The following extracts of letters from his patron, Bishop Atterbury, are too much to his honour not to be mentioned here; they were occasioned by that fine poem on the death of Mrs. Morice, his Lordship's daughter.

"April 24, 1730.

"I HAVE received a poem from Mr. Morice, which I must be in"sensible not to thank you for, your Elegy on the death of Mrs. Mo"rice-I cannot help an impulse upon me, to tell you under my own "hand, the satisfaction I feel, the approbation I give, the envy I "bear you, for this good work; as a poet and as a man, I thank you, "I esteem you.”

"PARIS, May 27, 1730.

I AM obliged to W. for what he has written on my dear child; and "take it more kindly because he could not hope for my being ever "in a condition to reward him-though if ever I am, I will; for he "has shewn an invariable regard for me all along in all circumstances; "and much more than some of his acquaintance, who had ten times "greater obligations."

"PARIS, June 30, 1730.

There

"THE verses you sent me touched me very nearly, and the Latin "in the front of them as much as the English that followed. 66 are a great many good lines in them, and they are writ with as much "affection as poetry: they came from the heart of the author, and he "has a share of mine in return; and if ever I come back to my country "with honour, he shall find it."

These extracts do honour to the feelings of Atterbury, as a man; and they give a noble testimony to the disinterested and unchangeable friendship of Mr. Wesley for a person whom he esteemed, and whom he thought deeply injured.

The author of, Some Account of Mr. Samuel Wesley, prefixed to his poems, informs us that the following inscription was put upon his grave-stone, in the church yard at Tiverton :

HERE LIE INTERR'D

The remains of the REV. SAMUEL WESLEY, A. M.
Some time Student of Christ Church, Oxon :

A man, for his uncommon wit and learning,

For the benevolence of his temper, and simplicity of manners,
Deservedly beloved and esteemed by all.
An excellent Preacher:

But whose best Sermon was, the constant example of an edifying life,
So continually and zealously employed in acts of beneficence and charity,
That he truly followed his blessed Master's example
In going about doing good.

Of such scrupulous integrity,

That he declined occasions of advancement in the world
Through fear of being involved in dangerous compliances,

And avoided the usual ways to preferment as studiously as many others seek them.
Therefore, after a life spent

In the laborious employment of teaching youth,
First, for near twenty years

As one of the Ushers in WESTMINSTER SCHOOL;
Afterwards for seven years

As Head Master of the Free Scool at TIVERTON,

Ile resigned his soul to God, Nov. 6, 1739, in the 49th year of his age.

SECTION II.

OF THE REV. CHARLES WESLEY, A. M.

MR. R. CHARLES WESLEY was born December 18, 1708, several weeks before his time, at Epworth in Lincolnshire; being about five years younger than his brother John Wesley, and about sixteen younger than Samuel.

He appeared dead rather than alive, when he was born. He did not cry, nor open his eyes, and was kept wrapt up in soft wool until the time when he should have been born according to the usual course of nature, and then he opened his eyes and cried.

He received the first rudiments of learning at home, under the pious care of his mother, as all the other children did. In 1716, he was sent to Westminster school, and placed under the care of his eldest brother Samuel Wesley, an high Church-man, who educated him in his own principles. He was exceedingly sprightly and active; very apt to learn, but arch and unlucky, though not ill-natured.

When he had been some years at school, Mr. R. Wesley, a gentleman of large fortune in Ireland, wrote to his father and asked if he had any son named Charles; if so he would make him his heir. Accordingly a gentleman in London brought money for his education several years. But one year another gentleman called, probably Mr. Wesley himself, talked largely with him, and asked if he was willing to go with him to Ireland. Mr. Charles desired to write to his father, who answered him immediately, and left him to his own choice. He chose to stay in England. Mr. W. then found and adopted another Charles Wesley, who was the late Earl of M-n-g -n. A fair escape, says Mr. John Wesley, from whose short account of his brother we have taken this anecdote.

