3* 
 
 5 I 33 
 
 Newton 
 
 A token of affection and respect
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 -OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 TOKEN 
 
 O F 
 
 AFFECTION AND RESPECT, 
 
 TO THE PARISHIONERS OF 
 
 ST. MARY W O O L N O T H, 
 
 AND 
 
 .ST. MARY WOOLCHURCH, LONDON, 
 
 FROM THEIR 
 
 MINISTER, 
 
 ACTS xx\i. 3. 
 I BESEECH THEE TO HEAR ME PATIENTLY, 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED IN THE YEAR I / 8 I .
 
 BX. 
 2> 
 A 
 
 TOKEN, &c 
 
 MY RESPECTED FRIENDS, 
 
 IT being impracticable to write feparately 
 and diftin&ly to every perfon in the pa- 
 rities with which I am connected as a 
 Minifter ; I cannot offer you this testimony 
 of my fincere regard for your welfare, with- 
 out availing myfelf of the conveniency of the 
 prefs. But you may be afTured, that this 
 Addrefs, though it waits upon you in print, 
 will not be published or fold. It is defign- 
 ed, not for the public, but for you. And I 
 wifh, while I exprefs myfelf with freedom, 
 to obferve the fame refped and tendernefs, 
 as if I had an opportunity of converting per- 
 fonally and feverally with each of you. 
 
 My income from the parifhes is legally 
 fettled, and regularly and readily paid. I am 
 well fatisfied with it ; and have only to wifh 
 on this head, that the people of my charge 
 may be benefited by the Miniftry which they 
 jointly contribute to fupport. I acknow- 
 ledge likcwife with thankfulnefs to God and 
 A 2 to 
 
 86977S
 
 [ 4 ] 
 
 to you, that in the occafional intercourfe I 
 have had amongft you, I have never received 
 the leafl perfonal incivility or unkindnefs 
 from any one. Though I cannot but know 
 and lament, that the fubject matter of my 
 preaching is to many of you not pleafing ; 
 and though feveral fteps I have thought it 
 my duty to take, muft appear, to fome of you, 
 unneceffary and troublefome innovations, I 
 have met with no direct and ftudied marks of 
 oppofition or ill-will. Your conduct has in 
 this refpect, been worthy of the politenefs 
 and humanity which diftinguifh you on other 
 occalions. 
 
 The only caufe of complaint, or rather of 
 grief, which you have given me is, that fo 
 many of thofe, to whom I earneftly delire to 
 be ufeful, refufe me the pleafure of feeing 
 them* at Church on the Lord's-Day. My 
 concern does not arife from the want of hear- 
 ers. If either a numerous auditory, or the 
 refpedtable characters of many of the indi- 
 viduals who compofe it, could fatisfy me, I 
 might be fatisfied. But I nmfl grieve, while 
 I fee fo few of my own parimioners among 
 them. Let me intreat your favourable at- 
 tention, while I refpectfully and affection- 
 ately expostulate on this head. 
 
 The general defign of my Miniftry in this 
 city, might, and I truft would have been an- 
 fwered, if it had pleafed God to place me in 
 fome other parifh. But He law fit to fix 
 
 me
 
 [ J ] 
 
 me amongft you. This appointment, as it 
 ought to give you a preference in my regard, 
 and to make me ftudioufly felicitous to promote 
 your advantage - } fo likewife it gives you amore 
 immediate and particular intereft than others, 
 in the event of my fervices. However little 
 worthy of your notice in any other view, if 
 I am a fervant of God, a Minifter of the 
 Lord Jefus Chrift, if I fpeak the truth in 
 love, how can I but be pained at the thought, 
 that many to whom the word of falvation is 
 fent *, refufe to hear it, and rejedl: the coun- 
 fel of God againft themfelves -f ! 
 
 I am unwilling to fuppofe, and yet, when 
 I coniider the progrefs of infidelity in the 
 prefent day, I cannot but fear, that there may 
 be fome amongft you who abfent themfelves 
 from the Church, not fo much from a dif- 
 like of what may be called my fcheme, or 
 my fentiments, as from a difregard to reli- 
 gion in general, at leaft to the Chriftian re- 
 ligion. I know how to pity perfons of this 
 unhappy turn, for it was too long my own. 
 It is not only a hazardous, but an uncom- 
 fortable ftate ; for notwithftanding their ut- 
 moft addrefs and endeavours, they cannot 
 wholly avoid painful apprehenfions, left the 
 Bible which they wiih to be falfe, mould 
 prove to be the truth. It was thus with me, 
 and it muft in the nature of things be thus 
 
 * Afts xiii. 26. f Luke vii. 30. 
 
