of his marriage to Miss Sarah Gwynne, they sang hymns of solemn joy composed by himself for the occasion; and after the ceremony he took his lovely young bride behind him on horseback, and they sang other hymns with pious joy as they rode thus along the way. His married life was as full of happiness as his brother John's was of domestic misery.

Two of Charles Wesley's sons became distinguished musicians. A great-grandson, a venerable gentleman of silvery hair and exquisite musical taste, is the organist of City Road Chapel, London. It is fitting that in Westminster Abbey, that "temple of silence and reconciliation," that mausoleum of England's mighty dead, there should be a memorial of the two great men who did so much to mould the higher life of the nation. The beautiful mural monument of John and Charles Wesley, which is shown in our cut, is one of the first which Methodist tourists from all parts of the world visit in the venerable abbey. It was unveiled by Dean Stanley on March 30th, 1876, in the presence of a large company of invited guests, ministers, laymen, and ladies. The company assembled first in the Chapter-house, in which the first English parliament was held.

Dean Stanley, in unveiling the monument, expressed the obligation which the Church of England, which England itself, and which the Church of Christ owed to the labours of John and Wesley.

Lord is it possible that I

Unblamed shall be?

Is there, indeed, a stainless robe Prepared for me?

Charles

And under this, on the sloping line at the bottom, is graven Charles Wesley's exultant exclamation:

"God buries his workmen, but

carries on his work."

The monument is situate midway between the "Poets' Corner" and the nave of the Abbey, being near to the smaller monument of Dr. Isaac Watts, and in close neighbourhood to the memorials of men of genius and learning—

"The dead, but sceptred sovereigns, who still rule

Our spirits from their urns."

Dr. Daniels eloquently remarks: "It is but just that some memorial of that royal man should be set up among the tombs of England's princes, bishops, heroes, and statesmen. Other men have been kings by the accident of birth, of royal blood: John Wesley reigned by virtue of the divine anointing. Other bishops have worn the mitre and carried the keys through the devious workings of State Church preferment John Wesley was a bishop by the grace of God. Other heroes have earned their honours by ravaging sea and land to kill, burn, and destroy: Wesley, with equal courage and equal skill, achieved his fame not by killing, but by saving men."

Shall I who, of myself, have naught
Or wise or right?

Stand unreproved and faultless in
Thy holy sight?

Yes, Lord, all things are possible
To Thy rich grace;

And I, ev'n I, shall walk in white
Before Thy face!

HE beginnings of em

pire, the origin of any important institution, the birthplace of any great government or great man, will ever engage the profoundest attention of the human mind. Hence men visit with eager interest the cradlelands of the race, they contemplate with patriotic pride the field of Runnymede, they make long pilgrimages to the humble cottage. in which the bard of Avon or the bard of Ayr was born. With not less reverent feelings should we visit the cradle of the most remarkable religious movement of modern times. The two-hundredth anniversary of the birth of John Wesley makes it especially opportune that the Methodists of Canada should become more familiar than ever with the noble traditions of those stirring times.

The little Lincolnshire village of Epworth by its association with the life and labours of John and Charles Wesley has been raised into worldwide distinction. It has become a place of pilgrimage from many lands. The name of the Epworth League has made it familiar to millions throughout this continent. The old Epworth rectory is still the home of the clergymen of the parish. The market cross at which John Wesley often preached still remains a village landmark. But of most pathetic interest of all is the tomb of the village pastor, Samuel Wesley, standing on which, when excluded from his father's pulpit, John Wesley preached the Word of God, a not unfitting symbol of Methodism standing on the traditions of the past and proclaiming the evangel of conscious salvation.

The first home of Methodism was indeed very humble, suggesting analogies with the lowly beginning of Christianity itself the ma

of Bethlehem and the cottage home of Nazareth. When the Wesleys and Whitefield by ecclesiastical intolerance were excluded from the churches, they took to preaching on moors and commons, and at markets and fairs. Bad weather, and the need of more comfortable accommodation, led them to seek some place of shelter for their services. In 1739, John Wesley was urged to secure the Old Foundry, Moorfields, London, as a place of worship. This was a large, rambling pile of buildings, near the present site of City Road Chapel. It had

been used by the Government for casting brass ordnance. Many cannon, captured from the French in Marlborough's wars, were here recast. One day, as a large quantity of molten metal was run into the moulds, the moisture in the sand was suddenly converted into steam, and a violent explosion took place; the building was shattered and partly disroofed, and several persons were killed. The royal foundry was removed to Woolwich, and the shattered building was left for some years unoccupied and going to decay. Wesley's only regular income

was £28 a year, from his Oxford fellowship. The sum required for the purchase of the Foundry was £115. But full of faith, he assumed the debt, and, some friends coming to his aid, nearly £700 was expended in fitting it up for worship. Instead of the clang of anvils and roar of furnaces employed in the manufacture of the deadly enginery of war, its walls were to echo the holy hymns and the glad evangel of the gospel of peace.

Part of the building was fitted up with desks for a school. Here, for seven years, Silas Told taught a number of charity children from six in the morning till five in the evening, for the salary of ten shillings a week. Part was also fitted up as a book-room for the sale of Mr. Wesley's publications. A dispensary and alms-house for the poor was also part of the establishment, where, in 1748, were nine widows, one blind woman, and two