DEATH AND CHARACTER—1735.
Mr Wesley never fully recovered from the effects of the serious accident
which befell him in 1731. The reader will have perceived this in the
letters given in the previous chapter. Mrs Wesley, writing to her son
John, says, “Your father is in a very bad state of health; he sleeps
little and eats less. He seems not to have any apprehension of his
approaching exit, but I fear he has but a short time to live. It is with
much pain and difficulty that he performs divine service on the
Lord’s-day, which sometimes he is obliged to contract very much.
Everybody observes his decay but himself.”[338]
-----
Footnote 338:
_Wesley Family._
-----
Mr Wesley had a severe illness about the year 1733, which totally
disabled him for six months. The first two sermons he preached after
this affliction were from the words, “Jesus findeth him in the temple,
and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole; sin no more, lest a
worse thing come unto thee,” (John v. 14.)
The last two sermons, noted in his memorandum-book, were preached at
Epworth, August 18, 1734, on 1 Sam. xii. 17: “Is it not wheat harvest
to-day? I will call unto the Lord,” &c. After showing that unseasonable
weather, in time of harvest, is a just judgment inflicted by the hand of
God for the wickedness of the people, he proceeds to address his
congregation thus:—“I am afraid, nay, too well assured, that many of you
have hardened your hearts as did Pharaoh; for otherwise, how came the
house of God so empty here last Sunday? The people went in shameful
droves to do their own ways, and find their own pleasures, and speak
their own words; and left a very small flock behind them on their knees
to cry mightily to God that He would have mercy upon us, that we might
not perish.”[339]
There is no evidence that Mr Wesley preached after this. His death-bed
scene was exquisitely beautiful. His sons, John and Charles, were
present, and from both of them we have accounts of it.
John Wesley, in a letter dated March 22, 1748, and supposed to be
written to Archbishop Secker, says:—“My father did not die unacquainted
with the faith of the gospel, of the primitive Christians, or of our
first Reformers; the same which, by the grace of God, I preach, and
which is just as new as Christianity. What he experienced before I know
not; but I know that, during his last illness, which continued eight
months, he enjoyed a clear sense of his acceptance with God. I heard him
express it more than once, although, at that time, I understood him not.
‘The inward witness, son, the inward witness,’ said he to me, ‘that is
the proof, the strongest proof of Christianity.’ And when I asked him
(the time of his change drawing nigh), ‘Sir, are you in much pain?’ He
answered aloud with a smile, ‘God does chasten me with pain, yea, all my
bones with strong pain; but I thank Him for all, I bless Him for all, I
love Him for all!’ I think the last words he spoke, when I had just
commended his soul to God, were, ‘Now you have done all;’ and, with the
same serene, cheerful countenance, he fell asleep without one struggle,
or sigh, or groan. I cannot therefore doubt but the Spirit of God bore
an inward witness with his spirit that he was a child of God.”[340]
John Wesley, in his sermon on Love, preached at Savannah in 1736, again
adverts to his father’s death, and says:—“When asked, not long before
his release, ‘Are the consolations of God small with you?’ He replied
aloud, ‘No, no, no!’ and then calling all that were near him by their
names, he said, ‘Think of heaven, talk of heaven; all the time is lost
when we are not thinking of heaven.’”[341]
-----
Footnote 339:
_Wesley Family._
Footnote 340:
“This letter was written during a controversy with Secker, respecting
the doctrine of the witness of the Spirit.”—WESLEY’s _Works_, vol.
xii. p. 93.
Footnote 341:
Wesley’s _Works_, vol. vii. p. 475.
-----
Charles Wesley’s description of his father’s death is more lengthened,
and is contained in a letter addressed to his brother Samuel, and which
was first published by Dr Priestley in 1791. The letter was written two
days after the funeral, and is as follows:—
“EPWORTH, _April 30, 1735_.
“DEAR BROTHER,—After all your desire of seeing my father alive, you
are at last assured you must see his face no more till he is raised in
incorruption. You have reason to envy us, who could attend him in the
last stage of his illness. The few words he could utter I saved, and
hope never to forget. Some of them were, ‘Nothing too much to suffer
for heaven. The weaker I am in body, the stronger and more sensible
support I feel from God. There is but a step between me and death.
To-morrow I will see you all with me round this table, that we may
once more drink of the cup of blessing before we drink of it new in
the kingdom of God. With desire have I desired to eat this passover
with you before I die.’
“The morning he was to communicate, he was so exceeding weak and full
of pain, that he could not, without the utmost difficulty, receive the
elements, often repeating, ‘Thou shakest me, thou shakest me;’ but,
immediately after receiving, there followed the most visible
alteration. He appeared full of faith and peace, which extended even
to his body, for he was so much better that we almost hoped he would
have recovered.[342] The fear of death he had entirely conquered, and
at last gave up his latest human desires of finishing Job, paying his
debts, and seeing you. He often laid his hand upon my head and said,
‘Be steady. The Christian faith will surely revive in this kingdom;
you shall see it, though I shall not.’[343] To my sister Emily, he
said, ‘Do not be concerned at my death, God will then begin to
manifest himself to my family.’[344] On my asking him whether he did
not find himself worse, he replied, ‘Oh my Charles, I feel a great
deal, God chastens me with strong pain, but I praise Him for it, I
thank Him for it, I love Him for it.’
“On the 25th his voice failed him, and nature seemed entirely spent,
when, on my brother’s asking, ‘Whether he was not near heaven?’ he
answered distinctly, and with the most of hope and triumph that could
be expressed in sounds, ‘Yes, I am.’ He spoke once more, just after my
brother had used the commendatory prayer; his last words were, ‘Now,
you have done all!’
“This was about half an hour after six, from which time till sunset he
made signs of offering up himself, till my brother, having again used
the prayer, the very moment it was finished, he expired.
“His passage was so smooth and insensible that, notwithstanding the
stopping of his pulse, and ceasing of all sign of life and motion, we
continued over him a considerable time in doubt whether the soul was
departed or no. My mother (who for several days before he died, hardly
ever went into his chamber but she was carried out again in a fit) was
far less shocked at the news than we expected, and told us that now
she was heard, in his having so easy a death, and in her being
strengthened so to bear it.
“My brother had laid aside all hopes or fears (for I cannot certainly
say which) of succeeding; but, by yours, we guess Mr Oglethorpe has
quickened him. A petition might easily be sent if now necessary. A
neighbouring clergyman has sent word that ‘he has the living,’ which
would be bad news, but that another as confidently affirms he has it.
How many more may be sure of it we cannot say, but if Providence
pleases a Wesley will have it after all, though in the gift of the
crown. I hope, and so does my brother, that you will have their wish,
and that he may fail of his.
“Though you have lost your chief reason for coming, yet there are
others which make your presence more necessary than ever. My mother,
who will hardly ever leave Epworth, would be exceedingly glad to see
you as soon as can be. She does not administer, so can neither sue nor
be sued. We have computed the debts as near as can be, and find they
amount to about £100, exclusive of cousin Richardson’s. Mrs Knight,
her landlady, seized all her quick stock, valued at above £40 for £15
my father owed her on Monday last, the day he was buried; and my
brother this afternoon gives a note for the money, in order to get the
stock at liberty to sell; for security of which he has the stock made
over to him, and will be paid as it can be sold. My father was buried
very frugally, yet decently, in the churchyard according to his own
desire. It will be highly necessary to bring all accounts of what he
owed you, that you may mark all the goods in the house as principal
creditor, and thereby secure to my mother time and liberty to sell
them to the best advantage. All papers and letters of importance I
have sealed up and keep till you come.
“If you take London in your way, my mother desires you would remember
she is a clergyman’s widow. Let the society give her what they
please—she must be still in some degree _burdensome_ to you, as she
calls it. How do I envy you that glorious burden, and wish I could
share it. You must put me in some way of getting a little money, that
I may do something in this shipwreck of the family, for somebody,
though it be no more than furnishing a plank.
“My mother sends her love and blessing; we all send our love to you,
and to my sister and Phill. I should be ashamed of having so much
business in my letter were it not necessary. I would choose to write
and think of nothing but my father. Before we meet I hope you will
have finished his elegy. Pray write if there be time.—I am, your most
affectionate brother,
“CHARLES WESLEY.”[345]
-----
Footnote 342:
From this, good old Henry Moore deduced the inference that he now, for
the first time, received the witness of the Spirit; and that, until
now, “this good man had laboured in the fear of God through a long
legal night of nearly seventy years.” Absurd nonsense!
