Wesley Corpus

To his Niece Sarah Wesley Date: BRISTOL, September 8, 1781. Source: The Letters of John Wesley (1781) Author: John Wesley --- MY DEAR SALLY, -- It is certain the Author of our nature designed that we should not destroy but regulate our desire for knowledge. What course you may take in order to this I will now briefly point out. [See letter in June 1764 to Margaret Lewen.] 1. You want to know God, in order to enjoy Him in time and eternity. 2. All you want to know of Him is contained in one book, the Bible. And all you learn is to be referred to this, either directly or remotely. 3. Would it not be well, then, to spend at least an hour a day in reading and meditating on the Bible reading every morning and evening a portion of the Old and New Testament with the Explanatory Notes 4. Might you not read two or three hours in the morning and one or two in the afternoon When you are tired of severer studies, you may relax your mind by history or poetry. 5. The first thing you should understand a little of is Grammar. You may read first the Kingswood English Grammar, and then Bishop Lowth’s Introduction. 6. You should acquire (if you have not already) some knowledge of Arithmetic. Dilworth’s Arithmetic would suffice. 7. For Geography I think you need only read over Randal’s or Guthrie’s Geographical Grammar. 8. Watts's Logic is not a very good one; but I believe you cannot find a better. 9. In Natural Philosophy you have all that you need to know in the Survey of the Wisdom of God in Creation. But you may add the Glasgow [Edinburgh] abridgement of Mr. Hutchinson’s Works. 10. With any or all of the foregoing studies you may intermix that of History. You may begin with Rollin’s Ancient History; and afterwards read in order the Concise History of the Church, Burnet’s History of the Reformation, the Concise History of England, Clarendon’s History of the Rebellion, Neal’s History of the Puritans, his History of New England, and Robertson's History of America. 11. In Metaphysics you may read Locke’s Essay on the Human Understanding and Malebranche’s Search after Truth.