humor-often aided, it is true, by his versification, his varied and skillful metrical effects. Most of his verses are saturated with this quality. It is seldom cynical or morbid, seldom sneers. For the most part it is healthful and rollicking. Much of it fairly brings one to his feet. The young lady who dabbles in French and nibbles chocolate caramels may not enjoy it, nor the intensely cultured gentleman who has passed beyond being a man, but humanity at large it will touch; and this is the only thing important. God's men are not ashamed of it. We cannot have all of our poets dainty, and contained, and nice, even if this were desirable. Neither can we have them all sublime and intensely spiritual, though the best poets must approach the latter quality. We need not be ashamed of having laughed over such lines as these,

"Now remember when you 're 'acking round a gilded Burma god
That his eyes is very often precious stones,"

or these,

"The uniform 'e wore

Was nothin' much before,

An' rather less than 'arf of that be'ind."

They have made other healthy people laugh and would improve the digestion of unhealthy ones. Not all of Kipling's humor, however, is of this rollicking sort. He has a wide range; he is often satirical and bitter, often quiet and droll. The first two varieties are illustrated by "Tomlinson" and "The Vampire," the last two by the "Legend of Evil" and "La Nuit Blanche." I quote one stanza from the last named:

"Then I watched a fender walking,

And I heard gray leeches sing,

And a red-hot monkey talking

Did not seem the proper thing."

Some critics have suggested that humor, in any considerable quantity at least, is out of place in poetry. This is a contention hardly worthy of reply, for these poets appeared long since who gave eternal discredit to it. The best of Lowell's work went into his "Biglow Papers," and the "Biglow Papers" are rich in humor

of the most homely downright Yankee sort. Some of Browning's best poems also are humorous, notably "The Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister" and "Up at a Villa-Down in the City," and Burns owes not a little of his popularity to such charming poems of raillery as "Tam Glen" and "Duncan Gray." Certainly, then, it is only a question of measure and method of treatment, and Kipling has not cast aside Greek moderation in more than a very small number of productions. The humor of "Gunga Din" and "Tomlinson" is not unworthy of comparison with that of "The Courtin'" or "The Spanish Cloister."

But, granted that Kipling possesses several elements of permanence, has he so combined these elements as to leave permanent poems of any considerable number? Here we tread upon ground where it is foolish to speak dogmatically. Sometimes we cannot answer to our own satisfaction the question why a poem survives as a unit. So intimate is the commingling, the harmony, of qualities in a great poem that it is often next to impossible to assign the cause of its popularity. Fortunately the difficulty is not always quite so great as one might expect, for few poems have failed to survive if they possessed any such single quality well developed. A poem may perish because its imagination is not of that high degree of vividness which is requisite, or because its emotional power lacks that finality of appeal which really great art demands, but if it possesses either of these excellencies in a remarkable degree it is almost certain to persist. In this category are several of Kipling's poems. Many, it is true, will not long survive, some are already sinking into a well-deserved oblivion, but a few, unless all poetic principles fail, will abide; and among these we may surely mention "Tomlinson," "L'Envoi" to "The Seven Seas," and "Recessional."

It.Bakin

ART. V.-EARLY METHODISM UNDER PERSECUTION BY THE PEN

HAD our Wesleyan forefathers lived in the days of the thumbscrew, the rack and the stake no doubt they would have endured suffering and death with stout hearts, for they were the stuff of which martyrs are made. But, though happily spared the tragic fate of many reformers of an earlier time, their zeal and devotion were often put to a sore test. Nor was it merely that again and again the frenzied mob fell upon the defenseless worshipers "with clubs, hangers and swords, so that many of them were much wounded, and lost a considerable quantity of blood." The pen, if seemingly more tolerant than the sword, may become a terribly effective and brutal weapon. John Wesley entered into the light of the evangelical faith on May 24th, 1738. Within a year the printed attacks of his opponents began, and continued with varying degrees of virulence through the greater part of his life. If printer's ink could destroy the truth Methodism would never have survived the decade of infancy. Literally hundreds of publications appeared, from the common poster or handbill, embellished with some rude caricature intended to catch the eye of the rabble, to the pretentious and handsomely bound and illustrated quarto, "displaying the vague enthusiasm of the Methodists," and designed for the amusement of "My Lords and Ladies." Now and then a pamphlet appeared appealing in a calm and kindly tone to the straying sheep to return to the fold, but most of the writings inspired by the Church, even when from the pen of a young curate, were dictated in lordly terms and in a spirit of utter contempt for the new faith. Our admiration for John Wesley grows apace as we note his almost uniform selfrestraint amid attacks by men who in scholarship, piety and aggressive zeal were so far beneath him. As the Evangelical Movement spread the assaults became more bitter, and others besides the clergy eagerly rushed to the fray. It became quite the popular thing among the wits of the day, who would have thought it

