deception; and that there is no state, attainable in this life, beyond which believers can make no progress. It is the privilege and duty of the best and holiest of men to rise higher and higher in the Divine life, till their spirits return to God, and they enter into His joy.

Having settled the question of doctrine, so far as the two great blessings of justification and sanctification are concerned,-blessings which constitute the Christian salvation, are attainable in the present life, and attainable by faith, the members of the Conference entered upon the consideration of matters of discipline and order, including personal conduct, their relation to the Established Church, the preaching of laymen, and the regulations they should introduce among the people who placed themselves under their pastoral care. As to their personal conduct, they agreed, in substance, to a series of regulations, which were afterwards known as the "Twelve Rules of a Helper;" certainly one of the finest codes of ministerial morality the Christian church has ever seen.- "The best general method of preaching," they agreed, is," to invite, to convince, to offer Christ, to build up; and to do this, in some measure, in every sermon."

The people under their care they divided into four classes: The United Societies, the Bands, the Select Societies, and the Penitents. The United Societies, it is said, "consist of awakened persons, a part" of whom "are supposed to have received remission of sins, and are more closely united in the Bands. Those of the Bands who seem to walk in the light of God compose the Select Societies. Those of them who are for the present fallen from grace meet apart as Penitents." The Rules of the United Societies, and the Rules of the Bands, which had been previously drawn up, were read and carefully re-considered; but no Rules for the Penitents were agreed upon. As to "the best way of spreading the Gospel," they thought that this would be "to go a little and little farther from London, Bristol, St. Ives, Newcastle, or any other Society;" thus making the places where Societies were already formed centres of evangelical operation. They add, "So a little leaven would spread with more effect, and less noise; and help would always be at hand."

Lay-preaching they regard as lawful, because it was necessary. Without it the pressing wants of the people could not be met. Even the clerical members of the Conference deemed it better that unordained men should preach the Gospel, than that immortal souls, redeemed by the blood of the Son of God, should perish for lack of knowledge. They would obey the bishops and canons of the Church as far as they could with a good conscience; and when it was suggested that their irregular proceedings might ultimately produce a separation from the national Establishment, they say, "We cannot with a good conscience neglect the present opportunity of saving souls while we live, for fear of consequences which may possibly or probably happen after we are dead."

The spirit in which the members of this Conference conducted their deliberations was eminently religious. They spent some time in prayer before they entered upon the business for which they were convened; and

said, "It is desired that all things be considered as in the immediate presence of God; that we may meet with a single eye, and as little children, who have everything to learn; that every point may be examined from the foundation; that every person may speak freely what is in his heart; and that every question proposed may be fully debated, and bolted to the

bran.'"

When the Methodists of that time went to their parish churches, they often found themselves made the direct objects of attack from the pulpit; and hence the question was proposed, "How should we behave under a false or railing sermon?" The answer given is, "If it only contain personal reflections, we may quietly suffer it if it blaspheme the work and Spirit of God, it may be better to go out of the church. In either case, if opportunity serve, it would be well to speak or write to the minister."

When these ten Methodist preachers, clerical and lay, were assembled in a retired room of the old Foundery, (an obscure building, which had formerly been used for casting cannon for the army, had been shattered by a terrible explosion of steam, and then fitted up as a place of worship,) and conducting their deliberations in the unpretending spirit of "children, who had everything to learn;" they little imagined that they were laying down a platform which would survive their times, and introduce great changes not only in Christian communities, but in the general habits of society. As little did they think that the Annual Conference, which they were then originating, would become one of the most important institutions in the world; a central power, designed, by the blessing of Almighty God, to convey religious benefits to every quarter of the globe ;—and that, in the course of a century, it would serve as a model for framing other institutions of the same kind both at home and abroad.

The doctrines which they agreed to teach have been, and still are, the staple doctrines of the Methodist pulpit; and, to a considerable extent, are adopted by other Christian churches. Salvation by Jesus Christ is now preached in pulpits where a hundred years ago scarcely anything was heard but heathen morality, very slightly modified by New-Testament phraseology; and a free and unrestricted offer of Christ as a Saviour is now heard in quarters where it was formerly maintained that the benefits of His cross and passion were never intended for mankind in general, but only for a select and definite number,-since for the rest He never either died or made intercession.

