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refer the Gentleman to Sermon XIIth, Vol. IV. of Dr. CLARKE's Pofthumous Sermons; to which I may add the pious and judicious Archbishop SHARP, in his VIth Sermon of Vol. III.

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But if the Gentleman fhould think the Paffage indefenfible, as perhaps it is, I fhall either ftrike it out, if ever the Book has à fecond Edition, or qualify it as above * And any other obnoxious Paffage, which he or you will be so kind as to fhew me, fhall have the fame Fate. Pray my humble Service to him.

I write this with a violent Fit of the Headach upon me, which hinders me from expreffing myself so well as I could wish.

I am afhamed, that I have not answered a former Letter of your's before this. The Truth of the Matter is, it is unanswerable: Though I always read your Letters with Pleasure, yet it is a Mortification to me to anfwer them: Because I cannot write with that Life and Spirit with which you do. I thank you for the many ingenious Things you say in your laft. I fhall keep it by me as an Inftance how far you could be mistaken, in your younger Years, in your

* N. B. The Author has qualified the Paffage referred to, by adding the Words, throughout the whale Creation. Vid, SEED's Sermons, Vol. II. p. 97. Second Edition,

favourable

favourable Judgment on me and my Sermons. I hope this Letter will find you well. It is fome Pleasure to me, that you do not complain of your bad State of Health, as you did in the Letter before. What Succefs do your Proposals meet with? I am afraid you find, what I always obferved, that the World does not encourage modeft Worth. Pray let me hear from you, and believe me to be,

DEAR SIR,

Your affectionate Friend,

Enham, July 12, 1743.

J. SEED.

THE FIFTH LETTER,

Wrote, under a feigned Name, to a FRIEND in a dangerous Fit of Sickness.

SIR,

A

Sincere Defire to do you Good, which is my only Motive to write, must be likewise my only Apology for troubling you with this Letter.

If I am not mifinformed, your Cafe is not without fome Danger: You may, for ought you know, ftand juft upon the Brink of Eternity; an Eternity of Happiness, or Mifery. And will you, Sir, audaciously rufh into the facred Prefence of the great Judge of Heaven and Earth, as the Horfe rusheth into the Battle, without any Forethought or Confideration what may become of you hereafter? No, Sir, I hope better Things from you, who cannot be unapprised of the great Value of an immortal Soul. Can Man, foolish Man, that cannot often gain the leaft Preferment here without confiderable Application, think, that an exceeding and eternal Weight of Glory will be proftituted to his lazy Wishes and fpiritlefs Endeavours, or perhaps to his No-Endeavours at all?

GOD,

GOD, Sir, has bleffed you with very good Senfe; be pleased then to exert it, in confidering- Whether you have fully anfwered the End, for which an infinitelywife Being fent you. into the WorldWhether you have endeavoured to keep up a Sense of the Regard due to the Deity, by an exemplary Piety; and to promote the Good of your Fellow-Creatures by an active Benevolence. Do not you think thefe Ends worthy of a reasonable Being? And do not you think that God created you to answer thefe Ends? Your Illness, Sir, is perhaps a lingring Illness, and you may yet perhaps, in fome Measure, anfwer the End of your Creation, by joining, as far as your Health will permit, with your Family in Morning and Evening Prayers; by expreffing an undiffembled Love and Gratitude to that Being, who died to procure Pardon and eternal Happiness for you, for me, nay, even for the greatest of Sinners, upon their fincere Repentance; by forgiving every one, that has wronged you, and by making ample Reftitution, if you have wronged any; by bearing your Sickness with Patience, and an humble Refignation to God. Your Sun, though probably near its fetting, may yet shine out, and those, who are near you, may fee, and be influenced by your good Works, to go, and do likewife.

Pardon

Pardon me, Sir, if I take the Liberty to tell you, that I am forry to hear you have generally neglected to receive the Sacrament. If this is true, you have lived in a State of wilful Difobedience to one of God's exprefs Commands. And wilful Difobedience to that Being, from whom every Thing that you have is received, and to whom every Thing that you can do is but your bounden Tribute, is no flight, no inconfiderable Crime. You, who, perhaps, may think it not immoral to difobey the great Majefty of Heaven in pofitive Inftances; yet would judge it highly criminal for a Son to disobey his Parent, or a Servant his Master in indifferent Matters. To eat Bread, and drink Wine, is indeed in itself of no Signification. But to eat Bread and drink Wine out of a Principle of fincere Obedience to Him who made You, and of Love and Gratitude to Him who redeemed you, with an affectionate Defire that you may be a Partaker of the Benefits of his Paffion- -this is Virtue, fubftantial Virtue. Whatever crude and undigested Notions fome may form of God's Mercy, it is as certain, as it is that there is a Deity, that he will make some Distinction between those who have obeyed him, and those who have wilfully disobeyed him. And what that Distinction will be, I leave you to confider. Those cannot be entitled to, the Divine Favour, that are regardless of the Divine Will and Pleasure.

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