which we have already quoted; and of his love for his country's welfare he has left behind him the most indubitable evidence. He says,

"Toward the preservation of your government, and the permanency of your present happy state, it is requisite not only that you steadily discountenance irregular oppositions to its acknowledged authority, but also, that you resist with care the spirit of innovation upon its principles, however specious the pretexts. One method of assault may be to effect in the forms of constitution alterations which will impair the energy of the system, and thus to undermine what cannot be directly overthrown. In all the changes to which you may be invited, remember that time and habit at least are as necessary to fix the true character of governments, as of other human institutions; that experience is the surest standard by which to test the real tendency of the existing constitutions of the country; that facility of changes, upon the credit of mere hypothesis and opinion, exposes to perpetual change, from the endless variety of hypothesis and opinion; and remember, especially, that for the efficient management of your common interests, in a country so extensive as ours, a government of as much vigor as is consistent with the perfect security of liberty, is indispensable. Liberty itself will find in such a government, with powers properly distributed and adjusted, its surest guardian. It is, indeed, little else than a name, where the government is too feeble to withstand the enterprises of faction, to confine each member of the society within the limits prescribed by the laws, and to maintain all in the secure and tranquil enjoyment of the rights of person and property."

ART. VI.-1. A Plain Account of Christian Perfection, as believed and taught by the Rev. JOHN WESLEY, from the year 1725 to year 1777.

the

2. The Last Check to Antinomianism. A Polemical Essay on the Twin Doctrines of Christian Imperfection and a Death Purgatory. By the Author of the Checks. [Found in the Works of the Rev. JOHN FLETCHER.]

3. Entire Sanctification: or, Christian Perfection, stated and defended by Rev. J. WESLEY, Rev. A. WATMOUGH, Rev. Dr. A. CLARKE, Rev. R. WATSON, and Rev. R. TREFFRY. Baltimore: Armstrong & Berry. Woods, Printer. 1838.

4. A Treatise on Christian Perfection, by RICHARD TREFFRY. Second edition. London: Published by John Mason. 18mo. 1838. pp. 250.

THE subject of entire sanctification is, we are happy to say, at the present time exciting great interest in the churches of this country. And now that many in other churches are waking up to the real importance and Scriptural character of this doctrine, it is certainly no time for Methodists, who have cherished it from the beginning, either to leave it in the back ground, or to swerve from the true position of our venerated fathers and our standards of doctrine upon the subject.

It is not so much with a view to cast new light upon this great doctrine, as to contribute our humble mite toward keeping it before our readers, that we undertake this review at the present time. The true Methodist ground was so clearly stated, and so ably defended, and the whole subject so thoroughly investigated, by Messrs. Wesley and Fletcher, that but little has been done by subsequent writers of the same views but to repeat what they, in the same language, or in substance, had written. And though these authors did not deal in dogmatical assertions or mystical vagaries, but gave the subject a plain, common sense, and Scriptural exposition, and substantiated their positions by the word of God and matter of fact, their views have been misrepresented by enemies, and, in some instances, misunderstood by friends. And may it not be fairly doubted whether, as a people, we have not regarded it more as a doctrinal speculation than an affair of the heart and life? We have contended nobly for the doctrine from the pulpit and from the press, but where are the witnesses that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses

from all sin? It is matter of joy, indeed, that many such can be found, but it is to be lamented that their number, in comparison with the great mass of Methodists, is so very small. For if our view is the correct one, instead of finding here and there an individual instance of this blessing-"like angels' visits, few and far between"—we ought to be a holy people.

It does, however, appear that the work of holiness is reviving among us. Instances of entire sanctification are multiplying, and it is not a strange thing to hear clear, sober, and Scriptural professions of that blessed state among our people. These professions, instead of calling forth severe criticism and merciless contempt, meet a ready response in many hearts, and awaken an undying solicitude in multitudes to know the truth and power of this great salvation for themselves.

In furtherance of this great object, we shall endeavor to bring before the reader, from the works whose titles we have exhibited at the head of this article, the great leading principles of this general subject, so stated, arranged, and defended, as to help the serious inquirer to a more easy and full apprehension of the nature of sanctification, and the way of making this knowledge experimentally and practically available. In doing this, we shall observe the following order, viz.:

1. Define the doctrine. 2. Answer objections. 3. Adduce proof. 4. Show the way by which entire holiness may be attained. 5. Present motives to seek it. 6. Show the course of conduct appropriate to those who may have attained to this blessed state.

In reference to a state of entire sanctification, our authors employ the term, rehɛíos, perfection, because it is a Scriptural term, and properly expresses what they mean. But lest some foreign and fanciful sense should be given to the term in this connection, our authors proceed to define and limit its use, when applied to Christian character and experience.

The following questions and answers, from Mr. Wesley's "Plain Account of Christian Perfection," will show what were his views upon the subject:

"QUESTION. What is Christian perfection?

