CLXXVII.-To Mr. Joseph Cownley.

BRISTOL, September 20, 1746.

MY DEAR BRETHREN,*-As many of you as have set your hands to the plough, see that you go on and look not back. The prize and the crown are before you; and in due time you shall reap, if you faint not. Meantime, fight the good fight of faith, enduring the cross, and despising the shame. Beware that none of you return evil for evil, or railing for railing, but contrariwise, blessing. Show forth out of a loving heart, your good conversation with meekness and wisdom. Avoid all disputes as you would avoid fire: so shall ye continue kindly affectionate one toward another. The God of peace be with you. I am Your affectionate brother.

CLXXVIII.-To the Same.

DUBLIN, April 12, 1750.

MY DEAR BROTHER,-I doubt you are in a great deal more danger from honour, than from dishonour. So it is with me. I always find there is most hazard in sailing upon smooth water. When the winds blow, and the seas rage, even the sleepers will rise and call upon God.

From Newcastle to London, and from London to Bristol, God is every where reviving his work. I find it is so now in Dublin; although there has been great imprudence in some, whereby grievous wolves have lately crept in amongst us, not sparing the flock; by whom some souls have been utterly destroyed, and others wounded, who are not yet recovered. Those who ought to have stood in the gap did not; but I trust they will be wiser for the time to come. After a season, I think it will be highly expedient for you to labour in Ireland again. Mr. Lunell has been on the brink of the grave by a fever. Yesterday we had hopes of his recovery. I see a danger you are in, which perhaps you do not see yourself. Is it not most pleasing to me, as well as you, to be always preaching of the love of God? And is there not a time when we are peculiarly led thereto, and find a peculiar blessing therein? Without doubt, so it is. But yet it would be utterly wrong and unscriptural to preach of nothing else. Let the law always prepare for the Gospel. I scarce ever spoke more earnestly here of the love of God in Christ than last night: but it was after I had been tearing the unawakened in pieces. Go thou and do likewise. It is true, the love of God in Christ alone feeds his children; but even they are to be guided as well as fed; yea, and often physicked too: and the bulk of our hearers must be purged before they are fed; else we only feed the disease. Beware of all honey. It is the best extreme; but it is an extreme. I am

Your affectionate brother.

CLXXIX.-To the Same.

LONDON, January 10, 1756.

MY DEAR BROTHER,-I have no objection to any thing but the blister. If it does good, well. But if I had been at Cork, all the

* This letter, though directed to Mr. Cownley, was addressed to the Society a Leominster.-EDIT.

physicians in Ireland should not have put it upon your head. Remem ber poor Bishop Pearson. An apothecary, to cure a pain in his head, covered it with a large blister. In an hour, he cried out, " O my head, my head!" and was a fool ever after, to the day of his death. I believe cooling things (if any thing under heaven) would remove that violent irritation of your nerves, which probably occasions the pain. Moderate riding may be of use; I believe of more than the blister: only do not take more labour upon you than you can bear. Do as much as you can, and no more. Let us make use of the present time. Every day is of importance. We know not how few days of peace remain. We join in love to you and yours. I am, dear Joseph,

Your affectionate friend and brother.

CLXXX.-To Miss

FEBRUARY 21, 1759.

PROBABLY, Miss this may be the last trouble of the kind which you will receive from me. Therefore you may forgive me this; and the rather, when you consider my motives to it. You know I can have no temporal view; I can have none but a faint, distant hope (because with God all things are possible) of doing some service to one whom I love. And this may answer the question which you might naturally ask, "What would you have? What do you want with me?" I want you, not to be a convert to my opinions, but to be a member of Christ, a child of God, and an heir of his kingdom. Be any thing, as to outward profession, so you are lowly in heart; so you resist and conquer every motion of pride, and have that mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus. Be what you please besides; only be meek and gentle, and in patience possess your soul; so that one may truly say to you,

"Calm thou ever art within,

All unruffled, all serenc."

Hear what preacher you will; but hear the voice of God, and beware of prejudice and every unkind temper: beware of foolish and hurtful desires, or they will pierce you through with many sorrows. In one word, be any thing but a trifler, a trifler with God and your own soul It was not for this, that God gave you

A mind superior to the vulgar herd.

No, Miss no! but that you might employ all your talents to the glory of Him that gave them. O do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God! Is he not still striving with you? striving to make you, not almost, but altogether, a Christian? Indeed you must be all or nothing; a saint or a devil; eminent in sin or holiness! The good Lord deliver you from every snare, and guide your feet in the way of peace! How great a pleasure would this give to all your real friends, and in particular to

Your affectionate servant for Christ's sake.

CLXXXI.-To the Same.

COLCHESTER, March 20, 1759.

My wife, Miss, surprised me last night by informing me you are left mistress of a large fortune. Shall I say, agreeably surprised

me? I cannot tell; because I believe there is another world; and I do not know what influence this change may have on your condition. Therefore I am in fear and in hope. You may be hereby far more happy, or far more miserable, in eternity! O make a stand! Consider the situation you are in; perhaps never before were you in so great danger. You know a little of your natural tempers: now you have means of indulging, and thereby inflaming, them to the uttermost. And how many will incite you so to do! How few will dare to warn you against it! Now what food will you have for pride! what infinite temptations to think more highly than you ought to think! You do so already. But O, where will you stop? The good Lord arrest the storm in mid career! How impetuously now, unless God interpose, must self-will whirl you along! How deeply, unless he help, will you shortly be immersed in practical Atheism! as ten thousand things will concur to drive God out of your thoughts, as much as if he were not in the world. But, above all, how will you escape from being swallowed up in idolatry? love of the world, such as you never knew before?

Hitherto you have been greatly superior to every delicacy in food: but even this may assault you now; and perhaps raise in you other desires which you are now a stranger to. At present, you are above the follies of dress; but will you be so a twelve month hence? May you not easily slide into the pride of life, in this as well as other instances? especially considering how your vanity will be gratified thereby? For who will not admire and applaud your admirable taste? It will only remain for you to marry some agreeable person, that has much wit and sense, with little or no religion; then it is finished! Either you will be throughly miserable in this world, or miserable to eternity.

"But what business is this of yours? Cannot you let me alone? What have I to do with you?" Believe me, I could very easily let you alone, if I had not a real and tender good will toward you; and if I did not know (what perhaps you do not) that you have need even of me. You want friends who understand you well, and who dare tell you the whole, plain truth; and yet not in a surly, imperious manner; for then you could not receive it. I have endeavoured to do this once more. Will not you forgive me? I cannot but think, if you do not thank, you will at least excuse, Your affectionate servant.

CLXXXII.-To Miss H

DUBLIN, April 5, 1758.

Ir is with great reluctance that I at length begin to write: First, because I abhor disputing, and never enter upon it but when I am, as it were, dragged into it by the hair of the head; and, next, because I have so little hope that any good will arise from the present dispute. I fear your passions are too deeply interested in the question to admit the force of the strongest reason. So that, were it not for the tender regard I have for you, which makes your desire a motive I cannot resist, I should not spend half an hour in so thankless a labour, and one wherein I have so little prospect of success.

"The doctrine of perfection," you say, "has perplexed you much, since some of our preachers have placed it in so dreadful a light; one of them affirming, A believer, till perfect, is under the curse of God,

and in a state of damnation: Another, If you die before you have attained it, you will surely perish."

By perfection, I mean, perfect love, or the loving God with all our heart, so as to rejoice evermore, to pray without ceasing, and in every thing to give thanks. I am convinced every believer may attain this; yet I do not say, he is in a state of damnation, or under the curse of God, till he does attain. No, he is in a state of grace, and in favour with God, as long as he believes. Neither would I say, "If you die without it, you will perish;" but rather, till you are saved from unholy tempers, you are not ripe for glory. There will therefore more promises be fulfilled in your soul, before God takes you to himself.

"But none can attain perfection, unless they first believe it attainable." Neither do I affirm this. I knew a Calvinist in London, who never believed it attainable, till the moment she did attain it; and then lay declaring it aloud for many days, till her spirit returned to God.

"But you yourself believed, twenty years ago, that we should not put off the infection of nature, but with our bodies." I did so. But I believe otherwise now, for many reasons, some of which you afterward mention. How far Mr. Roquet or Mr. Walsh may have mistaken these, I know not: I can only answer for myself.

