going forth is prepared as the morning : and he fliall come unto you as the rain ; as the latter and the former rain unto the earth." Hof. vi. 3, A LETTER V * * * * * * * ******* * ** * '^ .^ij * '»" L E T T E R, ^^. S I R, HAVING heard, from fome of your friends, that your bodily health is re- duced to a ftate of extreme weak- nefSj and that there is caufe to apprehend, the prefent alarming fymptoms, attending your comphlntSj may be the certain fore- runners of your near-approaching diflblution : I thought, a few ferious confiderations, fag- gefted at fo critical a time, might be neither unacceptable nor unufeful. As you have often liftened, with patience, to my exhor- tations from the pulpit, I have the greater hope, that you will bear with this addrefs from my fiudy j more efpecially, when I aiTure you, that it proceeds from a difmterefted regard for your everlafling concerns. And, who B know;? [ 10 ] knows, how far it may pleafe the Divine Goodnefs to give that bleffing to a letter^ which may not hitherto have accompanied a Sermon f In that cafe, I fliall have abundant caufe to blefs God, that I have not zvritten in vain ; and you, fiill greater reafon to praife him, that you have not read in vain. I confefs my expecftations are ralfed not a h'ttle, when I confider, that I am about to addrefs one, lying under the rod of afflidlon; and therefore in fuch circumftances, as gene- rally lead to ihofe folemn reflexions, which, in time of health and ftrength, are banlfhed from the mind as fo many impertinent ob- truders. If ever the ear of diffipated mortals will liften to the voice of IVifdom, or the heart admit her facred dicflates, it will mofl probably be, at the time that the voice of the rod is heard : * Under the influence of fiich hopes, there- fore, as the word of God and the nature of aflli6lIon concur to infpire, permit me to ad- drefs you, as a dying inani as one, juft upon * In their affliU'ian they -will fcek me ejriy. Hof. v. 15. Lord, in i>oiihk have they v'ifued thee, they ponied out a prayer, ■when thy chajlenhig ■\¥iti Upon ihcm. If. a6. 16. the [ II ] the verge of eternity : for, fuch you certainly are, and fuch indeed the writer of this epiftle is, even fuppofing that the largeft ihare of heakh were the portion of us both. In the mldft of Uje ive are in death, is a declaration no \t(^ applicable to the healthy, than to the invalid. But, confiderlng that the feeds of death, originally fown in the body by the fatal hand oi fin, begin to fpring up in your dif- eafed conftitution ; and that you feel thofe pains, which indicate the approach of that great change, which will foon be fuccceded by an awful eternity of blifs or wo : — confider- ing, that that health, which has been hitherto prefervcd by almoft a nilracle of providence, begins to droop under the hand of pining licknefs ; and that your conftitutlon (which perhaps you have, fometimes, in a vain-glorious fit, imagined to have been proof againft dif- eafe) is now at laft obliged to yield to the various fliocks and injuries it has received ; — conlidering too, that, in all probability, the declarations of the phylician, the opinions of friends, and the apprehenfions of the afflld^ed patient himfclf, all unite In pronouncing you a dfing man : — is there not the greateft pro- priety [ 12 ] priety in my addreffing you as fuch, now that perhaps your complaints appear to acqaire gradual flrength, and to baffle, at once, the ikill of phyficians and the power of medicine? Conlider then. Sir, (and it will even do you no harm, to conclude) that you are a dying wan: — that in a little, perhaps a very little time, you will be gone, and your place fnall know you no more for ever : — that your days, which always Hed/wifter than the pq/iy* now fly with ftill greater velocity, as they draw nearer to their final conclulion : — that the fands in your glafs are jufl: run out, and that the few remaining ones, ere they are all ex- haufted, as with fo many voices, call upon you to redeem the time, and ponder your latter end :— that Death, the inexorable mef- lenger, is making fwift and fure advances toward the obje6l: of his folemn commiffion, and is juft ftretching forth his refifllefs and relentlefs hand, to cut the brittle thread of life : — that the fame meiTenger is, as it were, prefenting you with a copy of the death-war- rant, iigned and fealed by the hand of Him, from [ 13 ] from whom are the IlTues of life : — that in a very Ihort fpace, the King of terrors will ar- reft you as his prifoner; carry you Into a land of darknefs,ivhere all tilings are forgotten;* and feparatc yO'"" tor ever from all the bufy fcenes of life, in which you have been con- yerfant : — and that, as foon as the adual fe- paration of foul and body takes place, your immortal part muft inftantly pafs to the tri- bunal of God j there to receive that fentcnce, which fhall be publicly, folemnly, and irre- vocably confirmed, by the decilive judgment of the Son of God. Tho* you may have known thefe things fcrmerly in theory, yet I fear, the confide- ration of them never had a due influence upon your heart and life. Had this been the cafe, they would have been attended with the mofl: happy confequences to yourfelf, at the fame time that the effe(^fs would have ad- miniftered the moft plcafing fenfations to your friends. But it is to be feared, you have treated thefe deep matters with that .degree of indifference, peculiar to the fludu- * Job X. 21, a». atins: [ H 1 atlng Sceptic, whofe buiinefs it is to fpccu- jate upon every thing, and believe nothing. Whatever may have been your views for- merly, it Is incumbent on you to get fuch a knowledge of things now, as will introduce a fort of realization of thera into your inmofl foul. Formerly, you talked about death and its confequences : but now you are (perhaps) a61ually dying : and it concerns you deeply, to bring the folemn fcene as near to you as poffible, in order that you may feel the fubjeil, and be no longer contented with a diftant reprefentatlon of the matter. Permit me further to obferve, that in your prefent awful Htuation, with death, judgment, and eternity in view, it behoves you to make a ferlous retrofpedl to your paft life, and impartially to examine your heart, by that infallible touchftone, the fVord of God. 1 am well aware that the fcrutiny may give you pain ; but remember, it may on that ac- count, be prop9rtionably falutary. Let us fearch and try our ways, * is an Injun6^ion as indifpenfable, as it is important and bene- * Lam. iii. 40. ficiai. [ 15 ] ficlal. Hence David prays, Search me, O God, and know my heart ; try mc and know my thoughts : and fee if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way evcrlaftlng. f And in concurrence with the fame petition, he fays, I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy te/iimonies, X Yea, we are pofi- tivcly commanded by God himfelf, to enter upon this heart-fearching work of felf-fcru- tiny. For, "Thus faith the Lord of Hojis, con- lid er your ways. § If, however, you feel a difincllnatlon to the work, from a dread of inward remorfe, and a fear of anticipating horrors, which I pray God may never be your portion ; fuf- fer me to fuftain the office of a remembrancer to you. And If, in executing fo important a tafk, I fliould take upon me to fpeak both plainly and faithfully, you will be candid enough, 1 hope, to attribute my plain-dealing, not to a love for fe verity, but to a love for truth, and a concern for your foul. Belides, you know who hath faid. Thou flialt in any t rfalm cixxix. 13, 14- \ Pfalni cxli. 59. § Uag. i. 5. wife [ i6 ] •wife reprove thy oidghhor, and not fuffer fin ut)on him. * Coniider then, Sir, that. As Jcon as you were horn, you went afiray. You were ulhered in- to the world, with a nature replete with en- mity againft God, his truth, his difpen- fations, his laws. This principle of univerfal rebellion in all the powers of the foul, and all the members of the body, the fcripture calls, the carnal mind. X This is the foun^ tain of corruption; the origin of every evil; and the root of all pradlcal wickednefs. This conftitutes, what is emphatically ftyled^ l^ke plague of the heart. § And becaufe it Is a connatural malady, the word of God deno- minates us Tranjgrejfors from the womb, ** As this original pollution is the fource of our apoflafy ; the knowledge, the feeling ccn- liSlion of it, lies deeply at the root of genu- ine convcrlion to God : and without it, all mere outward reformation is but like ikinn- ing over a wound, whiting a fepulchre, waflilng the outlide of the cup, or lopping * Lev, x"x 17. -^ if Rom. viii. 7. § I K:n^% viij. 38. ** Jf. xlviil. 8. . off r 17 ] off a fev7 outward branches, while the root and trunk remain in the ground. A radical cure of lin muft begin at the heart, in a convi6lion of our total ruin by nature* That you have been under the influence of this in- born corruption, this in-bred enmity of heart againft God, let your whole life, from the follies of child-hood up to the re- bellions of adult years, bear witnefs. How early did this corrupt bias break forth in the defires of your heart, the words of your mouth, and the adlions of your life ! Per- haps you can rccolle6l fcenes, in which you very foon commenced a pradical rebel againft the Lord J and in which, you fully exem- plified that mortifying defcrlption of human nature, in the book of yob, Man is born like tke wild afs's colt^^ with a difpolition, brutally ilupid and refradory. And, if, daring the years of your necelTary fubjed^ion to parental authority, and under the difcipline connecffed with a liberal education, you were kept within the bounds of tolerable decency : yet, how quickly did you cafl off all fear, both * Job, xi, li, C of L i8 ] of parents, and of God ? and give a fad proof, that mere human cultivation, unaffifted by divine grace, is but like a temporary damm, oppofed to a fwelling ftream! How foon were the dictates of reafon, the clamors of confcience, the admonitions of parents, and the rcftraint of education, forced to give way, before the impetuous torrent of your headflrong corruptions. After your arrival at manhood, what a {cQnc muft prefent itfelf to your view ! Look back. Remember, if you can, the inftances of your hardnefs and impenitency. Are they not without number? Do they not teem with aggravations ? Can you recolle6^ them, with- out fear and confulion ? Were not fome of your lins of a very deep dye ? equal in hue to the crimfon or the fcarlet ? or even black as hell itfelf? Did they not call for venge- ance ? And is it not of the Lord's mercies that you were not cut off in the midft of them ? When crojfed in the dlfpenfations of Divine Providence, did you not tofs and kick ' like a bullock unaccujioined to the yoke T * and rage. * "Jcr. xxxi. 1 8. with I '9 1 Y/Itli impatience, like a wild bull in a net?* When blcjffed, did you not forget the author of your bleffings, and convert his very mercies into an occafion of finning againft him ? Did you not make provifion for the fiejk to fulfil the lujis thereof?^ How often did your con- dud fay to the Lord, Who is the Almighty ^ that Ifiiould obey him ?XI dejire not the knowledge of his ways,"f — You have been frequently in perils, urgent and numerous ; and your deli* verances have been great beyond expe<5iation, and gracious, infinitely fo, beyond your de- ferts. But, inftead of praifing the Lord for his goodnefs, and declaring with your heart and life his wonderful works to the children of men, f^ you inftantly forgot your danger, and the all- gracious hand that fnatched you from it. You have, perhaps, fometimes, rulhed into fcenes of moft hazardous temptation, with your eyes open ; and, through the impetuofity and wil- ful prefumption of your condu(5t, have fet God at defiance, and as it were courted your deftru(5\ion. And yet, when a miracle of mercy Jfa. li 20. § Rom. xiil. I4. t Exod. v. J. t Joh xii, 14. fl Pfalm cvii. 8. C 2 hath [ 20 ] hath Interpofed to refcue you from the Im- pending danger, fclf-fought and felf-procured, what return did you make unto the Lord? Inftead of admiring his goodnefs and feeking his favor, which is better than life, you virtu- ally trampled on the mercy that faved you from the jaws of death and the pit of deftruc- tion j and returned to your former courfe of ingratitude and rebellion, with as great vigor, and as little rcmorfe, as ever. Sometimes, the Lord hath been neceffi- tated to crofs you in your temporal affairs ; to afflict you in your perfon, or in your family. While his chaftening was upon you, what proteftations of repentance did you make! and with what feeming humblenefs and con- trition did you lie under his mighty hand ! But alas! when the chaftifement was over, all your refolutions evaporated into empty air. Your promifed goodnefs nas like the morning cloud, or the early dew that goeth away J* So that you have to anfwer for the guilt of broken vows, and folemn engagements fllfled in the very birth. Yea, no fooncr did the * liof. yi. 4. rod [ 21 ] rod drop from the hand of relenting mercy, than you lifted up the f.fi of wickednefs -f* againft a gracious Sovereign, and finned againft him with a high hand and a fl:retched-oat arm. Although, while the fiiigcr of God touched you, a dread of his impending in- dignation forced you, like Pharaoh, to fay, I have finned, the Lord is righteous, and I am wicked.'^' Yet as loon as the f^orm fabiided, like the fame impenitent and incorrigible mo- narch, you /inned yet more and hardened your heart. X And yet, after all thefe complicated pro- vocations of offended Majef^y and injured mercy j methinks, I behold the footfieps of Divine Goodnefs purfuing you fHll, and hear the voice of Infinite Long-fufFering, weeping over you, and faying, How Jliall 1 give thee up Ephraim ? How /kail I deliver thee Ifrael? How Jhall I make thee as Admah ? How Jliall I fet thee . as Zeboim f Mine heart is turned ivithin me, my repentings are kindled together. ^ Great and manifold as the offences already f Jf.i. Win. 4. * ExoL !x.. 27. I Exod. ix. 34. fl Hy; xl. 8. men- [ " ] mentioned, may be, there are flill fome be- hind, of greater enormity and more grievous aggravation ; from which your condu6t has not been exempt. Conlider, Sir, how great your religious advantages have been, and how great muft have been your guilt. In proportion to your abufe of them ! You have been blefs- ed with a relation to pious parents, who have taken not a little pains to inftlll the great truths of revelation into your mind ; who have advifed you j reproved you ; warned you ; pray^ ed for you ; and ivept over you. A connexion with other godly relatives, though more dif- tantly allied, has introduced you to fimllar privileges. You have lliared in their addreffes to the throne of grace, and have been often an ear-wltnefs to their heavenly converfatlon. You have often heard them declare the great things God had done for their fouls , * with an intent of provoking you to feck after the fame ineftimable bleffings. And when you were in the height of your linful career, you have been made to feel the wounds of a friend f* in fomc falutary reproof, given you, perhaps, by an * Pfalm Ixvi. l6. f Prov. xxvii. 6. old C n 1 old companion, who had once been your af- fociate in iniquity, but now wilhed to bring you with himfelf, into the road to heaven. But alas ! have not all thefe advantages, de- nied to thoufands, been \o^ upon you f Have you not to regret, that parental in- firu6)fon has been defpifed ; the admonition of relatives difregarded ; and the counfel of friends caft bt,-hind your back ? Muft it not fill you with exquilite compun6lion, to refle<5i, that you have very, very often, made a parent's heart to bleed, and have given melancholy occalion to friends, to mourn for you in fecret places, becaufe of your fiubborn oppofitlon to their united counfels? And will not the ftghs, the tears, the prayers, and the reiterated admonitions of both, rife up 9S fo many witnefles agalnft you, unlefs the grace of God interpofe? But, you have been favored, moreover^ with the unfpeakable privilege of hearing the gofpel ; that v:ord of reconciliation ; that mef- . fage of peace and good-will to men ; which is the crowning mercy in our longcfl liH of blefhngs. In thefe glad tidings of great Joy to finners, you have had a full offer of life, thro' [ 24 ] thro' the abounding grace of God, and the complete propltiatron of his co-equal Son. This offer has been made you in the call oiChrijVs miniiiers, who have again and again exhorted you to chuje life that you might live. * But you have made light of thefe things : f you have not given full credit to their raef- fage ; and by u?ibdief (th3.t damning lin) you liave reje^cd the counfd of God againji your- felf, X ^i^'i provoked him to fwear in his wrath that you Jliould never enter into his reft. % By not receiving the gofpel in the love of it, you have avowed your difapprobation of God's method of faving linners thro' Jesus, and have crucified to yourfelf the Son of God. afrefh, and put him to an open fJiame. ^ And tho' fometimes the flames of the mount that turned with fire ** have flafhed in upon your mind with irrefifiible horror, and fcorched your confcience with inexpreffible anguiih ; yet you have never fled for refuge from this fiery] Law, •f f- to the blood of the Lamb, that you might be faved from its curfe thro* * Deut. XXX. 19. t Maf. xxii. 5. f Li:kc vii. 30. § Hcb. iv. 3. ^ Hcb. \i, S. •*" He!', xii. l3. -Jt l^'-':i(- xxxiii. 3. Him r r 25 ] Him ; but have continued ftlll on the confines of Mount Sinai, tho' you were in danger every moment of perilhing under the extreme male- diolions which iflue from it. Neither the ter- rors of the law, nor the charms of the gofpel, prevailed upon you to flee from the wrath to come. By your attendance upon a preached gofpel, you have acquired a fpeculative knowledge of the plan of Salvation, it holds forth. This, though in certain cafes, a diftinguiHied bleffing, has proved to you an eventual curfe. For, hereby you have (after the manner of all felf- deceiving profelTors, who hear the word, but do it not) procured to yourfelf the aggravated method of finning againil gofpel-light, as well as againft the convidlions of natural confci- ence. Thus, you become more inexcufabis than thoufands, becaufe you knew the gofpel in theory, but reje(5ied and difgraced it in pra^flice. Confider then ; and O, for your foul's fake, conlider it ferioufly. Sir ; that the retrofpecSt to your paf^ life is truly an awful one. — What MERCIES abufed ! What deliverances for- gotten! What PRIVILEGES flighted! What SINS committed! What goodness contemned! P What [ 26 ] What COUNSEL defpifed ! What love trampled upon! What WRATH treafured up ! What re^ bellion againft God ! What injury to friends ! What rum to yourself! What a Savior overlooked! What a Salvation fpurned ? W^hat a Gospel difobeyed ! What threaten- INGS trifled with! What promises difbelieved ! What precious time loft! What talents mifapplied! What opportunities difregard- ed ! But above allj What guilt incurred! And what a GOD provoked ! When I view the awful confequences attend- ant upon this many-linked chain of rebellions, I am induced to addrefs you, not only as a dying, but as a dead man ; — dead, by the fen- tence of God's righteous law — dead, in tref- paffes and fins — dead, to every thing of a truly facred nature ; and obnoxious to that dreadful penalty, the Jecond death, which is the confum- mation of mifery, and the final wages of ini- quity. 'To die, in fuch circumftances, is to lie under the curfe of a violated law; to fall into the hands of a lin-avenging God ; to carry the guilt of innumerable tranfgreffions to the bar of in- finite juftice ; to leave the world unforglven, and unconverted ^ to feel the gnawlngs of the worm that [ 27 ] tJiat dieth not-, and to plunge into that fire which jliall never ^ never be quenched. And does not the apprehenlion of thefe things move you ? Is your heart fo fteeled, and your confcicnce fo callous, that the confide- ration of your extreme danger leaves no le- lentful impreffion upon your mind? Can you refled on the uttermoft wrath of God, with- out a lingle fcnfation of horror ? Dare you meet your fins, fet in array before you, and not ftand appalled at the light ? Can you grap- ple with Almighty vengeance ? Can you dwell with everlafting burnings f * Are the awful threats of incenfed fovereignty to be trifled with ? Do you fuppofe, that infinite veracity will faliify, when it fays, The wicked Jhall be turned into hellf -f* Can you look upward t() the bar of God ?— downward, to the jaws of death, and the pit of deflruif^ion ? — backward, to your paft life ? — inward, to that myftery of iniquity, your heart? — ^nd forward, to the boundlefs eternity, opening to your eye ? — Can you, I fay, take this five-fold view of the awful fcene in which you are on all fides furrounded, and ftand Jfa. xxxili. 