Chapter XLI: Letter XXX (2)

8. “But I do not know, that it was run.” No! Did not he that sold it, tell you it was? If he sold it under the common price, he did. The naming the price, was telling you, “This is run.”

9. “But I don’t know where to get tea which is not run.” I will tell you where to get it. You may have it from those whose tea is duly entered, and who make a conscience of it. But were it otherwise, if I could get no wine, but what I knew to be stolen, I would drink water: yea, though not only my health, but my life depended upon it: for it is better to die, than to live by thieving.

10. “But if I could get what has paid duty, I am not able to pay the price of it. And I can’t live without it.” I answer, 1. You can live without it, as well as your grandmother did. But 2. If you could not live without it, you ought to die, rather than steal. For death is a less evil than sin.

11. “But my husband will buy it, whether I do or no. And I must use what he provides, or have none.” Undoubtedly to have none is a less evil, than to be partaker with a thief.

IV. Upon the whole then, I exhort all of you that fear God, and desire to save your souls, without regarding what others do, resolve at all hazards, to keep yourselves pure. Let your eye be fixed on the word of God, not the examples of men. Our Lord says to every one of you, _What is that to thee? Follow thou me!_ Let no convenience, no gain, no pleasure, no friend, draw you from following him. In spite of all the persuasions, all the reasonings of men, keep to the word of God. If all on the right-hand and the left will be knaves, be _you_ an honest man. Probably God will repay you (he certainly will, if this be best for you) even with temporal blessings: there have not been wanting remarkable instances of this. But if not, he will repay you with what is far better: with _the testimony of a good conscience towards_ God; with _joy in the Holy Ghost_; with an _hope full of immortality_; with _the love of_ God _shed abroad in_ your _hearts_. And _the peace of_ God, _which passeth all understanding_, shall _keep your hearts and minds in_ Christ Jesus!

LONDON,
_January 30, 1767_.

A WORD to a
Condemn’d MALEFACTOR.

WHAT a condition are you in? The sentence is past: you are condemned to die: and this sentence is to be executed shortly. You have no way to escape; these fetters, these walls, these gates and bars, these keepers cut off all hope. Therefore die you must: but must you die like a beast, without thinking what it is _to die_? You need not: you will not: you will think a little first: you will consider, what is death? It is leaving this world, these houses, lands, and all things under the sun; leaving all these things, never to return; your place will know you no more. It is leaving these pleasures; for there is no eating, drinking, gaming, no merriment in the grave. It is leaving your acquaintance, companions, friends: your father, mother, wife, children. You cannot stay with them, nor can they go with you: you must part; perhaps for ever. It is leaving a part of yourself; leaving this body which has accompanied you so long. Your soul must now drop its old companion, to rot and moulder into dust. It must enter upon a new, strange, unbodied state. It must stand naked before God!

2. But O! how will you stand before God? The great, the holy, the just, the terrible God? Is it not his own word, _Without holiness no man shall see the Lord_? No man shall see him with joy: rather he will call for the mountains to fall upon him and the rocks to cover him. And what do you think holiness is? It is purity both of heart and life. It is the mind that was in Christ, enabling us to walk as he also walked. It is the loving God with all our heart, the loving our neighbour, every man as ourselves, and the doing to all men, in every point, as we would they should do unto us. The least part of holiness is, to do good to all men, and to do no evil either in word or work. This is only the outside of it. But this is more than you have. You are from it; far as darkness from light. You have not the mind that was in Christ: there was no pride, no malice in him: no hatred, no revenge, no furious anger, no foolish or worldly desire. You have not walked as Christ walked: no; rather as the devil would have walked, had he been in a body; the works of the devil you have done, not the works of God. You have not loved God with all your heart. You have not loved him at all. You have not thought about him. You hardly knew or cared, whether there was any God in the world. You have not done to others as you would they should do to you; far, very far from it. Have you done all the good you could to all men? If so, you had never come to this place. You have done evil exceedingly: your sins against God and man are more than the hairs of your head. Insomuch that even the world cannot bear you; the world itself spues you out. Even the men that know not God declare, you are not fit to live upon the earth.

3. O repent, repent! Know yourself: see and feel what a sinner you are. Think of the innumerable sins you have committed, even from your youth up. How many wicked words have you spoken? How many wicked actions have you done? Think of your inward sins! Your pride, malice, hatred, anger, revenge, lust. Think of your sinful nature, totally alienated from the life of God. How is your whole soul prone to evil, void of good, corrupt, full of all abominations! _Feel_, that your carnal mind is enmity against God. Well may the wrath of God abide upon you. He is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity: he hath said, _The soul that sinneth, it shall die_. It shall die eternally, shall be _punished with everlasting destruction, from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power_.

4. How then can _you_ escape the damnation of hell? The lake of fire burning with brimstone? Where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched? You can never redeem your own soul. You cannot atone for the sins that are past. If you could leave off sin now, and live unblamable for the time to come, that would be no atonement for what is past. Nay, if you could live like an angel for a thousand years, that would not atone for one sin. But neither can you do this: you cannot leave off sin: it has the dominion over you. If all your past sins were now to be forgiven, you would immediately sin again: that is, unless your heart were cleansed; unless it were created anew. And who can do this? Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Surely none but God. So you are utterly sinful, guilty, helpless! What can you do to be saved?

