The Life of the Rev. John Wesley, AM
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Sr^A- 7?.Y," from a scarce prmtBjrBLAND.publisVd in th- Y'*ar 176 ' ' J_=. ': i!. Mi. J Aerso. «5a. - r p7/A7/\/,. h<, l "Jr*w-r*.-, THE LIFE OF THE REV. JOHN WESLEY, A. M., FELLOW OF LINCOLN COLLEGE, OXFORD; IN WHICH ARE INCLUDED, THE LIFE OF HIS BROTHER, THE REV. CHARLES WESLEY, A. AL, STUDENT OF CHRIST CHURCH, AND MEMOIRS OF THEIR FAMILY: COMPREHENDING AN ACCOUNT OF €fft CSuat &tf)tbal of ISUligton, IV WHICH THEY WERE THE FIRST AND CHIEF lUSTRUM ESTi. BY THE REV HENRY MOORE, ONLY SURVIVING TRUSTEE OF MR. WESLEV'S M»s According to this lime it shall be said, "What hath God wrought ?' Numbers xxiii, i.>. Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit," snilhllie Lord of I/fi Zel'h. iv, 0. Ycntui-R-;iue hiemis memores, astate laborem Experiuntur, et in medium quanta rcponunt. Vihgilii <Ji:oiu;. IN TWO VOLIM1 S. VOL. I. LOXDOX: I'RIXTED FOR JOHN KERSHAW, 14, CITY-ROAD, AND 00, l'ATEKXOSTEK-KOW James Nichols, Printer, 22, Warwick-Square, London. ... CONTENTS. BOOK THE FIRST, •CONTAINING AN ACCOUNT OF MR. WESLEY'S FAMILY CHAPTER I. His Great Grandfather and Grandfather Wesley, and his maternal Grandfather Annesley . 25 CHAPTER II. An Account of Samuel Wesley, Senior . 39 CHAPTER III. Mrs. Susannah Wesley and her Daughters . 56 CHAPTER IV The Rev. Samuel Wesley, Junioi . 90 BOOK THE SECOND. CHAPTER I. Tlie Life of the Rev. John Wesley, from his Birth to the Year 1735 ; icith an Account of his Brother, the Rev. Charles Wesley . ..Ill .. CONTENTS. CHAPTER II. An Account of the Life of the Rev. Charles Wesley, a. m., and of his Brother John, in Continuation, until their Mission to Georgia . 151 CHAPTER III. Mr. Wesley's Mission to America, in which he zvas accompanied by his Brother Charles . 232 BOOK THE THIRD. CHAPTER I. His Mission to America . 245 CHAPTER II. Continuation of Mr. Wesley's Mission to America 292 CHAPTER III. Mr. Wesley s Return to England, and attaining, with his Brother, the true Christian Faith . 340 CHAPTER IV The Progress and Labours of the Brothers, in main- taining the Faith of the Gospel . 398 BOOK THE FOURTH, CHAPTER I. The Causes which led to the Introduction of Itinerancy and Field-preaching— The State of the Nation at that Time, with Respect to Religion , , . 4<2$ . .. lOXTKXI'.S. CHAPTEll II. Introduction of Field-preaching—Difference uith the Moravians, and Separationfrom them—Formation of a distinct Society— The Rides .. .. 438 CHAPTER III. Dispute respecting" Absolute Predestination—Partial Separation of Mr. Whitefield— Receiving Lay- helpers—Progress of Itinerancy— The Power of Religion manifested in the happy Death of several Members of the Society . 494 CHAPTER IV Progress of Religion — Curious Queries concerning the Methodists—Establishment of the Methodist Disci- pline—Death of Mrs. Wesley—Interesting Letter, illustrative of her Character . 541 ERRATUM. In the Preface, page ii, line 11, 1 ' " his own writings. For « appear in writings, read appear in PREFACE. Mr. Wesley is universally allowed to have been an extraordinary man. His long life, spent in great and uninterrupted labours, and his emi- nent success as a minister of the Gospel, in this and other countries, mark him out as a highly distinguished character. However, like all eminent men, he paid to the public the usual tax of censure. Many were his enemies, and many the aspersions thrown out against him. But he rose above them all ; and the general voice at length confessed, that he was free from vice, and a man of real virtue and piety. His death put an end even to that favourite accu- sation, " that he was amassing riches by his influ- ence over his societies :" For he died worth nothing except his books, and left even these burdened with a heavy debt. It is therefore reasonable to suppose, that a History of the Life and Labours of this great and good man will be acceptable to the public, and especially to the truly religious of every denomination. Some, who have been acquainted with Mr. Wes- ley, and have read his printed Journals, may per- Vol. I. B ; ii PREFACE. haps think, that no other account of him is needful and that his own writings are abundantly sufficient to enable the public to form a just estimate both of the man, and of the great work in which he was engaged. This was the decided and avowed opinion of the compiler of these volumes, imme- diately after the death of their venerable sub- ject. Mr. Wesley had so regularly detailed the occurrences and labours of his whole life, and his doctrines and motives so largely appear in writings, that it was feared the subject, if undertaken by any other, would, as Cicero said concerning Caesar's Commentaries, but