(tho' never fo well authorised) Preacher, yet it does not therefore follow, that a mere Layman may lawfully prefume to be a publick Preacher of God's Word, in the Church.

In the mean time, as to myfelf, let me be as I will, to my own Mafter I ftand or fall; neither do I regard being judged by you or any other, fo long as my own Confcience acquits me; and I do affure you, Sir, that I had much rather take my Chance with the poor Publican in the Parable, who went to the Temple to pray with a Pharifee, and would not fo much as lift up his Eyes to Heaven, but fmiting his Breast cried, God be merciful to me a Sinner, than with any Pharifee, whether Jewish or Chriftian, who boasts of his own Righteoufnefs, and not only defpifes, but also falfely accuses and uncharitably cenfures others.

AFTER all, whatever (in your great Charity) you may think of me, I thank God I have fo much Chriftianity, that I can with all Sincerity fay the Lord's Prayer, and beg Forgiveness of my Sins, which I am not ashamed to confefs, upon no other Terms, than as I heartily forgive both you and your Informer, whoever he was, the Scandal you have endeavoured to fix upon me. And fo, Sir, I take my Leave of you and this Difpute together; for once an Adverfary betakes himself to Scandal and personal Reflection, I am refolved to have no farther Dealing or Correspondence with him, fince, in my humble Opinion, there can hardly be any greater Sign of a bad Caufe or a bad Man, or indeed of both together, than fuch a poor, unmanly, and unchristian Behaviour. I am,

Hollymount, Sept. 30th, 1756.

Reverend Sir,

Yours, &c.

J. C.

AN

AN APPENDIX

то

MONTANUS REDI VIVUS:

Being REMARKS upon the Revd. Mr. SHIRLEY, Rector of LOUGHREA, his late Sermon on the Miniftry of the Gospel, in a Letter to the Revd. Dean CROWE, by the Author of MONTANUS, &c.

Reverend and Worthy Sir,

W

HEN I received your Favour, with Mr. Shirley's late Sermon, on the Miniftry of the Gofpel, enclosed, I remember, that in Anfwer, I hinted, or rather promised, that I would give you my Sentiments and Opinion of it; and altho' upon a careful Perufal of it, I found nothing equal to the mighty Brags that were made of it, before it made its publick Appearance, by his late Swadling Friends, in these Parts, nor indeed deferving much Confideration; yet left you should think me deficient in all my Promises, as I have been in that which I have been a long Time making, to do myself the Honour and Pleafure of seeing you, from fulfilling which I have been hitherto, by my bad State of Health, and other unfortunate Accidents, prevented; I have prefumed to give you this Trouble, together with my Opinion of that Sermon, which I take to be in the general, full fraught with unfound and heterodox Notions,

and

and with very falfe, fcandalous, and uncharitable Afperfions, (not indeed fairly and above board, but by many broad Hints, and indirect Infinuations) caft upon his Brethren the Clergy.

If the Characters which his late Friends, the Swadlers in this Country, induftriously fpread abroad of him, both before and fince his Converfion, and going over to their Party, (tho' very probably both for obvious Reasons are exaggarated beyond the Bounds of Truth) have any Truth in them, he has verified the Obfervation of the Poet, viz. In vitium ducit Culpa Fuga, ficaret Arte. And he does not seem to underftand, or at least he had not an Eye to, that other excellent Maxim in Morality of the fame Poet; Virtus eft Medium Vitiorum, utrinque reductum; he has, I fay, quite forgot these, and, like his present Masters, Mr. Wy, &c. he carries all Things to Extremes, and strains every String he handles, till it cracks. I will not deny but he may be zealously affected, but whether well, let the Confequence determine. To be zealously affected in a good Cause is, I grant, very commendable; but when Zeal is not tempered and guided by Moderation, Solidity of Judgment, and Coolness of Thought, it is of a very pernicious and dangerous Confequence, and degenerates into Superftition, Enthusiasm, and Uncharitableness.

