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still he was too judicious a man, too well acquainted with history and with human nature, not to feel a proper repugnance to the irregularity which he sanctioned, and to apprehend the ill consequences which were likely to ensue. He says himself, that to touch this point was at one time to touch the apple of his eye: and in his writings he carefully stated, that the preachers were permitted by him, but not appointed. One of those clergymen, who would gladly, in their sphere, have co-operated with the Wesleys, had they not disliked the extravagancies of Methodism, and foreseen the schism to which it was leading, objected to this distinction. "I fear, Sir," said he," that your saying you do not appoint, but only approve of the lay-preachers, from a persuasion of their call and fitness, savours of disingenuity. Where is the difference? Under whose sanction do they act? Would they generally think their call a sufficient warrant for commencing preachers, or be received in that capacity by your people, without your approbation, tacit or express? And what is their preaching upon this call, but a manifest breach upon the order of the Church, and an inlet to confusion, which, in all probability, will follow upon your death; and, if I mistake not, you are upon the point of knowing by your own experience."

But Wesley had so often been called upon to defend himself, that he perfectly understood the strength of his ground. Replying for his brother, and the few other clergymen who acted with him, as well as for himself, he made answer, "We have done nothing rashly, nothing without deep and long consideration, (hearing and weighing all objections,) and much prayer. Nor have we taken one deliberate step, of which we, as yet, see reason to repent. It is true, in some things we vary from the rules of our Church; but no further than, we apprehend, is our bounden duty. It is from a full conviction of this that we preach abroad, use extemporary prayer, form those who appear to be awakened into societies, and permit laymen, whom we believe God has called, to preach. I say permit, because we ourselves have

hitherto viewed it in no other light. This we are clearly satisfied that we may do; that we may do more, we are not satisfied. It is not clear to us that Presbyters, so circumstanced as we are, may appoint, or ordain others; but it is, that we may direct, as well as suffer them to do, what we conceive they are moved to by the Holy Ghost. It is true that, in ordinary cases, both an inward and an outward call are requisite ; but, we apprehend, there is something far from ordinary in the present case; and, upon the calmest view of things, we think, that they who are only called of God, and not of man, have more right to preach than they who are only called of man and not of God. Now, that many of the clergy, though called of man, are not called of God to preach his gospel, is undeniable: first, because they themselves utterly disclaim, nay, and ridicule the inward call; secondly, because they do not know what the gospel is; of consequence they do not, and cannot preach it. Dear Sir, coolly and impartially consider this, and you will see on which side the difficulty lies. I do assure you, this at present is my chief embarrassment. That I have not gone too far yet, I know; but whether I have gone far enough, I am extremely doubtful. I see those running whom God hath not sent; destroying their own souls, and those that hear them; perverting the right ways of the Lord, and blaspheming the truth as it is in Jesus. I see the blind leading the blind, and both falling into the ditch. Unless I warn, in all ways I can, these perishing souls of their danger, am I clear of the blood of these men? Soul-damning clergymen lay me under more difficulties than soul-saving laymen !"

He justified the measure, by showing how it had arisen: a plain account of the whole proceeding was, he thought, the best defence of it. “And I am bold to affirm," says he, in one of his Appeals to Men of Reason and Religion," that these unlettered men have help from God for that great work, the saving souls from death; seeing he hath enabled, and doth enable them still, to turn many to righteousness. Thus hath he destroyed the wisdom of

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the wise, and brought to nought the understanding of the prudent.' When they imagined they had effectually shut the door, and locked up every passage, whereby any help could come to two or three preachers, weak in body as well as soul, who they might reasonably believe would, humanly speaking, wear themselves out in a short time,-when they had gained their point, by securing (as they supposed) all the men of learning in the nation. He that sitteth in heaven laughed them to scorn, and came upon them by a way they thought not of. Out of the stones he raised up those who should beget children to Abraham. We had no more foresight of this than you. Nay, we had the deepest prejudices against it, until we could not but own that God gave wisdom from above to these unlearned and ignorant men, so that the work of the Lord prospered in their hands, and sinners were daily converted to God."

