“Surely then, of all the people of Great Britain, the Methodists would be the most inexcusable, should they let any opportunity slip of attending that worship which has so many advantages; should they prefer any before it; or not continually improve by the advantages they enjoy! What can be pleaded for them, if they do not worship God in spirit and in truth; if they are still outward worshippers only; approaching God with their lips while their hearts are far from Him? Yea, if having known Him, they do not daily grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. “JOHN WESLEY.”[310] These are important letters, fully showing that Wesley had not the least intention of giving up the Methodist societies, and that he considered their religious services far superior to the general services of the Church of England. It was about this period, Wesley commenced a correspondence with Martin Madan, who afterwards made himself painfully notorious, and concerning whom we have to say something at another time. This remarkable man, a cousin to the poet Cowper, and possessed of a private fortune of £1800 a year, had recently been converted under Wesley’s ministry, had renounced his profession of a barrister, and was now an ordained clergyman of the Church of England, and fast becoming one of the most popular preachers in the land. Extracts from two of his earliest letters to Wesley may be welcome. “CHANCERY LANE, _May 18, 1756_. “DEAR SIR,—My father’s death has indeed made a considerable alteration in my worldly affairs, by adding, to what I had before, a plentiful estate; but, blessed be God, I can still cry out, with more and more earnestness, ‘Like as the hart panteth after the water brooks,’ etc. O sir! I desire, notwithstanding all my worldly wealth, to be little and vile in my own eyes, and that Christ may be all in all. The only true riches are those of His grace; all things else, when compared to these, are dung and dross. “My dear mother was with me, when your kind letter came, and she desired me to send her love and best wishes to you, when I answered it. She longs much, as well as myself and the rest of your friends, to see you once more in England. “Adieu, dear sir. May the God of all peace and consolation be with you always! Amen, amen. “I remain, “Your truly affectionate servant and son in the gospel, “MARTIN MADAN.”[311] “CHELTENHAM, _August 6, 1757_. “DEAR SIR,—I received the favour of yours, and thank you much for the kind advice it contained, and hope God will give me grace to follow it.