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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44140 ***
+
+Transcriber's note:
+
+Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).
+
+Small capital text has been replaced with all capitals.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Illustration: titlepage]
+
+[Illustration: George Whitefield. (handwritten signature)]
+
+
+
+
+  GEORGE WHITEFIELD:
+
+  A BIOGRAPHY,
+
+  WITH
+
+  SPECIAL REFERENCE TO HIS LABORS
+  IN AMERICA.
+
+  COMPILED
+  BY JOSEPH BELCHER, D. D.,
+
+  AUTHOR OF THE LIFE OF REV. DR. CAREY, MISSIONARY TO INDIA,
+  ETC., ETC.
+
+  PUBLISHED BY THE
+  AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY,
+  150 NASSAU-STREET, NEW YORK.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+  CHAPTER I.
+
+  MORAL STATE OF GREAT BRITAIN IN THE EARLY
+  PART OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY--WHITEFIELD,
+  FROM HIS BIRTH TO HIS FIRST SERMON.
+
+  1714-1736.
+
+  Low state of religion in Great Britain and its dependencies
+  when Whitefield appeared--His birth in Gloucester--Hooper--
+  Raikes--Whitefield's early life--His entrance at the
+  university of Oxford--Becomes connected with the Wesleys
+  and other Methodists--Illness and mental trials--Relief--
+  Preparation for the ministry--Return to Gloucester--
+  Ordination--First sermon                                       13
+
+
+  CHAPTER II.
+
+  WHITEFIELD'S SUCCESS AS A PREACHER IN ENGLAND--FIRST
+  VISIT TO AMERICA.
+
+  1736-1738.
+
+  Whitefield's return to Oxford--Usefulness there--Visits
+  London--Great popularity--Georgia--His anxiety as to duty--
+  Invited to Georgia by the Wesleys--Preparation and
+  departure--Preaching and excitement at Deal--Labors and
+  success on board--Arrival and labors at Gibraltar--
+  Interesting incidents on the voyage--Sickness and recovery--
+  His reception at Savannah--Visit to an Indian king--Origin
+  of the Orphan asylum--Visit to Frederica--Return to
+  Savannah--Visit to Charleston--Treatment by Garden--
+  Embarkation for Europe--Stormy voyage--Arrival in Limerick--
+  Journey to London--Meeting with the trustees of Georgia--
+  Ordination as priest--Return to London--First extempore
+  prayer--First idea of open-air preaching                       40
+
+
+  CHAPTER III.
+
+  OPEN-AIR PREACHING IN ENGLAND AND WALES--ERECTION
+  OF THE TABERNACLE IN LONDON.
+
+  1738, 1739.
+
+  Whitefield's visit to Bristol--New opposition--Interviews
+  with the chancellor of the diocese--Preaching at Kingswood--
+  Large congregations--Preaching at Bristol--Labors in Wales
+  with Howel Harris--Gloucester--Old Mr. Cole--Return to
+  London--Conflict with Bishop Warburton and others--
+  Moorfields--Kennington Common--Blackheath--Anecdotes--
+  Erection of the Tabernacle--New Tabernacle--Certificate--
+  Visit to Norwich--Conversion of Robert Robinson--Preaching
+  at the West End of London--Liberality of Whitefield's
+  congregations--Attendance of the nobility on Whitefield's
+  ministry--Architecture of Tabernacle and Tottenham Court
+  road chapel                                                    71
+
+
+  CHAPTER IV.
+
+  WHITEFIELD'S SECOND VISIT TO AMERICA.
+
+  1739, 1740.
+
+  Joseph Periam's release by Whitefield from Bedlam--
+  Whitefield's arrival at Philadelphia--Preaches to vast
+  crowds in the open air--Testimony of Dr. Franklin and
+  others--Account of the Log College--William Tennent, Sen.--
+  Whitefield's own account of his preaching at Philadelphia--
+  Subsequent discovery of the conversion of Dr. Rodgers--
+  Whitefield's first visit to New York--Description of him by
+  one of his hearers--Sermons in New Jersey--Old Tennent
+  church--Places of preaching at New York--Address to sailors--
+  Letter to Pemberton--Interview with Gilbert Tennent--Some of
+  Whitefield's sermons printed--Departure from Philadelphia--
+  Sermons on his journey to Savannah--Arrival and reception at
+  Charleston--Departure for Savannah--Dangers of the way--State
+  of things in Georgia--Whitefield revisits Charleston--
+  Controversy with Commissary Garden--Lays the foundation-stone
+  of the Orphan house--Sermon by Smith on the character of
+  Whitefield                                                     97
+
+
+  CHAPTER V.
+
+  CONTINUATION OF HIS SECOND VISIT TO AMERICA.
+
+  1740.
+
+  Feebleness of Whitefield's health--Again visits Charleston,
+  Philadelphia, etc.--Extent of his former success--Extracts
+  from Seward's journal--Extracts from newspapers--Whitefield's
+  letter to England--His correspondence on marriage--Birth and
+  death of his son--His funeral sermon for his wife--Franklin
+  and others on Whitefield's eloquence--Anecdote--Extract from
+  the New England Weekly Journal--Return to Savannah--Manner of
+  his reception--Activity at Savannah--Again visits Charleston--
+  Cited into the Commissary's court--Various examinations--
+  Whitefield's appeal to the Court of Chancery--Interview with
+  the Commissary--Usefulness at Charleston--Sails for New
+  England                                                       129
+
+
+  CHAPTER VI.
+
+  WHITEFIELD'S FIRST VISIT TO NEW ENGLAND.
+
+  SEPTEMBER TO NOVEMBER, 1740.
+
+  State of religion in New England--Testimony of Prince--Dr.
+  I. Mather--Dr. Jonathan Edwards' success--Prevalence of
+  prayer--Whitefield's arrival and labors at Newport--Interview
+  with Clap--Honeyman--Letter from Barber--Journey to Boston--
+  Interview with the Commissary and the clergy--Preaches at
+  Brattle-street, Old South church, New North, Common, Roxbury,
+  Old North, Cambridge, First church--Interview with Governor
+  Belcher--Roxbury--Hollis-street--Old South church--
+  Brattle-street--Marblehead--Salem--Ipswich--Newbury--Hampton--
+  Portsmouth--York--Return to Boston--Frequent preaching--
+  Invitation to children--Interesting conversation with a
+  child--Anecdote of juvenile usefulness--Remarks on an
+  unconverted ministry--Whitefield's character of Boston--
+  Preaches at Concord, Sudbury, Marlborough, Worcester,
+  Leicester, Brookfield, Cold Spring, Hadley, Northampton--
+  Revival there--Whitefield's opinion of Mr. Edwards and
+  family--Important interview--Preaching at East Windsor,
+  Westfield, Springfield, Suffield--Opinion of Mr. and Mrs.
+  Edwards, Sen.--Relinquishment of appointments to preach--
+  Visit to New Haven--Interview with Principal Clap--Departure
+  from New England--Whitefield's character of it--Conversion
+  of Mr. Emerson--Prince's account of Whitefield's visit--Dr.
+  Baron Stow on its results--Anecdote,                          148
+
+
+  CHAPTER VII.
+
+  LABORS IN NEW YORK AND THE MIDDLE AND SOUTHERN
+  STATES.
+
+  1740, 1741.
+
+  Whitefield's arrival and labors at New York, Staten Island,
+  and Newark--Mr. Burr--Meeting with Gilbert Tennent--Visit to
+  Baskinridge--Tennent's preaching in Cross' barn--Whitefield
+  preaches in the new house at Philadelphia--Franklin's advice
+  to Gilbert Tennent--Remarkable instances of conversion--
+  Success in Philadelphia--Apostrophe in a sermon--Visit to
+  Gloucester, Greenwich, Cohansey, Salem, Newcastle, Fagg's
+  Manor, Bohemia--Sails from Reedy island to Charleston--
+  Arrival at Bethesda--Remarkable escape from death--
+  Prosecution at Charleston--Preaching--Letters from Boston--
+  Departure for England--Separation from Messrs. Wesley--
+  Difficulties in London--Triumph--Howel Harris                 196
+
+
+  CHAPTER VIII.
+
+  FIRST AND SECOND VISITS TO SCOTLAND--LABORS
+  IN ENGLAND AND WALES.
+
+  1741-1744.
+
+  Scheme of comprehension--Account of Rev. John Cennick--
+  Voyage to Scotland--Letter to Rodgers--Visit to Erskine--
+  Preaching in Edinburgh--Labors at Glasgow--His sermons
+  printed--Return to England--Letter from McCulloch--Renewed
+  glance at Edinburgh--Public attention deeply riveted--
+  Execution of a convict--Improvement of the event in a
+  sermon--Conversion of a mimic--A drunken sergeant--Miss
+  Hunter--Marquis of Lothian--Conduct of Rev. Mr. Ogilvie--
+  Second visit to Scotland--Cambuslang--Kilmarnock--Glance
+  at subsequent visits--Orphan-house park, Edinburgh--
+  Glasgow--Increasing reputation--Extracts from letters--
+  Anecdotes--Visit to Wales--Letters from America--Visit to
+  Gloucester, Strand, Tewkesbury--Encouraging news from
+  America--Success in London--Awakening at the Tabernacle--
+  Visit to Gloucester and its neighborhood--South Wales--
+  Return to London--Bristol--Exeter--Mr. Saunders--Conversion
+  of Thomas Olivers--Birmingham--Kidderminster--Health--
+  Assizes at Gloucester--Plymouth--Deliverance from
+  assassination--Conversion of Mr. Tanner--Visits to the
+  poor--Anecdote--Embarkation for America                       222
+
+
+  CHAPTER IX.
+
+  WHITEFIELD'S SECOND VISIT TO NEW ENGLAND.
+
+  1744, 1745.
+
+  Incidents of the voyage from England--Prayer heard--General
+  alarm--Whitefield's illness--Arrival at York--Threatening
+  sickness--Rev. Mr. Moody--Preaching at York and Portsmouth--
+  Apparent danger of death--Departure for Boston--Constant
+  preaching there--Chelsea--Malden--Prince's account of his
+  preaching and conduct--Objections made to his administration
+  of the Lord's supper--Changes in New England--Opposition to
+  Whitefield in Connecticut, New Haven, Massachusetts, Harvard
+  College--Large meeting in his favor at Boston--Number of
+  signatures to the testimony--Progress of revival--
+  Proceedings of Harvard College--Whitefield's defence--
+  Subsequent act of the College--Expositions at Boston,
+  Ipswich, Portland, Exeter--Expedition against Cape Breton--
+  Sherburne's request--Sermon to the soldiers--Refusal of
+  chaplaincy--Conversion of a colored trumpeter--Of a noted
+  scoffer--Anecdote of Whitefield and Dr. Hopkins               254
+
+
+  CHAPTER X.
+
+  LABORS IN THE MIDDLE AND SOUTHERN STATES--THE
+  BERMUDAS.
+
+  1745-1748.
+
+  Whitefield's preaching in New York, New Jersey,
+  Philadelphia--Liberal offer declined--Usefulness of his
+  printed sermons in Virginia--Preaches at Hanover--Isaac
+  Oliver--Visit to Bethesda--His account of the Orphan-house--
+  His character as given by the New York Post-boy--Public
+  testimony as to Whitefield's integrity--Preaching tour in
+  Maryland--Visit to Charleston--Success of his preaching in
+  Maryland--Visits New York, Newport, Portsmouth, Boston--
+  Return to Philadelphia--Bohemia--Journey to North Carolina--
+  Embarkation for the Bermudas--His progress and labors--
+  Honored by the governor and others--Usefulness among the
+  negroes--Summary of his proceedings in the Bermudas--
+  Kindness of the people there--Voyage to England--His labors
+  on the voyage--Arrival at Deal                                277
+
+
+  CHAPTER XI.
+
+  LABORS IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND--CHAPLAIN
+  TO LADY HUNTINGDON.
+
+  1748, 1749.
+
+  Triumphs and trials in London--Becomes chaplain to the
+  Countess of Huntingdon--Complimented by the great--
+  Bolingbroke and Rev. Mr. Church--Rev. James Hervey--Honors
+  conferred on Whitefield--Falsehoods of Horace Walpole--
+  Charged with vulgarism--Defence--Third visit to Scotland--
+  Return to London--Visit to the west of England--Conversions
+  in Gloucestershire--Tour in Cornwall--Brilliant assemblies
+  in London--Excursion to Exeter and Plymouth--Rev. Andrew
+  Kinsman--Return to London--Decline of health and visit to
+  Portsmouth and Wales--Arrival of Mrs. Whitefield from the
+  Bermudas--Visit to the north of England--Popularity there--
+  Intensely interesting services--Rev. W. Grimshawe--Solemn
+  instances of mortality--Return to London for the winter--
+  Usefulness                                                    301
+
+
+  CHAPTER XII.
+
+  LABORS IN GREAT BRITAIN--FOURTH VISIT TO AMERICA--NEW
+  TABERNACLE IN LONDON, AND TABERNACLE
+  AT BRISTOL.
+
+  1750-1754.
+
+  Efforts made by Whitefield for Bethesda--His ardent love for
+  America--Love to his mother--His mourning for sin--Dr.
+  Doddridge--London ministers--Interview with Doddridge and
+  Hervey--Earthquake in London--Bishop Horne's sermon--
+  Universal consternation--Preaching of Whitefield at midnight
+  in Hyde park--Whitefield and his friends at Court--Journey to
+  Bristol--Taunton--Rev. R. Darracott--Preaching at Rotherham,
+  Bolton, Ulverston--Conversion of Mr. Thorpe--Edinburgh and
+  other places in Scotland--Testimony of Hume--Second visit to
+  Ireland--Opposition on Oxmantown Green--Usefulness in
+  Ireland--Rev. John Edwards--Fourth voyage to America--
+  Interview with Lady Huntingdon--Moravians--Lady Huntingdon's
+  testimony--Letter to Dr. Franklin--Itinerant labors--
+  Revision of manuscripts--Erection of the new Tabernacle--
+  Again itinerates--Dedication of the Tabernacle at Bristol--
+  Somersetshire--Condolence on Mr. Wesley's sickness--Visit of
+  Messrs. Davies and Tennent to England--Whitefield's fifth
+  voyage to America                                             323
+
+
+  CHAPTER XIII.
+
+  FIFTH VISIT TO AMERICA--RENEWED LABORS IN
+  GREAT BRITAIN--TOTTENHAM COURT-ROAD CHAPEL.
+
+  1754-1763.
+
+  Whitefield's arrival and proceedings in Lisbon--Lands at
+  Beaufort, S. C.--Voyage to New York--New Jersey--Interview
+  with William Tennent--Accompanies President Burr to New
+  England--Popularity at Boston--Correspondence with
+  Habersham--Portsmouth--Rhode Island--Franklin's narrative of
+  a drummer and Whitefield--Powerful address in Virginia--
+  Pleasant interview at Charleston--Embarks for England--
+  Arrival at New Haven--His feelings on arriving in England--
+  Labors at the Tabernacle--Love for America--Journey to
+  Bristol, Gloucestershire, Norwich--Returns to London--
+  Reproof from Grimshawe--Serious illness--Earthquake at
+  Lisbon--Tottenham Court-road Chapel--Conversion of Mr.
+  Crane--Publication of "A short Address"--Personal character
+  of Whitefield's preaching--His servant--Shuter--Violent
+  persecution--Interference of government--Journey to
+  Bristol--Lines on a chair--Journey to Kent, north of England,
+  Scotland--Meeting at Leeds--Interview with the new governor
+  of Georgia--Prosperity of Tottenham Court--Journey to
+  Scotland--Ireland--Returns to London--Ill health--Anecdote--
+  Another visit to Scotland--Death of friends--Debts of
+  Bethesda paid--Renewed visit to Scotland--Visit to
+  Brighton--Foote's mimicry--Activity--Sails on his sixth
+  voyage to America                                             350
+
+  CHAPTER XIV.
+
+  SIXTH VISIT AND LABORS IN AMERICA--RENEWED
+  LABORS IN GREAT BRITAIN.
+
+  1763-1767.
+
+  Improvement of Whitefield's health--Friends in Virginia--
+  Proceedings in Philadelphia--New Jersey--A collegiate
+  hearer--New York--Letter from Boston Gazette--Opposition of
+  Seabury--Arrival and preaching at Boston--Public thanks to
+  him--Leaves Boston--New Haven--New York--New Jersey
+  College--Philadelphia--Virginia--South Carolina--Bethesda--
+  Proceedings of the government--Prosperity of the Orphan-
+  house--Thoughts of returning to England--Still detained in
+  America--Sails for England--Arrival there--Dedicates a
+  church at Bath--Returns to London--Sickness--Interest in
+  American affairs--Rev. Samson Occum--Labors with Mr.
+  Whitaker in England--Success--Whitefield's journey to
+  Bristol--Success in London--Mr. Joss becomes his colleague--
+  Rev. Rowland Hill--Whitefield again visits Bath and
+  Bristol--Mr. Fletcher's sermons in London--Preface to
+  Bunyan's works--Whitefield in Wales and Gloucestershire--
+  North of England--Disappointed in obtaining a charter
+  for Bethesda                                                  375
+
+
+  CHAPTER XV.
+
+  HIS LAST LABORS IN GREAT BRITAIN--COLLEGE
+  AT TREVECCA--EARL OF BUCHAN--TUNBRIDGE
+  WELLS.
+
+  1767-1769.
+
+  Letter to Keen--Whitefield preaches before the Book
+  Society--Change in his style and manner of preaching--
+  Expulsion of six students from Oxford--Whitefield's letter
+  to the Vice-chancellor--Usefulness of the expelled young
+  men--Letter to a gentleman at Wisbeach--To Captain Scott--
+  To Hon. and Rev. Walter Shirley--Death and funeral services
+  of the Earl of Buchan--Whitefield's last visit to
+  Edinburgh--Death of Mrs. Whitefield--Whitefield's own
+  sickness--Dedication of the college at Trevecca--Improvement
+  of his health--Letter to Mr. Shirley--Letter of Dr. Franklin
+  to Whitefield--Whitefield's remarks on it--Dedication of
+  church at Tunbridge Wells--Contemplated voyage to America--
+  His last sermon--Account of Rev. George Burder--Messrs.
+  Wilson--Embarkation of Whitefield--Detained in the Downs--
+  Ordination and preaching at Deal--Anecdote of Dr. Gibbons--
+  Clears the Channel--Arrival at Charleston                     400
+
+
+  CHAPTER XVI.
+
+  SEVENTH VISIT AND LAST LABORS IN AMERICA--DEATH.
+
+  1769, 1770.
+
+  Arrival at Bethesda--Its prosperity--Honors paid him by the
+  legislature--Letter at Charleston--Plan of the proposed
+  college--Visits Philadelphia--Preaches at Burlington, New
+  York, Albany--Attends an execution--Visit to Sharon--
+  Conversion of Mr. Randall--Visit to Boston--Letters to
+  Messrs. Wright and Keen--Letter in Pennsylvania Journal--
+  Arrival at Exeter--Anecdote--Vast congregation--Delivers his
+  last sermon--Account of it--His solemnly interesting
+  appearance--Rodgers' Journal--Journey of Whitefield to
+  Newburyport--Alarming illness--Death--His remarks to Dr.
+  Finley--Arrangements for the funeral--Its solemn services--
+  Cenotaph                                                      423
+
+
+  CHAPTER XVII.
+
+  TESTIMONIES AND FACTS ILLUSTRATIVE OF WHITEFIELD'S
+  CHARACTER.
+
+  Funeral sermon by Dr. Cooper--Respect shown to his memory in
+  Georgia--Whitefield county--Sermon by Rev. Mr. Ellington--
+  Arrival of the news in London--Sermon by Rev. J. Wesley--
+  Rev. John Newton--Anecdote--Reply of Bacon the sculptor--
+  Visits to his tomb--Old man in Ipswich--Whitefield's
+  indifference to his reputation and ease--Institution at
+  Georgia--Laborious life--Extraordinary voice--Use of common
+  facts--Anecdotes--His solemnity of manner--Testimony of an
+  American preacher--Of Winter--Anecdotes--Sermons in storms--
+  Appearance in the pulpit--Character of his printed sermons--
+  His devotional spirit--Visiting the sick--Intercourse with
+  society--Neatness                                             445
+
+
+  CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+  CHARACTER OF WHITEFIELD AS A PREACHER--CENTENNIAL
+  COMMEMORATIONS.
+
+  Prominence given by him to the truths of salvation--His
+  ardent glow of feeling--His direct address--His habitual
+  dependence on the Spirit of God--Dealt with men as immortal
+  beings--Dr. Hamilton's estimate of Whitefield--Comparison of
+  Whitefield and Wesley--Centennial commemorations--Hymns by
+  Mr. Conder--Usefulness--Bristol Tabernacle--Mr. James'
+  sermon--Character of Whitefield's ministry, by Mr. Glanville  479
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+The excellent Matthew Henry has very truly said, "There are remains
+of great and good men, which, like Elijah's mantle, ought to be
+gathered up and preserved by the survivors--their sayings, their
+writings, their examples; that as their works follow them in the
+reward of them, they may stay behind in the benefit of them."
+
+Influenced by this and kindred sentiments, the compiler of this
+volume has devoted no small labor to gather from every source to
+which he could gain access, whatever appeared to him important to be
+known respecting the most distinguished uninspired preacher perhaps
+of any age or country. Whatever may be the faults of the work,
+to use the language of the Rev. Dr. Campbell, one of the present
+pastors of Whitefield's churches in London, in reference to a short
+sketch he had himself prepared of our great evangelist, "It will
+serve to bring him and his apostolic labors before the minds of
+vast multitudes of the rising generation, to whom both are all but
+unknown; and this is far from unimportant. Whatever tends to fix
+the minds of men afresh upon the character of WHITEFIELD is, and
+it always will be, something gained to the cause of true religion.
+The contemplation of that character is one of the most healthful
+exercises that can occupy a Christian heart, or a Christian
+understanding. It is an admirable theme for ministerial meditation.
+It tends equally to humble, to instruct, and to encourage; to excite
+love to Christ, zeal for his glory, and compassion for the souls of
+men. What Alexander and Cæsar, Charles XII. of Sweden and Napoleon
+the first, are to those of the sons of men who have not yet ceased
+to 'learn war,' that Whitefield and Wesley are to those who aspire
+to eminent usefulness as ministers and missionaries of the cross."
+
+In the preparation of this memoir, the compiler has sought to
+collect together incidents which might interest and instruct,
+especially in connection with Whitefield's labors in America; to
+present him as much as possible in his own dress; and to use the
+facts of his life to excite and cherish his own spirit, so far as
+he had the spirit of Christ. Facts reflecting on the reputation and
+feelings of others have been used only as the interests of truth
+seemed to demand.
+
+It would have been easy to place on almost every page an array of
+authorities, and to give here a long list of friends to whom the
+writer has been indebted for aid; but the sole object of the volume
+is the honor of Christ in the salvation of men, and that this may be
+accomplished, we pray that the blessing of Heaven may rest upon it.
+
+PHILADELPHIA, 1857.
+
+
+
+
+GEORGE WHITEFIELD.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+     MORAL STATE OF GREAT BRITAIN IN THE EARLY PART OF THE EIGHTEENTH
+     CENTURY--WHITEFIELD FROM HIS BIRTH TO HIS FIRST SERMON.
+
+
+That we may have a clear and comprehensive view of the labors and
+success of George Whitefield, it is important that we consider
+the moral condition of Great Britain and its dependencies when
+the Head of the church brought him on the field of action. The
+latter part of the seventeenth and the beginning of the eighteenth
+centuries presented in that country a scene of moral darkness, the
+more remarkable as it so soon succeeded the triumph of evangelical
+truth which distinguished the seventeenth century, and which is
+perpetuated in a religious literature that will bless the world.
+Causes had long been at work which produced such insensibility and
+decline as to all that is good, and such a bold and open activity in
+evil, as it is hoped the grace of God may avert from his churches
+in all future time. The doctrine of the divine right of kings to
+implicit obedience on the part of their subjects; the principle
+of priestly control of the minds of men in religious matters; and
+clerical influence, sustained by kingly authority, in favor of
+sports on the Lord's day, together with the evil examples of men
+high in rank and power, had produced their natural results on the
+masses of the people, and make it painful, even at this distant
+period, to survey the scene.
+
+Nor were these all the evils of that day. The expulsion from their
+pulpits, by the "Act of Uniformity," of two thousand of the most
+able and useful of the clergy in England, had led to great ignorance
+and neglect of religion; and though men like Leighton and Owen,
+Flavel and Baxter, with Bunyan and a host of others, had continued,
+in spite of opposing laws, to preach when they were not shut up in
+prison, and to write their immortal practical works, by the time of
+which we are speaking they had been called to their eternal reward,
+leaving very few men of like spirit behind them. Thus infidelity,
+profligacy, and formalism almost universally prevailed.
+
+The low state of religion in the established church at that time
+may be learned from the Rev. Augustus M. Toplady, himself one of
+its ministers, who died in 1778. In a sermon yet extant he says,
+"I believe no denomination of professing Christians, the church
+of Rome excepted, were so generally void of the light and life of
+godliness, so generally destitute of the doctrine and of the grace
+of the gospel, as was the church of England, considered as a body,
+about fifty years ago. At that period a _converted_ minister in the
+establishment was as great a wonder as a comet; but now, blessed
+be God, since that precious, that great apostle of the English
+empire, the late dear Mr. Whitefield, was raised up in the spirit
+and power of Elias, the word of God has run and been glorified;
+many have believed and been added to the Lord all over the three
+kingdoms; and blessed be his name, the great Shepherd and Bishop of
+souls continues still to issue his word, and great is the company of
+preachers, greater and greater every year."
+
+If it be said that Toplady, as he belonged to a different school of
+theology from that which then generally prevailed, could scarcely
+be expected to be impartial, we ask leave to transcribe a few lines
+from Bishop Butler, who within six months of Whitefield's ordination
+wrote thus: "It is come, I know not how, to be taken for granted
+by many persons, that Christianity is not so much as a subject of
+inquiry; but that it is now at length discovered to be fictitious.
+And accordingly they treat it as if in the present age this were an
+agreed point among all people of discernment; and nothing remained
+but to set it up as a principal subject of mirth and ridicule, as
+it were by way of reprisals for its having so long interrupted
+the pleasures of the world." Bishop Warburton, who commenced his
+ministry a few years before Whitefield, and who cannot be charged
+with enthusiasm, says, "I have lived to see that fatal crisis, when
+religion hath lost its hold on the minds of the people."
+
+Many other witnesses might be brought to testify that error and
+worldly mindedness had made mournful havoc among the clergy,
+and that spiritual religion had been almost buried in forms and
+ceremonies. A recent writer has well described the state of religion
+in the established church at that time, as only to be compared to a
+frozen or palsied carcass. "There," says this Episcopal clergyman,
+"were the time-honored formularies which the wisdom of the reformers
+had provided. There were the services and lessons from Scripture,
+just in the same order as we have them now. But as to preaching
+the gospel, in the established church there was almost none. The
+distinguishing doctrines of Christianity--the atonement, the work
+and office of Christ and the Spirit--were comparatively lost sight
+of. The vast majority of sermons were miserable moral essays,
+utterly devoid of any thing calculated to awaken, convert, save, or
+sanctify souls." Southey, a biographer of Wesley, who assuredly will
+not be accused of too strong a tendency to evangelical truth, is
+compelled to say, "A laxity of opinions as well as morals obtained,
+and infidelity, a plague which had lately found its way into the
+country, was becoming so prevalent, that the vice-chancellor of
+the university at Oxford, in a _programma_, exhorted the tutors to
+discharge their duties by double diligence, and had forbidden the
+under-graduates to read such books as might tend to the weakening of
+their faith."
+
+There were undoubtedly some learned and conscientious bishops
+at this era. Such men were Secker and Gibson, Lowth and Horne,
+Butler, and others. But even the best of them seem sadly to have
+misunderstood the requirements of the day they lived in. They spent
+their strength in writing apologies for Christianity, and contending
+against infidels. They could not see that without the direct
+preaching of the essential doctrines of the gospel, their labors
+must be sadly defective. The man who dared to preach the doctrines
+of the Bible, and in harmony with the Articles and Homilies of his
+church, was set down as an enthusiast or fanatic.
+
+Among those who had dissented from the established hierarchy, and
+who were untrammelled by the impositions of secular authority, the
+state of vital godliness was also unhappily very low. The noble
+spirits of early non-conformity had passed from earth, or crossed
+the Atlantic to the frozen shores of New England, and a race of men
+had sprung up, some of whom retained the tenets of orthodoxy, but
+had lost its power; while others reposed on comfortable endowments,
+and lulled themselves, or were drawn by favorable breezes, into the
+cold elements of Arianism and Socinianism. As persons in the frozen
+regions are said to sleep longer and more soundly than others, so
+did they; and a more terrific blast of the trumpet of the gospel
+was required to rouse and awake them from their spiritual slumbers.
+Happily indeed for the world, and for the church in it, there were
+some exceptions. Watts and Guyse and Doddridge, and their pious
+associates in different parts of the land, were laborers together in
+"God's husbandry," and ceased not to cultivate it with affectionate
+faithfulness and care; and wherever their labors extended, the
+plants of grace grew and flourished. Darracott, "the star of the
+west," threw his mild rays over the vales of Somerset; and in the
+north also a few faithful men were found.
+
+Nor have we even now said all that should be written as to the
+character of those times. The highest personages in the land then
+openly lived in ways contrary to the law of God, and no man rebuked
+them. Profligacy and irreligion were reputable and respectable.
+Judging from the description we have of men and manners in those
+days, a gentleman might have been defined as a creature who got
+drunk, gambled, swore, fought duels, and violated the seventh
+commandment, and for all this very few thought the worse of him.
+
+Those too were the days when the men whom even kings delighted
+to honor were such as Bolingbroke, Chesterfield, Walpole, and
+Newcastle. To be an infidel, to obtain power by intrigue, and
+to retain it by the grossest and most notorious bribery, were
+considered no disqualifications even for the highest offices. Such
+men indeed were not only tolerated, but praised. In those days
+too, Hume, an avowed infidel, put forth his History, and obtained
+a pension. Sterne and Swift then wrote their talented, but obscene
+books; both of them were clergymen, but the public saw little
+inconsistency in their conduct. Fielding and Smollett were the
+popular authors, and the literary taste of high and low was suited
+by Roderick Random, Peregrine Pickle, Joseph Andrews, and Tom Jones.
+These authors were ingenious heathen philosophers, assuming the name
+of Christians, and forcibly paganizing Christianity for the sake of
+pleasing the world.
+
+Turning to _Scotland_, we find that the bold proclamation of the
+discriminating truths of the gospel which characterize the preaching
+of Knox, Welsh, and others, was being rapidly laid aside, and
+cold formal addresses, verging towards a kind of Socinianism were
+becoming fashionable. Old Mr. Hutchinson, minister of Kilellan, in
+Renfrewshire, who saw but the beginning of this sad change, used to
+say to Wodrow the historian, "When I compare the times before the
+restoration with those since the revolution, I must own that the
+young ministers preach accurately, and methodically; but there was
+far more of the power and efficacy of the Spirit and of the grace
+of God went along with sermons in those days than now. For my own
+part--all the glory be to God--I seldom set my foot in a pulpit in
+those days, but I had notice of the blessed effects of the word." It
+is true, that even then there were a few faithful witnesses for God
+in Scotland, such as the brothers Erskine, in the Secession church;
+but for the most part, coldness, barrenness, and death prevailed.
+The people knew not God, and were strangers to the life-giving
+influence and power of the gospel.
+
+The Arianism of England had been carried to the north of _Ireland_,
+and finding a state of feeling suitable to its reception, it took
+root and grew up, so as to characterize a distinct section of the
+Presbyterian church, then and still distinguished by the name of the
+Remonstrant Synod. The south and west of Ireland were subjected to
+a blight not less withering, though of a different kind, and which
+continued much longer--continued, to a great extent, throughout
+the whole of the last century. The clergy were usually sons of the
+gentry, and accustomed to their sporting, drinking, and riotous
+habits. They had no preparation for ministerial duties but a college
+degree; and no education, either literary or moral, which had not
+been obtained among wild young men at the university. According
+to the interest which they happened to have, they passed at once
+from college to ministerial charges, and again mixed in all the
+dissipations of the districts where these lay. Ignorant of the
+truth, they and their congregations were satisfied with some short
+moral discourse. Many of the people were almost as ignorant of the
+Scriptures and scripture truth as the inhabitants of Hindostan.
+The Catholic priests meanwhile were at work among the people, and
+they had many to help them. The sick and the dying were watched;
+their fears were wrought upon; they were told of the power which
+the priests had, of the influence possessed by the Virgin, and much
+about the _old church_; and as soon as any seemed to give way, on
+whatever point, the priest was sent for, who plied them anew, and
+seldom failed in succeeding with the poor ignorant people. They were
+now ready to receive absolution; but he had farther conditions to
+propose. The whole family must submit to be rebaptized, or at least
+promise to attend mass--and this also was not unfrequently gained;
+the Protestant clergyman being all the while at a distance, neither
+knowing nor much caring what was going on. In this way great numbers
+of the lower and middle classes of the Protestants went over to the
+church of Rome. Throughout whole districts the Protestant churches
+were almost emptied, and many of those in rural districts were
+allowed to fall into ruins.
+
+Of _Wales_ it is not important at present to say much. From the
+middle ages downwards, great darkness and superstition had prevailed
+among its mountains. It is true that in the days of James I.,
+a clergyman named Wroth, whose conversion to the truth had been
+remarkable, had labored with eminent zeal and success, but at the
+period of which we are now writing declension had succeeded. Within
+the establishment all was cold and dead; nearly every minister
+was ignorant of the Welsh language, a fact which also applied to
+several successive bishops, while the state of morals, among even
+the leaders of the hierarchy, was truly deplorable. An old Methodist
+simply but truly described the country at this period, and of his
+correct narrative we will here give a free translation.
+
+The land, he tells us, was dark indeed. Scarcely any of the lower
+ranks could read at all. The morals of the country were very
+corrupt; and in this respect there was no difference between
+high and low, layman and clergyman. Gluttony, drunkenness, and
+licentiousness prevailed through the whole country. Nor were the
+operations of the church at all adapted to repress these evils. From
+the pulpit the name of the Redeemer was scarcely heard; nor was much
+mention made of the natural sinfulness of man, or of the influence
+of the Holy Spirit. On Sunday mornings, the poor were more constant
+in their attendance at church than the gentry; but the Sunday
+evenings were spent by all in idle amusements. Every Sabbath there
+was practised a kind of sport, called in Welsh _Achwaren-gamp_,
+in which all the young men of the neighborhood had a trial of
+strength, and the people assembled from the surrounding country
+to witness their feats. On a Saturday night, particularly in the
+summer, the young men and women held what they called _Nosweithian
+cann_, or singing eves; that is, they met together and amused
+themselves by singing in turns to the harp, till the dawn of the
+Sabbath. These things, with the performance of rustic dramas, would
+occupy sometimes the whole of the sacred day itself; while a set of
+vagabonds, called the _Bobl gerdded_, or walking people, used to
+traverse the villages, begging with impunity, to the disgrace alike
+of the law and the country. With all this social sprightliness, the
+Welsh were then a superstitious, and even a gloomy people. They
+still retained many habits apparently derived from paganism, and
+not a few of the practices of popery. Their funerals, like those of
+the Irish, were scenes of riot and drunkenness, followed by prayers
+for the release of the deceased from the pains of purgatory. Such
+was the superstition of the people, that when Methodism was first
+introduced among them, many of the peasantry expressed their horror
+of the new opinions by the truly Popish gesture of crossing the
+forehead; and when Wesley first visited them, he pronounced them
+"as little versed in the principles of Christianity as a Creek or
+Cherokee Indian." To this declaration he added the striking remark,
+that, "notwithstanding their superstition and ignorance, the people
+'were ripe for the gospel,' and most enthusiastically anxious to
+avail themselves of every opportunity of instruction."
+
+As an illustration of the truth of the remark we have just
+introduced from the discerning Wesley, we may mention an incident
+which occurred in 1736. At this period dissent itself was reduced so
+low in the country, that there were only six dissenting houses of
+worship in all North Wales. One Sunday, Mr. Lewis Rees, a dissenting
+minister from South Wales, and the father of Dr. Rees, the author of
+the celebrated Cyclopedia which bears his name, visited Pwllheli, a
+town on the promontory of Slëyn, in Caernarvonshire, and one of the
+few places in which the Independents still had a chapel. After the
+service, the congregation, collecting around him, complained very
+sorely that their numbers were rapidly diminishing, that the few
+who yet remained were for the most part poor, and that every thing
+connected with their cause looked gloomy. To which the minister
+replied, "The dawn of religion is again breaking out in South
+Wales," referring them to the fact, that already a distinguished
+man--Howel Harris--had risen up, going about instructing the people
+in the truths of the gospel. Such was the character of the times
+when God was raising up agents to revive and extend his cause. We
+shall before long return to Wales with lively interest.
+
+"Such," says the eloquent Robert Hall, "was the situation of things
+when Whitefield and Wesley made their appearance, who, whatever
+failings the severest criticism can discover in their character,
+will be hailed by posterity as the second reformers of England.
+Nothing was farther from the views of these excellent men than to
+innovate on the established religion of their country; their sole
+aim was to recall the people to the good old way, and to imprint the
+doctrines of the Articles and Homilies on the spirits of men. But
+this doctrine had been so long a dead letter, and so completely
+obliterated from the mind by contrary instructions, that the attempt
+to revive it met with all the opposition that innovation is sure to
+encounter, in addition to what naturally results from the nature
+of the doctrine itself, which has to contend with the whole force
+of human corruption. The revival of the _old_, appeared like the
+introduction of a _new_ religion; and the hostility it excited
+was less sanguinary, but scarcely less virulent, than that which
+signalized the first publication of Christianity. The gospel of
+Christ, or that system of truth which was laid at the foundation of
+the Reformation, has since made rapid advances, and in every step of
+its progress has sustained the most furious assaults."
+
+It ought here to be stated, as illustrating the providence of God in
+preparing the British empire for the reception of the gospel, that
+the revolution of 1688 introduced the spirit of toleration, and in
+1714, the very year of Whitefield's birth, Anne, the last English
+sovereign of a persecuting spirit, died, and the throne was assumed
+by George I., the first prince of the house of Hanover. The way of
+the Lord was thus prepared for bright illustrations of his mercy.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Rising from the beautiful valley of the Severn, and on the borders
+of that noble stream, reposes in antique glory the affluent city of
+GLOUCESTER, with its regular streets, and its majestic cathedral
+and other relics of bygone days. In that city the traveller may
+examine three spots which will long be interesting to the student of
+ecclesiastical curiosities. The first of these is the ancient church
+of Mary de Crypt, where reposes the dust of Robert Raikes, the
+founder of Sunday-schools; the second, is the little stone which,
+in a pensive-looking inclosure, marks the site on which the truly
+noble-minded and Protestant Bishop Hooper was burnt, an early martyr
+of bloody Mary's reign. There wicked men stood around to light up
+the flames, and to mock his sorrows; but as we stand and look, we
+exult in the subsequent triumphs of truth.
+
+The third spot, and the one to us at the present moment the most
+interesting, is the Bell inn or hotel, yet standing, though
+enlarged and beautified since the period of which we write. There
+WHITEFIELD--the saint, the seraph, the "angel flying in the midst of
+heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to them that dwell
+on the earth"--first breathed the vital air. Venerable city, we
+will rejoice that though within thy walls one glorious luminary of
+salvation was extinguished, another "burning and shining light" was
+raised up to diffuse joy and happiness over the two most influential
+quarters of the globe, and a third has since been given to suggest
+the simple plan by which millions of the young have already acquired
+the knowledge of salvation.
+
+GEORGE WHITEFIELD, the sixth son of Thomas and Elizabeth Whitefield,
+was born December 16, 1714, old style. Concerning his father and
+mother he writes, "The former died when I was two years old; the
+latter died in December, 1751, in the seventy-first year of her age,
+and has often told me how she endured fourteen weeks' sickness after
+she brought me into the world; but was used to say, even when I
+was an infant, that she expected more comfort from me than from any
+other of her children. This, with the circumstance of my being born
+in an inn, has often been of service to me, in exciting my endeavors
+to make good my mother's expectations, and so follow the example of
+my dear Saviour, who was laid in a manger belonging to an inn."
+
+In one of his journals, which he commenced at a very early part
+of his ministry, Whitefield details with great simplicity many
+incidents of his childhood and youth; from which it appears, that
+though at times he had many serious thoughts and impressions,
+the general course of his life, till the age of sixteen, was
+irreligious. He tells us that in early youth he was "so brutish as
+to hate instruction, and used purposely to shun all opportunities
+of receiving it," and that he spent much money, improperly obtained
+from his mother, in cards, plays, and romances, "which," says he,
+"were my heart's delight. Often have I joined with others in playing
+roguish tricks; but was generally, if not always, happily detected:
+for this I have often since, and do now bless and praise God." His
+full confessions of this character are very affecting, and should be
+a caution to young persons to repel all such temptations.
+
+When George was about ten years of age, his mother married a second
+time, thus forming a connection which led to much unhappiness.
+He was, however, continued at school; and when twelve years old,
+was transferred to the grammar-school of St. Mary de Crypt, where
+he remained about three years. Having a graceful elocution and a
+good memory, he gained much credit for delivering speeches before
+the city corporation at the annual visitation of the school, and
+received pecuniary rewards for his performances on those occasions.
+How deeply he afterwards deplored these celebrations, especially
+the performance of plays in connection with his school-fellows,
+may be learned from his own words: "I cannot but observe here,
+with much concern of mind, how this way of training up youth has
+a natural tendency to debauch the mind, to raise ill passions,
+and to stuff the memory with things as contrary to the gospel of
+Christ, as darkness to light, hell to heaven." This sad tendency
+was but too clearly evinced in the case of Whitefield himself. "I
+got acquainted," he says, "with such a set of debauched, abandoned,
+atheistical youths, that if God, by his free, unmerited, and special
+grace, had not delivered me out of their hands, I should have sat
+in the scorner's chair, and made a mock at sin. By keeping company
+with them, my thoughts of religion grew more and more like theirs.
+I went to public service only to make sport, and walk about. I took
+pleasure in their lewd conversation. I began to reason as they did,
+and to ask why God had given me passions, and not permitted me to
+gratify them. In short, I soon made great proficiency in the school
+of the devil. I affected to look rakish, and was in a fair way of
+being as infamous as the worst of them." These were the things, and
+not oratory, as has sometimes been said, which Whitefield learned
+from plays and acting.
+
+In the midst of all this, his conscience often made him unhappy; and
+he wished, if possible, to combine religion with his pleasures. He
+purchased and carefully read "Ken's Manual for Winchester Scholars,"
+a book which commended itself as having comforted his mother in her
+afflictions, and which he afterwards considered to have been "of
+great benefit to his soul."
+
+At the age of fifteen, he thought he had acquired learning enough
+for any ordinary occupation in life, and as his mother's business
+was declining, he persuaded her to allow him to leave school and
+assist in labor. "I began," says he, "to assist her occasionally
+in the public-house, till at length I put on my blue apron and
+my snuffers, washed mops, cleaned rooms, and in one word, became
+professed and common _drawer_ for nearly a year and a half." In the
+midst of the activity called for in such a situation, it pleased God
+to renew his religious impressions, which induced him, at least at
+intervals, to attend with much earnestness to the concerns of his
+soul.
+
+From his childhood, Whitefield tells us, he "was always fond of
+being a clergyman, and used frequently to imitate the ministers'
+reading prayers." Nor did this tendency towards clerical engagements
+cease as he became older. "Notwithstanding," he says, "I was thus
+employed in a large inn, and had sometimes the care of the whole
+house upon my hands, yet I composed two or three sermons, and
+dedicated one of them to my elder brother. One day, I remember, I
+was very much pressed to self-examination, and found myself very
+unwilling to look into my heart. Frequently I read the Bible when
+sitting up at night. And a dear youth, now with God, would often
+entreat me, when serving at the bar, to go to Oxford. My general
+answer was, 'I wish I could.'"
+
+His mother's difficulties increasing, it became necessary for her
+to leave the inn; in which she was succeeded by one of her married
+sons, with whom George for some time remained to continue his
+assistance in the business. Some disagreement, however, arising
+between them, he after a time took his departure from the inn, and
+went to spend a month with his eldest brother at Bristol. Returning
+from that city to Gloucester, he resided for a short season with his
+mother. While thus living unemployed, without any definite object
+before him, and waiting the openings of providence, his mother
+was visited by an Oxford student, a servitor of Pembroke college
+in that university. In the course of their conversation, he told
+her, that after all his expenses at college for the quarter were
+discharged, he had one penny remaining. She immediately exclaimed,
+"This will do for my son!" and turning to him, said, "Will you go
+to Oxford, George?" He replied, "With all my heart." Application
+was immediately made to several friends who had influence at
+the college, and they pledged themselves to serve her. In this
+confidence, her favorite son returned to the grammar-school,
+where he not only resumed his studies with greater diligence, but
+endeavored, and not altogether in vain, to promote religion and
+virtue among his associates.
+
+Having fully secured his literary preparation for the university,
+Whitefield removed to Oxford in his eighteenth year, and was
+immediately admitted, as a servitor, into Pembroke college. He soon
+found that the seat of learning was also a scene of danger. From
+the period of 1662, when the two thousand Non-conformists had been
+expelled from the church, the universities had been sinking into a
+moral lethargy, preferring uniformity to vital religion. Our young
+servitor was shocked with the impiety of the students in general,
+and dreading their influence on himself, he as much as possible
+abstained from their society, and shut himself up in his study.
+
+Before he went to Oxford, Whitefield had heard of a class of
+young men in the university who "lived by rule and method," and
+were therefore called _Methodists_. They were much talked of, and
+generally despised. Of this party, John Wesley, a Fellow of Lincoln
+college, and already in holy orders, was the leader, his brother
+Charles being also as warmly attached to it. They avowed that the
+great object of their lives was to save their souls, and to live
+wholly to the glory of God; and rarely have men subjected themselves
+to greater self-denials and austerities. Drawn towards them by
+kindred feelings, Whitefield strenuously defended them whenever he
+heard them reviled, and when he saw them going, through a crowd
+manifesting their ridicule, every Sunday to receive the sacrament
+at St. Mary's or Christ church, he was strongly inclined to follow
+their example.
+
+For more than a year he intensely desired to be acquainted with
+them, but a sense of his pecuniary inferiority to them prevented his
+advances. At length, learning that a pauper had attempted suicide,
+Whitefield sent a poor woman to inform Charles Wesley, that so he
+might visit her, and administer religious instruction. He charged
+the woman not to tell Mr. Wesley who sent her, but, contrary to
+this injunction, she told his name; and Charles Wesley, who had
+frequently seen Whitefield walking by himself, on the next morning
+invited him to breakfast. An introduction to the little brotherhood
+soon followed, and he also, like them, "began to live by rule, and
+pick up the very fragments of his time, that not a moment might be
+lost."
+
+It is painful to read Whitefield's own account of the mortifications
+of body to which he now submitted; and we are not surprised that, as
+the result, his health was so reduced as to place even his life in
+danger. All this time he had no clear view of the way of salvation,
+and was "seeking to work out a righteousness of his own." In this
+state he lay on his bed, his tongue parched with fever, and the
+words of the dying Saviour, "I thirst," were impressed on his mind.
+Remembering that this thirst occurred near the end of the Saviour's
+sufferings, the thought arose in his mind, "Why may it not be so
+with me? Why may I not now receive deliverance and comfort? Why
+may I not now dare to trust and rejoice in the pardoning mercy of
+God?" There was, as Tracy has said, no reason why he might not--why
+he ought not. He saw nothing to forbid him. He prayed in hope,
+borrowing language from the fact which suggested the train of
+thought--"I thirst, I thirst for faith in pardoning love. Lord, I
+believe; help thou mine unbelief." His prayer was heard. He dared
+to trust in the mercy of God, as revealed in the death of Jesus
+Christ for sinners. Conscience and his Bible bore witness that he
+did right. The load that had so heavily oppressed him, the load of
+guilt and terror and anxiety, that weighed down his spirit while he
+sinfully and ungratefully hesitated to trust in divine mercy, was
+gone. He saw the trustworthiness of the mercy of God in Christ, and
+his heart rejoiced.
+
+"Though," as Tracy has well said, "the English universities were
+established mainly for the purpose of educating men for the
+ministry, Whitefield was not likely to gain a good knowledge of
+theology there. He took another, and a characteristic course. Some
+time after his conversion, when he was at Gloucester, he says,
+'I began to read the holy Scriptures upon my knees; laying aside
+all other books, and praying over, if possible, every line and
+word. This proved meat indeed and drink indeed to my soul. I daily
+received fresh life, light, and power from above. I thus got more
+true knowledge in reading the book of God in one month, than I could
+ever have acquired from all the writings of men.'"
+
+Every hour of Whitefield's time, especially after he had been
+"filled with peace and joy in believing," was sacredly devoted to
+preparation for the great work to which he had now solemnly devoted
+himself. He visited the prisoners in the jail, and the poor in their
+cottages, and gave as much time as he could to communion with God in
+his closet. His friends now earnestly importuned him to apply for
+ordination; but from this his deep sense of unworthiness made him
+shrink. Besides, he intended to have a hundred and fifty sermons
+carefully written before he began to preach. He had as yet but one,
+and he lent that to a neighboring clergyman, to convince him that
+he was not yet fit to be ordained. The clergyman kept it for two
+weeks, divided it into two, preached it to his own people, and then
+returned it to Whitefield, with a guinea for the use of it.
+
+Still, however, the work of preparation for the ministry was rapidly
+going on. The state of his health compelled him to retire for a
+season from Oxford, and he returned home to increase the depth of
+his piety, and to be led, little as he thought of it, at once to the
+pulpit. He writes, "O what sweet communion had I daily vouchsafed
+with God in prayer, after my coming to Gloucester. How often have
+I been carried out beyond myself, when meditating in the fields.
+How assuredly I felt that Christ dwelt in me, and I in him; and how
+daily did I walk in the comforts of the Holy Ghost, and was edified
+and refreshed in the multitude of peace. I always observed that
+as my inward strength increased, so my outward sphere of action
+increased proportionably."
+
+Thus, happy in himself, and thankful to the gracious God who made
+him so, the affectionate soul of George Whitefield ardently desired
+that others might participate in his sacred joys. In order to
+advance this object, he mixed in the society of young people, and
+endeavored to awaken them to a just sense of the nature of true
+religion. Some were convinced of the truth, and united with him in
+religious exercises; and these were some of the first-fruits of his
+pious labors. His discovery of the necessity of regeneration, like
+Melancthon's great discovery of the truth, led him to imagine that
+no one could resist the evidence which convinced his own mind. He
+writes, "Upon this, like the woman of Samaria, when Christ revealed
+himself to her at the well, I had no rest in my soul till I wrote
+letters to my relations, telling them there was such a thing as the
+_new birth_. I imagined they would have gladly received it; but,
+alas, my words seemed to them as idle tales. They thought I was
+going beside myself." He visited the jail every day, and read and
+prayed with the prisoners; attended public worship very frequently,
+and read twice or three times a week to some poor people in the
+city. In addition to all this, he tells us, "During my stay here,
+God enabled me to give a public testimony of my repentance as to
+seeing and acting plays; for hearing the strollers had come to
+town, and knowing what an egregious offender I had been, I was
+stirred up to extract Mr. Law's excellent treatise, entitled, "The
+absolute Unlawfulness of the Stage Entertainment." The printer,
+at my request, put a little of it in the newspaper for six weeks
+successively; and God was pleased to give it his blessing."
+
+In this manner Whitefield employed himself during nine months; and
+one effect of so doing was, that the partition wall of bigotry was
+soon broken down in his heart. He says, "I loved all, of whatever
+denomination, who loved the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity." This
+statement in his diary is connected with an account of the benefit
+he derived from studying the works of the Non-conformists. "Baxter's
+Call," and "Alleine's Alarm," so accorded with his own ideas of
+fidelity and unction, that wherever he recognized their spirit he
+acknowledged "a brother beloved." On this portion of his history
+we dwell with unspeakable delight; the only drawback is an undue
+importance he appears to have attached to _dreams_; and even those,
+considered as an _index_ to his waking hours, are interesting,
+revealing as they do his deep solicitude on the behalf of souls.
+
+Here then, before he had completed his twenty-first year, we see
+Whitefield returned to Gloucester, and such was already the fame of
+his piety and talents, that Dr. Benson, the bishop of the diocese,
+offered to dispense, in his favor, with the rule which forbids the
+ordination of deacons at so unripe an age. Thus graphically did he
+afterwards describe his acceptance of this proposal.
+
+"I never prayed against any corruption I had in my life so much as
+I did against going into holy orders so soon as my friends were for
+having me go. Bishop Benson was pleased to honor me with peculiar
+friendship, so as to offer me preferment, or to do any thing for me.
+My friends wanted me to mount the church betimes. They wanted me
+to knock my head against the pulpit too young; but how some young
+men stand up here and there and preach, I do not know. However it
+be to them, God knows how deep a concern entering into the ministry
+and preaching was to me. I prayed a thousand times, till the sweat
+has dropped from my face like rain, that God of his infinite mercy
+would not let me enter the church till he called me and thrust me
+forth in his work. I remember once in Gloucester--I know the room; I
+look up to the window when I am there and walk along the street--I
+said, 'Lord, I cannot go; I shall be puffed up with pride, and fall
+into the condemnation of the devil. Lord, do not let me go yet.' I
+pleaded to be at Oxford two or three years more. I intended to make
+one hundred and fifty sermons, and thought that I would set up with
+a good stock in trade. I remember praying, wrestling, and striving
+with God. I said, 'I am undone, I am unfit to preach in thy great
+name. Send me not. Lord, send me not yet.' I wrote to all my friends
+in town and country to pray against the bishop's solicitation; but
+they insisted I should go into orders before I was twenty-two. After
+all their solicitations these words came into my mind: 'Nothing
+shall pluck you out of my hands;' they came warm to my heart. Then,
+and not till then, I said, 'Lord, _I will go_; send me when thou
+wilt.'"
+
+Sunday, June 20, 1736, was the day appointed for his ordination
+in the cathedral at Gloucester. On the preceding evening he spent
+two hours in prayer for himself and the others who were to be set
+apart to the sacred office with him; and on the day itself he rose
+early, and passed the morning in prayer and meditation on the
+qualifications and duties of the office he was about to undertake.
+On a review of the solemn services of the day, he says, "I trust I
+answered every question from the bottom of my heart, and heartily
+prayed that God might say, Amen. And when the bishop laid his hands
+upon my head, if my vile heart do not deceive me, I offered my whole
+spirit, soul, and body to the service of God's sanctuary. Let come
+what will, life or death, depth or height, I shall henceforward
+live like one who this day, in the presence of men and angels, took
+the holy sacrament, on the profession of being inwardly moved by
+the Holy Ghost to take upon me that ministration in the church. I
+call heaven and earth to witness, that when the bishop laid his
+hands upon me, I gave myself up to be a martyr for Him who hung
+upon the cross for me. Known unto him are all future events and
+contingencies; I have thrown myself blindfold, and I trust without
+reserve, into his almighty hands. When I went up to the altar, I
+could think of nothing but Samuel's standing before the Lord with a
+linen ephod."
+
+Having thus received ordination as a deacon of the church of
+England, he delayed not to enter upon the work to which he was
+appointed; and accordingly, on the next Sabbath he preached his
+first sermon in his native city of Gloucester, selecting for his
+subject, "The necessity and benefit of religious society." At the
+appointed time he ascended the pulpit, in the church of St. Mary de
+Crypt. We have his own record of the service: "Last Sunday, in the
+afternoon, I preached my first sermon in the church where I first
+received the Lord's supper. Curiosity drew a large congregation
+together. The sight, at first, a little awed me; but I was comforted
+with a heartfelt sense of the divine presence, and soon found the
+advantage of having been accustomed to public speaking when a boy
+at school, and of exhorting and teaching the prisoners and the
+poor people at their private houses, while at the university. By
+these means I was kept from being daunted overmuch. As I proceeded,
+I perceived the fire kindled, till at last, though so young, and
+amidst a crowd of those who knew me in my childish days, I trust
+I was enabled to speak with some degree of gospel authority. Some
+few mocked, but most, for the present, seemed struck; and I have
+since heard that a complaint was made to the bishop, that I drove
+fifteen people mad the first sermon. The worthy prelate, as I am
+informed, wished that the madness might not be forgotten before the
+next Sunday. Before then, I hope that my sermon upon, 'He that is in
+Christ is a new creature,' will be completed. Blessed be God, I now
+find freedom in writing. Glorious Jesus,
+
+    "'Unloose my stammering tongue to tell
+      Thy love immense, unsearchable.'"
+
+It is remarkable, under all the circumstances of the case, that
+Bishop Benson, a man never distinguished for his evangelical views,
+always showed his friendship for Whitefield. Not only did he offer
+him ordination when others might have refused, and defend him
+against the persecutions to which he was exposed, but he more than
+once gave him pecuniary help when it was much needed, though the
+young clergyman had never complained.
+
+Thus early apprized of the secret of his strength, his profound
+aspirations for the growth of Christianity, the delight of
+exercising his rare powers, and the popular admiration, operating
+with combined and ceaseless force upon a mind impatient of repose,
+urged him into exertions which, if not attested by irrefragable
+proofs, might appear incredible. It was the statement of one who
+knew him well, and who was incapable of wilful exaggeration, and it
+is confirmed by his letters, journals, and a "cloud of witnesses,"
+that "in the compass of a single week, and that for years, he
+spoke in general forty hours, and in very many sixty, and that to
+thousands: and after his labors, instead of taking any rest, he
+was engaged in offering up prayers and intercessions, with hymns
+and spiritual songs, as his manner was, in every house to which he
+was invited." Never perhaps, since the apostolic age, has any man
+given himself so entirely to preaching the gospel of Christ for
+the salvation of souls, adopting as his motto the language of the
+apostle Paul, "_This one thing I do_."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+WHITEFIELD'S SUCCESS AS A PREACHER IN ENGLAND--FIRST VISIT TO
+AMERICA.
+
+1736-1738.
+
+
+Whitefield, though thus prepared for action, was not impatient,
+but willing to wait till his duty was fully ascertained. On the
+Wednesday after his first sermon he went to Oxford, where, he says,
+"I was received with great joy by my religious friends. For about
+a week I continued in my servitor's habit, and then took my degree
+of Bachelor of Arts, after having been at the university three
+years and three quarters, and going on towards the twenty-second
+year of my age. My dear and honored friends, the Rev. Messrs. John
+and Charles Wesley, being now embarked for Georgia, and one or
+two others having taken orders, the interest of Methodism, as it
+was then and is now termed, had visibly declined, and very few of
+this reputedly mad way were left at the university. This somewhat
+discouraged me at times, but the Lord Jesus supported my soul, and
+made me easy by giving me a strong conviction that I was where he
+would have me to be. My degree, I soon found, was of service to
+me, as it gave me access to those I could not be seen with when in
+an inferior station; and as opportunity offered, I was enabled to
+converse with them about the things which belonged to the kingdom of
+God. The subscriptions for the poor prisoners, which amounted to
+about forty pounds per annum, were soon put into my hands; two or
+three charity schools, maintained by the Methodists, were under my
+more immediate inspection; which, with the time I spent in following
+my studies, private retirement, and religious converse, sweetly
+filled up the whole of my day, and kept me from that unaccountable
+but too common complaint of having any time hang upon my hands."
+
+The stay of Mr. Whitefield at Oxford, however, was very short. He
+says, "By a series of unforeseen, unexpected, and unsought-for
+providences, I was called in a short time from my beloved retirement
+to take a journey to the metropolis of England. While I was an
+under-graduate, among the religious friends, I was very intimate
+with one Mr. B----n, a professed Methodist, who had lately taken
+orders, and was curate at the Tower of London. With him, when
+absent, I frequently corresponded, and when present took sweet
+counsel, and walked to the house of God as friends. He mentioned
+me to that late good and great man, Sir John Phillips; and being
+called down for a while into Hampshire, he wrote to me to be of
+good courage, and in the strength of God bade me hasten to town to
+officiate in his absence, and to be refreshed with the sight and
+conversation of many who loved me for Christ's sake, and had for a
+long time desired to see me."
+
+On his arrival in London, Whitefield delivered his first sermon
+there in Bishopsgate church, on the afternoon of Lord's day, August
+8. On entering the pulpit, his juvenile aspect excited a general
+feeling of his unfitness for the station, but he had not proceeded
+far in his sermon before it gave place to universal expressions of
+wonder and pleasure. If however he was thus exposed to the danger
+of vanity, as he says, "God sent me something to ballast it. For as
+I passed along the streets, many came out of their shops, admiring
+to see so young a person in a gown and cassock. One I remember in
+particular, cried out, 'There's a boy parson;' which, as it served
+to mortify my pride, put me also upon turning that apostolical
+exhortation into prayer, 'Let no man despise thy youth.'" From
+his first sermon to his departure, at the end of two months, his
+popularity in London continued to increase, and the crowds were
+so vast that it was necessary to place constables both inside and
+outside of the churches to preserve the peace. He tells us himself,
+"Here I continued for the space of two months, reading prayers twice
+a week, catechizing and preaching once, visiting the soldiers in the
+infirmary and barracks daily. I also read prayers every evening at
+Wapping chapel, and preached at Ludgate prison every Tuesday. God
+was pleased to give me favor in the eyes of the inhabitants of the
+Tower; the chapel was crowded on Lord's days; religious friends from
+divers parts of the town attended the word, and several young men
+came on Lord's-day morning, under serious impressions, to hear me
+discourse about the _new birth_, and the necessity of renouncing all
+in affection in order to follow Jesus Christ."
+
+The preaching of Mr. Whitefield now excited an unusual degree
+of attention among persons of all ranks. In many of the city
+churches he proclaimed the glad tidings of great joy to listening
+multitudes, who were powerfully affected by the fire which was
+displayed in the animated addresses of this man of God. Lord and
+Lady Huntingdon constantly attended wherever he preached, and Lady
+Anne Frankland became one of the first-fruits of his ministry among
+the nobility of the metropolis. Her ladyship spent much of her
+time with Lady Huntingdon, from whose society and conversation she
+derived great comfort. She was a daughter of Richard, the first
+Earl of Scarborough; was for many years lady of the bedchamber to
+the Princess Anne, and to the Princesses Amelia and Caroline; and
+finally became the second wife of Frederic Frankland, Esq., a member
+of Parliament, from whose cruelty she endured much.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We have already said, that some time before this Messrs. John and
+Charles Wesley had embarked for Georgia, and to their names we
+might have added that of Mr. Ingham, also a member of the Methodist
+fraternity at Oxford.
+
+Georgia, which was explored by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1584, had been
+colonized by debtors from Europe, by multitudes who had fled from
+the grasp of persecution, and by others who were interested in
+constructing a barrier against Spanish aggression. It originally had
+trustees in England, concerned for its interests, including sons of
+the nobility. The chief agent in executing the benevolent designs
+in view was the truly excellent General Oglethorpe, who admirably
+carried out the motto he gave to his companions in the work, "_Non
+sibi sed aliis_"--"Not for themselves, but for others." The children
+of poverty, taken from the overgrown agricultural population,
+already a tax upon parish bounty at home, were to be transferred
+in large numbers to the silk and indigo plantations which were
+established on the savannahs and bottoms south and west of the
+river, which thence derived its name from the peculiar conformation
+of the adjoining plains. Combined with these leading purposes, it
+was a cherished principle with the early patrons of this colony,
+that it should become the centre for the diffusion of the gospel
+among the natives; while charitable foundations were also laid for
+the secular and religious education of all who would take advantage
+of such provisions. The first Christians who left Europe to advance
+the spiritual interests of Georgia were Moravians, and the next
+were the Wesleys and Ingham. The records of the colony, as quoted
+in White's Historical Collections of Georgia, show that, Sept. 14,
+1735, Charles Wesley was appointed "Secretary for the Indian affairs
+in Georgia," and that, Oct. 10, 1735, John Wesley was appointed
+"missionary at Savannah."
+
+Whitefield had left London, and was laboring among a poor and
+illiterate people in Hampshire, when his attention was directly
+drawn to Georgia. This was not, indeed, the first time his heart had
+been interested in the matter. He writes, "When I had been about a
+month in town, letters came from the Messrs. Wesley, and the Rev.
+Mr. Ingham their fellow-laborer, an Israelite indeed, from Georgia.
+Their accounts fired my soul, and made me long to go abroad for God
+too. But having no outward call, and being as I then thought too
+weak in body ever to undertake a voyage at sea, I endeavored to
+lay aside all thoughts of going abroad. But my endeavors were all
+in vain; for I felt at times such a strong attraction in my soul
+towards Georgia, that I thought it almost irresistible. I strove
+against it with all my power, begged again and again, with many
+cries and tears, that the Lord would not suffer me to be deluded,
+and at length opened my mind to several dear friends. All agreed
+that laborers were wanted at home, that I had as yet no visible call
+abroad, and that it was my duty not to be rash, but wait and see
+what Providence might point out to me. To this I consented with my
+whole heart."
+
+The path of duty, however, soon opened before him. While fulfilling
+his duties at Dummer, in Hampshire, preaching for the Rev. Mr.
+Kinchin, who was now absent from home, to which labors we have
+already referred, he received an invitation to a lucrative curacy in
+London; but Georgia still rested like one of the prophetic "burdens"
+on his mind. At this juncture he received a letter from his clerical
+friend at the Tower, saying that Mr. Charles Wesley had arrived in
+London. Very soon Mr. Wesley himself wrote to Whitefield, saying,
+that he was come over to procure laborers, "but," added he, "I dare
+not prevent God's nomination." "In a few days after this," writes
+Mr. Whitefield, "came another letter from Mr. John Wesley, wherein
+were these words: 'Only Mr. Delamotte is with me, till God shall
+stir up the hearts of some of his servants, who putting their lives
+in their hands, shall come over and help us, where the harvest is
+so great, and the laborers so few. What if thou art the man, Mr.
+Whitefield?' In another letter were these words: 'Do you ask me what
+you shall have? Food to eat and raiment to put on, a house to lay
+your head in--such as our Lord had not--and a crown of glory that
+fadeth not away.' Upon reading this my heart leaped within me, and
+as it were echoed to the call."
+
+After having consulted his bishop, Dr. Benson, as also the
+archbishop of Canterbury, and the trustees of Georgia including
+General James Oglethorpe who was then in London, he went to Bristol,
+Bath, and other places, to take leave of his personal friends. As
+he could not refrain from preaching, so every sermon increased his
+popularity. We give his account of his preaching at Bristol, as a
+specimen of the reception he met with.
+
+"It was wonderful to see how the people hung upon the rails of
+the organ-loft, climbed upon the leads of the church, and made
+the church itself so hot with their breath, that the steam would
+fall from the pillars like drops of rain. Sometimes almost as many
+would go away for want of room as came in, and it was with great
+difficulty I got into the desk to read prayers or preach. Persons
+of all ranks not only publicly attended my ministry, but gave me
+private invitations to their houses. A private society or two were
+erected. I preached and collected for the poor prisoners in Newgate
+twice or thrice a week, and many made me large offers if I would not
+go abroad."
+
+Having mentioned General James Edward Oglethorpe, the first
+governor, and indeed the founder of the colony of Georgia, and to
+the end of Whitefield's life his cordial friend, a few additional
+facts concerning him may here be stated. He was the son of Sir
+Theophilus Oglethorpe, and was born in London, December 21, 1688.
+At sixteen he was admitted a student at Oxford, but did not finish
+his studies, as the military profession had more charms for him
+than literary pursuits. He was first commissioned as an ensign.
+After the death of Queen Anne, he entered into the service of Prince
+Eugene. When he attained the age of twenty-four years, he entered
+Parliament, for Haslemere, where he continued thirty-two years. In
+November, 1732, Oglethorpe, with one hundred and sixteen settlers,
+embarked for Georgia, and landed at Charleston, S. C., January 13,
+1733. They shortly afterwards proceeded to Georgia, where Oglethorpe
+laid out a town, and called it Savannah. He very happily secured
+the good will of the Indians. In 1743, he left Georgia for England,
+to answer charges brought against him by Lieutenant-colonel Cook.
+A court martial declared the charges groundless and malicious, and
+Cook was dismissed from the service. In 1744 he was appointed one of
+the field-officers under field-marshal the Earl of Stair, to oppose
+the expected invasion of France. He died in 1785. He was truly a
+noble man.
+
+As the period approached when Whitefield was to leave England,
+the people showed their esteem for him in almost every possible
+way. They followed him so closely, and in such numbers, for holy
+counsels, that he could scarcely command a moment for retirement.
+They begged to receive from him religious books, and to have their
+names written therein with his own hand, as memorials of him,
+and very many followed him from place to place till his final
+embarkation.
+
+It was indeed a surprising fact, that a young man, scarcely more
+than twenty-two years of age, and previously unknown to the world,
+should be able to collect such immense congregations, and rouse
+and command their attention; multitudes hanging upon and receiving
+instructions from his lips. But God had endowed him with a singular
+union of qualities, which most eminently fitted him for the work of
+an evangelist. He was faithful to his trust, and his divine Master
+abundantly blessed and honored him in the discharge of its momentous
+duties.
+
+We have now traced the amazing effects of Whitefield's _first_
+sermons, and it may be interesting briefly to inquire into their
+general character, and to ascertain what truths thus aroused the
+public mind. Three of these sermons can, happily, be identified
+with these "times of refreshing;" and they may be depended on,
+as specimens of both the letter and the spirit of his preaching,
+because they were printed from his own manuscripts: they are those
+on "_Early Piety_," "_Regeneration_," and "_Intercession_." Whoever
+will read the appeals in these sermons, realizing the circumstances
+under which they were made, will scarcely wonder at the effect
+produced by them. The topics of the second and third, and the tone
+of all the three, are very different from the matter and manner of
+sermonizing then known to the masses of the people. They do not
+surprise _us_, because happily neither the topics nor the tone
+of them are "strange things to our ears." Both, however, were
+novelties in those days, even in London. When or where had an appeal
+been made like this?
+
+"I beseech you, in love and compassion, to come to Jesus. Indeed,
+all I say is in love to your souls. And if I could be but an
+instrument of bringing you to Jesus, I should not envy, but rejoice
+in your happiness, however much you were exalted. If I was to
+make up the _last_ of the train of the companions of the blessed
+Jesus, it would rejoice me to see you above me in glory. I could
+willingly go to prison or to death for you, so I could but bring
+one soul from the devil's strong-holds, into the salvation which
+is by Christ Jesus. Come then to Christ, every one that hears me
+this night. Come, come, my guilty brethren; I beseech you, for your
+immortal souls' sake, for Christ's sake, come to Christ. Methinks I
+could speak till midnight unto you. Would you have me go and tell
+my Master that you will not come, and that I have spent my strength
+in vain? I cannot bear to carry such a message to him. I would not,
+indeed, I would not be a swift witness against you at the great day
+of account; but if you will refuse these gracious invitations, I
+must do it."
+
+In this spirit, not very prevalent even now, Whitefield began his
+ministry. There is a fascination as well as fervor, or rather a
+fascination arising from fervor, in some of his earliest as well as
+his later discourses. How bold and beautiful is the peroration of
+that on "_Intercession_." Referring to the holy impatience of "the
+souls under the altar," for the coming of the kingdom of God, he
+exclaims,
+
+"And shall not we who are on earth be often exercised in this
+divine employ with the glorious company of the spirits of just men
+made perfect? Since our happiness is so much to consist in the
+communion of saints in the church triumphant above, shall we not
+frequently intercede for the church militant below, and earnestly
+beg that we may be all one? To provoke you to this work and labor
+of love, remember, that it is the never-ceasing employment of the
+holy and highly exalted Jesus himself; so that he who is constantly
+interceding for others, is doing that on earth which the eternal
+Son of God is always doing in heaven. Imagine, therefore, when
+you are lifting up holy hands for one another, that you see the
+heavens opened, and the Son of God in all his glory, as the great
+High-priest of your salvation, pleading for you the all-sufficient
+merit of his sacrifice before the throne. Join your intercession
+with his. The imagination will strengthen your faith, and excite a
+holy earnestness in your prayers."
+
+The nearer the time approached for his leaving the country, the more
+affectionate the people grew towards him, and the more eagerly did
+they attend on his ministry. Many thousands of ardent petitions were
+presented to heaven on behalf of his person and his ministry; and
+multitudes would stop him in the aisles of the churches, or follow
+him with their tearful looks. Most of all was it difficult for him
+to part from his friends at St. Dunstan's, where he administered the
+sacrament, after spending the night before in prayer.
+
+The man who had produced these extraordinary effects, says Dr.
+Gillies, had many natural advantages. He was something above the
+middle stature, well proportioned, though at that time slender, and
+remarkable for native gracefulness of manner. His complexion was
+very fair, his features regular, his eyes small and lively, of a
+dark blue color: in recovering from the measles, he had contracted
+a squint with one of them; but this peculiarity rather rendered the
+expression of his countenance more rememberable, than in any degree
+lessened the effect of its uncommon sweetness. His voice excelled
+both in melody and compass, and its fine modulations were happily
+accompanied by the grace of action which he possessed in an eminent
+degree, and which is said to be the chief requisite of an orator.
+An ignorant man described his eloquence oddly, but strikingly,
+when he said that Mr. Whitefield preached like a lion. So strange
+a comparison conveyed no unapt idea of the force, and vehemence,
+and passion--of the authority which awed the hearers, and made them
+tremble like Felix before the apostle. Believing himself to be the
+messenger of God, commissioned to call sinners to repentance, he
+spoke as one conscious of his high credentials, with authority and
+power; yet in all his discourses there was a fervor and melting
+charity, an earnestness of persuasion, an outpouring of redundant
+love, partaking of the virtue of the faith from which it flowed,
+insomuch that it seemed to enter the heart which it pierced, and to
+heal it as with a balm.
+
+At length, having preached in a considerable number of the London
+churches, collected about a thousand pounds for the charity
+schools, and obtained upwards of three hundred pounds for the
+poor in Georgia, Whitefield left London, December 28, 1737, in the
+twenty-third of his age, and went in the strength of God, as a poor
+pilgrim, on board the Whitaker.
+
+Scarcely had he entered on his voyage from London, when he
+discovered that but little comfort was to be expected in the ship
+on which he had embarked. There was no place for retirement, no
+disposition to receive him as an ambassador of Christ, and a decided
+dislike even to the forms of religion. They moved but slowly to
+the Downs, where they were detained for nearly a month, and where
+Whitefield went on shore to visit Deal, an ancient town, one of the
+Cinque-ports, so called, where "the common people," as in the case
+of his great Master, "heard him gladly." With him, through his whole
+ministry, it was of small importance whether he preached to the
+rich or the poor; for he viewed the gospel as a message of mercy to
+_sinners_, and wherever men were found, he was willing to persuade
+them to be reconciled to God.
+
+The account given by Mr. Whitefield of his visit to Deal, and of the
+different treatment he received there from different persons, would
+be almost as correct a description of his labors and reception in a
+hundred other places. He spent his first evening very comfortably in
+religious conversation and family prayer, at which a poor woman was
+much affected. "Who knows," he says, "what a fire this little spark
+may kindle?" Next evening, eight or nine poor people came to him at
+the report of this poor woman; and when, after three or four days,
+the ship in which he had embarked was driven back to Deal, many met
+together to bewail their own sins and those of others. Soon the
+landlady who owned the house where he lodged, sent to her tenants,
+beseeching them not to let any more persons come in, for fear the
+floor should break under them; and they actually put a prop under it.
+
+The minister of Upper Deal, a mile or two from the town, now invited
+Whitefield to preach in the church; it was much crowded, and many
+went away for want of room. Some stood on the leads of the building
+outside, and looked in at the top windows, and all around seemed
+eager to hear the word. "May the Lord," says the good man, "make
+them _doers_ of it. In the evening I was obliged to divide my
+hearers into four companies, and was enabled to expound to them from
+six till ten. Lord, keep me from being weary of, or in well-doing."
+
+The excitement at Deal became very great, in consequence of the
+conviction of the people that their own minister, the Rev. Dr.
+Carter, did not preach the gospel. The good man, to disprove the
+charge, published a volume of his sermons, which, however admired by
+gay formalists, furnished but too much evidence of the justice of
+the charge.
+
+Just as he had left the church at Upper Deal, where he had been
+preaching to a vast congregation, Mr. Whitefield, in consequence of
+a sudden change of the wind, was summoned on board, and the Whitaker
+sailed for Georgia. A very few hours afterwards, the vessel which
+brought back John Wesley from that colony anchored in the Downs,
+when he learned that the ships had passed each other, but neither
+of these remarkable men then knew how dear a friend was on board
+the other. When Wesley landed, he found it was still possible to
+communicate with his friend, and Whitefield was surprised to receive
+a letter from him, saying, "When I saw God by the wind which was
+carrying you out brought me in, I asked counsel of God. His answer
+you have enclosed." The enclosure was a slip of paper with the
+words, "Let him return to London," which Wesley had obtained by lot,
+to which he had had recourse. Whitefield prayed for direction, and
+went on his voyage.
+
+This first voyage of Whitefield to America was invested with scenes
+of far more than common interest. Perhaps, since the apostle Paul's
+memorable voyage to Rome, the ocean had never exhibited a more
+remarkable spectacle than that furnished by this ship. He was but
+a stripling in his twenty-third year, and a faint and hesitating
+homage once on a Sabbath-day, from a few of the less obdurate
+sinners among his hearers, would be all that such a clergyman
+could expect from an assemblage of gentlemen, of soldiers with
+their wives and families, and the ship's crew. Yet in the hands of
+this remarkable youth all became pliant as a willow. He converted
+the chief cabin into a cloister, the deck into a church, and the
+steerage into a school-room. He so bore down all opposition by love,
+reason, and Scripture, that we soon see him, at the request of the
+captain and officers, with the hearty concurrence of the gentlemen
+who were passengers, reading "full public prayers" to them twice a
+day in the great cabin, and expounding every night after the evening
+prayers, besides daily reading prayers, and preaching twice a day
+on deck to the soldiers and sailors, and increasing the services
+on Sundays. In addition to all this, he daily catechized a company
+of young soldiers, and engaged in the same exercise with the women
+apart by themselves.
+
+Nor did even all this suffice to expend his zeal, for he commenced
+a course of expositions on the creed and ten commandments; and so
+convinced was he of the value of catechetical teaching, that on
+February 3d he writes, "I began to-night to turn the observations
+made on the lessons in the morning into catechetical questions, and
+was pleased to hear some of the soldiers make very apt answers."
+
+Nor were the children forgotten; the Hon. Mr. Habersham, a personal
+friend who accompanied him, assumed their instruction as his
+department of holy labor. Mr. Whitefield wrote of him, that he was
+"pleased to see Mr. Habersham so active in teaching the children. He
+has now many scholars--may God bless him."
+
+Friendship for Whitefield had influenced Mr. Habersham to accompany
+the young evangelist to Georgia. Mr. Habersham's friends, at
+Beverly, in Yorkshire, where he was born in 1712, were greatly
+opposed to his plans, but surely the hand of God directed them.
+He presided over the Orphan-house till 1744, when he entered into
+a commercial partnership. He occupied several important stations,
+till he became president of the colony in 1769. The proceedings
+connected with the revolutionary war more than once placed him in
+great difficulties; he did not live to see its happy results, for in
+1775 the state of his health compelled him to visit the north, in
+hope of its renovation. The change, however, was of no benefit, and
+he died at New Brunswick, New Jersey, August 28, 1775. The "Gazette"
+of the day said of him, "In the first stations of the province he
+conducted himself with ability, honor, and integrity, which gained
+him the love and esteem of his fellow-citizens; nor was he less
+distinguished in private life by a conscientious discharge of the
+social duties, as a tender and affectionate parent, a sincere and
+warm friend, and a kind and indulgent master. Mr. Habersham was
+married by the Rev. Mr. Whitefield to Mary Bolton at Bethesda, on
+the 26th of December, 1740, by whom he had ten children, three of
+whom, sons, survived him, and were zealous in the cause of American
+liberty."
+
+In harmony with the solemn duties which Mr. Whitefield had assumed,
+he watched over the conduct of all around him. He tells us that the
+ship's cook was awfully addicted to drinking, and when reproved for
+this and other sins, he boasted that he would be wicked till within
+two years of his death, and would then reform. Alas, he died on the
+voyage, after an illness of six hours, brought on by drinking.
+
+One day on this voyage, finding on Captain Whiting's pillow "The
+Independent Whig," Whitefield exchanged it for a book entitled "The
+Self-Deceiver." The next morning, the captain came smiling and
+inquired who made the exchange. Mr. Whitefield confessed the fact,
+and begged his acceptance of the book, which he said he had read,
+and liked very well. From thenceforward a visible alteration took
+place in the conduct of the captain.
+
+On their arrival at Gibraltar, where they had to continue some time,
+Mr. Whitefield found that Major Sinclair, without solicitation, had
+provided a lodging for him, and the governor and military invited
+him to their table. Being apprehensive that at a public military
+table he might be more than hospitably treated, to prevent any
+thing disagreeable, he reminded his excellency that, at the court
+of Ahasuerus, "none did compel." The governor took the hint, and
+pleasantly replied, "No compulsion of any kind shall be used at my
+table;" and every thing was conducted with the greatest propriety.
+Here he often preached, and was heard by many, including all in high
+offices. Unusual indeed were the scenes, both with respect to the
+place and the people. The adjacent promontories, and the vastness of
+the rock of Gibraltar, aided in the enlargement of the ideas of the
+preacher as to Him, who "in his strength setteth fast the mountains,
+and is girded about with power." And the place being a sort of
+public rendezvous of all nations, he thought, he says, "he saw the
+world in epitome."
+
+The success of Whitefield's ministry at Gibraltar was truly
+remarkable. He quaintly says of it, "Samson's riddle was fulfilled
+there: 'out of the strong came forth sweetness.' Who more unlikely
+to be wrought upon than soldiers? And yet, among any set of people,
+I have not been where God has made his power more known. Many that
+were quite blind, have received their sight; many that had fallen
+back, have repented and turned to the Lord again; many that were
+ashamed to own Christ openly, have waxed bold; and many saints have
+had their hearts filled with joy unspeakable, and full of glory."
+
+Among other religions societies to which Whitefield was introduced
+at Gibraltar, he one day attended the Jewish synagogue, and was
+agreeably surprised when one of the rulers handed him into the chief
+seat. The rabbi had the day before heard him preach against profane
+swearing, and now thanked him for his sermon. He remained in the
+synagogue during the whole service, engaged, he says, "in secret
+prayer that the veil might be taken from the heart of the Jews, and
+they grafted again into their own olive-tree."
+
+Several facts occurred on the way to Savannah after their
+embarkation from Gibraltar, which are too interesting to pass
+without notice. On one occasion Captain Mackay, after Whitefield
+had preached against drunkenness, urged the men to attend to the
+things which had been spoken; telling them that he was a notorious
+swearer until he did so; and beseeching them for Christ's sake to
+give up their sins. On another occasion, while marrying a couple on
+deck, Whitefield suddenly shut the prayer-book in the midst of the
+ceremony, because the bridegroom had behaved with levity; and not
+until the laughter was turned into weeping, would he proceed. At the
+close of the service he gave the bride a Bible. When a shark was
+caught, with five pilot-fish clinging to its fins, he said, "Go to
+the pilot-fish, thou that forsakest a friend in adversity; consider
+his ways, and be abashed." When a dolphin was caught, the change
+of its hues from lovely to livid, reminded him to say, "Just so is
+man; he flourishes for a little while, but when death cometh, how
+quickly his beauty is gone! A Christian may learn instruction from
+every thing he meets with." While he was preaching on the death
+of Christ darkness came on, and he said, "It puts me in mind of
+that darkness which overwhelmed the world when the God of nature
+suffered."
+
+In the latter part of the voyage, fever laid prostrate all in the
+ship except four persons, and at length it seized Whitefield, and
+confined him to his bed for a week. The attack, though short, must
+have been severe; for besides other remedies, he was bled three
+times. During his illness, the captain gave up his own bed to
+him, and Mr. Habersham watched him day and night; but that which
+gratified him most was, that the sick between decks, whom he had
+endangered his life to console, prayed for him with great fervor. He
+recovered, and repaid the kindness of all. At length, on May 5, they
+came in sight of Savannah river, and sent off for a pilot; and such
+was the joy of all, when they came to anchor at Tybee island, that
+he could not help exclaiming, "How infinitely more joyful will the
+children of God be, when, having passed through the waves of this
+troublesome world, they arrive at the haven of everlasting rest!"
+Though still weak, he preached a farewell sermon to his "red-coated
+and blue-jacketed parishioners," as he called his military and naval
+congregation. It was heard with floods of tears.
+
+Upon this voyage, says Dr. Gillies, he made these reflections many
+years after: "Even at this distance of time, the remembrance of the
+happy hours I enjoyed in religious exercises on deck, is refreshing
+to my soul; and although nature sometimes relented at being taken
+from my friends, and I was little accustomed to the inconveniences
+of a sea-life, yet, a consciousness that I had the glory of God
+and the good of souls in view, afforded me, from time to time,
+unspeakable satisfaction."
+
+Whitefield was cordially welcomed at Savannah by Delamotte and
+other friends of the Wesleys: the magistrates also offered to wait
+upon him to pay their respects; but this he declined, and waited
+upon them. They agreed to build him a tabernacle and a house at
+Frederica, and to accept his services at Savannah as long as he
+pleased. He was soon, however, again laid aside by the return of his
+fever, now accompanied with ague. This attack in a few days brought
+him so low, and made so great an alteration in his person, that he
+says, "Had my friends seen me at that hour, they might have learned
+not to have any man's person in admiration, and not to think more
+highly of me than they ought to think."
+
+The first thing which Whitefield did after his recovery was to
+visit _Tomo-Chici_, the Indian king, then on his death-bed. This
+was the micoe, or king, whom Oglethorpe had taken to England, in
+1734, and introduced to king George the Second. He was accompanied
+by his wife and son, and seven other Indians of the Creek nation.
+His eloquent speech to the king and queen was so well received at
+court, that he was loaded with presents, and when he had again to
+embark, was sent in one of the royal carriages to Gravesend. "He now
+lay," says Whitefield, "on a blanket, thin and meagre; little else
+but skin and bones. Senanki, his wife, sat by, fanning him with
+Indian feathers. There was no one could talk English, so I could
+only shake hands with him and leave him. A few days afterwards,
+Mr. Whitefield again went to visit Tomo-Chici, and found that
+his nephew, Tooanoowee, could speak English. Whitefield says, "I
+desired him to ask his uncle, whether he thought he should die;
+who answered, 'I cannot tell.' I then asked where he thought he
+should go after death. He replied, 'To heaven.' But alas, how can
+a drunkard enter there? I then exhorted Tooanoowee, who is a tall,
+proper youth, not to get drunk; telling him that he understood
+English, and therefore would be punished the more if he did not live
+better. I then asked him whether he believed in a heaven. He said,
+'Yes.' I then asked whether he believed in a hell, and described it
+by pointing to the fire. He replied, 'No.' From whence we may easily
+gather, how natural it is to all mankind to believe there is a place
+of happiness, because they wish it to be so; and on the contrary,
+how averse they are to believe in a place of torment, because they
+wish it may not be so. But God is just and true; and as surely as
+the righteous shall go away into everlasting happiness, so the
+impenitently wicked shall go into everlasting punishment."
+
+The records of Georgia say, under date of December 21, 1737,
+"Ordered, that a license be made out for the Rev. Mr. George
+Whitefield to perform ecclesiastical offices in Georgia, as a deacon
+in the church of England."
+
+Before Whitefield had any thoughts of going abroad, Charles Wesley
+talked to him of an orphan-house in Georgia, which he and General
+Oglethorpe had contemplated. When he arrived in Savannah, and had
+sufficiently recovered from his illness to examine the state of
+the colony, the condition of the children deeply affected him; and
+he set his heart on founding the projected institution as soon
+as he should be able to collect the needful funds. In the mean
+time he opened schools in the villages of Highgate and Hampstead,
+and one also, for girls, in Savannah. He afterwards visited the
+Saltzburgher's orphan-school at Ebenezer; and if any thing had been
+wanted to settle his own determination, or to inflame his zeal, he
+found it there. The Saltzburghers were exiles for conscience' sake,
+and were eminent for piety and industry. Their ministers, the Rev.
+Messrs. Grenaw and Boltzius, were eminently evangelical, and their
+asylum, which they had been enabled to found by British benevolence,
+for widows and orphans, was flourishing. Whitefield was so delighted
+with the order and harmony of Ebenezer, that he gave a share of
+his own "poor's store" to Boltzius, for his orphans. Then came the
+scene which entirely completed his purpose: Boltzius "called all the
+children before him; catechized and exhorted them to give God thanks
+for his good providence towards them; then prayed with them, and
+made them pray after him; then sung a psalm. Afterwards, the little
+lambs came and shook me by the hand, one by one, and so we parted."
+Whitefield was now pledged to this cause for life.
+
+Most of our readers probably know that the conductors of "The
+Gentleman's Magazine," a work which has now been regularly
+published in London for much more than a century, have never been
+favorable to evangelical truth, or its ministers; it is therefore
+the more gratifying to copy from that work for November, 1737, the
+following lines: it will be seen that they were published more than
+a month before Mr. Whitefield's departure to the American colonies.
+
+
+"TO THE REV. MR. WHITEFIELD, ON HIS DESIGN FOR GEORGIA.
+
+    "How great, how just thy zeal, adventurous youth,
+     To spread in heathen climes the light of truth!
+     Go, loved of heaven, with every grace refined,
+     Inform, enrapture each dark Indian's mind;
+     Grateful, as when to realms long hid from day,
+     The cheerful dawn foreshows the solar ray.
+     How great thy charity, whose large embrace
+     Intends the eternal weal of all thy race;
+     Prompts thee the rage of waves and winds to scorn,
+     To effect the work for which thy soul was born.
+     What multitudes, whom Pagan dreams deceive,
+     Shall, when they hear thy heavenly voice, believe!
+     On Georgia's shore thy Wesley shall attend,
+     To hail the wished arrival of his friend;
+     With joy the promised harvest he surveys,
+     And to his Lord for faithful laborers prays;
+     Though crowded temples here would plead thy stay,
+     Yet haste, blest prophet, on thy destined way.
+     Be gentle, winds, and breathe an easy breeze,
+     Be clear, ye skies, and smooth, ye flowing seas!
+     From heaven, ye guardian angels, swift descend,
+     Delighted his blest mission to attend;
+     Which shall from Satan's power whole nations free,
+     While half the world to Jesus bow the knee.
+     Long as Savannah, peaceful stream, shall glide,
+     Your worth renowned shall be extended wide;
+     Children as yet unborn shall bless your lore,
+     Who thus to save them left your native shore;
+     The apostles thus, with ardent zeal inspired,
+     To gain _all nations_ for their Lord desired.
+     They measured seas, a life laborious knew,
+     And numerous converts to their Master drew;
+     Whose hallelujahs, on the ethereal plains,
+     Rise scarce beneath the bright seraphic strains.
+
+    "GLOUCESTER, Nov. 1, 1737."
+
+After spending a few weeks at Savannah, laboring as much as his
+health would permit, Whitefield went to Frederica, where he was
+gladly received; the people "having had a famine of the word for a
+long season." They had no sanctuary, and therefore he had to preach
+under a tree, or in Mr. Habersham's house. This visit, although
+short, endeared him to all the people; and he had the satisfaction
+before he left, to see them "sawing timber for a commodious place
+of worship, until a church could be built." His return, however,
+to Savannah was hastened by a somewhat painful event. One of his
+friends was lost in the woods, and missing from Tuesday till Friday.
+The great guns had been fired to direct the wanderer, but in vain;
+and some of the people had searched for him day and night, without
+success. This report was sent to Whitefield, and it hurried him away
+from Frederica. He had the pleasure, however, on his arrival at
+Savannah, to find his "lost sheep."
+
+During the stay of Whitefield in Georgia, the weather was intensely
+hot, sometimes almost burning his feet through his shoes. Seeing
+others do it, he determined to accustom himself to hardship by
+lying constantly on the floor; which by use he found to be so far
+from being uncomfortable, that afterwards it became so to lie on a
+bed. Nor was he more ready to deny himself than he was assiduous
+to do good; preaching often, catechizing the young, visiting the
+sick, and exhorting from house to house. Entirely independent and
+unrestrained, he knew no fear in the discharge of what he regarded
+as his duty. Knowing that some men of influence, to whom his voice
+could not be addressed from the pulpit, were living in open defiance
+of morality and shame, he went into the court and made an address to
+the grand jury, urging them to present all such offenders without
+partiality or fear, since the miserable state of the colony was
+doubtless owing to divine displeasure against their sins.
+
+Reflection on the character, labors, and success of his
+predecessors, stimulated his zeal and encouraged his hope. It could
+not be denied that John Wesley had been misrepresented and unkindly
+treated, both in Savannah and Frederica, and Whitefield therefore
+rejoiced to bear honorable testimony of him and his colleagues.
+He says, "Surely I must labor most heartily, since I come after
+such worthy men. The good Mr. John Wesley has done in America is
+inexpressible. His name is very precious among the people, and he
+has laid such a foundation, that I hope neither men nor devils will
+be able to shake it. O that I may follow him as he has followed
+Christ."
+
+Mr. Whitefield having as yet only received deacon's orders, and
+wishing to be ordained priest, for the more complete performance
+of his duty as a minister of the church of England, it became
+necessary for him to return to Europe for that purpose; and being
+also desirous of making collections for his Orphan-house, he left
+Mr. Habersham at Savannah, and went to Charleston, S. C., on his way
+to England.
+
+At Charleston he became acquainted with the Rev. Alexander Garden,
+the ecclesiastical commissary of the Bishop of London, who with
+apparent cordiality twice invited him into his pulpit, and assured
+him that he would defend him with his life and property, should the
+same arbitrary proceedings ever be commenced against him which Mr.
+Wesley had met with in Georgia. Dr. Deems, in his recently published
+volume, "The Annals of Southern Methodism," tells us, when speaking
+of his first sermon, "The people at first despised his youth, but
+his engaging address soon gained their general esteem, and Mr.
+Garden thanked him most cordially." In an after-period, however,
+when Mr. Garden more fully understood the evangelical character of
+Mr. Whitefield's preaching, he frequently took occasion to point
+out what he called the pernicious tendency of his doctrines, and
+irregular manner of life. He represented him as a religious quack,
+who had an excellent way of setting off and rendering palatable his
+poisonous tenets. On one occasion Garden, to keep his flock from
+going after this strange pastor, preached from the text, "These that
+have turned the world upside down are come hither also." Whitefield,
+however, was not to be silenced in this way, and returned the
+compliment by preaching from the words, "Alexander the coppersmith
+did me much evil; the Lord reward him according to his works."
+
+On September 6, 1738, Whitefield embarked for London. The voyage was
+perilous in the extreme. They were tossed about with bad weather,
+in a ship out of repair, and in sad want of provisions. When they
+were over about one-third of the Atlantic, a vessel from Jamaica
+would have gladly received him, but he chose to share the lot of
+his shipmates. They highly valued his services, and one of his
+fellow-passengers, Captain Gladman, became, as the result of this
+voyage, a truly pious man. The captain, in a subsequent period, at
+his own earnest request, became the fellow-traveller of his teacher.
+
+After a passage of about nine weeks, they made the port of Limerick,
+in Ireland. "I wish," Whitefield says, "I could never forget what
+I felt when water and provisions were brought us from the shore.
+Mr. M'Mahon, a country gentleman, came from his seat at midnight
+on purpose to relieve us, and most kindly invited me, though
+unknown, to his house, to stay as long as I pleased." At Limerick
+he was cordially received by that worthy prelate, Bishop Birscough,
+who engaged him to preach at the cathedral. From thence he went
+to Dublin, where he preached, and was hospitably entertained by
+Archbishop Bolton, Bishop Rundel, and Dr. Delany.
+
+Remaining but a short time in Ireland, he proceeded to London, where
+he arrived December 8. Here he had the pleasure of conversing with
+some of the Moravian brethren, whose faith and love refreshed his
+spirit, though he did not entirely approve some of their views. He
+soon discovered somewhat of a change of feeling towards him on the
+part of many of the London clergy. Within two days, he found five
+of the churches were closed against him. He called on the Archbishop
+of Canterbury and the Bishop of London, who received him with cold
+civility. The bishop asked him if his journals were not tinctured
+with enthusiasm; and he replied, with his usual meekness and candor,
+that they were written only for his own use, and that of his private
+friends, and that they were published without his knowledge. So
+anxious was he to avoid giving offence, that he took the earliest
+opportunity to expunge from his journals whatever he discovered to
+be erroneous, and whatever he had said without imperative necessity,
+or which was likely to injure the character and feelings of any one.
+
+The trustees of Georgia, at a meeting in London, received Whitefield
+with great cordiality, and in compliance with the wishes of the
+colonists, they presented him with the living of Savannah, the
+salary of which he declined to receive; but he thankfully accepted
+five hundred acres of land, on which he proposed to erect his
+orphan-house.
+
+On Sunday, January 14, 1739, being then in his twenty-fifth year,
+Whitefield was ordained priest at Oxford, by his worthy friend
+Bishop Benson. Having preached twice to very crowded congregations,
+and administered the Lord's supper at the castle, he returned to
+London the next day. As Dr. Benson once expressed regret that he
+had ordained Mr. Whitefield, it may be proper here to explain the
+circumstances. Shortly after the late Countess of Huntingdon first
+became acquainted with the truth as it is in Jesus, Bishop Benson,
+who had been lord Huntingdon's tutor, was sent for to remonstrate
+with her ladyship, and to induce her to relinquish what were then
+considered her erroneous views; but she pressed him so hard with
+the Articles and Homilies of his own church, and so plainly and
+faithfully urged upon him the awful responsibility of his station,
+that for the moment his mind was hurt, and he rose up to depart,
+lamenting that he had ever laid his hands upon George Whitefield, to
+whom he imputed the change which had been wrought in her ladyship.
+"My lord," said she, "mark my words; when you come upon your dying
+bed, that will be one of the few ordinations you will reflect upon
+with pleasure." It would seem that it was so; for, on his death-bed,
+the Bishop sent ten guineas to Mr. Whitefield as a token of his
+favor and approbation, and begged to be remembered by him in his
+prayers.
+
+The interval between his taking priests' orders, and embarking a
+second time for Georgia, was employed by Whitefield, with his usual
+energy and success, in preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
+and in making collections for his Orphan-house. Having, before his
+visit to America, collected large sums for the charity schools in
+the metropolis, he naturally expected that the pulpits would not be
+denied him now, in which to plead the interests of his own poor.
+But he was scarcely yet aware that the tide of clerical opinion had
+turned so extensively and strongly against him. The doctrines he had
+preached, and the manner in which he had preached them, had produced
+a sensation so strong, that he found himself excluded from most of
+the churches in London. A few, however, were yet open to him for
+his benevolent design. The Rev. Mr. Broughton conducted himself,
+among others, very nobly. Having been urged to refuse his pulpit,
+as some of his neighbors had done, he boldly replied, that "having
+obtained the lectureship of St. Helen's by Whitefield's influence,
+he should have the pulpit if he desired it." Mr. Whitefield
+preached, but Mr. Broughton thus losing the lectureship, Whitefield
+blamed himself for having done so. Whatever he might himself be
+willing to suffer, he was not willing to inflict inconvenience on
+others.
+
+Only a few days before his being ordained as priest, Whitefield
+offered his first public _extempore_ prayer, in a large meeting
+in Red Cross-street, London. He mentions this fact in a note of
+his diary as "the first time I ever prayed extempore before such a
+number." He did not even then suppose that his preaching, as well
+as his prayers in this manner, were to develop his mighty power.
+The crowding of the churches now suggested the idea of preaching in
+the open air. He says, "When I was informed that nearly a thousand
+people stood out in the church-yard, and that hundreds returned
+home, this put me first upon thinking of preaching without doors. I
+mentioned it to some friends, who looked upon it as a _mad_ motion.
+However, we kneeled down and prayed that nothing might be done
+rashly. Hear and answer, O Lord, for thy name's sake."
+
+We shall soon see how his extempore expositions and prayers were
+fitting him for this new enterprise. He would have commenced in
+London now, but he lacked a fair opportunity.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+OPEN-AIR PREACHING IN ENGLAND AND WALES--ERECTION OF THE TABERNACLE
+IN LONDON.
+
+1738-1739.
+
+
+Under the circumstances we have related in our last chapter,
+Whitefield paid another visit to Bristol, and soon found that he had
+to meet with new and very unexpected opposition. When he arrived in
+the city, the chancellor of the diocese, while he did not approve
+of what he considered his irregular conduct, told him that he would
+not prohibit any clergyman from lending him his church; but in a
+few days afterwards he sent for the evangelist, and announced his
+entire opposition to his movements. Strangely enough, he now asked
+Whitefield by what authority he preached in the diocese of Bristol
+without a license. The reply of the intrepid minister was, that he
+supposed such a custom had become obsolete, and asked the chancellor
+in his turn, "And pray, sir, why did you not ask the clergyman who
+preached for you last Thursday this question?" The chancellor then
+read to him the canons which forbid any clergyman from preaching
+in a private house; to which Whitefield replied, that he did not
+suppose these canons referred to professed ministers of the church
+of England; and when the chancellor told him he was mistaken, he
+reminded his superior, "There is also a canon, sir, forbidding all
+clergymen to frequent taverns and play at cards; why is not that
+put in execution?" And he then added, that notwithstanding any
+canons to the contrary, he could not but speak the things which
+he knew, and that he was resolved to proceed as usual. His answer
+was written down, and the chancellor closed the interview with the
+words, "I am resolved, sir, if you preach or expound anywhere in
+this diocese till you have a license, I will first suspend, and then
+excommunicate you." The crisis was now come; the Rubicon had been
+passed, and the inquiry might well be made, "What will Whitefield
+now do?"
+
+Already have we seen that he had earnestly desired, in London, to
+preach in the open air, for want of room in the churches, and indeed
+also from the opposition of the clergy, which had begun so strongly
+to manifest itself; and during this journey to Bristol, he found it
+necessary to preach in the open air or not at all. As this event was
+of vast importance in its results, both in his own history and that
+of Mr. Wesley, who also began to preach on the same spot within two
+months after Whitefield had opened the way, we must stay a while to
+narrate the facts.
+
+[Illustration: TABERNACLE, p 89.]
+
+[Illustration: HANHAM MOUNT]
+
+At that time, the colliers of Kingswood, near the city of Bristol,
+were a most depraved and reckless class of men. Inconceivably
+barbarous and ignorant, they trampled on all laws, human and divine,
+and hesitated not to set the magistrates at defiance. It was
+dangerous to pass near the scene of their labors, even in open day,
+for robberies and murders were of frequent occurrence; in a word, it
+was truly "a seat of Satan." When Whitefield was at Bristol, making
+collections for his projected orphan institution in Georgia, not a
+few persons had said to him, "Why go abroad; have we not Indians
+enough at home? If you have a mind to convert Indians, there are
+colliers enough in Kingswood." "I thought," says he, "it might be
+doing the service of my Creator, who had a mountain for his pulpit,
+and the heavens for his sounding-board, and who, when his gospel
+was refused by the Jews, sent his servants into the highways and
+hedges." After much prayer and many inward struggles, he went one
+day to a gentle elevation on the south side of Kingswood, called
+Hanham Mount, and there, under an old sycamore-tree, he preached his
+first sermon in the open air to about a hundred colliers. The scene
+must have been very impressive. Before him stretched the rich and
+beautiful valley of the Avon, through which the river was gently
+winding, bordered in the distance by the undulating hills; while on
+his right and left the cities of Bath and Bristol were within sight.
+
+The fact of his preaching here soon and extensively spread, and at
+meeting after meeting his audience increased, till he found himself
+addressing _nearly twenty thousand persons_. His own account of the
+effects produced is very striking. He says, "The first discovery of
+their being affected, was in the white gutters made by their tears,
+which plentifully fell down their black cheeks, as they came out of
+their coal pits. Hundreds and hundreds of them were soon brought
+under deep convictions, which happily ended in sound and thorough
+conversion. As the scene was quite new, and I had just begun to
+be an extempore preacher, I had often many inward conflicts.
+Sometimes, when twenty thousand people were before me, I had not,
+as I thought, a word to say; but I was never deserted; and I was
+often so assisted as to understand what that meaneth, 'Out of his
+belly shall flow rivers of living water.' The open firmament above;
+the prospect of the adjacent fields; with the sight of thousands
+and thousands, some in coaches, some on horseback, and some in the
+trees, and all so affected as to be drenched in tears together, to
+which sometimes was added the solemnity of the approaching night,
+were almost too much for me; I was occasionally all but overcome."
+Writing to Mr. Wesley a few weeks afterwards, he says, "Yesterday I
+began to play the madman in Gloucestershire, by preaching on a table
+in Thornbury-street. To-day I have exhorted twice, and by and by
+I shall begin a third time; nothing like doing good by the way. I
+suppose you have heard of my proceedings in Kingswood."
+
+We scarcely need to remark here, that Kingswood has ever since been
+regarded as a sacred spot in ecclesiastical history. Here houses
+for Wesleyan Methodists and Independents were soon erected, and in
+them thousands have been converted to God. Here was placed the first
+school for the sons of Methodist preachers, and on Hanham Mount,
+besides the voice of Whitefield, those of the Wesleys, Coke and
+Mather, Pawson and Benson, and Bradburn, accomplished some of the
+mightiest effects which attended their powerful preaching. There are
+yet some living in the neighborhood who were awakened under their
+ministry, and whose eyes glisten as they tell of the blessed days
+that are past.
+
+Besides the colliers, and thousands from the neighboring villages,
+persons of all ranks daily flocked out of Bristol. And he was
+soon invited by many of the most respectable people to preach
+on a large bowling-green in the city itself. Many of the people
+indeed sneered to see a stripling with a gown mount a table on
+unconsecrated ground; this even excited once or twice the laugh of
+some of the higher ranks, who had admired him in the churches. But
+he was unmoved, and his preaching was so blessed, that many were
+awakened. Sometimes he was employed almost from morning till night
+answering those who, in distress of soul, cried out, "What shall I
+do to be saved?" He now sought the help of Mr. John Wesley, who,
+after much reasoning with himself on the subject, complied with
+the invitation, and followed Whitefield's example, who immediately
+committed the work to him. Before leaving the neighborhood, however,
+Whitefield had the satisfaction of laying the foundation of a school
+for Kingswood; for the support of which the colliers liberally and
+cheerfully subscribed.
+
+Taking an affectionate leave of his Bristol friends, Whitefield made
+an excursion into Wales, where a revival of religion had commenced
+several years before, under the ministry of the Rev. Griffith Jones,
+and was now carried on by the ministry of Mr. Howel Harris, a man
+of strong mental powers, great Christian zeal, and considerable
+learning. They met at Cardiff. Whitefield's heart was then glowing
+with the fire he had himself kindled at Bristol and Kingswood. On
+his way from Bristol to Cardiff, he was delayed at the New Passage
+by contrary winds. He says, "At the inn there was an unhappy
+clergyman who would not go over in the passage-boat, because I was
+in it. Alas, thought I, this very temper would make heaven itself
+unpleasant to that man, if he saw me there. I was told that he
+charged me with being a dissenter. I saw him, soon after, shaking
+his elbows over a gaming-table. I heartily wish those who charge
+me causelessly with schism and being righteous overmuch, would
+consider that the canons of our church forbid the clergy to frequent
+taverns, or to play at cards or dice, or any other unlawful games.
+Their indulging themselves in these things is a stumbling-block to
+thousands."
+
+We have said that Whitefield first met Howel Harris at Cardiff.
+After preaching in the town-hall, from the judges' seat, he says, "I
+was much refreshed with the sight of Mr. Howel Harris; whom, though
+I knew not in person, I have long loved, and have often felt my
+soul drawn out in prayer in his behalf.... When I first saw him, my
+heart was knit closely to him. I wanted to catch some of his fire,
+and gave him the right hand of fellowship with my whole heart. After
+I had saluted him, and given an exhortation to a great number of
+people, who followed me to the inn, we spent the remainder of the
+evening in taking sweet counsel together, and telling one another
+what God had done for our souls. A divine and strong sympathy
+seemed to be between us, and I was resolved to promote his interest
+with all my might. Accordingly we took an account of the several
+societies, and agreed on such measures as seemed most conducive to
+promote the common interest of our Lord. Blessed be God, there seems
+a noble spirit gone out into Wales; and I believe that, ere long,
+there will be more visible fruits of it. What inclines me strongly
+to think so is, that the partition wall of bigotry and party spirit
+is broken down, and ministers and teachers of different communions
+join, with one heart and one mind, to carry on the kingdom of
+Jesus Christ. The Lord make all the Christian world thus minded;
+for, until this is done, we must, I fear, despair of any great
+reformation in the church of God."
+
+Before leaving Cardiff, Whitefield preached again in the town-hall,
+to a large assembly. He says, "My dear brother Harris sat close by
+me. I did not observe any scoffers within; but without, some were
+pleased to honor me so far as to trail a dead fox, and hunt it
+about the hall. But, blessed be God, my voice prevailed. This being
+done, I went, with many of my hearers, among whom were two worthy
+dissenting ministers, to public worship; and in the second lesson
+were these remarkable words: 'The high-priests, and the scribes,
+and the chief of the people sought to destroy him; but they could
+not find what they might do to him; for all the people were very
+attentive to hear him.'
+
+"In the afternoon I preached again, without any disturbance or
+scoffing. In the evening, I talked for above an hour and a half
+with the religious society, and never did I see a congregation more
+melted down. The love of Jesus touched them to the quick. Most
+of them were dissolved in tears. They came to me after, weeping,
+bidding me farewell, and wishing I could continue with them longer.
+Thanks be to God, for such an entrance into Wales. I wrestled with
+God for them in prayer, and blessed be His holy name for sending me
+into Wales. I hope these are the first-fruits of a greater harvest,
+if ever it should please God to bring me back from Georgia. 'Father,
+thy will be done.'"
+
+Whitefield returned from this short excursion, to Bristol, baptized
+with Welsh fire, and renewed his labors among the Kingswood colliers
+with more than his usual power and success. He could not, however,
+forget the tears which had entreated him to stay longer in Wales,
+and in three or four weeks he visited Usk and Pontypool, where he
+was again met by Howel Harris. At Usk, "the pulpit being denied, I
+preached upon a table, under a large tree, to some hundreds, and God
+was with us of a truth. On my way to Pontypool, I was informed by
+a man who heard it, that Counsellor H---- did me the honor to make
+a public motion to Judge P---- to stop me and brother Howel Harris
+from going about teaching the people. Poor man, he put me in mind of
+Tertullus, in the Acts; but my hour is not yet come. I have scarcely
+begun my testimony. For my finishing it, my enemies must have power
+over me from above. Lord, prepare me for that hour."
+
+The report to which we have just referred did not prevent the curate
+of Pontypool from cordially inviting Whitefield into his pulpit. He
+also read prayers for him. After the sermon, it was found that so
+many had come to hear who could not find room in the church, that
+another sermon was loudly called for. He says, "I went and preached
+to all the people in the field. I always find I have most power
+when I preach in the open air; a proof to me that God is pleased
+with this way of preaching. I betook myself to rest, full of such
+unutterable peace as no one can conceive of but those who feel it."
+
+In several other places did our evangelist, during this excursion,
+unfurl the banner of the cross; and at its close he writes, "Oh how
+swiftly this week has glided away. To me it has been but as one day.
+How do I pity those who complain that time hangs on their hands! Let
+them but love Christ, and spend their whole time in his service,
+and they will find but few melancholy hours." Nor will any wonder
+that he should thus speak, who consider the spirit which animated
+his soul. What he some time afterwards wrote to Howel Harris,
+from Philadelphia, indicated the spirit he himself cherished:
+"Intersperse prayers with your exhortations, and thereby call down
+fire from heaven, even the fire of the Holy Ghost,
+
+    "'To soften, sweeten, and refine,
+      And melt them into love.'
+
+Speak every time, my dear brother, as if it were your last; _weep
+out_, if possible, every argument, and compel them to cry, 'Behold
+how he loveth us.'"
+
+From Wales, Whitefield went to visit his native city, Gloucester;
+and after one or two sermons, he found himself here also excluded
+from the parochial pulpits. But notwithstanding his persecutions,
+and the infirm state of his health at that time, his labors in
+Gloucester and its vicinity were constant and eminently successful.
+Bowling-greens, market-crosses, highways, and other such places,
+bore witness to his faithful and tearful labors.
+
+At Gloucester lived at that time the Rev. Mr. Cole, an old
+dissenting minister, who often heard Whitefield preach, and used to
+say, "These are the days of the Son of man indeed!" Whitefield, when
+a boy, had been taught to ridicule this Mr. Cole; and when he was
+once asked what profession he would engage in, replied, "I will be a
+minister, but I will take care never to tell stories in the pulpit
+like old Cole." Twelve years afterwards, the old minister heard the
+young one preach, and tell some story to illustrate his subject,
+when the venerable servant of Christ remarked, "I find young
+Whitefield can tell stories now as well as old Cole." The good man
+was much affected with the preaching of his young friend, and was so
+humble, that he used to subscribe himself his curate, and went about
+in the country preaching after him. One evening, while preaching, he
+was struck with death, and asked for a chair to lean on till he had
+finished his sermon. Having done this, he was carried up stairs and
+died. When the fact was told to Whitefield, he said, "O blessed God,
+if it be thy holy will, may my exit be like his!" How striking is
+this fact when looked at in connection with the circumstances of his
+own removal from earth.
+
+Intent on the advancement of his orphan-house in Georgia, Whitefield
+soon went to London, passing on his way through Oxford. At both
+places he found opposition, and in London was shut out of the
+churches. He preached to thousands in Islington churchyard, and now
+resolved to give himself to the work in the open air.
+
+From the conflict with the enemies who a few years before had
+threatened her existence, the polemics of the church of England now
+turned to resist the unwelcome ally who menaced her repose. Bishop
+Warburton led the van, and behind him many a mitred front scowled
+on the audacious innovator. Divested of the logomachies which
+chiefly engaged the attention of the disputants, the controversy
+between Whitefield and the bishops lay in a narrow compass. It
+being mutually conceded that the virtues of the Christian life can
+result only from certain divine impulses, and that to lay a claim
+to this holy inspiration when its legitimate fruits are wanting,
+is a fatal delusion, he maintained, and they denied, that the
+person who is the subject of this sacred influence has within his
+own bosom an independent attestation of its reality. So abstruse a
+debate required the zest of some more pungent ingredients, and the
+polemics with whom Whitefield had to do were not such sciolists in
+their calling as to be ignorant of the necessity of riveting upon
+him some epithet at once opprobrious and vague. While therefore
+milder spirits arraigned him as an _enthusiast_, Warburton, with
+constitutional energy of invective, denounced him as a _fanatic_. In
+vain Whitefield demanded a definition of these reproachful terms. To
+have fixed their meaning would have been to blunt their edge. They
+afforded a solution, at once compendious, obscure, and repulsive, of
+whatever was remarkable in his character, and have been associated
+with his name from that time to the present.
+
+The spots on which Whitefield now began, in his own language,
+"to take the field," and publicly to erect the standard of the
+Redeemer's cross, are well known. Moorfields, then a place of
+general rendezvous and recreation from the crowded city, Kennington
+Common then about two, and Blackheath about five miles from London,
+were the favorite sites to which he loved to resort, and "open his
+mouth boldly" to listening thousands, in honor of his crucified and
+glorified Lord. Recording his first engagement of this kind in his
+diary of Sabbath evening, April 29, 1739, he writes, "Begun to be
+yet more vile this day, for I preached at Moorfields to an exceeding
+great multitude; and at five in the evening went and preached at
+Kennington Common, where upwards of twenty thousand were supposed
+to be present. The wind being for me, it carried my voice to the
+extreme part of my audience. All stood attentive, and joined in
+the psalm and the Lord's prayer so regularly, that I scarce ever
+preached with more quietness in a church. Many were much affected.
+
+    "'For this let men revile my name,
+      I'll shun no cross, I'll fear no shame;
+      All hail, reproach, and welcome pain,
+      Only thy terrors, Lord, restrain.'"
+
+For several successive months, the places we have named were his
+chief scenes of action. At a moderate computation, the audience
+frequently consisted of twenty thousand. It is said that the singing
+could be heard two miles, and the voice of the preacher nearly
+one. Sometimes there were upwards of a hundred coaches, besides
+wagons, scaffolds, and other contrivances by which a sight of him
+could be obtained. The rising ground on Blackheath, from which
+Whitefield preached, is still known as "Whitefield's mount," and
+after his death, Lord Dartmouth planted it with fir-trees. It will
+ever be a grateful recollection to the author of this volume, that
+during the summer of 1839 he prevailed on some of the most eminent
+ministers of England to preach on every successive Monday evening
+on this hallowed spot; and that here many thousands then heard
+the way of salvation, and not a few were brought to the cross of
+Christ. In that immediate neighborhood too, now densely populated,
+he organized, and for some years preached to a Christian church.
+Memorable times! Many were the manifestations of the Redeemer's
+favor.
+
+An anecdote which we heard many years ago from one of Whitefield's
+Blackheath hearers, may here be related. While one day preaching on
+"the heath," there passed along the road at some distance, an old
+man and "Mary" his wife, with their ass and his loaded panniers,
+returning from London to their home in Kent. Attracted alike by the
+crowd and the preacher's voice, the old man and his wife turned a
+little out of their way to hear "what the man was talking about."
+Whitefield spoke of somewhat which occurred eighteen hundred years
+ago, and the old man said, "Mary, come along, it is only something
+which happened a long while ago;" but Mary's attention had been
+arrested, and she wished to stay a minute or two longer. They were
+both soon in tears, and the inquiry was excited in their hearts,
+"What shall we do to be saved?" On their way home, while "talking
+of all these things," the old man recollected his neglected Bible,
+and asked, "Why, Mary, does not our old book at home say somewhat
+about these things?" They went home, and examined the old book with
+new light. "Why, Mary," asked the old man, "is this indeed our old
+book? why, every thing in it seems quite new." So true is it, that
+the teaching of the Spirit gives new discernment as to the truths of
+divine revelation.
+
+A fact strikingly illustrating the children's love to our evangelist
+may be here mentioned. In his open-air preachings, especially in and
+about London, he was usually attended by many of them, who sat round
+him, in and about the pulpit, and handed to him the notes of those
+who desired his counsels and prayers. These children were exposed to
+the missiles with which he was often assailed, but however terrified
+they might be, or even hurt, they seldom shrunk; "but," says he, "on
+the contrary, every time I was struck, they turned up their little
+weeping eyes, and seemed to wish they could receive the blows for
+me."
+
+Speaking of his open-air labors, the devoted preacher says, "Words
+cannot express the displays of divine grace which we saw, and heard
+of, and felt. Lord, not unto me, but unto thy name be all the
+glory." On a subsequent occasion he writes, "We have had a glorious
+season, a true Easter. Jesus Christ is risen indeed. I have been
+preaching in Moorfields, and our Saviour carries all before us.
+Nothing can resist his conquering blood. It would have delighted you
+to see poor sinners flock from the booths to see Jesus lifted up on
+the pole of the gospel." The climax of his success there, is one of
+the most remarkable letters that ever came from a mortal's pen. He
+records at its close, "We then retired to the Tabernacle, with my
+pockets full of notes from persons brought under concern, and read
+them amidst the praises and spiritual acclamations of thousands, who
+joined with the holy angels in rejoicing that so many sinners were
+snatched, in such an unexpected, unlikely place and manner, out of
+the very jaws of the devil. This was the beginning of the Tabernacle
+society. Three hundred and fifty awakened souls were received in
+one day; and I believe the number of notes exceeded a thousand. But
+I must have done, believing you want to retire, to join in mutual
+praise with me in thanksgiving to God and the Lamb."
+
+Having thus introduced the name of the Tabernacle, it is important
+that the reader should be acquainted with the origin of the
+buildings which have borne that name. From the very first of what
+may be called his irregular labors, Whitefield always declared that
+he "would never be the founder of a sect." He kept his word; yet
+two London churches remain as his memorial--the Tabernacle, and
+Tottenham Court-road chapel, the one in the north, and the other
+in the western part of the metropolis. The Tabernacle, which was
+first erected, was his more especial and favorite field of labor,
+and he dwelt in the house adjoining it, which is still the pastoral
+residence.
+
+Moorfields, just without the limits of the old north city wall of
+London, was, a few years before Whitefield first knew it, a marsh,
+and during the greater part of the year, was absolutely impassable.
+Having been partially drained, a brick kiln was erected, and the
+first bricks used in London are said to have been manufactured
+there. Afterwards it was a field for the practice of archery,
+when it was laid out in walks, and called the City Mall. Though
+improved in name and appearance, it became the rallying ground for
+the rabble of London; wrestlers, boxers, and mountebanks, the idle,
+the dissolute, and the profane, held here their daily and nightly
+revels. It appeared, in fact, to be one of the strong-holds of
+Satan, and therefore became a most tempting and important point
+of attack for the daring eloquence of Whitefield. All London rang
+one day with the announcement that Whitefield would preach the day
+following at Moorfields.
+
+This was in January, 1739. Gillies says, "The thing being strange
+and new, he found, on coming out of the coach, an incredible number
+of people assembled. Many told him that he would never come out of
+that place alive. He went in, however, between two friends, who by
+the pressure of the crowd were soon parted from him entirely, and
+obliged to leave him to the mercy of the rabble. But these, instead
+of hurting him, formed a lane for him, and carried him along to the
+middle of the fields, where a table had been placed. This, however,
+having been broken by the crowd, he mounted a wall, and preached to
+an exceeding great multitude in tones so melting, that his words
+drew tears and groans from the most abandoned of his hearers.
+Moorfields became henceforth one of the principal scenes of his
+triumphs. Thirty thousand people sometimes gathered together to hear
+him, and generous contributions here poured in for his orphan-house
+at Bethesda. On one occasion twenty pounds--about one hundred
+dollars--were received in half-pennies, more than one person was
+able to carry away, and enough to put one out of conceit with a
+specie currency."
+
+It was not till his fifth visit to London, in March, 1741, that
+Whitefield ventured to preach in Moorfields on _a week-day_; the day
+selected for this bold action being Good-Friday. His chief, if not
+his only friends on this occasion, he tells us, were a few "orthodox
+dissenters." These people perceiving the inconvenience to which
+he was subjected by the weather, during the morning and evening
+services in Moorfields, procured the loan of a piece of ground, and
+employed a carpenter to build a large temporary shed, to screen the
+auditory from the cold and rain. This building Whitefield called
+a "tabernacle," as it was only intended to be used a few months
+during his stay in his native country, previous to his return to
+America. Providence, however, had otherwise determined, and this
+proved the commencement of a permanent establishment of the means of
+grace. A great spiritual awakening took place; congregations became
+very large, acquiring at the same time considerable cohesion, and
+assuming a stationary character. This original fabric of wood was a
+place of large dimensions; and notwithstanding its rude aspect and
+temporary design, it sufficed for the accommodation of Whitefield
+and his flock, during the twelve succeeding years--a period the most
+brilliant and useful of his extraordinary career.
+
+Some of Whitefield's friends, however, did not approve of the
+original wooden structure; and anticipating or desiring the
+formation of a Christian church, they called for the immediate
+erection of a substantial brick building, a point which was debated
+with a warmth approaching to violence, of which Whitefield makes
+pathetic mention seven years afterwards. Here then several important
+facts are established: that the original tabernacle sprang not from
+Whitefield, but from a voluntary movement among his adherents,
+composed chiefly, if not wholly, of Protestant dissenters; that the
+expense was borne not by him, but by them; that much debate and
+dissension attended the measure, proving the thoroughly free and
+popular character of the original movement; and that, as the edifice
+originated with the people alone, so did the institution of regular
+worship. It is certain that fears existed in the mind of Whitefield
+as to the success of such an organization; but the results most
+happily disappointed his expectations.
+
+The subject of the erection of a more spacious edifice in the place
+of the tabernacle of wood, was first discussed at the mansion
+of Lady Huntingdon, in Leicestershire, when Drs. Doddridge and
+Stonehouse, and the Rev. Messrs. Hervey and Whitefield happened to
+meet together, in the summer of 1751. During the following winter,
+Whitefield began to make collections for the object, and on almost
+its first presentation in London, nine hundred pounds, or four
+thousand five hundred dollars, were subscribed. "But," he says, "on
+the principle that burned children dread the fire, I do not mean
+to begin until I get one thousand in hand, and then to contract at
+a certain sum for the whole." The fact was, that Whitefield had
+often been in great straits for the support of his orphan-house
+in Georgia, "for I forgot," he says, "that Professor Francke built
+in Glaucha, in a populous country, and that I was building at the
+very tail of the world." In March, 1753, he wrote to Mr. Charles
+Wesley, "On Tuesday morning the first brick of our new Tabernacle
+was laid with awful solemnity. I preached from Exodus 20:24, 'In all
+places where I record my name, I will come unto thee, and I will
+bless thee.' The wall is now about a yard high. The building is to
+be eighty feet square. It is on the old spot. We have bought the
+house, and if we finish what we have begun, shall be rent free for
+forty-six years." In June the dedicatory services took place, when
+the Tabernacle, though capable, with its capacious galleries, of
+holding _four thousand_ people, was crowded almost to suffocation.
+Often have we seen this vast building crowded with worshippers, with
+delight have we occupied its pulpit, and with devout gratitude do we
+record, that never for a moment has the frown of heaven rested upon
+it. Thousands will ever bless God for its erection.
+
+Not unfrequently has the question been discussed, to what
+denomination of Christians does the Tabernacle really belong? In
+answer to this question, we give a legal document which may also
+show what is done in reference to houses of worship in England,
+under the laws for the maintenance of religious toleration.
+
+"These are to certifie whom it may Concern, that a Certificate
+bearing date the Eighteenth Day of June, in the year of Our Lord
+One Thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty-four, under the Hands of
+Starkey Myddleton Minister, Robert Keen, Thomas Cox, Samuel Grace,
+Robert Hodgson, James Smith, Thomas Robinson, Benjamin Coles,
+Thomas Brooks, and Samuel Lockhart, for appropriating and setting
+apart a Certain Building for that purpose erected, situate near the
+Barking Dogs in the Parish of Saint Luke in the County of Middlesex,
+and intended for the meeting place of a certain Congregation of
+Protestant Dissenters from the Church of England, calling themselves
+Independents, was Registered in the Registry of the Dean and Chapter
+of the Cathedral Church of Saint Paul, London, This Twenty-first
+Day of June in the year of Our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and
+Sixty-four.
+
+  "THOMAS COLLINS, Deputy Registrar."
+
+While the new Tabernacle was in the course of erection, Whitefield
+visited Norwich, where his ministry was largely attended, and
+notwithstanding much opposition, was followed with considerable
+success. Writing to his friend Keen, he says, "How does God delight
+to exceed even the hopes, and to disappoint the fears of his weak,
+though honest-hearted people. In spite of all opposition, he hath
+caused us to triumph even in Norwich. Thousands attend twice every
+day, and hear with the greatest eagerness. I hope it will appear
+yet more and more that God hath much people here." Compelled by
+alarming illness, the result of his too much preaching, he suddenly
+returned to London, from whence he thus wrote to one of the converts
+at Norwich: "I shall little regard the weakness and indisposition of
+my body, if I can but have the pleasure of hearing, if not before,
+yet at the great day, that good was done to one precious soul at
+Norwich. Blessed be God for the seed sown there. I doubt not but
+it will be watered with the dew of his heavenly blessing, and bring
+forth a divine increase."
+
+Truly the gospel did triumph, not only in the erection of the
+Tabernacle in that city, but in preparing sinners to be pillars in
+the temple of God, and to win others to his service.
+
+Among other converts won at Norwich, was the afterwards popular and
+useful minister of Christ, the Rev. Robert Robinson, of Cambridge,
+England. When a young man, about eighteen, he resided in that city,
+and was engaged in the business of a barber. When he was walking
+one morning with several companions who had agreed that day to take
+their pleasure, the first object which attracted their attention
+was an old woman who pretended to tell fortunes. They immediately
+employed her to tell theirs, and that they might qualify her for the
+undertaking, first made her thoroughly intoxicated. Robinson was
+informed, among other things, that he would live to a very old age,
+and see his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren growing
+up around him. Though he had assisted in intoxicating the old
+woman, he had credulity enough to be struck with those parts of the
+prediction which related to himself. "And so," said he when alone,
+"I am to see children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. At
+that age I must be a burden to the young people. What shall I do?
+There is no way for an old man to render himself more agreeable to
+youth, than by sitting and telling them pleasant and profitable
+stories. I will then," thought he, "during my youth, endeavor
+to store my mind with all kinds of knowledge. I will see and
+hear, and note down every thing that is rare and wonderful, that
+I may sit, when incapable of other employments, and entertain my
+descendants. Thus shall my company be rendered pleasant, and I shall
+be respected, rather than neglected, in old age. Let me see, what
+can I acquire first? Oh, here is the famous Methodist preacher,
+Whitefield; he is to preach here, they say, to-night; I will go and
+hear him."
+
+From these strange motives, as he told the celebrated Rev. Andrew
+Fuller, he went to hear Whitefield preach. That evening his text
+was, "But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come
+to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who
+hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" Matt. 3:7. "Mr.
+Whitefield," said Robinson, "described the Sadducees' character;
+this did not touch me; I thought myself as good a Christian as any
+man in England. From this he went to that of the Pharisees. He
+described their exterior decency, but observed, that the poison of
+the viper rankled in their hearts. This rather shook me. At length,
+in the course of his sermon, he abruptly broke off; paused for a
+few moments; then burst into a flood of tears, lifted up his hands
+and eyes, and exclaimed, 'Oh, my hearers, _the wrath's to come! the
+wrath's to come!_' These words sunk into my heart like lead in the
+water; I wept, and when the sermon was ended retired alone. For days
+and weeks I could think of little else. Those awful words would
+follow me wherever I went: 'The wrath's to come! The wrath's to
+come!'"
+
+Scarcely had Whitefield completed the Tabernacle in London, before
+he was earnestly solicited to hold public services at the west
+end of the city, and Long-Acre chapel, then under the charge of a
+dissenter, was offered for his use. An unruly rabble endeavored to
+drive the preacher from his post; but a running fire of brickbats,
+broken glass, bells, drums, and clappers, neither annoyed nor
+frightened the intrepid evangelist; nor did an interference on the
+part of the hierarchy, which followed soon after, prohibiting his
+preaching in an incorporated chapel. "I hope you will not look on
+it as contumacy," said Whitefield to the bishop, "if I persist in
+prosecuting my design until I am more particularly apprized wherein
+I have erred. I trust the irregularity I am charged with will appear
+justifiable to every lover of English liberty, and what is all to
+me, be approved at the awful and impartial tribunal of the great
+Bishop and Shepherd of souls." Writing to Lady Huntingdon, he says,
+"My greatest distress is so to act as to avoid rashness on the
+one hand and timidity on the other;" and this shows, what indeed
+was proved in his whole life, an entire absence of that malignant
+element of fanaticism which courts opposition and revels in it.
+
+"Determined," as Mrs. Knight says, in her beautiful volume, "_Lady
+Huntingdon and her Friends_," "not to be beaten from his ground,
+yet hoping to escape some of its annoyances, Whitefield resolved to
+build a chapel of his own. Hence arose Tottenham Court-road chapel,
+which went by the name of 'Whitefield's soul-trap.'" Admirably
+does he say, "I pray the Friend of sinners to make it a soul-trap
+indeed to many wandering creatures. My constant work is preaching
+fifteen times a week. Conviction and conversion go on here, for God
+hath met us in our new building." It was completed and dedicated in
+November, 1756. Though not equal in its triumphs to the Tabernacle,
+the congregation has always been large, and its preachers--always
+the same as those at the Tabernacle--have not labored in vain. In
+1829, '30, improvements were made in the building, which still,
+however, contains Whitefield's pulpit. A vast area in the centre was
+originally filled with plain seats, where the masses of the people
+were accommodated free of all pew rent.
+
+Let not infidels tell us, that the religion of these men and of
+those times was mere enthusiasm, and that the temporal interests
+of men were neglected in professions of high regard for those of
+a spiritual character. Let such men know that within two years
+of the opening of Tottenham Court-road chapel, not only did the
+congregation build a parsonage-house for their minister, but twelve
+almshouses for as many poor widows. The Tabernacle has always
+acted with equal generosity. In proportion to their means, few
+congregations in the world have exceeded these two in works of
+benevolence.
+
+Assuredly what has sometimes been charged on evangelical
+ministers--that they attend to the spiritual interests of mankind,
+but neglect their temporal sufferings--would never apply to Mr.
+Whitefield. No sooner had he completed these large edifices, where
+vast congregations assembled, than he was heard frequently to plead
+for those laboring under oppression or distress in foreign lands.
+He preached in both these houses in behalf of the poor French
+Protestants in Prussia, who had suffered much from the cruelty of
+the Russians, when great numbers of the nobility, and some of the
+highest officers of the crown went to hear him. The collections for
+this object amounted to upwards of fifteen hundred pounds, or seven
+thousand five hundred dollars; and for this disinterested act of
+benevolence Whitefield received the thanks of his Prussian Majesty.
+
+Again, on the day recommended by the government for a general fast,
+Mr. Whitefield preached both at the Tabernacle and at Tottenham
+Court-road chapel, after which he collected five hundred and sixty
+pounds for the relief of the German Protestants, and the sufferers
+by fire at Boston, for which he received the unanimous thanks of
+the inhabitants of that town. Lady Huntingdon wrote to one of her
+friends, "It would delight you to have seen what crowds of the
+mighty and noble flocked to hear him. The collection was for the
+relief of the poor German Protestants. I invited several to come
+who probably would not attend his ministry on other occasions."
+Few places at that time could boast of such a constellation of
+transcendent genius and senatorial talent, such a brilliant
+assemblage of wisdom, magnanimity, and oratorical powers, as were
+then found within these houses of the living God.
+
+One word may be allowed here on the plain architecture of these
+buildings. "We are," says the excellent Mr. James, "in many things
+improved, and I rejoice in the improvement; but the occasion of my
+joy is at the same time the occasion of my fear and my jealousy
+also. Our ecclesiastical architecture is just now a special
+object of our attention. Whitefield, it may be confessed, paid
+too little attention to this; we, perhaps, are paying too much.
+His only solicitude was to save souls, careless altogether of the
+tastefulness of the building within which that work, which has
+no relation to styles of architecture, was carried on. His only
+calculation in the construction of a building was, how many immortal
+souls could be crowded within four square walls, and under a roof,
+to hear 'the joyful sound.' Hence the somewhat uncouth buildings
+which he erected. Ah, but when I consider that every stone in those
+unsightly walls has echoed to the sound of salvation and the hymns
+of redeemed spirits, and that almost every spot on the floor has
+been moistened by the tears of penitence, then, in a feeling of
+sanctity I seem to lose the sense of deformity, and there comes over
+me an awe and solemnity which no modern gothic structure with its
+lofty arches and painted windows can inspire. But still, as religion
+is not only the most holy, but the most beautiful thing in God's
+universe, there is no reason why taste and devotion should not be
+united. It is the ministry of the word, however, upon which the
+church must be chiefly intent."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+WHITEFIELD'S SECOND VISIT TO AMERICA.
+
+1739, 1740.
+
+
+As in the preceding chapter, for the sake of connecting the history
+of Whitefield's church edifices in London, we have anticipated the
+order of events, we go back to the period shortly before his second
+voyage to America.
+
+About the time of which we are now writing, a circumstance occurred
+of deep interest, which Whitefield relates at considerable length.
+Joseph Periam, a young man in London, who had read his sermon on
+"regeneration," became deeply impressed by it; he sold all that he
+possessed, and prayed so loud and fasted so long, that his family
+supposed him deranged, and sent him to the Bedlam madhouse, where he
+was treated as "methodistically mad," and as "one of Whitefield's
+gang." The keepers threw him down, and forced a key into his mouth,
+while they drenched him with medicine. He was then placed in a cold
+room without windows, and with a damp cellar under it. Periam,
+however, found some means of conveying a letter to Whitefield,
+requesting both advice and a visit. These were promptly given.
+The preacher soon discovered that Periam was not mad; and taking
+a Mr. Seward and some other friends with him, he went before the
+committee of the hospital to explain the case. It must have been
+somewhat of a ludicrous scene. Seward so astounded the committee by
+quoting Scripture, that they pronounced him to be as mad as Periam.
+The doctors frankly told the deputation, that in their opinion,
+Whitefield and his followers were "really beside themselves." It was
+however agreed, that if Whitefield would take Periam out to Georgia,
+his release would be granted. Thus the conference ended, and the
+young man went out as a schoolmaster at the Orphan-house. There he
+was exemplary and useful, and when he died two of his sons were
+received into the institution.
+
+Mr. Whitefield so successfully pleaded the cause of his American
+orphans, that during his journeys of twelve months he collected
+upwards of one thousand pounds towards the erection of his intended
+house for their accommodation. With this sum in his possession, he
+set sail for America the second time, August 14, 1739, accompanied
+by his friend Mr. Seward, eight men, one boy, and two children.
+
+While all this was going on, the inhabitants of Georgia were making
+every possible preparation for his reception. The records of the
+trustees say, May 16, 1739, "Read a commission to the Rev. George
+Whitefield to perform all religious and ecclesiastical offices at
+Savannah, in Georgia." Again: "June 2, 1739. Sealed a grant of five
+hundred acres of land to the Rev. George Whitefield, in trust for
+the use of the house to be erected and maintained for the receiving
+such children as now are, and shall hereafter be left orphans in
+the colony of Georgia, in pursuance of the direction of the Common
+Council held the 30th of last month."
+
+Not only was Whitefield anxious to establish the orphan-house
+for the benefit of the whole colony of Georgia, but having been
+ordained priest, for the purpose of instructing the inhabitants of
+the town of Savannah, he was desirous of making full proof of his
+ministry among them. After a passage of nine weeks he landed at
+Philadelphia, and was immediately invited to preach in the churches;
+to which people of all denominations thronged as in England. He
+was especially pleased to find that they preferred sermons when
+"not delivered within the church walls." And it was well they did,
+for his fame had arrived in the city before him, and crowds were
+collected to hear him which no church could contain.
+
+A letter written on this voyage to America has recently come to
+light, which beautifully illustrates the spirit by which Whitefield
+was now animated. It was addressed to the Rev. John Cumming of
+Andover, Hampshire, England.
+
+          "Wrote at Sea, dated at Philadelphia, Nov. 9, 1739.
+
+     "REVEREND AND DEAR SIR--You see by my writing this how willing
+     I am to cultivate a correspondence with you. I wish Christians
+     in general, and ministers of Christ in particular, were better
+     acquainted. The cause of Christ thereby must be necessarily
+     promoted. But bigotry and sectarian zeal have been the bane of
+     our holy religion. Though we have one Lord, one faith, and one
+     baptism, yet if we do not all worship God in one particular
+     way, we behave to each other like Jews and Samaritans. Dear
+     sir, I hope that neither of us have so learned Christ. Blessed
+     be God for his free grace in Christ. The partition wall has
+     for some time been broken down out of my heart, and I can truly
+     say, whosoever loves the Lord Jesus, 'the same is my brother,
+     and sister, and mother.' For this reason, dear sir, I love you.
+     For this reason, though I decrease, yet I heartily wish you may
+     increase, even with all the increase of God. I am persuaded
+     you are like-minded. I believe my friends have prayed for me.
+     The Lord hath dealt most lovingly with me his servant. He has
+     chastened and corrected, but hath not given me over into the
+     hands of the enemy. A future journal will acquaint you with
+     particulars. What I have sent over to be published will afford
+     you abundant matter for thanksgiving in behalf of,
+
+     "Dear sir, your affectionate friend,
+     Brother, and servant,
+
+     "G. WHITEFIELD."
+
+The old court-house of Philadelphia, then standing on Second and
+Market streets, had a balcony, which several years before the visit
+of Whitefield had been often used instead of a pulpit. In 1736, we
+find that Mr. Abel Noble had preached "from the court-house steps,"
+on a Monday, to a large congregation standing in Market-street,
+on the subject of keeping the Sabbath. In the same year, Michael
+Welfare appeared there to give his "warning voice," and now, in
+1739, it became one of the favorite preaching stands of the great
+evangelist. Here he stood, surrounded by many thousands, even down
+to the side of the Delaware river, not a few bathed in tears, and
+inquiring after the way of salvation.
+
+[Illustration: OLD COURT-HOUSE, PHILADELPHIA.]
+
+[Illustration: TENNENT CHURCH, FREEHOLD, N. J. p. 117.]
+
+Dr. Franklin says, "The multitudes of all sects and denominations
+that attended his sermons were enormous; and it was a matter
+of speculation with me to observe the influence of his oratory
+on his hearers, and how much they admired and respected him,
+notwithstanding his common abuse of them, by assuring them that
+they were, naturally, half beasts and half devils. It was wonderful
+to see the change soon made in the manners of our inhabitants.
+From being thoughtless and indifferent about religion, it seemed
+as if all the world was growing religious; so that one could not
+walk through the town in an evening without hearing psalms sung in
+different families in every street."
+
+A constant attendant on his ministry at this time says, "His
+hearers were never weary; every eye was fixed on his expressive
+countenance; every ear was charmed with his melodious voice; every
+heart captivated with the beauty and propriety of his address. He
+was no contracted bigot; all denominations partook of his religious
+charity. Anxious in America for our civil privileges, he was alike
+solicitous for the spiritual and temporal happiness of mankind. No
+man since the apostolic age preached oftener or with better success.
+He was, moreover, a polite gentleman, a faithful friend, an engaging
+companion, and a sincere Christian. His sermons in the open air
+lasted about one and a half hours."
+
+Watson, in his "Annals of Philadelphia," speaking of Whitefield's
+first visit to that city, tells us that he preached to a crowd of
+fifteen thousand persons on Society hill, and adds, "About the same
+time he so far succeeded to repress the usual public amusements,
+that the dancing-school was discontinued, and the ball and concert
+rooms were shut up, as inconsistent with the requisitions of the
+gospel. No less than fourteen sermons were preached on Society hill
+in the open air in one week, during the session of the Presbyterian
+church; and the gazette of the day, in noticing the fact, says,
+'The change to religion here is altogether surprising, through the
+influence of Whitefield; no books sell but religious, and such is
+the general conversation.'"
+
+It is said, that though some gentlemen broke open the
+assembly-rooms, no company could be induced to visit them. Such was
+the popularity of Whitefield, that when he left the city, about
+one hundred and fifty gentlemen accompanied him as far as Chester,
+fifteen miles from Philadelphia, where he preached to about seven
+thousand people. At White Clay creek, he preached to eight thousand
+people, three thousand of whom, it is said, were on horseback. Many
+complimentary effusions to him appeared in the newspapers, and James
+Pemberton, a very distinguished _Friend_, said of him, "In his
+conversation he is very agreeable, and has not much of the priest;
+he frequents no set company."
+
+An old gentleman assured Watson, the annalist, that on one occasion
+the words, "And he taught them, saying," as pronounced by Whitefield
+on Society hill, were heard at Gloucester point, a distance by water
+of two miles.
+
+Abundant reasons might be assigned for our introducing in this place
+an account of the institution called "the Log college." It has
+proved the parent of every collegiate and theological institution
+connected with the large and wealthy body of Presbyterians in this
+country; it was originated by a family which became especially
+endeared to Mr. Whitefield; and from his journal, recording his
+visit to it, we have, in some respects at least, the clearest
+statement of facts concerning it which history has preserved.
+
+As we have already shown, about one hundred and forty years ago,
+the state of religion, both in Europe and America, was very low.
+Nor was the condition of the Presbyterian body an exception. As
+the late Dr. Alexander, in his interesting volume, called "The Log
+College," says, "The ministers composing the Presbyterian church
+in this country were sound in the faith, and strongly attached to
+the Westminster confession of faith and catechisms, as were also
+their people; and there were no diversities or contentions among
+them respecting the doctrines of the gospel; but as to the vital
+power of godliness, there is reason to believe that it was little
+known or spoken of. Revivals of religion were nowhere heard of,
+and an orthodox creed, and a decent external conduct were the only
+points on which inquiry was made, when persons were admitted to
+the communion of the church. Indeed, it was very much a matter of
+course, for all who had been baptized in infancy, to be received
+into communion at the proper age, without exhibiting or possessing
+any satisfactory evidence of a change of heart by the supernatural
+operations of the Holy Spirit. And the habit of their preachers was
+to address their people as though they were all pious, and only
+needed instruction and confirmation."
+
+Such was the lamentable state of things when the Rev. William
+Tennent, sen., an Irish clergyman past the middle stage of life
+arrived in this country, about the year 1716. After laboring for
+a season in the state of New York, till about 1721, he received
+an invitation to settle at Bensalem, where he ministered to the
+small Presbyterian congregation till 1726, when he was called to
+Neshaminy, in the same county, where he labored for the rest of
+his life, living till 1746, when he died, aged seventy-three. In
+Neshaminy the good man felt that he was called not only to discharge
+the duties of a preacher and pastor, but to look over the whole
+country, and to devise means for the extension of the cause of
+Christ. He had himself four sons, the subjects of divine grace, and
+blessed with talents for usefulness in the kingdom of the Redeemer,
+and he felt that when other young men rose up in the church, favored
+with ministerial talents, they also would need mental cultivation.
+Hence his determination to erect the humble building of which we now
+write, which was the first Presbyterian literary and theological
+institution in this country, the immediate parent of the college at
+Princeton, and from which, indeed, all similar institutions emanated.
+
+The site of the Log college is about a mile from Neshaminy creek,
+where the Presbyterian church has long stood. The ground near and
+around it lies handsomely to the eye, and the more distant prospect
+is very beautiful; for while there is a considerable extent of
+fertile, well-cultivated land, nearly level, the view is bounded to
+the north and west by a range of hills, which have a very pleasing
+appearance. Mr. Whitefield has left in his "Journal," the only
+description we have of the building. "The place," says he, "wherein
+the young men study now, is in contempt called 'the college.' It
+is a log-house about twenty feet long, and nearly as many broad;
+and to me it seemed to resemble the school of the old prophets, for
+their habitations were mean. That they sought not great things for
+themselves is plain from these passages of Scripture, wherein we are
+told that each of them took a beam to build them a house; and that
+at the feast of the sons of the prophets, one of them put on the
+pot, while the others went to fetch some herbs out of the field. All
+that we can say of most of our universities is, they are glorious
+without. From this despised place, seven or eight worthy ministers
+of Jesus have lately been sent forth; more are almost ready to be
+sent, and the foundation is now laying for the instruction of many
+others."
+
+Of the senior Tennent, the founder of the Log college, little more
+is known than what we have already given. He was a member of the
+synod of Philadelphia, who were satisfied with his reasons for
+leaving the Established church of Ireland, and for several years
+this body cordially coöperated with him in his zealous labors.
+Their unity of feeling, however, seems to have declined. This we
+learn from a passage in Whitefield's "Journal," which also gives
+us a beautiful view of the good old man. "At my return home, was
+much comforted by the coming of one Mr. Tennent, an old gray-headed
+disciple and soldier of Jesus Christ. He keeps an academy about
+twenty miles from Philadelphia, and has been blest with four
+gracious sons, three of which have been, and still continue to be
+eminently useful in the church of Christ. He brought three pious
+souls along with him, and rejoiced me by letting me know how they
+had been evil spoken of for their Master's sake. He is a great
+friend of Mr. Erskine, of Scotland; and as far as I can learn, both
+he and his sons are secretly despised by the generality of the
+synod, as Mr. Erskine and his friends are hated by the judicatories
+of Edinburgh, and as the Methodist preachers, as they are called,
+are by their brethren in England."
+
+Not long after this, the Log college was visited by Whitefield, who
+wrote the account we have already given. He also says, under the
+date of Nov. 29, 1739, "Set out for Neshaminy, twenty miles distant
+from Trent Town, where old Mr. Tennent lives, and keeps an academy,
+and where I was to preach to-day, according to appointment. About
+twelve o'clock, we came thither, and found about three thousand
+people gathered together in the meeting-house yard. Mr. William
+Tennent, junior, an eminent servant of Jesus Christ, because we
+stayed beyond the time appointed, was preaching to them. When
+I came up, he soon stopped; sung a psalm, and then I began to
+speak as the Lord gave me utterance. At first, the people seemed
+unaffected, but in the midst of my discourse, the power of the Lord
+Jesus came upon me, and I felt such a struggling within myself for
+the people as I scarce ever felt before. The hearers began to be
+melted down immediately, and to cry much; and we had good reason
+to hope the Lord intended good for many. After I had finished, Mr.
+Gilbert Tennent gave a word of exhortation, to confirm what had
+been delivered. At the end of his discourse, we sung a psalm, and
+dismissed the people with a blessing; O that the people may say Amen
+to it. After our exercises were over, we went to old Mr. Tennent's,
+who entertained us like one of the ancient patriarchs. His wife,
+to me seemed like Elizabeth, and he like Zachary; both, as far as
+I can learn, walk in the commandments and ordinances of the Lord
+blameless. Though God was pleased to humble my soul, so that I was
+obliged to retire for a while, yet we had sweet communion with each
+other, and spent the evening in concerting what measures had best
+be taken for promoting our dear Lord's kingdom. It happened very
+providentially that Mr. Tennent and his brethren are appointed to be
+a presbytery by the synod, so that they intend bringing up gracious
+youths, and sending them out from time to time into the Lord's
+vineyard."
+
+We may be permitted to add here, that among the ministers sent out
+by Mr. Tennent, from the Log college, to preach the gospel, were his
+four sons, Gilbert, William, John, and Charles, the Rev. Messrs.
+Samuel Blair, John Blair, Charles Beatty, and Rev. Dr. Samuel J.
+Finley, President of Princeton College; of some of these excellent
+men the reader will hear again in the course of this volume.
+
+In reference to his first visit to Philadelphia, Whitefield thus
+writes: "I have scarcely preached among them, but I have seen a
+stirring among the dry bones. Go where I will, I find people with
+great gladness receive me into their houses. Sometimes I think I am
+speaking to stocks and stones; but before I have done, the power
+of the Lord comes over them, and I find I have been ploughing up
+some fallow ground, in a place where there has been a great famine
+of the word of God. But as God's word increases, so will the rage
+and opposition of the devil. Scoffers seem to be at a stand what to
+say. They mutter in coffee-houses, give a curse, drink a barrel of
+punch, and then cry out against me for not preaching more morality.
+Poor men, if God judges them, as he certainly will do, by _their_
+morality, out of their own mouths will he condemn them. Their
+morality, falsely so called, will prove their damnation. God has
+enlarged my heart to pray. Tears trickle down my face, and I am in
+great agony; but the Lord is pleased to set his seal to what he
+enables me to deliver. Amid cries and groans in the congregation,
+God gives me much freedom of speech. Many people and many ministers
+weep. My own soul is much carried out. I preached to a vast assembly
+of sinners; nearly twelve thousand were collected; and I had not
+spoken long, before I perceived numbers melting; as I proceeded, the
+power increased, and thousands cried out; never before did I see so
+glorious a sight. Oh, what strong crying and tears were poured forth
+after the dear Lord Jesus! Some fainted; and when they had gotten a
+little strength, they would hear and faint again. Never was my soul
+filled with greater power. Oh, what thoughts and words did God put
+into my heart. As great, if not greater commotion was in the hearts
+of the people. Look where I would, most were drowned in tears."
+
+An aged man who was living in 1806, and who well remembered the
+scenes he witnessed, bore testimony that after this visit of the
+great evangelist, public worship was regularly celebrated in
+Philadelphia twice a day for a whole year; and that on the Lord's
+day it was celebrated three, and frequently four times in each
+church. He said there were not less than twenty-six societies
+regularly held for prayer and Christian conference.
+
+Such was the influence of Whitefield, not only in Philadelphia, but
+throughout the colony of Pennsylvania, that in the city attention to
+commerce was suspended, and in the country the cultivation of the
+land for the time being was abandoned, that people might hear him
+proclaim the gospel of the Lord Jesus.
+
+Among other very striking conversions in Philadelphia at this
+period, was that of a young lady, who had for several years made
+a public profession of Christianity, but who now became fully
+convinced that "she was totally unacquainted with vital piety."
+When Mr. Whitefield began his labors in that city, she was greatly
+affected by his preaching, on which she constantly attended, and
+often afterwards told her friends, that after the first sermon she
+heard him preach, she was ready to say with the woman of Samaria,
+"Come see a man who told me all things that ever I did." The
+preacher, she said, so exactly described all the secret workings of
+her heart, her wishes, and her actions, that she really believed
+he was either more than human, or else that he was supernaturally
+assisted to know her heart. She was not then aware that all depraved
+hearts are much alike, and that he who in lively colors can paint
+one, gives a description which will be recognized by many as their
+own. This young lady once walked twenty miles to hear a sermon
+from Whitefield; she became a most eminent Christian, and was one
+of the constituent members of the church organized by Mr. Tennent.
+She married Mr. Hugh Hodge, who was also one of the seals of Mr.
+Whitefield's ministry, and a deacon of the church, and for more than
+sixty years she eminently "adorned the gospel of God in all things."
+
+During this first visit of Mr. Whitefield to Philadelphia, another
+interesting circumstance occurred. Whitefield preached one evening
+standing on the steps of the court-house, in Market-street,
+which became, as we have said, his favorite spot during that and
+subsequent visits. A youth some thirteen years of age stood near
+him, and held a lantern for his accommodation; but becoming deeply
+absorbed in the sermon, and strongly agitated, the lantern fell from
+his hands, and was dashed in pieces. Those near the boy, observing
+the cause of the accident, felt specially interested, and for a
+few moments the meeting was discomposed by the occurrence. Some
+fourteen years afterwards, Mr. Whitefield, on his fifth visit to
+this country, was visiting St. George's, in Delaware. He was one
+day riding out with the Rev. Dr. John Rodgers, then settled as the
+minister at St. George's, in the closed carriage in which Whitefield
+generally rode. Mr. Rodgers asked him whether he recollected the
+occurrence of the little boy who was so affected with his preaching
+as to let his lantern fall. Mr. Whitefield replied, "O yes, I
+remember it well; and have often thought I would give almost any
+thing in my power, to know who that little boy was, and what had
+become of him." Mr. Rodgers replied with a smile, "I am that little
+boy." Mr. Whitefield, with tears of joy, started from his seat, took
+him in his arms, and with strong emotion remarked, that he was the
+_fourteenth_ person then in the ministry whom he had discovered in
+the course of that visit to America, in whose conversion he had,
+under God, been instrumental.
+
+From Philadelphia, Whitefield was invited by Mr. Noble to New
+York; this gentleman being the only person with whom he then had
+an acquaintance in that city. Upon his arrival, he waited with his
+friend on the commissary, but he refused to Whitefield the use of
+the church. This commissary of the bishop, he says, "was full of
+anger and resentment, and denied me the use of his pulpit before I
+asked for it. He said they did not want my assistance. I replied,
+that if they preached the gospel, I wished them good luck: I will
+preach in the fields; for all places are alike to me." The undaunted
+evangelist therefore preached in the fields; and on the evening of
+the same day, to a very thronged and attentive audience, in the Rev.
+Mr. Pemberton's meeting-house, in Wall-street; and continued to do
+so twice or three times a day, with apparent success.
+
+Of this visit to New York, and of Whitefield's labors there,
+we have a graphic account, furnished by one of his hearers, for
+"Prince's Christian History." Of the first sermon in the fields,
+the writer says, "I fear curiosity was the motive that led me
+and many others into that assembly. I had read two or three of
+Mr. Whitefield's sermons and part of his Journal, and from them
+had obtained a settled opinion, that he was a good man. Thus far
+was I prejudiced in his favor. But then having heard of so much
+opposition, and many clamors against him, I thought it possible he
+might have carried matters too far; that some enthusiasm might have
+mixed itself with his piety, and that his zeal might have exceeded
+his knowledge. With these prepossessions I went into the fields.
+When I came there, I saw a great number of people, consisting of
+Christians of all denominations, some Jews, and a few, I believe,
+of no religion at all. When Mr. Whitefield came to the place
+designated, which was a little eminence on the side of a hill, he
+stood still and beckoned with his hand, and disposed the multitude
+upon the descent, before, and on each side of him. He then prayed
+most excellently, in the same manner, I suppose, that the first
+ministers of the Christian church prayed. The assembly soon appeared
+to be divided into two companies, the one of which I considered
+as God's church, and the other the devil's chapel. The first were
+collected round the minister, and were very serious and attentive;
+the last had placed themselves in the skirts of the assembly,
+and spent most of their time in giggling, scoffing, talking, and
+laughing. I believe the minister saw them, for in his sermon,
+remarking on the cowardice and shamefacedness in Christ's cause, he
+pointed towards _this_ assembly, and reproached the former, those
+who seemed to be Christians, with the boldness and zeal with which
+the devil's vassals serve him. Towards the last prayer the whole
+assembly appeared more united, and all became hushed and still; a
+solemn awe and reverence appeared in the faces of most, a mighty
+energy attending the word. I heard and felt something astonishing
+and surprising, but I confess I was not at that time fully rid of my
+scruples. But as I thought I saw a visible presence of God with Mr.
+Whitefield, I kept my doubts to myself.
+
+"Under this frame of mind, I went to hear him in the evening at
+the Presbyterian church, where he expounded to above two thousand
+people within and without doors. I never in my life saw so attentive
+an audience. All he said was demonstration, life, and power. The
+people's eyes and ears hung on his lips. They greedily devoured
+every word. I came home astonished. Every scruple vanished; I never
+saw nor heard the like; and I said within myself, 'Surely God is
+with this man, of a truth.' He preached and expounded in this manner
+twice every day for four days, and his evening assemblies were
+continually increasing.
+
+"On Sunday morning at eight o'clock, his congregation consisted of
+about fifteen hundred people; but at night several thousands came
+together to hear him; and the place being too strait for them, many
+were forced to go away, and some, it is said, with tears lamented
+their disappointment. After sermon he left New York at ten at night,
+to fulfil a promise that he had made to preach at Elizabethtown, at
+eleven A. M. the next day."
+
+We give a few paragraphs from the same vigorous pen, relating to
+the personal manners and the doctrines of our evangelist. "He is a
+man of a middle stature, of a slender body, of a fair complexion,
+and of a comely appearance. He is of a sprightly, cheerful temper,
+and acts and moves with great agility and life. The endowments of
+his mind are very uncommon; his wit is quick and piercing; his
+imagination lively and florid; and as far as I can discern, both are
+under the direction of an exact and solid judgment. He has a most
+ready memory, and I think speaks entirely without notes. He has a
+clear and musical voice, and a wonderful command of it. He uses much
+gesture, but with great propriety. Every accent of his voice, every
+motion of his body _speaks_, and both are natural and unaffected. If
+his delivery is the product of art, it is certainly the perfection
+of it, for it is entirely concealed. He has a great mastery of
+words, but studies much plainness of speech.
+
+"His doctrine is right _sterling_. I mean, perfectly agreeable
+to the Articles of the church of England, to which he frequently
+appeals for the truth of it. He loudly proclaims all men by nature
+to be under sin, and obnoxious to the wrath and curse of God. He
+maintains the absolute necessity of supernatural grace to bring
+men out of this state. He asserts the righteousness of Christ to
+be the only cause of the justification of the sinner; that this is
+received by faith; that this faith is the gift of God; that where
+faith is wrought, it brings the sinner under the deepest sense of
+his guilt and unworthiness to the footstool of sovereign grace, to
+accept of mercy as the free gift of God, only for Christ's sake. He
+denies that good works have any share in our justification: that
+indeed they do justify our faith, and necessarily flow from it,
+as streams from the fountain; but Christ's external righteousness
+imputed to us, and his inherent righteousness wrought in us, is the
+only cause of man's salvation. He asserts the absolute necessity of
+the new birth, where a principle of new life is ingenerated in the
+heart of man, and an entire change is produced in the temper and
+disposition of the soul; and that this new production is the work
+only of God's blessed Spirit. That wherever this change is wrought,
+it is permanent and abiding, and that the gates of hell shall never
+prevail against it. He asserts that the special influence and
+indwelling of the Spirit, was not peculiar to the first Christians,
+but that it is the common privilege of believers in all ages of the
+church; that the Holy Spirit is the author of the sanctification and
+comfort of all God's people; and that, even in these days, if any
+man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his. He said, that
+to many of his hearers, he feared he spoke in an unknown tongue;
+that he preached great mysteries; that true Christians knew what he
+meant, and that all his hearers, if they are saved, must be brought
+to understand them. These are some of the doctrines which have been
+attended with such mighty power in this city. This is the doctrine
+of the martyrs. This they sealed with their blood; notwithstanding
+that so many in our days have departed from it.
+
+"Mr. Whitefield speaks much of the language of the New Testament;
+and has an admirable faculty in explaining the Scriptures. He
+strikes out of them such lights, and unveils those excellencies
+which surprise his hearers, when he expounds them. He expresses the
+highest love and concern for the souls of men; and speaks of Christ
+with the most affectionate appropriation--'_My Master! My Lord!_' He
+is no enemy to the innocent freedoms and liberties of the gospel;
+nor does he affect singularity in indifferent things. He spends
+not his zeal in trifles, but says, 'The kingdom of God consists
+not in meats and drinks; but in righteousness, and peace, and joy
+in the Holy Ghost.' He breathes a most catholic spirit, and prays
+most earnestly that God would destroy all that bigotry and party
+zeal which has divided Christians. He supposes some of Christ's
+flock are to be found under every denomination, and upbraids the
+uncharitableness of those who confine the church to their own
+communion. He professes a most sincere love to all those who love
+our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, and declares that he has no
+design to make a party in religion. He professes that his whole
+design in preaching the gospel is to bring men to Christ, to deliver
+them from their false confidences, to raise them from their dead
+formalities, and to revive primitive Christianity among them; and
+if he can obtain this end, he will leave them to their liberty, and
+they may go to what church, and worship God in what form they like
+best."
+
+While going from Philadelphia to New York, or on his return,
+Whitefield appears to have preached at Maidenhead, Abington,
+Neshaminy, Freehold, Burlington, Elizabethtown, and New Brunswick,
+to many thousands, gathered from various parts, among whom there
+had been a considerable awakening under the ministry of Mr.
+Frelinghuysen, a Reformed Dutch minister, and the Rev. Messrs.
+Tennent, Blair, and Rowland. It was no less pleasing to him than
+strange to see such congregations in a foreign land; ministers
+and people shedding tears, sinners struck with awe, and religious
+persons who had been much persecuted, filled with joy. The old
+_Tennent church_ at Freehold, where preached Whitefield, Brainerd,
+Davies, and other "famous men" of that day, still echoes with the
+same gospel. In size the building is forty feet by sixty, with three
+entrances on the larger side. The pulpit is on the north side of the
+house, immediately opposite the central door, so that the minister
+faces the width of the church instead of its length. The pulpit is
+very narrow, and is surmounted with a sounding-board, according
+to the custom of our fathers. In the middle aisle lie buried the
+remains of the sainted William Tennent, whose death took place about
+seven years after that of Whitefield, at the age of seventy-two
+years. A handsome monumental tablet records the leading dates of his
+pilgrimage.
+
+Some of our readers may inquire as to the localities honored by
+Whitefield's preaching in and about the city of New York. We
+find many records of his discoursing in the open fields of the
+surrounding country; the old City Exchange, which stood at the
+foot of Broad-street, near Water-street, and which was built on
+large arches, was a favorite spot for itinerant preachers, and for
+Whitefield among the rest. During his various visits to New York,
+from 1745 to 1760, he generally preached in the Presbyterian church
+in Wall-street, which was then the only church of that denomination
+in the city, and of which the Rev. Dr. Pemberton, from Boston, was
+the minister. Afterwards, a few years before his death, he was
+accustomed to preach in the Brick church in Beekman-street; which
+was then familiarly called the "Brick meeting," and in common
+parlance, said to be "in the fields;" so little was the city
+extended at that period. So prosperous was his ministry in New York,
+that it was found necessary immediately to enlarge the Presbyterian
+church in Wall-street, by the erection of galleries; and a year or
+two afterwards it was again enlarged about one-third, in order to
+accommodate the stated worshippers.
+
+When Whitefield was preaching before a very large number of the
+seamen of New York, he introduced the following bold apostrophe into
+his sermon: "Well, my boys, we have a cloudless sky, and are making
+fine headway over a smooth sea, before a light breeze, and we shall
+soon lose sight of land. But what means this sudden lowering of
+the heavens, and that dark cloud arising from beneath the western
+horizon? Hark! don't you hear the distant thunder? Don't you see
+those flashes of lightning? There is a storm gathering. Every man
+to his duty. How the waves rush and dash against the ship! The
+air is dark. The tempest rages. Our masts are gone! What next?"
+The unsuspecting tars, reminded of former perils on the deep, as
+if struck by the power of magic, arose, and with united voices
+exclaimed, "Take to the longboat, sir!" The reader may well imagine
+how this very natural answer would be used by the preacher.
+
+While at New York, Whitefield wrote, "God willing, in about
+seven months I hope to see New England on my return to Europe.
+An effectual door is there opened, and no wonder there are many
+adversaries. Shortly I expect to suffer for my dear Master." And
+after his return to Philadelphia, he showed his piety and meekness
+by writing to the Rev. Dr. Pemberton, of New York, "I have been much
+concerned since I saw you, lest I behaved not with that humility
+towards you which is due from a babe to a father in Christ; but
+you know, reverend sir, how difficult it is to meet with success,
+and not be puffed up with it; and therefore, if any such thing was
+discernible in my conduct, O pity me, and pray to the Lord to heal
+my pride. All I can say is, that I desire to learn of Jesus Christ
+to be meek and lowly in heart; but my corruptions are so strong, and
+my employ so dangerous, that I am sometimes afraid."
+
+One of the most important incidents of this journey to New York,
+was the meeting of Whitefield with Gilbert Tennent. Two powerful
+preachers could hardly resemble each other less; and the great
+strength of each lay in characteristics in which the other was
+deficient. In one point, especially, Whitefield felt and recorded
+his new friend's superiority. He heard Tennent preach. "Never before
+heard I such a searching sermon. He went to the bottom indeed, and
+did not 'daub with untempered mortar.' He convinced me, more and
+more, that we can preach the gospel of Christ no further than we
+have experienced the power of it in our hearts. I found what a babe
+and novice I was in the things of God." These men, as Tracy says,
+having once met, could not but be friends and allies for life; and
+the effects of their alliance could not fail to be felt by thousands.
+
+Both at Philadelphia and New York, printers applied to Whitefield
+for copies of his sermons for publication, and two were so issued,
+in the influence of which their author had cause to rejoice. In an
+after-period, the celebrated Benjamin Franklin printed Whitefield's
+"Journal in New England," still extant; a copy of which was sold at
+auction in Philadelphia in 1855, for about thirty times its original
+price. His journals, indeed, and his sermons became considerable
+articles in commerce, and did not a little, amid the comparatively
+sparse population of the country, to extend both his fame and his
+usefulness.
+
+But the time was now come when it became important that Whitefield
+should pursue his course towards Savannah. He could not, however,
+regret his stay so long on the road. "It is unknown," he says, "what
+deep impressions have been made on the hearts of hundreds. Many poor
+sinners have, I trust, been called home, and great numbers are under
+strong convictions. An opposer told me I had unhinged many _good
+sort of people_. I believe it."
+
+Nor was this the only good he had done. No small sympathy had been
+excited among Christian people in favor of his orphan family, and a
+spirit of liberality and of prayer was extensively cherished. "They
+sent me," says the grateful evangelist, "butter, sugar, chocolate,
+pickles, cheese, and flour, for my orphans; and indeed, I could
+almost say, they would pluck out their own eyes and give me. O that
+what God says of the church of Philadelphia may now be fulfilled in
+the city called after her name--'I know thy works.'"
+
+The ready liberality which everywhere met Whitefield, determined
+him to pursue his journey by land. He therefore procured a vessel,
+in which he sent on his family and their supplies to Savannah. Of
+this sloop, Captain Gladman was master; and a young man who had
+recently been converted by the preaching of the great evangelist,
+willingly offered himself as mate. We have already seen that he was
+accompanied southward as far as Chester by a very large company of
+gentlemen of Philadelphia; and on his arrival at that place, a court
+was about to open, but the judges sent him word that they would
+not commence their business until the sermon, which they expected
+from him, was over. Nearly a thousand people had travelled from
+Philadelphia to hear it, and it was thought that those collected
+from places many miles around, composed an assembly of not less than
+seven thousand persons. A platform was erected, and it was believed
+that many of his hearers obtained something infinitely better than
+the mere gratification of their curiosity.
+
+Among other places at which he preached on this journey, was White
+Clay creek, endeared to him not only as the place where he first met
+with his beloved friend William Tennent, but as the residence of
+a Welsh family who had heard him preach at Cardiff and Kingswood
+before they emigrated, and who bore, what was to him a fact of
+endearing interest, the name of _Howell_. But during this tour
+Whitefield had to endure considerable privations and peril in riding
+through the woods. On one occasion, he heard the wolves "howling
+like a kennel of hounds" near to the road; on another, he had a
+narrow escape in trying to cross the Potomac in a storm. Here also
+he had once to swim his horse, owing to the floods; for it was now
+the depth of winter. One night, Seward and he lost their way in the
+woods of South Carolina, and were much alarmed at seeing groups
+of negroes dancing around large fires. Notwithstanding all the
+hardships, however, of the journey, no real injury was sustained
+from it.
+
+Our evangelist at length arrived at Charleston in good health and
+spirits. But he could not obtain admittance to St. Philip's church;
+Garden, the commissary, who had once promised to "defend him with
+life and fortune," was absent, and the curate would not open the
+doors without his leave. The people, however, had not forgotten him,
+and the Rev. Josiah Smith, the congregational minister, and the
+pastor of the French church, at once threw open their houses and
+pulpits, and rich indeed were the blessings they enjoyed.
+
+The congregations during his present visit to Charleston were large
+and polite; but he says they presented "an affected finery and
+gayety of dress and deportment, which I question if the court-end
+of London could exceed." Before he left, however, there was what
+he called "a glorious alteration in the audience." Many of them
+wept; and the hitherto light and airy had visibly strong feelings,
+as shown in their countenances. Such was their extreme anxiety to
+hear more from him, that after he had gone to the shore to sail for
+Georgia, they prevailed on him to preach again.
+
+On the next morning, Whitefield and his companions left Charleston
+in a canoe for Savannah; and on their way lay on the ground in the
+woods, surrounded by large fires to keep off the wild beasts. On
+this fact he makes the reflection, "An emblem, I thought, of the
+divine love and presence keeping off evils and corruptions from the
+soul." On his arrival at Savannah, January 11, 1740, he was very
+happy to meet his family, who had arrived there three weeks before
+him; and to find, by letters from England, New York, etc., that the
+work of the Lord prospered. One thing, however, greatly distressed
+him. The colony of Georgia was reduced even to a much lower state
+than when he left it, and was deserted by nearly all who could get
+away. He thought that to employ those who were left, would render
+them an important service, and that the money thus expended might be
+the means of keeping them in the colony.
+
+During the absence of Mr. Whitefield from Georgia, Mr. Habersham
+had fixed on a plot of ground of five hundred acres, about ten
+miles from Savannah, on which the orphan-house should stand, and
+had already commenced to clear and stock it. The orphans, in the
+mean time, were accommodated in a hired house. Whitefield afterwards
+regretted the course pursued. He found the condition of the orphans
+so pitiable, and the inhabitants so poor, that he immediately
+opened an infirmary, hired a large house at a great rent, and took
+in, at different times, twenty-four orphans.
+
+In the March following, Whitefield was again at Charleston, where he
+went to meet his brother, the captain of a ship, from England. Here
+he was requested by many of the inhabitants to give some account of
+his poor orphans, which he did in the house of worship occupied by
+his friend the Rev. Josiah Smith, the first native of South Carolina
+who received a literary degree. Such was the spirit excited, that
+the collection amounted to seventy pounds sterling. This was no
+small encouragement, especially as he had reason to believe that
+most of it came from those who had received spiritual benefit from
+his ministry.
+
+But if Whitefield now had his joys in Charleston, so he had also
+his sorrows. We have seen that in a previous visit to this city,
+he had considered himself "set for the defence of the gospel." He
+had remarked, in reference to the twelfth article of the church of
+England, "Observe, my dear brethren, the words of the article, 'Good
+works are the fruit of faith, and follow after justification.' How
+can they then precede, or be in any way the cause of it? No, our
+persons must be justified, before our performances can be accepted."
+Commissary Garden, of whom we have already spoken, now seized the
+opportunity of Whitefield's visit to Charleston, to write him a
+letter, dated March 17, attacking his doctrine of justification, and
+challenging him to defend what he had said concerning the bishop of
+London and his clergy. In this letter, he urged in reply to what
+the evangelist had said, "If good works do necessarily spring out
+of a true and lively faith, and a true and lively faith necessarily
+precedes justification, the consequence is plain, that good works
+must not only follow after, but precede justification also."
+Whitefield replied the next day, "I perceive that you are angry
+overmuch. Was I never so much inclined to dispute, I would stay
+till the cool of the day. Your letter more and more confirms me,
+that my charge against the clergy is just and reasonable. It would
+be endless to enter into such a private debate as you, reverend
+sir, seem desirous of. You have read my sermon: be pleased to read
+it again; and if there be any thing contrary to sound doctrine, or
+the Articles of the church of England, be pleased to let the public
+know it from the press; and then let the world judge whether you or
+my brethren the clergy have been rashly slandered." This was but
+the commencement of a controversy, in which were concerned Garden
+of Charleston, and the Rev. Messrs. Croswell and Gee of Boston,
+portions of which are preserved in the Old South church library, in
+the latter city; and which was afterwards resumed between Garden
+and Smith, of Charleston, in the "South Carolina Gazette," as may
+be seen in the library of the American Antiquarian Society at
+Worcester, Massachusetts.
+
+In the mean time, Whitefield had returned to Savannah, and on
+March 25, he laid the first brick of the main building of the
+orphan-house, which he called _Bethesda_, that is, a house of mercy.
+It was built of wood, and measured seventy feet by forty. By this
+time nearly forty children had been received, to be provided for
+with food and raiment; and counting the workmen with these, he had
+nearly one hundred persons to feed day by day. To do all this he
+had very little money in the bank; still he was not discouraged,
+being persuaded that his present duty was to advance the interests
+of the colony by carrying on his work. "As yet," says he, "I am
+kept from the least doubting. The more my family increases, the
+more enlargement and comfort I feel. Set thy almighty _fiat_ to it,
+O gracious Father, and for thine own name's sake convince us more
+and more, that thou wilt never forsake those who put their trust in
+thee." On reviewing this passage fifteen years afterwards, he wrote,
+"Hitherto, blessed be God, I have not been disappointed of my hope."
+
+We close our present chapter with a very short visit to Charleston.
+In this city Whitefield had assuredly produced a very extraordinary
+excitement, and very opposite opinions were entertained in reference
+to his character and doctrines. On the day after he had laid the
+first stone of Bethesda, Mr. Smith undertook at Charleston to defend
+the conduct and character of his beloved friend, in a sermon from
+Job 32:17: "I said, I will answer also my part; I also will show
+mine opinion." As this discourse was published during the following
+June, with a commendatory preface by the Rev. Drs. Colman and Cooper
+of Boston, and is still highly valued as a piece of contemporary
+history, we give an extract, particularly as to the _manner_ of the
+preaching of the great evangelist.
+
+"He is certainly a finished preacher. A noble negligence ran
+through his style. The passion and flame of his expressions will,
+I trust, be long felt by many. My pen cannot describe his action
+and gestures, in all their strength and decencies. He appeared to
+me, in all his discourses, to be very deeply affected and impressed
+in his own heart. How did that burn and boil within him, when he
+spake of the things which he had 'made touching the King.' How was
+his tongue like the pen of a ready writer, touched as with a coal
+from the altar. With what a flow of words, what a ready profusion
+of language, did he speak to us upon the great concerns of our
+souls. In what a flaming light did he set _our_ eternity before
+us. How earnestly he pressed Christ upon us. How did he move our
+passions with the constraining love of _such_ a Redeemer. The awe,
+the silence, the attention which sat upon the face of the great
+audience, was an argument how he could reign over all their powers.
+Many thought he spake as never man spake before him. So charmed
+were the people with his manner of address, that they shut up their
+shops, forgot their secular business, and laid aside their schemes
+for the world; and the oftener he preached, the keener edge he
+seemed to put upon their desires to hear him again.
+
+"How awfully, with what thunder and sound, did he discharge the
+artillery of heaven upon us. And yet, how could he soften and
+melt even a soldier of Ulysses with the mercy of God. How close,
+strong, and pungent were his applications to the conscience;
+mingling light and heat; pointing the arrows of the Almighty at the
+hearts of sinners, while he poured in the balm upon the wounds of
+the contrite, and made broken bones rejoice. Eternal themes, the
+tremendous solemnities of our religion, were all _alive_ upon his
+tongue. So, methinks--if you will forgive the figure--St. Paul would
+_look_ and speak in a pulpit. In some such manner, I am tempted to
+conceive of a seraph, were he sent down to preach among us, and to
+tell us what things he had seen and heard above.
+
+How bold and courageous did he look. He was no flatterer; he would
+not suffer men to settle on their lees; and did not prophesy smooth
+things, nor sew pillows under their arms. He taught the way of God
+in truth, and regarded not the persons of men. He struck at the
+politest and most modish of our vices, and at the most fashionable
+entertainments, regardless of every one's presence, but His in whose
+name he spoke with this authority. And I dare warrant, if none
+should go to these diversions until they have answered the solemn
+questions he put to their consciences, our theatre would soon sink
+and perish. I freely own he has taken my heart."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+CONTINUATION OF WHITEFIELD'S SECOND VISIT TO AMERICA. 1740.
+
+
+At the period when Whitefield laid the cornerstone of his Bethesda,
+his health was much impaired, and his spirits depressed. But it
+was necessary that funds should be obtained, to meet the claims
+now daily made upon him. He had received handsome donations from
+Charleston, New York, and Philadelphia, yet the urgent demand was
+for more. He therefore embarked from Charleston for Newcastle,
+Delaware, in a sloop, and arrived there in about ten days. Passing
+on from thence to Philadelphia, he found the churches closed against
+him. The commissary told him that he would lend the church to him
+no more. The laconic answer of Whitefield was, "The fields are
+open;" and eight thousand people assembled to hear him the same
+evening, and ten thousand on the following day. On the following
+Lord's day morning, he collected one hundred and ten pounds sterling
+for his "poor orphans," and then went to the Episcopal church,
+where the commissary preached a sermon on justification by works.
+As Whitefield was recognized at church, it was naturally expected
+that in the evening he would answer the sermon; nor was the public
+expectation disappointed. After his sermon, he collected eighty
+pounds more for Bethesda.
+
+But far higher success than this attended his labors. Societies for
+worship were commenced in different parts of the town; not a few
+began seriously to inquire after the way of salvation; many negroes
+came to the evangelist with the inquiry, "Have I a soul?" and a
+church was formed, of which the distinguished Gilbert Tennent was
+the eminently useful pastor. No less than one hundred and forty, who
+had undergone a previous strict examination as to their personal
+piety, were received as constituent members of the church, and large
+additions were from time to time made to their number.
+
+Several events of special interest occurred during this visit to
+Philadelphia. Tennent had to tell a series of delightful facts
+as to the usefulness of Whitefield's former labors. He began to
+deliberate on a plan for a negro school in Pennsylvania, as he did
+afterwards also in Virginia, but unexpected difficulties intervened,
+and both in the end were abandoned. Mr. Jones, the Baptist minister
+of the city, told Whitefield of the change produced by his former
+preaching on the minds of two ministers; one of whom stated to his
+congregation that he had hitherto been deceiving both himself and
+them, and added, that he could not preach to them at present, but
+requested them to unite in prayer with him; and the other resigned
+his charge, to itinerate among the unenlightened villages of New
+Jersey and elsewhere. Another fact was, that an Indian trader became
+so impressed with the preaching of Whitefield, that he had given up
+his business, and was gone to teach the Indians with whom he used to
+trade. Nor had his usefulness stopped here: he heard of a drinking
+club, which had attached to it a negro boy remarkable for his powers
+of mimicry. This boy was directed by the gentlemen who composed the
+club to exercise his powers on Mr. Whitefield: he did so, but very
+reluctantly; at length he stood up and said, "I speak the truth in
+Christ, I lie not; unless you repent, you will all be damned." This
+unexpected speech had such an effect as to break up the club, which
+met no more.
+
+We add a few paragraphs from Seward's journal, who soon after
+sailed for England to promote the interests of Georgia, and who
+died in the parent country. They date from the 24th to the 26th of
+April. "Came to Christopher Wigner's plantation in Skippack, where
+many Dutch people are settled, and where the famous Mr. Spalemburg
+lately resided. It was surprising to see such a multitude of people
+gathered together in such a wilderness country, thirty miles distant
+from Philadelphia. Mr. Whitefield was exceedingly carried out,
+in his sermon, to press poor sinners to come to Christ by faith,
+and claim all their privileges; namely, not only righteousness
+and peace, but joy in the Holy Ghost; and after he had done, our
+dear friend Peter Bohler preached in Dutch, to those who could not
+understand Mr. Whitefield in English."
+
+"Before Mr. Whitefield left Philadelphia, he was desired to visit
+one who was under a deep sense of sin, from hearing him preach. In
+praying with this person, he was so carried beyond himself, that
+the whole company, about twenty, seemed to be filled with the Holy
+Ghost, and magnified the God of heaven."
+
+"Arose at three o'clock, and though Mr. Whitefield was very weak
+in body, yet the Lord enabled him to ride nearly fifty miles, and
+to preach to about five thousand people at Amwell, with the same
+power as usual. Mr. Gilbert Tennent, Mr. Rowland, Mr. Wales, and Mr.
+Campbell, four godly ministers, met us here."
+
+"Came to New Brunswick. Met Mr. Noble from New York, a zealous
+promoter of our Lord's kingdom. He said their society at New York
+was enlarged from seventy to one hundred and seventy, and was
+daily increasing; and that Messrs. Gilbert and William Tennent,
+Mr. Rowland, and several others, were hard laborers in our Lord's
+vineyard."
+
+It will be readily supposed that by this time Whitefield and
+his movements had become so much a matter of interest as to be
+frequently discussed in the newspapers of the day.
+
+The "New England Weekly Journal" of April 29, 1740, copies from a
+Philadelphia paper of April 17: "The middle of last month the Rev.
+Mr. Whitefield was at Charleston, and preached five times, and
+collected at one time upwards of £70 sterling for the benefit of
+the orphan-house in Georgia; and on Sunday last, after ten days'
+passage from Georgia, he landed at Newcastle, where he preached
+morning and evening. On Monday morning he preached to about three
+thousand at Wilmington, and in the evening arrived in this city.
+On Tuesday evening he preached to about eight thousand on Society
+hill, and preached at the same place yesterday morning and evening."
+Then follows a list of his appointments daily to April 29, during
+which time he was to preach at Whitemarsh, Germantown, Philadelphia,
+Salem, N. J., Neshaminy, Skippack, Frederick township, Amwell, New
+Brunswick, Elizabethtown, and New York. On May 6th, the Journal
+copied a Philadelphia notice of April 24th, that he had preached on
+the previous Sabbath to fifteen thousand hearers, and on Monday at
+Greenwich and Gloucester, and that he would return to Georgia before
+visiting New England.
+
+The Journal of May 20th, contains a letter from Whitefield to a
+friend in England, dated New Brunswick, N. J., April 27. Of his
+visit to Charleston he says, "A glorious work was begun in the
+hearts of the inhabitants, and many were brought to cry out, 'What
+shall we do to be saved?' A fortnight ago, after a short passage of
+ten days, I landed in Pennsylvania, and have had the pleasure of
+seeing and hearing that my poor endeavors for promoting Christ's
+kingdom, when here last, were not altogether in vain in the Lord. I
+cannot tell you how many have come to me laboring under the deepest
+convictions, and seemingly truly desirous of finding rest in Jesus
+Christ. Several have actually received him into their hearts by
+faith, and have not only righteousness and peace, but joy in the
+Holy Ghost. In short, the word has run and been much glorified, and
+many negroes also are in a fair way of being brought home to God.
+Young ones I intend to buy, and do not despair of seeing a room full
+of that despised generation, in a short time, singing and making
+melody with grace in their hearts to the Lord.
+
+"An effectual door is opened for preaching the everlasting gospel,
+and I daily receive fresh and most importunate invitations to preach
+in all the counties round about. God is pleased to give a great
+blessing to my printed sermons. They are in the hands of thousands
+in these parts, and are a means of enlightening and building up many
+in their most holy faith. The clergy, I find, are most offended
+at me. The commissary of Philadelphia, having gotten a little
+stronger than when I was here last, has thrown off the mask, denied
+me the pulpit, and last Sunday preached up an historical faith,
+and justification by works. But the people only flock the more.
+The power of God is more visible than ever in our assemblies, and
+more and more are convinced that I preach the doctrine of Jesus
+Christ. Some of the bigoted, self-righteous Quakers now also begin
+to spit out a little of the venom of the serpent. They cannot bear
+the doctrine of original sin, and of an imputed righteousness as
+the cause of our acceptance with God. I have not yet met with much
+opposition from the dissenters; but when I come to tell many of
+them, ministers as well as people, that they hold the truth in
+unrighteousness, that they talk and preach of justifying faith,
+but never felt it in their hearts, as I am persuaded numbers of
+them have not, then they no doubt will shoot out their arrows, even
+bitter words."
+
+While on his voyage from Charleston to Newcastle, Whitefield seems
+to have devoted the 4th of April, 1740, to correspondence on the
+subject of marriage. "I find," said he, "by experience, that a
+mistress is absolutely necessary for the due management of my
+increasing family, and to take off some of that care which at
+present lies upon me." His letters were addressed to a young lady
+and her parents, connected with a family much devoted to piety.
+Here, as everywhere else, his heart is transparent. He says to the
+parents of Miss E----, "I write only because I believe it is the
+will of God that I should alter my state; but your denial will fully
+convince me that your daughter is not the person appointed for me.
+He knows my heart; I would not marry but for him, and in him, for
+ten thousand worlds."
+
+The next year, having returned to England, Whitefield, like his
+eminent friend John Wesley, was married, and, like him also, was
+unhappy in his domestic relation. In each case, the husband exacted
+a previous pledge that the wife should never prevent the delivery
+of a single sermon; and this was followed by separation from the
+wife for weeks, months, or even years, in the prosecution of their
+arduous labors. In the case of Whitefield, his marriage in Wales,
+with a widow lady, in 1741, was followed by the birth of a son;
+previous to which event he had said, in the joy of his heart, that
+his name should be John, and that he should be a preacher of the
+everlasting gospel. The first prediction was realized, and when
+his child was a week old, the good man told his people in the
+Tabernacle, London, that he would live to preach, and "be great in
+the sight of the Lord." But alas, at the end of four months John
+died, and his father very wisely wrote in his journal: "I hope what
+happened before his birth, and since at his death, has taught me
+such lessons as, if duly improved, may render his mistaken parent
+more sober-minded, more experienced in Satan's devices, and
+consequently more useful in his future labors in the church of God."
+
+On the death of his wife somewhat suddenly, August 9, 1768, Mr.
+Whitefield himself preached her funeral sermon, from Romans 8:28:
+"And we know that all things work together for good to them that
+love God, to them that are the called according to his purpose." In
+describing her character, he particularly mentioned her fortitude
+and courage, and suddenly exclaimed, "Do you remember my preaching
+in those fields by the stump of the old tree? The multitude was
+great, and many were disposed to be riotous. At first I addressed
+them with firmness; but when a gang of desperate banditti drew
+near, with the most ferocious looks, and horrid imprecations and
+menaces, my courage began to fail. My wife was then standing behind
+me, as I stood on the table. I think I hear her now. She pulled my
+gown"--himself suiting the action to the word, by placing his hand
+behind him and touching his robe--"and looking up, said, 'George,
+play the man for your God.' My confidence returned. I again spoke to
+the multitude with boldness and affection; they became still; and
+many were deeply affected."
+
+Before we leave Philadelphia, we may relate an instance or two as
+to the power of his eloquence. Dr. Franklin says, "He had a loud
+and clear voice, and articulated his words so perfectly that he
+might be heard and understood to a great distance; especially as his
+auditors observed the most profound silence. He preached one evening
+from the top of the court-house steps, which are in the middle of
+Market-street, and on the west side of Second-street, which crosses
+it at right angles. Both streets were filled with his hearers to a
+considerable distance. Being among the hindmost in Market-street,
+I had the curiosity to learn how far he might be heard by setting
+backwards down the street towards the river; and I found his voice
+distinct till I came near Front-street, where some noise in that
+street obstructed it. Imagine, then, a semicircle of which my
+distance should be a radius, and that it was filled with auditors,
+to each of whom I allowed two square feet, I computed that he might
+well be heard by more than thirty thousand people."
+
+But not only does Franklin bear witness of Whitefield's eloquence as
+to his voice, but still more strongly as to its _persuasiveness_, of
+which, it seems, he was himself a striking illustration. He says, "I
+refused to contribute to his orphan-house in Georgia, thinking it
+injudiciously located. Soon after, I happened to attend one of his
+sermons, in the course of which I perceived he intended to finish
+with a collection, and I silently resolved he should get nothing
+from me. I had in my pocket a handful of copper money, three or
+four silver dollars, and five pistoles in gold. As he proceeded, I
+began to soften, and determined to give the copper. Another stroke
+of his oratory made me ashamed of that, and determined me to give
+the silver; and he finished so admirably, that I emptied my pocket
+wholly into the collector's dish, gold and all. At this sermon there
+was also one of our club; who being of my sentiments respecting the
+building at Georgia, and suspecting a collection might be intended,
+had, by precaution, emptied his pockets before he came from home.
+Towards the conclusion of the discourse, however, he felt a strong
+inclination to give, and applied to a neighbor, who stood near him,
+to lend him some money for the purpose. The request was made to,
+perhaps, the only man in the company who had the firmness not to be
+affected by the preacher. His answer was, 'At any other time, friend
+Hodgkinson, I would lend to thee freely; but not now, for thee seems
+to be out of thy right senses.'"
+
+Whitefield, much as he loved Philadelphia, had now again to leave
+it. Thus writes the correspondent of the "New England Weekly
+Journal," at Newcastle, May 15: "This evening Mr. Whitefield went
+on board his sloop here, to sail for Georgia. On Sunday he preached
+twice In Philadelphia, and in the evening, when he preached his
+farewell sermon, it is supposed he had twenty thousand hearers. On
+Monday he preached at Darby and Chester; on Tuesday, at Wilmington
+and White Clay creek; on Wednesday, twice at Nottingham; on
+Thursday, at Fog's Manor and Newcastle. The congregations were
+much increased since his being here last. The presence of God was
+much seen in the assemblies, especially at Nottingham and Fog's
+Manor, where the people were under such deep soul distress, that
+their cries almost drowned his voice. He has collected in this and
+the neighboring provinces, about £450 sterling for his orphans in
+Georgia."
+
+He arrived at Savannah June 5, and most interesting was the manner
+of his reception. He says, "O what a sweet meeting I had with my
+dear friends! What God has prepared for me, I know not; but surely
+I cannot well expect a greater happiness, till I embrace the saints
+in glory. When I parted, my heart was ready to break with sorrow;
+but now it almost bursts with joy. O how did each in turn hang upon
+my neck, kiss, and weep over me with tears of joy! And my own soul
+was so full of a sense of God's love when I embraced one friend
+in particular, that I thought I should have expired in the place.
+I felt my soul so full of a sense of the divine goodness, that I
+wanted words to express myself. Why me, Lord; why me? When we came
+to public worship, young and old were all dissolved in tears. After
+service, several of my parishioners, all my family, and the little
+children, returned home, crying along the streets, and some could
+not avoid praying very loud.
+
+"Being very weak in body, I laid myself upon a bed; but finding so
+many weeping, I rose and betook myself to prayer again. But had
+I not lifted up my voice very high, the groans and cries of the
+children would have prevented my being heard. This continued for
+near an hour; till at last, finding their concern rather increase
+than abate, I desired all to retire. Then some or other might be
+heard praying earnestly, in every corner of the house. It happened
+at this time to thunder and lighten, which added very much to the
+solemnity of the night. Next day the concern still continued,
+especially among the girls. I mention the orphans in particular,
+that their benefactors may rejoice in what God is doing for their
+souls."
+
+On the 7th of June, he wrote, "I have brought with me a Latin
+master, and on Monday laid the foundation, in the name of the Lord
+Jesus, for a university in Georgia." On the 28th of the same month,
+he wrote to a Mr. W. D----, in a style admirably corresponding with
+the meek spirit we have already seen in his letter to the Rev.
+Dr. Pemberton, of New York. "I thank you for your kind letters
+and friendly cautions; and I trust I shall always reckon those my
+choicest friends, who, in simplicity and meekness, tell me the
+corruptions of my heart. It is that faithfulness which has endeared
+J. S---- to me. I think I never was obliged to any one so much
+before. O my dear brother, still continue faithful to my soul; do
+not hate me in your heart; in any wise reprove me. Exhort all my
+brethren to forgive my past, I fear, too imperious carriage; and let
+them pray that I may know myself to be, what I really am, less than
+the least of them all."
+
+Whitefield's family at Bethesda had now increased to not less than
+one hundred and fifty persons, and to advance their interests, it
+was needful that he should again visit Charleston, where he arrived
+on the third of July, and immediately commenced preaching, as on
+former visits. On the following Sabbath, three days after his
+arrival, he attended the Episcopal church, where, he says, "I heard
+the commissary preach as virulent and unorthodox, inconsistent a
+discourse, as ever I heard in my life. His heart seemed full of
+choler and resentment. Out of the abundance thereof, he poured forth
+so many bitter words against the Methodists, as he called them, in
+general, and me in particular, that several who intended to receive
+the sacrament at his hands, withdrew. Never, I believe, was such
+a preparation sermon preached before. After sermon, he sent his
+clerk to desire me not to come to the sacrament till he had spoken
+with me. I immediately retired to my lodgings, rejoicing that I was
+accounted worthy to suffer this further degree of contempt for my
+dear Lord's sake."
+
+The next day, the commissary of the bishop of London issued against
+Whitefield the following ecclesiastical writ:
+
+"Alexander Garden, lawfully constituted Commissary of the Right
+Reverend Father in Christ, Edmund, by divine permission Lord Bishop
+of London, supported by the royal authority underwritten:
+
+"Alexander Garden, To all and singular clerks, and literate persons
+whomsoever, in and throughout the whole province of South Carolina,
+wheresoever appointed, Greeting:
+
+"To you, conjunctly and severally, we commit, and strictly
+enjoining, command, that you do cite, or cause to be cited,
+peremptorily, George Whitefield, clerk, and presbyter of the Church
+of England, that he lawfully appear before us, in the parish church
+of St. Philip, Charleston, and in the judicial place of the same, on
+Tuesday, the fifteenth day of this instant July, 'twixt the hours of
+nine and ten in the forenoon, then and there in justice to answer to
+certain articles, heads, or interrogatories, which will be objected
+and ministered unto him concerning the mere health of his soul, and
+the reformation and correction of his manners and excesses, and
+chiefly for omitting to use the form of prayers prescribed in the
+Communion-Book; and further to do and receive what shall be just
+in that behalf, on pain of law and contempt. And what you shall do
+in the premises, you shall duly certify us, together with these
+presents.
+
+"Given under our hands and seals of our office, at Charleston, this
+seventh day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven
+hundred and forty."
+
+Justice to all parties requires it should be said, that the phrase
+as to the health of Whitefield's _soul_ was used by Garden not of
+choice, but in conformity with the forms of English ecclesiastical
+law; the theory of which is, that ecclesiastical courts are only
+held to promote the spiritual health or welfare of those who are
+cited into them. The principal sin of Whitefield was "omitting to
+use the form of prayer prescribed in the Common Prayer Book." The
+undisputed matter of fact, as Tracy says, was, that he always used
+that form when he could obtain an Episcopal church to preach in; but
+when he was shut out of such pulpits, and was preaching to Baptists,
+Presbyterians, and Congregationalists, in their own houses of
+worship, where none of the congregations had prayer books, or knew
+how to use them, and where the introduction of unaccustomed forms
+would not have promoted the devotion of the worshippers, he prayed
+extempore.
+
+On the day this writ was issued, Whitefield preached for Mr.
+Chanler, "a gracious Baptist minister, about fourteen miles from
+Charleston;" and twice on the next day "to a large audience in
+Mr. Osgood's meeting-house, a young Independent minister," at
+Dorchester; the next day at Dorchester again, and at Charleston
+in the evening; the next day preached and read prayers in Christ's
+church, and twice at Charleston the next day, with great success.
+And now, on July 11th, a citation was served upon him to appear on
+the fifteenth, as required in the writ.
+
+On the 12th, he preached and read prayers twice on John's island;
+and on the 13th, which was the Sabbath, he again listened to a
+sermon from the commissary. Of this sermon Whitefield says, "Had
+some infernal spirit been sent to draw my picture, I think it
+scarcely possible that he could paint me in more horrid colors. I
+think, if ever, then was the time that all manner of evil was spoken
+against me falsely for Christ's sake. The commissary seemed to
+ransack church history for instances of enthusiasm and abused grace.
+He drew a parallel between me and all the Oliverians, Ranters,
+Quakers, French prophets, till he came down to a family of Dutartes,
+who lived not many years ago in South Carolina, and were guilty of
+the most notorious incests and murders."
+
+The next day Whitefield again preached twice; and on Tuesday
+appeared before the commissary, according to his citation. This is
+said to have been the first court of the kind ever attempted to be
+held in any of the colonies. It consisted of the reverend commissary
+A. Garden, and the Rev. Messrs. Guy, Mellichamp, Roe, and Orr, who,
+as well as Whitefield himself, and his able advocate, Mr. Andrew
+Rutledge, respectively showed their want of familiarity with such
+business, and, after a series of blunders on both sides, the court
+adjourned to nine o'clock the next morning, to afford Whitefield
+time to ascertain the extent of the jurisdiction of the bishop and
+his commissary. How little, however, he studied the subject may be
+inferred from the fact, that he preached twice during the remainder
+of the day. The next day, a Mr. Graham appeared as a prosecuting
+attorney, and Mr. Rutledge as counsel for the respondent. Whitefield
+made some mistakes, but hints from his quick-sighted advocate and
+his own adroitness saved him from their consequences; though he
+contrived to give the court a lecture on the meanness of catching at
+a word as soon as it was out of his lips, without allowing him time
+to correct it. He now filed his objection against being judged by
+the commissary, who, he alleged, was prejudiced against him. This
+gave rise to new questions: the court adjourned; and the evangelist
+went to James' island, read prayers, and preached. The next day
+he again appeared in court, and found that his exceptions were
+repelled, and that the arbitrators he had asked for would not be
+appointed. He now appealed to the high Court of Chancery in London,
+declaring all further proceedings in this court to be null and
+void. He then retired and read letters which refreshed his spirit,
+by informing him how "mightily grew the word of God and prevailed"
+at Philadelphia; and that Mr. Bolton, in Georgia, had nearly fifty
+negroes learning to read. On the 18th he preached twice, and on the
+19th again appeared before the commissary, and bound himself, in
+a penalty of ten pounds, to prosecute his appeal in London within
+twelve months. The appeal was never tried, as the ecclesiastical
+authorities allowed it to die of neglect.
+
+"The court being ended," says Whitefield, in his journal, "the
+commissary desired to speak with me. I asked him to my lodgings. He
+chose to walk on a green near the church. His spirit was somewhat
+calmer than usual; but after an hour's conversation, we were as far
+from agreeing as before." "All his discourse was so inconsistent and
+contrary to the gospel of our Lord, that I was obliged to tell him
+that I believed him to be an unconverted man, an enemy to God, and
+of a like spirit with the persecutor Saul. At this he smiled; and,
+after we had talked a long while, we parted, and God gave me great
+satisfaction that I had delivered my soul in my private conversation
+with the commissary."
+
+The next day, July 20, was the Sabbath. The commissary preached in
+his usual style, and Whitefield preached his farewell sermon to
+the people of Charleston. By his recommendation two or three of
+the dissenting ministers had instituted a weekly lecture; and the
+evangelist "advised the people, as the gospel was not preached in
+church, to go and hear it in the meeting-house." On leaving the
+city, he summed up, in his journal, the results of his labors in
+this manner:
+
+"What makes the change more remarkable in the Charleston people
+is, that they seemed to me, at my first coming, to be a people
+wholly devoted to pleasure. One well acquainted with their
+manners and circumstances, told me more had been spent on polite
+entertainments, than the poor's-rate came to; but now the jewellers
+and dancing-masters begin to cry out that their craft is in danger.
+A vast alteration is discernible in the ladies' dresses. And some,
+while I have been speaking, have been so convinced of the sin of
+wearing jewels, that I have seen them with blushes put their hands
+to their ears, and cover them with their fans. But I hope the
+reformation has gone farther than externals. Many moral, good sort
+of men, who before were settled on their lees, have been gloriously
+awakened to seek after Jesus Christ; and many a Lydia's heart hath
+been opened to receive the things that were spoken. Indeed, the word
+came like a hammer and a fire. And a door, I believe, will be opened
+for teaching the poor negroes. Several of them have done their usual
+work in less time, that they might come to hear me. Many of their
+owners, who have been awakened, resolved to teach them Christianity.
+Had I time, and proper schoolmasters, I might immediately erect a
+negro school in South Carolina, as well as in Pennsylvania. Many
+would willingly contribute both money and land."
+
+The Baptist church in Charleston at this time was nearly extinct,
+being reduced to five or six communicants, but Whitefield's success
+greatly increased their number, and it thus gained strength which
+it has never lost. It is also gratefully mentioned even now by the
+church of that denomination at Eutaw, that Whitefield during this
+visit to South Carolina preached the dedication-sermon of their
+house of worship.
+
+Whitefield left Charleston on July 21, visiting and preaching on his
+way homeward, which he reached towards the close of the same week.
+He preached on the Sabbath in extreme weakness of body, but "with
+the Holy Ghost from above," and several were hopefully converted to
+God. On the 18th of August, he again left Savannah for Charleston,
+where he was able, for want of bodily strength, to preach but once a
+day, but he thought that his sermons were attended with more power
+and success than ever before. In a few days after, having preached a
+farewell sermon to four thousand hearers, he sailed for New England,
+where he had been very cordially invited by leading ministers and
+others in Boston and many other places.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+WHITEFIELD'S FIRST VISIT TO NEW ENGLAND.
+
+SEPTEMBER TO NOVEMBER, 1740.
+
+
+The religious state of New England in the early part of the
+eighteenth century, was little better than the description we
+have already given of the state of Great Britain and its other
+dependencies at that period. Dr. Prince tells us, that the first age
+of New England was one of an almost continual revival. Preaching was
+attended with so much power in some places, "that it was a common
+inquiry, by such members of a family as were detained at home on a
+Sabbath, whether any had been visibly awakened in the house of God
+that day." And he adds, "Few Sabbaths did pass without some being
+evidently converted, and some convincing proof of the power of God
+accompanying his word."
+
+Dr. Increase Mather, writing towards the close of the seventeenth
+century, while he confirms the statements we have already given,
+bears farther testimony which is of a very painful character.
+He says, "Prayer is necessary on this account, that conversions
+have become rare in this age of the world. They that have their
+thoughts exercised in discerning things of this nature, have sad
+apprehensions that the work of conversion has come to a stand.
+During the last age scarcely a sermon was preached without some
+being apparently converted, and sometimes hundreds were converted
+by one sermon. Who of us now can say that we have seen any thing
+such as this? Clear, sound conversions are not frequent in our
+congregations; the great bulk of the present generation are
+apparently poor, perishing, and if the Lord prevent not, undone;
+many are profane, drunkards, lascivious, scoffers at the power of
+godliness, and disobedient; others are civil and outwardly conformed
+to good order, because so educated, but without knowing aught of
+a real change of heart." The same estimable writer says, in 1721,
+"I am now in my eighty-third year, and having had an opportunity
+of conversing with the first planters of this country, and having
+been for _sixty-five_ years a preacher of the gospel, I feel as did
+the ancient men who had seen the former temple, and who wept aloud
+as they saw the latter. The children of New England are, or once
+were, for the most part, the children of godly parents. What did our
+fathers come into this wilderness for? Not to gain estates as men
+do now, but for religion, and that they might have their children
+in a hopeful way of being truly religious. There was a famous man
+who preached before one of the greatest assemblies that ever was
+addressed; it was about seventy years ago; and he said to them, 'I
+lived in a country seven years, and all that time I never heard a
+profane oath, or saw a man drunk.' And where was that country? It
+was New England. Ah, degenerate New England! What art thou come to
+at this day? How are those sins become common that were once not
+even heard of!"
+
+Passing over, for the present, indications of a revival of religion,
+which had appeared in other parts of the country, we speak now
+only of New England. In 1734, a very extraordinary work of grace
+appeared at Northampton, Massachusetts, under the ministry of the
+distinguished Jonathan Edwards, the elder, the history of which is
+given in his admirable "Narrative of the surprising Work of God" at
+that period, in Northampton and the vicinity.
+
+It is important to remark here, that the preaching which led to such
+delightful results was of the most faithful and pungent character.
+We will give one instance, as illustrative of many, as will be
+distinctly seen by those who have read EDWARDS' sermon, "_Sinners
+in the hands of an angry God_," or his "_Justice of God in the
+damnation of Sinners_." Perhaps, however, no sermon in New England
+has ever acquired greater celebrity, or accomplished more good, than
+the one preached by President Edwards at Enfield, July 8, 1741, from
+the words, "Their feet shall slide in due time." Deut. 32:35. "When
+they went into the meeting-house, the appearance of the assembly was
+thoughtless and vain; the people scarcely conducted themselves with
+common decency." But as the sermon proceeded, the audience became
+so overwhelmed with distress and weeping, that the preacher was
+"obliged to speak to the people and desire silence, that he might
+be heard." The excitement soon became intense; and it is said that
+a minister who sat in the pulpit with Mr. Edwards, in the agitation
+of his feelings, caught the preacher by the skirt of his dress, and
+said, "Mr. Edwards, Mr. Edwards, is not God a God of mercy?" Many of
+the hearers were seen unconsciously holding themselves up against
+the pillars, and the sides of the pews, as though they already felt
+themselves sliding into the pit. This fact has often been mentioned
+as a proof of the strong and scriptural character of President
+Edwards' peculiar eloquence--the eloquence of truth as attended by
+influence from heaven; for his sermons were read, without gestures.
+
+But there was another element which must be taken into account when
+we look at the result of this sermon, as well as others delivered in
+like circumstances, and one which we fear has been often overlooked.
+"While the people of the neighboring towns were in great distress
+about their souls, the inhabitants of Enfield were very secure,
+loose, and vain. A lecture had been appointed there, and the
+neighboring people were so affected at the thoughtlessness of the
+inhabitants, and had so much fear that God would, in his righteous
+judgment, pass them by, that many of them were prostrate before
+him a considerable part of the previous evening, supplicating the
+mercy of heaven in their behalf. And when the time appointed for the
+lecture came, a number of the surrounding ministers were present,
+as well as some from a distance"--a proof of the prayerful interest
+felt on behalf of the town. In all this we see much of the secret
+of the powerful impression produced by that sermon, and are taught
+that in seasons when God seems about to pour out his Spirit on a
+community, Christians should be found "continuing instant in prayer."
+
+In this more hopeful state of things than had long before existed
+in New England, Whitefield, who was now the second time in America,
+was most urgently entreated to visit the descendants of the Pilgrim
+fathers. He complied with the request, and arrived at Newport on
+the evening of the Sabbath, September 14, 1740. We furnish an
+account, written chiefly by himself, in his journal, published in
+London, 1741, a copy of which may be found in the library of Harvard
+University, to which we have had a kind access, and which is rich in
+what we may term _Whitefieldian lore_. He writes,
+
+"Was sick part of the passage, but found afterwards the sea-air,
+under God, much improved my health. Arrived at Newport, in Rhode
+Island, just after the beginning of evening service. We came
+purposely thither first with our sloop. I think it the most pleasant
+entrance I ever yet saw. Almost all the morning the wind was
+contrary; but I found a very strong inclination to pray that we
+might arrive time enough to be present at public worship. Once I
+called the people; but something prevented their coming. At last,
+finding my impression increase upon me, I desired their attendance
+immediately. They came. With a strong assurance that we should be
+heard, we prayed that the Lord would turn the wind, that we might
+give him thanks in the great congregation; and also that he would
+send such to us as he would have us to converse with, and who might
+show us a lodging. Though the wind was ahead when we began, when we
+had done praying, and came up out of the cabin, it was quite fair.
+
+"With a gentle gale we sailed most pleasantly into the harbor; got
+into public worship before they had finished the psalms; and sat, as
+I thought, undiscovered. After service was over, a gentleman asked
+me whether my name was not Whitefield. I told him 'yes;' he then
+desired me to go to his house, and he would take care to provide
+lodgings and necessaries for me and my friends. I went, silently
+admiring God's goodness in answering my prayer so minutely. Several
+gentlemen of the town soon came to pay their respects to me, among
+whom was one Mr. Clap, an aged dissenting minister, but the most
+venerable man I ever saw. He looked like a good old Puritan, and
+gave me an idea of what stamp those men were who first settled New
+England. His countenance was very heavenly; he rejoiced much in
+spirit at the sight of me, and prayed most affectionately for a
+blessing on my coming to Rhode Island."
+
+In the evening, in company with Mr. Clap and other friends,
+Whitefield visited Mr. Honeyman, the minister of the church of
+England, and requested the use of his pulpit. "At first he seemed
+a little unwilling, being desirous to know 'what extraordinary
+call I had to preach on week-days,' which he said was disorderly.
+I answered, 'St. Paul exhorted Timothy to 'be instant in season
+and out of season;' that if the orders of the church were rightly
+complied with, our ministers should read public prayers twice every
+day, and then it would not be disorderly at such times to give them
+a sermon. As to an extraordinary call, I claimed none otherwise than
+upon the apostle's injunction, 'As we have opportunity, let us do
+good unto all men.' He still held out, and did not give any positive
+answer; but at last, after he had withdrawn and consulted with the
+gentlemen, he said, 'If my preaching would promote the glory of
+God, and the good of souls, I was welcome to his church as often
+as I would, during my stay in town.' We then agreed to make use of
+it at ten in the morning, and three in the afternoon. After this,
+I went to wait on the governor, who seemed to be a very plain man,
+and had a very plain house, which much pleased me. By profession,
+I think he is a Seventh-day Baptist; he is a man of good report
+as to his conduct and dealing with the world." As might have been
+expected, the evening was spent in exposition and prayer, with a
+crowded company, in the house of his friend Bowers, the gentleman
+who first addressed him when coming out of church.
+
+On Monday morning, he breakfasted with "old Mr. Clap, and was much
+edified by his conversation." Of this venerable servant of Christ
+he says, "I could not but think, while at his table, that I was
+sitting with one of the patriarchs. He is full of days, a bachelor,
+and has been minister of a congregation in Rhode Island upwards of
+forty years. People of all denominations, I find, respect him. He
+abounds in good works; gives all away, and is wonderfully tender of
+little children; many of different persuasions come to be instructed
+by him. Whenever he dies, I am persuaded, with good old Simeon, he
+will be enabled to say, 'Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart
+in peace.'" Whitefield preached, according to appointment, morning
+and afternoon, "in the church. It is very commodious, and I believe
+will contain three thousand people. It was more than filled in the
+afternoon. Persons of all denominations attended. God assisted me
+much. I observed numbers affected, and had great reason to believe
+the word of the Lord had been 'sharper than a twoedged sword,' in
+some of the hearers' souls."
+
+On the evening of the same day he received the following note:
+
+     REVEREND SIR AND BELOVED BROTHER--Although mine eyes never saw
+     your face before this day, yet my heart and soul have been
+     united to you in love, by the bond of the Spirit. I have longed
+     and expected to see you for many months past. Blessed be God,
+     mine eyes have seen the joyful day. I trust, through grace, I
+     have some things to communicate to you that will make your heart
+     glad. I shall omit writing any thing, and only hereby present
+     my hearty love, and let you know that I am waiting now at the
+     post of your door for admission. Though I am unworthy, my Lord
+     is worthy, in whose name, I trust, I come. I am your unworthy
+     brother,
+
+     "JONATHAN BARBER."
+
+"On reading it," says Whitefield, "I could not but think this was
+one of those young ministers whom God had lately made use of in such
+a remarkable manner, at the east end of Long Island. I sent for him,
+and found he was the man. My heart rejoiced. We walked out, and took
+sweet counsel together; and among other things, he told me that he
+came to Rhode Island under a full conviction that he should see me
+there, and had been waiting for me about a week.... What rendered
+this more remarkable was, I had no intention of sailing to Rhode
+Island till about three days before I left Carolina; and I had a
+great desire to put in, if I could, at the east end of Long Island,
+to see this very person, whom the great God now brought unto me.
+Lord, accept our thanks, sanctify our meeting, and teach us both
+what we shall do for thine own name's sake. In the evening I went
+to the venerable Mr. Clap's, and exhorted and prayed with a great
+multitude, who not only crowded into the house, but thronged every
+way about it. The dear old man rejoiced to see the things which
+he saw; and after my exhortation was over, dismissed me with his
+blessing."
+
+Tuesday, we scarcely need remark, was spent by Whitefield in the
+work of his great Master. He preached to a vast congregation,
+including the members of the House of Assembly, who adjourned to
+attend the service; and he had very delightful evidence that his
+labors had already been useful. On Wednesday he left Newport, and
+about noon preached at Bristol, at the request of the court, which
+was then in session, and slept that night at a hotel on the road to
+Boston. On Thursday morning he set out early, and as he passed on
+with his friends, he says, "Found that the people were apprized of
+my coming, and were solicitous for my preaching; but being resolved
+under God, if possible, to reach Boston, we travelled on for near
+fifty miles, and came to Boston about eight in the evening. When
+we were within four miles of the city, the governor's son, several
+other gentlemen, and one or two ministers, waited at a gentleman's
+house to give me the meeting. They received me with great gladness,
+and told me many more would have come, had not a large funeral
+been in the town, or if there had been more certain notice of my
+arriving. This rejoiced me; for I think I can stand any thing
+better than this. It savors too much of human grandeur. But I must
+be tried every way; the Lord be my helper. After stopping a while,
+we went together to Boston, to the house of one Mr. Sandiford,
+brother-in-law to the Rev. Dr. Colman, who long since had sent me an
+invitation.... My heart was but low, and my body weak; but, at the
+request of one of the ministers, I gave thanks to our gracious God
+for bringing me in safety, and prayed that my coming might be in the
+fulness of the blessing of the gospel of peace."
+
+He slept well that night, and the next morning, he says, "I
+perceived fresh emanations of divine light break in upon and refresh
+my soul." He was visited by several gentlemen, including Josiah
+Willard, Esq., the secretary of the province, a man who feared God,
+and with whom Whitefield had for some time been in correspondence.
+The governor, Belcher, received him with the utmost respect, and
+requested frequent visits. He attended public worship at the church
+of England, and waited on the commissary home, who received him
+very courteously. As it was a day on which the clergy of that body
+had a meeting, he came into the company of five of them assembled
+together. They soon attacked him "for calling _that Tennent_ and
+his brethren faithful ministers of Christ." He answered, that he
+believed they were so. They questioned the validity of Presbyterian
+ordination, and quoted from his journal his own words against him.
+He replied, that perhaps his sentiments were altered. They then
+went into a doctrinal discussion, which continued till Whitefield,
+finding how inconsistent they were, took his leave, resolving that
+they should not have the opportunity of denying him their pulpits.
+However, they treated him, on the whole, with more courtesy than he
+had lately been accustomed to receive from the ministers of his own
+church.
+
+In the afternoon of the same day, he preached to a vast congregation
+in the Rev. Dr. Colman's meeting-house, in Brattle-street, and in
+the evening exhorted and prayed with such as came to his lodgings.
+On Saturday, in the forenoon, he discoursed to a crowded audience at
+the Old South church, where Dr. Sewall was pastor, the only church
+edifice in Boston with which Whitefield was connected which is still
+standing as it then was. In the afternoon he preached on the Common
+to about eight thousand persons, and, at night to a thronged company
+at his own lodgings.
+
+On the morning of the next day, which was the Sabbath, he heard
+Dr. Colman preach; in the afternoon, he preached at Mr. Foxcroft's
+meeting-house to a vast auditory. This gentleman was the senior
+pastor of the First church, meeting in Chauncy-place, and the
+Rev. Charles Chauncy was his colleague. The church edifice was in
+Cornhill-square, not far from the old state-house, and was usually
+called the "Old Brick meeting." As this house was by far too small
+to contain his auditory, he almost immediately afterwards preached
+on the Common, to about fifteen thousand hearers; and again at night
+at his lodgings. He says, "Some afterwards came into my room. I felt
+much of the divine presence in my own soul, and though hoarse was
+enabled to speak with much power, and could have spoke, I believe,
+till midnight."
+
+On Monday morning, Whitefield preached at Mr. Webb's meeting-house,
+the "New North," on the corner of Clark and Hanover streets. "The
+presence of the Lord," he says, "was among us. Look where I would
+around me, visible impressions were made upon the auditory. Most
+wept for a considerable time." In the afternoon he meant to have
+preached at Mr. Cheekley's, in Summer-street, but was prevented
+by an accident. Just before the time for the commencement of the
+service, a person broke a board in one of the galleries, of which
+to make a seat; the noise alarmed some who heard it, and they
+imprudently cried out that the galleries were giving way. The
+house being much crowded, the whole congregation were thrown into
+the utmost alarm and disorder; some jumped from the gallery into
+the seats below, others fell from the windows, and those below
+pressing to get out of the porch, were many of them thrown over each
+other and trodden upon. Many, as might be expected, were seriously
+bruised; others had bones broken; and within two days five persons
+died from the injuries they had received. Mr. Whitefield's presence
+of mind did not fail him; he immediately led the anxious throng to
+the Common, and preached to them from the text, "Go ye out into the
+highways and hedges, and compel them to come in." He says, "The
+weather was wet, but above eight thousand followed into the fields."
+
+On Tuesday morning, Whitefield visited Mr. Walter, at Roxbury. This
+gentleman had been the colleague, and was now the successor of John
+Eliot, "the apostle of the Indians." These two men had been pastors
+of that church one hundred and six years. Whitefield was much
+pleased with Walter, who, in return, was glad to hear that he, like
+old Bishop Beveridge, called man "half a devil and half a beast." He
+preached that forenoon at Mr. Gee's meeting-house, the "Old North,"
+of which church the celebrated Dr. Cotton Mather had formerly been
+pastor. The house stood in the North square, and was taken down by
+the British army and burned for fuel at the siege of Boston, in
+1776. The auditory Whitefield preached to that morning was not very
+crowded, as the people were in doubt where he would preach. After
+dining with the secretary of the province, he says, "I preached
+in the afternoon at Dr. Sewall's to a thronged congregation, and
+exhorted and prayed as usual at my own lodgings; at neither place
+without some manifestations of a divine power accompanying the word."
+
+Wednesday was not lost. Whitefield himself shall describe its
+proceedings. "Went this morning to see and preach at Cambridge, the
+chief college for training up the sons of the prophets in all New
+England. It has one president, I think four tutors, and about a
+hundred students. It is scarce as big as one of our least colleges
+in Oxford, and as far as I could gather from some who well knew the
+state of it, not far superior to our universities in piety and true
+godliness. Tutors neglect to pray with, and examine the hearts of
+their pupils. Discipline is at too low an ebb. Bad books are become
+fashionable. Tillotson and Clarke are read instead of Sheppard,
+Stoddard, and such like evangelical writers; and therefore I chose
+to preach on these words: 'We are not as many, who corrupt the
+word of God;' and in the conclusion of my sermon I made a close
+application to tutors and students. A great number of neighboring
+ministers attended, as indeed they do at all other times, and God
+gave me great boldness and freedom of speech. The president of the
+college and minister of the parish treated me very civilly. In the
+afternoon I preached again in the court, without any particular
+application to the students. I believe there were about seven
+thousand hearers. The Holy Spirit melted many hearts. The word was
+attended with a manifest power; and a minister soon after wrote me
+word, that 'he believed one of his daughters was savingly wrought
+upon at that time.' Paid my respects to the lieutenant-governor,
+who lives at Cambridge, and returned in the evening to Boston, and
+prayed with and exhorted many people who were waiting round the door
+for a spiritual morsel. I believe our Lord did not send them empty
+away."
+
+An elm under which Whitefield preached in Cambridge became
+distinguished; it being under its shade that Washington, thirty-one
+years after, first drew his sword in the cause of the Revolution,
+on taking the command of the American army. From this circumstance,
+it has been called the "Washington elm." The last time the late
+distinguished Dr. Holyoke, of Salem, Mass., was in Cambridge, then
+nearly a hundred years old, while passing this tree with a friend,
+he said that he heard Whitefield's sermon, being at the time a
+student in college.
+
+On Thursday he preached the weekly lecture at Mr. Foxcroft's, the
+First church. But he says, "I was so oppressed with a sense of my
+base ingratitude to my dearest Saviour, that Satan would fain have
+tempted me to hold my tongue, and not invite poor sinners to Jesus
+Christ, because I was so great a sinner myself. But God enabled
+me to withstand the temptation, and since Jesus Christ had shown
+such mercy to, and had not withdrawn his Holy Spirit from me, the
+chief of sinners, I was enabled more feelingly to talk of his love;
+and afterwards found that one stranger, in particular, was in all
+probability effectually convinced by that morning's sermon. After
+public worship, I went, at his excellency's invitation, and dined
+with the governor. Most of the ministers of the town were invited
+with me. Before dinner, the governor sent for me up into his
+chamber. He wept, wished me 'good luck in the name of the Lord,'
+and recommended himself, ministers, and people to my prayers.
+Immediately after dinner, I prayed explicitly for them all, and
+went in his coach to the end of the town; but had such a sense of
+my vileness upon my soul, that I wondered people did not stone me.
+Crossed a ferry, and preached at Charlestown, a town lying on the
+north side of Boston. The meeting-house was very capacious, and
+quite filled. A gracious melting was discernible through the whole
+congregation, and I perceived much freedom and sweetness in my own
+soul, though the damp I felt in the morning was not quite gone off.
+In the evening I exhorted and prayed as usual at my lodgings; and
+blessed be God, I found a great alteration in my hearers. They now
+began to melt and weep under the word."
+
+On Friday, the following day, he preached in the morning at Roxbury,
+from a little ascent, to many thousands of people, with much of the
+divine presence. Several came to him afterwards, telling him how
+they were struck with the word. Having dined with Judge Dudley, he
+preached to a still larger congregation from a scaffold erected
+outside Mr. Byles' meeting-house in Hollis-street. Wrote to several
+friends in England; gave a short exhortation to a large crowd of
+hearers; and then spent the evening with several ministers in
+edifying conversation, singing, and prayer.
+
+Saturday, he preached in the morning at Mr. Welsteed's
+meeting-house, and in the afternoon to about fifteen thousand
+people on the Common. "But Oh, how did the word run! It rejoiced
+me to see such numbers greatly affected, so that some, I believe,
+could scarcely abstain from crying out. That place was no other
+than a Bethel, and a gate of heaven." After he had gone home to his
+lodgings he says, "The power and presence of the Lord accompanied
+and followed me. Many now wept bitterly, and cried out under the
+word like persons that were really hungering and thirsting after
+righteousness; and after I left them, God gave me to wrestle with
+him in my chamber, in behalf of some dear friends then present,
+and others that were absent from us. The Spirit of the Lord was
+upon them all. It made intercession with groanings that cannot be
+uttered."
+
+On the day following, being the Sabbath, in the morning he preached
+at the Old South church, Dr. Sewall's, to a very crowded auditory,
+"with almost as much power and visible appearance of God as
+yesterday. Collected £555 currency for my little lambs; was taken
+very ill after dinner; vomited violently, but was enabled to preach
+at Dr. Colman's in the afternoon to as great, if not a greater
+congregation than in the morning. Here also £470 were collected for
+the orphan-house in Georgia. In both places all things were carried
+on with decency and order. People went slowly out, as though they
+had not a mind to escape giving; and Dr. Colman said 'it was the
+most pleasant time he ever enjoyed in that meeting-house through the
+whole course of his life.' Blessed be God, after sermon I perceived
+myself somewhat refreshed. Supped very early. Had the honor of a
+private visit from the governor, who came full of affection to
+take his leave of me for the present. Went, at their request, and
+preached to a great company of negroes, on the conversion of the
+Ethiopian, Acts the eighth; at which the poor creatures, as well as
+many white people, were much affected; and at my return, gave an
+exhortation to a crowd of people who were waiting at my lodgings. My
+animal spirits were almost exhausted, and my legs, through expense
+of sweating and vomiting, almost ready to sink under me; but the
+Lord visited my soul, and I went to bed greatly refreshed with
+divine consolations." Even at this early period such sufferings of
+his bodily system frequently followed his herculean labors.
+
+Early on Monday morning, Sept. 29, Whitefield left Boston on an
+excursion to the eastward. At Marblehead, he "preached to some
+thousands in a broad place in the middle of the town, but not with
+much apparent effect." At Salem, he "preached to about seven
+thousand people. Here the Lord manifested forth his glory. One man
+was, I believe, struck down by the power of the word. In every part
+of the congregation, persons might be seen under great concern." He
+went on to Ipswich, where he was kindly "entertained at the house
+of Mr. Rogers, one of the ministers of the place." Of this family
+our evangelist was soon to know more than he had hitherto done. At
+about this period, John Rogers, aged 77, and Nathanael Rogers, were
+joint pastors of the First church at Ipswich; both of them were
+ardent promoters of the revival, as was also Daniel Rogers, of the
+same family. Whitefield learned with deep interest that his host
+was a descendant of the celebrated martyr, John Rogers. The next
+day he preached there to some thousands. "The Lord," says he, "gave
+me freedom, and there was a great melting in the congregation." At
+Newbury, in the afternoon, the Lord accompanied the word with power.
+The meeting-house was very large, many ministers were present, and
+the people were greatly affected. Blessed be God, his divine power
+attends us more and more." Wednesday, he preached at Hampton, in
+the open air, to some thousands. He was here very highly gratified
+with the conversation of Mr. Colton, the minister, and with the
+Christian simplicity of his excellent wife. The high wind prevented
+his being heard so well as he usually was, and he did not enjoy his
+accustomed freedom; still, "some, though not many, were affected."
+At Portsmouth, he "preached to a polite auditory, but so very
+unconcerned, that I began to question whether I had been speaking
+to rational or brute creatures. Seeing no immediate effects of
+the word preached, I was a little dejected; but God, to comfort my
+heart, sent one young man, crying out in great anguish of spirit,
+'What shall I do to be saved?'"
+
+From Portsmouth, our evangelist proceeded to York, in Maine, "to
+see one Mr. Moody, a worthy, plain, and powerful minister of Jesus
+Christ, though now much impaired by old age. He has lived by faith
+for many years, would have no settled salary, and has been much
+despised by bad men, and as much respected by the true lovers of
+the blessed Jesus." The next morning he was much comforted to hear,
+from Mr. Moody, that he would preach that morning to a hundred new
+creatures; "and indeed," says he, "I believe I did; for when I came
+to preach, I could speak little or no terror, but most consolation."
+He preached morning and evening. "The hearers looked plain and
+simple, and the tears trickled apace down most of their cheeks." He
+returned to Portsmouth that night, and the next morning preached to
+a far greater congregation, and with much better effect than before.
+"Instead of preaching to dead stocks, I now had reason to believe I
+was preaching to living men. People began to melt soon after I began
+to pray; and the power increased more and more during the whole
+sermon." This was still more clearly evinced after Mr. Whitefield's
+departure from the town.
+
+Returning to Boston, through Salem, Marblehead, and Malden, in each
+of which places he preached, and being now in improved health, he
+preached, October 7, both morning and evening, "with much power,"
+at Brattle-street. There had been for several days a report in
+circulation, that he had died suddenly, or was poisoned, and the
+people greatly rejoiced again to see him alive. At Mr. Webb's, the
+New North church, on the following Wednesday, he thought there was
+more of the presence of God through the whole ministration, than
+he had before, known at one time in the course of his life. He
+went there with the governor, in his coach, and preached morning
+and evening. "Jesus Christ manifested forth his glory; many hearts
+melted within them; and I think I was never drawn out to pray for
+and invite little children to Jesus Christ, as I was this morning. A
+little before, I had heard of a child who was taken sick just after
+it had heard me preach, and said he would go to Mr. Whitefield's
+God, and died in a short time. This encouraged me to speak to the
+little ones. But O, how were the old people affected when I said,
+'Little children, if your parents will not come to Christ, do you
+come, and go to heaven without them.' There seemed to be but few
+dry eyes, look where I would. I have not seen a greater commotion
+since my preaching at Boston. Glory be to God, who has not forgotten
+to be gracious." He collected, after this sermon, £440 for his
+orphan-house, which was now more generally supported than ever
+before.
+
+The interesting fact we have just related of the impression produced
+on the mind of a little child by the preaching of Mr. Whitefield,
+may afford the opportunity to introduce one or two other facts
+bearing on the same general topic, and suggesting some practical
+lessons.
+
+Whitefield could indeed descend to talk with children. Here is
+a specimen which at once impresses us with a lively idea of his
+spirit, and of the adaptation of the religion of Jesus to the young
+as well as the old. A little girl seven years of age, when on her
+death-bed, desired an interview with him; he came, and thus they
+conversed:
+
+WHITEFIELD. For what purpose, my dear child, have you sent for me?
+
+GIRL. I think I am dying, and I wished very much to see you.
+
+WHITEFIELD. What can I do for you?
+
+GIRL. You can tell me about Christ, and pray for me.
+
+WHITEFIELD. My dear girl, what do you know about Christ?
+
+GIRL. I know he is the Saviour of the world.
+
+WHITEFIELD. My dear child, he is so.
+
+GIRL. I hope he will be _my_ Saviour also.
+
+WHITEFIELD. I hope, my dear, that this is the language of faith out
+of the mouth of a babe; but tell me what ground you have for saying
+this?
+
+GIRL. Oh, sir, he bids little children, such as I, to come unto him,
+and says, "Of such is the kingdom of heaven;" and besides, I love
+Christ, and am always glad when I think of him.
+
+WHITEFIELD. My dear child, you make my very heart to rejoice; but
+are you not a sinner?
+
+GIRL. Yes, I am a sinner, but my blessed Redeemer takes away sin,
+and I long to be with him.
+
+WHITEFIELD. My dear girl, I trust that the desire of your heart will
+be granted; but where do you think you will find your Redeemer?
+
+GIRL. O, sir, I think I shall find him in heaven.
+
+WHITEFIELD. Do you think you will get to heaven?
+
+GIRL. Yes, I do.
+
+WHITEFIELD. But what if you do not find Christ there?
+
+GIRL. If I do not find Christ there, I am sure it is not heaven; for
+where he dwells must be heaven, for there also dwells God, and holy
+angels, and all that Christ saves.
+
+Who can tell the results of a single sermon, or trace the
+consequences of one conversion? When Mr. Whitefield was preaching
+in New England, a lady became the subject of divine grace, and her
+spirit was peculiarly drawn out in prayer for others. But in her
+Christian exercises she was alone; she could persuade no one to pray
+with her but her little daughter, about ten years of age. She took
+this dear child into her closet from day to day, as a witness of her
+cries and tears. After a time, it pleased God to touch the heart of
+the child, and to give her the hope of salvation by the remission
+of sin. In a transport of holy joy she then exclaimed, "O, mother,
+if all the world knew this! I wish I could tell every body. Pray,
+mother, let me run to some of the neighbors and tell them, that they
+may be happy and love my Saviour too." "Ah, my dear child," said the
+mother, "that would be useless, for I suppose that were you to tell
+your experience, there is not one within many miles who would not
+laugh at you, and say it was all delusion." "Oh, mother," replied
+the dear girl, "I think they would believe me. I must go over to
+the shoemaker and tell him; he will believe me." She ran over, and
+found him at work in his shop. She began by telling him that he must
+die, and that he was a sinner, and that she was a sinner, but that
+her blessed Saviour had heard her mother's prayers, and had forgiven
+all her sins; and that now she was so happy that she did not know
+how to tell it. The shoemaker was struck with surprise, his tears
+flowed down like rain; he threw aside his work, and by prayer and
+supplication sought for mercy. The neighborhood were awakened, and
+within a few months more than fifty persons were brought to the
+knowledge of Jesus, and rejoiced in his power and grace.
+
+But to return to our narrative of Whitefield's labors in Boston. On
+Thursday, October 9, he preached the public lecture at the Old South
+church. He had selected another text, but it was much impressed on
+his heart that he should preach from our Lord's conference with
+Nicodemus. A large number of ministers were present, and when he
+came to the words, "Art thou a master in Israel, and knowest not
+these things?" he says, "The Lord enabled me to open my mouth boldly
+against unconverted ministers, to caution tutors to take care of
+their pupils, and also to advise ministers particularly to examine
+into the experiences of candidates for ordination. For I am verily
+persuaded the generality of preachers talk of an unknown and unfelt
+Christ; and the reason why congregations have been so dead is,
+because they have had dead men preaching to them. O that the Lord
+may quicken and revive them, for his own name's sake. For how can
+dead men beget living children? It is true, indeed, God may convert
+men by the devil, if he pleases, and so he may by unconverted
+ministers; but I believe he seldom makes use of either of them for
+this purpose. No; the Lord will choose vessels made meet by the
+operations of the blessed Spirit for his sacred use: and as for
+my own part, I would not lay hands on an unconverted man for ten
+thousand worlds. Unspeakable freedom God gave me while treating on
+this head. After sermon, I dined with the governor, who seemed more
+kindly affected than ever, and particularly told me, of the minister
+who has lately begun to preach extempore, that 'he was glad he had
+found out a way to save his eyes.' In the afternoon I preached on
+the Common to about fifteen thousand people, and collected upwards
+of two hundred pounds for the orphan-house. Just as I had finished
+my sermon, a ticket was put up to me, wherein I was desired to pray
+for a person just entered upon the ministry, but under apprehension
+that he was not converted. God enabled me to pray for him with my
+whole heart; and I hope that ticket may teach many others not to
+run before they can give an account of their conversion. If they
+do, they offer to God strange fire." The same day and evening,
+Whitefield attended the funeral of one of the provincial council,
+preached at the almshouse, exhorted a great number of persons at
+the workhouse, who followed him there, and conversed with many who
+waited at his lodgings for spiritual advice. From the time of his
+return from the east, he had been thronged, morning and evening,
+with anxious inquirers. His friends cried, "Spare thyself;" but he
+says, "I went and ate bread very comfortably at a friend's house,
+where I was invited, and soon after retired to my rest. Oh, how
+comfortable is sleep after working for Jesus."
+
+On Friday he preached at Charlestown and at Reading to many
+thousands, and on Saturday from the meeting-house door at Cambridge,
+on Noah as a preacher of righteousness; a great number of persons
+were present, who stood very attentively during a shower of rain,
+and were at the latter part of the sermon much affected. On the same
+afternoon he returned to Boston, and again preached, and was engaged
+till midnight, chiefly in conversation and prayer with persons
+anxious for their salvation.
+
+Sunday, October 12, he rose with body and soul greatly refreshed,
+and spent its early hours in conversing with those who came for
+spiritual counsel. He then "preached with great power and affection"
+at the Old South church, which was so exceedingly thronged, that
+he was obliged to get in at one of the windows. He dined with the
+governor, who came to him after dinner weeping, and desired his
+prayers. He heard Dr. Sewall in the afternoon. Both during the
+exercises and after them he was sick, but went with the governor in
+his coach, and preached his farewell sermon on the Common, Gillies
+says, to twenty thousand, and Tracy to nearly thirty thousand
+people, though the whole population of Boston did not at that time
+exceed twenty thousand. Great multitudes were melted into tears when
+he spoke of leaving them. The governor then went with him to his
+lodgings. He stood in the passage and spoke to a great company, both
+within and without the doors; but they were so deeply affected, and
+cried out so loud, that he was compelled to leave off praying. The
+remaining part of the evening was chiefly spent in conversation with
+inquirers.
+
+In closing his account of this day's work, he exclaims, "Blessed be
+God for what things he has done in Boston! I hope a glorious work is
+now begun, and that the Lord will stir up some faithful laborers to
+carry it on. Boston is a large, populous place, very wealthy. Has
+the form kept up, but has lost much of the power of religion. I have
+not heard of any remarkable stir for these many years. Ministers
+and people are obliged to confess, that the love of many is waxed
+cold. Both, for the generality, seem to be too much conformed
+to the world. There is much of the pride of life to be seen in
+their assemblies. Jewels, patches, and gay apparel are commonly
+worn by the female sex; and even the common people, I observed
+dressed up in the pride of life. There are nine meeting-houses of
+the Congregational persuasion, one Baptist, one French, and one
+belonging to the Scotch-Irish. One thing Boston is very remarkable
+for--the external observance of the Sabbath. Men in civil offices
+have a regard for religion. The governor encourages them, and the
+ministers and magistrates are more united than in any other place
+where I have been. Both were exceedingly civil to me during my stay.
+I never saw so little scoffing, never had so little opposition.
+But one might easily see much would hereafter arise, when I came
+to be more particular in my application to particular persons; for
+I fear many rest in a head-knowledge, are close pharisees, and
+have only a name to live. It must needs be so when the power of
+godliness is dwindled away, and where the form only of religion
+is become fashionable among people. Boston people are dear to my
+soul. They were greatly affected by the word, followed me night
+and day, and were very liberal to my dear orphans. I promised, God
+willing, to visit them again, and intend to fulfil my promise when
+it shall please God to bring me again from my native country. In the
+meanwhile, dear Boston, adieu. The Lord be with thy ministers and
+people, and grant that the remnant which is still left according
+to the election of grace, may take root downwards, and bear fruit
+upwards, and fill the land."
+
+On the morning following these solemn services, Whitefield left
+Boston on his way to Northampton. To detail his four days' progress,
+would be almost to repeat what we have already written. At Concord,
+where he arrived on Monday about noon, he preached twice to some
+thousands in the open air, "and a comfortable preaching it was. The
+hearers were sweetly melted down." Mr. Bliss, the minister of the
+town, of whose subsequent labors it has been well said, more perfect
+accounts ought to have been preserved, wept abundantly. On Tuesday
+he "preached at Sudbury to some thousands with power, and observed
+a considerable commotion in the assembly;" as was also the case the
+same afternoon at Marlborough. At the latter place he was met by
+Governor Belcher, who went with him through the rain that night to
+Worcester. Here, on Wednesday, he "preached in the open air to some
+thousands. The word fell with weight indeed. It carried all before
+it. After sermon, the governor said to me, 'I pray God I may apply
+what has been said to my own heart. Pray, Mr. Whitefield, that I may
+hunger and thirst after righteousness.'" Passing on, he preached
+at Leicester, Brookfield, and Cold-Spring, on his way to Hadley,
+where he arrived on Friday, and preached about noon. In this place
+he says, "A great work was begun, and carried on some years ago;
+but lately the people of God have complained of deadness and losing
+their first love. However, as soon as I mentioned what God had done
+for their souls formerly, it was like putting fire to timber. The
+remembrance of it quickened them, and caused many to weep sorely."
