Wesley Corpus

The English in general, high and low, rich and poor, do not speak of God. They do not say anything about Him, from day to day, from week to week, from year to year. They talk of anything beside; they are not so squeamish as the old poet, who would not spend his breath in talking De villis domibusve alienis; Nec male necne Lepos saltet.* We talk indifferently on everything that comes in the way; on everything--but God. If any one were to name him in good company, with any degree of seriousness, suppose at a Gentleman or Nobleman's table, would not they all stand aghast? Would not a profound silence ensue, till some one started a more agreeable subject? 17. Again: A vast majority of the English live in the constant neglect of the worship of God. To form a judgment of this, you may take a specimen in the good city of London. How few of the inhabitants worship God in public, even one day in a week! Do not yet fewer of them make a conscience of worshipping God in their families? And perhaps they are a still smaller number that daily worship God in their closets. Such, if we acknowledge the truth, is the general, constant ungodliness of the English nation | 18. But negative ungodliness (so to speak) is the least exceptionable part of our character. Proceed wc then to the positive ungodliness, which overflows every part of our land. The first branch of this positive ungodliness, and such as shows an utter contempt of God, is perjury. And to this the common people are strongly tempted in our public Courts of Justice, by the shocking manner wherein oaths are usually administered there, contrary to all sense and decency. Forty years ago, (and perhaps it may be so still,) when an oath was administered in the Court of Savannah in Georgia, the Judge with all on the bench rose up, and stood uncovered while it was administering; and Done moved his foot, or uttered a word, till they sat down again. Has not every English Judge power to introduce the same solemnity into every court where he presides? Certainly he has. And if he does not exert that power, he is inexcusable before God and man. 19. Till this is done, our shameless manner of administering oaths will increase the constant perjuries in our nation.