the doctrines of Methodism are the doctrines of "the gospel of the divine Jesus," then Mr. Myles's use of the text is perfectly rational; and Mr. W. would do well to pause, and to examine his steps, lest in the rapidity of his flight he should be hurried over some precipice. You know, Sir, that the rider, urging his swift steed to the precincts of a given boundary, is in his career, sometimes in danger of being carried beyond the goal. Were Mr. W. to consult his favourite author, Dr. Paley, he would be able to discover the inaptness of his triumphant comparison. Mahometanism was founded in falsehood, propagated by the sword, left men the slaves of their passions and their vices, and buoyed them up with the prospects of a sensual paradise; whereas Christianity, or Methodism if you please, proclaims the cross, publishes peace, civilizes and evangelizes its subjects; or, in the half-acknowledged concessions of Mr. W. it "subdues the barbarism and excesses" of the people "to comparative selfcommand and decency of deportment." Though the Methodists have effected what has astonished thousands, Mr. W. can contemplate nothing in the system, that extends beyond the power of human agency. "Powerful, (he remarks) as these human causes have shown themselves to be, we may yet indulge a confident hope that their efficacy will gradually cease as the minds of the people become better informed, and that this portentous delusion, which commenced amid the boastful prognostications of its authors, and the acclamations of the crowd, will ere long sink into merited disgrace, and silent contempt."* You perceive, Sir, desperate as the case is, Mr. W. indulges "confident hope." But by whom are "the people to become better informed?" Doubtless by Mr. W. who purposes to inculcate " a more rational creed," and introduce them to the enjoyment of a more "rational religion."+ His creed, however, is such, as will be seen in the course of these Remarks, as utterly to exclude, in the present day, the inspiration + Pages 19, 54. * Page 127. of God; and his religion is of a character to allow him to plead for amusements of an immoral tendency, not only as perfectly innocent, but even of considerable utility. He argues against Methodism from its abuse and yet the same objection is to have no weight against the follies of life.§ Methodism has spread, and its advocates "may yet indulge a confident hope," that it will continue to spread; not solely, as Mr. W. supposes, through the zeal of the preachers to propagate "THEIR peculiar faith," and the plan constructed by "the wary founder of this party," but through their sincere endeavour to make genuine Christians, and the Spirit of God accompanying their exertions. What seems to displease Mr. W. not a little is, the conduct of the Methodists in disclaiming the character of Dissenters.** As this subject has been entered into,++ in a letter addressed to R. Southey, Esq. and Mr. W. is well acquainted with "the later numbers of the Methodist Magazine down to the present time,"‡‡ it will be the less necessary to enlarge now. The ground on which they merit the appellation of Dissenters, is the unwearied efforts they have manifested "in diminishing the attachment of the inferior classes to the Church, in whose bosom they were nurtured."§§ Ιε is a fact, Sir, too notorious to be denied, that the major part of the Methodists, and especially "the inferior classes," have been gathered from the immoral part of mankind. Mr. W. will come forward and institute a claim to these, as persons who have been "nurtured" in the "bosom" of the Church, few will dispute the honour to which such a claim is entitled. Strange, however, as it may seem, those very persons are represented by him elsewhere, antecedent to their union with the Methodist body, as weak, ignorant, foolish, and barbarous; as the subjects of strong passions, and indulging in excess. Now, if to nurture signifies to feed and to If educate; and if those poor creatures were actually nurtured in barbarism, though in the very bosom of the Church, did it not, I ask, become a matter of absolute necessity, from their small, or rather non-improvement, to put them-say for the sake of experiment, upon a different course of diet, and send them to another school? From Mr. W.'s own account they could scarcely be plunged into a state of greater moral wretchedness. And yet he reprobates the Methodists for the adoption of certain measures to prevent them "from returning to their former faith;"* and laments that no activity will bring them back to the "long deserted religion of their ancestors."