+On the same afternoon he crossed the ferry to Northampton.
+
+Of the great revival of religion in New England, which commenced at
+Northampton about 1734, and is the subject of President Edwards'
+"Narrative," we have already briefly spoken; its importance will
+justify a more extended notice. It began without any extraordinary
+circumstances to awaken the attention of the people, or any uncommon
+arrangements or efforts by the minister. The young people of the
+place had for two or three years shown an increased measure of
+thoughtfulness, and a growing disposition to receive religious
+instruction. There had been, from time to time, instances of strong
+religious impression and of hopeful conversion. But in the latter
+end of December, 1734, five or six persons, one after another,
+became very suddenly the subjects of the grace of God which newly
+creates the soul. Among these was a young woman distinguished for
+her gayety in youthful society, "one of the greatest company-keepers
+in the whole town," who came to the pastor with a broken heart
+and a contrite spirit, and with faith and hope in the Saviour of
+sinners, before any one had heard of her being at all impressed
+with serious things. The sudden, though, as time proved, the _real_
+conversion of this young woman, was the power of God striking the
+electric chain of religious sympathies which had imperceptibly,
+but effectually encircled all the families of Northampton. Mr.
+Edwards' "Narrative" says, "The news of it seemed to be almost
+like a flash of lightning upon the hearts of young people all over
+the town, and upon many others.... Presently a great and earnest
+concern about the great things of religion and the eternal world
+became universal in all parts of the town, and among persons of
+all degrees and all ages. All talk but about spiritual and eternal
+things was soon thrown by; all the conversation in all companies
+was upon these things only, except so much as was necessary for
+people carrying on their ordinary secular business. The minds of
+people were wonderfully taken off from the world; it was treated
+among us as a thing of very little consequence. All would eagerly
+lay hold of opportunities for their souls, and were wont very often
+to meet together in private houses for religious purposes. And
+such meetings, when appointed, were generally thronged. Those who
+were wont to be the vainest and loosest, and those who had been
+most disposed to think and speak lightly of vital and experimental
+religion, were now generally subject to great awakening. And the
+work of conversion was carried on in a most astonishing manner, and
+increased more and more. From day to day, for many months together,
+might be seen evident instances of sinners brought out of darkness
+into marvellous light. In the spring and summer following, the town
+seemed to be full of the presence of God; it was never so full of
+love, and yet so full of distress, as it was then. It was a time
+of joy in families, on account of salvation being brought to them;
+parents rejoicing over their children as new-born, and husbands
+over their wives, and wives over their husbands. The goings of God
+were then seen in his sanctuary, God's day was a delight, and his
+tabernacles were amiable. Our public assemblies were then beautiful;
+the congregation was alive in God's service, every one eagerly
+intent on the public worship, every hearer eager to drink in the
+words of the minister as they came from his mouth. The assembly
+were, from time to time, in tears, while the word was preached; some
+weeping with sorrow and distress, others with joy and love, others
+with pity and concern for their neighbors."
+
+In December, 1743, nine years after this blessed work had begun,
+Edwards writes, "Ever since the great work of God that was wrought
+here about nine years ago, there has been a great, abiding
+alteration in this town, in many respects. There has been vastly
+more religion kept up in the town, among all sorts of persons, in
+religious exercises, and in common conversation, than used to be
+before. There has remained a more general seriousness and decency
+in attending the public worship. I suppose the town has been in no
+measure so free from vice, for any long time together, for these
+sixty years, as it has these nine years past. There has also been
+an evident alteration with respect to a charitable spirit to the
+poor. And though, after that great work of nine years ago, there
+has been a very lamentable decay of religious affections, and the
+engagedness of people's spirits in religion, yet many societies for
+prayer and social religion were all along kept up, and there were
+some few instances of awakening and deep concern about the things of
+another world, even in the most dead time. In the year 1740, in the
+spring, before Mr. Whitefield came to this town, there was a visible
+alteration. There was more seriousness and religious conversation,
+especially among young people. Those things that were of ill
+tendency among them were more forborne; and it was a more frequent
+thing for persons to visit their ministers upon soul accounts. In
+some particular persons, there appeared a great alteration about
+that time. And thus it continued till Mr. Whitefield came to town,
+which was about the middle of October following."
+
+And what thought Whitefield himself on his arrival at Northampton?
+Let us hear him. "Their pastor's name is Edwards, successor and
+grandson to the great Stoddard, whose memory will be always precious
+to my soul, and whose books, entitled, "_A Guide to Christ_," and
+"_Safety of appearing in Christ's righteousness_," I would recommend
+to all. Mr. Edwards is a solid, excellent Christian, but at present
+weak in body. I think I may say I have not seen his fellow in all
+New England. When I came into his pulpit, I found my heart drawn out
+to talk of scarce any thing besides the consolations and privileges
+of saints, and the plentiful effusion of the Spirit upon the
+hearts of believers. And when I came to remind them of their former
+experiences, and how zealous and lively they were at that time, both
+minister and people wept much; and the Holy Ghost enabled me to
+speak with a great deal of power. In the evening, I gave a word of
+exhortation to several who came to Mr. Edwards' house."
+
+On the following morning, "At Mr. Edwards' request, I spoke to his
+little children, who were much affected. Preached at Hatfield, five
+miles from Northampton, but found myself not much strengthened.
+Conversed profitably on the way about the things of God with dear
+Mr. Edwards, and preached about four in the afternoon to his
+congregation. I began with fear and trembling, feeling but little
+power in the morning, but God assisted me. Few dry eyes seemed to be
+in the assembly for a considerable time. I had an affecting prospect
+in my own heart of the glories of the upper world, and was enabled
+to speak of them feelingly to others. I believe many were filled, as
+it were, with new wine; and it seemed as if a time of refreshing was
+come from the presence of the Lord."
+
+The day following this was the Sabbath. Whitefield tells us in his
+journal, that he "felt wonderful satisfaction in being at the house
+of Mr. Edwards. He is a son himself, and hath also a daughter of
+Abraham for his wife. A sweeter couple I have not yet seen. Their
+children were dressed, not in silks and satins, but plain, as
+becomes the children of those who in all things ought to be examples
+of Christian simplicity. She is a woman adorned with a meek and
+quiet spirit, talked feelingly and solidly of the things of God, and
+seemed to be such a help-mate for her husband, that she caused me to
+renew those prayers, which, for some months, I have put up to God,
+that he would be pleased to send me a daughter of Abraham to be my
+wife. I find, upon many accounts, it is my duty to marry. Lord, I
+desire to have no choice of my own. Thou knowest my circumstances;
+thou knowest I only desire to marry in and for thee."
+
+Whitefield "preached this morning, and perceived the melting begin
+sooner and rise higher than before. Dear Mr. Edwards wept during
+the whole time of exercise. The people were equally, if not more
+affected; and my own soul was much lifted up towards God. In the
+afternoon the power increased yet more and more. Our Lord seemed to
+keep the good wine till the last. I have not seen four such gracious
+meetings together since my arrival. My soul was much knit to these
+dear people of God; and though I had not time to converse with them
+about their experiences, yet one might see they were for the most
+part, a gracious, tender people; and though their former fire might
+be greatly abated, yet it immediately appeared when stirred up."
+
+Edwards had looked forward to Whitefield's visit to Northampton with
+interest, for he felt greatly concerned for his success. He wrote
+a week before his arrival to his friend Dr. Wheelock, then a young
+minister of twenty-nine, "I think that those that make mention of
+the Lord, should now be awakened and encouraged to call upon God,
+and not keep silence, nor give him any rest, till he establish and
+till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth; and particularly
+should be earnest with God, that he would still uphold and succeed
+the Rev. Mr. Whitefield, the instrument that it has pleased him
+to improve to do such great things for the honor of his name, and
+at all times so to guide and direct him under his extraordinary
+circumstances, that Satan may not get any advantage of him."
+
+After his visit, Edwards writes, "Mr. Whitefield's sermons were
+suitable to the circumstances of the town; containing just
+reproofs of our backslidings, and in a most moving and affecting
+manner, making use of our great profession and our great mercies
+as arguments with us to return to God, from whom we had departed.
+Immediately after this, the minds of the people in general appeared
+more engaged in religion, showing a greater forwardness to make
+it the subject of their conversation, and to meet frequently for
+religious purposes, and to embrace all opportunities to hear
+the word preached. The revival at first appeared chiefly among
+professors, and those who had entertained the hope that they were
+in a state of grace, to whom Mr. Whitefield chiefly addressed
+himself; but in a very short time, there appeared an awakening and
+deep concern among some young persons that looked upon themselves
+in a Christless state; and there were some hopeful appearances of
+conversion; and some professors were greatly revived. In about a
+month or six weeks, there was a great alteration in the town, both
+as to the revivals of professors, and awakenings of others."
+
+During this visit of Whitefield to Edwards, some conversation
+was held between them, of which, several years afterwards, as it
+appears to us, far too much was said. Edwards took an opportunity,
+privately, to converse with his friend about _impulses_, and
+furnished him with some reasons for thinking that he gave too much
+attention to such things. Whitefield did not appear offended,
+neither did he seem inclined to converse much on the subject, or to
+yield to the reasonings of his friend Edwards. The latter says, "It
+is true, that I thought Mr. Whitefield liked me not so well for my
+opposing these things; and though he treated me with great kindness,
+yet he never made so much of an intimate of me, as of some others."
+It seems also, that they conversed on the strong language which
+the great evangelist was accustomed to employ as to those whom he
+considered to be unconverted, and the duty of the people to forsake
+the preaching of ministers whom he did not consider to be renewed
+in the spirit of their minds. Whitefield told Edwards also, of the
+design he had cherished of bringing over a number of young men from
+England, to be ordained by the Tennents, in New Jersey; an object,
+however, which he never accomplished.
+
+It appears that after preaching at Northampton twice on the Sabbath,
+Whitefield, accompanied by his friend Edwards, rode to the house of
+the father of the last-named gentleman, the Rev. Timothy Edwards,
+in East Windsor, Connecticut. At this place, as also at Westfield,
+Springfield, Suffield, Hartford, Wethersfield, Middletown, and
+Wallingford, he preached to large assemblies, generally with his
+accustomed animation and power, and with the happy proofs of
+success which he so frequently witnessed. During this week also,
+he experienced a remarkable deliverance from great danger. He
+says, "A little after I left Springfield, my horse, coming over a
+broken bridge, threw me over his head, directly upon my nose. The
+fall stunned me for a while. My mouth was full of dust, I bled a
+little, but falling upon soft sand, got not much damage. After
+I had recovered myself, and mounted my horse, God so filled me
+with a sense of his sovereign, distinguishing love, and my own
+unworthiness, that my eyes gushed out with tears; but they were all
+tears of love. Oh, how did I want to sink before the high and lofty
+One who inhabiteth eternity!"
+
+During this week also, on his way to Suffield, he met with a
+minister who said, "It was not absolutely necessary for a gospel
+minister, that he should be converted;" meaning, no doubt, that
+though conversion was necessary to his salvation, it was not
+indispensable to his ministerial character and usefulness. This gave
+Whitefield a subject. "I insisted much in my discourse upon the
+doctrine of the new birth, and also the necessity of a minister's
+being converted, before he could preach Christ aright. The word
+came with great power, and a great impression was made upon the
+people in all parts of the assembly. Many ministers were present. I
+did not spare them. Most of them thanked me for my plain dealing;
+but one was offended; and so would more of his stamp be, if I were
+to continue longer in New England. For unconverted ministers are
+the bane of the Christian church; and though I honor the memory of
+that great and good man Mr. Stoddard, yet I think he is much to
+be blamed for endeavoring to prove that unconverted men might be
+admitted into the ministry. How he has handled the controversy, I
+know not. I think no solid arguments can be brought to defend such a
+cause. A sermon lately published by Mr. Gilbert Tennent, entitled,
+'_The Danger of an Unconverted Ministry_,' I think unanswerable.
+Tracy truly says, that Stoddard, in his '_Appeal to the Learned_,'
+assumes that an unconverted minister is bound to continue in the
+performance of ministerial duties, and infers that unconverted men
+may therefore be admitted to the church. This opinion at one period
+extensively prevailed, though all held it desirable that a minister
+should be a converted man. By his attacks on this opinion, and
+especially by thus endorsing Tennent's Nottingham sermon, Whitefield
+gave great offence."
+
+On Wednesday afternoon, he preached at East Windsor, and spent
+the night with Mr. Edwards, senior, "I believe," he says, "a true
+disciple and minister of the Lord Jesus Christ. After exercise, we
+supped at the house of old Mr. Edwards. His wife was as aged, I
+believe, as himself, and I fancied that I was sitting in the house
+of a Zacharias and Elisabeth." On the following day, he "preached to
+many thousands, and with much freedom and power," at Hartford in the
+morning, and at Wethersfield in the afternoon. Here he met Messrs.
+Wheelock and Pomeroy, "two young, faithful, and zealous ministers
+of Jesus Christ." From this place he had intended to go eastward
+as far as Plymouth, and return by another route to Providence, and
+notice had been given in the newspapers of about twenty sermons
+which he proposed to preach at the times and places specified.
+He was afterwards blamed for making these appointments without
+first consulting the pastors of the several churches; thus giving
+countenance, it was said, to the practice of itinerants intruding
+into other men's parishes without their consent. The proceeding
+was certainly somewhat irregular, but Whitefield was not much to
+be blamed for it. The details were settled, and the publication
+made, by men in whose judgment and knowledge of the customs of
+the country he had a right to confide; and the appointments
+were believed, in all cases, and doubtless known in some, to be
+agreeable to the parties concerned. At Wethersfield, however, the
+evangelist ascertained the necessity of his hastening on to New
+York, and immediately, therefore, published a note recalling these
+appointments.
+
+On Friday, October 24, Whitefield arrived at New Haven, and was
+entertained at the house of Mr. James Pierpont, the brother-in-law
+of Mr. Edwards, and of Mr. Noyes, the minister of the First
+Congregational church. The Legislature of the colony being in
+session, he remained till after the Lord's day; and "had the
+pleasure of seeing numbers daily impressed," under his ministrations
+in the old polygonal meeting-house. Several ministers of the
+vicinity visited him, "with whose pious conversation he was much
+refreshed." Good old Governor Tallcott, on whom with due politeness
+he waited to pay his respects, said to him, "Thanks be to God for
+such refreshings in our way to heaven." Among others who heard his
+glowing appeals to the congregations that listened to him during
+this visit, was young Samuel Hopkins, still well known as an eminent
+divine. Hopkins was now nineteen, and was a student at college; his
+biographer tells us, that "he was much interested in the man, and
+much impressed by his solemn warnings."
+
+The testimony of Hopkins himself may here be introduced. He says,
+speaking of Whitefield, "The attention of the people in general was
+greatly awakened upon hearing the fame of him, that there was a
+remarkable preacher from England travelling through the country. The
+people flocked to hear him when he came to New Haven. Some travelled
+twenty miles out of the country to hear him. The assemblies were
+crowded, and remarkably attentive; people appeared generally to
+approve, and their conversation turned chiefly upon him and his
+preaching. Some disapproved of several things, which occasioned
+considerable disputes. I heard him when he preached in public, and
+when he expounded in private in the evening, and highly approved of
+him, and was impressed by what he said in public and in private.
+He preached against mixed dancing and the frolicking of males
+and females together, which practice was then very common in New
+England. This offended some, especially young people. But I remember
+I justified him in this in my own mind, and in conversation with
+those who were disposed to condemn him. This was in October, 1740,
+when I had entered on my last year in college."
+
+On this visit, Whitefield dined with the Rev. Mr. Clap, the rector
+of the college. Of the college he says, "It is about one-third part
+as big as Cambridge. It has one rector, three tutors, and about a
+hundred students. But I hear of no remarkable concern among them
+concerning religion." Mr. Clap, it is well known, afterwards became
+the public opponent of Whitefield; and it would seem that his
+dislike to him commenced with this first interview; for he "spoke
+very closely to the students, and showed the dreadful consequences
+of an unconverted ministry." In his journal of the day he says, "O
+that God may quicken ministers! O that the Lord may make them a
+flaming fire!" On the two days following, he preached at Milford,
+Stratford, and Fairfield, on his way to New York. On Wednesday, when
+at Stamford, he thus speaks of New England and his labors in it:
+
+"I give God thanks for sending me to New England. I have now had
+an opportunity of seeing the greatest and most populous parts of
+it; and take it all together, it certainly on many accounts exceeds
+all other provinces of America, and for the establishment of
+religion, perhaps all other parts of the world. Never, surely, was
+so large a spot of ground settled in such a manner, in so short a
+space of one hundred years. The towns all through Connecticut and
+eastwards towards York in the province of Massachusetts, [Maine,]
+near the river-side, are large, well peopled, and exceedingly
+pleasant to travel through. Every five miles, or perhaps less,
+you have a meeting-house, and I believe there is no such a thing
+as a pluralist, or non-resident minister in both provinces. Many,
+nay, most that preach, I fear do not experimentally know Christ;
+yet I cannot see much worldly advantage to tempt them to take upon
+them the sacred function. Few country ministers, as I have been
+informed, have sufficient allowed them in money to maintain a
+family. God has remarkably, in sundry times and in divers manners,
+poured out his Spirit in several parts of both provinces; and it
+often refreshes my soul to hear of the faith of the good forefathers
+who first settled in these parts. Notwithstanding they had their
+foibles, surely they were a set of righteous men. They certainly
+followed our Lord's rule, sought first the kingdom of God and his
+righteousness; and behold, all other things God added unto them.
+Their seed are now blessed, in temporal things especially, and
+notwithstanding the rising generation seem to be settled on their
+lees, yet I believe the Lord hath more than seven thousand who have
+not bowed the knee to Baal. The ministers and people of Connecticut
+seem to be more simple than those that live near Boston, especially
+in those parts where I went. But I think the ministers' preaching
+almost universally by notes, is a certain mark they have in a great
+measure lost the old spirit of preaching. For though all are not to
+be condemned that use notes, yet it is a sad symptom of the decay
+of vital religion when reading sermons becomes fashionable, where
+extempore preaching did once almost universally prevail. As for
+the universities, I believe it may be said, their light is become
+darkness, darkness that may be felt, and is complained of by the
+most godly ministers. I pray God these fountains may be purified,
+and send forth pure streams to water the cities of our God....
+As for the civil government of New England, it seems to be well
+regulated, and I think, at opening all their courts, either the
+judge or a minister begins with a prayer. Family worship, I believe,
+is generally kept up. The negroes I think better used, both in soul
+and body, than in any other province I have yet seen. In short, I
+like New England exceedingly well; and when a spirit of reformation
+revives, it certainly will prevail here more than in other places,
+because they are simple in their worship, less corrupt in their
+principles, and consequently easier to be brought over to the form
+of sound words, into which so many of their pious ancestors were
+delivered. Send forth, O Lord, thy light and thy truth, and for
+thine infinite mercy's sake, show thou hast a peculiar delight in
+these habitable parts of the earth. Amen, Lord Jesus, amen, and
+amen."
+
+Among many who became the subjects of divine grace during this visit
+of Whitefield to New England, was Daniel Emerson, who was educated
+at Harvard college, where he received his first degree in 1739, and
+where he continued to reside for some time as a graduate. While at
+college, he is said to have been very fond of the gay pleasures of
+this life, until his attention was effectually called to religion by
+the preaching of Whitefield, whom he followed from place to place
+for several days. He was ordained at Hollis, New Hampshire, in 1743,
+where, in a ministry of fifty years, he was a worthy follower of
+his spiritual father. The chief excellences of his preaching were
+sound doctrine, deep feeling, and zeal at times almost overwhelming.
+He was truly a son of thunder, and a flaming light. He was almost
+incessantly engaged in labors, preaching, attending funerals, etc.,
+far and near. His efforts were greatly blessed, especially among
+his own people, who under his ministry enjoyed extensive revivals
+of religion, and where also a large number of ministers have been
+called to their work. He died in 1801, aged eighty-five.
+
+It may be appropriate to introduce here a sketch of Whitefield's
+doctrines and labors at this time, as given us by the eminent Dr.
+Thomas Prince, in his "Christian History," under date of January
+26, 1744-5, but having reference to Whitefield's first visit to New
+England, which we have just described:
+
+"He spoke with a mighty sense of God, eternity, the immortality
+and preciousness of the souls of his hearers, of their original
+corruption, and of the extreme danger the unregenerate are in; with
+the nature and absolute necessity of regeneration by the Holy Ghost;
+and of believing in Christ, in order to our pardon, justification,
+yielding an acceptable obedience, and obtaining salvation from
+hell and an entrance into heaven. His doctrine was plainly that
+of the reformers; declaring against our putting our good works or
+morality in the room of Christ's righteousness, or their having any
+hand in our justification, or being indeed pleasing to God while
+we are totally unsanctified, acting upon corrupt principles, and
+unreconciled enemies to him; which occasioned some to mistake him,
+as if he opposed morality. But he insisted on it, that the tree of
+the heart is by original sin exceedingly corrupted, and must be
+made good by regeneration, that so the fruits proceeding from it
+may be good likewise; that where the heart is renewed, it ought
+and will be careful to maintain good works, that if any be not
+habitually so careful who think themselves renewed, they deceive
+their own souls; and even the most improved in holiness, as well as
+others, must entirely depend on the righteousness of Christ for the
+acceptance of their persons and services. And though now and then
+he dropped some expressions that were not so accurate and guarded
+as we should expect from aged and long-studied ministers, yet I had
+the satisfaction to observe his readiness with great modesty and
+thankfulness to receive correction as soon as offered.
+
+"In short, he was a most importunate wooer of souls to come to
+Christ for the enjoyment of him, and all his benefits. He distinctly
+applied his exhortations to the elderly people, the middle-aged,
+the young, the Indians, and negroes, and had a most winning way
+of addressing them. He affectionately prayed for our magistrates,
+ministers, colleges, candidates for the ministry, and churches, as
+well as people in general; and before he left us, in a public and
+moving manner, he observed to the people how sorry he was to hear
+that the religious assemblies, especially on lectures, had been so
+thin, exhorted them earnestly to a more general attendance on our
+public ministrations for the time to come, and told them how glad he
+should be to hear of the same.
+
+"Multitudes were greatly affected, and many awakened with his lively
+ministry. Though he preached every day, the houses were crowded; but
+when he preached on the Common, a vaster number attended; and almost
+every evening the house where he lodged was thronged to hear his
+prayers and counsels.
+
+"On Mr. Whitefield's leaving us, great numbers in this town [Boston]
+were so happily concerned about their souls, as we had never
+seen any thing like it before, except at the time of the general
+earthquake;[1] and their desires excited to hear their ministers
+more than ever. So that our assemblies, both on lectures and
+Sabbaths, were surprisingly increased, and now the people wanted
+to hear us oftener. In consequence of which a public lecture was
+proposed to be set up at Dr. Colman's church, near the midst of the
+town, on every Tuesday evening."
+
+  [1] Dr. Prince, in a note, here says, "Though people were _then_,"
+  in the time of the earthquake, "generally frightened, and many
+  awakened to such a sense of their duty as to offer themselves to our
+  communion, yet very few came to me _then_ under deep convictions of
+  their unconverted and lost condition, in comparison of what came
+  _now_. Nor did those who came to me _then_, come so much with the
+  inquiry, 'What shall we do to be saved?' as to signify they had such
+  a sense of their duty to come to the Lord's table that they dare not
+  stay away any longer."
+
+In reference to the work of grace which was connected with
+Whitefield's preaching in New England, the Rev. Dr. Baron Stow,
+in his "Centennial Discourse," says, "The result, by the blessing
+of God, was a powerful revival, such as New England had never
+witnessed. The work was opposed with great vehemence; and no
+impartial reader of the history of those extraordinary scenes can
+question that much of the hostility was provoked by improprieties of
+both speech and action, that would at any time be offensive to those
+who love good order and Christian decorum. But after making liberal
+allowance for all that was truly exceptionable, it is cheerfully
+admitted by the candid Christian, that the excitement was, in the
+main, the product of the Holy Spirit, and that its fruits were
+eminently favorable to the advancement of true religion. A torpid
+community was aroused, as by the trump of God, from its long and
+heavy slumber; ministers and people were converted; the style of
+preaching, and the tone of individual piety were improved; a cold,
+cadaverous formalism gave place to the living energy of experimental
+godliness; the doctrines of the gospel were brought out from their
+concealment, and made to reassert their claims to a cordial,
+practical credence, and all the interests of truth and holiness
+received new homage from regenerated thousands."
+
+One or two other facts connected with Whitefield's usefulness in New
+England are too important to be omitted. During this visit he was
+much gratified by an interview with a colored man, who had been his
+chaise-driver when he first visited Cambridge. The negro had heard
+him preach in the college a sermon especially addressed "to those
+who labor and are heavy-laden." It took such a hold on the poor man,
+that he repeated it in the kitchen when he reached home. Mr. Cooper
+of Boston was so well satisfied, as was Whitefield also, with his
+account of his conversion, that he was admitted to the Lord's table.
+
+Another "brand plucked from the burning" was a son of Mackintosh,
+an English rebel, who had been condemned to perpetual imprisonment,
+and had been allowed by George the First to settle in New England.
+One of his daughters, a lady of fortune, had heard Whitefield preach
+in Dr. Prince's church at Boston, and had been won by the word to
+Christ. She was soon after smitten by sickness, and ripened rapidly
+for heaven. On her death-bed she cried out for her "soul friend" Mr.
+Whitefield; but checking her own impatience, she asked, "Why should
+I do so? He is gone about his Master's work, and in a little time we
+shall meet to part no more." The distinguished evangelist had a very
+high opinion of her piety, and his interest in her was increased by
+the fact that she had a very remarkable escape from some ruffians
+who had been bribed to convey her and her sister to Scotland, that
+their uncle might seize on an estate worth a thousand pounds a year.
+
+There were at this time not less than twenty ministers in the
+neighborhood of Boston who unhesitatingly spoke of Whitefield
+as their spiritual father, directly tracing their conversion to
+his ministry. Of one of these we have an account by Collins, the
+journalist of South Reading. Speaking of 1741, he says, "Mr.
+Whitefield preached upon our Common in the open air. Mr. Hobby
+the minister went with the multitude to hear him. It is said that
+Mr. Hobby afterwards remarked, he came to pick a hole in Mr.
+Whitefield's coat, but that Whitefield picked a hole in his heart.
+Mr. Hobby afterwards wrote and published a defence of Mr. Whitefield
+in a letter to Mr. Henchman, the minister of Lynn, who had written
+against him."
+
+The letters of Whitefield, during his journeys of eleven hundred
+miles in New England, were few and brief; but they clearly indicated
+that at this time he was inclined "to return no more to his native
+country." New England, notwithstanding his trials there, had
+evidently won his heart, and for a time almost weaned him from Great
+Britain. When he left it, as he was now about to do, for the south,
+he wrote, "God only knows what a cross it was to me to leave dear
+New England so soon. I hope death will not be so bitter to me as
+was parting with my friends. Glad shall I be to be _prayed_ thither
+again before I see my native land. I would just be where He would
+have me, although in the uttermost parts of the earth. I am now
+hunting for poor lost sinners in these _ungospelized_ wilds."
+
+Is there not an awfully retributive providence connected with the
+rejection of the gospel and its ministers? Do we not see this
+principle at work in the history and present state of the Jews; and
+has it not often appeared also in the history of Christianity? There
+was a beautiful village, now a city, in Massachusetts, from which
+Whitefield was driven with such rancorous abuse, that he shook off
+the dust of his feet, and proclaimed that the Spirit of God would
+not visit that spot till the last of those persecutors was dead. The
+good man's language had a fearful truth in it, though he was not
+divinely gifted with the prophet's inspiration. A consciousness of
+desertion paralyzed the energies of the church; for nearly a century
+it was nurtured on the unwholesome food of unscriptural doctrine. In
+the very garden of natural loveliness, it sat like a heath in the
+desert, upon which there could be no rain; and not till that whole
+generation had passed from the earth, did Zion appear there in her
+beauty and strength.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+LABORS IN NEW YORK AND THE MIDDLE AND SOUTHERN STATES.
+
+1740, 1741.
+
+
+Whitefield was now again on his way to New York, preaching at Rye
+and King's Bridge on the road. At the latter place he was met by
+several friends from the city, with whom he pleasantly talked, "and
+found," he says, "an inexpressible satisfaction in my soul when I
+arrived at the house of my very dear friend Mr. Noble. After supper
+the Lord filled my heart, and gave me to wrestle with him for New
+York inhabitants and my own dear friends." He was also cheered
+by meeting Mr. Davenport from Long Island, whose labors as an
+evangelist were then exciting much interest. Here too he met with a
+violent pamphlet published against him. "Met also with two volumes
+of sermons published in London as delivered by me, though I never
+preached on most of the texts. But Satan must try all ways to bring
+the work of God into contempt."
+
+On the morning after his arrival, Whitefield preached in Mr.
+Pemberton's meeting-house, and says concerning the service, "Never
+saw the word of God fall with such weight in New York before. Two or
+three cried out. Mr. Noble could scarce refrain himself. And look
+where I would, many seemed deeply wounded. At night the word was
+attended with great power. One cried out; and the Lord enabled me
+at the latter end of my sermon to speak with authority. Alas, how
+vain are the thoughts of men! As I came along yesterday, I found my
+heart somewhat dejected, and told Mr. Noble I expected but little
+moving in New York; but he bid me 'expect great things from God,'
+and likewise told me of several who were, as he hoped, savingly
+wrought upon by my ministry when I was there last."
+
+On the following day he finished his answer to the pamphlet already
+referred to, and says, "God enabled me to write it in the spirit of
+meekness." He adds, "Preached twice as yesterday to very crowded
+auditories, and neither time without power. In the evening exercise
+some fainted, and the Lord seemed to show us more and more that a
+time for favoring New York was near at hand. Oh, wherefore did I
+doubt? Lord, increase my faith."
+
+The following day, November 2, was the Sabbath. "Preached this
+morning with freedom and some power, but was much dejected before
+the evening sermon. For near half an hour before I left Mr. Noble's
+house, I could only lie before the Lord, and say I was a poor
+sinner, and wonder that Christ would be gracious to such a wretch.
+As I went to meeting I grew weaker and weaker, and when I came into
+the pulpit I could have chosen to be silent rather than speak. But
+after I had begun, the Spirit of the Lord gave me freedom, till
+at length it came down like a mighty rushing wind, and carried
+all before it. Immediately the whole congregation was alarmed.
+Shrieking, crying, weeping, and wailing were to be heard in every
+corner; men's hearts failing them for fear, and many falling into
+the arms of their friends. My soul was carried out till I could
+scarcely speak any more. A sense of God's goodness overwhelmed me."
+
+After narrating two or three pleasing incidents as to the effect
+of his preaching even on the minds of children, and describing his
+feelings on his return home, he gives an account of the wedding
+of two young persons who were going as his assistants to Georgia.
+"Never," he says, "did I see a more solemn wedding. Jesus Christ
+was called, and he was present in a remarkable manner. After Mr.
+Pemberton had married them, I prayed. But my soul, how was it
+enabled to wrestle with and lay hold on God! I was in a very great
+agony, and the Holy Ghost was so remarkably present, that most,
+I believe, could say, 'Surely God is in this place.' After this,
+divine manifestations flowed in so fast, that my frail tabernacle
+was scarce able to sustain them. My dear friends sat round me on the
+bedsides. I prayed for each of them alternately with strong cries,
+and pierced by the eye of faith even within the veil. I continued in
+this condition for about half an hour, astonished at my own vileness
+and the excellency of Christ, then rose full of peace and love and
+joy."
+
+On Monday, the 3d, he preached both morning and afternoon to
+increasing congregations, and says, "There was a great and gracious
+melting both times, but no crying out. Nearly £110 currency were
+collected for the orphans; and in the evening many came and took an
+affectionate leave. About seven we took boat; reached Staten Island
+about ten, greatly refreshed in my inner man. A dear Christian
+friend received us gladly, and we solaced ourselves by singing and
+praying. About midnight retired to sleep, still longing for that
+time when I shall sleep no more."
+
+On Tuesday he preached on Staten Island from a wagon, to three
+or four hundred people. "The Lord came among them," and several
+inquired after the way of salvation. Here he met Gilbert Tennent
+and Mr. Cross. The former of these excellent ministers had recently
+lost his wife, and though he was ardently attached to her, he calmly
+preached her funeral sermon with the corpse lying before him.
+Tennent had lately been preaching in New Jersey and Maryland, and
+had a delightful account to give his friend of the progress of the
+good work. Nor was the account given by Mr. Cross of less interest.
+After sermon he rode to Newark, where he preached till dark, as he
+thought with but little good effect. "However, at night the Lord
+manifested forth his glory; for, coming down to family prayer where
+I lodged, and perceiving many young men around me, my soul was, as
+it were, melted down with concern for them. After singing, I gave
+a word of exhortation; with what power none can fully express but
+those that saw it. Oh, how did the word fall like a hammer and like
+a fire. What a weeping was there!"
+
+We must stay a moment to give a fact or two in reference to the
+Rev. Aaron Burr, then quite a young man, who two or three years
+before had been ordained at Newark, and whose ministry had been
+attended with a delightful revival the year preceding Whitefield's
+visit. During the period of this revival, the neighboring village
+of Elizabethtown had been remarkable for its insensibility; even
+Whitefield had preached there, "and not a single known conversion,"
+says Dr. Stearns, "followed his ministrations." Afterwards the
+pastor, the well-known Jonathan Dickinson, saw happy results from
+very plain preaching. Newark caught a new flame from its neighboring
+altar, and Mr. Burr, who had lately been to New England in quest
+of health, had heard the devoted evangelist again and again,
+and invited him to visit his flock, which he did about a month
+afterwards with happy results. The account given by Mr. Burr of
+Whitefield's preaching in New England was precisely what we should
+expect from the man who was afterwards the first president of
+Princeton college, and who, fourteen years after this, accompanied
+his eloquent friend to New England, "and saw at Boston, morning
+after morning, three or four thousand people hanging in breathless
+silence on the lips of the preacher, and weeping silent tears."
+
+The Rev. Stephen Dodd of East Haven, Conn., relates that an old
+lady told him that when Mr. Whitefield came to preach in the old
+meeting-house at Newark, she was twelve years old, and as he entered
+the pulpit she looked at him with distrust, but before he got
+through his prayers herself and all the congregation were melted
+down, and the sermon filled the house with groans and tears. The
+next time he came, the congregation was so large that the pulpit
+window was taken out, and he preached through the opening to the
+people in the burying-ground.
+
+On Wednesday, the 5th, he went to Baskinridge, Mr. Cross' parish,
+where he found Mr. Davenport, who, according to appointment, had
+been preaching to about three thousand people. He writes, "As I went
+along, I told a friend my soul wept for them, and I was persuaded
+within myself that the Lord would that day make his power to be
+known among them. In prayer, I perceived my soul drawn out, and a
+stirring of affections among the people. I had not discoursed long
+before the Holy Ghost displayed his power. In every part of the
+congregation somebody or other began to cry out, and almost all
+melted into tears. This abated for a few moments, till a little boy
+about seven or eight years of age cried out exceeding piteously
+indeed, and wept as though his little heart would break. Mr. Cross
+having compassion on him, took him up into the wagon, which so
+affected me, that I broke from my discourse, and told the people the
+little boy should preach to them, and that God, since old professors
+would not cry after Christ, had displayed his sovereignty, and out
+of an infant's mouth was perfecting praise. God so blessed this,
+that a universal concern fell on the congregation again. Fresh
+persons dropped down here and there, and the cry increased more and
+more."
+
+In the evening, Gilbert Tennent preached excellently in Mr. Cross'
+barn, two miles off. His subject was the necessity and benefit of
+spiritual desertions, a remarkable subject, as has been said, at
+such a time, in a barn, and at night. "A great commotion," says
+Whitefield, "was soon observed among the hearers. I then gave a word
+of exhortation. The Lord's presence attended it in a surprising
+manner. One, in about six minutes, cried out, 'He is come, He is
+come!' and could scarcely sustain the discovery that Jesus Christ
+made of himself to his soul. Others were so earnest for a discovery
+of the Lord to their souls, that their eager crying obliged me to
+stop, and I prayed over them as I saw their agonies and distress
+increase. At length my own soul was so full that I retired, and was
+in a strong agony for some time, and wept before the Lord under a
+deep sense of my own vileness, and the sovereignty and greatness of
+God's everlasting love. Most of the people spent the remainder of
+the night in prayer and praise. Two or three young ministers spoke
+alternately, and others prayed as the Lord gave them utterance."
+
+The next morning Whitefield exhorted, sung, and prayed with the
+people in the barn, and had some delightful conversation with
+a lad of thirteen, a poor negro woman, and several others. In
+company with several Christian friends, he then rode to the house
+of Gilbert Tennent in New Brunswick. Here he found letters from
+Savannah saying that great mortality existed in the neighborhood,
+but that the family at the orphan-house continued in health, and
+that a minister was about coming from England to take his church at
+Savannah. "This last," says he, "much rejoiced me, being resolved
+to give up the Savannah living as soon as I arrived in Georgia. A
+parish and the orphan-house together are too much for me; besides,
+God seems to show me it is my duty to evangelize, and not to fix
+in any particular place." Here he was met by William Tennent also,
+and after much conversation and prayer, it was settled that Gilbert
+Tennent should go to Boston to carry on the work so happily begun
+there. After preaching, exhortation, and prayer, Whitefield went
+with Davenport to Trenton, and so on to Philadelphia. On their way,
+they were twice remarkably preserved from drowning in creeks much
+swollen by the rains; and late on a very dark Saturday night arrived
+in the city, which had been already honored by his usefulness.
+
+On the following day, he twice preached in the house which his
+friends were now building for him, and in which Gilbert Tennent
+labored for many years with great success. He says, "It is one
+hundred feet long and seventy feet broad. A large gallery is to be
+erected all around in it. Many footsteps of Providence have been
+visible in beginning and carrying it on. Both in the morning and
+evening God's glory filled the house, for there was great power in
+the congregation. The roof is not yet up, but the people raised a
+convenient pulpit and boarded the bottom. The joy of most of the
+hearers when they saw me was inexpressible. Between services, I
+received a packet of letters from England, dated in March last. May
+the Lord heal, and bring good out of the divisions which at present
+seem to be among the brethren there. God giving me freedom, and
+many friends being in the room, I kneeled down and prayed with and
+exhorted them all. But Oh, how did they melt under both; my soul was
+much rejoiced to look round on them."
+
+A fact in connection with the building of this church edifice
+illustrates the practical philosophy of Dr. Franklin. Tennent waited
+on him for aid in the erection of the house, which was cheerfully
+afforded; the philosopher was asked by Tennent as to the best
+method of raising the necessary funds, who instantly recommended him
+to call at every house in the town to solicit help. He argued thus:
+"Many are really desirous to give, and will be glad to see you;
+others are inclined to be friendly, and will give if they are urged;
+a third will be sure, if they are omitted, to say they would have
+given had they been asked; and a fourth class will give you, rather
+than have it said they refused." Tennent acted on the doctor's
+counsel, and the funds were raised without difficulty.
+
+Two instances of the happy influence of the truth in the conversion
+of sinners, in connection with this visit, must be given from
+Whitefield's own pen. The first related to a Mr. Brockden, a lawyer
+eminent in his profession, and the recorder of deeds for the city.
+For many years this gentleman had been distinguished for Deism.
+Whitefield writes, "In his younger days he had some religious
+impressions, but going into business, the cares of the world so
+choked the good seed, that he not only forgot his God in some
+degree, but at length began to doubt of and to dispute his very
+being. In this state he continued many years, and has been very
+zealous to propagate his deistical, I could almost say atheistical
+principles among moral men; but he told me he never endeavored
+to make proselytes of vicious, debauched people. When I came to
+Philadelphia, this time twelvemonth, he told me he had not so much
+as a curiosity to hear me. But a brother Deist, his choicest friend,
+pressed him to come and hear me. To satisfy his curiosity, he at
+length complied with the request. I preached at the court-house
+stairs, upon the conference which the Lord had with Nicodemus. I had
+not spoken much before the Lord struck his heart. 'For,' said he, 'I
+saw your doctrine tended to make people good.' His family knew not
+that he had been to hear me. After he came home, his wife, who had
+been at sermon, came in also, and wished heartily that he had heard
+me. He said nothing. After this, another of his family came in,
+repeating the same wish; and, if I mistake not, after that another;
+till at last, being unable to refrain any longer, with tears in his
+eyes, he said, 'Why, I have been hearing him;' and then expressed
+his approbation. Ever since he has followed on to know the Lord;
+and I verily believe Jesus Christ has made himself manifest to his
+soul. Though upwards of threescore years old, he is now, I believe,
+born again of God. He is as a little child, and often, as he told
+me, receives such communications from God, when he retires into the
+woods, that he thinks he could die a martyr for the truth."
+
+The other instance was that of the captain of a ship, "as great a
+reprobate," says Whitefield, "as ever I heard of." This man used to
+go on board the transport ships, and offer a guinea for a new oath,
+that he might have the honor of making it. "To the honor of God's
+grace," says our evangelist, "let it be said, he is now, I believe,
+a Christian; not only reformed, but renewed. The effectual stroke,
+he told me, was given when I preached last spring at Pennepack. Ever
+since he has been zealous for the truth; stood like a lamb when he
+was beaten, and in danger of being murdered by some of my opposers,
+and, in short, shows his faith by his works."
+
+The stay of Mr. Whitefield in Philadelphia at this time was about
+a week, during which he preached in the new house twice every day
+to large and deeply interested congregations. He says, "It would
+be almost endless to recount all the particular instances of God's
+grace which I have seen this week past. Many that before were
+only convicted, now plainly proved that they were converted, and
+had a clear evidence of it within themselves. My chief business
+was now to build up and to exhort them to continue in the grace
+of God. Notwithstanding, many were convicted almost every day,
+and came to me under the greatest distress and anguish of soul.
+Several societies are now in the town, not only of men and women,
+but of little boys and little girls. Being so engaged, I could
+not visit them as I would, but I hope the Lord will raise up some
+fellow-laborers, and that elders will be ordained in every place."
+
+Perhaps no man was ever more free from sectarianism than George
+Whitefield. It is true, that he was ordained a clergyman of the
+church of England, and never manifested any degree of reluctance to
+officiate within its walls; but it is equally true, that the vast
+majority of his sermons were delivered in connection with other
+bodies of Christians. When he was once preaching from the balcony
+of the court-house, Market-street, Philadelphia, he delivered an
+impressive apostrophe: "Father Abraham, who have you in heaven? any
+Episcopalians?" "No." "Any Presbyterians?" "No." "Any Baptists?"
+"No." "Have you any Methodists, Seceders, or Independents there?"
+"No, no!" "Why, who have you there?" "We don't know those names
+here. All who are here are Christians, believers in Christ--men
+who have overcome by the blood of the Lamb, and the word of his
+testimony." "Oh, is that the case? then God help me, God help us
+all, to forget party names, and to become Christians, in deed and
+in truth." It might be well for the different bodies of Christians
+to think of the propriety of following this example of the holy
+man. The peculiarities of each Christian denomination may have
+their importance, but they ought not to keep good men in a state of
+separation, much less of alienation from each other.
+
+On Monday, November 17, Whitefield left Philadelphia. He says, "Was
+much melted at parting from my dear friends. Had it much impressed
+upon my mind, that I should go to England, and undergo trials for
+the truth's sake. These words, 'The Jews sought to stone thee,
+and goest thou thither again?' with our Lord's answer, have been
+for some time lying upon me; and while my friends were weeping
+round me, St. Paul's words darted into my soul, 'What mean you to
+weep and break my heart? I am willing not only to be bound, but
+to die for the Lord Jesus.' After fervent prayer, I took my leave
+of some, but being to preach at Gloucester in the West Jerseys,
+others accompanied me in boats over the river. We sung as we sailed,
+but my heart was low. I preached at Gloucester, but found myself
+weighed down, and was not able to deliver my sermon with my usual
+vigor. However, there was an affecting melting, and several, as
+I heard afterwards, who had been in bondage before, at that time
+received joy in the Holy Ghost. I rode on in company with several
+to Greenwich, and preached to a few, with scarce any power. In
+the evening we travelled on a few miles, but my body was more and
+more out of order, and I thought God was preparing me for future
+blessings. It is good to be humbled. I am never better than when I
+am brought to lie at the foot of the cross. It is a certain sign
+God intends that soul a greater crown. Lord, let me always feel
+myself a poor sinner." On Tuesday he preached at Pilesgrove to
+about two thousand people, but saw only a few affected. "At night,"
+he says, "God was pleased so abundantly to refresh my soul as to
+make me forget the weakness of my body; I prayed and exhorted
+with great power in the family where I lodged." On Wednesday, at
+Cohansey, where Gilbert Tennent had prepared the way for him, he
+says, "Preached to some thousands both morning and afternoon. The
+word gradually struck the hearers, till the whole congregation was
+greatly moved, and two cried out in the bitterness of their souls
+after a crucified Saviour, and were scarcely able to stand. My
+soul was replenished as with new wine, and life and power flew all
+around me." At Salem, on the 20th, he preached in the morning at the
+court-house, and in the afternoon in the open air before the prison,
+to about two thousand persons. "Both times God was with us." On
+Friday, November 21, he got with some difficulty to Newcastle, where
+he preached in the court-house, and "observed some few affected,
+and some few scoffing." Here he was joined by Mr. Charles Tennent,
+who had lately married a young lady awakened under Whitefield's
+ministry. They went on to White Clay creek, "and God," says he, "was
+pleased to appear for me in an extraordinary manner. There were many
+thousands waiting to hear the word. I have not seen a more lovely
+sight. I sang the twenty-third psalm, and these words gave my soul
+unspeakable comfort:
+
+    "'In presence of my spiteful foes,
+      He does my table spread.'
+
+"The Lord Jesus assisted me in preaching. The melting soon began,
+and the power increased more and more, till the greatest part of the
+congregation was exceedingly moved. Several cried out in different
+parts, and others were to be seen wringing their hands and weeping
+bitterly. The stir was ten times greater than when I was here
+last." At Fagg's Manor, on Saturday afternoon, he preached "to many
+thousands, and God was pleased mightily to own his word. There was
+a wondrous powerful moving, but it did not rise to such a degree as
+when I preached here last spring. I was taken ill after preaching."
+After still farther labors, he retired to rest, and he says, "The
+Lord gave me sweet sleep, and in the morning I arose with my natural
+strength much renewed." This was the Sabbath, and he preached at
+Nottingham "to a large congregation, who seemed in no wise to regard
+the rain, so they might be watered with the dew of God's blessing."
+
+On the following afternoon, at Bohemia, in Maryland, he says,
+"Preached to about two thousand, and have not seen a more solid
+melting, I think, since my arrival. Some scoffers stood on the
+outside, but the Holy Spirit enabled me to lay the terrors of
+the Lord before them, and they grew more serious. My soul much
+rejoiced in the Lord to see salvation brought to Maryland." On
+Tuesday, November 25, "came to Reedy Island, and had the wonderful
+presence of God in the assembly in the afternoon. Several of my
+dear Philadelphia friends came to take their last farewell." On
+Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday, he preached again. "The Lord was
+with us every time. I was greatly delighted to see the captains of
+the ships, and their respective crews, come constantly to hear the
+word of God on shore, and join with us in religious exercises on
+board."
+
+On December 1, when they sailed from Reedy Island to Charleston,
+he wrote in his journal, "But before I go on, stop, O my soul, and
+look back a little on the great things the Lord hath done for thee
+during this excursion. I think it is now the seventy-fifth day since
+I arrived at Rhode Island. My body was then weak, but the Lord has
+much renewed its strength. I have been enabled to preach, I think,
+one hundred and seventy-five times in public, besides exhorting very
+frequently in private. I have travelled upwards of eight hundred
+miles, and gotten upwards of £700 sterling in goods, provisions,
+and money for my poor orphans. Never did God vouchsafe me such
+great assistances. Never did I perform my journeys with so little
+fatigue, or see such a continuance of the divine presence in the
+congregations to whom I have preached. All things concur to convince
+me that America is to be my chief scene for action."
+
+In about eight days, he arrived at Charleston, where he found there
+had recently been a large fire, and to improve the sad event he
+preached a sermon, and passed on to his own home, where he found
+all well, and where he made arrangements for his voyage to England,
+leaving on the 29th of December. On that day he narrowly escaped
+death. A laborer was walking behind him with a gun under his arm,
+which went off unawares; happily its muzzle was towards the ground,
+"otherwise," says Whitefield, "I and one of my friends, in all
+probability, should have been killed; for we were directly before,
+and not above a yard or two distant from it. How ought we to live
+in such a state as we would not fear to die in; for in the midst
+of life we are in death!" In the evening he preached his farewell
+sermon as pastor of Savannah.
+
+On Mr. Whitefield's arrival at Charleston, in company with two
+gentlemen named Bryan, who had been called to suffer persecution
+for Christ's sake, he had the happiness of meeting his brother, the
+captain of a vessel from England, who gave him much interesting
+intelligence of the Christians in that country. Commencing with the
+Sabbath, he preached twice every day, in addition to expounding the
+Scriptures almost every evening, and expresses his gratitude for
+divine assistance. But though he had much to rejoice in, he had
+also more than one source of sorrow. Some professors of religion,
+of whom he had hoped well, had fallen away, and not a few of his
+enemies were even more enraged than formerly. Hugh Bryan had written
+a letter, in which, among other matters, "it was hinted that the
+clergy break their canons." At the request of Jonathan Bryan,
+Whitefield had corrected it for the press, and it was published
+while he was now in the city. Hugh Bryan was apprehended, and on
+his examination, being asked, frankly confessed that Whitefield had
+corrected and made some alterations in it. Writing on January 10,
+he says, "This evening a constable came to me with the following
+warrant:
+
+     "'South Carolina SS. By B---- W----, etc. Whereas I have
+     received information upon oath that George Whitefield, Clerk,
+     hath made and composed a false, malicious, scandalous, and
+     infamous Libel against the Clergy of this Province, in contempt
+     of His Majesty and His Laws, and against the King's Peace: These
+     are therefore, in His Majesty's Name, to charge and command
+     you and each of you forthwith to apprehend the said George
+     Whitefield, and to bring him before Me to answer the premises.
+     Hereof fail not, at your peril. And for your so doing this shall
+     be your and each of your sufficient Warrant. Given under my hand
+     and seal this tenth day of January, in the fourteenth year of
+     His Majesty's Reign, Anno Domini one thousand seven hundred and
+     forty [one.]
+
+     "'B---- W----.'"
+
+Whitefield gave security to appear by his attorney at the next
+quarter sessions, under penalty of one hundred pounds proclamation
+money. "Blessed be God," he says in his journal, "for this
+further honor. My soul rejoices in it. I think this may be called
+persecution. I think it is for righteousness' sake." The next
+morning he preached on Herod sending the wise men to find out
+Christ, professing a desire to worship him, but intending to kill
+him; _persecution under pretence of religion_, being his theme.
+The afternoon sermon was on the murder of Naboth, from which he
+discoursed on _the abuse of power by men in authority_. He says,
+"My hearers, as well as myself, made the application. It was pretty
+close." No doubt it was. In the evening he expounded the narrative
+of Orpah and Ruth, and exhorted his hearers to follow the Lord Jesus
+Christ, though his cause be never so much persecuted and spoken
+against.
+
+On the following Thursday, he received several highly gratifying
+letters from his friends at Boston. Mr. Secretary Willard said
+to him, "Divers young men in this town, who are candidates for
+the ministry, have been brought under deep convictions by your
+preaching, and are carried off from the foundation of their false
+hopes to rest only upon Christ for salvation."
+
+The Rev. Mr. Cooper wrote, "I can inform you that there are many
+abiding proofs that you did not run in vain, and labor in vain
+among us in this place. I can only say now in general, some have
+been awakened who were before quite secure, and I hope a good work
+begun in them. Others, who had been under religious impressions,
+are now more earnestly pressing into the kingdom of heaven, and
+many of the children of God are stirred up to give diligence for
+the full assurance of faith. There is a greater flocking to all the
+lectures in the town, and the people show such a disposition to the
+new Tuesday evening lecture, that our large capacious house cannot
+receive all that come. I am sure your visit to us has made a large
+addition to the prayers that are going up for you in one place and
+another, and I hope also unto the jewels that are to make up your
+crown in the day of the Lord."
+
+In addition to these statements, Mr. Welch, a pious merchant,
+wrote, "I fear I am tedious, but I cannot break off till I just
+mention, to the glory of the grace of God, and for your comfort
+and encouragement, the success your ministry of late has had among
+us. Impressions made seem to be abiding on the minds of many. The
+doctrines of grace seem to be more the topic of conversation than
+ever I knew them. Nay, religious conversation seems to be almost
+_fashionable_, and almost every one seems disposed to hear or speak
+of the things of God. Multitudes flock to the evening lecture,
+though it has sometimes been the worst of weather. Ministers seem to
+preach with more life, and the great auditories seem to hear with
+solemn attention, and I hope our Lord Jesus is getting to himself
+the victory over the hearts of many sinners."
+
+These, and other letters of a similar character, filled the heart
+of Whitefield with grateful pleasure; and he went on preaching and
+enjoying the society of his friends till Friday, January 16. He
+says, "I never received such generous tokens of love, I think, from
+any people before, as from some in Charleston. They so loaded me
+with sea-stores, that I sent many of them to Savannah." He now went
+on board, and was fully engaged in preparations for the voyage,
+which however was not entered on till the 24th. On that day the
+_Minerva_ sailed over Charleston bar, and after a generally pleasant
+voyage, they landed at Falmouth, March 11. "This," says he, "was a
+profitable voyage to my soul, because of my having had many sweet
+opportunities for reading, meditation, and prayer."
+
+The impartiality of history requires us, however reluctantly, here
+to notice the separation which to some extent now took place between
+Whitefield, and his old friends Messrs. John and Charles Wesley.
+Their mutual attachment in early life we have already seen, as also
+Whitefield's anxiety in Georgia to defend Mr. John Wesley's conduct
+against those who opposed him. Impartial observers, however, after
+a while began to remark, that on some doctrinal points, especially
+on that of predestination, a difference was springing up. On his
+passage to England, February 1, 1741, Whitefield thus wrote to
+Mr. Charles Wesley: "My dear, dear brethren, why did you throw
+out the bone of contention? Why did you print that sermon against
+predestination? Why did you in particular, my dear brother Charles,
+affix your hymn, and join in putting out your late hymn-book? How
+can you say you will not dispute with me about election, and yet
+print such hymns? and your brother sent his sermon against election,
+to Mr. Garden and others in America. Do not you think, my dear
+brethren, I must be as much concerned for truth, or what I think
+truth, as you? God is my judge, I always was, and hope I always
+shall be desirous that you may be preferred before me. But I must
+preach the gospel of Christ, and that I cannot _now_ do, without
+speaking of election." He then tells Mr. Charles Wesley, that in
+Christmas-week he had written an answer to his brother's sermon,
+"which," says he, "is now printing at Charleston; another copy I
+have sent to Boston, and another I now bring with me, to print in
+London. If it occasion a strangeness between us, it shall not be my
+fault. There is nothing in my answer exciting to it, that I know of.
+O, my dear brethren, my heart almost bleeds within me. Methinks I
+could be willing to tarry here on the waters for ever, rather than
+come to England to oppose you."
+
+Dr. Whitehead, in his "Life of John Wesley," has very wisely
+said, "Controversy almost always injures the Christian temper,
+much more than it promotes the interests of speculative truth. On
+this question a separation took place between Mr. Wesley and Mr.
+Whitefield, so far as to have different places of worship; and some
+warm and tart expressions dropped from each. But their good opinion
+of each other's integrity and usefulness, founded on long and
+intimate acquaintance, could not be injured by such a difference of
+sentiment; and their mutual affection was only obscured by a cloud
+for a season."
+
+The friendship between Mr. Whitefield and the Messrs. Wesley was
+very much increased and perpetuated by the wife of Mr. Charles
+Wesley. This very extraordinary lady, whose original name was
+Gwinne, was equally distinguished for her beauty, talents, and
+piety. She had a very cordial regard for Mr. Whitefield, who as
+cordially reciprocated it. She was married when the controversy
+among these eminent men was at its height, and stipulated that
+she should always be allowed to hear the preaching of Whitefield
+and his friends. In her latter years especially, and she lived
+till ninety-six, she expressed her pleasure in the belief that
+she promoted the continuance of that endearing intercourse which
+subsisted between Whitefield and her husband. She softened all
+parties, and was on all occasions a blessed peacemaker.
+
+One fact relating to this eminently excellent woman may be
+mentioned. She was nearly twenty years younger than her husband, and
+four years after her marriage, and at the age of twenty-six, she
+was seized with small-pox, of which at that time her eldest child
+died. She lay twenty-two days in imminent danger of death, and when
+she recovered she was so much altered in features that no one could
+recognize her; but never did woman before lose her beauty with so
+little regret. She used sportively to say, that the change in her
+appearance "afforded great satisfaction to her dear husband, who
+was glad to see her look so much older, and better suited to be his
+companion."
+
+On Whitefield's arrival at Falmouth, he immediately set off in a
+post-chaise to London, in order to preach on the following Sabbath.
+But he now found occasion for all the patience he had acquired. He
+had, he says, "written two well-meant, though ill-judged letters
+against England's two great favorites, '_The Whole Duty of Man_,'
+and Archbishop Tillotson, who, I said, knew no more about religion
+than Mohammed. The Moravians had made inroads on our societies;"
+besides which, the controversy with the Messrs. Wesley injured him.
+His congregations on the Sabbath were still large, but on week-days
+he had not more than two or three hundred hearers. He says, "Instead
+of having thousands to attend me, scarcely one of my spiritual
+children come to see me from morning to night. Once, on Kennington
+Common, I had not above a hundred to hear me."
+
+Even this was not all. He says, "One that got some hundreds of
+pounds by my sermons, refused to print for me any more. And others
+wrote to me, that God would destroy me in a fortnight, and that my
+fall was as great as Peter's." Still other sorrows attended him.
+He writes, "I was much embarrassed in my outward circumstances. A
+thousand pounds I owed for the orphan-house. Two hundred and fifty
+pounds drawn on Mr. Seward, [who was now dead,] were returned upon
+me. I was also threatened to be arrested for two hundred pounds
+more." Besides all this, he had "a family of one hundred persons
+to be maintained, four thousand miles off, in the dearest part of
+his majesty's dominions." He now began to preach in Moorfields on
+week-days, under one of the trees; where he saw numbers of his
+spiritual children running by him without looking at him, and some
+of them putting their fingers in their ears, that they might not
+hear one word he said. "A like scene," he says, "opened at Bristol,
+where I was denied preaching in the house I had founded." It was the
+Kingswood school-house, built for the children of the colliers.
+
+But Whitefield could not long be kept down. His friends built a
+new house and opened a new school at Kingswood. Some "free-grace
+dissenters," as Gillies calls them, procured the loan of a building
+lot in London, on which, as we have already seen, they built the
+Tabernacle. Here his congregations immediately increased, and he
+addressed them with his usual power and success. Invitations soon
+poured in from the country, and even from places where he had never
+been. At a common near Braintree, in Essex, he had more than ten
+thousand hearers, and at many other places congregations were large
+and much affected. "Sweet," says he, "was the conversation which I
+had with several ministers of Christ." Soon again did he triumph,
+even in England.
+
+Among the men who were now invited to aid, and who rendered
+important assistance to Whitefield in his houses of worship in
+London and Bristol, as well as in his itinerant labors, was Howel
+Harris, a native of Wales, a gentleman, and a magistrate, to whom we
+have already referred. His name in Wales is yet "a household word,"
+and his labors form a part of the history of Welsh Calvinistic
+Methodism. As soon as he had embraced the gospel for himself,
+he became intensely solicitous respecting the condition of his
+neighbors. The scenes of profligacy and vice which everywhere
+presented themselves burdened his heart, and he became anxious to
+be actively employed in removing evil and doing good. He determined
+on taking orders in the church of England, and accordingly
+entered St. Mary's Hall, in Oxford university; but shocked at the
+dissolute habits of the collegians, and finding what were called
+his methodistical views were in the way of his ordination, he
+returned to Wales, and began to evangelize its towns and villages.
+Wherever there was an opening, there he went, and preached Christ
+to the people; and although defamed and persecuted, he manfully
+prosecuted his work, and thousands were by his agency brought to
+repentance. He and Mr. Whitefield were kindred spirits, moved by
+the same impulses, and pursuing the same course. Mr. Whitefield
+spoke of him as "'a burning and shining light,' a barrier against
+profaneness and immorality, and an indefatigable promoter of the
+true gospel of Jesus Christ. For these years he has preached almost
+twice a day, for three or four hours together. He has been in seven
+counties, and has made it his business to go to wakes and fairs to
+turn people from their lying vanities. He has been made the subject
+of numbers of sermons, has been threatened with public prosecutions,
+and had constables sent to apprehend him. But God has blessed him
+with inflexible courage; strength has been communicated to him from
+above, and he still goes on from conquering to conquer. God has
+greatly blessed his pious endeavors; many call, and own him as their
+spiritual father, and would, I believe, lay down their lives for his
+sake."
+
+In the year 1759, when England was threatened with a French
+invasion, Mr. Harris became a captain in the Brecknockshire militia,
+and into whatever place in England the regiment was ordered, he
+uniformly began to preach, and was the means of introducing the
+gospel into many ignorant and depraved districts. Thus an unusual
+act and an undesirable office were overruled to doing much good.
+When the regiment was disbanded, he again regularly entered on his
+ministerial duties with all his former zeal and activity. In a word,
+he may justly be regarded the evangelist of Wales.
+
+As an illustration of the spirit of the energetic ministers of
+Christ in those days, we quote a fact or two from the life of
+Rowland Hill; the more readily as Howel Harris is the principal
+subject. In 1774, four years after the death of Whitefield, Mr.
+Hill travelled through Wales, preaching three or four times every
+day; many conversions took place, which greatly sustained him under
+an attack of illness; and led to the remark in his "Journal," "My
+body quite weak, but my soul was refreshed." "A like example,"
+says Sidney, one of the biographers of Hill, "had been previously
+before his eyes in the case of Howel Harris, one of Mr. Whitefield's
+energetic followers, who was a man of extraordinary powers of body
+and mind. Harris used to relate of himself, that being once on a
+journey through Wales, he was subjected to great temptation to
+desert his Master's cause, when he said, 'Satan, I'll match thee
+for this;' and 'so I did,' he used to add; 'for I had not ridden
+many miles before I came to a revel, where there was a show of
+mountebanks, which I entered, and just as they were commencing, I
+jumped into the midst of them and cried out, 'Let us pray,' which
+so thunderstruck them that they listened to me quietly, while I
+preached to them a most tremendous sermon, that frightened many
+of them home.' Mr. Hill greatly delighted in this anecdote, and
+often said that amidst somewhat similar scenes, he had been enabled
+successfully to attack the kingdom of Satan."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+FIRST AND SECOND VISITS TO SCOTLAND--LABORS IN ENGLAND AND WALES.
+
+1740-1744.
+
+
+We have seen the spirit in which Mr. Whitefield returned to London,
+and the cool manner in which he was too generally received. It is
+painful to say that this coldness was not confined to enemies of the
+truth; it appeared in some degree in eminent dissenting ministers,
+as Watts and Bradbury, Barker, and even, to some extent, Doddridge.
+A plan had a few years before been agitated to restore the
+dissenters to the church, usually called the _Comprehension scheme_,
+and assuredly, under the circumstances, friendship with Whitefield
+was by no means favorable to such a plan being accomplished, though
+it was at this period greatly desired by many of both parties.
+Still, however, good was done; Whitefield preached, and God was
+glorified. More union between Christians in advancing the cause of
+Christ would have been exceedingly desirable, but even the want of
+this was not permitted to stay the progress of this man of God.
+
+One of the most popular and useful ministers employed by Whitefield
+and his friends at this time was John Cennick, the author of two
+well-known hymns, beginning,
+
+    "Jesus, thy blood and righteousness;"
+    "Jesus, my all, to heaven is gone."
+
+He was the preacher who, in Ireland, discoursed from the text,
+"Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes," which
+gave occasion for the Methodists in that country to be called
+"_Swaddlers_." The parents of this excellent man were Quakers,
+who had been imprisoned in Reading jail for the maintenance of
+their religious principles. This persecution reduced them from
+respectability to want, so that, like John Bunyan, they were forced
+to make shoe-laces in prison for their support.
+
+The conversion of the son was very remarkable. His first deep and
+lasting religious convictions flashed upon his mind like lightning
+from heaven, while walking in the crowds of Cheapside, in London.
+The effects were soon manifested; he became a new man, pursuing
+a new course, and entering on a new work. His ministry was very
+efficient, his views of truth were evangelical, his public speaking
+popular, his zeal so great as sometimes to lead him to preach six
+times in one day--all which labors were followed with abundant
+success.
+
+Mr. Cennick was rather below the middle stature, of a fair
+countenance, and though by no means robust in health, he knew little
+of timidity. The spirit in which he discharged his ministry may be
+seen in a letter he wrote to a friend: "We sang a hymn, and then the
+devil led on his servants; they began beating a drum, and then made
+fires of gunpowder: at first the poor flock was startled; but while
+God gave me power to speak encouragingly to them, they waxed bolder,
+and very few moved. The mob then fired guns over the people's heads,
+and began to play a water engine upon brother Harris and myself,
+till we were wet through. They also played an engine upon us with
+hog's-wash and grounds of beer-barrels, and covered us with muddy
+water from a ditch; they pelted us with eggs and stones, threw
+baskets of dust over us, and fired their guns so close to us that
+our faces were black with the powder; but, in nothing terrified, we
+remained praying. I think I never saw or felt so great a power of
+God as was there. In the midst of the confused multitude, I saw a
+man laboring above measure, earnest to fill the buckets with water
+to throw upon us. I asked him, 'What harm do we do? Why are you so
+furious against us? We only come to tell you that Christ loved you,
+and died for you.' He stepped back a little for room, and threw a
+bucket of water in my face. When I had recovered myself, I said,
+'My dear man, if God should so pour his wrath upon you, what would
+become of you? Yet I tell you that Christ loves you.' He threw away
+the bucket, let fall his trembling hands, and looked as pale as
+death; he then shook hands with me, and parted from me, I believe
+under strong convictions."
+
+Mr. Cennick had heretofore labored with Whitefield and Wesley, but
+now adhered to the former, and labored very successfully in the
+Tabernacle. After some years he united with the Moravian brethren,
+and died in triumph at thirty-five.
+
+In the summer of 1741, some three or four months after his arrival
+from America, Whitefield paid his first visit to Scotland. The state
+of religion in that country at the commencement of the ministry of
+this distinguished evangelist, has been already glanced at. It
+is here important to remark, that in 1740 an indication of better
+things began to appear in several places, especially in Cambuslang,
+under the ministry of the Rev. Mr. M'Culloch. This excellent man,
+for nearly a year before the revival began, had been preaching to
+his people on those subjects which tend most directly to explain the
+nature and prove the necessity of regeneration, according to the
+different aspects in which it is represented in the holy Scriptures.
+The church edifice had become too small for the congregation, and
+the minister, in favorable weather, frequently conducted the public
+worship on a green brae on the east side of a deep ravine near the
+church, scooped out in the form of an amphitheatre. In this retired
+and romantic spot, the worthy pastor preached in the most impressive
+manner to the listening multitudes, and not unfrequently, after his
+sermons, detailed to them the astonishing effects of Whitefield's
+preaching in America, which did not a little to increase the
+interest of the people, as well as lead them to wish to see such an
+extraordinary preacher.
+
+While on his voyage to Scotland, Whitefield gave evidence that he
+had not forgotten America. In his second visit to America, he had
+become intimately acquainted with the Rev. Daniel Rodgers of Exeter,
+New Hampshire, a direct descendant of the seventh generation of John
+Rogers, who was burnt at the stake for the testimony of Christ in
+the days of the bloody Mary. It is not surprising that Whitefield's
+original letter to him, now in the possession of the family of the
+grandson of Daniel Rodgers, is highly valued. It is dated on board
+the Mary and Ann, bound from London to Scotland, July 25, 1741.
+
+     "MY DEAR BROTHER RODGERS--How glad was I to receive a letter
+     from your hands, having heard nothing from you or of you
+     particularly since we parted. Oh, what great things has the
+     Lord shown us since that time! methinks I hear you say; and yet
+     I can tell of greater things. And I believe we shall see far
+     greater yet before we die. The work is beginning afresh here.
+     I sometimes think brother Gilbert [Tennent] must take a voyage
+     to old England. Most of our London ministers too much shun the
+     cross, and do not appear boldly for God. Now the Lord has worked
+     so powerfully in your college, I have less to object against
+     your joining Mr. Web. I am glad to hear that you speak _plain
+     and close_. What comfort will this afford you in a dying hour.
+     Go on, my dear brother, go on; venture daily upon Christ. Go out
+     in his strength, and he will enable us to do wonders. He is with
+     me more and more. I have sweetly been carried through the heat
+     and burning of every day's labor. Jesus bears all my burdens.
+     Jesus enables me to cast all my care upon him. Oh then, let us
+     magnify his name together. I am now going to Scotland, knowing
+     not what will befall me. What God does, you may expect to hear
+     of shortly. In the meanwhile, let us pray for and write to each
+     other. As iron sharpeneth iron, so do the letters of a man his
+     friend. Your last I have printed. God's glory called me to it.
+
+     "My dear brother, adieu. Dear brother Sims sits by and salutes
+     you. My kind love awaits Mr. Web, and all who love the Lord
+     in sincerity. In hopes of receiving another letter from you
+     shortly, I subscribe myself, dear Mr. Rodgers, your most
+     affectionate, though very unworthy brother and servant in the
+     sweetest Jesus,
+
+     "G. W."
+
+Among those who were most anxious that Mr. Whitefield should visit
+Scotland, were the Rev. Messrs. Ebenezer and Ralph Erskine. These
+two excellent brothers had separated themselves from the established
+church, chiefly on the ground of its cold formalism, and with some
+other zealous ministers had formed what has since been known as the
+Associate Presbytery. Their wish was, that in coming to Scotland,
+Whitefield should preach only in connection with their body, and
+so help forward the work in which they were engaged. To this he
+objected, regarding himself as an evangelist at large. As he
+proceeded, they rather opposed him, as not sufficiently particular
+and discriminative in his zeal. They wished him not to labor in
+the church from which they had seceded, saying, "God had left it."
+"Then," said he, "it is the more necessary for me to preach in it,
+to endeavor to bring him back. I'll preach Christ wherever they'll
+let me." On the 30th of July he arrived in Edinburgh, where he was
+urged to preach, but declined till he had seen the Messrs. Erskine;
+and accordingly proceeded to Dunfermline. Writing on the 1st of
+August, he says, "I went yesterday to Dunfermline, where dear Mr.
+Ralph Erskine hath got a large and separate, or as it is commonly
+termed, seceding meeting-house. He received me very lovingly. I
+preached to his and the town's people--a very thronged assembly.
+After I had done prayers and named my text, the rustling made by
+opening the Bibles all at once quite surprised me--a scene I never
+was witness to before."
+
+On the day following, Whitefield returned to Edinburgh, accompanied
+by Mr. Ralph Erskine, and preached in the Orphan-house park to a
+large and attentive audience. His text was, "The kingdom of God
+is not meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in
+the Holy Ghost." Rom. 14:17. After the sermon, a large company,
+including some of the nobility, came to bid him God-speed; and
+among others a portly Quaker, a nephew of the Messrs. Erskine, who,
+taking him by the hand, said, "Friend George, I am as thou art; I
+am for bringing all to the life and power of the ever-living God;
+and therefore, if thou wilt not quarrel with me about my hat, I
+will not quarrel with thee about thy gown." On Sabbath evening, he
+preached in the same place, to upwards of fifteen thousand persons;
+and on the evenings of Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, to nearly as
+many; on Tuesday in the Canongate church; on Wednesday and Thursday
+at Dunfermline; and on Friday morning at Queensferry. "Everywhere,"
+says he, "the auditories were large and very attentive. Great power
+accompanied the word. Many have been brought under convictions, and
+I have already received invitations to different places, which, God
+willing, I intend to comply with." Writing a week later, he says,
+"It would make your heart leap for joy to be now in Edinburgh. I
+question if there be not upwards of three hundred in this city
+seeking after Jesus. Every morning I have a constant levee of
+wounded souls, many of whom are quite slain by the law. God's power
+attends the word continually, just as when I left London. At seven
+in the morning we have a lecture in the fields, attended not only
+by the common people, but also by persons of rank. I have reason to
+think that several of the latter sort are coming to Jesus. Little
+children also are much wrought upon. God much blesses my letters
+from the little orphans, [girls in the hospital.] He loves to work
+by contemptible means. Oh, my dear brother, I am quite amazed when
+I think what God has done here in a fortnight. My printed sermons
+and journals have been blessed in an uncommon manner. I am only
+afraid lest people should idolize the instrument, and not look
+enough to the glorious Jesus, in whom alone I desire to glory.
+Congregations consist of many thousands. Never did I see so many
+Bibles, nor people looking into them, while I am expounding, with so
+much attention. Plenty of tears flow from the hearers' eyes. Their
+emotions appear in various ways. I preach twice daily, and expound
+at private houses at night, and am employed in speaking to souls
+under distress great part of the day. I have just snatched a few
+moments to write to my dear brother. Oh, that God may enlarge your
+heart to pray for me. This afternoon I preach out of town, and also
+to-morrow. Next post, God willing, you shall have another letter.
+I walk continually in the comforts of the Holy Ghost. The love of
+Christ quite strikes me dumb. O grace, grace! let that be my song.
+Adieu."
+
+In this manner Whitefield continued to preach very extensively
+over Scotland; and early in September he arrived at Glasgow.
+On the eleventh of that month he began his labors in the High
+Church-yard, and for five days in succession preached there twice
+a day--at an early hour in the morning, and again in the evening.
+The expectations of the people were high, not only in Glasgow, but
+all around, and crowds flocked to hear him preach. Morning after
+morning, and evening after evening, that vast church-yard, almost
+paved as it is with tombstones, was crowded with living worshippers,
+trembling under the word. But not satisfied with hearing, the pen of
+the ready writer was from day to day at work, and each sermon was
+printed by itself, and put immediately into circulation. His sermons
+were characterized by great simplicity, as if the language of the
+preacher merely expressed what he felt, and yet there was so much
+earnestness, and so much closeness of application, as to account
+for the effects they produced. He was in the pulpit very much what
+Baxter was in the press. He spoke as a man realizing all that he
+said, and laying open the feelings of his own heart in addressing
+the hearts of others.
+
+Very few men better knew the human heart than Whitefield. He seemed
+to know all the thoughts and feelings of his hearers, and the best
+way in which to meet them. He once preached in Scotland from the
+text, "The door was shut." Matt. 25:10. A respectable lady who heard
+him sat near the door, a considerable distance from the pulpit, and
+observed two showy and trifling young men who appeared to turn the
+solemn appeals of the preacher into ridicule; she heard one of them
+say in a low tone to the other, "Well, what if the door be shut?
+another will open." In a very few minutes, to the great surprise of
+the lady, Mr. Whitefield said, "It is possible there may be some
+careless, trifling person here to-day, who may ward off the force
+of this impressive subject by lightly thinking, 'What matter if the
+door be shut? another will open.'" The two young men looked at each
+other as though they were paralyzed, as the preacher proceeded:
+"Yes, another door will open; and I will tell you what door it
+will be: it will be the door of the bottomless pit, the door of
+hell!--the door which conceals from the eyes of angels the horrors
+of damnation."
+
+After Mr. Whitefield's return to England, at the close of October,
+among many letters which followed him, detailing the results of his
+labors, was one from Mr. M'Culloch, the excellent minister already
+referred to:
+
+"As it is matter of joy and thankfulness to God, who sent you
+hither, and gave you so much countenance, and so remarkably crowned
+your labors with success here at Glasgow, so I doubt not but the
+following account of the many seals to your ministry in and about
+that city, will be very rejoicing to your heart, especially as
+the kingdom of our glorious Redeemer is so much advanced thereby,
+and as the everlasting happiness of souls is promoted. I am well
+informed by some ministers, and other judicious and experienced
+Christians, that there are to the amount of fifty persons already
+known, in and about Glasgow, who appear to be savingly converted,
+through the blessing and power of God on your ten sermons. And there
+are, besides these, several others apparently under conviction,
+but not reckoned, as being still doubtful. Several Christians
+also, of considerable standing, were much strengthened, revived,
+and comforted by what they heard. They were made to rejoice in
+hope of the glory of God, having attained to the full assurance
+of faith. Among those lately converted, there are several young
+people who were before openly wicked and flagitious, or at best
+but very negligent as to spiritual things; and yet they are now
+in the way of salvation. Some young converts are yet under doubts
+and fears, but a considerable number of them have attained to
+peace and joy in believing. Several of those who were lately
+wrought on in a gracious way, seem to outstrip Christians of
+considerable standing, in spiritual-mindedness, and in many other
+good qualifications; particularly in their zeal for the conversion
+of others, in their love to ordinances, and in their freedom from
+bigotry and party zeal. Those converted by your ministry have not
+been discovered at once, but only from time to time. A good many
+of them have been discovered only of late. Their convictions were
+at first less pungent, and through the discouragements they met
+with in the families where they resided, as well as from their own
+feelings, they endeavored for a time to conceal their state. These
+circumstances afford ground for hoping, that there are yet others
+who may afterwards become known. Besides such as have been awakened
+through the power of God accompanying your sermons, there have been
+others who have been since awakened, and who have been discovered
+in consequence of the change observable in their conduct. These,
+dear brother, are a few hints concerning some of the most remarkable
+things, as to the blessing which accompanied your labors at Glasgow."
+
+At Edinburgh, when first visited by Whitefield, many persons of the
+highest rank constantly attended his ministry. Among them were the
+Marquis of Lothian, the Earl of Leven, Lord Ray, Lady Mary Hamilton,
+Lady Frances Gardiner, Lady Jane Nimms, and Lady Dirleton; and at
+some one of their houses he expounded almost every evening. Numbers
+of ministers and students crowded to hear him; and aged Christians
+told him they could set their seal to what he preached.
+
+In connection with this first visit to Edinburgh, several incidents
+have been related which show the power that accompanied his
+preaching, and the skill with which he could seize upon passing
+circumstances, and apply them to the great purpose which he always
+had in view. A gentleman, on returning from one of his sermons, was
+met on his way home by an eminent minister whom he usually heard,
+and who expressed great surprise that he should go to hear such a
+man. The gentleman replied, "Sir, when I hear you, I am planting
+trees all the time; but during the whole of Mr. Whitefield's sermon,
+I could not find time to plant one." A similar instance is related
+of a ship-builder, who usually could "build a ship from stem to
+stern during the sermon; but under Mr. Whitefield, could not lay a
+single plank."
+
+Another narrative has been thus given. An unhappy man who had
+forfeited his life to the offended laws of his country, was
+executed in that neighborhood. Mr. Whitefield mingled with the
+crowd collected on the occasion, and was much impressed with the
+decorum and solemnity which were observable in the awful scene. His
+appearance, however, drew the eyes of all upon him, and produced
+a variety of opinions as to the motives which led him to join the
+multitude.
+
+The next day, being Sunday, he preached to a very large congregation
+in a field near the city; and in the course of his sermon, he
+adverted to the scenes of the preceding day. "I know," said he,
+"that many of you may find it difficult to reconcile my appearance
+yesterday with my clerical character. Many of you, I know, will
+say that my moments would have been better employed in praying
+for the unhappy man, than in attending him to the fatal tree; and
+that perhaps curiosity was the only cause that converted me into a
+spectator on that occasion; but those who ascribe that uncharitable
+motive to me, are under a mistake. I went as an observer of
+human nature, and to see the effect that such an occurrence
+would have on those who witnessed it. I watched the conduct of
+those who were present on that awful occasion, and I was highly
+pleased with their demeanor, which has given me a very favorable
+opinion of the Scottish nation. Your sympathy was visible on your
+countenances; particularly when the moment arrived that your unhappy
+fellow-creature was to close his eyes on this world for ever. Then
+you all, as if moved by one impulse, turned your heads aside, and
+wept. Those tears were precious, and will be held in remembrance.
+How different it was when the Saviour of mankind was extended on the
+cross! The Jews, instead of sympathizing in his sorrows, triumphed
+in them. They reviled him with bitter expressions, with words
+even more bitter than the gall and vinegar which they handed him
+to drink. Not one of all who witnessed his pains, turned his head
+aside, even in the last pang. Yes, my friends, there was _one_--that
+glorious luminary," pointing to the sun, "veiled his brightness, and
+travelled on his course in tenfold night."
+
+On another occasion, near the same city, and probably in the field
+to which we have already referred, under the shade of a venerable
+tree, in a lovely meadow, a poor unhappy man, thinking to turn him
+into ridicule, placed himself on one of the overhanging boughs,
+immediately above the preacher's head, and with monkey-like
+dexterity mimicking his gestures, endeavored to raise a laugh in the
+audience. Guided by the looks of some of his hearers, Whitefield
+caught a glance of him, but without seeming to have noticed him,
+continued his discourse. With the skill of a wise orator, he
+reserved the incident for the proper place and time. While forcibly
+speaking on the power and sovereignty of divine grace, with
+increasing earnestness he spoke of the unlikely objects it had often
+chosen, and the unlooked for triumphs it had achieved. As he rose
+to the climax of his inspiring theme, and when in the full sweep of
+his eloquence, he suddenly paused, and turning round, and pointing
+slowly to the poor creature above him, he exclaimed, in a tone of
+deep and thrilling pathos, "Even _he_ may yet be the subject of
+that free and resistless grace." It was a shaft from the Almighty.
+Winged by the divine Spirit, it struck the scoffer to the heart, and
+realized in his conversion the glorious truth it contained.
+
+Yet another fact may be told connected with Whitefield and
+Edinburgh. When he was once there, a regiment of soldiers were
+stationed in the city, in which was a sergeant whose name was
+Forbes, a very abandoned man, who, everywhere he could do so, run in
+debt for liquor, with which he was almost at all times drunk. His
+wife washed for the regiment, and thus obtained a little money. She
+was a pious woman, but all her attempts to reclaim her husband were
+unsuccessful. During one of Mr. Whitefield's visits to the city,
+she offered her husband a sum of money, if he would for once go and
+hear the eloquent preacher. This was a strong inducement, and he
+engaged to go. The sermon was in a field, as no building could have
+contained the audience. The sergeant was rather early, and placed
+himself in the middle of the field, that he might file off when Mr.
+Whitefield ascended the pulpit; as he only wished to be able to say
+that he had seen him. The crowd, however, increased; and when the
+preacher appeared, they pressed forward, and the sergeant found it
+impossible to get away. The prayer produced some impression on his
+mind, but the sermon convinced him of his sinfulness and danger.
+He became a changed man, and showed the reality of his conversion
+by living for many years in a very penurious manner, till he had
+satisfied the claims of every one of his creditors.
+
+One fact more should be stated in connection with this visit. Mr.
+James Ogilvie was one of the ministers of Aberdeen. This city
+was not in that day, nor indeed in any part of the eighteenth
+century, warmly attached to a fully-exhibited gospel. At this time,
+however, both Mr. Ogilvie and his colleague, Mr. Bisset, who, as
+Sir Henry Moncrieff says, was the highest of the High church, were
+evangelical, though otherwise very opposite men. "Though colleagues
+of the same congregation," says Whitefield, "they are very different
+in their natural temper. The one is, what they call in Scotland, a
+sweet-blooded man, the other of a choleric disposition. Mr. Bisset
+is neither a seceder nor quite a true kirkman, having great fault
+to find with both. Soon after my arrival, dear Mr. Ogilvie took me
+to pay my respects to him. He was prepared for it, and pulled out
+a paper containing a great number of insignificant queries, which
+I had neither time nor inclination to answer." For several years
+Mr. Ogilvie had been corresponding with Mr. Whitefield to induce
+him to visit Aberdeen, hoping that some good might be done; and as
+he was himself to preach on Sabbath forenoon in presence of the
+magistrates, he gave Mr. Whitefield his place. The congregation was
+large, and apparently much interested. Mr. Bisset, in the afternoon,
+preached against Mr. Whitefield by name. Mr. Ogilvie, without either
+consulting his friend, or noticing the conduct of his colleague,
+stood up, after the sermon, and intimated to the congregation
+that Mr. Whitefield would again preach in about half an hour. The
+magistrates remained in the session-house, and the people hastened
+back, expecting to bear a reply. Mr. Whitefield, waiving as much as
+possible all controversial matter, preached Christ. The audience
+was silent, solemn, and deeply impressed. Next day, the magistrates
+apologized for their minister; and as a mark of their own respect,
+presented to Mr. Whitefield the freedom of their city. The effect of
+this visit to Aberdeen was great and beneficial.
+
+In 1742, Mr. Whitefield again visited Scotland. In the mean time
+he had heard that his dear friends the Erskines had become greatly
+offended, on account of what they considered his lax views of church
+government. But notwithstanding this difference with the seceders,
+he was received by great numbers, among whom were some persons of
+distinction, with cordiality and joy, and had the satisfaction
+of hearing more and more of the happy fruits of his ministry.
+At Edinburgh he again preached twice a day, as before, in the
+Hospital-park, where a number of seats and shades, in the form of
+an amphitheatre, were erected for the accommodation of his hearers.
+On the day of his arrival at Cambuslang, he preached three times
+to an immense body of people, although he had preached that same
+morning at Glasgow. The last service continued till eleven o'clock;
+and so much were the people interested, that Mr. M'Culloch, after
+preaching till past one in the morning, could scarcely persuade them
+to depart. Mr. Whitefield himself thus describes the scene: "Persons
+from all parts flocked to see, and many, from many parts, went home
+convinced and converted to God. A brae, or hill, near the manse at
+Cambuslang, seemed to be formed by Providence for containing a
+large congregation. People sat unwearied till two in the morning,
+to hear sermons, disregarding the weather. You could scarcely walk
+a yard, but you must tread upon some either rejoicing in God for
+mercies received, or crying out for more. Thousands and thousands
+have I seen, before it was possible to catch it by sympathy, melted
+down under the word and power of God. At the celebration of the holy
+communion, their joy was so great, that, at the desire of many,
+both ministers and people, in imitation of Hezekiah's passover,
+they had, a month or two afterwards, a second, which was a general
+rendezvous of the people of God. The communion was in the field;
+three tents, at proper distances, all surrounded with a multitude of
+hearers; above twenty ministers, among whom was good old Mr. Bonner,
+attending to preach and assist, all enlivening and enlivened by one
+another."
+
+In addition to his labors at Glasgow and Cambuslang, it is
+surprising to observe the number of places in the west of Scotland
+which Whitefield visited in the course of a few weeks; preaching
+wherever he went, with his usual frequency, energy, and success.
+A gentleman of piety and intelligence thus refers to one of them
+several years afterwards: "When Mr. Whitefield was preaching at
+Kilmarnock, on the twenty-third of August, from the words, 'And of
+his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace,' I thought I
+never heard such a sermon; and from the era above mentioned, I have
+always looked upon him as my spiritual father, and frequently heard
+him afterwards in Edinburgh and Glasgow with much satisfaction.
+When Cape Breton was taken, I happened to be at Edinburgh, and being
+invited to breakfast with Mr. Whitefield, I never, in all my life,
+enjoyed such another breakfast. He gave the company a fine and
+lively descant upon that part of the world, made us all join in a
+hymn of praise and thanksgiving, and concluded with a most devout
+and fervent prayer." About the end of October, Whitefield returned
+to London.
+
+Probably few are aware that Mr. Whitefield visited Scotland no
+less than _fourteen_ times. These visits extended over a period
+of twenty-seven years, beginning in 1741, and ending in 1768.
+In none of his visits after 1742 were there the same extensive
+awakenings as in his first two visits, yet his coming was always
+refreshing to serious persons, infusing new life, and increasing
+their numbers. Young people, too, were much benefited by his
+ministry, and especially young students, who afterwards became
+zealous and evangelical preachers. His morning discourses, which
+were generally intended for sincere but disconsolate souls, were
+peculiarly fitted to direct and encourage such in the Christian
+life; and his addresses in the evening to the promiscuous multitudes
+who then attended him, were powerful and alarming. There was great
+solemnity in his evening congregations in the Orphan-house park at
+Edinburgh and the High Church-yard at Glasgow, especially towards
+the conclusion of his sermons--which were usually long, though they
+seemed short to his hearers--when the whole multitude stood fixed,
+and like one man, hung upon his lips with silent attention, and many
+were under deep religious impressions.
+
+His conversation was no less useful and delightful than his
+sermons. Many in Glasgow, Edinburgh, and other parts of the land,
+bore witness of this fact. In Glasgow especially, when in company
+with his excellent friends M'Laurin, Scott, and others, one might
+challenge the professed sons of pleasure, with all their wit, humor,
+and gayety, to furnish entertainments so gratifying; nor was any
+part of it more agreeable than it was useful and edifying.
+
+Mr. Whitefield's friends in Scotland, among whom were many of all
+ranks, from the highest to the lowest, were constant and steady
+in their great regard for him, and his opposers from year to year
+became less violent. Indeed, his whole behavior was so transparent
+to the eyes of the world, and his character, after it had stood many
+attacks from all quarters, became so thoroughly established, that
+some of his opposers in Scotland seemed to acquire esteem for him;
+at least, they ceased to speak evil of him.
+
+In closing our sketch of Whitefield in Scotland, we select a few
+paragraphs from his letters, which are the more interesting as
+being among the very last words he wrote in that country. June 15,
+1768, he says, "You would be delighted to see our Orphan-house
+park assemblies, as large, attentive, and affectionate as ever.
+Twenty-seven-year-old friends and spiritual children remember the
+days of old; they are seeking after their first love, and there
+seems to be a stirring among the dry bones." Writing on the second
+of July, he says, "Could I preach ten times a day, thousands and
+thousands would attend. I have been confined for a few days; but on
+Monday or Tuesday next, hope to mount my throne again. O, to die
+there! too great, too great an honor to be expected." Again, on the
+ninth of July, "Every thing goes on better and better here; but I am
+so worn down by preaching abroad and talking at home almost all the
+day long, that I have determined, God willing, to set off for London
+next Tuesday."
+
+The respect with which Whitefield was treated in Scotland, not only
+by professing Christians, but in general society, was shown by the
+fact that he was presented with the freedom of some of the principal
+cities and towns which he visited. This privilege was given him in
+Stirling, Glasgow, Paisley, and Aberdeen, in 1741, and at Irvine and
+Edinburgh some years afterwards.
+
+It is difficult, in such a world as this, so to live as that "our
+good" shall not "be evil spoken of." Mr. Whitefield has sometimes
+been charged with motives of a mercenary character, but his whole
+life showed the fallacy of such a charge. Dr. Gillies, his original
+biographer, received from unquestionable testimony the knowledge
+of a fact which ought not to be forgotten. During his stay in
+Scotland, in the year 1759, a young lady, Miss Hunter, who possessed
+a considerable fortune, made a full offer to him of her estate in
+money and lands, worth several thousand pounds. He promptly refused
+the offer; and upon his declining it for himself, she offered it to
+him for the benefit of his orphan-house. This also he absolutely
+refused.
+
+Never could Whitefield be accused of moral cowardice. When the old
+Scotch Marquis of Lothian professed that his heart was impressed
+with the importance of religion, but wished to be a Christian in
+the dark, Whitefield said to him, "As for praying in your family,
+I entreat you not to neglect it; you are bound to do it. Apply to
+Christ to overcome your present fears; they are the effects of pride
+or infidelity, or both."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+On his return from Scotland to London in 1741, Whitefield passed
+through Wales, where at Abergavenny he was married to a Mrs. James,
+a widow, some ten years older than himself. Of this marriage, as
+also of the death of his only child, we have already spoken. After
+preaching at Bristol twice a day for several days in succession,
+he returned to London in the beginning of December, where he
+found letters from Georgia, which, on account of the temporal
+circumstances of his orphan family, somewhat discouraged him. But to
+trace his progress, and to report all his labors, would be to extend
+our volume beyond its due limits.
+
+He was soon again in the west of England, and writing from
+Gloucester, his native place, December 23, 1741, he says, "Last
+Thursday evening the Lord brought me hither. I preached immediately
+to our friends in a large barn, and had my Master's presence. Both
+the power and the congregation increased. On Sunday, Providence
+opened a door for my preaching in St. John's, one of the parish
+churches. Great numbers came. On Sunday afternoon, after I had
+preached twice at Gloucester, I preached at the hill, six miles off,
+and again at night at Stroud. The people seemed to be more hungry
+than ever, and the Lord to be more among them. Yesterday morning I
+preached at Painswick, in the parish church, here in the afternoon,
+and again at night in the barn. God gives me unspeakable comfort and
+uninterrupted joy. Here seems to be a new awakening, and a revival
+of the work of God. I find several country people were awakened when
+I preached at Tewkesbury, and have heard of three or four that have
+died in the Lord. We shall never know what good field-preaching has
+done till we come to judgment. Many who were prejudiced against me
+begin to be of another mind; and God shows me more and more that
+'when a man's ways please the Lord, he will make even his enemies to
+be at peace with him.'"
+
+In the following February he was still further encouraged by
+receiving letters from America, informing him of the remarkable
+success of the gospel there, and that God had stirred up some
+wealthy friends to assist his orphans in their extremity. He writes,
+"The everlasting God reward all their benefactors. I find there
+has been a fresh awakening among them. I am informed that twelve
+negroes belonging to a planter lately converted at the orphan-house,
+are savingly brought home to Jesus Christ." Nor were these things
+all which afforded him joy. Writing to a friend, April 6, he says,
+"Our Saviour is doing great things in London daily. I rejoice to
+hear that you are helped in your work. Let this encourage you; go
+on, go on; the more we do, the more we may do for Jesus. I sleep
+and eat but little, and am constantly employed from morning till
+midnight, and yet my strength is daily renewed. Oh, free grace! it
+fires my soul, and makes me long to do something for Jesus. It is
+true, indeed, I want to go home; but here are so many souls ready to
+perish for lack of knowledge, that I am willing to tarry below as
+long as my Master has work for me." It was at this period that he
+first ventured to preach in the fair in Moorfields, to which we have
+already referred. In this year he made also his second journey to
+Scotland, the particulars of which have been already given.
+
+On his arrival from Scotland in London, October, 1742, Whitefield
+found a new awakening at the Tabernacle, which in the mean time had
+been enlarged. He says, "I am employed, and, glory to rich grace,
+I am carried through the duties of each day with cheerfulness and
+almost uninterrupted tranquillity. Our society is large, but in good
+order. My Master gives us much of his gracious presence, both in our
+public and private ministrations."
+
+In March, 1743, he went again into Gloucestershire, where the
+people appeared to be more eager to attend on his ministry than
+ever before. "Preaching," says he, "in Gloucestershire, is now like
+preaching at the Tabernacle in London." And in a letter, April 7,
+he says, "I preached, and took leave of the Gloucester people with
+mutual and great concern, on Sunday evening last. It was past one in
+the morning before I could lay my weary body down, At five I rose
+again, sick for want of rest; but I was enabled to get on horseback
+and ride to Mr. T----'s, where I preached to a large congregation,
+who came there at seven in the morning. At ten, I read prayers and
+preached, and afterwards administered the sacrament in Stonehouse
+church. Then I rode to Stroud, and preached to about twelve thousand
+in Mr. G----'s field; and about six in the evening, to a like number
+on Hampton common." Next morning he preached near Dursley to some
+thousands; at about seven o'clock he reached Bristol, and preached
+to a full congregation at Smith's hall; and on the following
+morning, after preaching, set out for Waterford, in South Wales,
+where he opened the association which he and his brethren had agreed
+upon, and was several days with them, settling the affairs of the
+societies. The work in Wales, during his absence, had very greatly
+extended itself, not a few of the clergy having become converted,
+as well as their people. He tells us, "The power of God at the
+sacrament, under the ministry of Mr. Rowland, was enough to make
+a person's heart burn within him. At seven in the morning have I
+seen perhaps ten thousand from different parts, in the midst of a
+sermon, crying, _Gugunniaut_--_bendyth_--[glory--blessed]--ready
+to leap for joy." He continued in Wales some weeks, preaching with
+great apparent success, and in the latter part of April returned
+to Gloucester, after having, in about three weeks, travelled about
+four hundred miles, spent three days in attending associations,
+and preached about forty times. Among the interesting events
+of this journey may be reckoned the fact, that when he was at
+Caermarthen the quarterly sessions were held. When he was about to
+preach, the magistrates sent him word, that if he would stay till
+the court rose, they would attend on the service. He acceded to
+their proposal, and they were present, with many thousands more,
+including several persons of high rank.
+
+After a few weeks spent in London, preaching to vast congregations
+in Moorfields, and exulting in his accustomed success, collecting
+too for his beloved orphans, so as to be able to pay all his debts,
+and to make a remittance to Georgia, we again find him at Bristol,
+and in a few days afterwards at Exeter. Among the clergymen who
+met him there was Mr. Cennick. As this gentleman was preaching
+during this visit in the High-street of the city, he was eloquently
+discoursing on the doctrine of the atonement by the blood of Christ,
+when a profane butcher in the crowd exclaimed, "If you love blood,
+you shall presently have enough of it," and ran to obtain some to
+throw on him. A Mr. Saunders, who was employed in conveying persons
+from one place to another, though an entire stranger to religion,
+from a sense of justice, determined to defend the preacher; and
+when the butcher came with a pail nearly filled with blood, he
+quietly took it from him, and poured it over the man's own head.
+This Mr. Saunders afterwards became an eminent Christian. He was,
+till extreme old age, the body-coachman of George III., with whom he
+frequently held Christian conversation, and died happily in 1799, at
+the age of eighty-nine.
+
+During this visit to Bristol, Whitefield's ministry was owned of God
+in the conversion of Thomas Olivers, a young profligate Welshman.
+It is said, he had so studied profanity and cursing, that he
+would exemplify the richness of the Welsh language by compounding
+twenty or thirty words into one long and horrid blasphemy. He had
+often sang profane songs about Whitefield, and was now induced by
+curiosity to go to hear him. Being too late on the first occasion,
+he went on the following evening nearly three hours before the time.
+The text was, "Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?" Zech.
+3:2. His heart became broken with a sense of his sins, and he was
+soon enabled to trust in the mercy of Christ. He became a zealous
+and successful minister of Christ among the followers of Mr. Wesley,
+and was the author of the well-known hymn,
+
+                "The God of Abram praise," etc.
+
+In August, Whitefield returned to London, but not to make a long
+stay there. "I thank you," he writes to a correspondent, "for
+your kind caution to spare myself; but evangelizing is certainly
+my province. Everywhere effectual doors are opened. So far from
+thinking of settling in London, I am more and more convinced that
+I should go from place to place." Accordingly, during the three
+last months of 1743, we find him in a large number of places in the
+central and western parts of England. At Birmingham, he writes, "I
+have preached five times this day, and weak as I am, through Christ
+strengthening me, I could preach five times more." At Kidderminster
+he met with a distinguished Christian merchant, a Mr. Williams,
+whose published "Memoirs" have been eminently useful. Whitefield
+writes, "I was kindly received by Mr. Williams. Many friends were
+at his house. I was greatly refreshed to find what a sweet savor of
+good Baxter's doctrine, works, and discipline remains to this day."
+Nor did he, amidst all his labors, feel his health much impaired.
+He observes, indeed, that he had taken a cold, but adds, "The Lord
+warms my heart."
+
+In the beginning of March, 1744, he was compelled to attend the
+assizes at Gloucester. During the preceding summer, the enemies of
+the Methodists had been very violent, especially at Hampton, in that
+county. Forbearance in the case had ceased to be a virtue, and Mr.
+Whitefield was strongly urged to appeal to law, which in England in
+such cases is severe. At the preceding sessions the rioters had been
+convicted, but appealed to the assizes, a higher court. After a full
+hearing, a verdict was given in favor of Whitefield and his friends,
+and all the prisoners were found guilty. This exposed each to a
+fine of forty pounds, or six months' imprisonment; the rioters were
+greatly alarmed, public feeling on the subject was corrected, and
+the Methodists readily extended forgiveness to the unhappy offenders.
+
+Whitefield was now invited by Mr. Smith, an American merchant then
+in England, in the name of thousands, to revisit this country,
+and took passage with that gentleman in a vessel sailing from
+Portsmouth. But the captain refused to take him, "for fear," as he
+said, "he would spoil the sailors." On this account Mr. Whitefield
+was compelled to go to Plymouth, another seaport, to accomplish his
+purpose. On his way, he preached at Exeter and other places, with
+delightful results. "But," he says, "the chief scene was at Plymouth
+and the Dock, [now called Devonport,] where I expected least
+success."
+
+While he was at Plymouth, four well-dressed men came to the house of
+one of his particular friends, in a kind manner inquiring after him,
+and desiring to know where he lodged. Soon after, Mr. Whitefield
+received a letter informing him that the writer was a nephew of Mr.
+S----, an attorney in New York; that he had the pleasure of supping
+with Mr. Whitefield at his uncle's house, and requested his company
+to sup with him and a few friends at a tavern. Mr. Whitefield
+replied to him that he was not accustomed to sup abroad at such
+houses, but he should be glad of the gentleman's company to eat a
+morsel with him at his own lodging. The gentleman accordingly came
+and supped, but was observed frequently to look around him, and to
+be very absent. At length he took his leave, and returned to his
+companions in the tavern, and on being asked by them what he had
+done, he answered, that he had been treated with so much civility
+and kindness that he had not the heart to touch him. One of the
+company, a lieutenant of a man-of-war, laid a wager of ten guineas
+that he would do his business for him. His companions, however, had
+the precaution to take away his sword.
+
+It was now about midnight, and Mr. Whitefield having that day
+preached to a large congregation, and visited the French prisoners,
+had retired to rest, when he was awoke and told that a well-dressed
+gentleman earnestly wished to speak with him. Supposing that it was
+some person under conviction of sin, many such having previously
+called upon him, he desired him to be brought to his room. The
+gentleman came, sat down by his bedside, congratulated him upon the
+success of his ministry, and expressed considerable regret that he
+had been prevented from hearing him. Soon after, however, he began
+to utter the most abusive language, and in a cruel and cowardly
+manner beat him in his bed. The landlady and her daughter, hearing
+the noise, rushed into the room and laid hold of the assailant;
+but disengaging himself from them, he renewed his attack on the
+unoffending preacher, who, supposing that he was about to be shot or
+stabbed, underwent all the feelings of a sudden and violent death.
+Soon after, a second person came into the house, and called from
+the bottom of the stairs, "Take courage, I am ready to help you."
+But by the repeated cries of murder the neighborhood had become so
+alarmed, that the villains were glad to make their escape. "The
+next morning," says Mr. Whitefield, "I was to expound at a private
+house, and then to set out for Biddeford. Some urged me to stay and
+prosecute, but being better employed, I went on my intended journey,
+was greatly blessed in preaching the everlasting gospel; and, upon
+my return, was well paid for what I had suffered, curiosity having
+led perhaps two thousand more than ordinary to see and hear a man
+that had like to have been murdered in his bed. And I trust, in the
+five weeks that I waited for the convoy, hundreds were awakened and
+turned unto the Lord."
+
+As Whitefield was one day preaching in Plymouth, a Mr. Henry Tanner,
+who was at work as a ship-builder at a distance, heard his voice,
+and resolved, with five or six of his companions, to go and drive
+him from the place where he stood; and for this purpose they filled
+their pockets with stones. When, however, Mr. Tanner drew near, and
+heard Mr. Whitefield earnestly inviting sinners to Christ, he was
+filled with astonishment, his resolution failed him, and he went
+home with his mind deeply impressed. On the following evening, he
+again attended, and heard Mr. Whitefield on the sin of those who
+crucified the Redeemer. After he had forcibly illustrated their
+guilt, he appeared to look intently on Mr. Tanner, as he exclaimed,
+with great energy, "Thou art the man!" These words powerfully
+impressed Mr. Tanner; he felt his transgressions of the divine law
+to be awfully great, and in the agony of his soul he cried, "God be
+merciful to me a sinner!" The preacher then proceeded to proclaim
+the free and abundant grace of the Lord Jesus, which he commanded to
+be preached among the very people who had murdered him; a gleam of
+hope entered the heart of the penitent, and he surrendered himself
+to Christ. Mr. Tanner afterwards entered the ministry, and labored
+with great success, for many years, at Exeter.
+
+We are not quite certain whether it was on this or a subsequent
+visit to Plymouth, that Whitefield had preached on the Sabbath for
+the Rev. Mr. Kinsman, and after breakfast on Monday morning, said
+to him, "Come, let us visit some of your poor people. It is not
+enough that we labor in the pulpit; we must endeavor to be useful
+out of it." On entering the dwellings of the afflicted poor, he
+administered to their temporal as well as their spiritual wants.
+Mr. Kinsman, knowing the low state of his finances, was surprised
+at his liberality, and suggested that he thought he had been too
+bountiful. Mr. Whitefield, with some degree of smartness, replied,
+"It is not enough, young man, to pray, and put on a serious face;
+true religion, and undefiled, is this, to visit the widow and the
+fatherless in their affliction, and to supply their wants. My stock,
+it is true, is nearly exhausted; but God, whom I serve, and whose
+saints we have assisted, will, I doubt not, soon give me a supply."
+His expectation was not disappointed. A stranger called on him
+the same evening, who said, "With great pleasure I have heard you
+preach; you are on a journey, as well as myself, and travelling is
+expensive. Do me the honor to accept of this;" handing him five
+guineas, or twenty-five dollars. Returning to the family, Mr.
+Whitefield, very pleasantly smiling, showed them the money, saying,
+"There, young man, God has very speedily repaid what I lent him this
+morning. Let this in future teach you not to withhold what it is in
+the power of your hand to give. The gentleman to whom I was called
+is a perfect stranger to me; his only business was to give me the
+sum you see." It was a singular fact, that this gentleman, though
+rich, was notorious for a penurious disposition.
+
+During his stay in Plymouth, Whitefield's usefulness daily
+increased. The ferry-men, who obtained their living by carrying
+persons between Plymouth and Dock, refused to take money from his
+hearers, saying, "God forbid that we should sell his word!" The
+evangelist exclaimed, "Oh, the thousands that flock to the preaching
+of Christ's gospel!" In the midst of these scenes, the convoy
+arrived, and in delicate health he embarked for America.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+WHITEFIELD'S SECOND VISIT TO NEW ENGLAND.
+
+1744, 1745.
+
+
+Mr. Whitefield commenced his third voyage to America in August,
+1744. His health while crossing the Atlantic became worse,
+rather than better, the voyage lasting eleven weeks. He had set
+out in company with about one hundred and fifty ships, attended
+by several men-of-war as convoys, which, however, they lost by
+storms separating them on the way. It was more than six weeks,
+owing generally to want of wind, before they reached any of the
+western islands. When the wind again sprung up, one of the vessels,
+which missed stays, drove upon the ship in which Whitefield was,
+striking her mainsail into the bowsprit. The alarm was very great,
+but no lives were lost. He had been singing a hymn on deck when
+the concussion took place; this fact, together with that of the
+concussion itself, was communicated to the convoy, and led to the
+use of much violent and wicked language. But the good man was not
+intimidated. He says, "I called my friends together, and broke
+out into these words in prayer: 'God of the sea, and God of the
+dry land, this is a night of rebuke and blasphemy. Show thyself,
+O God, and take us under thine own immediate protection. Be thou
+our convoy, and make a difference between those who fear thee, and
+those that fear thee not.'" A difference was soon made. Next day a
+heavy storm arose, which "battered and sent away our convoy, so
+that we saw him no more all the voyage." Whitefield at first did
+not at all regret the loss, but when two strange sails appeared
+in the distance, and preparation was made for action by mounting
+guns, slinging hammocks on the sides of the ships, and encircling
+the masts with chains, he being, as he says, "naturally a coward,"
+found it formidable to have no convoy. The vessels, however, proved
+to be only a part of their own fleet. This was a pleasant discovery
+to them, especially to Whitefield. "The captain, on clearing the
+cabin, said, 'After all, this is the best fighting.' You may be sure
+I concurred, praying that all our conflicts with spiritual enemies
+might at last terminate in a thorough cleansing and an eternal
+purification of the defiled _cabin_ of our hearts."
+
+The tediousness of this voyage, in the feeble state of his health,
+seems to have tried Whitefield's patience; so that when he arrived
+in sight of the port of York, in the then territory of Maine, in
+order to land a few hours sooner he went on board a fishing smack
+then in the bay; but darkness coming on, she missed her course,
+and was tossed about all night. Unfortunately, too, she had no
+provisions, and he was so hungry that he says he "could have gnawed
+the very boards." Besides he was suffering from "nervous colic." He
+was greatly discouraged, until a man who was lying at his elbow in
+the cabin began to talk of "one Mr. Whitefield, for whose arrival
+the 'New Lights' in New England" were watching and praying. "This,"
+he says, "made me take courage. I continued undiscovered; and in a
+few hours, in answer, I trust, to _new-light_ prayers, we arrived
+safe." This was on October 19, 1744. He was quite ill when he
+landed; but was received by Dr. Sherburne, an eminent physician
+at York, who was once a Deist, but had been converted under
+Whitefield's ministry. This gentleman took him to his own house, and
+after a few days he began to recover.
+
+The Rev. Mr. Moody, of York, the aged and excellent, but eccentric
+minister of whom we have already spoken, took the earliest suitable
+opportunity of calling on the great evangelist, and said very
+characteristically, "Sir, you are, first, welcome to America;
+secondly, to New England; thirdly, to all faithful ministers in New
+England; fourthly, to all the good people of New England; fifthly,
+to all the good people of York; and sixthly and lastly, to me, dear
+sir, less than the least of all." Prince's "Christian History" had
+announced his arrival, and that his intention was "to pass on to
+Georgia; and as he goes on, to meddle with no controversies, but
+only to preach up the parts of vital piety and the pure truths of
+the gospel, to all who are willing to hear them."
+
+After giving Whitefield this hearty welcome, Moody urged him for a
+sermon. The preacher hesitated, on account of his illness, but "good
+old Mr. Moody" did not give him the benefit of his own favorite
+maxim, "When you know not what to do, you must _not_ do you know
+not what." Whitefield preached, and immediately went to Portsmouth,
+where he preached the same evening, November 6, for Mr. Fitch, and
+was to have preached again the next morning, but was too ill, and
+deferred it till the afternoon. In the mean time, as he wrote, "My
+pains returned; but what gave me most concern was, that notice had
+been given of my being engaged to preach. I felt a divine life,
+distinct from my animal life, which made me, as it were, laugh at
+my pains, though every one thought I was taken with death. My dear
+York physician was then about to administer a medicine. I on a
+sudden cried out, 'Doctor, my pains are suspended; by the help of
+God, I will go and preach, and then come home and die.' With some
+difficulty I reached the pulpit. All looked quite surprised, as
+though they saw one risen from the dead. I indeed was as pale as
+death, and told them they must look upon me as a dying man, come to
+bear my dying testimony to the truths I had formerly preached to
+them. All seemed melted, and were drowned in tears. The cry after
+me, when I left the pulpit, was like the cry of sincere mourners
+when attending the funeral of a dear departed friend. Upon my
+coming home, I was laid upon a bed on the ground, near the fire,
+and I heard them say, 'He is gone.' But God was pleased to order it
+otherwise. I gradually recovered."
+
+In another account he himself says, "In my own apprehension, and
+in all appearance to others, I was a dying man. I preached--the
+people heard me--as such. The invisible realities of another world
+lay open to my view. Expecting to launch into eternity, and to be
+with my Master before the morning, I spoke with peculiar energy.
+Such effects followed the word, I thought it was worth dying for a
+thousand times. Though wonderfully comforted within at my return
+home, I thought I was dying indeed.... Soon after, a poor negro
+woman would see me. She came, sat down upon the ground, and looked
+earnestly in my face, and then said, 'Massa, you just go to heaven's
+gate, but Jesus Christ said, Get you down, get you down; you must
+not come here yet; but go first, and call some more poor negroes.' I
+prayed to the Lord, that if I was to live, this might be the event."
+
+It was nearly three weeks before he was sufficiently recovered to
+proceed to Boston. The day before he left Portsmouth Mr. Shurtleff
+wrote, "The prejudices of most that set themselves against him
+before his coming, seem to be in a great measure abated, and in
+some, to be wholly removed; and there is no open opposition made
+to him. I have frequent opportunities of being with him, and there
+always appears in him such a concern for the advancement of the
+Redeemer's kingdom and the good of souls, such a care to employ his
+whole time to these purposes, such sweetness of disposition, and so
+much of the temper of his great Lord and Master, that every time I
+see him, I find my heart further drawn out towards him."
+
+"Prince's Christian History," of December 15, says, "The Rev. Mr.
+Whitefield was so far revived as to be able to take coach with his
+consort, and set out from Portsmouth to Boston, Nov. 24; whither he
+came in a very feeble state, the Monday evening after; since which
+he has been able to preach in several of our largest houses of
+public worship, particularly the Rev. Dr. Colman's, Dr. Sewall's,
+Mr. Webb's, and Mr. Gee's, to crowded assemblies of people, and
+to great and growing acceptance. At Dr. Colman's desire, and with
+the consent of the church, on the Lord's day after his arrival,
+he administered to them the holy communion. And last Lord's day he
+preached for the venerable Mr. Cheever, of Chelsea, and administered
+the holy supper there. The next day he preached for the Rev. Mr.
+Emerson, of Malden. Yesterday he set out to preach for some towns to
+the northward; proposes to return hither the next Wednesday evening,
+and after a few days to comply with the earnest invitations of
+several ministers to go and preach to their congregations, in the
+southern parts of the province.
+
+"He comes with the same extraordinary spirit of meekness, sweetness,
+and universal benevolence as before. In opposition to the spirit
+of separation and bigotry, he is still for holding communion with
+all Protestant churches. In opposition to enthusiasm, he preaches
+a close adherence to the Scriptures, the necessity of trying all
+impressions by them, and of rejecting whatever is not agreeable to
+them, as delusions. In opposition to Antinomianism, he preaches up
+all kinds of relative and religious duties, though to be performed
+in the strength of Christ; and, in short, the doctrines of the
+church of England, and the first fathers of this country. As before,
+he first applies himself to the understandings of his hearers,
+and then to the affections; and the more he preaches, the more he
+convinces people of their mistakes about him, and increases their
+satisfaction."
+
+The administration of the Lord's supper by a priest of the church
+of England in the Congregational church in Brattle-street, Boston,
+gave great offence. Some said, the consent of the church was
+neither given nor asked, and Dr. Colman was blamed for introducing
+Whitefield by his own authority; to which Dr. Colman replied, that,
+as it was customary for pastors to invite the assistance of other
+ministers on such occasions, he thought it unnecessary to call for
+a vote of the church; that he plainly intimated his intention in
+his prayer after sermon, and then, on coming to the table, said,
+"The Rev. Mr. Whitefield being providentially with us, I have asked
+him to administer the ordinance;" and that by the countenances of
+the people it seemed to be universally agreeable to them, which he
+supposed to be all the consent which the case required.
+
+Since Mr. Whitefield's former visit to New England, a considerable
+change had taken place in not a few of the ministers and churches.
+In 1740, he had inveighed strongly against many of the ministers,
+some of them even by name, as, in his opinion, unconverted; and
+after his departure, some preachers, who professed themselves to
+be his followers, had created great confusion by carrying these
+charges much farther than he would have approved. His second visit
+was therefore anticipated by many with anxiety, lest it might cause
+a new outbreak of enthusiasm and disorder. The General Association
+of Connecticut, in June, 1745, advised that he be not invited to
+preach in any of the churches. When he visited New Haven, he found
+himself shut out of the pulpit of the First church by its minister
+Mr. Noyes. A great crowd, however, assembled to hear him, from the
+neighboring towns, as well as from New Haven, and he preached from a
+platform erected in the street, before Mr. Pierpont's house on the
+Green, to a congregation which neither of the meeting-houses could
+have contained.
+
+From Professor Kingsley's "Sketch of the History of Yale College,"
+we learn that "President Clap issued a declaration, signed by
+himself and three tutors, that is, Samuel Whittlesey, afterwards
+minister of the First church in New Haven, Thomas Darling, for many
+years chief justice of the Court of Common Pleas for the county of
+New Haven, and John Whiting, in which some of the proceedings of Mr.
+Whitefield were condemned. In consequence of the religious fervor
+which had been excited, a much greater diversity of theological
+opinions prevailed in Connecticut than at any previous period.
+Violent controversies arose, churches were divided, and the
+government, by interfering to prevent these evils, increased rather
+than checked them. The college became an object of jealousy; and the
+declaration of the rector and tutors, respecting the preaching of
+Whitefield, offended some, without effectually conciliating others."
+
+The opposition to Mr. Whitefield of which we have spoken, was
+by no means all that he met with. Even before the Association
+in Connecticut had taken action, several similar bodies in
+Massachusetts had acted in a similar manner. The corporation of
+Harvard college published a testimony against him, while that of
+Yale represented that he intended to root out all the standing
+ministers in our land, and to introduce foreigners in their stead.
+The good man, notwithstanding all this opposition, and much more,
+went on laboring for the salvation of souls, and God still honored
+him with success.
+
+While the impartiality to which we hold ourselves bound demanded
+the statement just made, and while we are compelled to admit the
+existence of evils attendant on these revivals, we also record some
+of the facts connected with a convention of ministers, who assembled
+in Boston in pursuance of a previous notice in the Boston Gazette of
+May 30, 1743. We copy the original invitation.
+
+"It is desired and proposed by a number of ministers, both in town
+and country, that such of their brethren as are persuaded that
+there has been of late a happy revival of religion through an
+extraordinary divine influence, in many parts of this land, and are
+concerned for the honor and progress of this remarkable work of
+God, may have an interview at Boston, the day after the approaching
+commencement, to consider whether they are not called to give an
+open, conjunct testimony to an event so surprising and gracious; as
+well as against those errors in doctrine, and disorders in practice,
+which through the permitted agency of Satan have attended it, and
+in any measure blemished its glory and hindered its advancement;
+and also to consult as to the most likely method to be taken to
+guard people against such delusions and mistakes as in such a season
+they are in danger of falling into, and that this blessed work may
+continue and flourish among us." Those who could not be present were
+invited to send written attestations.
+
+In accordance with this proposal, the convention met in Boston
+on Thursday, July 7. The Rev. Dr. Sewall of Boston officiated as
+Moderator, and the Rev. Messrs. Prince of Boston, and Hobby of
+Reading, as Scribes. Ninety persons thus assembled, and letters
+were read from twenty-eight who were absent. A committee was
+appointed, consisting of the Rev. Dr. Sewall, the Rev. Messrs.
+Wigglesworth, Prince, Adams, Cooper, Nathanael Rogers, Leonard,
+and Hobby, to prepare a report. On the next morning this committee
+presented a document, which, after full discussion, was signed by
+all present; and the meeting was dissolved.
+
+Our limits will not allow us to give the whole of the report to
+which we have referred, but a few sentences will show its general
+character:
+
+"We, whose names are undersigned, think it our indispensable
+duty--without judging or censuring such of our brethren as cannot
+at present see things in the same light with us--in this open
+and conjunct manner to declare, to the glory of sovereign grace,
+our full persuasion, either from what we have seen ourselves, or
+received upon credible testimony, that there has been a happy
+and remarkable revival of religion in many parts of this land,
+through an uncommon divine influence, after a long time of decay
+and deadness, and a sensible and very awful withdrawal of the Holy
+Spirit from his sanctuary among us.... The present work seems to
+be remarkable and extraordinary, on account of the numbers wrought
+upon. We never before saw so many brought under soul concern, and
+with great distress making the inquiry, 'What must we do to be
+saved?' And these persons were of all ages and character. With
+regard to the suddenness and quick progress of it, many persons and
+places were surprised with the gracious visit together, or near
+about the same time, and the heavenly influence diffused itself
+far and wide, like the light of the morning. Also [the work seems
+to be remarkable] in respect to the degree of operations, both in a
+way of terror, and in a way of consolation, attended in many with
+unusual bodily effects. Not that all who are accounted the subjects
+of the present work have had these extraordinary degrees of previous
+distress and subsequent joy. But many, and we suppose the greater
+number, have been wrought on in a more gentle and silent way, and
+without any other appearances than are common and usual at other
+times, when persons have been awakened to a solemn concern about
+salvation, and have been thought to have passed out of a state of
+nature into a state of grace. As to those whose inward concern has
+occasioned extraordinary outward distresses, the most of them, when
+we came to converse with them, were able to give what appeared to us
+a rational account of what so affected their minds.... The instances
+were very few in which we had reason to think these affections were
+produced by visionary or sensible representations, or by any other
+images than such as the Scripture itself presents to us. Of those
+who were judged hopefully converted, and made a public profession of
+religion, there have been fewer instances of scandal and apostasy
+than might be expected.... There appears to be more experimental
+godliness and lively Christianity than most of us can remember we
+have ever seen before.... And now we desire to bow the knee in
+thanksgiving to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that
+our eyes have seen and our ears heard such things. And while these
+are our sentiments, we must necessarily be grieved at any accounts
+sent abroad representing this work as all enthusiasm, delusion, and
+disorder. Indeed, it is not to be denied, that in some places many
+irregularities and extravagances have been permitted to accompany
+it, which we would deeply bewail and lament before God, and look
+upon ourselves obliged, for the honor of the Holy Spirit, and of
+his operations on the souls of men, to bear a public and faithful
+testimony against; though at the same time it is to be acknowledged,
+with much thankfulness, that in other places where the work has
+greatly flourished, there have been few if any of those disorders
+and excesses. But who can wonder if, at such a time as this, Satan
+should intermingle himself to hinder and blemish a work so directly
+contrary to the interests of his own kingdom?... Finally, we exhort
+the children of God to continue instant in prayer, that He, with
+whom is the residue of the Spirit, would grant us fresh, more
+plentiful, and extensive effusions, that so this wilderness, in
+all the parts of it, may become a fruitful field; that the present
+appearances may be an earnest of the glorious things promised in the
+latter days, when she shall shine with the glory of the Lord arisen
+upon her, so as to dazzle the eyes of beholders, confound and put
+to shame all her enemies, rejoice the hearts of her solicitous and
+now saddened friends, and have a strong influence and resplendency
+throughout the earth. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus; come quickly."
+
+This paper was signed by eighteen ministers in the county of
+Suffolk, among whom were Colman, Sewall, Prince, Webb, Cooper,
+Foxcroft, Checkly, Gee, Eliot, and Moorhead of Boston; twelve in
+the county of Essex, nine in Middlesex, six in Worcester, ten in
+Plymouth, one in Barnstable, three in Bristol, three in York, five
+in New Hampshire, and one in Rhode Island. There were one hundred
+and fourteen in all who gave attestations, either by signing their
+names to the above document, or by sending written attestations.
+Ninety-six of the one hundred and fourteen took their first degree
+of Bachelor of Arts more than ten years previously; consequently
+before the revival commenced. Twenty-six took their first degrees
+above thirty years before. Attestations were received but from
+twelve ministers in Connecticut, as the proposal did not reach them
+in time.
+
+We may add to this statement, as showing in some degree the extent
+of this revival, that while in 1729 the number of members in the
+Congregational and Presbyterian churches of this country may be
+estimated at thirty-three thousand, the number of communicants in
+1745 could not be less than seventy-five thousand. "The _special_
+revivals of religion," says an able writer in the "American
+Quarterly Register," vol. 4, 1832, "were probably the means of
+adding from twenty thousand to thirty thousand members to the
+churches." The same writer adds, "The genuine fruits of holiness
+appeared, according to the acknowledgment of all parties, in
+multitudes of those who professed religion. They were Christians,
+who endured unto the end. This is the unanimous testimony of those
+men who were the best able to judge. Great numbers who were
+convinced of sin by Mr. Whitefield's preaching, gave ample evidence,
+living and dying, of sincere and fervent love to the commands of
+God. There is reason to believe that a _preparation_ had been made
+for the descent of the Holy Spirit, many years before the revival
+commenced. The fasts and public reformations, the prayers and tears
+of good men, from 1700 to 1730, were not in vain."
+
+One fact connected with the testimony against Whitefield, published
+by the faculty of Harvard college, we quote, as showing that then,
+as well as now, a difference of opinion existed as to written and
+extempore sermons. They thought his extempore manner of preaching
+"by no means proper," because extempore preachers are of necessity
+less instructive, the greater part of the sermon being commonly "the
+same kind of harangue which they have often used before, so that
+this is a most lazy manner" of preaching; and because it exposes the
+preacher to utter rash expressions, and even dangerous errors, as
+Whitefield, they thought, had done in several instances, probably
+from that cause. Assuredly he preferred extempore preaching to any
+other; yet he never pretended to preach without previous study. His
+sermons usually cost him as much previous labor as if they had been
+written; so that, in his case at least, it was not "a lazy way" of
+preaching. The errors which they said he had uttered, were a few
+hasty expressions, which he had retracted as soon as he had been
+reminded of them.
+
+Itinerancy, which had also been objected against Whitefield as one
+of his crimes, he strenuously defended as scriptural and right;
+understanding an evangelist to be, what they said an itinerant was,
+"One that hath no particular charge of his own, but goes about from
+country to country, or from town to town in any country, and stands
+ready to preach to any congregation that shall call him to it."
+For the divine command, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the
+gospel to every creature," he argued, "authorizes the ministers of
+Christ, even to the end of the world, to preach the gospel in every
+town and country, though not 'of their own head,' yet whenever and
+wherever Providence should open a door, even though it should be
+in a place 'where officers are already settled, and the gospel is
+fully and faithfully preached.' This, I humbly apprehend, is every
+gospel minister's indisputable privilege." He further asked, "Was
+not the Reformation begun and carried on by itinerant preaching?" He
+then quoted from "Baxter's Reformed Pastor," a plan which had been
+adopted in some parts of England, for circular lectures by settled
+ministers selected for the purpose, and with the consent of the
+pastors.
+
+In reference to Harvard college, Whitefield lived long enough
+to take a Christian's revenge. In 1764, he solicited from his
+friends donations of books for their library, which had recently
+been destroyed by fire, and four years afterwards, while his old
+opponent President Holyoke was yet in office, the following minute
+was entered on their records: "At a meeting of the President and
+Fellows of Harvard college, August 22, 1768, the Rev. G. Whitefield
+having, in addition to his former kindness to Harvard college,
+lately presented to the library a new edition of his Journals, and
+having procured large benefactions from several benevolent and
+respectable gentlemen; _voted_, that the thanks of the corporation
+be given to the Rev. Mr. Whitefield, for these instances of candor
+and generosity."
+
+It will be readily supposed, that notwithstanding all the opposition
+which Whitefield met, there were yet many thousands always ready to
+attend on his ministry. It was now the close of 1744, but the cold
+of winter did not prevent vast crowds assembling at early services
+long before daylight. Speaking of the opposition he met, "so that,"
+says he, "for a while my situation was rendered uncomfortable,"
+he adds, "But amidst all this smoke a blessed fire broke out. The
+awakened souls were as eager as ever to hear the word. Having heard
+that I expounded early in Scotland, they begged that I would do
+the same in Boston. I complied, and opened a lecture at six in
+the morning. I seldom preached to less than two thousand. It was
+delightful to see so many of both sexes neatly dressed flocking to
+hear the word, and returning home to family prayer and breakfast
+before the opposers were out of their beds."
+
+The late Rev. Dr. Archibald Alexander tells us, that when he was
+at Boston, in 1800, he found in the Old South church a lingering
+relic of Whitefield's times, in a convert of his day, a lady between
+eighty and ninety years of age, who belonged to a prayer-meeting
+founded then, which had been kept up weekly until within a few
+years. Of this, she was the only surviving member.
+
+The "Evening Post," which seems to have been on the side of
+those who opposed Whitefield, in its issue of March 11, 1745,
+says, "Prince, Webb, Foxcroft, and Gee, are the directors of Mr.
+Whitefield's public conduct, as he himself has lately declared at
+Newbury." He had other powerful friends among the clergy, and still
+more among the laity, who invited him by vote into some pulpits
+where the pastors were "shy" of him.
+
+On the 7th of February, we find him at Ipswich, where he spent
+several days. Mr. Pickering, of the Second church, declined
+admitting him into his pulpit, and assigned his reasons in a letter,
+which was published. It contains the usual objections set forth in
+the various "testimonies," and is remarkable only for one convenient
+metaphor. The Bishop of London had published on "Lukewarmness and
+Enthusiasm." Whitefield had said in reply, "All ought to be thankful
+to that pilot who will teach them to steer a safe and middle
+course;" and Pickering wittily asks, "But what if the pilot should
+take the vane for the compass?"
+
+Early in March we find him making an excursion into the east, as we
+hear of him both at Berwick and Portland, in the then territory of
+Maine. In the latter place, he not only made a powerful impression
+on the people, but on their minister. In the outset a strong feeling
+existed against his preaching in the pulpit of the First church. Mr.
+Smith, the pastor, says in his "Journal," "The parish are like to be
+in a flame on account of Mr. Whitefield's coming; the leading men
+violently opposing." Under the date of May 19, after Whitefield's
+departure, we find in the "Journal" a remarkable passage: "For
+several Sabbaths, and the lecture, I have been all in a blaze; never
+in such a flame, and what I would attend to is, that it was not only
+involuntary, but actually determined against. I went to meeting
+resolving to be calm and moderate, lest people should think it was
+wildness and affectation to ape Mr. Whitefield; but God, I see,
+makes use of me as he pleases, and I am only a machine in his hand."
+
+About the middle of March, we find our evangelist at Exeter,
+where he afterwards preached his last sermon. Here some of the
+more zealous members of the church had withdrawn, and formed a
+new church. Their conduct had been sanctioned by one council, and
+censured by another, two years before this time. Whitefield preached
+to them twice, though Mr. Odlin, the pastor of the church from
+which they had withdrawn, "solemnly warned and charged him against
+preaching in his parish." So says the "Evening Post," of March 25,
+which further calls the people to whom he preached, "Separatists."
+
+In this spring of 1745, the first expedition for the capture from
+the French of the island of Cape Breton, near Nova Scotia, was set
+on foot. Colonel Pepperell, a warm personal friend of Whitefield,
+and the only native of New England who was created a Baronet of
+Great Britain, was then at Boston, constantly attending Whitefield's
+lectures. On the day before he accepted a commission to be general
+in that expedition, he asked his opinion of the matter, and was
+told, with the preacher's usual frankness, that he did not indeed
+think that the scheme proposed for taking Louisburgh would be very
+promising; and that the eyes of all would be upon him. If he did
+not succeed, the widows and orphans of the slain soldiers would be
+like lions robbed of their whelps; but if it pleased God to give
+him success, envy would endeavor to eclipse his glory: he had need,
+therefore, if he went, to go with a single eye; and then there
+was no doubt, if Providence really called him, he would find his
+strength equal to the difficulties with which he would have to
+contend.
+
+About the same time, Mr. Sherburne, another of Whitefield's friends,
+being appointed one of the commissioners, told him he must favor
+the expedition, otherwise the pious people would be discouraged
+from enlisting; not only did he say this, but he insisted that
+the evangelist should give him a motto for his flag, for the
+encouragement of his soldiers. Whitefield refused to do this, as
+it would not be consistent with his character as a minister of the
+gospel of peace. But as Sherburne would take no denial, he gave him,
+_Nil desperandum, Christo Duce_--[Nothing to be despaired of, Christ
+being leader.] In these circumstances a large number of men enlisted.
+
+The soldiers and their officers now went farther, and before their
+embarkation requested him to give them a sermon. He preached to
+them from the text, "And every one that was in distress, and every
+one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered
+themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them." 1 Samuel
+22:2. From this somewhat singular text, he discoursed on the
+manner in which distressed sinners came to Jesus Christ, the Son
+of David; and in his application, exhorted the soldiers to behave
+like the soldiers of David, and the officers to act like David's
+worthies; saying, that if they did so, there would be good news
+from Cape Breton. After this he preached to the general himself,
+who invited him to become one of his chaplains. Whitefield declined
+this, saying, that though he should esteem this an honor, yet, as
+he generally preached three times a day, to large congregations,
+he could do more service by stirring up the people to pray, thus
+strengthening the hearts and hands of the army. In this practice
+he persevered during the whole siege of Louisburgh. "I believe,"
+said he, "if ever people went with a disinterested view, the New
+Englanders did then. Though many of them were raw and undisciplined,
+yet numbers were substantial persons, who left their farms and
+willingly ventured all for their country's good. An amazing series
+of providences appeared, and though some discouraging accounts
+were sent during the latter end of the siege, yet in about six
+weeks news came of the surrender of Louisburgh. Numbers flocked
+from all quarters to hear a thanksgiving sermon upon the occasion.
+And I trust the blessing bestowed upon the country through the
+thanksgivings of many, redounded to the glory of God."
+
+Some time before this, the people of Boston had proposed to build
+for Whitefield "the largest place of worship ever seen in America,"
+in which he should regularly preach; but, as usual, he feared this
+plan would abridge his liberty of itinerating: he thanked them for
+their offer, but decidedly declined to accept it. As his bodily
+strength increased, he began to move southward, and went through
+Rhode Island and Connecticut, preaching to thousands generally twice
+a day. He says, "Though there was much smoke, yet every day I had
+more and more convincing proof that a blessed gospel fire had been
+kindled in the hearts both of ministers and people."
+
+About this time occurred a fact which delightfully shows how the
+enemies of this admirable man were often converted into friends.
+A colored trumpeter belonging to the English army resolved to
+interrupt him while delivering a sermon in the open air. For this
+purpose he went to the field, carrying his trumpet with him,
+intending to blow it with all his might about the middle of the
+sermon. He took his station in front of the minister, and at no
+great distance from him. The crowd became very great, and those who
+were towards the extremity pressed forward, that they might hear
+more distinctly, and caused such a pressure where the poor trumpeter
+stood, that he found it impossible at the time when he intended to
+blow his trumpet, to raise the arm which held it, by which means
+he was kept within the sound of the gospel as effectually as if
+he had been chained to the spot. In a short time his attention
+was powerfully arrested, and he became so deeply affected by the
+statements of the preacher, that he was seized with all the agonies
+of despair, and was carried to a house in the neighborhood. After
+the service, he was visited by Mr. Whitefield, who gave him suitable
+counsels, and from that time the trumpeter became a greatly altered
+man. So true is it in reference to the omnipotent and gracious Being,
+
+    "Hearts base as hell he can control,
+     And spread new powers throughout the whole."
+
+While preaching at Boston, he was delighted to observe that the
+sheriff, who had heretofore been the leader of the persecution
+against him, now began to hear him preach; and his pleasure was
+vastly increased, when he saw the crowds come around him to inquire
+as to their highest interests.
+
+Among these crowds was a somewhat remarkable gentleman of that city.
+He was a man of ready wit and racy humor, who delighted in preaching
+over a bottle to his ungodly companions. He went to hear Whitefield,
+that he might be furnished with matter for a "tavern harangue." When
+he had heard enough of the sermon for his purpose, he endeavored
+to quit the church for the inn, but "found his endeavors to get
+out fruitless, he was so pent up." While thus fixed, and waiting
+for "fresh matter of ridicule," the truth took possession of his
+heart. That night he went to Mr. Prince full of terror, and sought
+an introduction to ask pardon of the preacher. Whitefield says of
+him, "By the paleness, pensiveness, and horror of his countenance,
+I guessed he was the man of whom I had been apprized. 'Sir, can you
+forgive me?' he cried in a low, but plaintive voice. I smiled, and
+said, 'Yes, sir, very readily.' 'Indeed,' he said, 'you cannot when
+I tell you all.' I then asked him to sit down; and judging that he
+had sufficiently felt the lash of the law, I preached the gospel
+to him." This, with other remarkable conversions, gave increasing
+energy and influence to his preaching in Boston. "My bodily
+strength," he says, "is recovered, and my soul more than ever in
+love with a crucified Jesus."
+
+Another illustration may also be here given of the meekness and
+gentleness which usually characterized our evangelist in his
+intercourse with his brethren. In his later visits to New England,
+it was Whitefield's usual practice to spend a few days with Dr.
+Hopkins. On one of these occasions, after preaching for the doctor
+on the Sabbath, the next day he proposed a ride into the country
+for exercise. During the ride, Whitefield spoke with regret of the
+views of their "good brother Edwards on the subject of the witness
+of the Holy Spirit." "Ah," asked Dr. Hopkins, "and what is the
+error?" Here Whitefield made a long pause; and Hopkins continued
+the conversation: "Do you believe, Mr. Whitefield, that the witness
+of the Spirit is a direct communication from God?" "I cannot say
+that I do," was the reply. "Well, do you believe that Christians
+have any other witness of the Spirit than that afforded by the
+testimony of their own holy affections?" "I cannot say that I do,"
+Mr. Whitefield again replied. "Do you believe it to be any thing
+more or less," continued Hopkins, "than the Spirit producing in the
+heart the gracious exercises of repentance, faith, etc.?" "No, that
+is precisely my view of it," said Whitefield. "And that is precisely
+the view of good father Edwards," pleasantly returned Dr. Hopkins.
+Whitefield frankly acknowledged his error, and rejoiced that there
+was no disagreement on the subject.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+     FROM HIS LEAVING NEW ENGLAND TILL HIS ARRIVAL IN ENGLAND--LABORS
+     IN THE MIDDLE AND SOUTHERN STATES--THE BERMUDAS.
+
+1745-1748.
+
+
+Leaving New England, Whitefield proceeded first to New York, where
+he preached as he had formerly done, and found that the seed sown in
+past days had produced much fruit. Proceeding still southward, on
+his way towards Philadelphia, arriving in New Jersey, he says, "I
+had the pleasure of preaching by an interpreter to some converted
+Indians, and of seeing nearly fifty young ones in one school, near
+Freehold, learning the Assembly's Catechism." A blessed awakening
+had before this time been begun and carried on among the Delaware
+Indians, by the ministry of David Brainerd; no such work had been
+heard of since the days of the apostolic Eliot in New England.
+
+Arriving in Philadelphia, Whitefield was rejoiced to find that his
+friend Gilbert Tennent was still blessed with success in his labors.
+Many, he says, were under "soul-sickness," and Tennent's health
+suffered much with walking from place to place to see them. The
+gentlemen connected with the new house in which Tennent preached,
+were, as well as Tennent himself, desirous of securing at least a
+portion of Whitefield's labors, and offered him eight hundred pounds
+a year, if he would become their pastor, and labor with them six
+months in the year, travelling the other six months wherever he
+thought proper. He thanked them, but declined.
+
+Not unfrequently have we been told by frigid critics of the inferior
+character of Whitefield's printed sermons. But have they not looked
+too much for the beauties of style, and overlooked the simple energy
+of their scriptural truths? Even these printed sermons have, under
+God, accomplished wonders. In the year 1743, a young gentleman
+from Scotland, then residing at Hanover, in Virginia, had obtained
+a volume of Whitefield's sermons preached in Glasgow, and taken
+in shorthand, which, after a gentleman of Hanover, named Hunt,
+the father of a distinguished Presbyterian minister of that name,
+had studied with great personal benefit, he invited his neighbors
+to visit his house to hear read. By their plainness and fervor,
+attended with the power of God, not a few became convinced of
+their lost condition as sinners, and anxiously inquired the way of
+salvation. The feelings of many were powerfully excited, and they
+could not forbear bitter and violent weeping. The intelligence
+spread, curiosity prompted the desire of many others to attend such
+remarkable services; and one and another begged for admission,
+till the houses were crowded. Numbers were pricked to the heart;
+the word of God became quick and powerful; and, "What shall we
+do?" was the general cry. What to do or say the principal leaders
+knew not. They themselves had been led by a still small voice,
+they hardly knew how, to an acquaintance with the truth; but now
+the Lord was speaking as on mount Sinai, with a voice of thunder;
+and sinners, like that mountain itself, trembled. It was not long
+before Christians had the happiness to see a goodly number healed
+by the same word that had wounded them, and brought to rejoice in
+Christ, and his great salvation. "My dwelling-place," said Mr.
+Morris, one of their number, "was at length too small to contain
+the people, whereupon we determined to build a meeting-house merely
+for _reading_. And having never been used to social prayer, none of
+us durst attempt it." This _reading-house_, as it was called, was
+followed by others of like character, and the number of attendants
+and the power of divine influence were much increased. Mr. Morris,
+as the report spread, was invited to several places at a distance to
+read these sermons. The phrase, "Morris' reading-house," has come
+down by tradition to the present age, as well as important details
+of the opposition of the magistracy and other classes, who sought,
+but in vain, to stop the progress of the work.
+
+Such was the origin of the Presbyterian church at Hanover, where, in
+after-days, William Robinson and President Davies accomplished such
+mighty triumphs, and where the sacred cause still flourishes.
+
+Whitefield does not seem to have been made acquainted with these
+facts till he now arrived in the colony, and saw the happy effects
+which had been produced by the labors of the Rev. Messrs. Robinson,
+Tennent, Blair, and others. Of the visit of Whitefield among them,
+one of them writes, "Mr. Whitefield came and preached four or five
+days in these parts, which was the happy means of giving us further
+encouragement, and engaging others to the Lord, especially among
+the church people, who received his doctrine more readily than they
+would from ministers of the Presbyterian denomination." We may add
+here, that in 1747 there were four houses of worship in and around
+Hanover, which had sprung from the "mustard-seed" of the sermons
+taken in shorthand from Whitefield's lips at Glasgow.
+
+Among the converts in the south who met Whitefield, was Isaac
+Oliver, who was both deaf and dumb, and had been so from his birth.
+Notwithstanding these great disadvantages, he could both feel and
+evince his strong feelings by the most significant and expressive
+signs. He could, for instance, so represent the crucifixion of the
+Lord Jesus Christ, as to be understood by every one; and among
+his own friends he could converse about the love of Christ in the
+language of signs, till he was transported in rapture and dissolved
+in tears. He was much beloved for his eminent piety.
+
+Whitefield had not, during any portion of this time, forgotten
+Bethesda. The public had warmly sustained it, and he now went
+forward to see to its affairs, and to add to the orphan-house a
+Latin school, intending, indeed, before a long time to found a
+college.
+
+The following account of the orphan-house in 1746, was written by
+Mr. Whitefield in the form of a letter to a friend, and published
+as a small pamphlet. We transcribe it from "White's Historical
+Collections of Georgia," published in 1854:
+
+  "Provide things honest in the sight of all men."--Rom. 12:17.
+
+                    "BETHESDA, in Georgia, March 21, 1745-6.
+
+"Some have thought that the erecting such a building was only the
+produce of my own brain; but they are much mistaken; for it was
+first proposed to me by my dear friend the Rev. Mr. Charles Wesley,
+who, with his excellency General Oglethorpe, had concerted a scheme
+for carrying on such a design before I had any thoughts of going
+abroad myself. It was natural to think that, as the government
+intended this province for the refuge and support of many of our
+poor countrymen, numbers of such adventurers must necessarily be
+taken off, by being exposed to the hardships which unavoidably
+attend a new settlement. I thought it, therefore, a noble design in
+the general to erect a house for fatherless children; and believing
+that such a provision for orphans would be some inducement with many
+to come over, I fell in with the design, when mentioned to me by my
+friend, and was resolved, in the strength of God, to prosecute it
+with all my might. This was mentioned to the honorable trustees.
+They took it kindly at my hands, and wrote to the bishop of Bath and
+Wells for leave for me to preach a charity sermon on this occasion
+in the Abbey church. This was granted, and I accordingly began
+immediately to compose a suitable discourse. But knowing that my
+first stay in Georgia would necessarily be short, on account of my
+returning again to take priest's orders, I thought it most prudent
+first to go and see for myself, and defer prosecuting the scheme
+till I came home.... When I came to Georgia, I found many poor
+orphans, who, though taken notice of by the honorable trustees,
+yet, through the neglect of persons under them, were in miserable
+circumstances. For want of a house to bring them up in, the poor
+little ones were tabled out here and there; others were at hard
+services, and likely to have no education at all.
+
+"Upon seeing this, and finding that his Majesty and Parliament had
+the interest of the colony much at heart, I thought I could not
+better show my regard to God and my country than by getting a house
+and land for these children, where they might learn to labor, read,
+and write, and at the same time be brought up in the nurture and
+admonition of the Lord. Accordingly, at my return to England, in
+the year 1738, to take priest's orders, I applied to the honorable
+society for a grant of five hundred acres of land, and laid myself
+under an obligation to build a house upon it, and to receive from
+time to time as many orphans as the land and stock would maintain.
+As I had always acted like a clergyman of the church of England,
+having preached in a good part of the London churches, and but a
+few months before collected near a thousand pounds sterling for the
+children belonging to the charity schools in London and Westminster,
+it was natural to think that I might now have the use at least
+of some of these churches to preach in for the orphans hereafter
+more immediately to be committed to my care. But by the time I had
+taken priest's orders, the spirit of the clergy began to be much
+imbittered. Churches were gradually denied me, and I must let this
+good design drop, and thousands, and I might add ten thousands,
+go without hearing the word of God, or preach in the fields.
+Indeed, two churches, one in London, namely, Spitalfields, and one
+in Bristol, namely, St. Philip's and Jacob, were lent me on this
+occasion, but those were all. I collected for the orphan-house in
+Moorfields two hundred and fifty pounds one Sabbath-day morning,
+twenty-two pounds of which were in copper. In the afternoon I
+collected again at Kennington Common, and continued to do so at
+most of the places where I preached. Besides this, two or three of
+the bishops, and several persons of distinction contributed, until
+at length, having gotten about a thousand and ten pounds, I gave
+over collecting, and went with what I had to Georgia. At that time
+multitudes offered to accompany me; but I chose to take over only a
+surgeon and a few more of both sexes, that I thought would be useful
+in carrying on my design. My dear fellow-traveller William Seward,
+Esq., also joined with them. Our first voyage was to Philadelphia,
+where I was willing to go for the sake of laying in provision. I
+laid out in London a good part of the thousand pounds for goods, and
+got as much by them in Philadelphia as nearly defrayed the families'
+expenses of coming over. Here God blessed my ministry daily....
+
+"January following, 1739, I met my family at Georgia, and being
+unwilling to lose any time, I hired a large house, and took in all
+the orphans I could find in the colony. A great many also of the
+town's children came to school gratis, and many poor people that
+could not maintain their children, upon application, had leave given
+them to send their little ones for a month or two, or more as they
+could spare them, till at length my family consisted of between
+sixty and seventy. Most of the orphans were in poor case, and three
+or four almost eaten up with lice. I likewise erected an infirmary,
+in which many sick people were cured and taken care of gratis. I
+have now by me a list of upwards of a hundred and thirty patients,
+which were under the surgeon's hands, exclusive of my own private
+family. About March I began the great house, having only about one
+hundred and fifty pounds in cash. I called it _Bethesda_, because
+I hoped it would be a house of mercy to many souls. Many boys have
+been put out to trades, and many girls put out to service. I had
+the pleasure, the other day, to see three boys work at the house in
+which they were bred, one of them out of his time, a journeyman,
+and the others serving under their masters. One that I brought from
+New England is handsomely settled in Carolina; and another from
+Philadelphia is married, and lives very comfortably in Savannah. We
+have lately begun to use the plough, and next year I hope to have
+many acres of good oats and barley. We have nearly twenty sheep and
+lambs, fifty head of cattle, and seven horses. We hope to kill a
+thousand weight of pork this season. Our garden is very beautiful,
+furnishes us with all sorts of greens, etc., etc. We have plenty
+of milk, eggs, poultry, and make a good deal of butter weekly. A
+good quantity of wool and cotton have been given me, and we hope to
+have sufficient spun and wove for the next winter's clothing. The
+family now consists of twenty-six persons. Two of the orphan boys
+are blind, one is little better than an idiot. I have two women to
+take care of the household work, and two men and three boys employed
+about the plantation and cattle. A set of Dutch servants has been
+lately sent over. The magistrates were pleased to give me two; and I
+took in a poor widow, aged near seventy, whom nobody else cared to
+have. A valuable young man from New England is my schoolmaster, and
+in my absence performs duty in the family. On Sabbaths, the grown
+people attend on public worship at Savannah, or at White Bluff, a
+village near Bethesda, where a Dutch minister officiates. The house
+is a noble, commodious building, and every thing sweetly adapted
+for bringing up youth. Georgia is very healthy; not above one, and
+that a little child, has died out of our family since it removed to
+Bethesda."
+
+A tabular statement follows this account, giving full particulars of
+the eighty-six children who to that period had been admitted into
+the establishment.
+
+Old newspapers, as daguerreotyping the facts, and even the feelings
+of any particular period, are sometimes invaluable. In New York, as
+everywhere else, Whitefield had his enemies, and many charges were
+brought against him. But that there were those who took a strongly
+favorable view of his character and conduct, is very clear from an
+extract we give from "The New York Post-Boy," of April, 1746: "Mr.
+Whitefield's excellent parts, fine elocution, and masterly address;
+his admirable talent of opening the Scriptures, and enforcing
+the most weighty subjects upon the conscience; his polite and
+serious behavior, his unaffected and superior piety, his prudence,
+humility, and catholic spirit, are things which must silence and
+disarm prejudice itself. By these qualifications of the orator, the
+divine, and the Christian, he has not only fixed himself deeper in
+the affections of his former friends, but greatly increased the
+number wherever he has preached; and made his way into the hearts of
+several who, till this visit, had said all the severe things against
+him that enmity itself seemed capable of."
+
+From this period, this paper especially noticed the various
+movements of this apostolic man; his arrivals in the city, his
+engagements in it, his departures from it, and the places of his
+destination, were all given with the minutiæ with which even the
+movements of monarchs are recorded.
+
+It was not without its use that the organs of the public thus
+expressed their high sense of his character. In 1745, suspicions
+were whispered abroad as to the entire integrity of this excellent
+man in the appropriation of the funds collected for Bethesda. But
+happily for all parties, the magistrates of Savannah published in
+the Philadelphia Gazette an affidavit, that they had carefully
+examined Mr. Whitefield's receipts and disbursements, and found that
+what he had collected in behalf of the orphans, had been honestly
+applied, and that besides, he had given considerably to them of his
+own property.
+
+Having done what he could at Bethesda, feeling his health failing
+him, needing resources for his orphans, and urged on by his love of
+preaching, Whitefield was soon again in the field, far away from
+his home. In the autumn of 1746, we find many passages in his
+journals and letters like these, while in Maryland: "I trust the
+time for favoring this and the neighboring southern provinces is
+come. Everywhere, almost, the door is opened for preaching, great
+numbers flock to hear, and the power of an ascended Saviour attends
+the word. For it is surprising how the Lord causes prejudices to
+subside, and makes my former most bitter enemies to be at peace
+with me.... Lately I have been in seven counties in Maryland, and
+preached with abundant success." At Charleston, South Carolina, he
+writes, January 1747, "The Lord Jesus is pleased to give me great
+access to multitudes of souls." A few weeks later, he writes from
+the same place, that Bethesda was never in a better condition; that
+he had opened a Latin school there during the winter, and that he
+hoped yet to see ministers furnished from Georgia.
+
+In April, we again find him in Maryland, as he writes on the
+twenty-fifth of that month from Bohemia, in that province, and
+speaks of the success of Mr. Samuel, afterwards President Davies,
+in Virginia, but adds that a proclamation had been issued in that
+state against itinerants, so that he himself was shut out of it. In
+the middle of May he exults, "Maryland is yielding converts to the
+blessed Jesus. The gospel seems to be moving southward. The harvest
+is promising. The time of the singing birds is come;" and five days
+afterwards he says, "I have been now a three hundred miles' circuit
+in Maryland, and through one or two counties in Pennsylvania.
+Everywhere the people have a hearing ear, and I trust some have an
+obedient heart."
+
+On the first of June we find him in Philadelphia, from whence
+he writes, "At present I have full work here. The congregations
+yesterday were large, and for this month past I have been preaching
+to thousands in different places." During the whole of this month
+his health was in a very critical state. Here we have a few
+sentences from his pen, as given on different days: "I am sick and
+well, as I used to be in England; but the Redeemer fills me with
+comfort. I am determined, in his strength, to die fighting.... I
+have almost a continual burning fever. With great regret I have
+omitted preaching _one_ night to oblige my friends, and purpose to
+do so once more, that they may not charge me with murdering myself.
+But I hope yet to die in the pulpit, or soon after I come out of
+it.... Since my last, I have been several times on the verge of
+eternity. At present I am so weak that I cannot preach. It is hard
+work to be silent, but I must be tried every way."
+
+Sickness did not interrupt Whitefield's labors, if he could move or
+preach at all. "I am determined," he says to Gilbert Tennent, "to
+die fighting, though it be on my _stumps_." He was soon after at
+New York, Newport, Portsmouth, and Boston. At New York he writes,
+"I am as willing to hunt for souls as ever. I am not weary of my
+work." On the next day he writes, "I have preached to a very large
+auditory, and do not find myself much worse for it." He did so again
+with success. He then says, "I shall go to Boston like an arrow
+out of a bow, if Jesus strengthen me. I am resolved to preach and
+work for Him until I can preach and work no more. I have been upon
+the water three or four days, and now eat like a sailor." He went
+on to Boston, where he heard of the sudden but joyful death of his
+venerable and excellent friend Dr. Colman. He adds, "My reception at
+Boston and elsewhere was like unto the first. Arrows of conviction
+fled and stuck fast. Congregations were larger than ever, and
+opposers' mouths were stopped."
+
+After again making short visits to Philadelphia and Bohemia,
+Whitefield, according to previous arrangements, went to spend the
+winter in North Carolina. Before he left Bohemia, however, he wrote
+to his friends at New York, who were intensely anxious about his
+health, but he could only say it was yet fluctuating. Even so was
+it when he arrived in North Carolina, yet he writes, "I am here,
+hunting in the woods, these _ungospelized_ wilds, for sinners. It is
+pleasant work, though my body is weak and crazy. But after a short
+_fermentation_ in the grave, it will be fashioned like unto Christ's
+glorious body. The thought of this rejoices my soul, and makes me
+long to _leap_ my seventy years. I sometimes think all will go to
+heaven before me. Pray for me as a dying man; but Oh, pray that I
+may not go off as a _snuff_. I would fain die _blazing_--not with
+human glory, but with the love of Jesus."
+
+Such was his weakness, that his journey to Bathtown, in North
+Carolina, was long and slow. Even a short ride was fatiguing and
+painful. Still, he preached with considerable power; cheered on from
+stage to stage by the hope that the conversion of "North Carolina
+sinners would be glad news in heaven." His letters indicated
+lively hopes of an extensive revival, but his expectations were not
+fully realized. His health was still exceedingly feeble, and his
+physicians ordered him to try a change of climate. He accordingly
+embarked for the Bermudas, where he landed, March 15, 1748.
+
+The Bermudas are a group of four small islands lying about nine
+hundred miles east of Georgia. The largest of the islands is called
+St. George's, with a capital of the same name; the climate is
+remarkably fine, and well adapted for the temporary residence and
+recovery of invalids. Here Whitefield met with an exceedingly kind
+reception, and remained on the island with great benefit to his
+health, more than a month. We scarcely need to say that he was not
+idle during his residence here, but traversed the island from one
+end to the other, generally preaching twice a day. A few passages
+from his journal will best show the facts.
+
+"The simplicity and plainness of the people, together with the
+pleasant situation of the island, much delighted me. The Rev.
+Mr. Holiday, minister of Spanish Point, received me in a most
+affectionate, Christian manner; and begged I would make his house
+my home. In the evening, I expounded at the house of Mr. Savage, at
+Port Royal, which was very commodious; and which also he would have
+me make my home. I went with Mr. Savage in a boat to the town of
+St. George, in order to pay our respects to the governor. All along
+we had a most pleasant prospect of the other part of the island; a
+more pleasant one I never saw. Mrs. Smith, of St. George, for whom
+I had a letter of recommendation from my dear old friend Mr. Smith,
+of Charlestown, received me into her house. About noon, with one of
+the council and Mr. Savage, I waited upon the governor. He received
+us courteously, and invited us to dine with him and the council. We
+accepted the invitation, and all behaved with great civility and
+respect. After the governor rose from the table, he desired, if I
+stayed in town on the Sunday, that I would dine with him at his own
+house.
+
+"Sunday, March 20. Read prayers and preached twice this day, to
+what were esteemed here large auditories--in the morning at Spanish
+Point church, and in the evening at Brackish Pond church, about two
+miles distant from each other. In the afternoon I spoke with greater
+freedom than in the morning, and I trust not altogether in vain. All
+were attentive, some wept. I dined with Colonel Butterfield, one of
+the council; and received several invitations to other gentlemen's
+houses. May God bless and reward them, and incline them to open
+their hearts to receive the Lord Jesus.
+
+"Wednesday, March 23. Dined with Captain Gibbs, and went from thence
+and expounded at the house of Captain F----le, at Hunbay, about
+two miles distant. The company here also was large, attentive,
+and affected. Our Lord gave me utterance. I expounded the first
+part of the eighth chapter of Jeremiah. After lecture, Mr. Riddle,
+a counsellor, invited me to his house; as did Mr. Paul, an aged
+Presbyterian minister, to his pulpit; which I complied with upon
+condition that the rumor was true, that the governor had served
+the ministers with an injunction that I should not preach in the
+churches.
+
+"Sunday, March 27. Glory be to God! I hope this has been a
+profitable Sabbath to many souls; it has been a pleasant one to
+mine. Both morning and afternoon I preached to a large auditory, for
+the Bermudas, in Mr. Paul's meeting-house, which I suppose contains
+about four hundred. Abundance of negroes, and many others, were
+in the porch, and about the house. The word seemed to be clothed
+with a convincing power, and to make its way into the hearts of
+the hearers. Between sermons, I was entertained very civilly in a
+neighboring house. Judge Bascom, and three more of the council,
+came thither, and each gave me an invitation to his house. How does
+the Lord make way for a poor stranger in a strange land. After the
+second sermon I dined with Mr. Paul; and in the evening expounded to
+a very large company at Councillor Riddle's. My body was somewhat
+weak; but the Lord carried me through, and caused me to go to
+rest rejoicing. May I thus go to my grave, when my ceaseless and
+uninterrupted rest shall begin.
+
+"Thursday, March 31. Dined on Tuesday at Colonel Corbusier's, and on
+Wednesday at Colonel Gilbert's, both of the council; and found, by
+what I could hear, that some good had been done, and many prejudices
+removed. Who shall hinder, if God will work? Went to an island this
+afternoon called Ireland, upon which live a few families; and to my
+surprise, found a great many gentlemen, and other people, with my
+friend Mr. Holiday, who came from different quarters to hear me.
+Before I began preaching, I went round to see a most remarkable
+cave, which very much displayed the exquisite workmanship of Him,
+who in 'his strength setteth fast the mountains, and is girded
+about with power.' While I was in the cave, quite unexpectedly I
+turned and saw Councillor Riddle, who, with his son, came to hear
+me; and while we were in the boat, told me that he had been with
+the governor, who declared he had no personal prejudice against
+me, and wondered I did not come to town and preach there, for it
+was the desire of the people; and that any house in the town, the
+court-house not excepted, should be at my service. Thanks be to God
+for so much favor. If his cause requires it, I shall have more.
+He knows my heart; I value the favor of man no farther than as it
+makes room for the gospel, and gives me a larger scope to promote
+the glory of God. There being no capacious house upon the island,
+I preached for the first time here in the open air. All heard very
+attentively; and it was very pleasant, after sermon, to see so many
+boats full of people returning from the worship of God. I talked
+seriously to some in our own boat, and sung a psalm, in which they
+readily joined.
+
+"Sunday, April 3. Preached twice this day at Mr. Paul's
+meeting-house, as on the last Sabbath, but with greater freedom
+and power, especially in the morning; and I think to as great,
+if not greater auditories. Dined with Colonel Harvy, another of
+the council; visited a sick woman, where many came to hear; and
+expounded afterwards to a great company, at Captain John Dorrel's,
+Mrs. Dorrel's son, who with his wife courteously entertained me, and
+desired me to make his house my home. So true is that promise of
+our Lord, that 'whosoever leaves father or mother, houses or lands,
+shall have in this life a hundred-fold with persecution, and in the
+world to come, life everlasting.' Lord, I have experienced the one;
+in thy good time grant that I may experience the other also.
+
+"Wednesday, April 6. Preached yesterday at the house of Mr. Anthony
+Smith, of Baylis Bay, with a considerable degree of warmth; and
+rode afterwards to St. George, the only town on the island. The
+gentlemen of the town had sent me an invitation by Judge Bascom;
+and he, with several others, came to visit me at my lodgings;
+and informed me that the governor desired to see me. About ten I
+waited upon his excellency, who received me with great civility,
+and told me he had no objection against my person or my principles,
+having never yet heard me; and he knew nothing with respect to my
+conduct in moral life, that might prejudice him against me; but his
+intentions were to let none preach in the island, unless he had a
+written license to preach somewhere in America, or the West Indies;
+at the same time he acknowledged that it was but a matter of mere
+form. I informed his excellency that I had been regularly inducted
+into the parish of Savannah; that I was ordained priest by letters
+dismissory from my lord of London, and was under no church censure
+from his lordship; and would always read the church prayers, if the
+clergy would give me the use of their churches. I added farther,
+that a minister's pulpit was always looked upon as his freehold; and
+that I knew one clergyman who had denied his own diocesan the use
+of his pulpit. But I told his excellency I was satisfied with the
+liberty he allowed me, and would not act contrary to his injunction.
+I then begged leave to be dismissed, as I was obliged to preach at
+eleven o'clock. His excellency said he intended to do himself the
+pleasure to hear me. At eleven, the church bell rung. The church
+Bible, prayer-book, and cushion, were sent to the town-house. The
+governor, several of the council, the minister of the parish, and
+assembly-men, with a great number of the town's people, assembled in
+great order. I was very sick, through a cold I caught last night;
+but read the church prayers. The first lesson was the fifteenth
+chapter of the first book of Samuel. I preached on those words,
+'Righteousness exalteth a nation.' Being weak and faint, and
+afflicted much with the headache, I did not do that justice to my
+subject which I sometimes am enabled to do; but the Lord so helped
+me that, as I found afterwards, the governor and the other gentlemen
+expressed their approbation, and acknowledged they did not expect to
+be so well entertained. Not unto me, Lord, not unto me, but to thy
+free grace be all the glory!
+
+"After sermon, Dr. F----bs, and Mr. P----t, the collector, came
+to me, and desired me to favor them and the gentlemen of the town
+with my company at dinner. I accepted the invitation. The governor,
+and the president, and Judge Bascom were there. All wondered at my
+speaking so freely and fluently without notes. The governor asked
+whether I used minutes. I answered, 'No.' He said it was a great
+gift. At table, his excellency introduced something of religion by
+asking me the meaning of the word HADES. Several other things were
+started about freewill, Adam's fall, predestination, etc., to all
+which God enabled me to answer so pertinently, and taught me to mix
+the _utile_ and _dulce_ [useful and pleasant] so together, that all
+at table seemed highly pleased, shook me by the hand, and invited me
+to their respective houses. The governor, in particular, asked me to
+dine with him on the morrow; and Dr. F----, one of his particular
+intimates, invited me to drink tea in the afternoon. I thanked
+all, returned proper respects, and went to my lodgings with some
+degree of thankfulness for the assistance vouchsafed me, and abased
+before God at the consideration of my unspeakable unworthiness. In
+the afternoon, about five o'clock, I expounded the parable of the
+prodigal son to many people at a private house; and in the evening
+had liberty to speak freely and closely to those who supped with
+me. O that this may be the beginning of good gospel times to the
+inhabitants of this town."
+
+We might fill other pages from Whitefield's journal, but will only
+give two more passages. The first will show him in connection with
+the African race, in whose highest welfare he always took a special
+interest.
+
+"Saturday, May 7. In my conversation these two days with some of my
+friends, I was diverted much in hearing several things that passed
+among the poor negroes, since I preached to them last Sunday. One of
+the women, it seems, said that 'if the book I preached out of was
+the best book that was ever bought at London, she was sure it had
+never all that in it which I spoke to the negroes,' The old man who
+spoke out loud last Sunday, and said 'yes' when I asked them whether
+all the negroes would not go to heaven, being questioned by somebody
+why he spoke out so, answered, that 'the gentleman put the question
+once or twice to them, and the other fools had not the manners to
+make any answer; till at last I seemed to point at him, and he
+was ashamed that nobody should answer me, and therefore he did.'
+Another, wondering why I said negroes had black hearts, was answered
+by his black brother, 'Ah, thou fool, dost not thou understand it?
+He means black with sin.' Two girls were overheard by their mistress
+talking about religion, and they said 'they knew, if they did not
+repent, they must be damned.' From all which I infer that these
+negroes on the Bermudas are more awake than I supposed; that their
+consciences are awake, and consequently prepared in a good measure
+for hearing the gospel preached to them."
+
+Whitefield sums up the events which had occurred in connection with
+himself on the Bermudas, the praise of which islands has also been
+celebrated by the distinguished Bishop Berkeley, who resided there
+for some time, and by Waller the poet.
+
+"Sunday, May 22. Blessed be God, the little leaven thrown into the
+three measures of meal begins to ferment and work almost every
+day for the week past. I have conversed with souls loaded with a
+sense of their sins, and as far as I can judge, really pricked to
+the heart. I preached only three times, but to almost three times
+larger auditories than usual. Indeed, the fields are white, ready
+to harvest. God has been pleased to bless private visits. Go where
+I will, upon the least notice, houses are crowded, and the poor
+souls that follow are soon drenched in tears. This day I took, as
+it were, another farewell. As the ship did not sail, I preached
+at Somerset in the morning to a large congregation in the fields;
+and expounded in the evening at Mr. Harvy's house, around which
+stood many hundreds of people. But in the morning and evening how
+did the poor souls weep. Abundance of prayers and blessings were
+put up for my safe passage to England, and speedy return to the
+Bermudas again. May they enter into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.
+With all humility and thankfulness of heart will I here, O Lord,
+set up my _Ebenezer_, for hitherto surely hast thou helped me.
+Thanks be to the Lord for sending me hither. I have been received
+in a manner I dared not to expect, and have met with little, very
+little opposition indeed. The inhabitants seem to be plain and
+open-hearted. They have loaded me with provisions for my sea-store;
+and in the several parishes, by a private voluntary contribution,
+have raised me upwards of _one hundred pounds sterling_. This
+will pay a little of Bethesda's debt, and enable me to make such
+a remittance to my dear yoke-fellow, as may keep her from being
+embarrassed, or too much beholden in my absence. Blessed be God for
+bringing me out of my embarrassments by degrees. May the Lord reward
+all my benefactors a thousand-fold. I hear that what was given,
+was given heartily, and people only lamented that they could do no
+more."
+
+Whitefield now transmitted to Georgia what had been collected for
+the orphan-house; but fearing a relapse, if he returned to the
+south during the hot season, which was near commencing, and pressed
+also again to visit England, he took his passage in a brig, and in
+twenty-eight days arrived at Deal.
+
+On his voyage, he completed an abridgment, which he had previously
+begun, of "_Law's serious Call to a devout and holy Life_," which he
+endeavored to make more useful by excluding whatever is not truly
+evangelical, and illustrating the subject more fully, especially
+from the holy Scriptures. He also wrote letters to his friends, one
+of which strikingly illustrates his Christian humility. It bears
+date June 24, 1748. "Yesterday I made an end of revising all my
+journals. Alas, alas, in how many things I have judged and acted
+wrong. I have been too rash and hasty in giving characters both
+of places and persons. Being fond of Scripture language, I have
+used a style too apostolical, and at the same time I have been too
+bitter in my zeal. Wildfire has been mixed with it, and I find that
+I frequently wrote and spoke in my own spirit, when I thought I
+was writing and speaking by the assistance of the Spirit of God. I
+have, likewise, too much made inward impressions my rule of acting,
+and too soon and too explicitly published what had been better kept
+in longer, or told after my death. By these things I have hurt
+the blessed cause I would defend, and also stirred up a needless
+opposition. This has humbled me much, and made me think of a saying
+of Mr. Henry, 'Joseph had more honesty than he had policy, or he
+never would have told his dreams.' At the same time, I cannot but
+praise God, who fills me with so much of his holy fire, and carried
+me, a poor weak youth, through such a torrent, both of popularity
+and contempt, and set so many seals to my unworthy ministrations. I
+bless him for ripening my judgment a little more, for giving me to
+see and confess, and I hope in some degree to correct and amend some
+of my former mistakes."
+
+In the early part of this year, 1748, the "Gentleman's Magazine"
+had announced Whitefield's death as having taken place in America.
+One of his first letters on his arrival at Deal in that year, says,
+"Words cannot express how joyful my friends were to see me once more
+in the land of the living, for I find the newspapers had buried me
+ever since April last. But it seems I am not to die, but live. O
+that it may be to declare the works of the Lord."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+LABORS IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND--CHAPLAIN TO LADY HUNTINGDON.
+
+1748, 1749.
+
+
+On the evening of July 6, 1748, Whitefield again found himself in
+London, after an absence of nearly four years. Here he was welcomed
+with joy by many thousands. The large church of St. Bartholomew
+was at once thrown open to him, where multitudes flocked to hear,
+and where on the first Sabbath he had a thousand communicants. But
+in his own more immediate circle many things were in an unhappy
+condition. His congregation at the Tabernacle had been much
+scattered during his absence; Antinomianism had made sad havoc
+among the people; and one of this party threatened to rival him in
+Moorfields. Whitefield sent him word, "The fields are no doubt as
+free to you as to another. God send you a clear head and a _clean_
+heart. I intend preaching there on Sunday evening." He did so; and
+found "Moorfields as white to harvest as ever." Our evangelist
+was again called to mourn the evils of poverty. He found himself
+compelled to sell his household furniture, to pay, in part, the
+debts of his orphan-house, which were yet far from being cancelled;
+his aged mother, for whom he always retained the highest regard,
+also needed his aid. These and other trials pressed him sorely; but
+on the other hand, he felt happy in his work, and his congregation
+were soon reunited, and happy in his labors.
+
+We have seen that as early as 1738, Lady Huntingdon, with his
+lordship her husband, as frequently as they could, heard Whitefield
+preach; since that period his lordship had died, leaving her
+ladyship a widow, in the thirty-ninth year of her age. At what
+period she became more openly and intimately Whitefield's friend
+does not appear; but when he landed at Deal from his third visit
+to America, she sent Howel Harris to bring him to her house at
+Chelsea, where he preached to large circles of the gay world, who
+thronged this then fashionable watering-place. For the benefit of
+this class of hearers, she soon after removed to London, at that
+time some three miles distant from Chelsea, appointed Whitefield her
+chaplain, and during the winter of 1748 and '49, opened her splendid
+mansion in Park-street for the preaching of the gospel. "Good Lady
+Huntingdon," he writes, "has come to town, and I am to preach twice
+a week at her house to the great and noble. O that some of them
+might be effectually called to taste the riches of redeeming love."
+On the first day appointed, Chesterfield and Bolingbroke, both of
+them well-known for their gayety and infidelity, and a circle of the
+nobility, attended; and having heard him once, they desired to come
+again. "Lord Chesterfield thanked me," he says. "Lord Bolingbroke
+was moved, and asked me to come and see him the next morning. My
+hands have been full of work, and I have been among great company.
+All accepted my sermons. Thus the world turns round. '_In all time
+of my wealth, good Lord, deliver me._'"
+
+The death-bed of Lord St. John Bolingbroke, whom we have already
+mentioned as one of his parlor-hearers, exhibited scenes unusual in
+the circle where he moved. The Bible was read to him, and his cry
+was, "God be merciful to me a sinner." "My Lord Bolingbroke," wrote
+Lady Huntingdon to Whitefield, "was much struck with his brother's
+language in his last moments. O that his eyes might be opened by the
+illuminating influence of divine truth. He is a singularly awful
+character; and I am fearfully alarmed, lest the gospel which he so
+heartily despises, yet affects to reverence, should prove the savor
+of death unto death to him. Some, I trust, are savingly awakened,
+while many are inquiring; thus the great Lord of the harvest hath
+put honor on your ministry, and hath given my heart an encouraging
+token of the utility of our feeble efforts."
+
+It is related that the Rev. Mr. Church, a clergyman who died curate
+of Battersea, near London, one day called on Bolingbroke, who said
+to him, "You have caught me reading John Calvin; he was indeed a man
+of great parts, profound sense, and vast learning; he handles the
+doctrines of grace in a very masterly manner." "Doctrines of grace,"
+replied the clergyman; "the doctrines of grace have set all mankind
+by the ears." "I am surprised to hear you say so," answered Lord
+Bolingbroke, "you who profess to believe and to preach Christianity.
+Those doctrines are certainly the doctrines of the Bible, and if I
+believe the Bible I must believe them. And let me seriously tell
+you, that the greatest miracle in the world is the subsistence of
+Christianity, and its continued preservation, as a religion, when
+the preaching of it is committed to the care of such unchristian
+men as you."
+
+At this period Whitefield renewed his acquaintance with the Rev.
+James Hervey, who has not improperly been called the Melancthon
+of the second reformation in England. Among all the converts
+of our evangelist, no one was more distinguished for piety, or
+for his fascination as a writer, than this admirable clergyman.
+His writings, though too flowery in their style, were eminently
+suitable, as Whitefield himself says, "for the taste of the polite
+world." Hervey wrote to Whitefield, "Your journals and sermons, and
+especially that sweet sermon on 'What think ye of Christ?' were a
+means of bringing me to the knowledge of the truth." Whitefield felt
+the warmest attachment to Hervey in return, and when he introduced
+some of his works into America, wrote, "The author is my old friend;
+a most heavenly-minded creature; one of the first Methodists, who
+is contented with a small _cure_, and gives all he has to the poor.
+We correspond with, though we cannot see each other." Whitefield
+intimated in one of his journals his intention of sketching Hervey's
+character, but this was one of the many intended things which
+were never accomplished. Dr. Doddridge wrote a preface to one of
+his works, which Warburton, as might be expected, called "a weak
+rhapsody."
+
+Under the auspices of Lady Huntingdon, a prayer-meeting was
+established for the women who, from the circles of rank and fashion,
+became the followers of the Lord. Among these were Lady Frances
+Gardiner, Lady Mary Hamilton, daughter of the Marquis of Lothian,
+who had attended the ministry of Whitefield in Scotland, Lady
+Gertrude Hotham and Countess Delitz, sisters of Lady Chesterfield,
+Lady Chesterfield herself, and Lady Fanny Shirley. "Religion," says
+Lady Huntingdon, when writing to Doddridge, "was never so much the
+subject of conversation as now. Some of the great ones hear with me
+the gospel patiently, and thus much seed is sown by Mr. Whitefield's
+preaching. O that it may fall on good ground, and bring forth
+abundantly."
+
+Some one, we believe a bishop, complained to George II. of the
+popularity and success of Whitefield, and entreated his majesty in
+some way or other to silence him. The monarch, thinking, no doubt,
+of the class described by the martyr Latimer, as "unpreaching
+prelates," replied with jocose severity, "I believe the best way
+will be to make a bishop of him."
+
+But if Whitefield was honored by some of the great, he received from
+others unmingled hostility. Horace Walpole, the gay man, and the
+corrupt courtier, thought it worth while to introduce the Methodist
+preacher into his "Private Correspondence." The statement he makes
+of professed facts is altogether incredible, but shows unmistakably
+the spirit of the writer. "The apostle Whitefield is come to some
+shame. He went to Lady Huntingdon lately, and asked for forty pounds
+for some distressed saint or other. She said she had not so much
+money in the house, but would give it him the first time she had. He
+was very pressing, but in vain. At last he said, 'There's your watch
+and trinkets, you don't want such vanities; I will have that.'
+She would have put him off; but he persisting, she said, 'Well, if
+you must have it, you must.' About a fortnight afterwards, going
+to his house, and being carried into his wife's chamber, among the
+paraphernalia of the latter the countess found her own offering.
+This has made a terrible schism; she tells the story herself. I had
+not it from Saint Frances, [Lady Fanny Shirley,] but I hope it is
+true." Every thing goes to prove the sincerity of his hope, though
+founded on falsehood.
+
+It has generally happened that the most effective public speakers,
+whether secular or sacred, have been accused by a fastidious class
+with _vulgarisms_. So with Cicero, Burke, and Chatham; so with
+Patrick Henry and Daniel Webster; and to turn to eminent preachers,
+so with Luther, Latimer, and Whitefield. The reason was, that
+intent on the greatest good to the greatest number, they used what
+Dr. Johnson, after Daniel Burgess, called "market language." Dr.
+William Bates, an accomplished and courtly non-conformist minister,
+in the seventeenth century, once complained in the presence of his
+faithful but unpolished friend Daniel Burgess, that he found very
+little success in his work as a minister; when his aged brother
+smartly replied, "Thank your velvet mouth for that--too fine to
+speak market language." Whitefield, very happily for thousands, had
+no squeamishness of this sort.
+
+Some ladies called one Saturday morning to pay a visit to Lady
+Huntingdon, and during the interview, her ladyship inquired of them
+if they had ever heard Mr. Whitefield preach. On being answered
+in the negative, she said, "I wish you would hear him; he is to
+preach to-morrow evening." They promised her ladyship they would
+certainly attend. They fulfilled their promise; and when they called
+on her ladyship the next Monday morning, she anxiously inquired if
+they had heard Mr. Whitefield on the previous evening, and how they
+liked him. The reply was, "Oh, my lady, of all the preachers we
+ever heard, he is the most strange and unaccountable! Among other
+preposterous things, would your ladyship believe it, he declared
+that Jesus Christ was so willing to receive sinners, that he did not
+object to receive even the devil's _castaways_! Now, my lady, did
+you ever hear of such a thing since you were born?" Her ladyship, in
+reply, said, "There is something, I acknowledge, a little singular
+in the invitation, and I do not recollect to have met with it
+before; but as Mr. Whitefield is below in the parlor, we will have
+him up, and let him answer for himself."
+
+On Mr. Whitefield's entering the drawing-room, Lady Huntingdon
+said, "Sir, these ladies have been preferring a very heavy charge
+against you, and I thought it best that you should come up and
+defend yourself. They say, that in your sermon last evening, in
+speaking of the willingness of Jesus Christ to receive sinners, you
+said, that 'so ready was Christ to receive sinners who came to him,
+that he was willing to receive even the devil's castaways.'" Mr.
+Whitefield immediately replied, "I certainly, my lady, must plead
+guilty to the charge; whether I did what was right, or otherwise,
+your ladyship shall judge when you have heard a fact. Did your
+ladyship notice, about half an hour ago, a very modest single rap
+at the door? It was given by a poor, miserable looking aged female,
+who requested to speak with me. I desired that she might be shown
+into the parlor, when she thus addressed me: 'I believe, sir, you
+preached last evening at such a chapel.' 'Yes, I did.' 'Ah, sir, I
+was accidentally passing the door of that chapel, and hearing the
+voice of some one preaching, I did what I have never been in the
+habit of doing--I went in; and one of the first things I heard you
+say, was, that Jesus Christ was so willing to receive sinners, that
+he did not object to receive the devil's castaways. Do you think,
+sir, that Jesus Christ would receive me?' I answered her that there
+was not a doubt of it, if she was but willing to go to him."
+
+It is pleasant to add, that the impression conveyed in the singular
+language of Mr. Whitefield ended in the conversion of the poor
+woman to God. She gave satisfactory evidence that her great and
+numerous sins had been forgiven through the atonement of the Lord
+Jesus Christ. Was Mr. Whitefield to be censured for the use of this
+language?
+
+In September, 1748, Mr. Whitefield made his third visit to Scotland,
+where he met with a cordial welcome, and where his labors became
+increasingly valued. Some of the clergy at Glasgow, Perth, and
+Edinburgh used their influence to exclude him from the pulpits, but
+the majority voted in his favor; and a full examination vindicated
+his character, and made his excellences more generally known. All
+the ministers who were disposed to invite him to preach, were at
+liberty to do so, except in the presbytery of Edinburgh; here,
+however, he was accommodated by the magistrates with a church to
+preach in whenever he visited the city. In Scotland he now warmly
+advocated the cause of the college in New Jersey: of the results of
+his labors we shall hear more hereafter.
+
+On his return to London, Whitefield resumed his preaching at
+Lady Huntingdon's to "the great ones," as he calls them. Thirty,
+and sometimes even sixty persons of rank attended, although the
+newspapers gave false and degrading accounts of the reception he
+met with in Scotland. He now availed himself of the influence he
+possessed, to forward his intended college, in addition to his
+orphan-house, for which his plea was, "If some such thing be not
+done, I cannot see how the southern parts will be provided with
+ministers; for all are afraid to go over." On this ground he
+appealed to the trustees of Georgia; reminding them that he had
+expended five thousand pounds upon the orphan-house; begging them
+to relieve it, as a charitable institution, from all quit-rent
+and taxes; and especially to allow him the labor of blacks in
+cultivating the farm. "White hands," he said, "had left his tract of
+land uncultivated."
+
+It will not be expected that Whitefield could stay long, even in the
+courtly circles of London, where he met with so much acceptance. We
+very soon find him among his old friends at Gloucester and Bristol.
+The bishop of the latter see, he says, behaved very respectfully
+to him; he visited also his old tutor, now become one of the
+prebendaries, and met with the old kindness received at Oxford. "I
+told him, that my judgment, as I trust, was a little more ripened
+than it was some years ago; and that as fast as I found out my
+faults, I should be glad to acknowledge them. He said the offence of
+the governors of the church would wear off as I grew _moderate_."
+The evangelist did not tell the doctor how little he cared for such
+moderation as the governors of the church in that day required;
+but he wrote to Lady Huntingdon, on the subject of their favor, "I
+am pretty easy about that. If I can but act an honest part, and be
+kept from _trimming_, I leave all consequences to Him who orders all
+things well." During this journey, many new converts were won. One
+of these was a counsellor, who was so much affected, that his zeal
+in inviting others to hear Whitefield led his wife to suspect him of
+madness.
+
+An interesting fact connected with Gloucestershire, his native
+county, may be introduced in this place, though we are not sure
+that it occurred during this journey. John Skinner of Houndscroft
+was a strolling fiddler, going from fair to fair, supplying music
+to any party that would hire him. Having determined to interrupt
+Mr. Whitefield while preaching, he obtained a standing on a ladder
+raised to a window near the pulpit. Here he remained a quiet, if not
+an attentive hearer, till the text was read, when he intended to
+begin his annoying exercise on the violin. It pleased God, however,
+while he was putting his instrument in tune, to convey the word
+preached with irresistible power to his soul; his attention was
+diverted from his original purpose, he heard the whole sermon, and
+became a new man.
+
+Happily Whitefield was blessed in bringing to Christ many who were
+made eminently useful. Among others we might mention the late Rev.
+Cornelius Winter, an eminent minister, who afterwards accompanied
+our evangelist in his last voyage to America, and who after his
+death conveyed his will to England, and sought ordination to return
+and labor in Georgia. Disappointed in this, he became an able and
+successful minister in England; and also trained several young men
+for the Christian ministry, including the late celebrated William
+Jay of Bath. Whitefield had often been heard by Winter with great
+pleasure, for he admired his eloquence; but for some time no good
+effects were apparent. One night, while playing at cards, an
+amusement in which he much delighted, and though surrounded by a
+number of gay companions, the thought presented itself to Winter's
+mind that he might that evening hear his favorite preacher. He broke
+off from play in the midst of the game, which made his companions
+very angry, as they suspected where he was going. He tells us that
+it was a night much to be remembered. He had reason to hope the
+scales of ignorance were then removed from his eyes, he had a sense
+of his misery as a sinner, and was led to earnest inquiry after the
+way of salvation. It is scarcely necessary to say, that he never
+again played at cards.
+
+From the exhilarating scenes of Gloucestershire and Bristol, we
+must accompany Whitefield into Cornwall, among the glens and dales
+of which, or on the seaside to a somewhat similar population and
+with almost equal success, he spoke "all the words of this life."
+The robust and determined miners of the west of England, whose
+very employment gives hardihood alike to their character and frame,
+at first received him in somewhat rough and unpolished style,
+but were soon after melted and transformed by the grace which
+had displayed its triumphs among their brethren at Kingswood.
+"I am just returned," he writes on one occasion, "from near the
+Land's End, where thousands and thousands heard the gospel gladly.
+Everywhere the word of God has run and been glorified. Every day I
+have been travelling and preaching; and could I stay a month, it
+might be spent to great advantage. At a place called Port Isaac,
+the Redeemer's stately steps were indeed seen. At Camelford I
+preached with great quietness in the streets. At St. Ann's we had
+a very powerful season; and yesterday at Redruth several thousands
+attended, and the word was quick and powerful." Again he writes,
+"Immediately after writing my last, I preached to many thousands at
+a place called Gwennap. The rain descended, but the grace of God
+seemed to fall like a gentle dew, sprinkling rain upon our souls. It
+was indeed a fine spring shower. In the evening I rode to St. Ives,
+and preached to many who gladly attended to hear the word; a great
+power seemed to accompany it. On the Lord's day I preached twice to
+great auditories. On Monday I preached again at Redruth, at ten in
+the morning, to nearly, as they were computed, ten thousand souls.
+Arrows of conviction seemed to fly fast." Again, in a communication
+to the Countess of Huntingdon, he says, "I have been very near
+the Land's End, and everywhere souls have fled to hear the word
+preached, 'like doves to their windows.' The harvest is great, yea,
+very great, but laborers are few. O that the Lord of the harvest
+would thrust out more laborers." And yet again he says, "Invitations
+are sent to me from Falmouth and several other places, but I cannot
+attend to them all at present. I want more tongues, more bodies,
+more souls, for the Lord Jesus. Had I ten thousand, he should have
+them all." Such was the noble spirit he displayed, and such were
+the manner and fruits of his "entering in among" the, at that time,
+benighted children of Cornwall. A great light shone upon them. They
+came from the caverns of the earth to welcome its rising, and to
+look upon its brightness. Thousands of them were indeed "brought out
+of darkness into marvellous light," and turned by it from sin to
+holiness, and from Satan to God; and thousands are still rejoicing
+in its beams.
+
+On his return to London, Whitefield found his assemblies at the
+countess's "brilliant indeed," and Lord Bolingbroke still one among
+them. Of this talented nobleman our evangelist at this time indulged
+a happy hope, which, alas, seems never to have been realized.
+
+In February, 1749, Whitefield made an excursion to Exeter and
+Plymouth, where he was agreeably surprised to find a great
+alteration had taken place since his preceding visit, five years
+before. He loved to "range," as he called it, "after precious
+souls," and happily for him and for others he found them. During
+this and subsequent visits to Plymouth, he resided with the Rev.
+Andrew Kinsman, an excellent Congregational minister, of whom we
+have already spoken. He was born in Devonshire in 1724, and was
+therefore ten years younger than Whitefield. While peculiarly
+amiable in his manners, and remarkable for his regard to his
+parents, he was unacquainted with the religion of the heart till
+his seventeenth year, when he met with a volume of Mr. Whitefield's
+sermons, and one of those on the new birth alarmed him. His pious
+friends were few, but his religious feelings were deeply moved,
+and God at length gave him "the oil of joy for mourning, and the
+garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness." Concerned for the
+highest interests of his relatives, he one night, as the family were
+retiring to rest, broke out, with intense emotion, "What, shall we
+go to bed without prayer? How do we know but some of us may awake
+in hell before morning?" This unexpected address struck the family
+with solemn awe; and while they looked at each other with conscious
+shame, for the neglect of so clear a duty, he fell upon his knees
+and prayed with so much readiness and fervor that it excited their
+astonishment.
+
+As might be expected, his concern for others did not stop here; he
+was anxious that his neighbors might also find "the unsearchable
+riches of Christ." He began, therefore, to read Whitefield's sermons
+to as many as would attend, supposing, with Melancthon, that what
+had proved so great a blessing to himself, would not fail of similar
+effects on others, as soon as they were heard. After a short time,
+he began himself to expound and preach, and was encouraged by many
+conversions under his ministry, including those of his father,
+mother, and three sisters. Not long after these events, Whitefield,
+in entering on one of his voyages to America, had been compelled
+to stay at Plymouth, where Kinsman first saw and heard him. By a
+series of remarkable events, Mr. Kinsman was brought to settle
+as a minister at Plymouth, where the "Tabernacle" was erected on
+ground given by himself, and the congregation were served by him and
+other ministers with abundant success. In the whole neighborhood an
+extraordinary blessing attended his labors, and his usefulness and
+deliverances from danger were only second to those of Whitefield
+himself. Nor was he less respected, nor his ministry attended with
+less success, at Bristol and London--cities to which he was invited
+by Whitefield; who used to call Bristol "_Kinsman's America_,"
+alluding to his own reception and success in the western world.
+
+On one occasion, when Whitefield was about to sail for America,
+he sent for Kinsman to London, and on his arrival dined with his
+distinguished friend at the Tabernacle house. After dinner there
+was a violent storm of thunder and lightning. As they stood at the
+window looking out on the raging elements, Mr. Kinsman, supposing a
+young clergyman who had dined with them, and who now stood by his
+side, to be a pious man, familiarly put his hand on his shoulder,
+and with great cheerfulness and energy repeated the lines of Dr.
+Watts:
+
+    "The God who rules on high,
+     And thunders when he please;
+     Who rides upon the stormy sky,
+     And manages the seas--
+     _This awful God is ours_,
+     Our Father, and our love!"
+
+The words so appropriately introduced, and so emphatically spoken,
+made a deep impression on the mind of the young clergyman, and gave
+rise to a conversation which, by the blessing of God, led to his
+conversion.
+
+At the Tabernacle in London, the ministry of Mr. Kinsman was greatly
+distinguished for its excellence and success, and he thought himself
+highly honored in preaching the first sermon delivered from the
+pulpit of the present Tabernacle. His musical voice, his lively and
+pathetic address, and the richness of the evangelical truths he
+proclaimed, brought numbers of all classes of society to hear him.
+Among them was Shuter, the comedian, to whom we shall again refer as
+a hearer of Whitefield, and who years afterwards, in an interview
+with Kinsman, drew a striking contrast between their professions,
+and bitterly lamented that he had not cordially embraced religion,
+when his conscience was impressed under the preaching of the great
+evangelist.
+
+But we must not stay longer to speak of Kinsman; suffice it to say
+that he founded, in addition to Plymouth, a new church three miles
+from thence, at a place now called Devonport, and labored with
+energy and holy success till the sixty-ninth year of his age, when
+he died in triumph, February 28, 1793. Of such a man it was truly
+said, that for Whitefield "he retained the most filial affection to
+his dying day; and frequently travelled with, and consulted him as a
+father upon all his religious concerns."
+
+In March Whitefield returned to London, where the feeble state of
+his health made him feel weary even in his success. He says, "I
+have seen enough of popularity to be sick of it, and did not the
+interest of my blessed Master require my appearing in public, the
+world should hear but little of me henceforward." Yet his zeal
+abated not. "I dread the thoughts of flagging in the latter stages
+of my road," is an expression often used in his letters to his
+friends. He thought that preaching and travelling contributed to his
+health. In a letter to Hervey, he says, "Fear not your weak body,
+we are immortal till our work is done. Christ's laborers must live
+by miracle; if not, I must not live at all, for God only knows what
+I daily endure. My continual vomitings almost kill me, and yet the
+pulpit is my cure; so that my friends begin to pity me less, and to
+leave off that ungrateful caution, 'Spare thyself.' I speak this to
+encourage you."
+
+All this Whitefield meant. Hence in May we find him preaching at
+Portsmouth daily, for more than a week, to very large and attentive
+auditories; where was shown another remarkable instance of the power
+which attended his preaching, for many who a few days before were
+speaking all manner of evil against him, were very desirous of his
+longer stay to preach the gospel among them. From Bristol, June 24,
+he writes, "Yesterday God brought me here, after a circuit of about
+eight hundred miles, and enabled me to preach to, I suppose, upwards
+of a hundred thousand souls. I have been in eight Welsh counties,
+and I think we have not had one dry meeting. The work in Wales is
+much upon the advance, and likely to increase daily."
+
+Whitefield returned to London to welcome his wife home from the
+Bermuda Islands. From her he learned that there his character had
+been aspersed by one of the clergy; but while he grieved over the
+fact, he said, "I am content to wait till the day of judgment for
+the clearing up of my character; and after I am dead, I desire no
+other epitaph than this, 'Here lies George Whitefield. What sort of
+a man he was, the great day will discover.'"
+
+In the midst of his sorrows, Whitefield was comforted by a visit
+from two German ministers, who had been laboring among the Jews with
+apparently happy results. He found also several of the peeresses,
+and others of "the great," cordially disposed to receive him; and
+shortly afterwards was visited by Mr. Grimshaw, a clergyman from
+Yorkshire, for whom in September he went to preach. Thousands in the
+village of Haworth attended his preaching, even ten thousand at a
+time, and a thousand communicants approached the table of the Lord.
+At Leeds also he preached, at the invitation of Mr. Wesley's people,
+to ten thousand persons, and Mr. Charles Wesley himself introduced
+him to the pulpit at Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
+
+In the north of England the visits of Mr. Whitefield were always
+looked for with intense interest. In one of his letters, he thus
+describes the state of things there in August, 1756: "It is now a
+fortnight since I came to Leeds, in and about which I preached eight
+days successively, three times almost every day, to thronged and
+affected auditories. On Sunday last at Bradford, in the morning,
+the audience consisted of above ten thousand; at noon, and in
+the evening, at Birstal, of nearly double that number. Though
+hoarse, I was able to speak so that they all heard." These hallowed
+services were often spoken of by the late Rev. Dr. John Fawcett,
+for more than half a century an eminent Baptist minister of that
+neighborhood, to whose soul they proved a rich blessing. After
+having heard Whitefield at Bradford in the morning, he followed
+him to Birstal, where a platform was erected at the foot of a hill
+adjoining the town, whence Mr. Whitefield addressed an immense
+concourse of people, not fewer, it was believed, than twenty
+thousand, who were ranged before him on the declivity in the form of
+an amphitheatre. "I lay," says Fawcett, "under the scaffold, and it
+appeared as if all his words were addressed to me, and as if he had
+known my most secret thoughts from ten years of age. As long as life
+remains, I shall remember both the text and the sermon." Accustomed
+as he was to preach to large and promiscuous multitudes, when he
+looked on this vast assemblage, and was about to mount the temporary
+stage, he expressed to his surrounding friends a considerable
+feeling of timidity; but when he began to speak, an unusual
+solemnity pervaded the assembly, and thousands, in the course of the
+sermon, as was often the fact, gave vent to their emotions by tears
+and groans. Fools who came to mock, began to pray, and to cry out,
+"What must we do to be saved?"
+
+Mr. Shirley, in giving an account of this same service, tells us
+that "not only the field, but the woodlands about it, were covered
+with crowds collected from different parts. An unusual solemnity
+pervaded this vast multitude, and at the close of the service the
+one hundredth psalm was sung, and concluded with Mr. Grimshaw's
+favorite doxology,
+
+       "'Praise God, from whom all blessings flow.'
+
+The volume of sound produced by the united voices of thousands,
+while it reëchoed through the vale below, had such an effect as no
+language can describe."
+
+Mr. Grimshaw was a very remarkable clergyman connected with the
+church of England, though found fault with on account of his
+irregularity. He studied at Cambridge for the ministry before he
+was acquainted with the reality of true religion. His conversion
+was very striking; after which he became a remarkably faithful and
+pungent preacher. He settled at Haworth, in Yorkshire, where Mr.
+Whitefield visited him.
+
+In one of the services held by Mr. Whitefield in Yorkshire, a
+deep solemnity was created by providential circumstances. He had
+mounted the temporary scaffold to address the thousands before him.
+Casting a look over the multitude, he elevated his hands, and in an
+energetic manner implored the divine presence and blessing. With a
+solemnity peculiarly his own, he then announced his text, "It is
+appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." Heb.
+11:27. After a short pause, as he was about to proceed, a wild,
+terrifying shriek issued from the centre of the congregation. A
+momentary alarm and confusion ensued. Mr. Whitefield waited to
+ascertain the cause, and requested the people to remain still. Mr.
+Grimshaw hurried to the spot, and in a few minutes was seen pressing
+towards the place where Mr. Whitefield stood. "Brother Whitefield,"
+said he, manifesting in the strongest manner the intensity of his
+feelings, and the ardor of his concern for the salvation of sinners,
+"you stand among the dead and the dying. An immortal soul has been
+called into eternity; the destroying angel is passing over the
+congregation; cry aloud, and spare not." The awful occurrence was
+speedily announced to the congregation. After the lapse of a few
+moments, Mr. Whitefield again announced his text. Again a loud and
+piercing shriek proceeded from the spot near where Lady Huntingdon
+and Lady Margaret Ingham were standing. A thrill of horror seemed
+to escape from the multitude when it was understood that a _second_
+person had fallen a victim to the king of terrors. When the
+consternation had somewhat subsided, Mr. Whitefield gave indications
+of proceeding with the service. The excited feelings of many were
+wound up to their highest point. All was hushed; not a sound was to
+be heard; and a stillness like the awful silence of death spread
+over the assembly, as he proceeded in melting strains to warn the
+careless, Christless sinner to "flee from the wrath to come."
+
+As winter was now approaching, Whitefield felt it important to
+return to the metropolis. During the tour he had made, he won to
+Christ not a few of those who afterwards laid the foundations of
+churches now flourishing in the counties of Lancaster, York, and
+Northumberland. He met, however, with so much "rude treatment here
+and there, as sent him home praying, 'Lord, give me a pilgrim heart
+for my pilgrim life.'" He was now in "winter quarters," but was
+neither idle nor useless. To use his own words, "The glory of the
+Lord filled the tabernacle, and the shout of a king was in the
+camp," and that from week to week. "Thousands, thousands crowded to
+hear." Every day also he heard of instances of conversion. One of
+these pleased him greatly. It was that of a boatswain, who, before
+hearing him, knew no more about divine truth "than the whistle he
+blew on board." He mentions also a boy eleven years of age, a woman
+of eighty, and a baker, who had been "a Jerusalem sinner," all of
+whom bowed before the cross, and placed their hopes of salvation on
+Him who died thereon.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+     LABORS IN GREAT BRITAIN--FOURTH VISIT TO AMERICA--NEW TABERNACLE
+     IN LONDON, AND TABERNACLE AT BRISTOL.
+
+1750-1754.
+
+
+At the beginning of the year 1750, Whitefield was still in London.
+At this time his intended college at Bethesda occupied much of
+his attention. He wrote to his friends in every quarter for help.
+His usual appeal was, "We propose having an academy or college at
+the orphan-house. The house is large, and will hold a hundred. My
+_heart_, I trust, is larger, and will hold ten thousand." Though
+in London, his heart was in America. He says, "Ranging seems my
+province; and methinks I hear a voice behind me saying, 'This is
+the way, walk in it.' My heart echoes back, 'Lord, let thy presence
+go with me, and then send me where thou pleasest.' In the midst of
+all, America, _dear_ America, is not forgotten. I begin to count the
+days, and to say to the months, 'Fly fast away, that I may spread
+the gospel-net once more in dear America.'"
+
+Be it here mentioned, that amid the busy scenes of his life, and
+while surrounded with the flatteries of the great and noble,
+Whitefield did not forget the duties he owed to his mother. A person
+whom he had employed to obtain some comforts for her, had neglected
+the duty, so that the now aged matron might have felt a week's
+anxiety. He wrote to her, "I should never forgive myself, was I, by
+negligence or any wrong conduct, to give you a moment's needless
+pain. Alas, how little have I done for you. Christ's care for his
+mother excites me to wish I could do any thing for you. If you
+would have any thing more brought, pray write, honored mother.
+* * * Tomorrow it will be _thirty-five_ years since you brought
+unworthy me into the world. O that my head were waters, and mine
+eyes fountains of tears, that I might bewail my barrenness and
+unfruitfulness in the church of God."
+
+While he was now fully engaged in preaching, and was surrounded
+with flatteries, he did not forget his duty to conflict with sin.
+He writes, "I find a love of power sometimes intoxicates even God's
+dear children. It is much easier for me to obey than govern. This
+makes me fly from that which, at our first setting out, we are apt
+to court. I cannot well buy humility at too dear a rate."
+
+Dr. Philip Doddridge, as every reader knows, was one of the most
+pious and accomplished preachers and writers of the Non-conformists
+of England in his day. Nor was his _missionary_ zeal small in its
+degree. Though he died as early as 1751, he had said, "I am now
+intent on having something done among the dissenters, in a more
+public manner, for propagating the gospel abroad, which lies near
+my heart. I wish to live to see this design brought into execution,
+at least into some forwardness, and then I should die the more
+cheerfully." It was indeed the passion of his life to promote
+the interests of evangelical truth, and save the souls of men.
+And though, as his recent eulogist, the Rev. John Stoughton, has
+said, condemned by some, and suspected by others for so doing, he
+took a deep and sympathetic interest in the evangelical labors of
+Whitefield. It seems strange in our day to think of Whitefield
+being regarded as an enthusiast by orthodox dissenters. Yet there
+were those who did thus regard him. Bradbury poured on him streams
+of wit; Barker regarded his sermons as low and coarse; and another
+in writing calls him "honest, crazy, confident Mr. Whitefield."
+But Doddridge regarded him as far otherwise, and spoke of him as
+"a flaming servant of Christ." He prayed on one occasion at the
+Tabernacle, but Dr. Watts was much grieved by it; and when, on
+Whitefield's visiting Northampton, Doddridge gave him the use of
+his pulpit, the managers of the college of which he was president
+remonstrated with him for so doing.
+
+The visit of Whitefield to Doddridge was in February, 1750, where
+he met with the Rev. Dr. Sir James Stonehouse, and the Rev. Messrs.
+Hartley and Hervey. The latter eminent clergyman thus writes: "I
+have lately seen that most excellent minister of the ever-blessed
+Jesus, Mr. Whitefield. I dined, supped, and spent the evening with
+him at Northampton, in company with Dr. Doddridge, and two pious,
+ingenious clergymen of the church of England, both of them known to
+the learned world by their valuable writings. And surely I never
+spent a more delightful evening, or saw one that seemed to make
+nearer approaches to the felicity of heaven. A gentleman of great
+worth and rank in the town invited us to his house, and gave us
+an elegant treat; but how mean was his provision, how coarse his
+delicacies, compared with the fruit of my friend's lips: they
+dropped as honey from the honey-comb, and were a well of life.
+Surely people do not know that amiable and exemplary man, or else,
+I cannot but think, instead of depreciating, they would applaud
+and love him. For my part, I never beheld so fair a copy of our
+Lord, such a living image of the Saviour, such exalted delight in
+God, such enlarged benevolence to man, such a steady faith in the
+divine promises, and such a fervent zeal for the divine glory; and
+all this without the least moroseness of humor, or extravagance of
+behavior, sweetened with the most engaging cheerfulness of temper,
+and regulated by all the sobriety of reason and wisdom of Scripture;
+insomuch that I cannot forbear applying the wise man's encomium of
+an illustrious woman to this eminent minister of the everlasting
+gospel: 'Many sons have done virtuously, but thou excellest them
+all.'"
+
+In the month of March, 1750, a general alarm had been awakened
+by earthquakes in London, and fears were excited by pretended
+prophecies of still greater devastation. These signal judgments
+of Jehovah were preceded by great profligacy of manners, and its
+fruitful parent, licentiousness of principle. Dr. Horne, afterwards
+dean of Canterbury and bishop of Bristol, in a sermon preached at
+the time, says, "As to faith, is not the doctrine of the Trinity,
+and that of the divinity of our Lord and Saviour--without which
+our redemption is absolutely void, and we are yet in our sins,
+lying under the intolerable burden of the wrath of God--blasphemed
+and ridiculed openly in conversation and in print? And as to
+righteousness of life, are not the people of this land dead in
+trespasses and sins? Idleness, drunkenness, luxury, extravagance,
+and debauchery; for these things cometh the wrath of God, and
+disordered nature proclaims the impending distress and perplexity of
+nations. And Oh, may we of this nation never read a handwriting upon
+the wall of heaven, in illuminated capitals of the Almighty, MENE,
+MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN--God hath numbered the kingdom, and finished
+it. Thou art weighed in the balances of heaven, and found wanting
+the merits of a rejected Redeemer, and therefore the kingdom is
+divided and given away."
+
+The shocks felt in London in February and March of this year, were
+far more violent than any remembered for a long series of years. The
+earth moved throughout the whole cities of London and Westminster.
+It was a strong and jarring motion, attended with a rumbling noise
+like that of thunder. Multitudes of persons of every class fled
+from these cities with the utmost haste, and others repaired to the
+fields and open places in the neighborhood. Towerhill, Moorfields,
+and Hyde Park were crowded with men, women, and children, who
+remained a whole night under the most fearful apprehensions. Places
+of worship were filled with persons in the utmost state of alarm.
+Especially was this the case with those attached to Methodist
+congregations, where multitudes came all night, knocking at the
+doors, and for God's sake begging admittance. As convulsions of
+nature are usually regarded by enthusiasts and fanatics as the
+sure harbinger of its dissolution, a soldier "had a revelation,"
+that a great part of London and Westminster would be destroyed
+by an earthquake on a certain night, between the hours of twelve
+and one o'clock. Believing his assertion, thousands fled from the
+city for fear of being suddenly overwhelmed, and repaired to the
+fields, where they continued all night, in momentary expectation of
+seeing the prophecy fulfilled; while thousands of others ran about
+the streets in the most wild and frantic state of consternation,
+apparently quite certain that the day of judgment was about to
+commence. The whole scene was truly awful.
+
+Under these circumstances, the ministers of Christ preached almost
+incessantly, and many were awakened to a sense of their awful
+condition before God, and to rest their hopes of eternal salvation
+on the Rock of ages. Mr. Whitefield, animated with that burning
+charity which shone so conspicuously in him, ventured out at
+midnight to Hyde Park, where he proclaimed to the affrighted and
+astonished multitudes that there is a Saviour, Christ the Lord. The
+darkness of the night, and the awful apprehensions of an approaching
+earthquake, added much to the solemnity of the scene. The sermon
+was truly sublime, and to the ungodly sinner, the self-righteous
+pharisee, and the artful hypocrite, strikingly terrific. With
+a pathos which showed the fervor of his soul, and with a grand
+majestic voice that commanded attention, he took occasion from the
+circumstances of the assembly, to call their attention to that
+most important event in which every one will be interested, the
+final consummation of all things, the universal wreck of nature,
+the dissolution of earth, and the eternal sentence of every son
+and daughter of Adam. The whole scene was one of a most memorable
+character. Mr. Charles Wesley, Mr. Romaine, and others preached in a
+similar manner, and with like happy results.
+
+At this period, Whitefield and his female friends especially,
+were the subjects of royal attention at the court of George the
+Second. It is said that on one occasion Lady Chesterfield appeared
+in a dress "with a brown ground and silver flowers," of foreign
+manufacture. The king, smiling significantly, said to her aloud, "I
+know who chose that gown for you--Mr. Whitefield; I hear you have
+attended on him for a year and a half." Her ladyship acknowledged
+she had done so, and professed her approbation of his character and
+ministry; and afterwards deeply regretted that she had not said more
+when she had so good an opportunity. Whitefield had occasion to wait
+on the secretary of state, in company with Dr. Gifford, a Baptist
+pastor in London, to ask relief for some persecuted Christians in
+Ireland, and was assured that "no hurt was designed by the state to
+the Methodists." He also renewed his friendship with the Messrs.
+Wesley, and several times exchanged pulpits with them. He writes, "I
+have now preached thrice in Mr. Wesley's chapel, and God was with us
+of a truth."
+
+Again was our evangelist tired of London, and again had he grown
+sick for want of field-preaching. Accordingly he set out for Bristol
+and other parts of the west of England; and although rain and hail
+pelted him in his field-pulpits, he preached "about twenty times
+in eight or nine days." As soon as he found himself in his own
+element, he saw every thing in his old lights. He says, "Every
+thing I meet with seems to carry this voice with it: 'Go thou and
+preach the gospel; be a pilgrim on earth; have no party, or certain
+dwelling-place.' My heart echoes back, 'Lord Jesus, help me to do
+or suffer thy will. When thou seest me in danger of _nestling_, in
+pity, in tender pity put a thorn in my nest, to prevent me from it.'"
+
+From Bristol, Whitefield went to Taunton, where he met with the Rev.
+Richard Pearsall, an eminent and excellent Presbyterian minister, of
+whom he speaks very highly; and from thence, on his way to Plymouth,
+he stayed at Wellington, to preach for the Rev. Risdon Darracott,
+who has ever since been distinguished as "the star in the west." Mr.
+Darracott was the son of a dissenting minister in Dorsetshire, where
+he was born in 1717, when Whitefield was three years old. He studied
+for the ministry under the Rev. Dr. Doddridge, at Northampton,
+and entered on his ministerial course in Cornwall in 1738, which
+situation he was most reluctantly compelled to leave two years
+afterwards from violent hemorrhage of the lungs. Under this alarming
+visitation he spent about six months with his friends in Devonshire,
+where his fervent-minded father had preached till his death at the
+age of forty. While here, he had a call to succeed a venerable
+minister at Wellington, who had recently deceased. He found the
+congregation small, and the number of communicants but twenty-eight.
+His ministry soon drew a large congregation, many of whom had never
+before made a profession of religion, and were first attracted
+into the town from the neighboring villages out of mere curiosity
+to hear him. The house of worship was soon insufficient to contain
+his hearers; and even when it was enlarged, many were frequently
+compelled to stand out of doors, unable to obtain an entrance. The
+Rev. Benjamin Fawcett, who preached his funeral sermon, said, "I
+never knew any congregation which appeared to have so many instances
+of abiding religious impressions;" and added, "I have good reason to
+believe that his ministry was owned to the effectual conversion of
+many hundreds of souls."
+
+The night before the death of this excellent man, which took place
+in his forty-second year, he exclaimed, "Oh, what a good God have I,
+in and through Jesus Christ. I would praise him, but my lips cannot.
+Eternity will be too short to speak his praises." The physician
+coming in, he said to him, "Oh, what a mercy is it to be interested
+in the atoning blood of Jesus. I come to the Lord as a vile sinner,
+trusting in the merits and precious blood of my dear Redeemer. O
+grace, grace, free grace!" His last words were, "I am going from
+weeping friends to congratulating angels, and rejoicing saints in
+glory. He is coming. Oh, speed thy chariot wheels; why are they so
+long in coming? I long to be gone!" He left in his church more than
+two hundred communicants.
+
+Whitefield and Darracott were congenial spirits, and Darracott, like
+his friend, had suffered much reproach in the cause of his Master;
+he was what Whitefield called him, "a flaming and successful
+preacher of the gospel." He had just at this time lost three lovely
+children. "Two of them," says Whitefield, "had died on the Saturday
+evening before the sacrament; but weeping did not prevent sowing.
+He preached the next day, and administered as usual. Our Lord
+strengthened him; and for his three natural, gave him above _thirty_
+spiritual children; and he is likely to have many more. He has
+ventured his little all for Christ; and last week a saint died who
+left him and his heirs two hundred pounds in land. Did ever any one
+trust in God, and was forsaken?" This interview with Darracott, and
+with good old Mr. Pearsall, who had been a preacher of righteousness
+before Whitefield was born, had an inspiring influence upon him. He
+says, "I _began_ to take the field again at his dwelling for the
+spring! I begin to _begin_ to spend and be spent for Him who shed
+his own dear heart's blood for me. He makes _ranging_ exceedingly
+pleasant."
+
+Soon after this, Whitefield went again into Yorkshire. At Rotherham
+he says, "Satan rallied his forces. The crier was employed to give
+notice of a bear-baiting. You may guess who was the bear! However,
+I preached twice. The drum was heard, and several watermen attended
+with great staves. The constable was struck, and two of the mobbers
+apprehended, but rescued afterwards." Sheffield and Leeds he found
+to be a new and warmer climate. Lancashire, however, was still but
+cold to him. All was quiet at Manchester, and he "humbly hoped some
+had enlisted," but no great impression was then made. At Bolton, a
+drunkard stood up behind him to preach; and the wife of the man who
+lent him the field, twice attempted to stab the workman who put up
+the stand for him. This roused him, and he bore down all opposition
+by a torrent of eloquence, which quite exhausted him. In the night,
+however, some rude fellows got into the barn and stables where his
+chaise and horses had been put, and cut them very shamefully. This
+conduct he called, "Satan showing his teeth."
+
+To narrate the particulars of this journey would be little more
+than a repetition of scenes of insult and of success with which the
+reader has already become familiar. At Ulverston he says, "Satan
+made some small resistance. A clergyman, who looked more like a
+_butcher_ than a minister, came with two others, and charged a
+constable with me; but I never saw a poor creature sent off with
+such disgrace."
+
+One of the most remarkable conversions recorded in the history of
+the church occurred during this journey by the ministry of Mr.
+Whitefield. The full particulars are recorded in the Life of the
+Countess of Huntingdon, and can only be briefly mentioned here.
+
+In the early period of Whitefield's ministry, many of the taverns
+became places where his doctrines and zeal were talked of and
+ridiculed. A Mr. Thorpe, and several other young men in Yorkshire,
+undertook at one of these parties to mimic the preaching of Mr.
+Whitefield. The proposition met with applause; one after another
+stood on a table to perform his part, and it devolved on Mr. Thorpe
+to close this irreverent scene. Much elated, and confident of
+success, he exclaimed, as he ascended the table, "I shall beat you
+all." Who would have supposed that the mercy of God was now about to
+be extended to this transgressor of his law? The Bible was handed to
+him; and by the guidance of unerring Providence, it opened at Luke
+13:3: "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." The moment
+he read the text his mind was impressed in a most extraordinary
+manner; he saw clearly the nature and importance of the subject;
+and as he afterwards said, if he ever preached with the assistance
+of the Holy Spirit, it was at that time. His address produced a
+feeling of depression in his auditors; and when he had finished,
+he instantly retired to weep over his sins. He soon after became
+associated with the people of God, and died a successful minister of
+Christ, at Masborough, in Yorkshire, in 1776, about six years after
+the death of Mr. Whitefield. He was the father of the distinguished
+Rev. William Thorpe, of Bristol.
+
+Passing on to Edinburgh, Whitefield was, as usual, received with the
+most unfeigned tenderness and joy, preaching to great multitudes
+of attentive and serious people, whose earnest desire to hear him
+made him exert himself beyond his strength. He says, "By preaching
+always twice, once thrice, and once four times in a day, I am quite
+weakened; but I hope to recruit again. Christ's presence makes me
+smile at pain." He returned to London, having preached about one
+hundred times, it was believed to not less than one hundred thousand
+people.
+
+Among the occasional hearers of Whitefield when in Scotland, was
+the celebrated infidel historian, David Hume. An intimate friend
+having asked him what he thought of Mr. Whitefield's preaching, he
+replied, "He is, sir, the most ingenious preacher I ever heard; it
+is worth while to go twenty miles to hear him." He then repeated
+the following passage, which occurred towards the close of the
+discourse he had been hearing. "After a solemn pause, Mr. Whitefield
+thus addressed his numerous audience: 'The attendant angel is just
+about to leave the threshold, and ascend to heaven. And shall he
+ascend, and not bear with him the news of one sinner, among all
+this multitude, reclaimed from the error of his ways?' To give
+the greater effect to this exclamation, he stamped with his foot,
+lifted up his eyes and hands to heaven, and with gushing tears cried
+aloud, 'Stop, Gabriel! stop, Gabriel! stop, ere you enter the sacred
+portals, and yet carry with you the news of one sinner converted to
+God.' He then, in the most simple but energetic language, described
+what he called a Saviour's dying love to sinful man, so that almost
+the whole assembly melted into tears. This address was accompanied
+with such animated, yet natural action, that it surpassed any thing
+I ever saw or heard in any other preacher."
+
+In the summer of 1751, Whitefield paid a second visit to Ireland,
+and was most hospitably received in Dublin by a respectable and
+opulent gentleman named Lunell, who had been brought to Christ by
+the first Methodist itinerant preacher in that city. During this
+excursion, Whitefield preached about eighty sermons, fourteen
+of them in Dublin, and seven in Limerick. His hearers in Dublin
+organized themselves into a public society, which does not seem
+to have met his approbation. He says, "This morning I have been
+talking with dear Mr. Adams, and can not help thinking that you
+have run before the Lord, in forming yourselves into a public
+society as you have done. I am sincere when I profess that I do
+not choose to set myself at the head of any party. When I came to
+Ireland, my intention was to preach the gospel to all; and if it
+should ever please the Lord of all lords to send me thither again,
+I purpose to pursue the same plan. For I am a debtor to all of
+every denomination, and have no design, if I know any thing of this
+desperately wicked and deceitful heart, but to promote the common
+salvation of mankind. The love of Christ constrains me to this."
+
+During this visit, Whitefield a few times ventured out of the city
+to Oxmantown-green, then a large open place, situated near the
+royal barracks, where the Ormond and Liberty boys, two factions
+among the lowest class of the people, generally assembled on the
+Sabbath to fight with each other. The congregations at first were
+very numerous, and deeply affected, nor did any disturbance occur.
+Thus encouraged, the preacher ventured again, and gave notice of
+his intention to resume his labors. He went through the barracks,
+the door of which opened into the green, and pitched his tent near
+the barrack walls, not doubting of the protection, or at least of
+the interposition of the officers and soldiers, if there should be
+occasion for it. The multitude in attendance was indeed vast. After
+singing and prayer, Whitefield preached without molestation, except
+that now and then a few stones and clods of dirt were thrown at
+him. It being war-time, he took occasion to exhort his hearers,
+as was his usual practice, not only to fear God, but to honor the
+king; and prayed for the success of the king of Prussia. When the
+service was over, he thought to return home by the way he came,
+but, to his great surprise, a passage through the barracks was
+denied; and he was compelled to pass from one end of the green to
+the other, through thousands of Roman-catholics. He was unattended;
+for a soldier and four preachers who came with him had fled from
+the scene of danger, and he was seriously attacked by the mob.
+They threw vollies of stones upon him from all quarters, and he
+reeled backwards and forwards till he was almost breathless and
+covered with blood. At length, with great difficulty he staggered
+to the door of a minister's house near the green, which was kindly
+opened to him. For a while he continued speechless, and panting for
+breath; but his weeping friends having given him a cordial, and
+washed his wounds, a coach was procured, in which, amidst the oaths,
+imprecations, and threatenings of the rabble, he got safe home,
+and united in a hymn of thanksgiving with his friends. In a letter
+written to a friend soon after this event, he says, "I received many
+blows and wounds; one was particularly large, and near my temple: I
+thought of Stephen, and was in hopes, like him, to go off in this
+bloody triumph to the immediate presence of my Master."
+
+Unpromising, however, as things were in Ireland, the labors of
+Whitefield, followed as they were by those of the Wesleys, became
+the foundation of a number of Christian societies that proved vast
+blessings to Ireland; and some of them grew into large churches,
+which continue to flourish till this day.
+
+The society to which reference has been made, which assembled
+in Skinner's alley, secured ministerial aid from the late Rev.
+John Edwards, who was one of Whitefield's converts, and among
+the earliest preachers at the Tabernacle in London; and who also
+itinerated over nearly the whole of England, Scotland, and Ireland.
+The period was one of great persecution, and this good man had
+several remarkable preservations from death. At one time, while he
+resided in Dublin, he was returning from preaching at a village,
+when he was seized by a party of rude fellows, who declared they
+would throw him over the bridge into the Liffey. This was observed
+by an opposite political party, residing on the other side of the
+river, who encountered his assailants, and rescued him out of their
+hands, saying he lived on their side the river, and none should hurt
+him. At another time, having preached out of doors, a furious mob
+of the _White-boys_, a political party so called, beset the house
+in which he was, and threatened to burn it to the ground, unless he
+was driven out of it. His anxious friends could see but one way for
+his escape, which was through a window that opened into a garden
+belonging to a justice of the peace, who was himself a violent
+persecutor of the Methodists. Through this window Mr. Edwards was,
+like the apostle Paul, let down in a basket. Here he stood some
+time in great consternation, fearing the family might observe him,
+and charge him with breaking into the garden for improper purposes,
+and so both religion and himself would be injured. At length he
+ventured to knock at the door, and asked for the magistrate, to
+whom he ingenuously stated the facts, and who most generously
+protected and extended to him the hospitalities of his house for two
+days.
+
+One fact more must be told of this excellent man. He resolved to
+visit a town to which had removed a number of soldiers who had
+received benefit from his ministry. He was met, however, by some of
+these pious men, who told him that the inhabitants were determined
+to take his life. Edwards was not to be dissuaded from his purpose;
+and on his arrival he immediately preached in the street, and
+several distinguished persons, including the mayor of the town, came
+to hear him, and by their influence prevented disturbance. After
+the service, the mayor invited him to breakfast with several of
+the principal inhabitants, and told him they were very glad he was
+come--that the people were extremely dissolute in their manners, and
+the clergy, both Protestants and Catholics, exceedingly remiss in
+their duty, and they hoped the Methodists would succeed in reforming
+the town. These gentlemen subscribed to the support of stated
+preaching, and extensive and lasting good was done.
+
+Amid Whitefield's innumerable engagements and declining health,
+Bethesda and his beloved America could not be forgotten. While
+he was at Glasgow during this summer of 1751, he was greatly
+delighted to hear that Mr. Dinwiddie, brother-in-law to the Rev. Mr.
+M'Culloch, of Cambuslang, was appointed governor of Virginia. The
+gospel had been much opposed there, and he thought the appointment
+now made would greatly tend to check persecution.
+
+Whitefield, as it appears to us, now very suddenly determined on
+another voyage to America. He arrived in London from Edinburgh in
+the early part of August, with improved health, the country air
+having healed his hemorrhage. He took a hasty leave of his friends,
+and set sail for Georgia, in the Antelope, Captain M'Lellan, taking
+several orphans with him. He arrived at Savannah Oct. 27, and had
+the happiness of finding the orphan-house in a prosperous condition.
+Here, however, he did not stay long; as in November we hear of
+him in his usual labors, and with his usual ardor engaged in his
+constant work of preaching. Having formerly suffered much from the
+climate of America in the summer, he determined again to embark for
+London, which he did in April. We can scarcely trace his object in
+this journey to and from America, except in some designs of the
+government to place Georgia on a new footing.
+
+In June, 1752, Mr. Whitefield was found in the society of the
+Countess of Huntingdon at Bath, where he continued about three
+weeks, preaching every evening to great numbers of the nobility.
+Here he became acquainted with Mrs. Grinfield, a lady who attended
+on the person of Queen Caroline. "One of Cæsar's household,"
+he writes, "hath been lately awakened, through her ladyship's
+instrumentality, and I hope others will meet with the like
+blessing." He afterwards visited her at the palace of St. James,
+and says, "The court, I believe, rings of her, and if she stands, I
+trust she will make a glorious martyr for her blessed Lord."
+
+The Moravians, or United Brethren, were at one period on terms of
+very cordial friendship with the Messrs. Wesley and Whitefield. At
+the time of which we are writing, a series of strange absurdities,
+resembling the adoration of saints and other superstitions of
+popery, developed themselves among members of that body, at the head
+of which then stood Count Zinzendorf, to whom Whitefield wrote an
+urgent remonstrance on the subject. An open separation took place,
+and Mrs. Grinfield, the Rev. John Cennick, and some others, adhered
+to the count, while Whitefield and Lady Huntingdon endeavored to
+bring him back to what they believed the simplicity of the gospel.
+Lady Huntingdon, speaking of her final interview with him, says,
+"Our conference was long, and as the count honored me with his
+company for a few days, was resumed at intervals, always closing
+with a solemn scriptural prayer to our great and glorious Head,
+for the illuminating influences of his Spirit to guide us into all
+truth. We parted with the utmost cordiality."
+
+"Dear Mr. Whitefield's letter," says Lady Huntingdon, "has much
+grieved the count. But his remonstrance is faithful, and the awful
+exposures he has reluctantly been forced to make, may be productive
+of the highest good in opening the eyes of many to the miserable
+delusions under which they lie."
+
+A correspondence, indeed we may say friendship, had for years
+existed between Whitefield and the eminent philosopher Dr. Benjamin
+Franklin. The following, from a letter of Whitefield, August 17,
+1752, shows his fidelity to the eminent citizen and statesman:
+"I find you grow more and more famous in the learned world. As
+you have made a pretty considerable progress in the mysteries
+of electricity, I would now humbly recommend to your diligent,
+unprejudiced pursuit and study, the mystery of the new birth. It
+is a most important, interesting study, and when mastered, will
+richly answer and repay you for all your pains. One, at whose bar
+we are shortly to appear, hath solemnly declared that, without it,
+we cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. You will excuse this
+freedom. I must have _aliquid Christi_--something of Christ, in
+all my letters." This honest letter ought to have delighted the
+philosopher in his closet, even more than the eulogium he heard
+while standing behind the bar of the House of Lords, when Earl
+Chatham said of him, "Franklin is one whom Europe holds in high
+estimation for his knowledge and wisdom; one who is an honor, not to
+the English nation only, but to human nature."
+
+In the course of the summer of 1752, and the following one,
+Whitefield visited Scotland twice, and preached much also throughout
+England and Wales. As usual, he greatly rejoiced in the presence
+and service of God, and never appears to have been more happy than
+in this period of his life. "Since I left Newcastle," he writes, "I
+have scarcely known sometimes whether I have been in heaven or on
+earth. Thousands and thousands flock twice or thrice a day to hear
+the word of life. God favors us with weather, and I would fain make
+hay while the sun shines. Oh that I had as many tongues as there are
+hairs in my head. The ever-loving, ever-lovely Jesus should have
+them all. Fain would I die preaching."
+
+About this period also, Mr. Hervey and he were employed in revising
+each other's manuscripts; the former was then preparing his "Theron
+and Aspasio," a work which, though florid in its style, has been
+eminently useful in conducting many of its readers to a saving
+knowledge of the doctrines of the gospel. Of his friend's writings
+Mr. Whitefield says, "For me to play the critic on them, would be
+like holding up a candle to the sun. However, I will just mark a
+few places, as you desire. I foretell their fate; nothing but your
+scenery can screen you. Self will never bear to die, though slain
+in so genteel a manner, without showing some resentment against its
+artful murderer.... I thank you a thousand times for the trouble you
+have been at in revising my poor compositions, which I am afraid you
+have not treated with a becoming severity. How many pardons shall I
+ask for mangling, and, I fear, murdering your 'Theron and Aspasio?'
+If you think my two sermons will do for the public, pray return them
+immediately. I have nothing to comfort me but this, that the Lord
+chooses the weak things of this world to confound the strong, and
+things that are not, to bring to naught things that are. I write for
+the poor; you for the polite and noble. God will assuredly own and
+bless what you write."
+
+Whitefield was now also very busy in erecting his second London
+Tabernacle, which he dedicated, June 10, 1753. We have, for the sake
+of completing the narrative of its first building, already given in
+our third chapter a statement of the second tabernacle, to which the
+reader is referred.
+
+Both the judgment and inclination of Mr. Whitefield concurred to
+induce him to persevere in his itinerant course, correctly judging
+that in this way he best employed his peculiar talents. After
+preaching, therefore, with his usual fervor and success for a short
+time in his newly erected Tabernacle, he again set out towards
+Scotland, where he spent some days at Edinburgh and Glasgow, and
+preached generally twice, sometimes three times a day, and once five
+times. He says, "Attention sat upon all faces, and friends came
+round like bees, importuning me to stay another week." This he found
+too much for his strength, but still went forward, often expressing
+his desire to serve his divine Master to the utmost limit of his
+power, and his hopes to be with him soon in heaven. During this
+journey, including his return to London, where he arrived the latter
+end of September, he travelled about twelve hundred miles, and
+preached one hundred and eighty times, to many thousands of hearers.
+
+As converts increased in Bristol and its neighborhood, Mr.
+Whitefield felt compelled to erect there also a "tabernacle." Lady
+Huntingdon was one of the earliest contributors to this important
+object, and through her influence Lord Chesterfield gave twenty
+pounds to it. He had no taste for religion, but he well understood
+oratory, and in his letter to Lady Huntingdon covering his
+remittance, he said, "Mr. Whitefield's eloquence is unrivalled, his
+zeal inexhaustible." The Earl of Bath sent fifty pounds, saying,
+"Mocked and reviled as Mr. Whitefield is by all ranks of society,
+still, I contend that the day will come when England will be just,
+and own his greatness as a reformer, and his goodness as a minister
+of the most high God."
+
+The Tabernacle at Bristol was dedicated November 25, 1753, with a
+sermon from Whitefield. Its history is one of deep interest. Its
+early ministers were worthy of any age, but remarkably fitted for
+that in which their lot was cast; men of pith and power, undismayed
+at dangers, braving all kinds of difficulty and toil, and prepared
+equally for labor and sufferings in the cause of their great Master.
+Nor have later ministers dishonored their predecessors; the cause
+still flourishes, and the hallowed house has been the birthplace of
+many eminent Christians. What Whitefield then said of this house
+might often be said of it now: "It is large, but not half large
+enough; for if the place could contain them, nearly as many would
+attend as in London." He always delighted in his visits to this
+place, and laid here a foundation for vast benefits, even to the
+present day. On one of his visits to preach here, he began a series
+of sermons on the evening before the commencement of the fair. His
+text was, "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters; and
+he that hath no money, come ye, buy and eat; yea, come buy wine and
+milk without money, and without price." Isa. 55:1. The congregation
+was large, and thus he began: "My dear hearers, I fear that many of
+you are come to attend Bristol fair. So am I. You do not mean to
+show your goods until to-morrow; but I shall exhibit mine to-night.
+You are afraid purchasers will not come up to your price; but I am
+afraid my buyers will not come down to mine; for mine," striking his
+hand on the Bible, "are 'without money, and without price.'"
+
+After the dedication of this Bristol Tabernacle, Whitefield preached
+in the open air in various parts of Somersetshire, at seven o'clock
+at night. "My hands and body," says he, "were pierced with cold; but
+what are outward things, when the soul is warmed with the love of
+God? The stars shone with exceeding brightness; by an eye of faith
+I saw Him who 'calleth them all by their names.' My soul was filled
+with a holy ambition, and I longed to be one of those who 'shall
+shine as the stars for ever and ever.'"
+
+At this time he had a fine opportunity to show his Christian
+attachment to his old friends. Mr. John Wesley had, by a series
+of extraordinary labors, brought his life into great danger, and
+Whitefield, hearing of this while at Bristol, wrote a sympathizing
+letter to his brother Charles, in which he prays for the descending
+garment of Elijah to rest on the surviving Elisha, and encloses
+an ardent and solemn farewell to the invalid, who was supposed
+to be dying. He says, "The news and prospect of your approaching
+dissolution have quite weighed me down. I pity myself and the
+church, but not you. A radiant throne awaits you, and ere long you
+will enter into your Master's joy. Yonder he stands with a massy
+crown, ready to put it on your head, amidst an admiring throng of
+saints and angels. But I, poor I, that have been waiting for my
+dissolution these nineteen years, must be left behind to grovel here
+below. Well, this is my comfort, it cannot be long ere the chariots
+will be sent even for worthless me. If prayers can detain you, even
+you, reverend and very dear sir, shall not leave us yet. But if the
+decree is gone forth that you must now sleep in Jesus, may he kiss
+your soul away, and give you to die in the embraces of triumphant
+love. If in the land of the living, I hope to pay my best respects
+to you next week. If not, reverend and dear sir, farewell." He had
+soon the satisfaction of witnessing the recovery of his friend, who
+was to survive him more than twenty years.
+
+We have already intimated that Whitefield used his influence in
+Scotland in favor of the New Jersey college, located at Princeton.
+In accordance with his advice, the friends of the college in this
+country sent over the Rev. Samuel Davies, afterwards president of
+the college, and the Rev. Gilbert Tennent, to promote its interests
+in the British islands. A few extracts from the manuscript diary of
+Davies, with the use of which we have been favored for this volume,
+will show the readiness of Whitefield to labor, or to "be nothing,"
+so that the cause of Christ might be advanced. The deputation
+arrived in England in the closing month of 1753, and thus writes
+Davies:
+
+"Wednesday, December 26. Mr. Whitefield having sent us an invitation
+last night to make his house our home during our stay here, we
+were perplexed what to do, lest we should blast the success of our
+mission among the dissenters, who are generally disaffected to him.
+We at length concluded, with the advice of our friends and his, that
+a public intercourse with him would be imprudent, in our present
+situation, and visited him privately this evening; and the kind
+reception he gave us revived dear Mr. Tennent. He spoke in the most
+encouraging manner as to the success of our mission. And in all
+his conversation discovered so much zeal and candor, that I could
+not but admire the man as the wonder of the age. When we returned,
+Mr. Tennent's heart was all on fire, and after we had gone to bed,
+he suggested that we should watch and pray; and we rose and prayed
+together till about three o'clock in the morning.
+
+"Jan. 1. Went in the evening to hear Mr. Whitefield in the
+Tabernacle, a large, spacious building. The assembly was very
+numerous, though not equal to what is common. He preached on the
+parable of the barren fig-tree; and though the discourse was
+incoherent, yet it seemed to me better calculated to do good to
+mankind than all the accurate, languid discourses I ever heard.
+After sermon I enjoyed his pleasing conversation at his house."
+
+It would seem that Messrs. Davies and Tennent had their trials, as
+well as their encouragements. Writing Jan. 14, Mr. Davies says,
+"Spent an hour with Mr. Whitefield. He thinks we have not taken
+the best method in endeavoring to keep in with all parties, but
+should 'come out boldly,' as he expressed it, which would secure the
+affections of the pious people, from whom we might expect the most
+generous contributions." On the evening after this, they dined with
+Whitefield at the house of a common friend, and he rejoiced in the
+abundant success they afterwards met with from nearly all parties.
+
+"Jan. 25. Dined with Mr. Bradbury, who has been in the ministry
+about fifty-seven years. He read us some letters which passed
+between Mr. Whitefield and him, _anno_ 1741; occasioned by Mr.
+Whitefield's reproving him in a letter for singing a song in a
+tavern, in a large company, in praise of old English beef. The old
+gentleman sung it to us, and we found it was partly composed by
+himself, in the high-flying days of Queen Anne. He is a man of a
+singular turn, which would be offensive to the greatest number of
+serious people; but for my part I could say,
+
+    'I knew 'twas his peculiar whim,
+     Nor took it ill, as't came from him.'"
+
+In March, 1754, Whitefield, in company with twenty-two poor
+destitute children, sailed the fifth time for America.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+     FIFTH VISIT TO AMERICA--RENEWED LABORS IN GREAT
+     BRITAIN--TOTTENHAM-COURT-ROAD CHAPEL.
+
+1754-1763.
+
+On this voyage to America, Whitefield sailed for South Carolina by
+way of Lisbon. His health demanded repose; he thought that seeing
+Popery as it is when unrestrained by public opinion, might be of use
+to him in his future labors; and moreover, he had with him a number
+of orphans whom he wished comfortably to settle at Bethesda before
+he visited the northern provinces. It would be pleasant, if our
+limits would allow it, to furnish the letters he wrote from Lisbon
+during nearly four weeks, but a few sentences must suffice: "This
+leaves me an inhabitant of Lisbon. We have now been here almost
+a week, and I suppose shall stay a fortnight longer. A reputable
+merchant has received me into his house, and every day shows me the
+ecclesiastical curiosities of the country. O, my dear friend, bless
+the Lord of all lords, for causing your lot to be cast in such a
+fair ground as England, and giving you such a goodly heritage. It
+is impossible to be sufficiently thankful for civil and religious
+liberty, for simplicity of worship, and powerful preaching of the
+word of God. O for simplicity of manners, and a correspondent
+behavior. The air agrees with my poor constitution extremely well.
+Through divine assistance; I hope what I see will also improve
+my better part, and help to qualify me better for preaching the
+everlasting gospel."
+
+In another letter he writes, "Never did civil and religious liberty
+appear to me in so amiable a light as now. What a spirit must Martin
+Luther and the first reformers be endued with, that dared to appear
+as they did for God. Lord, hasten that blessed time when others,
+excited by the same spirit, shall perform like wonders. Oh, happy
+England! Oh, happy Methodists, who are Methodists indeed! And all I
+account such, who, being dead to sects and parties, aim at nothing
+else but as holy a method of living to, and dying in the blessed
+Jesus."
+
+He was heartily glad to get away from Popish processions and
+superstitious rites, and again to visit his "dear America."
+
+Our evangelist arrived with his orphans at Beaufort, in South
+Carolina, May 27, 1754, greatly improved in health, with a heart
+burning with love and zeal for his Lord and Master. He says, with
+his usual energy, "Oh that I may at length learn to begin to live.
+I am ashamed of my sloth and lukewarmness, and long to be on the
+stretch for God." His family now consisted, "black and white," of
+one hundred and six members, all dependent on his personal efforts
+and influence. He regarded his charge as a stewardship for God, and
+collected accordingly, nothing doubting. It was now summer, and
+besides the oppressive heat, "great thunders, violent lightnings,
+and heavy rains" frequently beat upon him as he journeyed from
+place to place. His health improved, and his spirits rose as he
+advanced on his journey. At Charleston, and elsewhere, his labors
+were received with the same degree of acceptance as formerly, and
+he was much encouraged by the conversion of a clergyman, a faithful
+successor to Mr. Smith of the city just named, and the first student
+sent forth from Bethesda.
+
+He arrived at New York, by water, July 27, and divided his labors
+between that city and Philadelphia almost entirely for nearly two
+months. In the latter city, he tells us, he was seized with violent
+_cholera morbus_, and brought to the gates of death. To use his own
+words, he "had all his cables out, ready to cast anchor within the
+port of eternity;" but he was soon "at sea again," although only
+able to preach once a day for some time. "Everywhere," he says, "a
+divine power accompanied the word, prejudices were removed, and a
+more effectual door opened than ever for preaching the gospel." When
+he looked at "the glorious range for hunting in the American woods,"
+he was at a loss on which hand to turn.... "Affection, intense
+affection cries aloud, Away to New England, _dear_ New England,
+immediately. Providence, and the circumstances of the southern
+provinces, point directly to Virginia."
+
+While thus undecided, he visited his old friend Governor Belcher,
+then governor of New Jersey, and residing at Elizabeth town. He
+found the good old man ripening for heaven, willing to depart and to
+be with Christ. At this time the commencement of New Jersey college
+was held, and as a mark of their respect, the president and trustees
+conferred on him the honorary degree of master of arts. The meeting
+of the synod immediately followed, respecting which body he says,
+"I was much refreshed with the company of the whole synod; such a
+number of simple-hearted, united ministers I never saw before. I
+preached to them several times, and the great Master of assemblies
+was in the midst of us."
+
+Influenced by what he saw and heard in New Jersey, Whitefield
+determined to go to New England, and to return from thence by
+Virginia to Georgia, and made his arrangements accordingly; it would
+comprise a circuit of more than two thousand miles, but he said,
+"The Redeemer's strength will be more than sufficient."