Footnote 343:
Strange words these, and gloriously fulfilled.
Footnote 344:
Another remarkable utterance, remarkably fulfilled.
Footnote 345:
_Original Letters_, published by Priestley, p. 55.
-----
Thus lived and died Samuel Wesley.[346] Near the east end of Epworth
Church, there is a plain grit tombstone, supported by brick-work, on
which is cut the following inscription, said to have been composed by
Mrs Wesley. Passing over the absurd manner in which it is divided, it is
utterly unworthy of the distinguished man whose memory it is intended to
perpetuate:—
“Here
Lyeth all that was
Mortal of _Samuel Wesley_,
A.M. He was rector of _Epworth_
39 years, and departed
this Life 25 of April 1735,
Aged 72.
As he liv’d so he died,
in the true Catholic Faith
of the Holy Trinity in Unity,
And that _Jesus Christ_ is God
incarnate: and the only
Saviour of Mankind.
Acts iv. 12.
‘Blessed are the dead
Which die in the Lord, yea,
saith the Spirit, that they may
rest from their labours and
Their works do follow them.’
Rev. xiv. 13.”[347]
-----
Footnote 346:
The following appeared in the _Gentleman’s Magazine_ for 1735:—“Died,
April 25, at Epworth, in Lincolnshire, the Rev. Mr Samuel Wesley,
M.A., rector of that parish, a person of singular parts, piety, and
learning; author of several poetical and controversial pieces. He had
for some years been composing a critical ‘Dissertation on the Book of
Job,’ which he has left unfinished, and almost printed. He proved,
ever since his minority, a most zealous asserter of the doctrine and
discipline of the Church of England.”
-----
Our task is ended. Many and pleasant have been the hours spent in
tracing the history of one of the noblest men that God ever made. It is
superfluous to say more respecting him; and yet, with a lingering
reluctance to quit the work, we cannot deny ourselves the gratification
of adding a few more words concerning his general character.
Samuel Wesley, jun., wrote an elegy immediately after his father’s
death, which his brother John published in the first volume of the
_Arminian Magazine_. The following are extracts:—
“With opening life his early worth began,
The boy misleads not, but foreshows the man.
Directed wrong, though first he miss’d the way,
Train’d to mistake, and disciplined to stray;
Not long:—for reason gilded error’s night,
And doubts, well-founded, shot a dawn of light—
Nor prejudice o’ersway’d his heart and head.
Resolved to follow truth where’er she led,
The radiant track audacious to pursue
From fame, from interest, and from friends he flew.
Those shock’d him first who laugh at human sway,
Who preach, ‘Because commanded, disobey;’
Alike the crown and mitre who forswore,
And scoff’d profanely at the martyr’s gore;
Though not in vain the sacred current flow’d,
Which gave this champion to the Church of God.
“No worldly views the real convert call;
He sought God’s altar when it seem’d to fall;
To Oxford hasted, even in dangerous days,
When royal anger struck the fated place;
When senseless policy was pleased to view
With favour all religions but the true.
“Nor yet unmention’d shall in silence lie
His slighted and derided poetry;
hate’er his strains, still glorious was his end,
Faith to assert, and virtue to defend.
“He sung how God the Saviour deign’d to expire,
With Vida’s piety though not his fire;
Deduced his Maker’s praise from age to age,
Through the long annals of the sacred page;
And not inglorious was the poet’s fate,
Liked and rewarded by the good and great;
For gracious smiles not pious Anne denied,
And beauteous Mary bless’d him when she died.”
-----
Footnote 347:
_Wesley Family._
-----
The poetry of the Epworth rector has unquestionably been “slighted and
derided,” and it must be honestly confessed that some of his verses are
exceedingly careless and inharmonious; but this was not so much the
fault of the man’s poetic genius, as of his too great haste in writing
them. His poems were written amid the pressure of parochial duties; and,
we incline to think, sometimes when he was hard pushed for want of food
and clothes for himself and family. Even his most hasty and unfinished
pieces flash with the purest poetic fire, and are not without signs that
the man who wrote them was a bard of the highest order. It was from him
that his three sons, Samuel, John, and Charles, and his two daughters,
Emilia and Mehetabel, inherited that remarkable poetic passion, which
gave birth to some of the finest verse in the English language. Copious
extracts from his poetry have been already given; but as yet no mention
has been made of his “Eupolis’s Hymn to the Creator.”[348] Dr Adam
Clarke pronounces this poem to be “the finest on the subject in the
English language. It possesses what Racine calls the _genie createur_,
the genuine spirit of poetry. It is not saying too much to assert, the
man who was the author of what is called ‘Eupolis’s Hymn to the
Creator,’ had he taken time, care, and pains, and had not been
continually harassed with the _res augusta domi_, would have adorned the
highest walks of poetry.”[349]
-----
Footnote 348:
Some writers have been disposed to think that this poem was at least,
in part, the production of Mehetabel Wesley, but John Wesley always
declared that it was written by his father.—MOORE’s _Life of Wesley_,
vol. i. p. 48.
Footnote 349:
_Wesley Family._
-----
This remarkable poem was first published by John Wesley, in the
_Arminian Magazine_ for 1778, and the following are extracts from it:—
“Author of Being! Source of Light!
With unfading beauties bright,
Fulness, goodness, rolling round,
Thy own fair orb, without a bound;
Whether Thee, thy suppliants call,
Truth, or Good, or One, or All,
_Ei_, or Jao; Thee we hail,
Essence that can never fail.
“Thee, when morning greets the skies,
With rosy cheeks and humid eyes;
Thee, when sweet declining day,
Sinks in purple waves away;
Thee will I sing, O parent Jove!
And teach the world to praise and love.
“Yonder azure vault on high,
Yonder blue, low, liquid sky,
Earth, on its firm basis placed,
And with circling waves embraced,
All-creating power confess,
All their mighty Maker bless.
“The feather’d souls that swim the air,
And bathe in liquid ether there,
The lark, precentor of their choir,
Leading them higher still and higher,
Listen and learn; the angelic notes
Repeating in their warbling throats;
And ere to soft repose they go,
Teach them to their lords below;
On the green turf, their mossy nest,
The evening anthem swells their breast.
“Source of Light! Thou bid’st the sun,
On his burning axles run;
The stars like dust around him fly,
And strew the area of the sky.
“O ye nurses of soft dreams,
Reedy brooks, and winding streams,
Or murm’ring o’er the pebbles sheen,
Or sliding through the meadows green,
Or where through matted sedge you creep,
Travelling to your Parent deep,
Sound His praise by whom you rose,
That Sea, which neither ebbs nor flows.
“No evil can from Thee proceed;
’Tis only suffer’d, not decreed—
Darkness is not from the sun,
Nor mount the shades till he is gone.
“O Father, King! whose Heavenly face
Shines serene on all Thy race;
We Thy magnificence adore,
And Thy well-known aid implore:
Nor vainly for Thy help we call;
Nor can we want, for Thou art All!”
Mr Wesley was a man of immense reading, and was possessed of great
vivacity and wit. Sometimes he has been represented as of a harsh and
stern character; but nothing can be farther from the truth than
this—“His children,” says Miss Wesley, his granddaughter, “idolised his
memory.” They would scarce have done that if he had been ungenial and
gruff. It is true, he kept his children in the strictest order; but he
also evinced the greatest tenderness, and thus secured both the respect
and love of his numerous family. To his judicious method of instructing
and managing his offspring, the Methodists owe an incalculable debt of
gratitude; and, on this account, his name among them ought to be held in
lasting remembrance. He was full of anecdote, and of witty and wise
sayings, which gave to his private conversations great interest. The
withering wit of his son Samuel, the quiet sarcasm of his son John, the
playful raillery of his daughter Emilia, and the keen satire of
Mehetabel, were all inherited from himself. In early life he was
connected with some of the greatest wits then flourishing, and to the
day of his death highly relished pleasantry, when it was pure and
good-tempered.
