This three-volume account of the life of John Wesley
(1703-1791) was published in the year of his death. Written by John
Hampson (c.1753-1819), a Church of England clergyman and former
Methodist preacher, the work also contains a thorough review of Wesley's
writings and a history of Methodism. Hampson's excellent overview of
contemporary assessments of the preacher is more balanced than John
Whitehead's two-volume Life of the Rev. John Wesley (1793-1796), which has
also been reissued in this series.
Volume 3 gives an account of Wesley's death, but is
predominantly concerned with a critique of Methodist theology, activity
and mode of preaching. It gives a measured assessment of Wesley's
character and reflects on the opposition to the work's previous volumes
displayed by Wesley's executors, highlighting the struggle over his
legacy - a matter of great importance in the history of Methodism.
