FEBRUARY 11
Do what in you lies, and He will do the rest.
Letter, 14th December, 1785
I am one who for twenty years used outward works, not only as ‘acts of goodness’, but as commutations (though I did not indeed profess this), instead of inward holiness. I knew I was not holy. But I quieted my conscience by doing such-and-such outward works; and therefore I hoped I should go to heaven, even without inward holiness. …
Abundance of people I have likewise known, and many I do know at this day, who ‘are so grossly superstitious as to think that devotion may be put upon God instead of honesty’; as to fancy, going to Church and Sacrament will bring them to heaven, though they practise (sic) neither justice nor mercy. These are the men who make Christianity vile, who, above all others, contribute to the growth of infidelity.
to John Smith, 1745
