“I had before been delineated,
by an Arminian helpmeet of Mr. Wesley’s, as ‘sitting in my easy chair, and
enjoying all the comforts of life.’ One would think, that the see of Durham had
been transferred to Broad-Hembury, and that the Devonshire Vicar was warmly
enrobed in lawn and black satin. So much for my attitude and enjoyments; next
for my titles; these Mr. Sellon enumerates. I am, it seems, (See the Gospel
Magazine March, 1771) ‘A Flaming Calvinist;
A Dragon; An Hooter; A Venomous
Slanderer; A Persecutor, possessing the same butcherly spirit that was in
bishop Gardiner; yea, ten times more; A Perfectionist; A malapert Boy, severely
scratching and clawing with venomous nails; A Papist; A Socinian; A Mahometan;
The greatest Bigot that ever existed, without one grain of candour,
benevolence, forbearance, moderation, good-will, or charity; A wild Beast of
impatience and lion-like fury; A Materialist’ - that is, an Atheist.
“A goodly string of
appellations! And not a little extraordinary, that they should all centre in
one and the same man! Being so uncommon a person myself, my writings too must
be something singular. Take a description of them in the words of the said
Sellon: ‘I find sophistry, fallacy, false insinuation, raillery, perversion of
scripture and the church articles, self-contradiction, self-sufficiency,
haughtiness, pride and vanity, glaring in almost every page.’
“Thus, enthroned in my easy
chair, dignified with titles, and accurately developed as a writer, I only want
a suitable address, to render my magnificence complete; and who so well
qualified to prepare it, as the eloquent Mr. Sellon? Lo, he attends; and,
respectfully advancing, pays me the following compliments: ‘Unhappily daring,
and unpardonably bold, thy tongue imagineth wickedness, and with lies thou
cuttest like a sharp razor. Thou hast loved unrighteousness more than goodness;
and to talk of lies more than righteousness. Thou hast loved to speak all words
that may do hurt, O thou false tongue.’ Such are the candour and politeness of
these Methodists; and such are the arguments, by which they would persuade us,
that Arminianism is the religion of the Church of England.
“These are the men that set up
for ‘universal love;’ who call one another by the cant names of ‘precious
believers,’ ‘most excellent souls,’ ‘charming children of God,’ ‘sweet
Christians,’ and ‘the clean-hearted.’ If their hearts are no cleaner than their
mouths, they have little reason to value themselves on their ‘sinless perfection.’
These are they who seek to bottom election on faith and goodness foreseen; of
which foreseen goodness, humility and benevolence, meekness and forbearance,
are, I suppose, some of the ingredients. Woe be to those ‘sweet Christians,’ if
their election has no better foundation than their ‘sweet’ tempers, words, and
works.
“And why all this torrent of
abuse? The plain truth is this: I detected Mr. Wesley's forgeries, and
chastised the forger. Hinc ille lacrymae. Hence the outcries of John himself, together
with those of Thomas Olivers and Walter Sellon. The camp of the Philistines
gave a scream, when they saw the levelled stone penetrate the brass of their
Goliath's forehead: but of all the tribe, none screamed so loud as the frighted
Walter; of whose talent at screaming, a specimen has been exhibited to the
reader.”
Augustus Toplady,
Introduction, Historic Proof Of The Doctrinal Calvinism Of The Church Of
England, Works, Volume 1