14. t Pfi^'" »^' ^7* D 2 totally [ 28 ] totally undlfmayed, upon the very confines of the invilible world ? No. Let me Indulge the hope, that your heart, although fo long immerfed in iniquity, is not altogether fear- ed ; and that there fubiifteth, now at leaf!, fome faint delire to liftcn, patiently, to thofe fuggeftions of a friend, which once you may have been difpofed to reje6l, as the attack of an enemy. Be affured, I mean to a61: the part of a friend ; and that, in the moft importaat fenfe of the word: 1 wifh to be a friend to your beft interefts. If I have been rather fevere in your ap- prehenfion ; let me afk. Is there 7iot a caufe ? A iinner, upon the brink of the grave, is neither to be trifled with, nor flattered : fince adulation or negligence in fuch a cafe, would be abfolute cruelty. Wounds, that have been long fettering, and that threaten death, fliould not be tickled with a feather, or ikinned over with a palliative : they Ihould be fearched to the bottom, and made to feel the fcripture-probe : otherwife they ■will be healed /lightly, * and break out with deeper and more wide-fpreading malignity. y^r. vi. 14. liavmg [ 29 ] Having now, laid before you your guile, gnd Its aggravations, may I not fondly hope, that you are ready to adopt the publican's cry, God be merciful to me a /inner f ^ to join in the jailor's grand inquiry, What muft I do to be faved f J and to take up the felf- bemoaning lamentation of poor Ephraim, Thou, hqfi choflijed me, and I was chafilfed, as a bullock unaccufiomed t") the yoke : turn thou me, and I Jliall be turned ? 1| Should fuch be the fubjeifl: of your anxi- ous inquiries, Lo ! I have good words and comfortable to bring you, from the volume of Infplration. There, in that fair garden of God, ftands the tree of life, which fur- nlllies poor difeafed finners, with the balm of Gilead ; whofe fruit is the life of the world, and whofe leaves are for the healing of the nations. There the Savior of Sinners fhlnes, like the fun in the firmament. In all the heavenly luftre, fuitablenefs, fufficiency, and glory of his grace. There he is ex- hibited as Jehovah our righteoufnefs, mighty to fave to the uttermo/i, all who come unto God I Luke xviii. 13. % -^^'^ ^^i, 30. 1| Jcr. xxxi. l3. through [ so ] through him. Hear how graciouily he opens his comraiffion, as the mejjenger of the cove- nant, and in what language of inexpreffible confolation he defcribes the contents of it ! The Spirit of the Lord God is -upon me, be- caufe the Lord hath anQinted me to preach good tidings unto the meek : he hath fent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prifon to them that are bound; to proclaiin the acceptable year of the Lord. * In order that you may entertain fultable conceptions of his high office; of his perfonal qualifications for it, and of the glorious manner in which he hath executed it, con- fider L IVho he /j : II. IVhat he has done, I. He Is, the brightnefs of his father s glory^ and the exprefs image of his perfon; * poiTelT- ing an union of elTence with him, in all the glorious attributes and perfedions, peculiar to Deity: for, in him dwdleth all the PULNFSs OF THE GoDHEAD bodHy. •f The infpired writings give him the divine titles of Jehovah ; % of the 1 am ; § of the only il If. Ixi. I, 2. * Eeh. i. 3. f Ccl il. 9. \ Jcr. xxiii. 6. Jfa, vi. 3. compared with John xii. 41, § Exod. iii. I4, compared "vvith Aiii vii. 30, and John yiii. 58. wife [ 31 ] Wife God our Savior ; \\ the true God; ^ whom all the angels of God are commanded to WGrJhip ; ** and all men to honor , even as ihey honor the Father, f f Exalted titles and dignities ihele, which the oracles of heaven would never have attributed to ^ mere crea- ture ; and which can be the proper claim of Emmanuel, only as he is, in full co-equa- lity, the Fellow XX of the Almigh'y. But, that it might not be fuppofed, fuch divine epithets are n.nnes of compliment, intended only to defcribe a fubordinate or a deriva^ tive God ; the fcripturcs of truth take care to afcribe to the Lord Jesus Christ, all thofe perfecftlons of nature , which are decla- rative of exiftence underived, and of glory incommunicable to any t:reatcd being what- ever. Hence the diftinguilhing charafierif- tics of his glorious perfon, are, wifdom §§ and knowledge, in all their infinite and ex- hauftlefs treafures ; — Tower, [||| almighty, un- limited, and irrefitVible j — Glory, %% fupreme and incompreheniible ; — Omniprejence, * by II Jude XXV. % I John v. so. ** Heh. i. 6, compared with S'fa. xcvii 7. ff John v. 23. %% Zech. xiii. 7. §§ Col. ii.. 3. III! I Cor. i. 24. Rev. iv. II. Rom. 1.4. X\iat. sxviii. 18. ^ff Pfal. xxiv. 7 lO. Jama ii. r. Rev. xviii. i. John xvij, 3iJ{. * Pfa. cxxxix. I — 1%, which [ 3^ ] which he filleth the higheft heavens, aiid eftablilheth his feat in the loweft hell ; — Om- nijcience, -f equally privy to the tranfacJtions of the univerfe, as to the moft fecret re- cefies of the human heart ; and to which the gloom of midnight is no more a veil^ than the blaze of dayj — Sdf-Exlflence^X ^^^^ prerogative peculiar to the divine effence, which crowns all the other attributes with infinite and inexhauftible fulnefs. — Such, to- gether with the moral perfections of juftice, immaculate holinejs, inviolable truths boundlefs mercy, and hving-kindnefs , are the inherent and natural qualities of that divine Perfon, who, though made lower than the angels § in his humiliation, neverthelefs thought it no rob" hery to be equal with God. || In further proof of the ftri6t correfpon- dence of his titles with his perfections, and •of his perfonal glory founded upon both j view him in thofe works, which exhibit an iiniverfal atteftation to the important truth;- and, as with ten thoufand voices, proclaim f John xvi, 30. And Rev. ii. 23, compared with Jer. xvii. I0< :f John viii. 58, compared with Rev, i. 18, § HeJ>. ii. 7» II Phil, ii. 6. Iits [ 33 ] Ills eternal power and Godhead. The creation of all things, is attributed to him, as the Lord God Omnipotent; while, to fup- port and fuperintend the univerfe, is no lels a proof of his fupreme fovereignty and un- remitted care. By him vjere ail th'mgs crs^ ated, that are in heaven^ and that are in earthy infible and invifible^ whether tiiey be thrones, or dominions y or principalities ^ or powers-, all things ivere created by him, as the Agent, and for him, •[ as the End. By his almighty Fiat^ unnumbered v/orlds were created out of no- thing ; fo that the things which are feen were not made of things which do app:ar. § His infinite wifdom, which, in concurrence vidth his divine power, furnifhed materials for the grand machinery of the univerfe, ar- ranged them in all that order, beauty, and perfcdion, v/hich crown the heavens, and adorn the earth; which exhibit a fyfiem in^ finitely-dlverfified, and yet harmonioufly onej ** Where order in variety we fee. Where all things differ, and yet all agree.'* ^ Col, i. i6. \^ H(h xi. 3, E As [ 34 J As he Is the Creator, fo he is alfa the Supporter of the liniverfe. By him all things conftfl, f Were he to with-hold his hand, or to withdraw, for one lingle moment, his ail- fuftaining influence; creation, in all its parts, and through all its powers, would feel an inftant fhock, that would reduce it to its primitive chaos of darknefs, diforder, and ina(^ion: for, in nature, as in grace, Christ is the life of the world. So that, as long as the fun continues to Ihine ; the moon and the ftars, which he hath ordained, to commu- nicate their borrowed light ; the planets to move in their prefcribed flations, with a re- gularity as exa61:, as their velocity is prodi- gious; the feafons, to roll in conftant and unvaried fucceffion ; or the animal and ve- getable worlds, to put forth their rerpe6live produ61Ions, with pun61uality and profulion : fo long the heavens will declare the Redeem- ers glory, and the earth Ihcw his handy- work ; while both will unite to publifh, in iilent, yet irreiiftible eloquence, the fupreme dignity of his perfon ; and, in full confu- tation of every foul-mouthed blafphemer, ra t Col I 17. announce [ 35 ] announce to men and angels, that Chrlft Is God over all, hk (fed for evermore.* If In his works, fo glorious, and fo fair ; himfelf, how wonderous then ! Ev^en the vaft furniture of the univerfe, with all the aifembled beauties of heaven and earth, are but the fhadowy CKt'Jklrts of the glory of Him, whofe Divine perfections no tongue can exprefs; no heart can comprehend or conceive ; and no works whatever, fully delineate : — Lord, what is man, then, that he fhould be fingled out as the fa- vorite of fuch a Savior ? When the eflential dignities of his perfon are taken into confideration ; how myfterious ! how condefcending ! how gracious ! that he ihould floop fo low as to become man ! and thereby difarray himfelf of all that ma- jefty, fplendor and glory, annexed to the form of God ! f This is that diftinguifh- ing myflery of godlinefs, which angels dejire to look i?2to,§ with admiration and delight ; which faints contemplate with inexpredible tranfport and triumph ; viz. that God was manifefi in the fl^Jhlt that the High and lofty One, who in- ' Rom. ix. 5. f Pl.'i/, ii. 6. § I Pet. i. 12. E 3 habited [ 36 ] liabited eternity, put off his robes of royalty, and put on the humble garment of humanity, together wuh an innumerable train of forrows, iiluing, at laft, in ignominy the moit com- plicated, and dllTolution the molt cxcrulia^ ating ! Hence his name is caUed Wonder- PUL;* Emmanuel, God within. i. Incom- prehenfible wonders centre in the conftitution of his perfon. Being God and man in one Christ, all the extremes of finite and infinite, of power and weaknefs, of glory and humili- ation, of riches and poverty, form the myfte- rious contrail in his character, as our incar- nate Meffiah : but a contraft this, big with divine fignificancy, in the grand afl^air of our falvatlon. As ma?2, he became our Repr.jcnta- tive, our Surety, our Days-man, our Subfiitute, our Sacrifice. By the allumption of our nature, he became capable of fuitering j and in cor- refpondence with the condition and require- ments of the new covenant, he fulfilled the law, in his life, and gave ample fatisfacftion to juftice, by his vicarious deaih. As God, he communicates unutterable glory to every part of his mediatorial undertaking. So that the |/"7. Ix 6. X Mat. i. 23. fufferlngsi [ 57 ] fufterings and obedience, of his human nature, receive infinite fafhcicncy from the perfedlons of the divine, to which it is united. 'I'he blood, which purchafed our pardon, procured our ranfom from captivity, and expiated our guilt, is called by the ineftimably-prccious and glo- rious title of the blood of God: ^d-nd the righte- oufnefs, which renders us accented at the tri- bunal of infinite juflice, and afcerlains our title to everlafiing glory, is the riglttcoufnefs of God. -j- .-''aving accompliilied the work, which law andjuftice required of him, he is fcated at the Father's right hand as King of faints, and Head of the church: and, that he might have in all things the pre-eminence, God hath given him a name, which is above every namCy tliat at the Jiams cf Jesus every kneeJJiould bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, a?id things under the earth ; and that every tongue fJiould con- fefs that Jefus Chrifl is Lord, to the glory of God the father, t Thus polTeffing I'nfinlte dignity in his pcr- fon, and com-municating iniinite merit to his fufferings and obedience, he is in every point of view, qualified for b;^ing the mediator of the ■ > * Aiii XX. 38. f Rom. iii. 21, S2. t C'il. ii. 9, li. new [ 38 ] new covenant. Men and angels arc com- manded to do him homage as fuch ; whiift ail the ends of the earth are exhorted to look to him and be Javed He is the fare, the Im- movable foundation laid in Zion, for wifdom, hollnefs, and rightcoufnefs; and there is none other. As the infallible Prophet of his church, he is JVond-erful, Counfellor •f' ; the only perfon in heaven and earth, who is able to open the book- with feve?2 feahi * to reveal the fecrets of his Father's counfels ; and to leach the myfterles of his kingdom. As our great Melchifedeck, he poiTeffeth an unchangeable pricfthood ; hath offered up the great atonement for l;n, and carried the merit of his facrifice into the Holy of Holies. As our King, he fights the battles of his church militant; goeth forth conquering and to conquer, till fin, Satan, the world and death are made his footflool. Thus confidered in his perfon as God-man, and in his mediatorial ofHces as Prophet, Prieji, and King, he is inefti- mably precious to them that believe; the chief among ten thoufand. * Jfa. ir, 6. Rev. v. .9 II. But [ 39 } II. But what hath he done for us men, and for our falvation ? — That, which excites the aftonilhment of angels, the envy of devils, and the triumphant praifes of redeemed linners ! — Thaty in which human and angelic beings durft not have fo much as engaged ! — Thai, v/hich ex- hibits a more illuftrious difplay of all the attri- butes of the Godhead, than ail the glories of creation ! — That, which reconciles, in the fweet- cft harmony, the oppofite claims of mercy and truth, juftice and peace ! — That, which brings the higheft honors to Jehovah, and fecures the richeft grace for perilhing linners ! — And thai, in the exalting of which, heaven and earth, creatures animate and inanimate, are fum- moned to unite. Sing, >'c heavens, for the Lord hath done it: Shout ye lower parts of the''earth : break forth iyito Singing, ye mountains, O joreji, and every tree therein, for the Lord HATH REDEEMED Jacob, and glorificd himfelf inlfratL* This is, what Jesus hath (/ot^it. He hath redeemed linners. He hath paid down a ranfom-prlce, by the fovereign application whereof, their fouls are delivered, now, from the captivity under lin and Satan, and through which r 40 J which, their bodies iliall be hereafter ranfomed from the power of ihe grave. He hath borne" the curfe of the law ; hath trodden the great wine-prefs of the wrath of God ; hath carried our forrows, and fins ; hath fatisfied the awful demands of divine juftice ; hath conquered death, and him that had the power of death, that is, the devil ; hath wrought out a deli- verance from hell, and opened a way to the once-forfeited inheritance of eternal life ! He hath finllbed the tranfgreffion, made an end of fins, made reconciliation for iniquity, an4 brought in everlafting righteoufnefs. ^' And is not this good news, Sir? that infinite mercy hath provided a Savior, who in his j)erfon is fo great, and in his redeeming work, {o glorious ? Is it not, in every point of view^ adapted to the deplorable condition of ruined finners ? and is it not efpeclally fuitcd to the furrounding miferies of your own ftate, in par- ticular r What the news of pardon is, to a con- demned criminal; of liberty to the galley-flave ; of an a6t of grace to the imprifoned and in- folvent debtor j of health and life, to the dif- eafed and dying : — all that, and ten thoufand * Dan. is. 24, time r 41 J limes more, is the proclamation of forgivd- nefs and peace in the gofpel, to condem- ned linners ! Glorious tidhigs ! Well might a choir of angels be commiffioned at the nativity of Chriji, to announce fuch good- will to the children of men. Surely, If fuch good news had been carried to the confines of hell, it would have gladdened the hearts of apoftate devils themfelves. But the gofpel is not for them. Its heavenly mcffage con- tains no reference to their flate. No. It is fent to fuch linners, as your felt. To rebels like you, its divine invitation calls. Come, for all things are r,ow ready. — A pardon, bought with blood, f- ready for finners obnoxious to •]■ " ' Survey the wond'rous cure ; And at each ftep let higher wonder rife. Pardon for hifnite ofFencc ! and pardon Thro' means, that fpeak its -ualue infinite ! A pardon bought with Hood ! with blood divine t With blood divine of Him, I 7nade my foe ! Perfified to provoke ! Tho' -woo'd and awV, Bkji and chaftii'd, a flagrant rebel ftill I A rebel, 'midft the thunders of his throne.' Nor I alone ! A rebel Univerfe ! My fpeeic! up in arms ! Not one exempt ! Tct for the foithjl of the foul he dies ! Moft joy'd, for the redcem'd from deepeft guilt ! As if our race were held of higheft rank ; ■' ' And Godhead dearer, as more kind to man !" J^i^ht Thoughts. F the r 42 J the fentence of death ; an Immaculate rohs of righteoufnefs, for the guilty and unrighte' om; a purify nig fountain of water and blood, for ihc filthy, and unclean-, unfearchable riches of grace for the poor; divine anointing for the blind ; a fovereign and infallible remedy for all diforders of the lin-lick : Almighty i^rength for the weak and helplefs ; and life for the dead. Whilrt, moreover, *' For us the loving Savior (lands. And fpreads for us his bleeding hands : Ready the father is to own And kifs each late-returning Son. Ready the Spirit of his love, Juft now the ftony heart to move ; T* apply and witnefs with the blood,. And wafh and feal us fons of God. Ready th' inquiring angels wait. To triumph in our bleft eftate ; Tuning their harps, they long to praife. The wonders of redeeming grace. And now, fince every thing on the part ©f God, is In perfed readinefs, let me afk,. are you alfo ready ? or rather, has the Spi- rit of life in Chrift Jefus made you ready, io liftcn to thofe glad tidings of great joy [ 43 ] in the gofpel, and to credit their full report r€fpe(5iing the Redeemer's ability to l^ive ? Arc you ready to clofe in with his graci- ous tender of mercy ? Confider, that in all probability, the duration of this tender, with refped to yourjelf, will foon come to a period : and if you do not accept of it, be- fore you are enclofed in the cold embraces of death, it will be loft for ever. ** Hafte ! harte ! he lies in wait! he's at the door I Infidious Death ! (liou'd his ilrong ar;Ti arreft j No compofuion fets the pris'ner free,'* What objeJ?ions can you reafonably enter- tain againft this method of falvation ! It is net of works, Uaft any man Jliould boaft.^ And as you hare no works whereof to make your boail, unlefs you will venture to glory In that which is your Ihame; confequently the gracious plan exactly fuits you. But it is falvation by grace if therefore it comprehends the moft rich and glorious provifion for the deepeft wants of necefiitous linners, and ex- tends the moit ineftimable bleffings freely, to thofe who have no perfonal claim to * E^hef. ii. 9. j Efhef. ii. 8. F 2 them. [ 44 1 them, founded on their own merit. Read IJd, Iv. I. — It is alfo through faith. X The condition of the law is. Do this and live. But, as the whole world is become guilty before God of a breach of this condition, the voice of confolation in the g(fpel is. Believe on the Lord Jefus Chrift, and thou Jhalt be faved, § It is a free falvation for finners -, for thofe that are loft ; for finners under the curfc of the law, and obnoxious to eternal death 5 for the wretched, the unrighteous, the ru- ined, the poor, the helplefs, and the blind; for all forts of finners ; high and low, rich and poor, old and young ; for thofe who owe the law of God five hundred talents, as well as thofe who ftand charged with a fmaller debt of obligation ; for the moft flagrant oifenders, the vileft of the vile j yea the moft abandoned of the human race are included in its glorious plan, and may be iTiarers in its extenfive bleffings, upon be- lieving the gofpel. — It is a falvation from Jin-, from all manner of Jin and blafphemy ; from fins of the deepeft dye; of the moft flagrant i EPhef. ii. 8. § AHs xvi. 31. enormity j [ 45 ] enormity; of the moft complicated aggra- vation ; of the moll: damnable quality. Come now and let us reafon together, faith the Lord: though your fins he as fcarlet, they Jliall be white as fnow ; though they he red like crimfon, they Jliall be as wool. * The author of this glo- rious falvation was called Jesus, becaiife he Jlioidd fave his people from their sins : •f' tho* the multitude of them were equal to the flars of heaven, or the fands, which are upon the fea-fhore, innumerable. And the apoiile yohn declares, that the blood of Jefui Chriji cleanfeth from ai.l Jin ; X including thereby every kind and degree of fin ; of the moft God-provoking and foul-deflroying nature ; whether original or a6lual ; of heart, or life. And the fame Almighty Deliverer, who laves ■from fins however heinous and numerous, includes in this falvation, two properties, which conOitute the very pinnacle of its glory, and the crown of all its bleiTmgs; and thefe are perfection and perpetuity. Hence a a apoftle and a prophet fay,.?