“MY DEAR SIR,--I stand much in need of a judicious friend. I am quite alone; there are none of the Methodists near me; nor are there any yet thoroughly awakened within my cure. The fault, I must own, is mine. I have not been zealous enough; yet, this has not proceeded from the fear of man; but I wished not to act precipitately, and to raise the prejudices of the clergy as little as possible. I meant well; but I see I have acted wrong. Had I been persecuted, I should have been much bolder; but the people are so civil to me, that it has, in a great measure, proved my ruin. I have had such a sense of my ignorance and inability, that I have been frequently tempted to think, I ought to refrain entirely from preaching. But, again, I thought I might, perhaps, be of some use here, where the people are ready to listen to me, yet are not willing to hear a Methodist. Could I once open a door here for the Methodist preachers, I should willingly go to any part of the globe that God should call me to. Were I near you, I should be too happy to fill the place of your assistant. Though we must lament the want of discipline in our Church, and though I admire the economy of the Methodists, yet I entirely agree with you, that they ought not to leave the Church. So long as they mingle with the members of it, they may be the means of converting them; but, if they separate, they will thereby stop the ears and eyes of thousands. These were my sentiments long before I heard that they were yours. I never was bigoted to opinions, and hope I never shall. “I remain, dear sir, your very humble servant, and affectionate brother, “JAMES CREIGHTON.”[314] The discipline of the Church of England was a thing over which Wesley and his friends had no control. With the discipline of the Methodists it was otherwise. Hence, the following characteristic letter, hitherto unpublished, addressed to one of his itinerants, at Brecon, Mr. William Church, an ancestor of the Rev. Henry L. Church, who possesses the original. “WALLINGFORD, _October 13, 1778_. “DEAR BILLY,--The soul and the body make a man; the Spirit and discipline make a Christian. Let John Watson and you agree together, and be exact in this wherever you go. Insist upon the observance of all the society rules, by all the members of society; and on the observance of all (even the least) of the band rules, by all that meet in band. I give, for instance, no band tickets to any woman, who wears either ruffles or a high crowned cap. If any will not lay aside these, rather than lose that blessed means of improvement, she is not worthy of it. “I am, your affectionate brother, “JOHN WESLEY.” Another unpublished letter, of the same kind, addressed to Samuel Bradburn, will be welcome.