Wesley Corpus

I apprehend the collector at Northwich in Cheshire has informed the Honourable Board that 'Mr. James Vine is a preacher at Northwich and makes disturbances in the town.' That he attends the preaching of the Methodists is true; but it is not true that he is a preacher. It is likewise true that the rabble of Northwich have sometimes disturbed our congregations; but herein Mr. Vine was only concerned as a sufferer, not an actor. I know him to be a careful, diligent officer, and a zealous lover of King George. Wishing you all temporal and spiritual blessings, I remain, sir, Your obedient servant. To Lady Rawdon Editor's Introductory Notes: 1760 [5] LIVERPOOL., March 18, 1760. MY LADY,--It was impossible to see the distress into which your Ladyship was thrown by the late unhappy affair without bearing a part of it, without sympathizing with you. But may we not see God therein May we not both hear and understand His voice We must allow it is generally 'small and still'; yet He speaks sometimes in the whirlwind. Permit me to speak to your Ladyship with all freedom; not as to a person of quality, but as to a creature whom the Almighty made for Himself, and one that is in a few days to appear before Him. You were not only a nominal but a real Christian. You tasted of the powers of the world to come. You knew God the Father had accepted you through His eternal Son, and God the Spirit bore witness with your spirit that you were a child of God.