OTHER FAMOUS CHRISTIANS

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THOMAS A KEMPIS.

Those who are acquainted with the well known booklet The Imitation of Christ" have doubtless been impressed with the thought that the author of so deeply spiritual a book must have had such trials of faith, such self-crucifixion, and such fellowship with God as is only known to those who "dwell in the secret place of the Most High." Such was true of Thomas a Kempis, whose little book has been published in every civilized tongue, and has been a means of blessing for centuries.

A Kempis was born at Cologne, in 1380, and was very pious from his early youth. He was brought up in a religious school and at nineteen years of age became a monk of the Augustinian order. He filled many of the highest offices in this order before his death, which occurred when he was ninety-two years of age. His conversion to Christ took place during his novitiate, after he was deeply convicted of sin and after he had suffered many inward struggles. After this he had many fierce conflicts of soul as is very apparent from his writings. "O, how great," he exclaims, "has been the mercy of God towards me! How often, when I was almost overcome, has He been my deliverer! Sometimes my passions assailed me as a whirlwind; but God sent forth His arrows and dissipated them. The attack was often renewed, but God was still my support. By degrees I was weaned from everything

earthly, and adhered to God alone. Then, I experienced how sweet, how full of mercy God is to those who truly love Him. O my God! how merciful hast Thou been to me! Many have been forsaken by Thee, and are lost, who were less guilty than I am. But Thy mercies are unspeakable. Let the worthless one (sayest Thou) draw near to Me, that he may be made worthy; the wicked one, that he may be converted; the imperfect one, that he may be made perfect; let all draw near to Me, and taste the living waters of salvation. It is my delight to be with the children of men.'"

WILLIAM PENN.

William Penn, the famous Quaker who founded Pennsylvania, who wrote "No Cross, No Crown," and who won many souls for Christ, was qualified by birth, talents, and education to be one of the leading noblemen of Great Britain. Like Moses, he renounced all worldly honors to suffer bitter persecution with the children of God. He even suffered imprisonment with the then despised Quakers.

William Penn was under deep religious impressions as a child, and was converted to Christ at twelve years of age. He made a full consecration of everything to God in 1666, when twenty-two years of age, after hearing the Quaker preacher Thomas Lee preach about "The Faith that Overcomes the World." In his book "The Guide Mistaken," written in defence of the Quakers, or Friends, he thus describes the teaching of the Friends regarding the doctrine of Christian Perfection:

"Perfection from sin they hold to be attainable, because he that is born of God sins not, and that nothing which is unclean can enter the kingdom of God; no crown without victory; the little leaven leavens the whole lump; the strong

man must be cast out. Paul prays they might be sanctified wholly; be ye perfect as God is perfect; be perfect, be of good comfort; unto a perfect man; as many as be perfect; that the man of God may be perfect; the God of peace make you perfect in every good work; the God of all grace make you perfect; let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God; etc.

"And as my faithful testimony both to their life and doctrine, I declare, and be it known to all that ever knew me, that when the unspeakable riches of God's love visited me, by the call of His glorious light, from the dark practices, wandering notions, and vain conversation of this polluted world, and that my heart was influenced thereby, and consequently disposed for the more intimate and sincere reception of it; those very habits which I once judged impossible, whilst here, to have relinquished, and did allow myself a liberty therein, because not openly gross or scandalous, became not only burdensome, and by that light were manifested to be of another nature than that which I was called to the participation of; but in my faithful adherence to its holy counsel and instructions, I was immediately endued with a power that gave dominion over them."

DR. ADAM CLARKE.

Dr. Adam Clarke, the great commentator and preacher, was one of the most famous of the early Methodist ministers, and he is ranked as one of the greatest of Bible scholars. He insisted on preachers urging people to seek an experience of entire sanctification, and he preached frequently on the same theme with great unction and power. His powerful treatise on "Purity of Heart" was written

to show Christians their privilege of being "filled with all the fulness of God."

Dr. Clarke is known everywhere as a writer of great learning, but it is not so generally known that he preached to immense audiences and was one of the most successful preachers in the itinerancy of the early Methodist Church. That he enjoyed a very deep Christian experience himself is very evident from all his writings. In "Purity of Heart" he says: "As there is no end to the merits of Christ incarnated and crucified; no bounds to the mercy and love of God; no let or hindrance to the almighty energy and sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit; no limits to the improvability of the human soul; so, there can be no bounds to the saving influence which God will dispense to the heart of every genuine believer. We may ask and receive, and our joy shall be full! Well may we bless and praise God, 'who has called us into such a state of salvation;' a state in which we may be thus saved; and, by the grace of that state, continue in the same to the end of our lives.

"As sin is the cause of the ruin of mankind, the Gospelsystem which exhibits its cure is fitly called 'good news,' or 'glad tidings;' and it is good news, because it proclaims Him who saves His people from their sins; and it would indeed be dishonorable to that grace, and the infinite merit of Him who procured it, to suppose, much more to assert, that sin had made wounds which grace would not heal. Of such a triumph Satan shall ever be deprived.”

WILLIAM BRAMWELL.

Inseparably connected with the greatest names of early Methodism are the names of Bramwell and Carvosso.

Rev. William Bramwell, who lived at the same time as Wesley, sang as a choir-boy in the Church of England dur