"The same method was observed with them all. As soon as they knew the letters, they were put first to spell, and read one line, then a verse; never leaving till perfect in their lesson, were it shorter or longer. So one or other continued reading at school-time, without any intermission; and before we left school, each child read what he had learned that morning; and ere we parted in the afternoon, what they had learned that day. "There was no such thing as loud talking or playing allowed of; but every one was kept close to their business, for the six hours of school: and it is almost incredible what a child may be taught in a quarter of a year, by a vigorous application, if it have but a tolerable capacity, and good health. Every one of these, Kezzy excepted, could read better in that time, than the most of women can do as long as they live. "Rising out of their places, or going out of the room, was not permitted, unless for good cause; and running into the yard, garden, or street, without leave, was always esteemed a capital offence. Never were "For some years we went on very well. children in better order. Never were children better disposed to piety, or in more subjection to their parents, till that fatal dispersion of them, after the fire, into several families. In those they were left at full liberty to converse with servants, which before they had always been restrained from; and to run abroad, and play with any children, good or bad. They soon learned to neglect a strict observation of the Sabbath, and got knowledge of several songs and bad things, which before they had no notion of. That civil behaviour which made them admired, when at home, by all which saw them, was, in great measure, lost; and a clownish accent, and many rude ways, were learned, which were not reformed without some difficulty. "When the house was rebuilt, and the children all brought home, we entered upon a strict reform; and then was begun the custom of singing psalms at beginning and leaving school, morning and evening. Then also that of a general retirement at five o'clock was entered upon; when the oldest took the youngest that could speak, and the second the next, to whom they read the psalms for the day, and a chapter in the New Testament; as, in the morning, they were directed to read the psalms and a chapter in the Old. After which they went to their private prayers, before they got their breakfast, or came into the family. "There were several bye-laws observed among us: "1. It had been observed that cowardice and fear of punishment often lead children into lying, till they get a custom of it, which they cannot leave. To prevent this, a law was made, that whoever was charged with a fault, if they would ingenuously confess it, and promise to amend, should not be beaten. This rule prevented a great deal of lying. "2. That no sinful action, as lying, pilfering, playing at church, or on the Lord's day, disobedience, quarrelling, &c., should ever pass unpunished. "3. That no child should ever be chid or beat twice for the same fault; and if they amended, they should never be upbraided with it afterwards. "4. That every signal act of obedience, especially when it crossed upon their own inclinations, should be always commended, and frequently rewarded, according to the merits of the cause. "5. That if ever any child performed an act of obedience, or did anything with an intention to please, though the performance was not well, yet the obedience and intention should be kindly accepted; and the child with sweetness directed how to do better for the future. "6. That propriety be inviolably preserved, and none suffered to invade the property of another in the smallest matter, though it were but of the value of a farthing, or a pin; which they might not take from the owner without, much less against, his consent. "7. That promises be strictly observed; and a gift once bestowed, and so the right passed away from the donor, be not resumed, but left to the disposal of him to whom it was given; unless it were conditional, and the condition of the obligation not performed." * The intrinsic value of this document justifies its insertion in this place, notwithstanding its length. Any biographical account of either John or Charles Wesley would be defective, Wesley's Works, vol. i., pp. 387–393. Edit. 1829. if this plan of their early education were not given. Whatever excellence their characters presented, and whatever benefit the world derived from their example and labours, it is easy to perceive that the foundation of the whole was laid in the instruction which they received from their intelligent and devout mother, and in the salutary discipline to which she subjected them at the outset of life. They were trained to habits of regularity, diligence, order, self-denial, honesty, benevolence, seriousness, and devotion; and well did they, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, reward the pious toil of their accomplished preceptress. To the last moment of her life they paid a profound and filial deference to her judgment. Wherever, therefore, their zeal and usefulness are acknowledged, the godly and enlightened assiduity of their mother, to whom, under God, they were indebted for those habits which qualified them to become a public blessing, should be gratefully remembered, and told for a memorial of her. In addition to the religious and scholastic instruction which they daily received, Mrs. Wesley was accustomed, once a week, to converse with each of her children separately, concerning the things of God, and their spiritual interests. "I take such a proportion of time as I can spare every night," says she, in a letter to her husband, "to discourse with each child apart. On Monday, I talk with Molly; on Tuesday, with Hetty; Wednesday, with Nancy; Thursday, with Jacky; Friday, with Patty; Saturday, with Charles; and with Emily and Sukey together on Sunday."