own, naturally inclined him to a kind of fellowship with them. He rigoroufly, however, abstained from any compliances with their worship which he thought unlawful; and gave them his esteem as men, with out 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 those 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 post he undertook, is not likely, in our age, again to take place; yet different combinations

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 useful enterprifes, as qualities not lefs to be imitated, than admired.”

"TH

HE figure of Mr. Wefley 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 fineft we have feen. A clear, finooth forehead, an aquiline nofe, an eye the brighteft and the moft piercing that can be conceived, and a freshness of complection, fcarcely ever to be found at his years, and impreffive of the moft perfect health, confpire to render him a venerable and interefting figure. Few have feen him, with out being ftruck with his appear5

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 unusual flow of spirits, 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 stock, a coat with a fmall 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 understood. 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, perfpicuons: 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 fucceeded; and when he did not, he frequently failed. A clear proof, that the employments, in which he was engaged, were too numerous, and the œconomy, to which he gave himself 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 exhausted with labour and want of reft: for, wherever he was, he made it a point to preach, if he could stand upon his legs. Many have remarked, that when he fell into anecdote 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 story 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 pul pit; 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 neceflary. He regarded the general difcipline and economy of the focieties, as of the greatest moment and difficulty, and the public exercife of his ministry, as the least 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 fiyle was the calm, equal flow of a placid stream, gliding gently within it's banks, without the leaft 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 strictly natural. He was a preacher, who alternately thundered and lightned upon.

his audience; now filling them with terror, and now touching and affect ing them with all the fofter and more pleafing emotions. He knew how to infpire 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 fpeaker as Mr. Wesley; 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 addrefs in public, was that of a master in all the arts of popularity. Mr. Wefley 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 reprefented him as a man of flender capacity; but certainly with injuftice. Of the futility of fuch reprefentations, his writings, particularly those 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 manage ment of his people. As a scholar, 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 distances, 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 attack. ed him in the papers on these fub. jects, we difcover no deep research, no acuteness; in a word, nothing that can incline us to fuppofe, he had made himself master 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 profound 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 diftinguished eminence and fuccefs: and we need not say, 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 just 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 converfible; 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 feen much of the world, and, in the courfe 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 forbid. ding. It was fprightly and pleasant, to the laft 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 eradicated. Generally, indeed, he preferved an air of fedatenefs and tranquillity, which formed a firiking contrast to the livelinefs, fo confpicuous in all his actions. Perfecution from without, he bore not only without anger, but without the leaft apparent emotion. But it was not the cafe in contefts 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 tranfported into a high degree of indignation. But what he faid of himself was ftrictly true. He had a great facility in forgiving injuries. Submiffion, on the part of an offender, prefently difarmed his refentment, and he would treat him with great kindness and cordiality. If he ever deviated from this amiable conduct, we afcribe it not to him. It was foreign to himfe f. It arose from the mifrepr fentations of fycophants, by one, or other of whom, in his lat ter days, he was perpetually befieged.

"The temperance of Mr. Wefley was extraordinary. In early life, he fems 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 cause, 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 excess. Even Dryden's parish prieft did not exceed him. He made almost a fin of abftinence."

"The practice of fafting, with other inftances of felf-denial, he began at college, when about three or

C

four

four and twenty. And as old men generally retain a partiality for the cuftoms of youth, fo Mr. Wefley, when obliged, for the fake of his health, to obferve a more generous regimen, did not fail to inculcate, both in public and private, the moft rigid temperance. An economy, which poffibly might fuit fome few conftitutions; but, to the majority of mankind, muft be dangerous, if not fatal. And it is particularly obferved, that there is no period of life, in which a generous diet is more neceflary, than when the body is advancing to maturity.

"Among other things, he was particular in the article of fleep. One of his maxims was, "without fafting and early rifing, it is impoffible to grow in grace." With fuch views, we need not wonder, that he was fo attentive to this himself, and fo affiduous and peremptory in en forcing it on others. His notion of fleep cannot be better explained, than in his own words:

"Healthy men require a little above fix hours fleep; healthy women a little above feven, in four and twenty. If any one defires to know exactly what quantity of fleep his own conftitution requires, he may very eafily make the experiment which I made about fixty years ago. I then waked every night about twelve or one, and lay awake for fome time. I readily concluded, that this arofe from my being longer in bed than nature required. To be fatisfied, I procured an alarum, which waked me the next morning at feven (near an hour earlier than I rofe the day before) yet I lay awake again at night. The fecond morning I rofe at fix; but notwithstanding this, I lay awake the fecond night. The third morning I rofe at five; out nevertheless, I lay awake the third night. The fourth morning

I rofe at four, as, by the grace of God, I have done ever fince. And I lay awake no more. And I do not now lie awake, taking the year round, a quarter of an hour together in a mouth. By the fame experiment, rifing earlier and earlier every morning, may any one find, how much fleep he really wants."

"Toward the close of life, he relaxed a little. The fleep he had allowed himself, was not fufficient ; so that he was obliged, after dinner, to take a nap in his chair. For fome years before his death, he lived, as every man ought, who can afford it, generously, yet temperately. He took two or three gaffes of wine after dinner, and two after fupper: and eat heartily, and with a good appetite. We much doubt whether he ever drank a pint of wine, at one fitting, in his whole life: and this regularity was rewarded with fuch a vigour, of conftitution, as fcarcely any one has known but himself. In thirty-five years he never kept his bed one day. In his youth indeed, he was fubject to the tooth-ach, and, in his latter years, to the cramp: but, upon the whole, his health was firm and robuft, to the utmoft degree that can be conceived. Twice or thrice in his life, in confequence of fevere colds, and exceffive labour, he was fuppofed to be confumptive. He had alfo two or three fevers; which however feem rather to have ftrengthened than impaired his conftitution. By a violent fhock against the pum met of his faddle, he contracted a hydrocele, for which he underwent feveral operations. But, in June 1775, being feized, in the north of Ireland, with a fevere fever, it effectually cured him of this complaint.

"Perhaps the most charitable man in England, was Mr. Welley. His liberality to the poor knew no bounds. He gave away, not mere

ly