he was thrown up, by force of events, to the surface of a great ecclesiastical sea, over whose subject deep he rode with princely port, stilling the noise of the waves and the tumult of the people, a very Neptune in his regal car, whose sovereignty every crested billow seemed to own by instant subsidence-yet never did he seek proselytes to mere Methodism, perfectly satisfied if his neighbours were the converted people of God, whatever communion they might belong to. The author of this sketch ventures to hope, that he himself loves from his heart every creature of God, and cannot recollect any period of his religious life in which he would cross his threshold to make any pious man of any communion a member of his own, yet would he be reluctant to put his charity in comparison with that of this heavenly-minded man. In Wesley it was the element he breathed, the garb he habitually wore, the very life of his life, the very soul of his soul. He gave no countenance to proselytism, and deprecated at least the name of separation. He never put his peculiar views above the fundamentals of the faith; nor, where the differences were the greatest between himself and others, did he for a moment forget that "charity which is the bond of perfectness." Candour must admit, however, that invective fell without lack of stint upon the clerical body at large, and all supposed hindrances to the work of the enthusiastic predicants. But not from Wesley himself. It neither adds to our respect for the men, nor our satisfaction in the work, that they should have gloried in opening their mouths so freely "against the letterlearned clergymen of the Church of England" (Whitefield's Journal), and in denouncing "the learned rabbis

of the Church of England" (Seward's Journal), as the Scribes and Pharisees of his generation. None but a very coarse appetite could digest diet so strong as the following against Archbishop Tillotson:-"Judas sold his Lord for thirty pieces of silver; the archbishop got a better price, perhaps thirty bags of gold, or more."-Lavington's "Enthusiasm of the Papists and the Methodists Considered." So far from indulging in such reflections as these, the great founder of Methodism believed that a strong vein of piety ran through the life and death even of many Romanists, the monks of La Trappe and Ignatius Loyola himself. He believed that Pelagius, the Montanists, and other early heretics, as they are called, might be wise and holy men, despite their ignominious reputation; and, while he vindicates the orthodoxy of Michael Servetus, has, in the same breath, a word of commendation for John Calvin: I BELIEVE THAT CALVIN WAS A GREAT INSTRUMENT OF GOD; AND THAT HE WAS A WISE AND PIOUS MAN." His enlarged charity deemed the heathen capable of eternal life, and opened heaven even to the brute creation. Wesley was a man to be loved. these speculative views he may have been right or wrong; but they are an index to his soul, and prove that whatever else he may have been, he was certainly not a narrow sectarist, nor a cruel bigot. In all the atlases in his library, there was not one little map devoted to a Methodist heaven. The distinctive point of his Arminian creed, that REDEMPTION IS FOR THE WORLD, proves him to have been a person of large, generous, all-comprehending sympathy and love. His sentiments on ecclesiastical controversy are so apposite, that we must do ourselves the pleasure of adducing them :

In

more.

"We may die without the knowledge of many truths, and yet be carried into Abraham's bosom; but if we die without love, what will knowledge avail? just as much as it avails the devil and his angels! I will not quarrel with you about any opinion; only see that your heart be right towards God, that you know and love the Lord Jesus Christ, that you love your neighbour, and walk as your Master walked, and I desire no I am sick of opinions; I am weary to bear them; my soul loathes this frothy food. Give me solid and substantial religion give me a humble and gentle lover of God and man, a man full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy; a man laying himself out in the work of faith, the patience of hope, the labour of love. Let my soul be with these Christians, wheresoever they are, and whatsoever opinion they are of. 'Whosoever thus doth the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.'

And we add, capping this declaration with our heart's heartiest approval, Let every one that readeth this, say Amen. In illustration of this feature of his character, we have great pleasure in transferring to our pages the fine anecdote of the casual interview between the venerable Charles Simeon, then a young Calvinistic clergyman, and the aged apostle of Methodism, so creditable to the wisdom and piety of both :—

Three or four years after Simeon, whose name has since become sacred in the annals of the church of Christ, was ordained, this young minister had an opportunity of conversing with the great founder of Arminian Methodism; and, wishing to improve the opportunity to the uttermost, began to question him thus:

"Sir, I understand you are called an Arminian; now I am sometimes called a Calvinist, and therefore, I suppose, we are to draw daggers. But, before I begin to combat, with your

permission, I will ask you a few questions, not from impertinent curiosity, but for real instruction. Pray, sir, do you feel yourself a depraved creature, so depraved that you would never have thought of turning unto God, if God had not put it into your heart?"

66 "Yes," said the veteran, "I do indeed.”

"And do you utterly despair of recommending yourself to God by anything that you can do; and look for salvation solely through the blood and righteousness of Christ?"

"But, sir, supposing you were FIRST saved by Christ, are you not somehow or other to save yourself afterwards, by your good works?"

"No; I must be saved by Christ, from first to last."

66

Allowing, then, that you were first turned by the grace of God, are you not in some way or other to keep yourself by your own power?"

"No."

"What, then, are you to be upheld every hour and every moment by God, as much as an infant in its mother's arms?" "Yes, altogether."

"And is all your hope in the grace and mercy of God to preserve you unto his heavenly kingdom?"

"Yes; I have no hope but in Him."

"Then, sir, with your leave, I will put up my dagger again; for this is all my Calvinism; this is my election, my justification, my final perseverance. It is in substance all that I hold, and as I hold it; and therefore, if you please, instead of searching out terms and phrases to be a ground of contention between us, we will cordially unite in those things wherein we agree."

This is a true witness. It does not prove that Arminianism and Calvinism, as systems of theology, are the same. Far from it; but it does prove, that all systems taking justification by faith for their basis must be in their essential features much alike; that the caricatures which rival combatants have pre

sented of both, bear remote resemblance to the reality of either; and that the ground of salvation among the followers of Arminius and Calvin is in fact -the free grace of our risen Redeemer.

the same

Unlike many, unlike most enduring celebrities, Wesley was successful, popular, appreciated during his lifetime, nor had to wait for posthumous praise. This was, doubtless, owing in part to the practical bent his genius took, which was calculated to win popular regard, but also to the unequalled excellence he displayed in the line he had chosen. The man who was known to have travelled more miles, preached more sermons, and published more books than any traveller, preacher, author, since the days of the apostles, must have had much to claim the admiration and respect of his contemporaries. The man who exhibited the greatest disinterestedness all his life through, who has exercised the widest influence on the religious world, who has established the most numerous sect, invented the most efficient system of church polity, who has compiled the best book of sacred song, and who has thus not only chosen eminent walks of usefulness, but in every one of them claims the first place, deserved to be regarded by them, and by posterity, as no common man. A greater poet may rise than Homer or Milton, a greater theologian than Calvin, a greater philosopher than Bacon or Newton, a greater dramatist than any of ancient or modern fame, but a more distinguished revivalist of the churches, minister of the sanctuary, believer of the truth, and blessing to souls, than John Wesley-never. There was in his consummate nature that exquisite balance of power and will, that