From this time, Mr. Charles Wesley depended chiefly on his brother Samuel till 1721, when he was admitted a scholar of St. Peter's College, Westminster.* He was now a King's scholar; and as he advanced in age and learning, he acted dramas, and at length became Captain of the school. In 1726, he was elected to Christ-Church, Oxford, at which time his brother was fellow of Lincoln College. Mr. John Wesley gives the following account of him after he came to Oxford. "He pursued his studies diligently, and led a regular, harmless life but if I spoke to him about religion, he would warmly answer, 'What, would you have me to be a saint all at once?' and would hear no more. I was then near three years my father's curate. During most of this time he continued much the same; but in the year 1729, I observed his letters grew much more serious, and when I returned to Oxford in November that year, I found him in great earnestness to save his soul."

Welch's List of Scholars of St. Peter's College, Westminster, as they were elected to Christ Church Cellege, Oxford, and Trinity College, Cambridge, p. 105.

† Ibid. p. 110.

Mr. Charles Wesley gives the following account of himself for the first year or two after he went to Oxford :* "My first year at College I lost in diversions: the next, I set myself to study. Diligence led me into serious thinking: I went to the weekly sacrament, and persuaded two or three of the young students to accompany me, and observe the method of study prescribed by the statutes of the university. This gained me the harmless name of Methodist. In half a year (after this) my brother left his curacy at Epworth, and came to our assistance. We then proceeded regularly in our studies, and in doing what good we could to the bodies and souls of men.” It was in the year 1728, in the twentieth year of his age, that he began to apply more closely to study, and to be more serious in his general deportment than usual. He soon gave proof of his sincere desire to be truly religious, by expressing a wish to write a diary, in which he intended to register daily the state of his mind, and the actions of the day. A diary of this kind faithfully kept, is a delineation of a man's moral and religious character; it is a moral picture of the man accurately drawn. No man wishes to draw his own character in this way, in every little circumstance of life, and to review it often, but he who is desirous to think and act-rightly, and to improve daily in knowledge and virtue. He knew that his brother Mr. John Wesley, had kept such a diary, and was able to give him instructions how to proceed. He therefore wrote to him in January 1729, as follows:

"I WOULD willingly write a diary of my actions, but do not know how to go about it? What particulars am I to take notice of? Am I to give my thoughts and words, as well as deeds, a place in it? Am I to mark all the good and ill I do; and what besides? Must I not take account of my progress in learning as well as religion? What cypher can I make use of? If you would direct me to the same or like method of your own, I would gladly follow it, for I am fully convinced of the usefulness of such an undertaking. I shall be at a stand till I hear from you..

"God has thought fit, it may be to increase my wariness, to deny me at present your company and assistance. It is through him strengthening me, I trust to maintain my ground till we meet. And I hope that neither before nor after that time, I shall relapse into my former state of insensibility. It is through your means, I firmly believe, that God will establish what he has begun in me; and there is no one person I would so willingly have to be the instrument of good to me as you. It is owing, in great measure to somebody's prayers (my mother's most likely) that I come to think as I do; for I cannot tell myself, how or when I awoke out of my lethargy-only that it was not long after you went away."

The enemies of the Christian Revelation, and the friends of Deism were so much increased about this time, and were become so bold and daring in their attempts to propagate their principles in the University, as to rouse the attention of the Vice-Chancellor; who, with the

*In his Letter to Dr. Chandler.

consent of the Heads of Houses and Proctors, issued a programma, or edict, in opposition thereto, which was fixed up in most of the Halls of the University.

It is always pleasing to a pious mind, to trace the ways of Providence, not only as they relate to individuals, but as they affect large bodies of men collectively considered. In the case before us there is something worthy of observation. At the very time when the friends of infidelity were making so strong an effort to propagate their principles in this celebrated seminary of learning, God was preparing two or three young men, to plant a religious society in the same place; which should grow up with vigour, and spread its branches through several countries, in opposition to the baneful influence of infidelity and profaneness.

In the course of the following summer, Mr. Charles Wesley became more and more serious, and began to be singularly diligent, both in the means of grace and in his studies. His zeal for God began already to kindle, and manifest itself in exertions to do good beyond the common round of religious duties. He endeavoured to awaken an attention to religion in the minds of some of the students, and was soon successful in two or three instances, as appears from a letter he wrote to his brother John Wesley, in May 1729.

