Shines serene on all Thy race;
We Thy magnificence adore,
And Thy well-known aid implore:
Nor vainly for Thy help we call;
Nor can we want, for Thou art All!”
Mr Wesley was a man of immense reading, and was possessed of great vivacity and wit. Sometimes he has been represented as of a harsh and stern character; but nothing can be farther from the truth than this—“His children,” says Miss Wesley, his granddaughter, “idolised his memory.” They would scarce have done that if he had been ungenial and gruff. It is true, he kept his children in the strictest order; but he also evinced the greatest tenderness, and thus secured both the respect and love of his numerous family. To his judicious method of instructing and managing his offspring, the Methodists owe an incalculable debt of gratitude; and, on this account, his name among them ought to be held in lasting remembrance. He was full of anecdote, and of witty and wise sayings, which gave to his private conversations great interest. The withering wit of his son Samuel, the quiet sarcasm of his son John, the playful raillery of his daughter Emilia, and the keen satire of Mehetabel, were all inherited from himself. In early life he was connected with some of the greatest wits then flourishing, and to the day of his death highly relished pleasantry, when it was pure and good-tempered.
One instance, given by Dr Adam Clarke, is as follows:—At Temple Belwood, near Epworth, lived a miserly man, who, contrary to the whole tenor of his life, once mustered courage enough to invite a few friends to dinner. Mr Wesley was present, and displayed his wit, and his great facility in composition, by repeating, impromptu, at the close of such an unusual festival:—
“Thanks for this feast! for ’tis no less
Than eating manna in the wilderness.
Here some have starved, where we have found relief,