A THIRD LETTER F RO M The Rev. ROBERT HAWKER, D. D. VICAR OF CHARLES, PLYMOUTH, T O The Rev. R. POLWHELE, VICAR OF M AN ACC AN, CORNWALL. Not rendering— —railing for railing, 1 Pet. iii. PLYMOUTH: Printed and Sold by P. Nettleton, at No. 57, Market-Street: Sold alfo by E. Hoxland, Dock ; S. Woolmer, Exeter ; W. Bulgin, Briftol; S. Hazard, Bath; T. Chapman, London J, and various other Bookfellers. PRICE TWO-PENCE, I Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2013 http://archive.org/details/thirdletterfromrOOhawk THIRD LETTER, &c. Charles Vicarage , Plymouth September 29, 1800. Rev. Sir, It was not until the latter end of the laft month that 1 heard of your having an- nounced to the public a third Letter on the fubjecl: ot our controverfy. And never till this morning have I been able to procure a fight ot it; and that only from a copy lent me. I had pleafed myfelf with the hope, from the long fufpenfion of your hoftilities, that the mild- nefs with which I have treated your unprovoked difpleafure, had had the defired effeft, in cooling down the flame of fuch unreafonable refentment, and that the effervefcence of a mind fo angry would have boiled over no more. But it ihould feerrt that the relent left perfection of a man who hath b 9 nevev never injured you, is, in the modern acceptation of Mr. Pohvhele's divinity, thetrueft interpretation of doing jujlice, loving mercy ', and walking humbly zoith God. Be this as it may however, every renewed in- flance ef your attention to me, of what fort foevcr it may be, fand certainly it muff be always of that fort which is mod congenial to your character, to beftow) demands an early acknowledgment. I mould be wanting in duty to myfelf, and dill more to the higher claim the honorable caufe I am en- gaged to defend, hath upon mc, were I to fuffer a moment's lofs of time in making a fuitable reply to it. — Indeed, a difpute with Mr. Polwhele on any fubjecl: which hath the remoteft connexion with theology, can require no time for deliberation. Your conduct in making your appeal to the Bifhop of Exeter, by way of calling in his Lord- Ihip's authority to your aid, carries with it an exact uniformity to the malice which you have all along manifefted in the controverfy, and only fpeaks out a little more plainly what was your original dehgn. So that when you tell the public that this is your lajl effort, it is only in other words faying, " I have j now aimed the moft deadly blow I can."— Natu- ralifts inform us. that the fcrpent never emits his poifon poifon fo copioufly as in his dying pangs. JQfun* quam niji moriens producitur in longum. You will forgive me, I hope, when I fay, that the title-page- of this third Letter of your's made me fmile. For it brought to my recol left: ion the circum (lance which I charged you with in my an- fwer to your Jufl Letter. You may remember I then told you, that in the ?nanner of your furious attack upon me, wholly unprovoked and unlooked for as it was on my part, and without the leait no- tice given on your's, you had afted with the cow- ardice of the fchool-boy, who fculks from behind to give the firft blow. You labored hard at that time to evade the charge. But in the part you have now adopted, you have taken the moft effec» tual method to confirm it. For I appeal to any man who hath looked on during the whole of our battle, whether in this appeal of your's to the Bifhop, you have not followed up the fame daf- tardly fpirit ? For while reeking as you are under the fmart of that chaftifement, which your temerity and prefumption have juflly brought upon you, (and which you too plainly manifeft to the public, from the forenefs wdth which you write) like the fchool-boy well beaten, you now declare off to fight no more, and have run away to the mafter with the talc, » P Id 6 In the execution of this pwfai bufmefs of Tour's as an Informer^ it is curious enough to obferve, how undefignedly you have over-acted your part. Your object was to fay the fwhtefl things of the Bifhop of Exeter, and the bkhrefl things of the Vicar of Charles. But in ihe attempt, though ap- proaching his Lordfhip with fuch jugary words, as to aftomach of any delicacy is always difgufting, and to one more efpecially of his Lordlhip's tafle, muff, I think, have produced naufea; yet in your eagernefs to load me wiih high crimes and mifde- meanours, you were not aware what an indnecl reproach