Wesley Corpus

DoWNES. 99 And yet I will not say, this ignorance is blameless. For ought you not to have known better? Ought you not to have taken the pains of procuring better information, when it might so easily have been had 7 Ought you to have publicly advanced so heavy charges as these, without knowing whether they were true or no? 6. You proceed to give as punctual an account of us, tan quam intus et in cute nosses : * “They outstripped, if pos sible, even Montanus, for external sanctity and severity of discipline.” (Page 22.) “They condemned all regard for tem poral concerns. They encouraged their devotees to take no thought for any one thing upon earth; the consequence of which was, a total neglect of their affairs, and an impoverish ment of their families.” (Page 23.) Blunder all over ! We had no room for any discipline, severe or not, five-and-twenty years ago, unless college discipline; my brother then residing at Christ Church, and I at Lincoln College. And as to our “sanctity,” (were it more or less,) how do you know it was only external 7 Was you intimately acquainted with us? I do not remember where I had the honour of conversing with you. Or could you (as the legend says of St. Pabomius) “smell an heretic ten miles” off? And how came you to dream, again, that we “condemned all regard for temporal concerns, and encouraged men to take no thought for any one thing upon earth?” Vain dream ! We, on the contrary, severely condemn all who neglect their temporal concerns, and who do not take care of everything on earth wherewith God hath entrusted them. The consequence of this is, that the Meth odists, so called, do not “neglect their affairs, and impoverish their families; ” but, by diligence in business, “provide things honest in the sight of all men.” Insomuch, that multitudes of them, who, in time past, had scarce food to eat or raiment to put on, have now “all things needful for life and godli ness;” and that for their families, as well as themselves. 7. Hitherto you have been giving an account of two wolf lings only; but now they are grown into perfect wolves. Let us see what a picture you draw of them in this state, both as to their principles and practice.