+
+It has been thought that it was during this visit of Whitefield
+to New Jersey, and probably at the table of Governor Belcher,
+that he dined in company with a number of ministers, and held the
+often-reported conversation with "Father Tennent." After dinner,
+Mr. Whitefield adverted to the difficulties attending the Christian
+ministry; lamented that all their zeal availed but little; said that
+he was weary with the burden of the day; and declared his great
+comfort in the thought, that in a short time his work would be done,
+when he should depart and be with Christ. He then appealed to the
+ministers, if it was not their great comfort that they should soon
+go to rest. They generally assented, except Mr. Tennent, who sat
+next to Mr. Whitefield in silence, and by his countenance indicated
+but little pleasure in the conversation.
+
+Seeing this, Mr. Whitefield, gently tapping him on the knee, said,
+"Well, brother Tennent, you are the oldest man among us; do you not
+rejoice to think that your time is so near at hand, when you will
+be called home?" Mr. Tennent bluntly answered, "I have no wish about
+it." Mr. Whitefield pressed him again. Mr. Tennent again answered,
+"No, sir, it is no pleasure to me at all; and if you knew your
+duty, it would be none to you. I have nothing to do with death; my
+business is to live as long as I can, as well as I can, until He
+shall think proper to call me home." Mr. Whitefield still urged for
+an explicit answer to his question, in case the time of death were
+left to his own choice. Mr. Tennent replied, "I have no choice about
+it; I am God's servant, and have engaged to do his business as long
+as he pleases to continue me therein. But now, brother, let me ask
+you a question. What do you think I should say, if I was to send my
+servant into the field to plough; and if at noon I should go to the
+field, and find him lounging under a tree, and complaining, 'Master,
+the sun is very hot, and the ploughing hard; I am weary of the work
+you have appointed me, and am overdone with the heat and burden of
+the day. Do, master, let me return home, and be discharged from this
+hard service?' What should I say? Why, that he was a lazy fellow,
+and that it was his business to do the work that I had appointed
+him, until I should think fit to call him home."
+
+Accompanied by President Burr, Whitefield set out, October 1, for
+Boston, and arrived there on the 9th. Here he stayed a week, and
+saw there, morning after morning, three or four thousand people
+hanging in breathless silence on his lips, and weeping silent tears.
+Whitefield himself calls it "a lovely scene," and says he "never
+saw a more effectual door opened for the gospel. Sinners have been
+awakened, saints quickened, and enemies made at peace with me.
+Grace, grace! Surely my coming here was of God. Convictions _do_
+fasten, and many souls are comforted." Such were the crowds at the
+early sermons, that in order to reach the pulpit, he had to get
+in at the windows of the churches. In a letter to the Countess of
+Huntingdon, he wrote, "In Boston, the tide ran full as high as ever
+your ladyship knew it at Edinburgh, or in any part of Scotland."
+
+While at Boston, Whitefield heard with much pleasure of the
+appointment of his friend Habersham as secretary to the new governor
+of Georgia, and wrote to him, "I wish you joy of your new honor.
+May the King of kings enable you to discharge your trust as becomes
+a good patriot, subject, and Christian. You have now a call, I
+think, to retire from business, and to give up your time to the
+public." Our evangelist travelled north as far as Portsmouth, in
+New Hampshire, generally preaching two or three times a day, till
+November 7, when he took his farewell at Boston, at four o'clock in
+the morning. Speaking of this journey, he says, "What have I seen?
+Dagon falling everywhere before the ark; enemies silenced, or made
+to own the finger of God; and the friends of Jesus triumphing in
+his glorious conquests. A hundredth part cannot be told. We had
+scarcely one dry meeting." When he arrived in the neighborhood of
+Portsmouth, the northern boundary of his journey, he was overwhelmed
+with humility as well as joy, by the large cavalcade which came out
+to meet and welcome him. He says of them, "They were too many;" and
+of this northern journey, "It seems to me the most important one I
+was ever engaged in."
+
+Of no portion of Whitefield's life are we so ignorant as of the
+journey he now made from New England to the South. Journal, letters,
+historians, and newspapers alike fail us. Gillies tells us only that
+from Boston he "proceeded to Rhode Island, and went onward through
+Maryland and Virginia, with a prospect so pleasing, that he lamented
+he had not come sooner. The whole country seemed eager to hear the
+gospel, many coming forty or fifty miles, and a spirit of conviction
+and consolation appeared in every congregation. Prejudices seemed
+to have fled; churches were opened to him; high and low, rich and
+poor, now seemed to think favorably of his ministrations; and
+many acknowledged what God had done for their souls through his
+preaching, when he was there before." It scarcely appears probable
+that he went from Rhode Island to Maryland by water; but if he
+did not, he must have passed through New York, New Jersey, and
+Philadelphia, and we feel somewhat of surprise that no records of
+the journey appear to have been preserved.
+
+Dr. Franklin relates a very characteristic anecdote of Mr.
+Whitefield, which probably occurred in Philadelphia or its
+neighborhood at a period not later than this. "The eloquent orator"
+was preaching in an open field, when a drummer was present, who
+was determined to interrupt the preacher, and rudely beat his drum
+in a violent manner, in order to drown his voice. Whitefield spoke
+very loud, but could not make so much noise as the instrument.
+He therefore called out to the drummer, "Friend, you and I serve
+the two greatest masters existing, but in different callings. You
+beat up for volunteers for King George, I for the Lord Jesus: in
+God's name, then, let us not interrupt each other; the world is
+wide enough for both, and we may get recruits in abundance." This
+speech had such an effect on the drummer, that he went away in great
+good-humor, and left the preacher in full possession of the field.
+
+Virginia, alike from the success of his former labors there, and
+from the general characteristics of the people, must have presented
+a scene of intense interest to Whitefield at this time. Everywhere
+great preparations were made for his coming, and large congregations
+assembled to hear him. It is said, that on one occasion, as he was
+speaking on the banks of one of the rivers of this noble province,
+and spoke of the strength of human depravity, and the insufficiency
+of the means of grace to convert the sinner without the influence
+of the Holy Spirit: "Sinners," said he, "think not that I expect to
+convert a single soul of you by any thing that I can say, without
+the assistance of Him who is 'mighty to save.' Go and stand by that
+river, as it moves on its strong and deep current to the ocean, and
+bid it stop, and see if it will obey you. Just as soon should I
+expect to stop that river by a word, as by my preaching to stop that
+current of sin which is carrying you to perdition. Father in heaven,
+see! they are hurried on towards hell; save them, or they perish!"
+The impression which this address produced on his hearers was so
+strong, that they were ready to respond with trembling, "Save,
+Lord; we perish!"
+
+Whitefield must have been highly gratified on reaching Charleston,
+in attending the ordination of the young minister there, his first
+student from Bethesda, of whom we have already spoken as succeeding
+Mr. Smith; and not less would he rejoice that one of the actors
+at the Charleston theatre had been "snatched as a brand from the
+burning."
+
+Though we have not the exact date of his arrival at Savannah, we
+know that he remained there but a very short time. His health
+again declined, his former vomitings returned with violence, and
+his animal spirits failed with his strength. In February, 1755, we
+again find him at Charleston; and in the latter end of March, he
+embarked for England, arriving, after a comparatively short voyage,
+at Newhaven, in Sussex, May the eighth.
+
+Two strong impressions were made on the mind of Whitefield as he now
+looked on his native land. The first was that of grief on account of
+its condition. Nothing less than war with France was daily expected,
+for the French threatened to invade Britain, and were constantly
+making encroachments on her American colonies. "At this time," he
+says, "next to Jesus Christ, my king and my country were upon my
+heart, I hope I shall always think it my duty, next to inviting
+sinners to the blessed Jesus, to exhort my hearers to resist the
+first approaches of popish tyranny and arbitrary power. O that we
+may be enabled to watch and pray against all the opposition of
+antichrist in our own hearts; for, after all, there lies the most
+dangerous man of sin." His second feeling was one of holy joy; for
+during his absence the preaching of the gospel had been abundantly
+successful. He writes, "Glory be to the great Head of the church!
+The poor despised Methodists are as lively as ever; and in several
+churches the gospel is now preached with power. Many in Oxford are
+awakened to the knowledge of the truth; and I have heard almost
+every week of some fresh minister or another, who seems 'determined
+to know nothing but Jesus Christ, and him crucified.'"
+
+At the Tabernacle in London, as might be expected, Whitefield
+enjoyed what he terms "golden seasons;" but by this time not a few
+of the London clergy had begun to preach Christ with holy fidelity;
+and as this was the principal thing he desired, he says his "call to
+go abroad was still more clear." Indeed, so little did he now esteem
+London as a sphere of labor, and so much did he regard places by the
+amount of their destitution, that he wished at once to return to
+America, without ranging through England or Scotland. Hence he says,
+"Methinks I could set out for America to-morrow, though I have not
+yet entered upon my country range."
+
+But if he loved America most, England loved herself more, and he
+was drawn again into Gloucestershire and Bristol. He went also, at
+the request of Lady Huntingdon, to dedicate the new Tabernacle at
+Norwich, to which we have already referred. At this last place,
+he says, August 30, 1755, "Notwithstanding offences have come,
+there has been a glorious work begun, and is now carrying on. The
+polite and great seem to hear with much attention; and I scarcely
+ever preached a week together with greater freedom." For a long
+period the work of God abundantly prospered in connection with this
+"Tabernacle." Two years after its dedication, the Hon. and Rev.
+Walter Shirley preached some time in it, and had eight hundred
+communicants in fellowship, and he said of them, "Their experience,
+lives, and conversation are so excellent, that there is nothing like
+it in the whole kingdom."
+
+On Whitefield's return to London, there were those who urgently
+entreated him to engage in a new controversy with the Messrs.
+Wesley, some of whose followers had been jealous of his success at
+Norwich. He declined, with his common remark, "I have no time for
+controversy," and reserved what he had to say till he could see them
+"face to face," simply writing to assure them that he had no party
+designs on foot.
+
+Very soon after this, he set out for his northern circuit; and
+wonderfully indeed did the Lord grant him success. One thing,
+however, on this journey grieved him. His friends at Leeds, without
+his knowledge, had built a large church edifice. He saw at once,
+that this circumstance would create an "awful separation among
+the societies" formed by the Messrs. Wesley and his own friends;
+and lost no time in writing to those ministers, that they might
+endeavor to prevent a breach. Both the plan and the spirit of this
+undertaking so grieved him, that he exclaimed, "Oh this self-love,
+this self-will, is the _devil of devils_." This he wrote to Lady
+Huntingdon, a proof that party was not their object; and it is
+pleasant to add, that Whitefield's fears were groundless. Leeds,
+even then, contained population sufficient to fill both houses,
+and the whole movement "fell out rather to the furtherance of the
+gospel." During two months he preached twice, and some days three
+times, to greater numbers than ever before, inviting them to Christ,
+and "exhorting them to pray for King George, and the dear friends
+in America." He heard at this time, that the American ladies were
+making the soldiers' coats; and he immediately wrote to urge his own
+female friends in the new world to be "some of the most active in
+this labor of love."
+
+Though Mr. Whitefield stood very high in the esteem of that class
+of ministers who embraced his views of evangelical truth, and who
+approved the plans he pursued for the evangelization of the world,
+they never considered him perfect, nor were some of them backward,
+when they deemed it needful, to reprove him. In a sermon he once
+preached in Haworth church, Yorkshire, of which his friend Grimshaw
+was the minister, having spoken severely of those professors of the
+gospel who, by their loose and evil conduct, caused the ways of
+truth to be evil spoken of, he intimated his hope, that it was not
+necessary to enlarge much on that topic to the congregation before
+him, who had so long enjoyed the labors of an able and faithful
+preacher; and he was willing to believe that their profiting
+appeared to all men. This latter expression roused Mr. Grimshaw's
+spirit, and notwithstanding his great regard for the preacher, he
+stood up and interrupted him, saying, with a loud voice, "O sir,
+for God's sake, do not speak so; I pray you, do not flatter. I fear
+the greater part of them are going to hell with their eyes open."
+
+Notwithstanding the astonishing labors of Whitefield on this
+tour, he returned to London apparently in full flesh, and was
+congratulated by his friends on his improved appearance. Alas, all
+this, as he well knew, was disease, which indeed very soon became
+apparent. He was seized with inflammatory sore throat, that was
+followed by quinsy, assuming an almost fatal aspect. One physician
+prescribed silence and warmth, and the preacher "promised to be
+very obedient," but a few days afterwards, another recommended a
+perpetual blister: this proposal roused him, and he determined to
+try his own remedy--perpetual preaching. The remedy itself was
+painful, but he said, "When this grand catholicon fails, it is
+all over with me." At this time the sad news of the earthquake at
+Lisbon arrived in London; he was unable to preach on the subject,
+but when told of it he said, "Blessed be God, I am ready; I know
+that my Redeemer liveth. Oh that all in Portugal had known this!
+Then an earthquake would only be a _rumbling_ chariot to carry the
+soul to God. Poor Lisbon, how soon are thy riches and superstitious
+pageantry swallowed up!"
+
+In the winter of 1755-6, he was applied to to preach in the vicinity
+of the two great theatres, which he began to do in Long Acre chapel.
+Disturbances took place, and the Bishop of London interposed to stop
+him. In the end he erected Tottenham Court-road chapel, as already
+detailed in our third chapter.
+
+Mr. Whitefield's ministry in London at this time was still
+successful. Thousands hung on his lips with delight, not a few of
+whom were won to the service of Christ. He tells us, among many
+similar facts, of the conversion of a Mr. Crane, who was afterwards
+appointed steward of the orphan-house in Georgia. This gentleman
+had one evening determined to visit the theatre, and set out
+for Drury-lane; that house being crowded, he resolved to go to
+Covent-garden; that also being so full that he could not obtain
+admittance, he changed his plan, and resolved on being entertained
+with one of Whitefield's sermons, and hastened to Tottenham
+Court-road chapel. It pleased God to impress the word on his heart,
+and he became an eminent Christian. So truly is the prediction
+verified, "I am found of them who sought me not."
+
+During this year he published "A Short Address to Persons of all
+Denominations, occasioned by an Alarm of an intended Invasion."
+We have examined it, and not without pleasure. It is a faithful
+exposure of Popery and its bitter fruits.
+
+It is a charge often preferred against the faithful ministers of
+Christ, by those whose consciences testify to their own guilt,
+that they are _personal_ in their remarks, and mean to censure
+particular individuals. It is certain that this was often done by
+Mr. Whitefield, and sometimes with very happy effect. He once drew,
+from the conduct of his female servant, the picture of a Christian
+failing in his duty, which painfully distressed her, till he gave
+her an assurance of his entire forgiveness.
+
+Nor was this the only time when his hearers were compelled to
+feel, "he means _me_." The celebrated comedian, Shuter, had a great
+personal regard for Mr. Whitefield, and not unfrequently attended
+his ministry. At one period of his popularity he was acting in
+a drama under the character of _Ramble_. During the run of the
+performance, he attended service at Tottenham Court chapel, and was
+seated in a pew exactly opposite the pulpit. Mr. Whitefield on that
+occasion gave full vent to his feelings, and in his own energetic
+manner invited sinners to the Saviour. While doing this, fixing his
+eye full on Shuter, he added, "And thou, poor _Ramble_, who hast
+long rambled from him, come also. Oh, end your rambling by coming
+to Jesus." Shuter was exceedingly struck, and going afterwards to
+Whitefield, he said, "I thought I should have fainted; how could you
+serve me so?"
+
+In the early part of 1756, Whitefield was engaged in London,
+preaching and collecting for the poor not only at Bethesda, but
+also for the French Protestants. At the Tabernacle, a man came up
+to him in the pulpit, threatening his life, and handing him three
+anonymous letters denouncing sudden and certain death, unless he
+ceased to preach and to pursue the offenders by law. One of these
+letters Whitefield sent to the government, who at once offered a
+reward, and his majesty's pardon, to any one who would discover
+the writer. While this fact gratified, it also embarrassed him. He
+wrote to Lady Huntingdon, "My greatest distress is to act so as to
+avoid rashness on the one hand, and timidity on the other." For his
+own sake, he would not have cared about the matter; but looking at
+it as connected with the cause of civil and religious freedom, he
+wisely allowed the law to take its course at the hazard of his own
+life by assassination. Agreeably with the advice of the government,
+he carried the whole affair into the court of the King's Bench; this
+alarmed the offenders, and the annoyance ceased.
+
+We next find him at Bristol, but not to rest, though the labors
+and anxieties of the winter and spring had nearly worn out his
+strength and spirits. Here he preached as usual, and then returned
+to London. During this journey he preached in several places
+in Gloucestershire, his native county, and in Bradford, Frome,
+Warminster, and Portsmouth, spending about three months in the tour.
+
+In the county which gave Whitefield birth, is still to be seen
+a chair on which he often sat, and on which may be yet read the
+following lines:
+
+    "If love of souls should e'er be wanting here,
+     Remember me, for I am Whitefield's chair;
+     I bore his weight, was witness to his fears,
+     His earnest prayers, his interesting tears.
+     His holy soul was fired with love divine:
+     If thine be such, sit down and call me _thine_."
+
+A very few weeks passed, and we find him in Kent. In a letter
+written July 27, after his visit to that county, he says, "The
+gospel flourishes in London. I am just returned from preaching at
+Sheerness, Chatham, and in the camp." On the next day he set off
+towards Scotland. On August 14, he writes from Sunderland, "How
+swiftly doth my precious time pass away! It is now a fortnight since
+I came to Leeds, in and about which I preached eight days, thrice
+almost every day, to thronged and affected auditories. On Sunday
+last at Bradford, in the morning, the auditory consisted of about
+ten thousand; at noon and in the evening, at Birstal, to nearly
+double the number. Though hoarse, I was helped to speak so that all
+heard. Next morning I took a sorrowful leave of Leeds, preached at
+Doncaster at noon, and at York the same night. On Wednesday, at
+Warstall, about fifty miles off; on Thursday, twice at Yarm; and
+last night and this morning, here." Wherever he labored, he heard
+of the good effects of his preaching in those places last year, and
+was constantly finding "many trophies of redeeming love." Such was
+the effect of the two sermons he preached at Birstal, that "several
+hundreds rode eight miles with him in the evening, singing and
+praising God."
+
+In a day or two after this, we find him at Edinburgh and Glasgow,
+preaching, as usual, to vast crowds, and with his accustomed
+success. At the former places especially, even politicians gave him
+a cordial welcome, and thronged to hear him, while the newspapers
+applauded him for his spirit-stirring exposures of "Popish
+tyranny and arbitrary power." He preached twice every day in the
+Orphan-hospital park, and blended with almost every sermon rousing
+appeals to the Protestantism, courage, and loyalty of the Scotch.
+At the close of one of his sermons he pleaded the cause of the poor
+Highlanders, and collected at its close about three hundred dollars.
+
+On his way back to London, Whitefield held a peculiarly solemn
+and refreshing meeting with his friends at Leeds; and after it,
+he braced his nerves by a tour of _mountain preaching_ in company
+with his friend Grimshaw. But it was now late in October, and
+as he found "these cold countries bringing on his last year's
+disorder," and having, as he significantly says, "grown very
+prudent," he returned to London, and dedicated Tottenham Court-road
+church edifice. Another errand also had taken him to that city.
+The new governor of Georgia had sent for him, to consult with him
+before sailing to that colony. Whitefield met him, and was so much
+delighted with him, that he wrote off to Bethesda to prepare them
+for a _state_ visit. He says, "Waited upon his excellency, and gave
+him, and all whom he pleases to bring, an invitation to Bethesda.
+Dear Mrs. C---- will make proper provision." He went even farther,
+and proposed that the governor, if possible, should be received at
+Bethesda with military honors.
+
+The success of his new house of worship in Tottenham Court-road
+showed the necessity and propriety of its erection on that spot.
+Several persons of distinction came, and engaged permanent seats;
+and the place was often so crowded, that hundreds were unable to
+obtain admission. It was now usual with him to preach about fifteen
+times every week, which, with a weak appetite, want of rest, and
+much care upon his mind, greatly enfeebled him. He writes, "But the
+joy of the Lord is my strength; and my greatest grief is, that I can
+do no more for Him who hath done and suffered so much for me."
+
+In the following year, 1757, Whitefield planned another journey to
+Scotland, at the time the general assembly of the church was held.
+Before leaving London, he had placed the affairs of his projected
+college in the hands of Lord Halifax, and he now seems to have
+hoped that this journey to Scotland would have promoted that object,
+as well as others. It is said, that about a hundred ministers at a
+time attended his sermons, thirty of whom invited him to a public
+entertainment. Lord Cathcart, his majesty's commissioner to the
+assembly, also invited him to his own table. Whitefield says that he
+preached "just fifty times" on this visit, which extended to about a
+month.
+
+From Scotland he went, in June, as we have seen, to Ireland, and
+enjoyed, in the midst of no small persecution, much preaching, and
+much success. On his return to London, he found that the governor
+of Georgia had visited Bethesda, and promised to communicate
+his sentiments to Lord Halifax, "concerning its being enlarged
+into a college;" but the pressure of public affairs hindered his
+application to the government. Bad news arrived from America, "about
+the fleet," and therefore Whitefield kept a fast-day at his houses
+of worship.
+
+The health of our evangelist now sadly failed. He was brought to
+live on the "short allowance of preaching but once a day, and thrice
+on the Sunday;" very "short allowance" for _him_. Once, however, he
+broke through the restraint, and preached three times on the success
+of the king of Prussia; which, he says, "somewhat _recovered_" him,
+after he had been for a week at the gates of the grave. He was not
+able this winter to attempt what he considered great things; but
+Tottenham Court was his _Bethel_, as he called it. This house was
+then surrounded by a beautiful piece of ground, and he formed the
+plan of building on it an almshouse for "twelve godly widows,"
+as a "standing monument that the Methodists were not against good
+works." This charity he soon carried into effect. His thoughts,
+however, were not confined to home. Although broken down in health
+and spirits, by weakness and want of rest, he watched the affairs of
+Prussia with intense interest, and assured the German Protestants,
+through Professor Francke, that "we looked on their distresses as
+our own."
+
+In the spring of 1758, he laid the foundation-stone of his
+almshouse, and in June of the same year began to select its inmates.
+Pointing to these houses, some years afterwards, he said to a
+gentleman who was visiting him, "Those are my redoubts. The prayers
+of the poor women who reside in them, protect me in my house."
+Having arranged for the supply of his London pulpits, Whitefield
+went into the west of England, and proceeded from thence into Wales.
+But his health was so feeble, that he could not bear to drive, nor
+even ride in a one-horse chaise. The roads were rough, and riding
+shook him nearly to pieces. "Every thing," he says, "wearies this
+shattered bark now." A friend purchased for him a close chaise,
+advancing the money until he could conveniently repay it. He
+deeply felt this kindness, because by no other means could he have
+itinerated. "I would not," he says, "lay out a single farthing but
+for my blessed Master; but it is inconceivable what I have undergone
+these three weeks. _I never was so before._ O for a _hearse_ to
+carry my weary carcass to the wished for grave." During all this
+tour he was unable to sit up in company even once; yet he often
+preached to ten or fifteen thousand people, and made their "tears
+flow like water from the rock." His views of himself at this time
+were more than usually humble. He said to Lady Huntingdon, "Oh, I
+am sick--sick in body, but infinitely more so in mind, to see so
+much dross in my soul. Blessed be God, there is One who will sit as
+a refiner's fire, to purify the sons of Levi. I write out of the
+burning bush. Christ is there; Christ is there!"
+
+Among the many illustrations of Scripture which Whitefield often
+introduced into his sermons, one is truly worthy of record.
+Preaching from the words, "Wherefore, glorify ye the Lord in the
+fires," Isa. 24:15, he says, "When I was, some years ago, at
+Shields, I went into a glass-house, and standing very attentively,
+I saw several masses of burning glass of various forms. The workman
+took one piece of glass, and put it into one furnace, then he put
+it into a second, and then into a third. I asked him, 'Why do you
+put that into so many fires?' He answered me, 'Oh, sir, the first
+was not hot enough, nor the second, and therefore we put it into the
+third, and that will make it transparent.' 'Oh,' thought I, 'does
+this man put this glass into one furnace after another, that it
+may be rendered perfect? Oh, my God, put me into one furnace after
+another, that my soul may be transparent, that I may see God as he
+is.'"
+
+In the month of July, Whitefield again set out for Scotland,
+preaching on his way in many pulpits, including "Bishop Bunyan's,"
+as he used to call him, at Bedford, Berridge's at Everton, and
+Doddridge's at Northampton. Four Episcopal clergymen lent him their
+pulpits. His health received, for some time, little benefit, so that
+he sometimes feared he must return. But he adds, "Through divine
+strength, I hope to go forward; and shall strive, as much as in me
+lies, to die in this glorious work." He preached and collected in
+Scotland with his accustomed energy and success, and returned to
+London with his health somewhat renovated. This year he lost by
+death some of his earliest and warmest friends, including Hervey in
+England, and Presidents Burr and Edwards, and Governor Belcher, in
+America. Such removals gave him also "a desire to depart," but his
+work on earth was not yet done.
+
+Three principal facts connected with our evangelist may be said to
+mark the year 1759. One was, that he had the satisfaction to clear
+off all his debts for the orphan-house. "Bethesda's God," he writes,
+"lives for ever, and is faithful and all-sufficient." He longed
+again to visit America, but several difficulties intervened for the
+present.
+
+A second event which marked the year, was another journey to
+Scotland. He complains in his letters, that though his congregations
+at Edinburgh and Glasgow were never more numerous and attentive,
+yet, with respect to the power of religion, it was a dead time in
+Scotland, in comparison with London and several other parts of
+England. His presence in Scotland, however, at this time was very
+important, especially in collecting for his orphan-house and the
+Highland Society for the support of children. Many Scottish soldiers
+were now in America, which greatly increased the interest felt in
+every thing relating to it.
+
+In this year, 1759, Mr. Whitefield also for the first time
+visited Brighthelmstone, now called Brighton, a very fashionable
+watering-place, where George IV. afterwards, while regent, built a
+tawdry tasteless palace. The preacher's first sermon was delivered
+under a tree in a field behind the White Lion inn. Among his
+congregation on that day was a young man named Tuppen, about
+eighteen years of age. He had been educated by a pious mother in
+the strict observance of the external parts of religion, but was
+entirely destitute of its power. He attended not so much from
+curiosity, as from the intention to insult and interrupt the
+preacher. He tells us, "I had therefore provided myself with stones
+in my pocket, if opportunity offered, to pelt the preacher; but
+I had not heard long, before the stone was taken out of my heart
+of flesh; and then the other stones, with shame and weeping, were
+dropped one by one out upon the ground." The words, "Turn ye, turn
+ye," became the means of turning him from sin to God. Mr. Tuppen
+became an excellent Christian minister, and labored as a pastor for
+some years in Portsmouth. He then removed to the city of Bath, where
+he originated a congregation, and built a house for public worship.
+He was succeeded in this important sphere by the late distinguished
+William Jay, who labored there for about sixty-four years.
+
+Such was the prosperity attendant on the efforts of Messrs.
+Whitefield, Madan, Romaine, Berridge, Venn, and Fletcher, at
+Brighton, that Lady Huntingdon felt it her duty to erect a church
+edifice there, and being unable to do it in any other way, sold her
+jewels to the amount of nearly three thousand five hundred dollars.
+The cause still flourishes there, and very many have been turned to
+righteousness.
+
+While Whitefield's ministry at the Tabernacle was at its height of
+popularity, Foote, a comedian of eminent talent for mimicry, who
+was frequently in difficulties on account of his love of ridicule,
+by which indeed his life was shortened, employed his wit to bring
+the distinguished preacher into contempt. One of his biographers
+says, that "very pressing embarrassments in his affairs compelled
+him to bring out his comedy of '_The Minor_,' in 1760, to ridicule
+Methodism, which, though successful, gave great offence, and was at
+last suppressed." Of this miserable piece of buffoonery, it may be
+enough to say, that Foote, and the agents employed at the Tabernacle
+and Tottenham Court-road chapel to collect materials from Whitefield
+for the accomplishment of their object, were so disgracefully
+ignorant of the inspired writings, as not to know that what they
+took for Mr. Whitefield's peculiar language was that of the word of
+God.
+
+Lady Huntingdon interposed in the matter, first with the Lord
+Chamberlain, by whose license alone any play could then be performed
+in London, and then with Mr. Garrick, the latter of whom assured her
+that he would use his influence to exclude it, and added, that had
+he been aware of the offence it was adapted to give, it should never
+have appeared with his concurrence. The representation of this piece
+of mummery, as might have been expected, considerably increased
+Whitefield's popularity, and brought thousands of new persons to
+hear the gospel: thus Providence gave him the victory over his
+opposers.
+
+To report the sicknesses, the labors, and the successes of
+Whitefield from this time to that of his sixth embarkation for
+America, would be little more than a repetition of the past. Suffice
+it to say, that in England, and in Scotland, he labored amid much
+ill-health, and surrounded with many dangers; but at length, having
+found an Episcopal clergyman, the Rev. John Berridge, a man of
+somewhat eccentric manners, but of great learning, of eminent piety,
+and of burning zeal, who was willing to labor for a time in London,
+Whitefield set sail in the ship Fanny, Captain Archibald Galbraith,
+bound from Greenock to Virginia, June 1, 1763, and arrived at
+Rappahannock, after a tedious, but otherwise pleasant voyage of
+about twelve weeks, in the last week of August.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+SIXTH VISIT AND LABORS IN AMERICA--RENEWED LABORS IN GREAT BRITAIN.
+
+1763-1767.
+
+
+Whitefield was now for the sixth time in America. He was twelve
+weeks on the voyage; but though tedious, it had done him good. "I
+enjoyed," he says, "that quietness which I have in vain sought after
+for some years on shore." Owing to the violence of his asthma, he
+had set sail "with but little hopes of farther public usefulness;"
+but after being six weeks at sea, he wrote to a friend, "Who knows
+but our latter end may _yet_ increase? If not in public usefulness,
+Lord Jesus, let it be in heart-holiness. I know who says Amen. I
+add, Amen and amen."
+
+On his arrival in Virginia, Whitefield was surrounded by many
+Christian friends, the fruits of his former labors in that colony,
+but whom he had not hitherto known. It was with great difficulty,
+however, that he preached to them; for though his general health
+was better, his breathing was very bad. The months of September,
+October, and November, he spent in Philadelphia. He says, "Here are
+some young bright witnesses rising up in the church. Perhaps I have
+already conversed with forty _new creature_ ministers of various
+denominations. Sixteen popular students, I am credibly informed,
+were converted in New Jersey college last year. What an open door if
+I had strength! Last Tuesday we had a remarkable season among the
+Lutherans; children and grown people were much impressed." Ill as he
+was, he preached twice a week, and with his usual success.
+
+He intensely desired at this time to visit Georgia, but was
+absolutely prohibited by his physicians, till he had recovered his
+strength. In the end of November, therefore, he passed over into New
+Jersey, visiting the college, and Elizabethtown. He tells us that
+at the college he had "four sweet seasons." His spirits rose at the
+sight of the young soldiers who were to fight when he had fallen. It
+was now winter, and "cold weather and a warm heart" put him in good
+spirits, so that he was able to preach three times a week.
+
+A young man, a member of the college, hearing that Whitefield was
+to preach in the neighborhood, and being more than a little anxious
+to ascertain whether he really deserved all the celebrity he
+enjoyed, went to hear him. The day was very rainy, and the audience
+was small; the preacher, accustomed to address thousands, did not
+feel his powers called forth as at other times. After having heard
+about one-third part of the sermon, the young man said to himself,
+"The man is not so great a wonder after all--quite commonplace and
+superficial--nothing but show, and not a great deal of that;" and
+looking round upon the audience, he saw that they appeared about as
+uninterested as usual, and that old father ----, who sat directly
+in front of the pulpit, and who always went to sleep after hearing
+the text and plan of the sermon, was enjoying his accustomed nap.
+About this time, Whitefield stopped. His face went rapidly through
+many changes, till it looked more like a rising thunder-cloud than
+any thing else; and beginning very deliberately, he said, "If I had
+come to speak to you in my own name, you might rest your elbows upon
+your knees, and your heads upon your hands, and sleep; and once in a
+while look up and say, 'What does the babbler talk of?' But I have
+not come to you in my own name. No; I have come to you in the name
+of the Lord God of hosts, and"--here he brought down his hand and
+foot at once, so as to make the whole house ring--"and I must, and
+will be heard." Every one in the house started, and old father ----
+among the rest. "Aye, aye," continued the preacher, looking at him,
+"I have waked you up, have I? I meant to do it. I am not come here
+to preach to stocks and stones; I have come to you in the name of
+the Lord God of hosts, and I must, and I will have an audience." The
+congregation was fully aroused, and the remaining part of the sermon
+produced a considerable effect.
+
+From New Jersey, Whitefield passed on to New York, where he says,
+"Such a flocking of all ranks I never saw before at New York....
+Prejudices have most strangely subsided. The better sort flock as
+eagerly as the common people, and are fond of coming for private
+gospel conversation. Congregations continue very large, and I trust
+saving impressions are made upon many." Such also was his influence
+as a philanthropist, that though prejudices ran high against the
+Indians, on account of a threatened insurrection in the south, he
+collected about six hundred dollars for Dr. Wheelock's Indian school
+at Lebanon, Conn., which he soon after visited with much pleasure.
+
+An extract of a letter from New York, dated Jan. 23, 1754, which
+appeared in the Boston Gazette, may show the esteem in which he was
+held: "The Rev. George Whitefield has spent seven weeks with us,
+preaching twice a week, with more general approbation than ever; and
+has been treated with great respect by many of the gentlemen and
+merchants of this place. During his stay he preached two charity
+sermons, the one on the occasion of the annual collection for the
+poor, in which double the sum was collected that ever was upon the
+like occasion; the other was for the benefit of Mr. Wheelock's
+Indian school at Lebanon, for which he collected, notwithstanding
+the present prejudices of many people against the Indians, the sum
+of one hundred and twenty pounds. In his last sermon, he took a very
+affectionate leave of the people of this city, who expressed great
+concern at his departure. May God restore this great and good man,
+in whom the gentleman, the Christian, and accomplished orator shine
+forth with such peculiar lustre, to a perfect state of health, and
+continue him long a blessing to the world and the church of Christ."
+
+Leaving New York, he visited and preached, as far as his strength
+would allow, at Easthampton Bridge, Hampton, and Southhold, on
+Long Island; at Shelter Island, and at New London, Norwich, and
+Providence.
+
+Whitefield arrived at Boston in the end of February, 1764, and was
+welcomed by multitudes with cordial affection; and again he saw "the
+Redeemer's stately steps in the great congregation." Boston at that
+time was visited with small-pox, and Whitefield therefore devoted
+much of his labor to the adjacent towns. Writing from Concord, he
+says, "How would you have been delighted to have seen Mr. Wheelock's
+Indians. Such a promising nursery of future missionaries, I believe,
+was never seen in New England before. Pray encourage it with all
+your might." About two months after his arrival in Boston, his
+illness returned, but did not long prevent him from preaching, and
+the people still flocked in crowds to hear him. He left Boston for
+the south; but messengers were sent to entreat his return, and
+especially urged him to renew his six o'clock morning lecture. He
+did return, but was now unable to preach at the early hour they
+desired; he appeared, however, in the pulpit for some time on
+three occasions in the week, and such was the number of converts
+discovered, that after he had left it was proposed to send him a
+book filled with their names, as desiring his return.
+
+We ought to have said, that according to the Boston Gazette,
+about the time of the arrival of Whitefield, "at a meeting of the
+freeholders and other inhabitants of the town of Boston, it was
+unanimously voted that the thanks of the town be given to the Rev.
+George Whitefield, for his charitable care and pains in collecting
+a considerable sum of money in Great Britain for the distressed
+sufferers by the great fire in Boston, 1760. A respectable committee
+was appointed to wait on Mr. Whitefield, to inform him of the vote,
+and present him with a copy thereof."
+
+Notwithstanding the earnest entreaties of his friends, he left
+Boston in the early part of June. On the first of that month he
+wrote, "Friends have even constrained me to stay here, for fear of
+running into the summer's heat. Hitherto I find the benefit of it.
+Whatever it is owing to, through mercy, I am much better in health
+than I was this time twelve months, and can preach thrice a week to
+very large auditories without hurt; and every day I hear of some
+brought under concern. This is all of grace."
+
+Sorrowfully parting from his friends at Boston, Whitefield left them
+for New York by way of New Haven. Here he preached to the students,
+and had taken his leave of them; but such was the impression he had
+made on their minds, that they requested the president to go after
+him, to entreat for another "quarter of an hour's exhortation." He
+complied with the request, and the effect was what he called "the
+_crown_ of the expedition." He continued at New York till the end of
+August. While there he writes, "At present my health is better than
+usual, and as yet I have felt no inconvenience from the summer's
+heat. I have preached twice lately in the fields, and we sat under
+the blessed Redeemer's shadow with great delight. My late excursions
+upon Long Island, I trust, have been blessed. It would surprise you
+to see above one hundred carriages at every sermon in the new world."
+
+On his way to Philadelphia, in September, Whitefield preached at the
+New Jersey college commencement; for which, and for the influence
+he had exerted in favor of the institution, the trustees sent him
+a vote of thanks. His reception at the college was all he could
+desire. The governor and the ex-governor of the state, with many
+other gentlemen, attended, and every other mark of respect was shown
+him. At Philadelphia, he describes the effect of his labors as
+"great indeed," and as usual, he was compelled to exclaim, "Grace,
+grace!"
+
+Leaving Pennsylvania, he went on through Virginia; here he tells
+us, in places as "unlikely as _Rome_ itself," he found societies of
+Christians, formed and led on by a wealthy planter of that colony;
+they met him in a body, wishing publicly to identify themselves with
+him. "Surely the _Londoners_," he writes, "who are fed to the full,
+will not envy the poor souls in these parts. I almost determine to
+come back in the spring" from Georgia to them.
+
+On one occasion, while he was preaching in this colony, a Mr. Allen,
+afterwards a member of the eminent Mr. Davies' church at Hanover,
+and who, with his family, "addicted himself to the ministry of the
+saints," fell on the ground at full length, suddenly, as if shot
+through the heart, and lay for the remainder of the evening as one
+who was dead. His descendants are now very numerous, and many of
+them are among the most zealous Christians in that state.
+
+From Virginia, Whitefield proceeded to South Carolina, and, Nov.
+22, wrote, "At Newbern, last Sunday, good impressions were made. I
+have met with what they call 'New Lights' in almost every place,
+and have the names of several of their preachers." Having preached
+at Charleston, he passed on to Bethesda, and had the happiness to
+find the whole colony in a prosperous condition. Here he spent the
+winter, and writes, "Peace and plenty reign at Bethesda. All things
+go on successfully. God hath given me great favor in the sight of
+the governor, council, and assembly. A memorial was presented for
+an additional grant of lands, consisting of two thousand acres. It
+was immediately complied with. Both houses addressed the governor
+on behalf of the intended college. A warm answer was given; and I
+am now putting every thing in repair, and getting every thing ready
+for that purpose. Every heart seems to leap for joy at the prospect
+of its future usefulness to this and the neighboring colonies. He
+who holdeth the stars in his right hand will direct, in due time,
+whether I shall directly embark for England, or take one tour more
+to the northward. I am in delightful winter quarters for once. His
+excellency dined with me yesterday, and expressed his satisfaction
+in the warmest terms. Who knows how many youths may be trained up
+for the service of the ever-loving and altogether lovely Jesus. Thus
+far, however, we may set up our Ebenezer. Hitherto the bush hath
+been burning, but is not consumed." To this statement he adds, "Mr.
+Wright hath done much in a little time; but he hath worked night and
+day, and not stirred a mile for many weeks. Thanks be to God, all
+outward things are settled on this side the water. The auditing the
+accounts, and laying the foundation for a college, hath silenced
+enemies and comforted friends. The finishing of this affair confirms
+my call to England at this time."
+
+But the intense anxiety of multitudes to hear his preaching,
+prevented Whitefield from leaving America for several months longer.
+He had, indeed, as early as the middle of February, determined not
+to visit New England till his return from Europe; but arriving at
+Charleston, he was compelled to devote to labors there the whole
+month of March, and then set out for Philadelphia, preaching at many
+places on his way. He says, "All the way from Charleston to this
+place the cry is, 'For Christ's sake, stay and preach to us.' Oh for
+a thousand lives to spend for Jesus."
+
+The heat of the weather made it indispensable for his health that
+he should go to sea, and July 5th he once more arrived in England,
+on his last return voyage from America. He says, "We have had but
+a twenty-eight days' passage. The transition has been so sudden,
+that I can scarcely believe that I am in England. I hope, ere long,
+to have a more sudden transition into a better country." When he
+arrived in his native land, he was ill of a nervous fever, which
+left him extremely weak in body, and unable to exert himself as
+formerly. Yet, still intent on his work, he did what he could, in
+expectation of soon entering into his eternal rest. "Oh, to end life
+well!" he writes; "methinks I have now but one river to pass over.
+And we know of One who can carry us over without being ankle deep."
+
+On Whitefield's arrival in England, he found that his excellent
+friend the Countess of Huntingdon was erecting a large and beautiful
+church edifice in the fashionable city of Bath, and to that place he
+at once repaired. There he found several of his clerical brethren
+preaching in the private chapel at Bretby Hall, belonging to the
+Earl of Chesterfield, who had placed it for the time being at the
+disposal of Lady Huntingdon. On Whitefield's arrival, this place was
+of necessity exchanged for the Park, where the concourse of people
+was as vast as ever.
+
+October 6, he preached the dedicatory sermon of Lady Huntingdon's
+church at Bath, to an immense crowd. To his friend Robert Keen,
+Esq., one of the managers of his London houses, he wrote, "Could
+you have come, and have been present at the opening of the chapel,
+you would have been much pleased. The building is extremely plain,
+and yet equally grand. A most beautiful original! All was conducted
+with great solemnity. Though a wet day, the place was very full, and
+assuredly the great Shepherd and Bishop of souls consecrated and
+made it holy ground by his presence."
+
+He made but a short stay at Bath, and returned to London, still
+feeble and tottering, but still compelled to labor. He had an
+interview with his old friend John Wesley, who says of him, "He
+seemed to be an old man, being fairly worn out in his Master's
+service, though he has hardly seen fifty years; and yet it pleases
+God that I, who am now in my sixty-third year, find no disorder,
+no weakness, no decay, no difference from what I was at five and
+twenty, only that I have fewer teeth, and more gray hairs." Writing
+to a friend at Sheerness, in Kent, Jan. 18, 1766, Whitefield says,
+"I am sorry to acquaint you that it is not in my power to comply
+with your request, for want of more assistance. I am confined in
+town with the care of two important posts, when I am only fit to be
+put into some garrison among invalids." By some means, however, he
+obtained a release, for in March we find him at Bath and Bristol.
+Writing, March 17, he says, "The uncertainty of my motions has made
+me slow in writing; and a desire to be a while free from London
+cares, has made me indifferent about frequent hearing from thence.
+Last Friday evening, and twice yesterday, I preached at Bath, to
+very thronged and brilliant auditories."
+
+Whitefield's interest in America was not lessened by his absence
+from it. He ardently loved it, and wished for the return of its
+peace and prosperity. He hoped, with many others, that the repeal
+of the Stamp Act would lead to this result; hence, we find in his
+Letter-book this entry: "March 16, 1766, Stamp Act repealed. _Gloria
+Deo._"
+
+Among the remarkable men of his day was Samson Occam. He was
+descended, on his mother's side, from Uncas, chief of the Mohegans.
+He was born in 1723, of parents who led a wandering life, depending
+on hunting and fishing for subsistence. None cultivated their
+lands, all dwelt in wigwams, and Samson was one of the very first
+of the tribe who learned to read. About the year 1740, at the age
+of seventeen, he was converted by the labors of Whitefield, Gilbert
+Tennent, and their companions. In a year or two he had learned to
+read his Bible with ease, and to his great advantage. He was a
+pupil at the school originally founded by Dr. Wheelock, at Lebanon,
+Conn., for the benefit exclusively of Indians, four years, and
+was then a teacher for eleven years. In 1759, he was ordained by
+the Suffolk Presbytery, and became an eminently zealous preacher
+to the scattered Mohegans. In 1766, in company with the Rev. Mr.
+Whitaker of Norwich, he went to England to advocate the cause of
+Dr. Wheelock's Indian school, which school was afterwards merged in
+Dartmouth college, of which Mr. Wheelock was also founder and first
+president. Occum preached in the churches of Whitefield and Lady
+Huntingdon, as well as in some others of different denominations. We
+remember half a century ago hearing an old lady at Kidderminster,
+the town of Richard Baxter, describe a scene which occurred in
+Fawcett's church in that town. Occum had preached, and a handsome
+collection had been taken for his object; with tears of gratitude
+and joy the good man thanked them, and in tones which neither the
+weeping nor the mimetic talent of the old lady would allow her fully
+to imitate, assured them that the blessing of many ready to perish
+would come upon them. The place was a Bochim, and nothing could
+prevent the people from having the plates again carried round, that
+they might add to the liberal contributions they had already made.
+
+Occum preached in Great Britain from three to four hundred sermons;
+and as no North American Indian had ever preached in England before,
+public curiosity was great, and his pecuniary success considerable.
+He brought to this country, with his companion, as the produce of
+their labors, more than forty-five thousand dollars. In 1772 he
+published an interesting sermon which he preached to an Indian at
+his execution. An excellent portrait of him was published in England.
+
+Dr. Timothy Dwight writes, "I heard Mr. Occum twice. His
+discourses, though not proofs of superior talents, were decent;
+and his utterance in some degree eloquent. His character at one
+time labored under some imputations; yet there is good reason to
+believe that most, if not all of them were unfounded; and there is
+satisfactory evidence that he was a man of piety." An account of the
+Montauk Indians, written by Occum, is preserved in the "Historical
+Collections." He died at New Stockbridge, N. Y., July, 1792. It has
+been said that the first Sunday-school in these United States was
+founded in the house of his sister, a few months after his death.
+
+Occum was somewhat of a wit, and could well apply his talent in his
+conflict with the enemies of divine truth. He once ended a long
+controversial conversation with a Universalist, by saying, "Well,
+well, remember, if you are correct, I am safe; if you are not
+correct, I am safe. I have two strings to my bow; you have but one."
+
+In June, 1766, we again find Whitefield in the neighborhood of
+Bristol, whence he writes, "As my feverish heat continues, and the
+weather is too wet to travel, I have complied with the advice of
+friends, and have commenced a Hot-wells water drinker twice a day.
+However, twice this week, at six o'clock in the morning, I have
+been enabled to call thirsty souls to come and 'drink of the water
+of life freely.' Tomorrow evening, God willing, the call is to be
+repeated, and again on Sunday." On his return to London, he writes,
+under date of September 25, "Many in this metropolis seem to be on
+the wing for God; the shout of a king is yet heard in the Methodist
+camp. Had I wings, I would gladly fly from pole to pole; but they
+are clipped by thirty years' feeble labors. Twice or thrice a week
+I am permitted to ascend my gospel throne. The love of Christ, I am
+persuaded, will constrain you to pray that the last glimmering of
+an expiring taper may be blessed to the guiding of many, wandering
+souls to the Lamb of God."
+
+The good providence of God now gave Whitefield a colleague in the
+ministry at the Tabernacle and Tottenham Court-road chapel, the Rev.
+Torial Joss. This gentleman had spent many years as captain at sea;
+converted by divine grace, and filled with holy zeal, he devoted
+his popular talents to the welfare of his fellow-men, preaching
+both on sea and land. In a remarkable manner, Mr. Whitefield became
+acquainted with him, and, without his knowledge, published that he
+would preach in his houses of worship, which, though with extreme
+reluctance, Joss did. These services were often renewed, and
+Whitefield gave him no rest till he abandoned the sea, and devoted
+himself to the ministry. Everywhere he was popular, and everywhere
+useful. He continued minister of the two places in London--spending
+four or five months in each year travelling and preaching--for
+twenty-seven years after the death of his friend, and then departed
+from earth, in 1797, in holy triumph, in the 66th year of his age.
+
+One of the most extraordinary men in modern times was the late Rev.
+Rowland Hill, who erected Surrey chapel, London, and continued to
+preach in it till his death, in his eighty-ninth year, in 1833. He
+was eminently dignified in person, possessed extraordinary zeal,
+and was honored by his great Master with probably more success in
+the direct work of saving souls than any other minister of his day.
+He was a man of considerable rank, his father being a gentleman of
+title, one of his brothers a member of Parliament for many years,
+representing his native county, and the late eminent statesman
+and soldier Lord Hill was his nephew. Mr. Hill himself in early
+life became a Christian, and was educated for the ministry in the
+established church, but violated its rules, and preached wherever he
+could; for many years he was greatly persecuted by his own family,
+some of whom, however, in the end sustained the yoke of Christ.
+When Rowland began his somewhat erratic career, the opposition from
+his father was so great, that he was reduced sometimes to extreme
+poverty; and he was exactly the man to be encouraged by such men
+as Whitefield and Berridge. We give a few extracts from letters
+addressed to him by Whitefield, which certainly show no small
+degree of ardor, though we cannot see in them what Hill's clerical
+biographer, Mr. Sidney, professed to find, "an aspiration after the
+honors, when he had no prospect of the sufferings of martyrdom." The
+fact was, that Mr. Sidney was offended with Whitefield, as he was
+with his venerable uncle, Mr. Hill, for having deviated from the
+rigid laws of the establishment. It is only needful to introduce
+the first letter by saying that it was dated, London, December 27,
+1766, and was sent in answer to one in which Mr. Hill had asked his
+counsel.
+
+"About thirty-four years ago, the master of Pembroke college,
+where I was educated, took me to task for visiting the sick and
+going to the prisons. In my haste I said, 'Sir, if it displeaseth
+you I will go no more.' My heart smote me immediately; I repented,
+and went again; he heard of it--threatened--but for fear he should
+be looked on as a persecutor, let me alone. The hearts of all
+are in the Redeemer's hands. I would not have you give way; no,
+not for a moment. The storm is too great to hold long. Visiting
+the sick and imprisoned, and instructing the ignorant, are the
+very vitals of true and undefiled religion. If threatened, denied
+degree, or expelled _for this_, it will be the best degree you can
+take--a glorious preparative for, and a blessed presage of future
+usefulness. I have seen the dreadful consequences of giving way and
+looking back. How many by this wretched cowardice, and fear of the
+cross, have been turned into pillars, not of useful, but of useless
+salt. Now is your time to prove the strength of Jesus yours. If
+opposition did not so much abound, your consolations would not so
+abound. Blind as he is, Satan sees some great good coming on. We
+never prospered so much at Oxford as when we were hissed at and
+reproached as we walked along the streets, as being counted the
+dung and offscouring of all things. That is a poor building which
+a little stinking breath of Satan's vassals can throw down. Your
+house, I trust, is better founded. Is it not built upon a rock? Is
+not that rock the blessed Jesus? The gates of hell, therefore, shall
+not be able to prevail against it. Go on, therefore, my dear man, go
+on. Old Berridge, I believe, would give you the same advice; you are
+honored in sharing his reproach and name. God be praised that you
+are enabled to bless when others blaspheme. God bless and direct and
+support you. He will, he will. Good Lady Huntingdon is in town; she
+will rejoice to hear that you are under the cross. You will not want
+her prayers, or the poor prayers of, my dear honest young friend,
+yours, in an all-conquering Jesus."
+
+The opposition Mr. Hill met with from his parents increased, and
+the threat of his degree being withheld, was, on the part of
+the university authorities, more determined; still, however, he
+persevered in his preaching and his visits, in violation of the
+laws of discipline. In June, 1767, Mr. Whitefield wrote him: "I
+wish you joy of the late high dignity conferred upon you--higher
+than if you were made the greatest professor in the university of
+Cambridge. The honorable degrees you intend giving to your promising
+candidates, [allowing some of his fellow-students to preach in the
+various places which he had visited,] I trust will excite a holy
+ambition, and a holy emulation; let me know who is first honored. As
+I have been admitted to the degree of doctor for near these thirty
+years, I assure you I like my field preferment, my airy pluralities,
+exceedingly well. For these three weeks last past I have been
+beating up for fresh recruits in Gloucestershire and South Wales.
+Thousands and thousands attended, and good Lady Huntingdon was
+present at one of our reviews. Her ladyship's aid-de-camp preached
+in Brecknock-street, and Captain Scott, that glorious field-officer,
+lately fixed up his standard upon dear Mr. Fletcher's horseblock
+at Madeley. Being invited thither, I have a great inclination to
+lift up the Redeemer's ensign next week in the same place; with
+what success, you and your dearly beloved candidates for good
+old methodistical contempt shall know hereafter. God willing, I
+intend fighting my way up to town. Soon after my arrival there,
+I hope thousands and thousands of volleys of prayers, energetic,
+effectual, fervent, heaven-besieging, heaven-opening, heaven-taking
+prayers, shall be poured forth for you all. Oh, my dearly beloved
+and longed-for in the Lord, my bowels yearn towards you. Fear not
+to go without the camp; keep open the correspondence between the
+two universities. Remember the praying legions--they were never
+known to yield. God bless those that are gone to their respective
+_cures_--I say not _livings_, a term of too modern date. Christ is
+our life; Christ is the Levite's inheritance, and Christ will be the
+true disinterested Levite's lot and portion and all. Greet your dear
+young companions whom I saw; they are welcome to write when they
+please. God be your physician under your bodily malady. A thorn, a
+thorn! but Christ's grace will be sufficient for you. To his tender,
+never-failing mercy I commit you."
+
+A few weeks after this, Mr. Hill was much depressed in spirits,
+partly from bodily illness, partly because he was about to leave
+Cambridge and its surrounding villages, where he had latterly so
+frequently preached, but chiefly from the fact that he was going
+home, where he would again meet the frowns of his honored parents,
+for what they deemed his overrighteousness. In the midst of all
+this, however, he knew that he would meet at Hawkstone, his father's
+residence, the cordial welcome of his sister and elder brother,
+Richard Hill, afterwards a baronet. This gentleman had lately become
+a village preacher and a visitor of prisons, like his brother. Under
+these circumstances he was addressed by Whitefield, in his own
+peculiar and energetic style: "What said our Lord to Martha? 'Did I
+not say unto thee, If thou wouldest believe, thou shouldst see the
+glory of God?' Blessed, for ever blessed be the God and Father of
+our Lord Jesus Christ, for what he hath done for your dear brother.
+A preaching, prison-preaching, field-preaching _esquire_, strikes
+more than all the black gowns and lawn sleeves in the world. And
+if I am not mistaken, the great Shepherd and Bishop of souls will
+let the world, and his own children too, know that he will not be
+prescribed to in respect to men, or garbs, or places; much less will
+he be confined to any order or set of men under heaven. I wish you
+both much, very much prosperity. You will have it--_you will have
+it_. This is the way, walk ye in it. Both Tabernacle and [Tottenham
+Court-road] chapel pulpits shall be open to a captain or an esquire
+sent of God. The good news from Oxford is encouraging. Say what they
+will, preaching should be one part of the education of a student in
+divinity. I pray for you night and day."
+
+On the arrival of Mr. Hill at his father's beautiful seat, it was
+his happiness to find that his brother Brian, afterwards useful as
+a clergyman, was added to the number of believers in Christ; he
+learned also, that one of his college friends had been threatened
+to have an exhibition, or yearly gift towards his university
+expenses, withdrawn, unless he renounced his evangelical doctrines
+and practices. The reader will now understand Mr. Whitefield's
+letter: "I have been sadly hindered from answering your last letter,
+delivered to me by your brother. I gave it him to read, and we had,
+I trust, a profitable conference. God be praised if another of your
+brothers is gained. What grace is this! Four or five out of one
+family--it is scarcely to be paralleled. Who knows but the root,
+as well as the branches, may be taken by and by? Abba, Father, all
+things are possible with thee! Steadiness and perseverance in the
+children will be one of the best means, under God, of convincing the
+parents. This present opposition I think cannot last very long; if
+it does, to obey God rather than man, when forbidden to do what is
+undoubted duty, is the invariable rule. Our dear Penty [afterwards
+the Rev. Thomas Pentycross] is under the cross at Cambridge. But
+
+    "'Satan thwarts, and men object,
+      Yet the thing they thwart effect.'
+
+I should be glad if any one's exhibition was taken from him for
+visiting the sick, etc. It would vastly tend to the furtherance of
+the gospel; but Satan sees too far, I imagine, to play such a game
+now. Let him do his work; he is only a mastiff chained. Continue to
+inform me how he barks, and how far he is permitted to go in your
+parts; and God's people shall be more stirred up to pray for you
+all."
+
+The close of Mr. Hill's life was truly interesting and instructive.
+As has been intimated, he preached with scarcely diminished power
+until within a few weeks of his death. During the last two or three
+years of his life he very frequently repeated the following lines of
+an old poet:
+
+              "And when I'm to die,
+               Receive me, I'll cry,
+    For Jesus has loved me, I cannot tell why;
+               But this I can find,
+               We two are so joined,
+    That he'll not be in glory, and leave me behind."
+
+"The last time he occupied my pulpit," writes his neighbor, the Rev.
+George Clayton, "when he preached excellently for an hour, in behalf
+of a charitable institution, he retired to the vestry after service
+under feelings of great and manifest exhaustion. Here he remained
+until every individual except the pew-openers, his servant, and
+myself had left the place. At length he seemed with some reluctance
+to summon energy enough to take his departure, intimating that it
+was in all probability the last time he should preach in Walworth.
+His servant went before to open the carriage-door, the pew-openers
+remaining in the vestry. I offered my arm, which he declined, and
+then followed him as he passed down the aisle of the chapel. The
+lights were nearly extinguished, the silence was profound, nothing
+indeed was heard but the slow majestic tread of his own footsteps,
+when, in an undertone, he thus soliloquized:
+
+                 "'And when I'm to die,' etc.
+
+To my heart this was a scene of unequalled solemnity, nor can I ever
+recur to it without a revival of that hallowed, sacred, shuddering
+sympathy which it originally awakened."
+
+When the good old saint lay literally dying, and when apparently
+unconscious, a friend put his mouth close to his ear, and repeated
+slowly his favorite lines:
+
+                  "And when I'm to die," etc.
+
+The light came back to his fast-fading eye, a smile overspread his
+face, and his lips moved in the ineffectual attempt to articulate
+the words. This was the last sign of consciousness which he gave.
+
+We could almost wish that every disciple of Christ would commit
+these lines, quaint as they are, to memory, and weave them into
+the web of his Christian experience. Confidence in Christ, and
+undeviating adherence to him, can alone enable us to triumph in life
+and death.
+
+In November, 1766, Whitefield again visited Bath and Bristol, and
+then passed on to Gloucestershire and Oxford. Never did so many
+of the nobility attend his ministry as he now saw at Bath, and
+the results of his whole journey were such as to fill him with
+the most devout gratitude. He saw too the number of his clerical
+friends largely increasing, and especially rejoiced in the fact
+that the excellent Fletcher, of Madeley, preached in his pulpits in
+London. He writes of this event, "Dear Mr. Fletcher has become a
+_scandalous_ Tottenham Court preacher.... Were we more scandalous,
+more good would be done.... Still, 'the shout of a king is yet
+heard' in the Methodist camp."
+
+In January, 1767, Whitefield wrote a recommendatory preface to
+the works of John Bunyan, whom he pleasantly designated, "Bishop
+Bunyan;" and as soon as the weather would permit, we find him
+at Norwich, and then at Rodborough, Woodstock, Gloucester, and
+Haverfordwest, from which last place he wrote, "Thousands and
+thousands attend by eight in the morning. Life and light seem to
+fly all around." On a second visit to Gloucester on this tour, he
+wrote, "Blessed be God, I have got on this side the Welsh mountains.
+Blessed be God, I have been on the other side. What a scene last
+Sunday! What a cry for more of the bread of life! But I was quite
+worn down."
+
+In September following, he again visited the north of England,
+writing from day to day in high spirits. September 28, he says,
+"My body feels much fatigued in travelling; comforts in the soul
+overbalance;" and from Leeds, October 3, he writes, "Field and
+street preaching have rather bettered than hurt my bodily health."
+
+Whitefield now returned to London, to sustain a heavy
+disappointment. The negotiations relative to the college at Bethesda
+were this winter brought to an issue. A memorial addressed to his
+Majesty was put into the hands of the clerk of the Privy Council,
+setting forth the great utility of a college in that place to the
+southern provinces; and praying that a charter might be granted upon
+the plan of the college in New Jersey. This memorial was transmitted
+by the clerk of the Privy Council to the lord president, and by his
+lordship referred to the Archbishop of Canterbury, to whom also a
+draft of an intended charter was presented by the Earl of Dartmouth.
+A correspondence followed all this between the archbishop and
+Whitefield; the consequence of which was, that his grace gave the
+draft of the college to the lord president, who promised he would
+consider of it; and gave it as his opinion that "the head of the
+college ought to be a member of the church of England; that this was
+a qualification not to be dispensed with; and also, that the public
+prayers should not be extempore ones, but the liturgy of the church,
+or some other settled and established form." Whitefield replied
+that these restrictions he could by no means agree to, because the
+greatest part of the contributions for the orphan-house came from
+Protestant dissenters; and because he had constantly declared that
+the intended college should be founded upon a broad foundation, and
+no other.
+
+"This," said he, "I judged I was sufficiently warranted to do,
+from the known, long-established, mild, and uncoercive genius of
+the British government; also from your grace's moderation towards
+Protestant dissenters; from the unconquerable attachment of the
+Americans to toleration principles, as well as from the avowed
+habitual feelings of my own heart. This being the case, and as
+your grace, by your silence, seems to be like-minded with the lord
+president; and as your grace's and his lordship's influence will
+undoubtedly extend itself to others, I would beg leave, after
+returning all due acknowledgments, to inform your grace that I
+intend troubling your grace and his lordship no more about this so
+long depending concern. As it hath pleased the great Head of the
+church in some degree to renew my bodily strength, I propose now
+to renew my feeble efforts, and to turn the charity into a more
+generous, and consequently into a more useful channel. I have no
+ambition to be looked upon as the founder of a college; but I would
+fain act the part of an honest man, a disinterested minister of
+Jesus Christ, and a true, catholic, moderate presbyter of the church
+of England."
+
+Thus ended Whitefield's labors to establish a college at Bethesda.
+Berridge, and not a few others of his friends rather rejoiced in his
+disappointment, as they thought there was some fear, uncontrolled as
+the institution might hereafter be by men of established principles
+of piety, that an unconverted ministry might be increased by its
+means.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+     HIS LAST LABORS IN GREAT BRITAIN--COLLEGE AT TREVECCA--EARL OF
+     BUCHAN--TUNBRIDGE WELLS.
+
+1767-1769.
+
+
+Whitefield had abandoned the idea of a charter for a college at
+present, but he was yet ardently desirous of a public academy being
+added to his orphan-house, similar to what existed at Philadelphia
+before a college charter was granted. He thought that if this
+could be done, a better day might arrive, when a charter on broad
+principles might be obtained. He developed his whole plan in a
+letter to Governor Wright. Feeling too the uncertainty of life, he
+wrote to his friend Mr. Keen, "None but God knows what a concern is
+upon me now, in respect of Bethesda. As another voyage, perhaps, may
+be the issue and the result of all at last, I would beg you and my
+dear Mr. H---- to let me have all my papers and letters, that I may
+revise and dispose of them in a proper manner. This can do no hurt,
+come life or come death."
+
+October 28th, 1767, Whitefield preached at the London Tabernacle
+before the society for promoting religious knowledge among the poor,
+usually called, The Book Society. This society had been organized
+seventeen years before this period, and included in it such men as
+Watts, Doddridge, and Gifford. He gave way to all the zeal of his
+heart while he discussed the petition, "Thy kingdom come." Luke
+11:2. The congregation was immense, many had to go away unable
+to obtain admittance. It was believed that a larger number of
+dissenting ministers were present than ever before heard a sermon
+from an Episcopal minister, and the collection reached more than
+five hundred dollars, or above four times the usual amount, besides
+eighty new annual subscribers. After the service, he dined with a
+very large party, including the ministers, where harmony reigned,
+and much respect was shown him.
+
+It may be readily supposed, that with advancing years and increasing
+experience, some changes might have taken place both in the style
+and manner of Whitefield's preaching. The Rev. Cornelius Winter, who
+had become somewhat closely associated with him, says, "He dealt
+more in the explanatory and doctrinal mode on the Sabbath morning
+than at any other time, and sometimes made a little, but by no means
+an improper show of learning. His afternoon sermon was more general
+and exhortatory. In the evening, he drew his bow at a venture;
+vindicated the doctrines of grace, fenced them with articles and
+homilies, referred to the martyr's seal, and exemplified the power
+of divine grace by quotations from the venerable Foxe. Sinners were
+then closely plied, numbers of whom, from curiosity, coming to
+hear for a minute or two, were often compelled to hear the whole
+sermon. How many in the judgment-day will rise to prove that they
+heard to the salvation of the soul. Upon the members of society,
+the practice of Christianity was then usually inculcated, not
+without some pertinent anecdote of a character worthy to be held
+up for an example, and in whose conduct the hints recommended were
+exemplified. On Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays,
+he preached at six in the morning; and never, perhaps, did he
+preach greater sermons than at this hour." This, with the frequent
+administration of the Lord's supper to hundreds of communicants, was
+his usual plan for several years; but now he became more colloquial
+in his style, with but little action; he gave pertinent expositions
+of the Scriptures, with striking remarks, all comprehended within an
+hour. Winter adds, "The peculiar talents he possessed, subservient
+to great usefulness, can be but faintly conceived from his sermons
+in print; though, as formerly, God has made the reading of them
+useful, and I have no doubt that in future they will have their use."
+
+But even yet our evangelist had to engage in war. The opposition
+of the universities in Oxford and Cambridge to the principles and
+practices introduced by Whitefield, Wesley, and their companions,
+grew and strengthened, till an event occurred at Oxford singularly
+remarkable in its history for opposition to evangelical religion,
+which for many years continued to excite very extraordinary
+interest. The London "St. James' Chronicle," of Thursday, March 17,
+1763, contained the following "extract of a letter from Oxford:"
+"On Friday last, six students, belonging to Edmund Hall, were
+expelled the university, after a hearing of several hours before
+Mr. Vice-Chancellor and some of the heads of houses, for holding
+methodistical tenets, and taking upon them to pray, read, and
+expound the Scriptures, and singing hymns in a private house.
+The ---- of the ---- [The Principal of the Edmund Hall, Rev. Dr.
+Dixon] defended their doctrines from the Thirty-nine Articles of
+the established church, and spoke in the highest terms of the piety
+and exemplariness of their lives; but his motion was overruled,
+and sentence pronounced against them. Dr. ----, [Dixon,] one of
+the heads of houses present, observed, that as these six gentlemen
+were expelled for having too much religion, it would be very proper
+to inquire into the conduct of some who had too little; and Mr.
+---- [Dr. Nowell] was heard to tell their chief accuser, that the
+university was much obliged to him for his good work."
+
+To detail the events which followed this extraordinary act, and to
+describe the excitement thus created, form no part of the design of
+our volume. We have referred to the fact because Mr. Whitefield and
+his friend Sir Richard Hill took part in the controversy. Referring
+to Dr. Nowell's assertion to Mr. Higson, their "chief accuser," and
+who was also their tutor, that the university was obliged to him,
+Whitefield says to the Vice-Chancellor, "What thanks, reverend sir,
+he may meet with from the whole university I know not; but one thing
+I know, namely, that he will receive no thanks for that day's work
+from the innumerable company of angels, the general assembly of the
+first-born which are written in heaven, or from God the Judge of
+all, in that day when Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant shall
+come in his own glory, in the glory of the Father and his holy
+angels, and gather his elect from all the four corners of the world.
+
+"It is true, indeed, one article of impeachment was, that 'some of
+them were of _trades_ before they entered into the university.'
+But what evil or crime worthy of expulsion can there be in that?
+To be called from any, though the meanest mechanical employment,
+to the study of the liberal arts, where a natural genius hath been
+given, was never yet looked upon as a reproach to, or diminution of
+any great and public character whatsoever. Profane history affords
+us a variety of examples of the greatest heroes, who have been
+fetched even from the plough to command armies, and who performed
+the greatest exploits for their country's good. And if we examine
+_sacred_ history, we shall find that even David, after he was
+anointed king, looked back with sweet complacency to the rock from
+whence he was hewn, and is not ashamed to leave it upon record, that
+God took him away from the sheepfolds, as he was following the ewes
+great with young; and, as though he loved to repeat it, he took
+him, he says, 'that he might feed Jacob his people, and Israel his
+inheritance.'
+
+"But why speak I of David, when Jesus of Nazareth, David's Lord and
+David's King, had for his reputed father a carpenter? and in all
+probability, as it was a common proverb among the Jews, that 'he
+who did not teach his son a trade, taught him to be a thief,' he
+worked at the trade of a carpenter himself. For this, indeed, he was
+reproached and maligned: 'Is not this,' said they, 'the carpenter's
+son?' Nay, 'Is not this the carpenter?' But who were these
+maligners? The greatest enemies to the power of godliness which
+the world ever saw, the scribes and Pharisees, that 'generation of
+vipers,' as John the Baptist calls them, who, upon every occasion,
+were spitting out their venom, and shooting their arrows, even
+bitter words, against that Son of man, even that Son of God who,
+to display his sovereignty, and confound the wisdom of the worldly
+wise, chose poor fishermen to be his apostles; and whose chief of
+the apostles, though brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, both before
+and after his call to the apostleship, labored with his own hands,
+and worked at the trade of a tent-maker."
+
+It is pleasant to know that the young men thus expelled became
+useful in the church of Christ. One of them, indeed, Erasmus
+Middleton, who had been sustained at Oxford by Mr. Fuller, a
+dissenter and banker in London, was ordained in Ireland by the
+bishop of Down, and having married a lady of the ducal family of
+Gordon, in Scotland, was curate successively to the Rev. Messrs.
+Romaine and Cadogan in London, and finally rector of Turvey, in
+Bedfordshire, where he was the immediate predecessor of the sainted
+Legh Richmond.
+
+Many delightful evidences yet exist that as Whitefield drew nearer
+the end of his career on earth, his holy zeal increased, rather
+than lessened. We have lying before us three of his letters, not
+included either in the collection of his printed correspondence, or
+in the lives which have been published. The first was addressed to a
+gentleman at Wisbeach, and appears to have been written from London.
+It is dated Sept. 25, 1766.
+
+"DEAR SIR--As your letter breathes the spirit of a sincere
+follower of the Lamb of God, I am sorry that it hath lain by
+so long unanswered; but bodily weakness, and a multiplicity of
+correspondents, both from abroad and at home, must be pleaded
+as excuses. 'Blessed be God, our salvation is nearer than when
+we believed.' It should seem that you have now served three
+apprenticeships in Christ's school, and yet I suppose the language
+of your heart is, 'I love my Master, and will not go from him;' and
+Oh, what a mercy, that whom Jesus loves, he loves to the end! Do you
+not begin to long to see him more than ever? Do you not groan in
+this tabernacle, being burdened? Courage, courage; he that cometh
+will come, and will not tarry. Oh that patience may have its perfect
+work! Many in this metropolis seem to be on the wing for God; the
+shout of a king is yet heard in the Methodist camp. Had I wings, I
+would gladly fly from pole to pole; but they are clipped by thirty
+years' feeble labors. Twice or thrice a week I am permitted to
+ascend my gospel throne. The love of Christ, I am persuaded, will
+constrain you to pray that the last glimmering of an expiring taper
+may be blessed to the guiding of many wandering souls to the Lamb of
+God."
+
+The second letter was written from the same city, February 12, in
+the following year, and was addressed to Captain Scott, a military
+officer then "quartered at Leicester." This gentleman, in early
+life, had been much devoted to the gayeties of fashionable society;
+long after he had entered the army, he was converted to God, under
+the ministry of the Rev. W. Romaine; and a few weeks before Mr.
+Whitefield addressed to him this letter, he had begun to preach the
+grand message of reconciliation. He afterwards left the army, was
+ordained as a Congregational minister, and labored for many years in
+almost innumerable places in city and country, with abundant success.
+
+"What, not answer so modest a request, namely, to snatch a few
+moments to send dear Captain Scott a few lines? God forbid. I must
+again welcome him into the field of battle. I must again entreat
+him to keep his rank as captain, and not suffer any persuasions to
+influence him to descend to the low degree of a common soldier. If
+God will choose a red-coat preacher, who shall say unto him, 'What
+doest thou?'
+
+    "Prevent thy foes, nor wait their charge;
+     But call the lingering battle on;
+     But strongly grasp thy seven-fold targe,
+     And bear the world and Satan down.
+
+    "Strong in the Lord's almighty power,
+     And armed in panoply divine,
+     Firm mayest thou stand in danger's hour,
+     And prove the strength of Jesus thine.
+
+    "The helmet of salvation take,
+     The Lord the Spirit's conquering sword;
+     Speak from the word, in lightning speak;
+     Cry out, and thunder from the Lord.
+
+    "Through friends and foes pursue thy way,
+     Be mindful of a dying God;
+     Finish thy course, and win the day,
+     Though called to seal the truth with blood.
+
+"Gladly would I come, and in my poor way endeavor to strengthen your
+hands; but alas, I am fit for nothing, but, as an invalid, to be
+put into some garrison, and now and then put my hand to some old
+gun. Blessed be the Captain of our salvation for drafting out some
+young champions to reconnoitre and attack the enemy. You will beat
+the march in every letter, and bid the common soldiers not halt, but
+go forwards. Good Lady Huntingdon wishes you much prosperity. Pray
+write to her at Brighthelmstone, [now Brighton,] Sussex. She will
+most gladly answer you; and I assure you, her Ladyship's letters
+are always weighty. Hoping one day or another to see your face in
+the flesh, and more than hoping to see you crowned with glory in
+the kingdom of heaven, I must hasten to subscribe myself, my dear
+captain, yours in our all-glorious Captain-general,
+
+  "G. WHITEFIELD."
+
+The last letter we shall introduce in this connection was addressed
+by Whitefield to the Honorable and Rev. Walter Shirley, of Ireland,
+a near relative of the Countess of Huntingdon, who breathed, as a
+minister of Christ, much of the spirit of his great Master. It was
+dated, Bath, Dec. 8, 1767:
+
+"REV. AND VERY DEAR SIR--How glad was I to hear by the London
+Shunamite, [Mrs. Herritage,] that you and your lady were well;
+that God had given you a son; that you reflected on your preaching
+at Tottenham Court chapel with pleasure; that you had gotten a
+curate; and, to complete all, that you intended to visit England
+next spring. This news rejoiced me before I left town, and was most
+grateful to our good Lady Huntingdon, whom I have the honor of
+waiting upon at this time in Bath. She hath been sick, nigh unto
+death, but through mercy is now somewhat recovered, though as
+yet unable to write much. This her ladyship much regrets on your
+account; and therefore enjoins me to inform you, that your letter
+did not reach her hands till many weeks after the proper time; that
+ever since she has been visited with lingering sickness, but begs
+you will not linger in coming over to our Macedonia to help us. The
+thought of it seems to refresh her heaven-born soul. Blessed be God,
+her ladyship still takes the lead.
+
+"She is now doing honor to the remains of the Earl of Buchan, who
+sweetly slept in Jesus last week. All hath been awful, and more
+than awful. On Saturday evening, before the corpse was taken from
+Buchan house, a word of exhortation was given, and a hymn sung
+in the room where the corpse lay. The young Earl stood with his
+hands on the head of the coffin, the Countess Dowager of Buchan
+on his right hand, Lady Ann Agnes, and Lady Isabella Erskine on
+his left, and their brother the Hon. Thomas Erskine next to their
+mother, with Miss O----, Miss W----, Miss G----; on one side
+all the domestics, with a few friends on the other. The word of
+exhortation was received with great solemnity, and most wept under
+the parting prayer. At ten, the corpse was removed to good Lady
+Huntingdon's chapel, where it was deposited within a place railed in
+for that purpose, covered with black baize, and the usual funeral
+concomitants, except escutcheons.
+
+"On Sunday morning, all attended in mourning at early sacrament.
+They were seated by themselves, at the feet of the corpse, and with
+their head servants, received first, and a particular address was
+made to them. Immediately after receiving, these verses were sung
+for them:
+
+    "'Our lives, our blood, we here present,
+      If for thy truth they may be spent:
+      Fulfil thy glorious counsel, Lord;
+      Thy will be done, thy name adored.
+
+    "'Give them thy strength, O God of power,
+      Then let men rave or devils roar,
+      Thy faithful witnesses they'll be;
+      'Tis fixed, they can do all through thee!'
+
+"Then they received this blessing: 'The Lord bless you, and keep
+you; the Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you; the
+Lord cause his face to shine upon you, and give you peace;' and so
+returned to their places.
+
+"Sacrament ended, and a blessed sacrament it was, the noble mourners
+returned to the good Countess of Huntingdon's house, which was lent
+them for the day. At eleven, public worship began. The bereaved
+relatives sat in order within, and the domestics round the outside
+of the rail. The chapel was more than crowded. Near three hundred
+tickets, signed by the present earl, were given out to the nobility
+and gentry, to be admitted. All was hushed and solemn. Proper hymns
+were sung, and I preached on the words, 'Blessed are the dead that
+die in the Lord.' Attention sat on every countenance, and deep
+and almost universal impressions were made. The like scene, and
+if possible more solemn, was exhibited in the evening, and I was
+enabled to preach a second time, and a like power attended the word
+as in the morning. Ever since, there hath been public service and
+preaching twice a day. This is to be continued till Friday morning,
+then all is to be removed to Bristol, in order to be shipped off to
+Scotland. The inscription on the coffin runs thus: 'His life was
+honorable--his death blessed--he sought earnestly peace with God--he
+found it, with unspeakable joy, alone in the merits of Jesus Christ,
+witnessed by the Holy Spirit to his soul--he yet speaketh. Go and do
+likewise.'
+
+"I have often wished for you here. Congregations are very large,
+attentive, and deeply impressed. Great numbers of all ranks crowd
+to see and hear; and I trust many will also feel. Surely the death
+of this noble earl, thus improved, will prove the life of many.
+He behaved like the patriarch Jacob, when by faith, leaning upon
+his staff, he blessed his children. The earl added, 'Yea, and they
+shall be blessed.' He laid his hands on, and blessed his children,
+assuring them of his personal interest in Jesus. He had great
+foretastes of heaven. 'Had I strength of body,' cried he, 'I would
+not be ashamed, before men and angels, to tell what the Lord Jesus
+hath done for my soul. Come, Holy Ghost--come, Holy Ghost; happy,
+happy, happy!' and then sweetly slept in Jesus. All surviving
+relatives still feel the influence. They sit round the corpse,
+attended by their domestics and supporters, twice a day. Good Lady
+S---- gets fresh spirits. The present noble earl, I believe, hath
+got the blessing indeed, and seems, upon the best evidence, to
+determine to know nothing but Jesus Christ, and him crucified. He
+hath behaved in the most delicate manner to the Countess, and other
+noble survivors."
+
+The summer of 1768 brought to Whitefield a series of changes.
+For the last time he now visited Edinburgh, where he found his
+congregations as large, and his Christian friends as affectionate
+as ever. Soon after his return to London, Mrs. Whitefield was
+seized with inflammatory fever, and died, as we have already seen,
+on the 9th of August. His own health too was more than declining.
+He writes, "I have been in hopes of my own departure. Through hard
+writing, and frequent preaching, I have burst a vein. The flux is
+in a great measure stopped; but rest and quietness are strictly
+enjoined."
+
+"Rest and quietness!" With Whitefield such things were impossible as
+long as he could move or speak. His fire must burn till its whole
+material was expended; his heart overflowed, and he must labor till
+his body sank under exhaustion. No persecution could appall him, no
+sickness could long keep him from his beloved engagements. He would
+preach till he died, being fully assured that his "labor was not in
+vain in the Lord."
+
+Neither Whitefield nor any of his friends could ever be the
+advocates of an unlearned ministry. Many of the men engaged under
+his direction, and preaching in what was already called "Lady
+Huntingdon's connection," needed, as they well knew, a better
+education than they possessed. Hence her ladyship obtained a lease
+of an old structure, supposed to have been part of an ancient
+castle erected in the reign of Henry the Second. The date over the
+entrance, now almost effaced, is 1176. It was called Trevecca House,
+was situated in the parish of Talgarth, in South Wales, and was for
+some time the residence of Howel Harris. This building was opened
+as a college for religious and literary instruction, and the chapel
+dedicated to the preaching of the everlasting gospel, Aug. 24, 1768,
+the anniversary of the Bartholomew act, and of the birth of her
+ladyship. Mr. Whitefield preached from Exod. 24:24: "In all places
+where I record my name, I will come unto thee and bless thee;"
+and on the following Sabbath he addressed a congregation of some
+thousands, who assembled in the court before the college. His text
+on that occasion was, "Other foundation can no man lay than that is
+laid, which is Jesus Christ." When speaking of the dedication of the
+college, Mr. Whitefield says, "What we have seen and felt at the
+college is unspeakable."
+
+After her ladyship's death the institution was removed to Cheshunt,
+about thirteen miles north of London, where it still flourishes
+under the presidency of the Rev. Dr. W. H. Stowell.
+
+In the early part of 1769, Mr. Whitefield was for some weeks
+seriously ill, but towards the close of March, he was able to
+write, "Through infinite mercy I have been able to preach four
+days successively." During his illness he received many offers of
+assistance from his brethren in the ministry, but from none more
+cordially than from the Honorable and Rev. Mr. Shirley. Writing to
+him, April 1, Whitefield says:
+
+"How much am I obliged to you for your two kind letters, and more
+especially for the repeated offers of your ministerial assistance.
+They will be most gratefully accepted, and, I humbly hope, be
+remarkably succeeded by Him who hath promised to be with us always,
+even unto the end of the world. Blessed be His name, we have been
+favored with most delightful passover feasts. The shout of the
+King of kings is still heard in the midst of our Methodist camps;
+and the shout of, Grace, grace! resounds from many quarters. Our
+almighty Jesus knows how to build his temple in troublous times. His
+work prospers in the hands of the elect countess, who is gone to
+Bath, much recovered from her late indisposition. Worthy Lady Fanny
+Shirley proposes soon to follow, in order to reside there. Some more
+coronets, I hear, are likely to be laid at the Redeemer's feet. They
+glitter gloriously when set in and surrounded by a _crown of thorns_.
+
+    "'Subjects of the Lord, be bold;
+      esus will his kingdom hold;
+      Wheels encircling wheels must run,
+      Each in course to bring it on.'"
+
+That the friendship of Dr. Franklin towards Mr. Whitefield was
+sincere, cannot be doubted; there is, however, somewhat painful
+in the thought, that even in this connection Franklin could not
+conceal his scepticism. In 1769 both these eminent men were in
+London, and every one knows that the state of our country was very
+trying. Franklin thus wrote to Whitefield: "I am under continued
+apprehensions that we may have bad news from America. The sending
+soldiers to Boston always appeared to me a dangerous step; they
+could do no good, they might occasion mischief. When I consider
+the warm resentment of a people who think themselves injured and
+oppressed, and the common insolence of the soldiery, who are taught
+to consider that people as in rebellion, I cannot but fear the
+consequences of bringing them together. It seems like setting up
+a smith's forge in a magazine of gunpowder. I _see_ with you that
+our affairs are not well managed by our rulers here below; I wish I
+could _believe_ with you, that they are well attended to by those
+above: I rather suspect, from certain circumstances, that though
+the general government of the universe is well administered, our
+particular little affairs are perhaps below notice, and left to take
+the chance of human prudence or imprudence, as either may happen to
+be uppermost. It is, however, an uncomfortable thought, and I leave
+it."
+
+It would have been strange indeed if Whitefield had allowed a
+letter closing in this manner to pass without a remark; hence we
+are prepared to find that, in his own handwriting, at the foot
+of the autograph letter, he wrote, "_Uncomfortable_ indeed! and,
+blessed be God, _unscriptural_; for we are fully assured that 'the
+Lord reigneth,' and are directed to cast _all_ our own care on him,
+because he careth for us." Could Dr. Franklin have seen the splendid
+results of that management which he thought indicated the absence of
+a particular providence--could he have beheld the vast Republic, the
+abode of liberty, commerce, literature, and religion, which in less
+than a century has grown out of the insurgent colonies--he would
+surely have exclaimed, in the language of the prophet, "Verily there
+is a God in the earth!"
+
+In July, Whitefield was called by Lady Huntingdon to visit Tunbridge
+Wells, a popular watering place in Kent, some twenty or thirty miles
+from London, to dedicate a new and beautiful house to the service
+of God. The congregation was far too large to be accommodated within
+the walls; he therefore preached out of doors from a mount in the
+court before the house. His text was, "This is none other but the
+house of God, and this is the gate of heaven." Gen. 28:17. This
+sermon is said to have been one of his most eloquent and thrilling
+efforts; the lofty energy of his tones, the utter forgetfulness
+of himself in the all-absorbing interest of his subject, the very
+impersonation of the truths which he uttered as he stretched forth
+his hand, "Look yonder; what is that I see? It is my agonizing Lord!
+Hark, hark! do you not hear? O earth, earth, earth, hear the word
+of the Lord!" thrilled the vast congregation, riveting the eye,
+piercing the conscience, and holding strong men breathless before
+the resistless might of his inspired eloquence. After the service
+he delivered an exhortation, and on the next day again preached and
+administered the Lord's supper.
+
+He now began to prepare for his _seventh_, and as it proved, his
+_last_ voyage to America, especially to visit his beloved orphans
+and friends in Georgia. The only thing which seems to have grieved
+him, was the pain of parting for a time from his London friends.
+This was nothing new, but his feelings were even less reconciled to
+the event than formerly. "Oh," he says, "these partings! without
+a divine support they would be intolerable. Talk not of taking
+_personal_ leave; you know my _make_. Paul could stand a whipping,
+but not a weeping farewell."
+
+The text of his last sermon was John 10:27, 28: "My sheep hear my
+voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them
+eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man
+pluck them out of my hand." The sermon was printed, and that very
+incorrectly; but a few sentences will show that it was strikingly
+characteristic: "These words, it will be recollected, were uttered
+by Christ at the feast of dedication. This festival was of bare
+human invention, and yet I do not find that our Lord preached
+against it. And I believe that when we see things as we ought, we
+shall not entertain our auditories about rites and ceremonies,
+but about the grand thing. It is the glory of Methodists, that
+while they have been preaching forty years, there has not been,
+that I know of, one single pamphlet published by them about the
+non-essentials of religion.... The Lord divides the world into
+sheep and goats. O sinners, you are come to hear a poor creature
+take his last farewell; but I want you to forget the creature and
+his preaching. I want to lead you further than the Tabernacle--even
+to mount Calvary, to see with what expense of blood Jesus Christ
+purchased 'his own.' Now, before I go any further, will you be so
+good, before the world gets into your hearts, to inquire whether
+you belong to Christ or not. Surely the world did not get into
+your hearts before you rose from your beds. Many of you were up
+sooner than usual. [The sermon was preached at seven o'clock in the
+morning.] I hope the world does not get into your hearts before
+nine. Man, woman, sinner, put thy hand upon thy heart, and say,
+Didst thou ever hear Christ's voice so as to follow him?... I once
+heard Dr. Marryatt, who was not ashamed of 'market language,' say
+at Pinner's Hall, 'God has a great dog to fetch his sheep back
+when they wander.' He sends the devil after them, to bark at them;
+but instead of barking them further off, he barks them back to the
+fold.... 'None shall pluck them out of my hand.' This implies that
+there is always somebody plucking at Christ's sheep. The lust of the
+flesh is plucking; the pride of life is plucking; and the devil is
+continually plucking at them; 'but nothing shall pluck them out of
+my hand;' I have bought them, and am gone to heaven to 'prepare a
+place for them.'"
+
+Of this sermon, as taken in shorthand and printed, Whitefield
+received a copy while at Deal, and was much dissatisfied with it. He
+says, "This morning I received a surreptitious copy of my Tabernacle
+farewell sermon, taken, as the shorthand writer professes,
+verbatim as I spoke it. But surely he is mistaken. The whole is so
+injudiciously paragraphed, and so wretchedly unconnected, that I
+owe no thanks to the misguided, though it may be well-meant zeal of
+the writer and publisher, be they who they will." Had Whitefield
+known that the lad of seventeen who had thus taken down his sermon,
+would hereafter become a devoted and useful minister of Christ, the
+secretary of the London Missionary Society, the originator of the
+London Religious Tract Society, and for many years the editor of the
+London Evangelical Magazine, and the author of "Village Sermons,"
+which have circulated by hundreds of thousands of volumes in both
+hemispheres, how would his heart have warmed towards him. Let us
+copy from the journal of George Burder, as given in his life by his
+son, the Rev. Dr. H. F. Burder, a short passage:
+
+"August, 1769. About this time I heard Mr. Whitefield preach
+several sermons, particularly his two last in London; that at
+Tottenham Court chapel on Sabbath morning, and that at the
+Tabernacle on Wednesday morning at seven o'clock. I remember a
+thought which passed my mind, I think, as I was going to hear his
+last sermon--'Which would I rather be, Garrick or Whitefield?' I
+thought each, in point of oratory, admirable in his way. I doubt not
+conscience told me which was best. I wrote Mr. Whitefield's sermons
+in shorthand, though standing in a crowd. The latter I copied out,
+and by the request of a friend it was printed in about a week. I
+remember sitting up part of a night to write it out, and at the same
+time I observed the comet which then appeared. The sermon was very
+incorrect, and Mr. Whitefield being detained at Deal before he left
+England, saw it, and complained of it."
+
+Before we entirely separate from the Tabernacle, we wish to record
+some other interesting facts associated with it, especially relating
+to Thomas Wilson, Esq., for many years the treasurer of Hoxton,
+afterwards Highbury, college, who gave the ground on which the
+latter building stands, devoted his fortune to the extension of the
+cause of Christ, and in addition to many other noble acts, erected
+five large houses of worship in the British metropolis, capable of
+seating eight thousand persons. The father of this gentleman was for
+many years a devoted deacon of a Congregational church, but entered
+into full sympathy with the labors of Whitefield, attending the
+Tabernacle on Lord's-day evenings. "To this circumstance, perhaps,
+may be traced much of his own zeal for the glory of God, and no
+inconsiderable portion of that public spirit which afterwards
+distinguished his son Thomas, who well remembered being carried
+in his nurse's arms, in company with his parents, to the scene of
+Whitefield's ministry, and listening with such interest as one so
+young was likely to feel, to a preacher of surpassing eloquence
+and power." The Rev. Dr. Morison, one of his biographers, adds:
+"Thus did he imbibe in early life a strong prepossession for
+animated public address, which he never lost in after-years, and
+which he never failed to urge upon all youthful candidates for the
+sacred office. As might have been expected, the Tabernacle became
+his Sabbath home, where he was wont to listen to men of fervent
+eloquence, and of purely evangelical sentiment. He entered, while
+very young, into communion with the church in that place, and
+afforded a pleasing example of early and consistent dedication to
+the service of Christ."
+
+Having finished the service of the Tabernacle which we just now
+described, Whitefield went immediately to Gravesend, twenty miles
+from London, to set sail, embarking in the Friendship, Captain
+Ball, for Charleston. His companions on the voyage were Messrs.
+Winter and Smith, both of them young ministers of lively zeal; and
+the former especially, was distinguished in after-life by great
+success in his labors for Christ and his church. Whitefield wrote,
+"I am comfortable on every side--a civil captain and passengers;
+all willing to attend on divine worship, and to hear of religious
+things."
+
+But delay was the lot of our evangelist and his friends. They
+arrived in the Downs, and had to stay there about a month waiting
+for a fair wind. While here, he was delighted with a most unexpected
+visit from Dr. Gibbons of London, and the Rev. Mr. Bradbury of
+Ramsgate, who had met at Deal to ordain a young minister. He says,
+"Wednesday, Sept. 13, I went on shore, and attended an ordination
+solemnity at the dissenting meeting. Several ministers officiated.
+Several important questions were asked and answered before, and
+a solemn charge given after imposition of hands. But the prayer
+put up in the very act of laying on of hands, by Dr. Gibbons, was
+so affecting, and the looks and behavior of those that joined so
+serious and solemn, that I hardly know when I was more struck under
+any one's ministration. The ordination being over, at the desire
+of the ministers and other gentlemen, I went and dined with them:
+our conversation was edifying; and being informed that many were
+desirous to hear me preach, I willingly complied; and I trust some
+seed was sown the same evening at Deal, which, by God's heavenly
+blessing, will spring up to life eternal. The people of Deal seemed
+very civil, and some came to me who had not forgotten my preaching
+to them, and their deceased friends and parents, thirty-two years
+ago."
+
+Whitefield tells a somewhat amusing anecdote of Dr. Gibbons, on one
+of his visits on board. The worthy doctor was unused to the sea,
+and became sea-sick, so that he was obliged to lie down for some
+time in the state-cabin. "There," says our evangelist, "he learned
+more experimentally to pray for those who do business in the great
+waters." While yet in the Downs, Whitefield preached not only on
+board, but at Ramsgate and elsewhere. On September 25, in company
+with many other ships, they sailed, but soon were again compelled
+to cast anchor over against New Romney and Dungenness. At length,
+however, they cleared the channel, and after a long and dangerous
+voyage arrived safe at Charleston, S. C. Happily, Whitefield's
+health had become greatly renovated, so that he felt better than
+after any voyage he had made for many years. In his memorandum he
+wrote:
+
+"November, 1769. For the last week we were beating about our port,
+within sight of it, and continued for two days in Five-fathom hole,
+just over the bar. A dangerous situation, as the wind blew hard, and
+our ship, like a young Christian, for want of more ballast, would
+not obey the helm. But through infinite mercy, on November 30, a
+pilot-boat came and took us safe ashore to Charleston, having been
+on board almost thirteen weeks. Friends received me most cordially.
+Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his mercies. Oh, to
+begin to be a Christian and minister of Jesus!" On the very day of
+his landing, Whitefield preached at Charleston, and learned from his
+friend Mr. Wright that all was well at Bethesda.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+SEVENTH VISIT AND LABORS IN AMERICA--DEATH.
+
+1769, 1770.
+
+
+Whitefield now lost no time in proceeding to his beloved Bethesda,
+which at present wore a very inviting aspect. Writing, January 11,
+1770, he says, "Every thing exceeds my most sanguine expectations.
+I am almost tempted to say, 'It is good for me to be here;' but all
+must give way to gospel ranging--divine employ!
+
+    "'For this, let men revile my name,
+      I'll shun no cross, I'll fear no shame;
+      All hail, reproach!'"
+
+In another letter he says, "The increase of this colony is almost
+incredible. Two wings are added to the orphan-house, for the
+accommodation of students; of which Governor Wright laid the
+foundation, March 25, 1769."
+
+An official paper of the Georgia legislature will show the esteem in
+which Whitefield was held by that body.
+
+"Commons House of Assembly, Monday, Jan. 29, 1770. Mr. Speaker
+reported, that he, with the house, having waited on the Rev. Mr.
+Whitefield, in consequence of his invitation, at the orphan-house
+academy, heard him preach a very suitable and pious sermon on the
+occasion; and with great pleasure observed the promising appearance
+of improvement towards the good purposes intended, and the decency
+and propriety of behavior of the several residents there; and
+were sensibly affected, when they saw the happy success which has
+attended Whitefield's indefatigable zeal for promoting the welfare
+of the province in general, and the orphan-house in particular.
+Ordered, that this report be printed in the Gazette.
+
+  "JOHN SIMPSON, Clerk."
+
+In pursuance of this vote, we find in the Georgia Gazette as
+follows: "Savannah, January 31, 1770. Last Sunday, his Excellency
+the Governor, Council, and Assembly, having been invited by the
+Rev. Mr. Whitefield, attended divine service in the chapel of the
+orphan-house academy, where prayers were read by the Rev. Mr.
+Ellington, and a very suitable sermon was preached by the Rev. Mr.
+Whitefield, from Zechariah 4:10, 'For who hath despised the day
+of small things?' to the great satisfaction of the auditory; in
+which he took occasion to mention the many discouragements he met
+with, well known to many there, in carrying on the institution for
+upwards of thirty years past, and the present promising prospect of
+its future and more extensive usefulness. After divine service, the
+company were very politely entertained with a handsome and plentiful
+dinner; and were greatly pleased to see the useful improvements
+made in the house, the two additional wings of apartments for
+students, one hundred and fifty feet each in length, and other
+lesser buildings, in so much forwardness; and the whole executed
+with taste, and in so masterly a manner; and being sensible of
+the truly generous and disinterested benefactions derived to the
+province through his means, they expressed their gratitude in the
+most respectful terms."
+
+On February 10, we find a letter written at Charleston by Whitefield
+to his friend Mr. Robert Keen of London:
+
+"Through infinite mercy, this leaves me enjoying a greater share of
+bodily health than I have known for many years. I am now enabled
+to preach almost every day, and my poor feeble labors seem not to
+be in vain in the Lord. Blessed be God, all things are in great
+forwardness at Bethesda. I have conversed with the governor in the
+most explicit manner, more than once, concerning an act of Assembly
+for the establishment of the intended orphan-house college. He most
+readily consents. I have shown him a draft, which he much approves
+of, and all will be finished at my return from the northward; in the
+meanwhile the building will be carried on. As two ministers from New
+Jersey and Rhode Island have been soliciting benefactions for their
+respective colleges, no application of that nature can be made here;
+but the Lord will provide.... Since my being in Charleston, I have
+shown the draft to some persons of great eminence and influence.
+They highly approve of it, and willingly consent to be some of the
+wardens. Nearly twenty are to be of Georgia, and about six of this
+place; one of Philadelphia, one of New York, one of Boston, three of
+Edinburgh, two of Glasgow, and six of London. Those of Georgia and
+South Carolina are to be qualified; the others to be only honorary
+corresponding wardens."
+
+Two days afterwards he again writes to the same friend, "In a few
+months, I hope all will be completed. But what may these few months
+produce? Lord Jesus, prepare us for whatsoever thou hast prepared
+for us, and give peace in our time, for thine infinite mercy's sake.
+You must expect another draft soon. God be praised for that saying,
+'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' You would be pleased
+to see with what attention the people hear the word preached. I have
+been in Charleston near a fortnight--am to preach at a neighboring
+country parish church next Sunday, and hope to see Georgia the week
+following. Perhaps I may sail from thence to the northward, and
+perhaps embark from thence. Lord Jesus, direct my goings in thy way.
+I am blessed with bodily health, and am enabled to go on my way
+rejoicing. Grace, grace!"
+
+On returning to Bethesda, his heart seems to have been full of the
+orphan-house and the college. For the direction of the latter, he
+prepared a series of rules, and especially provided for the reading
+of the old Puritan and Non-conformist writers of the seventeenth and
+eighteenth centuries. Every letter he wrote contained references
+to the improved state of his health, and the increased number of
+preaching engagements which he was now able to fulfil. His spirits
+seem to have been better, and his exultations in the divine kindness
+more ardent than ever, while his correspondence indicates much
+heavenly-mindedness, and lively desires for the highest happiness of
+his friends.
+
+As Whitefield had now been in the south more than five months, we
+are not surprised to find that applications poured in from every
+part of the north, entreating him to revisit the scenes of other
+years. He left Bethesda and its affairs in the hands of persons
+worthy of his confidence, of whom he said, "Such a set of helpers I
+never met with."
+
+After some hesitation as to where he should first go, he set out
+for Philadelphia, where he arrived on the 6th of May. Writing three
+days afterwards, he says, "The evening following, I was enabled to
+preach to a large auditory, and have to repeat the delightful task
+this evening. Pulpits, hearts, and affections, seem to be as open
+and enlarged to me as ever." On the 24th he again wrote, "A wide
+and effectual door, I trust, has been opened in this city. People
+of all ranks flock as much as ever. Impressions are made on many,
+and I trust they will abide. To all the Episcopal churches, as
+well as most of the other places of worship, I have free access.
+Notwithstanding I preach twice on the Lord's day, and three or four
+times a week besides, yet I am rather better than I have been for
+many years. This is the Lord's doing." On June 14, he says, "This
+leaves me just returned from a one hundred and fifty miles' circuit,
+in which, blessed be God, I have been enabled to preach every day.
+So many new as well as old doors are open, and so many invitations
+sent from various quarters, that I know not which way to turn
+myself."
+
+Of his last visit to New Jersey, Bishop White of Philadelphia, then
+a young man of twenty-three, says, "When he was on his way from
+Philadelphia to Boston, late in the summer, he had been prevailed on
+to promise to cross from Bristol to Burlington, and to preach there.
+I happened to be in the latter place, and staying in the house of a
+relative, when it was announced that Mr. Whitefield was at a tavern
+on the other side of the river. He was expected to be escorted by
+my relative. I went with him; and we returned in a boat with Mr.
+Whitefield and his company. He preached to the assembled citizens in
+front of the court-house, and afterwards dined at the house of my
+relative. During dinner, he was almost the only speaker, as was said
+to be common; all present being disposed to listen."
+
+A few days after this visit, we find him at New York, writing, June
+30, "I have been here just a week. Have been enabled to preach
+four times; and am to repeat the delightful task this evening.
+Congregations are larger than ever. Blessed be God, I have been
+strengthened to itinerate and preach daily for some time. Next
+week I purpose to go to Albany; from thence, perhaps to the Oneida
+Indians. There is to be a very large Indian congress; Mr. Kirkland
+accompanies me. He is a truly Christian minister and missionary.
+Every thing possible should be done to strengthen his hands and his
+heart. Perhaps I may not see Georgia till Christmas. As yet, I keep
+to my intended plan, in respect to my returning. Lord Jesus, direct
+my goings in thy way. The heat begins now to be a little intense;
+but through mercy I am enabled to bear up bravely. What a God do we
+serve!"
+
+On the twenty-ninth of July, he again writes from the same city, and
+it is the _last entry_ in his memorandum: "Since my last, and during
+this month, I have been above a five hundred miles' circuit; and
+have been enabled to preach and travel through the heat every day.
+The congregations have been very large, attentive, and affected;
+particularly at Albany, Schenectady, Great Barrington, Norfolk,
+Salisbury, Sharon, Smithfield, Poughkeepsie, Fishkill, New Rumbart,
+New Windsor, and Peck's Hill. Last night I returned hither, and
+hope to set out for Boston in two or three days. O what a new scene
+of usefulness is opening in various parts of this world! All fresh
+work where I have been. The divine influence has been as at first.
+Invitations crowd upon me both from ministers and people, from many,
+many quarters. A very peculiar providence led me very lately to a
+place where a horse-stealer was executed. Thousands attended. The
+poor criminal had sent me several letters, hearing I was in the
+country. The sheriff allowed him to come and hear a sermon under
+an adjacent tree. Solemn, solemn! After being by himself about an
+hour, I walked half a mile with him to the gallows. His heart had
+been softened before my first visit. He seemed full of solid, divine
+consolation. An instructive walk! I went up with him into the cart.
+He gave a short exhortation. I then stood upon the coffin--added,
+I trust, a word in season--prayed--gave the blessing, and took
+my leave. Effectual good, I hope, was done to the hearers and
+spectators. Grace, grace!"
+
+Our local histories seem to delight to honor Whitefield by the
+introduction of his name whenever they have an opportunity.
+In a notice of Sharon, in "Barber's Historical Collections of
+Connecticut," the writer says, "In the latter part of July, 1770,
+the Rev. George Whitefield passed through this town on a preaching
+tour. There was considerable opposition to his being admitted into
+the meeting-house, and arrangements had been made to hold the
+service in an orchard still standing near the meeting-house, in case
+he should be refused. Mr. Smith, [the Rev. Cotton Mather Smith, a
+descendant of Cotton Mather,] invited him into the pulpit, though
+strongly opposed by a considerable number of influential men. An
+immense congregation from this and the neighboring towns filled the
+meeting-house to overflowing. His text was, 'Marvel not that I said
+unto you, Ye must be born again.' He proceeded to discourse on the
+doctrine of the new birth with astonishing power and eloquence,
+and the congregation were much moved by the power of the truth
+and Spirit of God. The concluding words of his discourse were a
+quotation, with a little variation, from the close of the fourth
+chapter of Solomon's Song. 'Awake, O north wind, and come, thou
+south; blow upon _this_ garden, that the spices thereof may flow
+out. Let my Beloved come into _this_ garden, and eat his pleasant
+fruits.' Many of the inhabitants of Sharon followed him for several
+successive days, to hear the word of life from this devoted minister
+of the cross."
+
+We think it must have been in this journey that Whitefield's
+ministry was blessed to the conversion of a young man who has left
+his mark on the age. Benjamin Randall was born in New Castle,
+New Hampshire, in 1749. In his twenty-second year he was brought
+under the ministry of Whitefield, by which means he became deeply
+convinced of sin, and was soon after converted to God. In 1776,
+he united with a Calvinistic Baptist church; but before long
+began to preach what he accounted more correct doctrines in his
+native town, and was honored of God to effect a very powerful and
+extensive revival. He is considered the founder of the denomination
+of Freewill Baptists, which now comprises from eleven to twelve
+hundred churches, more than a thousand pastors and licentiates, and
+upwards of fifty thousand communicants. Mr. Randall was a man of
+strong mental powers, and though he had not a classical education,
+he was a good English scholar, aspired after general and religious
+knowledge, had fine discriminating talent, and was remarkable for
+the perseverance with which he pursued whatever he undertook. Above
+all, like his spiritual father, he possessed what a living preacher
+has well called, "a passion for souls."
+
+From New York Whitefield proceeded to Boston, and short extracts
+from two of his letters, and those _the last_ he wrote, will show
+his position and his feelings:
+
+September 17, he says to Mr. Wright, at Bethesda, "Fain would
+I come by Captain Souder, from Philadelphia; but people are so
+importunate for my stay in these parts, that I fear it will be
+impracticable. 'My God will supply all my need according to the
+riches of his grace in Christ Jesus.' Two or three evenings ago, I
+was taken in the night with a violent flux, attended with retching
+and shivering, so that I was obliged to return from Newbury; but
+through infinite mercy I am restored, and to-morrow morning hope
+to begin again. Never was the word received with greater eagerness
+than now. All opposition seems, as it were, for a while to cease. I
+find God's time is the best. The season is critical as to outward
+circumstances; but when forts are given up, the Lord Jesus can
+appoint salvation for walls and for bulwarks; he has promised to be
+a wall of fire round about his people. This comforts me concerning
+Bethesda, though we should have a Spanish war. You will be pleased
+to hear, I never was carried through the summer's heat so well."
+
+And finally, to his dear friend Mr. Keen of London, he wrote from
+Portsmouth, New Hampshire, September 23, just one week before his
+death, "By this time I thought to be moving southward. But never
+was greater importunity used to detain me longer in these northern
+parts. Poor New England is much to be pitied; Boston people most of
+all. How grossly misrepresented! What a mercy that our Christian
+charter cannot be dissolved! Blessed be God for an unchangeable
+Jesus! You will see, by the many invitations, what a door is opened
+for preaching the everlasting gospel. I was so ill on Friday that I
+could not preach, though thousands were waiting to hear. Well, the
+day of release will shortly come, but it does not seem yet; for by
+riding sixty miles I am better, and hope to preach here to-morrow.
+I trust my blessed Master will accept these poor efforts to serve
+him. O for a warm heart! O to stand fast in the faith, to acquit
+ourselves like men, and be strong! May this be the happy experience
+of you and yours. I suppose your letters are gone for me in the
+Anderson to Georgia. If spared so long, I expect to see them about
+Christmas. Still pray and praise. I am so poorly, and so engaged
+when able to preach, that this must apologize for not writing to
+more friends: it is quite impracticable."
+
+Whitefield's hope to "preach here to-morrow" was fully realized. In
+the "Pennsylvania Journal and Weekly Advertiser," we find a letter
+from Portsmouth, dated Sept. 28, 1770, which says, "Last Sunday
+morning came to town from Boston, the Rev. George Whitefield, and
+in the afternoon he preached at the Rev. Dr. Haven's meeting-house;
+Monday morning he preached again at the same place, to a very large
+and crowded audience. Tuesday morning a most numerous assembly met
+at the Rev. Dr. Langdon's meeting-house, which it is said will hold
+nearly six thousand people, and was well filled, even the aisles.
+Evening he preached at the Rev. Mr. John Rodgers' meeting-house in
+Kittery, and yesterday at the Rev. Mr. Lyman's in York, to which
+place a number of ladies and gentlemen from town accompanied him.
+This morning [Friday] he will preach at the Rev. Dr. Langdon's
+meeting-house in this town."
+
+We are now approaching the closing scene, and are invited to hear
+Whitefield's last sermon. On his way to Newburyport, where he had
+engaged to preach on Sunday morning, September 30, he was entreated
+to preach at Exeter. This had been the scene of some of his former
+triumphs. He was once preaching here, when a man was present who had
+loaded his pocket with stones to throw at the preacher. He heard
+his prayer with patience, but as soon as he had read his text, the
+man took a stone out of his pocket and held it in his hand, waiting
+for an opportunity to throw it. But God sent a word to his heart,
+and the stone dropped from his hand. After the sermon, the poor
+fellow went to Mr. Whitefield, and said, "Sir, I came here to-day
+with the intention of breaking your head, but God has given me a
+broken heart." This man was converted to God, and lived an ornament
+to the gospel.
+
+As though it had been felt by the public that this might be our
+preacher's last sermon, inconvenient as Saturday noon must be for
+the assembling of a congregation for worship, such a multitude was
+collected that no house could contain them, and Whitefield, for
+nearly two hours, discoursed to an attentive crowd in the open air.
+Of this last sermon at Exeter, a gentleman who was present has given
+a deeply interesting and affecting account. The relator was then in
+his eighty-sixth year, but he retained a strong remembrance of the
+most trivial incidents connected with that extraordinary man. He
+says:
+
+"It was usual for Mr. Whitefield to be attended by Mr. Smith,
+who preached when he was unable on account of sudden attacks of
+asthma. At the time referred to, after Mr. Smith had delivered a
+short discourse, Mr. Whitefield seemed desirous of speaking; but
+from the weak state in which he then was, it was thought almost
+impossible. He rose from the seat in the pulpit, and stood erect,
+and his appearance alone was a powerful sermon. The thinness of his
+visage, the paleness of his countenance, the evident struggling of
+the heavenly spark in a decayed body for utterance, were all deeply
+interesting; the spirit was willing, but the flesh was dying. In
+this situation he remained several minutes, unable to speak; he
+then said, 'I will wait for the gracious assistance of God, for
+he will, I am certain, assist me once more to speak in his name.'
+He then delivered perhaps one of his best sermons, for the light
+generally burns most splendidly when about to expire. The subject
+was a contrast of the present with the future; a part of this sermon
+I read to a popular and learned clergyman in New York, who could
+not refrain from weeping when I repeated the following: 'I go, I go
+to rest prepared; my sun has arisen, and by aid from heaven, given
+light to many; 't is now about to set for--no, it cannot be! 't is
+to rise to the zenith of immortal glory; I have outlived many on
+earth, but they cannot outlive me in heaven. Many shall live when
+this body is no more, but then--Oh, thought divine!--I shall be in a
+world where time, age, pain, and sorrow are unknown. My body fails,
+my spirit expands; how willingly would I live for ever to preach
+Christ! but I die to be with him. How brief, comparatively brief,
+has been my life, compared with the vast labors I see before me yet
+to be accomplished; but if I leave now, while so few care about
+heavenly things, the God of peace will surely visit you.' These,
+and many other things he said, which, though simple, were rendered
+important by circumstances; for death had let fly his arrow, and
+the shaft was deeply enfixed when utterance was given to them: his
+countenance, his tremulous voice, his debilitated frame, all gave
+convincing evidence that the eye which saw him should shortly see
+him no more for ever. When I visited the place where he is entombed,
+Newburyport, I could not help saying, 'The memory of the just is
+blessed,' Few are there like George Whitefield; however zealous,
+they do not possess the masterly power, and those who do, too often
+turn it to a purpose that does not glorify God."
+
+We have already spoken of the Rev. Daniel Rodgers, a descendant of
+the martyr of that name, and pastor of the second congregational
+church at Exeter. It was this old friend of Whitefield who had
+importuned him to preach at Exeter. The "_Almanack Journal_" of
+this excellent man contains the following items of the activity of
+our "eloquent orator" in his closing days: "September 10, 1770,
+dear Mr. Whitefield preached here, A. M., ten o'clock. 11th, Mr.
+Whitefield preached again in Mr. Parsons' meeting-house. 12th, I
+rode over to Rowley, Mr. Whitefield preached there. 14th, a storm
+of rain. 15th, the rain continues. Mr. Whitefield went to Boston,
+not well. 25th, I heard dear Mr. Whitefield preach. 26th, he went to
+Kittery, and preached for brother John; P. M. I rode to York. 27th,
+Mr. Whitefield preached at York; P. M. we returned to Portsmouth.
+28th, Mr. Whitefield preached his farewell sermon; I returned home.
+29th, dear Mr. Whitefield preached for me the last sermon he ever
+preached."
+
+Mr. Smith's account of the closing scene will not be considered too
+minute in its details. "Before he commenced his journey of fifteen
+miles from Portsmouth to Exeter, Mr. Clarkson, senior, observing
+him more uneasy than usual, said to him, 'Sir, you are more fit to
+go to bed than to preach.' Whitefield's reply was, 'True, sir;' but
+turning aside, he clasped his hands together, and looking up, said,
+'Lord Jesus, I am weary _in_ thy work, but not _of_ thy work. If I
+have not yet finished my course, let me go and speak for thee once
+more in the fields, seal thy truth, and come home and die.' His last
+sermon was from 2 Cor. 13:5, 'Examine yourselves, whether ye be in
+the faith. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in
+you, except ye be reprobates?' He dined at Captain Gillman's. After
+dinner, Mr. Whitefield and Mr. Parsons rode to Newbury. I did not
+get there till two hours after them. I found them at supper. I asked
+Mr. Whitefield how he felt after his journey. He said he was tired,
+therefore he supped early, and went to bed. He ate a very little
+supper, talked but little, asked Mr. Parsons to discharge the table,
+and perform family duty, and then retired up stairs."
+
+The Rev. Dr. Hallock tells us, that, in 1822, he visited Newburyport
+and the tomb of Whitefield. He was then told by persons whom he
+considered reliable, that when Whitefield was retiring to his
+chamber on this last evening of his life, many were so desirous to
+see and hear him, that he stood on the stairs with a lamp in his
+hand, and there gave them a tender spiritual address.
+
+We resume Mr. Smith's account: "He said he would sit and read till I
+came to him, which I did as soon as possible; and found him reading
+the Bible, with Dr. Watts' Psalms lying open before him. He asked
+me for some water-gruel, and took about half his usual quantity; and
+kneeling down by his bedside, closed the evening with prayer. After
+a little conversation, he went to rest, and slept till two in the
+morning, when he awoke, and asked for a little cider; he drank about
+a wine-glass full. I asked him how he felt, for he seemed to pant
+for breath. He said to me, 'My asthma is coming on again; I must
+have two or three days' rest. Two or three days' riding, without
+preaching, would set me up again.' Soon afterwards, he asked me to
+put the window up a little higher, though it was half up all night.
+'For,' said he, 'I cannot breathe; but I hope I shall be better by
+and by: a good pulpit sweat to-day may give me relief; I shall be
+better after preaching.' I said to him, 'I wish you would not preach
+so often.' He replied, 'I had rather wear out than rust out.' I then
+told him, I was afraid he took cold in preaching yesterday. He said
+he believed he had; and then sat up in bed, and prayed that God
+would be pleased to bless his preaching where he had been, and also
+bless his preaching that day, that more souls might be brought to
+Christ. He prayed for direction whether he should winter in Boston,
+or hasten to the southward; and he prayed for a blessing on his
+Bethesda college, and his dear family there, for the Tabernacle and
+Chapel congregations, and all connections on the other side of the
+water; and then he laid himself down to sleep again.
+
+"This was near three o'clock. At a quarter past four he awoke,
+and said, 'My asthma, my asthma is coming on; I wish I had not
+given out word to preach at Haverhill on Monday; I don't think I
+shall be able; but I shall see what to-day will bring forth. If I
+am no better to-morrow, I will take two or three days' ride!' He
+then desired me to warm him a little gruel; and in breaking the
+fire-wood, I waked Mr. Parsons, who thinking I knocked for him, rose
+and came in. He went to Mr. Whitefield's bedside, and asked him
+how he felt. He answered, 'I am almost suffocated. I can scarcely
+breathe, my asthma quite chokes me.' I was then not a little
+surprised to hear how quickly, and with what difficulty he drew his
+breath. He got out of bed, and went to the open window for air. This
+was exactly at five o'clock. I went to him, and for about the space
+of five minutes saw no danger, only that he had a great difficulty
+in breathing, as I had often seen before. Soon afterwards, he turned
+himself to me, and said, '_I am dying_.' I said, 'I hope not, sir.'
+He ran to the other window, panting for breath, but could get no
+relief. It was agreed that I should go for Dr. Sawyer; and on my
+coming back, I saw death on his face; and he again said, '_I am
+dying_.' His eyes were fixed, his underlip drawing inward every time
+he drew breath. I persuaded him to sit down in the chair, and have
+his cloak on; he consented by a sign, but could not speak. I then
+offered him a glass of warm wine; he took half of it, but it seemed
+as if it would have stopped his breath entirely. He went towards
+the window, and we offered him some warm wine, with lavender drops,
+which he refused.
+
+"In a little time he brought up a considerable quantity of phlegm.
+I then began to have some small hopes. Mr. Parsons said he thought
+Mr. Whitefield breathed more freely than he did, and would recover.
+I said, 'No, sir, he is certainly dying.' I was continually employed
+in taking the phlegm out of his mouth with a handkerchief, and
+bathing his temples with drops, rubbing his wrists, etc., to give
+him relief, if possible, but all in vain; his hands and feet were
+as cold as clay. When the doctor came in, and saw him in the chair
+leaning upon my breast, he felt his pulse, and said, 'He is a dead
+man.' Mr. Parsons said, 'I do not believe it; you must do something,
+doctor.' He said, 'I cannot; he is now near his last breath.' And
+so indeed it was; for he fetched but one gasp, and stretched out
+his feet, and breathed no more. This was exactly at six o'clock. We
+continued rubbing his legs, hands, and feet, with warm cloths, and
+bathed him with spirits for some time, but all in vain. I then put
+him into a warm bed, the doctor standing by, and often raised him
+upright, continued rubbing him and putting spirits to his nose for
+an hour, till all hopes were gone. The people came in crowds to see
+him."
+
+Whitefield seems to have had somewhat of a presentiment that
+his death would be unattended with any remarkable expression of
+spiritual enjoyment. In his last preceding visit to this country,
+he had spent a day or two under the roof of the Rev. Dr. Finley,
+then president of the college at Princeton, New Jersey. One day Dr.
+Finley said at the dinner-table, "Mr. Whitefield, I hope it will be
+very long before you will be called home; but when that event shall
+arrive, I shall be glad to hear the noble testimony you will bear
+for God." Whitefield replied, "You would be disappointed, doctor; I
+shall die silent. It has pleased God to enable me to bear so many
+testimonies for him during my life, that he will require none from
+me when I die. No, no. It is your dumb Christians, who have walked
+in fear and darkness, and thereby been unable to bear a testimony
+for God during their lives, that he compels to speak out for him on
+their death-beds."
+
+We resume Mr. Smith's narrative: "The Rev. Mr. Parsons, at whose
+house my dear master died, sent for Captain Fetcomb, and Mr.
+Boadman, and others of his elders and deacons, and they took the
+whole of the burial upon themselves, prepared the vault, and sent
+and invited the bearers. Many ministers of all persuasions came to
+the house of the Rev. Mr. Parsons, where several of them gave a very
+particular account of their first awakenings under his ministry
+several years ago, and also of many in their congregations that,
+to their knowledge, under God, owed their conversion to his coming
+among them, often referring to the blessed seasons they had enjoyed
+under his preaching; and all said, that this last visit was attended
+with more power than any other, and that all opposition fell
+before him. Then one and another would pity and pray for his dear
+Tabernacle and Chapel congregations, and it was truly affecting to
+hear them bemoan America and England's loss. Thus they continued for
+two hours, conversing about his great usefulness, and praying that
+God would scatter his gifts, and drop his mantle among them."
+
+Dr. Gillies says, "Early next morning, Mr. Sherburn of Portsmouth
+sent Mr. Clarkson and Dr. Haven with a message to Mr. Parsons,
+desiring that Mr. Whitefield's remains might be buried in his own
+new tomb, at his own expense; and in the evening several gentlemen
+from Boston came to Mr. Parsons, desiring the body might be carried
+there. But as Mr. Whitefield had repeatedly desired to be buried
+before Mr. Parsons' pulpit, if he died at Newburyport, Mr. Parsons
+thought himself obliged to deny both these requests."
+
+Mr. Parsons, in a note to his funeral sermon, says, "At one o'clock
+all the bells in the town were tolled for half an hour, and all the
+vessels in the harbor gave their proper signals of mourning. At two
+o'clock the bells tolled a second time. At three the bells called
+to attend the funeral. The Rev. Dr. Haven of Portsmouth, and the
+Rev. Messrs. Rodgers of Exeter, Jewet and Chandler of Rowley, Moses
+Parsons of Newbury, and Bass of Newburyport, were pall-bearers.
+Mr. Parsons and his family, with many other respectable persons,
+followed the corpse in mourning."
+
+"The procession," says Mr. Smith, "was only one mile, and then the
+corpse was carried into the Presbyterian church, and placed at the
+foot of the pulpit, close to the vault; the Rev. Daniel Rodgers made
+a very affecting prayer, and openly declared, that, under God, he
+owed his conversion to that dear man of God whose precious remains
+now lay before them. Then he cried out, 'O my father, my father!'
+then stopped and wept as though his heart would break; the people
+weeping all through the place. Then he recovered, and finished his
+prayer, and sat down and wept. Then one of the deacons gave out the
+hymn,
+
+  "'Why do we mourn departing friends?'
+
+some of the people weeping, some singing, and so on alternately.
+The Rev. Mr. Jewet preached a funeral discourse; and made an
+affectionate address to his brethren, to lay to heart the death of
+that useful man of God, begging that he and they might be upon their
+watchtower, and endeavor to follow his blessed example. The corpse
+was then put into the vault, and all concluded with a short prayer,
+and dismission of the people, who went weeping through the streets
+to their respective places of abode."
+
+The Rev. Mr. Rodgers, from whose "Almanack Journal" we have quoted,
+records that the vast assembly at the funeral consisted of "four,
+since thought five thousand people," and adds, Oct. 7, "I preached
+from those words in the first Philippians, 'Having a desire to
+depart and be with Christ,' etc. I spoke extempore, somewhat
+largely, of dear Mr. Whitefield's character."
+
+The late venerable Mr. Bartlet of Newburyport, some years ago,
+erected a monument to the memory of Whitefield in the church beneath
+which his remains are interred. The cenotaph was executed by Mr.
+Struthers of Philadelphia, after a design of Strickland, and the
+inscription which follows was written by the late Rev. Dr. Ebenezer
+Porter, of the Theological seminary at Andover.
+
+
+  THIS CENOTAPH
+
+  is ERECTED, WITH AFFECTIONATE VENERATION,
+
+  To the Memory
+
+  OF
+
+  THE REV. GEORGE WHITEFIELD,
+
+  BORN AT GLOUCESTER, ENGLAND, DECEMBER 16, 1714;
+  EDUCATED AT OXFORD UNIVERSITY; ORDAINED 1736.
+  IN A MINISTRY OF THIRTY-FOUR YEARS,
+  HE CROSSED THE ATLANTIC THIRTEEN TIMES,
+  AND PREACHED MORE THAN EIGHTEEN THOUSAND SERMONS.
+  AS A SOLDIER OF THE CROSS, HUMBLE, DEVOUT, ARDENT,
+  HE PUT ON THE WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD:
+  PREFERRING THE HONOR OF CHRIST TO HIS OWN INTEREST, REPOSE,
+  REPUTATION, AND LIFE.
+  AS A CHRISTIAN ORATOR, HIS DEEP PIETY, DISINTERESTED ZEAL,
+  AND VIVID IMAGINATION,
+  GAVE UNEXAMPLED ENERGY TO HIS LOOK, UTTERANCE, AND ACTION.
+  BOLD, FERVENT, PUNGENT, AND POPULAR IN HIS ELOQUENCE,
+  NO OTHER UNINSPIRED MAN EVER PREACHED TO SO LARGE ASSEMBLIES,
+  OR ENFORCED THE SIMPLE TRUTHS OF THE GOSPEL BY MOTIVES
+  SO PERSUASIVE AND AWFUL, AND WITH AN INFLUENCE SO POWERFUL,
+  ON THE HEARTS OF HIS HEARERS.
+  HE DIED OF ASTHMA, SEPTEMBER 30, 1770.
+  SUDDENLY EXCHANGING HIS LIFE OF UNPARALLELED LABORS
+  FOR HIS ETERNAL REST.
+
+[Illustration: OLD SOUTH CHURCH, BOSTON.]
+
+[Illustration: MONUMENT]
+
+[Illustration: OLD SOUTH, AT NEWBURYPORT]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+TESTIMONIES AND FACTS ILLUSTRATIVE OF WHITEFIELD'S CHARACTER.
+
+
+"Last evening," says a letter from Boston, October 1, 1770, to the
+"Pennsylvania Journal," "we were informed by a melancholy messenger
+from Newburyport, that yesterday morning about six o'clock, at
+that place, the renowned and Rev. George Whitefield, chaplain to
+the Right Hon. the Countess of Huntingdon, etc., was, by a sudden
+mandate, summoned to the bosom of his Saviour. He had been preaching
+in divers parts of this province since his arrival from the
+southward, with his usual diligence and energy; was now from a tour
+to the province of New Hampshire on his return to this town, but
+being seized with a violent fit of the asthma, was in a short space
+translated from the labors of this life to the enjoyment of a better.
+
+"Of this truly pious and very extraordinary personage, little can
+be said but what every friend to vital Christianity who has sat
+under his ministry will readily attest. In his public performances
+throughout Europe and British America, he has, for a long course of
+years, astonished the world as a prodigy of eloquence and devotion.
+With what frequency and cheerfulness did he ascend the desk, the
+language of his actions being ever, 'Wist ye not that I must be
+about my Master's business?' With what divine pathos did he plead
+with, and persuade by the most engaging incitements, the impenitent
+sinner to the practice of piety and virtue. Filled with the spirit
+of grace, he spoke from the heart; and with a fervency of zeal
+perhaps unequalled since the apostles, ornamented the celestial
+annunciations of the preacher with the graceful and most enticing
+charms of rhetoric and oratory. From the pulpit he was unrivalled
+in the command of an ever-crowded and admiring auditory; nor was
+he less entertaining and instructive in his private conversation
+and deportment. Happy in a remarkable ease of address, willing to
+communicate, studious to edify, and formed to amuse--such, in more
+retired life, was he whom we lament. And while a peculiar pleasantry
+enlivened and rendered his company agreeable, his conversation was
+ever marked with the greatest objects of his pursuit--virtue and
+religion. It were to be wished that the good impressions of his
+ministry may be long retained; and that the rising generation, like
+their pious ancestors, may catch a spark of that ethereal flame
+which burnt with such lustre in the sentiments and practice of this
+faithful servant of the most high God."
+
+Another contemporaneous article says, "Dr. Cooper of Brattle-street,
+called an enthusiast by none, won early to serious religion by his
+[Whitefield's] instrumentality, delivered a sermon upon his death,
+in which he pronounced a strong eulogy in favor of his holy and
+successful activity in the cause of vital and practical religion
+through the English dominions. Pews, aisles, and seats were so
+crowded, and heads and shoulders were in such close phalanx, that it
+looked as though a man might walk everywhere upon the upper surface
+of the assembly, without finding an opening for descending to the
+floor."
+
+When the news of Mr. Whitefield's death reached Georgia, its
+inhabitants vied with each other in showing him the highest respect.
+All the black cloth in the stores was bought up; the pulpit and
+desk of the church, the branches, the organ-loft, and the pews of
+the governor and council were covered with black. The governor and
+council in deep mourning convened at the state-house, and went in
+procession to church, where they were received by the organ playing
+a funeral dirge. Two funeral sermons were there listened to by the
+authorities. In the Legislature high eulogiums were pronounced
+on the admirable preacher, and a sum of money was unanimously
+appropriated for removing his remains to Georgia, to be interred
+at his orphan-house; but the inhabitants of Newburyport strongly
+objected, and the design was relinquished. Forty-five years later
+when a new county was formed in Georgia, it received the name of
+Whitefield in commemoration of his worth and useful services.
+
+In a letter from Dr. Franklin to a gentleman in Georgia, he says,
+"I cannot forbear expressing the pleasure it gives me to see
+an account of the respect paid to his memory by your assembly.
+I knew him intimately upwards of thirty years; his integrity,
+disinterestedness, and indefatigable zeal in prosecuting every good
+work, I have never seen equalled, I shall never see excelled."
+
+Of course it would be expected that the sermons at Savannah would
+be of great interest. Such a discourse was delivered by the Rev.
+Mr. Ellington, who very truly said, "Whitefield's longing desires
+for the salvation of immortal souls would not admit of his being
+confined within the limits of any walls. How he has preached, with
+showers of stones, and many other instruments of malice and revenge
+about his ears, many of his surviving friends can witness. But
+having the salvation of sinners at heart, and a great desire to
+rescue them from the power of an eternal death, he resolved to spend
+and be spent for the service of precious and immortal souls; and
+spared no pains and refused no labor, so that he might administer
+to their real and eternal good. He died like a hero on the field
+of battle. Thousands in England, Scotland, and America have great
+reason to bless God for his ministrations."
+
+Who shall attempt to describe the feelings of the congregations
+at the Tabernacle and Tottenham Court chapels, when the news of
+their pastor's death first reached them? All were indeed clothed in
+mourning. By Whitefield's own previous appointment, the Rev. John
+Wesley preached the funeral sermon at Tottenham Court-road chapel.
+The preacher bore this testimony: "In his public labors he has for
+many years astonished the world with his eloquence and devotion.
+With what divine pathos did he persuade the impenitent sinner to
+embrace the practice of early piety and virtue. Filled with the
+spirit of grace, he spoke from the heart with a fervency of zeal
+perhaps unequalled since the days of the apostles; and adorned
+the truths he delivered with the most graceful charms of rhetoric
+and oratory. From the pulpit he was unrivalled in the command of
+an ever-crowded auditory. It was the love of God shed abroad in
+his heart by the Holy Ghost which filled his soul with tender,
+disinterested love to every child of man.... Mention has been
+already made of his unparalleled zeal, his indefatigable activity,
+his tender-heartedness to the afflicted, and charitableness towards
+the poor. But should we not likewise mention his deep gratitude to
+all whom God had used as instruments of good to him? of whom he did
+not cease to speak in the most respectful manner, even to his dying
+day. Should we not mention that he had a heart susceptible of the
+most generous and the most tender friendship? I have frequently
+thought that this, of all others, was the distinguishing part of
+his character. How few have we known of so kind a temper, of such
+large and flowing affections! Was it not principally by this that
+the hearts of others were so strongly drawn and knit to him? Can
+any thing but love beget love? This shone in his very countenance,
+and continually breathed in all his words, whether in public or
+private. Was it not this which, quick and penetrating as lightning,
+flew from heart to heart; which gave that life to his sermons, his
+conversation, his letters? Ye are witnesses."
+
+The Rev. John Newton preached a funeral sermon at Olney, where
+he was then settled, from the highly appropriate text, "He was a
+burning and a shining light," John 5:35, in which he thus speaks
+of Whitefield: "Some ministers are burning and shining lights
+in a peculiar and eminent degree. Such a one, I doubt not, was
+the servant of God whose death we now lament. I have had some
+opportunities of looking over the history of the church in past
+ages; I am not backward to say, that I have not read or heard
+of any person, since the apostles' days, of whom it may be more
+emphatically said, 'He was a burning and a shining light,' than the
+late Mr. Whitefield; whether we consider the warmth of his zeal, the
+greatness of his ministerial talents, or the extensive usefulness
+with which the Lord honored him. I do not mean to praise the man,
+but the Lord who furnished him, and made him what he was. He was
+raised up to shine in a dark place. The state of religion when he
+first appeared in public, was very low in our established church.
+I speak the truth, though to some it may be an offensive truth.
+The doctrines of grace were seldom heard from the pulpit, and the
+life and power of godliness were little known. Many of the most
+spiritual among the dissenters, were mourning under a sense of a
+great spreading declension on their side. What a change has taken
+place throughout the land within a little more than thirty years;
+that is, since the time when the first set of despised ministers
+came to Oxford! And how much of this change has been owing to God's
+blessing on Mr. Whitefield's labors, is well known to many who have
+lived through this period, and can hardly be denied by those who are
+least willing to allow it.... His zeal was not like wildfire, but
+directed by sound principles, and a sound judgment.... The Lord gave
+him a manner of preaching which was peculiarly his own. He copied
+from none, and I never met with any one who could imitate him with
+success."
+
+With regret we tear ourselves away from Romaine and Toplady, from
+Pemberton and Parsons, and from a multitude of others who bore
+testimonies like those we have given, but which would exceed the
+limits of our narrative.
+
+Mr. Newton, after his removal to London, once breakfasting with
+a company of noblemen and gentlemen, was asked if he knew Mr.
+Whitefield. He answered in the affirmative, and remarked, that as a
+preacher Mr. Whitefield far exceeded every other man of his time.
+Mr. Newton added, "I bless God that I lived in his time: many were
+the winter mornings I rose at four o'clock to attend his Tabernacle
+discourses at five; and I have seen Moorfields as full of lanterns
+at these times, as I suppose the Hay market is full of flambeaux
+on an opera night." As a proof of the power of Mr. Whitefield's
+preaching, Mr. Newton said, that a military officer at Glasgow, who
+had heard him preach, laid a wager with another, that at a certain
+charity sermon, though he went with prejudice, he would be compelled
+to give something. The other, to make sure that he would not, laid
+aside all the money out of his pockets; but before he left the
+church, he was glad to borrow some, and lose his bet. Mr. Newton
+mentioned as another striking illustration of Mr. Whitefield's
+persuasive oratory, his collecting after one sermon £600, or about
+$3,000, for the inhabitants of an obscure village in Germany, that
+had been burned down. After this sermon, Whitefield said, "We shall
+sing a hymn, during which those who do not choose to give their
+mite on this awful occasion, may sneak off." Not one moved; he came
+down from the pulpit, ordered all the doors to be shut but one, at
+which he held the plate himself, and collected the large sum we have
+named. Mr. Newton farther stated what he knew to be a fact, that at
+the time of Whitefield's greatest persecution, when obliged to speak
+in the streets, in one week he received not fewer than a thousand
+letters from persons distressed in their consciences by the energy
+of his preaching.
+
+A gentleman of title in England was one day examining some works
+of the distinguished sculptor, John Bacon. Among them he observed
+a bust of Mr. Whitefield, which led him to remark, "After all that
+has been said, this was truly a great man; he was the founder of a
+new religion." Mr. Bacon replied, "A new religion, sir?" "Yes," said
+the baronet; "what do you call it?" "Nothing," was the reply, "but
+the old religion revived with new energy, and treated as though the
+preacher meant what he said."
+
+Several interesting narratives have been given of visits to the tomb
+of Whitefield, which show the preciousness of his memory.
+
+In 1834, the Rev. Andrew Reed, D. D., of London, and the late
+Rev. James Matheson, D. D., of Durham, visited this country as a
+deputation to its churches from the Congregational Union of England
+and Wales. In describing their visit to Newburyport, Dr. Reed says,
+"We had a conference with the pastors here, and afterwards went
+to the church which is enriched with the remains of Whitefield.
+The elders of the church were present in the porch to receive us.
+We descended to the vault. There were three coffins before us.
+Two pastors of the church lay on either side, and the remains of
+Whitefield in the centre. The cover was slipt aside, and they lay
+beneath my eye. I had before stood in his pulpits; seen his books,
+his rings, and chairs; but never before had I looked on part of his
+very self. The skull, which is perfect, clean, and fair, I received,
+as is the custom, into my hand. I could say nothing; but thought
+and feeling were busy. On returning to the church, I proposed an
+exercise of worship. We collected over the grave of the eloquent,
+the devoted, and seraphic man, and gave expression to the sentiments
+that possessed us, by solemn psalmody and fervent prayer. It was not
+an ordinary service to any of us."
+
+In the year 1835, a similar deputation visited this country from
+the Baptist Union of Great Britain and Ireland. It consisted of
+the late Rev. F. A. Cox, D. D., of London, and the Rev. James
+Hoby, D. D., then of Birmingham. They also visited the tomb of our
+never-to-be-forgotten evangelist. We give a few sentences from their
+report: "We made an excursion to Newburyport, thirty-nine miles from
+Boston, to see the tomb of Whitefield. On our arrival, we hastened
+to the depository of the precious remains of that eminent servant
+of God.... We descended with some difficulty into the subterraneous
+vault, which is immediately behind the pulpit, in a small chamber
+like a vestry, external to the body of the church. Deep expectant
+emotions thrilled through our bosoms, while a kind of trap-door was
+opened, and we descended beneath the floor to another door, which
+stood perpendicularly, by which we entered, or rather crept, into
+the awful and silent sepulchre. There were three coffins placed
+in parallel lines; two of them containing the mortal part of Mr.
+Parsons and Mr. Prince, pastors of the church. We instinctively
+took our seats, the one on the one coffin, the other on the other,
+with the coffin of Whitefield between, over which, when the upper
+part of the lid was removed, to reveal the skeleton secrets of the
+narrow prison-house, we bent in solemn stillness and awe. We gazed
+on the fragments--we contemplated and handled the skull of that
+great preacher of righteousness--we thought of his devoted life,
+his blessed death, his high and happy destiny; and whispered our
+adorations of the grace that formed him both for earth and heaven."
+
+The following lines were written by the departed and amiable William
+B. Tappan, on visiting this spot in September, 1837.
+
+    "And this was Whitefield!--this, the dust now blending
+     With kindred dust, that wrapt his soul of fire--
+     Which, from the mantle freed, is still ascending
+     Through regions of far glory, holier, higher.
+
+     Oh, as I gaze here with a solemn joy
+     And awful reverence, in which shares Decay,
+     Who, this fair frame reluctant to destroy,
+     Yields it not yet to doom which all obey--
+     How follows thought his flight, at Love's command,
+     From hemisphere in sin, to hemisphere,
+     Warning uncounted multitudes with tears--
+     Preaching the risen Christ on sea and land--
+     And now those angel journeyings above!
+     Souls, his companions, saved by such unwearied love!"
+
+In December, 1845, one of the London daily papers, "The Sun,"
+contained a somewhat extended account of Whitefield in New England,
+and especially his death, funeral, and tomb, from which we
+borrow mementos that in both hemispheres may be interesting "for
+generations to come."
+
+"I was spending Sunday at Old Ipswich, in the latter part of last
+September, when by accident I fell in with an old inhabitant of
+the town who had heard Whitefield preach there. He was a sort of
+patriarch of the place, and as he sat on one of the stones which
+surrounded the ancient orthodox meeting-house, his grey locks
+streaming from beneath his queerly shaped hat, and attired in his
+primly cut old-fashioned coat, he appeared no bad representative of
+the departed Puritans who, in former days, had soberly and decently
+obeyed the call of the Sabbath bell, and worshipped in the same
+temple whose steeple now casts its shadow athwart the green sward
+beneath.... As the bell of Old Ipswich church swung out that bright
+Sabbath morning, it was a pretty sight to see the village people
+coming from different points to the decaying old church, which
+was situated, as most country churches in New England are, on a
+hill-top. While I was enjoying the scene, the old man to whom I have
+alluded, and who was sitting on a stone, accosted me, and asked me
+if I was not a stranger 'in these parts.' On my informing him that I
+was, he pointed out to me the 'lions' of the neighborhood, and wound
+up by asking, 'I suppose, sir, you've heard of Whitefield?'
+
+"'Of Whitefield? to be sure I have.'
+
+"'Well, I've seen Whitefield, George Whitefield stood on this very
+stone,' (dropping his stick feebly from his shaking hands,) 'and I
+heard him preach here.'
+
+"'And do you remember any thing about him?' I asked.
+
+"'Well, I guess I do. I was but a bit of a boy then; but here he
+stood on this stone, looking like a flying angel, and we call this
+Whitefield's pulpit to this day.... There was folks here from all
+parts to hear him; so he was obliged to preach outside, for the
+church wasn't half big enough for 'em, and no two ways about it.
+I've heard many parsons sin' that time, but none on 'em could come
+nigh him, any how they could fix it.'
+
+"'Do you remember any thing of his sermons?' I inquired.
+
+"'Oh, I was too young to notice aught, sir, but the preacher hisself
+and the crowds of people, but I know he had a very sweet voice;
+and as I said, when he spread his arms out, with a little Bible in
+his hand, he looked like a flying angel. There never were so many
+people, afore nor since, in Old Ipswich. I suppose, sir, you'll be
+going to see his bones? He was buried at Newburyport, and you can
+see 'em if you like.'
+
+"I made up my mind that I would see them, if possible. On the
+following day, I went over to Newburyport by railroad, and proceeded
+first to the house in which Whitefield died. It was at the time the
+residence of the Rev. Jonathan Parsons, the first regular pastor of
+the Presbyterian Society in the town. It is a plain unpretending
+structure, possessing no other claims to attention than its being
+the spot where the last scene of Whitefield's career was enacted.
+I knocked, and asked of a lady who answered my summons, if I might
+be allowed to see the room in which Mr. Whitefield died. She very
+courteously showed me up a flight of stairs into a chamber, which,
+she said, Mr. Whitefield used to sleep in. 'Here is the place he
+died in,' said the lady, as she showed me a little entry just
+outside the door of the chamber, directly over the entrance to the
+house. 'He lay the night before he died,' said the lady, 'in that
+bed-chamber; and when he was struck with death, he ran out to this
+entry window for breath, and died while sitting in a chair opposite
+to it.'
+
+"The Federal-street church, where Whitefield was buried, was but a
+short distance from the house in which he died, and on my way to
+it I called on the sexton.... He preceded me through the aisle of
+the church, and opening a little narrow door by the side of the
+pulpit, we passed into a dim gloomy room behind it, and from thence
+descending four or five steps, found ourselves in a brick vault
+which lay directly under the pulpit. It was two or three minutes
+before my eyes got accustomed to the gloom; but soon objects became
+discernible, and I saw three old coffins, two of them serving as
+supporters to the third, which lay across them.... The sexton
+trimmed his lamp, then lifted the lid of an old coffin, and holding
+the flame close to it, said, 'Here, look in, ... THAT'S THE MAN.'
+
+"Yes, there lay the man, or at least, all that remains of the once
+mighty preacher. A strange awe came over me at his words, '_That's
+the man._' I took the skull in my hands, and examined it carefully.
+The forehead was rather narrow than broad, and by no means high. I
+soon put it back again to the coffin."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Among the more prominent traits in the character of Whitefield,
+we may designate his _indifference to his own honor and ease_, of
+which his narrative contains almost innumerable illustrations. In
+the preparation of the deed of trust for his intended college, he
+entirely omitted his own name, that the proposed trustees might
+accept the office without suffering contempt for being connected
+with him. It was not pretence which led him often to say, "Let the
+name of George Whitefield perish, if God be glorified." On the
+same principle of almost self-annihilation he acted in reference
+to the accumulation of money. He secured nothing for himself. It
+does not seem that what he left to his friends by his will was or
+could be paid; what had been left him as legacies had been nearly
+all expended, and would have been entirely, had he lived to return
+to his beloved Bethesda. By his will he placed the institution in
+the hands of Lady Huntingdon, who sent out ministers and other
+persons to conduct it. But soon after this, the buildings were burnt
+down. After the fire, came the Revolutionary war, which tended to
+unsettle the tenure of property, and at the time of its close, the
+whole plans, alike of the orphan-house and the college, were nearly
+unknown. The authorities of Savannah, in accordance with the high
+regard which they still entertained for Whitefield's memory, secured
+whatever they could of the wreck, the proceeds of which they
+invested in a school for the young, which yet flourishes.
+
+Perhaps no man was ever more thoroughly _fond of labor_. From a
+memorandum in which Mr. Whitefield recorded the times and places
+of his ministerial labors, it appears that from the period of his
+ordination to that of his death, which was thirty-four years,
+he preached upwards of _eighteen thousand sermons_. It would be
+difficult to imagine how many thousand miles he travelled. When he
+ascertained that his physical powers began to fail, putting himself
+on what he called "short allowance," he preached _only once on every
+week-day, and three times on the Sabbath_. In view of his various
+journeyings in the slow and inconvenient modes of travelling then
+in use, his thirteen voyages across the Atlantic, and all that he
+accomplished, it appears that few men ever performed so much labor
+within the same period.
+
+Nearly every one who has attempted a description of Whitefield has
+said much of his _extraordinary voice_. It is known that Garrick was
+heard to say that he would give a hundred guineas if he could say
+"Oh!" as Whitefield did. The late Rev. Dr. Haweis, speaking of his
+"wonderful voice," and of its sweetness and variety of tone, said he
+believed on a serene evening it might be distinctly heard for nearly
+a mile. Others have given similar evidence.
+
+The late Sir George Beaumont, no mean authority on such a subject,
+thus familiarly speaks: "Oh yes; I heard that young gentleman this
+morning allude to 'roaring Whitefield,' and was amused at his
+mistake. It is a common one. Whitefield did not roar. I have been
+his auditor more than once, and was delighted with him. Whitefield's
+voice could be heard at an immense distance; but that was owing to
+its fulness, roundness, and clearness. It was a perfectly sound
+voice. It is an odd description, but I can hit upon no better; there
+was neither crack nor flaw. To describe him as a bellowing, roaring
+field preacher, is to describe a mountebank, not Whitefield. He had
+powers of pathos of the highest order. The tender, soft, persuasive
+tones of his voice were melodious in the extreme. And when he
+desired to win, or persuade, or plead, or soothe, the gush of
+feeling which his voice conveyed at once surprised and overpowered
+you."
+
+Speaking on the authority of his tutor, the Rev. Cornelius Winter,
+the late excellent Mr. Jay says that Whitefield's voice was
+incomparable: not only distinct and loud, but abounding with every
+kind of inflection, and perfectly under his power; so that he could
+render every thing he expressed, however common or insignificant in
+itself, striking and affecting.
+
+This distinguished man had a peculiar talent for making the
+_narration of facts tell in the pulpit_. Nothing occurred among
+even his own family connections, but he would make it contribute to
+the edification of his auditors. One Lord's day morning, with his
+usual fervor he exhorted his hearers to give up the use of means for
+the spiritual good of their relatives and friends only with their
+lives. He told them he had a brother, for whose spiritual welfare
+he had very long used every possible means. He had warned him, and
+prayed for him, but all apparently to no purpose, till a few weeks
+previous; when that brother, to his astonishment and joy, came to
+his house, and with many tears declared that he had come up from
+the country to testify to him the great change which divine grace
+had wrought in his heart, and to acknowledge with gratitude his
+obligation to the man by whom God had wrought. Mr. Whitefield added,
+that he had that morning received information, that on his brother's
+return to Gloucestershire, where he resided, he dropped down dead as
+he was getting out of a stagecoach. "Let us pray always," said he,
+"for ourselves, and for those who are dear to us, and never faint."
+
+This habit of making every occurrence bear on his ministry, Mr.
+Winter, who knew him more intimately, and has told us more of his
+private life and conduct than any other man, tells us was "perfectly
+in character with Mr. Whitefield. He turned every thing into gold;
+he improved every thing for good. Passing occurrences determined
+the matter of his sermons, and, in some degree, the manner of his
+address. Thus, if he had read on astronomy in the course of the
+week, you would be sure to discover it. He knew how to convert
+the centripetal motion of the planets to the disposition of the
+Christian towards Christ; and the fatal attraction of the world
+was very properly represented by a reference to the centrifugal.
+If he attended any extraordinary trial, he would avail himself of
+the formality of the judge in pronouncing sentence. It would only
+be by hearing him, and by beholding his attitude and tears, that a
+person could well conceive the effect; for it was impossible but
+that solemnity must surround him who, under God, became the means
+of making all solemn."
+
+He sometimes made use of an incident of history in the reign of
+Henry VIII. The apprentices of London appeared before that monarch,
+pleading his pardon for their insurrections, manifesting intense
+feeling on the matter, and praying for "mercy, mercy." "Take them
+away, take them away," was the monarch's request, moved by the sight
+and the cries of these youths, "I cannot bear it." The application,
+as will be readily supposed, was, that if an earthly monarch of
+Henry's character could be so moved, how prevalent must be the plea
+of the sinner in the ears of infinite Love.
+
+The case of two Scotchmen in the convulsion of the state at the
+time of Charles II. served him on more than one occasion. These
+men, having to pass some of the troops, were thinking of their
+danger, and meditating the best way of escape, when one of them
+proposed wearing a skullcap; but the other, thinking that would
+imply distrust of the providence of God, determined to proceed
+bareheaded. The last was the first laid hold of, and being asked,
+"Are you for the covenant?" replied, "Yes;" and being further asked,
+"What covenant?" answered, "The covenant of grace;" by which reply,
+eluding farther inquiry, he was allowed to pass; but the other, not
+answering satisfactorily, received a blow from the sabre, which
+penetrating through the cap, struck him dead. In the application,
+Mr. Whitefield, warning against vain confidence, exclaimed, "Beware
+of your skullcaps."
+
+An American clergyman has told us that he once related to Whitefield
+an affecting occurrence, but did it with the ordinary brevity and
+feeling of common conversation. Afterwards he heard Mr. Whitefield
+preach, and tell this same story with such nature, pathos, and
+power, that the clergyman found himself weeping like a child. It has
+been well said, that he spoke with the tones of the soul; and that
+his gestures were impelled by the same spontaneous magical influence
+which made them, as well as his words, seem part of his soul.
+Indeed, he threw his soul into every thing he did and said.
+
+It is said that Whitefield would sometimes rise in the sacred desk,
+and for a minute or two looking in silence around his vast audience,
+as if salvation or perdition teemed in every cast of his eye, would
+burst into tears, while the swift contagion, before he uttered a
+word, had reached every heart that could feel, and dimmed every eye
+that could weep.[2]
+
+  [2] The New York Evangelist, in 1830, made the remark, that
+  "Whitefield would have lost much of his oratorical influence on his
+  hearers, had his speaking eyes been covered with a pair of modern
+  spectacles."
+
+While his path to the sinner's heart was thus met with tears, he was
+never without strength or aim. He struck everywhere. He swung his
+glittering weapon, "the sword of the Spirit," in every direction,
+the same whether he preached in the cushioned and carpeted pulpit to
+lords, ladies, and gentlemen, or encountered a mob of stage-players
+and merry-andrews in the open field. He insisted on instant,
+visible, decisive action in his hearers. All was commotion where he
+moved. The very earth would seem to be shaken with the thunder of
+his eloquence; the heavens seemed, in the bold metaphor of Isaiah,
+to "drop down from above, and the skies to pour down righteousness,"
+when he set the trumpet of the gospel to his lips, and made the
+notes of salvation or perdition ring in the ears of dying men. Such
+unwonted sounds startled the multitude into life, rousing energies
+that were forthwith enlisted either for or against the mighty cause
+which he advocated, with the boldness and fervor of one who had
+received immediate commission from heaven. His sacred ambition was
+content with nothing short of the conquest of thousands.
+
+It has been well said by a living American writer, that "Whitefield
+was, in sacred eloquence, what Handel was in sacred music. There
+was an air, a soul, and a _movement_ in his oratory, which created
+indescribable emotion in his vast assemblies, and if Handel, with a
+thousand auxiliary voices and instruments, astonished the multitude
+in Westminster Abbey, even to raising them on their feet, by the
+performance of his Messiah, Whitefield did greater wonders in his
+single person by _preaching_ the Messiah to the immense crowds in
+Tottenham Court-road and Moorfields."
+
+The same writer has said elsewhere, "The influence of Whitefield and
+Edwards on theology and pulpit eloquence were immense. There was in
+those two men indeed 'a diversity of gifts, but the same spirit,'
+The intellect prevailed in Edwards, the impassioned in Whitefield.
+Pure truth came forth from the mind of the one as nakedly
+demonstrated as it ever was on the pages of Newton and Locke; for
+Edwards, when but a child, read Locke with enthusiasm. From the
+soul of Whitefield it came forth arrayed in the gorgeous robes of
+his own many-colored imagination, baptized in the tenderness of his
+own sympathetic spirit. At times, indeed, the thunders of Sinai
+seemed to shake the sacred desk, but the softer music of the harp
+of Zion was more congenial with his compassionate spirit, though he
+was always bold for God, and braved danger in every form for the
+salvation of sinners. It is not strange that American preachers
+venerate, even to enthusiasm, the memory of such a man, and visit
+his dust, enshrined as it is in the bosom of New England, with
+feelings of indescribable interest. His labors were for us; his rest
+is with us; his example is before us. The first were indefatigable;
+the second is peaceful; the last is glorious."
+
+The Rev. Mr. Winter says, "I hardly ever knew him to go through
+a sermon without weeping more or less;" and again, "It was only
+by beholding his attitude and tears, that one could well conceive
+of the effect." No doubt there was a connection between the tears
+of Whitefield and his piety; but it must not be supposed that he
+was always "the weeping prophet;" he could smile as well as weep.
+A venerable lady in New York, known to some yet living, speaking
+of the influence which first won her heart to God, said that "Mr.
+Whitefield was so cheerful that it _tempted her to be a Christian_."
+
+Every thing about this distinguished man excited attention. His
+voice, accompanied by his look from crossed eyes, and proceeding
+from a man of his robust frame, produced wonderful effects. It
+is said that when once preaching in a graveyard, two young men
+conducted themselves improperly, when he fixed his eyes upon them,
+and with a voice resembling thunder, said, "Come down, ye rebels."
+They instantly fell, neither of them being inclined again to come
+into contact with such a look, or to hear such a voice.
+
+He was once preaching to a vast crowd of people in southern
+Pennsylvania, which was at that time ignorant and uncivilized. He
+was incessantly disturbed by their noise, and twice reproved them
+with great severity. At length he was so overcome by their noisy and
+irreverent conduct, that he stopped short, dropped his head into his
+hands, burst into a flood of tears, and exclaimed, "Oh, Lord God, I
+am ashamed that these people are provoking thy wrath, and I dare not
+reprove them a third time." Such was the effect of his conduct and
+feeling, that his audience became perfectly quiet, and remained so
+till the end of his discourse.
+
+We have before us two narratives of his preaching during very heavy
+storms. Dr. Campbell, a successor of Whitefield in the _Tabernacle_
+in London, and whose ministry has been marked by much of the power
+and success of his great predecessor, has given to the first of
+these narratives the title of "_Thunder and Eloquence_." Before
+he commenced his sermon on this occasion, long darkening columns
+crowded the bright sunny sky of the morning, and swept their dull
+shadows over the building, in fearful augury of the storm.
+
+His text was, "Strive to enter in at the strait gate; for many,
+I say unto you, shall seek to enter in, and shall not be able."
+"See," said he, pointing to a shadow that was flitting across the
+floor--"see that emblem of human life. It passed for a moment, and
+concealed the brightness of heaven from our view; but it is gone.
+And where will ye be, my hearers, when your lives have passed away
+like that dark cloud? Oh, my dear friends, I see thousands sitting
+attentively, with their eyes fixed on the poor unworthy preacher.
+In a few days, we shall all meet at the judgment-seat of Christ.
+We shall form a part of that vast assembly that will gather before
+the throne; and every eye will behold the Judge. With a voice whose
+call you must abide and answer, he will inquire whether on earth you
+strove to enter in at the strait gate; whether you were supremely
+devoted to God; whether your hearts were absorbed in him. My blood
+runs cold when I think how many of you will then seek to enter in,
+and shall not be able. Oh, what plea can you make before the Judge
+of the whole earth? Can you say it has been your whole endeavor to
+mortify the flesh, with its affections and lusts--that your life has
+been one long effort to do the will of God? No; you must answer, 'I
+made myself easy in the world by flattering myself that all would
+end well; but I have deceived my own soul, and am lost.'
+
+"You, O false, and hollow Christian, of what avail will it be that
+you have done many things--that you have read much in the sacred
+word--that you have made long prayers--that you have attended
+religious duties, and that you have appeared holy in the eyes of
+men? What will all this be, if, instead of loving Him supremely,
+you have been supposing you should exalt yourself in heaven by acts
+really polluted and unholy?
+
+"And you, rich men, wherefore do you hoard your silver? Wherefore
+count the price you have received for Him whom you every day crucify
+in your love of gain? Why--that when you are too poor to buy a
+drop of cold water, your beloved son may be rolled to hell in his
+chariot, pillowed and cushioned around him."
+
+The eye of the preacher gradually lighted up as he proceeded, till
+towards the close it seemed to sparkle with celestial fire. With
+his whole energy he exclaimed, "O sinners, by all your hopes of
+happiness, I beseech you to repent. Let not the wrath of God be
+awakened. Let not the fires of eternity be kindled against you. See
+there!" pointing to the lightning, which played on the corner of the
+pulpit, "it is a glance from the angry eye of Jehovah!" Raising his
+finger in a listening attitude, as the distant thunder grew louder
+and louder, and broke in one tremendous crash over the building, he
+continued, "Hark! It was the voice of the Almighty as he passed by
+in his anger!" As the sound died away, he covered his face with his
+hands, and knelt beside his pulpit, apparently lost in inward and
+intense prayer. The storm passed rapidly away, and the sun, beaming
+forth in his might, threw across the heavens a magnificent arch of
+peace. Rising, and pointing to the beautiful object, he exclaimed,
+"Look upon the rainbow, and praise Him who made it. Very beautiful
+it is in the brightness thereof. It compasseth the heavens about
+with glory; and the hands of the Most High have bended it!"
+
+On another occasion, as Mr. Whitefield was preaching in Boston, on
+the wonders of creation, providence, and redemption, a violent
+storm of thunder and lightning came on. In the midst of the sermon
+it attained to so alarming a height that the congregation sat in
+almost breathless awe. The preacher closed his note-book, and
+stepping into one of the wings of the desk, fell on his knees, and
+with much feeling and fine taste repeated:
+
+    "Hark, THE ETERNAL rends the sky!
+     A mighty voice before him goes--
+     A voice of music to his friends,
+     But threatening thunder to his foes:
+    'Come, children, to your Father's arms;
+     Hide in the chambers of my grace,
+     Till the fierce storm be overblown,
+     And my revenging fury cease--'
+
+"Let us devoutly sing to the praise and glory of God this hymn, Old
+Hundred."
+
+The whole congregation instantly rose, and poured forth the sacred
+song, in which they were accompanied by the organ, in a style of
+simple grandeur and heartfelt devotion that was probably never
+surpassed. By the time the hymn was finished the storm was hushed.
+The remainder of the services were well adapted to sustain the
+elevated feeling which had been produced; and the benediction with
+which the good man dismissed the flock was universally received with
+streaming eyes, and hearts overflowing with tenderness and gratitude.
+
+Another writer has thus described his appearance in the pulpit.
+There was nothing in the appearance of this extraordinary man which
+would lead you to suppose that a Felix would tremble before him.
+He was something above the middle stature, well proportioned, and
+remarkable for a native gracefulness of manner. His complexion
+was very fair, his features regular, and his dark blue eyes small
+and lively. In recovering from the measles he had contracted a
+squint with one of them; but this peculiarity rather rendered the
+expression of his countenance more remarkable, than in any degree
+lessened the effect of its uncommon sweetness. His voice excelled
+both in melody and compass; and its fine modulations were happily
+accompanied by that grace of action which he possessed in an eminent
+degree, and which has been said to be the chief requisite in an
+orator. To see him when he first commenced, one would have thought
+him any thing but enthusiastic and glowing; but as he proceeded,
+his heart warmed with his subject, and his manner became impetuous
+and animated; till, forgetful of every thing around him, he seemed
+to kneel at the throne of Jehovah, and to beseech in agony for his
+fellow-beings.
+
+After he had finished his prayer, he knelt for a long time in
+profound silence, and so powerful was the effect on the most
+heartless of his audience, that a stillness like that of the tomb
+pervaded the whole house.
+
+Mr. Tracy, in his narrative of "the Great Awakening" about 1740,
+has admirably remarked, "It is often said that Whitefield cannot
+have been a very great man, because his printed sermons contain only
+plain, common thoughts, such as men of ordinary minds habitually
+use. But what made those thoughts so common? They were not common
+when he began to utter them. In England especially, and to a
+considerable extent here also, they astonished his hearers by their
+strangeness. What is more common than a voyage across the Atlantic?
+But was Columbus, therefore, only an ordinary man? The case of
+Copernicus is more nearly parallel. He reasserted a truth which had
+been uttered, repudiated, and forgotten. That truth is now common,
+even among school-boys. But was he, therefore, only a child in
+intellect?"
+
+There are yet extant about eighty of the sermons by which Whitefield
+agitated nations, and the more remote influence of which is still
+distinctly to be traced, in the popular divinity and national
+character of Great Britain and of the United States. Of these
+compositions, Sir James Stephen, an evangelical Episcopalian of
+London, wrote at some length in the "Edinburgh Review," 1838, and
+we shall make no apology for borrowing a portion of his remarks,
+combining them with some of our own.
+
+It is true, that these sermons have fallen into very general
+neglect; for to win permanent acceptance for a book, into which the
+principles of life were not infused by its author, is a miracle
+which not even the zeal of religious proselytes can accomplish. Yet,
+inferior as were his inventive to his mimetic powers, Whitefield is
+entitled, among theological writers, to a place which, if it cannot
+challenge admiration, may at least excite and reward curiosity.
+Many, and those by far the worst of his discourses, bear the marks
+of careful preparation. Take at hazard a sermon of one of the
+preachers usually distinguished as evangelical, add a little to
+its length, and subtract a great deal from its point and polish,
+and you have one of his more elaborate common topics discussed in
+a commonplace way; a respectable mediocrity of thought and style;
+endless variations on one or two cardinal truths--in short, the task
+of a clerical Saturday evening, executed with piety, good sense, and
+exceeding sedateness. But open one of that series of Whitefield's
+sermons which bears the stamp of having been conceived and uttered
+at the same moment, and imagine it recited to myriads of eager
+listeners with every charm of voice and gesture, and the secret
+of his unrivalled fascination is at least partially disclosed. He
+places himself on terms of intimacy and unreserved confidence with
+you, and makes it almost as difficult to decline the invitation
+to his familiar talk as if Montaigne himself had issued it. The
+egotism is amusing, affectionate, and warm-hearted, with just that
+slight infusion of self-importance without which it would pass for
+affectation. In his art of rhetoric, personification holds the first
+place; and the prosopopoeia is so managed as to quicken abstractions
+into life, and to give them individuality and distinctness without
+the exhibition of any of those spasmodic and distorted images which
+obey the incantations of vulgar exorcists. Every trace of study and
+contrivance is obliterated by the hearty earnestness which pervades
+each successive period, and by the vernacular and homely idioms in
+which his meaning is conveyed.
+
+It is in the grandeur and singleness of purpose that the charm of
+Whitefield's preaching seems to have consisted. You feel that you
+have to do with a man who lived and spoke, and who would gladly
+have died, to deter his hearers from the path of destruction, and
+to guide them to holiness and peace. His gossipping stories, and
+dramatic forms of speech, are never employed to hide the awful
+realities on which he is intent. Conscience is not permitted to
+find an intoxicating draught in even spiritual excitement, or an
+anodyne in glowing imagery. Guilt and its punishment, pardon and
+spotless purity, death and an eternal existence, stand out in bold
+relief on every page. From these the eye of the teacher is never
+withdrawn, and to these the attention of the hearer is riveted. All
+that is poetic, grotesque, or rapturous is employed to deepen these
+impressions, and is dismissed as soon as that purpose is answered.
+Deficient in learning, meagre in thought, and redundant in language
+as are these discourses, they yet fulfil the one great condition of
+genuine eloquence. They propagate their own kindly warmth, and leave
+their stings behind them.
+
+The enumeration of the sources of Whitefield's power is still
+essentially defective. Neither energy, nor eloquence, nor histrionic
+talents, nor any artifices of style, nor the most genuine sincerity
+and self-devotedness, nor all these united, would have enabled him
+to mould the religious character of millions in his own and future
+generations. The secret lies deeper. It consisted in the theology
+he taught--in its perfect simplicity and universal application.
+"Would ministers," says he, "preach for eternity, they would then
+act the part of true Christian orators; and not only calmly and
+coolly inform the understanding, but by pathetic and persuasive
+address, endeavor to move the affections and to warm the heart. To
+act otherwise, betrays a sad ignorance of human nature, and such
+an inexcusable ignorance and indifference in a preacher, as must
+constrain the hearers to suspect, whether they will or not, that
+the preacher, let him be whom he will, only deals in the false
+commerce of unfelt truth." His eighteen thousand sermons were but
+so many variations on two key-notes: man is guilty, but may obtain
+forgiveness; he is immortal, and must ripen here for endless weal or
+woe hereafter. Expanded into innumerable forms, and diversified by
+infinite varieties of illustration, these two cardinal principles
+were ever in his heart and on his tongue. Let who would invoke
+poetry to embellish the Christian system, or philosophy to explore
+its esoteric depths, from his lips it was delivered as an awful and
+urgent summons to repent, to believe, and to obey. To set to music
+the orders issued to seamen in a storm, or to address them in the
+language of Aristotle or Descartes, would have seemed to him not a
+whit more preposterous than to divert his hearers from their danger
+and their refuge, their duties and their hopes, to any topics more
+trivial or more abstruse. In fine, he was thoroughly and continually
+in earnest, and therefore possessed that tension of the soul which
+admitted neither of lassitude nor relaxation, few and familiar
+as were the topics to which he was confined. His was, therefore,
+precisely that state of mind in which alone eloquence, properly so
+called, can be engendered, and a moral and intellectual sovereignty
+won.
+
+Nor less important is it to remark, though we need not illustrate
+it at length, that much was effected by every one seeing that he
+always forgot himself in his subject, and rested only on heaven for
+success. He felt himself called to serve Christ, and gave himself
+to his task, to save sinners, and he cared for nothing else. No
+one ever doubted his sincerity when he prayed, "Help me, Friend of
+sinners, to be nothing, to say nothing, that thou mayest say and do
+every thing, and be my all in all." If the same feelings were fully
+shown by the ministry at present, our messages would tell more on
+the hearts of our hearers.
+
+We need hardly remind the reader that Whitefield was remarkable for
+_a devotional spirit_. Probably no man ever lived nearer to God. Had
+he been less prayerful, he would have been less powerful. It has
+been said that during a few of the last years of his life he read
+the voluminous exposition of Matthew Henry, comprising six quarto
+volumes, in a kneeling posture, pausing and praying that God would
+engraft upon his mind the instructions of that extraordinary man.
+When he came before his auditors, he looked like one who had been
+with God. This it was which won for him the title of _seraphic_--he
+was a human _seraph_, and burnt out in the blaze of his own fire.
+Usually for an hour or two before he went into the pulpit, he
+claimed retirement. In this claim he was imperative, and would not
+be interrupted in his seasons of hallowed intercourse with God.
+
+Engaged almost incessantly in preaching, or in preparation for it,
+it was impossible, however much he desired it, to pay many private
+visits of a religious nature. We are told, however, that on one
+occasion, when a young minister, afterwards exceedingly popular and
+useful, was once visiting him, he was sent for to visit a poor woman
+who had been so dreadfully burnt that she could not survive many
+hours. He went immediately, and prayed with her. He had no sooner
+returned, than she called out, "Oh, where is Mr. Whitefield?" Urged
+by her entreaty, her friends requested him to visit her a second
+time. He complied, and again prayed with her. The poor afflicted
+woman continued still to desire his presence. When her friends came
+for him a third time, "I begged of him," said the young clergyman,
+"not to go; for he could scarcely expect to do any good. 'Your
+nerves are too weak, your feelings are too acute to endure such
+scenes.' I shall never forget his mild reproof: 'Leave me; my Master
+can save to the uttermost, to the _very uttermost_.'"
+
+In conversation with his friends, Whitefield was as far removed as
+possible from duplicity and mere compliment. He invited from his
+friends whatever of instruction and of reproof they considered him
+to need. And while he was always ready to receive reproof, he was,
+when called to the duty, ready to give it, and often in a way which
+his friends did not expect. A censorious professor of religion,
+knowing the doctrinal differences between the two men, asked
+Whitefield if he thought they would see Mr. John Wesley in heaven.
+His answer was truly admirable: "No, sir, I fear not; for he will
+be so near the throne, and we shall be at such a distance, we shall
+hardly get sight of him."
+
+It is said, that when he was once travelling in company with a
+Christian man, they had occasion to stay for a night at a road-side
+tavern. After they had retired, they were greatly annoyed by a
+company of gamblers, who were in an adjoining room. Whitefield
+could not rest, and told his friend that he would go into the room
+and reprove them for their conduct. The other remonstrated against
+his doing so, but in vain. He went; and unhappily, his words fell
+apparently powerless upon them. Returning, he laid down to sleep.
+"What," asked his companion, "did you gain by your trouble?"
+Whitefield characteristically answered, "A soft pillow."
+
+In his intercourse with general society, Mr. Whitefield never forgot
+his dignity as a servant of Jesus Christ. When he was in the zenith
+of his popularity, Lord Clare, who knew that his influence was
+considerable, applied to him by letter, requesting his influence
+at Bristol at the ensuing general election. To this request Mr.
+Whitefield replied, that in general elections he never interfered;
+but he would earnestly exhort his lordship to use great diligence to
+make his own particular "calling and election sure."
+
+Mr. Whitefield was greatly distinguished, even from early life, for
+neatness in his person, order in his apartments, and regular method
+in the management of all his affairs. He was accustomed to say that
+a minister should be "without a spot;" and on one occasion remarked,
+that he could not feel comfortable if he knew that his _gloves_
+were out of their proper place. The advantages of such habits are
+numerous. They save time, give a degree of comfort which can only
+be known by experience, and add not a little to the dignity of the
+Christian minister.
+
+The device upon Whitefield's seal, of which probably few impressions
+are now to be found, was truly characteristic. It was a winged heart
+soaring above the globe, and its motto was, "_Astra petamus_"--Let
+us seek heaven.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+CHARACTER OF WHITEFIELD AS A PREACHER--CENTENNIAL COMMEMORATIONS.
+
+
+In suggesting a few of the CHARACTERISTICS OF WHITEFIELD'S
+PREACHING, we are very greatly indebted to an excellent anonymous
+writer in the London Evangelical Magazine for 1853. We consider as
+among the reasons of his success, and as worthy of our imitation,
+
+First, _the prominence given to the leading truths of salvation,
+and the constant exaltation of Christ in them_. There needs no
+minute inquiry, or great analytical care, to ascertain what was
+the pervading theme of this popular minister: it was "Christ,
+and him crucified," and the glorious truths that hover around
+the cross, and derive from it their being and lustre. There was
+no other subject, in Whitefield's estimation, that was worthy of
+preëminence, and to unfold, elucidate, and apply it, was the great
+design of his labors. He saw in it such a wonderful adaptation to
+the necessities and condition of fallen humanity, that he stood in
+the midst of its wants and woes with all the confidence of a good
+physician who had a sovereign and sufficient remedy to propose.
+He knew that there was no case which it could not meet, no moral
+disease from which it would not recover, no spiritual need which
+it would not supply; and therefore, however far gone men might
+be from original righteousness, however hardened in sin, sunk in
+iniquity, or however elevated by the delusions of a false morality
+and fancied self-righteousness, he propounded this as the only and
+all-sufficient antidote, at once to destroy and heal, to kill and
+to make alive. As to the spurious production of a rationalistic
+theory on the one hand, or the prescriptions of ceremonial virtue
+and sacramental grace on the other, he knew them not. He saw at
+once their hollowness and insufficiency, and would not mock the
+necessities of our fallen nature, or aggravate the wounds which sin
+had made by a proposal of them. His acquaintance with the human
+heart was deep, and his knowledge of the different modifications
+of the original disease was so great, that he despaired of relief
+from any expedients save that which infinite Wisdom had devised, and
+which "the gospel of the grace of God" revealed. Philosophy with
+all its discoveries, and reason with all its powers, the law with
+all its authority, and virtue with all its rewards, he knew could
+only, like the priests and the Levites, have passed the patient by,
+and left him to despair, till a greater than they should arrive,
+and say, "I will come and heal you." On that adorable Personage,
+therefore, and the wonders of his skill and love, he delighted to
+dwell. Every sermon was full of Christ; every discourse was odorous
+of him. From whatever part of revealed truth he derived his text,
+and with whatever peculiar development of man's moral physiology he
+had to do, there was something to suggest, to demonstrate the need,
+or the suitableness, or the all-sufficiency of the Saviour of the
+world. To set him forth, in the glories of his wonderful person, the
+variety of his offices, the perfection of his righteousness, the
+completeness of his atonement, and the plenitude of his grace, was
+his perpetual aim. To these he gave continual prominence, at all
+times, and in every place. There was no reserve, no equivocation, no
+partial statement on such themes. It was a full, clear, consistent
+gospel. From his lips the gospel gave no "uncertain sound." This
+made him a welcome messenger of glad tidings to all. This gave him
+a key to the hearts of many, who, as they stood around him, and
+wondered at him, like those five thousand whom the Redeemer fed
+with "five loaves and two small fishes," found all their appetites
+suited, and all their necessities supplied. It was the magic power
+which arrested them; the centre of gravitation which attracted them;
+the bread of life which fed them. "As Moses lifted up the serpent
+in the wilderness," so now was the Son of man lifted up by the
+ministry of this his devoted herald; and far as the camp extended,
+and wide as the circumference of poison and death was spread, the
+wounded looked thereon and lived. A restorative virtue issued from
+it. The hardest heart was softened. The most obstinate in rebellion
+was overcome. The blindest saw. The moral lepers were cleansed.
+The broken in heart were made whole, and the spiritually dead were
+raised to life. "This was the Lord's doing, and it was marvellous in
+their eyes." They beheld the man. They heard him preach. They felt
+the power. It was because He was exalted among them who had said,
+"I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me."
+
+Secondly, _the glow of feeling, the melting compassion, which
+pervaded his own soul_. Oh, it is supremely delightful and deeply
+affecting to observe the tender affection and melting pathos with
+which Whitefield propounded and proclaimed the precious truths and
+everlasting verities of the gospel to his fellow-men. He stood
+among them as one of their race, one of their number, conscious of
+the common misery into which all had fallen, and weeping over the
+miseries and ruin in which by nature they were alike involved. As
+he opened up the treasures of infinite mercy, and the riches of
+redeeming love to their view, he wept to think how long they had
+been unknown or despised by many, and with what base ingratitude
+thousands would probably still turn away from them. As one who
+saw their immortal being in jeopardy, and their souls standing
+on the verge of irretrievable ruin, he hastened, with joy in his
+countenance and tenderness in his heart, to tell them of One who was
+"mighty to save," and that "now was the accepted time, and now the
+day of salvation." Not as one who had a cold lecture on ethics to
+deliver, or a dissertation on philosophy to expound, or a problem
+in mathematics to solve, did he proceed to such a work; but as one
+who felt the weight of his great commission, and knew the worth
+of never-dying souls. The evil of sin, the danger of impenitence,
+the powers of the world to come, the glories of heaven, and the
+unutterable miseries of the regions of woe, were visibly present to
+his own mind; and of these, "out of the abundance of his heart," he
+spoke to others. He could not be calm, he could not be apathetic on
+such themes as these.
+
+        "Passion was reason, transport temper, here."
+
+And with much of the melting tenderness of Him who wept over
+Jerusalem, he spoke of these things to all that resorted to him.
+What moving words did he utter on Blackheath hill, in the Tabernacle
+pulpit, and on Kingswood mount! His vivid eye beamed with the glow
+of tenderness, and his tears, as he spoke, oft-times moistened his
+little Bible or bedewed the ground. In his printed sermons, which
+doubtless are but feeble specimens of his free and fervent manner,
+there are strains of tender pathos and impassioned oratory, which it
+is almost impossible to read even now without being moved to share
+in his feelings and in the emotions which they must have enkindled
+around; and in the perusal of which we wonder not that, in all the
+circumstances, the place in which he stood was a Bochim--a place of
+weeping. Oh, the melting power, the exquisite pathos, the tender
+expostulation of this preëminent man, and unrivalled preacher of the
+gospel of our salvation! We wish we could catch them now--that all
+preachers possessed them; that the rising ministry especially would
+emulate him in these things. Whitefield showed his intense feeling,
+not from the mere power of ratiocination, or from the poetic
+memento, or for the sake of producing effect by the tears that were
+unfelt, or which only flowed from the surface; but from the meltings
+of a tender heart, influenced by a Saviour's love, and overflowing
+with the commiseration of a benign compassion for dying multitudes
+around. Doddridge's beautiful hymn,
+
+            "Arise, my tenderest thoughts, arise,"
+
+one might almost think was written at Whitefield's side. The
+tenderness of John, and the "weeping" of Paul, were blended in him
+with the boldness of Peter. The love that agonized in the garden of
+Gethsemane, and bled on the cross of Calvary, was largely diffused
+through all his powers.
+
+Thirdly, _the direct address of his ministry_. The characteristic
+mode of his preaching, and the style of his public ministrations,
+was, to direct his appeal to the hearts and consciences of his
+hearers, and to "preach _to_ the people all the words of this
+life." It was not an harangue _before_ them. It was not an oration
+beautifully prepared, read, or delivered in their hearing, and
+presented simply for their acceptance and admiration; but a
+direct address, an affectionate appeal, a solemn and earnest
+communication of the message he had received from God to them. Oh,
+we have sometimes thought, what a marked difference there ought
+to be between the ministrations of a servant of Christ to his
+fellow-immortals, on things of eternal importance in which they are
+personally and deeply concerned, and the delivery of a lecture from
+the philosopher's desk, or even of a dissertation on theology from
+the professorial chair. So thought the apostles. So thought the
+prophets and public teachers of sacred mysteries of old. They had
+the "burden of the Lord" to deliver, and it was _unto_ the people.
+They had an embassy to execute, and it was by negotiating directly
+with, and in the consciences of their hearers. Whitefield caught
+their spirit, proceeded in their way, and did such mighty execution,
+not by the mere symmetrical illustration of divine truth, but by
+the direct presentation of it to their minds. They had not to ask,
+"For whom is all this intended?" and, "Is it designed for us?" They
+felt that it was. It came home to their consciences, and to their
+very hearts. They could not transfer it to others, nor avoid the
+application of it to themselves. Had the preacher called them by
+name, which in his skilful delineation of character, he sometimes
+virtually did, they could not have been more certain that he
+intended it for them, and that it was at their peril to neglect or
+pass it by. "I have a message from God unto thee," he substantially
+said in every discourse he uttered, and the people were compelled
+to believe it. "Go, and tell this people," said the divine voice
+to Isaiah, "Ye hear indeed, but do not understand; ye see indeed,
+but do not perceive." "Therefore," said Peter, "let all the house
+of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus, _whom
+ye have crucified_, both Lord and Christ." "Now then," said Paul,
+"we are ambassadors for Christ; as though God did beseech _you_ by
+us, we pray _you_, in Christ's stead, _be ye_ reconciled to God."
+Such was the tenor of the apostolic ministry. Such the secret of
+its mighty power and success. And such also was the characteristic
+of the faithful and seraphic Whitefield, by which he knocked at the
+door of many hearts, and those hearts were opened to him, to his
+message, and to his Lord. His plan was that of heavenly wisdom; his
+appeal was the same. "Unto you, O men, I call, and my voice is to
+the sons of men." In him were verified the poet's graphic lines:
+
+    "There stands the messenger of truth; there stands
+    The legate of the skies: his theme divine,
+    His office sacred, his credentials clear.
+    By him the violated law speaks out
+    Its thunders; and by him, in strains as sweet
+    As angels use, the gospel whispers peace.
+    He stablishes the strong, restores the weak,
+    Reclaims the wanderer, binds the broken heart,
+    And sues the sinner to return to God."
+
+Fourthly, _his habitual dependence on the Spirit of God, and his
+earnest aspirations for the manifestation of his power_. That he
+was conscious of his own superior talents as an orator, and knew
+how to employ them on sacred themes; that he skilfully wielded
+all the weapons of a well-studied eloquence to gain access to the
+human mind, and knew both how to alarm and how to persuade, and
+could attempt both with as much success probably as any speaker,
+either of ancient or modern times; that he had a large and minute
+acquaintance with the powers and passions of the human soul, and
+knew well when and how to touch the hidden springs of its energies
+and actions; that he had a good amount of common and sacred learning
+at his command, and like that Apollos whom among the early teachers
+of Christianity he most resembled, was "mighty in the Scriptures;"
+and that he delighted to expatiate on the wonders and glories of
+redemption as a restorative scheme preëminently adapted to interest
+and attract, to impress and rule our common nature--are facts open
+to all who inspect his writings and accompany him in his labors,
+and will be denied by none. But with all these, and amid all, in
+every sermon he composed and delivered, and in his most impassioned
+addresses to his hearers, there is manifested an underlying and
+all-pervading dependence on the power and grace of the Spirit
+of God, which was in character, if not in degree, meek, humble,
+genuine, entire, like that of the most eminent apostle or adoring
+saint at the foot of the divine throne. With him it was not merely a
+sentiment, but a feeling; and that feeling constant and habitual, as
+it was in him who in the review of his labors said, "I have planted,
+Apollos watered, but God gave the increase." He knew that none but
+the almighty Spirit could gain effectual access to the spirit of
+man; and that not even a Melancthon, a Luther, or a Whitefield,
+could make old Adam yield, unless constrained by a superior power.
+He seemed to stand in the valley of vision among the dry bones, as
+the prophet did, and while he addressed them with something like a
+prophet's power, he had no expectation or hope of success until the
+wind of heaven came down and blew upon them. Therefore he prophesied
+to it as well as to them. "Come from the four winds, O breath, and
+breathe upon the slain, that they may live," was often the mighty
+cry of his soul, before preaching, while preaching, and after
+preaching. It seemed to be his joy, his only, his all-sustaining
+confidence, that he lived under "the dispensation of the Spirit,"
+and wrought in a day, and preached upon a theme, in connection with
+which "the ministration of the Spirit" was to be "glorious," by his
+wonderful works of conviction, conversion, and sanctification, among
+the children of men. To that Spirit, as the glorifier of Christ, he
+often devoutly and earnestly appealed. Sometimes, in the midst of
+an unusual flow of tender and eloquent address to his hearers on
+his favorite theme of the glories and grace of his divine Master,
+he would pause in solemn silence, and lifting up his hands and his
+voice to heaven, and carrying the hearts of his audience with him,
+invoke aloud the descending and all-consuming fire. The present God
+was acknowledged and felt. The word came "in demonstration of the
+Spirit and of power." And while the habitual aim of his preaching
+was to exalt "Christ Jesus the Lord," and while he reasoned, and
+opened the Scriptures, and taught and alarmed or invited his
+hearers, in the most touching strains of urgent remonstrance and
+tender entreaty, to accept now "the great salvation," the inward
+state of his soul was that of entire reliance on the presence and
+coöperation of the Holy Spirit of God. To him were sent up his most
+intense aspirations. In all the records of his success, to that
+Spirit the honor is always ascribed. "Not I, but the grace of God
+which was with me," is the grateful acknowledgment he makes in the
+review of every field occupied and every triumph won. And thus it
+was that the fabric of his ministry, and of all his ministrations,
+in the multitudinous labors which he directed against the kingdom
+of darkness and of Satan in his day, was like the mystic vision
+which Ezekiel saw, _instinct with life_. The spirit of the living
+creatures was in the wheels. "When this went, those went; when this
+stood, those stood; when this was lifted up from the earth, those
+were lifted up." It was all life. A living preacher; a living theme;
+a living power, giving life, and spreading it all around. Therefore
+it was that life followed in the region of death, and at his coming
+the desert rejoiced, and the wilderness blossomed as the rose.
+
+    "Dry bones were raised, and clothed afresh,
+     And hearts of stone were turned to flesh."
+
+By preaching such as we have now attempted to describe, thousands
+and tens of thousands were gathered to Christ. "An exceeding great
+army" stood up. Slumbering churches were awakened, religion was
+revived, and "righteousness and praise" were caused to "spring forth
+before all the nations." And as this apostolic man surveyed the
+amazing scene, and glanced at the wide circumference of his labors,
+in the British Isles and in the New World, he might have exclaimed,
+as one before him had done, "Now thanks be unto God, who always
+causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savor of
+his name by us in every place." "Through mighty signs and wonders,
+_by the power of the Spirit of God_, from Jerusalem round about to
+Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ." "For I am
+not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God to
+salvation; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." Who, in the
+remembrance of Whitefield and his times, will not long for their
+return, and exclaim, "Awake, awake; put on strength, O arm of the
+Lord; awake, as in the ancient days." "O that thou wouldest rend
+the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might
+flow down at thy presence, as when the melting fire burneth, the
+fire causeth the waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine
+adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence!" Spirit
+of the living God, descend and replenish with thy power all our
+souls, our ministry, our temples, our land.
+
+In estimating the character of Whitefield, it should be observed
+that _he dealt with his hearers, individually and collectively, as
+immortal beings_. To use the language of Isaac Taylor, "he held
+MAN as if in the abstract, or as if whatever is not common to all
+men were forgotten. The most extreme diversities, intellectual and
+moral, differences of rank, culture, national modes of thought, all
+gave way and ceased to be thought of; distinctions were swept from
+the ground where he took his position. At the first opening of his
+lips, and as the rich harmony of his voice spread its undulations
+over the expanse of human faces, and at the instant when the sparkle
+of his bright eye caught every other eye, human nature, in a manner,
+dropped its individuality, and presented itself in its very elements
+to be moulded anew. Whitefield, although singularly gifted with a
+perception of the varieties of character, yet spoke as if he could
+know nothing of the thousands before him but their immortality and
+their misery; and so it was that these thousands listened to him.
+
+"No preacher whose history is on record, has trod so wide a field as
+did Whitefield, or has retrod it so often, or has repeated himself
+so much, or has carried so far the experiment of exhausting himself,
+and of spending his popularity, if it could have been spent, but
+it never was spent. Within the compass of a few weeks he might
+have been heard addressing the negroes of the Bermuda islands,
+adapting himself to their infantile understandings, and to their
+debauched hearts; and then at Chelsea, with the aristocracy of rank
+and wit before him, approving himself to listeners such as the
+lords Bolingbroke and Chesterfield. Whitefield might as easily have
+produced a Hamlet or a Paradise Lost, as have excogitated a sermon
+which, as a composition, a product of thought, would have tempted
+men like these to hear him a second time; and as to his faculty and
+graces as a speaker, his elocution and action, a second performance
+would have contented them. But in fact Bolingbroke, and many of his
+class, thought not the hour long, time after time, while, with much
+sameness of _material_ and of language, he spoke of eternity and of
+salvation in Christ.... Floods of tears moistened cheeks rough and
+smooth; and sighs, suppressed or loudly uttered, gave evidence that
+human nature is one and the same when it comes in presence of truths
+which bear upon the guilty and the immortal without distinction."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Rev. Dr. James Hamilton of London has admirably delineated
+Whitefield, in a passage which must be admired by all who read
+it: "Whitefield was the prince of English preachers. Many have
+surpassed him as sermon-makers, but none have approached him
+as a pulpit orator. Many have outshone him in the clearness of
+their logic, the grandeur of their conceptions, and the sparkling
+beauty of single sentences; but in the power of darting the gospel
+direct into the conscience, he eclipsed them all. With a full and
+beaming countenance, and the frank and easy port which the English
+people love--for it is the symbol of honest purpose and friendly
+assurance--he combined a voice of rich compass, which could easily
+thrill over Moorfields in musical thunder, or whisper its terrible
+secret in every private ear; and to this gainly aspect and tuneful
+voice he added a most expressive and eloquent action. Improved by
+conscientious practice, and instinct with his earnest nature, this
+elocution was the acted sermon, and by its pantomimic portrait
+enabled the eye to anticipate each rapid utterance, and helped the
+memory to treasure up the palatable ideas. None ever used so boldly,
+nor with more success, the highest styles of impersonation: as when
+he described to his sailor-auditors a storm at sea, and compelled
+them to shout, 'Take to the longboat, sir!' His 'hark, hark!' could
+conjure up Gethsemane with its faltering moon, and awake again the
+cry of horror-stricken innocence; and an apostrophe to Peter on
+the holy mount would light up another Tabor, and drown it in glory
+from the opening heaven. His thoughts were possessions, and his
+feelings were transformations; and he spoke because he felt, his
+hearers understood because they saw. They were not only enthusiastic
+amateurs, like Garrick, who ran to weep and tremble at his bursts
+of passion, but even the colder critics of the Walpole school
+were surprised into momentary sympathy and reluctant wonder. Lord
+Chesterfield was listening in Lady Huntingdon's pew when Whitefield
+was comparing the benighted sinner to a blind beggar on a dangerous
+road. His little dog gets away from him when skirting the edge of
+a precipice, and he is left to explore the path with his iron-shod
+staff. On the very verge of the cliff this blind guide slips through
+his fingers and skims away down the abyss. All unconscious, the
+owner stoops down to regain it, and stumbling forward--'Good God,
+he is gone!' shouted Chesterfield, who had been watching with
+breathless alarm the blind man's movements, and who jumped from his
+feet to save the catastrophe.
+
+"But the glory of Whitefield's preaching was his heart-kindled
+and heart-melting gospel. But for this, all his bold strokes and
+brilliant surprises might have been no better than the rhetorical
+triumphs of Kirwan and other pulpit dramatists. He was an orator,
+but he only sought to be an evangelist. Like a volcano where gold
+and gems may be darted forth as well as common things, but where
+gold and molten granite flow all alike in fiery fusion, bright
+thoughts and splendid images might be projected from his pulpit,
+but all were merged in the stream which bore along the gospel
+and himself in blended fervor. Indeed, so simple was his nature,
+that glory to God and good will to man had filled it; there was
+room for little more. Having no church to found, no family to
+enrich, and no memory to immortalize, he was simply the ambassador
+of God; and inspired with its genial piteous spirit--so full of
+heaven reconciled and humanity restored--he soon himself became a
+living gospel. Radiant with its benignity, and trembling with its
+tenderness, by a sort of spiritual induction a vast audience would
+speedily be brought into a frame of mind--the transfusing of his
+own; and the white furrows on their sooty faces told that Kingswood
+colliers were weeping, or the quivering of an ostrich plume bespoke
+its elegant wearer's deep emotion. And coming to his pulpit direct
+from communion with his Master, and in the strength of accepted
+prayer, there was an elevation in his mien which often paralyzed
+hostility, and a self-possession which made him amid uproar and
+confusion the more sublime. With an electric bolt he would bring the
+jester in his fool's cap from his perch on the tree, or galvanize
+the brickbat from the skulking miscreant's grasp, or sweep down in
+crouching submission and shamefaced silence the whole of Bartholomew
+fair; while a revealing flash of sententious doctrine, of vivified
+Scripture, would disclose to awe-struck hundreds the forgotten
+verities of another world, or the unsuspected arcana of their inner
+man. 'I came to break your head, but, through you, God has broken
+my heart,' was a sort of confession with which he was familiar; and
+to see the deaf old gentlewoman who used to mutter imprecations
+at him as he passed along the streets, clambering up the pulpit
+stairs to catch his angelic words, was a sort of spectacle which the
+triumphant gospel often witnessed in his day. And when it is known
+that his voice could be heard by twenty thousand, and that ranging
+all the empire, as well as America, he would often preach thrice
+on a working-day, and that he has received in one week as many as
+a thousand letters from persons awakened by his sermons, if no
+estimate can be formed of the results of his ministry, some idea may
+be suggested of its vast extent and singular effectiveness."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Very admirably has a writer in the North British Review compared and
+contrasted Whitefield and Wesley. He says, "Few characters could be
+more completely the converse, and in the church's exigencies, more
+happily the supplement of one another, than were those of George
+Whitefield and John Wesley; and had their views been identical,
+and their labors all along coincident, their large services to the
+gospel might have repeated Paul and Barnabas. Whitefield was soul,
+and Wesley was system. Whitefield was a summer cloud which burst at
+morning or noon a fragrant exhalation over an ample track, and took
+the rest of the day to gather again; Wesley was the polished conduit
+in the midst of the garden, through which the living water glided
+in pearly brightness and perennial music, the same vivid stream
+from day to day. After a preaching paroxysm, Whitefield lay panting
+on his couch, spent, breathless, and deathlike; after his morning
+sermon in the foundry, Wesley would mount his pony, and trot and
+chat, and gather simples, till he reached some country hamlet, where
+he would bait his charger, and talk through a little sermon with the
+villagers, and remount his pony and trot away again. In his aërial
+poise, Whitefield's eagle eye drank lustre from the source of light,
+and loved to look down on men in assembled myriads; Wesley's falcon
+glance did not sweep so far, but it searched more keenly and marked
+more minutely where it pierced. A master of assemblies, Whitefield
+was no match for the isolated man. Seldom coping with the multitude,
+but strong in astute sagacity and personal ascendency, Wesley could
+conquer any number one by one. All force and impetus, Whitefield
+was the powder-blast in the quarry, and by one explosive sermon
+would shake a district, and detach materials for other men's long
+work--deft, neat, and painstaking, Wesley loved to split and trim
+each fragment into uniform plinths and polished stones. Or, taken
+otherwise, Whitefield was the bargeman or the wagoner who brought
+the timber of the house, and Wesley was the architect who set it up.
+Whitefield had no patience for ecclesiastical polity, no aptitude
+for pastoral details--with a beaver-like propensity for building,
+Wesley was always constructing societies, and with a king-like
+craft of ruling, was most at home when presiding over a class or a
+conference. It was their infelicity that they did not always work
+together--it was the happiness of the age, and the furtherance of
+the gospel, that they lived alongside of one another."
+
+
+CENTENNIAL COMMEMORATIONS.
+
+When a century had elapsed from the commencement of Whitefield's
+public labors, it was deemed desirable by many in England to
+hold public services of a devotional and practical character, in
+celebration of the event. Especially was it designed that such
+celebrations should have a reference, as far as possible, to
+advance open-air preaching. The first services of this character
+were very properly held in the Tabernacle, London, on May 21, 1839,
+and well do we remember with what intense interest, in common with
+thousands, we attended them. Ministers and laymen of at least
+four religious denominations assisted in them, and eloquently
+discoursed on subjects illustrating the grace of God in connection
+with Whitefield, but still more intent were they on benefiting the
+present and future generations of men. Dr. Campbell delivered a
+sermon on the character and labors of Apollos, illustrated by those
+of Whitefield; the late Dr. Cox discoursed on the genius and labors
+of Whitefield; the late Rev. John Blackburn described the past and
+present state of religion in England; and the Rev. John Young, LL.
+D., urged the propriety, duty, and necessity of open-air preaching.
+In addition to these sermons, several admirable speeches were made,
+and every thing was marked by a spirit of earnest devotion. A small
+volume, containing the sermons and speeches, was printed, and put
+into extensive circulation.
+
+About the same time, a number of ministers of the Congregational
+order met in a central town of Gloucestershire, when one of them
+suggested, that "as the present year was the centenary of the Rev.
+George Whitefield's labors in reviving the apostolic practice of
+open-air preaching, it might be desirable to commemorate them by a
+special religious open-air celebration. It was further remarked,
+that Whitefield was a native of Gloucester; that as many ministers
+present presided over churches instituted by his ministry; that
+as Stinchcombe hill, in the very centre of the county, presented
+a most beautiful and eligible spot for a public meeting; and as
+upon its summit, a century ago, Whitefield himself had preached and
+showed the glad tidings of the kingdom of God, it seemed a duty to
+improve the opportunity it offered of addressing, on the gracious
+persuasives of the cross, a large concourse of persons, many of whom
+might never hear the gospel, and of promoting in the county the
+revival of evangelical religion, which God so highly honored his
+devoted servant in commencing in our land."
+
+The suggestion was most cordially received, arrangements were made,
+and, July 30, 1839, though the weather was unfavorable, the meeting
+was attended by at least seven thousand persons. A large preaching
+stand was erected for the ministers, nearly one hundred of whom
+were present. Sermons were preached by the Rev. Drs. Matheson and
+Ross, and by the Rev. Messrs. T. East, J. H. Hinton, and J. Sibree;
+and addresses were given, and the devotional exercises led by many
+others. The services were solemnly impressive. The late Josiah
+Conder, Esq., wrote two hymns especially for the occasion, which are
+well worthy of preservation; we therefore transfer them to our pages.
+
+I.
+
+      How sweet from crowded throngs,
+      Zion, ascend thy songs,
+    With choral swells through echoing aisles!
+      Where brethren, brethren meet,
+      These songs rise doubly sweet,
+    From humbler rooms or loftier piles.
+
+      But here, not made with hands,
+      A nobler temple stands;
+    Here, 'mid thy works, O God, we bow,
+      Where all around, above,
+      Proclaims thy power and love;
+    Oh, tune our hearts to praise thee now.
+
+      We bless thy gracious care,
+      For many a house of prayer,
+    Where saints may meet with conscience free,
+      To keep thy simple rites,
+      In which thy church delights,
+    And unforbidden, wait on thee.
+
+      But now, beneath the sky,
+      We raise our songs on high,
+    To Him who gave all nature birth;
+      While the free air wafts round
+      To distant vales the sound--
+    Praise to the Lord of heaven and earth.
+
+      So to the mountain air
+      The Saviour breathed his prayer;
+    So 'mid green hills or deserts rude,
+      The poor he meekly taught,
+      And gracious wonders wrought,
+    Or fed the famished multitude.
+
+      So did apostles teach;
+      So did our Whitefield preach;
+    These hills have heard his fervent prayer:
+      Oh, let the saving word
+      Throughout our land be heard,
+    Free as the light, and open as the air.
+
+
+II.
+
+    Where is the voice of Whitefield now?
+      Where does his mantle rest?
+    Oh, for Elisha's from the plough,
+      With kindred zeal possessed!
+    Apostles of heroic mould,
+      With love seraphic fired,
+    Divinely called, like those of old
+      At Pentecost inspired!
+
+    Oh THOU, our Head, enthroned on high,
+      By whom thy members live,
+    Wilt thou not hear our fervent cry,
+      The holy unction give?
+    In all the plenitude of grace
+      Thy gifts of might bestow;
+    And by us, Lord, in every place,
+      Thy saving virtue show.
+
+    This Christian land with error teems,
+      The blind by blinder led;
+    The sophist weaves his Atheist schemes;
+      Wide has the poison spread.
+    Arise, O Lord, send forth thy word;
+      Thy faithful heralds call;
+    And while the gospel trump is heard,
+      Let Satan's bulwarks fall.
+
+    Free, pure, and vital as the light,
+      GOD'S message to our race;
+    Like genial gales the SPIRIT'S might,
+      Sovereign, mysterious grace.
+    Breathe forth, O wind, and to new birth
+      Quicken the bones of death;
+    Regenerate this withered earth;
+      Give to the dying breath.
+
+It is pleasant to add to this account, that satisfactory evidences
+were given that some, during these services, were brought to the
+saving knowledge of "the truth as in Jesus." And it may be mentioned
+as a singular circumstance, that an old man one hundred and three
+years of age attended on this occasion, who had been carried in his
+mother's arms to this same spot to hear Whitefield preach just a
+century before.
+
+The last centenary service to which we shall make reference, is the
+one held at the _Bristol_ Tabernacle, November 25, 1853. The sermon
+on _The Character of Whitefield_, by the Rev. John Angell James, was
+from the text, "This one thing I do." Phil. 3:13. In it he said:
+
+"We hear much in our days about the adaptation of the gospel to
+the age. There is no word I more hate or love, dread or desire,
+according to the sense in, or the purpose for which it is used,
+than this word _adaptation_ as applied to preaching. Now, if by
+adaptation be meant, more philosophy, and less Christianity; more of
+cold abstract intellectualism, and less of popular, simple, earnest
+statement of gospel truth; more profound discussion and artificial
+elaboration addressed to the learned few, and less of warm-hearted
+appeal to the multitude, may God preserve us from such adaptation,
+for it is high-treason against truth and the salvation of souls. But
+if by this be meant a stronger intelligence, a chaster composition,
+a sterner logic, a more powerful rhetoric, a more correct criticism,
+and a more varied illustration, but all employed to set forth the
+gospel as comprehending those two great words, _redemption and
+regeneration_, let us have it; we need it; and come in ever such
+abundance, it will be a blessing.
+
+"Adaptation! the gospel is adaptation, from beginning to end, to
+every age of time, and to all conditions of humanity. It is God's
+own adaptation. It is he who knows every ward of the lock of
+man's nature, who has constructed this admirable key; and all the
+miserable tinkering of a vain and deceitful philosophy can make no
+better key, nor can all the attempts of a philosophizing theology
+make this key better fit the wards of the lock.
+
+"Adaptation! was not the gospel in all its purity and simplicity
+adapted to human nature as it existed in commercial, scholastic,
+philosophical Corinth? And did not Paul think so when he determined
+to know nothing there, but 'Christ, and him crucified?' Was it not
+by this very gospel, which many are "beginning to imagine is not
+suited to an intellectual and philosophical age, that Christianity
+fought its first battles, and achieved its victories over the
+hosts of darkness? Against the axe, the stake, the sword of the
+gladiator, and the lions of the amphitheatre; against the ridicule
+of wits, the reasoning of sages, the interests, influence, and craft
+of the priesthood; against the prowess of armies, and the brute
+passions of the mob, Christianity, strong in its weakness, sublime
+in its simplicity, potent in its isolation, asking and receiving
+no protection from the sceptre of the monarch or the sword of the
+warrior, went forth to do battle with the wisdom of Greece and the
+mythology of Rome. Everywhere it prevailed, and gathered its laurels
+from the snows of Scythia, the sands of Africa, the plains of India,
+and the green fields of Europe. With the gospel alone she overturned
+the altars of impiety in her march. Power felt his arm wither at her
+glance. She silenced the lying oracles by the majesty of her voice,
+and extinguished the deceptive light of philosophy in the schools,
+till at length she who went forth forlorn and weeping from Calvary
+to the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, ascended, upon the ruins of the
+temples, the idols, and the altars she had demolished, to the throne
+of the Cæsars, and with the diadem on her brow, and the purple on
+her shoulders, gave laws to the world from that very tribunal where
+she had been dragged as a criminal and condemned as a malefactor.[3]
+
+  [3] See Dr. John M. Mason's Funeral Sermon for Mrs. Graham.
+
+"Adaptation! is not justification by faith the very substance of the
+gospel, and was it not by this doctrine that Luther effected the
+enfranchisement of the human intellect, from the chains of slavery
+which had been forged in the Vatican; achieved the liberation of
+half Europe from the yoke of Rome, and gave an impulse to human
+thought and vital Christianity which has not yet spent itself, and
+never will, till it issues in the jubilee of the nations and the
+glories of the millennium?
+
+"Adaptation! did not Whitefield move this kingdom almost to its
+centre, and equally so our then great transatlantic colony to
+its extremities, fascinating alike the colliers of Kingswood and
+the citizens of the metropolis; and by this mighty theme enable
+myriads to burst the chains of sin and Satan, and to walk abroad
+disenthralled by the mighty power of redeeming grace?
+
+"Adaptation! is not this gospel now proving its power in heathen
+countries to raise the savage into civilized man, the civilized man
+into the saint, and in this ascending scale of progression, the
+saint into the seraph?
+
+"And yet, with these proofs of the power of the gospel to adapt
+itself to every age of the world, and to every condition of
+humanity, there are those who want something else to effect the
+regeneration of mankind. 'And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all
+men unto me.' So said the Saviour of men. The cross is the great
+moral magnet for all ages and all countries, to draw men from
+barbarism to civilization, from sin to holiness, from misery to
+happiness, and from earth to heaven; and it were as rational to say
+the loadstone had lost its original power of polar attraction, and
+the mariner's compass is an old, stale invention, and must now be
+replaced with some new device, better adapted to the modern light
+of science, as to suppose that the doctrine of the cross had become
+effete, and must give way to some new phase of theological truth.
+
+"I now consider the _manner_ in which Whitefield carried out his own
+purpose into action. '_One thing I do_:' and _how_ did he accomplish
+it?
+
+"Never was the joyful sound sent over the world by a more
+magnificent _voice_. All his biographers labor, as do the
+historians of Greece in describing the power of Demosthenes, to
+make us understand his wondrous oratory. Perhaps, after all, that
+which gives us the most vivid idea of it is, not the _crowds_ it
+attracted, moved, and melted, but that it warmed the cold and
+calculating Franklin, and fascinated the philosophical and sceptical
+Hume. Heaven rarely ever gave, or gives to man the faculty of speech
+in such perfection. But what is particularly worthy of notice is,
+that he trusted not to its native power, but increased that power
+by assiduous cultivation. His matchless elocution was not only an
+endowment, but an acquirement. If he preached a sermon twenty times,
+he went on to the last improving his method of delivering it, both
+as to tones and action; not for theatrical display--no man was
+ever more free from this--but to carry out his 'one thing'--_the
+salvation of souls_. He knew, and deeply and philosophically entered
+into the meaning of that text, 'Faith cometh by hearing;' and he
+also knew that attentive hearing comes by the power of speaking.
+With such a theme as the gospel, with such an object as salvation,
+with such an aim as eternity, and such a Master to serve as Christ,
+he would not give utterance to such subjects, and for such purposes,
+in careless and slovenly speech. He studied to be the orator, that
+he might thus pluck souls as brands from the burning. In this let us
+imitate him. Of all our faculties, that of speech is perhaps least
+cultivated, yet is most susceptible of cultivation, and pays best
+for the pains bestowed upon it. My brethren, speech is the great
+instrument of our ministerial labor. Our assault upon the rebel town
+of Mansoul is to be carried on, and our entrance to be effected,
+to use the language of Bunyan, at ear-gate. The tongue, rather
+than the pen, is the weapon of most of us. For the love of souls,
+let us endeavor to be good speakers. With the loftiest themes in
+the universe for our subjects, do, do let us endeavor to speak of
+them in some measure worthily. It is an instructive and astounding,
+and to us humiliating and disgraceful fact, that the stage-player,
+whether in comedy or in tragedy, takes ten times more pains to
+give effective utterance to his follies, vices, and passions, for
+the amusement of his audience, than we do to eternal and momentous
+truths for the salvation of ours. The stage seems the only arena
+where the power of oratory is much studied. Should this be?
+
+"A few characteristics of Whitefield's manner deserve emphatic
+mention and particular attention, as connected with the execution
+of his one great purpose. The first I notice is _solemnity_. He
+never, as did some of his followers, degraded the pulpit by making
+it the arena of low humor and wit; abounding in anecdote, and even
+in action, he was uniformly solemn. His deep devotional spirit
+contributed largely to this, for his piety was the inward fire
+which supplied the ardor of his manner. He was eminently a man of
+prayer; and had he been less prayerful, he would also have been less
+powerful. He came into the pulpit from the closet, where he had been
+communing with God, and could no more trifle with merry humor at
+such a time than could Moses when he came down from the mount to the
+people; or than the high-priest when he came out from the blazing
+symbols of the divine presence between the cherubim in the holy of
+holies; or Isaiah when he saw the Lord of hosts, high and lifted up,
+with his train filling the temple. Happily the age and taste for
+pulpit buffoonery is gone, I hope never to return.
+
+  ''Tis pitiful to count a gain when you should woo a soul.'
+
+It was the stamp and impress of eternity upon his preaching, that
+gave Whitefield such power. He spoke like a man that stood upon
+the borders of the unseen world, alternately rapt in ecstasy as he
+gazed upon the felicities of heaven, and convulsed with terror as
+he seemed to hear the howlings of the damned, and saw the smoke
+of their torment ascending from the pit for ever and ever. His
+maxim was to preach, as Apelles painted, for eternity, and he
+said, if ministers preached for eternity, they would then act the
+part of true Christian orators. And tell me, my brethren, what are
+all the prettinesses, the beauties, or even sublimities of human
+eloquence--what the similes, metaphors, and other garniture of
+rhetoric--what the philosophy and intellectualities which many in
+this day are aiming at, to move and bow and conquer the human soul,
+compared with 'the powers of the world to come?'
+
+"But there was another characteristic of Whitefield's manner, and
+that was its _tenderness_. Our Lord, as to his humanity, was a man
+of sorrows, and therefore of tears; so was Paul, so was Whitefield.
+Perhaps the latter somewhat too much so, at any rate far too much so
+for any preacher but himself, and with him the fountain of his tears
+was somewhat too full and flowing. But Oh, what an apology for this,
+and what a stroke of pathetic eloquence was that appeal when on one
+occasion he said, 'You blame me for weeping, but how can I help
+it, when you will not weep for yourselves, although your immortal
+souls are on the verge of destruction, and for aught I know you are
+hearing your last sermon, and may never more have an opportunity
+to have Christ offered to you.' Man is an emotional as well as an
+intellectual creature, and sympathy is one of the powers of our
+physical and mental economy. The passions are of an infectious
+nature, and men feel more in a crowd than in solitude. The adage of
+the ancient elocutionist is still true, 'If you wish me to weep,
+weep yourself.' Whitefield's tears drew forth those of his audience,
+and his pathos softened their hearts for the impressions of the
+truth. It is forgotten by many preachers that they may do much by
+the heart, as well as by the head. We are not the teachers of logic,
+mathematics, metaphysics, or natural philosophy, which have nothing
+to do with the heart, but of religion, the very seat of which is
+there; and _we_ address ourselves not only to the logical, but to
+the æsthetical part of man's complex nature. By argument, I know
+we must convince, but we must not stop in the judgment, but go on
+to reach the heart, and we ourselves must feel as well as reason.
+_Clear, but cold_, is too descriptive of much modern preaching. It
+is the frosty moonlight of a winter's night, not the warm sunshine
+of a summer's day. A cold preacher is likely to have cold hearers.
+Cold! What, when the love of God, the death of Christ, the salvation
+of souls, the felicities of heaven, and the torments of hell are the
+theme? Enthusiasm here is venial, compared with lukewarmness.
+
+"Need I say that _earnestness_ was characteristic of Whitefield's
+preaching? Yes, that one word, perhaps, more than any other in our
+language, is its epitome. An intense earnestness marked its whole
+career, and was carried to such a pitch as to subject him, as did
+that of Paul, to the imputation of madness. The salvation of souls
+was so entirely the one thing that engrossed his soul, his time,
+his labors, that not a step deviated from it. Every moment, every
+day, was an approximation to it. His devotions, his recreations,
+if any such he had, his journeys, his voyages, his sermons, his
+correspondence, were all referred to this one end. His exertions
+never relaxed for a moment, and he, with his great compeer Wesley,
+made the trial so seldom made, what is the utmost effect which, in
+the way of saving souls, may be granted to any one preacher of the
+gospel in any age or country.
+
+"What may not be done, and is not done by earnestness? It gives
+_some_ success to any error, however absurd or enormous, and to any
+scheme of wickedness, however flagrant and atrocious. What is it
+that has given such success to popery, to infidelity, to Mormonism?
+_Earnestness._ And shall the apostles and advocates of error be
+more in earnest than the friends of truth? Whitefield often quoted
+Betterton the player, who affirmed that the stage would soon be
+deserted if the actors spoke like the preachers. And what _would_
+empty the play-house, that is, dulness and coldness, _does_ often
+empty the meeting-house. 'Mr. Betterton's answer to a worthy
+prelate,' says Whitefield, 'is worthy of lasting regard.' When asked
+how it is that the clergy, who speak of things _real_, affected
+the people so little, and the players, who speak only of things
+imaginary, affected them so much, replied 'My lord, I can assign but
+one reason--we players speak of things imaginary as though they were
+real, and too many of the clergy speak of things real as though they
+were imaginary.' It is not always so. Many a preacher, even in our
+own day, by the unaffected earnestness of his manner, carries away
+his audience upon the tide of his own feeling. They hear what he
+says, they see what he feels, his eye helps his tongue, the workings
+of his countenance disclose the feelings of his heart; his manner is
+a lucid comment upon his matter, breaks down the limits which words
+impose upon the communication of ideas, and gives them not only an
+apprehension of the meaning, but a sense of the importance of his
+subject, which unimpassioned language and manner could not have done.
+
+"I name but one thing more as characteristic of this great man,
+and which it would be well for us to imitate, and that is, his
+_dauntless courage_. See him not only facing mobs, defying threats,
+and even lifting up his pulpit amid the wild uproar of a London
+fair, the boldest achievement that a speaker ever accomplished, but
+holding on his noble career unterrified, and working amid the storm
+of obloquy that came upon him from so many quarters. Who that has
+ever read, can ever forget Cowper's exquisite description of him?
+
+    "'LEUCONOMUS--beneath well-sounding Greek
+      I show a name a poet must not speak--
+      Stood pilloried on infamy's high stage,
+      And bore the pelting storm of half an age,
+      The very butt of slander, and the blot
+      For every dart that malice ever shot.
+      The man that mentioned him at once dismissed
+      All mercy from his lips, and sneered and hissed.
+      His crimes were such as Sodom never knew,
+      And perjury stood up to swear all true;
+      His aim was mischief, and his zeal pretence,
+      His speech rebellion against common-sense:
+      A knave when tried on honesty's plain rule,
+      And when by that of reason, a mere fool.
+      The world's best comfort was, his doom was passed,
+      Die when he might, he must be damned at last.
+      Now truth, perform thine office, waft aside
+      The curtain drawn by prejudice and pride,
+      Reveal--the man is dead--to wondering eyes,
+      This more than monster, in his proper guise.
+      He loved the world that hated him; the tear
+      That dropped upon his Bible was sincere:
+      Assailed by scandal and the tongue of strife,
+      His only answer was--a blameless life;
+      And he that forged, and he that threw the dart,
+      Had each a brother's interest in his heart.
+      Paul's love of Christ, and steadiness unbribed,
+      Were copied close in him, and well transcribed.
+      He followed Paul--his zeal a kindred flame,
+      His apostolic charity the same.
+      Like him, crossed cheerfully tempestuous seas,
+      Forsaking country, kindred, friends, and ease.
+      Like him he labored, and like him, content
+      To bear it, suffered shame where'er he went.
+      Blush, calumny! and write upon his tomb,
+      If honest eulogy can spare the room,
+      Thy deep repentance of thy thousand lies,
+      Which, aimed at him, have pierced the offended skies;
+      And say, Blot out my sin, confessed, deplored,
+      Against thine image, in thy saint, O Lord.'
+
+"What but a guilty cowardice is it, a false and pusillanimous shame,
+that keeps us in these days from some novel and bolder method of
+aggression upon the domain of darkness? Are we not wanting here in
+that moral courage which would make us, when conscious of doing
+right, indifferent to the stare of the ignorant, and the wonder
+of the timid; to the shaft of ridicule, and the malignant censure
+of the cynic? How enslaved are we by the fetters of custom, or
+restrained by the trammels of conventiality! How little are we
+disposed to go out of the usual track, even in saving souls! Very
+few are disposed to imitate the boldness, ingenuity, and novelty
+of that noble-hearted brother,[4] who hired a disengaged theatre
+in the city where he dwelt, and for four months preached there to
+listening and well-behaved crowds, the gospel of salvation; and for
+his reward had very many given to him, who are his joy now, and will
+be his crown of rejoicing in the presence of Christ at his coming.
+Who can see Paul on Mars-Hill, addressing himself to the sages and
+their followers of all sects, and preaching to them a doctrine so
+repugnant to the mythology of the temple and the philosophy of the
+schools, as Christ, the last judgment, and the resurrection of the
+body, without being impressed with the moral courage of such an act?
+It is this spiritual heroism that is wanted in our modern preaching,
+and indeed, which was no less needful when the Methodistic company
+commenced their preaching.
+
+  [4] The Rev. Richard Knill of Chester, formerly a missionary in
+  India, and afterwards in Russia, since deceased.--B.
+
+"Nor is it only in this unwillingness to go off from our own
+ground for saving souls that our guilty cowardice is seen, but in
+the disposition to shirk the more solemn and searching truths of
+revelation. Are we not giving way too much to the fastidiousness of
+modern taste and refinement, which is craving after smooth things;
+which desires the sentimental, the picturesque, the imaginative, but
+turns with disgust from the solemn, the alarming, the awakening? Are
+we not too gentle and courteous to mention such a word as 'hell'
+to modern ears polite? Are we not too fearful to break in with the
+thunders of a violated law upon those who are at ease in Zion? I do
+not ask for a gross, revolting method of describing the punishment
+of the wicked, as if the preacher delighted in harrowing up the
+feelings of his audience. This is as disgusting as if, in order
+to keep men from crime, our judges and magistrates were ever and
+anon giving a minute detail of the process of an execution, and the
+convulsive pangs of an expiring wretch suspended to the beam of the
+gibbet. We ask not for a harsh, scolding, and denunciating style of
+preaching; but we do want more of the unflinching boldness, and the
+dauntless courage, which, are necessary to fidelity, and absolutely
+essential to him who would win souls to Christ. It is too generally
+forgotten, that our Lord Jesus, who was incarnate love, was the most
+solemn and awful of all preachers. He whose gentle spirit so often
+breathed out itself in invitation, and whose compassion melted into
+tears, at other times robed himself in terror, and uttered the most
+alarming peals of divine indignation. What we need for our ministry
+is this mixture of tenderness and solemnity, which entered so deeply
+into the ministry of Christ, and was so characteristic of his
+servant, whose labors we this day commemorate and commend."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Hear also the Rev. John Glanville, the present successor of
+Whitefield in the Tabernacle at Bristol: "And such preaching _must
+continue_, if the world is to be saved. Nothing but this is suited
+to man's necessities; nothing else can meet man's miseries. The
+battle must be fought with the old, well-tried, but not worn-out
+weapons. God has provided them, and we must use them. We require
+nothing else; the world has not outgrown the old gospel, so as to
+need something new to soothe its sorrows and satisfy its wants.
+
+"Not that ministers can now produce the effect Whitefield did. He
+was a man standing alone. The charm and power of his preaching
+have never been explained. It was all fire and flame, shooting
+out red-hot thunderbolts against the citadels of sin. It was an
+undivided soul, solemnly consecrated to one object--an entire life,
+zealously employed in one thing. As he preached, every feature
+spoke, the whole man became vocal, and the truth of God stood out
+in its full proportions and beauty, in the bright and broad daylight
+of heaven. So unreserved was his self-consecration, that every thing
+was deemed impertinent which obtruded upon, or interfered with the
+one great end of his existence. He lived in communion with God--more
+in heaven than on earth. He was much at the foot of the throne,
+and got his strength there; he prevailed with men, because he had
+prevailed with God. His whole soul was filled with life, and fired
+with love, from being in habitual contact with the cross.
+
+"And _we_ must pursue the same course, and try to do the same thing.
+We have the power, and we must bring it forth and use it. God has
+given the machinery, and it is for us to set it in motion. The
+world is perishing, and we must save it; it is dying, and we must
+give it life. God from his eternal throne calls us--Christ from his
+bleeding cross speaks to us--voices from the abodes of sin, and the
+regions of despair, sound in our ears. And we all, as ministers and
+as members, must rise up in the vigor of piety and the fervor of
+prayer. We must rise up from the slumbers of selfishness, and tear
+off the fetters of the world, and act as those who believe in the
+existence of an eternal heaven and an eternal hell, and that all
+souls will be found in the one or in the other--as those who have a
+great work to do, and but a short and uncertain time to do it in.
+Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake, as in the
+ancient days, in the generations of old."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Transcriber's note:
+
+Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note.
+Irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have been retained as
+printed.
+
+Missing page numbers are page numbers that were not shown in the
+original text.
+
+Mismatched quotes are not fixed if it's not sufficiently clear where
+the missing quote should be placed.
+
+The cover for the eBook version of this book was created by the
+transcriber and is placed in the public domain.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of George Whitefield, by Joseph Belcher
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44140 ***
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+  </head>
+<body>
+<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44140 ***</div>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 358px;">
+<img src="images/title.jpg" width="358" height="600" alt="titlepage" />
+
+</div>
+<hr class="tb" />
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 381px;">
+<img src="images/frontis.jpg" width="381" height="600" alt="frontis" />
+<div class="caption"><p class="center">George Whitefield.
+</p></div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<h1>
+GEORGE WHITEFIELD:<br />
+
+A BIOGRAPHY,</h1>
+
+<p class="center space-above"><small>WITH</small><br />
+
+SPECIAL REFERENCE TO HIS LABORS<br />
+IN AMERICA.</p>
+
+
+<p class="center space-above">
+COMPILED</p>
+
+<h2>BY JOSEPH BELCHER, D. D.,</h2>
+<p class="center">
+<small>AUTHOR OF THE LIFE OF REV. DR. CAREY, MISSIONARY TO INDIA,<br />
+ETC., ETC.</small></p>
+
+<p class="center space-above">
+PUBLISHED BY THE<br />
+AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY,<br />
+150 NASSAU-STREET, NEW YORK.
+</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+
+<h2>CONTENTS.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="center">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="contents">
+<tr><td align="center">CHAPTER I.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="hanging">MORAL STATE OF GREAT BRITAIN IN THE EARLY PART OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY&mdash;WHITEFIELD, FROM HIS BIRTH TO HIS FIRST SERMON.</p></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">1714-1736.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="hanging">Low state of religion in Great Britain and its dependencies when Whitefield appeared&mdash;His birth in Gloucester&mdash;Hooper&mdash;Raikes&mdash;Whitefield's early life&mdash;His entrance at the university of Oxford&mdash;Becomes connected with the Wesleys and other Methodists&mdash;Illness and mental trials&mdash;Relief&mdash;Preparation for the ministry&mdash;Return to Gloucester&mdash;Ordination&mdash;First sermon</p></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_13">13</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">CHAPTER II.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="center">WHITEFIELD'S SUCCESS AS A PREACHER IN ENGLAND&mdash;FIRST VISIT TO AMERICA.</p></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">1736-1738.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="hanging">Whitefield's return to Oxford&mdash;Usefulness there&mdash;Visits London&mdash;Great popularity&mdash;Georgia&mdash;His anxiety as to duty&mdash;Invited to Georgia by the Wesleys&mdash;Preparation and departure&mdash;Preaching and excitement at Deal&mdash;Labors and success on board&mdash;Arrival and labors at Gibraltar&mdash;Interesting incidents on the voyage&mdash;Sickness and recovery&mdash;His reception at Savannah&mdash;Visit to an Indian king&mdash;Origin of the Orphan asylum&mdash;Visit to Frederica&mdash;Return to Savannah&mdash;Visit to Charleston&mdash;Treatment by Garden&mdash;Embarkation for Europe&mdash;Stormy voyage&mdash;Arrival in Limerick&mdash;Journey to London&mdash;Meeting with the trustees of Georgia&mdash;Ordination as priest&mdash;Return to London&mdash;First extempore prayer&mdash;First idea of open-air preaching</p></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_40">40</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span>CHAPTER III.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="center">OPEN-AIR PREACHING IN ENGLAND AND WALES&mdash;ERECTION OF THE TABERNACLE IN LONDON.</p></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">1738, 1739.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="hanging">Whitefield's visit to Bristol&mdash;New opposition&mdash;Interviews with the chancellor of the diocese&mdash;Preaching at Kingswood&mdash;Large congregations&mdash;Preaching at Bristol&mdash;Labors in Wales with Howel Harris&mdash;Gloucester&mdash;Old Mr. Cole&mdash;Return to London&mdash;Conflict with Bishop Warburton and others&mdash;Moorfields&mdash;Kennington Common&mdash;Blackheath&mdash;Anecdotes&mdash;Erection of the Tabernacle&mdash;New Tabernacle&mdash;Certificate&mdash;Visit to Norwich&mdash;Conversion of Robert Robinson&mdash;Preaching at the West End of London&mdash;Liberality of Whitefield's congregations&mdash;Attendance of the nobility on Whitefield's ministry&mdash;Architecture of Tabernacle and Tottenham Court road chapel</p></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_71">71</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">CHAPTER IV.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="center">WHITEFIELD'S SECOND VISIT TO AMERICA.</p></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">1739, 1740.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="hanging">Joseph Periam's release by Whitefield from Bedlam&mdash;Whitefield's arrival at Philadelphia&mdash;Preaches to vast crowds in the open air&mdash;Testimony of Dr. Franklin and others&mdash;Account of the Log College&mdash;William Tennent, Sen.&mdash;Whitefield's own account of his preaching at Philadelphia&mdash;Subsequent discovery of the conversion of Dr. Rodgers&mdash;Whitefield's first visit to New York&mdash;Description of him by one of his hearers&mdash;Sermons in New Jersey&mdash;Old Tennent church&mdash;Places of preaching at New York&mdash;Address to sailors&mdash;Letter to Pemberton&mdash;Interview with Gilbert Tennent&mdash;Some of Whitefield's sermons printed&mdash;Departure from Philadelphia&mdash;Sermons on his journey to Savannah&mdash;Arrival and reception at Charleston&mdash;Departure for Savannah&mdash;Dangers of the way&mdash;State of things in Georgia&mdash;Whitefield revisits Charleston&mdash;Controversy with Commissary Garden&mdash;Lays the foundation-stone of the Orphan house&mdash;Sermon by Smith on the character of Whitefield</p></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_97">97</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">CHAPTER V.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="center">CONTINUATION OF HIS SECOND VISIT TO AMERICA.</p></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">1740.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="hanging">Feebleness of Whitefield's health&mdash;Again visits Charleston, Philadelphia, etc.&mdash;Extent of his former success&mdash;Extracts from Seward's journal&mdash;Extracts from newspapers&mdash;Whitefield's letter to England&mdash;His correspondence on marriage&mdash;Birth and death of his son&mdash;His funeral sermon for his wife&mdash;Franklin and others on Whitefield's eloquence&mdash;Anecdote&mdash;Extract from the New England Weekly Journal&mdash;Return to Savannah&mdash;Manner of his reception&mdash;Activity at Savannah&mdash;Again visits Charleston&mdash;Cited into the Commissary's court&mdash;Various examinations&mdash;Whitefield's appeal to the Court of Chancery&mdash;Interview with the Commissary&mdash;Usefulness at Charleston&mdash;Sails for New England</p></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_129">129</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span>CHAPTER VI.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="center">WHITEFIELD'S FIRST VISIT TO NEW ENGLAND.</p></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">SEPTEMBER TO NOVEMBER, 1740.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="hanging">State of religion in New England&mdash;Testimony of Prince&mdash;Dr. I. Mather&mdash;Dr. Jonathan Edwards' success&mdash;Prevalence of prayer&mdash;Whitefield's arrival and labors at Newport&mdash;Interview with Clap&mdash;Honeyman&mdash;Letter from Barber&mdash;Journey to Boston&mdash;Interview with the Commissary and the clergy&mdash;Preaches at Brattle-street, Old South church, New North, Common, Roxbury, Old North, Cambridge, First church&mdash;Interview with Governor Belcher&mdash;Roxbury&mdash;Hollis-street&mdash;Old South church&mdash;Brattle-street&mdash;Marblehead&mdash;Salem&mdash;Ipswich&mdash;Newbury&mdash;Hampton&mdash;Portsmouth&mdash;York&mdash;Return to Boston&mdash;Frequent preaching&mdash;Invitation to children&mdash;Interesting conversation with a child&mdash;Anecdote of juvenile usefulness&mdash;Remarks on an unconverted ministry&mdash;Whitefield's character of Boston&mdash;Preaches at Concord, Sudbury, Marlborough, Worcester, Leicester, Brookfield, Cold Spring, Hadley, Northampton&mdash;Revival there&mdash;Whitefield's opinion of Mr. Edwards and family&mdash;Important interview&mdash;Preaching at East Windsor, Westfield, Springfield, Suffield&mdash;Opinion of Mr. and Mrs. Edwards, Sen.&mdash;Relinquishment of appointments to preach&mdash;Visit to New Haven&mdash;Interview with Principal Clap&mdash;Departure from New England&mdash;Whitefield's character of it&mdash;Conversion of Mr. Emerson&mdash;Prince's account of Whitefield's visit&mdash;Dr. Baron Stow on its results&mdash;Anecdote,</p></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_148">148</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">CHAPTER VII.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="center">LABORS IN NEW YORK AND THE MIDDLE AND SOUTHERN STATES.</p></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">1740, 1741.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="hanging">Whitefield's arrival and labors at New York, Staten Island, and Newark&mdash;Mr. Burr&mdash;Meeting with Gilbert Tennent&mdash;Visit to Baskinridge&mdash;Tennent's preaching in Cross' barn&mdash;Whitefield preaches in the new house at Philadelphia&mdash;Franklin's advice to Gilbert Tennent&mdash;Remarkable instances of conversion&mdash;Success in Philadelphia&mdash;Apostrophe in a sermon&mdash;Visit to Gloucester, Greenwich, Cohansey, Salem, Newcastle, Fagg's Manor, Bohemia&mdash;Sails from Reedy island to Charleston&mdash;Arrival at Bethesda&mdash;Remarkable escape from death&mdash;Prosecution at Charleston&mdash;Preaching&mdash;Letters from Boston&mdash;Departure for England&mdash;Separation from Messrs. Wesley&mdash;Difficulties in London&mdash;Triumph&mdash;Howel Harris</p></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_196">196</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span>CHAPTER VIII.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="center">FIRST AND SECOND VISITS TO SCOTLAND&mdash;LABORS IN ENGLAND AND WALES.</p></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">1741-1744.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="hanging">Scheme of comprehension&mdash;Account of Rev. John Cennick&mdash;Voyage to Scotland&mdash;Letter to Rodgers&mdash;Visit to Erskine&mdash;Preaching in Edinburgh&mdash;Labors at Glasgow&mdash;His sermons printed&mdash;Return to England&mdash;Letter from McCulloch&mdash;Renewed glance at Edinburgh&mdash;Public attention deeply riveted&mdash;Execution of a convict&mdash;Improvement of the event in a sermon&mdash;Conversion of a mimic&mdash;A drunken sergeant&mdash;Miss Hunter&mdash;Marquis of Lothian&mdash;Conduct of Rev. Mr. Ogilvie&mdash;Second visit to Scotland&mdash;Cambuslang&mdash;Kilmarnock&mdash;Glance at subsequent visits&mdash;Orphan-house park, Edinburgh&mdash;Glasgow&mdash;Increasing reputation&mdash;Extracts from letters&mdash;Anecdotes&mdash;Visit to Wales&mdash;Letters from America&mdash;Visit to Gloucester, Strand, Tewkesbury&mdash;Encouraging news from America&mdash;Success in London&mdash;Awakening at the Tabernacle&mdash;Visit to Gloucester and its neighborhood&mdash;South Wales&mdash;Return to London&mdash;Bristol&mdash;Exeter&mdash;Mr. Saunders&mdash;Conversion of Thomas Olivers&mdash;Birmingham&mdash;Kidderminster&mdash;Health&mdash;Assizes at Gloucester&mdash;Plymouth&mdash;Deliverance from assassination&mdash;Conversion of Mr. Tanner&mdash;Visits to the poor&mdash;Anecdote&mdash;Embarkation for America</p></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_222">222</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">CHAPTER IX.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="center">WHITEFIELD'S SECOND VISIT TO NEW ENGLAND.</p></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">1744, 1745.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="hanging">Incidents of the voyage from England&mdash;Prayer heard&mdash;General alarm&mdash;Whitefield's illness&mdash;Arrival at York&mdash;Threatening sickness&mdash;Rev. Mr. Moody&mdash;Preaching at York and Portsmouth&mdash;Apparent danger of death&mdash;Departure for Boston&mdash;Constant preaching there&mdash;Chelsea&mdash;Malden&mdash;Prince's account of his preaching and conduct&mdash;Objections made to his administration of the Lord's supper&mdash;Changes in New England&mdash;Opposition to Whitefield in Connecticut, New Haven, Massachusetts, Harvard College&mdash;Large meeting in his favor at Boston&mdash;Number of signatures to the testimony&mdash;Progress of revival&mdash;Proceedings of Harvard College&mdash;Whitefield's defence&mdash;Subsequent act of the College&mdash;Expositions at Boston, Ipswich, Portland, Exeter&mdash;Expedition against Cape Breton&mdash;Sherburne's request&mdash;Sermon to the soldiers&mdash;Refusal of chaplaincy&mdash;Conversion of a colored trumpeter&mdash;Of a noted scoffer&mdash;Anecdote of Whitefield and Dr. Hopkins</p></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_254">254</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span>CHAPTER X.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="center">LABORS IN THE MIDDLE AND SOUTHERN STATES&mdash;THE BERMUDAS.</p></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">1745-1748.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="hanging">Whitefield's preaching in New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia&mdash;Liberal offer declined&mdash;Usefulness of his printed sermons in Virginia&mdash;Preaches at Hanover&mdash;Isaac Oliver&mdash;Visit to Bethesda&mdash;His account of the Orphan-house&mdash;His character as given by the New York Post-boy&mdash;Public testimony as to Whitefield's integrity&mdash;Preaching tour in Maryland&mdash;Visit to Charleston&mdash;Success of his preaching in Maryland&mdash;Visits New York, Newport, Portsmouth, Boston&mdash;Return to Philadelphia&mdash;Bohemia&mdash;Journey to North Carolina&mdash;Embarkation for the Bermudas&mdash;His progress and labors&mdash;Honored by the governor and others&mdash;Usefulness among the negroes&mdash;Summary of his proceedings in the Bermudas&mdash;Kindness of the people there&mdash;Voyage to England&mdash;His labors on the voyage&mdash;Arrival at Deal</p></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_277">277</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">CHAPTER XI.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="center">LABORS IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND&mdash;CHAPLAIN TO LADY HUNTINGDON.</p></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">1748, 1749.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="hanging">Triumphs and trials in London&mdash;Becomes chaplain to the Countess of Huntingdon&mdash;Complimented by the great&mdash;Bolingbroke and Rev. Mr. Church&mdash;Rev. James Hervey&mdash;Honors conferred on Whitefield&mdash;Falsehoods of Horace Walpole&mdash;Charged with vulgarism&mdash;Defence&mdash;Third visit to Scotland&mdash;Return to London&mdash;Visit to the west of England&mdash;Conversions in Gloucestershire&mdash;Tour in Cornwall&mdash;Brilliant assemblies in London&mdash;Excursion to Exeter and Plymouth&mdash;Rev. Andrew Kinsman&mdash;Return to London&mdash;Decline of health and visit to Portsmouth and Wales&mdash;Arrival of Mrs. Whitefield from the Bermudas&mdash;Visit to the north of England&mdash;Popularity there&mdash;Intensely interesting services&mdash;Rev. W. Grimshawe&mdash;Solemn instances of mortality&mdash;Return to London for the winter&mdash;Usefulness</p></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_301">301</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">CHAPTER XII.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="hanging">LABORS IN GREAT BRITAIN&mdash;FOURTH VISIT TO AMERICA&mdash;NEW TABERNACLE IN LONDON, AND TABERNACLE AT BRISTOL.</p></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">1750-1754.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="hanging">Efforts made by Whitefield for Bethesda&mdash;His ardent love for America&mdash;Love to his mother&mdash;His mourning for sin&mdash;Dr. Doddridge<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span>&mdash;London ministers&mdash;Interview with Doddridge and Hervey&mdash;Earthquake in London&mdash;Bishop Horne's sermon&mdash;Universal consternation&mdash;Preaching of Whitefield at midnight in Hyde park&mdash;Whitefield and his friends at Court&mdash;Journey to Bristol&mdash;Taunton&mdash;Rev. R. Darracott&mdash;Preaching at Rotherham, Bolton, Ulverston&mdash;Conversion of Mr. Thorpe&mdash;Edinburgh and other places in Scotland&mdash;Testimony of Hume&mdash;Second visit to Ireland&mdash;Opposition on Oxmantown Green&mdash;Usefulness in Ireland&mdash;Rev. John Edwards&mdash;Fourth voyage to America&mdash;Interview with Lady Huntingdon&mdash;Moravians&mdash;Lady Huntingdon's testimony&mdash;Letter to Dr. Franklin&mdash;Itinerant labors&mdash;Revision of manuscripts&mdash;Erection of the new Tabernacle&mdash;Again itinerates&mdash;Dedication of the Tabernacle at Bristol&mdash;Somersetshire&mdash;Condolence on Mr. Wesley's sickness&mdash;Visit of Messrs. Davies and Tennent to England&mdash;Whitefield's fifth voyage to America</p></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_323">323</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">CHAPTER XIII.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="hanging">FIFTH VISIT TO AMERICA&mdash;RENEWED LABORS IN GREAT BRITAIN&mdash;TOTTENHAM COURT-ROAD CHAPEL.</p></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">1754-1763.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="hanging">Whitefield's arrival and proceedings in Lisbon&mdash;Lands at Beaufort, S. C.&mdash;Voyage to New York&mdash;New Jersey&mdash;Interview with William Tennent&mdash;Accompanies President Burr to New England&mdash;Popularity at Boston&mdash;Correspondence with Habersham&mdash;Portsmouth&mdash;Rhode Island&mdash;Franklin's narrative of a drummer and Whitefield&mdash;Powerful address in Virginia&mdash;Pleasant interview at Charleston&mdash;Embarks for England&mdash;Arrival at New Haven&mdash;His feelings on arriving in England&mdash;Labors at the Tabernacle&mdash;Love for America&mdash;Journey to Bristol, Gloucestershire, Norwich&mdash;Returns to London&mdash;Reproof from Grimshawe&mdash;Serious illness&mdash;Earthquake at Lisbon&mdash;Tottenham Court-road Chapel&mdash;Conversion of Mr. Crane&mdash;Publication of "A short Address"&mdash;Personal character of Whitefield's preaching&mdash;His servant&mdash;Shuter&mdash;Violent persecution&mdash;Interference of government&mdash;Journey to Bristol&mdash;Lines on a chair&mdash;Journey to Kent, north of England, Scotland&mdash;Meeting at Leeds&mdash;Interview with the new governor of Georgia&mdash;Prosperity of Tottenham Court&mdash;Journey to Scotland&mdash;Ireland&mdash;Returns to London&mdash;Ill health&mdash;Anecdote&mdash;Another visit to Scotland&mdash;Death of friends&mdash;Debts of Bethesda paid&mdash;Renewed visit to Scotland&mdash;Visit to Brighton&mdash;Foote's mimicry&mdash;Activity&mdash;Sails on his sixth voyage to America</p></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_350">350</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span>CHAPTER XIV.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="center">SIXTH VISIT AND LABORS IN AMERICA&mdash;RENEWED LABORS IN GREAT BRITAIN.</p></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">1763-1767.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="hanging">Improvement of Whitefield's health&mdash;Friends in Virginia&mdash;Proceedings in Philadelphia&mdash;New Jersey&mdash;A collegiate hearer&mdash;New York&mdash;Letter from Boston Gazette&mdash;Opposition of Seabury&mdash;Arrival and preaching at Boston&mdash;Public thanks to him&mdash;Leaves Boston&mdash;New Haven&mdash;New York&mdash;New Jersey College&mdash;Philadelphia&mdash;Virginia&mdash;South Carolina&mdash;Bethesda&mdash;Proceedings of the government&mdash;Prosperity of the Orphan-house&mdash;Thoughts of returning to England&mdash;Still detained in America&mdash;Sails for England&mdash;Arrival there&mdash;Dedicates a church at Bath&mdash;Returns to London&mdash;Sickness&mdash;Interest in American affairs&mdash;Rev. Samson Occum&mdash;Labors with Mr. Whitaker in England&mdash;Success&mdash;Whitefield's journey to Bristol&mdash;Success in London&mdash;Mr. Joss becomes his colleague&mdash;Rev. Rowland Hill&mdash;Whitefield again visits Bath and Bristol&mdash;Mr. Fletcher's sermons in London&mdash;Preface to Bunyan's works&mdash;Whitefield in Wales and Gloucestershire&mdash;North of England&mdash;Disappointed in obtaining a charter for Bethesda</p></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_375">375</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">CHAPTER XV.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="center">HIS LAST LABORS IN GREAT BRITAIN&mdash;COLLEGE AT TREVECCA&mdash;EARL OF BUCHAN&mdash;TUNBRIDGE WELLS.</p></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">1767-1769.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Letter to Keen&mdash;Whitefield preaches before the Book Society&mdash;Change in his style and manner of preaching&mdash;Expulsion of six students from Oxford&mdash;Whitefield's letter to the Vice-chancellor&mdash;Usefulness of the expelled young men&mdash;Letter to a gentleman at Wisbeach&mdash;To Captain Scott&mdash;To Hon. and Rev. Walter Shirley&mdash;Death and funeral services of the Earl of Buchan&mdash;Whitefield's last visit to Edinburgh&mdash;Death of Mrs. Whitefield&mdash;Whitefield's own sickness&mdash;Dedication of the college at Trevecca&mdash;Improvement of his health&mdash;Letter to Mr. Shirley&mdash;Letter of Dr. Franklin to Whitefield&mdash;Whitefield's remarks on it&mdash;Dedication of church at Tunbridge Wells&mdash;Contemplated voyage to America&mdash;His last sermon&mdash;Account of Rev. George Burder&mdash;Messrs. Wilson&mdash;Embarkation of Whitefield&mdash;Detained in the Downs&mdash;Ordination and preaching at Deal&mdash;Anecdote of Dr. Gibbons&mdash;Clears the Channel&mdash;Arrival at Charleston</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_400">400</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span>CHAPTER XVI.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="center">SEVENTH VISIT AND LAST LABORS IN AMERICA&mdash;DEATH.</p></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">1769, 1770.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="hanging">Arrival at Bethesda&mdash;Its prosperity&mdash;Honors paid him by the legislature&mdash;Letter at Charleston&mdash;Plan of the proposed college&mdash;Visits Philadelphia&mdash;Preaches at Burlington, New York, Albany&mdash;Attends an execution&mdash;Visit to Sharon&mdash;Conversion of Mr. Randall&mdash;Visit to Boston&mdash;Letters to Messrs. Wright and Keen&mdash;Letter in Pennsylvania Journal&mdash;Arrival at Exeter&mdash;Anecdote&mdash;Vast congregation&mdash;Delivers his last sermon&mdash;Account of it&mdash;His solemnly interesting appearance&mdash;Rodgers' Journal&mdash;Journey of Whitefield to Newburyport&mdash;Alarming illness&mdash;Death&mdash;His remarks to Dr. Finley&mdash;Arrangements for the funeral&mdash;Its solemn services&mdash;Cenotaph</p></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_423">423</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">CHAPTER XVII.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="center">TESTIMONIES AND FACTS ILLUSTRATIVE OF WHITEFIELD'S CHARACTER.</p></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="hanging">Funeral sermon by Dr. Cooper&mdash;Respect shown to his memory in Georgia&mdash;Whitefield county&mdash;Sermon by Rev. Mr. Ellington&mdash;Arrival of the news in London&mdash;Sermon by Rev. J. Wesley&mdash;Rev. John Newton&mdash;Anecdote&mdash;Reply of Bacon the sculptor&mdash;Visits to his tomb&mdash;Old man in Ipswich&mdash;Whitefield's indifference to his reputation and ease&mdash;Institution at Georgia&mdash;Laborious life&mdash;Extraordinary voice&mdash;Use of common facts&mdash;Anecdotes&mdash;His solemnity of manner&mdash;Testimony of an American preacher&mdash;Of Winter&mdash;Anecdotes&mdash;Sermons in storms&mdash;Appearance in the pulpit&mdash;Character of his printed sermons&mdash;His devotional spirit&mdash;Visiting the sick&mdash;Intercourse with society&mdash;Neatness</p></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_445">445</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">CHAPTER XVIII.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="center">CHARACTER OF WHITEFIELD AS A PREACHER&mdash;CENTENNIAL COMMEMORATIONS.</p></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="hanging">Prominence given by him to the truths of salvation&mdash;His ardent glow of feeling&mdash;His direct address&mdash;His habitual dependence on the Spirit of God&mdash;Dealt with men as immortal beings&mdash;Dr. Hamilton's estimate of Whitefield&mdash;Comparison of Whitefield and Wesley&mdash;Centennial commemorations&mdash;Hymns by Mr. Conder&mdash;Usefulness&mdash;Bristol Tabernacle&mdash;Mr. James' sermon&mdash;Character of Whitefield's ministry, by Mr. Glanville</p></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_479">479</a></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">&nbsp;</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>PREFACE.</h2>
+
+
+<p>The excellent Matthew Henry has very truly said,
+"There are remains of great and good men, which,
+like Elijah's mantle, ought to be gathered up and preserved
+by the survivors&mdash;their sayings, their writings,
+their examples; that as their works follow them in
+the reward of them, they may stay behind in the benefit
+of them."</p>
+
+<p>Influenced by this and kindred sentiments, the
+compiler of this volume has devoted no small labor
+to gather from every source to which he could gain
+access, whatever appeared to him important to be
+known respecting the most distinguished uninspired
+preacher perhaps of any age or country. Whatever
+may be the faults of the work, to use the language of
+the Rev. Dr. Campbell, one of the present pastors of
+Whitefield's churches in London, in reference to a
+short sketch he had himself prepared of our great
+evangelist, "It will serve to bring him and his apostolic
+labors before the minds of vast multitudes of
+the rising generation, to whom both are all but unknown;
+and this is far from unimportant. Whatever
+tends to fix the minds of men afresh upon the
+character of <span class="smcap">Whitefield</span> is, and it always will be,
+something gained to the cause of true religion. The
+contemplation of that character is one of the most
+healthful exercises that can occupy a Christian heart,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span>
+or a Christian understanding. It is an admirable
+theme for ministerial meditation. It tends equally to
+humble, to instruct, and to encourage; to excite love
+to Christ, zeal for his glory, and compassion for the
+souls of men. What Alexander and C&#230;sar, Charles
+XII. of Sweden and Napoleon the first, are to those
+of the sons of men who have not yet ceased to 'learn
+war,' that Whitefield and Wesley are to those who
+aspire to eminent usefulness as ministers and missionaries
+of the cross."</p>
+
+<p>In the preparation of this memoir, the compiler
+has sought to collect together incidents which might
+interest and instruct, especially in connection with
+Whitefield's labors in America; to present him as
+much as possible in his own dress; and to use the
+facts of his life to excite and cherish his own spirit,
+so far as he had the spirit of Christ. Facts reflecting
+on the reputation and feelings of others have
+been used only as the interests of truth seemed to
+demand.</p>
+
+<p>It would have been easy to place on almost every
+page an array of authorities, and to give here a long
+list of friends to whom the writer has been indebted
+for aid; but the sole object of the volume is the honor
+of Christ in the salvation of men, and that this may
+be accomplished, we pray that the blessing of Heaven
+may rest upon it.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Philadelphia</span>, 1857.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">&nbsp;</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>GEORGE WHITEFIELD.</h2>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<h3>MORAL STATE OF GREAT BRITAIN IN THE EARLY
+PART OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY&mdash;WHITEFIELD
+FROM HIS BIRTH TO HIS FIRST SERMON.</h3></blockquote>
+
+
+<p>That we may have a clear and comprehensive view
+of the labors and success of George Whitefield, it is
+important that we consider the moral condition of
+Great Britain and its dependencies when the Head of
+the church brought him on the field of action. The
+latter part of the seventeenth and the beginning of the
+eighteenth centuries presented in that country a scene
+of moral darkness, the more remarkable as it so soon
+succeeded the triumph of evangelical truth which distinguished
+the seventeenth century, and which is perpetuated
+in a religious literature that will bless the
+world. Causes had long been at work which produced
+such insensibility and decline as to all that is
+good, and such a bold and open activity in evil, as it
+is hoped the grace of God may avert from his churches
+in all future time. The doctrine of the divine right
+of kings to implicit obedience on the part of their subjects;
+the principle of priestly control of the minds of
+men in religious matters; and clerical influence, sustained<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span>
+by kingly authority, in favor of sports on the
+Lord's day, together with the evil examples of men high
+in rank and power, had produced their natural results
+on the masses of the people, and make it painful, even
+at this distant period, to survey the scene.</p>
+
+<p>Nor were these all the evils of that day. The expulsion
+from their pulpits, by the "Act of Uniformity,"
+of two thousand of the most able and useful of
+the clergy in England, had led to great ignorance
+and neglect of religion; and though men like Leighton
+and Owen, Flavel and Baxter, with Bunyan and
+a host of others, had continued, in spite of opposing
+laws, to preach when they were not shut up in prison,
+and to write their immortal practical works, by the
+time of which we are speaking they had been called
+to their eternal reward, leaving very few men of like
+spirit behind them. Thus infidelity, profligacy, and
+formalism almost universally prevailed.</p>
+
+<p>The low state of religion in the established church
+at that time may be learned from the Rev. Augustus
+M. Toplady, himself one of its ministers, who died in
+1778. In a sermon yet extant he says, "I believe no
+denomination of professing Christians, the church of
+Rome excepted, were so generally void of the light
+and life of godliness, so generally destitute of the doctrine
+and of the grace of the gospel, as was the church
+of England, considered as a body, about fifty years
+ago. At that period a <em>converted</em> minister in the establishment
+was as great a wonder as a comet; but now,
+blessed be God, since that precious, that great apostle
+of the English empire, the late dear Mr. Whitefield,
+was raised up in the spirit and power of Elias, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span>
+word of God has run and been glorified; many have
+believed and been added to the Lord all over the
+three kingdoms; and blessed be his name, the great
+Shepherd and Bishop of souls continues still to issue
+his word, and great is the company of preachers,
+greater and greater every year."</p>
+
+<p>If it be said that Toplady, as he belonged to a
+different school of theology from that which then generally
+prevailed, could scarcely be expected to be
+impartial, we ask leave to transcribe a few lines from
+Bishop Butler, who within six months of Whitefield's
+ordination wrote thus: "It is come, I know not how,
+to be taken for granted by many persons, that Christianity
+is not so much as a subject of inquiry; but
+that it is now at length discovered to be fictitious.