somewhat undignified to join the mob in stone-throwing, to employ the more refined weapons of ribald jest and satire. From 1760 to 1780 there followed at short intervals a succession of books and pamphlets often of the most scurrilous character. The eighteenth century in England was not noted for the delicacy of its moral sensibilities. But even for those times some of the attacks on Methodism must have seemed revolting. The great majority of these varied publications were issued anonymously. It was a special source of grief to Wesley that even his brethren among the Anglican clergy so often assailed him in this covert fashion. As Whitefield said to the Bishop of London concerning a pamphlet which it was more than suspected his Lordship had written, "It is not quite fair to give stabs in the dark." As we turn the yellow leaves of these old books, long since put away on the shelf and forgotten by our hurrying age, we cannot help thinking what a power Methodism must have been, even in those days of small things, to call forth such desperate efforts to thwart her progress. And with what heavenly grace must she have been endowed to continue on her way rejoicing, unmindful of the foolish attempts of men to stop the work of God. It is not to be supposed that all who wrote against Methodism were prompted by a spirit of persecution. There were many devout souls who recognized and deplored the evils of the times and earnestly prayed for a change, but who regarded Methodism with pious horror. In 1756 a volume of considerable size appeared, and on the title-page we read: "The Great Secret Disclosed" (referring to the growth of Wesley's work), "With An Effectual Method For Bringing About A Reformation And Destroying Methodism." The author frankly declares that if the Anglican clergy had not been unfaithful shepherds Wesley would never have arisen; and with the passionate earnestness of a prophet he implores them to do their duty by the flock of Christ, and thus the Methodist heresy will be stayed. That same year a thirty-six page tract of similar tone was published. The title-page runs as follows: "Methodism displayed and Enthusiasm detected: Intended as an Antidote against and a Preservative from the delusive Principles and unscriptural

Doctrines of a modern Sett of seducing Preachers," etc. But, in spite of these unhappy reflections on our forefathers, the tract is one of the noblest appeals on behalf of the evangelical faith that one could ask for: "Men, Brethren and Fathers, observe you not the overflowings of immorality and vice, which like a torrent are overspreading our land? has lost its powerful influence upon us. O ye Ministers, ye professed Teachers and Instructors of Mankind, there is no way left but to retreat to the primitive doctrines of the Gospel, the established principles of the Reformation."

Christianity

A class of books which circulated widely among the laity and exerted great influence in the early days of Methodism is well represented by one published in 1745, entitled, "The Question whether it be right to turn Methodist, considerd in a Dialogue between two members of the church of England." Albeit there are occasional references to the "poor deluded Methodists," the book is written in an excellent spirit, and quite fairly represents both sides. It was a common thing for the Anglican clergy, or those who represented them, to appeal over the heads of Wesley and his colleagues directly to the people at large. In 1745 a tract written "By a Sincere Protestant" was scattered broadcast, carrying the title, "A Serious Address to Lay-Methodists to beware of the False Pretences of their Teachers." A clear warning is sounded: "If you continue to follow such wandering lights as you have lately been gadding after, whatever canting Assurances they may give you to the contrary

you must

be led into the bogs and whirlpools of error and delusion. And pray Sirs, what assurance have you that your Leaders are not driving on furiously to the same point? [Roman Catholicism.] And may not some of them be Papists in disguise?" He has a high estimate of the clergy of the Established Church. "Though they make no pretence to inspiration, or the extraor dinary and uncommon influence of the Holy Spirit (as some of your Enthusiasts do), they are as learned a body of men as any in the Christian world. Their preaching, though it may

* In this and the subsequent quotations, the spelling and italicisms of the original have been retained.