"ANSWER. The loving God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. This implies that no wrong temper, none contrary to love, remains in the soul; and that all the thoughts, words, and actions, are governed by pure love.

"QUEST. Do you affirm that this perfection excludes all infirmities, ignorance, and mistake?

"ANS. I continually affirm quite the contrary, and always have done so.

"QUEST. But how can every thought, word, and work, be governed by pure love, and the man be subject at the same time to ignorance and mistake?

66

"ANS. I see no contradiction here: A man may be filled with pure love, and still be liable to mistake.' Indeed, I do not expect to be freed from actual mistakes till this mortal puts on immortality. I believe this to be a natural consequence of the soul's dwelling in flesh and blood. For we cannot now think at all, but by the mediation of those bodily organs which have suffered equally with the rest of our frame. And hence we cannot avoid sometimes thinking wrong, till this corruptible shall have put on incorruption."

"The perfection we preach is nothing but perfect repentance, perfect faith, and perfect love, productive of the gracious tempers which St. Paul himself describes, 1 Cor. xiii."

Dr. Clarke says:

"This perfection is the restoration of man to the state of holiness from which he fell, by creating him anew in Christ Jesus, and restoring to him that image and likeness of God which he has lost. A higher meaning than this it cannot have; a lower meaning it must not have. God made him in that degree of perfection which was pleasing to his own infinite wisdom and goodness. Sin defaced this divine image; Jesus came to restore it. Sin must have no triumph; and the Redeemer of mankind must have his glory. But if man be not perfectly saved from all sin, sin does triumph, and Satan exult, because they have done a mischief that Christ either cannot or will not remove. To say he cannot, would be shocking blasphemy against the infinite power and dignity of the great Creator; to say he will not, would be equally such against the infinite benevolence and holiness of his nature. All sin, whether in power, guilt, or defilement, is the work of the devil; and he, Jesus, came to destroy the work of the devil; and as all unrighteousness is sin, so his blood cleanseth from all sin, because it cleanseth from all unrighteousness.

"Many stagger at the term perfection in Christianity; because they think that what is implied in it is inconsistent with a state of probation, and savors of pride and presumption: but we must take good heed how we stagger at any word of God; and much more how we deny or fritter away the meaning of any of his sayings, lest he reprove us, and we be found liars before him. But it may be that the term is rejected because it is not understood. Let us examine its import.

"The word 'perfection,' in reference to any person or thing, signifies that such person or thing is complete or finished; that it has nothing redundant, and is in nothing defective. And hence that observation of

a learned civilian is at once both correct and illustrative, namely, 'We count those things perfect which want nothing requisite for the end whereto they were instituted.' And to be perfect often signifies 'to be blameless, clear, irreproachable;' and, according to the above definition of Hooker, a man may be said to be perfect who answers the end for which God made him; and as God requires every man to love him with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength, and his neighbor as himself, then he is a perfect man that does so; he answers the end for which God made him; and this is more evident from the nature of that love which fills his heart: for as love is the principle of obedience, so he that loves his God with all his powers will obey him with all his powers; and he who loves his neighbor as himself will not only do no injury to him, but, on the contrary, labor to promote his best interests."

Mr. Treffry observes :

"Christianity being the doctrine of Christ, we infer that Christian perfection implies a conformity to the will of Christ, in all that relates to inward and outward holiness, to the temper of our minds, and the conduct of our lives: or, in other words, it is the full maturity of the Christian principle, and the consistent and uniform exemplification of Christian practice. By the Christian principle, we understand that divine virtue, from which the several graces and fruits of Christianity spring, and by which they are supported and kept in continual operation. Or, in other words, it is that which resembles the germinating power in vegetation, that unfolds itself in buds, blossoms, and fruits, containing within it, as in an embryo state, the rudiments of all true virtue; which, striking deep its roots, though feeble and lowly in its beginnings, silently progressive, and almost insensibly maturing, yet will shortly, even in the bleak and churlish temperature of this world, lift up its head and spread abroad its branches, bearing abundant fruits.""

Again :

"Perfection has a two-fold character; there is a perfection of parts, and a perfection of degrees. A thing is perfect in the former sense, when it possesses all the properties or qualities which are essential to its nature, without any deficiency or redundancy: thus a machine is perfect when it has all its parts, and these parts so admirably disposed as completely to answer the purpose for which it is formed. Thus a human body is perfect when it has all the limbs, muscles, arteries, veins, &c., that belong to a human body, and thus I conceive every Christian believer is perfect, as he is endowed with all the graces of the Spirit, and the 'fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.' And this kind of perfection admits of no increase; any addition would deface the beauty and destroy the harmony of the whole add another wheel to your watches, and the purpose would be defeated for which they are formed: imagine another limb joined to a human body, and it would disfigure rather than beautify it, and retard rather than accelerate its motion. In religion, indeed, the imagination