Foreword

For the benefit of the reader I here insert a few of John Wesley's suggestions on how to read a spiritual book. They are as follows:

1. "Assign some stated times every day for this pious employment. If any indispensable business unexpectedly robs you of your hour of retirement, take the next hour for it."

2. "Prepare yourself for reading by purity of intention, whereby you singly aim at your soul's benefit."

3. "Be sure to read not curiously and hastily, but leisurely, and with great attention; with proper intervals and pauses, that you may allow time for the enlightenings of divine grace. Stop every now and then, to recollect what you have read, and consider how to reduce it to practice."

4. "Let your reading be continued and regular, not rambling and desultory."

5. "Labor for a temper correspondent to what you read; otherwise it will prove empty and unprofitable."