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 '* ' ^ , T !:i "*i w w t yi .:; !C! y r? ?w n- 1 
 
S' JE Iv r E s 
 
 OS* 
 
 L E T T E R S, 
 
 TO 
 
 THE REV. J. A. MULaCK, 
 
 PRE3B¥TER, OF 'THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND : 
 BE IN G A 
 
 REPLY TO CERTAIN CHARGES AGAINST 
 ^ THE METHODISTS IN A; SERMON PREACH- 
 H ED IN THE DIFFERENT CHURCHES, 
 '^ IN HIS PARISH. 
 
 w 
 
 BY BENJAMIN NANKEVILE^ 
 
 WESLEYAX MINISTER. 
 
 " F'wf itere arc many unruly and vain talkers and 
 deceivers, speoialJy they of the circumcision : whose 
 mouths must be stopped ; whosubvert whole houses, 
 teaching things which tncy ought not, lor filthy lucre's 
 sake."— Titus i. 10. 11. 
 
 CAHLETON PLACE : 
 
 PSINTED FOR THE AUTHOR, BY J. C. POOLS. ^ 
 
 '•'i'' 
 
 jJa 
 
 Kl 
 
 
 
 »*««t.^Kiii-S^IJ*'ifeA»«WW-^" 
 
■ 
 
 S E 11 I E S 
 
 'f! 
 
 0# 
 
 ^; f 
 
 E T T E R S, 
 
 TO 
 
 THE REV. J. A. MULOCK, 
 
 PREbBYTER, OF THE CHUHCH OP ENGLAND r 
 B E r N G A 
 
 REPLY TO CERTAIN CHARGES AGAINST 
 THE METHODISTS IN A SER vlON PREACH- 
 ED IN THE DIFFERENT CHURCHES, 
 IN HIS PARISH.. 
 
 BY BENJAMIN NANKEYILL, 
 
 WESLEYAX MINISTER. 
 
 li f 
 
 I -n 
 
 For there are many unruly and vain talkers and 
 deceivers, specially they of the circumcision : u-hose 
 mouths must be stopped ; who subvert whole houses, 
 teachinfi: things which tney ought not, ior filthy lucre's 
 sake.'— TiTus j. 10, 11. 
 
 ! I 
 
 i \ 
 ' II 
 
 CARLETON PLACE: 
 
 PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR, BY J. C. POOLE. 
 
 1850. 
 
 
^o 
 
 -^ "2^ <i<^ 
 
 JUN ? ") 1935 
 
 M- 
 
 I 
 
 .. ji. ,.ijU 
 
 fs-?u t,. J ,1, i^ 
 
 . -^ '.- -i-i. .^ -!» ^» ii'l 
 
 ^Ocf'l 
 
i 
 
 
 PREFACB. 
 
 
 To THE Reader, 
 
 Controversy, tea rhristian mind must alway? he a 
 painful exercise; yet the slate of society, 1 lanienl to 
 •ay, even religious society, renders it sornefimes neces- 
 tnry to correct mistakes, elicit truth, expose error, res- 
 cue character, and stop the march of misrepresentation. 
 
 The motives whereby the Rev. Mr. Mulock has been 
 led to commence, and continue his accusations against 
 the Methodists, 1 do not attempt either to question or 
 investigate; yet this must be acknowledged by all, that 
 the Methodists have as just a right to defend themselves 
 a«8 their opponents have to accuse them. 
 
 li is my firm opinion that truth fears no investigation 
 and I can assure my Reverend opponent that it is not 
 his sarcasm, nor bold and unwarrantable assertions, 
 will prevent nie Irom rindicating the irutb, and expos- 
 ing error. 
 
 1 have a pamphlet now before me, its title is ♦' The 
 causes of the increase of Methodism and disseniion. 
 considered in a sermon preached at the visitation of 
 the Reverend, the Archdeacon of Leicester." I would 
 recommend Mr Mulock to peruse this little work, 1 
 think it would check and guide him in his future con- 
 duct :— much, lower however he cannot descend. Soon 
 therefore, he must rest (if indeed his turbulent spirit i* 
 susceptible of quiesrerce) We hope his mind will toon 
 tegin to move in an upward direction. 
 
 m 
 
 I '? 
 
I 
 
 In tije preface to the pamphlet referred to above, the 
 writer, after speakin^r of the •' diminished utiachmeut 
 of the mass of the people to the Established Church, 
 Says, "But the Clergy too irefjuemly have shewn them- 
 selves exasi)erated al the fact j and have betrayed a 
 degree of anger and passionate resentmeal in tlieir 
 conversations with parishioners as well as in their 
 iljscourserf from the pulpit, which has only widened 
 the breach. Some have attempted to meet the evil 
 by the circulation of little tracts, levelled against the 
 Methodists in which, however, the same spirit of in- 
 vective has sometimes been discovered." Here we 
 see the character of Mr. Mulock portrayed. 
 
 On this subject of self defence, and the investigation 
 of the points at issue, between the Rev. Mr. Mulock 
 and myself, we enter without fear, yet not without re- 
 jt>rerj we lament the necessity which is laid upon us 
 m«>i*e especially considering the quarter from whence 
 it comes. We believe, if the Methodists as a body, 
 have erred at all, in reference loan uafeigned desire to 
 cultivate friendly relations with the Church of England, 
 it has been in allowing the impulses of that desire to 
 carry them too far. We recollect when iin England 
 seventeen years since, the Church was arraigned be- 
 fore the tribunal of public opinion, she stood trembling 
 on the precipice of destruction and was forsaken by all 
 others, the Methodists, faithful to their professio is of 
 attachment, came to her rescue. The public press ia 
 the interests of the Church, was not at that time slow 
 to acknowledge the obligation: it caused the empire 
 to ring from end to end with eulogies of the disinterest- 
 ed friendship of the Methodists to the Church. 
 But in the season of calm and peace) her [ministers 
 
 I 
 
to above, the 
 ed utiachiueuc 
 shed Church, 
 .'shewn Ihein- 
 'e betrayed a 
 leul ill their 
 1 as in their 
 )rj!y widened 
 neel the evil 
 jd against the 
 e spirit ol in- 
 ." Here we 
 
 • 
 
 investi<Tation 
 '. Mr. Mulock 
 ot without re- 
 laid upon us 
 from whence 
 s as a body, 
 sned desire to 
 li of England, 
 liat desire to 
 iin England 
 arraigned be- 
 lod trembling 
 rsakeu by all 
 rofessio IS of 
 iblic press in 
 at time slow 
 1 the empire 
 > disinterest' 
 irch. 
 ler [mioisters 
 
 rise LP and assert, ''there is no church but cur church, 
 no ordination but our ordination, no ministers but our 
 ministers, no sacraments but our sacraments," and thus 
 carry on a kind of persecution against us: while we 
 wish to follow " peace with all men and holiness with- 
 out which, no man can see the Lord," what will 
 the Church do in her approaehing struggle ? who will 
 defend her then ? We are determined in future, at all 
 hazards, the Lord being our helper, to vindicate our 
 rights and privileges although it may bring us into con- 
 tJlct with the pitiable and inherent weakness of the Rev . 
 Mr. Mulock, and kindred spirits with himself. 
 
 '• Where there is shame," says Dr.. Johnson, " there 
 may in time be virtue," but we fear that Mr. Mulock it 
 past shame, for in his conduct, we can neither discover 
 the gentleman, the scholar, nor the r'hristian. 
 
 AUTHOR. 
 
•mm 
 
 1W 
 
 I t. 
 
 \^ ll f 
 
 i' -^. 
 
 \ 
 
 I \ 
 
 I 
 
LETTER I. 
 
 March 19(A 18S0. 
 To The Rev. J. A. Mulock, 
 
 Rev. Sib,-— Having heard ly thos»e who x^ese 
 at church last Sunday, nnd the preceding Sab- 
 baths, that your sejinon, if it can le called cne, 
 was entirely directed again&t the A'elhcdJMP, 
 and ihal nothing like it ha.' ever been heard, 
 in point of unbrotherly and unchristian temper, 
 except in the bitter and nne^anclifud jjirit of 
 Bogue and Bennet's History of liic Dissenters, I 
 should feel very rrjuch obliged, ly being favoied 
 with a perusal of } our disccime ; ard to frl'cit 
 this indulgence is the object cf ihe piesent letter. 
 Nor can this, I should hope, Le deeir.ed an im- 
 pertinent or unreasonable request. 
 
 In your setmon you have advanced and ur^ed 
 serious charges against the Methodists ard my- 
 self, under which I cannot he silent : for silence 
 wight induce jou and others, equally weak with 
 yourself, to conclude that they are just and unan^ 
 «werable. 
 
^ 
 
 
 Besides, Sir, I am informod that your so call- 
 ed sermon contains misrepresentations and slan- 
 derous accusations against the entire body. You 
 know Sir, that against slander there is no defence. 
 Hell cannot boast so foul a fiend, nor man deplore 
 so foul a foe. It stabs with a word, with a shrug, 
 with a look, with a smile. Sir, it is the pestilence' 
 walking in darkness, spreading contagion far and 
 Wide, which the most wary traveller cannot avoid. 
 It is the heart searching dagger of the dark assas- 
 sm. It is the poisoned arrow whose wound is 
 mcnrable. It is the morlal sting of the deadly 
 adder. Murder is its employment, innocerce 
 Its prey, and ruin its sport. 
 
 You, Sir, may have been unwittingly led (for 
 
 what I know) to make those misrepresentations 
 
 and slanderous accusations, against the Metho- 
 
 disis : but which are not on that account, more 
 
 just in their nature, nor less injurious in their op- 
 
 eration, with respect to those of whom they are 
 
 exhibited, and wh.nh therefore an imperious sense 
 
 of religious duty compels me, as far as possible 
 
 to correct. ' 
 
 The common law of our country condemns no 
 
 man before he is heard : the accused is f„lj,, ap. 
 
 prized of all the charges with which he stands in- 
 
our so call- 
 is and slan- 
 body. You 
 no defence, 
 man deplore 
 ^itli a shrug, 
 e pestilence 
 ^ion far and 
 innot avoid, 
 dark assas- 
 3 wound is 
 the deadly 
 innocerce 
 
 ly led, (for 
 esentations 
 he Metho- 
 ount, more 
 in their op- 
 n they are 
 rious sense 
 s possible, 
 
 idemns no 
 
 is fully ap- 
 
 stands in- 
 
 f > 
 
 dieted : and ample time is allowed him to prepare 
 tor his defence : and surely the law and spirit of 
 uur common faith is not less equitable and lileral. 
 In this business Sir, 1 wish to do equal justice 
 U) you and to myself, and would therefore prefer 
 the original accusations, in their full form and 
 force to the sketches thereof, which I can other- 
 wise produce, from notes taken bv a number of 
 respectable persons who listened to your discourse: 
 or to your furthcoming pamphlet, as I have been 
 informed by a person who heard you say to an 
 agent of the publisher's tliat you icoidd drmv the 
 pen through apart of it or leave out tvhat you did 
 7iot wish to be printed^ in re-icriting your man- 
 uscript. At this Sir, I demur and bitterly com- 
 plain, as unchristian and unjust. Had not char- 
 acter^ moral and christian, been involved, you 
 would have a right to withhold any part of your 
 manuscript.— If indeed Methodists are the people 
 wliich you have declared them to be, then it would 
 become them to sit in shameful silence in the dust: 
 but if they are of another cliaracter, then truth 
 rises up and demands their Vindicati0n. f so- 
 licit your manuscript for this pur})osc. 
 
 Your conduct. Sir, will be tested by the judg- 
 ment of the church and the world. The lives. 
 
! 8 «. 
 
 I^ll' 
 
 
 in 
 
 8 
 
 tempers a,.d labor, of the men against wh„m vo« 
 strongly mveigh, prove that the judgment you 
 have pronounced against them, is as ill founded. 
 *'\I' ',* "^^" ^"'' "ncharitable. 
 
 Had you, Sir, confined your animadversions up- 
 on (he Methodists to your own church, you would 
 have acted a wise and and faithful part, and have 
 thereby rendered it unnecessary for me to address 
 you m the words in which the Great Head of the 
 Church reproved the hypocrites of the legal e.stah- 
 I- .ment in his day. Matt. vii. 3, 5. : and add 
 
 .; .^r ""'^' "''"'='* ''^ as follows :~ 
 
 Ihe text teacheth us these lessons, 1. Those 
 «''o are most censorious of others, are u-sually 
 more notorious and culpahle themselves 3 it 
 ^^ hypocrisy to spy smaller faults inothVrs, aiMl 
 nut see greater it, ourselves. 3. It is impudence 
 '• I'-tend to judge others for sins, in wlS "" 
 »« ourselves. 4. The best way to prevent 
 r-h and severe J.dgingof others, fs t„ loU first 
 >" o our own hearts and «ays,-our cl,u,i,v i„ 
 lliu. k,„d ought to begin at hon,e. 
 
 I have heard that you challenged me to n.eot 
 
 you, oelore two Magistrates, cor>cerning wl,at 
 
 1 1-e told Do..or Spencer. Sir, I can meet 
 
 y"u and th« couHicin. statements betweett you 
 
 I 
 
it whom vom 
 Igment you 
 ill founded, 
 
 (Versions up- 
 you would 
 t, and have 
 5 to address 
 iead of the 
 egal estab- 
 : and add 
 
 1. Those 
 ire usudlly 
 
 es. 2. It 
 tljers, and 
 
 mpudence 
 vhich we 
 ) prevent 
 ' iook first 
 -liaiiiv in 
 
 to u.eoi 
 ing wJiat 
 an meet 
 eeu you 
 
 and the Doctor, at a proper time and place, as I 
 have the evidence of the person who was present, 
 and heard what you both said, taken before two 
 4 Magistrates. I have it also in writing, given me 
 by the individual referred to, in the presence of 
 another person. So I think your boasting is ra- 
 ther premature. 
 
 I have no love for controversy, neither am I in 
 the habit of delivering discourses on controversial 
 points . — a regard for truth, alone, has obliged 
 me to step forward on the present occasion, to 
 defend the Methodists from the grievous charo-es 
 you have brought against them and to chastise ec- 
 clesiastical arrogance. 
 
 I intend to give the public an (opportunity 
 to examine and weigh the evidence which will 
 be brought before them, in the mode T intend 
 to adopt, viz. of writing you a series of leUers, 
 on I he principles involved in your attack. 
 
 Y.»u, Rev. Sir, have opened your battery a- 
 gaiu>t us for some time past, you have represent- 
 e<i us as fanatics, sectarians, and schismatics. 
 
 You have asserted ih it the Methodists have 
 no lawful ministry, without ordination, conse- 
 quently, they have no sacraments, they are no 
 
r 
 
 i.i 
 
 i 
 
 ' ),i 
 
 f.f! 
 
 
 10 
 
 church, tlieir system i.s a lyinsr system, and to 
 cap the whole, their ministers are liars ! 
 
 Thus have we l)oen by you, Sir. misrepresent- 
 ed condemred, and anathematized ; and thus 
 the harmony of the j^earefuJ inhabitants of differ- 
 ent neighborhoods lias been disturbed ; and a 
 party spirit created ; and the message hrotight bv 
 you to the sanctuary, has been anything but that 
 which Angels delivered on the plains of Bethle- 
 hem '.—'' Glory to God in the Highest, peace on 
 earth ; good will towards men." We have been 
 reminded rather of the object and manner of the 
 intended visit of the disciple of Gamuliel to Da- 
 mascus. 
 
 In addition to my attempt to answer your char- 
 ges against the Methodists, I shall notice the fol- 
 lowing particulars : — 
 
 I. The docirim of Baptismal Regeneration, 
 
 II. The ceremony of Confirmation. 
 
 J 1 1. Apostolic Succession. ■ i : 
 
 IV. Scriptural Ordination. 
 
 V\ The true position of the Methodists in re- 
 lotion to TuF. Churcik S^-c. 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
1! 
 
 n 
 
 ^, and to 
 
 epresent- 
 aiif! thus 
 of fliffer- 
 ; and a 
 ought by 
 but that 
 Bethle- 
 peace on 
 Tve been 
 3r of the 
 1 to I)a- 
 
 )ur char- 
 3 the fol- 
 
 c7'ation. 
 
 ■i * ' U. 
 
 ts in re- 
 
 I 
 
 In this letter T li 
 
 Inthisletlor I have given you a eonoise detail 
 of the points at issue ; and bo it well remember- 
 ed, that to the whole process of your indictment, 
 we plead not guilty. 
 
 YourSy with deserved respect, 
 
 Reverend Sir^ 
 
 BENJAMIN NANKEVILL. 
 
 REPLY. 
 
 March '2M, 1850. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 Having just now received your letter & seen 
 
 the signature I beg to return it unread. 
 
 your obedient servant, 
 
 JOHN A. MULOCK. 
 
 Mr. B. Nankkvill. 
 Carleton Place ^ 
 
 m 
 
 -*. 
 
12 
 
 LETTER IT 
 
 h- J 
 
 I i 
 
 '1' i 
 
 To The Rbv. J. A. Mulock, 
 
 Rev. Sir, — I am not permitted to have access 
 to your manuscript, although I solicited it for the 
 purpose of viudicatitig the character of a large 
 bcnly of Christians, 'vhoare generally esteemed for 
 their usefulness and zeal, in every good w«^rd 
 and work. That this is the view in which .the 
 exertions of Methodist preachers are regarded by 
 many pious and influential clergymen, who have 
 much belter opportunities of knowing them, than 
 you posse.^s, will be evident from the published 
 testimony of a clergyman, who in the year 1830, 
 wrote a work called '' Ireland, and the Remedy 
 for her Evils." 
 
 ''It may exciie a smile of contempt," writes this pi- 
 ous and talented minister, *'upon the cheek of the high 
 and aristocratic senator, or churchman, to name as 
 intelligent an<l active co-operators in the increase of 
 religious kiiowledi;e, the Methodists. But all couu- 
 tries, and all sects and denominations, may be challen- 
 ged to produce a body of men possessed of more zeal, 
 i^reater abstraction from all p)ersonal advantages and 
 wtai'h. Ireland and the proiesiant churches, are deep- 
 
 I 
 
13 
 
 ive access 
 it for the 
 f a large 
 eemed for 
 •od w«^rd 
 rhich ,the 
 jarded by 
 »'ho have 
 em, than 
 ublished 
 ar 1830, 
 Remed/ 
 
 IS this pi- 
 the high 
 name as 
 irease of 
 ill couu- 
 challec- 
 Te zeai, 
 ges and 
 iro deep- 
 
 ly indebted to them for the absolute, and uadeniaU« 
 preservation of the scriptural faith, in parishes and 
 towns, where, without their appearance, the veiy name 
 would have been wholly extinct, and not a single fam- 
 ily in the lower ranks have remained to occupy (in many 
 places) the now revivingchurches. Let not, therefore, 
 iheir advances be treated with distrust, or regarded 
 with coldness : they have been sure and secret friends 
 to the Establishment, and this fact, the most talented 
 leaders of our opponents have repeatedly, even with sor- 
 row admitted." 
 
 Look, Sir, at this picture and your own, and 
 confess your ignorance of that body of christians 
 whom you have publicly slandered and unjtistly 
 maligned, and yet Sir, you have the hardihood to 
 assert that the Methodists commenced the attack ! 
 Vou cannot but recollect the conversation I had 
 with you on the Stb line of Ramsay, when I told 
 you that it originated in two yotmg men conver- 
 sing together on the subject of confirmation : and 
 that both of them were members of your own 
 church! You, Sir, in amazement exclaimed, 
 Is not Rose a Methodist ? and on my observing 
 no, nor never was, you replied, then I am dC" 
 ceived ! After this conversation, in my own stu- 
 dy you told me *• you were called a liar at th« 
 church door, by one of the Methodists." And, on 
 my expressing my regret for this and soliciting the 
 name of the individual, you named a person who 
 
 I I 
 
14 
 
 f I 
 
 : \l 
 
 novrr was connected with tfic Methodist Church ! 
 AfiiL vSir, Wore you not asked by a young man, 
 a Mothodisl, (in your own kitchen,) who .was 
 rhe person, that brought you the stories in circu- 
 lation ; and you said you never told any person, 
 and never would. Had he been a Methodist, 
 wouki you have withheld his name? So, when 
 foiled on every hand, you again attempt to rally 
 by confessing, — 
 
 "I preached the same sermon on seven differ- 
 ent Sundays thinking that would put lying lips to 
 silende ! No, I was mel by Mr. Stevenson, that 
 redoubtable champion of schism, who gave me 
 an insulting letter to peruse at my leisure." 
 
 Now, iSiir, I question the verity of your state- 
 ment, that, that letter was either insulting in its 
 language or intention, although it was written, 
 AFTER your attack upon the body of which Mr. 
 Stevenson is a creditable and worthy meniber, so 
 that all your attempts to justify yoiir conduct, 
 and to censure the Methodists, are futile and 
 base 
 
 On the ground of these charges, Sir, I once 
 more venture to meet you. That some member 
 of the church, which you have so grossly defa d, 
 should do this, is plain ; but that it should be at- 
 tempted by au individual of the humble rank of 
 
\o 
 
 St Church ! 
 ' uung man, 
 I who was 
 es in circu- 
 any person, 
 Methodist, 
 So, when 
 pt to rally 
 
 even dififer- 
 iftg lips to 
 ^enson, that 
 :> gave me 
 
 sure." _ 
 your state- 
 king in its 
 as written, 
 which Mr. 
 lember, so 
 r conduct, 
 futile and 
 
 
 « - 
 
 •ir, I ones 
 e member 
 y defa d, 
 
 lid be at- 
 le rank of 
 
 the writer, can ^oarcjely lail to cNcite youri^u^- 
 prise. 'i hut oiie who cuimot boasi oi iinniediate 
 descent IVoin some hijih arislocratic iamilv, must 
 Stand prcporlionahly low in your estim;ition, yon 
 afford your hearers sntrieient piuof, in your so 
 called reply to my forniCr pamphlet, wlien, Sir, 
 you assert, thai, "many of the:te old Authins 
 wrote more than Mr Nankevill could read in his 
 whole life, even were he to reach the aire of thnje 
 sicore years and ten." Wtjuderiul ! Let it be 
 branded on your forehead ! one man can write 
 more thnn another can read, should he live three 
 score years and ten, and then your hearers may 
 depend on the truth of your statements made on 
 all future attacks on tie Methodists. " Yes there 
 w^ere giants in those days, beside whom Benjamtn 
 Nankevill with all his ignorance, would appear 
 small indeed." Again, " Mr. Wesley in his Jour- 
 nals, refers to means, employed to teacbsome of the 
 Methodist preachers to spell and read." Now Sir 
 though I am somewhat of Seneca's opinion, " That 
 all beggars have descended from princes, and 
 princes from begg^irs ;" yet I do not consider it 
 necessary to trace back my pedigree, in order to 
 see if I could find among my ancestors, some 
 mighty names for wealth renowned, (no matter 
 
 ^'1 
 
 1 I 
 

 ■ 1 
 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 16 
 
 Ijow that wealth was accumulfed,) nor to solicit 
 the aid of surronnding ministers, to vilify and de- 
 grade an already insulted and injured people 
 to qualify me lobe heard in defence of that'body 
 of christians which yon, Sir, liave maligned. 
 
 I respect rank, wealth and station; but mr 
 Bible teaches, in what concerns the glory of God 
 not to accept the persons of men. ] think Sir, 
 the above statements came from you with a very 
 bad grace. I ask what is the reason assigned in 
 the prelacc to the Book of Homilies, for (heir ori. 
 gill ? why Sir, we are told that manv of the min! 
 isters ' have not the gift of preaching,' sufficient to 
 instruct the people committed to their charge.'— 
 u A"'* Archbishop Leighton complains that his 
 (vhurch was a fair carcass without a spirit." 
 Bishop Burnet, speaks on this subject with 
 great concern. 
 
 " I say with grreat regret," says he «' I have observed 
 the clergy in all places through which I have travelled 
 rapists, Lutherans, Caivinisis and Dissenters, but of 
 them al) our clergy are the most remise in their labour* 
 in private, and the least severe in their lives :— unless a 
 better spirit possess the Clero-y, arguments, and what 
 is more, laws and authority, will not prove strong e- 
 nough to preserve the Church." See IriuRNET's Histo- 
 ry or Hrs OWN Times, Vol. 4, PACEg 41 J, 480. 
 
 i think Sir, Dr. South very justly says** many 
 ft man has run his head against a pulpit, who 
 
►r to solicit 
 ify andde- 
 
 .til at body 
 gned. 
 ; but mr 
 ry of God 
 hink Sir, 
 itli a very 
 signed in 
 ' (heir orL 
 ►f the min- 
 fficicnt to 
 liarge.' — 
 
 f that his 
 )irit.'* 
 ect with 
 
 ? observed 
 
 travelled, 
 
 rs, but of 
 
 ^ir labour* 
 -unless a 
 and what 
 strong e- 
 
 ^'s H18TO- 
 0. 
 
 » ** many 
 
 ►it, who 
 
 17 
 
 who would have cut an excellent figure at a 
 plough tail.'' 
 
 Lord lienly sa}'s : — 
 
 " On inspecting the list of dignitaries it will be found 
 that not more than one in twenty of them has any claim 
 to piefernnent, on the ground of I'leological or even of 
 literary aiiainmenis. Parliameniary influence, family 
 connexions, party gratitude, have filled up the vacan- 
 cies as they occurred, with the sons, brothers, and fa- 
 vorites of ministers and their adherents. This species 
 of patronage, lias generally been considered, as so 
 nmch oil to grease the wheels of government, ihai t!ie 
 machine of ihe state may roll on the more smoothly. 
 
 'Widely as ihe several parties that have governed tlie 
 country for a century past, have differed in oiker iliings, 
 jhey have all agreed to regard the Church as a source of 
 public patronage, which might fairly be employed ei- 
 ther lor tiie gratification of private parridlity, or as the 
 price ot so much parliamentary influence.'' 
 
 '' Here," says the Rev. Stewart Batej«, D. D. 
 " Is the reason why the ainecurcs cannot be abolish- 
 ed. Here is the reason why zealous Churchmen are 
 not ashamed to clamour to parliament, (or an increase 
 of churcn revenues, while they are fully aware that 
 near half a million sterling, of the revenue already se- 
 cured to the church, is devoured by a body of eccleBias*- 
 tical drones; a pack of dumb dogs ihaf cannot bark, 
 bleeping, lying dow.n, loving to slumber, greedy do^i 
 which can never have enough. *> 
 
 " They know well that mere politicians cannot be 
 averse to increase the revenues of the c-iurch, A Utile 
 
 n, 
 
n 
 
 m 
 
 niore oil may raufje ihe wheels of siaie to rol! on the 
 more smoo hly. And all this might be borne wilhuut 
 any veiicineiu emotion, couid our attention be confiiitjj 
 to the mere economical part of the question, li is im- 
 nieHsureahly better to expend a few hundreds of thou- 
 sands in Iceepinj; an aristocracy quiet at home, than to 
 lavish millions in support of miliip.ry armaments abroad. 
 Ji"iiit when we riew the question in its religious bear- 
 in^"**, and recollect that this politico-ecclesiastical, semi- 
 popish, semi-proiestaiit, institution, is held out to the 
 ,')eof)Ie as the church of the living God :— that multitudes 
 of unconverted and heretical men, Demases and Judas- 
 ps, and 5^imon Ma^uses, are thrust into the pulpits as liie 
 ppirifual (rwdes, which the <jovernment has provided fcr 
 millions of immortal beings, then indeed, the mingled 
 emotions of grief and indignation can neither he disguis- 
 ed nor repressed." 
 
