01 September 2011

'Not Many of You Were Wise...' (1 Cor. 1:26)

'I thank Your Ladyship for the information concerning the Methodist preachers: their doctrines are most repulsive, strongly tinctured with Impertinence and Disrespect towards their Superiors, in perpetually endeavouring to level all ranks and do away with all Distinctions. It is monstrous to be told that you have a heart as sinful as the Common Wretches that crawl the Earth. This is highly offensive and insulting; and I cannot but wonder that your Ladyship should relish any Sentiment so much at variance with High Rank and Good Breeding.'
--The Duchess of Buckingham, in the 1750s, when invited by Lady Huntingdon to hear George Whitefield preach; quoted in Hugh Martin, The Seven Letters: Christ's Message to His Church (London, 1956), 107

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