Good Advice for Preachers

Wednesday 2 Sept 1767 Upon inquiry, I found the work of God in Pembrokeshire had been exceedingly hindered, chiefly by Mr. Davies’s preachers who had continually inveighed against ours and thereby frighted abundance of people from hearing or coming near them. This had sometimes provoked them to retort, which always made a bad matter worse. The advice therefore which I gave them was: (1) Let all the people sacredly abstain from backbiting, talebearing, evil-speaking. (2) Let all our preachers abstain from returning railing for railing, either in public or in private, as well as from disputing. (3) Let them never preach controversy, but plain, practical, and experimental religion.