were met together in Kingswood House, he began a vehement invective both against my person and doctrines. In the midst of this he was struck raving mad. And so he continued till his friends put him into Bedlam; and probably laid his madness too to my charge. I fear there may also be some instances of real madness, proceeding from a different cause. Suppose, for instance, a person hearing me is strongly convinced that a liar cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. He comes home, and relates this to his parents or friends, and appears to be very uneasy. These good Christians are disturbed at this, and afraid he is running mad too. They are resolved he shall never hear any of those fellows more; and keep to it, in spite of all his entreaties. They will not suffer him, when at home, to be alone, for fear he should read or pray. And perhaps in a while they will constrain him, at least by repeated importunities, to do again the very thing for which he was convinced the wrath of God cometh upon the children of disobedience. What is the event of this? Sometimes the Spirit of God is quenched and departs from him. Now you have carried the point. The man is easy as ever, and sins on without any remorse. But in other instances, where those convictions sink deep, and the arrows of the Almighty stick fast in the soul, you will drive the person into real, settled madness before you can quench the Spirit of God. I am afraid there have been several instances of this. You have forced the man's conscience till he is stark mad. But then pray do not impute that madness to me. Had you left him to my direction, or rather to the direction of the Spirit of God, he would have been filled with love and a sound mind. But you have taken the matter out of God's hand; and now you have brought it to a fair conclusion! How frequent this case may be I know not. But doubtless most of those who make this objection, of our driving men mad, have never met with such an instance in their lives. The common cry is occasioned either by those who are convinced of sin or those who are inwardly converted to God; mere madness both (as was observed before), to those who are without God in the world. Yet I do not deny but you may have seen one in Bedlam who said he had followed me. But, observe, a madman's saying this is no proof of the fact; nay, and if he really had, it should be farther considered that his being in Bedlam is no sure proof of his being mad. Witness the well-known case of Mr. Periam; and I doubt not more such are to be found. Yea, it is well if some have not been sent thither for no other reason but because they followed me; their kind relations either concluding that they must be distracted before they could do this, or perhaps hoping that Bedlam would make them mad, if it did not find them so. And it must be owned a confinement of such a sort is as fit to cause as to cure distraction: for what scene of distress is to be compared to it? To be separated at once from all who are near and dear to you; to be cut off from all reasonable conversation; to be secluded from all business, from all reading, from every innocent entertainment of the mind, which is left to prey wholly upon itself, and day and night to pore over your misfortunes; to be shut up day by day in a gloomy cell, with only the walls to employ your heavy eyes, in the midst either of melancholy silence or horrid cries, groans, and laughter intermixed; to be forced by the main strength of those Who laugh at human nature and compassion to take drenches of nauseous, perhaps torturing medicines, which you know you have no need of now, but know not how soon you may, possibly by the operation of these very drugs on a weak and tender constitution: here is distress! It is an astonishing thing, a signal proof of the power of God, if any creature who has his senses when the confinement begins does not lose them before it is at an end! How must it heighten the distress if such a poor wretch, being deeply convinced of sin, and growing worse and worse (as he probably will, seeing there is no medicine here for his sickness, no such physician as his case requires), be soon placed among the incurables! Can imagination itself paint such a hell upon earth? where even "hope never comes, that comes to all!" For, what remedy? If a man of sense and humanity should happen to visit that house of woe, would he give the hearing to a madman's tale? Or, if he did, would he credit it? "Do we not know," might he say, "how well any of these will talk in their lucid intervals ?" So that a thousand to one he would concern himself no more about it, but leave the weary to wait for rest in the grave! DECEMBER 22, 1744. AN ACT OF DEVOTION. BEHOLD the servant of the Lord! Me if thy grace vouchsafe to use, Meanest of all thy creatures me, My every weak, though good design, Thy work, O Lord, is all complete, Here, then, to thee thine own I leave, But let me all thy words obey; MAIN DOCTRINES OF METHODISM. (Written in 1746.) OUR main doctrines, which include all the rest, are three, that of repentance, of faith, and of holiness. The first of these we account, as it were, the porch of religion; the next, the door; the third, religion itself. That repentance or conviction of sin which is always previous to faith (either in a higher or lower degree, as it pleases God), we describe in words to this effect: "When men feel in themselves the heavy burden of sin, see damnation to be the reward of it, behold with the eye of their mind the horror of hell, they tremble, they quake, and are inwardly touched with sorrowfulness of heart, and cannot but accuse themselves, and open their grief unto Almighty God, and call unto him for mercy. This being done seriously, their mind is so occupied, partly with sorrow and heaviness, partly with an earnest desire to be delivered from this danger of hell and damnation, that all desire of meat and drink is laid apart, and loathing