Of the light in which the diffenters are confidered by the ERRATA. N. B. (b) fignifies from the bottom of the page. P. 95. 1. 1. (b) for unbegotten, read only begotten. TO THE ARCHDEACON OF ST. ALBANS, LETTER I. REV. SIR, The Introduction. AT length you have condescended to gratify my wishes, and have favoured me with a series of letters, in anfwer to mine. But as they are written with a degree of infolence, which nothing in your fituation or mine can justify, and indicate a temper that appears to me to be very far from being the most proper for the difcuffion of hiftorical truth; I fhall confider myself, in this anfwer, as writing not fo much to you, as to the candid part of the public, to whom our correfpondence is open; and I have no doubt but that I fhall be able to fatisfy all who are qualified to judge between us, that your ignorance of the fubject which you have undertaken to difcufs, is equal to your infolence; and therefore, that there is no great reafon to regret that you have formed a refolution to appear no more in this controverfy. Whatever, more," you say, p. 9. B "you "you may find to fay upon the subject, in me you "will have no antagonist." I made the propofal to difcufs the question of the state of opinions concerning Chrift in the early ages, in a perfectly amicable, and as I thought, the moft advantageous manner, and my addrefs to you, was uniformly respectful. It has not been my fault that this propofal was not accepted. You fay, p. 166. "I held it my duty to use pretty freely that high feafoning of controverfy which may intereft the "readers attention." What that high feafoning is, is fufficiently apparent through the whole of your performance, viz. a violation of all decency, and perpetual imputations of the groffeft, but of the most improbable kind. This, from respect to the public, and to myself, I fhall not return; but I fhall certainly think myself authorized by it to treat you with a little lefs ceremony in the prefent publication, in which I fhall take occafion from your gross mistakes, and mifreprefentations, to throw fome farther light on the subject of this discussion. The reader must have been particularly ftruck with the frequent boafting of your victory, as if the controverfy had come to a regular termination, and the public had decided in your favour. My victory," you fay, p. 7. " is already fo compleat, "that I might well decline any farther conteft." In p. 160. you fay, "it would have heightened the pride of my victory if I could have found a fair "occafion to be the herald of my adverfary's praise." "praife." P. 10. you call me a foiled polemic, and p. 8. a proftrate enemy. What marks of proftration you may have perceived in me, I cannot tell. I do not know that I have yet laid myself at your feet, and I prefume, this kind of language is rather premature. It will be time enough for you to fay with Entellus, Hic caftus artemque repono, when the victory, of which you boaft, fhall be as clear as his, and shall be declared to be fo by the proper judges. You ought alfo to have remembered the advice of Solomon, Prov. xxvii. 2. Let another man praise thee and not thine own mouth, a stranger and not thine own lips. On the contrary, I cautioned my reader (preface, p. 19) not to conclude too haftily in my favour, but to wait till you had made your reply. You have now done it, and I hope they will do me the juftice to hear me again in return, efpecially as this will probably be the laft time that I fhall trouble them in this way. Though this controverfy has not come to what I think its proper and defirable termination, I rejoice that it has proceeded thus far; and upon the whole I derive great fatisfaction from the oppofition that my Hiftory of the Corruptions of Christianity has met with; both because a more general attention has been excited to the fubject; and also because, having, by this means, been led to attend to it more than I fhould otherwife have done, I have difcovered a variety of additional B 2 |