a. and sb. Also 8 Weslean, Wesleian. [f. the name of John Wesley, 1703–91, originator of Methodism + -AN.]

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  A.  adj. Of or pertaining to Wesley or his teaching; belonging to the Wesleyans as a religious organization.

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1771.  J. W. Fletcher, Checks to Antinom., Wks. 1795, II. 277. Upon the scheme of what you call the ‘Weslean orthodoxy,’ Christ is really the Saviour of all men.

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1791.  Hampson, Mem. J. Wesley, III. 77. A circumstance, in the Wesleian œconomy, as remarkable as any, is the admission of lay-preachers.

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1843.  Thackeray, Irish Sk.-bk., viii. A trim Wesleyan chapel, without any broken windows.

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1872.  March. Dufferin, Canad. Jrnl. (1891), 39. D. and I drove to see a fine Wesleyan church.

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1878.  N. Amer. Rev., CXXVII. 56. My daughter when in London went to a Wesleyan meeting one part of the day, and to a Sunday lecture, by Huxley, on another part.

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  b.  Wesleyan Methodist, a member of the society of Methodists as constituted by John Wesley; also attrib. passing into adj., of or pertaining to the Wesleyan Methodists as an organization. Wesleyan Methodism, the religious principles, practice, and organization of the Wesleyan Methodists.

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1796.  Morse, Amer. Univ. Geog., I. 280. In 1788, the number of Wesleian Methodists in the United States, stood thus.

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1839.  Penny Cycl., XV. 142/2. Since his decease, the prevalence of Wesleyan Methodism in North America has been very great. Ibid. The Wesleyan Methodist church in Upper Canada.

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1858.  [see METHODIST 4 a].

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1883.  Encycl. Brit., XVI. 186/1. Herein was the actual and vital beginning of the Wesleyan Methodist Society, that is, of Wesleyan Methodism.

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  B.  sb. A follower of John Wesley; a member of the Wesleyan Methodist Society, a Wesleyan Methodist.

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1791.  Gentl. Mag., LXI. I. 20/1. The Wesleyans found fault with the curate for the topics of his discourses.

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1832.  in Flor. M. Hawtrey, Hawtrey Family (1903), II. 25. That John should leave the Westlians [sic] puzzles me.

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1877.  F. G. Lee, Gloss. Liturg. Terms, Wesleyan, a person who belongs to the sect of Arminian Methodists founded by John Wesley.

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