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 ON CONVERSION. 
 
 A LETTER 
 
 FROM THE 
 
 
 LATE REV. MR, BERRIDGE, 
 
 MINISTER OF THE CHURCH Ot^^NGLAND, 
 
 OF EVERTON, 
 TO A CLERGYMAN 
 
 OF THE s' 
 
 CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 
 
 CHARLOTTETOWN: ^ 
 
 SOLD BY GEORGE T. HASZARD, QUEEN'S SQUARE 
 
 PRIKTED BY JAMES D. HASZARD, 
 ^oeen's PRINTER- 
 # 1831. 
 
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A LJSS^Sffi 
 
 FROxM TFIE LATE REV. MR. BERRIDGE, 
 
 OF EVERTON, 
 TO A CLERGYMAN OF THE ^ 
 CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 
 
 -o- 
 
 » 1 
 
 « 
 
 % 
 
 _ July ad, 1758. 
 
 Rev. axd Dear Sir, 
 
 AS I believe you to be desirous of knowing the truth 
 yourself, and of bringing souls to the truth, 1 take the 
 Uberty to acquaint you with the wonderous thiiigs which 
 God hath done for n^y soul, and the souls of my people ; 
 and in order to this, it may be needful to give y©u a 
 little previ(^u9 information of my manner of Kfe frofli 
 my youth up to tlirs present time. 
 
 When I was about the age of fourteen years, God 
 was pleased to shew me that I was a sinner, and that 
 J must be born again, before I could enter into the 
 kingdom of heaven. Aecordhvgiy I betook myself to 
 reading, praying, fasting, and; watching; and was en- 
 abled thereby to make son^ progress in sanctification. 
 In this m,anner I went on, b^(t not always with the same 
 diligence; till about ayear^go, I thought myself in the 
 way to heaven, though I was wholly out of it; and 
 imagined I was travelling towards Sion, though Ihad 
 H§^er yet set my face thitherwards: Indeed, God would 
 hav^ shewed me that I was wrong, by not owning my 
 ministry; but I paid no regard to this for a long Time, 
 imputing my want of success to the naughty hearts of 
 my hearers, and not to my naughty doctrine. You 
 
 
 I 
 
 3'79-r3 
 
y, ,|i|i!Ji-,iPi|iippiii^«|ippi||||F 
 
 4, LETTER OF THE 
 
 * 
 
 may perhaps a<k, what was my doltiinc? Wi>y, dear 
 Sir, it was a doctrine every man will naturally hohl, 
 while he continues in an unregenerate state, viz. that 
 we are to be justified partly by faith, and partly by 
 works of our own. This doctrine I preached for six 
 years, at a Curacy which I held for the College: and 
 though I took some extraordinary pains, and pressed 
 sanctification upon my hearers very earnestly, yet they 
 continued as unsanctified as before, and not one soul 
 was brought to Christ: there was very little of the form 
 of religion in the parish, but not a whit of the power. 
 At length I removed to Everton: here I pressed sancti- 
 fication and regeneration, a? vigourously as I could; 
 but finding no success, after two years preaching in this 
 manner, I began to be discouraged: and now some 
 secret misgivings arose in my mind that I was not right 
 myself. This happened .about Christmas last. These 
 misgivings grew strong, and at last very painful Being 
 under great doubts, I cried unto the Lord very earnest- 
 ly : the constant language of my heart was, Lord if I am 
 right, keep me so; if I am not right, make me so, and 
 lead me to the knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus, 
 After about ten days crying to the Lord, he was pleased 
 to return an answer to my prayers. As I was sitting 
 and musing on a text of scripture one morning in my 
 house, the following words were darted into my mind 
 with wonderful power, and seemed indeed like a voice 
 from heaven, " Cease from thine own works." Before 
 I heard these words, my mind was in a very unusual 
 calm, but as soon as I heard them, my soul was in a 
 tempest, and the tears flowed from my eyes like a 
 torrent; the scales fell from my eyes immediately, and 
 I clearly saw the rock I had been splitting upon^or 
 near thirty years. Do you ask me what this rock >i^s ? 
 Why, it was some secret reliance on my own works, 
 for salvation. I had hoped to be saved partly by my 
 ovfn name, and partly by Christ's name, though I am 
 
 ■ 
 
 M:.Mk., 
 
" 
 
 REV. MR. BEIIRIDCE. 
 
