78 To The Editor Of Lloyds Evening Post
| Author | John Wesley |
|---|---|
| Type | letter |
| Year | None |
| Passage ID | jw-letter-1775-78-to-the-editor-of-lloyds-evening-post-000 |
| Words | 247 |
To the Editor of 'Lloyd's Evening Post'
Date: NORWICHCH, November 29, 1775.
Source: The Letters of John Wesley (1775)
Author: John Wesley
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SIR,--I have been seriously asked, From what motive did you publish your Calm Address to the American Colonies
I seriously answer, Not to get money. Had that been my motive, I should have swelled it into a shilling pamphlet and have entered it at Stationers' Hall.
Not to get preferment for myself or my brother's children. I am a little too old to gape after it for myself; and if my brother or I sought it for them, we have only to show them to the world.
Not to please any man living, high or low. I know mankind too well. I know they that love you for political service love you less than their dinner, and they that hate you hate you worse than the devil.
Least of all did I write with a view to inflame any; just the contrary. I contributed my mite toward putting out the flame which rages all over the land. This I have more opportunity of observing than any other man in England. I see with pain to what an height this already rises in every part of the nation. And I see many pouring oil into the flame by crying out, ' How unjustly, how cruelly the King is using the poor Americans, who are only contending for their liberty and for their legal privileges! '