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stroyed.') 4, That there is no such thing as degrees in faith; or weak faith; since he has no faith, who has any doubt or fear. (How to reconcile this, with what I heard the Count assert at large, That a man may have justifying faith, and not know it,' I cannot tell.) 5, That we are sanctified wholly, the moment we are justified, and are neither more nor less holy, to the day of our death. 6, That a believer has no holiness in himself at all; all his holiness being imputed, not inherent. 7, That a man may feel a peace that passeth all understanding, may rejoice with joy full of glory, and have the love of God, and of all mankind, with dominion over all sin; and yet all this may be only nature, animal spirits, or the force of imagination. 8, That if a man regard prayer, or searching the Scriptures, or communicating, as matter of duty; if he judges himself obliged to do these things, or is troubled when he neglects them; he is in bondage, he is under the Law, he has no faith; but is still seeking salvation by works. 9, That therefore, till we believe, we ought to be still; that is, not to pray, search the Scriptures, or communicate. 10, That their Church cannot err, and of consequence ought to be implicitly believed and obeyed.

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Thirdly, I approve many things in their practice; yet even this I cannot admire in the following instances :

1, I do not admire their conforming to the world, by useless, trifling conversation: by suffering sin upon their brother, without reproving even that which is gross and open: by levity in the general tenor of their behaviour; not walking as under the eye of the great God: and, lastly, by joining in the most trifling diversions, in order to do good.

"2, I do not admire their close, dark, reserved behaviour, particularly toward strangers. The spirit of secrecy vis the spirit of their community, often leading even into guile and dissimulation. One may observe in them much cunning, much art, much evasion, and disguise. They often appear to be what they are not; and not to be what they are. They so study to become all things to all men, as to take

the colour and shape of any that are near them: directly contrary to that openness, frankness, and plainness of speech, so manifest in the Apostles, and Primitive Christians.

"3, I do not admire their confining their beneficence to the narrow bounds of their own Society. This seems the more liable to exception, as they boast of possessing such immense riches. In his late book, the Count particularly mentions, how many hundred thousand florins a single member of their Church has lately expended; and how many hundred thousand crowns of yearly rent, the nobility and gentry only of his Society, enjoy in one single country. Mean time do they, all put together, expend one hundred thousand, yea one thousand, or one hundred, in feeding the hungry, or clothing the naked, of any Society but their own?

"4, I do not admire the manner wherein they treat their opponents. I cannot reconcile it either to love, humility, or sincerity. Is utter contempt, or settled disdain, consistent with love or humility? And can it consist with sincerity, to deny any charge which they know in their consciences is true? To say, those quotations are unjust, which are literally copied from their own books? To affirm, their doctrines are misrepresented, when their own sense is given in their own words? To cry, Poor man! He is quite dark! He is utterly blind! He knows nothing of our doctrines!' Though they cannot point out one mistake this blind man has made, or confute one assertion he has advanced.

"Fourthly, I least of all admire the effects their doctrine has had on some who have lately begun to hear them.

"For 1, It has utterly destroyed their faith, their inward evidence of things not seen the deep conviction they once had, that the Lamb of God had taken away their sins. Those who before had the witness in themselves of redemption in the blood of Christ, who had the Spirit of God clearly witnessing with their spirits, that they were the children of God:-after hearing these but a few times, began to doubt; then reasoned themselves into utter darkness; and in a while affirmed, first, that they had no faith

now, (which was true) and soon after, that they never had any. And this was not the accidental, but natural effect of that doctrine, That there are no degrees in faith; and that none has any faith, who is liable, at any time, to any degree of doubt or fear: as well as of that dark, unintelligible, unscriptural manner, wherein they affect to speak of it.

the

"I expect you will answer, Nay, they are the most plain, simple Preachers of any in the whole world. Simplicity is their peculiar excellence.' I grant, one sort of simplicity is a single specimen of which may suffice. One of their eminent Preachers, describing at Fetter-lane childhood of the Lamb,' observed, that his mother might send him out one morning, for a half-penny-worth of milk; that making haste back, he might fall and break the porringer; and that he might work a miracle to make it whole again, and gather up the milk into it.' Now, can you really admire this kind of simplicity? Or think it does honour to God manifest in the flesh ?

