of his warm attachment to the Philippian believers, to his earnest prayers on their behalf, that they might abound in love, increasing at the same time in knowledge and spiritual sensibility, and that they might ever present to the world an unblemished character, acting in all things so as to adorn and recommend the religion of Christ. (Chap. i. 8-12.) Having adverted to the hope which he cherished of again seeing them, and to the mutual joy which their renewed intercourse would call forth, he adds with great tenderness and power, "Only let your conversation be as it becometh the Gospel of Christ; that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the Gospel." (Chap. i. 27.) The manner in which he refers to some professing Christians, whose outward conduct brought reproach on the name of Jesus, marks the depth of feeling with which he ever regarded the holiness of the churches. "For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things." (Chap. iii. 18,19.) And who can read the impressive exhortation to universal rectitude, which occurs towards the close of the Epistle, without feeling that it proceeded from a mind, to which the very contemplation of moral purity was a most delightful exercise, and which habitually shrunk back from the admission of any unhallowed or unworthy principle? "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." (Chap. iv. 8.) Now it is instructive to observe, how a love of holiness pervades the writings of this eminent Apostle, and especially how it blends itself with the warmest expressions of his attachment to his people. We feel, as we read the Epistle under this view, that we are not only listening to the sentiments of a sincere, and pure, and earnest mind, but are contemplating the truths and precepts of a religion which bears the stamp of its own heavenly origin. The careful perusal of the Epistle before us will serve also to show, how earnestly St. Paul desired that all the people of Christ should cherish mutual love; and how largely his own mind was imbued with the disposition which he thus urged on the churches. He had long been accustomed to dwell on the endearing relation of believers to Christ, as members of that body of which He is the exalted Head, and as joint-heirs with him of that glory upon which He, their Forerunner, has entered; and he felt, therefore, that they stood in a relation to each other, which demanded mutual sympathy, and a deep, spiritual love. The contemplation of discord and strife among the members of any church, awakened in his mind feelings of anguish and displeasure; but he rejoiced, even under the pressure of his bonds, when he could look upon the people of Christ dwelling in harmony and love, renouncing the eager desire of personal distinction, solicitous to promote each other's welfare, and imitating even the condescending and self-sacrificing benevolence which shone in the character of their Lord. "If there be, therefore, any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies; fulfil ye my joy, that ye be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vain-glory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than himself. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus; who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." (Chap. ii. 1—8.) We have thus endeavoured to illustrate one leading characteristic of the Epistle to the Philippians,—that it pre-eminently shows the heart of the Apostle; that it developes the affections and principles which he habitually cherished, and lays open to us the interior actings of his mind. But we should fail to exhibit fully the peculiar character of this portion of the sacred writings, if we did not call attention to the manner in which its yaluable expositions of Christian truth are introduced. There are some of the letters of St. Paul, in which he formally establishes the great and distinguishing doctrines of the Gospel, confirms them by citations from the ancient Scriptures, and guards them against abuse. The Epistle to the Romans is a well-known example of this. But the letter before us is of a different kind. It contains, indeed, important doctrinal statements, and some passages of it are among the most powerful to be found in the Apostle's writings. But he seems to be led to the development of Christian doctrine incidentally, by the breathing forth of his pastoral affection and solicitude for the believers at Philippi; and then, having concisely and impressively stated the truths which were suggested to his mind, he again adverts to his own emotions, and to the circumstances of his beloved people. It is in this way that he introduces, in the second chapter, his sublime and comprehensive passage relative to the original glory, the humiliation, and the mediatorial exaltation of the Redeemer; a passage most carefully and powerfully worded, and which will ever stand as a decisive proof of the mysterious dignity of the Saviour's person. It is in this way that he adverts to the union of divine agency and human effort, in the work of personal salvation; not proposing formally to develope and unfold the doctrines thus combined, but introducing them in an earnest exhortation to watchfulness and persevering effort, and connecting this exhortation with an affectionate reference to the regard which the Philippians