The elements of church-discipline which were agreed upon at this first Conference are still carried into practical effect by Wesleyan Methodists all the world over. Persons who are convinced of sin, and desire to flee from the wrath to come, are united together in religious fellowship, that they may be the helpers of each other's joy, and watch over each other in love; and no words can adequately express the benefits which have resulted from the organization of these Societies, and their weekly class-meetings. It is no exaggeration to say, that by these means many tens of thousands of people, men and women, young and old, have been led to the enjoyment of

God's favour, restrained from worldliness and sin, stimulated and encouraged in their Christian course, until at length they passed in peace and triumph to the society of angels and the sight of their glorified Saviour. It is generally found, that in exact proportion as Methodist people grow in grace they prize the weekly class-meeting; and, as they lose their spirituality, their attendance upon this means of grace becomes irksome and irregular. In all ages godly people have associated together for religious exercises; but seldom has their union been so complete as that which subsists in the Methodist Societies and classes, the organization of which the first Conference distinctly recognised.

The results of this Conference were so satisfactory and beneficial, that Mr. Wesley resolved to hold from year to year a similar meeting with his fellow-labourers, in which they would review their past proceedings, reexamine their principles of action, correct what they might find wrong, and nerve themselves and each other afresh for the great work to which they deemed themselves providentially called. Accordingly, Conferences were annually held till 1748, of which the Minutes were published. The debates which are here recorded relate almost exclusively to doctrine and' discipline; to doctrine, as it is connected with personal salvation and experience; and to discipline, with respect to themselves and the Societies under their care. The members of the Conference re-affirm the conclusions to which they had formerly come on the all-important subject of justification by faith, and the privilege of believers to attain, in this life, to the state of entire sanctification to God.

At this time the Wesleys and their friend Whitefield had separated from each other on account of their theological differences; their very zealous and eloquent brother having embraced the tenets of the Genevan Reformer respecting the doctrine of predestination and its concomitants, while they adhered to the matured tenets of the Leyden Professor, and of a man still more eminent,-Melanchthon, the friend and associate of Luther. Yet, in the doctrinal discussions of these early Conferences, while we observe a distinct recognition of general redemption, of the free agency of man, and of the conditionality of the covenant of grace, there is not only an absence of all asperity, but even of the semblance of controversy on the points of dispute. It has often appeared to us, that for nothing was Mr. Wesley more remarkable than for his admirable moderation. Hard as he was often pressed by his assailants, he was never driven either into the Pelagian or the semi-Pelagian quagmire, or into that of the Necessitarians. To the end of his life he kept in the just medium between these extremes; magnifying, on the one hand, the free grace of God, and yet never losing sight of the responsibility and the obligations of men. In these Minutes it is confessed that "the truth of the Gospel lies very near both to Calvinism and Antinomianism;" "as it were, within a hair's breadth. So that it is altogether foolish and sinful, because we do not quite agree with either one or the other, to run from them as far as ever we can." "We may come to the very edge of Calvinism, in ascribing all

good to the free grace of God; in denying all natural free will, and all power, antecedent to grace; and in excluding all merit from man, even for what he has or does by the grace of God." "We may come to the edge of Antinomianism, in exalting the merits and love of Christ," and "in rejoicing evermore." The "sermons" which they found "by experience to be attended with the greatest blessing," they say, are "such as are most close, convincing, particular; such as have most of Christ, the Priest, the Atonement; such as urge the heinousness of men's living in contempt or ignorance of Him."

The spirit which pervades these early Minutes is as admirable as the sentiments which they embody; fully corresponding with the temper of the men, who agreed, while they were in Conference, to have an especial care to set God always before them; in the intermediate hours to visit none but the sick; to spend all the time that remained in retirement; and to give themselves unto prayer for one another, and for the blessing of God upon their deliberations. Such was the spirit of these plain men, overlooked by the generality of their contemporaries, and still despised and reproached by secular politicians and ecclesiastical dignitaries; but strong in the Lord, wielding a power which the world was unable to resist, and forming plans of which the benefits are likely to extend till the end of time.