 A 3 wi^th
 
 [ 6 1 
 
 with every Infidel. To doubt or deny the 
 truth of Chriftianity is too common, but to 
 demonftrate that it is falfe, is an utter im- 
 poffibility. I laboured long in the attempt, 
 but when I leaft expected it, I met with evi- 
 dence that overpowered my refiftance; and 
 the Bible which I had defpifed, removed my 
 fcepticifm. He againftwhom I had hardened 
 myfelf, was pleafed to fpare me ; and I now 
 live to * tell you, that there is forgivenefs 
 with him. 
 
 But the greater part of you, I am per- 
 fuaded, will agree with me thus far at leaft, 
 that the Scripture is a Divine Revelation. 
 But do not fome of you acl: inconfiftently 
 with your acknowledged principles ? Can 
 you reconcile your conduct to the precepts 
 of God, or to the character of thofe who 
 fear and love him, as defcribed either in the 
 Old, or New Teftament ? If you have fer- 
 vants and dependants, you expect to be 
 obeyed ; and do you profefs yourfelves the 
 fervants of God, and yet allow yourfelves 
 in the breach of his known commandments ? 
 The habits of bufmefs or amufement in 
 which you live, not only engrofs your time 
 and thoughts during the reft of the week, 
 but indiipofe you for the due obfervation of 
 the day which he has enjoined you to keep 
 holy. You have engagements of another 
 
 * P&l. cxxx. 4* 
 
 kind,
 
 f 7 ] 
 
 kind, which will not admit of your ftated 
 regular attendance on the public worfhip of 
 God ; and if you conftrain yourfelf to be 
 prefent occalionally, the light which a faith- 
 ful preacher forces upon your confcience 
 offends you, and makes you willing to catch 
 at every pretence which may furnifh you 
 with the fhadow of an excufe for not hearing 
 him again. 
 
 But this is not the character of all who 
 have withdrawn themfelves. Some of you 
 have not forfaken the public worfhip ; you 
 attend at other churches, and are ready to 
 complain that you have been driven from 
 your own. If you have candor to allow that 
 poffibly I mean well, yet the manner of my 
 preaching is fo different from what you were 
 formerly accuftomed to, and from what you 
 approve, that after having heard me, and 
 perhaps more than once, you have been con- 
 ftrained to feek new places, and to refign 
 your feats in your parifh church to ftrangers. 
 If I venture to plead with you upon this 
 ground, it is not without being aware of 
 the delicacy of the fubjecl:. It will feem like 
 pleading my own caufe. But I am con- 
 fcious, that I would not trouble you with a 
 fmgle line in the way of felf-j unification, if it 
 were not for your fakes, and with a defire of 
 obviating fuch mifapprehenfions, as I verily 
 believe you cannot retain without difadvan- 
 tage to yourfelves. 
 
 A 4 As
 
 E 8 ] 
 
 As a Proteftant Minifter, and preaching 
 to Proteftant hearers, I not only take my text 
 from the Scriptures, but likewife draw from 
 thence the proofs and illuftrations of what 
 I advance in my fermons. I frequently, con- 
 ftantly, appeal to the Bible, the acknow- 
 ledged ftandard and touchftone of religious 
 fentiments. As a Minifter of the Church of 
 England, when fpeaking to the profefled 
 members of that Church, I might likewife 
 appeal to the current doctrine expreffed in our 
 Liturgy and articles j but I feldom do it, be- 
 caufe having, as I conceive, the highefl au- 
 thority, the holy Scripture, on my fide, I 
 need no other. If you could be certain, that 
 with refpedt to the points wherein we differ, 
 the Scriptures are for you and againft me, 
 your refufal to hear me would be juftifiable. 
 But otherwife it behoves you to be cautious, 
 leaft while you think you only reject what 
 appears to you novel or impertinent, your 
 contempt mould unhappily fall upon the 
 doctrine of the Prophets and Apoftles, and 
 of Chrifl himfelf. I muft magnify my* 
 office. On other occafions, I wifli to de- 
 mean myfelf as the lean 1 of all, and the fer- 
 vant of all ; but when I ftand in the pulpit, 
 I fpeak in the name and under the authority 
 of him, whom we believe will fhortly come 
 to be our judge, and who has faid, He that 
 defpifeth -f you, defpifeth me. 
 
