Wesley Corpus

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. 12. For Poetry you may read Spenser's Fairy Queen, select parts of Shakspeare, Fairfax’s or Hoole’s Godfrey of Bouillon, Paradise Lost, the Night Thoughts, and Young's Moral and Sacred Poems. 13. You may begin and end with Divinity; in which I will only add, to the books mentioned before, Bishop Pearson On the Creed and the Christian Library. By this course of study you may gain all the knowledge which any reasonable Christian needs. But remember, before all, in all, and above all, your great point is to know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent. -- I am, my dear Sally, Your affectionate Uncle. To Ann Bolton BRISTOL, September 9, 1781.