Among these opinions peculiarly Wesleyan, two are especially noticeable. One is that of the "Witness of the Spirit," -the spiritual consciousness of present salvation from the guilt and power of sin. The professed subjects of this experience were certain, not only that they had exercised repentance toward God and faith in the Redeemer, but also that there had been awakened in them a new spiritual affection. There were no vague conjectures, no hopes, more or less dubious, concerning their religious position; but they had a settled confidence, an "assurance of faith," that they were the children of God. As we have intimated, it was rather by inference from experience than by deduction from a priori dogmatizing that this doctrine of the direct testimony of the Paraclete became a prime element in Methodistic theology. Long before it had found a place in the denominational standards,—in fact, before there were any such standards,—it was the popular notion assumed by the lay preachers and entertained in the societies. The happy subjects of this "conscious salvation,' whether gathered in meetings, or sitting in solitude, or engaged in the avocations of life, could often be heard singing, with great warmth and unction, these glowing words:

"What we have felt and seen

With confidence we tell;
And publish to the sons of men
The signs infallible.

"Exults our rising soul,

Disburdened of her load,
And swells unutterably full
Of glory and of God."

"The Father hears Him pray,
His dear Anointed One;

He cannot turn away

The presence of his Son;

His Spirit answers to the blood,

And tells me I am born of God."

The doctrine of the witness of the Spirit was nothing strange in dogmatic theology; but so far as any practical bearing in the experience of individuals was concerned, it was no better than obsolete in almost all established and non-conformist

churches. The great mass of religious people, and even religious teachers, had "not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost," as an actual living power in the Church, directly dealing with the hearts of men. With the Methodists it was more than anything else the distinguishing feature of the new religious life and preaching.

Closely connected with this, and perhaps growing out of it, so that the two are frequently confounded, was that of a practicable perfection in piety, a completeness of Christian character attainable in the present life. Like the other, this notion was not a new one. It appears, in its essential features, in some of the Patristic writers, and, though the powerful influence of the Augustinian doctrine of sin nearly excluded it from the Scholastic authors, there are occasional glimpses of it among the Mystics and certain pietistic classes of the Middle Ages, as well as the later Quietists. It appears, too, not unfrequently, in the writings of the Reformers. But it was not the creed of any sect, nor the doctrine of any prominent party, till the time of Wesley. It was embraced with singular unanimity by the preachers associated with him, was discussed and favorably received in almost every Annual Conference for several years, and from the first has been regarded as one of the distinguishing tenets of the denomination in nearly all its branches. It is not made an article of faith or a condition of membership anywhere; though in the largest ecclesiastical bodies of the denomination an assent to the doctrine in its general form is required of all candidates for the ministry.

A multitude of books have been written on this subject. We have selected the works whose titles are given above, as presenting the doctrine in its unmodified Wesleyan form. In Wesley's writings there is a great variety of treatises on a great variety of topics. That of Christian Perfection is discussed in two sermons (Nos. 35 and 68), and the whole subject is compactly and comprehensively set forth in his "Plain Account of Christian Perfection," occupying about fifty pages in the sixth volume. Fletcher early espoused the views of Wesley, and devoted himself to their advocacy and defence with more success, in many respects, than the leader himself. To his vigor and clearness as a theological writer there was

added remarkable purity of character and a fervent spirituality, scarcely excelled by the saintliest of any age, entitling him, in the estimation of even many opponents, to the appellation of a perfect Christian, if it could rightfully belong to any. Of the other two authors, Watson has for a long time been regarded as the leading theologian in the Methodist denomination, while Dr. Peck, though not a brilliant writer, is regarded as one of the soundest exponents of Wesleyan views on this side of the Atlantic. The latter gives a succinct and careful historical summary of the doctrine, the objections to it, the arguments in its favor, and its relation to other theories on the same subject. From these sources we propose to draw out, and, without criticism or much discussion, to set forth as clearly as possible, the Wesleyan doctrine of Christian Perfection.

