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Who squanders all his time and treasures,
On empty joys, and tasteless pleasures;
Visits, attendance, and attention,

And courtly arts, too low to mention.

In sleep, and dress, and sport, and play,
He throws his worthless life away;
Has no opinion of his own,

But takes from leading Beaux the ton;
With a disdainful smile or frown,

He on the rif-raf crowd looks down:
The world polite, his friends and he,
And all the rest are- Nobody!

Taught by the Great his smiles to sell,
And how to write, and how to spell ;
The Great his oracles he makes,
Copies their vices and mistakes;
Custom pursues, his only rule,

And lives an ape, and dies a fool!

Had Mr. Charles Wesley engaged in the higher walks of verse, there is no doubt but he would have been esteemed a considerable poet, even by those who now despise his hymns. He chose the most excellent way-the writing of hymns for the instruction and edification of the many, rather than devote all his life in attempts to please the fancy of the few. Some of his hymns are certainly among the best pieces in that species of composition. The following hymn has, through mistake, been attributed to his brother.

Written

Written after a Riot.

"Ye simple souls that stray
Far from the path of peace,
(That unfrequented way

To life and happiness ;)
How long will ye your folly love,
And throng the downward road,
And hate the wisdom from above,
And mock the sons of God?

Madness and misery

Ye count our life beneath;
And nothing great can see,
Or glorious in our death:
As born to suffer and to grieve,
Beneath your feet we lie,
And utterly contemn'd we live,
And unlamented die.

Poor pensive sojourners,

O'erwhelmed with griefs and woes,
Perplex'd with needless fears,

And pleasure's mortal foes;

More irksome than a gaping tomb
Our sight ye cannot bear,
Wrapt in the melancholy gloom
Of fanciful despair.

So wretched and obscure,
The men whom ye despise,
So foolish, weak, and poor,
Above your scorn we rise:
Our conscience in the Holy Ghost,

Can witness better things;

For he whose blood is all our boast,
Hath made us priests and kings.

VOL. I.

A a

Riches

Riches unsearchable

In Jesus' love we know,
And pleasures from the well
Of life, our souls o'erflow;
From him the spirit we receive,

Of wisdom, grace, and power;
And always sorrowful we live,
Rejoicing evermore.

Angels our servants are,

And keep in all our ways,
And in their hands the bear
The sacred sons of grace:

Our guardians to that heavenly bliss,
They all our steps attend,
And God himself our Father is,

And Jesus is our Friend.

With him we walk in white,
We in his image shine,
Our robes are robes of light,
Our righteousness divine;
On all the grov'ling kings of earth
With pity we look down,
And claim in virtue of our birth,
A never-fading crown."

Mr. Charles Wesley wrote short hymns on the most important passages in the Old and New Testament. In these he has expressed his opinion, on the leading doctrines of the Gospel, with energy and beauty.

The

The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed. Matt. xiii. 31.

"A grain of grace may we not see

This moment, and the next a tree?

Or must we patiently attend,

Our Lord declares it must be so;

And striking deep our root, we grow,
And lower sink, and higher rise,

Till Christ transplant us to the skies."

The following comment on a much disputed passage shews his humanity and benevolence.

To-morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me. 1 Sam. xxviii. 19.

"What do these solemn words portend?
A gleam of hope when life shall end:
Thou and thy sons, though slain, shall be
To-morrow in repose with me!'

Not in a state of hellish pain,

If Saul with Samuel doth remain,
Not in a state of damn'd despair,
If loving Jonathan be there.”

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THE

LIFE

OF THE.

Reverend John Wesley.

BOOK THE SECOND.

CHAPTER I.

Giving some Account of Mr. John Wesley, from his Birth to the Year 1729.

WHEN we view Mr. Wesley rising into public

notice, from the bosom of a family which had long been venerable for christian knowledge and piety, the mind feels a degree of prepossession in his favour, and our expectation is raised of something great and good from him. As we proceed to examine his education, and the principles instilled into his mind, at an early period of life, we shall see a solid foundation laid of sound knowledge and genuine piety. But that every one may judge for himself in this matter, we shall endeavour to trace, step by step, the circumstances of his early life, during the period mentioned in this chapter.

He

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