Works: Journals and Diaries

This is the seventh and last volume of Wesley's Journal to appear in the critical edition of The Works of John Wesley. This volume includes the journals and diaries for the last four years of Wesley's life, 1787-91, including the concluding portion of the twenty-first (and last) "Extract" of the Journal. While he is still very active--traveling, preaching, visiting, writing--he begins to be conscious of the wear of time on his body. After 1788, at age 85, his annual birthday notes on his health begin to acknowledge some weakening of his constitution and an increasing loss of eyesight. Nevertheless, his schedule shows little sign of slowing down. His itinerancy during these last years continues to transverse the british Isles, including two trips to Ireland and two to Scotland, as well as the Channel Islands. He evidences a consciousness that many of his visits to favorite places might indeed be his last. The growing respect and love that is shown by large segments of the population during this period is accompanied by growing tensions among factions of his followers, as they anticipatethe divisive issues that will confront Methodism at Wesley's death. Wesley himself continues to aspend his energy with a single mind on the mission of his movement. His daily journal accounts present a continual description and commment on the progress of the work among the people called Methodists. His diaries for this period continue to reflect the details of an incredibly busy and driven person, intent on spending every moment of his life in glorifying God. The narrative journal concludes on October 24, 1790, almost a half year before his death. The diaries continue, however, to within a week of his death on March 2, 1791. As the final section in this unit of Journal and Diaries, this volume includes several appendices and indexes that cover the whole period from 1735 to 1791. In addition to the listing of variant readings in the many editions of the text, one appendix also describes in detail Wesley's own editing of Extract 8, which was prepared for publication in the Works in the 1770s but was0 omitted by the printer and only recently discovered. Besides an extensive General Index, the work also includes an Index of Scriptural References and a Bibliographical Index, along with a list of Errata for the first six volumes. Representing the culmination of years of exhaustive research, these volumes are designed to keep alive the growing interest in Wesleyan studies for the entire Christian church. Generations will look to these volumes for scholarship, insight, and inspiration.