BEWARE! ye Men of Pennsylvania!— shun false Doctrine, and false Preachers; —the Arch-Deceiver is among you! Confusion is making her Entry, and nothing can be ex­pected from it but Disorder and Madness.—

I here declare to Mr. —, his Friends and Fol­lowers, that I am not an Enemy, personally, ei­ther to him or them; but the Tenets of Me­thodism I will display, anatomize and discover.

Let us take an impartial View of those en­thusiastical Zealots, by which we shall find them to be Animals of the oddest Composition the Creation affords; made up of Ignorance and Stupidity, and their Skulls are of so comfortable a Thickness, that they cannot discern Right from Wrong: Whenever they meet (though in Company with Strangers) their Conversation is on the New-Birth^(a) ‘The Gospel shines like the Sun in the Firmament; what Pity it is [Page 3] that there are so many Reprobates, at a Time when there are so many fine Men to lead them into Light;’ when perhaps the Fellow they have been commending, is no more than a poor Taylor, sprung from a Shopboard; or an inspired Snob, who has sold his Awl and Ends to purchase a few of Mr. — Sermons, from which he can bawl out—Fly! fly! fly to the Mountains! Death, Hell, Revenge! the Devil is at your Heels!—and such like blasphemous Stuff, is all that comes from them; by which they take in the Ignorant and Unwary, deceive the Silly, and lead away many foolish Women, who are oftener inspired with the outward than the inward Man.

As for the R—d. Mr. —, (who, had he been wise, would not have made his Appearance here at this Time) he hath made it for these twenty Years past, his constant Practice not only to deceive the World himself, but to en­courage others to do so,—to make Priests (as he calls them, but I think they may with more Propriety be termed miserable gospel Haber­dashers) of Tinkers,^(b) Taylors, Pattin-makers,^(c) Weavers, superanuated Dragoons,^(d) Shop­lifters and Highwaymen:^(e) With such a Train at his Heels, he endeavours to knock down all Order and Regularity in divine Service, allowing and prompting Villains, who have left their Ears at the Pillory,^(f) to preach and vend his enthusiastical Nonsense; taking absolute Predesti­nation, Damnation, Perfection, and Salvation, [Page 4] whiningly and confusedly, as in a Scavenger's Shovel, and scatters them abroad; Free-will being canted off the Corner of the same. This is the Marrow of Methodism! Bigotry is the main Beam, supported by Stupidity;—for no­thing else but that would draw Crowds of Peo­ple together to hear,—to hear what? nothing at all—to hear an old Woman; for their very Ge­neral is no more, as I shall in its proper Place prove, from a late Discourse^*.—Incoherent, Phrases, Sham-crying, and Distortion of Phiz, with bawling out, The Lord Jesus Christ! ten Times in a Sentence, and a little Memory, are the Qualifications, and the only ones, necessary for a Methodist Preacher.

I beg the Reader's Pardon; he must know how to snarl, bite, and cousin, or he will not imitate his great Master.—An inspired Snob^(g) after kicking the Devil into Hell, driving him out again, and blinding him in the Air, says, ‘My dear Hearers, what think ye? What do you think this old Devil did? he took our Blessed Lord and Saviour on the Pinacle of the Temple, and shewed and promised him all the World if he would but worship him; when, to my certain Knowledge, that old surly Devil, at that Time, was not worth a Groat!’ What a Cheat! is it any Wonder to hear that Satan is a Cheat? I think not, we always looked upon him as such; but we generally expect to hear Truth from the Pulpit. Sorry I am that [Page 5] I'm forced to say, I have very lately heard many absolute Contradictions, and little less than Untruths from thence! But it is no Won­der, if we will but consider who it comes from: A Man as I said before, who delights in mak­ing Divisions, tramples on Order; dubbs a Man a Priest (As Kite says of a Gentleman) in the drawing of a Triger.—The Priesthood, by all sensible People, at all Times, was looked upon as sacred; and it is declared to be so both in the Old and New-Testament: For Instance,^(h) Korah, Dathin, and Abiram were swallowed up, and two hundred and fifty burnt for pretending to assume the Office! We likewise read in the New-Testament that certain Persons⁽ⁱ⁾ seeing the Miracles performed by St. Paul, in the Name of our blessed Lord, endeavoured (tho' vainly) to assume the same Authority, and made use of the Name of the Apostles, and that of our Saviour, to cast out Devils.—The Consequence was; the Man in whom the evil Spirit was, overcame them and made them fly stark naked and wounded; and these were seven in Num­ber. A Man would think, that two such Marks of the divine Wrath, given at two different Times, and to different People, and so great a Period between, was sufficient to deter any Per­son from assuming the like again; as any rea­sonable Soul must expect and know, that, sooner or later the divine Hand, at his own appointed Time, would punish such Audaciousness, and [Page 6] not let such glaring Crimes pass with Impunity.