One instance, given by Dr Adam Clarke, is as follows:—At Temple Belwood,
near Epworth, lived a miserly man, who, contrary to the whole tenor of
his life, once mustered courage enough to invite a few friends to
dinner. Mr Wesley was present, and displayed his wit, and his great
facility in composition, by repeating, impromptu, at the close of such
an unusual festival:—
“Thanks for this feast! for ’tis no less
Than eating manna in the wilderness.
Here some have starved, where we have found relief,
And seen the wonders of a chine of beef.
Here chimneys smoke, which never smoked before,
And we have dined, where we shall dine no more.”
Which last line was immediately confirmed by the mean-spirited host, who
said, “No, gentlemen; it is too expensive.”
Dr Clarke relates another story, which was somewhat severely criticised
in the _Methodist Magazine_ for 1824; was corrected by Mr Watson in his
Life of Wesley, in 1831; and has been sharply handled by Mr Kirk, in his
graphic biography of 1864. Because the story has excited so much
attention, I feel bound to give it. Dr Clarke says he has related the
story, as nearly as possible, in the very words used by John Wesley to
himself, when they last met in Bristol.
Samuel Wesley had a clerk, who was well-meaning and honest, but, at the
same time, weak and vain. Of this, an instance is given somewhat
ludicrous. It is said, that on the return of King William from one of
his martial expeditions, this self-conceited official rose up, in the
midst of divine service, in Epworth church, and, with the nasal twang
usual among such functionaries, and to the unfortunate amusement of the
congregation, said—“Let us sing, to the praise and glory of God, a hymn
of my own composing:—
“King William is come home, come home,
King William home is come;
Therefore let us together sing,
The hymn that is called ‘Te D’um.’”
This poetical clerk believed the rector, Mr Wesley, to be the greatest
man in Epworth parish; and that, as he stood next to him in church
services, he was also next in worth and dignity. Among the man’s other
emoluments was the privilege of wearing the rector’s cast-off clothes
and wigs, for the latter of which his head was far too small. Mr Wesley,
finding him particularly vain of one of these wigs, formed the design to
mortify him in the presence of the congregation. One morning, before
church time, Mr Wesley said, “John, I shall preach on a particular
subject to-day; and shall choose my own psalm, of which I shall give out
the first line, and you shall proceed as usual.” Accordingly the service
went forward as it was wont to do, till the time came for singing, when
Mr Wesley gave out the following line—
“Like to an owl in ivy bush”—
This was sung, and then John, peeping out of his large canonical wig,
proceeded with the next line, and, in the orthodox twang, drawled out—
“That rueful thing am I!”
The congregation, struck with John’s appearance, saw the ludicrousness
of the coincidence, and, to John’s great mortification, burst into a fit
of laughter.
Such is Dr Clarke’s version of the story. The reviewer in the magazine
objects to it—first, Because it was too trivial to merit a place in such
a work; second, Because it reflects upon the good-nature of Mr Wesley,
and upon his attention to that uniform dignity and seriousness of
demeanour which are justly expected from a Christian minister; and
third, Because, in one important particular, the story was untrue, for
Mr Wesley took no part in the business whatever; but the whole was the
culpable trick of the whimsical clerk, who chose such an opportunity of
rendering himself ridiculous, and of making his neighbours laugh.
Mr Watson admits that the anecdote is laughable enough, but says, it
“implicates Mr Wesley in an irreverent act in the house of God, of which
he was not capable;” and moreover, “Mr Wesley had no hand in selecting
the psalm, which appears to have been purely accidental.”
Mr Kirk takes the same view, and further, doubts whether such lines were
ever read at all; or, if they were, he suggests that they must have been
part of another hymn of the clerk’s “own composing.” Perhaps so; Mr Kirk
says neither he nor his friends have been able to find anything like the
lines in either Sternhold and Hopkins, or in any other of the “old
versions” of the Psalms. This is quite correct, and we believe that the
exact lines above recited cannot be found in any “version;” but the
following occur in an edition of Sternhold’s, published in 1729, and now
before us:—
“And as an owl in desert is,
Lo, I am such an one;
I watch, and as a sparrow on
The house-top am alone.”
The origin of the doubts respecting the authenticity of the story may be
found in the following letter, published in the _Wesleyan Times_
newspaper of March 7, 1864. It was written to Dr Clarke by Miss Sarah
Wesley, at the time he published his “Wesley Family:”—
“_May 28, 1822._
“MY DEAR DOCTOR,—I omitted to mention one material circumstance in my
last, relative to the clerk and his psalm, as I well remember hearing
my good father, ‘(the Rev. Charles Wesley,)’ relate it to us.
“It was not by my grandfather’s appointment he gave it out, but from
the clerk’s own sagacity, little suspecting the old Caxon resembled
him to an owl.
“Indeed, a pious pastor would not have excited a laugh in a sacred
place, or punished a silly blockhead at the expense of interrupting
the devotion of a whole congregation; but as anecdotes never lose by
tradition, you have heard it was design, not accident. Dean Swift
might have done so, but not Samuel Wesley, senior, who had ever
inculcated the duty, even in psalmody, of worshipping the Lord with
reverence.
“My dear father told me the circumstance when pointing out to us the
follies to which vanity exposed a man, and the effects they produced.
But my worthy grandfather could not, consistent with his respect to
the sacred place, have directed a silly man to divert his audience.
Accidentally it was indeed ludicrous, and might have cured him of a
little innocent vanity, for all the people saw the resemblance.
“I never recollected, till my last letter went, that I had left out
this statement, and hope it will come time enough for the fact to be
mentioned as it was; for, otherwise, there is a shade cast on my good
old ancestor which no wit can chase away.”
In another letter to Dr Clarke, dated “Jan. 24, 1824,” the same writer
says:—
“Your authority for John, the clerk, is my dear uncle; ours, my father
and Aunt Hall, who, had they lived, I doubt not, would have stood to
their account of the circumstance, and contested it with their good
brother; who, when he related it to you, was considerably advanced in
years, and far more likely to misplace circumstances, with such a
weight of business and years, than my father or aunt, who had made us
acquainted with the anecdote in the vigour of their memory. If it were
as you state, I am persuaded had my dear uncle been younger, he never
would have related (without disapprobation, even of his own parent)
such conduct in a church.”[350]
-----
Footnote 350:
_Wesleyan Times_ for March 28, 1864.
-----
Dr Clarke still adhered to the correctness of his version of the story,
and defended the action on the ground that “it was the only way in which
a weak, well-meaning, but vain man, could be cured of a vanity
discreditable to himself and troublesome to others;” and that “the means
employed were as innocent, as they were appropriate and efficient.” He
also justifies his publication of the anecdote, because he thought the
thing was “characteristic of the man;” that it is “from facts of this
nature that the biographer forms a proper estimate of the character he
describes;” and that, without “such incidents,” he must “plod on in dry
detail of facts,” in a manner “little pleasing to himself,” and almost
“unsupportable to his readers.”
This is all that the writer knows respecting this paltry business, which
has become far more important than it deserves to be. It has already
occupied too much of the writer’s space, and hence, without any comment
of his own, he leaves the ingenious reader to form his own opinion.
Matthew Wesley, in the letter already quoted in the previous chapter,
insinuates that his brother had indulged in “ungovernable appetites.”
This was an unfounded and cruel accusation. In all respects, Samuel
Wesley was a most temperate and frugal man, except, perhaps, in his
indulgence of snuff and tobacco.
Living in the midst of Lincolnshire fens, it is not surprising that he
used the pipe; for the belief was common that it helped to prevent
disease. It is not improbable, however, that the weed was an early
friend; for, in the _Athenian Oracle_, while the editors allow that
tobacco when immoderately used is insalubrious, they also, as is usual
with smokers, contend that, when properly employed, it helps to cure
headaches, toothaches, asthmas, and old coughs; and though it might
induce drinking, yet so did the eating of bread and cheese or Westphalia
ham. Snuff, however, seems to have been Mr Wesley’s favourite
indulgence; and on this account he was, perhaps, undutifully attacked by
his son, Samuel, as early as the year 1714, in one of the keenest
satires that the young poet ever penned. Speaking of the box, he says:—
“The snuff-box first provokes our just disdain,
That rival of the fan and of the cane.
