FIVE LETTERS, 
 
 ADDRESSED TO 
 
 THE REV. G. WILKINS, 
 
 VICAR OF ST. MARY'S, NOTTINGHAM; 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 STRICTURES ON SOME PARTS OF A PUBLICATION, 
 
 ENTITLED, 
 
 "BODY AND SOUL." 
 
 BY 
 
 THE REV. J. H. BROWNE, A. M. 
 
 ARCHDEACON OF ELY, RECTOR OF COTGRAVE, AND LATE FELLOW OP 
 ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE. 
 
 Scilicet ut possem curvo dignoscere rectum. 
 
 HOR. Epist. Lib. ii. Ep. 2. 
 
 Doth any man doubt, that if there were taken out of men's minds, vain 
 opinions, flattering hopes, false valuations, imaginations, as one would, and 
 the like; but it would leave the minds of a number of men, poor shrunken 
 things, full of melancholy and indisposition, and unpleasing to themselves? 
 
 Lord BACON'* Essays. 
 
 LONDON: 
 PRINTED FOR J. HATCHARD AND SON, 
 
 187, PICCADILLY ; 
 
 AND SOLD BY BARNETT AND STRETTON, NOTTINGHAM; COOMBE, 
 LEICESTER; AND DREWRY, DERBY. 
 
 1823.
 
 S. Ootnell, Printer, Little Queen Street, London.
 
 FIVE LETTERS, 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 REV. SIR, ' 
 
 A DISINCLINATION to engage in personal 
 controversy, combined with numerous avoca- 
 tions unnecessary here to be detailed, has hitherto 
 withheld me from noticing a work, part of which 
 is ascribed to your own pen, and of the whole 
 of which you are, as I have been given to under- 
 stand, the avowed and responsible editor. Much 
 as I reprobated the general spirit and tendency 
 of the publication to which I allude, I trusted 
 that the shallowness of its reasonings, and the 
 inaccuracy of its statements, would rapidly con- 
 sign it to merited oblivion. But, since recent 
 circumstances have demonstrated, that you are 
 resolved to omit no opportunity of casting inju- 
 rious reflections upon others, and of propagating 
 your own erroneous views, I cannot but think, 
 that it would evince a criminal supineness and 
 an unbecoming apathy in me, were I to remain 
 any longer silent. As you have deemed it ex- 
 
 I050617
 
 pedient to make an appeal to the tribunal of 
 public opinion, in support of the sentiments which 
 you have espoused, and have laboured very 
 strenuously to obtain a verdict of condemnation 
 against those to which you stand opposed, it 
 seems necessary to put in a plea on the contrary 
 side; lest superficial readers should be led to 
 mistake dogmatism for argument, ridicule for 
 truth, sophistry for sound reasoning: not that 
 it is my intention to analyse the whole work which 
 has given rise to the ensuing animadversions. 
 This would be to impose upon myself an irksome 
 and a bootless task ; a task which I have neither 
 time nor inclination to achieve. My object will 
 be to detect and expose some of the most pro- 
 minent errors which you have endeavoured to 
 disseminate, in the hope, that you may possibly 
 be induced in future to pause a little before you 
 venture to promulgate your ideas upon subjects 
 which you have shown yourself so incompetent to 
 handle. 
 
 Conscious how little weight my own indivi- 
 dual opinions can be expected to carry with them, 
 I will endeavour to disarm your prejudices by 
 sheltering them under the sanction of authorities, 
 the validity of which cannot, with any show of 
 justice, be impeached. Indeed, I am solicitous 
 to make this short address the vehicle rather of 
 the sentiments of others, than of my own, upon 
 some important points of Christian doctrine and 
 Christian practice.
 
 When I first opened your work, entitled, 
 " Body and Soul," what was my astonishment to 
 find in the very first page of the preface, the 
 following extraordinary assertion! " Hence it 
 is, that one part of the Evangelical world ex- 
 cludes from the pale of genuine religion all who 
 have a cheerfulness of manner and a liveliness of 
 spirit, because, say they, these are signs of a 
 carnal and unconverted mind." Permit me here 
 to ask, what notion you wish your readers to affix 
 to the term " Evangelical?" Why have you not 
 favoured them with a definition of it? Clear, 
 logical definitions are indispensably requisite in 
 every species of controversial writing, and espe- 
 cially in theological controversy. In the present 
 case, however, I presume, from the context, that 
 though you have not defined the word, you intend 
 by it to designate that portion of the clergy to 
 which it is frequently applied as a term of re- 
 proach. If this be the case, I am willing to par- 
 ticipate in the contumely, being persuaded that 
 the offence of the cross has not yet ceased *, and 
 that he who aims to preach the doctrines of the 
 Gospel faithfully, must expect to encounter the 
 odium of some vituperative epithet *|~. Con- 
 
 * Gal. v. 11. 
 
 f Our blessed Saviour has declared, that it is enough for 
 the disciple to be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If 
 they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, hoiv much 
 more shall they call them of his household? (Matt. x. 25.) 
 And does not the whole tenour of ecclesiastical history go to 
 
 A3
 
 ceiving, therefore, that under the term " Evan- 
 gelical " you mean to include all those who, with 
 
 substantiate the truth involved in this question ? Does not 
 every one who is conversant with the scurrilous effusions of the 
 Papists at the era of the Reformation, know, that they were 
 accustomed to stigmatize the Protestants by the appellations 
 of " Calvinists," " Lutherans," " Zuinglians," " Gospellers," 
 Sec. I 1 In allusion to their practice of substituting opprobrious 
 names in the place of argument Dr. Tulke, the author of an 
 elaborate confutation of the Rhemish Notes on the New Testa- 
 ment, which the Papists put forth in the reign of Queen Eliza- 
 beth, in order to oppose the doctrines of the Reformation, 
 makes the following statement in reply to their Annotation on 
 Acts, xi. 26, where St. Luke mentions, that the disciples uere 
 called Christians Jirst at Antioch. "We "(viz. the Protestants) 
 " acknowledge no names but of Christian Catholics. The 
 names of Calvinists and Lutherans, &c. are but slanders 
 by you invented, as the names of Athanasians, Alexandrians, 
 Homousians, were by the Arian heretics." See Dr. Fulke's 
 work, in loco. To descend to more modern times : that 
 elegant scholar and able writer, the late Dr. Knox, has given, 
 in his " Christian Philosophy,'* an extract from a work entitled, 
 " The Preacher," written by Dr. John Edwards, an eminent 
 divine, who lived in the beginning of the last century ; which 
 extract affords an additional illustration of the propensity to 
 affix opprobrious names to those, whose sole and single aim it 
 is to declare the whole counsel of God for the salvation of man. 
 " How seldom,'' says Dr. John Edwards, " are' the people in- 
 formed about the true nature of regeneration, or the new 
 birth? How seldom is the absolute necessity of the know- 
 ledge of Christ as a Mediator, insisted' upon ? It is rare to 
 hear the preacher speak of, and maintain, the absolute necessity 
 of being supernaturally enlightened, in order to the right and 
 saving understanding of the, things of God : nay, how often 
 do we hear the contrary ? I have known that when some of
 
 me, are impressed with the conviction, that to 
 preach the total corruption of human nature, 
 justification by faith alone, and sanctification by 
 the Holy Spirit, is the most efficacious means of 
 converting sinners from the error of their way, 
 and, moreover, that these doctrines are not only 
 founded upon the immoveable basis of divine 
 revelation, but also closely interwoven with the 
 formularies of our Church ; I proceed to ask, 
 where, amongst the supporters of these doctrines, 
 have you found the individuals, who lay down 
 any such criterion of a carnal and unconverted 
 state, as that which you allege? I must declare, 
 for my own part, that 1 have never come in con- 
 tact with the person who held such an absurd 
 and irrational opinion ; and, I may add further, 
 that I have never heard of any such person. 
 
 It is true, that many of those, who are so un- 
 fortunate as to have become the objects of your 
 virulent invectives, may possibly differ from you in 
 their notions of "cheerfulness of manner" and 
 " liveliness of spirit." What you denominate the 
 
 those doctrines have been discoursed of by one in the pulpit, 
 it hath been said that he preached like a Presbyterian. But if 
 this be to preach like a Presbyterian, I pray heartily that the 
 number of Presbyterians may increase more and more ; and if 
 this be to preach like a Presbyterian, then all our Bishops, and 
 our Universities, and all our Divines, were Presbyterians, in 
 Queen Elizabeth and King James the First's days, and after- 
 ward ; for no man can have the face to deny, that these were 
 the doctrines that they openly professed and maintained." 
 Knox's Christian Philosophy, p. 214. 
 
 A4
 
 8 
 
 former, they may perhaps regard as frivolity of 
 disposition ; what you denominate the latter, they 
 may regard as levity of demeanor. It has been 
 often observed, that vice will sometimes put on 
 the semblance of virtue. The spendthrift will 
 style his extravagance, generosity ; and the miser 
 will disguise his covetousness under the specious 
 name of frugality. In the same manner, the un- 
 restrained effusions of merriment and joviality, 
 which flow from a copious supply of animal spirits, 
 may sometimes be mistaken for the unsophisti- 
 cated cheerfulness resulting from pure religion. 
 In fact, the joy of the Christian, and the mirth 
 and gaiety, which are to be found in the giddy 
 circles of dissipation, are as dissimilar in their 
 nature, as they are in their origin, and will be in 
 their end. The former arises from peace of con- 
 science, a well-grounded hope of reconciliation 
 with God, the diligent discharge of every social 
 and relative duty, and the prospect of future 
 glory through the alone merits of the Saviour : 
 the latter are but too often the transient ebullitions 
 of a heart, which has contrived for 3, time to forget 
 its anguish, and (to adopt a similitude made use 
 of by the inspired Preacher) resemble the crack- 
 ling of thorns under a pot *, which emit a tempo- 
 rary coruscation of light, and afterward expire in 
 darkness. As there is a sorrow of' the world which 
 worketh death, and a godly sorrow which worketh 
 
 * Eccles. vii. 6.
 
 repentance to salvation not to be repented of* : so, 
 also, there is a worldly joy of which it may be 
 said, Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; and 
 the end of that mirth is heaviness^- ; and, on the 
 other hand, there is a peace of God which passeth 
 all understanding %, and a joy and peace in be- 
 lieving . 
 
 * 2 Cor. vii. 10. f Prov. xiv. 13. $ Phil. iv. 7. 
 
 Rom. xv. 13. However paradoxical it may seem, even 
 the tears of the true Christian will in many instances afford 
 him more genuine delight, as being evidences of his re- 
 newed state, than all the pleasures and amusements of the 
 world. The amiable Fenelon, Archbishop of Cambray, makes 
 the following beautiful observations on Matt. v. 4 ; which the 
 reader, I trust, will not consider irrelevant to the present sub- 
 ject : " What new kind of tears are these, saith St. Augustin, 
 which render those happy who shed them? This happiness 
 consists in being afflicted for the wickedness of the world, the 
 many dangers which surround us, and the inexhaustible corrup- 
 tion of our hearts. It is a great gift of God to fear losing his 
 love to fear lest we should wander from the strait way. 
 The saints shed tears for this. It is difficult to rejoice while in 
 danger of losing what one values most, and of losing one's self 
 with it. It is impossible not to be afflicted, while all one sees is 
 but vanity, error, offences, forgetfulness, and contempt of the 
 God we love. We ought to weep at so many sad occasions of 
 sorrow; our affliction shall be pleasing to God. He himself 
 inspires it ; the love of him causes our tears to flow, and he 
 shall himself wipe them from our eyes." Reflections for every 
 Day in the Month, translated from the French of Fenelon, 
 Archbishop of Cambray, p. 61. Upon the nature of spiritual 
 joy likewise the same pious Catholic makes these just reflections 
 " All men seek for peace, but they seek whence it is not to 
 be found. They seek it in the world, which is ever promising, 
 but can never give us a solid peace : that is the gift of Christ
 
 10 
 
 Whatever may be the horror with which you 
 recoil at the ideas of excessive gravity and serious- 
 ness * of deportment ; and, whatever may be the 
 earnestness with which you deprecate the appear- 
 ance of any tinge of melancholy in a religious 
 character, you must, I should think, admit, that 
 (in the members of our profession at least) it is 
 safer to incline to this temperament, than to 
 habits of overflowing mirth and hilarity. The opi- 
 nion of that primitive and heavenly-minded clergy- 
 man, George Herbert, upon this question, may 
 be clearly seen in that admirable portraiture which 
 
 alone, who reconciles man to himself, subdues the passions, 
 sets bounds to the desires, inspires the hopes of eternal happi- 
 ness, and gives the joy of the Holy Ghost; such a joy as 
 persists in the midst of suffering, and flowing from an inexhaust- 
 ible source, becomes a perpetual fountain of delight, which 
 the malignity of mankind can never interrupt or diminish." 
 P. 56. 
 