5. One thing is needful: _believe in the_ Lord Jesus Christ, _and thou shalt be saved_! Believe (not as the devils only, but) with that faith which is the gift of God, which is wrought in a poor, guilty, helpless sinner, by the power of the Holy Ghost. See all thy sins on Jesus laid. God laid on him the iniquities of us all. He suffered once the just for the unjust. He bore our sins in his own body on the tree. He was wounded for thy sins; he was bruised for thy iniquities. _Behold the Lamb of |God|, taking away the sin of the world!_ Taking away thy sins, even thine, and reconciling thee unto God the Father! _Look unto him and be thou saved!_ If thou look unto him by faith, if thou cleave to him with thy whole heart, if thou receive him both to atone, to teach and to govern thee in all things, thou shalt be saved, thou art saved, both from the guilt, the punishment, and all the power of sin. Thou shalt have peace with God, and a peace in thy own soul, that passeth all understanding. Thy soul shall magnify the Lord, and thy Spirit rejoice in God thy Saviour. The love of God shall be shed abroad in thy heart, enabling thee to trample sin under thy feet. And thou wilt then have an hope full of immortality. Thou wilt no longer be afraid to die, but rather long for the hour having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ.

6. This is the faith that worketh by love, the way that leadeth to the kingdom. Do you earnestly desire to walk therein? Then put away all hindrances. Beware of company: At the peril of your soul, keep from those who neither know nor seek God. Your old acquaintance are no acquaintance for _you_, unless they too acquaint themselves with God. Let them laugh at you, or say, you are running mad. It is enough, if you have praise of God. Beware of strong drink. Touch it not, lest you should not know when to stop. You have no need of this to chear your spirits; but of the peace and the love of God: beware of men that pretend to shew you the way to heaven, and know it not themselves. There is no other name whereby you can be saved, but the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. And there is no other way whereby you can find the virtue of his name but by faith. Beware of Satan transformed into an angel of light, and telling you, it is presumption to believe in Christ, as _your_ Lord and _your_ God, your wisdom and righteousness, sanctification and redemption. Believe in him with your whole heart. Cast your whole soul upon his love. Trust him alone: love him alone: fear him alone: and cleave to him alone: Till he shall say to you (as to the dying malefactor of old,) _This day shalt thou be with me in paradise_.

A WORD in SEASON;
OR,
Advice to an _ENGLISHMAN_.¹

¹ This was published at the beginning of the late rebellion.

1. DO _you_ ever _think_? Do you ever _consider_? If not, ’tis high time you should. _Think_ a little, before it is too late. _Consider_ what a state you are in. And not you alone, but our _whole nation_. We _would_ have war. And we have it. And what is the fruit? Our armies broken in pieces: And thousands of our men either killed on the spot or made prisoners in one day. Nor is this all. We have now war at our own doors: our own countrymen turning their swords against their brethren. And have any hitherto been able to stand before them? Have they not already seized upon one whole kingdom? Friend, either _think_ now, or sleep on and take your rest, till you drop into the pit where you will sleep no more?

2. _Think_, what is likely to follow, if an army of _French_ also, should blow the trumpet in our land! What desolation may we not then expect? What a wide-spread _field of blood_? And what can the end of these things be? If they prevail, what but _Popery_ and _Slavery_? Do you know what the spirit of _Popery_ is? Did you never hear of that in queen _Mary_’s reign? And of the holy men who were then burnt alive by the _Papists_, because they did not dare to do as they did? To worship angels and saints; to pray to the virgin _Mary_; to bow down to images, and the like. If we had a king of this spirit, whose life would be safe? At least, what honest man’s? A knave indeed might turn with the times. But what a dreadful thing would this be to a man of conscience? “Either turn, or burn. Either go into that fire: or into the fire that _never shall be quenched_.”

3. And can you dream that your _property_ would be any safer than your _conscience_? Nay, how should that be? Nothing is plainer than that the Pretender cannot be king of _England_, unless it be by conquest. But every conqueror may do what he will. The laws of the land are no laws to him. And who can doubt, but one who should conquer _England_ by the assistance of _France_, would copy after the _French_ rules of government?

4. How dreadful then is the condition wherein we stand? On the very brink of utter destruction! But why are we thus? I am afraid the answer is too plain, to every considerate man. Because of our sins: because we have well-nigh _filled up the measure of our iniquities_. For, what wickedness is there under heaven, which is not found among us at this day? Not to insist on the _sabbath-breaking_ in _every corner_ of our land, the _thefts_, _cheating_, _fraud_, _extortion_; the _injustice_, _violence_, _oppression_; the _lying_ and _dissimulating_; the _robberies_, _sodomies_ and _murders_ (which, with a thousand unnamed ♦villainies are common to us and our neighbour _Christians_ of _Holland_, _France_, and _Germany_:) consider over and above, what a plentiful harvest we have of wickedness almost peculiar to ourselves? For who can vie with _us_, in the direction of courts of _justice_? In the management of _public charities_? Or, in the _accomplished_, barefaced wickedness, which so abounds in our _prisons_, and _fleets_, and _armies_? Who in _Europe_ can compare with the _sloth_, _laziness_, _luxury_ and _effeminacy_ of the _English gentry_? Or with the _drunkenness_, and stupid, senseless _cursing_ and _swearing_, which are daily seen and heard in our _streets_? One great inlet, no doubt, to that flood of _perjury_, which so _increases_ among us _day_ by _day_: the like whereunto is not to be found, in any other part of the habitable earth.