Your modern beaux to richest shrines intrust
Their worthless stores of fashionable dust.”
And again of snuff itself:—
“Strange is the power of snuff, whose pungent grains
Can make fops speak, and furnish beaux with brains;
Nor care of cleanliness, nor love of dress,
Can save their clothes from brick-dust nastiness.
Some think the part too small of modish sand
Which at a niggard pinch they can command;
Nor can their fingers for that task suffice,
Their nose too greedy, not their hands too nice;
To such a height with these is fashion grown,
They feed their very nostrils with a spoon.
One, and but one degree is wanting yet,
To make our senseless luxury complete;
Some choice regale, useless as snuff, and dear,
To feed the mazy windings of the ear.”
This withering satire was written by young Wesley at the request of his
aunt, Ann Annesley, and for it he makes a graceful and not unneeded
apology to his father. Mr Kirk thinks that, because of his
embarrassments, Samuel Wesley ought to have dispensed with the luxuries
of the pipe and of snuff; but perhaps if Mr Kirk himself had ever used
them, his opinion would have been somewhat modified. John Wesley says
the use of tobacco is “an uncleanly and unwholesome self-indulgence;”
and that the use of snuff is “a silly, nasty, dirty custom.”[351] He
enacted a law, making it imperative that on no account should any of his
preachers take snuff, and that they should strongly dissuade the
Methodists from taking it, and should answer all their pretences for
doing so, and especially the pretence that it cured the colic.[352] He
directed that, on receiving “new helpers” at Conference, solemn fasting
and prayer should be used, and this question among others be proposed to
the presented candidates, “Do you take no snuff, tobacco, drams?”[353]
We have not a syllable to say against all this. We believe that, for
medical purposes, smoking and snuffing have no good in them; and,
moreover, we share in the disgust felt by thousands of intelligent and
good people at seeing so many empty-headed boys of the present
generation attempting to deceive the public, and to make them believe
that they are men, because they happen to have the audacity to cultivate
a jagged moustache, and to smoke a pipe; yet, considering the
sequestered life which Mr Wesley lived, and considering the almost
unceasing troubles through which he had to pass, we can easily excuse
his seeking, at so insignificant an expense, the sort of soothing stupor
or cerebral solace, which, as old smokers and old snuffers tell us, is
derivable from the much abused, fragrant weed, tobacco.
-----
Footnote 351:
_Wesley’s Works_, vol. xii. pp. 231, 232.
Footnote 352:
_Ibid._, vol. viii. p. 296.
Footnote 353:
_Ibid._, p. 312.
-----
For forty-seven years Mr Wesley was a diligent, faithful minister of
Christ.
“As a pastor,” says Dr Whitehead, “he was indefatigable in the duties of
his office: a constant preacher, feeding the flock with the pure
doctrines of the gospel; and diligent in visiting the sick, and
administering such advice as their situations required. This integrity
was conspicuous, and his conduct uniform. Few men have been so diligent
in the pastoral office as he was; none perhaps more so. Though his
income was small, and his family large, he had always something to give
to those in distress. In conversation he was grave, yet instructive,
lively, and full of anecdote. His last moments were as conspicuous for
resignation and Christian fortitude, as his life had been for zeal and
diligence.”[354]
-----
Footnote 354:
Whitehead’s _Life of Wesley_, vol. i. pp. 21 and 32.
-----
“Mr Wesley,” says the Rev. John Hampson, “was a voluminous writer. He
was the author of a Latin Comment on Job; a work of much erudition, and
perhaps for that reason but little read. He also wrote the History of
the Bible, and the Life of Christ in verse, with several smaller pieces.
His larger poems were rather injurious than advantageous to his
reputation; and, instead of increasing his estimation with the public,
exposed him to the derision of the wits, and the censure of the
critics.[355] But Mr Wesley’s talents as a writer are the least of his
praise. He was not merely a man of learning and ability. His piety and
integrity were striking and exemplary. He was given to hospitality; and
in every respect a most excellent parish priest. The last moments of
this valuable man were crowned with most striking fortitude,
magnanimity, and Christian resignation. It is no exaggeration to say,
that a better man, or a more vigilant and faithful pastor, he did not
leave behind him. He united the zeal and courage of a martyr, with the
simplicity and evangelical spirit of an apostle; and though he had no
great cause to boast the munificence, he possessed the esteem of some of
the first characters in the nation.”[356]
-----
Footnote 355:
This is true only in part. Some of the wits and critics, as Garth,
ridiculed Wesley; but others very highly extolled him.
Footnote 356:
Hampson’s _Life of Wesley_, vol. i.
-----
“Samuel Wesley,” says Dr Clarke, “was of a short stature; of a spare,
but athletic make; and nearly resembled in person his son John. It is
likely that the picture prefixed to his ‘Dissertations on the Book of
Job’ was a correct resemblance of him.[357]
“He was earnest, conscientious, and indefatigable in his search after
truth. He thought deeply on every subject which was either to form an
article in his creed, or a principle for his conduct. His orthodoxy was
pure and solid; his religious conduct strictly correct; his piety
towards God ardent; his loyalty to his king unsullied; and his love to
his fellow-creatures strong and unconfined. Though of High Church
principles and High Church politics,[358] yet he could separate the
_man_ from the _opinions_ he held, and when he found him in distress,
knew him only as a friend and brother. He was a rigid disciplinarian,
both in his church and his family. He knew all his parishioners. He
visited them from house to house; he sifted their creed, and permitted
none to be corrupt in their opinions or in their practices, without
instruction or reproof. In this manner he went through his parish, which
was near three miles long, three times; and he was visiting it the
fourth time round when he fell into his last sickness.”[359]
-----
Footnote 357:
We doubt the correctness of the statement that Wesley “was of a short
stature.” The likeness referred to, of which the portrait in this
volume is a faithful copy, does not convey this idea.
Footnote 358:
Once more we protest against this. What were High Church principles
and politics? Bishop Burnet, who flourished at the time when the names
of High Church and Low Church were first introduced, shall answer. He
writes, (_History of Own Times_, vol. ii. p. 347:)—“All that treated
the Dissenters with temper and moderation, and were for residing
constantly at their cures, and for labouring diligently in them; that
expressed a zeal against the Prince of Wales, and for the Revolution;
that wished well to the present war, and to the alliance against
France, were called Low Churchmen.” If such was a Low Churchman, of
course, a High Churchman was just the opposite. Who, in the face of
this, will pretend to say that Samuel Wesley was “of High Church
principles, and High Church politics?”
Footnote 359:
Clarke’s _Wesley Family_.
-----
Nothing more is needed. In the foregoing testimonies the writer heartily
concurs. Mr Wesley’s behaviour, as a parish clergyman, was in all
respects exemplary excepting one; we mean his enforcement of canonical
laws concerning penance, the neglect of which, we are bound to say,
would have been more virtuous than the observance.
Remarks have sometimes been made to the effect that Mr Wesley’s labours
were honoured with but small success; and, in support of this, the
testimony of his son John is quoted, but quoted only in part. The entire
entry in his journal is as follows:—“1742. Sunday, June 13.—I preached
in Epworth churchyard to a vast multitude, gathered together from all
parts. I continued among them for near three hours, and yet we scarce
knew how to part. Oh, let none think his labour of love is lost because
the fruit does not immediately appear! Near forty years did my father
labour here, but he saw little fruit of all his labour. I took some
pains among this people too, and my strength also seemed spent in vain;
but now the fruit appeared. There were scarce any in the town on whom
either my father or I had taken any pains formerly, but the seed, sown
so long since, now sprung up, bringing forth repentance and remission of
sins.”[360]
-----
Footnote 360:
Wesley’s _Works_, vol. i., p 356.
-----
If this testimony of John Wesley means what it says, it means that the
labours of his father at Epworth, so far from being barren, were crowned
with great results; only the results were more visible after his death
than they were before.
We have already seen that Mr Wesley outlived the brutal hostility with
which he was met during the first years of his residence at Epworth, and
that his dozen communicants had increased to above a hundred. But
besides all this, we have another testimony by his son John, contained
in a letter written to the venerable father a few months only before his
death. He says—“For many years you have diligently fed the flock
committed to your care with the sincere milk of the Word. Many of them
the Great Shepherd has, by your hand, delivered from the hand of the
Destroyer, some of whom have already entered into peace, and some remain
unto this day. For myself, I doubt not but when your warfare is
accomplished you shall come to your grave, not with sorrow, but as a
ripe shock of corn, full of years and victories.”[361]
-----
Footnote 361:
_Original Letters_, published by Priestley, p. 40.