It is really furprizing to confider, with what Earneftness, and Application thefe Men apply themselves, and what Pains they take, to run down and depreciate Chriftian Morality, or the Works of Evangelical Obedience; and preaching Juftification by Faith alone, without any fuch Works, as if the whole of Chrif tianity depended upon it; thus putting thofe Things afunder, which God has infeparably joined together. It is for this Reason they have put that excellent Book, The Whole Duty of Man, under an Judex expurgatorius, and interdicted the reading of it in their Societies; because he exhorts us to live foberly, righteou!

ly

ly and godlily in this World; whereas (fays Mr. Whitfield, in his printed Sermon on the Seed of the Woman) Men fhould not be defired or exhorted to do this or that, but to lay hold on the Righteousness of Chrift by Faith, which will be thereupon imputed to them, and will be fufficient, tho' they have no fort of Righteoufnefs of their own; to depend upon which, in Whole or in Part, either as the Cause, or any Term or Condition of Salvation, that Gentleman declares to be no less then Hell-fire and Damnation.

TOWARDS carrying on this bleffed Defign, Mr. Shirley has contributed his Mite, in the Sermon under present Confideration, the main and principal Design of which, is to prove, that preaching Morality, or the Works of Evangelical Obedience, is not preaching the Gofpel, condemning his Brethren that do preach Morality, and falfely accufing them, that they preach nothing else. Now if by the Gospel, he means the whole Gofpel, I grant that to preach Morality alone, is not to preach the Gofpel; but if his meaning be, that to preach Morality is to preach no Part of the Gofpel, I affirm it to be a moft falfe, erroneous, and dangerous Affertion; for it is evidently, to preach a very confiderable and fundamental Part of the Gofpel; it is to preach the End and Design of it, as old Zachary, the Father of John Baptift, has long ago told us; for he, by the Holy Ghoft, affures us, that we were, by the Birth, and Incarnation of Chrift, delivered and redeemed from the Hands of our Enemies, both Temporal and Spiritual, that we might from thence forward ferve God in Righteousness, and Holinefs, before him all the Days of our Lives, Luke i. 74, 75, St. Paul tells us the fame, for Christ, says he, gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all Iniquity, and purify to himself a peculiar, or chofen, or precious People, zealous of Good Works: Tit. ii. 14. Therefore, inftead of finding Fault with, I humbly prefume, that Mr. Shirley fhould have highly honoured

and

and efteemed, fuch of his Brethren, as make it their principal Study to preach true Chriftian Morality, and a good Life; because this is the End and Defign of all Religion, efpecially as they are not wanting or deficient, as Occafion and Opportunity offer, to preach Faith in Chrift, the Neceflity of Grace, Regeneration, and the Aids and Affiftance of the Spirit, in the due Ufe of the ordinary Means of Grace, and all other Mysteries of the Gospel. They do not, it is true, neither is there any Reason or Neceffity that they should, make these the conftant and perpetual Themes or Subjects of their Difcourfes, as others do; for this would be to fuppofe that they were always preaching to Jews, Heathens, or Mahometans; it would be to fuppofe that they were to be conftantly laying the Foundation, and never endeavour to raise any Superstructure upon it; and, in a Word, it would be to fuppofe, that the Gofpel was still in a State of Publication to an Infidel and Pagan World.

THE Clergy, I fuppofe, take it for granted, that their Hearers have been grounded in the Knowledge and Belief of the Mysteries, and Principles of Faith, and trained up in them from their Infancy, both by their Parents, Tutors, and Paftors; and confequently, that their chiefeft Care or Concern is, or ought to be, to perfwade and exhort them to bring forth Fruits anfwerable to fuch Mysteries and Principles, in all holy and godly Converfations; in Love and Charity; in Juftice, Temperance, Sobriety, and Chaftity; in Meeknefs, Purity, and Humility; in Patience under Afflictions; an intire Refignation of ourselves to the Divine Will and Providence; and a chearful Acquiefcence in all the gracious Difpenfations of the latter, believing and firmly perfwading ourselves, that all Things, whether in Life or Death, in Adverfity or Profperity, however chequered or blended together, or whatever our Lot or Portion of any or either of them may be, will in the Conclufion, and in winding up of H

the