♦ “villanies” replaced with “villainies”

5. Add to all these (what is indeed the source as well as completion of all) that open and profess’d DEISM and _rejection_ of the GOSPEL, that _public, avowed_ apostacy from the Christian faith, which reigns among the _rich_ and _great_, and hath spread from _them_ to _all_ ranks and orders of men (the _vulgar_ themselves not excepted) and made us a people fitted for the _destroyer of the Gentiles_.

6. Because of these sins is this evil come upon us. For (whether you are aware of it, or no) there is a God: a God, who tho’ he sits upon the circle of the heavens, sees and knows all that is done upon earth. And this God is holy; he does not love sin: he is just, rendering to all their due. And he is strong; there is none able to withstand him: he hath all power in heaven and in earth. He is patient indeed, and suffers long; but he will at last repay the wicked to his face. He often does so in _this_ world; especially when a whole nation is _openly_ and _insolently_ wicked. Then doth God _arise and maintain his own cause_; then doth he terribly shew both his justice and power: that if these will not repent, yet others may fear, and flee from the wrath to come.

7. There hath been among them that feared God, a general expectation for many years, that the time was coming, when God would thus arise, to be avenged on this sinful nation. At length the time is come. The patience of God, long provoked, gives place to justice. The windows of heaven begin to be opened, to rain down judgments on the earth. And yet, with what tenderness does he proceed? In the midst of wrath remembring mercy. By how slow degrees does his vengeance move! Nor does his whole displeasure yet arise.

8. Brethren, countrymen, Englishmen, What shall we do? To-day! While it is called to-day! Before the season of mercy is quite expired, and our _destruction cometh as a whirlwind_? Which way can we remove the evils we feel? Which way prevent those we fear? Is there any better way, than the making God our friend? The securing his help against our enemies? Other helps are little worth. We see _armies_ may be destroyed, or even flee away from old men and children. _Fleets_ may be dashed to pieces in an hour, and sunk in the depth of the sea. _Allies_ may be treacherous, or slow, or foolish, or weak, or cowardly. But God is a friend who cannot betray, and whom none can either bribe or terrify. And who is wise, or swift, or strong like him? Therefore, whatever we do, let us make God our friend. Let us with all speed remove the cause of his anger. Let us cast away our sins. Then shall his love have free course, and he will send us help, sufficient help, against all our enemies.

9. Come; will _you_ begin? Will _you_, by the grace of God, amend _one_, and that without delay? First then, _own_ those sins which have long cried for vengeance in the ears of God. _Confess_, that we and all (and _you_ in particular) deserve for our inward and outward abominations, not only to be swept from the face of the earth, but to suffer the vengeance of eternal fire. Never aim at _excusing_ either yourself or others: Let your mouth be stopt. Plead guilty before God. Above all, _own_ that _impudence_ of wickedness, that utter ♦_carelessness_, that _pert_ stupidity, which is hardly to be found in any part of the earth, (at least, not in such a degree) except in _England_. Do you not know what I mean? You was not long since praying to God for “damnation upon your own soul.” One who has heard you, said, is that right? Does not God hear? “What if he takes you at your word?” You replied, with equal _impudence_ and _ignorance_, “What, Are _you a Methodist_?”――――What, if he is a _Turk_? Must thou therefore be a _Heathen_?――――God humble thy _brutish, devilish_ spirit.

♦ “carlessness” replaced with “carelessness”

10. Lay thee in the dust, for this and for all thy sins. Let thy laughter be turned into heaviness; thy joy into mourning; thy senseless jollity and mirth, into sorrow and brokenness of heart. This is no time to eat and drink and rise up to play; but to afflict thy soul before the Lord. Desire of God a deep piercing sense of the enormous sins of the nation, and of thy own. Remember that great example: how when the _king of Nineveh_ was warned of the near approaching vengeance of God, he _caused it to be proclaimed, Let none taste any thing, let them not feed nor drink water. But let them be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yea let them turn every one from his evil way; who can tell, if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger that we perish not._ Jonah iii.