-----
Such a declaration sufficiently refutes the vague, floating idea
respecting Samuel Wesley’s want of ministerial success; but had such
testimony not existed, and had the idea mentioned been strictly true, it
would have been enough of honour, for even so good a man as the Epworth
rector, to be the author of some of the best books in the English
language, and to be the father of the greatest evangelist of modern
times, and of the best sacred bard that has flourished since the days
when the poetic lyre was made to vibrate music so sweetly celestial,
under the wondrous inspired touch of David the son of Jesse.
APPENDIX.
A, page 83.
TITLES OF THE POEMS IN MR WESLEY’S “MAGGOTS.”
The Titles, in brief, are as follows:—
1. A Maggot.
2. Two Soldiers Killing one another for a Groat.
3. A Tame Snake in a Box of Bran.
4. The Grunting of a Hog.
5. To my Gingerbread Mistress.
6. The Bear-faced Lady.
7. A Pair of Breeches.
8. A Tobacco Pipe.
9. A Cow’s Tail.
10. The Liar.
11. A Hat broke at Cudgels.
12. A Covetous Old Fellow.
13. A Supper of a —— Duck.
14. To the Laud of a Shock Bitch.
15. Elegy on the Death of Poor Spot.
16. A Box like an Egg.
17. The Beggar and Poet.
18. Plures aluit Aristoteles quam Alexander.
19. A King turned Thresher.
20. A Discourteous Damsel.
21. A Cheese.
22. A Journey.
23. The Leather Bottle.
24. Out of Lucian’s true History.
Then follow the Dialogues, viz.:—
1. Between a Thatcher and a Gardener.
2. Between a Herring and a Whale.
3. Between a Utensil and a Frying-pan.
After these the following, viz.:—
1. Against a Kiss.
2. On a Certain Nose.
3. In Praise of Horns.
4. Advice to Monsieur Ragoo.
5. A Pretended Scholar.
6. Three Skips of a Louse.
B, page 93.
LIST OF PAMPHLETS PUBLISHED AT THE TIME OF THE
REVOLUTION IN 1688.
1. Reflections upon the late Great Revolution. Written by a Lay-Hand in
the country for the satisfaction of some neighbours. Licensed April 9,
1689. London: Printed for R. Chiswell, 1689. 4to. 68 pp.
2. The History of the Desertion; or, Account of all the Public Affairs
in England, from September 1688 to the 12th of February 1689. By a
person of Quality. Licensed April 10, 1689. Printed for R. Chiswell.
London: 1689. 4to. Pp. 162.
3. The Case of Allegiance, in our present circumstances, considered. In
a Letter from a Minister in the City to a Minister in the Country.
Licensed March 21, 1689. London: Printed for R. Chiswell, 1689. 4to. Pp.
34.
4. A Justification of the Whole Proceedings of their Majesties King
William and Queen Mary; of their Royal Highnesses Prince George and
Princess Ann; of the Convocation, Army, Ministers of State, and others,
in this Great Revolution. By Authority. Printed for Randal Taylor, 1689.
4to. Pp. 37.
5. Remarks upon a Paper, entitled, An Inquiry into the Measures of
Submission to the Supreme Authority. London: 1689. 4to. Pp. 48.
6. A Seasonable Discourse, wherein is examined What is Lawful during the
confusions and revolutions of Government, especially in the case of a
King deserting his Kingdom, &c. Printed by Rd. Janeway, 1689. 4to. Pp.
72.
7. A Modest Examination of the New Oath of Allegiance. By a Divine of
the Church of England. London: Printed for R. Taylor, 1689. 4to. Pp. 8.
8. The Case of the People of England in their present circumstances
considered, showing how far they are or are not obliged by the Oath of
Allegiance. London: Printed for R. Taylor, 1689. 4to. Pp. 20.
9. The Sovereign Right and Power of the People over Tyrants clearly
stated and plainly proved, with some Reflections on the late posture of
affairs. By a True Protestant Englishman, and well-wisher to Posterity.
London: 1689. 4to. Pp. 27.
10. An Examination of the Scruples of those who refuse to take the Oath
of Allegiance. By a Divine of the Church of England. London: Printed for
R. Chiswell, 1689. Pp. 34.
11. A friendly Conference concerning the New Oath of Allegiance, wherein
the Objections against taking the Oaths are impartially examined, and
the reasons of obedience confirmed from the writings of the profound
Bishop Sanderson, &c. By a Divine of the Church of England. Licensed
April 19, 1689. London: Printed for S. Smith. 4to. Pp. 35.
12. Some Considerations touching Succession and Allegiance. London:
Printed for R. Chiswell, 1689. Licensed April 9, 1689. 4to. Pp. 34
13. Considerations humbly offered for taking the Oath of Allegiance to
King William and Queen Mary. London: Printed for J. Leake, 1689. 4to.
Pp. 62.
14. The New Oath of Allegiance justified from the original constitution
of the English Monarchy. London: Printed for Randal Taylor, 1689. 4to.
Pp. 27.
15. Reflections upon a Late Book, entitled, “The Case of Allegiance
Considered, wherein is shown that the Church of England doctrine of
Non-resistance and Passive Obedience is not inconsistent with taking the
New Oaths to their present Majesties.” London: Printed for Richard
Baldwin, 1689. Pp. 16.
16. A Letter to a Bishop, concerning the present Settlement and the New
Oaths. London: Printed for Robert Clavel, 1689. 4to. Pp. 36.
_N.B._—Robert Clavel printed Samuel Wesley’s Letter on Dissenting
Academies.
17. A Full Answer to all the Popular Objections that have yet appeared
for not taking the Oath of Allegiance; particularly offered to the
consideration of all such of the Divines of the Church of England, and
others, as are yet unsatisfied. By a Divine of the Church of England.
London: Printed for R. Baldwin, 1689. 4to. Pp. 83.
18. A Representation of the Threatening Dangers impending over
Protestants in Great Britain, before the Coming of His Highness the
Prince of Orange. 1689. 4to. Pp. 54.
19. A Letter, written by a Clergyman to his Neighbour, concerning the
Present Circumstances of the Kingdom, and the Allegiance that is due to
the King and Queen. London: Printed for R. Chiswell, 1689. 4to. Pp. 13.
20. A Treatise of Monarchy. Done by an Earnest Desirer of his Country’s
Peace. London: Printed for R. Baldwin, 1689. 4to. Pp. 73.
21. The Proceedings of the present Parliament justified by the Opinion
of Hugo Grotius, &c. By a Lover of the Peace of his Country. London:
Printed by R. Taylor, 1689. 4to. Pp. 20.
------------------
C, page 151.
LIST OF BOOKS CONDENSED IN “THE YOUNG
STUDENT’S LIBRARY.”
1. Works of Dr Lightfoot. 2 vols. folio.
2. Works of Dr Barrow. 3 vols. folio.
3. Life of Archbishop Usher, with a collection of Three Hundred of his
Letters. Folio.
4. Usher’s Antiquities of the British Churches, &c. Folio.
5. Usher’s Historical Explication of the Continual Succession and State
of the Christian Churches. Folio.
6. Usher on the Original of Bishops, &c. 8vo.
7. The Letters of Grotius.
8. The True System of the Church. By Sieur Jurien. 8vo.
9. The Accomplishment of Prophecies. By J. Pepeth. 2 vols.
10. Raius’ Second Tome of the History of Plants. Folio.
11. A Book of Canon Law. 2 vols. folio.
12. Two Treatises on the Use and Abuse of Books.
13. A Voyage to Dalmatia, Greece, and the Levant. By Mr Wheeler.
14. A new Relation of China. By Father Gabriel de Magaillans. Quarto.
15. Chardin’s Voyages into Persia, and to the East Indies. Folio.
16. Persecutions of the Reformed Church in France.
17. The British Theatre, or, The true History of Great Britain. 5 vols.
18. The Infallibility of the Roman Church. 8vo.
19. Abridgment of Universal History. By Henry le Bret. 3 vols.
20. Tavernier’s Treatises. Quarto.
21. Dissertations of Mr Burman. Quarto.
22. Speech of Monsieur Cocquelin.
23. Dr Burnet’s Letters. 8vo.
24. Thirty-three Orations of Themistius. Folio.
25. Prerogatives of St Ann, Mother of the Mother of God, approved by
the Doctors of the Sorbonne.