you were thereby bringing on his Lord- lhip's government. For on the fuppofition that I am really guilty ot the irregularities with which you charge me, what doth this imply but that the Bifhop muft be very inattentive to what is going on in the Church, when it becomes neceflary for the Vicar of a little obfcure village, like that of .Manaccan, to come forward to inform his Lord- fhip ot the proceedings in a parifh of iuch magni- tude and importance as that ot Charles; filiated as i: is in the very centre ot his Dioceie, and by far in the molt populous part of it. But in this, as in many other inftances, during this controyerfy, the fury of your refentment hath deprived deprived you of the power of recolle&ion, and hurried you into the greatefl; extravagancies. But, Sir, you fhould be told, that my zeal in the bed of caufes, was not referved tor the Bifhop's knowledge from your information. It is a point with which his Lordfliip hath been long acquaint- ed. And in a letter which I had the honor to re- ceive from him on the fubjecl, prior to the firft opening of this correfpondence of your's with me, he was pleafed to obferve, that he was perfuaded I was too well grounded in the principles which animated me in the discharge of my duty, not to be prepared to exert them through evil report as well as good report. And this, among other civil things, which his Lordfliip at that time thought proper to fay to me was not in confequence ot any fervile adulation Ihewn by me towards his Lord- fhip, but the tree and fpontaneous refult of his own mind. I knew too well the deference due to the Bifhop's rank not to be ready to give him fuit- able refpecl upon all occafions. But while I kept in view his dignity, I never loft fight ot my own. Conicious that I had done nothing to offend, I ielt equally confeious that I had nothing to fear. And as to the profpeft of preferment, I am confident, that the iiiihop, if ever he condefcends to fpeak ot the fubje6t, will do me the jultice to acknow- 3 4 ledge, 3 ledge, that from the very commencement of our correfpondence, I difclaimed all views of this kind. I begged his Lordmip to underftand, tho* in the mod modefl. and lead oflfenfive manner I was able, (what to a man of Mr. Polwhele's com- plexion, muft be marvellous' indeed) that he had nothing to bellow in the way of preferment which I could accept. In the vicarage of Charles I had attained to the higheft dignity I coveted in the prefent life. Yet, if in the difcharge of the duties of my miniflry I had committed a breach of the law, I mould readily fubmit to whatever punim- jncnt that law prefcribed. And the fame, Sir, I now tell you. I can have no conception that a life like mine, fpent in the unremitting profecutton of the duties of my pro- fellion, can fubjeft me to the jufl reproof of any man. I can form no poffible idea that a total ab- ilraclion from the world, to attend to the more immediate calls of my zninillry, can conftiture a breach ol any one law, or that I lay myf'elt open thereby to the cenfure of any one court of judi- cature. It forms to my view indeed a new dicti- onary in language, which the dulnefs of my ap- prehenfion prevents me from undemanding, that it is become a crime to fill up the intermediate hours which the public demands o{ my church do not 9 not occupy, to the promotion of the fame impor. tant purpofes by private vifitations among the peo- ple. I confefs indeed, that in all this there is evi- dently a very ftrong Nonconformity to the conduct of Writers of Religious Jcjl Books : and to Men who fubferibe to doctrines which they have the unblufhing confidence to tell the world they do not believe. But I am yet to learn, if it be fo, that the Englifh legislation hath an exprefs llatute againit fuch a nonconformity as mine. But, Sir, it is poflible I may miftake, for we live in an age of paradoxes. And I confider it to be no difgrace to my underftanding to confefs that my province is not to interpret the law, but to preach the gofpel. And therefore, if there be a law exifting which I have violated, let that law fiift be proved, and then let it take its courfe. No man alive, I will be proud to fay, mall outdo me in the moll chearjul lubmillion to all itsjuft de- cifions. And no man alive /hall be more forward to contend againit. all unjuft encroachments of it. I make a nice, though but a proper diftinftion, be- tween what is law, and what is opinion. Between (for inftance) what is right, and what is Mr. Pol- whele's ideas of what is right. I enter my warmelt proteil againit all decifions of private opinion in a point of fuch magnitude as what imerefts the rights 10 rights of a Britifli fubje£L And you may believe rne fincere when I add, that I am too tenacious of thofe rights, from a proper appreciation of then- value, to furrender them unheard or untried, into the hands of any man. Like one of old therefore I fay, and upon the felt- fame occafion as he did, if 1 be an offender % or have committed any thing worthy of death or of bonds, I rejujt not to die.