 * Rom. xi. 13. f Luke x. 16. 
 
 I mean
 
 [ 9 1 
 
 I mean not to take up your time at prefent, 
 with a detail or a difcuffion of fentiments. 
 I offered a brief outline of my thoughts and 
 aims, in the firft fermon I preached among 
 you, and which was printed folely with the 
 deiign of prefenting it to you ; though by a 
 miftake that gave me pain at the time, it be- 
 came more public than I intended. To the 
 profeffion I then made, I have, bythegood- 
 nefs of God, been enabled invariably to con- 
 form. I doubt not but I have fpoken the 
 truth * ; I have endeavoured to fpeak it in 
 love. It is true, I have not dared to difguife 
 or palliate my principles. I account it a 
 great mercy to me, that I have not been in- 
 fluenced by the fear or the favour of men. 
 But my conscience bears me witnefs, that fo 
 far as truth and duty would admit, I have 
 ftudied to avoid whatever might give you of- 
 fence or pain. When I came to St. Mary 
 Woolnoth, not being altogether a ftranger 
 to what is called the world, and to the maxims 
 prevalent in genteel life, I could not promife 
 myfelf very general acceptance as a preacher. 
 I knew that if I would be faithful to my 
 confcience, fome of my hearers muft be dif- 
 pleafed; but though I was conilrained to 
 rifk your difpleafure, I have been felicitous 
 not to provoke it, or to lay any unneceffary 
 difficulties either in your way, or in my own. 
 
 * Eph. iv. 15. 
 
 Many
 
 [ 10 ] 
 
 Many perfons whofe good fenfe and liberal 
 education, exempt, or free them from preju- 
 dices of other kinds, are frequently almoil 
 as much under the power of religious preju- 
 dices as the vulgar. We lament this more 
 than we wonder at it. The reafon is obvi- 
 ous. In temporal concerns they examine 
 and judge for themfelves. But in religious 
 matters, they are content to let others judge 
 for them, and (if I may fo fpeak) to fwim 
 with the ftream of a prevailing opinion. 
 To this caufe I muft afcribe fome of the ex- 
 ceptions that are taken to my miniftry. 
 
 In almoft every age and country where 
 Chriftianity ' has been profeffed, fome hard 
 name or term of reproach has been impofed 
 upon thofe who ventured to maintain a more 
 evangelical ftrain of doctrine, or a ftricter 
 courie of conduct, than was agreeable to the 
 fpirit of the times in which they lived. 
 Even the Chriftian name, honourable as we 
 may now think it, was ufed by the Heathens, 
 when it firft obtained, as a ftigma, a term of 
 the utmoft contempt and hatred; andChrifti- 
 ans were, by common confent, reputed the 
 orF-fcouring *, and filth of all things. In 
 a like reproachful fenfe the names of Lol- 
 lards and Gofpellers were applied by the Pa- 
 pifts, to thole whom God honoured as his 
 inilruments in freeing our fore-fathers from 
 
 * i Cor. iv. 13. 
 
 the
 
 I II ] 
 
 the fhackles of Popery, by introducing that 
 light of truth which iffued in the Reforma- 
 tion. Men of the fame fpirit were after- 
 wards branded in P rot eft ant nations with the 
 terms Pietift and Puritan. Of late years the 
 name of Methodift has been impofed as a 
 mark and vehicle of reproach. I have not 
 hitherto met with a perfon who could give 
 me a definition or precife idea of what is ge- 
 nerally intended by this formidable word, 
 by thofe who ufe it to exprefs their difap- 
 probation. Till I do, I am at a lofs whe- 
 ther to confefs or deny that I am (what fome 
 account me) a Methodift. If it be fuppofed 
 to include any thing, whether in principle 
 or conduct, unfuitable to the chamber of a 
 regular Minister of the Church of England, 
 I may, and I do difown it. And yet it is pro- 
 bable, that fome of my parishioners hearing, 
 and ealily taking it for granted, that I am a 
 Methodift, think it a fufficient proof that it 
 cannot be worth their while to hear me. 
 
