‘Heroick vertue’ : Joseph Alleine’s letters and protestant martyrology

Let every house therein be a seminary of religion; and let those who cast their eyes upon these lines, find thee entering by the secret influence of thy grace into their hearts, and irresistibly engaging them to do thy pleasure. Joseph Alleine. The letter from which this prayer derives was first published in The Life and Death of Mr. Joseph Alleine (1671), and it was also included in the subsequent collection of Alleine's letters, Christian Letters full of Spiritual Instructions (1673).3 The biography was organised by Alleine's wife, Theodosia, with contributions from Richard Baxter, Richard Alleine (Alleine's father-in-law), and several others. In style and substance, Alleine's letters indicate that he anticipated a readership broader than his congregation at St Mary Magdalene. In 1767, John Wesley produced what was their fourth edition as part of his Christian Library series, which was designed to guide 'serious readers' within Methodism towards the best of English practical divinity. In his preface Wesley compared Alleine to the famous Scottish Presbyterian letter-writer, Samuel Rutherford: To the Reader.