* Mr. and Mrs. Wesley, aware of their inability to lay up fortunes for their children, resolved that they should enjoy the advantages of a superior education. The daughters were well instructed by their mother; and their three sons were all graduates of the University of Oxford.† Having received Wesley's Works, vol. i., p. 386. + Samuel Wesley, jun., was educated at Westminster School; and during his stay there an incident occurred which strikingly displays the providence of God. The forty King's scholars lodged in one room, which was called the dormitory. One morning the head boy cried out vehemently, "Lads! lads! you oversleep yourselves! You lie too late. It is time to be at school." They all started up, dressed themselves as quickly as they could, and ran down with him. When they came into the cloisters, one who was a little before the rest saw something white, and cried out, "What have we got here?" They went up to it, and found a man stark naked, and so benumbed that he could not speak. Just the rudiments of learning under his mother's tuition, Charles was sent to Westminster School, in the year 1716, being then about eight years of age. John had then been about two years at the Charterhouse School in London, where his proficiency was most encouraging. At Westminster, Charles was placed under the care of his brother Samuel, who was then one of the Ushers in that establishment, and, for a time, bore the expense of Charles's maintenance and education. Samuel was an excellent classical scholar, a poet, a wit, and a man of unimpeachable honour and integrity. He was the personal friend of Bishop Atterbury, a Prelate of great abilities, of elegant scholarship, and one of the finest writers of the age. The Bishop was withal restless, aspiring, and disaffected to the House of Brunswick, one of whose Princes had been recently placed on the British throne. A Bill of Pains and Penalties was brought into Parliament, charging Atterbury with attempts to subvert the reigning dynasty, and to restore to the Stuart family the crown of Great Britain. He solemnly avowed his innocence, and defended himself with extraordinary ability and spirit before the House of Lords. The Bill, however, passed, and Atterbury was sent into banishment. Samuel Wesley's love to his friend suffered no abatement in consequence of this act of the legislature. He was therefore naturally suspected of entertaining the Bishop's political views; especially as he freely lampooned Sir Robert aler Walpole, the Whig Minister of the day, in several poetic satires. Yet no proof exists that he was opposed to the then the clock struck two. They took him up, carried him into the dormitory, and put him into a warm bed. After some rest he recovered his senses and speech; and being asked how he came into that condition, he told them that as he was coming over Chelsea-fields, he was robbed by two footpads, who then stripped him stark naked, tied him neck and heels, and threw him into a ditch. There he must have perished, but that some young women, coming to market very early in the morning, heard him groan, and, going to the ditch, untied him, and then ran away. He made toward the town as well as he could, till, being unable to walk any farther, he crept into the cloisters upon his hands and feet, where he lay till the King's scholars came. Probably in an hour or two he would have expired. After he had slept some hours, they gave him something warm to drink; then one gave him a shirt; another, a coat or waistcoat; others, what they could spare; till they had clothed him from head to foot. Then they collected for him among themselves about forty shillings, and wished him well home. "See the wisdom of God," says Mr. John Wesley, who relates the fact, "in making the sport of a boy the means of saving a poor man's life."Arminian Magazine. reigning family; and positive testimony is given, by competent witnesses, especially by his brother John, that his loyalty was unshaken. His father, the Rector of Epworth, wrote the first defence of the government of William and Mary that appeared in print after their accession to the throne; and that his son Samuel entertained the father's views concerning the Revolution, is manifest from the following lines, which refer directly to that event: "Lo! Orange sails, the prudent and the brave, Samuel Wesley doubtless believed the Bishop's solemn protestations of innocence, which were the more credible, because he was not proceeded against by impeachment, which is the usual mode of bringing traitors to justice. Be this as it may, he was a high and unbending Churchman, steady in his adherence to his principles, and unswayed by the popular voice. He sacrificed his hopes of preferment by an unwavering regard for his exiled friend, and by lashing his friend's political adversaries. While he succeeded in making his brother Charles an excellent classical scholar, he imbued him also with his own views of Episcopal authority, and of ecclesiastical prerogative. At Westminster Charles was exceedingly sprightly and active; very apt to learn, but arch and unlucky, though not ill-natured. His courage and skill in fighting procured for him the admiration of the boys, and the title of Captain of the school. Among his fellow-students was a Scottish youth, whose ancestors had taken an active part in favour of the Pretender; and who, on his entrance into Westminster School, suffered much ill-treatment from the boys on this account. For nothing was Charles Wesley more remarkable than for generosity; and he appeared as the champion of the persecuted stranger, on whose hapless head the sins of his Jacobite fathers were unmercifully visited. That youth was James Murray, who afterwards became the great Lord Mansfield; and who, in the decline of life, renewed his intimacy with the friend who had assisted him in his juvenile battles. When Charles Wesley had been about five years at West |