 * " Memorable," says Bishop Home, " are the words of 
 a great statesman of our own, when, because he seemed 
 pensive and thoughtful, towards the close of his days, some 
 court buffoons were sent to divert him. ' While we laugh, all 
 things are serious about us. God is serious, when he pre- 
 serveth us, and hath patience towards us. Christ was se- 
 rious, when he died for us. The Holy Spirit is sdrious, when 
 he striveth with us. The Scripture is serious, when it is 
 read before us. Sacraments are serious, when they are ad- 
 ministered to us. The whole creation is serious, in serving 
 God and us. Angels are serious above, while they wait 
 for our conversion. Evil spirits are serious below, in endea- 
 vouring to effect our destruction. And shall not man be 
 serious, who of all other creatures hath most reason to be 
 so? '" Bishop Home's Sermons, vol. iv. p. 128.
 
 11 
 
 he delineates of " The Country Parson." The 
 following extract from that interesting and in- 
 structive little work, contains the whole of a short 
 chapter, the running title of which is, " The 
 Parson in Mirth." "The country parson is gene- 
 rally sad, because he knows nothing but the 
 cross of Christ, his mind being defixed on it with 
 those nails wherewith his Master was : or, if he 
 have any leisure to look off from thence, he meets 
 continually with two most sad spectacles, sin and 
 misery; God dishonoured every day, and man 
 afflicted. Nevertheless, he sometimes refresheth 
 himself, as knowing that nature will not bear 
 everlasting droopings, and that pleasantness of 
 disposition is a great key to do good ; not only 
 because all men shun the company of perpetual 
 severity, but also for that when they are in com- 
 pany, instructions, seasoned with pleasantness, 
 both enter sooner, and root deeper. Wherefore he 
 condescends to human frailties, both in himself 
 and others, and intermingles some mirth in his 
 discourses occasionally, according to the pulse of 
 the hearer*." 
 
 I have insisted the longer upon this point at 
 the outset -}~, because I was anxious to expose, in 
 
 * The Clergyman's Instructor ; or, Collection of Tracts on 
 the ministerial Duties. Printed at Oxford, at the Clarendon 
 Press, 1813. P. 75. 
 
 f It was the more necessary to dwell somewhat at large 
 upon this erroneous assumption, because the supposed pro- 
 scription of every thing like cheerfulness in religious cha-
 
 12 
 
 li mine, the most strange misconstruction of the 
 sentiments of others, that ever fell under my 
 observation. Before you had the temerity to 
 hazard such a proposition as that contained in the 
 second sentence of the preface to your work, you 
 ought, upon every fair and equitable principle, 
 to have made yourself better acquainted with the 
 opinions of those individuals whose tenets you 
 were about to investigate, and whose conduct 
 you purposed to make the subject of your ridicule 
 and invective. 
 
 I am, Rev. Sir, 
 
 Your obedient Servant, 
 
 J. H. BROWNE. 
 
 racters frequently excites the sarcastic sneer in subsequent 
 parts of the work. Thus, at page 61, a young lady is in- 
 troduced, of whom it is said, that she " was one of those 
 serious persons of whom we now hear so much, who con- 
 sider themselves more religious than others, by assuming an 
 austerity and gloominess of manners both unnatural and 
 unreasonable." At page 87, the family of " the sick peni- 
 tent " is cautioned against being " led to suppose, that groans, 
 austerity of manners, and want of spirits, are any proofs by 
 which to know the true followers of the Saviour." And 
 again, at page 179, in reference to three female individuals, 
 it is observed ; " These young ladies, though well educated, 
 and endowed with all the accomplishments of elegant life, 
 had estranged themselves from every thing that couid be 
 
 construed into cheerfulness of disposition or manners. 
 
 Their reading was all of one kind and cast, and calculated to 
 inspire dread instead of composure. They kept up a corre- 
 spondence with persons at a distance, whose minds were as sad 
 and gloomy as their own."
 
 13 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 REV. SIR, 
 
 HAVING, in my first letter, disclaimed 
 the intention of following you through all that 
 labyrinth of error into which you have endeavour- 
 ed to conduct your readers, I shall proceed to 
 touch only upon those points in the work itself, 
 which appear to me to involve the most serious 
 and important considerations. The first of these 
 which attracts my notice, and which affords the 
 most glaring proof either of your ignorance of the 
 subjects which you undertake to discuss, or of 
 the little caution which you exercise, lest you 
 should be guilty of misrepresentation, occurs in 
 the " Philosophical Painter." Miss Lorraine, 
 the daughter of this infidel philosopher, who is 
 the hero of the tale, speaking of those persons, 
 whose religious opinions it seems to be your great 
 aim to controvert, observes, at page 17; " Others 
 will tell you, that the mere act of faith is all 
 that is required ; and others, that unless the Holy 
 Spirit makes choice of you to draw you willingly 
 or unwillingly to seek after divine truths, you can 
 never discover them." The assumed errors, to 
 which Miss L. alludes, you thus endeavour to 
 2
 
 14 
 
 refute at page 18 : " As to what some affirm, that 
 a faith in the Saviour is alone sufficient for salva- 
 tion hereafter, if by faith be meant only a bare 
 belief in the Redeemer, it constitutes, in my 
 opinion, only one half of the Christian's duty; 
 and with respect to what others declare, that 
 the Spirit of God involuntarily* draws men 
 to seek knowledge of him, depend upon it, Mr. 
 Lorraine, unless you yourself are desirous of 
 knowing divine truth, you will never acquire it." 
 
 In these passages, it is plainly intimated, that 
 the same individuals, who consider cheerfulness 
 of temper as a proof of an unconverted state, 
 fall into the additional absurdity of holding a 
 doctrine which represents man as a mere passive 
 machine, acted upon by some extrinsic physical 
 necessity propelling him to the search after divine 
 truth without the concurrence of his own will, 
 and against his own consent. In reply to the 
 %'.' - > 
 
 * The grammatical construction of this member of the sen- 
 tence is as incorrect, as the sentiment implied in it is errone- 
 ously ascribed to Dr. Freeman's opponents. By connecting 
 the adverb " involuntarily " with the verb " draw " instead of 
 the verb "seek," a mode of operation is predicated of the 
 Holy Spirit of God, which it is almost blasphemy to utter. 
 With regard to Dr. F.'s views of justifying or saving faith, I 
 shall haVe an opportunity of analyzing them, when I come to 
 the " Clerical Conference.'' In the mean time I will only re- 
 mark, that if a "bare belief in the Redeemer" constitutes 
 one half of the Christian's duty, then the unclean spirit, men- 
 tioned in Mark, i. 23, 24-, which exclaimed, / knotn thee, 
 who thou art, the Holy One of God t was half a Christian. . * y
 
 15 
 
 latter insinuation, I have no hesitation in affirm- 
 ing, that it is as completely destitute of all found- 
 ation as the former. Surely it would be more 
 satisfactory to your readers, as well as more 
 creditable to yourself, if you would endeavour to 
 collect something in the shape of probable testi- 
 mony, in order to substantiate allegations of 
 this nature. What must your readers think of 
 your candour, if, upon mere surmise, and with- 
 out any examination, you impute to others the 
 most irrational, extravagant, and unscriptural 
 notions? What must they think of your sense 
 of justice and propriety, if, knowing that the 
 charges which you prefer are wholly unsupported 
 by evidence, you are still determined to fasten 
 such imputations upon those who would disclaim 
 them in the most decisive and unqualified man- 
 ner? Examine the writings of Cecil, of Venn, 
 of Robinson, of Scott, and of many eminent 
 living authors, whose doctrinal views are more 
 or less in unison with theirs, and see if you can 
 find in them any thing which will impart even 
 some degree of verisimilitude to your assertions. 
 If you should find your search unavailing, I 
 should hope that you would henceforth study a 
 little more accuracy in your statements of the 
 opinions of others, and that you would not sub- 
 stitute gratuitous and unfounded assumptions in 
 the room of clear and irrefragable proofs. 
 
 Having lately had an opportunity of avowing 
 my sentiments upon the freedom of the human
 
 16 
 
 will, I beg lea veto refer you to the second Number 
 of the Appendix to my last Charge, where they 
 will be found. At the same time being unwilling 
 to obtrude my own private judgment upon this 
 abstruse and difficult subject, I preferred com- 
 municating those sentiments in the language of 
 our own Church, of the confessions of the fo- 
 reign reformed churches, and of those eminent 
 divines, Melancthon, Tindal, Taylor, and Ham- 
 mond. To these I will here subjoin another tes- 
 timony, taken from the writings of Archbishop 
 Sandys, not only on account of its own intrinsic 
 excellence, but also on account of the ingenious 
 illustration of his views, given in the life of the 
 Archbishop prefixed to his Sermons by that pro- 
 found scholar and distinguished antiquary the 
 late Dr. Whitaker. The Archbishop*, speaking 
 
 * The value of Archbishop Sandys's opinions relative to 
 the great doctrines of Christianity, as they are held by the 
 Church of England, is thus stated by the learned editor of 
 his Sermons : " The peculiar circumstances of the Church of 
 England at present, and the controversies which agitate the 
 minds even of her own members, with respect to the sense of 
 several of her Articles, render it an object of no little import- 
 ance, to ascertain what were the sentiments of Archbishop 
 Sandys on most, if not all, of those subjects. For, living as 
 he did in habits of intimacy with the compilers of our Articles, 
 and filling one of the highest stations in the Church, immedi- 
 ately after they were compiled, it is surely a fair inference, 
 that he preached and taught the unsophisticated sense of the 
 Church in which he presided." Dr. Whi taker's Life of the 
 Author, p. liii.
 
 of the Papists, observes " As they hide that 
 weakness, which indeed they have, so they boast 
 of that strength which is not in them. For, being 
 subject unto miserable bondage under sin, by 
 reason of that corruption which hath spread itself 
 over all flesh, they brag notwithstanding of the 
 freedom of their will ; as if sin had not utterly 
 bereaved us thereof, but still it were in us to frame 
 and fashion our own hearts unto good things. For 
 proof whereof, their manner is to make long dis- 
 courses, teaching, that God's fore-knowledge doth 
 not take away free-will, that men are not violently 
 drawn to good or evil. Which things we easily 
 and willingly grant ; neither do we teach, nor 
 ever did, that the freedom of our will is taken 
 away by the eternal decree of his unsearchable 
 purpose: but this we say, and all who have the 
 truth do say the same, that the will of man, being 
 free unto natural and civil actions, hath of itself 
 no freedom to desire things heavenly and spiritual; 
 not because the eternal purpose of God, but because 
 the corruption of our nature, hath addicted us 
 only unto evil. We do not teach, nor ever did, that 
 any man is the servant either of sin or of right- 
 eousness by constraint ; for, whether we obey the 
 one unto death and condemnation, or unto life 
 and salvation the other, our obedience is always 
 voluntary ; it is not wrested from us against our 
 wills. But the question being, how we are made 
 willing unto that which is good, this is the differ- 
 ence between our answer and theirs : we say only, 
 
 B
 
 18 
 
 by the grace of God ; they say, partly by grace, 
 but principally by the power and strength of their 
 own nature. For, being ashamed to affirm with 
 Pelagius, that a man may do the works of right- 
 eousness by nature, without the grace of God, 
 they hold his grace to be a thing indeed necessary. 
 But how? as a bird that is tied, or a man that is 
 in fetters, needeth only to have those incum- 
 brances removed, having then a natural ability to 
 fly and walk without any further help ; so man, as 
 they say, hath in himself ability to do good, if the 
 grace of God do but remove lets *." 
 
 Upon the foregoing statement relative to the 
 freedom of the human will, Dr. Whitaker, in his 
 Life of the author, makes the following judicious 
 observations : " On the difficult subject of the 
 will, his opinion appears to have been, that man 
 having been created with a mind perfectly at 
 liberty with respect to all its volitions whether 
 civil or spiritual, underwent so total a change in 
 consequence of the first transgression, that while 
 this faculty remained free with respect to civil ob- 
 jects, it was so fettered with respect to spiritual ob- 
 jects, that it no longer retained the power of ex- 
 erting itself, but required the aid of divine grace, 
 to place it in a capacity of acting any more. 
 
 " But from the Archbishop's acute distinction-}- 
 
 * Sermons by Dr. Edwin Sandys, formerly Archbishop of 
 York, p. 25. 
 
 f A similar distinction was made before the time of Arch- 
 bishop Sandys by Dr. Robert Barnes, one of the earliest Eng-
 
 of the freedom of the will towards civil actions, and 
 the natural want of such freedom with respect to 
 spiritual, or, in other words, a will in the one 
 case, and no will in the other, one very important 
 theological consequence may be deduced. It re- 
 moves the apparent inconsistency of calling upon 
 men to exert themselves, while they are taught 
 their own inability, and the necessity of divine 
 grace preventing them. 
 
