They served God from a principle of servile fear, rather than of constraining love. Theirs was not a filial spirit, but a spirit of bondage. They could not "rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, and in every thing give thanks;" for they had not as yet "received the atonement:" nor did they see how the sacrificial blood of Christ, and the offices of the Holy Ghost, were to be made available in order to their present salvation from guilt, and from the evils of their fallen nature.

Mr. John Wesley received the deep religious convictions, to which reference has just been made, some years before his brother; concerning whom he says, "He pursued his studies diligently, and led a regular, harmless life; but if I spoke to him about religion, he would warmly answer, What, would you have me to be a saint all at once?' and would hear no more." Such was the state of Charles's mind when John, having been ordained Deacon by Bishop Potter, September 19th, 1725, and Priest the year following, left Oxford in August, 1727, for the purpose of being his father's Curate at Epworth and Wroote. John returned to Oxford in November, 1729, intending to take up his permanent residence there as a Tutor; and was rejoiced to find that, during his absence, and chiefly by means of his influence, his brother had become deeply serious, having for some months received the Lord's supper weekly, and prevailed upon two or three young men to do the same. These gentlemen had occasionally met together, to assist and encourage each other in their several duties. The exact regularity of their lives, as well as studies, occasioned a young gentleman of Christ Church to say, "Here is a new set of Methodists sprung up;" alluding, it is said, to some ancient

Physicians who were so called. The name was new and quaint; so it took immediately; and the Methodists were known all over the University. On Mr. John Wesley's arrival, he became one of their fraternity; and the direction of their concerns was gladly committed to his superior judgment.

Of this first Methodist society Mr. Wesley gives the following account :-" In November, 1729, four young gentlemen of Oxford, Mr. John Wesley, Fellow of Lincoln College, Mr. Charles Wesley, Student of Christ Church, Mr. Morgan, Commoner of Christ Church, and Mr. Kirkman, of Merton College, began to spend some evenings in a week together, in reading chiefly the Greek Testament. The next year two or three of Mr. John Wesley's pupils desired the liberty of meeting with them; and afterwards one of Mr. Charles Wesley's pupils. It was in 1732 that Mr. Ingham, of Queen's College, and Mr. Broughton, of Exeter, were added to their number. To these, in April, was joined Mr. Clayton, of Brazennose, with two or three of his pupils. About the same time Mr. James Hervey was permitted to meet with them, and afterwards Mr. Whitefield." *

This was the first Methodist society. It consisted exclusively of young men, whose theological views were imperfect, and whose experience was limited; yet they had a sincere desire to please God; and in diligence, self-denial, and active benevolence, they far surpassed many who have boasted of the superiority of their religious knowledge, and have despised these simple-hearted worshippers of God, and inquirers after truth. They instructed the children of the neglected poor; they visited the sick, and the prisoners in the common jail, for whom no other men seemed Works, vol. viii. p. 348.

to care; they gave attendance to secret prayer, public worship, and the Lord's table with scrupulous exactness; they observed the regular fasts of the Church ; they assisted each other in their studies, and watched over each other's spiritual interests with kindness and fidelity; and they conscientiously saved all the money that they could for pious and charitable purposes. Some grave men thought them "righteous overmuch, and attempted to dissuade them from an excess of piety; while profane wits treated them with sarcasm and contempt: but these young disciples of the cross showed the strength and sincerity of their convictions by patient perseverance in their plans of usefulness and devotion. They consulted the elder Mr. Wesley, at Epworth, who urged them forward in the course upon which they had entered.

An incident which Mr. Wesley has related in one of his sermons will serve to show the tenderness of his conscience, and the serious light in which he viewed his responsibility, during this part of his college life. "When I was at Oxford," says he, "in a cold winter's day, a young maid (one of those we kept at school) called upon me. I said, 'You seem half-starved. Have you nothing to cover you but this thin linen gown?' She said, 'Sir, this is all I have.' I put my hand in my pocket; but found I had scarce any money left, having paid away what I had. It immediately struck me, Will thy Master say, Well done, good and faithful steward? Thou hast adorned thy walls with the money which might have screened this poor creature from the cold! O justice! O mercy! Are not these pictures the blood of this poor maid? See thy expensive apparel in the same light; thy gown, hat, head-dress! Every thing about thee which cost more than Christian duty

required thee to lay out is the blood of the poor! O be wise for the time to come! Be more merciful! more faithful to God and man! more abundantly adorned with good works!

In another of his sermons, Mr. Wesley has given a very instructive view of the state of his heart at this period of his life, and of his ineffectual attempts to acquire the true Christian faith and love. "After carefully heaping up the strongest arguments I could find," says he, "either in ancient or modern authors, for the very being of a God, and (which is nearly connected with it) the existence of an invisible world, I have wandered up and down, musing with myself: 'What, if all these things which are around me, this earth and heaven, this universal frame, has existed from eternity? What, if that melancholy supposition of the old poet be the real case? What, if the generations of men be exactly parallel with the generation of leaves;' if the earth drops its successive inhabitants just as the tree drops its leaves? What, if that saying of a great man be really true?—

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'Death is nothing, and nothing is after death.'

How am I sure that this is not the case; that I' have not followed cunningly-devised fables ?'—And I have pursued the thought till there was no spirit in me, and I was ready to choose strangling rather than life.'" +

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With respect to the principle of divine love, he also inquires, "What can cold reason do in this matter? It may present us with fair ideas; it can draw a fine picture of love: but this is only a painted fire. And farther than this reason cannot go. I made the trial for many years. I collected the finest hymns, Ibid. vol. vi. p. 356.

Wesley's Works, vol. vii. p. 21.

prayers, and meditations, which I could find in any language; and I said, sung, or read them over and over, with all possible seriousness and attention. But still I was like the bones in Ezekiel's vision: 'The skin covered them above; but there was no breath in them.'"*

The society in Oxford had not been long under the guidance of Mr. John Wesley before it was called to mourn the loss of Mr. Morgan, who died at the commencement of his religious course. He was the son of an Irish gentleman, and evidently a person of fine temper and habits. Mr. Wesley addressed a letter to Mr. Morgan's father, stating several particulars respecting his deceased friend, and expressing the profoundest respect for his memory; and Mr. Samuel Wesley, the younger, wrote a poem on the occasion of his death. Mr. Morgan led his brethren into one department of useful and self-denying labour, by visiting a murderer under sentence of death.

Mr. Wesley's father died in April, 1735, and the living of Epworth was given away in May following; so that he now considered himself to be permanently fixed in the quiet retreat of Oxford, without future molestation; and there he hoped to render important service to the Church by promoting the spirit of piety among the men who were designed for the Christian ministry. Yet his hopes in this respect were overruled. The Trustees of the new colony of Georgia were greatly in want of zealous and active Clergymen, both to take care of the spiritual concerns of the settlers, and to teach Christianity to the Indian tribes in the neighbourhood. The Methodists of Oxford appeared likely to supply the desired agents; and Mr. John Wesley was requested to accept an appoint* Works, vol. vi. p. 359.