“Still there were some rubs lay in my way thither, which our people generally urged to prevent us from such intentions. I was told (1.) that the Universities were so scandalously debauched that there was no breathing for a sober man in them; (2.) that the Church of England, so far from encouraging Dissenters to close with her communion, generally frowned on those who did so, and never loved nor trusted them; and (3.) that the nation was so unanimously against the Church of England, that the bishops and hierarchy would certainly have a speedy fall; and even rats and mice were wise enough to quit a tumbling house, and not to run into it.” In reference to the first of these objections, he says—“I resolved not to believe a word about Oxford debauchery till I saw it, for which now a very happy opportunity offered. Dr Owen having died, the trustees of the £10 exhibition[18] requested me to enter the university with all speed. To this end I went to Oxford, and stayed there some time. I found many sober and religious men, as well as some Rakehells; and discoursed several points on which I still hesitated a little, and received satisfaction on them.” ----- Footnote 18: The £10 exhibition was one of upwards of twenty more, left by Dr G. for the benefit of young scholars designed to be ministers. ----- He adds, that having been so long with the Dissenters, he still thought, even after he went to Oxford, that Episcopacy would be abolished; and not being willing to be over hasty, he returned to London to give the subject further consideration. Soon after his return, he had £20 given him,—part of a considerable some of money, left by a Dissenter, to be distributed among ministers. With this he paid his debts, as far as it would go, and then resolved for Oxford as soon as possible,—whither accordingly he went, in the name of God, and entered himself there, the —— day in August 1683, a servitor of Exeter College. When he had been some months at college, and after several letters had passed between them, he was “followed by a young gentleman, one of his fellow-pupils at his first tutor’s, who was now a Fellow of Exeter College, and ordained a priest.”[19] ----- Footnote 19: S. Wesley’s _Letter from a Country Divine_. Third edit. 1706. ----- This is all that is known of the reasons that induced Samuel Wesley to leave the Church of his fathers, except another little incident mentioned by himself. He writes—“A reverend and worthy person, my relation, who lived at a great distance, coming to London, was so kind as to see me while I was at Mr Morton’s, and gave me such arguments against the Dissenting schism, which I was then embarked with, as added weight to my resolutions, when I began to think of leaving it.” The above account differs from the accounts which previous biographers have published; but, being taken from Mr Wesley’s own writings, there can be no doubt of its correctness.