 5 
 
 
 tola there is salvation in no other name, except the nain« 
 of Jesus Christ. I had hoped to be saved partly by my 
 own works, and partly through the merits of Christ; 
 though I am told, we are saved by grace through faith 
 and not of works, (Eph. ii. 8,0.) 1 had hoped to make 
 myself acceptable to God, partly through my own good 
 works, though we are told we are accepted through the 
 beloved, (Eph. i. 6.) I had hoped to make my peace 
 with God, partly through my own obedience to his laws, 
 though I am told that peace is only to be had by faith, 
 (Rom. V.) I had hoped to make myself a child of God 
 by sanctification, though I am told we are made child- 
 ren of God by faith in Jesus Christ, (Gal. iii. 26.) I 
 had thought that sanctification was the way to justifica- 
 tion, but I now see that we must first be justified by 
 faith, before we can have any true sanctification by the 
 Spirit. When we are justified, it is done freely and 
 graciously, without the least merit of ours, and solely 
 by the Grace of God, through the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 (Rom. iii. 24, 28.) All that is previously necessary to 
 justification is this, that we be convinced by the Spirit 
 of God of our own sinfulness, (Isa. Ixiv. 6;) convinced 
 that we are children of wrath by nature, on account of 
 our birth-sin, (Eph. ii. 3.) and that we are under the 
 curse of God, on account of our actual sin (Gal. iii. la* 
 and under these convictions, come to th- Lord Jesus 
 Christ, renouncing all our righteousness, i^Jer. xxiii. 6. 
 Again, Christ says, come tome all ye that are heavy 
 laden (with the burden of sin) and I will give you pest; 
 that is, I will take the burden away, I will release you 
 from the guilt of sin; where you may observe, the only 
 thing required of us when we come to Christ is, to 
 come burdened and sensible that none can remove our 
 sins but Christ alone, Hear how he cries out, in Isa. 
 Iv. 1, "Ho everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the 
 waters; come ye, buy wine and milk (which are the 
 blessings of the Gospel) without money and without 
 
6 LETTKROFTIIE 
 
 price," viz: we must not think to make a purchase of 
 these blessings, by any deserts of ours; they are offer- 
 ed freely, that is graciously, and must be received 
 freely; nothing more is required of us, but to thirst 
 after them. Why was the Pharisee rejected ? (Luke 
 xviii. 16,) because he came pleading his own works 
 before God; he was devout, just, chaste, abstemious, 
 and thanked God for enabling him to be so; well, so far 
 all was right; but he had some reliance on these works, 
 and therelbre he pleads the merit of them before God, 
 which shews; he, did not know what a sinner he was; 
 and that he could only be saved by grace through faith. 
 He opens his mouth before God, and pleads his own 
 cause, though God declares that every mouth shall be 
 stopped before him, and all the world be brought in guilty 
 4)efore God. (Rom. iii. 19.) And why was the publican 
 justified.'' Not on the account of his good works, but be- 
 cause he was sensible of his evil ones, and accordingly 
 came self-accused, self-condemned, and crying out for 
 mercy. Dear Sir, hear what is the rise and pro-iress 
 of religion in the sour of man. When the Spirit of God 
 hath convinced any person, that he is a child of wrath, 
 and under the curse of God, the heart of that person 
 bepmes broken for sin, and he feels what he never 
 knew before, viz: that he hath not faith, and accordingly 
 laments his evil heart of unbelief In this state all 
 men continue, some a longer, some a shorter time, till 
 God is pleased to work faith in them; then they are 
 justified and are at peace with God, (Rom. v. 1;) 
 they have their sins forgiven them, for this is the 
 meaning of the word peace, (Luke vii. 48, 50.) When 
 we have received faith from God, (for it is his gift, 
 Eph. ii. 9,) to justify our persons, then afterwards we 
 receive the Spirit, to sanctify our nature; (Eph, i. 13. 
 Gal. iii. 14,) and now the work of sanctification goes 
 forward: we are more" and more athirst for holiness, 
 the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the 
 