~- .But if on examination before my jurors it mall be found that my conducl is unimpeachable, I am too well apprized of the purity of my caufe, and the upright adminiftra'ion of j »j if ice in the Enghih Conftitution, to fear the unnoll malice of a Mr. Polwhele. Leaving this point however as a queflion which belongs neither to your province or mine to decide, I would gladly advert to any other iubject in this third Letter of your's by way of anfwer to it, if there were in reality any fubject to anfwei . But unlefs I follow you through many page.s up to the very neck in abufe, you have literally left me no other to go upon. From the inveltigatioii of the main point, the orthodoxy of my religious princi- ciples, which was made the original pretence far your attacking my character, you have umfoimly fhrunk, and in its ftead fubftituted nothing but perfonal inveQive, Through 11 Through this part of your letter I niufl he ex- cui'ed hom to) lowing you. For as I told you be- fore, M aH the rage and Jury of the cvrrcjpondcnce jliali be. y oar's. I jhould blufii if any Gentleman found occafion to r 'prove me for a fingle term in my Letters to yon ofjaijkood a. id iliibzraiity" And had you anended to what 1 (aid to you in my IsHE reply, you might luve {pared youdeli the trouble oi compiling abule horn the writings ol any other Pamphleteer, by way of adding to your own. I have never to this hour read a fingle line, nor ever fhall of iuch productions, either in your compi- lation, or in the original. And I venture to be- lieve, that with all lenfible minds, the reafon which I have afligned in the 77th page of my Second Letter to you, hath proved lufiiciently iatistaclory. It is impoffible, in the pre lent itate of things, to prevent thofe foul and untutored birds of the air, which fometimes hover over our heads, from let- ting fall the flime of their filthinels upon us. But it is beneath the dignity of the man to notice fuch occurrences. I fear I fliall again, however unitentionally, of- fend you in the bulk and puce of this addreis.— . You were pleated to reprobate my Jirjt Letter be- caufe its contents were folded within a three-penny pamphlet, Whereas this, for want oi fubjeft, mull be 12 be necefTarily comprefTed within a fmaller compai's. And if my Printer charges more than two-pence for it he will much offend me. But as you have af- forded me no opportunity to amplify my pages by the fair difcuflion of any point of theology, I have no alternative. For I cannot, I confefs, imitate your method of annexing a Sermon to the end of it, which is totally irrelevant to the fubjecl; of our controverfy, by way of making a book. Such may be among the ftveral rtafons for which you have printed it ; but they neither of them come within my notions of what is right for imitation. As from what you have intimated in this third Letter of your's, that it is the laft favor of the kind with which you intend to honor me, I am to confider that you now decline the combat, and of confequence therefore my correfpondence with you alfo mull end. But before I take a final leave of you, fuffer me to remind you, that however our perfonal difpute may be over, the award of the paft yet remains to be given. Do not forger, Sir, that there is an higher tribunal than the one which you have thought proper to bring the matter before, from whence the ultimate determination of our contro- verfy muft ifRie; and from whofe decifion there lies >3 lies no appeal. The hour is approaching, and perhaps to either of us not very far remote, when we fhal! both /land before the judgment-feat of 'Chrift. At this tribunal every iota of our contefr. will be reheard. Both mv con duel in the miniftry (which you have thought proper to make the fubje£r. of