“On April 20, 1732, Mr. Clayton meeting me in the street, and giving Mr. Rivington’s[17] service, I desired his company to my room, and then commenced our acquaintance. At the first opportunity, I acquainted him with our whole design, which he immediately and heartily closed with; and, not long after, (Mr. Morgan having then left Oxford,) we fixed two evenings in a week to meet on, partly to talk on that subject, and partly to read something in practical divinity. The two points whereunto, by the blessing of God, we had before attained, we endeavoured to hold fast: I mean, the doing what good we can; and, in order thereto, communicating as often as we have opportunity. To these, by the advice of Mr. Clayton, we added a third,—the observing the fasts of the Church; the general neglect of which we can by no means apprehend to be a lawful excuse for neglecting them. And in the resolution to adhere to these and all things else, which we are convinced God requires at our hands, we trust we shall persevere till He calls us to give an account of our stewardship. As for the names of Methodists, Supererogation-men, and so on, with which some of our neighbours are pleased to compliment us, we do not conceive ourselves to be under any obligation to regard them, much less to take them for arguments. ‘To the law and to the testimony’ we appeal, whereby we ought to be judged. If by these it can be proved we are in error, we will immediately and gladly retract it: if not, we ‘have not so learned Christ,’ as to renounce any part of His service, though men should ‘say all manner of evil against us,’ with more judgment and as little truth as hitherto. We do, indeed, use all the lawful means we know to prevent ‘the good which is in us’ from being ‘evil spoken of:’ but if the neglect of known duties be the one condition of securing our reputation, why, fare it well; we know whom we have believed, and what we thus lay out He will pay us again.”[18]