 " To illustrate this by a familiar example. A 
 man has the same natural freedom to go to church 
 which he has to go to market : but he has by na- 
 
 Hsh Reformers, and one of that noble army of martyrs, who 
 sealed their testimony with their blood. " In this article," 
 says he, " will we not dispute, what man may do by the com- 
 mon influence given him of God over these inferior and worldly 
 things, as what power he hath in eating and drinking, in sleep- 
 ing and speaking, in buying and selling, and in all other such 
 natural things, that be given of God indifferently to all men, 
 both to good and bad ; but here will we search what strength is 
 in man, of his natural power, without the Spirit of God, for 
 to will, or to do those things that be acceptable before God, 
 unto the fulfilling of the will of God : as to believe in God, to 
 love God after his commandments, to love justice for itself, to 
 take God for his Father, to reckon him to be merciful unto him, 
 to fear God lovingly, with all other things that men do call 
 good works; this is the thing that we will search to know. 
 Now, that he can do nothing in these causes by his free-will, 
 our Master Christ proveth it in these words ; He that abideth in 
 me, and I in him, bringeth Jbrlh much fruit, for "without me can 
 ye do nothing ; if a man abide not in me, he is cast out as a branch, 
 and shall burn. (John, xv.)'' Fathers of the English Church, 
 vol. i. p. 590.
 
 20 
 
 
 
 ture no freedom of the will, to resort to the former 
 for any saving or spiritual purposes. He cannot, 
 without the assistance of divine grace, fear or love, 
 or serve God, or desire his glory, which are the 
 proper motives for attending upon the means of 
 grace. 
 
 " Now the allowance of freedom in the will, 
 with respect to natural and civil objects of volition 
 as connected with spiritual, is accompanied with 
 this advantage, that if in all cases, that faculty 
 were equally extinct, or equally restrained, it 
 would be difficult to say on what principles per- 
 sons not in a state of grace could be exhorted to 
 seek for it in the use of means, or what indeed 
 they would have to do, but to wait without exer- 
 tion till it came of itself. 
 
 " But upon this principle we are enabled to say 
 to such unhappy persons : It is true, that you 
 cannot without divine grace, seek and serve God 
 as you ought ; but your own understandings may 
 inform you of what is your best interest ; the 
 doors of the church stand open ; you have the 
 use of your limbs, your eyes, your ears ; you 
 labour under no physical disability to resort 
 thither, more than to any other place. God has 
 ordinarily limited the conveyance of his graces to 
 the use of means and ordinances; and if you neg- 
 lect them, you perish, not from any invincible 
 want of grace, but from the wilful neglect of a 
 freedom, which you really possess, to put yourself
 
 21 
 
 in the way of them ; a neglect for which you are 
 fairly responsible *." 
 
 In the hope that this clear and forcible illus- 
 tration of the important distinction between civil 
 and spiritual actions as objects of the human will, 
 may contribute to rectify your erroneous notions -f- 
 relative to this point, 
 
 I am, Rev. Sir, 
 
 Your obedient Servant, 
 
 J. H. BROWNE. 
 
 * Dr. Whitaker's Life of Archbishop Sandys, p. Iv. 
 
 f I should hope that the reader will find in the copious ex- 
 tracts given above, a sufficient antidote to the ribaldry contained 
 in the " Sea Captain ; " and, therefore, that it would be su- 
 perfluous to enter upon an exposure of the fallacies which per- 
 vade that portion of " Body and Soul."
 
 22 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 REV. SIR, 
 
 I COME now to the examination of a 
 very important part of your work, your delineation 
 of the character of a " Sick Penitent." I call it 
 important, because the reader may here expect to 
 find a touchstone of your real sentiments upon the 
 great fundamentals of religion ; a lucid develope- 
 ment of your views upon the most essential points 
 of faith and practice; and a detailed exposition of 
 the manner in which you unfold to the sinner the 
 nature and extent of his spiritual exigencies, and 
 the sufficiency of the salvation revealed in the 
 Gospel to meet his every want. Indeed the whole 
 scheme of the Gospel dispensation may with pro- 
 priety be denominated a remedial scheme. Find- 
 ing man sunk in sin and obnoxious to punishment, 
 it reveals to him a Saviour, by whom atonement 
 for iniquity has been made, and the infliction of 
 deserved punishment has been averted. Finding 
 him bewildered with fruitless and unavailing in- 
 quiries relative to his ultimate destination, and his 
 prospects beyond the grave, it brings life and im- 
 mortality to light, and displays an eternity of
 
 23 
 
 bliss or of misery which awaits him, when he has 
 passed through the successive stages of this proba- 
 tionary scene. Finding him by nature selfish and 
 prone to the indulgence of unsocial passions, it 
 teaches him to deny himself, and to cultivate every 
 humane and generous affection. Thus faith leads 
 the penitent sinner to look with believing con- 
 fidence to the righteousness of Christ, as the sole 
 ground of his justification, and of his final accept- 
 ance with God. Hope induces him to place his 
 anchor within the vail, and stimulates his exer- 
 tions by the anticipation of the transcendent glo- 
 ries of his heavenly inheritance. Charity sheds 
 its benign influence upon his heart, filling it with 
 love to God, and expanding it with feelings of 
 genuine benevolence towards all mankind. By 
 the regenerating operation of the Holy Spirit, 
 these graces are implanted in the soul, which thus 
 becomes gradually purified from its former pollu- 
 tions, and renewed after the image of God in 
 righteousness and true holiness *. How supremely 
 excellent then is a dispensation which has provided 
 a remedy adapted to every case, that as by one 
 mans disobedience many were made sinners, so by 
 the obedience of one many should be made righ- 
 teous -f~ ; and that where sin abounded, grace should 
 much more abound %! How wonderful the good- 
 ness of God in taking occasion from man's trans- 
 gression to display in a more signal manner his 
 
 * Eph. iv.24'. f Rom. v. 19. t Rom. v. 20.
 
 24 
 
 own perfections ; to exalt his mercy, without com- 
 promising the demands of his justice, or de- 
 grading the honour of his law ! 
 
 Let us now see what is the practical light in 
 which you regard these great truths of Revelation, 
 and in what manner you endeavour to render them 
 profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, 
 for instruction in righteousness *. At page 69 of 
 your work, you represent yourself (under the ficti- 
 tious name of Dr. Freeman) as solicited to attend 
 in your ministerial capacity upon the sick bed of 
 a poor man, whose life seemed to be drawing to a 
 close from the effects of a lingering consumption. 
 After having described the forlorn habitation in 
 which he lay, you state that upon a table near his 
 bed were placed " a Bible, a Prayer Book, and a 
 few misnamed f Religious Tracts/ " with the as- 
 sistance of which some persons had been trying 
 '? to enlighten his understanding, to open his eyes 
 to faith and grace, and to convert his sinful soul." 
 Although their attempts to produce these effects, 
 which you appear to consider as irreligious, proved 
 abortive, yet it seems " that they had confused his 
 ideas and unhinged his tranquillity." 
 
 Now, let me ask, grounding my inquiries upon 
 your own representation of the case, and upon the 
 poor man's own admissions, what was there so 
 deserving of censure in these attempts ? Did not 
 his mind stand most urgently in need of spiritual 
 
 * 2 Tim. iii. 16.
 
 25 
 
 illumination? Was it not absolutely requisite to 
 open his eyes to the necessity of justifying faith 
 and sanctifying grace ? Did not his sinful soul 
 stand in need of conversion ? It is true, he might 
 not have been " a notorious sinner." He might 
 not have been profligate or profane, dishonest or 
 licentious. He might not have been guilty of 
 those vices, which blast the character, undermine 
 the constitution, or subject the unhappy criminal 
 to the penal inflictions of human laws. But still, 
 according to your own statement, he had been 
 " a stranger to God ;" and from his own confes- 
 sion, he had yet to learn " how to pray and to be 
 truly good." Nay more: though he had been regu- 
 lar in his attendance at church at least once a day, 
 yet he candidly acknowledged that " it was rather 
 as a matter of course, than from any love of 
 God, or a proper motive of serving him." In 
 other words, he had been living without God in 
 the world ; had spent upwards of fifty years in the 
 habitual neglect of the first and great command, 
 ment ; and, though he had not renounced all the 
 forms of religion, he had never experienced its 
 power upon his soul. In short, he had been a 
 Christian in name only and outward profession 
 not in truth and reality. What an awful state ! 
 A rational, immortal, accountable creature stand- 
 ing upon the threshold of eternity, without ever 
 having sought in earnest for the pardon of his 
 sins, or the renewal of his nature ! Surely, if 
 there be none other name under heaven given
 
 26 
 
 among men, ivhereby we must be saved*, but only 
 the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and if the 
 Scriptures expressly declare that without holiness 
 no man shall see the Lord^c, there was no time 
 to be lost in urging such an one to repent and be 
 converted, that his sins might be blotted out%, and 
 to apply with humble, fervent, and importunate 
 prayer to the forgotten Saviour, and the neglect- 
 ed Sanctifier. 
 
 But you seem to think, because he was neither 
 Jew nor Heathen, that therefore nothing but the 
 officious zeal resulting from a " perverted intellect 
 and inflated spirituality ," could prompt any one 
 to try " to convert his sinful soul." If such be 
 your opinion, I will beg leave to submit to your 
 attentive perusal the following extract from a 
 sermon of Dr. Paley's, in which that able writer, 
 with his wonted perspicuity and precision, de- 
 scribes the characters of those to whom we should 
 preach the doctrine of conversion, and upon whom, 
 consequently, by parity of reason, we should en- 
 force the absolute necessity of conversion, when 
 we visit them in the tihie of sickness. " Now of 
 the persons in our congregations, to whom we 
 not only may, but must preach the doctrine of 
 conversion plainly and directly, are those, who 
 with the name indeed of Christians, have hitherto 
 passed their lives without any internal religion 
 
 * Acts, iv. 12. f Heb. xii. 14. 
 
 Acts, iii. 19. See page 71-
 
 27 
 
 whatever ; who have not at all thought upon the 
 subject ; who, a few easy and customary forms 
 excepted (and which with them are mere forms), 
 cannot truly say of themselves, that they have 
 done one action, which they would not have done 
 equally, if there had been no such thing as a 
 God in the world ; or that they have ever sacri- 
 ficed any passion, any present enjoyment, or even 
 any inclination of their minds, to the restraints 
 and prohibitions of religion ; with whom indeed, 
 religious motives have not weighed a feather in 
 the scale against interest or pleasure. To these 
 it is utterly necessary that we preach conversion. 
 At this day we hare not Jews and Gentiles to 
 preach to: but these persons are really in as 
 unconverted a state, as any Jew or Gentile could 
 be in our Saviour's time. They are no more 
 Christians as to any actual benefit of Christianity 
 to their souls, than the most hardened Jew or 
 the most profligate Gentile was in the age of the 
 Gospel As to any difference in the two cases, 
 the difference is all against them. These must be 
 converted, before they can be saved *." ? , f| 
 
 * Paley's Sermons, p. 127. The difficulty of the work of 
 conversion in a nominal Christian is represented by Bishop 
 Taylor in a light, which bears a very discouraging aspect upon 
 a late, or death-bed repentance. " If," says this pious and 
 eloquent writer, " Christianity be so excellent a religion, why 
 are so very many Christians so very wicked ? Certainly they 
 do not so much as believe the propositions and principles of
 
 28 
 
 Let us now examine in what terms you address 
 this pitiable individual; in what manner you un- 
 fold to him the great doctrines of the Gospel; in 
 short, in what way you fulfil the important func- 
 tion delegated to you as an " ambassador for 
 Christ" After having cautioned the poor man 
 against the spurious pretensions of empirics in 
 religion, you proceed to say, " The first thing, 
 which I would recommend you to do, is to search 
 your own heart, and endeavour to call to mind 
 those sins of which you have at any time been 
 guilty, and of which you have never repented. 
 When you have done this, in which your con- 
 science will be your guide, you must then humble 
 yourself before God, and sincerely, and as well 
 as you are able, pray to him that he will send 
 you his help to assist you to repent, and his 
 grace to make your repentance acceptable before 
 him. The consciousness of your sins will show 
 you the necessity of trusting yourself entirely to 
 his holy keeping and sacred guidance, throwing 
 aside all ideas of your own merits, and humbly 
 
 their own religion. For the body of Christians is so universally 
 wicked, that it would be a greater change to see Christians 
 generally live according to their profession, than it was at first 
 from infidelity to see them to turn believers. The conversion 
 from Christian to Christian, from Christian in title to Chris- 
 tian in sincerity, would be a greater miracle than it was when 
 they were converted from Heathen and Jew to Christian.'* 
 Bishop Taylor's Sermons, Supplement, p. 44. Fol. Edition.
 
