Ormesby, in the county of Lincoln. He was strongly solicited by the friends of James II. to support the measures of the court in favour of popery, with promises of preferment if he would comply with the king's desire. But he absolutely refused to read the king's declaration; and though surrounded with courtiers, soldiers, and informers, he preached a bold and pointed discourse against it, from Daniel iii. 17, 18. "If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." When the revolution took place he wrote a work in defence of it, dedicated to queen Mary, who, in consequence of it, gave him the living of Epworth, in Lincolnshire, about 1693; and in 1723 he was presented to the living of Wroote, in the same county, in addition to Epworth, which last he held upwards of forty years.

In the beginning of 1705 he printed a poem on the battle of Blenheim, with which the duke of Marlborough was so well pleased, that he made him chaplain to colonel Lepelle's regiment, which was to remain in England some time. In consequence of the same poem, a noble lord sent for him to London, promising to procure him a prebend; but unhappily he was at this time engaged in a controversy with the dissenters, who being in favour at queen Anne's court, and in parliament, had influence enough to obstruct his promotion, and even to procure his removal from the chaplaincy of the regiment.

As a parish priest he was very exemplary in the discharge of his duties, which did not, however, divert him from li❤ terary pursuits, the most serious of which was the study of the scriptures in the original languages. One consequence of this was his Latin commentary on the Book of Job, “Dissertationes in librum Jobi." This, which did not appear until after his death, was printed by Mr. Bowyer in a beautiful type, illustrated with cuts, and supported by a respectable list of subscribers. It appears to have been the most laboured of its author's works. He collated all the copies he could meet with of the original, and the Greek and other versions and editions; and, after his labours and his library had been burnt with his house (which had suffered the like fate once before, about 1707), he resumed the task in the decline of life, opprest with gout and

palsy through long habit of study. Among other assistances, he particularly acknowledges that of his three sons, and his friend Maurice Johnson.

As he had received much applause, and even promotion for his poetical efforts, we are not to wonder that he exercised this talent rather frequently, producing "The Life of Christ, an heroic poem," 1693, folio, dedicated to the queen, and reprinted with large additions and corrections in 1697; "The History of the Old and New Testament attempted in verse, and adorned with three hundred and thirty sculptures, engraved by J. Sturt," 1704, 3 vols. 12mo, addressed to queen Anne in a poetical dedication; poetical dedication; "Maggots, or Poems on several subjects," 1685, 8vo; and "Elegies on Q. Mary and Abp. Tillotson," 1695, folio. His poetry, which is far from excellent, has been censured by Garth and others, but all concur in the excellence of his private character. His last moments, says Dr. Whitehead, were as conspicuous for resignation and Christian fortitude, as his life had been for zeal and diligence. He died April 30, 1735, leaving a numerous family of children, among whom were his sons Samuel, John, and Charles, and a daughter Mehetabel, a young lady of considerable literary talents and poetical fancy, who was unfortunately married to a Mr. Wright, a low man, who broke her heart. Some of her poems are printed in the sixth volume of the "Poetical Calendar.'

WESLEY (SAMUEL, the younger), son of the preceding, 、 was born about 1692, and sent to Westminster-school in 1704, and admitted a king's scholar in 1707, whence he was elected to Christ-church, Oxford, in 1711. Here, as well as at Westminster, he acquired the character of an excellent classical scholar. He was the author of two poems of considerable merit, "The Battle of the Sexes," and "The Prisons opened ;" and of another called "The Parish-Priest, a Poem, upon a clergyman lately deceased," a very dutiful and striking eulogy on his wife's father; which are all printed among his poems, and several humorous tales, in 1736, 4to, and after his death in 1743, 12mo. He gave to the Spalding society an annulet that had touched the heads of the three kings of Cologne, whose names were in black letters within. When he took his master's degree, he was appointed to officiate as usher at Westmin

I Whitehead's Life of Wesley.-Nichols's Bowyer..

ster-school; and soon after he took orders, under the patronage of bishop Atterbury, to whom he was ever greatly attached, and the banishment of that celebrated prelate made no change in his friendship for him, as he was fully convinced of his innocence. This attachment, and his opposition to sir Robert Walpole, barred all hopes of preferment at Westminster, but in 1732 he was appointed master of Tiverton-school in Devonshire, over which he presided till his death. Samuel Wesley was unquestionably the best poet of his family, but he was a very high-churchman, and totally disapproved of the conduct of his brothers, John and Charles, when they became itinerant preachers, being afraid that they would make a separation from the church of England. He died at Tiverton Nov. 6, 1739, and was buried in the church-yard there, with a long epitaph. 1

WESLEY (JOHN), the most celebrated of the family, and the founder of the society of Methodists, was the se-. cond son of the rev. Samuel Wesley, and was born at Epworth in Lincolnshire, June 17, 1703, O. S. His mother was the youngest daughter of Dr. Samuel Annesley, an eminent nonconformist, and appears to have been a woman of uncommon mental acquirements, and a very early student of religious controversies. At the age of thirteen she became attached to the church of England, from an examination of the points in dispute betwixt it and the dissenters; but when her husband was detained from his charge at Epworth by his attendance on the convocation in London, she used to admit as many of his flock as his house could hold, and read a sermon, prayed, &c. with them. Her husband, who thought this not quite regular, objected to it, and she repelled his objections with considerable ingenuity. It is not surprising, therefore, that she afterwards approved of her sons' extraordinary services in the cause of religion.

