Minister of God, wandering to and fro, without a resting place, to seek the lost sheep of the house of Israel, art thou at times weary? Dost thou long for a home and repose? Do thy little ones die in thy absence, and are their graves scattered in the land? Cheer thee, brother, thy home is above, and a rest remaineth for thee there.

Aged pilgrim, art thou bending over thy staff, like the patriarch "seeking a better country;" do thy aged limbs tremble on the way? Be of good courage, the difficult heights before thee are the "Delectable Mountains." Struggle on; thou art on the threshold of thy home: there is rest for thee there.

Afflicted saint, is it thy lot not to do, but suffer the will of thy Lord? Art thou weary and weak, and in pains; are weeks or months of languishing before thee? "Trust thou in the Lord for ever," for thy "light afflictions" are "but for a moment," compared with the "rest that remaineth" for thee. Suffer on, the end is at hand, when thou shalt "enter into his rest."

2

WESLEY'S CHARACTER.

"A prince and a great man in Israel."-David.

I HAVE known few men who had greater ability in the discrimination of human character than Judge M.,-an ability which he had acquired as well by extensive biographical reading as by the study of life.

He had been reading Southey's Life of Wesley. "It is a most interesting production,” said he, "but very unsatisfactory. Its style is a specimen of pure and vigorous English, and its materials are singularly rich, even romantic, but it lacks unity, and the final impression is vague. Some of the sketches of Wesley's helpers,' as they are called, would adorn the romances of chivalry; but I have received from the book no definite idea of Wesley himself."

I found, nevertheless, that the idea he had received, however indefinite, was not too favorable.

Watson's pungent and eloquent critique on Southey had just appeared. I sent it to him, accompanied with Moore's Life of Wesley. While reading them, he frequently sent to my library for other publications which were re

ferred to by these writers, particularly the works of Wesley, Gillies, Whitefield, &c. On returning them, he expressed the interest he had felt in their perusal.

"I have never before," said he, "given so much attention to an ecclesiastical subject. Wesley's character is itself a study. To one who has not examined these works I should hesitate to express fully my estimate of him. He equaled Luther in energy and courage, while he excelled him in prudence and learning. He equaled Melancthon in learning and prudence, while he surpassed him in courage and energy; and there are few of the excellences of both the Wittemberg reformers which were not combined and transcended in his individual character.

"He possessed in an eminent degree one trait of a master mind-the power of comprehending at once the general outlines and the details of plans, the aggregate and the integrants. It is this power which forms the philosophical genius in science; it is indispensable to the successful commander and the great statesman. It is illustrated in the whole economical system of Methodism—a system which, while it fixes itself to the smallest locality with the utmost detail and tenacity, is

sufficiently general in its provisions to reach the ends of the world, and still maintain its unity of spirit and discipline.

"No man knew better than Wesley the importance of small things. You recollect that his whole financial system was based on weekly penny collections; and it was a rule of his preachers never to omit a single preaching appointment, except when the risk of life or limb' required. So far as I can judge, he was the first to apply extensively the plan of tract distribution. He wrote, printed, and scattered over the kingdom, placards on almost every topic of morals and religion. In addition to the usual services of the church, he introduced what you call the band meeting, the class meeting, the prayer meeting, the love feast, and the watch night. Not content with his itinerant laborers, he called into use the less available powers of his people, by establishing the departments of local preachers, exhorters, and leaders. It was, in fine, by gathering together fragments, by combining minutiæ, that he formed that powerful system of spiritual means which is transcending all others in the evangelization of the world.

"It was not only in the theoretical construction of plans that Wesley excelled; he was, if

possible, still more distinguished by practical energy. The variety and number of his labors would be absolutely incredible to me with less authentic evidence than that which corroborates them. He was perpetually traveling and preaching, studying and writing, translating and abridging, superintending his societies, and applying his great plans. According to one of these authors, he traveled usually five thousand miles a year, preaching twice and thrice a day, commencing at five o'clock in the morning; and in all this incessant traveling and preaching he carried with him the studious and meditative habits of the philosopher. No department of human inquiry was omitted by him. 'History, poetry, and philosophy,' says he, 'I read on horseback.'

"Wesley, like Luther, knew the importance of the press; he kept it teeming with his publications, and his itinerant preachers were good agents for their circulation. And here [opening one of the volumes] is a sentence addressed to them on the subject which indicates his character:- Carry them with you through every round; exert yourselves in this; be not ashamed, be not weary, leave no stone unturned.' His works, including abridgments and translations, amounted (if I estimate rightly) to