“Thus, Sir, have I looked out for the heresy, the dreadful heresy of Mr. Wesley’s ‘Minutes,’ by bringing all the propositions they contain to the touchstone of Scripture and common sense; but, instead of finding it, I have found the very marrow of the Gospel of Christ. I have showed that the ‘Minutes’ contain nothing but what is truly scriptural; and nothing but what the best Calvinist divines have themselves, directly or indirectly, asserted; except, perhaps, the sixth proposition concerning the merit of works; and, with respect to this, I hope I have demonstrated, upon rational and evangelical principles, that Mr. Wesley, far from bringing in a damnable heresy, has done the Gospel justice, and Protestantism service, by candidly giving up an old prejudice, equally contrary to Scripture and good sense,—a piece of bigotry which has long hardened the papists against the doctrine of salvation by the merit of Christ, and has added inconceivable strength to the Antinomian delusion among us.
“One[“One] difficulty remains, and that is, to account for your attacking Mr. Wesley, though you could not wound him without stabbing yourself. Reserving my reflections upon this amazing step for another letter,
“I remain your astonished servant in the bonds of a peaceful Gospel,
“J. Fletcher.”
As here indicated, the fifth and last letter contained that which most offended Shirley. In his “Narrative,” Shirley remarks:—
“Mr. Wesley assured us he had corrected all the tart expressions in them” (that is, in Fletcher’s Letters). “Alas! Qualia verba, quæ facta! Whether there are no tart expressions in the Letters, let every one that hath seen them judge. But, perhaps, this learned gentleman distinguishes between the tart and the bitter. If all the tart expressions are corrected, I am sure there are enough of the bitter left.
“As to the Letters themselves, I shall have ‘the author’s’ pardon for noticing two particular charges against me.
“1. I am supposed to want candour; as if I had put a forced construction on the ‘Minutes,’ in order to bring Mr. Wesley in guilty. Mr. Fletcher has attempted a ‘vindication’ of them; and, by breaking them into sentences and half-sentences, and refining upon each of these detached particles, he has done more than I could have expected, even from his great abilities, in giving a new turn to the whole. But, after reading his learned and elaborate ‘Vindication,’ when I cast my eye over the ‘Minutes,’ and consider the whole as it stands in context, I must own, I am just where I was: nothing but the ‘Declaration’ could ever convince me that justification by works was not maintained and supported by the ‘Minutes.’
“2. The charge of inconsistency is supported by quotations from my sermons. To this, I beg leave to observe, that the passages quoted are not altogether in point; neither do they maintain justification by works in such direct and express terms as the ‘Minutes’ appear to do. I must, however, own that they savour too strongly of mysticism and free-will; and all I can say, on my behalf in this respect, is, that they were written many years ago, at a time when I had more zeal than light; that my present ministry, as well as my present way of thinking, is very different; and that I have frequently expressed my disapprobation of those sermons, nay wished they had been burnt.”
Shirley was nettled; and, after the imperious arrogance displayed in his “Circular Letter,” he deserved to be. Fletcher’s fifth and last letter is caustical; but not more so than the occasion justified. The following is extracted from it:—