New-York tribune., 1907-05-19
By H. ADDIN TON BRUCE


ard Of the hardly less famous Charles
Wesley But the Rev. Samuel has
95 sss to ef 5Be ra9 % S6renGe 5Ba saG chnres n ss
Wesley he Wa also the sire OF seven IN
teen other Wes.ey~ eight Of whom, ike
their celebrared hrothers, grew to
maturity and a AIMED varylng degrees
OF distinction
He was himself q man OF distinc-
ton as preacae-. poet, and contro-
Fersalst. His sermons were ser
mons IN the good, old fashioned
sense Of the term His poems We're the
Despair OF the critics, but won hlm u II
VIDE reputation. He was an adept in =
what the late laaented Whistler called
tae gentle ar II making enemies.
though more familiar with the inside
M pulpit ne Was not unacqualnted
with the inside o- q jail- He raised his
numerous progeny on an income sci
dom exceeding one thousand dollars a =
YEAR And, what IS perhaps the most
astonishing tact H a career replete with
surprises, he was he hero of one Of the
record
This visitation from the super
mundane came climax 10 a series
uRordly annJTances that would have
upset the equ4rraIty OF a very Job
and The Rev. Samuel. in temper at any 4
Iate was the reverse OF Job like His
troubles began IN the closing years of
lie seVenteenrh century when he be-
'aine rector ol the established church
a EEpWorth, Lincolnshire, a venerable
e9hce dating back 10 the stormy days
u Edward ii and damp as II was
Vll Inc story goes that this living
tHas granted lIm a reward because
,f T dedicated one Of his poems TO Queen
NARY But the Queen would seem to have
punishment IN mind for him, rather than rev
An Unattractive Parish
IoCAIED IN The Isle Of Axholme in the midst
- long stretch Of fen country bOundedby four riv
alid lor great part under water, Epworth wa
nat elat epoch drearIness itself The Rev. SAINT
sspIlts must have sunk within him as the c
LIeailng his already large family and his few ho
~ I'a belongings tOIled through quagmire and NOR
t'ey must have fallen still farther when he "a
uoSn the one straggling street at the rectory Of
fd anu ulatcn that was 10 be his home: and they n
nave touched the zero mark jealous High Chu
man taat he was, with the discovery that his pea
paiSihoners were Presbyterian minded folk
NayTl U ntuallsm as cordially as they hated the p
laleVer his secret sentiments, he lost no
- elued FoHnB 70 stamp the imprint of his Vigo
pFS1Sohality on kpworth. Forgetful, or unheeC
VI IAe TACT that the natives Of the Isle of AxhC
we're VIGOROUSLY violent and lawless he beqa,
rue them with rod of iron Thus they Sh,
tiIIk, thus they should do thus they should
nD3Ne an, the Key: Samuel never permitted t
70 forget that IN addition 10 snir;+,,a1 +I,,+ od
temporal Obligations. In the rnatter af .;tI(r
ways sore subject IN community hard -,,,t -
tract I'ying from the sol-he was unrelentinp
Necessity may have driven him; but i vs. ,
70 be expected that murmurings should 80 90
pon Z words the angry islanders passed to de
IoI time they cOntented themselves with hnr,
lne rector barn and trying to burn his house r.
@hen he was 50 indiscreet as TO become indehte
G 3Ie oi Their number, they clapped him into r,r;
iis speed release, through the interventio,
eerlcal friends, and his blunt refusal To seek a
iil,leTe ol activity, were followed by more
~ tbulning Dy the slaughter of his cattle. and fir
~ lire that utterly destroyed the rectorv an,
gul cost the lives Of several OF its inmates. whc
'NSS r time included the future father of Method
lhe bravery with which the Rev Samuel met
CO. sseett"hning disaster, and the energy with which
49, ~ about the task Of rebuilding his home-no
bs.'i ua ana thatch, but in substantial brick-seer
See @.e shaned the villagers into giving him De
eln eken u hive insrlired tllcrrn ..-.tl, 4 L..