our ancestors, who have read the history of John Huss. Some of his followers endeavoured to repel force by force. The rest, having better learned Christ, obtained leave of George Podibrad, King of Bohemia, to retire and live apart. Retiring accordingly, in the year 1453, to a place on the borders of Silesia and Moravia, they lived in peace till the time of Luther and Calvin, with both of whom, as with their followers, they maintained a friendly intercourse," &c.

After spending about a fortnight at Hernhuth, Mr. Wesley says, "I would gladly have spent my life here; but my master calling me to labour in another part of his vineyard, I was constrained to take my leave of this happy place."-We shall have occasion to mention the Moravians again in this publication, and especially when we come to the subject of missions, in which Dr. Coke so much distinguished himself.

It was in September, 1738, that Mr. Wesley returned from Germany to London. He and his brother Charles were invited to preach in many parts of London, with which invitations they so complied, as frequently to preach three or four times a day. The points they chiefly insisted upon were, 1. That orthodoxy, or right opinion, is at best, but a very slender part of religion, if it be reckoned to be any part of it at all: that, neither does religion consist in negatives, or bare harmlessness: nor merely in externals, or doing good, or using the means of grace, in works of piety, so called, or of charity that it is nothing short of, or different from, the mind that was in Christ, the image of God stamped upon the heart, inward righteousness, attended with the peace of God, and joy in the Holy Ghost. 2. That the only way to this religion is, "Repentance towards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ." 3. That by this faith," He

that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, is justified freely by his grace, through the redemption which is in Jesus Christ." 4. That being "justified by faith," we taste of the heaven to which we are going : we are holy and happy: we tread down sin and fear, and sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." Many heard, and feared, and turned unto the Lord. A society was immediately raised, which continually increased. They were soon invited to other parts of the nation, and speedily established societies at Bristol, Newcastleupon-Tyne, in Yorkshire, Cornwall; and in a few years, in_all directions, East, West, North, and South. But reproaches were plentifully poured upon them, and especially upon Mr. John Wesley, who was the most active and leading man.

But these seem not to have moved him, but rather to have inflamed his zeal and invigorated his resolution. He pursued his labours with the zeal and steadiness of an apostle. His great support and stimulus was, that he believed what he was engaged in to be "The work of God," which he explained as being, ،، The conversion of sinners from sin to holiness. ' For the promotion of this, he considered himself and his fellow-helpers as chosen instruments. A passage in one of his Sermons, shall serve as a specimen of his ideas and language upon this point. "A few young raw heads, said the Bishop of London, what can they pretend to do ?-They pretended to be that in the hand of God, that a pen is in the hand of a man. They pretended, and do so at this day, to do the work whereunto they are sent; to do just what the Lord pleased. And if it be his pleasure to throw down the walls of Jericho, the strong holds of Satan, not by the engines of war, but by the blasts of rams' horns, who shall say unto him, What doest thou ?"

He considered Methodism, so called, not only

as a signal revival of religion, but as a principal preparative to the glory of the latter days, when the fulness of the Gentiles shall come in, and all Israel shall be saved.

Mr. Wesley's original plan is supposed to have been, to have formed an union of Clergyman of the established Church for promoting a revival of religion but this was a scheme which he found it impossible to carry into execution. In the year 1742, he strongly expressed his desire for a Clergyman who would help him in the work in which he was engaged but he added, "I know none such who is willing to cast in his lot with us. And I scarcely expect, I shall because I know how fast they are riveted in the service of the world and the devil, before they leave the University. And he had not much more success among the clergy in the later than in the first stages of Methodism. So that after sundry attempts by circular letters, and other methods, he abandoned the attempt.

And as he could not prevail upon the serious part of the clergy in the Church, to form an union subservient to his views, so hardly any clergymen seemed to be willing to share his labour and reproach by attaching himself to him, and becoming his coadjutor in the work. It is a fact, that Methodism has been very principally promoted by the labours of what have so often been denominated laymen. Even Mr. Grimshaw and Mr. Fletcher, though they were Methodists in principle, and occasionally associated with Mr. Wesley and his preachers, yet neither of them relinquished his Church to become a plain Methodist preacher. A very few clergymen, such as they were, threw in their lot with Mr. Wesley, in his latter days; but scarcely one of them was of any eminence or special service, Dr. Coke excepted. In addition to other good things that we shall have to say of him, we must not forget to

give him the honour due unto his name, that though very capable of making his way to honourable distinction in the Church, and with encouraging prospects from his friends and connexions, yet he chose rather to suffer labour, reproach, and affliction with Mr. Wesley, and the despised and persecuted Methodists, than to enjoy ease and emoluments among those who manifested so little piety, and exhibited so little zeal to promote the spread of truth and righteousness in the world. In a case so palpable and striking, one might think that there would be but one opinion as to such a man's motives. But, experience has often shewn that no man, and no conduct, can preserve persons from being suspected and reproached by some of their fellow creatures. It was so with Dr. Coke. Some thought, that he had an aspiring, though lurking ambition, to be one day at the head of the Methodists. This it is certain he never attained to, and yet he continued among them, and was their willing drudge in whatever service they thought proper to employ him. But to return to the infancy of Methodism.

One of the most novel and striking circumstances in the commencement of Methodism is, what is termed Field Preaching; that is, preaching in the open air, in the streets and lanes of the city, or in the highways, or wherever a congregation could assemble. Mr. Whitfield, it seems, was his predecessor in preaching in the open air, at least in England. The religious Societies before mentioned, not being able to provide a place that would contain one tenth of the people that crowded to hear Mr. Whitfield, he took his stand out of doors. Mr. Wesley went to Bristol, by Mr. Whitfield's invitation, and when he came thither, the largeness of the congregations induced him also to imitate his Lord and master, who preached in a ship, or on a mountain. Mr. Wesley, it seems, had preached

once, at least, in the open air, during his mission in America, in 1735, but it does not appear that he had any thoughts of doing so in England, til Mr. Whitfield had set him the example in Bristol. April the 2d, 1739, Mr. Wesley first preached in the open air, in England, which was on an eminence, in the suburbs of Bristol. And as his first effort as a Field-Preacher was at Bristol, so it is highly probable, it was at the same place he preached out of doors for the last time. He preached there, in Carolina Court, on the Sunday Evening, after the conclusion of the Conference, 1790, about five months before his death.

objections

Upon a serious consideration of the subject, it may appear remarkable that any objection should be made to preaching out of doors. Ezra stood upon a pulpit of wood, placed in the street, and read in the book of the law of Moses which the Lord had commanded to Israel, from the morning until mid-day, and the ears of all the people were attentive, Nehemiah, chap. 8. Abraham, Jacob, and other Patriarchs, frequently worshipped, or had their divine service, under an oak. And what is équal to a thousand instances, and an answer to ten thousand instances, the best Sermon that ever was, or ever will be delivered, was preached by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, in the open air, and upon a mountain. Mr. Wesley chose part of that Sermon for his text when he began to preach out of doors at Bristol. Perhaps it may not be improper, before we quit this topic, just to remark, that formerly, sundry of the dignified clergy in London made no scruple of holding forth at St. Paul's Cross, as some of the title-pages of their Sermons testify : and at Oxford itself there was a stone Pulpit out of doors, at the University, in which, in former days, many a great and learned man, thought it no disgrace to preach. But since the field preaching of