 29 
 
 confessing your own nnworthiness and many 
 frailties*." 
 
 Upon this address, I must remark, in the 
 first place, that it exhibits the most vague, super- 
 ficial, and defective notions relative to the duty 
 and nature of repentance. If in discharging the 
 arduous and delicate office of visiting the sick, 
 you had ever employed a compilation made by 
 the celebrated author whom I have just quoted, 
 you would have found in it a view of the subject 
 very dissimilar to that which you have given. 
 Amongst the arguments and exhortations proper 
 to be adduced to move the sick man to repent- 
 ance, and confession of his sins, he suggests the 
 following, viz. " That repentance is a duty in- 
 dispensably necessary to salvation. That to this 
 end, all the preachings and endeavours of the 
 Prophets and Apostles are directed. That our 
 Saviour came down from heaven on purpose to 
 call sinners to repentance \ that as it is a necessary 
 duty at all times, so more especially in the time 
 of sickness, when we are commanded in a par- 
 ticular manner to set our house in order. That 
 it is a work of great difficulty, consisting in 
 general of a change of mind, and a change of 
 life. Upon which account it is called in Scrip- 
 ture, a state of regeneration, or new birth; a 
 conversion from sin to God; a being renewed in 
 the spirit of our minds; a putting off the old man, 
 
 * Page 76.
 
 m 
 
 which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts 
 of the flesh t and a putting on the new man, which 
 is created in righteousness and true holiness*" 
 
 But this is not the only point in which your 
 address lies open to objection. I have another 
 charge to bring against it, of still more grave 
 and serious import. THERE is A TOTAL OMISSION 
 
 SVEN OP THE MOST DISTANT ALLUSION TO THE 
 GREAT DOCTRINES OP THE ATONEMENT AND MEDIA- 
 TION OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST. 
 What was the practical effect which the " con- 
 siousness of his sins" was to have upon this un- 
 happy man? It was not to impress upon his 
 mind the salutary conviction, that without an 
 interest in his Saviour's merits, there could be 
 no salvation for him ; it was not to lead him with 
 penitential sorrow to the foot of the cross for 
 pardon and for peace; it was not to direct him 
 to the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of 
 the world; but it was to induce him to cast him- 
 self upon the uncovenanted mercies of God, 
 without ever reminding him, that he had incurred 
 a debt which he was unable to discharge, and 
 that the curse of the broken law hung over his 
 devoted head, and would inevitably consign him 
 to everlasting perdition, unless he could without 
 delay obtain an interest in that vicarious sacrifice, 
 
 * The Clergyman's Companion in visiting the Sick. By Dr. 
 Paley. P. 8.
 
 31 
 
 which is the only sure foundation of the sinner's 
 hope*. 
 
 After having given the story of the " Sick 
 Penitent " the most careful and attentive perusal, 
 I am constrained to declare, that it conveys to 
 my mind a most unfavourable impression of the 
 manner in which you discharge that very import- 
 ant branch of your ministerial functions the 
 visiting the sick. In this, as well as in other 
 parts of " Body and Soul," your thoughts are so 
 much absorbed in combating the errors, real oir 
 imaginary, of your opponents, that you manifest 
 an extraordinary degree of forgetfulness, and of 
 inadvertency, with regard to the most essential 
 truths. Throughout the whole of the narrative, 
 I cannot find the slightest mention of the doctrine 
 of the atonement, or any distinct recognition of 
 
 * When one week only had elapsed, subsequently to the first 
 interview, it is stated, that Dr. Freeman had " the satisfaction 
 to find, that his patient was progressively advancing in the great 
 work of his own salvation." A short time after, the propriety 
 of " partaking of the Holy Communion " is suggested to the 
 " Sick Penitent," as being the only thing which was now 
 wanting " to crown his faith and hope in God." To this sug- 
 gestion he joyfully accedes. The sacrament is administered to 
 him accordingly ; and afterwards no distrust or apprehension 
 whatever is expressed relative to his final welfare and eternal 
 happiness. Comparing, therefore, this statement with the case 
 of Mr. Lorraine, the " Philosophical Painter," as described at 
 page 31, I do not see how the writer can, with any show of 
 consistency, object to the accounts of sudden conversions, 
 which are so industriously circulated by the Methodists.
 
 32 
 
 the office of the Holy Spirit in effecting the con- 
 viction of sin, and the renovation of man's fallen 
 nature. Where, then, let me ask, is the benefit 
 of a vindication of the Athanasian Creed *, or 
 of a defence of the doctrine of the Trinity, if 
 there be no practical exhibition and application 
 
 * In reference to the writer, or writers, of the " Unitarian *' 
 and the " Atbanasian Creed," it may truly be said, 
 Non tali -auxilio, nee defensoribus istis 
 Tempus eget. 
 
 This will appear from the following passages extracted from 
 each respectively. In the " Unitarian " it is asserted, at page 
 114, that" when the Almighty revealed himself to the Israel- 
 ites, the title by which he informed Moses he was to be ad- 
 dressed was, / am thai / am ; and this was in an especial 
 manner peculiar to himself, involving as it does the complete 
 idea of the Trinity." By what possible mode of interpretation 
 can it be shown, that the sublime annunciation, here quoted 
 from Ex. iii. 14-, involves " the complete idea of the Trinity?" 
 If indeed, when compared with John, viii. 24, 28, 58, and Rev. 
 i. 4-, it had been brought forward to demonstrate our Saviour's 
 Divinity and pre-existence, the argument drawn from it would 
 have been conclusive and unanswerable. Again, a paragraph 
 as page 302 of the " Athanasian Creed " concludes with the 
 following sentence : " Thus I hare shown you, how these three 
 are necessarily and essentially God, ' not by confounding the 
 substance, but by unity of person.' '" The writer here, by apply- 
 ing a part of the Creed, which relates to the Incarnation of our 
 blessed Redeemer, and to the mysterious union of the divine 
 and human natures in the person of Christ, to the Trinity in 
 unity, in effect contradicts the very doctrine which he is at- 
 tempting to establish. It ought to have been ; " Thus I 
 have shown you, how these three are necessarily and essentially 
 God, ' neither confounding the persons, nor dividing the sub- 
 stance.' "
 
 33 
 
 of the doctrine to the conscience of the awakened 
 sinner ? There can be no doubt that the whole 
 scheme of man's redemption, as revealed in the 
 Gospel, and as set forth in the formularies of the 
 Church of England, rests upon this firm and 
 stable foundation, and that a right knowledge and 
 belief of the Trinity in Unity, or of the TRIUNE 
 JEHOVAH, are indispensably requisite both in 
 ministers and people. But a merely speculative 
 assent to this doctrine can be of no avail to 
 either: and it would be preposterous (I might 
 use a stronger term) in us to denounce anathe- 
 mas on others for rejecting it, if we failed to give 
 it that prominence to which it is entitled, and to 
 make it the basis of all our public and private 
 ministrations. 
 
 I am, Rev. Sir, 
 
 Your obedient Servant, 
 
 J. H. BROWNE.
 
 34 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 REV. SIR, 
 
 AMIDST the multifarious topics which 
 are discussed in the " Clerical Conference," I 
 shall select only one or two, upon which I shall 
 fake the liberty of making a few observations. 
 The first part which I shall notice is, your reply 
 to Mr. Wiseman's assertion, that the discussion of 
 moral duties and moral obligations did not consti- 
 tute Gospel preaching, and ' * therefore falls materi- 
 ally short of true Evangelism *." This you deny, 
 " because," you say, " constituted as we are, so 
 frail and fallible, it is most essential to hold forth 
 the necessity for the strict performance of all 
 those obligations to do good, and to exterminate 
 evil, which we are called upon to perform/ to 
 render ourselves worthy of a final redemption -}~. 
 
 * See page 146. 
 
 f The futility of this Popish notion is exposed with his 
 usual force and eloquence by Hooker, in the following extract 
 from his celebrated Discourse of Justification : " Howsoever 
 men, when they sit at ease, do vainly tickle their hearts with 
 the vain conceit of I know not what proportionable corre- 
 spondence, between their merits and their rewards, which in 
 the trance of their high speculations they dream that God hath
 
 35 
 
 And was not this the direct object of our Sa- 
 viour's personal ministry ? Did he not repeatedly 
 declare that he came to fulfil the law, both the 
 ceremonial in his own person, and the moral, by 
 making it more complete? And was it not the 
 object of all his exhortations to call men by re- 
 pentance and amendment of life, to fulfil the 
 conditions of salvation which he, by his Gospel, 
 imposed upon mankind ? Preaching morality, 
 therefore, is preaching the Gospel; and indeed a 
 most essential part of it, since it is by faith and 
 by obedience jointly, that we can comply with 
 the terms of it." 
 
 In this passage you explicitly and unequivo- 
 cally assert the doctrine of human merit. You 
 say, that " it is most essential to hold forth the 
 necessity for the strict performance of all those 
 obligations to do good, and to exterminate evil, 
 which we are called upon to perform, to render 
 
 measured, weighed, and laid up as it were in bundles for them > 
 notwithstanding we see, by daily experience, in a number 
 even of them, that when the hour of death approacheth, when 
 they secretly hear themselves summoned forthwith to appear, 
 and stand at the bar of that Judge, whose brightness causeth 
 the eyes of the Angels themselves to dazzle ; all these idle 
 imaginations do then begin to hide their faces. To name merits, 
 then, is to lay their souls upon the rack ; the memory of their 
 own deeds is loathsome unto them; they forsake all things, 
 wherein they have put any trust or confidence ; no staff to lean 
 upon, no ease, no rest, no comfort then, but only in Jesus 
 Christ." Hooker's Works, p. 501, fol. Edition. 
 
 c2
 
 36 
 
 ourselves worthy of a final redemption." How, 
 let me ask, is such an assertion to be reconciled 
 with the eleventh Article? How is it to be recon- 
 ciled with the Homily " of the Salvation of Man- 
 kind, by only Christ our Saviour, from Sin and 
 Death everlasting?" How is it to be reconciled 
 with the following passage in the second book of 
 Homilies ? " The life which we live in this world, 
 good Christian people, is of the free gift of God 
 lent us ; yet not to use it at our pleasure, after 
 our own fleshly will, but to trade over the same 
 in those works which are beseeming them that 
 are become new creatures in Christ. These works 
 the Apostle calleth good works, saying, We are 
 God's workmanship created 1o Christ Jesus to 
 good works, which, God hath ordained, that we 
 should walk in them*. And yet his meaning is 
 not by these words to induce us to have any 
 affiance, or to put any confidence in our works, 
 as by the merit and deserving of them to pur- 
 chase to ourselves and others remission of sin, 
 and so consequently everlasting life; for that 
 were mere blasphemy against God's mercy, and 
 great derogation to the blood-shedding of our 
 Saviour Jesus Christ. For it is of the free grace 
 and mercy of God, by the mediation of the blood 
 of his Son, Jesus Christ, without merit or de- 
 serving of our part, that our sins are forgiven 
 us, that we are reconciled and brought again into 
 
 * Eph.ii.
 
 37 
 
 his favour, and are made heirs of his heavenly 
 kingdom*." Again, you ask, whether our bless- 
 ed Saviour did not " repeatedly declare, that he 
 came to fulfil the law; both the ceremonial in 
 his own person, and the moral, by making it more 
 complete?" A distinction is here made, which 
 seems to imply, that our blessed Redeemer only 
 fulfilled the ceremonial law in his own person, 
 and not the moral law ; as if, with regard to the 
 latter, he had only cleared it from the corrupt 
 glosses of the Scribes and Pharisees, and ren- 
 dered it more extensive in its precepts, and more 
 complete in its sanctions. By turning to the 
 Homily of Salvation you will find the following 
 statement directly at variance with such a dis- 
 tinction. It is there explictly declared, " that 
 Christ is now the righteousness of all them that 
 truly do believe in him. He for them paid the 
 ransom by his death. He for them fulfilled the 
 law in his life. So that now in him, and by him, 
 every true Christian man may be called a ful- 
 filler of the law ; forasmuch as that which their 
 infirmity lacked, Christ's justice-^- hath sup- 
 plied:*:." 
 
 You conclude your reply to Mr. Wiseman by 
 
 * Homilies, page 232, 8vo. Edition. 
 
 f Every one who is conversant with the writings of our 
 Reformers, knows, that they often used the term " justice " 
 in the same sense as it is here, viz . as synonymous with " righ- 
 teousness." 
 