of all worldly things and pleasure cometh in place. So that nothing then liketh them more than to weep, to lament, to mourn; and both with words and behavior of body to show themselves weary of life." Now, permit me to ask, What if, before you had observed that these were the very words of our own Church, one of your acquaintance or parishioners had come and told you that ever since he heard a sermon at the Foundery he "saw damnation" before him, "and beheld with the eye of his mind the horror of hell?" What if he had "trembled and quaked," and been so taken up, "partly with sorrow and heaviness, partly with an earnest desire to be delivered from the danger of hell and damnation," as to "weep, to lament, to mourn, and both with words. and behavior to show himself weary of life?" Would you have scrupled to say, "Here is another deplorable instance' of the 'Methodists driving men to distraction!' See 'into what excessive terrors, frights, doubts, and perplexities they throw weak and well-meaning men, quite oversetting their understandings and judgments, and making them liable to all these miseries."" I dare not refrain from adding one plain question, which I beseech you to answer, not to me, but to God: Have you ever experienced this repentance yourself? Did you ever "feel in yourself that heavy burden of sin?" of sin in general, more especially, inward sin; of pride, anger, lust, vanity? of (what is all sin in one) that carnal mind which is enmity, essential enmity, against God? Do you know by experience what it is to "behold with the eye of the mind the horror of hell?" Was "your mind" ever so "taken up, partly with sorrow and heaviness, partly with an earnest desire to be delivered from this danger of hell and damnation, that even all desire of meat and drink" was taken away, and you "loathed all worldly things and pleasure?" Surely, if you had known what it is to have the " arrows of the Almighty" thus "sticking fast in you," you could not so lightly have condemned those who now cry out, "The pains of hell come about me; the sorrows of death compass me, and the overflowings of ungodliness make me afraid.” Concerning the gate of religion (if it may be allowed so to speak), the true, Christian, saving faith, we believe it implies abundantly more than an assent to the truth of the Bible. "Even the devils believe that Christ was born of a virgin; that he wrought all kind of miracles; that for our sakes he suffered a most painful death to redeem us from death everlasting." These articles of our faith the very devils believe, and so they believe all that is written in the Old and New Testament. And yet, for all this faith, they be but devils; they remain still in their damnable estate, lacking the very true Christian faith. "The right and true Christian faith is not only to believe that the Holy Scriptures and the articles of our faith are true, but also to have a sure trust and confidence to be saved from everlasting damnation, through Christ." Perhaps it may be expressed more clearly thus: "A sure trust and confidence which a man hath in God, that by the merits of Christ his sins are forgiven, and he reconciled to the favor of God." For giving this account of Christian faith (as well as the preceding account of repentance, both which I have here also purposely described in the very terms of the Homilies), I have been again and again, for near these eight years past, accused of enthusiasm; sometimes by those who spoke to my face, either in conversation, or from the pulpit; but more frequently by those who chose to speak in my absence; and not seldom from the press. I wait for those who judge this to be enthusiasm to bring forth their strong reasons. Till then, I must continue to account all these the "words of truth and soberness." Religion itself (I choose to use the very words wherein I described it long ago) we define, "The loving God with all our heart, and our neighbor as ourselves; and in that love abstaining from all evil, and doing all possible good to all men." The same meaning we have sometimes expressed a little more at large, thus: "Religion we conceive to be no other than love, the love of God and of all mankind; the loving God 'with all our heart, and soul, and strength,' as having 'first loved us,' as the fountain of all the good we have received, and of all we ever hope to enjoy; and the loving every soul which God hath made, every man on earth, as our own soul. "This love we believe to be the medicine of life, the never-failing remedy for all the evils of a disordered world, for all the miseries and vices of men. Wherever this is, there are virtue and happiness going hand in hand. There is humbleness of mind, gentleness, long-suffering, the whole image of God, and, at the same time, a peace that passeth all understanding, and joy unspeakable and full of glory. "This religion we long to see established in the world, a religion of love and joy and peace; having its seat in the heart, in the inmost soul, but ever showing itself by its fruits; continually springing forth, not only in all innocence (for love worketh no ill to his neighbor), but likewise in every kind of beneficence, spreading virtue and happiness all around it." If this can be proved by Scripture or reason to be enthusiastic or erroneous doctrine, we will then plead guilty to the indictment of "teaching error and enthusiasm." But if this be the genuine religion of Christ, then will all who advance this charge against us be found false witnesses before God, in the day when he shall judge the earth. AN EARNEST APPEAL TO MEN OF REASON AND RELIGION. (Written in 1744.) Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth ?—John vii, 51. 1. ALTHOUGH it is with us a "very small thing to be judged of you or of man's judgment," seeing we know God will "make our innocency as clear as the light, and our just dealing as the noonday," yet are we ready to give any that are willing to hear a |