part of their time, having doubts, fears, horrors of mind, &c. continually haunting. them wherever they are. "The fuperftitious man, fays Cicero, is miferable in every scene, in every incident of life: even fleep itself, which banishes all other cares of unhappy mortals, affords to him matter of new terror, while he examines his dreams, and finds in thofe vifions of the night, prognoftication of future calamities." Between twenty and thirty years fince, fome thousands of them in London took it into their heads that the world would be at an end on fuch a night, and for some days previous to this fatal night, nothing was attended to but fasting and praying, and when it came, they made a watch-night of it, and spent it in prayer, &c. expecting every moment to be the last; and it is remarkable, that thousands who were not methodists gave credit to this ridiculous prophecy, and were terribly alarmed; but the next morning they were ashamed to look at one another, and many durft not appear in their fhops for fometime afterwards. But others of them said that God ,had heard the prayers of the righteous, and fo fpared the world a little longer. Some years after that Mr. Wefley alarmed his people all over England, with the tail of a comet; great numbers were dreadfully apprehenfive left this comet should scorch the earth to a cinder; but the faints by prayer • made the comet keep a proper distance. Charnock, of the last century, in his dif courfe on Providence, has proved (in his way) that the univerfe was created and is kept agoing for the fake of the elect, and that as foon as their number is complete, the whole will be destroyed. This is genuine › calvinifm. The fanatics in every age have found their account in making their followers believe the end of the world was at hand. In fome of the wills and deeds, by which eftates have been given to monafteries, &c. in France, they have expreffed their belief of the world's being nearly at an end, as a reason for making fuch liberal donations to the church. But But it is happy for us that in England fuch wills would be fet afide. A cafe of this nature occurred while Lord Northington was at the head of the law department. Reilly the preacher, had wheedled, or frightened, an old woman (Mrs. Norton) out of a deed of gift of fifty pounds per year, but after the old woman's panic and fear of damnation was over, the had recourse to Chancery, and his Lordship annulled the deed of gift. His Lordship's remarks on fuch kinds of impofition are very curious, and worth your reading. See Collectanea Juridica, vol. 1. P. 458. In fact, the very best of the methodists are like children, elated or depreffed by mere trifles; and many who joined them while young and ignorant, quit their fociety as they attain to years of difcretion, or as their judgment is better informed. Love or anger, ambition or avarice (fays a great man) have their root in the temper and affections, which the foundest reafon is fcarce able fully to correct; but fuperftition, being founded on falfe opinion, must immediately vanish, when true philosophy has infpired juster fentiments of fuperior powers. I am, Dear Friend, Yours. LETTER LETTER VIII. "Religion's luftre is by native innocence Divinely fair, pure, and fimple from all arts; "Falfe beauties, which the wants not, make the world Rowe's Tamerlane. "Be careful to deftroy the book of James. Forgetting Paul, he fpurns at faith alone, DEAR FRIEND, THE enthufiaftic notions which I had imbibed, and the defire I had to be talking about religious myfteries, &c. anfwered one valuable purpofe; as it caufed me to embrace every opportunity to learn to read, so that I could foon read the easy parts of the Bible, Mr. Wefley's Hymns, &c. and every leisure minute was fo employed. |