/jt is able to faiie to the uttermo/i, ng to vravjzK^c:, perfe^ly, or Jor * Jfi. i. l8. f Mat. i. it. % 1 J^hn i. 7. ever* [ 46 1 ever. § Ifrael Jhall be faved in the Lord with an evcrlajiing falvation j ye Jhall not be a/Iiamed nor confounded world without end. \\ My jalva- Hon Jliall be for ever, and my righteoufnefs Jhall not be aboliJJied. ^ And now, Sir, fince, thro' the perfe<5l na- ture of this falvation, mercy can be extend- ed to the vileft finner under the heavens: — fince Jesus can fave all forts of finners : — - from every fpecies and degree of iniquity:-— and that too, perfeilly, and for ever : why fhould not you put in your humble claim to the grace of the gofpel ? You will fay, perhaps, " / am unworthy " but to fuch it is offered : your unworthinefs affords a flrong argument for urging that claim ; and a fenfe of that unworthinefs, is the grand prepa^ rative to your receiving the mercy propof- ed. " I am too great a finner," you will perhaps add. But are you greater than Manasseh ? than Rahab ? than Magda- len-? than Saul ? than the Thief on the crofs ? or thofe, who imbrued their hands in the Savior's blood ? Yet thefe were faved § Hth. vii. 25. jl Jfa. xlv. 17. ^ Ifa. li. 6. thro' C 47 1 thro* Chrlil j and, as fubjc(5^s of his free grace, are now furrounding with their praif- es, the throne of God and of the Lamb. Is your guilt deeper, than, that of thofe fonii' catorSf idolators, adulterers, effeminate, abujers cf themfdves wUh mankind, thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, extortioners, v»'hom the apoftle mentions in i Cor. vi. ^, lo? and among whom he declares, in the very next verfe, that his Corinthian converts had once clalTed ; adding, vind such were fome of youf Yet of fuch he fays, But ye are wajhed, but ye are fan^ified, but ye are juftified in the name of the Lord Jefus, and by the Spirit of our God. In Ihort, do you think yourfclf a iinner, too enormous for Crrist to fave ? If you do, then you muft fuppofe, that there is greater demerit in your fins, than there Is fufficiency in the Savior. Bat as fuch a fuppofition is big with blafphemy and un- belief; admits as a truth, one of the Devil's moft bare-faced and yet moft dangerous fal- Htlcs ; derogates from the glory of the Lord Christ j and carries damnation in its very nature : let me befeech you to reje<5l it, as you love your foul, and wilh to flee from the [ 43 ] the wrath to come. To every fuch unbe-* lieving and infernal fuggeftion, let the de- claration of the apoftle ever furnilli you with an anivver ; viz. JVhtre Jin abounded, grace did MUCH MORE abound. * And, in order to make you vi^lorious over Satan's accufations, as well as to bear you above every inward, fear, let me intreat you to weigh well the import of the following fcriptures : Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth ini- CUJiTY, and 'paffeth by the tranjgreffion cf the remnant of his heritage ? He retaineth not his anger for ever, becaufe he delighteth in MERCY. He Will turn again, he will have COMPASSION upon us: he ivill fubdue our ini- quities: and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths cf the fea. f J'he Lord is flow to anger, t Jfracl, thcu hafl destroyed thy [elf, but in me is thine help. § 1 even I am he that blotteth out thy tranfgrejjioiis for mine own fake, and will not remember thy Jins. \\ If any man fin, we have an advo- cate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. % Whom God hath fit forth to be a Tiow. V. io, t ^■-''''■^'- vii. i8, 19. \ Kah. i. 3. ^ Bof. xiii. 9. II Ifa. xliii. 25. ^ I 7'^'" "• ^' propitiation [ 49 ] propitiation through faith in his hl%d., * thair u'/iojoever believeth in liitn Jlmdd not perijh, but have evsrlafiing life, -f- Tf it pleife God, to give you a reliance on the free and boundlefs mercy, revealed in the above fcriptures, and on the glorious falvation, which gdds thole precious promifes, with light and confolation ; you will then have a Savior to go to, who is the Father's Dehghtj and thro* whom you will be furnilhed with a plt-a, founded on the blood and righteoufnefs of the Divine Surety of the new teftament j a plea, which God himfelf will not, cannot, re- ject. Your confcicnce will then be purged from dead works, to ferve the living God. Its wounds will be healed j its galling fenfations of guilt removed ; and its peace eftablilhed. Your heart will become the relidence of Christ; where he will fet up his blclTcd throne, and fway every faculty by the fccptre of his love. And, howfoever your foul may have formerly been the feat of every abomi- nable luft and tyrannical paffion, which made it like the troubl d Jea, that cafieth up mire and dirt ; § you will then be intereftcd in a Savior, * Rom, iii. aj. f Jihn iii. IJ. § Jju. Ivli. 20. G t® [ s° T to whom you may, in faith and confidence, cry, " Thou, that canft ftill the ragin;; of the f«as. Chain up the winds, and bid the tempefts ceafe r.edeem my fhipwreck'd foul from raging gufts. Of ftrong temptations and deceitful lulls." Here, you will perceive, I am indulging a degree of charitable hope, that you may at length be brought to fee the things which belong to your peace, and to make the Lord Jesus Christ all your delire and ail your lalvatlon. Should my hopes prove as well- founded, as my wllhes, relative to that event, are extcniive, and my fupplicatlons, ardent ; you will then begin to tafle of that real happi- 7iefsy from which you have been hitherto eft ranged, and refpe6^Ing the true nature of which, you have been as grofly miftaken, as the man, who Ihould take all Imaginable pains to purfue a /IiadoWt and, after various morti- fying difappolntments, fliould neverthelefs flill run himfelf out of breath in the frultlefs chafe. A f^ranger, all your paft life, to folld blifs, you will then begin to fee and admire the un~ fpeakable [ 51 J fpcakable pleafure arlling from the know- ledge of Jefus. And, the contraft in your feel- ings will make former purfuits appear the more fordid, and your latter enjoyments, pro- portionably the more folid, and delightful. Sitting at the feet of Christ, as an humble pupil, ready to admit his blcffed inlkudionsj you will hear that voice, and catch thofe words of life and peace, whicli diflil, with greater fweetnefs than the honey-comb, and with an influence, refrelhing to the Soul, as the dew to the tender herb. Tafting his par- doning love, you will find a heaven begun upon earth. This will make you a polfclibr of, what is with great propriety called, the foul's calm fun-Jhine, and the heart-fdt jcy\ peculiar to thofe, who walk in the light of the Sun of Righ- ieoufnefs, Walhed in the blood of the Lamb, and renewed by his blelfed Spirit, you will be at a lofs for words to defcribe that grace, by which we are made new creatures in Christ Jesus : and, taking a review of yourfelf as a linner, faved at the eleventh hour, you will be conftrained to afk men and angels, Is not this a brand pluck' d cut of the fire ? * Standing in * Zich, iii. a. G 2 Christ [ 52 ] Christ your righteoufnefs, and ftrength, and triumphing in his glorious falvation ; you will then be able to look the King of terrors in the face, wirhout the leaft difmay ; to touch the monflcr's lling, and to feel it blunted, or ra- ther totally extra^led, through the virtue of a dying Savior's blood j to behold the accufer of the brethren iiknccd ', fin cancelled ; the ter- rors of the law changed into bleffings ; the niou!;h of the pit ibut ; heaven, with all its glories, opening to yuur view; and Jesus, with his arms of love, wide-expanded, ready to clafp you to his bofom. Under fuch foul- ravilLing foretafie of future joys, you will then exult with the poet, and ling, even in the jaws of death. *' The ivorld recedes, it difapnears, Hcav'n opens to my eyes ; my ears. With founds feraphic, ring ; Lend, lend your wings, I mount, I fly, O death, where is thy victory ? O grave, where is thy fting ?" But, left I fhould be too fanguine in my expedations, I will endeavor to check, what they [ 63 ] they would otherwife induce me to anticipate; 'till I hear what reception the preceding re- flections meet with. In the mean time, let me befcech you to confider, that time flies; heakh declines : death urges : eternity is juft in view : God calls : heaven invites : hell threatens: miniflers warn: the judge is at the door? and all things around you cry, Pre- PAKE lo MEET THY GoD. * That you uiiy be enabled to liilen to the univerial alarm, and make the folemn prcpartion j — '.hat you niay no longer trifle with God, and overlook the concerns of your immortal foal ;— and that the Lord Jesus Christ in life and death, may be your hope, your flrength, and your falvation ; — is the unfeigned and mofl ardent prayer of your foul's lincere well-wiiher, R. D. * Amos. iv. iz. FINIS, The JoIIowing Pamphlets, &c. by the fame Author , may be had cf the Bcokfellers mentioned in the Title Page, t/ I. A Letter to a Baptlfl: MInlflcr ; being a -^•^ Vindication of inflmt Baptifm. i8d. V 2. A Reply to Parmenas on the fame Subjecft. 6d, tX 3. The Rejoinder : Principally containing fome defenlive Pleas for the Inllitutions and Mi- nitlers of the Church of England, refpeding the Mode of adminiflering Baptifm. 3s. 4 National Troubles, a ■ proper Ground for National Humiliation : Two Sermons on the General Fail, Dec. i^y ^11^* is. 5. The Lord's Controverfy with a Guilty Na- tion: Two Sermons on the General Faft, Feb. 26, 1778. IS. 6. Nathan's Meffage to David : A Sermon. 6d. V'' 7. Jehu's Looking Glafs. 6d. ^' 8. Serious Hints, refpe(51:Ing the great Utility of fome parochial Plan, for fupprefTing the Profanation of the Lord's Day. 2d. or 2od. a Dozen, 9 A Bcoks, Famplihfs, ^e. 9. A ColIe(5Hon of Pfalms and Hymns, on va- rious Subjeds; ufed in St. AlkmoncVs Church, Shreiijhury. is. fewed, or may be hid in dilTerent Kinds of Bindings. Of T. Wood, Shreivjbury, may alfo be had, 1. The Portraiture of the Chriftian Penitent ; being a Courfe of Sermons upon the 51ft Pfalm, in 2 Vols, by the Rev. Mr. Z)^ Coct- logon. 6s. 2. Three Sermons on praiflical Subjetfis, by the Rev. Daniel Rowland, of Llangtitho, South- Wales, od. V 3. A Letter from a Spiritual Mariner, now riding at Anchor on board the Ship Trial, In the Sea of Tribulation, id. lod. a Dozen, or 5s. per Hundred, 4. Belcher's Life of Faith. Same Price. 5. The Great Affize. Ditto Ditto. 6. A Memoir of fome principal Circumftanccs in the Life and Death of the late Reverend Augujius Montagu Toplady, 6d. 7. The Booh, Pamphlets, &c, 7. The Rev. Mr. Topladys dying avowal ofhis Religious Sentiments, id. Fifth Edition. 8. The Gofpel Magazine from the begining; or any iingle Numbers. 6d. each. Likewife, all Sorts of Bibles, Teftaments, and Common Prayers in the moft elegant Bind- ings. A REPLY TO THE LETTER OF AMICUS. By the Author cf^' Free Thoughts, ^c*" " Let ifie see wherein My tongue hath wronged liim : if ltd) him right, Then hath he wronged himseli': if he be free, Why then my taxiiig, like a wild goDse, flies Unclaim'd of any man." AS YOU LIKE IT. /■ i Shrewsbury : T'RTNTED AND SOLD BY J. AND W. EDDOWEJ Price Qd* A REPLY, &c. Dear Sir^ JVluCH as I admire the strength and cogency of your excellent letter, I am sensibly mortified to perceive that I have so inaccurately expressed my sentiments^ in the pamphlet you have done me the honour to notice/as to lead you to imagine that I have delivered opinions hostile to the freedom of election. Considering the subject to be of vast importance, as it clearly involves the most valuable rights A of 4 of the democratic branch of the Constitu- tion, though I feel really hurt to have been so misunderstood, I have great plea- sure in the opportunity afforded me by your friendly address, to explain and illustrate my meaning. I shall begin my reply rather abruptly, with a denial of your charge. I cannot discover where I have said, either directly ar by fair implication, that one man has a right " to demand the vote of another :" nor do I find that I have stated any possi- ble case from which it can justly be infer- red, that " whatever be the judgment or the choice of the person obliged, his vote is mortgaged, and must be made over to his employer." I am not a little shocked to be suspect- ed by you^ Sir, of having even uninten- tionally advanced such an arrogant, pre- sumptuous, and tyrannical doctrine. Were 1 convinced that I had ever uttered such a sen- a sentiment, I should think myself a culprit of no ordinary magnitude. But I apprehend that no such language or doc- trine is to be found in the Free Thoughts. I have said, that where '' a menial ser- vant, an uneducated tenant, or a mechanic of the common order," refuses to obey the impulse of gratitude in voting with his landlord or master, it is morally cer- tain that some worse motive would prompt him to the disposal of his vote. Upon this remark respecting the motives of many voters, has been founded the serious accusation of attempting to sub- vert the freedom of election. And I am perfectly astonished it should have escaped your keen observation, that there is a wide difference between a spontane- ous vote, springing from " considerations of kindness, good-will, and gratitude ;" and a compulsory vote following a de- mand : and that you should not perceive an equally clear distinction between the A 2 reasons 6 reasons for volantarily giving a vote, and the right to an unbiassed exercise of the elective franchise. I never disputed this right, for it never occurred to me as being a disputable question. I am well aware that no human being has authority, in this land of freedom, to say to the meanest elector breathing, " you must vote for this man or for that man." The very expression you miist^ in my opinion, would cancel all for- mer obligations, and justify the voter, if he had no higher motive, to bestow his suffrage in direct opposition to such an insolent command. k\\ that I have contended for, is " the natural, gentle, and perfectly lawful in- fluence of fortune, rank, and character," in opposition to — what? — not to the deliberate opinion of respectable and intel- ligent voters — not to the declared wishes of tradesmen, manufacturers, and artisans — not to the settled conviction of the lowest voter in the kingdom, conscien- tiously tiously and sincerely felt. But I have contended for this influence, in opposition to an uncivilizing dogma, never preached in this town before the last election, " that a poor man should take a pride in voting against the advice of his master or his friend," — and in opposition also to the tumult-exciting harangues of a wily can- didate. Had I even overstrained this in- fluence, still the occasion would have been ample apology. Extraordinary disorders demand extraordinary remedies. When the river has been diverted from its na- tural channel, it requires vigorous and multiplied efforts to restore it to its former bed. The influence of property naturally arises out of the relations it produces. For, although these relations are produc- tive of mutual advantage to the parties, yet as there generally exists a preference on one side, this preference will always be considered as a favour. Now the re- A 3 ceiving ceiving of favours naturally begets in well disposed minds a desire to oblige in re- turn. It seems to me impossible for the relation of landlord and tenant, for ex- ample, to exist for any length of time between two upright men, without the tenant feeling a degree of respect and esteem for his landlord, and without the latter feeling much hearty good-will to- wards his tenant : the same in the various other connexions which property gives rise to. It is no objection to the principle of the natural tendency of these connexi- ons to produce kindness and gratitude, that many cases occur wherein hatred and strife are engendered. For as well might we say that the natural affinities, as of parent and child, do not tend to produce mutual affection and esteem, because some instances unhappily arise of opposite passions and sentiments being excited. The influence I am speaking of, however, is of a most delicate kind, and such as the laws wisely refuse either to recognise or prohibit ; prohibit; leaving every man to obey or disobey its injunctions according to his own discretion. Nor would it have been decorous to insist upon this influence in the manner I have done, had we not wit- nessed a flagrant attempt to rupture the bands by which it unites the diff*erent orders in society. Had the man, " who wrote 149 letters with his own hand to persons of rank and property in the borough and in the coun- ty," * succeeded in his wish to procure their interest, we should have heard no- thing of oppressive landlords and tyran- nical masters. But being disappointed in this expectation, society is instantly converted into what you describe it. — The old picture ceases to be a true re- presentation — it is now reversed — and we discover, " that imperious claims on one side engender unwilling obedience or hostility on the other." Pandora's Box is opened for the second time, and A 4 a fresh * See Appendix to " Free Remarks." Id a fresh brood of mischiefs is let loose upon mankind. Formerly landlords and tenants, masters and servants lived in tolerable harmony, and something like a generous intercourse subsisted between them. But that golden age is all a fable now. It is true, no man can say that he is himself oppressed, but he hears that many have been threatened I And when Ucalegon's house is on fire, it is natural for his neighbour to take the alarm. But surely we are not to be terrified, by this hue and cry about the freedom of elecf tion and undue influence, out of our persuasion, that this same influence, now so frightful, was the very instrument which the Popular Candidate wished himself to employ. It is easy to perceive the meaning of this terrific phrase " un- due influence^'' in the vocabulary of elec- tion candidates : all influence exertedybr me is due influence, but all influence exerted agc{ins.t me is undue influence. I am 11 I am not fond of offering adulation to the great: on the other hand, I equally despise flattering the prejudices and vices of the populace. Now during every elec- tion it is notorious that the multitude, composed both of voters and non-voters, who may be enlisted under the banners of Independence, or any other banners, are puffed up by their leaders with I know not what notions of freedom, of consequence, and of personal importance ; while at the same time, it is well known, that unless many of these worthy electors are ca* joled by certain nameless arts and blan- dishments, it is ten to one but they go to offer their votes to the opposite party. Such things occur at all elections, as those engaged in them will frankly confess when the business is over. But to read your account, my dear Sir, of the fine feelings of electors, one would ima- gine they were all virtue and perfection, that they were perpetually sinned against, without ever themselves sinning — that the I? the legislature had taken infinite pains for nothing, in passing acts against bri- bery ; (mere works of supererogation !) for electors are too tenderlv alive to the liner emotions, to be susceptible of the gross influence of a bribe. Oh virtuous Honiton! Oh caluminated Athlone ! how basely have ye been traduced ! how tru- ly amiable the spotless purity of your in- corruptible integrity ! what a dignified race of voters f how brimful of noble, generous, and exalted sentiments ! To be serious, the freedom of election is in no danger, when the influence of property comes in check of such disposi- tions as would be governed by a bribe. Your remarks on the propriety of at- taching a sense of importance to the free- dom of election, I greatly admire ; and only object to them, as being inapplica- ?jle to the description x)f persons I alluded to, when I spoke so strongly of selfish and 13 and corrupt voters. I hope I have over- rated the proportion, but I have no fear that you, or any other sensible critic, will literally interpret a common figure of speech.* You say, " Let us not treat the un- derstanding of any human being with such contempt, as to tell him he has the right by law to give his unbiassed vote, but that there is something above the law which restrains the exercise of it." This excellent remark, with many others you have made, proceeds on the supposition of votes being commonly given at elec- tions from a sincere conviction of mind as * Matt, xviii. 10. — *' Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him ? till seven times? Jesus said unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times : but until seventy times seven." Would the most scrupulous adherent to the words of scripture think it necessary to forgive an offender exactly four hundred and ninety times ? 14 9S to the fitness of the candidate for discharging the duties of a legislator.* Wherever this seriousness of mind exists, it would be mockery and insult to talk of the obligations of gratitude, as persua- sives to bestow a suffrage, in contradic- tion to settled judgment. For such voters I feel unfeigned respect. I esteem the honest judgment of an upright mind a very sacred thing, not to be treated lightly, or trifled with. Characters of this kind, I hope and believe, are sel- dom persuaded to sacrifice principle to interest. It matters not how inferior the understanding, how imperfect the know- ledge, how lowly the condition, of such a. man. Let no creature dare to violate his sanctuary. Believe me, Sir, it is not of such electors, what- * I am informed that there arc not less than thirty charges of bribery at this time made against persons concerned in the late election. 