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inftance, I must confefs, I have formed an hafly and premature opinion; and the most probable fuppofition is, that I must be miftaken. I will therefore re-examine the fubject; and as, perhaps, both my prefent and future happiness are interested in the decifion, it can be efteemed no lofs of time to give it the most ferious attention." By this train of reafoning I perfuaded myfelf to apply diligently to the work in hand. I recollected I had by me the Evidences of Chriftianity mentioned above.

I delayed not a moment, I read, I ftudied, I reflected, I perused the two volumes twice over in a short time. I have reason to bless the hour in which I first took them up. A new light of Evidence dawned upon my mind; a vaft and unexplored field of argument difplayed itself to my view; I faw the narrownefs of the human intellect, the futility of my former reasonings, the abfurdity of my fancied objections, and the ignorance upon which they were founded; and it pleafed the Almighty God to make that book inftrumental in reftoring me to a fenfe of duty, in infpiring me with new and purer fentiments of Religion, and in establishing my faith on a foundation which shall not be shaken, and againft which, I am well perfuaded the gates of hell fhall never be able to prevail.

Having therefore fatisfied myself of the authenticity and di vine authority of the HOLY SCRIPTURES, and of the truth of the doctrine contained in them, my next business seemed to be, to ftudy attentively and methodically the New Testament, as being that portion of Scripture moft material for us, as Chriftians, to know and understand; and afterwards to read the Prophets, whose writings bear a closer connection with, and more frequent allufions to Chrift and the objects of his miffion, than any of the other books of the Old Testament. This being done, taking care at the fame time to offer up fervent petitions to the Throne of Grace, that GOD would grant me the affiftance of his Holy Spirit, to fit my mind for the reception of revealed truth; I then thought it my duty to confider as impartially as I could, the particular nature and design, of those doctrines of which the Bible gives an account: By this means I might be able to compare them with the avowed tenets and opinions of different fects of Chriftians amongst us, being refolved to unite myself with that fect, whofe mode of faith and conduct fhould appear to me the most conformable, to the general tenor of the Gospel difpen. fation.

After mature deliberation, and I may truly fay, unawed by fear of what I might lofe, and uninfluenced by the hope of worldly gain, I embrace Methodifm. The reafon which determined me, you will fee explained in the two following letters.

In the mean time reft affured that I fhall never cease to refpect the church as eftablished by law, pray for its profperity, and par take gladly as occafion offers in its ordinances. May the God of heaven and earth, enlighten with his wisdom the King of thefe

Realms;

Realms; and may vital religion, folid liberty, public order, and
inflexible loyalty reign in every heart, and animate every soul,
I am, your fincere friend,
DISNEY ALEXANDER.

I

Dear Sir,

LETTER II..

Am aware that all the different fects into which Chriftianity is divided, profefs to derive their respective tenéts from the Scriptures, and appeal to thefe alone for the proof of the doctrines they advance. But this diverfity of opinions is eafily accounted for, if we consider the numerous prejudices we neceffarily imbibe in our younger years, and from which men of the moft liberal education and enlightened underftanding are not exempt. We form our ideas of things before we are capable of judging of the truth, or propriety of them; and this prepoffeffion is apt to con tract our minds, darken our understandings, and is often fo fixed and rivetted as to withstand the cleareft evidence.

Moreover, worldly intereft fometimes interpofe its baneful influence, and fooner than refign any of thofe alluring profpects it flatters us with, we wilfully fhut our eyes against the light, refu fing to liften to the voice of the charmer, charm he never so wifely. Others, again, actuated by pure motives, but erring from an incorrect and premature judgment, make up their minds upon the fubject, without having ftudied fufficiently the records from whence they deduce their principles; in other words, from a partial information, they draw a general conclufion. Some may be deterred by a fenfe of fhame and dread of ridicule, from giving fo much of their time and attention to matters of this kind, as to enable them to form a right judgment; and having already, bufinefs enough to engage their thoughts, are glad of the opportunity of fheltering themselves under the fhadow of that religion, whatever it may be, which their fathers profeffed before them, and in which they themselves were educated, and so take no farther pains

or concern about it.

It appears to me, that it is the indifpenfible duty, of all those who have ability and opportunity of fearching and examining the holy Scriptures, to read and think for themselves. They ought by no means to reft content with building their faith upon the opinions of others, but are bound to inveftigate its evidences, and after having proved all things, then to hold faft that which is good. Being once fully fatisfied of the authenticity of the gofpel history, they thould ftudy with diligence the Bible, and at first, the Bible only, that their minds might not be warped by any comments.or explanations which other authors have given, and which might be apt to bias their judgment and preclude the neceffity of their own more fedulous exertions. This plan of fludy fhould be accompanied with frequent and fervent prayers to the Almighty, that he would be pleafed to vouchfafe his Holy Spirit to direct their enquiries, and to lead them in the Way of Truth.

Whoever

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Whoever begins and perfeveres in a plan of this kind, actuated by a fincere love of God and an earnest longing after truth, will I apprehend, be fure of fucceeding in his labours; and whatever fyftem of opinions he may ultimately form, however he may deviate in fome particular points from many of his brethren, fuch a man, I have no fcruple in believing, will find favour and acceptance with his God, and prove himself, by his life and conduct, a zealous and faithful difciple of Jesus Christ.

Having premifed thus much, I fhall proceed to the main object of my letter, and give you my reafons, in an open and unequivocal manner, for my entering into the Methodist connection.

I would first direct your attention to a few of the most important doctrines taught by the Methodists.