11. Let them _turn_ every one from his evil way. Cease to do evil. Learn to do well. And see that this reformation be _universal_: for there is no serving God by halves. Avoid _all_ evil, and do _all_ good unto _all_ men; else you only deceive your own soul. See also, that it be from the _heart_: lay the axe to the root of the tree. Cut up, by the grace of God, evil desire, pride, anger, unbelief. Let this be your continual prayer to God, the prayer of your heart, (as well as lips) “Lord, I _would_ believe: help thou mine unbelief! Give me the faith that worketh by love. _The life which I now live_, let me _live by faith in the Son of God_. Let me _so believe_, that I may _love thee, with all my heart, and mind, and soul, and strength_! and that I may love every child of man, even _as thou hast loved us_! Let me daily _add to my faith courage, knowledge, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness, charity: that so an entrance may be ministered to me abundantly, into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ_.”

AN HYMN.

REGARD, thou righteous God and true,
Regard thy weeping people’s prayer,
Before the sword our land go through,
Before thy latest plague we bear,
Let all to thee their smiter turn,
Let all beneath thine anger mourn.

The sword, which first bereav’d abroad,
We now within _our_ borders see:
We see, but slight thy nearer rod,
So oft so kindly warn’d by thee:
We still thy warning love despise,
And dare thine utmost wrath to rise.

Yet for the faithful remnants sake
Thine utmost wrath awhile defer,
If haply we at last may wake,
And trembling at destruction near
The _cause_ of all our evils _own_,
And leave the sins for which we groan.

Or if the wicked will not mourn,
And ’scape the long-suspended blow,
Yet shall it to thy glory turn,
Yet shall they all thy patience know,
Thy slighted love and mercy clear,
And vindicate thy justice here.

For his MAJESTY
King GEORGE.

IMMORTAL King of Kings,
Whose favour or whose frown
Monarchs and States to honour brings,
Or turns them upside down;

To thee in danger’s hour
We for our sov’reign cry,
Protect him by thy gracious power,
And set him up on high.

Not by a mighty host
Can he deliver’d be;
Let others in their numbers trust,
We look, O Lord, to thee:

Help to thy servant send,
And strengthen from above,
And still thy minister defend
By thine almighty love.

The spirit of thy grace,
Thy heavenly unction shed,
And hosts of guardian angels place
Around his sacred head:

Confound whoe’er oppose,
Or force them to retire;
Be thou a tower against his foes,
Be thou a wall of fire.

O bring him out of all
His _sanctified_ distress,
And by his name thy servant call,
And fill him with thy peace:

Shew him, almighty Lord,
That thou _his_ Saviour art,
And speak the soul-converting word
_My son, give me thy heart_!

A WORD to a
PROTESTANT.

1. DON’T _you_ call yourself a _Protestant_? Why so? Do you know what the word means? What is a _Protestant_? I suppose you mean one that is not a _Papist_? But what is a _Papist_? If you don’t know, say so. Acknowledge you cannot tell. Is not this the case? You call yourself a _Protestant_: but you don’t know what a _Protestant_ is. You talk against _Papists_: and yet neither do you know what a _Papist_ is. Why do you _pretend_ then to the knowledge which you have not? Why do you use words which you don’t understand.

2. Are you desirous to know what these words, _Papist_ and _Protestant_ mean? A _Papist_ is one who holds the _Pope_, or bishop of _Rome_, (the name _papa_, that is _father_, was formerly given to all bishops) to be head of the whole Christian church: and the church of _Rome_, or that which owns the _Pope_ as their head, to be the only Christian church.

3. In a course of years, many errors crept into this church, of which good men complained from time to time. At last, about two hundred years ago, the _Pope_ appointed many bishops and others to meet at a town in _Germany_, called _Trent_. But these, instead of amending those errors, established them all by a law, and so delivered them down to all succeeding generations.

4. Among these errors may be numbered, their doctrine of seven sacraments; of transubstantiation; of communion in one kind only; of purgatory, and praying for the dead therein; of veneration of relics, and of indulgences, or pardons granted by the Pope, and to be bought for money.

It is thought by some, that these errors, great as they are, do only defile the purity of Christianity: but it is sure, the following strike at its very root, and tend to banish true religion out of the world.

5. First, the doctrine of _merit_. The very foundation of Christianity is, that a man can _merit_ nothing of God: that we are justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ: not for any of our works, or of our deservings; but by faith in the blood of the covenant.

But the _Papists_ hold, that a man may by his works merit or deserve eternal life; and that we are justified, not by faith in Christ alone, but by faith and works together.

This doctrine strikes at the root of Christian faith, the only foundation of true religion.

6. Secondly, the doctrine of _praying_ to saints and _worshipping_ of images. To the Virgin _Mary_ they pray in these words; “O mother of God, O queen of heaven, command thy Son to have mercy upon us.” And, “the right use of images” (says the Council of _Trent_) “is to honour them, by _bowing down_ before them.” _Session 25. Paragraph 2._

This doctrine strikes at the root of that great commandment, (which the _Papists_ call part of the first) _Thou shalt not bow down to them, nor worship them_, _i. e._ not any image whatsoever. It is gross, open, palpable _idolatry_, such as can neither be denied, nor excused; and tends directly to destroy the love of God, which is indeed the first and great commandment.

7. Thirdly, the doctrine of _persecution_. This has been for many ages a favourite doctrine of the church of _Rome_. And the Papists in general still maintain, that “all heretics, (that is, all who differ from them) ought to be _compelled_ to receive what they call the _true faith_; to be _forced_ into the church, or out of the world.”

