and will (by the grace of God) obey the governors of the Church. But the testifying the gospel of the grace of God, is not a point of an indifferent nature. The ministry which we have received of the Lord Jesus, we are at all hazards to fulfil. It is the burthen of the Lord which is laid upon us here; and we are to obey God rather than man. Nor yet do we, in any ways, violate the promise which each of us made, when it was said unto him, “Take thou authority to preach the word of God, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." We then promised to submit (mark the words) to the godly admonitions and injunctions of our ordinary. But we did not, could not promise to obey such injunctions, as we know are contrary to the word of God.

84. "But why then," say some, "do you leave the Church?" Leave the Church! What can you mean? Do we leave so much as the Church walls? Your own eyes tell you, we do not, Do we leave the ordinances of the Church? You daily see and know the contrary. Do we leave the fundamental doctrine of the Church, namely, Salvation by Faith? It is our constant theme, in public, in private, in writing, in conversation. Do we leave the practice of the Church, the standard whereof are the ten commandments? Which are so essentially in-wrought in her constitution, (as little as you may apprehend it) that whosoever breaks one of the least of these, is no membér of the Church of England. I believe you do not care to put the cause on this issue. Neither do you mean this, by leaving the Church. In truth, I cannot conceive what you mean. I doubt you cannot conceive yourself. You have retailed a sentence from somebody else, which you no more understand than he. And no marvel; for it is a true observation,

"Nonsense is never to be understood."

85. Nearly related to this is that other objection, that we divide the Church. Remember the Church is, The faithful people, or true believers. Now how do we divide these? "Why, by our societies." Very good. Now the case is plain.

"We divide them," you say, "by uniting them together." Truly, a very uncommon way of dividing! "O, but we divide those who are thus united with each other, from the rest of the Church." By no means. Many of them were before joined to all their brethren of the Church of England (and many were not, until they knew us) by assembling themselves together, to hear the word of God, and to eat of one bread, and drink of one cup. And do they now forsake that assembling themselves together? You cannot, you dare not say it. You know they are more diligent therein than ever: it being one of the fixed rules of our societies, "That every member attend the ordinances of God," i. e. that he do not divide from the Church. And if any member of the Church do thus divide from or leave it, he hath no more place among us.

86. I have considered this objection the more at large, because it is of most weight with sincere minds. And to all these, if they have fairly and impartially weighed the answer as well as the objection, I believe it clearly appears, that we are neither undermining nor destroying, neither dividing nor leaving the Church. So far from it, that we have great heaviness, on her account, yea, continual sorrow in our hearts. And our prayer to God is, that he would repair the breaches of Sion, and build the walls of Jerusalem, that this our desolate church may flourish again, and be the praise of the whole earth.

87. But perhaps you have heard, that "we in truth regard no church at all: that gain is the true spring of all our actions: that I, in particular, am well paid for my work, having thirteen hundred pounds a year (as a Reverend Author accurately computed it) at the Foundery alone, over and above what I receive from Bristol, Kingswood, Newcastle, and other places: and that whosoever survives me, will see I have made good use of my time; for I shall not die a beggar."

88. I freely own, this is one of the best advised objections which has ever yet been made; because it not only puts us upon proving a negative, (which is seldom an easy task) but

also one of such a kind as scarcely admits of any demonstrative proof at all. But for such proof as the nature of the thing allows, I appeal to my manner of life which hath been from the beginning. Ye who have seen it (and not with a friendly eye) for these twelve or fourteen years last past, or for any part of that time, Have ye ever seen any thing like the love of gain therein? Did I not continually remember the words of the Lord Jesus, It is more blessed to give than to receive? Ye of Oxford, Do ye not know these things are so ? What gain did I seek among you? Of whom did I take any thing? From whom did I covet silver, or gold, or apparel? To whom did I deny any thing which I had even to the hour that I departed from you?-Ye of Epworth and Wroote, among whom I ministered for (nearly) the space of three years, what gain did I seek among you? Or of whom did I take or covet any thing?-Ye of Savannah and Frederica, among whom God afterwards proved me, and shewed me what was in my heart, what gain did I seek among you? Of whom did I take any thing? Or whose food or apparel did I covet (for silver or gold had ye none, no more than I myself for many months) even when I was in hunger and nakedness? Ye yourselves, and the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, know that I lie not. 89. "But," it is said, "things are fairly altered now. Now I cannot complain of wanting any thing; having the yearly income of a bishop of London, over and above what I gain at other places." At what other places, my friend? Inform yourself a little better, and you will find, that both at Newcastle, Bristol, and Kingswood, (the only places beside London, where any collection at all is made) the money collected is both received and expended by the stewards of those several societies, and never comes into my hands at all, neither first nor last. And you, or any who desire it, shall read over the accounts kept by any of those stewards, and see with your own eyes, that by all these societies, I gain just as much as you do.

