remain disobedient, behaving ourselves uncharitably, by disdain, envy, malice, or by committing murder, adultery, or such detestable works, then he threateneth us by terrible comminations, swearing in great anger, that whosoever does these works shall never enter into his rest, which is the kingdom of heaven."-Homily of Falling from God, part 1. Let "We do call for mercy in vain, if we will not show mercy to our neighbours. For, if we do not put wrath and displeasure forth out of our hearts to our brother, no more will God forgive the wrath that our sins have deserved before him. For, under this condition, doth God forgive us, if we forgive others. God commands us to forgive, if we will have any part of the pardon which Christ purchased by shedding his precious blood. us, then, be favourable one to another, &c. By these means, shall we move God to be merciful to our sins. He that hateth his brother* is the child of damnation and of the devil, cursed and hated of God, so long as he so remaineth. For, as peace and charity make us the blessed children of God; so do hatred and malice make us the cursed children of the devil."-Homily for GoodFriday. The homily on dress brings to my mind what you say upon that head, page 85. If I am not mistaken, you quote Mr. Hervey in support of finery,† which surprises me so much the more, as the plainness of your dress is a practical answer to what can be advanced in support of hat branch of antinomianism. Permit me, however, to guard your ornamented quotation in the plain, nervous Did not David once hate Uriah as much as Jezebel did Naboth ? Was not innocent blood shed in both cases, by means of sanguinary letters ? Is it to the honour of David, that he outdid Jezebel in kindly desiring Uriah to carry his own death-warrant to Joab ? † I blame, in the Second Check, Vol. i., p. 367, only such professors of godliness as "wear gold, pearls, and precious stones, when no distinction of office or state obliges them to do it." As you find fault with this guarded doctrine, and insinuate, that I" dwindle the noble ideas of St. Paul into a meanness of sense befitting the superstitious and contracted spirit of a hermit," it necessarily follows, that you plead for finery, o that you oppose me for opposition's sake, when you mean exactly the same thing with me. language of our church. After mentioning "the round attires of the head," exposed by Isaiah, she says, “No less truly is the vanity used among us. For the proud and haughty stomachs of the daughters of England are so maintained with divers disguised sorts of costly apparel that, as Tertullian saith, there is left no difference of apparel between an honest matron and a common strumpet.' Yea, many care not what they spend in disguising themselves; ever desiring new toys, and inventing new fashions. Therefore, we must needs look for God's fearful vengeance from heaven, to overthrow our pride, as he overthrew Herod, who, in his royal apparel, forgetting God, was smitten of an angel, and eaten up of worms." "But some vain women will object, 'All which we do in decking ourselves with gay apparel is to please our husbands.' O most shameful answer, to the reproach of thy husband! What couldest thou say more to set out his foolishness, than to charge him to be pleased with the devil's attire? Nay, nay, this is but a vain excuse of such as go about to please" themselves and “ others, rather than their husbands. She does but deserve scorn, to set out all her commendation in Jewish and heathenish apparel, and yet brag of her Christianity: and sometimes she is the cause of much deceit in her husband's dealings, that she may be the more gorgeously set out to the sight of the vain world. O thou woman, not a Christian, but worse than a pagan, thou settest out thy pride, and makest of thy indecent apparel the devil's net to catch souls! Howsoever thou perfumest thyself, yet cannot thy beastliness be hidden. The more thou garnishest thyself with these outward blazings, the less thou carest for the inward garnishing of thy mind. Hear, hear what Christ's holy apostles do write." Then follow those of St. Peter and St. Paul, which you suppassages pose I "do not rightly understand." To convince you, however, that our church has as much of "the superstitious and contracted spirit of a hermit” as myself, I shall plead a moment more against finery, in her own words: "The wife of an heathen being asked why 66 she wore no gold, she answered, that she thought her husband's virtues sufficient ornaments. How much more ought every Christian to think himself sufficiently garnished with our Saviour Christ's heavenly virtues! But perhaps some will answer, that they must do something to show their birth and blood; as though these things," jewels and finery, were not common to those who are most vile; as though thy husband's riches could not be better bestowed than in such superfluities; as though, when thou wast christened, thou didst not renounce 'the pride' of this world, and the 'pomp' of the flesh. If thou sayest, that the custom is to be followed, I ask of thee, 'Whose custom should be followed? of the wise, or of fools?' If thou sayest, 'Of the wise,' then, I say, 'Follow them;' for fools' customs, who should follow, but fools? If any lewd custom be used, be thou the first to break it: labour to diminish it, and lay it down; and thou shalt have more praise before God by it, than by all glory of such superfluity. I speak not against convenient apparel, for every state agreeable; but against the superfluity whereby thou and thy husband are compelled to rob the poor, to maintain thy costliness. Hear how holy queen Esther setteth out these goodly ornaments, as they are called, when, in order to save God's people, she put them on: Thou knowest, O Lord, the necessity which I am driven to, to put on this apparel, and that I abhor this sign of pride, and that I defy it as a filthy cloth."-Homily against Excess of Apparel. 6 So far is our church from siding with antinomian solifidianism, which perpetually decries good works, that she rather leans to the other extreme. If "popery is about half-way between protestantism and the Minutes," you will hardly think that the mass itself is a quarter of the way between Dr. Crisp's scheme, and the following propositions, extracted from the Homily on Alms-Deeds : "Most true is that saying of St. Augustine, Via cœli pauper est, Relieving of the poor is the right way to heaven.' Christ promiseth a reward to those who give but a cup of cold water in his name to them that have need of it; and that reward is the kingdom of heaven. No doubt, therefore, God regardeth highly that which he rewardeth so liberally. He that hath been liberal to the poor, let him know that his godly doings are accepted, and thankfully taken at God's hands, which he will requite with double and treble; for so says the wise man, 'He who showeth mercy to the poor doth lay his money in bank to the Lord' for a large interest and gain; the gain being chiefly the possession of the life everlasting, through the merits of Christ." When our church has given us this strong dose of legality, that she may by a desperate remedy remove a desperate disease, and kill or cure the antinomian spirit in all her children, lest the violent medicine should hurt us, she, like a prudent mother, instantly administers the following balsamic corrective : "Some will say, 'If charitable works are able to reconcile us to God, and deliver us from damnation, then are Christ's merits defaced; then are we justified by works, and by our deeds may we merit heaven.' But understand, dearly beloved, that no godly men when they, in extolling the dignity, profit, and effect of virtuous and liberal alms, do say that it bringeth us to the favour of God, do mean that our work is the original cause of our acceptance before God, &c.; for that were, indeed, to deface Christ, and to defraud him of his glory. But they mean, that the Spirit of God, mightily working in them who seemed before children of wrath, they declare, by their outward deeds, that they are the undoubted children of God by their tender pity,-wherein they show themselves to be like unto God,-they declare openly and manifestly unto the sight of all men, that they are the sons of God. For, as the good fruit does argue the goodness of the tree, so doth the good deed of a man prove the goodness of him that doeth it." : In justice to our holy church, whom some represent as a patroness of antinomianism; in brotherly love to you, honoured sir, who seem to judge of her doctrines by a few expressions which custom made her use after St. Augustine; in tender compassion to many of her members, who are strangers to her true sentiments; and in common humanity to Mr. Wesley, who is perpetually accused of erecting popery upon her ruins; I have presented you with this extract from our homilies. If you lay by the veil of prejudice, which keeps the light from your honest heart, I humbly hope it will convince you, that our church nobly contends for St. James's evangelical legality; that she pleads for the rewardableness—which is all we understand by the merit-of works, in far stronger terms than Mr. Wesley does in the Minutes; and, that, in perpetually making our justification, merited by Christ, turn upon the instrumentality of a lively faith, and the evidence of good works, as there is opportunity to do them, she bears up Calvinism and antinomian delusions by the very roots. Leaving you to consider how you shall bring about a reconciliation between your fourth letter and our godly homilies, I shall just take the liberty to remind you, that when you entered, or took your degrees at Oxford, you subscribed to the thirty-nine Articles; the thirty-fifth of which declares, that "the homilies contain a godly and wholesome doctrine, necessary for these" papistical and antinomian "times." That, keeping clear from both extremes, we may evidence the godliness of that doctrine, by the soundness of our publications, and the exemplariness of our conduct, is the cordial prayer of, Honoured and dear sir, Your obedient servant in the liturgy, articles, JOHN FLETCHER. LETTER III. TO RICHARD HILL, ESQ. HON. AND DEAR SIR, In my last, I endeavoured to show you, that our church, far from warping to Crispianity, strongly enforces St. James's undefiled religion : let us now see what more |