Wesley Susanna - Susanna Wesley

Susanna Wesley

The Complete Writings

Edited by
CHARLES WALLACE JR.

Oxford University Press

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Copyright 1997 by Oxford University Press, Inc.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wesley, Susanna Anncslcy, 16701742.
[Works. 1996]
Susanna Wesley : the complete writings / edited by Charles Wallace, Jr.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references
ISBN 0-19-507437-8
I. Wallace, Charles. II. Title.
BX849S.M55A2 1996
287092dc20 958821
[B]

1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2

Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper

To
Miriam Shroyer Wallace
(1921-1985)
and
Charles I. Wallace Sr.,
not Susanna and Samuel (thank goodness!),
but extraordinary parents in the Wesleyan tradition

G iven the keen interest in recovering womens voices in the history of both church and society, the time is ripe for a careful presentation of the work of Susanna Wesley. Though much of her literary output has appeared in print since her death, a good deal of it has suffered at the hands of Victorian editors or has only been published in obscure and now defunct denominational journals. The entire corpus has heretofore never been gathered in one place.

I offer this edition in the hope that her own voice may be heard more fully than before, thus providing material for a careful reassessment of a remarkable woman. She deserves to be regarded not just as the mother of the founders of Methodism but also as a fascinating figure in her own right, a woman enmeshed in and yet pushing against many of the patriarchal constraints of early eighteenth-century church and society. In addition, her story will supplement those of other women and give a more balanced and complete picture of religion, literature, and society in the early eighteenth century.

Thirteen years is a long time to be occupied with an editing project, even if the subject matter is the nearly lifelong output of a prolific individual. Along the way many debts have been accrued and many changes have taken place.

In the first category, I am happy first to name Frank Baker, doyen of Wesley scholars and my graduate school mentor. His presentation on Susanna Wesley at the pioneering Women in New Worlds Conference in 1980 helped focus United Methodist historical work on the recovery of womens experience and, in particular, prodded me to investigate a complete works of Susanna. Typically, his support included not only advice and counsel but also access to his collection of rare Methodistica. Other scholars in the field have also aided and abetted me in various ways: John Newton and John Vickers in England; Bob Burtner, Doug Chandler, Dale Johnson, Fred Maser, Russ Richey, and Ken Rowe in the United States; Joanne Brown and the late Elizabeth Hart (whose scholarship and enthusiasm I miss greatly) in Canada.

In addition to those sharing my specialized interests, I am grateful for the support of colleagues at Western Maryland College (Ira Zepp and Bob Hartman), Wesley Theological Seminary (particularly the late Clarence Goen), and especially at Willamette University (Jim Hand, Dave McCreery, Doug McGaughey and Lane McGaughy). Peter Williams and Charles Hambrick-Stowe, distinguished scholars in American religious history and good friends, have contributed in both these capacities.

The librarians and staffs of the two major depositories of Susanna Wesley manuscripts deserve special thanks: the Methodist Archives at the John Rylands University Library, Manchester, and the library at Wesley College, Bristol. Thanks also go to Hartley-Victoria College, Manchester, which provided hospitality and accommodations for the week I spent working in the Methodist Archives. I am grateful to the other owners of manuscripts: Wesleys Chapel, London; the Methodist Historical Society, Baltimore; the Melbourne Public Library; and Peter Conlan of Bromley, Kent. Two major research libraries were indispensable in the detective work connected with tracing many of Susanna Wesleys intellectual sources: the British Library and the Henry E. Huntington Library. Willamette University provided funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities to subsidize a trip to the latter. When research forays were not possible, the Mark O. Hatfield Library at Willamette was a ready source of interlibrary loans and computer search expertise. Willamette president Jerry Hudson and three successive deans of the College of Liberal Arts, Jerry Berberet, Julie Ann Carson, and Lawrence Cress, also provided support, both moral and financial, in the course of the project.

I am happy to list the string of conscientious work-study student assistants at Willamette who have entered text, proofread, and helped with the annotation: Rachel Hill, Meg Dupuis, John Watson, and Julie Weddle. Leslie Bandfield, Carolyn Kilday and Betty Smith lent their word-processing expertise. My administrative assistant, Holli Davenport, kept the Chaplains Office functioning when I was distracted with Susanna. Ed Arabas provided the two expertly drawn maps.

I note with pleasure that Susanna Wesley is receiving her academic due in this edition, however indirectly, from the university that educated her father, husband, and sons but had no place for her (or any other women) in her own day. Special thanks for their complicity, therefore, go to the helpful and patient editors at Oxford University Press, Cynthia Read, Cynthia Carver, Paula Wald, and Peter Ohlin.

Feminist scholarship has reinforced the historians proclivity to examine the context of any intellectual work. My greatest debts in this project are to the women in my life, all of whom participate in what a Methodist Jungian might call the Susanna archetype (though I hasten to add that that may be more my projection than their objectively viewed character traits). In naming them, I am aware of the mystery of change that is as central to our lives as it is to the history we study. Still alive when I began the project were Edna Laird Wallace and Helen Rex Shroyer, my grandmother and step-grandmother, and Miriam Shroyer Wallace, my mother. They are gone, but they live on as examples of strong women. Four others of a similar persuasion have, wittingly or not, marked this project over its long duration. I gratefully acknowledge Betsy Sargent, quondam uxor and continuing friend; Dee-dee Walters, gifted priest and affectionate companion; and my daughters, Hannah and Molly Wallace, wonderful uppity women of the rising generation.

Norman Maclean concludes his profoundly male book,