 We then feel inclined to beseech the aood men 
 ^' ho -jre -n ihe Church, Sir, in the laniruage of 
 Holy Scripture, " Come out of her my people 
 tliat vf be not partakers oi her sins, that ye re- 
 ceive not of her plagues. '^ 
 
 Atid now, Sir, in closing this letter I would 
 say, beware, in your zeal for the church, of putting 
 ''darkness for light and light for darkness," the 
 ('ecisions of interested men, for the laws of God 
 subjection to the episcopal clergy, for obedience 
 to. Christ :— the doctrines of your church as con- 
 tained m yo"jr prayer book, for the gospel :— the 
 
 { 
 
 I 
 
10 
 
 to roll on the 
 borne without 
 on be confiiied 
 on. It i$ ini- 
 Ireds of thou- 
 home, than to 
 iments abroad, 
 eligious bear* 
 liasiical, semi- 
 eld out to the 
 hat multitudes 
 ses and Judas- 
 ; pulpits as the 
 IS provided for 
 , the mingled 
 ker he diaguis- 
 
 le a<>;)d men 
 
 lanojuaore of 
 
 my people 
 
 that ve re- 
 
 tor I would 
 h, of putting 
 iness." the 
 iws of God 
 r obedience 
 irch as con- 
 ospel : — the 
 
 I 
 
 dictates of human anihority, for Christianity : — a 
 political establishment, (iressetl out by moilorn fan- 
 cy and nouiished bv the riches and glories of this 
 worUl, for the church of Christ. 
 
 / amy Rev. Sii\ 
 
 your obedient servant 
 
 , . V BENJAMIN NANKEVIIX. 
 
 LETTER HI. 
 
 To The Rev. J. A. Mllock, 
 
 Rev. Sir, — I do not wonder at the painful f^ef- 
 ings produced by your discourse, in the mind of 
 every chrislian, even of your own church, who 
 has listened to you, for several Sundays past.- - 
 But, Sir, what must be the feelings of every Melb- 
 odist that was present, to see the ashes of liO- 
 parted worth disturbed in its silent repose — when 
 they saw by you, Rev. Sir, the graces of those who 
 are resting in Abraham's bosom, blackened widi 
 the vituperating tongue of calumny — when the 
 characters of such self denying lieralds of the love 
 of God as Dr. Coke and the Rev. Francis Asburv, 
 
 H 
 
.^1 
 
 (!. ' 
 
 ii 
 
 are forced through the ordeal of insulting accusa- 
 t.on and (hat by one who might count it his high- 
 est honour, to sit at .heir feet, and learn the plain- 
 est senfments of humility, and .he first principles 
 of char„y. If, Sir, " our Fathers" are L allow- 
 eel, by you, (even beneath the clods of the valley) 
 
 their less worthy sons expect. 
 
 What other object could yo„ have in view 
 ^. n ,0 degrade ,l,e names of Dr. Coke and the' 
 Kcv. Francs Asbury, and their successors i„ of- 
 
 Do you not think, you were as large as any 
 domi-pope when you said:— , 
 
 " All these assertions about VVeslev,' Cke 
 ami Asbury .refa-.chood,!- That " n; letters 
 of orduiafon were ever issuc.l by Wesley, f 
 challenge the world, yes, all the Me.hodis.s tha 
 ever.,.^^^^ 
 
 1 
 
 Why, Sir 'you ni„st be a mightv Goliath ' It 
 >s no wonder, that the armies of Israel ^yere dis- 
 mayed and greatly afraid . Here, you in.ima.e, 
 that Dr. Coke and Mr. Asbury thrust themselves 
 
 I 
 

 into an office to which they had not been called ; 
 an office in which they had no business. What, 
 but the most pitiable prejudice and unprincipled 
 injustice, could draw forth the above remarks ; 
 statements that have not a shadow of truth for 
 their support ; as will be proved by the following 
 facts. Mr. Wesley's intimate iriend and fellow- 
 laborer, the Rev. Henry Moore, says : — 
 
 '' At the conference lield in Leeds in ITSi, Mr. Wes- 
 ley declared his intention of sendinf,^ Dr. Coke and some 
 other preachers to America: Mr. [licliard VVhaicoai and 
 Mr. Thomas Vasey offered themselves as Missionaries 
 for that purpose, and were accepted. Bei'ore they sail- 
 ed Mr. Wesley abridged the common prayer book oi the 
 Church of England, and wrote to Dr. Coke, then m 
 London, desiring him to meet him in Bristol lo receive 
 fuller powers; and to bring with him the Rev. Mr. 
 Creighton. The Doctor and Mr. Creighton according- 
 ly met him in Bristol ; when with their assistance, he 
 ordained Mr. Richard Whatcoat, and Mr. Thomas Va- s 
 sey, Presbyters for America, he afterwards ordained 
 Dr. Coke a Superintendent, giving him letters of ordi- 
 nation, under his own hand and seal." — Moore"* Lifk 
 OF Wesley, Vol. 2, page 193. 
 
 These letters of ordination may be seen in the Rev. 
 S. Drew's Life of Dr. Coke, page 66 ., 
 
 And here, Sir, I would add tiie authoritative 
 testimony of tlie English Wesleyan Methodist 
 
 Magazine, for 1825. 
 
 "Mr. Wesley, in point of fact, did ordain bishops 
 for the American Societies, though he iafeuded them to 
 
 III' 
 
 !■ I 
 
 t f 
 
 i\ 
 
02 
 
 W 
 
 be called Superintendents : whether the name (Bishcp) 
 ii«'id or had not the sanction of Mr. Wesley, is now of 
 the least possible consequencj, as '.he Episcopacy itstlf 
 was ofiiis own creatine:."— Engmsh Wesleyan Maga. 
 ziNE for J 825, pai^e 1S3. 
 
 Again, the Rev. Henry iMoore observes; — 
 '•Mr. Wesley gave to those episcopoi (bishops) whom 
 lie oRDAfNED, ilie modest, but highly expressive title of 
 Superintendents, and desired that no other might be 
 used. + * :!; ^ ^ ^ That our brethren in office are^ true 
 scriptural bishops, J have no doubt at all : nor do I wish 
 that ilie title should be rehnquished, as it is grown inio 
 use, and is known by every person in the U. S. to des- 
 ignate men distinguished only by their simplicity and 
 abundant labours.'' — Moore's Life qv wesley. Vol 2, 
 pages 199, 29:^. 
 
 Rev. Sir, from these indubitable testimonies 
 it is abundantly evident, that, notwithstanding 
 your contradictory assertions, the episcopal office 
 of the Methodist Church in the United States was 
 created by Mr. Wesley himself. 
 Again, Sir, you affirm that : — 
 " The Conference in the United States did not 
 receive Coke and Asbury as bishops,^^ and that 
 "this statement, in the Methodist discipline, is 
 a falsehood.''^ ' ■■ ■-i 
 
 Here, Sir, I consider you as wild and erroneous 
 as before, and scarcely deserving notice. As a 
 proof, Sir, 1 would refer you to ' Dr. Coke's Bio- 
 grapher, a Wesleyan Methodist Minister, in Erio-. 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
le (Bishcp) 
 
 ■, is now ot 
 opacy itsfclf 
 
 VAN MaGA- 
 
 ves ; — 
 
 iO|)s) whom 
 sive title of 
 T might be 
 ze are^ true 
 r do 1 wish 
 grown in 10 
 . JS. to des- 
 piicity and 
 EYj Vol 2, 
 
 timonie<5, 
 islanding 
 •pal office 
 ;ates was 
 
 es did not 
 and that 
 ipline, is 
 
 erroneous 
 e. As a 
 ke's Bio- 
 ', in Er)g- 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
 23 
 
 lanu,' (with whom I was personally acqiiaintcJ) 
 a man of talent, learning and piety: Mr Drew 
 
 observes that: — 
 
 .' Dr. Coke, in conjunction with Mr. Asbury, publish- 
 ed during this visit, a small volume, containinir 1^7 pa- 
 res respecting the doctrines and discipline ot^the Meih- 
 odLSi Episcopal Church in America, with explanatory 
 
 notes."' 
 
 In the fourth section of that book the orrlina- 
 
 tions powers, duties and responsibility of bishops 
 or superintendents, are clearly pointed out and ex- 
 plained. , , , , I 
 ^< A bishop is to be constituted such, by ilJe general 
 
 Conference, and the laying on ot the hands of two or 
 three bishops, &c.''-Cokp's Life, page 55. 
 
 From this, it appears, that the authority vested 
 in the hands of Dr. Coke and Mr. Asbury by Mr. 
 Wesley, by, and with the consent of the Ameri- 
 can Conference, was precisely the sawc, with 
 that which is possessed by the bishops of the Meth- 
 odist Episcopal Church, in the United Slates, at 
 the present time. Four years after their church 
 was organized, in the Minutes of Conference for 
 the year 1789, it is asked, 
 
 *' Who are the persons that exercise the Episco- 
 pal office r' ^ ^^^.^^.^ 
 Ans. "Thomas Coke and Francis Asbury. — 
 
 Bound Minutes, vol I, page 76, 
 Two years after the organization of their church, 
 
 i 
 
t 
 
 The Rev. Jesse Lee 
 
 24 
 gives the foIK 
 
 A^burv re,e„ e, y.""^' f '^•^'- ^^ Coke a,W Francis 
 "" 'hepTsZuiZI'l "" "'""'"• The President 
 
 copal church „ , t UnidSu "'"?'."" ''^"""''^' '''''■ 
 ^^'W. page 106 """"'' ^""«s of Amerioa."-CoKE's 
 
 adIV,'r f "•'" ""questionable evidence may be 
 added he testanony of one of the elde,st and mo. 
 
 rt!.?', "'""■"^^^ ^'"- Waters, who refe 
 
 we had craved hi<, a,lv,v= . ^ "''^'^' a'"'er 
 
 •alee effec, .i, d ' 1/ us" w " f'^"' ^ ""' ''""" "-" 
 erale formal manTra » /.' T ' '^"^ ''""* '" « 'l^lfb- 
 Pose, .n whici h "e wis no "r"" "*"^'' '"'' "'=" >'- 
 "- o< any discern JerarsffrviT' , ^'^'^ 
 C|.!arle„er on ',he occasion, a, well a^f !^ "' '"• 
 
 church government, that we lei 7 ^'^ ^"'"^ 
 
 -— 'v.E;isc„p:.u!^-!!^B:io:r:ol:':; 
 
 ^ 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
^i account 
 
 le 
 
 n 
 
 (pub- 
 in 1787,) 
 be done in 
 
 of bishops 
 
 (on to the 
 I'i Francis 
 3 President 
 
 lodisl epis- 
 
 "—COKE'S 
 
 e may be 
 and most 
 ! of Mr. 
 ho refer- 
 I Metho- 
 
 hurch; — 
 'EY, after 
 could not 
 n a delib- 
 tliat pur- 
 E very- 
 ley's cir- 
 y part of 
 edly de- 
 it to last 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
 (continues the Rev. W. Waters) the business of Gen- 
 eral Assistant, Superintendent, or Bishop, has been 
 THf;sAME, only since we have become a DISTINCT 
 CHURCH, he has with the assistance of two or three 
 elders, ordained our ministers."— VVatehs' Life, pages 
 103. 104, 105. 
 
 Now, Rev. Sir, I call upon you, and it will be 
 
 no disparagement to you, either as a gentleman 
 or a christian, to acknowledge your error, as pub- 
 licly as vou preferred your accusations: and 
 thus make restitution^ to an unjustly slandered 
 body of christians ; or stand accused at the bar 
 of public opinion as a defamer. 
 
 ., I ask. Sir, would it not be wise and prudent, 
 in you, to attend to the advice given by Gamaliel 
 to the bigoted and persecuting dignitaries of the 
 Jewish Church : — - 
 
 *' Refrain from these men, and let them alone, tor if 
 this counsel, or this work be ot men, it will come to 
 nought, hut if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it, 
 lestliaply ye be found even to fi<>ht against God." 
 
 St. Paul, in his 1st Epistle to the Corinthians 
 having enumerated the benefits which the Israel- 
 ites enjoyed, the sins they committed, and the 
 punishments God inflicted upon them, adds by- 
 way of application, " Let him that thinketh he 
 standeth take heed lest he fall." 
 
 Yours ^ with deserved respect^ 
 
 ' ^ - BENJAMLV NANKEVILL. 
 

 f i':!' 
 
 11 
 
 IP 
 
 m 
 
 FlH' 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 To Thk Rev. J. A. Mulock, 
 
 Rev. Sir, — I assure you, the part which I feel 
 called on to sustain, in this unpleasant transaction 
 cannot possibly be more ungrateful to your teel- 
 ingSj than it is to mine. If, Sir, it were a private 
 concern, and merely relating to myself, my pres- 
 ent feelin^-s would lead me to drop it, andoblitcr 
 ate the last impression of it from my recollec- 
 tion ; but, it is not private, & dierefore, that can- 
 not be. That the Methodists and myself have been 
 arraio^red, and condemned, by you, is a matter of 
 publicity, through tie whole country. The nu- 
 merous congregations which attended your church- 
 es, and listened to the ten pest of defamation, 
 poured u) on the Methodists, from your pulpits, 
 are witnes.^es. For their salus, then, as well as, 
 for tl e sake of truth, tl ey must 1 ave an oppor- 
 tunity, (should they think proper to avail them- 
 selves of it,) of jidging ai d detern iinng, the rea^ 
 state and merits of the case ; I, therefore, pro* 
 ceed to notice tlie ren.ainder of your allrsaticns. 
 
 ■i sy, ( 
 
27 
 
 liich I feel 
 ransactiou 
 vour feel- 
 ! a private 
 
 my pres- 
 indoblitfr 
 
 recollec- 
 , that can- 
 have been 
 i matter of 
 
 The nn- 
 urchurch- 
 famation, 
 ir pnipits, 
 s well as, 
 an cppor- 
 :iil them- 
 >,the rea' 
 fore, pro* 
 •eatkns. 
 
 Sir, you assert:— '^ Mr. Wesley never ordain- 
 p^^ for England, I would like to know what Mr. 
 ^ Sankevill means, by ' other sources,' the letter of 
 orders on page 38, of Mr. NankeviU's pamphlet, 
 \K 3 fabrication, never issued by Mr. Wesley.'' 
 'I ^ ,]ust allow me, Sir, to inform you ; with re- 
 ■ gard to the Methodists, I possess one great advan- 
 tage over you. I know them : you do not, or 
 yo'^i never would have engaged in this contr«»ver. 
 . «y, or ventured an attack upon the body. With 
 ] ihe standard writings of the Methodists, T have 
 also some tolerable acquaintance: of them, your 
 jo-norance is profound. 
 
 ^ Sir I shall now proceed, to illuminate your 
 darkness on these subjects, hoping, it will prevent 
 vou from falling into error, in futur^. 
 ' ►'Mr Wesley, (says the llev. VVilham Myles) had 
 hitherto ordained r^iinisters only for America, and Scol^ 
 la 1 but trom this period. [1787, four years be tore h.s 
 ^ 'ea h] being assisted by other presbyter, ol the Church 
 I of England: be set apart a certain number of preachers 
 
 for .he sacred offiee by the impositton o h.s --^ ^ ^ 
 nraver, without sendinj? them out otRngland.'-Mv..LS 
 
 VL > . M,«-.n«v OP THE People CALLED Meth- 
 
 ChRONOLOGICAL tilSlORV OF IHbl cur 
 
 ODISTS, pasre 135. ^ , r-i r» l J 
 
 See Sir, also Wesley's Life by Dr. Coke and 
 Mr. Moore, page 500, mul l.lu^h with shame :- 
 
 '■The eonlerence after Mr. Weslev's Jeath, .ook, there- 
 lore, the true ground, in considering the acl of admission 
 
 i ^ 
 
 - > 
 
 i'-l 
 
28 
 
 into ihe minisiry. so as to be devoted wholly to it. anrlad no 
 to exercise the pastoral charge, lo be a true and scripiu Jnto fall 
 ral ordination, both to preach the word and to adminis 
 terlhe sacraments, making wholly light offhe absd'^'^^' ^^ 
 pretensions of a few among the preachers who ihoiify|!^''^»'^"^^ 
 that they had received something more than their brjlll ^" S'^^"! 
 ^ ren, from 5he mt-re ceremony of the imposition of Mr the ehii] 
 Wesley's hands subsequent to their ordinary appoint Mr. \ 
 ment."~Wi:sLEv's Life, Dige 253. .. , ,.' 
 
 jSow, Sir, I would ask is it not obvious - ^ i 
 ' ^ r,.i . .1 1 . , . produce! 
 
 1. 1 hat there were ordained muiisters, in the f. . 
 Knglish connexion, at the time of Mr, VVcoley'slic says 
 death ? u £y^ 
 
 2. That the preachers, in connexion with him: p^^p^,,.^ 
 
 were invested with equal power, with himself, to ivLril 
 ordain. - ' ^^j ^^mi 
 
 3. That his own example authorized the ordi- ^ '\v7 
 nation of ministers, for England, when, in their nvKle k 
 judgment it was necessary. ' , , 
 
 Rev. Sir, you say :-" No preacher, presumed „„i be ; 
 to adtninister the sacraments during Mr Weslev's 
 life. Deny this, who can !" " '""'* ' 
 
 To your statement. Sir, af.er «ll your apparent „|.f j'' 
 
 triumph, I give a full and ilat denial ; and (ell v 
 
 you once more, of Methodism, your ignorance is ,,,.''' 
 
 profound ! ! For, " in one case he gave to one of ^ 
 
 the preachers, leave to baptize and give the sac ^'°" '^" 
 
 rament, in particular circumstances, allhoueh be ■'."" ^"^ 
 
 ^ jicatior 
 
M, 
 
 2^ 
 
 lolly to it, anlad no other ordination than his * heing received 
 le and scripujjjjito fall connexion,' at the conference, like the 
 icMo adminis jpp^t . a^a allowed two others, Mr- Highfield in 
 ' whn^''''"" England, and Mr. Myles in Dublin, to assist him 
 an their brJ'ilr^^g'V^"^ the sacrament, to the great onence ot 
 'osition of Mr ^^^ church people there. " 
 
 nary appoint Mr. Wesley's innovations, on church order, in 
 Dublin, appear, from several of his letters, to have 
 vious r p^Q(]uce(l somewhat outrageous attacks upon him, 
 sters, in tlie f^.,,,^^ several quarters, m that city. In one of them . 
 f»'' VVeoley'slic says :— 
 
 " Every week I am bespattered in the public 
 
 •n with hiiTii papers : many are in tears on the occasion : ma- 
 
 himself, to jiy terribly frightened, and crying ' O what will 
 
 tlieond be?'" , 
 
 theordi- What, think you, was the reply, this good mau , 
 en, in their niade to those who, like yourself, were so fright- 
 ened about tliose innovations ? " ' What will the 
 , presumed ^jk] Ij^ p» why, glory to God in the highest, and 
 r. Wesley's jje^ce and good will among inen." 
 
 Such, Sir, was his reply to those high chu^^h 
 ir apparent ^,1,^^,^^^^ g^^ Wesley's Life, page 252. 
 ; and (ell y^^^^^ g-,,^ profess to be achristiau^ a clergyman 
 jnorance is ^^.|^,, boasts of your origin from the Apostles. Do 
 e to one of ^^^^ ^^.^^^ ^^^.^^ ^^^ possessed their spirit, when 
 e the sac- ^,^^^^ ^^.^^ ^^^ ,^^^^^ of orders, page 38 were a fab- 
 llhough he y,^^,; ,,ever issued by Mr. Wesley? Now Sir, 
 
 'f : 
 
 :! i 
 
30 
 
 allow mc to say, I have the letter, lying before 
 me, in a bound volume of VVeslevan Tracts for the 
 times, published by John Mason, bo.»k steward, 
 Wesleyan Conference oflice, 14 City i^-oad, Lon- ; 
 don. These tracts are piiblif-hed by tlie authori- 
 ty of the conference. You may find this letter, 
 tract 1st, page 9. 
 
 Sir, there are too many, who, though thev du 
 not rob their neighbor of liis substance, yet do not 
 think much of taking from him his good name.— 
 But if " a good name is better than precious oint- 
 ment," it is more valuable, to an honest man, 
 than any worldly possession, whatever, yea, I miiy 
 add, than life itself: to deprive him of it, or to '\ 
 take measures to that purpose, is an act of the 
 most cruel and attrocious injustice. The man of 
 religion, therefore, will be so far from bearing 
 false witness against another, that he will be cau. 
 tious how he insinuates anvthinsf to his disadvan- 
 tage. Nay, he will be Inclined to put a favorable 
 construction, upon actions that are* doubtful, and 
 even upon those, which, in some respects, might 
 be termed blanfe-worthv. — " Put them in mind," 
 
 9 
 
 says the Apostle to Titus, " to speak evil of no 
 man." But, Sir, if it be a sin, to speak evil of 
 one man; what is the guilt of him, who can 
 anathematize and defame, yea, without a sigli, 
 
(^ 1 
 o I 
 
 ting before 
 racls for the 
 »k steward, 
 n,oacl, Lon- 
 lie authori- 
 this letter, 
 
 i^h ihev du 
 , yet do not 
 xl name. — 
 ecious oiiit- 
 ouest iniui, 
 vea, I iTiciv 
 of it, or to 
 act of the 
 rhe man of 
 3m bearing 
 vill be cau. 
 s disadvan- 
 a favorable 
 ubtfulj and 
 3cts, might 
 i in mind," 
 evil of no 
 erxk evil of 
 , who can 
 
 iout a i^'gHi 
 
 c,ect from ll.e pr,le of .cr.pi.ral <.,l,nst>u>.. >, wo 
 „,ir,ls of all tlie protestant ministers m ( li.-.-t.|n. 
 ,l,„H,witlitl>e millions of i.nmorul souls, umler 
 
 their itastoral care. 
 
 Yo'> Sn,.M:-The MelhodUts never ,»e- 
 
 ^rmedto wdcnn till the year 1836, 45 years uf- 
 Icr Mr. Wesley's death, previous to tluttttiMii 
 ,„«s called receiving into full connexion, why 
 lasitnotdmie hefo.e'! Because the memory 
 of Wedey toas fresh in their minds. 
 
 Here, again, Sir, we have a .pocimon of your 
 ignorance of that body, that you have most fou v 
 ami unjustly maligned. Sir, 1 ask, what .sord- 
 
 nntion The Rev. Richard Watson says, itib.- 
 nation im- i>c , „,„ „,icrs or of ininanii!; 
 
 uTI.e act of conlerr.ng ho y °"'"^' °' , ^,„i 
 
 .person into the min.try ol ^f^^^H^^,,^, 
 with or without th« laying on ol hands. w 
 B.Bi.ic*i. DicT.oKAKV Art. Ord.nat.on. 
 
 Cranmor, Archbishop of Canterbury author ot 
 
 the Homilies of the Church of England, says :- 
 <I„ the New Testament, he that - »PP".nte -o be a 
 hishop or priest needeth no consecration ^y^''^ ^^ 
 ,u efor .lection or appointing thereto ,s ^»ff'<='--;" • 
 Esslv on the doctrine and order ot the Evangeltcal 
 Church, &c. , 
 
 « If any pious lavmen were banished to a desert and 
 havin, no regularly consecrared priest --;>^?^;^J^ 
 weretoa,reatochoa.e (or that office, one^ot that nun 
 
 ber, married or unmarried, tui. mau wou^u b. as iruiy 
 
i« 
 
 M 
 
 32 
 
 a priest ns if he had been rohsecrated hy all the bishops 
 in the world. Augustine, Ambrose, aud Cyprian were 
 chosen in this manner.' Rev. Richard VVhately ArcL- 
 bishop of Dublin. Note N page 89, The Kjnodom op 
 CiinisT. 
 
 Now, Sir, llial tt.is was Mr. Wesle>''s view is 
 clear from ll.e facts I have referrcl you to before 
 m allowing his preachers to adminiMor the sac- 
 raments without the imposition of hands. 
 
 filVr7'"'!lf^*'- ^^^^'^V's proceJings -says (he 
 Rev R,e mrd Wa.son-boll. as lo America and Scot- 
 I n<n wou ,1 have been as valid o„ Scriptural grounds, 
 ■■■"I il.ere heen no o<!.e, form used than sin,ple prayed 
 lormen already in ,l>e ministry going /orti, on an impor- 
 tant m,8s,onbu. ns the New Testa.nent exhibited a prof- 
 t..ble example o( imposition ol hands in the caseofPatti 
 a,M Barna ,as who had been long belbre ordained to the 
 !hs est order ul the n.inistry, when sent (orth into a new 
 fie; do/ labor, th,s example was followed.''- Lesley's 
 I;;;c.^p,ge.53. See also a note, at, he bo„on. or .-he, 
 
 tha't'^M?' W r-"*'"?' "•'.^^"■'""'"'. " "-il appear' 
 that M. VVesleys ordmanous, both for .4menca and 
 Scotland stood upon much the same ground. The ft^ll 
 powers of the ministry had before been conv yod to the 
 l-antes, bu, now they had a special designatio , o e.. 
 
 St^ 1 '" T" "T" '" " ■"" »"" P™"li- 'Pl'ere. 
 
 ply hat thetr former ord.nation was deficient a., to the 
 right of administering the sacraments which it convey- 
 ed: for then how cnme Dr. Coke-vho was al.eady a 
 presbyter of the Church c( En-land -t. ,,.\ T. ' i ' 
 
 ! 
 I 
 
 f 
 
r- 
 
 ' bishops 
 an were 
 ly ArcL- 
 ODOM or 
 
 view IS 
 
 befoie 
 
 he sac- 
 
 ^ys the 
 I Scot- 
 rounds, 
 prayer 
 impor- 
 a prof- 
 ofPaui 
 I to the 
 a new 
 esley's 
 01" the 
 
 appear 
 a and 
 le full 
 to the . 
 exer- 
 phere. 
 ot irii- 
 to the 
 nvey- 
 adv a 
 amed 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 83 
 
 again, wlun, according to Mr. WesIey^s own view 
 he cculd r.oi be higher in order than a presbyter, al- 
 though iiis powers might be enlarged as to their apj lica- 
 iion 
 
 ') 
 
 More of this, Sir, when we nolice, in a letter 
 to you, Scriptvral ordimition. But th is is enough 
 to scatter all your Sophism and unholy siatenienis 
 into something worse ihan smoke. 
 
 With great respect^ yoursy 
 
 BENJAMIN NANKEVILL. 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 To The Rev. J. A. Mulock, 
 
 Rev. Sir, — Vou assert tha'.,'/* bishops and pres* 
 byters, are not the same order. Burnet every- 
 where contradicts the as&crticns of Mr. Nanke* 
 vill." 
 
