opinion of his mental character. Let it be remembered, that Mr. Knox's standard of intellectual power (so, at least it seems to us) consists in the accuracy of a man's theological opinions, and in the prudence of his religious practices. Should these opinions, or these practices, happen to be in opposition to Mr. Knox's notions of orthodoxy and consistency, Mr. Wesley at once becomes chargeable with shallowness of judgment, with hasty conclusions from scanty and insufficient premises, and with the entire category of "intellectual frailties" which are above recorded. We will not stay to discuss the soundness of these principles; but we do not hesitate to demur to Mr. Knox (even on his own principles) as an unbiassed judge of the Founder of Methodism. A man who, at the immature age of twenty, had a "growing disposition to think for himself," and who left Mr. Wesley's society because of his disrelish for Methodistic practices, could hardly be free from prejudice: certainly he is not the man to whose dictum we should be disposed to submit as to Mr. Wesley's intellectual character.

He who would measure Mr. Wesley's mind by a theological standard, must be content to have his own views in theology examined; he who would impugn Mr. Wesley's logic, must expect to have his own logical acumen put to the test. We propose to do this in the case before us, and select for our purpose the following paragraph :

"The subsequent singularities of his course," Mr. Knox remarks, "implied no kind of departure from those high aspirings [the realization in himself of the perfect Christian of Clemens Alexandrinus]. The former, on the contrary, were the result of the latter, in a mind peculiarly eager and impatient of delay. It was in the hope of raising himself to that coveted pitch of Christian rectitude, that he adopted the ascetic rigidness of Mr. Law, and that he devoted himself to General Oglethorpe's projected Indian Mission. His ill-success in self-discipline, during that season of trial, humbled him almost to despondency, and pre-disposed him for listening to the new lessons of Peter Böhler. Then, for the first time, the dogma, common to Lutherans and Calvinists, respecting justification by faith, took hold of his mind. But it is to be remarked, that he embraced this tenet in a way of his own. In the usual representations of modern theologians, justification means a change in external relation to God, rather than in moral dispositions and feelings. It is stated to be acceptance with God, for the sake of his Son, independent of moral qualification in the subject. John Wesley also maintained, that the blessing of justification was strictly gratuitous; and that it was conferred in answer to earnest and persevering prayer: but his notion of the thing conferred was modified by his own antecedent and still predominant views. He regarded justification neither merely nor chiefly as a forensic acquittal in the court of heaven; but as implying also a conscious liberation from moral thraldom. It will, in fact, be seen, in all Mr. Wesley's statements on the subject, that it was the moral liberation on which he relied as the true criterion of the justified state. Herein,' said he, as Mr. Southey has quoted him, 'I found the difference between this and my former state chiefly consisted: I was striving, yea, fighting, with all my might, under the law, as well as under grace; but then I was sometimes, if not often, conquered; now, I was always conqueror.'

"Thus in the very moment of his highest excitation, Mr. Wesley estimates evangelic blessings on moral grounds, and tries himself exclusively by a moral standard." (Vol. ii., pp. 419, 420.)

To say the least, Mr. Knox must have read Mr. Wesley's writings but

.........

imperfectly. Can any passage be produced in which there is even an intimation that justification is "a change...... in moral dispositions and feelings?" Had Mr. Knox studied Wesley more attentively, he would have learned to distinguish between justification and regeneration. Again: did Wesley ever teach that "moral qualification in the subject" is necessary to justification? He followed Paul too closely to fall into such an error. Mr. Knox seems to have felt his difficulty, and hence the change of terms to which he has resorted. He first speaks of justification, simply as a blessing bestowed by God; he then changes his position, and speaks of what justification implies; and, lastly, confounds justification with "the criterion of the justified state." His logic should have pointed out to him the fallacy of changing his terms, and his philosophy should have taught him to distinguish between a state of mind and the criteria of that state.

We might quote other passages which would equally convict the writer of grave misapprehension on theological subjects, but the above will suffice. We only add, that with respect to experimental Christianity, he falls into still greater errors, reducing the religion of the Gospel to little more than a system of mere morality. Justification by faith is, with him, "the Lutheran dogma ;" and "the spirit of adoption," "self-delusion." Mr. Knox tells us that he has "pretty largely developed his own religious principles " in these remarks: our decided conviction, after a careful review of them, is that these principles were anti-evangelical. It is to be lamented that Mr. Knox should have cultivated "a growing disposition to think for himself!" A mind stronger and more acute even than his, might have been improved by deference to the judgment of John Wesley.

Mr. Knox enters largely into the question of the separation of the Methodist societies from the established Church, and aims to defend Mr. Wesley, in a great measure, from the sin of this proceeding, intimating that he was over-persuaded by interested advisers. It is not our purpose to renew this controversy; but we are bound to refer to two charges of literary dishonesty which Mr. Knox prefers against the followers of Wesley, in connexion with this subject.