In order to arrive at a comprehensive view of the subject, it will be requisite to keep in mind the doctrines entertained by the early Methodists concerning other parts of the Christian life. On this we need only remark, that they adopted the general Augustinian notion of man's natural sinfulness; a vicarious atonement; the necessity of repentance and of faith in Christ, as the conditions on which any man finds acceptance with God; justification as the result of this faith; and, concomitant with it, regeneration, or the awakening of a new religious life by the agency of the Holy Spirit. With these writers, however, justification differs from that which goes by this name in the Calvinistic standards. The former regard it as nearly synonymous with remission of sins, while the latter claim for it a larger scope, and apply it not merely to the past, but to the future of its subject. Regeneration with our authors is not, strictly speaking, a state, — though sometimes loosely used thus by some of them, but an event, the entrance into the state of sanctification, the latter indicating a progressive experience, "going on unto perfection."

This state of sanctification, though confessedly imperfect in its earlier stages, Wesley estimates distinctly otherwise than many, perhaps most, orthodox writers, both previous and subsequent to his time. With the latter there is no entire cessation from sin, even in the most devoted. Guilt is incurred in

the veriest acts of piety. They interpret with the most literal exactness, and in its largest application, the Old Testament declaration that "there is not a just man upon earth that doeth good and sinneth not." Wesley, on the other hand, insists that the subject of even an imperfect sanctification does not commit sin.

"Even babes in Christ are in such a sense perfect, or born of God, (an expression taken also in divers senses,) as, first, not to commit sin. If any doubt of this privilege of the sons of God, the question is not to be decided by abstract reasonings, which may be drawn out into endless length, and leave the point just as it was before. Neither is it to be determined by the experience of this or that particular person. Many may suppose they do not commit sin when they do; but this proves nothing either way. To the law and the testimony we appeal. Let God be true, but every man a liar.' . . .

.....

"Now, the Word of God plainly declares, that even those who are only justified, who are born again in the lowest sense, do not continue in sin; that they cannot live any longer therein (Rom. vi. 1, 2), that they are 'planted together in the likeness of the death of Christ' (verse 5). That their old man is crucified with him, the body of sin being destroyed, so that henceforth they do not serve sin: that being dead with Christ, they are freed from sin' (ver. 6, 7). That they are dead unto sin and alive unto God (ver. 11). That 'sin hath no more dominion over them,' who are not under the law, but under grace'; but that these, being free from sin, are become the servants of righteousness' (ver. 14, 15).

"But most express are the well-known words of St. John, in his 1st Epistle, chap. iii. 8, etc.: 'He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning.' 'For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin. For his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin, because he is born of God."— Sermons, No. 35.

He explains at much length the Scripture statements whose literal sense is in obvious contradiction with those above quoted, and meets the objections to his doctrine, showing that even the partially sanctified man does not commit sin, with no small cogency.

Yet, for all this, he teaches that in the regenerated man sin may and does exist for a longer or shorter period. This

appears quite inconsistent at first glance with the assertions above made; indeed, it must be confessed that Wesley's statements concerning sin are somewhat confused, and his meaning difficult to ascertain, except by careful collation of different parts of his writings. Sometimes, as above, he seems to restrict it to its narrowest sense, and then again to give it so wide a scope that he hesitates to call even the highest experience for which he pleads a sinless perfection. He speaks of "sin properly so called," and "sin improperly so called "; of which the former is a voluntary transgression of a known law, and the latter an involuntary transgression; and he admits "there is no such perfection in this life as excludes these involuntary transgressions." Of this more hereafter. From his general use of the terms we infer that he intends to make the following distinctions:- (a.) Sin in an improper sense; embracing such acts as proceed from ignorance or other infirmities, unintentional violations of the law. (b.) Sin in the proper sense; comprising both outward and inward sins; the former being actual and wilful violations of God's law; the latter, those evil desires, tendencies, and dispositions which exist in the partially sanctified soul, and are by it restrained, but which being indulged become outward acts of disobedience; "such as pride, self-will, love of the world in any kind or degree; such as lust, anger, peevishness; any disposition contrary to the mind which was in Christ." Thus, while he insists that the true believer, however weak his faith, does not commit sin, he just as stoutly maintains that these bad impulses and evil tendencies are "of the nature of sin," and are to be called by that name. But he, and those who agree with him on the doctrine under consideration, believe that these "inward sins" may be wholly purged away, and that it is the privilege of a true child of God to live in this world free from all disturbance by them. It is the suppression and destruction of these "inward sins" which constitute a principal part of the work of sanctification, and the final extirpation of them marks the fulness of that work in the soul. "Sanctification in its earlier stages implies the subjugation of the body of sin; and complete sanctification implies its entire destruction."

The positive features of the doctrine of Christian perfection