PREFACE. IN offering thefe Sermons to the Public, I am folicitous to make one previous observation, that thus my object, as far as refpects a very material part of them, may be clearly understood. The opinions which are here advanced concerning Mr. Wefley's and Mr. Whitefield's pretenfions, are fuch as have been formed upon a minute and a difpaffionate examination both of their lives, and of their writings. Nevertheless, for fear of any mifapprehenfion, I have ftated the facts themselves upon which these opinions reft. They will be found in the notes which are fubjoined to each Sermon; and they are given as much at length as the nature of this work will allow. The Reader therefore may decide for himself: A 4 himself and accordingly as it shall appear to him that the conclufions which have been drawn are warranted by the facts adduced, he will adopt, or reject them. Refpecting the notes, I could wish to obferve, that they might easily have been made more copious: for the proofs which support the feveral pofitions that have been advanced, are very numerous. But it was my object not to divert the attention of the Reader from the main thread of the difcourfe, any more than was abfolutely neceffary. Should he still with for additional evidence, his mind will be abundantly fatisfied by referring to the following works, from which principally the facts here detailed have been felected. Memoirs of the late Rev. J. Wesley, by J. Hampfon, A. B. The Life of the Rev. J. Wefley, by Dr. Coke and Mr. Moore. with the Life of the Rev. C. Wesley, by John Whitehead, M. D. Original Letters by the Rev. J. Wesley, &c. illuftrative of his Early Hiftory, published by J. Priestley, LL. D. Mr. [ix] Mr. Wesley's Journals. Parts i. ii. iii. Appeals to Men of Reason and Religion, Memoirs of the Life of the Rev. George Whitefield, M. A. by the Rev. J. Gillies, D. D. A Short Account of God's Dealings with the Rev. G. Whitefield, A. B. written by himself. Further Account of the fame. Mr. Whitefield's Letters; fee his Works, vol. 1, 2, 3. Controverfial Pieces. Works, vol. 4. Journals. A Brief Hiftory of the Principles of Methodifm, by Jofiah Tucker, A. M. by The Enthusiasm of Methodists and Papifts compared, Lavington, D. D. Bishop of Exeter. And now having ftated both my fentiments respecting the nature of Mr. Wesley's and Mr. Whitefield's pretenfions; and the authorities by which thofe fentiments may be fupported; I will venture to express an hope, that these Sermons may contribute, in fome degree, towards the repreffing of that restless fpirit of Enthusiasm, the fatal tendency of which has always been to unfettle the religious opinions of mankind, and to destroy the peace of the Church. Extract from the laft Will and Teftament of the late Rev. JOHN BAMPTON, A. M. Canon of Salisbury. ALSO I direct and appoint, that the eight Divinity Lecture Sermons fhall be preached upon either of the following fubjects-to confirm and establish the Chriftian Faith, and to confute all heretics and schifmatics-upon the divine authority of the Holy Scriptures-upon the authority of the writings of the primitive Fathers as to the faith and practice of the primitive Church-upon the Divinity of our Lord and Saviour Jefus Chrift-upon the Divinity of the Holy Ghostupon the Articles of the Chriftian Faith, as comprehended in the Apostles' and Nicene Creed. CONTENTS. ENTHUSIASM defined-either divine or natural- It |