+And accordingly they treat it as if in the present age
+this were an agreed point among all people of discernment;
+and nothing remained but to set it up as a
+principal subject of mirth and ridicule, as it were by
+way of reprisals for its having so long interrupted the
+pleasures of the world." Bishop Warburton, who
+commenced his ministry a few years before Whitefield,
+and who cannot be charged with enthusiasm,
+says, "I have lived to see that fatal crisis, when religion
+hath lost its hold on the minds of the people."</p>
+
+<p>Many other witnesses might be brought to testify
+that error and worldly mindedness had made mournful
+havoc among the clergy, and that spiritual religion
+had been almost buried in forms and ceremonies.
+A recent writer has well described the state of religion
+in the established church at that time, as only to
+be compared to a frozen or palsied carcass. "There,"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span>
+says this Episcopal clergyman, "were the time-honored
+formularies which the wisdom of the reformers had
+provided. There were the services and lessons from
+Scripture, just in the same order as we have them now.
+But as to preaching the gospel, in the established
+church there was almost none. The distinguishing
+doctrines of Christianity&mdash;the atonement, the work
+and office of Christ and the Spirit&mdash;were comparatively
+lost sight of. The vast majority of sermons
+were miserable moral essays, utterly devoid of any
+thing calculated to awaken, convert, save, or sanctify
+souls." Southey, a biographer of Wesley, who assuredly
+will not be accused of too strong a tendency to
+evangelical truth, is compelled to say, "A laxity of
+opinions as well as morals obtained, and infidelity, a
+plague which had lately found its way into the country,
+was becoming so prevalent, that the vice-chancellor
+of the university at Oxford, in a <em>programma</em>, exhorted
+the tutors to discharge their duties by double diligence,
+and had forbidden the under-graduates to read
+such books as might tend to the weakening of their
+faith."</p>
+
+<p>There were undoubtedly some learned and conscientious
+bishops at this era. Such men were Secker
+and Gibson, Lowth and Horne, Butler, and others.
+But even the best of them seem sadly to have misunderstood
+the requirements of the day they lived in.
+They spent their strength in writing apologies for
+Christianity, and contending against infidels. They
+could not see that without the direct preaching of the
+essential doctrines of the gospel, their labors must be
+sadly defective. The man who dared to preach the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span>
+doctrines of the Bible, and in harmony with the Articles
+and Homilies of his church, was set down as an
+enthusiast or fanatic.</p>
+
+<p>Among those who had dissented from the established
+hierarchy, and who were untrammelled by the
+impositions of secular authority, the state of vital godliness
+was also unhappily very low. The noble spirits
+of early non-conformity had passed from earth, or
+crossed the Atlantic to the frozen shores of New England,
+and a race of men had sprung up, some of whom
+retained the tenets of orthodoxy, but had lost its
+power; while others reposed on comfortable endowments,
+and lulled themselves, or were drawn by favorable
+breezes, into the cold elements of Arianism and
+Socinianism. As persons in the frozen regions are
+said to sleep longer and more soundly than others, so
+did they; and a more terrific blast of the trumpet of
+the gospel was required to rouse and awake them
+from their spiritual slumbers. Happily indeed for the
+world, and for the church in it, there were some exceptions.
+Watts and Guyse and Doddridge, and their
+pious associates in different parts of the land, were
+laborers together in "God's husbandry," and ceased
+not to cultivate it with affectionate faithfulness and
+care; and wherever their labors extended, the plants
+of grace grew and flourished. Darracott, "the star of
+the west," threw his mild rays over the vales of Somerset;
+and in the north also a few faithful men were
+found.</p>
+
+<p>Nor have we even now said all that should be
+written as to the character of those times. The highest
+personages in the land then openly lived in ways<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span>
+contrary to the law of God, and no man rebuked
+them. Profligacy and irreligion were reputable and
+respectable. Judging from the description we have
+of men and manners in those days, a gentleman might
+have been defined as a creature who got drunk, gambled,
+swore, fought duels, and violated the seventh
+commandment, and for all this very few thought the
+worse of him.</p>
+
+<p>Those too were the days when the men whom even
+kings delighted to honor were such as Bolingbroke,
+Chesterfield, Walpole, and Newcastle. To be an infidel,
+to obtain power by intrigue, and to retain it by
+the grossest and most notorious bribery, were considered
+no disqualifications even for the highest offices.
+Such men indeed were not only tolerated, but praised.
+In those days too, Hume, an avowed infidel, put forth
+his History, and obtained a pension. Sterne and
+Swift then wrote their talented, but obscene books;
+both of them were clergymen, but the public saw little
+inconsistency in their conduct. Fielding and Smollett
+were the popular authors, and the literary taste
+of high and low was suited by Roderick Random,
+Peregrine Pickle, Joseph Andrews, and Tom Jones.
+These authors were ingenious heathen philosophers,
+assuming the name of Christians, and forcibly paganizing
+Christianity for the sake of pleasing the world.</p>
+
+<p>Turning to <em>Scotland</em>, we find that the bold proclamation
+of the discriminating truths of the gospel
+which characterize the preaching of Knox, Welsh,
+and others, was being rapidly laid aside, and cold
+formal addresses, verging towards a kind of Socinianism
+were becoming fashionable. Old Mr. Hutchinson,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span>
+minister of Kilellan, in Renfrewshire, who saw
+but the beginning of this sad change, used to say to
+Wodrow the historian, "When I compare the times
+before the restoration with those since the revolution,
+I must own that the young ministers preach accurately,
+and methodically; but there was far more of the
+power and efficacy of the Spirit and of the grace of
+God went along with sermons in those days than now.
+For my own part&mdash;all the glory be to God&mdash;I seldom
+set my foot in a pulpit in those days, but I had notice
+of the blessed effects of the word." It is true, that
+even then there were a few faithful witnesses for God
+in Scotland, such as the brothers Erskine, in the Secession
+church; but for the most part, coldness, barrenness,
+and death prevailed. The people knew not
+God, and were strangers to the life-giving influence
+and power of the gospel.</p>
+
+<p>The Arianism of England had been carried to the
+north of <em>Ireland</em>, and finding a state of feeling suitable
+to its reception, it took root and grew up, so
+as to characterize a distinct section of the Presbyterian
+church, then and still distinguished by the
+name of the Remonstrant Synod. The south and
+west of Ireland were subjected to a blight not less
+withering, though of a different kind, and which continued
+much longer&mdash;continued, to a great extent,
+throughout the whole of the last century. The clergy
+were usually sons of the gentry, and accustomed to
+their sporting, drinking, and riotous habits. They
+had no preparation for ministerial duties but a college
+degree; and no education, either literary or
+moral, which had not been obtained among wild<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span>
+young men at the university. According to the interest
+which they happened to have, they passed at
+once from college to ministerial charges, and again
+mixed in all the dissipations of the districts where
+these lay. Ignorant of the truth, they and their congregations
+were satisfied with some short moral discourse.
+Many of the people were almost as ignorant
+of the Scriptures and scripture truth as the inhabitants
+of Hindostan. The Catholic priests meanwhile
+were at work among the people, and they had many
+to help them. The sick and the dying were watched;
+their fears were wrought upon; they were told of
+the power which the priests had, of the influence possessed
+by the Virgin, and much about the <em>old church</em>;
+and as soon as any seemed to give way, on whatever
+point, the priest was sent for, who plied them anew,
+and seldom failed in succeeding with the poor ignorant
+people. They were now ready to receive absolution;
+but he had farther conditions to propose.
+The whole family must submit to be rebaptized, or at
+least promise to attend mass&mdash;and this also was not
+unfrequently gained; the Protestant clergyman being
+all the while at a distance, neither knowing nor much
+caring what was going on. In this way great numbers
+of the lower and middle classes of the Protestants
+went over to the church of Rome. Throughout
+whole districts the Protestant churches were almost
+emptied, and many of those in rural districts were
+allowed to fall into ruins.</p>
+
+<p>Of <em>Wales</em> it is not important at present to say
+much. From the middle ages downwards, great darkness
+and superstition had prevailed among its mountains.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span>
+It is true that in the days of James I., a clergyman
+named Wroth, whose conversion to the truth
+had been remarkable, had labored with eminent zeal
+and success, but at the period of which we are now
+writing declension had succeeded. Within the establishment
+all was cold and dead; nearly every minister
+was ignorant of the Welsh language, a fact which
+also applied to several successive bishops, while the
+state of morals, among even the leaders of the hierarchy,
+was truly deplorable. An old Methodist simply
+but truly described the country at this period, and of
+his correct narrative we will here give a free translation.</p>
+
+<p>The land, he tells us, was dark indeed. Scarcely
+any of the lower ranks could read at all. The morals
+of the country were very corrupt; and in this
+respect there was no difference between high and low,
+layman and clergyman. Gluttony, drunkenness, and
+licentiousness prevailed through the whole country.
+Nor were the operations of the church at all adapted
+to repress these evils. From the pulpit the name of
+the Redeemer was scarcely heard; nor was much mention
+made of the natural sinfulness of man, or of the
+influence of the Holy Spirit. On Sunday mornings,
+the poor were more constant in their attendance at
+church than the gentry; but the Sunday evenings
+were spent by all in idle amusements. Every Sabbath
+there was practised a kind of sport, called in Welsh
+<i lang="cy" xml:lang="cy">Achwaren-gamp</i>, in which all the young men of the
+neighborhood had a trial of strength, and the people
+assembled from the surrounding country to witness
+their feats. On a Saturday night, particularly in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span>
+summer, the young men and women held what they
+called <i lang="cy" xml:lang="cy">Nosweithian cann</i>, or singing eves; that is, they
+met together and amused themselves by singing in
+turns to the harp, till the dawn of the Sabbath.
+These things, with the performance of rustic dramas,
+would occupy sometimes the whole of the sacred day
+itself; while a set of vagabonds, called the <i lang="cy" xml:lang="cy">Bobl
+gerdded</i>, or walking people, used to traverse the villages,
+begging with impunity, to the disgrace alike of
+the law and the country. With all this social sprightliness,
+the Welsh were then a superstitious, and even
+a gloomy people. They still retained many habits
+apparently derived from paganism, and not a few of
+the practices of popery. Their funerals, like those of
+the Irish, were scenes of riot and drunkenness, followed
+by prayers for the release of the deceased from
+the pains of purgatory. Such was the superstition of
+the people, that when Methodism was first introduced
+among them, many of the peasantry expressed their
+horror of the new opinions by the truly Popish gesture
+of crossing the forehead; and when Wesley first
+visited them, he pronounced them "as little versed in
+the principles of Christianity as a Creek or Cherokee
+Indian." To this declaration he added the striking
+remark, that, "notwithstanding their superstition and
+ignorance, the people 'were ripe for the gospel,' and
+most enthusiastically anxious to avail themselves of
+every opportunity of instruction."</p>
+
+<p>As an illustration of the truth of the remark we
+have just introduced from the discerning Wesley, we
+may mention an incident which occurred in 1736. At
+this period dissent itself was reduced so low in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span>
+country, that there were only six dissenting houses of
+worship in all North Wales. One Sunday, Mr. Lewis
+Rees, a dissenting minister from South Wales, and the
+father of Dr. Rees, the author of the celebrated Cyclopedia
+which bears his name, visited Pwllheli, a town
+on the promontory of Sl&#235;yn, in Caernarvonshire, and
+one of the few places in which the Independents still
+had a chapel. After the service, the congregation,
+collecting around him, complained very sorely that
+their numbers were rapidly diminishing, that the few
+who yet remained were for the most part poor, and
+that every thing connected with their cause looked
+gloomy. To which the minister replied, "The dawn
+of religion is again breaking out in South Wales,"
+referring them to the fact, that already a distinguished
+man&mdash;Howel Harris&mdash;had risen up, going
+about instructing the people in the truths of the
+gospel. Such was the character of the times when
+God was raising up agents to revive and extend his
+cause. We shall before long return to Wales with
+lively interest.</p>
+
+<p>"Such," says the eloquent Robert Hall, "was the
+situation of things when Whitefield and Wesley made
+their appearance, who, whatever failings the severest
+criticism can discover in their character, will be hailed
+by posterity as the second reformers of England.
+Nothing was farther from the views of these excellent
+men than to innovate on the established religion of
+their country; their sole aim was to recall the people
+to the good old way, and to imprint the doctrines of
+the Articles and Homilies on the spirits of men. But
+this doctrine had been so long a dead letter, and so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span>
+completely obliterated from the mind by contrary
+instructions, that the attempt to revive it met with
+all the opposition that innovation is sure to encounter,
+in addition to what naturally results from the
+nature of the doctrine itself, which has to contend
+with the whole force of human corruption. The revival
+of the <em>old</em>, appeared like the introduction of a
+<em>new</em> religion; and the hostility it excited was less
+sanguinary, but scarcely less virulent, than that which
+signalized the first publication of Christianity. The
+gospel of Christ, or that system of truth which was
+laid at the foundation of the Reformation, has since
+made rapid advances, and in every step of its progress
+has sustained the most furious assaults."</p>
+
+<p>It ought here to be stated, as illustrating the providence
+of God in preparing the British empire for the
+reception of the gospel, that the revolution of 1688
+introduced the spirit of toleration, and in 1714, the
+very year of Whitefield's birth, Anne, the last English
+sovereign of a persecuting spirit, died, and the throne
+was assumed by George I., the first prince of the
+house of Hanover. The way of the Lord was thus
+prepared for bright illustrations of his mercy.</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<p>Rising from the beautiful valley of the Severn, and
+on the borders of that noble stream, reposes in antique
+glory the affluent city of <span class="smcap">Gloucester</span>, with its
+regular streets, and its majestic cathedral and other
+relics of bygone days. In that city the traveller
+may examine three spots which will long be interesting
+to the student of ecclesiastical curiosities. The
+first of these is the ancient church of Mary de Crypt,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span>
+where reposes the dust of Robert Raikes, the founder
+of Sunday-schools; the second, is the little stone
+which, in a pensive-looking inclosure, marks the site
+on which the truly noble-minded and Protestant Bishop
+Hooper was burnt, an early martyr of bloody Mary's
+reign. There wicked men stood around to light up
+the flames, and to mock his sorrows; but as we stand
+and look, we exult in the subsequent triumphs of
+truth.</p>
+
+<p>The third spot, and the one to us at the present
+moment the most interesting, is the Bell inn or hotel,
+yet standing, though enlarged and beautified since
+the period of which we write. There <span class="smcap">Whitefield</span>&mdash;the
+saint, the seraph, the "angel flying in the midst
+of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to
+them that dwell on the earth"&mdash;first breathed the
+vital air. Venerable city, we will rejoice that though
+within thy walls one glorious luminary of salvation
+was extinguished, another "burning and shining light"
+was raised up to diffuse joy and happiness over the
+two most influential quarters of the globe, and a third
+has since been given to suggest the simple plan by
+which millions of the young have already acquired
+the knowledge of salvation.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">George Whitefield</span>, the sixth son of Thomas and
+Elizabeth Whitefield, was born December 16, 1714, old
+style. Concerning his father and mother he writes,
+"The former died when I was two years old; the
+latter died in December, 1751, in the seventy-first
+year of her age, and has often told me how she endured
+fourteen weeks' sickness after she brought me
+into the world; but was used to say, even when I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span>
+was an infant, that she expected more comfort from
+me than from any other of her children. This, with the
+circumstance of my being born in an inn, has often
+been of service to me, in exciting my endeavors to
+make good my mother's expectations, and so follow
+the example of my dear Saviour, who was laid in a
+manger belonging to an inn."</p>
+
+<p>In one of his journals, which he commenced at a
+very early part of his ministry, Whitefield details with
+great simplicity many incidents of his childhood and
+youth; from which it appears, that though at times
+he had many serious thoughts and impressions, the
+general course of his life, till the age of sixteen, was
+irreligious. He tells us that in early youth he was
+"so brutish as to hate instruction, and used purposely
+to shun all opportunities of receiving it," and that
+he spent much money, improperly obtained from his
+mother, in cards, plays, and romances, "which," says
+he, "were my heart's delight. Often have I joined
+with others in playing roguish tricks; but was generally,
+if not always, happily detected: for this I have
+often since, and do now bless and praise God." His
+full confessions of this character are very affecting,
+and should be a caution to young persons to repel all
+such temptations.</p>
+
+<p>When George was about ten years of age, his
+mother married a second time, thus forming a connection
+which led to much unhappiness. He was, however,
+continued at school; and when twelve years old,
+was transferred to the grammar-school of St. Mary de
+Crypt, where he remained about three years. Having
+a graceful elocution and a good memory, he gained<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span>
+much credit for delivering speeches before the city
+corporation at the annual visitation of the school, and
+received pecuniary rewards for his performances on
+those occasions. How deeply he afterwards deplored
+these celebrations, especially the performance of plays
+in connection with his school-fellows, may be learned
+from his own words: "I cannot but observe here,
+with much concern of mind, how this way of training
+up youth has a natural tendency to debauch the mind,
+to raise ill passions, and to stuff the memory with
+things as contrary to the gospel of Christ, as darkness
+to light, hell to heaven." This sad tendency was
+but too clearly evinced in the case of Whitefield himself.
+"I got acquainted," he says, "with such a set
+of debauched, abandoned, atheistical youths, that if
+God, by his free, unmerited, and special grace, had
+not delivered me out of their hands, I should have sat
+in the scorner's chair, and made a mock at sin. By
+keeping company with them, my thoughts of religion
+grew more and more like theirs. I went to public
+service only to make sport, and walk about. I took
+pleasure in their lewd conversation. I began to reason
+as they did, and to ask why God had given me
+passions, and not permitted me to gratify them. In
+short, I soon made great proficiency in the school of
+the devil. I affected to look rakish, and was in a
+fair way of being as infamous as the worst of them."
+These were the things, and not oratory, as has sometimes
+been said, which Whitefield learned from plays
+and acting.</p>
+
+<p>In the midst of all this, his conscience often made
+him unhappy; and he wished, if possible, to combine<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span>
+religion with his pleasures. He purchased and carefully
+read "Ken's Manual for Winchester Scholars,"
+a book which commended itself as having comforted
+his mother in her afflictions, and which he afterwards
+considered to have been "of great benefit to his
+soul."</p>
+
+<p>At the age of fifteen, he thought he had acquired
+learning enough for any ordinary occupation in life,
+and as his mother's business was declining, he persuaded
+her to allow him to leave school and assist in
+labor. "I began," says he, "to assist her occasionally
+in the public-house, till at length I put on my blue
+apron and my snuffers, washed mops, cleaned rooms,
+and in one word, became professed and common <em>drawer</em>
+for nearly a year and a half." In the midst of the
+activity called for in such a situation, it pleased God
+to renew his religious impressions, which induced him,
+at least at intervals, to attend with much earnestness
+to the concerns of his soul.</p>
+
+<p>From his childhood, Whitefield tells us, he "was
+always fond of being a clergyman, and used frequently
+to imitate the ministers' reading prayers." Nor did
+this tendency towards clerical engagements cease as
+he became older. "Notwithstanding," he says, "I
+was thus employed in a large inn, and had sometimes
+the care of the whole house upon my hands, yet I composed
+two or three sermons, and dedicated one of
+them to my elder brother. One day, I remember, I
+was very much pressed to self-examination, and found
+myself very unwilling to look into my heart. Frequently
+I read the Bible when sitting up at night.
+And a dear youth, now with God, would often entreat<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span>
+me, when serving at the bar, to go to Oxford. My
+general answer was, 'I wish I could.'"</p>
+
+<p>His mother's difficulties increasing, it became necessary
+for her to leave the inn; in which she was succeeded
+by one of her married sons, with whom George
+for some time remained to continue his assistance in
+the business. Some disagreement, however, arising
+between them, he after a time took his departure from
+the inn, and went to spend a month with his eldest
+brother at Bristol. Returning from that city to Gloucester,
+he resided for a short season with his mother.
+While thus living unemployed, without any definite
+object before him, and waiting the openings of providence,
+his mother was visited by an Oxford student,
+a servitor of Pembroke college in that university.
+In the course of their conversation, he told her, that
+after all his expenses at college for the quarter
+were discharged, he had one penny remaining. She
+immediately exclaimed, "This will do for my son!"
+and turning to him, said, "Will you go to Oxford,
+George?" He replied, "With all my heart." Application
+was immediately made to several friends who
+had influence at the college, and they pledged themselves
+to serve her. In this confidence, her favorite
+son returned to the grammar-school, where he not
+only resumed his studies with greater diligence, but
+endeavored, and not altogether in vain, to promote
+religion and virtue among his associates.</p>
+
+<p>Having fully secured his literary preparation for
+the university, Whitefield removed to Oxford in his
+eighteenth year, and was immediately admitted, as a
+servitor, into Pembroke college. He soon found that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span>
+the seat of learning was also a scene of danger. From
+the period of 1662, when the two thousand Non-conformists
+had been expelled from the church, the universities
+had been sinking into a moral lethargy, preferring
+uniformity to vital religion. Our young servitor
+was shocked with the impiety of the students in
+general, and dreading their influence on himself, he
+as much as possible abstained from their society, and
+shut himself up in his study.</p>
+
+<p>Before he went to Oxford, Whitefield had heard
+of a class of young men in the university who "lived
+by rule and method," and were therefore called <em>Methodists</em>.
+They were much talked of, and generally
+despised. Of this party, John Wesley, a Fellow of
+Lincoln college, and already in holy orders, was the
+leader, his brother Charles being also as warmly attached
+to it. They avowed that the great object of
+their lives was to save their souls, and to live wholly
+to the glory of God; and rarely have men subjected
+themselves to greater self-denials and austerities.
+Drawn towards them by kindred feelings, Whitefield
+strenuously defended them whenever he heard them
+reviled, and when he saw them going, through a crowd
+manifesting their ridicule, every Sunday to receive the
+sacrament at St. Mary's or Christ church, he was
+strongly inclined to follow their example.</p>
+
+<p>For more than a year he intensely desired to be
+acquainted with them, but a sense of his pecuniary
+inferiority to them prevented his advances. At length,
+learning that a pauper had attempted suicide, Whitefield
+sent a poor woman to inform Charles Wesley,
+that so he might visit her, and administer religious<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span>
+instruction. He charged the woman not to tell Mr.
+Wesley who sent her, but, contrary to this injunction,
+she told his name; and Charles Wesley, who had frequently
+seen Whitefield walking by himself, on the
+next morning invited him to breakfast. An introduction
+to the little brotherhood soon followed, and he
+also, like them, "began to live by rule, and pick up
+the very fragments of his time, that not a moment
+might be lost."</p>
+
+<p>It is painful to read Whitefield's own account of the
+mortifications of body to which he now submitted; and
+we are not surprised that, as the result, his health
+was so reduced as to place even his life in danger.
+All this time he had no clear view of the way of salvation,
+and was "seeking to work out a righteousness
+of his own." In this state he lay on his bed, his
+tongue parched with fever, and the words of the dying
+Saviour, "I thirst," were impressed on his mind.
+Remembering that this thirst occurred near the end
+of the Saviour's sufferings, the thought arose in his
+mind, "Why may it not be so with me? Why may
+I not now receive deliverance and comfort? Why
+may I not now dare to trust and rejoice in the pardoning
+mercy of God?" There was, as Tracy has
+said, no reason why he might not&mdash;why he ought not.
+He saw nothing to forbid him. He prayed in hope,
+borrowing language from the fact which suggested
+the train of thought&mdash;"I thirst, I thirst for faith in
+pardoning love. Lord, I believe; help thou mine
+unbelief." His prayer was heard. He dared to trust
+in the mercy of God, as revealed in the death of Jesus
+Christ for sinners. Conscience and his Bible bore<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span>
+witness that he did right. The load that had so
+heavily oppressed him, the load of guilt and terror
+and anxiety, that weighed down his spirit while he
+sinfully and ungratefully hesitated to trust in divine
+mercy, was gone. He saw the trustworthiness of the
+mercy of God in Christ, and his heart rejoiced.</p>
+
+<p>"Though," as Tracy has well said, "the English
+universities were established mainly for the purpose
+of educating men for the ministry, Whitefield was not
+likely to gain a good knowledge of theology there.
+He took another, and a characteristic course. Some
+time after his conversion, when he was at Gloucester,
+he says, 'I began to read the holy Scriptures upon my
+knees; laying aside all other books, and praying over,
+if possible, every line and word. This proved meat
+indeed and drink indeed to my soul. I daily received
+fresh life, light, and power from above. I thus got
+more true knowledge in reading the book of God in
+one month, than I could ever have acquired from all
+the writings of men.'"</p>
+
+<p>Every hour of Whitefield's time, especially after
+he had been "filled with peace and joy in believing,"
+was sacredly devoted to preparation for the great
+work to which he had now solemnly devoted himself.
+He visited the prisoners in the jail, and the poor in
+their cottages, and gave as much time as he could to
+communion with God in his closet. His friends now
+earnestly importuned him to apply for ordination;
+but from this his deep sense of unworthiness made
+him shrink. Besides, he intended to have a hundred
+and fifty sermons carefully written before he began
+to preach. He had as yet but one, and he lent that to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span>
+a neighboring clergyman, to convince him that he was
+not yet fit to be ordained. The clergyman kept it
+for two weeks, divided it into two, preached it to his
+own people, and then returned it to Whitefield, with
+a guinea for the use of it.</p>
+
+<p>Still, however, the work of preparation for the
+ministry was rapidly going on. The state of his
+health compelled him to retire for a season from Oxford,
+and he returned home to increase the depth of
+his piety, and to be led, little as he thought of it, at
+once to the pulpit. He writes, "O what sweet communion
+had I daily vouchsafed with God in prayer,
+after my coming to Gloucester. How often have I
+been carried out beyond myself, when meditating in
+the fields. How assuredly I felt that Christ dwelt in
+me, and I in him; and how daily did I walk in the
+comforts of the Holy Ghost, and was edified and refreshed
+in the multitude of peace. I always observed
+that as my inward strength increased, so my outward
+sphere of action increased proportionably."</p>
+
+<p>Thus, happy in himself, and thankful to the gracious
+God who made him so, the affectionate soul of
+George Whitefield ardently desired that others might
+participate in his sacred joys. In order to advance
+this object, he mixed in the society of young people,
+and endeavored to awaken them to a just sense of the
+nature of true religion. Some were convinced of the
+truth, and united with him in religious exercises; and
+these were some of the first-fruits of his pious labors.
+His discovery of the necessity of regeneration, like
+Melancthon's great discovery of the truth, led him to
+imagine that no one could resist the evidence which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span>
+convinced his own mind. He writes, "Upon this,
+like the woman of Samaria, when Christ revealed
+himself to her at the well, I had no rest in my soul
+till I wrote letters to my relations, telling them
+there was such a thing as the <em>new birth</em>. I imagined
+they would have gladly received it; but, alas, my
+words seemed to them as idle tales. They thought I
+was going beside myself." He visited the jail every
+day, and read and prayed with the prisoners; attended
+public worship very frequently, and read twice
+or three times a week to some poor people in the city.
+In addition to all this, he tells us, "During my stay
+here, God enabled me to give a public testimony of
+my repentance as to seeing and acting plays; for
+hearing the strollers had come to town, and knowing
+what an egregious offender I had been, I was stirred
+up to extract Mr. Law's excellent treatise, entitled,
+"The absolute Unlawfulness of the Stage Entertainment."
+The printer, at my request, put a little of it
+in the newspaper for six weeks successively; and God
+was pleased to give it his blessing."</p>
+
+<p>In this manner Whitefield employed himself during
+nine months; and one effect of so doing was, that
+the partition wall of bigotry was soon broken down
+in his heart. He says, "I loved all, of whatever denomination,
+who loved the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity."
+This statement in his diary is connected
+with an account of the benefit he derived from studying
+the works of the Non-conformists. "Baxter's Call,"
+and "Alleine's Alarm," so accorded with his own
+ideas of fidelity and unction, that wherever he recognized
+their spirit he acknowledged "a brother beloved."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span>
+On this portion of his history we dwell with unspeakable
+delight; the only drawback is an undue importance
+he appears to have attached to <em>dreams</em>; and even
+those, considered as an <em>index</em> to his waking hours, are
+interesting, revealing as they do his deep solicitude
+on the behalf of souls.</p>
+
+<p>Here then, before he had completed his twenty-first
+year, we see Whitefield returned to Gloucester,
+and such was already the fame of his piety and talents,
+that Dr. Benson, the bishop of the diocese, offered to
+dispense, in his favor, with the rule which forbids the
+ordination of deacons at so unripe an age. Thus
+graphically did he afterwards describe his acceptance
+of this proposal.</p>
+
+<p>"I never prayed against any corruption I had in
+my life so much as I did against going into holy
+orders so soon as my friends were for having me go.
+Bishop Benson was pleased to honor me with peculiar
+friendship, so as to offer me preferment, or to do
+any thing for me. My friends wanted me to mount
+the church betimes. They wanted me to knock my
+head against the pulpit too young; but how some
+young men stand up here and there and preach, I do
+not know. However it be to them, God knows how
+deep a concern entering into the ministry and preaching
+was to me. I prayed a thousand times, till the
+sweat has dropped from my face like rain, that God
+of his infinite mercy would not let me enter the church
+till he called me and thrust me forth in his work. I
+remember once in Gloucester&mdash;I know the room; I
+look up to the window when I am there and walk
+along the street&mdash;I said, 'Lord, I cannot go; I shall<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span>
+be puffed up with pride, and fall into the condemnation
+of the devil. Lord, do not let me go yet.' I pleaded
+to be at Oxford two or three years more. I intended
+to make one hundred and fifty sermons, and thought
+that I would set up with a good stock in trade. I
+remember praying, wrestling, and striving with God.
+I said, 'I am undone, I am unfit to preach in thy great
+name. Send me not. Lord, send me not yet.' I
+wrote to all my friends in town and country to pray
+against the bishop's solicitation; but they insisted I
+should go into orders before I was twenty-two. After
+all their solicitations these words came into my mind:
+'Nothing shall pluck you out of my hands;' they came
+warm to my heart. Then, and not till then, I said,
+'Lord, <em>I will go</em>; send me when thou wilt.'"</p>
+
+<p>Sunday, June 20, 1736, was the day appointed for
+his ordination in the cathedral at Gloucester. On
+the preceding evening he spent two hours in prayer
+for himself and the others who were to be set apart
+to the sacred office with him; and on the day itself
+he rose early, and passed the morning in prayer and
+meditation on the qualifications and duties of the office
+he was about to undertake. On a review of the solemn
+services of the day, he says, "I trust I answered
+every question from the bottom of my heart, and heartily
+prayed that God might say, Amen. And when
+the bishop laid his hands upon my head, if my vile
+heart do not deceive me, I offered my whole spirit,
+soul, and body to the service of God's sanctuary.
+Let come what will, life or death, depth or height,
+I shall henceforward live like one who this day, in the
+presence of men and angels, took the holy sacrament,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span>
+on the profession of being inwardly moved by the
+Holy Ghost to take upon me that ministration in the
+church. I call heaven and earth to witness, that
+when the bishop laid his hands upon me, I gave myself
+up to be a martyr for Him who hung upon the
+cross for me. Known unto him are all future events
+and contingencies; I have thrown myself blindfold,
+and I trust without reserve, into his almighty hands.
+When I went up to the altar, I could think of nothing
+but Samuel's standing before the Lord with a linen
+ephod."</p>
+
+<p>Having thus received ordination as a deacon of
+the church of England, he delayed not to enter upon
+the work to which he was appointed; and accordingly,
+on the next Sabbath he preached his first sermon
+in his native city of Gloucester, selecting for his subject,
+"The necessity and benefit of religious society."
+At the appointed time he ascended the pulpit, in the
+church of St. Mary de Crypt. We have his own
+record of the service: "Last Sunday, in the afternoon,
+I preached my first sermon in the church where I first
+received the Lord's supper. Curiosity drew a large
+congregation together. The sight, at first, a little
+awed me; but I was comforted with a heartfelt sense
+of the divine presence, and soon found the advantage
+of having been accustomed to public speaking when
+a boy at school, and of exhorting and teaching the
+prisoners and the poor people at their private houses,
+while at the university. By these means I was kept
+from being daunted overmuch. As I proceeded, I
+perceived the fire kindled, till at last, though so young,
+and amidst a crowd of those who knew me in my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span>
+childish days, I trust I was enabled to speak with
+some degree of gospel authority. Some few mocked,
+but most, for the present, seemed struck; and I have
+since heard that a complaint was made to the bishop,
+that I drove fifteen people mad the first sermon. The
+worthy prelate, as I am informed, wished that the
+madness might not be forgotten before the next Sunday.
+Before then, I hope that my sermon upon, 'He
+that is in Christ is a new creature,' will be completed.
+Blessed be God, I now find freedom in writing. Glorious
+Jesus,</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<span class="i0">"'Unloose my stammering tongue to tell<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Thy love immense, unsearchable.'"<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<p>It is remarkable, under all the circumstances of
+the case, that Bishop Benson, a man never distinguished
+for his evangelical views, always showed his
+friendship for Whitefield. Not only did he offer him
+ordination when others might have refused, and defend
+him against the persecutions to which he was exposed,
+but he more than once gave him pecuniary help when
+it was much needed, though the young clergyman had
+never complained.</p>
+
+<p>Thus early apprized of the secret of his strength,
+his profound aspirations for the growth of Christianity,
+the delight of exercising his rare powers, and the
+popular admiration, operating with combined and
+ceaseless force upon a mind impatient of repose, urged
+him into exertions which, if not attested by irrefragable
+proofs, might appear incredible. It was the
+statement of one who knew him well, and who was
+incapable of wilful exaggeration, and it is confirmed
+by his letters, journals, and a "cloud of witnesses,"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span>
+that "in the compass of a single week, and that for
+years, he spoke in general forty hours, and in very
+many sixty, and that to thousands: and after his
+labors, instead of taking any rest, he was engaged in
+offering up prayers and intercessions, with hymns and
+spiritual songs, as his manner was, in every house to
+which he was invited." Never perhaps, since the
+apostolic age, has any man given himself so entirely
+to preaching the gospel of Christ for the salvation of
+souls, adopting as his motto the language of the apostle
+Paul, "<em>This one thing I do</em>."</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">&nbsp;</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2>
+
+<h3>WHITEFIELD'S SUCCESS AS A PREACHER IN ENGLAND&mdash;FIRST
+VISIT TO AMERICA.<br />
+
+1736-1738.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Whitefield, though thus prepared for action, was
+not impatient, but willing to wait till his duty was
+fully ascertained. On the Wednesday after his first
+sermon he went to Oxford, where, he says, "I was
+received with great joy by my religious friends. For
+about a week I continued in my servitor's habit, and
+then took my degree of Bachelor of Arts, after having
+been at the university three years and three quarters,
+and going on towards the twenty-second year of my
+age. My dear and honored friends, the Rev. Messrs.
+John and Charles Wesley, being now embarked for
+Georgia, and one or two others having taken orders,
+the interest of Methodism, as it was then and is now
+termed, had visibly declined, and very few of this
+reputedly mad way were left at the university. This
+somewhat discouraged me at times, but the Lord Jesus
+supported my soul, and made me easy by giving me a
+strong conviction that I was where he would have me
+to be. My degree, I soon found, was of service to
+me, as it gave me access to those I could not be
+seen with when in an inferior station; and as opportunity
+offered, I was enabled to converse with them
+about the things which belonged to the kingdom of
+God. The subscriptions for the poor prisoners, which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span>
+amounted to about forty pounds per annum, were soon
+put into my hands; two or three charity schools,
+maintained by the Methodists, were under my more
+immediate inspection; which, with the time I spent in
+following my studies, private retirement, and religious
+converse, sweetly filled up the whole of my day, and
+kept me from that unaccountable but too common
+complaint of having any time hang upon my hands."</p>
+
+<p>The stay of Mr. Whitefield at Oxford, however,
+was very short. He says, "By a series of unforeseen,
+unexpected, and unsought-for providences, I was called
+in a short time from my beloved retirement to take a
+journey to the metropolis of England. While I was
+an under-graduate, among the religious friends, I was
+very intimate with one Mr. B&mdash;&mdash;n, a professed Methodist,
+who had lately taken orders, and was curate at
+the Tower of London. With him, when absent, I
+frequently corresponded, and when present took sweet
+counsel, and walked to the house of God as friends.
+He mentioned me to that late good and great man,
+Sir John Phillips; and being called down for a while
+into Hampshire, he wrote to me to be of good
+courage, and in the strength of God bade me hasten
+to town to officiate in his absence, and to be refreshed
+with the sight and conversation of many who loved
+me for Christ's sake, and had for a long time desired
+to see me."</p>
+
+<p>On his arrival in London, Whitefield delivered his
+first sermon there in Bishopsgate church, on the afternoon
+of Lord's day, August 8. On entering the pulpit,
+his juvenile aspect excited a general feeling of his
+unfitness for the station, but he had not proceeded far<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span>
+in his sermon before it gave place to universal expressions
+of wonder and pleasure. If however he was thus
+exposed to the danger of vanity, as he says, "God sent
+me something to ballast it. For as I passed along
+the streets, many came out of their shops, admiring to
+see so young a person in a gown and cassock. One
+I remember in particular, cried out, 'There's a boy
+parson;' which, as it served to mortify my pride, put
+me also upon turning that apostolical exhortation into
+prayer, 'Let no man despise thy youth.'" From his
+first sermon to his departure, at the end of two months,
+his popularity in London continued to increase, and
+the crowds were so vast that it was necessary to place
+constables both inside and outside of the churches to
+preserve the peace. He tells us himself, "Here I continued
+for the space of two months, reading prayers
+twice a week, catechizing and preaching once, visiting
+the soldiers in the infirmary and barracks daily. I also
+read prayers every evening at Wapping chapel, and
+preached at Ludgate prison every Tuesday. God
+was pleased to give me favor in the eyes of the inhabitants
+of the Tower; the chapel was crowded on
+Lord's days; religious friends from divers parts of
+the town attended the word, and several young men
+came on Lord's-day morning, under serious impressions,
+to hear me discourse about the <em>new birth</em>, and
+the necessity of renouncing all in affection in order
+to follow Jesus Christ."</p>
+
+<p>The preaching of Mr. Whitefield now excited an
+unusual degree of attention among persons of all
+ranks. In many of the city churches he proclaimed
+the glad tidings of great joy to listening multitudes,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span>
+who were powerfully affected by the fire which was
+displayed in the animated addresses of this man of
+God. Lord and Lady Huntingdon constantly attended
+wherever he preached, and Lady Anne Frankland
+became one of the first-fruits of his ministry
+among the nobility of the metropolis. Her ladyship
+spent much of her time with Lady Huntingdon, from
+whose society and conversation she derived great
+comfort. She was a daughter of Richard, the first
+Earl of Scarborough; was for many years lady of the
+bedchamber to the Princess Anne, and to the Princesses
+Amelia and Caroline; and finally became the
+second wife of Frederic Frankland, Esq., a member
+of Parliament, from whose cruelty she endured much.</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<p>We have already said, that some time before this
+Messrs. John and Charles Wesley had embarked for
+Georgia, and to their names we might have added
+that of Mr. Ingham, also a member of the Methodist
+fraternity at Oxford.</p>
+
+<p>Georgia, which was explored by Sir Walter Raleigh
+in 1584, had been colonized by debtors from
+Europe, by multitudes who had fled from the grasp of
+persecution, and by others who were interested in
+constructing a barrier against Spanish aggression.
+It originally had trustees in England, concerned for
+its interests, including sons of the nobility. The chief
+agent in executing the benevolent designs in view
+was the truly excellent General Oglethorpe, who admirably
+carried out the motto he gave to his companions
+in the work, "<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Non sibi sed aliis</i>"&mdash;"Not for
+themselves, but for others." The children of poverty,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span>
+taken from the overgrown agricultural population,
+already a tax upon parish bounty at home, were to
+be transferred in large numbers to the silk and indigo
+plantations which were established on the savannahs
+and bottoms south and west of the river, which thence
+derived its name from the peculiar conformation of the
+adjoining plains. Combined with these leading purposes,
+it was a cherished principle with the early
+patrons of this colony, that it should become the centre
+for the diffusion of the gospel among the natives;
+while charitable foundations were also laid for the
+secular and religious education of all who would take
+advantage of such provisions. The first Christians
+who left Europe to advance the spiritual interests of
+Georgia were Moravians, and the next were the Wesleys
+and Ingham. The records of the colony, as
+quoted in White's Historical Collections of Georgia,
+show that, Sept. 14, 1735, Charles Wesley was appointed
+"Secretary for the Indian affairs in Georgia,"
+and that, Oct. 10, 1735, John Wesley was appointed
+"missionary at Savannah."</p>
+
+<p>Whitefield had left London, and was laboring
+among a poor and illiterate people in Hampshire,
+when his attention was directly drawn to Georgia.
+This was not, indeed, the first time his heart had been
+interested in the matter. He writes, "When I had
+been about a month in town, letters came from the
+Messrs. Wesley, and the Rev. Mr. Ingham their fellow-laborer,
+an Israelite indeed, from Georgia. Their
+accounts fired my soul, and made me long to go abroad
+for God too. But having no outward call, and being
+as I then thought too weak in body ever to undertake<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span>
+a voyage at sea, I endeavored to lay aside all thoughts
+of going abroad. But my endeavors were all in vain;
+for I felt at times such a strong attraction in my soul
+towards Georgia, that I thought it almost irresistible.
+I strove against it with all my power, begged again
+and again, with many cries and tears, that the Lord
+would not suffer me to be deluded, and at length
+opened my mind to several dear friends. All agreed
+that laborers were wanted at home, that I had as yet
+no visible call abroad, and that it was my duty not
+to be rash, but wait and see what Providence might
+point out to me. To this I consented with my whole
+heart."</p>
+
+<p>The path of duty, however, soon opened before
+him. While fulfilling his duties at Dummer, in Hampshire,
+preaching for the Rev. Mr. Kinchin, who was
+now absent from home, to which labors we have already
+referred, he received an invitation to a lucrative
+curacy in London; but Georgia still rested like one
+of the prophetic "burdens" on his mind. At this
+juncture he received a letter from his clerical friend
+at the Tower, saying that Mr. Charles Wesley had
+arrived in London. Very soon Mr. Wesley himself
+wrote to Whitefield, saying, that he was come
+over to procure laborers, "but," added he, "I dare
+not prevent God's nomination." "In a few days after
+this," writes Mr. Whitefield, "came another letter
+from Mr. John Wesley, wherein were these words:
+'Only Mr. Delamotte is with me, till God shall stir
+up the hearts of some of his servants, who putting
+their lives in their hands, shall come over and help
+us, where the harvest is so great, and the laborers so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span>
+few. What if thou art the man, Mr. Whitefield?'
+In another letter were these words: 'Do you ask me
+what you shall have? Food to eat and raiment to
+put on, a house to lay your head in&mdash;such as our Lord
+had not&mdash;and a crown of glory that fadeth not away.'
+Upon reading this my heart leaped within me, and as
+it were echoed to the call."</p>
+
+<p>After having consulted his bishop, Dr. Benson, as
+also the archbishop of Canterbury, and the trustees
+of Georgia including General James Oglethorpe who
+was then in London, he went to Bristol, Bath, and
+other places, to take leave of his personal friends.
+As he could not refrain from preaching, so every sermon
+increased his popularity. We give his account
+of his preaching at Bristol, as a specimen of the reception
+he met with.</p>
+
+<p>"It was wonderful to see how the people hung
+upon the rails of the organ-loft, climbed upon the
+leads of the church, and made the church itself so hot
+with their breath, that the steam would fall from the
+pillars like drops of rain. Sometimes almost as many
+would go away for want of room as came in, and it
+was with great difficulty I got into the desk to read
+prayers or preach. Persons of all ranks not only
+publicly attended my ministry, but gave me private
+invitations to their houses. A private society or two
+were erected. I preached and collected for the poor
+prisoners in Newgate twice or thrice a week, and
+many made me large offers if I would not go abroad."</p>
+
+<p>Having mentioned General James Edward Oglethorpe,
+the first governor, and indeed the founder of
+the colony of Georgia, and to the end of Whitefield's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span>
+life his cordial friend, a few additional facts concerning
+him may here be stated. He was the son of Sir
+Theophilus Oglethorpe, and was born in London, December
+21, 1688. At sixteen he was admitted a student
+at Oxford, but did not finish his studies, as the
+military profession had more charms for him than
+literary pursuits. He was first commissioned as an ensign.
+After the death of Queen Anne, he entered into
+the service of Prince Eugene. When he attained the
+age of twenty-four years, he entered Parliament, for
+Haslemere, where he continued thirty-two years. In
+November, 1732, Oglethorpe, with one hundred and
+sixteen settlers, embarked for Georgia, and landed at
+Charleston, S. C., January 13, 1733. They shortly
+afterwards proceeded to Georgia, where Oglethorpe
+laid out a town, and called it Savannah. He very
+happily secured the good will of the Indians. In
+1743, he left Georgia for England, to answer charges
+brought against him by Lieutenant-colonel Cook. A
+court martial declared the charges groundless and
+malicious, and Cook was dismissed from the service.
+In 1744 he was appointed one of the field-officers
+under field-marshal the Earl of Stair, to oppose the
+expected invasion of France. He died in 1785. He
+was truly a noble man.</p>
+
+<p>As the period approached when Whitefield was to
+leave England, the people showed their esteem for
+him in almost every possible way. They followed
+him so closely, and in such numbers, for holy counsels,
+that he could scarcely command a moment for retirement.
+They begged to receive from him religious
+books, and to have their names written therein with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span>
+his own hand, as memorials of him, and very many
+followed him from place to place till his final embarkation.</p>
+
+<p>It was indeed a surprising fact, that a young man,
+scarcely more than twenty-two years of age, and previously
+unknown to the world, should be able to collect
+such immense congregations, and rouse and command
+their attention; multitudes hanging upon and
+receiving instructions from his lips. But God had
+endowed him with a singular union of qualities, which
+most eminently fitted him for the work of an evangelist.
+He was faithful to his trust, and his divine Master
+abundantly blessed and honored him in the discharge
+of its momentous duties.</p>
+
+<p>We have now traced the amazing effects of Whitefield's
+<em>first</em> sermons, and it may be interesting briefly
+to inquire into their general character, and to ascertain
+what truths thus aroused the public mind. Three
+of these sermons can, happily, be identified with these
+"times of refreshing;" and they may be depended on,
+as specimens of both the letter and the spirit of his
+preaching, because they were printed from his own
+manuscripts: they are those on "<cite>Early Piety</cite>," "<cite>Regeneration</cite>,"
+and "<cite>Intercession</cite>." Whoever will read
+the appeals in these sermons, realizing the circumstances
+under which they were made, will scarcely
+wonder at the effect produced by them. The topics
+of the second and third, and the tone of all the three,
+are very different from the matter and manner of sermonizing
+then known to the masses of the people.
+They do not surprise <em>us</em>, because happily neither the
+topics nor the tone of them are "strange things to our<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span>
+ears." Both, however, were novelties in those days,
+even in London. When or where had an appeal been
+made like this?</p>
+
+<p>"I beseech you, in love and compassion, to come
+to Jesus. Indeed, all I say is in love to your souls.
+And if I could be but an instrument of bringing you
+to Jesus, I should not envy, but rejoice in your happiness,
+however much you were exalted. If I was to
+make up the <em>last</em> of the train of the companions of the
+blessed Jesus, it would rejoice me to see you above
+me in glory. I could willingly go to prison or to
+death for you, so I could but bring one soul from the
+devil's strong-holds, into the salvation which is by
+Christ Jesus. Come then to Christ, every one that
+hears me this night. Come, come, my guilty brethren;
+I beseech you, for your immortal souls' sake, for
+Christ's sake, come to Christ. Methinks I could
+speak till midnight unto you. Would you have me
+go and tell my Master that you will not come, and
+that I have spent my strength in vain? I cannot bear
+to carry such a message to him. I would not, indeed,
+I would not be a swift witness against you at the
+great day of account; but if you will refuse these
+gracious invitations, I must do it."</p>
+
+<p>In this spirit, not very prevalent even now, Whitefield
+began his ministry. There is a fascination as
+well as fervor, or rather a fascination arising from
+fervor, in some of his earliest as well as his later discourses.
+How bold and beautiful is the peroration of
+that on "<em>Intercession</em>." Referring to the holy impatience
+of "the souls under the altar," for the coming
+of the kingdom of God, he exclaims,</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"And shall not we who are on earth be often
+exercised in this divine employ with the glorious company
+of the spirits of just men made perfect? Since
+our happiness is so much to consist in the communion
+of saints in the church triumphant above, shall we not
+frequently intercede for the church militant below,
+and earnestly beg that we may be all one? To provoke
+you to this work and labor of love, remember,
+that it is the never-ceasing employment of the holy
+and highly exalted Jesus himself; so that he who is
+constantly interceding for others, is doing that on
+earth which the eternal Son of God is always doing
+in heaven. Imagine, therefore, when you are lifting
+up holy hands for one another, that you see the heavens
+opened, and the Son of God in all his glory, as
+the great High-priest of your salvation, pleading for
+you the all-sufficient merit of his sacrifice before the
+throne. Join your intercession with his. The imagination
+will strengthen your faith, and excite a holy
+earnestness in your prayers."</p>
+
+<p>The nearer the time approached for his leaving
+the country, the more affectionate the people grew
+towards him, and the more eagerly did they attend on
+his ministry. Many thousands of ardent petitions
+were presented to heaven on behalf of his person and
+his ministry; and multitudes would stop him in the
+aisles of the churches, or follow him with their tearful
+looks. Most of all was it difficult for him to part
+from his friends at St. Dunstan's, where he administered
+the sacrament, after spending the night before
+in prayer.</p>
+
+<p>The man who had produced these extraordinary<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span>
+effects, says Dr. Gillies, had many natural advantages.
+He was something above the middle stature, well proportioned,
+though at that time slender, and remarkable
+for native gracefulness of manner. His complexion
+was very fair, his features regular, his eyes
+small and lively, of a dark blue color: in recovering
+from the measles, he had contracted a squint with one
+of them; but this peculiarity rather rendered the expression
+of his countenance more rememberable, than
+in any degree lessened the effect of its uncommon
+sweetness. His voice excelled both in melody and
+compass, and its fine modulations were happily accompanied
+by the grace of action which he possessed in
+an eminent degree, and which is said to be the chief
+requisite of an orator. An ignorant man described
+his eloquence oddly, but strikingly, when he said that
+Mr. Whitefield preached like a lion. So strange a
+comparison conveyed no unapt idea of the force, and
+vehemence, and passion&mdash;of the authority which awed
+the hearers, and made them tremble like Felix before
+the apostle. Believing himself to be the messenger of
+God, commissioned to call sinners to repentance, he
+spoke as one conscious of his high credentials, with
+authority and power; yet in all his discourses there
+was a fervor and melting charity, an earnestness of
+persuasion, an outpouring of redundant love, partaking
+of the virtue of the faith from which it flowed,
+insomuch that it seemed to enter the heart which it
+pierced, and to heal it as with a balm.</p>
+
+<p>At length, having preached in a considerable number
+of the London churches, collected about a thousand
+pounds for the charity schools, and obtained upwards<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span>
+of three hundred pounds for the poor in Georgia,
+Whitefield left London, December 28, 1737, in
+the twenty-third of his age, and went in the strength
+of God, as a poor pilgrim, on board the Whitaker.</p>
+
+<p>Scarcely had he entered on his voyage from London,
+when he discovered that but little comfort was
+to be expected in the ship on which he had embarked.
+There was no place for retirement, no disposition to
+receive him as an ambassador of Christ, and a decided
+dislike even to the forms of religion. They moved
+but slowly to the Downs, where they were detained
+for nearly a month, and where Whitefield went on
+shore to visit Deal, an ancient town, one of the Cinque-ports,
+so called, where "the common people," as in
+the case of his great Master, "heard him gladly."
+With him, through his whole ministry, it was of small
+importance whether he preached to the rich or the
+poor; for he viewed the gospel as a message of mercy
+to <em>sinners</em>, and wherever men were found, he was willing
+to persuade them to be reconciled to God.</p>
+
+<p>The account given by Mr. Whitefield of his visit
+to Deal, and of the different treatment he received
+there from different persons, would be almost as correct
+a description of his labors and reception in a
+hundred other places. He spent his first evening
+very comfortably in religious conversation and family
+prayer, at which a poor woman was much affected.
+"Who knows," he says, "what a fire this little spark
+may kindle?" Next evening, eight or nine poor people
+came to him at the report of this poor woman;
+and when, after three or four days, the ship in which
+he had embarked was driven back to Deal, many met<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span>
+together to bewail their own sins and those of others.
+Soon the landlady who owned the house where he
+lodged, sent to her tenants, beseeching them not to
+let any more persons come in, for fear the floor should
+break under them; and they actually put a prop under
+it.</p>
+
+<p>The minister of Upper Deal, a mile or two from
+the town, now invited Whitefield to preach in the
+church; it was much crowded, and many went away
+for want of room. Some stood on the leads of the
+building outside, and looked in at the top windows,
+and all around seemed eager to hear the word. "May
+the Lord," says the good man, "make them <em>doers</em> of it.
+In the evening I was obliged to divide my hearers
+into four companies, and was enabled to expound to
+them from six till ten. Lord, keep me from being
+weary of, or in well-doing."</p>
+
+<p>The excitement at Deal became very great, in consequence
+of the conviction of the people that their
+own minister, the Rev. Dr. Carter, did not preach the
+gospel. The good man, to disprove the charge, published
+a volume of his sermons, which, however admired
+by gay formalists, furnished but too much evidence
+of the justice of the charge.</p>
+
+<p>Just as he had left the church at Upper Deal,
+where he had been preaching to a vast congregation,
+Mr. Whitefield, in consequence of a sudden change of
+the wind, was summoned on board, and the Whitaker
+sailed for Georgia. A very few hours afterwards,
+the vessel which brought back John Wesley from that
+colony anchored in the Downs, when he learned that
+the ships had passed each other, but neither of these<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span>
+remarkable men then knew how dear a friend was on
+board the other. When Wesley landed, he found it
+was still possible to communicate with his friend, and
+Whitefield was surprised to receive a letter from him,
+saying, "When I saw God by the wind which was
+carrying you out brought me in, I asked counsel of
+God. His answer you have enclosed." The enclosure
+was a slip of paper with the words, "Let him
+return to London," which Wesley had obtained by
+lot, to which he had had recourse. Whitefield prayed
+for direction, and went on his voyage.</p>
+
+<p>This first voyage of Whitefield to America was invested
+with scenes of far more than common interest.
+Perhaps, since the apostle Paul's memorable voyage
+to Rome, the ocean had never exhibited a more remarkable
+spectacle than that furnished by this ship.
+He was but a stripling in his twenty-third year, and
+a faint and hesitating homage once on a Sabbath-day,
+from a few of the less obdurate sinners among his
+hearers, would be all that such a clergyman could
+expect from an assemblage of gentlemen, of soldiers
+with their wives and families, and the ship's crew.
+Yet in the hands of this remarkable youth all became
+pliant as a willow. He converted the chief
+cabin into a cloister, the deck into a church, and the
+steerage into a school-room. He so bore down all
+opposition by love, reason, and Scripture, that we
+soon see him, at the request of the captain and officers,
+with the hearty concurrence of the gentlemen
+who were passengers, reading "full public prayers"
+to them twice a day in the great cabin, and expounding
+every night after the evening prayers, besides daily<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span>
+reading prayers, and preaching twice a day on deck
+to the soldiers and sailors, and increasing the services
+on Sundays. In addition to all this, he daily catechized
+a company of young soldiers, and engaged in the
+same exercise with the women apart by themselves.</p>
+
+<p>Nor did even all this suffice to expend his zeal,
+for he commenced a course of expositions on the creed
+and ten commandments; and so convinced was he of
+the value of catechetical teaching, that on February 3d
+he writes, "I began to-night to turn the observations
+made on the lessons in the morning into catechetical
+questions, and was pleased to hear some of the soldiers
+make very apt answers."</p>
+
+<p>Nor were the children forgotten; the Hon. Mr.
+Habersham, a personal friend who accompanied him,
+assumed their instruction as his department of holy
+labor. Mr. Whitefield wrote of him, that he was
+"pleased to see Mr. Habersham so active in teaching
+the children. He has now many scholars&mdash;may God
+bless him."</p>
+
+<p>Friendship for Whitefield had influenced Mr. Habersham
+to accompany the young evangelist to Georgia.
+Mr. Habersham's friends, at Beverly, in Yorkshire,
+where he was born in 1712, were greatly opposed
+to his plans, but surely the hand of God directed
+them. He presided over the Orphan-house till 1744,
+when he entered into a commercial partnership. He
+occupied several important stations, till he became
+president of the colony in 1769. The proceedings
+connected with the revolutionary war more than once
+placed him in great difficulties; he did not live to see
+its happy results, for in 1775 the state of his health<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span>
+compelled him to visit the north, in hope of its renovation.
+The change, however, was of no benefit, and
+he died at New Brunswick, New Jersey, August 28,
+1775. The "Gazette" of the day said of him, "In the
+first stations of the province he conducted himself with
+ability, honor, and integrity, which gained him the love
+and esteem of his fellow-citizens; nor was he less distinguished
+in private life by a conscientious discharge
+of the social duties, as a tender and affectionate parent,
+a sincere and warm friend, and a kind and indulgent
+master. Mr. Habersham was married by the
+Rev. Mr. Whitefield to Mary Bolton at Bethesda, on
+the 26th of December, 1740, by whom he had ten children,
+three of whom, sons, survived him, and were
+zealous in the cause of American liberty."</p>
+
+<p>In harmony with the solemn duties which Mr.
+Whitefield had assumed, he watched over the conduct
+of all around him. He tells us that the ship's cook
+was awfully addicted to drinking, and when reproved
+for this and other sins, he boasted that he would be
+wicked till within two years of his death, and would
+then reform. Alas, he died on the voyage, after an
+illness of six hours, brought on by drinking.</p>
+
+<p>One day on this voyage, finding on Captain Whiting's
+pillow "The Independent Whig," Whitefield exchanged
+it for a book entitled "The Self-Deceiver."
+The next morning, the captain came smiling and inquired
+who made the exchange. Mr. Whitefield confessed
+the fact, and begged his acceptance of the book,
+which he said he had read, and liked very well. From
+thenceforward a visible alteration took place in the
+conduct of the captain.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>On their arrival at Gibraltar, where they had to
+continue some time, Mr. Whitefield found that Major
+Sinclair, without solicitation, had provided a lodging
+for him, and the governor and military invited him
+to their table. Being apprehensive that at a public
+military table he might be more than hospitably
+treated, to prevent any thing disagreeable, he reminded
+his excellency that, at the court of Ahasuerus,
+"none did compel." The governor took the hint, and
+pleasantly replied, "No compulsion of any kind shall
+be used at my table;" and every thing was conducted
+with the greatest propriety. Here he often preached,
+and was heard by many, including all in high offices.
+Unusual indeed were the scenes, both with respect to
+the place and the people. The adjacent promontories,
+and the vastness of the rock of Gibraltar, aided
+in the enlargement of the ideas of the preacher as
+to Him, who "in his strength setteth fast the mountains,
+and is girded about with power." And the
+place being a sort of public rendezvous of all nations,
+he thought, he says, "he saw the world in
+epitome."</p>
+
+<p>The success of Whitefield's ministry at Gibraltar
+was truly remarkable. He quaintly says of it, "Samson's
+riddle was fulfilled there: 'out of the strong
+came forth sweetness.' Who more unlikely to be
+wrought upon than soldiers? And yet, among any
+set of people, I have not been where God has made
+his power more known. Many that were quite blind,
+have received their sight; many that had fallen back,
+have repented and turned to the Lord again; many
+that were ashamed to own Christ openly, have waxed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span>
+bold; and many saints have had their hearts filled
+with joy unspeakable, and full of glory."</p>
+
+<p>Among other religions societies to which Whitefield
+was introduced at Gibraltar, he one day attended
+the Jewish synagogue, and was agreeably surprised
+when one of the rulers handed him into the chief seat.
+The rabbi had the day before heard him preach against
+profane swearing, and now thanked him for his sermon.
+He remained in the synagogue during the whole
+service, engaged, he says, "in secret prayer that the
+veil might be taken from the heart of the Jews, and
+they grafted again into their own olive-tree."</p>
+
+<p>Several facts occurred on the way to Savannah
+after their embarkation from Gibraltar, which are too
+interesting to pass without notice. On one occasion
+Captain Mackay, after Whitefield had preached against
+drunkenness, urged the men to attend to the things
+which had been spoken; telling them that he was a
+notorious swearer until he did so; and beseeching
+them for Christ's sake to give up their sins. On
+another occasion, while marrying a couple on deck,
+Whitefield suddenly shut the prayer-book in the midst
+of the ceremony, because the bridegroom had behaved
+with levity; and not until the laughter was turned
+into weeping, would he proceed. At the close of the
+service he gave the bride a Bible. When a shark
+was caught, with five pilot-fish clinging to its fins, he
+said, "Go to the pilot-fish, thou that forsakest a friend
+in adversity; consider his ways, and be abashed."
+When a dolphin was caught, the change of its hues
+from lovely to livid, reminded him to say, "Just so is
+man; he flourishes for a little while, but when death<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span>
+cometh, how quickly his beauty is gone! A Christian
+may learn instruction from every thing he meets with."
+While he was preaching on the death of Christ darkness
+came on, and he said, "It puts me in mind of that
+darkness which overwhelmed the world when the God
+of nature suffered."</p>
+
+<p>In the latter part of the voyage, fever laid prostrate
+all in the ship except four persons, and at
+length it seized Whitefield, and confined him to his
+bed for a week. The attack, though short, must have
+been severe; for besides other remedies, he was bled
+three times. During his illness, the captain gave up
+his own bed to him, and Mr. Habersham watched him
+day and night; but that which gratified him most
+was, that the sick between decks, whom he had endangered
+his life to console, prayed for him with great
+fervor. He recovered, and repaid the kindness of all.
+At length, on May 5, they came in sight of Savannah
+river, and sent off for a pilot; and such was the joy
+of all, when they came to anchor at Tybee island, that
+he could not help exclaiming, "How infinitely more
+joyful will the children of God be, when, having passed
+through the waves of this troublesome world, they
+arrive at the haven of everlasting rest!" Though
+still weak, he preached a farewell sermon to his "red-coated
+and blue-jacketed parishioners," as he called
+his military and naval congregation. It was heard
+with floods of tears.</p>
+
+<p>Upon this voyage, says Dr. Gillies, he made these
+reflections many years after: "Even at this distance
+of time, the remembrance of the happy hours I enjoyed
+in religious exercises on deck, is refreshing to my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span>
+soul; and although nature sometimes relented at being
+taken from my friends, and I was little accustomed to
+the inconveniences of a sea-life, yet, a consciousness
+that I had the glory of God and the good of souls in
+view, afforded me, from time to time, unspeakable
+satisfaction."</p>
+
+<p>Whitefield was cordially welcomed at Savannah
+by Delamotte and other friends of the Wesleys: the
+magistrates also offered to wait upon him to pay their
+respects; but this he declined, and waited upon them.
+They agreed to build him a tabernacle and a house at
+Frederica, and to accept his services at Savannah as
+long as he pleased. He was soon, however, again
+laid aside by the return of his fever, now accompanied
+with ague. This attack in a few days brought him
+so low, and made so great an alteration in his person,
+that he says, "Had my friends seen me at that hour,
+they might have learned not to have any man's person
+in admiration, and not to think more highly of me
+than they ought to think."</p>
+
+<p>The first thing which Whitefield did after his recovery
+was to visit <em>Tomo-Chici</em>, the Indian king, then
+on his death-bed. This was the micoe, or king, whom
+Oglethorpe had taken to England, in 1734, and introduced
+to king George the Second. He was accompanied
+by his wife and son, and seven other Indians
+of the Creek nation. His eloquent speech to the
+king and queen was so well received at court, that he
+was loaded with presents, and when he had again to
+embark, was sent in one of the royal carriages to
+Gravesend. "He now lay," says Whitefield, "on a
+blanket, thin and meagre; little else but skin and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span>
+bones. Senanki, his wife, sat by, fanning him with
+Indian feathers. There was no one could talk English,
+so I could only shake hands with him and leave
+him. A few days afterwards, Mr. Whitefield again
+went to visit Tomo-Chici, and found that his nephew,
+Tooanoowee, could speak English. Whitefield says, "I
+desired him to ask his uncle, whether he thought he
+should die; who answered, 'I cannot tell.' I then
+asked where he thought he should go after death.
+He replied, 'To heaven.' But alas, how can a drunkard
+enter there? I then exhorted Tooanoowee, who
+is a tall, proper youth, not to get drunk; telling him
+that he understood English, and therefore would be
+punished the more if he did not live better. I then
+asked him whether he believed in a heaven. He said,
+'Yes.' I then asked whether he believed in a hell,
+and described it by pointing to the fire. He replied,
+'No.' From whence we may easily gather, how natural
+it is to all mankind to believe there is a place of
+happiness, because they wish it to be so; and on the
+contrary, how averse they are to believe in a place of
+torment, because they wish it may not be so. But
+God is just and true; and as surely as the righteous
+shall go away into everlasting happiness, so the impenitently
+wicked shall go into everlasting punishment."</p>
+
+<p>The records of Georgia say, under date of December
+21, 1737, "Ordered, that a license be made out
+for the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield to perform ecclesiastical
+offices in Georgia, as a deacon in the church
+of England."</p>
+
+<p>Before Whitefield had any thoughts of going<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span>
+abroad, Charles Wesley talked to him of an orphan-house
+in Georgia, which he and General Oglethorpe
+had contemplated. When he arrived in Savannah,
+and had sufficiently recovered from his illness to
+examine the state of the colony, the condition of the
+children deeply affected him; and he set his heart on
+founding the projected institution as soon as he should
+be able to collect the needful funds. In the mean
+time he opened schools in the villages of Highgate
+and Hampstead, and one also, for girls, in Savannah.
+He afterwards visited the Saltzburgher's orphan-school
+at Ebenezer; and if any thing had been wanted
+to settle his own determination, or to inflame his
+zeal, he found it there. The Saltzburghers were exiles
+for conscience' sake, and were eminent for piety
+and industry. Their ministers, the Rev. Messrs. Grenaw
+and Boltzius, were eminently evangelical, and
+their asylum, which they had been enabled to found
+by British benevolence, for widows and orphans, was
+flourishing. Whitefield was so delighted with the
+order and harmony of Ebenezer, that he gave a share
+of his own "poor's store" to Boltzius, for his orphans.
+Then came the scene which entirely completed his
+purpose: Boltzius "called all the children before him;
+catechized and exhorted them to give God thanks for
+his good providence towards them; then prayed with
+them, and made them pray after him; then sung a
+psalm. Afterwards, the little lambs came and shook
+me by the hand, one by one, and so we parted."
+Whitefield was now pledged to this cause for life.</p>
+
+<p>Most of our readers probably know that the conductors
+of "The Gentleman's Magazine," a work which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span>
+has now been regularly published in London for much
+more than a century, have never been favorable to
+evangelical truth, or its ministers; it is therefore the
+more gratifying to copy from that work for November,
+1737, the following lines: it will be seen that
+they were published more than a month before Mr.
+Whitefield's departure to the American colonies.</p>
+
+
+<p class="center">"TO THE REV. MR. WHITEFIELD, ON HIS DESIGN
+FOR GEORGIA.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"How great, how just thy zeal, adventurous youth,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To spread in heathen climes the light of truth!<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Go, loved of heaven, with every grace refined,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Inform, enrapture each dark Indian's mind;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Grateful, as when to realms long hid from day,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The cheerful dawn foreshows the solar ray.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">How great thy charity, whose large embrace<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Intends the eternal weal of all thy race;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Prompts thee the rage of waves and winds to scorn,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To effect the work for which thy soul was born.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">What multitudes, whom Pagan dreams deceive,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Shall, when they hear thy heavenly voice, believe!<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">On Georgia's shore thy Wesley shall attend,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To hail the wished arrival of his friend;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">With joy the promised harvest he surveys,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And to his Lord for faithful laborers prays;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Though crowded temples here would plead thy stay,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Yet haste, blest prophet, on thy destined way.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Be gentle, winds, and breathe an easy breeze,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Be clear, ye skies, and smooth, ye flowing seas!<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">From heaven, ye guardian angels, swift descend,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Delighted his blest mission to attend;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Which shall from Satan's power whole nations free,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">While half the world to Jesus bow the knee.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Long as Savannah, peaceful stream, shall glide,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Your worth renowned shall be extended wide;<br /></span><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span>
+<span class="i1">Children as yet unborn shall bless your lore,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Who thus to save them left your native shore;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The apostles thus, with ardent zeal inspired,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To gain <em>all nations</em> for their Lord desired.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">They measured seas, a life laborious knew,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And numerous converts to their Master drew;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Whose hallelujahs, on the ethereal plains,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Rise scarce beneath the bright seraphic strains.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"<span class="smcap">Gloucester</span>, Nov. 1, 1737."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>After spending a few weeks at Savannah, laboring
+as much as his health would permit, Whitefield went
+to Frederica, where he was gladly received; the people
+"having had a famine of the word for a long season."
+They had no sanctuary, and therefore he had
+to preach under a tree, or in Mr. Habersham's house.
+This visit, although short, endeared him to all the
+people; and he had the satisfaction before he left, to
+see them "sawing timber for a commodious place of
+worship, until a church could be built." His return,
+however, to Savannah was hastened by a somewhat
+painful event. One of his friends was lost in the
+woods, and missing from Tuesday till Friday. The
+great guns had been fired to direct the wanderer, but
+in vain; and some of the people had searched for him
+day and night, without success. This report was sent
+to Whitefield, and it hurried him away from Frederica.
+He had the pleasure, however, on his arrival at Savannah,
+to find his "lost sheep."</p>
+
+<p>During the stay of Whitefield in Georgia, the
+weather was intensely hot, sometimes almost burning
+his feet through his shoes. Seeing others do it, he
+determined to accustom himself to hardship by lying
+constantly on the floor; which by use he found to be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span>
+so far from being uncomfortable, that afterwards it
+became so to lie on a bed. Nor was he more ready
+to deny himself than he was assiduous to do good;
+preaching often, catechizing the young, visiting the
+sick, and exhorting from house to house. Entirely
+independent and unrestrained, he knew no fear in the
+discharge of what he regarded as his duty. Knowing
+that some men of influence, to whom his voice could
+not be addressed from the pulpit, were living in open
+defiance of morality and shame, he went into the
+court and made an address to the grand jury, urging
+them to present all such offenders without partiality
+or fear, since the miserable state of the colony was
+doubtless owing to divine displeasure against their
+sins.</p>
+
+<p>Reflection on the character, labors, and success of
+his predecessors, stimulated his zeal and encouraged
+his hope. It could not be denied that John Wesley
+had been misrepresented and unkindly treated, both
+in Savannah and Frederica, and Whitefield therefore
+rejoiced to bear honorable testimony of him and his
+colleagues. He says, "Surely I must labor most
+heartily, since I come after such worthy men. The
+good Mr. John Wesley has done in America is inexpressible.
+His name is very precious among the people,
+and he has laid such a foundation, that I hope
+neither men nor devils will be able to shake it. O
+that I may follow him as he has followed Christ."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Whitefield having as yet only received deacon's
+orders, and wishing to be ordained priest, for
+the more complete performance of his duty as a minister
+of the church of England, it became necessary<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span>
+for him to return to Europe for that purpose; and
+being also desirous of making collections for his Orphan-house,
+he left Mr. Habersham at Savannah, and
+went to Charleston, S. C., on his way to England.</p>
+
+<p>At Charleston he became acquainted with the Rev.
+Alexander Garden, the ecclesiastical commissary of
+the Bishop of London, who with apparent cordiality
+twice invited him into his pulpit, and assured him
+that he would defend him with his life and property,
+should the same arbitrary proceedings ever be commenced
+against him which Mr. Wesley had met with
+in Georgia. Dr. Deems, in his recently published
+volume, "The Annals of Southern Methodism," tells
+us, when speaking of his first sermon, "The people at
+first despised his youth, but his engaging address soon
+gained their general esteem, and Mr. Garden thanked
+him most cordially." In an after-period, however,
+when Mr. Garden more fully understood the evangelical
+character of Mr. Whitefield's preaching, he
+frequently took occasion to point out what he called
+the pernicious tendency of his doctrines, and irregular
+manner of life. He represented him as a religious
+quack, who had an excellent way of setting off and
+rendering palatable his poisonous tenets. On one
+occasion Garden, to keep his flock from going after
+this strange pastor, preached from the text, "These
+that have turned the world upside down are come
+hither also." Whitefield, however, was not to be
+silenced in this way, and returned the compliment by
+preaching from the words, "Alexander the coppersmith
+did me much evil; the Lord reward him according
+to his works."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>On September 6, 1738, Whitefield embarked for
+London. The voyage was perilous in the extreme.
+They were tossed about with bad weather, in a ship
+out of repair, and in sad want of provisions. When
+they were over about one-third of the Atlantic, a vessel
+from Jamaica would have gladly received him,
+but he chose to share the lot of his shipmates. They
+highly valued his services, and one of his fellow-passengers,
+Captain Gladman, became, as the result of
+this voyage, a truly pious man. The captain, in a
+subsequent period, at his own earnest request, became
+the fellow-traveller of his teacher.</p>
+
+<p>After a passage of about nine weeks, they made
+the port of Limerick, in Ireland. "I wish," Whitefield
+says, "I could never forget what I felt when
+water and provisions were brought us from the shore.
+Mr. M'Mahon, a country gentleman, came from his
+seat at midnight on purpose to relieve us, and most
+kindly invited me, though unknown, to his house, to
+stay as long as I pleased." At Limerick he was cordially
+received by that worthy prelate, Bishop Birscough,
+who engaged him to preach at the cathedral.
+From thence he went to Dublin, where he preached,
+and was hospitably entertained by Archbishop Bolton,
+Bishop Rundel, and Dr. Delany.</p>
+
+<p>Remaining but a short time in Ireland, he proceeded
+to London, where he arrived December 8.
+Here he had the pleasure of conversing with some of
+the Moravian brethren, whose faith and love refreshed
+his spirit, though he did not entirely approve some
+of their views. He soon discovered somewhat of a
+change of feeling towards him on the part of many of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span>
+the London clergy. Within two days, he found five
+of the churches were closed against him. He called
+on the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of
+London, who received him with cold civility. The
+bishop asked him if his journals were not tinctured
+with enthusiasm; and he replied, with his usual meekness
+and candor, that they were written only for his
+own use, and that of his private friends, and that they
+were published without his knowledge. So anxious
+was he to avoid giving offence, that he took the earliest
+opportunity to expunge from his journals whatever
+he discovered to be erroneous, and whatever he
+had said without imperative necessity, or which was
+likely to injure the character and feelings of any one.</p>
+
+<p>The trustees of Georgia, at a meeting in London,
+received Whitefield with great cordiality, and in compliance
+with the wishes of the colonists, they presented
+him with the living of Savannah, the salary of which
+he declined to receive; but he thankfully accepted
+five hundred acres of land, on which he proposed to
+erect his orphan-house.</p>
+
+<p>On Sunday, January 14, 1739, being then in his
+twenty-fifth year, Whitefield was ordained priest at
+Oxford, by his worthy friend Bishop Benson. Having
+preached twice to very crowded congregations,
+and administered the Lord's supper at the castle, he
+returned to London the next day. As Dr. Benson
+once expressed regret that he had ordained Mr.
+Whitefield, it may be proper here to explain the circumstances.
+Shortly after the late Countess of Huntingdon
+first became acquainted with the truth as it
+is in Jesus, Bishop Benson, who had been lord Huntingdon's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span>
+tutor, was sent for to remonstrate with her
+ladyship, and to induce her to relinquish what were
+then considered her erroneous views; but she pressed
+him so hard with the Articles and Homilies of his own
+church, and so plainly and faithfully urged upon him
+the awful responsibility of his station, that for the
+moment his mind was hurt, and he rose up to depart,
+lamenting that he had ever laid his hands upon George
+Whitefield, to whom he imputed the change which had
+been wrought in her ladyship. "My lord," said she,
+"mark my words; when you come upon your dying
+bed, that will be one of the few ordinations you will
+reflect upon with pleasure." It would seem that it
+was so; for, on his death-bed, the Bishop sent ten
+guineas to Mr. Whitefield as a token of his favor and
+approbation, and begged to be remembered by him in
+his prayers.</p>
+
+<p>The interval between his taking priests' orders,
+and embarking a second time for Georgia, was employed
+by Whitefield, with his usual energy and success,
+in preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
+and in making collections for his Orphan-house. Having,
+before his visit to America, collected large sums
+for the charity schools in the metropolis, he naturally
+expected that the pulpits would not be denied him
+now, in which to plead the interests of his own poor.
+But he was scarcely yet aware that the tide of clerical
+opinion had turned so extensively and strongly
+against him. The doctrines he had preached, and the
+manner in which he had preached them, had produced
+a sensation so strong, that he found himself excluded
+from most of the churches in London. A few, however,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span>
+were yet open to him for his benevolent design.
+The Rev. Mr. Broughton conducted himself, among
+others, very nobly. Having been urged to refuse his
+pulpit, as some of his neighbors had done, he boldly
+replied, that "having obtained the lectureship of St.
+Helen's by Whitefield's influence, he should have the
+pulpit if he desired it." Mr. Whitefield preached,
+but Mr. Broughton thus losing the lectureship, Whitefield
+blamed himself for having done so. Whatever
+he might himself be willing to suffer, he was not willing
+to inflict inconvenience on others.</p>
+
+<p>Only a few days before his being ordained as
+priest, Whitefield offered his first public <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">extempore</i>
+prayer, in a large meeting in Red Cross-street, London.
+He mentions this fact in a note of his diary as
+"the first time I ever prayed extempore before such
+a number." He did not even then suppose that his
+preaching, as well as his prayers in this manner, were
+to develop his mighty power. The crowding of the
+churches now suggested the idea of preaching in the
+open air. He says, "When I was informed that
+nearly a thousand people stood out in the church-yard,
+and that hundreds returned home, this put me
+first upon thinking of preaching without doors. I
+mentioned it to some friends, who looked upon it as a
+<em>mad</em> motion. However, we kneeled down and prayed
+that nothing might be done rashly. Hear and answer,
+O Lord, for thy name's sake."</p>
+
+<p>We shall soon see how his extempore expositions
+and prayers were fitting him for this new enterprise.
+He would have commenced in London now, but he
+lacked a fair opportunity.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER III.</h2>
+
+<h3>OPEN-AIR PREACHING IN ENGLAND AND WALES&mdash;ERECTION
+OF THE TABERNACLE IN LONDON.<br />
+
+1738-1739.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Under the circumstances we have related in our
+last chapter, Whitefield paid another visit to Bristol,
+and soon found that he had to meet with new and
+very unexpected opposition. When he arrived in the
+city, the chancellor of the diocese, while he did not
+approve of what he considered his irregular conduct,
+told him that he would not prohibit any clergyman
+from lending him his church; but in a few days afterwards
+he sent for the evangelist, and announced
+his entire opposition to his movements. Strangely
+enough, he now asked Whitefield by what authority
+he preached in the diocese of Bristol without a license.
+The reply of the intrepid minister was, that he supposed
+such a custom had become obsolete, and asked
+the chancellor in his turn, "And pray, sir, why did
+you not ask the clergyman who preached for you last
+Thursday this question?" The chancellor then read
+to him the canons which forbid any clergyman from
+preaching in a private house; to which Whitefield
+replied, that he did not suppose these canons referred
+to professed ministers of the church of England; and
+when the chancellor told him he was mistaken, he
+reminded his superior, "There is also a canon, sir,
+forbidding all clergymen to frequent taverns and play
+at cards; why is not that put in execution?" And<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span>
+he then added, that notwithstanding any canons to
+the contrary, he could not but speak the things which
+he knew, and that he was resolved to proceed as usual.
+His answer was written down, and the chancellor
+closed the interview with the words, "I am resolved,
+sir, if you preach or expound anywhere in this diocese
+till you have a license, I will first suspend, and
+then excommunicate you." The crisis was now come;
+the Rubicon had been passed, and the inquiry might
+well be made, "What will Whitefield now do?"</p>
+
+<p>Already have we seen that he had earnestly desired,
+in London, to preach in the open air, for want
+of room in the churches, and indeed also from the
+opposition of the clergy, which had begun so strongly
+to manifest itself; and during this journey to Bristol,
+he found it necessary to preach in the open air or not
+at all. As this event was of vast importance in its
+results, both in his own history and that of Mr. Wesley,
+who also began to preach on the same spot within
+two months after Whitefield had opened the way, we
+must stay a while to narrate the facts.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 450px;">
+<img src="images/i073a.jpg" width="450" height="305" alt="tabernacle" />
+<div class="caption"><p class="center">TABERNACLE, p 89.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 450px;">
+<img src="images/i073b.jpg" width="450" height="458" alt="Hanham" />
+<div class="caption"><p class="center">HANHAM MOUNT</p></div>
+</div>
+
+<p>At that time, the colliers of Kingswood, near the
+city of Bristol, were a most depraved and reckless
+class of men. Inconceivably barbarous and ignorant,
+they trampled on all laws, human and divine, and
+hesitated not to set the magistrates at defiance. It
+was dangerous to pass near the scene of their labors,
+even in open day, for robberies and murders were of
+frequent occurrence; in a word, it was truly "a seat
+of Satan." When Whitefield was at Bristol, making
+collections for his projected orphan institution in
+Georgia, not a few persons had said to him, "Why<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span>
+go abroad; have we not Indians enough at home?
+If you have a mind to convert Indians, there are colliers
+enough in Kingswood." "I thought," says he,
+"it might be doing the service of my Creator, who
+had a mountain for his pulpit, and the heavens for his
+sounding-board, and who, when his gospel was refused
+by the Jews, sent his servants into the highways and
+hedges." After much prayer and many inward struggles,
+he went one day to a gentle elevation on the
+south side of Kingswood, called Hanham Mount, and
+there, under an old sycamore-tree, he preached his
+first sermon in the open air to about a hundred colliers.
+The scene must have been very impressive.
+Before him stretched the rich and beautiful valley of
+the Avon, through which the river was gently winding,
+bordered in the distance by the undulating hills;
+while on his right and left the cities of Bath and
+Bristol were within sight.</p>
+
+<p>The fact of his preaching here soon and extensively
+spread, and at meeting after meeting his audience increased,
+till he found himself addressing <em>nearly twenty
+thousand persons</em>. His own account of the effects produced
+is very striking. He says, "The first discovery
+of their being affected, was in the white gutters made
+by their tears, which plentifully fell down their black
+cheeks, as they came out of their coal pits. Hundreds
+and hundreds of them were soon brought under deep
+convictions, which happily ended in sound and thorough
+conversion. As the scene was quite new, and
+I had just begun to be an extempore preacher, I had
+often many inward conflicts. Sometimes, when twenty
+thousand people were before me, I had not, as I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span>
+thought, a word to say; but I was never deserted;
+and I was often so assisted as to understand what
+that meaneth, 'Out of his belly shall flow rivers of
+living water.' The open firmament above; the prospect
+of the adjacent fields; with the sight of thousands
+and thousands, some in coaches, some on horseback,
+and some in the trees, and all so affected as to be
+drenched in tears together, to which sometimes was
+added the solemnity of the approaching night, were
+almost too much for me; I was occasionally all but
+overcome." Writing to Mr. Wesley a few weeks
+afterwards, he says, "Yesterday I began to play the
+madman in Gloucestershire, by preaching on a table
+in Thornbury-street. To-day I have exhorted twice,
+and by and by I shall begin a third time; nothing
+like doing good by the way. I suppose you have
+heard of my proceedings in Kingswood."</p>
+
+<p>We scarcely need to remark here, that Kingswood
+has ever since been regarded as a sacred spot in ecclesiastical
+history. Here houses for Wesleyan Methodists
+and Independents were soon erected, and in
+them thousands have been converted to God. Here
+was placed the first school for the sons of Methodist
+preachers, and on Hanham Mount, besides the voice of
+Whitefield, those of the Wesleys, Coke and Mather,
+Pawson and Benson, and Bradburn, accomplished some
+of the mightiest effects which attended their powerful
+preaching. There are yet some living in the neighborhood
+who were awakened under their ministry, and
+whose eyes glisten as they tell of the blessed days that
+are past.</p>
+
+<p>Besides the colliers, and thousands from the neighboring<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span>
+villages, persons of all ranks daily flocked out
+of Bristol. And he was soon invited by many of the
+most respectable people to preach on a large bowling-green
+in the city itself. Many of the people indeed
+sneered to see a stripling with a gown mount a table
+on unconsecrated ground; this even excited once or
+twice the laugh of some of the higher ranks, who had
+admired him in the churches. But he was unmoved,
+and his preaching was so blessed, that many were
+awakened. Sometimes he was employed almost from
+morning till night answering those who, in distress of
+soul, cried out, "What shall I do to be saved?" He
+now sought the help of Mr. John Wesley, who, after
+much reasoning with himself on the subject, complied
+with the invitation, and followed Whitefield's example,
+who immediately committed the work to him.
+Before leaving the neighborhood, however, Whitefield
+had the satisfaction of laying the foundation of
+a school for Kingswood; for the support of which the
+colliers liberally and cheerfully subscribed.</p>
+
+<p>Taking an affectionate leave of his Bristol friends,
+Whitefield made an excursion into Wales, where a
+revival of religion had commenced several years before,
+under the ministry of the Rev. Griffith Jones,
+and was now carried on by the ministry of Mr. Howel
+Harris, a man of strong mental powers, great Christian
+zeal, and considerable learning. They met at Cardiff.
+Whitefield's heart was then glowing with the fire he
+had himself kindled at Bristol and Kingswood. On
+his way from Bristol to Cardiff, he was delayed at the
+New Passage by contrary winds. He says, "At the
+inn there was an unhappy clergyman who would not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span>
+go over in the passage-boat, because I was in it. Alas,
+thought I, this very temper would make heaven itself
+unpleasant to that man, if he saw me there. I was
+told that he charged me with being a dissenter. I
+saw him, soon after, shaking his elbows over a gaming-table.
+I heartily wish those who charge me causelessly
+with schism and being righteous overmuch,
+would consider that the canons of our church forbid
+the clergy to frequent taverns, or to play at cards or
+dice, or any other unlawful games. Their indulging
+themselves in these things is a stumbling-block to
+thousands."</p>
+
+<p>We have said that Whitefield first met Howel
+Harris at Cardiff. After preaching in the town-hall,
+from the judges' seat, he says, "I was much refreshed
+with the sight of Mr. Howel Harris; whom, though
+I knew not in person, I have long loved, and have
+often felt my soul drawn out in prayer in his behalf....
+When I first saw him, my heart was knit closely to
+him. I wanted to catch some of his fire, and gave
+him the right hand of fellowship with my whole heart.
+After I had saluted him, and given an exhortation to
+a great number of people, who followed me to the inn,
+we spent the remainder of the evening in taking sweet
+counsel together, and telling one another what God
+had done for our souls. A divine and strong sympathy
+seemed to be between us, and I was resolved to
+promote his interest with all my might. Accordingly
+we took an account of the several societies, and agreed
+on such measures as seemed most conducive to promote
+the common interest of our Lord. Blessed be
+God, there seems a noble spirit gone out into Wales;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span>
+and I believe that, ere long, there will be more visible
+fruits of it. What inclines me strongly to think so
+is, that the partition wall of bigotry and party spirit
+is broken down, and ministers and teachers of different
+communions join, with one heart and one mind, to
+carry on the kingdom of Jesus Christ. The Lord
+make all the Christian world thus minded; for, until
+this is done, we must, I fear, despair of any great
+reformation in the church of God."</p>
+
+<p>Before leaving Cardiff, Whitefield preached again
+in the town-hall, to a large assembly. He says, "My
+dear brother Harris sat close by me. I did not observe
+any scoffers within; but without, some were
+pleased to honor me so far as to trail a dead fox, and
+hunt it about the hall. But, blessed be God, my voice
+prevailed. This being done, I went, with many of my
+hearers, among whom were two worthy dissenting
+ministers, to public worship; and in the second lesson
+were these remarkable words: 'The high-priests,
+and the scribes, and the chief of the people sought to
+destroy him; but they could not find what they might
+do to him; for all the people were very attentive to
+hear him.'</p>
+
+<p>"In the afternoon I preached again, without any
+disturbance or scoffing. In the evening, I talked for
+above an hour and a half with the religious society,
+and never did I see a congregation more melted
+down. The love of Jesus touched them to the quick.
+Most of them were dissolved in tears. They came to
+me after, weeping, bidding me farewell, and wishing I
+could continue with them longer. Thanks be to God,
+for such an entrance into Wales. I wrestled with God<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span>
+for them in prayer, and blessed be His holy name for
+sending me into Wales. I hope these are the first-fruits
+of a greater harvest, if ever it should please
+God to bring me back from Georgia. 'Father, thy
+will be done.'"</p>
+
+<p>Whitefield returned from this short excursion, to
+Bristol, baptized with Welsh fire, and renewed his
+labors among the Kingswood colliers with more than
+his usual power and success. He could not, however,
+forget the tears which had entreated him to stay longer
+in Wales, and in three or four weeks he visited
+Usk and Pontypool, where he was again met by Howel
+Harris. At Usk, "the pulpit being denied, I preached
+upon a table, under a large tree, to some hundreds,
+and God was with us of a truth. On my way to Pontypool,
+I was informed by a man who heard it, that
+Counsellor H&mdash;&mdash; did me the honor to make a public
+motion to Judge P&mdash;&mdash; to stop me and brother Howel
+Harris from going about teaching the people. Poor
+man, he put me in mind of Tertullus, in the Acts; but
+my hour is not yet come. I have scarcely begun my
+testimony. For my finishing it, my enemies must
+have power over me from above. Lord, prepare me
+for that hour."</p>
+
+<p>The report to which we have just referred did not
+prevent the curate of Pontypool from cordially inviting
+Whitefield into his pulpit. He also read prayers
+for him. After the sermon, it was found that so many
+had come to hear who could not find room in the
+church, that another sermon was loudly called for.
+He says, "I went and preached to all the people in
+the field. I always find I have most power when I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span>
+preach in the open air; a proof to me that God is
+pleased with this way of preaching. I betook myself
+to rest, full of such unutterable peace as no one can
+conceive of but those who feel it."</p>
+
+<p>In several other places did our evangelist, during
+this excursion, unfurl the banner of the cross; and at
+its close he writes, "Oh how swiftly this week has
+glided away. To me it has been but as one day.
+How do I pity those who complain that time hangs
+on their hands! Let them but love Christ, and
+spend their whole time in his service, and they will
+find but few melancholy hours." Nor will any wonder
+that he should thus speak, who consider the spirit
+which animated his soul. What he some time afterwards
+wrote to Howel Harris, from Philadelphia, indicated
+the spirit he himself cherished: "Intersperse
+prayers with your exhortations, and thereby call down
+fire from heaven, even the fire of the Holy Ghost,</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"'To soften, sweeten, and refine,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And melt them into love.'<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="noindent">Speak every time, my dear brother, as if it were your
+last; <em>weep out</em>, if possible, every argument, and compel
+them to cry, 'Behold how he loveth us.'"</div>
+
+<p>From Wales, Whitefield went to visit his native
+city, Gloucester; and after one or two sermons, he
+found himself here also excluded from the parochial
+pulpits. But notwithstanding his persecutions, and
+the infirm state of his health at that time, his labors
+in Gloucester and its vicinity were constant and eminently
+successful. Bowling-greens, market-crosses,
+highways, and other such places, bore witness to his
+faithful and tearful labors.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>At Gloucester lived at that time the Rev. Mr.
+Cole, an old dissenting minister, who often heard
+Whitefield preach, and used to say, "These are the
+days of the Son of man indeed!" Whitefield, when a
+boy, had been taught to ridicule this Mr. Cole; and
+when he was once asked what profession he would
+engage in, replied, "I will be a minister, but I will
+take care never to tell stories in the pulpit like old
+Cole." Twelve years afterwards, the old minister
+heard the young one preach, and tell some story to
+illustrate his subject, when the venerable servant of
+Christ remarked, "I find young Whitefield can tell
+stories now as well as old Cole." The good man
+was much affected with the preaching of his young
+friend, and was so humble, that he used to subscribe
+himself his curate, and went about in the country preaching
+after him. One evening, while preaching, he was
+struck with death, and asked for a chair to lean on
+till he had finished his sermon. Having done this, he
+was carried up stairs and died. When the fact was
+told to Whitefield, he said, "O blessed God, if it be
+thy holy will, may my exit be like his!" How striking
+is this fact when looked at in connection with the circumstances
+of his own removal from earth.</p>
+
+<p>Intent on the advancement of his orphan-house in
+Georgia, Whitefield soon went to London, passing on
+his way through Oxford. At both places he found
+opposition, and in London was shut out of the churches.
+He preached to thousands in Islington churchyard,
+and now resolved to give himself to the work in the
+open air.</p>
+
+<p>From the conflict with the enemies who a few<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span>
+years before had threatened her existence, the polemics
+of the church of England now turned to resist
+the unwelcome ally who menaced her repose. Bishop
+Warburton led the van, and behind him many a mitred
+front scowled on the audacious innovator. Divested
+of the logomachies which chiefly engaged the attention
+of the disputants, the controversy between Whitefield
+and the bishops lay in a narrow compass. It being
+mutually conceded that the virtues of the Christian
+life can result only from certain divine impulses, and
+that to lay a claim to this holy inspiration when its
+legitimate fruits are wanting, is a fatal delusion, he
+maintained, and they denied, that the person who is
+the subject of this sacred influence has within his own
+bosom an independent attestation of its reality. So
+abstruse a debate required the zest of some more pungent
+ingredients, and the polemics with whom Whitefield
+had to do were not such sciolists in their calling
+as to be ignorant of the necessity of riveting upon
+him some epithet at once opprobrious and vague.
+While therefore milder spirits arraigned him as an
+<em>enthusiast</em>, Warburton, with constitutional energy of
+invective, denounced him as a <em>fanatic</em>. In vain Whitefield
+demanded a definition of these reproachful terms.
+To have fixed their meaning would have been to blunt
+their edge. They afforded a solution, at once compendious,
+obscure, and repulsive, of whatever was remarkable
+in his character, and have been associated
+with his name from that time to the present.</p>
+
+<p>The spots on which Whitefield now began, in his
+own language, "to take the field," and publicly to
+erect the standard of the Redeemer's cross, are well<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span>
+known. Moorfields, then a place of general rendezvous
+and recreation from the crowded city, Kennington
+Common then about two, and Blackheath about five
+miles from London, were the favorite sites to which
+he loved to resort, and "open his mouth boldly" to
+listening thousands, in honor of his crucified and
+glorified Lord. Recording his first engagement of
+this kind in his diary of Sabbath evening, April 29,
+1739, he writes, "Begun to be yet more vile this day,
+for I preached at Moorfields to an exceeding great
+multitude; and at five in the evening went and preached
+at Kennington Common, where upwards of twenty
+thousand were supposed to be present. The wind
+being for me, it carried my voice to the extreme part
+of my audience. All stood attentive, and joined in
+the psalm and the Lord's prayer so regularly, that I
+scarce ever preached with more quietness in a church.
+Many were much affected.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"'For this let men revile my name,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">I'll shun no cross, I'll fear no shame;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">All hail, reproach, and welcome pain,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Only thy terrors, Lord, restrain.'"<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>For several successive months, the places we have
+named were his chief scenes of action. At a moderate
+computation, the audience frequently consisted of
+twenty thousand. It is said that the singing could
+be heard two miles, and the voice of the preacher
+nearly one. Sometimes there were upwards of a hundred
+coaches, besides wagons, scaffolds, and other
+contrivances by which a sight of him could be obtained.
+The rising ground on Blackheath, from which
+Whitefield preached, is still known as "Whitefield's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span>
+mount," and after his death, Lord Dartmouth planted
+it with fir-trees. It will ever be a grateful recollection
+to the author of this volume, that during the
+summer of 1839 he prevailed on some of the most eminent
+ministers of England to preach on every successive
+Monday evening on this hallowed spot; and that
+here many thousands then heard the way of salvation,
+and not a few were brought to the cross of Christ.
+In that immediate neighborhood too, now densely
+populated, he organized, and for some years preached
+to a Christian church. Memorable times! Many
+were the manifestations of the Redeemer's favor.</p>
+
+<p>An anecdote which we heard many years ago from
+one of Whitefield's Blackheath hearers, may here be
+related. While one day preaching on "the heath,"
+there passed along the road at some distance, an old
+man and "Mary" his wife, with their ass and his
+loaded panniers, returning from London to their home
+in Kent. Attracted alike by the crowd and the
+preacher's voice, the old man and his wife turned a
+little out of their way to hear "what the man was
+talking about." Whitefield spoke of somewhat which
+occurred eighteen hundred years ago, and the old
+man said, "Mary, come along, it is only something
+which happened a long while ago;" but Mary's attention
+had been arrested, and she wished to stay a minute
+or two longer. They were both soon in tears,
+and the inquiry was excited in their hearts, "What
+shall we do to be saved?" On their way home, while
+"talking of all these things," the old man recollected
+his neglected Bible, and asked, "Why, Mary, does
+not our old book at home say somewhat about these<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span>
+things?" They went home, and examined the old book
+with new light. "Why, Mary," asked the old man,
+"is this indeed our old book? why, every thing in it
+seems quite new." So true is it, that the teaching of
+the Spirit gives new discernment as to the truths of
+divine revelation.</p>
+
+<p>A fact strikingly illustrating the children's love
+to our evangelist may be here mentioned. In his
+open-air preachings, especially in and about London,
+he was usually attended by many of them, who sat
+round him, in and about the pulpit, and handed to
+him the notes of those who desired his counsels and
+prayers. These children were exposed to the missiles
+with which he was often assailed, but however terrified
+they might be, or even hurt, they seldom shrunk;
+"but," says he, "on the contrary, every time I was
+struck, they turned up their little weeping eyes, and
+seemed to wish they could receive the blows for me."</p>
+
+<p>Speaking of his open-air labors, the devoted preacher
+says, "Words cannot express the displays of divine
+grace which we saw, and heard of, and felt. Lord, not
+unto me, but unto thy name be all the glory." On a subsequent
+occasion he writes, "We have had a glorious
+season, a true Easter. Jesus Christ is risen indeed.
+I have been preaching in Moorfields, and our Saviour
+carries all before us. Nothing can resist his conquering
+blood. It would have delighted you to see poor
+sinners flock from the booths to see Jesus lifted up on
+the pole of the gospel." The climax of his success
+there, is one of the most remarkable letters that ever
+came from a mortal's pen. He records at its close,
+"We then retired to the Tabernacle, with my pockets<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span>
+full of notes from persons brought under concern, and
+read them amidst the praises and spiritual acclamations
+of thousands, who joined with the holy angels in
+rejoicing that so many sinners were snatched, in such
+an unexpected, unlikely place and manner, out of the
+very jaws of the devil. This was the beginning of
+the Tabernacle society. Three hundred and fifty
+awakened souls were received in one day; and I believe
+the number of notes exceeded a thousand. But
+I must have done, believing you want to retire, to join
+in mutual praise with me in thanksgiving to God and
+the Lamb."</p>
+
+<p>Having thus introduced the name of the Tabernacle,
+it is important that the reader should be acquainted
+with the origin of the buildings which have borne
+that name. From the very first of what may be called
+his irregular labors, Whitefield always declared that
+he "would never be the founder of a sect." He kept
+his word; yet two London churches remain as his
+memorial&mdash;the Tabernacle, and Tottenham Court-road
+chapel, the one in the north, and the other in the western
+part of the metropolis. The Tabernacle, which
+was first erected, was his more especial and favorite
+field of labor, and he dwelt in the house adjoining it,
+which is still the pastoral residence.</p>
+
+<p>Moorfields, just without the limits of the old north
+city wall of London, was, a few years before Whitefield
+first knew it, a marsh, and during the greater
+part of the year, was absolutely impassable. Having
+been partially drained, a brick kiln was erected, and
+the first bricks used in London are said to have been
+manufactured there. Afterwards it was a field for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span>
+the practice of archery, when it was laid out in walks,
+and called the City Mall. Though improved in name
+and appearance, it became the rallying ground for the
+rabble of London; wrestlers, boxers, and mountebanks,
+the idle, the dissolute, and the profane, held
+here their daily and nightly revels. It appeared, in
+fact, to be one of the strong-holds of Satan, and therefore
+became a most tempting and important point of
+attack for the daring eloquence of Whitefield. All
+London rang one day with the announcement that
+Whitefield would preach the day following at Moorfields.</p>
+
+<p>This was in January, 1739. Gillies says, "The
+thing being strange and new, he found, on coming out
+of the coach, an incredible number of people assembled.
+Many told him that he would never come out
+of that place alive. He went in, however, between
+two friends, who by the pressure of the crowd were
+soon parted from him entirely, and obliged to leave
+him to the mercy of the rabble. But these, instead of
+hurting him, formed a lane for him, and carried him
+along to the middle of the fields, where a table had
+been placed. This, however, having been broken by
+the crowd, he mounted a wall, and preached to an
+exceeding great multitude in tones so melting, that
+his words drew tears and groans from the most abandoned
+of his hearers. Moorfields became henceforth
+one of the principal scenes of his triumphs. Thirty
+thousand people sometimes gathered together to hear
+him, and generous contributions here poured in for
+his orphan-house at Bethesda. On one occasion
+twenty pounds&mdash;about one hundred dollars&mdash;were received<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span>
+in half-pennies, more than one person was able
+to carry away, and enough to put one out of conceit
+with a specie currency."</p>
+
+<p>It was not till his fifth visit to London, in March,
+1741, that Whitefield ventured to preach in Moorfields
+on <em>a week-day</em>; the day selected for this bold
+action being Good-Friday. His chief, if not his only
+friends on this occasion, he tells us, were a few
+"orthodox dissenters." These people perceiving the
+inconvenience to which he was subjected by the
+weather, during the morning and evening services in
+Moorfields, procured the loan of a piece of ground,
+and employed a carpenter to build a large temporary
+shed, to screen the auditory from the cold and rain.
+This building Whitefield called a "tabernacle," as it
+was only intended to be used a few months during his
+stay in his native country, previous to his return to
+America. Providence, however, had otherwise determined,
+and this proved the commencement of a permanent
+establishment of the means of grace. A great
+spiritual awakening took place; congregations became
+very large, acquiring at the same time considerable
+cohesion, and assuming a stationary character.
+This original fabric of wood was a place of large
+dimensions; and notwithstanding its rude aspect and
+temporary design, it sufficed for the accommodation of
+Whitefield and his flock, during the twelve succeeding
+years&mdash;a period the most brilliant and useful of his
+extraordinary career.</p>
+
+<p>Some of Whitefield's friends, however, did not
+approve of the original wooden structure; and anticipating
+or desiring the formation of a Christian<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span>
+church, they called for the immediate erection of a
+substantial brick building, a point which was debated
+with a warmth approaching to violence, of which
+Whitefield makes pathetic mention seven years afterwards.
+Here then several important facts are established:
+that the original tabernacle sprang not from
+Whitefield, but from a voluntary movement among his
+adherents, composed chiefly, if not wholly, of Protestant
+dissenters; that the expense was borne not by
+him, but by them; that much debate and dissension
+attended the measure, proving the thoroughly free
+and popular character of the original movement; and
+that, as the edifice originated with the people alone,
+so did the institution of regular worship. It is certain
+that fears existed in the mind of Whitefield as to
+the success of such an organization; but the results
+most happily disappointed his expectations.</p>
+
+<p>The subject of the erection of a more spacious
+edifice in the place of the tabernacle of wood, was
+first discussed at the mansion of Lady Huntingdon, in
+Leicestershire, when Drs. Doddridge and Stonehouse,
+and the Rev. Messrs. Hervey and Whitefield happened
+to meet together, in the summer of 1751. During
+the following winter, Whitefield began to make collections
+for the object, and on almost its first presentation
+in London, nine hundred pounds, or four thousand
+five hundred dollars, were subscribed. "But,"
+he says, "on the principle that burned children dread
+the fire, I do not mean to begin until I get one thousand
+in hand, and then to contract at a certain sum
+for the whole." The fact was, that Whitefield had
+often been in great straits for the support of his orphan-house<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span>
+in Georgia, "for I forgot," he says, "that
+Professor Francke built in Glaucha, in a populous
+country, and that I was building at the very tail of
+the world." In March, 1753, he wrote to Mr. Charles
+Wesley, "On Tuesday morning the first brick of our
+new Tabernacle was laid with awful solemnity. I
+preached from Exodus 20:24, 'In all places where I
+record my name, I will come unto thee, and I will
+bless thee.' The wall is now about a yard high. The
+building is to be eighty feet square. It is on the old
+spot. We have bought the house, and if we finish
+what we have begun, shall be rent free for forty-six
+years." In June the dedicatory services took place,
+when the Tabernacle, though capable, with its capacious
+galleries, of holding <em>four thousand</em> people, was
+crowded almost to suffocation. Often have we seen
+this vast building crowded with worshippers, with
+delight have we occupied its pulpit, and with devout
+gratitude do we record, that never for a moment has
+the frown of heaven rested upon it. Thousands will
+ever bless God for its erection.</p>
+
+<p>Not unfrequently has the question been discussed,
+to what denomination of Christians does the Tabernacle
+really belong? In answer to this question, we give
+a legal document which may also show what is done
+in reference to houses of worship in England, under
+the laws for the maintenance of religious toleration.</p>
+
+<p>"These are to certifie whom it may Concern, that
+a Certificate bearing date the Eighteenth Day of June,
+in the year of Our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred
+and Sixty-four, under the Hands of Starkey
+Myddleton Minister, Robert Keen, Thomas Cox,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span>
+Samuel Grace, Robert Hodgson, James Smith, Thomas
+Robinson, Benjamin Coles, Thomas Brooks, and Samuel
+Lockhart, for appropriating and setting apart a Certain
+Building for that purpose erected, situate near
+the Barking Dogs in the Parish of Saint Luke in the
+County of Middlesex, and intended for the meeting
+place of a certain Congregation of Protestant Dissenters
+from the Church of England, calling themselves
+Independents, was Registered in the Registry
+of the Dean and Chapter of the Cathedral Church of
+Saint Paul, London, This Twenty-first Day of June in
+the year of Our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred
+and Sixty-four.</p>
+
+<p class="sig">
+"THOMAS COLLINS, Deputy Registrar."
+</p>
+
+<p>While the new Tabernacle was in the course of
+erection, Whitefield visited Norwich, where his ministry
+was largely attended, and notwithstanding much
+opposition, was followed with considerable success.
+Writing to his friend Keen, he says, "How does God
+delight to exceed even the hopes, and to disappoint the
+fears of his weak, though honest-hearted people. In
+spite of all opposition, he hath caused us to triumph
+even in Norwich. Thousands attend twice every day,
+and hear with the greatest eagerness. I hope it will
+appear yet more and more that God hath much people
+here." Compelled by alarming illness, the result
+of his too much preaching, he suddenly returned to
+London, from whence he thus wrote to one of the converts
+at Norwich: "I shall little regard the weakness
+and indisposition of my body, if I can but have the
+pleasure of hearing, if not before, yet at the great
+day, that good was done to one precious soul at Norwich.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span>
+Blessed be God for the seed sown there. I
+doubt not but it will be watered with the dew of his
+heavenly blessing, and bring forth a divine increase."</p>
+
+<p>Truly the gospel did triumph, not only in the erection
+of the Tabernacle in that city, but in preparing
+sinners to be pillars in the temple of God, and to win
+others to his service.</p>
+
+<p>Among other converts won at Norwich, was the
+afterwards popular and useful minister of Christ, the
+Rev. Robert Robinson, of Cambridge, England. When
+a young man, about eighteen, he resided in that city,
+and was engaged in the business of a barber. When
+he was walking one morning with several companions
+who had agreed that day to take their pleasure, the
+first object which attracted their attention was an old
+woman who pretended to tell fortunes. They immediately
+employed her to tell theirs, and that they
+might qualify her for the undertaking, first made her
+thoroughly intoxicated. Robinson was informed,
+among other things, that he would live to a very old
+age, and see his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren
+growing up around him. Though he
+had assisted in intoxicating the old woman, he had
+credulity enough to be struck with those parts of the
+prediction which related to himself. "And so," said
+he when alone, "I am to see children, grandchildren,
+and great-grandchildren. At that age I must be a
+burden to the young people. What shall I do? There
+is no way for an old man to render himself more
+agreeable to youth, than by sitting and telling them
+pleasant and profitable stories. I will then," thought
+he, "during my youth, endeavor to store my mind<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span>
+with all kinds of knowledge. I will see and hear,
+and note down every thing that is rare and wonderful,
+that I may sit, when incapable of other employments,
+and entertain my descendants. Thus shall my
+company be rendered pleasant, and I shall be respected,
+rather than neglected, in old age. Let me see,
+what can I acquire first? Oh, here is the famous
+Methodist preacher, Whitefield; he is to preach here,
+they say, to-night; I will go and hear him."</p>
+
+<p>From these strange motives, as he told the celebrated
+Rev. Andrew Fuller, he went to hear Whitefield
+preach. That evening his text was, "But when
+he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to
+his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers,
+who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?"
+Matt. 3:7. "Mr. Whitefield," said Robinson, "described
+the Sadducees' character; this did not touch
+me; I thought myself as good a Christian as any man
+in England. From this he went to that of the Pharisees.
+He described their exterior decency, but observed,
+that the poison of the viper rankled in their
+hearts. This rather shook me. At length, in the
+course of his sermon, he abruptly broke off; paused
+for a few moments; then burst into a flood of tears,
+lifted up his hands and eyes, and exclaimed, 'Oh, my
+hearers, <em>the wrath's to come! the wrath's to come!</em>'
+These words sunk into my heart like lead in the
+water; I wept, and when the sermon was ended retired
+alone. For days and weeks I could think of
+little else. Those awful words would follow me wherever
+I went: 'The wrath's to come! The wrath's to
+come!'"</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Scarcely had Whitefield completed the Tabernacle
+in London, before he was earnestly solicited to hold
+public services at the west end of the city, and Long-Acre
+chapel, then under the charge of a dissenter, was
+offered for his use. An unruly rabble endeavored to
+drive the preacher from his post; but a running fire
+of brickbats, broken glass, bells, drums, and clappers,
+neither annoyed nor frightened the intrepid evangelist;
+nor did an interference on the part of the hierarchy,
+which followed soon after, prohibiting his preaching
+in an incorporated chapel. "I hope you will not
+look on it as contumacy," said Whitefield to the bishop,
+"if I persist in prosecuting my design until I am
+more particularly apprized wherein I have erred. I
+trust the irregularity I am charged with will appear
+justifiable to every lover of English liberty, and what
+is all to me, be approved at the awful and impartial
+tribunal of the great Bishop and Shepherd of souls."
+Writing to Lady Huntingdon, he says, "My greatest
+distress is so to act as to avoid rashness on the one
+hand and timidity on the other;" and this shows, what
+indeed was proved in his whole life, an entire absence
+of that malignant element of fanaticism which courts
+opposition and revels in it.</p>
+
+<p>"Determined," as Mrs. Knight says, in her beautiful
+volume, "<cite>Lady Huntingdon and her Friends</cite>," "not
+to be beaten from his ground, yet hoping to escape
+some of its annoyances, Whitefield resolved to build
+a chapel of his own. Hence arose Tottenham Court-road
+chapel, which went by the name of 'Whitefield's
+soul-trap.'" Admirably does he say, "I pray the
+Friend of sinners to make it a soul-trap indeed to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span>
+many wandering creatures. My constant work is
+preaching fifteen times a week. Conviction and conversion
+go on here, for God hath met us in our new
+building." It was completed and dedicated in November,
+1756. Though not equal in its triumphs to
+the Tabernacle, the congregation has always been
+large, and its preachers&mdash;always the same as those
+at the Tabernacle&mdash;have not labored in vain. In
+1829, '30, improvements were made in the building,
+which still, however, contains Whitefield's pulpit. A
+vast area in the centre was originally filled with plain
+seats, where the masses of the people were accommodated
+free of all pew rent.</p>
+
+<p>Let not infidels tell us, that the religion of these
+men and of those times was mere enthusiasm, and that
+the temporal interests of men were neglected in professions
+of high regard for those of a spiritual character.
+Let such men know that within two years of the
+opening of Tottenham Court-road chapel, not only
+did the congregation build a parsonage-house for their
+minister, but twelve almshouses for as many poor widows.
+The Tabernacle has always acted with equal
+generosity. In proportion to their means, few congregations
+in the world have exceeded these two in
+works of benevolence.</p>
+
+<p>Assuredly what has sometimes been charged on
+evangelical ministers&mdash;that they attend to the spiritual
+interests of mankind, but neglect their temporal
+sufferings&mdash;would never apply to Mr. Whitefield. No
+sooner had he completed these large edifices, where
+vast congregations assembled, than he was heard frequently
+to plead for those laboring under oppression<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span>
+or distress in foreign lands. He preached in both
+these houses in behalf of the poor French Protestants
+in Prussia, who had suffered much from the cruelty
+of the Russians, when great numbers of the nobility,
+and some of the highest officers of the crown went to
+hear him. The collections for this object amounted
+to upwards of fifteen hundred pounds, or seven thousand
+five hundred dollars; and for this disinterested
+act of benevolence Whitefield received the thanks of
+his Prussian Majesty.</p>
+
+<p>Again, on the day recommended by the government
+for a general fast, Mr. Whitefield preached both
+at the Tabernacle and at Tottenham Court-road chapel,
+after which he collected five hundred and sixty
+pounds for the relief of the German Protestants, and
+the sufferers by fire at Boston, for which he received
+the unanimous thanks of the inhabitants of that town.
+Lady Huntingdon wrote to one of her friends, "It
+would delight you to have seen what crowds of the
+mighty and noble flocked to hear him. The collection
+was for the relief of the poor German Protestants. I
+invited several to come who probably would not attend
+his ministry on other occasions." Few places at
+that time could boast of such a constellation of transcendent
+genius and senatorial talent, such a brilliant
+assemblage of wisdom, magnanimity, and oratorical
+powers, as were then found within these houses of the
+living God.</p>
+
+<p>One word may be allowed here on the plain architecture
+of these buildings. "We are," says the excellent
+Mr. James, "in many things improved, and I
+rejoice in the improvement; but the occasion of my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span>
+joy is at the same time the occasion of my fear and
+my jealousy also. Our ecclesiastical architecture is
+just now a special object of our attention. Whitefield,
+it may be confessed, paid too little attention to
+this; we, perhaps, are paying too much. His only
+solicitude was to save souls, careless altogether of the
+tastefulness of the building within which that work,
+which has no relation to styles of architecture, was
+carried on. His only calculation in the construction
+of a building was, how many immortal souls could be
+crowded within four square walls, and under a roof,
+to hear 'the joyful sound.' Hence the somewhat uncouth
+buildings which he erected. Ah, but when I
+consider that every stone in those unsightly walls has
+echoed to the sound of salvation and the hymns of
+redeemed spirits, and that almost every spot on the
+floor has been moistened by the tears of penitence,
+then, in a feeling of sanctity I seem to lose the sense
+of deformity, and there comes over me an awe and
+solemnity which no modern gothic structure with its
+lofty arches and painted windows can inspire. But
+still, as religion is not only the most holy, but the
+most beautiful thing in God's universe, there is no
+reason why taste and devotion should not be united.
+It is the ministry of the word, however, upon which
+the church must be chiefly intent."</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2>
+
+<h3>WHITEFIELD'S SECOND VISIT TO AMERICA.<br />
+
+1739, 1740.</h3>
+
+
+<p>As in the preceding chapter, for the sake of connecting
+the history of Whitefield's church edifices in
+London, we have anticipated the order of events, we
+go back to the period shortly before his second voyage
+to America.</p>
+
+<p>About the time of which we are now writing, a
+circumstance occurred of deep interest, which Whitefield
+relates at considerable length. Joseph Periam,
+a young man in London, who had read his sermon on
+"regeneration," became deeply impressed by it; he
+sold all that he possessed, and prayed so loud and
+fasted so long, that his family supposed him deranged,
+and sent him to the Bedlam madhouse, where he was
+treated as "methodistically mad," and as "one of
+Whitefield's gang." The keepers threw him down,
+and forced a key into his mouth, while they drenched
+him with medicine. He was then placed in a cold
+room without windows, and with a damp cellar under
+it. Periam, however, found some means of conveying
+a letter to Whitefield, requesting both advice and a
+visit. These were promptly given. The preacher
+soon discovered that Periam was not mad; and taking
+a Mr. Seward and some other friends with him,
+he went before the committee of the hospital to explain
+the case. It must have been somewhat of a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span>
+ludicrous scene. Seward so astounded the committee
+by quoting Scripture, that they pronounced him to be
+as mad as Periam. The doctors frankly told the deputation,
+that in their opinion, Whitefield and his followers
+were "really beside themselves." It was however
+agreed, that if Whitefield would take Periam out
+to Georgia, his release would be granted. Thus the
+conference ended, and the young man went out as a
+schoolmaster at the Orphan-house. There he was exemplary
+and useful, and when he died two of his sons
+were received into the institution.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Whitefield so successfully pleaded the cause
+of his American orphans, that during his journeys of
+twelve months he collected upwards of one thousand
+pounds towards the erection of his intended house for
+their accommodation. With this sum in his possession,
+he set sail for America the second time, August
+14, 1739, accompanied by his friend Mr. Seward, eight
+men, one boy, and two children.</p>
+
+<p>While all this was going on, the inhabitants of
+Georgia were making every possible preparation for
+his reception. The records of the trustees say, May
+16, 1739, "Read a commission to the Rev. George
+Whitefield to perform all religious and ecclesiastical
+offices at Savannah, in Georgia." Again: "June 2,
+1739. Sealed a grant of five hundred acres of land
+to the Rev. George Whitefield, in trust for the use of
+the house to be erected and maintained for the receiving
+such children as now are, and shall hereafter be
+left orphans in the colony of Georgia, in pursuance of
+the direction of the Common Council held the 30th of
+last month."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Not only was Whitefield anxious to establish the
+orphan-house for the benefit of the whole colony of
+Georgia, but having been ordained priest, for the purpose
+of instructing the inhabitants of the town of Savannah,
+he was desirous of making full proof of his
+ministry among them. After a passage of nine weeks
+he landed at Philadelphia, and was immediately invited
+to preach in the churches; to which people of
+all denominations thronged as in England. He was
+especially pleased to find that they preferred sermons
+when "not delivered within the church walls." And
+it was well they did, for his fame had arrived in the
+city before him, and crowds were collected to hear
+him which no church could contain.</p>
+
+<p>A letter written on this voyage to America has
+recently come to light, which beautifully illustrates
+the spirit by which Whitefield was now animated. It
+was addressed to the Rev. John Cumming of Andover,
+Hampshire, England.</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p class="sig">
+"Wrote at Sea, dated at Philadelphia, Nov. 9, 1739.
+</p>
+
+<p>"<span class="smcap">Reverend and dear Sir</span>&mdash;You see by my writing
+this how willing I am to cultivate a correspondence
+with you. I wish Christians in general, and ministers
+of Christ in particular, were better acquainted. The
+cause of Christ thereby must be necessarily promoted.
+But bigotry and sectarian zeal have been the bane of
+our holy religion. Though we have one Lord, one
+faith, and one baptism, yet if we do not all worship
+God in one particular way, we behave to each other
+like Jews and Samaritans. Dear sir, I hope that neither
+of us have so learned Christ. Blessed be God<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span>
+for his free grace in Christ. The partition wall has for
+some time been broken down out of my heart, and I
+can truly say, whosoever loves the Lord Jesus, 'the
+same is my brother, and sister, and mother.' For this
+reason, dear sir, I love you. For this reason, though
+I decrease, yet I heartily wish you may increase, even
+with all the increase of God. I am persuaded you
+are like-minded. I believe my friends have prayed
+for me. The Lord hath dealt most lovingly with me
+his servant. He has chastened and corrected, but hath
+not given me over into the hands of the enemy. A
+future journal will acquaint you with particulars.
+What I have sent over to be published will afford you
+abundant matter for thanksgiving in behalf of,</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+"Dear sir, your affectionate friend,</p>
+
+<p class="sig">Brother, and servant,<br />
+
+"G. WHITEFIELD."
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>The old court-house of Philadelphia, then standing
+on Second and Market streets, had a balcony,
+which several years before the visit of Whitefield had
+been often used instead of a pulpit. In 1736, we find
+that Mr. Abel Noble had preached "from the court-house
+steps," on a Monday, to a large congregation
+standing in Market-street, on the subject of keeping
+the Sabbath. In the same year, Michael Welfare appeared
+there to give his "warning voice," and now, in
+1739, it became one of the favorite preaching stands
+of the great evangelist. Here he stood, surrounded
+by many thousands, even down to the side of the Delaware
+river, not a few bathed in tears, and inquiring
+after the way of salvation.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 450px;">
+<img src="images/i100a.jpg" width="450" height="491" alt="courthouse" />
+<div class="caption"><p class="center">OLD COURT-HOUSE, PHILADELPHIA.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 450px;">
+<img src="images/i100b.jpg" width="450" height="492" alt="Tennent" />
+<div class="caption"><p class="center">TENNENT CHURCH, FREEHOLD, N. J. p. 117.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Dr. Franklin says, "The multitudes of all sects
+and denominations that attended his sermons were
+enormous; and it was a matter of speculation with
+me to observe the influence of his oratory on his hearers,
+and how much they admired and respected him,
+notwithstanding his common abuse of them, by assuring
+them that they were, naturally, half beasts and
+half devils. It was wonderful to see the change soon
+made in the manners of our inhabitants. From being
+thoughtless and indifferent about religion, it seemed
+as if all the world was growing religious; so that one
+could not walk through the town in an evening without
+hearing psalms sung in different families in every
+street."</p>
+
+<p>A constant attendant on his ministry at this time
+says, "His hearers were never weary; every eye was
+fixed on his expressive countenance; every ear was
+charmed with his melodious voice; every heart captivated
+with the beauty and propriety of his address.
+He was no contracted bigot; all denominations partook
+of his religious charity. Anxious in America
+for our civil privileges, he was alike solicitous for the
+spiritual and temporal happiness of mankind. No
+man since the apostolic age preached oftener or with
+better success. He was, moreover, a polite gentleman,
+a faithful friend, an engaging companion, and a
+sincere Christian. His sermons in the open air lasted
+about one and a half hours."</p>
+
+<p>Watson, in his "Annals of Philadelphia," speaking
+of Whitefield's first visit to that city, tells us that he
+preached to a crowd of fifteen thousand persons on
+Society hill, and adds, "About the same time he so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span>
+far succeeded to repress the usual public amusements,
+that the dancing-school was discontinued, and the
+ball and concert rooms were shut up, as inconsistent
+with the requisitions of the gospel. No less than
+fourteen sermons were preached on Society hill in the
+open air in one week, during the session of the Presbyterian
+church; and the gazette of the day, in noticing
+the fact, says, 'The change to religion here is
+altogether surprising, through the influence of Whitefield;
+no books sell but religious, and such is the
+general conversation.'"</p>
+
+<p>It is said, that though some gentlemen broke open
+the assembly-rooms, no company could be induced to
+visit them. Such was the popularity of Whitefield,
+that when he left the city, about one hundred and
+fifty gentlemen accompanied him as far as Chester,
+fifteen miles from Philadelphia, where he preached to
+about seven thousand people. At White Clay creek,
+he preached to eight thousand people, three thousand
+of whom, it is said, were on horseback. Many complimentary
+effusions to him appeared in the newspapers,
+and James Pemberton, a very distinguished
+<em>Friend</em>, said of him, "In his conversation he is very
+agreeable, and has not much of the priest; he frequents
+no set company."</p>
+
+<p>An old gentleman assured Watson, the annalist,
+that on one occasion the words, "And he taught them,
+saying," as pronounced by Whitefield on Society hill,
+were heard at Gloucester point, a distance by water
+of two miles.</p>
+
+<p>Abundant reasons might be assigned for our introducing
+in this place an account of the institution<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span>
+called "the Log college." It has proved the parent
+of every collegiate and theological institution connected
+with the large and wealthy body of Presbyterians
+in this country; it was originated by a family
+which became especially endeared to Mr. Whitefield;
+and from his journal, recording his visit to it, we
+have, in some respects at least, the clearest statement
+of facts concerning it which history has preserved.</p>
+
+<p>As we have already shown, about one hundred and
+forty years ago, the state of religion, both in Europe
+and America, was very low. Nor was the condition of
+the Presbyterian body an exception. As the late Dr.
+Alexander, in his interesting volume, called "The Log
+College," says, "The ministers composing the Presbyterian
+church in this country were sound in the
+faith, and strongly attached to the Westminster confession
+of faith and catechisms, as were also their people;
+and there were no diversities or contentions
+among them respecting the doctrines of the gospel;
+but as to the vital power of godliness, there is reason
+to believe that it was little known or spoken of.
+Revivals of religion were nowhere heard of, and an
+orthodox creed, and a decent external conduct were
+the only points on which inquiry was made, when persons
+were admitted to the communion of the church.
+Indeed, it was very much a matter of course, for all
+who had been baptized in infancy, to be received into
+communion at the proper age, without exhibiting or
+possessing any satisfactory evidence of a change of
+heart by the supernatural operations of the Holy
+Spirit. And the habit of their preachers was to address<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span>
+their people as though they were all pious, and
+only needed instruction and confirmation."</p>
+
+<p>Such was the lamentable state of things when the
+Rev. William Tennent, sen., an Irish clergyman past
+the middle stage of life arrived in this country, about
+the year 1716. After laboring for a season in the
+state of New York, till about 1721, he received an
+invitation to settle at Bensalem, where he ministered
+to the small Presbyterian congregation till 1726, when
+he was called to Neshaminy, in the same county, where
+he labored for the rest of his life, living till 1746,
+when he died, aged seventy-three. In Neshaminy the
+good man felt that he was called not only to discharge
+the duties of a preacher and pastor, but to look over
+the whole country, and to devise means for the extension
+of the cause of Christ. He had himself four
+sons, the subjects of divine grace, and blessed with
+talents for usefulness in the kingdom of the Redeemer,
+and he felt that when other young men rose up in the
+church, favored with ministerial talents, they also
+would need mental cultivation. Hence his determination
+to erect the humble building of which we now
+write, which was the first Presbyterian literary and
+theological institution in this country, the immediate
+parent of the college at Princeton, and from which,
+indeed, all similar institutions emanated.</p>
+
+<p>The site of the Log college is about a mile from
+Neshaminy creek, where the Presbyterian church has
+long stood. The ground near and around it lies handsomely
+to the eye, and the more distant prospect is
+very beautiful; for while there is a considerable extent
+of fertile, well-cultivated land, nearly level, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span>
+view is bounded to the north and west by a range of
+hills, which have a very pleasing appearance. Mr.
+Whitefield has left in his "Journal," the only description
+we have of the building. "The place," says he,
+"wherein the young men study now, is in contempt
+called 'the college.' It is a log-house about twenty
+feet long, and nearly as many broad; and to me it
+seemed to resemble the school of the old prophets,
+for their habitations were mean. That they sought
+not great things for themselves is plain from these
+passages of Scripture, wherein we are told that each
+of them took a beam to build them a house; and
+that at the feast of the sons of the prophets, one of
+them put on the pot, while the others went to fetch
+some herbs out of the field. All that we can say of
+most of our universities is, they are glorious without.
+From this despised place, seven or eight worthy ministers
+of Jesus have lately been sent forth; more are
+almost ready to be sent, and the foundation is now
+laying for the instruction of many others."</p>
+
+<p>Of the senior Tennent, the founder of the Log college,
+little more is known than what we have already
+given. He was a member of the synod of Philadelphia,
+who were satisfied with his reasons for leaving
+the Established church of Ireland, and for several
+years this body cordially co&#246;perated with him in his
+zealous labors. Their unity of feeling, however, seems
+to have declined. This we learn from a passage in
+Whitefield's "Journal," which also gives us a beautiful
+view of the good old man. "At my return home,
+was much comforted by the coming of one Mr. Tennent,
+an old gray-headed disciple and soldier of Jesus<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span>
+Christ. He keeps an academy about twenty miles
+from Philadelphia, and has been blest with four gracious
+sons, three of which have been, and still continue
+to be eminently useful in the church of Christ.
+He brought three pious souls along with him, and
+rejoiced me by letting me know how they had been
+evil spoken of for their Master's sake. He is a great
+friend of Mr. Erskine, of Scotland; and as far as I
+can learn, both he and his sons are secretly despised
+by the generality of the synod, as Mr. Erskine and
+his friends are hated by the judicatories of Edinburgh,
+and as the Methodist preachers, as they are called,
+are by their brethren in England."</p>
+
+<p>Not long after this, the Log college was visited by
+Whitefield, who wrote the account we have already
+given. He also says, under the date of Nov. 29, 1739,
+"Set out for Neshaminy, twenty miles distant from
+Trent Town, where old Mr. Tennent lives, and keeps
+an academy, and where I was to preach to-day, according
+to appointment. About twelve o'clock, we came
+thither, and found about three thousand people gathered
+together in the meeting-house yard. Mr. William
+Tennent, junior, an eminent servant of Jesus
+Christ, because we stayed beyond the time appointed,
+was preaching to them. When I came up, he soon
+stopped; sung a psalm, and then I began to speak as the
+Lord gave me utterance. At first, the people seemed
+unaffected, but in the midst of my discourse, the power
+of the Lord Jesus came upon me, and I felt such a
+struggling within myself for the people as I scarce
+ever felt before. The hearers began to be melted
+down immediately, and to cry much; and we had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span>
+good reason to hope the Lord intended good for many.
+After I had finished, Mr. Gilbert Tennent gave a word
+of exhortation, to confirm what had been delivered.
+At the end of his discourse, we sung a psalm, and dismissed
+the people with a blessing; O that the people
+may say Amen to it. After our exercises were over,
+we went to old Mr. Tennent's, who entertained us
+like one of the ancient patriarchs. His wife, to me
+seemed like Elizabeth, and he like Zachary; both, as
+far as I can learn, walk in the commandments and
+ordinances of the Lord blameless. Though God was
+pleased to humble my soul, so that I was obliged
+to retire for a while, yet we had sweet communion
+with each other, and spent the evening in concerting
+what measures had best be taken for promoting
+our dear Lord's kingdom. It happened very providentially
+that Mr. Tennent and his brethren are appointed
+to be a presbytery by the synod, so that
+they intend bringing up gracious youths, and sending
+them out from time to time into the Lord's vineyard."</p>
+
+<p>We may be permitted to add here, that among the
+ministers sent out by Mr. Tennent, from the Log college,
+to preach the gospel, were his four sons, Gilbert,
+William, John, and Charles, the Rev. Messrs. Samuel
+Blair, John Blair, Charles Beatty, and Rev. Dr. Samuel
+J. Finley, President of Princeton College; of some of
+these excellent men the reader will hear again in the
+course of this volume.</p>
+
+<p>In reference to his first visit to Philadelphia,
+Whitefield thus writes: "I have scarcely preached
+among them, but I have seen a stirring among the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span>
+dry bones. Go where I will, I find people with great
+gladness receive me into their houses. Sometimes I
+think I am speaking to stocks and stones; but before
+I have done, the power of the Lord comes over them,
+and I find I have been ploughing up some fallow
+ground, in a place where there has been a great famine
+of the word of God. But as God's word increases,
+so will the rage and opposition of the devil. Scoffers
+seem to be at a stand what to say. They mutter in
+coffee-houses, give a curse, drink a barrel of punch,
+and then cry out against me for not preaching more
+morality. Poor men, if God judges them, as he certainly
+will do, by <em>their</em> morality, out of their own
+mouths will he condemn them. Their morality, falsely
+so called, will prove their damnation. God has enlarged
+my heart to pray. Tears trickle down my
+face, and I am in great agony; but the Lord is pleased
+to set his seal to what he enables me to deliver.
+Amid cries and groans in the congregation, God gives
+me much freedom of speech. Many people and many
+ministers weep. My own soul is much carried out.
+I preached to a vast assembly of sinners; nearly
+twelve thousand were collected; and I had not spoken
+long, before I perceived numbers melting; as I proceeded,
+the power increased, and thousands cried out;
+never before did I see so glorious a sight. Oh, what
+strong crying and tears were poured forth after the
+dear Lord Jesus! Some fainted; and when they had
+gotten a little strength, they would hear and faint
+again. Never was my soul filled with greater power.
+Oh, what thoughts and words did God put into my
+heart. As great, if not greater commotion was in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span>
+the hearts of the people. Look where I would, most
+were drowned in tears."</p>
+
+<p>An aged man who was living in 1806, and who
+well remembered the scenes he witnessed, bore testimony
+that after this visit of the great evangelist, public
+worship was regularly celebrated in Philadelphia
+twice a day for a whole year; and that on the Lord's
+day it was celebrated three, and frequently four times
+in each church. He said there were not less than
+twenty-six societies regularly held for prayer and
+Christian conference.</p>
+
+<p>Such was the influence of Whitefield, not only in
+Philadelphia, but throughout the colony of Pennsylvania,
+that in the city attention to commerce was
+suspended, and in the country the cultivation of the
+land for the time being was abandoned, that people
+might hear him proclaim the gospel of the Lord
+Jesus.</p>
+
+<p>Among other very striking conversions in Philadelphia
+at this period, was that of a young lady, who
+had for several years made a public profession of
+Christianity, but who now became fully convinced
+that "she was totally unacquainted with vital piety."
+When Mr. Whitefield began his labors in that city,
+she was greatly affected by his preaching, on which
+she constantly attended, and often afterwards told
+her friends, that after the first sermon she heard
+him preach, she was ready to say with the woman of
+Samaria, "Come see a man who told me all things
+that ever I did." The preacher, she said, so exactly
+described all the secret workings of her heart, her
+wishes, and her actions, that she really believed he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span>
+was either more than human, or else that he was supernaturally
+assisted to know her heart. She was
+not then aware that all depraved hearts are much
+alike, and that he who in lively colors can paint one,
+gives a description which will be recognized by many
+as their own. This young lady once walked twenty
+miles to hear a sermon from Whitefield; she became
+a most eminent Christian, and was one of the constituent
+members of the church organized by Mr. Tennent.
+She married Mr. Hugh Hodge, who was also
+one of the seals of Mr. Whitefield's ministry, and a
+deacon of the church, and for more than sixty years
+she eminently "adorned the gospel of God in all
+things."</p>
+
+<p>During this first visit of Mr. Whitefield to Philadelphia,
+another interesting circumstance occurred.
+Whitefield preached one evening standing on the
+steps of the court-house, in Market-street, which became,
+as we have said, his favorite spot during that
+and subsequent visits. A youth some thirteen years
+of age stood near him, and held a lantern for his accommodation;
+but becoming deeply absorbed in the
+sermon, and strongly agitated, the lantern fell from
+his hands, and was dashed in pieces. Those near the
+boy, observing the cause of the accident, felt specially
+interested, and for a few moments the meeting was
+discomposed by the occurrence. Some fourteen years
+afterwards, Mr. Whitefield, on his fifth visit to this
+country, was visiting St. George's, in Delaware. He
+was one day riding out with the Rev. Dr. John Rodgers,
+then settled as the minister at St. George's, in
+the closed carriage in which Whitefield generally<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span>
+rode. Mr. Rodgers asked him whether he recollected
+the occurrence of the little boy who was so affected
+with his preaching as to let his lantern fall. Mr.
+Whitefield replied, "O yes, I remember it well; and
+have often thought I would give almost any thing in
+my power, to know who that little boy was, and what
+had become of him." Mr. Rodgers replied with a
+smile, "I am that little boy." Mr. Whitefield, with
+tears of joy, started from his seat, took him in his
+arms, and with strong emotion remarked, that he was
+the <em>fourteenth</em> person then in the ministry whom he
+had discovered in the course of that visit to America,
+in whose conversion he had, under God, been instrumental.</p>
+
+<p>From Philadelphia, Whitefield was invited by Mr.
+Noble to New York; this gentleman being the only
+person with whom he then had an acquaintance in
+that city. Upon his arrival, he waited with his
+friend on the commissary, but he refused to Whitefield
+the use of the church. This commissary of the
+bishop, he says, "was full of anger and resentment,
+and denied me the use of his pulpit before I asked for
+it. He said they did not want my assistance. I replied,
+that if they preached the gospel, I wished them
+good luck: I will preach in the fields; for all places
+are alike to me." The undaunted evangelist therefore
+preached in the fields; and on the evening of the
+same day, to a very thronged and attentive audience,
+in the Rev. Mr. Pemberton's meeting-house, in Wall-street;
+and continued to do so twice or three times
+a day, with apparent success.</p>
+
+<p>Of this visit to New York, and of Whitefield's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span>
+labors there, we have a graphic account, furnished by
+one of his hearers, for "Prince's Christian History."
+Of the first sermon in the fields, the writer says, "I
+fear curiosity was the motive that led me and many
+others into that assembly. I had read two or three
+of Mr. Whitefield's sermons and part of his Journal,
+and from them had obtained a settled opinion, that he
+was a good man. Thus far was I prejudiced in his
+favor. But then having heard of so much opposition,
+and many clamors against him, I thought it possible
+he might have carried matters too far; that some enthusiasm
+might have mixed itself with his piety, and
+that his zeal might have exceeded his knowledge.
+With these prepossessions I went into the fields.
+When I came there, I saw a great number of people,
+consisting of Christians of all denominations, some
+Jews, and a few, I believe, of no religion at all.
+When Mr. Whitefield came to the place designated,
+which was a little eminence on the side of a hill, he
+stood still and beckoned with his hand, and disposed
+the multitude upon the descent, before, and on each
+side of him. He then prayed most excellently, in the
+same manner, I suppose, that the first ministers of the
+Christian church prayed. The assembly soon appeared
+to be divided into two companies, the one of which
+I considered as God's church, and the other the devil's
+chapel. The first were collected round the minister,
+and were very serious and attentive; the last had
+placed themselves in the skirts of the assembly, and
+spent most of their time in giggling, scoffing, talking,
+and laughing. I believe the minister saw them, for
+in his sermon, remarking on the cowardice and shamefacedness<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span>
+in Christ's cause, he pointed towards <em>this</em>
+assembly, and reproached the former, those who
+seemed to be Christians, with the boldness and zeal
+with which the devil's vassals serve him. Towards
+the last prayer the whole assembly appeared more
+united, and all became hushed and still; a solemn
+awe and reverence appeared in the faces of most, a
+mighty energy attending the word. I heard and felt
+something astonishing and surprising, but I confess I
+was not at that time fully rid of my scruples. But as
+I thought I saw a visible presence of God with Mr.
+Whitefield, I kept my doubts to myself.</p>
+
+<p>"Under this frame of mind, I went to hear him in
+the evening at the Presbyterian church, where he expounded
+to above two thousand people within and
+without doors. I never in my life saw so attentive
+an audience. All he said was demonstration, life, and
+power. The people's eyes and ears hung on his lips.
+They greedily devoured every word. I came home
+astonished. Every scruple vanished; I never saw
+nor heard the like; and I said within myself, 'Surely
+God is with this man, of a truth.' He preached and
+expounded in this manner twice every day for four
+days, and his evening assemblies were continually
+increasing.</p>
+
+<p>"On Sunday morning at eight o'clock, his congregation
+consisted of about fifteen hundred people; but
+at night several thousands came together to hear him;
+and the place being too strait for them, many were
+forced to go away, and some, it is said, with tears
+lamented their disappointment. After sermon he left
+New York at ten at night, to fulfil a promise that he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span>
+had made to preach at Elizabethtown, at eleven <small>A. M.</small>
+the next day."</p>
+
+<p>We give a few paragraphs from the same vigorous
+pen, relating to the personal manners and the doctrines
+of our evangelist. "He is a man of a middle
+stature, of a slender body, of a fair complexion, and
+of a comely appearance. He is of a sprightly, cheerful
+temper, and acts and moves with great agility and
+life. The endowments of his mind are very uncommon;
+his wit is quick and piercing; his imagination
+lively and florid; and as far as I can discern, both
+are under the direction of an exact and solid judgment.
+He has a most ready memory, and I think
+speaks entirely without notes. He has a clear and
+musical voice, and a wonderful command of it. He
+uses much gesture, but with great propriety. Every
+accent of his voice, every motion of his body <em>speaks</em>,
+and both are natural and unaffected. If his delivery
+is the product of art, it is certainly the perfection of
+it, for it is entirely concealed. He has a great mastery
+of words, but studies much plainness of speech.</p>
+
+<p>"His doctrine is right <em>sterling</em>. I mean, perfectly
+agreeable to the Articles of the church of England, to
+which he frequently appeals for the truth of it. He
+loudly proclaims all men by nature to be under sin, and
+obnoxious to the wrath and curse of God. He maintains
+the absolute necessity of supernatural grace to bring
+men out of this state. He asserts the righteousness
+of Christ to be the only cause of the justification of
+the sinner; that this is received by faith; that this
+faith is the gift of God; that where faith is wrought,
+it brings the sinner under the deepest sense of his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span>
+guilt and unworthiness to the footstool of sovereign
+grace, to accept of mercy as the free gift of God, only
+for Christ's sake. He denies that good works have
+any share in our justification: that indeed they do
+justify our faith, and necessarily flow from it, as
+streams from the fountain; but Christ's external
+righteousness imputed to us, and his inherent righteousness
+wrought in us, is the only cause of man's salvation.
+He asserts the absolute necessity of the new
+birth, where a principle of new life is ingenerated in
+the heart of man, and an entire change is produced in
+the temper and disposition of the soul; and that this
+new production is the work only of God's blessed
+Spirit. That wherever this change is wrought, it is
+permanent and abiding, and that the gates of hell
+shall never prevail against it. He asserts that the
+special influence and indwelling of the Spirit, was not
+peculiar to the first Christians, but that it is the common
+privilege of believers in all ages of the church;
+that the Holy Spirit is the author of the sanctification
+and comfort of all God's people; and that, even in
+these days, if any man have not the spirit of Christ,
+he is none of his. He said, that to many of his hearers,
+he feared he spoke in an unknown tongue; that
+he preached great mysteries; that true Christians
+knew what he meant, and that all his hearers, if they
+are saved, must be brought to understand them. These
+are some of the doctrines which have been attended
+with such mighty power in this city. This is the doctrine
+of the martyrs. This they sealed with their
+blood; notwithstanding that so many in our days
+have departed from it.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Whitefield speaks much of the language of
+the New Testament; and has an admirable faculty in
+explaining the Scriptures. He strikes out of them
+such lights, and unveils those excellencies which surprise
+his hearers, when he expounds them. He expresses
+the highest love and concern for the souls of
+men; and speaks of Christ with the most affectionate
+appropriation&mdash;'<em>My Master! My Lord!</em>' He is no
+enemy to the innocent freedoms and liberties of the
+gospel; nor does he affect singularity in indifferent
+things. He spends not his zeal in trifles, but says,
+'The kingdom of God consists not in meats and
+drinks; but in righteousness, and peace, and joy in the
+Holy Ghost.' He breathes a most catholic spirit, and
+prays most earnestly that God would destroy all that
+bigotry and party zeal which has divided Christians.
+He supposes some of Christ's flock are to be found
+under every denomination, and upbraids the uncharitableness
+of those who confine the church to their own
+communion. He professes a most sincere love to all
+those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity,
+and declares that he has no design to make a party
+in religion. He professes that his whole design in
+preaching the gospel is to bring men to Christ, to
+deliver them from their false confidences, to raise
+them from their dead formalities, and to revive primitive
+Christianity among them; and if he can obtain
+this end, he will leave them to their liberty, and they
+may go to what church, and worship God in what
+form they like best."</p>
+
+<p>While going from Philadelphia to New York, or
+on his return, Whitefield appears to have preached at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span>
+Maidenhead, Abington, Neshaminy, Freehold, Burlington,
+Elizabethtown, and New Brunswick, to many
+thousands, gathered from various parts, among whom
+there had been a considerable awakening under the
+ministry of Mr. Frelinghuysen, a Reformed Dutch
+minister, and the Rev. Messrs. Tennent, Blair, and
+Rowland. It was no less pleasing to him than
+strange to see such congregations in a foreign land;
+ministers and people shedding tears, sinners struck
+with awe, and religious persons who had been much
+persecuted, filled with joy. The old <em>Tennent church</em>
+at Freehold, where preached Whitefield, Brainerd,
+Davies, and other "famous men" of that day, still
+echoes with the same gospel. In size the building is
+forty feet by sixty, with three entrances on the larger
+side. The pulpit is on the north side of the house,
+immediately opposite the central door, so that the
+minister faces the width of the church instead of its
+length. The pulpit is very narrow, and is surmounted
+with a sounding-board, according to the custom of our
+fathers. In the middle aisle lie buried the remains of
+the sainted William Tennent, whose death took place
+about seven years after that of Whitefield, at the age
+of seventy-two years. A handsome monumental tablet
+records the leading dates of his pilgrimage.</p>
+
+<p>Some of our readers may inquire as to the localities
+honored by Whitefield's preaching in and about
+the city of New York. We find many records of his
+discoursing in the open fields of the surrounding country;
+the old City Exchange, which stood at the foot of
+Broad-street, near Water-street, and which was built
+on large arches, was a favorite spot for itinerant<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span>
+preachers, and for Whitefield among the rest. During
+his various visits to New York, from 1745 to
+1760, he generally preached in the Presbyterian church
+in Wall-street, which was then the only church of that
+denomination in the city, and of which the Rev. Dr.
+Pemberton, from Boston, was the minister. Afterwards,
+a few years before his death, he was accustomed
+to preach in the Brick church in Beekman-street;
+which was then familiarly called the "Brick
+meeting," and in common parlance, said to be "in the
+fields;" so little was the city extended at that period.
+So prosperous was his ministry in New York, that it
+was found necessary immediately to enlarge the Presbyterian
+church in Wall-street, by the erection of
+galleries; and a year or two afterwards it was again
+enlarged about one-third, in order to accommodate
+the stated worshippers.</p>
+
+<p>When Whitefield was preaching before a very
+large number of the seamen of New York, he introduced
+the following bold apostrophe into his sermon:
+"Well, my boys, we have a cloudless sky, and are
+making fine headway over a smooth sea, before a light
+breeze, and we shall soon lose sight of land. But
+what means this sudden lowering of the heavens, and
+that dark cloud arising from beneath the western
+horizon? Hark! don't you hear the distant thunder?
+Don't you see those flashes of lightning? There is a
+storm gathering. Every man to his duty. How the
+waves rush and dash against the ship! The air is
+dark. The tempest rages. Our masts are gone!
+What next?" The unsuspecting tars, reminded of
+former perils on the deep, as if struck by the power<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span>
+of magic, arose, and with united voices exclaimed,
+"Take to the longboat, sir!" The reader may well
+imagine how this very natural answer would be used
+by the preacher.</p>
+
+<p>While at New York, Whitefield wrote, "God willing,
+in about seven months I hope to see New England
+on my return to Europe. An effectual door is
+there opened, and no wonder there are many adversaries.
+Shortly I expect to suffer for my dear Master."
+And after his return to Philadelphia, he showed
+his piety and meekness by writing to the Rev. Dr.
+Pemberton, of New York, "I have been much concerned
+since I saw you, lest I behaved not with that
+humility towards you which is due from a babe to a
+father in Christ; but you know, reverend sir, how
+difficult it is to meet with success, and not be puffed
+up with it; and therefore, if any such thing was discernible
+in my conduct, O pity me, and pray to the
+Lord to heal my pride. All I can say is, that I desire
+to learn of Jesus Christ to be meek and lowly in
+heart; but my corruptions are so strong, and my employ
+so dangerous, that I am sometimes afraid."</p>
+
+<p>One of the most important incidents of this journey
+to New York, was the meeting of Whitefield with Gilbert
+Tennent. Two powerful preachers could hardly
+resemble each other less; and the great strength of
+each lay in characteristics in which the other was deficient.
+In one point, especially, Whitefield felt and
+recorded his new friend's superiority. He heard Tennent
+preach. "Never before heard I such a searching
+sermon. He went to the bottom indeed, and did not
+'daub with untempered mortar.' He convinced me,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span>
+more and more, that we can preach the gospel of
+Christ no further than we have experienced the power
+of it in our hearts. I found what a babe and novice
+I was in the things of God." These men, as Tracy
+says, having once met, could not but be friends and
+allies for life; and the effects of their alliance could
+not fail to be felt by thousands.</p>
+
+<p>Both at Philadelphia and New York, printers applied
+to Whitefield for copies of his sermons for publication,
+and two were so issued, in the influence of
+which their author had cause to rejoice. In an after-period,
+the celebrated Benjamin Franklin printed
+Whitefield's "Journal in New England," still extant;
+a copy of which was sold at auction in Philadelphia
+in 1855, for about thirty times its original price. His
+journals, indeed, and his sermons became considerable
+articles in commerce, and did not a little, amid the
+comparatively sparse population of the country, to
+extend both his fame and his usefulness.</p>
+
+<p>But the time was now come when it became important
+that Whitefield should pursue his course towards
+Savannah. He could not, however, regret his
+stay so long on the road. "It is unknown," he says,
+"what deep impressions have been made on the hearts
+of hundreds. Many poor sinners have, I trust, been
+called home, and great numbers are under strong convictions.
+An opposer told me I had unhinged many
+<em>good sort of people</em>. I believe it."</p>
+
+<p>Nor was this the only good he had done. No
+small sympathy had been excited among Christian
+people in favor of his orphan family, and a spirit of
+liberality and of prayer was extensively cherished.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span>
+"They sent me," says the grateful evangelist, "butter,
+sugar, chocolate, pickles, cheese, and flour, for my orphans;
+and indeed, I could almost say, they would
+pluck out their own eyes and give me. O that what
+God says of the church of Philadelphia may now be
+fulfilled in the city called after her name&mdash;'I know
+thy works.'"</p>
+
+<p>The ready liberality which everywhere met Whitefield,
+determined him to pursue his journey by land.
+He therefore procured a vessel, in which he sent on
+his family and their supplies to Savannah. Of this
+sloop, Captain Gladman was master; and a young man
+who had recently been converted by the preaching of
+the great evangelist, willingly offered himself as mate.
+We have already seen that he was accompanied southward
+as far as Chester by a very large company of
+gentlemen of Philadelphia; and on his arrival at that
+place, a court was about to open, but the judges sent
+him word that they would not commence their business
+until the sermon, which they expected from him,
+was over. Nearly a thousand people had travelled
+from Philadelphia to hear it, and it was thought that
+those collected from places many miles around, composed
+an assembly of not less than seven thousand
+persons. A platform was erected, and it was believed
+that many of his hearers obtained something infinitely
+better than the mere gratification of their curiosity.</p>
+
+<p>Among other places at which he preached on this
+journey, was White Clay creek, endeared to him not
+only as the place where he first met with his beloved
+friend William Tennent, but as the residence of a
+Welsh family who had heard him preach at Cardiff<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span>
+and Kingswood before they emigrated, and who bore,
+what was to him a fact of endearing interest, the
+name of <em>Howell</em>. But during this tour Whitefield had
+to endure considerable privations and peril in riding
+through the woods. On one occasion, he heard the
+wolves "howling like a kennel of hounds" near to the
+road; on another, he had a narrow escape in trying
+to cross the Potomac in a storm. Here also he had
+once to swim his horse, owing to the floods; for it
+was now the depth of winter. One night, Seward
+and he lost their way in the woods of South Carolina,
+and were much alarmed at seeing groups of negroes
+dancing around large fires. Notwithstanding all the
+hardships, however, of the journey, no real injury was
+sustained from it.</p>
+
+<p>Our evangelist at length arrived at Charleston in
+good health and spirits. But he could not obtain
+admittance to St. Philip's church; Garden, the commissary,
+who had once promised to "defend him with
+life and fortune," was absent, and the curate would
+not open the doors without his leave. The people,
+however, had not forgotten him, and the Rev. Josiah
+Smith, the congregational minister, and the pastor of
+the French church, at once threw open their houses
+and pulpits, and rich indeed were the blessings they
+enjoyed.</p>
+
+<p>The congregations during his present visit to
+Charleston were large and polite; but he says they
+presented "an affected finery and gayety of dress and
+deportment, which I question if the court-end of London
+could exceed." Before he left, however, there
+was what he called "a glorious alteration in the audience."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span>
+Many of them wept; and the hitherto light
+and airy had visibly strong feelings, as shown in their
+countenances. Such was their extreme anxiety to hear
+more from him, that after he had gone to the shore to
+sail for Georgia, they prevailed on him to preach
+again.</p>
+
+<p>On the next morning, Whitefield and his companions
+left Charleston in a canoe for Savannah; and on
+their way lay on the ground in the woods, surrounded
+by large fires to keep off the wild beasts. On this fact
+he makes the reflection, "An emblem, I thought, of the
+divine love and presence keeping off evils and corruptions
+from the soul." On his arrival at Savannah, January
+11, 1740, he was very happy to meet his family,
+who had arrived there three weeks before him; and
+to find, by letters from England, New York, etc., that
+the work of the Lord prospered. One thing, however,
+greatly distressed him. The colony of Georgia was
+reduced even to a much lower state than when he left
+it, and was deserted by nearly all who could get away.
+He thought that to employ those who were left, would
+render them an important service, and that the money
+thus expended might be the means of keeping them in
+the colony.</p>
+
+<p>During the absence of Mr. Whitefield from Georgia,
+Mr. Habersham had fixed on a plot of ground of
+five hundred acres, about ten miles from Savannah, on
+which the orphan-house should stand, and had already
+commenced to clear and stock it. The orphans, in
+the mean time, were accommodated in a hired house.
+Whitefield afterwards regretted the course pursued.
+He found the condition of the orphans so pitiable, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span>
+the inhabitants so poor, that he immediately opened
+an infirmary, hired a large house at a great rent, and
+took in, at different times, twenty-four orphans.</p>
+
+<p>In the March following, Whitefield was again at
+Charleston, where he went to meet his brother, the
+captain of a ship, from England. Here he was requested
+by many of the inhabitants to give some
+account of his poor orphans, which he did in the house
+of worship occupied by his friend the Rev. Josiah
+Smith, the first native of South Carolina who received
+a literary degree. Such was the spirit excited, that
+the collection amounted to seventy pounds sterling.
+This was no small encouragement, especially as he
+had reason to believe that most of it came from those
+who had received spiritual benefit from his ministry.</p>
+
+<p>But if Whitefield now had his joys in Charleston,
+so he had also his sorrows. We have seen that
+in a previous visit to this city, he had considered
+himself "set for the defence of the gospel." He had
+remarked, in reference to the twelfth article of the
+church of England, "Observe, my dear brethren, the
+words of the article, 'Good works are the fruit of
+faith, and follow after justification.' How can they
+then precede, or be in any way the cause of it? No,
+our persons must be justified, before our performances
+can be accepted." Commissary Garden, of whom we
+have already spoken, now seized the opportunity of
+Whitefield's visit to Charleston, to write him a letter,
+dated March 17, attacking his doctrine of justification,
+and challenging him to defend what he had said
+concerning the bishop of London and his clergy. In
+this letter, he urged in reply to what the evangelist<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span>
+had said, "If good works do necessarily spring out of
+a true and lively faith, and a true and lively faith
+necessarily precedes justification, the consequence is
+plain, that good works must not only follow after, but
+precede justification also." Whitefield replied the
+next day, "I perceive that you are angry overmuch.
+Was I never so much inclined to dispute, I would
+stay till the cool of the day. Your letter more and
+more confirms me, that my charge against the clergy
+is just and reasonable. It would be endless to enter
+into such a private debate as you, reverend sir, seem
+desirous of. You have read my sermon: be pleased
+to read it again; and if there be any thing contrary
+to sound doctrine, or the Articles of the church of
+England, be pleased to let the public know it from
+the press; and then let the world judge whether you
+or my brethren the clergy have been rashly slandered."
+This was but the commencement of a controversy, in
+which were concerned Garden of Charleston, and the
+Rev. Messrs. Croswell and Gee of Boston, portions of
+which are preserved in the Old South church library,
+in the latter city; and which was afterwards resumed
+between Garden and Smith, of Charleston, in the
+"South Carolina Gazette," as may be seen in the
+library of the American Antiquarian Society at Worcester,
+Massachusetts.</p>
+
+<p>In the mean time, Whitefield had returned to Savannah,
+and on March 25, he laid the first brick of
+the main building of the orphan-house, which he called
+<em>Bethesda</em>, that is, a house of mercy. It was built of
+wood, and measured seventy feet by forty. By this
+time nearly forty children had been received, to be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span>
+provided for with food and raiment; and counting
+the workmen with these, he had nearly one hundred
+persons to feed day by day. To do all this he had
+very little money in the bank; still he was not discouraged,
+being persuaded that his present duty was
+to advance the interests of the colony by carrying on
+his work. "As yet," says he, "I am kept from the
+least doubting. The more my family increases, the
+more enlargement and comfort I feel. Set thy almighty
+<em>fiat</em> to it, O gracious Father, and for thine
+own name's sake convince us more and more, that thou
+wilt never forsake those who put their trust in thee."
+On reviewing this passage fifteen years afterwards,
+he wrote, "Hitherto, blessed be God, I have not been
+disappointed of my hope."</p>
+
+<p>We close our present chapter with a very short
+visit to Charleston. In this city Whitefield had assuredly
+produced a very extraordinary excitement,
+and very opposite opinions were entertained in reference
+to his character and doctrines. On the day
+after he had laid the first stone of Bethesda, Mr. Smith
+undertook at Charleston to defend the conduct and
+character of his beloved friend, in a sermon from Job
+32:17: "I said, I will answer also my part; I also
+will show mine opinion." As this discourse was published
+during the following June, with a commendatory
+preface by the Rev. Drs. Colman and Cooper
+of Boston, and is still highly valued as a piece of contemporary
+history, we give an extract, particularly as
+to the <em>manner</em> of the preaching of the great evangelist.</p>
+
+<p>"He is certainly a finished preacher. A noble
+negligence ran through his style. The passion and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span>
+flame of his expressions will, I trust, be long felt by
+many. My pen cannot describe his action and gestures,
+in all their strength and decencies. He appeared
+to me, in all his discourses, to be very deeply affected
+and impressed in his own heart. How did that
+burn and boil within him, when he spake of the things
+which he had 'made touching the King.' How was
+his tongue like the pen of a ready writer, touched as
+with a coal from the altar. With what a flow of
+words, what a ready profusion of language, did he
+speak to us upon the great concerns of our souls. In
+what a flaming light did he set <em>our</em> eternity before us.
+How earnestly he pressed Christ upon us. How did
+he move our passions with the constraining love of
+<em>such</em> a Redeemer. The awe, the silence, the attention
+which sat upon the face of the great audience, was an
+argument how he could reign over all their powers.
+Many thought he spake as never man spake before
+him. So charmed were the people with his manner
+of address, that they shut up their shops, forgot their
+secular business, and laid aside their schemes for the
+world; and the oftener he preached, the keener edge
+he seemed to put upon their desires to hear him again.</p>
+
+<p>"How awfully, with what thunder and sound, did
+he discharge the artillery of heaven upon us. And
+yet, how could he soften and melt even a soldier of
+Ulysses with the mercy of God. How close, strong,
+and pungent were his applications to the conscience;
+mingling light and heat; pointing the arrows of the
+Almighty at the hearts of sinners, while he poured in
+the balm upon the wounds of the contrite, and made
+broken bones rejoice. Eternal themes, the tremendous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span>
+solemnities of our religion, were all <em>alive</em> upon his
+tongue. So, methinks&mdash;if you will forgive the figure&mdash;St.
+Paul would <em>look</em> and speak in a pulpit. In some
+such manner, I am tempted to conceive of a seraph,
+were he sent down to preach among us, and to tell us
+what things he had seen and heard above.</p>
+
+<p>How bold and courageous did he look. He was
+no flatterer; he would not suffer men to settle on their
+lees; and did not prophesy smooth things, nor sew
+pillows under their arms. He taught the way of God
+in truth, and regarded not the persons of men. He
+struck at the politest and most modish of our vices,
+and at the most fashionable entertainments, regardless
+of every one's presence, but His in whose name he
+spoke with this authority. And I dare warrant, if
+none should go to these diversions until they have
+answered the solemn questions he put to their consciences,
+our theatre would soon sink and perish. I
+freely own he has taken my heart."</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER V.</h2>
+
+<h3>CONTINUATION OF WHITEFIELD'S SECOND VISIT TO
+AMERICA.<br />
+1740.</h3>
+
+
+<p>At the period when Whitefield laid the cornerstone
+of his Bethesda, his health was much impaired,
+and his spirits depressed. But it was necessary
+that funds should be obtained, to meet the claims now
+daily made upon him. He had received handsome
+donations from Charleston, New York, and Philadelphia,
+yet the urgent demand was for more. He
+therefore embarked from Charleston for Newcastle,
+Delaware, in a sloop, and arrived there in about ten
+days. Passing on from thence to Philadelphia, he
+found the churches closed against him. The commissary
+told him that he would lend the church to him
+no more. The laconic answer of Whitefield was,
+"The fields are open;" and eight thousand people
+assembled to hear him the same evening, and ten thousand
+on the following day. On the following Lord's
+day morning, he collected one hundred and ten pounds
+sterling for his "poor orphans," and then went to the
+Episcopal church, where the commissary preached a
+sermon on justification by works. As Whitefield was
+recognized at church, it was naturally expected that
+in the evening he would answer the sermon; nor was
+the public expectation disappointed. After his sermon,
+he collected eighty pounds more for Bethesda.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>But far higher success than this attended his labors.
+Societies for worship were commenced in different
+parts of the town; not a few began seriously to inquire
+after the way of salvation; many negroes came
+to the evangelist with the inquiry, "Have I a soul?"
+and a church was formed, of which the distinguished
+Gilbert Tennent was the eminently useful pastor. No
+less than one hundred and forty, who had undergone
+a previous strict examination as to their personal
+piety, were received as constituent members of the
+church, and large additions were from time to time
+made to their number.</p>
+
+<p>Several events of special interest occurred during
+this visit to Philadelphia. Tennent had to tell a series
+of delightful facts as to the usefulness of Whitefield's
+former labors. He began to deliberate on a plan for
+a negro school in Pennsylvania, as he did afterwards
+also in Virginia, but unexpected difficulties intervened,
+and both in the end were abandoned. Mr. Jones, the
+Baptist minister of the city, told Whitefield of the
+change produced by his former preaching on the minds
+of two ministers; one of whom stated to his congregation
+that he had hitherto been deceiving both himself
+and them, and added, that he could not preach to
+them at present, but requested them to unite in prayer
+with him; and the other resigned his charge, to itinerate
+among the unenlightened villages of New Jersey
+and elsewhere. Another fact was, that an Indian
+trader became so impressed with the preaching of
+Whitefield, that he had given up his business, and
+was gone to teach the Indians with whom he used to
+trade. Nor had his usefulness stopped here: he heard<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span>
+of a drinking club, which had attached to it a negro
+boy remarkable for his powers of mimicry. This boy
+was directed by the gentlemen who composed the
+club to exercise his powers on Mr. Whitefield: he did
+so, but very reluctantly; at length he stood up and
+said, "I speak the truth in Christ, I lie not; unless
+you repent, you will all be damned." This unexpected
+speech had such an effect as to break up the club,
+which met no more.</p>
+
+<p>We add a few paragraphs from Seward's journal,
+who soon after sailed for England to promote the
+interests of Georgia, and who died in the parent country.
+They date from the 24th to the 26th of April.
+"Came to Christopher Wigner's plantation in Skippack,
+where many Dutch people are settled, and
+where the famous Mr. Spalemburg lately resided. It
+was surprising to see such a multitude of people gathered
+together in such a wilderness country, thirty
+miles distant from Philadelphia. Mr. Whitefield was
+exceedingly carried out, in his sermon, to press poor
+sinners to come to Christ by faith, and claim all their
+privileges; namely, not only righteousness and peace,
+but joy in the Holy Ghost; and after he had done,
+our dear friend Peter Bohler preached in Dutch, to
+those who could not understand Mr. Whitefield in
+English."</p>
+
+<p>"Before Mr. Whitefield left Philadelphia, he was
+desired to visit one who was under a deep sense of sin,
+from hearing him preach. In praying with this person,
+he was so carried beyond himself, that the whole
+company, about twenty, seemed to be filled with the
+Holy Ghost, and magnified the God of heaven."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Arose at three o'clock, and though Mr. Whitefield
+was very weak in body, yet the Lord enabled
+him to ride nearly fifty miles, and to preach to about
+five thousand people at Amwell, with the same power
+as usual. Mr. Gilbert Tennent, Mr. Rowland, Mr.
+Wales, and Mr. Campbell, four godly ministers, met
+us here."</p>
+
+<p>"Came to New Brunswick. Met Mr. Noble from
+New York, a zealous promoter of our Lord's kingdom.
+He said their society at New York was enlarged
+from seventy to one hundred and seventy, and
+was daily increasing; and that Messrs. Gilbert and
+William Tennent, Mr. Rowland, and several others,
+were hard laborers in our Lord's vineyard."</p>
+
+<p>It will be readily supposed that by this time
+Whitefield and his movements had become so much a
+matter of interest as to be frequently discussed in the
+newspapers of the day.</p>
+
+<p>The "New England Weekly Journal" of April 29,
+1740, copies from a Philadelphia paper of April 17:
+"The middle of last month the Rev. Mr. Whitefield
+was at Charleston, and preached five times, and collected
+at one time upwards of &#163;70 sterling for the
+benefit of the orphan-house in Georgia; and on Sunday
+last, after ten days' passage from Georgia, he
+landed at Newcastle, where he preached morning and
+evening. On Monday morning he preached to about
+three thousand at Wilmington, and in the evening
+arrived in this city. On Tuesday evening he preached
+to about eight thousand on Society hill, and preached
+at the same place yesterday morning and evening."
+Then follows a list of his appointments daily to April<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span>
+29, during which time he was to preach at Whitemarsh,
+Germantown, Philadelphia, Salem, N. J., Neshaminy,
+Skippack, Frederick township, Amwell, New
+Brunswick, Elizabethtown, and New York. On May
+6th, the Journal copied a Philadelphia notice of April
+24th, that he had preached on the previous Sabbath to
+fifteen thousand hearers, and on Monday at Greenwich
+and Gloucester, and that he would return to
+Georgia before visiting New England.</p>
+
+<p>The Journal of May 20th, contains a letter from
+Whitefield to a friend in England, dated New Brunswick,
+N. J., April 27. Of his visit to Charleston
+he says, "A glorious work was begun in the hearts of
+the inhabitants, and many were brought to cry out,
+'What shall we do to be saved?' A fortnight ago,
+after a short passage of ten days, I landed in Pennsylvania,
+and have had the pleasure of seeing and
+hearing that my poor endeavors for promoting Christ's
+kingdom, when here last, were not altogether in vain
+in the Lord. I cannot tell you how many have come
+to me laboring under the deepest convictions, and
+seemingly truly desirous of finding rest in Jesus Christ.
+Several have actually received him into their hearts
+by faith, and have not only righteousness and peace,
+but joy in the Holy Ghost. In short, the word has
+run and been much glorified, and many negroes also
+are in a fair way of being brought home to God.
+Young ones I intend to buy, and do not despair of
+seeing a room full of that despised generation, in a
+short time, singing and making melody with grace in
+their hearts to the Lord.</p>
+
+<p>"An effectual door is opened for preaching the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span>
+everlasting gospel, and I daily receive fresh and most
+importunate invitations to preach in all the counties
+round about. God is pleased to give a great blessing
+to my printed sermons. They are in the hands of
+thousands in these parts, and are a means of enlightening
+and building up many in their most holy faith.
+The clergy, I find, are most offended at me. The
+commissary of Philadelphia, having gotten a little
+stronger than when I was here last, has thrown off
+the mask, denied me the pulpit, and last Sunday
+preached up an historical faith, and justification by
+works. But the people only flock the more. The
+power of God is more visible than ever in our assemblies,
+and more and more are convinced that I preach
+the doctrine of Jesus Christ. Some of the bigoted,
+self-righteous Quakers now also begin to spit out a
+little of the venom of the serpent. They cannot bear
+the doctrine of original sin, and of an imputed righteousness
+as the cause of our acceptance with God.
+I have not yet met with much opposition from the
+dissenters; but when I come to tell many of them,
+ministers as well as people, that they hold the truth
+in unrighteousness, that they talk and preach of justifying
+faith, but never felt it in their hearts, as I am
+persuaded numbers of them have not, then they no
+doubt will shoot out their arrows, even bitter words."</p>
+
+<p>While on his voyage from Charleston to Newcastle,
+Whitefield seems to have devoted the 4th of April,
+1740, to correspondence on the subject of marriage.
+"I find," said he, "by experience, that a mistress is
+absolutely necessary for the due management of my
+increasing family, and to take off some of that care<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span>
+which at present lies upon me." His letters were addressed
+to a young lady and her parents, connected
+with a family much devoted to piety. Here, as everywhere
+else, his heart is transparent. He says to the
+parents of Miss E&mdash;&mdash;, "I write only because I believe
+it is the will of God that I should alter my state; but
+your denial will fully convince me that your daughter
+is not the person appointed for me. He knows my
+heart; I would not marry but for him, and in him, for
+ten thousand worlds."</p>
+
+<p>The next year, having returned to England, Whitefield,
+like his eminent friend John Wesley, was married,
+and, like him also, was unhappy in his domestic
+relation. In each case, the husband exacted a previous
+pledge that the wife should never prevent the
+delivery of a single sermon; and this was followed
+by separation from the wife for weeks, months, or
+even years, in the prosecution of their arduous labors.
+In the case of Whitefield, his marriage in Wales, with
+a widow lady, in 1741, was followed by the birth of
+a son; previous to which event he had said, in the
+joy of his heart, that his name should be John, and
+that he should be a preacher of the everlasting gospel.
+The first prediction was realized, and when his
+child was a week old, the good man told his people in
+the Tabernacle, London, that he would live to preach,
+and "be great in the sight of the Lord." But alas,
+at the end of four months John died, and his father
+very wisely wrote in his journal: "I hope what happened
+before his birth, and since at his death, has
+taught me such lessons as, if duly improved, may render
+his mistaken parent more sober-minded, more experienced<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span>
+in Satan's devices, and consequently more
+useful in his future labors in the church of God."</p>
+
+<p>On the death of his wife somewhat suddenly, August
+9, 1768, Mr. Whitefield himself preached her
+funeral sermon, from Romans 8:28: "And we know
+that all things work together for good to them that
+love God, to them that are the called according to his
+purpose." In describing her character, he particularly
+mentioned her fortitude and courage, and suddenly
+exclaimed, "Do you remember my preaching in those
+fields by the stump of the old tree? The multitude
+was great, and many were disposed to be riotous. At
+first I addressed them with firmness; but when a gang
+of desperate banditti drew near, with the most ferocious
+looks, and horrid imprecations and menaces,
+my courage began to fail. My wife was then standing
+behind me, as I stood on the table. I think I
+hear her now. She pulled my gown"&mdash;himself suiting
+the action to the word, by placing his hand behind
+him and touching his robe&mdash;"and looking up, said,
+'George, play the man for your God.' My confidence
+returned. I again spoke to the multitude with boldness
+and affection; they became still; and many were
+deeply affected."</p>
+
+<p>Before we leave Philadelphia, we may relate an
+instance or two as to the power of his eloquence. Dr.
+Franklin says, "He had a loud and clear voice, and
+articulated his words so perfectly that he might be
+heard and understood to a great distance; especially
+as his auditors observed the most profound silence.
+He preached one evening from the top of the court-house
+steps, which are in the middle of Market-street,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span>
+and on the west side of Second-street, which crosses
+it at right angles. Both streets were filled with his
+hearers to a considerable distance. Being among the
+hindmost in Market-street, I had the curiosity to learn
+how far he might be heard by setting backwards down
+the street towards the river; and I found his voice
+distinct till I came near Front-street, where some
+noise in that street obstructed it. Imagine, then, a
+semicircle of which my distance should be a radius,
+and that it was filled with auditors, to each of whom
+I allowed two square feet, I computed that he might
+well be heard by more than thirty thousand people."</p>
+
+<p>But not only does Franklin bear witness of Whitefield's
+eloquence as to his voice, but still more strongly
+as to its <em>persuasiveness</em>, of which, it seems, he was
+himself a striking illustration. He says, "I refused
+to contribute to his orphan-house in Georgia, thinking
+it injudiciously located. Soon after, I happened
+to attend one of his sermons, in the course of which
+I perceived he intended to finish with a collection,
+and I silently resolved he should get nothing from
+me. I had in my pocket a handful of copper money,
+three or four silver dollars, and five pistoles in
+gold. As he proceeded, I began to soften, and determined
+to give the copper. Another stroke of his
+oratory made me ashamed of that, and determined me
+to give the silver; and he finished so admirably, that
+I emptied my pocket wholly into the collector's dish,
+gold and all. At this sermon there was also one of
+our club; who being of my sentiments respecting the
+building at Georgia, and suspecting a collection might
+be intended, had, by precaution, emptied his pockets<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span>
+before he came from home. Towards the conclusion
+of the discourse, however, he felt a strong inclination
+to give, and applied to a neighbor, who stood near
+him, to lend him some money for the purpose. The
+request was made to, perhaps, the only man in the
+company who had the firmness not to be affected by
+the preacher. His answer was, 'At any other time,
+friend Hodgkinson, I would lend to thee freely; but
+not now, for thee seems to be out of thy right
+senses.'"</p>
+
+<p>Whitefield, much as he loved Philadelphia, had
+now again to leave it. Thus writes the correspondent
+of the "New England Weekly Journal," at Newcastle,
+May 15: "This evening Mr. Whitefield went
+on board his sloop here, to sail for Georgia. On Sunday
+he preached twice In Philadelphia, and in the
+evening, when he preached his farewell sermon, it is
+supposed he had twenty thousand hearers. On Monday
+he preached at Darby and Chester; on Tuesday,
+at Wilmington and White Clay creek; on Wednesday,
+twice at Nottingham; on Thursday, at Fog's
+Manor and Newcastle. The congregations were much
+increased since his being here last. The presence of
+God was much seen in the assemblies, especially at
+Nottingham and Fog's Manor, where the people were
+under such deep soul distress, that their cries almost
+drowned his voice. He has collected in this and the
+neighboring provinces, about &#163;450 sterling for his
+orphans in Georgia."</p>
+
+<p>He arrived at Savannah June 5, and most interesting
+was the manner of his reception. He says, "O
+what a sweet meeting I had with my dear friends!<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span>
+What God has prepared for me, I know not; but
+surely I cannot well expect a greater happiness, till
+I embrace the saints in glory. When I parted, my
+heart was ready to break with sorrow; but now it
+almost bursts with joy. O how did each in turn
+hang upon my neck, kiss, and weep over me with
+tears of joy! And my own soul was so full of a sense
+of God's love when I embraced one friend in particular,
+that I thought I should have expired in the place.
+I felt my soul so full of a sense of the divine goodness,
+that I wanted words to express myself. Why me,
+Lord; why me? When we came to public worship,
+young and old were all dissolved in tears. After
+service, several of my parishioners, all my family, and
+the little children, returned home, crying along the
+streets, and some could not avoid praying very loud.</p>
+
+<p>"Being very weak in body, I laid myself upon a
+bed; but finding so many weeping, I rose and betook
+myself to prayer again. But had I not lifted up my
+voice very high, the groans and cries of the children
+would have prevented my being heard. This continued
+for near an hour; till at last, finding their
+concern rather increase than abate, I desired all to retire.
+Then some or other might be heard praying earnestly,
+in every corner of the house. It happened at
+this time to thunder and lighten, which added very
+much to the solemnity of the night. Next day the
+concern still continued, especially among the girls. I
+mention the orphans in particular, that their benefactors
+may rejoice in what God is doing for their souls."</p>
+
+<p>On the 7th of June, he wrote, "I have brought<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span>
+with me a Latin master, and on Monday laid the
+foundation, in the name of the Lord Jesus, for a university
+in Georgia." On the 28th of the same month,
+he wrote to a Mr. W. D&mdash;&mdash;, in a style admirably
+corresponding with the meek spirit we have already
+seen in his letter to the Rev. Dr. Pemberton, of New
+York. "I thank you for your kind letters and friendly
+cautions; and I trust I shall always reckon those
+my choicest friends, who, in simplicity and meekness,
+tell me the corruptions of my heart. It is that faithfulness
+which has endeared J. S&mdash;&mdash; to me. I think
+I never was obliged to any one so much before. O
+my dear brother, still continue faithful to my soul;
+do not hate me in your heart; in any wise reprove
+me. Exhort all my brethren to forgive my past, I
+fear, too imperious carriage; and let them pray that
+I may know myself to be, what I really am, less than
+the least of them all."</p>
+
+<p>Whitefield's family at Bethesda had now increased
+to not less than one hundred and fifty persons, and to
+advance their interests, it was needful that he should
+again visit Charleston, where he arrived on the third
+of July, and immediately commenced preaching, as on
+former visits. On the following Sabbath, three days
+after his arrival, he attended the Episcopal church,
+where, he says, "I heard the commissary preach as
+virulent and unorthodox, inconsistent a discourse, as
+ever I heard in my life. His heart seemed full of
+choler and resentment. Out of the abundance thereof,
+he poured forth so many bitter words against the
+Methodists, as he called them, in general, and me in
+particular, that several who intended to receive the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span>
+sacrament at his hands, withdrew. Never, I believe,
+was such a preparation sermon preached before. After
+sermon, he sent his clerk to desire me not to come
+to the sacrament till he had spoken with me. I immediately
+retired to my lodgings, rejoicing that I was
+accounted worthy to suffer this further degree of contempt
+for my dear Lord's sake."</p>
+
+<p>The next day, the commissary of the bishop of
+London issued against Whitefield the following ecclesiastical
+writ:</p>
+
+<p>"Alexander Garden, lawfully constituted Commissary
+of the Right Reverend Father in Christ, Edmund,
+by divine permission Lord Bishop of London,
+supported by the royal authority underwritten:</p>
+
+<p>"Alexander Garden, To all and singular clerks,
+and literate persons whomsoever, in and throughout
+the whole province of South Carolina, wheresoever
+appointed, Greeting:</p>
+
+<p>"To you, conjunctly and severally, we commit, and
+strictly enjoining, command, that you do cite, or cause
+to be cited, peremptorily, George Whitefield, clerk,
+and presbyter of the Church of England, that he lawfully
+appear before us, in the parish church of St.
+Philip, Charleston, and in the judicial place of the
+same, on Tuesday, the fifteenth day of this instant
+July, 'twixt the hours of nine and ten in the forenoon,
+then and there in justice to answer to certain articles,
+heads, or interrogatories, which will be objected and
+ministered unto him concerning the mere health of
+his soul, and the reformation and correction of his
+manners and excesses, and chiefly for omitting to use
+the form of prayers prescribed in the Communion-Book;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span>
+and further to do and receive what shall be
+just in that behalf, on pain of law and contempt. And
+what you shall do in the premises, you shall duly certify
+us, together with these presents.</p>
+
+<p>"Given under our hands and seals of our office, at
+Charleston, this seventh day of July, in the year of our
+Lord one thousand seven hundred and forty."</p>
+
+<p>Justice to all parties requires it should be said,
+that the phrase as to the health of Whitefield's <em>soul</em>
+was used by Garden not of choice, but in conformity
+with the forms of English ecclesiastical law; the
+theory of which is, that ecclesiastical courts are only
+held to promote the spiritual health or welfare of
+those who are cited into them. The principal sin of
+Whitefield was "omitting to use the form of prayer
+prescribed in the Common Prayer Book." The undisputed
+matter of fact, as Tracy says, was, that he
+always used that form when he could obtain an Episcopal
+church to preach in; but when he was shut out
+of such pulpits, and was preaching to Baptists, Presbyterians,
+and Congregationalists, in their own houses
+of worship, where none of the congregations had
+prayer books, or knew how to use them, and where
+the introduction of unaccustomed forms would not
+have promoted the devotion of the worshippers, he
+prayed extempore.</p>
+
+<p>On the day this writ was issued, Whitefield preached
+for Mr. Chanler, "a gracious Baptist minister,
+about fourteen miles from Charleston;" and twice on
+the next day "to a large audience in Mr. Osgood's
+meeting-house, a young Independent minister," at Dorchester;
+the next day at Dorchester again, and at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span>
+Charleston in the evening; the next day preached and
+read prayers in Christ's church, and twice at Charleston
+the next day, with great success. And now, on
+July 11th, a citation was served upon him to appear
+on the fifteenth, as required in the writ.</p>
+
+<p>On the 12th, he preached and read prayers twice
+on John's island; and on the 13th, which was the
+Sabbath, he again listened to a sermon from the commissary.
+Of this sermon Whitefield says, "Had some
+infernal spirit been sent to draw my picture, I think
+it scarcely possible that he could paint me in more
+horrid colors. I think, if ever, then was the time that
+all manner of evil was spoken against me falsely for
+Christ's sake. The commissary seemed to ransack
+church history for instances of enthusiasm and abused
+grace. He drew a parallel between me and all the
+Oliverians, Ranters, Quakers, French prophets, till he
+came down to a family of Dutartes, who lived not
+many years ago in South Carolina, and were guilty
+of the most notorious incests and murders."</p>
+
+<p>The next day Whitefield again preached twice;
+and on Tuesday appeared before the commissary, according
+to his citation. This is said to have been
+the first court of the kind ever attempted to be held
+in any of the colonies. It consisted of the reverend
+commissary A. Garden, and the Rev. Messrs. Guy,
+Mellichamp, Roe, and Orr, who, as well as Whitefield
+himself, and his able advocate, Mr. Andrew Rutledge,
+respectively showed their want of familiarity with
+such business, and, after a series of blunders on both
+sides, the court adjourned to nine o'clock the next
+morning, to afford Whitefield time to ascertain the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span>
+extent of the jurisdiction of the bishop and his commissary.
+How little, however, he studied the subject
+may be inferred from the fact, that he preached twice
+during the remainder of the day. The next day, a
+Mr. Graham appeared as a prosecuting attorney, and
+Mr. Rutledge as counsel for the respondent. Whitefield
+made some mistakes, but hints from his quick-sighted
+advocate and his own adroitness saved him
+from their consequences; though he contrived to give
+the court a lecture on the meanness of catching at a
+word as soon as it was out of his lips, without allowing
+him time to correct it. He now filed his objection
+against being judged by the commissary, who, he
+alleged, was prejudiced against him. This gave rise
+to new questions: the court adjourned; and the
+evangelist went to James' island, read prayers, and
+preached. The next day he again appeared in court,
+and found that his exceptions were repelled, and that
+the arbitrators he had asked for would not be appointed.
+He now appealed to the high Court of
+Chancery in London, declaring all further proceedings
+in this court to be null and void. He then retired
+and read letters which refreshed his spirit, by
+informing him how "mightily grew the word of God
+and prevailed" at Philadelphia; and that Mr. Bolton,
+in Georgia, had nearly fifty negroes learning to
+read. On the 18th he preached twice, and on the
+19th again appeared before the commissary, and
+bound himself, in a penalty of ten pounds, to prosecute
+his appeal in London within twelve months. The
+appeal was never tried, as the ecclesiastical authorities
+allowed it to die of neglect.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"The court being ended," says Whitefield, in his
+journal, "the commissary desired to speak with me.
+I asked him to my lodgings. He chose to walk on a
+green near the church. His spirit was somewhat
+calmer than usual; but after an hour's conversation,
+we were as far from agreeing as before." "All his
+discourse was so inconsistent and contrary to the gospel
+of our Lord, that I was obliged to tell him that I
+believed him to be an unconverted man, an enemy to
+God, and of a like spirit with the persecutor Saul.
+At this he smiled; and, after we had talked a long
+while, we parted, and God gave me great satisfaction
+that I had delivered my soul in my private conversation
+with the commissary."</p>
+
+<p>The next day, July 20, was the Sabbath. The
+commissary preached in his usual style, and Whitefield
+preached his farewell sermon to the people of
+Charleston. By his recommendation two or three of
+the dissenting ministers had instituted a weekly lecture;
+and the evangelist "advised the people, as the
+gospel was not preached in church, to go and hear it
+in the meeting-house." On leaving the city, he summed
+up, in his journal, the results of his labors in this
+manner:</p>
+
+<p>"What makes the change more remarkable in the
+Charleston people is, that they seemed to me, at my
+first coming, to be a people wholly devoted to pleasure.
+One well acquainted with their manners and
+circumstances, told me more had been spent on polite
+entertainments, than the poor's-rate came to; but now
+the jewellers and dancing-masters begin to cry out
+that their craft is in danger. A vast alteration is discernible<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span>
+in the ladies' dresses. And some, while I
+have been speaking, have been so convinced of the sin
+of wearing jewels, that I have seen them with blushes
+put their hands to their ears, and cover them with
+their fans. But I hope the reformation has gone farther
+than externals. Many moral, good sort of men,
+who before were settled on their lees, have been gloriously
+awakened to seek after Jesus Christ; and
+many a Lydia's heart hath been opened to receive the
+things that were spoken. Indeed, the word came like
+a hammer and a fire. And a door, I believe, will be
+opened for teaching the poor negroes. Several of
+them have done their usual work in less time, that
+they might come to hear me. Many of their owners,
+who have been awakened, resolved to teach them
+Christianity. Had I time, and proper schoolmasters,
+I might immediately erect a negro school in South
+Carolina, as well as in Pennsylvania. Many would
+willingly contribute both money and land."</p>
+
+<p>The Baptist church in Charleston at this time was
+nearly extinct, being reduced to five or six communicants,
+but Whitefield's success greatly increased their
+number, and it thus gained strength which it has never
+lost. It is also gratefully mentioned even now by the
+church of that denomination at Eutaw, that Whitefield
+during this visit to South Carolina preached the dedication-sermon
+of their house of worship.</p>
+
+<p>Whitefield left Charleston on July 21, visiting and
+preaching on his way homeward, which he reached
+towards the close of the same week. He preached on
+the Sabbath in extreme weakness of body, but "with
+the Holy Ghost from above," and several were hopefully<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span>
+converted to God. On the 18th of August, he
+again left Savannah for Charleston, where he was
+able, for want of bodily strength, to preach but once
+a day, but he thought that his sermons were attended
+with more power and success than ever before. In a
+few days after, having preached a farewell sermon to
+four thousand hearers, he sailed for New England,
+where he had been very cordially invited by leading
+ministers and others in Boston and many other places.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2>
+
+<h3>WHITEFIELD'S FIRST VISIT TO NEW ENGLAND.<br />
+
+SEPTEMBER TO NOVEMBER, 1740.</h3>
+
+
+<p>The religious state of New England in the early
+part of the eighteenth century, was little better than
+the description we have already given of the state
+of Great Britain and its other dependencies at that
+period. Dr. Prince tells us, that the first age of
+New England was one of an almost continual revival.
+Preaching was attended with so much power in some
+places, "that it was a common inquiry, by such members
+of a family as were detained at home on a Sabbath,
+whether any had been visibly awakened in the
+house of God that day." And he adds, "Few Sabbaths
+did pass without some being evidently converted,
+and some convincing proof of the power of God
+accompanying his word."</p>
+
+<p>Dr. Increase Mather, writing towards the close of
+the seventeenth century, while he confirms the statements
+we have already given, bears farther testimony
+which is of a very painful character. He says, "Prayer
+is necessary on this account, that conversions have
+become rare in this age of the world. They that have
+their thoughts exercised in discerning things of this
+nature, have sad apprehensions that the work of conversion
+has come to a stand. During the last age
+scarcely a sermon was preached without some being
+apparently converted, and sometimes hundreds were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span>
+converted by one sermon. Who of us now can say
+that we have seen any thing such as this? Clear,
+sound conversions are not frequent in our congregations;
+the great bulk of the present generation are
+apparently poor, perishing, and if the Lord prevent
+not, undone; many are profane, drunkards, lascivious,
+scoffers at the power of godliness, and disobedient;
+others are civil and outwardly conformed to good order,
+because so educated, but without knowing aught
+of a real change of heart." The same estimable writer
+says, in 1721, "I am now in my eighty-third year, and
+having had an opportunity of conversing with the first
+planters of this country, and having been for <em>sixty-five</em>
+years a preacher of the gospel, I feel as did the ancient
+men who had seen the former temple, and who wept
+aloud as they saw the latter. The children of New
+England are, or once were, for the most part, the children
+of godly parents. What did our fathers come
+into this wilderness for? Not to gain estates as men
+do now, but for religion, and that they might have
+their children in a hopeful way of being truly religious.
+There was a famous man who preached before
+one of the greatest assemblies that ever was addressed;
+it was about seventy years ago; and he said to
+them, 'I lived in a country seven years, and all that
+time I never heard a profane oath, or saw a man
+drunk.' And where was that country? It was New
+England. Ah, degenerate New England! What art
+thou come to at this day? How are those sins become
+common that were once not even heard of!"</p>
+
+<p>Passing over, for the present, indications of a revival
+of religion, which had appeared in other parts<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span>
+of the country, we speak now only of New England.
+In 1734, a very extraordinary work of grace appeared
+at Northampton, Massachusetts, under the ministry of
+the distinguished Jonathan Edwards, the elder, the
+history of which is given in his admirable "Narrative
+of the surprising Work of God" at that period, in
+Northampton and the vicinity.</p>
+
+<p>It is important to remark here, that the preaching
+which led to such delightful results was of the most
+faithful and pungent character. We will give one instance,
+as illustrative of many, as will be distinctly seen
+by those who have read <span class="smcap">Edwards'</span> sermon, "<cite>Sinners in
+the hands of an angry God</cite>," or his "<cite>Justice of God in the
+damnation of Sinners</cite>." Perhaps, however, no sermon
+in New England has ever acquired greater celebrity,
+or accomplished more good, than the one preached
+by President Edwards at Enfield, July 8, 1741, from
+the words, "Their feet shall slide in due time." Deut.
+32:35. "When they went into the meeting-house,
+the appearance of the assembly was thoughtless and
+vain; the people scarcely conducted themselves with
+common decency." But as the sermon proceeded, the
+audience became so overwhelmed with distress and
+weeping, that the preacher was "obliged to speak to
+the people and desire silence, that he might be heard."
+The excitement soon became intense; and it is said
+that a minister who sat in the pulpit with Mr. Edwards,
+in the agitation of his feelings, caught the
+preacher by the skirt of his dress, and said, "Mr.
+Edwards, Mr. Edwards, is not God a God of mercy?"
+Many of the hearers were seen unconsciously holding
+themselves up against the pillars, and the sides of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span>
+pews, as though they already felt themselves sliding
+into the pit. This fact has often been mentioned as
+a proof of the strong and scriptural character of President
+Edwards' peculiar eloquence&mdash;the eloquence of
+truth as attended by influence from heaven; for his
+sermons were read, without gestures.</p>
+
+<p>But there was another element which must be
+taken into account when we look at the result of this
+sermon, as well as others delivered in like circumstances,
+and one which we fear has been often overlooked.
+"While the people of the neighboring towns
+were in great distress about their souls, the inhabitants
+of Enfield were very secure, loose, and vain. A lecture
+had been appointed there, and the neighboring
+people were so affected at the thoughtlessness of the
+inhabitants, and had so much fear that God would, in
+his righteous judgment, pass them by, that many of
+them were prostrate before him a considerable part
+of the previous evening, supplicating the mercy of
+heaven in their behalf. And when the time appointed
+for the lecture came, a number of the surrounding
+ministers were present, as well as some from a distance"&mdash;a
+proof of the prayerful interest felt on behalf
+of the town. In all this we see much of the
+secret of the powerful impression produced by that
+sermon, and are taught that in seasons when God
+seems about to pour out his Spirit on a community,
+Christians should be found "continuing instant in
+prayer."</p>
+
+<p>In this more hopeful state of things than had long
+before existed in New England, Whitefield, who was
+now the second time in America, was most urgently<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span>
+entreated to visit the descendants of the Pilgrim fathers.
+He complied with the request, and arrived at
+Newport on the evening of the Sabbath, September
+14, 1740. We furnish an account, written chiefly by
+himself, in his journal, published in London, 1741, a
+copy of which may be found in the library of Harvard
+University, to which we have had a kind access, and
+which is rich in what we may term <em>Whitefieldian lore</em>.
+He writes,</p>
+
+<p>"Was sick part of the passage, but found afterwards
+the sea-air, under God, much improved my
+health. Arrived at Newport, in Rhode Island, just
+after the beginning of evening service. We came
+purposely thither first with our sloop. I think it the
+most pleasant entrance I ever yet saw. Almost all
+the morning the wind was contrary; but I found a
+very strong inclination to pray that we might arrive
+time enough to be present at public worship. Once I
+called the people; but something prevented their coming.
+At last, finding my impression increase upon me,
+I desired their attendance immediately. They came.
+With a strong assurance that we should be heard, we
+prayed that the Lord would turn the wind, that we
+might give him thanks in the great congregation;
+and also that he would send such to us as he would
+have us to converse with, and who might show us a
+lodging. Though the wind was ahead when we began,
+when we had done praying, and came up out of
+the cabin, it was quite fair.</p>
+
+<p>"With a gentle gale we sailed most pleasantly
+into the harbor; got into public worship before they
+had finished the psalms; and sat, as I thought, undiscovered.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span>
+After service was over, a gentleman asked
+me whether my name was not Whitefield. I told
+him 'yes;' he then desired me to go to his house, and
+he would take care to provide lodgings and necessaries
+for me and my friends. I went, silently admiring
+God's goodness in answering my prayer so minutely.
+Several gentlemen of the town soon came to
+pay their respects to me, among whom was one Mr.
+Clap, an aged dissenting minister, but the most venerable
+man I ever saw. He looked like a good old
+Puritan, and gave me an idea of what stamp those men
+were who first settled New England. His countenance
+was very heavenly; he rejoiced much in spirit
+at the sight of me, and prayed most affectionately for
+a blessing on my coming to Rhode Island."</p>
+
+<p>In the evening, in company with Mr. Clap and
+other friends, Whitefield visited Mr. Honeyman, the
+minister of the church of England, and requested the
+use of his pulpit. "At first he seemed a little unwilling,
+being desirous to know 'what extraordinary call
+I had to preach on week-days,' which he said was
+disorderly. I answered, 'St. Paul exhorted Timothy
+to 'be instant in season and out of season;' that if the
+orders of the church were rightly complied with, our
+ministers should read public prayers twice every day,
+and then it would not be disorderly at such times to
+give them a sermon. As to an extraordinary call, I
+claimed none otherwise than upon the apostle's injunction,
+'As we have opportunity, let us do good unto all
+men.' He still held out, and did not give any positive
+answer; but at last, after he had withdrawn and consulted
+with the gentlemen, he said, 'If my preaching<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span>
+would promote the glory of God, and the good of
+souls, I was welcome to his church as often as I
+would, during my stay in town.' We then agreed to
+make use of it at ten in the morning, and three in the
+afternoon. After this, I went to wait on the governor,
+who seemed to be a very plain man, and had a very
+plain house, which much pleased me. By profession,
+I think he is a Seventh-day Baptist; he is a man of
+good report as to his conduct and dealing with the
+world." As might have been expected, the evening
+was spent in exposition and prayer, with a crowded
+company, in the house of his friend Bowers, the gentleman
+who first addressed him when coming out of
+church.</p>
+
+<p>On Monday morning, he breakfasted with "old
+Mr. Clap, and was much edified by his conversation."
+Of this venerable servant of Christ he says, "I could
+not but think, while at his table, that I was sitting
+with one of the patriarchs. He is full of days, a
+bachelor, and has been minister of a congregation in
+Rhode Island upwards of forty years. People of all
+denominations, I find, respect him. He abounds in
+good works; gives all away, and is wonderfully tender
+of little children; many of different persuasions come
+to be instructed by him. Whenever he dies, I am
+persuaded, with good old Simeon, he will be enabled
+to say, 'Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in
+peace.'" Whitefield preached, according to appointment,
+morning and afternoon, "in the church. It is
+very commodious, and I believe will contain three
+thousand people. It was more than filled in the afternoon.
+Persons of all denominations attended. God<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span>
+assisted me much. I observed numbers affected, and
+had great reason to believe the word of the Lord had
+been 'sharper than a twoedged sword,' in some of the
+hearers' souls."</p>
+
+<p>On the evening of the same day he received the
+following note:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Reverend Sir and beloved Brother</span>&mdash;Although
+mine eyes never saw your face before this day, yet my
+heart and soul have been united to you in love, by
+the bond of the Spirit. I have longed and expected
+to see you for many months past. Blessed be God,
+mine eyes have seen the joyful day. I trust, through
+grace, I have some things to communicate to you that
+will make your heart glad. I shall omit writing any
+thing, and only hereby present my hearty love, and
+let you know that I am waiting now at the post of
+your door for admission. Though I am unworthy,
+my Lord is worthy, in whose name, I trust, I come. I
+am your unworthy brother,</p>
+
+<p class="sig">
+"JONATHAN BARBER."
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>"On reading it," says Whitefield, "I could not but
+think this was one of those young ministers whom
+God had lately made use of in such a remarkable
+manner, at the east end of Long Island. I sent for
+him, and found he was the man. My heart rejoiced.
+We walked out, and took sweet counsel together; and
+among other things, he told me that he came to
+Rhode Island under a full conviction that he should
+see me there, and had been waiting for me about a
+week.... What rendered this more remarkable was,
+I had no intention of sailing to Rhode Island till<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span>
+about three days before I left Carolina; and I had a
+great desire to put in, if I could, at the east end of
+Long Island, to see this very person, whom the great
+God now brought unto me. Lord, accept our thanks,
+sanctify our meeting, and teach us both what we shall
+do for thine own name's sake. In the evening I went
+to the venerable Mr. Clap's, and exhorted and prayed
+with a great multitude, who not only crowded into the
+house, but thronged every way about it. The dear
+old man rejoiced to see the things which he saw; and
+after my exhortation was over, dismissed me with his
+blessing."</p>
+
+<p>Tuesday, we scarcely need remark, was spent by
+Whitefield in the work of his great Master. He
+preached to a vast congregation, including the members
+of the House of Assembly, who adjourned to
+attend the service; and he had very delightful evidence
+that his labors had already been useful. On
+Wednesday he left Newport, and about noon preached
+at Bristol, at the request of the court, which was then
+in session, and slept that night at a hotel on the road
+to Boston. On Thursday morning he set out early,
+and as he passed on with his friends, he says, "Found
+that the people were apprized of my coming, and were
+solicitous for my preaching; but being resolved under
+God, if possible, to reach Boston, we travelled on for
+near fifty miles, and came to Boston about eight in the
+evening. When we were within four miles of the
+city, the governor's son, several other gentlemen, and
+one or two ministers, waited at a gentleman's house
+to give me the meeting. They received me with great
+gladness, and told me many more would have come,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span>
+had not a large funeral been in the town, or if there
+had been more certain notice of my arriving. This
+rejoiced me; for I think I can stand any thing better
+than this. It savors too much of human grandeur.
+But I must be tried every way; the Lord be my
+helper. After stopping a while, we went together to
+Boston, to the house of one Mr. Sandiford, brother-in-law
+to the Rev. Dr. Colman, who long since had
+sent me an invitation.... My heart was but low, and
+my body weak; but, at the request of one of the ministers,
+I gave thanks to our gracious God for bringing
+me in safety, and prayed that my coming might be in
+the fulness of the blessing of the gospel of peace."</p>
+
+<p>He slept well that night, and the next morning, he
+says, "I perceived fresh emanations of divine light
+break in upon and refresh my soul." He was visited
+by several gentlemen, including Josiah Willard, Esq.,
+the secretary of the province, a man who feared God,
+and with whom Whitefield had for some time been in
+correspondence. The governor, Belcher, received him
+with the utmost respect, and requested frequent visits.
+He attended public worship at the church of England,
+and waited on the commissary home, who received
+him very courteously. As it was a day on which the
+clergy of that body had a meeting, he came into the
+company of five of them assembled together. They
+soon attacked him "for calling <em>that Tennent</em> and his
+brethren faithful ministers of Christ." He answered,
+that he believed they were so. They questioned the validity
+of Presbyterian ordination, and quoted from his
+journal his own words against him. He replied, that
+perhaps his sentiments were altered. They then went<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span>
+into a doctrinal discussion, which continued till Whitefield,
+finding how inconsistent they were, took his
+leave, resolving that they should not have the opportunity
+of denying him their pulpits. However, they
+treated him, on the whole, with more courtesy than
+he had lately been accustomed to receive from the
+ministers of his own church.</p>
+
+<p>In the afternoon of the same day, he preached to
+a vast congregation in the Rev. Dr. Colman's meeting-house,
+in Brattle-street, and in the evening exhorted
+and prayed with such as came to his lodgings. On
+Saturday, in the forenoon, he discoursed to a crowded
+audience at the Old South church, where Dr. Sewall
+was pastor, the only church edifice in Boston with
+which Whitefield was connected which is still standing
+as it then was. In the afternoon he preached on
+the Common to about eight thousand persons, and, at
+night to a thronged company at his own lodgings.</p>
+
+<p>On the morning of the next day, which was the
+Sabbath, he heard Dr. Colman preach; in the afternoon,
+he preached at Mr. Foxcroft's meeting-house to
+a vast auditory. This gentleman was the senior pastor
+of the First church, meeting in Chauncy-place, and
+the Rev. Charles Chauncy was his colleague. The
+church edifice was in Cornhill-square, not far from
+the old state-house, and was usually called the "Old
+Brick meeting." As this house was by far too small
+to contain his auditory, he almost immediately afterwards
+preached on the Common, to about fifteen thousand
+hearers; and again at night at his lodgings.
+He says, "Some afterwards came into my room. I
+felt much of the divine presence in my own soul, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span>
+though hoarse was enabled to speak with much power,
+and could have spoke, I believe, till midnight."</p>
+
+<p>On Monday morning, Whitefield preached at Mr.
+Webb's meeting-house, the "New North," on the corner
+of Clark and Hanover streets. "The presence of
+the Lord," he says, "was among us. Look where I
+would around me, visible impressions were made upon
+the auditory. Most wept for a considerable time."
+In the afternoon he meant to have preached at Mr.
+Cheekley's, in Summer-street, but was prevented by
+an accident. Just before the time for the commencement
+of the service, a person broke a board in one of
+the galleries, of which to make a seat; the noise
+alarmed some who heard it, and they imprudently
+cried out that the galleries were giving way. The
+house being much crowded, the whole congregation
+were thrown into the utmost alarm and disorder;
+some jumped from the gallery into the seats below,
+others fell from the windows, and those below pressing
+to get out of the porch, were many of them thrown
+over each other and trodden upon. Many, as might
+be expected, were seriously bruised; others had bones
+broken; and within two days five persons died from
+the injuries they had received. Mr. Whitefield's presence
+of mind did not fail him; he immediately led
+the anxious throng to the Common, and preached to
+them from the text, "Go ye out into the highways
+and hedges, and compel them to come in." He says,
+"The weather was wet, but above eight thousand followed
+into the fields."</p>
+
+<p>On Tuesday morning, Whitefield visited Mr. Walter,
+at Roxbury. This gentleman had been the colleague,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span>
+and was now the successor of John Eliot,
+"the apostle of the Indians." These two men had
+been pastors of that church one hundred and six years.
+Whitefield was much pleased with Walter, who, in
+return, was glad to hear that he, like old Bishop Beveridge,
+called man "half a devil and half a beast."
+He preached that forenoon at Mr. Gee's meeting-house,
+the "Old North," of which church the celebrated
+Dr. Cotton Mather had formerly been pastor. The
+house stood in the North square, and was taken down
+by the British army and burned for fuel at the siege
+of Boston, in 1776. The auditory Whitefield preached
+to that morning was not very crowded, as the people
+were in doubt where he would preach. After
+dining with the secretary of the province, he says, "I
+preached in the afternoon at Dr. Sewall's to a thronged
+congregation, and exhorted and prayed as usual at
+my own lodgings; at neither place without some manifestations
+of a divine power accompanying the word."</p>
+
+<p>Wednesday was not lost. Whitefield himself shall
+describe its proceedings. "Went this morning to see
+and preach at Cambridge, the chief college for training
+up the sons of the prophets in all New England.
+It has one president, I think four tutors, and about a
+hundred students. It is scarce as big as one of our
+least colleges in Oxford, and as far as I could gather
+from some who well knew the state of it, not far superior
+to our universities in piety and true godliness.
+Tutors neglect to pray with, and examine the hearts
+of their pupils. Discipline is at too low an ebb. Bad
+books are become fashionable. Tillotson and Clarke
+are read instead of Sheppard, Stoddard, and such like<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span>
+evangelical writers; and therefore I chose to preach
+on these words: 'We are not as many, who corrupt the
+word of God;' and in the conclusion of my sermon I
+made a close application to tutors and students. A
+great number of neighboring ministers attended, as
+indeed they do at all other times, and God gave me
+great boldness and freedom of speech. The president
+of the college and minister of the parish treated me
+very civilly. In the afternoon I preached again in
+the court, without any particular application to the
+students. I believe there were about seven thousand
+hearers. The Holy Spirit melted many hearts. The
+word was attended with a manifest power; and a
+minister soon after wrote me word, that 'he believed
+one of his daughters was savingly wrought upon at that
+time.' Paid my respects to the lieutenant-governor, who
+lives at Cambridge, and returned in the evening to Boston,
+and prayed with and exhorted many people who
+were waiting round the door for a spiritual morsel.
+I believe our Lord did not send them empty away."</p>
+
+<p>An elm under which Whitefield preached in Cambridge
+became distinguished; it being under its shade
+that Washington, thirty-one years after, first drew his
+sword in the cause of the Revolution, on taking the
+command of the American army. From this circumstance,
+it has been called the "Washington elm." The
+last time the late distinguished Dr. Holyoke, of Salem,
+Mass., was in Cambridge, then nearly a hundred years
+old, while passing this tree with a friend, he said that
+he heard Whitefield's sermon, being at the time a student
+in college.</p>
+
+<p>On Thursday he preached the weekly lecture at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span>
+Mr. Foxcroft's, the First church. But he says, "I
+was so oppressed with a sense of my base ingratitude
+to my dearest Saviour, that Satan would fain have
+tempted me to hold my tongue, and not invite poor
+sinners to Jesus Christ, because I was so great a sinner
+myself. But God enabled me to withstand the
+temptation, and since Jesus Christ had shown such
+mercy to, and had not withdrawn his Holy Spirit from
+me, the chief of sinners, I was enabled more feelingly
+to talk of his love; and afterwards found that one
+stranger, in particular, was in all probability effectually
+convinced by that morning's sermon. After public
+worship, I went, at his excellency's invitation, and
+dined with the governor. Most of the ministers of
+the town were invited with me. Before dinner, the
+governor sent for me up into his chamber. He wept,
+wished me 'good luck in the name of the Lord,' and
+recommended himself, ministers, and people to my
+prayers. Immediately after dinner, I prayed explicitly
+for them all, and went in his coach to the end of
+the town; but had such a sense of my vileness upon
+my soul, that I wondered people did not stone me.
+Crossed a ferry, and preached at Charlestown, a town
+lying on the north side of Boston. The meeting-house
+was very capacious, and quite filled. A gracious melting
+was discernible through the whole congregation,
+and I perceived much freedom and sweetness in my
+own soul, though the damp I felt in the morning was
+not quite gone off. In the evening I exhorted and
+prayed as usual at my lodgings; and blessed be God,
+I found a great alteration in my hearers. They now
+began to melt and weep under the word."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>On Friday, the following day, he preached in the
+morning at Roxbury, from a little ascent, to many
+thousands of people, with much of the divine presence.
+Several came to him afterwards, telling him how they
+were struck with the word. Having dined with Judge
+Dudley, he preached to a still larger congregation
+from a scaffold erected outside Mr. Byles' meeting-house
+in Hollis-street. Wrote to several friends in
+England; gave a short exhortation to a large crowd
+of hearers; and then spent the evening with several
+ministers in edifying conversation, singing, and prayer.</p>
+
+<p>Saturday, he preached in the morning at Mr. Welsteed's
+meeting-house, and in the afternoon to about
+fifteen thousand people on the Common. "But Oh,
+how did the word run! It rejoiced me to see such
+numbers greatly affected, so that some, I believe, could
+scarcely abstain from crying out. That place was no
+other than a Bethel, and a gate of heaven." After
+he had gone home to his lodgings he says, "The power
+and presence of the Lord accompanied and followed
+me. Many now wept bitterly, and cried out under
+the word like persons that were really hungering and
+thirsting after righteousness; and after I left them,
+God gave me to wrestle with him in my chamber, in
+behalf of some dear friends then present, and others
+that were absent from us. The Spirit of the Lord
+was upon them all. It made intercession with groanings
+that cannot be uttered."</p>
+
+<p>On the day following, being the Sabbath, in the
+morning he preached at the Old South church, Dr.
+Sewall's, to a very crowded auditory, "with almost as
+much power and visible appearance of God as yesterday.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span>
+Collected &#163;555 currency for my little lambs;
+was taken very ill after dinner; vomited violently,
+but was enabled to preach at Dr. Colman's in the
+afternoon to as great, if not a greater congregation
+than in the morning. Here also &#163;470 were collected
+for the orphan-house in Georgia. In both places all
+things were carried on with decency and order. People
+went slowly out, as though they had not a mind
+to escape giving; and Dr. Colman said 'it was the
+most pleasant time he ever enjoyed in that meeting-house
+through the whole course of his life.' Blessed
+be God, after sermon I perceived myself somewhat
+refreshed. Supped very early. Had the honor of a
+private visit from the governor, who came full of affection
+to take his leave of me for the present. Went,
+at their request, and preached to a great company of
+negroes, on the conversion of the Ethiopian, Acts the
+eighth; at which the poor creatures, as well as many
+white people, were much affected; and at my return,
+gave an exhortation to a crowd of people who were
+waiting at my lodgings. My animal spirits were
+almost exhausted, and my legs, through expense of
+sweating and vomiting, almost ready to sink under
+me; but the Lord visited my soul, and I went to bed
+greatly refreshed with divine consolations." Even at
+this early period such sufferings of his bodily system
+frequently followed his herculean labors.</p>
+
+<p>Early on Monday morning, Sept. 29, Whitefield
+left Boston on an excursion to the eastward. At
+Marblehead, he "preached to some thousands in a
+broad place in the middle of the town, but not with
+much apparent effect." At Salem, he "preached to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span>
+about seven thousand people. Here the Lord manifested
+forth his glory. One man was, I believe, struck
+down by the power of the word. In every part of the
+congregation, persons might be seen under great concern."
+He went on to Ipswich, where he was kindly
+"entertained at the house of Mr. Rogers, one of the
+ministers of the place." Of this family our evangelist
+was soon to know more than he had hitherto done.
+At about this period, John Rogers, aged 77, and
+Nathanael Rogers, were joint pastors of the First
+church at Ipswich; both of them were ardent promoters
+of the revival, as was also Daniel Rogers, of
+the same family. Whitefield learned with deep interest
+that his host was a descendant of the celebrated
+martyr, John Rogers. The next day he preached
+there to some thousands. "The Lord," says he, "gave
+me freedom, and there was a great melting in the congregation."
+At Newbury, in the afternoon, the Lord
+accompanied the word with power. The meeting-house
+was very large, many ministers were present,
+and the people were greatly affected. Blessed be
+God, his divine power attends us more and more."
+Wednesday, he preached at Hampton, in the open air,
+to some thousands. He was here very highly gratified
+with the conversation of Mr. Colton, the minister,
+and with the Christian simplicity of his excellent
+wife. The high wind prevented his being heard so
+well as he usually was, and he did not enjoy his accustomed
+freedom; still, "some, though not many, were
+affected." At Portsmouth, he "preached to a polite
+auditory, but so very unconcerned, that I began to
+question whether I had been speaking to rational or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span>
+brute creatures. Seeing no immediate effects of the
+word preached, I was a little dejected; but God, to
+comfort my heart, sent one young man, crying out in
+great anguish of spirit, 'What shall I do to be saved?'"</p>
+
+<p>From Portsmouth, our evangelist proceeded to
+York, in Maine, "to see one Mr. Moody, a worthy,
+plain, and powerful minister of Jesus Christ, though
+now much impaired by old age. He has lived by
+faith for many years, would have no settled salary,
+and has been much despised by bad men, and as much
+respected by the true lovers of the blessed Jesus."
+The next morning he was much comforted to hear,
+from Mr. Moody, that he would preach that morning
+to a hundred new creatures; "and indeed," says he,
+"I believe I did; for when I came to preach, I could
+speak little or no terror, but most consolation." He
+preached morning and evening. "The hearers looked
+plain and simple, and the tears trickled apace down
+most of their cheeks." He returned to Portsmouth
+that night, and the next morning preached to a far
+greater congregation, and with much better effect than
+before. "Instead of preaching to dead stocks, I now
+had reason to believe I was preaching to living men.
+People began to melt soon after I began to pray;
+and the power increased more and more during the
+whole sermon." This was still more clearly evinced
+after Mr. Whitefield's departure from the town.</p>
+
+<p>Returning to Boston, through Salem, Marblehead,
+and Malden, in each of which places he preached, and
+being now in improved health, he preached, October 7,
+both morning and evening, "with much power," at
+Brattle-street. There had been for several days a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span>
+report in circulation, that he had died suddenly, or
+was poisoned, and the people greatly rejoiced again
+to see him alive. At Mr. Webb's, the New North
+church, on the following Wednesday, he thought there
+was more of the presence of God through the whole
+ministration, than he had before, known at one time
+in the course of his life. He went there with the
+governor, in his coach, and preached morning and
+evening. "Jesus Christ manifested forth his glory;
+many hearts melted within them; and I think I was
+never drawn out to pray for and invite little children
+to Jesus Christ, as I was this morning. A little before,
+I had heard of a child who was taken sick just
+after it had heard me preach, and said he would go
+to Mr. Whitefield's God, and died in a short time.
+This encouraged me to speak to the little ones. But
+O, how were the old people affected when I said, 'Little
+children, if your parents will not come to Christ,
+do you come, and go to heaven without them.' There
+seemed to be but few dry eyes, look where I would.
+I have not seen a greater commotion since my preaching
+at Boston. Glory be to God, who has not forgotten
+to be gracious." He collected, after this sermon,
+&#163;440 for his orphan-house, which was now more
+generally supported than ever before.</p>
+
+<p>The interesting fact we have just related of the
+impression produced on the mind of a little child by
+the preaching of Mr. Whitefield, may afford the opportunity
+to introduce one or two other facts bearing on
+the same general topic, and suggesting some practical
+lessons.</p>
+
+<p>Whitefield could indeed descend to talk with children.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span>
+Here is a specimen which at once impresses us
+with a lively idea of his spirit, and of the adaptation
+of the religion of Jesus to the young as well as the
+old. A little girl seven years of age, when on her
+death-bed, desired an interview with him; he came, and
+thus they conversed:</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Whitefield.</span> For what purpose, my dear child,
+have you sent for me?</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Girl.</span> I think I am dying, and I wished very
+much to see you.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Whitefield.</span> What can I do for you?</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Girl.</span> You can tell me about Christ, and pray
+for me.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Whitefield.</span> My dear girl, what do you know
+about Christ?</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Girl.</span> I know he is the Saviour of the world.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Whitefield.</span> My dear child, he is so.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Girl.</span> I hope he will be <em>my</em> Saviour also.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Whitefield.</span> I hope, my dear, that this is the
+language of faith out of the mouth of a babe; but tell
+me what ground you have for saying this?</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Girl.</span> Oh, sir, he bids little children, such as I,
+to come unto him, and says, "Of such is the kingdom
+of heaven;" and besides, I love Christ, and am always
+glad when I think of him.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Whitefield.</span> My dear child, you make my very
+heart to rejoice; but are you not a sinner?</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Girl.</span> Yes, I am a sinner, but my blessed Redeemer
+takes away sin, and I long to be with him.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Whitefield.</span> My dear girl, I trust that the desire
+of your heart will be granted; but where do you
+think you will find your Redeemer?</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span></p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Girl.</span> O, sir, I think I shall find him in heaven.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Whitefield.</span> Do you think you will get to heaven?</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Girl.</span> Yes, I do.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Whitefield.</span> But what if you do not find Christ
+there?</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Girl.</span> If I do not find Christ there, I am sure it is
+not heaven; for where he dwells must be heaven, for
+there also dwells God, and holy angels, and all that
+Christ saves.</p>
+
+<p>Who can tell the results of a single sermon, or
+trace the consequences of one conversion? When
+Mr. Whitefield was preaching in New England, a
+lady became the subject of divine grace, and her spirit
+was peculiarly drawn out in prayer for others. But
+in her Christian exercises she was alone; she could
+persuade no one to pray with her but her little daughter,
+about ten years of age. She took this dear child
+into her closet from day to day, as a witness of her
+cries and tears. After a time, it pleased God to
+touch the heart of the child, and to give her the hope
+of salvation by the remission of sin. In a transport
+of holy joy she then exclaimed, "O, mother, if all the
+world knew this! I wish I could tell every body. Pray,
+mother, let me run to some of the neighbors and tell
+them, that they may be happy and love my Saviour
+too." "Ah, my dear child," said the mother, "that
+would be useless, for I suppose that were you to tell
+your experience, there is not one within many miles
+who would not laugh at you, and say it was all delusion."
+"Oh, mother," replied the dear girl, "I think
+they would believe me. I must go over to the shoemaker
+and tell him; he will believe me." She ran<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span>
+over, and found him at work in his shop. She began
+by telling him that he must die, and that he was a
+sinner, and that she was a sinner, but that her blessed
+Saviour had heard her mother's prayers, and had forgiven
+all her sins; and that now she was so happy
+that she did not know how to tell it. The shoemaker
+was struck with surprise, his tears flowed down like
+rain; he threw aside his work, and by prayer and supplication
+sought for mercy. The neighborhood were
+awakened, and within a few months more than fifty
+persons were brought to the knowledge of Jesus, and
+rejoiced in his power and grace.</p>
+
+<p>But to return to our narrative of Whitefield's labors
+in Boston. On Thursday, October 9, he preached
+the public lecture at the Old South church. He had
+selected another text, but it was much impressed on
+his heart that he should preach from our Lord's conference
+with Nicodemus. A large number of ministers
+were present, and when he came to the words,
+"Art thou a master in Israel, and knowest not these
+things?" he says, "The Lord enabled me to open my
+mouth boldly against unconverted ministers, to caution
+tutors to take care of their pupils, and also to advise
+ministers particularly to examine into the experiences
+of candidates for ordination. For I am verily persuaded
+the generality of preachers talk of an unknown
+and unfelt Christ; and the reason why congregations
+have been so dead is, because they have had dead men
+preaching to them. O that the Lord may quicken
+and revive them, for his own name's sake. For how
+can dead men beget living children? It is true, indeed,
+God may convert men by the devil, if he pleases, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span>
+so he may by unconverted ministers; but I believe
+he seldom makes use of either of them for this purpose.
+No; the Lord will choose vessels made meet
+by the operations of the blessed Spirit for his sacred
+use: and as for my own part, I would not lay hands
+on an unconverted man for ten thousand worlds. Unspeakable
+freedom God gave me while treating on
+this head. After sermon, I dined with the governor,
+who seemed more kindly affected than ever, and particularly
+told me, of the minister who has lately begun
+to preach extempore, that 'he was glad he had found
+out a way to save his eyes.' In the afternoon I preached
+on the Common to about fifteen thousand people,
+and collected upwards of two hundred pounds for the
+orphan-house. Just as I had finished my sermon, a
+ticket was put up to me, wherein I was desired to
+pray for a person just entered upon the ministry, but
+under apprehension that he was not converted. God
+enabled me to pray for him with my whole heart; and
+I hope that ticket may teach many others not to run
+before they can give an account of their conversion.
+If they do, they offer to God strange fire." The same
+day and evening, Whitefield attended the funeral of
+one of the provincial council, preached at the almshouse,
+exhorted a great number of persons at the
+workhouse, who followed him there, and conversed
+with many who waited at his lodgings for spiritual
+advice. From the time of his return from the east,
+he had been thronged, morning and evening, with
+anxious inquirers. His friends cried, "Spare thyself;"
+but he says, "I went and ate bread very comfortably
+at a friend's house, where I was invited, and soon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span>
+after retired to my rest. Oh, how comfortable is
+sleep after working for Jesus."</p>
+
+<p>On Friday he preached at Charlestown and at
+Reading to many thousands, and on Saturday from
+the meeting-house door at Cambridge, on Noah as a
+preacher of righteousness; a great number of persons
+were present, who stood very attentively during a
+shower of rain, and were at the latter part of the
+sermon much affected. On the same afternoon he
+returned to Boston, and again preached, and was engaged
+till midnight, chiefly in conversation and prayer
+with persons anxious for their salvation.</p>
+
+<p>Sunday, October 12, he rose with body and soul
+greatly refreshed, and spent its early hours in conversing
+with those who came for spiritual counsel.
+He then "preached with great power and affection"
+at the Old South church, which was so exceedingly
+thronged, that he was obliged to get in at one of the
+windows. He dined with the governor, who came to
+him after dinner weeping, and desired his prayers.
+He heard Dr. Sewall in the afternoon. Both during
+the exercises and after them he was sick, but went
+with the governor in his coach, and preached his farewell
+sermon on the Common, Gillies says, to twenty
+thousand, and Tracy to nearly thirty thousand people,
+though the whole population of Boston did not at that
+time exceed twenty thousand. Great multitudes were
+melted into tears when he spoke of leaving them.
+The governor then went with him to his lodgings.
+He stood in the passage and spoke to a great company,
+both within and without the doors; but they
+were so deeply affected, and cried out so loud, that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span>
+he was compelled to leave off praying. The remaining
+part of the evening was chiefly spent in conversation
+with inquirers.</p>
+
+<p>In closing his account of this day's work, he exclaims,
+"Blessed be God for what things he has done
+in Boston! I hope a glorious work is now begun,
+and that the Lord will stir up some faithful laborers
+to carry it on. Boston is a large, populous place,
+very wealthy. Has the form kept up, but has lost
+much of the power of religion. I have not heard of
+any remarkable stir for these many years. Ministers
+and people are obliged to confess, that the love of many
+is waxed cold. Both, for the generality, seem to be
+too much conformed to the world. There is much of
+the pride of life to be seen in their assemblies. Jewels,
+patches, and gay apparel are commonly worn by the
+female sex; and even the common people, I observed
+dressed up in the pride of life. There are nine meeting-houses
+of the Congregational persuasion, one Baptist,
+one French, and one belonging to the Scotch-Irish.
+One thing Boston is very remarkable for&mdash;the external
+observance of the Sabbath. Men in civil offices
+have a regard for religion. The governor encourages
+them, and the ministers and magistrates are more
+united than in any other place where I have been.
+Both were exceedingly civil to me during my stay. I
+never saw so little scoffing, never had so little opposition.
+But one might easily see much would hereafter
+arise, when I came to be more particular in my
+application to particular persons; for I fear many
+rest in a head-knowledge, are close pharisees, and
+have only a name to live. It must needs be so when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span>
+the power of godliness is dwindled away, and where
+the form only of religion is become fashionable among
+people. Boston people are dear to my soul. They
+were greatly affected by the word, followed me night
+and day, and were very liberal to my dear orphans.
+I promised, God willing, to visit them again, and intend
+to fulfil my promise when it shall please God to
+bring me again from my native country. In the meanwhile,
+dear Boston, adieu. The Lord be with thy
+ministers and people, and grant that the remnant
+which is still left according to the election of grace,
+may take root downwards, and bear fruit upwards,
+and fill the land."</p>
+
+<p>On the morning following these solemn services,
+Whitefield left Boston on his way to Northampton.
+To detail his four days' progress, would be almost to
+repeat what we have already written. At Concord,
+where he arrived on Monday about noon, he preached
+twice to some thousands in the open air, "and a comfortable
+preaching it was. The hearers were sweetly
+melted down." Mr. Bliss, the minister of the town,
+of whose subsequent labors it has been well said, more
+perfect accounts ought to have been preserved, wept
+abundantly. On Tuesday he "preached at Sudbury
+to some thousands with power, and observed a considerable
+commotion in the assembly;" as was also the
+case the same afternoon at Marlborough. At the latter
+place he was met by Governor Belcher, who went
+with him through the rain that night to Worcester.
+Here, on Wednesday, he "preached in the open air to
+some thousands. The word fell with weight indeed.
+It carried all before it. After sermon, the governor<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span>
+said to me, 'I pray God I may apply what has been
+said to my own heart. Pray, Mr. Whitefield, that I
+may hunger and thirst after righteousness.'" Passing
+on, he preached at Leicester, Brookfield, and Cold-Spring,
+on his way to Hadley, where he arrived on
+Friday, and preached about noon. In this place he
+says, "A great work was begun, and carried on some
+years ago; but lately the people of God have complained
+of deadness and losing their first love. However,
+as soon as I mentioned what God had done for their
+souls formerly, it was like putting fire to timber. The
+remembrance of it quickened them, and caused many
+to weep sorely." On the same afternoon he crossed
+the ferry to Northampton.</p>
+
+<p>Of the great revival of religion in New England,
+which commenced at Northampton about 1734, and is
+the subject of President Edwards' "Narrative," we
+have already briefly spoken; its importance will justify
+a more extended notice. It began without any extraordinary
+circumstances to awaken the attention of the
+people, or any uncommon arrangements or efforts by
+the minister. The young people of the place had for
+two or three years shown an increased measure of
+thoughtfulness, and a growing disposition to receive
+religious instruction. There had been, from time to
+time, instances of strong religious impression and of
+hopeful conversion. But in the latter end of December,
+1734, five or six persons, one after another, became
+very suddenly the subjects of the grace of God
+which newly creates the soul. Among these was a
+young woman distinguished for her gayety in youthful
+society, "one of the greatest company-keepers in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span>
+whole town," who came to the pastor with a broken
+heart and a contrite spirit, and with faith and hope in
+the Saviour of sinners, before any one had heard of
+her being at all impressed with serious things. The
+sudden, though, as time proved, the <em>real</em> conversion of
+this young woman, was the power of God striking the
+electric chain of religious sympathies which had imperceptibly,
+but effectually encircled all the families
+of Northampton. Mr. Edwards' "Narrative" says,
+"The news of it seemed to be almost like a flash of
+lightning upon the hearts of young people all over the
+town, and upon many others.... Presently a great
+and earnest concern about the great things of religion
+and the eternal world became universal in all parts
+of the town, and among persons of all degrees and all
+ages. All talk but about spiritual and eternal things
+was soon thrown by; all the conversation in all companies
+was upon these things only, except so much as
+was necessary for people carrying on their ordinary
+secular business. The minds of people were wonderfully
+taken off from the world; it was treated among
+us as a thing of very little consequence. All would
+eagerly lay hold of opportunities for their souls, and
+were wont very often to meet together in private
+houses for religious purposes. And such meetings,
+when appointed, were generally thronged. Those
+who were wont to be the vainest and loosest, and
+those who had been most disposed to think and speak
+lightly of vital and experimental religion, were now
+generally subject to great awakening. And the work
+of conversion was carried on in a most astonishing
+manner, and increased more and more. From day to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span>
+day, for many months together, might be seen evident
+instances of sinners brought out of darkness into marvellous
+light. In the spring and summer following,
+the town seemed to be full of the presence of God; it
+was never so full of love, and yet so full of distress,
+as it was then. It was a time of joy in families, on
+account of salvation being brought to them; parents
+rejoicing over their children as new-born, and husbands
+over their wives, and wives over their husbands.