Many more Instances might be brought to prove the Sacredness of the Priesthood, but I shall only mention an Injunction of St. Paul's, who foresaw the Divisions that would happen; it may be called a Prophecy, which in this Age, is fully verified,—it runs thus: ‘Now I beseech you Brethren, mark them which cause Divi­sions and Offences, contrary to the Doctine which ye have learned, and avoid them.— For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own Belly, and by good and fair Speech deceive the Hearts of the Simple.⁽ⁱ⁾’

That Methodism (as they call it) is a Doctrine contrary to what we have been taught, is very certain; that it causes Divisions and Offences is as true; for what we have from the Holy Gos­pel, the Apostles, and all regular Divines, is Holiness, Humility, Meekness, and Salvation for all Mankind that follow its glorious Precepts. Mr. — and his Crew of P—k-P—ts, deals Damnation round the World, sends Souls to Hell, that when living, their Bodies was not a Span long!^(k) Preaches absolute Predestination; damns a Man before he is born; denies it when called upon; falls into the same again, and yet is credited by many simple Ones.

That they are Ministers of their Own Bellies, is as certain as their false Doctrine: For In­stance; A certain Man beging or (rather Robing) [Page 7] the World under Pretence of an O—n-H—e in G—a, and putting it in his Purse. It is true, there is such a House, but it is affirmed, that there is not above six People in it. A fine Place to build such a House; amongst Wolves and Bears! there may be O—'s enough of that kind. A fine Handle he made of it, and a very pretty Farce he acted. We have no Occasion to go out of this Province for the Verity of this; for it is well known how he cram'd his Pockets at his Departure.— His Doctrine is full of Incon­sistencies, Craft and Design; his Design being no other than plundering the Purse, deceiving the Understanding; and, under Pretence of unite­ing all Parties in one, sets all Sectaries together by the Ears, that he may have an Oppertunity of picking up Pence from the Whole.

It is well known that the same Person, when in a neighbouring Province,^(l) preached down the wearing of Rings and other Ornaments of Gold, declaring them to be a Prophanation of the Gos­pel of our blessed Lord; by which Means many weak People were induced to pull off those Or­naments and present them to him, as an Offer­ing: He very soon after, at a well known Place,^(m) recommended the wearing of Rings, as fit Ornaments for those that were enligtened by the New-Birth; turned Ring-Merchant and sold them!— The Lumber-House, near T—m-Court, is, as it were, a Play-House, none be­ing admitted into the Gallery without a Ticket.

[Page 8]Another Instance of the Belly;—An inspired Taylor in the Isle of Wight (a Priest of the New Light) often visited an honest Farmer's Wife, in Absence of the Husband, under Prentence of en­lightening her Understanding, and administrat­ing spiritual Comfort to her. One certain Day, his Visit being over and Leave taken, he was met at the Door by the honest Man, who, ob­served his Coat stick out, demanded what he had under it? The Practice of Piety, he answer­ed; the Farmer shook him, and down droped a Gammon of Bacon! Fine Piety! the Fellow received a hearty Drubbing, the Courtecy of the Horse-Pond, and lost his Bacon; or rather the Farmer found his.