 That I may not difguft and weary my 
 hearers by the length of my fermons, I 
 carefully endeavour not to exceed three quar- 
 ters of an hour, at thofe feafons when I have 
 moft reaibn to hope for the prefence of my 
 parifhioners. At other times I allow myfelf 
 a longer term, but even this I underftand is 
 thought too long. If I conlidered my preach- 
 ing only as a cuftomary appendage, without 
 which I could not, with a good grace, coi-
 
 t ] 
 
 lee! my dues, we mould not long differ upon 
 this point. So far as brevity would be 
 pleafing, it would coft me little trouble to 
 pleafe. But if the proper ends of preaching 
 are to inflrudt, to admonim, to exhort, and 
 to perfuade ; if the great truths of Scripture 
 are to be explained, illuflrated, and applied; 
 if the various known or probable ftates and 
 cafes of the feveral perfons who compofe our 
 auditories are to be attended to - t in a word, 
 if, as a preacher, I am confcientiouily to en- 
 deavour to fave myfelf and them * that hear 
 me ; then I confefs I know not how to an- 
 fwer thefe ends, 'Were I to .limit myfelf to a 
 much fhorter fpace than I do. And fome- 
 times when my heart has been deeply im- 
 prefTed with a fenfe of the worth of fouls, 
 the brevity and uncertainty of life, and the 
 folemnity of that hour when both preachers 
 and hearers muft give an account of them- 
 felves to God, I have, perhaps, in defiance 
 of my previous determination, been con- 
 flrained to exceed it a few minutes, though 
 but feldom. I am perfuaded you are mif- 
 taken, when you think the length of my dif- 
 courfes is the caufe of your diffatisfaction. It 
 is not fo much the length, as the fubject 
 matter that wearies you. It is poflible I 
 could, if I durft, preach a fermon, which, 
 though it exceeded three quarters of an 
 
 * i Tiin. iv. 1 6. 
 
 hour,
 
 [ '3 ] 
 
 hour, you would not think too long. Many 
 perfons can afford their attention for feveral 
 hours to pleaders at the bar, or to fpeakers 
 in parliament, without wearinefs, whofe pa- 
 tience is quickly exhaufted under a fermon, 
 where the principles of Scripture are plainly 
 enforced, and a faithful application of them 
 is addrefled to the confcience. I mean not 
 to vie with the public fpeakers you admire. 
 I lay no claim to the honour of an orator, 
 nor do I expect or even wim to engage your 
 attention by the elegance and modulation of 
 my periods. If I pofTefled abilities of this 
 kind, I muft decline the ufe of them. I 
 muft fpeak to the unlearned as well as to the 
 wife, and therefore my principal aim is to be 
 understood. Yet I would hope I am not 
 juftly chargeable with fpeaking nonfenfe, or 
 expreffing myfelf with a levity or carelefTnefs 
 unfuitable to the pulpit, or difrefpeclful to 
 the auditory. But alas ! there are too many 
 hearers, who feem more delirous of enter- 
 tainment, than of real benefit from a fermon ! 
 They do not act thus in the affairs of com- 
 mon life. Were they to confult a phyfician 
 or a lawyer, they would not be content with 
 having their opinion upon a point of law, or 
 a cafe in medicine in which they themfelves 
 had no perfonal concern. It is their own 
 cafe they expect mould be confidered. But 
 when they come to church, if the difcourfe 
 be ingenious, and the elocution of the 
 
 preacher
 
 [ H ] 
 
 preacher agreeable, it fuffices - } and the lefs 
 the fubject comes home to their perfonal 
 concernment, the more (in general) they are 
 pleafed with it. That is, they are difpofed 
 to be pleafed with the preacher, if he fays 
 nothing to make them difpleafed with them- 
 felves. 
 
 Another objection which I mufl like wife 
 treat as a prejudice is, that I am an extem- 
 pore preacher. The practice of reading fer- 
 mons to a public alfembly, has been hitherto 
 peculiar to the English nation. Bifhop Bur- 
 net obferves, that it took its rife foon after 
 the dawn of the Reformation among!! us. 
 Latimer and other great men, whofe names, 
 now they are dead, are mentioned with fome 
 refpect, were, when living, treated by many 
 as if they had been Methodifts. They were 
 con tempt uouily ftiledGcfpellers, and preach- 
 ing in unquiet times, when there were in- 
 furrections in different parts of the kingdom, 
 they were traduced as our Saviour and his 
 apoftles had been before them, and charged 
 with having a deiign to foment fedition by 
 their fermons. This was done with a view 
 of awakening the fufpicion and diilruil: of 
 Henry VIII. againft them, who was a prince- 
 fufficiently jealous of his authority! The 
 preachers not only difavowed the charge, 
 but were led to write their difcourfes, that 
 they might, if neceffary, confute their flan- 
 derers, by producing what they had actually 
 
 delivered.
 