26. Three works written against the Doctrine of M. de Meaux. 3 vols.
27. Discourse on the Eucharist. Quarto.
28. Stillingfleet’s Origines Britannicæ. Folio.
29. Works of James Alting. Folio.
30. Manner of Thinking Well. Quarto.
31. History of a Christian Lady of China.
32. History of the East Indies.
33. Boyle on Nature.
34. Locke on the Human Understanding.
35. Beasts. By J. Darmanson.
36. Essays on Philosophy of Descartes.
37. Boyle on Specific Remedies.
38. Reflections on Ancient and Modern Philosophy.
39. Cicero’s Offices. 8vo.
40. Stanley’s History of Philosophy.
41. Boyle on Final Causes. 8vo.
42. Description of a Ship. By Sir W. Petti.
43. Letters on the use of Pendulums, &c.
44. Extracts from English Journals.
45. Micrographia. By Hook.
46. A Treatise of the Loadstone. By M. D.
47. Vapours. By Edmund Halley.
48. Disquisitiones Criticæ. Quarto.
49. Novorum Bibliorum Polyglottorum Synopsis.
50. Abridgment of Hebrew and Chaldee Grammar. By Leusden. 8vo.
51. A New Lexicon in Hebrew and Latin. By Robertson.
52. Seldeni Otia Theologica, &c. Quarto.
53. Gronovius’s Exercitations on Judas Iscariot. Quarto.
54. Dr Sprat’s History of the Royal Society. Quarto.
55. Cave’s History of the Fathers. Folio.
56. The Works and Life of Gregory Nazianzen. Folio.
57. Dodwell’s Dissertations on St Irenæus.
58. ” ” on St Cyprian. Folio.
59. The Works of Clemens Alexandrinus. Folio.
60. The Epistles of St Clement.
61. Du Pin’s Ecclesiastical Authors.
62. The Art of War. 3 vols. 8vo.
63. The Education of Daughters. By Fenelon.
64. Curious Miscellanies. Quarto.
65. Fasciculus Rerum Expetendarum.
66. Dissertations about Wedlock, &c. By Mayerus.
67. Discourses upon the Sciences.
68. Luther’s Conference with the Devil.
69. Anatomical Discoveries. 2 vols. folio.
70. A Treatise on Marriage. By Chausse.
71. Collection of Pieces of Eloquence and Poetry.
72. Speeches in the French Academy.
73. A Clergyman’s Letter to Nuns.
74. Life of Mecenas.
75. Treatise on Witches. Quarto.
76. Treatise on Law.
77. The Art of Preaching.
78. History of Animals mentioned in Holy Writ.
79. Clerkson’s Discourse concerning Liturgies.
80. Comber on Liturgies.
81. A Bibliotheque of Ecclesiastick Authors.
82. Du Pin on Church Discipline. Quarto.
83. Treatise upon Nature and Grace. By Jurieu.
84. The Inquisition at Goa.
85. Notes on Virgil. By Ruæus.
86. Works of Le Moyne. 2 vols. 4to.
87. Carmelite History Defended.
88. Vossius’s Observations.
89. Ray’s History of Plants.
NOTE.—Page 198.
After this work was sent to press, the writer ascertained that the
story, given on the authority of John Wesley, page 198, is not strictly
accurate. The following are the facts of the case, in brief:—Though the
Marquis of Normanby was probably the means of obtaining for Samuel
Wesley the rectory of South Ormsby, the real _patrons_ of the living
were certain members of the Massingberd family. It also appears that the
house of the patron, which was situated in the parish, was rented, not
by the Marquis of Normanby, but by the Earl of Castleton; and that it
was the latter nobleman who so resented the affront to his mistress,
that Samuel Wesley found it expedient to resign the living. According to
the Bishop’s Register at Lincoln, Mr Wesley took possession of the South
Ormsby Rectory on the 25th of June 1691.
INDEX OF NAMES OF PERSONS.
A
Anne, Queen, 258.
Ackland, Sir John, 80.
Addison, Launcelot, 34.
Addison, Joseph, 34, 241.
Albemarle, Duke of, 13.
Alleine, Joseph, 23, 34, 47, 48.
Alleine, Richard, 23.
Alexander, Rev. W. L., 146.
Alsop, Vincent, 74, 117, 386.
Ambrose, Isaac, 23.
Anglesea, Earl of, 13.
Annesley, Ann, 122.
Annesley, Benjamin, 121.
Annesley, Judith, 122, 126.
Annesley, Rev. Dr Samuel, 22, 84, 85, 119, 159, 327, 386.
Annesley, Samuel, jun., 121, 229, 296.
Argyle, Earl of, 60, 95.
Asgil, Mr, 276.
Atterbury, Bishop, 276, 339, 344, 367.
B
Bacon, Lord, 348.
Badcock, Rev. S., 162, 350, 380.
Baillie of Jerviswoode, 61.
Barclay, William, 183.
Barrow, Isaac, 64, 129, 385.
Bates, William, 12–14, 22, 24, 386.
Baxter, Andrew, 348.
Baxter, Richard, 6, 10, 12–15, 21, 24, 100, 117, 188, 236, 386.
Bedford, Earl of, 61.
Bekker, Balthasar, 348.
Belhaven, Lord, 60.
Bentley, Richard, 118, 370.
Berry, Rev. John, 102.
Bertie, Mr, 297.
Beveridge, Bishop, 116, 175, 214, 384, 385.
Biddle, J., 71, 256.
Blackhall, Thomas, 80.
Blackmore, Sir Richard, 243.
Blackwell, Ebenezer, 200.
Blood, Colonel, 56, 61.
Blow, Dr, 327.
Bolingbroke, Lord, 241, 365.
Boyle, Hon. Robert, 118.
Brady, Dr, 137.
Brand, Rev. T., 159.
Bridgewater, Benjamin, 274, 317.
Brookes, Thomas, 22.
Brown, Robert, 353–355.
Browne, Sir Thomas, 8.
Buckingham, Duke of, 9.
Bull, Bishop, 188, 385.
Bunyan, John, 64, 76.
Burgess, Dr, 52, 117, 339, 386.
Burnet, Bishop, 61, 116, 174, 188, 215, 257, 269, 339, 385, 458.
Busby, Dr, 8.
Butler, Bishop, 369.
Butler, Dr, 30.
Butler, Samuel, 64.
Button, Ralph, 34.
Byng, Admiral, 117.
C
Calamy, Edmund, 6, 10–14, 20, 22, 28, 46, 50, 81, 120, 370, 386.
Caroline, Queen, 380.
Cartwright, Bishop, 34, 89.
Caryll, Joseph, 6, 7, 11, 15, 22.
Catherine, Queen, 19.
Cave, Edward, 370.
Chadwick, William, 212, 292.
Chandler, Samuel, 370.
Charnock, Stephen, 23, 34, 66, 76, 386.
Charles I., 1, 7, 17.
Charles II., 10, 11, 13, 19, 28, 30, 43, 56, 61, 80, 87, 94, 114, 167.
Chaucer, Geoffrey, 243.
Clarendon, Lord, 13, 14, 24, 28, 104, 124, 169, 274.
Clarke, Dr A., 31, 46, 50, 83, 87, 121, 125, 140, 162, 254, 294, 323,
325, 333, 358, 449, 451, 457.
Clarke, Dr Samuel, 367.
Clavel, Robert, 278, 315.
Coke, Dr Thomas, 162.
Cole, Thomas, 34.
Collier, Jeremy, 170.
Collins, Anthony, 241.
Compton, Bishop, 34, 98, 106, 114, 175.
Congreve, William, 241.
Cowley, Abraham, 64, 114, 242.
Crewe, Bishop, 34.
Croft, William, 370.
Crofton, Zachary, 15.
Cromwell, Sir Harry, 66.
