lar, which make part of the profeffion of all religions, differ effentially from the opinions of the predeftinarians; and, from manifold obfervation, I am certain, that the reception of the doctrine of predeftination, as an article of belief, does not neceffarily imply thofe practical confequences which might feem deducible from it. The language, at leaft, of our lower claffes of people is almost universally founded upon it; but when one of them dies of an infectious disease, notwithstanding the bystanders all fpeak of the event as fated and inevitable, yet each, for himself, does not the lefs avoid the infection, or the lefs recur to medical aid, if attacked by it. With refpect to Mr. How ard, he never feemed to adopt the idea that he was moved by an irrefiftible impulfe to his defigns; for they were the subject of fuch thought and difcuffion nor did he confront dangers because he had a perfuafion that he fhould be preferved from their natural confequences, but becaufe he was elevated above them. This fentiment he has himself more than once expreffed in print; and furely none could be either more rational, or more adequate to the effects produced. "Being in the way of my duty (fays he), I fear no evil." I may venture to affirm, that thofe of the medical profeffion, whofe fearleffness is not merely the refult of habit, must reafon upon the fame principle, when they calmly expofe themselves to fimilar hazards. They, for the most part, ufe no precautions againft contagion: Mr. Howard did ufe fome; though their effects were probably trifling compared with that of his habitual temperance and cleanlinefs, and his untroubled ferenity of mind. On the whole, his religious confidence does not appear to have been of a nature different from that of other pious men; but to be fo fteadily and uniformly under its influence, and to be elevated by it to fuch a fuperiority to all worldly confiderations, can be the lot of none but thofe who have formed early habits of referring every thing to the divine will, and of fixing all their views on futurity. "From Mr. Howard's connections with thofe fects who have ever fhewn a particular abhorrence of the frauds and fuperftitions of popery, it might be fuppofed, that he would look with a prejudiced eye on the profeffors and minifters of that perfuafion. But fuch was his veneration of true vital religion, that he was as ready to pay it honour when he met with it in the habit of a monk, as under the garb of a teacher: and throughout his works, as well as in conversation, he ever dwelt with great complacency on the pure zeal for the good of mankind, and genuine Christian charity, which he frequently difcovered among the Roman catholic clergy, both regular and fecular. He was no friend to that hafty diffolution of convents and monafteries which formed part of the multifarious reforms of the late emperor of Germany. He pitied the aged inmates, male and female, of thefe quiet abodes, who were driven from their beloved retreats into the wide world, with a very flender and often ill paid pittance for their fupport. "Why might not they (he would fay) be fuffered gradually to die away, and be tranfplanted from one religious houfe to another as their numbers leffened?" I hofe orders which make it the great duty of their profeffion to attend with the kindeft affiduity upon the fick and imprifoned, and who therefore came continually within his notice, feemed to conciliate his good-will to the whole fraternity; and the virtues of order, decency, fobriety, and charity, fo much akin to his own, naturally inclined him to a kind of fellowship with them. He rigoroufly, however, abftained from any compliances with their worship which he thought unlawful; and gave them his esteem as men, without the leaft difpofition to concur with them as theologians. "Such were the great lines of Mr. Howard's character;- lines ftrongly marked, and fufficient to difcriminate him from any of thofe who have appeared in a part fomewhat fimilar to his own on the theatre of the world. The union of qualities which fo peculiarly fitted him for the poft he undertook, is not may be employed to effect the fame purposes; and, with respect to the objects of police and humanity concerning which he occupied himself, the information he has collected will render the repetition of labours like his unneceffary. To propofe as a model, a character marked with fuch fingularities, and, no doubt, with fome foibles, would be equally vain and injudicious; but his firm attachment to principle, high sense of honour, pure benevolence, unfhaken conftancy, and indefatigable perfeverance, may properly be held up to the view of all perfons occupying important ftations, or engaged in not likely, in our age, again to take ufeful enterprifes, as place; yet different combinations lefs to be imitated, than admired.” VIEW of the CHARACTER of JOHN WESLEY. [From the MEMOIRS of the late Reverend JOHN WESLEY. With a Review of his Life and Writings, &c. by JOHN HAMPSON, A. B.] "THE HE figure of Mr. Wesley was remark able. His ftature was of the loweft his habit of body in every period of life, the reverfe of corpulent, and expreffive of ftrict temperance, and continual exercife; and notwithstanding his fmall fize, his step was firm, and his appearance, till within a few years of his death, vigorous and mufcular. His face, for an old man, was one of the finest we have feen. A clear, fmooth forehead, an aquiline nofe, an eye the brightest and the most piercing that can be conceived, and a freshness of complection, fcarcely ever to be found at his years, and in