+The goings of God were then seen in his
+sanctuary, God's day was a delight, and his tabernacles
+were amiable. Our public assemblies were then
+beautiful; the congregation was alive in God's service,
+every one eagerly intent on the public worship,
+every hearer eager to drink in the words of the minister
+as they came from his mouth. The assembly
+were, from time to time, in tears, while the word was
+preached; some weeping with sorrow and distress,
+others with joy and love, others with pity and concern
+for their neighbors."</p>
+
+<p>In December, 1743, nine years after this blessed
+work had begun, Edwards writes, "Ever since the
+great work of God that was wrought here about nine
+years ago, there has been a great, abiding alteration
+in this town, in many respects. There has been vastly
+more religion kept up in the town, among all sorts of
+persons, in religious exercises, and in common conversation,
+than used to be before. There has remained
+a more general seriousness and decency in attending
+the public worship. I suppose the town has been in
+no measure so free from vice, for any long time together,
+for these sixty years, as it has these nine years<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span>
+past. There has also been an evident alteration with
+respect to a charitable spirit to the poor. And though,
+after that great work of nine years ago, there has
+been a very lamentable decay of religious affections,
+and the engagedness of people's spirits in religion,
+yet many societies for prayer and social religion were
+all along kept up, and there were some few instances
+of awakening and deep concern about the things of
+another world, even in the most dead time. In the
+year 1740, in the spring, before Mr. Whitefield came
+to this town, there was a visible alteration. There
+was more seriousness and religious conversation, especially
+among young people. Those things that were
+of ill tendency among them were more forborne; and
+it was a more frequent thing for persons to visit their
+ministers upon soul accounts. In some particular persons,
+there appeared a great alteration about that
+time. And thus it continued till Mr. Whitefield came
+to town, which was about the middle of October
+following."</p>
+
+<p>And what thought Whitefield himself on his arrival
+at Northampton? Let us hear him. "Their pastor's
+name is Edwards, successor and grandson to the
+great Stoddard, whose memory will be always precious
+to my soul, and whose books, entitled, "<cite>A Guide
+to Christ</cite>," and "<cite>Safety of appearing in Christ's righteousness</cite>,"
+I would recommend to all. Mr. Edwards
+is a solid, excellent Christian, but at present weak in
+body. I think I may say I have not seen his fellow
+in all New England. When I came into his pulpit, I
+found my heart drawn out to talk of scarce any thing
+besides the consolations and privileges of saints, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span>
+the plentiful effusion of the Spirit upon the hearts of
+believers. And when I came to remind them of their
+former experiences, and how zealous and lively they
+were at that time, both minister and people wept
+much; and the Holy Ghost enabled me to speak with
+a great deal of power. In the evening, I gave a word
+of exhortation to several who came to Mr. Edwards'
+house."</p>
+
+<p>On the following morning, "At Mr. Edwards' request,
+I spoke to his little children, who were much
+affected. Preached at Hatfield, five miles from Northampton,
+but found myself not much strengthened.
+Conversed profitably on the way about the things of
+God with dear Mr. Edwards, and preached about four
+in the afternoon to his congregation. I began with
+fear and trembling, feeling but little power in the
+morning, but God assisted me. Few dry eyes seemed
+to be in the assembly for a considerable time. I had
+an affecting prospect in my own heart of the glories
+of the upper world, and was enabled to speak of them
+feelingly to others. I believe many were filled, as it
+were, with new wine; and it seemed as if a time of
+refreshing was come from the presence of the Lord."</p>
+
+<p>The day following this was the Sabbath. Whitefield
+tells us in his journal, that he "felt wonderful
+satisfaction in being at the house of Mr. Edwards.
+He is a son himself, and hath also a daughter of Abraham
+for his wife. A sweeter couple I have not yet
+seen. Their children were dressed, not in silks and
+satins, but plain, as becomes the children of those who
+in all things ought to be examples of Christian simplicity.
+She is a woman adorned with a meek and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span>
+quiet spirit, talked feelingly and solidly of the things
+of God, and seemed to be such a help-mate for her
+husband, that she caused me to renew those prayers,
+which, for some months, I have put up to God, that
+he would be pleased to send me a daughter of Abraham
+to be my wife. I find, upon many accounts, it is
+my duty to marry. Lord, I desire to have no choice
+of my own. Thou knowest my circumstances; thou
+knowest I only desire to marry in and for thee."</p>
+
+<p>Whitefield "preached this morning, and perceived
+the melting begin sooner and rise higher than before.
+Dear Mr. Edwards wept during the whole time of
+exercise. The people were equally, if not more affected;
+and my own soul was much lifted up towards
+God. In the afternoon the power increased yet more
+and more. Our Lord seemed to keep the good wine
+till the last. I have not seen four such gracious meetings
+together since my arrival. My soul was much
+knit to these dear people of God; and though I had
+not time to converse with them about their experiences,
+yet one might see they were for the most
+part, a gracious, tender people; and though their
+former fire might be greatly abated, yet it immediately
+appeared when stirred up."</p>
+
+<p>Edwards had looked forward to Whitefield's visit
+to Northampton with interest, for he felt greatly concerned
+for his success. He wrote a week before his
+arrival to his friend Dr. Wheelock, then a young minister
+of twenty-nine, "I think that those that make
+mention of the Lord, should now be awakened and
+encouraged to call upon God, and not keep silence,
+nor give him any rest, till he establish and till he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span>
+make Jerusalem a praise in the earth; and particularly
+should be earnest with God, that he would still
+uphold and succeed the Rev. Mr. Whitefield, the instrument
+that it has pleased him to improve to do
+such great things for the honor of his name, and at
+all times so to guide and direct him under his extraordinary
+circumstances, that Satan may not get any
+advantage of him."</p>
+
+<p>After his visit, Edwards writes, "Mr. Whitefield's
+sermons were suitable to the circumstances of the
+town; containing just reproofs of our backslidings,
+and in a most moving and affecting manner, making
+use of our great profession and our great mercies as
+arguments with us to return to God, from whom we
+had departed. Immediately after this, the minds of
+the people in general appeared more engaged in religion,
+showing a greater forwardness to make it the
+subject of their conversation, and to meet frequently
+for religious purposes, and to embrace all opportunities
+to hear the word preached. The revival at first
+appeared chiefly among professors, and those who had
+entertained the hope that they were in a state of grace,
+to whom Mr. Whitefield chiefly addressed himself;
+but in a very short time, there appeared an awakening
+and deep concern among some young persons that
+looked upon themselves in a Christless state; and
+there were some hopeful appearances of conversion;
+and some professors were greatly revived. In about
+a month or six weeks, there was a great alteration in
+the town, both as to the revivals of professors, and
+awakenings of others."</p>
+
+<p>During this visit of Whitefield to Edwards, some<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span>
+conversation was held between them, of which, several
+years afterwards, as it appears to us, far too much
+was said. Edwards took an opportunity, privately,
+to converse with his friend about <em>impulses</em>, and furnished
+him with some reasons for thinking that he gave
+too much attention to such things. Whitefield did
+not appear offended, neither did he seem inclined to
+converse much on the subject, or to yield to the reasonings
+of his friend Edwards. The latter says, "It
+is true, that I thought Mr. Whitefield liked me not so
+well for my opposing these things; and though he
+treated me with great kindness, yet he never made so
+much of an intimate of me, as of some others." It
+seems also, that they conversed on the strong language
+which the great evangelist was accustomed to
+employ as to those whom he considered to be unconverted,
+and the duty of the people to forsake the
+preaching of ministers whom he did not consider to
+be renewed in the spirit of their minds. Whitefield
+told Edwards also, of the design he had cherished of
+bringing over a number of young men from England,
+to be ordained by the Tennents, in New Jersey; an
+object, however, which he never accomplished.</p>
+
+<p>It appears that after preaching at Northampton
+twice on the Sabbath, Whitefield, accompanied by his
+friend Edwards, rode to the house of the father of the
+last-named gentleman, the Rev. Timothy Edwards, in
+East Windsor, Connecticut. At this place, as also at
+Westfield, Springfield, Suffield, Hartford, Wethersfield,
+Middletown, and Wallingford, he preached to
+large assemblies, generally with his accustomed animation
+and power, and with the happy proofs of success<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span>
+which he so frequently witnessed. During this
+week also, he experienced a remarkable deliverance
+from great danger. He says, "A little after I left
+Springfield, my horse, coming over a broken bridge,
+threw me over his head, directly upon my nose. The
+fall stunned me for a while. My mouth was full of
+dust, I bled a little, but falling upon soft sand, got not
+much damage. After I had recovered myself, and
+mounted my horse, God so filled me with a sense of
+his sovereign, distinguishing love, and my own unworthiness,
+that my eyes gushed out with tears; but
+they were all tears of love. Oh, how did I want to
+sink before the high and lofty One who inhabiteth
+eternity!"</p>
+
+<p>During this week also, on his way to Suffield, he
+met with a minister who said, "It was not absolutely
+necessary for a gospel minister, that he should be converted;"
+meaning, no doubt, that though conversion
+was necessary to his salvation, it was not indispensable
+to his ministerial character and usefulness. This
+gave Whitefield a subject. "I insisted much in my
+discourse upon the doctrine of the new birth, and also
+the necessity of a minister's being converted, before
+he could preach Christ aright. The word came with
+great power, and a great impression was made upon
+the people in all parts of the assembly. Many ministers
+were present. I did not spare them. Most of
+them thanked me for my plain dealing; but one was
+offended; and so would more of his stamp be, if I
+were to continue longer in New England. For unconverted
+ministers are the bane of the Christian
+church; and though I honor the memory of that great<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span>
+and good man Mr. Stoddard, yet I think he is much
+to be blamed for endeavoring to prove that unconverted
+men might be admitted into the ministry. How
+he has handled the controversy, I know not. I think
+no solid arguments can be brought to defend such a
+cause. A sermon lately published by Mr. Gilbert
+Tennent, entitled, '<cite>The Danger of an Unconverted Ministry</cite>,'
+I think unanswerable. Tracy truly says, that
+Stoddard, in his '<cite>Appeal to the Learned</cite>,' assumes that
+an unconverted minister is bound to continue in the
+performance of ministerial duties, and infers that unconverted
+men may therefore be admitted to the church.
+This opinion at one period extensively prevailed,
+though all held it desirable that a minister should be
+a converted man. By his attacks on this opinion, and
+especially by thus endorsing Tennent's Nottingham
+sermon, Whitefield gave great offence."</p>
+
+<p>On Wednesday afternoon, he preached at East
+Windsor, and spent the night with Mr. Edwards, senior,
+"I believe," he says, "a true disciple and minister
+of the Lord Jesus Christ. After exercise, we supped
+at the house of old Mr. Edwards. His wife was
+as aged, I believe, as himself, and I fancied that I was
+sitting in the house of a Zacharias and Elisabeth." On
+the following day, he "preached to many thousands,
+and with much freedom and power," at Hartford in
+the morning, and at Wethersfield in the afternoon.
+Here he met Messrs. Wheelock and Pomeroy, "two
+young, faithful, and zealous ministers of Jesus Christ."
+From this place he had intended to go eastward as
+far as Plymouth, and return by another route to Providence,
+and notice had been given in the newspapers<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span>
+of about twenty sermons which he proposed to preach
+at the times and places specified. He was afterwards
+blamed for making these appointments without first
+consulting the pastors of the several churches; thus
+giving countenance, it was said, to the practice of itinerants
+intruding into other men's parishes without
+their consent. The proceeding was certainly somewhat
+irregular, but Whitefield was not much to be
+blamed for it. The details were settled, and the publication
+made, by men in whose judgment and knowledge
+of the customs of the country he had a right to
+confide; and the appointments were believed, in all
+cases, and doubtless known in some, to be agreeable
+to the parties concerned. At Wethersfield, however,
+the evangelist ascertained the necessity of his hastening
+on to New York, and immediately, therefore, published
+a note recalling these appointments.</p>
+
+<p>On Friday, October 24, Whitefield arrived at New
+Haven, and was entertained at the house of Mr. James
+Pierpont, the brother-in-law of Mr. Edwards, and of
+Mr. Noyes, the minister of the First Congregational
+church. The Legislature of the colony being in session,
+he remained till after the Lord's day; and "had
+the pleasure of seeing numbers daily impressed," under
+his ministrations in the old polygonal meeting-house.
+Several ministers of the vicinity visited him,
+"with whose pious conversation he was much refreshed."
+Good old Governor Tallcott, on whom with
+due politeness he waited to pay his respects, said to
+him, "Thanks be to God for such refreshings in our
+way to heaven." Among others who heard his glowing
+appeals to the congregations that listened to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span>
+him during this visit, was young Samuel Hopkins,
+still well known as an eminent divine. Hopkins was
+now nineteen, and was a student at college; his biographer
+tells us, that "he was much interested in the
+man, and much impressed by his solemn warnings."</p>
+
+<p>The testimony of Hopkins himself may here be
+introduced. He says, speaking of Whitefield, "The
+attention of the people in general was greatly awakened
+upon hearing the fame of him, that there was a
+remarkable preacher from England travelling through
+the country. The people flocked to hear him when
+he came to New Haven. Some travelled twenty miles
+out of the country to hear him. The assemblies were
+crowded, and remarkably attentive; people appeared
+generally to approve, and their conversation turned
+chiefly upon him and his preaching. Some disapproved
+of several things, which occasioned considerable
+disputes. I heard him when he preached in
+public, and when he expounded in private in the
+evening, and highly approved of him, and was impressed
+by what he said in public and in private. He
+preached against mixed dancing and the frolicking
+of males and females together, which practice was
+then very common in New England. This offended
+some, especially young people. But I remember I
+justified him in this in my own mind, and in conversation
+with those who were disposed to condemn him.
+This was in October, 1740, when I had entered on
+my last year in college."</p>
+
+<p>On this visit, Whitefield dined with the Rev. Mr.
+Clap, the rector of the college. Of the college he
+says, "It is about one-third part as big as Cambridge.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span>
+It has one rector, three tutors, and about a
+hundred students. But I hear of no remarkable concern
+among them concerning religion." Mr. Clap, it
+is well known, afterwards became the public opponent
+of Whitefield; and it would seem that his dislike to
+him commenced with this first interview; for he
+"spoke very closely to the students, and showed the
+dreadful consequences of an unconverted ministry."
+In his journal of the day he says, "O that God may
+quicken ministers! O that the Lord may make them a
+flaming fire!" On the two days following, he preached
+at Milford, Stratford, and Fairfield, on his way to New
+York. On Wednesday, when at Stamford, he thus
+speaks of New England and his labors in it:</p>
+
+<p>"I give God thanks for sending me to New England.
+I have now had an opportunity of seeing the
+greatest and most populous parts of it; and take it
+all together, it certainly on many accounts exceeds
+all other provinces of America, and for the establishment
+of religion, perhaps all other parts of the world.
+Never, surely, was so large a spot of ground settled
+in such a manner, in so short a space of one hundred
+years. The towns all through Connecticut and eastwards
+towards York in the province of Massachusetts,
+[Maine,] near the river-side, are large, well peopled,
+and exceedingly pleasant to travel through. Every
+five miles, or perhaps less, you have a meeting-house,
+and I believe there is no such a thing as a pluralist,
+or non-resident minister in both provinces. Many,
+nay, most that preach, I fear do not experimentally
+know Christ; yet I cannot see much worldly advantage
+to tempt them to take upon them the sacred<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span>
+function. Few country ministers, as I have been informed,
+have sufficient allowed them in money to
+maintain a family. God has remarkably, in sundry
+times and in divers manners, poured out his Spirit in
+several parts of both provinces; and it often refreshes
+my soul to hear of the faith of the good forefathers
+who first settled in these parts. Notwithstanding
+they had their foibles, surely they were a set of righteous
+men. They certainly followed our Lord's rule,
+sought first the kingdom of God and his righteousness;
+and behold, all other things God added unto
+them. Their seed are now blessed, in temporal things
+especially, and notwithstanding the rising generation
+seem to be settled on their lees, yet I believe the Lord
+hath more than seven thousand who have not bowed
+the knee to Baal. The ministers and people of Connecticut
+seem to be more simple than those that live
+near Boston, especially in those parts where I went.
+But I think the ministers' preaching almost universally
+by notes, is a certain mark they have in a great measure
+lost the old spirit of preaching. For though all
+are not to be condemned that use notes, yet it is a sad
+symptom of the decay of vital religion when reading
+sermons becomes fashionable, where extempore preaching
+did once almost universally prevail. As for the
+universities, I believe it may be said, their light is
+become darkness, darkness that may be felt, and is
+complained of by the most godly ministers. I pray
+God these fountains may be purified, and send forth
+pure streams to water the cities of our God.... As for
+the civil government of New England, it seems to be
+well regulated, and I think, at opening all their courts,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span>
+either the judge or a minister begins with a prayer.
+Family worship, I believe, is generally kept up. The
+negroes I think better used, both in soul and body,
+than in any other province I have yet seen. In short,
+I like New England exceedingly well; and when a
+spirit of reformation revives, it certainly will prevail
+here more than in other places, because they are simple
+in their worship, less corrupt in their principles,
+and consequently easier to be brought over to the
+form of sound words, into which so many of their
+pious ancestors were delivered. Send forth, O Lord,
+thy light and thy truth, and for thine infinite mercy's
+sake, show thou hast a peculiar delight in these habitable
+parts of the earth. Amen, Lord Jesus, amen,
+and amen."</p>
+
+<p>Among many who became the subjects of divine
+grace during this visit of Whitefield to New England,
+was Daniel Emerson, who was educated at Harvard
+college, where he received his first degree in 1739,
+and where he continued to reside for some time as a
+graduate. While at college, he is said to have been
+very fond of the gay pleasures of this life, until his
+attention was effectually called to religion by the
+preaching of Whitefield, whom he followed from place
+to place for several days. He was ordained at Hollis,
+New Hampshire, in 1743, where, in a ministry of fifty
+years, he was a worthy follower of his spiritual father.
+The chief excellences of his preaching were sound doctrine,
+deep feeling, and zeal at times almost overwhelming.
+He was truly a son of thunder, and a
+flaming light. He was almost incessantly engaged in
+labors, preaching, attending funerals, etc., far and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span>
+near. His efforts were greatly blessed, especially
+among his own people, who under his ministry enjoyed
+extensive revivals of religion, and where also a
+large number of ministers have been called to their
+work. He died in 1801, aged eighty-five.</p>
+
+<p>It may be appropriate to introduce here a sketch
+of Whitefield's doctrines and labors at this time, as
+given us by the eminent Dr. Thomas Prince, in his
+"Christian History," under date of January 26, 1744-5,
+but having reference to Whitefield's first visit to New
+England, which we have just described:</p>
+
+<p>"He spoke with a mighty sense of God, eternity,
+the immortality and preciousness of the souls of his
+hearers, of their original corruption, and of the extreme
+danger the unregenerate are in; with the nature
+and absolute necessity of regeneration by the Holy
+Ghost; and of believing in Christ, in order to our
+pardon, justification, yielding an acceptable obedience,
+and obtaining salvation from hell and an entrance
+into heaven. His doctrine was plainly that of the
+reformers; declaring against our putting our good
+works or morality in the room of Christ's righteousness,
+or their having any hand in our justification, or
+being indeed pleasing to God while we are totally
+unsanctified, acting upon corrupt principles, and unreconciled
+enemies to him; which occasioned some to
+mistake him, as if he opposed morality. But he insisted
+on it, that the tree of the heart is by original
+sin exceedingly corrupted, and must be made good by
+regeneration, that so the fruits proceeding from it may
+be good likewise; that where the heart is renewed, it
+ought and will be careful to maintain good works,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span>
+that if any be not habitually so careful who think
+themselves renewed, they deceive their own souls;
+and even the most improved in holiness, as well as
+others, must entirely depend on the righteousness of
+Christ for the acceptance of their persons and services.
+And though now and then he dropped some expressions
+that were not so accurate and guarded as we
+should expect from aged and long-studied ministers,
+yet I had the satisfaction to observe his readiness with
+great modesty and thankfulness to receive correction
+as soon as offered.</p>
+
+<p>"In short, he was a most importunate wooer of
+souls to come to Christ for the enjoyment of him, and
+all his benefits. He distinctly applied his exhortations
+to the elderly people, the middle-aged, the young,
+the Indians, and negroes, and had a most winning
+way of addressing them. He affectionately prayed
+for our magistrates, ministers, colleges, candidates for
+the ministry, and churches, as well as people in general;
+and before he left us, in a public and moving
+manner, he observed to the people how sorry he was
+to hear that the religious assemblies, especially on
+lectures, had been so thin, exhorted them earnestly to
+a more general attendance on our public ministrations
+for the time to come, and told them how glad he
+should be to hear of the same.</p>
+
+<p>"Multitudes were greatly affected, and many awakened
+with his lively ministry. Though he preached
+every day, the houses were crowded; but when he
+preached on the Common, a vaster number attended;
+and almost every evening the house where he lodged
+was thronged to hear his prayers and counsels.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"On Mr. Whitefield's leaving us, great numbers in
+this town [Boston] were so happily concerned about
+their souls, as we had never seen any thing like it before,
+except at the time of the general earthquake;<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a>
+and their desires excited to hear their ministers more
+than ever. So that our assemblies, both on lectures
+and Sabbaths, were surprisingly increased, and now
+the people wanted to hear us oftener. In consequence
+of which a public lecture was proposed to be
+set up at Dr. Colman's church, near the midst of the
+town, on every Tuesday evening."</p>
+
+<p>In reference to the work of grace which was connected
+with Whitefield's preaching in New England,
+the Rev. Dr. Baron Stow, in his "Centennial Discourse,"
+says, "The result, by the blessing of God, was
+a powerful revival, such as New England had never
+witnessed. The work was opposed with great vehemence;
+and no impartial reader of the history of those
+extraordinary scenes can question that much of the
+hostility was provoked by improprieties of both speech
+and action, that would at any time be offensive to
+those who love good order and Christian decorum.
+But after making liberal allowance for all that was
+truly exceptionable, it is cheerfully admitted by the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span>
+candid Christian, that the excitement was, in the
+main, the product of the Holy Spirit, and that its
+fruits were eminently favorable to the advancement
+of true religion. A torpid community was aroused,
+as by the trump of God, from its long and heavy slumber;
+ministers and people were converted; the style
+of preaching, and the tone of individual piety were
+improved; a cold, cadaverous formalism gave place
+to the living energy of experimental godliness; the
+doctrines of the gospel were brought out from their
+concealment, and made to reassert their claims to a
+cordial, practical credence, and all the interests of
+truth and holiness received new homage from regenerated
+thousands."</p>
+
+<p>One or two other facts connected with Whitefield's
+usefulness in New England are too important to be
+omitted. During this visit he was much gratified by
+an interview with a colored man, who had been his
+chaise-driver when he first visited Cambridge. The
+negro had heard him preach in the college a sermon
+especially addressed "to those who labor and are
+heavy-laden." It took such a hold on the poor man,
+that he repeated it in the kitchen when he reached
+home. Mr. Cooper of Boston was so well satisfied,
+as was Whitefield also, with his account of his conversion,
+that he was admitted to the Lord's table.</p>
+
+<p>Another "brand plucked from the burning" was a
+son of Mackintosh, an English rebel, who had been
+condemned to perpetual imprisonment, and had been
+allowed by George the First to settle in New England.
+One of his daughters, a lady of fortune, had
+heard Whitefield preach in Dr. Prince's church at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span>
+Boston, and had been won by the word to Christ.
+She was soon after smitten by sickness, and ripened
+rapidly for heaven. On her death-bed she cried out
+for her "soul friend" Mr. Whitefield; but checking
+her own impatience, she asked, "Why should I do so?
+He is gone about his Master's work, and in a little
+time we shall meet to part no more." The distinguished
+evangelist had a very high opinion of her
+piety, and his interest in her was increased by the
+fact that she had a very remarkable escape from some
+ruffians who had been bribed to convey her and her
+sister to Scotland, that their uncle might seize on an
+estate worth a thousand pounds a year.</p>
+
+<p>There were at this time not less than twenty ministers
+in the neighborhood of Boston who unhesitatingly
+spoke of Whitefield as their spiritual father,
+directly tracing their conversion to his ministry. Of
+one of these we have an account by Collins, the journalist
+of South Reading. Speaking of 1741, he says,
+"Mr. Whitefield preached upon our Common in the
+open air. Mr. Hobby the minister went with the multitude
+to hear him. It is said that Mr. Hobby afterwards
+remarked, he came to pick a hole in Mr. Whitefield's
+coat, but that Whitefield picked a hole in his
+heart. Mr. Hobby afterwards wrote and published
+a defence of Mr. Whitefield in a letter to Mr. Henchman,
+the minister of Lynn, who had written against
+him."</p>
+
+<p>The letters of Whitefield, during his journeys of
+eleven hundred miles in New England, were few and
+brief; but they clearly indicated that at this time he
+was inclined "to return no more to his native country."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span>
+New England, notwithstanding his trials there,
+had evidently won his heart, and for a time almost
+weaned him from Great Britain. When he left it, as
+he was now about to do, for the south, he wrote,
+"God only knows what a cross it was to me to leave
+dear New England so soon. I hope death will not
+be so bitter to me as was parting with my friends.
+Glad shall I be to be <em>prayed</em> thither again before I see
+my native land. I would just be where He would
+have me, although in the uttermost parts of the earth.
+I am now hunting for poor lost sinners in these <em>ungospelized</em>
+wilds."</p>
+
+<p>Is there not an awfully retributive providence connected
+with the rejection of the gospel and its ministers?
+Do we not see this principle at work in the
+history and present state of the Jews; and has it not
+often appeared also in the history of Christianity?
+There was a beautiful village, now a city, in Massachusetts,
+from which Whitefield was driven with such
+rancorous abuse, that he shook off the dust of his feet,
+and proclaimed that the Spirit of God would not
+visit that spot till the last of those persecutors was
+dead. The good man's language had a fearful truth
+in it, though he was not divinely gifted with the
+prophet's inspiration. A consciousness of desertion
+paralyzed the energies of the church; for nearly a
+century it was nurtured on the unwholesome food of
+unscriptural doctrine. In the very garden of natural
+loveliness, it sat like a heath in the desert, upon
+which there could be no rain; and not till that whole
+generation had passed from the earth, did Zion appear
+there in her beauty and strength.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2>
+
+<h3>LABORS IN NEW YORK AND THE MIDDLE AND
+SOUTHERN STATES.<br />
+
+1740, 1741.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Whitefield was now again on his way to New
+York, preaching at Rye and King's Bridge on the
+road. At the latter place he was met by several
+friends from the city, with whom he pleasantly talked,
+"and found," he says, "an inexpressible satisfaction in
+my soul when I arrived at the house of my very dear
+friend Mr. Noble. After supper the Lord filled my
+heart, and gave me to wrestle with him for New York
+inhabitants and my own dear friends." He was also
+cheered by meeting Mr. Davenport from Long Island,
+whose labors as an evangelist were then exciting much
+interest. Here too he met with a violent pamphlet
+published against him. "Met also with two volumes
+of sermons published in London as delivered by me,
+though I never preached on most of the texts. But
+Satan must try all ways to bring the work of God
+into contempt."</p>
+
+<p>On the morning after his arrival, Whitefield
+preached in Mr. Pemberton's meeting-house, and says
+concerning the service, "Never saw the word of God
+fall with such weight in New York before. Two or
+three cried out. Mr. Noble could scarce refrain himself.
+And look where I would, many seemed deeply
+wounded. At night the word was attended with
+great power. One cried out; and the Lord enabled<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span>
+me at the latter end of my sermon to speak with
+authority. Alas, how vain are the thoughts of men!
+As I came along yesterday, I found my heart somewhat
+dejected, and told Mr. Noble I expected but
+little moving in New York; but he bid me 'expect
+great things from God,' and likewise told me of several
+who were, as he hoped, savingly wrought upon
+by my ministry when I was there last."</p>
+
+<p>On the following day he finished his answer to
+the pamphlet already referred to, and says, "God
+enabled me to write it in the spirit of meekness."
+He adds, "Preached twice as yesterday to very crowded
+auditories, and neither time without power. In
+the evening exercise some fainted, and the Lord
+seemed to show us more and more that a time for
+favoring New York was near at hand. Oh, wherefore
+did I doubt? Lord, increase my faith."</p>
+
+<p>The following day, November 2, was the Sabbath.
+"Preached this morning with freedom and some
+power, but was much dejected before the evening sermon.
+For near half an hour before I left Mr. Noble's
+house, I could only lie before the Lord, and say I was
+a poor sinner, and wonder that Christ would be gracious
+to such a wretch. As I went to meeting I grew
+weaker and weaker, and when I came into the pulpit
+I could have chosen to be silent rather than speak.
+But after I had begun, the Spirit of the Lord gave me
+freedom, till at length it came down like a mighty
+rushing wind, and carried all before it. Immediately
+the whole congregation was alarmed. Shrieking,
+crying, weeping, and wailing were to be heard in
+every corner; men's hearts failing them for fear, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span>
+many falling into the arms of their friends. My soul
+was carried out till I could scarcely speak any more.
+A sense of God's goodness overwhelmed me."</p>
+
+<p>After narrating two or three pleasing incidents as
+to the effect of his preaching even on the minds of
+children, and describing his feelings on his return
+home, he gives an account of the wedding of two
+young persons who were going as his assistants to
+Georgia. "Never," he says, "did I see a more solemn
+wedding. Jesus Christ was called, and he was present
+in a remarkable manner. After Mr. Pemberton
+had married them, I prayed. But my soul, how was
+it enabled to wrestle with and lay hold on God! I
+was in a very great agony, and the Holy Ghost was
+so remarkably present, that most, I believe, could say,
+'Surely God is in this place.' After this, divine manifestations
+flowed in so fast, that my frail tabernacle
+was scarce able to sustain them. My dear friends sat
+round me on the bedsides. I prayed for each of them
+alternately with strong cries, and pierced by the eye
+of faith even within the veil. I continued in this condition
+for about half an hour, astonished at my own
+vileness and the excellency of Christ, then rose full of
+peace and love and joy."</p>
+
+<p>On Monday, the 3d, he preached both morning
+and afternoon to increasing congregations, and says,
+"There was a great and gracious melting both times,
+but no crying out. Nearly &#163;110 currency were collected
+for the orphans; and in the evening many came
+and took an affectionate leave. About seven we took
+boat; reached Staten Island about ten, greatly refreshed
+in my inner man. A dear Christian friend<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span>
+received us gladly, and we solaced ourselves by singing
+and praying. About midnight retired to sleep,
+still longing for that time when I shall sleep no
+more."</p>
+
+<p>On Tuesday he preached on Staten Island from a
+wagon, to three or four hundred people. "The Lord
+came among them," and several inquired after the
+way of salvation. Here he met Gilbert Tennent and
+Mr. Cross. The former of these excellent ministers
+had recently lost his wife, and though he was ardently
+attached to her, he calmly preached her funeral sermon
+with the corpse lying before him. Tennent had
+lately been preaching in New Jersey and Maryland,
+and had a delightful account to give his friend of the
+progress of the good work. Nor was the account
+given by Mr. Cross of less interest. After sermon he
+rode to Newark, where he preached till dark, as he
+thought with but little good effect. "However, at
+night the Lord manifested forth his glory; for, coming
+down to family prayer where I lodged, and perceiving
+many young men around me, my soul was, as
+it were, melted down with concern for them. After
+singing, I gave a word of exhortation; with what
+power none can fully express but those that saw it.
+Oh, how did the word fall like a hammer and like a
+fire. What a weeping was there!"</p>
+
+<p>We must stay a moment to give a fact or two
+in reference to the Rev. Aaron Burr, then quite a
+young man, who two or three years before had been
+ordained at Newark, and whose ministry had been
+attended with a delightful revival the year preceding
+Whitefield's visit. During the period of this revival,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span>
+the neighboring village of Elizabethtown had
+been remarkable for its insensibility; even Whitefield
+had preached there, "and not a single known conversion,"
+says Dr. Stearns, "followed his ministrations."
+Afterwards the pastor, the well-known Jonathan Dickinson,
+saw happy results from very plain preaching.
+Newark caught a new flame from its neighboring altar,
+and Mr. Burr, who had lately been to New England
+in quest of health, had heard the devoted evangelist
+again and again, and invited him to visit his flock,
+which he did about a month afterwards with happy
+results. The account given by Mr. Burr of Whitefield's
+preaching in New England was precisely what
+we should expect from the man who was afterwards
+the first president of Princeton college, and who, fourteen
+years after this, accompanied his eloquent friend
+to New England, "and saw at Boston, morning after
+morning, three or four thousand people hanging in
+breathless silence on the lips of the preacher, and
+weeping silent tears."</p>
+
+<p>The Rev. Stephen Dodd of East Haven, Conn.,
+relates that an old lady told him that when Mr.
+Whitefield came to preach in the old meeting-house at
+Newark, she was twelve years old, and as he entered
+the pulpit she looked at him with distrust, but before
+he got through his prayers herself and all the congregation
+were melted down, and the sermon filled the
+house with groans and tears. The next time he came,
+the congregation was so large that the pulpit window
+was taken out, and he preached through the opening
+to the people in the burying-ground.</p>
+
+<p>On Wednesday, the 5th, he went to Baskinridge,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span>
+Mr. Cross' parish, where he found Mr. Davenport,
+who, according to appointment, had been preaching to
+about three thousand people. He writes, "As I went
+along, I told a friend my soul wept for them, and I
+was persuaded within myself that the Lord would
+that day make his power to be known among them.
+In prayer, I perceived my soul drawn out, and a
+stirring of affections among the people. I had not
+discoursed long before the Holy Ghost displayed his
+power. In every part of the congregation somebody
+or other began to cry out, and almost all melted into
+tears. This abated for a few moments, till a little
+boy about seven or eight years of age cried out exceeding
+piteously indeed, and wept as though his little
+heart would break. Mr. Cross having compassion on
+him, took him up into the wagon, which so affected
+me, that I broke from my discourse, and told the people
+the little boy should preach to them, and that God,
+since old professors would not cry after Christ, had
+displayed his sovereignty, and out of an infant's mouth
+was perfecting praise. God so blessed this, that a
+universal concern fell on the congregation again.
+Fresh persons dropped down here and there, and the
+cry increased more and more."</p>
+
+<p>In the evening, Gilbert Tennent preached excellently
+in Mr. Cross' barn, two miles off. His subject
+was the necessity and benefit of spiritual desertions, a
+remarkable subject, as has been said, at such a time,
+in a barn, and at night. "A great commotion," says
+Whitefield, "was soon observed among the hearers.
+I then gave a word of exhortation. The Lord's presence
+attended it in a surprising manner. One, in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span>
+about six minutes, cried out, 'He is come, He is come!'
+and could scarcely sustain the discovery that Jesus
+Christ made of himself to his soul. Others were so
+earnest for a discovery of the Lord to their souls, that
+their eager crying obliged me to stop, and I prayed
+over them as I saw their agonies and distress increase.
+At length my own soul was so full that I retired, and
+was in a strong agony for some time, and wept before
+the Lord under a deep sense of my own vileness, and
+the sovereignty and greatness of God's everlasting
+love. Most of the people spent the remainder of the
+night in prayer and praise. Two or three young ministers
+spoke alternately, and others prayed as the Lord
+gave them utterance."</p>
+
+<p>The next morning Whitefield exhorted, sung, and
+prayed with the people in the barn, and had some delightful
+conversation with a lad of thirteen, a poor
+negro woman, and several others. In company with
+several Christian friends, he then rode to the house of
+Gilbert Tennent in New Brunswick. Here he found
+letters from Savannah saying that great mortality existed
+in the neighborhood, but that the family at the
+orphan-house continued in health, and that a minister
+was about coming from England to take his church at
+Savannah. "This last," says he, "much rejoiced me,
+being resolved to give up the Savannah living as soon
+as I arrived in Georgia. A parish and the orphan-house
+together are too much for me; besides, God seems
+to show me it is my duty to evangelize, and not to fix
+in any particular place." Here he was met by William
+Tennent also, and after much conversation and prayer,
+it was settled that Gilbert Tennent should go to Boston<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span>
+to carry on the work so happily begun there.
+After preaching, exhortation, and prayer, Whitefield
+went with Davenport to Trenton, and so on to Philadelphia.
+On their way, they were twice remarkably
+preserved from drowning in creeks much swollen by
+the rains; and late on a very dark Saturday night
+arrived in the city, which had been already honored
+by his usefulness.</p>
+
+<p>On the following day, he twice preached in the
+house which his friends were now building for him,
+and in which Gilbert Tennent labored for many years
+with great success. He says, "It is one hundred feet
+long and seventy feet broad. A large gallery is to
+be erected all around in it. Many footsteps of Providence
+have been visible in beginning and carrying it on.
+Both in the morning and evening God's glory filled
+the house, for there was great power in the congregation.
+The roof is not yet up, but the people raised a
+convenient pulpit and boarded the bottom. The joy
+of most of the hearers when they saw me was inexpressible.
+Between services, I received a packet of
+letters from England, dated in March last. May the
+Lord heal, and bring good out of the divisions which
+at present seem to be among the brethren there. God
+giving me freedom, and many friends being in the
+room, I kneeled down and prayed with and exhorted
+them all. But Oh, how did they melt under both; my
+soul was much rejoiced to look round on them."</p>
+
+<p>A fact in connection with the building of this
+church edifice illustrates the practical philosophy of
+Dr. Franklin. Tennent waited on him for aid in the
+erection of the house, which was cheerfully afforded;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span>
+the philosopher was asked by Tennent as to the best
+method of raising the necessary funds, who instantly
+recommended him to call at every house in the town
+to solicit help. He argued thus: "Many are really
+desirous to give, and will be glad to see you; others
+are inclined to be friendly, and will give if they are
+urged; a third will be sure, if they are omitted, to
+say they would have given had they been asked;
+and a fourth class will give you, rather than have
+it said they refused." Tennent acted on the doctor's
+counsel, and the funds were raised without difficulty.</p>
+
+<p>Two instances of the happy influence of the truth
+in the conversion of sinners, in connection with this
+visit, must be given from Whitefield's own pen. The
+first related to a Mr. Brockden, a lawyer eminent in
+his profession, and the recorder of deeds for the city.
+For many years this gentleman had been distinguished
+for Deism. Whitefield writes, "In his younger days
+he had some religious impressions, but going into
+business, the cares of the world so choked the good
+seed, that he not only forgot his God in some degree,
+but at length began to doubt of and to dispute his
+very being. In this state he continued many years,
+and has been very zealous to propagate his deistical,
+I could almost say atheistical principles among moral
+men; but he told me he never endeavored to make
+proselytes of vicious, debauched people. When I
+came to Philadelphia, this time twelvemonth, he told
+me he had not so much as a curiosity to hear me.
+But a brother Deist, his choicest friend, pressed him
+to come and hear me. To satisfy his curiosity, he at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span>
+length complied with the request. I preached at the
+court-house stairs, upon the conference which the Lord
+had with Nicodemus. I had not spoken much before
+the Lord struck his heart. 'For,' said he, 'I saw your
+doctrine tended to make people good.' His family
+knew not that he had been to hear me. After he
+came home, his wife, who had been at sermon, came
+in also, and wished heartily that he had heard me.
+He said nothing. After this, another of his family
+came in, repeating the same wish; and, if I mistake
+not, after that another; till at last, being unable to
+refrain any longer, with tears in his eyes, he said,
+'Why, I have been hearing him;' and then expressed
+his approbation. Ever since he has followed on to
+know the Lord; and I verily believe Jesus Christ
+has made himself manifest to his soul. Though upwards
+of threescore years old, he is now, I believe,
+born again of God. He is as a little child, and often,
+as he told me, receives such communications from
+God, when he retires into the woods, that he thinks
+he could die a martyr for the truth."</p>
+
+<p>The other instance was that of the captain of a
+ship, "as great a reprobate," says Whitefield, "as
+ever I heard of." This man used to go on board the
+transport ships, and offer a guinea for a new oath,
+that he might have the honor of making it. "To the
+honor of God's grace," says our evangelist, "let it be
+said, he is now, I believe, a Christian; not only reformed,
+but renewed. The effectual stroke, he told
+me, was given when I preached last spring at Pennepack.
+Ever since he has been zealous for the truth;
+stood like a lamb when he was beaten, and in danger<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span>
+of being murdered by some of my opposers, and, in
+short, shows his faith by his works."</p>
+
+<p>The stay of Mr. Whitefield in Philadelphia at this
+time was about a week, during which he preached in
+the new house twice every day to large and deeply
+interested congregations. He says, "It would be
+almost endless to recount all the particular instances
+of God's grace which I have seen this week past.
+Many that before were only convicted, now plainly
+proved that they were converted, and had a clear evidence
+of it within themselves. My chief business was
+now to build up and to exhort them to continue in the
+grace of God. Notwithstanding, many were convicted
+almost every day, and came to me under the greatest
+distress and anguish of soul. Several societies are
+now in the town, not only of men and women, but of
+little boys and little girls. Being so engaged, I could
+not visit them as I would, but I hope the Lord will
+raise up some fellow-laborers, and that elders will be
+ordained in every place."</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps no man was ever more free from sectarianism
+than George Whitefield. It is true, that he
+was ordained a clergyman of the church of England,
+and never manifested any degree of reluctance to
+officiate within its walls; but it is equally true, that
+the vast majority of his sermons were delivered in
+connection with other bodies of Christians. When
+he was once preaching from the balcony of the court-house,
+Market-street, Philadelphia, he delivered an
+impressive apostrophe: "Father Abraham, who have
+you in heaven? any Episcopalians?" "No." "Any
+Presbyterians?" "No." "Any Baptists?" "No."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span>
+"Have you any Methodists, Seceders, or Independents
+there?" "No, no!" "Why, who have you there?"
+"We don't know those names here. All who are
+here are Christians, believers in Christ&mdash;men who
+have overcome by the blood of the Lamb, and the
+word of his testimony." "Oh, is that the case? then
+God help me, God help us all, to forget party names,
+and to become Christians, in deed and in truth." It
+might be well for the different bodies of Christians
+to think of the propriety of following this example of
+the holy man. The peculiarities of each Christian
+denomination may have their importance, but they
+ought not to keep good men in a state of separation,
+much less of alienation from each other.</p>
+
+<p>On Monday, November 17, Whitefield left Philadelphia.
+He says, "Was much melted at parting from
+my dear friends. Had it much impressed upon my
+mind, that I should go to England, and undergo trials
+for the truth's sake. These words, 'The Jews sought
+to stone thee, and goest thou thither again?' with our
+Lord's answer, have been for some time lying upon
+me; and while my friends were weeping round me,
+St. Paul's words darted into my soul, 'What mean
+you to weep and break my heart? I am willing not
+only to be bound, but to die for the Lord Jesus.'
+After fervent prayer, I took my leave of some, but
+being to preach at Gloucester in the West Jerseys,
+others accompanied me in boats over the river. We
+sung as we sailed, but my heart was low. I preached
+at Gloucester, but found myself weighed down, and
+was not able to deliver my sermon with my usual
+vigor. However, there was an affecting melting, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span>
+several, as I heard afterwards, who had been in bondage
+before, at that time received joy in the Holy
+Ghost. I rode on in company with several to Greenwich,
+and preached to a few, with scarce any power.
+In the evening we travelled on a few miles, but my
+body was more and more out of order, and I thought
+God was preparing me for future blessings. It is
+good to be humbled. I am never better than when
+I am brought to lie at the foot of the cross. It is a
+certain sign God intends that soul a greater crown.
+Lord, let me always feel myself a poor sinner." On
+Tuesday he preached at Pilesgrove to about two thousand
+people, but saw only a few affected. "At night,"
+he says, "God was pleased so abundantly to refresh
+my soul as to make me forget the weakness of my
+body; I prayed and exhorted with great power in the
+family where I lodged." On Wednesday, at Cohansey,
+where Gilbert Tennent had prepared the way
+for him, he says, "Preached to some thousands both
+morning and afternoon. The word gradually struck
+the hearers, till the whole congregation was greatly
+moved, and two cried out in the bitterness of their
+souls after a crucified Saviour, and were scarcely
+able to stand. My soul was replenished as with new
+wine, and life and power flew all around me." At
+Salem, on the 20th, he preached in the morning at the
+court-house, and in the afternoon in the open air before
+the prison, to about two thousand persons. "Both
+times God was with us." On Friday, November 21,
+he got with some difficulty to Newcastle, where he
+preached in the court-house, and "observed some few
+affected, and some few scoffing." Here he was joined<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span>
+by Mr. Charles Tennent, who had lately married a
+young lady awakened under Whitefield's ministry.
+They went on to White Clay creek, "and God," says
+he, "was pleased to appear for me in an extraordinary
+manner. There were many thousands waiting to hear
+the word. I have not seen a more lovely sight. I
+sang the twenty-third psalm, and these words gave my
+soul unspeakable comfort:</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<span class="i0">"'In presence of my spiteful foes,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">He does my table spread.'<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<p>"The Lord Jesus assisted me in preaching. The
+melting soon began, and the power increased more
+and more, till the greatest part of the congregation
+was exceedingly moved. Several cried out in different
+parts, and others were to be seen wringing their
+hands and weeping bitterly. The stir was ten times
+greater than when I was here last." At Fagg's Manor,
+on Saturday afternoon, he preached "to many thousands,
+and God was pleased mightily to own his word.
+There was a wondrous powerful moving, but it did
+not rise to such a degree as when I preached here
+last spring. I was taken ill after preaching." After
+still farther labors, he retired to rest, and he says,
+"The Lord gave me sweet sleep, and in the morning I
+arose with my natural strength much renewed." This
+was the Sabbath, and he preached at Nottingham "to
+a large congregation, who seemed in no wise to regard
+the rain, so they might be watered with the dew
+of God's blessing."</p>
+
+<p>On the following afternoon, at Bohemia, in Maryland,
+he says, "Preached to about two thousand, and
+have not seen a more solid melting, I think, since my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span>
+arrival. Some scoffers stood on the outside, but the
+Holy Spirit enabled me to lay the terrors of the Lord
+before them, and they grew more serious. My soul
+much rejoiced in the Lord to see salvation brought to
+Maryland." On Tuesday, November 25, "came to
+Reedy Island, and had the wonderful presence of God
+in the assembly in the afternoon. Several of my dear
+Philadelphia friends came to take their last farewell."
+On Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday, he preached
+again. "The Lord was with us every time. I was
+greatly delighted to see the captains of the ships, and
+their respective crews, come constantly to hear the
+word of God on shore, and join with us in religious
+exercises on board."</p>
+
+<p>On December 1, when they sailed from Reedy
+Island to Charleston, he wrote in his journal, "But
+before I go on, stop, O my soul, and look back a little
+on the great things the Lord hath done for thee during
+this excursion. I think it is now the seventy-fifth
+day since I arrived at Rhode Island. My body
+was then weak, but the Lord has much renewed its
+strength. I have been enabled to preach, I think, one
+hundred and seventy-five times in public, besides exhorting
+very frequently in private. I have travelled
+upwards of eight hundred miles, and gotten upwards
+of &#163;700 sterling in goods, provisions, and money for
+my poor orphans. Never did God vouchsafe me such
+great assistances. Never did I perform my journeys
+with so little fatigue, or see such a continuance of the
+divine presence in the congregations to whom I have
+preached. All things concur to convince me that
+America is to be my chief scene for action."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>In about eight days, he arrived at Charleston,
+where he found there had recently been a large fire,
+and to improve the sad event he preached a sermon,
+and passed on to his own home, where he found all
+well, and where he made arrangements for his voyage
+to England, leaving on the 29th of December. On
+that day he narrowly escaped death. A laborer was
+walking behind him with a gun under his arm, which
+went off unawares; happily its muzzle was towards
+the ground, "otherwise," says Whitefield, "I and one
+of my friends, in all probability, should have been
+killed; for we were directly before, and not above a
+yard or two distant from it. How ought we to live
+in such a state as we would not fear to die in; for in
+the midst of life we are in death!" In the evening he
+preached his farewell sermon as pastor of Savannah.</p>
+
+<p>On Mr. Whitefield's arrival at Charleston, in company
+with two gentlemen named Bryan, who had been
+called to suffer persecution for Christ's sake, he had
+the happiness of meeting his brother, the captain of a
+vessel from England, who gave him much interesting
+intelligence of the Christians in that country. Commencing
+with the Sabbath, he preached twice every
+day, in addition to expounding the Scriptures almost
+every evening, and expresses his gratitude for divine
+assistance. But though he had much to rejoice in, he
+had also more than one source of sorrow. Some professors
+of religion, of whom he had hoped well, had
+fallen away, and not a few of his enemies were even
+more enraged than formerly. Hugh Bryan had written
+a letter, in which, among other matters, "it was
+hinted that the clergy break their canons." At the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span>
+request of Jonathan Bryan, Whitefield had corrected
+it for the press, and it was published while he was
+now in the city. Hugh Bryan was apprehended, and
+on his examination, being asked, frankly confessed
+that Whitefield had corrected and made some alterations
+in it. Writing on January 10, he says, "This
+evening a constable came to me with the following
+warrant:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p>"'South Carolina SS. By B&mdash;&mdash; W&mdash;&mdash;, etc.
+Whereas I have received information upon oath that
+George Whitefield, Clerk, hath made and composed a
+false, malicious, scandalous, and infamous Libel against
+the Clergy of this Province, in contempt of His Majesty
+and His Laws, and against the King's Peace: These
+are therefore, in His Majesty's Name, to charge and
+command you and each of you forthwith to apprehend
+the said George Whitefield, and to bring him before
+Me to answer the premises. Hereof fail not, at your
+peril. And for your so doing this shall be your and
+each of your sufficient Warrant. Given under my
+hand and seal this tenth day of January, in the fourteenth
+year of His Majesty's Reign, Anno Domini one
+thousand seven hundred and forty [one.]</p>
+
+<p class="sig">
+"'B&mdash;&mdash; W&mdash;&mdash;.'"
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Whitefield gave security to appear by his attorney
+at the next quarter sessions, under penalty of one hundred
+pounds proclamation money. "Blessed be God,"
+he says in his journal, "for this further honor. My
+soul rejoices in it. I think this may be called persecution.
+I think it is for righteousness' sake." The
+next morning he preached on Herod sending the wise
+men to find out Christ, professing a desire to worship<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span>
+him, but intending to kill him; <em>persecution under pretence
+of religion</em>, being his theme. The afternoon sermon
+was on the murder of Naboth, from which he discoursed
+on <em>the abuse of power by men in authority</em>. He
+says, "My hearers, as well as myself, made the application.
+It was pretty close." No doubt it was. In
+the evening he expounded the narrative of Orpah and
+Ruth, and exhorted his hearers to follow the Lord
+Jesus Christ, though his cause be never so much persecuted
+and spoken against.</p>
+
+<p>On the following Thursday, he received several
+highly gratifying letters from his friends at Boston.
+Mr. Secretary Willard said to him, "Divers young
+men in this town, who are candidates for the ministry,
+have been brought under deep convictions by your
+preaching, and are carried off from the foundation of
+their false hopes to rest only upon Christ for salvation."</p>
+
+<p>The Rev. Mr. Cooper wrote, "I can inform you
+that there are many abiding proofs that you did not
+run in vain, and labor in vain among us in this place.
+I can only say now in general, some have been awakened
+who were before quite secure, and I hope a good
+work begun in them. Others, who had been under
+religious impressions, are now more earnestly pressing
+into the kingdom of heaven, and many of the children
+of God are stirred up to give diligence for the full
+assurance of faith. There is a greater flocking to all
+the lectures in the town, and the people show such a
+disposition to the new Tuesday evening lecture, that
+our large capacious house cannot receive all that
+come. I am sure your visit to us has made a large<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span>
+addition to the prayers that are going up for you in
+one place and another, and I hope also unto the jewels
+that are to make up your crown in the day of the
+Lord."</p>
+
+<p>In addition to these statements, Mr. Welch, a pious
+merchant, wrote, "I fear I am tedious, but I cannot
+break off till I just mention, to the glory of the grace
+of God, and for your comfort and encouragement, the
+success your ministry of late has had among us. Impressions
+made seem to be abiding on the minds of
+many. The doctrines of grace seem to be more the
+topic of conversation than ever I knew them. Nay,
+religious conversation seems to be almost <em>fashionable</em>,
+and almost every one seems disposed to hear or speak
+of the things of God. Multitudes flock to the evening
+lecture, though it has sometimes been the worst of
+weather. Ministers seem to preach with more life,
+and the great auditories seem to hear with solemn
+attention, and I hope our Lord Jesus is getting to
+himself the victory over the hearts of many sinners."</p>
+
+<p>These, and other letters of a similar character,
+filled the heart of Whitefield with grateful pleasure;
+and he went on preaching and enjoying the society of
+his friends till Friday, January 16. He says, "I never
+received such generous tokens of love, I think, from
+any people before, as from some in Charleston. They
+so loaded me with sea-stores, that I sent many of them
+to Savannah." He now went on board, and was fully
+engaged in preparations for the voyage, which however
+was not entered on till the 24th. On that day
+the <em>Minerva</em> sailed over Charleston bar, and after a
+generally pleasant voyage, they landed at Falmouth,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span>
+March 11. "This," says he, "was a profitable voyage
+to my soul, because of my having had many sweet
+opportunities for reading, meditation, and prayer."</p>
+
+<p>The impartiality of history requires us, however
+reluctantly, here to notice the separation which to
+some extent now took place between Whitefield, and
+his old friends Messrs. John and Charles Wesley.
+Their mutual attachment in early life we have already
+seen, as also Whitefield's anxiety in Georgia to defend
+Mr. John Wesley's conduct against those who opposed
+him. Impartial observers, however, after a while began
+to remark, that on some doctrinal points, especially
+on that of predestination, a difference was springing
+up. On his passage to England, February 1, 1741,
+Whitefield thus wrote to Mr. Charles Wesley: "My
+dear, dear brethren, why did you throw out the bone
+of contention? Why did you print that sermon
+against predestination? Why did you in particular,
+my dear brother Charles, affix your hymn, and join in
+putting out your late hymn-book? How can you say
+you will not dispute with me about election, and yet
+print such hymns? and your brother sent his sermon
+against election, to Mr. Garden and others in America.
+Do not you think, my dear brethren, I must be
+as much concerned for truth, or what I think truth,
+as you? God is my judge, I always was, and hope I
+always shall be desirous that you may be preferred
+before me. But I must preach the gospel of Christ,
+and that I cannot <em>now</em> do, without speaking of election."
+He then tells Mr. Charles Wesley, that in
+Christmas-week he had written an answer to his
+brother's sermon, "which," says he, "is now printing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span>
+at Charleston; another copy I have sent to Boston,
+and another I now bring with me, to print in London.
+If it occasion a strangeness between us, it shall not be
+my fault. There is nothing in my answer exciting to
+it, that I know of. O, my dear brethren, my heart
+almost bleeds within me. Methinks I could be willing
+to tarry here on the waters for ever, rather than
+come to England to oppose you."</p>
+
+<p>Dr. Whitehead, in his "Life of John Wesley," has
+very wisely said, "Controversy almost always injures
+the Christian temper, much more than it promotes the
+interests of speculative truth. On this question a
+separation took place between Mr. Wesley and Mr.
+Whitefield, so far as to have different places of worship;
+and some warm and tart expressions dropped
+from each. But their good opinion of each other's
+integrity and usefulness, founded on long and intimate
+acquaintance, could not be injured by such a difference
+of sentiment; and their mutual affection was only obscured
+by a cloud for a season."</p>
+
+<p>The friendship between Mr. Whitefield and the
+Messrs. Wesley was very much increased and perpetuated
+by the wife of Mr. Charles Wesley. This very
+extraordinary lady, whose original name was Gwinne,
+was equally distinguished for her beauty, talents, and
+piety. She had a very cordial regard for Mr. Whitefield,
+who as cordially reciprocated it. She was married
+when the controversy among these eminent men
+was at its height, and stipulated that she should
+always be allowed to hear the preaching of Whitefield
+and his friends. In her latter years especially, and
+she lived till ninety-six, she expressed her pleasure in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span>
+the belief that she promoted the continuance of that
+endearing intercourse which subsisted between Whitefield
+and her husband. She softened all parties, and
+was on all occasions a blessed peacemaker.</p>
+
+<p>One fact relating to this eminently excellent
+woman may be mentioned. She was nearly twenty
+years younger than her husband, and four years after
+her marriage, and at the age of twenty-six, she was
+seized with small-pox, of which at that time her eldest
+child died. She lay twenty-two days in imminent
+danger of death, and when she recovered she was so
+much altered in features that no one could recognize
+her; but never did woman before lose her beauty
+with so little regret. She used sportively to say, that
+the change in her appearance "afforded great satisfaction
+to her dear husband, who was glad to see her
+look so much older, and better suited to be his companion."</p>
+
+<p>On Whitefield's arrival at Falmouth, he immediately
+set off in a post-chaise to London, in order to
+preach on the following Sabbath. But he now found
+occasion for all the patience he had acquired. He
+had, he says, "written two well-meant, though ill-judged
+letters against England's two great favorites,
+'<cite>The Whole Duty of Man</cite>,' and Archbishop Tillotson,
+who, I said, knew no more about religion than Mohammed.
+The Moravians had made inroads on our societies;"
+besides which, the controversy with the Messrs.
+Wesley injured him. His congregations on the Sabbath
+were still large, but on week-days he had not
+more than two or three hundred hearers. He says,
+"Instead of having thousands to attend me, scarcely<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span>
+one of my spiritual children come to see me from
+morning to night. Once, on Kennington Common, I
+had not above a hundred to hear me."</p>
+
+<p>Even this was not all. He says, "One that got
+some hundreds of pounds by my sermons, refused to
+print for me any more. And others wrote to me, that
+God would destroy me in a fortnight, and that my fall
+was as great as Peter's." Still other sorrows attended
+him. He writes, "I was much embarrassed in my outward
+circumstances. A thousand pounds I owed for
+the orphan-house. Two hundred and fifty pounds
+drawn on Mr. Seward, [who was now dead,] were returned
+upon me. I was also threatened to be arrested
+for two hundred pounds more." Besides all this, he
+had "a family of one hundred persons to be maintained,
+four thousand miles off, in the dearest part of his
+majesty's dominions." He now began to preach in
+Moorfields on week-days, under one of the trees;
+where he saw numbers of his spiritual children running
+by him without looking at him, and some of them
+putting their fingers in their ears, that they might not
+hear one word he said. "A like scene," he says,
+"opened at Bristol, where I was denied preaching in
+the house I had founded." It was the Kingswood
+school-house, built for the children of the colliers.</p>
+
+<p>But Whitefield could not long be kept down. His
+friends built a new house and opened a new school at
+Kingswood. Some "free-grace dissenters," as Gillies
+calls them, procured the loan of a building lot in London,
+on which, as we have already seen, they built the
+Tabernacle. Here his congregations immediately increased,
+and he addressed them with his usual power<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span>
+and success. Invitations soon poured in from the
+country, and even from places where he had never
+been. At a common near Braintree, in Essex, he had
+more than ten thousand hearers, and at many other
+places congregations were large and much affected.
+"Sweet," says he, "was the conversation which I had
+with several ministers of Christ." Soon again did he
+triumph, even in England.</p>
+
+<p>Among the men who were now invited to aid, and
+who rendered important assistance to Whitefield in
+his houses of worship in London and Bristol, as well
+as in his itinerant labors, was Howel Harris, a native
+of Wales, a gentleman, and a magistrate, to whom we
+have already referred. His name in Wales is yet "a
+household word," and his labors form a part of the
+history of Welsh Calvinistic Methodism. As soon as
+he had embraced the gospel for himself, he became
+intensely solicitous respecting the condition of his
+neighbors. The scenes of profligacy and vice which
+everywhere presented themselves burdened his heart,
+and he became anxious to be actively employed in
+removing evil and doing good. He determined on
+taking orders in the church of England, and accordingly
+entered St. Mary's Hall, in Oxford university;
+but shocked at the dissolute habits of the collegians,
+and finding what were called his methodistical views
+were in the way of his ordination, he returned to
+Wales, and began to evangelize its towns and villages.
+Wherever there was an opening, there he went, and
+preached Christ to the people; and although defamed
+and persecuted, he manfully prosecuted his work,
+and thousands were by his agency brought to repentance.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span>
+He and Mr. Whitefield were kindred spirits,
+moved by the same impulses, and pursuing the same
+course. Mr. Whitefield spoke of him as "'a burning
+and shining light,' a barrier against profaneness and
+immorality, and an indefatigable promoter of the true
+gospel of Jesus Christ. For these years he has preached
+almost twice a day, for three or four hours together.
+He has been in seven counties, and has made it his
+business to go to wakes and fairs to turn people from
+their lying vanities. He has been made the subject
+of numbers of sermons, has been threatened with public
+prosecutions, and had constables sent to apprehend
+him. But God has blessed him with inflexible courage;
+strength has been communicated to him from
+above, and he still goes on from conquering to conquer.
+God has greatly blessed his pious endeavors;
+many call, and own him as their spiritual father, and
+would, I believe, lay down their lives for his sake."</p>
+
+<p>In the year 1759, when England was threatened
+with a French invasion, Mr. Harris became a captain
+in the Brecknockshire militia, and into whatever place
+in England the regiment was ordered, he uniformly
+began to preach, and was the means of introducing
+the gospel into many ignorant and depraved districts.
+Thus an unusual act and an undesirable office were
+overruled to doing much good. When the regiment
+was disbanded, he again regularly entered on his ministerial
+duties with all his former zeal and activity.
+In a word, he may justly be regarded the evangelist
+of Wales.</p>
+
+<p>As an illustration of the spirit of the energetic
+ministers of Christ in those days, we quote a fact or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span>
+two from the life of Rowland Hill; the more readily
+as Howel Harris is the principal subject. In 1774,
+four years after the death of Whitefield, Mr. Hill
+travelled through Wales, preaching three or four
+times every day; many conversions took place, which
+greatly sustained him under an attack of illness; and
+led to the remark in his "Journal," "My body quite
+weak, but my soul was refreshed." "A like example,"
+says Sidney, one of the biographers of Hill, "had
+been previously before his eyes in the case of Howel
+Harris, one of Mr. Whitefield's energetic followers,
+who was a man of extraordinary powers of body and
+mind. Harris used to relate of himself, that being
+once on a journey through Wales, he was subjected to
+great temptation to desert his Master's cause, when
+he said, 'Satan, I'll match thee for this;' and 'so I
+did,' he used to add; 'for I had not ridden many miles
+before I came to a revel, where there was a show of
+mountebanks, which I entered, and just as they were
+commencing, I jumped into the midst of them and
+cried out, 'Let us pray,' which so thunderstruck them
+that they listened to me quietly, while I preached to
+them a most tremendous sermon, that frightened many
+of them home.' Mr. Hill greatly delighted in this
+anecdote, and often said that amidst somewhat similar
+scenes, he had been enabled successfully to attack the
+kingdom of Satan."</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER VIII.</h2>
+
+<h3>FIRST AND SECOND VISITS TO SCOTLAND&mdash;LABORS
+IN ENGLAND AND WALES.<br />
+
+1740-1744.</h3>
+
+
+<p>We have seen the spirit in which Mr. Whitefield
+returned to London, and the cool manner in which he
+was too generally received. It is painful to say that
+this coldness was not confined to enemies of the
+truth; it appeared in some degree in eminent dissenting
+ministers, as Watts and Bradbury, Barker, and
+even, to some extent, Doddridge. A plan had a few
+years before been agitated to restore the dissenters
+to the church, usually called the <em>Comprehension scheme</em>,
+and assuredly, under the circumstances, friendship
+with Whitefield was by no means favorable to such a
+plan being accomplished, though it was at this period
+greatly desired by many of both parties. Still, however,
+good was done; Whitefield preached, and God
+was glorified. More union between Christians in advancing
+the cause of Christ would have been exceedingly
+desirable, but even the want of this was not
+permitted to stay the progress of this man of God.</p>
+
+<p>One of the most popular and useful ministers employed
+by Whitefield and his friends at this time was
+John Cennick, the author of two well-known hymns,
+beginning,</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<span class="i0">"Jesus, thy blood and righteousness;"<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Jesus, my all, to heaven is gone."<br /></span>
+</div>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span></p>
+<p>He was the preacher who, in Ireland, discoursed from
+the text, "Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling
+clothes," which gave occasion for the Methodists
+in that country to be called "<em>Swaddlers</em>." The
+parents of this excellent man were Quakers, who had
+been imprisoned in Reading jail for the maintenance
+of their religious principles. This persecution reduced
+them from respectability to want, so that, like
+John Bunyan, they were forced to make shoe-laces in
+prison for their support.</p>
+
+<p>The conversion of the son was very remarkable.
+His first deep and lasting religious convictions flashed
+upon his mind like lightning from heaven, while walking
+in the crowds of Cheapside, in London. The
+effects were soon manifested; he became a new man,
+pursuing a new course, and entering on a new work.
+His ministry was very efficient, his views of truth
+were evangelical, his public speaking popular, his zeal
+so great as sometimes to lead him to preach six times
+in one day&mdash;all which labors were followed with abundant
+success.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Cennick was rather below the middle stature,
+of a fair countenance, and though by no means robust
+in health, he knew little of timidity. The spirit in
+which he discharged his ministry may be seen in a
+letter he wrote to a friend: "We sang a hymn, and
+then the devil led on his servants; they began beating
+a drum, and then made fires of gunpowder: at
+first the poor flock was startled; but while God gave
+me power to speak encouragingly to them, they waxed
+bolder, and very few moved. The mob then fired
+guns over the people's heads, and began to play a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span>
+water engine upon brother Harris and myself, till we
+were wet through. They also played an engine upon
+us with hog's-wash and grounds of beer-barrels, and
+covered us with muddy water from a ditch; they
+pelted us with eggs and stones, threw baskets of dust
+over us, and fired their guns so close to us that our
+faces were black with the powder; but, in nothing
+terrified, we remained praying. I think I never saw
+or felt so great a power of God as was there. In the
+midst of the confused multitude, I saw a man laboring
+above measure, earnest to fill the buckets with water
+to throw upon us. I asked him, 'What harm do we
+do? Why are you so furious against us? We only
+come to tell you that Christ loved you, and died for
+you.' He stepped back a little for room, and threw a
+bucket of water in my face. When I had recovered
+myself, I said, 'My dear man, if God should so pour
+his wrath upon you, what would become of you? Yet
+I tell you that Christ loves you.' He threw away
+the bucket, let fall his trembling hands, and looked
+as pale as death; he then shook hands with me, and
+parted from me, I believe under strong convictions."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Cennick had heretofore labored with Whitefield
+and Wesley, but now adhered to the former, and
+labored very successfully in the Tabernacle. After
+some years he united with the Moravian brethren,
+and died in triumph at thirty-five.</p>
+
+<p>In the summer of 1741, some three or four months
+after his arrival from America, Whitefield paid his
+first visit to Scotland. The state of religion in that
+country at the commencement of the ministry of this
+distinguished evangelist, has been already glanced at.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span>
+It is here important to remark, that in 1740 an indication
+of better things began to appear in several
+places, especially in Cambuslang, under the ministry
+of the Rev. Mr. M'Culloch. This excellent man, for
+nearly a year before the revival began, had been
+preaching to his people on those subjects which tend
+most directly to explain the nature and prove the
+necessity of regeneration, according to the different
+aspects in which it is represented in the holy Scriptures.
+The church edifice had become too small
+for the congregation, and the minister, in favorable
+weather, frequently conducted the public worship on
+a green brae on the east side of a deep ravine near the
+church, scooped out in the form of an amphitheatre.
+In this retired and romantic spot, the worthy pastor
+preached in the most impressive manner to the listening
+multitudes, and not unfrequently, after his sermons,
+detailed to them the astonishing effects of
+Whitefield's preaching in America, which did not a
+little to increase the interest of the people, as well
+as lead them to wish to see such an extraordinary
+preacher.</p>
+
+<p>While on his voyage to Scotland, Whitefield gave
+evidence that he had not forgotten America. In his
+second visit to America, he had become intimately
+acquainted with the Rev. Daniel Rodgers of Exeter,
+New Hampshire, a direct descendant of the seventh
+generation of John Rogers, who was burnt at the
+stake for the testimony of Christ in the days of the
+bloody Mary. It is not surprising that Whitefield's
+original letter to him, now in the possession of the
+family of the grandson of Daniel Rodgers, is highly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span>
+valued. It is dated on board the Mary and Ann,
+bound from London to Scotland, July 25, 1741.</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p>"<span class="smcap">My dear Brother Rodgers</span>&mdash;How glad was I to
+receive a letter from your hands, having heard nothing
+from you or of you particularly since we parted.
+Oh, what great things has the Lord shown us since
+that time! methinks I hear you say; and yet I can tell
+of greater things. And I believe we shall see far
+greater yet before we die. The work is beginning
+afresh here. I sometimes think brother Gilbert [Tennent]
+must take a voyage to old England. Most of
+our London ministers too much shun the cross, and do
+not appear boldly for God. Now the Lord has worked
+so powerfully in your college, I have less to object
+against your joining Mr. Web. I am glad to hear that
+you speak <em>plain and close</em>. What comfort will this
+afford you in a dying hour. Go on, my dear brother,
+go on; venture daily upon Christ. Go out in his
+strength, and he will enable us to do wonders. He is
+with me more and more. I have sweetly been carried
+through the heat and burning of every day's labor.
+Jesus bears all my burdens. Jesus enables me to cast
+all my care upon him. Oh then, let us magnify his
+name together. I am now going to Scotland, knowing
+not what will befall me. What God does, you
+may expect to hear of shortly. In the meanwhile, let
+us pray for and write to each other. As iron sharpeneth
+iron, so do the letters of a man his friend. Your
+last I have printed. God's glory called me to it.</p>
+
+<p>"My dear brother, adieu. Dear brother Sims sits
+by and salutes you. My kind love awaits Mr. Web,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span>
+and all who love the Lord in sincerity. In hopes of
+receiving another letter from you shortly, I subscribe
+myself, dear Mr. Rodgers, your most affectionate,
+though very unworthy brother and servant in the
+sweetest Jesus,</p>
+
+<p class="sig">
+"G. W."
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Among those who were most anxious that Mr.
+Whitefield should visit Scotland, were the Rev.
+Messrs. Ebenezer and Ralph Erskine. These two
+excellent brothers had separated themselves from the
+established church, chiefly on the ground of its cold
+formalism, and with some other zealous ministers had
+formed what has since been known as the Associate
+Presbytery. Their wish was, that in coming to Scotland,
+Whitefield should preach only in connection with
+their body, and so help forward the work in which
+they were engaged. To this he objected, regarding
+himself as an evangelist at large. As he proceeded,
+they rather opposed him, as not sufficiently particular
+and discriminative in his zeal. They wished him not
+to labor in the church from which they had seceded,
+saying, "God had left it." "Then," said he, "it is the
+more necessary for me to preach in it, to endeavor to
+bring him back. I'll preach Christ wherever they'll
+let me." On the 30th of July he arrived in Edinburgh,
+where he was urged to preach, but declined till he
+had seen the Messrs. Erskine; and accordingly proceeded
+to Dunfermline. Writing on the 1st of August,
+he says, "I went yesterday to Dunfermline,
+where dear Mr. Ralph Erskine hath got a large and
+separate, or as it is commonly termed, seceding meeting-house.
+He received me very lovingly. I preached<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span>
+to his and the town's people&mdash;a very thronged assembly.
+After I had done prayers and named my text,
+the rustling made by opening the Bibles all at once
+quite surprised me&mdash;a scene I never was witness to
+before."</p>
+
+<p>On the day following, Whitefield returned to
+Edinburgh, accompanied by Mr. Ralph Erskine, and
+preached in the Orphan-house park to a large and
+attentive audience. His text was, "The kingdom of
+God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, and
+peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." Rom. 14:17.
+After the sermon, a large company, including some of
+the nobility, came to bid him God-speed; and among
+others a portly Quaker, a nephew of the Messrs. Erskine,
+who, taking him by the hand, said, "Friend
+George, I am as thou art; I am for bringing all to
+the life and power of the ever-living God; and therefore,
+if thou wilt not quarrel with me about my hat, I
+will not quarrel with thee about thy gown." On
+Sabbath evening, he preached in the same place, to
+upwards of fifteen thousand persons; and on the evenings
+of Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, to nearly as
+many; on Tuesday in the Canongate church; on
+Wednesday and Thursday at Dunfermline; and on
+Friday morning at Queensferry. "Everywhere," says
+he, "the auditories were large and very attentive.
+Great power accompanied the word. Many have
+been brought under convictions, and I have already
+received invitations to different places, which, God
+willing, I intend to comply with." Writing a week
+later, he says, "It would make your heart leap for joy
+to be now in Edinburgh. I question if there be not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span>
+upwards of three hundred in this city seeking after
+Jesus. Every morning I have a constant levee of
+wounded souls, many of whom are quite slain by the
+law. God's power attends the word continually, just
+as when I left London. At seven in the morning we
+have a lecture in the fields, attended not only by the
+common people, but also by persons of rank. I have
+reason to think that several of the latter sort are
+coming to Jesus. Little children also are much
+wrought upon. God much blesses my letters from
+the little orphans, [girls in the hospital.] He loves
+to work by contemptible means. Oh, my dear brother,
+I am quite amazed when I think what God has
+done here in a fortnight. My printed sermons and
+journals have been blessed in an uncommon manner.
+I am only afraid lest people should idolize the instrument,
+and not look enough to the glorious Jesus, in
+whom alone I desire to glory. Congregations consist
+of many thousands. Never did I see so many Bibles,
+nor people looking into them, while I am expounding,
+with so much attention. Plenty of tears flow from the
+hearers' eyes. Their emotions appear in various ways.
+I preach twice daily, and expound at private houses
+at night, and am employed in speaking to souls under
+distress great part of the day. I have just snatched a
+few moments to write to my dear brother. Oh, that
+God may enlarge your heart to pray for me. This
+afternoon I preach out of town, and also to-morrow.
+Next post, God willing, you shall have another letter.
+I walk continually in the comforts of the Holy Ghost.
+The love of Christ quite strikes me dumb. O grace,
+grace! let that be my song. Adieu."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>In this manner Whitefield continued to preach
+very extensively over Scotland; and early in September
+he arrived at Glasgow. On the eleventh of that
+month he began his labors in the High Church-yard,
+and for five days in succession preached there twice a
+day&mdash;at an early hour in the morning, and again in
+the evening. The expectations of the people were
+high, not only in Glasgow, but all around, and crowds
+flocked to hear him preach. Morning after morning,
+and evening after evening, that vast church-yard,
+almost paved as it is with tombstones, was crowded
+with living worshippers, trembling under the word.
+But not satisfied with hearing, the pen of the ready
+writer was from day to day at work, and each sermon
+was printed by itself, and put immediately into circulation.
+His sermons were characterized by great
+simplicity, as if the language of the preacher merely
+expressed what he felt, and yet there was so much
+earnestness, and so much closeness of application, as
+to account for the effects they produced. He was in
+the pulpit very much what Baxter was in the press.
+He spoke as a man realizing all that he said, and laying
+open the feelings of his own heart in addressing
+the hearts of others.</p>
+
+<p>Very few men better knew the human heart than
+Whitefield. He seemed to know all the thoughts and
+feelings of his hearers, and the best way in which to
+meet them. He once preached in Scotland from the
+text, "The door was shut." Matt. 25:10. A respectable
+lady who heard him sat near the door, a considerable
+distance from the pulpit, and observed two
+showy and trifling young men who appeared to turn<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span>
+the solemn appeals of the preacher into ridicule; she
+heard one of them say in a low tone to the other,
+"Well, what if the door be shut? another will open."
+In a very few minutes, to the great surprise of the
+lady, Mr. Whitefield said, "It is possible there may
+be some careless, trifling person here to-day, who may
+ward off the force of this impressive subject by lightly
+thinking, 'What matter if the door be shut? another
+will open.'" The two young men looked at each
+other as though they were paralyzed, as the preacher
+proceeded: "Yes, another door will open; and I will
+tell you what door it will be: it will be the door of
+the bottomless pit, the door of hell!&mdash;the door which
+conceals from the eyes of angels the horrors of damnation."</p>
+
+<p>After Mr. Whitefield's return to England, at the
+close of October, among many letters which followed
+him, detailing the results of his labors, was one from
+Mr. M'Culloch, the excellent minister already referred
+to:</p>
+
+<p>"As it is matter of joy and thankfulness to God,
+who sent you hither, and gave you so much countenance,
+and so remarkably crowned your labors with
+success here at Glasgow, so I doubt not but the following
+account of the many seals to your ministry in
+and about that city, will be very rejoicing to your
+heart, especially as the kingdom of our glorious Redeemer
+is so much advanced thereby, and as the everlasting
+happiness of souls is promoted. I am well
+informed by some ministers, and other judicious and
+experienced Christians, that there are to the amount
+of fifty persons already known, in and about Glasgow,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span>
+who appear to be savingly converted, through the
+blessing and power of God on your ten sermons.
+And there are, besides these, several others apparently
+under conviction, but not reckoned, as being
+still doubtful. Several Christians also, of considerable
+standing, were much strengthened, revived, and
+comforted by what they heard. They were made to
+rejoice in hope of the glory of God, having attained
+to the full assurance of faith. Among those lately
+converted, there are several young people who were
+before openly wicked and flagitious, or at best but
+very negligent as to spiritual things; and yet they
+are now in the way of salvation. Some young converts
+are yet under doubts and fears, but a considerable
+number of them have attained to peace and joy in
+believing. Several of those who were lately wrought
+on in a gracious way, seem to outstrip Christians of
+considerable standing, in spiritual-mindedness, and in
+many other good qualifications; particularly in their
+zeal for the conversion of others, in their love to ordinances,
+and in their freedom from bigotry and party
+zeal. Those converted by your ministry have not
+been discovered at once, but only from time to time.
+A good many of them have been discovered only of
+late. Their convictions were at first less pungent,
+and through the discouragements they met with in the
+families where they resided, as well as from their own
+feelings, they endeavored for a time to conceal their
+state. These circumstances afford ground for hoping,
+that there are yet others who may afterwards become
+known. Besides such as have been awakened through
+the power of God accompanying your sermons, there<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span>
+have been others who have been since awakened, and
+who have been discovered in consequence of the change
+observable in their conduct. These, dear brother, are
+a few hints concerning some of the most remarkable
+things, as to the blessing which accompanied your
+labors at Glasgow."</p>
+
+<p>At Edinburgh, when first visited by Whitefield,
+many persons of the highest rank constantly attended
+his ministry. Among them were the Marquis of Lothian,
+the Earl of Leven, Lord Ray, Lady Mary Hamilton,
+Lady Frances Gardiner, Lady Jane Nimms, and
+Lady Dirleton; and at some one of their houses he
+expounded almost every evening. Numbers of ministers
+and students crowded to hear him; and aged
+Christians told him they could set their seal to what
+he preached.</p>
+
+<p>In connection with this first visit to Edinburgh,
+several incidents have been related which show the
+power that accompanied his preaching, and the skill
+with which he could seize upon passing circumstances,
+and apply them to the great purpose which he
+always had in view. A gentleman, on returning from
+one of his sermons, was met on his way home by
+an eminent minister whom he usually heard, and who
+expressed great surprise that he should go to hear
+such a man. The gentleman replied, "Sir, when I
+hear you, I am planting trees all the time; but during
+the whole of Mr. Whitefield's sermon, I could not
+find time to plant one." A similar instance is related
+of a ship-builder, who usually could "build a ship from
+stem to stern during the sermon; but under Mr. Whitefield,
+could not lay a single plank."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Another narrative has been thus given. An unhappy
+man who had forfeited his life to the offended
+laws of his country, was executed in that neighborhood.
+Mr. Whitefield mingled with the crowd collected
+on the occasion, and was much impressed with
+the decorum and solemnity which were observable in
+the awful scene. His appearance, however, drew the
+eyes of all upon him, and produced a variety of opinions
+as to the motives which led him to join the multitude.</p>
+
+<p>The next day, being Sunday, he preached to a very
+large congregation in a field near the city; and in the
+course of his sermon, he adverted to the scenes of the
+preceding day. "I know," said he, "that many of
+you may find it difficult to reconcile my appearance
+yesterday with my clerical character. Many of you,
+I know, will say that my moments would have been
+better employed in praying for the unhappy man, than
+in attending him to the fatal tree; and that perhaps
+curiosity was the only cause that converted me into a
+spectator on that occasion; but those who ascribe
+that uncharitable motive to me, are under a mistake.
+I went as an observer of human nature, and to see the
+effect that such an occurrence would have on those
+who witnessed it. I watched the conduct of those
+who were present on that awful occasion, and I was
+highly pleased with their demeanor, which has given
+me a very favorable opinion of the Scottish nation.
+Your sympathy was visible on your countenances;
+particularly when the moment arrived that your unhappy
+fellow-creature was to close his eyes on this
+world for ever. Then you all, as if moved by one<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span>
+impulse, turned your heads aside, and wept. Those
+tears were precious, and will be held in remembrance.
+How different it was when the Saviour of mankind
+was extended on the cross! The Jews, instead of sympathizing
+in his sorrows, triumphed in them. They
+reviled him with bitter expressions, with words even
+more bitter than the gall and vinegar which they
+handed him to drink. Not one of all who witnessed
+his pains, turned his head aside, even in the last pang.
+Yes, my friends, there was <em>one</em>&mdash;that glorious luminary,"
+pointing to the sun, "veiled his brightness, and
+travelled on his course in tenfold night."</p>
+
+<p>On another occasion, near the same city, and probably
+in the field to which we have already referred,
+under the shade of a venerable tree, in a lovely meadow,
+a poor unhappy man, thinking to turn him into
+ridicule, placed himself on one of the overhanging
+boughs, immediately above the preacher's head, and
+with monkey-like dexterity mimicking his gestures,
+endeavored to raise a laugh in the audience. Guided
+by the looks of some of his hearers, Whitefield caught
+a glance of him, but without seeming to have noticed
+him, continued his discourse. With the skill of a wise
+orator, he reserved the incident for the proper place
+and time. While forcibly speaking on the power and
+sovereignty of divine grace, with increasing earnestness
+he spoke of the unlikely objects it had often
+chosen, and the unlooked for triumphs it had achieved.
+As he rose to the climax of his inspiring theme, and
+when in the full sweep of his eloquence, he suddenly
+paused, and turning round, and pointing slowly to the
+poor creature above him, he exclaimed, in a tone of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span>
+deep and thrilling pathos, "Even <em>he</em> may yet be the
+subject of that free and resistless grace." It was a
+shaft from the Almighty. Winged by the divine
+Spirit, it struck the scoffer to the heart, and realized
+in his conversion the glorious truth it contained.</p>
+
+<p>Yet another fact may be told connected with
+Whitefield and Edinburgh. When he was once there,
+a regiment of soldiers were stationed in the city, in
+which was a sergeant whose name was Forbes, a very
+abandoned man, who, everywhere he could do so, run
+in debt for liquor, with which he was almost at all
+times drunk. His wife washed for the regiment, and
+thus obtained a little money. She was a pious woman,
+but all her attempts to reclaim her husband were unsuccessful.
+During one of Mr. Whitefield's visits to
+the city, she offered her husband a sum of money, if
+he would for once go and hear the eloquent preacher.
+This was a strong inducement, and he engaged to go.
+The sermon was in a field, as no building could have
+contained the audience. The sergeant was rather
+early, and placed himself in the middle of the field,
+that he might file off when Mr. Whitefield ascended
+the pulpit; as he only wished to be able to say that
+he had seen him. The crowd, however, increased;
+and when the preacher appeared, they pressed forward,
+and the sergeant found it impossible to get
+away. The prayer produced some impression on his
+mind, but the sermon convinced him of his sinfulness
+and danger. He became a changed man, and showed
+the reality of his conversion by living for many years
+in a very penurious manner, till he had satisfied the
+claims of every one of his creditors.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>One fact more should be stated in connection with
+this visit. Mr. James Ogilvie was one of the ministers
+of Aberdeen. This city was not in that day, nor
+indeed in any part of the eighteenth century, warmly
+attached to a fully-exhibited gospel. At this time,
+however, both Mr. Ogilvie and his colleague, Mr. Bisset,
+who, as Sir Henry Moncrieff says, was the highest
+of the High church, were evangelical, though otherwise
+very opposite men. "Though colleagues of the
+same congregation," says Whitefield, "they are very
+different in their natural temper. The one is, what
+they call in Scotland, a sweet-blooded man, the other
+of a choleric disposition. Mr. Bisset is neither a seceder
+nor quite a true kirkman, having great fault to
+find with both. Soon after my arrival, dear Mr.
+Ogilvie took me to pay my respects to him. He was
+prepared for it, and pulled out a paper containing a
+great number of insignificant queries, which I had
+neither time nor inclination to answer." For several
+years Mr. Ogilvie had been corresponding with Mr.
+Whitefield to induce him to visit Aberdeen, hoping
+that some good might be done; and as he was himself
+to preach on Sabbath forenoon in presence of the
+magistrates, he gave Mr. Whitefield his place. The
+congregation was large, and apparently much interested.
+Mr. Bisset, in the afternoon, preached against
+Mr. Whitefield by name. Mr. Ogilvie, without either
+consulting his friend, or noticing the conduct of his
+colleague, stood up, after the sermon, and intimated to
+the congregation that Mr. Whitefield would again
+preach in about half an hour. The magistrates remained
+in the session-house, and the people hastened<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span>
+back, expecting to bear a reply. Mr. Whitefield,
+waiving as much as possible all controversial matter,
+preached Christ. The audience was silent, solemn,
+and deeply impressed. Next day, the magistrates
+apologized for their minister; and as a mark of their
+own respect, presented to Mr. Whitefield the freedom
+of their city. The effect of this visit to Aberdeen
+was great and beneficial.</p>
+
+<p>In 1742, Mr. Whitefield again visited Scotland.
+In the mean time he had heard that his dear friends
+the Erskines had become greatly offended, on account
+of what they considered his lax views of church government.
+But notwithstanding this difference with
+the seceders, he was received by great numbers, among
+whom were some persons of distinction, with cordiality
+and joy, and had the satisfaction of hearing
+more and more of the happy fruits of his ministry.
+At Edinburgh he again preached twice a day, as
+before, in the Hospital-park, where a number of seats
+and shades, in the form of an amphitheatre, were
+erected for the accommodation of his hearers. On
+the day of his arrival at Cambuslang, he preached
+three times to an immense body of people, although
+he had preached that same morning at Glasgow.
+The last service continued till eleven o'clock; and so
+much were the people interested, that Mr. M'Culloch,
+after preaching till past one in the morning, could
+scarcely persuade them to depart. Mr. Whitefield
+himself thus describes the scene: "Persons from all
+parts flocked to see, and many, from many parts, went
+home convinced and converted to God. A brae, or
+hill, near the manse at Cambuslang, seemed to be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span>
+formed by Providence for containing a large congregation.
+People sat unwearied till two in the morning,
+to hear sermons, disregarding the weather. You
+could scarcely walk a yard, but you must tread upon
+some either rejoicing in God for mercies received, or
+crying out for more. Thousands and thousands have
+I seen, before it was possible to catch it by sympathy,
+melted down under the word and power of God. At
+the celebration of the holy communion, their joy was
+so great, that, at the desire of many, both ministers
+and people, in imitation of Hezekiah's passover, they
+had, a month or two afterwards, a second, which was
+a general rendezvous of the people of God. The communion
+was in the field; three tents, at proper distances,
+all surrounded with a multitude of hearers;
+above twenty ministers, among whom was good old
+Mr. Bonner, attending to preach and assist, all enlivening
+and enlivened by one another."</p>
+
+<p>In addition to his labors at Glasgow and Cambuslang,
+it is surprising to observe the number of places
+in the west of Scotland which Whitefield visited in
+the course of a few weeks; preaching wherever he
+went, with his usual frequency, energy, and success.
+A gentleman of piety and intelligence thus refers to
+one of them several years afterwards: "When Mr.
+Whitefield was preaching at Kilmarnock, on the
+twenty-third of August, from the words, 'And of his
+fulness have all we received, and grace for grace,' I
+thought I never heard such a sermon; and from the
+era above mentioned, I have always looked upon him
+as my spiritual father, and frequently heard him afterwards
+in Edinburgh and Glasgow with much satisfaction.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span>
+When Cape Breton was taken, I happened to
+be at Edinburgh, and being invited to breakfast with
+Mr. Whitefield, I never, in all my life, enjoyed such
+another breakfast. He gave the company a fine and
+lively descant upon that part of the world, made us all
+join in a hymn of praise and thanksgiving, and concluded
+with a most devout and fervent prayer." About
+the end of October, Whitefield returned to London.</p>
+
+<p>Probably few are aware that Mr. Whitefield visited
+Scotland no less than <em>fourteen</em> times. These visits
+extended over a period of twenty-seven years, beginning
+in 1741, and ending in 1768. In none of his
+visits after 1742 were there the same extensive awakenings
+as in his first two visits, yet his coming was
+always refreshing to serious persons, infusing new
+life, and increasing their numbers. Young people,
+too, were much benefited by his ministry, and especially
+young students, who afterwards became zealous
+and evangelical preachers. His morning discourses,
+which were generally intended for sincere but disconsolate
+souls, were peculiarly fitted to direct and encourage
+such in the Christian life; and his addresses
+in the evening to the promiscuous multitudes who then
+attended him, were powerful and alarming. There
+was great solemnity in his evening congregations in
+the Orphan-house park at Edinburgh and the High
+Church-yard at Glasgow, especially towards the conclusion
+of his sermons&mdash;which were usually long,
+though they seemed short to his hearers&mdash;when the
+whole multitude stood fixed, and like one man, hung
+upon his lips with silent attention, and many were
+under deep religious impressions.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>His conversation was no less useful and delightful
+than his sermons. Many in Glasgow, Edinburgh, and
+other parts of the land, bore witness of this fact. In
+Glasgow especially, when in company with his excellent
+friends M'Laurin, Scott, and others, one might
+challenge the professed sons of pleasure, with all their
+wit, humor, and gayety, to furnish entertainments so
+gratifying; nor was any part of it more agreeable
+than it was useful and edifying.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Whitefield's friends in Scotland, among whom
+were many of all ranks, from the highest to the lowest,
+were constant and steady in their great regard
+for him, and his opposers from year to year became
+less violent. Indeed, his whole behavior was so transparent
+to the eyes of the world, and his character,
+after it had stood many attacks from all quarters,
+became so thoroughly established, that some of his
+opposers in Scotland seemed to acquire esteem for
+him; at least, they ceased to speak evil of him.</p>
+
+<p>In closing our sketch of Whitefield in Scotland,
+we select a few paragraphs from his letters, which are
+the more interesting as being among the very last
+words he wrote in that country. June 15, 1768, he
+says, "You would be delighted to see our Orphan-house
+park assemblies, as large, attentive, and affectionate
+as ever. Twenty-seven-year-old friends and
+spiritual children remember the days of old; they
+are seeking after their first love, and there seems to
+be a stirring among the dry bones." Writing on the
+second of July, he says, "Could I preach ten times a
+day, thousands and thousands would attend. I have
+been confined for a few days; but on Monday or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span>
+Tuesday next, hope to mount my throne again. O,
+to die there! too great, too great an honor to be expected."
+Again, on the ninth of July, "Every thing
+goes on better and better here; but I am so worn
+down by preaching abroad and talking at home almost
+all the day long, that I have determined, God willing,
+to set off for London next Tuesday."</p>
+
+<p>The respect with which Whitefield was treated in
+Scotland, not only by professing Christians, but in
+general society, was shown by the fact that he was
+presented with the freedom of some of the principal
+cities and towns which he visited. This privilege
+was given him in Stirling, Glasgow, Paisley, and Aberdeen,
+in 1741, and at Irvine and Edinburgh some
+years afterwards.</p>
+
+<p>It is difficult, in such a world as this, so to live as
+that "our good" shall not "be evil spoken of." Mr.
+Whitefield has sometimes been charged with motives
+of a mercenary character, but his whole life showed
+the fallacy of such a charge. Dr. Gillies, his original
+biographer, received from unquestionable testimony
+the knowledge of a fact which ought not to be forgotten.
+During his stay in Scotland, in the year 1759,
+a young lady, Miss Hunter, who possessed a considerable
+fortune, made a full offer to him of her estate in
+money and lands, worth several thousand pounds.
+He promptly refused the offer; and upon his declining
+it for himself, she offered it to him for the benefit
+of his orphan-house. This also he absolutely refused.</p>
+
+<p>Never could Whitefield be accused of moral cowardice.
+When the old Scotch Marquis of Lothian
+professed that his heart was impressed with the importance<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span>
+of religion, but wished to be a Christian in
+the dark, Whitefield said to him, "As for praying in
+your family, I entreat you not to neglect it; you are
+bound to do it. Apply to Christ to overcome your
+present fears; they are the effects of pride or infidelity,
+or both."</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<p>On his return from Scotland to London in 1741,
+Whitefield passed through Wales, where at Abergavenny
+he was married to a Mrs. James, a widow,
+some ten years older than himself. Of this marriage,
+as also of the death of his only child, we have already
+spoken. After preaching at Bristol twice a day for
+several days in succession, he returned to London in
+the beginning of December, where he found letters
+from Georgia, which, on account of the temporal circumstances
+of his orphan family, somewhat discouraged
+him. But to trace his progress, and to report
+all his labors, would be to extend our volume beyond
+its due limits.</p>
+
+<p>He was soon again in the west of England, and
+writing from Gloucester, his native place, December
+23, 1741, he says, "Last Thursday evening the Lord
+brought me hither. I preached immediately to our
+friends in a large barn, and had my Master's presence.
+Both the power and the congregation increased. On
+Sunday, Providence opened a door for my preaching
+in St. John's, one of the parish churches. Great numbers
+came. On Sunday afternoon, after I had preached
+twice at Gloucester, I preached at the hill, six
+miles off, and again at night at Stroud. The people
+seemed to be more hungry than ever, and the Lord to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span>
+be more among them. Yesterday morning I preached
+at Painswick, in the parish church, here in the afternoon,
+and again at night in the barn. God gives me
+unspeakable comfort and uninterrupted joy. Here
+seems to be a new awakening, and a revival of the
+work of God. I find several country people were
+awakened when I preached at Tewkesbury, and have
+heard of three or four that have died in the Lord.
+We shall never know what good field-preaching has
+done till we come to judgment. Many who were
+prejudiced against me begin to be of another mind;
+and God shows me more and more that 'when a man's
+ways please the Lord, he will make even his enemies
+to be at peace with him.'"</p>
+
+<p>In the following February he was still further
+encouraged by receiving letters from America, informing
+him of the remarkable success of the gospel there,
+and that God had stirred up some wealthy friends to
+assist his orphans in their extremity. He writes,
+"The everlasting God reward all their benefactors.
+I find there has been a fresh awakening among them.
+I am informed that twelve negroes belonging to a
+planter lately converted at the orphan-house, are savingly
+brought home to Jesus Christ." Nor were these
+things all which afforded him joy. Writing to a
+friend, April 6, he says, "Our Saviour is doing great
+things in London daily. I rejoice to hear that you
+are helped in your work. Let this encourage you;
+go on, go on; the more we do, the more we may do
+for Jesus. I sleep and eat but little, and am constantly
+employed from morning till midnight, and yet
+my strength is daily renewed. Oh, free grace! it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span>
+fires my soul, and makes me long to do something for
+Jesus. It is true, indeed, I want to go home; but
+here are so many souls ready to perish for lack of
+knowledge, that I am willing to tarry below as long
+as my Master has work for me." It was at this period
+that he first ventured to preach in the fair in
+Moorfields, to which we have already referred. In
+this year he made also his second journey to Scotland,
+the particulars of which have been already given.</p>
+
+<p>On his arrival from Scotland in London, October,
+1742, Whitefield found a new awakening at the Tabernacle,
+which in the mean time had been enlarged.
+He says, "I am employed, and, glory to rich grace, I
+am carried through the duties of each day with cheerfulness
+and almost uninterrupted tranquillity. Our
+society is large, but in good order. My Master gives
+us much of his gracious presence, both in our public
+and private ministrations."</p>
+
+<p>In March, 1743, he went again into Gloucestershire,
+where the people appeared to be more eager to attend
+on his ministry than ever before. "Preaching," says
+he, "in Gloucestershire, is now like preaching at the
+Tabernacle in London." And in a letter, April 7, he
+says, "I preached, and took leave of the Gloucester
+people with mutual and great concern, on Sunday
+evening last. It was past one in the morning before
+I could lay my weary body down, At five I rose
+again, sick for want of rest; but I was enabled to
+get on horseback and ride to Mr. T&mdash;&mdash;'s, where I
+preached to a large congregation, who came there at
+seven in the morning. At ten, I read prayers and
+preached, and afterwards administered the sacrament<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span>
+in Stonehouse church. Then I rode to Stroud, and
+preached to about twelve thousand in Mr. G&mdash;&mdash;'s
+field; and about six in the evening, to a like number
+on Hampton common." Next morning he preached
+near Dursley to some thousands; at about seven
+o'clock he reached Bristol, and preached to a full
+congregation at Smith's hall; and on the following
+morning, after preaching, set out for Waterford, in
+South Wales, where he opened the association which
+he and his brethren had agreed upon, and was several
+days with them, settling the affairs of the societies.
+The work in Wales, during his absence, had very
+greatly extended itself, not a few of the clergy having
+become converted, as well as their people. He
+tells us, "The power of God at the sacrament, under
+the ministry of Mr. Rowland, was enough to make a
+person's heart burn within him. At seven in the morning
+have I seen perhaps ten thousand from different
+parts, in the midst of a sermon, crying, <i lang="cy" xml:lang="cy">Gugunniaut</i>&mdash;<i lang="cy" xml:lang="cy">bendyth</i>&mdash;[glory&mdash;blessed]&mdash;ready
+to leap for joy."
+He continued in Wales some weeks, preaching with
+great apparent success, and in the latter part of April
+returned to Gloucester, after having, in about three
+weeks, travelled about four hundred miles, spent three
+days in attending associations, and preached about
+forty times. Among the interesting events of this
+journey may be reckoned the fact, that when he was
+at Caermarthen the quarterly sessions were held.
+When he was about to preach, the magistrates sent
+him word, that if he would stay till the court rose,
+they would attend on the service. He acceded to
+their proposal, and they were present, with many<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span>
+thousands more, including several persons of high
+rank.</p>
+
+<p>After a few weeks spent in London, preaching to
+vast congregations in Moorfields, and exulting in his
+accustomed success, collecting too for his beloved orphans,
+so as to be able to pay all his debts, and to make
+a remittance to Georgia, we again find him at Bristol,
+and in a few days afterwards at Exeter. Among
+the clergymen who met him there was Mr. Cennick.
+As this gentleman was preaching during this visit in
+the High-street of the city, he was eloquently discoursing
+on the doctrine of the atonement by the
+blood of Christ, when a profane butcher in the crowd
+exclaimed, "If you love blood, you shall presently
+have enough of it," and ran to obtain some to throw
+on him. A Mr. Saunders, who was employed in conveying
+persons from one place to another, though an
+entire stranger to religion, from a sense of justice,
+determined to defend the preacher; and when the
+butcher came with a pail nearly filled with blood, he
+quietly took it from him, and poured it over the
+man's own head. This Mr. Saunders afterwards became
+an eminent Christian. He was, till extreme old
+age, the body-coachman of George III., with whom he
+frequently held Christian conversation, and died happily
+in 1799, at the age of eighty-nine.</p>
+
+<p>During this visit to Bristol, Whitefield's ministry
+was owned of God in the conversion of Thomas Olivers,
+a young profligate Welshman. It is said, he
+had so studied profanity and cursing, that he would
+exemplify the richness of the Welsh language by compounding
+twenty or thirty words into one long and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span>
+horrid blasphemy. He had often sang profane songs
+about Whitefield, and was now induced by curiosity
+to go to hear him. Being too late on the first occasion,
+he went on the following evening nearly three
+hours before the time. The text was, "Is not this a
+brand plucked out of the fire?" Zech. 3:2. His
+heart became broken with a sense of his sins, and he
+was soon enabled to trust in the mercy of Christ. He
+became a zealous and successful minister of Christ
+among the followers of Mr. Wesley, and was the author
+of the well-known hymn,</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+"The God of Abram praise," etc.
+</p>
+
+<p>In August, Whitefield returned to London, but not
+to make a long stay there. "I thank you," he writes
+to a correspondent, "for your kind caution to spare
+myself; but evangelizing is certainly my province.
+Everywhere effectual doors are opened. So far from
+thinking of settling in London, I am more and more
+convinced that I should go from place to place." Accordingly,
+during the three last months of 1743, we
+find him in a large number of places in the central
+and western parts of England. At Birmingham, he
+writes, "I have preached five times this day, and weak
+as I am, through Christ strengthening me, I could
+preach five times more." At Kidderminster he met
+with a distinguished Christian merchant, a Mr. Williams,
+whose published "Memoirs" have been eminently
+useful. Whitefield writes, "I was kindly received by
+Mr. Williams. Many friends were at his house. I
+was greatly refreshed to find what a sweet savor of
+good Baxter's doctrine, works, and discipline remains<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span>
+to this day." Nor did he, amidst all his labors, feel
+his health much impaired. He observes, indeed, that
+he had taken a cold, but adds, "The Lord warms my
+heart."</p>
+
+<p>In the beginning of March, 1744, he was compelled
+to attend the assizes at Gloucester. During the preceding
+summer, the enemies of the Methodists had
+been very violent, especially at Hampton, in that
+county. Forbearance in the case had ceased to be a
+virtue, and Mr. Whitefield was strongly urged to appeal
+to law, which in England in such cases is severe.
+At the preceding sessions the rioters had been convicted,
+but appealed to the assizes, a higher court.
+After a full hearing, a verdict was given in favor of
+Whitefield and his friends, and all the prisoners were
+found guilty. This exposed each to a fine of forty
+pounds, or six months' imprisonment; the rioters were
+greatly alarmed, public feeling on the subject was
+corrected, and the Methodists readily extended forgiveness
+to the unhappy offenders.</p>
+
+<p>Whitefield was now invited by Mr. Smith, an
+American merchant then in England, in the name of
+thousands, to revisit this country, and took passage
+with that gentleman in a vessel sailing from Portsmouth.
+But the captain refused to take him, "for fear," as he
+said, "he would spoil the sailors." On this account
+Mr. Whitefield was compelled to go to Plymouth, another
+seaport, to accomplish his purpose. On his way,
+he preached at Exeter and other places, with delightful
+results. "But," he says, "the chief scene was at
+Plymouth and the Dock, [now called Devonport,]
+where I expected least success."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>While he was at Plymouth, four well-dressed men
+came to the house of one of his particular friends, in
+a kind manner inquiring after him, and desiring to
+know where he lodged. Soon after, Mr. Whitefield
+received a letter informing him that the writer was a
+nephew of Mr. S&mdash;&mdash;, an attorney in New York;
+that he had the pleasure of supping with Mr. Whitefield
+at his uncle's house, and requested his company
+to sup with him and a few friends at a tavern. Mr.
+Whitefield replied to him that he was not accustomed
+to sup abroad at such houses, but he should be glad
+of the gentleman's company to eat a morsel with him
+at his own lodging. The gentleman accordingly came
+and supped, but was observed frequently to look
+around him, and to be very absent. At length he took
+his leave, and returned to his companions in the tavern,
+and on being asked by them what he had done, he answered,
+that he had been treated with so much civility
+and kindness that he had not the heart to touch him.
+One of the company, a lieutenant of a man-of-war, laid
+a wager of ten guineas that he would do his business
+for him. His companions, however, had the precaution
+to take away his sword.</p>
+
+<p>It was now about midnight, and Mr. Whitefield
+having that day preached to a large congregation,
+and visited the French prisoners, had retired to rest,
+when he was awoke and told that a well-dressed gentleman
+earnestly wished to speak with him. Supposing
+that it was some person under conviction of sin,
+many such having previously called upon him, he desired
+him to be brought to his room. The gentleman
+came, sat down by his bedside, congratulated him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span>
+upon the success of his ministry, and expressed considerable
+regret that he had been prevented from
+hearing him. Soon after, however, he began to utter
+the most abusive language, and in a cruel and cowardly
+manner beat him in his bed. The landlady
+and her daughter, hearing the noise, rushed into the
+room and laid hold of the assailant; but disengaging
+himself from them, he renewed his attack on the unoffending
+preacher, who, supposing that he was about
+to be shot or stabbed, underwent all the feelings of a
+sudden and violent death. Soon after, a second person
+came into the house, and called from the bottom
+of the stairs, "Take courage, I am ready to help you."
+But by the repeated cries of murder the neighborhood
+had become so alarmed, that the villains were glad
+to make their escape. "The next morning," says Mr.
+Whitefield, "I was to expound at a private house,
+and then to set out for Biddeford. Some urged me to
+stay and prosecute, but being better employed, I went
+on my intended journey, was greatly blessed in preaching
+the everlasting gospel; and, upon my return, was
+well paid for what I had suffered, curiosity having
+led perhaps two thousand more than ordinary to see
+and hear a man that had like to have been murdered
+in his bed. And I trust, in the five weeks that I waited
+for the convoy, hundreds were awakened and turned
+unto the Lord."</p>
+
+<p>As Whitefield was one day preaching in Plymouth,
+a Mr. Henry Tanner, who was at work as a ship-builder
+at a distance, heard his voice, and resolved,
+with five or six of his companions, to go and drive
+him from the place where he stood; and for this purpose<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span>
+they filled their pockets with stones. When,
+however, Mr. Tanner drew near, and heard Mr.
+Whitefield earnestly inviting sinners to Christ, he
+was filled with astonishment, his resolution failed
+him, and he went home with his mind deeply impressed.
+On the following evening, he again attended,
+and heard Mr. Whitefield on the sin of those who
+crucified the Redeemer. After he had forcibly illustrated
+their guilt, he appeared to look intently on Mr.
+Tanner, as he exclaimed, with great energy, "Thou
+art the man!" These words powerfully impressed
+Mr. Tanner; he felt his transgressions of the divine
+law to be awfully great, and in the agony of his soul
+he cried, "God be merciful to me a sinner!" The
+preacher then proceeded to proclaim the free and
+abundant grace of the Lord Jesus, which he commanded
+to be preached among the very people who
+had murdered him; a gleam of hope entered the heart
+of the penitent, and he surrendered himself to Christ.
+Mr. Tanner afterwards entered the ministry, and labored
+with great success, for many years, at Exeter.</p>
+
+<p>We are not quite certain whether it was on this
+or a subsequent visit to Plymouth, that Whitefield
+had preached on the Sabbath for the Rev. Mr. Kinsman,
+and after breakfast on Monday morning, said to
+him, "Come, let us visit some of your poor people.
+It is not enough that we labor in the pulpit; we must
+endeavor to be useful out of it." On entering the
+dwellings of the afflicted poor, he administered to
+their temporal as well as their spiritual wants. Mr.
+Kinsman, knowing the low state of his finances, was
+surprised at his liberality, and suggested that he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span>
+thought he had been too bountiful. Mr. Whitefield,
+with some degree of smartness, replied, "It is not
+enough, young man, to pray, and put on a serious
+face; true religion, and undefiled, is this, to visit the
+widow and the fatherless in their affliction, and to
+supply their wants. My stock, it is true, is nearly
+exhausted; but God, whom I serve, and whose saints
+we have assisted, will, I doubt not, soon give me a
+supply." His expectation was not disappointed. A
+stranger called on him the same evening, who said,
+"With great pleasure I have heard you preach; you
+are on a journey, as well as myself, and travelling is
+expensive. Do me the honor to accept of this;"
+handing him five guineas, or twenty-five dollars. Returning
+to the family, Mr. Whitefield, very pleasantly
+smiling, showed them the money, saying, "There,
+young man, God has very speedily repaid what I lent
+him this morning. Let this in future teach you not to
+withhold what it is in the power of your hand to give.
+The gentleman to whom I was called is a perfect stranger
+to me; his only business was to give me the sum
+you see." It was a singular fact, that this gentleman,
+though rich, was notorious for a penurious disposition.</p>
+
+<p>During his stay in Plymouth, Whitefield's usefulness
+daily increased. The ferry-men, who obtained
+their living by carrying persons between Plymouth
+and Dock, refused to take money from his hearers,
+saying, "God forbid that we should sell his word!"
+The evangelist exclaimed, "Oh, the thousands that
+flock to the preaching of Christ's gospel!" In the
+midst of these scenes, the convoy arrived, and in delicate
+health he embarked for America.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER IX.</h2>
+
+<h3>WHITEFIELD'S SECOND VISIT TO NEW ENGLAND.<br />
+
+1744, 1745.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Mr. Whitefield commenced his third voyage to
+America in August, 1744. His health while crossing
+the Atlantic became worse, rather than better, the
+voyage lasting eleven weeks. He had set out in
+company with about one hundred and fifty ships,
+attended by several men-of-war as convoys, which,
+however, they lost by storms separating them on the
+way. It was more than six weeks, owing generally
+to want of wind, before they reached any of the western
+islands. When the wind again sprung up, one of
+the vessels, which missed stays, drove upon the ship
+in which Whitefield was, striking her mainsail into
+the bowsprit. The alarm was very great, but no
+lives were lost. He had been singing a hymn on
+deck when the concussion took place; this fact, together
+with that of the concussion itself, was communicated
+to the convoy, and led to the use of much violent
+and wicked language. But the good man was not
+intimidated. He says, "I called my friends together,
+and broke out into these words in prayer: 'God of
+the sea, and God of the dry land, this is a night of
+rebuke and blasphemy. Show thyself, O God, and
+take us under thine own immediate protection. Be
+thou our convoy, and make a difference between those
+who fear thee, and those that fear thee not.'" A difference
+was soon made. Next day a heavy storm<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span>
+arose, which "battered and sent away our convoy, so
+that we saw him no more all the voyage." Whitefield
+at first did not at all regret the loss, but when
+two strange sails appeared in the distance, and preparation
+was made for action by mounting guns, slinging
+hammocks on the sides of the ships, and encircling the
+masts with chains, he being, as he says, "naturally a
+coward," found it formidable to have no convoy. The
+vessels, however, proved to be only a part of their
+own fleet. This was a pleasant discovery to them,
+especially to Whitefield. "The captain, on clearing
+the cabin, said, 'After all, this is the best fighting.'
+You may be sure I concurred, praying that all our
+conflicts with spiritual enemies might at last terminate
+in a thorough cleansing and an eternal purification
+of the defiled <em>cabin</em> of our hearts."</p>
+
+<p>The tediousness of this voyage, in the feeble state
+of his health, seems to have tried Whitefield's patience;
+so that when he arrived in sight of the port
+of York, in the then territory of Maine, in order to
+land a few hours sooner he went on board a fishing
+smack then in the bay; but darkness coming on, she
+missed her course, and was tossed about all night.
+Unfortunately, too, she had no provisions, and he was
+so hungry that he says he "could have gnawed the
+very boards." Besides he was suffering from "nervous
+colic." He was greatly discouraged, until a
+man who was lying at his elbow in the cabin began
+to talk of "one Mr. Whitefield, for whose arrival the
+'New Lights' in New England" were watching and
+praying. "This," he says, "made me take courage.
+I continued undiscovered; and in a few hours, in answer,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span>
+I trust, to <em>new-light</em> prayers, we arrived safe."
+This was on October 19, 1744. He was quite ill
+when he landed; but was received by Dr. Sherburne,
+an eminent physician at York, who was once a Deist,
+but had been converted under Whitefield's ministry.
+This gentleman took him to his own house, and after
+a few days he began to recover.</p>
+
+<p>The Rev. Mr. Moody, of York, the aged and excellent,
+but eccentric minister of whom we have already
+spoken, took the earliest suitable opportunity of calling
+on the great evangelist, and said very characteristically,
+"Sir, you are, first, welcome to America;
+secondly, to New England; thirdly, to all faithful
+ministers in New England; fourthly, to all the good
+people of New England; fifthly, to all the good people
+of York; and sixthly and lastly, to me, dear sir,
+less than the least of all." Prince's "Christian History"
+had announced his arrival, and that his intention
+was "to pass on to Georgia; and as he goes on,
+to meddle with no controversies, but only to preach
+up the parts of vital piety and the pure truths of the
+gospel, to all who are willing to hear them."</p>
+
+<p>After giving Whitefield this hearty welcome,
+Moody urged him for a sermon. The preacher hesitated,
+on account of his illness, but "good old Mr.
+Moody" did not give him the benefit of his own favorite
+maxim, "When you know not what to do, you
+must <em>not</em> do you know not what." Whitefield preached,
+and immediately went to Portsmouth, where he
+preached the same evening, November 6, for Mr.
+Fitch, and was to have preached again the next morning,
+but was too ill, and deferred it till the afternoon.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span>
+In the mean time, as he wrote, "My pains returned;
+but what gave me most concern was, that notice had
+been given of my being engaged to preach. I felt a
+divine life, distinct from my animal life, which made
+me, as it were, laugh at my pains, though every one
+thought I was taken with death. My dear York
+physician was then about to administer a medicine.
+I on a sudden cried out, 'Doctor, my pains are suspended;
+by the help of God, I will go and preach,
+and then come home and die.' With some difficulty
+I reached the pulpit. All looked quite surprised, as
+though they saw one risen from the dead. I indeed
+was as pale as death, and told them they must look
+upon me as a dying man, come to bear my dying testimony
+to the truths I had formerly preached to them.
+All seemed melted, and were drowned in tears. The
+cry after me, when I left the pulpit, was like the cry
+of sincere mourners when attending the funeral of a
+dear departed friend. Upon my coming home, I was
+laid upon a bed on the ground, near the fire, and I
+heard them say, 'He is gone.' But God was pleased
+to order it otherwise. I gradually recovered."</p>
+
+<p>In another account he himself says, "In my own
+apprehension, and in all appearance to others, I was
+a dying man. I preached&mdash;the people heard me&mdash;as
+such. The invisible realities of another world lay
+open to my view. Expecting to launch into eternity,
+and to be with my Master before the morning, I spoke
+with peculiar energy. Such effects followed the word,
+I thought it was worth dying for a thousand times.
+Though wonderfully comforted within at my return
+home, I thought I was dying indeed.... Soon after,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span>
+a poor negro woman would see me. She came, sat
+down upon the ground, and looked earnestly in my
+face, and then said, 'Massa, you just go to heaven's
+gate, but Jesus Christ said, Get you down, get you
+down; you must not come here yet; but go first, and
+call some more poor negroes.' I prayed to the Lord,
+that if I was to live, this might be the event."</p>
+
+<p>It was nearly three weeks before he was sufficiently
+recovered to proceed to Boston. The day before he
+left Portsmouth Mr. Shurtleff wrote, "The prejudices
+of most that set themselves against him before his
+coming, seem to be in a great measure abated, and in
+some, to be wholly removed; and there is no open
+opposition made to him. I have frequent opportunities
+of being with him, and there always appears in
+him such a concern for the advancement of the Redeemer's
+kingdom and the good of souls, such a care
+to employ his whole time to these purposes, such
+sweetness of disposition, and so much of the temper
+of his great Lord and Master, that every time I see
+him, I find my heart further drawn out towards him."</p>
+
+<p>"Prince's Christian History," of December 15, says,
+"The Rev. Mr. Whitefield was so far revived as to be
+able to take coach with his consort, and set out from
+Portsmouth to Boston, Nov. 24; whither he came in
+a very feeble state, the Monday evening after; since
+which he has been able to preach in several of our
+largest houses of public worship, particularly the Rev.
+Dr. Colman's, Dr. Sewall's, Mr. Webb's, and Mr.
+Gee's, to crowded assemblies of people, and to great
+and growing acceptance. At Dr. Colman's desire,
+and with the consent of the church, on the Lord's day<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span>
+after his arrival, he administered to them the holy
+communion. And last Lord's day he preached for the
+venerable Mr. Cheever, of Chelsea, and administered
+the holy supper there. The next day he preached for
+the Rev. Mr. Emerson, of Malden. Yesterday he set
+out to preach for some towns to the northward; proposes
+to return hither the next Wednesday evening,
+and after a few days to comply with the earnest
+invitations of several ministers to go and preach to
+their congregations, in the southern parts of the province.</p>
+
+<p>"He comes with the same extraordinary spirit of
+meekness, sweetness, and universal benevolence as
+before. In opposition to the spirit of separation and
+bigotry, he is still for holding communion with all
+Protestant churches. In opposition to enthusiasm,
+he preaches a close adherence to the Scriptures, the
+necessity of trying all impressions by them, and of
+rejecting whatever is not agreeable to them, as delusions.
+In opposition to Antinomianism, he preaches
+up all kinds of relative and religious duties, though
+to be performed in the strength of Christ; and, in
+short, the doctrines of the church of England, and the
+first fathers of this country. As before, he first
+applies himself to the understandings of his hearers,
+and then to the affections; and the more he preaches,
+the more he convinces people of their mistakes about
+him, and increases their satisfaction."</p>
+
+<p>The administration of the Lord's supper by a priest
+of the church of England in the Congregational church
+in Brattle-street, Boston, gave great offence. Some
+said, the consent of the church was neither given nor<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span>
+asked, and Dr. Colman was blamed for introducing
+Whitefield by his own authority; to which Dr. Colman
+replied, that, as it was customary for pastors to
+invite the assistance of other ministers on such occasions,
+he thought it unnecessary to call for a vote of
+the church; that he plainly intimated his intention in
+his prayer after sermon, and then, on coming to the
+table, said, "The Rev. Mr. Whitefield being providentially
+with us, I have asked him to administer the
+ordinance;" and that by the countenances of the people
+it seemed to be universally agreeable to them,
+which he supposed to be all the consent which the
+case required.</p>
+
+<p>Since Mr. Whitefield's former visit to New England,
+a considerable change had taken place in not a
+few of the ministers and churches. In 1740, he had
+inveighed strongly against many of the ministers, some
+of them even by name, as, in his opinion, unconverted;
+and after his departure, some preachers, who professed
+themselves to be his followers, had created great
+confusion by carrying these charges much farther than
+he would have approved. His second visit was therefore
+anticipated by many with anxiety, lest it might
+cause a new outbreak of enthusiasm and disorder.
+The General Association of Connecticut, in June,
+1745, advised that he be not invited to preach in any
+of the churches. When he visited New Haven, he
+found himself shut out of the pulpit of the First church
+by its minister Mr. Noyes. A great crowd, however,
+assembled to hear him, from the neighboring towns,
+as well as from New Haven, and he preached from a
+platform erected in the street, before Mr. Pierpont's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span>
+house on the Green, to a congregation which neither
+of the meeting-houses could have contained.</p>
+
+<p>From Professor Kingsley's "Sketch of the History
+of Yale College," we learn that "President Clap
+issued a declaration, signed by himself and three
+tutors, that is, Samuel Whittlesey, afterwards minister
+of the First church in New Haven, Thomas Darling,
+for many years chief justice of the Court of Common
+Pleas for the county of New Haven, and John
+Whiting, in which some of the proceedings of Mr.
+Whitefield were condemned. In consequence of the
+religious fervor which had been excited, a much greater
+diversity of theological opinions prevailed in Connecticut
+than at any previous period. Violent controversies
+arose, churches were divided, and the government,
+by interfering to prevent these evils, increased
+rather than checked them. The college became an
+object of jealousy; and the declaration of the rector
+and tutors, respecting the preaching of Whitefield,
+offended some, without effectually conciliating others."</p>
+
+<p>The opposition to Mr. Whitefield of which we
+have spoken, was by no means all that he met with.
+Even before the Association in Connecticut had taken
+action, several similar bodies in Massachusetts had
+acted in a similar manner. The corporation of Harvard
+college published a testimony against him, while
+that of Yale represented that he intended to root out
+all the standing ministers in our land, and to introduce
+foreigners in their stead. The good man, notwithstanding
+all this opposition, and much more, went
+on laboring for the salvation of souls, and God still
+honored him with success.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>While the impartiality to which we hold ourselves
+bound demanded the statement just made, and while
+we are compelled to admit the existence of evils
+attendant on these revivals, we also record some of
+the facts connected with a convention of ministers,
+who assembled in Boston in pursuance of a previous
+notice in the Boston Gazette of May 30, 1743. We
+copy the original invitation.</p>
+
+<p>"It is desired and proposed by a number of ministers,
+both in town and country, that such of their
+brethren as are persuaded that there has been of late
+a happy revival of religion through an extraordinary
+divine influence, in many parts of this land, and are
+concerned for the honor and progress of this remarkable
+work of God, may have an interview at Boston,
+the day after the approaching commencement, to consider
+whether they are not called to give an open,
+conjunct testimony to an event so surprising and gracious;
+as well as against those errors in doctrine, and
+disorders in practice, which through the permitted
+agency of Satan have attended it, and in any measure
+blemished its glory and hindered its advancement;
+and also to consult as to the most likely method to be
+taken to guard people against such delusions and mistakes
+as in such a season they are in danger of falling
+into, and that this blessed work may continue and
+flourish among us." Those who could not be present
+were invited to send written attestations.</p>
+
+<p>In accordance with this proposal, the convention
+met in Boston on Thursday, July 7. The Rev. Dr.
+Sewall of Boston officiated as Moderator, and the Rev.
+Messrs. Prince of Boston, and Hobby of Reading, as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span>
+Scribes. Ninety persons thus assembled, and letters
+were read from twenty-eight who were absent. A
+committee was appointed, consisting of the Rev. Dr.
+Sewall, the Rev. Messrs. Wigglesworth, Prince, Adams,
+Cooper, Nathanael Rogers, Leonard, and Hobby,
+to prepare a report. On the next morning this committee
+presented a document, which, after full discussion,
+was signed by all present; and the meeting was
+dissolved.</p>
+
+<p>Our limits will not allow us to give the whole of
+the report to which we have referred, but a few sentences
+will show its general character:</p>
+
+<p>"We, whose names are undersigned, think it our
+indispensable duty&mdash;without judging or censuring such
+of our brethren as cannot at present see things in the
+same light with us&mdash;in this open and conjunct manner
+to declare, to the glory of sovereign grace, our full
+persuasion, either from what we have seen ourselves,
+or received upon credible testimony, that there has
+been a happy and remarkable revival of religion in
+many parts of this land, through an uncommon divine
+influence, after a long time of decay and deadness, and a
+sensible and very awful withdrawal of the Holy Spirit
+from his sanctuary among us.... The present work
+seems to be remarkable and extraordinary, on account
+of the numbers wrought upon. We never before saw
+so many brought under soul concern, and with great
+distress making the inquiry, 'What must we do to
+be saved?' And these persons were of all ages and
+character. With regard to the suddenness and quick
+progress of it, many persons and places were surprised
+with the gracious visit together, or near about the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span>
+same time, and the heavenly influence diffused itself
+far and wide, like the light of the morning. Also
+[the work seems to be remarkable] in respect to the
+degree of operations, both in a way of terror, and in
+a way of consolation, attended in many with unusual
+bodily effects. Not that all who are accounted the
+subjects of the present work have had these extraordinary
+degrees of previous distress and subsequent joy.
+But many, and we suppose the greater number, have
+been wrought on in a more gentle and silent way,
+and without any other appearances than are common
+and usual at other times, when persons have been
+awakened to a solemn concern about salvation, and
+have been thought to have passed out of a state of
+nature into a state of grace. As to those whose inward
+concern has occasioned extraordinary outward
+distresses, the most of them, when we came to converse
+with them, were able to give what appeared to
+us a rational account of what so affected their
+minds.... The instances were very few in which
+we had reason to think these affections were produced
+by visionary or sensible representations, or by any
+other images than such as the Scripture itself presents
+to us. Of those who were judged hopefully converted,
+and made a public profession of religion, there
+have been fewer instances of scandal and apostasy
+than might be expected.... There appears to be
+more experimental godliness and lively Christianity
+than most of us can remember we have ever seen before....
+And now we desire to bow the knee in
+thanksgiving to the God and Father of our Lord
+Jesus Christ, that our eyes have seen and our ears<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[265]</a></span>
+heard such things. And while these are our sentiments,
+we must necessarily be grieved at any accounts
+sent abroad representing this work as all enthusiasm,
+delusion, and disorder. Indeed, it is not to be denied,
+that in some places many irregularities and extravagances
+have been permitted to accompany it, which
+we would deeply bewail and lament before God, and
+look upon ourselves obliged, for the honor of the
+Holy Spirit, and of his operations on the souls of
+men, to bear a public and faithful testimony against;
+though at the same time it is to be acknowledged,
+with much thankfulness, that in other places where
+the work has greatly flourished, there have been few
+if any of those disorders and excesses. But who can
+wonder if, at such a time as this, Satan should intermingle
+himself to hinder and blemish a work so
+directly contrary to the interests of his own kingdom?...
+Finally, we exhort the children of God to
+continue instant in prayer, that He, with whom is the
+residue of the Spirit, would grant us fresh, more plentiful,
+and extensive effusions, that so this wilderness,
+in all the parts of it, may become a fruitful field;
+that the present appearances may be an earnest of the
+glorious things promised in the latter days, when she
+shall shine with the glory of the Lord arisen upon
+her, so as to dazzle the eyes of beholders, confound
+and put to shame all her enemies, rejoice the hearts of
+her solicitous and now saddened friends, and have
+a strong influence and resplendency throughout the
+earth. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus; come
+quickly."</p>
+
+<p>This paper was signed by eighteen ministers in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[266]</a></span>
+county of Suffolk, among whom were Colman, Sewall,
+Prince, Webb, Cooper, Foxcroft, Checkly, Gee, Eliot,
+and Moorhead of Boston; twelve in the county of
+Essex, nine in Middlesex, six in Worcester, ten in
+Plymouth, one in Barnstable, three in Bristol, three
+in York, five in New Hampshire, and one in Rhode
+Island. There were one hundred and fourteen in all
+who gave attestations, either by signing their names
+to the above document, or by sending written attestations.
+Ninety-six of the one hundred and fourteen
+took their first degree of Bachelor of Arts more than
+ten years previously; consequently before the revival
+commenced. Twenty-six took their first degrees
+above thirty years before. Attestations were received
+but from twelve ministers in Connecticut, as the proposal
+did not reach them in time.</p>
+
+<p>We may add to this statement, as showing in some
+degree the extent of this revival, that while in 1729
+the number of members in the Congregational and
+Presbyterian churches of this country may be estimated
+at thirty-three thousand, the number of communicants
+in 1745 could not be less than seventy-five
+thousand. "The <em>special</em> revivals of religion," says an
+able writer in the "American Quarterly Register,"
+vol. 4, 1832, "were probably the means of adding
+from twenty thousand to thirty thousand members to
+the churches." The same writer adds, "The genuine
+fruits of holiness appeared, according to the acknowledgment
+of all parties, in multitudes of those
+who professed religion. They were Christians, who
+endured unto the end. This is the unanimous testimony
+of those men who were the best able to judge.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[267]</a></span>
+Great numbers who were convinced of sin by Mr.
+Whitefield's preaching, gave ample evidence, living
+and dying, of sincere and fervent love to the commands
+of God. There is reason to believe that a
+<em>preparation</em> had been made for the descent of the Holy
+Spirit, many years before the revival commenced. The
+fasts and public reformations, the prayers and tears of
+good men, from 1700 to 1730, were not in vain."</p>
+
+<p>One fact connected with the testimony against
+Whitefield, published by the faculty of Harvard college,
+we quote, as showing that then, as well as now,
+a difference of opinion existed as to written and extempore
+sermons. They thought his extempore manner
+of preaching "by no means proper," because extempore
+preachers are of necessity less instructive,
+the greater part of the sermon being commonly "the
+same kind of harangue which they have often used
+before, so that this is a most lazy manner" of preaching;
+and because it exposes the preacher to utter rash
+expressions, and even dangerous errors, as Whitefield,
+they thought, had done in several instances, probably
+from that cause. Assuredly he preferred extempore
+preaching to any other; yet he never pretended to
+preach without previous study. His sermons usually
+cost him as much previous labor as if they had been
+written; so that, in his case at least, it was not "a
+lazy way" of preaching. The errors which they said
+he had uttered, were a few hasty expressions, which
+he had retracted as soon as he had been reminded of
+them.</p>
+
+<p>Itinerancy, which had also been objected against
+Whitefield as one of his crimes, he strenuously defended<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[268]</a></span>
+as scriptural and right; understanding an
+evangelist to be, what they said an itinerant was,
+"One that hath no particular charge of his own, but
+goes about from country to country, or from town to
+town in any country, and stands ready to preach to
+any congregation that shall call him to it." For the
+divine command, "Go ye into all the world, and
+preach the gospel to every creature," he argued, "authorizes
+the ministers of Christ, even to the end of
+the world, to preach the gospel in every town and
+country, though not 'of their own head,' yet whenever
+and wherever Providence should open a door, even
+though it should be in a place 'where officers are
+already settled, and the gospel is fully and faithfully
+preached.' This, I humbly apprehend, is every gospel
+minister's indisputable privilege." He further asked,
+"Was not the Reformation begun and carried on by
+itinerant preaching?" He then quoted from "Baxter's
+Reformed Pastor," a plan which had been adopted
+in some parts of England, for circular lectures by
+settled ministers selected for the purpose, and with
+the consent of the pastors.</p>
+
+<p>In reference to Harvard college, Whitefield lived
+long enough to take a Christian's revenge. In 1764,
+he solicited from his friends donations of books for
+their library, which had recently been destroyed by
+fire, and four years afterwards, while his old opponent
+President Holyoke was yet in office, the following
+minute was entered on their records: "At a
+meeting of the President and Fellows of Harvard college,
+August 22, 1768, the Rev. G. Whitefield having,
+in addition to his former kindness to Harvard college,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[269]</a></span>
+lately presented to the library a new edition of his
+Journals, and having procured large benefactions from
+several benevolent and respectable gentlemen; <em>voted</em>,
+that the thanks of the corporation be given to the
+Rev. Mr. Whitefield, for these instances of candor
+and generosity."</p>
+
+<p>It will be readily supposed, that notwithstanding
+all the opposition which Whitefield met, there were
+yet many thousands always ready to attend on his
+ministry. It was now the close of 1744, but the cold
+of winter did not prevent vast crowds assembling at
+early services long before daylight. Speaking of the
+opposition he met, "so that," says he, "for a while
+my situation was rendered uncomfortable," he adds,
+"But amidst all this smoke a blessed fire broke out.
+The awakened souls were as eager as ever to hear
+the word. Having heard that I expounded early in
+Scotland, they begged that I would do the same in
+Boston. I complied, and opened a lecture at six in
+the morning. I seldom preached to less than two
+thousand. It was delightful to see so many of both
+sexes neatly dressed flocking to hear the word, and
+returning home to family prayer and breakfast before
+the opposers were out of their beds."</p>
+
+<p>The late Rev. Dr. Archibald Alexander tells us,
+that when he was at Boston, in 1800, he found in the
+Old South church a lingering relic of Whitefield's
+times, in a convert of his day, a lady between eighty
+and ninety years of age, who belonged to a prayer-meeting
+founded then, which had been kept up weekly
+until within a few years. Of this, she was the only
+surviving member.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[270]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The "Evening Post," which seems to have been
+on the side of those who opposed Whitefield, in its
+issue of March 11, 1745, says, "Prince, Webb, Foxcroft,
+and Gee, are the directors of Mr. Whitefield's
+public conduct, as he himself has lately declared at
+Newbury." He had other powerful friends among
+the clergy, and still more among the laity, who invited
+him by vote into some pulpits where the pastors were
+"shy" of him.</p>
+
+<p>On the 7th of February, we find him at Ipswich,
+where he spent several days. Mr. Pickering, of the
+Second church, declined admitting him into his pulpit,
+and assigned his reasons in a letter, which was published.
+It contains the usual objections set forth in
+the various "testimonies," and is remarkable only for
+one convenient metaphor. The Bishop of London had
+published on "Lukewarmness and Enthusiasm." Whitefield
+had said in reply, "All ought to be thankful to
+that pilot who will teach them to steer a safe and
+middle course;" and Pickering wittily asks, "But
+what if the pilot should take the vane for the compass?"</p>
+
+<p>Early in March we find him making an excursion
+into the east, as we hear of him both at Berwick and
+Portland, in the then territory of Maine. In the latter
+place, he not only made a powerful impression on
+the people, but on their minister. In the outset a
+strong feeling existed against his preaching in the
+pulpit of the First church. Mr. Smith, the pastor,
+says in his "Journal," "The parish are like to be in a
+flame on account of Mr. Whitefield's coming; the leading
+men violently opposing." Under the date of May<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[271]</a></span>
+19, after Whitefield's departure, we find in the "Journal"
+a remarkable passage: "For several Sabbaths,
+and the lecture, I have been all in a blaze; never in
+such a flame, and what I would attend to is, that it
+was not only involuntary, but actually determined
+against. I went to meeting resolving to be calm and
+moderate, lest people should think it was wildness
+and affectation to ape Mr. Whitefield; but God, I
+see, makes use of me as he pleases, and I am only a
+machine in his hand."</p>
+
+<p>About the middle of March, we find our evangelist
+at Exeter, where he afterwards preached his last sermon.
+Here some of the more zealous members of the
+church had withdrawn, and formed a new church.
+Their conduct had been sanctioned by one council,
+and censured by another, two years before this time.
+Whitefield preached to them twice, though Mr. Odlin,
+the pastor of the church from which they had withdrawn,
+"solemnly warned and charged him against
+preaching in his parish." So says the "Evening Post,"
+of March 25, which further calls the people to whom
+he preached, "Separatists."</p>
+
+<p>In this spring of 1745, the first expedition for the
+capture from the French of the island of Cape Breton,
+near Nova Scotia, was set on foot. Colonel Pepperell,
+a warm personal friend of Whitefield, and the only
+native of New England who was created a Baronet of
+Great Britain, was then at Boston, constantly attending
+Whitefield's lectures. On the day before he accepted
+a commission to be general in that expedition,
+he asked his opinion of the matter, and was told, with
+the preacher's usual frankness, that he did not indeed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[272]</a></span>
+think that the scheme proposed for taking Louisburgh
+would be very promising; and that the eyes of all
+would be upon him. If he did not succeed, the widows
+and orphans of the slain soldiers would be like
+lions robbed of their whelps; but if it pleased God to
+give him success, envy would endeavor to eclipse his
+glory: he had need, therefore, if he went, to go with
+a single eye; and then there was no doubt, if Providence
+really called him, he would find his strength
+equal to the difficulties with which he would have to
+contend.</p>
+
+<p>About the same time, Mr. Sherburne, another of
+Whitefield's friends, being appointed one of the commissioners,
+told him he must favor the expedition,
+otherwise the pious people would be discouraged from
+enlisting; not only did he say this, but he insisted
+that the evangelist should give him a motto for his
+flag, for the encouragement of his soldiers. Whitefield
+refused to do this, as it would not be consistent
+with his character as a minister of the gospel of peace.
+But as Sherburne would take no denial, he gave him,
+<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Nil desperandum, Christo Duce</i>&mdash;[Nothing to be despaired
+of, Christ being leader.] In these circumstances
+a large number of men enlisted.</p>
+
+<p>The soldiers and their officers now went farther,
+and before their embarkation requested him to give
+them a sermon. He preached to them from the text,
+"And every one that was in distress, and every one
+that was in debt, and every one that was discontented,
+gathered themselves unto him; and he became
+a captain over them." 1 Samuel 22:2. From this
+somewhat singular text, he discoursed on the manner<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[273]</a></span>
+in which distressed sinners came to Jesus Christ, the
+Son of David; and in his application, exhorted the
+soldiers to behave like the soldiers of David, and the
+officers to act like David's worthies; saying, that if
+they did so, there would be good news from Cape
+Breton. After this he preached to the general himself,
+who invited him to become one of his chaplains.
+Whitefield declined this, saying, that though he should
+esteem this an honor, yet, as he generally preached
+three times a day, to large congregations, he could
+do more service by stirring up the people to pray,
+thus strengthening the hearts and hands of the army.
+In this practice he persevered during the whole siege
+of Louisburgh. "I believe," said he, "if ever people
+went with a disinterested view, the New Englanders
+did then. Though many of them were raw and undisciplined,
+yet numbers were substantial persons, who
+left their farms and willingly ventured all for their
+country's good. An amazing series of providences
+appeared, and though some discouraging accounts
+were sent during the latter end of the siege, yet in
+about six weeks news came of the surrender of Louisburgh.
+Numbers flocked from all quarters to hear a
+thanksgiving sermon upon the occasion. And I trust
+the blessing bestowed upon the country through the
+thanksgivings of many, redounded to the glory of
+God."</p>
+
+<p>Some time before this, the people of Boston had
+proposed to build for Whitefield "the largest place
+of worship ever seen in America," in which he should
+regularly preach; but, as usual, he feared this plan
+would abridge his liberty of itinerating: he thanked<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[274]</a></span>
+them for their offer, but decidedly declined to accept
+it. As his bodily strength increased, he began to
+move southward, and went through Rhode Island and
+Connecticut, preaching to thousands generally twice
+a day. He says, "Though there was much smoke, yet
+every day I had more and more convincing proof that
+a blessed gospel fire had been kindled in the hearts
+both of ministers and people."</p>
+
+<p>About this time occurred a fact which delightfully
+shows how the enemies of this admirable man were
+often converted into friends. A colored trumpeter
+belonging to the English army resolved to interrupt
+him while delivering a sermon in the open air.
+For this purpose he went to the field, carrying his
+trumpet with him, intending to blow it with all his
+might about the middle of the sermon. He took his
+station in front of the minister, and at no great distance
+from him. The crowd became very great, and
+those who were towards the extremity pressed forward,
+that they might hear more distinctly, and caused
+such a pressure where the poor trumpeter stood, that
+he found it impossible at the time when he intended
+to blow his trumpet, to raise the arm which held it,
+by which means he was kept within the sound of the
+gospel as effectually as if he had been chained to the
+spot. In a short time his attention was powerfully
+arrested, and he became so deeply affected by the
+statements of the preacher, that he was seized with
+all the agonies of despair, and was carried to a
+house in the neighborhood. After the service, he
+was visited by Mr. Whitefield, who gave him suitable
+counsels, and from that time the trumpeter became a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[275]</a></span>
+greatly altered man. So true is it in reference to the
+omnipotent and gracious Being,</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<span class="i0">"Hearts base as hell he can control,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And spread new powers throughout the whole."<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<p>While preaching at Boston, he was delighted to
+observe that the sheriff, who had heretofore been the
+leader of the persecution against him, now began to
+hear him preach; and his pleasure was vastly increased,
+when he saw the crowds come around him
+to inquire as to their highest interests.</p>
+
+<p>Among these crowds was a somewhat remarkable
+gentleman of that city. He was a man of ready wit
+and racy humor, who delighted in preaching over a
+bottle to his ungodly companions. He went to hear
+Whitefield, that he might be furnished with matter for
+a "tavern harangue." When he had heard enough of
+the sermon for his purpose, he endeavored to quit the
+church for the inn, but "found his endeavors to get
+out fruitless, he was so pent up." While thus fixed,
+and waiting for "fresh matter of ridicule," the truth
+took possession of his heart. That night he went to
+Mr. Prince full of terror, and sought an introduction
+to ask pardon of the preacher. Whitefield says of
+him, "By the paleness, pensiveness, and horror of his
+countenance, I guessed he was the man of whom I had
+been apprized. 'Sir, can you forgive me?' he cried
+in a low, but plaintive voice. I smiled, and said, 'Yes,
+sir, very readily.' 'Indeed,' he said, 'you cannot when
+I tell you all.' I then asked him to sit down; and
+judging that he had sufficiently felt the lash of the
+law, I preached the gospel to him." This, with other
+remarkable conversions, gave increasing energy and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[276]</a></span>
+influence to his preaching in Boston. "My bodily
+strength," he says, "is recovered, and my soul more
+than ever in love with a crucified Jesus."</p>
+
+<p>Another illustration may also be here given of the
+meekness and gentleness which usually characterized
+our evangelist in his intercourse with his brethren.
+In his later visits to New England, it was Whitefield's
+usual practice to spend a few days with Dr. Hopkins.
+On one of these occasions, after preaching for the doctor
+on the Sabbath, the next day he proposed a ride
+into the country for exercise. During the ride, Whitefield
+spoke with regret of the views of their "good
+brother Edwards on the subject of the witness of the
+Holy Spirit." "Ah," asked Dr. Hopkins, "and what
+is the error?" Here Whitefield made a long pause;
+and Hopkins continued the conversation: "Do you
+believe, Mr. Whitefield, that the witness of the Spirit
+is a direct communication from God?" "I cannot say
+that I do," was the reply. "Well, do you believe
+that Christians have any other witness of the Spirit
+than that afforded by the testimony of their own holy
+affections?" "I cannot say that I do," Mr. Whitefield
+again replied. "Do you believe it to be any
+thing more or less," continued Hopkins, "than the
+Spirit producing in the heart the gracious exercises
+of repentance, faith, etc.?" "No, that is precisely my
+view of it," said Whitefield. "And that is precisely
+the view of good father Edwards," pleasantly returned
+Dr. Hopkins. Whitefield frankly acknowledged
+his error, and rejoiced that there was no disagreement
+on the subject.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[277]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER X.</h2>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<h3>FROM HIS LEAVING NEW ENGLAND TILL HIS ARRIVAL
+IN ENGLAND&mdash;LABORS IN THE MIDDLE AND
+SOUTHERN STATES&mdash;THE BERMUDAS.<br />
+
+1745-1748.</h3></blockquote>
+
+
+<p>Leaving New England, Whitefield proceeded first
+to New York, where he preached as he had formerly
+done, and found that the seed sown in past days had
+produced much fruit. Proceeding still southward, on
+his way towards Philadelphia, arriving in New Jersey,
+he says, "I had the pleasure of preaching by an interpreter
+to some converted Indians, and of seeing nearly
+fifty young ones in one school, near Freehold, learning
+the Assembly's Catechism." A blessed awakening
+had before this time been begun and carried on among
+the Delaware Indians, by the ministry of David Brainerd;
+no such work had been heard of since the days
+of the apostolic Eliot in New England.</p>
+
+<p>Arriving in Philadelphia, Whitefield was rejoiced
+to find that his friend Gilbert Tennent was still blessed
+with success in his labors. Many, he says, were under
+"soul-sickness," and Tennent's health suffered
+much with walking from place to place to see them.
+The gentlemen connected with the new house in which
+Tennent preached, were, as well as Tennent himself,
+desirous of securing at least a portion of Whitefield's
+labors, and offered him eight hundred pounds a year,
+if he would become their pastor, and labor with them<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[278]</a></span>
+six months in the year, travelling the other six months
+wherever he thought proper. He thanked them, but
+declined.</p>
+
+<p>Not unfrequently have we been told by frigid critics
+of the inferior character of Whitefield's printed
+sermons. But have they not looked too much for the
+beauties of style, and overlooked the simple energy of
+their scriptural truths? Even these printed sermons
+have, under God, accomplished wonders. In the year
+1743, a young gentleman from Scotland, then residing
+at Hanover, in Virginia, had obtained a volume of
+Whitefield's sermons preached in Glasgow, and taken
+in shorthand, which, after a gentleman of Hanover,
+named Hunt, the father of a distinguished Presbyterian
+minister of that name, had studied with great
+personal benefit, he invited his neighbors to visit his
+house to hear read. By their plainness and fervor,
+attended with the power of God, not a few became
+convinced of their lost condition as sinners, and anxiously
+inquired the way of salvation. The feelings of
+many were powerfully excited, and they could not forbear
+bitter and violent weeping. The intelligence
+spread, curiosity prompted the desire of many others
+to attend such remarkable services; and one and
+another begged for admission, till the houses were
+crowded. Numbers were pricked to the heart; the
+word of God became quick and powerful; and, "What
+shall we do?" was the general cry. What to do or
+say the principal leaders knew not. They themselves
+had been led by a still small voice, they hardly knew
+how, to an acquaintance with the truth; but now the
+Lord was speaking as on mount Sinai, with a voice of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[279]</a></span>
+thunder; and sinners, like that mountain itself, trembled.
+It was not long before Christians had the happiness
+to see a goodly number healed by the same
+word that had wounded them, and brought to rejoice
+in Christ, and his great salvation. "My dwelling-place,"
+said Mr. Morris, one of their number, "was
+at length too small to contain the people, whereupon
+we determined to build a meeting-house merely
+for <em>reading</em>. And having never been used to social
+prayer, none of us durst attempt it." This <em>reading-house</em>,
+as it was called, was followed by others of
+like character, and the number of attendants and the
+power of divine influence were much increased. Mr.
+Morris, as the report spread, was invited to several
+places at a distance to read these sermons. The
+phrase, "Morris' reading-house," has come down by
+tradition to the present age, as well as important
+details of the opposition of the magistracy and other
+classes, who sought, but in vain, to stop the progress
+of the work.</p>
+
+<p>Such was the origin of the Presbyterian church at
+Hanover, where, in after-days, William Robinson and
+President Davies accomplished such mighty triumphs,
+and where the sacred cause still flourishes.</p>
+
+<p>Whitefield does not seem to have been made
+acquainted with these facts till he now arrived in the
+colony, and saw the happy effects which had been produced
+by the labors of the Rev. Messrs. Robinson,
+Tennent, Blair, and others. Of the visit of Whitefield
+among them, one of them writes, "Mr. Whitefield
+came and preached four or five days in these parts,
+which was the happy means of giving us further encouragement,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[280]</a></span>
+and engaging others to the Lord, especially
+among the church people, who received his doctrine
+more readily than they would from ministers of
+the Presbyterian denomination." We may add here,
+that in 1747 there were four houses of worship in and
+around Hanover, which had sprung from the "mustard-seed"
+of the sermons taken in shorthand from Whitefield's
+lips at Glasgow.</p>
+
+<p>Among the converts in the south who met Whitefield,
+was Isaac Oliver, who was both deaf and dumb,
+and had been so from his birth. Notwithstanding
+these great disadvantages, he could both feel and
+evince his strong feelings by the most significant and
+expressive signs. He could, for instance, so represent
+the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ, as to be understood
+by every one; and among his own friends he
+could converse about the love of Christ in the language
+of signs, till he was transported in rapture and
+dissolved in tears. He was much beloved for his
+eminent piety.</p>
+
+<p>Whitefield had not, during any portion of this
+time, forgotten Bethesda. The public had warmly
+sustained it, and he now went forward to see to its
+affairs, and to add to the orphan-house a Latin school,
+intending, indeed, before a long time to found a college.</p>
+
+<p>The following account of the orphan-house in
+1746, was written by Mr. Whitefield in the form of a
+letter to a friend, and published as a small pamphlet.
+We transcribe it from "White's Historical Collections
+of Georgia," published in 1854:</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[281]</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="center">
+"Provide things honest in the sight of all men."&mdash;Rom. 12:17.</p>
+<p class="sig">
+"<span class="smcap">Bethesda</span>, in Georgia, March 21, 1745-6.
+</p>
+
+<p>"Some have thought that the erecting such a
+building was only the produce of my own brain; but
+they are much mistaken; for it was first proposed to
+me by my dear friend the Rev. Mr. Charles Wesley,
+who, with his excellency General Oglethorpe, had concerted
+a scheme for carrying on such a design before
+I had any thoughts of going abroad myself. It was
+natural to think that, as the government intended this
+province for the refuge and support of many of our
+poor countrymen, numbers of such adventurers must
+necessarily be taken off, by being exposed to the hardships
+which unavoidably attend a new settlement. I
+thought it, therefore, a noble design in the general to
+erect a house for fatherless children; and believing
+that such a provision for orphans would be some
+inducement with many to come over, I fell in with the
+design, when mentioned to me by my friend, and was
+resolved, in the strength of God, to prosecute it with
+all my might. This was mentioned to the honorable
+trustees. They took it kindly at my hands, and
+wrote to the bishop of Bath and Wells for leave for
+me to preach a charity sermon on this occasion in the
+Abbey church. This was granted, and I accordingly
+began immediately to compose a suitable discourse.
+But knowing that my first stay in Georgia would
+necessarily be short, on account of my returning again
+to take priest's orders, I thought it most prudent first
+to go and see for myself, and defer prosecuting the
+scheme till I came home.... When I came to Georgia,
+I found many poor orphans, who, though taken<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[282]</a></span>
+notice of by the honorable trustees, yet, through the
+neglect of persons under them, were in miserable circumstances.
+For want of a house to bring them up
+in, the poor little ones were tabled out here and there;
+others were at hard services, and likely to have no
+education at all.</p>
+
+<p>"Upon seeing this, and finding that his Majesty
+and Parliament had the interest of the colony much at
+heart, I thought I could not better show my regard to
+God and my country than by getting a house and land
+for these children, where they might learn to labor,
+read, and write, and at the same time be brought up
+in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Accordingly,
+at my return to England, in the year 1738, to
+take priest's orders, I applied to the honorable society
+for a grant of five hundred acres of land, and laid
+myself under an obligation to build a house upon it,
+and to receive from time to time as many orphans as
+the land and stock would maintain. As I had always
+acted like a clergyman of the church of England, having
+preached in a good part of the London churches,
+and but a few months before collected near a thousand
+pounds sterling for the children belonging to the
+charity schools in London and Westminster, it was
+natural to think that I might now have the use at
+least of some of these churches to preach in for the
+orphans hereafter more immediately to be committed
+to my care. But by the time I had taken priest's
+orders, the spirit of the clergy began to be much imbittered.
+Churches were gradually denied me, and I
+must let this good design drop, and thousands, and I
+might add ten thousands, go without hearing the word<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[283]</a></span>
+of God, or preach in the fields. Indeed, two churches,
+one in London, namely, Spitalfields, and one in Bristol,
+namely, St. Philip's and Jacob, were lent me on
+this occasion, but those were all. I collected for the
+orphan-house in Moorfields two hundred and fifty
+pounds one Sabbath-day morning, twenty-two pounds
+of which were in copper. In the afternoon I collected
+again at Kennington Common, and continued to do
+so at most of the places where I preached. Besides
+this, two or three of the bishops, and several persons
+of distinction contributed, until at length, having gotten
+about a thousand and ten pounds, I gave over
+collecting, and went with what I had to Georgia. At
+that time multitudes offered to accompany me; but I
+chose to take over only a surgeon and a few more of
+both sexes, that I thought would be useful in carrying
+on my design. My dear fellow-traveller William
+Seward, Esq., also joined with them. Our first voyage
+was to Philadelphia, where I was willing to go
+for the sake of laying in provision. I laid out in
+London a good part of the thousand pounds for goods,
+and got as much by them in Philadelphia as nearly
+defrayed the families' expenses of coming over. Here
+God blessed my ministry daily....</p>
+
+<p>"January following, 1739, I met my family at
+Georgia, and being unwilling to lose any time, I hired
+a large house, and took in all the orphans I could find
+in the colony. A great many also of the town's children
+came to school gratis, and many poor people
+that could not maintain their children, upon application,
+had leave given them to send their little ones
+for a month or two, or more as they could spare them,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[284]</a></span>
+till at length my family consisted of between sixty
+and seventy. Most of the orphans were in poor case,
+and three or four almost eaten up with lice. I likewise
+erected an infirmary, in which many sick people
+were cured and taken care of gratis. I have now by
+me a list of upwards of a hundred and thirty patients,
+which were under the surgeon's hands, exclusive
+of my own private family. About March I began
+the great house, having only about one hundred and
+fifty pounds in cash. I called it <em>Bethesda</em>, because I
+hoped it would be a house of mercy to many souls.
+Many boys have been put out to trades, and many
+girls put out to service. I had the pleasure, the other
+day, to see three boys work at the house in which
+they were bred, one of them out of his time, a journeyman,
+and the others serving under their masters.
+One that I brought from New England is handsomely
+settled in Carolina; and another from Philadelphia
+is married, and lives very comfortably in
+Savannah. We have lately begun to use the plough,
+and next year I hope to have many acres of good
+oats and barley. We have nearly twenty sheep and
+lambs, fifty head of cattle, and seven horses. We
+hope to kill a thousand weight of pork this season.
+Our garden is very beautiful, furnishes us with all
+sorts of greens, etc., etc. We have plenty of milk,
+eggs, poultry, and make a good deal of butter weekly.
+A good quantity of wool and cotton have been given
+me, and we hope to have sufficient spun and wove for
+the next winter's clothing. The family now consists
+of twenty-six persons. Two of the orphan boys are
+blind, one is little better than an idiot. I have two<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[285]</a></span>
+women to take care of the household work, and two
+men and three boys employed about the plantation
+and cattle. A set of Dutch servants has been
+lately sent over. The magistrates were pleased to
+give me two; and I took in a poor widow, aged near
+seventy, whom nobody else cared to have. A valuable
+young man from New England is my schoolmaster,
+and in my absence performs duty in the family.
+On Sabbaths, the grown people attend on public worship
+at Savannah, or at White Bluff, a village near
+Bethesda, where a Dutch minister officiates. The
+house is a noble, commodious building, and every
+thing sweetly adapted for bringing up youth. Georgia
+is very healthy; not above one, and that a little
+child, has died out of our family since it removed to
+Bethesda."</p>
+
+<p>A tabular statement follows this account, giving
+full particulars of the eighty-six children who to that
+period had been admitted into the establishment.</p>
+
+<p>Old newspapers, as daguerreotyping the facts, and
+even the feelings of any particular period, are sometimes
+invaluable. In New York, as everywhere
+else, Whitefield had his enemies, and many charges
+were brought against him. But that there were those
+who took a strongly favorable view of his character
+and conduct, is very clear from an extract we give
+from "The New York Post-Boy," of April, 1746:
+"Mr. Whitefield's excellent parts, fine elocution, and
+masterly address; his admirable talent of opening the
+Scriptures, and enforcing the most weighty subjects
+upon the conscience; his polite and serious behavior,
+his unaffected and superior piety, his prudence, humility,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[286]</a></span>
+and catholic spirit, are things which must silence
+and disarm prejudice itself. By these qualifications
+of the orator, the divine, and the Christian, he has
+not only fixed himself deeper in the affections of his
+former friends, but greatly increased the number
+wherever he has preached; and made his way into
+the hearts of several who, till this visit, had said all
+the severe things against him that enmity itself seemed
+capable of."</p>
+
+<p>From this period, this paper especially noticed
+the various movements of this apostolic man; his arrivals
+in the city, his engagements in it, his departures
+from it, and the places of his destination, were
+all given with the minuti&#230; with which even the movements
+of monarchs are recorded.</p>
+
+<p>It was not without its use that the organs of the
+public thus expressed their high sense of his character.
+In 1745, suspicions were whispered abroad as
+to the entire integrity of this excellent man in the
+appropriation of the funds collected for Bethesda.
+But happily for all parties, the magistrates of Savannah
+published in the Philadelphia Gazette an affidavit,
+that they had carefully examined Mr. Whitefield's
+receipts and disbursements, and found that what he
+had collected in behalf of the orphans, had been honestly
+applied, and that besides, he had given considerably
+to them of his own property.</p>
+
+<p>Having done what he could at Bethesda, feeling
+his health failing him, needing resources for his orphans,
+and urged on by his love of preaching, Whitefield
+was soon again in the field, far away from his
+home. In the autumn of 1746, we find many passages<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[287]</a></span>
+in his journals and letters like these, while in Maryland:
+"I trust the time for favoring this and the neighboring
+southern provinces is come. Everywhere,
+almost, the door is opened for preaching, great numbers
+flock to hear, and the power of an ascended
+Saviour attends the word. For it is surprising how
+the Lord causes prejudices to subside, and makes my
+former most bitter enemies to be at peace with me....
+Lately I have been in seven counties in Maryland,
+and preached with abundant success." At Charleston,
+South Carolina, he writes, January 1747, "The
+Lord Jesus is pleased to give me great access to multitudes
+of souls." A few weeks later, he writes from
+the same place, that Bethesda was never in a better
+condition; that he had opened a Latin school there
+during the winter, and that he hoped yet to see ministers
+furnished from Georgia.</p>
+
+<p>In April, we again find him in Maryland, as he
+writes on the twenty-fifth of that month from Bohemia,
+in that province, and speaks of the success of Mr. Samuel,
+afterwards President Davies, in Virginia, but
+adds that a proclamation had been issued in that state
+against itinerants, so that he himself was shut out of
+it. In the middle of May he exults, "Maryland is
+yielding converts to the blessed Jesus. The gospel
+seems to be moving southward. The harvest is promising.
+The time of the singing birds is come;" and
+five days afterwards he says, "I have been now a three
+hundred miles' circuit in Maryland, and through one
+or two counties in Pennsylvania. Everywhere the
+people have a hearing ear, and I trust some have an
+obedient heart."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[288]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>On the first of June we find him in Philadelphia,
+from whence he writes, "At present I have full work
+here. The congregations yesterday were large, and
+for this month past I have been preaching to thousands
+in different places." During the whole of this month
+his health was in a very critical state. Here we have
+a few sentences from his pen, as given on different
+days: "I am sick and well, as I used to be in England;
+but the Redeemer fills me with comfort. I am
+determined, in his strength, to die fighting.... I
+have almost a continual burning fever. With great
+regret I have omitted preaching <em>one</em> night to oblige
+my friends, and purpose to do so once more, that they
+may not charge me with murdering myself. But I
+hope yet to die in the pulpit, or soon after I come out
+of it.... Since my last, I have been several times
+on the verge of eternity. At present I am so weak
+that I cannot preach. It is hard work to be silent,
+but I must be tried every way."</p>
+
+<p>Sickness did not interrupt Whitefield's labors, if
+he could move or preach at all. "I am determined,"
+he says to Gilbert Tennent, "to die fighting, though
+it be on my <em>stumps</em>." He was soon after at New York,
+Newport, Portsmouth, and Boston. At New York
+he writes, "I am as willing to hunt for souls as ever.
+I am not weary of my work." On the next day he
+writes, "I have preached to a very large auditory,
+and do not find myself much worse for it." He did
+so again with success. He then says, "I shall go to
+Boston like an arrow out of a bow, if Jesus strengthen
+me. I am resolved to preach and work for Him
+until I can preach and work no more. I have been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[289]</a></span>
+upon the water three or four days, and now eat like
+a sailor." He went on to Boston, where he heard of
+the sudden but joyful death of his venerable and excellent
+friend Dr. Colman. He adds, "My reception
+at Boston and elsewhere was like unto the first. Arrows
+of conviction fled and stuck fast. Congregations
+were larger than ever, and opposers' mouths
+were stopped."</p>
+
+<p>After again making short visits to Philadelphia
+and Bohemia, Whitefield, according to previous arrangements,
+went to spend the winter in North Carolina.
+Before he left Bohemia, however, he wrote to
+his friends at New York, who were intensely anxious
+about his health, but he could only say it was yet
+fluctuating. Even so was it when he arrived in North
+Carolina, yet he writes, "I am here, hunting in the
+woods, these <em>ungospelized</em> wilds, for sinners. It is
+pleasant work, though my body is weak and crazy.
+But after a short <em>fermentation</em> in the grave, it will be
+fashioned like unto Christ's glorious body. The
+thought of this rejoices my soul, and makes me long
+to <em>leap</em> my seventy years. I sometimes think all will
+go to heaven before me. Pray for me as a dying
+man; but Oh, pray that I may not go off as a <em>snuff</em>.
+I would fain die <em>blazing</em>&mdash;not with human glory, but
+with the love of Jesus."</p>
+
+<p>Such was his weakness, that his journey to Bathtown,
+in North Carolina, was long and slow. Even
+a short ride was fatiguing and painful. Still, he preached
+with considerable power; cheered on from stage
+to stage by the hope that the conversion of "North
+Carolina sinners would be glad news in heaven." His<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[290]</a></span>
+letters indicated lively hopes of an extensive revival,
+but his expectations were not fully realized. His
+health was still exceedingly feeble, and his physicians
+ordered him to try a change of climate. He accordingly
+embarked for the Bermudas, where he landed,
+March 15, 1748.</p>
+
+<p>The Bermudas are a group of four small islands
+lying about nine hundred miles east of Georgia. The
+largest of the islands is called St. George's, with a
+capital of the same name; the climate is remarkably
+fine, and well adapted for the temporary residence
+and recovery of invalids. Here Whitefield met with
+an exceedingly kind reception, and remained on the
+island with great benefit to his health, more than a
+month. We scarcely need to say that he was not idle
+during his residence here, but traversed the island
+from one end to the other, generally preaching twice
+a day. A few passages from his journal will best
+show the facts.</p>
+
+<p>"The simplicity and plainness of the people, together
+with the pleasant situation of the island, much delighted
+me. The Rev. Mr. Holiday, minister of Spanish
+Point, received me in a most affectionate, Christian
+manner; and begged I would make his house my
+home. In the evening, I expounded at the house of
+Mr. Savage, at Port Royal, which was very commodious;
+and which also he would have me make my
+home. I went with Mr. Savage in a boat to the town
+of St. George, in order to pay our respects to the
+governor. All along we had a most pleasant prospect
+of the other part of the island; a more pleasant one I
+never saw. Mrs. Smith, of St. George, for whom I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[291]</a></span>
+had a letter of recommendation from my dear old
+friend Mr. Smith, of Charlestown, received me into
+her house. About noon, with one of the council and
+Mr. Savage, I waited upon the governor. He received
+us courteously, and invited us to dine with him and
+the council. We accepted the invitation, and all behaved
+with great civility and respect. After the governor
+rose from the table, he desired, if I stayed in
+town on the Sunday, that I would dine with him at
+his own house.</p>
+
+<p>"Sunday, March 20. Read prayers and preached
+twice this day, to what were esteemed here large
+auditories&mdash;in the morning at Spanish Point church,
+and in the evening at Brackish Pond church, about
+two miles distant from each other. In the afternoon
+I spoke with greater freedom than in the morning,
+and I trust not altogether in vain. All were attentive,
+some wept. I dined with Colonel Butterfield,
+one of the council; and received several invitations
+to other gentlemen's houses. May God bless and
+reward them, and incline them to open their hearts to
+receive the Lord Jesus.</p>
+
+<p>"Wednesday, March 23. Dined with Captain
+Gibbs, and went from thence and expounded at the
+house of Captain F&mdash;&mdash;le, at Hunbay, about two miles
+distant. The company here also was large, attentive,
+and affected. Our Lord gave me utterance. I expounded
+the first part of the eighth chapter of Jeremiah.
+After lecture, Mr. Riddle, a counsellor, invited me to
+his house; as did Mr. Paul, an aged Presbyterian minister,
+to his pulpit; which I complied with upon condition
+that the rumor was true, that the governor had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[292]</a></span>
+served the ministers with an injunction that I should
+not preach in the churches.</p>
+
+<p>"Sunday, March 27. Glory be to God! I hope
+this has been a profitable Sabbath to many souls; it
+has been a pleasant one to mine. Both morning and
+afternoon I preached to a large auditory, for the Bermudas,
+in Mr. Paul's meeting-house, which I suppose
+contains about four hundred. Abundance of negroes,
+and many others, were in the porch, and about the
+house. The word seemed to be clothed with a convincing
+power, and to make its way into the hearts
+of the hearers. Between sermons, I was entertained
+very civilly in a neighboring house. Judge Bascom,
+and three more of the council, came thither, and each
+gave me an invitation to his house. How does the
+Lord make way for a poor stranger in a strange land.
+After the second sermon I dined with Mr. Paul; and
+in the evening expounded to a very large company at
+Councillor Riddle's. My body was somewhat weak;
+but the Lord carried me through, and caused me to go
+to rest rejoicing. May I thus go to my grave, when
+my ceaseless and uninterrupted rest shall begin.</p>
+
+<p>"Thursday, March 31. Dined on Tuesday at Colonel
+Corbusier's, and on Wednesday at Colonel Gilbert's,
+both of the council; and found, by what I
+could hear, that some good had been done, and many
+prejudices removed. Who shall hinder, if God will
+work? Went to an island this afternoon called
+Ireland, upon which live a few families; and to my
+surprise, found a great many gentlemen, and other
+people, with my friend Mr. Holiday, who came from
+different quarters to hear me. Before I began preaching,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[293]</a></span>
+I went round to see a most remarkable cave, which
+very much displayed the exquisite workmanship of
+Him, who in 'his strength setteth fast the mountains,
+and is girded about with power.' While I was in the
+cave, quite unexpectedly I turned and saw Councillor
+Riddle, who, with his son, came to hear me; and
+while we were in the boat, told me that he had been
+with the governor, who declared he had no personal
+prejudice against me, and wondered I did not come to
+town and preach there, for it was the desire of the
+people; and that any house in the town, the court-house
+not excepted, should be at my service. Thanks
+be to God for so much favor. If his cause requires
+it, I shall have more. He knows my heart; I value
+the favor of man no farther than as it makes room for
+the gospel, and gives me a larger scope to promote
+the glory of God. There being no capacious house
+upon the island, I preached for the first time here in
+the open air. All heard very attentively; and it was
+very pleasant, after sermon, to see so many boats full
+of people returning from the worship of God. I talked
+seriously to some in our own boat, and sung a psalm,
+in which they readily joined.</p>
+
+<p>"Sunday, April 3. Preached twice this day at
+Mr. Paul's meeting-house, as on the last Sabbath, but
+with greater freedom and power, especially in the
+morning; and I think to as great, if not greater auditories.
+Dined with Colonel Harvy, another of the
+council; visited a sick woman, where many came to
+hear; and expounded afterwards to a great company,
+at Captain John Dorrel's, Mrs. Dorrel's son, who with
+his wife courteously entertained me, and desired me<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[294]</a></span>
+to make his house my home. So true is that promise
+of our Lord, that 'whosoever leaves father or mother,
+houses or lands, shall have in this life a hundred-fold
+with persecution, and in the world to come, life everlasting.'
+Lord, I have experienced the one; in thy
+good time grant that I may experience the other also.</p>
+
+<p>"Wednesday, April 6. Preached yesterday at the
+house of Mr. Anthony Smith, of Baylis Bay, with a
+considerable degree of warmth; and rode afterwards
+to St. George, the only town on the island. The
+gentlemen of the town had sent me an invitation by
+Judge Bascom; and he, with several others, came to
+visit me at my lodgings; and informed me that the
+governor desired to see me. About ten I waited upon
+his excellency, who received me with great civility,
+and told me he had no objection against my person or
+my principles, having never yet heard me; and he
+knew nothing with respect to my conduct in moral
+life, that might prejudice him against me; but his
+intentions were to let none preach in the island, unless
+he had a written license to preach somewhere in
+America, or the West Indies; at the same time he
+acknowledged that it was but a matter of mere form.
+I informed his excellency that I had been regularly
+inducted into the parish of Savannah; that I was ordained
+priest by letters dismissory from my lord of
+London, and was under no church censure from his
+lordship; and would always read the church prayers,
+if the clergy would give me the use of their churches.
+I added farther, that a minister's pulpit was always
+looked upon as his freehold; and that I knew one
+clergyman who had denied his own diocesan the use<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[295]</a></span>
+of his pulpit. But I told his excellency I was satisfied
+with the liberty he allowed me, and would not
+act contrary to his injunction. I then begged leave
+to be dismissed, as I was obliged to preach at eleven
+o'clock. His excellency said he intended to do himself
+the pleasure to hear me. At eleven, the church bell
+rung. The church Bible, prayer-book, and cushion,
+were sent to the town-house. The governor, several
+of the council, the minister of the parish, and assembly-men,
+with a great number of the town's people,
+assembled in great order. I was very sick, through
+a cold I caught last night; but read the church prayers.
+The first lesson was the fifteenth chapter of the
+first book of Samuel. I preached on those words,
+'Righteousness exalteth a nation.' Being weak and
+faint, and afflicted much with the headache, I did not
+do that justice to my subject which I sometimes am
+enabled to do; but the Lord so helped me that, as I
+found afterwards, the governor and the other gentlemen
+expressed their approbation, and acknowledged
+they did not expect to be so well entertained. Not
+unto me, Lord, not unto me, but to thy free grace
+be all the glory!</p>
+
+<p>"After sermon, Dr. F&mdash;&mdash;bs, and Mr. P&mdash;&mdash;t, the
+collector, came to me, and desired me to favor them
+and the gentlemen of the town with my company at
+dinner. I accepted the invitation. The governor,
+and the president, and Judge Bascom were there.
+All wondered at my speaking so freely and fluently
+without notes. The governor asked whether I used
+minutes. I answered, 'No.' He said it was a great
+gift. At table, his excellency introduced something<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[296]</a></span>
+of religion by asking me the meaning of the word
+<span class="smcap">Hades</span>. Several other things were started about freewill,
+Adam's fall, predestination, etc., to all which God
+enabled me to answer so pertinently, and taught me
+to mix the <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">utile</i> and <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">dulce</i> [useful and pleasant] so together,
+that all at table seemed highly pleased, shook
+me by the hand, and invited me to their respective
+houses. The governor, in particular, asked me to
+dine with him on the morrow; and Dr. F&mdash;&mdash;, one
+of his particular intimates, invited me to drink tea in
+the afternoon. I thanked all, returned proper respects,
+and went to my lodgings with some degree of
+thankfulness for the assistance vouchsafed me, and
+abased before God at the consideration of my unspeakable
+unworthiness. In the afternoon, about five
+o'clock, I expounded the parable of the prodigal son
+to many people at a private house; and in the evening
+had liberty to speak freely and closely to those
+who supped with me. O that this may be the beginning
+of good gospel times to the inhabitants of this
+town."</p>
+
+<p>We might fill other pages from Whitefield's journal,
+but will only give two more passages. The first
+will show him in connection with the African race, in
+whose highest welfare he always took a special
+interest.</p>
+
+<p>"Saturday, May 7. In my conversation these two
+days with some of my friends, I was diverted much
+in hearing several things that passed among the poor
+negroes, since I preached to them last Sunday. One
+of the women, it seems, said that 'if the book I preached
+out of was the best book that was ever bought at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[297]</a></span>
+London, she was sure it had never all that in it which
+I spoke to the negroes,' The old man who spoke out
+loud last Sunday, and said 'yes' when I asked them
+whether all the negroes would not go to heaven, being
+questioned by somebody why he spoke out so, answered,
+that 'the gentleman put the question once or twice
+to them, and the other fools had not the manners to
+make any answer; till at last I seemed to point at
+him, and he was ashamed that nobody should answer
+me, and therefore he did.' Another, wondering why
+I said negroes had black hearts, was answered by his
+black brother, 'Ah, thou fool, dost not thou understand
+it? He means black with sin.' Two girls
+were overheard by their mistress talking about religion,
+and they said 'they knew, if they did not repent,
+they must be damned.' From all which I infer that
+these negroes on the Bermudas are more awake than
+I supposed; that their consciences are awake, and
+consequently prepared in a good measure for hearing
+the gospel preached to them."</p>
+
+<p>Whitefield sums up the events which had occurred
+in connection with himself on the Bermudas, the
+praise of which islands has also been celebrated by
+the distinguished Bishop Berkeley, who resided there
+for some time, and by Waller the poet.</p>
+
+<p>"Sunday, May 22. Blessed be God, the little
+leaven thrown into the three measures of meal begins
+to ferment and work almost every day for the week
+past. I have conversed with souls loaded with a
+sense of their sins, and as far as I can judge, really
+pricked to the heart. I preached only three times,
+but to almost three times larger auditories than usual.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[298]</a></span>
+Indeed, the fields are white, ready to harvest. God
+has been pleased to bless private visits. Go where I
+will, upon the least notice, houses are crowded, and
+the poor souls that follow are soon drenched in tears.
+This day I took, as it were, another farewell. As the
+ship did not sail, I preached at Somerset in the morning
+to a large congregation in the fields; and expounded
+in the evening at Mr. Harvy's house, around
+which stood many hundreds of people. But in the
+morning and evening how did the poor souls weep.
+Abundance of prayers and blessings were put up for
+my safe passage to England, and speedy return to the
+Bermudas again. May they enter into the ears of the
+Lord of sabaoth. With all humility and thankfulness
+of heart will I here, O Lord, set up my <em>Ebenezer</em>,
+for hitherto surely hast thou helped me. Thanks be
+to the Lord for sending me hither. I have been received
+in a manner I dared not to expect, and have
+met with little, very little opposition indeed. The
+inhabitants seem to be plain and open-hearted. They
+have loaded me with provisions for my sea-store; and
+in the several parishes, by a private voluntary contribution,
+have raised me upwards of <em>one hundred pounds
+sterling</em>. This will pay a little of Bethesda's debt,
+and enable me to make such a remittance to my dear
+yoke-fellow, as may keep her from being embarrassed,
+or too much beholden in my absence. Blessed be
+God for bringing me out of my embarrassments by
+degrees. May the Lord reward all my benefactors a
+thousand-fold. I hear that what was given, was given
+heartily, and people only lamented that they could
+do no more."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[299]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Whitefield now transmitted to Georgia what had
+been collected for the orphan-house; but fearing a
+relapse, if he returned to the south during the hot
+season, which was near commencing, and pressed also
+again to visit England, he took his passage in a brig,
+and in twenty-eight days arrived at Deal.</p>
+
+<p>On his voyage, he completed an abridgment,
+which he had previously begun, of "<cite>Law's serious Call
+to a devout and holy Life</cite>," which he endeavored to
+make more useful by excluding whatever is not truly
+evangelical, and illustrating the subject more fully,
+especially from the holy Scriptures. He also wrote
+letters to his friends, one of which strikingly illustrates
+his Christian humility. It bears date June 24,
+1748. "Yesterday I made an end of revising all my
+journals. Alas, alas, in how many things I have
+judged and acted wrong. I have been too rash and
+hasty in giving characters both of places and persons.
+Being fond of Scripture language, I have used a style
+too apostolical, and at the same time I have been too
+bitter in my zeal. Wildfire has been mixed with it,
+and I find that I frequently wrote and spoke in my
+own spirit, when I thought I was writing and speaking
+by the assistance of the Spirit of God. I have,
+likewise, too much made inward impressions my rule
+of acting, and too soon and too explicitly published
+what had been better kept in longer, or told after my
+death. By these things I have hurt the blessed cause
+I would defend, and also stirred up a needless opposition.
+This has humbled me much, and made me
+think of a saying of Mr. Henry, 'Joseph had more
+honesty than he had policy, or he never would have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[300]</a></span>
+told his dreams.' At the same time, I cannot but
+praise God, who fills me with so much of his holy fire,
+and carried me, a poor weak youth, through such a
+torrent, both of popularity and contempt, and set so
+many seals to my unworthy ministrations. I bless
+him for ripening my judgment a little more, for giving
+me to see and confess, and I hope in some degree to
+correct and amend some of my former mistakes."</p>
+
+<p>In the early part of this year, 1748, the "Gentleman's
+Magazine" had announced Whitefield's death
+as having taken place in America. One of his first
+letters on his arrival at Deal in that year, says,
+"Words cannot express how joyful my friends were
+to see me once more in the land of the living, for I
+find the newspapers had buried me ever since April
+last. But it seems I am not to die, but live. O that
+it may be to declare the works of the Lord."</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[301]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER XI.</h2>
+
+<h3>LABORS IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND&mdash;CHAPLAIN
+TO LADY HUNTINGDON.<br />
+
+1748, 1749.</h3>
+
+
+<p>On the evening of July 6, 1748, Whitefield again
+found himself in London, after an absence of nearly
+four years. Here he was welcomed with joy by many
+thousands. The large church of St. Bartholomew was
+at once thrown open to him, where multitudes flocked
+to hear, and where on the first Sabbath he had a
+thousand communicants. But in his own more immediate
+circle many things were in an unhappy condition.
+His congregation at the Tabernacle had been
+much scattered during his absence; Antinomianism
+had made sad havoc among the people; and one of
+this party threatened to rival him in Moorfields.
+Whitefield sent him word, "The fields are no doubt
+as free to you as to another. God send you a clear
+head and a <em>clean</em> heart. I intend preaching there on
+Sunday evening." He did so; and found "Moorfields
+as white to harvest as ever." Our evangelist
+was again called to mourn the evils of poverty. He
+found himself compelled to sell his household furniture,
+to pay, in part, the debts of his orphan-house,
+which were yet far from being cancelled; his aged
+mother, for whom he always retained the highest
+regard, also needed his aid. These and other trials
+pressed him sorely; but on the other hand, he felt
+happy in his work, and his congregation were soon
+reunited, and happy in his labors.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[302]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>We have seen that as early as 1738, Lady Huntingdon,
+with his lordship her husband, as frequently
+as they could, heard Whitefield preach; since that
+period his lordship had died, leaving her ladyship a
+widow, in the thirty-ninth year of her age. At what
+period she became more openly and intimately Whitefield's
+friend does not appear; but when he landed at
+Deal from his third visit to America, she sent Howel
+Harris to bring him to her house at Chelsea, where
+he preached to large circles of the gay world, who
+thronged this then fashionable watering-place. For
+the benefit of this class of hearers, she soon after
+removed to London, at that time some three miles
+distant from Chelsea, appointed Whitefield her chaplain,
+and during the winter of 1748 and '49, opened
+her splendid mansion in Park-street for the preaching
+of the gospel. "Good Lady Huntingdon," he writes,
+"has come to town, and I am to preach twice a week
+at her house to the great and noble. O that some of
+them might be effectually called to taste the riches of
+redeeming love." On the first day appointed, Chesterfield
+and Bolingbroke, both of them well-known
+for their gayety and infidelity, and a circle of the
+nobility, attended; and having heard him once, they
+desired to come again. "Lord Chesterfield thanked
+me," he says. "Lord Bolingbroke was moved, and
+asked me to come and see him the next morning. My
+hands have been full of work, and I have been among
+great company. All accepted my sermons. Thus the
+world turns round. '<em>In all time of my wealth, good
+Lord, deliver me.</em>'"</p>
+
+<p>The death-bed of Lord St. John Bolingbroke,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[303]</a></span>
+whom we have already mentioned as one of his parlor-hearers,
+exhibited scenes unusual in the circle where
+he moved. The Bible was read to him, and his cry
+was, "God be merciful to me a sinner." "My Lord
+Bolingbroke," wrote Lady Huntingdon to Whitefield,
+"was much struck with his brother's language in his
+last moments. O that his eyes might be opened by
+the illuminating influence of divine truth. He is a
+singularly awful character; and I am fearfully alarmed,
+lest the gospel which he so heartily despises, yet
+affects to reverence, should prove the savor of death
+unto death to him. Some, I trust, are savingly awakened,
+while many are inquiring; thus the great Lord
+of the harvest hath put honor on your ministry, and
+hath given my heart an encouraging token of the utility
+of our feeble efforts."</p>
+
+<p>It is related that the Rev. Mr. Church, a clergyman
+who died curate of Battersea, near London, one
+day called on Bolingbroke, who said to him, "You
+have caught me reading John Calvin; he was indeed
+a man of great parts, profound sense, and vast learning;
+he handles the doctrines of grace in a very masterly
+manner." "Doctrines of grace," replied the
+clergyman; "the doctrines of grace have set all mankind
+by the ears." "I am surprised to hear you say
+so," answered Lord Bolingbroke, "you who profess to
+believe and to preach Christianity. Those doctrines
+are certainly the doctrines of the Bible, and if I believe
+the Bible I must believe them. And let me seriously
+tell you, that the greatest miracle in the world
+is the subsistence of Christianity, and its continued
+preservation, as a religion, when the preaching of it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[304]</a></span>
+is committed to the care of such unchristian men as
+you."</p>
+
+<p>At this period Whitefield renewed his acquaintance
+with the Rev. James Hervey, who has not improperly
+been called the Melancthon of the second
+reformation in England. Among all the converts of
+our evangelist, no one was more distinguished for piety,
+or for his fascination as a writer, than this admirable
+clergyman. His writings, though too flowery in their
+style, were eminently suitable, as Whitefield himself
+says, "for the taste of the polite world." Hervey
+wrote to Whitefield, "Your journals and sermons, and
+especially that sweet sermon on 'What think ye of
+Christ?' were a means of bringing me to the knowledge
+of the truth." Whitefield felt the warmest
+attachment to Hervey in return, and when he introduced
+some of his works into America, wrote, "The
+author is my old friend; a most heavenly-minded
+creature; one of the first Methodists, who is contented
+with a small <em>cure</em>, and gives all he has to the poor.
+We correspond with, though we cannot see each
+other." Whitefield intimated in one of his journals
+his intention of sketching Hervey's character, but this
+was one of the many intended things which were
+never accomplished. Dr. Doddridge wrote a preface
+to one of his works, which Warburton, as might be
+expected, called "a weak rhapsody."</p>
+
+<p>Under the auspices of Lady Huntingdon, a prayer-meeting
+was established for the women who, from the
+circles of rank and fashion, became the followers of
+the Lord. Among these were Lady Frances Gardiner,
+Lady Mary Hamilton, daughter of the Marquis of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[305]</a></span>
+Lothian, who had attended the ministry of Whitefield
+in Scotland, Lady Gertrude Hotham and Countess
+Delitz, sisters of Lady Chesterfield, Lady Chesterfield
+herself, and Lady Fanny Shirley. "Religion," says
+Lady Huntingdon, when writing to Doddridge, "was
+never so much the subject of conversation as now.
+Some of the great ones hear with me the gospel patiently,
+and thus much seed is sown by Mr. Whitefield's
+preaching. O that it may fall on good ground,
+and bring forth abundantly."</p>
+
+<p>Some one, we believe a bishop, complained to
+George II. of the popularity and success of Whitefield,
+and entreated his majesty in some way or other
+to silence him. The monarch, thinking, no doubt, of
+the class described by the martyr Latimer, as "unpreaching
+prelates," replied with jocose severity, "I
+believe the best way will be to make a bishop of
+him."</p>
+
+<p>But if Whitefield was honored by some of the
+great, he received from others unmingled hostility.
+Horace Walpole, the gay man, and the corrupt courtier,
+thought it worth while to introduce the Methodist
+preacher into his "Private Correspondence." The
+statement he makes of professed facts is altogether
+incredible, but shows unmistakably the spirit of the
+writer. "The apostle Whitefield is come to some
+shame. He went to Lady Huntingdon lately, and
+asked for forty pounds for some distressed saint or
+other. She said she had not so much money in the
+house, but would give it him the first time she had.
+He was very pressing, but in vain. At last he said,
+'There's your watch and trinkets, you don't want<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[306]</a></span>
+such vanities; I will have that.' She would have put
+him off; but he persisting, she said, 'Well, if you must
+have it, you must.' About a fortnight afterwards,
+going to his house, and being carried into his wife's
+chamber, among the paraphernalia of the latter the
+countess found her own offering. This has made a
+terrible schism; she tells the story herself. I had
+not it from Saint Frances, [Lady Fanny Shirley,] but
+I hope it is true." Every thing goes to prove the
+sincerity of his hope, though founded on falsehood.</p>
+
+<p>It has generally happened that the most effective
+public speakers, whether secular or sacred, have been
+accused by a fastidious class with <em>vulgarisms</em>. So with
+Cicero, Burke, and Chatham; so with Patrick Henry
+and Daniel Webster; and to turn to eminent preachers,
+so with Luther, Latimer, and Whitefield. The
+reason was, that intent on the greatest good to the
+greatest number, they used what Dr. Johnson, after
+Daniel Burgess, called "market language." Dr. William
+Bates, an accomplished and courtly non-conformist
+minister, in the seventeenth century, once complained
+in the presence of his faithful but unpolished
+friend Daniel Burgess, that he found very little success
+in his work as a minister; when his aged brother
+smartly replied, "Thank your velvet mouth for that&mdash;too
+fine to speak market language." Whitefield, very
+happily for thousands, had no squeamishness of this
+sort.</p>
+
+<p>Some ladies called one Saturday morning to pay a
+visit to Lady Huntingdon, and during the interview,
+her ladyship inquired of them if they had ever heard
+Mr. Whitefield preach. On being answered in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[307]</a></span>
+negative, she said, "I wish you would hear him; he
+is to preach to-morrow evening." They promised her
+ladyship they would certainly attend. They fulfilled
+their promise; and when they called on her ladyship
+the next Monday morning, she anxiously inquired if
+they had heard Mr. Whitefield on the previous evening,
+and how they liked him. The reply was, "Oh,
+my lady, of all the preachers we ever heard, he is the
+most strange and unaccountable! Among other preposterous
+things, would your ladyship believe it, he
+declared that Jesus Christ was so willing to receive
+sinners, that he did not object to receive even the
+devil's <em>castaways</em>! Now, my lady, did you ever hear
+of such a thing since you were born?" Her ladyship,
+in reply, said, "There is something, I acknowledge, a
+little singular in the invitation, and I do not recollect
+to have met with it before; but as Mr. Whitefield is
+below in the parlor, we will have him up, and let him
+answer for himself."</p>
+
+<p>On Mr. Whitefield's entering the drawing-room,
+Lady Huntingdon said, "Sir, these ladies have been
+preferring a very heavy charge against you, and I
+thought it best that you should come up and defend
+yourself. They say, that in your sermon last evening,
+in speaking of the willingness of Jesus Christ to receive
+sinners, you said, that 'so ready was Christ to
+receive sinners who came to him, that he was willing
+to receive even the devil's castaways.'" Mr. Whitefield
+immediately replied, "I certainly, my lady, must
+plead guilty to the charge; whether I did what was
+right, or otherwise, your ladyship shall judge when
+you have heard a fact. Did your ladyship notice,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[308]</a></span>
+about half an hour ago, a very modest single rap at
+the door? It was given by a poor, miserable looking
+aged female, who requested to speak with me. I desired
+that she might be shown into the parlor, when
+she thus addressed me: 'I believe, sir, you preached
+last evening at such a chapel.' 'Yes, I did.' 'Ah,
+sir, I was accidentally passing the door of that chapel,
+and hearing the voice of some one preaching, I did
+what I have never been in the habit of doing&mdash;I went
+in; and one of the first things I heard you say, was,
+that Jesus Christ was so willing to receive sinners,
+that he did not object to receive the devil's castaways.
+Do you think, sir, that Jesus Christ would receive me?'
+I answered her that there was not a doubt of it, if she
+was but willing to go to him."</p>
+
+<p>It is pleasant to add, that the impression conveyed
+in the singular language of Mr. Whitefield ended in
+the conversion of the poor woman to God. She gave
+satisfactory evidence that her great and numerous sins
+had been forgiven through the atonement of the Lord
+Jesus Christ. Was Mr. Whitefield to be censured for
+the use of this language?</p>
+
+<p>In September, 1748, Mr. Whitefield made his third
+visit to Scotland, where he met with a cordial welcome,
+and where his labors became increasingly valued.
+Some of the clergy at Glasgow, Perth, and
+Edinburgh used their influence to exclude him from
+the pulpits, but the majority voted in his favor; and
+a full examination vindicated his character, and made
+his excellences more generally known. All the ministers
+who were disposed to invite him to preach, were
+at liberty to do so, except in the presbytery of Edinburgh;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[309]</a></span>
+here, however, he was accommodated by the
+magistrates with a church to preach in whenever he
+visited the city. In Scotland he now warmly advocated
+the cause of the college in New Jersey: of the
+results of his labors we shall hear more hereafter.</p>
+
+<p>On his return to London, Whitefield resumed his
+preaching at Lady Huntingdon's to "the great ones,"
+as he calls them. Thirty, and sometimes even sixty
+persons of rank attended, although the newspapers
+gave false and degrading accounts of the reception he
+met with in Scotland. He now availed himself of the
+influence he possessed, to forward his intended college,
+in addition to his orphan-house, for which his plea
+was, "If some such thing be not done, I cannot see
+how the southern parts will be provided with ministers;
+for all are afraid to go over." On this ground
+he appealed to the trustees of Georgia; reminding
+them that he had expended five thousand pounds upon
+the orphan-house; begging them to relieve it, as a
+charitable institution, from all quit-rent and taxes;
+and especially to allow him the labor of blacks in cultivating
+the farm. "White hands," he said, "had left
+his tract of land uncultivated."</p>
+
+<p>It will not be expected that Whitefield could stay
+long, even in the courtly circles of London, where he
+met with so much acceptance. We very soon find him
+among his old friends at Gloucester and Bristol. The
+bishop of the latter see, he says, behaved very respectfully
+to him; he visited also his old tutor, now become
+one of the prebendaries, and met with the old
+kindness received at Oxford. "I told him, that my
+judgment, as I trust, was a little more ripened than it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[310]</a></span>
+was some years ago; and that as fast as I found out
+my faults, I should be glad to acknowledge them.
+He said the offence of the governors of the church
+would wear off as I grew <em>moderate</em>." The evangelist
+did not tell the doctor how little he cared for such
+moderation as the governors of the church in that day
+required; but he wrote to Lady Huntingdon, on the
+subject of their favor, "I am pretty easy about that.
+If I can but act an honest part, and be kept from
+<em>trimming</em>, I leave all consequences to Him who orders
+all things well." During this journey, many new converts
+were won. One of these was a counsellor, who
+was so much affected, that his zeal in inviting others
+to hear Whitefield led his wife to suspect him of
+madness.</p>
+
+<p>An interesting fact connected with Gloucestershire,
+his native county, may be introduced in this
+place, though we are not sure that it occurred during
+this journey. John Skinner of Houndscroft was a
+strolling fiddler, going from fair to fair, supplying
+music to any party that would hire him. Having
+determined to interrupt Mr. Whitefield while preaching,
+he obtained a standing on a ladder raised to a
+window near the pulpit. Here he remained a quiet,
+if not an attentive hearer, till the text was read, when
+he intended to begin his annoying exercise on the violin.
+It pleased God, however, while he was putting
+his instrument in tune, to convey the word preached
+with irresistible power to his soul; his attention was
+diverted from his original purpose, he heard the whole
+sermon, and became a new man.</p>
+
+<p>Happily Whitefield was blessed in bringing to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[311]</a></span>
+Christ many who were made eminently useful. Among
+others we might mention the late Rev. Cornelius
+Winter, an eminent minister, who afterwards accompanied
+our evangelist in his last voyage to America,
+and who after his death conveyed his will to England,
+and sought ordination to return and labor in
+Georgia. Disappointed in this, he became an able
+and successful minister in England; and also trained
+several young men for the Christian ministry, including
+the late celebrated William Jay of Bath.
+Whitefield had often been heard by Winter with
+great pleasure, for he admired his eloquence; but for
+some time no good effects were apparent. One night,
+while playing at cards, an amusement in which he
+much delighted, and though surrounded by a number
+of gay companions, the thought presented itself to
+Winter's mind that he might that evening hear his
+favorite preacher. He broke off from play in the
+midst of the game, which made his companions very
+angry, as they suspected where he was going. He
+tells us that it was a night much to be remembered.
+He had reason to hope the scales of ignorance were
+then removed from his eyes, he had a sense of his
+misery as a sinner, and was led to earnest inquiry
+after the way of salvation. It is scarcely necessary
+to say, that he never again played at cards.</p>
+
+<p>From the exhilarating scenes of Gloucestershire
+and Bristol, we must accompany Whitefield into Cornwall,
+among the glens and dales of which, or on
+the seaside to a somewhat similar population and
+with almost equal success, he spoke "all the words of
+this life." The robust and determined miners of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[312]</a></span>
+west of England, whose very employment gives hardihood
+alike to their character and frame, at first received
+him in somewhat rough and unpolished style,
+but were soon after melted and transformed by the
+grace which had displayed its triumphs among their
+brethren at Kingswood. "I am just returned," he
+writes on one occasion, "from near the Land's End,
+where thousands and thousands heard the gospel gladly.
+Everywhere the word of God has run and been
+glorified. Every day I have been travelling and
+preaching; and could I stay a month, it might be
+spent to great advantage. At a place called Port
+Isaac, the Redeemer's stately steps were indeed seen.
+At Camelford I preached with great quietness in the
+streets. At St. Ann's we had a very powerful season;
+and yesterday at Redruth several thousands attended,
+and the word was quick and powerful." Again he
+writes, "Immediately after writing my last, I preached
+to many thousands at a place called Gwennap.
+The rain descended, but the grace of God seemed to
+fall like a gentle dew, sprinkling rain upon our souls.
+It was indeed a fine spring shower. In the evening
+I rode to St. Ives, and preached to many who gladly
+attended to hear the word; a great power seemed to
+accompany it. On the Lord's day I preached twice
+to great auditories. On Monday I preached again at
+Redruth, at ten in the morning, to nearly, as they
+were computed, ten thousand souls. Arrows of conviction
+seemed to fly fast." Again, in a communication
+to the Countess of Huntingdon, he says, "I have
+been very near the Land's End, and everywhere souls
+have fled to hear the word preached, 'like doves to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[313]</a></span>
+their windows.' The harvest is great, yea, very great,
+but laborers are few. O that the Lord of the harvest
+would thrust out more laborers." And yet again he
+says, "Invitations are sent to me from Falmouth and
+several other places, but I cannot attend to them all
+at present. I want more tongues, more bodies, more
+souls, for the Lord Jesus. Had I ten thousand, he
+should have them all." Such was the noble spirit he
+displayed, and such were the manner and fruits of his
+"entering in among" the, at that time, benighted children
+of Cornwall. A great light shone upon them.
+They came from the caverns of the earth to welcome
+its rising, and to look upon its brightness. Thousands
+of them were indeed "brought out of darkness into
+marvellous light," and turned by it from sin to holiness,
+and from Satan to God; and thousands are still
+rejoicing in its beams.</p>
+
+<p>On his return to London, Whitefield found his
+assemblies at the countess's "brilliant indeed," and
+Lord Bolingbroke still one among them. Of this talented
+nobleman our evangelist at this time indulged
+a happy hope, which, alas, seems never to have been
+realized.</p>
+
+<p>In February, 1749, Whitefield made an excursion
+to Exeter and Plymouth, where he was agreeably surprised
+to find a great alteration had taken place since
+his preceding visit, five years before. He loved to
+"range," as he called it, "after precious souls," and
+happily for him and for others he found them. During
+this and subsequent visits to Plymouth, he resided
+with the Rev. Andrew Kinsman, an excellent Congregational
+minister, of whom we have already spoken.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[314]</a></span>
+He was born in Devonshire in 1724, and was therefore
+ten years younger than Whitefield. While peculiarly
+amiable in his manners, and remarkable for his
+regard to his parents, he was unacquainted with the
+religion of the heart till his seventeenth year, when he
+met with a volume of Mr. Whitefield's sermons, and
+one of those on the new birth alarmed him. His
+pious friends were few, but his religious feelings were
+deeply moved, and God at length gave him "the oil
+of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the
+spirit of heaviness." Concerned for the highest interests
+of his relatives, he one night, as the family were
+retiring to rest, broke out, with intense emotion, "What,
+shall we go to bed without prayer? How do we know
+but some of us may awake in hell before morning?"
+This unexpected address struck the family with solemn
+awe; and while they looked at each other with conscious
+shame, for the neglect of so clear a duty, he
+fell upon his knees and prayed with so much readiness
+and fervor that it excited their astonishment.</p>
+
+<p>As might be expected, his concern for others did
+not stop here; he was anxious that his neighbors
+might also find "the unsearchable riches of Christ."
+He began, therefore, to read Whitefield's sermons to
+as many as would attend, supposing, with Melancthon,
+that what had proved so great a blessing to himself,
+would not fail of similar effects on others, as soon as
+they were heard. After a short time, he began himself
+to expound and preach, and was encouraged by
+many conversions under his ministry, including those
+of his father, mother, and three sisters. Not long
+after these events, Whitefield, in entering on one of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[315]</a></span>
+his voyages to America, had been compelled to stay
+at Plymouth, where Kinsman first saw and heard him.
+By a series of remarkable events, Mr. Kinsman was
+brought to settle as a minister at Plymouth, where
+the "Tabernacle" was erected on ground given by
+himself, and the congregation were served by him and
+other ministers with abundant success. In the whole
+neighborhood an extraordinary blessing attended his
+labors, and his usefulness and deliverances from danger
+were only second to those of Whitefield himself.
+Nor was he less respected, nor his ministry attended
+with less success, at Bristol and London&mdash;cities to
+which he was invited by Whitefield; who used to
+call Bristol "<em>Kinsman's America</em>," alluding to his own
+reception and success in the western world.</p>
+
+<p>On one occasion, when Whitefield was about to
+sail for America, he sent for Kinsman to London, and
+on his arrival dined with his distinguished friend at
+the Tabernacle house. After dinner there was a violent
+storm of thunder and lightning. As they stood at
+the window looking out on the raging elements, Mr.
+Kinsman, supposing a young clergyman who had dined
+with them, and who now stood by his side, to be a
+pious man, familiarly put his hand on his shoulder,
+and with great cheerfulness and energy repeated the
+lines of Dr. Watts:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"The God who rules on high,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And thunders when he please;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Who rides upon the stormy sky,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And manages the seas&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1"><em>This awful God is ours</em>,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Our Father, and our love!"<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[316]</a></span></p>
+<p>The words so appropriately introduced, and so
+emphatically spoken, made a deep impression on the
+mind of the young clergyman, and gave rise to a conversation
+which, by the blessing of God, led to his
+conversion.</p>
+
+<p>At the Tabernacle in London, the ministry of Mr.
+Kinsman was greatly distinguished for its excellence
+and success, and he thought himself highly honored in
+preaching the first sermon delivered from the pulpit
+of the present Tabernacle. His musical voice, his
+lively and pathetic address, and the richness of the
+evangelical truths he proclaimed, brought numbers of
+all classes of society to hear him. Among them was
+Shuter, the comedian, to whom we shall again refer
+as a hearer of Whitefield, and who years afterwards,
+in an interview with Kinsman, drew a striking contrast
+between their professions, and bitterly lamented
+that he had not cordially embraced religion, when his
+conscience was impressed under the preaching of the
+great evangelist.</p>
+
+<p>But we must not stay longer to speak of Kinsman;
+suffice it to say that he founded, in addition to Plymouth,
+a new church three miles from thence, at a place
+now called Devonport, and labored with energy and
+holy success till the sixty-ninth year of his age, when he
+died in triumph, February 28, 1793. Of such a man
+it was truly said, that for Whitefield "he retained the
+most filial affection to his dying day; and frequently
+travelled with, and consulted him as a father upon all
+his religious concerns."</p>
+
+<p>In March Whitefield returned to London, where
+the feeble state of his health made him feel weary<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[317]</a></span>
+even in his success. He says, "I have seen enough of
+popularity to be sick of it, and did not the interest of
+my blessed Master require my appearing in public,
+the world should hear but little of me henceforward."
+Yet his zeal abated not. "I dread the thoughts of
+flagging in the latter stages of my road," is an expression
+often used in his letters to his friends. He
+thought that preaching and travelling contributed to
+his health. In a letter to Hervey, he says, "Fear not
+your weak body, we are immortal till our work is
+done. Christ's laborers must live by miracle; if not,
+I must not live at all, for God only knows what I
+daily endure. My continual vomitings almost kill
+me, and yet the pulpit is my cure; so that my friends
+begin to pity me less, and to leave off that ungrateful
+caution, 'Spare thyself.' I speak this to encourage
+you."</p>
+
+<p>All this Whitefield meant. Hence in May we find
+him preaching at Portsmouth daily, for more than a
+week, to very large and attentive auditories; where
+was shown another remarkable instance of the power
+which attended his preaching, for many who a few
+days before were speaking all manner of evil against
+him, were very desirous of his longer stay to preach
+the gospel among them. From Bristol, June 24, he
+writes, "Yesterday God brought me here, after a circuit
+of about eight hundred miles, and enabled me to
+preach to, I suppose, upwards of a hundred thousand
+souls. I have been in eight Welsh counties, and I
+think we have not had one dry meeting. The work
+in Wales is much upon the advance, and likely to
+increase daily."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[318]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Whitefield returned to London to welcome his
+wife home from the Bermuda Islands. From her he
+learned that there his character had been aspersed by
+one of the clergy; but while he grieved over the fact,
+he said, "I am content to wait till the day of judgment
+for the clearing up of my character; and after I am
+dead, I desire no other epitaph than this, 'Here lies
+George Whitefield. What sort of a man he was, the
+great day will discover.'"</p>
+
+<p>In the midst of his sorrows, Whitefield was comforted
+by a visit from two German ministers, who had
+been laboring among the Jews with apparently happy
+results. He found also several of the peeresses, and
+others of "the great," cordially disposed to receive
+him; and shortly afterwards was visited by Mr. Grimshaw,
+a clergyman from Yorkshire, for whom in September
+he went to preach. Thousands in the village of
+Haworth attended his preaching, even ten thousand at
+a time, and a thousand communicants approached the
+table of the Lord. At Leeds also he preached, at the
+invitation of Mr. Wesley's people, to ten thousand
+persons, and Mr. Charles Wesley himself introduced
+him to the pulpit at Newcastle-upon-Tyne.</p>
+
+<p>In the north of England the visits of Mr. Whitefield
+were always looked for with intense interest. In
+one of his letters, he thus describes the state of things
+there in August, 1756: "It is now a fortnight since I
+came to Leeds, in and about which I preached eight
+days successively, three times almost every day, to
+thronged and affected auditories. On Sunday last at
+Bradford, in the morning, the audience consisted of
+above ten thousand; at noon, and in the evening, at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[319]</a></span>
+Birstal, of nearly double that number. Though hoarse,
+I was able to speak so that they all heard." These
+hallowed services were often spoken of by the late
+Rev. Dr. John Fawcett, for more than half a century
+an eminent Baptist minister of that neighborhood, to
+whose soul they proved a rich blessing. After having
+heard Whitefield at Bradford in the morning, he
+followed him to Birstal, where a platform was erected
+at the foot of a hill adjoining the town, whence Mr.
+Whitefield addressed an immense concourse of people,
+not fewer, it was believed, than twenty thousand, who
+were ranged before him on the declivity in the form
+of an amphitheatre. "I lay," says Fawcett, "under
+the scaffold, and it appeared as if all his words were
+addressed to me, and as if he had known my most
+secret thoughts from ten years of age. As long as
+life remains, I shall remember both the text and the
+sermon." Accustomed as he was to preach to large
+and promiscuous multitudes, when he looked on this
+vast assemblage, and was about to mount the temporary
+stage, he expressed to his surrounding friends a
+considerable feeling of timidity; but when he began
+to speak, an unusual solemnity pervaded the assembly,
+and thousands, in the course of the sermon, as was
+often the fact, gave vent to their emotions by tears
+and groans. Fools who came to mock, began to pray,
+and to cry out, "What must we do to be saved?"</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Shirley, in giving an account of this same service,
+tells us that "not only the field, but the woodlands
+about it, were covered with crowds collected
+from different parts. An unusual solemnity pervaded
+this vast multitude, and at the close of the service the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[320]</a></span>
+one hundredth psalm was sung, and concluded with
+Mr. Grimshaw's favorite doxology,</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+"'Praise God, from whom all blessings flow.'
+</p>
+
+<div class="noindent">The volume of sound produced by the united voices
+of thousands, while it re&#235;choed through the vale below,
+had such an effect as no language can describe."</div>
+
+<p>Mr. Grimshaw was a very remarkable clergyman
+connected with the church of England, though found
+fault with on account of his irregularity. He studied
+at Cambridge for the ministry before he was acquainted
+with the reality of true religion. His conversion
+was very striking; after which he became a remarkably
+faithful and pungent preacher. He settled at
+Haworth, in Yorkshire, where Mr. Whitefield visited
+him.</p>
+
+<p>In one of the services held by Mr. Whitefield in
+Yorkshire, a deep solemnity was created by providential
+circumstances. He had mounted the temporary
+scaffold to address the thousands before him. Casting
+a look over the multitude, he elevated his hands,
+and in an energetic manner implored the divine presence
+and blessing. With a solemnity peculiarly his
+own, he then announced his text, "It is appointed
+unto men once to die, but after this the judgment."
+Heb. 11:27. After a short pause, as he was about
+to proceed, a wild, terrifying shriek issued from the
+centre of the congregation. A momentary alarm and
+confusion ensued. Mr. Whitefield waited to ascertain
+the cause, and requested the people to remain still.
+Mr. Grimshaw hurried to the spot, and in a few minutes
+was seen pressing towards the place where Mr.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[321]</a></span>
+Whitefield stood. "Brother Whitefield," said he,
+manifesting in the strongest manner the intensity of
+his feelings, and the ardor of his concern for the salvation
+of sinners, "you stand among the dead and the
+dying. An immortal soul has been called into eternity;
+the destroying angel is passing over the congregation;
+cry aloud, and spare not." The awful
+occurrence was speedily announced to the congregation.
+After the lapse of a few moments, Mr. Whitefield
+again announced his text. Again a loud and
+piercing shriek proceeded from the spot near where
+Lady Huntingdon and Lady Margaret Ingham were
+standing. A thrill of horror seemed to escape from
+the multitude when it was understood that a <em>second</em>
+person had fallen a victim to the king of terrors.
+When the consternation had somewhat subsided, Mr.
+Whitefield gave indications of proceeding with the
+service. The excited feelings of many were wound up
+to their highest point. All was hushed; not a sound
+was to be heard; and a stillness like the awful silence
+of death spread over the assembly, as he proceeded in
+melting strains to warn the careless, Christless sinner
+to "flee from the wrath to come."</p>
+
+<p>As winter was now approaching, Whitefield felt it
+important to return to the metropolis. During the
+tour he had made, he won to Christ not a few of those
+who afterwards laid the foundations of churches now
+flourishing in the counties of Lancaster, York, and
+Northumberland. He met, however, with so much
+"rude treatment here and there, as sent him home
+praying, 'Lord, give me a pilgrim heart for my pilgrim
+life.'" He was now in "winter quarters," but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[322]</a></span>
+was neither idle nor useless. To use his own words,
+"The glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle, and the
+shout of a king was in the camp," and that from week
+to week. "Thousands, thousands crowded to hear."
+Every day also he heard of instances of conversion.
+One of these pleased him greatly. It was that of a
+boatswain, who, before hearing him, knew no more
+about divine truth "than the whistle he blew on
+board." He mentions also a boy eleven years of age,
+a woman of eighty, and a baker, who had been "a
+Jerusalem sinner," all of whom bowed before the
+cross, and placed their hopes of salvation on Him
+who died thereon.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[323]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER XII.</h2>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<h3>LABORS IN GREAT BRITAIN&mdash;FOURTH VISIT TO
+AMERICA&mdash;NEW TABERNACLE IN LONDON, AND
+TABERNACLE AT BRISTOL.<br />
+
+1750-1754.</h3></blockquote>
+
+
+<p>At the beginning of the year 1750, Whitefield was
+still in London. At this time his intended college at
+Bethesda occupied much of his attention. He wrote
+to his friends in every quarter for help. His usual
+appeal was, "We propose having an academy or college
+at the orphan-house. The house is large, and
+will hold a hundred. My <em>heart</em>, I trust, is larger, and
+will hold ten thousand." Though in London, his
+heart was in America. He says, "Ranging seems my
+province; and methinks I hear a voice behind me saying,
+'This is the way, walk in it.' My heart echoes
+back, 'Lord, let thy presence go with me, and then
+send me where thou pleasest.' In the midst of all,
+America, <em>dear</em> America, is not forgotten. I begin to
+count the days, and to say to the months, 'Fly fast
+away, that I may spread the gospel-net once more in
+dear America.'"</p>
+
+<p>Be it here mentioned, that amid the busy scenes
+of his life, and while surrounded with the flatteries of
+the great and noble, Whitefield did not forget the
+duties he owed to his mother. A person whom he had
+employed to obtain some comforts for her, had neglected
+the duty, so that the now aged matron might<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[324]</a></span>
+have felt a week's anxiety. He wrote to her, "I
+should never forgive myself, was I, by negligence or
+any wrong conduct, to give you a moment's needless
+pain. Alas, how little have I done for you. Christ's
+care for his mother excites me to wish I could do any
+thing for you. If you would have any thing more
+brought, pray write, honored mother. * * * Tomorrow
+it will be <em>thirty-five</em> years since you brought
+unworthy me into the world. O that my head were
+waters, and mine eyes fountains of tears, that I might
+bewail my barrenness and unfruitfulness in the church
+of God."</p>
+
+<p>While he was now fully engaged in preaching, and
+was surrounded with flatteries, he did not forget his
+duty to conflict with sin. He writes, "I find a love
+of power sometimes intoxicates even God's dear children.
+It is much easier for me to obey than govern.
+This makes me fly from that which, at our first setting
+out, we are apt to court. I cannot well buy humility
+at too dear a rate."</p>
+
+<p>Dr. Philip Doddridge, as every reader knows, was
+one of the most pious and accomplished preachers and
+writers of the Non-conformists of England in his day.
+Nor was his <em>missionary</em> zeal small in its degree.
+Though he died as early as 1751, he had said, "I am
+now intent on having something done among the dissenters,
+in a more public manner, for propagating the
+gospel abroad, which lies near my heart. I wish to
+live to see this design brought into execution, at least
+into some forwardness, and then I should die the more
+cheerfully." It was indeed the passion of his life to
+promote the interests of evangelical truth, and save<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[325]</a></span>
+the souls of men. And though, as his recent eulogist,
+the Rev. John Stoughton, has said, condemned by
+some, and suspected by others for so doing, he took a
+deep and sympathetic interest in the evangelical labors
+of Whitefield. It seems strange in our day to
+think of Whitefield being regarded as an enthusiast
+by orthodox dissenters. Yet there were those who
+did thus regard him. Bradbury poured on him streams
+of wit; Barker regarded his sermons as low and
+coarse; and another in writing calls him "honest,
+crazy, confident Mr. Whitefield." But Doddridge
+regarded him as far otherwise, and spoke of him as
+"a flaming servant of Christ." He prayed on one
+occasion at the Tabernacle, but Dr. Watts was much
+grieved by it; and when, on Whitefield's visiting
+Northampton, Doddridge gave him the use of his
+pulpit, the managers of the college of which he was
+president remonstrated with him for so doing.</p>
+
+<p>The visit of Whitefield to Doddridge was in February,
+1750, where he met with the Rev. Dr. Sir James
+Stonehouse, and the Rev. Messrs. Hartley and Hervey.
+The latter eminent clergyman thus writes: "I have
+lately seen that most excellent minister of the ever-blessed
+Jesus, Mr. Whitefield. I dined, supped, and
+spent the evening with him at Northampton, in company
+with Dr. Doddridge, and two pious, ingenious
+clergymen of the church of England, both of them
+known to the learned world by their valuable writings.
+And surely I never spent a more delightful
+evening, or saw one that seemed to make nearer
+approaches to the felicity of heaven. A gentleman of
+great worth and rank in the town invited us to his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[326]</a></span>
+house, and gave us an elegant treat; but how mean
+was his provision, how coarse his delicacies, compared
+with the fruit of my friend's lips: they dropped as
+honey from the honey-comb, and were a well of life.
+Surely people do not know that amiable and exemplary
+man, or else, I cannot but think, instead of
+depreciating, they would applaud and love him. For
+my part, I never beheld so fair a copy of our Lord,
+such a living image of the Saviour, such exalted delight
+in God, such enlarged benevolence to man, such
+a steady faith in the divine promises, and such a fervent
+zeal for the divine glory; and all this without
+the least moroseness of humor, or extravagance of
+behavior, sweetened with the most engaging cheerfulness
+of temper, and regulated by all the sobriety of
+reason and wisdom of Scripture; insomuch that I
+cannot forbear applying the wise man's encomium of
+an illustrious woman to this eminent minister of the
+everlasting gospel: 'Many sons have done virtuously,
+but thou excellest them all.'"</p>
+
+<p>In the month of March, 1750, a general alarm had
+been awakened by earthquakes in London, and fears
+were excited by pretended prophecies of still greater
+devastation. These signal judgments of Jehovah
+were preceded by great profligacy of manners, and its
+fruitful parent, licentiousness of principle. Dr. Horne,
+afterwards dean of Canterbury and bishop of Bristol,
+in a sermon preached at the time, says, "As to faith,
+is not the doctrine of the Trinity, and that of the divinity
+of our Lord and Saviour&mdash;without which our redemption
+is absolutely void, and we are yet in our
+sins, lying under the intolerable burden of the wrath<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[327]</a></span>
+of God&mdash;blasphemed and ridiculed openly in conversation
+and in print? And as to righteousness of life,
+are not the people of this land dead in trespasses and
+sins? Idleness, drunkenness, luxury, extravagance,
+and debauchery; for these things cometh the wrath
+of God, and disordered nature proclaims the impending
+distress and perplexity of nations. And Oh, may
+we of this nation never read a handwriting upon the
+wall of heaven, in illuminated capitals of the Almighty,
+<span class="smcap">Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin</span>&mdash;God hath numbered
+the kingdom, and finished it. Thou art weighed
+in the balances of heaven, and found wanting the
+merits of a rejected Redeemer, and therefore the kingdom
+is divided and given away."</p>
+
+<p>The shocks felt in London in February and March
+of this year, were far more violent than any remembered
+for a long series of years. The earth moved
+throughout the whole cities of London and Westminster.
+It was a strong and jarring motion, attended
+with a rumbling noise like that of thunder. Multitudes
+of persons of every class fled from these cities
+with the utmost haste, and others repaired to the
+fields and open places in the neighborhood. Towerhill,
+Moorfields, and Hyde Park were crowded with
+men, women, and children, who remained a whole
+night under the most fearful apprehensions. Places
+of worship were filled with persons in the utmost
+state of alarm. Especially was this the case with
+those attached to Methodist congregations, where
+multitudes came all night, knocking at the doors, and
+for God's sake begging admittance. As convulsions
+of nature are usually regarded by enthusiasts and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[328]</a></span>
+fanatics as the sure harbinger of its dissolution, a
+soldier "had a revelation," that a great part of London
+and Westminster would be destroyed by an earthquake
+on a certain night, between the hours of twelve
+and one o'clock. Believing his assertion, thousands
+fled from the city for fear of being suddenly overwhelmed,
+and repaired to the fields, where they continued
+all night, in momentary expectation of seeing
+the prophecy fulfilled; while thousands of others ran
+about the streets in the most wild and frantic state
+of consternation, apparently quite certain that the
+day of judgment was about to commence. The whole
+scene was truly awful.</p>
+
+<p>Under these circumstances, the ministers of Christ
+preached almost incessantly, and many were awakened
+to a sense of their awful condition before God, and to
+rest their hopes of eternal salvation on the Rock of
+ages. Mr. Whitefield, animated with that burning
+charity which shone so conspicuously in him, ventured
+out at midnight to Hyde Park, where he proclaimed
+to the affrighted and astonished multitudes that there
+is a Saviour, Christ the Lord. The darkness of the
+night, and the awful apprehensions of an approaching
+earthquake, added much to the solemnity of the scene.
+The sermon was truly sublime, and to the ungodly
+sinner, the self-righteous pharisee, and the artful hypocrite,
+strikingly terrific. With a pathos which showed
+the fervor of his soul, and with a grand majestic
+voice that commanded attention, he took occasion from
+the circumstances of the assembly, to call their attention
+to that most important event in which every one
+will be interested, the final consummation of all things,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[329]</a></span>
+the universal wreck of nature, the dissolution of earth,
+and the eternal sentence of every son and daughter of
+Adam. The whole scene was one of a most memorable
+character. Mr. Charles Wesley, Mr. Romaine,
+and others preached in a similar manner, and with
+like happy results.</p>
+
+<p>At this period, Whitefield and his female friends
+especially, were the subjects of royal attention at the
+court of George the Second. It is said that on one
+occasion Lady Chesterfield appeared in a dress "with
+a brown ground and silver flowers," of foreign manufacture.
+The king, smiling significantly, said to her
+aloud, "I know who chose that gown for you&mdash;Mr.
+Whitefield; I hear you have attended on him for a
+year and a half." Her ladyship acknowledged she
+had done so, and professed her approbation of his
+character and ministry; and afterwards deeply regretted
+that she had not said more when she had so
+good an opportunity. Whitefield had occasion to
+wait on the secretary of state, in company with Dr.
+Gifford, a Baptist pastor in London, to ask relief for
+some persecuted Christians in Ireland, and was assured
+that "no hurt was designed by the state to the Methodists."
+He also renewed his friendship with the
+Messrs. Wesley, and several times exchanged pulpits
+with them. He writes, "I have now preached thrice
+in Mr. Wesley's chapel, and God was with us of a
+truth."</p>
+
+<p>Again was our evangelist tired of London, and
+again had he grown sick for want of field-preaching.
+Accordingly he set out for Bristol and other parts of
+the west of England; and although rain and hail pelted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[330]</a></span>
+him in his field-pulpits, he preached "about twenty
+times in eight or nine days." As soon as he found
+himself in his own element, he saw every thing in his
+old lights. He says, "Every thing I meet with seems
+to carry this voice with it: 'Go thou and preach the
+gospel; be a pilgrim on earth; have no party, or
+certain dwelling-place.' My heart echoes back, 'Lord
+Jesus, help me to do or suffer thy will. When thou
+seest me in danger of <em>nestling</em>, in pity, in tender pity
+put a thorn in my nest, to prevent me from it.'"</p>
+
+<p>From Bristol, Whitefield went to Taunton, where
+he met with the Rev. Richard Pearsall, an eminent
+and excellent Presbyterian minister, of whom he
+speaks very highly; and from thence, on his way to
+Plymouth, he stayed at Wellington, to preach for the
+Rev. Risdon Darracott, who has ever since been distinguished
+as "the star in the west." Mr. Darracott was
+the son of a dissenting minister in Dorsetshire, where
+he was born in 1717, when Whitefield was three years
+old. He studied for the ministry under the Rev. Dr.
+Doddridge, at Northampton, and entered on his ministerial
+course in Cornwall in 1738, which situation
+he was most reluctantly compelled to leave two years
+afterwards from violent hemorrhage of the lungs.
+Under this alarming visitation he spent about six
+months with his friends in Devonshire, where his fervent-minded
+father had preached till his death at the
+age of forty. While here, he had a call to succeed a
+venerable minister at Wellington, who had recently
+deceased. He found the congregation small, and the
+number of communicants but twenty-eight. His ministry
+soon drew a large congregation, many of whom<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[331]</a></span>
+had never before made a profession of religion, and
+were first attracted into the town from the neighboring
+villages out of mere curiosity to hear him. The
+house of worship was soon insufficient to contain his
+hearers; and even when it was enlarged, many were
+frequently compelled to stand out of doors, unable to
+obtain an entrance. The Rev. Benjamin Fawcett, who
+preached his funeral sermon, said, "I never knew any
+congregation which appeared to have so many instances
+of abiding religious impressions;" and added,
+"I have good reason to believe that his ministry was
+owned to the effectual conversion of many hundreds
+of souls."</p>
+
+<p>The night before the death of this excellent man,
+which took place in his forty-second year, he exclaimed,
+"Oh, what a good God have I, in and through
+Jesus Christ. I would praise him, but my lips cannot.
+Eternity will be too short to speak his praises."
+The physician coming in, he said to him, "Oh, what a
+mercy is it to be interested in the atoning blood of
+Jesus. I come to the Lord as a vile sinner, trusting
+in the merits and precious blood of my dear Redeemer.
+O grace, grace, free grace!" His last words
+were, "I am going from weeping friends to congratulating
+angels, and rejoicing saints in glory. He is
+coming. Oh, speed thy chariot wheels; why are they
+so long in coming? I long to be gone!" He left in
+his church more than two hundred communicants.</p>
+
+<p>Whitefield and Darracott were congenial spirits,
+and Darracott, like his friend, had suffered much reproach
+in the cause of his Master; he was what
+Whitefield called him, "a flaming and successful<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[332]</a></span>
+preacher of the gospel." He had just at this time
+lost three lovely children. "Two of them," says
+Whitefield, "had died on the Saturday evening before
+the sacrament; but weeping did not prevent
+sowing. He preached the next day, and administered
+as usual. Our Lord strengthened him; and for his
+three natural, gave him above <em>thirty</em> spiritual children;
+and he is likely to have many more. He has
+ventured his little all for Christ; and last week a
+saint died who left him and his heirs two hundred
+pounds in land. Did ever any one trust in God, and
+was forsaken?" This interview with Darracott, and
+with good old Mr. Pearsall, who had been a preacher
+of righteousness before Whitefield was born, had an
+inspiring influence upon him. He says, "I <em>began</em> to
+take the field again at his dwelling for the spring!
+I begin to <em>begin</em> to spend and be spent for Him who
+shed his own dear heart's blood for me. He makes
+<em>ranging</em> exceedingly pleasant."</p>
+
+<p>Soon after this, Whitefield went again into Yorkshire.
+At Rotherham he says, "Satan rallied his
+forces. The crier was employed to give notice of a
+bear-baiting. You may guess who was the bear!
+However, I preached twice. The drum was heard,
+and several watermen attended with great staves.
+The constable was struck, and two of the mobbers
+apprehended, but rescued afterwards." Sheffield and
+Leeds he found to be a new and warmer climate.
+Lancashire, however, was still but cold to him. All
+was quiet at Manchester, and he "humbly hoped some
+had enlisted," but no great impression was then made.
+At Bolton, a drunkard stood up behind him to preach;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[333]</a></span>
+and the wife of the man who lent him the field, twice
+attempted to stab the workman who put up the stand
+for him. This roused him, and he bore down all opposition
+by a torrent of eloquence, which quite exhausted
+him. In the night, however, some rude fellows
+got into the barn and stables where his chaise
+and horses had been put, and cut them very shamefully.
+This conduct he called, "Satan showing his
+teeth."</p>
+
+<p>To narrate the particulars of this journey would
+be little more than a repetition of scenes of insult and
+of success with which the reader has already become
+familiar. At Ulverston he says, "Satan made some
+small resistance. A clergyman, who looked more like
+a <em>butcher</em> than a minister, came with two others, and
+charged a constable with me; but I never saw a poor
+creature sent off with such disgrace."</p>
+
+<p>One of the most remarkable conversions recorded
+in the history of the church occurred during this journey
+by the ministry of Mr. Whitefield. The full particulars
+are recorded in the Life of the Countess of
+Huntingdon, and can only be briefly mentioned here.</p>
+
+<p>In the early period of Whitefield's ministry, many
+of the taverns became places where his doctrines and
+zeal were talked of and ridiculed. A Mr. Thorpe,
+and several other young men in Yorkshire, undertook
+at one of these parties to mimic the preaching of Mr.
+Whitefield. The proposition met with applause; one
+after another stood on a table to perform his part,
+and it devolved on Mr. Thorpe to close this irreverent
+scene. Much elated, and confident of success, he
+exclaimed, as he ascended the table, "I shall beat you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[334]</a></span>
+all." Who would have supposed that the mercy of
+God was now about to be extended to this transgressor
+of his law? The Bible was handed to him; and
+by the guidance of unerring Providence, it opened at
+Luke 13:3: "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise
+perish." The moment he read the text his mind was
+impressed in a most extraordinary manner; he saw
+clearly the nature and importance of the subject; and
+as he afterwards said, if he ever preached with the
+assistance of the Holy Spirit, it was at that time. His
+address produced a feeling of depression in his auditors;
+and when he had finished, he instantly retired
+to weep over his sins. He soon after became associated
+with the people of God, and died a successful
+minister of Christ, at Masborough, in Yorkshire, in
+1776, about six years after the death of Mr. Whitefield.
+He was the father of the distinguished Rev.
+William Thorpe, of Bristol.</p>
+
+<p>Passing on to Edinburgh, Whitefield was, as usual,
+received with the most unfeigned tenderness and joy,
+preaching to great multitudes of attentive and serious
+people, whose earnest desire to hear him made him
+exert himself beyond his strength. He says, "By
+preaching always twice, once thrice, and once four
+times in a day, I am quite weakened; but I hope to
+recruit again. Christ's presence makes me smile at
+pain." He returned to London, having preached
+about one hundred times, it was believed to not less
+than one hundred thousand people.</p>
+
+<p>Among the occasional hearers of Whitefield when
+in Scotland, was the celebrated infidel historian, David
+Hume. An intimate friend having asked him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[335]</a></span>
+what he thought of Mr. Whitefield's preaching, he
+replied, "He is, sir, the most ingenious preacher I
+ever heard; it is worth while to go twenty miles to
+hear him." He then repeated the following passage,
+which occurred towards the close of the discourse he
+had been hearing. "After a solemn pause, Mr. Whitefield
+thus addressed his numerous audience: 'The attendant
+angel is just about to leave the threshold, and
+ascend to heaven. And shall he ascend, and not bear
+with him the news of one sinner, among all this multitude,
+reclaimed from the error of his ways?' To
+give the greater effect to this exclamation, he stamped
+with his foot, lifted up his eyes and hands to heaven,
+and with gushing tears cried aloud, 'Stop, Gabriel!
+stop, Gabriel! stop, ere you enter the sacred portals,
+and yet carry with you the news of one sinner converted
+to God.' He then, in the most simple but energetic
+language, described what he called a Saviour's
+dying love to sinful man, so that almost the whole assembly
+melted into tears. This address was accompanied
+with such animated, yet natural action, that it
+surpassed any thing I ever saw or heard in any other
+preacher."</p>
+
+<p>In the summer of 1751, Whitefield paid a second
+visit to Ireland, and was most hospitably received in
+Dublin by a respectable and opulent gentleman named
+Lunell, who had been brought to Christ by the first
+Methodist itinerant preacher in that city. During
+this excursion, Whitefield preached about eighty sermons,
+fourteen of them in Dublin, and seven in Limerick.
+His hearers in Dublin organized themselves into
+a public society, which does not seem to have met his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[336]</a></span>
+approbation. He says, "This morning I have been
+talking with dear Mr. Adams, and can not help thinking
+that you have run before the Lord, in forming
+yourselves into a public society as you have done. I
+am sincere when I profess that I do not choose to set
+myself at the head of any party. When I came to Ireland,
+my intention was to preach the gospel to all;
+and if it should ever please the Lord of all lords to
+send me thither again, I purpose to pursue the same
+plan. For I am a debtor to all of every denomination,
+and have no design, if I know any thing of this desperately
+wicked and deceitful heart, but to promote the
+common salvation of mankind. The love of Christ
+constrains me to this."</p>
+
+<p>During this visit, Whitefield a few times ventured
+out of the city to Oxmantown-green, then a large open
+place, situated near the royal barracks, where the Ormond
+and Liberty boys, two factions among the lowest
+class of the people, generally assembled on the
+Sabbath to fight with each other. The congregations
+at first were very numerous, and deeply affected, nor
+did any disturbance occur. Thus encouraged, the
+preacher ventured again, and gave notice of his intention
+to resume his labors. He went through the barracks,
+the door of which opened into the green, and
+pitched his tent near the barrack walls, not doubting
+of the protection, or at least of the interposition of
+the officers and soldiers, if there should be occasion
+for it. The multitude in attendance was indeed vast.
+After singing and prayer, Whitefield preached without
+molestation, except that now and then a few stones
+and clods of dirt were thrown at him. It being war-time,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[337]</a></span>
+he took occasion to exhort his hearers, as was
+his usual practice, not only to fear God, but to honor
+the king; and prayed for the success of the king of
+Prussia. When the service was over, he thought to
+return home by the way he came, but, to his great surprise,
+a passage through the barracks was denied;
+and he was compelled to pass from one end of the
+green to the other, through thousands of Roman-catholics.
+He was unattended; for a soldier and four
+preachers who came with him had fled from the scene
+of danger, and he was seriously attacked by the mob.
+They threw vollies of stones upon him from all quarters,
+and he reeled backwards and forwards till he
+was almost breathless and covered with blood. At
+length, with great difficulty he staggered to the door
+of a minister's house near the green, which was kindly
+opened to him. For a while he continued speechless,
+and panting for breath; but his weeping friends
+having given him a cordial, and washed his wounds,
+a coach was procured, in which, amidst the oaths, imprecations,
+and threatenings of the rabble, he got safe
+home, and united in a hymn of thanksgiving with his
+friends. In a letter written to a friend soon after this
+event, he says, "I received many blows and wounds;
+one was particularly large, and near my temple: I
+thought of Stephen, and was in hopes, like him, to go
+off in this bloody triumph to the immediate presence
+of my Master."</p>
+
+<p>Unpromising, however, as things were in Ireland,
+the labors of Whitefield, followed as they were by
+those of the Wesleys, became the foundation of a number
+of Christian societies that proved vast blessings<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[338]</a></span>
+to Ireland; and some of them grew into large churches,
+which continue to flourish till this day.</p>
+
+<p>The society to which reference has been made,
+which assembled in Skinner's alley, secured ministerial
+aid from the late Rev. John Edwards, who was one of
+Whitefield's converts, and among the earliest preachers
+at the Tabernacle in London; and who also itinerated
+over nearly the whole of England, Scotland, and Ireland.
+The period was one of great persecution, and
+this good man had several remarkable preservations
+from death. At one time, while he resided in Dublin,
+he was returning from preaching at a village, when he
+was seized by a party of rude fellows, who declared
+they would throw him over the bridge into the Liffey.
+This was observed by an opposite political party, residing
+on the other side of the river, who encountered his
+assailants, and rescued him out of their hands, saying
+he lived on their side the river, and none should hurt
+him. At another time, having preached out of doors,
+a furious mob of the <em>White-boys</em>, a political party so
+called, beset the house in which he was, and threatened
+to burn it to the ground, unless he was driven
+out of it. His anxious friends could see but one way
+for his escape, which was through a window that opened
+into a garden belonging to a justice of the peace,
+who was himself a violent persecutor of the Methodists.
+Through this window Mr. Edwards was, like
+the apostle Paul, let down in a basket. Here he stood
+some time in great consternation, fearing the family
+might observe him, and charge him with breaking into
+the garden for improper purposes, and so both religion
+and himself would be injured. At length he ventured<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[339]</a></span>
+to knock at the door, and asked for the magistrate, to
+whom he ingenuously stated the facts, and who most
+generously protected and extended to him the hospitalities
+of his house for two days.</p>
+
+<p>One fact more must be told of this excellent man.
+He resolved to visit a town to which had removed a
+number of soldiers who had received benefit from his
+ministry. He was met, however, by some of these
+pious men, who told him that the inhabitants were
+determined to take his life. Edwards was not to be
+dissuaded from his purpose; and on his arrival he
+immediately preached in the street, and several distinguished
+persons, including the mayor of the town,
+came to hear him, and by their influence prevented disturbance.
+After the service, the mayor invited him
+to breakfast with several of the principal inhabitants,
+and told him they were very glad he was come&mdash;that
+the people were extremely dissolute in their manners,
+and the clergy, both Protestants and Catholics, exceedingly
+remiss in their duty, and they hoped the
+Methodists would succeed in reforming the town.
+These gentlemen subscribed to the support of stated
+preaching, and extensive and lasting good was done.</p>
+
+<p>Amid Whitefield's innumerable engagements and
+declining health, Bethesda and his beloved America
+could not be forgotten. While he was at Glasgow
+during this summer of 1751, he was greatly delighted
+to hear that Mr. Dinwiddie, brother-in-law to the Rev.
+Mr. M'Culloch, of Cambuslang, was appointed governor
+of Virginia. The gospel had been much opposed
+there, and he thought the appointment now made
+would greatly tend to check persecution.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[340]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Whitefield, as it appears to us, now very suddenly
+determined on another voyage to America. He arrived
+in London from Edinburgh in the early part of
+August, with improved health, the country air having
+healed his hemorrhage. He took a hasty leave of his
+friends, and set sail for Georgia, in the Antelope,
+Captain M'Lellan, taking several orphans with him.
+He arrived at Savannah Oct. 27, and had the happiness
+of finding the orphan-house in a prosperous condition.
+Here, however, he did not stay long; as in
+November we hear of him in his usual labors, and
+with his usual ardor engaged in his constant work of
+preaching. Having formerly suffered much from the
+climate of America in the summer, he determined
+again to embark for London, which he did in April.
+We can scarcely trace his object in this journey to
+and from America, except in some designs of the government
+to place Georgia on a new footing.</p>
+
+<p>In June, 1752, Mr. Whitefield was found in the
+society of the Countess of Huntingdon at Bath, where
+he continued about three weeks, preaching every evening
+to great numbers of the nobility. Here he became
+acquainted with Mrs. Grinfield, a lady who attended
+on the person of Queen Caroline. "One of C&#230;sar's
+household," he writes, "hath been lately awakened,
+through her ladyship's instrumentality, and I hope
+others will meet with the like blessing." He afterwards
+visited her at the palace of St. James, and says,
+"The court, I believe, rings of her, and if she stands,
+I trust she will make a glorious martyr for her blessed
+Lord."</p>
+
+<p>The Moravians, or United Brethren, were at one<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[341]</a></span>
+period on terms of very cordial friendship with the
+Messrs. Wesley and Whitefield. At the time of which
+we are writing, a series of strange absurdities, resembling
+the adoration of saints and other superstitions
+of popery, developed themselves among members of
+that body, at the head of which then stood Count
+Zinzendorf, to whom Whitefield wrote an urgent
+remonstrance on the subject. An open separation
+took place, and Mrs. Grinfield, the Rev. John Cennick,
+and some others, adhered to the count, while
+Whitefield and Lady Huntingdon endeavored to bring
+him back to what they believed the simplicity of the
+gospel. Lady Huntingdon, speaking of her final
+interview with him, says, "Our conference was long,
+and as the count honored me with his company for a
+few days, was resumed at intervals, always closing
+with a solemn scriptural prayer to our great and glorious
+Head, for the illuminating influences of his Spirit
+to guide us into all truth. We parted with the utmost
+cordiality."</p>
+
+<p>"Dear Mr. Whitefield's letter," says Lady Huntingdon,
+"has much grieved the count. But his remonstrance
+is faithful, and the awful exposures he has
+reluctantly been forced to make, may be productive of
+the highest good in opening the eyes of many to the
+miserable delusions under which they lie."</p>
+
+<p>A correspondence, indeed we may say friendship,
+had for years existed between Whitefield and the
+eminent philosopher Dr. Benjamin Franklin. The
+following, from a letter of Whitefield, August 17,
+1752, shows his fidelity to the eminent citizen and
+statesman: "I find you grow more and more famous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[342]</a></span>
+in the learned world. As you have made a pretty
+considerable progress in the mysteries of electricity,
+I would now humbly recommend to your diligent,
+unprejudiced pursuit and study, the mystery of the
+new birth. It is a most important, interesting study,
+and when mastered, will richly answer and repay you
+for all your pains. One, at whose bar we are shortly
+to appear, hath solemnly declared that, without it, we
+cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. You will
+excuse this freedom. I must have <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">aliquid Christi</i>&mdash;something
+of Christ, in all my letters." This honest
+letter ought to have delighted the philosopher in his
+closet, even more than the eulogium he heard while
+standing behind the bar of the House of Lords, when
+Earl Chatham said of him, "Franklin is one whom
+Europe holds in high estimation for his knowledge
+and wisdom; one who is an honor, not to the English
+nation only, but to human nature."</p>
+
+<p>In the course of the summer of 1752, and the following
+one, Whitefield visited Scotland twice, and
+preached much also throughout England and Wales.
+As usual, he greatly rejoiced in the presence and service
+of God, and never appears to have been more
+happy than in this period of his life. "Since I left
+Newcastle," he writes, "I have scarcely known sometimes
+whether I have been in heaven or on earth.
+Thousands and thousands flock twice or thrice a day
+to hear the word of life. God favors us with weather,
+and I would fain make hay while the sun shines. Oh
+that I had as many tongues as there are hairs in my
+head. The ever-loving, ever-lovely Jesus should have
+them all. Fain would I die preaching."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[343]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>About this period also, Mr. Hervey and he were
+employed in revising each other's manuscripts; the
+former was then preparing his "Theron and Aspasio,"
+a work which, though florid in its style, has been
+eminently useful in conducting many of its readers to
+a saving knowledge of the doctrines of the gospel.
+Of his friend's writings Mr. Whitefield says, "For me
+to play the critic on them, would be like holding up
+a candle to the sun. However, I will just mark a few
+places, as you desire. I foretell their fate; nothing
+but your scenery can screen you. Self will never bear
+to die, though slain in so genteel a manner, without
+showing some resentment against its artful murderer....
+I thank you a thousand times for the trouble
+you have been at in revising my poor compositions,
+which I am afraid you have not treated with a becoming
+severity. How many pardons shall I ask for
+mangling, and, I fear, murdering your 'Theron and
+Aspasio?' If you think my two sermons will do for
+the public, pray return them immediately. I have
+nothing to comfort me but this, that the Lord chooses
+the weak things of this world to confound the strong,
+and things that are not, to bring to naught things that
+are. I write for the poor; you for the polite and
+noble. God will assuredly own and bless what you
+write."</p>
+
+<p>Whitefield was now also very busy in erecting his
+second London Tabernacle, which he dedicated, June
+10, 1753. We have, for the sake of completing the
+narrative of its first building, already given in our
+third chapter a statement of the second tabernacle, to
+which the reader is referred.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[344]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Both the judgment and inclination of Mr. Whitefield
+concurred to induce him to persevere in his itinerant
+course, correctly judging that in this way he best
+employed his peculiar talents. After preaching, therefore,
+with his usual fervor and success for a short time
+in his newly erected Tabernacle, he again set out towards
+Scotland, where he spent some days at Edinburgh
+and Glasgow, and preached generally twice,
+sometimes three times a day, and once five times. He
+says, "Attention sat upon all faces, and friends came
+round like bees, importuning me to stay another week."
+This he found too much for his strength, but still went
+forward, often expressing his desire to serve his divine
+Master to the utmost limit of his power, and his hopes
+to be with him soon in heaven. During this journey,
+including his return to London, where he arrived the
+latter end of September, he travelled about twelve
+hundred miles, and preached one hundred and eighty
+times, to many thousands of hearers.</p>
+
+<p>As converts increased in Bristol and its neighborhood,
+Mr. Whitefield felt compelled to erect there
+also a "tabernacle." Lady Huntingdon was one of
+the earliest contributors to this important object, and
+through her influence Lord Chesterfield gave twenty
+pounds to it. He had no taste for religion, but he
+well understood oratory, and in his letter to Lady
+Huntingdon covering his remittance, he said, "Mr.
+Whitefield's eloquence is unrivalled, his zeal inexhaustible."
+The Earl of Bath sent fifty pounds, saying,
+"Mocked and reviled as Mr. Whitefield is by all
+ranks of society, still, I contend that the day will
+come when England will be just, and own his greatness<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[345]</a></span>
+as a reformer, and his goodness as a minister of
+the most high God."</p>
+
+<p>The Tabernacle at Bristol was dedicated November
+25, 1753, with a sermon from Whitefield. Its
+history is one of deep interest. Its early ministers
+were worthy of any age, but remarkably fitted for that
+in which their lot was cast; men of pith and power,
+undismayed at dangers, braving all kinds of difficulty
+and toil, and prepared equally for labor and sufferings
+in the cause of their great Master. Nor have
+later ministers dishonored their predecessors; the
+cause still flourishes, and the hallowed house has been
+the birthplace of many eminent Christians. What
+Whitefield then said of this house might often be said
+of it now: "It is large, but not half large enough; for
+if the place could contain them, nearly as many would
+attend as in London." He always delighted in his
+visits to this place, and laid here a foundation for vast
+benefits, even to the present day. On one of his visits
+to preach here, he began a series of sermons on the
+evening before the commencement of the fair. His
+text was, "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to
+the waters; and he that hath no money, come ye,
+buy and eat; yea, come buy wine and milk without
+money, and without price." Isa. 55:1. The congregation
+was large, and thus he began: "My dear hearers,
+I fear that many of you are come to attend Bristol
+fair. So am I. You do not mean to show your
+goods until to-morrow; but I shall exhibit mine to-night.
+You are afraid purchasers will not come up
+to your price; but I am afraid my buyers will not
+come down to mine; for mine," striking his hand<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[346]</a></span>
+on the Bible, "are 'without money, and without
+price.'"</p>
+
+<p>After the dedication of this Bristol Tabernacle,
+Whitefield preached in the open air in various parts
+of Somersetshire, at seven o'clock at night. "My
+hands and body," says he, "were pierced with cold;
+but what are outward things, when the soul is warmed
+with the love of God? The stars shone with exceeding
+brightness; by an eye of faith I saw Him who
+'calleth them all by their names.' My soul was filled
+with a holy ambition, and I longed to be one of those
+who 'shall shine as the stars for ever and ever.'"</p>
+
+<p>At this time he had a fine opportunity to show his
+Christian attachment to his old friends. Mr. John
+Wesley had, by a series of extraordinary labors,
+brought his life into great danger, and Whitefield,
+hearing of this while at Bristol, wrote a sympathizing
+letter to his brother Charles, in which he prays for
+the descending garment of Elijah to rest on the surviving
+Elisha, and encloses an ardent and solemn
+farewell to the invalid, who was supposed to be dying.