 Before, Sir, I proceed to a direct reply to )^our 
 unfounded assertions, I would observe, that when 
 our blessed Redeemer a&cerided up on high, he 
 gave gifts unto men. And he gave some apostles', 
 and fiome prophets, and some evangelists, and 
 
 ill 
 
 'it 
 
n 
 
 p 
 
 Ml 
 
 
 11 
 
 
 l! 
 
 34 
 
 some pastors and teachers ; for tlie perfecting of 
 the saints for the work of the ministry ; for theld- 
 ifying of the body of Christ." But in this large 
 enumeration of gifts and offices, however, ther^e 
 is no mention made of kings or popes or diocesan 
 bishops, whose functions as heads of the Church 
 required special notice. If the offices appointed 
 by your church, were scriptural and of divine au- 
 thority, we ought surely to have met with such a 
 passage as this in the New Testament ; ^'And he 
 gave their Graces the mo:,t Revered the Arch- 
 bishops, by divine providence. The Right Rever- 
 end the Bishops, by divine permission. The ve- 
 ry Reverend, the Deans. The Worshipful, the 
 Chancellors. The Venerable, the Arcluleacons. 
 The Reverend, the Prebendaries, and Canons. 
 The Reverend (he Priest, Rector, or Viear ; and 
 the Reverend the Curate." Sir, I cannot find this 
 text in my Bible, nor do I think vou can in yours, 
 yet jpou dwell with a great deal' of emphasis on 
 your holy church bein^ maligned ; yea, sir, you 
 affirm that your church is the purest, the simplest, 
 the most Apostolical, of any church upon earth, 
 and by you we are bran<ied with the charge o,f 
 schism nwd fanaticism, because, forsooth, we do 
 not join it. Let, however, any unprejudiced per- 
 
effecting of 
 for the ed- 
 1 this large 
 \^er, there 
 or diocesan 
 the Church 
 s appointed 
 f fhVine air 
 i^ith such a 
 ; "And he 
 the Arch- 
 ght Rever- 
 • The ve- 
 hipful, the 
 'cluleacons. 
 id Canons. 
 ViiydT ; and 
 lot find this 
 m in yonrs, 
 Tiphasis on 
 a, sir, you 
 £ simplest, 
 ipon earth, 
 charge o,f 
 3th, we do 
 udieed per- 
 
 S5 
 
 son compare the above list of dignitaries with 
 
 the New Testament, and then say, where schism 
 and fanaticism is to be found. 
 
 Diocesan Episcopacy, is, we fearlessly assert a 
 mere human invention. I have been quite amu- 
 sed, Sir, at the remarks you made about the " Eru- 
 dition of a Christian Man," because that hook with 
 all the Popery it retains, flatly denies your asser- 
 tions. Concerning the order of deacons the book 
 says : — 
 
 •'Their offire in the primitive church wa?; partly to 
 minister meat and drink, and other necessaries to the 
 poor, and partly to minister to the bishops and priests. 
 
 Then follows this remarkable passage : I know. 
 Sir, that you will not like it, because there is too 
 much pure protestantism in it, but I must quote it 
 notwithstanding, here it is : — 
 
 *' Ofthese two orders only, thai is to sav. priests and 
 deacons, Scripture mnketh express mention, and how 
 tliev were conferred of the Apostles by prayer and im- 
 position of hands: but the primitive church afterwards 
 rppointed inferior decrees, as sub-deacons, acolytes, ex- 
 orcists &c. but lest peradventure, it rai^ht be thought by 
 srrpetbat such nuiliorifies powers and jurisdiction, as 
 patriarchs, primates archbishops and metropolitans now 
 
 pl| 
 
 
 If 
 
■i ! 
 ■1 ! 
 
 m 
 
 • S6 
 
 hare, or heretofore af any i-me had justly and lawful- 
 ly over other bishops, were given them bv God in holy 
 scripture, we think it expedient and necessary that all 
 men should be advertized and taui?ht, that all such 
 iawi^ul power and auihority of any one bishop over au- 
 other, were and be given them by the consent, ordinan- 
 ces. and positive lawsofiviKN only, and not by any or- 
 dinance of God in holy scripture; and all such power 
 and authority vvhich any bishop has used over another, 
 vvh.ch have not been given him by such consent and 
 ordinance of men, are in very deed no lawful power, 
 out plain usurpation and tyranny." 
 
 What clo you think of Bishop Burnet, ami the 
 Eruaition of a Christian Man" now, Sir, why 
 they are really as bad against your high preten- 
 tions, as those hated dissenters. 
 
 Sir, it is surpassingly strange, at least to me, 
 that you should contradict the quotations in my 
 pamphlet, (pages 13 and 14) as well as assert 
 that ''there was not a correct one in the whole " 
 when they were given verbatim from your onVh 
 standard works. Sir, I am afraid this must pro- 
 ceed from a heart unrenewed hy orace, unless 
 your works are like the Homilies I possess, the 
 one set, written by Archbishop Cranmer, the 
 other by the Rev. Sir Adam Gordon, Bart. M. A 
 a«cl are said to be written in a modern style, out 
 
 I 
 
 i: ■ I 
 
and lawful- 
 Grod in holy 
 iary tliat all 
 at all sucli 
 up over art- 
 It, ordinan- 
 ' by any or- 
 such power 
 er another, 
 Jnsent and 
 ful power, 
 
 f, and the 
 Sir, why 
 h preten- 
 
 it to me, 
 IS in my 
 as assert 
 whoJe," 
 'our own 
 ust pro- 
 3, unless 
 iess, the 
 aer, the 
 
 •t. M.A. 
 yle, but 
 
 I 
 
 8T 
 
 llie modern ones have very liitle resemblance to 
 the origiual: but to proceed to the investigation 
 of the bubject before us. 
 
 "In the reign of Edward 6ih, [about 'he year 1517] a 
 very grave and learned assembly ol'selecl divines was 
 called by the King's special order for debating the settle- 
 ment of thino-s according to the word of God, and the 
 practice ol the primitive cliurch. It consisted ol Cran- 
 |ner, Aichbishop of Canterbury, the Archbisho]) of York 
 and many other prelates and divines of the first distinc- 
 tion." The list of names may be seen in my former 
 pamphlet, page 14. The account of their proceedings, 
 Dr. Stillingfleet assures us he took himself, "from the 
 authentic manuscript of Archbishop Cranmer, »hen first 
 published. To the questions propounded to the assem- 
 bly by order of the King, those eminent divines gave in 
 their answers severally, on paper, which were all sum- 
 med up and set down by the Archbishop of Canterbury 
 himself." 
 
 I will give one question with the answer and 
 refer you to my former pamphlet, page IC. for oth- 
 ers. 
 
 Question, " Whether bishops or priests were first :— 
 and if the priests were first, then the priest .made (he 
 bishop.'* 
 
 Answer, *' The bishops and priests were at one time* 
 and were not two things, hut both onb office ia the be^i 
 ginoiag of Christ** religion," 
 
...I 
 
 ! . 
 
 Archbishop Usher's plan, for comprehending 
 the Presbyterians and Episcopalians in the time of 
 Charles 1st was also founded upon the principle 
 of bishops and presbyters being the same order. 
 ^^ "It ought 10 be UQderslood," says Dr. Samuel Miller. 
 Uiul, among those who espouse the episcopal side, 
 there are three classes." 
 
 '' The iirsi consists of those who heiieve that neither 
 Christ nor his Apostles laid down any particular lonn 
 01 ecclesiastical government, to whick the church is 
 bound to adhere in all ages. That every church is tree 
 cousistentiy with the divine will, to frame her constitu- 
 uon agreeably to her own views, to the state of society 
 and 10 exigences ol' particular times. These prefer the 
 episcopal goveinment, and some ol them believe that it 
 was ine primitive lorm: but f.ey consider it as resting 
 on the ground of human expediency alone, and not of 
 Divme appointment. This is well known to have been 
 the op,,,,,„ of Archbishop Cranmer, Griudai, and 
 Whuegiit, oiiJishop Leighton, of Bishop Jewel, olBish 
 op Burnet, oi Dr. VVhituker, of Bishop Reynols. of 
 Archbishop Tiliotson, ci Bishop Croft, of Dr. JSt.lling- 
 fleet, and ol a long list of the most learned and pious di- 
 vnies 01 the Church of England, Horn the reformation, 
 down to the present day." Emory's Defence of - Our 
 Fathers," pages 5, 6. 
 
 Dr. VVhitaker, one of the greatest protestant 
 champions ui the days of Queen Elizabeth and 
 James 1st:— 
 
 m< 
 
 I «. .. i 
 
rehending 
 
 the time of 
 
 principle 
 
 le order. 
 
 luel Miller, 
 copal side, 
 
 hat neither 
 cular lonii 
 ! church is 
 jrch is iree 
 if constitu- 
 of society 
 ! prefer the 
 eve that it 
 as resting 
 and KOT of 
 have been 
 udal, and 
 3I, oi Bish. 
 Leynols, of 
 r. >Suiling- 
 d pious di- 
 
 formaiion, 
 s of " Our 
 
 rotestant 
 aeih and 
 
 « Formerly there was no difference between a pres- 
 byter and a bishop for the placing of bishops over presby. 
 byters was a human a«Tangement devised to take awaf 
 schisms, as history testifies."— Whit akeri, Opp, pages 
 509, 510. 
 
 Mosheim : — 
 
 '* The rulers of the church were called either presby ' 
 ters or bishops, which two titles are in the New Testa- 
 ment, undoubtedly applied to both." Eccles. Histort 
 Vol. 1, pa^e 101. 
 
 Thus you see, Sir, the snpcnority of bishops to 
 presbyters is, not only by the first reformers and 
 foundors of the Church of England, but by many 
 of its m >st learned and eminent doctors since, 
 not pretended to be of (Uvine, but only of human , 
 institution : not grounded upon scripture, but on- 
 ly upon the custom or ordinances of the Church of 
 England. , 
 
 •^ The truth is, that in the New Testament there is no 
 mention of any degree or distinction of orders, but only 
 of Deacons or Ministers, and of Priests or Bishops."— 
 Burnet's Hist, of the Reformation, Vol.1 Ap. pagt 
 
 321. \ ..^; 
 
 So says a declaration of the function, &c. which 
 was signed by more than thirty-seven Civilians, 
 and Divines, among whom were thirteen Bishops. 
 The book entitled. The Institution of a Christiau 
 
 II 
 
 
 n 
 
1^ 
 
 ^^aii, subscribed hv the ol^m^u • /^ 
 and confinned 5, p'^t^t f I'.^^^r^''-. 
 Presbyters by scripture t„ be .L ri*? f ""^ 
 hough S . Paul consecra.ej and ord.re.l Bl,,,' 
 by ,mpostu>,. of bands : vet .here i, no..,.f • > 
 
 naiion, rEi,inn/n .. '^"iment, m this 
 
 f.i.iandj was not any prate'v? >f rv- 
 v'ne r<sht, but .he caavenienoe .ff h Vr . 
 
 church governra.n.t,, the s.l " , V°™ '^'^ 
 
 Jearned awi pious S.iir V "''^°™^""n. ^"ur 
 
 |.> be the 1 ? '"^''■'''""'™'"''"Jpn.ves 
 
 I oe the SiiKimeni of Amhhtct, r. 
 
 and others c'licf r»f„ -'^rchbish.p Cranmer, 
 
 6th a„d Qa« PI r?;*' ''""^ "' Edward the 
 VVhi.etiS Btlfo 7t ? •^"''" ■' "'Archhish.p 
 
 /w^« 385. '='*"r'h, S.C. /renjfo.j, c,4. 8, 
 
 o.. Sii; i;;! . ':!.: "'.'':; ''^^""'"^^' -'■oxford, 
 
 'Authority andp'ovver bVcod'^U 7. T" T"^ 
 'he judgrae„t of St Pau r^ '"'" 
 
 Ambrose, A.stiu Thf ? ' '^''/-''^"^»'"". Jerome, 
 . -^ 'Still, I lieod >rus, &c. &o. 
 
 I 
 
I vocation 
 » 
 
 'jops and 
 and siysy 
 ^ Bishops 
 ^i^dn rule 
 . e^fection 
 
 tiie pos- 
 e main 
 
 in this 
 ^ of* J>i. 
 
 brm of 
 tioii of 
 1, your 
 proves 
 Einmer, 
 ird the 
 »ishop 
 SiU 
 ch, 8, 
 
 [ford, 
 
 3/1695 
 
 been 
 ome. 
 
 I 
 
 41 
 
 See. alo, tlio Life i-f VVhitogifi, page 293 ; 
 
 '* The first English Jieformeis acknowlej.roj 
 only two orders ot church otljcers, bishops and 
 deacons to be of Divine jippointment." 
 
 And now, Sir, after the perusal of this letter, 
 1 hope you will ask yourself, who it is that, — 
 
 " Reckless of consequences, hesitates not to 
 falsify hinaself, if he may inflict a wound upon the 
 Church of Christ?" 
 Who is it. Sir, tliat, — 
 
 *' First miscalls, (hen misapplies, then misrepre- 
 sents and finally brands himself with falsehood?^* 
 Is it Benjamin Nankevill, or John A. Mulock ? 
 
 I beseech you, Sir, by the mercies of God, and 
 for the honor ofchristianity ; and by the allegiance 
 you owe your only Lawgiver, Jesus Christy to 
 weigh these things, in an impartial and unbiased 
 mind. May his spirit of truih judge hetwixt us, 
 upon these points^ and teach us his will. To his 
 i* luence 1 commend you, and remain, 
 
 ReiK Sir^ yours, ^c, 
 
 BENJAMIN NANKEVILL 
 
 ' — ■ r 
 
'W! 
 
 43 
 
 m'r 
 
 LETTER vr. 
 
 To The Ret. J. A. Mulock, 
 
 Rev. Sir,— Another of the charges, you, in the 
 progress of accusation, against the Methodists, 
 have preferred and urged, is, that they have been 
 guilty of d,e sin of schism; and that, therefore 
 the.v are scHisMAfics ! That no ground may be 
 afforded to the charge of unfairness, I will give 
 your extravagant and olfensive remarks :— 
 
 On March 3d, at ^vhat (I believe) you call 
 James s Church, you said : 
 
 " My Brethren.-I hope I shall never hear^f 
 
 any „f you, in this parish, entering a Methodist 
 
 Meeting House, for it is a heinous sin, thereby 
 
 you would be encouraging the sin of schism, 
 
 which IS a sin as wicked as murder, if not more 
 
 so for It IS classed with mwder, and other 
 
 crmies * y *„ March 10th, Carleton Place, 
 
 My Brethren,-! hope this is tl>e last time I shall 
 
 have to warn you agaiasf going to Methodist Meet- 
 
 tngs : li ,t be a sin to go once, how much more, 
 
 I 
 
43 
 
 ou, in the 
 ^thodists, 
 lave been 
 lie refore, 
 
 I may be 
 will give 
 s : — 
 
 you call 
 
 r hear loi 
 
 lethodist 
 thereby, 
 
 schism^ 
 
 lot more 
 nd other 
 
 II Place, 
 le I shall 
 St Meet- 
 Jh more. 
 
 I 
 
 to go often ! • * * * They who contribute the 
 smallest sum to dissenters are encouraging schism^ 
 are committing sin ! In truth, I do not see how 
 a man can go on his knees, day nftcr day, and yet 
 so to a Methodist meeting. You keep your chil- 
 dren from Taverns, lest they learn to drink : from 
 Shanties lest they learn to swear : and yet, you 
 send them to McUiodist meetings, where they 
 learn dissent^ which is worse ! Oh let me iu- 
 treat you to keep your children from the Metho- 
 dist Sunday Schools." 
 
 Now, Sir, 1 am sure, from i/ow, I have no fa- 
 vors to expect, amd am, therefore, thankful that 
 I have none to solicit : and hence, Sir, I proceed 
 to inform you, that your conduct is the very es- 
 fcence of spiritual despotism. To every discern- 
 ing mind, it indicates conscious moral weakness. 
 Christianity repudiates it as unholy ; and true 
 wisdom rejects it as impotent and unworthy.—- 
 And for one whom such conduct attracts, it will 
 repel a hundred from your churches. 
 
 1 am exceedingly sorry that I am compelled, in 
 self defence, to draw, what I consider, a con- 
 trast, between the Church of Christ, ^x\d the 
 Church of England, 
 
 The Christian Church is one outward and vis- 
 
44 
 
 ibIcSocietv, divinely i„.,i,,,e,h, he mo,, admi- 
 rable .,,.1 glorious Sooicy under He.ven. Zi 
 
 U.rM,a„ Cf.urcl., ,.s a society divine 1. instituted 
 en, n. atover «,.ciety, i.s not of dL Zlj 
 
 CHR.ST. m..; |,ere, .hall I en.reat Z l-J 
 -..!. .he i,„pa.tiHh,, of a christian, who In, t 
 
 ^.u.gbut,n,.ha„d,hewillofGo inv! "to 
 
 .e C A„.c/. «/ England, and the Co«.,;/«,,v« of 
 
 the Chokch or C„«,sT, and see if they are T 
 
 so-e„es..f,uitead„r.ent frame: . fe oT. a 
 
 - ^~. 'I- other aZ>,Vme institution: ,!,"";„! 
 
 rest,ng ent„ely upon the authority «nd Ml "f 
 
 God. The Church of England is constituted and ' 
 
 governed by Act., of Parliament : ti.e Church of 
 Chn t, ^, ^^^^^^^^^ ^urch of 
 
 omple The K,ng or Queen as the case may be 
 IS the Head, of the Church of En-land - rJ 
 is the Bead of M.ou.n murS^r^Tt onT:: 
 eludes from its pale all other Churches ; the other 
 includes all who fear God and work rigf^eousn ss 
 .net-ery Church, under Heaven. There has 
 «.sle<I bu. for a fev. oemunes. the othe t 
 
45 
 
 St admi- 
 • Mind 
 . If the 
 
 stituted, 
 , but of 
 
 URCH of 
 
 >u, Sir, 
 iJMs no. 
 i<Mv, to 
 ttion of 
 ^tion of 
 are not 
 ^ne, a 
 'ie one 
 vill of 
 niy of 
 
 'dand 
 •ch of 
 d ex- 
 iy be 
 
 IRIST 
 
 ! ex" 
 
 other 
 tiess, 
 
 has 
 
 ion 
 
 more than eighteen hundred years. The one 
 may fall and come to an end, but the other will 
 remain iorcver. By your (aking it for granted, 
 that, your Ecclesiastical establishment, and the 
 Church of Christ .-ire one, and then inferring, 
 that a departure from the f»rmer, is a departure 
 from the latter you have greatly erred. And, 
 hence, Sir, I ask, where is the sin of schism ? 
 JJow, your 19ih Article informs us, that: — 
 
 *' The visible Church ot Christ is a congreijalion of 
 faithful men, in liie vvi)ich liie pure word of God i« 
 preacheil, and the Sacraments be duly ministered accor- 
 dino; to Christ's ordinance in all those things ihal of ne- 
 cessity are requisite to the same.'' 
 
 Therefore, to .separate from a minister, who 
 is a sinner, and his wicked ungodly hearers, can 
 be no separiition from the Church of Christ, of 
 which they form no part ; but, on the contrary, to 
 continue in fellowship with them is (o become one 
 witii those, who are not members of his Cliurch. 
 
 Do you not remember, Sir, that (he first Re- 
 formers were counted Heretics, and open Schis- 
 malics, by die high Churchmen amongst whom 
 they lived ? Sir, it has ever been so. As a proof 
 1 wo^ild refer you, to that misguided Princei 
 Charles 1st and his furious primate, Laud, theM 
 
 <. i 
 
 ; fi 
 .1 
 
 'I 
 
 A', 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
I? 
 
 
 Sir, and kiadro.I spirits are the real Schismatics 
 who by their intolerance cause us to .lopart. ' 
 
 I would, here, put you in mind of a fact, that 
 has escaped your reading or memory. Upon the 
 earnest solicitation, of the Queen of Bohemia with 
 
 he K,„.,herbrothcr, [Charles .St, in the year 
 1631] a collection ivas or.lered ihrouqhout Kn-.- 
 land lor the poor persecuted ministers of Palatine 
 who were banished the country for their reli-rion' 
 In the brief which was oranted for this purpose 
 was this clause :-« Whose cases are the more 
 to be deplored, because this extremiiy is fallen 
 upon them for their sincerity and constancy, in the 
 true religion, which we, together with them pro- 
 fess." Archbishop Laud excepted a-ainsf this 
 clause, anddenittd, that the reliirion of the Pala- 
 tine Churches was the same wiih ours, because- 
 •hey were Calvinists ; and their ministers had 
 not Episcopal or,lination. Laud acquainted the 
 k«ng with his objection. The clause was ordered 
 to be expunged, and the brave unhappy Pala- 
 tines were thus -.ubhely disowned by the govern- 
 ors of the Churcn and not allowed to be the pro- 
 lessorsofthe same true ^eli^rion. How unchris- 
 tian and schismalical (his ! And now. Sir F ask 
 do we not see your own character portrayed, m 
 the conduct of Laud .' • 
 
ismctticsy 
 art. 
 
 act, that 
 Upon the 
 mia with 
 the year 
 tHit P^ng- 
 Palatine, 
 relio-ion. 
 purpose, 
 he more 
 is fallen 
 ^y, in the 
 lem p ro- 
 ll* list this 
 he Pala- 
 because ' 
 ers had 
 ited the 
 ordered 
 y Pala- 
 govern- 
 the pro- 
 unchris- 
 ^r, I ask 
 >ed, in 
 
 47 
 
 Schism is, indeed, a division, or separation, 
 but not in the sense generally supposed. You 
 know fir, the papists, since the lleioriu\lio!i 
 took pi ce in Europe, have been sufllciently la- 
 vish, in bestowing the (ulions epithet of S'Ms* 
 rnaiics^ uY^^m your church ) and you, Sir, have 
 not been sparing, in giving the same opprobrious 
 appeHation to the Methodists. But do the holy 
 Scriptures authorize this conduct? do they justi- 
 fy you in calling those Schismatics, who in obe- 
 dience to the Apostolic command, separate them- 
 selves from the ungodly members of any church, 
 and meet together, from time to time, for their 
 nmtual instruction ? Surely, Sir, if you say they 
 do, you demonstrate your ignorance of the Scrip- 
 tures, and the nature of true religion. The schism 
 condemned in the New Testament, can have n^ 
 place but in the body of Christ; and, it does not 
 consist in the separation of the body from the 
 world, but in its being divided in, or against it- 
 self. 
 
 And now, Sir, I ask, in reviewing the above, 
 do you not think a pers<^n may separate from your 
 church, without the least danger of thereby, sep- 
 arating himself from the ONR scriptural, aposto- 
 lic and catho:ic Church ? And now, having so 
 laroelv discussed this point, I hope you will not 
 
1 i 
 
 «•:■' 
 
 be displeased al 
 
 my treatinsf 
 
 upon '« ,!,ri:' ■"■' ""'""? y""" "'^^^ assertion, 
 upon il,e heinous s,„ of Schism," as solem,. 
 
 cam and occlesiastical scareoro^vs . 
 BeLeve me, Sir, Methodism isn.t a lhin.„f yes- 
 
 iniiuenU. I is r lo, '7 T"' "" '""'"^' ''"^^ 
 mud, less hv "^ •"' P'-"'"'-'*^i°» •■ an.| 
 
 «orkoff , ? "^ "'"^""'-^ °^ ''^ being a 
 the revw'T'f ^''^ '^^^"^""^^. ">at under God, 
 
 wir t; ;;t"" ^^'''"''r^'' -•'" ti,e 
 
 •hors's .-,) I '"' ""''"■ "^'"^ of their. fa- 
 
 - ^'"_~'.nd.c.m<al(empt to crush Methodism. 
 »i«s outh-ved lie-, r ""'""'«ble (ruth : it 
 
 ' - b«-'f God ,0 answer^ 2 ,;:r'f *-''' '•' 
 the body rpn,nV« ^^'^^^ tione ia 
 
 . Mr, let me once more infornj 
 
 ■i 
 
 f 
 
issertioni 
 ' solemu 
 
 g of yes- 
 ■om your 
 ter how 
 •n : an'J 
 Meth- 
 beintj a 
 eaven's 
 essinos 
 
 parted 
 ' God, 
 tij the 
 3Jr.fa- 
 i*eii is 
 
 ith : it 
 pros- 
 l will 
 ^d to 
 ne ia 
 n to 
 fofju 
 
 :i 
 
 f 
 
 49 
 
 vou. that ages liave tested the wisdom of tlie 
 learned Gamaliels counsel, in the case of the 
 Apostles,— Acts V, 38, 39 : follow it in reference 
 to the ministers of the Methodist Church, and 
 you will have no cause to regret it, in the final 
 day. Your hostility is impious, and as such, it 
 must prove utterly unsuccessful. Vou may pos- 
 sibly inflict injury or pain on a few individuals ; 
 hut the daughter of Z ion laughs you to scorn. 
 
 " . With due respect, yours, SfC.^ 
 
 ' " ! BENJAMIN NANKEVILL. 
 
 • ,».' *■' 
 
 I^ETTER VTT. 
 
 To The Rev. J. A. Mulock. 
 
 Rev. Sir, — Concerning theMetliodists, in the 
 course of your accusations against tliem, you assert- 
 ed, that, " they have no lawful ministry : no sac- 
 iraments, and no church :" that, " tlieir so called 
 «^V*:ucli, is not a church of Christ. It was founded 
 ill schism— cradled in deception— supported by 
 miposture— -continued in falsehood— it is a lyr^ 
 system." 
 
 g 
 
¥. " 
 
 ■ *; 
 
 
 r'^' 
 
 WW. 
 
 Such sentiments of which the above is {;ut a 
 small specimen, happily carry ah>ng with them, 
 their own confutation. Tiiey seem indeed more 
 like the lavings of insanity, than the words of 
 truth and soberness, and in reftecting upon them, 
 It IS difficult to say, whether pity or contempt* 
 should predominate. • 
 
 An.t, tliese dreadful consequences result from 
 our not having apostolic S2Wcession and episco^ 
 pal ordination / In a work, now before me, 
 [written, Sir, by one of your school,] the author 
 says, that the Presbyterians, in Scotland, *' are 
 in a state of unjustifiable separation from the law. 
 liil bishops; and consequently, are cut off from 
 the apostles fellowship and catholic communion.'' 
 Presbyterian ministers are denominated, " hu- 
 maniy-appointed professors of the art of persua- 
 sion." So that, all dissenters are in the same 
 predicament with ourselves. 
 
 Now, Sir, If your notions are correct, then all 
 Protestant churches that lack this amazing blessing 
 of apostolic succession, and an immense majority 
 of them do, are no churches ; their ministers,- . 
 muiisters and their sacraments, no sacraments ;^ec. 
 clesiastically considered, indeed, thev are annihi- 
 lated. Now to a pious & charitable mind (I know 
 
f.. 
 
 e IS uut a 
 vith them, 
 Jeed more 
 words of 
 pon them, 
 .'ontempt, 
 
 suit from 
 Ld episco- 
 fore me, 
 he author 
 id, *' are 
 I the law- 
 off from 
 nunion." 
 J, "hu- 
 persua- 
 le same 
 
 then all 
 blessing 
 najoritv 
 ers,- . 
 nts; ec- 
 annihi- 
 r know 
 
 not tl,at it isso with yours, Sir,) there wust be 
 .ometliing painful and revolting, one would tlunk, 
 in e very idea of uprooting the reformed church- 
 es of Scotland, France, Holland, Switzerland, 
 Germany, Hungary, Denmark and America; 
 together with all the Independent, Baptist and 
 Methodist churches. 
 
