John Whitelamb, the son of poor parents, was born in 1707, in the
neighbourhood of Wroot, a small village of about three hundred
inhabitants, in the county of Lincoln. The village stands upon an
eminence, surrounded by 60,000 acres of land, which, in Whitelamb’s days,
were often flooded, rendering Wroot accessible only by boats. The land,
also, even at the best of times, was fenny, moorish, swampy.
About the time of Whitelamb’s birth, Henry Travis, Esq., of London,
bequeathed three hundred and seventy-nine acres of land, for the
endowment of three schools, at Wroot, Hatfield, and Thorne, in which
children, male and female, were to be taught to read English, especially
the Bible and Catechism, and to be well instructed in the principles of
the Christian religion. The Archbishop of York was to be special visitor;
the children were to be elected by the clergyman of each of the three
respective parishes, and by his churchwardens; and on leaving school, and
attaining the age of seventeen, each scholar was to be presented with
a Bible and the “Whole Duty of Man.” It was in the charity school, at
Wroot, that Whitelamb received the rudiments of his education.
It is well known, that, Wesley’s father was rector of both Epworth and
Wroot, and that his greatest literary work was his “Dissertationes in
Librum Jobi,” a large-size folio book of 600 pages. Samuel Wesley was
employed upon this remarkable production for more than five-and-twenty
years. On leaving school, young Whitelamb became his amanuensis. For four
years, he was occupied in transcribing the aged rector’s Dissertations.
He also designed its illustrations, several of which he also engraved.
While resident beneath the roof of Samuel Wesley, Whitelamb acquired a
sufficient knowledge of the Greek and Latin languages, to enter Lincoln
College, Oxford, where he was principally maintained by the Epworth
Rector, and had Wesley for his tutor.
Samuel Wesley was a large-hearted man, to whom it was always a happiness
to have the power of showing kindness to a fellow-creature. His own early
life had been an almost friendless one. With an insatiable thirst for
knowledge, he had to pursue it “under difficulties.” Bitter experience
had taught him the preciousness of a friend’s assistance. These facts
were quite sufficient to render the poor boy, from the Wroot Charity
School, an object of affectionate regard; but there were others beside
these. John Whitelamb was the son of one of Samuel Wesley’s peasant
parishioners; as an amanuensis, he had rendered the Rector important
service for four long years; and, more than that, he had been the means
of saving the Rector’s life. In a letter, dated, “Epworth, September 5,
1728,” Samuel Wesley writes:—
“God has given me two fair escapes for life within these few
weeks. The first was when my old nag fell with me, trailed me
in the stirrups by one foot, and trod upon the other, yet never
hurt me.
“The other escape was much greater. On Monday week, at
Burringham Ferry, we were driven down with a fierce stream and
wind, and fell foul against a keel. Two of our horses were
pitched overboard, and the boat was filled with water. I was
just preparing to swim for life” (he was then sixty-six years
of age), “when John Whitelamb’s long legs and arms swarmed up
into the keel, and lugged me in after him. My mare was swimming
a quarter of an hour; but, at last, we all got safe to land.
Help to praise Him who saves both man and beast.”
Remembering all this, it will be felt, that, it was a grateful, as well
as generous, act, for Samuel Wesley to send his youthful helper and
deliverer to Lincoln College, Oxford.
Whitelamb’s going to Oxford must have taken place soon after Samuel
Wesley’s providential deliverance from being drowned; for, five years
after this, he had finished his collegiate education, and become the
Rector’s curate, and son-in-law.