+ Shall we, Sir, make an inquiry into their "former faith 2" Mr. W. informs us, that those very persons are "Men whose minds have from their birth ro mained totally destitute of cultivation, whose understandings have always been darkened by error, and whose habits have experienced no restraint beyond what is imposed by rigid necessity and the law of the land." Still they were nurtured in the bosom of the Church! With all their food, they remained in a state of "weakness;" with all their education, they were still the subjects of "folly, barbarism, and error." Had I not adverted to the title-page, and seen "OBSERVATIONS, &c. By the Rev. Latham Wainewright, A. M. F. A. S. of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and Rector of Great Brickhill, in the county of Bucks," I should have been half inclined to lay these inconsistencies at the door of some person who had just been "mingling in scenes of social hilarity,"-scenes which he censures the Methodists for discountenancing,§ and in which the spirits are sometimes more elated, than the views are correct. In Mr. W.'s case, it can only be attributed to a deep-rooted prejudice which has obscured his better judgment. Defective as the Methodists were, prior to their assumption of the name, in intellectual improvement, they are now, if we are to attend to the declaration of Mr. W. dreadfully * Page 112. + Page 192. + Page 18. § Page 188. degenerated. Formerly they were only indifferent to learning, but now they are actually hostile to any thing of the kind. "The discoveries of modern philosophy, (says he) the refinements of ancient literature, and the pleasures resulting from the productions of the fine arts, are to them of scarcely more value than the sand upon the sea shore. In their judgment, the deductions of scientific research, and the beauties of literary composition, are nothing more than the results of time mis-spent, and of labour mis-applied. Devoid of taste themselves, and enemies to its cultivation in others, they regard the glowing delineations of the painter, and the animated forms of sculpture, in no other light than as ministering to the pride of the wealthy, and as tending to perpetuate the remembrance of heathenish fables."* All that this charge merits, like many others, is a positive denial till suitable evidence is adduced. Not to pass it entirely unnoticed, the Methodists, it will be confessed by Mr.W. himself, are poor in the bulk. Admitting them, therefore, to have the will, they want the ability. Employed in their various secular concerns, from morning to evening, for a subsistence, they want time, as well as ability, for literary and other pursuits. Mr. W. may converse and write with a considerable portion of dignity and self-complacency, respecting the arts and sciences, when he has several colleges reared to his hand, and claims kindred with a Church united to the state-a Church which can boast of the princes, nobility, and gentry of the land for its members. To upbraid the poor Methodists, on these subjects, is as cruel and ridi culous, as it would be for a nobleman to censure one of the lowest of his menial attendants, for a want of the same taste and acquisitions with himself. Abandoning the general question, there are individuals belonging to the body, who are not without their titles, and who are connected with various literary institutions; while others, again, are encouraging, and making all the progress in the arts and sciences, time and circumstances will allow. * Page 189. What other end the introduction of such a subject as this can answer, beside that of furnishing Mr. W. with an opportunity of relating what he has heard of "the gallery of the Louvre," &c. cannot well be determined. The next time. he writes, and asserts, that the Methodists "countenance no projects for the advancement of science,"* he will do well to recollect what he may have read respecting their contributions towards the support of KINGSWOOD and WOODHOUSE GROVE Schools. Till you hear from me again, more immediately on the subject of doctrine, believe me, Sir, to be Your's, affectionately, Hull. JAMES EVERETT. LETTER II. "Thou findest fault where nys to be found, And blamest 'em much for small encheason."'+ Spenser's Sheph. Cal. May, line 144. REV. SIR, WHAT particular object Mr. W. can propose to himself in his "Observations," besides the destruction of experimental religion, and, as a natural consequence, the establishment of nominal Christianity, I find it more difficult than ever to perceive. To effect this, he indirectly cuts off all appeal to the Sacred Writings on the subject of Divine influence, by stating it to be peculiar to the apostolic age. This, it must be confessed, is a new ground of religious controversy; and a most singular one for a divine. If the influences of the Spirit, and extraordinary occurrences of Providence ceased, as we are informed, with the age of miracles, the accounts which we have of them in Scripture, + Nys, none. Encheason, occasion. Pages 36, 64, 77, 99. D * Page 188. |