The life and times of the Rev. Samuel Wesley Rector of Epworth and father of the Revs. John and Charles Wesley, the founders of the Methodists

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                           THE LIFE AND TIMES

                                 OF THE

                        REV. SAMUEL WESLEY, M.A.

[Illustration: _Sam^ḷ Wesley._]

                           THE LIFE AND TIMES
                                 OF THE
                       REV. SAMUEL WESLEY, M.A.,

                           RECTOR OF EPWORTH,

                           AND FATHER OF THE

                     REVS. JOHN AND CHARLES WESLEY,

                    THE FOUNDERS OF THE METHODISTS.




                                   BY

                              L. TYERMAN.




                                LONDON:
            SIMPKIN, MARSHALL & CO., STATIONERS’ HALL COURT.
                    SOLD ALSO AT 66 PATERNOSTER ROW.
                                 1866.

                                   TO

                       THE REVEREND WILLIAM SHAW,

                 PRESIDENT OF THE METHODIST CONFERENCE,

                          =This Volume=

           IS MOST RESPECTFULLY AND AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED,

                           AS A SMALL TRIBUTE

                                 TO HIS

              LONG AND USEFUL LABOURS AT HOME AND ABROAD,

                               AND AS AN

                 EXPRESSION OF THE BENEFIT DERIVED FROM

                         HIS PRIVATE FRIENDSHIP

                                   BY

                                                         THE AUTHOR.




                                PREFACE.


I have the conviction that due honour has never yet been paid to Samuel
Wesley. The praises of his noble wife have been sung loudly and long;
and no one acquainted with her character and history, can doubt that Mrs
Wesley deserves all the laurels that have been awarded her. While the
general public, however, have justly regarded her as a lady of the most
eminent abilities, and most exalted piety, they have been in danger of
thinking that her husband, though learned, was often foolish; and though
pious, was painfully eccentric, stern, and quarrelsome. This is utterly
unfounded, and cruelly unjust. I submit, with all due deference to
others, that while the Methodists owe an incalculable debt of gratitude
to “the mother of the Wesleys,” they owe an equal debt to the
honest-hearted father. I trust that the present work contains sufficient
evidence of this.

It is also hoped that the following pages will help the reader to a
better understanding of the position occupied by Samuel Wesley’s sons,
John and Charles; and of the difficulties and discouragements
encountered by the illustrious first Methodists.

The “Memoirs of the Wesley Family,” by Dr Clarke, though loosely
written, have been of great service in the compilation of the present
volume; but a large number of other works have also been consulted. I
have carefully examined everything that Mr Wesley published, except
perhaps his first political pamphlet; and as that was published
anonymously, I cannot be _certain_ that I have seen it. I am not aware
that there is any _printed_ matter, casting light on Mr Wesley’s
history, that I have not laid under contribution. To have cited all the
authorities from which the work has been compiled, would have crowded
the margin with an inconvenient number of titles of tracts, pamphlets,
and books. A few are given, and the remainder can be easily adduced if
needed.

For the chapters on national affairs, I am largely indebted to Macaulay,
and to Knight’s “Pictorial History of England;” also to the _Tatler_,
_Spectator_, and _Guardian_; and to other publications of a kindred
character. In some instances, quotations have not been marked by
inverted commas; because they have not been made continuously, but
pickings from ten or a dozen pages of another work have been put into
half a page of this. I hope that this general acknowledgment will save
me from the charge of plagiary.

A few original letters are now for the first time published. For three
of these, I am indebted to the kind courtesy of the Rev. Elijah Hoole,
D.D.

The portrait is taken from the large engraving published in the year of
Mr Wesley’s decease, in his “Dissertations on the Book of Job.”

The work has been a labour of love; and if the reader derives as much
profit and pleasure in perusing it as the author has had in writing it,
I shall be amply satisfied.

                                                         L.