less would she have bid us ask for the inspiration of his Holy Spirit, and conclude all our morning and evening prayers by asking the fellowship of the Holy Ghost for ourselves and for all.

But if, because your text was taken out of St. Paul's Epistle, you choose, Sir, to let him decide whether feelings ought to have place in sound religion, or not, I am willing to stand at the bar before so great a judge, and promise to find no fault with his

sentence.

And, 1st. Not to mention the various scenes of terror, remorse, shame, desire, hope, joy, love, and admiration, he went through at his conversion, which he could not but feel in his soul; can we suppose, without rashness, that when he speaks of his fears within, the continual sorrow in his heart, the being in much trembling, the breaking of his heart, his preaching, praying, writing with many tears, his being sorrowful, yet always rejoicing, his longing to be dissolved, his being constrained by the love of Christ, his being refreshed in the Spirit, his bowels and the bowels of the saints being refreshed, his being comforted, yea, "exceeding full of comfort; " his "consolations abounding through Christ," &c. Can we suppose, I say, he felt all along neither sorrow nor consolation, neither fear nor trembling, neither desire nor love? For my part, I believe he felt all this, and more than words can express; I dare no more place him among hypocrites, than I dare rank him with enthusiasts..

But where does he exclaim against feeling the power of God, or the powerful operations of his Spirit on the heart? Is it where he says that the kingdom of God is "not in word but in power," that this kingdom within us, (if we are believers,) this true, inward religion consists "in peace, righteousness, and joy in the Holy Ghost?" That Christians rejoice in tribulation, because the love of God is shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy Ghost given unto them? Is it where he says, he is "not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, because it is the power of God to every one that believeth?" That he desired to know nothing but Jesus and the power of his resurrection? That his preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that the faith of his hearers might not stand in the wisdom of man, but in the power of God? 2 Cor. ii. 24. Or, is it when he calls the exerting of this power in him, his life; saying, "I live not, but Christ lives in me, and the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me?"

Can we suppose that he discountenances feelings in religion, when he prays that "the God of hope would fill the Romans, xv. 13, "with all joy and peace in believing, that they might abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost?" When he says that "they had not received again the spirit of bondage to fear, but the Spirit of adoption, crying Abba, Father;' and

witnessing to their spirits that they were the children of God," agreeable to that of St. John, "He that believeth, hath the witness in himself?"

Or does he suppose feelings useles when he gives up a notorious sinner to satan, for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit being first troubled, might afterwards be saved in the day of the Lord? And when, fearing the wound would be too deep (for there is a danger in this also,) he desires the Corinthians "to comfort him, lest he should be swallowed up with over-much sorrow?" Does it not rather clearly appear that deep sorrow is necessary to a great sinner, though he would not have him be swallowed up with over-much sorrow.

Yea, he puts the question out of all doubt when he tells the Corinthians, 2d epistle vii. 10, "that godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation, not to be repented of;" and praises them for "sorrowing after a godly sort, insomuch that when Titus came they received him with fear and trembling, and refreshed his spirit by the demonstrations they gave him of their sorrow, indignation, fear, zeal, and vehement desire."

We may then safely conclude that Paul, in this and other places, is as far from superseding feelings of godly sorrow as feeling of godly joy when he says to the Philippians, "Rejoice, rejoice in the Lord, and again I say rejoice;" or feelings of vehement desire, when he tells the Romans that when the "Spirit helpeth our infirmities he enables us to pray with groanings and desires that cannot be uttered."

(To be concluded in the next.)

STRICTURES ON "METHODISM INDEFENSIBLE."

To the Editor of the Methodist Magazine.

REV. SIR,

A Pamphlet has lately appeared, entitled, "Methodism Indefensible;" or, "Strictures on the four Letters of Mr. J. Everett, in Answer to the Observations of the Rev. Latham Wainewright, Rector of Great-Brickhill, on the Doctrine, Discipline, and Manners of the Wesleyan Methodists. By a True Churchman." In this pamphlet you are dignified with the title of "The High Priest" of Methodism ;* and as such-to say nothing of the LETTERS having been originally addressed to you, to no one more properly, than to yourself, can the following remarks be offered. Do not approach the subject, however, Sir, in trembling expectation of a long discussion. There is a wide difference between a pamphlet and an octavo volume; one letter will therefore be sufficient on the present occasion.

* Page 7.

The title assumed by the author of the " Strictures," which seems to have been borrowed from "The True Briton," or "The True Blue," is rather imposing; and like the self-styled philosophers on the continent of Europe, by whom the sublime cause of liberty was betrayed, and who were only remarkable for their learned ignorance, their prattling folly, and their licentious manners, he appears to be self-elected to church-membership. "True" as he would have the religious world to deem him, he unfortunately turns out to be either ignorant of, or false to, the interests of that Church, the cause of which he professes to espouse. With his self-created title, he will keep, in agreeable countenance" the self-instructed and self-appointed teacher," as he is pleased to style the author of the LETTERS,* who was sufficiently daring to hazard" Remarks" on the "Observations" of the Rector of Great-Brickhill. Blessed with an equal portion of selfism, according to the estimation of each, operations might now have commenced, had it not been for the charge of cowardice, which presses so hard upon the "True Churchman." Instead of standing "true to his colours," to employ a naval phrase, he actually conceals his real name-is either ashamed or afraid to shew his face-and never once attempts to fire a shot, or strike a blow, till he has sheltered himself behind a masked battery. He has, no doubt, his private reasons for this. As conjecture is always afloat, when a man comes forward with something like an assassin's visor on his face, some one might surmise a want of respectability; and this, to himself, would, were it to become publick, prove a source of shame. It would be humiliating in the extreme if, after a dignified display of connexions and learning, he should be identified by the publick to be what, in his esteem, Methodist Preachers originally were, "Some restless mechanic, some discontented shoemaker, some ambitious tailor, some carpenter, with a higher opinion of himself than others entertain, or some luckless smith, whose imagination is more heated than his own forge," who had "received the privilege of relinquishing" such employment "for the dignity of a" writer against Methodists, and "who might have formed a useful member of society, had he confined himself to the anvil, the saw, the needle, or the last."+ But let him move in what sphere, or sustain what degree of respectability he may, neither the Methodists nor their defender are in the habit, like the author of the "Strictures," of judging of the truth of a man's cause by his occupation in life, or of the solidity of his arguments by his mode of education. They know that situation can never be substituted for sound reasoning, any more than that reflection on industrious habits can be the result of candour. Others might

