has the history, thus far, of this enterprise gone to falsify, altogether, an encomium so precious and honourable. That some of the strongest and noblest men of the Methodist ministry have arisen to the rescue, that the bishops, to a man, it is believed, are deeply interested in the movement,—that thousands of others, whose names are more widely known in heaven than upon earth, are ready, and waiting, and longing, these, and such as these, are promises more beautiful than the blossoms of the opening year, or the bright dawning of the sunny day. To this very day there are tears of happiness in remembrance of the names that, in 1846, went on that pilgrimage over sea, that they might stand up in the name of American Methodism in behalf of the union of the Church militant. And while some of those men of God have since passed away to heaven, the reflection is most welcome and refreshing, that one of their last earthly endeavours was for the triumph of the spirit of Christ among all his scattered followers.

In view, then, of the recent yearnings and efforts of good men after a wider and firmer fellowship among the disciples of the Saviour; and in view, especially, of the relation of Methodism to this great enterprise, it has strongly impressed the writer of this article as being not an untimely or ineffectual presentation, if a voice, though of one dead, might speak out here—and a voice the most potent in the ears of Methodism, of all voices save those of inspiration.

The chief aim of this paper, therefore, will be, to illustrate the catholic position of the founder of Methodism.

THE CATHOLICISM OF JOHN WESLEY'S PERSONAL

OPINIONS Constituted one of the marks-if, indeed, we may not say THE ONE MARK-distinguishing him from the Church of England, with which he was always connected. The attitude of the English Church toward other communions of Christians, and especially toward Dissenters, was nearly the same then as now. Whatever may have been the differing opinions of the Church ministers and laity as to the doctrines of the Thirty-nine Articles, yet the principle, for aught we know, was as rife then as now, that there is no Church without a bishop, and no bishop aside from the apostolical succession in the matter of ordination. The Nineteenth Article read then, as now, that “The visible Church of Christ is a congregation of faithful men, in which the pure word of God is preached, and the sacraments be duly administered;"—and what the “due administration" of the sacraments means, in an Episcopal mind, needs not to be recited here. Thus the genuine Churchman, on either side of the Atlantic, or wherever he may move among his fellow-men, does contemplate, and from his principles must contemplate, all churches but his own as mere organizations or societies, as not entitled to the name of churches, and as being, in fact as well as in theory, without the pale of the Catholic Church. Accordingly, Mr. Palmer, in his book on the Church, cuts off at one fell swoop every "Dissenter" (as he calls them), whether in England or America, and writes all their communions, in both countries, as "forming no part of the Church of Christ." That the same strong views obtained extensively in Wesley's time, is entirely obvious from his own history, even were there no other sources of evidence bearing upon such a question. So, also, every one who has read

of Wesley knows that, from the date of the commencement of his evangelical career, he had, and could have, no sympathy with such views. It is true, that, with all its faults, he loved the Church of which he was a member and minister. He loved that Church to the last, and adhered to its communion to his dying day. Nay, more than this, he was disposed to attach all his societies to the national Church by a tie never to be dissolved. Yet there was no exclusiveness, there was no withdrawal from church-fellowship with any Christian of any communion. From all those cords of

bigotry, that, to this day, prevent so many from true catholic fellowship, he broke away as Samson snapped the withes of Delilah. He loved the Church of England much, but he loved the Holy Catholic Church more; nor was there any power competent to deprive him of the freedom he asserted to shout always and everywhere the apostolic blessing, saying, "Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen!" He who is sometimes called the founder of Methodism was a true-hearted member of the English hierarchy, while yet he differed from it as the eagle on the wing differs from his fellows encaged. His name, and even his heart, were there; yet he felt himself to be a freeman in Christ Jesus, and would "not be brought under the power of any " thing that would tend to narrow the amplitude of his charity, or burden the wings of his lofty flight. Did his Church virtually say, "Preach nowhere save in duly consecrated places?" "This will never save the world," he responds; and presently, in halls where bishops never walked, and again on Kennington Common, or in Moorfields, encompassed by thousands, he proclaims, fearlessly, the

Lord Jesus. Did the canon say, "Pray at the public worship none but the written prayers?" yet Wesley --and none, better than he, loved his Church's liturgy -would, after all, pray as "circumstances directed." Must none be encouraged or allowed to preach until upon their heads the sacred hands were laid, and the apostolic power conferred? Wesley thought so once, --but the Spirit is falling as the showers of lovely dew, and converts are multiplying as the drops of the morning, and John Nelson is already astonishing his neighbours in Yorkshire with the story of his conversion, and exhorting them to the same great grace, with exhortation so backed by sacred quotation as to sound very like a sermon ;--and, in fact, a sermon it becomes. Meanwhile, Wesley-though nearest to it of all mortal men-is, after all, not ubiquitous; and as he is careering in the north, "helpers" are needed in the south, and vice versâ ;-and preach those helpers will, and preach they do; and, what is more and better still, the Lord is working with them with signs following. And John Wesley was not the man to withstand God; and just so soon as he saw the lay preachers indubitably helping forward the great object from which his clear eye never wandered, then, Churchman as he was, this same Wesley loved to have it so. The truth was, his was a Churchman's head, but God had sanctified his heart, and made it a catholic heart, of course; and the catholic heart failed not to modify the Churchman's head, until, at length, head and heart had no controversy; and this modern apostle, well balanced and duly commissioned, ran, like a giant, the race of holy charity and evangelization.

From this great crisis in Wesley's history, no one

should write him a Churchman on the one hand, nor a sectary on the other. Here and now, we see him emerging into the great Catholic Communion, and allying himself indissolubly to the whole of Christ's body; and he selects his place near to the heart of Jesus, and struggles for the stand-point and vision of the great Saviour himself, as He glances upon the entire fellowship of his disciples, and upon the world on whose behalf He wept and died.

The catholicism of Wesley is seen IN THE PLATFORM OF HIS SOCIETIES. And what was this platform? What were the general or special opinions contemplated? What was its array of symbols and of dogmas? There was nothing of all this. Taking his position as nearly as possible in the very centre of heavenly illumination, and standing there, as the angel in the sun, he saw that the religion of Christ was eminently a matter of the heart and life. A world of responsible and sinful beings, exposed to instant and remediless ruin, yet within reach of a mighty Saviour, this was enough for Wesley. He forgot creeds, and articles, and confessions. He dispensed with every Procrustean theory, and overlooked all the lumber of worldly wisdom. In rearing the gate of admission to his society, he sought to copy Christ alone. Jesus had said, "Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out ;" and, hence, Wesley dared not open a gate more narrow. For what was his society? "A company of men having the form, and seeking the power, of godliness; united in order to pray together, to receive the word of exhortation, and to watch over one another in love, that they may help each other to work out their salvation." What, then, were the conditions of mem