Rl 
 
 <t 
 
 UEV. MR. UERRIDCE. *♦ 
 
 Holy spirit; now ve arc fillrd with joy and peace in 
 believing, (Rom. xv. lH;) now wc rejoice with joy 
 unspeakable, and fuil of glory, (1 Pet. i. 8;) now 
 wc have the Spirit of God bearing witness with out 
 spirit that we are children of God, (Rom. viii. 10.) 
 These are strange things to believe ; nay, things which 
 every one must be a stranger to, till he is made a child 
 of God, in Jesus Christ. But to procee<l; though a 
 believer is moit-. and more sanctified in body, soiil, and 
 spirit, yet his hopes of heaven are not bitUt on his sanc- 
 tification, but on Chri.st by faith, [Col. ii. 10;] and that 
 the moment he seeks to be justified by his own obedience 
 to God's law, that moment he falls from grace, [Gal. v. 4. 
 Accordingly, though he labours to abound in all the 
 fruits of righteousness, he does not rely on them, but 
 on the righteousness of God, by faith, (Phil. iii. 8, 9.) 
 
 Now let me point out this grand delusion, which had 
 like to have decived my own soul. I saw very early 
 something of the unholiness of my nature, and the ne- 
 cessity of being born again. Accordingly, I watched, 
 prayed, and fasted too, thinking by these means to purify 
 my heart; whereas it can only be purified by faith, 
 (Acts XV. 9.) Watching, praying, and fasting, are 
 neccessary duties; but I like many others, placed some 
 secret reliance on them; thinking they were to do much 
 for me, in part at least, which Christ only could do. 
 The truth is, though I saw myself to be a sinner, and a 
 great sinner, yet I did not see myself on utter lost sin- 
 ner, Rnd therefore I would not come to Jesus Christ 
 alone for salvation. I despised the doctrine of justifica- 
 tion by faith alone ; looking on it as a foolish and dan- 
 gerous doctrine. I was not yet stript of all my right- 
 eousness. I had not considered it as filthy rags ; and 
 therefore went about to establish a righteousness of my 
 own, and did not submit to the righteousness of God by 
 faith, (Rom. x. 3.) I did seek for a righteousness 
 through faith, but as it were by the works of the law: 
 
8 
 
 LETPKR OF THE 
 
 thus I stumbled nnd fell, (Rom. ix. 33.) In short, to 
 make use of a homely expression, I put the justice ot 
 God in the one scale, and as many good works as I 
 could in the other, &c. I always found my good works 
 not to be a balance to the divine justice. I then threw 
 in Christ as a make-weight; and this every one does, 
 who hopes for salvation, partly by doing what he can 
 for himself, and then relying on Christ for the rest. 
 But, dear sir, Christ will be a whole Saviour, or none 
 at all; and if yoii have any good services of your own, 
 to recommend you to God, you are certainly without an 
 interest in Christ, be you ever so serious, sober, just, 
 and devout; you are still under the curse of God, and 
 know it not, as I was; provided you have any allowed 
 reliance on your own works, and think they are to do 
 something for you, and Christ the rest. 
 
 I now proceed to acquaint you with the success I 
 have lately had in my ministry. As soon as God had 
 opened my eyes, and shewed me the true way to sal- 
 vation, 1 began to preach it; and I dealt with my hear- 
 ers in a very different manner from what I used to do. 
 I told them plainly, they were children of wrath, and 
 under the curse of God, though they knew it not; and 
 that none but Jesus Christ could deliver them from the 
 curse. I asked them, if they had ever broken the law 
 of God once, in thought, word, or deed ? If they had, 
 then they were under the curse; for it is written, curs- 
 ed is every one that continueth not in all things written 
 in the book of the law to do them. And again, he that 
 keepeth the whole law, and yet offends in one pomt, he 
 is guilty of all. If, indeed, we could keep the whole 
 law without offending in one point; if we had done, 
 and could continue to do, all things contained in God*s 
 law, then indeed we might lay claim to eternal life, on 
 the score of our own works; but who is sufficient for 
 these things? If we break God's law, we immediate- 
 ly fall under the curse of it, and none can deliver us 
 
 \ 
 
RKV. MR. BEUKIDUE. 
 