15 whatever be their rank, that I have spo- ken with disrespect. I am afraid, how- ever, there are too many who are guided by selfish and personal considerations — these men I heartily despise ; their cant about the freedom of election and undue induence is intolerably disgusting : I shall be at no pains to conceal my con- tempt for their conduct, nor shall I feel any compunction " in lacerating their feelings." As you have said my pamphlet may undesignedly have been of disservice to Mr. Bennett's Cause, you will, I am sure, excuse me for mentioning a few particulars, which otherwise I should not have thought worth communicating to the public. The Free Thoughts were written, during the intervals of business, in the space of four or five days ; and they were written under a strong feeling of horror at the disorganizing speeches and mis- chievous conduct of the Popular Candi- date. 16 date. Being of opinion, however, that no individual, who is acting with a party, can be justified in publishing his pecu- liar views of the common cause, without the concurrence of his associates, the pamphlet was submitted to the inspec- tion of certain friends of Mr. Bennett: who instantly sent a very urgent request to the author to publish it without delay. It was accordingly sent to the press in its rough state ; a few additions being afterwards made while it was in the hands of the printer ; and it is a fact, that the whole together was not read by the writer until after it was published. Upon reading it over coolly and deliber- ately, when it was printed, he was a good deal startled at the force of some expressions, which he thought were much too general, and too comprehensive, and he immediately ordered the pamphlet to be suppressed. Accordingly, one day's interruption to the sale took place. But unfortunately, eight or ten copies hav- ing ing got into circulation, it was too late to prevent whatever bad effects might arise from it. Indeed the free circulation was then become necessary, in order to fal- sify the assertions already made of its contents. This plain history of the production of the " Free Thoughts," will satisfy every candid mind, that there was no deli- berate intention to injure the feelings of any of Mr. Jones's respectable friends: and it is with real concern the author has learned that any such persons have supposed themselves glanced at in the most distant manner — nothing could be farther from his wishes and designs. But while I thus sincerely apologise to my respectable fellow-townsmen, for any offence unintentionally committed against them I beg to be understood most un- equivocally, as not retracting a single word of observation upon the conduct of their 18 their Candidate, and his Nominator. They have come forward publicly ; and, as public characters, are bound to bear all the censure their behaviour has me- rited. I have never alluded to them as private individuals, being utterly igno- rant of every thing relating to them, except so far as they have declared them- selves to all the town. And, as a Towns- man and Voter, I claim, and will exert my right to canvass their conduct, as strictly and as severely, as it appears to me to deserve. With thanks to you, dear Sir, for af- fording me this opportunity of explain- ing all that I was anxious to explain in the " Free Thoughts," I subscribe my- self, Very respectfully. Your obliged and obedient Servant, The Author* UlhJan, 1807. Eddowes, Printer*. .ABVERTISEMENT. The facts upon vvhich certain assertions and charges in the " bREE Thoughts" are grounded, having lately Lctn disijuted ; the Author intends to pubhsh his documents, as soon as he can find lei- sure to arrange them. j; ',^ A LASH at ENTHUSIASM fhi I N A J or. DIALOGUE FOUNDED UPON REAL FACTS, Between Mrs. Clinker and Mifs Martha Steady,, If the cap fitSy pit it on. SHREWSBURT^ Printed by J. Eddowes, and fold by Meflrs. E. and C. DiLLY in the Poultry, and J. Matthews in the Strand, London. ' [ Price Six-pence, ] ( 3 ) A DIALOGUE Between Mrs. Clinker and Mifs Martha Steady. Mrs. COO Mifs PaUy ! You have made a fine piece )^ of work on't; I hear our famous new preacher 'M.v. Jewel (a) has perfuaded you to change your religion, and to turn Methodift. — Believe me there's talk enough about it. Mifs S. I wonder. Madam, that a perfon of my in- fignificance Ihould be the caufe of fo much converfa- tion : and as to what is reported of my having chang'd my religion, I can only fay that it is impoflible for m^; to have chang'd rhac which I never had. Mrs. C. Lord child ! don't talk fuch nonfenfe, I am fure you were always good enough before you ever heard any of thefe canting lort of preachers. Mifs S. Pray Ma'am by what rule cou'd you form any judgment of my goodnefs ? Mrs. C. Why nobody was more conflant at church and facrament than yourfelf ; nobody more ready to do a charitable action when it was in your power-, and no- body more univerfally well fpoken of by ail the world. Mifs S. Thefe I apprehend are no fcriptural proofs that I was in the right way to heaven, for we arc told by an authority more than human, that the friendfliip or the world is enmity with Godf^^-j; and that we may give all our goods to feed the poor, and yet have no charity at all (c). — 'Tis true indeed, I was a conftant attender at church i but I am forced to own that tho' I drew nigh unto God with my lips, my heart was far from him : and indeed it is too common a cafe to fee hundred^ who make a point of going every day within the church walls A Mrs. C. YaJ A Defcendant from that venerable Prelate Eifhnp Jrivi'!- (h) James iv. 4. (c) 1 Cor. ^;iii. 3. ( 4 ) Mrs. C. Now you are going to be uncharitable \ this IS what I (\tit^ in people of your way of thinking j you will allow none to be right but yourfelves. Mifs S. Nay, my dear Mrs. Clinker^ only hear me out with patience, and if there's any want of charity in the fuppofition, I have a right to retort it upon you : don't you remember that you told m.e yourfelf no longer fince than Thurfday kit, that tho' old Mrs. Trimwell and Mrs. Mary Save-all never mifs'd weekly prayers nor monthly facrament •, yet that the one was lb miferably covetous that nobody could live with her, and the other fcolded her fervants to fuch a degree that they were for ever complaining of her bad tempers ? And you faid at the fame time that Lady Cambls who conftantly fits in the fame pew with you, makes no fcruple of looking over lier adverfary's hand at cards, and is fo much out of hu- mour whenever ihe lofes a fhilling, that it is quite dif- agreeable to play with her j and whenever Ihe wins ihe ■will never own it. Mrs. C. 1 fancy Mifs if we were to fearch narrowly into the lives of fome who make high pretenfions to iaintfliip, wc Iliou'd tind 'em not much better than their neighbours : and to tell you the truth, I believe they arc all a parcel of defigning hypocrites, and I think if they had thei-r deferts, they ought to be well ^- . Mifs S. Softly, foftly, good Mrs. Clinker, who is un- charitable now ? — It is too true, and with forrow I con- fefs that fome who have made great pretenfions to reli^ gion, have diigraced their holy profelTion by not living agreeably to it •, but is this any proof that none are fin- cere ? the fcriptures tell us that offences of this fort will come, and that they mull needs afford matter of Humb- ling to the world ; but ftill the religion of the gofpel is the fame, however unworthy of it any of its profeffors may behave themfelves : furely you won't fay that be- cAufe there is counterfeit coin there is therefore no real- sold ( 5 ) gold ; or becaufe Judas was a traitor, that all the other apoftles were fo likewife. Mrs. C. Oh ! but you have lb many diiputes among yourfelves, that it is enough to make one conclude it is impoflible to know what is truth •, and therefore for my own part I allure you I fliall always continue in the way that I was brought up. Mifs S. In the common affairs of life, we think that which is not worth difputing about is not worth having-, and we have an apoille's command to contend earneilly for the faith once delivered unto the faints whenever that faith is attacked by men of pernicious principles who would corrupt the word of God, and handle it deceitfully : but it is a fmgular proof of the truth and power of real chriftianity, that in fpight of all the op- pofition and prejudices which are railed againft it, it Hill makes its way into the heart, and breaks through every intervening cloud and obltacle. ■ — But methinks we have a little departed from our fubjeft ; if I remem- ber right, you mentioned Mr. Jeivers name when you firfl: came in : pray did you ever hear him ^. Mrs. C. No thank God : and I can tell you miOreover that good Mr. Stijf, Mr. and Mrs. Screivup^ Sir Gilbert Guttle^ the Widow Fondle^ old Lady Dowager Crabjlock^ Mifs Giggle, Mrs. Manilk, Mrs. Bridget Spade, Mifs Fanny Fainter, and I know not how many more of the vefy beft in the parifh are relblved never to go within fide of the church, fo long as he continues there. Mifs S. Surely Mrs. Clinker it fhews great want cf candor to condemn any man unheard. Mrs. C. But you know very well what an uproar there is, and what divifions are made in families by his preaching, infomuch that the pulpits ring again. I'm fure I wiih he had never come here difturbing the peace of a quiet congregation. Mtfs S. Yes, yes, I doubt not but i\y:\v Reverences have been furbilhing up their armour and preparing A 2 their their ammunition ever fmce they heard of Mr. J^^eN prefentation : and truly they never preach with any de- gree of life and fpirit but when they are oppofing the zealous minifters of Chrift. — But pardon me my good friend, if I fay that your obje6lions are quite unreafon- able : when our Lord himfelf was upon earth there was much divifion becaufe of him •, for fome faid he is a good man, others nay, but he deceiveth the people (d) ; and as it was then, he that was born after the flelh perfe- cuted him that was born after the fpirit, even fo it is now (e). True religion, as I remark'd before, has num- berleis prejudices to fight againft, and we are apt to fteel our hearts againft its impreflions, becaufe it wou'd rob us of thofe pleafures and idols which promife us a xJeceptive happinefs here below ; and among the many charges v;hich are brought againft the faithful minifters of the gofpel, there is none more frequent than that they are movers of fedition, peftilent fellows(/J, and difturbers of domeftic peace. When the apottle Paul firft deliver- ed his meffage at TheiTalonica we read that the whole city was in an uproar, and that the mob afTaulted the houfe where they luppofed he was harbour'd, and drew out certain of the brethren, crying out, thefe that have turned the world upfide down are come hither alfo (g). Jefus himfelf has alfo told us that he came not to fend peace on the earth but rather divifion ; that five in one houfe fhou'd-be divided, three againft two, and two acrainft three, the father againft the fon, the fon againft the father, the mother againft the daughter, the daugh- ter againft the mother, the mother-in-law againft the daughter-in-law, and the daughter-in-law againft the mother-in-law, and that a man's greateft foes ftiou'd be thofe of his own houfnold (k). Mrs. C. I well remember hearing a fermon upon thofe very words, and the minifter told us that all fuch texts of Icripture related to the primitive age§ of the church, and (ii) John vii. 12. CeJ Gal. iv. 29. C/J AiE^s xxiv. 5. (gj Ad.i xvii. 5, 6. (/ij Mat. x. j.f. Luke xii. 51, 52, 53. C 7 ) and tliat now chriftianity is eftablifh'd, it is attended with eafe and honour^ and that all oppofition to it is ceas'd. Mifs S. Where real chriftianity is e(labli(h'd in the heart and life of any perfon, in fuch an one this oppo- fition is ceas'd indeed •, but there are many devices of men which go under the name of chriftianity, and are made fo palateable to our corrupt reafon, and to the felf-righteous pride of our hearts, and withal appear fo fpecious to our natural ideas of religion, that we eafily fwallow the gilded bait, and often receive that for iruth which only leads us further and further from it. — I agree with you that this fmooth infipid kind of religion will never meet with any oppofition whatever : but when the gofpel is preach'd in its life and power, when the depths of the fallen nature are faithfully open'd, when man is flripp'd of all his fancied excellencies, when he is held forth to view in the language of fcripture as guilty, helplefs, miferable, blind and naked j when he is told that he hath neither wifdom, righteoufnefs, fanftifica* tion nor redemption but in and through Chrift Jefus ; when he is boldly admonilh'd of the utter impoffibility of reconciling God and Mammon ; v^hen his ears arc jnade to tingle with that unwelcome but apoftolic de- claration, " Whofoever will be the friend of the world, is the enemy of God (i) ; " I fay when thefe grand truths are honeftly applied to the confciences of the hearers, then great offence will always be taken, efpecially by thofe who have the form of godlinefs, but deny the power thereof. Mrs. C. Really Mifs you run on very glibly ; I find Mr. Jewells now become your oracle -, but however you may be captivated with his long extempore harangues, and his theatrical geftures, I fhall always be much better pleas'd with a good, fober, moral difcourfe. Mifs S. Indeed my dear Mrs. Clinker, I make no man my oracle but fo far as he fpeaks agreeable to the ora- cles of God : and v/ith regard to what you have thought proper (i) James iv. 4. ( 8 ) proper to ftile long extempore harangues and theatrical gejlures, if it be a receiv'd maxim that out of the abun- dance of the heart the mouth fpeaketh, then, where the preacher's heart is really fealbn'd with grace, there will be no need of the black manufcript book, or of Do6tor Trufsler's copper-plates (k) : But it is a fine eafy way of proceeding for a minifter to get fifty-two old fermons, with two or three more for the great feftivals, and to mumble thefe over and over and over to the fame con- gregation Cperhaps now and then changing the texts) for years and years together, and when he is thus fet up with one twelvemonth's flock in trade, he may then fpend his leifure time as moft fuits his own inclination. Mrs. C, Fie Patty, you are abfolutely quite fevere and fatirical. : Mifs S. Not at all Madam. I am far from condemn- ing all written fermons, tho' you are pleas'd to condemn all extempore ones ; but this I muft fay, that I fhou'd have a very mean opinion of my lawyer, and fhou'd think he had not enter'd very deeply into the merits of my caufe, if he cou'd not plead for me without having all he faid written down before him ; neither fhou'd 1 think that man a very able fpeaker in the houfe of com- mons, who cou'd proceed on his fubject no longer than whiHl his fpeech was before his eyes. — In every flation of life we think that whofoever is acquainted with his profcfnon, fhou'd be fenfibly aff'efted with the impor- tance of what he is engaged in ; hence the mufic-mafler (efpecially if he have the dire6tion of a concert) feems to itrain every nerve of his body, and to have all the 4)owers of his foul call'd forth into adion, not only be- caufe he himfelf fenfibly feels the force of harmony, but becaule he wifhes his auditory fliou'd be alike touch'd with the pleafing found. Shall then the lawyer, the fe- nator, (ij Dr. Trufslcr in his Addrefs to the Clergy propofes to furnifh them with fermons printed by copper-plates in fuch manner as noi fo be diilinguiQiable from written hand. ( 9 ) niitor, the ftiufician, be fo zealoufly afFeded about thA things of rime and fenfe, and (hall the ambafladors of the King of kings, the heralds of the Lord of hofts, who are appointed to proclaim glad tidings of great joy to loft finners, fliall they who deliver the melfage of God to man fpeak in a <;old unaffeiting manner, as if neither they themfelves nor any of their hearers had the lead concern in the fubjedt ? It cannot be : and therefore the I^ord Jehovah commanded his prophets of old to cry aloud and not fpare, to lift up their voice like a trum- pet, and to fmite with their hand (I) \ and as if that were not fufficient to prove their earneftnefs, to ftamp with their toot (m)^ that they might Ihew the people their tranfgref- fion, and point out to them the way of hope and delive- rance. But alas ! how is all zeal for the glory of God and the good of fouls now condemn'd as frenzy and enthufi- afm •, and whilll fo fewminifters fpeak/r^'w? the heart them- felves, how is it poflible they Ihou'd fpeak to the hearts of their hearers ? but as foon as they have mutter'd over the laft page of their ditty, what can we cxpedl but than they fliou'd fall into worldly trifling difcourfe with their congregations even at the church door, and that the congregation themfelves, inftead of alking one another in the language of the difciples going to Emmaus, did not our hearts burn within us while he open'd to us the fcriptures (n) ? Ihou'd begin talking over all the mikries and follies of their neighbours, and perhaps exprefTing their deep concern that they want a fourth to make up a private party at quadrille the next evening -, whereas if they had been at a playhoufe they wou'd not have fail'd to have fpoken of all that they had feen and heard. And this puts me in mind of that well known anfwer of Mr. Betterton the player to a great dignitary of the church, when he afk'd Mr. Betterton what cou'd be the reafon that tho' the players fpoke of imaginary things and the clergy of real one.s, yet an audience was generally much more affcded with a play than with a lermon ? *' My - {-.}._ ^ " Lord, el) If. Iviii. I. ^/»/' Ezck. vi. n. (r.) Luke x.viv. 32. ( lo ) " Lord, replied Mr. Betterton^ I apprehend the reafort " to be this, that we players fpeak of imaginary things " as if they were real^ whereas too many of the clergy " fpeak of real things as if they were imaginary,*'* Mrs. C. Monftrous ! Girl, will you never have done ? Do you fuppofe that Mr. Jewel knows better than fo many great Divines who are twice his age ? or do you think that there was no religion in the town till he came among us ? Mifs- S. Truly Mrs. Clinker I am not for making in-^ veftives, or throwing out perfonal reflexions, however 'tis an happinefs that the word of God has given us fome unerring marks whereby to know who are the true, and who the pretended minifters of Chrift. Mrs. C. Pray Mifs what are thofe marks ? Mifs S, By the dodlrines they preach, and by the lives they lead. • — Befides that in all ages the true minifters have been few in number, and have always miCt with contempt and reproach by thofe who reje6led their mef- fage 5 whilil the falfe prophets were many in number, and lived in eafe and good repute among thofe who were deceived by them. Hence God complain'd by the mouth of his faithful melfenger Jeremiah, faying, the prophets prophecy falfely, and the people love to have it fo : and our biefied Lord himfelf in his fermon upon the mount fays, " Woe be unto you when all men fhall fpeak well of you, for fo did your fathers of the falfe prophets y butj bleffed are ye when men fhall hate you, and when they* ihall feperate you from their company, and fhall reproach l&ou, and caft out your name as evil, for the Son of Man's fake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy ; for beJiold, your reward is great in heaven -, for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets (o)." That is, unto the true prophets as put in contradiftindion to tbje falfe prophets mention'd in the verfe before quoted. Mrs. C. But I defire to know by what rule you judge that Mr, Jewel's dodrine is found and true ? ^ ^ Mifs S. (o) Luke vi. 22, 26, ( " ) Mifs S. Firji^ by bringing it to the only touchilone of truth and talfehood, the word of God. — Secondly^ by comparing it with an authority which I hope always to efteem next to the fcripture itfelf, the church of Eng- land in her liturgy, articles, and homilies. Mrs. C. Articles and homicles ! what are thofe ? I con- fels I never read them, and don't recollect that I ever heard of them. Mifs S. The articles and homilies are our grand bul- warks againft Popery j they contain all the fundamen- tal truths of the reformation -, and no minifter can be ordained in the church of England without making the moll folemn declaration and fubfcription that he believes them from his hearty to be perfectly agreeable to the word of God ; and that he will never preach any other doc- trine than that which is contain'd in them j and every clergyman who does preach any other doflrine, is liable to be excommunicated and fufpended by the bilhop, until he repent of his wicked errors (p). Mrs, C. Pray let me hear what thofe dodtrines are. Mifs S. They fet forth to us the true nature of God, that he exifts in three diflinft perfons, Fatiier, Son and Holy Ghoft, and that thefe three are one ; that is, one in nature and in efTence. They infill univerfall-/ upon the Divinity and Godhead of Chrill : They teach that man is fallen from his original (late of innocence, and that all the faculties of his foul are fo diforder'd by fin, that he hath neither will nor power to recover him- felf : That falvation is by grace through faith only, and not of works : That all works done before the grace of Ghrift and the infpiration of his fpirit, are not pleafant and acceptable to God ; but that where there is true and living faith in the heart, it will be as evidently difcern'd by the