1744, invited his brother Charles, four other clergymen, who co-operated with him, and four of his lay preachers, was from that time held annually, and became the general assembly, in which the affairs of the Society were examined and determined. They began their first meeting by recording their desire, "that all things might be considered as in the immediate presence of God; that they might meet with a single eye, and as little children who had every thing to learn; that every point which was proposed might be examined to the foundation; that every person might speak freely whatever was in his heart; and that every question which might arise should be thoroughly debated and settled." There was no reason, they said, to be afraid of doing this, lest they should overturn their first principles: for if they were false, the sooner they were overturned the better; if they were true, they would bear the strictest examination. They determined, in the intermediate hours of this Conference, to visit none but the sick, and to spend all the time that remained in retirement; giving themselves to prayer for one another, and for a blessing upon this their labour. With regard to the judgment of the majority, they agreed that, in speculative things, each could only submit so far as his judgment should be convinced; and that, in every practical point, each would submit, so far as he could, without wounding his conscience. Further than this, they maintained, a Christian could not submit to any man or number of men upon earth; either to council, bishop, or convocation. And this was that grand principle of private judgment on which all the reformers proceeded. Every man must judge for himself; because every man must give an account for himself to God." But this principle, if followed to its full extent, is as unsafe and as untenable as the opposite extreme of the Romanists. The design of this meeting was to consider what to teach, how to teach, and what to do; in other words, how to regulate their doctrines, discipline, and practice. Here, therefore, it will be convenient to present a connected account of each.

CHAPTER XX.

WESLEY'S DOCTRINES AND OPINIONS.

WESLEY never departed willingly or knowingly from the doctrines of the Church of England, in which he had been trained up, and with which he was conscientiously satisfied after full and free inquiry. Upon points which have not been revealed, but are within the scope of reason, he formed opinions for himself, which were generally clear, consistent with the Christian system, and creditable, for the most part, both to his feelings and his judgment. But he laid no stress upon them, and never proposed them for more than they were worth. In the following connected view of his scheme, care has been taken to preserve his own words, as far as possible, for the sake of fidelity.

The moral, or, as he sometimes calls it, the Adamic law, he traced beyond the foundation of the world, to that period, unknown indeed to men, but doubtless enrolled in the annals of eternity, when the morning stars first sang together, being newly called into existence. It pleased the Creator to make these His first-born sons intelligent beings, that they might know Him who created them. For this end he endued them with understanding to discern truth from falsehood, good from evil; and, as a necessary result of this, with liberty,-a capacity of choosing the one and refusing the other. By this they were likewise enabled to offer Him a free and willing service; a service rewardable in itself, as well as most acceptable to their gracious. Master. The law which He gave them was a complete model of all truth, so far as was intelligible to a finite being; and of all good, so far as angelic natures were capable of embracing it. And it was His design herein to make way for a continued increase of their happiness, seeing every instance of obedience to that law would

both add to the perfection of their nature, and entitle them to a higher reward, which the righteous Judge would give in its season. In like manner when God, in His appointed time, had created a new order of intelligent beings, when He had raised man from the dust of the earth, breathed into him the breath of life, and caused him to become a living soul, He gave to this free intelligent creature the same law as to his first-born children; not written, indeed, upon tables of stone, or any corruptible substance, but engraven on his heart by the finger of God, written in the inmost spirit both of men and angels, to the intent it might never be afar off, never hard to be understood, but always at hand, and always shining with clear light, even as the sun in the midst of heaven. Such was the original of the law of God. With regard to man, it was coeval with his nature; but with regard to the elder sons of God, it shone in its full splendour," or ever the mountains were brought forth, or the earth and the round world were made."