 
 
 from the curse of it, but Jesus Christ. There is an end 
 for ever atler, of any juHtitication from our own woiks; 
 no future good behaviour can make any atonement ior 
 pant miscarriacroB. If I keep all God's laws to day 
 this is no amends for breaking them yesterday. It 1 
 behave peaceably to my neighbour this day, this is no 
 satisfaction for breaking his head yesterday. It, there- 
 fore I am once under the curse of God, for breaking 
 his laws, I can never after do any thing ot myself to 
 deliver me from the curse. I may cry out, "O wretch- 
 ed man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body 
 of sin and death !" If I am once a sinner, nothing 
 but the blood of Christ Jesus, can cleanse me from sin; 
 all my hopes are then in him, and I must flee to !iim, 
 as the only refuge set before me. In this manner, 
 dear Sir, I preached (and do preach), labounng to 
 V beat down all self-righteousness; labouring to shew 
 
 unconverted sinner, that they were in a lost and perisU- 
 inff condition, and, that nothing could recover them 
 out of this state, and make them children ol God, but 
 faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And now, see the con- 
 sequence. This was strange doctrine to my hearers ; 
 they were surprised, alarmed, and vexed; the okl 
 man, the carnal nature, was stirred up, and railed at 
 and opposed the truth ; however, the minds of most 
 were seized with some convictions, and the hearts ot 
 some were truly broken for sin; so that they came o 
 me as those mentioned in the Acts, thoroughly prick- 
 ed to the heart; crying out with strong and bitter cries. 
 - What must I do to be saved?" 1 then laid the pro- 
 mises before them, and told them, if they found them- 
 selves under the curse, Christ was ready to deliver 
 them from it; if they were really weary and heavy la- 
 . den, Christ would give them rest ; if their hearts were 
 broken for sin, and they would look up to Christ he 
 would heal them. I exhorted them also, to thank God 
 for these convictions, assuring tlxem that they were 
 
1 LKTTER OF tH fi 
 
 a token of good ; for God must smite beforie 1i\b cart 
 heal, (Isa. xix. 2*2.) I daily found, that they received 
 comfort from the promises ; and that, though they com- 
 plained much of the burden of sin, and of an evil heart 
 f"^ unbelief, yet they always went away comforted and 
 refreshed. Many have come to me in this manner, and 
 more are continually coming, and though some fall from 
 their first convictions, yet others cleave steadfast to the 
 Lord; they begin to rejoice in him, and to love him : 
 they love his word, and meditate much on it ; they ex- 
 ercise themselves in prayer, and adorn their profession 
 with a suitable life and conversation. And now let me 
 make one reflection : i preached up sanctification very 
 earnestly, for six years, in a former parish, and never 
 b**^ ight ouij soul to Christ : 1 did the same at this pa- 
 for two years, without any success at all; but as 
 
 </n as ever I preached Jesus Christ, and faith in his 
 blood, believers were added to the church continually. 
 Then people flocked from all parts to hear the glorious 
 sound of the gospel, some coming six miles, others eight, 
 and others ten, and that constantly. And now let me ask, 
 what was the reason why my ministry was not blessed, 
 when I preached up salvation, partly by -faith, and 
 partly by works .'* It was because this doctrine is not 
 of God, and he will prosper no ministers, but such as 
 preach salvation in his appointed way, viz., by faith in 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 Let me now apply myself to your own heart ; and 
 may God dispose you to receive my words in the spirit 
 of meekness. Indeed, Sir, I, love and respect you, 
 or else I could not have written to you so freely. Arc 
 you, then, in the same error that I was in for near 
 forty years, viz., that you must be saved, partly by 
 faith, and partly by works ? and have you constantly 
 reached this doctrine ? Then you may certainly bo 
 psflured of these two things; first, that you have never 
 arought one soul to Christ, and, secondly, that you 
 