had ever shown to him. "Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling: for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." (Chap. ii. 12, 13.) In the third chapter, also, where he so distinctly affirms the allied truths of justification by faith, and the spirituality of religion, and rejects all dependence on outward observances, and a visible church-relation to God, as if these could of themselves secure salvation, it is remarkable that he blends the treatment of these subjects with references to his own history, and his own religious feelings and efforts. He lays open to his beloved people the changes through which his own mind had passed,—the utter renunciation of self-righteousness to which he had been brought, the estimate which he had been taught to form of Christ and his salvation,—and the earnestness of desire and effort with which he now pressed towards the mark, for the prize which was placed before him, as the result of persevering faith and obedience. These features of the Epistle are instructive and important, not only as throwing light on the character of St. Paul, and as revealing to us the cherished sentiments and feelings of his mind, but also as affording the strongest internal evidence of its genuineness and authority. The references which it contains, to the Apostle's own circumstances and those of the Philippians, -references introduced repeatedly, and in the most natural and simple manner;-the interweaving of important doctrinal statements with the utterance of his emotions, and with allusions to his personal history ;-the fine and delicate touches, which only a sincere and earnest, but tender and susceptible, mind could give ;—and yet, the moral energy, the ardent love of truth and purity, which are everywhere apparent ;-all these characteristics of the Epistle are manifest proofs of its Pauline origin, and valuable auxiliaries to the abundant testimony which history affords, that we have in it a most precious record of the Christian thoughts and feelings of the great Apostle of the Gentiles, enlightened and guided as he was by the Holy Spirit. To my own mind, it is most delightful to come to the consideration of the Apostle's writings, with a vivid impression of his actual circumstances at the time of composing them, and with a lively conviction also of the state of the churches to which they were addressed. To read them under such views, is almost to be brought into personal intercourse with this eminent servant of Jesus Christ, to receive from his own lips the development of the great truths of Christianity, and to mark the breathing forth of his own deep and pure emotions. It is to such a study of the Epistle to the Philippians, that I would earnestly exhort all who may read this paper, and especially the young. If it is instructive to mark, what are those views of the Christian system which were ever present to the mind of the inspired Apostle; if it is interesting to understand the form of character which Christianity is intended to produce, and to trace the thoughts and feelings of a cultivated and noble mind, when fully brought under its influence; that interest and instruction will be derived from a careful perusal of this letter, especially if accompanied with prayer for divine illumination and grace. The devout and earnest study of this portion of the sacred writings will tend greatly to mature the piety of the humble Christian, and to prepare him for that blessed society above, where the Apostle of the Gentiles, and his beloved Philippians, are now united in the enjoyment and service of their Lord. Ramsgate. HENRY W. WILLIAMS. SELFISHNESS OF SIN. SELFISHNESS, as we have already intimated, is the universal form of human depravity: every sin that can be named is only a modification of it. What is avarice, but selfishness grasping and hoarding? What is prodigality, but selfishness decorating and indulging itself, a man sacrificing to himself as his own god? What is sloth, but that god asleep, and refusing to attend to the loud calls of duty? And what is idolatry, but that god enshrined, man worshipping the reflection of his own image? Sensuality, and, indeed, all the sins of the flesh, are only selfishness setting itself above law, and gratifying itself at the expense of all restraint. And all the sins of the spirit are only the same principle, impatient of contradiction, and refusing to acknowledge superiority, or to bend to any will but its own. What is egotism, but selfishness speaking? Or crime, but selfishness, without its mask, in earnest and acting? Or offensive war, but selfishness confederated, armed, and bent on aggrandizing itself by violence and blood? An offensive army is the selfishness of a nation embodied, and moving to the attainment of its object over the wrecks of human happiness and life. "From whence come wars and fightings among you? Come they not hence, even of your lust ?" And what are all these irregular and passionate desires, but that inordinate self-love which acknowledges no law, and will be confined by no rules; that selfishness which is the heart of depravity? And what but this has set the world at variance, and filled it with strife? The first presumed sin of the angels that kept not their first estate, as well as the first sin of man,—what was it but selfishness