Man was made holy, as he that created him is holy: perfect as his Father in Heaven is perfect. As God is love, so man, dwelling in love, dwelt in God, and God in him. God made him to be an image of his own eternity. To man thus perfect, God gave a perfect law, to which He required a full and perfect obedience. He required full obedience in every point. No allowance was made for any falling short: there was no need of any, man being altogether equal to the task assigned him. Man disobeyed this law, and from that moment he died. God had told him, "in the day that thou eatest of that fruit thou shalt surely die." Accordingly on that day he did die: he died to God, the most dreadful of all deaths. He lost the life of God: he was separated from Him in union with whom his spiritual life consisted. His soul died. The body dies when it is separated from the soul; the soul when it is separated from God: but this separation Adam sustained in the day-the hour when he ate of the forbidden fruit. The threat cannot be understood of temporal death, without impeaching the veracity of God. It must therefore be

understood of spiritual death, the loss of the life and

image of God. His body likewise became corruptible and mortal; and being already dead in the spirit, dead to God, dead in sin, he hastened on to death everlasting, to the destruction both of body and soul, in the fire never to be quenched.

Why was this? Why are there sin and misery in the world? Because man was created in the image of God: because he is not mere matter, a clod of earth, a lump of clay, without sense or understanding, but a spirit like his Creator; a being endued not only with sense and understanding, but also with a will. Because, to crown the rest, he was endued with liberty, a power of directing his own affections and actions, a capacity of determining for himself, or of choosing good or evil. Had not man been endued with this, all the rest would have been of no use.Had he not been a free, as well as an intelligent being, his understanding would have been as incapable of holiness, or any kind of virtue, as a tree or a block of marble. And having this power of choosing good or evil, he chose evil. But in Adam all died, and this was the natural consequence of his fall. He was more than the representative or federal head of the human race, the seed and souls of all mankind were contained in him, and therefore partook of the corruption of his nature. From that time every man who is born into the world bears the image of the devil, in pride and self-will,-the image of the beast, in sensual appetites and desires. All his posterity were, by his act and deed, entitled to error, guilt, sorrow, fear, pain, disease, and death, and these they have inherited for their portion. The cause has been revealed to us, and the effects are seen over the whole world, and felt in the heart of every individual. But this is no ways inconsistent with the justice and goodness of God, because all may recover through the Second Adam, whatever they lost through the first. Not one child of man finally loses thereby, unless by his own choice. A remedy has been provided which is adequate to the disease. Yea, more than this, mankind have gained by the fall a capa

city, first, of being more holy and happy on earth; and, secondly, of being more happy in heaven than otherwise they could have been For if man had not fallen, there must have been a blank in our faith and in our love. There could have been no such thing as faith in God so loving the world, that he gave his only Son for us men and for our salvation;" no faith in the Son of God, as loving us and giving himself for us; no faith in the Spirit of God, as renewing the image of God in our hearts, or raising us from the death of sin unto the life of righteousness. And the same blank must likewise have been in our love. We could not have loved the Father under the nearest and dearest relation, as delivering up his Son for us: we could not have loved the Son, as bearing our sins in his own body on the tree, and by that one oblation of himself once offered making a full oblation, sacrifice, and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world: we could not have loved the Holy Ghost, as revealing to us the Father and the Son, as opening the eyes of our understandings, bringing us out of darkness into his marvellous light, renewing the image of God in our soul, and sealing us unto the day of redemption. So that what is now in the sight of God pure religion and undefiled, would then have had no being.

The fall of man is the very foundation of revealed religion. If this be taken away, the Christian system is subverted, nor will it deserve so honourable an appellation as that of a cunningly devised fable. It is à scriptural doctrine: many plain texts directly teach it. It is a rational doctrine, thoroughly consistent with sound reason, though there may be some circumstances relating to it which human reason cannot fathom. It is a practical doctrine, having the closest connexion with the life, power, and practice of religion. It leads man to the foundation of all Christian practice, the knowledge of himself, and thereby to the knowledge of God, and of Christ crucified. It is an experimental doctrine. The sincere Christian carries the proof of it in his own bosom.— Thus Wesley reasoned; and, from the corruption of