REV. MR. BERRIDGE. . 1 1 
 
 arc not in the way to salvation yourself. O be not dis- 
 pleased with me fcr telling you the truth. But you 
 will say, perhaps, thnt you have not only been sincere, 
 but zealous in preaching the Word of Gcd : so was I: 
 but there is a zeal which is not according to knowledge ; 
 and that zeal I had. You may say, further, that you 
 have read and prayed much; so did I : but I still knew 
 nothing as I ought to know, till God was pleased to 
 shew me that I was blind; then I cried heartily to him 
 for light and direction. Dear Sir, will you attend to the 
 following advice ? it is very safe advice, be the state of 
 your soul what it may. Pray to God to lead you to the 
 knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus. Beseech God to 
 keep you in the truth, if you have received it; or if you 
 are in error, to reveal it unto you. if you will do this 
 heartily and constantly, God will not suffer you to abide 
 long in darkness, if indeed you are in darkness. 
 
 I now proceed to give you some further account of 
 myself. When I first came to the University, I applied 
 myself diligently to my studies, tninking human learn- 
 ing to be a necessary qualification for a divine, and 
 that none ought to preach unless he had taken a degree 
 in the University. Accordingly, I studied the classrics, 
 mathematics, logic, philosophy, metaphysics, and read 
 the works of our eminent divines; and this I did for 
 twenty years, and all the while was departing more 
 and more from the truth, as it is in Jesus, vainly hop- 
 ing to receive that light and instruction from human 
 wisdom, which only could be had from the Word of 
 God, and prayer. And,' dear Sir, during this time, I 
 was thought a Methodist by some people, only because 
 I was a little more grave, and took a little more pains 
 in my ministry than seme of my brethren ; but in truth 
 I was no Methodist at all, for I had no sort of acquain- 
 tance with them, and could not abide them, nor tlieir 
 fundamental doctrine of justification by faith ; and 
 thought it high presumption in any to preach, unk>»; 
 
I ,) LETTER OF THE 
 
 they had taken Holy Orders. But God was pleased 
 to open my eyes about half a year ago, he shewed 
 me, and taught me other things. Now I saw that no- 
 thing had kept me so much from the truth, as a desire 
 of human wisdom ; now I perceived it was as difficult 
 for a wise or learned man to be saved, as it was for a 
 rich man, or a nobleman, (1 Cor. i. 20;) now I saw, 
 that Gcd chose the foolish things of this world to con- 
 found the wise, and the weak things to confound the 
 mighty, for two plain reasons, that no flesh should glo- 
 ry in his presence, (1 Cor. i. 29, 30, 31;) and to. shew 
 that faith did not stand, nor v/as produced by the wis- 
 dom of man, but the power of God, and by the Spirit 
 of God, (1 Cor. ii. 5. 12.) Now, I saw every believer 
 was anointed by the Holy Ghost, and thereby led to 
 the knowledge of all necessary truths : now I saw that 
 the Methodist's doctrine of Justification by Faith, was 
 the verij doctrine of the Gospel, and did no longer won- 
 der at the success which those preachers meet with; whe- 
 tiier they are clergy or laymen, they preach the doctrine 
 of Christ, and Christ owns it, and many are added to the 
 church daily. But you will say these Methodists are 
 Hchismatics. Let us, therefore, examine this matter a 
 little. A schismatic is one that dissents and divides 
 from the Established Church, at least this is the general 
 mtion of schism. Now, I ask you, what you mean by 
 a church, or what is it that makes one church diflTer 
 from another. Schism consists in departing from the 
 dactrine of a church, and not in the departing from the 
 walls of a church. In the time of Sturbich fair, one 
 sermon is always preached by a fellow of a ccllege. or 
 a clergyman, at Cambridge. Now, I would ask ycu, 
 would you call this clergyman a schismatic' No, sure- 
 ly; and yet he preaches in the open fields, and upon 
 nnconsecraled ground. It is plain, schism does not con- 
 sist in preaching out of the walls of a church, but in 
 preaching contrary to the doctrine of the Gospel Chvnh, 
 
REV. MR. BERRIDGE. 
 
