Tho' I was so unfortunate, My Lord, as to receive a Sentence in your Court, which I wish'd to avoid; yet I have no worse Opinion of your Wisdom and Justice. Your Conduct towards me, from first to last, has rather heighten'd than lessen'd my Esteem and Veneration for you. I observ'd in you such a Tenderness for our religious Liberties; such an Aversion to Persecution; and such Moderation towards my self, that if I had been absolutely acquitted, it would have been but with somewhat more Satisfaction.
And if I now write to clear my self of all Suspicions of Infidelity, for which I was sentenced; your Lordship, I humbly presume, will not think the worse of me. It is not expected that the Innocent should confess Guilt, in a Compliment to any Court of Justice: Nor does the Condemnation of the Guiltless, at any time almost, so much affect the Justice of the Magistrate, as the Honesty of the Evidence: So I, My Lord, know how to lay the Blame entirely on my Ecclesiastical Accusers, and believe your Lordship will be rather pleas'd than offended at any good Defence I can make for my self.
From the Beginning of the Prosecution against me, my Lord, I hardly believed, that any Sentence would be pass'd on me, till the Day I received it: And the Reason was, not only because the good Tendency of my Discourses was so visible, that I thought it could not be overlook'd by the Wise and Learned; but because I imagin'd our Bishops would have better consulted their Reputation, than to let Matters come to this Issue.
That it is a Transgression of the Law of the Land to write against Christianity, establish'd in it, I'll not question, since I have your Lordship's Word for it: But for all that, I could wish, for the Sake of Christianity, that such a Liberty was indulg'd to Infidels. Whatever our zealous Clergy may think, one Persecution of an Infidel does more Harm to Religion, than the Publication of the worst Book against it.
Liberty is so essential, My Lord, to the Enquiry after Truth, that where It is wanted, Truth will want that Splendor, which it receives from Disputation: And Christianity would be the more tryumphant over its Enemies, for that unbounded Liberty, they may enjoy to contest it from the Press. I say this, not for the Security of my self; against future Prosecutions but, from a Heart, full of Zeal for the Religion of the Holy Jesus.
Ever since the Reformation, which was founded on our Natural and Christian Rights to Liberty of Conscience, has this great Blessing of Liberty, at Times, been interrupted by Persecutions: But whether any of them hitherto have done any Service to Church or State, your Lordship is a good Judge.
However, tho' the Prosecution of my self, which was founded on a grand Mistake, is attended with no ill Consequence; yet I hope our Ecclesiasticks will grow cautious by it, and no more sollicit the most indulgent Civil Magistracy of this Kingdom to the Persecution of any other, much less of,
London May
25. 1730.
My Lord,
Your Lordship's
Most Obedient and
Humble Servant,
Tho. Woolston.