WES 



felicity, and therefore they feparated. She died in 178 1. 

 Wefley feems to have adopted his father's high-church 

 principles, and he perfevered in avowing his connexion with 

 the eftabliihed church, and in preventing, as far as poifible, 

 a feparation between his followers and the profeflbrs of the 

 eftablifhed religion. During the American war he was a 

 zealous advocate for the meafures of government, and he 

 inculcated the duty of fubmifTion to the tranf-Atlantic 

 Methodiil,"!. With this view he publifhed a pamphlet, en- 

 titled " A Calm Addrefs to the American Colonies," 

 which was widely difleminated ; and though fome of his 

 followers were difpleafed, others were fupporters of the 

 authority of Great Britain ; whilft, on the other hand, the 

 Methodifts in the conneftion of Mr. Whitefield were gene- 

 rally on the fide of American independence. When the 

 conteft terminated, it became a matter of fome importance 

 to determine what kind of conneftion fhould fubfift between 

 the American Methodifts and their Britifli brethren. Mr. 

 Wefley was induced for this purpofe to take a ftep, which 

 appeared to be a renunciation of the principle of an epif- 

 copal church. By his own authority he ordained, with im- 

 polition of hands, feveral preachers who were embarking for 

 America, and confecrated a bifhop for the Methodift epif- 

 copal church in that country, who, on his arrival, confe- 

 crated another, and ordained feveral as prefbyters. He 

 alfo alTumed the fame authority with refpeft to Scotland ; 

 " Setting apart," as he fays, "three preachers in 1785 to 

 adminifter in that country the facraments of baptifm and 

 the Lord's fupper." In felf-defence he alleged, that he 

 had been for feveral years convinced by lord King's account 

 of the primitive church, that bilhops and preftjyters are the 

 fame order, and have the fame right to ordain ; but that he 

 declined exercifing this right in ordaining his travelling 

 preachers, becaufe he did not wifh to violate the eftablifhed 

 order of the national church to which he belonged. By 

 thefe meafures he offended many in his own conneftion, and 

 particularly his brother Charles ; and it is faid, that before 

 his death he repented of his proceedings, and ufed all his 

 endeavours to counteraft the tendency which he then per- 

 ceived to a final feparation from the church. 



In a very advanced age, Wefley retained his ability of 

 bearing the fatigue which attended his numerous and ex- 

 tenfive labours ; and thefe were continued till within a week 

 of his death, which happened on March 2d, 1 791, in the 

 88th year of his age. 



In Wefley 's countenance mildnefs and cheerfulnefs were 

 blended with gravity, and in old age it was Angularly vene- 

 rable. " In his manners," fays one of his biographers, 

 " he was focial, polite, converfible, and pleafant, without any 

 of the gloom and aufterity common in the leader of a feft. 

 In the pulpit he was ufually fhort and clear, argumentative 

 and fedate, often entertaining, but never attempting the 

 eloquence of the pafTions. His ftyle in writing was of a 

 iimilar caft ; he expreffed himfelf with facility and precifion, 

 and even in controverfy feldom elevated his tone beyond a 

 temperate medium. He was placable towards his enemies, 

 charitable, and in pecuniary matters extremely difmterefted. 

 His greateft failing was a love of power, which rendered 

 him impatient of contradiftion with regard to every thing 

 that concerned his adminiftration as head of his fociety ; yet 

 it is certain that he could not have brought his plans to 

 effeft, without a confiderable fhare of abfolute authority. 

 It muft alfo be admitted, that he had much of the politician 

 in his charafter, and could employ artifice when ufeful for 

 his purpofes. That he was thoroughly perfuaded of the 

 truth of the fyftem he taught, and had at heart the beft in- 

 terefts of mankind, it would be uncandid and unwarrantable 



Vol. XXXVIII. 