Cromwell, Oliver, 7, 10, 19, 35.
Cromwell, Richard, 10.
Crusoe, Timothy, 74.
Cudworth, Ralph, 8, 20, 64, 129.
Cumberland, Bishop, 34, 188.
D
Darwin, Robert, 304.
Defoe, Daniel, 75, 121, 219, 221, 284–289, 292.
Delamotte, Charles, 432.
Derham, William, 116.
Derwentwater, Earl of, 365.
Doddridge, Philip, 370.
Dodwell, Henry, 170, 345, 385.
Dolling, Henry, 55, 82.
Doolittle, Thomas, 69.
Dorset, Earl of, 137.
Dryden, John, 64, 83, 97, 118, 187, 242, 243.
Dunton, Elizabeth, 207.
Dunton, John, 66, 68, 70, 74, 84–86, 117, 120, 131, 135, 150, 161, 209,
290.
Dymoke, Mr, 297.
E
Earle, Mrs, 350.
Eccles, Solomon, 5.
Ellison, Richard, 200, 397, 405, 433, 435.
Emerson, William, 370.
Erastus, 6.
Essex, Earl of, 61.
Exeter, Earl of, 169.
F.
Fairthorn, William, 163.
Farmer, Antony, 88.
Featley, Dr, 52.
Firmin, Thomas, 256.
Fitzgerald, Colonel, 194.
Flavel, John, 23.
Fleetwood, Bishop, 116.
Foley, Bishop, 194.
Forster, Judge, 48.
Fowler, Bishop, 34.
Fox, George, 5, 182.
Frampton, Bishop, 169, 172.
Freak, Mr, 36, 42.
Fulford, Sir Francis, 38.
Fuller, Dr Thomas, 52.
G.
Gale, Roger, 372.
Gauden, John, 10.
George I., 367, 369.
Gibbons, Grinling, 118.
Gibson, Bishop, 369.
Gildon, Charles, 138, 154.
Glanvil, Joseph, 348.
Glisson, Mr, 38.
Godfrey, Sir Edmondbury, 57.
Gouge, Thomas, 23.
Goodwin, John, 7, 23, 34.
Graffen, Rev. Mr, 15.
Grandval, De, 181.
Granville, Sir John, 10.
Gunning, Dr, 13.
Gurnall, Dr, 20.
H.
Hackett, Bishop, 19.
Hakewell, Dr, 80.
Hale, Sir Matthew, 56, 386.
Haley, Dr, 255.
Halifax, Lord, 261.
Hall, Westley, 323.
Hall, Bishop, 3.
Hammond, Dr, 271.
Hampson, Rev. John, 457.
Handel, G. F., 370.
Hardy, Edward, 55.
Harper, Mr, 416, 417, 433.
Harrison, Thomas, 23.
Hartop, Sir John, 100.
Henry, Matthew, 70, 117, 386.
Henry, Philip, 12, 24, 34.
Heywood, Oliver, 12, 20, 23.
Heylin, Dr, 14.
Hickes, George, 170, 345.
Hinks, John, 5.
Hoadley, Bishop, 367, 369.
Hoare, Mr, 329.
Hogarth, William, 37.
Hoole, Rev. Mr, 352, 357, 382, 392, 394, 443.
Hooper, Bishop, 34, 116, 255.
Hopkins, Bishop, 34, 385.
Horlock, Mr, 36.
Horneck, Anthony, 213, 364.
Howard, Lord, 61.
Howe, John, 12, 24, 34, 74, 386.
Hull, Henry, 29.
Huntingdon, Bishop, 34.
Hyde, Anne, 56.
I
Ingham, Benjamin, 432.
Inman, Rev. Mr, 345.
Ironside, Bishop, 35, 43.
J.
Jacombe, Dr Thomas, 13.
James I., 8, 348.
James II., 59, 60, 87–107, 114, 115, 167.
Jane, Dr, 174, 175.
Jeffreys, Judge, 24, 61, 96, 97, 100, 105.
Jennings, Abraham, 30.
Johnson, Maurice, 372.
Johnson, Dr Samuel, 324, 370.
Jones, Inigo, 8.
Juxon, Bishop, 271.
K.
Keach, Benjamin, 117.
Keith, George, 276.
Ken, Bishop, 34, 115, 169, 171, 385.
Kendall, Duchess of, 367.
Kennet, Bishop, 116, 369.
Kerr, Dr, 276, 277, 280.
Kettlewell, John, 171, 386.
Kneller, Sir Godfrey, 118, 187, 371.
Kirk, Rev. John, 125, 128, 441, 452, 456.
L.
Lake, Bishop, 169, 171.
Lambert, John, 322.
Lardner, Nathaniel, 370.
Laud, Archbishop, 1, 51.
Lavington, Dr G., 369.
Law, William, 369.
Lee, Nathaniel, 187.
Leland, John, 370.
Lely, Sir Peter, 64, 187.
Leslie, Charles, 171, 386.
Lichfield, Earl of, 169.
Lightfoot, Dr, 6, 14.
Lisle, Mrs, 96.
Lloyd, Bishop, 34.
Locke, John, 118, 188.
Lowth, Bishop, 369.
Lowth, William, 116.
Luther, Martin, 348.
M
Macaulay, Lord, 20, 59, 102, 107, 126, 129, 242.
Mallett, David, 241.
Manchester, Earl of, 13.
Manton, Dr Thomas, 7, 11–14, 22, 74.
Mar, Earl of, 365.
Marlborough, Duke of, 117, 299.
Marriot, Obadiah, 74.
Marsh, Bishop, 34.
Marshall, Nanny, 351.
Marvel, Andrew, 8.
Mary, Queen, 56, 98, 126, 185, 191, 193, 194.
Massey, Captain, 31.
Maundrell, Henry, 91.
Maw, Mr, 329.
Meech, Mr, 45.
Milbourne, L., 160.
Milner, Rev. Thos., 293.
Milton, John, 8, 12, 242, 271.
Milton, Lord, 372.
Monk, General, 35.
Morgan, Rev. Mr, 406, 407.
Morley, Bishop, 13.
Morley, Dr, 390, 393, 395, 399, 405.
Monmouth, Duke of, 59–61, 95.
Moore, Rev. Henry, 101–103, 445.
More, Dr Henry, 64, 129, 348.
Morton, Bishop, 3.
Morton, Charles, 34, 66–74, 79, 289.
Motteaux, P. A., 160.
Muggleton, Ludowick, 4.
N
Napper, Sir Gerrard, 36, 42–47.
Naylor, James, 5.
Neal, Daniel, 370.
Newton, Sir Isaac, 118, 187, 370.
Norfolk, Duke of, 57.
Norman, Rev. Mr, 47, 48.
Normanby, Marquis of, 128, 194, 195.
Normanby, Marchioness of, 269.
Northampton, Countess of, 235, 269.
Northcote, Sir Henry, 91.
Norris, Dr, 133, 136.
Nottingham, Earl of, 176.
Nye, Philip, 49.
O
Oates, Titus, 57–59, 100.
Oglethorpe, General, 425–429, 432, 435.
Ormond, Duke of, 13, 56, 365.
Otway, Thomas, 64.
Owen, Dr John, 7, 10, 23, 33, 66, 77, 279, 386.
Oxford, Earl of, 117, 365, 366, 379, 381.
P
Palmer, Samuel, 161, 276–281, 315–317.
Parker, Bishop, 88, 89.
Parkhurst, Thos., 84.
Parnell, Thos., 241.
Patrick, Bishop, 104.
Pearson, Bishop, 14, 129, 385.
Penn, William, 34, 118, 183.
Pepys, Samuel, 10.
Petre, Edward, 88.
Petre, Sir Wm., 80, 88.
Piers, Rev. Mr, 325.
Piggot, Rev. Mr, 419
Pococke, Dr, 34, 91.
Pool, Matthew, 22, 66.
Pope, Alexander, 84, 161, 241, 243, 367, 381.
Porter, George, 34.
Potter, Archbishop, 369, 396, 405.
Prideaux, Dean, 369.
Priestley, Dr, 350, 357.
Prior, Matthew, 118, 241.
Pulleyn, Bishop, 194.
Purcell, Henry, 187, 327.
R
Radcliffe, John, 118.