+He says, "The news and prospect of your approaching
+dissolution have quite weighed me down. I pity
+myself and the church, but not you. A radiant throne
+awaits you, and ere long you will enter into your
+Master's joy. Yonder he stands with a massy crown,
+ready to put it on your head, amidst an admiring
+throng of saints and angels. But I, poor I, that have
+been waiting for my dissolution these nineteen years,
+must be left behind to grovel here below. Well, this
+is my comfort, it cannot be long ere the chariots will
+be sent even for worthless me. If prayers can detain<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[347]</a></span>
+you, even you, reverend and very dear sir, shall not
+leave us yet. But if the decree is gone forth that you
+must now sleep in Jesus, may he kiss your soul away,
+and give you to die in the embraces of triumphant love.
+If in the land of the living, I hope to pay my best
+respects to you next week. If not, reverend and dear
+sir, farewell." He had soon the satisfaction of witnessing
+the recovery of his friend, who was to survive
+him more than twenty years.</p>
+
+<p>We have already intimated that Whitefield used
+his influence in Scotland in favor of the New Jersey
+college, located at Princeton. In accordance with
+his advice, the friends of the college in this country
+sent over the Rev. Samuel Davies, afterwards president
+of the college, and the Rev. Gilbert Tennent, to
+promote its interests in the British islands. A few
+extracts from the manuscript diary of Davies, with
+the use of which we have been favored for this volume,
+will show the readiness of Whitefield to labor, or to
+"be nothing," so that the cause of Christ might be
+advanced. The deputation arrived in England in the
+closing month of 1753, and thus writes Davies:</p>
+
+<p>"Wednesday, December 26. Mr. Whitefield having
+sent us an invitation last night to make his house
+our home during our stay here, we were perplexed
+what to do, lest we should blast the success of our
+mission among the dissenters, who are generally disaffected
+to him. We at length concluded, with the
+advice of our friends and his, that a public intercourse
+with him would be imprudent, in our present situation,
+and visited him privately this evening; and the kind
+reception he gave us revived dear Mr. Tennent. He<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[348]</a></span>
+spoke in the most encouraging manner as to the success
+of our mission. And in all his conversation discovered
+so much zeal and candor, that I could not but
+admire the man as the wonder of the age. When we
+returned, Mr. Tennent's heart was all on fire, and
+after we had gone to bed, he suggested that we should
+watch and pray; and we rose and prayed together
+till about three o'clock in the morning.</p>
+
+<p>"Jan. 1. Went in the evening to hear Mr. Whitefield
+in the Tabernacle, a large, spacious building.
+The assembly was very numerous, though not equal to
+what is common. He preached on the parable of the
+barren fig-tree; and though the discourse was incoherent,
+yet it seemed to me better calculated to do
+good to mankind than all the accurate, languid discourses
+I ever heard. After sermon I enjoyed his
+pleasing conversation at his house."</p>
+
+<p>It would seem that Messrs. Davies and Tennent had
+their trials, as well as their encouragements. Writing
+Jan. 14, Mr. Davies says, "Spent an hour with
+Mr. Whitefield. He thinks we have not taken the
+best method in endeavoring to keep in with all parties,
+but should 'come out boldly,' as he expressed it,
+which would secure the affections of the pious people,
+from whom we might expect the most generous contributions."
+On the evening after this, they dined
+with Whitefield at the house of a common friend, and
+he rejoiced in the abundant success they afterwards
+met with from nearly all parties.</p>
+
+<p>"Jan. 25. Dined with Mr. Bradbury, who has
+been in the ministry about fifty-seven years. He read
+us some letters which passed between Mr. Whitefield<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[349]</a></span>
+and him, <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">anno</i> 1741; occasioned by Mr. Whitefield's
+reproving him in a letter for singing a song in a tavern,
+in a large company, in praise of old English beef.
+The old gentleman sung it to us, and we found it was
+partly composed by himself, in the high-flying days of
+Queen Anne. He is a man of a singular turn, which
+would be offensive to the greatest number of serious
+people; but for my part I could say,</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<span class="i0">'I knew 'twas his peculiar whim,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Nor took it ill, as't came from him.'"<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<p>In March, 1754, Whitefield, in company with twenty-two
+poor destitute children, sailed the fifth time for
+America.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[350]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER XIII.</h2>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<h3>FIFTH VISIT TO AMERICA&mdash;RENEWED LABORS IN
+GREAT BRITAIN&mdash;TOTTENHAM-COURT-ROAD CHAPEL.<br />
+
+1754-1763.</h3></blockquote>
+
+<p>On this voyage to America, Whitefield sailed for
+South Carolina by way of Lisbon. His health demanded
+repose; he thought that seeing Popery as it is
+when unrestrained by public opinion, might be of use
+to him in his future labors; and moreover, he had with
+him a number of orphans whom he wished comfortably
+to settle at Bethesda before he visited the northern
+provinces. It would be pleasant, if our limits would
+allow it, to furnish the letters he wrote from Lisbon
+during nearly four weeks, but a few sentences must suffice:
+"This leaves me an inhabitant of Lisbon. We
+have now been here almost a week, and I suppose shall
+stay a fortnight longer. A reputable merchant has
+received me into his house, and every day shows me the
+ecclesiastical curiosities of the country. O, my dear
+friend, bless the Lord of all lords, for causing your
+lot to be cast in such a fair ground as England, and
+giving you such a goodly heritage. It is impossible to
+be sufficiently thankful for civil and religious liberty,
+for simplicity of worship, and powerful preaching of
+the word of God. O for simplicity of manners, and a
+correspondent behavior. The air agrees with my
+poor constitution extremely well. Through divine<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[351]</a></span>
+assistance; I hope what I see will also improve my
+better part, and help to qualify me better for preaching
+the everlasting gospel."</p>
+
+<p>In another letter he writes, "Never did civil and
+religious liberty appear to me in so amiable a light
+as now. What a spirit must Martin Luther and the
+first reformers be endued with, that dared to appear
+as they did for God. Lord, hasten that blessed time
+when others, excited by the same spirit, shall perform
+like wonders. Oh, happy England! Oh, happy Methodists,
+who are Methodists indeed! And all I account
+such, who, being dead to sects and parties, aim at
+nothing else but as holy a method of living to, and
+dying in the blessed Jesus."</p>
+
+<p>He was heartily glad to get away from Popish
+processions and superstitious rites, and again to visit
+his "dear America."</p>
+
+<p>Our evangelist arrived with his orphans at Beaufort,
+in South Carolina, May 27, 1754, greatly improved
+in health, with a heart burning with love and
+zeal for his Lord and Master. He says, with his
+usual energy, "Oh that I may at length learn to begin
+to live. I am ashamed of my sloth and lukewarmness,
+and long to be on the stretch for God." His family
+now consisted, "black and white," of one hundred and
+six members, all dependent on his personal efforts
+and influence. He regarded his charge as a stewardship
+for God, and collected accordingly, nothing doubting.
+It was now summer, and besides the oppressive
+heat, "great thunders, violent lightnings, and heavy
+rains" frequently beat upon him as he journeyed from
+place to place. His health improved, and his spirits<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[352]</a></span>
+rose as he advanced on his journey. At Charleston,
+and elsewhere, his labors were received with the same
+degree of acceptance as formerly, and he was much
+encouraged by the conversion of a clergyman, a faithful
+successor to Mr. Smith of the city just named, and
+the first student sent forth from Bethesda.</p>
+
+<p>He arrived at New York, by water, July 27, and
+divided his labors between that city and Philadelphia
+almost entirely for nearly two months. In the latter
+city, he tells us, he was seized with violent <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">cholera
+morbus</i>, and brought to the gates of death. To use
+his own words, he "had all his cables out, ready to
+cast anchor within the port of eternity;" but he was
+soon "at sea again," although only able to preach
+once a day for some time. "Everywhere," he says,
+"a divine power accompanied the word, prejudices
+were removed, and a more effectual door opened than
+ever for preaching the gospel." When he looked at
+"the glorious range for hunting in the American
+woods," he was at a loss on which hand to turn....
+"Affection, intense affection cries aloud, Away to New
+England, <em>dear</em> New England, immediately. Providence,
+and the circumstances of the southern provinces,
+point directly to Virginia."</p>
+
+<p>While thus undecided, he visited his old friend
+Governor Belcher, then governor of New Jersey, and
+residing at Elizabeth town. He found the good old
+man ripening for heaven, willing to depart and to be
+with Christ. At this time the commencement of New
+Jersey college was held, and as a mark of their respect,
+the president and trustees conferred on him the
+honorary degree of master of arts. The meeting of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[353]</a></span>
+the synod immediately followed, respecting which body
+he says, "I was much refreshed with the company of
+the whole synod; such a number of simple-hearted,
+united ministers I never saw before. I preached to
+them several times, and the great Master of assemblies
+was in the midst of us."</p>
+
+<p>Influenced by what he saw and heard in New Jersey,
+Whitefield determined to go to New England,
+and to return from thence by Virginia to Georgia,
+and made his arrangements accordingly; it would
+comprise a circuit of more than two thousand miles,
+but he said, "The Redeemer's strength will be more
+than sufficient."</p>
+
+<p>It has been thought that it was during this visit of
+Whitefield to New Jersey, and probably at the table
+of Governor Belcher, that he dined in company with
+a number of ministers, and held the often-reported
+conversation with "Father Tennent." After dinner,
+Mr. Whitefield adverted to the difficulties attending
+the Christian ministry; lamented that all their zeal
+availed but little; said that he was weary with the
+burden of the day; and declared his great comfort in
+the thought, that in a short time his work would be
+done, when he should depart and be with Christ. He
+then appealed to the ministers, if it was not their
+great comfort that they should soon go to rest. They
+generally assented, except Mr. Tennent, who sat next
+to Mr. Whitefield in silence, and by his countenance
+indicated but little pleasure in the conversation.</p>
+
+<p>Seeing this, Mr. Whitefield, gently tapping him on
+the knee, said, "Well, brother Tennent, you are the
+oldest man among us; do you not rejoice to think that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[354]</a></span>
+your time is so near at hand, when you will be called
+home?" Mr. Tennent bluntly answered, "I have no
+wish about it." Mr. Whitefield pressed him again.
+Mr. Tennent again answered, "No, sir, it is no pleasure
+to me at all; and if you knew your duty, it would
+be none to you. I have nothing to do with death;
+my business is to live as long as I can, as well as I
+can, until He shall think proper to call me home."
+Mr. Whitefield still urged for an explicit answer to
+his question, in case the time of death were left to his
+own choice. Mr. Tennent replied, "I have no choice
+about it; I am God's servant, and have engaged to do
+his business as long as he pleases to continue me therein.
+But now, brother, let me ask you a question.
+What do you think I should say, if I was to send my
+servant into the field to plough; and if at noon I
+should go to the field, and find him lounging under a
+tree, and complaining, 'Master, the sun is very hot,
+and the ploughing hard; I am weary of the work you
+have appointed me, and am overdone with the heat
+and burden of the day. Do, master, let me return
+home, and be discharged from this hard service?'
+What should I say? Why, that he was a lazy fellow,
+and that it was his business to do the work that I had
+appointed him, until I should think fit to call him
+home."</p>
+
+<p>Accompanied by President Burr, Whitefield set
+out, October 1, for Boston, and arrived there on the
+9th. Here he stayed a week, and saw there, morning
+after morning, three or four thousand people hanging
+in breathless silence on his lips, and weeping silent
+tears. Whitefield himself calls it "a lovely scene,"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[355]</a></span>
+and says he "never saw a more effectual door opened
+for the gospel. Sinners have been awakened, saints
+quickened, and enemies made at peace with me.
+Grace, grace! Surely my coming here was of God.
+Convictions <em>do</em> fasten, and many souls are comforted."
+Such were the crowds at the early sermons, that in
+order to reach the pulpit, he had to get in at the windows
+of the churches. In a letter to the Countess of
+Huntingdon, he wrote, "In Boston, the tide ran full
+as high as ever your ladyship knew it at Edinburgh,
+or in any part of Scotland."</p>
+
+<p>While at Boston, Whitefield heard with much
+pleasure of the appointment of his friend Habersham
+as secretary to the new governor of Georgia, and
+wrote to him, "I wish you joy of your new honor.
+May the King of kings enable you to discharge your
+trust as becomes a good patriot, subject, and Christian.
+You have now a call, I think, to retire from
+business, and to give up your time to the public."
+Our evangelist travelled north as far as Portsmouth,
+in New Hampshire, generally preaching two or three
+times a day, till November 7, when he took his farewell
+at Boston, at four o'clock in the morning. Speaking
+of this journey, he says, "What have I seen?
+Dagon falling everywhere before the ark; enemies
+silenced, or made to own the finger of God; and the
+friends of Jesus triumphing in his glorious conquests.
+A hundredth part cannot be told. We had scarcely
+one dry meeting." When he arrived in the neighborhood
+of Portsmouth, the northern boundary of his
+journey, he was overwhelmed with humility as well as
+joy, by the large cavalcade which came out to meet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[356]</a></span>
+and welcome him. He says of them, "They were too
+many;" and of this northern journey, "It seems to me
+the most important one I was ever engaged in."</p>
+
+<p>Of no portion of Whitefield's life are we so ignorant
+as of the journey he now made from New England
+to the South. Journal, letters, historians, and
+newspapers alike fail us. Gillies tells us only that
+from Boston he "proceeded to Rhode Island, and
+went onward through Maryland and Virginia, with a
+prospect so pleasing, that he lamented he had not
+come sooner. The whole country seemed eager to
+hear the gospel, many coming forty or fifty miles, and
+a spirit of conviction and consolation appeared in
+every congregation. Prejudices seemed to have fled;
+churches were opened to him; high and low, rich and
+poor, now seemed to think favorably of his ministrations;
+and many acknowledged what God had done
+for their souls through his preaching, when he was
+there before." It scarcely appears probable that he
+went from Rhode Island to Maryland by water; but
+if he did not, he must have passed through New York,
+New Jersey, and Philadelphia, and we feel somewhat
+of surprise that no records of the journey appear to
+have been preserved.</p>
+
+<p>Dr. Franklin relates a very characteristic anecdote
+of Mr. Whitefield, which probably occurred in
+Philadelphia or its neighborhood at a period not later
+than this. "The eloquent orator" was preaching in
+an open field, when a drummer was present, who was
+determined to interrupt the preacher, and rudely beat
+his drum in a violent manner, in order to drown his
+voice. Whitefield spoke very loud, but could not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[357]</a></span>
+make so much noise as the instrument. He therefore
+called out to the drummer, "Friend, you and I serve
+the two greatest masters existing, but in different
+callings. You beat up for volunteers for King George,
+I for the Lord Jesus: in God's name, then, let us not
+interrupt each other; the world is wide enough for
+both, and we may get recruits in abundance." This
+speech had such an effect on the drummer, that he
+went away in great good-humor, and left the preacher
+in full possession of the field.</p>
+
+<p>Virginia, alike from the success of his former labors
+there, and from the general characteristics of the people,
+must have presented a scene of intense interest to
+Whitefield at this time. Everywhere great preparations
+were made for his coming, and large congregations
+assembled to hear him. It is said, that on one
+occasion, as he was speaking on the banks of one of
+the rivers of this noble province, and spoke of the
+strength of human depravity, and the insufficiency of
+the means of grace to convert the sinner without the
+influence of the Holy Spirit: "Sinners," said he, "think
+not that I expect to convert a single soul of you by
+any thing that I can say, without the assistance of
+Him who is 'mighty to save.' Go and stand by that
+river, as it moves on its strong and deep current to
+the ocean, and bid it stop, and see if it will obey you.
+Just as soon should I expect to stop that river by a
+word, as by my preaching to stop that current of sin
+which is carrying you to perdition. Father in heaven,
+see! they are hurried on towards hell; save them,
+or they perish!" The impression which this address
+produced on his hearers was so strong, that they were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[358]</a></span>
+ready to respond with trembling, "Save, Lord; we
+perish!"</p>
+
+<p>Whitefield must have been highly gratified on
+reaching Charleston, in attending the ordination of
+the young minister there, his first student from Bethesda,
+of whom we have already spoken as succeeding
+Mr. Smith; and not less would he rejoice that
+one of the actors at the Charleston theatre had been
+"snatched as a brand from the burning."</p>
+
+<p>Though we have not the exact date of his arrival
+at Savannah, we know that he remained there but a
+very short time. His health again declined, his former
+vomitings returned with violence, and his animal
+spirits failed with his strength. In February, 1755,
+we again find him at Charleston; and in the latter end
+of March, he embarked for England, arriving, after a
+comparatively short voyage, at Newhaven, in Sussex,
+May the eighth.</p>
+
+<p>Two strong impressions were made on the mind
+of Whitefield as he now looked on his native land.
+The first was that of grief on account of its condition.
+Nothing less than war with France was daily expected,
+for the French threatened to invade Britain, and
+were constantly making encroachments on her American
+colonies. "At this time," he says, "next to Jesus
+Christ, my king and my country were upon my heart,
+I hope I shall always think it my duty, next to inviting
+sinners to the blessed Jesus, to exhort my hearers
+to resist the first approaches of popish tyranny and
+arbitrary power. O that we may be enabled to watch
+and pray against all the opposition of antichrist in
+our own hearts; for, after all, there lies the most dangerous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[359]</a></span>
+man of sin." His second feeling was one of
+holy joy; for during his absence the preaching of the
+gospel had been abundantly successful. He writes,
+"Glory be to the great Head of the church! The
+poor despised Methodists are as lively as ever; and
+in several churches the gospel is now preached with
+power. Many in Oxford are awakened to the knowledge
+of the truth; and I have heard almost every
+week of some fresh minister or another, who seems
+'determined to know nothing but Jesus Christ, and
+him crucified.'"</p>
+
+<p>At the Tabernacle in London, as might be expected,
+Whitefield enjoyed what he terms "golden
+seasons;" but by this time not a few of the London
+clergy had begun to preach Christ with holy fidelity;
+and as this was the principal thing he desired, he says
+his "call to go abroad was still more clear." Indeed,
+so little did he now esteem London as a sphere of labor,
+and so much did he regard places by the amount
+of their destitution, that he wished at once to return
+to America, without ranging through England or
+Scotland. Hence he says, "Methinks I could set out
+for America to-morrow, though I have not yet entered
+upon my country range."</p>
+
+<p>But if he loved America most, England loved herself
+more, and he was drawn again into Gloucestershire
+and Bristol. He went also, at the request of
+Lady Huntingdon, to dedicate the new Tabernacle at
+Norwich, to which we have already referred. At this
+last place, he says, August 30, 1755, "Notwithstanding
+offences have come, there has been a glorious work
+begun, and is now carrying on. The polite and great<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[360]</a></span>
+seem to hear with much attention; and I scarcely
+ever preached a week together with greater freedom."
+For a long period the work of God abundantly prospered
+in connection with this "Tabernacle." Two
+years after its dedication, the Hon. and Rev. Walter
+Shirley preached some time in it, and had eight hundred
+communicants in fellowship, and he said of them,
+"Their experience, lives, and conversation are so
+excellent, that there is nothing like it in the whole
+kingdom."</p>
+
+<p>On Whitefield's return to London, there were
+those who urgently entreated him to engage in a new
+controversy with the Messrs. Wesley, some of whose
+followers had been jealous of his success at Norwich.
+He declined, with his common remark, "I have no
+time for controversy," and reserved what he had to
+say till he could see them "face to face," simply writing
+to assure them that he had no party designs on
+foot.</p>
+
+<p>Very soon after this, he set out for his northern
+circuit; and wonderfully indeed did the Lord grant
+him success. One thing, however, on this journey
+grieved him. His friends at Leeds, without his knowledge,
+had built a large church edifice. He saw at
+once, that this circumstance would create an "awful
+separation among the societies" formed by the Messrs.
+Wesley and his own friends; and lost no time in writing
+to those ministers, that they might endeavor to
+prevent a breach. Both the plan and the spirit of
+this undertaking so grieved him, that he exclaimed,
+"Oh this self-love, this self-will, is the <em>devil of devils</em>."
+This he wrote to Lady Huntingdon, a proof that party<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[361]</a></span>
+was not their object; and it is pleasant to add, that
+Whitefield's fears were groundless. Leeds, even then,
+contained population sufficient to fill both houses, and
+the whole movement "fell out rather to the furtherance
+of the gospel." During two months he preached
+twice, and some days three times, to greater numbers
+than ever before, inviting them to Christ, and "exhorting
+them to pray for King George, and the dear
+friends in America." He heard at this time, that the
+American ladies were making the soldiers' coats; and
+he immediately wrote to urge his own female friends
+in the new world to be "some of the most active in
+this labor of love."</p>
+
+<p>Though Mr. Whitefield stood very high in the
+esteem of that class of ministers who embraced his
+views of evangelical truth, and who approved the
+plans he pursued for the evangelization of the world,
+they never considered him perfect, nor were some of
+them backward, when they deemed it needful, to reprove
+him. In a sermon he once preached in Haworth
+church, Yorkshire, of which his friend Grimshaw
+was the minister, having spoken severely of those
+professors of the gospel who, by their loose and evil
+conduct, caused the ways of truth to be evil spoken
+of, he intimated his hope, that it was not necessary
+to enlarge much on that topic to the congregation
+before him, who had so long enjoyed the labors of
+an able and faithful preacher; and he was willing
+to believe that their profiting appeared to all men.
+This latter expression roused Mr. Grimshaw's spirit,
+and notwithstanding his great regard for the preacher,
+he stood up and interrupted him, saying, with a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[362]</a></span>
+loud voice, "O sir, for God's sake, do not speak so;
+I pray you, do not flatter. I fear the greater part of
+them are going to hell with their eyes open."</p>
+
+<p>Notwithstanding the astonishing labors of Whitefield
+on this tour, he returned to London apparently
+in full flesh, and was congratulated by his friends
+on his improved appearance. Alas, all this, as he
+well knew, was disease, which indeed very soon became
+apparent. He was seized with inflammatory
+sore throat, that was followed by quinsy, assuming an
+almost fatal aspect. One physician prescribed silence
+and warmth, and the preacher "promised to be very
+obedient," but a few days afterwards, another recommended
+a perpetual blister: this proposal roused him,
+and he determined to try his own remedy&mdash;perpetual
+preaching. The remedy itself was painful, but he
+said, "When this grand catholicon fails, it is all over
+with me." At this time the sad news of the earthquake
+at Lisbon arrived in London; he was unable
+to preach on the subject, but when told of it he said,
+"Blessed be God, I am ready; I know that my Redeemer
+liveth. Oh that all in Portugal had known
+this! Then an earthquake would only be a <em>rumbling</em>
+chariot to carry the soul to God. Poor Lisbon, how
+soon are thy riches and superstitious pageantry swallowed
+up!"</p>
+
+<p>In the winter of 1755-6, he was applied to to preach
+in the vicinity of the two great theatres, which he
+began to do in Long Acre chapel. Disturbances took
+place, and the Bishop of London interposed to stop
+him. In the end he erected Tottenham Court-road
+chapel, as already detailed in our third chapter.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[363]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Mr. Whitefield's ministry in London at this time
+was still successful. Thousands hung on his lips with
+delight, not a few of whom were won to the service
+of Christ. He tells us, among many similar facts, of
+the conversion of a Mr. Crane, who was afterwards
+appointed steward of the orphan-house in Georgia.
+This gentleman had one evening determined to visit
+the theatre, and set out for Drury-lane; that house
+being crowded, he resolved to go to Covent-garden;
+that also being so full that he could not obtain admittance,
+he changed his plan, and resolved on being entertained
+with one of Whitefield's sermons, and hastened
+to Tottenham Court-road chapel. It pleased
+God to impress the word on his heart, and he became
+an eminent Christian. So truly is the prediction verified,
+"I am found of them who sought me not."</p>
+
+<p>During this year he published "A Short Address
+to Persons of all Denominations, occasioned by an
+Alarm of an intended Invasion." We have examined
+it, and not without pleasure. It is a faithful exposure
+of Popery and its bitter fruits.</p>
+
+<p>It is a charge often preferred against the faithful
+ministers of Christ, by those whose consciences testify
+to their own guilt, that they are <em>personal</em> in their remarks,
+and mean to censure particular individuals.
+It is certain that this was often done by Mr. Whitefield,
+and sometimes with very happy effect. He once
+drew, from the conduct of his female servant, the picture
+of a Christian failing in his duty, which painfully
+distressed her, till he gave her an assurance of his
+entire forgiveness.</p>
+
+<p>Nor was this the only time when his hearers were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[364]</a></span>
+compelled to feel, "he means <em>me</em>." The celebrated
+comedian, Shuter, had a great personal regard for Mr.
+Whitefield, and not unfrequently attended his ministry.
+At one period of his popularity he was acting
+in a drama under the character of <em>Ramble</em>. During
+the run of the performance, he attended service at
+Tottenham Court chapel, and was seated in a pew
+exactly opposite the pulpit. Mr. Whitefield on that
+occasion gave full vent to his feelings, and in his own
+energetic manner invited sinners to the Saviour.
+While doing this, fixing his eye full on Shuter, he
+added, "And thou, poor <em>Ramble</em>, who hast long rambled
+from him, come also. Oh, end your rambling by
+coming to Jesus." Shuter was exceedingly struck,
+and going afterwards to Whitefield, he said, "I thought
+I should have fainted; how could you serve me so?"</p>
+
+<p>In the early part of 1756, Whitefield was engaged
+in London, preaching and collecting for the poor not
+only at Bethesda, but also for the French Protestants.
+At the Tabernacle, a man came up to him in the pulpit,
+threatening his life, and handing him three anonymous
+letters denouncing sudden and certain death, unless
+he ceased to preach and to pursue the offenders by
+law. One of these letters Whitefield sent to the government,
+who at once offered a reward, and his majesty's
+pardon, to any one who would discover the
+writer. While this fact gratified, it also embarrassed
+him. He wrote to Lady Huntingdon, "My greatest
+distress is to act so as to avoid rashness on the one
+hand, and timidity on the other." For his own sake,
+he would not have cared about the matter; but looking
+at it as connected with the cause of civil and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[365]</a></span>
+religious freedom, he wisely allowed the law to take
+its course at the hazard of his own life by assassination.
+Agreeably with the advice of the government,
+he carried the whole affair into the court of the King's
+Bench; this alarmed the offenders, and the annoyance
+ceased.</p>
+
+<p>We next find him at Bristol, but not to rest, though
+the labors and anxieties of the winter and spring had
+nearly worn out his strength and spirits. Here he
+preached as usual, and then returned to London.
+During this journey he preached in several places in
+Gloucestershire, his native county, and in Bradford,
+Frome, Warminster, and Portsmouth, spending about
+three months in the tour.</p>
+
+<p>In the county which gave Whitefield birth, is still
+to be seen a chair on which he often sat, and on which
+may be yet read the following lines:</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<span class="i0">"If love of souls should e'er be wanting here,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Remember me, for I am Whitefield's chair;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">I bore his weight, was witness to his fears,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">His earnest prayers, his interesting tears.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">His holy soul was fired with love divine:<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">If thine be such, sit down and call me <em>thine</em>."<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<p>A very few weeks passed, and we find him in
+Kent. In a letter written July 27, after his visit to
+that county, he says, "The gospel flourishes in London.
+I am just returned from preaching at Sheerness,
+Chatham, and in the camp." On the next day he set
+off towards Scotland. On August 14, he writes from
+Sunderland, "How swiftly doth my precious time pass
+away! It is now a fortnight since I came to Leeds,
+in and about which I preached eight days, thrice
+almost every day, to thronged and affected auditories.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[366]</a></span>
+On Sunday last at Bradford, in the morning, the auditory
+consisted of about ten thousand; at noon and in
+the evening, at Birstal, to nearly double the number.
+Though hoarse, I was helped to speak so that all
+heard. Next morning I took a sorrowful leave of
+Leeds, preached at Doncaster at noon, and at York
+the same night. On Wednesday, at Warstall, about
+fifty miles off; on Thursday, twice at Yarm; and last
+night and this morning, here." Wherever he labored,
+he heard of the good effects of his preaching in those
+places last year, and was constantly finding "many
+trophies of redeeming love." Such was the effect of
+the two sermons he preached at Birstal, that "several
+hundreds rode eight miles with him in the evening,
+singing and praising God."</p>
+
+<p>In a day or two after this, we find him at Edinburgh
+and Glasgow, preaching, as usual, to vast
+crowds, and with his accustomed success. At the
+former places especially, even politicians gave him a
+cordial welcome, and thronged to hear him, while the
+newspapers applauded him for his spirit-stirring exposures
+of "Popish tyranny and arbitrary power."
+He preached twice every day in the Orphan-hospital
+park, and blended with almost every sermon rousing
+appeals to the Protestantism, courage, and loyalty of
+the Scotch. At the close of one of his sermons he
+pleaded the cause of the poor Highlanders, and collected
+at its close about three hundred dollars.</p>
+
+<p>On his way back to London, Whitefield held a
+peculiarly solemn and refreshing meeting with his
+friends at Leeds; and after it, he braced his nerves
+by a tour of <em>mountain preaching</em> in company with his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[367]</a></span>
+friend Grimshaw. But it was now late in October,
+and as he found "these cold countries bringing on his
+last year's disorder," and having, as he significantly
+says, "grown very prudent," he returned to London,
+and dedicated Tottenham Court-road church edifice.
+Another errand also had taken him to that city. The
+new governor of Georgia had sent for him, to consult
+with him before sailing to that colony. Whitefield
+met him, and was so much delighted with him,
+that he wrote off to Bethesda to prepare them for a
+<em>state</em> visit. He says, "Waited upon his excellency,
+and gave him, and all whom he pleases to bring, an
+invitation to Bethesda. Dear Mrs. C&mdash;&mdash; will make
+proper provision." He went even farther, and proposed
+that the governor, if possible, should be received
+at Bethesda with military honors.</p>
+
+<p>The success of his new house of worship in Tottenham
+Court-road showed the necessity and propriety
+of its erection on that spot. Several persons
+of distinction came, and engaged permanent seats;
+and the place was often so crowded, that hundreds
+were unable to obtain admission. It was now usual
+with him to preach about fifteen times every week,
+which, with a weak appetite, want of rest, and much
+care upon his mind, greatly enfeebled him. He writes,
+"But the joy of the Lord is my strength; and my
+greatest grief is, that I can do no more for Him who
+hath done and suffered so much for me."</p>
+
+<p>In the following year, 1757, Whitefield planned
+another journey to Scotland, at the time the general
+assembly of the church was held. Before leaving
+London, he had placed the affairs of his projected college<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[368]</a></span>
+in the hands of Lord Halifax, and he now seems
+to have hoped that this journey to Scotland would
+have promoted that object, as well as others. It is
+said, that about a hundred ministers at a time attended
+his sermons, thirty of whom invited him to a public
+entertainment. Lord Cathcart, his majesty's commissioner
+to the assembly, also invited him to his own
+table. Whitefield says that he preached "just fifty
+times" on this visit, which extended to about a month.</p>
+
+<p>From Scotland he went, in June, as we have seen,
+to Ireland, and enjoyed, in the midst of no small persecution,
+much preaching, and much success. On his
+return to London, he found that the governor of Georgia
+had visited Bethesda, and promised to communicate
+his sentiments to Lord Halifax, "concerning its
+being enlarged into a college;" but the pressure of
+public affairs hindered his application to the government.
+Bad news arrived from America, "about the
+fleet," and therefore Whitefield kept a fast-day at his
+houses of worship.</p>
+
+<p>The health of our evangelist now sadly failed. He
+was brought to live on the "short allowance of preaching
+but once a day, and thrice on the Sunday;" very
+"short allowance" for <em>him</em>. Once, however, he broke
+through the restraint, and preached three times on
+the success of the king of Prussia; which, he says,
+"somewhat <em>recovered</em>" him, after he had been for a
+week at the gates of the grave. He was not able this
+winter to attempt what he considered great things;
+but Tottenham Court was his <em>Bethel</em>, as he called it.
+This house was then surrounded by a beautiful piece
+of ground, and he formed the plan of building on it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[369]</a></span>
+an almshouse for "twelve godly widows," as a "standing
+monument that the Methodists were not against
+good works." This charity he soon carried into
+effect. His thoughts, however, were not confined to
+home. Although broken down in health and spirits,
+by weakness and want of rest, he watched the affairs
+of Prussia with intense interest, and assured the German
+Protestants, through Professor Francke, that "we
+looked on their distresses as our own."</p>
+
+<p>In the spring of 1758, he laid the foundation-stone
+of his almshouse, and in June of the same year began
+to select its inmates. Pointing to these houses, some
+years afterwards, he said to a gentleman who was
+visiting him, "Those are my redoubts. The prayers
+of the poor women who reside in them, protect me in
+my house." Having arranged for the supply of his
+London pulpits, Whitefield went into the west of England,
+and proceeded from thence into Wales. But
+his health was so feeble, that he could not bear to
+drive, nor even ride in a one-horse chaise. The roads
+were rough, and riding shook him nearly to pieces.
+"Every thing," he says, "wearies this shattered bark
+now." A friend purchased for him a close chaise,
+advancing the money until he could conveniently
+repay it. He deeply felt this kindness, because by no
+other means could he have itinerated. "I would not,"
+he says, "lay out a single farthing but for my blessed
+Master; but it is inconceivable what I have undergone
+these three weeks. <em>I never was so before.</em> O for
+a <em>hearse</em> to carry my weary carcass to the wished for
+grave." During all this tour he was unable to sit up
+in company even once; yet he often preached to ten<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[370]</a></span>
+or fifteen thousand people, and made their "tears flow
+like water from the rock." His views of himself at
+this time were more than usually humble. He said
+to Lady Huntingdon, "Oh, I am sick&mdash;sick in body,
+but infinitely more so in mind, to see so much dross
+in my soul. Blessed be God, there is One who will
+sit as a refiner's fire, to purify the sons of Levi. I
+write out of the burning bush. Christ is there; Christ
+is there!"</p>
+
+<p>Among the many illustrations of Scripture which
+Whitefield often introduced into his sermons, one is
+truly worthy of record. Preaching from the words,
+"Wherefore, glorify ye the Lord in the fires," Isa.
+24:15, he says, "When I was, some years ago, at
+Shields, I went into a glass-house, and standing very
+attentively, I saw several masses of burning glass of
+various forms. The workman took one piece of glass,
+and put it into one furnace, then he put it into a
+second, and then into a third. I asked him, 'Why do
+you put that into so many fires?' He answered me,
+'Oh, sir, the first was not hot enough, nor the second,
+and therefore we put it into the third, and that will
+make it transparent.' 'Oh,' thought I, 'does this man
+put this glass into one furnace after another, that it
+may be rendered perfect? Oh, my God, put me into
+one furnace after another, that my soul may be transparent,
+that I may see God as he is.'"</p>
+
+<p>In the month of July, Whitefield again set out for
+Scotland, preaching on his way in many pulpits, including
+"Bishop Bunyan's," as he used to call him, at
+Bedford, Berridge's at Everton, and Doddridge's at
+Northampton. Four Episcopal clergymen lent him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[371]</a></span>
+their pulpits. His health received, for some time,
+little benefit, so that he sometimes feared he must
+return. But he adds, "Through divine strength, I
+hope to go forward; and shall strive, as much as in
+me lies, to die in this glorious work." He preached
+and collected in Scotland with his accustomed energy
+and success, and returned to London with his health
+somewhat renovated. This year he lost by death
+some of his earliest and warmest friends, including
+Hervey in England, and Presidents Burr and Edwards,
+and Governor Belcher, in America. Such
+removals gave him also "a desire to depart," but his
+work on earth was not yet done.</p>
+
+<p>Three principal facts connected with our evangelist
+may be said to mark the year 1759. One was,
+that he had the satisfaction to clear off all his debts
+for the orphan-house. "Bethesda's God," he writes,
+"lives for ever, and is faithful and all-sufficient." He
+longed again to visit America, but several difficulties
+intervened for the present.</p>
+
+<p>A second event which marked the year, was
+another journey to Scotland. He complains in his
+letters, that though his congregations at Edinburgh
+and Glasgow were never more numerous and attentive,
+yet, with respect to the power of religion, it was
+a dead time in Scotland, in comparison with London
+and several other parts of England. His presence in
+Scotland, however, at this time was very important,
+especially in collecting for his orphan-house and the
+Highland Society for the support of children. Many
+Scottish soldiers were now in America, which greatly
+increased the interest felt in every thing relating to it.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[372]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>In this year, 1759, Mr. Whitefield also for the first
+time visited Brighthelmstone, now called Brighton, a
+very fashionable watering-place, where George IV.
+afterwards, while regent, built a tawdry tasteless
+palace. The preacher's first sermon was delivered
+under a tree in a field behind the White Lion inn.
+Among his congregation on that day was a young
+man named Tuppen, about eighteen years of age. He
+had been educated by a pious mother in the strict
+observance of the external parts of religion, but was
+entirely destitute of its power. He attended not so
+much from curiosity, as from the intention to insult
+and interrupt the preacher. He tells us, "I had therefore
+provided myself with stones in my pocket, if opportunity
+offered, to pelt the preacher; but I had not
+heard long, before the stone was taken out of my heart
+of flesh; and then the other stones, with shame and
+weeping, were dropped one by one out upon the
+ground." The words, "Turn ye, turn ye," became the
+means of turning him from sin to God. Mr. Tuppen
+became an excellent Christian minister, and labored
+as a pastor for some years in Portsmouth. He then
+removed to the city of Bath, where he originated a
+congregation, and built a house for public worship.
+He was succeeded in this important sphere by the late
+distinguished William Jay, who labored there for
+about sixty-four years.</p>
+
+<p>Such was the prosperity attendant on the efforts
+of Messrs. Whitefield, Madan, Romaine, Berridge,
+Venn, and Fletcher, at Brighton, that Lady Huntingdon
+felt it her duty to erect a church edifice there,
+and being unable to do it in any other way, sold her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[373]</a></span>
+jewels to the amount of nearly three thousand five
+hundred dollars. The cause still flourishes there, and
+very many have been turned to righteousness.</p>
+
+<p>While Whitefield's ministry at the Tabernacle was
+at its height of popularity, Foote, a comedian of eminent
+talent for mimicry, who was frequently in difficulties
+on account of his love of ridicule, by which
+indeed his life was shortened, employed his wit to
+bring the distinguished preacher into contempt. One
+of his biographers says, that "very pressing embarrassments
+in his affairs compelled him to bring out his
+comedy of '<cite>The Minor</cite>,' in 1760, to ridicule Methodism,
+which, though successful, gave great offence, and
+was at last suppressed." Of this miserable piece of
+buffoonery, it may be enough to say, that Foote, and
+the agents employed at the Tabernacle and Tottenham
+Court-road chapel to collect materials from
+Whitefield for the accomplishment of their object,
+were so disgracefully ignorant of the inspired writings,
+as not to know that what they took for Mr.
+Whitefield's peculiar language was that of the word
+of God.</p>
+
+<p>Lady Huntingdon interposed in the matter, first
+with the Lord Chamberlain, by whose license alone
+any play could then be performed in London, and then
+with Mr. Garrick, the latter of whom assured her that
+he would use his influence to exclude it, and added,
+that had he been aware of the offence it was adapted
+to give, it should never have appeared with his concurrence.
+The representation of this piece of mummery,
+as might have been expected, considerably increased
+Whitefield's popularity, and brought thousands<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[374]</a></span>
+of new persons to hear the gospel: thus Providence
+gave him the victory over his opposers.</p>
+
+<p>To report the sicknesses, the labors, and the successes
+of Whitefield from this time to that of his sixth
+embarkation for America, would be little more than
+a repetition of the past. Suffice it to say, that in England,
+and in Scotland, he labored amid much ill-health,
+and surrounded with many dangers; but at length,
+having found an Episcopal clergyman, the Rev. John
+Berridge, a man of somewhat eccentric manners, but
+of great learning, of eminent piety, and of burning
+zeal, who was willing to labor for a time in London,
+Whitefield set sail in the ship Fanny, Captain Archibald
+Galbraith, bound from Greenock to Virginia,
+June 1, 1763, and arrived at Rappahannock, after a
+tedious, but otherwise pleasant voyage of about twelve
+weeks, in the last week of August.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">[375]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER XIV.</h2>
+
+<blockquote>
+<h3>SIXTH VISIT AND LABORS IN AMERICA&mdash;RENEWED
+LABORS IN GREAT BRITAIN.<br />
+
+1763-1767.</h3></blockquote>
+
+
+<p>Whitefield was now for the sixth time in America.
+He was twelve weeks on the voyage; but though
+tedious, it had done him good. "I enjoyed," he says,
+"that quietness which I have in vain sought after for
+some years on shore." Owing to the violence of his
+asthma, he had set sail "with but little hopes of farther
+public usefulness;" but after being six weeks at
+sea, he wrote to a friend, "Who knows but our latter
+end may <em>yet</em> increase? If not in public usefulness,
+Lord Jesus, let it be in heart-holiness. I know who
+says Amen. I add, Amen and amen."</p>
+
+<p>On his arrival in Virginia, Whitefield was surrounded
+by many Christian friends, the fruits of his
+former labors in that colony, but whom he had not
+hitherto known. It was with great difficulty, however,
+that he preached to them; for though his general
+health was better, his breathing was very bad.
+The months of September, October, and November,
+he spent in Philadelphia. He says, "Here are some
+young bright witnesses rising up in the church. Perhaps
+I have already conversed with forty <em>new creature</em>
+ministers of various denominations. Sixteen popular
+students, I am credibly informed, were converted in
+New Jersey college last year. What an open door if
+I had strength! Last Tuesday we had a remarkable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">[376]</a></span>
+season among the Lutherans; children and grown people
+were much impressed." Ill as he was, he preached
+twice a week, and with his usual success.</p>
+
+<p>He intensely desired at this time to visit Georgia,
+but was absolutely prohibited by his physicians, till
+he had recovered his strength. In the end of November,
+therefore, he passed over into New Jersey, visiting
+the college, and Elizabethtown. He tells us that
+at the college he had "four sweet seasons." His spirits
+rose at the sight of the young soldiers who were
+to fight when he had fallen. It was now winter, and
+"cold weather and a warm heart" put him in good
+spirits, so that he was able to preach three times a
+week.</p>
+
+<p>A young man, a member of the college, hearing
+that Whitefield was to preach in the neighborhood,
+and being more than a little anxious to ascertain
+whether he really deserved all the celebrity he enjoyed,
+went to hear him. The day was very rainy,
+and the audience was small; the preacher, accustomed
+to address thousands, did not feel his powers called
+forth as at other times. After having heard about
+one-third part of the sermon, the young man said to
+himself, "The man is not so great a wonder after all&mdash;quite
+commonplace and superficial&mdash;nothing but show,
+and not a great deal of that;" and looking round upon
+the audience, he saw that they appeared about as uninterested
+as usual, and that old father &mdash;&mdash;, who sat
+directly in front of the pulpit, and who always went
+to sleep after hearing the text and plan of the sermon,
+was enjoying his accustomed nap. About this time,
+Whitefield stopped. His face went rapidly through<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">[377]</a></span>
+many changes, till it looked more like a rising thunder-cloud
+than any thing else; and beginning very
+deliberately, he said, "If I had come to speak to you
+in my own name, you might rest your elbows upon
+your knees, and your heads upon your hands, and
+sleep; and once in a while look up and say, 'What
+does the babbler talk of?' But I have not come to
+you in my own name. No; I have come to you in
+the name of the Lord God of hosts, and"&mdash;here he
+brought down his hand and foot at once, so as to
+make the whole house ring&mdash;"and I must, and will be
+heard." Every one in the house started, and old
+father &mdash;&mdash; among the rest. "Aye, aye," continued
+the preacher, looking at him, "I have waked you up,
+have I? I meant to do it. I am not come here to
+preach to stocks and stones; I have come to you in
+the name of the Lord God of hosts, and I must, and I
+will have an audience." The congregation was fully
+aroused, and the remaining part of the sermon produced
+a considerable effect.</p>
+
+<p>From New Jersey, Whitefield passed on to New
+York, where he says, "Such a flocking of all ranks I
+never saw before at New York.... Prejudices have
+most strangely subsided. The better sort flock as
+eagerly as the common people, and are fond of coming
+for private gospel conversation. Congregations continue
+very large, and I trust saving impressions are
+made upon many." Such also was his influence as
+a philanthropist, that though prejudices ran high
+against the Indians, on account of a threatened insurrection
+in the south, he collected about six hundred
+dollars for Dr. Wheelock's Indian school at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">[378]</a></span>
+Lebanon, Conn., which he soon after visited with
+much pleasure.</p>
+
+<p>An extract of a letter from New York, dated Jan.
+23, 1754, which appeared in the Boston Gazette, may
+show the esteem in which he was held: "The Rev.
+George Whitefield has spent seven weeks with us,
+preaching twice a week, with more general approbation
+than ever; and has been treated with great
+respect by many of the gentlemen and merchants of
+this place. During his stay he preached two charity
+sermons, the one on the occasion of the annual collection
+for the poor, in which double the sum was collected
+that ever was upon the like occasion; the
+other was for the benefit of Mr. Wheelock's Indian
+school at Lebanon, for which he collected, notwithstanding
+the present prejudices of many people against
+the Indians, the sum of one hundred and twenty pounds.
+In his last sermon, he took a very affectionate leave of
+the people of this city, who expressed great concern
+at his departure. May God restore this great and
+good man, in whom the gentleman, the Christian, and
+accomplished orator shine forth with such peculiar
+lustre, to a perfect state of health, and continue him
+long a blessing to the world and the church of Christ."</p>
+
+<p>Leaving New York, he visited and preached, as
+far as his strength would allow, at Easthampton
+Bridge, Hampton, and Southhold, on Long Island; at
+Shelter Island, and at New London, Norwich, and
+Providence.</p>
+
+<p>Whitefield arrived at Boston in the end of February,
+1764, and was welcomed by multitudes with
+cordial affection; and again he saw "the Redeemer's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">[379]</a></span>
+stately steps in the great congregation." Boston at
+that time was visited with small-pox, and Whitefield
+therefore devoted much of his labor to the adjacent
+towns. Writing from Concord, he says, "How would
+you have been delighted to have seen Mr. Wheelock's
+Indians. Such a promising nursery of future missionaries,
+I believe, was never seen in New England before.
+Pray encourage it with all your might." About
+two months after his arrival in Boston, his illness
+returned, but did not long prevent him from preaching,
+and the people still flocked in crowds to hear
+him. He left Boston for the south; but messengers
+were sent to entreat his return, and especially urged
+him to renew his six o'clock morning lecture. He
+did return, but was now unable to preach at the early
+hour they desired; he appeared, however, in the pulpit
+for some time on three occasions in the week, and
+such was the number of converts discovered, that after
+he had left it was proposed to send him a book filled
+with their names, as desiring his return.</p>
+
+<p>We ought to have said, that according to the
+Boston Gazette, about the time of the arrival of
+Whitefield, "at a meeting of the freeholders and other
+inhabitants of the town of Boston, it was unanimously
+voted that the thanks of the town be given to the Rev.
+George Whitefield, for his charitable care and pains
+in collecting a considerable sum of money in Great
+Britain for the distressed sufferers by the great fire in
+Boston, 1760. A respectable committee was appointed
+to wait on Mr. Whitefield, to inform him of the vote,
+and present him with a copy thereof."</p>
+
+<p>Notwithstanding the earnest entreaties of his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">[380]</a></span>
+friends, he left Boston in the early part of June. On
+the first of that month he wrote, "Friends have even
+constrained me to stay here, for fear of running into
+the summer's heat. Hitherto I find the benefit of it.
+Whatever it is owing to, through mercy, I am much
+better in health than I was this time twelve months,
+and can preach thrice a week to very large auditories
+without hurt; and every day I hear of some brought
+under concern. This is all of grace."</p>
+
+<p>Sorrowfully parting from his friends at Boston,
+Whitefield left them for New York by way of New
+Haven. Here he preached to the students, and had
+taken his leave of them; but such was the impression
+he had made on their minds, that they requested the
+president to go after him, to entreat for another "quarter
+of an hour's exhortation." He complied with the
+request, and the effect was what he called "the <em>crown</em>
+of the expedition." He continued at New York till
+the end of August. While there he writes, "At present
+my health is better than usual, and as yet I have
+felt no inconvenience from the summer's heat. I have
+preached twice lately in the fields, and we sat under
+the blessed Redeemer's shadow with great delight.
+My late excursions upon Long Island, I trust, have
+been blessed. It would surprise you to see above one
+hundred carriages at every sermon in the new world."</p>
+
+<p>On his way to Philadelphia, in September, Whitefield
+preached at the New Jersey college commencement;
+for which, and for the influence he had exerted
+in favor of the institution, the trustees sent him a vote
+of thanks. His reception at the college was all he
+could desire. The governor and the ex-governor of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">[381]</a></span>
+the state, with many other gentlemen, attended, and
+every other mark of respect was shown him. At
+Philadelphia, he describes the effect of his labors as
+"great indeed," and as usual, he was compelled to
+exclaim, "Grace, grace!"</p>
+
+<p>Leaving Pennsylvania, he went on through Virginia;
+here he tells us, in places as "unlikely as <em>Rome</em>
+itself," he found societies of Christians, formed and
+led on by a wealthy planter of that colony; they met
+him in a body, wishing publicly to identify themselves
+with him. "Surely the <em>Londoners</em>," he writes, "who
+are fed to the full, will not envy the poor souls in
+these parts. I almost determine to come back in the
+spring" from Georgia to them.</p>
+
+<p>On one occasion, while he was preaching in this
+colony, a Mr. Allen, afterwards a member of the eminent
+Mr. Davies' church at Hanover, and who, with
+his family, "addicted himself to the ministry of the
+saints," fell on the ground at full length, suddenly, as
+if shot through the heart, and lay for the remainder of
+the evening as one who was dead. His descendants
+are now very numerous, and many of them are among
+the most zealous Christians in that state.</p>
+
+<p>From Virginia, Whitefield proceeded to South
+Carolina, and, Nov. 22, wrote, "At Newbern, last Sunday,
+good impressions were made. I have met with
+what they call 'New Lights' in almost every place,
+and have the names of several of their preachers."
+Having preached at Charleston, he passed on to Bethesda,
+and had the happiness to find the whole colony
+in a prosperous condition. Here he spent the
+winter, and writes, "Peace and plenty reign at Bethesda.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382">[382]</a></span>
+All things go on successfully. God hath
+given me great favor in the sight of the governor,
+council, and assembly. A memorial was presented for
+an additional grant of lands, consisting of two thousand
+acres. It was immediately complied with. Both
+houses addressed the governor on behalf of the intended
+college. A warm answer was given; and I am
+now putting every thing in repair, and getting every
+thing ready for that purpose. Every heart seems to
+leap for joy at the prospect of its future usefulness to
+this and the neighboring colonies. He who holdeth
+the stars in his right hand will direct, in due time,
+whether I shall directly embark for England, or take
+one tour more to the northward. I am in delightful
+winter quarters for once. His excellency dined with
+me yesterday, and expressed his satisfaction in the
+warmest terms. Who knows how many youths may
+be trained up for the service of the ever-loving and
+altogether lovely Jesus. Thus far, however, we may
+set up our Ebenezer. Hitherto the bush hath been
+burning, but is not consumed." To this statement he
+adds, "Mr. Wright hath done much in a little time;
+but he hath worked night and day, and not stirred a
+mile for many weeks. Thanks be to God, all outward
+things are settled on this side the water. The auditing
+the accounts, and laying the foundation for a college,
+hath silenced enemies and comforted friends.
+The finishing of this affair confirms my call to England
+at this time."</p>
+
+<p>But the intense anxiety of multitudes to hear his
+preaching, prevented Whitefield from leaving America
+for several months longer. He had, indeed, as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383">[383]</a></span>
+early as the middle of February, determined not to
+visit New England till his return from Europe; but
+arriving at Charleston, he was compelled to devote
+to labors there the whole month of March, and then
+set out for Philadelphia, preaching at many places on
+his way. He says, "All the way from Charleston to
+this place the cry is, 'For Christ's sake, stay and
+preach to us.' Oh for a thousand lives to spend for
+Jesus."</p>
+
+<p>The heat of the weather made it indispensable for
+his health that he should go to sea, and July 5th he
+once more arrived in England, on his last return voyage
+from America. He says, "We have had but a
+twenty-eight days' passage. The transition has been
+so sudden, that I can scarcely believe that I am in
+England. I hope, ere long, to have a more sudden
+transition into a better country." When he arrived
+in his native land, he was ill of a nervous fever,
+which left him extremely weak in body, and unable to
+exert himself as formerly. Yet, still intent on his
+work, he did what he could, in expectation of soon
+entering into his eternal rest. "Oh, to end life well!"
+he writes; "methinks I have now but one river to
+pass over. And we know of One who can carry us
+over without being ankle deep."</p>
+
+<p>On Whitefield's arrival in England, he found that
+his excellent friend the Countess of Huntingdon was
+erecting a large and beautiful church edifice in the
+fashionable city of Bath, and to that place he at once
+repaired. There he found several of his clerical
+brethren preaching in the private chapel at Bretby
+Hall, belonging to the Earl of Chesterfield, who had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384">[384]</a></span>
+placed it for the time being at the disposal of Lady
+Huntingdon. On Whitefield's arrival, this place was
+of necessity exchanged for the Park, where the concourse
+of people was as vast as ever.</p>
+
+<p>October 6, he preached the dedicatory sermon
+of Lady Huntingdon's church at Bath, to an immense
+crowd. To his friend Robert Keen, Esq., one of the
+managers of his London houses, he wrote, "Could you
+have come, and have been present at the opening of
+the chapel, you would have been much pleased. The
+building is extremely plain, and yet equally grand.
+A most beautiful original! All was conducted with
+great solemnity. Though a wet day, the place was
+very full, and assuredly the great Shepherd and Bishop
+of souls consecrated and made it holy ground by
+his presence."</p>
+
+<p>He made but a short stay at Bath, and returned
+to London, still feeble and tottering, but still compelled
+to labor. He had an interview with his old
+friend John Wesley, who says of him, "He seemed to
+be an old man, being fairly worn out in his Master's
+service, though he has hardly seen fifty years; and yet
+it pleases God that I, who am now in my sixty-third
+year, find no disorder, no weakness, no decay, no difference
+from what I was at five and twenty, only that
+I have fewer teeth, and more gray hairs." Writing
+to a friend at Sheerness, in Kent, Jan. 18, 1766, Whitefield
+says, "I am sorry to acquaint you that it is not
+in my power to comply with your request, for want of
+more assistance. I am confined in town with the care
+of two important posts, when I am only fit to be put
+into some garrison among invalids." By some means,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_385" id="Page_385">[385]</a></span>
+however, he obtained a release, for in March we find
+him at Bath and Bristol. Writing, March 17, he says,
+"The uncertainty of my motions has made me slow in
+writing; and a desire to be a while free from London
+cares, has made me indifferent about frequent hearing
+from thence. Last Friday evening, and twice yesterday,
+I preached at Bath, to very thronged and brilliant
+auditories."</p>
+
+<p>Whitefield's interest in America was not lessened
+by his absence from it. He ardently loved it, and
+wished for the return of its peace and prosperity. He
+hoped, with many others, that the repeal of the Stamp
+Act would lead to this result; hence, we find in his
+Letter-book this entry: "March 16, 1766, Stamp Act
+repealed. <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Gloria Deo.</i>"</p>
+
+<p>Among the remarkable men of his day was Samson
+Occam. He was descended, on his mother's side,
+from Uncas, chief of the Mohegans. He was born in
+1723, of parents who led a wandering life, depending
+on hunting and fishing for subsistence. None cultivated
+their lands, all dwelt in wigwams, and Samson
+was one of the very first of the tribe who learned to
+read. About the year 1740, at the age of seventeen, he
+was converted by the labors of Whitefield, Gilbert Tennent,
+and their companions. In a year or two he had
+learned to read his Bible with ease, and to his great
+advantage. He was a pupil at the school originally
+founded by Dr. Wheelock, at Lebanon, Conn., for the
+benefit exclusively of Indians, four years, and was
+then a teacher for eleven years. In 1759, he was ordained
+by the Suffolk Presbytery, and became an eminently
+zealous preacher to the scattered Mohegans.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_386" id="Page_386">[386]</a></span>
+In 1766, in company with the Rev. Mr. Whitaker of
+Norwich, he went to England to advocate the cause
+of Dr. Wheelock's Indian school, which school was
+afterwards merged in Dartmouth college, of which
+Mr. Wheelock was also founder and first president.
+Occum preached in the churches of Whitefield and
+Lady Huntingdon, as well as in some others of different
+denominations. We remember half a century ago
+hearing an old lady at Kidderminster, the town of
+Richard Baxter, describe a scene which occurred in
+Fawcett's church in that town. Occum had preached,
+and a handsome collection had been taken for his
+object; with tears of gratitude and joy the good man
+thanked them, and in tones which neither the weeping
+nor the mimetic talent of the old lady would allow
+her fully to imitate, assured them that the blessing of
+many ready to perish would come upon them. The
+place was a Bochim, and nothing could prevent the
+people from having the plates again carried round,
+that they might add to the liberal contributions they
+had already made.</p>
+
+<p>Occum preached in Great Britain from three to
+four hundred sermons; and as no North American
+Indian had ever preached in England before, public
+curiosity was great, and his pecuniary success considerable.
+He brought to this country, with his companion,
+as the produce of their labors, more than forty-five
+thousand dollars. In 1772 he published an interesting
+sermon which he preached to an Indian at his
+execution. An excellent portrait of him was published
+in England.</p>
+
+<p>Dr. Timothy Dwight writes, "I heard Mr. Occum<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_387" id="Page_387">[387]</a></span>
+twice. His discourses, though not proofs of superior
+talents, were decent; and his utterance in some degree
+eloquent. His character at one time labored under
+some imputations; yet there is good reason to believe
+that most, if not all of them were unfounded; and
+there is satisfactory evidence that he was a man of
+piety." An account of the Montauk Indians, written
+by Occum, is preserved in the "Historical Collections."
+He died at New Stockbridge, N. Y., July,
+1792. It has been said that the first Sunday-school
+in these United States was founded in the house of
+his sister, a few months after his death.</p>
+
+<p>Occum was somewhat of a wit, and could well
+apply his talent in his conflict with the enemies of divine
+truth. He once ended a long controversial conversation
+with a Universalist, by saying, "Well, well,
+remember, if you are correct, I am safe; if you are not
+correct, I am safe. I have two strings to my bow;
+you have but one."</p>
+
+<p>In June, 1766, we again find Whitefield in the
+neighborhood of Bristol, whence he writes, "As my
+feverish heat continues, and the weather is too wet to
+travel, I have complied with the advice of friends,
+and have commenced a Hot-wells water drinker twice
+a day. However, twice this week, at six o'clock in
+the morning, I have been enabled to call thirsty souls
+to come and 'drink of the water of life freely.' Tomorrow
+evening, God willing, the call is to be repeated,
+and again on Sunday." On his return to London,
+he writes, under date of September 25, "Many in this
+metropolis seem to be on the wing for God; the shout
+of a king is yet heard in the Methodist camp. Had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_388" id="Page_388">[388]</a></span>
+I wings, I would gladly fly from pole to pole; but
+they are clipped by thirty years' feeble labors. Twice
+or thrice a week I am permitted to ascend my gospel
+throne. The love of Christ, I am persuaded, will
+constrain you to pray that the last glimmering of an
+expiring taper may be blessed to the guiding of many,
+wandering souls to the Lamb of God."</p>
+
+<p>The good providence of God now gave Whitefield
+a colleague in the ministry at the Tabernacle and
+Tottenham Court-road chapel, the Rev. Torial Joss.
+This gentleman had spent many years as captain at
+sea; converted by divine grace, and filled with holy
+zeal, he devoted his popular talents to the welfare of
+his fellow-men, preaching both on sea and land. In a
+remarkable manner, Mr. Whitefield became acquainted
+with him, and, without his knowledge, published
+that he would preach in his houses of worship, which,
+though with extreme reluctance, Joss did. These
+services were often renewed, and Whitefield gave him
+no rest till he abandoned the sea, and devoted himself
+to the ministry. Everywhere he was popular, and
+everywhere useful. He continued minister of the two
+places in London&mdash;spending four or five months in
+each year travelling and preaching&mdash;for twenty-seven
+years after the death of his friend, and then departed
+from earth, in 1797, in holy triumph, in the 66th year
+of his age.</p>
+
+<p>One of the most extraordinary men in modern
+times was the late Rev. Rowland Hill, who erected
+Surrey chapel, London, and continued to preach in it
+till his death, in his eighty-ninth year, in 1833. He
+was eminently dignified in person, possessed extraordinary<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_389" id="Page_389">[389]</a></span>
+zeal, and was honored by his great Master
+with probably more success in the direct work of saving
+souls than any other minister of his day. He
+was a man of considerable rank, his father being a
+gentleman of title, one of his brothers a member of
+Parliament for many years, representing his native
+county, and the late eminent statesman and soldier
+Lord Hill was his nephew. Mr. Hill himself in early
+life became a Christian, and was educated for the
+ministry in the established church, but violated its
+rules, and preached wherever he could; for many
+years he was greatly persecuted by his own family,
+some of whom, however, in the end sustained the yoke
+of Christ. When Rowland began his somewhat erratic
+career, the opposition from his father was so
+great, that he was reduced sometimes to extreme poverty;
+and he was exactly the man to be encouraged
+by such men as Whitefield and Berridge. We give a
+few extracts from letters addressed to him by Whitefield,
+which certainly show no small degree of ardor,
+though we cannot see in them what Hill's clerical
+biographer, Mr. Sidney, professed to find, "an aspiration
+after the honors, when he had no prospect of
+the sufferings of martyrdom." The fact was, that
+Mr. Sidney was offended with Whitefield, as he was
+with his venerable uncle, Mr. Hill, for having deviated
+from the rigid laws of the establishment. It is only
+needful to introduce the first letter by saying that it
+was dated, London, December 27, 1766, and was sent
+in answer to one in which Mr. Hill had asked his
+counsel.</p>
+
+<p>"About thirty-four years ago, the master of Pembroke<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390">[390]</a></span>
+college, where I was educated, took me to task
+for visiting the sick and going to the prisons. In my
+haste I said, 'Sir, if it displeaseth you I will go no
+more.' My heart smote me immediately; I repented,
+and went again; he heard of it&mdash;threatened&mdash;but for
+fear he should be looked on as a persecutor, let me
+alone. The hearts of all are in the Redeemer's hands.
+I would not have you give way; no, not for a moment.
+The storm is too great to hold long. Visiting
+the sick and imprisoned, and instructing the ignorant,
+are the very vitals of true and undefiled religion. If
+threatened, denied degree, or expelled <em>for this</em>, it will
+be the best degree you can take&mdash;a glorious preparative
+for, and a blessed presage of future usefulness.
+I have seen the dreadful consequences of giving way
+and looking back. How many by this wretched cowardice,
+and fear of the cross, have been turned into
+pillars, not of useful, but of useless salt. Now is your
+time to prove the strength of Jesus yours. If opposition
+did not so much abound, your consolations would
+not so abound. Blind as he is, Satan sees some great
+good coming on. We never prospered so much at
+Oxford as when we were hissed at and reproached as
+we walked along the streets, as being counted the
+dung and offscouring of all things. That is a poor
+building which a little stinking breath of Satan's vassals
+can throw down. Your house, I trust, is better
+founded. Is it not built upon a rock? Is not that
+rock the blessed Jesus? The gates of hell, therefore,
+shall not be able to prevail against it. Go on, therefore,
+my dear man, go on. Old Berridge, I believe,
+would give you the same advice; you are honored in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_391" id="Page_391">[391]</a></span>
+sharing his reproach and name. God be praised that
+you are enabled to bless when others blaspheme. God
+bless and direct and support you. He will, he will.
+Good Lady Huntingdon is in town; she will rejoice to
+hear that you are under the cross. You will not want
+her prayers, or the poor prayers of, my dear honest
+young friend, yours, in an all-conquering Jesus."</p>
+
+<p>The opposition Mr. Hill met with from his parents
+increased, and the threat of his degree being
+withheld, was, on the part of the university authorities,
+more determined; still, however, he persevered
+in his preaching and his visits, in violation of the laws
+of discipline. In June, 1767, Mr. Whitefield wrote
+him: "I wish you joy of the late high dignity conferred
+upon you&mdash;higher than if you were made the
+greatest professor in the university of Cambridge.
+The honorable degrees you intend giving to your
+promising candidates, [allowing some of his fellow-students
+to preach in the various places which he had
+visited,] I trust will excite a holy ambition, and a
+holy emulation; let me know who is first honored.
+As I have been admitted to the degree of doctor for
+near these thirty years, I assure you I like my field
+preferment, my airy pluralities, exceedingly well.
+For these three weeks last past I have been beating up
+for fresh recruits in Gloucestershire and South Wales.
+Thousands and thousands attended, and good Lady
+Huntingdon was present at one of our reviews. Her
+ladyship's aid-de-camp preached in Brecknock-street,
+and Captain Scott, that glorious field-officer, lately
+fixed up his standard upon dear Mr. Fletcher's horseblock
+at Madeley. Being invited thither, I have a great<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_392" id="Page_392">[392]</a></span>
+inclination to lift up the Redeemer's ensign next week
+in the same place; with what success, you and your
+dearly beloved candidates for good old methodistical
+contempt shall know hereafter. God willing, I intend
+fighting my way up to town. Soon after my arrival
+there, I hope thousands and thousands of volleys of
+prayers, energetic, effectual, fervent, heaven-besieging,
+heaven-opening, heaven-taking prayers, shall be poured
+forth for you all. Oh, my dearly beloved and longed-for
+in the Lord, my bowels yearn towards you. Fear
+not to go without the camp; keep open the correspondence
+between the two universities. Remember the
+praying legions&mdash;they were never known to yield.
+God bless those that are gone to their respective
+<em>cures</em>&mdash;I say not <em>livings</em>, a term of too modern date.
+Christ is our life; Christ is the Levite's inheritance,
+and Christ will be the true disinterested Levite's lot
+and portion and all. Greet your dear young companions
+whom I saw; they are welcome to write
+when they please. God be your physician under your
+bodily malady. A thorn, a thorn! but Christ's grace
+will be sufficient for you. To his tender, never-failing
+mercy I commit you."</p>
+
+<p>A few weeks after this, Mr. Hill was much depressed
+in spirits, partly from bodily illness, partly
+because he was about to leave Cambridge and its surrounding
+villages, where he had latterly so frequently
+preached, but chiefly from the fact that he was going
+home, where he would again meet the frowns of his
+honored parents, for what they deemed his overrighteousness.
+In the midst of all this, however, he knew
+that he would meet at Hawkstone, his father's residence,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_393" id="Page_393">[393]</a></span>
+the cordial welcome of his sister and elder
+brother, Richard Hill, afterwards a baronet. This
+gentleman had lately become a village preacher and a
+visitor of prisons, like his brother. Under these circumstances
+he was addressed by Whitefield, in his
+own peculiar and energetic style: "What said our
+Lord to Martha? 'Did I not say unto thee, If thou
+wouldest believe, thou shouldst see the glory of God?'
+Blessed, for ever blessed be the God and Father of
+our Lord Jesus Christ, for what he hath done for your
+dear brother. A preaching, prison-preaching, field-preaching
+<em>esquire</em>, strikes more than all the black
+gowns and lawn sleeves in the world. And if I am
+not mistaken, the great Shepherd and Bishop of souls
+will let the world, and his own children too, know
+that he will not be prescribed to in respect to men,
+or garbs, or places; much less will he be confined to
+any order or set of men under heaven. I wish you
+both much, very much prosperity. You will have it&mdash;<em>you
+will have it</em>. This is the way, walk ye in it. Both
+Tabernacle and [Tottenham Court-road] chapel pulpits
+shall be open to a captain or an esquire sent of
+God. The good news from Oxford is encouraging.
+Say what they will, preaching should be one part of
+the education of a student in divinity. I pray for
+you night and day."</p>
+
+<p>On the arrival of Mr. Hill at his father's beautiful
+seat, it was his happiness to find that his brother
+Brian, afterwards useful as a clergyman, was added
+to the number of believers in Christ; he learned also,
+that one of his college friends had been threatened to
+have an exhibition, or yearly gift towards his university<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394">[394]</a></span>
+expenses, withdrawn, unless he renounced his evangelical
+doctrines and practices. The reader will now
+understand Mr. Whitefield's letter: "I have been
+sadly hindered from answering your last letter, delivered
+to me by your brother. I gave it him to read,
+and we had, I trust, a profitable conference. God be
+praised if another of your brothers is gained. What
+grace is this! Four or five out of one family&mdash;it is
+scarcely to be paralleled. Who knows but the root,
+as well as the branches, may be taken by and by?
+Abba, Father, all things are possible with thee!
+Steadiness and perseverance in the children will be
+one of the best means, under God, of convincing the
+parents. This present opposition I think cannot last
+very long; if it does, to obey God rather than man,
+when forbidden to do what is undoubted duty, is the
+invariable rule. Our dear Penty [afterwards the
+Rev. Thomas Pentycross] is under the cross at Cambridge.
+But</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"'Satan thwarts, and men object,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Yet the thing they thwart effect.'<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="noindent">I should be glad if any one's exhibition was taken
+from him for visiting the sick, etc. It would vastly
+tend to the furtherance of the gospel; but Satan sees
+too far, I imagine, to play such a game now. Let
+him do his work; he is only a mastiff chained. Continue
+to inform me how he barks, and how far he is
+permitted to go in your parts; and God's people
+shall be more stirred up to pray for you all."</div>
+
+<p>The close of Mr. Hill's life was truly interesting
+and instructive. As has been intimated, he preached
+with scarcely diminished power until within a few<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_395" id="Page_395">[395]</a></span>
+weeks of his death. During the last two or three
+years of his life he very frequently repeated the following
+lines of an old poet:</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<span class="i10">"And when I'm to die,<br /></span>
+<span class="i11">Receive me, I'll cry,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For Jesus has loved me, I cannot tell why;<br /></span>
+<span class="i11">But this I can find,<br /></span>
+<span class="i11">We two are so joined,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That he'll not be in glory, and leave me behind."<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<p>"The last time he occupied my pulpit," writes his
+neighbor, the Rev. George Clayton, "when he preached
+excellently for an hour, in behalf of a charitable
+institution, he retired to the vestry after service under
+feelings of great and manifest exhaustion. Here he
+remained until every individual except the pew-openers,
+his servant, and myself had left the place. At
+length he seemed with some reluctance to summon
+energy enough to take his departure, intimating that
+it was in all probability the last time he should preach
+in Walworth. His servant went before to open the
+carriage-door, the pew-openers remaining in the vestry.
+I offered my arm, which he declined, and then
+followed him as he passed down the aisle of the
+chapel. The lights were nearly extinguished, the
+silence was profound, nothing indeed was heard but
+the slow majestic tread of his own footsteps, when, in
+an undertone, he thus soliloquized:</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+"'And when I'm to die,' etc.<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>To my heart this was a scene of unequalled solemnity,
+nor can I ever recur to it without a revival of that
+hallowed, sacred, shuddering sympathy which it originally
+awakened."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_396" id="Page_396">[396]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>When the good old saint lay literally dying, and
+when apparently unconscious, a friend put his mouth
+close to his ear, and repeated slowly his favorite lines:</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+"And when I'm to die," etc.
+</p>
+
+<p>The light came back to his fast-fading eye, a smile
+overspread his face, and his lips moved in the ineffectual
+attempt to articulate the words. This was the
+last sign of consciousness which he gave.</p>
+
+<p>We could almost wish that every disciple of Christ
+would commit these lines, quaint as they are, to memory,
+and weave them into the web of his Christian
+experience. Confidence in Christ, and undeviating
+adherence to him, can alone enable us to triumph in
+life and death.</p>
+
+<p>In November, 1766, Whitefield again visited Bath
+and Bristol, and then passed on to Gloucestershire
+and Oxford. Never did so many of the nobility attend
+his ministry as he now saw at Bath, and the results of
+his whole journey were such as to fill him with the
+most devout gratitude. He saw too the number of
+his clerical friends largely increasing, and especially
+rejoiced in the fact that the excellent Fletcher, of
+Madeley, preached in his pulpits in London. He writes
+of this event, "Dear Mr. Fletcher has become a <em>scandalous</em>
+Tottenham Court preacher.... Were we
+more scandalous, more good would be done....
+Still, 'the shout of a king is yet heard' in the Methodist
+camp."</p>
+
+<p>In January, 1767, Whitefield wrote a recommendatory
+preface to the works of John Bunyan, whom he
+pleasantly designated, "Bishop Bunyan;" and as soon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_397" id="Page_397">[397]</a></span>
+as the weather would permit, we find him at Norwich,
+and then at Rodborough, Woodstock, Gloucester,
+and Haverfordwest, from which last place he wrote,
+"Thousands and thousands attend by eight in the
+morning. Life and light seem to fly all around." On
+a second visit to Gloucester on this tour, he wrote,
+"Blessed be God, I have got on this side the Welsh
+mountains. Blessed be God, I have been on the other
+side. What a scene last Sunday! What a cry for
+more of the bread of life! But I was quite worn
+down."</p>
+
+<p>In September following, he again visited the north
+of England, writing from day to day in high spirits.
+September 28, he says, "My body feels much fatigued
+in travelling; comforts in the soul overbalance;" and
+from Leeds, October 3, he writes, "Field and street
+preaching have rather bettered than hurt my bodily
+health."</p>
+
+<p>Whitefield now returned to London, to sustain a
+heavy disappointment. The negotiations relative to
+the college at Bethesda were this winter brought to an
+issue. A memorial addressed to his Majesty was put
+into the hands of the clerk of the Privy Council, setting
+forth the great utility of a college in that place
+to the southern provinces; and praying that a charter
+might be granted upon the plan of the college in New
+Jersey. This memorial was transmitted by the clerk
+of the Privy Council to the lord president, and by his
+lordship referred to the Archbishop of Canterbury,
+to whom also a draft of an intended charter was presented
+by the Earl of Dartmouth. A correspondence
+followed all this between the archbishop and Whitefield;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_398" id="Page_398">[398]</a></span>
+the consequence of which was, that his grace
+gave the draft of the college to the lord president,
+who promised he would consider of it; and gave it as
+his opinion that "the head of the college ought to be
+a member of the church of England; that this was a
+qualification not to be dispensed with; and also, that
+the public prayers should not be extempore ones, but
+the liturgy of the church, or some other settled and
+established form." Whitefield replied that these restrictions
+he could by no means agree to, because the
+greatest part of the contributions for the orphan-house
+came from Protestant dissenters; and because he had
+constantly declared that the intended college should
+be founded upon a broad foundation, and no other.</p>
+
+<p>"This," said he, "I judged I was sufficiently warranted
+to do, from the known, long-established, mild,
+and uncoercive genius of the British government; also
+from your grace's moderation towards Protestant dissenters;
+from the unconquerable attachment of the
+Americans to toleration principles, as well as from
+the avowed habitual feelings of my own heart. This
+being the case, and as your grace, by your silence,
+seems to be like-minded with the lord president; and
+as your grace's and his lordship's influence will undoubtedly
+extend itself to others, I would beg leave,
+after returning all due acknowledgments, to inform
+your grace that I intend troubling your grace and his
+lordship no more about this so long depending concern.
+As it hath pleased the great Head of the
+church in some degree to renew my bodily strength,
+I propose now to renew my feeble efforts, and to turn
+the charity into a more generous, and consequently<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_399" id="Page_399">[399]</a></span>
+into a more useful channel. I have no ambition to
+be looked upon as the founder of a college; but I
+would fain act the part of an honest man, a disinterested
+minister of Jesus Christ, and a true, catholic,
+moderate presbyter of the church of England."</p>
+
+<p>Thus ended Whitefield's labors to establish a college
+at Bethesda. Berridge, and not a few others of
+his friends rather rejoiced in his disappointment, as
+they thought there was some fear, uncontrolled as the
+institution might hereafter be by men of established
+principles of piety, that an unconverted ministry might
+be increased by its means.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_400" id="Page_400">[400]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER XV.</h2>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<h3>HIS LAST LABORS IN GREAT BRITAIN&mdash;COLLEGE
+AT TREVECCA&mdash;EARL OF BUCHAN&mdash;TUNBRIDGE
+WELLS.<br />
+
+1767-1769.</h3></blockquote>
+
+
+<p>Whitefield had abandoned the idea of a charter
+for a college at present, but he was yet ardently desirous
+of a public academy being added to his orphan-house,
+similar to what existed at Philadelphia before
+a college charter was granted. He thought that if
+this could be done, a better day might arrive, when a
+charter on broad principles might be obtained. He
+developed his whole plan in a letter to Governor
+Wright. Feeling too the uncertainty of life, he wrote
+to his friend Mr. Keen, "None but God knows what a
+concern is upon me now, in respect of Bethesda. As
+another voyage, perhaps, may be the issue and the
+result of all at last, I would beg you and my dear
+Mr. H&mdash;&mdash; to let me have all my papers and letters,
+that I may revise and dispose of them in a proper
+manner. This can do no hurt, come life or come
+death."</p>
+
+<p>October 28th, 1767, Whitefield preached at the London
+Tabernacle before the society for promoting religious
+knowledge among the poor, usually called, The
+Book Society. This society had been organized seventeen
+years before this period, and included in it such
+men as Watts, Doddridge, and Gifford. He gave<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_401" id="Page_401">[401]</a></span>
+way to all the zeal of his heart while he discussed the
+petition, "Thy kingdom come." Luke 11:2. The
+congregation was immense, many had to go away
+unable to obtain admittance. It was believed that a
+larger number of dissenting ministers were present
+than ever before heard a sermon from an Episcopal
+minister, and the collection reached more than five
+hundred dollars, or above four times the usual amount,
+besides eighty new annual subscribers. After the
+service, he dined with a very large party, including the
+ministers, where harmony reigned, and much respect
+was shown him.</p>
+
+<p>It may be readily supposed, that with advancing
+years and increasing experience, some changes might
+have taken place both in the style and manner of
+Whitefield's preaching. The Rev. Cornelius Winter,
+who had become somewhat closely associated with him,
+says, "He dealt more in the explanatory and doctrinal
+mode on the Sabbath morning than at any other time,
+and sometimes made a little, but by no means an improper
+show of learning. His afternoon sermon was
+more general and exhortatory. In the evening, he
+drew his bow at a venture; vindicated the doctrines
+of grace, fenced them with articles and homilies, referred
+to the martyr's seal, and exemplified the power of
+divine grace by quotations from the venerable Foxe.
+Sinners were then closely plied, numbers of whom,
+from curiosity, coming to hear for a minute or two,
+were often compelled to hear the whole sermon. How
+many in the judgment-day will rise to prove that they
+heard to the salvation of the soul. Upon the members
+of society, the practice of Christianity was then<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_402" id="Page_402">[402]</a></span>
+usually inculcated, not without some pertinent anecdote
+of a character worthy to be held up for an example,
+and in whose conduct the hints recommended
+were exemplified. On Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays,
+and Thursdays, he preached at six in the morning;
+and never, perhaps, did he preach greater sermons
+than at this hour." This, with the frequent
+administration of the Lord's supper to hundreds of
+communicants, was his usual plan for several years;
+but now he became more colloquial in his style, with
+but little action; he gave pertinent expositions of the
+Scriptures, with striking remarks, all comprehended
+within an hour. Winter adds, "The peculiar talents
+he possessed, subservient to great usefulness, can be
+but faintly conceived from his sermons in print;
+though, as formerly, God has made the reading of
+them useful, and I have no doubt that in future they
+will have their use."</p>
+
+<p>But even yet our evangelist had to engage in war.
+The opposition of the universities in Oxford and Cambridge
+to the principles and practices introduced by
+Whitefield, Wesley, and their companions, grew and
+strengthened, till an event occurred at Oxford singularly
+remarkable in its history for opposition to evangelical
+religion, which for many years continued to
+excite very extraordinary interest. The London "St.
+James' Chronicle," of Thursday, March 17, 1763, contained
+the following "extract of a letter from Oxford:"
+"On Friday last, six students, belonging to Edmund
+Hall, were expelled the university, after a hearing of
+several hours before Mr. Vice-Chancellor and some
+of the heads of houses, for holding methodistical<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_403" id="Page_403">[403]</a></span>
+tenets, and taking upon them to pray, read, and expound
+the Scriptures, and singing hymns in a private
+house. The &mdash;&mdash; of the &mdash;&mdash; [The Principal of the
+Edmund Hall, Rev. Dr. Dixon] defended their doctrines
+from the Thirty-nine Articles of the established
+church, and spoke in the highest terms of the piety
+and exemplariness of their lives; but his motion was
+overruled, and sentence pronounced against them.
+Dr. &mdash;&mdash;, [Dixon,] one of the heads of houses present,
+observed, that as these six gentlemen were expelled for
+having too much religion, it would be very proper to
+inquire into the conduct of some who had too little;
+and Mr. &mdash;&mdash; [Dr. Nowell] was heard to tell their
+chief accuser, that the university was much obliged to
+him for his good work."</p>
+
+<p>To detail the events which followed this extraordinary
+act, and to describe the excitement thus created,
+form no part of the design of our volume.
+We have referred to the fact because Mr. Whitefield
+and his friend Sir Richard Hill took part in the controversy.
+Referring to Dr. Nowell's assertion to
+Mr. Higson, their "chief accuser," and who was also
+their tutor, that the university was obliged to him,
+Whitefield says to the Vice-Chancellor, "What thanks,
+reverend sir, he may meet with from the whole university
+I know not; but one thing I know, namely,
+that he will receive no thanks for that day's work
+from the innumerable company of angels, the general
+assembly of the first-born which are written in heaven,
+or from God the Judge of all, in that day when
+Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant shall come in
+his own glory, in the glory of the Father and his holy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_404" id="Page_404">[404]</a></span>
+angels, and gather his elect from all the four corners
+of the world.</p>
+
+<p>"It is true, indeed, one article of impeachment
+was, that 'some of them were of <em>trades</em> before they
+entered into the university.' But what evil or crime
+worthy of expulsion can there be in that? To be
+called from any, though the meanest mechanical employment,
+to the study of the liberal arts, where a
+natural genius hath been given, was never yet looked
+upon as a reproach to, or diminution of any great and
+public character whatsoever. Profane history affords
+us a variety of examples of the greatest heroes, who
+have been fetched even from the plough to command
+armies, and who performed the greatest exploits for
+their country's good. And if we examine <em>sacred</em> history,
+we shall find that even David, after he was
+anointed king, looked back with sweet complacency
+to the rock from whence he was hewn, and is not
+ashamed to leave it upon record, that God took him
+away from the sheepfolds, as he was following the
+ewes great with young; and, as though he loved to
+repeat it, he took him, he says, 'that he might feed
+Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.'</p>
+
+<p>"But why speak I of David, when Jesus of Nazareth,
+David's Lord and David's King, had for his
+reputed father a carpenter? and in all probability,
+as it was a common proverb among the Jews, that 'he
+who did not teach his son a trade, taught him to be a
+thief,' he worked at the trade of a carpenter himself.
+For this, indeed, he was reproached and maligned:
+'Is not this,' said they, 'the carpenter's son?' Nay,
+'Is not this the carpenter?' But who were these maligners?<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_405" id="Page_405">[405]</a></span>
+The greatest enemies to the power of godliness
+which the world ever saw, the scribes and Pharisees,
+that 'generation of vipers,' as John the Baptist
+calls them, who, upon every occasion, were spitting
+out their venom, and shooting their arrows, even bitter
+words, against that Son of man, even that Son of
+God who, to display his sovereignty, and confound
+the wisdom of the worldly wise, chose poor fishermen
+to be his apostles; and whose chief of the apostles,
+though brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, both before
+and after his call to the apostleship, labored with
+his own hands, and worked at the trade of a tent-maker."</p>
+
+<p>It is pleasant to know that the young men thus
+expelled became useful in the church of Christ. One
+of them, indeed, Erasmus Middleton, who had been
+sustained at Oxford by Mr. Fuller, a dissenter and
+banker in London, was ordained in Ireland by the
+bishop of Down, and having married a lady of the
+ducal family of Gordon, in Scotland, was curate successively
+to the Rev. Messrs. Romaine and Cadogan
+in London, and finally rector of Turvey, in Bedfordshire,
+where he was the immediate predecessor of the
+sainted Legh Richmond.</p>
+
+<p>Many delightful evidences yet exist that as Whitefield
+drew nearer the end of his career on earth, his
+holy zeal increased, rather than lessened. We have
+lying before us three of his letters, not included either
+in the collection of his printed correspondence, or in
+the lives which have been published. The first was
+addressed to a gentleman at Wisbeach, and appears
+to have been written from London. It is dated Sept.
+25, 1766.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_406" id="Page_406">[406]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Sir</span>&mdash;As your letter breathes the spirit of
+a sincere follower of the Lamb of God, I am sorry
+that it hath lain by so long unanswered; but bodily
+weakness, and a multiplicity of correspondents, both
+from abroad and at home, must be pleaded as excuses.
+'Blessed be God, our salvation is nearer than when
+we believed.' It should seem that you have now
+served three apprenticeships in Christ's school, and
+yet I suppose the language of your heart is, 'I love
+my Master, and will not go from him;' and Oh, what
+a mercy, that whom Jesus loves, he loves to the end!
+Do you not begin to long to see him more than ever?
+Do you not groan in this tabernacle, being burdened?
+Courage, courage; he that cometh will come, and will
+not tarry. Oh that patience may have its perfect
+work! Many in this metropolis seem to be on the
+wing for God; the shout of a king is yet heard in
+the Methodist camp. Had I wings, I would gladly
+fly from pole to pole; but they are clipped by thirty
+years' feeble labors. Twice or thrice a week I am
+permitted to ascend my gospel throne. The love of
+Christ, I am persuaded, will constrain you to pray
+that the last glimmering of an expiring taper may
+be blessed to the guiding of many wandering souls to
+the Lamb of God."</p>
+
+<p>The second letter was written from the same city,
+February 12, in the following year, and was addressed
+to Captain Scott, a military officer then "quartered
+at Leicester." This gentleman, in early life, had been
+much devoted to the gayeties of fashionable society;
+long after he had entered the army, he was converted
+to God, under the ministry of the Rev. W. Romaine;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_407" id="Page_407">[407]</a></span>
+and a few weeks before Mr. Whitefield addressed to
+him this letter, he had begun to preach the grand message
+of reconciliation. He afterwards left the army,
+was ordained as a Congregational minister, and labored
+for many years in almost innumerable places
+in city and country, with abundant success.</p>
+
+<p>"What, not answer so modest a request, namely,
+to snatch a few moments to send dear Captain Scott
+a few lines? God forbid. I must again welcome him
+into the field of battle. I must again entreat him to
+keep his rank as captain, and not suffer any persuasions
+to influence him to descend to the low degree of
+a common soldier. If God will choose a red-coat
+preacher, who shall say unto him, 'What doest thou?'</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Prevent thy foes, nor wait their charge;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">But call the lingering battle on;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">But strongly grasp thy seven-fold targe,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And bear the world and Satan down.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Strong in the Lord's almighty power,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And armed in panoply divine,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Firm mayest thou stand in danger's hour,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And prove the strength of Jesus thine.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"The helmet of salvation take,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The Lord the Spirit's conquering sword;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Speak from the word, in lightning speak;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Cry out, and thunder from the Lord.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Through friends and foes pursue thy way,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Be mindful of a dying God;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Finish thy course, and win the day,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Though called to seal the truth with blood.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>"Gladly would I come, and in my poor way endeavor
+to strengthen your hands; but alas, I am fit
+for nothing, but, as an invalid, to be put into some<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_408" id="Page_408">[408]</a></span>
+garrison, and now and then put my hand to some old
+gun. Blessed be the Captain of our salvation for
+drafting out some young champions to reconnoitre
+and attack the enemy. You will beat the march in
+every letter, and bid the common soldiers not halt,
+but go forwards. Good Lady Huntingdon wishes you
+much prosperity. Pray write to her at Brighthelmstone,
+[now Brighton,] Sussex. She will most gladly
+answer you; and I assure you, her Ladyship's letters
+are always weighty. Hoping one day or another to
+see your face in the flesh, and more than hoping to
+see you crowned with glory in the kingdom of heaven,
+I must hasten to subscribe myself, my dear captain,
+yours in our all-glorious Captain-general,</p>
+
+<p class="sig">
+"G. WHITEFIELD."
+</p>
+
+<p>The last letter we shall introduce in this connection
+was addressed by Whitefield to the Honorable and
+Rev. Walter Shirley, of Ireland, a near relative of the
+Countess of Huntingdon, who breathed, as a minister
+of Christ, much of the spirit of his great Master. It
+was dated, Bath, Dec. 8, 1767:</p>
+
+<p>"<span class="smcap">Rev. and very dear Sir</span>&mdash;How glad was I to
+hear by the London Shunamite, [Mrs. Herritage,] that
+you and your lady were well; that God had given
+you a son; that you reflected on your preaching at
+Tottenham Court chapel with pleasure; that you had
+gotten a curate; and, to complete all, that you intended
+to visit England next spring. This news rejoiced
+me before I left town, and was most grateful to our
+good Lady Huntingdon, whom I have the honor of
+waiting upon at this time in Bath. She hath been
+sick, nigh unto death, but through mercy is now somewhat<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_409" id="Page_409">[409]</a></span>
+recovered, though as yet unable to write much.
+This her ladyship much regrets on your account; and
+therefore enjoins me to inform you, that your letter
+did not reach her hands till many weeks after the
+proper time; that ever since she has been visited with
+lingering sickness, but begs you will not linger in
+coming over to our Macedonia to help us. The
+thought of it seems to refresh her heaven-born soul.
+Blessed be God, her ladyship still takes the lead.</p>
+
+<p>"She is now doing honor to the remains of the
+Earl of Buchan, who sweetly slept in Jesus last week.
+All hath been awful, and more than awful. On Saturday
+evening, before the corpse was taken from Buchan
+house, a word of exhortation was given, and a
+hymn sung in the room where the corpse lay. The
+young Earl stood with his hands on the head of the
+coffin, the Countess Dowager of Buchan on his right
+hand, Lady Ann Agnes, and Lady Isabella Erskine on
+his left, and their brother the Hon. Thomas Erskine
+next to their mother, with Miss O&mdash;&mdash;, Miss W&mdash;&mdash;,
+Miss G&mdash;&mdash;; on one side all the domestics, with a few
+friends on the other. The word of exhortation was
+received with great solemnity, and most wept under
+the parting prayer. At ten, the corpse was removed
+to good Lady Huntingdon's chapel, where it was deposited
+within a place railed in for that purpose, covered
+with black baize, and the usual funeral concomitants,
+except escutcheons.</p>
+
+<p>"On Sunday morning, all attended in mourning at
+early sacrament. They were seated by themselves,
+at the feet of the corpse, and with their head servants,
+received first, and a particular address was made to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_410" id="Page_410">[410]</a></span>
+them. Immediately after receiving, these verses were
+sung for them:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"'Our lives, our blood, we here present,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">If for thy truth they may be spent:<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Fulfil thy glorious counsel, Lord;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Thy will be done, thy name adored.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"'Give them thy strength, O God of power,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Then let men rave or devils roar,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Thy faithful witnesses they'll be;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">'Tis fixed, they can do all through thee!'<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>"Then they received this blessing: 'The Lord bless
+you, and keep you; the Lord lift up the light of his
+countenance upon you; the Lord cause his face to
+shine upon you, and give you peace;' and so returned
+to their places.</p>
+
+<p>"Sacrament ended, and a blessed sacrament it was,
+the noble mourners returned to the good Countess of
+Huntingdon's house, which was lent them for the day.
+At eleven, public worship began. The bereaved relatives
+sat in order within, and the domestics round the
+outside of the rail. The chapel was more than crowded.
+Near three hundred tickets, signed by the present
+earl, were given out to the nobility and gentry,
+to be admitted. All was hushed and solemn. Proper
+hymns were sung, and I preached on the words,
+'Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord.' Attention
+sat on every countenance, and deep and almost
+universal impressions were made. The like scene,
+and if possible more solemn, was exhibited in the
+evening, and I was enabled to preach a second time,
+and a like power attended the word as in the morning.
+Ever since, there hath been public service and
+preaching twice a day. This is to be continued till<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_411" id="Page_411">[411]</a></span>
+Friday morning, then all is to be removed to Bristol,
+in order to be shipped off to Scotland. The inscription
+on the coffin runs thus: 'His life was honorable&mdash;his
+death blessed&mdash;he sought earnestly peace with
+God&mdash;he found it, with unspeakable joy, alone in the
+merits of Jesus Christ, witnessed by the Holy Spirit
+to his soul&mdash;he yet speaketh. Go and do likewise.'</p>
+
+<p>"I have often wished for you here. Congregations
+are very large, attentive, and deeply impressed.
+Great numbers of all ranks crowd to see and hear;
+and I trust many will also feel. Surely the death of
+this noble earl, thus improved, will prove the life of
+many. He behaved like the patriarch Jacob, when
+by faith, leaning upon his staff, he blessed his children.
+The earl added, 'Yea, and they shall be blessed.'
+He laid his hands on, and blessed his children,
+assuring them of his personal interest in Jesus. He
+had great foretastes of heaven. 'Had I strength of
+body,' cried he, 'I would not be ashamed, before men
+and angels, to tell what the Lord Jesus hath done for
+my soul. Come, Holy Ghost&mdash;come, Holy Ghost;
+happy, happy, happy!' and then sweetly slept in Jesus.
+All surviving relatives still feel the influence. They
+sit round the corpse, attended by their domestics and
+supporters, twice a day. Good Lady S&mdash;&mdash; gets
+fresh spirits. The present noble earl, I believe, hath
+got the blessing indeed, and seems, upon the best evidence,
+to determine to know nothing but Jesus Christ,
+and him crucified. He hath behaved in the most delicate
+manner to the Countess, and other noble survivors."</p>
+
+<p>The summer of 1768 brought to Whitefield a series<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_412" id="Page_412">[412]</a></span>
+of changes. For the last time he now visited
+Edinburgh, where he found his congregations as large,
+and his Christian friends as affectionate as ever. Soon
+after his return to London, Mrs. Whitefield was seized
+with inflammatory fever, and died, as we have already
+seen, on the 9th of August. His own health too was
+more than declining. He writes, "I have been in
+hopes of my own departure. Through hard writing,
+and frequent preaching, I have burst a vein. The
+flux is in a great measure stopped; but rest and quietness
+are strictly enjoined."</p>
+
+<p>"Rest and quietness!" With Whitefield such
+things were impossible as long as he could move or
+speak. His fire must burn till its whole material was
+expended; his heart overflowed, and he must labor
+till his body sank under exhaustion. No persecution
+could appall him, no sickness could long keep him
+from his beloved engagements. He would preach till
+he died, being fully assured that his "labor was not in
+vain in the Lord."</p>
+
+<p>Neither Whitefield nor any of his friends could
+ever be the advocates of an unlearned ministry. Many
+of the men engaged under his direction, and preaching
+in what was already called "Lady Huntingdon's
+connection," needed, as they well knew, a better education
+than they possessed. Hence her ladyship obtained
+a lease of an old structure, supposed to have
+been part of an ancient castle erected in the reign of
+Henry the Second. The date over the entrance, now
+almost effaced, is 1176. It was called Trevecca
+House, was situated in the parish of Talgarth, in
+South Wales, and was for some time the residence of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_413" id="Page_413">[413]</a></span>
+Howel Harris. This building was opened as a college
+for religious and literary instruction, and the chapel
+dedicated to the preaching of the everlasting gospel,
+Aug. 24, 1768, the anniversary of the Bartholomew
+act, and of the birth of her ladyship. Mr. Whitefield
+preached from Exod. 24:24: "In all places where I
+record my name, I will come unto thee and bless
+thee;" and on the following Sabbath he addressed a
+congregation of some thousands, who assembled in the
+court before the college. His text on that occasion
+was, "Other foundation can no man lay than that is
+laid, which is Jesus Christ." When speaking of the
+dedication of the college, Mr. Whitefield says, "What
+we have seen and felt at the college is unspeakable."</p>
+
+<p>After her ladyship's death the institution was removed
+to Cheshunt, about thirteen miles north of London,
+where it still flourishes under the presidency of
+the Rev. Dr. W. H. Stowell.</p>
+
+<p>In the early part of 1769, Mr. Whitefield was for
+some weeks seriously ill, but towards the close of
+March, he was able to write, "Through infinite mercy
+I have been able to preach four days successively."
+During his illness he received many offers of assistance
+from his brethren in the ministry, but from none
+more cordially than from the Honorable and Rev.
+Mr. Shirley. Writing to him, April 1, Whitefield
+says:</p>
+
+<p>"How much am I obliged to you for your two kind
+letters, and more especially for the repeated offers of
+your ministerial assistance. They will be most gratefully
+accepted, and, I humbly hope, be remarkably succeeded
+by Him who hath promised to be with us always,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_414" id="Page_414">[414]</a></span>
+even unto the end of the world. Blessed be
+His name, we have been favored with most delightful
+passover feasts. The shout of the King of kings is
+still heard in the midst of our Methodist camps; and
+the shout of, Grace, grace! resounds from many quarters.
+Our almighty Jesus knows how to build his
+temple in troublous times. His work prospers in the
+hands of the elect countess, who is gone to Bath, much
+recovered from her late indisposition. Worthy Lady
+Fanny Shirley proposes soon to follow, in order to
+reside there. Some more coronets, I hear, are likely
+to be laid at the Redeemer's feet. They glitter gloriously
+when set in and surrounded by a <em>crown of
+thorns</em>.</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<span class="i0">"'Subjects of the Lord, be bold;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Jesus will his kingdom hold;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Wheels encircling wheels must run,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Each in course to bring it on.'"<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<p>That the friendship of Dr. Franklin towards Mr.
+Whitefield was sincere, cannot be doubted; there is,
+however, somewhat painful in the thought, that even
+in this connection Franklin could not conceal his
+scepticism. In 1769 both these eminent men were in
+London, and every one knows that the state of our
+country was very trying. Franklin thus wrote to
+Whitefield: "I am under continued apprehensions that
+we may have bad news from America. The sending
+soldiers to Boston always appeared to me a dangerous
+step; they could do no good, they might occasion mischief.
+When I consider the warm resentment of a
+people who think themselves injured and oppressed,
+and the common insolence of the soldiery, who are
+taught to consider that people as in rebellion, I cannot<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_415" id="Page_415">[415]</a></span>
+but fear the consequences of bringing them together.
+It seems like setting up a smith's forge in a
+magazine of gunpowder. I <em>see</em> with you that our affairs
+are not well managed by our rulers here below;
+I wish I could <em>believe</em> with you, that they are well
+attended to by those above: I rather suspect, from
+certain circumstances, that though the general government
+of the universe is well administered, our
+particular little affairs are perhaps below notice,
+and left to take the chance of human prudence or
+imprudence, as either may happen to be uppermost.
+It is, however, an uncomfortable thought, and I leave
+it."</p>
+
+<p>It would have been strange indeed if Whitefield
+had allowed a letter closing in this manner to pass
+without a remark; hence we are prepared to find that,
+in his own handwriting, at the foot of the autograph
+letter, he wrote, "<em>Uncomfortable</em> indeed! and, blessed
+be God, <em>unscriptural</em>; for we are fully assured that 'the
+Lord reigneth,' and are directed to cast <em>all</em> our own
+care on him, because he careth for us." Could Dr.
+Franklin have seen the splendid results of that management
+which he thought indicated the absence of a
+particular providence&mdash;could he have beheld the vast
+Republic, the abode of liberty, commerce, literature,
+and religion, which in less than a century has grown
+out of the insurgent colonies&mdash;he would surely have
+exclaimed, in the language of the prophet, "Verily
+there is a God in the earth!"</p>
+
+<p>In July, Whitefield was called by Lady Huntingdon
+to visit Tunbridge Wells, a popular watering
+place in Kent, some twenty or thirty miles from London,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_416" id="Page_416">[416]</a></span>
+to dedicate a new and beautiful house to the
+service of God. The congregation was far too large
+to be accommodated within the walls; he therefore
+preached out of doors from a mount in the court before
+the house. His text was, "This is none other
+but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."
+Gen. 28:17. This sermon is said to have been one
+of his most eloquent and thrilling efforts; the lofty
+energy of his tones, the utter forgetfulness of himself
+in the all-absorbing interest of his subject, the very
+impersonation of the truths which he uttered as he
+stretched forth his hand, "Look yonder; what is
+that I see? It is my agonizing Lord! Hark, hark!
+do you not hear? O earth, earth, earth, hear the
+word of the Lord!" thrilled the vast congregation,
+riveting the eye, piercing the conscience, and holding
+strong men breathless before the resistless might of
+his inspired eloquence. After the service he delivered
+an exhortation, and on the next day again preached
+and administered the Lord's supper.</p>
+
+<p>He now began to prepare for his <em>seventh</em>, and as it
+proved, his <em>last</em> voyage to America, especially to visit
+his beloved orphans and friends in Georgia. The
+only thing which seems to have grieved him, was the
+pain of parting for a time from his London friends.
+This was nothing new, but his feelings were even less
+reconciled to the event than formerly. "Oh," he
+says, "these partings! without a divine support they
+would be intolerable. Talk not of taking <em>personal</em>
+leave; you know my <em>make</em>. Paul could stand a whipping,
+but not a weeping farewell."</p>
+
+<p>The text of his last sermon was John 10:27, 28:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_417" id="Page_417">[417]</a></span>
+"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they
+follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and
+they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck
+them out of my hand." The sermon was printed, and
+that very incorrectly; but a few sentences will show
+that it was strikingly characteristic: "These words,
+it will be recollected, were uttered by Christ at the
+feast of dedication. This festival was of bare human
+invention, and yet I do not find that our Lord preached
+against it. And I believe that when we see things as
+we ought, we shall not entertain our auditories about
+rites and ceremonies, but about the grand thing. It
+is the glory of Methodists, that while they have been
+preaching forty years, there has not been, that I know
+of, one single pamphlet published by them about the
+non-essentials of religion.... The Lord divides the
+world into sheep and goats. O sinners, you are come
+to hear a poor creature take his last farewell; but I
+want you to forget the creature and his preaching. I
+want to lead you further than the Tabernacle&mdash;even
+to mount Calvary, to see with what expense of blood
+Jesus Christ purchased 'his own.' Now, before I go
+any further, will you be so good, before the world
+gets into your hearts, to inquire whether you belong
+to Christ or not. Surely the world did not get into
+your hearts before you rose from your beds. Many
+of you were up sooner than usual. [The sermon was
+preached at seven o'clock in the morning.] I hope
+the world does not get into your hearts before nine.
+Man, woman, sinner, put thy hand upon thy heart,
+and say, Didst thou ever hear Christ's voice so as to
+follow him?... I once heard Dr. Marryatt, who was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_418" id="Page_418">[418]</a></span>
+not ashamed of 'market language,' say at Pinner's
+Hall, 'God has a great dog to fetch his sheep back
+when they wander.' He sends the devil after them,
+to bark at them; but instead of barking them further
+off, he barks them back to the fold.... 'None shall
+pluck them out of my hand.' This implies that there
+is always somebody plucking at Christ's sheep. The
+lust of the flesh is plucking; the pride of life is plucking;
+and the devil is continually plucking at them;
+'but nothing shall pluck them out of my hand;' I
+have bought them, and am gone to heaven to 'prepare
+a place for them.'"</p>
+
+<p>Of this sermon, as taken in shorthand and printed,
+Whitefield received a copy while at Deal, and was
+much dissatisfied with it. He says, "This morning I
+received a surreptitious copy of my Tabernacle farewell
+sermon, taken, as the shorthand writer professes,
+verbatim as I spoke it. But surely he is mistaken.
+The whole is so injudiciously paragraphed, and so
+wretchedly unconnected, that I owe no thanks to the
+misguided, though it may be well-meant zeal of the
+writer and publisher, be they who they will." Had
+Whitefield known that the lad of seventeen who had
+thus taken down his sermon, would hereafter become
+a devoted and useful minister of Christ, the secretary
+of the London Missionary Society, the originator of the
+London Religious Tract Society, and for many years
+the editor of the London Evangelical Magazine, and the
+author of "Village Sermons," which have circulated
+by hundreds of thousands of volumes in both hemispheres,
+how would his heart have warmed towards
+him. Let us copy from the journal of George Burder,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_419" id="Page_419">[419]</a></span>
+as given in his life by his son, the Rev. Dr. H. F.
+Burder, a short passage:</p>
+
+<p>"August, 1769. About this time I heard Mr.
+Whitefield preach several sermons, particularly his
+two last in London; that at Tottenham Court chapel
+on Sabbath morning, and that at the Tabernacle on
+Wednesday morning at seven o'clock. I remember a
+thought which passed my mind, I think, as I was going
+to hear his last sermon&mdash;'Which would I rather be,
+Garrick or Whitefield?' I thought each, in point of
+oratory, admirable in his way. I doubt not conscience
+told me which was best. I wrote Mr. Whitefield's
+sermons in shorthand, though standing in a
+crowd. The latter I copied out, and by the request
+of a friend it was printed in about a week. I remember
+sitting up part of a night to write it out, and at
+the same time I observed the comet which then appeared.
+The sermon was very incorrect, and Mr.
+Whitefield being detained at Deal before he left England,
+saw it, and complained of it."</p>
+
+<p>Before we entirely separate from the Tabernacle,
+we wish to record some other interesting facts associated
+with it, especially relating to Thomas Wilson,
+Esq., for many years the treasurer of Hoxton, afterwards
+Highbury, college, who gave the ground on
+which the latter building stands, devoted his fortune
+to the extension of the cause of Christ, and in addition
+to many other noble acts, erected five large
+houses of worship in the British metropolis, capable
+of seating eight thousand persons. The father of
+this gentleman was for many years a devoted deacon
+of a Congregational church, but entered into full<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_420" id="Page_420">[420]</a></span>
+sympathy with the labors of Whitefield, attending
+the Tabernacle on Lord's-day evenings. "To this
+circumstance, perhaps, may be traced much of his own
+zeal for the glory of God, and no inconsiderable portion
+of that public spirit which afterwards distinguished
+his son Thomas, who well remembered being
+carried in his nurse's arms, in company with his parents,
+to the scene of Whitefield's ministry, and listening
+with such interest as one so young was likely
+to feel, to a preacher of surpassing eloquence and
+power." The Rev. Dr. Morison, one of his biographers,
+adds: "Thus did he imbibe in early life a
+strong prepossession for animated public address,
+which he never lost in after-years, and which he never
+failed to urge upon all youthful candidates for the
+sacred office. As might have been expected, the Tabernacle
+became his Sabbath home, where he was wont
+to listen to men of fervent eloquence, and of purely
+evangelical sentiment. He entered, while very young,
+into communion with the church in that place, and
+afforded a pleasing example of early and consistent
+dedication to the service of Christ."</p>
+
+<p>Having finished the service of the Tabernacle
+which we just now described, Whitefield went immediately
+to Gravesend, twenty miles from London, to
+set sail, embarking in the Friendship, Captain Ball,
+for Charleston. His companions on the voyage were
+Messrs. Winter and Smith, both of them young ministers
+of lively zeal; and the former especially, was
+distinguished in after-life by great success in his labors
+for Christ and his church. Whitefield wrote, "I am
+comfortable on every side&mdash;a civil captain and passengers;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_421" id="Page_421">[421]</a></span>
+all willing to attend on divine worship, and
+to hear of religious things."</p>
+
+<p>But delay was the lot of our evangelist and his
+friends. They arrived in the Downs, and had to stay
+there about a month waiting for a fair wind. While
+here, he was delighted with a most unexpected visit
+from Dr. Gibbons of London, and the Rev. Mr. Bradbury
+of Ramsgate, who had met at Deal to ordain a
+young minister. He says, "Wednesday, Sept. 13, I
+went on shore, and attended an ordination solemnity
+at the dissenting meeting. Several ministers officiated.
+Several important questions were asked and
+answered before, and a solemn charge given after
+imposition of hands. But the prayer put up in the
+very act of laying on of hands, by Dr. Gibbons, was
+so affecting, and the looks and behavior of those that
+joined so serious and solemn, that I hardly know when
+I was more struck under any one's ministration. The
+ordination being over, at the desire of the ministers
+and other gentlemen, I went and dined with them:
+our conversation was edifying; and being informed
+that many were desirous to hear me preach, I willingly
+complied; and I trust some seed was sown
+the same evening at Deal, which, by God's heavenly
+blessing, will spring up to life eternal. The people of
+Deal seemed very civil, and some came to me who
+had not forgotten my preaching to them, and their
+deceased friends and parents, thirty-two years ago."</p>
+
+<p>Whitefield tells a somewhat amusing anecdote of
+Dr. Gibbons, on one of his visits on board. The worthy
+doctor was unused to the sea, and became sea-sick,
+so that he was obliged to lie down for some time in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_422" id="Page_422">[422]</a></span>
+the state-cabin. "There," says our evangelist, "he
+learned more experimentally to pray for those who
+do business in the great waters." While yet in the
+Downs, Whitefield preached not only on board, but at
+Ramsgate and elsewhere. On September 25, in company
+with many other ships, they sailed, but soon
+were again compelled to cast anchor over against
+New Romney and Dungenness. At length, however,
+they cleared the channel, and after a long and dangerous
+voyage arrived safe at Charleston, S. C. Happily,
+Whitefield's health had become greatly renovated,
+so that he felt better than after any voyage he
+had made for many years. In his memorandum he
+wrote:</p>
+
+<p>"November, 1769. For the last week we were
+beating about our port, within sight of it, and continued
+for two days in Five-fathom hole, just over the
+bar. A dangerous situation, as the wind blew hard,
+and our ship, like a young Christian, for want of
+more ballast, would not obey the helm. But through
+infinite mercy, on November 30, a pilot-boat came and
+took us safe ashore to Charleston, having been on
+board almost thirteen weeks. Friends received me
+most cordially. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget
+not all his mercies. Oh, to begin to be a Christian
+and minister of Jesus!" On the very day of his
+landing, Whitefield preached at Charleston, and learned
+from his friend Mr. Wright that all was well at
+Bethesda.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_423" id="Page_423">[423]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER XVI.</h2>
+
+<h3>SEVENTH VISIT AND LABORS IN AMERICA&mdash;DEATH.<br />
+
+1769, 1770.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Whitefield now lost no time in proceeding to his
+beloved Bethesda, which at present wore a very inviting
+aspect. Writing, January 11, 1770, he says, "Every
+thing exceeds my most sanguine expectations. I
+am almost tempted to say, 'It is good for me to be
+here;' but all must give way to gospel ranging&mdash;divine
+employ!</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"'For this, let men revile my name,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">I'll shun no cross, I'll fear no shame;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">All hail, reproach!'"<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="noindent">In another letter he says, "The increase of this colony
+is almost incredible. Two wings are added to the
+orphan-house, for the accommodation of students; of
+which Governor Wright laid the foundation, March
+25, 1769."</div>
+
+<p>An official paper of the Georgia legislature will
+show the esteem in which Whitefield was held by that
+body.</p>
+
+<p>"Commons House of Assembly, Monday, Jan. 29,
+1770. Mr. Speaker reported, that he, with the house,
+having waited on the Rev. Mr. Whitefield, in consequence
+of his invitation, at the orphan-house academy,
+heard him preach a very suitable and pious sermon on
+the occasion; and with great pleasure observed the
+promising appearance of improvement towards the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_424" id="Page_424">[424]</a></span>
+good purposes intended, and the decency and propriety
+of behavior of the several residents there; and
+were sensibly affected, when they saw the happy success
+which has attended Whitefield's indefatigable
+zeal for promoting the welfare of the province in
+general, and the orphan-house in particular. Ordered,
+that this report be printed in the Gazette.</p>
+
+<p class="sig">
+"JOHN SIMPSON, Clerk."
+</p>
+
+<p>In pursuance of this vote, we find in the Georgia
+Gazette as follows: "Savannah, January 31, 1770.
+Last Sunday, his Excellency the Governor, Council,
+and Assembly, having been invited by the Rev. Mr.
+Whitefield, attended divine service in the chapel of
+the orphan-house academy, where prayers were read
+by the Rev. Mr. Ellington, and a very suitable sermon
+was preached by the Rev. Mr. Whitefield, from Zechariah
+4:10, 'For who hath despised the day of small
+things?' to the great satisfaction of the auditory; in
+which he took occasion to mention the many discouragements
+he met with, well known to many there, in
+carrying on the institution for upwards of thirty years
+past, and the present promising prospect of its future
+and more extensive usefulness. After divine service,
+the company were very politely entertained with a
+handsome and plentiful dinner; and were greatly
+pleased to see the useful improvements made in the
+house, the two additional wings of apartments for
+students, one hundred and fifty feet each in length,
+and other lesser buildings, in so much forwardness;
+and the whole executed with taste, and in so masterly
+a manner; and being sensible of the truly generous
+and disinterested benefactions derived to the province<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_425" id="Page_425">[425]</a></span>
+through his means, they expressed their gratitude in
+the most respectful terms."</p>
+
+<p>On February 10, we find a letter written at Charleston
+by Whitefield to his friend Mr. Robert Keen of
+London:</p>
+
+<p>"Through infinite mercy, this leaves me enjoying
+a greater share of bodily health than I have known
+for many years. I am now enabled to preach almost
+every day, and my poor feeble labors seem not
+to be in vain in the Lord. Blessed be God, all things
+are in great forwardness at Bethesda. I have conversed
+with the governor in the most explicit manner,
+more than once, concerning an act of Assembly for
+the establishment of the intended orphan-house college.
+He most readily consents. I have shown him
+a draft, which he much approves of, and all will be
+finished at my return from the northward; in the
+meanwhile the building will be carried on. As two
+ministers from New Jersey and Rhode Island have
+been soliciting benefactions for their respective colleges,
+no application of that nature can be made here;
+but the Lord will provide.... Since my being in
+Charleston, I have shown the draft to some persons of
+great eminence and influence. They highly approve
+of it, and willingly consent to be some of the wardens.
+Nearly twenty are to be of Georgia, and about six of
+this place; one of Philadelphia, one of New York,
+one of Boston, three of Edinburgh, two of Glasgow,
+and six of London. Those of Georgia and South
+Carolina are to be qualified; the others to be only
+honorary corresponding wardens."</p>
+
+<p>Two days afterwards he again writes to the same<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_426" id="Page_426">[426]</a></span>
+friend, "In a few months, I hope all will be completed.
+But what may these few months produce? Lord
+Jesus, prepare us for whatsoever thou hast prepared
+for us, and give peace in our time, for thine infinite
+mercy's sake. You must expect another draft soon.
+God be praised for that saying, 'It is more blessed to
+give than to receive.' You would be pleased to see
+with what attention the people hear the word preached.
+I have been in Charleston near a fortnight&mdash;am
+to preach at a neighboring country parish church
+next Sunday, and hope to see Georgia the week following.
+Perhaps I may sail from thence to the northward,
+and perhaps embark from thence. Lord Jesus,
+direct my goings in thy way. I am blessed with
+bodily health, and am enabled to go on my way rejoicing.
+Grace, grace!"</p>
+
+<p>On returning to Bethesda, his heart seems to have
+been full of the orphan-house and the college. For the
+direction of the latter, he prepared a series of rules,
+and especially provided for the reading of the old
+Puritan and Non-conformist writers of the seventeenth
+and eighteenth centuries. Every letter he wrote contained
+references to the improved state of his health,
+and the increased number of preaching engagements
+which he was now able to fulfil. His spirits seem to
+have been better, and his exultations in the divine
+kindness more ardent than ever, while his correspondence
+indicates much heavenly-mindedness, and lively
+desires for the highest happiness of his friends.</p>
+
+<p>As Whitefield had now been in the south more
+than five months, we are not surprised to find that
+applications poured in from every part of the north,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_427" id="Page_427">[427]</a></span>
+entreating him to revisit the scenes of other years.
+He left Bethesda and its affairs in the hands of persons
+worthy of his confidence, of whom he said, "Such
+a set of helpers I never met with."</p>
+
+<p>After some hesitation as to where he should first
+go, he set out for Philadelphia, where he arrived on
+the 6th of May. Writing three days afterwards, he
+says, "The evening following, I was enabled to preach
+to a large auditory, and have to repeat the delightful
+task this evening. Pulpits, hearts, and affections, seem
+to be as open and enlarged to me as ever." On the
+24th he again wrote, "A wide and effectual door, I
+trust, has been opened in this city. People of all
+ranks flock as much as ever. Impressions are made
+on many, and I trust they will abide. To all the
+Episcopal churches, as well as most of the other places
+of worship, I have free access. Notwithstanding I
+preach twice on the Lord's day, and three or four
+times a week besides, yet I am rather better than I
+have been for many years. This is the Lord's doing."
+On June 14, he says, "This leaves me just returned
+from a one hundred and fifty miles' circuit, in which,
+blessed be God, I have been enabled to preach every
+day. So many new as well as old doors are open,
+and so many invitations sent from various quarters,
+that I know not which way to turn myself."</p>
+
+<p>Of his last visit to New Jersey, Bishop White of
+Philadelphia, then a young man of twenty-three, says,
+"When he was on his way from Philadelphia to Boston,
+late in the summer, he had been prevailed on to
+promise to cross from Bristol to Burlington, and to
+preach there. I happened to be in the latter place,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_428" id="Page_428">[428]</a></span>
+and staying in the house of a relative, when it was
+announced that Mr. Whitefield was at a tavern on
+the other side of the river. He was expected to be
+escorted by my relative. I went with him; and we
+returned in a boat with Mr. Whitefield and his company.
+He preached to the assembled citizens in front
+of the court-house, and afterwards dined at the house
+of my relative. During dinner, he was almost the
+only speaker, as was said to be common; all present
+being disposed to listen."</p>
+
+<p>A few days after this visit, we find him at New
+York, writing, June 30, "I have been here just a
+week. Have been enabled to preach four times; and
+am to repeat the delightful task this evening. Congregations
+are larger than ever. Blessed be God, I
+have been strengthened to itinerate and preach daily
+for some time. Next week I purpose to go to Albany;
+from thence, perhaps to the Oneida Indians. There
+is to be a very large Indian congress; Mr. Kirkland
+accompanies me. He is a truly Christian minister
+and missionary. Every thing possible should be done
+to strengthen his hands and his heart. Perhaps I may
+not see Georgia till Christmas. As yet, I keep to my
+intended plan, in respect to my returning. Lord
+Jesus, direct my goings in thy way. The heat begins
+now to be a little intense; but through mercy I am
+enabled to bear up bravely. What a God do we
+serve!"</p>
+
+<p>On the twenty-ninth of July, he again writes from
+the same city, and it is the <em>last entry</em> in his memorandum:
+"Since my last, and during this month, I have
+been above a five hundred miles' circuit; and have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_429" id="Page_429">[429]</a></span>
+been enabled to preach and travel through the heat
+every day. The congregations have been very large,
+attentive, and affected; particularly at Albany, Schenectady,
+Great Barrington, Norfolk, Salisbury, Sharon,
+Smithfield, Poughkeepsie, Fishkill, New Rumbart,
+New Windsor, and Peck's Hill. Last night I returned
+hither, and hope to set out for Boston in two or
+three days. O what a new scene of usefulness is opening
+in various parts of this world! All fresh work
+where I have been. The divine influence has been as
+at first. Invitations crowd upon me both from ministers
+and people, from many, many quarters. A very
+peculiar providence led me very lately to a place
+where a horse-stealer was executed. Thousands attended.
+The poor criminal had sent me several letters,
+hearing I was in the country. The sheriff allowed
+him to come and hear a sermon under an adjacent
+tree. Solemn, solemn! After being by himself about
+an hour, I walked half a mile with him to the gallows.
+His heart had been softened before my first
+visit. He seemed full of solid, divine consolation.
+An instructive walk! I went up with him into the
+cart. He gave a short exhortation. I then stood
+upon the coffin&mdash;added, I trust, a word in season&mdash;prayed&mdash;gave
+the blessing, and took my leave. Effectual
+good, I hope, was done to the hearers and spectators.
+Grace, grace!"</p>
+
+<p>Our local histories seem to delight to honor Whitefield
+by the introduction of his name whenever they
+have an opportunity. In a notice of Sharon, in "Barber's
+Historical Collections of Connecticut," the writer
+says, "In the latter part of July, 1770, the Rev.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_430" id="Page_430">[430]</a></span>
+George Whitefield passed through this town on a
+preaching tour. There was considerable opposition
+to his being admitted into the meeting-house, and
+arrangements had been made to hold the service in
+an orchard still standing near the meeting-house, in
+case he should be refused. Mr. Smith, [the Rev. Cotton
+Mather Smith, a descendant of Cotton Mather,]
+invited him into the pulpit, though strongly opposed
+by a considerable number of influential men. An immense
+congregation from this and the neighboring
+towns filled the meeting-house to overflowing. His
+text was, 'Marvel not that I said unto you, Ye must
+be born again.' He proceeded to discourse on the
+doctrine of the new birth with astonishing power and
+eloquence, and the congregation were much moved
+by the power of the truth and Spirit of God. The
+concluding words of his discourse were a quotation,
+with a little variation, from the close of the fourth
+chapter of Solomon's Song. 'Awake, O north wind,
+and come, thou south; blow upon <em>this</em> garden, that
+the spices thereof may flow out. Let my Beloved
+come into <em>this</em> garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.'
+Many of the inhabitants of Sharon followed him for
+several successive days, to hear the word of life from
+this devoted minister of the cross."</p>
+
+<p>We think it must have been in this journey that
+Whitefield's ministry was blessed to the conversion
+of a young man who has left his mark on the age.
+Benjamin Randall was born in New Castle, New
+Hampshire, in 1749. In his twenty-second year he
+was brought under the ministry of Whitefield, by
+which means he became deeply convinced of sin, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_431" id="Page_431">[431]</a></span>
+was soon after converted to God. In 1776, he united
+with a Calvinistic Baptist church; but before long
+began to preach what he accounted more correct doctrines
+in his native town, and was honored of God to
+effect a very powerful and extensive revival. He is
+considered the founder of the denomination of Freewill
+Baptists, which now comprises from eleven to
+twelve hundred churches, more than a thousand pastors
+and licentiates, and upwards of fifty thousand
+communicants. Mr. Randall was a man of strong
+mental powers, and though he had not a classical education,
+he was a good English scholar, aspired after
+general and religious knowledge, had fine discriminating
+talent, and was remarkable for the perseverance
+with which he pursued whatever he undertook.
+Above all, like his spiritual father, he possessed what
+a living preacher has well called, "a passion for
+souls."</p>
+
+<p>From New York Whitefield proceeded to Boston,
+and short extracts from two of his letters, and those
+<em>the last</em> he wrote, will show his position and his feelings:</p>
+
+<p>September 17, he says to Mr. Wright, at Bethesda,
+"Fain would I come by Captain Souder, from Philadelphia;
+but people are so importunate for my stay
+in these parts, that I fear it will be impracticable.
+'My God will supply all my need according to the
+riches of his grace in Christ Jesus.' Two or three
+evenings ago, I was taken in the night with a violent
+flux, attended with retching and shivering, so that I
+was obliged to return from Newbury; but through
+infinite mercy I am restored, and to-morrow morning<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_432" id="Page_432">[432]</a></span>
+hope to begin again. Never was the word received
+with greater eagerness than now. All opposition
+seems, as it were, for a while to cease. I find God's
+time is the best. The season is critical as to outward
+circumstances; but when forts are given up, the Lord
+Jesus can appoint salvation for walls and for bulwarks;
+he has promised to be a wall of fire round
+about his people. This comforts me concerning Bethesda,
+though we should have a Spanish war. You
+will be pleased to hear, I never was carried through
+the summer's heat so well."</p>
+
+<p>And finally, to his dear friend Mr. Keen of London,
+he wrote from Portsmouth, New Hampshire,
+September 23, just one week before his death, "By
+this time I thought to be moving southward. But
+never was greater importunity used to detain me
+longer in these northern parts. Poor New England
+is much to be pitied; Boston people most of all. How
+grossly misrepresented! What a mercy that our
+Christian charter cannot be dissolved! Blessed be
+God for an unchangeable Jesus! You will see, by
+the many invitations, what a door is opened for
+preaching the everlasting gospel. I was so ill on
+Friday that I could not preach, though thousands
+were waiting to hear. Well, the day of release will
+shortly come, but it does not seem yet; for by riding
+sixty miles I am better, and hope to preach here to-morrow.
+I trust my blessed Master will accept these
+poor efforts to serve him. O for a warm heart! O
+to stand fast in the faith, to acquit ourselves like
+men, and be strong! May this be the happy experience
+of you and yours. I suppose your letters are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_433" id="Page_433">[433]</a></span>
+gone for me in the Anderson to Georgia. If spared
+so long, I expect to see them about Christmas. Still
+pray and praise. I am so poorly, and so engaged
+when able to preach, that this must apologize for not
+writing to more friends: it is quite impracticable."</p>
+
+<p>Whitefield's hope to "preach here to-morrow" was
+fully realized. In the "Pennsylvania Journal and
+Weekly Advertiser," we find a letter from Portsmouth,
+dated Sept. 28, 1770, which says, "Last Sunday
+morning came to town from Boston, the Rev.
+George Whitefield, and in the afternoon he preached
+at the Rev. Dr. Haven's meeting-house; Monday
+morning he preached again at the same place, to a
+very large and crowded audience. Tuesday morning
+a most numerous assembly met at the Rev. Dr. Langdon's
+meeting-house, which it is said will hold nearly
+six thousand people, and was well filled, even the
+aisles. Evening he preached at the Rev. Mr. John
+Rodgers' meeting-house in Kittery, and yesterday at
+the Rev. Mr. Lyman's in York, to which place a
+number of ladies and gentlemen from town accompanied
+him. This morning [Friday] he will preach
+at the Rev. Dr. Langdon's meeting-house in this
+town."</p>
+
+<p>We are now approaching the closing scene, and
+are invited to hear Whitefield's last sermon. On his
+way to Newburyport, where he had engaged to preach
+on Sunday morning, September 30, he was entreated
+to preach at Exeter. This had been the scene of
+some of his former triumphs. He was once preaching
+here, when a man was present who had loaded his
+pocket with stones to throw at the preacher. He<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_434" id="Page_434">[434]</a></span>
+heard his prayer with patience, but as soon as he had
+read his text, the man took a stone out of his pocket
+and held it in his hand, waiting for an opportunity to
+throw it. But God sent a word to his heart, and the
+stone dropped from his hand. After the sermon, the
+poor fellow went to Mr. Whitefield, and said, "Sir,
+I came here to-day with the intention of breaking
+your head, but God has given me a broken heart."
+This man was converted to God, and lived an ornament
+to the gospel.</p>
+
+<p>As though it had been felt by the public that this
+might be our preacher's last sermon, inconvenient as
+Saturday noon must be for the assembling of a congregation
+for worship, such a multitude was collected
+that no house could contain them, and Whitefield, for
+nearly two hours, discoursed to an attentive crowd in
+the open air. Of this last sermon at Exeter, a gentleman
+who was present has given a deeply interesting
+and affecting account. The relator was then in
+his eighty-sixth year, but he retained a strong remembrance
+of the most trivial incidents connected with
+that extraordinary man. He says:</p>
+
+<p>"It was usual for Mr. Whitefield to be attended
+by Mr. Smith, who preached when he was unable on
+account of sudden attacks of asthma. At the time
+referred to, after Mr. Smith had delivered a short
+discourse, Mr. Whitefield seemed desirous of speaking;
+but from the weak state in which he then was,
+it was thought almost impossible. He rose from the
+seat in the pulpit, and stood erect, and his appearance
+alone was a powerful sermon. The thinness of his
+visage, the paleness of his countenance, the evident<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_435" id="Page_435">[435]</a></span>
+struggling of the heavenly spark in a decayed body
+for utterance, were all deeply interesting; the spirit
+was willing, but the flesh was dying. In this situation
+he remained several minutes, unable to speak; he then
+said, 'I will wait for the gracious assistance of God,
+for he will, I am certain, assist me once more to speak
+in his name.' He then delivered perhaps one of his
+best sermons, for the light generally burns most splendidly
+when about to expire. The subject was a contrast
+of the present with the future; a part of this
+sermon I read to a popular and learned clergyman in
+New York, who could not refrain from weeping when
+I repeated the following: 'I go, I go to rest prepared;
+my sun has arisen, and by aid from heaven, given
+light to many; 't is now about to set for&mdash;no, it cannot
+be! 't is to rise to the zenith of immortal glory; I
+have outlived many on earth, but they cannot outlive
+me in heaven. Many shall live when this body is no
+more, but then&mdash;Oh, thought divine!&mdash;I shall be in a
+world where time, age, pain, and sorrow are unknown.
+My body fails, my spirit expands; how willingly
+would I live for ever to preach Christ! but I
+die to be with him. How brief, comparatively brief,
+has been my life, compared with the vast labors I see
+before me yet to be accomplished; but if I leave now,
+while so few care about heavenly things, the God of
+peace will surely visit you.' These, and many other
+things he said, which, though simple, were rendered
+important by circumstances; for death had let fly his
+arrow, and the shaft was deeply enfixed when utterance
+was given to them: his countenance, his tremulous
+voice, his debilitated frame, all gave convincing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_436" id="Page_436">[436]</a></span>
+evidence that the eye which saw him should shortly
+see him no more for ever. When I visited the place
+where he is entombed, Newburyport, I could not help
+saying, 'The memory of the just is blessed,' Few are
+there like George Whitefield; however zealous, they
+do not possess the masterly power, and those who do,
+too often turn it to a purpose that does not glorify
+God."</p>
+
+<p>We have already spoken of the Rev. Daniel Rodgers,
+a descendant of the martyr of that name, and
+pastor of the second congregational church at Exeter.
+It was this old friend of Whitefield who had importuned
+him to preach at Exeter. The "<cite>Almanack
+Journal</cite>" of this excellent man contains the following
+items of the activity of our "eloquent orator" in his
+closing days: "September 10, 1770, dear Mr. Whitefield
+preached here, <small>A. M.</small>, ten o'clock. 11th, Mr.
+Whitefield preached again in Mr. Parsons' meeting-house.
+12th, I rode over to Rowley, Mr. Whitefield
+preached there. 14th, a storm of rain. 15th, the
+rain continues. Mr. Whitefield went to Boston, not
+well. 25th, I heard dear Mr. Whitefield preach.
+26th, he went to Kittery, and preached for brother
+John; <small>P. M.</small> I rode to York. 27th, Mr. Whitefield
+preached at York; <small>P. M.</small> we returned to Portsmouth.
+28th, Mr. Whitefield preached his farewell sermon;
+I returned home. 29th, dear Mr. Whitefield preached
+for me the last sermon he ever preached."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Smith's account of the closing scene will not
+be considered too minute in its details. "Before he
+commenced his journey of fifteen miles from Portsmouth
+to Exeter, Mr. Clarkson, senior, observing him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_437" id="Page_437">[437]</a></span>
+more uneasy than usual, said to him, 'Sir, you are
+more fit to go to bed than to preach.' Whitefield's
+reply was, 'True, sir;' but turning aside, he clasped
+his hands together, and looking up, said, 'Lord Jesus,
+I am weary <em>in</em> thy work, but not <em>of</em> thy work. If I
+have not yet finished my course, let me go and speak
+for thee once more in the fields, seal thy truth, and
+come home and die.' His last sermon was from
+2 Cor. 13:5, 'Examine yourselves, whether ye be in
+the faith. Know ye not your own selves, how that
+Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?' He
+dined at Captain Gillman's. After dinner, Mr. Whitefield
+and Mr. Parsons rode to Newbury. I did not
+get there till two hours after them. I found them at
+supper. I asked Mr. Whitefield how he felt after his
+journey. He said he was tired, therefore he supped
+early, and went to bed. He ate a very little supper,
+talked but little, asked Mr. Parsons to discharge the
+table, and perform family duty, and then retired up
+stairs."</p>
+
+<p>The Rev. Dr. Hallock tells us, that, in 1822, he
+visited Newburyport and the tomb of Whitefield. He
+was then told by persons whom he considered reliable,
+that when Whitefield was retiring to his chamber on
+this last evening of his life, many were so desirous to
+see and hear him, that he stood on the stairs with a
+lamp in his hand, and there gave them a tender spiritual
+address.</p>
+
+<p>We resume Mr. Smith's account: "He said he
+would sit and read till I came to him, which I did as
+soon as possible; and found him reading the Bible,
+with Dr. Watts' Psalms lying open before him. He<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_438" id="Page_438">[438]</a></span>
+asked me for some water-gruel, and took about half
+his usual quantity; and kneeling down by his bedside,
+closed the evening with prayer. After a little conversation,
+he went to rest, and slept till two in the
+morning, when he awoke, and asked for a little cider;
+he drank about a wine-glass full. I asked him how
+he felt, for he seemed to pant for breath. He said to
+me, 'My asthma is coming on again; I must have two
+or three days' rest. Two or three days' riding, without
+preaching, would set me up again.' Soon afterwards,
+he asked me to put the window up a little
+higher, though it was half up all night. 'For,' said
+he, 'I cannot breathe; but I hope I shall be better by
+and by: a good pulpit sweat to-day may give me relief;
+I shall be better after preaching.' I said to him,
+'I wish you would not preach so often.' He replied,
+'I had rather wear out than rust out.' I then told
+him, I was afraid he took cold in preaching yesterday.
+He said he believed he had; and then sat up in bed,
+and prayed that God would be pleased to bless his
+preaching where he had been, and also bless his
+preaching that day, that more souls might be brought
+to Christ. He prayed for direction whether he should
+winter in Boston, or hasten to the southward; and he
+prayed for a blessing on his Bethesda college, and his
+dear family there, for the Tabernacle and Chapel congregations,
+and all connections on the other side of
+the water; and then he laid himself down to sleep
+again.</p>
+
+<p>"This was near three o'clock. At a quarter past
+four he awoke, and said, 'My asthma, my asthma is
+coming on; I wish I had not given out word to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_439" id="Page_439">[439]</a></span>
+preach at Haverhill on Monday; I don't think I
+shall be able; but I shall see what to-day will bring
+forth. If I am no better to-morrow, I will take two
+or three days' ride!' He then desired me to warm
+him a little gruel; and in breaking the fire-wood, I
+waked Mr. Parsons, who thinking I knocked for him,
+rose and came in. He went to Mr. Whitefield's bedside,
+and asked him how he felt. He answered, 'I
+am almost suffocated. I can scarcely breathe, my
+asthma quite chokes me.' I was then not a little surprised
+to hear how quickly, and with what difficulty
+he drew his breath. He got out of bed, and went to
+the open window for air. This was exactly at five
+o'clock. I went to him, and for about the space of
+five minutes saw no danger, only that he had a great
+difficulty in breathing, as I had often seen before.
+Soon afterwards, he turned himself to me, and said,
+'<em>I am dying</em>.' I said, 'I hope not, sir.' He ran to
+the other window, panting for breath, but could get
+no relief. It was agreed that I should go for Dr.
+Sawyer; and on my coming back, I saw death on his
+face; and he again said, '<em>I am dying</em>.' His eyes were
+fixed, his underlip drawing inward every time he
+drew breath. I persuaded him to sit down in the
+chair, and have his cloak on; he consented by a sign,
+but could not speak. I then offered him a glass of
+warm wine; he took half of it, but it seemed as if it
+would have stopped his breath entirely. He went
+towards the window, and we offered him some warm
+wine, with lavender drops, which he refused.</p>
+
+<p>"In a little time he brought up a considerable
+quantity of phlegm. I then began to have some small<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_440" id="Page_440">[440]</a></span>
+hopes. Mr. Parsons said he thought Mr. Whitefield
+breathed more freely than he did, and would recover.
+I said, 'No, sir, he is certainly dying.' I was continually
+employed in taking the phlegm out of his mouth
+with a handkerchief, and bathing his temples with
+drops, rubbing his wrists, etc., to give him relief, if
+possible, but all in vain; his hands and feet were as
+cold as clay. When the doctor came in, and saw him
+in the chair leaning upon my breast, he felt his pulse,
+and said, 'He is a dead man.' Mr. Parsons said, 'I
+do not believe it; you must do something, doctor.'
+He said, 'I cannot; he is now near his last breath.'
+And so indeed it was; for he fetched but one gasp,
+and stretched out his feet, and breathed no more.
+This was exactly at six o'clock. We continued rubbing
+his legs, hands, and feet, with warm cloths, and
+bathed him with spirits for some time, but all in vain.
+I then put him into a warm bed, the doctor standing
+by, and often raised him upright, continued rubbing
+him and putting spirits to his nose for an hour, till
+all hopes were gone. The people came in crowds to
+see him."</p>
+
+<p>Whitefield seems to have had somewhat of a presentiment
+that his death would be unattended with
+any remarkable expression of spiritual enjoyment.
+In his last preceding visit to this country, he had
+spent a day or two under the roof of the Rev. Dr.
+Finley, then president of the college at Princeton,
+New Jersey. One day Dr. Finley said at the dinner-table,
+"Mr. Whitefield, I hope it will be very long
+before you will be called home; but when that event
+shall arrive, I shall be glad to hear the noble testimony<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_441" id="Page_441">[441]</a></span>
+you will bear for God." Whitefield replied, "You
+would be disappointed, doctor; I shall die silent. It
+has pleased God to enable me to bear so many testimonies
+for him during my life, that he will require
+none from me when I die. No, no. It is your dumb
+Christians, who have walked in fear and darkness,
+and thereby been unable to bear a testimony for God
+during their lives, that he compels to speak out for
+him on their death-beds."</p>
+
+<p>We resume Mr. Smith's narrative: "The Rev. Mr.
+Parsons, at whose house my dear master died, sent for
+Captain Fetcomb, and Mr. Boadman, and others of
+his elders and deacons, and they took the whole of
+the burial upon themselves, prepared the vault, and
+sent and invited the bearers. Many ministers of all
+persuasions came to the house of the Rev. Mr. Parsons,
+where several of them gave a very particular
+account of their first awakenings under his ministry
+several years ago, and also of many in their congregations
+that, to their knowledge, under God, owed their
+conversion to his coming among them, often referring
+to the blessed seasons they had enjoyed under his
+preaching; and all said, that this last visit was attended
+with more power than any other, and that all opposition
+fell before him. Then one and another would
+pity and pray for his dear Tabernacle and Chapel
+congregations, and it was truly affecting to hear them
+bemoan America and England's loss. Thus they
+continued for two hours, conversing about his great
+usefulness, and praying that God would scatter his
+gifts, and drop his mantle among them."</p>
+
+<p>Dr. Gillies says, "Early next morning, Mr. Sherburn<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_442" id="Page_442">[442]</a></span>
+of Portsmouth sent Mr. Clarkson and Dr.
+Haven with a message to Mr. Parsons, desiring that
+Mr. Whitefield's remains might be buried in his own
+new tomb, at his own expense; and in the evening
+several gentlemen from Boston came to Mr. Parsons,
+desiring the body might be carried there. But as
+Mr. Whitefield had repeatedly desired to be buried
+before Mr. Parsons' pulpit, if he died at Newburyport,
+Mr. Parsons thought himself obliged to deny both
+these requests."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Parsons, in a note to his funeral sermon, says,
+"At one o'clock all the bells in the town were tolled
+for half an hour, and all the vessels in the harbor
+gave their proper signals of mourning. At two o'clock
+the bells tolled a second time. At three the bells
+called to attend the funeral. The Rev. Dr. Haven
+of Portsmouth, and the Rev. Messrs. Rodgers of Exeter,
+Jewet and Chandler of Rowley, Moses Parsons
+of Newbury, and Bass of Newburyport, were
+pall-bearers. Mr. Parsons and his family, with many
+other respectable persons, followed the corpse in
+mourning."</p>
+
+<p>"The procession," says Mr. Smith, "was only one
+mile, and then the corpse was carried into the Presbyterian
+church, and placed at the foot of the pulpit,
+close to the vault; the Rev. Daniel Rodgers made a
+very affecting prayer, and openly declared, that, under
+God, he owed his conversion to that dear man
+of God whose precious remains now lay before them.
+Then he cried out, 'O my father, my father!' then
+stopped and wept as though his heart would break;
+the people weeping all through the place. Then he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_443" id="Page_443">[443]</a></span>
+recovered, and finished his prayer, and sat down and
+wept. Then one of the deacons gave out the hymn,</p>
+
+<p>
+"'Why do we mourn departing friends?'<br />
+</p>
+
+<div class="noindent">some of the people weeping, some singing, and so on
+alternately. The Rev. Mr. Jewet preached a funeral
+discourse; and made an affectionate address to his
+brethren, to lay to heart the death of that useful man
+of God, begging that he and they might be upon their
+watchtower, and endeavor to follow his blessed example.
+The corpse was then put into the vault, and all
+concluded with a short prayer, and dismission of the
+people, who went weeping through the streets to their
+respective places of abode."</div>
+
+<p>The Rev. Mr. Rodgers, from whose "Almanack
+Journal" we have quoted, records that the vast assembly
+at the funeral consisted of "four, since thought
+five thousand people," and adds, Oct. 7, "I preached
+from those words in the first Philippians, 'Having a
+desire to depart and be with Christ,' etc. I spoke
+extempore, somewhat largely, of dear Mr. Whitefield's
+character."</p>
+
+<p>The late venerable Mr. Bartlet of Newburyport,
+some years ago, erected a monument to the memory
+of Whitefield in the church beneath which his remains
+are interred. The cenotaph was executed by Mr.
+Struthers of Philadelphia, after a design of Strickland,
+and the inscription which follows was written
+by the late Rev. Dr. Ebenezer Porter, of the Theological
+seminary at Andover.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_444" id="Page_444">[444]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<p class="center">
+THIS CENOTAPH<br />
+<br />
+is ERECTED, WITH AFFECTIONATE VENERATION,</p>
+
+<p class="center oldenglish">To the Memory</p>
+
+<p class="center">OF<br />
+<br />
+<big>THE REV. GEORGE WHITEFIELD,</big><br />
+<br />
+BORN AT GLOUCESTER, ENGLAND, DECEMBER 16, 1714;<br />
+EDUCATED AT OXFORD UNIVERSITY; ORDAINED 1736.<br />
+IN A MINISTRY OF THIRTY-FOUR YEARS,<br />
+HE CROSSED THE ATLANTIC THIRTEEN TIMES,<br />
+AND PREACHED MORE THAN EIGHTEEN THOUSAND SERMONS.<br />
+AS A SOLDIER OF THE CROSS, HUMBLE, DEVOUT, ARDENT,<br />
+HE PUT ON THE WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD:<br />
+PREFERRING THE HONOR OF CHRIST TO HIS OWN INTEREST, REPOSE,<br />
+REPUTATION, AND LIFE.<br />
+AS A CHRISTIAN ORATOR, HIS DEEP PIETY, DISINTERESTED ZEAL,<br />
+AND VIVID IMAGINATION,<br />
+GAVE UNEXAMPLED ENERGY TO HIS LOOK, UTTERANCE, AND ACTION.<br />
+BOLD, FERVENT, PUNGENT, AND POPULAR IN HIS ELOQUENCE,<br />
+NO OTHER UNINSPIRED MAN EVER PREACHED TO SO LARGE ASSEMBLIES,<br />
+OR ENFORCED THE SIMPLE TRUTHS OF THE GOSPEL BY MOTIVES<br />
+SO PERSUASIVE AND AWFUL, AND WITH AN INFLUENCE SO POWERFUL,<br />
+ON THE HEARTS OF HIS HEARERS.<br />
+HE DIED OF ASTHMA, SEPTEMBER 30, 1770.<br />
+SUDDENLY EXCHANGING HIS LIFE OF UNPARALLELED LABORS<br />
+FOR HIS ETERNAL REST.
+</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 365px;">
+<img src="images/i444a.jpg" width="365" height="550" alt="Old South" />
+<div class="caption"><p class="center">OLD SOUTH CHURCH, BOSTON.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 221px;">
+<img src="images/i444b.jpg" width="221" height="450" alt="Monument" />
+<div class="caption"><p class="center">MONUMENT</p></div>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 287px;">
+<img src="images/i444c.jpg" width="287" height="450" alt="Newburyport" />
+<div class="caption"><p class="center">OLD SOUTH, AT NEWBURYPORT</p></div>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_445" id="Page_445">[445]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER XVII.</h2>
+
+<h3>TESTIMONIES AND FACTS ILLUSTRATIVE OF WHITEFIELD'S
+CHARACTER.</h3>
+
+
+<p>"Last evening," says a letter from Boston, October
+1, 1770, to the "Pennsylvania Journal," "we were
+informed by a melancholy messenger from Newburyport,
+that yesterday morning about six o'clock, at that
+place, the renowned and Rev. George Whitefield,
+chaplain to the Right Hon. the Countess of Huntingdon,
+etc., was, by a sudden mandate, summoned to the
+bosom of his Saviour. He had been preaching in
+divers parts of this province since his arrival from
+the southward, with his usual diligence and energy;
+was now from a tour to the province of New Hampshire
+on his return to this town, but being seized with
+a violent fit of the asthma, was in a short space translated
+from the labors of this life to the enjoyment of
+a better.</p>
+
+<p>"Of this truly pious and very extraordinary personage,
+little can be said but what every friend to
+vital Christianity who has sat under his ministry will
+readily attest. In his public performances throughout
+Europe and British America, he has, for a long
+course of years, astonished the world as a prodigy of
+eloquence and devotion. With what frequency and
+cheerfulness did he ascend the desk, the language of
+his actions being ever, 'Wist ye not that I must be
+about my Master's business?' With what divine pathos
+did he plead with, and persuade by the most engaging<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_446" id="Page_446">[446]</a></span>
+incitements, the impenitent sinner to the practice
+of piety and virtue. Filled with the spirit of grace,
+he spoke from the heart; and with a fervency of zeal
+perhaps unequalled since the apostles, ornamented
+the celestial annunciations of the preacher with the
+graceful and most enticing charms of rhetoric and
+oratory. From the pulpit he was unrivalled in the
+command of an ever-crowded and admiring auditory;
+nor was he less entertaining and instructive in his
+private conversation and deportment. Happy in a
+remarkable ease of address, willing to communicate,
+studious to edify, and formed to amuse&mdash;such, in
+more retired life, was he whom we lament. And while
+a peculiar pleasantry enlivened and rendered his company
+agreeable, his conversation was ever marked
+with the greatest objects of his pursuit&mdash;virtue and
+religion. It were to be wished that the good impressions
+of his ministry may be long retained; and that
+the rising generation, like their pious ancestors, may
+catch a spark of that ethereal flame which burnt with
+such lustre in the sentiments and practice of this
+faithful servant of the most high God."</p>
+
+<p>Another contemporaneous article says, "Dr. Cooper
+of Brattle-street, called an enthusiast by none, won
+early to serious religion by his [Whitefield's] instrumentality,
+delivered a sermon upon his death, in which
+he pronounced a strong eulogy in favor of his holy
+and successful activity in the cause of vital and practical
+religion through the English dominions. Pews,
+aisles, and seats were so crowded, and heads and
+shoulders were in such close phalanx, that it looked
+as though a man might walk everywhere upon the upper<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_447" id="Page_447">[447]</a></span>
+surface of the assembly, without finding an opening
+for descending to the floor."</p>
+
+<p>When the news of Mr. Whitefield's death reached
+Georgia, its inhabitants vied with each other in showing
+him the highest respect. All the black cloth in
+the stores was bought up; the pulpit and desk of the
+church, the branches, the organ-loft, and the pews of
+the governor and council were covered with black.
+The governor and council in deep mourning convened
+at the state-house, and went in procession to church,
+where they were received by the organ playing a funeral
+dirge. Two funeral sermons were there listened
+to by the authorities. In the Legislature high eulogiums
+were pronounced on the admirable preacher,
+and a sum of money was unanimously appropriated
+for removing his remains to Georgia, to be interred
+at his orphan-house; but the inhabitants of Newburyport
+strongly objected, and the design was relinquished.
+Forty-five years later when a new county was
+formed in Georgia, it received the name of Whitefield
+in commemoration of his worth and useful services.</p>
+
+<p>In a letter from Dr. Franklin to a gentleman in
+Georgia, he says, "I cannot forbear expressing the
+pleasure it gives me to see an account of the respect
+paid to his memory by your assembly. I knew him
+intimately upwards of thirty years; his integrity, disinterestedness,
+and indefatigable zeal in prosecuting
+every good work, I have never seen equalled, I shall
+never see excelled."</p>
+
+<p>Of course it would be expected that the sermons
+at Savannah would be of great interest. Such a discourse<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_448" id="Page_448">[448]</a></span>
+was delivered by the Rev. Mr. Ellington, who
+very truly said, "Whitefield's longing desires for the
+salvation of immortal souls would not admit of his
+being confined within the limits of any walls. How
+he has preached, with showers of stones, and many
+other instruments of malice and revenge about his
+ears, many of his surviving friends can witness. But
+having the salvation of sinners at heart, and a great
+desire to rescue them from the power of an eternal
+death, he resolved to spend and be spent for the service
+of precious and immortal souls; and spared no
+pains and refused no labor, so that he might administer
+to their real and eternal good. He died like a
+hero on the field of battle. Thousands in England,
+Scotland, and America have great reason to bless
+God for his ministrations."</p>
+
+<p>Who shall attempt to describe the feelings of the
+congregations at the Tabernacle and Tottenham Court
+chapels, when the news of their pastor's death first
+reached them? All were indeed clothed in mourning.
+By Whitefield's own previous appointment, the
+Rev. John Wesley preached the funeral sermon at
+Tottenham Court-road chapel. The preacher bore
+this testimony: "In his public labors he has for many
+years astonished the world with his eloquence and
+devotion. With what divine pathos did he persuade
+the impenitent sinner to embrace the practice of early
+piety and virtue. Filled with the spirit of grace, he
+spoke from the heart with a fervency of zeal perhaps
+unequalled since the days of the apostles; and adorned
+the truths he delivered with the most graceful
+charms of rhetoric and oratory. From the pulpit he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_449" id="Page_449">[449]</a></span>
+was unrivalled in the command of an ever-crowded
+auditory. It was the love of God shed abroad in his
+heart by the Holy Ghost which filled his soul with
+tender, disinterested love to every child of man....
+Mention has been already made of his unparalleled
+zeal, his indefatigable activity, his tender-heartedness
+to the afflicted, and charitableness towards the poor.
+But should we not likewise mention his deep gratitude
+to all whom God had used as instruments of
+good to him? of whom he did not cease to speak in
+the most respectful manner, even to his dying day.
+Should we not mention that he had a heart susceptible
+of the most generous and the most tender friendship?
+I have frequently thought that this, of all others,
+was the distinguishing part of his character. How
+few have we known of so kind a temper, of such large
+and flowing affections! Was it not principally by
+this that the hearts of others were so strongly drawn
+and knit to him? Can any thing but love beget love?
+This shone in his very countenance, and continually
+breathed in all his words, whether in public or private.
+Was it not this which, quick and penetrating
+as lightning, flew from heart to heart; which gave
+that life to his sermons, his conversation, his letters?
+Ye are witnesses."</p>
+
+<p>The Rev. John Newton preached a funeral sermon
+at Olney, where he was then settled, from the highly
+appropriate text, "He was a burning and a shining
+light," John 5:35, in which he thus speaks of Whitefield:
+"Some ministers are burning and shining lights
+in a peculiar and eminent degree. Such a one, I doubt
+not, was the servant of God whose death we now lament.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_450" id="Page_450">[450]</a></span>
+I have had some opportunities of looking over
+the history of the church in past ages; I am not backward
+to say, that I have not read or heard of any
+person, since the apostles' days, of whom it may be
+more emphatically said, 'He was a burning and a shining
+light,' than the late Mr. Whitefield; whether we
+consider the warmth of his zeal, the greatness of his
+ministerial talents, or the extensive usefulness with
+which the Lord honored him. I do not mean to praise
+the man, but the Lord who furnished him, and made
+him what he was. He was raised up to shine in a
+dark place. The state of religion when he first appeared
+in public, was very low in our established
+church. I speak the truth, though to some it may be
+an offensive truth. The doctrines of grace were seldom
+heard from the pulpit, and the life and power of
+godliness were little known. Many of the most spiritual
+among the dissenters, were mourning under a
+sense of a great spreading declension on their side.
+What a change has taken place throughout the land
+within a little more than thirty years; that is, since
+the time when the first set of despised ministers came
+to Oxford! And how much of this change has been
+owing to God's blessing on Mr. Whitefield's labors,
+is well known to many who have lived through this
+period, and can hardly be denied by those who are
+least willing to allow it.... His zeal was not like
+wildfire, but directed by sound principles, and a sound
+judgment.... The Lord gave him a manner of
+preaching which was peculiarly his own. He copied
+from none, and I never met with any one who could
+imitate him with success."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_451" id="Page_451">[451]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>With regret we tear ourselves away from Romaine
+and Toplady, from Pemberton and Parsons, and from
+a multitude of others who bore testimonies like those
+we have given, but which would exceed the limits of
+our narrative.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Newton, after his removal to London, once
+breakfasting with a company of noblemen and gentlemen,
+was asked if he knew Mr. Whitefield. He
+answered in the affirmative, and remarked, that as a
+preacher Mr. Whitefield far exceeded every other
+man of his time. Mr. Newton added, "I bless God
+that I lived in his time: many were the winter mornings
+I rose at four o'clock to attend his Tabernacle
+discourses at five; and I have seen Moorfields as full
+of lanterns at these times, as I suppose the Hay market
+is full of flambeaux on an opera night." As a proof
+of the power of Mr. Whitefield's preaching, Mr. Newton
+said, that a military officer at Glasgow, who had
+heard him preach, laid a wager with another, that at
+a certain charity sermon, though he went with prejudice,
+he would be compelled to give something. The
+other, to make sure that he would not, laid aside all
+the money out of his pockets; but before he left the
+church, he was glad to borrow some, and lose his bet.
+Mr. Newton mentioned as another striking illustration
+of Mr. Whitefield's persuasive oratory, his collecting
+after one sermon &#163;600, or about $3,000, for the inhabitants
+of an obscure village in Germany, that had been
+burned down. After this sermon, Whitefield said,
+"We shall sing a hymn, during which those who do
+not choose to give their mite on this awful occasion,
+may sneak off." Not one moved; he came down<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_452" id="Page_452">[452]</a></span>
+from the pulpit, ordered all the doors to be shut but
+one, at which he held the plate himself, and collected
+the large sum we have named. Mr. Newton farther
+stated what he knew to be a fact, that at the time
+of Whitefield's greatest persecution, when obliged
+to speak in the streets, in one week he received
+not fewer than a thousand letters from persons distressed
+in their consciences by the energy of his
+preaching.</p>
+
+<p>A gentleman of title in England was one day examining
+some works of the distinguished sculptor,
+John Bacon. Among them he observed a bust of Mr.
+Whitefield, which led him to remark, "After all that
+has been said, this was truly a great man; he was
+the founder of a new religion." Mr. Bacon replied,
+"A new religion, sir?" "Yes," said the baronet;
+"what do you call it?" "Nothing," was the reply,
+"but the old religion revived with new energy,
+and treated as though the preacher meant what he
+said."</p>
+
+<p>Several interesting narratives have been given of
+visits to the tomb of Whitefield, which show the preciousness
+of his memory.</p>
+
+<p>In 1834, the Rev. Andrew Reed, D. D., of London,
+and the late Rev. James Matheson, D. D., of
+Durham, visited this country as a deputation to its
+churches from the Congregational Union of England
+and Wales. In describing their visit to Newburyport,
+Dr. Reed says, "We had a conference with the
+pastors here, and afterwards went to the church
+which is enriched with the remains of Whitefield.
+The elders of the church were present in the porch<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_453" id="Page_453">[453]</a></span>
+to receive us. We descended to the vault. There
+were three coffins before us. Two pastors of the
+church lay on either side, and the remains of Whitefield
+in the centre. The cover was slipt aside, and
+they lay beneath my eye. I had before stood in his
+pulpits; seen his books, his rings, and chairs; but
+never before had I looked on part of his very self.
+The skull, which is perfect, clean, and fair, I received,
+as is the custom, into my hand. I could say nothing;
+but thought and feeling were busy. On returning to
+the church, I proposed an exercise of worship. We
+collected over the grave of the eloquent, the devoted,
+and seraphic man, and gave expression to the sentiments
+that possessed us, by solemn psalmody and fervent
+prayer. It was not an ordinary service to any
+of us."</p>
+
+<p>In the year 1835, a similar deputation visited this
+country from the Baptist Union of Great Britain and
+Ireland. It consisted of the late Rev. F. A. Cox,
+D. D., of London, and the Rev. James Hoby, D. D.,
+then of Birmingham. They also visited the tomb of
+our never-to-be-forgotten evangelist. We give a few
+sentences from their report: "We made an excursion
+to Newburyport, thirty-nine miles from Boston, to see
+the tomb of Whitefield. On our arrival, we hastened
+to the depository of the precious remains of that eminent
+servant of God.... We descended with some
+difficulty into the subterraneous vault, which is immediately
+behind the pulpit, in a small chamber like a
+vestry, external to the body of the church. Deep expectant
+emotions thrilled through our bosoms, while
+a kind of trap-door was opened, and we descended<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_454" id="Page_454">[454]</a></span>
+beneath the floor to another door, which stood perpendicularly,
+by which we entered, or rather crept,
+into the awful and silent sepulchre. There were three
+coffins placed in parallel lines; two of them containing
+the mortal part of Mr. Parsons and Mr. Prince,
+pastors of the church. We instinctively took our
+seats, the one on the one coffin, the other on the other,
+with the coffin of Whitefield between, over which,
+when the upper part of the lid was removed, to reveal
+the skeleton secrets of the narrow prison-house, we
+bent in solemn stillness and awe. We gazed on
+the fragments&mdash;we contemplated and handled the
+skull of that great preacher of righteousness&mdash;we
+thought of his devoted life, his blessed death, his high
+and happy destiny; and whispered our adorations
+of the grace that formed him both for earth and
+heaven."</p>
+
+<p>The following lines were written by the departed
+and amiable William B. Tappan, on visiting this spot
+in September, 1837.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"And this was Whitefield!&mdash;this, the dust now blending<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">With kindred dust, that wrapt his soul of fire&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Which, from the mantle freed, is still ascending<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Through regions of far glory, holier, higher.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i1">Oh, as I gaze here with a solemn joy<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And awful reverence, in which shares Decay,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Who, this fair frame reluctant to destroy,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Yields it not yet to doom which all obey&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">How follows thought his flight, at Love's command,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">From hemisphere in sin, to hemisphere,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Warning uncounted multitudes with tears&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Preaching the risen Christ on sea and land&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And now those angel journeyings above!<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Souls, his companions, saved by such unwearied love!"<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_455" id="Page_455">[455]</a></span></p>
+<p>In December, 1845, one of the London daily papers,
+"The Sun," contained a somewhat extended account
+of Whitefield in New England, and especially his
+death, funeral, and tomb, from which we borrow mementos
+that in both hemispheres may be interesting
+"for generations to come."</p>
+
+<p>"I was spending Sunday at Old Ipswich, in the
+latter part of last September, when by accident I fell
+in with an old inhabitant of the town who had heard
+Whitefield preach there. He was a sort of patriarch
+of the place, and as he sat on one of the stones which
+surrounded the ancient orthodox meeting-house, his
+grey locks streaming from beneath his queerly shaped
+hat, and attired in his primly cut old-fashioned coat,
+he appeared no bad representative of the departed
+Puritans who, in former days, had soberly and decently
+obeyed the call of the Sabbath bell, and worshipped in
+the same temple whose steeple now casts its shadow
+athwart the green sward beneath.... As the bell of
+Old Ipswich church swung out that bright Sabbath
+morning, it was a pretty sight to see the village people
+coming from different points to the decaying old
+church, which was situated, as most country churches
+in New England are, on a hill-top. While I was enjoying
+the scene, the old man to whom I have alluded,
+and who was sitting on a stone, accosted me, and
+asked me if I was not a stranger 'in these parts.' On
+my informing him that I was, he pointed out to me the
+'lions' of the neighborhood, and wound up by asking,
+'I suppose, sir, you've heard of Whitefield?'</p>
+
+<p>"'Of Whitefield? to be sure I have.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Well, I've seen Whitefield, George Whitefield<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_456" id="Page_456">[456]</a></span>
+stood on this very stone,' (dropping his stick
+feebly from his shaking hands,) 'and I heard him
+preach here.'</p>
+
+<p>"'And do you remember any thing about him?' I
+asked.</p>
+
+<p>"'Well, I guess I do. I was but a bit of a boy
+then; but here he stood on this stone, looking like a
+flying angel, and we call this Whitefield's pulpit to
+this day.... There was folks here from all parts
+to hear him; so he was obliged to preach outside, for
+the church wasn't half big enough for 'em, and no
+two ways about it. I've heard many parsons sin'
+that time, but none on 'em could come nigh him, any
+how they could fix it.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Do you remember any thing of his sermons?'
+I inquired.</p>
+
+<p>"'Oh, I was too young to notice aught, sir, but the
+preacher hisself and the crowds of people, but I know
+he had a very sweet voice; and as I said, when he
+spread his arms out, with a little Bible in his hand,
+he looked like a flying angel. There never were so
+many people, afore nor since, in Old Ipswich. I suppose,
+sir, you'll be going to see his bones? He was
+buried at Newburyport, and you can see 'em if you
+like.'</p>
+
+<p>"I made up my mind that I would see them, if
+possible. On the following day, I went over to Newburyport
+by railroad, and proceeded first to the house
+in which Whitefield died. It was at the time the
+residence of the Rev. Jonathan Parsons, the first regular
+pastor of the Presbyterian Society in the town.
+It is a plain unpretending structure, possessing no<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_457" id="Page_457">[457]</a></span>
+other claims to attention than its being the spot where
+the last scene of Whitefield's career was enacted. I
+knocked, and asked of a lady who answered my summons,
+if I might be allowed to see the room in which
+Mr. Whitefield died. She very courteously showed
+me up a flight of stairs into a chamber, which, she
+said, Mr. Whitefield used to sleep in. 'Here is the
+place he died in,' said the lady, as she showed me a
+little entry just outside the door of the chamber, directly
+over the entrance to the house. 'He lay the
+night before he died,' said the lady, 'in that bed-chamber;
+and when he was struck with death, he ran out
+to this entry window for breath, and died while sitting
+in a chair opposite to it.'</p>
+
+<p>"The Federal-street church, where Whitefield was
+buried, was but a short distance from the house in
+which he died, and on my way to it I called on the
+sexton.... He preceded me through the aisle of the
+church, and opening a little narrow door by the side
+of the pulpit, we passed into a dim gloomy room
+behind it, and from thence descending four or five
+steps, found ourselves in a brick vault which lay directly
+under the pulpit. It was two or three minutes
+before my eyes got accustomed to the gloom; but
+soon objects became discernible, and I saw three old
+coffins, two of them serving as supporters to the third,
+which lay across them.... The sexton trimmed his
+lamp, then lifted the lid of an old coffin, and holding
+the flame close to it, said, 'Here, look in, ... <small>THAT'S
+THE MAN</small>.'</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, there lay the man, or at least, all that remains
+of the once mighty preacher. A strange awe<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_458" id="Page_458">[458]</a></span>
+came over me at his words, '<em>That's the man.</em>' I took
+the skull in my hands, and examined it carefully. The
+forehead was rather narrow than broad, and by no
+means high. I soon put it back again to the coffin."</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<p>Among the more prominent traits in the character
+of Whitefield, we may designate his <em>indifference to his
+own honor and ease</em>, of which his narrative contains
+almost innumerable illustrations. In the preparation
+of the deed of trust for his intended college, he entirely
+omitted his own name, that the proposed trustees
+might accept the office without suffering contempt
+for being connected with him. It was not pretence
+which led him often to say, "Let the name of George
+Whitefield perish, if God be glorified." On the same
+principle of almost self-annihilation he acted in reference
+to the accumulation of money. He secured nothing
+for himself. It does not seem that what he left
+to his friends by his will was or could be paid; what
+had been left him as legacies had been nearly all
+expended, and would have been entirely, had he lived
+to return to his beloved Bethesda. By his will he
+placed the institution in the hands of Lady Huntingdon,
+who sent out ministers and other persons to conduct
+it. But soon after this, the buildings were burnt
+down. After the fire, came the Revolutionary war,
+which tended to unsettle the tenure of property, and
+at the time of its close, the whole plans, alike of the
+orphan-house and the college, were nearly unknown.
+The authorities of Savannah, in accordance with the
+high regard which they still entertained for Whitefield's
+memory, secured whatever they could of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_459" id="Page_459">[459]</a></span>
+wreck, the proceeds of which they invested in a school
+for the young, which yet flourishes.</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps no man was ever more thoroughly <em>fond of
+labor</em>. From a memorandum in which Mr. Whitefield
+recorded the times and places of his ministerial labors,
+it appears that from the period of his ordination to
+that of his death, which was thirty-four years, he
+preached upwards of <em>eighteen thousand sermons</em>. It
+would be difficult to imagine how many thousand
+miles he travelled. When he ascertained that his
+physical powers began to fail, putting himself on what
+he called "short allowance," he preached <em>only once on
+every week-day, and three times on the Sabbath</em>. In view
+of his various journeyings in the slow and inconvenient
+modes of travelling then in use, his thirteen voyages
+across the Atlantic, and all that he accomplished,
+it appears that few men ever performed so much labor
+within the same period.</p>
+
+<p>Nearly every one who has attempted a description
+of Whitefield has said much of his <em>extraordinary voice</em>.
+It is known that Garrick was heard to say that he
+would give a hundred guineas if he could say "Oh!"
+as Whitefield did. The late Rev. Dr. Haweis, speaking
+of his "wonderful voice," and of its sweetness and
+variety of tone, said he believed on a serene evening
+it might be distinctly heard for nearly a mile. Others
+have given similar evidence.</p>
+
+<p>The late Sir George Beaumont, no mean authority
+on such a subject, thus familiarly speaks: "Oh yes; I
+heard that young gentleman this morning allude to
+'roaring Whitefield,' and was amused at his mistake.
+It is a common one. Whitefield did not roar. I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_460" id="Page_460">[460]</a></span>
+have been his auditor more than once, and was delighted
+with him. Whitefield's voice could be heard
+at an immense distance; but that was owing to its
+fulness, roundness, and clearness. It was a perfectly
+sound voice. It is an odd description, but I can hit
+upon no better; there was neither crack nor flaw.
+To describe him as a bellowing, roaring field preacher,
+is to describe a mountebank, not Whitefield. He
+had powers of pathos of the highest order. The tender,
+soft, persuasive tones of his voice were melodious
+in the extreme. And when he desired to win, or persuade,
+or plead, or soothe, the gush of feeling which
+his voice conveyed at once surprised and overpowered
+you."</p>
+
+<p>Speaking on the authority of his tutor, the Rev.
+Cornelius Winter, the late excellent Mr. Jay says that
+Whitefield's voice was incomparable: not only distinct
+and loud, but abounding with every kind of inflection,
+and perfectly under his power; so that he could render
+every thing he expressed, however common or insignificant
+in itself, striking and affecting.</p>
+
+<p>This distinguished man had a peculiar talent for
+making the <em>narration of facts tell in the pulpit</em>. Nothing
+occurred among even his own family connections, but
+he would make it contribute to the edification of his
+auditors. One Lord's day morning, with his usual
+fervor he exhorted his hearers to give up the use of
+means for the spiritual good of their relatives and
+friends only with their lives. He told them he had a
+brother, for whose spiritual welfare he had very long
+used every possible means. He had warned him, and
+prayed for him, but all apparently to no purpose, till<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_461" id="Page_461">[461]</a></span>
+a few weeks previous; when that brother, to his astonishment
+and joy, came to his house, and with many
+tears declared that he had come up from the country
+to testify to him the great change which divine grace
+had wrought in his heart, and to acknowledge with
+gratitude his obligation to the man by whom God had
+wrought. Mr. Whitefield added, that he had that
+morning received information, that on his brother's
+return to Gloucestershire, where he resided, he dropped
+down dead as he was getting out of a stagecoach.
+"Let us pray always," said he, "for ourselves,
+and for those who are dear to us, and never
+faint."</p>
+
+<p>This habit of making every occurrence bear on his
+ministry, Mr. Winter, who knew him more intimately,
+and has told us more of his private life and conduct
+than any other man, tells us was "perfectly in character
+with Mr. Whitefield. He turned every thing into
+gold; he improved every thing for good. Passing
+occurrences determined the matter of his sermons,
+and, in some degree, the manner of his address. Thus,
+if he had read on astronomy in the course of the week,
+you would be sure to discover it. He knew how to
+convert the centripetal motion of the planets to the
+disposition of the Christian towards Christ; and the
+fatal attraction of the world was very properly represented
+by a reference to the centrifugal. If he attended
+any extraordinary trial, he would avail himself of
+the formality of the judge in pronouncing sentence.
+It would only be by hearing him, and by beholding
+his attitude and tears, that a person could well conceive
+the effect; for it was impossible but that solemnity<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_462" id="Page_462">[462]</a></span>
+must surround him who, under God, became the
+means of making all solemn."</p>
+
+<p>He sometimes made use of an incident of history
+in the reign of Henry VIII. The apprentices of London
+appeared before that monarch, pleading his pardon
+for their insurrections, manifesting intense feeling
+on the matter, and praying for "mercy, mercy." "Take
+them away, take them away," was the monarch's request,
+moved by the sight and the cries of these youths,
+"I cannot bear it." The application, as will be readily
+supposed, was, that if an earthly monarch of Henry's
+character could be so moved, how prevalent must
+be the plea of the sinner in the ears of infinite Love.</p>
+
+<p>The case of two Scotchmen in the convulsion of the
+state at the time of Charles II. served him on more
+than one occasion. These men, having to pass some
+of the troops, were thinking of their danger, and meditating
+the best way of escape, when one of them proposed
+wearing a skullcap; but the other, thinking
+that would imply distrust of the providence of God,
+determined to proceed bareheaded. The last was
+the first laid hold of, and being asked, "Are you for
+the covenant?" replied, "Yes;" and being further
+asked, "What covenant?" answered, "The covenant
+of grace;" by which reply, eluding farther inquiry, he
+was allowed to pass; but the other, not answering
+satisfactorily, received a blow from the sabre, which
+penetrating through the cap, struck him dead. In the
+application, Mr. Whitefield, warning against vain
+confidence, exclaimed, "Beware of your skullcaps."</p>
+
+<p>An American clergyman has told us that he once
+related to Whitefield an affecting occurrence, but did<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_463" id="Page_463">[463]</a></span>
+it with the ordinary brevity and feeling of common
+conversation. Afterwards he heard Mr. Whitefield
+preach, and tell this same story with such nature,
+pathos, and power, that the clergyman found himself
+weeping like a child. It has been well said, that he
+spoke with the tones of the soul; and that his gestures
+were impelled by the same spontaneous magical influence
+which made them, as well as his words, seem part
+of his soul. Indeed, he threw his soul into every
+thing he did and said.</p>
+
+<p>It is said that Whitefield would sometimes rise in
+the sacred desk, and for a minute or two looking in
+silence around his vast audience, as if salvation or
+perdition teemed in every cast of his eye, would burst
+into tears, while the swift contagion, before he uttered
+a word, had reached every heart that could feel, and
+dimmed every eye that could weep.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p>
+
+<p>While his path to the sinner's heart was thus met
+with tears, he was never without strength or aim.
+He struck everywhere. He swung his glittering
+weapon, "the sword of the Spirit," in every direction,
+the same whether he preached in the cushioned and
+carpeted pulpit to lords, ladies, and gentlemen, or encountered
+a mob of stage-players and merry-andrews
+in the open field. He insisted on instant, visible,
+decisive action in his hearers. All was commotion
+where he moved. The very earth would seem to be
+shaken with the thunder of his eloquence; the heavens<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_464" id="Page_464">[464]</a></span>
+seemed, in the bold metaphor of Isaiah, to "drop
+down from above, and the skies to pour down righteousness,"
+when he set the trumpet of the gospel to
+his lips, and made the notes of salvation or perdition
+ring in the ears of dying men. Such unwonted sounds
+startled the multitude into life, rousing energies that
+were forthwith enlisted either for or against the
+mighty cause which he advocated, with the boldness
+and fervor of one who had received immediate commission
+from heaven. His sacred ambition was content
+with nothing short of the conquest of thousands.</p>
+
+<p>It has been well said by a living American writer,
+that "Whitefield was, in sacred eloquence, what Handel
+was in sacred music. There was an air, a soul,
+and a <em>movement</em> in his oratory, which created indescribable
+emotion in his vast assemblies, and if Handel,
+with a thousand auxiliary voices and instruments,
+astonished the multitude in Westminster Abbey, even
+to raising them on their feet, by the performance of
+his Messiah, Whitefield did greater wonders in his
+single person by <em>preaching</em> the Messiah to the immense
+crowds in Tottenham Court-road and Moorfields."</p>
+
+<p>The same writer has said elsewhere, "The influence
+of Whitefield and Edwards on theology and pulpit
+eloquence were immense. There was in those
+two men indeed 'a diversity of gifts, but the same
+spirit,' The intellect prevailed in Edwards, the impassioned
+in Whitefield. Pure truth came forth from
+the mind of the one as nakedly demonstrated as it
+ever was on the pages of Newton and Locke; for Edwards,
+when but a child, read Locke with enthusiasm.
+From the soul of Whitefield it came forth arrayed in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_465" id="Page_465">[465]</a></span>
+the gorgeous robes of his own many-colored imagination,
+baptized in the tenderness of his own sympathetic
+spirit. At times, indeed, the thunders of Sinai
+seemed to shake the sacred desk, but the softer music
+of the harp of Zion was more congenial with his compassionate
+spirit, though he was always bold for God,
+and braved danger in every form for the salvation of
+sinners. It is not strange that American preachers
+venerate, even to enthusiasm, the memory of such a
+man, and visit his dust, enshrined as it is in the bosom
+of New England, with feelings of indescribable interest.
+His labors were for us; his rest is with us; his
+example is before us. The first were indefatigable;
+the second is peaceful; the last is glorious."</p>
+
+<p>The Rev. Mr. Winter says, "I hardly ever knew
+him to go through a sermon without weeping more or
+less;" and again, "It was only by beholding his attitude
+and tears, that one could well conceive of the
+effect." No doubt there was a connection between
+the tears of Whitefield and his piety; but it must not
+be supposed that he was always "the weeping prophet;"
+he could smile as well as weep. A venerable
+lady in New York, known to some yet living, speaking
+of the influence which first won her heart to God,
+said that "Mr. Whitefield was so cheerful that it
+<em>tempted her to be a Christian</em>."</p>
+
+<p>Every thing about this distinguished man excited
+attention. His voice, accompanied by his look from
+crossed eyes, and proceeding from a man of his robust
+frame, produced wonderful effects. It is said that
+when once preaching in a graveyard, two young men
+conducted themselves improperly, when he fixed his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_466" id="Page_466">[466]</a></span>
+eyes upon them, and with a voice resembling thunder,
+said, "Come down, ye rebels." They instantly fell,
+neither of them being inclined again to come into
+contact with such a look, or to hear such a voice.</p>
+
+<p>He was once preaching to a vast crowd of people
+in southern Pennsylvania, which was at that time
+ignorant and uncivilized. He was incessantly disturbed
+by their noise, and twice reproved them with
+great severity. At length he was so overcome by
+their noisy and irreverent conduct, that he stopped
+short, dropped his head into his hands, burst into a
+flood of tears, and exclaimed, "Oh, Lord God, I am
+ashamed that these people are provoking thy wrath,
+and I dare not reprove them a third time." Such was
+the effect of his conduct and feeling, that his audience
+became perfectly quiet, and remained so till the end
+of his discourse.</p>
+
+<p>We have before us two narratives of his preaching
+during very heavy storms. Dr. Campbell, a successor
+of Whitefield in the <em>Tabernacle</em> in London, and whose
+ministry has been marked by much of the power and
+success of his great predecessor, has given to the first
+of these narratives the title of "<cite>Thunder and Eloquence</cite>."
+Before he commenced his sermon on this occasion,
+long darkening columns crowded the bright
+sunny sky of the morning, and swept their dull shadows
+over the building, in fearful augury of the storm.</p>
+
+<p>His text was, "Strive to enter in at the strait
+gate; for many, I say unto you, shall seek to enter
+in, and shall not be able." "See," said he, pointing
+to a shadow that was flitting across the floor&mdash;"see
+that emblem of human life. It passed for a moment,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_467" id="Page_467">[467]</a></span>
+and concealed the brightness of heaven from our view;
+but it is gone. And where will ye be, my hearers,
+when your lives have passed away like that dark
+cloud? Oh, my dear friends, I see thousands sitting
+attentively, with their eyes fixed on the poor unworthy
+preacher. In a few days, we shall all meet at
+the judgment-seat of Christ. We shall form a part
+of that vast assembly that will gather before the
+throne; and every eye will behold the Judge. With
+a voice whose call you must abide and answer, he
+will inquire whether on earth you strove to enter in
+at the strait gate; whether you were supremely devoted
+to God; whether your hearts were absorbed in
+him. My blood runs cold when I think how many of
+you will then seek to enter in, and shall not be able.
+Oh, what plea can you make before the Judge of the
+whole earth? Can you say it has been your whole
+endeavor to mortify the flesh, with its affections and
+lusts&mdash;that your life has been one long effort to do
+the will of God? No; you must answer, 'I made
+myself easy in the world by flattering myself that
+all would end well; but I have deceived my own
+soul, and am lost.'</p>
+
+<p>"You, O false, and hollow Christian, of what avail
+will it be that you have done many things&mdash;that you
+have read much in the sacred word&mdash;that you have
+made long prayers&mdash;that you have attended religious
+duties, and that you have appeared holy in the eyes
+of men? What will all this be, if, instead of loving
+Him supremely, you have been supposing you should
+exalt yourself in heaven by acts really polluted and
+unholy?</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_468" id="Page_468">[468]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"And you, rich men, wherefore do you hoard your
+silver? Wherefore count the price you have received
+for Him whom you every day crucify in your love of
+gain? Why&mdash;that when you are too poor to buy a
+drop of cold water, your beloved son may be rolled
+to hell in his chariot, pillowed and cushioned around
+him."</p>
+
+<p>The eye of the preacher gradually lighted up as
+he proceeded, till towards the close it seemed to sparkle
+with celestial fire. With his whole energy he
+exclaimed, "O sinners, by all your hopes of happiness,
+I beseech you to repent. Let not the wrath of God
+be awakened. Let not the fires of eternity be kindled
+against you. See there!" pointing to the lightning,
+which played on the corner of the pulpit, "it is a
+glance from the angry eye of Jehovah!" Raising his
+finger in a listening attitude, as the distant thunder
+grew louder and louder, and broke in one tremendous
+crash over the building, he continued, "Hark! It was
+the voice of the Almighty as he passed by in his anger!"
+As the sound died away, he covered his face
+with his hands, and knelt beside his pulpit, apparently
+lost in inward and intense prayer. The storm passed
+rapidly away, and the sun, beaming forth in his might,
+threw across the heavens a magnificent arch of peace.
+Rising, and pointing to the beautiful object, he exclaimed,
+"Look upon the rainbow, and praise Him
+who made it. Very beautiful it is in the brightness
+thereof. It compasseth the heavens about with glory;
+and the hands of the Most High have bended it!"</p>
+
+<p>On another occasion, as Mr. Whitefield was
+preaching in Boston, on the wonders of creation,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_469" id="Page_469">[469]</a></span>
+providence, and redemption, a violent storm of thunder
+and lightning came on. In the midst of the sermon
+it attained to so alarming a height that the congregation
+sat in almost breathless awe. The preacher
+closed his note-book, and stepping into one of the
+wings of the desk, fell on his knees, and with much
+feeling and fine taste repeated:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Hark, <span class="smcap">the Eternal</span> rends the sky!<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">A mighty voice before him goes&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">A voice of music to his friends,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">But threatening thunder to his foes:<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">'Come, children, to your Father's arms;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Hide in the chambers of my grace,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Till the fierce storm be overblown,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And my revenging fury cease&mdash;'<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="noindent">"Let us devoutly sing to the praise and glory of God
+this hymn, Old Hundred."</div>
+
+<p>The whole congregation instantly rose, and poured
+forth the sacred song, in which they were accompanied
+by the organ, in a style of simple grandeur and
+heartfelt devotion that was probably never surpassed.
+By the time the hymn was finished the storm was
+hushed. The remainder of the services were well
+adapted to sustain the elevated feeling which had
+been produced; and the benediction with which the
+good man dismissed the flock was universally received
+with streaming eyes, and hearts overflowing with tenderness
+and gratitude.</p>
+
+<p>Another writer has thus described his appearance
+in the pulpit. There was nothing in the appearance
+of this extraordinary man which would lead you to
+suppose that a Felix would tremble before him. He
+was something above the middle stature, well proportioned,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_470" id="Page_470">[470]</a></span>
+and remarkable for a native gracefulness of
+manner. His complexion was very fair, his features
+regular, and his dark blue eyes small and lively. In
+recovering from the measles he had contracted a
+squint with one of them; but this peculiarity rather
+rendered the expression of his countenance more remarkable,
+than in any degree lessened the effect of its
+uncommon sweetness. His voice excelled both in
+melody and compass; and its fine modulations were
+happily accompanied by that grace of action which
+he possessed in an eminent degree, and which has
+been said to be the chief requisite in an orator. To
+see him when he first commenced, one would have
+thought him any thing but enthusiastic and glowing;
+but as he proceeded, his heart warmed with his subject,
+and his manner became impetuous and animated;
+till, forgetful of every thing around him, he seemed to
+kneel at the throne of Jehovah, and to beseech in
+agony for his fellow-beings.</p>
+
+<p>After he had finished his prayer, he knelt for a
+long time in profound silence, and so powerful was
+the effect on the most heartless of his audience, that a
+stillness like that of the tomb pervaded the whole
+house.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Tracy, in his narrative of "the Great Awakening"
+about 1740, has admirably remarked, "It is
+often said that Whitefield cannot have been a very
+great man, because his printed sermons contain only
+plain, common thoughts, such as men of ordinary
+minds habitually use. But what made those thoughts
+so common? They were not common when he began
+to utter them. In England especially, and to a considerable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_471" id="Page_471">[471]</a></span>
+extent here also, they astonished his hearers
+by their strangeness. What is more common than a
+voyage across the Atlantic? But was Columbus,
+therefore, only an ordinary man? The case of Copernicus
+is more nearly parallel. He reasserted a
+truth which had been uttered, repudiated, and forgotten.
+That truth is now common, even among
+school-boys. But was he, therefore, only a child in
+intellect?"</p>
+
+<p>There are yet extant about eighty of the sermons
+by which Whitefield agitated nations, and the more
+remote influence of which is still distinctly to be
+traced, in the popular divinity and national character
+of Great Britain and of the United States. Of these
+compositions, Sir James Stephen, an evangelical Episcopalian
+of London, wrote at some length in the
+"Edinburgh Review," 1838, and we shall make no
+apology for borrowing a portion of his remarks, combining
+them with some of our own.</p>
+
+<p>It is true, that these sermons have fallen into very
+general neglect; for to win permanent acceptance
+for a book, into which the principles of life were not
+infused by its author, is a miracle which not even the
+zeal of religious proselytes can accomplish. Yet, inferior
+as were his inventive to his mimetic powers,
+Whitefield is entitled, among theological writers, to
+a place which, if it cannot challenge admiration, may
+at least excite and reward curiosity. Many, and those
+by far the worst of his discourses, bear the marks of
+careful preparation. Take at hazard a sermon of one
+of the preachers usually distinguished as evangelical,
+add a little to its length, and subtract a great deal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_472" id="Page_472">[472]</a></span>
+from its point and polish, and you have one of his
+more elaborate common topics discussed in a commonplace
+way; a respectable mediocrity of thought and
+style; endless variations on one or two cardinal
+truths&mdash;in short, the task of a clerical Saturday evening,
+executed with piety, good sense, and exceeding
+sedateness. But open one of that series of Whitefield's
+sermons which bears the stamp of having been
+conceived and uttered at the same moment, and imagine
+it recited to myriads of eager listeners with every
+charm of voice and gesture, and the secret of his
+unrivalled fascination is at least partially disclosed.
+He places himself on terms of intimacy and unreserved
+confidence with you, and makes it almost as
+difficult to decline the invitation to his familiar talk
+as if Montaigne himself had issued it. The egotism
+is amusing, affectionate, and warm-hearted, with just
+that slight infusion of self-importance without which
+it would pass for affectation. In his art of rhetoric,
+personification holds the first place; and the prosopop&oelig;ia
+is so managed as to quicken abstractions into
+life, and to give them individuality and distinctness
+without the exhibition of any of those spasmodic and
+distorted images which obey the incantations of vulgar
+exorcists. Every trace of study and contrivance
+is obliterated by the hearty earnestness which pervades
+each successive period, and by the vernacular
+and homely idioms in which his meaning is conveyed.</p>
+
+<p>It is in the grandeur and singleness of purpose
+that the charm of Whitefield's preaching seems to
+have consisted. You feel that you have to do with
+a man who lived and spoke, and who would gladly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_473" id="Page_473">[473]</a></span>
+have died, to deter his hearers from the path of destruction,
+and to guide them to holiness and peace. His
+gossipping stories, and dramatic forms of speech, are
+never employed to hide the awful realities on which
+he is intent. Conscience is not permitted to find an
+intoxicating draught in even spiritual excitement, or
+an anodyne in glowing imagery. Guilt and its punishment,
+pardon and spotless purity, death and an
+eternal existence, stand out in bold relief on every
+page. From these the eye of the teacher is never
+withdrawn, and to these the attention of the hearer is
+riveted. All that is poetic, grotesque, or rapturous
+is employed to deepen these impressions, and is dismissed
+as soon as that purpose is answered. Deficient
+in learning, meagre in thought, and redundant in language
+as are these discourses, they yet fulfil the one
+great condition of genuine eloquence. They propagate
+their own kindly warmth, and leave their stings
+behind them.</p>
+
+<p>The enumeration of the sources of Whitefield's power
+is still essentially defective. Neither energy, nor
+eloquence, nor histrionic talents, nor any artifices of
+style, nor the most genuine sincerity and self-devotedness,
+nor all these united, would have enabled him to
+mould the religious character of millions in his own
+and future generations. The secret lies deeper. It
+consisted in the theology he taught&mdash;in its perfect
+simplicity and universal application. "Would ministers,"
+says he, "preach for eternity, they would then
+act the part of true Christian orators; and not only
+calmly and coolly inform the understanding, but by
+pathetic and persuasive address, endeavor to move<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_474" id="Page_474">[474]</a></span>
+the affections and to warm the heart. To act otherwise,
+betrays a sad ignorance of human nature, and
+such an inexcusable ignorance and indifference in a
+preacher, as must constrain the hearers to suspect,
+whether they will or not, that the preacher, let him
+be whom he will, only deals in the false commerce of
+unfelt truth." His eighteen thousand sermons were
+but so many variations on two key-notes: man is
+guilty, but may obtain forgiveness; he is immortal,
+and must ripen here for endless weal or woe hereafter.
+Expanded into innumerable forms, and diversified by
+infinite varieties of illustration, these two cardinal
+principles were ever in his heart and on his tongue.
+Let who would invoke poetry to embellish the Christian
+system, or philosophy to explore its esoteric
+depths, from his lips it was delivered as an awful and
+urgent summons to repent, to believe, and to obey.
+To set to music the orders issued to seamen in a
+storm, or to address them in the language of Aristotle
+or Descartes, would have seemed to him not a
+whit more preposterous than to divert his hearers
+from their danger and their refuge, their duties and
+their hopes, to any topics more trivial or more abstruse.
+In fine, he was thoroughly and continually
+in earnest, and therefore possessed that tension of
+the soul which admitted neither of lassitude nor relaxation,
+few and familiar as were the topics to which
+he was confined. His was, therefore, precisely that
+state of mind in which alone eloquence, properly so
+called, can be engendered, and a moral and intellectual
+sovereignty won.</p>
+
+<p>Nor less important is it to remark, though we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_475" id="Page_475">[475]</a></span>
+need not illustrate it at length, that much was effected
+by every one seeing that he always forgot himself
+in his subject, and rested only on heaven for success.
+He felt himself called to serve Christ, and gave himself
+to his task, to save sinners, and he cared for
+nothing else. No one ever doubted his sincerity
+when he prayed, "Help me, Friend of sinners, to be
+nothing, to say nothing, that thou mayest say and do
+every thing, and be my all in all." If the same feelings
+were fully shown by the ministry at present,
+our messages would tell more on the hearts of our
+hearers.</p>
+
+<p>We need hardly remind the reader that Whitefield
+was remarkable for <em>a devotional spirit</em>. Probably
+no man ever lived nearer to God. Had he been less
+prayerful, he would have been less powerful. It has
+been said that during a few of the last years of his
+life he read the voluminous exposition of Matthew
+Henry, comprising six quarto volumes, in a kneeling
+posture, pausing and praying that God would engraft
+upon his mind the instructions of that extraordinary
+man. When he came before his auditors, he looked
+like one who had been with God. This it was which
+won for him the title of <em>seraphic</em>&mdash;he was a human
+<em>seraph</em>, and burnt out in the blaze of his own fire.
+Usually for an hour or two before he went into the
+pulpit, he claimed retirement. In this claim he was
+imperative, and would not be interrupted in his seasons
+of hallowed intercourse with God.</p>
+
+<p>Engaged almost incessantly in preaching, or in
+preparation for it, it was impossible, however much
+he desired it, to pay many private visits of a religious<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_476" id="Page_476">[476]</a></span>
+nature. We are told, however, that on one occasion,
+when a young minister, afterwards exceedingly
+popular and useful, was once visiting him, he was
+sent for to visit a poor woman who had been so
+dreadfully burnt that she could not survive many
+hours. He went immediately, and prayed with her.
+He had no sooner returned, than she called out, "Oh,
+where is Mr. Whitefield?" Urged by her entreaty,
+her friends requested him to visit her a second time.
+He complied, and again prayed with her. The poor
+afflicted woman continued still to desire his presence.
+When her friends came for him a third time, "I begged
+of him," said the young clergyman, "not to go; for
+he could scarcely expect to do any good. 'Your
+nerves are too weak, your feelings are too acute to
+endure such scenes.' I shall never forget his mild
+reproof: 'Leave me; my Master can save to the uttermost,
+to the <em>very uttermost</em>.'"</p>
+
+<p>In conversation with his friends, Whitefield was
+as far removed as possible from duplicity and mere
+compliment. He invited from his friends whatever of
+instruction and of reproof they considered him to
+need. And while he was always ready to receive reproof,
+he was, when called to the duty, ready to give
+it, and often in a way which his friends did not expect.
+A censorious professor of religion, knowing the doctrinal
+differences between the two men, asked Whitefield
+if he thought they would see Mr. John Wesley
+in heaven. His answer was truly admirable: "No,
+sir, I fear not; for he will be so near the throne, and
+we shall be at such a distance, we shall hardly get
+sight of him."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_477" id="Page_477">[477]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>It is said, that when he was once travelling in
+company with a Christian man, they had occasion to
+stay for a night at a road-side tavern. After they
+had retired, they were greatly annoyed by a company
+of gamblers, who were in an adjoining room. Whitefield
+could not rest, and told his friend that he would
+go into the room and reprove them for their conduct.
+The other remonstrated against his doing so, but in
+vain. He went; and unhappily, his words fell apparently
+powerless upon them. Returning, he laid down
+to sleep. "What," asked his companion, "did you
+gain by your trouble?" Whitefield characteristically
+answered, "A soft pillow."</p>
+
+<p>In his intercourse with general society, Mr. Whitefield
+never forgot his dignity as a servant of Jesus
+Christ. When he was in the zenith of his popularity,
+Lord Clare, who knew that his influence was considerable,
+applied to him by letter, requesting his influence
+at Bristol at the ensuing general election. To
+this request Mr. Whitefield replied, that in general
+elections he never interfered; but he would earnestly
+exhort his lordship to use great diligence to make his
+own particular "calling and election sure."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Whitefield was greatly distinguished, even
+from early life, for neatness in his person, order in
+his apartments, and regular method in the management
+of all his affairs. He was accustomed to say
+that a minister should be "without a spot;" and on
+one occasion remarked, that he could not feel comfortable
+if he knew that his <em>gloves</em> were out of their proper
+place. The advantages of such habits are numerous.
+They save time, give a degree of comfort which can<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_478" id="Page_478">[478]</a></span>
+only be known by experience, and add not a little to
+the dignity of the Christian minister.</p>
+
+<p>The device upon Whitefield's seal, of which probably
+few impressions are now to be found, was truly
+characteristic. It was a winged heart soaring above
+the globe, and its motto was, "<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Astra petamus</i>"&mdash;Let
+us seek heaven.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_479" id="Page_479">[479]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2>
+
+<h3>CHARACTER OF WHITEFIELD AS A PREACHER&mdash;CENTENNIAL
+COMMEMORATIONS.</h3>
+
+
+<p>In suggesting a few of the <span class="smcap">characteristics of
+Whitefield's preaching</span>, we are very greatly indebted
+to an excellent anonymous writer in the London
+Evangelical Magazine for 1853. We consider as
+among the reasons of his success, and as worthy of
+our imitation,</p>
+
+<p>First, <em>the prominence given to the leading truths of
+salvation, and the constant exaltation of Christ in them</em>.
+There needs no minute inquiry, or great analytical
+care, to ascertain what was the pervading theme of
+this popular minister: it was "Christ, and him crucified,"
+and the glorious truths that hover around the
+cross, and derive from it their being and lustre.
+There was no other subject, in Whitefield's estimation,
+that was worthy of pre&#235;minence, and to unfold, elucidate,
+and apply it, was the great design of his labors.
+He saw in it such a wonderful adaptation to the
+necessities and condition of fallen humanity, that he
+stood in the midst of its wants and woes with all the
+confidence of a good physician who had a sovereign
+and sufficient remedy to propose. He knew that
+there was no case which it could not meet, no moral
+disease from which it would not recover, no spiritual
+need which it would not supply; and therefore, however
+far gone men might be from original righteousness,
+however hardened in sin, sunk in iniquity, or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_480" id="Page_480">[480]</a></span>
+however elevated by the delusions of a false morality
+and fancied self-righteousness, he propounded this as
+the only and all-sufficient antidote, at once to destroy
+and heal, to kill and to make alive. As to the spurious
+production of a rationalistic theory on the one
+hand, or the prescriptions of ceremonial virtue and
+sacramental grace on the other, he knew them not.
+He saw at once their hollowness and insufficiency,
+and would not mock the necessities of our fallen nature,
+or aggravate the wounds which sin had made by
+a proposal of them. His acquaintance with the human
+heart was deep, and his knowledge of the different
+modifications of the original disease was so great,
+that he despaired of relief from any expedients save
+that which infinite Wisdom had devised, and which
+"the gospel of the grace of God" revealed. Philosophy
+with all its discoveries, and reason with all its
+powers, the law with all its authority, and virtue
+with all its rewards, he knew could only, like the
+priests and the Levites, have passed the patient by,
+and left him to despair, till a greater than they should
+arrive, and say, "I will come and heal you." On that
+adorable Personage, therefore, and the wonders of his
+skill and love, he delighted to dwell. Every sermon
+was full of Christ; every discourse was odorous of
+him. From whatever part of revealed truth he derived
+his text, and with whatever peculiar development
+of man's moral physiology he had to do, there
+was something to suggest, to demonstrate the need,
+or the suitableness, or the all-sufficiency of the Saviour
+of the world. To set him forth, in the glories of his
+wonderful person, the variety of his offices, the perfection<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_481" id="Page_481">[481]</a></span>
+of his righteousness, the completeness of his
+atonement, and the plenitude of his grace, was his
+perpetual aim. To these he gave continual prominence,
+at all times, and in every place. There was
+no reserve, no equivocation, no partial statement on
+such themes. It was a full, clear, consistent gospel.
+From his lips the gospel gave no "uncertain sound."
+This made him a welcome messenger of glad tidings
+to all. This gave him a key to the hearts of many,
+who, as they stood around him, and wondered at him,
+like those five thousand whom the Redeemer fed with
+"five loaves and two small fishes," found all their
+appetites suited, and all their necessities supplied.
+It was the magic power which arrested them; the
+centre of gravitation which attracted them; the bread
+of life which fed them. "As Moses lifted up the serpent
+in the wilderness," so now was the Son of man
+lifted up by the ministry of this his devoted herald;
+and far as the camp extended, and wide as the circumference
+of poison and death was spread, the wounded
+looked thereon and lived. A restorative virtue issued
+from it. The hardest heart was softened. The most
+obstinate in rebellion was overcome. The blindest
+saw. The moral lepers were cleansed. The broken
+in heart were made whole, and the spiritually dead
+were raised to life. "This was the Lord's doing, and
+it was marvellous in their eyes." They beheld the
+man. They heard him preach. They felt the power.
+It was because He was exalted among them who had
+said, "I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw
+all men unto me."</p>
+
+<p>Secondly, <em>the glow of feeling, the melting compassion,</em><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_482" id="Page_482">[482]</a></span>
+<em>which pervaded his own soul</em>. Oh, it is supremely
+delightful and deeply affecting to observe the tender
+affection and melting pathos with which Whitefield
+propounded and proclaimed the precious truths and
+everlasting verities of the gospel to his fellow-men.
+He stood among them as one of their race, one of their
+number, conscious of the common misery into which
+all had fallen, and weeping over the miseries and ruin
+in which by nature they were alike involved. As he
+opened up the treasures of infinite mercy, and the
+riches of redeeming love to their view, he wept to
+think how long they had been unknown or despised
+by many, and with what base ingratitude thousands
+would probably still turn away from them. As one
+who saw their immortal being in jeopardy, and their
+souls standing on the verge of irretrievable ruin, he
+hastened, with joy in his countenance and tenderness
+in his heart, to tell them of One who was "mighty to
+save," and that "now was the accepted time, and now
+the day of salvation." Not as one who had a cold
+lecture on ethics to deliver, or a dissertation on philosophy
+to expound, or a problem in mathematics to
+solve, did he proceed to such a work; but as one who
+felt the weight of his great commission, and knew the
+worth of never-dying souls. The evil of sin, the danger
+of impenitence, the powers of the world to come,
+the glories of heaven, and the unutterable miseries of
+the regions of woe, were visibly present to his own
+mind; and of these, "out of the abundance of his
+heart," he spoke to others. He could not be calm,
+he could not be apathetic on such themes as these.</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+"Passion was reason, transport temper, here."
+</p>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_483" id="Page_483">[483]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="noindent">And with much of the melting tenderness of Him
+who wept over Jerusalem, he spoke of these things
+to all that resorted to him. What moving words did
+he utter on Blackheath hill, in the Tabernacle pulpit,
+and on Kingswood mount! His vivid eye beamed
+with the glow of tenderness, and his tears, as he
+spoke, oft-times moistened his little Bible or bedewed
+the ground. In his printed sermons, which doubtless
+are but feeble specimens of his free and fervent manner,
+there are strains of tender pathos and impassioned
+oratory, which it is almost impossible to read
+even now without being moved to share in his feelings
+and in the emotions which they must have enkindled
+around; and in the perusal of which we
+wonder not that, in all the circumstances, the place
+in which he stood was a Bochim&mdash;a place of weeping.
+Oh, the melting power, the exquisite pathos, the tender
+expostulation of this pre&#235;minent man, and unrivalled
+preacher of the gospel of our salvation! We
+wish we could catch them now&mdash;that all preachers
+possessed them; that the rising ministry especially
+would emulate him in these things. Whitefield showed
+his intense feeling, not from the mere power of
+ratiocination, or from the poetic memento, or for the
+sake of producing effect by the tears that were unfelt,
+or which only flowed from the surface; but from the
+meltings of a tender heart, influenced by a Saviour's
+love, and overflowing with the commiseration of a
+benign compassion for dying multitudes around. Doddridge's
+beautiful hymn,</div>
+
+<p class="center">
+"Arise, my tenderest thoughts, arise,"
+</p>
+
+<div class="noindent">one might almost think was written at Whitefield's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_484" id="Page_484">[484]</a></span>
+side. The tenderness of John, and the "weeping" of
+Paul, were blended in him with the boldness of Peter.
+The love that agonized in the garden of Gethsemane,
+and bled on the cross of Calvary, was largely diffused
+through all his powers.</div>
+
+<p>Thirdly, <em>the direct address of his ministry</em>. The
+characteristic mode of his preaching, and the style of
+his public ministrations, was, to direct his appeal to
+the hearts and consciences of his hearers, and to
+"preach <em>to</em> the people all the words of this life." It
+was not an harangue <em>before</em> them. It was not an
+oration beautifully prepared, read, or delivered in
+their hearing, and presented simply for their acceptance
+and admiration; but a direct address, an affectionate
+appeal, a solemn and earnest communication
+of the message he had received from God to them.
+Oh, we have sometimes thought, what a marked difference
+there ought to be between the ministrations of
+a servant of Christ to his fellow-immortals, on things
+of eternal importance in which they are personally
+and deeply concerned, and the delivery of a lecture
+from the philosopher's desk, or even of a dissertation
+on theology from the professorial chair. So thought
+the apostles. So thought the prophets and public
+teachers of sacred mysteries of old. They had the
+"burden of the Lord" to deliver, and it was <em>unto</em> the
+people. They had an embassy to execute, and it was
+by negotiating directly with, and in the consciences
+of their hearers. Whitefield caught their spirit, proceeded
+in their way, and did such mighty execution,
+not by the mere symmetrical illustration of divine
+truth, but by the direct presentation of it to their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_485" id="Page_485">[485]</a></span>
+minds. They had not to ask, "For whom is all this
+intended?" and, "Is it designed for us?" They felt
+that it was. It came home to their consciences, and
+to their very hearts. They could not transfer it to
+others, nor avoid the application of it to themselves.
+Had the preacher called them by name, which in his
+skilful delineation of character, he sometimes virtually
+did, they could not have been more certain that he
+intended it for them, and that it was at their peril to
+neglect or pass it by. "I have a message from God
+unto thee," he substantially said in every discourse he
+uttered, and the people were compelled to believe it.
+"Go, and tell this people," said the divine voice to
+Isaiah, "Ye hear indeed, but do not understand; ye
+see indeed, but do not perceive." "Therefore," said
+Peter, "let all the house of Israel know assuredly that
+God hath made that same Jesus, <em>whom ye have crucified</em>,
+both Lord and Christ." "Now then," said Paul,
+"we are ambassadors for Christ; as though God did
+beseech <em>you</em> by us, we pray <em>you</em>, in Christ's stead, <em>be
+ye</em> reconciled to God." Such was the tenor of the
+apostolic ministry. Such the secret of its mighty
+power and success. And such also was the characteristic
+of the faithful and seraphic Whitefield, by
+which he knocked at the door of many hearts, and
+those hearts were opened to him, to his message, and
+to his Lord. His plan was that of heavenly wisdom;
+his appeal was the same. "Unto you, O men, I call,
+and my voice is to the sons of men." In him were
+verified the poet's graphic lines:</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<span class="i0">"There stands the messenger of truth; there stands<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The legate of the skies: his theme divine,<br /></span><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_486" id="Page_486">[486]</a></span>
+<span class="i1">His office sacred, his credentials clear.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">By him the violated law speaks out<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Its thunders; and by him, in strains as sweet<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">As angels use, the gospel whispers peace.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">He stablishes the strong, restores the weak,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Reclaims the wanderer, binds the broken heart,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And sues the sinner to return to God."<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Fourthly, <em>his habitual dependence on the Spirit of
+God, and his earnest aspirations for the manifestation of
+his power</em>. That he was conscious of his own superior
+talents as an orator, and knew how to employ them on
+sacred themes; that he skilfully wielded all the weapons
+of a well-studied eloquence to gain access to the
+human mind, and knew both how to alarm and how to
+persuade, and could attempt both with as much success
+probably as any speaker, either of ancient or modern
+times; that he had a large and minute acquaintance
+with the powers and passions of the human soul, and
+knew well when and how to touch the hidden springs
+of its energies and actions; that he had a good amount
+of common and sacred learning at his command, and
+like that Apollos whom among the early teachers of
+Christianity he most resembled, was "mighty in the
+Scriptures;" and that he delighted to expatiate on
+the wonders and glories of redemption as a restorative
+scheme pre&#235;minently adapted to interest and attract,
+to impress and rule our common nature&mdash;are facts
+open to all who inspect his writings and accompany
+him in his labors, and will be denied by none. But
+with all these, and amid all, in every sermon he composed
+and delivered, and in his most impassioned
+addresses to his hearers, there is manifested an underlying
+and all-pervading dependence on the power and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_487" id="Page_487">[487]</a></span>
+grace of the Spirit of God, which was in character, if
+not in degree, meek, humble, genuine, entire, like that
+of the most eminent apostle or adoring saint at the
+foot of the divine throne. With him it was not
+merely a sentiment, but a feeling; and that feeling
+constant and habitual, as it was in him who in the
+review of his labors said, "I have planted, Apollos
+watered, but God gave the increase." He knew that
+none but the almighty Spirit could gain effectual
+access to the spirit of man; and that not even a Melancthon,
+a Luther, or a Whitefield, could make old
+Adam yield, unless constrained by a superior power.
+He seemed to stand in the valley of vision among the
+dry bones, as the prophet did, and while he addressed
+them with something like a prophet's power, he had
+no expectation or hope of success until the wind of
+heaven came down and blew upon them. Therefore
+he prophesied to it as well as to them. "Come from
+the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon the slain,
+that they may live," was often the mighty cry of his
+soul, before preaching, while preaching, and after
+preaching. It seemed to be his joy, his only, his all-sustaining
+confidence, that he lived under "the dispensation
+of the Spirit," and wrought in a day, and
+preached upon a theme, in connection with which "the
+ministration of the Spirit" was to be "glorious," by
+his wonderful works of conviction, conversion, and
+sanctification, among the children of men. To that
+Spirit, as the glorifier of Christ, he often devoutly
+and earnestly appealed. Sometimes, in the midst of
+an unusual flow of tender and eloquent address to his
+hearers on his favorite theme of the glories and grace<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_488" id="Page_488">[488]</a></span>
+of his divine Master, he would pause in solemn silence,
+and lifting up his hands and his voice to heaven, and
+carrying the hearts of his audience with him, invoke
+aloud the descending and all-consuming fire. The
+present God was acknowledged and felt. The word
+came "in demonstration of the Spirit and of power."
+And while the habitual aim of his preaching was to
+exalt "Christ Jesus the Lord," and while he reasoned,
+and opened the Scriptures, and taught and alarmed
+or invited his hearers, in the most touching strains of
+urgent remonstrance and tender entreaty, to accept
+now "the great salvation," the inward state of his soul
+was that of entire reliance on the presence and co&#246;peration
+of the Holy Spirit of God. To him were
+sent up his most intense aspirations. In all the records
+of his success, to that Spirit the honor is always
+ascribed. "Not I, but the grace of God which was
+with me," is the grateful acknowledgment he makes in
+the review of every field occupied and every triumph
+won. And thus it was that the fabric of his ministry,
+and of all his ministrations, in the multitudinous labors
+which he directed against the kingdom of darkness
+and of Satan in his day, was like the mystic
+vision which Ezekiel saw, <em>instinct with life</em>. The spirit
+of the living creatures was in the wheels. "When
+this went, those went; when this stood, those stood;
+when this was lifted up from the earth, those were
+lifted up." It was all life. A living preacher; a living
+theme; a living power, giving life, and spreading
+it all around. Therefore it was that life followed in
+the region of death, and at his coming the desert rejoiced,
+and the wilderness blossomed as the rose.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_489" id="Page_489">[489]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<span class="i0">"Dry bones were raised, and clothed afresh,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And hearts of stone were turned to flesh."<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<p>By preaching such as we have now attempted to
+describe, thousands and tens of thousands were gathered
+to Christ. "An exceeding great army" stood up.
+Slumbering churches were awakened, religion was
+revived, and "righteousness and praise" were caused
+to "spring forth before all the nations." And as this
+apostolic man surveyed the amazing scene, and glanced
+at the wide circumference of his labors, in the British
+Isles and in the New World, he might have exclaimed,
+as one before him had done, "Now thanks be unto
+God, who always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and
+maketh manifest the savor of his name by us in every
+place." "Through mighty signs and wonders, <em>by the
+power of the Spirit of God</em>, from Jerusalem round
+about to Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel
+of Christ." "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of
+Christ: for it is the power of God to salvation; to the
+Jew first, and also to the Greek." Who, in the remembrance
+of Whitefield and his times, will not long for
+their return, and exclaim, "Awake, awake; put on
+strength, O arm of the Lord; awake, as in the ancient
+days." "O that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that
+thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might
+flow down at thy presence, as when the melting fire
+burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make
+thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations
+may tremble at thy presence!" Spirit of the living
+God, descend and replenish with thy power all our
+souls, our ministry, our temples, our land.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_490" id="Page_490">[490]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>In estimating the character of Whitefield, it should
+be observed that <em>he dealt with his hearers, individually
+and collectively, as immortal beings</em>. To use the language
+of Isaac Taylor, "he held <small>MAN</small> as if in the abstract,
+or as if whatever is not common to all men
+were forgotten. The most extreme diversities, intellectual
+and moral, differences of rank, culture, national
+modes of thought, all gave way and ceased to be
+thought of; distinctions were swept from the ground
+where he took his position. At the first opening of
+his lips, and as the rich harmony of his voice spread
+its undulations over the expanse of human faces, and
+at the instant when the sparkle of his bright eye
+caught every other eye, human nature, in a manner,
+dropped its individuality, and presented itself in its
+very elements to be moulded anew. Whitefield,
+although singularly gifted with a perception of the
+varieties of character, yet spoke as if he could know
+nothing of the thousands before him but their immortality
+and their misery; and so it was that these
+thousands listened to him.</p>
+
+<p>"No preacher whose history is on record, has trod
+so wide a field as did Whitefield, or has retrod it so
+often, or has repeated himself so much, or has carried
+so far the experiment of exhausting himself, and of
+spending his popularity, if it could have been spent,
+but it never was spent. Within the compass of a few
+weeks he might have been heard addressing the negroes
+of the Bermuda islands, adapting himself to
+their infantile understandings, and to their debauched
+hearts; and then at Chelsea, with the aristocracy of
+rank and wit before him, approving himself to listeners<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_491" id="Page_491">[491]</a></span>
+such as the lords Bolingbroke and Chesterfield.
+Whitefield might as easily have produced a Hamlet
+or a Paradise Lost, as have excogitated a sermon
+which, as a composition, a product of thought, would
+have tempted men like these to hear him a second
+time; and as to his faculty and graces as a speaker,
+his elocution and action, a second performance would
+have contented them. But in fact Bolingbroke, and
+many of his class, thought not the hour long, time
+after time, while, with much sameness of <em>material</em> and
+of language, he spoke of eternity and of salvation in
+Christ.... Floods of tears moistened cheeks rough
+and smooth; and sighs, suppressed or loudly uttered,
+gave evidence that human nature is one and the same
+when it comes in presence of truths which bear upon
+the guilty and the immortal without distinction."</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<p>The Rev. Dr. James Hamilton of London has admirably
+delineated Whitefield, in a passage which must
+be admired by all who read it: "Whitefield was the
+prince of English preachers. Many have surpassed
+him as sermon-makers, but none have approached him
+as a pulpit orator. Many have outshone him in the
+clearness of their logic, the grandeur of their conceptions,
+and the sparkling beauty of single sentences;
+but in the power of darting the gospel direct into the
+conscience, he eclipsed them all. With a full and
+beaming countenance, and the frank and easy port
+which the English people love&mdash;for it is the symbol
+of honest purpose and friendly assurance&mdash;he combined
+a voice of rich compass, which could easily thrill
+over Moorfields in musical thunder, or whisper its terrible<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_492" id="Page_492">[492]</a></span>
+secret in every private ear; and to this gainly
+aspect and tuneful voice he added a most expressive
+and eloquent action. Improved by conscientious practice,
+and instinct with his earnest nature, this elocution
+was the acted sermon, and by its pantomimic
+portrait enabled the eye to anticipate each rapid
+utterance, and helped the memory to treasure up the
+palatable ideas. None ever used so boldly, nor with
+more success, the highest styles of impersonation: as
+when he described to his sailor-auditors a storm at
+sea, and compelled them to shout, 'Take to the longboat,
+sir!' His 'hark, hark!' could conjure up Gethsemane
+with its faltering moon, and awake again the
+cry of horror-stricken innocence; and an apostrophe
+to Peter on the holy mount would light up another
+Tabor, and drown it in glory from the opening heaven.
+His thoughts were possessions, and his feelings
+were transformations; and he spoke because he felt,
+his hearers understood because they saw. They were
+not only enthusiastic amateurs, like Garrick, who ran
+to weep and tremble at his bursts of passion, but even
+the colder critics of the Walpole school were surprised
+into momentary sympathy and reluctant wonder.
+Lord Chesterfield was listening in Lady Huntingdon's
+pew when Whitefield was comparing the benighted
+sinner to a blind beggar on a dangerous road. His
+little dog gets away from him when skirting the edge
+of a precipice, and he is left to explore the path with
+his iron-shod staff. On the very verge of the cliff this
+blind guide slips through his fingers and skims away
+down the abyss. All unconscious, the owner stoops
+down to regain it, and stumbling forward&mdash;'Good<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_493" id="Page_493">[493]</a></span>
+God, he is gone!' shouted Chesterfield, who had been
+watching with breathless alarm the blind man's movements,
+and who jumped from his feet to save the catastrophe.</p>
+
+<p>"But the glory of Whitefield's preaching was his
+heart-kindled and heart-melting gospel. But for
+this, all his bold strokes and brilliant surprises might
+have been no better than the rhetorical triumphs of
+Kirwan and other pulpit dramatists. He was an orator,
+but he only sought to be an evangelist. Like a
+volcano where gold and gems may be darted forth as
+well as common things, but where gold and molten
+granite flow all alike in fiery fusion, bright thoughts
+and splendid images might be projected from his pulpit,
+but all were merged in the stream which bore
+along the gospel and himself in blended fervor. Indeed,
+so simple was his nature, that glory to God and
+good will to man had filled it; there was room for little
+more. Having no church to found, no family to
+enrich, and no memory to immortalize, he was simply
+the ambassador of God; and inspired with its genial
+piteous spirit&mdash;so full of heaven reconciled and humanity
+restored&mdash;he soon himself became a living
+gospel. Radiant with its benignity, and trembling
+with its tenderness, by a sort of spiritual induction a
+vast audience would speedily be brought into a frame
+of mind&mdash;the transfusing of his own; and the white
+furrows on their sooty faces told that Kingswood colliers
+were weeping, or the quivering of an ostrich
+plume bespoke its elegant wearer's deep emotion.
+And coming to his pulpit direct from communion with
+his Master, and in the strength of accepted prayer,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_494" id="Page_494">[494]</a></span>
+there was an elevation in his mien which often paralyzed
+hostility, and a self-possession which made him
+amid uproar and confusion the more sublime. With
+an electric bolt he would bring the jester in his fool's
+cap from his perch on the tree, or galvanize the brickbat
+from the skulking miscreant's grasp, or sweep
+down in crouching submission and shamefaced silence
+the whole of Bartholomew fair; while a revealing
+flash of sententious doctrine, of vivified Scripture,
+would disclose to awe-struck hundreds the forgotten
+verities of another world, or the unsuspected arcana
+of their inner man. 'I came to break your head, but,
+through you, God has broken my heart,' was a sort
+of confession with which he was familiar; and to see
+the deaf old gentlewoman who used to mutter imprecations
+at him as he passed along the streets, clambering
+up the pulpit stairs to catch his angelic words,
+was a sort of spectacle which the triumphant gospel
+often witnessed in his day. And when it is known
+that his voice could be heard by twenty thousand, and
+that ranging all the empire, as well as America, he
+would often preach thrice on a working-day, and that
+he has received in one week as many as a thousand
+letters from persons awakened by his sermons, if no
+estimate can be formed of the results of his ministry,
+some idea may be suggested of its vast extent and
+singular effectiveness."</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<p>Very admirably has a writer in the North British
+Review compared and contrasted Whitefield and Wesley.
+He says, "Few characters could be more completely
+the converse, and in the church's exigencies,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_495" id="Page_495">[495]</a></span>
+more happily the supplement of one another, than
+were those of George Whitefield and John Wesley;
+and had their views been identical, and their labors
+all along coincident, their large services to the gospel
+might have repeated Paul and Barnabas. Whitefield
+was soul, and Wesley was system. Whitefield was a
+summer cloud which burst at morning or noon a fragrant
+exhalation over an ample track, and took the
+rest of the day to gather again; Wesley was the polished
+conduit in the midst of the garden, through
+which the living water glided in pearly brightness
+and perennial music, the same vivid stream from day
+to day. After a preaching paroxysm, Whitefield lay
+panting on his couch, spent, breathless, and deathlike;
+after his morning sermon in the foundry, Wesley
+would mount his pony, and trot and chat, and gather
+simples, till he reached some country hamlet, where
+he would bait his charger, and talk through a little
+sermon with the villagers, and remount his pony and
+trot away again. In his a&#235;rial poise, Whitefield's
+eagle eye drank lustre from the source of light, and
+loved to look down on men in assembled myriads;
+Wesley's falcon glance did not sweep so far, but it
+searched more keenly and marked more minutely
+where it pierced. A master of assemblies, Whitefield
+was no match for the isolated man. Seldom coping
+with the multitude, but strong in astute sagacity and
+personal ascendency, Wesley could conquer any number
+one by one. All force and impetus, Whitefield
+was the powder-blast in the quarry, and by one explosive
+sermon would shake a district, and detach materials
+for other men's long work&mdash;deft, neat, and painstaking,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_496" id="Page_496">[496]</a></span>
+Wesley loved to split and trim each fragment
+into uniform plinths and polished stones. Or, taken
+otherwise, Whitefield was the bargeman or the wagoner
+who brought the timber of the house, and Wesley
+was the architect who set it up. Whitefield had no
+patience for ecclesiastical polity, no aptitude for pastoral
+details&mdash;with a beaver-like propensity for building,
+Wesley was always constructing societies, and
+with a king-like craft of ruling, was most at home
+when presiding over a class or a conference. It was
+their infelicity that they did not always work together&mdash;it
+was the happiness of the age, and the furtherance
+of the gospel, that they lived alongside of one
+another."</p>
+
+
+<p class="center">CENTENNIAL COMMEMORATIONS.</p>
+
+<p>When a century had elapsed from the commencement
+of Whitefield's public labors, it was deemed desirable
+by many in England to hold public services
+of a devotional and practical character, in celebration
+of the event. Especially was it designed that such
+celebrations should have a reference, as far as possible,
+to advance open-air preaching. The first services of
+this character were very properly held in the Tabernacle,
+London, on May 21, 1839, and well do we
+remember with what intense interest, in common with
+thousands, we attended them. Ministers and laymen
+of at least four religious denominations assisted in
+them, and eloquently discoursed on subjects illustrating
+the grace of God in connection with Whitefield,
+but still more intent were they on benefiting the present<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_497" id="Page_497">[497]</a></span>
+and future generations of men. Dr. Campbell
+delivered a sermon on the character and labors of
+Apollos, illustrated by those of Whitefield; the late
+Dr. Cox discoursed on the genius and labors of Whitefield;
+the late Rev. John Blackburn described the past
+and present state of religion in England; and the Rev.
+John Young, LL. D., urged the propriety, duty, and
+necessity of open-air preaching. In addition to these
+sermons, several admirable speeches were made, and
+every thing was marked by a spirit of earnest devotion.
+A small volume, containing the sermons and
+speeches, was printed, and put into extensive circulation.</p>
+
+<p>About the same time, a number of ministers of the
+Congregational order met in a central town of Gloucestershire,
+when one of them suggested, that "as the
+present year was the centenary of the Rev. George
+Whitefield's labors in reviving the apostolic practice
+of open-air preaching, it might be desirable to commemorate
+them by a special religious open-air celebration.
+It was further remarked, that Whitefield was
+a native of Gloucester; that as many ministers present
+presided over churches instituted by his ministry;
+that as Stinchcombe hill, in the very centre of the
+county, presented a most beautiful and eligible spot
+for a public meeting; and as upon its summit, a century
+ago, Whitefield himself had preached and showed
+the glad tidings of the kingdom of God, it seemed a
+duty to improve the opportunity it offered of addressing,
+on the gracious persuasives of the cross, a large
+concourse of persons, many of whom might never hear
+the gospel, and of promoting in the county the revival<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_498" id="Page_498">[498]</a></span>
+of evangelical religion, which God so highly honored
+his devoted servant in commencing in our land."</p>
+
+<p>The suggestion was most cordially received, arrangements
+were made, and, July 30, 1839, though the
+weather was unfavorable, the meeting was attended
+by at least seven thousand persons. A large preaching
+stand was erected for the ministers, nearly one
+hundred of whom were present. Sermons were
+preached by the Rev. Drs. Matheson and Ross, and by
+the Rev. Messrs. T. East, J. H. Hinton, and J. Sibree;
+and addresses were given, and the devotional exercises
+led by many others. The services were solemnly impressive.
+The late Josiah Conder, Esq., wrote two
+hymns especially for the occasion, which are well
+worthy of preservation; we therefore transfer them
+to our pages.</p>
+
+<p class="center">I.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">How sweet from crowded throngs,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Zion, ascend thy songs,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With choral swells through echoing aisles!<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Where brethren, brethren meet,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">These songs rise doubly sweet,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">From humbler rooms or loftier piles.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">But here, not made with hands,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">A nobler temple stands;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Here, 'mid thy works, O God, we bow,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Where all around, above,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Proclaims thy power and love;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Oh, tune our hearts to praise thee now.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">We bless thy gracious care,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">For many a house of prayer,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Where saints may meet with conscience free,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To keep thy simple rites,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">In which thy church delights,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And unforbidden, wait on thee.<br /></span><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_499" id="Page_499">[499]</a></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">But now, beneath the sky,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">We raise our songs on high,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To Him who gave all nature birth;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">While the free air wafts round<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To distant vales the sound&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Praise to the Lord of heaven and earth.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">So to the mountain air<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The Saviour breathed his prayer;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">So 'mid green hills or deserts rude,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The poor he meekly taught,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And gracious wonders wrought,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Or fed the famished multitude.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">So did apostles teach;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">So did our Whitefield preach;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">These hills have heard his fervent prayer:<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Oh, let the saving word<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Throughout our land be heard,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Free as the light, and open as the air.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<p class="center">II.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Where is the voice of Whitefield now?<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Where does his mantle rest?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Oh, for Elisha's from the plough,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">With kindred zeal possessed!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Apostles of heroic mould,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">With love seraphic fired,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Divinely called, like those of old<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">At Pentecost inspired!<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Oh <span class="smcap">Thou</span>, our Head, enthroned on high,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">By whom thy members live,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Wilt thou not hear our fervent cry,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The holy unction give?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In all the plenitude of grace<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Thy gifts of might bestow;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And by us, Lord, in every place,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Thy saving virtue show.<br /></span><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_500" id="Page_500">[500]</a></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">This Christian land with error teems,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The blind by blinder led;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The sophist weaves his Atheist schemes;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Wide has the poison spread.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Arise, O Lord, send forth thy word;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Thy faithful heralds call;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And while the gospel trump is heard,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Let Satan's bulwarks fall.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Free, pure, and vital as the light,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><span class="smcap">God's</span> message to our race;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Like genial gales the <span class="smcap">Spirit's</span> might,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Sovereign, mysterious grace.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Breathe forth, O wind, and to new birth<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Quicken the bones of death;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Regenerate this withered earth;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Give to the dying breath.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>It is pleasant to add to this account, that satisfactory
+evidences were given that some, during these services,
+were brought to the saving knowledge of "the
+truth as in Jesus." And it may be mentioned as a
+singular circumstance, that an old man one hundred
+and three years of age attended on this occasion,
+who had been carried in his mother's arms to this
+same spot to hear Whitefield preach just a century
+before.</p>
+
+<p>The last centenary service to which we shall make
+reference, is the one held at the <em>Bristol</em> Tabernacle,
+November 25, 1853. The sermon on <cite>The Character
+of Whitefield</cite>, by the Rev. John Angell James, was
+from the text, "This one thing I do." Phil. 3:13.
+In it he said:</p>
+
+<p>"We hear much in our days about the adaptation
+of the gospel to the age. There is no word I more
+hate or love, dread or desire, according to the sense<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_501" id="Page_501">[501]</a></span>
+in, or the purpose for which it is used, than this word
+<em>adaptation</em> as applied to preaching. Now, if by adaptation
+be meant, more philosophy, and less Christianity;
+more of cold abstract intellectualism, and less of
+popular, simple, earnest statement of gospel truth;
+more profound discussion and artificial elaboration
+addressed to the learned few, and less of warm-hearted
+appeal to the multitude, may God preserve
+us from such adaptation, for it is high-treason
+against truth and the salvation of souls. But if by
+this be meant a stronger intelligence, a chaster composition,
+a sterner logic, a more powerful rhetoric, a
+more correct criticism, and a more varied illustration,
+but all employed to set forth the gospel as comprehending
+those two great words, <em>redemption and
+regeneration</em>, let us have it; we need it; and come in
+ever such abundance, it will be a blessing.</p>
+
+<p>"Adaptation! the gospel is adaptation, from beginning
+to end, to every age of time, and to all conditions
+of humanity. It is God's own adaptation. It
+is he who knows every ward of the lock of man's
+nature, who has constructed this admirable key; and
+all the miserable tinkering of a vain and deceitful
+philosophy can make no better key, nor can all the
+attempts of a philosophizing theology make this key
+better fit the wards of the lock.</p>
+
+<p>"Adaptation! was not the gospel in all its purity
+and simplicity adapted to human nature as it existed
+in commercial, scholastic, philosophical Corinth?
+And did not Paul think so when he determined to
+know nothing there, but 'Christ, and him crucified?'
+Was it not by this very gospel, which many<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_502" id="Page_502">[502]</a></span>
+are "beginning to imagine is not suited to an intellectual
+and philosophical age, that Christianity fought its
+first battles, and achieved its victories over the hosts
+of darkness? Against the axe, the stake, the sword
+of the gladiator, and the lions of the amphitheatre;
+against the ridicule of wits, the reasoning of sages,
+the interests, influence, and craft of the priesthood;
+against the prowess of armies, and the brute passions
+of the mob, Christianity, strong in its weakness, sublime
+in its simplicity, potent in its isolation, asking
+and receiving no protection from the sceptre of the
+monarch or the sword of the warrior, went forth to do
+battle with the wisdom of Greece and the mythology
+of Rome. Everywhere it prevailed, and gathered its
+laurels from the snows of Scythia, the sands of Africa,
+the plains of India, and the green fields of Europe.
+With the gospel alone she overturned the altars of
+impiety in her march. Power felt his arm wither at
+her glance. She silenced the lying oracles by the
+majesty of her voice, and extinguished the deceptive
+light of philosophy in the schools, till at length she
+who went forth forlorn and weeping from Calvary
+to the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, ascended, upon
+the ruins of the temples, the idols, and the altars she
+had demolished, to the throne of the C&#230;sars, and with
+the diadem on her brow, and the purple on her shoulders,
+gave laws to the world from that very tribunal
+where she had been dragged as a criminal and condemned
+as a malefactor.<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p>
+
+<p>"Adaptation! is not justification by faith the
+very substance of the gospel, and was it not by this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_503" id="Page_503">[503]</a></span>
+doctrine that Luther effected the enfranchisement of
+the human intellect, from the chains of slavery which
+had been forged in the Vatican; achieved the liberation
+of half Europe from the yoke of Rome, and gave
+an impulse to human thought and vital Christianity
+which has not yet spent itself, and never will, till it
+issues in the jubilee of the nations and the glories of
+the millennium?</p>
+
+<p>"Adaptation! did not Whitefield move this kingdom
+almost to its centre, and equally so our then
+great transatlantic colony to its extremities, fascinating
+alike the colliers of Kingswood and the citizens
+of the metropolis; and by this mighty theme
+enable myriads to burst the chains of sin and Satan,
+and to walk abroad disenthralled by the mighty
+power of redeeming grace?</p>
+
+<p>"Adaptation! is not this gospel now proving its
+power in heathen countries to raise the savage into
+civilized man, the civilized man into the saint, and in
+this ascending scale of progression, the saint into the
+seraph?</p>
+
+<p>"And yet, with these proofs of the power of the
+gospel to adapt itself to every age of the world, and
+to every condition of humanity, there are those who
+want something else to effect the regeneration of
+mankind. 'And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all
+men unto me.' So said the Saviour of men. The
+cross is the great moral magnet for all ages and all
+countries, to draw men from barbarism to civilization,
+from sin to holiness, from misery to happiness,
+and from earth to heaven; and it were as rational to
+say the loadstone had lost its original power of polar<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_504" id="Page_504">[504]</a></span>
+attraction, and the mariner's compass is an old, stale
+invention, and must now be replaced with some new
+device, better adapted to the modern light of science,
+as to suppose that the doctrine of the cross had become
+effete, and must give way to some new phase of
+theological truth.</p>
+
+<p>"I now consider the <em>manner</em> in which Whitefield
+carried out his own purpose into action. '<em>One thing
+I do</em>:' and <em>how</em> did he accomplish it?</p>
+
+<p>"Never was the joyful sound sent over the world
+by a more magnificent <em>voice</em>. All his biographers
+labor, as do the historians of Greece in describing the
+power of Demosthenes, to make us understand his
+wondrous oratory. Perhaps, after all, that which
+gives us the most vivid idea of it is, not the <em>crowds</em>
+it attracted, moved, and melted, but that it warmed
+the cold and calculating Franklin, and fascinated the
+philosophical and sceptical Hume. Heaven rarely
+ever gave, or gives to man the faculty of speech in
+such perfection. But what is particularly worthy of
+notice is, that he trusted not to its native power, but
+increased that power by assiduous cultivation. His
+matchless elocution was not only an endowment, but
+an acquirement. If he preached a sermon twenty
+times, he went on to the last improving his method of
+delivering it, both as to tones and action; not for
+theatrical display&mdash;no man was ever more free from
+this&mdash;but to carry out his 'one thing'&mdash;<em>the salvation
+of souls</em>. He knew, and deeply and philosophically
+entered into the meaning of that text, 'Faith cometh
+by hearing;' and he also knew that attentive hearing
+comes by the power of speaking. With such a theme<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_505" id="Page_505">[505]</a></span>
+as the gospel, with such an object as salvation, with
+such an aim as eternity, and such a Master to serve
+as Christ, he would not give utterance to such subjects,
+and for such purposes, in careless and slovenly
+speech. He studied to be the orator, that he might
+thus pluck souls as brands from the burning. In this
+let us imitate him. Of all our faculties, that of speech
+is perhaps least cultivated, yet is most susceptible of
+cultivation, and pays best for the pains bestowed upon
+it. My brethren, speech is the great instrument of
+our ministerial labor. Our assault upon the rebel
+town of Mansoul is to be carried on, and our entrance
+to be effected, to use the language of Bunyan, at ear-gate.
+The tongue, rather than the pen, is the weapon
+of most of us. For the love of souls, let us endeavor
+to be good speakers. With the loftiest themes in the
+universe for our subjects, do, do let us endeavor to
+speak of them in some measure worthily. It is an
+instructive and astounding, and to us humiliating and
+disgraceful fact, that the stage-player, whether in
+comedy or in tragedy, takes ten times more pains to
+give effective utterance to his follies, vices, and passions,
+for the amusement of his audience, than we do
+to eternal and momentous truths for the salvation of
+ours. The stage seems the only arena where the
+power of oratory is much studied. Should this be?</p>
+
+<p>"A few characteristics of Whitefield's manner deserve
+emphatic mention and particular attention, as
+connected with the execution of his one great purpose.
+The first I notice is <em>solemnity</em>. He never, as did some
+of his followers, degraded the pulpit by making it the
+arena of low humor and wit; abounding in anecdote,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_506" id="Page_506">[506]</a></span>
+and even in action, he was uniformly solemn. His
+deep devotional spirit contributed largely to this, for
+his piety was the inward fire which supplied the ardor
+of his manner. He was eminently a man of prayer;
+and had he been less prayerful, he would also have
+been less powerful. He came into the pulpit from the
+closet, where he had been communing with God, and
+could no more trifle with merry humor at such a time
+than could Moses when he came down from the mount
+to the people; or than the high-priest when he came
+out from the blazing symbols of the divine presence
+between the cherubim in the holy of holies; or Isaiah
+when he saw the Lord of hosts, high and lifted up,
+with his train filling the temple. Happily the age
+and taste for pulpit buffoonery is gone, I hope never
+to return.</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+''Tis pitiful to count a gain when you should woo a soul.'
+</p>
+
+<p>It was the stamp and impress of eternity upon his
+preaching, that gave Whitefield such power. He spoke
+like a man that stood upon the borders of the unseen
+world, alternately rapt in ecstasy as he gazed upon
+the felicities of heaven, and convulsed with terror as
+he seemed to hear the howlings of the damned, and
+saw the smoke of their torment ascending from the
+pit for ever and ever. His maxim was to preach, as
+Apelles painted, for eternity, and he said, if ministers
+preached for eternity, they would then act the part of
+true Christian orators. And tell me, my brethren,
+what are all the prettinesses, the beauties, or even
+sublimities of human eloquence&mdash;what the similes,
+metaphors, and other garniture of rhetoric&mdash;what the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_507" id="Page_507">[507]</a></span>
+philosophy and intellectualities which many in this
+day are aiming at, to move and bow and conquer
+the human soul, compared with 'the powers of the
+world to come?'</p>
+
+<p>"But there was another characteristic of Whitefield's
+manner, and that was its <em>tenderness</em>. Our Lord,
+as to his humanity, was a man of sorrows, and therefore
+of tears; so was Paul, so was Whitefield. Perhaps
+the latter somewhat too much so, at any rate far
+too much so for any preacher but himself, and with
+him the fountain of his tears was somewhat too full
+and flowing. But Oh, what an apology for this, and
+what a stroke of pathetic eloquence was that appeal
+when on one occasion he said, 'You blame me for
+weeping, but how can I help it, when you will not
+weep for yourselves, although your immortal souls
+are on the verge of destruction, and for aught I know
+you are hearing your last sermon, and may never more
+have an opportunity to have Christ offered to you.'
+Man is an emotional as well as an intellectual creature,
+and sympathy is one of the powers of our physical
+and mental economy. The passions are of an
+infectious nature, and men feel more in a crowd than
+in solitude. The adage of the ancient elocutionist is
+still true, 'If you wish me to weep, weep yourself.'
+Whitefield's tears drew forth those of his audience,
+and his pathos softened their hearts for the impressions
+of the truth. It is forgotten by many preachers
+that they may do much by the heart, as well as by the
+head. We are not the teachers of logic, mathematics,
+metaphysics, or natural philosophy, which have nothing
+to do with the heart, but of religion, the very seat<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_508" id="Page_508">[508]</a></span>
+of which is there; and <em>we</em> address ourselves not only
+to the logical, but to the &#230;sthetical part of man's
+complex nature. By argument, I know we must convince,
+but we must not stop in the judgment, but go
+on to reach the heart, and we ourselves must feel as
+well as reason. <em>Clear, but cold</em>, is too descriptive of
+much modern preaching. It is the frosty moonlight
+of a winter's night, not the warm sunshine of a summer's
+day. A cold preacher is likely to have cold
+hearers. Cold! What, when the love of God, the
+death of Christ, the salvation of souls, the felicities
+of heaven, and the torments of hell are the theme?
+Enthusiasm here is venial, compared with lukewarmness.</p>
+
+<p>"Need I say that <em>earnestness</em> was characteristic of
+Whitefield's preaching? Yes, that one word, perhaps,
+more than any other in our language, is its epitome.
+An intense earnestness marked its whole career, and
+was carried to such a pitch as to subject him, as did
+that of Paul, to the imputation of madness. The salvation
+of souls was so entirely the one thing that
+engrossed his soul, his time, his labors, that not a step
+deviated from it. Every moment, every day, was an
+approximation to it. His devotions, his recreations,
+if any such he had, his journeys, his voyages, his sermons,
+his correspondence, were all referred to this
+one end. His exertions never relaxed for a moment,
+and he, with his great compeer Wesley, made the
+trial so seldom made, what is the utmost effect which,
+in the way of saving souls, may be granted to any one
+preacher of the gospel in any age or country.</p>
+
+<p>"What may not be done, and is not done by earnestness?<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_509" id="Page_509">[509]</a></span>
+It gives <em>some</em> success to any error, however
+absurd or enormous, and to any scheme of wickedness,
+however flagrant and atrocious. What is it
+that has given such success to popery, to infidelity, to
+Mormonism? <em>Earnestness.</em> And shall the apostles
+and advocates of error be more in earnest than the
+friends of truth? Whitefield often quoted Betterton
+the player, who affirmed that the stage would soon be
+deserted if the actors spoke like the preachers. And
+what <em>would</em> empty the play-house, that is, dulness and
+coldness, <em>does</em> often empty the meeting-house. 'Mr.
+Betterton's answer to a worthy prelate,' says Whitefield,
+'is worthy of lasting regard.' When asked how
+it is that the clergy, who speak of things <em>real</em>, affected
+the people so little, and the players, who speak only
+of things imaginary, affected them so much, replied
+'My lord, I can assign but one reason&mdash;we players
+speak of things imaginary as though they were real,
+and too many of the clergy speak of things real as
+though they were imaginary.' It is not always so.
+Many a preacher, even in our own day, by the unaffected
+earnestness of his manner, carries away his
+audience upon the tide of his own feeling. They hear
+what he says, they see what he feels, his eye helps his
+tongue, the workings of his countenance disclose the
+feelings of his heart; his manner is a lucid comment
+upon his matter, breaks down the limits which words
+impose upon the communication of ideas, and gives
+them not only an apprehension of the meaning, but a
+sense of the importance of his subject, which unimpassioned
+language and manner could not have done.</p>
+
+<p>"I name but one thing more as characteristic of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_510" id="Page_510">[510]</a></span>
+this great man, and which it would be well for us to
+imitate, and that is, his <em>dauntless courage</em>. See him not
+only facing mobs, defying threats, and even lifting up
+his pulpit amid the wild uproar of a London fair, the
+boldest achievement that a speaker ever accomplished,
+but holding on his noble career unterrified, and working
+amid the storm of obloquy that came upon him
+from so many quarters. Who that has ever read, can
+ever forget Cowper's exquisite description of him?</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<span class="i0">"'<span class="smcap">Leuconomus</span>&mdash;beneath well-sounding Greek<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">I show a name a poet must not speak&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Stood pilloried on infamy's high stage,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And bore the pelting storm of half an age,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The very butt of slander, and the blot<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">For every dart that malice ever shot.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The man that mentioned him at once dismissed<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">All mercy from his lips, and sneered and hissed.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">His crimes were such as Sodom never knew,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And perjury stood up to swear all true;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">His aim was mischief, and his zeal pretence,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">His speech rebellion against common-sense:<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">A knave when tried on honesty's plain rule,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And when by that of reason, a mere fool.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The world's best comfort was, his doom was passed,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Die when he might, he must be damned at last.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Now truth, perform thine office, waft aside<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The curtain drawn by prejudice and pride,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Reveal&mdash;the man is dead&mdash;to wondering eyes,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">This more than monster, in his proper guise.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">He loved the world that hated him; the tear<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">That dropped upon his Bible was sincere:<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Assailed by scandal and the tongue of strife,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">His only answer was&mdash;a blameless life;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And he that forged, and he that threw the dart,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Had each a brother's interest in his heart.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Paul's love of Christ, and steadiness unbribed,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Were copied close in him, and well transcribed.<br /></span><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_511" id="Page_511">[511]</a></span>
+<span class="i1">He followed Paul&mdash;his zeal a kindred flame,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">His apostolic charity the same.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Like him, crossed cheerfully tempestuous seas,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Forsaking country, kindred, friends, and ease.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Like him he labored, and like him, content<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To bear it, suffered shame where'er he went.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Blush, calumny! and write upon his tomb,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">If honest eulogy can spare the room,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Thy deep repentance of thy thousand lies,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Which, aimed at him, have pierced the offended skies;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And say, Blot out my sin, confessed, deplored,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Against thine image, in thy saint, O Lord.'<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<p>"What but a guilty cowardice is it, a false and
+pusillanimous shame, that keeps us in these days from
+some novel and bolder method of aggression upon the
+domain of darkness? Are we not wanting here in
+that moral courage which would make us, when conscious
+of doing right, indifferent to the stare of the
+ignorant, and the wonder of the timid; to the shaft
+of ridicule, and the malignant censure of the cynic?
