cussions, with persons who have been loudest in professing their candor and charity. Hence, I make no doubt, if the elucidation which you call for at my hands, for your numerous society, should happen by any means to become public, that I shall have to eat the bread of affliction, and drink the water of tribulation," 1 Kings, xxii. 27, for this discharge of my duty, perhaps during the remainder of my life. But, as the apostle writes, "None of these things move me; neither count I my life dear to me, so that I may finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus." Acts, xx. 24.

It remains, sir, to settle the conditions of our correspondence. What I propose is, that, in the first place, we should mutually, and indeed all of us who are concerned in this friendly controversy, be at perfect liberty, without offence to any one, to speak of doctrines, practices, and persons, in the manner we may judge the most suitable for the discovery of truth: secondly, that we should be disposed, in common, as far as poor human nature will permit, to investigate truth with impartiality; to acknowledge it, when discovered, with candor; and, of course, to renounce every error and unfounded prejudice that may be detected, on any side, whatever may be the sacrifice or the cost. I, for my part, dear sir, here solemnly promise, that I will publicly renounce the religion of which I am a minister, and will induce as many of my flock, as I may be able to influence, to do the same, should it prove to be that "mass of absurdity, bigotry, superstition, idolatry, and immorality," which you, sir, and most Protestants conceive it to be; nay, even if I should not succeed in clearing it of these respective charges. To religious controversy, when originating in its proper motives, a desire of serving God and securing our salvation, I cannot declare myself an enemy, without virtually condemning the conduct of Christ himself, who, on every occasion, arraigned and refuted the errors of the Pharisees: but I cannot conceive any hypocrisy so detestable as that of mounting the pulpit or employing the pen on sacred subjects, to serve our temporal interests, our resentment, or our pride, under pretext of promoting or defending religious truth. To inquirers in the former predicament, I hold myself a debtor, as I have already said; but the cir cumstances must be extraordinary, to induce me to hold a communication with persons in the latter. Lastly, as you appear, sir, to approve of the plan I spoke of in my first letter to Dr. Sturges, I mean to pursue it on the present occasion. This, however, will necessarily throw back the examination of your charges to a considerable distance, as several other important inquiries must precede it.—I am, &c.,

JOHN MILNER.

LETTER III.

FROM JAMES BROWN, ESQ., TO THE REV. JOHN MILNER, D.D. PRELIMINARIES.

REVEREND SIR

New Cottage, October 30, 1801.

I HAVE been favored, in due course, with yours of the 20th instant, which I have communicated to those persons of our society whom I have had an opportunity of seeing. No circumstance could strike us with greater sorrow, than that you should suffer any inconvenience from your edifying promptness to comply with our well-meant request, and we confidently trust that nothing of the kind will take place through any fault committed by us. We agree with you, as to the necessity of perfect freedom of speech, where the discovery of important truths is the real object of inquiry. Hence, while we are at liberty to censure many of your popes and other clergy, Mr. Topham will not be offended with any thing that you can prove against Calvin, nor will Mr. Rankin quarrel with you for exposing the faults of George Fox and James Naylor, nor shall I complain of you for any thing that you may make out against our venerable Latimer or Cranmer; I say the same of doctrines and practices as of persons. If you are guilty of idolatry, or we of heresy, we are respectively unfortunate, and the greatest act of charity we can perform is to point out to each other the danger of our respective situations to their full extent. Not to renounce error and embrace truth of every kind, when we clearly see it, would be folly; and to neglect doing this, when the question is concerning religious truth, would be folly and wickedness combined together. Finally, we cheerfully leave you to follow what course you please, and to whatever extent you please, provided only that you give us such satisfaction as you are capable of affording, on the subjects which I mentioned in my former letter.—I am, reverend sir, &c.,

JAMES BROWN.

LETTER IV.-TO JAMES BROWN, ESQ., &c.

DISPOSITIONS FOR RELIGIOUS INQUIRY.

DEAR SIR

THE dispositions which you profess, on the part of your friends as well as yourself, I own, please me, and animate me to undertake the task you impose upon me. Nevertheless,

