Northern Countryside

Born in Lincolnshire and living in the little town of Epworth where their father Samuel was the rector. Both John and Charles were ordained, but their activities of study, prayer, prison  visiting and fellowship, led bemused observers to describe it as 'Methodist' because they went about their lives so methodically. They visited America and witnessed the cruelties of slavery and began a lifelong passionate disapproval of it. John Wesley's last letter, days before he died in 1791, was written to William Wilberforce, in which he urged the young MP to continue with his efforts to banish 'the execrable villainy' of slavery. In the course of his ministry John Wesley is said to have travelled on horseback some 250,000 miles, around 5,000 miles a year. In 1742, long after his family had left Lincolnshire, John Wesley entered Epworth on a preaching tour. The rector refused him entry to the church, so he jumped onto his father's tomb in the graveyard and began to preach, a large crowd soon gathering. Charles Wesley died in 1788, the 'sweet singer of Methodism' had written an armoury of hymns, including 'Love Divine, All Loves Excelling' sung at many a wedding to this day.