The first charge is that of "mutilating" a passage in Mr. Wesley's Journal, October 24th, 1786, and of "wholly cancelling" another, dated January 2d, 1787, both of which Mr. Knox quotes from the first edition of that work. The following are the passages, as inserted by Mr. Knox in the text of his "Remarks:".

"A spirit of decided dissent," says Mr. Knox, "broke out at Deptford, and Mr. Wesley was urged to allow the Methodists there to hold their Sunday service at church-hours. But he refused compliance, on the ground (Journal, 1st edit., September* 24th, 1786) that this would be a formal separation from the Church.' 'To fix' (our service), he adds, ‘at the same hour, is obliging them to separate either from the Church or us; and this I judge to be not only inexpedient, but totally unlawful for me to do.' This remonstrance, however, had but a transient effect; for, on the 2d of January following, his words are: 'I went over to Deptford; but it seemed I was got into a den of lions: most of the leading men in the society were mad for separating from the Church. I endeavoured to reason with them, but in vain: they had neither sense nor even good manners left. At length, after meeting the whole society, I told them, If you are resolved, you may have your service in church-hours; but, remember, from that time you will see

*This is evidently a misprint for October.

my face no more!' This struck deep, and from that hour I have heard no more of separation from the Church."" (Vol. ii., pp. 409, 410.)

Here follows the charge :

"When those, however, whom we may suppose to have advised those measures [the measures which Wesley took towards separation] came themselves into power, they did their utmost to suppress this unquestionable evidence of Mr. Wesley's variance with himself, or rather of what were still the unbiassed workings of his heart. In every edition of Mr. Wesley's Journal, subsequent to his death, the former passage (September 24th, 1786) is mutilated, and the latter passage (January 2d, 1787) wholly cancelled." (Ibid.)

We read this accusation with surprise and pain, and immediately took from our shelves an edition of the Journals, printed at the Wesleyan BookRoom in 1827, the year previous to that in which Mr. Knox penned his Remarks," and, to our great astonishment, found both the above passages without the omission or variation of a single word! We afterwards consulted an edition printed in 1810, with the same result! Mr. Knox says, that "in every edition subsequent to Mr. Wesley's death, the former passage is mutilated, and the latter wholly cancelled! "

The second charge is that of "suppressing " a sermon which Mr. Wesley preached in Ireland, in 1789, from Hebrews v. 4, on "The Ministerial Office." From this sermon, Mr. Knox furnishes a very long extract, which it will be quite unnecessary for us to insert, for reasons which our readers will shortly discover. He then proceeds to say :

"How very unpalatable this language was, to those whose counsels had already made the evil too strong for repression, appears from their omission of this sermon in the volume of Mr. Wesley's yet uncollected discourses, published after his death. He had himself collected into four volumes the sermons he had written for the Arminian Magazine; but as he persevered in this labour until within the last three months of his life, enough remained at the time of his death to form an additional volume. But the sermon from which I have transcribed the above passage was suppressed, and has never since appeared in any edition of Mr. Wesley's Sermons." (Vol. ii., p. 442.)

We at once referred to the Arminian Magazine for 1790, and found the sermon whose "suppression" forms the subject of so grave a charge. We then examined the only copy of Mr. Wesley's Sermons which we had at hand, (that contained in the third edition of his works,) and, to our greater astonishment, found an exact transcript of the sermon in question! * and yet Mr. Knox says, "The sermon was suppressed, and has never since appeared in any edition of Mr. Wesley's Sermons !

These observations might be greatly extended; but we fear the patience of our readers has been more than sufficiently tested. They will doubtless coincide with us, that Mr. Knox's strong predilections for High Church doctrines and practices,—to say nothing of his mental “ frailty" or histo

* Wesley's Works, vol. vii., p. 273. London, 1829. Though this edition was printed the year following the date of the "Remarks," it must be borne in mind that these Remarks were not published till 1846. How could Mr. Wesley's successors hope to suppress a sermon which had been so extensively circulated in the Arminian Magazine? It is a sufficient answer to this charge, that Mr. Henry Moore, in his "Life of Wesley," (1792,) makes this very sermon the subject of special remark.

rical inaccuracy,-rendered him but a partial judge of the general character of John Wesley.

The "alterations and insertions" found in Dr. Southey's "own copy," are "few and far between." Though they do not alter the character of the work, they unquestionably increase its historical value. Our contracted limits will not allow us to indulge at present in extended remark, and they are hardly of sufficient importance to call for an additional paper. It was our intention to remark freely and at some length upon the remaining new feature” of this edition,—the "Notes, by the late Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Esq.;" but we can only allow ourselves a passing reference. These “ notes” will, of course, be read with interest by the admirers of Coleridge; and, we doubt not, with no less interest by any who are at all acquainted either with his writings or with his history. It seems that in those hours of gloom which so frequently darkened the mind of this profound thinker, he was accustomed to resort to this work for light and for relief. On a blank page of the first volume of his Life of Wesley, he wrote a "Memento," from which we extract the following:

“ It will not be uninteresting to him [Robert Southey]to know,–that to this work and to the Life of R. Baxter, I was used to resort whenever sickness and languor made me feel the want of an old friend, of whose company I could never be tired. How many an hour of self-oblivion do I owe to this Life of Wesley!