availing myself of the liberty of speech which you and your friends allow me, I am compelled to observe, that there is nothing in which men are more apt to labor under a delusion, than by imagining themselves to be free from religious prejudices, sincere in seeking after, and resolved to embrace the truth of religion, in opposition to their preconceived opinions and worldly interests. How many imitate Pilate, who, when he had asked our Saviour the question, What is truth? presently went out of his company before he could receive an answer to it! John, xviii. 38. How many others resemble the rich young man, who, having interrogated Christ, "What good things shall I do that I may have eternal life ?" when this Divine Master answered him, "If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell what thou hast and give to the poor;-went away sorrowful!" Matt. xix. 22. Finally, how many more act like certain presumptuous disciples of our Lord, who, when he had propounded to them a mystery beyond their conception, that of the real presence, in these words, "My flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed;"-said, "This is a hard saying; who can hear it ?-and went back and walked no more with him!" John, vi. 56. O! if all Christians, of the different sects and opinions, were but possessed of the sincerity, disinterestedness, and earnestness to serve their God and save their souls, which a Francis Walsingham, kinsman to the great statesman of that name; a Hugh Paulin Cressy, Dean of Leighlin and Prebendary of Windsor; and an Antony Ulric, Duke of Brunswick and Lunenburgh, proved themselves to have been possessed of, the first in his Search into Matters of Religion, the second in his Exomologesis, or Motives of Conversion, &c., and the last in his Fifty Reasons; how soon would all and every one of our controversies cease, and all of us be united in one faith, hope, and charity! I will here transcribe, from the preface to the Fifty Reasons, what the illustrious relative of his majesty says, concerning the dispositions with which he set about inquiring into the grounds and differences of the several systems of Christianity, when he be began to entertain doubts concerning the truth of that in which he had been educated, namely, Lutheranism. He says—" First, I earnestly implored the aid and grace of the Holy Ghost, and with all my power begged the light of true faith, from God, the Father of lights, &c. Secondly, I made a strong resolution, by the grace of God, to avoid sin, well knowing that Wisdom will not enter into a corrupt mind, nor dwell in a body subject to sin,' Wisd. i. 4, and I am convinced, and was so then, that the reason why so many are ignorant of the true faith, and do not embrace it, is, because they are plunged in several vices, and particularly car

nal sins. Thirdly, I renounced all sorts of prejudices, whatever they were, which incline men to one religion more than another, and which, unhappily, I might formerly have espoused; and I brought myself to a perfect indifference, so as to be ready to embrace whichsoever the grace of the Holy Ghost, and the light of reason should point out to me, without any regard to the advantages and inconveniences that might attend it in this world. Lastly, I entered upon this deliberation and this choice, in the manner I should have wished to have done it at the hour of my death, and in a full conviction that, at the day of judgment, I must give an account to God why I followed this religion in preference to all the rest." The princely inquirer finishes this account of himself with the following awful reflections. "Man has but one soul, which will be eternally either damned or saved. 'What doth it avail a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul?' Matt. xvi. 26. Eternity knows no end. The course of it is perpetual. It is a series of unlimited duration. There is no comparison between things infinite and those which are not so. O the happiness of the eternity of the saints! O! the wretchedness of the eternity of the damned! One of these two eternities awaits us!"

I remain, sir, yours, &c.

JOHN MILNEr.

LETTER V.-TO JAMES BROWN, ESQ.

METHOD OF FINDING OUT THE TRUE RELIGION.

DEAR SIR

It is obvious to common sense, that in order to find out any hidden thing, or to do any difficult thing, we must first discover, and then follow the proper method for such purpose. If we do not take the right road to any distant place, it cannot be expected that we should arrive at it. If we get hold of a wrong clue, we shall never extricate ourselves from a labyrinth. Some persons choose their religion as they do their clothes, by fancy. They are pleased, for example, with the talents of a preacher, when presently they adopt his creed. Many adhere to their religious system, merely because they were educated in it, and because it was that of their parents and family; which, if it were a reasonable motive for their resolution, would equally excuse Jews, Turks, and Pagans, in adhering to their respective impieties, and would impeach the preaching of Christ and his apostles. Others glory in their religion, because it is the one established in this their country, so renowned for science, literature, and arms;

not reflecting that the polished and conquering nations of an tiquity, the Egyptians, Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans, were left, by the inscrutable judgments of God, in darkness and in the shadow of death, whilst a poor oppressed and despised people, on the banks of the Jordan, were the only depository of divine truth, and the sole truly enlightened nation. But, far the greater part even of Christians, of every denomination, make the business of eternity subservient to that of time, and profess the religion which suits best with their interest, their reputation, and their convenience. I trust that none of your respectable society fall under any of these descriptions. They all have, or fancy that they have, a rational method of discovering religious truth; in other words, an adequate rule of faith. Before I enter into any disquisition on this all-important controversy concerning the right rule of faith, on which the determination of every other depends, I will lay down three fundamental maxims, the truth of which, I apprehend, no rational Christian will dispute.

First, Our Divine Master, Christ, in establishing a religion here on earth, to which all the nations of it were invited, Matt. xviii. 19, left some RULE or method by which those persons who sincerely seek for it, may with certainty find it.

Secondly, This rule or method must be SECURE and never failing; so as not to be ever liable to lead a rational, sincere inquirer into error, impiety, or immorality of any kind.

Thirdly, This rule or method must be UNIVERSAL, that is to say, adapted to the abilities and circumstances of all those persons for whom the religion itself is intended; namely, the great bulk of mankind.

By adhering to these undeniable maxims, we shall quickly, dear sir, and clearly, discover the method appointed by Christ for arriving at the knowledge of the truths which he has taught; in other words, at the right rule of faith. Being possessed of this rule, we shall, of course, have nothing else to do than to make use of it, for securely, and, I trust, amicably settling all our controversies. This is the short and satisfactory method of composing religious differences, which I alluded to in my above-mentioned letter to Dr. Sturges. To discuss them all, separately, is an endless task, whereas this method reduces them to a single question.-I am, &c.,

JOHN MILNER.