From these letters, it is painfully apparent that the Calvinistic controversy was not confined to England. Edinburgh rang with discordant notes; and, in five months after Mr. De Courcy’s coming, Lady Glenorchy dismissed Wesley’s preachers from her chapel, assigning, as her reason, that they were not Calvinists.[121] South of the Tweed there were sounds of the coming battle; hence the following extract from a letter to Miss Bishop. “_February 16, 1771._ “MY DEAR SISTER,--... Legality, with most that use that term, really means tenderness of conscience. There is no propriety in the word, if one would take it for seeking justification by works. Considering, therefore, how hard it is to fix the meaning of that odd term, and how dreadfully it has been abused, I think it highly advisable for all the Methodists to lay it quite aside. “If Mr. Shirley could find any other doctrine, which he thought was peculiarly mine, he would be as angry at it as he is at Christian perfection. But it is all well: we are to go forward, whoever goes back or turns aside. Perhaps we may see a new accomplishment of Solomon’s words, ‘He that reproveth a man shall afterward find more favour than he who flattereth with his tongue.’ But, be that as it may, I have done my duty: I could no otherwise have delivered my own soul; and no offence at all would have been given thereby, had not pride stifled both religion and generosity. But my letter[122] is now out of date: it is mentioned no more; there is a more plausible occasion found, namely, those eight terrible propositions which conclude the minutes of our conference. At the instance of some who were sadly frightened thereby, I have revised them over and over; I have considered them in every point of view; and truly, the more I consider them, the more I like them. The more fully I am convinced, not only that they are true,--agreeable both to Scripture and sound experience,--but, that they contain truths of the deepest importance, and such as ought to be continually inculcated by those who would be pure from the blood of all men. “Your affectionate brother, “JOHN WESLEY.”[123]