INTRODUCTION. I. RELIGIOUS projects and actions not unfrequently produce results which their authors never contemplated. When the two Wesleys at Oxford became impressed with the supreme importance of Christian piety, as the great end of their being, and regarded it as an absolute conformity to the will of God, they adopted the purest rules of conduct; keeping a constant watch over their minds and hearts, and subjecting themselves at stated periods to the most searching scrutiny; that they might ascertain whether or not they had fulfilled their sacred vows, or had trifled with their engagements and responsibilities. That they might be the better able to discharge the duty of self-examination, each of them commenced the practice of keeping a journal, in which they carefully recorded the events of every day, with their spiritual conflicts, victories, and failures; for the purpose of calling forth increased gratitude, humility, or caution, as the case might be. Of course these personal and moral histories were, in the first instance, never intended to meet the public eye, but merely to promote the religious benefit of the writers; for, when these simpleminded, but gifted, men began this practice, they intended to spend their lives in comparative retirement and seclusion, not having the most distant thought of the notoriety which was afterwards forced upon them. In these matters, however, they were overruled, being providentially called from the cloisters of Oxford to preach salvation by faith in the highways and hedges; in consequence of which the world was filled with the report of their names and doings; and their journals, which were designed to be nothing more than a record of their feelings and course of action, the details of which no second person should ever peruse, are, in fact, the most circumstantial and authentic history of a deep and widely-extended revival of religion, such as the world has scarcely witnessed since the apostolic times. Hence it is that these documents, so private and unpretending in their origin, possess a profound interest, which they will possess as long as the English language is understood, and Christianity in its blessedness, activity, and power is duly appreciated. After the brothers had entered upon their singular career of ministerial labour, so as to be in some quarters highly commended, and in others severely censured,-while multitudes wondered why it was that gentlemen and scholars violated all the rules of ecclesiastical etiquette, and voluntarily endured incredible toils and hardships,-Mr. John Wesley deemed it requisite to publish from time to time large extracts from his private journal, as furnishing, in his estimation, the best explanation and apology that he was able to offer. This practice he continued till the end of his life and, notwithstanding all that has been subsequently written, it must be confessed that these artless narratives constitute the best history of the origin and progress of Methodism, and its most powerful defence. For many years Mr. Charles Wesley followed his brother, as an itinerant and field Preacher, with equal steps; but he would never commit his journal to the press. He appears to have written it, from day to day, upon loose sheets of paper, and to have transmitted large portions of it to his wife and friends in the form of letters, some of which have been preserved. Much of it, there is reason to believe, he himself destroyed; and it is probable that much more of it has long since perished, through the carelessness of the persons to whom it was transmitted. That which is now published, and which is all that is known to exist, was transcribed, with great neatness and accuracy, by the venerable author himself, carefully paged, and was bound in a thick octavo volume. This precious relic he bequeathed to his widow, with a request that she would retain it in her own exclusive possession. About three or four years after his death, it was, however, placed in the hands of Dr. Whitehead, who published large extracts from it in the Life of the author, which was prefixed to the Life of the Rev. John Wesley. Extracts from this manuscript, still more copious, were inserted in the "Life of the Rev. Charles Wesley," in two octavo volumes, which appeared in the year 1841; but the entire document is now for the first time presented to the public. It was purchased some years ago of the writer's heir, the late Charles Wesley, Esq., of musical celebrity; having, however, undergone some mutilations, the occasion of which it would perhaps be impossible to ascertain. A little while before it was purchased, it was in great danger of being irrecoverably lost. It was found among some loose straw on the floor of a public warehouse in London, where the furniture of the owner was for a time deposited; several leaves in the volume being cut from the binding, and yet not removed. The intelligent and pious reader, it is presumed, after perusing and weighing its valuable contents, will be thankful that its publication effectually prevents the recurrence of a similar casualty, and will preserve it from oblivion. It is sent forth into the world, not to gratify an idle curiosity, but as an instructive record of a work of God; presenting, in a manner which every one may understand, the omnipotence of divine grace and truth. II. THE published Journal of Mr. John Wesley commences with his embarkation at Gravesend for the North American continent, as a Missionary to the heathen tribes then bordering upon the infant colony of Georgia: Charles's begins with their arrival at the place of their destination. As the mission upon which they then entered was the first event |