In the afternoon read what you will, and be sure to walk an
hour, if fair, in the fields. Get Thirlby's Chrysostom
_De Sacerdotio_; master it--digest it. I like your verses on
Psalm lxxxv., and would not have you bury your talent. All are
well and send duties.

Work and write while you can. You see Time has shaken me by the
hand, and Death is but a little behind him. My eyes and heart
are now almost all I have left; and bless God for them. I am
not for your going over-hastily into Orders. When I am for your
taking them, you shall know it.

Your affectionate father,
Sam. Wesley.


3. From Mrs. Wesley to her son John.

February 25th, 1725.

Dear Jackey,--I was much pleased with your letter to your father
about taking Orders, and like the proposal well; but it is an
unhappiness almost peculiar to our family that your father and I
seldom think alike. I approve the disposition of your mind and
think the sooner you are a deacon the better, because it may be
an inducement to greater application in the study of practical
divinity, which I humbly conceive is the best study for
candidates for Orders. Mr. Wesley differs from me, and would
engage you (I believe) in critical learning; which, though
accidentally of use, is in no wise preferable to the other.