I think this proves them Ministers of the Bel­ly with a Vengeance. Those Facts alone, are sufficient to prove them not Ministers of the Gospel; for, if we believe the Apostle before mentioned, we must look upon them as Deceiv­ers and Aliens, but they have every Mark about them foretold by that learned Disciple; a smooth Tongue, a deceitful Heart, and leading away the Unwary and Simple, are Terms that justly belong to them. Mr. — has them all himself, and that to Perfection; and inculcates them firmly both in the Minds of his underling Haberdashers, and nonsensical Hearers.—They are likewise known to lead away many weak and simple Women; indeed all that follow them ought to be called so, for if they are not so at their first setting out, they will not follow him [Page 9] long before they will be either mad, stupid, simple, or in Dispair! Therfore I say, Beware, lest you should be obliged to build more Cells for poor Wretches, drove beside themselves by this pernicious Doctrine, or perhaps (which is worse) have Occasion to go there yourselves.— The miserable Effects that their mad, enthusi­astic, wild and rambleing Way of preaching has produced, cannot but be too well known in eve­ry Place where it has gained any Footing. It has caused Suicide in all its Shapes, institigated some to hang, others to drown, others to cut the Throats of themselves, some to burn Pow­der, and others to throw themselves off of Pre­cipices, besides filling Mad-Houses, Hospitals and Jails: And it is no wonder it has this Ef­fect, if we consider the Principles of absolute Predestination, which leaves no Room for Sal­vation for a poor Sinner, that by that was doom­ed to be damn'd five Thousand Years before he was born;—he cannot, says the Enthusiast, re­pent, no he was doomed a Reprobate from the Begining of Time. This is strikeing hard at two of the noblest Attributes of the Divine Be­ing, his Justice, and his Mercy. Yet this is the Doctrine that is taught by Methodism, and bellowed over the World, by a Sett of Fel­lows that would better adorn the G-ll—s than a Pulpit. Their Chief, it is allowed has Learn­ing, but his Judgment has been araigned, and found not weighty enough to regulate his mad and extravagant Fondness for Fame, which last [Page 10] seems to be his ruling Principle. It is hardly known how far this Principle will carry those who are enthusiastically fond of it. I remem­ber of reading of one of their Cast of Mind, that set the Temple of Diana, at Ephesus, on Fire, for no other Purpose but to endeavour to preserve his Name to Posterity; to defeat which, the Senate decreed his Name should never be mentioned or wrote. I hope the Reader will pardon this Digression. But to return: It sig­nifies not a Straw where they take their Text, for they ramble over the World, from London to Bristol, from thence to Scotland, Virgnia, Caro­lina▪ dear Boston, and then takes a kick at Phi—phia, boasting Self-sufficiency and good Works performed by themselves, whining and crying (Crocodile like) in order to dtaw Tears from their Auditors, and move them to open their Purses.

In England the Church, in Scotland the Kirk, and here every Thing, but good at Nothing, but sowing Disention and Discord; encouraging Wo­men to run from their Husbands, and Children from their Parents: These are known Facts, and may be found in a certain Person's Journal. They make it their Business to whine, and un­der the Cloak of Religion (the greatest Cloak in the World) to insinuate themselves into every House that will let them; having gained Ad­mittance, they ingratiate themselves into the Favour of the Women, in order to introduce a Love-Feast; which is this, they meet in an [Page 11] Evening at a Christian Friend's House by Pairs, and Feast both Spiritually and Temporally; it begins with Hymns and Spiritual Songs, and then a Lecture; after this they refresh their Ap­petites with good wholesome Viands; when pre­sently (as by Accident) they are all left in the Dark, and then (if they Please) each may feast on their Partners. I do not imagine this Feast has made its entry here as yet; and some may doubt its Veracity, but I assure the Readers it is common in England, and we, who have been ad­mitted behind the Grand Scenes, cannot but know the Craft and Deceit carried on there.

The whole Plan is Craft and Deceit, al­though cloaked and blended with Superstition, ever so cunningly, cannot escape a discerning Eye; or indeed any Eye that is not blinded by Enthusiasm.—I remember an eastern Proverb which I have formerly read;—says ‘its not good to jest with God, Death, or the Devil; for the First neither can nor will be mock­ed; the Second mocks all Men, one Time or other; and the Third puts an eternal Sar­casm on all those that are too familiar with him.’—That Methodism Jests with all three is very evident,—with our blessed Lord, in rent­ing his holy Gospel and making Divisions and Offences in his Church, and tearing the sacred Order, enjoined to be observed in it, all to Pieces. —They have amongst them tore so large a rent in Religion, that its almost impossible to be repaired;—They jest with Death, in pretending [Page 12] to be always wishing for his Stroke, and beg­ging it on the Instant; but I am persuaded was he to make his grim Appearance, the stoutest of them all would plead for a Respite,—They are continually jesting with the Devil, for they are pretending to be constantly buffeting him from Place to Place, and from Post to Pillar. —Says one of them some Time ago; I have, (call me what they please) done some good in my Ge­neration; for I have drove the Devil out of Tat—ham Court, where he formerly kept his chief Residence, and have set up a Taber—e for Christ.—If he has drove Satan from thence, there still remains devilish Works enough there: But its but very lately, one declared himself Turn-key of Hell; Says he, (after telling before, that we all deserved Damnation) did any one tell you this Morning, when you was coming to hear me, that I should preach Damnation to you! if they did I'll deceive you and them; I won't my dear Hear­ers, I want to frighten you, but I will do it by shewing the Love of Christ! Had I a Mind to open Hell-Gates, I might frighten you for a Mo­ment, but you would fall into the same Way again, —Query could he open them without a Key? Since I have mentioned this Remark, I shall be so bold as to make a few more on that famous Discourse, in which, Design appeared thro' the Whole.—The very Prayer was such; after be­ginning with one of our Collects, he began to pray for the Sectaries of whatever Denomination that their Pastors might labour in the good Work [Page 13] and sow good Seed, and that they would prepare the Ground for the same, so that it might grow, and some produce Twenty, some Fifty, and some an Hundred Fold;—then for the Reverend Gentleman of the Regular Churches; His Honour; the As­sembly, Magistrates, and all inferior Officers un­der them; and who after that,—His Most Sacred Majesty, the Royal Family, Privy Counsellors, &c. &c. &c. By which its plain to be seen, that in order to ingratiate himself in the Opinions of the Inhabitants of this City; he either forgot or trampled on the Duty he owed to his Majesty; placing Constables, Bomb-Baily's, and even the Hangman before him; he would not have dared, bold as he is, to have said this in England.