 I Homilies, page 19. 
 
 c3
 
 38 
 
 asserting, that " preaching morality*, therefore, 
 is preaching the Gospel, and, indeed, a most 
 essential part of it, since it is by faith and by 
 obedience jointly that we can comply with the 
 terms of it." This appears to me equivalent to 
 affirming, that the law and the Gospel are the 
 same thing ; that they both have the same office, 
 
 * Dr. Knox, from whose work, entitled, " Christian Phi- 
 losophy," I have inserted an extract in my first Letter, thus 
 introduces a very remarkable passage upon the subject of 
 preaching morality, from a Charge of Bishop Lavington's, 
 which must have been delivered before the year 1763, because 
 be died the preceding year : " With respect to the charge of 
 blameable enthusiasm, which is constantly brought, and cannot 
 be too frequently repelled, let us hear Bishop Lavington, so 
 great an enemy to Methodism, that he wrote the severest 
 book which ever appeared in opposition to it. But thus he 
 speaks to his clergy, on a solemn occasion, when he was in- 
 structing them how to execute their pastoral office : ' My 
 brethren,' says he, ' I beg you will rise up with me against 
 moral preaching. We have long been attempting the reforma- 
 tion of the nation by discourses of this kind. With what 
 success ? None at all. On .the contrary, we have dexterously 
 preached the people into downright infidelity. We must change 
 our voice. We must preach Christ and him crucified. No- 
 thing but the Gospel is, nothing will be found to be, the 
 power of God unto salvation, besides. Let me, therefore, 
 again and again request, may I not add, let me charge you, 
 to preach Jesus, and Salvation through his name. Preach the 
 Lord who^ bought us ; preach redemption through his blood ; 
 preach the saying of the Great High Priest, He who believeth 
 shall be saved; preach repentance towards God, and faith in 
 our Lord Jesus Christ.'" Knox's Christian Philosophy, page 
 233.
 
 39 
 
 and that grace and truth came by Moses, as well 
 as by Jesus Christ. If, indeed, you had merely 
 intended to enforce the absolute necessity of in- 
 culcating good works upon Christian principles, 
 and from Christian motives, as the necessary fruits, 
 and the only satisfactory evidences of a justifying 
 faith; or, in the words of St. Paul, of affirming 
 constantly, that they which have believed in God 
 might be careful to maintain good works *, your 
 proposition would have obtained my unqualified 
 assent. But your meaning seems to be widely dif- 
 ferent, whether the expressions themselves be ex- 
 amined, or the connexion in which they stand. 
 If, however, the reader entertained any doubts 
 upon the point, they would be removed by the 
 further elucidation of the purport of your language 
 given by Mr. Deacon, who is one of the interlo- 
 cutors in the " Clerical Conference." " Permit 
 me," says Mr. D. " to observe, that the charge of 
 preaching morality, and morality only, is unjustly 
 laid against us; our discourses are equally directed 
 towards instilling a belief in the doctrines of 
 Christianity. We commonly urge one as much as 
 the other -j~." It should seem from these observ- 
 ations, viewed in connexion with what had gone 
 before, as if you considered the moral precepts 
 and the doctrines of the Gospel as things entirely 
 independent of each other; as if you thought that 
 the end of preaching is answered by giving your 
 
 * Tit. iii. 8. t See page 148. 
 
 c4
 
 40 
 
 congregation sometimes an ethical disquisition, 
 and sometimes a doctrinal discourse ; in short, by 
 your commonly urging morals as much as doc- 
 trines. In opposition to such a view of the nature 
 and end of exhortations from the pulpit, I will beg 
 leave to submit to your consideration the following 
 extract from the Homily of Repentance : " The 
 Apostles do testify that he was exalted for to give 
 repentance and remission of sins unto Israel. 
 Both which things he himself did command to be 
 preached in his name. Therefore, they are greatly 
 deceived that preach repentance without Christ, 
 and teach the simple and ignorant, that it con- 
 sisteth only in the works of men. They may, 
 indeed, speak many things of good works, and of 
 amendment of life and manners: but without 
 Christ they be all vain and unprofitable. They 
 that think that they have done much of them- 
 selves towards repentance, are so much more the 
 farther from God, because they do seek those 
 things in their own works and merits, which 
 ought only to be sought in our Saviour Jesus 
 Christ, and in the merits of his death, and passion 
 and blood-shedding *." 
 
 I will conclude my remarks upon that para- 
 graph of your work which has called forth the pre- 
 ceding animadversions, with a quotation from a 
 Sermon of Bishop Latimer's: the quotation is a 
 long one ; but its intrinsic merit will amply repay 
 
 * Homilies, page 44-9.
 
 41 
 
 you for the trouble of reading it ; while an impar- 
 tial comparison of the statements of this eminent 
 Father of the English Church with your own may 
 possibly lead you to the discovery, that you ap- 
 proximate more nearly in some of your notions 
 to the Papists than you ever suspected. " The 
 Papists, which are the very enemies of Christ, 
 make him to be a Saviour after their own fantasy, 
 not after the word of God, wherein he declared 
 himself, and set out and opened his mind unto us. 
 They follow, I say, not the Scripture, which is the 
 very leader to God; but regard more their own 
 inventions, and therefore they make him a Sa- 
 viour after this fashion. 
 
 " They consider how there shall be after the 
 general resurrection the general judgment, wherein 
 all mankind shall be gathered together to receive 
 their judgment; then shall Christ (say the Papists) 
 sit as a judge, having power over heaven and earth; 
 and all those who have done well in this world, 
 and have steadfastly prayed upon their beads, and 
 have gone a pilgrimage, &c. and with their good 
 works have deserved heaven and everlasting life, 
 those (say they) that had merited with their own 
 good works, shall be received of Christ and ad- 
 mitted to everlasting salvation. As for the others 
 that have not merited everlasting life, they shall be 
 cast into everlasting darkness, for Christ will not 
 suffer wicked sinners to be taken into heaven, but 
 rather receive those which deserve. And so it 
 appeareth, that they esteem our Saviour, not to
 
 be a redeemer, but only a judge, which shall sen- 
 tence over the wicked to go into everlasting fire, 
 and the good he will call into everlasting felicity. 
 And this is the opinion of the Papists, as con- 
 cerning our Saviour, which opinion is most de- 
 testable, abominable, and filthy in the sight of 
 God. For it diminisheth the passion of Christ, it 
 taketh away the power and strength of the same 
 passion, it defileth the honour and glory of Christ, 
 it forsaketh and denieth Christ and all his bene- 
 fits. For if we shall be judged after our own 
 deservings, we shall be damned everlastingly. 
 
 " Therefore, learn here, every good Christian, 
 to abhor this most detestable and dangerous 
 poison of the Papists, which go about to thrust 
 Christ out of his seat. Learn here, I say, to leave 
 all Papistry, and to stick only to the word of God, 
 which teacheth thee, that Christ is riot only a 
 judge, but a justifier, a giver of salvation, and a 
 taker away of sin. For he purchased our salvation 
 through his painful death, and we receive the same 
 through believing in him, as St. Paul teacheth us, 
 saying (Rom. iii. 4), Freely you are justified 
 through faith. In these words of St. Paul, all 
 merits and estimation of works are excluded and 
 clean taken away; for if it were for our works 
 sake, then it were not freely, but St. Paul saith 
 f freely.' Whether will you now believe St. Paul 
 or the Papists ? It is better for you to believe St. 
 Paul, rather than those most wicked and covetous
 
 43 
 
 Papists, which seek nothing but their own wealth, 
 and not your salvation. 
 
 " But if any of you will ask now, How shall I 
 come by my salvation ? How shall I get everlast- 
 ing life ? I answer, If thou believe with an un- 
 feigned heart, that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, 
 came into the world, and took upon him our flesh, 
 of the Virgin Mary, and suffered under Pontius 
 Pilate in the city of Jerusalem most painful death 
 and passion upon the cross, and was hanged be- 
 tween two thieves for our sins' sake (for in him 
 was no sin), neither (as the Prophet Isaiah saith) 
 was there found in his month any guile or deceit. 
 For he was a Lamb undefiled, and therefore suffer- 
 ed not for his own sake, but for our sake, and 
 with his suffering hath taken away all our sins and 
 wickedness, and hath made us, which were the 
 children of the devil, the children of God, fulfilling 
 the law for us to the uttermost, giving us freely 
 as a gift his fulfilling to be ours. So that we are 
 now fulfillers of the law by his fulfilling, so that 
 the law may not condemn us. For he hath ful- 
 filled it, so that we, believing in him, are fulfillers 
 of the law, and just before the face of God. For 
 Christ with his passion hath deserved, that all that 
 .believe in him shall be saved, not through their 
 own good works, but through his passion. 
 
 " Here, thou seest whereupon hangeth thy sal- 
 vation, namely, believing in the Son of God, which 
 ttath prepared and gotten heaven for all those that 
 believe in him, and live uprightly according to his
 
 44 
 
 word. For we must do good works, and God re- 
 quireth them of us, but yet we may not put our 
 trust in them, nor think to get heaven with the 
 same. For our works are Wicked and evil, and 
 the best of them be imperfect. As for those which 
 are evil, no man is so foolish as to think to get 
 heaven with evil works ; and as concerning our 
 good works, they are imperfect, and not so agree- 
 able to the law of God, who requireth most per- 
 fect works, by the which appeareth that the best 
 works, which are done by man, are hateful be- 
 fore God, and therefore not able to get or deserve 
 salvation. Wherefore, we must be justified, not 
 through our good works, but through the passion 
 of Christ, and so live by a free justification and 
 righteousness in Christ Jesu *." 
 
 Your opinions on the doctrine of justification 
 are communicated to the reader through the 
 medium of a short analysis (contained in pages 
 150 and 151 of your work) of the argument 
 pursued by Mr. Young, in his elaborate discussion 
 of that important question. I have given both 
 the Sermon and the Notes, which relate to this 
 subject, the most attentive and dispassionate con- 
 sideration ; and the result is, that I am constrain- 
 ed to declare, that the author appears to me to 
 have laboured very strenuously to support an in- 
 genious plan for virtually setting aside the doc- 
 
 * Bishop Latimer, -Sermon on St. Luke, ii. 42. Fathers of 
 the English Church, vol. ii. page 4-50.
 
 46 
 
 trine of j ustification by faith only, while it is 
 ostensibly defended. The great object which he 
 has in view is, as you correctly state, to recon- 
 cile the two Apostles, St. Paul and St. James, 
 together, by endeavouring to show, that the 
 former " speaks of a first justification, which takes 
 place at baptism," and which is by faith only ; while 
 the latter speaks " of that final justification which 
 is to take place at the day of judgment *," and 
 which is to be by works -f~. 
 
 Against this view of the subject, I think it a 
 strong presumption a priori, that you may search 
 all the Liturgy, Articles, and Homilies of the 
 Church of England through, and not find any 
 such distinction as that for which Mr. Young 
 contends. This argument alone would be deci- 
 sive with me for the rejection of his scheme, unless 
 I found it supported by the clearest and most ir- 
 resistible evidence. The limits of an address of 
 this nature will not permit me to enter into a mi- 
 nute examination of the evidence adduced. I 
 must, however, observe, that to my mind it is 
 wholly unsatisfactory and inconclusive. 
 
 In the first place, I am of opinion that Mr. 
 Young has not brought forwards any adequate 
 
 * " Body and Soul," page 151. 
 
 f It is almost superfluous to remind the reader, how utterly 
 irreconcilable such a scheme is with the extract given above 
 from the writings of that illustrious Reformer, Bishop La- 
 timer.
 
 46 
 
 proof in support of his notions relative to St. 
 Paul's use of the terms "justify" and " justifica- 
 tion." I am persuaded that no single instance 
 can be produced out of his Epistle to the Romans, 
 in which he has applied them with an exclusive 
 reference to baptism. Because St. Paul in two 
 instances (viz. 1 Cor. vi. 11 ; and Tit. iii. 5, 6, 7) 
 may have used them in immediate, perhaps in 
 exclusive, connexion with that ordinance, Mr. 
 Young seems (very illogicaly, as it appears to 
 me) to conclude that he has employed them 
 with the same limitation in his Epistle to the Ro- 
 mans. 
 
 There is another argument, however, that 
 may be brought against the soundness of his 
 reasoning upon this point, which is the reductio 
 ad absurdum. For, if his hypothesis were cor- 
 rect, what would be the consequence in the Church 
 of England, which maintains the practice of 
 Psedobaptism ? All that St. Paul advances with 
 regard to the important doctrine of justifica- 
 tion by faith, without the deeds of the law, would 
 apply to infants only, who are equally incapable 
 of faith, and of good works, and would not in 
 any way concern adults who are capable of both. 
 It is surprising to me that this absurdity did not 
 present itself to the mind of the author, when 
 he wrote the following passage : " St. Paul speaks 
 of preceding works, as not meriting our first 
 justification ; St. James, of works succeeding our 
 first, as required in order to our final justification.
 
