DEAR SIR, LETTER XXII. TO THE SAME. Monday Morning, Hull, Jan. 1st, 1844. AN argument, I admit, may be "plausible but not sound." But may it not be "sound," and yet so attenuated as to be good for nothing but glitter and Since my arrival in England, I have endeavoured to preach the gospel of God my Saviour in sincerity and in truth, and according to the ability God has given. My manner of illustrating the truths of the gospel, I cannot consider altogether singular or peculiar to myself, as there are many ministers who avail themselves of similar advantages for the elucidation of truth. It is not however improbable, that I may sometimes draw more largely upon nature and active life for similes than many of my brethren. I often think there is a necessity for this, circumstanced as I am with a crowd of sinners around me, composed of various grades of character, who must be brought first to understand, and then to feel the truth; and this, not for a few meetings only, but throughout a series of services, in the same town, and extending through a succession of several months. Bold as have been my appeals to sinners, and mysterious and hazardous as have been some of my delineations of character; and, frequently as the bow has been drawn at a venture; I know my heart is right with God: and even those who have heard, with amaze, those appeals to certain characters, have been afterwards compelled to acknowledge, that He has confirmed the word by signs following. JAMES CAUGHEY. Spark Brook House, Birmingham, Feb. 16, 1846. MY DEAR FRIEND H ** York, November 18th, 1845. THE objections, noticed by you, to the Rev. James Caughey, are only such as have taken the round of the social circle, and absolutely become stale by repetition: I have heard them so show? It is said that a single grain of gold may be beaten so thin, as to cover fifty square inches; re often in my wanderings, that they have now become like the dust on the causeway along which I walk, and are passed over with the buoyant step of a youth of eighteen. It affords me pleasure to find, that you are breaking away from your prejudices, and that the excellent persons to whom you refer have also got their minds disabused on the subject. Most of the objections have originated either in ignorance or malice-proceeding, in the first instance, from the professors of religion, and, in the second, from the profane; designed, of course, in the one case, and undesigned in the other: and the two uniting in their progress through society, have formed, at length, a kind of common stock, out of which, persons so disposed, are helping themselves-employing at the same time such latitude of meaning, and such vividness of colouring, as occasionally to give a new face and form to detached portions-not unfrequently uttering them with such an air of the oracular, as to impress you with the notion, that the oracle has spoken for the first time, and that the objection is the result of personal observation and special investigation. It is amusing, in one view, to find the "wise says" met with in Ireland, struggling to obtain currency in England, and after passing from lip to ear, winding their way through almost every grade of society, from John o'Groat's house in Scotland to Land's End in Cornwall, passing off very often in the shape of "new discoveries." In listening to the tales of oral reporters, I am often reminded of Mr. Wesley's remark to the celebrated Beau Nash, who, on demanding the authority of the allegations of the latter, and being informed that he spake from "common report," very significantly and pungently retorted, "I dare not judge of you by common report." This was admirable, and must have been felt like the keen edge of a razor. Common report, in fact, is rarely to be trusted with either sentiment, expression, or character: many an honest man, on the testimony of such a witness, would grace the gallows; the immaculate Saviour of man would not escape censure from the very creatures he came to save; nor would the reporters themselves, if tried at the same bar, escape serious blame in other matters, at the moment they are laying the "flattering unction" to their souls of personal innocence. "O, wad some power the giftie gie us, quiring more than twenty thousand leaves of it to make one inch in thickness. Whether our argu The objection to Mr. Caughey's want of filial affection, supported, as was supposed, by the fact of his leaving America with the professed design of visiting his mother in Ireland, and of being months in that island without ever once going near her, is on a par with most of the others; for the truth is, that his mother resided in America, and died there before he quitted the shores to cross the Atlantic. As to the members neglecting their classes, during his ministrations, matter of fact is against the charge on the testimony of the leaders, not only do the new members meet regularly, but the old ones are improved in their attention to the duty but if even this were not the case, I cannot conceive why the blame should rest so heavily upon Mr. Caughey, since his exhortations are so pointed and frequent on the subject-urging the whole society to be punctual in attendance on this excellent, prudential ordinance. In all other matters of moment, he is, as far as I am able to judge, a genuine Wesleyan, supporting his positions with an apparent enthusiastic appeal to the writings of Mr. Wesley. But, to the points in question : : You ask-not because you are disposed to believe it, but because you have heard it-" Is not Mr. Caughey open to the charge of vanity, in so often quoting himself,-appealing to his experience and observations?" The charge may unquestionably be preferred, but the proof may not be quite so easily established. Are the persons, it may be demanded, who prefer it, entitled to respect, or remarkable for humility themselves? or rather, are they not seeking for an apology for their own vacancy and inexperience in the things of God-habitually shrinking from the scriptural practice