The Subject of the Discourse is known to be the only Foundation we have to rely on, that of our Blessed Saviour.—But, in order to please some Sectaries, here he struck a severe Blow at the very Foundation of Christianity, I mean Baptism.—These are his Words or the Purport of them.—Perhaps you think you are Christians, because you were baptized? Is that your Founda­tion? It is a watry Foundation; and did you ever know any Thing stand that was founded in the Water? its true, 'Tis an Ordinance of Christ, but 'tis an Ordinance founded on Water: He then recommends us to obtain Christ in our Hearts, and, in his mad Way, insists on all being of his Opinion; wishes for the Voice of an Arch-An­gel to make all the World hear him at once.— And then he says, What you want to go to Heaven! [Page 14] do you, for what? You imagine Heaven to be a fine Place I suppose? But its no such Thing—In­deed if you read the Revelations, you will there find it to be a fine Place; the Streets paved with Gold, and the Gates of Emerald and precious Stones: The avaritious Man would be glad to go to such a Heaven, if he could unhinge the Gates and keep them to himself!—The Gamester there too would be very well satisfied!—The Ladies would expect Balls and Assemblies there too; such a Heaven as this would please the worldly Man, but Heaven is no such Place.—It's allowed by those that best under­stand the Works of St. John the Divine, that there is a Mystery couched under this Sentence, that they were not able to penetrate the Bot­tom: However, no Man of Sense ever deny'd its being a fine Place; nor none was ever Fool enough to think he could unhinge and keep the Gates to himself: Its a Place prepared for for the just Men made perfect, where is promised Happiness and Fullness of Joy for ever more, in Company with Christ and his Angels;—Would any Thing but a mad crack-brained Enthusiast deny this being a fine Place? surely no; but they will affirm any Thing: For after taking a Trip to Scotland, and acquainting us with the last Moments of an inspired young Clergyman, who was perfectly sure of Thousands and Thousands of Crowns of immortal Glory being placed on his Head, in less than an Hour. He then tells us of a Woman in Virginia, who, twenty Year ago, when talking of the New-Birth, said it must be [Page 15] after this Life was ended: And of an inspired young Man, whose last Words were, he was afraid the Foundation was not laid in his Father's Heart: Do, Sir, pray for my Father; that the Foundation may me laid in his Heart: He says, You will call this Enthusiasm I suppose! I wish all were such Enthusiasts! But do you know what an Enthusiast is? Enthusiasm is God in you! But I tell him he is mistaken in his Definition: An Enthusiast in Re­ligion, is one that vainly imagines he is inspired by the Spirit of God; when he is only actuated by the Warmth of his own over-heated Imagi­nation.

After giving his Difinition of Enthusiasm, he snarls out ‘Would you go to Heaven with the Devil in your Bellies?’—Then we are led into a Garden to view "a fine Cobweb," from thence to a Tyburn Execution; poor Lord F—s must be hauled over the Coals, and his Ashes raked up to prove his Foundation;—jumbling and filling each Interval in a confused Manner with his "Love for Christ;—" and his ‘dear, dear Philadelphia.—’

In short, I am quite weary of repeating his Jargon; the whole being a Mixture of, Dam­nation, whimsical Salvation and absolute Non­sence.—

Perhaps some Persons may think I have been too satiracal; but if they will but consider what it was wrote for, I am persuaded they will think there is not a drop too much Gall made use of.— The Design was to paint Methodism in its natural [Page 16] and odious Colours, in order to prevent its pernicious Effects spreading any farther. Glad should I be could I live to see these Divisions at an End, and those Renagadoes return to the Church, established by our noble Constitution. As a Member of the Church, I declare I am no Hypocrite, nor am I fond of Fame; but let us not be less than ourselves, that is MEN. There is no Reason we should be imposed on by fabu­lous Reports of designing Men, or give Credit or Faith to every credulous Fool.— It is hoped some abler Pen will take the Cause in Hand, so that an entire Stop may be put to it; in that Hope I rest, and beg an impartial Judgment on this my first Essay.