Now this strikes at the root of, and utterly tears up, the second great commandment. It directly tends to bring in blind, bitter zeal; anger, hatred, malice, variance; every temper, word and work that is just contrary to the loving our neighbour as ourselves.

So plain it is, that these grand _Popish_ doctrines of _merit_, _idolatry_ and _persecution_, by destroying both faith and the love of God and of our neighbour, tend to banish true Christianity out of the world.

8. Well might our forefathers _protest_ against these: and hence it was that they were called _Protestants_: even because they publicly _protested_, as against all the errors of the _Papists_, so against these three in particular: the making void Christian faith, by holding that man may _merit_ heaven by his own works; the overthrowing the love of God by _idolatry_, and the love of our neighbour by _persecution_.

Are _you_ then a _Protestant_, truly so called? Do you _protest_, as against all the rest, so in particular, against these three grand, fundamental errors of _Popery_? Do you publicly _protest_ against all _merit_ in man? All _salvation_ by your own _works_? Against all _idolatry_ of every sort? And against every kind and degree of _persecution_?

I question not but you do. You _publicly protest_ against all these horrible errors of _Popery_. But does your heart agree with your lips? Do you not _inwardly_ cherish what you _outwardly_ renounce? ’Tis well, if _you_, who cry out so much against _Papists_, are not one _yourself_. ’Tis well if you are not _yourself_ (as little as you may think of it) a rank _Papist_ in your heart.

9. For, first, How do you hope to be saved? “By doing thus and thus? By doing no harm, and paying every man his own, and saying your prayers, and going to church and sacrament?” Alas! alas! Now you have thrown off the mask. This is _Popery_ barefaced. You may just as well speak plain, and say, “I trust to be saved by the _merit_ of my own works.” But where is CHRIST all this time? Why, he is not to come in, till you get to the end of your _prayer_. And then you will say, for JESUS CHRIST’s sake――because so it stands in your book. O my friend, your very foundation is Popish. _You_ seek salvation by your own _works_. You trample upon the _blood of the covenant_. And what can a poor _Papist_ do more?

10. But let us go on. Are you clear of idolatry any more than the _Papists_ are? It may be indeed, yours is in a different way. But how little does that signify? They set up their idols in their _churches_: you set up yours in your _heart_. Their idols are only _covered with gold_ or _silver_: but yours is _solid gold_. They worship the picture of the queen of _heaven_; you, the picture of the queen or king of _England_. In another way, they idolize a dead man or woman; whereas your idol is yet alive. O how little is the difference before God? How small pre-eminence has the money-worshipper at _London_, over the image-worshipper at _Rome_? Or the idolizer of a living sinner, over him that prays to a dead saint?

11. Take one step farther. Does the _Papist_ abroad _persecute_? Does he _force_ another man’s conscience? So does the _Papist_ at home, as far as he can; for all he calls himself a _Protestant_. Will the man in _Italy tolerate_ no opinion but his own? No more, if he could help it, would the man in _England_. Would _you_? Don’t you think the government much overseen, in _bearing_ with any but those of the _church_? Don’t you wish, they would _put down_ such and such people? You know what _you_ would do, if you was in their place.――And by the very same spirit you would continue the inquisition at _Rome_, and rekindle the fires in _Smithfield_.

12. It is because our nation is over-run with _such Protestants_, who are full of their own _good-deservings_, as well as of abominable _idolatry_, and of blind, fiery zeal of the whole spirit of _persecution_; that the sword of God, the great, the just, the jealous God, is even now drawn in our land: that the armies of the aliens are hovering over it, as a vulture over his prey; and that the _open Papists_ are on the very point of swallowing up the _pretended Protestants_.¹

¹ This was wrote during the late rebellion.

13. Do you desire to escape the scourge of God? Then I entreat you, first, Be a _real Protestant_. By the Spirit of God assisting you (for without him you know you can do nothing) cast away all that _trust_ in your own righteousness, all hope of being saved by your own works. Own, your _merit_ is everlasting damnation; that you _deserve_ the damnation of hell. Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God. Lie in the dust. Let your mouth be stopt. And let all your confidence be in the _blood of sprinkling_; all your hope in JESUS CHRIST _the righteous_; all your faith in _him that justifieth the ungodly, thro’ the redemption that is in_ Jesus.

O put away your _idols_ out of your heart. _Love not the world, neither the things of the world._ Having food to eat and raiment to put on, be content: desire nothing more but God. To-day, hear his voice, who continually cries, _My son, give me thy heart_. Give yourself to him, who gave himself for _you_. May you love God, as he has loved us! Let him be your desire, your delight, your joy, your portion, in time and in eternity.

And if you love God, you _will_ love your brother also: you will be ready to lay down your life for his sake: so far from any desire to take away his life, or hurt a hair of his head. You will then leave his _conscience_ uncontrolled; you will no more think of _forcing_ him into your own opinions, as neither can he force _you_, to judge by _his_ conscience. But each shall _give an account of himself to God_.

14. It is true, if his conscience be misinformed, you should endeavour to inform him better. But whatever you do, let it be done in charity, in love and meekness of wisdom. Be zealous for God: but remember, that _the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of_ God: that angry zeal, though opposing sin, is the servant of sin; that true zeal is only the flame of love. Let this be your truly _Protestant_ zeal: while you abhor every kind and degree of _persecution_, let your heart burn with love to all mankind, to friends and enemies, neighbours and strangers; to Christians, Heathens, Jews, Turks, Papists, Heretics; to every soul which God hath made. _Let |this| your light shine before men, that they may glorify your Father which is in heaven._

HYMNS.

HYMN I.

1. WHERE have I been so long
Fast bound in sin and night,
Mix’d with the blind self righteous throng
Who hate the sons of light?

2. O how shall I presume,
Jesus, to call on thee,
Sunk in the lowest dregs of _Rome_,
The worst idolatry!

3. A stranger to thy grace,
Long have I labour’d, Lord,
To ’stablish my own righteousness,
And been what I abhor’d.

4. Foe to the _Popish_ boast
No merit was in me!
Yet in my works I put my trust,
And not _alone_ in thee.

5. For works that I had wrought
I look’d to be forgiven,
And by my virtuous tempers thought
At last to _purchase_ heaven.

6. Or if I needed still
The help of grace divine,
Thy merits should come in to fill
The small defects of mine.

7. Alas! I knew not then
Thou only didst atone
For all the sinful sons of men,
And purge our guilt alone.

8. Didst shed thy blood to pay
The all-sufficient price,
And take the world’s offence away
By thy great sacrifice.

9. But O! my dying God,
By thee convinced at last,
My soul on that atoning blood,
On that _alone_ I cast.

10. I dare no longer trust
On ought I do, or feel,
But own, while humbled in the dust,
My whole desert is hell.

11. My works of righteousness
I cast them all away;
Me, Lord, thou frankly must release,
For I have nought to pay:

12. Not one good word or thought
I to thy merits join,
But gladly take the gift unbought
Of righteousness divine.

13. My faith is all in thee,
My only hope thou art,
The pardon thou hast bought for me,
Engrave it on my heart:

14. The blood by faith applied
O let it now take place,
And speak me freely justified,
And fully sav’d by grace.

HYMN II.

1. FORGIVE me, O thou jealous God,
A wretch, who on thy laws have trod,
And robb’d thee of thy right,
A sinner to myself unknown,
’Gainst thee I have transgress’d and done,
This evil in thy sight.

2. My body I disdain’d to incline
Or worship at an idol’s shrine
With _gross_ idolatry:
But Oh! my soul hath baser prov’d,
Honour’d, and fear’d, and serv’d, and lov’d
The creature more than thee.

3. Let the blind sons of _Rome_ bow down
To images of wood and stone;
But I with subtler art,
Safe from the letter of thy word,
My idols secretly ador’d,
Set up within my heart.

4. But Oh! suffice the season past:
My idols now away I cast,
Pleasure, and wealth and fame,
The world, and all its goods I leave,
To thee alone resolv’d to give
Whate’er I have or am.

5. Lo! in a thankful, loving heart
I render thee whate’er thou art,
I give myself to thee;
And thee my whole delight I own,
My joy, my glory, and my crown
To all eternity.

HYMN III.

1. O THOU who seest what is in man,
And shew’st myself to me,
Suffer a sinner to complain
And groan his griefs to thee.

2. A sinner, that has cloak’d his shame
With self-deceiving art,
Thy worshipper _reform’d_ in name,
But unrenew’d in heart.

3. The servants most unlike their Lord,
How oft did I condemn;
The persecuting church abhorr’d,
Nor saw myself in them!

4. The ♦spirit of my foes I caught,
The angry bitter zeal,
And fierce for my own party fought,
And breath’d the fire of hell

5. Threatning I did and slaughter breathe,
(The flail of heresy)
And doom the sects to bonds, or death,
That did not think with me.

6. To propagate the truth, I fought
With fury and despight,
And in my zeal for _Israel_ fought,
To slay the _Gibeonite_.

7. “The temple of the Lord are we!”
And all who dared deny,
I would not have their conscience free,
But _force_ them to comply.

8. With wholsome discipline severe
To conquer them I strove,
And drive into the pale thro’ fear,
Who would not _come_ thro’ love.

9. How vainly then the zealots blind
Of _Rome_ did I disclaim?
Still to the church of _Satan_ join’d,
And differing but in name.

10. How could I, Lord, myself deceive
While _unreform’d_ within,
_Protest_ against their creed, and cleave
The closer to their sin?

11. Their foulest sin my own I made,
(And humbly now confess)
While by my anger I essay’d
To work thy righteousness.

12. A murtherer convict I come
My vileness to bewail,
By nature _born_ a son of _Rome_,
A child of wrath and hell,

13. Lord, I at last recant, reject,
Thro’ thy great strength alone,
The madness of the _Romish_ sect,
The _madness_ of my _own_.