Pamphlet, p. 35, 51. + Strictures, p. 42; 53.

conjecturc, that a conscious want of talent was the cause of concealment; and this would be productive of fear. But whatever want of ability there may be to support the cause espoused, there is evidently no consciousness of it: for, though he urges the incompetence* of the author of the LETTERS to the work he has undertaken, it may be fairly inferred, from the pedantic spirit displayed in every page, that deep self-abasement is not the besetment of the "True Churchman." He takes the field, however, with rather an ill grace; and it is not difficult to ascertain the proportion of credit which redounds to a person's cause, when he refuses to lend to it his signature. He honours his opponent with the title of "Champion." From his own mode of attack he lays himself under the suspicion of being championless : and yet, with all his cowardice, he takes his stand flushed with the hope of ultimate success. There can be no objection to try the temper of his blade; and perhaps it will be found, that, after playing through his loop-hole, with his person concealed while bis antagonist passes, he is unable to make any thing resembling a desperate thrust. He may, as Dr. Johnson remarks of Junius, sometimes make his satire felt; but let not injudicious admiration mistake the venom of the shaft for the vigour of the blow. He may sometimes sport with lucky malice; but to him that knows his company it is not hard to be sarcastic in a mask. While he walks, like Jack the Giant Killer, in a coat of darkness, he may do much mischief with little strength. Being at liberty to indulge himself in all the immunities of invisibility; out of the reach of danger, he is bold; out of the reach of shame he is confident.‡

He is anxious, in conducting the attack, to secure a due share of credit for his coolness of temper; and observes, "So proverbial has become the asperity of controversialists, that the harshness of language into which they are frequently betrayed, however it may occasion our regret, cannot excite our surprise."§ Perfectly in unison with this feeling of "regret," he proceeds to load the Methodists and his opponent with almost every species of calumny, and applies to them the most degrading terms. Take a few specimens:-He speaks of the " amusements rancorously condemned" by the Methodists;-of their "regarding the diversion of dancing and the commission of felony as possessing nearly the same degree of moral turpitude;of the nasal twang of the conventicle;"-the "fanatical leaders" of the body; "Wesley's papal authority;"-" the coarse declamation and disgusting rant in which these unfortunate dupes (the Methodists) so freely indulge," with

"A liberal art, that costs no pains

Of study, industry, or brains;"

.

Page 8.

+ Page 7.

Johnson's Works, vol. vin, p. 129, edit. 1801. § Stricturce, p. 39.

" of their bands and classes, where persons of both sexes, and of all ages and characters, meeting together for the purpose of scrutinizing their vicious thoughts and criminal deeds," which will ultimately lead to the "recurrence of many of those daring acts of impiety, and many of those shameless excesses of profligacy, which among the ancients characterized their Bacchanalian orgies, their Eleusinian mysteries, and their Phallic festivals;"" the constant frequenters of the Foundery, or some other noted chapel of the clan," who "would combine with any description of men, whether within the pale of the Establishment or without, in order to oppose more effectually the influence and authority of the regular clergy;"―of "the folly and perverseness of the theological adventurer" that defends them ;"the cook who prepares the savory repast which is to solace him at his friend's expense, after his labours in the vineyard;" the opinions which are "no where to be found but in the brain of the sapient disciple of Wesley and his evangelical confederates," whose "powers of discrimination are completely annihilated, whose "faculties are clouded by fanatical prejudices," and who "inveigh with all the bitterness of a Jesuit against cards," &c.; -and then "earnestly recommends these reflections to the deliberate consideration of Mr. Everett, and those of his brethren, who are not wholly ignorant of the elements of reading."* That these are "reflections" few will deny; and that too, in the worst sense of the term. But agreeable to his own doctrine, this "harshness of language cannot excite our surprise." And why? Let the gentleman speak for himself. In vindication of similiar epithets employed by Mr. Wainewright against the Methodists, and enumerated in the Remarks on his Observations, he affirms he❝ can discover nothing in these designations which indicates an uncandid or an illiberal spirit."+ From hence it is inferred, that he can perceive nothing in his own language "illiberal;" nor is it unnatural to suppose, that he will readily tolerate the use of such language in his opponent. It is unfortunately the case, however, that what we allow in ourselves and in our friends, we rarely concede to others. The "True Churchman," therefore, can talk with very great gravity of the "irritable feelings" of Mr. Wainewright's "adversary ;" and observes, "When he (Mr. Wainewright) perceives the nature of the man with whom he has to deal, I should apprehend he would feel but little difficulty in pardoning the personalities in which this writer scruples not to indulge." It is impossible, on a perusal of this, not to be reminded of the proverb, "Physician, heal thyself." The "True Churchman" judges of the "nature" and "irritable feelings"

Strictures, p. 10, 25, 31, 32, 35, 36, 39, 42, 45, 46, 47, 49, 50, 54.

+

+ ibid, p. 39.

p. 11.