ri- dicule) and the real motives of your' 's, (by which you have been influenced to the condemnation of it) will be brought forward to view, and fcrutinized with a precifion which will leave no room in the one to evade, or in the other to excufe. While in the profpecT: of this awful day of God, I take mame to myfelf (as well I may) in the con- fcioufnefs of the numerous deficiencies, neglects, imperfections, 8cc. which mark my very beft fer- vices ; and defire to lay low in the dull before God, under a deep fenfe of the fin and unworthinefs which runs through all ; my mind feels no appre- henfion in the profpeel: of the folemn events of that day from the whole of the charges which you have brought againft me. My fears, believe me, do not arife from the Enthufiasm with which you think I am actuated ; but from the coldnefs with which I am but too confeious I labor. Not for that my fer- vices have been marked with Itinerancy \ but that I have not fought out as I ought the Jheep of Chrift, . which *4 tuhich are featured abroad. And although a tho- rough convi&ion of unprofitableness on my part as it refpe£b my miniftry towards God, makes me anxious to renounce all ideas of merit in my final acceptance, and to rely wholly on the complete JaJvat ion which is in Chrift Jefus : yet in my con- duel as it concerns the other departments in the world, I have no caufe to be ajhamed when I /peak with ?tiy enemies in the gate. And be not offended, Sir, while taking a final leave of you, if I prefume to make a parting requeft, that xoa will be as diligent to look into the motives of \>our conduct in this transaction as I have in mine. There is in every man's lite a vacuity which the world can neither fill nor fatisfy. In one of thefe retired hours fit down, Sir, I befeech you, and coolly confider the fecret inducements and intentions for which you came forth to reprove me. Make the whole of this moft extraordinary conduct of your's to pafs in ftricl: review before you. And in the anticipation of the great day of God which is to follow, judge fairly and difpaflionately of what may be the final upfhot of the whole. Do not imagine however that I make this requeft from any perfonal confideration as it refpe&s my feelings, J 5 feeling, but as it concerns your own. If you knew bow little inconvenience I have felt during the whole of this quarrel; or how trifling the inter- ruptions a! ifing from it hath been to a life like mine, (which I think it but gratitude to ti e Almighty Giver to fav, is of equal happinefs and chearfulnefo to any man alive ;) you would be convinced that it is wholly on your account, and not on mrne y that I thus folicit your ferious retrofpecl: to the paft. The attack you have made upon my character is among the Imallefl of your offences in the prefent affair. It is of little confequence to me now ; and will be fhll lefs and lefs cvn y hour, whether Dr. H. be confidered a Croud-catcher, an Itinerant, or Fa- natic. Your indifcriminate abufe of the Mdkodifts is a much more ferious objecl: for your confideration. — Amidft fo numerous a body of people as they are, and fo generally harmlefs, as they are efteemed; it is aftonilhing to conceive through what inverted and difcolored mediums you mull have looked to have beheld them fo horribly. But both thefe circumftances of offence are trifling when compared to the conduft you have manifefted refpecling i6 refpecting the great do&rines of the Gofpel. The imagination cannot, in my efteem, contemplate an object more truly diilreiling than that of a Clergy- man denying or difbelieving the whole operation of the Spirit of God in his Ciiurch, while obliged conftantly to implore thofe aids in every miniflration. Were I difpofed to recriminate — what a volume for materials is afTorded me in the Anecdotes you have publifhed ; and the Qbfervations another Writer hath fince publifhed upon them. But, Sir, your fituation is fuch as difarms all refentment. In the very moment the hand is lifted up to chaftife, the recollection of yourprefent ftate and future profpect makes it nervelefs. The fincere wifh of my heart is, that God who alone can command the light to Jlnne out of dark' ?iejs, may Jlnne in your heart; and gracioufly give you to jee the things which make for your tvtrlafling peace before they are for ever hid from your eyes, I am, Rev. Sir, &,Ci ROBERT HAWKERo NETTLETON, PRINTER, PLYMOUTH.