REV. JOHN WESLEY, M. A. SOME TIME FELLOW OF LINCOLN COLLEGE, OXFORD. COLLECTED FROM HIS PRIVATE PAPERS AND PRINTED WORKS; AND WRITTEN AT THE REQUEST OF HIS EXECUTORS. TO WHICH IS PREFIXED SOME ACCOUNT OF HIS ANCESTORS AND RELATIONS; 9377 WITH THE LIFE OF THE REV. CHARLES WESLEY, M. A. COLLECTED FROM HIS PRIVATE JOURNAL, AND NEVER BEFORE published. BY JOHN WHITEHEAD, M. D. AUTHOR OF THE DISCOURSse delivered at MR. WESLEY'S FUNERAL, -In labors more abundant- A workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of Truth. PAVE COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME. LONDON: PRINTED BY STEPHEN COUCHMAN. AUBURN AND BUFFALO : JOHN E. BEARDSLEY. AMERICAN PUBLISHER'S PREFACE. HAVING had in my possession, for many years, a genuine copy of the London edition of WHITEHEAD'S LIFE OF WESLEY, which, with a single exception, was the only copy known to be in existence, I considered it too valuable longer to slumber in obscurity, and about a year since, I announced my intention to republish it. Through causes unlooked for, and beyond my control, the execution of my plan has been considerably delayed; but at length, I have the very great pleasure of presenting to the public, in a neat and substantial form, an American edition of this inestimable work, without the least variation in the language or arrangement of the copy, and without notes. or comments. As this was the first written Life of the Wesleys, prepared from authentic documents, and as it is the only one which has been written which can rightfully claim the merit of impartiality, I thought it best, in republishing it, to conform as nearly as possible to the original text, and leave the reader free to draw his own conclusions of the contents of the work. It is next to superfluous to speak of the importance of this re-publication; the fact is more than admitted by those who are conversant with its historical merits. Methodism has attained so prominent a position in the affairs of the religious world, that every thing connected with its origin, its principles and its history becomes a matter of public interest. When, therefore, an authentic record of the chief events connected with the first half century of the existence of this institution is brought forth in an accessible form, shall it not be re-garded as an affair deserving something better than a mere passing notice? Considering the partial statements and false colorings in reference to important matters, which prejudiced and selfish biographers and historians have embodied in nearly all the books extant purporting to be the lives of Wesley, and the histories of Methodism, this truthful sketch of Whitehead shines out from among the mass of error, like a sparkling diamond from the unseemly rubbish of its native bed. The life of Wesley and the early history of Methodism are so intimately associated as to be almost one and the same thing. The chief 35 X 8 11 |