Wesley Corpus

I considered each charge, and, I conceive, refuted it to the satisfaction of all indifferent persons. You renewed the attack, not by proving any thing, but affirming the same things over and over. I replied; and, without taking notice of the dull, low scurrility, either of the first or second letter, confined myself to the merits of the cause, and cleared away the dirt you had thrown. “You now heap together ten paragraphs more, most of which require very little answer. In the first you say, ‘Your foolishness is become the wonder and admiration of the public.” In the second, “The public blushes for you, till you give a better solution to the articles demanded of you.’ In the third, you cite my words, I still maintain ‘the Bible, with the Liturgy, and Homilies of our Church; and do not espouse any other principles but what are consonant to the Book of Common-Prayer.’ You keenly answer, ‘Granted, Mr. Methodist; but whether or no you would not espouse other principles, if you durst, is evident enough from some innovations you have already introduced, which I shall attempt to prove in the subsequent part of my answer.” Indeed you 30 REv. J. weslEY’s [Dec. 1760. will not. You neither prove, nor attempt to prove, that I would espouse other principles if I durst. However, you give me a deadly thrust: “You falsify the first Article of the Athanasian Creed.’ But how so? Why, I said, ‘The funda mental doctrine of the people called Methodists is, Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the true faith. Sir, shall I tell you a secret?--It was for the readers of your class that I changed the hard word Catholic into an easier. “In the fourth paragraph you say, ‘Did you never use that phrase, The grace of assurance? Never, that I remember, either in preaching or writing; both your ears and eyes have been very unhappy if they informed you I did: And how many soever look either sorrowful or joyful, that will not prove the contrary. “But produce your texts. What, for a phrase I never use? I pray you, have me excused. But, (as I said before,) ‘from what Scripture every one of my propositions is collected, any common Concordance will show.’ To save you trouble, I will for once point out those scriptures.