preffive of the moft perfect health, confpire to render him a venerable and interesting figure. Few have feen him, without being ftruck with his appear 5 ance and many, who had been greatly prejudiced against him, have been known to change their opinion, the moment they were introduced into his prefence. In his countenance and demeanour, there was a chearfulnefs mingled with gravity; a fprightlinefs, which was a natural refult of an unufual flow of fpirits, and was yet accompanied with every mark of the moft ferene tranquility. His afpect particularly in profile, had a strong character of acuteness and penetration. "In drefs, he was a pattern of neatnefs and fimplicity. A narrow, plaited ftock, a coat with a small upright collar, no buckles at his knees, no filk or velvet in any part of his apparel, and a head as white as fnow, gave an idea of fomething primi. primitive and apoftolical while an air of neatness and cleanlinefs was diffused over his whole perfon. "His rank, as a preacher, is pretty generally under ftood. His attitude in the pulpit was graceful and eafy; his action calm and natural, yet pleafing and expreffive: his voice not loud, but clear and manly; his ftyle neat, fimple, perfpicuous: and admirably adapted to the capacity of his hearers. "His difcourfes, in point of compofition, were extremely different, on different occafions. When he gave himself fufficient time for ftudy, he facceeded; and when he did not, he frequently failed. A clear proof, that the employments, in which he was engaged, were too numerous, and the economy, to which he gave himfelf up, too tedious and minute, for a man who generally appeared in the pulpit twice or thrice a-day. We have frequently heard him, when he was excellent; acute and ingenious in his obfervations, accurate in his defcriptions, and clear and pointed in his expofitions. Not feldom however have we found him the reverse. He preached too frequently; and the confequence was inevitable. On fome occafions, the man of fenfe and learning was totally obfcured. He became flat and infipid. His obfervations were trite and common; his expofitions of fcripture forced and unnatural, and the whole fubftance of his fermons disjointed and out of courfe. He of ten appeared in the pulpit, when to tally exhaufted with labour and want of reft: for, wherever he was, he made it a point to preach, if he could ftand upon his legs. Many have remarked, that when he fell into anec dote and ftory-telling, which was not feldom, his difcourfes were little to the purpose. The remark is true, We have fcarcely ever heard from him a tolerable fermon, in which a ftory was introduced. Whether he obferved this cuftom in his youth, we are not informed; but it has been generally confidered, as an infirmity of "garrulous old age;" a mixture of the familiar with the facred, little worthy the dignity of the pulpit; and though very proper, and perhaps ufeful in common life, by no means fit for the inftruction or entertainment of a judicious audience. "The conftant employment of Mr. Wefley, in writing letters, or compofing,or vifiting the fick, was not the only reafon he fometimes did not fucceed in public. He feems to have thought too little of the preparation, which, in an extemporary fpeaker, is indifpenfibly neceffary. He regarded the general difcipline and economy of the focieties, as of the greatest moment and difficulty, and the public exercife of his minidry, as the leaft arduous part of his office and he informs us in one place, that he could "preach three or four times a day, without any trouble;" but that the care of the focieties was a burden he could "fcarcely bear." "Never was the contraft greater between public characters, than between Mr. Wefley and Mr. Whitfield. The former, when he was himself, had an eafy fluency of expreffion, and an addrefs and manner particularly chafte and natural. He was often logical and convincing, and fometimes defcriptive: but he never foared into fublimity, or defcended into the pathetic. His ftyle was the calm, equal flow of a placid ftream, gliding gently within it's banks, without the caft ruffle or agitation upon its furface. The eloquence of Mr. Whitefield was was of another kind. It was more various; and yet, with all its variety, in him, it was ftrictly natural. He was a preacher, who alternately thundered and lightned upon his audience; now filling them with terror, and now touching and affecting them with all the fofter and more pleafing emotions. He knew how to inspire them with whatever paffion he was defirous to call forth; and the fmiles or tears of his hearers were equally at his command. Though not fo accurate a speaker as Mr. Wefley; he was more popular. He had a louder and more musical voice; his tones were more varied; his action much more diverfified, and his whole address in public, was that of a mafter in all the arts of popularitv. Mr. Wesley preached to the learned; Mr. Whitefield to the people. The former gave more fatisfaction to a critical hearer; but the latter was a greater favorite with the public. This was evident in their refpective congregations. Each was accustomed to the largest affemblies in the nation: but the difference was confiderable. Mr. Whitefield's congregations were frequently twenty or thirty thoufand: Mr. Wefley's fcarcely ever amounted to one third of the number. "Many have represented him as a man of flender capacity; but certainly with injuftice. Of the futility of fuch reprefentations, his writings, particularly thofe which are controverfial, are a fufficient proof. To this may be added, the office he