“God alone knows the sorrow of heart wherewith I address you; and how much the fear of casting stumbling-blocks before some who are really sincere, and the apprehensions of giving malicious joy to others who desire no greater satisfaction than to see the children of the Prince of Peace divided among themselves, had well-nigh prevailed upon me to pour out my soul in silence instead of publicly taking up the pen against you. But when I perceived the solicitude with which Mr. Wesley’s preachers recommended your letters to Mr. Shirley in their respective congregations, and, above all, how many of God’s people had been perplexed and distressed by reading them,—I say, when I perceived this to be the case, and had prayed to the Giver of all wisdom for direction, I could not but esteem it my indispensable duty to send out a few observations on your book, especially as no other person, that I know of, had made any reply to the doctrinal parts of it from the time of its publication. With regard to the ‘_Circular Letter_,’ I shall studiously avoid the very mention of it; as whether the sending of it were in itself a wrong step or a right one, is of no consequence in the matter of salvation. Neither shall I follow you page by page, but taking the ’Minutes’ in the order they stand, shall dwell upon them, more or less, as appears necessary.” The plan here propounded is carried out, but want of space renders it impossible to give an outline of Mr. Hill’s theology. The following quotations must be taken as specimens of others which might be given:— “Your argument is this; that, ‘_believing is previous to justification_.’ But, dear Sir, this is begging the question; and, permit me to say, that I deny the assertion. Waving all disputes concerning eternal justification, or justification in the mind and purpose of God, I maintain, that, believing cannot possibly be previous to justification; and you must yourself maintain the same, unless you will adopt the phrase of _an unjustified believer_; whereas the Holy Ghost teaches that _all who believe are justified_. We may as well suppose that a man eats before he takes any food, and that he sees before he receives the light of the sun, as that he believes before he is justified: for believing, and feeding upon Christ, are not more inseparably connected than eating and taking bodily food, or than seeing and receiving light are inseparably connected. Yea, true faith can no more subsist without its object Christ, than there can be a marriage without a husband. From hence, I conclude, that the doctrine of believing before justification, and thereby making the grace of faith a conditional work, is not less contrary to reason than it is to Scripture itself.”