WES 



to queftion ; and he will be a memorable perfon as long as 

 the fabric which he fo much contributed to raife (hall en- 

 ^Z^-'\ ^'"^^ °^ •^- Wefley, by Hampfon, Coke, and 

 Whitehead. Gen. Biog. See Methodists 



WESLINGBUHREN, in Geography, a town and 

 duchy of Holftein, fituated near the coail of the North fea ; 

 53 miles N.W. of Hamburg. 



WESOWKA, a town of Poland, in Volhynia ; 60 miles 

 N.N.E. of Zytomiers. 



WESSEL, John, in Biography, an eminent philofopher 

 and divine, was born at Groningen about the year 1409, or 

 1419 ; and purfued his ftudies with incredible ardour both 

 at ZwoU and at Cologne. At the latter place his ortho- 

 doxy was fufpefted, as he propofed difficulties which his 

 matters could not folve. He taught philofophy for fome 

 time at Heidelberg, and after vifiting feveral univerfities, 

 went to Paris, where the difputes ran high between the 

 Realifts, Formalifts, and Nominalifts. He fluftuated be- 

 tween the opinions of thefe different fefts. He predifted 

 the dechne of the doftrines of Thomas Aquinas, Bonavcn- 

 ture, and other difputants of that clafs ; and intimated his 

 apprehenfion that they would be exploded by all true Chrif- 

 tian divines, and that the irrefragable doftors themfelves 

 would be little regarded. His reputation procured for him 

 the efteem of Francis delle Rovere, general of the Friars 

 Minors, whom he accompanied to the court of Bafil, and 

 with whom he returned to Paris, where he refided many 

 years. When his patron was made pope, under the name'of 

 Sixtus IV., he paid him a vilit at Rome, and being told 

 that his holinefs would grant him whatfoever he afked, he 

 hmited his requeft to a Hebrew and a Greek bible from the 

 Vatican. " You fliall have them," faid the pontiff; « but, 

 fimple man that you are! why did not you aflc a bifhopric ?" 

 " Becaufe (anfwered WefTel) I do not want one ;" a reply 

 on which Dr. Jortin has beftowed juft applaufe. 



This worthy perfon died at Groningen in 1489. On his 

 death-bed he lamented to a friend that he had been diflrefl'cd 

 with doubts concerning the truth of the Chriftian rehgion ; 

 but at his friend's fecond vifit, he told him with great fatif- 

 faftion that his doubts were all difTipated. So extraordinary 

 was his learning, that he was diftinguifhed by the appellation 

 of the " Light of the World;" and fuch was his fpirit of 

 free enquiry, that his name is enrolled in the Proteftant Ca- 

 talogue of Witneffes of the Truth. Of his liberal opinions 

 fome were, " that the pope might err — that erring he ouglit 

 to be refifted — that his commands are obligatory only as far 

 as they are conformable to the word of God — and that his 

 excommunications are lefs to be feared than the difapproba- 

 tion of the loweft worthy and learned man." We need not 

 wonder then that the monks fhould have committed all the 

 manufcripts found in his ftudy to the flames. Such as 

 efcaped conflagration were printed coUeftively at Groningen 

 in 1 614, and at Amfterdam in 1617. Part of them had 

 been previoufly printed at Leipfic in 1522, under the title 

 of " Farrago Rerum Theologicarum," with a preface by 

 Martin Luther. Bayle. MoHieim. Brucker by Enfield. 



WESSELY, in Geography, a town of Moravia, in the 

 circle of Hradifch ; 5 miles N.N.E. of Strafnitz. — Alfo, 

 a town of Bohemia, in the circle of Bechin ; 5 miles S. of 

 Sobieflaw. — Alfo, a town of Moravia, in the circle of 

 Brunn ; 36 miles N.W. of Brunn. 



WESSEM, or Wessum, a town of France, in the de- 

 partment of the Lower Meufe ; 4 miles S.S.W. of Rure- 

 mond. 



WESSEN, a town of Auftria; 9 miles N.W. of 

 Efferding. 



WESSNITZ. See Weissenitz. 



R r WEST, 