 Oh, Sir, the recollection of the great, (and to 
 use vour own words) s^ood mm, by whorn they 
 were founded,- Luther, Calvin, Knox, Bucer, 
 Melancthon, Beza, Zuinglius, Wesley, &c. &c. 
 of the emhient servaiits of God, whose pta.se .8 
 in all the churches that have adorned their annals, 
 and of the numerous believerMhat have been con- 
 verted and trained up for glorv, within their pate, 
 I should think, Sir, would lead yon to pause, and 
 doubt, whether, after all, there misht not be some 
 flaw in the argument, or in your .iudoment, whicn 
 is fraught with such fearful consequences. Uow 
 shocking the thought, therefore, that a hiffh epis- 
 copalian, like yourself. Sir, distinguished for no- 
 thing but bigotry and intolerance should, wrihout 
 evidence, vea, a^aimt all evidence, take a kind- 
 ot savage 'delight, in reducing these lenowne^ 
 ministers, of Christ to mere "humanly-appointed 
 professors of ihe art of persuasion •» in turning 
 these fair portions, of the christian vineyard of 
 
 .1 
 
 f^^W^ 
 
h 
 
 -it , 
 
 the Lord, into a howling moral wilderness : and 
 m handing over their millions, of devout wor- 
 shippers, like unbaptized pagans, to the uncove- 
 nanted mercies 0/ God. 
 
 Now, Sir, you must allow me, to speak mv 
 m-nd freely, on those principles involved in your 
 charges against (he Melhodists; and in doing so 
 you must, also, permit me to take exceptions \o 
 your own church: for, if you give, you must ex- 
 pect to take. I think this is fair, and I want 
 nothmg more, but-ihis I am determined to have. 
 Sir, I do not deny that your church i« a de- 
 partment of the Church of CHnrsT, neither can 
 you mfer this from my previous letter. In that 
 letter I was contrasting the Constitution of your 
 church, wifh the Constitution of , he Church of 
 Christ and J confess, the resemblance is very 
 famt Your church, Sir, is the least reformed, 
 «1 all the reformed churches: and, on various 
 grounds, justly obnoxious to the charge of bein.. 
 ^em,.papistical, we shall adduce ample evidence" 
 .vet, Sir, we will not, we dare not assume her ex- 
 elusive (one, nor imitate her offensive example by 
 denying her a place among the reformed prolest- 
 ant churches. You assert, that " the Methodist, 
 •hun investigation." Allow me to tell you, Sir 
 
ness : and 
 5vout wor- 
 tlie uncove- 
 
 speak my 
 ed in your 
 1 doing so, 
 eptions to 
 I must ex- 
 1(1 I want 
 d to have. 
 
 I is a de- 
 either can 
 In that 
 )n of your 
 HURCH of 
 
 5e is very 
 *eformed, 
 ti various 
 of beinor 
 
 o 
 
 ividence ; 
 e her ex- 
 ample by 
 i prolest. 
 Bthodisls 
 you, Sir, 
 
 53 
 
 v-e court it. It is the glory of clirist.aniiy that it 
 shuns not the severest search : it is bigotry and 
 error, only, that love to hide themselves in dark- 
 ness, and g^o^v touchy and alarmed, if you seek 
 to bring tiiem into open sight. 
 
 Yon assert, that the Methodists have no law- 
 ful ministry, &c. The Hon. and Rev. Charles 
 Knox (a divine of your o.-n church) has wr.t en 
 a sermon, descriptive of true minlMcrs and o the 
 true church. I cannot do better, perhai>s, th. n 
 give you a few extracts from hi. sernvn,. T h« 
 Iriter observes,-" True ministers derived au- 
 thority from Christ, the head of ihe church U 
 a ie-frs, also, from this writer, that, '< to mvade 
 
 the authority so derived, is to be guilty ot a s.n,- 
 Sar to th'u of Korah .hich God declared to 
 be worthy of death." It necessarily follows, if the 
 elerv of the Church of England, derrved author-^ 
 Uv ^om a commission, issuing from Christ the 
 Ld of the Church, that, is, legislative and ex- 
 ecutive power, as the legi''™^^^. r """^f '';. 
 church by relinquishing their d.vine right to gov- 
 ern he' church Jorthat.hich is merely lu.man 
 Ihev have profanely betrayed their trust. For, a^ 
 SnistLof the establishment, t! sy have no. 
 ^;^orauthority,l>utwhatlhey derive from a. 
 
 i ! 
 
 . J 
 
 
 ■\ 
 
 u 
 
 
i 
 
 U 
 
 ,1. 
 '■ 
 if- 
 
 « 
 
 If 
 
 v. 1. 
 
 I 
 
 t 
 
 64 
 
 commission, issuing from tl,e Queen, who is ,he 
 head ofthe national cliurch, which is constituted 
 and governed by acts of parliament. 
 The same writer says : 
 
 ''To set up any church authoriiy, as founded upoa 
 
 arorsrrr"'''''°^«^'""---^aruuda^^^^^^^^ 
 
 Hence, Sir, .according to this authoriiy, (and it 
 ■syour own, and I have no disposition to quarrel 
 with hitn, or you, upon the subject,) the Queen 
 and par Imment. havii.g set up a church au.hori- 
 ty, foundea upon human appointment, have been 
 guilty of a fundamental act of schism : and have 
 been guilty of a sin, similar to :hat of Korah 
 
 Mind this. Sir : 
 
 "All aulhorily in .he Church.must be derived froo, 
 Christ : Euch a bond of union, lo Christ m! , 
 otherwise, we cease to be his Church." '""' 
 
 So says the Hon. and Rev. Charles Knox; but 
 S,r a) authority, uUhe Church of England, as 
 es.abl.hed by law, is derived from the civil (Uv- 
 er. Hence It follows, that the Church of Eng- 
 land, according to this author, has, lon^ since, 
 ceased to be tke Chnrck of Christ. Reln^'sw 
 
 church ! I might here reton upon you, all your 
 
 \ 
 
 ge 
 
 s, 
 
 s 
 
 111 
 
II 
 
 55 
 
 ^ho is the 
 instituted 
 
 'tied upon 
 idamental 
 
 , (and it 
 ) quarrel 
 
 3 Queen 
 auihori- 
 ve been 
 nd have 
 ►rah. 
 
 ed from 
 St exist, 
 
 •x; but 
 ind, as 
 
 il 
 
 povv- 
 
 f Eng- 
 since, 
 ly, Sir, 
 latical 
 II yowv 
 
 for- 
 
 ,He epithets, against the Methodists yet I 
 hear -but my foibearaaoe is not tor your saUe 
 tTf;r the J, of n>y sincere friends, connected 
 with youi chuich.. 
 
 , shall now proceed to ans>ver yoor g^e ch- 
 „« «nd trust I shall be able to prove the contra 
 fr'to very unbiassed mind. The ^uest-on o 
 h decided is, who are, and who are n o t, h 
 'ministers of Christ ? I-^ - 'f' ^,^X' 
 Paul himself:-" Am I not an Apostle ? Here 
 ,rque Uon is fairly stated ; and the answer fo- 
 tws " Have I not seen Jesus Chv.st our Lord ? 
 lows. i^-i>^ fnr.P Iflbenolan 
 
 Are not ye my work in the Lord . 1 1 ^ 
 
 Apostle to others, yet doubtless 1 <->""" J" „ 
 the sealof naine aposrleship, are vt 
 
 • I 9 Now it never could be the mien 
 Cor. xx, 1,2. iNow , u I apostleshjp 
 
 fQ* Pniil torest the proolot inb cipuo j- 
 
 „on "* ^'/ ^"'/° ' ,^",^;„„ a ^en Jesus Christ." 
 upon the fact of his ba^.n ^^^. 
 
 Hundreds of persons saw tl e Lo d a ^^^ 
 
 unection: thousands prior to ihat eve 
 of whom, has ever pretended, to '^■^'^-^^ 
 4Do<le. That he was an Apostle, >»e P^^^ ' J^y 
 2 .' 'sive fact, that God had wrought etfectual- 
 ^^Vy hi: "inist;.-" The seal of mine apostle- 
 
 ^Vi'ir^ are ve in the Lord. 
 
 snip, art )k. x i-„r»w 'hem,- Matt. 
 
 " By their fruit, ye shall know Jiem, 
 
 .1 * 
 
"H 
 
 Hi; 
 
 m 
 
 ;>? 
 
 
 t3V 
 
 
 fcv 
 
 56 
 
 vii 20. The teacher, truly and divinely author- 
 ized, .s compared to « a g„„j „ee" brin<ri„„ rj. 
 
 " f ° '^f • ' '•^"Z - " 'hefraits of ,1,^.^^^ 
 unto the glory and praise of God." Thi, Sir 
 a rule that is equaily applicable to the man akl 
 to h,s muustry. A rule (as mig|., be expecled 
 wh,ch a 1 may under.t.n.1. These are LZ^ 
 o fee the Church of God." Neither do "ve 
 thmK, whatever may be said bv inodorn ^e,].! 
 or Pu.,eyite men of popish pru.ciples, respecU 1 
 the " uwmterrupt,' succession anri ,1. ^ 
 
 tives thereunto belonging, ", bat Lr,^itrZ" 
 and when tbey h«d a better opportu^i: !,',:' 
 
 tamu,g the po.u, they themselves claim;.! .ucral 
 exclusive right.. " ^^ 
 
 To thi6 conclusion. Sir, we are mo.f ho -i 
 ducted hy the ,U article, r^^Z^^lt^ 
 
 .ng m the congregation" which expre^sesnot 
 of such monopoly and exclusion r^ T^ 
 bert, Lord Bishop of SarTm n k' ^'"''''' ^''■ 
 the Artirl. .1 • . ' " ^"^ Exposition of 
 
 me A I tide, planjiy ev nees tli=i .» .. 
 
 it were quite of another mind " '""^^'^''' "^' 
 of it he says :-. ''" ^" '''* ^^P'^nation. 
 
 locdt.o,,, llie authoritjr of dispensin^r 
 
 i 
 
^^y author- 
 ising forth, 
 iteousness 
 1^*5, Sir. is 
 ' iiiaa and 
 
 sxpecled) 
 
 the men 
 
 3r do we 
 
 espectiog 
 preroga- 
 'iier (iajs, 
 ''^ascor- 
 f J^uch ani 
 
 pity con- 
 «inister- 
 nothiij^. 
 es, Gil- 
 sitionof 
 pilers uf 
 anationj 
 
 sle .- (he- 
 pensin;*^ 
 
 I 
 
 57 
 
 the things of God. The sfcoiul is the defining in very 
 general words, what is thui which makes a lawful call." 
 
 On th« second pai-t of ihisj Article, which is tlie 
 definition here given of those that are " lawfully 
 called and sent,'' his Lordship speaks:— 
 
 "This is put in very general words, far from that ma- 
 giste.ial stiffness in which some have taken upon ihem^ 
 to dictate in this matter. The Article does not resolve- 
 this into any particular constitution, but leaves the inatu 
 ter open a^d at lar-e : tor such accidents as had happen- 
 ed, and such as might still happen." 
 
 Then, Sir, the learned and liheral author of the 
 Exposition goes on to suppose the case of « a com- 
 pany. of christians," placed in peculiar and unto- 
 ward circiimstances who : — 
 
 '•Finding some who had been ovdoined, although 
 to the lowe'r functions should submit itself entirely to 
 * their conduct: or fmdino: none of those, should by com- 
 mon ccnseni, desire some of tiieir own number, to rnm- 
 Uter to them in ho!y things, and-hould tipon that be- 
 ginning, grow jp toa regulated constitution, though we 
 Te very sure that ibis is quite out of all rule; and coulcT 
 not be done without a very great sin^, unless the neces- 
 aitv were great and apparent: yet if the tieccessily is- 
 real and not feigned, this is not condemned or annu ed- 
 by the article, for when this grows toa consulution, 
 and when it was beguti by the consent ot a body who. 
 are supposed tohave an authority in such an exlraoriiv 
 
 I 
 
58 
 
 fl 
 
 iM 
 
 m 
 
 Dary case, whnlever some hotter spirits have thought of 
 this since that time : yet we are very sure, that not only 
 iliose who have penned the Articles, hut the bodv of this 
 Church for above halfan age after, did notwithstanding 
 those irregularities acknowled.<?e the foieic^n churches 
 so constituted to be true churches, as to all th'e essentials 
 ct a church, though they had been at first irregularly for- 
 med, and continued still to be in an imperfect state.— 
 Our Reformers, had also in view two famous instances 
 Jn church history, oflaymen that had preached and con- 
 vened nations to the faith. It is true, they came as 
 ihey ought to have done, to be regularlv ordained, and 
 were sent to such as had authority so to do : so Fru- 
 nient.us preached to the Indians, and was afterwards 
 madeapnesstandabishop by Athanasius. The Kin^ 
 ofthe Iberians before he was baptized himself, did con- 
 vert his subjects, and as, says the historian, he became 
 ^ij.e apostle of his couatry, before he himself was initia- 
 
 T^e Bishop further supposes similar circiim- 
 stiuiccs, wherein episcopal ordination cannot be 
 tbfamcd, &nd then adds:— 
 
 "In that case, neither our Reformers, nor their sue 
 ressors, for near eighty years after the Articles were 
 published, did ever question the constitution of such 
 churches.*' 
 
 Thus groundless and ill Mipporled, Sir, are your 
 oefaroations of li,e Mell.odists, uliich your ear 
 haih been widely extended greedily (o receive and 
 
 ^ 
 
f 
 
 59 
 
 vour tongue and pen so officious to publish to the 
 worUl. But sutler, Rev. Sir, 1 beseech, you the 
 counsel of one who would be a friend. Put away 
 far from you that little augerous, unmanly, bigot- 
 ed spirit by which you advise the members of 
 y„ur church to shim our phce^ "J loorship, 
 and the company of Methodist mmislers, as be- 
 ing notorious schismatics and sinners ! 
 
 Indulge tlie more christian and catholic dispo- 
 sition Dr. Nicols recommends, who informs the 
 world, with pleasure, — 
 
 " or the charitable coirespondence, and strict decree 
 
 Clergy, and scneol ihe Dissenting Ministers. -INich. 
 
 DeF., I'AOE 115. 
 
 Sir it is because vou are so ignorant of us, that 
 vou do not love us better. Shyness begets es- 
 uangetnent : estrangement, aversion and ^versmn 
 prepares the mind, not only to receive with pleas- 
 ure, but industriously to propagate gross misrepre- 
 sentations, tube accusations scandalous and lit- 
 tle things, ittierly withovt foundation and con- 
 trary to truth. 
 
 Had vou freely conversed with the Methodist 
 ministers around you : or consurri.aated that 
 friendship begun between yourself and the unwor- 
 

 60 
 
 % writer of (l„s epistle, y.,u had saved yourself 
 a good deal of publi,. mortilioalion, which your 
 injurious accounts (both of iheir principles and 
 practice) have now unhappily drawn upon you. 
 Cu It.vale at length, Sir, a familiar acquaintance 
 ■with lliero. Their acquaintance will do you hon- 
 our: will edify and enlarge your mind: willaive 
 you juster notion, of men and thini?,, than a t^ero 
 college education is capable .,f doing: and pic- 
 pure you for that happy world where hi<.otrr 
 •nd party-zeal no more aliemte pious spirits t but 
 where all the children of God are gathered logeth- 
 er m one. ° 
 
 I shall resume (Iiis subject in my next. 
 . ronr.s 6i'c. 
 
 BFNJAMIN NANKEVILL, 
 
tt 
 
 L E T T E R V 1 1 1. 
 
 f 
 
 To The Rev. J. A. Mulock. 
 
 j^EV. Sir,— Should you still conteiKT that the 
 Hierarchy of the Establishment only has author- 
 ity to send labourers into the Lord's vineyard, 
 what will you say of the many excellent men, 
 who, of various denominations, and in various 
 countries, have, independently of that authority, 
 and by the success of their labours in translating 
 the scriptures, preaching the Gospel, and admin- 
 istering her ordinances, exhibited indubitable and 
 imperishable demonstrations, of the validity of 
 their divine call and appointment as the messen- 
 gers of the churches, and of the glory of Christ, 
 not only in ancient but also in modern times. 
 
 What character, Sir, would you assign to a 
 Doddridge, a Watts, a Carey, a M;irshman and 
 a Ward &a ; the men sert out by the " Londoi) 
 Missionary Society ,'' or those by the " Wesleyan 
 Conference," who in common with their episco- 
 pally ordained brethren of the '' English Church," 
 
 ■i« 
 
ft^ 
 
 Iiave successfully labored in diffusing the know 
 ledge and blessings of (he GospeJ,'and are hon' 
 ored of God, as instruments in the conversion of 
 the Heathen, and in the edification and estab- 
 lishment of christian believers in their most holv 
 faidi. ^ 
 
 And where would you place a Paul, the great 
 Apostle of the Gentiles, who gives, in the page 
 of inspiration, the following account of his calllo 
 the ministry : — 
 
 ''But r certify you, hrfthren, ihai the gospel preach- 
 ed of me IS not after men, for I neither received'it of men 
 lieifher was 1 taught is, but by the revelation of Jesus 
 Christ: neither went I up to Jerusalem, to them which 
 were Apostles before me: but I went into Arabia, and 
 returned again into Damascus, then after three years I 
 went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, butother of the Apos- 
 tles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother • and 
 was unknown l>y face unto the churches of Judea 
 which were in CJirist ; but they had heard onlv that he' 
 tv'h.ch persecuted us in times past now preached the 
 iauh which once he destroyed." 
 
 And, Sir, did they question the propriety of hia 
 conduct? nay, but adds the Apostle " they dori- 
 fied God in me." 
 
 FJere, then, permit me to say. Rev. Sir, that 
 the Methodist preachers claim, for the exercise 
 of the christian ministry a (/mwe ctf//. 
 
 ««©£ 
 
63 
 
 e know- 
 are hon- 
 rsion of 
 d estab- 
 ost holy 
 
 le great 
 he page 
 J call to 
 
 preach" 
 of men, 
 '^ Jesus 
 which 
 >ia, and 
 years I 
 '- Apos- 
 ?r : and 
 Judea, 
 hat he 
 ed the 
 
 of hia 
 glori- 
 
 , (hat 
 rcise 
 
 
 : 
 
 " Though he should be a m;in both of eminent piety, 
 and ofsup^'eriortalents, and though there be no objectiori 
 to him on the ground of doctrinal belief, the Wesleyan 
 Conference would not dare to admit into its rciniMry a 
 c ididate, who could not co ncientiously avow his sol- 
 emn belief thai he wa? ' moved by the Holy Giiost' to 
 take upon him ' ihis oflice.' "—Wesleyan Tracts, No. 
 4 page 5 
 
 This, however, is only the supreme authority : 
 there is one also, inferior and subordinate, which 
 they rejoice to acknowledge, aud which they 
 have derived, under God, from Mr. John Wesley, 
 (who during his life appointed all the Methodist 
 preachers) and since his demise, from the Confer- 
 ence, which was instituted, legalized and estab- 
 libhed by him. See his '^ Deed of Declaration' 
 which he had enrolled in his Majesty's High 
 Court of Chancery, ilSi.-Myles's Chronology 
 of the Methodists, Lon Edit., page 145. 
 
 If, Sir, you enquire, by what authority John 
 Wesley sent forth preachers, ! would answer, the 
 authority of a minister of Christ- Besides, he 
 had been episcopally ordained, and was himself 
 once a presbyter of the Church of England, and 
 being fully persuaded, (as they certainly are) that 
 bishops and presbyters, in the primitive church, are 
 the same, and only dilTerent designations for t/.e 
 
 3 
 
same office, he believed himself fully justified on 
 this ground, as well as in the sight of God, to ap- 
 point or ordain his own preachers. See, Sir, 
 "Archbishop Usher's Model of Church Govern- 
 ment, or Episcopal and Presbyterial government 
 conjoined" which the venerable prelate contends 
 ** was the order of the primitive church," in proof 
 of which, after bringing in some text of scripture, 
 his Grace quotes from the Writings, the corrobora- 
 ting sentiments of St. Ignatius, Tertullian, and 
 Cyprian, and then adds : — 
 
 *' That ihe same also was inserted in the Canons of 
 Egbert, who was A.chbisl.op of York, in the Saxon 
 times, and afterwards into the body of the Canon Law 
 ifself. True u U, that in our church, this kind of pres" 
 l)yterial government hath been long disused : yet see- 
 ing it still .irofessetb, that every pastor hath a ri-lir to 
 rule the church (from wbence aiso the name of Rector 
 was given at first unto him) and to administer the dis- 
 ciphne of Christ, as well as to dispense the doctrine 
 and sacraments, and the restaintof this exercise of that 
 nghtpr^ only from the custom now received in 
 
 Ins Realm. No man can doubt, but by another law of 
 io!l . "' ^'*^'^'•^"^« "^^y be well removed." -Mc/ 
 ri;^ I^ "' ''"^"'""^"^^ ^^«^"' J'^^^45, pub. 
 
 ll^midls ^' ^'^^'^'' Commentary on Acts 20, 
 
 
 . n- 
 
and 
 
 ^5 
 
 . Sir I bav3 Weighed this matter with a great 
 deal of attention, and upon the whole, am fully 
 satisfied, both from scripture and antiquity, as well 
 as from the history of your own church, (I should 
 be Mad, Sir, if you had been better acquamted 
 with it, for then you might have avoided the mor- 
 tifyincr position yoa now occupy,) that presbyters 
 have ''a ridit to, and did from the Apostles' times, 
 actually ordaiu. 
 
 Its " validity" is to be further examined, by tlie 
 fruits of which it has been producti^'e. To pursue 
 this subject inali the avenues through which if 
 would naturally lead us, would be a tedious, al- 
 thott-'h not an' unpleasant task, but as 1 study aU 
 the conciseness which I judge consistent with the 
 subject, a brief review at present must suffice. 
 
 1 shall therefore only add, that the Methodist 
 preachers, have, by the blessing of the Lord been 
 enabled to preach the Gospel throughout the Uni- 
 ted kmgdom of Great Britain, aitt. America, thence 
 it pi««S to mmerom Ulamfe, in the bosom of the 
 oceati and has crossed the watery world, to plant 
 the Gospel among the Heathen it* the Ea t ; they 
 ZT!\m> reachea Africa South and Wert, and 
 penetrated the interior .-f that Continent where 
 the/ bare al*> preacbad the gospel, and by tbeir 
 
 i'l 
 
 it 
 
 il 
 
 I i 
 
 i 
 I i 
 
 I 
 
lir 
 
 a 
 
 ;; T* 
 
 66 
 
 means ike degraded Hottentot has been tau<rbt to 
 know, " he is a man." The Methodists have en- 
 dearoured to njalce ifnown. or extend the know- 
 ledge of religion, hy the establishment of chris, 
 tian schools,the dissemination of the holy scrio 
 tures, combined with the preaching and practice 
 of the gospel : they hare been blessed in eve.y 
 place, in tucniug mer, from (Jarkne^ to Ijahl »„A 
 from the power of Satan unto God. And in 
 theextetjded field of their arduous labors, which 
 •s now diffused through both hemisphere^ it ha. 
 been their joy to witness the happiest results, in 
 the domestic quiet, the social order, the benero- 
 ent co-operation, with other christians, the hoir 
 I.ves, happy deaths of their people, the decisive 
 and satisfactory evidences of a « divine call," to 
 the work of the ministry. And what, though ther 
 have not the official sanction of your „,is,!opac^' 
 and though you call forth your puny etfort to de- 
 base It Heaven has indubitably applied the broad 
 seal of its approbation.. The above, Sir, may 
 answer as a rebuff to your unfounded, mean and 
 contemptible assertion, that «« God has Ujl the 
 Methodists, ! r as well as the following extract 
 taken from a shrewd writer who cannot be iu*-." 
 f ectcd of Methodism, who justly says : 
 
taught to, 
 have en- 
 le know- 
 of cf/risr, 
 •ly scrip- 
 pcactice 
 in evei;^ 
 ight, and 
 And in 
 S which 
 s, it ha«. 
 suits, in 
 benero- 
 the holy 
 
 ctecisive 
 iall," to 
 igh the/ 
 icopacy, 
 t to de- 
 c broad; 
 r, may 
 an and 
 
 extract, 
 
 e SU»c. 
 
 &7 
 
 '* That these people, have, in the last fifty years, in- 
 iiructcd more of the lower orders of the people, in the 
 obligations of Christianity, and have called more from 
 gross vice to piely and virtue than the Church has ever 
 done eince the Reformation, while at the s*me iime» 
 ihey have not nost Goyernmeut one farthing, but have 
 been treated with insult and contempt.»-^See Buck a 
 Theological Dictionapy, Vol. 8, page 123. London 
 Edition, 1806. 
 
 By this time, Sir, I think that even your nar* 
 row mind must discover, that Methodism was 
 founded and built by true christian ministers, thai 
 their church is at least a department of the church 
 of Christ, and consequently, they have true chris- 
 tian ordinances, &e. I believe your friends will 
 be surprized, Sir, and that an ingenuous blush 
 will cover your own face, when they and you find 
 that your account of us is absolutely without truth 
 and quite contrary to fact. 
 
 Sir, before I close this letter, allow me to notice 
 your remarks on the increase of Methodism : you 
 gar, " Mr. Nankevill boaslingly tells of the in- 
 crease of the Methodists,.but, is numerical strength 
 a proof of their righteousuess > Is it not rather aa. 
 evidence of tlieir ungodliness ?"■ 
 
 Rev. Sir, in what A>es the true glory of the 
 «hurch consist > The nominal church, it is true 
 \m^% presented an imposing aspect to the worlds. 
 
 
 !i 
 
 1 ■! 
 ( 
 
 .;s» 
 
when we behoia llie solemn pomp, that charnii 
 
 the 
 
 'hen 
 
 ;onsider llie immense revenues 
 poured into the coffers of His church « who for 
 our sakes became poor," when we observe tl,e nu- 
 merous retinue, addressed as " lords over Gods 
 heritage," now professedly in the service of Ilim 
 who was once attended only by Fishermen and 
 Pubhcans. when we behoid crowned and mitred 
 heads, for you well know, Sir, the King or Queen 
 .s supreme head, vested with power to exercise 
 all manner of ecclesiastical jurisdiction. 
 
 There is one ihing," savs Bishop Burnel •'.., 
 wannng to compla.e the reforma.ion'of Z churrh 
 which IS ,0 restore pritni.ive discipline against sea da- 
 lous persons, the es.abJishin. the government of th, 
 church in ecclesia5ti.al bands, and lalcing it „ut ofiay 
 hands which have so long profaned it : and have exno 
 sedthe au.honiyof the church, and the censures o? it 
 chiefly excommunication, lo the contempt of the nation • 
 «o that the dreadCulest oCall censures i, ao>v become thV 
 most scorned and despised."-H.sT. Reform. pac.e367 
 See also 2C Hen. 8th cbap.l, 37 Hen. 8th "chap." 
 17, 1 Eliz. chap. 1. ^ 
 
 Sir the glory of the church consists not in any- 
 «hing human, or earthly, nor in worldly riches &c. 
 butin knowledge ir, purity, m benevolence, char- 
 ity, meekness, selfdenial, devotedness to God. 
 ,,^ Hei- glory will also consist in (he numberof 
 ♦hose who truly belong to her. « The kingdom. 
 