Ramsay, Allan, 370.
Read, John, 91.
Reading, Mr, 331, 332.
Renty, Marquis de, 227.
Reynolds, Bishop, 10–14, 415, 424.
Richards, Edward, 80.
Rogers, Timothy, 208.
Romley, John, 323, 373.
Roubiliac, Louis, 371.
Rowe, Mrs, 138.
Rupert, Prince, 51.
S
Sacheverell, Dr Henry, 213, 282, 334–343.
Sault, Richard, 133, 135.
Sancroft, Archbishop, 104, 115, 169, 171.
Sanderson, Dr, 271.
Saunders, Henry, 50.
Saunderson, Nicholas, 370.
Scot, Reginald, 348.
Secker, Archbishop, 444.
Settle, Elkanah, 133.
Sharp, Archbishop, 55, 60.
Sharpe, Archbishop, 116, 229, 234, 236, 267, 304, 345, 385.
Sharpe, Granville, 237.
Sherlock, Dr, 104, 169, 367, 369.
Shiers, Mrs, 80.
Shower, John, 74, 386.
Sloane, Sir Hans, 118, 370.
Smalridge, Dr, 339.
Smith, Dr G., 102.
Smithies, Rev. Mr, 214.
Southey, Robert, 83, 102, 291, 359, 363, 364.
South, Dr, 34, 116, 188.
Spencer, E., 243.
Spratt, Bishop, 34, 113, 385.
Spurstow, Dr, 13, 15.
Stackhouse, Thos., 369.
Stafford, Bishop, 80.
Stafford, Lord, 2, 58.
Stanley, Dr, 267.
Stapleton, Bishop, 80.
Staunton, Dr, 34.
Stedman, Rev. Thos., 90.
Steele, Sir Richard, 241.
Stevens, Dr A., 102.
Stillingfleet, Bishop, 20, 104, 115, 188, 385.
Stonehouse, Rev. W. B., 358.
Sturt, John, 245.
Swift, Dean, 118, 137, 241.
Sydney, Algernon, 61.
Sylvester, Matthew, 117.
T
Tate, Nahum, 137, 160.
Taylor, Jeremy, 3.
Temple, Sir William, 138.
Tennison, Archbishop, 104, 116.
Thomas, Bishop, 169, 172.
Thompson, Alderman, 15.
Thomund, Lord, 23.
Thorold, Sir John, 297.
Tillotson, Archbishop, 20, 61, 104, 115, 175, 184, 191–194, 256, 385.
Tindall, Matthew, 241.
Toland, John, 241, 255.
Tonge, Dr, 57.
Travers, Mr, 374.
Tregonell, Mr, 36, 42.
Turner, Bishop, 34, 169, 171.
Tyrconnel, Duchess of, 62.
U
Usher, Archbishop, 3, 12.
V
Vandyke, Sir Anthony, 8.
Veal, Edward, 65.
W
Wagstaffe, Thos., 172.
Wake, Archbishop, 369.
Walker, Obadiah, 88.
Waller, Edmund, 64, 242.
Waller, Sir Wm., 66.
Wallis, John, 13.
Walton, Rev. Mr, 42, 43.
Warburton, Bishop, 369, 380.
Waterland, Daniel, 369.
Watts, Isaac, 138, 370.
Watson, Thomas, 23.
Welsh, W., 222, 223.
Wesley, Anne, 322, 351.
Wesley, Bartholomew, 28–32.
Wesley, Charles, 312, 322–326, 400–406, 427, 437, 444.
Wesley, Emilia, 199, 351, 354, 356, 359, 361.
Wesley, John, sen., 32–51, 296.
Wesley, John, jun., 20, 30, 77, 94, 107, 136, 162, 177, 187, 188, 198,
201, 215, 222–228, 239, 251, 296, 299, 326, 339, 357, 361, 362, 372,
374, 375, 380, 382, 388–400, 415, 421, 426, 433, 434, 437, 444, 449,
456, 458.
Wesley, Kezziah, 325, 354.
Wesley, Matthew, 232, 262, 323, 333, 436–442, 455.
Wesley, Martha, 322.
Wesley, Mary, 200.
Wesley, Mehetabel, 201, 204, 333, 351, 389, 437.
Wesley, Mrs Susannah, 125, 252, 304, 327, 328, 345, 350, 360, 392, 416,
443.
Wesley, Miss Susannah, 199, 333, 351.
Wesley, Samuel, jun., 102, 199, 307, 315, 319, 321, 323, 357, 379,
409–411, 417, 432, 434, 444, 448, 455.
Wesley, Miss Sarah, 451–454.
White, Bishop, 169, 171.
White, Rev. John, 51.
White, John, Esq., M.P., 122.
White, Jeremy, 26, 272.
Whichcott, Colonel, 297, 300.
Whitby, Dr, 34, 116, 385.
Whitehead, Dr, 456.
Whitelamb, John, 374–379, 405, 417, 420, 421, 424, 430, 433.
Wilde, Dr Robert, 13.
Wilkins, Bishop, 34, 56, 67.
William III., 56, 85, 90, 93, 104-107, 115, 116, 167–69, 187, 188, 295.
William, Lord Russell, 61.
Williams, Bishop, 70.
Williams, Dr, 20, 117, 120, 386.
Wilmot, Lord, 28, 29.
Wilson, Bishop, 116.
Winchelsea, Lord, 107.
Wiseman, Bishop, 34.
Withers, George, 8.
Wood, Anthony, 28, 33.
Woodward, Dr, 258.
Wren, Sir Christopher, 34, 64, 118.
Wright, William, 206.
Wycherly, William, 241.
Y.
Young, Dr Edward, 241, 370.
BALLANTYNE, ROBERTS, AND COMPANY, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH.
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Transcriber’s Note
On p. 126, there is a quotation from Macualay which is an abridgement of
the original, including a passage from a footnote, which resulted in a
confusion of quotation and embedded quotation marks. These have been
sorted out.
On pp. 144–145, there is a series of citations from the _Athenian
Oracle_, which are sometimes paraphrased or elided. It seems the printer
had no firm grasp on the boundaries of the various citations. An
apparently spurious opening quotation mark has been removed on p. 145.
On p. 200, in the recounting of Mr Wesley’s children, several birthdates
are given in the wrong century (1794 and 1795, rather than one hundred
years earlier).
There was no footnote marker for was is now footnote 336 on p. 441. One
was placed where it seemed most pertinent.
Errors deemed most likely to be the printer’s have been corrected, and
are noted here. The references are to the page and line in the original.
24.26 thou art an old knave[.] Restored.
62.31 became the p[r]atronesses Removed.
89.22 and inevitably lo[o]se everything Removed.
93.3 but when James ignomin[i]ously fled Inserted.
106.34 At F[e/a]versham he embarked Replaced.
136.24 a tincture of e[u/n]thusiasm Inverted.
144.34 or by damning him undeservedly.[”] Added.
145.2 the differences [“]arising out of the Removed.
doctrines
145.36 [“]We are saved Added.
168.26 the result of this abando[n]ment Inserted.
186.27 in a blaze with[ with] innumerable Removed.
wax-lights
200.2 They were baptized December 3, 1[7/6]94 Replaced.
200.3 was born in 1[7/6]95 Replaced.
208.23 [“/‘]Heaven will ... to God betimes![’]” Nested.
229.12 his brother-in-law[-/, ]Samuel Annesley, Replaced.
232.10 to take such child[r]en as apprentices Inserted.
286.6 raised by his probo[s]cis. Inserted.
289.22 in their own opinions.[”] Added.
293.5 the seceders from its communion.[”] Added.
302.10 the general election of 17[6/0]5 Replaced.
316.23 caressed at their houses,[”] (p. 65.) Removed
316.33 than their predecessors[”] Added.
319.8 [“]He adds, Removed.
349.23 in the doc[t]rine of apparitions. Inserted.
372.1 De la Valle, Pentinger[,] Bochart Added.
373.29 soft, smooth, tunefu[l] voice Added.
376.18 [“]In memory of John Whitelamb Added.
382.17 The points upon[ upon] which Removed.
392.n277.5 facts and [s]tatements, Added.
400.3 prudence[,] simplicity, sincerity Added.
429.8 [“]MR LYNDAL>, Added.