good works which it produces, as a tree is known by its fruits (q). Mrs. C. Are thefe indeed the doflrines of the eftab - lilh'd church ? B Mifs S. (p) Canon vth, Cq) Art. ix, x, xi, xii, xiii. r 12 ) Mifs S. They certainly are •, and of every other pro- teftanc church whatever : nay, there is not a petition which the minifter puts up from the deflc, not a colle6t throughout the whole book of common prayer, but what breathes the fame humbling language, and in which we do not confefs either diredly or indireftly that we have no power of ourfelves to help ourfelves — that we put not our truft in any thing that we do — that with- out God's holy infpiration we cannot fo much as think a good thought -, and that we are accounted righteous before God cnly for the merit of our Lord and Saviouf Jefus Chrilt by faith, and not for diir own works and defervings. Mrs. C. To be fure no man, unlefs he has a fear*d Confciencc, will ever fubfcribe to what he does not believe, meerly for the fake of getting the church's 'emoluments •, and it is alfo certain that the prayers ahd the fcrmon ought to harmonize together, and yet I can- not fay that I ever remember to have heard the doc- trines of Chrift's divinity, the total corruption of human nature, falvation by grace, and, what you call, the work of the fpirit upon the foul, much iniifled upon by our own minifter ; and to deal plainly with you, Mifs Patty, nothing wou'd be more difgufting to me than to hear fo much about the Spirit, and about infpiration^ as I look upon every thing of this fort to be little better than cant and enthiJfiafm. Mijs S. In whatever light you may look upon it, v;e have the voice of an apoitle on our fide when we iiffert, *'^That if any man have not the Spirit of Chrift, he is none of \m (r) : " and if it be cant and enthufi- afm to expeft the illumination, comforts, and fandlify- ing influences of the Spirit, then you yourfelf pray'd no lefs than ten tim.cs in the church fervice laft Stinday morning that you might be a canting eyithufiafi. Mrs, C, If I do all that our minifter tells me to -do, I (fj Rom. viil. 9, [ 13 ] I believe I fhall fland a very good- chalice for all that ^ and if I am not fafe ; God help a many!' Mifs S When obedience flows from the principle of faith working by love, it is certainly plealing and ac- ceptable to God ; but if you were to keep the whole law in order to entitle you to heaven, and yet fail in one point, whether in thought, word, or deed, you wou'd lie under the fentence of God's wrath, and be forever Ihut out from all hope cf being faved by your own doings : for thus it is written, Whofoever fhall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all (f) : and again, Curfed is every one that continueth not in all things which are v/ritten in the book of the law, to do them (i). Therefore by the deeds of the law there fhall no flelh living be juftihed (u). Mrs. C. Heighty, tighty, Mifs ! why you have got fcripture at your finger's end : to be fure you have been finely tutor'd for lb fhort a time j but if I can't be fav'd by doing my beft, how am I to be fav'd at all ? Mifs S. By believing in Jefus Chrifl, who hath re- deemed us from the curfe of the law, being made a curfe for us (v). Mrs. C. What then do you take me for a Jew, a Turk, or an Heathen ? I tell you I always believ'd in Jefus Chrifl. Mifs S. It is an obfcrvation of the pious and learned Bifhop Reynolds, that " there are no luch bad believers as thofe who think they were always htXntwtr: : " and indeed there is a wide difference between the faith of cullom and education, and that faith which is the gift of God, and the work of his fpirit in the heart ; the for- mer is common to all who profefs themfelves chridians •, the latter is only to be found in thofe who have felt the burden of fin, and who under a deep fenfe of their lofl eflate both by nature and by practice, have fied for re- fuge to the hope fet before them in the gofpel, of peace and falvation. B z Mrs. C,^ (/) James ii.io. {tj Gal, iii.io. (uj Ga!. ii.i6. (vj Gal. iiu i;^.. c 14 J Mrs, C. I don*t like carrying on the difpute with you, but I'm refolv'd you Ihall never perfuade me to turn. Mifs S. You grieve nr.e exceedingly, dear Madam, to fee you xo much prejudiced, and ftill harping upon the fame firing. — - 1 declare 1 know not what you mean by turning : however as you yourfelf have mention'd the exprefllon, permit me in few words to tell you what fort of turning the fcriptu^e makes effentially neceifary, namely, a turning from nature to grace •, from fin to holinefs. In this fenfe of the word our excellent church teaches us to offer up our fupplications that " the hearts " of the difobedient may be turned to the v/ifdom of the " jufl ; " and in the fervice for Afh Wednefday we each pray for ourfelves, " turn thou us Q good Lord, and " fo fhall we be turned J"* Mrs. C. I tell you once more, that I hope I fhall get to heaven as well as thofe who rnake fo much ado about it : fo pray let us change the fubjed or I mufl go. Mifs S. Do, let me intreat you to fit down quietly a little longer, and fuffer me tp obferve in anfvver to what you fay, that there are two forts oi h.ope mention'd in icripture, the hope of the hypocrite or felf-deceiver, which fhall perifh (w); and that lively hope full of im- mortality, which purifieth the foul, and which maketh not afham'd becaufe the love of God is fhed abroad in the heart by the Holy G\\o^(x). This is that glorious, well grounded hope which I fincerely pray may be yours, and whif h fhall never fail, till both faith and hope are fwallow'd up in everlafting love, Mrs. C. For my part I vyifh to have every thing go on in peace. Mifs S. So does the common enemy of fouls. — Par- don the force of my exprefTion, but as it is founded upon fcripture I cou'd not help fpeaking plainly : for we read in the xi th chapter of St. Luke, that when a flrong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace : but when a flronger than he fhaU come upoa nini C-zvJ Job viii. 13. CxJ Rom. v. 5. ( 15 ) ^hii and overcome him he taketh from him ail his ar- mour wherein he trufted and divideth his fpoils. Now by the ftrong man is Satan evidently pointed out in the context, and by the ftronger man Jefus Chrift is as clearly let forth. Here then I mufl: take the liberty of obferving that as there are two forts oi faith and two forts of hope, fo there are two forts oi peace mention'd in the word of God : the one is that wretched fecurity which refts upon every heart of man by nature, and is reprefented under the Itriking images of Jleep, darknefs^ and even of death itfelf : Hence that call of the apof- tle, in which all thefe three images are implied, " Awake thou ihdX Jleepejt and arife from the dead, and Chrifl Ihall give thee light (y)'* This then is that falfe peace which the prince of this world wifhes never to have difturb'd, and >vhich univerfally prevails over all thofe who thank God that their confciences were never uneafy about fin. — But there is another fort of peace, even that peace which Jefus bequeathed as a dying legacy to his forrowing dif- ciples, v/hen he faid, " My peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth, ^ive 1 unto you fz^.'* This is that true folid peace which the world can neither give, nor take away j a peace which is the effedt of a lively faith in Jefus Chrifl, and of which St. Paul bears this ftrong teflimony, " That it pafTeth all underftanding." — The worfl wifh I harbour in my heart towards dear Mrs. Clinker, is, that fhe may fpeedily be made partaker of it. Mrs. C. Thank you my dear, but I am very well fa- tisfied with myfelf already. — Pray what do you think- became of all the people who died in L r before this preaching about faith and regeneration came ? Do you fuppofe they are all damn'd i* Mifs S. God forbid that I fhou'd pafs fentence upon any perfon whatever •, for tho' it is certain that where the blind lead the blind, both mult fall into the ditch (a); yet at all times and in all places, every foul that is really converted to God and chang'd by grace, fhall in the end in- CyJ Eph. V. 14, fzj John xlv. 27. fa J Mat. xv. 14. ( i6 ) intierit everlafting life. But I'am forry you have no bef- ter argument to produce than that which is in the mouth of every bigotted Romifh priefl, " Where was your re- ligion (fay they to the Proteflants) before L.iUher\ and C^/x'/ystime,*' and " what is become of all the people, fay you, who died in L — r before this preaching came ? " Mrs. C. All I meant v/as to exprels my diflike of innovations. Mifs S. Nobody I affure you can more ferioufly la- ment the innovations which have crept into the dodtrine, • difcipline, and pradlice of the chriftian church than my- felf ; yet from the very fame principles as you now ar-»; gue, the Papifts at the time of the reformation reproach'd the Proteftants, and call'd them " the men of the new religion ; " whereas in truth their religion was the pure religion of the bible, long before the corruptions of po- pery had any exiflence. — But fo it is, that when truth has been long banifh'd, and error has been long preva- lent, no fooner does the former attempt to recover her place, than the latter moft impudently denies her the pre-eminence, or becaufe fhe may have been for a few years in exile, of a ftranger, even dares to affirm that her origin is fpurious, and to treat her as an intruder. ■Mrs. C. What is all this to the purpofe ? • Mi/'s. S. I prefume it is very much to the purpofe ; becaufe thoulands in this land, tho' reform'd as to fome fuperftiiious ceremonies, are nev^rthelefs funk into the very dregs of popilh do6lrine, without fo much as fuf- pe<^tiHg; It ; and tho* Bible, Articles, Homilies, and the whole church of England liturgy are point blank againft them, yet they as readily fwallow down the proud, anti- chriftian, -jefuitical tenets of free-will, man's merit, two-fold juftification, and even of fmlefs perfeflion, as if they were the genuine growth of fcripture and of pro- teftantifm •, whereas in truth and in faft they are fome of the rankeft weeds of the popilh and pelagian dunghill. Mrs. C. Hey-day, Mils ! I fancy you intend to take Orders foon, - ' Mifs 6\ ( 17 ) Mifs S. The fubjedl we are upon, Mrs. Clinker, is of too important a nature to be put off with a fneer. I pretend not to argue with you as a divine^ but as a chrif- tian •, and undeV this charafter, it is incumbent upon you, upon me, and upon all who profefs the name of Chrill, to be ready to give a realbn for the hope that is in us (b). — Surely in a matter on which my eternal fal- vation depends, it wou'd argue the rnoft extravagant folly to be able to aflign no other caufe why I call my- felf a chriftian, than becaufe my father and grand- father were fo before me •, nor why I am a protefiant^ than becaufe I was born in the' iflarid of Gr^<^/ Britain, Upon the very fame principles, had I been born in Japan I muft have been an heathen -, had I been born in Turkey I Ihou'd have been a mahotnetan ; and had I been born in France, Spain, Italy, or Portugal, I muft have been a romanijt : and every pagan, muffulman, or papift, might give as good a reafon why they are any of the three. Mrs. C. IS'Ot to hold any further difpute on that point, I muft now mention an objeftion which I have very often heard brought againft Mr. Jewel, particularly by my very good friends Mr. Canon Temple and old Lady Church, as alfo by Mr. Bi/Jiop, Mrs. Chancel, and Doflor Steepleton* It is, that he is a very great favourer of the diffcnters, many of whom it is notorious come frequently to hear him. Mifs S. Mr. Jewel is a man of a candid benevolent temper, who hates all narrownefs and bigotry of fpirit; and tho' as a minifler of the eftabliftiment he bears a particular attachment to the church of England, yet he loves all fincere chriftians, by whatever denomination they may be diftinguiftied, and has the happinefs of be- ing loved by them in return. And if fome worthy per- fons among the diflenters come often to hear him, furely this is a good proof of their catholiciim, and cannot juftly bxemade a matter of objedlion againft 7;/;«j for which of the.two. is t^e beft friend of the- church, he who by ,'-^ .:•;. preaching Ci'J I Peter iii. 15. ( i8 ) preaching unfound dodrine drives his hearers from the church to the diflenters, or he who by faithfully declar- ing the whole council of God, brings the diflenters from the meeting to the church? Mrs. C. I CQnfefs the objection appeared to me rather frivolous when I firfl heard it mentioned, and now you have intirely convinced me that it is fo. Mifs S. I am happy to find you fo ingenuous my dear friend, and fmce we are upon the fubjed, permit me to obferve concerning diflenters that we ought always to rank them into two clafl^es, viz. thofe who dijfent in fome eflential points of faith, and thofe who dijeni only in fome little circumftantial matters of external worfliip and difcipline. The former are the dangerous dtjfenters, and we ought the more to be on our guard againfl: them ; becaufe legions of them who love the church's prefer- ments, much better than her do6lrines, have taken pof- fefllon of our pulpits, from whence they vent their poilbnous errors without difmay or controul. With thefe diflenters it is impoflible to live in harmony and friendfliip, and we are even enjoined not to bid them God fpeed, nor even to receive them into our houfe, lefl: we fliould be partakers of their fins f^rj. — But whereas I obfervcd before, there is no other difl^ention than about fome trifling modes and ceremonies, there we may ftill be united in heart and affeftion, feeing we may be all members of that fame myfl:ical body whereof Chrift him- felf is the head. Thus that man is no dangerous diflfenter who perhaps fcruples to put on a furplice when he prays in public, for he may neverthelefs have pui on the Lord Jefus Chrifl:, and may pray with the fpirit and with the underftandingC^j: but he is a dangerous difl^enter who, whether he wear the furplice or no, is not clothed with that white linen which is the righteoufnefs of thefaints(^), and who denies that the fpirit helpeth our infirmities and teacheth us to pray (/). In fliort, the whole world is di: ft J 2 John X. u. ("dj Rom. xiii. 14. Pf. xlvii. y^ (e) Rev. xix. 8. (f) Rora« viii. 26, ( ^9 ) divided orily into two lorts of people, converted and irn- tonveried, the children of God and the children of this world : and at the great day it will not be alk'd whe- ther a man receiv'd the communion fitting or kneeling, i)'jr whether he was baptiz'd fooner or later, by fprink- ling or by immerfion ; but whether the blood of fprink- ling was ever applied to his confcience, whether he ever knew what it was fpiritually to feed upon Jefus Chrift by living faith ; and whether he was ever made partaker of the baptifm of the Holy Ghofb; for in both facraments " the outward form or vifible fign" (as our catechifm calls it) can be of no avail without " the inward and fpiritual grace," or thing fignified. Mrs. C. I thank you tor thus ftating the diftindion, and cannot help acknowledging the jutlnefs of it. But I muft ftill beg leave to mention one or two other mat- ters which I have heard objed:ed againil Mr. Jewel. Mifs S, Pray Mrs, Clinker fpeak without referve : I afifure you I fhall be far from vindicating him in any thing that may appear improper. Mrs. C. Lad night I happened to be playing a pool at Mrs. Shuffleton's^ with old Mrs. Honour Cuizvelly Mrs. Prjahuly Lady PForm-ivood, and a few other friends, and who fhould come in but DocStor Jrr.is Ckadman^ and with him the grave and fedate Mr. Jicartivhole. — During the time of tea, and between the deals, the convcrfation almoft intirely turn'd upon Mr. Jeivcl. Mr. Heart'-whok faid he wondered any body lliou'd be {o abfurd as to run after him, and that in general the people of this way were either poor ignorant creatures who knew no better, or clfe, fuch as had been very loofe and profligate in their morals. Do6tor Chadman immediately acquielced in the reir.ark, as did alfo the whole company, and in- deed I Vy-as fo much ftruck with the propriety of it, that I gave my hearty approbation to every word which was fpoken. C Mifs S' Mifs S. From the very firR- ages of the church down to the prefent period, the fame cavils have always been rais'd againft the gofpel and its faithful minifters, by men of the fame character with Dodlor Chadman and Mr. I'leartwhok. When God himfelf was manifeft in the fieili, tho' the common people (we read) heard him gladly, yet it Vvas taunted againft his difciples "have any of the Rulers or of the Pharifees believed on him ?" and he himfelf was reprcach'd as beipg a friend of pub- licans and fmners. But by thofe very means which man m.akes ufe of to pour contempt upon true religion, God does and will get himfelf the greatell glory, viz. by inltruding the moft ignorant, and pardoning the moit guilty. Had Jefus intended to propagate his gof- pel by worldly grandeur and worldly wifdom, he never wou'd have appeared on earth as the reputed fon of a carpenter, nor have chofen poor illiterate fifhermen to be his chief companions, and the principal inftruments of accompliihing his great defigns, and however theie obiedlions may and do prove "• as ftones of ftumbling and rocks of offence, to men who are wife in their own conpeits, and righteous in their own eyes-," yet our bleiTed Lord inftead of endeavouring to obviate them, plainly told the felf-juftifying pharifees, that publicans and harlots wou'd go into the kingdom of heaven be- fore them, that the whole needed not a phyfician, but thofe that were fick; and never perhaps did he know an happier hour, (for it is written "that he rejoiced in fpirir," j than when he faid "1 thank thee father, Lord of heaven and earth, becaufe thou haft hid thefe things irorn the wife and prudent, and haft revealed them unto babes : even fo Father, for lb it feemed good in thy fight." Mrs. C. Pray Mifs PaUy did you ever converfe with Parfon Sq^uabble upon thefe fubjefts ? Pm perfuaded he wou'd foon fet you right, if you wou'd but mind what he lavs. Mfs ^. < 21 ) Mifs S. 1 am no ftranger to the real characler of Parfon Sq^iiabble. He is as lly a fellow as any in Eng- land-, there's he and the Rev. Mr. Guzzle go every now and then to dine with 'Squire Gawkey at Noodk-hdl, and there they fir and cram the.nfelves up to the throat, and by way ot making the 'Squire laugh tell him a parcel of ridiculous lies about methodifts, and then they go away and in return laugh at him in their fleeves. And if you have a mind to have any fartlier infight into good Parfon Sq^uabble*?. charader, I can affure you that if he was but half as aflive to fave his parifiiioner's fouls as he is to wrangle with them about afieffments, he would be one of the beft clergymen in the county, buc the truth is that poor Squabble is much more expert m vorrying the fheep, than in feeding them. Mrs. C. Well, well, may be lb. — But I fnall now mention a very great oddity that I have heard of iVlr. Jewel. Mifs S. What is that, Mrs. Clinker F Mrs. C. They tell me that he goes a vifiting all about his parilh ; and that he is fcarcely got into an houfe but he begins about religion. For my own part I iliou'd be frighten'd to fee him come in. Mifs S. If the fubjed: were not too ferious my friend's objedion wou'd really extort a fmile from me. 'Tis true Mr. Jewel looks upon it to be his incumbent duty to vifit his parifliioners, purfuant to the folemn charge he receiv'd from the Bifliop for that purpofe •, and when he d(/es viiit them, he think*: it wou'd be the higheil proilitution of his time and office nor to converfe with them upon thofe fubjesfts on which all th^ir happinefs both here and hereafter depends •, and therefore he is not afhani'd to introduce the bible in preference to a pack of cards, or to declare the love and grace of his Saviour, rather than hear or relate all the idle tittle tattle of the town. No, he leaves thefc things for thofc wlio hope to be fav'd by tlicir own virtue and good works, v.