 13 
 
 And now, dear Sir, let me lay open my sin and shame 
 to you. I solemnly subscribed to the Articles of our 
 church, and gave my hearty consent to them; amongst 
 the rest, I declared, "We are accounted righteous 
 before God, only Or the merits of our Lord and Saviour 
 Jesus Christ, by faith, and not for our own works 
 and deservings;" that we are justified by faith only, as 
 it is expressed in the eleventh article. But I solemnly 
 subscribed to this article, and neither believed it, nor 
 preached it; but preached salvation, paitly by faith and 
 partly by works: and. Oh! what dreadful hypocricy was 
 this ! I called, and thought myself a church-man, though 
 I was a dissenter, and a schismatic, for I was far from the 
 fundamcnlal doctrine of our church, find the J undamenial 
 'doctrine of the gospel, namely, justification by faith only 
 and dreadful was my case. And yet, I fear, it is the 
 case of most of the clergy of England ; scarce any 
 preach, but justification by faith and works : and what 
 is the consequence ? Why, there is scarce any true 
 refiaion amongst us. Look around the parishes where 
 yoif live, and see whether you can find any thing be- 
 sides the form of religion? and not much jf that ! Nay, 
 among those that are thought religious people, who are 
 sober, just, and devout, who read, pra> , and give alms; 
 vou will scarcely find any one that knows any thing ot 
 the woitjer of religion, and has the experimental know- 
 ledge of it. For, ask such people, in the very words 
 of Scripture, whether, they know that Jesus Christ is 
 in them ? (2 Cor. xiii.) Whether they have i;eceiyed 
 an unction from the Holy One ? (1 John ii. 20.) Whe- 
 ther the love of God hath been shed abroad in their 
 hearts by the Holy Ghost ? And do they rejoice with 
 joy unspeakable, and full of glory ? Whether the Holy 
 Spirit bears witness with their spirit, that they are the 
 children of God ? (Rom. viii. 14, 15.) I say, it you 
 should ask the better sort of them, these questions, they 
 would stare at you with the utmost amazement, and 
 
I ^ LETTER OF THE 
 
 would think you an onthusiast, if they would not call 
 you so. Now such people as have a form of religion, 
 but none of the power, who ave oiitwardlij reformed, but 
 not inwardlij reneued hy the Holy Ghost, our Saviour 
 calls whited pepulchres, " beautiful without, but full 
 of rottenness within." They are striving to enter into 
 the kingdom of heaven, but are not able, because they 
 do not strive lawfully; for they do not seek«to enter in 
 by Jesus Christ, but partly by Christ, and partly by 
 themiclves; partly by faith, and partly by works. 
 These are almost, but not altogether christians ; and 
 if at any time, any among them happen to be seized 
 with deep convictions, and are made sensible of their 
 lost estate, and of their utler need of Christ, and that 
 they can only be justified by faith in his blood; these 
 people, not finding proper food for their souls in our 
 churches, are obliged to go some where else, and seek 
 it where they can find it. It is no wonder, therefore, 
 that there are so few zealous christians. Jf you 
 read the works of the good oh\ bishops, that were pub- 
 lished a hundred years ago, you will there find the gos- 
 pel of Christ preached; but since that time, I mean in 
 the last century, our clergy have been gradually de- 
 parting more and more from our doctrinal articles and 
 homilies; so that, at length, there is scarce a clergy- 
 man to be found, bat who preaches contrary to the 
 articles ' e subscribed. And almost all the sermons 
 that have been published in the last century, are full 
 of that soul-destroying doctrine, that is preached by 
 bishops and curates, that we are to be justified partly 
 by our own works, and partly by Christ's merits. Do 
 YOU ask how all the clergy came to fall into this per- 
 nicious doctrine? 1 answer, very easily; every ma,n 
 while he contiuues under the power of a o?irn,al mind, 
 and is not awakened to see his utter lost condition, is 
 iXaturaHy disposed to embrace this doctrine : for, not 
 being convinced by the Spirit of God, that all his righte- 
 
 . '. 
 