 t 15 ] 
 
 Delivered. The like accufations, and the 
 like fufpicions, in fome fucceeding reigns, 
 rendered the fame precaution expedient. At 
 length the cuftom became general and efta- 
 blifhed. In moft, if not in all other parts 
 of Christendom, a man who mould attempt 
 to read his fermon from the pulpit, would 
 find but few hearers : he would be judged 
 difqualified for the office of a preacher by 
 his own confeffion. Infomuch that they 
 who after having previoufly confidered their 
 fubject, are not able to fpeak upon it with 
 fome degree of readinefs, are obliged not 
 only to write their fermons, but to fubmit 
 to the burdenfome tafk of committing them 
 to memory ; for reading them would not be 
 endured. With us, on the contrary, the 
 prejudice in favour of reading is fo ftrong, 
 that many people can form no expectation 
 of fenfe, argument, or coherence from a man 
 who preaches without a book. They will 
 require little more proof of his being un- 
 worthy of their notice, than to be told, he 
 is an extempore fpeaker. Here again, in 
 the concerns of common life, they judge and 
 act otherwife. There is little doubt but the 
 theatres would foon be much lefs frequented, 
 if the performers were to appear with books 
 in their hands, and each one to read his re- 
 fpective part. And perhaps the theatre is 
 the only place where a public fpeaker would 
 
 be much admired, if it were known that he 
 t . 
 
 fpoke
 
 fpoke neither more nor lefs than he had previ- 
 oufly determined to fay. In parliamentary 
 debates, and in pleadings in our courts of 
 juftice, the occurrence of unexpected replies 
 and objections, and other new circumftances, 
 renders it necefTary that a man mould be fo 
 far matter of his fubjecl: and his thoughts, 
 as to be able to accommodate himfelf to thofe 
 fudden turns, which often lead him into a 
 train of difcumons and arguments, which 
 could not be premeditated, becaufe the oc- 
 cafions could not be forefeen. If this habit 
 and facility of fpeaking ofF-hand, and ap- 
 plying principles of general knowledge to 
 particular fubjects and incidents as they of- 
 fer, be allowed, approved, and even required 
 in other public fpeakers, why mould it be 
 fuppofed that the Preacher is the only per- 
 fon who cannot, or muft not, exprefs his 
 thoughts, but in that order, and in thofe 
 words, in which he has previoufly written 
 them ? Is not Divinity a fubject fufficient- 
 ly copious ? Are not the topics which the 
 Scriptures afford, well fuited by their import- 
 ance, certainty, and authority, to awaken 
 the ftrongefr. emotions, and to draw forth the 
 higher! exertions of which the human mind 
 is capable ? Shall the management of the 
 conteiled claim of a houfe or a field, or the 
 interefts of contending political parties, be 
 deemed of fuch coniequence as to engage 
 ihe attention and admiration of hearers ? 
 
 And
 
 [ '7 ] 
 
 And fhall a Minifter of the Gofpel, when 
 called by his office to unfold the wonders 
 of Redemption, or to enlarge on the folemn 
 themes of Judgment, Heaven, and Hell, be 
 thought the only man who has chofen a fub- 
 ject incapable of juftifying his earneftnefs, or 
 of furnifhing him with fuch thoughts and 
 expreffions upon the fpot, as the moil judi- 
 cious part of his auditory need not difdain 
 to hear ? Certainly, if the Bible be true, a 
 Minifter muft have the advantage of all 
 other perfons who fpeak in a public cha- 
 racter ! His fubjecl: is more weighty, and of 
 infinitely more concern to his hearers. He 
 fpeaks in the name of God, and has an ex- 
 prefs promife of the afliftance of his Holy 
 Spirit, if not to fuperfede his faculties, yet 
 to influence, animate, and guide them, to 
 bring things feafonably to his remembrance, 
 and to apply them to the heart with a divine 
 energy. We know that it is fo in fa<5t ; and 
 though we are flighted, and perhaps defpifed, 
 by many, there are others who receive our 
 teflimony with joy, and will acknowledge, 
 that what the world efleems the * foolim- 
 nefs of preaching, has, by the blefling of 
 God, made them wife unto falvation -f. 
 