90. The case in London stands thus. In November 1739, two gentlemen, then unknown to me (Mr. Ball and

Mr. Watkins) came and desired me once and again, to preach in a place called the Foundry near Moorfields. With much reluctance I at length complied. I was soon after pressed to take that place into my own hands. These who were most earnest therein, lent me the purchasemoney, which was 115. Mr. Watkins and Mr. Ball then delivered me the names of several subscribers, who offered to pay, some four, or six, some ten shillings a year towards the re-payment of the purchase-money, and the putting the buildings into repair. This amounted one year to near 2007. the second to about 140%. and so the last.

91. The United Society begun a little after, whose weekly contribution (chiefly for the poor) is received and expended by the stewards, and comes not into my hands at all. But there is also a quarterly subscription of many of the society, which is nearly equal to that above mentioned.

92. The uses to which these subscriptions have been hitherto applied, are, 1st, the payment of that 1157.; 2dly, The repairing (I might almost say rebuilding) that vast, uncouth heap of ruins at the Foundry; 3dly, The building galleries both for men and women; 4thly, The enlarging the society room to near thrice its first extent. All taxes and occasional expenses are likewise defrayed out of this fund. And it has been hitherto so far from yielding any overplus, that it has never sufficed for these purposes yet. So far from it, that I am still in debt on these accounts, near 300%. So much have I hitherto gained by preaching the gospel! Besides a debt of 150l. still remaining on account of the schools built at Bristol; and another of above 2001. on account of that new building at Newcastle. I desire any reasonable man would now sit down and lay these things together, and let him see, whether, allowing me a grain of common sense, (if not of common honesty) he can possibly conceive, that a view of gain would induce me to act in this manner.

93. You can never reconcile it with any degree of common sense, that a man who wants nothing, who has already all the necessaries, all the conveniences, nay, and many

of the superfluities of life, and these not only independent of any one, but less liable to contingencies than even a gentleman's freehold estate;—that such an one should calmly and deliberately throw up his ease, most of his friends; his reputation, and that way of life which of all others is most agreeable both to his natural temper and education: that he should toil day and night, spend all his time and strength, knowingly destroy a firm constitution, and hasten into weakness, pain, diseases, death,

or seven hundred pounds!

to gain a debt of six

94. But supposing the balance on the other side, let me ask you one plain question. For what gain (setting conscience aside) will you be obliged to act thus? To live exactly as I do? For what price will you preach (and that with all your might, not in an easy, indolent, fashionable way) eighteen or nineteen times every week? And this throughout the year? What shall I give you, to travel seven or eight hundred miles, in all weathers, every two or three months? For what salary will you abstain from all other diversions, than the doing good, and the praising God? I am mistaken if you would not prefer strangling to such a life, even with thousands of gold and silver.]

95. And what is the comfort you have found out for me in these circumstances? Why, that "I shall not die a beggar. So now I am supposed to be heaping up riches, "that I may leave them behind me." Leave them behind me! For whom? My wife and children? Who are they? They are yet unborn. Unless you mean the children of faith whom God hath given me. But my heavenly Father feedeth them. Indeed if I lay up riches at all, it must be to leave them behind me; seeing my fellowship is a provision for life. But I cannot understand this. What comfort would it be to my soul, now launched into eternity, that I had left behind me gold as the dust, and silver as the sand of the sea? Will it follow me over the great gulf? Or can I go back to it? Thou, that liftest up thy eyes in hell, what do thy riches profit thee now? Will all thou once hadst under the sun, gain thee a drop of water to cool