^REV. MR. BERRIDGE. |5 
 
 ousness 19 as fihhy rags, (Isa. Ixiv. 6;) and that he 
 IS without help and strength in himself, (Rom. v. G. 
 and xi. 6;) I say, not being convinced of this, he na- 
 turally goes about to establish some righteousness of 
 his own, and cannot submit to the righteousness of 
 God by faith : not being sensible yet of his lost and 
 helpless state, he must have some reliance on himself, 
 and instead of looking ivholly to Christ for salvatiorx, 
 he looks, partly to Christ, and partly to himsel^i. 
 Instead of seeking for ijighteousness and strength from 
 the Lord Jesus Christ, he seeks them partly from 
 Christ, and partly from himself. Instead of seeking to 
 be justified in the Lord, he seeks to be justified, partly 
 through the Lord, and partly through himself: but se« 
 what Christ says of this matter, (Isaiah xlv. 2*2 — 25.) 
 And nosv let me ask, how the whole Church of Romo 
 happened to depart from the gospel simplicity, and to 
 fall into this doctrine of works and faith, which wo 
 preach? It was owing to the depraved nature of man, 
 which makes him think himself to be something, and 
 that he can do something, though he is nothing, and 
 can do nothing to justify himself in God's sight. At 
 the Reformation, our church returned to Jesus Chi^i^t, 
 again placed justification on the Gospel footing of faith 
 only ; and so it continues to this day : but though our 
 articles continue sound, and our homilies evangelical^ 
 yet our clergy hav^ on,ce more depjirted from both, and 
 are advancing to Rome again with hasty strides; 
 pseaching, in spite of Articles and subscription, th.at 
 most pernicious, papistical, and damnal)lc doctrine of 
 faith and works. But I trust, God is once more visit- 
 in 't' in mercy our poor distressed church: he raised up 
 Mr. Whitefield and Messrs. Wesley about twenty ye^p« 
 ago, who have courageously and successfully preached 
 up this doctrine of our church; and he is daily raising 
 up mire and more clergymen. At Christmas last, I waa 
 informed there were forty clergyman, who were brought 
 
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 I 
 
 16 LETTER. 
 
 to the acknowledgment of the truth, and three more 
 have been added to the faith, within the last six weeks: 
 and, oh ! for ever adored be the mercy of God ! for 
 opening mine eyes, and leading me to the knowledge 
 oi'the truth as it is in Jesus. 
 
 I have sent you two books, and a pamphlet, and I 
 inake you a present of them; read them over carefully; 
 and before you begin to read at any time, look up to 
 the fountain of wisdom, for light and direction; for if you 
 rely on your own ability, or other men's labours, God 
 may keep you ignorant of his glorious gospel, as a 
 punishment for your presumption and neglect of him. 
 - When I sat down to write, I did not intend to fill 
 <nore than half a sheet, but when 1 took pen in hand, I 
 linew not how to lay it aside. I have written my sen* 
 timents with great freedom, and I hope without offence* 
 May God give a blessing to what I have written; may 
 he enlighten your eyes as he hath done mine, adored 
 be his name; may he lead you to the knowledge of the 
 truth as it is in Jesus; and make you instrumental in 
 bringing souls out of darkness into light, and translating 
 them out of the kingdom of Satan, into the glorious 
 kingdom of his dear Son: Amen! Amen! Wishing you 
 ihe best of blessings, I remain, fcri; ! -- 
 
 Your affectionate brother and servant, 
 ,^i «l in the I^ord Jesus Christ, 
 
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 JOHN BERRIDGt; i 
 
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