that I save all I can, and give all I can; that is, all I have. "JOHN WESLEY."

"July 16th, 1790."

For nothing was he more remarkable than his love to children. Often did he lay his hands upon them, and bless them in the name of his great Master. He was in the habit of selecting small silver coins of peculiar freshness, and of presenting them to the children of his friends, as memorials of his affection.

In the improvement of time he was, perhaps, never exceeded. Through the greater part of his life he rose at four o'clock in the morning; and every moment of his waking hours was devoted to some useful object. Admirably did he exemplify his own rule, intended for the guidance of his Preachers :"Never be unemployed: never be triflingly employed, never while away time." "If any one," says he, "desires to know exactly what quantity of sleep his own constitution requires, he may very easily make the experiment which I made about sixty years ago. I then waked every night about twelve or one, and lay awake for some time. I readily concluded, that this arose from my lying longer in bed than nature required. To be satisfied, I procured an alarum, which waked me the next morning at seven; (near an hour earlier than I rose the day before ;) yet I lay awake again at night. The second morning I rose at six; but, notwithstanding this, I lay awake the second night. The third morning I rose at five · but, nevertheless, I lay awake the third night. The fourth morning I rose at four; (as, by the grace of God, I have done ever since ;) and I lay awake no more.' •Works, vol. vii. p. 69.

"*

His knowledge was comprehensive, and his conversational powers of a high order. Dr. Samuel Johnson, an unexceptionable judge, who knew him intimately, said, "He talks well on every subject."

His meekness in controversy was as remarkable as that with which he endured the rude treatment of vulgar and profane mobs. In two or three instances he rebukes his opponents "sharply," according to the apostolic admonition; but it was only in the case of men who treated him with every species of low abuse and insult, notwithstanding their inferiority to him in every thing but worldly property. He never attempted to make his opponents appear ridiculous. Specimens of defective scholarship which he detected in their writings, the public exposure of which he knew would wound their feelings, it appears to have been his practice to communicate to them privately; and for this he received the acknowledgments of Bishop Gibson, Dr. Church, and Dr. Taylor, as he himself has distinctly stated.* He also informed the late Dr. Adam Clarke, that he received the thanks of Bishop Warburton on the same account, haughty and dogmatical as that distinguished Prelate was.

The power which he possessed over the Preachers and the societies was often a subject of remark during his life, and it has created surprise since his death. It was a power which he never sought, and which he never abused. He received it as involving great responsibility, and made it his constant business to use it for the advancement of the work of God. The government which he exercised was truly paternal; and both the Preachers and societies felt it to be a blessing. His was no crooked and sinuous • Works, vol. x. p. 376.

M

policy, but a straightforward, upright, and Christian course, without selfishness, and without guile.

But it is with reference to that revival of religion, of which he was the chief instrument, that his character will ever be principally considered. He deIviated from the order of the Church to which he belonged; but only so far as he believed himself providentially called, and in those things where he felt that, in his case, the opposite conduct would be a sin. He saw impiety and wickedness every where prevalent; and he lifted up his warning voice, calling the people to repentance, that so iniquity might not be their ruin. He learned from his own experience, as well as from the Bible, that peace of conscience and purity of heart are attainable only through faith in Jesus Christ; and he proclaimed a full and present salvation to all who would thus accept it as the free gift of God. The consequence was, that awakened multitudes asked his spiritual advice, and begged of him to take them under his pastoral care. Hence the formation of societies. Then, among those very people, men who had never received a formal appointment to the Christian ministry began to preach to others the truth which they had themselves received. These he attempted to prevent; but finding that they possessed the requisite piety, knowledge, and talents for the work which they had undertaken, and that they were so far sanctioned by the divine blessing as that sinners were, by their means, reclaimed and converted, he was compelled to submit; being very much in the situation of St. Peter, when, in justification of his own proceedings with respect to Cornelius, he emphatically said, "What was I, that I could withstand God?"

Thus led into a course of usefulness which he had never contemplated, and to which, in the first instance, he had a strong aversion, he devoted his life to the one object of spreading true religion in the world. The things which he attempted to advance were not the mere forms and circumstantials of Christianity, much less matters of doubtful disputation; but solid virtue; the love of God, and of all mankind; happiness in God, and entire conformity to his will. For these great purposes he preached, and wrote, and travelled, and sustained the charge of the numerous societies aud Preachers; adjusting their differences, solving their doubts, and directing their movements. From these all-absorbing enterprises of truth and charity nothing could draw him aside. Neither the caresses of friends, nor the occasional perverseness of individuals among his own people, nor the opposition of furious mobs, nor the incessant and bitter peltings of the press, could induce him to falter in his career, or suspend his labours for a single day. Weaknesses and infirmities he had, for he was a fallen man; but who among his detractors emulate his active zeal, and patient, laborious love? spiritual children will ever bless God for raising up such an instrument of good, especially in an age of infidelity, lukewarmness, and irreligion; for crowning his efforts and plans with such unexampled success; and for supporting him under cares and discouragements which feeble human nature could never of itself have sustained.

His

CHAPTER VI.

THE PROGRESS OF RELIGION

AFTER MR. WESLEY'S

DEATH.

THE death of its Founder formed a crisis in Wesleyan Methodism. While he lived, he was a bond of union, both to the Preachers and to all the societies; but whether their unity could be preserved. when his personal influence was no longer felt, was a question of very difficult solution, concerning which there were great searchings of heart in many quarters. If the "Deed of Declaration" could be acted upon, so that the governing power which that instrument created should be generally acknowledged, there could be no just ground of painful apprehension; but if these objects could not be gained, the breaking up of the Connexion was inevitable. The Preachers felt the awful responsibility of their situation, and pledged themselves to abide by the principles which had regulated Mr. Wesley's conduct from the beginning. Some of them were men of more than ordinary experience, wisdom, and integrity. Among these, William Thompson and Alexander Mather stood pre-eminent. They were men of strong sense, sound discretion, firm purpose, deep piety; and were solemnly impressed with the justness of Mr. Wesley's plans, which they also thoroughly understood. These men of God, supported by their brethren, were a means of preserving the Methodist system in unimpaired efficiency in those critical times, and have thus laid the successive generations of both Preachers and people under lasting obligations.

The first attempt to set aside the "Deed of De