 47 
 
 St. Paul says, IVe conclude, that a man is justified 
 by faithy without the deeds of the law. And is it 
 not consonant to the voice both of reason and of 
 conscience, that admission to the favour of God, 
 and the benefits of Christianity, must depend, 
 not upon any preceding worthiness or righteous- 
 ness of our own (for then the Gospel would fail, 
 for all are concluded under sin), but that the justi- 
 fication of the person baptized must proceed from 
 the mere mercy of God ? That this justification, 
 or imputation of righteousness, should be derived 
 through faith, is indeed what reason could not 
 have told us beforehand ; but when once revealed, 
 it is straightway seen not to be contrary to reason ; 
 for that faith in the efficacy of the Saviour's blood 
 should be the title of admission to the benefits of 
 salvation purchased by his blood, is surely not 
 contrary to reason, but rather is very agreeable to 
 it*." 
 
 If the Church of England had authorized the 
 administration of baptism to adults only, there 
 might have been some pertinency in the foregoing 
 observations; but where infant baptism is enjoined, 
 they appear to me completely irrelevant. Who 
 would ever imagine, even for an instant, that in- 
 fants could claim " admission to the favour of 
 God, and the benefits of Christianity," upon the 
 ground of " works," or of " any preceding wor- 
 thiness or righteousness " of their own? Who 
 
 * Young's Three Sermons, with Notes, page 14-9.
 
 48 
 
 would ever suppose that they were capable of 
 " that faith in the efficacy of the Saviour's blood," 
 which " should be the title of admission to the 
 benefits of salvation purchased by his blood ? " 
 
 I have before remarked that no traces of the 
 distinction for which Mr. Young contends, are 
 to be found in the formularies of the Church of 
 England. The Church of Rome, however, will 
 furnish us with one which bears a striking analogy 
 to it. If you will take the trouble of consulting 
 the sixth Section of Hooker's Sermon on Justifi- 
 cation, you will there find a distinct account of 
 the way in which the Papists held the doctrine of 
 a first and second justification. The fidelity of 
 Hooker's representation of their views upon this 
 subject will be clearly seen by comparing them 
 with the following statement made by the Papists 
 of Rheims in their Annotation on Rom. ii. 13. 
 " Not the hearers, &c.] This same sentence, agree- 
 able also to Christ's words (Matt. vii. 21), is the 
 very ground of St. James's disputation, that not 
 faith alone, but good works also do justify. 
 Therefore, St. Paul (howsoever some perversely 
 construe his words in other places) meaneth the 
 same that James. And here* he speaketh not 
 properly of the first justification, when an infidel 
 or ill man is made just, who had no acceptable 
 
 * Aug. de Sp. et Lit. " The first justification without works, 
 the second by works. St. Paul speaketh of the first specially; 
 St. James of the second." Note to the Rhemish annotation.
 
 works before to be justified by (of which kind he 
 specially meaneth in other places of this Epistle), 
 but he speaketh of the second justification or in- 
 crease of former justice, which he that is in God's 
 grace daily proceedeth in, by doing all kind of 
 good works, which be justices, and for doing of 
 which he is just indeed before God, and of this 
 kind doth St. James namely treat. Which is di- 
 rectly against the heretics of this time, who not 
 only attribute nothing to the works done in sin and 
 infidelity, but esteem nothing at all of all Chris- 
 tian men's works towards justification and salva- 
 tion, condemning them as unclean, sinful, hypo- 
 critical, pharisaical : which is directly against 
 these and other Scriptures, and plain blaspheming 
 of Christ and his grace, by whose Spirit and co- 
 operation we do them." 
 
 I will here subjoin Dr. Fulke's reply to the 
 foregoing comment by the Papists ; not only be- 
 cause it plainly shows that the Church of England 
 in the time of Queen Elizabeth recognised no such 
 doctrine as that of a double justification ; but also, 
 because it states with great clearness and precision 
 in what way the two apparently opposite decla- 
 rations of St. Paul and St. James may be easily 
 and satisfactorily reconciled. " This sentence is 
 not the ground of St. James's disputation, that 
 faith void of good works doth not justify, and 
 that good works also justify or declare a man to 
 be just. For the Apostle here speaketh not of 
 
 faith, but of the law. The law justifieth only the 
 
 \ 
 
 D
 
 50 
 
 doers and perfect observers thereof; faith justifieth- 
 the believers. Neither doth St. Paul speak here of 
 any means, whereby a man is justified, but showeth 
 that no transgressor of the law can be justified by 
 the law : because the law justifieth none but the 
 doers thereof ; which seeing no man doth perfectly, 
 no man is justified by the works of the law, as he 
 saith expressly, Rom. iii. 20. Gal. iii. 11. As for 
 your distinction of the first and second justification 
 before God, it is but a new device, not threescore 
 years old, utterly unheard of among the ancient 
 fathers. For whom God justifieth by faith without 
 works, he also glorifieth. Rom. vii. 30. And that 
 which you call the second justification, or increase 
 of justice, is but the effect and fruits of justifica- 
 tion before God; and a declaration before men 
 that we are just. And so meaneth St. James, that 
 Abraham, who was justified or made just before 
 God through faith, was also justified, or declared 
 to be just before men by works, when he offered 
 his son Isaac. So that this diversity of justifica- 
 tions ariseth of the divers significations of the 
 word justifying, which signifieth, sometime to 
 make just, sometime to show or declare to be just; 
 as where the Prophet saith to God, Ps. li. That 
 thou mayest be justified in thy saying; meaning, 
 that thou mayest be declared or approved just. 
 So, wisdom is justified of her children, i. e. de- 
 clared or approved to be just, Matt. xi. 19. The 
 publicans justified God, Luke, vii. 29. Christ was 
 justified in the Spirit, 1 Tim. iii. 16, i. e. declared
 
 51, 
 
 to be just; in which sense St. James saith, that 
 a man is justified of works. Therefore, whereas 
 you quote Augustine for your distinction of the 
 first and second justification, there is no word in 
 him thereof. Finally, where you say we condemn 
 all Christian men's works as unclean, sinful, hy- 
 pocritical, pharisaical, it is a most impudent slan- 
 der, for we acknowledge all good works of Chris- 
 tian men to be the gifts of God, the fruits of jus- 
 tification, the notes of election, the way wherein 
 all Christians must walk unto salvation : but see- 
 ing they are imperfect, they are not able to make 
 us just in the sight of God *." 
 
 I am, Rev. Sir, 
 
 Your obedient Servant, 
 
 J. H. BROWNE, 
 o* Hoitoiiw ty$ 
 
 * jSce Rhemish Annotations with Dr. Fulke's Replies, in 
 
 c; ".'' 
 -'it;;. 
 
 D2
 
 52 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 REV. SIR; 
 
 THERE remains yet another subject upon 
 which I beg leave to offer some remarks the sub- 
 ject of worldly pleasures and amusements. Al- 
 though you have adverted to this topic more than 
 once before, yet, as you have expatiated upon it 
 more fully in the " Assizes,'* following the ar- 
 rangement which you have adopted in your publi- 
 cation, I have reserved the consideration of it for 
 this my last letter. In discussing this point I 
 think it right to premise that it is my intention to 
 treat the subject, in the first place, generally; and 
 afterwards more specifically with reference to the 
 ministerial character and profession. I am con- 
 scious, that if I were to attempt to do justice to 
 this question, a wide field of argument would lie 
 before me. But I must be satisfied with a cursory 
 survey of it ; and, therefore, I will endeavour to 
 compress my observations upon it within as nar- 
 row limits as I can. 
 
 It has been justly observed by Dr. Paley, that 
 ' whoever expects to find in the Scriptures a spe- 
 cific direction for every moral doubt that arises, 
 
 4
 
 53 
 
 looks for more than he will meet with *." We 
 may easily conceive to what an enormous bulk 
 such a minute particularity would have extended 
 the Sacred Volume, and what an insurmountable 
 obstacle it would have presented to the universal 
 dispersion and the universal study of the Scriptures. 
 It has, therefore, been mercifully provided by infi- 
 nite Wisdom, that many of the moral precepts of 
 the Bible should be conveyed through the medium 
 of general rules; while the practical application of 
 these rules to particular cases, is frequently left to 
 the conscientious judgment of each individual. 
 The broad distinctions, indeed, between virtue and 
 vice, sin and holiness, are marked with a plainness 
 and a clearness, which preclude the possibility of 
 mistake: but the fainter shades of moral conduct, 
 the less perceptible gradations, by which a person 
 may be transferred from the lawful to the for- 
 bidden ground, are not so accurately defined. The 
 consequence is, that an exactness of discrimina- 
 tion, and a quickness of moral perception, are in 
 some instances necessary to discern the line of 
 demarcation, which separates that which is con- 
 sistent, from that which is inconsistent with the 
 Christian character. In consequence of the lati- 
 tude of interpretation of which some of these ge- 
 neral rules contained in Scripture appear to be 
 susceptible, there will naturally arise some diver- 
 sity of sentiment respecting their legitimate con- 
 
 /. .J. : ' 1 i" i' 
 
 * Paley's Moral Philosophy, vol. i. page 5.
 
 54 
 
 strnction ; and it might be expected that they 
 would be enlarged or narrowed in their applica- 
 tion, according to the respective habits, tastes, 
 and dispositions of different individuals. To these 
 considerations we may add another fertile source 
 of variety of opinion the weakness and fallibility 
 of man's judgment, ever liable to be warped in 
 its decisions by a proneness to self-love and self- 
 gratification on the one hand, and by the fear of 
 obloquy, ridicule, or reproach, on the other. 
 
 After all, however, it may well be doubted 
 whether the chief reason why some persons vindi- 
 cate and sanction those practices and pursuits, 
 which others are induced to discountenance and 
 condemn, may not be found in the partial and in- 
 adequate conceptions which the former entertain 
 of the purity and spirituality of the divine law, 
 and of the general nature and design of Chris- 
 tianity. If this impediment to uniformity of 
 opinion upon these points were removed, every 
 other would be easily surmounted. The rational 
 and enlightened Christian regards every precept of 
 the Gospel- not as a capricious and arbitrary 
 command, issued without any regard to his pre- 
 sent or future happiness, but as having a dis- 
 tinct reference to the formation of a certain 
 idiosyncrasy of character (if I may be allowed 
 the expression), and that again as having a refer- 
 ence to his final destination beyond the grave. 
 He is expressly told, that without holiness " no 
 man shall see the Lord * ; " and he knows that he 
 
 * Heb. xii. 14.
 
 55 
 
 shall never become partaker " of the inheritance 
 of the saints in light *," unless he have a meet- 
 ness for it. He is, therefore, naturally led to in- 
 quire what course of action is most likely to im- 
 press that character upon the soul, and to lead to 
 the formation of those habits which are necessary 
 to qualify him for the felicity of the heavenly state ; 
 and when he has ascertained that point, he will 
 strive, through divine grace, resolutely to pursue 
 it. " Christians," says the ingenious and elo- 
 quent author of the best essay that was ever writ- 
 ten on the internal evidence of Christianity, " are 
 commanded to mortify the earthly and selfish pas- 
 sions of ambition, and avarice, and sensuality. 
 Our Lord died that he might redeem us from 
 such base thraldom, and allure us to the pure 
 liberty of the sons of God. The lust of the flesh, 
 the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, were in 
 fact his murderers. If we love him, we must 
 hate them. If we love our own peace, we must 
 hate them ; for they separate the soul from the 
 Prince of Peace. The happiness of eternity con- 
 sists in a conformity to the God of holiness ; and 
 shall we spend our few days in confirming our- 
 selves in habits directly opposed to him? No; 
 rather let us begin heaven below, by beginning 
 to be holy f." 
 
 * Col. i. 12. 
 
 f Erskine's Remarks on the internal Evidence for the 
 Truth of revealed Religion, page 144-. 
 
