“January 26, 1726.
“Dear Son,—The providence of God has engaged me in a work, wherein you may be very assistant to me, promote the glory of God, and, at the same time, notably forward your own studies.
“I have sometime since designed an edition of the holy Bible in octavo, in the Hebrew, Chaldee, Septuagint, and Vulgate; and have made some progress in it. I have not time at present to give you the whole scheme, of which scarce any soul knows except your brother Sam.
“What I desire of you is, first, that you would immediately fall to work, and read diligently the Hebrew text in the Polyglott, and collate it exactly with the Vulgate, writing all, even the least, variations or differences between them.
“Second, To these I would have you add the Samaritan text, which is the very same with the Hebrew, except in some very few places, differing only in the Samaritan character, which I think is the true old Hebrew.
“You may learn the Samaritan alphabet in a day, either from the Prolegomena in Walton’s Polyglott, or from his grammar. In a twelvemonth’s time, sticking close to it in the forenoons, you will get twice through the Pentateuch; for I have done it four times the last year, and am going over it the fifth, and also collating the two Greek versions, the Alexandrian and the Vatican, with what I can get of Symmachus and Theodotian, &c. You shall not lose your reward, either in this or the other world. Nor are your brothers like to be idle; but I would have nothing said of it to anybody, though your brother Sam shall write to you shortly about it.”[[282]]
What the full extent of Mr Wesley’s scheme was, we are not able to learn; but probably it was the publication, on a wide basis, of a Polyglott Bible.
John Wesley was elected Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford, on the 17th of March 1726. Four days afterwards, his father wrote the following short letter:—
“Wroot, March 21, 1726.
“Dear Mr Fellow Elect of Lincoln,—I have done more than I could for you. On your waiting on Dr Morley with this he will pay you £12. You are inexpressibly obliged to that generous man. We are all as well as can be expected. Your loving father,