insane? an irrational and mad attempt to pass the limits proper to the creature, to invade the throne, and to seize the rights of the Deity? And were we to analyze the very last sin of which we ourselves are conscious, we should discover that selfishness, in one or other of its thousand forms, was its parent. Thus, if love was the pervading principle of the unfallen creation, it is equally certain that selfishness is the reigning law of the world, ravaged and disorganized by sin. It must be obvious, then, that the great want of fallen humanity is, a specific against selfishness, the epidemic disease of our nature. The expedient which should profess to remedy our condition, and yet leave this want unprovided for, whatever its other recommendations might be, would be leaving the seat and core of our disease untouched. And it would be easy to show that in this radical defect consists the impotence of every system of false religion, and of every heterodox modification of the true religion, to restore our disordered nature to happiness and God. And equally easy is it to show that the Gospel, evangelically interpreted, not only takes cognizance of this peculiar feature of our malady, but actually treats it as the very root of our depravity, and addresses itself directly to the task of its destruction; that, as the first effect of sin was to produce selfishness, so the first effect of the Gospel remedy is to destroy that evil, and to replace it with benevolence.-Dr. Harris. WESLEY PAPERS. No. XXIV. REMARKS ON THE REV. CHARLES WESLEY'S (To the Editor of the Wesleyan-Methodist Magazine.) THERE appears a degree of prejudice resting on the mind of Dr. Clarke in the account he gives of Mr. Charles Wesley's preaching.* "It was probably thought," says Mr. Jackson, in the Preface to his Life," that if a writer could be found who would duly appreciate the opinions and motives of this extraordinary man, the Wesleyan body, generally, would not give him that place in their esteem to which he is entitled." As an unbending Churchman, many of the Methodists cherished towards him an unfriendly feeling, while others (among whom was my own mother) were his great admirers. In the memoir prefixed to the volume of his sermons published in 1816, the Editor says, "As a Preacher he was impassioned and energetic; and expressed the most important truths with simplicity, brevity, and force." The late Rev. James Creighton says,— * See Portraiture of Adam Clarke, vol. i., p. 162, et seq. + Page xxxiv. 66 "In warning sinners, this bold herald stood, "Posterity shall hear, and babes rehearse, The healing virtues of a Saviour's name; And still reiterate the pleasing theme."* It is much to be regretted that we have so small a specimen of Mr. Charles Wesley's preaching. I possess an unfinished sermon on the weekly sacrament," written probably about the time of Mr. John Wesley's sermon on the duty of constant communion," + in which many of the same arguments are introduced. 66 The late well-known Joseph Williams, of Kidderminster, on a visit to Bristol, attended, on two occasions, Mr. Charles Wesley's ministry, of which he gives the following account : "Hearing that Mr. Charles Wesley was to preach just out of the city, I went to hear him: I found him standing upon a table in an erect posture, with his hands and eyes lifted up to heaven in prayer, surrounded by more than a thousand persons. He prayed with uncommon fervency, and then preached about an hour from 2 Cor. v. 17-21, in a manner I have seldom, if ever, heard any Minister preach, though I have heard many a finer sermon, according to the common taste." + "At seven in the evening I went with him to a religious society. He first prayed, and then expounded part of John xii. Never did I hear such praying or such singing, never did I see and hear such evident marks of fervency of spirit in the service of God, as in that society." § Another striking account of Mr. Charles Wesley's preaching was given me by an aged Minister who is still living. "I arrived in Bristol," said he, "in August, 1786. Passing a chapel where I heard singing, I joined the congregation, just before the text was read: it was Heb. vii. 25: Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost,' &c. 6 "The Preacher," said he, "was an aged gentleman, in a plain coat and white wig. His voice was clear, his aspect venerable, and his manner devout. In his introductory sentences he was very deliberate, and presently made a pause of some moments. This I attributed to his age and infirmities; but in a while he made a second pause, twice as long as before. This, to me," said the narrator," was painful; but the people took no notice of it. However, he helped himself out by three verses of the hymn,|| 'Five bleeding wounds he bears, and when I was most affected with sympathy for his infirmities, as I then thought, he quoted his text in Greek, with remarkable fluency. Coming then to the great salvation, he himself was truly great in utterance, for age and infirmities were left behind. It was a torrent of doctrine, exhortation, and impulsive eloquence, bearing down all before him. For a time my conjectures were irrelevant; but I said at last, Though there be * Elegiac Stanzas, p. 20, written on the day his remains were interred. + Written in 1733, but not printed till 1788. |