When Wesley recrossed the Atlantic in the year,
1737-38, he had reached a crisis of his life where
his own individuality impinges on the history of
his country, and a consideration of his own career
involves some attempt to estimate the condition of
his cotemporaries. We can never do justice to a Re-
former till we understand the tendencies against
which his efforts were directed, and by which his
views of truth are modified ; and before proceeding to
the account of Wesley's active labours in this cha-
racter, an attempt will be made to present the reader
with a view of some characteristics of his country-
men during the years 1700- 1740. To understand
these characteristics rightly two facts must be borne
in mind. The first of these, that the reaction against
the Puritan rule of the preceding century had not
yet spent its force, is somewhat surprising. Con-
sidering how short a time Puritan ascendency lasted,
and .how completely it had been swept away, the
reader who comes fresh to the consideration of this
century would probably anticipate that from its
commencement the orgies of the Restoration, not the
reign of the saints, would be the object of horror and
I 2



ii6 JOHN WESLEY. [chap.