Zeal was the only qualification which he required. If the aspirant possessed no other requisite for his work, and failed to produce an effect upon his hearers, his ardour was soon cooled, and he withdrew quietly from the field; but such cases were not very frequent. The gift of voluble utterance is the commonest of all gifts; and when the audience are in sympathy with the speaker, they are easily affected:* the understanding makes no demand, provided the passions find their food. But, on the other hand, when enthusiasm was united with strength of talents and of character, Wesley was a skilful preceptor, who knew how to discipline the untutored mind, and to imbue it thoroughly with his system. He strongly impressed upon his preachers the necessity of reading to improve themselves. In reproving and advising one who had neglected this necessary disci

*Sewel relates, with all simplicity and sincerity, in his History of the Quakers, that his mother, a Dutch woman, preached in her native language to a congregation of English Friends, and that though they did not understand a single word, they were nevertheless edified by the discourse. A man returned from attending one of Whitefield's sermons, and said it was good for him to be there: the place, indeed, was so crowded, that he had not been able to get near enough to hear him: "but then," said he, "I saw his blessed wig!"

pline, he points out to him the ill consequences of that neglect. "Hence," he says, "your talent in preaching does not increase: it is just the same as it was seven years ago. It is lively, but not deep: there is little variety; there is no compass of thought.— Reading only can supply this, with daily meditation and daily prayer. You wrong yourself greatly by omitting this: you can never be a deep preacher without it, any more than a thorough Christian. Oh begin! Fix some part of every day for private exercises. You may acquire the taste which you have not: what is tedious at first, will afterwards be pleasant. Whether you like it or not, read and pray daily. It is for your life! there is no other way; else you will be a trifler all your days, and a pretty superficial preacher. Do justice to your own soul: give it time and means to grow: do not starve yourself any longer."

But when the disciple was of a thoughtful and inquiring mind, then Wesley's care was to direct his studies, well knowing how important it was that he should retain the whole and exclusive direction.Thus, in a letter to Mr. Benson, then one of the most hopeful, and since one of the most distinguished of his followers, he says, "When I recommend to any one a method or scheme of study, I do not barely consider this or that book separately, but in conjunction with the rest. And what I recommend, I know; I know both the style and sentiments of each author, and how he will confirm or illustrate what goes before, and prepare for what comes after. Therefore, I must insist upon it, the interposing other books between these is not good husbandry: it is not making your time and pains go as far as they might go. If you want more books, let me recommend more, who best understand my own scheme. And do not ramble, however learned the persons may be that advise you so to do."

To this disciple Wesley had occasion to say, "Beware you be not swallowed up in books! An ounce of love is worth a pound of knowledge." This kind of caution was not often wanted. Nor, although

many of his early preachers applied themselves diligently to the study of the languages, did he particularly encourage them in their desire of becoming learned men; for he perceived that, provided the preacher were thoroughly master of his system, and had the language of Scripture at command, the more, in other points of intellectual culture, he was upon a level with the persons among whom he was called to labour, the better would they comprehend him, and the more likely would he be to produce the desired effect. "Clearness," he says to one of his layassistants, "is necessary for you and me, because we are to instruct people of the lowest understanding; therefore we, above all, if we think with the wise, must yet speak with the vulgar. We should constantly use the most common, little, easy words (so they are pure and proper) which our language affords. When first I talked at Oxford to plain people in the castle or the town, I observed they gaped and stared. This quickly obliged me to alter my style, and adopt the language of those I spoke to; and yet there is a dignity in their simplicity, which is not disagreeable to those of the highest rank." Many of his ablest and most successful assistants perceived the good sense of this reasoning, and acted upon it. "I am but a brown-bread preacher," says Thomas Hanson, "that seek to help all I can to Heaven, in the best manner I can." Alexander Mather had received a good Scotch education in his boyhood, and was sometimes tempted to recover his lost Latin, and learn Greek and Hebrew also, when he observed the progress made by others who had not the same advantage to begin with.. But this desire was set at rest, when he considered that these persons were not more instrumental than before,

either in awakening, converting, or building up souls," which he regarded as the "only business, and the peculiar glory of a Methodist preacher. In all these respects they had been useful," he said, "but not more useful than when they were without their learning; and he doubted whether they had been so useful as they might have been, if they had

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