 D 4 "It
 
 56 
 
 There is, moreover, another point of view, in 
 which this subject may be contemplated. Those 
 
 " It is easy,'* observes the pious and exemplary Bishop 
 Home, " to conceive that many indulgences, though in them- 
 selves not, strictly speaking, perhaps vicious and immoral, may 
 yet be prohibited as dangerous on account of the infirmity of 
 our minds ; for the same quantity of wine which would be of no 
 disservice to a person in health, might prove fatal to one in a 
 fever. In this light human nature is considered (and surely 
 with the utmost truth and propriety) by the Gospel. We are 
 fallen into a state of sin, and being so fallen, we find ourselves 
 in a fallen world, where, unless we are upon our guard, every 
 thing around us will contribute to aggravate and inflame the 
 distemper. Therefore are we, in mercy, commanded to ab- 
 stain. Christ came to deliver us from this state of sin and 
 death, and to restpre us to all those tempers which may best 
 prepare us for a state of glory, with immortal spirits, in ano- 
 ther and a better world to come. Now, what are those tempers? 
 Read the fifth chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel, and see 
 Humility, meekness, mourning, purity, heavenly-mindedness, 
 righteousness, peace, patience, resignation, and joy, in being 
 counted worthy to suffer abuse, ridicule, and persecution, for 
 our Saviour's sake. We must renounce our religion, or ac- 
 knowledge the excellency of these tempers, and the necessity 
 oT their being formed in us, that our Redeemer may pronounce 
 us blessed. If, therefore, we find ourselves engaged in any 
 habits of life, in a course of any indulgences and enjoyments, 
 any pleasures or diversions, which prevent the formation of 
 these tempers in us, and tend to strengthen and confirm their 
 opposites, in such instances it will undoubtedly be expedient 
 to practise self-denial. When we return home in the evening, 
 before we retire to our rest, let us sometimes, for the experi- 
 ment's sake, only read over the twelve first verses of our Lord's 
 sermon on the mount, and observe how our minds stand affected 
 towards them. If at any tirne we are in doubt concerning a. 
 particular employment or amusement, instead of inquiring nicely
 
 57 
 
 amusements and diversions, which occupy so 
 much of th time, and engross so much of the 
 attention of worldly people, will be relinquished 
 by the true Christian, not only from a principle of 
 duty, but likewise from his own spontaneous 
 choice. The pursuits, from which he himself 
 perhaps formerly derived gratification and enjoy- 
 ment, are no longer congenial to his taste. For, 
 can he, who has experienced the more pure and 
 solid joys which religion affords, look for happi- 
 ness in the empty, transitory, unsatisfying plea- 
 sures of the world? Can he, who has embraced 
 the substance, be seduced by the phantom ? Can 
 he, who has tasted of the waters of life, stoop to 
 quench his thirst in the shallow and turbid 
 streams which issue from the haunts of dissipa- 
 tion? No ; he finds the comforts of religion to " be 
 in him a well of water springing up into everlasting 
 life*." His treasure is in heaven; and " where 
 his treasure is, there will his heart be also-}-." 
 
 But let us now examine the general testimony 
 of Scripture upon this question, and see what 
 conclusions may fairly be deduced from it. In 
 many parts of the New Testament we find a ma- 
 
 H* ':?"< ..-"^^r^rj-.'i ^1 
 
 into the lawfulness of it, and whether there be in Scripture any 
 
 special prohibition of it, the shorter and safer way is, to ask 
 one's self whether it be agreeable to the general spirit of Chris- 
 tianitywhether it tend to beget and increase in us all the 
 holy tempers of that divine religion, or to suppress and extin- 
 guish them." Bishop Home's Sermons, vol. iii. page 134. 
 * John, iv. 11. f Matt. vi. 21.
 
 58 
 
 nifest opposition announced between the world 
 and the sincere Christian. If yb, were of the 
 world, says our blessed Saviour, the world would 
 love his own; but because ye are not of the 
 world, but I .have chosen you out of the world, 
 therefore the world hateth you*. Be not*\- con- 
 formed to this world, says St. Paul ; but be ye 
 transformed by the renewing of your mind, that 
 ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, 
 and perfect will of God J. Pure religion and un- 
 defiled before God and the Father, is this, says St. 
 James, to visit the fatherless and widows in their 
 affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the 
 world . Love not the world } says St. John, nei- 
 ther the things that are in the world. If any man 
 love the world, the love of the Father is not in 
 him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the 
 Jlesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of 
 life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 
 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof, 
 but he that doeth the will of God abidethfor ever. 
 I am aware that to get rid of these and other pas- 
 
 * John, xv. 19. 
 
 f It should seem as if Dr. Freeman made use of an incor- 
 rect copy of the N. T. which, by omitting the negative particle, 
 converts the prohibition into a command " Be conformed 'to 
 this tootld." For, at page 275, the following question is prd' 
 posed : " Is it true, that some of the national clergy have en- 
 joined a sort of non-conformity to the world ? " To which the 
 Doctor gravely replies " I regret to say that this is done by 
 too many of the Establishment, both directly and indirectly." 
 
 t Rom. xii. 2. James, i. 27.
 
 59 
 
 sages of a similar import, you may possibly 
 allege that they are applicable only to the times 
 of our Saviour and his Apostles to the era of the 
 first promulgation of the Gospel. This answer 
 to the argument which may be drawn from them, 
 is in fact implied by some observations that occur 
 in pages 54 and 276 of your work. Against this 
 mode, however, of setting aside those doctrines or 
 precepts of holy Scripture which do not square 
 with our own notions, I have already entered my 
 most decided protest in No. III. of the Appendix 
 to my last Charge: it would, therefore, be super- 
 fluous to reiterate upon the present occasion, 
 what I have there advanced. 
 
 A reference to some parts of our Liturgy, 
 will, I think, clearly demonstrate to every unpre- 
 judiced mind the light in which the compilers of 
 that admirable form of sound words considered 
 those texts which I have above quoted. Let us, for 
 example, turn in the first place to our baptismal 
 service. When we receive a child " into the con- 
 gregation of Christ's flock," for what purpose do 
 we " sign him with the sign of the cross?" Is it 
 not " in token that hereafter he shall not be 
 ashamed to confess the faith of Christ crucified, 
 and manfully to fight under his banner, against 
 sin, the world, and the devil ; and to continue 
 Christ's faithful soldier and servant unto his life's 
 end?" I must presume that you will hardly ven- 
 ture to argue, that by the " world" in this place 
 the compilers of our Liturgy intended to designate
 
 60 
 
 the world of Jewish unbelievers, or of Gentile 
 idolaters. A child born of Christian parents, in a 
 country where Christianity constitutes part of the 
 law of the land, can never be called upon to en- 
 gage in any conflict either with the one, or with 
 the other. What then is the " world," against which 
 the newly enlisted soldier of Christ is covenanted 
 to fight r It is that world, to which St. Paul en- 
 joins us not to be conformed ; that world, from 
 which St. James intimates that we should keep 
 ourselves unspotted ; that world, of which St. 
 John declares that it lieth in wickedness*; that 
 world, which though nominally Christian is com- 
 posed of those, who are enemies of the cross of 
 Christ -f~ ; of those, who are lovers of pleasure 
 more than lovers of God, having a form of godli- 
 ness, but denying the power thereof %; and of those, 
 who while they profess that they know God, in 
 works deny him . 
 
 When a child who has been thus solemnly de- 
 dicated to the service of his Redeemer, arrives at 
 an age which qualifies him to be catechetically in- 
 structed, he is then reminded of the stipulations 
 of his baptismal covenant, and is given to under- 
 stand that his sponsors engaged that he " should 
 renounce the devil and all his works, the pomps 
 and vanity of this wicked world, and all the sin- 
 ful lusts of the flesh." I would ask, how can any 
 
 * 1 John, v. 19. t Phil. iii. 18. 
 
 J 2 Tim. iii. *, 5. Tit. i. 16.
 
 61 
 
 one be considered as acting up to the spirit, or 
 even to the letter of these stipulations, who enters 
 into the scenes of pleasure and amusement, where 
 he will find the " pomps and vanity of this wicked 
 world " more especially concentrated and dis- 
 played? Or, how can any one be said to renounce 
 " all the sinful lusts of the flesh," who resorts with- 
 out scruple or hesitation to those places of public 
 amusement where he is most likely to meet with 
 objects, the natural tendency of which is to excite 
 and inflame the passions, and to banish every 
 thing like serious thought and reflection from the 
 mind ? Moreover, do we not supplicate, every 
 Sabbath day, to be delivered " from all the deceits 
 of the world, the flesh, and the devil?" Are we 
 not again reminded in the Collect for the eigh- 
 teenth Sunday after Trinity to seek for grace, that 
 we may be enabled " to withstand the assaults of 
 the world, the flesh, and the devil?" And have 
 we any reason to think that no danger is to be ap- 
 prehended from the wiles and artifices of Satan, 
 from the blandishments of pleasure, and the se- 
 ductive fascinations of the world ? Or, can we be 
 justified in voluntarily encountering those tempta- 
 tions* which may possibly vitiate our minds, 
 
 * Dr. Freeman's notions upon this point are as singular as 
 they are upon many others. He says at page 279, " It is true, 
 we are generally to avoid temptations ; but there are some which 
 it is better to vanquish than not to be tempted by them at all." 
 Upon this novel system of casuistry an important inquiry would 
 naturally suggest itself, viz. what assurance have those persons
 
 62 
 
 shake our resolutions, and plunge us into sin? 
 But you are of opinion, forsooth, that " there is 
 an imaginary holiness in thus visibly withstanding 
 the allurements of the world ; in showing a stoical 
 indifference to the rational and the natural plea- 
 sures of existence, ill according either with the 
 feelings and sensibility of youth, or with the plain 
 injunctions of Holy Writ *." In reply to this ob- 
 servation, it must readily be conceded that there 
 would be no real holiness merely in the act of 
 " visibly withstanding the allurements of the 
 world," if it were not accompanied with a corre- 
 sponding endeavour to wean our heart and affec- 
 tions from it. Still, however, I am at a loss to 
 conceive how a person can with sincerity offer up 
 the petition contained in the Collect which I have 
 quoted above, unless he do visibly withstand the 
 allurements of the world. With regard to " the 
 plain injunctions of Holy Writ" to which you 
 allude, it is much to be regretted that you have 
 not specified them ; for I am really at a loss to 
 conceive where they are to be found. But, on the 
 other side of the question, exclusive of those texts 
 which I have already mentioned, and of others 
 
 t r.i uiiis 'i!-p ?i*y, vMnsciQ 
 
 who expose themselves unnecessarily to temptations, that they 
 
 shall be able to vanquish them ? Is such a presumptuous confi- 
 dence reconcilable with texts like the following, Be not high- 
 tninded, but fear (Rom. xi. 20) ; Let him that thinlteth he stand- 
 eth take heed lest he fall? (1 Cor. x. 12.) We are also taught to 
 pray, "Lead us not into temptation;" and I am not aware 
 that this petition is subject to any restrictions or limitations. 
 * " Body and Soul," page 65.
 
 63 
 
 which might have been adduced in opposition 
 to your views, I will beg leave to propose the fol- 
 lowing to your serious consideration : The harp 
 and the viol, the tabret and pipe, and wine, are in 
 their feasts; but they regard not the work of the 
 Lord, neither consider the operation of his hands*. 
 And they which fell among thorns are they, which 
 when they have heard, go forth, and are choked 
 with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, 
 and bring no fruit to perfection ~^. Be not de- 
 ceived ; God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man 
 soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth 
 to the flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption; but 
 he that soweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit 
 reap life everlasting . See then that ye walk cir- 
 cumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming 
 the time, because the days are evil . But she that 
 liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth ||. Dearly 
 beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, 
 abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the 
 soul ^f . 
 
 Do not, however, imagine from any thing which 
 I have advanced, that I deem it incumbent upon 
 the sincere Christian to sequester himself from all 
 society, and to lead the austere life of a morose 
 ascetic. Various unobjectionable sources of re- 
 creation are open to him, from which, when 
 wearied or exhausted with graver studies and more 
 
 * Is. v. 12. f Luke, viii. 14s J Gal.vi.7, 8. 
 
 Eph. v. 15, 16. || 1 Tim. v. 6. f 1 Pet. ii. 1 1 .
 
 64 
 
 laborious occupations, he may freely draw re- 
 freshment and delight, without having recourse to 
 those amusements or diversions, which are foreign 
 to the general spirit and tenour of Christianity. 
 " Rich and multiplied," observes Mr. Wilberforce, 
 " are the springs of innocent recreation. The 
 Christian relaxes in the temperate use of all the 
 gifts of Providence. Imagination, and taste, and 
 genius, and the beauties of creation, and the 
 works of art, lie open to him. He relaxes in the 
 feast of reason, in the sweets of friendship, in 
 the endearments of love, in the exercise of hope, 
 of confidence, of joy, of gratitude, of universal 
 good will, of all the benevolent and generous 
 affections, which by the gracious ordination of 
 our Creator, while they disinterestedly intend 
 only happiness to others, are most surely pro- 
 ductive to ourselves of complacency and peace. 
 Little do they know of the true measure of enjoy- 
 ment, who can compare these delightful com- 
 placencies with the frivolous pleasures of dissipa- 
 tion, or the coarse gratifications of sensuality *." 
 