-hiUt C? 2 i": ( i^2 ) k is the determination of /iis heart to know nOthincr comparatively among his flock, but Jelus Chrill, and him crucified, Mrs. C. You may run on as long as you pleafc, Mifs but it is a certain evidence to me, that a perlbn either, •wants good breeding, or is a very great enthufiaft, who talks fo much about religion. Mifs S. That the topic is a mod unfafhionable one, I very readily allow ; and yet the apoftle Paul neither fear'd having his politenels call'd in queftion, or being branded as an enthufiafl:, when he commanded us to exhort one another daily^ to have our converfation in heaven ; and to let our communication -to- be always to the uie of edifying, fit to minifter grace unto the hear- ersf^j. Now let not my dear Mrs. Clinker be angry, if I defire her to examine v/hether fne has not as much liv'd in dire6l oppofition to thefe divine injunclions, as if there were no fuch words to be found in the bible. Mrs. C. I always talk of thofe things that the reft of my acquaintance talk about ; and indeed I am not one of thofe who are for making a (hew of religion, and yet I truft I have as good an heart as thole who are ahvays canting, whining, and praying. Mifs S. Though we are call'd upon to pray without ceanngf/zj, which at lead means that our hearts lhou*d be always m a praying frame, yet I am as much againfl ccjiting and 'whining as you can be : however don't let us call things by wrong names, fmce thefe exprefiions are frequently made ufe of in order to pour contempt upon every thing that has the leafl fhadow of real piety. And tho' I don't mean to form any worfe judgment of your heart than of my own, or of others, yet I never found it recorded in fcripture that the heart of any individual is naturally good in the fight of God, but deceitful above all things, and defperately wicked ('/jj and I'm perfuaded that (gj Heb. Hi. 13. Phil, iii, 20. Eph. iv. 29, (It) I Theff. V. 17. (ij Jer. xvii. g. C 23 ; that if you couM but call to mind every thing that has pafs'd in your heart this one day, even when you were en- gaged in your clofet duties, how little you have thought about God and eternity, and how much about the world and yourlelf, that you wou'd find caufe enough for the deepeft repentance and humiliation, efpecially when you reflect who it is that has faid, " My fon give me thine heart {k)r Mrs. C. But tho' nobody loves a good play or an in- nocent game at cards better than Mrs. Ski{0eio}2y yet you muft certainly allow that (he is a very religious woipar, for Ihe has prayers in her family night and morning, ana gives both money and medicines to many poor fick peo- ple, and yet you know how much flie fpoke againfi Mr. Jewel the other night at Lady Sq:ieefe'm's. Mifs S. I believe indeed that there are few who go further in the externals of religion than iMrs. Shuffleton', but as foon as her duties are over do they leave any di- vine favor upon her heart ? Does flie feem to make up her happinels in Chrid ? Is fhe not as trifling in her converlation, as worldly in her difpofition, and is fne not delighted with the very fame follies and entertain- ments that amufe the mofl: abandon'd and profane ? However admitting all you fay of Mrs. Shuffieiori's, de- votion, yet we read in the Ai^s of the ApolFles that de- vout zvomen., have before now been inftrumental in raif- ing perfecutions againfl: the faithful minillers of Chrift. Mrs. C. Mercy on us, Pat^ vvhy you vv'ou'd con- demn ail the good people in L r at this rate. — And pofitively you make me quite fick j I tell you I am for having every body good, without chattering an<^ making a rout about it. Mifs S, I fincerely join with you in wifhing that there V/as much lefs chattering and making routs tiian there is; but let us remember that light cannot be hid, and that W€? are not to take a candle and put.i,t under a bulhel, but fij Prov. xxUi. i6. ( 24 ) but on a candleftick, that all that are in the houfe may fee the light (/): now real chridians are faid to be the light of the world, and the fait of the earth, and are compar'd to cities fet on an hill (;»)•, fooner therefore can light irfelf be turned into darknefs, fooner can fait lofe its favor ; and fooner can an high confpicuous city be inviiible to the eyes of the beholder, than a true believer can be unnoticed from the multitude of nominal profefibrs round about him : But is it not flrange, that tho' we are creatures of a day, that tho' we have immortal fouls within us which muft be for ever happy or for ever miferable •, that tho' Jefus Chrift has vouchfafed to die for our fins, and to rife again for our juftification ; yet that the grand fubjeft which moft of all concerns us is the only one that is quite kept out of fight. There is time enough to talk about dancing affembiies and carcl afTemblics; who and who made themftlves very particu- lar together ; who dreifes the moft genteely -, and who makes themfelves the moft awkward figure ; who makes the prandcft entertainments, and who gives the moft pal- try dinners •, we can hold forth for hours together about ekdions, politics, races, deaths, and marriages ; and neverthelefs if but a fingle word is dropp'd about Jefus Chrift, and the falvation of the foul, filence or difguft is ihe immediate confequence. Mrs. C. May be fo. But I can never give up the ne- ceffity of a prudent compliance with the world. Mifs S. Then it is certain that you mu&: give up your bible ; but whilft we are in health and fpirits, and ftran- ^ Rom. xii. 2. (^J Mac.vi.24. {rj Mat. xvi. 24. (Jj i John ii. 15. ( 20 ) livetb (i). Set your afFcftions on things above, and not on things on the earth (u). Strive to enter in at the ftrait gate, for llrdit is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it J becaufe wide is the gate and broad is the way which leadeth unto deftrudtion and many there be which go in thereat (':c); I fay, when I read thefe texts and a thoufand more ot the like import, I can never believe that a divided heart is a facrifice with which God will be well pleafed. Mrs. C. I frill think that all extremes ought to be avoided i and that it is fafefl to keep the middle way. Mifs S. We read in fciipture, as I was jull now ob- ferving of a_y?r^zV way to heaven, znd 3. 1?road way to dellrudtion, but we no where here read of a middle way; however there is mention made of a middle Jlate between hot and cold, and the following is the fentence which the word of infpiration puniflieth upon all fuch as are in that ftate. I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor, hot: I wou'd thou wert cold or hot. So then be- caufe thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, i will fpue thee out of my mouth(A"). Here you feeasai) open enemy is preferable to a pretended friend, fo they who are totally carelefs and indifferent about religion, are much lefs offenfive to God, than fuch as are for keeping the middle way of lukewarmnefsj the reafon of \vhich muft appear very clearly to you if you will fuffer me to put the fentimcnts of fuch perions into the form of a prayer, which we may luppofe wou'd run in feme Ibch cxprefiions as the following, " O Lord thy word *' requires that I fhou'd love thee with all my heart, with *' all my mind, with all my foul, and with all my *' ilrength (j), that I fliou'd renounce the world, and " fhou'd prefent myfelf as an lioly, reafonable and " lively (tj I Tim. V, 6. (u) Col. iii. 2. (iv) Mat. vii. i^. (x) Rev, iii, i6. (j) Mark. xil. 33. ( 27 ) «« lively facrifice unto thee (z); but Lord thefe arc «' fuch over righteous extremes as I cannot away with ; " therefore grant that thy love, and a moderate Ihare <« of the love of this world, may both reign in my »' heart at once. I alk it for Jefus Chrift's fake Amen.'* Now my dear Madam if you are fhock'd at fuch a petition confider that it is the exact language of your own heart, whilft you can plead for what you call the 7mddle way in religion. Mrs. C. To be fure religion is not to be negleded, yet I am apprehenfive left fo much of it fhou'd make the common people idle. Mifs S. Your objedtion madam is as old as Pharoah's time, when the opprefs*d Ifraelites requeftcd leave to go and facrifice to the Lord in the wildernefs ; the language of the haughty monarch was, ye are idle! ye are idle(^) ! therefore ye fay let us go and facrifice to our God (I/). For my own part I am fo far from countenancing idle- nefs, that I believe it is as necelTary for the common people to labour as to pray, and am well perfuaded that the heart may often be engag'd in the work of heaven, whilft the hands are about the neceffary bufi- nefs of earth : nor can I maintain a favourable opinion of any man as a chriflian, who makes religion an excufe for negledting his duty in the ilation wherein God has plac'd him, and therefore thofe two things which the apoflle joins together, no man ought to put afunder. Not flothful in bufmefs, but fervent in fpirir, ferving the Lord (c). Mrs. C. I mufl acknowledge that what you fay on this point appears reafonable enough, but I have ob- ferv'd that during our whole converfation you have talk*d to me jvift as if I was a very wicked bad creature. — Pray do you make no difference between mc and any Xiaughty woman who walks the itreets. D Mifs S. (z) Rom. xii, i. (a) E.xod. v, 17. (hj Exod. v. S. ('-) pom xii. \\' ( 28 ) Mifs S. That there is a great difference between one fin and another in point of guilt and aggravation, there is no doubt; yet before the law of God I maice no dif- ference between the moft decent formalift", and the rnofl abandon'd profligate, becaufe the fcripture itfelf makes none, having declar'd in exprefs terms that there is no difl'erence, feeing that all have finned and come iliort of the glory of God (d). Ignorance of this important truth is thedeflrudionof thoufands, who inftead of com- paring themfelves with the law, and feeing that the leaft deviation from it fubjedts them to the curfe, (for fin is the tranfgrelfion of the law) (e) and the wages of fin is death (f), are ready to cry out with the pharifee of old, God I thank thee that I am not as other men are (g) ; by this means their fouls remain in blindnefs both as to their difeafe and as to their remedy ; for as nothing gives them greater offence than to be told th^t they ftand upon a level with the very publicans aqd har- lots, and that the pride, enmity, unbelief and felf- righteoufnefs of their hearts are perhaps fins of a deeper die than thofe outward immoralities v/hich they condemn in others, fo they will not be perfuaded but that God will be much more inclin'd to receive them and to fhew them mercy on account of fomething that they think good in themfelves, than he will to receive or fhew mer- cy to thofe who have gone great lengths in the groffefl abominations. Mrs. C. I can never think myfelf fo bad as you would make me. Mifs S. 'Tis not what I make you, but what the word of God makes you that you ought to attend tq: however, if you will but call to mind what you faid of yourfelf laft time you went to church and approach'd the Lord's table, you will find that your oyvn mouth condemn'd you much more than I have done; for yop ther> (d) Ronj. Ili, 23. fe) I John iii. 4, (fj Rom. vi. 23 = (^J Luke xviii. n. ( 29 ) ^en confefs'd over and over again that you were a mi- ferable finner, a loft fheep, that the remembrance of your fins was grievous unto you, and the burden of them intolerable (h)-y and therefore you befought God pitifully to behold the forrows of your heart: now if you did not feel the truth of thefe expreflions in your- inmoft foul, whilft you acknowledg'd them with your lips, it is to be fear'd you have only been guilty of a folemn mockery of the mod high, and if you did feel the force of them, then it is certain that I have not fet you forth in any worfe colors than thofe in which you have painted yourfelf. Mrs, C. But I have endeavoured to repent and amend ; and upon this account I doubt not but God will be merciful to me. Mifs S. Repentance and amendment are certainly right in their proper place, and no foul fhall be iav'd without them ; yet it is not on account of thefe that God will be merciful to any finner whatever-, but only on account of what Jefus has done and fuffer'd. R.e- pentance, obedience, and even faith itlelf are not me- ritorious caufes of our falvation, but they are thofe gifts and graces which God is pleas'd freely to beftow upon all thofe whom he has taken into covenant with himfelf. Befides, fuppofe you were to be ever lb lorry for fin, this forrow wou'd indeed prove your guilt, but cou'din no wife undo what is palt. Mrs. C. This doftrine is enough to drive one to def- pair. Mifs S. If it drive you to defpair of being fav'd by any thing you have done, or can do, cither in whole or in part, it is well •, fince this is the only way whereby you can be brought to fet a due value upon the gofpel of Chrift •, and when you can take him as all your lal- vation, and can rely upon his promifes, then you will |ind that a fenfe of your intereft in him, and of his par- doning /''/' Communion Service. ( 20 ) doning love fhed abroad in the heart, 15 the very oppo- fite of that gnawing corroHve fenfation and anguilh of confcience which are properly meant by the word defpair. Mrs. C. Indeed, Mifs Patfy, I can bear it no longer ' — fo once more, good night. Mi/s S. Good night, Mrs. Clinker ; but let me not part with you without one promife. Mrs. C. What is that ? Mifs S. That you will not condemn Mr. Jewel upon the report of others -, but that you will diveft yourfelf of prejudice, and will go and hear for yourfelf, at lead three times, as it is impofTible to form any competent judgment ot the general fcope of a minifter's preaching from one fingle fcrmon. Remember that when an Apof- tlepreach'd, fome went out contradicling and blafphem- jmg, but others had candour enough to fay, " We will hear thee again as to this matter {i) :" therefore let me addrefs Mrs. Clinker with " Go and do thou likewife : " and if fome fhou'd be hardy enough to fay, " He has a devil and is mad, why hear ye him (^;," I truft you will foon be convinc'd that the words which he fpeaks are not the words of him that hath a devil. Mrs. C. But his fermons are fo horribly long, and the weather is fo cold, that I fhall be both tir'd and ftarv'd to death. Mifs S. When you came from the play laft Tuefday ) Canon 5th, (y) Av, ix, x, xi, yiA, xvii. ( li ) Miji Si They certainly are -, and of every other pfo- teftant church whatever : nay, there is not a petition iJvhich the minifter puts up from the defk, not a colled: throughout the whole book of coniimon prayer, but what breathes the fame humbling language, and in which we do not confefs either diredly or indirectly, that " we have no power of ourfelves to help ourfelves"— that *' wc put not our truft in any thing that we do" — that " with- out God's holy infpiration we cannot fo much as think a good thought j" and that " we are accounted righteous before God only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jefus Chrift by faith, and not for our own works and defervings." Mrs. C. To be fure no man, unlefs he has a fear'd confcience, will ever fubfcribe to what he does nolf believe, meerly for the fake of getting the church's emoluments j and it is alfo certain that the prayers and the fermon ought to harmonize together, and yet I can- not fay that I ever remember to have heard the doc- trines of Chrift's divinity, the total corruption of human nature, falvation by grace, and, what you call, the work of the Spirit upon the foul, much infilled upon by our own minifter; and to deal plainly with you, Mifs Patty , nothing v/ou'd be more difgufting to me than to hear fo much about the Sprit, and about inffiration, as I look upon every thing of this fort to be little better than cant and enthufiafm. Mifs S. In whatever light you may look upon it^ we have the voice of an apoftie on our fide when wc affert, '*' That if any man have not the Spirit of Chrift, ,he is none of his (r) :" and if it be cant and enthufi- afm to exped the illumination, comforts, and fandify- ing infiuences of the Spirit, then you yourfelf pray'd na iefs than ten times in the church fervice laft Sunday snorning that you might be a canting enthufiafi. Mrs. C, Iff do all that our minifter tells me to do, i (r) Rom. viii. 9^ ( «3 ) 1 believe I fhall ftand a very good chance ; and if I am not fafe ; God help a many ! Mijs S. When obedience flows from the principle of faith working by love, it is certainly pleaflng and ac- ceptable to God ; but if you were to keep the whole law in order to entitle you to heaven, and yet fail in one point, whether in thought, word, or deed, you wou'd lie under the fentence of God's wrath, and be for ever fhut out from all hope of being faved by your own doings ; for thus it is written, Whofoever Ihall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all (/) : and again, Curfed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the lav/, to do them (/). Therefore by the deeds of the law there fhall no flefh living be juftified (u). Mrs. C. Heighty, tighty, Mifs ! why you have goc fcripture at your finger's end : to be fure you have been finely tutor'd for fo fliort a time ; but if I can't be fav'd by doing my beft, hov/ am I to be fav'd at all ? Mi/s S. By believing in Jefus Chrift, who hath re- deem'd us from the curfe of the law, being made a curfe for us {v). Mrs. C. What then do you take me for a Jew, a ^urk, or an Heathen ? I tell you I always believ'd in Jefus Chrifl. Mifs S. It is an obfervation of the pious and learned. Bifhop Reynolds, that " there are no fuch bad believers as thofe who think they were always believers :" and indeed there is a wide difference between the faith of cuftom and education, and that faith which is the gift of God, and the work of his Spirit in the heart ; the toF- mer is common to all who profefs themfeh'-es chriflians ^ the latter is only to be found in thofe who have felt the burden of fin, and who under a deep fcnfe of their lofl Inflate both by nature and by practice, have fled for re- fuge to the hope fet before them in the gofpel of peace and falvation. Mrs. C, {/) James ih lo, (t) Gal. m \o. (m)QA.xu i6. (^v) GaLUi. ij. ( w ) Mrs. C. I don't like carrying on tht dirpute with yotr, but I'm relblv'd you fliall never perfuade me to turn. , Mi/s S. You grieve me exceedingly, dear Madam, to fee youfo much prejudiced, and fl-iil harpino; upon the- fame firing.— I declare I know not what you mean by turning: however as you yourfelf have mention'd the exprefTionj permit me in few words to tell you what fort o( turning the fcripture makes cfientially neceJTaryj namely, a turning from nature to grace ; from fin to holinefs. In this ^tn^it of the word our excellent church teaches us to offer up our.fupplications that " the hearts of the difobedient may be turned to the wifdom of the jufti" and in the fervice for Aih Wednefday we each pray for ourfelves, " turn thou us, O good Lord, and fo fhall v/e be turned J' Mrs. C. I tell you once more, that I hope I fhall get to heaven as well as thofe who make fo much ado about 'it : fo pray let us change the fubjed or I mufl go. Mi/s S. Do, let me intreat you to fit down quietly a little longer, and fuffer me to obfcrve in anfwer to what you fay, that there are two forts of hope mentioned in fcripture, the hope of the hypocrite or felf-deceiver, which fhall perifii (zv); and that lively hope full of im- mortality, which purifieth the foul, and which maketh not afliam'd, becaufe the love of God is Ihed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghofl (x). This is that glorious, well grounded hope which I fincerely pray may be yours, and which fhall never fail, till both faith and hope are fwallow'd up in everlalling love. ilfrj-. C. For my part I wiih to have every thing go on in peace. Mi/s S. So does the common enemy of fouls. — Par- don the force of my exprelTion, but as it is founded upon fcripture I cou'd not help fpeaking plainly : for we read in the xith chapter of St. Luke, that when a ftrong man arjned keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace : but whe/i a Wronger than he fliall come upon him (iv) J^obvUi, 13. (x) Rom. V. 5 ) him and overcome him he taketh from him all his ar- mour wherein he trufled and divideth his fpoils. Now by the ftrong man Satan is evidently pointed out in the context, and by the ftronger man Jefus Chrift is as clearly fet forth. Here then I muft take the liberty of obferving that as there are two forts oi faith and two forts of hopCy fo there are two forts of peace mentioned in the word of God : the one is that wretched fecurity Vv^hich refts upon every heart of man by nature, and is r-eprefented under the ftriking images ofjleep, darknejs^ and even of death itfelf: FIcnce that call of the apof- tle, in which all thefe three images are implied, " Awake thou x.\\d.t Jlcepcft and arife from the dead^ and Chrift fhall give thce/zV/j/ O'J-" This then is that falfe peace which the prince of this v/orld wifhes never to have difturb'd, and which univerfally prevails over all thole who thank God that their confciences were never uneafy about fin. — But there is another foct of peace, even that peace which Jefus bequeath'd as a dying legacy to his forrowing dif- ciples, v/hen he fiid, " My peace I leave with ycu, my peace I give unto you ; not as the v/orld giveth, give I unto you {z)." This is that true folid peace which the world can neither give, nor take away; a peace which is the effect of a lively faith in Jefus Chrift, and of which St. Paul bears this ftrong teftimony, " That it paiTeth all underftanding." — The worft wifti I harbour in my heart towards dear Mrs. Clinker, is, that flie may fpee- dily be made partaker of it. Mrs. C. Thank you, my dear, "but I am .very well fa- tisfied with myfelf already. — Pray what do you think became of all the people who died in our town before this preaching about faith and regeneration came? Do you fuppofe they are all damn'd ? Mij's S. God forbid that I fliou'd pafs fentence upon any perfon whatever.— for tho' it is certain that where the blind lead the blind, both muft fail into the ditch («); yet at all times and in all places, every foul that is really converted to God and chang'd by grace, ftiall in the end in- (yj Eph.v. 14. (zj Johnxiv. 