 I 
 
t charms 
 revenues 
 ' who for 
 e the nu- 
 ?r God's 
 2 of Ilim 
 nen and 
 d mitred 
 r Queen 
 'xercise 
 
 ef "yet 
 church, 
 t scanda- 
 t of th« 
 ut of Jay 
 'e expo- 
 res of it 
 
 nation : 
 >rne the 
 »ge367. 
 
 chap. 
 
 nany- 
 
 es&c, 
 
 , char- 
 ed. 
 
 berof 
 
 (loms 
 
 69 
 
 of this world shall become the kingdoms of our 
 God and o. his Christ." Thus the world will be- 
 come the church, and the church the world, and 
 it shall be said without a hyperbole, " the whole 
 xvorld is gone after him." 
 
 Hence, Sir, a« it respects Methodism it may 
 be said, *' a litde one has become a thousand, and 
 a small one a strong nation," Methodism has been 
 an apostle to thousands, and we thank God yet is, 
 and instead of her ^' ship sinking," as you intr 
 mate, she was never more active, vigorous anc 
 efficient: this is proved by thousands and tens ol 
 thousands flocking to her standards. 
 
 Sir, our blessed Saviour never carried on his 
 sacred cause with rage, bitterness, falsehood in- 
 vective, slander, and calumny. Such methods* 
 the Papists made use of, and so did the persecu- 
 ting Churchmen of foriiicr days ; what a pity U is 
 thaUhe same leaven should be seen iermentmg ui 
 you ; but, Sir, you cannot injure us, you may and 
 will injure yourself, nor can the love of God dwell 
 with such tempers, and therefore if you are wise 
 vou vrill seek to have them destroyed. 
 
 Tour obedient seroant^ 
 
 ^1 
 
>0 
 
 LETTER IX. 
 To Thi! Rev. j. a. Mdlock. 
 ,t,I!T' ^'^r' P'*""'^^'' >■«". in my first epistle 
 
 itl rf- ""*r; ""°"« °"'^' """g^' ">« >»«"-' 
 
 Btrous doctrine of 5«pM«„„/ reffe«,raMo«, dis- 
 tinctly taught in the office of baptism : the follow, 
 ingare some of the particular proofs, taken from the 
 
 theZ;. ^"""^''^'"^'y after baptizing the infant, 
 ine priest says : — . ' 
 
 r\,.! K r • f^ Srafled into .he body of Chri.f* 
 
 wt t " ''" ""■""' """> ^'-so'y God roi: 
 
 And again : — 
 
 lhu^'h!u'^"'"^f"^ """>'"' '"0^' *"«^ciful Fa,hcr 
 
 iuonfic';"' '° '""" ''"" *■"' "•'- <"- Ci,ild b, 
 And, to place the matter bejoml all doubt, the 
 followmg declaration is appended ,o the bapti mal 
 service: — * 
 
 »re' lUtizTJ"- ''^' ??"'' '^'°^''' '^'« Children which 
 
 I 
 
71 
 
 t epistle 
 the mon- 
 on, dis- 
 i follow- 
 from the 
 2 infant, 
 
 his Child 
 
 Christ's 
 
 for the$9 
 
 i\ Father 
 ant with 
 Child by 
 
 ibt» the 
 ptismal 
 
 a which 
 sin, are 
 
 I 
 
 sage 
 
 Now Sir, can you inform me, where this pas- 
 GjcI's word ? I would like to see it 
 
 is in 
 
 for then, all controversy, on the baptism of infants 
 
 roust forever ces.se. . 
 
 «« A«ain if we carry out th6 above idea, the church 
 
 ro^bids^he futreral service to be read over :oabaptized 
 
 mtants." , «• u» 
 
 (If I am not wrongly informed, Sir, this was 
 the case with yourself, not long since, although 
 the parents of the child were both members of the 
 
 Church of England.) 
 
 '< Thus uiibaptvzed infanrs are classed with excom- 
 municated persons ^ self-murderers, and homologating 
 liie abhorrent afld cruel popish dottrine, that baptism is 
 essential to salvation, and hence that infatits dying un- 
 baptized, perish everU^^tingiy ."-S^e th^ Scottish Pres- 
 STTERiAN, Article Prei^acv. , 
 
 Now if there be any meaning in words, and il 
 the words we have jtist quoted, are to be. taken 
 in their common, obvious, literal and popular 
 acceptation, (and the language is as plani and 
 perspicuous as it can be) ihey most certainly teach 
 the doctrine of baptismal regeneration. 
 
 Sir, we may further show, not only from the 
 baptismal service, but also from other parts of the 
 Book of Coinmon prayer, that the Church of Eng- 
 Jand holds the doctrine of baptismal regeneration. 
 I refer to the Catechism. In answer to the ques- 
 lion: — 
 
 ■ 
 
 
!«' 
 
 i ^jL^ 
 
 >i^( 
 
 I : 
 
 fi A 
 
 If.- 
 
 ''a. Wliogaveyouihisname^- 
 The catecftumen is required <o repl^ : _ 
 
 TJ)e child is also laught the nnn.-.i j . 
 the efficacy of ,he sacf.rn^n^ ^^ '^"°'""'' "f 
 
 hiJ'ctJ^n ""'"'' ^''"'""^'"' *•"> Chris. „,dai„ed i„ 
 A. Two only, as general;,- nece.carv,. 
 
 an J spiri.ual grace. ""'"''"''''« «'gnof an inward 
 
 a. What is ihe ouiwa.d, visible si.„ 
 l>a,>tisn ? ' "'^'O'e sign, or form in 
 
 A. Waier. • . 
 
 QVVha. is ,l.e inward anu spiritual gra.e» 
 
 ''---^•'-vea^e,-:C--^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 
 
 Now, Sir, I ask is it not surprising to you (hat 
 any d,s.enters shouJd send their duldrcl uZ 
 CM or England Sabbath schools as is son e- 
 ♦^mos the case, where it is required, ns a te " Jf 
 
 a,«.i...wperro:;d:tsSdTrsr' 
 
 (( 
 
 ii& 
 
baptism, 
 child ot 
 
 tnnc of 
 
 ained in 
 
 'nation, 
 rd. 
 
 ;nt? 
 Dward 
 
 ^rm in' 
 
 ghte- 
 
 the 
 )me- 
 st of 
 tthe 
 drst 
 
 I 
 
 dist» or any dissenter, in such schools, is to tell 
 lies, by saying : his Godfathers and Godmo- 
 thers gave him his name^ whereas he had no 
 sponsor., or perhaps, was never baptized at all. 
 Again, in affirming that : hy his baptism he xoas 
 inade a member of Christ, the child of God and 
 an inheritor of the kingdom of Heaven, while 
 all this was utterly false. 
 
 And now. Sir, T ask, did not you, in the very 
 neighborhood where you commenced your attack 
 on the Methodists, select Methodist teachers to 
 carry on your own Sabbath school ? And what 
 was yotir object ? Why, you said : — 
 
 " ril take them by guile /'* 
 
 Now, Sir, look for one moment at the incon- 
 sistency of your conduct, and blush with shame. 
 Your language to your members now is : — 
 
 " Oh let me intreat you to keep your children 
 
 from the Methodist Sabbath schools /***•♦ 
 
 IVho are the greatest enemies to the church ! /'* 
 
 And now. Sir, allow me to say, through you, 
 to those Methodist teachers of your own selection, 
 and to all classes of dissenters : do not s«nd your 
 children where they are taught the sentiments al- 
 luded to above i but send them where they we- 
 «• traiaed up ia the way they should go." 
 
 
Its 
 
 m 
 
 1!^!, 
 
 
 H 
 
 Sit, tlw words employed in llie Burial sr >, . 
 teacl. llw doctrine ol baptismal reg«,eration.- 
 The farst direction given in tl,e Rubric prefixed to 
 that service, i, tl.at «' Jt is „ot t„ be used for an, 
 that die tinbaptized," however holy and useful, 
 their lives may have been : but it is> and must 
 be used for all, however vile and worthless, who 
 have been baptized : except " the excommuni- 
 caie, and those who have laid violent hands on 
 themselves." 
 
 • I^iTl''^ °^ baplisma] regeneration i, taught 
 in the 27tli Article :— ^ 
 
 "Bapiism," says thai Ar.icle « is „o, only a sign of 
 prolensmn and mark of difference, whereby Chrftia/ 
 men are discerned from others that be no. ehris e,^ed 
 but ,. IS also a sign of Regenera.ion or new B,r!h' 
 whereby as by an instrument, Ihey that receive bap s™ 
 r'gh.ly, are grafted into the Church : the promises o/r 
 g.veness ol sin, and of our adoption to be the son, Ir 
 Ood by ,he Holy Ghos, are visibly signed .d sea eV 
 Xr'LrS "" ■''''''' ---" ">• vir.u: 0/ 
 
 Again, Sir, the 69th canoh utters the followine 
 denuiieiatioi; :— ° 
 
 " Jf any mir.ister be duly informed of the danger of 
 death of -ny infant unbapti.ed in his parish, ai dTere 
 upon desired to go to the place where the sa d i nfant e' 
 niainelh. to bap.,i,e the same, shall either wiltu llv r" use 
 80 10 do, or shall sD defer the time as i n i. rf ! 
 .i^rough his default, untap,i.ed, the Im nlf^il,:: ^^ 
 
 ii 
 

 rial f.r'V).;f. 
 eration. — 
 prefixed to 
 jed for any 
 id useful J 
 and must 
 less, who 
 comm un I'- 
 ll and s on 
 
 1 is taught 
 
 a sign of 
 Christian 
 brisfened, 
 Jvv Ilirth, 
 e bapfisra 
 ses of for- 
 »e sons of 
 i sealed : 
 virtue of 
 
 :)lIo 
 
 wing 
 
 langer of 
 id ihere- 
 nfant re- 
 '> refuse 
 it diet/i 
 ter shaii 
 
 75 
 
 bfesuspetided for ihree months, and before his restitution 
 ahall acknowledge his fault, and promise before his or- 
 dinary, that he will not wittingly incur the like again." 
 it is hiire evidently implied, that the child dy- 
 ing unbaptized, dies unre gene rated, and corise- 
 <juently its soul is lost. 
 
 But what proportion is tlwJre, between the guill 
 incurred and the penalty inflicted ? The guilt 
 is that of sending an immortal soul to perdition, 
 by not applying a few drops of water to the body; 
 and the penalty for such soul destruction, is only 
 three montlis suspension, and the promise not to 
 do the like a^ain. Surely, Sir there is required, 
 some revision of the criminal laws of your church, 
 or some revision of its doctrines. 
 
 Rev. Sir, the passages which I have quoted, 
 from the standards of faith in the Church of Eng- 
 land, viz. the Bouk of Common prayer, the arti- 
 cles and canons, evidently prove, that the doc- 
 trine of baptismal regeneration, is held by your 
 
 church. 
 
 «' That all persons partake o( the new Birih who are 
 rightly baptized, or in other words, that regenerating 
 grace invariably accompanies the applicaiion of the bap- 
 tismal fluid, when administered in dae ecclesiastical or- 
 der. The whole population of the country, therefore, 
 who have been baptized by the ministers of the Church 
 of England, although from the dawn of reason multl- 
 ludes of iheoi ae?er ma-nif«sted a single gympiom ui pi- 
 
 I 
 
 ii 
 
 1 
 
 • 
 \ 
 
 4 
 
 i 
 1 
 
 )R-m 
 
 ■1 
 
 i 
 
76 
 
 eiy, but on the contrary, hare shown ereiy sign of 
 
 unholy disposition and unrenewed 
 
 been regenerated."— James's Dissent, pa^'eVo. 
 
 an 
 
 these havd 
 
 I shall continue this subject in my next. 
 
 With due respect, yours, ^"c, 
 BENJAMIN NANKEVILL. 
 
 M 
 
 - L ETTE R X. 
 
 To ThB Rj5V. J. A. MULOCK. 
 
 Ret. Sir,- /„ my Uiit letter, I oommencad 
 without oo,icl„ding my remarks on baptismal re- 
 generation. { shall now resume the subject 
 
 o.r, many of the clauses in the Baptismal ,er- 
 
 fenJeZ 7 ''"'''''^'''"'^' «"'' P«™icious in thei, 
 tendemy & consequences, that it is by no means 
 
 a matter of surprise to me, that numbers of the 
 en.,ghfened, p.ous, and conscientious of the cler- 
 
 fZ'.n T ^"""'^^ *" "P^^l^ °"'' «nd to give 
 
 t'..cc,u,vocaI utterance to their sentiments, hava 
 
 amonted over those objectionable expxemom, 
 "0 such terms as lbs foUowing .^ ^ 
 
 I 
 
gt of an 
 
 est bar a 
 
 VILL. 
 
 •ili^ 
 
 A 
 
 ncaa, 
 
 lal re- 
 
 »• 
 
 1 ser- 
 
 their 
 
 leans 
 
 f the 
 
 cler- 
 
 give 
 
 7t 
 
 " I would most solemnly protest," say* the Bishop 
 of Lichfield and Coventry, in alluding to the doctrine 
 of baptismal regeneration^ as taught by his own church 
 
 '' I would most solemnly protest against that mosi se- 
 rious error of contemplating all the individuals of a bap- 
 tized congregation as converted, as having all once 
 known the truth, and entered upon the ri«ht path, though 
 some may have wandered from it, and others may have 
 made little progress, as not therefore, requiring (what all 
 by nature and most, it is to be feared through defective 
 principle and practice require) that iransformation by the 
 renewing of the mind, that ' putting off the old man, and 
 putting on the new man' which is so emphatically en- 
 joined by St. Paul to his baptized Romans and Ephesi- 
 ans." — See Bishop Ryder's primary charge, to the cler- 
 gy in the diocese of Glouce'^ter. 
 
 *' Fully convinced," says the late Rev. Melville Home, 
 " That Baptism never was designed to convey regen- 
 eration, and has no such promise (as the Church of Eng- 
 land teaches) I confidently conclude that no mortal ever 
 was so regenerated. The erpectation, therefore, I treat 
 as universally vain and fallacious. I believe it was lh« 
 g^rtat leading errors, which ^pst, esseftEiatf/ cc^rmpttecl 
 christtafi trurb; and f>r«>!))ixtyiy, wiUbdiihe h^^tfto he g^n* 
 0i»liy baii»b$J itf}im f fee eb«$n;£ik. A mnk€» 9-1 ^verf 
 thing vital tu chmtrdmtf^§>'styniti» t&e f^metitsiut ©tTjpr©- 
 f?»i:»€— iwakef imth ot no eflfe'Ct — ^u^medmiU^ ^€nmn€ 
 wmk o( the Bpirlt — r»e»f«^ lb$ neetmUy &i re^uUtice 
 ztid e0n7etfk»tif f«» decent fx»c»raiki$ — i$^r«<ilKZ«;» reUp&si 
 — iK»b$tiiet9fef the (mm ^f g&dUnem tm ih» fowet ^f jir, 
 »o4 im» d^tt^€4 (I Wm^t) mme fmMf Ibsm ^nj «me 
 
 f 
 
 1 ^ 
 
IF 
 
 n 
 
 Ym 
 
 •Ingle error, which has been branded oa the black 
 01 heresy." ♦ 
 
 Please bear in mind, Rev. Sir, that this isth» 
 testimony, not of a dissenting minister, but of a 
 c ergyman, respeeting th« doctrine of his own 
 church. 
 
 Rev Sir, that this is thedoctrine of the church 
 
 «>f England may be further proved from the tes- 
 
 nmony of the orthodox and consistent clergy a 
 
 beheve Sir, you are one of that number, at least, 
 
 I have heard so) I say orthodox, because. Sir, the 
 
 writer of the pamphltt, to which I referred, in 
 
 my preta^ce to the reader, has selected that appeU 
 
 lal.on to distinguish the Puseyite and high ehureh 
 
 clergy from the evangeiical. Is it not a pity, there 
 
 should be auch schism in your own church >- 
 
 The orthodox >ou are. avfaw, refer to the Prar- 
 er-book as their standard : and in this particular. 
 (My preach its doctrines. The evangelical, pr,- 
 [ter making their appeal to the New Testament 
 and conceal or explain away, thedoctrine. .-^W 
 l-rayer-book, and dare preach the gospet " Ob 
 Vhat presumption !" ^ 
 
 EwneZ'J?." "1 2°""!"°" ^*»«' "■' "'• •i'^-etriD. oi 
 
black Wm 
 
 n's is th» 
 but of a 
 his own 
 
 i church 
 ihe te». 
 ergr, (I 
 at least, 
 
 Sir, the 
 rred, ii> 
 Ltappel- 
 I church 
 tj, there 
 ch?- 
 e Pray- 
 Pticular, 
 il, pr> 
 ta merit 
 
 •>''t?i^ 
 
 %i 
 
 Ok 
 
 trine ol 
 
 Yau are to understand, therefore, that these 
 two bcwiiea of the clergy are to be thus distingaisiW 
 ed. The evangelical, in this day of enlighten- 
 ment, are the heterodox, with that old-fashioned 
 b.)ok theN"\iW Testaruiiit, as thiir staivUrd, and: 
 are in the estimation, of the great body of tho»© 
 hated dissenters. The other party, you know. 
 Sir, are orthodox, with the Prayer book as their 
 standard, and are in the estimation, o£ all sound 
 churchmen and papists. The latter, however, by 
 preaching the tenets of the church. These you, 
 know, Sir, are much more corsistent than ttie 
 former. Because the sound, orthodox, anti-evaiv- 
 gelical clergy preach baptismal regeneration..— 
 The former evangelical clergy, believe not a 
 word about it. 
 
 Need I remind you, Sir, who is> so well inform- 
 ed, in the history of the Ghu-->h, that there ban 
 long been a controversy, am^r-; churchmen, upoa 
 this subject : one ;/acty niiUitaining, that b^piis- 
 mal regeneration la the doctrine of the- Church of 
 England ; and thp other pnrty, tha^ it i« npt tb^ 
 doctrine of scriptore : -wid botb opinions are co.^ 
 tect : it Is as true, that this is the doctrine of thft- 
 Praycr-book, as that ii is not, the doctrine, of tlwb 
 
ox 
 
 You are aware Sir, that one of (Ms orth 
 partr .„ a sermon founded on the words in Ma... 
 38, 19, 20, thus paraphrases his text •— 
 
 whole communities, colTsliVr '"'"''' ''"' """""' 
 'slenW ,0 hem "j"^" "'^'"-hoiv? even by admin- 
 done "hen .,"h ,> ^'"="«>ent of regeneration. Thi, 
 
 «'i'le to, t™e Wn.lc^^h ^ ''.''"'" ""-^ ''^^» 'hem 
 life The d?r r , ".' ""■"'"'""' "f «'^^«a! 
 
 by «he inscr We ^ra ° oHl "'""'"' "'"' **'""'^'"' 
 
 «e3 are, whi i, a,e c, „? """""'' ^'"" ">08e du- 
 
 l'««''on' .he a? L'Tr""' "P"» '"-> calling and 
 'he-r elecLon, in hkir.dr.Ld '"h '",' "''"'"an land ,■ 
 
 "«« J»le, all i» well : fc« ^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^^^ 
 
:Ti 
 
 his orthodox 
 •ds ill Matt. 
 
 disciples of, 
 » but nations 
 en and chil- 
 I by admin- 
 don. This 
 whatsoever 
 liven them 
 5 of eterna! 
 I to receive 
 ;he number 
 
 clergy 
 
 111 
 
 'Urch isjaf* 
 5 favoured 
 
 those du- 
 lling and 
 tian land : 
 
 into the 
 [0. 
 
 »fte, we 
 
 Iph «>f a 
 
 ffowf -i» 
 
 81 
 
 thai spiritual talent which was committed to his trust, 
 and he tears lest it should be impaired by any act ol 
 voluntary transgression : but the moment he is taugiit 
 10 look on baptism as a mere empty rite : to unhallow 
 the ceremony : to expect a new birth of the Holy Ghost, 
 independent of the sacrament to which the Saviour 
 has allied the blessing : from that moment all his fac- 
 ulties become bewildered — he is no longer attentive to 
 his duty that he might grow in grace, but wailing the 
 moment when that grace shall begin to act, &c." * 
 
 Many more quotations, Sir, I could give from 
 different authors, connected with the Church of 
 England, on this subject, but the above must 
 suthce. 
 
 Such, then, are the absurdities promulgated 
 by the orthodox ministers of the Church of Eng- 
 land, legitimately derived, Sir^ from your own 
 authorized formularies, which positively and un- 
 ambiguously declaiG, that baptism is a saving 
 ordinance : that it is identified with regenera- 
 tion and conveys renewing, converting, justify- 
 ing and sanctifying grace to the soul. 
 
 But, Sir, where is the proof of all this ? Can 
 it be substantiated by an appeal to facts ? And 
 now, Sir, I seriously ask, can you or any of the 
 orthodox clergy, produce one text from tne New 
 
 * Rev. W. Harnes, Minister oi ^t. Pancras. London. 
 
 F 
 
 J 
 
83 
 
 Testament, or proof, that God has promised to 
 bestow regenerating grace, in the adminislra- 
 tion of this sacrament. 
 
 Among all the errors, that ever were propaga- 
 ted, scarcely one can be selected, which has pro- 
 ved so pestilent and destructive, as that of Bap- 
 tismal regeneration. 
 
 BENJAMIN NANKEVILL. 
 
 m 
 
 m 
 
 LETTER XL 
 
 To The Rev. J. A. Mulock. 
 
 Rev. SrR,-^in this letter I shall call your atten- 
 tion to the rite of Confirmation, and notice, or 
 make some strictures on your observations on 
 this rite. In your last attack on the Methodists 
 you said : — ' 
 
 " On the Bishop's coming round, I preached 
 a sermon on confirmation, in which, lest I should 
 give offence, I made not one solitary remark of 
 my own.^^ 
 
 This, Sir, I believe to be true, because it cor- 
 responds with what you admitted to me before, 
 
 '! S 
 
ised to 
 
 ilnistra- 
 
 ropaga- 
 bas pro- 
 sf Bap- 
 
 VILL. 
 
 atten- 
 ice, or 
 ns on 
 )dists, 
 
 iclied 
 hould 
 irk of 
 
 i cor- 
 jfore, 
 
 83 
 
 ihat, tU principal part of yom sermon, you got 
 from three Letters, written by a Presbyter to a 
 Methodist. But does this .lusiify you, ^vhen you 
 knew that these letters were the most clefamato y 
 ihat were ever penned ? By so doing, do you 
 not identify yourself with him, and become ;. 
 
 partalcerof his sin ? ^ .- «„„ 
 
 The meaning of the word " Confirmation as 
 
 used in the New Testament, simply imp hes ; 
 strengthening, comforting, settling am establish 
 ing those in faid, and obedience, who have been 
 savingly converted to God. That this ceremony 
 of confirmation, is no part of genuine and pnm- 
 itive Christianity, I again avow, and I tlnn'^ 
 those premises are defensible. RUes and cere- 
 monies, of human institution, have «ln>°^y"^^- 
 Ibly corrupted the simplicity, and destroyed 
 the spirituality of the chrii.tian church : hence the 
 Great Head of the Church, foreseeing the abuse 
 that would be made of every thmg external m re- 
 ligion, instituted no more than two rites, viz. 
 BV'smand the Lord's Supper and those of 
 such entire simplicity, as to confine the corrupt 
 inventions of man, within the most narrow l.m- 
 
 its possible. 
 
 The Church of England as well as other pro- 
 testant churches rejects five of the seven, said 
 
Pi 
 
 i 
 
 m 
 
 to be sacraments in the cliurcli of Rome, among 
 which is confirmation. '^ This" it has been re- 
 marked, " is not a sacrament, because it wants 
 one of the essential qualiliesof a sacrament, not 
 having been ordained by Christ himself," and 
 not being according to the definition of the word 
 given in the Church Catechism, '' an outward 
 and visible sign of an inward aiid spiritual grace." 
 Rev. T. Biddulph, in a tract circulated by the 
 Bristol Tract Society—No. 8, page 5. 
 
 Hence, Sir, (as declared in your 25th Article ) 
 It is not a ceremony, ordained of God Now 
 what is not ordained of God, is only a mere hxi^ 
 man appointment ; so after ail vour liourishin- 
 about Mr . NankeviU calling it a human arrange^ 
 ment ; he stands side by side, with the compiler 
 of this article ! I can assure you, Sir, this is hon- 
 orable company. 
 
 I believe that, in your church, no one is allow- 
 ed to partake of the Lord's Supper till such time 
 as he be confirmed, or be ready and desirous to 
 be confirmed. Thus in the Church of England 
 no one is permitted to observe an express com- 
 inand of our Lord until he has first yielded to the 
 usurped authority of fallible men : he cannot en- 
 joy the benefit of a sacrament instituted by Christ 
 unless he previously attend to a ceremony insti' 
 
 its 
 
among 
 ►een ru- 
 t wants 
 ent, not 
 >" and 
 e word 
 Lit ward 
 ;race." 
 by the 
 
 rticle ) 
 Now 
 re hu' 
 shing, 
 ange- 
 
 mpiler 
 s iion- 
 
 illow- 
 1 timo 
 )usio 
 land, 
 corn- 
 to the 
 )t en- 
 hrist, 
 insti- 
 
 85 
 
 tutod by '' the Church f a ceremony which the 
 same church acknowledges, God has not or- ^ 
 
 The confirmation spoken of in Ihe.sacre.l scnp- 
 lures, by no means refers to any specific reli- 
 gious'ceremony, or the laying on of liands. The 
 text usually urged for it, (Actsviii, 14,) an.i 
 wliich you quoted, surely has no weight. 1 eter 
 and John's going down to Samaria to pray, and 
 lay their hands on those whom Philip bapti- 
 zed is, surety, no precedent, no directum, no 
 institution, nor command, for our bishops to d- 
 likewise. For, the end for which the ApostU.. 
 did it, it is expressly said, (ver. 15,17.) was. 
 that they might receive the Holy Ghost, that is, 
 
 lis miraculous gifts :— ..,,-. ,, 
 
 .' Ap.d thev prayed for .hem. an.l U.U.eir _hand. 
 upon ihem, and they received the Holy Ghosl. 
 
