object to its being used where it can be of service to either, though I certainly am very far from wishing to attract any share of public attention to myself. I have the honour to be, with great esteem, "Dear Sir,

"Your most humble and obedient Servant,

"EDWARD BANCROFT."*

This, I imagine, will satisfy any reasonable person, that the whole of the narrative in THEODOSIUS, though published with such uncommonly solemn asseveration, is nothing else than a malicious fabrication; and it is certainly such an impudent one as, I believe, few persons can recollect any example of. But I leave the subject to the reflection of the writer, if he be capable of any, and to that of you, my readers, who, I am sure, will lament over this instance of the extreme depravity of human nature, both with respect to the person who could invent and publish such a story, and those who have taken so much pleasure in propagating it.

My acquaintance with Mr. Deane, began with his seeking mine. With this view, being at Birmingham, on a Sunday, he attended the place of worship where I preach, and there happening to meet my brother-in-law Mr. William Wilkinson, whom he had seen abroad, he was by him introduced to me. After this I saw him at different times and places, and was much pleased with his conversation; which will not be thought extraordinary, as he is well known to have been a very intelligent man, and particularly well acquainted with the history of the American war, which interests the curiosity of every Englishman, and I found him very communicative on the subject. But I never exchanged a word with him on the subject of religion. I very well knew that he was an unbeliever in Christianity; but so are many of my acquaintance, on whom I never unnecessarily obtrude the topic, though I do not wish to decline it whenever it happens to be introduced.

Mentioning this affair of Mr. Deane to Mr. Benjamin Vaughan, an old pupil of mine, (the person to whom I de

For another testimony to the same purpose, and the proof that Theodosius was Dr. Withers, see Appendix, No. V.

dicated my "Lectures on History and General Policy,") and he being able to corroborate the evidence of Dr. Bancroft, with the addition of some other particulars relating to the accusation, you will excuse my inserting some extracts from his letter on the subject, though too flattering to me.

"MY DEAR SIR,

"London, May 20, 1790.

"I readily perform my promise respecting the charges brought against you by the writer of the pamphlet under the signature of Theodosius.

"I first saw Mr. Silas Deane at Paris, in the winter of 1775-6, and again in the summer of 1777; and I certainly conceived, from the tenor of his conversation, that he was then no believer in Christianity. He appeared to me not only a free thinker, but in some respects a free liver.

"When your acquaintance with Mr. Deane commenced, which was on his coming to England, I apprehend that little remained to be taught him on the subject of Deism, especially after his long residence in the midst of many Deistical writers and connexions at Paris. I do not suppose that he ever was an Atheist, though the above pamphlet imputes this to him. My reasons are, that he did not want understanding, and that one of his intimate friends, with whom he was far less likely to use reserve, than with persons of the description alluded to by Theodosius, had no sort of reason to suspect it.

"The want of religion ascribed to Mr. Deane, whatever was the degree of it, is not styled by your accuser as originating from any communications and conferences on your part which were of a private nature: and it is, indeed, very unlikely that you should communicate to Mr. Deane any thing which you were fearful of publishing. The tendency of your publications is a separate question, which is open to the decision of every one.

"If it had ever been your intention to make converts to Deism or Atheism, I, who have been your pupil, and known so many of your pupils, and who have been your intimate friend, and have known so many of your intimate friends, must have seen or heard of traces of it in a character so little disguised as yours. But I have done neither; and the same, I am persuaded, will be found to be the case with your other pupils and friends; and I cannot conceive why it can be thought probable, that you should single out a stranger,

to place a trust in him capable of being rendered so fatal to your character, profession and repose.

"This is more than you appear to have done to Mr. Deane's countryman, Dr. Franklin, with whom you have been in great habits of confidence and friendship. I judge that you never attempted this in his case, from a passage in a letter which I received some time ago from that admirable man, whose knowledge of human nature, and whose sincerity on this occasion, none can dispute. He expresses himself as follows: Remember me affectionately to the honest heretic Dr. Priestley. I do not call him honest by way of distinction; for I think all the heretics I have known have been virtuous men: they have the virtue of fortitude, or they would not venture to own their heresy; and they cannot afford to be deficient in any of the other virtues, as they would give advantage to their many enemies; and they have not, like orthodox sinners, such a number of friends to excuse or justify them. Do not, how. ever, mistake me. It is not to my good friend's heresy that I impute his honesty; on the contrary, it is his honesty that has brought on him the character of heresy.'

