AN

APPEAL

TO

Matter of Fact and Common Sense;

OR,

A RATIONAL DEMONSTRATION

OF

MAN'S

CORRUPT AND LOST ESTATE.

La Flechove 13 by di

Ye pompous Sons of Reason idoliz'd
And vilify'd at once; of Reason dead,
Then deify'd, as Monarchs were of old;
Wrong not the Christian, think not Reason yours;
"Tis Reason our great Master holds so dear;
"Tis Reason's injured rights his wrath resents;
"Tis Reason's voice obey'd his glories crown;
To give lost reason life, he pour'd his own;
Believe, and show the reason of a man:
Believe, and taste the pleasure of a God;
Thro' Reason's wounds alone, thy faith can die.

YOUNG

THE SON OF MAN IS COME TO SEEK AND TO SAVE THAT

Printed at the Conference-Office, 14, City-Road,

BY THOMAS CORDEUX, AGENT:

And sold by T. BLANSHARD, 14, City-Road; and at all the
Methodist Preaching-Houses in Town and Country.

CUME

To the principal Inhabitants of the Parish of Madeley, in the County of Salop.

GENTLEMEN,

YOU are no less entitled to my private labours, than the inferior class of my parishioners. As you do not choose to partake with them of my evening instructions, I take the liberty to present you with some of my morning meditations. May thesc well-meant endeavours of my pen, be more acceptable to you than those of my tongue! And may you carefully read in your Closets, what you have, perhaps, inattentively heard in the Church! I appeal to the Searcher of Hearts, that I had rather impart Truth than receive Tithes. You kindly bestow the latter upon me; grant me, pray, the satisfaction of seeing you favourably receive the former, from,

GENTLEMEN,

Your affectionate Minister,

Madeley, 1772.

And obedient Servant,

I

J. FLETCHER.

A 2

CONTENTS.

THE INTRODUCTION.

FIRST PART.

THE Doctrine of Man's corrupt and lost estate is stated at

large, in the words of the Prophets, Apostles, and Jesus Christ;

and recapitulated in those of the Articles, Homilies, and Liturgy

of the Church of England.

SECOND PART.

Man is considered as an inhabitant of the natural world, and
his fall is proved by arguments deduced from the misery in which
he is now undeniably involved; compared with the happiness,.
of which we cannot help conceiving him possessed, when he
came out of the hands of his gracious Creator.

A view of this misery in the following particulars,-I. The

disorders of the globe we inhabit, and the dreadful scourges with

which it is visited.-II. The deplorable and shocking circum-

stances of our birth.-III. The painful and dangerous travail of

women. IV. The untimely dissolution of still-born, or new-born

children.-V. Our natural uncleanliness, helplessness, ignorance,

and nakedness.-VI. The gross darkness in which we naturally

are, both with respect to God and a future state.-VII. The

general rebellion of the brute creation against us.-VIII. The

various poisons that lurk in the animal, vegetable, and mineral

world, ready to destroy us.-IX. The heavy curse of toil and

sweat to which we are liable; instances of which are given in the

hard and dangerous labours of the Author's parishioners.

X. The other innumerable calamities of life.-And, XI. The

pangs of death. -

THIRD PART.

Man is considered as a citizen of the moral world, a free agent,

accountable to his Creator for his tempers and conduct; and his

fall is farther demonstrated by arguments drawn therefrom.

XII. His commission of sin.-XIII. His emission of duty.-XIV.

The triumphs of sensual appetites over his intellectual faculties.

-XV. The corruption of the powers that constitute a good

head; the understanding, imagination, memory, and reason.-

XVI. The depravity of the powers which form a good heart;

the will, conscience, and affections. XVII. His manifest alien-

ation from God. XVIII. His amazing disregard of his nearest

relatives.

A 3