"The nature and fitness of things" is so ambiguous an expression, that I never make use of it. Yet if you ask me, "Is it fit or necessary, in the nature of things, that a soul should be saved from all sin before it enters into glory?" I answer, It is. And so it is written, “No unclean thing shall enter into it." Therefore, whatever degrees of holiness they did, or did not, attain, in the preceding parts of life, neither Jews nor Heathens, any more than Christians, ever did, or ever will, enter into the New Jerusalem, unless they are cleansed from all sin before they enter into eternity.

I do by no means exclude the Old Testament from bearing witness to any truths of God. Nothing less; but I say, the experience of the Jews is not the standard of Christian experience; and that therefore, were it true, the Jews did not love God with all their heart and soul, it would not follow, therefore, no Christian can; because we may attain what they did not.

"But," you say, "either their words do not contain a promise of such perfection, or God did not fulfil this promise to them to whom he made it." I answer, He surely will fulfil it to them to whom he made it; namely, to the Jews, after their dispersion into all lands: and to these is the promise made; as will be clear to any who impartially considers the thirtieth chapter of Deuteronomy, wherein it stands.

I doubt whether this perfection can be proved by Luke vi, 40. From 1 John iii, 9, (which belongs to all the children of God,) I never attempted to prove it; but I still think it is clearly described in those words, "As he is, so are we in this world." And yet it doth not now appear "what we shall be," when this vile body is "fashioned like unto his glorious body;" when we shall see him, not in a glass, but face to face, and be transformed into his likeness.

Those expressions, John xiii, 10, "Ye are clean, clean every whit," are allowed to refer to justification only. But that expression, "If we walk in the light as he is in the light," cannot refer to justification only

It does not relate to justification at all, whatever the other clause may do. Therefore, those texts are by no means parallel, neither can the latter be limited by the former; although it is sure, the privileges described in both belong to every adult believer.

But not only abundance of particular texts, but the whole tenor of Scripture declares, Christ came to "destroy the works of the devil, to save us from our sins;" all the works of the devil, all our sins, without any exception or limitation. Indeed should we say, we have no sin to be saved or cleansed from, we should make him come in vain. But it is at least as much for his glory to cleanse us from them all before our death as after it.

"But St. James says, 'In many things we offend all;' and whatever we might mean, if alone, the expression, we all, was never before understood to exclude the person speaking." Indeed it was. It is unquestionably to be understood so as to exclude Isaiah, the person speaking, "We are all as an unclean thing; we all do fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away," lxiv, 6. For this was not the case with Isaiah himself. Of himself he says, "My soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation; he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness," lxi, 10. Here the Prophet, like the Apostle, uses the word we instead of you, to soften the harshness of an unpleasing truth.

In this chapter the Apostle is not cautioning them against censuring others, but entering upon a new argument; wherein the second verse has an immediate reference to the first; but none at all to the thirteenth of the preceding chapter.

I added, "We offend all,' cannot be spoken of all Christians; for immediately there follows the mention of one who offends not, as the we before mentioned did." You answer, "His not offending in word, will not prove that he does not offend in many things." I think St. James himself proves it, in saying, "He is able to bridle also the whole body;" to direct all his actions as well as words, according to the holy, perfect will of God; which those, and those only, are able to do, who love God with all their hearts. And yet these very persons can sincerely say, "Forgive us our trespasses." For as long as they are in the body, they are liable to mistake, and to speak or act according to that mistaken judgment. Therefore they cannot abide the rigour of justice, but still need mercy and forgiveness.

Were you to ask, "What, if I should die this moment?" I should answer, I believe you would be saved; because I am persuaded, none that has faith can die before he is made ripe for glory. This is the doctrine which I continually teach, which has nothing to do with justification by works. Nor can it discourage any who have faith, neither weaken their peace, nor damp their joy in the Lord. True believers are not distressed hereby, either in life or in death; unless in some rare instance, wherein the temptation of the devil is joined with a melancholy temper. Upon the whole, I observe your great argument turns all along on a mistake of the doctrine. Whatever warm expressions may drop from young men, we do not teach that any believer is under condemnation. So that all the inferences drawn from this supposition fall to the ground

at once.