THE REV. MR. POMEROY. 49 honour of men more than the honour of God. How did that honour you contend for come to nothing, by your own conduct, by not returning back my letters, according to your promise? This provoked the Lord to anger against you, and I was ordered to publish to the world all your conduct; so the ho nour you contend for, you yourself brought to nothing; but the honour of God, and the visitation of God, it is not you, nor all the clergy in England can overthrow. All the Bishops have been written to, that if they would come forward, or send twentyfour of their ministers, to meet the twenty-four whom the Lord has chosen, to have a fair investigation into all the writings for seven days, if they could then prove they came from the Devil, they should be then given up to their judgment; but this the Bishops have declined, as they know it is a thing impossible for man to prove; so their silence gives consent that the writings are from the Lord. The Religious Society * have been appealed to likewise; and they are silent. So all their silence gives consent, that the calling is of God, and they cannot overthrow it. But this way that you acted to overthrow it was like throwing of oil into the fire, and make the flames burn the greater. So you have been the murderer of your own honour, and convinced me clearly that it was you and not me, that was deceived. by the subtle arts of the Devil. And now I shall come to Mr. Jones. The Lord commanded me to send Mr. Jones unto you, to reprove you, as Nathan reproved David; but you refused to hear the reproof, and blamed Mr. Jones for obeying the command, and returning the answer you gave him. Now I shall come to reason. Mr. Jones believes my visitation to be from the Lord, and in obedience to his command he waited upon you. Now if you • The Society for the Suppression of Vice, blame Mr. Jones for doing that, I must beg you will throw off your gown: what use is your mocking of God to go into your pulpit, and tell people to obey the commands of the Lord, and then to go out of your pulpit and abuse them for doing the very thing that they believed the Lord had commanded them? For it is by faith we must be saved. And now I shall ask you one question: Supposing a Jew, who never believed in Christ, but believed him an impostor, as the Jews do, yet if that man being a gentleman of great property, and wishing to have land like the Christians, and say I will turn Christian, I will turn to the Gospel, and I will take the sacrament, to worship what I believe an impostor, because I will have a title and honour amongst men; would not that Jew be a greater sinner, that could thus mock God in his heart, than the other Jews who would not worship him as a Saviour, out of conscience to the Lord, because they did not believe he who was the Saviour-only trusted in one God? which, judge you, would be the greatest sinner? You must believe it to be him who mocked God with his unbelief; because it is from the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and the Lord judgeth not as man judgeth, by outward appearance; the Lord judgeth from the heart. So, from the faith of Mr. Jones, you must blame the man for doing what he judged doing his duty; and to sin against God and his own conscience. And is this advice worthy of a clergyman? Can you justify yourself in these things? I tell you, No. Your arguments were to bring sin upon Mr. Jones's head, and to blame him for doing what he judged was the will of the Lord concerning him. And now I shall come to my Brother. You say, my Brother ought to be horse-whipped, for claining justice to be done to his Sister. Then what religion do you preach? or, how would you wish brothers and THE REV. MR. POMEROY. 51 sisters to be united together? Ought not brotherly love to continue? Doth not my Brother know the manner of my life, from my youth up to this day, better than you do? My Brother knoweth I should bring no lies before him; he knew he could depend upon the truth of all I told him, and the unjust manner that you had dealt with me, my Brother knows I should never have laid it before him, if it was not true. Then how can you judge my Brother a Christian, a man of tender feelings for his Sister, as a Brother ought to have, if he would not support my cause when he saw me so unjustly dealt with, knowing I had no Father living, nor no husband, to protect me? And now I must call to your remembrance your own behaviour to Mrs. Symonds, when you bid her go out of your house, in my presence, because you said, her husband had offended Mrs. Pomeroy, and said, you would sooner forgive an offence done to yourself, than one that was done to Mrs. Pomeroy, as you could put harm from yourself, but she could not. Then how can you justify in yourself a principle you condemn in another? Can you prove to the world, that Mr. Symonds's affront to Mrs. Pomeroy was a quarter so great as your's has been to me? I tell you, No; and your own conscience must condemn you. Your offence against me is ten thousand times greater than Mr. Symonds's was against Mrs. Pomeroy: for though Mr. Symonds might use harsh words, yet his offence was only to have her stand to her bargains she had made. Then where was the offence? Only you may say in harsh words, and what harsh words have used of my Brother, when he acted in my princithat you thought rightto justify yourself in? But ible for you to justify your cause, as much my Brother to justify my cause. So, if weigh these things together, with all the conduct that you have acted since you said my writings were from the Devil, you would see there was more reason for you to fear that the powers of darkness had deceived you by temptations, than it was to believe that I, in in all things, was obedient to the Devil, doing every thing that he commanded me. Does not our Saviour say, the tree is known by the fruit? Now, what fruit can you condemn in me? My life and character will bear the strictest scrutiny; and I have feared sin more than death from my youth up unto this day. And now I may say with Samuel, here I am before the Lord and before his anointed; witness against me, whose ox have I taken? whose ass have I taken? or from whose hands have I received a bribe, to blind my eyes therewith? But the Lord is my judge, and is witness against you: and as wrong as Pilate condemned our Saviour, much wronger you have condemned me; because Pilate confessed he was innocent; but he that tempted you to this evil has the greater sin. And now I tell you, as all your conduct is in public print, and the manner of your keeping back my letters, there is no way you can clear your honour, unless you come forward with the truth, and acknowledge every letter that was put in your hands, and the truth they contained; and assign your reasons why you burnt and destroyed them. The reasons you assigned to Mr. Taylor were, that you was persuaded to it. Then I answer, the person that persuaded you to burn them, persuaded you to injure your honour and a good conscience, as the world has tried to persuade me; but blessed be God, I never took their advice: and it would have been happy for you, if you had never neither; but went on as you began, till you could justify yourself before God and man; and shew it plain to the whole world, that you was clear in judging before you condemned. But you THE REV. MR. POMEROY 53 burnt my letters, as you say, because you knew, if they appeared, you could not justify yourself in what you have done; but they being from the Devil, you would readily have produced them before the ministers, and said, I had never put any truths in your hands, and shewed the letters to prove it. But as you did not then let the truth appear, you must let the truth appear now; for it is not to say I am troubling you, but the Lord hath commanded me to trouble you till you acknowledge the truth. When I received your answer from Mr. Jones, the day following, I was as sick as death, which continued all the day; and was deeply answered, the Lord was as sick of your conduct and the clergy, as I was that day; but my sickness he would never remove, till my Brother had written to you a second time; and as soon as my brother had written, the Lord removed my sickness from me. Three months the Lord has taken my appetite from bread, or any thing made of the produce of wheat; and deeply are the words said to me, that if you and the clergy go on, as they are going on, three years the Lord will take bread from the nation, by bringing a total famine in the land; and my appetite he will never restore more to wheat, till I have demanded the truth from you. So must beg a satisfactory answer to this letter. Taken from Joanna Southcott's mouth. Witnesses, JANE TOWNLEY, Dated, Sept. 17, 1804, FRANCES TAYLOR, ANN UNDERWOOD, |