 It now only remains, that I consider this 
 subject more specifically with reference to the 
 ministerial character and profession. But as I 
 have already-extended these strictures to a greater 
 length than I had originally contemplated, I will 
 endeavour to be as brief as possible, and will 
 confine myself chiefly to the production of some 
 
 * Practical Christianity, page 455. Fourth Edition.
 
 65 
 
 authoities in support of those opinions which I 
 have been led, after mature consideration, to 
 adopt relative to this question. 
 
 Should the arguments, which I have brought 
 forward, be considered as having any weight 
 when applied to the conduct of the Laity, it is 
 obvious, that they must possess greater weight 
 when applied to the conduct of the Clergy *. If 
 
 * Admirable are the Bishop of Gloucester's observations 
 Upon this subject in his last Charge. " To private Christians 
 it has often been recommended, as the test of the lawfulness of 
 a diversion, to consider whether, after a day or an evening 
 thus spent, the devotions will be as heartily and satisfactorily 
 performed ; whether the train of ideas and imaginations, which 
 it generates, will be favourable or unfavourable to a religious 
 frame of mind ; and whether the individual would be content 
 to be summoned to his account from amid such a scene, and 
 such an occupation. To this test, in the case of a Clerical 
 diversion, it must surely be added, Will it tend to fit or to un- 
 fit you, not only for the punctual, but for the cordial discharge 
 of your sacred duties? Will it leave you as disposed and 
 qualified to lead the prayers of the congregation, with that 
 lively earnestness, that * spirit of supplication,' which becomes 
 such matter and such expressions ; with the heart obviously in 
 the work, with the whole soul drawing nigh unto God ? Will 
 it leave you as capable and willing to exhort and to supplicate 
 by the bed of sickness, with the Christian sympathy of a soul 
 daily intent upon heavenly things, and inured to the con- 
 templation of death and eternity? And, again, .how will the 
 sight of the minister engaged in such diversions affect the 
 feelings with which people view him ? Will it produce, in any 
 measurl, on their parts, a contagious indifference and luke- 
 warmness in their common devotions, and a want of that, 
 not only mental, but hearty assent, that realizing reception of 
 
 E
 
 66 
 
 there be any force or propriety in the metaphor 
 employed by our blessed Saviour, when he de- 
 nominates his ministers the salt of the earth; 
 if each of us be required to aim at becoming 
 an example of the believers, in word, in conver- 
 sation, in charity, inspirit, in faith, in purity *\ 
 if each of us at our ordination be solemnly pledg- 
 ed, with the assistance of Divine Grace, to " be 
 diligent in prayers, and in reading of the Holy 
 Scriptures, and in such studies as help to the 
 knowledge of the same, laying aside the study of 
 the world and the flesh-}*;" then, I think, it must 
 be allowed that we ought, as far as possible, to 
 practise a rigid forbearance from every thing 
 which militates against the spirit of these obliga- 
 tions, and from every thing which tends to obli- 
 terate that distinctive character which ought to 
 adorn the Christian priesthood. 
 
 In that part of your work, which is entitled 
 the " Assizes," you stand forward as the decided 
 advocate of three particular amusements, viz. 
 card-playing, dancing, and theatrical exhibitions. 
 
 the truths delivered from the pulpit, which can alone give 
 them their full influence and power ? Will the sight produce 
 in them any suspicion of their minister's sincerity, any mis- 
 trust of the efficacy of his ministrations, and if not a contempt 
 of his person, yet a contemptuous refusal of that reverential 
 regard, with which the ministerial character should always be 
 invested ? " Bishop of Gloucester's Charge, page 24. 
 
 * 1 Tim. iv. 12. 
 
 f Ordination Service.
 
 67 
 
 You think, that a clergyman may with propriety 
 attend card-parties, balls, and the theatre. In 
 opposition to the first of these amusements it is 
 only necessary to quote an authority which must 
 be decisive with every member of the clerical 
 profession the 75th Canon. " No ecclesiastical 
 person shall at any time, other than for their 
 honest necessities, resort to any taverns or ale- 
 houses, neither shall they board or lodge in any 
 such places. Furthermore, they shall not give 
 themselves to any base or servile labour, or to 
 drinking or riot, spending their time idly by day 
 or by night, playing at dice, cards*, or tables, 
 or any other unlawful games ; but at all times 
 convenient they shall hear or read somewhat of 
 the Holy Scriptures, or shall occupy themselves 
 with some other honest study or exercise, always 
 doing the things which shall appertain to honesty, 
 and endeavouring to profit the Church of God ; 
 having always in mind, that they ought to excel 
 all others in purity of life, and should be ex- 
 amples to the people to live well and Christianly, 
 under pain of ecclesiastical censures, to be inflict- 
 ed with severity, according to the qualities of 
 their offences." 
 
 * Although of the three amusements, the expediency of 
 which Dr. Freeman has undertaken to vindicate, cards alone 
 are specially mentioned in this Canon ; yet the general spirit of 
 its injunctions may be considered as extending equally to the 
 prohibition of the other two, 
 
 E 2
 
 68 
 
 I will leave you to judge of the expediency of 
 the second of those amusements, in behalf of 
 which you plead so strenuously, by presenting you 
 with an extract from Gilpin's* Dialogues on the 
 Amusements of Clergymen. In that interest- 
 ing publication, he represents Dean Stillingfleet 
 as proposing the following questions to his young 
 clerical friend: " Is all company that are well 
 dressed, promiscuously admitted? or, admitted 
 on the introduction of nobody can tell who? Is 
 there no vying in dress, and ornament, and 
 fashion ? Are no card-tables introduced ? Are 
 suppers, and drinking, and late hours excluded? 
 While you are dancing, or carding, or drinking 
 above stairs, is any care taken of your poor ser- 
 vants below? Are they left to saunter about inn- 
 yards and tap-houses, to get into bad company; 
 or, not knowing what to do with themselves, to 
 debauch one another ? Unless you can answer me 
 rationally on all these heads, I shall never suffer 
 any clergyman, over whom I have influence, to 
 attend any of these meetings. It may be dif- 
 ficult perhaps to prevent the layman from filling 
 the heads of his sons and daughters with dress, 
 and vanity, and folly, and intrigue, and all the 
 impertinence that attends such promiscuous, ill- 
 regulated assemblies : we must leave him also to 
 take no more care of the morals of his servants, 
 than if they were his cattle; and to pay no atten- 
 
 * The author of " Sermons," " Forest Scenery," &c.
 
 , 69 
 
 lion to the difficulties, into which he leads them. 
 If he will run into these excesses (I have no better 
 word in my dictionary to explain my meaning), 
 I cannot prevent it ; but certainly I should wish 
 the clergyman to be very cautious how he gives 
 any encouragement to such assemblies, by his ex- 
 ample. The world may laugh at him; but he 
 must learn to bear the ridicule of the world ; and 
 I hope in return he will meet approbation else- 
 where *." 
 
 With reference to card-playing and theatrical 
 exhibitions -f-, Bishop Burnet, in his " Pastoral 
 
 * Dialogues on the Amusements of Clergymen, page 132. 
 
 f Bingham, in his profound researches into the " Anti- 
 quities of the Christian Church," gives an account of the rules 
 which were drawn up by Julian the Apostate for the regula- 
 tion of the conduct of the Heathen Priests, in order to increase 
 their credit and influence and urge them to emulate the pu- 
 rity of the Christian Priesthood. The reader will find, from 
 the following extract, that in these rules the perusal of loose 
 comedies, and attendance on the public theatres, were strictly 
 prohibited. The account is thus introduced by the learned 
 author : " After these reflections made on the laws and prac- 
 tice of the Primitive Clergy, it will be needless to make 
 any long address to any orders of the Clergy of the present 
 age. I will, therefore, only observe one thing more, that 
 Julian's design to bring the laws of the Primitive Clergy into 
 use among the Heathen Priests, in order to reform them, as 
 it was then a plain testimony of their excellency, so it is now 
 a proper argument to provoke the zeal of the present Clergy, to 
 be more forward and ambitious in their imitation. I have 
 already in part recited Julian's testimony and design, out of 
 his letter to Arsacius, High Priest of Galatia : I shall here sub- 
 
 4
 
 70 
 
 Care," speaking of a priest, expressly says, that, 
 " Gaming and plays, and every tiling of that sort, 
 
 join a more ample testimony from a fragment of one of his 
 epistles, printed among his works, where, speaking of the Gentile 
 priests, he says, It was reasonable they should be honoured, 
 as the ministers and servants of the Gods, by whose mediation 
 many blessings were derived from Heaven upon the world. 
 And so long as they retained this character, they were to be 
 honoured and respected by all; but if wicked and vicious, they 
 should be deposed from their office, as unworthy of their 
 function. Their lives were to be so regulated, as that they 
 might be a copy and pattern of what they were to preach to 
 men. To this purpose they should be careful in all their ad- 
 dresses to the Gods, to express all imaginable reverence and 
 piety, as being in their presence and under their inspection. 
 They should neither speak a filthy word, nor hear one ; but 
 abstain as well from all impure discourse, as vile and 
 wicked actions, and not let a scurrilous and abusive jest come 
 from their mouths. They should read no books tending this 
 way, such as Archilochus and Hippanax, and the writers of 
 loose wanton comedies ; but apply themselves to the study of 
 such philosophers as Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle, Chrysip- 
 pus, and Zeno, whose writings were most likely to create piety 
 in men's minds. - - - - They were in no case to go to see the ob- 
 scene and wanton shows of the public theatres, nor to bring 
 them into their own houses, nor to converse familiarly with 
 any charioteer, or player, or dancer, belonging to the theatre." 
 Bingham's Antiquities of the Christian Church, B. vi. C. v. 
 S.9. 
 
 I will here lay before the reader two further testimonies 
 upon the subject of theatrical exhibitions the one taken from 
 the writings of the truly primitive and apostolic Bishop of 
 Sodor and Man, the other from the life of an eminent lay- 
 man. " Plays, operas, romances, &c." observes Bishop Wilson, 
 " are contrivances to corrupt the heart, in which the devil 
 and man have showed their utmost skill. He that is not
 
 71 
 
 which is an approach to the vanities and disor- 
 ders of the world, must be avoided by him *." 
 
 I have now brought my proposed strictures to 
 a conclusion. I cannot, however, close the re- 
 satisfied they are unlawful diversions, let him, if he dare, pray 
 to God to bless him in the way he is going; and to keep 
 him from their danger, &c. It is presumption to depend on 
 one's own strength without grace; and it is impudent to ask it 
 when one is going wrong." Maxims of Piety, Bishop Wilson's 
 Works, vol. i. page 358. 
 
 Mr. Pearson, in his Life of Mr. Hey, gives the following 
 queries proposed by Mr. H. on the subject of the stage. 
 
 " 1. Are not they who hire and employ others to commit 
 sin, as guilty as those that commit it? 
 
 " 2. Are not they who hire persons to talk profaneness arid 
 indecency (which they do who attend the theatre), as guilty 
 as those who talk profanely and indecently themselves ? 
 
 " 3. Can any one justly think himself endued with love to 
 God, who does not earnestly desire and endeavour to keep 
 God's commandments ? And will not our desire to please God 
 be always in proportion to our abhorrence of that which is 
 hateful and displeasing to him ? If so; 
 
 " 4. Have not they who will not forego an amusement, 
 abounding with that which is hateful and displeasing to God, 
 just reason to conclude that they are lovers of pleasure more 
 than lovers of God ? 
 
 " 5. Is it not the character of fools to make a mock of sin ? 
 
 <{ 6. Are not filthiness, foolish talking, and jesting (those 
 constant ingredients of stage wit), ranked among the sins which 
 ought to have no place among Christians, and on account of 
 which, the wrath of God will most certainly come upon the chil- 
 dren of disobedience?" Pearson's Moral and social Life of 
 William Hey, Esq. page 24-4-. 
 
 * The Clergyman's Instructor, page 196.
 
 72 
 
 marks which I have taken the liberty of address- 
 ing to you, without expressing my earnest hope 
 that you will dispassionately examine the argu- 
 ments contained in these letters, and that you 
 will reconsider many of the topics, upon which 
 you have employed your pen. I do not, as I 
 observed at first, claim any deference to my 
 own judgment: all that I have to request is that 
 you will attentively weigh the authorities to which 
 your opinions stand opposed, and that you will 
 seriously reflect how awful must be the conse- 
 quences, unless they be averted by a timely re- 
 tractation of your errors, if it should eventually 
 be found that you have either directly, or indi- 
 rectly, strengthened t the hands of the wicked that 
 he should not return from his wicked way, by 
 promising him life *. 
 
 I am, Rev. Sir, 
 
 Your obedient Servant, 
 
 J. H. BROWNE. 
 
 COTGRAVE, 
 
 February IMh, 1823. 
 
 * Ez. xiii. 22. 
 
 Printed by S. Gosncll, Little Queen Street, London.