 I earneflly intreat you, my beloved friends, 
 ferioufly to confider thefe things. In the 
 midft of the various fentiments and opinions 
 
 * i Cor. i. 21. f 2 Tim. iii. 15. 
 
 B which
 
 [ '8 ] 
 
 which prevail, it is at leaft certain that we 
 are all mortal, and that life is not only fhort, 
 but highly precarious. If you believe the 
 Scriptures, you acknowledge, that after death 
 there is an appointed judgment, and an un- 
 changeable, everlafling ftate. If fo, mould 
 you not carefully examine the ground of 
 your hope, and fear even the pombility of a 
 miflake, which, if not rectified before death, 
 will then be fatal and without remedy ? If 
 you would not lign a leafe or a contrad: with- 
 out examining it for yourfelves, why will 
 you venture your eternal concernments im- 
 plicitly upon the prevailing opinions of thofe 
 around you ? Efpecially, when our Lord 
 himfelf has told us, that whoever may be 
 right, the Many are undoubtedly wrong. 
 For * " wide is the gate, and broad is the 
 " way, that leadeth to deflrudtion, and Many 
 " there be that go in thereat ; becaufe ftrait 
 " is the gate, and narrow is the way, that 
 " leadeth unto life, and Few there be that 
 e< find it.'* If for the prefent you feem con- 
 firmed in your manner of thinking and liv- 
 ing, by the numbers, names, and examples 
 of thofe with whom you agree ; yet confider, 
 you muft foon be feparated from them all. 
 Not one of them will be able to comfort you 
 in a dying hour, or to anfwer for you to God. 
 You may live in a throng, but you muft die 
 alone. Religious fubjedts are feldom the 
 
 * Matt. vii. 13, 
 
 chofen
 
 chofen topics of converfation, in what is ufually 
 called good company ; if occafionally intro- 
 duced, how fuperficially are they treated, yet 
 how peremptorily are they decided upon, ahd 
 then how readily difmiffed ! But fooner or later 
 their importance will be known. The Scrip- 
 ture is the rule by which we muft all be 
 judged at laft j it is therefore our wifdom to 
 judge ourfelves by it now. Would you be 
 perfuaded to do this, praying to God for that 
 affiftance which you need to direct your en- 
 quiries, and which he has promifed he will 
 afford to them that afk him, it would have a 
 happy effect upon your principles and your 
 peace. Search and read for yourfelves, if 
 the Scripture does not fpeak to all * mankind 
 as in a ftate of condemnation - y if it affords us 
 any hope of deliverance but for the fake of 
 the Lord Jefus Chrifl -f* j if it intimates any 
 method of being faved through him, but by 
 a faith J wrought by the operation of God, 
 and evidenced by a temper of love, and a ha- 
 bit of chearful obedience to his precepts : 
 if thefe points, which comprize the general 
 fcope of my preaching, are contained and 
 taught in the Bible, they ought not to be 
 fpoken againft. 
 
 I can have no interefl to forward by this 
 addrefs, except that interefl which I feel in 
 your welfare. I have no favor to folicit from 
 
 * Rom. iii. 19. f Adls iv. 12. J Mark xvi. 16. 
 
 Col, ii. 12. .Gal. v. 6. i Pet. i. 2. 
 
 B 2 you,
 
 you, but that you would attend to the things 
 which pertain to your eternal happinefs. I 
 pan truly fay, I feek not your's, but you *. 
 Though I am not indifferent to your good 
 opinion, fo far as refpedts my integrity and 
 moral character, yet it is a fmall thing with 
 me to be judged of man's judgment ; nor 
 would your united approbation content me, 
 except I could hope it was founded in your 
 cordial acceptance of the Gofpel which I 
 preach. I have taken this method, as it 
 feeme.d the only one in my power of ac- 
 quainting fome of you with my fentiments, 
 which yet it highly concerns you to know ; 
 not becauie they are mine, but (I fpeak it 
 with confidence) becaufe they are true, and 
 of the utmofl confequence. However amiable 
 and benevolent in your private characters, 
 except you are born again, )- born from 
 above, (delivered from the love and fpirit of 
 the J world, and made partakers of the love 
 and fpirit of the Lord Jefus, you cannot 
 be accepted of him in the great approaching 
 day of his appearance. My heart longs for 
 your falvation $ but whether you will hear, 
 pr whether you will forbear, I muft take 
 your confciences to witnefs, that I have been 
 faithful to you. If after this (which may 
 God forbid) any mould periih, I am clear 
 of || their blood. Permit me to make one 
 