 Tliat it was bis miraculous gifts ( such as pro- 
 phesying, speaking with tongues, &c.) to form 
 them into a church cannot be disputed ; because 
 they were something visible and obvious to sense; 
 something whiohstruck the wonder and ambition 
 of the wicked sorcerer ; for it is said :— 
 
 .. And when Simon saw that through laying on of the 
 Apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered 
 
 tiiein money." ^ t *Ua« 
 
 Besides as Dr. Whitby justly observes, if they^ 
 
 .11 
 
 i 
 i 
 
i;i/ 
 
 Hi 
 
 I- 
 
 H^ ■ 
 
 86 
 
 laid not their hands on all who were baptized it 
 inukes nothing for confirmaiion : if they did then 
 himon Magus, also was confirmed, and received 
 the Holy Ghost ; which i liiink you will, by no 
 means admit. » ;■ "" 
 
 Besides, Sir, there is not a word in the whole 
 narrative about con/irmat.oi). You may connec- 
 tfae above text with the one you quoted from Acts 
 XIX, as well as, those passages which occur in 
 t.»e x.v and xv chapters, which speak of confir- 
 mation as the effect of public instruction andad- 
 xnonition, and assert, that " the Apostles confirm- 
 ed the disciples by the laying on of hands :" but 
 no such thing appears to have been <]one. The 
 connecting link, between what is said of confirm- 
 ing, and what is said of the imposition of apostol- 
 ic hands has never yet been pointed out ; and ne- 
 ver will. The two acts were altogoiher difler- 
 ent m their nature : the one being the communi- 
 cation ol miraculous power, the other simply 
 preaching the gospel. 
 
 Sir, is it not surprising, that wise and good 
 men-men who profess to understand the scrip, 
 tures m their connexion aiidharinonv, should thus 
 conlound and connect things so es'seniially dif- 
 ferent ; and thus practise such delusions, on the 
 Ignorant and unwary . 
 
87 
 
 You refer to Ilcb. vi, 3, in Jcfcnce ol the hn- 
 positiou of hands in confirmation, In tlmt pas- 
 a.e the aposil. , alluding to "the fir.t pnncp cs^^ 
 ol rclision speaks ol •' the laying on o hancU: 
 <x„d a bit follows the mention of the " doclnne of 
 baptisms," you consider it as referring to the run 
 of confiunatlon. The learned Dr. Clarke ts ol 
 oninion, that the language refers to the— 
 iS^ on of tl.e i.a,uls ot the per.ua brmgu,, .uo 
 .,cu I a.; ..cr,fice, win- co,.lessed las .u,s over n ar^ 
 U.en gave a lo lue i.riest, lo be offered to Ood, that n 
 „„o ° mukeaiouemeui Ibr his ''''"'^Sressions .^ • • • 
 
 = . „i i,.,„,l« • the uue sactilicial system , 
 
 'in.e iinposuion ol hands , tne uut = 
 
 aud by uad ihroush it, the comraun.cai.on ol the ^a » 
 "1 .nfis of the lio.y spirit, lor the htstructton ol tnau- 
 k„.d\nd the ediiication of the caurch." 
 
 Dr. Owen, Dr. Doddridge, and Mr. Sco t, 
 however, think it refers to the laying on o. the 
 apostles' hands, by which miraculous power %vas 
 conferred, as an attestation of the ''■« • ° ^"^ 
 gospel. It is very evident that >t has no conn x- 
 iou with apostolic confirmation, which was not 
 idenlfied, as is "the laying on of hands witji 
 •' first principles," but with advancement, estab- 
 lishraent, and » perfection" in religion. 
 
 Not finding, however, sufficient authority m 
 the New Testament, you informed your hearers, 
 that the rite was derived from the PatrUrchs.- 
 
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 Now, Sir, it is true that the Patriarch Jacob 
 put his hands on the heads of Ephrain and Ma' 
 nasseh, and blessed them ; that is, as simple 
 young people are taught, confirmed them— 
 There is one thing, however, wanting in this cir- 
 cumstance to render it analogous to mode,-n con- 
 firmation ; and that is, that Joseph, the beloved 
 lather, stood as Sponsor, to his own children > 
 which the Church of England, on no account 
 
 You quoted, also, from the Fathers, commen- 
 '■■ms with Tertullian : and.his is the mostanci- 
 e.il author in which mention of it is found : who 
 l.ved about the year 200. But, by this time, k 
 H wol known, a great variety of superstitions, 
 ■''=" ''Khculous and foolish r.tes, were bro«..-l.t in- 
 to ilie Church. 
 
 A'A you are also, I presume, not ignorant .hat 
 conl.rma.ion was then performed (notasit is wi.h 
 ";) ^'nm'.Miatelj^ after bapli,m ; as it is note, 
 ■«.^o, tlnoughout the Greek Church, and all the 
 cuurones of ,he East. A due regard to this will 
 .ead you to (he true meaning of that expression, 
 "_' your office, which yo„ are so embarrassed ia 
 ci.«r,ag up, where the bishop declares to God - 
 
80 
 
 That He halh vouchsafed to rcs^enemte these 
 his se7n)ants by water and the Holij Ghost, and 
 to ^Ive them forgiveness of all their sins. An 
 expression, taken ][)iT)lab]y from some ancient 
 Liturgy, and ^hich was suitable and well adapt- 
 ed to the practice of those times, but is utterly 
 incongruous and unsuiiable lo ours. 
 
 And as, Sir, you quote from Tertullian, I pre- 
 sume you are aware that he observes: — 
 
 « We are not baptized that we may cease lo sin 
 but because we have already ceased." 
 
 Now when this was the case, and immedic»te- 
 ly after baptism, coiirirmation was administered 
 there was some decency and propriety in the 
 bishop or presbytei's addressing Almighty God 
 as baviiig vouchsafed to regenerate these his ser- 
 vants with water and the Holy Ghost. 
 
 But how d Terent, alas! vastly different, tho 
 case at present is, with the mulutudes who (lock 
 to our modern confirmations. How rude and 
 unserious, they rush to receive this episcopal 
 grace In how perfunctory and slight a manner 
 the ceremony is performed. What riot and dis- 
 order fre(|uenl}y concludes the day— is too obvi- 
 ous to the world, and would seem, perhaps, in- 
 vidious, if set in its proper light. 
 
90 
 
 Sir, I shall now notice tlie ii.oel serious and 
 
 awful part of the confiririation service, viz : 
 
 the prayer which the bisliop presents, previous 
 to the imposition of hands; a prayer which can- 
 not but be prcduictive of the most injurious, if 
 not latal consequences to the souls of men. 
 
 Concerning promiscuous multitudes, consist- 
 ing in some instances of scores and iumdreds of 
 young persons of both sexes, the bishop thus 
 addresses the Pivine Being : — 
 
 "Alm^hiy r.nd ev^rlU'Irg- God, who hast vouch- 
 safed to reizejiemti' L'^e?^F thy servants by Waier and 
 the Holy Ghost, and hast given unto ihem forgiveness 
 of all Their sins: * ^ * =»= » 
 
 Having thus pronounced a most absolute par- 
 don over them, lest this should be too little to 
 satisfy the doubting sinner, and appease his up- 
 braiding conscience, he feels the consecratino* 
 iiand of the bishop resting on his head, and hears 
 himself distinctly and personally certified, and 
 assured from the bishop's mouth, that this is a 
 token of God's favour and gracious goodness to 
 him in particular. Now I ask, Sir, what is the 
 obvious and natural construction which the per- 
 son puts upon all this ? Why surely, unless he 
 thinks the whole solemnity a farce, and that the 
 
 
 lir 
 
91 
 
 bishop and priest ( his spiritual guides, whose 
 lips are to preserve knowledge, and who are^o 
 he the mouth of God to him ) have conspired to 
 put a dangerous cheat, upon his soul, he must 
 conclude his soul to be in a happy and sale state, 
 in a state of favour with God, and a partaker ot 
 that forgiveness, which his gracious goodness 
 hath promised in the gospel oi Chris . bir, 1 
 have the Church Catechism, enlarged, explam- 
 ed, &c. as used in the United States, which 
 bears me out in the above remarks. I will here 
 introduce a few questions with their answers. 
 
 «' a What do you mean by confirmation ? - 
 
 A The solemn laying ol the hands of the bishop, 
 accompanied wUl. prayer, on tUose who have been bap- 
 tized, and are come to years oi discretion. 
 
 a Wiivdoyoucall thisconiirmation? 
 
 A For'several reasons. 1st Because by this ordi- 
 nance I ratifiy and confirm the vows and promises, 
 which I made, or which were made in my name al my 
 
 baptism. 
 
 a What is the second reason 'I 
 
 A 2d, Because the bishop, as chief mm.ster ot 
 God's church, ratifies and confirms m the name of 
 Christ, the promises made to me in that sacrament. 
 
 Q VVhat is the third reason'? 
 
 A 3 J, Because 'God's favor and goodness,' are .oti- 
 
 firmed or renewed to me. 
 
 a. What is the foanh reason'? 
 
92 
 
 A. 4cli, Bpcau.^e, if I recei/e coo/lrm^r 
 K Ian. eonr„.,„.., „. '..ren,„.:n:/™ 'I *? H^r' 
 Ghost , he ocnfor.er,' n„d have .he p I n ke of h. ' 
 
 ^.Mers, 1 beg leave to make a kxv remarks, f, 
 it not <noonsistent, and solemn mockery m, vo„r 
 part to present to the bishop, po,.s„„s foroonfir. 
 •nation, who, according to your own doctrine 
 were never bapti;.ed? And yot this was vour 
 conduct at the last visit of the bishop to Carle- 
 ion Place, fvo persons were i)resented to his 
 ordslnp for confirmation, who had no other bap- 
 lm.n than what they received from the hands ol 
 Method..t mxr„s(ers. One of these persons was 
 S f1 by a Meihodist episcopalian bishop ia 
 '"e .. h., the other, by one of our own minis- 
 ers ,„ ,h,s ,,,„^i„^^_ ,f ^^^ ^^^^^.^ ^^^ ^^^,^^,^^ 
 
 '{ he.r bapt.sm, then I ask, what vows had Ihev 
 to ral.fy and confirm, which were made in ihei'r 
 names at baptism ? Havin,. no sponsors, sttrely 
 the.r confirmaoon is null and void. 
 
 As;a>n, anotl,er object of confirmation, is that 
 
 whrfT"'< rT T^ ^"^ confirmed or 'sfrer-gthened' 
 
 r . ""'^ ^''"'^' "'e comforter,' a,°d havo 
 
 he promt.es of being defended bv God's grace, 
 
 that tliey may contijiue his forever. 
 
 
proper. 
 i 'Holv 
 of being- 
 ill's /or- 
 
 md an- 
 ks. Is 
 'ii your 
 con fir. 
 Dctrine 
 s your 
 ^arle- 
 to his 
 r bap- 
 nds of 
 s was 
 lop ill 
 :ninis- 
 
 lidhv 
 
 « 
 
 i lliey 
 
 their 
 
 urely 
 
 that 
 Jned' 
 have 
 racc^ 
 
 Can you, Sir, for one moment conceive, that 
 those thoughtless, giddy, and profligate young 
 persons, such as are commonly confirmed by 
 modern bishops are His, or tliat by the act of 
 confirmation they are defended from future sin ? 
 Why, Sir, I could point you to a person who af- 
 ter receiving confirmation from the hands of tha 
 bishop at h\s last visit, spent the whole cve- 
 ninf^ of the lay in a ball room. 
 
 Sir, ask yourself the question, whether the con- 
 tinuance of thi« ceremony in its present form of 
 administration, be either for the honor of the ad- 
 ministrator, or the benefit of the church? Whe- 
 ther it hath not the tendency to cherish a delu- 
 sive hope, and to speak peace to such persons as 
 are not by their conduct entitled to peace ? I, 
 with all humility, submit to the consideration of 
 those whom it more immediately concerns; who 
 should be faithful in God's house ; and to watch 
 for mens' souls as those who must give account 
 to the Great Shepherd who will shortly come ; 
 before whom, it will be a tremendous tiling to 
 have the immortal souls of thousands required 
 
 at their hands. 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 BENJAMIN NANKEVILL. 
 
 
 ' :i 
 
04 
 
 LETTER XII. 
 
 To The Rev. J. A. Mulock. 
 
 Rev. Sir, — Not having finished my remarks 
 on Confirmation in my last, I beg the privilege 
 to call your attention once more to this subject. 
 
 I find by the order of your Common Prayer 
 Book, that :— 
 
 ''All persons bapiized, when (hev come to compe- 
 tent years and are able to say the Lord's Praver, Creed 
 and the Ten Commandments, and the Answers ot the 
 shm Catechism, are to be brought to Confirmation." 
 The bishop having asked :— 
 ''Do ye here in the presence of God and this con- 
 gregation renew the solemn promise and vow that wa^ 
 made in your name, at your baptism, &c." 
 
 Upon their answer *' we do," proceeds here- 
 upon to declare in the most solemn manner, (as 
 seen in my previous letter) even in an address 
 to God himself, that he has vouchsafed to regen- 
 erate these his servants, by water and the Holy 
 Ghost, (note, Sir, Not hy water only, hut also 
 by the Holy Ghost, and to give them the Jor^ 
 giveness of all their sirw. 
 
 m 
 
emarks 
 ivilege 
 subject. 
 Prayer 
 
 compe- 
 , Creed 
 s ot the 
 alion." 
 
 is con- 
 '-at was 
 
 here- 
 r, (as 
 [dress 
 egen- 
 Holy 
 
 talso 
 Jor^ 
 
 95 
 
 I pray you, Sir, in the name of tlic great Flead 
 of the church, to inform me, what warrant has 
 the bishop to pronounce a man's sins all forgiven 
 and himself regenerated by the Holy Ghost, ui>- 
 on no other grounds, than his being able to re- 
 peat the sliort Catechism, and declaring that he 
 stands by his baptismal engagements. Will you 
 sav Sir, that this is the christian doctrine concern 
 ing the terms of acceptance and forgiveness with 
 God ? Ave good vows and resolutions, declared 
 in the gospel infallible or proper proofs, of a re- 
 generation by the Holy Ghost? Isaman^sp'o- 
 fessing that he repents, aud pronming that 
 ^e will live godly, that actual repentance and 
 amendment of life, ivhich alone can ensure the 
 divine pardon and favor. 
 
 Are there not miltitii l^s whi call Christ thoir 
 Lord, and publicly profess to stand by their bap- 
 tismal covenant, whom yet he will reject with 
 abhorrence at last ? Will you inform me, Sir, 
 how his lordship upon this mere profession and 
 promise, presumes to declare to Almighty God, 
 and to assure the person, that he is regenerated, 
 forgiven, and without all peradventure, in a 
 state of favour ivithHeaven, The expressions 
 you must acknowledge, are couched in absolute, 
 and strong terms, you must excuse me, bi.t I be- 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 * 
 
 ^ 
 
 >»i 
 
 
^ml' 
 
 06 
 
 lieve in my conscience, thai (his rite as prrform 
 ed in your church is awlully delusive, and inju- 
 rious to the souls of men. 
 
 See, Sir, the inconsistency of jour church for 
 in the 25th Article it is declared that it has not'any 
 Tisible sjgn or ceremony ordained of God. Yet 
 we think hy you, great importance and dllcacv 
 are attached to it. Hence, Hooker savs :— ' 
 '♦ The Fathers every where impute lo ii, rhai rrid or 
 grace of the Holy Gho^^t, not wi.ich maketh us at first 
 christian men, but when we are made such, assisteth 
 us m all virtue, and armeth us against temptation and 
 
 £in. 
 
 m 
 to 
 
 It is to these " Fathers" that you referred 
 delence and support of this rite, particularly 
 iertulhan, who says :-^ 
 
 . ;' We do not receive the Holy Ghost in Baptism, but 
 being pureed therein, we are prepared for the Holy 
 Ohost." ^ 
 
 And a^ain : — 
 
 ''At the imposition of hands the soul is illuminated 
 t)y the Spirit." 
 
 Another of these sage Fail.crs observes, that, 
 *' When our Lord said to Nichodemu;, 'Except'a man 
 
 enter M \ ! ^' ^^^''^'^ ^"^' confirmed, he cannot: 
 
 ent w h f"^'"' '^ ^°^' ^^^" ^'^ ^^^' " i^ notsuffici- 
 ent without the other, the Spirit cannot operate without 
 
9T 
 
 porfortti. 
 and inju- 
 
 irch, for 
 5 not any 
 >ci. Yet 
 
 II S^ft or 
 IS at first 
 issistetii 
 tion and 
 
 rred, in 
 larJy to 
 
 isiHj but 
 »e HoJy 
 
 GTiinated 
 
 , that, 
 
 M mail 
 to say 
 annoi. 
 suffici- 
 i^ithout 
 
 thfi water nor the water without the Spirit. Th«rt- 
 fure, it was necessary (obe regenerated by both »":ra- 
 ments, viz. by baptism and confirmation.'' * 
 
 Law says of confirmation, that it is, 
 
 *' A means of conferring grace by the prayer and im- 
 pesition of the bishop's hands." 
 
 Thus, though the Church of England teachei 
 that all who are baptized, are regenerated, yet 
 it seems, the work is not complete, till the cere- 
 mony of confirmation is performed : for, if this 
 be neglected, the soul, after all. is in dangerof 
 being lost ! This is the impression which your 
 church endeavours to produce, on the minds of 
 her young disciples. And, which you, Sir, la- 
 bored to produce on the mind of '^ ^ung roan, 
 a member of another church whe ' him, 
 
 that, so great was its important you 
 
 had not attended to it, you would . par- 
 
 dized your soul's salvation 1 The remarks of 
 the Rev. T. Scott, on the above subject, are 
 very judicious ; and being made by an episco- 
 palian, are well worthy attention : — 
 
 *' The rite of confirmation" says that candid expositor, 
 " as practised by many christian churches, has ofteQ 
 been siaied to be a continuation of this apostolical im- 
 position of hands, for theconfirmation oi new converts 
 by the Holy Ghost ^hus given to ihem. But, it is far 
 from evident, that this was done universally by the 
 
 "^Lord King's inquiry into ihe constitution, discipline, 
 &c. ol the primitive churcli, p. 83, 87. 
 
 iii 
 
 i ! 
 
Il 
 
 ii 
 
 9S 
 
 ipostlef, or those who immediately 8ucce#d«d them.— 
 However, as miraculous powers, rather than sanctify, 
 ing grace were thus conferred, unless such gift$ were 
 oow connected with that observance, the parallel must 
 ^■^* To advance this observance into a sac- 
 rament, and even above a sacrament, (as it is when the 
 Holy Ghost is .apposed to be conferred, by imposition 
 ol hands, and the use of the apostle's words) puts the 
 subject in a very differeni iight. Doubtless it was at 
 first magnified, in order to exalt the episcopal order to 
 whom it was confined, as il they were properly intrust- 
 ed with apostolical authoriiy ; but as miracles are out 
 of the question, to follow the apostles in faith, humility 
 diligence, piety, selt-denial, &c. is tha only ade^^uatj 
 method 01 magnifying either the clerical or episcopal 
 office: assuredly, as this matter is generally nianaged, it 
 must be allowed to be an evil : and it ought either to 
 be attended to in another manner, or not at all." 
 
 Now, Sir, i might retort, and throw back your 
 own language, aud ask: What think you of tho 
 Rev. t. Scott ? a ro'nister of your own church, 
 who says : " it must he allowed to be an eviV 
 Why, really. Sir, he must be worse than Ben^^ 
 jarmn Nankevill, who you say, calls it a human 
 arrangement! I must be permitted, in conclu- 
 sion, to tell you, you will search th« New Tee- 
 lament in vain to find the origin of this rite. 
 
 Yours^ with due respect^ . 
 
 BENJAMIN NANKEVILL. 
 
 
iwni 
 
 r.jti^t^ici 
 
 them.— 
 ianctify- 
 fts were 
 lel must 
 lo a saC' 
 7h^n the 
 posiiioa 
 puts the 
 was at 
 rder, lo 
 intrust- 
 Eire out 
 imilitjr, 
 equate 
 iscopal 
 »8ed, it 
 iher to 
 
 cyour 
 
 )ftho 
 
 lurch, 
 
 Ben- 
 iman 
 >nclu- 
 Tes- 
 
 LL. 
 
 
 9b 
 
 ■:> ♦..*'» 
 
 I i 
 
 LETTER XIIL 
 
 To The Rev. J. A. Mulock. 
 
 'Ret. Sifi,— In this letter, I shall, according 
 to promise, notice your claims to " Apostolic 
 Saccessioh,^^ The questio is often asked, "what 
 is meant by this said apostolic succession ? and 
 what are its consequences ? I will then explain 
 the matter as stated by Dr. Huol?, of Leeds, in 
 his two sermonS) on the Church and the Estab- 
 lishment :— 
 
 ^< There is not a bishop, priest, or deacon among u?, 
 who cannot, if he please, trace his own spixitual de- 
 scent from St. Peter or St. Paul. 
 
 *' The only ministrations to which the Lord has jiro«'« 
 mised his presence is to those of the bishops, vho are 
 successors of the first commissioned apostles, and the 
 other clergy acting under their sanction and by their 
 authority." 
 
 Sir, I have given you this extract to show you 
 
 the source, whence the presbyter of Maryland de- 
 rived his matter, contained in three letters, to a 
 Methodist : from which you obtained your sup©- 
 ilor wisdom, to carry on your unholy crasade, 
 
100 
 
 against tlie Methodists. But, Sir, is it not very 
 awful in its consequences, as concerns the mil- 
 lions, wlio have composed the Non Episcopal 
 church of Scotland, and all the continental, pro-, 
 testant reformed churches, if true and unanswer- 
 able. But as a set-off to Dr. Hook and yourself, 
 Sir, I shall produce authority, which will hide 
 you, and your pusej^ite associates, in obscurity 
 invisible ! 
 
 I sliall commence, with the Rev. Richard 
 Whatel/, D. D., Archbishop of Dublin, in his re- 
 cently published work, *The Kingdom of Christ,' 
 the Archbishop saja :— 
 
 "There ii noi a Minister, id all Christendom, who 
 is able to traae up, with tny approach to certainty, his 
 own spiritual pedigree. The sacramental virtue, (for 
 such It is that is implied, whether the term be used or 
 not in the principle I hare been speaking of) dependent 
 on the imposition of hands, with a due observance of 
 apostolical usages, by a bishop, himself duly consecra- 
 ted, after having been in like manner baptized into the 
 church, and ordained deacon and priest.^ihis sacra- 
 mental virtue, if a single link of the chain be faulty, 
 must, on the above principles, be utterly nullified, ever 
 after, m respect of ail the links that hang on that one. 
 For, if a bishop has not been duly consecrated, or had 
 not been previously rightly ordained, his ordinationsari . 
 null and so are the ministrations of those ordained by 
 him J and their ordinations of others, (supposing any of • 
 ^9 persons ordaijjcd by him to attain to the episcopal 
 
101 
 
 office) and so on without end. The poisonous tafnt of 
 informality, if it ooce creep in undetected, will spread 
 the infection of nullity to an indefinite and irremediable 
 extent : and who can undertake to pronounce that during 
 that long period, usually designated as the Dark Age , 
 no such taint ever was introduced. Irregularities could 
 not have been wholly excluded without a perpetual 
 miracle : and that no such miraculons interference ex- 
 isted, we have even historical proof. 
 "Amidst the numerous corruptions of doctrine and ol 
 practice, and gross superstitions, that crept in, daringp 
 those ages, we find recorded descriptions noi only of 
 the profound ignorance and profligacy of life, of many 
 of the clergy, but also of the grossest irregulariiies in 
 respect of discipline and form- We read of bishops 
 consecrated, when mere children : of men officiaiing, 
 who barely knew their letters :. ot prelates expelled^ 
 and others put info their places, by violence : of illiter- 
 ate and profligate laymen, and habitual Drunkards, ad- 
 mitted to Holy Orders : and, in short, of the preva*- 
 lence of every kind of disorder, and reckless disregard 
 of the decency which the Apostle enjoins. It is in- 
 conceiveabieihat any one, even moderately acquainted 
 with history, can feel a certainty or any approach tt> 
 certainty, that amidst all this confu&fon and corruptioa 
 every requisite form was,, in every instance, strictly- 
 adhered to, by men, many of them openly profane and' 
 secular, unresteained by public opinion, througpb the 
 gross ignorance of the population among wSicli they 
 lived :: and that no one-not duly consecrated or ordain- 
 ed was admiiteiJtosacreetofiices."'— Whatel^^sKin|^* 
 do« of Chrfsf, pages 5B, 59* ' 
 
 ili 
 
I ' 
 
 fl 
 
 m 
 
 Dr. Adam. Clarice, Sir, prcnounces your the- 
 ory, of apostolical succession, as false and clan- 
 
 gerous: and utterly unworthy, of the charitable 
 and digniaed spirit of Christianity :-. ' 
 
 '' It is dangerous, as it might involve one of the 
 mpsi importani state questions, that could come before 
 .M^e British public. Mr. Thomas Seeker, afterward. 
 Archbishop ol Canterbury, was the son of a dissenting 
 «iinister,. born in 1693, was baptized after the form of 
 that church, and studied at three dissenting schools 
 •uccesarely, until he was 19 years of age: when, he 
 went to the Unifersiiy of Oxford, and afterward^ea- 
 lered the communion o( the Church of England. He 
 was, m 1732, nominated one of the chaplains of tho 
 King: in 1733, was appointed rector of St. James's : 
 January 5th, 1734, he was elevated to the Bishopric of 
 Bristol : to that of Oxford, in 1737; m 1750, exchang- 
 ed the prebend of Durham and rectory of St. James's 
 for the deanery of St. i>aurs; and, in 1758, he wa« 
 named and confirmed to the Archbishopric of Canier- 
 bqry . He officiated at the funeral of king George 2d • 
 ana the proclamation of his present majesty, whom he 
 had baptized, when rector of St. James's, and whom 
 -With his queen, he married and crowned, 8ih Sepiem- 
 ber, 1761 : and, on the 8th of September, 17t>2, he 
 baptized the prince of Wales, and alterwards, seviral 
 Qi their Majesties' children. > ^ •» 
 
 *^ Wt hear nothing of his ever having been re-bapfzed. 
 U his baptism was not christian, efficient and leeal oap- 
 fawa, fionsequentiy he could not baptize or cooRc oV- 
 *«• : but ftt did both. X^w were we 4o ailoi. thf 
 
 i 
 
103 
 
 .:,h,ktian and dangerous doctrine, that no baptism 
 «,,chr.st.an antt a ^ .h^t which is conferred 
 
 EnlnTrthen these monstrosities and abom.nat.on 
 n fo low -Out blessed King is no chnstiao. .or 
 Tw s p^ed b;apersonwuo was never h,ntse« 
 
 baptized :^and ^^l^^^'^i:;^^ Tnd 
 
 'TTTA xhisith^rue sUession in .he church i. 
 added to all mis vne . , ^mhe baptisms and ordi- 
 interrupted and brokea • for aU th« l' J- ^.,^ , 
 nations ol A'cl'b'shop Se-ker no , ^^ ^^ ^ 
 ding in the see of Ca»'"bury , but ^^ g^.^^^, 
 
 country clergyman, "•'j^'Ji^nd anuchristian : 
 and bishop of Oxlord, were invaio 
 
 A 11 .uo tfcolesiasucsand hign vuurcuuio"' 
 
 unholy and unconstitutional doctrines, u 
 Clarke's letter to a Preacher, P'S^^^.^^'JJ^'lf * 
 
 We are informed, by you, Sir, tbat . 
 
 « The ^^.cession is not the worse by coming 
 
 through the impure channel of 1 opery . 
 