In his sixth year John almost miraculously escaped the flames which consumed his father's house, a circumstance which was alluded to afterwards in an engraving made of him, with the inscription "Is not this a brand plucked out of the burning?" After receiving the first rudiments of education from his mother, who also carefully instilled into

Whitehead's Life of Wesley.-Nichols's Bowyer, and Atterbury's Correspondence.

her children the principles of religion, he was, in 1714, placed at the Charter-house, and became distinguished for his diligence and progress in learning. In his seventeenth year be was elected to Christ-church, Oxford, where he pursued his studies with great advantage; his natural temper, however, was gay and sprightly, and he betrayed a considerable turn for wit and humour. He amused himself occasionally with writing verses, mostly imitations or translations from the Latin. When he conceived the purpose. of entering into holy orders, he appears to have been sensibly struck with the importance of the office, and became more serious than usual, and applied himself with great diligence to the study of divinity; and as the character of his future life was in a great measure formed by his early studies, it may not be superfluous to mention that two of his most favourite books were Thomas a Kempis and bishop Taylor's "Holy Living and Dying;" and, although he differed from the latter on some points, it was from reading him that he adopted his opinion of universal redemption, which he afterwards uniformly maintained. He now began to alter the whole form of his conversation, and endeavoured to reduce the bishop's advice on purity of intention, and holiness of heart, into practice. After his father had removed some scruples from his mind respecting the damnatory clause in the Athanasian creed, he prepared himself for ordination, and received deacon's orders Sept. 19, 1725, from Dr. Potter, then bishop of Oxford. And such was his general good character for learning and diligence, that on March 17, 1726, he was elected fellow of Lincolncollege, though not without encountering some ridicule on account of his particularly serious turn. In April he left Oxford, and resided the whole summer at Epworth and Wroote, where he frequently filled his father's pulpit.

On his return to the university in Sept. following he was chosen Greek lecturer, and moderator of the classes, Nov. 7, although he had only been elected fellow of the college in March, was little more than twenty-three years of age, and had not yet proceeded master of arts. Such honourable distinction appears to have increased his diligence; besides his theological studies, he studied the classics critically, and his occasional attempts in English poetry had beauty and excellence enough to be approved by the best judges of his time. On Feb. 14, 1727, he proceeded M. A. and acquired considerable credit by his disputation for that

degree. He began about this time to separate himself from society, that he might not be diverted from those religious inquiries which now pressed upon his mind. His religious sentiments were not yet fixed; he had read much, perhaps as much as was necessary to be acquainted with the most common distinctions between Christians, but the principles on which he afterwards acted, were not yet settled. He appears to have had some thoughts of accepting the offer of a school in Yorkshire, and his chief inducement was its being represented as seated in a frightful, wild, and almost inaccessible situation, where he could run no risk of many visits. The school, however, was otherwise disposed of. In the interim he laid down the following plan of study, from which, for some time, he never suffered any deviation: Mondays and Tuesdays were devoted to the Greek and Roman classics, historians, and poets. Wednesdays to logic and ethics. Thursdays to Hebrew and Arabic. Fridays to metaphysics and natural philosophy. Saturdays to oratory and poetry, chiefly composing. Sundays to divinity. Mathematics, optics, and the French language, appear likewise to have occupied his leisure hours.

In the month of August 1727, he left Oxford to become. his father's curate at Wroote, where he found time to pursue the above plan of study. In July 1728 he returned to Oxford with a view to obtain priest's orders, and was accordingly ordained Sept. 22, by Dr. Potter. He immediately set out for Lincolnshire, and did not again visit Oxförd till June 1729, where he found that his brother Charles, Mr. Morgan, and one or two more, had just formed a little society, chiefly to assist each other in their studies, and to consult on the best method of employing their time to advantage. He joined them every evening until his return to Wroote, where he remained until Dr. Morley, rector of his college, induced him to quit his curacy and reside at Oxford, where he might get pupils, or a curacy near the city. His presence, however, being required by the statute, was Mr. Wesley's principal inducement for leaving the situation, however humble, which he enjoyed under his father.

At Oxford he resided from Nov. 1729 to Oct. 1735, and it was during this period that the first Methodist society was established, or rather begun. In the mean time he obtained pupils, and became a tutor in Lincoln college; he also presided in the hall as moderator in the disputations,