Wesley Corpus

(3) ‘Because I, who have written so much against hoarding up money, have put out seven hundred pounds to interest.’ I never put sixpence out to interest since I was born; nor had I ever an hundred pounds together my own since I came into the world. (4) ‘Because our lay preachers have told many stories of my brother and me.’ If they did, I am sorry for them; when I hear the particulars, I can answer, and perhaps make those ashamed who believed them. (5) ‘Because we did not help a friend in digress.’ We did help him as far as we were able. ‘But we might have made his case known to Mr. G----, Lady Huntingdon, &c.’ So we did more than once; but we could not pull money from them whether they would or no. Therefore these reasons are of no weight. You conclude with praying that God would remove pride and malice from amongst us. Of pride I have too much; of malice I have none: however, the prayer is good, and I thank you for it. To Nicholas Norton [7] KINGSWOOD, September 3, 1756. MY DEAR BROTHER, -- In your letters of July, and August 27, you charge me (1) with self-inconsistency in tolerating lay-preaching, and not lay-administering; and (2) with showing a spirit of persecution in denying my brethren the liberty of acting (as well as thinking) according to their own conscience. As to the former charge, the fact alleged is true: I do tolerate unordained persons in preaching the gospel, whereas I do not tolerate them in administrating the sacraments. But it is not true I am inconsistent in so doing. I act on one and the same principle still. My principle (frequently declared) is thus: ‘I submit to every ordinance of man wherever I do not conceive there is an absolute necessity for acting contrary to it.’ Consistently with this I do tolerate lay-preaching, because I conceive there is an absolute necessity for it; inasmuch as, were it not, thousands of souls would perish everlastingly. Yet I do not tolerate lay-administering, because I do not conceive there is any such necessity for it; seeing it does not appear that, if this is not all, one soul will perish for want of it.