filled with fuch diftinction at Oxford, and his great addrefs in the management of his people. As a fcholar, he was certainly refpectable. He was well acquainted with the Latin and Greek claffics; and had a tolerable knowledge of the Hebrew, as well as of French, German, Spanish, and Italian. He had ftudied Euclid, during his refidence in college, and had attended with a good deal of affiduity the philofophic lectures. In philofophy, however, he was a fceptic. He did not believe in any fyftem. He denied the calculations of the planetary diftances, and the plurality of worlds. But his philofophical knowledge feems to have been rather general, than profound; and in his anfwers to an opponent who attacked him in the papers on thefe fubjects, we difcover no deep research, no acuteness; in a word, nothing that can incline us to fuppofe, he had made himself mafter of the arguments, for or against the different fyftems, which have been adduced by the various advocates, or that he had formed any new arguments of his own. "To fuppofe him no very pro found philofopher, is no impreachment of his capacity. We have never yet found a man who excelled in every thing: and he who attempts every thing, muft in many inftances, be fuperficial. In philofophical enquiries, a minute and critical attention, frequent repetition of experiment and obfervation, and the most patient fpirit of investigation, are abfolutely neceffary to diftinguifhed eminence and fuccefs and we need not fay, that, to all thefe, the genius and employments of Mr. Wefley were infuperably averse. "As a writer, he certainly poffeffed talents, both from nature and education, which had he compofed with care, and allowed himself sufficient time, could fcarcely fail to have procured him a confiderable reputation. But writing, as he did, on the fpur of particular occafions, he often difmiffed his pieces in a crude, imperfect ftate, and defective in accuracy and extent of information; which, in the prefent ftate of knowledge, cannot be difpenfed with, in candidates for literary fame. "In the bloom of youth, his tafte feems to have been more juft and difcriminating than in his more mature age: whence we conclude, that ei ther ther the company, with whom he converfed, or the books which he chiefly read, after his commencing itinerant, were not favourable to elegance and refinement. We have feen nothing of his, equal to the tranflations of Horace, which he wrote in his youth. And it is remarkable, that his Effay on Tafte, and his Criticisms on Pope and Prior, published in the Arminian Magazine, are jejune, trifling, and contradictory. "In focial life, Mr. Wefley was lively and conversible; and of exquifite companionable talents. He had been much accustomed to fociety; was well acquainted with the rules of good breeding; and, in general, perfectly attentive and polite. The abftraction of a scholar did not appear in his behaviour. He spoke a good deal in company and as he had seen much of the world, and, in the course of his travels, through every corner of the nation, had acquir. ed an infinite fund of anecdote and obfervation, he was not fparing in his communications; and the manner in which he related them, was no inconfiderable addition to the entertainment they afforded. "His manner, in private life, was the reverse of cynical or forbidding. It was fprightly and pleasant, to the last degree; and prefented a beautiful contraft to the auftere deportment of many of his preachers and people, who feem to have ranked laughter among the mortal fins. It was impoffible to be long in his company, without partaking his hilarity. Neither the infirmities of age, nor the approach of death, had any apparent influence on his manners. His chearfulness continued to the laft; and was as confpicuous at fourfcore, as at one and twenty. "Á remarkable feature in Mr. 1791. Wefley's character, was his placability. His temper was naturally warm and impetuous. Religion had, in a great degree, corrected this; though it was by no means eradicat ed. Generally, indeed, he preferved an air of fedatenefs and tranquillity, which formed a friking contrast to the livelinefs, fo confpicuous in all his actions. Perfecution from without, he bore not only without anger,· . but without the least apparent emotion. But it was not the cafe in contests of another kind. Oppofition from his preachers or people he could never brook. His authority he held facred; and, when that was called in question, we have known him repeatedly transported into a high degree of indignation. But what he said of himself was ftrictly true. He had a great facility in forgiving injuries. Submillion, on the part of an offender, prefently difarmed his refentment, and he would treat him with great kindnefs and cordiality. If he ever deviated from this amiable conduct, we afcribe it not to him. It was foreign to himself. It arofe from the mifreprefentations of fycophants, by one or other of whom, in his latter days, he was perpetually befieged. "The temperance of Mr. Welley was extraordinary. In early life, he feems to have carried it too far. Whether there were fome particular reafons, in his cafe, as fome have fuppofed, from warmth of conftitution, or from any other caufe, which might induce him to think it neceffary, it were too much, without proper authority, to determine. However this may be, he was for many years, temperate to an excefs. Even Dryden's pari priest did not exceed him. He made almoft a fin of abftinence." "The practice of fafting, with other inftances of felf-denial, he began at college, when about three or C four |