The notes are characterized by Mr. Coleridge's peculiarities of mind and opinions. The reader feels at once that he is holding communion with the same intellectual spirit with whom he used to converse when he read "The Friend," or "Table-Talk," or " Aids to Reflection." It is still the same abstract, profound, philosophical, exquisite, refined, though obscure, unobvious, desultory, and, in many instances, mistaken, Coleridge ! The disciple of German mysticism accosts you perpetually; and you lament that a mind so elevated above the common order of human intellect, and, withal, so disposed to search into the truth and contemplate the sublimities of religion, did not secure its placidity and joy.

A JEWISH SEPULCHRAL VILLAGE.

WE return to the Mount of Olives, and thence descend to the village, as it is called, of "Selwan," or Siloam. Few travellers take the trouble to climb into this wild nest of Arabs, and thence look down upon the valley of Jehoshaphat; yet it is perhaps the most bold and impressive scene about the city. In the foreground are tombs hewn in the rocky sides of the valley, one above another, among which whole families of Arabs have made their dwellings, some niching their plaster huts against their sides, others creeping into the tombs themselves. The cries of infancy are heard to issue from the resting-place of old age; and where the bodies of the nobles of Judah were borne to their last home with "burnings," and all the pomp of funeral ceremony, the flocks of sheep and goats, which wander over the valley, are driven for nightly shelter. Beneath this hold of "dwellers in the tombs," the dry bed of the Kidron is seen, overhung by the steep precipice, surmounted by the angle of the temple-wall, of which the remarkable ancient masonry is here very conspicuous. From the roof of the cloister above, it was a "fearful depth," according to Josephus, down which the eye could not look without producing dizziness. This slope of

Moriah is grey and bare; a few tufts of herbage scarce find root in its loose, ashy soil; and, towards its base, a few flat tombs are niched upon any practicable spot, hanging like the very image of oblivion, just above the bed of the Kidron, to be swept away from their precarious hold by its wintry torrent. All along the glen of the Kidron are seen the innumerable monuments of the successive generations of the sons of Abraham; and to lay their bones here is still the object for which the Jews are willing to live in poverty and contempt; for here they believe that God shall plead for Israel, and judge the nations that have afflicted her, when it shall please him to turn again the captivity of Zion. Such is the prophetic tradition which hangs over this dreary, but venerated, resting-place of the dead. Thousands of flat white slabs, quite plain, with inscriptions in Hebrew, are scattered over its sides, extending to the prominent group of tombs in the distance; beyond are seen the shades of Gethsemane, and on the right the ascent of Olivet.-Bartlett's Walks about Jerusalem.

ON ROMANTICISM, AND ON THE PRESENT STATE OF
FRENCH LITERATURE.

BY GUSTAVE MASSON, B.A., UNIVERS. GALLIC.

PART IV.

(To the Editor of the Wesleyan-Methodist Magazine.)

BEFORE we dismiss our subject, and bring to a conclusion the above summary remarks, we shall take a general survey of contemporary French literature, and sketch the principal outlines of a picture which we may perhaps be enabled to finish at some future period.

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The literature of the Imperial era was particularly deficient in originality and in genius. The intellectual revolution did not immediately follow the political earthquake, and a second-hand imitation of what was called le grand siècle left no room amongst poets or historians for the full play of the creative powers. M. Vinet has very aptly defined the Imperial era a relapse in literature:" writers endeavoured to continue the old school of philosophy and poetry; but, alas! their strength was not equal to the work they had undertaken; something new had already made its way in French belles lettres; and if the despotism of Napoleon held for a while romanticism in close confinement, the prisoner rushed the more joyously, in 1815, out of his prison.

It is, however, impossible to deny that very distinguished writers formed in France the connecting link between the last years of the eighteenth and the first of the nineteenth centuries.* When, amidst the din of warfare and the strains of La Marseillaise, a poet could contrive to gain attention, he had certainly proved himself not to be altogether devoid of merit. But the walks of science were pre-eminently sought literature, which has man for its centre and for its study, can never reach a high standard in a period of despotism science, on the contrary, discusses merely the phenomena of nature, and therefore receives even the encouragements of tyranny; for it is evident that a thinker, engaged in measuring the orbit of a comet, or in classifying fossil remains, cannot have time to spare for a consideration of

* Fontanes, Ducis, Collin d'Harleville, Andrieux, poets; Destutt-Tracy, Laromiguière, Ancillon, philosophers; Lacretelle, Michaud, historians.