Page:The Works of the Reverend George Whitefield, M.A., late of Pembroke-College, Oxford, and Chaplain to the Rt. Hon. the Countess of Huntingdon (1771 Volume 2).djvu/277

 to charge me, at the public Wells, with being guilty of Perjury. This comes, therefore, to beg the favour of your Lordship, only to let me know, (in whatever manner your Lordship shall judge most proper) upon what foundation such a charge is built: and I hereby promise, by divine assistance, that a full, fair, and explicit answer shall be given to your Lordship, by, my Lord, Your Lordship's dutiful son and servant, G. W.     LETTER DCCLXVIII. To the Bishop of W.

My Lord,     Bristol, Aug. 7, 1749.

I Thank your Lordship for your kind and cordial letter. I shall take care to do your Lordship justice, by shewing it to such persons as I think have been more immediately concerned. This, I imagine, will be as much satisfaction as your Lordship will desire. I suppose the mistake has lain here: your Lordship might have insinuated, that by my present way of acting, I had broken the solemn engagement I had entered into at my ordination: and that might have been interpreted to imply a charge of Perjury. The relation in which I stand to the Right Honourable the Countess of H, made me desirous to clear myself from such an imputation; and at the same time to give your Lordship an opportunity of vindicating yourself in the manner you have done. Was I not afraid of intruding too much upon your Lordship's time, and of shewing the least inclination to controversy, I would endeavour, in the fear of, to answer the other part of your Lordship's letter; and, as far as lies in me, give your Lordship a satisfactory account of whatever may seem irregular and exceptionable in my present conduct. This I would be glad to do, not only before your Lordship, but all the Right Reverend the Bishops; for I highly honour them on account of the sacred character they sustain, and would make it my daily endeavour to obey all their godly admonitions. This, I presume, my Lord, is the utmost extent of the promise I made at my ordination. If I err or deviate from this, in any respect, it is through ignorance and want of better information, and not (as far as I