These are, original fin, the atonement, justification by faith, and the new birth. By the first of these we are inftructed to believe that man was created in the image of God; upright, happy, and not fubject to death. That he was endowed with the means of grace to continue in this ftate, fo long as he loved God, and perfevered in his duty; but that at the fame time, he had the liberty of chufing either good or evil. A bleffing and a curfe were fet before him; he knew the conditions on which he enjoyed the former, he was forewarned of the inevitable certainty of the latter, if he deviated from the path of virtue.

Yielding however to the fuggeftions and artifices of Satan, unmindful of the mercies he had received, and afpiring after new fources of happiness, he in time became corrupt, and his affections were alienated from the true God. He difobeyed the exprefs Command of his Creator, and in confequence, fin, mifery, and death, were introduced into the world. For not only Adam by thefe means forfeited the Divine favour, but his pofterity likewife were neceffarily implicated in his guilt. All men in all nations, from that time to the prefent, are born finners; and as long as they remain fuch, are under the condemnation of God's law.

Let us fee fift, how this doctrine agrees with what the Scriptures have made known to us. And here I obferve, that it is not a folitary text scattered here and there, in which we find this melancholy truth confirmed; nor is it expreffed in metaphorical or obfcure language: it is afferted in almost every book, and in the moft pofitive terms which language would admit; it is alluded to, either directly or, indirectly, throughout the whole fubftance of both the Old and New Teftament; and it evidently conftitutes the bafis or foundation of most of the other doctrines of the Bible. The following quotations will I apprehend prove the truth of what has been advanced.

That man was originally formed upright and happy, is evident from the account given of the Creation in the first chapter of Genefis. "And God faid, Let us make man in our own image, after our own likenels: and let him have dominion over the fish of the fea, and over the fowls of the air, and over the cattle, and

over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him: male and female created be them. And God bleffed them, and God faid unto them, Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and fubdue it: and have do. minion over the fish of the fea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that move.h upon the earth." Gen. i. 26-28.

And in the laft verfe of the fame chapter we read, that, "God faw every thing that he had made, and behold it was very good." In the Pfalms we read, that God made man 66 a little lower than the angels, and crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madeft him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; and haft put all things under his feet." Pfalm. viii. 5, 6.

We find, however, that Adam foon deviated from his original righteoufnefs, and that the world through him became corrupt, Gen. iii. 6-19. "And when the woman faw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eye, and a tree to be defired to make one wife; fhe took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave alfo unto her husband with her, and he did eat. And they heard the voice of the LORD GOD walking in the garden in the cool of the day; and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD GOD amongst the trees of the garden. And the LORD GOD called unto Adam, and faid unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden; and I was afraid; because I was naked: and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that thou was naked? Haft thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee, that thou should ft not eat? And the man faid, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, the gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the LORD GOD faid unto the woman, What is this that thou haft done? And the woman

faid, The ferpent hath beguiled me, and I did eat. Unto the woman he faid, I will greatly multiply thy forrow and thy conception; in forrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy defire fhall be to thy husband, and he fhall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou haft hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and haft eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee faying, Thou shalt not eat of it: curfed is the ground for thy fake: in forrow fhalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns allo and Thistles fhall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field, In the fweat of thy face fhalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it waft thou taken; for duft thou art, and unto duft fhalt thou return."

Genefis vi. 5. we read that " God faw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Verfe 12, we are told that "God looked upon the earth, and behold, it was corrupt: for all flesh had corrupted his We are the earth." way upon told that "The children of men are corrupt;---they have done abominable

abominable works ;---that there is none that doeth good ;---that they are all gone afide; they are altogether become filthy ;---that if we fay we have no fin, we deceive ourselves ;---that there is no man that finneth not." The Scripture hath concluded all men under fin, "that every mouth may be ftopped, and all the world become guilty before God." We read that " man drinketh Iniquity like water; that in us dwelleth no good thing." It was this consciousness of the depravity of our nature that made the Pfalmift cry out, I was fhapen in Iniquity, and in fin did my mother conceive me, Pfm. li. 5. It was this that caused Isaiah to exclaim, "All we like Sheep have gone aftray;---we are all as an unclean thing, and our righteoufnefs are as filthy rags." Ifa. lin. and liv. Jeremiah fays, The heart is deceitful above all things, and defperately wicked."

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The Apostle Paul addreffing himfelf to the Romans, declares that the carnal mind is not only averse to what is good, and prone to what is evil, but is at enmity with God: and in the 7th chapter of his epistle to the Romans has thefe words, "I know that in me, (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing; for to will is prefent with me, but how to perform that which is good, I find not. For the good that I would, I do not; but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but fin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that when I would do good, evil is prefent with me," ver. 18---21. "Out of the heart, (St. Matthew tells us) proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, falfe witnefs, blafphemies, xv. 19.

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But not only are we finners, but as fuch we are under sentence of condemnation. "The foul that finneth it fhall die," faith the Lord: and "the wages of fin is death," Rom. vi. 23. Sin made Cain cry out his punishment was greater than he could bear, Gen. iv. "The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men," Rom. i. 18. " Indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguifh, fhall be upon every foul of man that doeth evil," Rom. xi. 9. By one man fin entered and death by fin," Rom. v. 12. Speaking of the wicked St. Paul fays, "deftruction and mifery are in their ways,' iii. 16. In St. Matthew's Gofpel, we read, that "The Son of man fhall fend forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and fhall caft them into a furnace of fire: where shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth,” xiii. 41, 42.

Rom.

Nor does our Lord, who is the fountain and pattern of true charity, speak a different language. He bids us "fear him, who is able to deftroy both foul and body in hell," Luke xii. 5. He folemnly charges us to oppofe corrupt nature with the utmost refolution, left we be "caft into hell, where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched," Mark ix. 43. With tenderness he informs us, that " whofoever fhall fay to his brother, Thou fool! fhall be in danger of hell fire;" That not only the wicked, but

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