In these records they deny that any particular plan of church-government is laid down in the New Testament, as binding upon Christians in perpetuity; and express their belief that it was in the Divine intention that Christians should be at liberty to adopt such forms as the exigency of God's work should from time to time require. They were willing to observe the rubrics and canons of the Established Church, and even to obey the bishops, as far as they could without violating their consciences; but beyond that limit they would not go, especially while the people around them were perishing by thousands for lack of knowledge. The same rule they agreed to observe toward one another. They would submit to one another as far as they could with a good conscience, but no farther. "This," they say, "is that grand principle of every man's right to private judgment, in opposition to implicit faith in man, on which Calvin, Luther, Melanchthon, and all the ancient Reformers, both at home and abroad, proceeded: 'Every man must think for himself; since every man must give an account for himself to God.'"

For nothing are these early Minutes more remarkable than for the clear, rational, and scriptural manner in which they trace the order of the work of grace in the soul of man, from its commencement to its consummation. In the "Morning Exercises Methodized," delivered by some of the most eminent ministers who flourished in England during the latter part of the seventeenth century, the plan of salvation is treated in the following order: -Effectual calling; the believer's union with Christ; justification; regeneration and adoption; saving faith; repentance. In this enumeration the direct and abiding witness of the Holy Spirit to the fact of the believer's

personal adoption is not specified as an essential element in the common salvation; and the order of the subjects mentioned, if it has any signification, cannot but perplex a penitent transgressor of God's law, who inquires, "What must I do to be saved?" According to the doctrine of these Minutes the following is the order of God in the process of personal salvation; the Holy Spirit affording, at every step, not only His guidance, but His quickening power and gracious aid :-Repentance, with its appropriate fruits; faith in Christ, as a Sacrifice for sin and a Saviour from it; free justification through His blood; the witness of adoption, dispelling guilty fear, and producing a joyous sense of the favour of God; love to God for so great a benefit, producing love to all mankind, and especially to the children of God,-this love being the principle of the new birth, of sanctification, and of all holiness; evangelical obedience then following, as the fruit of faith and of holy love. The man who is thus changed in his relation to God, and in his entire spirit and temper, is a new creature, the workmanship of God; and thence enters upon the privileges, enjoyments, and duties of the Christian life.

A modern writer, who claims to speak with authority on theological subjects, and affects to treat them in a philosophical manner, places the doctrines of Methodism in contrast to those of Luther. He represents the Methodists, both Calvinistic and Arminian, as ignoring the doctrine of justification by faith, or, at least, as merging it, if not altogether, yet to a great extent, in the new birth. Speaking of Methodism, he says, "Its great doctrine was not the great doctrine of the first Reformation. In place of justification by faith came the doctrine of the new birth. Luther had to take the soul out of the hands of the priest, by giving it a sense of pardon and safety independent of the services of that functionary. But the evil spirit to be expelled by Whitefield and Wesley was formalism.......They left metaphysics to philosophers, and history to historians, and preached the means of a great moral and spiritual renovation to those who needed it. That was the present truth' for their time, and it did its work."*

This statement appears plausible; it is presented in the form of a pretty antithesis, and is doubtless believed by the writer. But it is not true. "Formalism" was one evil with which Methodism undertook to contend in the time of its great leaders here mentioned; but it was not even the principal "evil spirit" by which the people of England were then possessed. "Formalism" implies a serious and orderly performance of religious duties; but this was not a characteristic of the nation when the Wesleys and Whitefield entered upon their extraordinary career of ministerial labour. The colliers of Kingswood and Staffordshire, the miners of Cornwall, and the keelmen of Newcastle, among whom the Wesleys and Mr. Whitefield had their greatest success, were not religious formalists, accustomed with their prayer-books to a regular attendance upon the church and sacrament; nor was this the general character of the English people at the time in

* English Nonconformity. By Robert Vaughan, D.D. Pp. 469, 470.