 * 2 Cor. yii. 14. f John iii. 3. J Gal. i. 4, 
 
 Rom. viii. 9. || A&s x$. 26. 
 
 requefL
 
 [ 21 ] 
 
 requefl. It is not likely that I mall ever 
 trouble you in this way again, and therefore 
 I would intreat you to preferve this paper. 
 If it makes no impreilion on you at prefent, 
 a more favorable ieafon may come. If you 
 pay but little attention to it in your profpe- 
 rity, a time of afHidlion may invite you to 
 perufe it again. If you regard it not while 
 I am living, you may, mould you furvive 
 me, read it more carefully after my deceafe. 
 It is however probable, that fome of you 
 will not furvive me. Death may be even 
 at your door. If the thought of fuch a vi- 
 iitant be unwelcome to you, it is owing to 
 a fecret confcioufnefs thrt you are not pre- 
 pared for it, and therefore you feek refuge 
 from the painful apprehenfion, in a round 
 of bufinefs or pleafure ; perhaps for the pre- 
 fent with too much fuccefs. Yet fooner or 
 later, the hour you dread muft come. " It 
 " is appointed for all men once to die, and 
 " after death the judgment." There we 
 mall all meet. May the Lord God fo in- 
 fluence your minds now, that our meeting 
 then may be comfortable and happy. 
 
 Thus far I have written chiefly to thofe 
 who abfent themfelves from the Church. 
 But I thank God I am not wholly deferted 
 by my parifhioners. With regard to thofe 
 who have patience and candor to hear me, I 
 have a hope that what may now feem harm 
 and difficult in my fermojis, may hereafter 
 
 approve
 
 [ 22 ] 
 
 approve itfelf to their judgment. No per- 
 fon in the congregation can be more averfe 
 from the doctrines which I now preach than 
 I myfelf once was. This gives me encou- 
 ragement for others, efpecially when they are 
 willing to attend on the means which God 
 has promifed to blefs. For faith * cometh 
 by hearing. If I have at any time, contrary 
 to my intention, uttered a lingle fentence in 
 my own fpirit, or that might give them 
 juft caufe of offence, I mould be glad, if 
 I knew it, to afk their pardon. 
 
 Some of you there are (may God increafe 
 the number) who not only hear, but ap- 
 prove, becaufe they have an experience in 
 their own hearts that I fpeak the truth. 
 They have felt the evil of fin, and the ne- 
 ceffity of a Saviour. They have received the 
 record God has given of his Son, and place 
 their whole dependance upon him, as their 
 wifdom, ~t" righteoufnefs, fanctification, and 
 redemption. To thefe I can addrefs myfelf 
 with more freedom. You know the diffi- 
 culties of my fituation, and will afliil me 
 with your prayers. I truft likewife you will 
 afliil me by your conduct, and that your 
 lives and conventions will contribute to 
 flop the mouths of gainfayers, and conftrain 
 them to acknowledge, that the doctrines of 
 grace, which I preach, when rightly under- 
 
 * Rom. XTM7- f > C n i. 30. 
 
 ftopd
 
 [ *3 ] 
 
 flood and cordially embraced, are productive 
 of peace, contentment, integrity, benevo- 
 lence, and humility. Many eyes are upon 
 you, watching for your halting, and feeking 
 occafion by your mifcarriages, if they can 
 obferve any, to fpeak evil of the * way of 
 truth. May the grace of our Lord Jefus 
 Chrifl: enable you to difappoint them, and 
 make them afhamed ! We mufl expect fome 
 oppofition, many temptations and trials ; 
 but we are engaged in a good caufe, and we 
 have a mighty Saviour, a compaffionate 
 friend, a prevailing advocate. He knows 
 your path; He fees your conflicts. And 
 He has engaged to fupport, to guide, and to 
 guard you, and at length to make you -|- more 
 than conquerors, and to bellow upon you 
 a J crown of everlafling life. 
 
 I am, 
 
 Your affectionate fervant, 
 
 HOXTON, JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 Nov. i, 1781. 
 
 * 2 Pet. ii. 2. f Rom. viii. 37. J Rev. ii. io
 
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