14. Lord, I abhor, renounce, abjure
The fiery spirit unclean,
The persecuting zeal impure,
The sin-opposing sin.

15. Let others draw with fierce despight,
Th’ eradicating sword,
And with the devil’s weapons fight
The battles of the Lord:

16. But Oh! my gracious God, to me
A better spirit impart,
The gentle mind that was in thee,
The meekly loving heart:

17. The heart whose charity o’erflows
To all, far off, and near,
True charity to friends and foes,
Impartially sincere.

18. Heathens, and Jews, and Turks, may I
And Heretics embrace,
Nor ev’n to _Rome_ the love deny
I owe to all the race.

♦ “sprit” replaced with “spirit”

A WORD to a
FREEHOLDER.

WHAT are you going to do? To vote for a parliament man? I hope then you have taken no money. For doubtless you know the strictness of the oath, That you have received no “Gift or reward, directly or indirectly, nor any promise of any, on account of your vote” in the ensuing election. Surely you start at _perjury_! At calm, fore-thought, deliberate, wilful perjury. If you are guilty already, stop. Go no farther. ’Tis at the peril of your soul. Will you sell your country? Will you sell your own soul? Will you sell your God, your Saviour? Nay God forbid! rather cast down just now the thirty pieces of silver or gold, and say, “Sir, I will not sell heaven. Neither you, nor all the world is able to pay the purchase.”

I hope you have received nothing else, neither will receive; no entertainment, no meat, or drink. If this is _given_ you on account of your vote, you are perjured still. How can you make oath, you have received no _gift_? This was a gift, if you did not buy it. What will you sell your soul to the devil for a draught of drink, or for a morsel of bread? Oh consider what you do. Act, as if the whole election depended on your single vote: And as if the whole parliament depended (and therein the whole nation) on that single person whom you now chuse to be a member of it.

But if you take nothing of any, for whom shall you vote? For the man that loves God. He must love his country, and that from a steady, invariable principle. And by his fruits you shall know him. He is careful to abstain from all appearance of evil. He is zealous of good works, as he has opportunity, doing good to all men. He uses all the ordinances of God and that both constantly and carefully. And he does this, not barely as something he _must_ do; or what he would willingly be excused from. No; he rejoices in this his reasonable service, as a blessed privilege of the children of God.

But what if none of the candidates have these fruits? Then vote for him that loves the king: king GEORGE, whom the wise providence of God has appointed to reign over us. He ought to be highly esteemed in love, even for his office sake. A king is a lovely, sacred name. He is a minister of God unto thee for good. How much more, _such_ a king, as has been in many respects, a blessing to his subjects. You may easily know those who love him not. For they generally glory in their shame. They are not afraid to _speak evil_ of dignities: no, not even of the _ruler of their people_.

Perhaps you will say, but I love my country, Therefore I am for the _country-interest_. I fear, you know not what you say. Are you against your king because you love your country? Who taught you to separate your king from your country? To set one against the other? Be assured, none that loves either. True lovers of their country do not talk in this senseless manner.

Is not the interest of the king of _England_ and of the country of _England_, one and the same? If the king is destroyed, doth it profit the country? If the country, does it profit the king? Their interest cannot be divided. The welfare of _one_ is the welfare of _both_.

Have you an objection of a different kind? Do you say, I am for the _church_? The church of _England_ for ever! Therefore I vote for ――――. He is a true _churchman_, a lover of the church. Are you sure of that? Friend, think a little. What kind of a churchman is he? A whoring churchman? A gaming churchman? A drunken churchman? A lying churchman? A cursing and swearing churchman? Or, a red-hot persecuting churchman, that would send all dissenters to the devil at a clap? For shame! for shame! Do you call a man a churchman, who knows no more of God than a Turk? Call a man a churchman, that does not even _pretend_ to so much religion, as would serve an honest Heathen? He is a lover of the church who is a lover of God, and consequently of all mankind. Whoever else talks of loving the church is a cheat. Set a mark upon that man.

Above all, mark that man, who talks of loving the church, and does not love the king. If he does not love the king, he cannot love God. And if he does not love God, he cannot love the church. He loves the church and the king just alike. For indeed he loves neither one nor the other.

Oh beware, you who truly love the church, and therefore he cannot but love the king: beware of dividing the king and the church, any more than the king and country. Let others do as they will, what is that to you? Act you as an honest man, a loyal subject, a true Englishman, a lover of the country, a lover of the church; in one word, a Christian! One that fears nothing but sin, that seeks nothing but heaven, and that desires nothing but God. Nothing but glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill towards men!

ADVICE to a
SOLDIER.

1. ARE _you_ to die? Must _you_ leave this world, and carry nothing of it away with you? Naked as you came out of your mother’s womb, naked shall you return. And are you never to come back into this world? Have you no more place under the sun? When you leave these houses and fields, this flesh and blood, do you part with them for ever? Are you _sure_ of this? Must _all_ men die? Can _none at all_ escape death? Do _rich_ men likewise die, and leave their riches for others? Do _princes_ also fall and die like one of their people? Can _you_ then escape it? You do not think so. You know death is as sure as if you felt it already: as if you was now gasping for life, sweating and trembling in those last pangs, till the soul started off from the quivering lips, into the boundless ocean of eternity.