27. (r.J Matxv, 14. ( i6 ) inherit cverlafling life. But I am forry you have no bet- ter argument to produce than that which is in the mouth of every bigotted Romifh prieft, " Where v/as your re- ligion (fay they to the proteftants) before Luther s and Calvin's time," and " what is become of all the peo- ple fay you, who died among us before this preaching came ? " Mrs. C. All I meant was to exprefs my dillike of innovations. Mt/s S. Nobody I afTure you can more ferioufly la- ment the innovations v/hich have crept into the do6lrine, difcipHne, and pradice of the chriftian church than my- felf J yet from the very fame principles as you now ar- gue, the Papifts at the time of the reformation reproach'd the proteftants, and call'd them " the men of the new religion ;" whereas in truth their religion was the pure religion of the Bible, long before the corruptions ot po- pery had any exiftence,— But fo*it is, that when truth has been long banifh'd, and error has been long preva- lent, no fooner does the former attempt to recover her place, than the latter moft impudently denies her the pre-eminence, or becaufe ihe may have been for a few years in exile, or a ftranger, even dares to affirm that her origin is fpurious, and to treat her as an intruder. Mrs. C. What is all this to the purpofe .? Mj/s S. I prefume it is vei-y much to the purpofe ; becaufe thoufands in this land, tho' reform'd as to foirie fuperftitious ceremonies, are neverthelefs funk into the veiy dregs ol^popiih doftrine, without fo much as fuf- peftingit; and tho' Bible, Articles, Homilies, and the wliole church of England liturgy are point blank againil them, yet they as readily fwailow down the proud, anti- chriftian, jefuitical tenets of free-v/ill, man's merit, two-fold juftification, and even of finlefs perfection, as if they were the genuine growth of fcripture and of pro- teftantifm ; whereas in truth and in faft they are fome of tlie rankeft weeds of the popifli and pelagian dunghill. Mrs. C. Hey-day, Mifs 1 I fancy you intend to take orders foon. Mijs S^ ( 17 ) Mifs S. The fubjea we are upon, Mrs. Clinker, is Gf too important a nature to be put off with a Iheer. i prt^tencl not to argue with you as a divine, but as a chrij- iv.an ; and under this character, it is incumbent upon you, upon me, and upon all who profefs the nameoi Chilli, to be ready to give a reafon for the hope that is in us (i).— Surely in a matter on which my eternal ial- vation depends, it wou'd argue the moft extravagant folly to be able to affign no other caiife why I call my- felf a chrifiian, than becaufe my father and my grand- father were fo before me ; nor why I am a proteftan!, .than becaufe I was born in the ifland of Great Britain. lI{)on rlic very fam„e principles, had I been born in Japan I mufl h;ive been aa heathen ; had I been born in 'Turkey i fiiou'd have been -e^ Mahometan ; and had I been born in Era-fUe^ Spain^ Italy ^ or Fortngal, I mull have becnari?«?^?/i/?.- and every pagan, muffulman, orpapiil, Ti-iigki give as good a reafon why they are any of the three, Mrs. C Not to hold any further difput-e on that point, 1 mriil now mention an objeiflion which I have v.cry often heoi'd b-rought againd Mr. Jewel, particularly by my very good friends Mr. Canon Temple and old i.ad)' Church, as alfo by Mr. Bijhop, Mrs. Chancel, and 'Do6kit3 of people, converted and un- converted, the children of God and the chil-dren of this world: and at the great day it v/lil not be aflc'd whe- ther a manreceiv'd the communion fitting or knei^ling, nor whether he was baptiz'd fooner or later, by fprink^ ling or by immeruon ; but whether the blood of fprink- ling was ever applied to his confcience, Vviiethcr he ever knew what it was fpiritually to feed upon Jefus Chrift by living faith ; and whether he was eyer made partaker of the baptifm o^" the Holy Ghoft; for in both facraments " the outward form or vifible fign" (as our catechifm calls it) can be of no avail \dthout"" the inward and fpiritual grace, or thing fignified." Mrs. C. I thank you for thus Hating the diftinftion, and cannot help acknoAviedging the juftnefs of it. But I mufb ilill beg leave to mention one or tv/o other mat- ters which I have heard objefled againft Mr. Jeiztel. Mifs S. Pray Mrs. Clinker fpeak without jeferve : I alTure you I fUali be far from vindicating him in any thing that may appear improper. Mrs, C. Lad night I happened to be playing a pool £t Mrs. Shiiffi.HofiSy with old Mrs. HGnottr CutivelU Mrs. ^ry about ^ Lady Wurmxvoody and a fev/ other friends, and who fhould come in but Dean Drawkr^, and with hiiri the grave and fedate Mr. Heart-whole— Dur'mg the time of tea, and between the deals, the converfation almoll ijitirely turn'd upon Mr. Jewel. Mr. Heartzvhole faid he wondered any body fhou'd be fo ahjurd as to run after him, and that in general the people of this way v\;cre either poor ignorant creatures who knew no better, or elfe, fuch as had been very loole and profligate in their morals. The good Dean immediately acquiefced in the remark, as did alfo the whole company, and in- deed I was fo much flru.ck with the propriety of it, that I gave my hearty approbation to every word Vydiich was fpoken. C 2 MifsS. ( -o ) ji-i/s S. From the very firft ages of the church down to the prefent period, the fame cavils have always been rais d againft the gofpel and its faithful miniflers, by men of the fame character with Dean Drawler and Mr. Heartwhole. When God himfelf was manifeft in the fiefh, tho' " the common people (we read) heard him gladly," yet it was taunted againft his difciples " have ^Tij c{ the rulers or of the pharifees believed on him. ?"" njid he himfelf was reproach'd as being *' a friend of pub- licans and finners." But by thofe very means which man makes ufe of to pour contempt upon true religion, God does and will get himfelf the greateft glory, viz. by inftru6l:ing the moft ignorant, and pardoning the mofb guilty. Had Jefus intended to propagate his gof- pel by worldly grandeur 2.iid worldly wifdom, he never v/ou'd have appeared on earth as the reputed fon of a carpenter, nor have chofen poor illiterate fifhermcn to be his chief com.panions, and the prin-ipil inftruments of accomplifhing his great defigns, and however thefe objc'flians may and do prove " as ftones of ftumbling and rocks of offence, to men who are v/ife in their own Conceits, and righteous in their ovjn cyes^" yet our bleffed Lord, inftead of endeavouring to obviate them, plainly told the felf-juftifying phsrifees, that " pub- licans and harlots wou'd go into the kingdom of heaven before them," that " the whole needed not a phyfician, but thofe that were fick;" and never perhaps did he know ?n happier hour, (for it is v/ritten '' that he rejoiced in fpiiit,") than when he faid *' I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, becaufe thou haft hid thefe things from the wife and prudent, and haft revealed them unto babes : even fo. Father, for fo it feemed good in thy Mrs. C. Pray Mifs Paily did you ever converfe with Farfcn Sqiiabbls upon thefe fubjecfls ? Fm* perfuaded he wou'd foon fet you right^ if you wou'd but mind what he favs- Mifs S. Mifs S, I am no ftranger to the real charafter of Parfon Sqahble. He is as fly a fellow as any in Eng- land j there's he and the iJev. Mr. Guzzle go every now and then to dine with 'Squire Gawkey at Noodle-hall^ and there they fit and cram themfelves up to the throat, and by way of making the 'Squire laugh tell hi-n a parcel Q'i ridiculous lies about methodifts, and then they go away and in return laugh at him in their fleeves. And if you have a mind to have any farther infight into good Parfon Squabble % charafter, I can affure you that if he was but half as active to fave his parifhioners fouls as he is to wrangle with them about tithes and alTeff- ments, he would be one of the bell clergymen in the county, but the truth is that poor Squabble is much more expert in v/orrying the fheep, than in feeding them. Mrs. C. Well, well, may be fo.— But I fhall now mention a very great oddity that I have heard of Mr. Jewel, Mifs S, What is that, Mrs. Clinker? Mrs. C. They tell me that he goes a viCting all about his parifh j and that he is fcarcely got into an houfe but he begins about religion. For my own part I fhou'd be frif;hten'd to fee him come in. Mifs S. If the fubjeft were not too ferious, my friend's objedtion wou'd really extort a fmile from me. 'Tis true Mr. Jewel looks upon it to be his incumbent duty to vifit his pariiliioners, purfuant to the folemn charge he receiv'd from the Bilhop for that purpofe ; and when he does vifit them, he thinks it wou'd be the higheft proftitution of his time and office not to converfe with them upon thofe fubjtds, on which all their happinefs both here and hereafter depends ; and therefore he is not afham'd to introduce the Bible in preference to a pack of cards, or to declare the love and grace of his Saviour, rather than hear or relate all the idle tittle tattle of the town. No, he leaves thefe thino;s for thofe who hope to be fav'd by their own virtue and good works, whilft it h is the determination of his heart to know nothfng comparatively among his fiock, but Jefu$ Chrift, and him crucified. Mrs. C. You may run on as long as you pleafe, Mifs, but it is a certain evidence to me, that a perfon either, wants good breeding, oris a very great Enthufiafl-, who talks fo much about religion. Mifs S. That the topic is a moft unfafnionable one, I veiy readily allow; and yet the apollle Paul neither fear'd having his politenefs call'd in queflion, or being branded as an enthufiajl^ when he commanded us to exhort one another daily ^ to have our converfation in heaven ; and to let our communication be always to. the ufe of edifying,' fit to minifter grace unto the hear- ers {g). f^ov/let not my dear Mrs. Clinker ht angry, if I defire her to examine whether llie has not as much liv'd in direft oppofition to thefe divine injunftions, as if there were no fuch words to be found in the Bible. Mrs. C. I always talk of thofe things that the refl of my acquaintance talk about ; and indeed I am not one of thofe who are for making a ihew of religion, and yet I truft I have as good an heart as thofe who are always canting, whining, and praying. Mifs S. Though we are call'd upon to pray without ceafing (/:?), which at leaf!: means that our hearts fhou'd be always in a praying frame, yet I am as much againft. canting and whining as you can be : however don't let us call things by v/rong names, fmce thefe expreffions are frequently made ufe of in order to pour contempt upon every thing that has the lead fhadow of real piecy. And tho' I don't mean to form any worfe judgment of your heart than of my own, or of others, yet I never found it recorded in fcripture that the heart of any individual is naturally good in the fight of Goc^, but deceitful above all things, and defperately wicked {i) ; and I'm perfuaded that (g) Heb. iii. 13. Phil. iii. 20. Eph. iv. 29. (h) 1 ThefT. V. 17. (i) Jer. xvii. 9. ( 23 ) that if you cou'd but call to mind ex^ery thing that, has pafs'd in your heart this one day, even when you were engaged in your clofet duties, how little you have thought about God and eternity j>. and how much about the world and yourfelf, that you v/ou'd find caufe enough for the deepeft repentance and liumiliation, efpecially when you refled; who it is that has iaid, '* My fon, give me thine heart (k)." Mrs. C. To be fure it's very right that we fiiou'd all give up our hearts to God. But pray, Mils Steady^ tell me now what isyour objeftion to playing at cards, Mi/s S, When w^ confider hew exceeding fhort the time is which we have to continue here, when compared with an av/fui eternity, and how much depends on ouf right improvement of that time 3 I believe there are very fev/, who v/hen they come to die, wou'd wifii to refledl on one hour, much iefs on (perhaps) one jhoufand fpent in an amiufement, where, to fay the ieaft, every thing relating to the concerns of ano- ther world is intirely kept out of fight. — But this is not ail. I believe it feldom happens that they who fa- crifice their time in card playing, do not find their tempers much hurt and ait'ecled by it: eife why fo m-uch anxiety? why fo many dif-ippointed looks and wry faces when a trifle is loft? Vv^hy fo m.uch fecretjoy at pocketing a few fhillings of one's neighbour's pro- perty: why fo much jarnng and jangling with one's partner for leading the a.ce inftead of the deuce? and why fo much pla}'ing the whole game over again both in mind and words even after the affembly is broke up? — You know, Mrs. Dealer. — Nobody more con- flant at cards every evening; nobody more regular at church every morning than herfelf. It was but the other day that coming into the pew when the pfalms v/ere reading that fhe afked the lady next her what was- trump? meaning to inquire what day of the month it was ? Mrs. (kj Frov. ;t) Mat. v. i j, 15. ( 26 ) and lays us upon the bed of languifhlng, and particu- larly when death the king of terrors ftares us in the face, when anxious friends are weeping all around us, when the filent phyfician fhakes his head, and the flutter- ing pulfe indicates a fpeedy difiblution ; in fuch an hour, will it be a more comfortable reflexion that we have thro' divine grace devoted our whole hearts to the Savi- our of finners, or that we have ftrenuoufly Hood up for the expediency of giving a part of them to the world and its gratifications? Mrs. C. O dear, I Ihall certainly have the vapors— Is'nt it almoll nine o'clock. Ma'am ? A/z/Jr S. No, Ma'am, it has not yet ftruck eighty but give me leave to continue the fubjeft, and to obferve that when death and judgment Mrs. C Pray Patly let's have done, for I perceive that what Mrs. Blahwgton and Mrs. Cackle-worth told me the other day is too true — You are irrecoverably gone; however 1 hope thefe notions won't make you mopilli and melancholy. Mifs S, So far from it. Madam, that I never knew tvhat folid happinefs was till I found it in religion, and "whatever prejudices may be taken up againft it by thofe who are ftrangers to its delights, yet one who had tried every earthly enjoyment afhrm'd them to be all vanity and vexation of fpirit (») > but fpeaking of religion he fays her ways are ways of pleafantnefs, and all her paths are peace {c). Mrs.C. Indeed, 'M.'ih Patty, it's later than you think for, therefore I fhallwifh you a good night: andl muft Tay that I really believe you mean well; however I hope you won't make yourfelf fo very particular, but will go a little more into the world. Mi/s. S. Whilft I read fuch texts in my bible as Be not conformed to this world ( /> ). No man can ferve two mafters {n) Eacl. i. 14. (c) Prov. iii. 17. (/-) Rom. xii. 2. ( 27 ) mafters (^). Whofocver will be my difciple, let him take up his ciois daily, and deny himfeif and follow me (r). If any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him (/). She that liveth in pleafure is dead while fliQ liveth (/). Set your affeftions on things above, and not on things on the earth (u). Strive to enter in at the flrait gate, for ftrait is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life, and few there be that find iti becaufe wide is the gate and broad is the way which leadeth unto deftrudion, and many there be which go in thereat [zv) ; I fay, when I read thefe texts and a thoufand more of the like import, I can never believe that a divided heart is a facrifice with which God will be well pleafed. Mrs. C. I frill think that all extremes ought to be avoided J and that it is fafeft to keep the middle way. Mi/s S. We read in fcripture, as I was juft now ob-^ ferving of a Jlraii yjclj to heaven, and a /^road way to deftrudion, but we no where read of a middle way;, however there is mention made of a middle fi ate between hot and cold, and the following is the fentence which the word of infpiration pronounceth againft all fuch as are in that ftate. I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot ; I v/ou'd thou wert cold or hot. So then be- caufe thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will fpue thee out of my mouth (.v). Here you fee as an open enemy is preferable to a pretended friend, {<^ they who are totally carelefs and indifferent about religion, are much lefs oiTenfive to God, than fuch as are for keeping the middle la^j'of lukewarmnefs; the reafon of which muft appear very clearly, if you will fuffer me to put the fentiments of fuch perfons into the fornix of a prayer, which we may fuppofe wou'd run in fome fuch expreffions as the following. " O Lord, thy word ** requires that I fliou'd love thee with all i"ny heart, with D 2 <^all. (y) Mat. vi. 24. (r) Mat. xvi.24. (/) i John ii, 15. (/) 1 Tim. v. 6*. («) Col. iii. z, (w) Mat. vii. 13. (,v) Re\ . iii. i5. ( 23 ) '' all my mind, with all my foul, and widi all mv '^ ftrength (j), that I fliou'd renounce the world, and " fhoii'd preient myfelf £s an holy, rcalonable and " lively facrifice unto thee (2:) ; but, Lord, thefe. are *^ fuch over righteous extremes as 1 cannot av/ay with : *' therefore grant that thy love, and a iTtodc-niLe fnare " of the love of this world, n^.ay both reign in nvy ' " heart at once. I ail<: it for Jefus Clnifl's fake. Amen." Now, my dear Madam, if you are fnock'd at fuch a petition, confider that it is the exact language of your own heart, whilil you can plead for v/liat you call tiie middle way in religion. Mrs. C, To be fure religion Is not to be neglecfted, yet I am apprehenfive left fo much of it (hou\l make the common people idle. Mi/s S. Yourobjeftion, Madam, is as old asPharoah's time, when the opprefs'd Ifraelites requeiled leave to go and facrifice to the Lord in the Wildernci's j the language of the haughty monarch was. Ye 'are idle ! ye are idle ! therefore ye fay Let us go and facrifice to our God (a). For my own part 1 am fo far from countenancing idle- nefs, that I believe it is as necefiary for the common people to labour as to pray, and am well periuaded that the heart may often be engaged' in the v/ork of heaven, whilfl the hands are about the neceilary bun- nefs of earth: nor can I maintain a favourable opinion of any man as a Chriftian, v/ho makes religion an ex- cufe for negleding his dvity in the Ration v/herein God has plac'd him, and therefore thofe tv/o things wiilch the apoftle joins together, no man ought to put afimder. Not flothful in bufinefs, but fervent in fpiric, fcrving the Lord (c). Mrs. C. I maift acknowledge that what you fay on this point appears reafonable enough, but I have ob- ferved that during our whole ccnverfation you have talk'd (}■) Marlixii. 55. (z) Rom. xii. :. (./) Excd, v. 17. {c) Rom xii 11. ( ^9 ) talK'd to mc juil as if I was a very wicked bad creature. ■ — Pray do you make no difference between me and any* naughty woman who \yalks the llreets. Mifs S. That there is a great difference between one fin and another in point of guilt and aggravation, there is no doubt; yet before the law of God I make no dif- ference between the moft decent formalift, and the moft abandon'd profligate, becaufe the fcripture itfelf makes none, having deciar'd in exprefs terms that there is no difl'erence^ feeing that all have finned and come fliort of the glory of God (<^). Ignorance of this important truth is thedefiruc^lion of thoufands, who inftead of com- paring themfelves with the law, and feeing that the leafc deviation from it fubjefts them to the curfe, (for ^\n is the tranfgreffion of the law) {e) and the wages of fin is death (/), are ready to cry out with the pharifee of old, God I thank thee that I am not as other men are {£)-, by this means their fouls remain in blindnefs both as to their difeafe and as to their remedy; for as nothing gives them greater offence than to be told that they fband upon a level with the very publicans and har- lots, and that the pride, enmity, unbelief and felf- righteoufnefs of their hearts are perhaps fins of a deeper die than thofe outward immoralities which they condemn in others, fo they will not be perfuaded but that God will be much more inclin'd to receive them and to Ihew them mercy on account of fomething that they think good in themfelves, than he will to receive or fliew mer- cy to thofe who have gone great lengths in the groflell abominations. Mrs. C. I can never think myfelf fo bad as you would make me. Mifs S. 'Tis not what I make you, but what the word of God makes you that you ought to attend to : however, if you will but call to mind what you faid of yourfelf {d) Roiji. iii. 23. {e) I John iii. 4 (/) Rom. vi. 23. {g) Luke xviii. 