and you shall not be judged. Dare you also to persuade your followers, that Mr. Toplady actually died in despair! Fie upon sanctified slander! Fie! Fie!"

Those who have read the preceding letters, astonished as they must have been at their contents, will be yet more astonished to hear, that, to the loud and repeated calls, thus given him to speak for himself, Mr. Wesley answered not a word. Nor is it too much to say, that, by maintaining a pertinacious silence, in such circumstances, the very vitals of his character were stabbed by himself. He thus consented to a blot remaining on his name, among the foulest that ever stained the reputation of a professed servant of Jesus Christ. The truth or falsehood of those principles, however, which it was the object of his long and laborious life to propagate and defend, cannot be considered as at all affected by his unhappy, and unmanly, and ungodly conduct, in reference to this matter. The account that has just been given of his conduct, together with the reprehension it so well merits, must not, therefore, be considered as designed to repudiate his peculiar principles. By their own merits, or demerits, they must be justified, or condemned. Still less, is it our object to reflect on Mr. Wesley's followers. By the better part of them, the conduct which we have reprobated, will not be approved. Differing from them, as we do, in a few other points of far greater importance, we yet know, and are happy to acknowledge, that some of them are eminent for great talents, and extensive learning; and that more of them are distinguished, for what is still better,-for piety towards God, for faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ, and for an ardent and enviable zeal to promote the present and everlasting happiness of their fellow men.

We must now return once more to Mr. Toplady. And before taking our final leave of him, we shall present our readers with a copy of his last Will and Testament; a document, too characteristic to be omitted in any account of its author. It is as follows:

IN THE NAME OF GOD AMEN. I Augustus Montague Toplady, Clerk, Bachelor of Arts, and Vicar of the Parish and Parish church of BroadHembury, in the county of Devon, and diocese of Exeter; being mindful of my mortality, (though, at present, in a competent state of bodily health, and of perfect mind and memory) do make and declare this my last will and testament (all written with my own hand, and consisting of three folio pages), this twenty-eighth day of February, in the year of our Lord, One Thousand Seven Hundred and Seventy-Eight, in manner and form following: That is to say, First: I most humbly commit my soul to the hands of almighty God; whom I know, and have long experienced, to be my ever-gracious and infinitely merciful Father. Nor have I the least doubt of my election, justification, and eternal happiness, through the riches of his everlasting and unchangeable kindness to me in Christ Jesus his coequal Son; my only, my assured, and my all-sufficient Saviour: washed in whose propitiatory blood, and clothed with whose imputed righteousness, I trust to stand perfect and sinless and complete, and do verily believe that I most certainly shall so stand, in the hour of death, and in the kingdom of heaven, and at the last judgment, and in the ultimate state of endless glory. Neither can I write this my last will without rendering the deepest, the most solemn, and the most ardent thanks, to the adorable Trinity in Unity, for their eternal, unmerited, ir

reversible, and inexhaustible love to me a sinner. I bless God the Father, for having written, from everlasting, my unworthy name in the Book of Life; even for appointing me to obtain salvation, through Jesus Christ my Lord. I adore God the Son, for his having vouchsafed to redeem me by his own most precious death; and for having obeyed the whole law, for my justification. I admire and revere the gracious benignity of God the Holy Ghost, who converted me, to the saving knowledge of Christ, more than two and twenty years ago, and whose enlightening, supporting, comforting, and sanctifying agency is, and (I doubt not) will be, my strength and my song, in the house of my earthly pilgrimage. Secondly: As to my body, I will and desire it may be interred in my chancel, within the parish church of Broad-Hembury, aforesaid, if I should be in Devonshire, or near to that county at the time of my death. But, in case I die at, or in the neighbourhood of, London; or at any other considerable distance from Devonshire; let the place of my interment be, wheresoever my executor (herein after named) shall choose and appoint; unless, in writing or by word of mouth, I should hereafter signify any particular spot for my place of burial. Thirdly: Let me be buried where I may, my express will and desire is, that my grave be dug to the depth of nine feet, at the very least, from the surface of the ground; or (which would be still more agreeable to my will and desire) to the depth of twelve feet, if the nature of the soil should admit of it. I earnestly request my executor to see to the performance of this article, with particular care and exactness. Fourthly: My express will is, that my funeral expences may not, if possible, exceed the sum of twenty pounds sterling. Let no company be invited to my burial. Let no rings, scarfs, hatbands, or mourning of any kind, be distributed. Let no fu

neral sermon be preached. Let no monument be erected.* Fifthly: Whatsoever worldly substance and effects I shall die possessed of; and whatsoever worldly substance and effects I may be entitled to, before, at, or after the time of my decease; whether money, plate, china, books, coins and medals, paintings, linen, clothes, furniture, and all other effects, of whatsoever kind, and to what amount soever, whether in town or country, at home or abroad; together with all arrears, and dues, of every sort; I do, hereby, give and bequeath the whole and every of them (excepting only such single sum, as shall be herein afterwards distinctly named and otherways disposed of) to my valuable and valued friend Mr. William Hussey, china and glass-dealer of Coventrystreet, in the county of Middlesex, and parish of St. James, in the Liberty of Westminster; and who [viz. the said Mr. William Hussey] when not resident in town, is likewise of Kensington-Gore, in the said county of Middlesex, and parish of St. Margaret, Westminster. And I do hereby nominate, constitute, and appoint him, the said William Hussey, the whole and sole executor of this my last will and testament, and my whole and sole residuary legatee. Sixthly: My will is, that my effects, so left and bequeathed, as abovesaid, to the aforenamed William Hussey, shall be, and hereby are, charged with the payment of the clear and neat sum of one hundred and five pounds, good and lawful money of Great Britain, to Elizabeth Sterling, now or late of Snow's-Fields, in or near the borough of Southwark, in the county of Surrey, spinster. Which said sum of one hundred and five pounds lawful money of Great Britain, as aforesaid, I will and desire may be paid, clear and free of all deduction whatever, to the said Elizabeth Sterling, by my be

* Some part of this was altered by his own verbal direction.

fore named executor, Mr. William Hussey, within three months, at farthest, after my decease; for and in consideration of the long and faithful services, rendered by her, the said Elizabeth Sterling, to my late dear and honoured mother of ever-loved and

revered memory. Seventhly: Let all my manuscripts of what kind soever (I mean, all manuscripts of and in my own hand-writing,) be consumed by fire, within one week after my interment t. Eighthly: Whereas, it may seem mysterious, that I leave and bequeath no testamentary memorial of my regard to any of my own relations, whether by blood or by alliance, and whether related to me by my father's side, or by my mother's, it may be proper just to hint my reasons. In the first place, I am greatly mistaken, if all my own relations be not superior to me, in point of worldly circumstances. And, secondly, as my said relations are rather numerous, I deem myself more than justified in passing them all by, and in not singling out one, or a few, in preference to the rest; especially seeing my good wishes are impartially divided among them all. Ninthly: With respect to many most valued and honoured persons, whose intimacy and friendship have so highly contributed to the happiness of my life, though not related to me by any family tie; these I likewise, omit, as legatees: First, Because they are, in general, abundantly richer than myself; and, Secondly, Because they too are so extremely numerous, both in town and country, that it is absolutely out of my power to bequeath, to each and every one of them, a substantial or very valuable memento of the respectful love which I bear to them in Christ our common Saviour! and to distinguish only some of them by legacies, might carry an im

This was repealed by his own request, and left to the pleasure of his executor.