 - ■ • Vou also asserted, that :— Britain 
 
 . *. The Church of Englatid existed in Bntam 
 
 S7 yenrs after Christ, it was subdued by he Rc^ 
 
 J,, and corrupted by their errors, but at ^ 
 
 1Ufo;ma.loa thre« off the Roman Jo^e^^^^ 
 from Rome m it is, to Bon» M rt «« » »«• 
 .purity.'* ■'* - ■ ■ 
 
 
104 
 Rev. Sir, allow ine fn, „ ^ • 
 '■ "»e ""oral character aS """ '" ^'^'"'^ "' 
 
 -ost Wicked orC ciir '" '^'^'^- 
 ^^ pope Damasos 2c/ slr!^^^ o. "^^^ P"''^°"e(l 
 -'« of hi. predecel '"^t,^^ ^--"ded ,he 
 ed h,s dead body and .h ' ^''™°«os. behead- 
 
 - --d .0 have ee S'": r " "' '"'''"'' ^' 
 «"«' lived. Pope J«t I^,T ' T"^'^^' •''at 
 «ct of adultery .Sixirj, ? "''"^'"^'^ '» «he 
 
 •^--^'xe,. But,toe„d;ir".^' ^'■"' ''-own 
 
 rfe^'x, himself an I ?' '" '^•^' ">«' Pri- 
 «-d^ng, enui;re::X;;^^^^^^^ 
 
 («« he caJ], them) <?:, J!' ^"*"^ ''evourers." 
 
 '---" And Je c rsr?"^"^ '^'^- 
 
 ^«Cl'at;\:ht;tt' ^''^ "" ^^^'^ "-" one 
 
glance a fc 
 r a few 
 'i*e(i tile 
 o'soned 
 ied (he 
 >eljead- 
 ber.— . 
 
 'US 3d, 
 ', that 
 in the 
 els in 
 
 ! own 
 
 ncar- 
 
 Prf. 
 
 for* 
 bm- 
 
 - V 
 
 ' .-* 
 
 ?ne 
 
 it 
 
 id- 
 
 105 
 
 ^regularly connected with it, and that the " suc- 
 cession'' may be traced through it, is a matter I 
 must leave for you to decide. 
 
 I certainly should think, however, that this is a 
 desperate refuge, attended with a train of mon- 
 strous absurdities, all which yet, rather than ad- 
 mit the orders of other prolestant divines, and the 
 regularity of their ministrations, you resolutely 
 
 swallow. 
 
 That popery is an undoubted fundamental sub- 
 version of the whole r>cheme of Chrisilani y, that 
 it is that not.stacy from the christian faith, describ- 
 ed by St/ Paul, 1 Tim. iv, I, 2, 3, The man. 
 ot sin and the son of perdition, sitting in the 
 temple (church) of God, opposing and exalting 
 himself above all that is called God, foretold by 
 the Hjly Ghost, 2 Thess. ii, 3, 4. 
 ^ And, that the church of Rome, is represented 
 bv the prophetic Spirit in the Revelation of St. 
 John, as an adulterous woman, wbo hath brok. 
 en her marriage covenant that espoused her ta 
 Christ, and is falJen into a st;ate of abomirabla 
 "and open lewdness, multiplying her fornicatiokis, 
 %nd instead of bringing fozth. and cherishing a 
 Jaithful seed to the Redeemer, breathes out hoc- 
 • rid threateuings and persecutions against lh«m» 
 
 r^ 
 
II; 
 
 .106 
 
 from T T" "•*"■ «'a«smi8sion Jo vou 'fir 
 "om this antichristian anj r i . ■'^ ' *"^ 
 
 tirade. a« J^^^Txhat Itf- '''' ^'«" 
 «or ha. been anytSg £1 T ""?''"'*'^ 
 year. past. «!»,«. .^ , ' *"'" * ""'«?and 
 
 genuine .po^toKc id ^^^.h "■'"'''' '"'^^"'"g 
 tan becomesVhe 8aSr'~'\" ^^"^g^'g"^ "f Sa! 
 
^m from 
 >d: that 
 
 ascribed 
 ^d even 
 How 
 olafroua 
 «, your 
 ast that 
 'd line, 
 
 'eclare 
 of this 
 chex. 
 
 f yotit 
 
 lurch, 
 Sir, 
 Whit 
 lurch 
 isand 
 ffices 
 Ming 
 
 Sa- 
 )ow- 
 ist'a 
 ally 
 the 
 
 it. 
 
 
 107 
 
 ,elf off from the body of Christ, hath, ceyerthfr. 
 less his spirit and authority dwelling in it, aod 
 ia commissioned by Christ to examine, ordain, 
 and send ministers into his church, for the edify- 
 ing of his body and perfecting his saints. How, 
 ia every view, marvellous, and transcendent, i» 
 
 * But harlot as she is, you intimate, she may 
 hrin» forth children as 'veil as a virtuous matrw), 
 and°8ometimes children far better than herself. 
 Poor consolation this, for the. children she brmgS 
 forth in this state of her divorcement : they mns 
 be born of fornication, a spurious and corrupt 
 race This, Sir, is that church of Rome, which 
 you own as your Mother, and from which you 
 claim by ordination tob« ecclesiastically sprung 
 and to which you trace your descent, and from 
 which you claim your Apostolic Succession, and 
 her sons you acknowledge as brethren, duly born 
 il the church, whereas the glorious company 
 li foreign reformed churches, together with th. 
 church of Scotland, and all dissenters, and Metlr 
 odists you utterly disown as your brethren, and 
 affirm, that because they have not the three <»• 
 ders of ministers, their ordination is irregnUr, 
 their communion can be neither lawful nor safe. 
 Where, alas! is the decency, the consistency, 
 
i 
 
 J08 
 
 a pan of the true tttZZ7cT''' }>' 
 
 aclmi„i„ered. accord nfloC'' r"""^"'^ '«' ^"'^ 
 "■ose things .l,a<ofneces^Uv a ^'•°"'"'^"<=*' '« all 
 
 RomW, eburcJ., tbl. ; • " '''^"'^''^ i'^ f'e 
 
 -roneous and ^ ^^j 1: 'Jf -""P-e^ b, „oM 
 
 «ie -est ri.W;re:uTstt '.,:J"";''^' ^''•' 
 confess the \vinp </ f, * ^° >"»" not 
 
 ministerei ac J, , •'^''■'^'"""'' "'^°> ''"'y «d- 
 »h-chu.c.h:Xe :;;■!: ^.''-''^ -finance., in 
 pj^ ^ , wuer e (he cup u taken feom the pec 
 
 «<ries, exco^TT T' ''^^^l'"'^"** and idol- 
 «l^e bodv of C "T':' '"*^"' "^^^^^'f ««• f-m 
 ""dpawerdwdtol'.-!,: '""""^ ''^^« ''^ «P'"' 
 
 ^ •" sacerdotal characters and offi- 
 
 
 it 
 
4 
 
 ^he chris- 
 
 miby be 
 rist, f6r 
 
 the pure 
 
 be duly 
 
 e, in all 
 
 J same.** 
 
 e pure 
 
 in tlie 
 
 ymosi 
 
 atrou!< 
 
 >u not 
 )f (he 
 y acl- 
 s, in 
 peo- 
 
 ' her 
 dol- 
 rom 
 Jirit 
 I no 
 
 109 
 
 C9« in Christ's church ; the character! and oflicet * 
 therefore, which she pretends to convey, and 
 which you profess to receive from that source, 
 are spurious, and of no validity or efficacy what- . 
 
 ever. 
 
 Where now, Sir, is your Apostolic Succes- 
 lioxi ? Is your chain perfect ? Can you trace your 
 descent back to Peter or Paul ? Allow me to en- 
 quire, Sir, whose conduct plainly indicates the 
 heart inclined to popery ? Is it the writer of this 
 epistle or the individual to whom it is addressed ? 
 I can hardly comprehend, why you referred to 
 the church of England as existing in Britain 57 
 years after Christ, unless you intended to make 
 the impression on your hearers, that you ere not 
 indebted to, nor dependent upon this Romish chain 
 for your succession ; I know, Sir, that this ie 
 maintained by some of your school, that long be- 
 fore the church of Rome had become corrupt, the 
 church of England had obtained its episcopacy, 
 and that the stream thus obtained from a pure foun- 
 tain, has retained its original purity, uncorrupted 
 by, and independent of the church of Rome.— 
 This you know, Sir, is the view of the Maryland 
 presbyter, with whose Letters I presume you are 
 by Ibis ilme thoroughly acquainted : and coase- 
 
..i! 
 
 -I 
 
 
 no 
 
 quemlj, fully prepared to slander ,he Mchod/,,. 
 
 Howerer, the above sentimp... '"""W". 
 
 -'range assertion.,, for TolsZ'J'", '*''"'"''' 
 
 gospel to n.ake, a'nd SylTLZatV' 't"" 
 
 •ource r must be permitted m! ^ *° *^'« 
 
 JW. I. a, ^.rangefC :^rr:riT ""• 
 
 a' others, the, f^^^&^^-X'S 'TT 
 be It remembered, that these En. Vv^ •" ''" 
 only presbyteria.; ordirn itu^''"^'' ''^"^ 
 Jous to brin«- them !nt^ 1. '^"Sustine, anx* 
 would have beer, Siit^ f succession, as you 
 
 •ion, by the ^^'Sixarrf"' 
 
 Many of them subletted tI .' '" '''»'''> 
 that <iJl nearly the cloe of. TTu ^^<^'^ Prove,- 
 English clerJ had bv '^'^ ""'"'^. "«> 
 
 -i'hout.he;;rsir„^rtLfr^""« 
 
 P-r to have been satisfied til 'the„ 1^7 '''■ 
 cient order of ihi^^r. ' ^"'^ *"® an* 
 
 nation. '^'^^'' ""'"^'^ Presbyterian ordi. 
 
 Now, Sir, --ubsequent history proves ako,that7 
 
Ill 
 
 Ae clergy, instead of preserving themselves and 
 ihe church from contact with the *' mother o f a. 
 nominations," had recourse again and again to the 
 pope, for the ordination of their bishops, so that 
 in the archiepiscopa! see of Canterbury from the 
 time of Theodore ,A. D. 668, till the year 1414, 
 no les3 than fourteen bishops and archbishops 
 obtained their appointment and ordination at the 
 hands of the pope or the pope's legate. 
 
 In the Archbishopric of York, during a space 
 of a little over two hundred years, from 1119 to 
 1343, no less than ten bishops were ordained by 
 the pope or his orders. In the see of Durham, 
 four of its bishops were ordained at Rome during 
 the same period. In the see of Winchester, durmg 
 nearly the same period, six of the bishops were 
 ordained bv the pope. Thus we might go on, 
 from one diocese to another, over the whole of 
 England, and we should find that all of them re- 
 cdived more or less of their bishops from Rome. 
 Now, Sir, bear in mind that the prelates above,^ 
 were given by Rome to England, during the 
 darkest days of the popedom. 
 
 And as it respects pope Joan, some authors state, ^ 
 that she filled the papal chair for more than two 
 years, Platina, a Romish histotian, who wrote the 
 history of the church, affirms it to be a gene. 
 
 rallv admitted fact," Prideax, Flavius, lUyncus, 
 
 - if -- 
 
 Ir 
 
 ?ii I 
 
 u 
 
1< ■' t 
 
 r 
 
 11« 
 
 MosTieim, tlie compilers of your own Homilief 
 and a large number of authorities belongin<r to 
 iLe church are in favour of it. Now I ask "sir 
 in the name of candour and decency, could this 
 abandoned female transmit the true aposlolic vir- 
 tue to her successors in office ? Sir, Iwill not in- 
 «ultyour understanding, nor the uiiflerstandingi 
 of those who may peruse these Letters, by at- 
 tempting a reply. 
 
 And now. Sir, having examined your claim to 
 apostolic succession we are prepared to ask in all 
 sincerity, what think you of your claim ? Is it 
 well founded? Doesjt commend itself to your 
 sober judgment and enlightened reason ? Are 
 you prepared to admit, that those who have this 
 spurious and pretended succession, constitute 
 the only true church of Jesus Christ, and that all 
 other chr'sf lans are schismatics and heretics? ' 
 Why thcia, isa, we hu -e only to say, from such 
 an exclusive, monopolizing episcopacy as this 
 we earnestly pra^ to be delivered, a I we pit/ 
 themini«,ter who, supposing there is a diviuf. war- 
 rant for such claims, suffers himself to be so far 
 blinded by error, as to withhold from ministers 
 and members of other churches, an acknowledge- 
 ment of their true relation to the body of Christ' 
 Your obedient servant, ' 
 
 * . BENJAMIN NANKEVILL. 
 
 (( 
 
 
m 
 
 xtijiO vIoH iii'i 
 
 X^TTEU XIV. 
 
 To The Usv. J. A. Mulock. 
 
 Rev. Sib,— I shall now address you on the 
 subject of Scriptural Ordination. You affirm, 
 that the Methodist ministers are not ordained : 
 and you infer from this that they are no minis- 
 ters ! And, I am informed, that on this subject, 
 you make a very solemn parade. 
 
 .■All pTe-cminence" says Archbishop Seeker "of one 
 churcn above another was nothing originally but an in- 
 ..itu.ion of men for conyemence ando<der."-Vol. ol 
 
 ^'novv,' sS That .ordination was not necessary, 
 to qiialify for preaching, appears from Paul s 
 preaching before he had been orda.ned. Imme- 
 diately after his conversion, as we have it m the 
 Ix cJpter of the Acts of the Apostles, 20 verse, 
 ».W straightway, he preached Christ .n the 
 •s;nagogues that he is the Son of God." Now 
 Sir he had not received ordination at this t.me 
 :;i wehave no apcount of his ordinat.n takitjg 
 place, until we come to th^ xai chapter. U the 
 
 1 I 
 
 f l< 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
114 
 
 If 
 
 Ibeginning of that chapter, when the Holy Ghost 
 said to some of the officers of that church, "Sep- 
 arate me Barnabas and Saul for the work where- 
 unto I have called them : and when they bad 
 fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, 
 they sent them away." Here, is the first time 
 we read anythingof the Apostle Paurs ordination. 
 I wouid ask furtlier, Sir, by whom was it that 
 he was ordained ? Not by bishops, according to 
 your acceptation of the word, but by the pro- 
 phets and teacliers. Not by the other apostles : 
 no, but by the secondary officers of the church. 
 From them lie received his ordination : and there- 
 fore, it is warrantable, when a person is so dis- 
 posed, and when providence has given a capa- 
 city and an opportunity to make known Christian- 
 ity to his fellow men. 
 
 We see further, from the viii chapter of Acts, 
 4th verse. I shall notice this circumstance from 
 the beginning of the chapter :—«And at that 
 time" (this was after the death of Stephen) 
 " there was a great persecution against the church 
 W'hich was at Jerusalem, and they were all scat- 
 tered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and 
 Samaria es:cept the Apostles,'' fthey tarried at 
 Jerusalem.) Now, Sir, who was it that went 
 everywhere, preaching the word I It was not 
 

 115 
 
 the Apostles, who acted as the pastors of the 
 church of Jer«telem. No, but it was the com- 
 mon members of the church. « They went every 
 where preaching the word." These preachers 
 were made instrumental in doing good, although 
 they had not what you would term regular ordi- 
 nation. But to give you. Sir, more just and fa- 
 Torable impressions of ordination by presbyters; 
 and to sink a little, your esteem of episcopal or- 
 dination, on which you pride yourself so rnucb, 
 1 recommend to your consideration, the follow- 
 
 '"l-Shy was ordained by the laying on of 
 the hands of the presb>tery,-l Tim. iv, U. So 
 here is an instance, not of episcopal, but of pres- 
 bvterian ordination : an instance of ordmat.onhy 
 pastors, the very same that is practised mtha 
 Protestant churches, scattered through France, 
 Germany and all parts of the continent. Here 
 Sir is an ordinationauthenticated by the word 
 of God : altogether different from the ordination 
 practised by the Church of England ! Do you 
 think it was a valid ordination ? 
 
 And then, Sir, I ask, is it not a well _:nown 
 and established fact, that presbyters, m the eel- 
 ebrated church of Alexandria, ordained, even 
 .their o«n bishops, for more than 200 years, m 
 the earliest ages of Christianity? 
 
^n 
 
 m^ 
 
 fl 
 
 Again, Sir, bishops and presbyters are, in 
 .scripture, the very same : ami iWe notra dktinot 
 order or office in the Christian Ghuroh. The 
 church at Phillippi had but two orders of church 
 officers viz. bishops and (/e«cow^,— Phill. i 1. 
 And, that the name <?^ce, tt'orAj of a bishop, 
 and presbyter are the same, appears frpm Titus 
 i, 5, 7: For this cause left I thee in Crete, tliat 
 .thou shouldest ordain elders, {presbyters) in eve- 
 ry city, for a bishop must be blaraeless.-nPaul 
 called the elders (or presbyters) of the church of 
 Ephesus 1x)geiher, and cfiarged them, Acts xx, 
 ■;17, 27, to take heed to the flock over which the 
 Holy Ghosthad made them overseers {ox bis- 
 hops.) So 1 Peter, V, 1, 2, The elders which 
 are among you I exhort, who am also an elder (or 
 presbyter) feed the flock of God among you, ta- 
 king the oversight thereof. Hence, Sir, you per- 
 ceive, that to pretend, that ordination by a bishop 
 is valid, but by presbyters invalid, is untrue and 
 cannot be supported by facts drawn from the Bi- 
 .ble, nor from the history of the church of Christ. 
 In the beginning of Christ's religion no such dis- 
 tinction was known. 
 
 How is It, Sir, that the great blessing (if it b» 
 a blessing) of Episcopal ordination is wanting 
 in the foreign churches } Is it through mcesmtjf 
 
 ci choi 
 
 irt \W\ 
 
 faith^b 
 
 the satt 
 
 longs* 
 
 "Ml 
 mail of 
 first ref< 
 dinals i 
 the ref( 
 in the 11 
 " what 
 faiii4e 
 
 Ca 
 copat 
 desiri 
 sures 
 ofili' 
 on c 
 who 
 
 sary 
 
 i\m 
 plefi 
 lent 
 er i 
 tha 
 
 mi 
 
 on 
 
% 
 
 1. 
 
 ta- 
 
 ci choice} Why, Sir, the ^-W^^^^efoi 
 iri their pubVic confessions and formular|es of 
 dth, bishops and priests are aecl-ec. or.g naj^r 
 
 tbesltne; ar.d that the p o^ver of ordmafon be- 
 longs enually- to bolh. „ , . . 
 
 .. Mr;Da Pessis, (say. B-^OP ^«"'"'»'' ^f 'irL" 
 
 dmaU in Germany, Fraoce, Italy, *c. wuo j 
 
 the reformation, whom they ™'f '• ^^ t Vthl bishop. 
 
 in thefr ordinations : and, therefore ' ^^'« ^^"I'^^fd^ 
 
 « (vhat necessity can be pretended m this case, 
 
 faio4ea«."-Epis. Asserted, ^c. p. l»l. 
 -can anything he more manifest than that ep,s- 
 copaVordiLionmight be obtained, i chosen and 
 dSd by thera. Hence, Sir, whatever een._ 
 Sou P«s^ «pon the orders and adu.ia.stra .on. 
 SSL';Lthoditminister,.they equally fall :«p^ 
 
 on «M the Reformed churches, throughoux tl.e 
 ;\:£otestant world. If ours i. an unneces- 
 TananS wanton departure, frorn the primttwe order 
 
 saP} «"*" TT^T,r ^•l^ it gives roe gTeat/ 
 
 their.l*.lhe same. ^ ;> ^J- '1^,, „f ^, 
 pleasure to see myself in such cto ' 
 Lnt and «ood coSpaiiy : and unkes yo^/=a«^ , 
 rsomethCrnore den>o„strative, on tins h«ao, 
 1 "Thnll^ever vet seen, I can assure you, my 
 
 than I nave ever y^ i T.o«ynlaritV ol 
 
 mind>yill enjoy full peace, as to the ^egularity^I 
 our ministrations. 
 
 Is 
 
 li 
 
 ■ii 
 
118 
 
 Now, Sir, I have yet to learn, and it deserves 
 your serious consideration, whether, by the con- 
 «titution and f/ame of the C hurch of England, 
 sacerdotal ordifiation be really at all necessary 
 to the making of a valid minister, and giving 
 success and efficacy to his ministrations : or, whe- 
 ther there is really any such ordinatio7i, m the 
 Church of England, at all. It seems clearly the 
 sentiment of our first reformers that it was not. 
 For, at the first establishment of this church, un- 
 der Henry 8th, and Edward 6th, all the bishops 
 took out commissions from the crown, for the ex- 
 ercising of their spiritual jurisdiction, in these 
 kingdoms, during the king's pleasure only :^ 
 
 "And in their commissions acknowledge all sorts of ' 
 jurisdiction, as well ecclesiastical as civil, to havefl6w. 
 ed, originally, from the regal power, as from a sii^' 
 Preme HEAD, and a fountain and spring of all magist^ti- 
 cy witoin his own kingdom." * a, . 
 
 yea, Sir, even the power of ordination itself, 
 which is reckoned, by you, so important to the 
 episcopal office, the first reformers and founders 
 of your church derived from the king, and exerei- 
 «8iJ only as by authority from him, and during his 
 pleasure. 
 
 nnvi 
 
 ■' I mm. 
 
 il^llf. ^^"-"y f ^^^>„chap. 1.-37 Henry 8th, chap. 
 piZ\f ^^' ^'-^"^"^^'s Hi«t. Refor. i^rl it, 
 
 -?- i 
 
119 
 
 <c Thus Cranmer Archbishop of Canterbury Bonner 
 Thus Y^P*" commissions trom the 
 
 "^ ' Ju nattTof th€ kingdom, the King aulhon^e, 
 charge m all V"'^ °' '"^ ' ,;-, J^^ ,„ ordain, withia 
 ,he BishQp m h.s [the I^'»SJl '^7" f ,,^,„ orders, 
 
 '"nttrl ofthe'eSrcopalauthorUy. and this da- 
 :;;:Te'Klr.g'3 Plealre only.-See Exa..nat.cn af 
 
 ^tl'rctdir fiwL acUnowaed,e. that ' 
 in the retgn of Henry 8th,, the bishops took out^ 
 and acted by con,mi.sions, in which th,y were 
 but sStern to ti^e kiag'i viceg.eat : bv. .J 
 the reign of Edward 6th, none being .a that oi 
 te tS were immediately -derthe k<3 •. but 
 Eythesecommissionstheydc^aretja^.- 
 
 pleasure ; and were imi)u , ■ ^^ ^^ ^j^g episcopal 
 
 Wfromhim: that all the vahdid>ty,s,gm / 
 or weight which they have in y f ^^ 
 
 ■ i. 
 
 !! 
 
 1'^ \i. 
 
i ,i 
 
 that the magistrate has aulhoritafiVely direcled 
 aDd|,rescribed/iowa„d lo vAom ordination 
 IS to be given. Perhaps, Sir, you rocollect th« 
 judgment of the court in the case of Howel] « 
 fionjuriLg clergyman, ordained by Dr. Hiok(«'* 
 His ordination was pron.mnced'illegai and he 
 was disowned as a clergyman. f 
 
 And should an ordination oe given ^^in'he 
 bishops of your church in another manner, or 
 ■" another form than that prescribed by (he ma- 
 gistrate, such ordir.ation would be of no leffalitv 
 ora„.hor,.y in your church: the man.o ,.rd!i„ed 
 
 FrS, ,' " A ^"^^ ^"^"^ '" "''' Church of 
 i^n&Ia. d. A m.n.sier-in the C.burch of Christ 
 
 le would be ; bu, he would be no minister in tTe 
 Church orEnglaud : nor, would he have p" er 
 and authority t« officiate as a priest therein -1 
 
 ^tdT' r '?'"''''''' '^^>'' ^t -" «>^dination. 
 u ould ask of eacli candidate for aiders :- 
 
 Arey.ou called aecor<}ug .0 ih. wilUf Our Lord 
 
 J.sns chr.s,, and .he du, order of this Realm 7.>^ 
 Now.Sir, I have directed" your attention to 
 
 h,s subject to lessen your Ush opinion of your 
 ordination, above other ministers. ' And here I 
 would remind you, once more, of Archbishop 
 ^^^»;^eniimcnts on this subject:— 
 '^'•? f *"" Ji'irtaff Hist. Eng. voThnr^fW ■ 
 
H 
 
 Hi 
 
 »< That though in the admission of bishops, parson?, 
 ^i^ars and other priests to their office, there be divers 
 comely ceremonies and solemnities used" [he speaketh 
 chiefly of ordination] " yet these be not of necessity, 
 but only for good order and seemly fashion, for if such 
 uffices and ministrations were commiUed without such 
 foiemnitv, and there is no moie promise of God, ihat 
 <Trace is' given m the committing of the ecclesiastical 
 nOice than it is in the commhting of the civil. A bishop 
 mav make a priest by the scriptures »fc so may princes & 
 .rovernors also, and that by the authority ot God com- 
 milted to them, and the people also by their election. 
 For as we read that bishops have done it, so chrisiiati 
 emperors and piinces usually have done it, and the peo- 
 nle before christian princes were, cOii^rnonly did elect 
 Jheif bishops and priests. In the Nfew Testament, he 
 ihat ^is appointed lo be a bi^liop or,a.prte»t, needetn no 
 consecration by the scripture, for election ^r appointing 
 thereto is sufficioni."-Extract frain Archbishop. Gran- 
 mer's M. S. SiiHingHeet's Iten. chhp.Sth, p. 391. 
 
 "Arcl;bishop Bancroft, and the rest 61 the bishops with 
 him owned the ordination of prosbyters to ue valid, and 
 herl^rore refused to re-ordain the Scottish pr^shyter^ 
 who were then to he made bishops,, declaring, that to 
 cWuht ^t, was to doubt wiiether ther^.be anylawfuh vo- 
 cattn in most of the reformed qhuiches.'VArchbish- 
 op Spotsx^ ood's Hist, page 514. 
 
 Hence, Sir, I appeal to all^io know the re^l 
 and true 'nature, of your boasted, episcopal ordl- 
 nations, if tra6fedto il^eir proper origin, and right- 
 Iv considerecir whether they ars any thin a more 
 Xlm merely civil ordinations. Now, Sir, I would 
 Wt'be considered to depreciate your ordinations, 
 
 I i 
 
 I 
 
f«« J 
 
 m 
 
 m 
 
 122 
 
 tills is not my object, but I wish to see you occu- 
 Yy your proper place, among other ministers, and 
 fctanding side by side with ihem, and no higher. 
 Nor let it be here replied, that these bishops, who 
 by the laws of England, are empowered to or- 
 dain, are, at the same time, to be considered as 
 •Buccessors of the Apostles, and liave recei vet] pow- 
 er of ordination, from these founders of tl^echris- 
 tian church, by an uninterrupted lineal descent- 
 for the constitution and law of England, knows 
 nothmg at all of this; it rests not this pov7er, 
 which it comrnits to its bishops, upon any such 
 lineal succession or descent, (which it knows to 
 be a rope of sand, a ridiculous chimera, a thing 
 ^hich no man upon earth is able to make out.) 
 No, but it considers the king or queen, vested 
 (by act of parliament, or the sufTrage of the peo- 
 ple) with a fulness of all power, ecclesiastical 
 in these realms, as empowering and authorizing 
 bishops to ordain. ^ 
 
 Do you lot recollect. Sir, that this power of or- 
 dmation was once delegated to Cromwell, a lay- 
 man, as vicegeren,t to the King, and by the con- 
 itaution and law of England, this layman had then 
 as much authority to ordain, as any bishop in the 
 realm and any priest whom he had ordained would 
 have been as much a minister, In the churcuof 
 EngJand, and his ministrations as ralid, as if all 
 
 a. M I 
 
Si 
 
 123 
 
 the bishops of the renlm had laid thoir liands on 
 his head. And perhaps you remember, that Heath 
 and Day, the Bishops of Worcester and Chiches- 
 ter, were deprived of their bishoprics by a court 
 of delegates, who were all lay men. See Echard's 
 Hist. Eng. page 310. 
 
