The Life and Times of the Rev. John Wesley, Vol. I - Enter His Rest

one of the younger and read the Psalms appointed for the day and a
chapter in the Bible, after which they severally went to their private
devotions.
Mrs. Wesley, assisted by her husband, seems to have been the sole
instructor of her daughters, and also of her sons, until the latter were sent
to school in London; and never was there a family of children who did
their teacher greater credit.
From early childhood, John was remarkable for his sober and studious
disposition, and seemed to feel himself answerable to his reason and his
conscience for everything he did. He would do nothing without first
reflecting on its fitness and propriety. If asked, out of the common way of
meals, to have, for instance, a piece of bread or fruit, he would answer
with the coolest unconcern," I thank you; I will think of it." To argue
about a thing seemed instinctive, and was carried to such a length that on
one occasion his father almost chid him, saying, "Child, you think to carry
everything by dint of argument; but you will find how little is ever done
in the world by close reasoning." "I profess, sweetheart," said the rector
in a pet to Mrs. Wesley, "I profess, sweetheart, I think our Jack would not
attend to the most pressing necessities of nature, unless he could give a
reason for it." [3]
With all this meditative reasoning, there was mixed devotion. It is a
remarkable fact, scarce paralleled, that such was his consistency of
conduct, that his father admitted him to the communion table when he was
[4]
only eight years old; and he himself informs us that, until he was about
the age of ten, he had not sinned away that "washing of the Holy Ghost,"
which he received in baptism. [5]
Between the age of eight and nine the small-pox attacked him; but he
bore the terrible affliction with manly and Christian fortitude. At the time,
his father was in London, and his mother writing him remarks: "Jack has
borne his disease bravely, like a man, and indeed like a Christian, without
complaint." [6]