+How enslaved are we by the fetters of custom, or restrained
+by the trammels of conventiality! How little
+are we disposed to go out of the usual track, even
+in saving souls! Very few are disposed to imitate
+the boldness, ingenuity, and novelty of that noble-hearted
+brother,<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> who hired a disengaged theatre in
+the city where he dwelt, and for four months preached
+there to listening and well-behaved crowds, the gospel
+of salvation; and for his reward had very many given
+to him, who are his joy now, and will be his crown of
+rejoicing in the presence of Christ at his coming.
+Who can see Paul on Mars-Hill, addressing himself<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_512" id="Page_512">[512]</a></span>
+to the sages and their followers of all sects, and
+preaching to them a doctrine so repugnant to the
+mythology of the temple and the philosophy of the
+schools, as Christ, the last judgment, and the resurrection
+of the body, without being impressed with the
+moral courage of such an act? It is this spiritual
+heroism that is wanted in our modern preaching, and
+indeed, which was no less needful when the Methodistic
+company commenced their preaching.</p>
+
+<p>"Nor is it only in this unwillingness to go off from
+our own ground for saving souls that our guilty cowardice
+is seen, but in the disposition to shirk the more
+solemn and searching truths of revelation. Are we
+not giving way too much to the fastidiousness of
+modern taste and refinement, which is craving after
+smooth things; which desires the sentimental, the
+picturesque, the imaginative, but turns with disgust
+from the solemn, the alarming, the awakening? Are
+we not too gentle and courteous to mention such a
+word as 'hell' to modern ears polite? Are we not
+too fearful to break in with the thunders of a violated
+law upon those who are at ease in Zion? I do not
+ask for a gross, revolting method of describing the
+punishment of the wicked, as if the preacher delighted
+in harrowing up the feelings of his audience. This is
+as disgusting as if, in order to keep men from crime,
+our judges and magistrates were ever and anon giving
+a minute detail of the process of an execution, and the
+convulsive pangs of an expiring wretch suspended to
+the beam of the gibbet. We ask not for a harsh,
+scolding, and denunciating style of preaching; but
+we do want more of the unflinching boldness, and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_513" id="Page_513">[513]</a></span>
+dauntless courage, which, are necessary to fidelity,
+and absolutely essential to him who would win souls
+to Christ. It is too generally forgotten, that our
+Lord Jesus, who was incarnate love, was the most
+solemn and awful of all preachers. He whose gentle
+spirit so often breathed out itself in invitation, and
+whose compassion melted into tears, at other times
+robed himself in terror, and uttered the most alarming
+peals of divine indignation. What we need for
+our ministry is this mixture of tenderness and solemnity,
+which entered so deeply into the ministry of
+Christ, and was so characteristic of his servant, whose
+labors we this day commemorate and commend."</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<p>Hear also the Rev. John Glanville, the present
+successor of Whitefield in the Tabernacle at Bristol:
+"And such preaching <em>must continue</em>, if the world is to
+be saved. Nothing but this is suited to man's necessities;
+nothing else can meet man's miseries. The
+battle must be fought with the old, well-tried, but not
+worn-out weapons. God has provided them, and we
+must use them. We require nothing else; the world
+has not outgrown the old gospel, so as to need something
+new to soothe its sorrows and satisfy its wants.</p>
+
+<p>"Not that ministers can now produce the effect
+Whitefield did. He was a man standing alone. The
+charm and power of his preaching have never been
+explained. It was all fire and flame, shooting out
+red-hot thunderbolts against the citadels of sin. It
+was an undivided soul, solemnly consecrated to one
+object&mdash;an entire life, zealously employed in one thing.
+As he preached, every feature spoke, the whole man<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_514" id="Page_514">[514]</a></span>
+became vocal, and the truth of God stood out in its full
+proportions and beauty, in the bright and broad daylight
+of heaven. So unreserved was his self-consecration,
+that every thing was deemed impertinent which
+obtruded upon, or interfered with the one great end
+of his existence. He lived in communion with God&mdash;more
+in heaven than on earth. He was much at the
+foot of the throne, and got his strength there; he
+prevailed with men, because he had prevailed with
+God. His whole soul was filled with life, and fired
+with love, from being in habitual contact with the
+cross.</p>
+
+<p>"And <em>we</em> must pursue the same course, and try to
+do the same thing. We have the power, and we must
+bring it forth and use it. God has given the machinery,
+and it is for us to set it in motion. The world
+is perishing, and we must save it; it is dying, and we
+must give it life. God from his eternal throne calls
+us&mdash;Christ from his bleeding cross speaks to us&mdash;voices
+from the abodes of sin, and the regions of despair,
+sound in our ears. And we all, as ministers
+and as members, must rise up in the vigor of piety
+and the fervor of prayer. We must rise up from the
+slumbers of selfishness, and tear off the fetters of the
+world, and act as those who believe in the existence
+of an eternal heaven and an eternal hell, and that all
+souls will be found in the one or in the other&mdash;as
+those who have a great work to do, and but a short
+and uncertain time to do it in. Awake, awake, put
+on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake, as in the
+ancient days, in the generations of old."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+<h2>FOOTNOTES:</h2>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Dr. Prince, in a note, here says, "Though people were <em>then</em>,"
+in the time of the earthquake, "generally frightened, and many
+awakened to such a sense of their duty as to offer themselves to our
+communion, yet very few came to me <em>then</em> under deep convictions
+of their unconverted and lost condition, in comparison of what
+came <em>now</em>. Nor did those who came to me <em>then</em>, come so much
+with the inquiry, 'What shall we do to be saved?' as to signify
+they had such a sense of their duty to come to the Lord's table
+that they dare not stay away any longer."</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> The New York Evangelist, in 1830, made the remark, that
+"Whitefield would have lost much of his oratorical influence on his
+hearers, had his speaking eyes been covered with a pair of modern
+spectacles."</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> See Dr. John M. Mason's Funeral Sermon for Mrs. Graham.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> The Rev. Richard Knill of Chester, formerly a missionary in
+India, and afterwards in Russia, since deceased.&mdash;B.</p></div>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="tn"><h3>Transcriber's note:</h3>
+<p>Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. Irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have been retained as printed.</p>
+
+<p>Missing page numbers are page numbers that were not shown in the original text.</p>
+
+<p>Mismatched quotes are not fixed if it's not sufficiently clear where the missing quote should be placed.</p>
+
+<p>The cover for the eBook version of this book was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.</p>
+</div>
+
+<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44140 ***</div>
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #44140 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/44140)
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of George Whitefield, by Joseph Belcher
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: George Whitefield
+       A Biography, with special reference to his labors in America
+
+Author: Joseph Belcher
+
+Release Date: November 9, 2013 [EBook #44140]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GEORGE WHITEFIELD ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Heather Clark, Julia Neufeld, Illustration
+images from TIA and the Online Distributed Proofreading
+Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from
+scanned images of public domain material from the Google
+Print project.)
+
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's note:
+
+Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).
+
+Small capital text has been replaced with all capitals.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Illustration: titlepage]
+
+[Illustration: George Whitefield. (handwritten signature)]
+
+
+
+
+  GEORGE WHITEFIELD:
+
+  A BIOGRAPHY,
+
+  WITH
+
+  SPECIAL REFERENCE TO HIS LABORS
+  IN AMERICA.
+
+  COMPILED
+  BY JOSEPH BELCHER, D. D.,
+
+  AUTHOR OF THE LIFE OF REV. DR. CAREY, MISSIONARY TO INDIA,
+  ETC., ETC.
+
+  PUBLISHED BY THE
+  AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY,
+  150 NASSAU-STREET, NEW YORK.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+  CHAPTER I.
+
+  MORAL STATE OF GREAT BRITAIN IN THE EARLY
+  PART OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY--WHITEFIELD,
+  FROM HIS BIRTH TO HIS FIRST SERMON.
+
+  1714-1736.
+
+  Low state of religion in Great Britain and its dependencies
+  when Whitefield appeared--His birth in Gloucester--Hooper--
+  Raikes--Whitefield's early life--His entrance at the
+  university of Oxford--Becomes connected with the Wesleys
+  and other Methodists--Illness and mental trials--Relief--
+  Preparation for the ministry--Return to Gloucester--
+  Ordination--First sermon                                       13
+
+
+  CHAPTER II.
+
+  WHITEFIELD'S SUCCESS AS A PREACHER IN ENGLAND--FIRST
+  VISIT TO AMERICA.
+
+  1736-1738.
+
+  Whitefield's return to Oxford--Usefulness there--Visits
+  London--Great popularity--Georgia--His anxiety as to duty--
+  Invited to Georgia by the Wesleys--Preparation and
+  departure--Preaching and excitement at Deal--Labors and
+  success on board--Arrival and labors at Gibraltar--
+  Interesting incidents on the voyage--Sickness and recovery--
+  His reception at Savannah--Visit to an Indian king--Origin
+  of the Orphan asylum--Visit to Frederica--Return to
+  Savannah--Visit to Charleston--Treatment by Garden--
+  Embarkation for Europe--Stormy voyage--Arrival in Limerick--
+  Journey to London--Meeting with the trustees of Georgia--
+  Ordination as priest--Return to London--First extempore
+  prayer--First idea of open-air preaching                       40
+
+
+  CHAPTER III.
+
+  OPEN-AIR PREACHING IN ENGLAND AND WALES--ERECTION
+  OF THE TABERNACLE IN LONDON.
+
+  1738, 1739.
+
+  Whitefield's visit to Bristol--New opposition--Interviews
+  with the chancellor of the diocese--Preaching at Kingswood--
+  Large congregations--Preaching at Bristol--Labors in Wales
+  with Howel Harris--Gloucester--Old Mr. Cole--Return to
+  London--Conflict with Bishop Warburton and others--
+  Moorfields--Kennington Common--Blackheath--Anecdotes--
+  Erection of the Tabernacle--New Tabernacle--Certificate--
+  Visit to Norwich--Conversion of Robert Robinson--Preaching
+  at the West End of London--Liberality of Whitefield's
+  congregations--Attendance of the nobility on Whitefield's
+  ministry--Architecture of Tabernacle and Tottenham Court
+  road chapel                                                    71
+
+
+  CHAPTER IV.
+
+  WHITEFIELD'S SECOND VISIT TO AMERICA.
+
+  1739, 1740.
+
+  Joseph Periam's release by Whitefield from Bedlam--
+  Whitefield's arrival at Philadelphia--Preaches to vast
+  crowds in the open air--Testimony of Dr. Franklin and
+  others--Account of the Log College--William Tennent, Sen.--
+  Whitefield's own account of his preaching at Philadelphia--
+  Subsequent discovery of the conversion of Dr. Rodgers--
+  Whitefield's first visit to New York--Description of him by
+  one of his hearers--Sermons in New Jersey--Old Tennent
+  church--Places of preaching at New York--Address to sailors--
+  Letter to Pemberton--Interview with Gilbert Tennent--Some of
+  Whitefield's sermons printed--Departure from Philadelphia--
+  Sermons on his journey to Savannah--Arrival and reception at
+  Charleston--Departure for Savannah--Dangers of the way--State
+  of things in Georgia--Whitefield revisits Charleston--
+  Controversy with Commissary Garden--Lays the foundation-stone
+  of the Orphan house--Sermon by Smith on the character of
+  Whitefield                                                     97
+
+
+  CHAPTER V.
+
+  CONTINUATION OF HIS SECOND VISIT TO AMERICA.
+
+  1740.
+
+  Feebleness of Whitefield's health--Again visits Charleston,
+  Philadelphia, etc.--Extent of his former success--Extracts
+  from Seward's journal--Extracts from newspapers--Whitefield's
+  letter to England--His correspondence on marriage--Birth and
+  death of his son--His funeral sermon for his wife--Franklin
+  and others on Whitefield's eloquence--Anecdote--Extract from
+  the New England Weekly Journal--Return to Savannah--Manner of
+  his reception--Activity at Savannah--Again visits Charleston--
+  Cited into the Commissary's court--Various examinations--
+  Whitefield's appeal to the Court of Chancery--Interview with
+  the Commissary--Usefulness at Charleston--Sails for New
+  England                                                       129
+
+
+  CHAPTER VI.
+
+  WHITEFIELD'S FIRST VISIT TO NEW ENGLAND.
+
+  SEPTEMBER TO NOVEMBER, 1740.
+
+  State of religion in New England--Testimony of Prince--Dr.
+  I. Mather--Dr. Jonathan Edwards' success--Prevalence of
+  prayer--Whitefield's arrival and labors at Newport--Interview
+  with Clap--Honeyman--Letter from Barber--Journey to Boston--
+  Interview with the Commissary and the clergy--Preaches at
+  Brattle-street, Old South church, New North, Common, Roxbury,
+  Old North, Cambridge, First church--Interview with Governor
+  Belcher--Roxbury--Hollis-street--Old South church--
+  Brattle-street--Marblehead--Salem--Ipswich--Newbury--Hampton--
+  Portsmouth--York--Return to Boston--Frequent preaching--
+  Invitation to children--Interesting conversation with a
+  child--Anecdote of juvenile usefulness--Remarks on an
+  unconverted ministry--Whitefield's character of Boston--
+  Preaches at Concord, Sudbury, Marlborough, Worcester,
+  Leicester, Brookfield, Cold Spring, Hadley, Northampton--
+  Revival there--Whitefield's opinion of Mr. Edwards and
+  family--Important interview--Preaching at East Windsor,
+  Westfield, Springfield, Suffield--Opinion of Mr. and Mrs.
+  Edwards, Sen.--Relinquishment of appointments to preach--
+  Visit to New Haven--Interview with Principal Clap--Departure
+  from New England--Whitefield's character of it--Conversion
+  of Mr. Emerson--Prince's account of Whitefield's visit--Dr.
+  Baron Stow on its results--Anecdote,                          148
+
+
+  CHAPTER VII.
+
+  LABORS IN NEW YORK AND THE MIDDLE AND SOUTHERN
+  STATES.
+
+  1740, 1741.
+
+  Whitefield's arrival and labors at New York, Staten Island,
+  and Newark--Mr. Burr--Meeting with Gilbert Tennent--Visit to
+  Baskinridge--Tennent's preaching in Cross' barn--Whitefield
+  preaches in the new house at Philadelphia--Franklin's advice
+  to Gilbert Tennent--Remarkable instances of conversion--
+  Success in Philadelphia--Apostrophe in a sermon--Visit to
+  Gloucester, Greenwich, Cohansey, Salem, Newcastle, Fagg's
+  Manor, Bohemia--Sails from Reedy island to Charleston--
+  Arrival at Bethesda--Remarkable escape from death--
+  Prosecution at Charleston--Preaching--Letters from Boston--
+  Departure for England--Separation from Messrs. Wesley--
+  Difficulties in London--Triumph--Howel Harris                 196
+
+
+  CHAPTER VIII.
+
+  FIRST AND SECOND VISITS TO SCOTLAND--LABORS
+  IN ENGLAND AND WALES.
+
+  1741-1744.
+
+  Scheme of comprehension--Account of Rev. John Cennick--
+  Voyage to Scotland--Letter to Rodgers--Visit to Erskine--
+  Preaching in Edinburgh--Labors at Glasgow--His sermons
+  printed--Return to England--Letter from McCulloch--Renewed
+  glance at Edinburgh--Public attention deeply riveted--
+  Execution of a convict--Improvement of the event in a
+  sermon--Conversion of a mimic--A drunken sergeant--Miss
+  Hunter--Marquis of Lothian--Conduct of Rev. Mr. Ogilvie--
+  Second visit to Scotland--Cambuslang--Kilmarnock--Glance
+  at subsequent visits--Orphan-house park, Edinburgh--
+  Glasgow--Increasing reputation--Extracts from letters--
+  Anecdotes--Visit to Wales--Letters from America--Visit to
+  Gloucester, Strand, Tewkesbury--Encouraging news from
+  America--Success in London--Awakening at the Tabernacle--
+  Visit to Gloucester and its neighborhood--South Wales--
+  Return to London--Bristol--Exeter--Mr. Saunders--Conversion
+  of Thomas Olivers--Birmingham--Kidderminster--Health--
+  Assizes at Gloucester--Plymouth--Deliverance from
+  assassination--Conversion of Mr. Tanner--Visits to the
+  poor--Anecdote--Embarkation for America                       222
+
+
+  CHAPTER IX.
+
+  WHITEFIELD'S SECOND VISIT TO NEW ENGLAND.
+
+  1744, 1745.
+
+  Incidents of the voyage from England--Prayer heard--General
+  alarm--Whitefield's illness--Arrival at York--Threatening
+  sickness--Rev. Mr. Moody--Preaching at York and Portsmouth--
+  Apparent danger of death--Departure for Boston--Constant
+  preaching there--Chelsea--Malden--Prince's account of his
+  preaching and conduct--Objections made to his administration
+  of the Lord's supper--Changes in New England--Opposition to
+  Whitefield in Connecticut, New Haven, Massachusetts, Harvard
+  College--Large meeting in his favor at Boston--Number of
+  signatures to the testimony--Progress of revival--
+  Proceedings of Harvard College--Whitefield's defence--
+  Subsequent act of the College--Expositions at Boston,
+  Ipswich, Portland, Exeter--Expedition against Cape Breton--
+  Sherburne's request--Sermon to the soldiers--Refusal of
+  chaplaincy--Conversion of a colored trumpeter--Of a noted
+  scoffer--Anecdote of Whitefield and Dr. Hopkins               254
+
+
+  CHAPTER X.
+
+  LABORS IN THE MIDDLE AND SOUTHERN STATES--THE
+  BERMUDAS.
+
+  1745-1748.
+
+  Whitefield's preaching in New York, New Jersey,
+  Philadelphia--Liberal offer declined--Usefulness of his
+  printed sermons in Virginia--Preaches at Hanover--Isaac
+  Oliver--Visit to Bethesda--His account of the Orphan-house--
+  His character as given by the New York Post-boy--Public
+  testimony as to Whitefield's integrity--Preaching tour in
+  Maryland--Visit to Charleston--Success of his preaching in
+  Maryland--Visits New York, Newport, Portsmouth, Boston--
+  Return to Philadelphia--Bohemia--Journey to North Carolina--
+  Embarkation for the Bermudas--His progress and labors--
+  Honored by the governor and others--Usefulness among the
+  negroes--Summary of his proceedings in the Bermudas--
+  Kindness of the people there--Voyage to England--His labors
+  on the voyage--Arrival at Deal                                277
+
+
+  CHAPTER XI.
+
+  LABORS IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND--CHAPLAIN
+  TO LADY HUNTINGDON.
+
+  1748, 1749.
+
+  Triumphs and trials in London--Becomes chaplain to the
+  Countess of Huntingdon--Complimented by the great--
+  Bolingbroke and Rev. Mr. Church--Rev. James Hervey--Honors
+  conferred on Whitefield--Falsehoods of Horace Walpole--
+  Charged with vulgarism--Defence--Third visit to Scotland--
+  Return to London--Visit to the west of England--Conversions
+  in Gloucestershire--Tour in Cornwall--Brilliant assemblies
+  in London--Excursion to Exeter and Plymouth--Rev. Andrew
+  Kinsman--Return to London--Decline of health and visit to
+  Portsmouth and Wales--Arrival of Mrs. Whitefield from the
+  Bermudas--Visit to the north of England--Popularity there--
+  Intensely interesting services--Rev. W. Grimshawe--Solemn
+  instances of mortality--Return to London for the winter--
+  Usefulness                                                    301
+
+
+  CHAPTER XII.
+
+  LABORS IN GREAT BRITAIN--FOURTH VISIT TO AMERICA--NEW
+  TABERNACLE IN LONDON, AND TABERNACLE
+  AT BRISTOL.
+
+  1750-1754.
+
+  Efforts made by Whitefield for Bethesda--His ardent love for
+  America--Love to his mother--His mourning for sin--Dr.
+  Doddridge--London ministers--Interview with Doddridge and
+  Hervey--Earthquake in London--Bishop Horne's sermon--
+  Universal consternation--Preaching of Whitefield at midnight
+  in Hyde park--Whitefield and his friends at Court--Journey to
+  Bristol--Taunton--Rev. R. Darracott--Preaching at Rotherham,
+  Bolton, Ulverston--Conversion of Mr. Thorpe--Edinburgh and
+  other places in Scotland--Testimony of Hume--Second visit to
+  Ireland--Opposition on Oxmantown Green--Usefulness in
+  Ireland--Rev. John Edwards--Fourth voyage to America--
+  Interview with Lady Huntingdon--Moravians--Lady Huntingdon's
+  testimony--Letter to Dr. Franklin--Itinerant labors--
+  Revision of manuscripts--Erection of the new Tabernacle--
+  Again itinerates--Dedication of the Tabernacle at Bristol--
+  Somersetshire--Condolence on Mr. Wesley's sickness--Visit of
+  Messrs. Davies and Tennent to England--Whitefield's fifth
+  voyage to America                                             323
+
+
+  CHAPTER XIII.
+
+  FIFTH VISIT TO AMERICA--RENEWED LABORS IN
+  GREAT BRITAIN--TOTTENHAM COURT-ROAD CHAPEL.
+
+  1754-1763.
+
+  Whitefield's arrival and proceedings in Lisbon--Lands at
+  Beaufort, S. C.--Voyage to New York--New Jersey--Interview
+  with William Tennent--Accompanies President Burr to New
+  England--Popularity at Boston--Correspondence with
+  Habersham--Portsmouth--Rhode Island--Franklin's narrative of
+  a drummer and Whitefield--Powerful address in Virginia--
+  Pleasant interview at Charleston--Embarks for England--
+  Arrival at New Haven--His feelings on arriving in England--
+  Labors at the Tabernacle--Love for America--Journey to
+  Bristol, Gloucestershire, Norwich--Returns to London--
+  Reproof from Grimshawe--Serious illness--Earthquake at
+  Lisbon--Tottenham Court-road Chapel--Conversion of Mr.
+  Crane--Publication of "A short Address"--Personal character
+  of Whitefield's preaching--His servant--Shuter--Violent
+  persecution--Interference of government--Journey to
+  Bristol--Lines on a chair--Journey to Kent, north of England,
+  Scotland--Meeting at Leeds--Interview with the new governor
+  of Georgia--Prosperity of Tottenham Court--Journey to
+  Scotland--Ireland--Returns to London--Ill health--Anecdote--
+  Another visit to Scotland--Death of friends--Debts of
+  Bethesda paid--Renewed visit to Scotland--Visit to
+  Brighton--Foote's mimicry--Activity--Sails on his sixth
+  voyage to America                                             350
+
+  CHAPTER XIV.
+
+  SIXTH VISIT AND LABORS IN AMERICA--RENEWED
+  LABORS IN GREAT BRITAIN.
+
+  1763-1767.
+
+  Improvement of Whitefield's health--Friends in Virginia--
+  Proceedings in Philadelphia--New Jersey--A collegiate
+  hearer--New York--Letter from Boston Gazette--Opposition of
+  Seabury--Arrival and preaching at Boston--Public thanks to
+  him--Leaves Boston--New Haven--New York--New Jersey
+  College--Philadelphia--Virginia--South Carolina--Bethesda--
+  Proceedings of the government--Prosperity of the Orphan-
+  house--Thoughts of returning to England--Still detained in
+  America--Sails for England--Arrival there--Dedicates a
+  church at Bath--Returns to London--Sickness--Interest in
+  American affairs--Rev. Samson Occum--Labors with Mr.
+  Whitaker in England--Success--Whitefield's journey to
+  Bristol--Success in London--Mr. Joss becomes his colleague--
+  Rev. Rowland Hill--Whitefield again visits Bath and
+  Bristol--Mr. Fletcher's sermons in London--Preface to
+  Bunyan's works--Whitefield in Wales and Gloucestershire--
+  North of England--Disappointed in obtaining a charter
+  for Bethesda                                                  375
+
+
+  CHAPTER XV.
+
+  HIS LAST LABORS IN GREAT BRITAIN--COLLEGE
+  AT TREVECCA--EARL OF BUCHAN--TUNBRIDGE
+  WELLS.
+
+  1767-1769.
+
+  Letter to Keen--Whitefield preaches before the Book
+  Society--Change in his style and manner of preaching--
+  Expulsion of six students from Oxford--Whitefield's letter
+  to the Vice-chancellor--Usefulness of the expelled young
+  men--Letter to a gentleman at Wisbeach--To Captain Scott--
+  To Hon. and Rev. Walter Shirley--Death and funeral services
+  of the Earl of Buchan--Whitefield's last visit to
+  Edinburgh--Death of Mrs. Whitefield--Whitefield's own
+  sickness--Dedication of the college at Trevecca--Improvement
+  of his health--Letter to Mr. Shirley--Letter of Dr. Franklin
+  to Whitefield--Whitefield's remarks on it--Dedication of
+  church at Tunbridge Wells--Contemplated voyage to America--
+  His last sermon--Account of Rev. George Burder--Messrs.
+  Wilson--Embarkation of Whitefield--Detained in the Downs--
+  Ordination and preaching at Deal--Anecdote of Dr. Gibbons--
+  Clears the Channel--Arrival at Charleston                     400
+
+
+  CHAPTER XVI.
+
+  SEVENTH VISIT AND LAST LABORS IN AMERICA--DEATH.
+
+  1769, 1770.
+
+  Arrival at Bethesda--Its prosperity--Honors paid him by the
+  legislature--Letter at Charleston--Plan of the proposed
+  college--Visits Philadelphia--Preaches at Burlington, New
+  York, Albany--Attends an execution--Visit to Sharon--
+  Conversion of Mr. Randall--Visit to Boston--Letters to
+  Messrs. Wright and Keen--Letter in Pennsylvania Journal--
+  Arrival at Exeter--Anecdote--Vast congregation--Delivers his
+  last sermon--Account of it--His solemnly interesting
+  appearance--Rodgers' Journal--Journey of Whitefield to
+  Newburyport--Alarming illness--Death--His remarks to Dr.
+  Finley--Arrangements for the funeral--Its solemn services--
+  Cenotaph                                                      423
+
+
+  CHAPTER XVII.
+
+  TESTIMONIES AND FACTS ILLUSTRATIVE OF WHITEFIELD'S
+  CHARACTER.
+
+  Funeral sermon by Dr. Cooper--Respect shown to his memory in
+  Georgia--Whitefield county--Sermon by Rev. Mr. Ellington--
+  Arrival of the news in London--Sermon by Rev. J. Wesley--
+  Rev. John Newton--Anecdote--Reply of Bacon the sculptor--
+  Visits to his tomb--Old man in Ipswich--Whitefield's
+  indifference to his reputation and ease--Institution at
+  Georgia--Laborious life--Extraordinary voice--Use of common
+  facts--Anecdotes--His solemnity of manner--Testimony of an
+  American preacher--Of Winter--Anecdotes--Sermons in storms--
+  Appearance in the pulpit--Character of his printed sermons--
+  His devotional spirit--Visiting the sick--Intercourse with
+  society--Neatness                                             445
+
+
+  CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+  CHARACTER OF WHITEFIELD AS A PREACHER--CENTENNIAL
+  COMMEMORATIONS.
+
+  Prominence given by him to the truths of salvation--His
+  ardent glow of feeling--His direct address--His habitual
+  dependence on the Spirit of God--Dealt with men as immortal
+  beings--Dr. Hamilton's estimate of Whitefield--Comparison of
+  Whitefield and Wesley--Centennial commemorations--Hymns by
+  Mr. Conder--Usefulness--Bristol Tabernacle--Mr. James'
+  sermon--Character of Whitefield's ministry, by Mr. Glanville  479
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+The excellent Matthew Henry has very truly said, "There are remains
+of great and good men, which, like Elijah's mantle, ought to be
+gathered up and preserved by the survivors--their sayings, their
+writings, their examples; that as their works follow them in the
+reward of them, they may stay behind in the benefit of them."
+
+Influenced by this and kindred sentiments, the compiler of this
+volume has devoted no small labor to gather from every source to
+which he could gain access, whatever appeared to him important to be
+known respecting the most distinguished uninspired preacher perhaps
+of any age or country. Whatever may be the faults of the work,
+to use the language of the Rev. Dr. Campbell, one of the present
+pastors of Whitefield's churches in London, in reference to a short
+sketch he had himself prepared of our great evangelist, "It will
+serve to bring him and his apostolic labors before the minds of
+vast multitudes of the rising generation, to whom both are all but
+unknown; and this is far from unimportant. Whatever tends to fix
+the minds of men afresh upon the character of WHITEFIELD is, and
+it always will be, something gained to the cause of true religion.
+The contemplation of that character is one of the most healthful
+exercises that can occupy a Christian heart, or a Christian
+understanding. It is an admirable theme for ministerial meditation.
+It tends equally to humble, to instruct, and to encourage; to excite
+love to Christ, zeal for his glory, and compassion for the souls of
+men. What Alexander and Cæsar, Charles XII. of Sweden and Napoleon
+the first, are to those of the sons of men who have not yet ceased
+to 'learn war,' that Whitefield and Wesley are to those who aspire
+to eminent usefulness as ministers and missionaries of the cross."
+
+In the preparation of this memoir, the compiler has sought to
+collect together incidents which might interest and instruct,
+especially in connection with Whitefield's labors in America; to
+present him as much as possible in his own dress; and to use the
+facts of his life to excite and cherish his own spirit, so far as
+he had the spirit of Christ. Facts reflecting on the reputation and
+feelings of others have been used only as the interests of truth
+seemed to demand.
+
+It would have been easy to place on almost every page an array of
+authorities, and to give here a long list of friends to whom the
+writer has been indebted for aid; but the sole object of the volume
+is the honor of Christ in the salvation of men, and that this may be
+accomplished, we pray that the blessing of Heaven may rest upon it.
+
+PHILADELPHIA, 1857.
+
+
+
+
+GEORGE WHITEFIELD.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+     MORAL STATE OF GREAT BRITAIN IN THE EARLY PART OF THE EIGHTEENTH
+     CENTURY--WHITEFIELD FROM HIS BIRTH TO HIS FIRST SERMON.
+
+
+That we may have a clear and comprehensive view of the labors and
+success of George Whitefield, it is important that we consider
+the moral condition of Great Britain and its dependencies when
+the Head of the church brought him on the field of action. The
+latter part of the seventeenth and the beginning of the eighteenth
+centuries presented in that country a scene of moral darkness, the
+more remarkable as it so soon succeeded the triumph of evangelical
+truth which distinguished the seventeenth century, and which is
+perpetuated in a religious literature that will bless the world.
+Causes had long been at work which produced such insensibility and
+decline as to all that is good, and such a bold and open activity in
+evil, as it is hoped the grace of God may avert from his churches
+in all future time. The doctrine of the divine right of kings to
+implicit obedience on the part of their subjects; the principle
+of priestly control of the minds of men in religious matters; and
+clerical influence, sustained by kingly authority, in favor of
+sports on the Lord's day, together with the evil examples of men
+high in rank and power, had produced their natural results on the
+masses of the people, and make it painful, even at this distant
+period, to survey the scene.
+
+Nor were these all the evils of that day. The expulsion from their
+pulpits, by the "Act of Uniformity," of two thousand of the most
+able and useful of the clergy in England, had led to great ignorance
+and neglect of religion; and though men like Leighton and Owen,
+Flavel and Baxter, with Bunyan and a host of others, had continued,
+in spite of opposing laws, to preach when they were not shut up in
+prison, and to write their immortal practical works, by the time of
+which we are speaking they had been called to their eternal reward,
+leaving very few men of like spirit behind them. Thus infidelity,
+profligacy, and formalism almost universally prevailed.
+
+The low state of religion in the established church at that time
+may be learned from the Rev. Augustus M. Toplady, himself one of
+its ministers, who died in 1778. In a sermon yet extant he says,
+"I believe no denomination of professing Christians, the church
+of Rome excepted, were so generally void of the light and life of
+godliness, so generally destitute of the doctrine and of the grace
+of the gospel, as was the church of England, considered as a body,
+about fifty years ago. At that period a _converted_ minister in the
+establishment was as great a wonder as a comet; but now, blessed
+be God, since that precious, that great apostle of the English
+empire, the late dear Mr. Whitefield, was raised up in the spirit
+and power of Elias, the word of God has run and been glorified;
+many have believed and been added to the Lord all over the three
+kingdoms; and blessed be his name, the great Shepherd and Bishop of
+souls continues still to issue his word, and great is the company of
+preachers, greater and greater every year."
+
+If it be said that Toplady, as he belonged to a different school of
+theology from that which then generally prevailed, could scarcely
+be expected to be impartial, we ask leave to transcribe a few lines
+from Bishop Butler, who within six months of Whitefield's ordination
+wrote thus: "It is come, I know not how, to be taken for granted
+by many persons, that Christianity is not so much as a subject of
+inquiry; but that it is now at length discovered to be fictitious.
+And accordingly they treat it as if in the present age this were an
+agreed point among all people of discernment; and nothing remained
+but to set it up as a principal subject of mirth and ridicule, as
+it were by way of reprisals for its having so long interrupted
+the pleasures of the world." Bishop Warburton, who commenced his
+ministry a few years before Whitefield, and who cannot be charged
+with enthusiasm, says, "I have lived to see that fatal crisis, when
+religion hath lost its hold on the minds of the people."
+
+Many other witnesses might be brought to testify that error and
+worldly mindedness had made mournful havoc among the clergy,
+and that spiritual religion had been almost buried in forms and
+ceremonies. A recent writer has well described the state of religion
+in the established church at that time, as only to be compared to a
+frozen or palsied carcass. "There," says this Episcopal clergyman,
+"were the time-honored formularies which the wisdom of the reformers
+had provided. There were the services and lessons from Scripture,
+just in the same order as we have them now. But as to preaching
+the gospel, in the established church there was almost none. The
+distinguishing doctrines of Christianity--the atonement, the work
+and office of Christ and the Spirit--were comparatively lost sight
+of. The vast majority of sermons were miserable moral essays,
+utterly devoid of any thing calculated to awaken, convert, save, or
+sanctify souls." Southey, a biographer of Wesley, who assuredly will
+not be accused of too strong a tendency to evangelical truth, is
+compelled to say, "A laxity of opinions as well as morals obtained,
+and infidelity, a plague which had lately found its way into the
+country, was becoming so prevalent, that the vice-chancellor of
+the university at Oxford, in a _programma_, exhorted the tutors to
+discharge their duties by double diligence, and had forbidden the
+under-graduates to read such books as might tend to the weakening of
+their faith."
+
+There were undoubtedly some learned and conscientious bishops
+at this era. Such men were Secker and Gibson, Lowth and Horne,
+Butler, and others. But even the best of them seem sadly to have
+misunderstood the requirements of the day they lived in. They spent
+their strength in writing apologies for Christianity, and contending
+against infidels. They could not see that without the direct
+preaching of the essential doctrines of the gospel, their labors
+must be sadly defective. The man who dared to preach the doctrines
+of the Bible, and in harmony with the Articles and Homilies of his
+church, was set down as an enthusiast or fanatic.
+
+Among those who had dissented from the established hierarchy, and
+who were untrammelled by the impositions of secular authority, the
+state of vital godliness was also unhappily very low. The noble
+spirits of early non-conformity had passed from earth, or crossed
+the Atlantic to the frozen shores of New England, and a race of men
+had sprung up, some of whom retained the tenets of orthodoxy, but
+had lost its power; while others reposed on comfortable endowments,
+and lulled themselves, or were drawn by favorable breezes, into the
+cold elements of Arianism and Socinianism. As persons in the frozen
+regions are said to sleep longer and more soundly than others, so
+did they; and a more terrific blast of the trumpet of the gospel
+was required to rouse and awake them from their spiritual slumbers.
+Happily indeed for the world, and for the church in it, there were
+some exceptions. Watts and Guyse and Doddridge, and their pious
+associates in different parts of the land, were laborers together in
+"God's husbandry," and ceased not to cultivate it with affectionate
+faithfulness and care; and wherever their labors extended, the
+plants of grace grew and flourished. Darracott, "the star of the
+west," threw his mild rays over the vales of Somerset; and in the
+north also a few faithful men were found.
+
+Nor have we even now said all that should be written as to the
+character of those times. The highest personages in the land then
+openly lived in ways contrary to the law of God, and no man rebuked
+them. Profligacy and irreligion were reputable and respectable.
+Judging from the description we have of men and manners in those
+days, a gentleman might have been defined as a creature who got
+drunk, gambled, swore, fought duels, and violated the seventh
+commandment, and for all this very few thought the worse of him.
+
+Those too were the days when the men whom even kings delighted
+to honor were such as Bolingbroke, Chesterfield, Walpole, and
+Newcastle. To be an infidel, to obtain power by intrigue, and
+to retain it by the grossest and most notorious bribery, were
+considered no disqualifications even for the highest offices. Such
+men indeed were not only tolerated, but praised. In those days
+too, Hume, an avowed infidel, put forth his History, and obtained
+a pension. Sterne and Swift then wrote their talented, but obscene
+books; both of them were clergymen, but the public saw little
+inconsistency in their conduct. Fielding and Smollett were the
+popular authors, and the literary taste of high and low was suited
+by Roderick Random, Peregrine Pickle, Joseph Andrews, and Tom Jones.
+These authors were ingenious heathen philosophers, assuming the name
+of Christians, and forcibly paganizing Christianity for the sake of
+pleasing the world.
+
+Turning to _Scotland_, we find that the bold proclamation of the
+discriminating truths of the gospel which characterize the preaching
+of Knox, Welsh, and others, was being rapidly laid aside, and
+cold formal addresses, verging towards a kind of Socinianism were
+becoming fashionable. Old Mr. Hutchinson, minister of Kilellan, in
+Renfrewshire, who saw but the beginning of this sad change, used to
+say to Wodrow the historian, "When I compare the times before the
+restoration with those since the revolution, I must own that the
+young ministers preach accurately, and methodically; but there was
+far more of the power and efficacy of the Spirit and of the grace
+of God went along with sermons in those days than now. For my own
+part--all the glory be to God--I seldom set my foot in a pulpit in
+those days, but I had notice of the blessed effects of the word." It
+is true, that even then there were a few faithful witnesses for God
+in Scotland, such as the brothers Erskine, in the Secession church;
+but for the most part, coldness, barrenness, and death prevailed.
+The people knew not God, and were strangers to the life-giving
+influence and power of the gospel.
+
+The Arianism of England had been carried to the north of _Ireland_,
+and finding a state of feeling suitable to its reception, it took
+root and grew up, so as to characterize a distinct section of the
+Presbyterian church, then and still distinguished by the name of the
+Remonstrant Synod. The south and west of Ireland were subjected to
+a blight not less withering, though of a different kind, and which
+continued much longer--continued, to a great extent, throughout
+the whole of the last century. The clergy were usually sons of the
+gentry, and accustomed to their sporting, drinking, and riotous
+habits. They had no preparation for ministerial duties but a college
+degree; and no education, either literary or moral, which had not
+been obtained among wild young men at the university. According
+to the interest which they happened to have, they passed at once
+from college to ministerial charges, and again mixed in all the
+dissipations of the districts where these lay. Ignorant of the
+truth, they and their congregations were satisfied with some short
+moral discourse. Many of the people were almost as ignorant of the
+Scriptures and scripture truth as the inhabitants of Hindostan.
+The Catholic priests meanwhile were at work among the people, and
+they had many to help them. The sick and the dying were watched;
+their fears were wrought upon; they were told of the power which
+the priests had, of the influence possessed by the Virgin, and much
+about the _old church_; and as soon as any seemed to give way, on
+whatever point, the priest was sent for, who plied them anew, and
+seldom failed in succeeding with the poor ignorant people. They were
+now ready to receive absolution; but he had farther conditions to
+propose. The whole family must submit to be rebaptized, or at least
+promise to attend mass--and this also was not unfrequently gained;
+the Protestant clergyman being all the while at a distance, neither
+knowing nor much caring what was going on. In this way great numbers
+of the lower and middle classes of the Protestants went over to the
+church of Rome. Throughout whole districts the Protestant churches
+were almost emptied, and many of those in rural districts were
+allowed to fall into ruins.
+
+Of _Wales_ it is not important at present to say much. From the
+middle ages downwards, great darkness and superstition had prevailed
+among its mountains. It is true that in the days of James I.,
+a clergyman named Wroth, whose conversion to the truth had been
+remarkable, had labored with eminent zeal and success, but at the
+period of which we are now writing declension had succeeded. Within
+the establishment all was cold and dead; nearly every minister
+was ignorant of the Welsh language, a fact which also applied to
+several successive bishops, while the state of morals, among even
+the leaders of the hierarchy, was truly deplorable. An old Methodist
+simply but truly described the country at this period, and of his
+correct narrative we will here give a free translation.
+
+The land, he tells us, was dark indeed. Scarcely any of the lower
+ranks could read at all. The morals of the country were very
+corrupt; and in this respect there was no difference between
+high and low, layman and clergyman. Gluttony, drunkenness, and
+licentiousness prevailed through the whole country. Nor were the
+operations of the church at all adapted to repress these evils. From
+the pulpit the name of the Redeemer was scarcely heard; nor was much
+mention made of the natural sinfulness of man, or of the influence
+of the Holy Spirit. On Sunday mornings, the poor were more constant
+in their attendance at church than the gentry; but the Sunday
+evenings were spent by all in idle amusements. Every Sabbath there
+was practised a kind of sport, called in Welsh _Achwaren-gamp_,
+in which all the young men of the neighborhood had a trial of
+strength, and the people assembled from the surrounding country
+to witness their feats. On a Saturday night, particularly in the
+summer, the young men and women held what they called _Nosweithian
+cann_, or singing eves; that is, they met together and amused
+themselves by singing in turns to the harp, till the dawn of the
+Sabbath. These things, with the performance of rustic dramas, would
+occupy sometimes the whole of the sacred day itself; while a set of
+vagabonds, called the _Bobl gerdded_, or walking people, used to
+traverse the villages, begging with impunity, to the disgrace alike
+of the law and the country. With all this social sprightliness, the
+Welsh were then a superstitious, and even a gloomy people. They
+still retained many habits apparently derived from paganism, and
+not a few of the practices of popery. Their funerals, like those of
+the Irish, were scenes of riot and drunkenness, followed by prayers
+for the release of the deceased from the pains of purgatory. Such
+was the superstition of the people, that when Methodism was first
+introduced among them, many of the peasantry expressed their horror
+of the new opinions by the truly Popish gesture of crossing the
+forehead; and when Wesley first visited them, he pronounced them
+"as little versed in the principles of Christianity as a Creek or
+Cherokee Indian." To this declaration he added the striking remark,
+that, "notwithstanding their superstition and ignorance, the people
+'were ripe for the gospel,' and most enthusiastically anxious to
+avail themselves of every opportunity of instruction."
+
+As an illustration of the truth of the remark we have just
+introduced from the discerning Wesley, we may mention an incident
+which occurred in 1736. At this period dissent itself was reduced so
+low in the country, that there were only six dissenting houses of
+worship in all North Wales. One Sunday, Mr. Lewis Rees, a dissenting
+minister from South Wales, and the father of Dr. Rees, the author of
+the celebrated Cyclopedia which bears his name, visited Pwllheli, a
+town on the promontory of Slëyn, in Caernarvonshire, and one of the
+few places in which the Independents still had a chapel. After the
+service, the congregation, collecting around him, complained very
+sorely that their numbers were rapidly diminishing, that the few
+who yet remained were for the most part poor, and that every thing
+connected with their cause looked gloomy. To which the minister
+replied, "The dawn of religion is again breaking out in South
+Wales," referring them to the fact, that already a distinguished
+man--Howel Harris--had risen up, going about instructing the people
+in the truths of the gospel. Such was the character of the times
+when God was raising up agents to revive and extend his cause. We
+shall before long return to Wales with lively interest.
+
+"Such," says the eloquent Robert Hall, "was the situation of things
+when Whitefield and Wesley made their appearance, who, whatever
+failings the severest criticism can discover in their character,
+will be hailed by posterity as the second reformers of England.
+Nothing was farther from the views of these excellent men than to
+innovate on the established religion of their country; their sole
+aim was to recall the people to the good old way, and to imprint the
+doctrines of the Articles and Homilies on the spirits of men. But
+this doctrine had been so long a dead letter, and so completely
+obliterated from the mind by contrary instructions, that the attempt
+to revive it met with all the opposition that innovation is sure to
+encounter, in addition to what naturally results from the nature
+of the doctrine itself, which has to contend with the whole force
+of human corruption. The revival of the _old_, appeared like the
+introduction of a _new_ religion; and the hostility it excited
+was less sanguinary, but scarcely less virulent, than that which
+signalized the first publication of Christianity. The gospel of
+Christ, or that system of truth which was laid at the foundation of
+the Reformation, has since made rapid advances, and in every step of
+its progress has sustained the most furious assaults."
+
+It ought here to be stated, as illustrating the providence of God in
+preparing the British empire for the reception of the gospel, that
+the revolution of 1688 introduced the spirit of toleration, and in
+1714, the very year of Whitefield's birth, Anne, the last English
+sovereign of a persecuting spirit, died, and the throne was assumed
+by George I., the first prince of the house of Hanover. The way of
+the Lord was thus prepared for bright illustrations of his mercy.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Rising from the beautiful valley of the Severn, and on the borders
+of that noble stream, reposes in antique glory the affluent city of
+GLOUCESTER, with its regular streets, and its majestic cathedral
+and other relics of bygone days. In that city the traveller may
+examine three spots which will long be interesting to the student of
+ecclesiastical curiosities. The first of these is the ancient church
+of Mary de Crypt, where reposes the dust of Robert Raikes, the
+founder of Sunday-schools; the second, is the little stone which,
+in a pensive-looking inclosure, marks the site on which the truly
+noble-minded and Protestant Bishop Hooper was burnt, an early martyr
+of bloody Mary's reign. There wicked men stood around to light up
+the flames, and to mock his sorrows; but as we stand and look, we
+exult in the subsequent triumphs of truth.
+
+The third spot, and the one to us at the present moment the most
+interesting, is the Bell inn or hotel, yet standing, though
+enlarged and beautified since the period of which we write. There
+WHITEFIELD--the saint, the seraph, the "angel flying in the midst of
+heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to them that dwell
+on the earth"--first breathed the vital air. Venerable city, we
+will rejoice that though within thy walls one glorious luminary of
+salvation was extinguished, another "burning and shining light" was
+raised up to diffuse joy and happiness over the two most influential
+quarters of the globe, and a third has since been given to suggest
+the simple plan by which millions of the young have already acquired
+the knowledge of salvation.
+
+GEORGE WHITEFIELD, the sixth son of Thomas and Elizabeth Whitefield,
+was born December 16, 1714, old style. Concerning his father and
+mother he writes, "The former died when I was two years old; the
+latter died in December, 1751, in the seventy-first year of her age,
+and has often told me how she endured fourteen weeks' sickness after
+she brought me into the world; but was used to say, even when I
+was an infant, that she expected more comfort from me than from any
+other of her children. This, with the circumstance of my being born
+in an inn, has often been of service to me, in exciting my endeavors
+to make good my mother's expectations, and so follow the example of
+my dear Saviour, who was laid in a manger belonging to an inn."
+
+In one of his journals, which he commenced at a very early part
+of his ministry, Whitefield details with great simplicity many
+incidents of his childhood and youth; from which it appears, that
+though at times he had many serious thoughts and impressions,
+the general course of his life, till the age of sixteen, was
+irreligious. He tells us that in early youth he was "so brutish as
+to hate instruction, and used purposely to shun all opportunities
+of receiving it," and that he spent much money, improperly obtained
+from his mother, in cards, plays, and romances, "which," says he,
+"were my heart's delight. Often have I joined with others in playing
+roguish tricks; but was generally, if not always, happily detected:
+for this I have often since, and do now bless and praise God." His
+full confessions of this character are very affecting, and should be
+a caution to young persons to repel all such temptations.
+
+When George was about ten years of age, his mother married a second
+time, thus forming a connection which led to much unhappiness.
+He was, however, continued at school; and when twelve years old,
+was transferred to the grammar-school of St. Mary de Crypt, where
+he remained about three years. Having a graceful elocution and a
+good memory, he gained much credit for delivering speeches before
+the city corporation at the annual visitation of the school, and
+received pecuniary rewards for his performances on those occasions.
+How deeply he afterwards deplored these celebrations, especially
+the performance of plays in connection with his school-fellows,
+may be learned from his own words: "I cannot but observe here,
+with much concern of mind, how this way of training up youth has
+a natural tendency to debauch the mind, to raise ill passions,
+and to stuff the memory with things as contrary to the gospel of
+Christ, as darkness to light, hell to heaven." This sad tendency
+was but too clearly evinced in the case of Whitefield himself. "I
+got acquainted," he says, "with such a set of debauched, abandoned,
+atheistical youths, that if God, by his free, unmerited, and special
+grace, had not delivered me out of their hands, I should have sat
+in the scorner's chair, and made a mock at sin. By keeping company
+with them, my thoughts of religion grew more and more like theirs.
+I went to public service only to make sport, and walk about. I took
+pleasure in their lewd conversation. I began to reason as they did,
+and to ask why God had given me passions, and not permitted me to
+gratify them. In short, I soon made great proficiency in the school
+of the devil. I affected to look rakish, and was in a fair way of
+being as infamous as the worst of them." These were the things, and
+not oratory, as has sometimes been said, which Whitefield learned
+from plays and acting.
+
+In the midst of all this, his conscience often made him unhappy; and
+he wished, if possible, to combine religion with his pleasures. He
+purchased and carefully read "Ken's Manual for Winchester Scholars,"
+a book which commended itself as having comforted his mother in her
+afflictions, and which he afterwards considered to have been "of
+great benefit to his soul."
+
+At the age of fifteen, he thought he had acquired learning enough
+for any ordinary occupation in life, and as his mother's business
+was declining, he persuaded her to allow him to leave school and
+assist in labor. "I began," says he, "to assist her occasionally
+in the public-house, till at length I put on my blue apron and
+my snuffers, washed mops, cleaned rooms, and in one word, became
+professed and common _drawer_ for nearly a year and a half." In the
+midst of the activity called for in such a situation, it pleased God
+to renew his religious impressions, which induced him, at least at
+intervals, to attend with much earnestness to the concerns of his
+soul.
+
+From his childhood, Whitefield tells us, he "was always fond of
+being a clergyman, and used frequently to imitate the ministers'
+reading prayers." Nor did this tendency towards clerical engagements
+cease as he became older. "Notwithstanding," he says, "I was thus
+employed in a large inn, and had sometimes the care of the whole
+house upon my hands, yet I composed two or three sermons, and
+dedicated one of them to my elder brother. One day, I remember, I
+was very much pressed to self-examination, and found myself very
+unwilling to look into my heart. Frequently I read the Bible when
+sitting up at night. And a dear youth, now with God, would often
+entreat me, when serving at the bar, to go to Oxford. My general
+answer was, 'I wish I could.'"
+
+His mother's difficulties increasing, it became necessary for her
+to leave the inn; in which she was succeeded by one of her married
+sons, with whom George for some time remained to continue his
+assistance in the business. Some disagreement, however, arising
+between them, he after a time took his departure from the inn, and
+went to spend a month with his eldest brother at Bristol. Returning
+from that city to Gloucester, he resided for a short season with his
+mother. While thus living unemployed, without any definite object
+before him, and waiting the openings of providence, his mother
+was visited by an Oxford student, a servitor of Pembroke college
+in that university. In the course of their conversation, he told
+her, that after all his expenses at college for the quarter were
+discharged, he had one penny remaining. She immediately exclaimed,
+"This will do for my son!" and turning to him, said, "Will you go
+to Oxford, George?" He replied, "With all my heart." Application
+was immediately made to several friends who had influence at
+the college, and they pledged themselves to serve her. In this
+confidence, her favorite son returned to the grammar-school,
+where he not only resumed his studies with greater diligence, but
+endeavored, and not altogether in vain, to promote religion and
+virtue among his associates.
+
+Having fully secured his literary preparation for the university,
+Whitefield removed to Oxford in his eighteenth year, and was
+immediately admitted, as a servitor, into Pembroke college. He soon
+found that the seat of learning was also a scene of danger. From
+the period of 1662, when the two thousand Non-conformists had been
+expelled from the church, the universities had been sinking into a
+moral lethargy, preferring uniformity to vital religion. Our young
+servitor was shocked with the impiety of the students in general,
+and dreading their influence on himself, he as much as possible
+abstained from their society, and shut himself up in his study.
+
+Before he went to Oxford, Whitefield had heard of a class of
+young men in the university who "lived by rule and method," and
+were therefore called _Methodists_. They were much talked of, and
+generally despised. Of this party, John Wesley, a Fellow of Lincoln
+college, and already in holy orders, was the leader, his brother
+Charles being also as warmly attached to it. They avowed that the
+great object of their lives was to save their souls, and to live
+wholly to the glory of God; and rarely have men subjected themselves
+to greater self-denials and austerities. Drawn towards them by
+kindred feelings, Whitefield strenuously defended them whenever he
+heard them reviled, and when he saw them going, through a crowd
+manifesting their ridicule, every Sunday to receive the sacrament
+at St. Mary's or Christ church, he was strongly inclined to follow
+their example.
+
+For more than a year he intensely desired to be acquainted with
+them, but a sense of his pecuniary inferiority to them prevented his
+advances. At length, learning that a pauper had attempted suicide,
+Whitefield sent a poor woman to inform Charles Wesley, that so he
+might visit her, and administer religious instruction. He charged
+the woman not to tell Mr. Wesley who sent her, but, contrary to
+this injunction, she told his name; and Charles Wesley, who had
+frequently seen Whitefield walking by himself, on the next morning
+invited him to breakfast. An introduction to the little brotherhood
+soon followed, and he also, like them, "began to live by rule, and
+pick up the very fragments of his time, that not a moment might be
+lost."
+
+It is painful to read Whitefield's own account of the mortifications
+of body to which he now submitted; and we are not surprised that, as
+the result, his health was so reduced as to place even his life in
+danger. All this time he had no clear view of the way of salvation,
+and was "seeking to work out a righteousness of his own." In this
+state he lay on his bed, his tongue parched with fever, and the
+words of the dying Saviour, "I thirst," were impressed on his mind.
+Remembering that this thirst occurred near the end of the Saviour's
+sufferings, the thought arose in his mind, "Why may it not be so
+with me? Why may I not now receive deliverance and comfort? Why
+may I not now dare to trust and rejoice in the pardoning mercy of
+God?" There was, as Tracy has said, no reason why he might not--why
+he ought not. He saw nothing to forbid him. He prayed in hope,
+borrowing language from the fact which suggested the train of
+thought--"I thirst, I thirst for faith in pardoning love. Lord, I
+believe; help thou mine unbelief." His prayer was heard. He dared
+to trust in the mercy of God, as revealed in the death of Jesus
+Christ for sinners. Conscience and his Bible bore witness that he
+did right. The load that had so heavily oppressed him, the load of
+guilt and terror and anxiety, that weighed down his spirit while he
+sinfully and ungratefully hesitated to trust in divine mercy, was
+gone. He saw the trustworthiness of the mercy of God in Christ, and
+his heart rejoiced.
+
+"Though," as Tracy has well said, "the English universities were
+established mainly for the purpose of educating men for the
+ministry, Whitefield was not likely to gain a good knowledge of
+theology there. He took another, and a characteristic course. Some
+time after his conversion, when he was at Gloucester, he says,
+'I began to read the holy Scriptures upon my knees; laying aside
+all other books, and praying over, if possible, every line and
+word. This proved meat indeed and drink indeed to my soul. I daily
+received fresh life, light, and power from above. I thus got more
+true knowledge in reading the book of God in one month, than I could
+ever have acquired from all the writings of men.'"
+
+Every hour of Whitefield's time, especially after he had been
+"filled with peace and joy in believing," was sacredly devoted to
+preparation for the great work to which he had now solemnly devoted
+himself. He visited the prisoners in the jail, and the poor in their
+cottages, and gave as much time as he could to communion with God in
+his closet. His friends now earnestly importuned him to apply for
+ordination; but from this his deep sense of unworthiness made him
+shrink. Besides, he intended to have a hundred and fifty sermons
+carefully written before he began to preach. He had as yet but one,
+and he lent that to a neighboring clergyman, to convince him that
+he was not yet fit to be ordained. The clergyman kept it for two
+weeks, divided it into two, preached it to his own people, and then
+returned it to Whitefield, with a guinea for the use of it.
+
+Still, however, the work of preparation for the ministry was rapidly
+going on. The state of his health compelled him to retire for a
+season from Oxford, and he returned home to increase the depth of
+his piety, and to be led, little as he thought of it, at once to the
+pulpit. He writes, "O what sweet communion had I daily vouchsafed
+with God in prayer, after my coming to Gloucester. How often have
+I been carried out beyond myself, when meditating in the fields.
+How assuredly I felt that Christ dwelt in me, and I in him; and how
+daily did I walk in the comforts of the Holy Ghost, and was edified
+and refreshed in the multitude of peace. I always observed that
+as my inward strength increased, so my outward sphere of action
+increased proportionably."
+
+Thus, happy in himself, and thankful to the gracious God who made
+him so, the affectionate soul of George Whitefield ardently desired
+that others might participate in his sacred joys. In order to
+advance this object, he mixed in the society of young people, and
+endeavored to awaken them to a just sense of the nature of true
+religion. Some were convinced of the truth, and united with him in
+religious exercises; and these were some of the first-fruits of his
+pious labors. His discovery of the necessity of regeneration, like
+Melancthon's great discovery of the truth, led him to imagine that
+no one could resist the evidence which convinced his own mind. He
+writes, "Upon this, like the woman of Samaria, when Christ revealed
+himself to her at the well, I had no rest in my soul till I wrote
+letters to my relations, telling them there was such a thing as the
+_new birth_. I imagined they would have gladly received it; but,
+alas, my words seemed to them as idle tales. They thought I was
+going beside myself." He visited the jail every day, and read and
+prayed with the prisoners; attended public worship very frequently,
+and read twice or three times a week to some poor people in the
+city. In addition to all this, he tells us, "During my stay here,
+God enabled me to give a public testimony of my repentance as to
+seeing and acting plays; for hearing the strollers had come to
+town, and knowing what an egregious offender I had been, I was
+stirred up to extract Mr. Law's excellent treatise, entitled, "The
+absolute Unlawfulness of the Stage Entertainment." The printer,
+at my request, put a little of it in the newspaper for six weeks
+successively; and God was pleased to give it his blessing."
+
+In this manner Whitefield employed himself during nine months; and
+one effect of so doing was, that the partition wall of bigotry was
+soon broken down in his heart. He says, "I loved all, of whatever
+denomination, who loved the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity." This
+statement in his diary is connected with an account of the benefit
+he derived from studying the works of the Non-conformists. "Baxter's
+Call," and "Alleine's Alarm," so accorded with his own ideas of
+fidelity and unction, that wherever he recognized their spirit he
+acknowledged "a brother beloved." On this portion of his history
+we dwell with unspeakable delight; the only drawback is an undue
+importance he appears to have attached to _dreams_; and even those,
+considered as an _index_ to his waking hours, are interesting,
+revealing as they do his deep solicitude on the behalf of souls.
+
+Here then, before he had completed his twenty-first year, we see
+Whitefield returned to Gloucester, and such was already the fame of
+his piety and talents, that Dr. Benson, the bishop of the diocese,
+offered to dispense, in his favor, with the rule which forbids the
+ordination of deacons at so unripe an age. Thus graphically did he
+afterwards describe his acceptance of this proposal.
+
+"I never prayed against any corruption I had in my life so much as
+I did against going into holy orders so soon as my friends were for
+having me go. Bishop Benson was pleased to honor me with peculiar
+friendship, so as to offer me preferment, or to do any thing for me.
+My friends wanted me to mount the church betimes. They wanted me
+to knock my head against the pulpit too young; but how some young
+men stand up here and there and preach, I do not know. However it
+be to them, God knows how deep a concern entering into the ministry
+and preaching was to me. I prayed a thousand times, till the sweat
+has dropped from my face like rain, that God of his infinite mercy
+would not let me enter the church till he called me and thrust me
+forth in his work. I remember once in Gloucester--I know the room; I
+look up to the window when I am there and walk along the street--I
+said, 'Lord, I cannot go; I shall be puffed up with pride, and fall
+into the condemnation of the devil. Lord, do not let me go yet.' I
+pleaded to be at Oxford two or three years more. I intended to make
+one hundred and fifty sermons, and thought that I would set up with
+a good stock in trade. I remember praying, wrestling, and striving
+with God. I said, 'I am undone, I am unfit to preach in thy great
+name. Send me not. Lord, send me not yet.' I wrote to all my friends
+in town and country to pray against the bishop's solicitation; but
+they insisted I should go into orders before I was twenty-two. After
+all their solicitations these words came into my mind: 'Nothing
+shall pluck you out of my hands;' they came warm to my heart. Then,
+and not till then, I said, 'Lord, _I will go_; send me when thou
+wilt.'"
+
+Sunday, June 20, 1736, was the day appointed for his ordination
+in the cathedral at Gloucester. On the preceding evening he spent
+two hours in prayer for himself and the others who were to be set
+apart to the sacred office with him; and on the day itself he rose
+early, and passed the morning in prayer and meditation on the
+qualifications and duties of the office he was about to undertake.
+On a review of the solemn services of the day, he says, "I trust I
+answered every question from the bottom of my heart, and heartily
+prayed that God might say, Amen. And when the bishop laid his hands
+upon my head, if my vile heart do not deceive me, I offered my whole
+spirit, soul, and body to the service of God's sanctuary. Let come
+what will, life or death, depth or height, I shall henceforward
+live like one who this day, in the presence of men and angels, took
+the holy sacrament, on the profession of being inwardly moved by
+the Holy Ghost to take upon me that ministration in the church. I
+call heaven and earth to witness, that when the bishop laid his
+hands upon me, I gave myself up to be a martyr for Him who hung
+upon the cross for me. Known unto him are all future events and
+contingencies; I have thrown myself blindfold, and I trust without
+reserve, into his almighty hands. When I went up to the altar, I
+could think of nothing but Samuel's standing before the Lord with a
+linen ephod."
+
+Having thus received ordination as a deacon of the church of
+England, he delayed not to enter upon the work to which he was
+appointed; and accordingly, on the next Sabbath he preached his
+first sermon in his native city of Gloucester, selecting for his
+subject, "The necessity and benefit of religious society." At the
+appointed time he ascended the pulpit, in the church of St. Mary de
+Crypt. We have his own record of the service: "Last Sunday, in the
+afternoon, I preached my first sermon in the church where I first
+received the Lord's supper. Curiosity drew a large congregation
+together. The sight, at first, a little awed me; but I was comforted
+with a heartfelt sense of the divine presence, and soon found the
+advantage of having been accustomed to public speaking when a boy
+at school, and of exhorting and teaching the prisoners and the
+poor people at their private houses, while at the university. By
+these means I was kept from being daunted overmuch. As I proceeded,
+I perceived the fire kindled, till at last, though so young, and
+amidst a crowd of those who knew me in my childish days, I trust
+I was enabled to speak with some degree of gospel authority. Some
+few mocked, but most, for the present, seemed struck; and I have
+since heard that a complaint was made to the bishop, that I drove
+fifteen people mad the first sermon. The worthy prelate, as I am
+informed, wished that the madness might not be forgotten before the
+next Sunday. Before then, I hope that my sermon upon, 'He that is in
+Christ is a new creature,' will be completed. Blessed be God, I now
+find freedom in writing. Glorious Jesus,
+
+    "'Unloose my stammering tongue to tell
+      Thy love immense, unsearchable.'"
+
+It is remarkable, under all the circumstances of the case, that
+Bishop Benson, a man never distinguished for his evangelical views,
+always showed his friendship for Whitefield. Not only did he offer
+him ordination when others might have refused, and defend him
+against the persecutions to which he was exposed, but he more than
+once gave him pecuniary help when it was much needed, though the
+young clergyman had never complained.
+
+Thus early apprized of the secret of his strength, his profound
+aspirations for the growth of Christianity, the delight of
+exercising his rare powers, and the popular admiration, operating
+with combined and ceaseless force upon a mind impatient of repose,
+urged him into exertions which, if not attested by irrefragable
+proofs, might appear incredible. It was the statement of one who
+knew him well, and who was incapable of wilful exaggeration, and it
+is confirmed by his letters, journals, and a "cloud of witnesses,"
+that "in the compass of a single week, and that for years, he
+spoke in general forty hours, and in very many sixty, and that to
+thousands: and after his labors, instead of taking any rest, he
+was engaged in offering up prayers and intercessions, with hymns
+and spiritual songs, as his manner was, in every house to which he
+was invited." Never perhaps, since the apostolic age, has any man
+given himself so entirely to preaching the gospel of Christ for
+the salvation of souls, adopting as his motto the language of the
+apostle Paul, "_This one thing I do_."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+WHITEFIELD'S SUCCESS AS A PREACHER IN ENGLAND--FIRST VISIT TO
+AMERICA.
+
+1736-1738.
+
+
+Whitefield, though thus prepared for action, was not impatient,
+but willing to wait till his duty was fully ascertained. On the
+Wednesday after his first sermon he went to Oxford, where, he says,
+"I was received with great joy by my religious friends. For about
+a week I continued in my servitor's habit, and then took my degree
+of Bachelor of Arts, after having been at the university three
+years and three quarters, and going on towards the twenty-second
+year of my age. My dear and honored friends, the Rev. Messrs. John
+and Charles Wesley, being now embarked for Georgia, and one or
+two others having taken orders, the interest of Methodism, as it
+was then and is now termed, had visibly declined, and very few of
+this reputedly mad way were left at the university. This somewhat
+discouraged me at times, but the Lord Jesus supported my soul, and
+made me easy by giving me a strong conviction that I was where he
+would have me to be. My degree, I soon found, was of service to
+me, as it gave me access to those I could not be seen with when in
+an inferior station; and as opportunity offered, I was enabled to
+converse with them about the things which belonged to the kingdom of
+God. The subscriptions for the poor prisoners, which amounted to
+about forty pounds per annum, were soon put into my hands; two or
+three charity schools, maintained by the Methodists, were under my
+more immediate inspection; which, with the time I spent in following
+my studies, private retirement, and religious converse, sweetly
+filled up the whole of my day, and kept me from that unaccountable
+but too common complaint of having any time hang upon my hands."
+
+The stay of Mr. Whitefield at Oxford, however, was very short. He
+says, "By a series of unforeseen, unexpected, and unsought-for
+providences, I was called in a short time from my beloved retirement
+to take a journey to the metropolis of England. While I was an
+under-graduate, among the religious friends, I was very intimate
+with one Mr. B----n, a professed Methodist, who had lately taken
+orders, and was curate at the Tower of London. With him, when
+absent, I frequently corresponded, and when present took sweet
+counsel, and walked to the house of God as friends. He mentioned
+me to that late good and great man, Sir John Phillips; and being
+called down for a while into Hampshire, he wrote to me to be of
+good courage, and in the strength of God bade me hasten to town to
+officiate in his absence, and to be refreshed with the sight and
+conversation of many who loved me for Christ's sake, and had for a
+long time desired to see me."
+
+On his arrival in London, Whitefield delivered his first sermon
+there in Bishopsgate church, on the afternoon of Lord's day, August
+8. On entering the pulpit, his juvenile aspect excited a general
+feeling of his unfitness for the station, but he had not proceeded
+far in his sermon before it gave place to universal expressions of
+wonder and pleasure. If however he was thus exposed to the danger
+of vanity, as he says, "God sent me something to ballast it. For as
+I passed along the streets, many came out of their shops, admiring
+to see so young a person in a gown and cassock. One I remember in
+particular, cried out, 'There's a boy parson;' which, as it served
+to mortify my pride, put me also upon turning that apostolical
+exhortation into prayer, 'Let no man despise thy youth.'" From
+his first sermon to his departure, at the end of two months, his
+popularity in London continued to increase, and the crowds were
+so vast that it was necessary to place constables both inside and
+outside of the churches to preserve the peace. He tells us himself,
+"Here I continued for the space of two months, reading prayers twice
+a week, catechizing and preaching once, visiting the soldiers in the
+infirmary and barracks daily. I also read prayers every evening at
+Wapping chapel, and preached at Ludgate prison every Tuesday. God
+was pleased to give me favor in the eyes of the inhabitants of the
+Tower; the chapel was crowded on Lord's days; religious friends from
+divers parts of the town attended the word, and several young men
+came on Lord's-day morning, under serious impressions, to hear me
+discourse about the _new birth_, and the necessity of renouncing all
+in affection in order to follow Jesus Christ."
+
+The preaching of Mr. Whitefield now excited an unusual degree
+of attention among persons of all ranks. In many of the city
+churches he proclaimed the glad tidings of great joy to listening
+multitudes, who were powerfully affected by the fire which was
+displayed in the animated addresses of this man of God. Lord and
+Lady Huntingdon constantly attended wherever he preached, and Lady
+Anne Frankland became one of the first-fruits of his ministry among
+the nobility of the metropolis. Her ladyship spent much of her
+time with Lady Huntingdon, from whose society and conversation she
+derived great comfort. She was a daughter of Richard, the first
+Earl of Scarborough; was for many years lady of the bedchamber to
+the Princess Anne, and to the Princesses Amelia and Caroline; and
+finally became the second wife of Frederic Frankland, Esq., a member
+of Parliament, from whose cruelty she endured much.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We have already said, that some time before this Messrs. John and
+Charles Wesley had embarked for Georgia, and to their names we
+might have added that of Mr. Ingham, also a member of the Methodist
+fraternity at Oxford.
+
+Georgia, which was explored by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1584, had been
+colonized by debtors from Europe, by multitudes who had fled from
+the grasp of persecution, and by others who were interested in
+constructing a barrier against Spanish aggression. It originally had
+trustees in England, concerned for its interests, including sons of
+the nobility. The chief agent in executing the benevolent designs
+in view was the truly excellent General Oglethorpe, who admirably
+carried out the motto he gave to his companions in the work, "_Non
+sibi sed aliis_"--"Not for themselves, but for others." The children
+of poverty, taken from the overgrown agricultural population,
+already a tax upon parish bounty at home, were to be transferred
+in large numbers to the silk and indigo plantations which were
+established on the savannahs and bottoms south and west of the
+river, which thence derived its name from the peculiar conformation
+of the adjoining plains. Combined with these leading purposes, it
+was a cherished principle with the early patrons of this colony,
+that it should become the centre for the diffusion of the gospel
+among the natives; while charitable foundations were also laid for
+the secular and religious education of all who would take advantage
+of such provisions. The first Christians who left Europe to advance
+the spiritual interests of Georgia were Moravians, and the next
+were the Wesleys and Ingham. The records of the colony, as quoted
+in White's Historical Collections of Georgia, show that, Sept. 14,
+1735, Charles Wesley was appointed "Secretary for the Indian affairs
+in Georgia," and that, Oct. 10, 1735, John Wesley was appointed
+"missionary at Savannah."
+
+Whitefield had left London, and was laboring among a poor and
+illiterate people in Hampshire, when his attention was directly
+drawn to Georgia. This was not, indeed, the first time his heart had
+been interested in the matter. He writes, "When I had been about a
+month in town, letters came from the Messrs. Wesley, and the Rev.
+Mr. Ingham their fellow-laborer, an Israelite indeed, from Georgia.
+Their accounts fired my soul, and made me long to go abroad for God
+too. But having no outward call, and being as I then thought too
+weak in body ever to undertake a voyage at sea, I endeavored to
+lay aside all thoughts of going abroad. But my endeavors were all
+in vain; for I felt at times such a strong attraction in my soul
+towards Georgia, that I thought it almost irresistible. I strove
+against it with all my power, begged again and again, with many
+cries and tears, that the Lord would not suffer me to be deluded,
+and at length opened my mind to several dear friends. All agreed
+that laborers were wanted at home, that I had as yet no visible call
+abroad, and that it was my duty not to be rash, but wait and see
+what Providence might point out to me. To this I consented with my
+whole heart."
+
+The path of duty, however, soon opened before him. While fulfilling
+his duties at Dummer, in Hampshire, preaching for the Rev. Mr.
+Kinchin, who was now absent from home, to which labors we have
+already referred, he received an invitation to a lucrative curacy in
+London; but Georgia still rested like one of the prophetic "burdens"
+on his mind. At this juncture he received a letter from his clerical
+friend at the Tower, saying that Mr. Charles Wesley had arrived in
+London. Very soon Mr. Wesley himself wrote to Whitefield, saying,
+that he was come over to procure laborers, "but," added he, "I dare
+not prevent God's nomination." "In a few days after this," writes
+Mr. Whitefield, "came another letter from Mr. John Wesley, wherein
+were these words: 'Only Mr. Delamotte is with me, till God shall
+stir up the hearts of some of his servants, who putting their lives
+in their hands, shall come over and help us, where the harvest is
+so great, and the laborers so few. What if thou art the man, Mr.
+Whitefield?' In another letter were these words: 'Do you ask me what
+you shall have? Food to eat and raiment to put on, a house to lay
+your head in--such as our Lord had not--and a crown of glory that
+fadeth not away.' Upon reading this my heart leaped within me, and
+as it were echoed to the call."
+
+After having consulted his bishop, Dr. Benson, as also the
+archbishop of Canterbury, and the trustees of Georgia including
+General James Oglethorpe who was then in London, he went to Bristol,
+Bath, and other places, to take leave of his personal friends. As
+he could not refrain from preaching, so every sermon increased his
+popularity. We give his account of his preaching at Bristol, as a
+specimen of the reception he met with.
+
+"It was wonderful to see how the people hung upon the rails of
+the organ-loft, climbed upon the leads of the church, and made
+the church itself so hot with their breath, that the steam would
+fall from the pillars like drops of rain. Sometimes almost as many
+would go away for want of room as came in, and it was with great
+difficulty I got into the desk to read prayers or preach. Persons
+of all ranks not only publicly attended my ministry, but gave me
+private invitations to their houses. A private society or two were
+erected. I preached and collected for the poor prisoners in Newgate
+twice or thrice a week, and many made me large offers if I would not
+go abroad."
+
+Having mentioned General James Edward Oglethorpe, the first
+governor, and indeed the founder of the colony of Georgia, and to
+the end of Whitefield's life his cordial friend, a few additional
+facts concerning him may here be stated. He was the son of Sir
+Theophilus Oglethorpe, and was born in London, December 21, 1688.
+At sixteen he was admitted a student at Oxford, but did not finish
+his studies, as the military profession had more charms for him
+than literary pursuits. He was first commissioned as an ensign.
+After the death of Queen Anne, he entered into the service of Prince
+Eugene. When he attained the age of twenty-four years, he entered
+Parliament, for Haslemere, where he continued thirty-two years. In
+November, 1732, Oglethorpe, with one hundred and sixteen settlers,
+embarked for Georgia, and landed at Charleston, S. C., January 13,
+1733. They shortly afterwards proceeded to Georgia, where Oglethorpe
+laid out a town, and called it Savannah. He very happily secured
+the good will of the Indians. In 1743, he left Georgia for England,
+to answer charges brought against him by Lieutenant-colonel Cook.
+A court martial declared the charges groundless and malicious, and
+Cook was dismissed from the service. In 1744 he was appointed one of
+the field-officers under field-marshal the Earl of Stair, to oppose
+the expected invasion of France. He died in 1785. He was truly a
+noble man.
+
+As the period approached when Whitefield was to leave England,
+the people showed their esteem for him in almost every possible
+way. They followed him so closely, and in such numbers, for holy
+counsels, that he could scarcely command a moment for retirement.
+They begged to receive from him religious books, and to have their
+names written therein with his own hand, as memorials of him,
+and very many followed him from place to place till his final
+embarkation.
+
+It was indeed a surprising fact, that a young man, scarcely more
+than twenty-two years of age, and previously unknown to the world,
+should be able to collect such immense congregations, and rouse
+and command their attention; multitudes hanging upon and receiving
+instructions from his lips. But God had endowed him with a singular
+union of qualities, which most eminently fitted him for the work of
+an evangelist. He was faithful to his trust, and his divine Master
+abundantly blessed and honored him in the discharge of its momentous
+duties.
+
+We have now traced the amazing effects of Whitefield's _first_
+sermons, and it may be interesting briefly to inquire into their
+general character, and to ascertain what truths thus aroused the
+public mind. Three of these sermons can, happily, be identified
+with these "times of refreshing;" and they may be depended on,
+as specimens of both the letter and the spirit of his preaching,
+because they were printed from his own manuscripts: they are those
+on "_Early Piety_," "_Regeneration_," and "_Intercession_." Whoever
+will read the appeals in these sermons, realizing the circumstances
+under which they were made, will scarcely wonder at the effect
+produced by them. The topics of the second and third, and the tone
+of all the three, are very different from the matter and manner of
+sermonizing then known to the masses of the people. They do not
+surprise _us_, because happily neither the topics nor the tone
+of them are "strange things to our ears." Both, however, were
+novelties in those days, even in London. When or where had an appeal
+been made like this?
+
+"I beseech you, in love and compassion, to come to Jesus. Indeed,
+all I say is in love to your souls. And if I could be but an
+instrument of bringing you to Jesus, I should not envy, but rejoice
+in your happiness, however much you were exalted. If I was to
+make up the _last_ of the train of the companions of the blessed
+Jesus, it would rejoice me to see you above me in glory. I could
+willingly go to prison or to death for you, so I could but bring
+one soul from the devil's strong-holds, into the salvation which
+is by Christ Jesus. Come then to Christ, every one that hears me
+this night. Come, come, my guilty brethren; I beseech you, for your
+immortal souls' sake, for Christ's sake, come to Christ. Methinks I
+could speak till midnight unto you. Would you have me go and tell
+my Master that you will not come, and that I have spent my strength
+in vain? I cannot bear to carry such a message to him. I would not,
+indeed, I would not be a swift witness against you at the great day
+of account; but if you will refuse these gracious invitations, I
+must do it."
+
+In this spirit, not very prevalent even now, Whitefield began his
+ministry. There is a fascination as well as fervor, or rather a
+fascination arising from fervor, in some of his earliest as well as
+his later discourses. How bold and beautiful is the peroration of
+that on "_Intercession_." Referring to the holy impatience of "the
+souls under the altar," for the coming of the kingdom of God, he
+exclaims,
+
+"And shall not we who are on earth be often exercised in this
+divine employ with the glorious company of the spirits of just men
+made perfect? Since our happiness is so much to consist in the
+communion of saints in the church triumphant above, shall we not
+frequently intercede for the church militant below, and earnestly
+beg that we may be all one? To provoke you to this work and labor
+of love, remember, that it is the never-ceasing employment of the
+holy and highly exalted Jesus himself; so that he who is constantly
+interceding for others, is doing that on earth which the eternal
+Son of God is always doing in heaven. Imagine, therefore, when
+you are lifting up holy hands for one another, that you see the
+heavens opened, and the Son of God in all his glory, as the great
+High-priest of your salvation, pleading for you the all-sufficient
+merit of his sacrifice before the throne. Join your intercession
+with his. The imagination will strengthen your faith, and excite a
+holy earnestness in your prayers."
+
+The nearer the time approached for his leaving the country, the more
+affectionate the people grew towards him, and the more eagerly did
+they attend on his ministry. Many thousands of ardent petitions were
+presented to heaven on behalf of his person and his ministry; and
+multitudes would stop him in the aisles of the churches, or follow
+him with their tearful looks. Most of all was it difficult for him
+to part from his friends at St. Dunstan's, where he administered the
+sacrament, after spending the night before in prayer.
+
+The man who had produced these extraordinary effects, says Dr.
+Gillies, had many natural advantages. He was something above the
+middle stature, well proportioned, though at that time slender, and
+remarkable for native gracefulness of manner. His complexion was
+very fair, his features regular, his eyes small and lively, of a
+dark blue color: in recovering from the measles, he had contracted
+a squint with one of them; but this peculiarity rather rendered the
+expression of his countenance more rememberable, than in any degree
+lessened the effect of its uncommon sweetness. His voice excelled
+both in melody and compass, and its fine modulations were happily
+accompanied by the grace of action which he possessed in an eminent
+degree, and which is said to be the chief requisite of an orator.
+An ignorant man described his eloquence oddly, but strikingly,
+when he said that Mr. Whitefield preached like a lion. So strange
+a comparison conveyed no unapt idea of the force, and vehemence,
+and passion--of the authority which awed the hearers, and made them
+tremble like Felix before the apostle. Believing himself to be the
+messenger of God, commissioned to call sinners to repentance, he
+spoke as one conscious of his high credentials, with authority and
+power; yet in all his discourses there was a fervor and melting
+charity, an earnestness of persuasion, an outpouring of redundant
+love, partaking of the virtue of the faith from which it flowed,
+insomuch that it seemed to enter the heart which it pierced, and to
+heal it as with a balm.
+
+At length, having preached in a considerable number of the London
+churches, collected about a thousand pounds for the charity
+schools, and obtained upwards of three hundred pounds for the
+poor in Georgia, Whitefield left London, December 28, 1737, in the
+twenty-third of his age, and went in the strength of God, as a poor
+pilgrim, on board the Whitaker.
+
+Scarcely had he entered on his voyage from London, when he
+discovered that but little comfort was to be expected in the ship
+on which he had embarked. There was no place for retirement, no
+disposition to receive him as an ambassador of Christ, and a decided
+dislike even to the forms of religion. They moved but slowly to
+the Downs, where they were detained for nearly a month, and where
+Whitefield went on shore to visit Deal, an ancient town, one of the
+Cinque-ports, so called, where "the common people," as in the case
+of his great Master, "heard him gladly." With him, through his whole
+ministry, it was of small importance whether he preached to the
+rich or the poor; for he viewed the gospel as a message of mercy to
+_sinners_, and wherever men were found, he was willing to persuade
+them to be reconciled to God.
+
+The account given by Mr. Whitefield of his visit to Deal, and of the
+different treatment he received there from different persons, would
+be almost as correct a description of his labors and reception in a
+hundred other places. He spent his first evening very comfortably in
+religious conversation and family prayer, at which a poor woman was
+much affected. "Who knows," he says, "what a fire this little spark
+may kindle?" Next evening, eight or nine poor people came to him at
+the report of this poor woman; and when, after three or four days,
+the ship in which he had embarked was driven back to Deal, many met
+together to bewail their own sins and those of others. Soon the
+landlady who owned the house where he lodged, sent to her tenants,
+beseeching them not to let any more persons come in, for fear the
+floor should break under them; and they actually put a prop under it.
+
+The minister of Upper Deal, a mile or two from the town, now invited
+Whitefield to preach in the church; it was much crowded, and many
+went away for want of room. Some stood on the leads of the building
+outside, and looked in at the top windows, and all around seemed
+eager to hear the word. "May the Lord," says the good man, "make
+them _doers_ of it. In the evening I was obliged to divide my
+hearers into four companies, and was enabled to expound to them from
+six till ten. Lord, keep me from being weary of, or in well-doing."
+
+The excitement at Deal became very great, in consequence of the
+conviction of the people that their own minister, the Rev. Dr.
+Carter, did not preach the gospel. The good man, to disprove the
+charge, published a volume of his sermons, which, however admired by
+gay formalists, furnished but too much evidence of the justice of
+the charge.
+
+Just as he had left the church at Upper Deal, where he had been
+preaching to a vast congregation, Mr. Whitefield, in consequence of
+a sudden change of the wind, was summoned on board, and the Whitaker
+sailed for Georgia. A very few hours afterwards, the vessel which
+brought back John Wesley from that colony anchored in the Downs,
+when he learned that the ships had passed each other, but neither
+of these remarkable men then knew how dear a friend was on board
+the other. When Wesley landed, he found it was still possible to
+communicate with his friend, and Whitefield was surprised to receive
+a letter from him, saying, "When I saw God by the wind which was
+carrying you out brought me in, I asked counsel of God. His answer
+you have enclosed." The enclosure was a slip of paper with the
+words, "Let him return to London," which Wesley had obtained by lot,
+to which he had had recourse. Whitefield prayed for direction, and
+went on his voyage.
+
+This first voyage of Whitefield to America was invested with scenes
+of far more than common interest. Perhaps, since the apostle Paul's
+memorable voyage to Rome, the ocean had never exhibited a more
+remarkable spectacle than that furnished by this ship. He was but
+a stripling in his twenty-third year, and a faint and hesitating
+homage once on a Sabbath-day, from a few of the less obdurate
+sinners among his hearers, would be all that such a clergyman
+could expect from an assemblage of gentlemen, of soldiers with
+their wives and families, and the ship's crew. Yet in the hands of
+this remarkable youth all became pliant as a willow. He converted
+the chief cabin into a cloister, the deck into a church, and the
+steerage into a school-room. He so bore down all opposition by love,
+reason, and Scripture, that we soon see him, at the request of the
+captain and officers, with the hearty concurrence of the gentlemen
+who were passengers, reading "full public prayers" to them twice a
+day in the great cabin, and expounding every night after the evening
+prayers, besides daily reading prayers, and preaching twice a day
+on deck to the soldiers and sailors, and increasing the services
+on Sundays. In addition to all this, he daily catechized a company
+of young soldiers, and engaged in the same exercise with the women
+apart by themselves.
+
+Nor did even all this suffice to expend his zeal, for he commenced
+a course of expositions on the creed and ten commandments; and so
+convinced was he of the value of catechetical teaching, that on
+February 3d he writes, "I began to-night to turn the observations
+made on the lessons in the morning into catechetical questions, and
+was pleased to hear some of the soldiers make very apt answers."
+
+Nor were the children forgotten; the Hon. Mr. Habersham, a personal
+friend who accompanied him, assumed their instruction as his
+department of holy labor. Mr. Whitefield wrote of him, that he was
+"pleased to see Mr. Habersham so active in teaching the children. He
+has now many scholars--may God bless him."
+
+Friendship for Whitefield had influenced Mr. Habersham to accompany
+the young evangelist to Georgia. Mr. Habersham's friends, at
+Beverly, in Yorkshire, where he was born in 1712, were greatly
+opposed to his plans, but surely the hand of God directed them.
+He presided over the Orphan-house till 1744, when he entered into
+a commercial partnership. He occupied several important stations,
+till he became president of the colony in 1769. The proceedings
+connected with the revolutionary war more than once placed him in
+great difficulties; he did not live to see its happy results, for in
+1775 the state of his health compelled him to visit the north, in
+hope of its renovation. The change, however, was of no benefit, and
+he died at New Brunswick, New Jersey, August 28, 1775. The "Gazette"
+of the day said of him, "In the first stations of the province he
+conducted himself with ability, honor, and integrity, which gained
+him the love and esteem of his fellow-citizens; nor was he less
+distinguished in private life by a conscientious discharge of the
+social duties, as a tender and affectionate parent, a sincere and
+warm friend, and a kind and indulgent master. Mr. Habersham was
+married by the Rev. Mr. Whitefield to Mary Bolton at Bethesda, on
+the 26th of December, 1740, by whom he had ten children, three of
+whom, sons, survived him, and were zealous in the cause of American
+liberty."
+
+In harmony with the solemn duties which Mr. Whitefield had assumed,
+he watched over the conduct of all around him. He tells us that the
+ship's cook was awfully addicted to drinking, and when reproved for
+this and other sins, he boasted that he would be wicked till within
+two years of his death, and would then reform. Alas, he died on the
+voyage, after an illness of six hours, brought on by drinking.
+
+One day on this voyage, finding on Captain Whiting's pillow "The
+Independent Whig," Whitefield exchanged it for a book entitled "The
+Self-Deceiver." The next morning, the captain came smiling and
+inquired who made the exchange. Mr. Whitefield confessed the fact,
+and begged his acceptance of the book, which he said he had read,
+and liked very well. From thenceforward a visible alteration took
+place in the conduct of the captain.
+
+On their arrival at Gibraltar, where they had to continue some time,
+Mr. Whitefield found that Major Sinclair, without solicitation, had
+provided a lodging for him, and the governor and military invited
+him to their table. Being apprehensive that at a public military
+table he might be more than hospitably treated, to prevent any
+thing disagreeable, he reminded his excellency that, at the court
+of Ahasuerus, "none did compel." The governor took the hint, and
+pleasantly replied, "No compulsion of any kind shall be used at my
+table;" and every thing was conducted with the greatest propriety.
+Here he often preached, and was heard by many, including all in high
+offices. Unusual indeed were the scenes, both with respect to the
+place and the people. The adjacent promontories, and the vastness of
+the rock of Gibraltar, aided in the enlargement of the ideas of the
+preacher as to Him, who "in his strength setteth fast the mountains,
+and is girded about with power." And the place being a sort of
+public rendezvous of all nations, he thought, he says, "he saw the
+world in epitome."
+
+The success of Whitefield's ministry at Gibraltar was truly
+remarkable. He quaintly says of it, "Samson's riddle was fulfilled
+there: 'out of the strong came forth sweetness.' Who more unlikely
+to be wrought upon than soldiers? And yet, among any set of people,
+I have not been where God has made his power more known. Many that
+were quite blind, have received their sight; many that had fallen
+back, have repented and turned to the Lord again; many that were
+ashamed to own Christ openly, have waxed bold; and many saints have
+had their hearts filled with joy unspeakable, and full of glory."
+
+Among other religions societies to which Whitefield was introduced
+at Gibraltar, he one day attended the Jewish synagogue, and was
+agreeably surprised when one of the rulers handed him into the chief
+seat. The rabbi had the day before heard him preach against profane
+swearing, and now thanked him for his sermon. He remained in the
+synagogue during the whole service, engaged, he says, "in secret
+prayer that the veil might be taken from the heart of the Jews, and
+they grafted again into their own olive-tree."
+
+Several facts occurred on the way to Savannah after their
+embarkation from Gibraltar, which are too interesting to pass
+without notice. On one occasion Captain Mackay, after Whitefield
+had preached against drunkenness, urged the men to attend to the
+things which had been spoken; telling them that he was a notorious
+swearer until he did so; and beseeching them for Christ's sake to
+give up their sins. On another occasion, while marrying a couple on
+deck, Whitefield suddenly shut the prayer-book in the midst of the
+ceremony, because the bridegroom had behaved with levity; and not
+until the laughter was turned into weeping, would he proceed. At the
+close of the service he gave the bride a Bible. When a shark was
+caught, with five pilot-fish clinging to its fins, he said, "Go to
+the pilot-fish, thou that forsakest a friend in adversity; consider
+his ways, and be abashed." When a dolphin was caught, the change
+of its hues from lovely to livid, reminded him to say, "Just so is
+man; he flourishes for a little while, but when death cometh, how
+quickly his beauty is gone! A Christian may learn instruction from
+every thing he meets with." While he was preaching on the death
+of Christ darkness came on, and he said, "It puts me in mind of
+that darkness which overwhelmed the world when the God of nature
+suffered."
+
+In the latter part of the voyage, fever laid prostrate all in the
+ship except four persons, and at length it seized Whitefield, and
+confined him to his bed for a week. The attack, though short, must
+have been severe; for besides other remedies, he was bled three
+times. During his illness, the captain gave up his own bed to
+him, and Mr. Habersham watched him day and night; but that which
+gratified him most was, that the sick between decks, whom he had
+endangered his life to console, prayed for him with great fervor. He
+recovered, and repaid the kindness of all. At length, on May 5, they
+came in sight of Savannah river, and sent off for a pilot; and such
+was the joy of all, when they came to anchor at Tybee island, that
+he could not help exclaiming, "How infinitely more joyful will the
+children of God be, when, having passed through the waves of this
+troublesome world, they arrive at the haven of everlasting rest!"
+Though still weak, he preached a farewell sermon to his "red-coated
+and blue-jacketed parishioners," as he called his military and naval
+congregation. It was heard with floods of tears.
+
+Upon this voyage, says Dr. Gillies, he made these reflections many
+years after: "Even at this distance of time, the remembrance of the
+happy hours I enjoyed in religious exercises on deck, is refreshing
+to my soul; and although nature sometimes relented at being taken
+from my friends, and I was little accustomed to the inconveniences
+of a sea-life, yet, a consciousness that I had the glory of God
+and the good of souls in view, afforded me, from time to time,
+unspeakable satisfaction."
+
+Whitefield was cordially welcomed at Savannah by Delamotte and
+other friends of the Wesleys: the magistrates also offered to wait
+upon him to pay their respects; but this he declined, and waited
+upon them. They agreed to build him a tabernacle and a house at
+Frederica, and to accept his services at Savannah as long as he
+pleased. He was soon, however, again laid aside by the return of his
+fever, now accompanied with ague. This attack in a few days brought
+him so low, and made so great an alteration in his person, that he
+says, "Had my friends seen me at that hour, they might have learned
+not to have any man's person in admiration, and not to think more
+highly of me than they ought to think."
+
+The first thing which Whitefield did after his recovery was to
+visit _Tomo-Chici_, the Indian king, then on his death-bed. This
+was the micoe, or king, whom Oglethorpe had taken to England, in
+1734, and introduced to king George the Second. He was accompanied
+by his wife and son, and seven other Indians of the Creek nation.
+His eloquent speech to the king and queen was so well received at
+court, that he was loaded with presents, and when he had again to
+embark, was sent in one of the royal carriages to Gravesend. "He now
+lay," says Whitefield, "on a blanket, thin and meagre; little else
+but skin and bones. Senanki, his wife, sat by, fanning him with
+Indian feathers. There was no one could talk English, so I could
+only shake hands with him and leave him. A few days afterwards,
+Mr. Whitefield again went to visit Tomo-Chici, and found that
+his nephew, Tooanoowee, could speak English. Whitefield says, "I
+desired him to ask his uncle, whether he thought he should die;
+who answered, 'I cannot tell.' I then asked where he thought he
+should go after death. He replied, 'To heaven.' But alas, how can
+a drunkard enter there? I then exhorted Tooanoowee, who is a tall,
+proper youth, not to get drunk; telling him that he understood
+English, and therefore would be punished the more if he did not live
+better. I then asked him whether he believed in a heaven. He said,
+'Yes.' I then asked whether he believed in a hell, and described it
+by pointing to the fire. He replied, 'No.' From whence we may easily
+gather, how natural it is to all mankind to believe there is a place
+of happiness, because they wish it to be so; and on the contrary,
+how averse they are to believe in a place of torment, because they
+wish it may not be so. But God is just and true; and as surely as
+the righteous shall go away into everlasting happiness, so the
+impenitently wicked shall go into everlasting punishment."
+
+The records of Georgia say, under date of December 21, 1737,
+"Ordered, that a license be made out for the Rev. Mr. George
+Whitefield to perform ecclesiastical offices in Georgia, as a deacon
+in the church of England."
+
+Before Whitefield had any thoughts of going abroad, Charles Wesley
+talked to him of an orphan-house in Georgia, which he and General
+Oglethorpe had contemplated. When he arrived in Savannah, and had
+sufficiently recovered from his illness to examine the state of
+the colony, the condition of the children deeply affected him; and
+he set his heart on founding the projected institution as soon
+as he should be able to collect the needful funds. In the mean
+time he opened schools in the villages of Highgate and Hampstead,
+and one also, for girls, in Savannah. He afterwards visited the
+Saltzburgher's orphan-school at Ebenezer; and if any thing had been
+wanted to settle his own determination, or to inflame his zeal, he
+found it there. The Saltzburghers were exiles for conscience' sake,
+and were eminent for piety and industry. Their ministers, the Rev.
+Messrs. Grenaw and Boltzius, were eminently evangelical, and their
+asylum, which they had been enabled to found by British benevolence,
+for widows and orphans, was flourishing. Whitefield was so delighted
+with the order and harmony of Ebenezer, that he gave a share of
+his own "poor's store" to Boltzius, for his orphans. Then came the
+scene which entirely completed his purpose: Boltzius "called all the
+children before him; catechized and exhorted them to give God thanks
+for his good providence towards them; then prayed with them, and
+made them pray after him; then sung a psalm. Afterwards, the little
+lambs came and shook me by the hand, one by one, and so we parted."
+Whitefield was now pledged to this cause for life.
+
+Most of our readers probably know that the conductors of "The
+Gentleman's Magazine," a work which has now been regularly
+published in London for much more than a century, have never been
+favorable to evangelical truth, or its ministers; it is therefore
+the more gratifying to copy from that work for November, 1737, the
+following lines: it will be seen that they were published more than
+a month before Mr. Whitefield's departure to the American colonies.
+
+
+"TO THE REV. MR. WHITEFIELD, ON HIS DESIGN FOR GEORGIA.
+
+    "How great, how just thy zeal, adventurous youth,
+     To spread in heathen climes the light of truth!
+     Go, loved of heaven, with every grace refined,
+     Inform, enrapture each dark Indian's mind;
+     Grateful, as when to realms long hid from day,
+     The cheerful dawn foreshows the solar ray.
+     How great thy charity, whose large embrace
+     Intends the eternal weal of all thy race;
+     Prompts thee the rage of waves and winds to scorn,
+     To effect the work for which thy soul was born.
+     What multitudes, whom Pagan dreams deceive,
+     Shall, when they hear thy heavenly voice, believe!
+     On Georgia's shore thy Wesley shall attend,
+     To hail the wished arrival of his friend;
+     With joy the promised harvest he surveys,
+     And to his Lord for faithful laborers prays;
+     Though crowded temples here would plead thy stay,
+     Yet haste, blest prophet, on thy destined way.
+     Be gentle, winds, and breathe an easy breeze,
+     Be clear, ye skies, and smooth, ye flowing seas!
+     From heaven, ye guardian angels, swift descend,
+     Delighted his blest mission to attend;
+     Which shall from Satan's power whole nations free,
+     While half the world to Jesus bow the knee.
+     Long as Savannah, peaceful stream, shall glide,
+     Your worth renowned shall be extended wide;
+     Children as yet unborn shall bless your lore,
+     Who thus to save them left your native shore;
+     The apostles thus, with ardent zeal inspired,
+     To gain _all nations_ for their Lord desired.
+     They measured seas, a life laborious knew,
+     And numerous converts to their Master drew;
+     Whose hallelujahs, on the ethereal plains,
+     Rise scarce beneath the bright seraphic strains.
+
+    "GLOUCESTER, Nov. 1, 1737."
+
+After spending a few weeks at Savannah, laboring as much as his
+health would permit, Whitefield went to Frederica, where he was
+gladly received; the people "having had a famine of the word for a
+long season." They had no sanctuary, and therefore he had to preach
+under a tree, or in Mr. Habersham's house. This visit, although
+short, endeared him to all the people; and he had the satisfaction
+before he left, to see them "sawing timber for a commodious place
+of worship, until a church could be built." His return, however,
+to Savannah was hastened by a somewhat painful event. One of his
+friends was lost in the woods, and missing from Tuesday till Friday.
+The great guns had been fired to direct the wanderer, but in vain;
+and some of the people had searched for him day and night, without
+success. This report was sent to Whitefield, and it hurried him away
+from Frederica. He had the pleasure, however, on his arrival at
+Savannah, to find his "lost sheep."
+
+During the stay of Whitefield in Georgia, the weather was intensely
+hot, sometimes almost burning his feet through his shoes. Seeing
+others do it, he determined to accustom himself to hardship by
+lying constantly on the floor; which by use he found to be so far
+from being uncomfortable, that afterwards it became so to lie on a
+bed. Nor was he more ready to deny himself than he was assiduous
+to do good; preaching often, catechizing the young, visiting the
+sick, and exhorting from house to house. Entirely independent and
+unrestrained, he knew no fear in the discharge of what he regarded
+as his duty. Knowing that some men of influence, to whom his voice
+could not be addressed from the pulpit, were living in open defiance
+of morality and shame, he went into the court and made an address to
+the grand jury, urging them to present all such offenders without
+partiality or fear, since the miserable state of the colony was
+doubtless owing to divine displeasure against their sins.
+
+Reflection on the character, labors, and success of his
+predecessors, stimulated his zeal and encouraged his hope. It could
+not be denied that John Wesley had been misrepresented and unkindly
+treated, both in Savannah and Frederica, and Whitefield therefore
+rejoiced to bear honorable testimony of him and his colleagues.
+He says, "Surely I must labor most heartily, since I come after
+such worthy men. The good Mr. John Wesley has done in America is
+inexpressible. His name is very precious among the people, and he
+has laid such a foundation, that I hope neither men nor devils will
+be able to shake it. O that I may follow him as he has followed
+Christ."
+
+Mr. Whitefield having as yet only received deacon's orders, and
+wishing to be ordained priest, for the more complete performance
+of his duty as a minister of the church of England, it became
+necessary for him to return to Europe for that purpose; and being
+also desirous of making collections for his Orphan-house, he left
+Mr. Habersham at Savannah, and went to Charleston, S. C., on his way
+to England.
+
+At Charleston he became acquainted with the Rev. Alexander Garden,
+the ecclesiastical commissary of the Bishop of London, who with
+apparent cordiality twice invited him into his pulpit, and assured
+him that he would defend him with his life and property, should the
+same arbitrary proceedings ever be commenced against him which Mr.
+Wesley had met with in Georgia. Dr. Deems, in his recently published
+volume, "The Annals of Southern Methodism," tells us, when speaking
+of his first sermon, "The people at first despised his youth, but
+his engaging address soon gained their general esteem, and Mr.
+Garden thanked him most cordially." In an after-period, however,
+when Mr. Garden more fully understood the evangelical character of
+Mr. Whitefield's preaching, he frequently took occasion to point
+out what he called the pernicious tendency of his doctrines, and
+irregular manner of life. He represented him as a religious quack,
+who had an excellent way of setting off and rendering palatable his
+poisonous tenets. On one occasion Garden, to keep his flock from
+going after this strange pastor, preached from the text, "These that
+have turned the world upside down are come hither also." Whitefield,
+however, was not to be silenced in this way, and returned the
+compliment by preaching from the words, "Alexander the coppersmith
+did me much evil; the Lord reward him according to his works."
+
+On September 6, 1738, Whitefield embarked for London. The voyage was
+perilous in the extreme. They were tossed about with bad weather,
+in a ship out of repair, and in sad want of provisions. When they
+were over about one-third of the Atlantic, a vessel from Jamaica
+would have gladly received him, but he chose to share the lot of
+his shipmates. They highly valued his services, and one of his
+fellow-passengers, Captain Gladman, became, as the result of this
+voyage, a truly pious man. The captain, in a subsequent period, at
+his own earnest request, became the fellow-traveller of his teacher.
+
+After a passage of about nine weeks, they made the port of Limerick,
+in Ireland. "I wish," Whitefield says, "I could never forget what
+I felt when water and provisions were brought us from the shore.
+Mr. M'Mahon, a country gentleman, came from his seat at midnight
+on purpose to relieve us, and most kindly invited me, though
+unknown, to his house, to stay as long as I pleased." At Limerick
+he was cordially received by that worthy prelate, Bishop Birscough,
+who engaged him to preach at the cathedral. From thence he went
+to Dublin, where he preached, and was hospitably entertained by
+Archbishop Bolton, Bishop Rundel, and Dr. Delany.
+
+Remaining but a short time in Ireland, he proceeded to London, where
+he arrived December 8. Here he had the pleasure of conversing with
+some of the Moravian brethren, whose faith and love refreshed his
+spirit, though he did not entirely approve some of their views. He
+soon discovered somewhat of a change of feeling towards him on the
+part of many of the London clergy. Within two days, he found five
+of the churches were closed against him. He called on the Archbishop
+of Canterbury and the Bishop of London, who received him with cold
+civility. The bishop asked him if his journals were not tinctured
+with enthusiasm; and he replied, with his usual meekness and candor,
+that they were written only for his own use, and that of his private
+friends, and that they were published without his knowledge. So
+anxious was he to avoid giving offence, that he took the earliest
+opportunity to expunge from his journals whatever he discovered to
+be erroneous, and whatever he had said without imperative necessity,
+or which was likely to injure the character and feelings of any one.
+
+The trustees of Georgia, at a meeting in London, received Whitefield
+with great cordiality, and in compliance with the wishes of the
+colonists, they presented him with the living of Savannah, the
+salary of which he declined to receive; but he thankfully accepted
+five hundred acres of land, on which he proposed to erect his
+orphan-house.
+
+On Sunday, January 14, 1739, being then in his twenty-fifth year,
+Whitefield was ordained priest at Oxford, by his worthy friend
+Bishop Benson. Having preached twice to very crowded congregations,
+and administered the Lord's supper at the castle, he returned to
+London the next day. As Dr. Benson once expressed regret that he
+had ordained Mr. Whitefield, it may be proper here to explain the
+circumstances. Shortly after the late Countess of Huntingdon first
+became acquainted with the truth as it is in Jesus, Bishop Benson,
+who had been lord Huntingdon's tutor, was sent for to remonstrate
+with her ladyship, and to induce her to relinquish what were then
+considered her erroneous views; but she pressed him so hard with
+the Articles and Homilies of his own church, and so plainly and
+faithfully urged upon him the awful responsibility of his station,
+that for the moment his mind was hurt, and he rose up to depart,
+lamenting that he had ever laid his hands upon George Whitefield, to
+whom he imputed the change which had been wrought in her ladyship.
+"My lord," said she, "mark my words; when you come upon your dying
+bed, that will be one of the few ordinations you will reflect upon
+with pleasure." It would seem that it was so; for, on his death-bed,
+the Bishop sent ten guineas to Mr. Whitefield as a token of his
+favor and approbation, and begged to be remembered by him in his
+prayers.
+
+The interval between his taking priests' orders, and embarking a
+second time for Georgia, was employed by Whitefield, with his usual
+energy and success, in preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
+and in making collections for his Orphan-house. Having, before his
+visit to America, collected large sums for the charity schools in
+the metropolis, he naturally expected that the pulpits would not be
+denied him now, in which to plead the interests of his own poor.
+But he was scarcely yet aware that the tide of clerical opinion had
+turned so extensively and strongly against him. The doctrines he had
+preached, and the manner in which he had preached them, had produced
+a sensation so strong, that he found himself excluded from most of
+the churches in London. A few, however, were yet open to him for
+his benevolent design. The Rev. Mr. Broughton conducted himself,
+among others, very nobly. Having been urged to refuse his pulpit,
+as some of his neighbors had done, he boldly replied, that "having
+obtained the lectureship of St. Helen's by Whitefield's influence,
+he should have the pulpit if he desired it." Mr. Whitefield
+preached, but Mr. Broughton thus losing the lectureship, Whitefield
+blamed himself for having done so. Whatever he might himself be
+willing to suffer, he was not willing to inflict inconvenience on
+others.
+
+Only a few days before his being ordained as priest, Whitefield
+offered his first public _extempore_ prayer, in a large meeting
+in Red Cross-street, London. He mentions this fact in a note of
+his diary as "the first time I ever prayed extempore before such a
+number." He did not even then suppose that his preaching, as well
+as his prayers in this manner, were to develop his mighty power.
+The crowding of the churches now suggested the idea of preaching in
+the open air. He says, "When I was informed that nearly a thousand
+people stood out in the church-yard, and that hundreds returned
+home, this put me first upon thinking of preaching without doors. I
+mentioned it to some friends, who looked upon it as a _mad_ motion.
+However, we kneeled down and prayed that nothing might be done
+rashly. Hear and answer, O Lord, for thy name's sake."
+
+We shall soon see how his extempore expositions and prayers were
+fitting him for this new enterprise. He would have commenced in
+London now, but he lacked a fair opportunity.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+OPEN-AIR PREACHING IN ENGLAND AND WALES--ERECTION OF THE TABERNACLE
+IN LONDON.
+
+1738-1739.
+
+
+Under the circumstances we have related in our last chapter,
+Whitefield paid another visit to Bristol, and soon found that he had
+to meet with new and very unexpected opposition. When he arrived in
+the city, the chancellor of the diocese, while he did not approve
+of what he considered his irregular conduct, told him that he would
+not prohibit any clergyman from lending him his church; but in a
+few days afterwards he sent for the evangelist, and announced his
+entire opposition to his movements. Strangely enough, he now asked
+Whitefield by what authority he preached in the diocese of Bristol
+without a license. The reply of the intrepid minister was, that he
+supposed such a custom had become obsolete, and asked the chancellor
+in his turn, "And pray, sir, why did you not ask the clergyman who
+preached for you last Thursday this question?" The chancellor then
+read to him the canons which forbid any clergyman from preaching
+in a private house; to which Whitefield replied, that he did not
+suppose these canons referred to professed ministers of the church
+of England; and when the chancellor told him he was mistaken, he
+reminded his superior, "There is also a canon, sir, forbidding all
+clergymen to frequent taverns and play at cards; why is not that
+put in execution?" And he then added, that notwithstanding any
+canons to the contrary, he could not but speak the things which
+he knew, and that he was resolved to proceed as usual. His answer
+was written down, and the chancellor closed the interview with the
+words, "I am resolved, sir, if you preach or expound anywhere in
+this diocese till you have a license, I will first suspend, and then
+excommunicate you." The crisis was now come; the Rubicon had been
+passed, and the inquiry might well be made, "What will Whitefield
+now do?"
+
+Already have we seen that he had earnestly desired, in London, to
+preach in the open air, for want of room in the churches, and indeed
+also from the opposition of the clergy, which had begun so strongly
+to manifest itself; and during this journey to Bristol, he found it
+necessary to preach in the open air or not at all. As this event was
+of vast importance in its results, both in his own history and that
+of Mr. Wesley, who also began to preach on the same spot within two
+months after Whitefield had opened the way, we must stay a while to
+narrate the facts.
+
+[Illustration: TABERNACLE, p 89.]
+
+[Illustration: HANHAM MOUNT]
+
+At that time, the colliers of Kingswood, near the city of Bristol,
+were a most depraved and reckless class of men. Inconceivably
+barbarous and ignorant, they trampled on all laws, human and divine,
+and hesitated not to set the magistrates at defiance. It was
+dangerous to pass near the scene of their labors, even in open day,
+for robberies and murders were of frequent occurrence; in a word, it
+was truly "a seat of Satan." When Whitefield was at Bristol, making
+collections for his projected orphan institution in Georgia, not a
+few persons had said to him, "Why go abroad; have we not Indians
+enough at home? If you have a mind to convert Indians, there are
+colliers enough in Kingswood." "I thought," says he, "it might be
+doing the service of my Creator, who had a mountain for his pulpit,
+and the heavens for his sounding-board, and who, when his gospel
+was refused by the Jews, sent his servants into the highways and
+hedges." After much prayer and many inward struggles, he went one
+day to a gentle elevation on the south side of Kingswood, called
+Hanham Mount, and there, under an old sycamore-tree, he preached his
+first sermon in the open air to about a hundred colliers. The scene
+must have been very impressive. Before him stretched the rich and
+beautiful valley of the Avon, through which the river was gently
+winding, bordered in the distance by the undulating hills; while on
+his right and left the cities of Bath and Bristol were within sight.
+
+The fact of his preaching here soon and extensively spread, and at
+meeting after meeting his audience increased, till he found himself
+addressing _nearly twenty thousand persons_. His own account of the
+effects produced is very striking. He says, "The first discovery of
+their being affected, was in the white gutters made by their tears,
+which plentifully fell down their black cheeks, as they came out of
+their coal pits. Hundreds and hundreds of them were soon brought
+under deep convictions, which happily ended in sound and thorough
+conversion. As the scene was quite new, and I had just begun to
+be an extempore preacher, I had often many inward conflicts.
+Sometimes, when twenty thousand people were before me, I had not,
+as I thought, a word to say; but I was never deserted; and I was
+often so assisted as to understand what that meaneth, 'Out of his
+belly shall flow rivers of living water.' The open firmament above;
+the prospect of the adjacent fields; with the sight of thousands
+and thousands, some in coaches, some on horseback, and some in the
+trees, and all so affected as to be drenched in tears together, to
+which sometimes was added the solemnity of the approaching night,
+were almost too much for me; I was occasionally all but overcome."
+Writing to Mr. Wesley a few weeks afterwards, he says, "Yesterday I
+began to play the madman in Gloucestershire, by preaching on a table
+in Thornbury-street. To-day I have exhorted twice, and by and by
+I shall begin a third time; nothing like doing good by the way. I
+suppose you have heard of my proceedings in Kingswood."
+
+We scarcely need to remark here, that Kingswood has ever since been
+regarded as a sacred spot in ecclesiastical history. Here houses
+for Wesleyan Methodists and Independents were soon erected, and in
+them thousands have been converted to God. Here was placed the first
+school for the sons of Methodist preachers, and on Hanham Mount,
+besides the voice of Whitefield, those of the Wesleys, Coke and
+Mather, Pawson and Benson, and Bradburn, accomplished some of the
+mightiest effects which attended their powerful preaching. There are
+yet some living in the neighborhood who were awakened under their
+ministry, and whose eyes glisten as they tell of the blessed days
+that are past.
+
+Besides the colliers, and thousands from the neighboring villages,
+persons of all ranks daily flocked out of Bristol. And he was
+soon invited by many of the most respectable people to preach
+on a large bowling-green in the city itself. Many of the people
+indeed sneered to see a stripling with a gown mount a table on
+unconsecrated ground; this even excited once or twice the laugh of
+some of the higher ranks, who had admired him in the churches. But
+he was unmoved, and his preaching was so blessed, that many were
+awakened. Sometimes he was employed almost from morning till night
+answering those who, in distress of soul, cried out, "What shall I
+do to be saved?" He now sought the help of Mr. John Wesley, who,
+after much reasoning with himself on the subject, complied with
+the invitation, and followed Whitefield's example, who immediately
+committed the work to him. Before leaving the neighborhood, however,
+Whitefield had the satisfaction of laying the foundation of a school
+for Kingswood; for the support of which the colliers liberally and
+cheerfully subscribed.
+
+Taking an affectionate leave of his Bristol friends, Whitefield made
+an excursion into Wales, where a revival of religion had commenced
+several years before, under the ministry of the Rev. Griffith Jones,
+and was now carried on by the ministry of Mr. Howel Harris, a man
+of strong mental powers, great Christian zeal, and considerable
+learning. They met at Cardiff. Whitefield's heart was then glowing
+with the fire he had himself kindled at Bristol and Kingswood. On
+his way from Bristol to Cardiff, he was delayed at the New Passage
+by contrary winds. He says, "At the inn there was an unhappy
+clergyman who would not go over in the passage-boat, because I was
+in it. Alas, thought I, this very temper would make heaven itself
+unpleasant to that man, if he saw me there. I was told that he
+charged me with being a dissenter. I saw him, soon after, shaking
+his elbows over a gaming-table. I heartily wish those who charge
+me causelessly with schism and being righteous overmuch, would
+consider that the canons of our church forbid the clergy to frequent
+taverns, or to play at cards or dice, or any other unlawful games.
+Their indulging themselves in these things is a stumbling-block to
+thousands."
+
+We have said that Whitefield first met Howel Harris at Cardiff.
+After preaching in the town-hall, from the judges' seat, he says, "I
+was much refreshed with the sight of Mr. Howel Harris; whom, though
+I knew not in person, I have long loved, and have often felt my
+soul drawn out in prayer in his behalf.... When I first saw him, my
+heart was knit closely to him. I wanted to catch some of his fire,
+and gave him the right hand of fellowship with my whole heart. After
+I had saluted him, and given an exhortation to a great number of
+people, who followed me to the inn, we spent the remainder of the
+evening in taking sweet counsel together, and telling one another
+what God had done for our souls. A divine and strong sympathy
+seemed to be between us, and I was resolved to promote his interest
+with all my might. Accordingly we took an account of the several
+societies, and agreed on such measures as seemed most conducive to
+promote the common interest of our Lord. Blessed be God, there seems
+a noble spirit gone out into Wales; and I believe that, ere long,
+there will be more visible fruits of it. What inclines me strongly
+to think so is, that the partition wall of bigotry and party spirit
+is broken down, and ministers and teachers of different communions
+join, with one heart and one mind, to carry on the kingdom of
+Jesus Christ. The Lord make all the Christian world thus minded;
+for, until this is done, we must, I fear, despair of any great
+reformation in the church of God."
+
+Before leaving Cardiff, Whitefield preached again in the town-hall,
+to a large assembly. He says, "My dear brother Harris sat close by
+me. I did not observe any scoffers within; but without, some were
+pleased to honor me so far as to trail a dead fox, and hunt it
+about the hall. But, blessed be God, my voice prevailed. This being
+done, I went, with many of my hearers, among whom were two worthy
+dissenting ministers, to public worship; and in the second lesson
+were these remarkable words: 'The high-priests, and the scribes,
+and the chief of the people sought to destroy him; but they could
+not find what they might do to him; for all the people were very
+attentive to hear him.'
+
+"In the afternoon I preached again, without any disturbance or
+scoffing. In the evening, I talked for above an hour and a half
+with the religious society, and never did I see a congregation more
+melted down. The love of Jesus touched them to the quick. Most
+of them were dissolved in tears. They came to me after, weeping,
+bidding me farewell, and wishing I could continue with them longer.
+Thanks be to God, for such an entrance into Wales. I wrestled with
+God for them in prayer, and blessed be His holy name for sending me
+into Wales. I hope these are the first-fruits of a greater harvest,
+if ever it should please God to bring me back from Georgia. 'Father,
+thy will be done.'"
+
+Whitefield returned from this short excursion, to Bristol, baptized
+with Welsh fire, and renewed his labors among the Kingswood colliers
+with more than his usual power and success. He could not, however,
+forget the tears which had entreated him to stay longer in Wales,
+and in three or four weeks he visited Usk and Pontypool, where he
+was again met by Howel Harris. At Usk, "the pulpit being denied, I
+preached upon a table, under a large tree, to some hundreds, and God
+was with us of a truth. On my way to Pontypool, I was informed by
+a man who heard it, that Counsellor H---- did me the honor to make
+a public motion to Judge P---- to stop me and brother Howel Harris
+from going about teaching the people. Poor man, he put me in mind of
+Tertullus, in the Acts; but my hour is not yet come. I have scarcely
+begun my testimony. For my finishing it, my enemies must have power
+over me from above. Lord, prepare me for that hour."
+
+The report to which we have just referred did not prevent the curate
+of Pontypool from cordially inviting Whitefield into his pulpit. He
+also read prayers for him. After the sermon, it was found that so
+many had come to hear who could not find room in the church, that
+another sermon was loudly called for. He says, "I went and preached
+to all the people in the field. I always find I have most power
+when I preach in the open air; a proof to me that God is pleased
+with this way of preaching. I betook myself to rest, full of such
+unutterable peace as no one can conceive of but those who feel it."
+
+In several other places did our evangelist, during this excursion,
+unfurl the banner of the cross; and at its close he writes, "Oh how
+swiftly this week has glided away. To me it has been but as one day.
+How do I pity those who complain that time hangs on their hands! Let
+them but love Christ, and spend their whole time in his service,
+and they will find but few melancholy hours." Nor will any wonder
+that he should thus speak, who consider the spirit which animated
+his soul. What he some time afterwards wrote to Howel Harris,
+from Philadelphia, indicated the spirit he himself cherished:
+"Intersperse prayers with your exhortations, and thereby call down
+fire from heaven, even the fire of the Holy Ghost,
+
+    "'To soften, sweeten, and refine,
+      And melt them into love.'
+
+Speak every time, my dear brother, as if it were your last; _weep
+out_, if possible, every argument, and compel them to cry, 'Behold
+how he loveth us.'"
+
+From Wales, Whitefield went to visit his native city, Gloucester;
+and after one or two sermons, he found himself here also excluded
+from the parochial pulpits. But notwithstanding his persecutions,
+and the infirm state of his health at that time, his labors in
+Gloucester and its vicinity were constant and eminently successful.
+Bowling-greens, market-crosses, highways, and other such places,
+bore witness to his faithful and tearful labors.
+
+At Gloucester lived at that time the Rev. Mr. Cole, an old
+dissenting minister, who often heard Whitefield preach, and used to
+say, "These are the days of the Son of man indeed!" Whitefield, when
+a boy, had been taught to ridicule this Mr. Cole; and when he was
+once asked what profession he would engage in, replied, "I will be a
+minister, but I will take care never to tell stories in the pulpit
+like old Cole." Twelve years afterwards, the old minister heard the
+young one preach, and tell some story to illustrate his subject,
+when the venerable servant of Christ remarked, "I find young
+Whitefield can tell stories now as well as old Cole." The good man
+was much affected with the preaching of his young friend, and was so
+humble, that he used to subscribe himself his curate, and went about
+in the country preaching after him. One evening, while preaching, he
+was struck with death, and asked for a chair to lean on till he had
+finished his sermon. Having done this, he was carried up stairs and
+died. When the fact was told to Whitefield, he said, "O blessed God,
+if it be thy holy will, may my exit be like his!" How striking is
+this fact when looked at in connection with the circumstances of his
+own removal from earth.
+
+Intent on the advancement of his orphan-house in Georgia, Whitefield
+soon went to London, passing on his way through Oxford. At both
+places he found opposition, and in London was shut out of the
+churches. He preached to thousands in Islington churchyard, and now
+resolved to give himself to the work in the open air.
+
+From the conflict with the enemies who a few years before had
+threatened her existence, the polemics of the church of England now
+turned to resist the unwelcome ally who menaced her repose. Bishop
+Warburton led the van, and behind him many a mitred front scowled
+on the audacious innovator. Divested of the logomachies which
+chiefly engaged the attention of the disputants, the controversy
+between Whitefield and the bishops lay in a narrow compass. It
+being mutually conceded that the virtues of the Christian life can
+result only from certain divine impulses, and that to lay a claim
+to this holy inspiration when its legitimate fruits are wanting,
+is a fatal delusion, he maintained, and they denied, that the
+person who is the subject of this sacred influence has within his
+own bosom an independent attestation of its reality. So abstruse a
+debate required the zest of some more pungent ingredients, and the
+polemics with whom Whitefield had to do were not such sciolists in
+their calling as to be ignorant of the necessity of riveting upon
+him some epithet at once opprobrious and vague. While therefore
+milder spirits arraigned him as an _enthusiast_, Warburton, with
+constitutional energy of invective, denounced him as a _fanatic_. In
+vain Whitefield demanded a definition of these reproachful terms. To
+have fixed their meaning would have been to blunt their edge. They
+afforded a solution, at once compendious, obscure, and repulsive, of
+whatever was remarkable in his character, and have been associated
+with his name from that time to the present.
+
+The spots on which Whitefield now began, in his own language,
+"to take the field," and publicly to erect the standard of the
+Redeemer's cross, are well known. Moorfields, then a place of
+general rendezvous and recreation from the crowded city, Kennington
+Common then about two, and Blackheath about five miles from London,
+were the favorite sites to which he loved to resort, and "open his
+mouth boldly" to listening thousands, in honor of his crucified and
+glorified Lord. Recording his first engagement of this kind in his
+diary of Sabbath evening, April 29, 1739, he writes, "Begun to be
+yet more vile this day, for I preached at Moorfields to an exceeding
+great multitude; and at five in the evening went and preached at
+Kennington Common, where upwards of twenty thousand were supposed
+to be present. The wind being for me, it carried my voice to the
+extreme part of my audience. All stood attentive, and joined in
+the psalm and the Lord's prayer so regularly, that I scarce ever
+preached with more quietness in a church. Many were much affected.
+
+    "'For this let men revile my name,
+      I'll shun no cross, I'll fear no shame;
+      All hail, reproach, and welcome pain,
+      Only thy terrors, Lord, restrain.'"
+
+For several successive months, the places we have named were his
+chief scenes of action. At a moderate computation, the audience
+frequently consisted of twenty thousand. It is said that the singing
+could be heard two miles, and the voice of the preacher nearly
+one. Sometimes there were upwards of a hundred coaches, besides
+wagons, scaffolds, and other contrivances by which a sight of him
+could be obtained. The rising ground on Blackheath, from which
+Whitefield preached, is still known as "Whitefield's mount," and
+after his death, Lord Dartmouth planted it with fir-trees. It will
+ever be a grateful recollection to the author of this volume, that
+during the summer of 1839 he prevailed on some of the most eminent
+ministers of England to preach on every successive Monday evening
+on this hallowed spot; and that here many thousands then heard
+the way of salvation, and not a few were brought to the cross of
+Christ. In that immediate neighborhood too, now densely populated,
+he organized, and for some years preached to a Christian church.
+Memorable times! Many were the manifestations of the Redeemer's
+favor.
+
+An anecdote which we heard many years ago from one of Whitefield's
+Blackheath hearers, may here be related. While one day preaching on
+"the heath," there passed along the road at some distance, an old
+man and "Mary" his wife, with their ass and his loaded panniers,
+returning from London to their home in Kent. Attracted alike by the
+crowd and the preacher's voice, the old man and his wife turned a
+little out of their way to hear "what the man was talking about."
+Whitefield spoke of somewhat which occurred eighteen hundred years
+ago, and the old man said, "Mary, come along, it is only something
+which happened a long while ago;" but Mary's attention had been
+arrested, and she wished to stay a minute or two longer. They were
+both soon in tears, and the inquiry was excited in their hearts,
+"What shall we do to be saved?" On their way home, while "talking
+of all these things," the old man recollected his neglected Bible,
+and asked, "Why, Mary, does not our old book at home say somewhat
+about these things?" They went home, and examined the old book with
+new light. "Why, Mary," asked the old man, "is this indeed our old
+book? why, every thing in it seems quite new." So true is it, that
+the teaching of the Spirit gives new discernment as to the truths of
+divine revelation.
+
+A fact strikingly illustrating the children's love to our evangelist
+may be here mentioned. In his open-air preachings, especially in and
+about London, he was usually attended by many of them, who sat round
+him, in and about the pulpit, and handed to him the notes of those
+who desired his counsels and prayers. These children were exposed to
+the missiles with which he was often assailed, but however terrified
+they might be, or even hurt, they seldom shrunk; "but," says he, "on
+the contrary, every time I was struck, they turned up their little
+weeping eyes, and seemed to wish they could receive the blows for
+me."
+
+Speaking of his open-air labors, the devoted preacher says, "Words
+cannot express the displays of divine grace which we saw, and heard
+of, and felt. Lord, not unto me, but unto thy name be all the
+glory." On a subsequent occasion he writes, "We have had a glorious
+season, a true Easter. Jesus Christ is risen indeed. I have been
+preaching in Moorfields, and our Saviour carries all before us.
+Nothing can resist his conquering blood. It would have delighted you
+to see poor sinners flock from the booths to see Jesus lifted up on
+the pole of the gospel." The climax of his success there, is one of
+the most remarkable letters that ever came from a mortal's pen. He
+records at its close, "We then retired to the Tabernacle, with my
+pockets full of notes from persons brought under concern, and read
+them amidst the praises and spiritual acclamations of thousands, who
+joined with the holy angels in rejoicing that so many sinners were
+snatched, in such an unexpected, unlikely place and manner, out of
+the very jaws of the devil. This was the beginning of the Tabernacle
+society. Three hundred and fifty awakened souls were received in
+one day; and I believe the number of notes exceeded a thousand. But
+I must have done, believing you want to retire, to join in mutual
+praise with me in thanksgiving to God and the Lamb."
+
+Having thus introduced the name of the Tabernacle, it is important
+that the reader should be acquainted with the origin of the
+buildings which have borne that name. From the very first of what
+may be called his irregular labors, Whitefield always declared that
+he "would never be the founder of a sect." He kept his word; yet
+two London churches remain as his memorial--the Tabernacle, and
+Tottenham Court-road chapel, the one in the north, and the other
+in the western part of the metropolis. The Tabernacle, which was
+first erected, was his more especial and favorite field of labor,
+and he dwelt in the house adjoining it, which is still the pastoral
+residence.
+
+Moorfields, just without the limits of the old north city wall of
+London, was, a few years before Whitefield first knew it, a marsh,
+and during the greater part of the year, was absolutely impassable.
+Having been partially drained, a brick kiln was erected, and the
+first bricks used in London are said to have been manufactured
+there. Afterwards it was a field for the practice of archery,
+when it was laid out in walks, and called the City Mall. Though
+improved in name and appearance, it became the rallying ground for
+the rabble of London; wrestlers, boxers, and mountebanks, the idle,
+the dissolute, and the profane, held here their daily and nightly
+revels. It appeared, in fact, to be one of the strong-holds of
+Satan, and therefore became a most tempting and important point
+of attack for the daring eloquence of Whitefield. All London rang
+one day with the announcement that Whitefield would preach the day
+following at Moorfields.
+
+This was in January, 1739. Gillies says, "The thing being strange
+and new, he found, on coming out of the coach, an incredible number
+of people assembled. Many told him that he would never come out of
+that place alive. He went in, however, between two friends, who by
+the pressure of the crowd were soon parted from him entirely, and
+obliged to leave him to the mercy of the rabble. But these, instead
+of hurting him, formed a lane for him, and carried him along to the
+middle of the fields, where a table had been placed. This, however,
+having been broken by the crowd, he mounted a wall, and preached to
+an exceeding great multitude in tones so melting, that his words
+drew tears and groans from the most abandoned of his hearers.
+Moorfields became henceforth one of the principal scenes of his
+triumphs. Thirty thousand people sometimes gathered together to hear
+him, and generous contributions here poured in for his orphan-house
+at Bethesda. On one occasion twenty pounds--about one hundred
+dollars--were received in half-pennies, more than one person was
+able to carry away, and enough to put one out of conceit with a
+specie currency."
+
+It was not till his fifth visit to London, in March, 1741, that
+Whitefield ventured to preach in Moorfields on _a week-day_; the day
+selected for this bold action being Good-Friday. His chief, if not
+his only friends on this occasion, he tells us, were a few "orthodox
+dissenters." These people perceiving the inconvenience to which
+he was subjected by the weather, during the morning and evening
+services in Moorfields, procured the loan of a piece of ground, and
+employed a carpenter to build a large temporary shed, to screen the
+auditory from the cold and rain. This building Whitefield called
+a "tabernacle," as it was only intended to be used a few months
+during his stay in his native country, previous to his return to
+America. Providence, however, had otherwise determined, and this
+proved the commencement of a permanent establishment of the means of
+grace. A great spiritual awakening took place; congregations became
+very large, acquiring at the same time considerable cohesion, and
+assuming a stationary character. This original fabric of wood was a
+place of large dimensions; and notwithstanding its rude aspect and
+temporary design, it sufficed for the accommodation of Whitefield
+and his flock, during the twelve succeeding years--a period the most
+brilliant and useful of his extraordinary career.
+
+Some of Whitefield's friends, however, did not approve of the
+original wooden structure; and anticipating or desiring the
+formation of a Christian church, they called for the immediate
+erection of a substantial brick building, a point which was debated
+with a warmth approaching to violence, of which Whitefield makes
+pathetic mention seven years afterwards. Here then several important
+facts are established: that the original tabernacle sprang not from
+Whitefield, but from a voluntary movement among his adherents,
+composed chiefly, if not wholly, of Protestant dissenters; that the
+expense was borne not by him, but by them; that much debate and
+dissension attended the measure, proving the thoroughly free and
+popular character of the original movement; and that, as the edifice
+originated with the people alone, so did the institution of regular
+worship. It is certain that fears existed in the mind of Whitefield
+as to the success of such an organization; but the results most
+happily disappointed his expectations.
+
+The subject of the erection of a more spacious edifice in the place
+of the tabernacle of wood, was first discussed at the mansion
+of Lady Huntingdon, in Leicestershire, when Drs. Doddridge and
+Stonehouse, and the Rev. Messrs. Hervey and Whitefield happened to
+meet together, in the summer of 1751. During the following winter,
+Whitefield began to make collections for the object, and on almost
+its first presentation in London, nine hundred pounds, or four
+thousand five hundred dollars, were subscribed. "But," he says, "on
+the principle that burned children dread the fire, I do not mean
+to begin until I get one thousand in hand, and then to contract at
+a certain sum for the whole." The fact was, that Whitefield had
+often been in great straits for the support of his orphan-house
+in Georgia, "for I forgot," he says, "that Professor Francke built
+in Glaucha, in a populous country, and that I was building at the
+very tail of the world." In March, 1753, he wrote to Mr. Charles
+Wesley, "On Tuesday morning the first brick of our new Tabernacle
+was laid with awful solemnity. I preached from Exodus 20:24, 'In all
+places where I record my name, I will come unto thee, and I will
+bless thee.' The wall is now about a yard high. The building is to
+be eighty feet square. It is on the old spot. We have bought the
+house, and if we finish what we have begun, shall be rent free for
+forty-six years." In June the dedicatory services took place, when
+the Tabernacle, though capable, with its capacious galleries, of
+holding _four thousand_ people, was crowded almost to suffocation.
+Often have we seen this vast building crowded with worshippers, with
+delight have we occupied its pulpit, and with devout gratitude do we
+record, that never for a moment has the frown of heaven rested upon
+it. Thousands will ever bless God for its erection.
+
+Not unfrequently has the question been discussed, to what
+denomination of Christians does the Tabernacle really belong? In
+answer to this question, we give a legal document which may also
+show what is done in reference to houses of worship in England,
+under the laws for the maintenance of religious toleration.
+
+"These are to certifie whom it may Concern, that a Certificate
+bearing date the Eighteenth Day of June, in the year of Our Lord
+One Thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty-four, under the Hands of
+Starkey Myddleton Minister, Robert Keen, Thomas Cox, Samuel Grace,
+Robert Hodgson, James Smith, Thomas Robinson, Benjamin Coles,
+Thomas Brooks, and Samuel Lockhart, for appropriating and setting
+apart a Certain Building for that purpose erected, situate near the
+Barking Dogs in the Parish of Saint Luke in the County of Middlesex,
+and intended for the meeting place of a certain Congregation of
+Protestant Dissenters from the Church of England, calling themselves
+Independents, was Registered in the Registry of the Dean and Chapter
+of the Cathedral Church of Saint Paul, London, This Twenty-first
+Day of June in the year of Our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and
+Sixty-four.
+
+  "THOMAS COLLINS, Deputy Registrar."
+
+While the new Tabernacle was in the course of erection, Whitefield
+visited Norwich, where his ministry was largely attended, and
+notwithstanding much opposition, was followed with considerable
+success. Writing to his friend Keen, he says, "How does God delight
+to exceed even the hopes, and to disappoint the fears of his weak,
+though honest-hearted people. In spite of all opposition, he hath
+caused us to triumph even in Norwich. Thousands attend twice every
+day, and hear with the greatest eagerness. I hope it will appear
+yet more and more that God hath much people here." Compelled by
+alarming illness, the result of his too much preaching, he suddenly
+returned to London, from whence he thus wrote to one of the converts
+at Norwich: "I shall little regard the weakness and indisposition of
+my body, if I can but have the pleasure of hearing, if not before,
+yet at the great day, that good was done to one precious soul at
+Norwich. Blessed be God for the seed sown there. I doubt not but
+it will be watered with the dew of his heavenly blessing, and bring
+forth a divine increase."
+
+Truly the gospel did triumph, not only in the erection of the
+Tabernacle in that city, but in preparing sinners to be pillars in
+the temple of God, and to win others to his service.
+
+Among other converts won at Norwich, was the afterwards popular and
+useful minister of Christ, the Rev. Robert Robinson, of Cambridge,
+England. When a young man, about eighteen, he resided in that city,
+and was engaged in the business of a barber. When he was walking
+one morning with several companions who had agreed that day to take
+their pleasure, the first object which attracted their attention
+was an old woman who pretended to tell fortunes. They immediately
+employed her to tell theirs, and that they might qualify her for the
+undertaking, first made her thoroughly intoxicated. Robinson was
+informed, among other things, that he would live to a very old age,
+and see his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren growing
+up around him. Though he had assisted in intoxicating the old
+woman, he had credulity enough to be struck with those parts of the
+prediction which related to himself. "And so," said he when alone,
+"I am to see children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. At
+that age I must be a burden to the young people. What shall I do?
+There is no way for an old man to render himself more agreeable to
+youth, than by sitting and telling them pleasant and profitable
+stories. I will then," thought he, "during my youth, endeavor
+to store my mind with all kinds of knowledge. I will see and
+hear, and note down every thing that is rare and wonderful, that
+I may sit, when incapable of other employments, and entertain my
+descendants. Thus shall my company be rendered pleasant, and I shall
+be respected, rather than neglected, in old age. Let me see, what
+can I acquire first? Oh, here is the famous Methodist preacher,
+Whitefield; he is to preach here, they say, to-night; I will go and
+hear him."
+
+From these strange motives, as he told the celebrated Rev. Andrew
+Fuller, he went to hear Whitefield preach. That evening his text
+was, "But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come
+to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who
+hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" Matt. 3:7. "Mr.
+Whitefield," said Robinson, "described the Sadducees' character;
+this did not touch me; I thought myself as good a Christian as any
+man in England. From this he went to that of the Pharisees. He
+described their exterior decency, but observed, that the poison of
+the viper rankled in their hearts. This rather shook me. At length,
+in the course of his sermon, he abruptly broke off; paused for a
+few moments; then burst into a flood of tears, lifted up his hands
+and eyes, and exclaimed, 'Oh, my hearers, _the wrath's to come! the
+wrath's to come!_' These words sunk into my heart like lead in the
+water; I wept, and when the sermon was ended retired alone. For days
+and weeks I could think of little else. Those awful words would
+follow me wherever I went: 'The wrath's to come! The wrath's to
+come!'"
+
+Scarcely had Whitefield completed the Tabernacle in London, before
+he was earnestly solicited to hold public services at the west
+end of the city, and Long-Acre chapel, then under the charge of a
+dissenter, was offered for his use. An unruly rabble endeavored to
+drive the preacher from his post; but a running fire of brickbats,
+broken glass, bells, drums, and clappers, neither annoyed nor
+frightened the intrepid evangelist; nor did an interference on the
+part of the hierarchy, which followed soon after, prohibiting his
+preaching in an incorporated chapel. "I hope you will not look on
+it as contumacy," said Whitefield to the bishop, "if I persist in
+prosecuting my design until I am more particularly apprized wherein
+I have erred. I trust the irregularity I am charged with will appear
+justifiable to every lover of English liberty, and what is all to
+me, be approved at the awful and impartial tribunal of the great
+Bishop and Shepherd of souls." Writing to Lady Huntingdon, he says,
+"My greatest distress is so to act as to avoid rashness on the
+one hand and timidity on the other;" and this shows, what indeed
+was proved in his whole life, an entire absence of that malignant
+element of fanaticism which courts opposition and revels in it.
+
+"Determined," as Mrs. Knight says, in her beautiful volume, "_Lady
+Huntingdon and her Friends_," "not to be beaten from his ground,
+yet hoping to escape some of its annoyances, Whitefield resolved to
+build a chapel of his own. Hence arose Tottenham Court-road chapel,
+which went by the name of 'Whitefield's soul-trap.'" Admirably
+does he say, "I pray the Friend of sinners to make it a soul-trap
+indeed to many wandering creatures. My constant work is preaching
+fifteen times a week. Conviction and conversion go on here, for God
+hath met us in our new building." It was completed and dedicated in
+November, 1756. Though not equal in its triumphs to the Tabernacle,
+the congregation has always been large, and its preachers--always
+the same as those at the Tabernacle--have not labored in vain. In
+1829, '30, improvements were made in the building, which still,
+however, contains Whitefield's pulpit. A vast area in the centre was
+originally filled with plain seats, where the masses of the people
+were accommodated free of all pew rent.
+
+Let not infidels tell us, that the religion of these men and of
+those times was mere enthusiasm, and that the temporal interests
+of men were neglected in professions of high regard for those of
+a spiritual character. Let such men know that within two years
+of the opening of Tottenham Court-road chapel, not only did the
+congregation build a parsonage-house for their minister, but twelve
+almshouses for as many poor widows. The Tabernacle has always
+acted with equal generosity. In proportion to their means, few
+congregations in the world have exceeded these two in works of
+benevolence.
+
+Assuredly what has sometimes been charged on evangelical
+ministers--that they attend to the spiritual interests of mankind,
+but neglect their temporal sufferings--would never apply to Mr.
+Whitefield. No sooner had he completed these large edifices, where
+vast congregations assembled, than he was heard frequently to plead
+for those laboring under oppression or distress in foreign lands.
+He preached in both these houses in behalf of the poor French
+Protestants in Prussia, who had suffered much from the cruelty of
+the Russians, when great numbers of the nobility, and some of the
+highest officers of the crown went to hear him. The collections for
+this object amounted to upwards of fifteen hundred pounds, or seven
+thousand five hundred dollars; and for this disinterested act of
+benevolence Whitefield received the thanks of his Prussian Majesty.
+
+Again, on the day recommended by the government for a general fast,
+Mr. Whitefield preached both at the Tabernacle and at Tottenham
+Court-road chapel, after which he collected five hundred and sixty
+pounds for the relief of the German Protestants, and the sufferers
+by fire at Boston, for which he received the unanimous thanks of
+the inhabitants of that town. Lady Huntingdon wrote to one of her
+friends, "It would delight you to have seen what crowds of the
+mighty and noble flocked to hear him. The collection was for the
+relief of the poor German Protestants. I invited several to come
+who probably would not attend his ministry on other occasions."
+Few places at that time could boast of such a constellation of
+transcendent genius and senatorial talent, such a brilliant
+assemblage of wisdom, magnanimity, and oratorical powers, as were
+then found within these houses of the living God.
+
+One word may be allowed here on the plain architecture of these
+buildings. "We are," says the excellent Mr. James, "in many things
+improved, and I rejoice in the improvement; but the occasion of my
+joy is at the same time the occasion of my fear and my jealousy
+also. Our ecclesiastical architecture is just now a special
+object of our attention. Whitefield, it may be confessed, paid
+too little attention to this; we, perhaps, are paying too much.
+His only solicitude was to save souls, careless altogether of the
+tastefulness of the building within which that work, which has
+no relation to styles of architecture, was carried on. His only
+calculation in the construction of a building was, how many immortal
+souls could be crowded within four square walls, and under a roof,
+to hear 'the joyful sound.' Hence the somewhat uncouth buildings
+which he erected. Ah, but when I consider that every stone in those
+unsightly walls has echoed to the sound of salvation and the hymns
+of redeemed spirits, and that almost every spot on the floor has
+been moistened by the tears of penitence, then, in a feeling of
+sanctity I seem to lose the sense of deformity, and there comes over
+me an awe and solemnity which no modern gothic structure with its
+lofty arches and painted windows can inspire. But still, as religion
+is not only the most holy, but the most beautiful thing in God's
+universe, there is no reason why taste and devotion should not be
+united. It is the ministry of the word, however, upon which the
+church must be chiefly intent."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+WHITEFIELD'S SECOND VISIT TO AMERICA.
+
+1739, 1740.
+
+
+As in the preceding chapter, for the sake of connecting the history
+of Whitefield's church edifices in London, we have anticipated the
+order of events, we go back to the period shortly before his second
+voyage to America.
+
+About the time of which we are now writing, a circumstance occurred
+of deep interest, which Whitefield relates at considerable length.
+Joseph Periam, a young man in London, who had read his sermon on
+"regeneration," became deeply impressed by it; he sold all that he
+possessed, and prayed so loud and fasted so long, that his family
+supposed him deranged, and sent him to the Bedlam madhouse, where he
+was treated as "methodistically mad," and as "one of Whitefield's
+gang." The keepers threw him down, and forced a key into his mouth,
+while they drenched him with medicine. He was then placed in a cold
+room without windows, and with a damp cellar under it. Periam,
+however, found some means of conveying a letter to Whitefield,
+requesting both advice and a visit. These were promptly given.
+The preacher soon discovered that Periam was not mad; and taking
+a Mr. Seward and some other friends with him, he went before the
+committee of the hospital to explain the case. It must have been
+somewhat of a ludicrous scene. Seward so astounded the committee by
+quoting Scripture, that they pronounced him to be as mad as Periam.
+The doctors frankly told the deputation, that in their opinion,
+Whitefield and his followers were "really beside themselves." It was
+however agreed, that if Whitefield would take Periam out to Georgia,
+his release would be granted. Thus the conference ended, and the
+young man went out as a schoolmaster at the Orphan-house. There he
+was exemplary and useful, and when he died two of his sons were
+received into the institution.
+
+Mr. Whitefield so successfully pleaded the cause of his American
+orphans, that during his journeys of twelve months he collected
+upwards of one thousand pounds towards the erection of his intended
+house for their accommodation. With this sum in his possession, he
+set sail for America the second time, August 14, 1739, accompanied
+by his friend Mr. Seward, eight men, one boy, and two children.
+
+While all this was going on, the inhabitants of Georgia were making
+every possible preparation for his reception. The records of the
+trustees say, May 16, 1739, "Read a commission to the Rev. George
+Whitefield to perform all religious and ecclesiastical offices at
+Savannah, in Georgia." Again: "June 2, 1739. Sealed a grant of five
+hundred acres of land to the Rev. George Whitefield, in trust for
+the use of the house to be erected and maintained for the receiving
+such children as now are, and shall hereafter be left orphans in
+the colony of Georgia, in pursuance of the direction of the Common
+Council held the 30th of last month."
+
+Not only was Whitefield anxious to establish the orphan-house
+for the benefit of the whole colony of Georgia, but having been
+ordained priest, for the purpose of instructing the inhabitants of
+the town of Savannah, he was desirous of making full proof of his
+ministry among them. After a passage of nine weeks he landed at
+Philadelphia, and was immediately invited to preach in the churches;
+to which people of all denominations thronged as in England. He
+was especially pleased to find that they preferred sermons when
+"not delivered within the church walls." And it was well they did,
+for his fame had arrived in the city before him, and crowds were
+collected to hear him which no church could contain.
+
+A letter written on this voyage to America has recently come to
+light, which beautifully illustrates the spirit by which Whitefield
+was now animated. It was addressed to the Rev. John Cumming of
+Andover, Hampshire, England.
+
+          "Wrote at Sea, dated at Philadelphia, Nov. 9, 1739.
+
+     "REVEREND AND DEAR SIR--You see by my writing this how willing
+     I am to cultivate a correspondence with you. I wish Christians
+     in general, and ministers of Christ in particular, were better
+     acquainted. The cause of Christ thereby must be necessarily
+     promoted. But bigotry and sectarian zeal have been the bane of
+     our holy religion. Though we have one Lord, one faith, and one
+     baptism, yet if we do not all worship God in one particular
+     way, we behave to each other like Jews and Samaritans. Dear
+     sir, I hope that neither of us have so learned Christ. Blessed
+     be God for his free grace in Christ. The partition wall has
+     for some time been broken down out of my heart, and I can truly
+     say, whosoever loves the Lord Jesus, 'the same is my brother,
+     and sister, and mother.' For this reason, dear sir, I love you.
+     For this reason, though I decrease, yet I heartily wish you may
+     increase, even with all the increase of God. I am persuaded
+     you are like-minded. I believe my friends have prayed for me.
+     The Lord hath dealt most lovingly with me his servant. He has
+     chastened and corrected, but hath not given me over into the
+     hands of the enemy. A future journal will acquaint you with
+     particulars. What I have sent over to be published will afford
+     you abundant matter for thanksgiving in behalf of,
+
+     "Dear sir, your affectionate friend,
+     Brother, and servant,
+
+     "G. WHITEFIELD."
+
+The old court-house of Philadelphia, then standing on Second and
+Market streets, had a balcony, which several years before the visit
+of Whitefield had been often used instead of a pulpit. In 1736, we
+find that Mr. Abel Noble had preached "from the court-house steps,"
+on a Monday, to a large congregation standing in Market-street,
+on the subject of keeping the Sabbath. In the same year, Michael
+Welfare appeared there to give his "warning voice," and now, in
+1739, it became one of the favorite preaching stands of the great
+evangelist. Here he stood, surrounded by many thousands, even down
+to the side of the Delaware river, not a few bathed in tears, and
+inquiring after the way of salvation.
+
+[Illustration: OLD COURT-HOUSE, PHILADELPHIA.]
+
+[Illustration: TENNENT CHURCH, FREEHOLD, N. J. p. 117.]
+
+Dr. Franklin says, "The multitudes of all sects and denominations
+that attended his sermons were enormous; and it was a matter
+of speculation with me to observe the influence of his oratory
+on his hearers, and how much they admired and respected him,
+notwithstanding his common abuse of them, by assuring them that
+they were, naturally, half beasts and half devils. It was wonderful
+to see the change soon made in the manners of our inhabitants.
+From being thoughtless and indifferent about religion, it seemed
+as if all the world was growing religious; so that one could not
+walk through the town in an evening without hearing psalms sung in
+different families in every street."
+
+A constant attendant on his ministry at this time says, "His
+hearers were never weary; every eye was fixed on his expressive
+countenance; every ear was charmed with his melodious voice; every
+heart captivated with the beauty and propriety of his address. He
+was no contracted bigot; all denominations partook of his religious
+charity. Anxious in America for our civil privileges, he was alike
+solicitous for the spiritual and temporal happiness of mankind. No
+man since the apostolic age preached oftener or with better success.
+He was, moreover, a polite gentleman, a faithful friend, an engaging
+companion, and a sincere Christian. His sermons in the open air
+lasted about one and a half hours."
+
+Watson, in his "Annals of Philadelphia," speaking of Whitefield's
+first visit to that city, tells us that he preached to a crowd of
+fifteen thousand persons on Society hill, and adds, "About the same
+time he so far succeeded to repress the usual public amusements,
+that the dancing-school was discontinued, and the ball and concert
+rooms were shut up, as inconsistent with the requisitions of the
+gospel. No less than fourteen sermons were preached on Society hill
+in the open air in one week, during the session of the Presbyterian
+church; and the gazette of the day, in noticing the fact, says,
+'The change to religion here is altogether surprising, through the
+influence of Whitefield; no books sell but religious, and such is
+the general conversation.'"
+
+It is said, that though some gentlemen broke open the
+assembly-rooms, no company could be induced to visit them. Such was
+the popularity of Whitefield, that when he left the city, about
+one hundred and fifty gentlemen accompanied him as far as Chester,
+fifteen miles from Philadelphia, where he preached to about seven
+thousand people. At White Clay creek, he preached to eight thousand
+people, three thousand of whom, it is said, were on horseback. Many
+complimentary effusions to him appeared in the newspapers, and James
+Pemberton, a very distinguished _Friend_, said of him, "In his
+conversation he is very agreeable, and has not much of the priest;
+he frequents no set company."
+
+An old gentleman assured Watson, the annalist, that on one occasion
+the words, "And he taught them, saying," as pronounced by Whitefield
+on Society hill, were heard at Gloucester point, a distance by water
+of two miles.
+
+Abundant reasons might be assigned for our introducing in this place
+an account of the institution called "the Log college." It has
+proved the parent of every collegiate and theological institution
+connected with the large and wealthy body of Presbyterians in this
+country; it was originated by a family which became especially
+endeared to Mr. Whitefield; and from his journal, recording his
+visit to it, we have, in some respects at least, the clearest
+statement of facts concerning it which history has preserved.
+
+As we have already shown, about one hundred and forty years ago,
+the state of religion, both in Europe and America, was very low.
+Nor was the condition of the Presbyterian body an exception. As
+the late Dr. Alexander, in his interesting volume, called "The Log
+College," says, "The ministers composing the Presbyterian church
+in this country were sound in the faith, and strongly attached to
+the Westminster confession of faith and catechisms, as were also
+their people; and there were no diversities or contentions among
+them respecting the doctrines of the gospel; but as to the vital
+power of godliness, there is reason to believe that it was little
+known or spoken of. Revivals of religion were nowhere heard of,
+and an orthodox creed, and a decent external conduct were the only
+points on which inquiry was made, when persons were admitted to
+the communion of the church. Indeed, it was very much a matter of
+course, for all who had been baptized in infancy, to be received
+into communion at the proper age, without exhibiting or possessing
+any satisfactory evidence of a change of heart by the supernatural
+operations of the Holy Spirit. And the habit of their preachers was
+to address their people as though they were all pious, and only
+needed instruction and confirmation."
+
+Such was the lamentable state of things when the Rev. William
+Tennent, sen., an Irish clergyman past the middle stage of life
+arrived in this country, about the year 1716. After laboring for
+a season in the state of New York, till about 1721, he received
+an invitation to settle at Bensalem, where he ministered to the
+small Presbyterian congregation till 1726, when he was called to
+Neshaminy, in the same county, where he labored for the rest of
+his life, living till 1746, when he died, aged seventy-three. In
+Neshaminy the good man felt that he was called not only to discharge
+the duties of a preacher and pastor, but to look over the whole
+country, and to devise means for the extension of the cause of
+Christ. He had himself four sons, the subjects of divine grace, and
+blessed with talents for usefulness in the kingdom of the Redeemer,
+and he felt that when other young men rose up in the church, favored
+with ministerial talents, they also would need mental cultivation.
+Hence his determination to erect the humble building of which we now
+write, which was the first Presbyterian literary and theological
+institution in this country, the immediate parent of the college at
+Princeton, and from which, indeed, all similar institutions emanated.
+
+The site of the Log college is about a mile from Neshaminy creek,
+where the Presbyterian church has long stood. The ground near and
+around it lies handsomely to the eye, and the more distant prospect
+is very beautiful; for while there is a considerable extent of
+fertile, well-cultivated land, nearly level, the view is bounded to
+the north and west by a range of hills, which have a very pleasing
+appearance. Mr. Whitefield has left in his "Journal," the only
+description we have of the building. "The place," says he, "wherein
+the young men study now, is in contempt called 'the college.' It
+is a log-house about twenty feet long, and nearly as many broad;
+and to me it seemed to resemble the school of the old prophets, for
+their habitations were mean. That they sought not great things for
+themselves is plain from these passages of Scripture, wherein we are
+told that each of them took a beam to build them a house; and that
+at the feast of the sons of the prophets, one of them put on the
+pot, while the others went to fetch some herbs out of the field. All
+that we can say of most of our universities is, they are glorious
+without. From this despised place, seven or eight worthy ministers
+of Jesus have lately been sent forth; more are almost ready to be
+sent, and the foundation is now laying for the instruction of many
+others."
+
+Of the senior Tennent, the founder of the Log college, little more
+is known than what we have already given. He was a member of the
+synod of Philadelphia, who were satisfied with his reasons for
+leaving the Established church of Ireland, and for several years
+this body cordially coöperated with him in his zealous labors.
+Their unity of feeling, however, seems to have declined. This we
+learn from a passage in Whitefield's "Journal," which also gives
+us a beautiful view of the good old man. "At my return home, was
+much comforted by the coming of one Mr. Tennent, an old gray-headed
+disciple and soldier of Jesus Christ. He keeps an academy about
+twenty miles from Philadelphia, and has been blest with four
+gracious sons, three of which have been, and still continue to be
+eminently useful in the church of Christ. He brought three pious
+souls along with him, and rejoiced me by letting me know how they
+had been evil spoken of for their Master's sake. He is a great
+friend of Mr. Erskine, of Scotland; and as far as I can learn, both
+he and his sons are secretly despised by the generality of the
+synod, as Mr. Erskine and his friends are hated by the judicatories
+of Edinburgh, and as the Methodist preachers, as they are called,
+are by their brethren in England."
+
+Not long after this, the Log college was visited by Whitefield, who
+wrote the account we have already given. He also says, under the
+date of Nov. 29, 1739, "Set out for Neshaminy, twenty miles distant
+from Trent Town, where old Mr. Tennent lives, and keeps an academy,
+and where I was to preach to-day, according to appointment. About
+twelve o'clock, we came thither, and found about three thousand
+people gathered together in the meeting-house yard. Mr. William
+Tennent, junior, an eminent servant of Jesus Christ, because we
+stayed beyond the time appointed, was preaching to them. When
+I came up, he soon stopped; sung a psalm, and then I began to
+speak as the Lord gave me utterance. At first, the people seemed
+unaffected, but in the midst of my discourse, the power of the Lord
+Jesus came upon me, and I felt such a struggling within myself for
+the people as I scarce ever felt before. The hearers began to be
+melted down immediately, and to cry much; and we had good reason
+to hope the Lord intended good for many. After I had finished, Mr.
+Gilbert Tennent gave a word of exhortation, to confirm what had
+been delivered. At the end of his discourse, we sung a psalm, and
+dismissed the people with a blessing; O that the people may say Amen
+to it. After our exercises were over, we went to old Mr. Tennent's,
+who entertained us like one of the ancient patriarchs. His wife,
+to me seemed like Elizabeth, and he like Zachary; both, as far as
+I can learn, walk in the commandments and ordinances of the Lord
+blameless. Though God was pleased to humble my soul, so that I was
+obliged to retire for a while, yet we had sweet communion with each
+other, and spent the evening in concerting what measures had best
+be taken for promoting our dear Lord's kingdom. It happened very
+providentially that Mr. Tennent and his brethren are appointed to be
+a presbytery by the synod, so that they intend bringing up gracious
+youths, and sending them out from time to time into the Lord's
+vineyard."
+
+We may be permitted to add here, that among the ministers sent out
+by Mr. Tennent, from the Log college, to preach the gospel, were his
+four sons, Gilbert, William, John, and Charles, the Rev. Messrs.
+Samuel Blair, John Blair, Charles Beatty, and Rev. Dr. Samuel J.
+Finley, President of Princeton College; of some of these excellent
+men the reader will hear again in the course of this volume.
+
+In reference to his first visit to Philadelphia, Whitefield thus
+writes: "I have scarcely preached among them, but I have seen a
+stirring among the dry bones. Go where I will, I find people with
+great gladness receive me into their houses. Sometimes I think I am
+speaking to stocks and stones; but before I have done, the power
+of the Lord comes over them, and I find I have been ploughing up
+some fallow ground, in a place where there has been a great famine
+of the word of God. But as God's word increases, so will the rage
+and opposition of the devil. Scoffers seem to be at a stand what to
+say. They mutter in coffee-houses, give a curse, drink a barrel of
+punch, and then cry out against me for not preaching more morality.
+Poor men, if God judges them, as he certainly will do, by _their_
+morality, out of their own mouths will he condemn them. Their
+morality, falsely so called, will prove their damnation. God has
+enlarged my heart to pray. Tears trickle down my face, and I am in
+great agony; but the Lord is pleased to set his seal to what he
+enables me to deliver. Amid cries and groans in the congregation,
+God gives me much freedom of speech. Many people and many ministers
+weep. My own soul is much carried out. I preached to a vast assembly
+of sinners; nearly twelve thousand were collected; and I had not
+spoken long, before I perceived numbers melting; as I proceeded, the
+power increased, and thousands cried out; never before did I see so
+glorious a sight. Oh, what strong crying and tears were poured forth
+after the dear Lord Jesus! Some fainted; and when they had gotten a
+little strength, they would hear and faint again. Never was my soul
+filled with greater power. Oh, what thoughts and words did God put
+into my heart. As great, if not greater commotion was in the hearts
+of the people. Look where I would, most were drowned in tears."
+
+An aged man who was living in 1806, and who well remembered the
+scenes he witnessed, bore testimony that after this visit of the
+great evangelist, public worship was regularly celebrated in
+Philadelphia twice a day for a whole year; and that on the Lord's
+day it was celebrated three, and frequently four times in each
+church. He said there were not less than twenty-six societies
+regularly held for prayer and Christian conference.
+
+Such was the influence of Whitefield, not only in Philadelphia, but
+throughout the colony of Pennsylvania, that in the city attention to
+commerce was suspended, and in the country the cultivation of the
+land for the time being was abandoned, that people might hear him
+proclaim the gospel of the Lord Jesus.
+
+Among other very striking conversions in Philadelphia at this
+period, was that of a young lady, who had for several years made
+a public profession of Christianity, but who now became fully
+convinced that "she was totally unacquainted with vital piety."
+When Mr. Whitefield began his labors in that city, she was greatly
+affected by his preaching, on which she constantly attended, and
+often afterwards told her friends, that after the first sermon she
+heard him preach, she was ready to say with the woman of Samaria,
+"Come see a man who told me all things that ever I did." The
+preacher, she said, so exactly described all the secret workings of
+her heart, her wishes, and her actions, that she really believed
+he was either more than human, or else that he was supernaturally
+assisted to know her heart. She was not then aware that all depraved
+hearts are much alike, and that he who in lively colors can paint
+one, gives a description which will be recognized by many as their
+own. This young lady once walked twenty miles to hear a sermon
+from Whitefield; she became a most eminent Christian, and was one
+of the constituent members of the church organized by Mr. Tennent.
+She married Mr. Hugh Hodge, who was also one of the seals of Mr.
+Whitefield's ministry, and a deacon of the church, and for more than
+sixty years she eminently "adorned the gospel of God in all things."
+
+During this first visit of Mr. Whitefield to Philadelphia, another
+interesting circumstance occurred. Whitefield preached one evening
+standing on the steps of the court-house, in Market-street,
+which became, as we have said, his favorite spot during that and
+subsequent visits. A youth some thirteen years of age stood near
+him, and held a lantern for his accommodation; but becoming deeply
+absorbed in the sermon, and strongly agitated, the lantern fell from
+his hands, and was dashed in pieces. Those near the boy, observing
+the cause of the accident, felt specially interested, and for a
+few moments the meeting was discomposed by the occurrence. Some
+fourteen years afterwards, Mr. Whitefield, on his fifth visit to
+this country, was visiting St. George's, in Delaware. He was one
+day riding out with the Rev. Dr. John Rodgers, then settled as the
+minister at St. George's, in the closed carriage in which Whitefield
+generally rode. Mr. Rodgers asked him whether he recollected the
+occurrence of the little boy who was so affected with his preaching
+as to let his lantern fall. Mr. Whitefield replied, "O yes, I
+remember it well; and have often thought I would give almost any
+thing in my power, to know who that little boy was, and what had
+become of him." Mr. Rodgers replied with a smile, "I am that little
+boy." Mr. Whitefield, with tears of joy, started from his seat, took
+him in his arms, and with strong emotion remarked, that he was the
+_fourteenth_ person then in the ministry whom he had discovered in
+the course of that visit to America, in whose conversion he had,
+under God, been instrumental.
+
+From Philadelphia, Whitefield was invited by Mr. Noble to New
+York; this gentleman being the only person with whom he then had
+an acquaintance in that city. Upon his arrival, he waited with his
+friend on the commissary, but he refused to Whitefield the use of
+the church. This commissary of the bishop, he says, "was full of
+anger and resentment, and denied me the use of his pulpit before I
+asked for it. He said they did not want my assistance. I replied,
+that if they preached the gospel, I wished them good luck: I will
+preach in the fields; for all places are alike to me." The undaunted
+evangelist therefore preached in the fields; and on the evening of
+the same day, to a very thronged and attentive audience, in the Rev.
+Mr. Pemberton's meeting-house, in Wall-street; and continued to do
+so twice or three times a day, with apparent success.
+
+Of this visit to New York, and of Whitefield's labors there,
+we have a graphic account, furnished by one of his hearers, for
+"Prince's Christian History." Of the first sermon in the fields,
+the writer says, "I fear curiosity was the motive that led me
+and many others into that assembly. I had read two or three of
+Mr. Whitefield's sermons and part of his Journal, and from them
+had obtained a settled opinion, that he was a good man. Thus far
+was I prejudiced in his favor. But then having heard of so much
+opposition, and many clamors against him, I thought it possible he
+might have carried matters too far; that some enthusiasm might have
+mixed itself with his piety, and that his zeal might have exceeded
+his knowledge. With these prepossessions I went into the fields.
+When I came there, I saw a great number of people, consisting of
+Christians of all denominations, some Jews, and a few, I believe,
+of no religion at all. When Mr. Whitefield came to the place
+designated, which was a little eminence on the side of a hill, he
+stood still and beckoned with his hand, and disposed the multitude
+upon the descent, before, and on each side of him. He then prayed
+most excellently, in the same manner, I suppose, that the first
+ministers of the Christian church prayed. The assembly soon appeared
+to be divided into two companies, the one of which I considered
+as God's church, and the other the devil's chapel. The first were
+collected round the minister, and were very serious and attentive;
+the last had placed themselves in the skirts of the assembly,
+and spent most of their time in giggling, scoffing, talking, and
+laughing. I believe the minister saw them, for in his sermon,
+remarking on the cowardice and shamefacedness in Christ's cause, he
+pointed towards _this_ assembly, and reproached the former, those
+who seemed to be Christians, with the boldness and zeal with which
+the devil's vassals serve him. Towards the last prayer the whole
+assembly appeared more united, and all became hushed and still; a
+solemn awe and reverence appeared in the faces of most, a mighty
+energy attending the word. I heard and felt something astonishing
+and surprising, but I confess I was not at that time fully rid of my
+scruples. But as I thought I saw a visible presence of God with Mr.
+Whitefield, I kept my doubts to myself.
+
+"Under this frame of mind, I went to hear him in the evening at
+the Presbyterian church, where he expounded to above two thousand
+people within and without doors. I never in my life saw so attentive
+an audience. All he said was demonstration, life, and power. The
+people's eyes and ears hung on his lips. They greedily devoured
+every word. I came home astonished. Every scruple vanished; I never
+saw nor heard the like; and I said within myself, 'Surely God is
+with this man, of a truth.' He preached and expounded in this manner
+twice every day for four days, and his evening assemblies were
+continually increasing.
+
+"On Sunday morning at eight o'clock, his congregation consisted of
+about fifteen hundred people; but at night several thousands came
+together to hear him; and the place being too strait for them, many
+were forced to go away, and some, it is said, with tears lamented
+their disappointment. After sermon he left New York at ten at night,
+to fulfil a promise that he had made to preach at Elizabethtown, at
+eleven A. M. the next day."
+
+We give a few paragraphs from the same vigorous pen, relating to
+the personal manners and the doctrines of our evangelist. "He is a
+man of a middle stature, of a slender body, of a fair complexion,
+and of a comely appearance. He is of a sprightly, cheerful temper,
+and acts and moves with great agility and life. The endowments of
+his mind are very uncommon; his wit is quick and piercing; his
+imagination lively and florid; and as far as I can discern, both are
+under the direction of an exact and solid judgment. He has a most
+ready memory, and I think speaks entirely without notes. He has a
+clear and musical voice, and a wonderful command of it. He uses much
+gesture, but with great propriety. Every accent of his voice, every
+motion of his body _speaks_, and both are natural and unaffected. If
+his delivery is the product of art, it is certainly the perfection
+of it, for it is entirely concealed. He has a great mastery of
+words, but studies much plainness of speech.
+
+"His doctrine is right _sterling_. I mean, perfectly agreeable
+to the Articles of the church of England, to which he frequently
+appeals for the truth of it. He loudly proclaims all men by nature
+to be under sin, and obnoxious to the wrath and curse of God. He
+maintains the absolute necessity of supernatural grace to bring
+men out of this state. He asserts the righteousness of Christ to
+be the only cause of the justification of the sinner; that this is
+received by faith; that this faith is the gift of God; that where
+faith is wrought, it brings the sinner under the deepest sense of
+his guilt and unworthiness to the footstool of sovereign grace, to
+accept of mercy as the free gift of God, only for Christ's sake. He
+denies that good works have any share in our justification: that
+indeed they do justify our faith, and necessarily flow from it,
+as streams from the fountain; but Christ's external righteousness
+imputed to us, and his inherent righteousness wrought in us, is the
+only cause of man's salvation. He asserts the absolute necessity of
+the new birth, where a principle of new life is ingenerated in the
+heart of man, and an entire change is produced in the temper and
+disposition of the soul; and that this new production is the work
+only of God's blessed Spirit. That wherever this change is wrought,
+it is permanent and abiding, and that the gates of hell shall never
+prevail against it. He asserts that the special influence and
+indwelling of the Spirit, was not peculiar to the first Christians,
+but that it is the common privilege of believers in all ages of the
+church; that the Holy Spirit is the author of the sanctification and
+comfort of all God's people; and that, even in these days, if any
+man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his. He said, that
+to many of his hearers, he feared he spoke in an unknown tongue;
+that he preached great mysteries; that true Christians knew what he
+meant, and that all his hearers, if they are saved, must be brought
+to understand them. These are some of the doctrines which have been
+attended with such mighty power in this city. This is the doctrine
+of the martyrs. This they sealed with their blood; notwithstanding
+that so many in our days have departed from it.
+
+"Mr. Whitefield speaks much of the language of the New Testament;
+and has an admirable faculty in explaining the Scriptures. He
+strikes out of them such lights, and unveils those excellencies
+which surprise his hearers, when he expounds them. He expresses the
+highest love and concern for the souls of men; and speaks of Christ
+with the most affectionate appropriation--'_My Master! My Lord!_' He
+is no enemy to the innocent freedoms and liberties of the gospel;
+nor does he affect singularity in indifferent things. He spends
+not his zeal in trifles, but says, 'The kingdom of God consists
+not in meats and drinks; but in righteousness, and peace, and joy
+in the Holy Ghost.' He breathes a most catholic spirit, and prays
+most earnestly that God would destroy all that bigotry and party
+zeal which has divided Christians. He supposes some of Christ's
+flock are to be found under every denomination, and upbraids the
+uncharitableness of those who confine the church to their own
+communion. He professes a most sincere love to all those who love
+our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, and declares that he has no
+design to make a party in religion. He professes that his whole
+design in preaching the gospel is to bring men to Christ, to deliver
+them from their false confidences, to raise them from their dead
+formalities, and to revive primitive Christianity among them; and
+if he can obtain this end, he will leave them to their liberty, and
+they may go to what church, and worship God in what form they like
+best."
+
+While going from Philadelphia to New York, or on his return,
+Whitefield appears to have preached at Maidenhead, Abington,
+Neshaminy, Freehold, Burlington, Elizabethtown, and New Brunswick,
+to many thousands, gathered from various parts, among whom there
+had been a considerable awakening under the ministry of Mr.
+Frelinghuysen, a Reformed Dutch minister, and the Rev. Messrs.
+Tennent, Blair, and Rowland. It was no less pleasing to him than
+strange to see such congregations in a foreign land; ministers
+and people shedding tears, sinners struck with awe, and religious
+persons who had been much persecuted, filled with joy. The old
+_Tennent church_ at Freehold, where preached Whitefield, Brainerd,
+Davies, and other "famous men" of that day, still echoes with the
+same gospel. In size the building is forty feet by sixty, with three
+entrances on the larger side. The pulpit is on the north side of the
+house, immediately opposite the central door, so that the minister
+faces the width of the church instead of its length. The pulpit is
+very narrow, and is surmounted with a sounding-board, according
+to the custom of our fathers. In the middle aisle lie buried the
+remains of the sainted William Tennent, whose death took place about
+seven years after that of Whitefield, at the age of seventy-two
+years. A handsome monumental tablet records the leading dates of his
+pilgrimage.
+
+Some of our readers may inquire as to the localities honored by
+Whitefield's preaching in and about the city of New York. We
+find many records of his discoursing in the open fields of the
+surrounding country; the old City Exchange, which stood at the
+foot of Broad-street, near Water-street, and which was built on
+large arches, was a favorite spot for itinerant preachers, and for
+Whitefield among the rest. During his various visits to New York,
+from 1745 to 1760, he generally preached in the Presbyterian church
+in Wall-street, which was then the only church of that denomination
+in the city, and of which the Rev. Dr. Pemberton, from Boston, was
+the minister. Afterwards, a few years before his death, he was
+accustomed to preach in the Brick church in Beekman-street; which
+was then familiarly called the "Brick meeting," and in common
+parlance, said to be "in the fields;" so little was the city
+extended at that period. So prosperous was his ministry in New York,
+that it was found necessary immediately to enlarge the Presbyterian
+church in Wall-street, by the erection of galleries; and a year or
+two afterwards it was again enlarged about one-third, in order to
+accommodate the stated worshippers.
+
+When Whitefield was preaching before a very large number of the
+seamen of New York, he introduced the following bold apostrophe into
+his sermon: "Well, my boys, we have a cloudless sky, and are making
+fine headway over a smooth sea, before a light breeze, and we shall
+soon lose sight of land. But what means this sudden lowering of
+the heavens, and that dark cloud arising from beneath the western
+horizon? Hark! don't you hear the distant thunder? Don't you see
+those flashes of lightning? There is a storm gathering. Every man
+to his duty. How the waves rush and dash against the ship! The
+air is dark. The tempest rages. Our masts are gone! What next?"
+The unsuspecting tars, reminded of former perils on the deep, as
+if struck by the power of magic, arose, and with united voices
+exclaimed, "Take to the longboat, sir!" The reader may well imagine
+how this very natural answer would be used by the preacher.
+
+While at New York, Whitefield wrote, "God willing, in about
+seven months I hope to see New England on my return to Europe.
+An effectual door is there opened, and no wonder there are many
+adversaries. Shortly I expect to suffer for my dear Master." And
+after his return to Philadelphia, he showed his piety and meekness
+by writing to the Rev. Dr. Pemberton, of New York, "I have been much
+concerned since I saw you, lest I behaved not with that humility
+towards you which is due from a babe to a father in Christ; but
+you know, reverend sir, how difficult it is to meet with success,
+and not be puffed up with it; and therefore, if any such thing was
+discernible in my conduct, O pity me, and pray to the Lord to heal
+my pride. All I can say is, that I desire to learn of Jesus Christ
+to be meek and lowly in heart; but my corruptions are so strong, and
+my employ so dangerous, that I am sometimes afraid."
+
+One of the most important incidents of this journey to New York,
+was the meeting of Whitefield with Gilbert Tennent. Two powerful
+preachers could hardly resemble each other less; and the great
+strength of each lay in characteristics in which the other was
+deficient. In one point, especially, Whitefield felt and recorded
+his new friend's superiority. He heard Tennent preach. "Never before
+heard I such a searching sermon. He went to the bottom indeed, and
+did not 'daub with untempered mortar.' He convinced me, more and
+more, that we can preach the gospel of Christ no further than we
+have experienced the power of it in our hearts. I found what a babe
+and novice I was in the things of God." These men, as Tracy says,
+having once met, could not but be friends and allies for life; and
+the effects of their alliance could not fail to be felt by thousands.
+
+Both at Philadelphia and New York, printers applied to Whitefield
+for copies of his sermons for publication, and two were so issued,
+in the influence of which their author had cause to rejoice. In an
+after-period, the celebrated Benjamin Franklin printed Whitefield's
+"Journal in New England," still extant; a copy of which was sold at
+auction in Philadelphia in 1855, for about thirty times its original
+price. His journals, indeed, and his sermons became considerable
+articles in commerce, and did not a little, amid the comparatively
+sparse population of the country, to extend both his fame and his
+usefulness.
+
+But the time was now come when it became important that Whitefield
+should pursue his course towards Savannah. He could not, however,
+regret his stay so long on the road. "It is unknown," he says, "what
+deep impressions have been made on the hearts of hundreds. Many poor
+sinners have, I trust, been called home, and great numbers are under
+strong convictions. An opposer told me I had unhinged many _good
+sort of people_. I believe it."
+
+Nor was this the only good he had done. No small sympathy had been
+excited among Christian people in favor of his orphan family, and a
+spirit of liberality and of prayer was extensively cherished. "They
+sent me," says the grateful evangelist, "butter, sugar, chocolate,
+pickles, cheese, and flour, for my orphans; and indeed, I could
+almost say, they would pluck out their own eyes and give me. O that
+what God says of the church of Philadelphia may now be fulfilled in
+the city called after her name--'I know thy works.'"
+
+The ready liberality which everywhere met Whitefield, determined
+him to pursue his journey by land. He therefore procured a vessel,
+in which he sent on his family and their supplies to Savannah. Of
+this sloop, Captain Gladman was master; and a young man who had
+recently been converted by the preaching of the great evangelist,
+willingly offered himself as mate. We have already seen that he was
+accompanied southward as far as Chester by a very large company of
+gentlemen of Philadelphia; and on his arrival at that place, a court
+was about to open, but the judges sent him word that they would
+not commence their business until the sermon, which they expected
+from him, was over. Nearly a thousand people had travelled from
+Philadelphia to hear it, and it was thought that those collected
+from places many miles around, composed an assembly of not less than
+seven thousand persons. A platform was erected, and it was believed
+that many of his hearers obtained something infinitely better than
+the mere gratification of their curiosity.
+
+Among other places at which he preached on this journey, was White
+Clay creek, endeared to him not only as the place where he first met
+with his beloved friend William Tennent, but as the residence of
+a Welsh family who had heard him preach at Cardiff and Kingswood
+before they emigrated, and who bore, what was to him a fact of
+endearing interest, the name of _Howell_. But during this tour
+Whitefield had to endure considerable privations and peril in riding
+through the woods. On one occasion, he heard the wolves "howling
+like a kennel of hounds" near to the road; on another, he had a
+narrow escape in trying to cross the Potomac in a storm. Here also
+he had once to swim his horse, owing to the floods; for it was now
+the depth of winter. One night, Seward and he lost their way in the
+woods of South Carolina, and were much alarmed at seeing groups
+of negroes dancing around large fires. Notwithstanding all the
+hardships, however, of the journey, no real injury was sustained
+from it.
+
+Our evangelist at length arrived at Charleston in good health and
+spirits. But he could not obtain admittance to St. Philip's church;
+Garden, the commissary, who had once promised to "defend him with
+life and fortune," was absent, and the curate would not open the
+doors without his leave. The people, however, had not forgotten him,
+and the Rev. Josiah Smith, the congregational minister, and the
+pastor of the French church, at once threw open their houses and
+pulpits, and rich indeed were the blessings they enjoyed.
+
+The congregations during his present visit to Charleston were large
+and polite; but he says they presented "an affected finery and
+gayety of dress and deportment, which I question if the court-end
+of London could exceed." Before he left, however, there was what
+he called "a glorious alteration in the audience." Many of them
+wept; and the hitherto light and airy had visibly strong feelings,
+as shown in their countenances. Such was their extreme anxiety to
+hear more from him, that after he had gone to the shore to sail for
+Georgia, they prevailed on him to preach again.
+
+On the next morning, Whitefield and his companions left Charleston
+in a canoe for Savannah; and on their way lay on the ground in the
+woods, surrounded by large fires to keep off the wild beasts. On
+this fact he makes the reflection, "An emblem, I thought, of the
+divine love and presence keeping off evils and corruptions from the
+soul." On his arrival at Savannah, January 11, 1740, he was very
+happy to meet his family, who had arrived there three weeks before
+him; and to find, by letters from England, New York, etc., that the
+work of the Lord prospered. One thing, however, greatly distressed
+him. The colony of Georgia was reduced even to a much lower state
+than when he left it, and was deserted by nearly all who could get
+away. He thought that to employ those who were left, would render
+them an important service, and that the money thus expended might be
+the means of keeping them in the colony.
+
+During the absence of Mr. Whitefield from Georgia, Mr. Habersham
+had fixed on a plot of ground of five hundred acres, about ten
+miles from Savannah, on which the orphan-house should stand, and
+had already commenced to clear and stock it. The orphans, in the
+mean time, were accommodated in a hired house. Whitefield afterwards
+regretted the course pursued. He found the condition of the orphans
+so pitiable, and the inhabitants so poor, that he immediately
+opened an infirmary, hired a large house at a great rent, and took
+in, at different times, twenty-four orphans.
+
+In the March following, Whitefield was again at Charleston, where he
+went to meet his brother, the captain of a ship, from England. Here
+he was requested by many of the inhabitants to give some account of
+his poor orphans, which he did in the house of worship occupied by
+his friend the Rev. Josiah Smith, the first native of South Carolina
+who received a literary degree. Such was the spirit excited, that
+the collection amounted to seventy pounds sterling. This was no
+small encouragement, especially as he had reason to believe that
+most of it came from those who had received spiritual benefit from
+his ministry.
+
+But if Whitefield now had his joys in Charleston, so he had also
+his sorrows. We have seen that in a previous visit to this city,
+he had considered himself "set for the defence of the gospel." He
+had remarked, in reference to the twelfth article of the church of
+England, "Observe, my dear brethren, the words of the article, 'Good
+works are the fruit of faith, and follow after justification.' How
+can they then precede, or be in any way the cause of it? No, our
+persons must be justified, before our performances can be accepted."
+Commissary Garden, of whom we have already spoken, now seized the
+opportunity of Whitefield's visit to Charleston, to write him a
+letter, dated March 17, attacking his doctrine of justification, and
+challenging him to defend what he had said concerning the bishop of
+London and his clergy. In this letter, he urged in reply to what
+the evangelist had said, "If good works do necessarily spring out
+of a true and lively faith, and a true and lively faith necessarily
+precedes justification, the consequence is plain, that good works
+must not only follow after, but precede justification also."
+Whitefield replied the next day, "I perceive that you are angry
+overmuch. Was I never so much inclined to dispute, I would stay
+till the cool of the day. Your letter more and more confirms me,
+that my charge against the clergy is just and reasonable. It would
+be endless to enter into such a private debate as you, reverend
+sir, seem desirous of. You have read my sermon: be pleased to read
+it again; and if there be any thing contrary to sound doctrine, or
+the Articles of the church of England, be pleased to let the public
+know it from the press; and then let the world judge whether you or
+my brethren the clergy have been rashly slandered." This was but
+the commencement of a controversy, in which were concerned Garden
+of Charleston, and the Rev. Messrs. Croswell and Gee of Boston,
+portions of which are preserved in the Old South church library, in
+the latter city; and which was afterwards resumed between Garden
+and Smith, of Charleston, in the "South Carolina Gazette," as may
+be seen in the library of the American Antiquarian Society at
+Worcester, Massachusetts.
+
+In the mean time, Whitefield had returned to Savannah, and on
+March 25, he laid the first brick of the main building of the
+orphan-house, which he called _Bethesda_, that is, a house of mercy.
+It was built of wood, and measured seventy feet by forty. By this
+time nearly forty children had been received, to be provided for
+with food and raiment; and counting the workmen with these, he had
+nearly one hundred persons to feed day by day. To do all this he
+had very little money in the bank; still he was not discouraged,
+being persuaded that his present duty was to advance the interests
+of the colony by carrying on his work. "As yet," says he, "I am
+kept from the least doubting. The more my family increases, the
+more enlargement and comfort I feel. Set thy almighty _fiat_ to it,
+O gracious Father, and for thine own name's sake convince us more
+and more, that thou wilt never forsake those who put their trust in
+thee." On reviewing this passage fifteen years afterwards, he wrote,
+"Hitherto, blessed be God, I have not been disappointed of my hope."
+
+We close our present chapter with a very short visit to Charleston.
+In this city Whitefield had assuredly produced a very extraordinary
+excitement, and very opposite opinions were entertained in reference
+to his character and doctrines. On the day after he had laid the
+first stone of Bethesda, Mr. Smith undertook at Charleston to defend
+the conduct and character of his beloved friend, in a sermon from
+Job 32:17: "I said, I will answer also my part; I also will show
+mine opinion." As this discourse was published during the following
+June, with a commendatory preface by the Rev. Drs. Colman and Cooper
+of Boston, and is still highly valued as a piece of contemporary
+history, we give an extract, particularly as to the _manner_ of the
+preaching of the great evangelist.
+
+"He is certainly a finished preacher. A noble negligence ran
+through his style. The passion and flame of his expressions will,
+I trust, be long felt by many. My pen cannot describe his action
+and gestures, in all their strength and decencies. He appeared to
+me, in all his discourses, to be very deeply affected and impressed
+in his own heart. How did that burn and boil within him, when he
+spake of the things which he had 'made touching the King.' How was
+his tongue like the pen of a ready writer, touched as with a coal
+from the altar. With what a flow of words, what a ready profusion
+of language, did he speak to us upon the great concerns of our
+souls. In what a flaming light did he set _our_ eternity before
+us. How earnestly he pressed Christ upon us. How did he move our
+passions with the constraining love of _such_ a Redeemer. The awe,
+the silence, the attention which sat upon the face of the great
+audience, was an argument how he could reign over all their powers.
+Many thought he spake as never man spake before him. So charmed
+were the people with his manner of address, that they shut up their
+shops, forgot their secular business, and laid aside their schemes
+for the world; and the oftener he preached, the keener edge he
+seemed to put upon their desires to hear him again.
+
+"How awfully, with what thunder and sound, did he discharge the
+artillery of heaven upon us. And yet, how could he soften and
+melt even a soldier of Ulysses with the mercy of God. How close,
+strong, and pungent were his applications to the conscience;
+mingling light and heat; pointing the arrows of the Almighty at the
+hearts of sinners, while he poured in the balm upon the wounds of
+the contrite, and made broken bones rejoice. Eternal themes, the
+tremendous solemnities of our religion, were all _alive_ upon his
+tongue. So, methinks--if you will forgive the figure--St. Paul would
+_look_ and speak in a pulpit. In some such manner, I am tempted to
+conceive of a seraph, were he sent down to preach among us, and to
+tell us what things he had seen and heard above.
+
+How bold and courageous did he look. He was no flatterer; he would
+not suffer men to settle on their lees; and did not prophesy smooth
+things, nor sew pillows under their arms. He taught the way of God
+in truth, and regarded not the persons of men. He struck at the
+politest and most modish of our vices, and at the most fashionable
+entertainments, regardless of every one's presence, but His in whose
+name he spoke with this authority. And I dare warrant, if none
+should go to these diversions until they have answered the solemn
+questions he put to their consciences, our theatre would soon sink
+and perish. I freely own he has taken my heart."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+CONTINUATION OF WHITEFIELD'S SECOND VISIT TO AMERICA. 1740.
+
+
+At the period when Whitefield laid the cornerstone of his Bethesda,
+his health was much impaired, and his spirits depressed. But it
+was necessary that funds should be obtained, to meet the claims
+now daily made upon him. He had received handsome donations from
+Charleston, New York, and Philadelphia, yet the urgent demand was
+for more. He therefore embarked from Charleston for Newcastle,
+Delaware, in a sloop, and arrived there in about ten days. Passing
+on from thence to Philadelphia, he found the churches closed against
+him. The commissary told him that he would lend the church to him
+no more. The laconic answer of Whitefield was, "The fields are
+open;" and eight thousand people assembled to hear him the same
+evening, and ten thousand on the following day. On the following
+Lord's day morning, he collected one hundred and ten pounds sterling
+for his "poor orphans," and then went to the Episcopal church,
+where the commissary preached a sermon on justification by works.
+As Whitefield was recognized at church, it was naturally expected
+that in the evening he would answer the sermon; nor was the public
+expectation disappointed. After his sermon, he collected eighty
+pounds more for Bethesda.
+
+But far higher success than this attended his labors. Societies for
+worship were commenced in different parts of the town; not a few
+began seriously to inquire after the way of salvation; many negroes
+came to the evangelist with the inquiry, "Have I a soul?" and a
+church was formed, of which the distinguished Gilbert Tennent was
+the eminently useful pastor. No less than one hundred and forty, who
+had undergone a previous strict examination as to their personal
+piety, were received as constituent members of the church, and large
+additions were from time to time made to their number.
+
+Several events of special interest occurred during this visit to
+Philadelphia. Tennent had to tell a series of delightful facts
+as to the usefulness of Whitefield's former labors. He began to
+deliberate on a plan for a negro school in Pennsylvania, as he did
+afterwards also in Virginia, but unexpected difficulties intervened,
+and both in the end were abandoned. Mr. Jones, the Baptist minister
+of the city, told Whitefield of the change produced by his former
+preaching on the minds of two ministers; one of whom stated to his
+congregation that he had hitherto been deceiving both himself and
+them, and added, that he could not preach to them at present, but
+requested them to unite in prayer with him; and the other resigned
+his charge, to itinerate among the unenlightened villages of New
+Jersey and elsewhere. Another fact was, that an Indian trader became
+so impressed with the preaching of Whitefield, that he had given up
+his business, and was gone to teach the Indians with whom he used to
+trade. Nor had his usefulness stopped here: he heard of a drinking
+club, which had attached to it a negro boy remarkable for his powers
+of mimicry. This boy was directed by the gentlemen who composed the
+club to exercise his powers on Mr. Whitefield: he did so, but very
+reluctantly; at length he stood up and said, "I speak the truth in
+Christ, I lie not; unless you repent, you will all be damned." This
+unexpected speech had such an effect as to break up the club, which
+met no more.
+
+We add a few paragraphs from Seward's journal, who soon after
+sailed for England to promote the interests of Georgia, and who
+died in the parent country. They date from the 24th to the 26th of
+April. "Came to Christopher Wigner's plantation in Skippack, where
+many Dutch people are settled, and where the famous Mr. Spalemburg
+lately resided. It was surprising to see such a multitude of people
+gathered together in such a wilderness country, thirty miles distant
+from Philadelphia. Mr. Whitefield was exceedingly carried out,
+in his sermon, to press poor sinners to come to Christ by faith,
+and claim all their privileges; namely, not only righteousness
+and peace, but joy in the Holy Ghost; and after he had done, our
+dear friend Peter Bohler preached in Dutch, to those who could not
+understand Mr. Whitefield in English."
+
+"Before Mr. Whitefield left Philadelphia, he was desired to visit
+one who was under a deep sense of sin, from hearing him preach. In
+praying with this person, he was so carried beyond himself, that
+the whole company, about twenty, seemed to be filled with the Holy
+Ghost, and magnified the God of heaven."
+
+"Arose at three o'clock, and though Mr. Whitefield was very weak
+in body, yet the Lord enabled him to ride nearly fifty miles, and
+to preach to about five thousand people at Amwell, with the same
+power as usual. Mr. Gilbert Tennent, Mr. Rowland, Mr. Wales, and Mr.
+Campbell, four godly ministers, met us here."
+
+"Came to New Brunswick. Met Mr. Noble from New York, a zealous
+promoter of our Lord's kingdom. He said their society at New York
+was enlarged from seventy to one hundred and seventy, and was
+daily increasing; and that Messrs. Gilbert and William Tennent,
+Mr. Rowland, and several others, were hard laborers in our Lord's
+vineyard."
+
+It will be readily supposed that by this time Whitefield and
+his movements had become so much a matter of interest as to be
+frequently discussed in the newspapers of the day.
+
+The "New England Weekly Journal" of April 29, 1740, copies from a
+Philadelphia paper of April 17: "The middle of last month the Rev.
+Mr. Whitefield was at Charleston, and preached five times, and
+collected at one time upwards of £70 sterling for the benefit of
+the orphan-house in Georgia; and on Sunday last, after ten days'
+passage from Georgia, he landed at Newcastle, where he preached
+morning and evening. On Monday morning he preached to about three
+thousand at Wilmington, and in the evening arrived in this city.
+On Tuesday evening he preached to about eight thousand on Society
+hill, and preached at the same place yesterday morning and evening."
+Then follows a list of his appointments daily to April 29, during
+which time he was to preach at Whitemarsh, Germantown, Philadelphia,
+Salem, N. J., Neshaminy, Skippack, Frederick township, Amwell, New
+Brunswick, Elizabethtown, and New York. On May 6th, the Journal
+copied a Philadelphia notice of April 24th, that he had preached on
+the previous Sabbath to fifteen thousand hearers, and on Monday at
+Greenwich and Gloucester, and that he would return to Georgia before
+visiting New England.
+
+The Journal of May 20th, contains a letter from Whitefield to a
+friend in England, dated New Brunswick, N. J., April 27. Of his
+visit to Charleston he says, "A glorious work was begun in the
+hearts of the inhabitants, and many were brought to cry out, 'What
+shall we do to be saved?' A fortnight ago, after a short passage of
+ten days, I landed in Pennsylvania, and have had the pleasure of
+seeing and hearing that my poor endeavors for promoting Christ's
+kingdom, when here last, were not altogether in vain in the Lord. I
+cannot tell you how many have come to me laboring under the deepest
+convictions, and seemingly truly desirous of finding rest in Jesus
+Christ. Several have actually received him into their hearts by
+faith, and have not only righteousness and peace, but joy in the
+Holy Ghost. In short, the word has run and been much glorified, and
+many negroes also are in a fair way of being brought home to God.
+Young ones I intend to buy, and do not despair of seeing a room full
+of that despised generation, in a short time, singing and making
+melody with grace in their hearts to the Lord.
+
+"An effectual door is opened for preaching the everlasting gospel,
+and I daily receive fresh and most importunate invitations to preach
+in all the counties round about. God is pleased to give a great
+blessing to my printed sermons. They are in the hands of thousands
+in these parts, and are a means of enlightening and building up many
+in their most holy faith. The clergy, I find, are most offended
+at me. The commissary of Philadelphia, having gotten a little
+stronger than when I was here last, has thrown off the mask, denied
+me the pulpit, and last Sunday preached up an historical faith,
+and justification by works. But the people only flock the more.
+The power of God is more visible than ever in our assemblies, and
+more and more are convinced that I preach the doctrine of Jesus
+Christ. Some of the bigoted, self-righteous Quakers now also begin
+to spit out a little of the venom of the serpent. They cannot bear
+the doctrine of original sin, and of an imputed righteousness as
+the cause of our acceptance with God. I have not yet met with much
+opposition from the dissenters; but when I come to tell many of
+them, ministers as well as people, that they hold the truth in
+unrighteousness, that they talk and preach of justifying faith,
+but never felt it in their hearts, as I am persuaded numbers of
+them have not, then they no doubt will shoot out their arrows, even
+bitter words."
+
+While on his voyage from Charleston to Newcastle, Whitefield seems
+to have devoted the 4th of April, 1740, to correspondence on the
+subject of marriage. "I find," said he, "by experience, that a
+mistress is absolutely necessary for the due management of my
+increasing family, and to take off some of that care which at
+present lies upon me." His letters were addressed to a young lady
+and her parents, connected with a family much devoted to piety.
+Here, as everywhere else, his heart is transparent. He says to the
+parents of Miss E----, "I write only because I believe it is the
+will of God that I should alter my state; but your denial will fully
+convince me that your daughter is not the person appointed for me.
+He knows my heart; I would not marry but for him, and in him, for
+ten thousand worlds."
+
+The next year, having returned to England, Whitefield, like his
+eminent friend John Wesley, was married, and, like him also, was
+unhappy in his domestic relation. In each case, the husband exacted
+a previous pledge that the wife should never prevent the delivery
+of a single sermon; and this was followed by separation from the
+wife for weeks, months, or even years, in the prosecution of their
+arduous labors. In the case of Whitefield, his marriage in Wales,
+with a widow lady, in 1741, was followed by the birth of a son;
+previous to which event he had said, in the joy of his heart, that
+his name should be John, and that he should be a preacher of the
+everlasting gospel. The first prediction was realized, and when
+his child was a week old, the good man told his people in the
+Tabernacle, London, that he would live to preach, and "be great in
+the sight of the Lord." But alas, at the end of four months John
+died, and his father very wisely wrote in his journal: "I hope what
+happened before his birth, and since at his death, has taught me
+such lessons as, if duly improved, may render his mistaken parent
+more sober-minded, more experienced in Satan's devices, and
+consequently more useful in his future labors in the church of God."
+
+On the death of his wife somewhat suddenly, August 9, 1768, Mr.
+Whitefield himself preached her funeral sermon, from Romans 8:28:
+"And we know that all things work together for good to them that
+love God, to them that are the called according to his purpose." In
+describing her character, he particularly mentioned her fortitude
+and courage, and suddenly exclaimed, "Do you remember my preaching
+in those fields by the stump of the old tree? The multitude was
+great, and many were disposed to be riotous. At first I addressed
+them with firmness; but when a gang of desperate banditti drew
+near, with the most ferocious looks, and horrid imprecations and
+menaces, my courage began to fail. My wife was then standing behind
+me, as I stood on the table. I think I hear her now. She pulled my
+gown"--himself suiting the action to the word, by placing his hand
+behind him and touching his robe--"and looking up, said, 'George,
+play the man for your God.' My confidence returned. I again spoke to
+the multitude with boldness and affection; they became still; and
+many were deeply affected."
+
+Before we leave Philadelphia, we may relate an instance or two as
+to the power of his eloquence. Dr. Franklin says, "He had a loud
+and clear voice, and articulated his words so perfectly that he
+might be heard and understood to a great distance; especially as his
+auditors observed the most profound silence. He preached one evening
+from the top of the court-house steps, which are in the middle of
+Market-street, and on the west side of Second-street, which crosses
+it at right angles. Both streets were filled with his hearers to a
+considerable distance. Being among the hindmost in Market-street,
+I had the curiosity to learn how far he might be heard by setting
+backwards down the street towards the river; and I found his voice
+distinct till I came near Front-street, where some noise in that
+street obstructed it. Imagine, then, a semicircle of which my
+distance should be a radius, and that it was filled with auditors,
+to each of whom I allowed two square feet, I computed that he might
+well be heard by more than thirty thousand people."
+
+But not only does Franklin bear witness of Whitefield's eloquence as
+to his voice, but still more strongly as to its _persuasiveness_, of
+which, it seems, he was himself a striking illustration. He says, "I
+refused to contribute to his orphan-house in Georgia, thinking it
+injudiciously located. Soon after, I happened to attend one of his
+sermons, in the course of which I perceived he intended to finish
+with a collection, and I silently resolved he should get nothing
+from me. I had in my pocket a handful of copper money, three or
+four silver dollars, and five pistoles in gold. As he proceeded, I
+began to soften, and determined to give the copper. Another stroke
+of his oratory made me ashamed of that, and determined me to give
+the silver; and he finished so admirably, that I emptied my pocket
+wholly into the collector's dish, gold and all. At this sermon there
+was also one of our club; who being of my sentiments respecting the
+building at Georgia, and suspecting a collection might be intended,
+had, by precaution, emptied his pockets before he came from home.
+Towards the conclusion of the discourse, however, he felt a strong
+inclination to give, and applied to a neighbor, who stood near him,
+to lend him some money for the purpose. The request was made to,
+perhaps, the only man in the company who had the firmness not to be
+affected by the preacher. His answer was, 'At any other time, friend
+Hodgkinson, I would lend to thee freely; but not now, for thee seems
+to be out of thy right senses.'"
+
+Whitefield, much as he loved Philadelphia, had now again to leave
+it. Thus writes the correspondent of the "New England Weekly
+Journal," at Newcastle, May 15: "This evening Mr. Whitefield went
+on board his sloop here, to sail for Georgia. On Sunday he preached
+twice In Philadelphia, and in the evening, when he preached his
+farewell sermon, it is supposed he had twenty thousand hearers. On
+Monday he preached at Darby and Chester; on Tuesday, at Wilmington
+and White Clay creek; on Wednesday, twice at Nottingham; on
+Thursday, at Fog's Manor and Newcastle. The congregations were
+much increased since his being here last. The presence of God was
+much seen in the assemblies, especially at Nottingham and Fog's
+Manor, where the people were under such deep soul distress, that
+their cries almost drowned his voice. He has collected in this and
+the neighboring provinces, about £450 sterling for his orphans in
+Georgia."
+
+He arrived at Savannah June 5, and most interesting was the manner
+of his reception. He says, "O what a sweet meeting I had with my
+dear friends! What God has prepared for me, I know not; but surely
+I cannot well expect a greater happiness, till I embrace the saints
+in glory. When I parted, my heart was ready to break with sorrow;
+but now it almost bursts with joy. O how did each in turn hang upon
+my neck, kiss, and weep over me with tears of joy! And my own soul
+was so full of a sense of God's love when I embraced one friend
+in particular, that I thought I should have expired in the place.
+I felt my soul so full of a sense of the divine goodness, that I
+wanted words to express myself. Why me, Lord; why me? When we came
+to public worship, young and old were all dissolved in tears. After
+service, several of my parishioners, all my family, and the little
+children, returned home, crying along the streets, and some could
+not avoid praying very loud.
+
+"Being very weak in body, I laid myself upon a bed; but finding so
+many weeping, I rose and betook myself to prayer again. But had
+I not lifted up my voice very high, the groans and cries of the
+children would have prevented my being heard. This continued for
+near an hour; till at last, finding their concern rather increase
+than abate, I desired all to retire. Then some or other might be
+heard praying earnestly, in every corner of the house. It happened
+at this time to thunder and lighten, which added very much to the
+solemnity of the night. Next day the concern still continued,
+especially among the girls. I mention the orphans in particular,
+that their benefactors may rejoice in what God is doing for their
+souls."
+
+On the 7th of June, he wrote, "I have brought with me a Latin
+master, and on Monday laid the foundation, in the name of the Lord
+Jesus, for a university in Georgia." On the 28th of the same month,
+he wrote to a Mr. W. D----, in a style admirably corresponding with
+the meek spirit we have already seen in his letter to the Rev.
+Dr. Pemberton, of New York. "I thank you for your kind letters
+and friendly cautions; and I trust I shall always reckon those my
+choicest friends, who, in simplicity and meekness, tell me the
+corruptions of my heart. It is that faithfulness which has endeared
+J. S---- to me. I think I never was obliged to any one so much
+before. O my dear brother, still continue faithful to my soul; do
+not hate me in your heart; in any wise reprove me. Exhort all my
+brethren to forgive my past, I fear, too imperious carriage; and let
+them pray that I may know myself to be, what I really am, less than
+the least of them all."
+
+Whitefield's family at Bethesda had now increased to not less than
+one hundred and fifty persons, and to advance their interests, it
+was needful that he should again visit Charleston, where he arrived
+on the third of July, and immediately commenced preaching, as on
+former visits. On the following Sabbath, three days after his
+arrival, he attended the Episcopal church, where, he says, "I heard
+the commissary preach as virulent and unorthodox, inconsistent a
+discourse, as ever I heard in my life. His heart seemed full of
+choler and resentment. Out of the abundance thereof, he poured forth
+so many bitter words against the Methodists, as he called them, in
+general, and me in particular, that several who intended to receive
+the sacrament at his hands, withdrew. Never, I believe, was such
+a preparation sermon preached before. After sermon, he sent his
+clerk to desire me not to come to the sacrament till he had spoken
+with me. I immediately retired to my lodgings, rejoicing that I was
+accounted worthy to suffer this further degree of contempt for my
+dear Lord's sake."
+
+The next day, the commissary of the bishop of London issued against
+Whitefield the following ecclesiastical writ:
+
+"Alexander Garden, lawfully constituted Commissary of the Right
+Reverend Father in Christ, Edmund, by divine permission Lord Bishop
+of London, supported by the royal authority underwritten:
+
+"Alexander Garden, To all and singular clerks, and literate persons
+whomsoever, in and throughout the whole province of South Carolina,
+wheresoever appointed, Greeting:
+
+"To you, conjunctly and severally, we commit, and strictly
+enjoining, command, that you do cite, or cause to be cited,
+peremptorily, George Whitefield, clerk, and presbyter of the Church
+of England, that he lawfully appear before us, in the parish church
+of St. Philip, Charleston, and in the judicial place of the same, on
+Tuesday, the fifteenth day of this instant July, 'twixt the hours of
+nine and ten in the forenoon, then and there in justice to answer to
+certain articles, heads, or interrogatories, which will be objected
+and ministered unto him concerning the mere health of his soul, and
+the reformation and correction of his manners and excesses, and
+chiefly for omitting to use the form of prayers prescribed in the
+Communion-Book; and further to do and receive what shall be just
+in that behalf, on pain of law and contempt. And what you shall do
+in the premises, you shall duly certify us, together with these
+presents.
+
+"Given under our hands and seals of our office, at Charleston, this
+seventh day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven
+hundred and forty."
+
+Justice to all parties requires it should be said, that the phrase
+as to the health of Whitefield's _soul_ was used by Garden not of
+choice, but in conformity with the forms of English ecclesiastical
+law; the theory of which is, that ecclesiastical courts are only
+held to promote the spiritual health or welfare of those who are
+cited into them. The principal sin of Whitefield was "omitting to
+use the form of prayer prescribed in the Common Prayer Book." The
+undisputed matter of fact, as Tracy says, was, that he always used
+that form when he could obtain an Episcopal church to preach in; but
+when he was shut out of such pulpits, and was preaching to Baptists,
+Presbyterians, and Congregationalists, in their own houses of
+worship, where none of the congregations had prayer books, or knew
+how to use them, and where the introduction of unaccustomed forms
+would not have promoted the devotion of the worshippers, he prayed
+extempore.
+
+On the day this writ was issued, Whitefield preached for Mr.
+Chanler, "a gracious Baptist minister, about fourteen miles from
+Charleston;" and twice on the next day "to a large audience in
+Mr. Osgood's meeting-house, a young Independent minister," at
+Dorchester; the next day at Dorchester again, and at Charleston
+in the evening; the next day preached and read prayers in Christ's
+church, and twice at Charleston the next day, with great success.
+And now, on July 11th, a citation was served upon him to appear on
+the fifteenth, as required in the writ.
+
+On the 12th, he preached and read prayers twice on John's island;
+and on the 13th, which was the Sabbath, he again listened to a
+sermon from the commissary. Of this sermon Whitefield says, "Had
+some infernal spirit been sent to draw my picture, I think it
+scarcely possible that he could paint me in more horrid colors. I
+think, if ever, then was the time that all manner of evil was spoken
+against me falsely for Christ's sake. The commissary seemed to
+ransack church history for instances of enthusiasm and abused grace.
+He drew a parallel between me and all the Oliverians, Ranters,
+Quakers, French prophets, till he came down to a family of Dutartes,
+who lived not many years ago in South Carolina, and were guilty of
+the most notorious incests and murders."
+
+The next day Whitefield again preached twice; and on Tuesday
+appeared before the commissary, according to his citation. This is
+said to have been the first court of the kind ever attempted to be
+held in any of the colonies. It consisted of the reverend commissary
+A. Garden, and the Rev. Messrs. Guy, Mellichamp, Roe, and Orr, who,
+as well as Whitefield himself, and his able advocate, Mr. Andrew
+Rutledge, respectively showed their want of familiarity with such
+business, and, after a series of blunders on both sides, the court
+adjourned to nine o'clock the next morning, to afford Whitefield
+time to ascertain the extent of the jurisdiction of the bishop and
+his commissary. How little, however, he studied the subject may be
+inferred from the fact, that he preached twice during the remainder
+of the day. The next day, a Mr. Graham appeared as a prosecuting
+attorney, and Mr. Rutledge as counsel for the respondent. Whitefield
+made some mistakes, but hints from his quick-sighted advocate and
+his own adroitness saved him from their consequences; though he
+contrived to give the court a lecture on the meanness of catching at
+a word as soon as it was out of his lips, without allowing him time
+to correct it. He now filed his objection against being judged by
+the commissary, who, he alleged, was prejudiced against him. This
+gave rise to new questions: the court adjourned; and the evangelist
+went to James' island, read prayers, and preached. The next day
+he again appeared in court, and found that his exceptions were
+repelled, and that the arbitrators he had asked for would not be
+appointed. He now appealed to the high Court of Chancery in London,
+declaring all further proceedings in this court to be null and
+void. He then retired and read letters which refreshed his spirit,
+by informing him how "mightily grew the word of God and prevailed"
+at Philadelphia; and that Mr. Bolton, in Georgia, had nearly fifty
+negroes learning to read. On the 18th he preached twice, and on the
+19th again appeared before the commissary, and bound himself, in
+a penalty of ten pounds, to prosecute his appeal in London within
+twelve months. The appeal was never tried, as the ecclesiastical
+authorities allowed it to die of neglect.
+
+"The court being ended," says Whitefield, in his journal, "the
+commissary desired to speak with me. I asked him to my lodgings. He
+chose to walk on a green near the church. His spirit was somewhat
+calmer than usual; but after an hour's conversation, we were as far
+from agreeing as before." "All his discourse was so inconsistent and
+contrary to the gospel of our Lord, that I was obliged to tell him
+that I believed him to be an unconverted man, an enemy to God, and
+of a like spirit with the persecutor Saul. At this he smiled; and,
+after we had talked a long while, we parted, and God gave me great
+satisfaction that I had delivered my soul in my private conversation
+with the commissary."
+
+The next day, July 20, was the Sabbath. The commissary preached in
+his usual style, and Whitefield preached his farewell sermon to
+the people of Charleston. By his recommendation two or three of
+the dissenting ministers had instituted a weekly lecture; and the
+evangelist "advised the people, as the gospel was not preached in
+church, to go and hear it in the meeting-house." On leaving the
+city, he summed up, in his journal, the results of his labors in
+this manner:
+
+"What makes the change more remarkable in the Charleston people
+is, that they seemed to me, at my first coming, to be a people
+wholly devoted to pleasure. One well acquainted with their
+manners and circumstances, told me more had been spent on polite
+entertainments, than the poor's-rate came to; but now the jewellers
+and dancing-masters begin to cry out that their craft is in danger.
+A vast alteration is discernible in the ladies' dresses. And some,
+while I have been speaking, have been so convinced of the sin of
+wearing jewels, that I have seen them with blushes put their hands
+to their ears, and cover them with their fans. But I hope the
+reformation has gone farther than externals. Many moral, good sort
+of men, who before were settled on their lees, have been gloriously
+awakened to seek after Jesus Christ; and many a Lydia's heart hath
+been opened to receive the things that were spoken. Indeed, the word
+came like a hammer and a fire. And a door, I believe, will be opened
+for teaching the poor negroes. Several of them have done their usual
+work in less time, that they might come to hear me. Many of their
+owners, who have been awakened, resolved to teach them Christianity.
+Had I time, and proper schoolmasters, I might immediately erect a
+negro school in South Carolina, as well as in Pennsylvania. Many
+would willingly contribute both money and land."
+
+The Baptist church in Charleston at this time was nearly extinct,
+being reduced to five or six communicants, but Whitefield's success
+greatly increased their number, and it thus gained strength which
+it has never lost. It is also gratefully mentioned even now by the
+church of that denomination at Eutaw, that Whitefield during this
+visit to South Carolina preached the dedication-sermon of their
+house of worship.
+
+Whitefield left Charleston on July 21, visiting and preaching on his
+way homeward, which he reached towards the close of the same week.
+He preached on the Sabbath in extreme weakness of body, but "with
+the Holy Ghost from above," and several were hopefully converted to
+God. On the 18th of August, he again left Savannah for Charleston,
+where he was able, for want of bodily strength, to preach but once a
+day, but he thought that his sermons were attended with more power
+and success than ever before. In a few days after, having preached a
+farewell sermon to four thousand hearers, he sailed for New England,
+where he had been very cordially invited by leading ministers and
+others in Boston and many other places.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+WHITEFIELD'S FIRST VISIT TO NEW ENGLAND.
+
+SEPTEMBER TO NOVEMBER, 1740.
+
+
+The religious state of New England in the early part of the
+eighteenth century, was little better than the description we
+have already given of the state of Great Britain and its other
+dependencies at that period. Dr. Prince tells us, that the first age
+of New England was one of an almost continual revival. Preaching was
+attended with so much power in some places, "that it was a common
+inquiry, by such members of a family as were detained at home on a
+Sabbath, whether any had been visibly awakened in the house of God
+that day." And he adds, "Few Sabbaths did pass without some being
+evidently converted, and some convincing proof of the power of God
+accompanying his word."
+
+Dr. Increase Mather, writing towards the close of the seventeenth
+century, while he confirms the statements we have already given,
+bears farther testimony which is of a very painful character.
+He says, "Prayer is necessary on this account, that conversions
+have become rare in this age of the world. They that have their
+thoughts exercised in discerning things of this nature, have sad
+apprehensions that the work of conversion has come to a stand.
+During the last age scarcely a sermon was preached without some
+being apparently converted, and sometimes hundreds were converted
+by one sermon. Who of us now can say that we have seen any thing
+such as this? Clear, sound conversions are not frequent in our
+congregations; the great bulk of the present generation are
+apparently poor, perishing, and if the Lord prevent not, undone;
+many are profane, drunkards, lascivious, scoffers at the power of
+godliness, and disobedient; others are civil and outwardly conformed
+to good order, because so educated, but without knowing aught of
+a real change of heart." The same estimable writer says, in 1721,
+"I am now in my eighty-third year, and having had an opportunity
+of conversing with the first planters of this country, and having
+been for _sixty-five_ years a preacher of the gospel, I feel as did
+the ancient men who had seen the former temple, and who wept aloud
+as they saw the latter. The children of New England are, or once
+were, for the most part, the children of godly parents. What did our
+fathers come into this wilderness for? Not to gain estates as men
+do now, but for religion, and that they might have their children
+in a hopeful way of being truly religious. There was a famous man
+who preached before one of the greatest assemblies that ever was
+addressed; it was about seventy years ago; and he said to them, 'I
+lived in a country seven years, and all that time I never heard a
+profane oath, or saw a man drunk.' And where was that country? It
+was New England. Ah, degenerate New England! What art thou come to
+at this day? How are those sins become common that were once not
+even heard of!"
+
+Passing over, for the present, indications of a revival of religion,
+which had appeared in other parts of the country, we speak now
+only of New England. In 1734, a very extraordinary work of grace
+appeared at Northampton, Massachusetts, under the ministry of the
+distinguished Jonathan Edwards, the elder, the history of which is
+given in his admirable "Narrative of the surprising Work of God" at
+that period, in Northampton and the vicinity.
+
+It is important to remark here, that the preaching which led to such
+delightful results was of the most faithful and pungent character.
+We will give one instance, as illustrative of many, as will be
+distinctly seen by those who have read EDWARDS' sermon, "_Sinners
+in the hands of an angry God_," or his "_Justice of God in the
+damnation of Sinners_." Perhaps, however, no sermon in New England
+has ever acquired greater celebrity, or accomplished more good, than
+the one preached by President Edwards at Enfield, July 8, 1741, from
+the words, "Their feet shall slide in due time." Deut. 32:35. "When
+they went into the meeting-house, the appearance of the assembly was
+thoughtless and vain; the people scarcely conducted themselves with
+common decency." But as the sermon proceeded, the audience became
+so overwhelmed with distress and weeping, that the preacher was
+"obliged to speak to the people and desire silence, that he might
+be heard." The excitement soon became intense; and it is said that
+a minister who sat in the pulpit with Mr. Edwards, in the agitation
+of his feelings, caught the preacher by the skirt of his dress, and
+said, "Mr. Edwards, Mr. Edwards, is not God a God of mercy?" Many of
+the hearers were seen unconsciously holding themselves up against
+the pillars, and the sides of the pews, as though they already felt
+themselves sliding into the pit. This fact has often been mentioned
+as a proof of the strong and scriptural character of President
+Edwards' peculiar eloquence--the eloquence of truth as attended by
+influence from heaven; for his sermons were read, without gestures.
+
+But there was another element which must be taken into account when
+we look at the result of this sermon, as well as others delivered in
+like circumstances, and one which we fear has been often overlooked.
+"While the people of the neighboring towns were in great distress
+about their souls, the inhabitants of Enfield were very secure,
+loose, and vain. A lecture had been appointed there, and the
+neighboring people were so affected at the thoughtlessness of the
+inhabitants, and had so much fear that God would, in his righteous
+judgment, pass them by, that many of them were prostrate before
+him a considerable part of the previous evening, supplicating the
+mercy of heaven in their behalf. And when the time appointed for the
+lecture came, a number of the surrounding ministers were present,
+as well as some from a distance"--a proof of the prayerful interest
+felt on behalf of the town. In all this we see much of the secret
+of the powerful impression produced by that sermon, and are taught
+that in seasons when God seems about to pour out his Spirit on a
+community, Christians should be found "continuing instant in prayer."
+
+In this more hopeful state of things than had long before existed
+in New England, Whitefield, who was now the second time in America,
+was most urgently entreated to visit the descendants of the Pilgrim
+fathers. He complied with the request, and arrived at Newport on
+the evening of the Sabbath, September 14, 1740. We furnish an
+account, written chiefly by himself, in his journal, published in
+London, 1741, a copy of which may be found in the library of Harvard
+University, to which we have had a kind access, and which is rich in
+what we may term _Whitefieldian lore_. He writes,
+
+"Was sick part of the passage, but found afterwards the sea-air,
+under God, much improved my health. Arrived at Newport, in Rhode
+Island, just after the beginning of evening service. We came
+purposely thither first with our sloop. I think it the most pleasant
+entrance I ever yet saw. Almost all the morning the wind was
+contrary; but I found a very strong inclination to pray that we
+might arrive time enough to be present at public worship. Once I
+called the people; but something prevented their coming. At last,
+finding my impression increase upon me, I desired their attendance
+immediately. They came. With a strong assurance that we should be
+heard, we prayed that the Lord would turn the wind, that we might
+give him thanks in the great congregation; and also that he would
+send such to us as he would have us to converse with, and who might
+show us a lodging. Though the wind was ahead when we began, when we
+had done praying, and came up out of the cabin, it was quite fair.
+
+"With a gentle gale we sailed most pleasantly into the harbor; got
+into public worship before they had finished the psalms; and sat, as
+I thought, undiscovered. After service was over, a gentleman asked
+me whether my name was not Whitefield. I told him 'yes;' he then
+desired me to go to his house, and he would take care to provide
+lodgings and necessaries for me and my friends. I went, silently
+admiring God's goodness in answering my prayer so minutely. Several
+gentlemen of the town soon came to pay their respects to me, among
+whom was one Mr. Clap, an aged dissenting minister, but the most
+venerable man I ever saw. He looked like a good old Puritan, and
+gave me an idea of what stamp those men were who first settled New
+England. His countenance was very heavenly; he rejoiced much in
+spirit at the sight of me, and prayed most affectionately for a
+blessing on my coming to Rhode Island."
+
+In the evening, in company with Mr. Clap and other friends,
+Whitefield visited Mr. Honeyman, the minister of the church of
+England, and requested the use of his pulpit. "At first he seemed
+a little unwilling, being desirous to know 'what extraordinary
+call I had to preach on week-days,' which he said was disorderly.
+I answered, 'St. Paul exhorted Timothy to 'be instant in season
+and out of season;' that if the orders of the church were rightly
+complied with, our ministers should read public prayers twice every
+day, and then it would not be disorderly at such times to give them
+a sermon. As to an extraordinary call, I claimed none otherwise than
+upon the apostle's injunction, 'As we have opportunity, let us do
+good unto all men.' He still held out, and did not give any positive
+answer; but at last, after he had withdrawn and consulted with the
+gentlemen, he said, 'If my preaching would promote the glory of
+God, and the good of souls, I was welcome to his church as often
+as I would, during my stay in town.' We then agreed to make use of
+it at ten in the morning, and three in the afternoon. After this,
+I went to wait on the governor, who seemed to be a very plain man,
+and had a very plain house, which much pleased me. By profession,
+I think he is a Seventh-day Baptist; he is a man of good report
+as to his conduct and dealing with the world." As might have been
+expected, the evening was spent in exposition and prayer, with a
+crowded company, in the house of his friend Bowers, the gentleman
+who first addressed him when coming out of church.
+
+On Monday morning, he breakfasted with "old Mr. Clap, and was much
+edified by his conversation." Of this venerable servant of Christ
+he says, "I could not but think, while at his table, that I was
+sitting with one of the patriarchs. He is full of days, a bachelor,
+and has been minister of a congregation in Rhode Island upwards of
+forty years. People of all denominations, I find, respect him. He
+abounds in good works; gives all away, and is wonderfully tender of
+little children; many of different persuasions come to be instructed
+by him. Whenever he dies, I am persuaded, with good old Simeon, he
+will be enabled to say, 'Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart
+in peace.'" Whitefield preached, according to appointment, morning
+and afternoon, "in the church. It is very commodious, and I believe
+will contain three thousand people. It was more than filled in the
+afternoon. Persons of all denominations attended. God assisted me
+much. I observed numbers affected, and had great reason to believe
+the word of the Lord had been 'sharper than a twoedged sword,' in
+some of the hearers' souls."
+
+On the evening of the same day he received the following note:
+
+     REVEREND SIR AND BELOVED BROTHER--Although mine eyes never saw
+     your face before this day, yet my heart and soul have been
+     united to you in love, by the bond of the Spirit. I have longed
+     and expected to see you for many months past. Blessed be God,
+     mine eyes have seen the joyful day. I trust, through grace, I
+     have some things to communicate to you that will make your heart
+     glad. I shall omit writing any thing, and only hereby present
+     my hearty love, and let you know that I am waiting now at the
+     post of your door for admission. Though I am unworthy, my Lord
+     is worthy, in whose name, I trust, I come. I am your unworthy
+     brother,
+
+     "JONATHAN BARBER."
+
+"On reading it," says Whitefield, "I could not but think this was
+one of those young ministers whom God had lately made use of in such
+a remarkable manner, at the east end of Long Island. I sent for him,
+and found he was the man. My heart rejoiced. We walked out, and took
+sweet counsel together; and among other things, he told me that he
+came to Rhode Island under a full conviction that he should see me
+there, and had been waiting for me about a week.... What rendered
+this more remarkable was, I had no intention of sailing to Rhode
+Island till about three days before I left Carolina; and I had a
+great desire to put in, if I could, at the east end of Long Island,
+to see this very person, whom the great God now brought unto me.
+Lord, accept our thanks, sanctify our meeting, and teach us both
+what we shall do for thine own name's sake. In the evening I went
+to the venerable Mr. Clap's, and exhorted and prayed with a great
+multitude, who not only crowded into the house, but thronged every
+way about it. The dear old man rejoiced to see the things which
+he saw; and after my exhortation was over, dismissed me with his
+blessing."
+
+Tuesday, we scarcely need remark, was spent by Whitefield in the
+work of his great Master. He preached to a vast congregation,
+including the members of the House of Assembly, who adjourned to
+attend the service; and he had very delightful evidence that his
+labors had already been useful. On Wednesday he left Newport, and
+about noon preached at Bristol, at the request of the court, which
+was then in session, and slept that night at a hotel on the road to
+Boston. On Thursday morning he set out early, and as he passed on
+with his friends, he says, "Found that the people were apprized of
+my coming, and were solicitous for my preaching; but being resolved
+under God, if possible, to reach Boston, we travelled on for near
+fifty miles, and came to Boston about eight in the evening. When
+we were within four miles of the city, the governor's son, several
+other gentlemen, and one or two ministers, waited at a gentleman's
+house to give me the meeting. They received me with great gladness,
+and told me many more would have come, had not a large funeral
+been in the town, or if there had been more certain notice of my
+arriving. This rejoiced me; for I think I can stand any thing
+better than this. It savors too much of human grandeur. But I must
+be tried every way; the Lord be my helper. After stopping a while,
+we went together to Boston, to the house of one Mr. Sandiford,
+brother-in-law to the Rev. Dr. Colman, who long since had sent me an
+invitation.... My heart was but low, and my body weak; but, at the
+request of one of the ministers, I gave thanks to our gracious God
+for bringing me in safety, and prayed that my coming might be in the
+fulness of the blessing of the gospel of peace."
+
+He slept well that night, and the next morning, he says, "I
+perceived fresh emanations of divine light break in upon and refresh
+my soul." He was visited by several gentlemen, including Josiah
+Willard, Esq., the secretary of the province, a man who feared God,
+and with whom Whitefield had for some time been in correspondence.
+The governor, Belcher, received him with the utmost respect, and
+requested frequent visits. He attended public worship at the church
+of England, and waited on the commissary home, who received him
+very courteously. As it was a day on which the clergy of that body
+had a meeting, he came into the company of five of them assembled
+together. They soon attacked him "for calling _that Tennent_ and
+his brethren faithful ministers of Christ." He answered, that he
+believed they were so. They questioned the validity of Presbyterian
+ordination, and quoted from his journal his own words against him.
+He replied, that perhaps his sentiments were altered. They then
+went into a doctrinal discussion, which continued till Whitefield,
+finding how inconsistent they were, took his leave, resolving that
+they should not have the opportunity of denying him their pulpits.
+However, they treated him, on the whole, with more courtesy than he
+had lately been accustomed to receive from the ministers of his own
+church.
+
+In the afternoon of the same day, he preached to a vast congregation
+in the Rev. Dr. Colman's meeting-house, in Brattle-street, and in
+the evening exhorted and prayed with such as came to his lodgings.
+On Saturday, in the forenoon, he discoursed to a crowded audience at
+the Old South church, where Dr. Sewall was pastor, the only church
+edifice in Boston with which Whitefield was connected which is still
+standing as it then was. In the afternoon he preached on the Common
+to about eight thousand persons, and, at night to a thronged company
+at his own lodgings.
+
+On the morning of the next day, which was the Sabbath, he heard
+Dr. Colman preach; in the afternoon, he preached at Mr. Foxcroft's
+meeting-house to a vast auditory. This gentleman was the senior
+pastor of the First church, meeting in Chauncy-place, and the
+Rev. Charles Chauncy was his colleague. The church edifice was in
+Cornhill-square, not far from the old state-house, and was usually
+called the "Old Brick meeting." As this house was by far too small
+to contain his auditory, he almost immediately afterwards preached
+on the Common, to about fifteen thousand hearers; and again at night
+at his lodgings. He says, "Some afterwards came into my room. I felt
+much of the divine presence in my own soul, and though hoarse was
+enabled to speak with much power, and could have spoke, I believe,
+till midnight."
+
+On Monday morning, Whitefield preached at Mr. Webb's meeting-house,
+the "New North," on the corner of Clark and Hanover streets. "The
+presence of the Lord," he says, "was among us. Look where I would
+around me, visible impressions were made upon the auditory. Most
+wept for a considerable time." In the afternoon he meant to have
+preached at Mr. Cheekley's, in Summer-street, but was prevented
+by an accident. Just before the time for the commencement of the
+service, a person broke a board in one of the galleries, of which
+to make a seat; the noise alarmed some who heard it, and they
+imprudently cried out that the galleries were giving way. The
+house being much crowded, the whole congregation were thrown into
+the utmost alarm and disorder; some jumped from the gallery into
+the seats below, others fell from the windows, and those below
+pressing to get out of the porch, were many of them thrown over each
+other and trodden upon. Many, as might be expected, were seriously
+bruised; others had bones broken; and within two days five persons
+died from the injuries they had received. Mr. Whitefield's presence
+of mind did not fail him; he immediately led the anxious throng to
+the Common, and preached to them from the text, "Go ye out into the
+highways and hedges, and compel them to come in." He says, "The
+weather was wet, but above eight thousand followed into the fields."
+
+On Tuesday morning, Whitefield visited Mr. Walter, at Roxbury. This
+gentleman had been the colleague, and was now the successor of John
+Eliot, "the apostle of the Indians." These two men had been pastors
+of that church one hundred and six years. Whitefield was much
+pleased with Walter, who, in return, was glad to hear that he, like
+old Bishop Beveridge, called man "half a devil and half a beast." He
+preached that forenoon at Mr. Gee's meeting-house, the "Old North,"
+of which church the celebrated Dr. Cotton Mather had formerly been
+pastor. The house stood in the North square, and was taken down by
+the British army and burned for fuel at the siege of Boston, in
+1776. The auditory Whitefield preached to that morning was not very
+crowded, as the people were in doubt where he would preach. After
+dining with the secretary of the province, he says, "I preached
+in the afternoon at Dr. Sewall's to a thronged congregation, and
+exhorted and prayed as usual at my own lodgings; at neither place
+without some manifestations of a divine power accompanying the word."
+
+Wednesday was not lost. Whitefield himself shall describe its
+proceedings. "Went this morning to see and preach at Cambridge, the
+chief college for training up the sons of the prophets in all New
+England. It has one president, I think four tutors, and about a
+hundred students. It is scarce as big as one of our least colleges
+in Oxford, and as far as I could gather from some who well knew the
+state of it, not far superior to our universities in piety and true
+godliness. Tutors neglect to pray with, and examine the hearts of
+their pupils. Discipline is at too low an ebb. Bad books are become
+fashionable. Tillotson and Clarke are read instead of Sheppard,
+Stoddard, and such like evangelical writers; and therefore I chose
+to preach on these words: 'We are not as many, who corrupt the
+word of God;' and in the conclusion of my sermon I made a close
+application to tutors and students. A great number of neighboring
+ministers attended, as indeed they do at all other times, and God
+gave me great boldness and freedom of speech. The president of the
+college and minister of the parish treated me very civilly. In the
+afternoon I preached again in the court, without any particular
+application to the students. I believe there were about seven
+thousand hearers. The Holy Spirit melted many hearts. The word was
+attended with a manifest power; and a minister soon after wrote me
+word, that 'he believed one of his daughters was savingly wrought
+upon at that time.' Paid my respects to the lieutenant-governor,
+who lives at Cambridge, and returned in the evening to Boston, and
+prayed with and exhorted many people who were waiting round the door
+for a spiritual morsel. I believe our Lord did not send them empty
+away."
+
+An elm under which Whitefield preached in Cambridge became
+distinguished; it being under its shade that Washington, thirty-one
+years after, first drew his sword in the cause of the Revolution,
+on taking the command of the American army. From this circumstance,
+it has been called the "Washington elm." The last time the late
+distinguished Dr. Holyoke, of Salem, Mass., was in Cambridge, then
+nearly a hundred years old, while passing this tree with a friend,
+he said that he heard Whitefield's sermon, being at the time a
+student in college.
+
+On Thursday he preached the weekly lecture at Mr. Foxcroft's, the
+First church. But he says, "I was so oppressed with a sense of my
+base ingratitude to my dearest Saviour, that Satan would fain have
+tempted me to hold my tongue, and not invite poor sinners to Jesus
+Christ, because I was so great a sinner myself. But God enabled
+me to withstand the temptation, and since Jesus Christ had shown
+such mercy to, and had not withdrawn his Holy Spirit from me, the
+chief of sinners, I was enabled more feelingly to talk of his love;
+and afterwards found that one stranger, in particular, was in all
+probability effectually convinced by that morning's sermon. After
+public worship, I went, at his excellency's invitation, and dined
+with the governor. Most of the ministers of the town were invited
+with me. Before dinner, the governor sent for me up into his
+chamber. He wept, wished me 'good luck in the name of the Lord,'
+and recommended himself, ministers, and people to my prayers.
+Immediately after dinner, I prayed explicitly for them all, and
+went in his coach to the end of the town; but had such a sense of
+my vileness upon my soul, that I wondered people did not stone me.
+Crossed a ferry, and preached at Charlestown, a town lying on the
+north side of Boston. The meeting-house was very capacious, and
+quite filled. A gracious melting was discernible through the whole
+congregation, and I perceived much freedom and sweetness in my own
+soul, though the damp I felt in the morning was not quite gone off.
+In the evening I exhorted and prayed as usual at my lodgings; and
+blessed be God, I found a great alteration in my hearers. They now
+began to melt and weep under the word."
+
+On Friday, the following day, he preached in the morning at Roxbury,
+from a little ascent, to many thousands of people, with much of the
+divine presence. Several came to him afterwards, telling him how
+they were struck with the word. Having dined with Judge Dudley, he
+preached to a still larger congregation from a scaffold erected
+outside Mr. Byles' meeting-house in Hollis-street. Wrote to several
+friends in England; gave a short exhortation to a large crowd of
+hearers; and then spent the evening with several ministers in
+edifying conversation, singing, and prayer.
+
+Saturday, he preached in the morning at Mr. Welsteed's
+meeting-house, and in the afternoon to about fifteen thousand
+people on the Common. "But Oh, how did the word run! It rejoiced
+me to see such numbers greatly affected, so that some, I believe,
+could scarcely abstain from crying out. That place was no other
+than a Bethel, and a gate of heaven." After he had gone home to his
+lodgings he says, "The power and presence of the Lord accompanied
+and followed me. Many now wept bitterly, and cried out under the
+word like persons that were really hungering and thirsting after
+righteousness; and after I left them, God gave me to wrestle with
+him in my chamber, in behalf of some dear friends then present,
+and others that were absent from us. The Spirit of the Lord was
+upon them all. It made intercession with groanings that cannot be
+uttered."
+
+On the day following, being the Sabbath, in the morning he preached
+at the Old South church, Dr. Sewall's, to a very crowded auditory,
+"with almost as much power and visible appearance of God as
+yesterday. Collected £555 currency for my little lambs; was taken
+very ill after dinner; vomited violently, but was enabled to preach
+at Dr. Colman's in the afternoon to as great, if not a greater
+congregation than in the morning. Here also £470 were collected for
+the orphan-house in Georgia. In both places all things were carried
+on with decency and order. People went slowly out, as though they
+had not a mind to escape giving; and Dr. Colman said 'it was the
+most pleasant time he ever enjoyed in that meeting-house through the
+whole course of his life.' Blessed be God, after sermon I perceived
+myself somewhat refreshed. Supped very early. Had the honor of a
+private visit from the governor, who came full of affection to
+take his leave of me for the present. Went, at their request, and
+preached to a great company of negroes, on the conversion of the
+Ethiopian, Acts the eighth; at which the poor creatures, as well as
+many white people, were much affected; and at my return, gave an
+exhortation to a crowd of people who were waiting at my lodgings. My
+animal spirits were almost exhausted, and my legs, through expense
+of sweating and vomiting, almost ready to sink under me; but the
+Lord visited my soul, and I went to bed greatly refreshed with
+divine consolations." Even at this early period such sufferings of
+his bodily system frequently followed his herculean labors.
+
+Early on Monday morning, Sept. 29, Whitefield left Boston on an
+excursion to the eastward. At Marblehead, he "preached to some
+thousands in a broad place in the middle of the town, but not with
+much apparent effect." At Salem, he "preached to about seven
+thousand people. Here the Lord manifested forth his glory. One man
+was, I believe, struck down by the power of the word. In every part
+of the congregation, persons might be seen under great concern." He
+went on to Ipswich, where he was kindly "entertained at the house
+of Mr. Rogers, one of the ministers of the place." Of this family
+our evangelist was soon to know more than he had hitherto done. At
+about this period, John Rogers, aged 77, and Nathanael Rogers, were
+joint pastors of the First church at Ipswich; both of them were
+ardent promoters of the revival, as was also Daniel Rogers, of the
+same family. Whitefield learned with deep interest that his host
+was a descendant of the celebrated martyr, John Rogers. The next
+day he preached there to some thousands. "The Lord," says he, "gave
+me freedom, and there was a great melting in the congregation." At
+Newbury, in the afternoon, the Lord accompanied the word with power.
+The meeting-house was very large, many ministers were present, and
+the people were greatly affected. Blessed be God, his divine power
+attends us more and more." Wednesday, he preached at Hampton, in
+the open air, to some thousands. He was here very highly gratified
+with the conversation of Mr. Colton, the minister, and with the
+Christian simplicity of his excellent wife. The high wind prevented
+his being heard so well as he usually was, and he did not enjoy his
+accustomed freedom; still, "some, though not many, were affected."
+At Portsmouth, he "preached to a polite auditory, but so very
+unconcerned, that I began to question whether I had been speaking
+to rational or brute creatures. Seeing no immediate effects of
+the word preached, I was a little dejected; but God, to comfort my
+heart, sent one young man, crying out in great anguish of spirit,
+'What shall I do to be saved?'"
+
+From Portsmouth, our evangelist proceeded to York, in Maine, "to
+see one Mr. Moody, a worthy, plain, and powerful minister of Jesus
+Christ, though now much impaired by old age. He has lived by faith
+for many years, would have no settled salary, and has been much
+despised by bad men, and as much respected by the true lovers of
+the blessed Jesus." The next morning he was much comforted to hear,
+from Mr. Moody, that he would preach that morning to a hundred new
+creatures; "and indeed," says he, "I believe I did; for when I came
+to preach, I could speak little or no terror, but most consolation."
+He preached morning and evening. "The hearers looked plain and
+simple, and the tears trickled apace down most of their cheeks." He
+returned to Portsmouth that night, and the next morning preached to
+a far greater congregation, and with much better effect than before.
+"Instead of preaching to dead stocks, I now had reason to believe I
+was preaching to living men. People began to melt soon after I began
+to pray; and the power increased more and more during the whole
+sermon." This was still more clearly evinced after Mr. Whitefield's
+departure from the town.
+
+Returning to Boston, through Salem, Marblehead, and Malden, in each
+of which places he preached, and being now in improved health, he
+preached, October 7, both morning and evening, "with much power,"
+at Brattle-street. There had been for several days a report in
+circulation, that he had died suddenly, or was poisoned, and the
+people greatly rejoiced again to see him alive. At Mr. Webb's, the
+New North church, on the following Wednesday, he thought there was
+more of the presence of God through the whole ministration, than
+he had before, known at one time in the course of his life. He
+went there with the governor, in his coach, and preached morning
+and evening. "Jesus Christ manifested forth his glory; many hearts
+melted within them; and I think I was never drawn out to pray for
+and invite little children to Jesus Christ, as I was this morning. A
+little before, I had heard of a child who was taken sick just after
+it had heard me preach, and said he would go to Mr. Whitefield's
+God, and died in a short time. This encouraged me to speak to the
+little ones. But O, how were the old people affected when I said,
+'Little children, if your parents will not come to Christ, do you
+come, and go to heaven without them.' There seemed to be but few
+dry eyes, look where I would. I have not seen a greater commotion
+since my preaching at Boston. Glory be to God, who has not forgotten
+to be gracious." He collected, after this sermon, £440 for his
+orphan-house, which was now more generally supported than ever
+before.
+
+The interesting fact we have just related of the impression produced
+on the mind of a little child by the preaching of Mr. Whitefield,
+may afford the opportunity to introduce one or two other facts
+bearing on the same general topic, and suggesting some practical
+lessons.
+
+Whitefield could indeed descend to talk with children. Here is
+a specimen which at once impresses us with a lively idea of his
+spirit, and of the adaptation of the religion of Jesus to the young
+as well as the old. A little girl seven years of age, when on her
+death-bed, desired an interview with him; he came, and thus they
+conversed:
+
+WHITEFIELD. For what purpose, my dear child, have you sent for me?
+
+GIRL. I think I am dying, and I wished very much to see you.
+
+WHITEFIELD. What can I do for you?
+
+GIRL. You can tell me about Christ, and pray for me.
+
+WHITEFIELD. My dear girl, what do you know about Christ?
+
+GIRL. I know he is the Saviour of the world.
+
+WHITEFIELD. My dear child, he is so.
+
+GIRL. I hope he will be _my_ Saviour also.
+
+WHITEFIELD. I hope, my dear, that this is the language of faith out
+of the mouth of a babe; but tell me what ground you have for saying
+this?
+
+GIRL. Oh, sir, he bids little children, such as I, to come unto him,
+and says, "Of such is the kingdom of heaven;" and besides, I love
+Christ, and am always glad when I think of him.
+
+WHITEFIELD. My dear child, you make my very heart to rejoice; but
+are you not a sinner?
+
+GIRL. Yes, I am a sinner, but my blessed Redeemer takes away sin,
+and I long to be with him.
+
+WHITEFIELD. My dear girl, I trust that the desire of your heart will
+be granted; but where do you think you will find your Redeemer?
+
+GIRL. O, sir, I think I shall find him in heaven.
+
+WHITEFIELD. Do you think you will get to heaven?
+
+GIRL. Yes, I do.
+
+WHITEFIELD. But what if you do not find Christ there?
+
+GIRL. If I do not find Christ there, I am sure it is not heaven; for
+where he dwells must be heaven, for there also dwells God, and holy
+angels, and all that Christ saves.
