members of the Church of England, and desirous so to continue, begging the favour of your Lordship, after your Lordship had examined him, to ordain a pious man who might officiate as their Minister.

"But your Lordship observes, There are three Ministers in that country already?' True my Lord: but what are three, to watch over all the souls in that extensive country? -Will your Lordship permit me to speak freely? I dare not do otherwise. I am on the verge of the grave, and know not the hour when I shall drop into it. Suppose there were threescore of those Missionaries in the country, could I in conscience recommend these souls to their care? Do they take any care of their own souls? If they do (I speak it with concern) I fear they are almost the only Missionaries in America that do. My Lord, I do not speak rashly: I have been in America; and so have several with whom I have lately conversed. And both I and they know, what manner of men the far greater part of these are. They are men who have neither the power of religion nor the form; men that lay no claim to piety, nor even decency.

"Give me leave, my Lord, to speak more freely still: perhaps it is the last time I shall trouble your Lordship. I know your Lordship's abilities and extensive learning: 1 believe, what is far more, that your Lordship fears God. I have heard that your Lordship is unfashionably diligent in examining the Candidates for Holy Orders: yea, that your Lordship is generally at the pains of examining them yourself. Examining them! in what respects? Why whether they understand a little Latin and Greek; and can answer a few trite questions in the science of Divinity! Alas, how little does this avail! Does your Lordship examine, whether they serve Christ or Belial? Whether they love God or the world? Whether they ever had any serious thoughts about Heaven or Hell? Whether they have any real desire to save their own souls, or the souls of others? If not, what have they to do with Holy Orders? and what will become of the souls committed to their care?

My

66

My Lord, I do by no means despise learning: I know the value of it too well. But what is this, particularly in a Christian Minister, compared to piety? What is it in a man that has no religion? As a jewel in a swine's› ut.'

"Some time since I recommended to your Lordship a plain man, whom I had known above twenty years; as a person of deep, genuine piety, and of unblamable conversation. But he neither understood Greek nor Latin: and he affirmed, in so many words, that, He believed it was his duty to preach, whether he was ordained or no.' I believe so too. What became of him since, I know not. But I suppose he received Presbyterian ordination: and I cannot blame him if he did. He might think any ordination better than none.

"I do not know, that Mr. Hoskins had any favour to ask of the Society. He asked the favour of your Lordship to ordain him, that he might minister to a little flock in America. But your Lordship did not see good to ordain him but your Lordship did see good to ordain and send into America, other persons, who knew something of Greek and Latin; but knew no more of saving souls, than of catching whales.

"In this respect also, I mourn for poor America: for the sheep scattered up and down therein. Part of them have no Shepherds at all: particularly in the Northern colonies; and the case of the rest is little better, for their own Shepherds pity them not. They cannot, for they have no pity on themselves. They take no thought or care about their own souls.

"Wishing your Lordship every blessing from the Great Shepherd and Bishop of our souls,

I remain, my Lord,

Your Lordship's dutiful Son and Servant,

JOHN WESLEY."

In the midst of the multiplicity of affairs in which Mr. Wesley was concerned, he constantly paid atten

tion to the spiritual welfare, not only of the members of his own society, but of those persons with whom he occasionally corresponded. The following is an instance of this kind attention and brotherly care. Sir Harry Trelawney had been a Calvinist, and during this period, had probably been shy of Mr. Wesley's acquaintance. At length being convinced, that, the narrow, limited views of John Calvin, concerning the atonement of Christ, were not agreeable to the general tenor of the invitations, promises, and threatenings of the New Testament, he quitted them, and the party of the Calvinists. On this occasion, Mr. Wesley wrote to him, congratulating him on his escape, but at the same time warning him of the danger of running into the opposite extreme. This is so natural to the human mind, that it is difficult to be avoided and by yielding to this impulse in some doctrines of importance, it is to be feared that many have been destroyed. Experience will warrant the following observation: A speculative Calvinist, who, convinced of the errors of his system, becomes an Arminian so called, is in much greater danger of falling into low, mean, unscriptural notions of Christ and of the Christian salvation, than a speculative Arminian, who becomes a Calvinist. Mr. Wesley seems to have been of this opinion, when he kindly cautioned his friend, against the danger which lay

before him.

"For a long time, (says he) I have had a desire to see you, but could not find an opportunity; and indeed, I had reason to believe my company would not be agreeable: as you were intimate with those who think they do God service by painting me in the most frightful colours. It gives me much satisfaction to find, that you have escaped out of the hands of those warm men- -It is not at all surprising that

they

they should speak a little unkindly of you too, in their turn. It gave me no small satisfaction to learn from your own lips, the falsehood of their allegation. I believed it false before, but could not affirm it, so positively as I can

now.

"Indeed it would not have been without precedent, if from one extreme, you had run into another. This was the case with that great man Dr. Taylor. For some years he was an earnest Calvinist; but afterwards, judging he could not get far enough from that melancholy system, he ran, not only into Arianism, but into the very dregs of Socinianism. I have reason indeed to believe he was convinced of his

mistake, some years before he died. But to acknowledge this publicly, was too hard a task for one who had lived above eighty years.

You have need to be thankful on another account likewise; that is, that your prejudices against the Church of England are removing-Having had an opportunity of seeing several of the Churches abroad, and having deeply considered the several sorts of Dissenters at home, I am fully convinced, that our own church, with all her blemishes, is nearer the scriptural plan, than any other in Europe.

"I sincerely wish you may retain your former zeal for God; only, that it may be a zeal according to knowledge, But there certainly will be a danger of your sinking into a careless, lukewarm state, without any zeal or spirit at all. As you were surfeited with an irrational, unscriptural religion, you may easily slide into no religion at all: or, into a dead form, that will never make you happy either in this world, or in that which is to come. Wishing every scriptural blessing, both to Lady Trelawney and you,

I am, dear Sir,

Your affectionate Servant,

J. W."

Notwithstanding Mr. Wesley's itinerancy, his daily labour of preaching, visiting the societies, and extensive correspondence; yet he still found time to read

many

many books. And, what is rather singular, he often met with books that are very scarce, which many men of literature, with good libraries have never seen ; an instance of which will be given in speaking of the enlarged edition of his Philosophy-He read, not only books of divinity, of natural history, and moral philosophy, which came more immediately within the province of his profession, but books which treated of the most remote antiquity. Here investigation is difficult, the highest degree of evidence to be attained, a bare probability, and the subjects discussed are rather curious than useful in the conduct of life. Yet even these books Mr. Wesley read, with uncommon diligence and care, often collecting the substance of them into a small compass. The following is an instance of this kind.

September 1, 1781, He says "I made an end of reading that curious book, Dr. Parson's Remains of Japhet. The very ingenious author has struck much light into some of the darkest parts of ancient history. And although I cannot subscribe to every proposition which he advances, yet I apprehend, he has sufficiently proved the main of his hypothesis: namely,

That

"1. That after the flood, Shem and his descendants peopled the greatest parts of Asia: 2. That Ham and his children peopled Africa: 3. Europe was peopled by the two sons of Japhet, Gomer, and Magog: the Southern and the South-Western by Gomer, and his children: and the North and North-Western, by the children of Magog: 4. That the former were called Gomerians, Cimmerians, and Cimbrians ; and afterwards Celta, Galata, and Gauls: the latter were called by the general name of Scythians, Scuti, and Scots: 5. That the Gomerians, spread swiftly through the North of Europe, as far as the Cimbrian Chersonesus, including Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and divers other countries, and then into

Ireland,