the lists with such exceeding fierceness against a sermon which he did not hear, and which, hitherto, he has had no possible opportunity of reading, discovers a weakness and temerity in him, which sink him as low beneath my notice, as the established doctrines of our excellent church rise superior to his impotence of censure.-When the gentleman shall appear to have at all considered the important articles of faith, on which he has presumed to animadvert; when the sails of his furious zeal shall be counterballasted by some little degree of judgment, and when he has learned to express himself, if not with Christian decency, yet with common grammatical propriety, then, and not till then, shall I deem him a proper object of attention. You, gentlemen, can testify, that I never once appeared in your pulpit but at your own particular request; a request which I could not possibly have any interested motives for complying with, as I never accepted of the smallest gratuity for my attendance. Is it for this that the enraged curate has repeatedly traduced me from the pulpit, and now insults me from the press ? For my own part, I am so far from entertaining any resentment against Mr. Smith, (with whom I do not remember to have exchanged five words in my life, and whom I should not even know at sight,) or from being deterred by his unmerited abuse, that should I live to see London again, I shall always deem myself happy to wait on you as usual, whenever either your own desire or the interest of your public charity may command. And as so many of you have favoured me with uncommon civility and attention, I am encouraged to offer one request; a request not in behalf of myself, but of Mr. Smith; viz. that his ill-judged and unbecoming warmth may not so far alienate your affection from his person, as to make you persist in withdrawing those usual proofs of your beneficence, which formerly you have favoured him with, and which, I am sorry to be informed, have of late, through his defect of candour and humility, been considerably lessened. My sermon and his are now before the public. The rashness and seeming malignity with which he appears desirous to plunge into the depths of an unequal contest, might, in the opinion of some, justify me in the amplest severity of animadversion. But I spare him. I cannot prevail with myself to render "evil for evil, or railing for railing." On the contrary, I wish and pray that divine grace may cause him to partake of the "mind which was in Christ Jesus;" and that he may by the same Almighty influence, be made to experience, to believe, and to preach, the inestimable truths of that gospel which Jesus taught. Mr. John Wesley, (on whose plan of doctrine your curate seems in great measure to have formed his own) is the only opponent I ever had, whom I chastised with a studious disregard to ceremony. Nor do I in the least repent of the manner in which I treated him. To have refuted the forgeries and perversions of such an assailant tenderly, and with meekness, falsely so called; would have been like shooting at a highwayman with a pop-gun, or like repelling the sword of an assassin with a straw. I rather blame myself, on a review, for handling Mr. Wesley too gently, and for not acquainting the world with all I know concerning the man and his communication. I only gave him the whip, when he deserved a, scorpion. But as to Mr. Smith, he hitherto, amidst all his ignorance and unguardedness, merits a milder treatment. Want of talents and of thought appear in every paragraph of his sermon: but I am willing to believe him not wholly destitute of integrity. Though he opposes the doctrines of the church of England with virulence, yet he seems to do so from principle. Under this persuasion, I at present give him rope. Hereafter, should he rise into any thing like a respectable antagonist, I may, perhaps, hook him, and pull him in-Till then I take my leave both of the curate and of his preachment, with that justly admired line, which is at once equally picturesque of his behaviour, and expressive of my fixed determination. Du loqueris Lapides Ego Byssina Verba repo nam. I am, with much respect and regard, Gentlemen, Your obliged and obedient servant, Broad-Hembury, Aug. 31, 1770. LETTER TO THE REV. JOHN WESLEY: RELATIVE TO HIS PRETENDED ABRIDGMENT OF ZANCHIUS ON PREDESTINATION. BY AUGUSTUS TOPLADY, A. B. VICAR OF BROAD-HEMBURY, DEVON. Sic fatus senior, Telumque imbelle fine Ictu Eneid II. Gredulitate, puer; Audacia, juvenis; Delirius, senex. NEW-YORK; PUBLISHED BY GEORGE LINDSAY. Paul Thomas, Printers. |