Wesley Corpus

xiii Various reports were circulated, amongst which, that they had been the death of Mr. Morgan by imposing on him rigorous fasts : this calumny, however, was soon refuted by Mr. Morgan's father, who was convinced that it was his pious son who had set the Wesleys the example of fasting, and been prevailed upon to change his too abstemious mode of living before they began theirs. He candidly took pains to satisfy the public it was a false hood, and was ever ready to vindicate their characters from like injurious aspersions .v . i It was about this period that the enemies of the Christian revelation were so much in creased, so daring in their attempts to, pro pagate deism in the universities, as to rouse the attention of the Vice-Chancellor j who, with consent of the Heads of Houses and Proctors, issued an edict, which was fixed up in most of the halls, enjoining the several tutors of each college to redouble their dili gence, as there were some of the members of tfajei university in danger of being corrupted by ill-designing persons, who not only enter tained blasphemous notions contrary to the Christian Religion, but endeavoured to instil them into inexperienced minds; exhorting each tutor deeply to inform his respective pupils in their Christian vocation, explain the articles of religion which they professed and were to subscribe, enforce the necessity of perusing the Scriptures and such other books as might promote sound principles and orthodox faith ; and further, forbidding the junior members of the university to read any books that might tend to weaken faith, sub vert the authority of Scripture, and introduce deism, irreligion, and profaneness. The Dean of Christ-Church was the only one who would not permit this edict to be placed in the halls of his college. The writer of Mr. C. Wesley's life here remarks " that it is edifying to a pious mind to trace the ways of Providence not only as they relate to individuals, but as they affect Dr. Whitehead.