2. And are _you_ to be judged? How is this to be? Why, the Son of God shall come in his glory, and all his holy angels with him; and then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory. And before him shall be gathered all nations, and he shall separate them from one another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats. Behold he cometh with clouds! And every eye shall see him, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty! And I saw (wilt thou also say) a great white throne, and him that sat thereon, from whose face the earth and the heavens fled away, and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and they were judged, every man according to his works. And shalt _thou_ also be judged according to _thy_ works? _All_ thy works, whether they be good or evil? Yea, and for every _idle word_ which thou shalt speak, thou shalt give an account in the day of judgment. But _this is_ not all: the Lord, the judge searcheth _the heart_, and trieth the reins. He understands _all thy thoughts_; and for _all these_ likewise he shall bring thee into judgment. Supposest thou it is enough to be _outwardly_ good? What! though thy _inward_ parts are very wickedness? And are they not? Is not thy soul fallen short of the glory (the glorious image) of God? Look into thy breast. Art thou not a fallen spirit? Dost thou not know and feel, how very far thou art gone from original righteousness? Desperately full thou art of all evil, and naked of all good? Is there not in thee, an earthly, sensual, devilish mind? A mind that is enmity against God? ’Tis plain there is. For thou dost not love God. Thou dost not delight in him. He is not the desire of thy eyes, or the joy of thy heart. Thou lovest the creature more than the Creator. Thou art a lover of pleasure more than a lover of God. O how wilt thou stand in the judgment!

3. Are _you_ then to go to heaven or hell? It must be either to one or the other. I pray God you may not go to hell! for who can dwell with everlasting burnings? Who can bear the fierceness of that flame, without even a drop of water to cool his tongue? Yea, and that without end; for as the worm dieth not so the fire is not quenched. No, whoever is once cast into that lake of fire, shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. O eternity! eternity! Who can tell the length of eternity? I warn _thee_ now, before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, that _thou_ come not into that place of torment!

4. But alas! Is not hell now begun in thy soul? Does thy _conscience_ never awake? Hast thou no _remorse_ at any time? No _sense_ of guilt? No _dread_ of the wrath of God? Why these (if thou art not saved from them in this life) are the worm that never dieth. And what else is thy carnal mind? Thy enmity against God? Thy foolish and hurtful lusts, thy inordinate affections? What are pride, envy, malice, revenge? Are they not vipers gnawing thy heart? May they not well be called, the dogs of hell? Canst thou be out of hell, while these are in thy soul? While they are tearing it in pieces, and there is none to help thee? Indeed they are not fully let loose upon thee. And while thou seest the light of the sun, the things of the world that surround thee, or the pleasures of sense divert thy thoughts from them. But when thou canst eat and drink no more, when the earth, with the works thereof is burnt up, when the sun is fallen from heaven, and thou art shut up in utter darkness, what a state wilt thou be in then? Mayst thou never try! Seek thou a better habitation, a house of God eternal in the heavens.

5. There the wicked cease from troubling, there the weary are at rest. For God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying; neither shall there be any more pain, but everlasting joy upon their heads. But this joy our ears have not yet heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man to conceive. Yet a little of it the children of God can conceive, from what they already enjoy. For the kingdom of heaven is within them. God has given them eternal life; the life which is hid with Christ in God. They have heaven upon earth; righteousness and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Their souls are renewed in the image of God. They love God. They are happy in him; and they love their neighbour (that is every man) as themselves, as their own souls. Being justified by faith, they have peace with God, yea, a peace which passeth all understanding. And they rejoice in him, knowing their sins are blotted out; that they are accepted in the beloved, and that they are going to an inheritance incorruptible undefiled, and that fadeth not away.

6. Will you reply to all this, “But I am a soldier, and have therefore nothing to do with these things?” Hold! Have soldiers nothing to do with death? How so? Do soldiers never die? can you fright death away? No, my friend; he will not regard all your big words and looks; nor all the weapons of your warfare. You can neither conquer, nor escape him. Your profession may excuse you from many other things; but there is no excusing yourself from death. Are you less sure of this than other men are? No; there is one lot for all. Are you farther from it than they? Nay, rather nearer. You live in the very jaws of death. Why then a soldier (if there be any difference) has more to do with death than other men. It is not far from every one of us: but, to him, it is just at the door.

7. Or, do you fancy a soldier has nothing to do with judgment? Will you say then (as poor Captain _Uratz_ did, when he was ask’d a few minutes before his death, if he had made his peace with God) “I hope God will deal with me like a gentleman?” But God said unto him, “Thou fool! I will deal with thee, as with all mankind. There is no respect of persons with me. I reward every man according to his works.” Thou also shalt receive of the righteous judge, according to the things which thou hast done in the body. Death levels all; it mingles in one dust the gentleman, soldier, clown and beggar; it makes all these distinctions void. When life ends so do they. Holy or unholy is the one question then. Lo! the books are opened, that all the dead may be judged according to the things that are written therein! O may thy name be found written in the book of life!