30 May 1745

Anne Dutton, Great Gransden, to Howel Harris, Trevecca, South Wales, 30 May 1745.

Great Gransden, May 30, 1745.

My very Dear Brother Harris,

         I have sent you Twenty of a Pamphlet of Letters. As some of these Books are to be given among Friends, accept what you please for yourself, sell what will pay their Carriage, & give ye rest where you hope they will be useful. And I intreat you to pray for a Blessing on them.

         Brother Lewis acquainted me, that you had all the other Books I sent, by you, unfold. Which griev’d me much as I thought ye Lord would not use them in Wales. But I am humbled under his mighty Hand, & help’d to adore him in all Dispensations, whether joyous or grievous. I wonder at his Grace, in using me at any Time, in any Place, to any of his dear, his better Children; and not yt He should cast me away as to Usefulness. I have deserv’d that, innumerable Times & Ways. Yea, to be cast into Hell, with a Depart ye cursed. But oh infinite Grace! Jesus bore my Sin, my Curse, my Hell, to set me free! He hath put me among ye Children, & gives me a pleasant Heritage; tho’ I deserve not a Name among ye least of ye Princes of his royal Family, nor a Child’s Portion, nor a Crumb of ye Bread of Life, to keep me from perishing with Hunger. And yet, Glory be to Free Grace, I am well fed, richly provided for, & highly favour’d; even vile, ungrateful, Hell-deserving Me! Praise ye Lord for his Goodness to ye Chief of Sinners, & help me to bewail my wretched Ingratitude before him. – As to these Books my Dear Brother, I shd be glad if you could sell enough to pay you ye Charge of their Carriage; and please to return ye rest in a Parcel directed for me, to be left with Mr John Lewis Printer, in Bartholomew-Close, London.

         I have been much griev’d at ye Divisions which have been among ye Brethren. I hear, that you agreed in a friendly Manner at Bristol. I wish your Agreement may be upon good Grounds. And that you & ye Brethren yt think wth you, may not be deceived, by ye Words of those Brethren yt oppos’d you; which may seem to intend ye same Things wch you believe, & yet have another Meaning, by those yt speak them. I think  there are very great Errors advanc’d by some of ye Brethren, yt oppos’d you. And upon Converse with one of them, for aught I see, ye whole of inherent Holiness is rejected; and no other Sanctification look’d for, but what is Christ! – Oh ye Cunning of ye old Serpent! He advanceth one Truth, to destroy another. – But I hope our Dear Lord, ye once-bruised Seed of ye Woman, will bruise ye Serpent’s Head. And that after our Brethren have suffer’d a while, by ye shaking Temptations of Satan, in ye Wind of false Doctrine which is rais’d by him, the God of Peace will bruise him under their Feet, & stablish, strengthen, & settle them. – Mean time, I beseech you to beware, that you give not up any Truth of ye Gospel, for ye Sake of Peace. Peace, not up any Truth of ye Gospel, for ye Sake of Peace. Peace, with Truth, is a desirable Thing: But without it, is too dear bought. Better ten thousand Times be a Warrior for Christ & his Truth agst Opposition, if it was all one’s Days, than to give up ye least Truth, for ye Sake of Peace, & thereby take Part with Satan, that grand Enemy. – I can’t but fear, that several of our Brethren are running into ye Moravian Tenets. And surely their Errors, which are manifest, are very great. And what they hold secretly among themselves, perhaps none but themselves know. The profess it lawful to use Guile, a Deceiveableness in Speech, to propagate their Notions. And what Safty can there be in adhering to such Persons? – A Moravian said to a Friend of mine, not long since, “That he had rather hear him curse & swear, than to ask Questions abt Religion, tho’ in ever so serious a Manner.” He likewise said, “That it was impossible for any that were not Moravians, to know what they hold.” He told him “That his Knowledge was Head-Knowledge, & that he must thro’ it all away.” And he likewise disswaded him from reading ye Scriptures. And I think these Things look very Dark. – God will preserve his own, in shaking Times. They shall never be shaken off y ye e Foundation, Christ, whatever lesser Shakes, they may for a Time sustain. – I rejoyce to hear, that ye Lord’s Work, goes on bravely with you. And wishing all Prosperity, with kind Service to Self & Spouse, & hearty Thanks for all Favours, I remain,

                     Dear Sir,

                                 Your most Affectionate Friend & Servant,

                                             In our Glorious Lord ye LAMB,

                                                         Anne Dutton.

Address: To | Mr Howell Harris | at Trevecka, near Hay, | South Wales

Endorsed:  none

Text: C. M. Archives, Trevecka MSS, Letter 1325, National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth.