The life and times of the Rev. John Wesley, M.A., founder of the Methodists. Vol. 2 (of 3)Tyerman, L. (Luke)
History
The life and times of the Rev. John Wesley, M.A., founder of the Methodists. Vol. 2 (of 3)
Tyerman, L. (Luke)
Methodism; Wesley, John, 1703-1791
Having completed the negotiations for his brother’s marriage, Wesley
hurried off to Bristol; and, at Kingswood, collected together seventeen
of his preachers, whom he divided into two classes, for the purpose of
reading lectures to them every day, during Lent, as he had formerly
done to his pupils at Oxford. To one class, he read Bishop Pearson
on the Creed; to the other, Aldrich’s Logic; and to both, “Rules for
Action and Utterance.” About a month seems to have been spent in this
ministerial training. Who were Wesley’s favoured pupils? This is a
question we cannot answer; but, from the books selected, we learn
that Wesley’s object was—(1) To teach theology; (2) the science of
reasoning; (3) the art of elocution. Leisure hours were occupied in
making preparations for the “Christian Library,” and in preaching in
the surrounding neighbourhood. Once a week, also, he spent an hour
with the assembled children of the four Kingswood schools; namely, the
boys boarded in the new house, the girls boarded in the old, the boys
in the day-school taught by James Harding, and the girls taught in the
day-school by Sarah Dimmock.[53]
Lent terminated on the 26th of March, and, a week afterwards, he
returned to Wales for the purpose of performing his brother’s marriage.
This took place on the 8th of April, and was, in all respects, a happy
one, though there was a considerable disparity in age, Charles being
forty, and his bride only twenty-three. Her father was a respected
magistrate; her mother an heiress of £30,000. The change from her
father’s mansion to a small house in Bristol was great; but she loved
her husband, and was never known to regret the comforts she had left
behind her. She became the mother of eight children: five died in
infancy; three survived their parents, and, by their distinguished
talent, added lustre even to the name of Wesley. She died on December
28, 1822, at the age of ninety-six. Her long life was an unbroken scene
of devoted piety in its loveliest forms; and her death equally calm and
beautiful.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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