 Sir, I think, prudence should loudly dictate, 
 that you speak gently as to the authority and or- 
 ders of our ministers, when you know, or yon 
 ought to have known, that they have it in their 
 power to retort. It was therefore, surely, not wise 
 in yc-u. Sir, as well as extremely unkind, to se| 
 tliemupas objects of public odium and avoidance 
 to your people. Your high toned arrogance, <ind 
 downright impudence, will do you no good. The^e 
 remarks are not urged against the Episcopal chuaiqh 
 as such, but gimply, against the unwarrantable 
 pretentions of yourself, and that portion of your 
 church who stigmatize all others, as heretics, schis- 
 matics, and heathens. ^ 
 You, Sir, may yet boast, thatyou have the dig- 
 nities, emoluments, and powers, of this world on 
 your side, but you must give me leave to 'aii.l^, 
 at least, that I have truth on mine. Truth, SItj 
 which is great, and will finally prevail. 
 f Tours, ivith due tespect^ 
 -^ BENJAMIN NANKEVILV. 
 
 'H 
 
124 
 
 f ■ 
 
 ■.>.ii ii 
 
 L E T T E R XV. 
 
 To The Rev. J. A. Mulock. 
 
 Rev. Sir,— I have been very mucli amused to 
 Lear of your carrying a large bag of books into 
 your ehurcl,, and ilien with a great deal of par- 
 ade, spreading them out upon your altar t 
 have been informed that these boobs were Wc^' 
 ley's Woife. Why, Sir, I think it is a longtime' 
 since your altar was <.hns adorned by books'so et- ' 
 cettent, except is-h^n the Bible lay on it. And 
 Oil those books were carried there to prove that 
 Mr. Wesley, never, avowedly, left your Church.'. 
 «oy, Sir, I ask, fl^ho rjaid he did .'Surely it was' 
 not I : ,n my former pamphlet, I have Mo recoHec- 
 Uon of sa-ying any sueh thing. I do however re- 
 collect of snying, if not avowed, yet Mr- Wesley 
 and all in connexion with him, are real dissenter., 
 from the^ Church of England, proved to be so- 
 by Mi-. Wesley's conduct, by the canons of the 
 Church, and the Act of Toleration. This, Sir I 
 sWI MSMI, and defy jou to prove the reverse, nei- 
 taer have you attempted to do 'so: true you gave 
 
125 
 
 a goodly number of quotations from his Works to 
 prove that he never avowedly left the Church, 
 but, Sir, did you say any thing concerning the 
 facts I referred to above ? I cannot hear that you 
 made one remark on this subject, how could you 
 when you knew that " facts are stubborn things'' 
 so that all your flourishing and parade, was only 
 beating the air, and spending your strength for 
 
 nought. 
 
 Now, Sir, suppose 1 ask you, if Mr. Wesley 
 was a dissenter from the Church of England,-— 
 by the Church of England, I mean the whole hie- 
 rarchy, as it is by law established, not only in its 
 doctrines, but in its government and discipline, 
 as containing a part of the legislative power in 
 the civil state, as governed by archbishops, &c. 
 you answer in the negative, as you declared onr 
 the different sabbaths, while carrying on your 
 unholy tempest of defamation against the Meth- 
 odists. Mr. Wesley not a dissenter, and yet 
 preaching, and administering the Lord's Supper, 
 in those places rever consecrated by a bishop, 
 and no bishop had any jurisdiction over them ! 
 TVot a dissenter^ and yet calling a conference ev- 
 ' ery year, admittingmen into the ministry, appoint- 
 ing their stations, and calling them to an account 
 for their doctrine and conduct, sending them all 
 over the three kingdoms, apd into f.)reign part?, 
 
i 
 
 I 
 
 156 
 
 a widerprovliice than the Archhisljop of Canterbu- 
 ry has : formally ordaining men to administer the 
 ordinances, and yet not a dissenter ! Now, Sir, 
 when you made the statement, tliat Mr. Wesley 
 was not a dis.scnter, you must have known, that 
 Mr. Wesley, nor any man else, could do these 
 «hin«6 as a minister of the cdiurcli of England; 
 and conj^equently he was a dissenter. 
 
 The Rev. Richard Watson, in (ho life of Wcs- 
 ic7, speaking of these irregularities, observes :— 
 **Tlie irregularily was in principle, a:s great yv he a 
 the first 9tf p wns taken, as at any future lime. Ii was 
 a form of practical and pariiai separation, though not of 
 theoretical dissenr; but it arose out of moral necessity 
 and existed ior some years in such a state, that, had the 
 clergy been disposed to co-operate in this evident revi- 
 val and spread of true religion, and the heads of the 
 Church been willing to sanction itinerant labors amonff 
 Its mmisters, and private religious meetings amono the 
 serious pert of the people, fur mutual edification'' the 
 great body of the Methodists might have been retained 
 in communion with the Church of England "—Wes. 
 ley's Life, page 93. 
 
 That Mr. Wesley was thus a dissenter will be 
 a matter of praise to thousands^ that he denied 
 himself to be in any wise such, was his weak- 
 ness, and laid him under much inconvenience. 
 
 Mr. Weftley, speaking of the mimsters of the 
 Church, \>ho like yourself. Sir. calls n« hprntlrg 
 
T2T 
 
 or schismatic?^, obsen'cs, " allliough in tliis case 
 tlie ureacli can never bo liealed." Again, " tho 
 corUinuance of the breach is chargahle on you and 
 you only."— WoMKS, Vol. 3tl, pages 320, 331. 
 Now, Sir, what is a breach, but the act of break* 
 ing a gap, and Mr. Wesley asserts that the con- 
 duct of the clergy was such, that this breach 
 could never bo ho iled. lijar, again, Sir, his 
 
 biographer. 
 
 *' The care of the cliurche? now had come upon him, 
 and was increasing ; he had a responsibiliiy lo man as 
 well ai» to God, for the right management ol a people, 
 whom his hxhours, and those of his coadjutors had form- 
 ed into a body distinct Irom the national Churcii, and 
 indeed as to all ecclesiastical control teparate from it." 
 Wesley's Life, page 179. 
 
 " Church or no Church," observes Mr. Wes- 
 ley, in one of his letters to his brother Charle«, 
 we must attend to the work of saving souk" 
 And in another, " I neither set it up, nor pull it 
 down ; but let you and I build the city of God.'* 
 
 " Mr. Charles Perronet and some others, for whom 
 Mr. Wesley had great respect, were, at this time, urg- 
 ing him to make full provision for the spiritual wants 
 of his people, as being in fact in a slate of real and hope- 
 less SEPARATfON from the Church." 
 
 "In 175G, he printed an address to the clergy, plain, 
 affectionate, and powerful : breathing at once, the spirit 
 of an apostle, and the feeling of a brother. Happy if 
 that call had been heard. He might perhaps be infiuea- 
 
 ,. vt 
 
,1 I 
 
 128 
 
 eed in ih;s by astilllingerin" hone nf „,.,-• , ,, ' 
 
 mm of zeal and pie.y amor" 1 ' "^ ''"'1»='"'> ''^' " 
 
 Established Church ir^liTb ."'""' °'" "'""'" '° '''' 
 
 !"•' people from the ChlT 1 !"\ ""' ""'"''''""" "f ^^ §»'« "P 
 
 Mine vie«r, it p^bably was Z,t Wns^' 1!" "'^ '"""^ '^''°" 
 aJclressed, only three retmn-l '' ' "'"^y'"''' Chancerj 
 
 Tt^roTS^°''"^-^^^^^^^ 
 ^r::rr;:sr'-b"r'^'"--^^ 
 
 i ** '*^^y*?ars before by Mr. WalkernfTr..^^ . i 
 
 in their owrwav^^o^^^^^^^ '' ^'' ^'^^'"'^'^^ 
 
 r own way, to which they had not the same ^all « 
 
 g'J OS mm the following advice :~ 
 
 ^«ep your auihoriiy while you live, and afier your 
 
 This inst] 
 ty in law. 
 theChur 
 With 1 
 Mothodii 
 I cannot 
 to the fol 
 
 Rev. Ric 
 
 «' One c 
 
 lice has r 
 
 Wesley, 1 
 
 ev?er'4iis v 
 
 bis lifeiin 
 
 Churoh,' 
 
 and that 
 
 not affect 
 
 societies, 
 
 arated ft 
 
 ed dissei 
 
129 
 
 ival of ihcieath, lei ii be given to the worthiest individual, or ra- 
 ters of the ther to the worihiest individuals.'- • * * * Thus Char- 
 >aration of |es gave up as hopeless, the return to the Church, and 
 to foresee tuffgested the plan which his brother adopted, to de- 
 )reventpd ,olve the government, not indeed upon one, but upon 
 ^nder the j^any whom he esteemed the worthiest, lor age, experi- 
 iddressed ^oce, laleni, and moderation,"— Life, page 228. 
 knew, in- gj^^ that the Methodists are dissenters, and 
 '^ ^''^ '"■ M they were declared so hy Mr. Wesley him- 
 ::^i U you might have learned ^^T^^ ^ 
 trtly reo.: Ilegal instrument, enrolled in die High Court ol 
 
 enrymen 
 is seem J 
 rapher?, 
 Jsley did 
 rs, or to 
 as pro- 
 ro : and 
 lecler- 
 V, Willi 
 i Meth- 
 h, and 
 ild en- 
 cujties 
 iJall.y 
 
 i! 
 
 "i with 
 09. 
 
 other 
 
 your 
 
 Chancery, called A Deed <ff Declarahon.-- 
 This instrument gives them a character, a reali- 
 ty in law. 11 makes them as distincta body from 
 the .Church as any other body in EnglaatJ. 
 
 With regard. Sir, to the true position of the 
 Methodists in relation .to the Church, perhaps 
 I cannot do belter,- than to direct your attention 
 to the following unjquestionable authority. The 
 
 Rev. Richard Watson observes t— 
 
 <' One of the chief reasons why full and ^'^^'^Si^' 
 uce has not been always done to .he »bors ot M • 
 Wesley, has doubtless arisen frtmi the facts, hat what 
 ev«r+.is views might be, he raised up »/«"?'«• j''?''^ 
 bisUfelime, formed a religious body independent oUhe 
 Churoh, whilst yet. notnominally *«rarated i om >t 
 and that since his death, although that ^'^V^'^'^'^'J^l 
 not affect all the members, yet the great mass of the 
 societies, with all the preachers, are ^^ '^P'^/'^^f^ 
 arated from the Establishment, as any bofly 01 pro 
 «d dissenters."— Wbsley's Un, p. am. 
 
 rii ^ 
 
 % :^l 
 
13a 
 
 Tlie Rev. Joseph Benson : — 
 
 *' As the law now stands, we either are or conceive 
 oarselves to be reduced to the necessity of calling our- 
 selves Protestant Dissen-tera, at the time of regis- 
 tering our houses as places of worship, or of taking 
 the oaths, and obtaining licences, as preachers."— 
 Vindication op the Methodists, p. 33. 
 
 And, as it regards the Methodist Episcopal 
 
 €hurch in the U* S., the Rev, Wna. Waters ob- 
 serves :— ' 
 '•We formed ourselrea inter a separate Church. This 
 change was proposed lo us by Mr. Wesley" himself, 
 "after we had craredhiaadviee oft the fubjeci but could 
 tiot take elffeet tril adopted by us, which was done in a 
 deliberate, formal manner, at a confepenc^ called for 
 
 ihat p¥rpos«, m which there was not a disseniing 
 voice." 
 
 Thus, Sir, yoH see that the Rev. John Wes- 
 ley and all in connexion with him were dissen* 
 ters from the Church of England, demonstrated 
 ♦o be so by Mr. Wesley's condtict, by the Act of 
 Toleration, by the Deed of Declaration, and by 
 the authoiities above. 
 
 Is it not a pity, Sir, that so ingenious a man 
 as yourself, like many others gone before you, 
 should pass so peremptory a sentence, m a cause 
 1^•hich you do not understand? Indeed, Sir, how 
 could you understand it ? How much have you 
 read upon the question ? With what sensible 
 Methodist did you ever calmly conversw on the 
 
conceivflr 
 Irng our- 
 of regis- 
 >r taking 
 ;hers.*'— 
 
 piscQpa! 
 aters ob- 
 
 ■ch. This 
 ' himself, 
 but could 
 done in a 
 jailed for 
 
 hn Tv (e&* 
 i dissen* 
 nstrated 
 c Act of 
 and by 
 
 J a mart 
 >re you, 
 a cause 
 5ir, how 
 ave you 
 ensibl& 
 OQ the 
 
 131 
 
 subject ? What do you know of them but the lit- 
 tle fund you derived from the Maryland Presby- 
 ter, and that fund, by this time, you must have 
 exhausted ? Why should you condemn whole 
 bodies of men by the lump ? Before yo-i com- 
 mence another crusade, I advise you to hare a 
 little research, and some pretension to christian 
 feelings, and the manners of a gentleman. 
 
 Hi. Yours as heretofore^ 
 
 ^ BENJAMIN NANKEVILL. 
 
 LETTER XYI. 
 
 To The Ret. J. A« Mulock. 
 
 Rev. Sir,— May I now, without seeming to 
 be too presumptions, request you to withdraw 
 your grave charges against the Methodists and 
 myself ? I conscientiously beliere you are in 
 duty bound so to do. From the great plainness 
 of speech, which, in consequence of your im- 
 peachments against our church, I have felt my- 
 self called upon to employ, you may be inclined 
 to conclude, that I am hostile to the Church of 
 England. 1 solemnly disavow any such feeling' 
 
 iU 
 
 ^"^ 
 
^'i\ 
 
 132 
 
 But I aniafraid.that tlie intolerant gpirit of your- 
 self and others of your school will ruin theChurch 
 of England. That your church should assume 
 to be the only true church, and its clergy the on- 
 ly authorized ministers : lh;il the on]y valid or- 
 dinances arid sacraments are administered in 
 ^our communion : that you alone, of all to whom 
 salvation by grace is so freely published, are re- 
 ceived into covenant mercy— all this, Sir, appears 
 to those who differ from you, as nothing else than 
 a proud sanctimonious self-righteousness : and 
 must be regarded by them with unmingled ab- 
 horrence, and if persisted in will be the destruc- 
 tion of your church. There is, Sir, an atroci- 
 ty of character in this spirit, which can unchurch 
 the saints of God of every age, in every christian 
 communion, save one, and consign them, if not 
 to j)erdition, to God's uncovenanted mercies. 
 
 I would not- willingly omit noticing any of 
 your charges against the Methodists or myself, 
 but in looking over my notes there are two things' 
 which, I perceive, T have not noticed : and as 
 this vindication should embrace the whole, lest 
 if any were passed over, it might be thought un- 
 ans'verable and silence deemed a tacit acknow- 
 ledgement of guilt, I shall now attempt a reply 
 to these omissious. The first is, you ask :— 
 
13^ 
 
 '* Was there ever such a compound of erron 
 and falsehood as modern Methodism ! /" 
 
 la answer to this question, 1 need only chal- 
 lenge you to show that any one cardinal doclriiie 
 has been altered : that any one of the primary 
 principles of Methodism, as taught by John Wes- 
 ley has been sacrificed by modern Methodists. 
 So far from this, they nave beeaheld with a tena- 
 city which some have construed into bigotry : 
 and defended and propagated with a zeal which 
 others have brandedjvith enthusiasm. And were 
 we not fearful of being charged with too great a 
 partiality for our own peculiar views, modes of 
 thinking, and plans of operation, we should say. 
 ^'^at such is the strength, beauty, .and compact-, 
 ness, of this spiritual building, that we may bid 
 defiance to its enemies to undermine its founda- 
 tions, or in any efifectual way to mar. its beauty, be- 
 cause we think Its. "builder and maker is God,!' 
 and that it is "built upon the sure foundation of 
 the prophets and apostles, Jesus Christhimself be* 
 ing the chief corner stone." Neither can.wc be 
 frowned down by our haughty contemners, nor< 
 laughed out of countenance, by those who liave 
 placed themselves " in the.seat of the scornful," 
 nor yet frightened from our posts by the threats. 
 i)f ouc n:o^t bitter oppoi.enls. . 
 
1S4 
 
 The second omission. March 3d, at James's 
 Church, you said in reference to a quotation fro»v. 
 X >r. Buchanan's Christian Researches, page 42 of 
 Mr. Nankevill's pamphlet r— . 
 
 " I sent to Ogdensburgh for this work, but could 
 not get It : I never read it, yet J hesitate not to 
 pronounce this quotation .u falsehood." 
 
 ^Warch lOlh, at CarJeton Place, you said:— 
 
 "I did not bring forward this extract, from 
 Buchanan last sabbath, because I had not got his 
 work : I have sinee got the Christian Research- 
 es, and cannot £nd anything like it between the 
 
 Now, Sir, It is with great reluctance, tfiari 
 am compelle,!, in self defence, to bring the above 
 extravagant assertions, and unfounded misre- 
 presentations, before the public. Here, several 
 .hmgs are to be observed. 1. You acknowledge 
 you never read the work. 2. You hesit.te not To 
 pronounce the quotation a falsehood. 3. But one 
 
 bring ,t forward the last sabbath. 4. You have 
 since got the Christian Researches, and cannot 
 ftnd anything like it between the coCors 
 
 nrLl <J' ^°"'; ^^^'•"■' ^"'1 friends will be sur- 
 Pnsed, Sir, and that an ingenuous blush, will 
 crimson your face, without any comment of my 
 
135 
 
 own for they and you cannot but discover, that 
 yourVtalemenls are absolutely without truth, and 
 Lute contrary to fact. I ask, Sir, did you not 
 observe in reading the Christian Researches, that 
 the Kasheshas, is interpreted presbyters, and the 
 ^humshamis deacoiis, and that there is no word 
 jn their translation to denote bishop ; ;and that the 
 Syrian clergy wexe in ifoabt as to the purity of the 
 EnMish ordination, and ask : — 
 
 '^Whence do you derive vour ordination ? from Rontie, 
 vou derive it froma ekureh which is our ancient enerny 
 a nd with which we can never unite." " I observed," 
 says Dr.. Buchaiian, " that there was reason to beli^^, 
 that the sam^ ordination had descended from the apos- 
 ties 10 the church of Rome. It might be so. But thai 
 church had departed from the faith." 
 
 Hence, Sir, the Syrian churches deny the va. 
 lidity of your ordination, aBcldeclare, with you 
 they can never unite. 
 
 Sir see a note at the bottom of the 80th page, 
 of the Christian Researches. And here 1 would 
 remind ' .u, lest you should again assert that^there 
 is nothing like it between the covers, that the tot- 
 lowing note is taken. from your own book. 
 
 '' It is proper to state for the satisfaction oi those who 
 may differ in opinion with the venerable. bishop, that 
 in the Syriac translation of the New Testament there 
 IS no proper word for bishop, oUier than Kashesha. 
 
 IJW^' 
 
M^ 
 
 i 
 
 i S' 
 
 J'The words Kashesha, and Shnmshana, orproperlr 
 Mishums hana, are the tviro terms for-the two orders ot 
 bi?hop and deacon in the third chapter of 1 Timothy (he 
 terms Episcopal, and Metripolita, have been introduced 
 mto the Syrian church from the Greek. The bishon 
 seemed to be more surprised at the striking out of the <^l 
 ored order of deacon', than at net finding the order of^ , 
 superintendinor priest or bishop." 
 
 Thus, Sir, from history, and , according to the 
 institrtion of (he New Testament, you may learn 
 that die offices and authority of bishops and pres- 
 byters were absolutely the same. Now do not 
 J>e angry because I advise you, before vou accuse 
 others of /tfftnca^ion and falsehood, \o^ learn ta 
 »peak the truth yourself. 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 SF.NJAMIN NANKEVILL, 
 
1S7 
 
 LETTE R XVll. 
 
 To The Rev. J. A. MaLocK. 
 
 Rev. Sih,— In reviewing the preceding letters, 
 some thinos seem to bear hard uix>n yourself, thia: 
 was designed, for I consider you justly deserved 
 it : other thingiJ may appear to bear hard upoutho 
 Church, of which you are a minister; of this I 
 am sorry, for I wish to live in peace with all men, 
 as far as I am able.^ But then, I have this to' 
 comfort me. It was extorted incur just defence, 
 and when ! reflect on your insolence, wanton, and 
 unprovoked attacks, I am rather sarprised at my 
 moderation,, and I must remind you. Sir, that ev- 
 ery thing unkind and harsh, you may ascribe to- 
 yourself. 
 
 ..Rev. Sir, It- is not a light thing for a minis- 
 ter of religion to arraign, before a numerous au- 
 dience, sabbath after sabbath, a body of religious 
 people, and in almost the strongest words our lan- 
 gTitage fuxnishes> involve them, as tc doctrine and 
 
 \ i 
 
 i 
 
:i 
 
 I 
 
 138 
 
 practice, principles and morals, in one ijm|uali- 
 ficd, and direful condemnation, ^^nd the man 
 \v})0 undertakes to perform such a work, should 
 by an impartial examination of the subject, use 
 the utmost precaution to guard against mistakes, 
 and know full well what he says, and whereof 
 he affirms, lest in the execution of his design, he 
 spend his strength for nought, and instead of efreci- 
 ing any valuable purpose, do injury; increase 
 his own and others prejudice ; grieve those whom 
 God would not have grieved ; and condemn the 
 guiltless. To those, Sir, who impartially peruse 
 the foregoing pages, it must appear that the Meth- 
 odists, by yju, have been egregiously misrepre- 
 sented, and that the censures pronounced upon 
 them are as UKJust, as they are severe. 
 
 Our blessed Lord defended himself, against 
 false accusations, and the Apostle Paul followed 
 his example when the interests of religion were 
 involved, and even rebuked Peter sharply, '' be- 
 cause he was to be blamed." These remarks 
 are made, not so much in reference to myself, as 
 to the cause of Methodism, with which this vin- 
 dication may be identified, thougli I^nly writer 
 in my individual character, none being responsi- 
 ble, for the foregoing observations, but the un- 
 worthy writer. I admit, Sir, thai I have air. 
 
 ryi 
 
 I 
 
139 
 
 dressed you in this lengthened commutiication,- 
 with all freedom, and certainly wiihoul flattery, 
 and in the same spirit of candour, 1 would fin- 
 ish my address, and therefore allow me to remind 
 you that, it is not the imposition of a bishop's 
 hands that will prepare the soul, of either min- 
 ister or lav member for heaven, but " that m ev- 
 ery nation, he Ihat fearcth God, and worketh 
 riehteousness. is accepted of him," and that "nut 
 every one that saith Lord, Lord, shall enter into 
 the kingdom of heaven, but he tlmt^doelh the 
 will of my Father which is in heaven." 
 
 Through you. Sir, I beg the privilege of atl- 
 dressing the pious members of your church. I 
 hope you, my christian friends, will not think 
 that I wish the destruction of the Church o( Ens?- 
 land. No. may God in mercy prevent it, by caus- 
 ing her to sse, in this her day, the things belong- 
 in" to her peace. We bear it no enmity : God 
 is our witne ss. We wish it from our souls, g l.o. 
 ry, prosperity, purity & peace : the glory of bemg 
 formed according to the perfect plan of ihe prim- 
 itive apostolic church : purged of those things, 
 •v^hich yourselves know to be no part of the re- 
 li.Tion of Christ. We wish to^ see it cstablish- 
 ed^pon the catholic and broad bottom, upon which 
 
 I 
 
140 
 
 
 II 
 
 alone it can stand fjrm, even the scriptural foiw. 
 
 (ktion of ihe aposlles, and prophets, Jesus Christ 
 himself, being its only lawgiver and king ; and 
 not upon the narrow basis on which it now rests, 
 the articles and canons, the institutions and in' 
 ventions of failiable and weak men, on which it 
 can never be strongly and firmly fixed; which 
 are, in the Apostle's language, "wood, hay 
 stubble ; whose end is to be burned.'* ' 
 
 We hope tliat as your church opens its bosora, 
 and admits the vilest, without demurring at their 
 open violation of God's commands, so it would 
 c*iaritably extend its arms, to take into its com- 
 munion, conscientious persons,- without insisting 
 upon their obedience to the- injunctions and ccm- 
 Tiiands of men. 
 
 These are some of the impro\nements, we wish 
 to see efi'(&cted in your church, and which I be- 
 lieve a vast number of her members, and some of 
 her pious clergy long to see accomplished. 
 
 This, my friends, woul^not'at alMesson either 
 th6 glory, stability, or prospi rify of your church. 
 Allow me to remind you of this fact, that her en- 
 emies seem to multiply, and dark clouds to rise 
 around her: popery is making dangerous and 
 mighty inroads on the one hand, and deism on 
 
It. 
 
 141 
 
 ti.» other. But the worst of all bcr f..es is 
 hat classof her ministers, xvho, like .he JVcv. Mr^ 
 Mulock, by their exclusivei.ess, despotistn, and 
 Si Jsur,. ion, unclu.rches all other .ects 
 
 in christendui =his is the very sp.rU of \nm who 
 
 said'. — „ 
 
 "Better to reign m hell, thr.n serve in heaven. 
 
 There may come a time, Sirs, «s there former- 
 ly I'Ln, when the frame of yo«r Church b«- 
 l, terribly threatened 2^;^^^ 
 
 sideied as no d^'P'^^^'^/"^^""' . ^ ' „i„. 
 be abandoned, cast out, & rejected by your mm. 
 •sters our con«olat.on is.this, that God ji.dgeth .n 
 the earth, and that he >vill, surely, at the proper 
 season vindicate and plead the cause of the injtt- 
 re d and oppressed. 
 
 It is not then perhaps, too great a favor to ask, 
 even f, cm you, that before any censure Jhavc o- 
 nounced on Mr. Mulock's proceedings, mil re 
 „arJ to the Methodists, be condemned, you would 
 calmlv consider what I have -ri'^en, and ...en 
 honesilv ask yourselves, in reference to 'hj« 
 strictur'es, ^vhich 1 have.nade on Mr. Mulock 8 
 attack, teas there not a cause ? 
 
 And now, Rev. Sir, iu taking n.y leave of yon 
 and -your itiends fo. the present; we will close 
 
i± 
 
 142 
 
 onr remarks, by adopting the language of your 
 own Liturgy, which I would devoutly pray to 
 God, were written on the tablets of the hearts of 
 those who so frequently repeat it. 
 
 "From all blindness of heart, from pr?de, vain fflor^ 
 and hypocracy, from envy, hatred, and malice and ail 
 uncharitabieness,— Good Lord deliver us." 
 
 , Fours, as hereto/ore, 
 
 BENJAxMIN NAKKEVrLL. 
 
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