"The good humour which accompanies every thing that falls from Dr. Franklin, will readily assure you that he uses the word heretic and heresy in no invidious sense, but only in allusion to the charges on this subject which have frequently been brought against you, and to which you are no stranger.

"As to your manners in private, which have been criticised by Theodosius, I presume myself competent, from a familiar acquaintance with you during the greatest part of my life, and a long residence with you at different times and places under the same roof, to deny that they partake in any degree whatever of gloom.' In opposition to the statement in his pamphlet, I not only apprehend that you have no habitual gloom about you, but that you are usually most cheerful in very small domestic societies, though frequently grave in large companies, unless particularly interested, or called forth.

"For myself, I have to return you thanks for many agreeable and cheerful moments spent in your society; and your talents for pleasantry, I apprehend, are not unknown also to some of your opponents. But I am happily bound to you by ties of a more serious nature. Independent of your kind and constant friendship to me, and the cultivation

you have endeavoured to give to my mind upon general subjects, which I shall seek some better occasion to acknowledge; you have constantly laboured to confirm and encourage my general faith in religion. Perhaps the time is at hand when I shall have the means of proving that your zeal has not been unprofitably bestowed upon me in this last and most important object.

"I need not add, therefore, with how much gratitude and respect it is that I remain

"Your affectionate friend,

"BENJAMIN VAUGHAN,"

By the refutation of this, which is the most important part of the story, and the truth of which the author asserts with the greatest air of solemnity, you may form some judgment of the probability of the other articles. The reader may, if he pleases, apply to the Marquis of Lansdown, with respect to his expostulation with me, on the gloominess of my temper, about which I do not think it worth while to trouble his Lordship. On the contrary, every person who knows much of me, will bear witness, that my temper is more even, and perhaps more cheerful, than that of most men. Let my hearers be applied to as to what I preach, and my publications are open to all the world. It is my opinion, for which I have given my reasons at large, that Jesus was the legitimate son of Joseph and Mary. But this is, surely, a very different thing from making him a bastard, and his mother a whore.

From what I have advanced on this subject, you will not, I hope, be so ready to believe other stories, of which many are current, that are propagated to my prejudice, some of them slightly mentioned in the Preface to my Letters to Mr. Burn, though I should not take any pains to trace the origin of them, as I have done with respect to this, and as I did once before, with respect to my being accused of declaring, that "I would never rest till I had pulled down that impostor Jesus Christ,"† which was formerly as widely and as eagerly circulated as this story of Theodosius. Many other calumnies, I doubt not, are circulated to my prejudice, which have not come to my hearing, though they may to yours. With respect to these, I must trust to your candour, and that of the public at large; hoping that you will not hastily give credit to any such assertions, however confi

See infra.

+ See Vol. XVIII. pp. 558-560, Note.

dently advanced, since nothing can be more so than these which I have investigated, and have found destitute of all foundation.

Having shewn this story of Theodosius to be nothing but a malicious fiction, you will naturally wish to know who is the author of it. To my great surprise, it has been very generally ascribed to Mr. Wesley. But he is certainly incapable of any such thing. Much as I differ from Mr. Wesley in religious sentiments, I have the highest opinion of his integrity, and I consider his services to Christianity as of more importance than those of many benches of bishops. I doubt not he intends great good, and, in my opinion, he will be the cause, in the hands of Providence, of much more good than he intends or wishes. Time, which brings most things to light, may, perhaps, reveal this deed of darkness. It is sufficient for me at present to shew that, whoever be guilty of the atrocious deed, I, against whom it is levelled, am innocent. I can only pray, as I sincerely do, that whoever he be, he may repent, and, as an evidence of true repentance, make his acknowledgment as public as his crime. I shall then forgive him. The most probable opinion is, that Theodosius is a clergyman of the Church of England, who formerly wrote me a confidential letter, which I yet preserve.*

LETTER XXII.

The Conclusion.

MY FRIENDS AND NEIGHBOURS,

I am, &c.

I HAVE NOW exerted my best endeavours to repel an unprovoked attack upon myself and my brethren, the Dissenters of this country, made by Mr. Madan, and also to refute the gross calumnies of Mr. Burn, two of your spiritual guides, but whose example I hope you will now see no inducement to follow. They have brought railing and unjust accusations against persons who neither did, nor meant, them any harm, and who lived quietly in their neighbourhood. You have seen the injustice and folly of their own various charges, and those of other persons which have been industriously propagated; and I hope, that for the future they will learn to pay a greater regard to truth and justice, and that you will see reason to respect those whom they

* See Appendix, No. V.