"2, This preaching has destroyed the love of God in many souls, which was the natural effect of destroying their faith as well as of teaching them to grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by ascribing his gifts to imagination and animal spirits and of perplexing them with senseless, unscriptural cautions, against the selfish love of God: in which it is not easy to say, whether nonsense or blasphemy be the chief ingredient.

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3, This preaching has greatly impaired, if not de-. stroyed, the love of their neighbour in many souls. They no longer burn with love to all mankind, with desire to do good to all. They are straitened in their own bowels; their love is confined to narrower and narrower bounds; till at length they have no desire or thought of doing good to any but those of their own community. If a man was before a zealous member of our Church, groaning for the prosperity of our Zion, it is past; all that zeal is at an end; he regards the Church of England no more than the Church of Rome: his tears no longer fall, his prayers no longer ascend, that

God may shine upon her desolations. her desolations. The friends that were once as his own soul, are now no more to him than other men. All the bands of that formerly endeared affection are as threads of tow that have touched the fire. Even the ties of filial tenderness are dissolved. The child regards not his own parent: he no longer regards the womb that bare, or the paps that gave him suck. Recent instances of this also are not wanting. I will particularize, if required. Yea, the son leaves his aged father, the daughter her mother, in want of the necessaries of life. I know the persons. I have myself relieved them more than once. For that was Corban whereby they should have been profited.

:

"4, These humble Preachers utterly destroy the humility of their hearers: who are quickly wiser than all their former Teachers not because they keep thy commandments, (as the poor man under the law said) but because they allow no commandments at all. In a few days they are wiser in their own eyes, than seven men that can render a reason. 'Render a reason! Ay, there it is. Your carnal reason destroys you. You are for reason: I am for faith.' I am for both for faith to perfect my reason: that by the Spirit of God not putting out the eyes of my understanding, but enlightening them more and more, I may be ready to give a clear, scriptural answer to every man that asketh me a reason of the hope that is in me.

"5, This preaching destroys true, genuine simplicity. Let a plain, open-hearted man, who hates controversy, and loves the religion of the heart, go but a few times to Fetterlane, and he begins to dispute with every man he meets; he draws the sword, and throws away the scabbard. And if he happens to be hard pressed by Scripture or reason, he has as many turns and fetches as a Jesuit: so that it is out of the power of a common man even to understand, much more to confute him.

"6, Lastly, I have known a short attendance on this preaching destroy both gratitude, justice, mercy, and truth. Take one only, but a terrible proof of this. One, whom you know, was remarkably exact in keeping his word. He

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is now (after hearing them but a few months) as remarkable for breaking it being infinitely more afraid of a legal, than of a lying spirit! More jealous of the works of the law, than of the works of the devil. He was cutting off every possible expense, in order to do justice to all men. He is now expending large sums in mere superfluities. He was merciful after his power, if not beyond his power:

'List'ning attentive to the wretches' cry,

The groan low-murmur'd, and the whisper'd sigh.'

But he is now

"But the bowels of his compassion are now shut up. He has been in works too long already. So now, to prove his faith, he lets the poor brother starve, for whom Christ died! If he loved any one under the sun more than his own soul, it was the instrument by whom God had raised him from the dead. He assisted him to the utmost of his power: he would defend him even before princes. unconcerned whether he sinks or swims: himself about it. Indeed he gives him that is, before his face: but behind his back he can himself rail at him by the hour; and vehemently maintain, not that he is mistaken in a few smaller points, but that he preaches another God, not Jesus Christ.""-Art thou the man? If you are not, go and hear the Germans again next Sunday.

he troubles not good words;

Friday 30, I rode through a violent storm to Windsor, and preached to a little serious congregation. About one I preached at Brentford, and gathered up the poor remains of the shattered Society. How firm did these stand in the midst of storms! but the sun shone, and they melted away.

Monday, December 3, I rode to Canterbury, and preached on Rev. xx. A few turbulent people made a little noise as I found it was their custom to do. Perceiving more of them were gathered the next night, I turned and spoke to them at large. They appeared to be not a little confounded, and went away as quiet as lambs. Wednesday 5, I walked over the Cathedral, and surveyed the monuments of the ancient men of renown. One would think such a sight should strike an utter damp upon human vanity. What