Wesley Corpus

To the Printer of the 'Dublin Chronicle' Date: LONDONDERRY, June 2, 1789. Source: The Letters of John Wesley (1789) Author: John Wesley --- SIR, -- 1. As soon as I was gone from Dublin, the Observer came forth, only with his face covered. Afterwards he came out under another name, and made a silly defense for me, that he might have the honor of answering it. His words are smoother than oil, and flow (who can doubt it) from mere love both to me and the people. 2. But what does this smooth, candid writer endeavor to prove, with all the softness and good humor imaginable Only this point (to express it in plain English), that I am a double-tongued knave, an old crafty hypocrite, who have used religion merely for a cloak, and have worn a mask for these fifty years, saying one thing and meaning another. A bold charge this; only it happens that matter of fact contradicts it from the beginning to the end. 3. In my youth I was not only a member of the Church of England, but a bigot to it, believing none but the members of it to be in a state of salvation. I began to abate of this violence in 1729. But still I was as zealous as ever, observing every point of Church discipline, and teaching all my pupils so to do. When I was abroad, I observed every rule of the Church, even at the peril of my life. I knew not what might be the consequence of repelling the first magistrate's niece [See letters of July 5, 1737, to Thomas Causton and Mrs. Williamson (Sophia Hopkey).] from the sacrament, considering, on the one hand the power lodged in his hands, on the other the violence of his temper, shown by his declaration, 'I have drawn the sword, and I will never sheathe it till I have satisfaction.'