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JOHN WESLEY UNDER TWO ASPECTS.

SOUTHEY'S 'Life of Wesley' is one of the most interesting biographies in the language. It is the work of a thoroughly honest man, of a great master of English, and of a writer who, as far as conscientious diligence could make him, was well acquainted with his subject. There was much, however, in the extraordinary movement which owed its origin to Wesley with which Southey was scarcely competent to deal, and we meet sometimes with observations curiously inconsistent with the author's character as an orthodox Christian and sound Churchman. But the Life' loses nothing of its charm from faults like these; and Coleridge, who in his Notes on the work pointed out Southey's errors of judgment, has declared that the volumes were oftener in his hands than any other in his "ragged book-regiment." "How many and many an hour of self-oblivion," he adds, “do I owe to this 'Life of Wesley'; and how often have I argued with it, questioned, remon

strated, been peevish, and asked pardon-then again listened, and cried, 'Right!' 'Excellent!'-and in yet heavier hours entreated it, as it were, to continue talking to me-for that I heard and listened, and was soothed, though I could make no reply."

Wesley's remarkable career, and the marvellous work which he achieved, have afforded a fruitful field of discussion from his own day to the present. He was a dogmatist, a controversialist, a theologian who loved his least important opinion better than his best friend; a man of undaunted courage, of acute though not of profound intellect; an enthusiast, as every man must be who achieves great results in the face of great opposition; and he possessed the power, common to all born rulers, of attracting everyone who came within his influence. As an orator he was surpassed by Whitefield, but in intellectual strength, in breadth of culture, in administrative skill, Wesley was beyond comparison superior to his friend. In any department of life demanding vast energy and organizing power Wesley would have achieved success, and though his chief gifts lay in action, there are indications that he might, had he pleased, have attained considerable reputation as a man of letters. Methodism, it may be observed, has produced no

literature of abiding value.

A few of Charles

Wesley's hymns take rank, indeed, with the best in the language, and are likely to form a permanent portion of our hymnody, but beyond these we know of nothing amidst the vast number of publications circulated by this body which has an interest for readers who do not belong to it. Books of a devotional character have been issued from the Methodist press by hundreds and by thousands, and are probably read by Wesleyans; but even of such books there is not one which, like the 'Holy Living' of Taylor, the 'Saint's Rest' of Baxter, or the splendid allegory of Bunyan, has obtained universal recognition.

Wesley himself was a prolific writer. He appears always to have had some work on hand, and what he began he was certain to complete. Although during a great part of his life he travelled from four to five thousand miles yearly on horseback or in a carriage, and generally preached twice every day, his pen was far from idle. He made use of the minutes most of us are apt to lose, and his works, it is needless to say, fill many volumes. Six of these (in the edition of 1813) are occupied by the 'Journal,' which forms a curious medley of spiritual experiences, marvellous and amusing incidents, and personal statements, which, when put together,

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supply a life-like picture of the writer. How, amidst his innumerable occupations, he could find time to write such a record of his public and private career, it is difficult to say; but Wesley's whole course was one of conflict, and of triumph over circumstances, and he exemplified the noble saying of Shakespeare that "in the reproof of chance lies the true proof of men."

The Journal," although the most readable of Wesley's writings, is, we suspect, not often read in the present day. It exhibits Wesley under a variety of aspects. His constant eagerness to gain knowledge, a feature of character in which he resembled Dr. Johnson, his sagacity in ordinary affairs, his amazing and growing credulity with regard to spiritual phenomena, his keen observation, his cheerful disposition and physical activity, which prevented him from brooding over griefs that would have given sleepless nights to more sensitive men, his curious lack of reticence, his unfailing confidence in his own judgment-all these traits stand out prominently in the Journal,' and will partly amuse and partly irritate the reader. Moreover, this curious book affords much information with regard to the manners of the age, and it is no small boon to obtain this information from a writer who is always

accurate in his statements, save when, as in his account of the Moravians, his violent prejudices get the better of his honesty.

Unlike some religious enthusiasts, who treat all human learning as dross, Wesley valued highly the advantages he had gained from a University training. At college he became eminent in logic, and no man, according to his biographer, was ever more dexterous in the art of reasoning; he gave great attention to mathematics, studied Hebrew and Arabic, and laid out a plan of study which, if it were not strictly followed, showed at least the extent of his ambition. For a time, indeed, in the first warmth of religious zeal, his fanaticism overpowered his judgment, and during his voyage to Virginia, in which, by the way, he learnt German, he wrote to his brother Samuel begging him to banish all such poison from his school as the classics which were usually read there; but this feeling was not lasting, and notwithstanding the incessant whirl of his afterlife, he never wholly neglected the great writers of Greece and Rome. In his old age he writes: "1 saw the Westminster scholars act the Adelphi' of Terence, an entertainment not unworthy of a Christian. O how do these heathens shame us! Their very comedies contain both excellent sense,

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