SOURCE: Jay, Elisabeth. Introduction to The Journal of John Wesley: A Selection, edited by Elisabeth Jay, pp. xi-xxviii. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987.

In the following essay, Jay discusses theJournal as a public document, and closely considers the rigorous self-examination evident in the work.

In my way to Perth, I read over the first volume of Dr. Robertson's ‘History of Charles the Fifth’. I know not when I have been so disappointed. It might as well be called the History of Alexander the Great. Here is a quarto volume of eight or ten shillings' price, containing dry, verbose dissertations on feudal government, the substance of all which might be comprised in half a sheet of paper! But ‘Charles the Fifth’! Where is Charles the Fifth?

8 April 1772

The newcomer to Wesley's Journal could well be forgiven for experiencing the same kind of disappointment. A million or more words fail...