mar the beauty and weaken the effect of the whole. This opinion, however, was soon relinquished. It was quickly announced, that a Life of Mr. Wesley, by Mr. John Hampson, junior, afterwards Rector of Sunderland, was then in the press. He had intended to publish it during the life of the Founder of Methodism; on whose unexpected decease, all publicity was given to the intended work. Mr. Hampson's motives could not be mis- taken. He had been in connexion with Mr. Wes- ley for some years, as a preacher of the Gospel, having been introduced by his father, an old Itine- rant, and received with that charity, but not with that caution,* which Mr. Wesley usually displayed. Indeed, this young man was the first instance of a preacher's irregular admittance into the Connexion. Mr. Wesley had cause to be dissatisfied with the father for a considerable time before, on account ; PREFACE. jjj of his avowed democratic principles ; * and, in the issue, had still less cause for satisfaction in the son. But he remembered that Divine direction, ** Judge nothing before the time" and behaved to them with his wonted kindness. That ''time" soon arrived. The Deed of De- claration, which is now well known, will be con- sidered in its proper place : By it the Chapels throughout the Methodist Connexion obtained a legal settlement, one hundred Preachers being enrolled by name, in the Court of Chancery, as The Conference, to whom the right of appoint- ing persons to occupy the pulpits was, by the Trust-Deeds of those chapels, specially secured. In filling up that document, the names of both the Hampsons, father and son, were omitted. This greatly offended the elder Hampson, who strove to make a party against the Deed ; and the son naturally partook of the feeling in which his father indulged. But that attempt failed and Mr. Wesley affectionately consented to re- ceive an apology at the following Conference, chiefly through the intercession of Mr. Fletcher, so that the father and son were again appointed to circuits. The elder Hampson, however, departed from his circuit before the end of the year, and * It is strange, that such principles should fin'd a place in the breast of any man, who thinks himself called of God to " have nothing to do, but to save souls," and who, therefore, ought to have no more regard to the course, or the principles, of this world, than his Divine Master or his Apostles had. B2 IV PREFACE. accepted an offer to superintend a school in the county of Kent. About the same time the young man listened to a proposal from some pious gentle- men, who had formed an association for introduc- ing religious young men into the ministry in the Church of England ; and having received the radiments of a classical education in Mr. Wesley's school at Kingswood, he was sent by them to Ox- ford. They both addressed letters of resignation to Mr. Wesley, which were read to him, in course, by the writer of these Memoirs. The father wrote under a strong feeling of resentment, and dis- played many of his old principles. The young man wrote with more mildness, and expressed some grateful acknowledgments of the many benefits which he had received ; but, it was very apparent, that lie thoroughly participated in the irritation of the father. Quite enough was said by both, about the arbitrary power exercised by Mr. Wesley;* who took little notice of these letters at first, only saying- to me, " You see the strength of the cause." But he was afterwards much moved when he considered the mischief that might ensue • " and said, with some warmth, I have been too * Mr. Wesley's arbitrary power, so called, was exercised, from first to last, in keeping his associates to that work of God, that wholly religious design and employment, which they all professed to embrace as their duty and calling, when they joined him • And from this he certainly would not consent that any of them should swerve. In every thing else, he was, even by their own account, a lather, and a friend. FRKFACK. V tender of these men. You should have opposed my receiving them again. You know I halt on that foot." That Mr. Hampson's Life of Mr. Wesley would not be a friendly one, was easily augured; and the perusal of it fully justified the supposition. It was the " amende honorable'''' made to the Church into which, when he wrote it, he was about to enter as a Minister. But, I believe, none of those from whom he had departed expected to see laboured dissertations introduced into the Me- moir, with an evident purpose to overthrow those doctrines of the Gospel which he had formerly professed to believe, and the power of which he must have professed to experience, before he could be admitted into that Connexion of which Mr.