1 1. ( 30 ) yourfelf laft time you went to church and approachM the Lord's table, you will find that your own mouth condemn'd you much more than I have done -, for you then confels'd over and over again that you were a mi- ferable finner, a loft llieep, that the remembrance of your fins was grievous unto you, and the burden of them intolerable {h) j and therefore you befought God pitifully to behold the forrows of your heart: now if you did not feel the truth of thefc exprelTions in your inmoft foul, whilft you acknowledg'd them with your lips, it is to be fear'd you have only been guilty of a folemn mockery of the Moil High, and if you did feel the force of them, then it is certain that I have not fet you forth in any wQrfe colors than thofe in which you have painted yourfelf. Mrs, C. But I have endeavoured to repent and amend; and upon this account I doubt not but God will be merciful to me. Mifs S. Repentance and amendment are certainly right in their proper place, and no foul Ihall be fav'd without them; yet it is not on account of thefe that God will be merciful to any finner whatever; but only on account of what Jefus has done and fuffer'd. Re- pentance, obedience, and even faith itfeif are not me- ritorious caufes of our falvation, but they are thofe gifts and graces which God is pleas'd freely to beftow upon all thofe whom he has taken into covenant with himfelf. Befides, fuppofe you were to be ever fo forry for fin, this forrow wou'd indeed prove your guilt, but cou'd in no wife undo what is paft. Mrs. C. This dodlrine is enough to drive one to de- ipair. Mi/s S. If it drive you to defpair of being faved by any thing you have done, or can do, either in whole or in part, it is well ; fince this is the only way whereby you (/^) Communion Service. ( 31 ) you can be brought to fet a due value upon the gofpel of Chrift ; and when you can take him as all your fal- vation, and can rely upon his promifes, then you will find that a fenfe of your interefi: in him, and of his par- doning love fhed abroad in the heart, is the very oppo- fite of that gnawing corrofive fenfation and anguifh of confcience which are properly meant by the word defpair. Mrs, C. Indeed, Mifs Patt}\ I can bear it no longer, — -fo once more, good night, Mifs S. Good Night, Mrs. Clinker -y but let me not part with you without one promife. Mrs. C. Vv' hat is that ? Mifs S. That you will not condemn Mr. Jewel upon the report of others j but that you will divcft yourfelf of prejudice, and will go and hear for yourfelf, at leaft three times, as it is impoflible to form any competent judgment of the general fcope of a minifter's preaching from one fingle fermon. Remember that when an Apof- tle preach'd, fome went out coi'.tradiding and blafphem- ing, but others had candor enough to fay, " We will hear thee again as to this matter (z) :" therefore let me addrefs Mrs. Clinker with " Go and do thou likewife :" and if fome fnou'd be hardy enough to fay, " He has a devil and is mad, why hear ye him," 1 truft you will foon be convinced that the words which he fpeaks are not the words of him that hath a devil {k). Mrs. C. But his fermons are fo horribly long, and the weather is fo cold, that I fhall be both tired and flarv'd to death. Mifs S. When you came from the play lad Tuefday evening, you faid you were fo charm^'d that you cou'd have fat all night, and yet you cannot bear to fit one hour to hear the word of God. — 'Tis true, a cold fermon and a cold church are neither of them very defirable; and if I had been one of Pf.rfon Droners auditors I Aoti'd willingly have admitted his plea for coming to a fpeedy {/) A(5l^ xvii, 32. (^) John x, 21. ( 32 ) Ipeedy condiifion oh account of the inclemency of the *weather \ but I hope when you are at Mr. Jewel's church, you will hear fomething which will at once command your attention and warm your heart. Mrs, C. For my part, 1 am well contented with my own parifli church. Mi/'s S. And fo.fhou'd I, Madam, if I coii'd hear the good old fcripture dodrines of our own church conilant- ly preach'd in itj otherwife I can fee no fuch mighty attraftion in church walls. — We blame not the hungry beggar who wanders from door to door becaufe he has nothing to eat at home, nor are you yourfelf furprized when you fee the Lawyer Sipwell^ or your neighbour Mr> Swillington making fuch frequent enquiries where they may find the befl tap, furely then- Mrs, C, What a zealous creature you arc to make -converts to your own way of thinking ? Mifs S. When I fee the great zeal of many to pro- mote the fervice of the world, and to difcountenance every appearance of godlinefs which goes beyond the fafhion of the times, inftead of fancying that I have any unneceflary degree of zeal for God, I may juftly be afham'd of my cowardice, efpecially when I confider how good a mafter I ferve, and how good a caufe I aiTi en- gaged in— But why does my friend fuppofe that reli- gion is merely a way of thinking ; whereas it is nothing lefs than a change of ftate, and a change of nature, and therefore fet forth in fcripture by the ftriking expref- Honsof a new birth (/) and a new creation (;»). Mrs. C. [Pulling the bell] I take the liberty Ma'am of ringing the bell for Sam to come up, and open the ftreet door.— Good night, Mifs Steady^ good night. Mifs S. Adieu, Mrs. Clinker j I heartily wilh you well, (/) John iii. 5. {m) 2 Cor. v. 17^ THE E N D,., ( 33 ) An Evening Conversation between four very good old Ladies over a comfortable Game at i^adrille. \Jl Lady, T Have had a melancholy Piece of News to-Day in \_ a Letter from my good Friend Mrs. Forynal: ^he tells me, that iM. Fs, eldeft Son is certainiy turned Methodiji.. 2d Lady. Turned MethodiJl I Sure you don't fay fo; I'mi cer- tain, if it is true, it will be a great Grief to his Pa- rent?, who are yitxj worthy good Sort of People as ever lived.' Pray Ma'am did you play Bajlo? 'i^d Lady. I afli leave. Hearts and the King oi Diamonds. /\fth Lady. Indeed Mr. and Mrs. F. arc both much to be pitied, for they have had a great many undeferv'd Afflictions in their Family 1 think it is but lately that their eldeft Daughter died of a violent Fever, and now their Son is turn'd Method'iJ}. Spadllle. I/? Lady, 1 think. Ma'am, they have another Son who is in Orders. 2d Lady, Ye«, A^a'am, they have fo; itwashisown Inclination to have gone into the Army, but there being a very good Living in the Family, his Father determined he fhould be bred to the Church. "T^d Lady, Pray, Ma'am, what is a MethocliJ}. 4ft h Lady. Indeed, Ma'am, I don't know. Manille. jjf Lady, O Lord, Ma'am, it is fomething very bad. I have heard Mr. Ca^cuSy the Sub-Dean, who you now generally makes a fourth at our private Parties, preach two excellent Sermons againft them at the Cathedral : In the one he told us, that their Doc- trines tended to fet afide good Works, and to coun- tenance all Manner of Sin and Immorality; and in the other, he proved that they carried Matters a great deal too far, inculcated an unneccflary Strid^- nefs and Precifcnefs, and were fo mighty over- righteous, that they denied good Chriftians the innocent Amufements of Life. Jll. O Shocking ! Shocking ! 2d Lady. Perhaps this ftrange Turn that he has taken may be conftitutionai, and owing to fome melancholy Dif- order that is in the Family; and I'm fure if this is the cafe, there's no Madnefs fo terrible, nor fo hard to cure as religious Madnefs; and for my Part, L wifh his Friends would confult fome able Phyfician, i;i Time, for I'm really very uneafy about him, as I E look ( 34 ) loolc upon Enthufifm to be O fy Mrs. Patchup, how coul' you be fo cruel as to trump my Kmg ? /^thLa/iy.l (liould be apt to think as you do. Ma'am, but I h ve known the Family many Vears, and never re- member any thing of this Sort in any of them bt^fore ; befideg, h<- was always very gay and lively till he got into this Way. Don't you remember (Mrs. Lurch' em) how we admir'd his Dancing laft Aflizes? ij} Lady. O yes. Ma'am, very well, and at the Races too. 'Tis really ten th ufand Pities that he fliould be (o loft to the World, for I fuppofe he'li now banifh himfelf from all Society, except that of a few poor moping uncharitable Orators., that are more likely to encourage him in this unhappy Way, than to do him any good — Lord have mercy, Mrs. Patchup^ will your Trump? never be all out. Q.d Lady. I was afraid of a Sans Prendre. T^d Lady. Poor young Gentleman ! 'Tis pity he fhoulcl be fo miltaken, ior I really believe he means well. I think his Friends (houln endeavour to force him into Company, or to get the Eiiliop to fpeak to him. — Ponto. jfl Lady. Mrs. Formal mentions in h^r Letter, th.:t his Father got his good Friends Dr. Daub'' em and Mr. Arch- Deacon Smoot^ tcnguey to endeavour to reafon hini out of his odd Notions, hut all in vain. ( — As i hope to be favcd I had like to have revtdced ; 1 think you led Chihs., Ma'am) Well ! the Lord d.fcnd me from Extremes, 1 am for keeping the .middie Vv''ay, and would have every B'>dy good, without makirjg themfeUe particular; but People nov/-a-Uays muit be either Saints or Devi's. '^th Lady. Pleafe to cut, Mrs, Lurch" em. 'Tis 1 to deal. Pray, Ladies, were you at Prayers this Morniug ? All. O yes. Ma'am. id Lady. Did you take Notice of that ridiculcu'^ Figure, Lady 11^. in her old turned Damaik, mended under botU Arms ? She fat in the next Pew but one to me. ■^d Lady. That I did indeed; and it is fuch a nafty, flimfy^ greafy Dab, that nobody would pick it off the Street. 1 believe fhe has had it above thefe dozen Years, and to my certain Knov/lcdge it has been both cleaned and dyed. i,th Lady. Her Maid lold my Maid that (lie never left ofF a Rag, fo long as it v.'OL*id haiig on her Back- 2d Lady. ( 35 ) '2& Lad)\ I looked her full in the Face when T turned towards the Altar to fay the Belief, but (he refufed to make me a Curt'fey. I fancy fh- was in a very fou' Hu- mour, bccaufe Mrs. M. did not 'et her pa(s to the Upper End of the Pew. You know flic's a very proud Woman. J^thLady. And fo was her Mother before her. 3tais 1 alv/ays i-.und Leifure to read over the Pfalms and Lcllons wfte/i 1 did not go to Church, and tho' I was ui^avoid-bly engaged M.nduy, Tuejday, JVednefday and Tkur/day, 1 went thro' the whole W^-ek's Preparation on tlie Friday and Saturday. Spadille, ^thLady.Vm fure. Ma'am, that's more than could pofiibly have been expeCtcv', coiifidiring you ha^i luth a par- ticular i"nend in Toun. Maitudorcs. E 2 ^ft Lady. ( 36 ) iji Lady. Pray, Mrs. Allprop^ where did you Ijuy the fait filli you had on Friday^ it was exceeding good ? I'm fure 1 eat fo prodigioufly, that I was obliged to take a little Surfeit Water before I went to Bed. ^thLady. I'm very glad you lik'd it. Ma'am. I bought it at the Corner of the Street, and had befpoke fome for laft Wednefday^ but the Man difappointed me, fo I was obliged to give Two Shillings a Pound for Sal- mon, for Mrs. Patchup and Mrs. Boljleriip both know that I never eat any Flefh Meat Wednefdays and Fridays in Lent. Bajlo. '^d Lady. I remember dining with you, Mrs. Jllprop, on King Charles's Martyrdom, after we had been twice at Church, and 1 thought your Cook made the beft Fifh Sauce I ever tafted.— O Lud ! the Cards ftick together fo I can't deal. id Lady. For my Part, tho' I'm as much for a prudent Com- pliance with the World as any Body, yet I wonder '' how People can be eafy whilfl they lead fuch bad Lives as they do. The World fuiely was never more wicked : They actually fay that Mrs. and Capt. D. are much more intimate than they ought to be, and you may depend upon it for Truth, for it was told me by a Lady, who had it from another Lady, to whom it was communicated by another Lady of undoubted Authority, as a moft profound Secret ; fo pray Ladies let it go no further for the World. ML O no. Ma'am, no to be fure. I/? Lady. And good Mrs. Formal, in the fame Letter that flie relates the unhappy Account of poor Mr. F's being turned Methodiji, fends me Word, that Lady G. made herfelf fo particular at the laft Soho in flirting with Lord B. that they are the Town's Talk ; and that Mifs P. has certainly lain in privately, and that Sir Francis is grown immenfely jealous of his Wife; but I hate Scandal, and therefore only mention this Txmong Friends. ^dLady. Ladies, the PW is out, and my Coach waits, fhall I have the Pleafure of your Company to-morrow Even- ing after St. Ann\ Prayers are over ? iji Lady, I fancy. Ma'am, we fiiall none of us choofe to mifs Prayers, aJ^d as we fliall meet at Church we can then fettle our Engagements for the Week. Exeunt OtnneSf, The end. BOOKS PRINTED FOR J. MATHEWS, No. i8, STRAND. J. TTORiE Solitarise ; or, F.fiays upon foirie remarkable Names X X ^nd Titles of Jefus Chriit, occurring in the old Tellament, anti declarative of his elTential Divinity aid gracious Offices in the Rrdemption of Man : To which is prefixed an hiltorical Introdudiou concerning the Doftrine of the Trinity, as it appeared in the World, principally, before the ChrilHan JErn. Price 5s. in Boards. 2. I'he Portraiture of the ChriiUan Penitent, attempted in a Courfe of Sermons upon the 5 1 it Pfalm, in 2 vols, by the Rev. Cha« De Coetlogon, A. M. Price in Boards 6s. 3. A Coileftion of Poems upon divine and moral Subjefls, feleft-- ed from various Authors, by Wm. Giles. Price bound 3s. 6d. 4. ChrilHan Memoirs, or a Review of the prefent State of Reli- gion in England, in the Form of a new Pilgrimage to the Heavenly Jerufalem; containing, by Way of allegorical Narrative, a great Variety of Dialogues on the molHnteielling Subjects, and Adven- tures of eminently religious Perfons, by W. Shrublole. Price fevved 3s. 6d. 5. The Mute ChrilHan under the fmarting Rod: with foverelgn Antidotes againd the moil miferable Exigents : The eleventh Edi- tion, with a recommendatory Preface by the Rev. Mr. Peckwell. By Thomas Brooks, late preacher of the Word at St. Margaret's, New Filh-Street, London. Price fewed 2s. 6. A Treatife on Ail'urarice, by the late Rev. Thomas Brooks, Preacher at St. Mary's, Fiih-ftreet Hill, London. A new Edition, coniidcrably amended and abridged. Price 2s. fewed, and on finer Paper 2s. 6d. fewed. 7. Miftakes in Religion cxpofed: In an ETay on the Prophecy of Zecharias ; by FI. \''enn, M. A Chaplain to the Earl of Buchan, and Red>or of Yelling, Huntingdonfhire. 3s. in Boards. 8. A Praftical Difcourle of God's Sovereignty, by Kiilha Coles, recommended by the Rev. Wm. Romaine, A. M. Price fewed 2s. bound 2s. 6d. 9. A neat and fmall Edition of Watts's Pfalms and Hymns.. Price each, bound 2s. The follo^iving tett Pieces are tvritten ly the Fe-v. Auguftus Toplady, B. A. 10. Hillcric Proof of the Doclrinal Calvinifm of the Church of England : with an Account cf the Lives and Charaders of the prin- cipal Books printed for J. Mathews. cipal Adopters of that Scheme of Truths ; both before and at the Reformation, 2 vols. 8vo. in Bards. os I 1. More Work for Mr. John Wefley ; or a Vindication of the Decrees and Providence of God, from the Datamations of a late printed Paper, entitled, "The Confequence proved." is. 6d. 12. A Letter to Mr. John Wefley, occafion'd by hi? pretended Abridgment of Zanchius on Predeilination. Second Edition. 6d. 13. Free Thoughts on the Application to Parliament for the Abo- lition of Ecclefiaftical Subfcriptions. 6d. 14. Clerical Subfcription ni Grievance; or the Doftrines of the Church of England proved to be the Doftrines of Chriil. A Vifi- tation Sermon, preach'd at Columpton, Ma/ 12, 177 ••' 6d. 1 5 . Free-will and Merit fairly examined, or Men not their own Saviors. A Sermon preached in the Parifh Church of St Anne, Black Friars, London, on Wednefday, May 25, 1774. 6d. 16. Good Nev/a from Heaven, or, The Gofpel a joyful Sound. A Sermon, preached at the Lock-Chapel near Hyde Park Corner, on Sunday, June 19, i'^74. 6d. 17. The Scheme of Chriftian and Philofophical Neceflity avert- ed, in oppofition to Mr. John Wefley's Traft on that Subjeft. Price in Boards 3s. 18. Moral and Political Moderation recommended in a Faft Ser- mon, delivered at St. Mildied's in the Poultry, on Friday, Dec. 13, 1776. Price 6d. 19. Joy in Heaven, and the Creed of Devils, two Sermons, one preached at St. Luke's, Old-flreet, and the other at St. Olave, Jewry. Price is. 20. The fecond Edition of the Divine MefTage; or, the moft im- portant Truths of Revelation reprefented in a Sermon ujon Judges iii. 20. defigned as an Antidote to the dangf rous and fpreading Evils of Infidelity, Arianifm and Immorality, by the Rev. Mr.Cha. De Coetlogon, A. M. of Pembroke-Hail, Cambridge, is. 21. National Profperity and National Religion infeparably con- nefted. A Sermon preached Dec. 13, 1776, on the General Fall:, by C. De Coetlogon, A. M. Price is. 22. The Nature, NecefUcy, and Advantage of the Religious Ob- fervation of the Lord's Day : illuilrated and enforced in a Sermon preached for the Encouragement of a Society, uniting for the Siip- prelTion of the Abufe of the Lord's Day, by the Rev. C. De Coet- logon, A. M. Price 6. 23. Youth's Monitor: a Funeral Sermon, occafioned by the De- Ceafe of Mr. John Parfons, pr^-ached on Sunday, Aug. 17, 1777, at St. Sepulchre's Church, by the Rev. C. De Coetlogon, A. IVI. Price 6d. 24. A Treatife on the Extent of the Death of Chiift, being an Abridgment of Dr. Owen's Death of Death ip the Death of Chriil, \\ita Books printed for j. Matheivs, with a recommendatory Preface by the Rev. Mr. Charles De Coet" logon, A. M. IS. 25. Some Account of the State of Religion in London: in four Letters to a Friend in the Country ; in which are drawn many ftri- king Characters, of real and noniinal Chriftianj, ihewing the hap- py IfTue of the former, and the awful Deol'iifions and Falls of the latter Defigned to ihev the ProfeJors of the Gofpel the Grsatnefs of their prefeit Pri ikges, and to excite ch-in to a correfpondent Conduil, as the only Means of fecuring the Continuance of them. IS. 6d. z6. Self difclaimed and Chrift exalfed ; a Sermon preached at Phi.adei,;hia, before the Synod of New York, by David Boftwick, A. M. Price 6d. 29. Jelus triumphant in the Converfion and Death of Anna Ca- tharine Merks, executed at Rotterdam in Holland, with a brief Ac- count of her Life. Price 9d. 30. A brief Account of the Lord's gracious Dealings with Mrs. A W , who ae arted this Life in exchange for a better on Sept. 20, 1 777, in the 26th year of her age. Price 2d. 31. The Good Shepherd carrying a Lamb in his Bofm, out of this World into th^" next. Piice 3 .. 32. A new Edition enlarged, of A LaPn at Enthufiafm; in a Dia- logue between two Ladies, chieHy relative to a certain popular Preacher, founded on real Fa£ls. 6d To which is now firft added a Dialogu' between four very good old Ladies over a comfortable Game at Quadrille. 33. The 42d Edition (en a fine writing Paper and fmall Size) of A Choice Drop of Honey from the Rock Chrift : or a Word of Ad- vice to all Saints and Sinners. Price 3d. or one Guinea per Hun- dred 34. A Prefenr for your Neighbour; or the right Knowledt^e of God, and of ourfelves: o en d in a plain, pradical, and experi- mental Manner, by Richard Hill, Efq. Price 3d. or 20s. per Hun- dred. 35. The Spiritual Treafury for the Children of God, confifting of a Meditation for every Morning and Evening in the Year. 2 vols. Price bound 9s. 36. The Chriftian Communicant, or a fultable Companion to the Lord's Supper. P'ice bound 2s 37. The Believer's Pocket Companion : the one Thing needful to make poor Sinners rich, and miferablc Sinners happy. Price Jjound IS. 3S. Bcrek printed for J, Ahthews. 38. Crumbs from.the Mafter's Table; or feled Sentences in Di- vinity, doftrinal, pradiclF, and experimental. Price bound is. 39. The Cii/iftian's' Companion for the Sabbath, confifting of Meditations for each Lord's Vdy in the Year. 2 vols, price bound 6.>. • The lall five Articles are vvn'itcn by iVIr. VV. Mafon, and recom- mended by the Rev. Mr. Wm. Roniaine, A. M. 40. In the Prefs and now publilliing- in 16 Numbers, each con- taining five She ts, price gd. a new Edition (with a variety of Cor-" reftions and Improvements) of the Diclionar/ of the Holy Bible : containing an hiilorical Account of the Ferfons : a geographical and - ^. hirtorical Account of the Places : a' literal, critical, and fyftematical .^XJefcriptipn .of other Objeas, wiiether natural, artificial, civil, reli- jiousj or militarv: ami the Exolication (?f the appellative Terms, 41. On Saturday, March 21, ly-S, will be publKhed, price 6d. Number i. (to be continued Weekly/) of A "Key, to open Scripture Metaphors, in four Books, to which are prefixed Arguments to prove the Divine Authority of the licly Scriptures : together with Types of the Old T^ftament, improved and enlarged. .By the Rev. Mr. Benjamin Keach. The whole carefully reveled ; the marginal Quo- tations inferted in their proper Places ; and obfolete V/ords ex- changed. Recommended by the following eminent Divines : C. D(j Coetlog^n, H. Peckwell, Dr7 Conder, Dr. Gibbons, J. Ryland, S. Medley, B. Francis, Sir H. Trelawney, R. Rippon. 42. A Sketch of the diitinguifliirig Graces of the Chritllan Ch^- rnfter, as originating from the Ploly Spirit's fecret yet efficacious Influence upon ihe Minds of Men; with a rational Inquiry into the Reality and Nature of DivineLiflucnces. By Phiiip Gurdon, M. A. l-ellow of Magdalen College, Oxford. Price f5:v,?cd 2s, 6d. 43. The Spiritual Merchant defcribed, and the Gain of true Godlinefs proved. A Sermon preached at the Tabernacle, Moor- rields. By Samuel Medley. Price 6J. "it* Where may be had all Sorts 0/ Books, of evangelical and experimental Divinity ; Bibles and Common-Prayers, of all Kinds and Sizes: likewife a great Variety of Hymn Books, colleded by Meff- Y*^Hitefield, Madan, Toplady, anu .P^ckwell, in difterent neat and elegant Bindings; with Stationery Wares of all Sorts.. N. B. Books bound in all Manner of elegant Bindings. Money ipr any Library qr Parcel of Books. iuii*?:^' %r%-^