From this and another of his letters to his brother, and from the account which he has given of himself in a letter to Dr. Chandler, the following particulars appear evident. 1. That he was awakened to a most serious and earnest desire of being truly religious and devoted to God, while his brother was at Epworth, as his father's curate. 2. That he observed an exact method in his studies, and in his attendance on the duties of religion; receiving the sacrament once a week. 3. That he persuaded two or three young gentlemen to join him in these things, among whom, I believe, Morgan was one. 4. That the exact method and order which he observed in spending his time, and regulating his conduct, gained him the name of Methodist. Hence it appears that Mr. Charles Wesley was the first Methodist, and laid the foundation of that little society at Oxford, which afterwards made so much noise in the world: but it does not appear that any regular meetings were held, or that the members had extended their views beyond their own improvement in knowledge and virtue, until Mr. John Wesley left his curacy, and came to reside wholly at Oxford in November 1729. The beginning of this society was small, and it appeared contemptible to those around; but events have shewn, that it was big with consequences of the utmost importance to the happiness of thousands. So little do men know before hand of the designs

of Providence.

Man was made for social intercourse with man. A well regulated society of a few well chosen persons, improves the understanding, invigorates the powers of the mind, strengthens our resolutions, and animates us to perseverance in the execution of our designs. These were the happy effects of the union of the two brothers in November this year, when Mr. John Wesley left Epworth, and came to reside at Oxford. They now formed a regular society, and quickened the

diligence and zeal of each other in the execution of their pious purposes. About this time Mr. Charles began to take pupils. On this occasion his father wrote to him as follows, in a letter dated January 1730, when Charles had just passed the 21st year of his

age.

"I HAD your last, and you may easily guess whether I were not pleased with it, both on your account and my own. You have a double advantage by your pupils, which will soon bring you more, if you will improve it, as I firmly hope you will, by taking the utmost care to form their minds to piety as well as learning. As for yourself, between Logic, Grammar, and Mathematics, be idle if you can. I give my blessing to the Bishop for having tied you a little faster, by obliging you to rub up your Arabic: and a fixed and constant method will make the whole both pleasing and delightful to you. But for all that, you must find time every day for walking, which you know you may do with advantage to your pupils; and a little more robust exercise, now and then, will do you no harm. You are launched fairly Charles; hold up your head, and swim like a man; and when you cuff the wave beneath you, say to it, much as another héro did,

CAROLUM vehis, et CAROLI fortunam.*

But always keep your eye fixed above the pole-star, and so God send you a good voyage through the troublesome sea of life, which is the hearty prayer of your loving father."

Mr. Charles Wesley and his brother John, had been always united in affection; they were now united in their pursuit of learning, their views of religion, and their endeavours to do good. Mr. Morgan was to them as another brother, and united together, they were as a three-fold cord which is not easily broken. Tho' few in number, of little reputation in the world, and unsupported by any powerful allies, yet they boldly lifted up their standard against infidelity and profaneness, the common enemies of religion and virtue. They did not, indeed, at present, make any great inroads into the enemies' territory, but they bravely kept their ground, and defended their little fort with success, against every attempt of the enemy to dislodge them. When death robbed them of Morgan, the two brothers remained unshaken in their purpose. They were the bond of union between the members of their little society at Oxford; and if one or more of these deserted them, through fear or shame, or being weary of restraint, they stood firm as a rock, persevering in their resolution to serve God and do good to men, without the least shadow of wavering, thro' evil report and good report, as if alike insensible to either. Happily they were not hurried on by a rash intemperate zeal in their proceedings; which is the common failing of young men. They were cautious and wary, using every prudential means in their power, to prevent the good that was in them from being evil spoken of. Charles had much more fire, and openness of temper than his brother; but he was not less cautious in this respect. If any doubts arose in his mind; or if any practice which he thought proper and commendable, seemed likely to give great offence to others, he asked

* Thou carriest Charles, and Charles's fortune.