of declaring the work of the Spirit to others? In the Epistles of the Apostles, and especially those of St. Paul, we do not only find allusions, but lengthened accounts of personal experience, faith, and practice. These, of course, on the same principle, are subject to the same charge. Nor is the venerable Wesley less so, in giving his experience in print to the world, in his published Journals, during his life. Such an objection, if fairly followed out, will lead to the subversion, not only of lovefeasts, but class and band meetings. The royal Psalmist was not ashamed of giving a general invitation to such as were disposed to accept it, to come and listen to him, while declaring what God had done for his soul: nor are the Preachers backward in employing his example as an argument, in urging the members of society to speak, when ments are "plausible, but not sound," or sound, but not plausible, or plausible and sound, we should timidity, modesty, or other conflicting feelings, produce a temporary pause on the subject of personal experience in a large assembly. What, are we to urge others to speak, and to remain silent ourselves? Are we to have ordinances established among us for the express purpose of coming at each other's experience, and of aiding that experience when we have arrived at the desired knowledge, and to remain mute, as Christian teachers? Are we to hear the experience of others, and are they not to be privileged with ours? Is the shepherd to know where and how the flock are feeding, and are they to remain ignorant of the fact, where and how he himself is living? His own experience-if good, can do them no harm; if bad, or meagre, there is a reason for its concealment. If experience is only to be shown in practice, there is at once an end of the fellowship of saints. I should be glad to know too, what, in such case, becomes of the pulpit and the press. The Wesleyans assume it as a fact, that their ministers are not of that class of public teachers, who deal in unfelt truths: this being the case, why should a man, who has a right to the advantage of that opinion on the part of the people, be subject to the charge of vanity, on letting it out to them, that such and such statements are the result of his own experience and observation? Is a man to make use of his intellect, his eyes, and his ears, and to give the result of his observations to the world, on all that comes under his notice, save his own experience, as a Christian minister? Is all to be kept sacredly boxed up in his soul till he dies,-till his biographer, should he have one, is pleased to let out the secret to the public? Are politicians, philosophers, agriculturists, chemists-in short, all classes of Experimentalists, to publish the result of their experience and operations to the wide world, and is a Christian minister not to be allowed to tell his still more important tale to-say, a thousand professing Christians, enclosed within the walls of God's house, where his theme is not only suited to the place, but where he meets with the hearty response of the one half of his auditory, and where the other half ought to be ashamed of themselves, either because of their stunted growth in the divine life, or want of relish for divine things? I need not tell you, that a minister has to think, hear, read, see, and feel for others than himself; and is not unfrequently obliged, like the Apostle Paul, to become "a fool," even in matters of experience, and at the hazard of being take care not to allow the line of a witty poet to be applied to our lucubrations: "Climb o'er the house, to unlock the little gate!" charged with the pride of boasting, for the sake of others—that the grace of God may be magnified in him. As it regards myself, I confess, that my confidence is generally strengthened, when, in reading a work, or listening to a narrative, I find the author or the speaker able to add-" I heard—I saw—I felt it." In such case, I find myself at the spring head: and if there is judgment, combined with sincerity and good general character for truthfulness, I consider myself as indebted to the individual, for thus stooping to confirm my faith in this particular way;— I say stooping, for all the pride of human nature will rise up in rebellion against it. Every Christian minister is bound to go before his flock, not only in doctrine and practice, but in experience; and those are the most apt to conceal their religion, who have the least to make known. It would be well if, on this subject, ministers were a little more communicative: it would preserve them from many improprieties, as the people would then have a check upon them in social life, by being able, as in the case of "The Pulpit and the Reading Desk," to confront the preacher with the man. Do not mistake me: I am not contending for a constant exhibition of personal experience, and of such incidents and providences as have come under our own notice, or with which we may have been either immediately or remotely connected; but there is a difference between a little, and none at all-between a completely sealed fountain, and a few drops; and a man has no more occasion to be ashamed of his Christian experience, than he has to be ashamed of its divine author-Jesus Christ. It is doubtful whether, in such case, we are not shrinking from the cross, and whether such backwardness is not traceable to the pride and carnality of the human heart. The other question-" Does not Mr. Caughey pretend to something like immediate inspiration, in reference to character," &c.? receives an answer in his mode of address, and generally lies in the simple, but effective use of a single word—the pronoun; employing the singular instead of the plural, like the old prophet," Thou-thou-thou art the man:" Take a case-and one will illustrate many more: in a congregation of mixed characters-sinners of every description, comprizing from twelve hundred to two thousand persons, the preacher asserts-" There is a man in the gallery, who has grieved the SPIRIT of GOD, |