+
+Who can tell the results of a single sermon, or trace the
+consequences of one conversion? When Mr. Whitefield was preaching
+in New England, a lady became the subject of divine grace, and her
+spirit was peculiarly drawn out in prayer for others. But in her
+Christian exercises she was alone; she could persuade no one to pray
+with her but her little daughter, about ten years of age. She took
+this dear child into her closet from day to day, as a witness of her
+cries and tears. After a time, it pleased God to touch the heart of
+the child, and to give her the hope of salvation by the remission
+of sin. In a transport of holy joy she then exclaimed, "O, mother,
+if all the world knew this! I wish I could tell every body. Pray,
+mother, let me run to some of the neighbors and tell them, that they
+may be happy and love my Saviour too." "Ah, my dear child," said the
+mother, "that would be useless, for I suppose that were you to tell
+your experience, there is not one within many miles who would not
+laugh at you, and say it was all delusion." "Oh, mother," replied
+the dear girl, "I think they would believe me. I must go over to
+the shoemaker and tell him; he will believe me." She ran over, and
+found him at work in his shop. She began by telling him that he must
+die, and that he was a sinner, and that she was a sinner, but that
+her blessed Saviour had heard her mother's prayers, and had forgiven
+all her sins; and that now she was so happy that she did not know
+how to tell it. The shoemaker was struck with surprise, his tears
+flowed down like rain; he threw aside his work, and by prayer and
+supplication sought for mercy. The neighborhood were awakened, and
+within a few months more than fifty persons were brought to the
+knowledge of Jesus, and rejoiced in his power and grace.
+
+But to return to our narrative of Whitefield's labors in Boston. On
+Thursday, October 9, he preached the public lecture at the Old South
+church. He had selected another text, but it was much impressed on
+his heart that he should preach from our Lord's conference with
+Nicodemus. A large number of ministers were present, and when he
+came to the words, "Art thou a master in Israel, and knowest not
+these things?" he says, "The Lord enabled me to open my mouth boldly
+against unconverted ministers, to caution tutors to take care of
+their pupils, and also to advise ministers particularly to examine
+into the experiences of candidates for ordination. For I am verily
+persuaded the generality of preachers talk of an unknown and unfelt
+Christ; and the reason why congregations have been so dead is,
+because they have had dead men preaching to them. O that the Lord
+may quicken and revive them, for his own name's sake. For how can
+dead men beget living children? It is true, indeed, God may convert
+men by the devil, if he pleases, and so he may by unconverted
+ministers; but I believe he seldom makes use of either of them for
+this purpose. No; the Lord will choose vessels made meet by the
+operations of the blessed Spirit for his sacred use: and as for
+my own part, I would not lay hands on an unconverted man for ten
+thousand worlds. Unspeakable freedom God gave me while treating on
+this head. After sermon, I dined with the governor, who seemed more
+kindly affected than ever, and particularly told me, of the minister
+who has lately begun to preach extempore, that 'he was glad he had
+found out a way to save his eyes.' In the afternoon I preached on
+the Common to about fifteen thousand people, and collected upwards
+of two hundred pounds for the orphan-house. Just as I had finished
+my sermon, a ticket was put up to me, wherein I was desired to pray
+for a person just entered upon the ministry, but under apprehension
+that he was not converted. God enabled me to pray for him with my
+whole heart; and I hope that ticket may teach many others not to
+run before they can give an account of their conversion. If they
+do, they offer to God strange fire." The same day and evening,
+Whitefield attended the funeral of one of the provincial council,
+preached at the almshouse, exhorted a great number of persons at
+the workhouse, who followed him there, and conversed with many who
+waited at his lodgings for spiritual advice. From the time of his
+return from the east, he had been thronged, morning and evening,
+with anxious inquirers. His friends cried, "Spare thyself;" but he
+says, "I went and ate bread very comfortably at a friend's house,
+where I was invited, and soon after retired to my rest. Oh, how
+comfortable is sleep after working for Jesus."
+
+On Friday he preached at Charlestown and at Reading to many
+thousands, and on Saturday from the meeting-house door at Cambridge,
+on Noah as a preacher of righteousness; a great number of persons
+were present, who stood very attentively during a shower of rain,
+and were at the latter part of the sermon much affected. On the same
+afternoon he returned to Boston, and again preached, and was engaged
+till midnight, chiefly in conversation and prayer with persons
+anxious for their salvation.
+
+Sunday, October 12, he rose with body and soul greatly refreshed,
+and spent its early hours in conversing with those who came for
+spiritual counsel. He then "preached with great power and affection"
+at the Old South church, which was so exceedingly thronged, that
+he was obliged to get in at one of the windows. He dined with the
+governor, who came to him after dinner weeping, and desired his
+prayers. He heard Dr. Sewall in the afternoon. Both during the
+exercises and after them he was sick, but went with the governor in
+his coach, and preached his farewell sermon on the Common, Gillies
+says, to twenty thousand, and Tracy to nearly thirty thousand
+people, though the whole population of Boston did not at that time
+exceed twenty thousand. Great multitudes were melted into tears when
+he spoke of leaving them. The governor then went with him to his
+lodgings. He stood in the passage and spoke to a great company, both
+within and without the doors; but they were so deeply affected, and
+cried out so loud, that he was compelled to leave off praying. The
+remaining part of the evening was chiefly spent in conversation with
+inquirers.
+
+In closing his account of this day's work, he exclaims, "Blessed be
+God for what things he has done in Boston! I hope a glorious work is
+now begun, and that the Lord will stir up some faithful laborers to
+carry it on. Boston is a large, populous place, very wealthy. Has
+the form kept up, but has lost much of the power of religion. I have
+not heard of any remarkable stir for these many years. Ministers
+and people are obliged to confess, that the love of many is waxed
+cold. Both, for the generality, seem to be too much conformed
+to the world. There is much of the pride of life to be seen in
+their assemblies. Jewels, patches, and gay apparel are commonly
+worn by the female sex; and even the common people, I observed
+dressed up in the pride of life. There are nine meeting-houses of
+the Congregational persuasion, one Baptist, one French, and one
+belonging to the Scotch-Irish. One thing Boston is very remarkable
+for--the external observance of the Sabbath. Men in civil offices
+have a regard for religion. The governor encourages them, and the
+ministers and magistrates are more united than in any other place
+where I have been. Both were exceedingly civil to me during my stay.
+I never saw so little scoffing, never had so little opposition.
+But one might easily see much would hereafter arise, when I came
+to be more particular in my application to particular persons; for
+I fear many rest in a head-knowledge, are close pharisees, and
+have only a name to live. It must needs be so when the power of
+godliness is dwindled away, and where the form only of religion
+is become fashionable among people. Boston people are dear to my
+soul. They were greatly affected by the word, followed me night
+and day, and were very liberal to my dear orphans. I promised, God
+willing, to visit them again, and intend to fulfil my promise when
+it shall please God to bring me again from my native country. In the
+meanwhile, dear Boston, adieu. The Lord be with thy ministers and
+people, and grant that the remnant which is still left according
+to the election of grace, may take root downwards, and bear fruit
+upwards, and fill the land."
+
+On the morning following these solemn services, Whitefield left
+Boston on his way to Northampton. To detail his four days' progress,
+would be almost to repeat what we have already written. At Concord,
+where he arrived on Monday about noon, he preached twice to some
+thousands in the open air, "and a comfortable preaching it was. The
+hearers were sweetly melted down." Mr. Bliss, the minister of the
+town, of whose subsequent labors it has been well said, more perfect
+accounts ought to have been preserved, wept abundantly. On Tuesday
+he "preached at Sudbury to some thousands with power, and observed
+a considerable commotion in the assembly;" as was also the case the
+same afternoon at Marlborough. At the latter place he was met by
+Governor Belcher, who went with him through the rain that night to
+Worcester. Here, on Wednesday, he "preached in the open air to some
+thousands. The word fell with weight indeed. It carried all before
+it. After sermon, the governor said to me, 'I pray God I may apply
+what has been said to my own heart. Pray, Mr. Whitefield, that I may
+hunger and thirst after righteousness.'" Passing on, he preached
+at Leicester, Brookfield, and Cold-Spring, on his way to Hadley,
+where he arrived on Friday, and preached about noon. In this place
+he says, "A great work was begun, and carried on some years ago;
+but lately the people of God have complained of deadness and losing
+their first love. However, as soon as I mentioned what God had done
+for their souls formerly, it was like putting fire to timber. The
+remembrance of it quickened them, and caused many to weep sorely."
+On the same afternoon he crossed the ferry to Northampton.
+
+Of the great revival of religion in New England, which commenced at
+Northampton about 1734, and is the subject of President Edwards'
+"Narrative," we have already briefly spoken; its importance will
+justify a more extended notice. It began without any extraordinary
+circumstances to awaken the attention of the people, or any uncommon
+arrangements or efforts by the minister. The young people of the
+place had for two or three years shown an increased measure of
+thoughtfulness, and a growing disposition to receive religious
+instruction. There had been, from time to time, instances of strong
+religious impression and of hopeful conversion. But in the latter
+end of December, 1734, five or six persons, one after another,
+became very suddenly the subjects of the grace of God which newly
+creates the soul. Among these was a young woman distinguished for
+her gayety in youthful society, "one of the greatest company-keepers
+in the whole town," who came to the pastor with a broken heart
+and a contrite spirit, and with faith and hope in the Saviour of
+sinners, before any one had heard of her being at all impressed
+with serious things. The sudden, though, as time proved, the _real_
+conversion of this young woman, was the power of God striking the
+electric chain of religious sympathies which had imperceptibly,
+but effectually encircled all the families of Northampton. Mr.
+Edwards' "Narrative" says, "The news of it seemed to be almost
+like a flash of lightning upon the hearts of young people all over
+the town, and upon many others.... Presently a great and earnest
+concern about the great things of religion and the eternal world
+became universal in all parts of the town, and among persons of
+all degrees and all ages. All talk but about spiritual and eternal
+things was soon thrown by; all the conversation in all companies
+was upon these things only, except so much as was necessary for
+people carrying on their ordinary secular business. The minds of
+people were wonderfully taken off from the world; it was treated
+among us as a thing of very little consequence. All would eagerly
+lay hold of opportunities for their souls, and were wont very often
+to meet together in private houses for religious purposes. And
+such meetings, when appointed, were generally thronged. Those who
+were wont to be the vainest and loosest, and those who had been
+most disposed to think and speak lightly of vital and experimental
+religion, were now generally subject to great awakening. And the
+work of conversion was carried on in a most astonishing manner, and
+increased more and more. From day to day, for many months together,
+might be seen evident instances of sinners brought out of darkness
+into marvellous light. In the spring and summer following, the town
+seemed to be full of the presence of God; it was never so full of
+love, and yet so full of distress, as it was then. It was a time
+of joy in families, on account of salvation being brought to them;
+parents rejoicing over their children as new-born, and husbands
+over their wives, and wives over their husbands. The goings of God
+were then seen in his sanctuary, God's day was a delight, and his
+tabernacles were amiable. Our public assemblies were then beautiful;
+the congregation was alive in God's service, every one eagerly
+intent on the public worship, every hearer eager to drink in the
+words of the minister as they came from his mouth. The assembly
+were, from time to time, in tears, while the word was preached; some
+weeping with sorrow and distress, others with joy and love, others
+with pity and concern for their neighbors."
+
+In December, 1743, nine years after this blessed work had begun,
+Edwards writes, "Ever since the great work of God that was wrought
+here about nine years ago, there has been a great, abiding
+alteration in this town, in many respects. There has been vastly
+more religion kept up in the town, among all sorts of persons, in
+religious exercises, and in common conversation, than used to be
+before. There has remained a more general seriousness and decency
+in attending the public worship. I suppose the town has been in no
+measure so free from vice, for any long time together, for these
+sixty years, as it has these nine years past. There has also been
+an evident alteration with respect to a charitable spirit to the
+poor. And though, after that great work of nine years ago, there
+has been a very lamentable decay of religious affections, and the
+engagedness of people's spirits in religion, yet many societies for
+prayer and social religion were all along kept up, and there were
+some few instances of awakening and deep concern about the things of
+another world, even in the most dead time. In the year 1740, in the
+spring, before Mr. Whitefield came to this town, there was a visible
+alteration. There was more seriousness and religious conversation,
+especially among young people. Those things that were of ill
+tendency among them were more forborne; and it was a more frequent
+thing for persons to visit their ministers upon soul accounts. In
+some particular persons, there appeared a great alteration about
+that time. And thus it continued till Mr. Whitefield came to town,
+which was about the middle of October following."
+
+And what thought Whitefield himself on his arrival at Northampton?
+Let us hear him. "Their pastor's name is Edwards, successor and
+grandson to the great Stoddard, whose memory will be always precious
+to my soul, and whose books, entitled, "_A Guide to Christ_," and
+"_Safety of appearing in Christ's righteousness_," I would recommend
+to all. Mr. Edwards is a solid, excellent Christian, but at present
+weak in body. I think I may say I have not seen his fellow in all
+New England. When I came into his pulpit, I found my heart drawn out
+to talk of scarce any thing besides the consolations and privileges
+of saints, and the plentiful effusion of the Spirit upon the
+hearts of believers. And when I came to remind them of their former
+experiences, and how zealous and lively they were at that time, both
+minister and people wept much; and the Holy Ghost enabled me to
+speak with a great deal of power. In the evening, I gave a word of
+exhortation to several who came to Mr. Edwards' house."
+
+On the following morning, "At Mr. Edwards' request, I spoke to his
+little children, who were much affected. Preached at Hatfield, five
+miles from Northampton, but found myself not much strengthened.
+Conversed profitably on the way about the things of God with dear
+Mr. Edwards, and preached about four in the afternoon to his
+congregation. I began with fear and trembling, feeling but little
+power in the morning, but God assisted me. Few dry eyes seemed to be
+in the assembly for a considerable time. I had an affecting prospect
+in my own heart of the glories of the upper world, and was enabled
+to speak of them feelingly to others. I believe many were filled, as
+it were, with new wine; and it seemed as if a time of refreshing was
+come from the presence of the Lord."
+
+The day following this was the Sabbath. Whitefield tells us in his
+journal, that he "felt wonderful satisfaction in being at the house
+of Mr. Edwards. He is a son himself, and hath also a daughter of
+Abraham for his wife. A sweeter couple I have not yet seen. Their
+children were dressed, not in silks and satins, but plain, as
+becomes the children of those who in all things ought to be examples
+of Christian simplicity. She is a woman adorned with a meek and
+quiet spirit, talked feelingly and solidly of the things of God, and
+seemed to be such a help-mate for her husband, that she caused me to
+renew those prayers, which, for some months, I have put up to God,
+that he would be pleased to send me a daughter of Abraham to be my
+wife. I find, upon many accounts, it is my duty to marry. Lord, I
+desire to have no choice of my own. Thou knowest my circumstances;
+thou knowest I only desire to marry in and for thee."
+
+Whitefield "preached this morning, and perceived the melting begin
+sooner and rise higher than before. Dear Mr. Edwards wept during
+the whole time of exercise. The people were equally, if not more
+affected; and my own soul was much lifted up towards God. In the
+afternoon the power increased yet more and more. Our Lord seemed to
+keep the good wine till the last. I have not seen four such gracious
+meetings together since my arrival. My soul was much knit to these
+dear people of God; and though I had not time to converse with them
+about their experiences, yet one might see they were for the most
+part, a gracious, tender people; and though their former fire might
+be greatly abated, yet it immediately appeared when stirred up."
+
+Edwards had looked forward to Whitefield's visit to Northampton with
+interest, for he felt greatly concerned for his success. He wrote
+a week before his arrival to his friend Dr. Wheelock, then a young
+minister of twenty-nine, "I think that those that make mention of
+the Lord, should now be awakened and encouraged to call upon God,
+and not keep silence, nor give him any rest, till he establish and
+till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth; and particularly
+should be earnest with God, that he would still uphold and succeed
+the Rev. Mr. Whitefield, the instrument that it has pleased him
+to improve to do such great things for the honor of his name, and
+at all times so to guide and direct him under his extraordinary
+circumstances, that Satan may not get any advantage of him."
+
+After his visit, Edwards writes, "Mr. Whitefield's sermons were
+suitable to the circumstances of the town; containing just
+reproofs of our backslidings, and in a most moving and affecting
+manner, making use of our great profession and our great mercies
+as arguments with us to return to God, from whom we had departed.
+Immediately after this, the minds of the people in general appeared
+more engaged in religion, showing a greater forwardness to make
+it the subject of their conversation, and to meet frequently for
+religious purposes, and to embrace all opportunities to hear
+the word preached. The revival at first appeared chiefly among
+professors, and those who had entertained the hope that they were
+in a state of grace, to whom Mr. Whitefield chiefly addressed
+himself; but in a very short time, there appeared an awakening and
+deep concern among some young persons that looked upon themselves
+in a Christless state; and there were some hopeful appearances of
+conversion; and some professors were greatly revived. In about a
+month or six weeks, there was a great alteration in the town, both
+as to the revivals of professors, and awakenings of others."
+
+During this visit of Whitefield to Edwards, some conversation
+was held between them, of which, several years afterwards, as it
+appears to us, far too much was said. Edwards took an opportunity,
+privately, to converse with his friend about _impulses_, and
+furnished him with some reasons for thinking that he gave too much
+attention to such things. Whitefield did not appear offended,
+neither did he seem inclined to converse much on the subject, or to
+yield to the reasonings of his friend Edwards. The latter says, "It
+is true, that I thought Mr. Whitefield liked me not so well for my
+opposing these things; and though he treated me with great kindness,
+yet he never made so much of an intimate of me, as of some others."
+It seems also, that they conversed on the strong language which
+the great evangelist was accustomed to employ as to those whom he
+considered to be unconverted, and the duty of the people to forsake
+the preaching of ministers whom he did not consider to be renewed
+in the spirit of their minds. Whitefield told Edwards also, of the
+design he had cherished of bringing over a number of young men from
+England, to be ordained by the Tennents, in New Jersey; an object,
+however, which he never accomplished.
+
+It appears that after preaching at Northampton twice on the Sabbath,
+Whitefield, accompanied by his friend Edwards, rode to the house of
+the father of the last-named gentleman, the Rev. Timothy Edwards,
+in East Windsor, Connecticut. At this place, as also at Westfield,
+Springfield, Suffield, Hartford, Wethersfield, Middletown, and
+Wallingford, he preached to large assemblies, generally with his
+accustomed animation and power, and with the happy proofs of
+success which he so frequently witnessed. During this week also,
+he experienced a remarkable deliverance from great danger. He
+says, "A little after I left Springfield, my horse, coming over a
+broken bridge, threw me over his head, directly upon my nose. The
+fall stunned me for a while. My mouth was full of dust, I bled a
+little, but falling upon soft sand, got not much damage. After
+I had recovered myself, and mounted my horse, God so filled me
+with a sense of his sovereign, distinguishing love, and my own
+unworthiness, that my eyes gushed out with tears; but they were all
+tears of love. Oh, how did I want to sink before the high and lofty
+One who inhabiteth eternity!"
+
+During this week also, on his way to Suffield, he met with a
+minister who said, "It was not absolutely necessary for a gospel
+minister, that he should be converted;" meaning, no doubt, that
+though conversion was necessary to his salvation, it was not
+indispensable to his ministerial character and usefulness. This gave
+Whitefield a subject. "I insisted much in my discourse upon the
+doctrine of the new birth, and also the necessity of a minister's
+being converted, before he could preach Christ aright. The word
+came with great power, and a great impression was made upon the
+people in all parts of the assembly. Many ministers were present. I
+did not spare them. Most of them thanked me for my plain dealing;
+but one was offended; and so would more of his stamp be, if I were
+to continue longer in New England. For unconverted ministers are
+the bane of the Christian church; and though I honor the memory of
+that great and good man Mr. Stoddard, yet I think he is much to
+be blamed for endeavoring to prove that unconverted men might be
+admitted into the ministry. How he has handled the controversy, I
+know not. I think no solid arguments can be brought to defend such a
+cause. A sermon lately published by Mr. Gilbert Tennent, entitled,
+'_The Danger of an Unconverted Ministry_,' I think unanswerable.
+Tracy truly says, that Stoddard, in his '_Appeal to the Learned_,'
+assumes that an unconverted minister is bound to continue in the
+performance of ministerial duties, and infers that unconverted men
+may therefore be admitted to the church. This opinion at one period
+extensively prevailed, though all held it desirable that a minister
+should be a converted man. By his attacks on this opinion, and
+especially by thus endorsing Tennent's Nottingham sermon, Whitefield
+gave great offence."
+
+On Wednesday afternoon, he preached at East Windsor, and spent
+the night with Mr. Edwards, senior, "I believe," he says, "a true
+disciple and minister of the Lord Jesus Christ. After exercise, we
+supped at the house of old Mr. Edwards. His wife was as aged, I
+believe, as himself, and I fancied that I was sitting in the house
+of a Zacharias and Elisabeth." On the following day, he "preached to
+many thousands, and with much freedom and power," at Hartford in the
+morning, and at Wethersfield in the afternoon. Here he met Messrs.
+Wheelock and Pomeroy, "two young, faithful, and zealous ministers
+of Jesus Christ." From this place he had intended to go eastward
+as far as Plymouth, and return by another route to Providence, and
+notice had been given in the newspapers of about twenty sermons
+which he proposed to preach at the times and places specified.
+He was afterwards blamed for making these appointments without
+first consulting the pastors of the several churches; thus giving
+countenance, it was said, to the practice of itinerants intruding
+into other men's parishes without their consent. The proceeding
+was certainly somewhat irregular, but Whitefield was not much to
+be blamed for it. The details were settled, and the publication
+made, by men in whose judgment and knowledge of the customs of
+the country he had a right to confide; and the appointments
+were believed, in all cases, and doubtless known in some, to be
+agreeable to the parties concerned. At Wethersfield, however, the
+evangelist ascertained the necessity of his hastening on to New
+York, and immediately, therefore, published a note recalling these
+appointments.
+
+On Friday, October 24, Whitefield arrived at New Haven, and was
+entertained at the house of Mr. James Pierpont, the brother-in-law
+of Mr. Edwards, and of Mr. Noyes, the minister of the First
+Congregational church. The Legislature of the colony being in
+session, he remained till after the Lord's day; and "had the
+pleasure of seeing numbers daily impressed," under his ministrations
+in the old polygonal meeting-house. Several ministers of the
+vicinity visited him, "with whose pious conversation he was much
+refreshed." Good old Governor Tallcott, on whom with due politeness
+he waited to pay his respects, said to him, "Thanks be to God for
+such refreshings in our way to heaven." Among others who heard his
+glowing appeals to the congregations that listened to him during
+this visit, was young Samuel Hopkins, still well known as an eminent
+divine. Hopkins was now nineteen, and was a student at college; his
+biographer tells us, that "he was much interested in the man, and
+much impressed by his solemn warnings."
+
+The testimony of Hopkins himself may here be introduced. He says,
+speaking of Whitefield, "The attention of the people in general was
+greatly awakened upon hearing the fame of him, that there was a
+remarkable preacher from England travelling through the country. The
+people flocked to hear him when he came to New Haven. Some travelled
+twenty miles out of the country to hear him. The assemblies were
+crowded, and remarkably attentive; people appeared generally to
+approve, and their conversation turned chiefly upon him and his
+preaching. Some disapproved of several things, which occasioned
+considerable disputes. I heard him when he preached in public, and
+when he expounded in private in the evening, and highly approved of
+him, and was impressed by what he said in public and in private.
+He preached against mixed dancing and the frolicking of males
+and females together, which practice was then very common in New
+England. This offended some, especially young people. But I remember
+I justified him in this in my own mind, and in conversation with
+those who were disposed to condemn him. This was in October, 1740,
+when I had entered on my last year in college."
+
+On this visit, Whitefield dined with the Rev. Mr. Clap, the rector
+of the college. Of the college he says, "It is about one-third part
+as big as Cambridge. It has one rector, three tutors, and about a
+hundred students. But I hear of no remarkable concern among them
+concerning religion." Mr. Clap, it is well known, afterwards became
+the public opponent of Whitefield; and it would seem that his
+dislike to him commenced with this first interview; for he "spoke
+very closely to the students, and showed the dreadful consequences
+of an unconverted ministry." In his journal of the day he says, "O
+that God may quicken ministers! O that the Lord may make them a
+flaming fire!" On the two days following, he preached at Milford,
+Stratford, and Fairfield, on his way to New York. On Wednesday, when
+at Stamford, he thus speaks of New England and his labors in it:
+
+"I give God thanks for sending me to New England. I have now had
+an opportunity of seeing the greatest and most populous parts of
+it; and take it all together, it certainly on many accounts exceeds
+all other provinces of America, and for the establishment of
+religion, perhaps all other parts of the world. Never, surely, was
+so large a spot of ground settled in such a manner, in so short a
+space of one hundred years. The towns all through Connecticut and
+eastwards towards York in the province of Massachusetts, [Maine,]
+near the river-side, are large, well peopled, and exceedingly
+pleasant to travel through. Every five miles, or perhaps less,
+you have a meeting-house, and I believe there is no such a thing
+as a pluralist, or non-resident minister in both provinces. Many,
+nay, most that preach, I fear do not experimentally know Christ;
+yet I cannot see much worldly advantage to tempt them to take upon
+them the sacred function. Few country ministers, as I have been
+informed, have sufficient allowed them in money to maintain a
+family. God has remarkably, in sundry times and in divers manners,
+poured out his Spirit in several parts of both provinces; and it
+often refreshes my soul to hear of the faith of the good forefathers
+who first settled in these parts. Notwithstanding they had their
+foibles, surely they were a set of righteous men. They certainly
+followed our Lord's rule, sought first the kingdom of God and his
+righteousness; and behold, all other things God added unto them.
+Their seed are now blessed, in temporal things especially, and
+notwithstanding the rising generation seem to be settled on their
+lees, yet I believe the Lord hath more than seven thousand who have
+not bowed the knee to Baal. The ministers and people of Connecticut
+seem to be more simple than those that live near Boston, especially
+in those parts where I went. But I think the ministers' preaching
+almost universally by notes, is a certain mark they have in a great
+measure lost the old spirit of preaching. For though all are not to
+be condemned that use notes, yet it is a sad symptom of the decay
+of vital religion when reading sermons becomes fashionable, where
+extempore preaching did once almost universally prevail. As for
+the universities, I believe it may be said, their light is become
+darkness, darkness that may be felt, and is complained of by the
+most godly ministers. I pray God these fountains may be purified,
+and send forth pure streams to water the cities of our God....
+As for the civil government of New England, it seems to be well
+regulated, and I think, at opening all their courts, either the
+judge or a minister begins with a prayer. Family worship, I believe,
+is generally kept up. The negroes I think better used, both in soul
+and body, than in any other province I have yet seen. In short, I
+like New England exceedingly well; and when a spirit of reformation
+revives, it certainly will prevail here more than in other places,
+because they are simple in their worship, less corrupt in their
+principles, and consequently easier to be brought over to the form
+of sound words, into which so many of their pious ancestors were
+delivered. Send forth, O Lord, thy light and thy truth, and for
+thine infinite mercy's sake, show thou hast a peculiar delight in
+these habitable parts of the earth. Amen, Lord Jesus, amen, and
+amen."
+
+Among many who became the subjects of divine grace during this visit
+of Whitefield to New England, was Daniel Emerson, who was educated
+at Harvard college, where he received his first degree in 1739, and
+where he continued to reside for some time as a graduate. While at
+college, he is said to have been very fond of the gay pleasures of
+this life, until his attention was effectually called to religion by
+the preaching of Whitefield, whom he followed from place to place
+for several days. He was ordained at Hollis, New Hampshire, in 1743,
+where, in a ministry of fifty years, he was a worthy follower of
+his spiritual father. The chief excellences of his preaching were
+sound doctrine, deep feeling, and zeal at times almost overwhelming.
+He was truly a son of thunder, and a flaming light. He was almost
+incessantly engaged in labors, preaching, attending funerals, etc.,
+far and near. His efforts were greatly blessed, especially among
+his own people, who under his ministry enjoyed extensive revivals
+of religion, and where also a large number of ministers have been
+called to their work. He died in 1801, aged eighty-five.
+
+It may be appropriate to introduce here a sketch of Whitefield's
+doctrines and labors at this time, as given us by the eminent Dr.
+Thomas Prince, in his "Christian History," under date of January
+26, 1744-5, but having reference to Whitefield's first visit to New
+England, which we have just described:
+
+"He spoke with a mighty sense of God, eternity, the immortality
+and preciousness of the souls of his hearers, of their original
+corruption, and of the extreme danger the unregenerate are in; with
+the nature and absolute necessity of regeneration by the Holy Ghost;
+and of believing in Christ, in order to our pardon, justification,
+yielding an acceptable obedience, and obtaining salvation from
+hell and an entrance into heaven. His doctrine was plainly that
+of the reformers; declaring against our putting our good works or
+morality in the room of Christ's righteousness, or their having any
+hand in our justification, or being indeed pleasing to God while
+we are totally unsanctified, acting upon corrupt principles, and
+unreconciled enemies to him; which occasioned some to mistake him,
+as if he opposed morality. But he insisted on it, that the tree of
+the heart is by original sin exceedingly corrupted, and must be
+made good by regeneration, that so the fruits proceeding from it
+may be good likewise; that where the heart is renewed, it ought
+and will be careful to maintain good works, that if any be not
+habitually so careful who think themselves renewed, they deceive
+their own souls; and even the most improved in holiness, as well as
+others, must entirely depend on the righteousness of Christ for the
+acceptance of their persons and services. And though now and then
+he dropped some expressions that were not so accurate and guarded
+as we should expect from aged and long-studied ministers, yet I had
+the satisfaction to observe his readiness with great modesty and
+thankfulness to receive correction as soon as offered.
+
+"In short, he was a most importunate wooer of souls to come to
+Christ for the enjoyment of him, and all his benefits. He distinctly
+applied his exhortations to the elderly people, the middle-aged,
+the young, the Indians, and negroes, and had a most winning way
+of addressing them. He affectionately prayed for our magistrates,
+ministers, colleges, candidates for the ministry, and churches, as
+well as people in general; and before he left us, in a public and
+moving manner, he observed to the people how sorry he was to hear
+that the religious assemblies, especially on lectures, had been so
+thin, exhorted them earnestly to a more general attendance on our
+public ministrations for the time to come, and told them how glad he
+should be to hear of the same.
+
+"Multitudes were greatly affected, and many awakened with his lively
+ministry. Though he preached every day, the houses were crowded; but
+when he preached on the Common, a vaster number attended; and almost
+every evening the house where he lodged was thronged to hear his
+prayers and counsels.
+
+"On Mr. Whitefield's leaving us, great numbers in this town [Boston]
+were so happily concerned about their souls, as we had never
+seen any thing like it before, except at the time of the general
+earthquake;[1] and their desires excited to hear their ministers
+more than ever. So that our assemblies, both on lectures and
+Sabbaths, were surprisingly increased, and now the people wanted
+to hear us oftener. In consequence of which a public lecture was
+proposed to be set up at Dr. Colman's church, near the midst of the
+town, on every Tuesday evening."
+
+  [1] Dr. Prince, in a note, here says, "Though people were _then_,"
+  in the time of the earthquake, "generally frightened, and many
+  awakened to such a sense of their duty as to offer themselves to our
+  communion, yet very few came to me _then_ under deep convictions of
+  their unconverted and lost condition, in comparison of what came
+  _now_. Nor did those who came to me _then_, come so much with the
+  inquiry, 'What shall we do to be saved?' as to signify they had such
+  a sense of their duty to come to the Lord's table that they dare not
+  stay away any longer."
+
+In reference to the work of grace which was connected with
+Whitefield's preaching in New England, the Rev. Dr. Baron Stow,
+in his "Centennial Discourse," says, "The result, by the blessing
+of God, was a powerful revival, such as New England had never
+witnessed. The work was opposed with great vehemence; and no
+impartial reader of the history of those extraordinary scenes can
+question that much of the hostility was provoked by improprieties of
+both speech and action, that would at any time be offensive to those
+who love good order and Christian decorum. But after making liberal
+allowance for all that was truly exceptionable, it is cheerfully
+admitted by the candid Christian, that the excitement was, in the
+main, the product of the Holy Spirit, and that its fruits were
+eminently favorable to the advancement of true religion. A torpid
+community was aroused, as by the trump of God, from its long and
+heavy slumber; ministers and people were converted; the style of
+preaching, and the tone of individual piety were improved; a cold,
+cadaverous formalism gave place to the living energy of experimental
+godliness; the doctrines of the gospel were brought out from their
+concealment, and made to reassert their claims to a cordial,
+practical credence, and all the interests of truth and holiness
+received new homage from regenerated thousands."
+
+One or two other facts connected with Whitefield's usefulness in New
+England are too important to be omitted. During this visit he was
+much gratified by an interview with a colored man, who had been his
+chaise-driver when he first visited Cambridge. The negro had heard
+him preach in the college a sermon especially addressed "to those
+who labor and are heavy-laden." It took such a hold on the poor man,
+that he repeated it in the kitchen when he reached home. Mr. Cooper
+of Boston was so well satisfied, as was Whitefield also, with his
+account of his conversion, that he was admitted to the Lord's table.
+
+Another "brand plucked from the burning" was a son of Mackintosh,
+an English rebel, who had been condemned to perpetual imprisonment,
+and had been allowed by George the First to settle in New England.
+One of his daughters, a lady of fortune, had heard Whitefield preach
+in Dr. Prince's church at Boston, and had been won by the word to
+Christ. She was soon after smitten by sickness, and ripened rapidly
+for heaven. On her death-bed she cried out for her "soul friend" Mr.
+Whitefield; but checking her own impatience, she asked, "Why should
+I do so? He is gone about his Master's work, and in a little time we
+shall meet to part no more." The distinguished evangelist had a very
+high opinion of her piety, and his interest in her was increased by
+the fact that she had a very remarkable escape from some ruffians
+who had been bribed to convey her and her sister to Scotland, that
+their uncle might seize on an estate worth a thousand pounds a year.
+
+There were at this time not less than twenty ministers in the
+neighborhood of Boston who unhesitatingly spoke of Whitefield
+as their spiritual father, directly tracing their conversion to
+his ministry. Of one of these we have an account by Collins, the
+journalist of South Reading. Speaking of 1741, he says, "Mr.
+Whitefield preached upon our Common in the open air. Mr. Hobby
+the minister went with the multitude to hear him. It is said that
+Mr. Hobby afterwards remarked, he came to pick a hole in Mr.
+Whitefield's coat, but that Whitefield picked a hole in his heart.
+Mr. Hobby afterwards wrote and published a defence of Mr. Whitefield
+in a letter to Mr. Henchman, the minister of Lynn, who had written
+against him."
+
+The letters of Whitefield, during his journeys of eleven hundred
+miles in New England, were few and brief; but they clearly indicated
+that at this time he was inclined "to return no more to his native
+country." New England, notwithstanding his trials there, had
+evidently won his heart, and for a time almost weaned him from Great
+Britain. When he left it, as he was now about to do, for the south,
+he wrote, "God only knows what a cross it was to me to leave dear
+New England so soon. I hope death will not be so bitter to me as
+was parting with my friends. Glad shall I be to be _prayed_ thither
+again before I see my native land. I would just be where He would
+have me, although in the uttermost parts of the earth. I am now
+hunting for poor lost sinners in these _ungospelized_ wilds."
+
+Is there not an awfully retributive providence connected with the
+rejection of the gospel and its ministers? Do we not see this
+principle at work in the history and present state of the Jews; and
+has it not often appeared also in the history of Christianity? There
+was a beautiful village, now a city, in Massachusetts, from which
+Whitefield was driven with such rancorous abuse, that he shook off
+the dust of his feet, and proclaimed that the Spirit of God would
+not visit that spot till the last of those persecutors was dead. The
+good man's language had a fearful truth in it, though he was not
+divinely gifted with the prophet's inspiration. A consciousness of
+desertion paralyzed the energies of the church; for nearly a century
+it was nurtured on the unwholesome food of unscriptural doctrine. In
+the very garden of natural loveliness, it sat like a heath in the
+desert, upon which there could be no rain; and not till that whole
+generation had passed from the earth, did Zion appear there in her
+beauty and strength.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+LABORS IN NEW YORK AND THE MIDDLE AND SOUTHERN STATES.
+
+1740, 1741.
+
+
+Whitefield was now again on his way to New York, preaching at Rye
+and King's Bridge on the road. At the latter place he was met by
+several friends from the city, with whom he pleasantly talked, "and
+found," he says, "an inexpressible satisfaction in my soul when I
+arrived at the house of my very dear friend Mr. Noble. After supper
+the Lord filled my heart, and gave me to wrestle with him for New
+York inhabitants and my own dear friends." He was also cheered
+by meeting Mr. Davenport from Long Island, whose labors as an
+evangelist were then exciting much interest. Here too he met with a
+violent pamphlet published against him. "Met also with two volumes
+of sermons published in London as delivered by me, though I never
+preached on most of the texts. But Satan must try all ways to bring
+the work of God into contempt."
+
+On the morning after his arrival, Whitefield preached in Mr.
+Pemberton's meeting-house, and says concerning the service, "Never
+saw the word of God fall with such weight in New York before. Two or
+three cried out. Mr. Noble could scarce refrain himself. And look
+where I would, many seemed deeply wounded. At night the word was
+attended with great power. One cried out; and the Lord enabled me
+at the latter end of my sermon to speak with authority. Alas, how
+vain are the thoughts of men! As I came along yesterday, I found my
+heart somewhat dejected, and told Mr. Noble I expected but little
+moving in New York; but he bid me 'expect great things from God,'
+and likewise told me of several who were, as he hoped, savingly
+wrought upon by my ministry when I was there last."
+
+On the following day he finished his answer to the pamphlet already
+referred to, and says, "God enabled me to write it in the spirit of
+meekness." He adds, "Preached twice as yesterday to very crowded
+auditories, and neither time without power. In the evening exercise
+some fainted, and the Lord seemed to show us more and more that a
+time for favoring New York was near at hand. Oh, wherefore did I
+doubt? Lord, increase my faith."
+
+The following day, November 2, was the Sabbath. "Preached this
+morning with freedom and some power, but was much dejected before
+the evening sermon. For near half an hour before I left Mr. Noble's
+house, I could only lie before the Lord, and say I was a poor
+sinner, and wonder that Christ would be gracious to such a wretch.
+As I went to meeting I grew weaker and weaker, and when I came into
+the pulpit I could have chosen to be silent rather than speak. But
+after I had begun, the Spirit of the Lord gave me freedom, till
+at length it came down like a mighty rushing wind, and carried
+all before it. Immediately the whole congregation was alarmed.
+Shrieking, crying, weeping, and wailing were to be heard in every
+corner; men's hearts failing them for fear, and many falling into
+the arms of their friends. My soul was carried out till I could
+scarcely speak any more. A sense of God's goodness overwhelmed me."
+
+After narrating two or three pleasing incidents as to the effect
+of his preaching even on the minds of children, and describing his
+feelings on his return home, he gives an account of the wedding
+of two young persons who were going as his assistants to Georgia.
+"Never," he says, "did I see a more solemn wedding. Jesus Christ
+was called, and he was present in a remarkable manner. After Mr.
+Pemberton had married them, I prayed. But my soul, how was it
+enabled to wrestle with and lay hold on God! I was in a very great
+agony, and the Holy Ghost was so remarkably present, that most,
+I believe, could say, 'Surely God is in this place.' After this,
+divine manifestations flowed in so fast, that my frail tabernacle
+was scarce able to sustain them. My dear friends sat round me on the
+bedsides. I prayed for each of them alternately with strong cries,
+and pierced by the eye of faith even within the veil. I continued in
+this condition for about half an hour, astonished at my own vileness
+and the excellency of Christ, then rose full of peace and love and
+joy."
+
+On Monday, the 3d, he preached both morning and afternoon to
+increasing congregations, and says, "There was a great and gracious
+melting both times, but no crying out. Nearly £110 currency were
+collected for the orphans; and in the evening many came and took an
+affectionate leave. About seven we took boat; reached Staten Island
+about ten, greatly refreshed in my inner man. A dear Christian
+friend received us gladly, and we solaced ourselves by singing and
+praying. About midnight retired to sleep, still longing for that
+time when I shall sleep no more."
+
+On Tuesday he preached on Staten Island from a wagon, to three
+or four hundred people. "The Lord came among them," and several
+inquired after the way of salvation. Here he met Gilbert Tennent
+and Mr. Cross. The former of these excellent ministers had recently
+lost his wife, and though he was ardently attached to her, he calmly
+preached her funeral sermon with the corpse lying before him.
+Tennent had lately been preaching in New Jersey and Maryland, and
+had a delightful account to give his friend of the progress of the
+good work. Nor was the account given by Mr. Cross of less interest.
+After sermon he rode to Newark, where he preached till dark, as he
+thought with but little good effect. "However, at night the Lord
+manifested forth his glory; for, coming down to family prayer where
+I lodged, and perceiving many young men around me, my soul was, as
+it were, melted down with concern for them. After singing, I gave
+a word of exhortation; with what power none can fully express but
+those that saw it. Oh, how did the word fall like a hammer and like
+a fire. What a weeping was there!"
+
+We must stay a moment to give a fact or two in reference to the
+Rev. Aaron Burr, then quite a young man, who two or three years
+before had been ordained at Newark, and whose ministry had been
+attended with a delightful revival the year preceding Whitefield's
+visit. During the period of this revival, the neighboring village
+of Elizabethtown had been remarkable for its insensibility; even
+Whitefield had preached there, "and not a single known conversion,"
+says Dr. Stearns, "followed his ministrations." Afterwards the
+pastor, the well-known Jonathan Dickinson, saw happy results from
+very plain preaching. Newark caught a new flame from its neighboring
+altar, and Mr. Burr, who had lately been to New England in quest
+of health, had heard the devoted evangelist again and again,
+and invited him to visit his flock, which he did about a month
+afterwards with happy results. The account given by Mr. Burr of
+Whitefield's preaching in New England was precisely what we should
+expect from the man who was afterwards the first president of
+Princeton college, and who, fourteen years after this, accompanied
+his eloquent friend to New England, "and saw at Boston, morning
+after morning, three or four thousand people hanging in breathless
+silence on the lips of the preacher, and weeping silent tears."
+
+The Rev. Stephen Dodd of East Haven, Conn., relates that an old
+lady told him that when Mr. Whitefield came to preach in the old
+meeting-house at Newark, she was twelve years old, and as he entered
+the pulpit she looked at him with distrust, but before he got
+through his prayers herself and all the congregation were melted
+down, and the sermon filled the house with groans and tears. The
+next time he came, the congregation was so large that the pulpit
+window was taken out, and he preached through the opening to the
+people in the burying-ground.
+
+On Wednesday, the 5th, he went to Baskinridge, Mr. Cross' parish,
+where he found Mr. Davenport, who, according to appointment, had
+been preaching to about three thousand people. He writes, "As I went
+along, I told a friend my soul wept for them, and I was persuaded
+within myself that the Lord would that day make his power to be
+known among them. In prayer, I perceived my soul drawn out, and a
+stirring of affections among the people. I had not discoursed long
+before the Holy Ghost displayed his power. In every part of the
+congregation somebody or other began to cry out, and almost all
+melted into tears. This abated for a few moments, till a little boy
+about seven or eight years of age cried out exceeding piteously
+indeed, and wept as though his little heart would break. Mr. Cross
+having compassion on him, took him up into the wagon, which so
+affected me, that I broke from my discourse, and told the people the
+little boy should preach to them, and that God, since old professors
+would not cry after Christ, had displayed his sovereignty, and out
+of an infant's mouth was perfecting praise. God so blessed this,
+that a universal concern fell on the congregation again. Fresh
+persons dropped down here and there, and the cry increased more and
+more."
+
+In the evening, Gilbert Tennent preached excellently in Mr. Cross'
+barn, two miles off. His subject was the necessity and benefit of
+spiritual desertions, a remarkable subject, as has been said, at
+such a time, in a barn, and at night. "A great commotion," says
+Whitefield, "was soon observed among the hearers. I then gave a word
+of exhortation. The Lord's presence attended it in a surprising
+manner. One, in about six minutes, cried out, 'He is come, He is
+come!' and could scarcely sustain the discovery that Jesus Christ
+made of himself to his soul. Others were so earnest for a discovery
+of the Lord to their souls, that their eager crying obliged me to
+stop, and I prayed over them as I saw their agonies and distress
+increase. At length my own soul was so full that I retired, and was
+in a strong agony for some time, and wept before the Lord under a
+deep sense of my own vileness, and the sovereignty and greatness of
+God's everlasting love. Most of the people spent the remainder of
+the night in prayer and praise. Two or three young ministers spoke
+alternately, and others prayed as the Lord gave them utterance."
+
+The next morning Whitefield exhorted, sung, and prayed with the
+people in the barn, and had some delightful conversation with
+a lad of thirteen, a poor negro woman, and several others. In
+company with several Christian friends, he then rode to the house
+of Gilbert Tennent in New Brunswick. Here he found letters from
+Savannah saying that great mortality existed in the neighborhood,
+but that the family at the orphan-house continued in health, and
+that a minister was about coming from England to take his church at
+Savannah. "This last," says he, "much rejoiced me, being resolved
+to give up the Savannah living as soon as I arrived in Georgia. A
+parish and the orphan-house together are too much for me; besides,
+God seems to show me it is my duty to evangelize, and not to fix
+in any particular place." Here he was met by William Tennent also,
+and after much conversation and prayer, it was settled that Gilbert
+Tennent should go to Boston to carry on the work so happily begun
+there. After preaching, exhortation, and prayer, Whitefield went
+with Davenport to Trenton, and so on to Philadelphia. On their way,
+they were twice remarkably preserved from drowning in creeks much
+swollen by the rains; and late on a very dark Saturday night arrived
+in the city, which had been already honored by his usefulness.
+
+On the following day, he twice preached in the house which his
+friends were now building for him, and in which Gilbert Tennent
+labored for many years with great success. He says, "It is one
+hundred feet long and seventy feet broad. A large gallery is to be
+erected all around in it. Many footsteps of Providence have been
+visible in beginning and carrying it on. Both in the morning and
+evening God's glory filled the house, for there was great power in
+the congregation. The roof is not yet up, but the people raised a
+convenient pulpit and boarded the bottom. The joy of most of the
+hearers when they saw me was inexpressible. Between services, I
+received a packet of letters from England, dated in March last. May
+the Lord heal, and bring good out of the divisions which at present
+seem to be among the brethren there. God giving me freedom, and
+many friends being in the room, I kneeled down and prayed with and
+exhorted them all. But Oh, how did they melt under both; my soul was
+much rejoiced to look round on them."
+
+A fact in connection with the building of this church edifice
+illustrates the practical philosophy of Dr. Franklin. Tennent waited
+on him for aid in the erection of the house, which was cheerfully
+afforded; the philosopher was asked by Tennent as to the best
+method of raising the necessary funds, who instantly recommended him
+to call at every house in the town to solicit help. He argued thus:
+"Many are really desirous to give, and will be glad to see you;
+others are inclined to be friendly, and will give if they are urged;
+a third will be sure, if they are omitted, to say they would have
+given had they been asked; and a fourth class will give you, rather
+than have it said they refused." Tennent acted on the doctor's
+counsel, and the funds were raised without difficulty.
+
+Two instances of the happy influence of the truth in the conversion
+of sinners, in connection with this visit, must be given from
+Whitefield's own pen. The first related to a Mr. Brockden, a lawyer
+eminent in his profession, and the recorder of deeds for the city.
+For many years this gentleman had been distinguished for Deism.
+Whitefield writes, "In his younger days he had some religious
+impressions, but going into business, the cares of the world so
+choked the good seed, that he not only forgot his God in some
+degree, but at length began to doubt of and to dispute his very
+being. In this state he continued many years, and has been very
+zealous to propagate his deistical, I could almost say atheistical
+principles among moral men; but he told me he never endeavored
+to make proselytes of vicious, debauched people. When I came to
+Philadelphia, this time twelvemonth, he told me he had not so much
+as a curiosity to hear me. But a brother Deist, his choicest friend,
+pressed him to come and hear me. To satisfy his curiosity, he at
+length complied with the request. I preached at the court-house
+stairs, upon the conference which the Lord had with Nicodemus. I had
+not spoken much before the Lord struck his heart. 'For,' said he, 'I
+saw your doctrine tended to make people good.' His family knew not
+that he had been to hear me. After he came home, his wife, who had
+been at sermon, came in also, and wished heartily that he had heard
+me. He said nothing. After this, another of his family came in,
+repeating the same wish; and, if I mistake not, after that another;
+till at last, being unable to refrain any longer, with tears in his
+eyes, he said, 'Why, I have been hearing him;' and then expressed
+his approbation. Ever since he has followed on to know the Lord;
+and I verily believe Jesus Christ has made himself manifest to his
+soul. Though upwards of threescore years old, he is now, I believe,
+born again of God. He is as a little child, and often, as he told
+me, receives such communications from God, when he retires into the
+woods, that he thinks he could die a martyr for the truth."
+
+The other instance was that of the captain of a ship, "as great a
+reprobate," says Whitefield, "as ever I heard of." This man used to
+go on board the transport ships, and offer a guinea for a new oath,
+that he might have the honor of making it. "To the honor of God's
+grace," says our evangelist, "let it be said, he is now, I believe,
+a Christian; not only reformed, but renewed. The effectual stroke,
+he told me, was given when I preached last spring at Pennepack. Ever
+since he has been zealous for the truth; stood like a lamb when he
+was beaten, and in danger of being murdered by some of my opposers,
+and, in short, shows his faith by his works."
+
+The stay of Mr. Whitefield in Philadelphia at this time was about
+a week, during which he preached in the new house twice every day
+to large and deeply interested congregations. He says, "It would
+be almost endless to recount all the particular instances of God's
+grace which I have seen this week past. Many that before were
+only convicted, now plainly proved that they were converted, and
+had a clear evidence of it within themselves. My chief business
+was now to build up and to exhort them to continue in the grace
+of God. Notwithstanding, many were convicted almost every day,
+and came to me under the greatest distress and anguish of soul.
+Several societies are now in the town, not only of men and women,
+but of little boys and little girls. Being so engaged, I could
+not visit them as I would, but I hope the Lord will raise up some
+fellow-laborers, and that elders will be ordained in every place."
+
+Perhaps no man was ever more free from sectarianism than George
+Whitefield. It is true, that he was ordained a clergyman of the
+church of England, and never manifested any degree of reluctance to
+officiate within its walls; but it is equally true, that the vast
+majority of his sermons were delivered in connection with other
+bodies of Christians. When he was once preaching from the balcony
+of the court-house, Market-street, Philadelphia, he delivered an
+impressive apostrophe: "Father Abraham, who have you in heaven? any
+Episcopalians?" "No." "Any Presbyterians?" "No." "Any Baptists?"
+"No." "Have you any Methodists, Seceders, or Independents there?"
+"No, no!" "Why, who have you there?" "We don't know those names
+here. All who are here are Christians, believers in Christ--men
+who have overcome by the blood of the Lamb, and the word of his
+testimony." "Oh, is that the case? then God help me, God help us
+all, to forget party names, and to become Christians, in deed and
+in truth." It might be well for the different bodies of Christians
+to think of the propriety of following this example of the holy
+man. The peculiarities of each Christian denomination may have
+their importance, but they ought not to keep good men in a state of
+separation, much less of alienation from each other.
+
+On Monday, November 17, Whitefield left Philadelphia. He says, "Was
+much melted at parting from my dear friends. Had it much impressed
+upon my mind, that I should go to England, and undergo trials for
+the truth's sake. These words, 'The Jews sought to stone thee,
+and goest thou thither again?' with our Lord's answer, have been
+for some time lying upon me; and while my friends were weeping
+round me, St. Paul's words darted into my soul, 'What mean you to
+weep and break my heart? I am willing not only to be bound, but
+to die for the Lord Jesus.' After fervent prayer, I took my leave
+of some, but being to preach at Gloucester in the West Jerseys,
+others accompanied me in boats over the river. We sung as we sailed,
+but my heart was low. I preached at Gloucester, but found myself
+weighed down, and was not able to deliver my sermon with my usual
+vigor. However, there was an affecting melting, and several, as
+I heard afterwards, who had been in bondage before, at that time
+received joy in the Holy Ghost. I rode on in company with several
+to Greenwich, and preached to a few, with scarce any power. In
+the evening we travelled on a few miles, but my body was more and
+more out of order, and I thought God was preparing me for future
+blessings. It is good to be humbled. I am never better than when I
+am brought to lie at the foot of the cross. It is a certain sign
+God intends that soul a greater crown. Lord, let me always feel
+myself a poor sinner." On Tuesday he preached at Pilesgrove to
+about two thousand people, but saw only a few affected. "At night,"
+he says, "God was pleased so abundantly to refresh my soul as to
+make me forget the weakness of my body; I prayed and exhorted
+with great power in the family where I lodged." On Wednesday, at
+Cohansey, where Gilbert Tennent had prepared the way for him, he
+says, "Preached to some thousands both morning and afternoon. The
+word gradually struck the hearers, till the whole congregation was
+greatly moved, and two cried out in the bitterness of their souls
+after a crucified Saviour, and were scarcely able to stand. My
+soul was replenished as with new wine, and life and power flew all
+around me." At Salem, on the 20th, he preached in the morning at the
+court-house, and in the afternoon in the open air before the prison,
+to about two thousand persons. "Both times God was with us." On
+Friday, November 21, he got with some difficulty to Newcastle, where
+he preached in the court-house, and "observed some few affected,
+and some few scoffing." Here he was joined by Mr. Charles Tennent,
+who had lately married a young lady awakened under Whitefield's
+ministry. They went on to White Clay creek, "and God," says he, "was
+pleased to appear for me in an extraordinary manner. There were many
+thousands waiting to hear the word. I have not seen a more lovely
+sight. I sang the twenty-third psalm, and these words gave my soul
+unspeakable comfort:
+
+    "'In presence of my spiteful foes,
+      He does my table spread.'
+
+"The Lord Jesus assisted me in preaching. The melting soon began,
+and the power increased more and more, till the greatest part of the
+congregation was exceedingly moved. Several cried out in different
+parts, and others were to be seen wringing their hands and weeping
+bitterly. The stir was ten times greater than when I was here
+last." At Fagg's Manor, on Saturday afternoon, he preached "to many
+thousands, and God was pleased mightily to own his word. There was
+a wondrous powerful moving, but it did not rise to such a degree as
+when I preached here last spring. I was taken ill after preaching."
+After still farther labors, he retired to rest, and he says, "The
+Lord gave me sweet sleep, and in the morning I arose with my natural
+strength much renewed." This was the Sabbath, and he preached at
+Nottingham "to a large congregation, who seemed in no wise to regard
+the rain, so they might be watered with the dew of God's blessing."
+
+On the following afternoon, at Bohemia, in Maryland, he says,
+"Preached to about two thousand, and have not seen a more solid
+melting, I think, since my arrival. Some scoffers stood on the
+outside, but the Holy Spirit enabled me to lay the terrors of
+the Lord before them, and they grew more serious. My soul much
+rejoiced in the Lord to see salvation brought to Maryland." On
+Tuesday, November 25, "came to Reedy Island, and had the wonderful
+presence of God in the assembly in the afternoon. Several of my
+dear Philadelphia friends came to take their last farewell." On
+Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday, he preached again. "The Lord was
+with us every time. I was greatly delighted to see the captains of
+the ships, and their respective crews, come constantly to hear the
+word of God on shore, and join with us in religious exercises on
+board."
+
+On December 1, when they sailed from Reedy Island to Charleston,
+he wrote in his journal, "But before I go on, stop, O my soul, and
+look back a little on the great things the Lord hath done for thee
+during this excursion. I think it is now the seventy-fifth day since
+I arrived at Rhode Island. My body was then weak, but the Lord has
+much renewed its strength. I have been enabled to preach, I think,
+one hundred and seventy-five times in public, besides exhorting very
+frequently in private. I have travelled upwards of eight hundred
+miles, and gotten upwards of £700 sterling in goods, provisions,
+and money for my poor orphans. Never did God vouchsafe me such
+great assistances. Never did I perform my journeys with so little
+fatigue, or see such a continuance of the divine presence in the
+congregations to whom I have preached. All things concur to convince
+me that America is to be my chief scene for action."
+
+In about eight days, he arrived at Charleston, where he found there
+had recently been a large fire, and to improve the sad event he
+preached a sermon, and passed on to his own home, where he found
+all well, and where he made arrangements for his voyage to England,
+leaving on the 29th of December. On that day he narrowly escaped
+death. A laborer was walking behind him with a gun under his arm,
+which went off unawares; happily its muzzle was towards the ground,
+"otherwise," says Whitefield, "I and one of my friends, in all
+probability, should have been killed; for we were directly before,
+and not above a yard or two distant from it. How ought we to live
+in such a state as we would not fear to die in; for in the midst
+of life we are in death!" In the evening he preached his farewell
+sermon as pastor of Savannah.
+
+On Mr. Whitefield's arrival at Charleston, in company with two
+gentlemen named Bryan, who had been called to suffer persecution
+for Christ's sake, he had the happiness of meeting his brother, the
+captain of a vessel from England, who gave him much interesting
+intelligence of the Christians in that country. Commencing with the
+Sabbath, he preached twice every day, in addition to expounding the
+Scriptures almost every evening, and expresses his gratitude for
+divine assistance. But though he had much to rejoice in, he had
+also more than one source of sorrow. Some professors of religion,
+of whom he had hoped well, had fallen away, and not a few of his
+enemies were even more enraged than formerly. Hugh Bryan had written
+a letter, in which, among other matters, "it was hinted that the
+clergy break their canons." At the request of Jonathan Bryan,
+Whitefield had corrected it for the press, and it was published
+while he was now in the city. Hugh Bryan was apprehended, and on
+his examination, being asked, frankly confessed that Whitefield had
+corrected and made some alterations in it. Writing on January 10,
+he says, "This evening a constable came to me with the following
+warrant:
+
+     "'South Carolina SS. By B---- W----, etc. Whereas I have
+     received information upon oath that George Whitefield, Clerk,
+     hath made and composed a false, malicious, scandalous, and
+     infamous Libel against the Clergy of this Province, in contempt
+     of His Majesty and His Laws, and against the King's Peace: These
+     are therefore, in His Majesty's Name, to charge and command
+     you and each of you forthwith to apprehend the said George
+     Whitefield, and to bring him before Me to answer the premises.
+     Hereof fail not, at your peril. And for your so doing this shall
+     be your and each of your sufficient Warrant. Given under my hand
+     and seal this tenth day of January, in the fourteenth year of
+     His Majesty's Reign, Anno Domini one thousand seven hundred and
+     forty [one.]
+
+     "'B---- W----.'"
+
+Whitefield gave security to appear by his attorney at the next
+quarter sessions, under penalty of one hundred pounds proclamation
+money. "Blessed be God," he says in his journal, "for this
+further honor. My soul rejoices in it. I think this may be called
+persecution. I think it is for righteousness' sake." The next
+morning he preached on Herod sending the wise men to find out
+Christ, professing a desire to worship him, but intending to kill
+him; _persecution under pretence of religion_, being his theme.
+The afternoon sermon was on the murder of Naboth, from which he
+discoursed on _the abuse of power by men in authority_. He says,
+"My hearers, as well as myself, made the application. It was pretty
+close." No doubt it was. In the evening he expounded the narrative
+of Orpah and Ruth, and exhorted his hearers to follow the Lord Jesus
+Christ, though his cause be never so much persecuted and spoken
+against.
+
+On the following Thursday, he received several highly gratifying
+letters from his friends at Boston. Mr. Secretary Willard said
+to him, "Divers young men in this town, who are candidates for
+the ministry, have been brought under deep convictions by your
+preaching, and are carried off from the foundation of their false
+hopes to rest only upon Christ for salvation."
+
+The Rev. Mr. Cooper wrote, "I can inform you that there are many
+abiding proofs that you did not run in vain, and labor in vain
+among us in this place. I can only say now in general, some have
+been awakened who were before quite secure, and I hope a good work
+begun in them. Others, who had been under religious impressions,
+are now more earnestly pressing into the kingdom of heaven, and
+many of the children of God are stirred up to give diligence for
+the full assurance of faith. There is a greater flocking to all the
+lectures in the town, and the people show such a disposition to the
+new Tuesday evening lecture, that our large capacious house cannot
+receive all that come. I am sure your visit to us has made a large
+addition to the prayers that are going up for you in one place and
+another, and I hope also unto the jewels that are to make up your
+crown in the day of the Lord."
+
+In addition to these statements, Mr. Welch, a pious merchant,
+wrote, "I fear I am tedious, but I cannot break off till I just
+mention, to the glory of the grace of God, and for your comfort
+and encouragement, the success your ministry of late has had among
+us. Impressions made seem to be abiding on the minds of many. The
+doctrines of grace seem to be more the topic of conversation than
+ever I knew them. Nay, religious conversation seems to be almost
+_fashionable_, and almost every one seems disposed to hear or speak
+of the things of God. Multitudes flock to the evening lecture,
+though it has sometimes been the worst of weather. Ministers seem to
+preach with more life, and the great auditories seem to hear with
+solemn attention, and I hope our Lord Jesus is getting to himself
+the victory over the hearts of many sinners."
+
+These, and other letters of a similar character, filled the heart
+of Whitefield with grateful pleasure; and he went on preaching and
+enjoying the society of his friends till Friday, January 16. He
+says, "I never received such generous tokens of love, I think, from
+any people before, as from some in Charleston. They so loaded me
+with sea-stores, that I sent many of them to Savannah." He now went
+on board, and was fully engaged in preparations for the voyage,
+which however was not entered on till the 24th. On that day the
+_Minerva_ sailed over Charleston bar, and after a generally pleasant
+voyage, they landed at Falmouth, March 11. "This," says he, "was a
+profitable voyage to my soul, because of my having had many sweet
+opportunities for reading, meditation, and prayer."
+
+The impartiality of history requires us, however reluctantly, here
+to notice the separation which to some extent now took place between
+Whitefield, and his old friends Messrs. John and Charles Wesley.
+Their mutual attachment in early life we have already seen, as also
+Whitefield's anxiety in Georgia to defend Mr. John Wesley's conduct
+against those who opposed him. Impartial observers, however, after
+a while began to remark, that on some doctrinal points, especially
+on that of predestination, a difference was springing up. On his
+passage to England, February 1, 1741, Whitefield thus wrote to
+Mr. Charles Wesley: "My dear, dear brethren, why did you throw
+out the bone of contention? Why did you print that sermon against
+predestination? Why did you in particular, my dear brother Charles,
+affix your hymn, and join in putting out your late hymn-book? How
+can you say you will not dispute with me about election, and yet
+print such hymns? and your brother sent his sermon against election,
+to Mr. Garden and others in America. Do not you think, my dear
+brethren, I must be as much concerned for truth, or what I think
+truth, as you? God is my judge, I always was, and hope I always
+shall be desirous that you may be preferred before me. But I must
+preach the gospel of Christ, and that I cannot _now_ do, without
+speaking of election." He then tells Mr. Charles Wesley, that in
+Christmas-week he had written an answer to his brother's sermon,
+"which," says he, "is now printing at Charleston; another copy I
+have sent to Boston, and another I now bring with me, to print in
+London. If it occasion a strangeness between us, it shall not be my
+fault. There is nothing in my answer exciting to it, that I know of.
+O, my dear brethren, my heart almost bleeds within me. Methinks I
+could be willing to tarry here on the waters for ever, rather than
+come to England to oppose you."
+
+Dr. Whitehead, in his "Life of John Wesley," has very wisely
+said, "Controversy almost always injures the Christian temper,
+much more than it promotes the interests of speculative truth. On
+this question a separation took place between Mr. Wesley and Mr.
+Whitefield, so far as to have different places of worship; and some
+warm and tart expressions dropped from each. But their good opinion
+of each other's integrity and usefulness, founded on long and
+intimate acquaintance, could not be injured by such a difference of
+sentiment; and their mutual affection was only obscured by a cloud
+for a season."
+
+The friendship between Mr. Whitefield and the Messrs. Wesley was
+very much increased and perpetuated by the wife of Mr. Charles
+Wesley. This very extraordinary lady, whose original name was
+Gwinne, was equally distinguished for her beauty, talents, and
+piety. She had a very cordial regard for Mr. Whitefield, who as
+cordially reciprocated it. She was married when the controversy
+among these eminent men was at its height, and stipulated that
+she should always be allowed to hear the preaching of Whitefield
+and his friends. In her latter years especially, and she lived
+till ninety-six, she expressed her pleasure in the belief that
+she promoted the continuance of that endearing intercourse which
+subsisted between Whitefield and her husband. She softened all
+parties, and was on all occasions a blessed peacemaker.
+
+One fact relating to this eminently excellent woman may be
+mentioned. She was nearly twenty years younger than her husband, and
+four years after her marriage, and at the age of twenty-six, she
+was seized with small-pox, of which at that time her eldest child
+died. She lay twenty-two days in imminent danger of death, and when
+she recovered she was so much altered in features that no one could
+recognize her; but never did woman before lose her beauty with so
+little regret. She used sportively to say, that the change in her
+appearance "afforded great satisfaction to her dear husband, who
+was glad to see her look so much older, and better suited to be his
+companion."
+
+On Whitefield's arrival at Falmouth, he immediately set off in a
+post-chaise to London, in order to preach on the following Sabbath.
+But he now found occasion for all the patience he had acquired. He
+had, he says, "written two well-meant, though ill-judged letters
+against England's two great favorites, '_The Whole Duty of Man_,'
+and Archbishop Tillotson, who, I said, knew no more about religion
+than Mohammed. The Moravians had made inroads on our societies;"
+besides which, the controversy with the Messrs. Wesley injured him.
+His congregations on the Sabbath were still large, but on week-days
+he had not more than two or three hundred hearers. He says, "Instead
+of having thousands to attend me, scarcely one of my spiritual
+children come to see me from morning to night. Once, on Kennington
+Common, I had not above a hundred to hear me."
+
+Even this was not all. He says, "One that got some hundreds of
+pounds by my sermons, refused to print for me any more. And others
+wrote to me, that God would destroy me in a fortnight, and that my
+fall was as great as Peter's." Still other sorrows attended him.
+He writes, "I was much embarrassed in my outward circumstances. A
+thousand pounds I owed for the orphan-house. Two hundred and fifty
+pounds drawn on Mr. Seward, [who was now dead,] were returned upon
+me. I was also threatened to be arrested for two hundred pounds
+more." Besides all this, he had "a family of one hundred persons
+to be maintained, four thousand miles off, in the dearest part of
+his majesty's dominions." He now began to preach in Moorfields on
+week-days, under one of the trees; where he saw numbers of his
+spiritual children running by him without looking at him, and some
+of them putting their fingers in their ears, that they might not
+hear one word he said. "A like scene," he says, "opened at Bristol,
+where I was denied preaching in the house I had founded." It was the
+Kingswood school-house, built for the children of the colliers.
+
+But Whitefield could not long be kept down. His friends built a
+new house and opened a new school at Kingswood. Some "free-grace
+dissenters," as Gillies calls them, procured the loan of a building
+lot in London, on which, as we have already seen, they built the
+Tabernacle. Here his congregations immediately increased, and he
+addressed them with his usual power and success. Invitations soon
+poured in from the country, and even from places where he had never
+been. At a common near Braintree, in Essex, he had more than ten
+thousand hearers, and at many other places congregations were large
+and much affected. "Sweet," says he, "was the conversation which I
+had with several ministers of Christ." Soon again did he triumph,
+even in England.
+
+Among the men who were now invited to aid, and who rendered
+important assistance to Whitefield in his houses of worship in
+London and Bristol, as well as in his itinerant labors, was Howel
+Harris, a native of Wales, a gentleman, and a magistrate, to whom we
+have already referred. His name in Wales is yet "a household word,"
+and his labors form a part of the history of Welsh Calvinistic
+Methodism. As soon as he had embraced the gospel for himself,
+he became intensely solicitous respecting the condition of his
+neighbors. The scenes of profligacy and vice which everywhere
+presented themselves burdened his heart, and he became anxious to
+be actively employed in removing evil and doing good. He determined
+on taking orders in the church of England, and accordingly
+entered St. Mary's Hall, in Oxford university; but shocked at the
+dissolute habits of the collegians, and finding what were called
+his methodistical views were in the way of his ordination, he
+returned to Wales, and began to evangelize its towns and villages.
+Wherever there was an opening, there he went, and preached Christ
+to the people; and although defamed and persecuted, he manfully
+prosecuted his work, and thousands were by his agency brought to
+repentance. He and Mr. Whitefield were kindred spirits, moved by
+the same impulses, and pursuing the same course. Mr. Whitefield
+spoke of him as "'a burning and shining light,' a barrier against
+profaneness and immorality, and an indefatigable promoter of the
+true gospel of Jesus Christ. For these years he has preached almost
+twice a day, for three or four hours together. He has been in seven
+counties, and has made it his business to go to wakes and fairs to
+turn people from their lying vanities. He has been made the subject
+of numbers of sermons, has been threatened with public prosecutions,
+and had constables sent to apprehend him. But God has blessed him
+with inflexible courage; strength has been communicated to him from
+above, and he still goes on from conquering to conquer. God has
+greatly blessed his pious endeavors; many call, and own him as their
+spiritual father, and would, I believe, lay down their lives for his
+sake."
+
+In the year 1759, when England was threatened with a French
+invasion, Mr. Harris became a captain in the Brecknockshire militia,
+and into whatever place in England the regiment was ordered, he
+uniformly began to preach, and was the means of introducing the
+gospel into many ignorant and depraved districts. Thus an unusual
+act and an undesirable office were overruled to doing much good.
+When the regiment was disbanded, he again regularly entered on his
+ministerial duties with all his former zeal and activity. In a word,
+he may justly be regarded the evangelist of Wales.
+
+As an illustration of the spirit of the energetic ministers of
+Christ in those days, we quote a fact or two from the life of
+Rowland Hill; the more readily as Howel Harris is the principal
+subject. In 1774, four years after the death of Whitefield, Mr.
+Hill travelled through Wales, preaching three or four times every
+day; many conversions took place, which greatly sustained him under
+an attack of illness; and led to the remark in his "Journal," "My
+body quite weak, but my soul was refreshed." "A like example,"
+says Sidney, one of the biographers of Hill, "had been previously
+before his eyes in the case of Howel Harris, one of Mr. Whitefield's
+energetic followers, who was a man of extraordinary powers of body
+and mind. Harris used to relate of himself, that being once on a
+journey through Wales, he was subjected to great temptation to
+desert his Master's cause, when he said, 'Satan, I'll match thee
+for this;' and 'so I did,' he used to add; 'for I had not ridden
+many miles before I came to a revel, where there was a show of
+mountebanks, which I entered, and just as they were commencing, I
+jumped into the midst of them and cried out, 'Let us pray,' which
+so thunderstruck them that they listened to me quietly, while I
+preached to them a most tremendous sermon, that frightened many
+of them home.' Mr. Hill greatly delighted in this anecdote, and
+often said that amidst somewhat similar scenes, he had been enabled
+successfully to attack the kingdom of Satan."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+FIRST AND SECOND VISITS TO SCOTLAND--LABORS IN ENGLAND AND WALES.
+
+1740-1744.
+
+
+We have seen the spirit in which Mr. Whitefield returned to London,
+and the cool manner in which he was too generally received. It is
+painful to say that this coldness was not confined to enemies of the
+truth; it appeared in some degree in eminent dissenting ministers,
+as Watts and Bradbury, Barker, and even, to some extent, Doddridge.
+A plan had a few years before been agitated to restore the
+dissenters to the church, usually called the _Comprehension scheme_,
+and assuredly, under the circumstances, friendship with Whitefield
+was by no means favorable to such a plan being accomplished, though
+it was at this period greatly desired by many of both parties.
+Still, however, good was done; Whitefield preached, and God was
+glorified. More union between Christians in advancing the cause of
+Christ would have been exceedingly desirable, but even the want of
+this was not permitted to stay the progress of this man of God.
+
+One of the most popular and useful ministers employed by Whitefield
+and his friends at this time was John Cennick, the author of two
+well-known hymns, beginning,
+
+    "Jesus, thy blood and righteousness;"
+    "Jesus, my all, to heaven is gone."
+
+He was the preacher who, in Ireland, discoursed from the text,
+"Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes," which
+gave occasion for the Methodists in that country to be called
+"_Swaddlers_." The parents of this excellent man were Quakers,
+who had been imprisoned in Reading jail for the maintenance of
+their religious principles. This persecution reduced them from
+respectability to want, so that, like John Bunyan, they were forced
+to make shoe-laces in prison for their support.
+
+The conversion of the son was very remarkable. His first deep and
+lasting religious convictions flashed upon his mind like lightning
+from heaven, while walking in the crowds of Cheapside, in London.
+The effects were soon manifested; he became a new man, pursuing
+a new course, and entering on a new work. His ministry was very
+efficient, his views of truth were evangelical, his public speaking
+popular, his zeal so great as sometimes to lead him to preach six
+times in one day--all which labors were followed with abundant
+success.
+
+Mr. Cennick was rather below the middle stature, of a fair
+countenance, and though by no means robust in health, he knew little
+of timidity. The spirit in which he discharged his ministry may be
+seen in a letter he wrote to a friend: "We sang a hymn, and then the
+devil led on his servants; they began beating a drum, and then made
+fires of gunpowder: at first the poor flock was startled; but while
+God gave me power to speak encouragingly to them, they waxed bolder,
+and very few moved. The mob then fired guns over the people's heads,
+and began to play a water engine upon brother Harris and myself,
+till we were wet through. They also played an engine upon us with
+hog's-wash and grounds of beer-barrels, and covered us with muddy
+water from a ditch; they pelted us with eggs and stones, threw
+baskets of dust over us, and fired their guns so close to us that
+our faces were black with the powder; but, in nothing terrified, we
+remained praying. I think I never saw or felt so great a power of
+God as was there. In the midst of the confused multitude, I saw a
+man laboring above measure, earnest to fill the buckets with water
+to throw upon us. I asked him, 'What harm do we do? Why are you so
+furious against us? We only come to tell you that Christ loved you,
+and died for you.' He stepped back a little for room, and threw a
+bucket of water in my face. When I had recovered myself, I said,
+'My dear man, if God should so pour his wrath upon you, what would
+become of you? Yet I tell you that Christ loves you.' He threw away
+the bucket, let fall his trembling hands, and looked as pale as
+death; he then shook hands with me, and parted from me, I believe
+under strong convictions."
+
+Mr. Cennick had heretofore labored with Whitefield and Wesley, but
+now adhered to the former, and labored very successfully in the
+Tabernacle. After some years he united with the Moravian brethren,
+and died in triumph at thirty-five.
+
+In the summer of 1741, some three or four months after his arrival
+from America, Whitefield paid his first visit to Scotland. The state
+of religion in that country at the commencement of the ministry of
+this distinguished evangelist, has been already glanced at. It
+is here important to remark, that in 1740 an indication of better
+things began to appear in several places, especially in Cambuslang,
+under the ministry of the Rev. Mr. M'Culloch. This excellent man,
+for nearly a year before the revival began, had been preaching to
+his people on those subjects which tend most directly to explain the
+nature and prove the necessity of regeneration, according to the
+different aspects in which it is represented in the holy Scriptures.
+The church edifice had become too small for the congregation, and
+the minister, in favorable weather, frequently conducted the public
+worship on a green brae on the east side of a deep ravine near the
+church, scooped out in the form of an amphitheatre. In this retired
+and romantic spot, the worthy pastor preached in the most impressive
+manner to the listening multitudes, and not unfrequently, after his
+sermons, detailed to them the astonishing effects of Whitefield's
+preaching in America, which did not a little to increase the
+interest of the people, as well as lead them to wish to see such an
+extraordinary preacher.
+
+While on his voyage to Scotland, Whitefield gave evidence that he
+had not forgotten America. In his second visit to America, he had
+become intimately acquainted with the Rev. Daniel Rodgers of Exeter,
+New Hampshire, a direct descendant of the seventh generation of John
+Rogers, who was burnt at the stake for the testimony of Christ in
+the days of the bloody Mary. It is not surprising that Whitefield's
+original letter to him, now in the possession of the family of the
+grandson of Daniel Rodgers, is highly valued. It is dated on board
+the Mary and Ann, bound from London to Scotland, July 25, 1741.
+
+     "MY DEAR BROTHER RODGERS--How glad was I to receive a letter
+     from your hands, having heard nothing from you or of you
+     particularly since we parted. Oh, what great things has the
+     Lord shown us since that time! methinks I hear you say; and yet
+     I can tell of greater things. And I believe we shall see far
+     greater yet before we die. The work is beginning afresh here.
+     I sometimes think brother Gilbert [Tennent] must take a voyage
+     to old England. Most of our London ministers too much shun the
+     cross, and do not appear boldly for God. Now the Lord has worked
+     so powerfully in your college, I have less to object against
+     your joining Mr. Web. I am glad to hear that you speak _plain
+     and close_. What comfort will this afford you in a dying hour.
+     Go on, my dear brother, go on; venture daily upon Christ. Go out
+     in his strength, and he will enable us to do wonders. He is with
+     me more and more. I have sweetly been carried through the heat
+     and burning of every day's labor. Jesus bears all my burdens.
+     Jesus enables me to cast all my care upon him. Oh then, let us
+     magnify his name together. I am now going to Scotland, knowing
+     not what will befall me. What God does, you may expect to hear
+     of shortly. In the meanwhile, let us pray for and write to each
+     other. As iron sharpeneth iron, so do the letters of a man his
+     friend. Your last I have printed. God's glory called me to it.
+
+     "My dear brother, adieu. Dear brother Sims sits by and salutes
+     you. My kind love awaits Mr. Web, and all who love the Lord
+     in sincerity. In hopes of receiving another letter from you
+     shortly, I subscribe myself, dear Mr. Rodgers, your most
+     affectionate, though very unworthy brother and servant in the
+     sweetest Jesus,
+
+     "G. W."
+
+Among those who were most anxious that Mr. Whitefield should visit
+Scotland, were the Rev. Messrs. Ebenezer and Ralph Erskine. These
+two excellent brothers had separated themselves from the established
+church, chiefly on the ground of its cold formalism, and with some
+other zealous ministers had formed what has since been known as the
+Associate Presbytery. Their wish was, that in coming to Scotland,
+Whitefield should preach only in connection with their body, and
+so help forward the work in which they were engaged. To this he
+objected, regarding himself as an evangelist at large. As he
+proceeded, they rather opposed him, as not sufficiently particular
+and discriminative in his zeal. They wished him not to labor in
+the church from which they had seceded, saying, "God had left it."
+"Then," said he, "it is the more necessary for me to preach in it,
+to endeavor to bring him back. I'll preach Christ wherever they'll
+let me." On the 30th of July he arrived in Edinburgh, where he was
+urged to preach, but declined till he had seen the Messrs. Erskine;
+and accordingly proceeded to Dunfermline. Writing on the 1st of
+August, he says, "I went yesterday to Dunfermline, where dear Mr.
+Ralph Erskine hath got a large and separate, or as it is commonly
+termed, seceding meeting-house. He received me very lovingly. I
+preached to his and the town's people--a very thronged assembly.
+After I had done prayers and named my text, the rustling made by
+opening the Bibles all at once quite surprised me--a scene I never
+was witness to before."
+
+On the day following, Whitefield returned to Edinburgh, accompanied
+by Mr. Ralph Erskine, and preached in the Orphan-house park to a
+large and attentive audience. His text was, "The kingdom of God
+is not meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in
+the Holy Ghost." Rom. 14:17. After the sermon, a large company,
+including some of the nobility, came to bid him God-speed; and
+among others a portly Quaker, a nephew of the Messrs. Erskine, who,
+taking him by the hand, said, "Friend George, I am as thou art; I
+am for bringing all to the life and power of the ever-living God;
+and therefore, if thou wilt not quarrel with me about my hat, I
+will not quarrel with thee about thy gown." On Sabbath evening, he
+preached in the same place, to upwards of fifteen thousand persons;
+and on the evenings of Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, to nearly as
+many; on Tuesday in the Canongate church; on Wednesday and Thursday
+at Dunfermline; and on Friday morning at Queensferry. "Everywhere,"
+says he, "the auditories were large and very attentive. Great power
+accompanied the word. Many have been brought under convictions, and
+I have already received invitations to different places, which, God
+willing, I intend to comply with." Writing a week later, he says,
+"It would make your heart leap for joy to be now in Edinburgh. I
+question if there be not upwards of three hundred in this city
+seeking after Jesus. Every morning I have a constant levee of
+wounded souls, many of whom are quite slain by the law. God's power
+attends the word continually, just as when I left London. At seven
+in the morning we have a lecture in the fields, attended not only
+by the common people, but also by persons of rank. I have reason to
+think that several of the latter sort are coming to Jesus. Little
+children also are much wrought upon. God much blesses my letters
+from the little orphans, [girls in the hospital.] He loves to work
+by contemptible means. Oh, my dear brother, I am quite amazed when
+I think what God has done here in a fortnight. My printed sermons
+and journals have been blessed in an uncommon manner. I am only
+afraid lest people should idolize the instrument, and not look
+enough to the glorious Jesus, in whom alone I desire to glory.
+Congregations consist of many thousands. Never did I see so many
+Bibles, nor people looking into them, while I am expounding, with so
+much attention. Plenty of tears flow from the hearers' eyes. Their
+emotions appear in various ways. I preach twice daily, and expound
+at private houses at night, and am employed in speaking to souls
+under distress great part of the day. I have just snatched a few
+moments to write to my dear brother. Oh, that God may enlarge your
+heart to pray for me. This afternoon I preach out of town, and also
+to-morrow. Next post, God willing, you shall have another letter.
+I walk continually in the comforts of the Holy Ghost. The love of
+Christ quite strikes me dumb. O grace, grace! let that be my song.
+Adieu."
+
+In this manner Whitefield continued to preach very extensively
+over Scotland; and early in September he arrived at Glasgow.
+On the eleventh of that month he began his labors in the High
+Church-yard, and for five days in succession preached there twice
+a day--at an early hour in the morning, and again in the evening.
+The expectations of the people were high, not only in Glasgow, but
+all around, and crowds flocked to hear him preach. Morning after
+morning, and evening after evening, that vast church-yard, almost
+paved as it is with tombstones, was crowded with living worshippers,
+trembling under the word. But not satisfied with hearing, the pen of
+the ready writer was from day to day at work, and each sermon was
+printed by itself, and put immediately into circulation. His sermons
+were characterized by great simplicity, as if the language of the
+preacher merely expressed what he felt, and yet there was so much
+earnestness, and so much closeness of application, as to account
+for the effects they produced. He was in the pulpit very much what
+Baxter was in the press. He spoke as a man realizing all that he
+said, and laying open the feelings of his own heart in addressing
+the hearts of others.
+
+Very few men better knew the human heart than Whitefield. He seemed
+to know all the thoughts and feelings of his hearers, and the best
+way in which to meet them. He once preached in Scotland from the
+text, "The door was shut." Matt. 25:10. A respectable lady who heard
+him sat near the door, a considerable distance from the pulpit, and
+observed two showy and trifling young men who appeared to turn the
+solemn appeals of the preacher into ridicule; she heard one of them
+say in a low tone to the other, "Well, what if the door be shut?
+another will open." In a very few minutes, to the great surprise of
+the lady, Mr. Whitefield said, "It is possible there may be some
+careless, trifling person here to-day, who may ward off the force
+of this impressive subject by lightly thinking, 'What matter if the
+door be shut? another will open.'" The two young men looked at each
+other as though they were paralyzed, as the preacher proceeded:
+"Yes, another door will open; and I will tell you what door it
+will be: it will be the door of the bottomless pit, the door of
+hell!--the door which conceals from the eyes of angels the horrors
+of damnation."
+
+After Mr. Whitefield's return to England, at the close of October,
+among many letters which followed him, detailing the results of his
+labors, was one from Mr. M'Culloch, the excellent minister already
+referred to:
+
+"As it is matter of joy and thankfulness to God, who sent you
+hither, and gave you so much countenance, and so remarkably crowned
+your labors with success here at Glasgow, so I doubt not but the
+following account of the many seals to your ministry in and about
+that city, will be very rejoicing to your heart, especially as
+the kingdom of our glorious Redeemer is so much advanced thereby,
+and as the everlasting happiness of souls is promoted. I am well
+informed by some ministers, and other judicious and experienced
+Christians, that there are to the amount of fifty persons already
+known, in and about Glasgow, who appear to be savingly converted,
+through the blessing and power of God on your ten sermons. And there
+are, besides these, several others apparently under conviction,
+but not reckoned, as being still doubtful. Several Christians
+also, of considerable standing, were much strengthened, revived,
+and comforted by what they heard. They were made to rejoice in
+hope of the glory of God, having attained to the full assurance
+of faith. Among those lately converted, there are several young
+people who were before openly wicked and flagitious, or at best
+but very negligent as to spiritual things; and yet they are now
+in the way of salvation. Some young converts are yet under doubts
+and fears, but a considerable number of them have attained to
+peace and joy in believing. Several of those who were lately
+wrought on in a gracious way, seem to outstrip Christians of
+considerable standing, in spiritual-mindedness, and in many other
+good qualifications; particularly in their zeal for the conversion
+of others, in their love to ordinances, and in their freedom from
+bigotry and party zeal. Those converted by your ministry have not
+been discovered at once, but only from time to time. A good many
+of them have been discovered only of late. Their convictions were
+at first less pungent, and through the discouragements they met
+with in the families where they resided, as well as from their own
+feelings, they endeavored for a time to conceal their state. These
+circumstances afford ground for hoping, that there are yet others
+who may afterwards become known. Besides such as have been awakened
+through the power of God accompanying your sermons, there have been
+others who have been since awakened, and who have been discovered
+in consequence of the change observable in their conduct. These,
+dear brother, are a few hints concerning some of the most remarkable
+things, as to the blessing which accompanied your labors at Glasgow."
+
+At Edinburgh, when first visited by Whitefield, many persons of the
+highest rank constantly attended his ministry. Among them were the
+Marquis of Lothian, the Earl of Leven, Lord Ray, Lady Mary Hamilton,
+Lady Frances Gardiner, Lady Jane Nimms, and Lady Dirleton; and at
+some one of their houses he expounded almost every evening. Numbers
+of ministers and students crowded to hear him; and aged Christians
+told him they could set their seal to what he preached.
+
+In connection with this first visit to Edinburgh, several incidents
+have been related which show the power that accompanied his
+preaching, and the skill with which he could seize upon passing
+circumstances, and apply them to the great purpose which he always
+had in view. A gentleman, on returning from one of his sermons, was
+met on his way home by an eminent minister whom he usually heard,
+and who expressed great surprise that he should go to hear such a
+man. The gentleman replied, "Sir, when I hear you, I am planting
+trees all the time; but during the whole of Mr. Whitefield's sermon,
+I could not find time to plant one." A similar instance is related
+of a ship-builder, who usually could "build a ship from stem to
+stern during the sermon; but under Mr. Whitefield, could not lay a
+single plank."
+
+Another narrative has been thus given. An unhappy man who had
+forfeited his life to the offended laws of his country, was
+executed in that neighborhood. Mr. Whitefield mingled with the
+crowd collected on the occasion, and was much impressed with the
+decorum and solemnity which were observable in the awful scene. His
+appearance, however, drew the eyes of all upon him, and produced
+a variety of opinions as to the motives which led him to join the
+multitude.
+
+The next day, being Sunday, he preached to a very large congregation
+in a field near the city; and in the course of his sermon, he
+adverted to the scenes of the preceding day. "I know," said he,
+"that many of you may find it difficult to reconcile my appearance
+yesterday with my clerical character. Many of you, I know, will
+say that my moments would have been better employed in praying
+for the unhappy man, than in attending him to the fatal tree; and
+that perhaps curiosity was the only cause that converted me into a
+spectator on that occasion; but those who ascribe that uncharitable
+motive to me, are under a mistake. I went as an observer of
+human nature, and to see the effect that such an occurrence
+would have on those who witnessed it. I watched the conduct of
+those who were present on that awful occasion, and I was highly
+pleased with their demeanor, which has given me a very favorable
+opinion of the Scottish nation. Your sympathy was visible on your
+countenances; particularly when the moment arrived that your unhappy
+fellow-creature was to close his eyes on this world for ever. Then
+you all, as if moved by one impulse, turned your heads aside, and
+wept. Those tears were precious, and will be held in remembrance.
+How different it was when the Saviour of mankind was extended on the
+cross! The Jews, instead of sympathizing in his sorrows, triumphed
+in them. They reviled him with bitter expressions, with words
+even more bitter than the gall and vinegar which they handed him
+to drink. Not one of all who witnessed his pains, turned his head
+aside, even in the last pang. Yes, my friends, there was _one_--that
+glorious luminary," pointing to the sun, "veiled his brightness, and
+travelled on his course in tenfold night."
+
+On another occasion, near the same city, and probably in the field
+to which we have already referred, under the shade of a venerable
+tree, in a lovely meadow, a poor unhappy man, thinking to turn him
+into ridicule, placed himself on one of the overhanging boughs,
+immediately above the preacher's head, and with monkey-like
+dexterity mimicking his gestures, endeavored to raise a laugh in the
+audience. Guided by the looks of some of his hearers, Whitefield
+caught a glance of him, but without seeming to have noticed him,
+continued his discourse. With the skill of a wise orator, he
+reserved the incident for the proper place and time. While forcibly
+speaking on the power and sovereignty of divine grace, with
+increasing earnestness he spoke of the unlikely objects it had often
+chosen, and the unlooked for triumphs it had achieved. As he rose
+to the climax of his inspiring theme, and when in the full sweep of
+his eloquence, he suddenly paused, and turning round, and pointing
+slowly to the poor creature above him, he exclaimed, in a tone of
+deep and thrilling pathos, "Even _he_ may yet be the subject of
+that free and resistless grace." It was a shaft from the Almighty.
+Winged by the divine Spirit, it struck the scoffer to the heart, and
+realized in his conversion the glorious truth it contained.
+
+Yet another fact may be told connected with Whitefield and
+Edinburgh. When he was once there, a regiment of soldiers were
+stationed in the city, in which was a sergeant whose name was
+Forbes, a very abandoned man, who, everywhere he could do so, run in
+debt for liquor, with which he was almost at all times drunk. His
+wife washed for the regiment, and thus obtained a little money. She
+was a pious woman, but all her attempts to reclaim her husband were
+unsuccessful. During one of Mr. Whitefield's visits to the city,
+she offered her husband a sum of money, if he would for once go and
+hear the eloquent preacher. This was a strong inducement, and he
+engaged to go. The sermon was in a field, as no building could have
+contained the audience. The sergeant was rather early, and placed
+himself in the middle of the field, that he might file off when Mr.
+Whitefield ascended the pulpit; as he only wished to be able to say
+that he had seen him. The crowd, however, increased; and when the
+preacher appeared, they pressed forward, and the sergeant found it
+impossible to get away. The prayer produced some impression on his
+mind, but the sermon convinced him of his sinfulness and danger.
+He became a changed man, and showed the reality of his conversion
+by living for many years in a very penurious manner, till he had
+satisfied the claims of every one of his creditors.
+
+One fact more should be stated in connection with this visit. Mr.
+James Ogilvie was one of the ministers of Aberdeen. This city
+was not in that day, nor indeed in any part of the eighteenth
+century, warmly attached to a fully-exhibited gospel. At this time,
+however, both Mr. Ogilvie and his colleague, Mr. Bisset, who, as
+Sir Henry Moncrieff says, was the highest of the High church, were
+evangelical, though otherwise very opposite men. "Though colleagues
+of the same congregation," says Whitefield, "they are very different
+in their natural temper. The one is, what they call in Scotland, a
+sweet-blooded man, the other of a choleric disposition. Mr. Bisset
+is neither a seceder nor quite a true kirkman, having great fault
+to find with both. Soon after my arrival, dear Mr. Ogilvie took me
+to pay my respects to him. He was prepared for it, and pulled out
+a paper containing a great number of insignificant queries, which
+I had neither time nor inclination to answer." For several years
+Mr. Ogilvie had been corresponding with Mr. Whitefield to induce
+him to visit Aberdeen, hoping that some good might be done; and as
+he was himself to preach on Sabbath forenoon in presence of the
+magistrates, he gave Mr. Whitefield his place. The congregation was
+large, and apparently much interested. Mr. Bisset, in the afternoon,
+preached against Mr. Whitefield by name. Mr. Ogilvie, without either
+consulting his friend, or noticing the conduct of his colleague,
+stood up, after the sermon, and intimated to the congregation
+that Mr. Whitefield would again preach in about half an hour. The
+magistrates remained in the session-house, and the people hastened
+back, expecting to bear a reply. Mr. Whitefield, waiving as much as
+possible all controversial matter, preached Christ. The audience
+was silent, solemn, and deeply impressed. Next day, the magistrates
+apologized for their minister; and as a mark of their own respect,
+presented to Mr. Whitefield the freedom of their city. The effect of
+this visit to Aberdeen was great and beneficial.
+
+In 1742, Mr. Whitefield again visited Scotland. In the mean time
+he had heard that his dear friends the Erskines had become greatly
+offended, on account of what they considered his lax views of church
+government. But notwithstanding this difference with the seceders,
+he was received by great numbers, among whom were some persons of
+distinction, with cordiality and joy, and had the satisfaction
+of hearing more and more of the happy fruits of his ministry.
+At Edinburgh he again preached twice a day, as before, in the
+Hospital-park, where a number of seats and shades, in the form of
+an amphitheatre, were erected for the accommodation of his hearers.
+On the day of his arrival at Cambuslang, he preached three times
+to an immense body of people, although he had preached that same
+morning at Glasgow. The last service continued till eleven o'clock;
+and so much were the people interested, that Mr. M'Culloch, after
+preaching till past one in the morning, could scarcely persuade them
+to depart. Mr. Whitefield himself thus describes the scene: "Persons
+from all parts flocked to see, and many, from many parts, went home
+convinced and converted to God. A brae, or hill, near the manse at
+Cambuslang, seemed to be formed by Providence for containing a
+large congregation. People sat unwearied till two in the morning,
+to hear sermons, disregarding the weather. You could scarcely walk
+a yard, but you must tread upon some either rejoicing in God for
+mercies received, or crying out for more. Thousands and thousands
+have I seen, before it was possible to catch it by sympathy, melted
+down under the word and power of God. At the celebration of the holy
+communion, their joy was so great, that, at the desire of many,
+both ministers and people, in imitation of Hezekiah's passover,
+they had, a month or two afterwards, a second, which was a general
+rendezvous of the people of God. The communion was in the field;
+three tents, at proper distances, all surrounded with a multitude of
+hearers; above twenty ministers, among whom was good old Mr. Bonner,
+attending to preach and assist, all enlivening and enlivened by one
+another."
+
+In addition to his labors at Glasgow and Cambuslang, it is
+surprising to observe the number of places in the west of Scotland
+which Whitefield visited in the course of a few weeks; preaching
+wherever he went, with his usual frequency, energy, and success.
+A gentleman of piety and intelligence thus refers to one of them
+several years afterwards: "When Mr. Whitefield was preaching at
+Kilmarnock, on the twenty-third of August, from the words, 'And of
+his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace,' I thought I
+never heard such a sermon; and from the era above mentioned, I have
+always looked upon him as my spiritual father, and frequently heard
+him afterwards in Edinburgh and Glasgow with much satisfaction.
+When Cape Breton was taken, I happened to be at Edinburgh, and being
+invited to breakfast with Mr. Whitefield, I never, in all my life,
+enjoyed such another breakfast. He gave the company a fine and
+lively descant upon that part of the world, made us all join in a
+hymn of praise and thanksgiving, and concluded with a most devout
+and fervent prayer." About the end of October, Whitefield returned
+to London.
+
+Probably few are aware that Mr. Whitefield visited Scotland no
+less than _fourteen_ times. These visits extended over a period
+of twenty-seven years, beginning in 1741, and ending in 1768.
+In none of his visits after 1742 were there the same extensive
+awakenings as in his first two visits, yet his coming was always
+refreshing to serious persons, infusing new life, and increasing
+their numbers. Young people, too, were much benefited by his
+ministry, and especially young students, who afterwards became
+zealous and evangelical preachers. His morning discourses, which
+were generally intended for sincere but disconsolate souls, were
+peculiarly fitted to direct and encourage such in the Christian
+life; and his addresses in the evening to the promiscuous multitudes
+who then attended him, were powerful and alarming. There was great
+solemnity in his evening congregations in the Orphan-house park at
+Edinburgh and the High Church-yard at Glasgow, especially towards
+the conclusion of his sermons--which were usually long, though they
+seemed short to his hearers--when the whole multitude stood fixed,
+and like one man, hung upon his lips with silent attention, and many
+were under deep religious impressions.
+
+His conversation was no less useful and delightful than his
+sermons. Many in Glasgow, Edinburgh, and other parts of the land,
+bore witness of this fact. In Glasgow especially, when in company
+with his excellent friends M'Laurin, Scott, and others, one might
+challenge the professed sons of pleasure, with all their wit, humor,
+and gayety, to furnish entertainments so gratifying; nor was any
+part of it more agreeable than it was useful and edifying.
+
+Mr. Whitefield's friends in Scotland, among whom were many of all
+ranks, from the highest to the lowest, were constant and steady
+in their great regard for him, and his opposers from year to year
+became less violent. Indeed, his whole behavior was so transparent
+to the eyes of the world, and his character, after it had stood many
+attacks from all quarters, became so thoroughly established, that
+some of his opposers in Scotland seemed to acquire esteem for him;
+at least, they ceased to speak evil of him.
+
+In closing our sketch of Whitefield in Scotland, we select a few
+paragraphs from his letters, which are the more interesting as
+being among the very last words he wrote in that country. June 15,
+1768, he says, "You would be delighted to see our Orphan-house
+park assemblies, as large, attentive, and affectionate as ever.
+Twenty-seven-year-old friends and spiritual children remember the
+days of old; they are seeking after their first love, and there
+seems to be a stirring among the dry bones." Writing on the second
+of July, he says, "Could I preach ten times a day, thousands and
+thousands would attend. I have been confined for a few days; but on
+Monday or Tuesday next, hope to mount my throne again. O, to die
+there! too great, too great an honor to be expected." Again, on the
+ninth of July, "Every thing goes on better and better here; but I am
+so worn down by preaching abroad and talking at home almost all the
+day long, that I have determined, God willing, to set off for London
+next Tuesday."
+
+The respect with which Whitefield was treated in Scotland, not only
+by professing Christians, but in general society, was shown by the
+fact that he was presented with the freedom of some of the principal
+cities and towns which he visited. This privilege was given him in
+Stirling, Glasgow, Paisley, and Aberdeen, in 1741, and at Irvine and
+Edinburgh some years afterwards.
+
+It is difficult, in such a world as this, so to live as that "our
+good" shall not "be evil spoken of." Mr. Whitefield has sometimes
+been charged with motives of a mercenary character, but his whole
+life showed the fallacy of such a charge. Dr. Gillies, his original
+biographer, received from unquestionable testimony the knowledge
+of a fact which ought not to be forgotten. During his stay in
+Scotland, in the year 1759, a young lady, Miss Hunter, who possessed
+a considerable fortune, made a full offer to him of her estate in
+money and lands, worth several thousand pounds. He promptly refused
+the offer; and upon his declining it for himself, she offered it to
+him for the benefit of his orphan-house. This also he absolutely
+refused.
+
+Never could Whitefield be accused of moral cowardice. When the old
+Scotch Marquis of Lothian professed that his heart was impressed
+with the importance of religion, but wished to be a Christian in
+the dark, Whitefield said to him, "As for praying in your family,
+I entreat you not to neglect it; you are bound to do it. Apply to
+Christ to overcome your present fears; they are the effects of pride
+or infidelity, or both."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+On his return from Scotland to London in 1741, Whitefield passed
+through Wales, where at Abergavenny he was married to a Mrs. James,
+a widow, some ten years older than himself. Of this marriage, as
+also of the death of his only child, we have already spoken. After
+preaching at Bristol twice a day for several days in succession,
+he returned to London in the beginning of December, where he
+found letters from Georgia, which, on account of the temporal
+circumstances of his orphan family, somewhat discouraged him. But to
+trace his progress, and to report all his labors, would be to extend
+our volume beyond its due limits.
+
+He was soon again in the west of England, and writing from
+Gloucester, his native place, December 23, 1741, he says, "Last
+Thursday evening the Lord brought me hither. I preached immediately
+to our friends in a large barn, and had my Master's presence. Both
+the power and the congregation increased. On Sunday, Providence
+opened a door for my preaching in St. John's, one of the parish
+churches. Great numbers came. On Sunday afternoon, after I had
+preached twice at Gloucester, I preached at the hill, six miles off,
+and again at night at Stroud. The people seemed to be more hungry
+than ever, and the Lord to be more among them. Yesterday morning I
+preached at Painswick, in the parish church, here in the afternoon,
+and again at night in the barn. God gives me unspeakable comfort and
+uninterrupted joy. Here seems to be a new awakening, and a revival
+of the work of God. I find several country people were awakened when
+I preached at Tewkesbury, and have heard of three or four that have
+died in the Lord. We shall never know what good field-preaching has
+done till we come to judgment. Many who were prejudiced against me
+begin to be of another mind; and God shows me more and more that
+'when a man's ways please the Lord, he will make even his enemies to
+be at peace with him.'"
+
+In the following February he was still further encouraged by
+receiving letters from America, informing him of the remarkable
+success of the gospel there, and that God had stirred up some
+wealthy friends to assist his orphans in their extremity. He writes,
+"The everlasting God reward all their benefactors. I find there
+has been a fresh awakening among them. I am informed that twelve
+negroes belonging to a planter lately converted at the orphan-house,
+are savingly brought home to Jesus Christ." Nor were these things
+all which afforded him joy. Writing to a friend, April 6, he says,
+"Our Saviour is doing great things in London daily. I rejoice to
+hear that you are helped in your work. Let this encourage you; go
+on, go on; the more we do, the more we may do for Jesus. I sleep
+and eat but little, and am constantly employed from morning till
+midnight, and yet my strength is daily renewed. Oh, free grace! it
+fires my soul, and makes me long to do something for Jesus. It is
+true, indeed, I want to go home; but here are so many souls ready to
+perish for lack of knowledge, that I am willing to tarry below as
+long as my Master has work for me." It was at this period that he
+first ventured to preach in the fair in Moorfields, to which we have
+already referred. In this year he made also his second journey to
+Scotland, the particulars of which have been already given.
+
+On his arrival from Scotland in London, October, 1742, Whitefield
+found a new awakening at the Tabernacle, which in the mean time had
+been enlarged. He says, "I am employed, and, glory to rich grace,
+I am carried through the duties of each day with cheerfulness and
+almost uninterrupted tranquillity. Our society is large, but in good
+order. My Master gives us much of his gracious presence, both in our
+public and private ministrations."
+
+In March, 1743, he went again into Gloucestershire, where the
+people appeared to be more eager to attend on his ministry than
+ever before. "Preaching," says he, "in Gloucestershire, is now like
+preaching at the Tabernacle in London." And in a letter, April 7,
+he says, "I preached, and took leave of the Gloucester people with
+mutual and great concern, on Sunday evening last. It was past one in
+the morning before I could lay my weary body down, At five I rose
+again, sick for want of rest; but I was enabled to get on horseback
+and ride to Mr. T----'s, where I preached to a large congregation,
+who came there at seven in the morning. At ten, I read prayers and
+preached, and afterwards administered the sacrament in Stonehouse
+church. Then I rode to Stroud, and preached to about twelve thousand
+in Mr. G----'s field; and about six in the evening, to a like number
+on Hampton common." Next morning he preached near Dursley to some
+thousands; at about seven o'clock he reached Bristol, and preached
+to a full congregation at Smith's hall; and on the following
+morning, after preaching, set out for Waterford, in South Wales,
+where he opened the association which he and his brethren had agreed
+upon, and was several days with them, settling the affairs of the
+societies. The work in Wales, during his absence, had very greatly
+extended itself, not a few of the clergy having become converted,
+as well as their people. He tells us, "The power of God at the
+sacrament, under the ministry of Mr. Rowland, was enough to make
+a person's heart burn within him. At seven in the morning have I
+seen perhaps ten thousand from different parts, in the midst of a
+sermon, crying, _Gugunniaut_--_bendyth_--[glory--blessed]--ready
+to leap for joy." He continued in Wales some weeks, preaching with
+great apparent success, and in the latter part of April returned
+to Gloucester, after having, in about three weeks, travelled about
+four hundred miles, spent three days in attending associations,
+and preached about forty times. Among the interesting events
+of this journey may be reckoned the fact, that when he was at
+Caermarthen the quarterly sessions were held. When he was about to
+preach, the magistrates sent him word, that if he would stay till
+the court rose, they would attend on the service. He acceded to
+their proposal, and they were present, with many thousands more,
+including several persons of high rank.
+
+After a few weeks spent in London, preaching to vast congregations
+in Moorfields, and exulting in his accustomed success, collecting
+too for his beloved orphans, so as to be able to pay all his debts,
+and to make a remittance to Georgia, we again find him at Bristol,
+and in a few days afterwards at Exeter. Among the clergymen who
+met him there was Mr. Cennick. As this gentleman was preaching
+during this visit in the High-street of the city, he was eloquently
+discoursing on the doctrine of the atonement by the blood of Christ,
+when a profane butcher in the crowd exclaimed, "If you love blood,
+you shall presently have enough of it," and ran to obtain some to
+throw on him. A Mr. Saunders, who was employed in conveying persons
+from one place to another, though an entire stranger to religion,
+from a sense of justice, determined to defend the preacher; and
+when the butcher came with a pail nearly filled with blood, he
+quietly took it from him, and poured it over the man's own head.
+This Mr. Saunders afterwards became an eminent Christian. He was,
+till extreme old age, the body-coachman of George III., with whom he
+frequently held Christian conversation, and died happily in 1799, at
+the age of eighty-nine.
+
+During this visit to Bristol, Whitefield's ministry was owned of God
+in the conversion of Thomas Olivers, a young profligate Welshman.
+It is said, he had so studied profanity and cursing, that he
+would exemplify the richness of the Welsh language by compounding
+twenty or thirty words into one long and horrid blasphemy. He had
+often sang profane songs about Whitefield, and was now induced by
+curiosity to go to hear him. Being too late on the first occasion,
+he went on the following evening nearly three hours before the time.
+The text was, "Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?" Zech.
+3:2. His heart became broken with a sense of his sins, and he was
+soon enabled to trust in the mercy of Christ. He became a zealous
+and successful minister of Christ among the followers of Mr. Wesley,
+and was the author of the well-known hymn,
+
+                "The God of Abram praise," etc.
+
+In August, Whitefield returned to London, but not to make a long
+stay there. "I thank you," he writes to a correspondent, "for
+your kind caution to spare myself; but evangelizing is certainly
+my province. Everywhere effectual doors are opened. So far from
+thinking of settling in London, I am more and more convinced that
+I should go from place to place." Accordingly, during the three
+last months of 1743, we find him in a large number of places in the
+central and western parts of England. At Birmingham, he writes, "I
+have preached five times this day, and weak as I am, through Christ
+strengthening me, I could preach five times more." At Kidderminster
+he met with a distinguished Christian merchant, a Mr. Williams,
+whose published "Memoirs" have been eminently useful. Whitefield
+writes, "I was kindly received by Mr. Williams. Many friends were
+at his house. I was greatly refreshed to find what a sweet savor of
+good Baxter's doctrine, works, and discipline remains to this day."
+Nor did he, amidst all his labors, feel his health much impaired.
+He observes, indeed, that he had taken a cold, but adds, "The Lord
+warms my heart."
+
+In the beginning of March, 1744, he was compelled to attend the
+assizes at Gloucester. During the preceding summer, the enemies of
+the Methodists had been very violent, especially at Hampton, in that
+county. Forbearance in the case had ceased to be a virtue, and Mr.
+Whitefield was strongly urged to appeal to law, which in England in
+such cases is severe. At the preceding sessions the rioters had been
+convicted, but appealed to the assizes, a higher court. After a full
+hearing, a verdict was given in favor of Whitefield and his friends,
+and all the prisoners were found guilty. This exposed each to a
+fine of forty pounds, or six months' imprisonment; the rioters were
+greatly alarmed, public feeling on the subject was corrected, and
+the Methodists readily extended forgiveness to the unhappy offenders.
+
+Whitefield was now invited by Mr. Smith, an American merchant then
+in England, in the name of thousands, to revisit this country,
+and took passage with that gentleman in a vessel sailing from
+Portsmouth. But the captain refused to take him, "for fear," as he
+said, "he would spoil the sailors." On this account Mr. Whitefield
+was compelled to go to Plymouth, another seaport, to accomplish his
+purpose. On his way, he preached at Exeter and other places, with
+delightful results. "But," he says, "the chief scene was at Plymouth
+and the Dock, [now called Devonport,] where I expected least
+success."
+
+While he was at Plymouth, four well-dressed men came to the house of
+one of his particular friends, in a kind manner inquiring after him,
+and desiring to know where he lodged. Soon after, Mr. Whitefield
+received a letter informing him that the writer was a nephew of Mr.
+S----, an attorney in New York; that he had the pleasure of supping
+with Mr. Whitefield at his uncle's house, and requested his company
+to sup with him and a few friends at a tavern. Mr. Whitefield
+replied to him that he was not accustomed to sup abroad at such
+houses, but he should be glad of the gentleman's company to eat a
+morsel with him at his own lodging. The gentleman accordingly came
+and supped, but was observed frequently to look around him, and to
+be very absent. At length he took his leave, and returned to his
+companions in the tavern, and on being asked by them what he had
+done, he answered, that he had been treated with so much civility
+and kindness that he had not the heart to touch him. One of the
+company, a lieutenant of a man-of-war, laid a wager of ten guineas
+that he would do his business for him. His companions, however, had
+the precaution to take away his sword.
+
+It was now about midnight, and Mr. Whitefield having that day
+preached to a large congregation, and visited the French prisoners,
+had retired to rest, when he was awoke and told that a well-dressed
+gentleman earnestly wished to speak with him. Supposing that it was
+some person under conviction of sin, many such having previously
+called upon him, he desired him to be brought to his room. The
+gentleman came, sat down by his bedside, congratulated him upon the
+success of his ministry, and expressed considerable regret that he
+had been prevented from hearing him. Soon after, however, he began
+to utter the most abusive language, and in a cruel and cowardly
+manner beat him in his bed. The landlady and her daughter, hearing
+the noise, rushed into the room and laid hold of the assailant;
+but disengaging himself from them, he renewed his attack on the
+unoffending preacher, who, supposing that he was about to be shot or
+stabbed, underwent all the feelings of a sudden and violent death.
+Soon after, a second person came into the house, and called from
+the bottom of the stairs, "Take courage, I am ready to help you."
+But by the repeated cries of murder the neighborhood had become so
+alarmed, that the villains were glad to make their escape. "The
+next morning," says Mr. Whitefield, "I was to expound at a private
+house, and then to set out for Biddeford. Some urged me to stay and
+prosecute, but being better employed, I went on my intended journey,
+was greatly blessed in preaching the everlasting gospel; and, upon
+my return, was well paid for what I had suffered, curiosity having
+led perhaps two thousand more than ordinary to see and hear a man
+that had like to have been murdered in his bed. And I trust, in the
+five weeks that I waited for the convoy, hundreds were awakened and
+turned unto the Lord."
+
+As Whitefield was one day preaching in Plymouth, a Mr. Henry Tanner,
+who was at work as a ship-builder at a distance, heard his voice,
+and resolved, with five or six of his companions, to go and drive
+him from the place where he stood; and for this purpose they filled
+their pockets with stones. When, however, Mr. Tanner drew near, and
+heard Mr. Whitefield earnestly inviting sinners to Christ, he was
+filled with astonishment, his resolution failed him, and he went
+home with his mind deeply impressed. On the following evening, he
+again attended, and heard Mr. Whitefield on the sin of those who
+crucified the Redeemer. After he had forcibly illustrated their
+guilt, he appeared to look intently on Mr. Tanner, as he exclaimed,
+with great energy, "Thou art the man!" These words powerfully
+impressed Mr. Tanner; he felt his transgressions of the divine law
+to be awfully great, and in the agony of his soul he cried, "God be
+merciful to me a sinner!" The preacher then proceeded to proclaim
+the free and abundant grace of the Lord Jesus, which he commanded to
+be preached among the very people who had murdered him; a gleam of
+hope entered the heart of the penitent, and he surrendered himself
+to Christ. Mr. Tanner afterwards entered the ministry, and labored
+with great success, for many years, at Exeter.
+
+We are not quite certain whether it was on this or a subsequent
+visit to Plymouth, that Whitefield had preached on the Sabbath for
+the Rev. Mr. Kinsman, and after breakfast on Monday morning, said
+to him, "Come, let us visit some of your poor people. It is not
+enough that we labor in the pulpit; we must endeavor to be useful
+out of it." On entering the dwellings of the afflicted poor, he
+administered to their temporal as well as their spiritual wants.
+Mr. Kinsman, knowing the low state of his finances, was surprised
+at his liberality, and suggested that he thought he had been too
+bountiful. Mr. Whitefield, with some degree of smartness, replied,
+"It is not enough, young man, to pray, and put on a serious face;
+true religion, and undefiled, is this, to visit the widow and the
+fatherless in their affliction, and to supply their wants. My stock,
+it is true, is nearly exhausted; but God, whom I serve, and whose
+saints we have assisted, will, I doubt not, soon give me a supply."
+His expectation was not disappointed. A stranger called on him
+the same evening, who said, "With great pleasure I have heard you
+preach; you are on a journey, as well as myself, and travelling is
+expensive. Do me the honor to accept of this;" handing him five
+guineas, or twenty-five dollars. Returning to the family, Mr.
+Whitefield, very pleasantly smiling, showed them the money, saying,
+"There, young man, God has very speedily repaid what I lent him this
+morning. Let this in future teach you not to withhold what it is in
+the power of your hand to give. The gentleman to whom I was called
+is a perfect stranger to me; his only business was to give me the
+sum you see." It was a singular fact, that this gentleman, though
+rich, was notorious for a penurious disposition.
+
+During his stay in Plymouth, Whitefield's usefulness daily
+increased. The ferry-men, who obtained their living by carrying
+persons between Plymouth and Dock, refused to take money from his
+hearers, saying, "God forbid that we should sell his word!" The
+evangelist exclaimed, "Oh, the thousands that flock to the preaching
+of Christ's gospel!" In the midst of these scenes, the convoy
+arrived, and in delicate health he embarked for America.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+WHITEFIELD'S SECOND VISIT TO NEW ENGLAND.
+
+1744, 1745.
+
+
+Mr. Whitefield commenced his third voyage to America in August,
+1744. His health while crossing the Atlantic became worse,
+rather than better, the voyage lasting eleven weeks. He had set
+out in company with about one hundred and fifty ships, attended
+by several men-of-war as convoys, which, however, they lost by
+storms separating them on the way. It was more than six weeks,
+owing generally to want of wind, before they reached any of the
+western islands. When the wind again sprung up, one of the vessels,
+which missed stays, drove upon the ship in which Whitefield was,
+striking her mainsail into the bowsprit. The alarm was very great,
+but no lives were lost. He had been singing a hymn on deck when
+the concussion took place; this fact, together with that of the
+concussion itself, was communicated to the convoy, and led to the
+use of much violent and wicked language. But the good man was not
+intimidated. He says, "I called my friends together, and broke
+out into these words in prayer: 'God of the sea, and God of the
+dry land, this is a night of rebuke and blasphemy. Show thyself,
+O God, and take us under thine own immediate protection. Be thou
+our convoy, and make a difference between those who fear thee, and
+those that fear thee not.'" A difference was soon made. Next day a
+heavy storm arose, which "battered and sent away our convoy, so
+that we saw him no more all the voyage." Whitefield at first did
+not at all regret the loss, but when two strange sails appeared
+in the distance, and preparation was made for action by mounting
+guns, slinging hammocks on the sides of the ships, and encircling
+the masts with chains, he being, as he says, "naturally a coward,"
+found it formidable to have no convoy. The vessels, however, proved
+to be only a part of their own fleet. This was a pleasant discovery
+to them, especially to Whitefield. "The captain, on clearing the
+cabin, said, 'After all, this is the best fighting.' You may be sure
+I concurred, praying that all our conflicts with spiritual enemies
+might at last terminate in a thorough cleansing and an eternal
+purification of the defiled _cabin_ of our hearts."
+
+The tediousness of this voyage, in the feeble state of his health,
+seems to have tried Whitefield's patience; so that when he arrived
+in sight of the port of York, in the then territory of Maine, in
+order to land a few hours sooner he went on board a fishing smack
+then in the bay; but darkness coming on, she missed her course,
+and was tossed about all night. Unfortunately, too, she had no
+provisions, and he was so hungry that he says he "could have gnawed
+the very boards." Besides he was suffering from "nervous colic." He
+was greatly discouraged, until a man who was lying at his elbow in
+the cabin began to talk of "one Mr. Whitefield, for whose arrival
+the 'New Lights' in New England" were watching and praying. "This,"
+he says, "made me take courage. I continued undiscovered; and in a
+few hours, in answer, I trust, to _new-light_ prayers, we arrived
+safe." This was on October 19, 1744. He was quite ill when he
+landed; but was received by Dr. Sherburne, an eminent physician
+at York, who was once a Deist, but had been converted under
+Whitefield's ministry. This gentleman took him to his own house, and
+after a few days he began to recover.
+
+The Rev. Mr. Moody, of York, the aged and excellent, but eccentric
+minister of whom we have already spoken, took the earliest suitable
+opportunity of calling on the great evangelist, and said very
+characteristically, "Sir, you are, first, welcome to America;
+secondly, to New England; thirdly, to all faithful ministers in New
+England; fourthly, to all the good people of New England; fifthly,
+to all the good people of York; and sixthly and lastly, to me, dear
+sir, less than the least of all." Prince's "Christian History" had
+announced his arrival, and that his intention was "to pass on to
+Georgia; and as he goes on, to meddle with no controversies, but
+only to preach up the parts of vital piety and the pure truths of
+the gospel, to all who are willing to hear them."
+
+After giving Whitefield this hearty welcome, Moody urged him for a
+sermon. The preacher hesitated, on account of his illness, but "good
+old Mr. Moody" did not give him the benefit of his own favorite
+maxim, "When you know not what to do, you must _not_ do you know
+not what." Whitefield preached, and immediately went to Portsmouth,
+where he preached the same evening, November 6, for Mr. Fitch, and
+was to have preached again the next morning, but was too ill, and
+deferred it till the afternoon. In the mean time, as he wrote, "My
+pains returned; but what gave me most concern was, that notice had
+been given of my being engaged to preach. I felt a divine life,
+distinct from my animal life, which made me, as it were, laugh at
+my pains, though every one thought I was taken with death. My dear
+York physician was then about to administer a medicine. I on a
+sudden cried out, 'Doctor, my pains are suspended; by the help of
+God, I will go and preach, and then come home and die.' With some
+difficulty I reached the pulpit. All looked quite surprised, as
+though they saw one risen from the dead. I indeed was as pale as
+death, and told them they must look upon me as a dying man, come to
+bear my dying testimony to the truths I had formerly preached to
+them. All seemed melted, and were drowned in tears. The cry after
+me, when I left the pulpit, was like the cry of sincere mourners
+when attending the funeral of a dear departed friend. Upon my
+coming home, I was laid upon a bed on the ground, near the fire,
+and I heard them say, 'He is gone.' But God was pleased to order it
+otherwise. I gradually recovered."
+
+In another account he himself says, "In my own apprehension, and
+in all appearance to others, I was a dying man. I preached--the
+people heard me--as such. The invisible realities of another world
+lay open to my view. Expecting to launch into eternity, and to be
+with my Master before the morning, I spoke with peculiar energy.
+Such effects followed the word, I thought it was worth dying for a
+thousand times. Though wonderfully comforted within at my return
+home, I thought I was dying indeed.... Soon after, a poor negro
+woman would see me. She came, sat down upon the ground, and looked
+earnestly in my face, and then said, 'Massa, you just go to heaven's
+gate, but Jesus Christ said, Get you down, get you down; you must
+not come here yet; but go first, and call some more poor negroes.' I
+prayed to the Lord, that if I was to live, this might be the event."
+
+It was nearly three weeks before he was sufficiently recovered to
+proceed to Boston. The day before he left Portsmouth Mr. Shurtleff
+wrote, "The prejudices of most that set themselves against him
+before his coming, seem to be in a great measure abated, and in
+some, to be wholly removed; and there is no open opposition made
+to him. I have frequent opportunities of being with him, and there
+always appears in him such a concern for the advancement of the
+Redeemer's kingdom and the good of souls, such a care to employ his
+whole time to these purposes, such sweetness of disposition, and so
+much of the temper of his great Lord and Master, that every time I
+see him, I find my heart further drawn out towards him."
+
+"Prince's Christian History," of December 15, says, "The Rev. Mr.
+Whitefield was so far revived as to be able to take coach with his
+consort, and set out from Portsmouth to Boston, Nov. 24; whither he
+came in a very feeble state, the Monday evening after; since which
+he has been able to preach in several of our largest houses of
+public worship, particularly the Rev. Dr. Colman's, Dr. Sewall's,
+Mr. Webb's, and Mr. Gee's, to crowded assemblies of people, and
+to great and growing acceptance. At Dr. Colman's desire, and with
+the consent of the church, on the Lord's day after his arrival,
+he administered to them the holy communion. And last Lord's day he
+preached for the venerable Mr. Cheever, of Chelsea, and administered
+the holy supper there. The next day he preached for the Rev. Mr.
+Emerson, of Malden. Yesterday he set out to preach for some towns to
+the northward; proposes to return hither the next Wednesday evening,
+and after a few days to comply with the earnest invitations of
+several ministers to go and preach to their congregations, in the
+southern parts of the province.
+
+"He comes with the same extraordinary spirit of meekness, sweetness,
+and universal benevolence as before. In opposition to the spirit
+of separation and bigotry, he is still for holding communion with
+all Protestant churches. In opposition to enthusiasm, he preaches
+a close adherence to the Scriptures, the necessity of trying all
+impressions by them, and of rejecting whatever is not agreeable to
+them, as delusions. In opposition to Antinomianism, he preaches up
+all kinds of relative and religious duties, though to be performed
+in the strength of Christ; and, in short, the doctrines of the
+church of England, and the first fathers of this country. As before,
+he first applies himself to the understandings of his hearers,
+and then to the affections; and the more he preaches, the more he
+convinces people of their mistakes about him, and increases their
+satisfaction."
+
+The administration of the Lord's supper by a priest of the church
+of England in the Congregational church in Brattle-street, Boston,
+gave great offence. Some said, the consent of the church was
+neither given nor asked, and Dr. Colman was blamed for introducing
+Whitefield by his own authority; to which Dr. Colman replied, that,
+as it was customary for pastors to invite the assistance of other
+ministers on such occasions, he thought it unnecessary to call for
+a vote of the church; that he plainly intimated his intention in
+his prayer after sermon, and then, on coming to the table, said,
+"The Rev. Mr. Whitefield being providentially with us, I have asked
+him to administer the ordinance;" and that by the countenances of
+the people it seemed to be universally agreeable to them, which he
+supposed to be all the consent which the case required.
+
+Since Mr. Whitefield's former visit to New England, a considerable
+change had taken place in not a few of the ministers and churches.
+In 1740, he had inveighed strongly against many of the ministers,
+some of them even by name, as, in his opinion, unconverted; and
+after his departure, some preachers, who professed themselves to
+be his followers, had created great confusion by carrying these
+charges much farther than he would have approved. His second visit
+was therefore anticipated by many with anxiety, lest it might cause
+a new outbreak of enthusiasm and disorder. The General Association
+of Connecticut, in June, 1745, advised that he be not invited to
+preach in any of the churches. When he visited New Haven, he found
+himself shut out of the pulpit of the First church by its minister
+Mr. Noyes. A great crowd, however, assembled to hear him, from the
+neighboring towns, as well as from New Haven, and he preached from a
+platform erected in the street, before Mr. Pierpont's house on the
+Green, to a congregation which neither of the meeting-houses could
+have contained.
+
+From Professor Kingsley's "Sketch of the History of Yale College,"
+we learn that "President Clap issued a declaration, signed by
+himself and three tutors, that is, Samuel Whittlesey, afterwards
+minister of the First church in New Haven, Thomas Darling, for many
+years chief justice of the Court of Common Pleas for the county of
+New Haven, and John Whiting, in which some of the proceedings of Mr.
+Whitefield were condemned. In consequence of the religious fervor
+which had been excited, a much greater diversity of theological
+opinions prevailed in Connecticut than at any previous period.
+Violent controversies arose, churches were divided, and the
+government, by interfering to prevent these evils, increased rather
+than checked them. The college became an object of jealousy; and the
+declaration of the rector and tutors, respecting the preaching of
+Whitefield, offended some, without effectually conciliating others."
+
+The opposition to Mr. Whitefield of which we have spoken, was
+by no means all that he met with. Even before the Association
+in Connecticut had taken action, several similar bodies in
+Massachusetts had acted in a similar manner. The corporation of
+Harvard college published a testimony against him, while that of
+Yale represented that he intended to root out all the standing
+ministers in our land, and to introduce foreigners in their stead.
+The good man, notwithstanding all this opposition, and much more,
+went on laboring for the salvation of souls, and God still honored
+him with success.
+
+While the impartiality to which we hold ourselves bound demanded
+the statement just made, and while we are compelled to admit the
+existence of evils attendant on these revivals, we also record some
+of the facts connected with a convention of ministers, who assembled
+in Boston in pursuance of a previous notice in the Boston Gazette of
+May 30, 1743. We copy the original invitation.
+
+"It is desired and proposed by a number of ministers, both in town
+and country, that such of their brethren as are persuaded that
+there has been of late a happy revival of religion through an
+extraordinary divine influence, in many parts of this land, and are
+concerned for the honor and progress of this remarkable work of
+God, may have an interview at Boston, the day after the approaching
+commencement, to consider whether they are not called to give an
+open, conjunct testimony to an event so surprising and gracious; as
+well as against those errors in doctrine, and disorders in practice,
+which through the permitted agency of Satan have attended it, and
+in any measure blemished its glory and hindered its advancement;
+and also to consult as to the most likely method to be taken to
+guard people against such delusions and mistakes as in such a season
+they are in danger of falling into, and that this blessed work may
+continue and flourish among us." Those who could not be present were
+invited to send written attestations.
+
+In accordance with this proposal, the convention met in Boston
+on Thursday, July 7. The Rev. Dr. Sewall of Boston officiated as
+Moderator, and the Rev. Messrs. Prince of Boston, and Hobby of
+Reading, as Scribes. Ninety persons thus assembled, and letters
+were read from twenty-eight who were absent. A committee was
+appointed, consisting of the Rev. Dr. Sewall, the Rev. Messrs.
+Wigglesworth, Prince, Adams, Cooper, Nathanael Rogers, Leonard,
+and Hobby, to prepare a report. On the next morning this committee
+presented a document, which, after full discussion, was signed by
+all present; and the meeting was dissolved.
+
+Our limits will not allow us to give the whole of the report to
+which we have referred, but a few sentences will show its general
+character:
+
+"We, whose names are undersigned, think it our indispensable
+duty--without judging or censuring such of our brethren as cannot
+at present see things in the same light with us--in this open
+and conjunct manner to declare, to the glory of sovereign grace,
+our full persuasion, either from what we have seen ourselves, or
+received upon credible testimony, that there has been a happy
+and remarkable revival of religion in many parts of this land,
+through an uncommon divine influence, after a long time of decay
+and deadness, and a sensible and very awful withdrawal of the Holy
+Spirit from his sanctuary among us.... The present work seems to
+be remarkable and extraordinary, on account of the numbers wrought
+upon. We never before saw so many brought under soul concern, and
+with great distress making the inquiry, 'What must we do to be
+saved?' And these persons were of all ages and character. With
+regard to the suddenness and quick progress of it, many persons and
+places were surprised with the gracious visit together, or near
+about the same time, and the heavenly influence diffused itself
+far and wide, like the light of the morning. Also [the work seems
+to be remarkable] in respect to the degree of operations, both in a
+way of terror, and in a way of consolation, attended in many with
+unusual bodily effects. Not that all who are accounted the subjects
+of the present work have had these extraordinary degrees of previous
+distress and subsequent joy. But many, and we suppose the greater
+number, have been wrought on in a more gentle and silent way, and
+without any other appearances than are common and usual at other
+times, when persons have been awakened to a solemn concern about
+salvation, and have been thought to have passed out of a state of
+nature into a state of grace. As to those whose inward concern has
+occasioned extraordinary outward distresses, the most of them, when
+we came to converse with them, were able to give what appeared to us
+a rational account of what so affected their minds.... The instances
+were very few in which we had reason to think these affections were
+produced by visionary or sensible representations, or by any other
+images than such as the Scripture itself presents to us. Of those
+who were judged hopefully converted, and made a public profession of
+religion, there have been fewer instances of scandal and apostasy
+than might be expected.... There appears to be more experimental
+godliness and lively Christianity than most of us can remember we
+have ever seen before.... And now we desire to bow the knee in
+thanksgiving to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that
+our eyes have seen and our ears heard such things. And while these
+are our sentiments, we must necessarily be grieved at any accounts
+sent abroad representing this work as all enthusiasm, delusion, and
+disorder. Indeed, it is not to be denied, that in some places many
+irregularities and extravagances have been permitted to accompany
+it, which we would deeply bewail and lament before God, and look
+upon ourselves obliged, for the honor of the Holy Spirit, and of
+his operations on the souls of men, to bear a public and faithful
+testimony against; though at the same time it is to be acknowledged,
+with much thankfulness, that in other places where the work has
+greatly flourished, there have been few if any of those disorders
+and excesses. But who can wonder if, at such a time as this, Satan
+should intermingle himself to hinder and blemish a work so directly
+contrary to the interests of his own kingdom?... Finally, we exhort
+the children of God to continue instant in prayer, that He, with
+whom is the residue of the Spirit, would grant us fresh, more
+plentiful, and extensive effusions, that so this wilderness, in
+all the parts of it, may become a fruitful field; that the present
+appearances may be an earnest of the glorious things promised in the
+latter days, when she shall shine with the glory of the Lord arisen
+upon her, so as to dazzle the eyes of beholders, confound and put
+to shame all her enemies, rejoice the hearts of her solicitous and
+now saddened friends, and have a strong influence and resplendency
+throughout the earth. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus; come quickly."
+
+This paper was signed by eighteen ministers in the county of
+Suffolk, among whom were Colman, Sewall, Prince, Webb, Cooper,
+Foxcroft, Checkly, Gee, Eliot, and Moorhead of Boston; twelve in
+the county of Essex, nine in Middlesex, six in Worcester, ten in
+Plymouth, one in Barnstable, three in Bristol, three in York, five
+in New Hampshire, and one in Rhode Island. There were one hundred
+and fourteen in all who gave attestations, either by signing their
+names to the above document, or by sending written attestations.
+Ninety-six of the one hundred and fourteen took their first degree
+of Bachelor of Arts more than ten years previously; consequently
+before the revival commenced. Twenty-six took their first degrees
+above thirty years before. Attestations were received but from
+twelve ministers in Connecticut, as the proposal did not reach them
+in time.
+
+We may add to this statement, as showing in some degree the extent
+of this revival, that while in 1729 the number of members in the
+Congregational and Presbyterian churches of this country may be
+estimated at thirty-three thousand, the number of communicants in
+1745 could not be less than seventy-five thousand. "The _special_
+revivals of religion," says an able writer in the "American
+Quarterly Register," vol. 4, 1832, "were probably the means of
+adding from twenty thousand to thirty thousand members to the
+churches." The same writer adds, "The genuine fruits of holiness
+appeared, according to the acknowledgment of all parties, in
+multitudes of those who professed religion. They were Christians,
+who endured unto the end. This is the unanimous testimony of those
+men who were the best able to judge. Great numbers who were
+convinced of sin by Mr. Whitefield's preaching, gave ample evidence,
+living and dying, of sincere and fervent love to the commands of
+God. There is reason to believe that a _preparation_ had been made
+for the descent of the Holy Spirit, many years before the revival
+commenced. The fasts and public reformations, the prayers and tears
+of good men, from 1700 to 1730, were not in vain."
+
+One fact connected with the testimony against Whitefield, published
+by the faculty of Harvard college, we quote, as showing that then,
+as well as now, a difference of opinion existed as to written and
+extempore sermons. They thought his extempore manner of preaching
+"by no means proper," because extempore preachers are of necessity
+less instructive, the greater part of the sermon being commonly "the
+same kind of harangue which they have often used before, so that
+this is a most lazy manner" of preaching; and because it exposes the
+preacher to utter rash expressions, and even dangerous errors, as
+Whitefield, they thought, had done in several instances, probably
+from that cause. Assuredly he preferred extempore preaching to any
+other; yet he never pretended to preach without previous study. His
+sermons usually cost him as much previous labor as if they had been
+written; so that, in his case at least, it was not "a lazy way" of
+preaching. The errors which they said he had uttered, were a few
+hasty expressions, which he had retracted as soon as he had been
+reminded of them.
+
+Itinerancy, which had also been objected against Whitefield as one
+of his crimes, he strenuously defended as scriptural and right;
+understanding an evangelist to be, what they said an itinerant was,
+"One that hath no particular charge of his own, but goes about from
+country to country, or from town to town in any country, and stands
+ready to preach to any congregation that shall call him to it."
+For the divine command, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the
+gospel to every creature," he argued, "authorizes the ministers of
+Christ, even to the end of the world, to preach the gospel in every
+town and country, though not 'of their own head,' yet whenever and
+wherever Providence should open a door, even though it should be
+in a place 'where officers are already settled, and the gospel is
+fully and faithfully preached.' This, I humbly apprehend, is every
+gospel minister's indisputable privilege." He further asked, "Was
+not the Reformation begun and carried on by itinerant preaching?" He
+then quoted from "Baxter's Reformed Pastor," a plan which had been
+adopted in some parts of England, for circular lectures by settled
+ministers selected for the purpose, and with the consent of the
+pastors.
+
+In reference to Harvard college, Whitefield lived long enough
+to take a Christian's revenge. In 1764, he solicited from his
+friends donations of books for their library, which had recently
+been destroyed by fire, and four years afterwards, while his old
+opponent President Holyoke was yet in office, the following minute
+was entered on their records: "At a meeting of the President and
+Fellows of Harvard college, August 22, 1768, the Rev. G. Whitefield
+having, in addition to his former kindness to Harvard college,
+lately presented to the library a new edition of his Journals, and
+having procured large benefactions from several benevolent and
+respectable gentlemen; _voted_, that the thanks of the corporation
+be given to the Rev. Mr. Whitefield, for these instances of candor
+and generosity."
+
+It will be readily supposed, that notwithstanding all the opposition
+which Whitefield met, there were yet many thousands always ready to
+attend on his ministry. It was now the close of 1744, but the cold
+of winter did not prevent vast crowds assembling at early services
+long before daylight. Speaking of the opposition he met, "so that,"
+says he, "for a while my situation was rendered uncomfortable,"
+he adds, "But amidst all this smoke a blessed fire broke out. The
+awakened souls were as eager as ever to hear the word. Having heard
+that I expounded early in Scotland, they begged that I would do
+the same in Boston. I complied, and opened a lecture at six in
+the morning. I seldom preached to less than two thousand. It was
+delightful to see so many of both sexes neatly dressed flocking to
+hear the word, and returning home to family prayer and breakfast
+before the opposers were out of their beds."
+
+The late Rev. Dr. Archibald Alexander tells us, that when he was
+at Boston, in 1800, he found in the Old South church a lingering
+relic of Whitefield's times, in a convert of his day, a lady between
+eighty and ninety years of age, who belonged to a prayer-meeting
+founded then, which had been kept up weekly until within a few
+years. Of this, she was the only surviving member.
+
+The "Evening Post," which seems to have been on the side of
+those who opposed Whitefield, in its issue of March 11, 1745,
+says, "Prince, Webb, Foxcroft, and Gee, are the directors of Mr.
+Whitefield's public conduct, as he himself has lately declared at
+Newbury." He had other powerful friends among the clergy, and still
+more among the laity, who invited him by vote into some pulpits
+where the pastors were "shy" of him.
+
+On the 7th of February, we find him at Ipswich, where he spent
+several days. Mr. Pickering, of the Second church, declined
+admitting him into his pulpit, and assigned his reasons in a letter,
+which was published. It contains the usual objections set forth in
+the various "testimonies," and is remarkable only for one convenient
+metaphor. The Bishop of London had published on "Lukewarmness and
+Enthusiasm." Whitefield had said in reply, "All ought to be thankful
+to that pilot who will teach them to steer a safe and middle
+course;" and Pickering wittily asks, "But what if the pilot should
+take the vane for the compass?"
+
+Early in March we find him making an excursion into the east, as we
+hear of him both at Berwick and Portland, in the then territory of
+Maine. In the latter place, he not only made a powerful impression
+on the people, but on their minister. In the outset a strong feeling
+existed against his preaching in the pulpit of the First church. Mr.
+Smith, the pastor, says in his "Journal," "The parish are like to be
+in a flame on account of Mr. Whitefield's coming; the leading men
+violently opposing." Under the date of May 19, after Whitefield's
+departure, we find in the "Journal" a remarkable passage: "For
+several Sabbaths, and the lecture, I have been all in a blaze; never
+in such a flame, and what I would attend to is, that it was not only
+involuntary, but actually determined against. I went to meeting
+resolving to be calm and moderate, lest people should think it was
+wildness and affectation to ape Mr. Whitefield; but God, I see,
+makes use of me as he pleases, and I am only a machine in his hand."
+
+About the middle of March, we find our evangelist at Exeter,
+where he afterwards preached his last sermon. Here some of the
+more zealous members of the church had withdrawn, and formed a
+new church. Their conduct had been sanctioned by one council, and
+censured by another, two years before this time. Whitefield preached
+to them twice, though Mr. Odlin, the pastor of the church from
+which they had withdrawn, "solemnly warned and charged him against
+preaching in his parish." So says the "Evening Post," of March 25,
+which further calls the people to whom he preached, "Separatists."
+
+In this spring of 1745, the first expedition for the capture from
+the French of the island of Cape Breton, near Nova Scotia, was set
+on foot. Colonel Pepperell, a warm personal friend of Whitefield,
+and the only native of New England who was created a Baronet of
+Great Britain, was then at Boston, constantly attending Whitefield's
+lectures. On the day before he accepted a commission to be general
+in that expedition, he asked his opinion of the matter, and was
+told, with the preacher's usual frankness, that he did not indeed
+think that the scheme proposed for taking Louisburgh would be very
+promising; and that the eyes of all would be upon him. If he did
+not succeed, the widows and orphans of the slain soldiers would be
+like lions robbed of their whelps; but if it pleased God to give
+him success, envy would endeavor to eclipse his glory: he had need,
+therefore, if he went, to go with a single eye; and then there
+was no doubt, if Providence really called him, he would find his
+strength equal to the difficulties with which he would have to
+contend.
+
+About the same time, Mr. Sherburne, another of Whitefield's friends,
+being appointed one of the commissioners, told him he must favor
+the expedition, otherwise the pious people would be discouraged
+from enlisting; not only did he say this, but he insisted that
+the evangelist should give him a motto for his flag, for the
+encouragement of his soldiers. Whitefield refused to do this, as
+it would not be consistent with his character as a minister of the
+gospel of peace. But as Sherburne would take no denial, he gave him,
+_Nil desperandum, Christo Duce_--[Nothing to be despaired of, Christ
+being leader.] In these circumstances a large number of men enlisted.
+
+The soldiers and their officers now went farther, and before their
+embarkation requested him to give them a sermon. He preached to
+them from the text, "And every one that was in distress, and every
+one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered
+themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them." 1 Samuel
+22:2. From this somewhat singular text, he discoursed on the
+manner in which distressed sinners came to Jesus Christ, the Son
+of David; and in his application, exhorted the soldiers to behave
+like the soldiers of David, and the officers to act like David's
+worthies; saying, that if they did so, there would be good news
+from Cape Breton. After this he preached to the general himself,
+who invited him to become one of his chaplains. Whitefield declined
+this, saying, that though he should esteem this an honor, yet, as
+he generally preached three times a day, to large congregations,
+he could do more service by stirring up the people to pray, thus
+strengthening the hearts and hands of the army. In this practice
+he persevered during the whole siege of Louisburgh. "I believe,"
+said he, "if ever people went with a disinterested view, the New
+Englanders did then. Though many of them were raw and undisciplined,
+yet numbers were substantial persons, who left their farms and
+willingly ventured all for their country's good. An amazing series
+of providences appeared, and though some discouraging accounts
+were sent during the latter end of the siege, yet in about six
+weeks news came of the surrender of Louisburgh. Numbers flocked
+from all quarters to hear a thanksgiving sermon upon the occasion.
+And I trust the blessing bestowed upon the country through the
+thanksgivings of many, redounded to the glory of God."
+
+Some time before this, the people of Boston had proposed to build
+for Whitefield "the largest place of worship ever seen in America,"
+in which he should regularly preach; but, as usual, he feared this
+plan would abridge his liberty of itinerating: he thanked them for
+their offer, but decidedly declined to accept it. As his bodily
+strength increased, he began to move southward, and went through
+Rhode Island and Connecticut, preaching to thousands generally twice
+a day. He says, "Though there was much smoke, yet every day I had
+more and more convincing proof that a blessed gospel fire had been
+kindled in the hearts both of ministers and people."
+
+About this time occurred a fact which delightfully shows how the
+enemies of this admirable man were often converted into friends.
+A colored trumpeter belonging to the English army resolved to
+interrupt him while delivering a sermon in the open air. For this
+purpose he went to the field, carrying his trumpet with him,
+intending to blow it with all his might about the middle of the
+sermon. He took his station in front of the minister, and at no
+great distance from him. The crowd became very great, and those who
+were towards the extremity pressed forward, that they might hear
+more distinctly, and caused such a pressure where the poor trumpeter
+stood, that he found it impossible at the time when he intended to
+blow his trumpet, to raise the arm which held it, by which means
+he was kept within the sound of the gospel as effectually as if
+he had been chained to the spot. In a short time his attention
+was powerfully arrested, and he became so deeply affected by the
+statements of the preacher, that he was seized with all the agonies
+of despair, and was carried to a house in the neighborhood. After
+the service, he was visited by Mr. Whitefield, who gave him suitable
+counsels, and from that time the trumpeter became a greatly altered
+man. So true is it in reference to the omnipotent and gracious Being,
+
+    "Hearts base as hell he can control,
+     And spread new powers throughout the whole."
+
+While preaching at Boston, he was delighted to observe that the
+sheriff, who had heretofore been the leader of the persecution
+against him, now began to hear him preach; and his pleasure was
+vastly increased, when he saw the crowds come around him to inquire
+as to their highest interests.
+
+Among these crowds was a somewhat remarkable gentleman of that city.
+He was a man of ready wit and racy humor, who delighted in preaching
+over a bottle to his ungodly companions. He went to hear Whitefield,
+that he might be furnished with matter for a "tavern harangue." When
+he had heard enough of the sermon for his purpose, he endeavored
+to quit the church for the inn, but "found his endeavors to get
+out fruitless, he was so pent up." While thus fixed, and waiting
+for "fresh matter of ridicule," the truth took possession of his
+heart. That night he went to Mr. Prince full of terror, and sought
+an introduction to ask pardon of the preacher. Whitefield says of
+him, "By the paleness, pensiveness, and horror of his countenance,
+I guessed he was the man of whom I had been apprized. 'Sir, can you
+forgive me?' he cried in a low, but plaintive voice. I smiled, and
+said, 'Yes, sir, very readily.' 'Indeed,' he said, 'you cannot when
+I tell you all.' I then asked him to sit down; and judging that he
+had sufficiently felt the lash of the law, I preached the gospel
+to him." This, with other remarkable conversions, gave increasing
+energy and influence to his preaching in Boston. "My bodily
+strength," he says, "is recovered, and my soul more than ever in
+love with a crucified Jesus."
+
+Another illustration may also be here given of the meekness and
+gentleness which usually characterized our evangelist in his
+intercourse with his brethren. In his later visits to New England,
+it was Whitefield's usual practice to spend a few days with Dr.
+Hopkins. On one of these occasions, after preaching for the doctor
+on the Sabbath, the next day he proposed a ride into the country
+for exercise. During the ride, Whitefield spoke with regret of the
+views of their "good brother Edwards on the subject of the witness
+of the Holy Spirit." "Ah," asked Dr. Hopkins, "and what is the
+error?" Here Whitefield made a long pause; and Hopkins continued
+the conversation: "Do you believe, Mr. Whitefield, that the witness
+of the Spirit is a direct communication from God?" "I cannot say
+that I do," was the reply. "Well, do you believe that Christians
+have any other witness of the Spirit than that afforded by the
+testimony of their own holy affections?" "I cannot say that I do,"
+Mr. Whitefield again replied. "Do you believe it to be any thing
+more or less," continued Hopkins, "than the Spirit producing in the
+heart the gracious exercises of repentance, faith, etc.?" "No, that
+is precisely my view of it," said Whitefield. "And that is precisely
+the view of good father Edwards," pleasantly returned Dr. Hopkins.
+Whitefield frankly acknowledged his error, and rejoiced that there
+was no disagreement on the subject.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+     FROM HIS LEAVING NEW ENGLAND TILL HIS ARRIVAL IN ENGLAND--LABORS
+     IN THE MIDDLE AND SOUTHERN STATES--THE BERMUDAS.
+
+1745-1748.
+
+
+Leaving New England, Whitefield proceeded first to New York, where
+he preached as he had formerly done, and found that the seed sown in
+past days had produced much fruit. Proceeding still southward, on
+his way towards Philadelphia, arriving in New Jersey, he says, "I
+had the pleasure of preaching by an interpreter to some converted
+Indians, and of seeing nearly fifty young ones in one school, near
+Freehold, learning the Assembly's Catechism." A blessed awakening
+had before this time been begun and carried on among the Delaware
+Indians, by the ministry of David Brainerd; no such work had been
+heard of since the days of the apostolic Eliot in New England.
+
+Arriving in Philadelphia, Whitefield was rejoiced to find that his
+friend Gilbert Tennent was still blessed with success in his labors.
+Many, he says, were under "soul-sickness," and Tennent's health
+suffered much with walking from place to place to see them. The
+gentlemen connected with the new house in which Tennent preached,
+were, as well as Tennent himself, desirous of securing at least a
+portion of Whitefield's labors, and offered him eight hundred pounds
+a year, if he would become their pastor, and labor with them six
+months in the year, travelling the other six months wherever he
+thought proper. He thanked them, but declined.
+
+Not unfrequently have we been told by frigid critics of the inferior
+character of Whitefield's printed sermons. But have they not looked
+too much for the beauties of style, and overlooked the simple energy
+of their scriptural truths? Even these printed sermons have, under
+God, accomplished wonders. In the year 1743, a young gentleman
+from Scotland, then residing at Hanover, in Virginia, had obtained
+a volume of Whitefield's sermons preached in Glasgow, and taken
+in shorthand, which, after a gentleman of Hanover, named Hunt,
+the father of a distinguished Presbyterian minister of that name,
+had studied with great personal benefit, he invited his neighbors
+to visit his house to hear read. By their plainness and fervor,
+attended with the power of God, not a few became convinced of
+their lost condition as sinners, and anxiously inquired the way of
+salvation. The feelings of many were powerfully excited, and they
+could not forbear bitter and violent weeping. The intelligence
+spread, curiosity prompted the desire of many others to attend such
+remarkable services; and one and another begged for admission,
+till the houses were crowded. Numbers were pricked to the heart;
+the word of God became quick and powerful; and, "What shall we
+do?" was the general cry. What to do or say the principal leaders
+knew not. They themselves had been led by a still small voice,
+they hardly knew how, to an acquaintance with the truth; but now
+the Lord was speaking as on mount Sinai, with a voice of thunder;
+and sinners, like that mountain itself, trembled. It was not long
+before Christians had the happiness to see a goodly number healed
+by the same word that had wounded them, and brought to rejoice in
+Christ, and his great salvation. "My dwelling-place," said Mr.
+Morris, one of their number, "was at length too small to contain
+the people, whereupon we determined to build a meeting-house merely
+for _reading_. And having never been used to social prayer, none of
+us durst attempt it." This _reading-house_, as it was called, was
+followed by others of like character, and the number of attendants
+and the power of divine influence were much increased. Mr. Morris,
+as the report spread, was invited to several places at a distance to
+read these sermons. The phrase, "Morris' reading-house," has come
+down by tradition to the present age, as well as important details
+of the opposition of the magistracy and other classes, who sought,
+but in vain, to stop the progress of the work.
+
+Such was the origin of the Presbyterian church at Hanover, where, in
+after-days, William Robinson and President Davies accomplished such
+mighty triumphs, and where the sacred cause still flourishes.
+
+Whitefield does not seem to have been made acquainted with these
+facts till he now arrived in the colony, and saw the happy effects
+which had been produced by the labors of the Rev. Messrs. Robinson,
+Tennent, Blair, and others. Of the visit of Whitefield among them,
+one of them writes, "Mr. Whitefield came and preached four or five
+days in these parts, which was the happy means of giving us further
+encouragement, and engaging others to the Lord, especially among
+the church people, who received his doctrine more readily than they
+would from ministers of the Presbyterian denomination." We may add
+here, that in 1747 there were four houses of worship in and around
+Hanover, which had sprung from the "mustard-seed" of the sermons
+taken in shorthand from Whitefield's lips at Glasgow.
+
+Among the converts in the south who met Whitefield, was Isaac
+Oliver, who was both deaf and dumb, and had been so from his birth.
+Notwithstanding these great disadvantages, he could both feel and
+evince his strong feelings by the most significant and expressive
+signs. He could, for instance, so represent the crucifixion of the
+Lord Jesus Christ, as to be understood by every one; and among
+his own friends he could converse about the love of Christ in the
+language of signs, till he was transported in rapture and dissolved
+in tears. He was much beloved for his eminent piety.
+
+Whitefield had not, during any portion of this time, forgotten
+Bethesda. The public had warmly sustained it, and he now went
+forward to see to its affairs, and to add to the orphan-house a
+Latin school, intending, indeed, before a long time to found a
+college.
+
+The following account of the orphan-house in 1746, was written by
+Mr. Whitefield in the form of a letter to a friend, and published
+as a small pamphlet. We transcribe it from "White's Historical
+Collections of Georgia," published in 1854:
+
+  "Provide things honest in the sight of all men."--Rom. 12:17.
+
+                    "BETHESDA, in Georgia, March 21, 1745-6.
+
+"Some have thought that the erecting such a building was only the
+produce of my own brain; but they are much mistaken; for it was
+first proposed to me by my dear friend the Rev. Mr. Charles Wesley,
+who, with his excellency General Oglethorpe, had concerted a scheme
+for carrying on such a design before I had any thoughts of going
+abroad myself. It was natural to think that, as the government
+intended this province for the refuge and support of many of our
+poor countrymen, numbers of such adventurers must necessarily be
+taken off, by being exposed to the hardships which unavoidably
+attend a new settlement. I thought it, therefore, a noble design in
+the general to erect a house for fatherless children; and believing
+that such a provision for orphans would be some inducement with many
+to come over, I fell in with the design, when mentioned to me by my
+friend, and was resolved, in the strength of God, to prosecute it
+with all my might. This was mentioned to the honorable trustees.
+They took it kindly at my hands, and wrote to the bishop of Bath and
+Wells for leave for me to preach a charity sermon on this occasion
+in the Abbey church. This was granted, and I accordingly began
+immediately to compose a suitable discourse. But knowing that my
+first stay in Georgia would necessarily be short, on account of my
+returning again to take priest's orders, I thought it most prudent
+first to go and see for myself, and defer prosecuting the scheme
+till I came home.... When I came to Georgia, I found many poor
+orphans, who, though taken notice of by the honorable trustees,
+yet, through the neglect of persons under them, were in miserable
+circumstances. For want of a house to bring them up in, the poor
+little ones were tabled out here and there; others were at hard
+services, and likely to have no education at all.
+
+"Upon seeing this, and finding that his Majesty and Parliament had
+the interest of the colony much at heart, I thought I could not
+better show my regard to God and my country than by getting a house
+and land for these children, where they might learn to labor, read,
+and write, and at the same time be brought up in the nurture and
+admonition of the Lord. Accordingly, at my return to England, in
+the year 1738, to take priest's orders, I applied to the honorable
+society for a grant of five hundred acres of land, and laid myself
+under an obligation to build a house upon it, and to receive from
+time to time as many orphans as the land and stock would maintain.
+As I had always acted like a clergyman of the church of England,
+having preached in a good part of the London churches, and but a
+few months before collected near a thousand pounds sterling for the
+children belonging to the charity schools in London and Westminster,
+it was natural to think that I might now have the use at least
+of some of these churches to preach in for the orphans hereafter
+more immediately to be committed to my care. But by the time I had
+taken priest's orders, the spirit of the clergy began to be much
+imbittered. Churches were gradually denied me, and I must let this
+good design drop, and thousands, and I might add ten thousands,
+go without hearing the word of God, or preach in the fields.
+Indeed, two churches, one in London, namely, Spitalfields, and one
+in Bristol, namely, St. Philip's and Jacob, were lent me on this
+occasion, but those were all. I collected for the orphan-house in
+Moorfields two hundred and fifty pounds one Sabbath-day morning,
+twenty-two pounds of which were in copper. In the afternoon I
+collected again at Kennington Common, and continued to do so at
+most of the places where I preached. Besides this, two or three of
+the bishops, and several persons of distinction contributed, until
+at length, having gotten about a thousand and ten pounds, I gave
+over collecting, and went with what I had to Georgia. At that time
+multitudes offered to accompany me; but I chose to take over only a
+surgeon and a few more of both sexes, that I thought would be useful
+in carrying on my design. My dear fellow-traveller William Seward,
+Esq., also joined with them. Our first voyage was to Philadelphia,
+where I was willing to go for the sake of laying in provision. I
+laid out in London a good part of the thousand pounds for goods, and
+got as much by them in Philadelphia as nearly defrayed the families'
+expenses of coming over. Here God blessed my ministry daily....
+
+"January following, 1739, I met my family at Georgia, and being
+unwilling to lose any time, I hired a large house, and took in all
+the orphans I could find in the colony. A great many also of the
+town's children came to school gratis, and many poor people that
+could not maintain their children, upon application, had leave given
+them to send their little ones for a month or two, or more as they
+could spare them, till at length my family consisted of between
+sixty and seventy. Most of the orphans were in poor case, and three
+or four almost eaten up with lice. I likewise erected an infirmary,
+in which many sick people were cured and taken care of gratis. I
+have now by me a list of upwards of a hundred and thirty patients,
+which were under the surgeon's hands, exclusive of my own private
+family. About March I began the great house, having only about one
+hundred and fifty pounds in cash. I called it _Bethesda_, because
+I hoped it would be a house of mercy to many souls. Many boys have
+been put out to trades, and many girls put out to service. I had
+the pleasure, the other day, to see three boys work at the house in
+which they were bred, one of them out of his time, a journeyman,
+and the others serving under their masters. One that I brought from
+New England is handsomely settled in Carolina; and another from
+Philadelphia is married, and lives very comfortably in Savannah. We
+have lately begun to use the plough, and next year I hope to have
+many acres of good oats and barley. We have nearly twenty sheep and
+lambs, fifty head of cattle, and seven horses. We hope to kill a
+thousand weight of pork this season. Our garden is very beautiful,
+furnishes us with all sorts of greens, etc., etc. We have plenty
+of milk, eggs, poultry, and make a good deal of butter weekly. A
+good quantity of wool and cotton have been given me, and we hope to
+have sufficient spun and wove for the next winter's clothing. The
+family now consists of twenty-six persons. Two of the orphan boys
+are blind, one is little better than an idiot. I have two women to
+take care of the household work, and two men and three boys employed
+about the plantation and cattle. A set of Dutch servants has been
+lately sent over. The magistrates were pleased to give me two; and I
+took in a poor widow, aged near seventy, whom nobody else cared to
+have. A valuable young man from New England is my schoolmaster, and
+in my absence performs duty in the family. On Sabbaths, the grown
+people attend on public worship at Savannah, or at White Bluff, a
+village near Bethesda, where a Dutch minister officiates. The house
+is a noble, commodious building, and every thing sweetly adapted
+for bringing up youth. Georgia is very healthy; not above one, and
+that a little child, has died out of our family since it removed to
+Bethesda."
+
+A tabular statement follows this account, giving full particulars of
+the eighty-six children who to that period had been admitted into
+the establishment.
+
+Old newspapers, as daguerreotyping the facts, and even the feelings
+of any particular period, are sometimes invaluable. In New York, as
+everywhere else, Whitefield had his enemies, and many charges were
+brought against him. But that there were those who took a strongly
+favorable view of his character and conduct, is very clear from an
+extract we give from "The New York Post-Boy," of April, 1746: "Mr.
+Whitefield's excellent parts, fine elocution, and masterly address;
+his admirable talent of opening the Scriptures, and enforcing
+the most weighty subjects upon the conscience; his polite and
+serious behavior, his unaffected and superior piety, his prudence,
+humility, and catholic spirit, are things which must silence and
+disarm prejudice itself. By these qualifications of the orator, the
+divine, and the Christian, he has not only fixed himself deeper in
+the affections of his former friends, but greatly increased the
+number wherever he has preached; and made his way into the hearts of
+several who, till this visit, had said all the severe things against
+him that enmity itself seemed capable of."
+
+From this period, this paper especially noticed the various
+movements of this apostolic man; his arrivals in the city, his
+engagements in it, his departures from it, and the places of his
+destination, were all given with the minutiæ with which even the
+movements of monarchs are recorded.
+
+It was not without its use that the organs of the public thus
+expressed their high sense of his character. In 1745, suspicions
+were whispered abroad as to the entire integrity of this excellent
+man in the appropriation of the funds collected for Bethesda. But
+happily for all parties, the magistrates of Savannah published in
+the Philadelphia Gazette an affidavit, that they had carefully
+examined Mr. Whitefield's receipts and disbursements, and found that
+what he had collected in behalf of the orphans, had been honestly
+applied, and that besides, he had given considerably to them of his
+own property.
+
+Having done what he could at Bethesda, feeling his health failing
+him, needing resources for his orphans, and urged on by his love of
+preaching, Whitefield was soon again in the field, far away from
+his home. In the autumn of 1746, we find many passages in his
+journals and letters like these, while in Maryland: "I trust the
+time for favoring this and the neighboring southern provinces is
+come. Everywhere, almost, the door is opened for preaching, great
+numbers flock to hear, and the power of an ascended Saviour attends
+the word. For it is surprising how the Lord causes prejudices to
+subside, and makes my former most bitter enemies to be at peace
+with me.... Lately I have been in seven counties in Maryland, and
+preached with abundant success." At Charleston, South Carolina, he
+writes, January 1747, "The Lord Jesus is pleased to give me great
+access to multitudes of souls." A few weeks later, he writes from
+the same place, that Bethesda was never in a better condition; that
+he had opened a Latin school there during the winter, and that he
+hoped yet to see ministers furnished from Georgia.
+
+In April, we again find him in Maryland, as he writes on the
+twenty-fifth of that month from Bohemia, in that province, and
+speaks of the success of Mr. Samuel, afterwards President Davies,
+in Virginia, but adds that a proclamation had been issued in that
+state against itinerants, so that he himself was shut out of it. In
+the middle of May he exults, "Maryland is yielding converts to the
+blessed Jesus. The gospel seems to be moving southward. The harvest
+is promising. The time of the singing birds is come;" and five days
+afterwards he says, "I have been now a three hundred miles' circuit
+in Maryland, and through one or two counties in Pennsylvania.
+Everywhere the people have a hearing ear, and I trust some have an
+obedient heart."
+
+On the first of June we find him in Philadelphia, from whence
+he writes, "At present I have full work here. The congregations
+yesterday were large, and for this month past I have been preaching
+to thousands in different places." During the whole of this month
+his health was in a very critical state. Here we have a few
+sentences from his pen, as given on different days: "I am sick and
+well, as I used to be in England; but the Redeemer fills me with
+comfort. I am determined, in his strength, to die fighting.... I
+have almost a continual burning fever. With great regret I have
+omitted preaching _one_ night to oblige my friends, and purpose to
+do so once more, that they may not charge me with murdering myself.
+But I hope yet to die in the pulpit, or soon after I come out of
+it.... Since my last, I have been several times on the verge of
+eternity. At present I am so weak that I cannot preach. It is hard
+work to be silent, but I must be tried every way."
+
+Sickness did not interrupt Whitefield's labors, if he could move or
+preach at all. "I am determined," he says to Gilbert Tennent, "to
+die fighting, though it be on my _stumps_." He was soon after at
+New York, Newport, Portsmouth, and Boston. At New York he writes,
+"I am as willing to hunt for souls as ever. I am not weary of my
+work." On the next day he writes, "I have preached to a very large
+auditory, and do not find myself much worse for it." He did so again
+with success. He then says, "I shall go to Boston like an arrow
+out of a bow, if Jesus strengthen me. I am resolved to preach and
+work for Him until I can preach and work no more. I have been upon
+the water three or four days, and now eat like a sailor." He went
+on to Boston, where he heard of the sudden but joyful death of his
+venerable and excellent friend Dr. Colman. He adds, "My reception at
+Boston and elsewhere was like unto the first. Arrows of conviction
+fled and stuck fast. Congregations were larger than ever, and
+opposers' mouths were stopped."
+
+After again making short visits to Philadelphia and Bohemia,
+Whitefield, according to previous arrangements, went to spend the
+winter in North Carolina. Before he left Bohemia, however, he wrote
+to his friends at New York, who were intensely anxious about his
+health, but he could only say it was yet fluctuating. Even so was
+it when he arrived in North Carolina, yet he writes, "I am here,
+hunting in the woods, these _ungospelized_ wilds, for sinners. It is
+pleasant work, though my body is weak and crazy. But after a short
+_fermentation_ in the grave, it will be fashioned like unto Christ's
+glorious body. The thought of this rejoices my soul, and makes me
+long to _leap_ my seventy years. I sometimes think all will go to
+heaven before me. Pray for me as a dying man; but Oh, pray that I
+may not go off as a _snuff_. I would fain die _blazing_--not with
+human glory, but with the love of Jesus."
+
+Such was his weakness, that his journey to Bathtown, in North
+Carolina, was long and slow. Even a short ride was fatiguing and
+painful. Still, he preached with considerable power; cheered on from
+stage to stage by the hope that the conversion of "North Carolina
+sinners would be glad news in heaven." His letters indicated
+lively hopes of an extensive revival, but his expectations were not
+fully realized. His health was still exceedingly feeble, and his
+physicians ordered him to try a change of climate. He accordingly
+embarked for the Bermudas, where he landed, March 15, 1748.
+
+The Bermudas are a group of four small islands lying about nine
+hundred miles east of Georgia. The largest of the islands is called
+St. George's, with a capital of the same name; the climate is
+remarkably fine, and well adapted for the temporary residence and
+recovery of invalids. Here Whitefield met with an exceedingly kind
+reception, and remained on the island with great benefit to his
+health, more than a month. We scarcely need to say that he was not
+idle during his residence here, but traversed the island from one
+end to the other, generally preaching twice a day. A few passages
+from his journal will best show the facts.
+
+"The simplicity and plainness of the people, together with the
+pleasant situation of the island, much delighted me. The Rev.
+Mr. Holiday, minister of Spanish Point, received me in a most
+affectionate, Christian manner; and begged I would make his house
+my home. In the evening, I expounded at the house of Mr. Savage, at
+Port Royal, which was very commodious; and which also he would have
+me make my home. I went with Mr. Savage in a boat to the town of
+St. George, in order to pay our respects to the governor. All along
+we had a most pleasant prospect of the other part of the island; a
+more pleasant one I never saw. Mrs. Smith, of St. George, for whom
+I had a letter of recommendation from my dear old friend Mr. Smith,
+of Charlestown, received me into her house. About noon, with one of
+the council and Mr. Savage, I waited upon the governor. He received
+us courteously, and invited us to dine with him and the council. We
+accepted the invitation, and all behaved with great civility and
+respect. After the governor rose from the table, he desired, if I
+stayed in town on the Sunday, that I would dine with him at his own
+house.
+
+"Sunday, March 20. Read prayers and preached twice this day, to
+what were esteemed here large auditories--in the morning at Spanish
+Point church, and in the evening at Brackish Pond church, about two
+miles distant from each other. In the afternoon I spoke with greater
+freedom than in the morning, and I trust not altogether in vain. All
+were attentive, some wept. I dined with Colonel Butterfield, one of
+the council; and received several invitations to other gentlemen's
+houses. May God bless and reward them, and incline them to open
+their hearts to receive the Lord Jesus.
+
+"Wednesday, March 23. Dined with Captain Gibbs, and went from thence
+and expounded at the house of Captain F----le, at Hunbay, about
+two miles distant. The company here also was large, attentive,
+and affected. Our Lord gave me utterance. I expounded the first
+part of the eighth chapter of Jeremiah. After lecture, Mr. Riddle,
+a counsellor, invited me to his house; as did Mr. Paul, an aged
+Presbyterian minister, to his pulpit; which I complied with upon
+condition that the rumor was true, that the governor had served
+the ministers with an injunction that I should not preach in the
+churches.
+
+"Sunday, March 27. Glory be to God! I hope this has been a
+profitable Sabbath to many souls; it has been a pleasant one to
+mine. Both morning and afternoon I preached to a large auditory, for
+the Bermudas, in Mr. Paul's meeting-house, which I suppose contains
+about four hundred. Abundance of negroes, and many others, were
+in the porch, and about the house. The word seemed to be clothed
+with a convincing power, and to make its way into the hearts of
+the hearers. Between sermons, I was entertained very civilly in a
+neighboring house. Judge Bascom, and three more of the council,
+came thither, and each gave me an invitation to his house. How does
+the Lord make way for a poor stranger in a strange land. After the
+second sermon I dined with Mr. Paul; and in the evening expounded to
+a very large company at Councillor Riddle's. My body was somewhat
+weak; but the Lord carried me through, and caused me to go to
+rest rejoicing. May I thus go to my grave, when my ceaseless and
+uninterrupted rest shall begin.
+
+"Thursday, March 31. Dined on Tuesday at Colonel Corbusier's, and on
+Wednesday at Colonel Gilbert's, both of the council; and found, by
+what I could hear, that some good had been done, and many prejudices
+removed. Who shall hinder, if God will work? Went to an island this
+afternoon called Ireland, upon which live a few families; and to my
+surprise, found a great many gentlemen, and other people, with my
+friend Mr. Holiday, who came from different quarters to hear me.
+Before I began preaching, I went round to see a most remarkable
+cave, which very much displayed the exquisite workmanship of Him,
+who in 'his strength setteth fast the mountains, and is girded
+about with power.' While I was in the cave, quite unexpectedly I
+turned and saw Councillor Riddle, who, with his son, came to hear
+me; and while we were in the boat, told me that he had been with
+the governor, who declared he had no personal prejudice against
+me, and wondered I did not come to town and preach there, for it
+was the desire of the people; and that any house in the town, the
+court-house not excepted, should be at my service. Thanks be to God
+for so much favor. If his cause requires it, I shall have more.
+He knows my heart; I value the favor of man no farther than as it
+makes room for the gospel, and gives me a larger scope to promote
+the glory of God. There being no capacious house upon the island,
+I preached for the first time here in the open air. All heard very
+attentively; and it was very pleasant, after sermon, to see so many
+boats full of people returning from the worship of God. I talked
+seriously to some in our own boat, and sung a psalm, in which they
+readily joined.
+
+"Sunday, April 3. Preached twice this day at Mr. Paul's
+meeting-house, as on the last Sabbath, but with greater freedom
+and power, especially in the morning; and I think to as great,
+if not greater auditories. Dined with Colonel Harvy, another of
+the council; visited a sick woman, where many came to hear; and
+expounded afterwards to a great company, at Captain John Dorrel's,
+Mrs. Dorrel's son, who with his wife courteously entertained me, and
+desired me to make his house my home. So true is that promise of
+our Lord, that 'whosoever leaves father or mother, houses or lands,
+shall have in this life a hundred-fold with persecution, and in the
+world to come, life everlasting.' Lord, I have experienced the one;
+in thy good time grant that I may experience the other also.
+
+"Wednesday, April 6. Preached yesterday at the house of Mr. Anthony
+Smith, of Baylis Bay, with a considerable degree of warmth; and
+rode afterwards to St. George, the only town on the island. The
+gentlemen of the town had sent me an invitation by Judge Bascom;
+and he, with several others, came to visit me at my lodgings;
+and informed me that the governor desired to see me. About ten I
+waited upon his excellency, who received me with great civility,
+and told me he had no objection against my person or my principles,
+having never yet heard me; and he knew nothing with respect to my
+conduct in moral life, that might prejudice him against me; but his
+intentions were to let none preach in the island, unless he had a
+written license to preach somewhere in America, or the West Indies;
+at the same time he acknowledged that it was but a matter of mere
+form. I informed his excellency that I had been regularly inducted
+into the parish of Savannah; that I was ordained priest by letters
+dismissory from my lord of London, and was under no church censure
+from his lordship; and would always read the church prayers, if the
+clergy would give me the use of their churches. I added farther,
+that a minister's pulpit was always looked upon as his freehold; and
+that I knew one clergyman who had denied his own diocesan the use
+of his pulpit. But I told his excellency I was satisfied with the
+liberty he allowed me, and would not act contrary to his injunction.
+I then begged leave to be dismissed, as I was obliged to preach at
+eleven o'clock. His excellency said he intended to do himself the
+pleasure to hear me. At eleven, the church bell rung. The church
+Bible, prayer-book, and cushion, were sent to the town-house. The
+governor, several of the council, the minister of the parish, and
+assembly-men, with a great number of the town's people, assembled in
+great order. I was very sick, through a cold I caught last night;
+but read the church prayers. The first lesson was the fifteenth
+chapter of the first book of Samuel. I preached on those words,
+'Righteousness exalteth a nation.' Being weak and faint, and
+afflicted much with the headache, I did not do that justice to my
+subject which I sometimes am enabled to do; but the Lord so helped
+me that, as I found afterwards, the governor and the other gentlemen
+expressed their approbation, and acknowledged they did not expect to
+be so well entertained. Not unto me, Lord, not unto me, but to thy
+free grace be all the glory!
+
+"After sermon, Dr. F----bs, and Mr. P----t, the collector, came
+to me, and desired me to favor them and the gentlemen of the town
+with my company at dinner. I accepted the invitation. The governor,
+and the president, and Judge Bascom were there. All wondered at my
+speaking so freely and fluently without notes. The governor asked
+whether I used minutes. I answered, 'No.' He said it was a great
+gift. At table, his excellency introduced something of religion by
+asking me the meaning of the word HADES. Several other things were
+started about freewill, Adam's fall, predestination, etc., to all
+which God enabled me to answer so pertinently, and taught me to mix
+the _utile_ and _dulce_ [useful and pleasant] so together, that all
+at table seemed highly pleased, shook me by the hand, and invited me
+to their respective houses. The governor, in particular, asked me to
+dine with him on the morrow; and Dr. F----, one of his particular
+intimates, invited me to drink tea in the afternoon. I thanked
+all, returned proper respects, and went to my lodgings with some
+degree of thankfulness for the assistance vouchsafed me, and abased
+before God at the consideration of my unspeakable unworthiness. In
+the afternoon, about five o'clock, I expounded the parable of the
+prodigal son to many people at a private house; and in the evening
+had liberty to speak freely and closely to those who supped with
+me. O that this may be the beginning of good gospel times to the
+inhabitants of this town."
+
+We might fill other pages from Whitefield's journal, but will only
+give two more passages. The first will show him in connection with
+the African race, in whose highest welfare he always took a special
+interest.
+
+"Saturday, May 7. In my conversation these two days with some of my
+friends, I was diverted much in hearing several things that passed
+among the poor negroes, since I preached to them last Sunday. One of
+the women, it seems, said that 'if the book I preached out of was
+the best book that was ever bought at London, she was sure it had
+never all that in it which I spoke to the negroes,' The old man who
+spoke out loud last Sunday, and said 'yes' when I asked them whether
+all the negroes would not go to heaven, being questioned by somebody
+why he spoke out so, answered, that 'the gentleman put the question
+once or twice to them, and the other fools had not the manners to
+make any answer; till at last I seemed to point at him, and he
+was ashamed that nobody should answer me, and therefore he did.'
+Another, wondering why I said negroes had black hearts, was answered
+by his black brother, 'Ah, thou fool, dost not thou understand it?
+He means black with sin.' Two girls were overheard by their mistress
+talking about religion, and they said 'they knew, if they did not
+repent, they must be damned.' From all which I infer that these
+negroes on the Bermudas are more awake than I supposed; that their
+consciences are awake, and consequently prepared in a good measure
+for hearing the gospel preached to them."
+
+Whitefield sums up the events which had occurred in connection with
+himself on the Bermudas, the praise of which islands has also been
+celebrated by the distinguished Bishop Berkeley, who resided there
+for some time, and by Waller the poet.
+
+"Sunday, May 22. Blessed be God, the little leaven thrown into the
+three measures of meal begins to ferment and work almost every
+day for the week past. I have conversed with souls loaded with a
+sense of their sins, and as far as I can judge, really pricked to
+the heart. I preached only three times, but to almost three times
+larger auditories than usual. Indeed, the fields are white, ready
+to harvest. God has been pleased to bless private visits. Go where
+I will, upon the least notice, houses are crowded, and the poor
+souls that follow are soon drenched in tears. This day I took, as
+it were, another farewell. As the ship did not sail, I preached
+at Somerset in the morning to a large congregation in the fields;
+and expounded in the evening at Mr. Harvy's house, around which
+stood many hundreds of people. But in the morning and evening how
+did the poor souls weep. Abundance of prayers and blessings were
+put up for my safe passage to England, and speedy return to the
+Bermudas again. May they enter into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.
+With all humility and thankfulness of heart will I here, O Lord,
+set up my _Ebenezer_, for hitherto surely hast thou helped me.
+Thanks be to the Lord for sending me hither. I have been received
+in a manner I dared not to expect, and have met with little, very
+little opposition indeed. The inhabitants seem to be plain and
+open-hearted. They have loaded me with provisions for my sea-store;
+and in the several parishes, by a private voluntary contribution,
+have raised me upwards of _one hundred pounds sterling_. This
+will pay a little of Bethesda's debt, and enable me to make such
+a remittance to my dear yoke-fellow, as may keep her from being
+embarrassed, or too much beholden in my absence. Blessed be God for
+bringing me out of my embarrassments by degrees. May the Lord reward
+all my benefactors a thousand-fold. I hear that what was given,
+was given heartily, and people only lamented that they could do no
+more."
+
+Whitefield now transmitted to Georgia what had been collected for
+the orphan-house; but fearing a relapse, if he returned to the
+south during the hot season, which was near commencing, and pressed
+also again to visit England, he took his passage in a brig, and in
+twenty-eight days arrived at Deal.
+
+On his voyage, he completed an abridgment, which he had previously
+begun, of "_Law's serious Call to a devout and holy Life_," which he
+endeavored to make more useful by excluding whatever is not truly
+evangelical, and illustrating the subject more fully, especially
+from the holy Scriptures. He also wrote letters to his friends, one
+of which strikingly illustrates his Christian humility. It bears
+date June 24, 1748. "Yesterday I made an end of revising all my
+journals. Alas, alas, in how many things I have judged and acted
+wrong. I have been too rash and hasty in giving characters both
+of places and persons. Being fond of Scripture language, I have
+used a style too apostolical, and at the same time I have been too
+bitter in my zeal. Wildfire has been mixed with it, and I find that
+I frequently wrote and spoke in my own spirit, when I thought I
+was writing and speaking by the assistance of the Spirit of God. I
+have, likewise, too much made inward impressions my rule of acting,
+and too soon and too explicitly published what had been better kept
+in longer, or told after my death. By these things I have hurt
+the blessed cause I would defend, and also stirred up a needless
+opposition. This has humbled me much, and made me think of a saying
+of Mr. Henry, 'Joseph had more honesty than he had policy, or he
+never would have told his dreams.' At the same time, I cannot but
+praise God, who fills me with so much of his holy fire, and carried
+me, a poor weak youth, through such a torrent, both of popularity
+and contempt, and set so many seals to my unworthy ministrations. I
+bless him for ripening my judgment a little more, for giving me to
+see and confess, and I hope in some degree to correct and amend some
+of my former mistakes."
+
+In the early part of this year, 1748, the "Gentleman's Magazine"
+had announced Whitefield's death as having taken place in America.
+One of his first letters on his arrival at Deal in that year, says,
+"Words cannot express how joyful my friends were to see me once more
+in the land of the living, for I find the newspapers had buried me
+ever since April last. But it seems I am not to die, but live. O
+that it may be to declare the works of the Lord."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+LABORS IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND--CHAPLAIN TO LADY HUNTINGDON.
+
+1748, 1749.
+
+
+On the evening of July 6, 1748, Whitefield again found himself in
+London, after an absence of nearly four years. Here he was welcomed
+with joy by many thousands. The large church of St. Bartholomew
+was at once thrown open to him, where multitudes flocked to hear,
+and where on the first Sabbath he had a thousand communicants. But
+in his own more immediate circle many things were in an unhappy
+condition. His congregation at the Tabernacle had been much
+scattered during his absence; Antinomianism had made sad havoc
+among the people; and one of this party threatened to rival him in
+Moorfields. Whitefield sent him word, "The fields are no doubt as
+free to you as to another. God send you a clear head and a _clean_
+heart. I intend preaching there on Sunday evening." He did so; and
+found "Moorfields as white to harvest as ever." Our evangelist
+was again called to mourn the evils of poverty. He found himself
+compelled to sell his household furniture, to pay, in part, the
+debts of his orphan-house, which were yet far from being cancelled;
+his aged mother, for whom he always retained the highest regard,
+also needed his aid. These and other trials pressed him sorely; but
+on the other hand, he felt happy in his work, and his congregation
+were soon reunited, and happy in his labors.
+
+We have seen that as early as 1738, Lady Huntingdon, with his
+lordship her husband, as frequently as they could, heard Whitefield
+preach; since that period his lordship had died, leaving her
+ladyship a widow, in the thirty-ninth year of her age. At what
+period she became more openly and intimately Whitefield's friend
+does not appear; but when he landed at Deal from his third visit
+to America, she sent Howel Harris to bring him to her house at
+Chelsea, where he preached to large circles of the gay world, who
+thronged this then fashionable watering-place. For the benefit of
+this class of hearers, she soon after removed to London, at that
+time some three miles distant from Chelsea, appointed Whitefield her
+chaplain, and during the winter of 1748 and '49, opened her splendid
+mansion in Park-street for the preaching of the gospel. "Good Lady
+Huntingdon," he writes, "has come to town, and I am to preach twice
+a week at her house to the great and noble. O that some of them
+might be effectually called to taste the riches of redeeming love."
+On the first day appointed, Chesterfield and Bolingbroke, both of
+them well-known for their gayety and infidelity, and a circle of the
+nobility, attended; and having heard him once, they desired to come
+again. "Lord Chesterfield thanked me," he says. "Lord Bolingbroke
+was moved, and asked me to come and see him the next morning. My
+hands have been full of work, and I have been among great company.
+All accepted my sermons. Thus the world turns round. '_In all time
+of my wealth, good Lord, deliver me._'"
+
+The death-bed of Lord St. John Bolingbroke, whom we have already
+mentioned as one of his parlor-hearers, exhibited scenes unusual in
+the circle where he moved. The Bible was read to him, and his cry
+was, "God be merciful to me a sinner." "My Lord Bolingbroke," wrote
+Lady Huntingdon to Whitefield, "was much struck with his brother's
+language in his last moments. O that his eyes might be opened by the
+illuminating influence of divine truth. He is a singularly awful
+character; and I am fearfully alarmed, lest the gospel which he so
+heartily despises, yet affects to reverence, should prove the savor
+of death unto death to him. Some, I trust, are savingly awakened,
+while many are inquiring; thus the great Lord of the harvest hath
+put honor on your ministry, and hath given my heart an encouraging
+token of the utility of our feeble efforts."
+
+It is related that the Rev. Mr. Church, a clergyman who died curate
+of Battersea, near London, one day called on Bolingbroke, who said
+to him, "You have caught me reading John Calvin; he was indeed a man
+of great parts, profound sense, and vast learning; he handles the
+doctrines of grace in a very masterly manner." "Doctrines of grace,"
+replied the clergyman; "the doctrines of grace have set all mankind
+by the ears." "I am surprised to hear you say so," answered Lord
+Bolingbroke, "you who profess to believe and to preach Christianity.
+Those doctrines are certainly the doctrines of the Bible, and if I
+believe the Bible I must believe them. And let me seriously tell
+you, that the greatest miracle in the world is the subsistence of
+Christianity, and its continued preservation, as a religion, when
+the preaching of it is committed to the care of such unchristian
+men as you."
+
+At this period Whitefield renewed his acquaintance with the Rev.
+James Hervey, who has not improperly been called the Melancthon
+of the second reformation in England. Among all the converts
+of our evangelist, no one was more distinguished for piety, or
+for his fascination as a writer, than this admirable clergyman.
+His writings, though too flowery in their style, were eminently
+suitable, as Whitefield himself says, "for the taste of the polite
+world." Hervey wrote to Whitefield, "Your journals and sermons, and
+especially that sweet sermon on 'What think ye of Christ?' were a
+means of bringing me to the knowledge of the truth." Whitefield felt
+the warmest attachment to Hervey in return, and when he introduced
+some of his works into America, wrote, "The author is my old friend;
+a most heavenly-minded creature; one of the first Methodists, who
+is contented with a small _cure_, and gives all he has to the poor.
+We correspond with, though we cannot see each other." Whitefield
+intimated in one of his journals his intention of sketching Hervey's
+character, but this was one of the many intended things which
+were never accomplished. Dr. Doddridge wrote a preface to one of
+his works, which Warburton, as might be expected, called "a weak
+rhapsody."
+
+Under the auspices of Lady Huntingdon, a prayer-meeting was
+established for the women who, from the circles of rank and fashion,
+became the followers of the Lord. Among these were Lady Frances
+Gardiner, Lady Mary Hamilton, daughter of the Marquis of Lothian,
+who had attended the ministry of Whitefield in Scotland, Lady
+Gertrude Hotham and Countess Delitz, sisters of Lady Chesterfield,
+Lady Chesterfield herself, and Lady Fanny Shirley. "Religion," says
+Lady Huntingdon, when writing to Doddridge, "was never so much the
+subject of conversation as now. Some of the great ones hear with me
+the gospel patiently, and thus much seed is sown by Mr. Whitefield's
+preaching. O that it may fall on good ground, and bring forth
+abundantly."
+
+Some one, we believe a bishop, complained to George II. of the
+popularity and success of Whitefield, and entreated his majesty in
+some way or other to silence him. The monarch, thinking, no doubt,
+of the class described by the martyr Latimer, as "unpreaching
+prelates," replied with jocose severity, "I believe the best way
+will be to make a bishop of him."
+
+But if Whitefield was honored by some of the great, he received from
+others unmingled hostility. Horace Walpole, the gay man, and the
+corrupt courtier, thought it worth while to introduce the Methodist
+preacher into his "Private Correspondence." The statement he makes
+of professed facts is altogether incredible, but shows unmistakably
+the spirit of the writer. "The apostle Whitefield is come to some
+shame. He went to Lady Huntingdon lately, and asked for forty pounds
+for some distressed saint or other. She said she had not so much
+money in the house, but would give it him the first time she had. He
+was very pressing, but in vain. At last he said, 'There's your watch
+and trinkets, you don't want such vanities; I will have that.'
+She would have put him off; but he persisting, she said, 'Well, if
+you must have it, you must.' About a fortnight afterwards, going
+to his house, and being carried into his wife's chamber, among the
+paraphernalia of the latter the countess found her own offering.
+This has made a terrible schism; she tells the story herself. I had
+not it from Saint Frances, [Lady Fanny Shirley,] but I hope it is
+true." Every thing goes to prove the sincerity of his hope, though
+founded on falsehood.
+
+It has generally happened that the most effective public speakers,
+whether secular or sacred, have been accused by a fastidious class
+with _vulgarisms_. So with Cicero, Burke, and Chatham; so with
+Patrick Henry and Daniel Webster; and to turn to eminent preachers,
+so with Luther, Latimer, and Whitefield. The reason was, that
+intent on the greatest good to the greatest number, they used what
+Dr. Johnson, after Daniel Burgess, called "market language." Dr.
+William Bates, an accomplished and courtly non-conformist minister,
+in the seventeenth century, once complained in the presence of his
+faithful but unpolished friend Daniel Burgess, that he found very
+little success in his work as a minister; when his aged brother
+smartly replied, "Thank your velvet mouth for that--too fine to
+speak market language." Whitefield, very happily for thousands, had
+no squeamishness of this sort.
+
+Some ladies called one Saturday morning to pay a visit to Lady
+Huntingdon, and during the interview, her ladyship inquired of them
+if they had ever heard Mr. Whitefield preach. On being answered
+in the negative, she said, "I wish you would hear him; he is to
+preach to-morrow evening." They promised her ladyship they would
+certainly attend. They fulfilled their promise; and when they called
+on her ladyship the next Monday morning, she anxiously inquired if
+they had heard Mr. Whitefield on the previous evening, and how they
+liked him. The reply was, "Oh, my lady, of all the preachers we
+ever heard, he is the most strange and unaccountable! Among other
+preposterous things, would your ladyship believe it, he declared
+that Jesus Christ was so willing to receive sinners, that he did not
+object to receive even the devil's _castaways_! Now, my lady, did
+you ever hear of such a thing since you were born?" Her ladyship, in
+reply, said, "There is something, I acknowledge, a little singular
+in the invitation, and I do not recollect to have met with it
+before; but as Mr. Whitefield is below in the parlor, we will have
+him up, and let him answer for himself."
+
+On Mr. Whitefield's entering the drawing-room, Lady Huntingdon
+said, "Sir, these ladies have been preferring a very heavy charge
+against you, and I thought it best that you should come up and
+defend yourself. They say, that in your sermon last evening, in
+speaking of the willingness of Jesus Christ to receive sinners, you
+said, that 'so ready was Christ to receive sinners who came to him,
+that he was willing to receive even the devil's castaways.'" Mr.
+Whitefield immediately replied, "I certainly, my lady, must plead
+guilty to the charge; whether I did what was right, or otherwise,
+your ladyship shall judge when you have heard a fact. Did your
+ladyship notice, about half an hour ago, a very modest single rap
+at the door? It was given by a poor, miserable looking aged female,
+who requested to speak with me. I desired that she might be shown
+into the parlor, when she thus addressed me: 'I believe, sir, you
+preached last evening at such a chapel.' 'Yes, I did.' 'Ah, sir, I
+was accidentally passing the door of that chapel, and hearing the
+voice of some one preaching, I did what I have never been in the
+habit of doing--I went in; and one of the first things I heard you
+say, was, that Jesus Christ was so willing to receive sinners, that
+he did not object to receive the devil's castaways. Do you think,
+sir, that Jesus Christ would receive me?' I answered her that there
+was not a doubt of it, if she was but willing to go to him."
+
+It is pleasant to add, that the impression conveyed in the singular
+language of Mr. Whitefield ended in the conversion of the poor
+woman to God. She gave satisfactory evidence that her great and
+numerous sins had been forgiven through the atonement of the Lord
+Jesus Christ. Was Mr. Whitefield to be censured for the use of this
+language?
+
+In September, 1748, Mr. Whitefield made his third visit to Scotland,
+where he met with a cordial welcome, and where his labors became
+increasingly valued. Some of the clergy at Glasgow, Perth, and
+Edinburgh used their influence to exclude him from the pulpits, but
+the majority voted in his favor; and a full examination vindicated
+his character, and made his excellences more generally known. All
+the ministers who were disposed to invite him to preach, were at
+liberty to do so, except in the presbytery of Edinburgh; here,
+however, he was accommodated by the magistrates with a church to
+preach in whenever he visited the city. In Scotland he now warmly
+advocated the cause of the college in New Jersey: of the results of
+his labors we shall hear more hereafter.
+
+On his return to London, Whitefield resumed his preaching at
+Lady Huntingdon's to "the great ones," as he calls them. Thirty,
+and sometimes even sixty persons of rank attended, although the
+newspapers gave false and degrading accounts of the reception he
+met with in Scotland. He now availed himself of the influence he
+possessed, to forward his intended college, in addition to his
+orphan-house, for which his plea was, "If some such thing be not
+done, I cannot see how the southern parts will be provided with
+ministers; for all are afraid to go over." On this ground he
+appealed to the trustees of Georgia; reminding them that he had
+expended five thousand pounds upon the orphan-house; begging them
+to relieve it, as a charitable institution, from all quit-rent
+and taxes; and especially to allow him the labor of blacks in
+cultivating the farm. "White hands," he said, "had left his tract of
+land uncultivated."
+
+It will not be expected that Whitefield could stay long, even in the
+courtly circles of London, where he met with so much acceptance. We
+very soon find him among his old friends at Gloucester and Bristol.
+The bishop of the latter see, he says, behaved very respectfully
+to him; he visited also his old tutor, now become one of the
+prebendaries, and met with the old kindness received at Oxford. "I
+told him, that my judgment, as I trust, was a little more ripened
+than it was some years ago; and that as fast as I found out my
+faults, I should be glad to acknowledge them. He said the offence of
+the governors of the church would wear off as I grew _moderate_."
+The evangelist did not tell the doctor how little he cared for such
+moderation as the governors of the church in that day required;
+but he wrote to Lady Huntingdon, on the subject of their favor, "I
+am pretty easy about that. If I can but act an honest part, and be
+kept from _trimming_, I leave all consequences to Him who orders all
+things well." During this journey, many new converts were won. One
+of these was a counsellor, who was so much affected, that his zeal
+in inviting others to hear Whitefield led his wife to suspect him of
+madness.
+
+An interesting fact connected with Gloucestershire, his native
+county, may be introduced in this place, though we are not sure
+that it occurred during this journey. John Skinner of Houndscroft
+was a strolling fiddler, going from fair to fair, supplying music
+to any party that would hire him. Having determined to interrupt
+Mr. Whitefield while preaching, he obtained a standing on a ladder
+raised to a window near the pulpit. Here he remained a quiet, if not
+an attentive hearer, till the text was read, when he intended to
+begin his annoying exercise on the violin. It pleased God, however,
+while he was putting his instrument in tune, to convey the word
+preached with irresistible power to his soul; his attention was
+diverted from his original purpose, he heard the whole sermon, and
+became a new man.
+
+Happily Whitefield was blessed in bringing to Christ many who were
+made eminently useful. Among others we might mention the late Rev.
+Cornelius Winter, an eminent minister, who afterwards accompanied
+our evangelist in his last voyage to America, and who after his
+death conveyed his will to England, and sought ordination to return
+and labor in Georgia. Disappointed in this, he became an able and
+successful minister in England; and also trained several young men
+for the Christian ministry, including the late celebrated William
+Jay of Bath. Whitefield had often been heard by Winter with great
+pleasure, for he admired his eloquence; but for some time no good
+effects were apparent. One night, while playing at cards, an
+amusement in which he much delighted, and though surrounded by a
+number of gay companions, the thought presented itself to Winter's
+mind that he might that evening hear his favorite preacher. He broke
+off from play in the midst of the game, which made his companions
+very angry, as they suspected where he was going. He tells us that
+it was a night much to be remembered. He had reason to hope the
+scales of ignorance were then removed from his eyes, he had a sense
+of his misery as a sinner, and was led to earnest inquiry after the
+way of salvation. It is scarcely necessary to say, that he never
+again played at cards.
+
+From the exhilarating scenes of Gloucestershire and Bristol, we
+must accompany Whitefield into Cornwall, among the glens and dales
+of which, or on the seaside to a somewhat similar population and
+with almost equal success, he spoke "all the words of this life."
+The robust and determined miners of the west of England, whose
+very employment gives hardihood alike to their character and frame,
+at first received him in somewhat rough and unpolished style,
+but were soon after melted and transformed by the grace which
+had displayed its triumphs among their brethren at Kingswood.
+"I am just returned," he writes on one occasion, "from near the
+Land's End, where thousands and thousands heard the gospel gladly.
+Everywhere the word of God has run and been glorified. Every day I
+have been travelling and preaching; and could I stay a month, it
+might be spent to great advantage. At a place called Port Isaac,
+the Redeemer's stately steps were indeed seen. At Camelford I
+preached with great quietness in the streets. At St. Ann's we had
+a very powerful season; and yesterday at Redruth several thousands
+attended, and the word was quick and powerful." Again he writes,
+"Immediately after writing my last, I preached to many thousands at
+a place called Gwennap. The rain descended, but the grace of God
+seemed to fall like a gentle dew, sprinkling rain upon our souls. It
+was indeed a fine spring shower. In the evening I rode to St. Ives,
+and preached to many who gladly attended to hear the word; a great
+power seemed to accompany it. On the Lord's day I preached twice to
+great auditories. On Monday I preached again at Redruth, at ten in
+the morning, to nearly, as they were computed, ten thousand souls.
+Arrows of conviction seemed to fly fast." Again, in a communication
+to the Countess of Huntingdon, he says, "I have been very near
+the Land's End, and everywhere souls have fled to hear the word
+preached, 'like doves to their windows.' The harvest is great, yea,
+very great, but laborers are few. O that the Lord of the harvest
+would thrust out more laborers." And yet again he says, "Invitations
+are sent to me from Falmouth and several other places, but I cannot
+attend to them all at present. I want more tongues, more bodies,
+more souls, for the Lord Jesus. Had I ten thousand, he should have
+them all." Such was the noble spirit he displayed, and such were
+the manner and fruits of his "entering in among" the, at that time,
+benighted children of Cornwall. A great light shone upon them. They
+came from the caverns of the earth to welcome its rising, and to
+look upon its brightness. Thousands of them were indeed "brought out
+of darkness into marvellous light," and turned by it from sin to
+holiness, and from Satan to God; and thousands are still rejoicing
+in its beams.
+
+On his return to London, Whitefield found his assemblies at the
+countess's "brilliant indeed," and Lord Bolingbroke still one among
+them. Of this talented nobleman our evangelist at this time indulged
+a happy hope, which, alas, seems never to have been realized.
+
+In February, 1749, Whitefield made an excursion to Exeter and
+Plymouth, where he was agreeably surprised to find a great
+alteration had taken place since his preceding visit, five years
+before. He loved to "range," as he called it, "after precious
+souls," and happily for him and for others he found them. During
+this and subsequent visits to Plymouth, he resided with the Rev.
+Andrew Kinsman, an excellent Congregational minister, of whom we
+have already spoken. He was born in Devonshire in 1724, and was
+therefore ten years younger than Whitefield. While peculiarly
+amiable in his manners, and remarkable for his regard to his
+parents, he was unacquainted with the religion of the heart till
+his seventeenth year, when he met with a volume of Mr. Whitefield's
+sermons, and one of those on the new birth alarmed him. His pious
+friends were few, but his religious feelings were deeply moved,
+and God at length gave him "the oil of joy for mourning, and the
+garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness." Concerned for the
+highest interests of his relatives, he one night, as the family were
+retiring to rest, broke out, with intense emotion, "What, shall we
+go to bed without prayer? How do we know but some of us may awake
+in hell before morning?" This unexpected address struck the family
+with solemn awe; and while they looked at each other with conscious
+shame, for the neglect of so clear a duty, he fell upon his knees
+and prayed with so much readiness and fervor that it excited their
+astonishment.
+
+As might be expected, his concern for others did not stop here; he
+was anxious that his neighbors might also find "the unsearchable
+riches of Christ." He began, therefore, to read Whitefield's sermons
+to as many as would attend, supposing, with Melancthon, that what
+had proved so great a blessing to himself, would not fail of similar
+effects on others, as soon as they were heard. After a short time,
+he began himself to expound and preach, and was encouraged by many
+conversions under his ministry, including those of his father,
+mother, and three sisters. Not long after these events, Whitefield,
+in entering on one of his voyages to America, had been compelled
+to stay at Plymouth, where Kinsman first saw and heard him. By a
+series of remarkable events, Mr. Kinsman was brought to settle
+as a minister at Plymouth, where the "Tabernacle" was erected on
+ground given by himself, and the congregation were served by him and
+other ministers with abundant success. In the whole neighborhood an
+extraordinary blessing attended his labors, and his usefulness and
+deliverances from danger were only second to those of Whitefield
+himself. Nor was he less respected, nor his ministry attended with
+less success, at Bristol and London--cities to which he was invited
+by Whitefield; who used to call Bristol "_Kinsman's America_,"
+alluding to his own reception and success in the western world.
+
+On one occasion, when Whitefield was about to sail for America,
+he sent for Kinsman to London, and on his arrival dined with his
+distinguished friend at the Tabernacle house. After dinner there
+was a violent storm of thunder and lightning. As they stood at the
+window looking out on the raging elements, Mr. Kinsman, supposing a
+young clergyman who had dined with them, and who now stood by his
+side, to be a pious man, familiarly put his hand on his shoulder,
+and with great cheerfulness and energy repeated the lines of Dr.
+Watts:
+
+    "The God who rules on high,
+     And thunders when he please;
+     Who rides upon the stormy sky,
+     And manages the seas--
+     _This awful God is ours_,
+     Our Father, and our love!"
+
+The words so appropriately introduced, and so emphatically spoken,
+made a deep impression on the mind of the young clergyman, and gave
+rise to a conversation which, by the blessing of God, led to his
+conversion.
+
+At the Tabernacle in London, the ministry of Mr. Kinsman was greatly
+distinguished for its excellence and success, and he thought himself
+highly honored in preaching the first sermon delivered from the
+pulpit of the present Tabernacle. His musical voice, his lively and
+pathetic address, and the richness of the evangelical truths he
+proclaimed, brought numbers of all classes of society to hear him.
+Among them was Shuter, the comedian, to whom we shall again refer as
+a hearer of Whitefield, and who years afterwards, in an interview
+with Kinsman, drew a striking contrast between their professions,
+and bitterly lamented that he had not cordially embraced religion,
+when his conscience was impressed under the preaching of the great
+evangelist.
+
+But we must not stay longer to speak of Kinsman; suffice it to say
+that he founded, in addition to Plymouth, a new church three miles
+from thence, at a place now called Devonport, and labored with
+energy and holy success till the sixty-ninth year of his age, when
+he died in triumph, February 28, 1793. Of such a man it was truly
+said, that for Whitefield "he retained the most filial affection to
+his dying day; and frequently travelled with, and consulted him as a
+father upon all his religious concerns."
+
+In March Whitefield returned to London, where the feeble state of
+his health made him feel weary even in his success. He says, "I
+have seen enough of popularity to be sick of it, and did not the
+interest of my blessed Master require my appearing in public, the
+world should hear but little of me henceforward." Yet his zeal
+abated not. "I dread the thoughts of flagging in the latter stages
+of my road," is an expression often used in his letters to his
+friends. He thought that preaching and travelling contributed to his
+health. In a letter to Hervey, he says, "Fear not your weak body,
+we are immortal till our work is done. Christ's laborers must live
+by miracle; if not, I must not live at all, for God only knows what
+I daily endure. My continual vomitings almost kill me, and yet the
+pulpit is my cure; so that my friends begin to pity me less, and to
+leave off that ungrateful caution, 'Spare thyself.' I speak this to
+encourage you."
+
+All this Whitefield meant. Hence in May we find him preaching at
+Portsmouth daily, for more than a week, to very large and attentive
+auditories; where was shown another remarkable instance of the power
+which attended his preaching, for many who a few days before were
+speaking all manner of evil against him, were very desirous of his
+longer stay to preach the gospel among them. From Bristol, June 24,
+he writes, "Yesterday God brought me here, after a circuit of about
+eight hundred miles, and enabled me to preach to, I suppose, upwards
+of a hundred thousand souls. I have been in eight Welsh counties,
+and I think we have not had one dry meeting. The work in Wales is
+much upon the advance, and likely to increase daily."
+
+Whitefield returned to London to welcome his wife home from the
+Bermuda Islands. From her he learned that there his character had
+been aspersed by one of the clergy; but while he grieved over the
+fact, he said, "I am content to wait till the day of judgment for
+the clearing up of my character; and after I am dead, I desire no
+other epitaph than this, 'Here lies George Whitefield. What sort of
+a man he was, the great day will discover.'"
+
+In the midst of his sorrows, Whitefield was comforted by a visit
+from two German ministers, who had been laboring among the Jews with
+apparently happy results. He found also several of the peeresses,
+and others of "the great," cordially disposed to receive him; and
+shortly afterwards was visited by Mr. Grimshaw, a clergyman from
+Yorkshire, for whom in September he went to preach. Thousands in the
+village of Haworth attended his preaching, even ten thousand at a
+time, and a thousand communicants approached the table of the Lord.
+At Leeds also he preached, at the invitation of Mr. Wesley's people,
+to ten thousand persons, and Mr. Charles Wesley himself introduced
+him to the pulpit at Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
+
+In the north of England the visits of Mr. Whitefield were always
+looked for with intense interest. In one of his letters, he thus
+describes the state of things there in August, 1756: "It is now a
+fortnight since I came to Leeds, in and about which I preached eight
+days successively, three times almost every day, to thronged and
+affected auditories. On Sunday last at Bradford, in the morning,
+the audience consisted of above ten thousand; at noon, and in
+the evening, at Birstal, of nearly double that number. Though
+hoarse, I was able to speak so that they all heard." These hallowed
+services were often spoken of by the late Rev. Dr. John Fawcett,
+for more than half a century an eminent Baptist minister of that
+neighborhood, to whose soul they proved a rich blessing. After
+having heard Whitefield at Bradford in the morning, he followed
+him to Birstal, where a platform was erected at the foot of a hill
+adjoining the town, whence Mr. Whitefield addressed an immense
+concourse of people, not fewer, it was believed, than twenty
+thousand, who were ranged before him on the declivity in the form of
+an amphitheatre. "I lay," says Fawcett, "under the scaffold, and it
+appeared as if all his words were addressed to me, and as if he had
+known my most secret thoughts from ten years of age. As long as life
+remains, I shall remember both the text and the sermon." Accustomed
+as he was to preach to large and promiscuous multitudes, when he
+looked on this vast assemblage, and was about to mount the temporary
+stage, he expressed to his surrounding friends a considerable
+feeling of timidity; but when he began to speak, an unusual
+solemnity pervaded the assembly, and thousands, in the course of the
+sermon, as was often the fact, gave vent to their emotions by tears
+and groans. Fools who came to mock, began to pray, and to cry out,
+"What must we do to be saved?"
+
+Mr. Shirley, in giving an account of this same service, tells us
+that "not only the field, but the woodlands about it, were covered
+with crowds collected from different parts. An unusual solemnity
+pervaded this vast multitude, and at the close of the service the
+one hundredth psalm was sung, and concluded with Mr. Grimshaw's
+favorite doxology,
+
+       "'Praise God, from whom all blessings flow.'
+
+The volume of sound produced by the united voices of thousands,
+while it reëchoed through the vale below, had such an effect as no
+language can describe."
+
+Mr. Grimshaw was a very remarkable clergyman connected with the
+church of England, though found fault with on account of his
+irregularity. He studied at Cambridge for the ministry before he
+was acquainted with the reality of true religion. His conversion
+was very striking; after which he became a remarkably faithful and
+pungent preacher. He settled at Haworth, in Yorkshire, where Mr.
+Whitefield visited him.
+
+In one of the services held by Mr. Whitefield in Yorkshire, a
+deep solemnity was created by providential circumstances. He had
+mounted the temporary scaffold to address the thousands before him.
+Casting a look over the multitude, he elevated his hands, and in an
+energetic manner implored the divine presence and blessing. With a
+solemnity peculiarly his own, he then announced his text, "It is
+appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." Heb.
+11:27. After a short pause, as he was about to proceed, a wild,
+terrifying shriek issued from the centre of the congregation. A
+momentary alarm and confusion ensued. Mr. Whitefield waited to
+ascertain the cause, and requested the people to remain still. Mr.
+Grimshaw hurried to the spot, and in a few minutes was seen pressing
+towards the place where Mr. Whitefield stood. "Brother Whitefield,"
+said he, manifesting in the strongest manner the intensity of his
+feelings, and the ardor of his concern for the salvation of sinners,
+"you stand among the dead and the dying. An immortal soul has been
+called into eternity; the destroying angel is passing over the
+congregation; cry aloud, and spare not." The awful occurrence was
+speedily announced to the congregation. After the lapse of a few
+moments, Mr. Whitefield again announced his text. Again a loud and
+piercing shriek proceeded from the spot near where Lady Huntingdon
+and Lady Margaret Ingham were standing. A thrill of horror seemed
+to escape from the multitude when it was understood that a _second_
+person had fallen a victim to the king of terrors. When the
+consternation had somewhat subsided, Mr. Whitefield gave indications
+of proceeding with the service. The excited feelings of many were
+wound up to their highest point. All was hushed; not a sound was to
+be heard; and a stillness like the awful silence of death spread
+over the assembly, as he proceeded in melting strains to warn the
+careless, Christless sinner to "flee from the wrath to come."
+
+As winter was now approaching, Whitefield felt it important to
+return to the metropolis. During the tour he had made, he won to
+Christ not a few of those who afterwards laid the foundations of
+churches now flourishing in the counties of Lancaster, York, and
+Northumberland. He met, however, with so much "rude treatment here
+and there, as sent him home praying, 'Lord, give me a pilgrim heart
+for my pilgrim life.'" He was now in "winter quarters," but was
+neither idle nor useless. To use his own words, "The glory of the
+Lord filled the tabernacle, and the shout of a king was in the
+camp," and that from week to week. "Thousands, thousands crowded to
+hear." Every day also he heard of instances of conversion. One of
+these pleased him greatly. It was that of a boatswain, who, before
+hearing him, knew no more about divine truth "than the whistle he
+blew on board." He mentions also a boy eleven years of age, a woman
+of eighty, and a baker, who had been "a Jerusalem sinner," all of
+whom bowed before the cross, and placed their hopes of salvation on
+Him who died thereon.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+     LABORS IN GREAT BRITAIN--FOURTH VISIT TO AMERICA--NEW TABERNACLE
+     IN LONDON, AND TABERNACLE AT BRISTOL.
+
+1750-1754.
+
+
+At the beginning of the year 1750, Whitefield was still in London.
+At this time his intended college at Bethesda occupied much of
+his attention. He wrote to his friends in every quarter for help.
+His usual appeal was, "We propose having an academy or college at
+the orphan-house. The house is large, and will hold a hundred. My
+_heart_, I trust, is larger, and will hold ten thousand." Though
+in London, his heart was in America. He says, "Ranging seems my
+province; and methinks I hear a voice behind me saying, 'This is
+the way, walk in it.' My heart echoes back, 'Lord, let thy presence
+go with me, and then send me where thou pleasest.' In the midst of
+all, America, _dear_ America, is not forgotten. I begin to count the
+days, and to say to the months, 'Fly fast away, that I may spread
+the gospel-net once more in dear America.'"
+
+Be it here mentioned, that amid the busy scenes of his life, and
+while surrounded with the flatteries of the great and noble,
+Whitefield did not forget the duties he owed to his mother. A person
+whom he had employed to obtain some comforts for her, had neglected
+the duty, so that the now aged matron might have felt a week's
+anxiety. He wrote to her, "I should never forgive myself, was I, by
+negligence or any wrong conduct, to give you a moment's needless
+pain. Alas, how little have I done for you. Christ's care for his
+mother excites me to wish I could do any thing for you. If you
+would have any thing more brought, pray write, honored mother.
+* * * Tomorrow it will be _thirty-five_ years since you brought
+unworthy me into the world. O that my head were waters, and mine
+eyes fountains of tears, that I might bewail my barrenness and
+unfruitfulness in the church of God."
+
+While he was now fully engaged in preaching, and was surrounded
+with flatteries, he did not forget his duty to conflict with sin.
+He writes, "I find a love of power sometimes intoxicates even God's
+dear children. It is much easier for me to obey than govern. This
+makes me fly from that which, at our first setting out, we are apt
+to court. I cannot well buy humility at too dear a rate."
+
+Dr. Philip Doddridge, as every reader knows, was one of the most
+pious and accomplished preachers and writers of the Non-conformists
+of England in his day. Nor was his _missionary_ zeal small in its
+degree. Though he died as early as 1751, he had said, "I am now
+intent on having something done among the dissenters, in a more
+public manner, for propagating the gospel abroad, which lies near
+my heart. I wish to live to see this design brought into execution,
+at least into some forwardness, and then I should die the more
+cheerfully." It was indeed the passion of his life to promote
+the interests of evangelical truth, and save the souls of men.
+And though, as his recent eulogist, the Rev. John Stoughton, has
+said, condemned by some, and suspected by others for so doing, he
+took a deep and sympathetic interest in the evangelical labors of
+Whitefield. It seems strange in our day to think of Whitefield
+being regarded as an enthusiast by orthodox dissenters. Yet there
+were those who did thus regard him. Bradbury poured on him streams
+of wit; Barker regarded his sermons as low and coarse; and another
+in writing calls him "honest, crazy, confident Mr. Whitefield."
+But Doddridge regarded him as far otherwise, and spoke of him as
+"a flaming servant of Christ." He prayed on one occasion at the
+Tabernacle, but Dr. Watts was much grieved by it; and when, on
+Whitefield's visiting Northampton, Doddridge gave him the use of
+his pulpit, the managers of the college of which he was president
+remonstrated with him for so doing.
+
+The visit of Whitefield to Doddridge was in February, 1750, where
+he met with the Rev. Dr. Sir James Stonehouse, and the Rev. Messrs.
+Hartley and Hervey. The latter eminent clergyman thus writes: "I
+have lately seen that most excellent minister of the ever-blessed
+Jesus, Mr. Whitefield. I dined, supped, and spent the evening with
+him at Northampton, in company with Dr. Doddridge, and two pious,
+ingenious clergymen of the church of England, both of them known to
+the learned world by their valuable writings. And surely I never
+spent a more delightful evening, or saw one that seemed to make
+nearer approaches to the felicity of heaven. A gentleman of great
+worth and rank in the town invited us to his house, and gave us
+an elegant treat; but how mean was his provision, how coarse his
+delicacies, compared with the fruit of my friend's lips: they
+dropped as honey from the honey-comb, and were a well of life.
+Surely people do not know that amiable and exemplary man, or else,
+I cannot but think, instead of depreciating, they would applaud
+and love him. For my part, I never beheld so fair a copy of our
+Lord, such a living image of the Saviour, such exalted delight in
+God, such enlarged benevolence to man, such a steady faith in the
+divine promises, and such a fervent zeal for the divine glory; and
+all this without the least moroseness of humor, or extravagance of
+behavior, sweetened with the most engaging cheerfulness of temper,
+and regulated by all the sobriety of reason and wisdom of Scripture;
+insomuch that I cannot forbear applying the wise man's encomium of
+an illustrious woman to this eminent minister of the everlasting
+gospel: 'Many sons have done virtuously, but thou excellest them
+all.'"
+
+In the month of March, 1750, a general alarm had been awakened
+by earthquakes in London, and fears were excited by pretended
+prophecies of still greater devastation. These signal judgments
+of Jehovah were preceded by great profligacy of manners, and its
+fruitful parent, licentiousness of principle. Dr. Horne, afterwards
+dean of Canterbury and bishop of Bristol, in a sermon preached at
+the time, says, "As to faith, is not the doctrine of the Trinity,
+and that of the divinity of our Lord and Saviour--without which
+our redemption is absolutely void, and we are yet in our sins,
+lying under the intolerable burden of the wrath of God--blasphemed
+and ridiculed openly in conversation and in print? And as to
+righteousness of life, are not the people of this land dead in
+trespasses and sins? Idleness, drunkenness, luxury, extravagance,
+and debauchery; for these things cometh the wrath of God, and
+disordered nature proclaims the impending distress and perplexity of
+nations. And Oh, may we of this nation never read a handwriting upon
+the wall of heaven, in illuminated capitals of the Almighty, MENE,
+MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN--God hath numbered the kingdom, and finished
+it. Thou art weighed in the balances of heaven, and found wanting
+the merits of a rejected Redeemer, and therefore the kingdom is
+divided and given away."
+
+The shocks felt in London in February and March of this year, were
+far more violent than any remembered for a long series of years. The
+earth moved throughout the whole cities of London and Westminster.
+It was a strong and jarring motion, attended with a rumbling noise
+like that of thunder. Multitudes of persons of every class fled
+from these cities with the utmost haste, and others repaired to the
+fields and open places in the neighborhood. Towerhill, Moorfields,
+and Hyde Park were crowded with men, women, and children, who
+remained a whole night under the most fearful apprehensions. Places
+of worship were filled with persons in the utmost state of alarm.
+Especially was this the case with those attached to Methodist
+congregations, where multitudes came all night, knocking at the
+doors, and for God's sake begging admittance. As convulsions of
+nature are usually regarded by enthusiasts and fanatics as the
+sure harbinger of its dissolution, a soldier "had a revelation,"
+that a great part of London and Westminster would be destroyed
+by an earthquake on a certain night, between the hours of twelve
+and one o'clock. Believing his assertion, thousands fled from the
+city for fear of being suddenly overwhelmed, and repaired to the
+fields, where they continued all night, in momentary expectation of
+seeing the prophecy fulfilled; while thousands of others ran about
+the streets in the most wild and frantic state of consternation,
+apparently quite certain that the day of judgment was about to
+commence. The whole scene was truly awful.
+
+Under these circumstances, the ministers of Christ preached almost
+incessantly, and many were awakened to a sense of their awful
+condition before God, and to rest their hopes of eternal salvation
+on the Rock of ages. Mr. Whitefield, animated with that burning
+charity which shone so conspicuously in him, ventured out at
+midnight to Hyde Park, where he proclaimed to the affrighted and
+astonished multitudes that there is a Saviour, Christ the Lord. The
+darkness of the night, and the awful apprehensions of an approaching
+earthquake, added much to the solemnity of the scene. The sermon
+was truly sublime, and to the ungodly sinner, the self-righteous
+pharisee, and the artful hypocrite, strikingly terrific. With
+a pathos which showed the fervor of his soul, and with a grand
+majestic voice that commanded attention, he took occasion from the
+circumstances of the assembly, to call their attention to that
+most important event in which every one will be interested, the
+final consummation of all things, the universal wreck of nature,
+the dissolution of earth, and the eternal sentence of every son
+and daughter of Adam. The whole scene was one of a most memorable
+character. Mr. Charles Wesley, Mr. Romaine, and others preached in a
+similar manner, and with like happy results.
+
+At this period, Whitefield and his female friends especially,
+were the subjects of royal attention at the court of George the
+Second. It is said that on one occasion Lady Chesterfield appeared
+in a dress "with a brown ground and silver flowers," of foreign
+manufacture. The king, smiling significantly, said to her aloud, "I
+know who chose that gown for you--Mr. Whitefield; I hear you have
+attended on him for a year and a half." Her ladyship acknowledged
+she had done so, and professed her approbation of his character and
+ministry; and afterwards deeply regretted that she had not said more
+when she had so good an opportunity. Whitefield had occasion to wait
+on the secretary of state, in company with Dr. Gifford, a Baptist
+pastor in London, to ask relief for some persecuted Christians in
+Ireland, and was assured that "no hurt was designed by the state to
+the Methodists." He also renewed his friendship with the Messrs.
+Wesley, and several times exchanged pulpits with them. He writes, "I
+have now preached thrice in Mr. Wesley's chapel, and God was with us
+of a truth."
+
+Again was our evangelist tired of London, and again had he grown
+sick for want of field-preaching. Accordingly he set out for Bristol
+and other parts of the west of England; and although rain and hail
+pelted him in his field-pulpits, he preached "about twenty times
+in eight or nine days." As soon as he found himself in his own
+element, he saw every thing in his old lights. He says, "Every
+thing I meet with seems to carry this voice with it: 'Go thou and
+preach the gospel; be a pilgrim on earth; have no party, or certain
+dwelling-place.' My heart echoes back, 'Lord Jesus, help me to do
+or suffer thy will. When thou seest me in danger of _nestling_, in
+pity, in tender pity put a thorn in my nest, to prevent me from it.'"
+
+From Bristol, Whitefield went to Taunton, where he met with the Rev.
+Richard Pearsall, an eminent and excellent Presbyterian minister, of
+whom he speaks very highly; and from thence, on his way to Plymouth,
+he stayed at Wellington, to preach for the Rev. Risdon Darracott,
+who has ever since been distinguished as "the star in the west." Mr.
+Darracott was the son of a dissenting minister in Dorsetshire, where
+he was born in 1717, when Whitefield was three years old. He studied
+for the ministry under the Rev. Dr. Doddridge, at Northampton,
+and entered on his ministerial course in Cornwall in 1738, which
+situation he was most reluctantly compelled to leave two years
+afterwards from violent hemorrhage of the lungs. Under this alarming
+visitation he spent about six months with his friends in Devonshire,
+where his fervent-minded father had preached till his death at the
+age of forty. While here, he had a call to succeed a venerable
+minister at Wellington, who had recently deceased. He found the
+congregation small, and the number of communicants but twenty-eight.
+His ministry soon drew a large congregation, many of whom had never
+before made a profession of religion, and were first attracted
+into the town from the neighboring villages out of mere curiosity
+to hear him. The house of worship was soon insufficient to contain
+his hearers; and even when it was enlarged, many were frequently
+compelled to stand out of doors, unable to obtain an entrance. The
+Rev. Benjamin Fawcett, who preached his funeral sermon, said, "I
+never knew any congregation which appeared to have so many instances
+of abiding religious impressions;" and added, "I have good reason to
+believe that his ministry was owned to the effectual conversion of
+many hundreds of souls."
+
+The night before the death of this excellent man, which took place
+in his forty-second year, he exclaimed, "Oh, what a good God have I,
+in and through Jesus Christ. I would praise him, but my lips cannot.
+Eternity will be too short to speak his praises." The physician
+coming in, he said to him, "Oh, what a mercy is it to be interested
+in the atoning blood of Jesus. I come to the Lord as a vile sinner,
+trusting in the merits and precious blood of my dear Redeemer. O
+grace, grace, free grace!" His last words were, "I am going from
+weeping friends to congratulating angels, and rejoicing saints in
+glory. He is coming. Oh, speed thy chariot wheels; why are they so
+long in coming? I long to be gone!" He left in his church more than
+two hundred communicants.
+
+Whitefield and Darracott were congenial spirits, and Darracott, like
+his friend, had suffered much reproach in the cause of his Master;
+he was what Whitefield called him, "a flaming and successful
+preacher of the gospel." He had just at this time lost three lovely
+children. "Two of them," says Whitefield, "had died on the Saturday
+evening before the sacrament; but weeping did not prevent sowing.
+He preached the next day, and administered as usual. Our Lord
+strengthened him; and for his three natural, gave him above _thirty_
+spiritual children; and he is likely to have many more. He has
+ventured his little all for Christ; and last week a saint died who
+left him and his heirs two hundred pounds in land. Did ever any one
+trust in God, and was forsaken?" This interview with Darracott, and
+with good old Mr. Pearsall, who had been a preacher of righteousness
+before Whitefield was born, had an inspiring influence upon him. He
+says, "I _began_ to take the field again at his dwelling for the
+spring! I begin to _begin_ to spend and be spent for Him who shed
+his own dear heart's blood for me. He makes _ranging_ exceedingly
+pleasant."
+
+Soon after this, Whitefield went again into Yorkshire. At Rotherham
+he says, "Satan rallied his forces. The crier was employed to give
+notice of a bear-baiting. You may guess who was the bear! However,
+I preached twice. The drum was heard, and several watermen attended
+with great staves. The constable was struck, and two of the mobbers
+apprehended, but rescued afterwards." Sheffield and Leeds he found
+to be a new and warmer climate. Lancashire, however, was still but
+cold to him. All was quiet at Manchester, and he "humbly hoped some
+had enlisted," but no great impression was then made. At Bolton, a
+drunkard stood up behind him to preach; and the wife of the man who
+lent him the field, twice attempted to stab the workman who put up
+the stand for him. This roused him, and he bore down all opposition
+by a torrent of eloquence, which quite exhausted him. In the night,
+however, some rude fellows got into the barn and stables where his
+chaise and horses had been put, and cut them very shamefully. This
+conduct he called, "Satan showing his teeth."
+
+To narrate the particulars of this journey would be little more
+than a repetition of scenes of insult and of success with which the
+reader has already become familiar. At Ulverston he says, "Satan
+made some small resistance. A clergyman, who looked more like a
+_butcher_ than a minister, came with two others, and charged a
+constable with me; but I never saw a poor creature sent off with
+such disgrace."
+
+One of the most remarkable conversions recorded in the history of
+the church occurred during this journey by the ministry of Mr.
+Whitefield. The full particulars are recorded in the Life of the
+Countess of Huntingdon, and can only be briefly mentioned here.
+
+In the early period of Whitefield's ministry, many of the taverns
+became places where his doctrines and zeal were talked of and
+ridiculed. A Mr. Thorpe, and several other young men in Yorkshire,
+undertook at one of these parties to mimic the preaching of Mr.
+Whitefield. The proposition met with applause; one after another
+stood on a table to perform his part, and it devolved on Mr. Thorpe
+to close this irreverent scene. Much elated, and confident of
+success, he exclaimed, as he ascended the table, "I shall beat you
+all." Who would have supposed that the mercy of God was now about to
+be extended to this transgressor of his law? The Bible was handed to
+him; and by the guidance of unerring Providence, it opened at Luke
+13:3: "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." The moment
+he read the text his mind was impressed in a most extraordinary
+manner; he saw clearly the nature and importance of the subject;
+and as he afterwards said, if he ever preached with the assistance
+of the Holy Spirit, it was at that time. His address produced a
+feeling of depression in his auditors; and when he had finished,
+he instantly retired to weep over his sins. He soon after became
+associated with the people of God, and died a successful minister of
+Christ, at Masborough, in Yorkshire, in 1776, about six years after
+the death of Mr. Whitefield. He was the father of the distinguished
+Rev. William Thorpe, of Bristol.
+
+Passing on to Edinburgh, Whitefield was, as usual, received with the
+most unfeigned tenderness and joy, preaching to great multitudes
+of attentive and serious people, whose earnest desire to hear him
+made him exert himself beyond his strength. He says, "By preaching
+always twice, once thrice, and once four times in a day, I am quite
+weakened; but I hope to recruit again. Christ's presence makes me
+smile at pain." He returned to London, having preached about one
+hundred times, it was believed to not less than one hundred thousand
+people.
+
+Among the occasional hearers of Whitefield when in Scotland, was
+the celebrated infidel historian, David Hume. An intimate friend
+having asked him what he thought of Mr. Whitefield's preaching, he
+replied, "He is, sir, the most ingenious preacher I ever heard; it
+is worth while to go twenty miles to hear him." He then repeated
+the following passage, which occurred towards the close of the
+discourse he had been hearing. "After a solemn pause, Mr. Whitefield
+thus addressed his numerous audience: 'The attendant angel is just
+about to leave the threshold, and ascend to heaven. And shall he
+ascend, and not bear with him the news of one sinner, among all
+this multitude, reclaimed from the error of his ways?' To give
+the greater effect to this exclamation, he stamped with his foot,
+lifted up his eyes and hands to heaven, and with gushing tears cried
+aloud, 'Stop, Gabriel! stop, Gabriel! stop, ere you enter the sacred
+portals, and yet carry with you the news of one sinner converted to
+God.' He then, in the most simple but energetic language, described
+what he called a Saviour's dying love to sinful man, so that almost
+the whole assembly melted into tears. This address was accompanied
+with such animated, yet natural action, that it surpassed any thing
+I ever saw or heard in any other preacher."
+
+In the summer of 1751, Whitefield paid a second visit to Ireland,
+and was most hospitably received in Dublin by a respectable and
+opulent gentleman named Lunell, who had been brought to Christ by
+the first Methodist itinerant preacher in that city. During this
+excursion, Whitefield preached about eighty sermons, fourteen
+of them in Dublin, and seven in Limerick. His hearers in Dublin
+organized themselves into a public society, which does not seem
+to have met his approbation. He says, "This morning I have been
+talking with dear Mr. Adams, and can not help thinking that you
+have run before the Lord, in forming yourselves into a public
+society as you have done. I am sincere when I profess that I do
+not choose to set myself at the head of any party. When I came to
+Ireland, my intention was to preach the gospel to all; and if it
+should ever please the Lord of all lords to send me thither again,
+I purpose to pursue the same plan. For I am a debtor to all of
+every denomination, and have no design, if I know any thing of this
+desperately wicked and deceitful heart, but to promote the common
+salvation of mankind. The love of Christ constrains me to this."
+
+During this visit, Whitefield a few times ventured out of the city
+to Oxmantown-green, then a large open place, situated near the
+royal barracks, where the Ormond and Liberty boys, two factions
+among the lowest class of the people, generally assembled on the
+Sabbath to fight with each other. The congregations at first were
+very numerous, and deeply affected, nor did any disturbance occur.
+Thus encouraged, the preacher ventured again, and gave notice of
+his intention to resume his labors. He went through the barracks,
+the door of which opened into the green, and pitched his tent near
+the barrack walls, not doubting of the protection, or at least of
+the interposition of the officers and soldiers, if there should be
+occasion for it. The multitude in attendance was indeed vast. After
+singing and prayer, Whitefield preached without molestation, except
+that now and then a few stones and clods of dirt were thrown at
+him. It being war-time, he took occasion to exhort his hearers,
+as was his usual practice, not only to fear God, but to honor the
+king; and prayed for the success of the king of Prussia. When the
+service was over, he thought to return home by the way he came,
+but, to his great surprise, a passage through the barracks was
+denied; and he was compelled to pass from one end of the green to
+the other, through thousands of Roman-catholics. He was unattended;
+for a soldier and four preachers who came with him had fled from
+the scene of danger, and he was seriously attacked by the mob.
+They threw vollies of stones upon him from all quarters, and he
+reeled backwards and forwards till he was almost breathless and
+covered with blood. At length, with great difficulty he staggered
+to the door of a minister's house near the green, which was kindly
+opened to him. For a while he continued speechless, and panting for
+breath; but his weeping friends having given him a cordial, and
+washed his wounds, a coach was procured, in which, amidst the oaths,
+imprecations, and threatenings of the rabble, he got safe home,
+and united in a hymn of thanksgiving with his friends. In a letter
+written to a friend soon after this event, he says, "I received many
+blows and wounds; one was particularly large, and near my temple: I
+thought of Stephen, and was in hopes, like him, to go off in this
+bloody triumph to the immediate presence of my Master."
+
+Unpromising, however, as things were in Ireland, the labors of
+Whitefield, followed as they were by those of the Wesleys, became
+the foundation of a number of Christian societies that proved vast
+blessings to Ireland; and some of them grew into large churches,
+which continue to flourish till this day.
+
+The society to which reference has been made, which assembled
+in Skinner's alley, secured ministerial aid from the late Rev.
+John Edwards, who was one of Whitefield's converts, and among
+the earliest preachers at the Tabernacle in London; and who also
+itinerated over nearly the whole of England, Scotland, and Ireland.
+The period was one of great persecution, and this good man had
+several remarkable preservations from death. At one time, while he
+resided in Dublin, he was returning from preaching at a village,
+when he was seized by a party of rude fellows, who declared they
+would throw him over the bridge into the Liffey. This was observed
+by an opposite political party, residing on the other side of the
+river, who encountered his assailants, and rescued him out of their
+hands, saying he lived on their side the river, and none should hurt
+him. At another time, having preached out of doors, a furious mob
+of the _White-boys_, a political party so called, beset the house
+in which he was, and threatened to burn it to the ground, unless he
+was driven out of it. His anxious friends could see but one way for
+his escape, which was through a window that opened into a garden
+belonging to a justice of the peace, who was himself a violent
+persecutor of the Methodists. Through this window Mr. Edwards was,
+like the apostle Paul, let down in a basket. Here he stood some
+time in great consternation, fearing the family might observe him,
+and charge him with breaking into the garden for improper purposes,
+and so both religion and himself would be injured. At length he
+ventured to knock at the door, and asked for the magistrate, to
+whom he ingenuously stated the facts, and who most generously
+protected and extended to him the hospitalities of his house for two
+days.
+
+One fact more must be told of this excellent man. He resolved to
+visit a town to which had removed a number of soldiers who had
+received benefit from his ministry. He was met, however, by some of
+these pious men, who told him that the inhabitants were determined
+to take his life. Edwards was not to be dissuaded from his purpose;
+and on his arrival he immediately preached in the street, and
+several distinguished persons, including the mayor of the town, came
+to hear him, and by their influence prevented disturbance. After
+the service, the mayor invited him to breakfast with several of
+the principal inhabitants, and told him they were very glad he was
+come--that the people were extremely dissolute in their manners, and
+the clergy, both Protestants and Catholics, exceedingly remiss in
+their duty, and they hoped the Methodists would succeed in reforming
+the town. These gentlemen subscribed to the support of stated
+preaching, and extensive and lasting good was done.
+
+Amid Whitefield's innumerable engagements and declining health,
+Bethesda and his beloved America could not be forgotten. While
+he was at Glasgow during this summer of 1751, he was greatly
+delighted to hear that Mr. Dinwiddie, brother-in-law to the Rev. Mr.
+M'Culloch, of Cambuslang, was appointed governor of Virginia. The
+gospel had been much opposed there, and he thought the appointment
+now made would greatly tend to check persecution.
+
+Whitefield, as it appears to us, now very suddenly determined on
+another voyage to America. He arrived in London from Edinburgh in
+the early part of August, with improved health, the country air
+having healed his hemorrhage. He took a hasty leave of his friends,
+and set sail for Georgia, in the Antelope, Captain M'Lellan, taking
+several orphans with him. He arrived at Savannah Oct. 27, and had
+the happiness of finding the orphan-house in a prosperous condition.
+Here, however, he did not stay long; as in November we hear of
+him in his usual labors, and with his usual ardor engaged in his
+constant work of preaching. Having formerly suffered much from the
+climate of America in the summer, he determined again to embark for
+London, which he did in April. We can scarcely trace his object in
+this journey to and from America, except in some designs of the
+government to place Georgia on a new footing.
+
+In June, 1752, Mr. Whitefield was found in the society of the
+Countess of Huntingdon at Bath, where he continued about three
+weeks, preaching every evening to great numbers of the nobility.
+Here he became acquainted with Mrs. Grinfield, a lady who attended
+on the person of Queen Caroline. "One of Cæsar's household,"
+he writes, "hath been lately awakened, through her ladyship's
+instrumentality, and I hope others will meet with the like
+blessing." He afterwards visited her at the palace of St. James,
+and says, "The court, I believe, rings of her, and if she stands, I
+trust she will make a glorious martyr for her blessed Lord."
+
+The Moravians, or United Brethren, were at one period on terms of
+very cordial friendship with the Messrs. Wesley and Whitefield. At
+the time of which we are writing, a series of strange absurdities,
+resembling the adoration of saints and other superstitions of
+popery, developed themselves among members of that body, at the head
+of which then stood Count Zinzendorf, to whom Whitefield wrote an
+urgent remonstrance on the subject. An open separation took place,
+and Mrs. Grinfield, the Rev. John Cennick, and some others, adhered
+to the count, while Whitefield and Lady Huntingdon endeavored to
+bring him back to what they believed the simplicity of the gospel.
+Lady Huntingdon, speaking of her final interview with him, says,
+"Our conference was long, and as the count honored me with his
+company for a few days, was resumed at intervals, always closing
+with a solemn scriptural prayer to our great and glorious Head,
+for the illuminating influences of his Spirit to guide us into all
+truth. We parted with the utmost cordiality."
+
+"Dear Mr. Whitefield's letter," says Lady Huntingdon, "has much
+grieved the count. But his remonstrance is faithful, and the awful
+exposures he has reluctantly been forced to make, may be productive
+of the highest good in opening the eyes of many to the miserable
+delusions under which they lie."
+
+A correspondence, indeed we may say friendship, had for years
+existed between Whitefield and the eminent philosopher Dr. Benjamin
+Franklin. The following, from a letter of Whitefield, August 17,
+1752, shows his fidelity to the eminent citizen and statesman:
+"I find you grow more and more famous in the learned world. As
+you have made a pretty considerable progress in the mysteries
+of electricity, I would now humbly recommend to your diligent,
+unprejudiced pursuit and study, the mystery of the new birth. It
+is a most important, interesting study, and when mastered, will
+richly answer and repay you for all your pains. One, at whose bar
+we are shortly to appear, hath solemnly declared that, without it,
+we cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. You will excuse this
+freedom. I must have _aliquid Christi_--something of Christ, in
+all my letters." This honest letter ought to have delighted the
+philosopher in his closet, even more than the eulogium he heard
+while standing behind the bar of the House of Lords, when Earl
+Chatham said of him, "Franklin is one whom Europe holds in high
+estimation for his knowledge and wisdom; one who is an honor, not to
+the English nation only, but to human nature."
+
+In the course of the summer of 1752, and the following one,
+Whitefield visited Scotland twice, and preached much also throughout
+England and Wales. As usual, he greatly rejoiced in the presence
+and service of God, and never appears to have been more happy than
+in this period of his life. "Since I left Newcastle," he writes, "I
+have scarcely known sometimes whether I have been in heaven or on
+earth. Thousands and thousands flock twice or thrice a day to hear
+the word of life. God favors us with weather, and I would fain make
+hay while the sun shines. Oh that I had as many tongues as there are
+hairs in my head. The ever-loving, ever-lovely Jesus should have
+them all. Fain would I die preaching."
+
+About this period also, Mr. Hervey and he were employed in revising
+each other's manuscripts; the former was then preparing his "Theron
+and Aspasio," a work which, though florid in its style, has been
+eminently useful in conducting many of its readers to a saving
+knowledge of the doctrines of the gospel. Of his friend's writings
+Mr. Whitefield says, "For me to play the critic on them, would be
+like holding up a candle to the sun. However, I will just mark a
+few places, as you desire. I foretell their fate; nothing but your
+scenery can screen you. Self will never bear to die, though slain
+in so genteel a manner, without showing some resentment against its
+artful murderer.... I thank you a thousand times for the trouble you
+have been at in revising my poor compositions, which I am afraid you
+have not treated with a becoming severity. How many pardons shall I
+ask for mangling, and, I fear, murdering your 'Theron and Aspasio?'
+If you think my two sermons will do for the public, pray return them
+immediately. I have nothing to comfort me but this, that the Lord
+chooses the weak things of this world to confound the strong, and
+things that are not, to bring to naught things that are. I write for
+the poor; you for the polite and noble. God will assuredly own and
+bless what you write."
+
+Whitefield was now also very busy in erecting his second London
+Tabernacle, which he dedicated, June 10, 1753. We have, for the sake
+of completing the narrative of its first building, already given in
+our third chapter a statement of the second tabernacle, to which the
+reader is referred.
+
+Both the judgment and inclination of Mr. Whitefield concurred to
+induce him to persevere in his itinerant course, correctly judging
+that in this way he best employed his peculiar talents. After
+preaching, therefore, with his usual fervor and success for a short
+time in his newly erected Tabernacle, he again set out towards
+Scotland, where he spent some days at Edinburgh and Glasgow, and
+preached generally twice, sometimes three times a day, and once five
+times. He says, "Attention sat upon all faces, and friends came
+round like bees, importuning me to stay another week." This he found
+too much for his strength, but still went forward, often expressing
+his desire to serve his divine Master to the utmost limit of his
+power, and his hopes to be with him soon in heaven. During this
+journey, including his return to London, where he arrived the latter
+end of September, he travelled about twelve hundred miles, and
+preached one hundred and eighty times, to many thousands of hearers.
+
+As converts increased in Bristol and its neighborhood, Mr.
+Whitefield felt compelled to erect there also a "tabernacle." Lady
+Huntingdon was one of the earliest contributors to this important
+object, and through her influence Lord Chesterfield gave twenty
+pounds to it. He had no taste for religion, but he well understood
+oratory, and in his letter to Lady Huntingdon covering his
+remittance, he said, "Mr. Whitefield's eloquence is unrivalled, his
+zeal inexhaustible." The Earl of Bath sent fifty pounds, saying,
+"Mocked and reviled as Mr. Whitefield is by all ranks of society,
+still, I contend that the day will come when England will be just,
+and own his greatness as a reformer, and his goodness as a minister
+of the most high God."
+
+The Tabernacle at Bristol was dedicated November 25, 1753, with a
+sermon from Whitefield. Its history is one of deep interest. Its
+early ministers were worthy of any age, but remarkably fitted for
+that in which their lot was cast; men of pith and power, undismayed
+at dangers, braving all kinds of difficulty and toil, and prepared
+equally for labor and sufferings in the cause of their great Master.
+Nor have later ministers dishonored their predecessors; the cause
+still flourishes, and the hallowed house has been the birthplace of
+many eminent Christians. What Whitefield then said of this house
+might often be said of it now: "It is large, but not half large
+enough; for if the place could contain them, nearly as many would
+attend as in London." He always delighted in his visits to this
+place, and laid here a foundation for vast benefits, even to the
+present day. On one of his visits to preach here, he began a series
+of sermons on the evening before the commencement of the fair. His
+text was, "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters; and
+he that hath no money, come ye, buy and eat; yea, come buy wine and
+milk without money, and without price." Isa. 55:1. The congregation
+was large, and thus he began: "My dear hearers, I fear that many of
+you are come to attend Bristol fair. So am I. You do not mean to
+show your goods until to-morrow; but I shall exhibit mine to-night.
+You are afraid purchasers will not come up to your price; but I am
+afraid my buyers will not come down to mine; for mine," striking his
+hand on the Bible, "are 'without money, and without price.'"
+
+After the dedication of this Bristol Tabernacle, Whitefield preached
+in the open air in various parts of Somersetshire, at seven o'clock
+at night. "My hands and body," says he, "were pierced with cold; but
+what are outward things, when the soul is warmed with the love of
+God? The stars shone with exceeding brightness; by an eye of faith
+I saw Him who 'calleth them all by their names.' My soul was filled
+with a holy ambition, and I longed to be one of those who 'shall
+shine as the stars for ever and ever.'"
+
+At this time he had a fine opportunity to show his Christian
+attachment to his old friends. Mr. John Wesley had, by a series
+of extraordinary labors, brought his life into great danger, and
+Whitefield, hearing of this while at Bristol, wrote a sympathizing
+letter to his brother Charles, in which he prays for the descending
+garment of Elijah to rest on the surviving Elisha, and encloses
+an ardent and solemn farewell to the invalid, who was supposed
+to be dying. He says, "The news and prospect of your approaching
+dissolution have quite weighed me down. I pity myself and the
+church, but not you. A radiant throne awaits you, and ere long you
+will enter into your Master's joy. Yonder he stands with a massy
+crown, ready to put it on your head, amidst an admiring throng of
+saints and angels. But I, poor I, that have been waiting for my
+dissolution these nineteen years, must be left behind to grovel here
+below. Well, this is my comfort, it cannot be long ere the chariots
+will be sent even for worthless me. If prayers can detain you, even
+you, reverend and very dear sir, shall not leave us yet. But if the
+decree is gone forth that you must now sleep in Jesus, may he kiss
+your soul away, and give you to die in the embraces of triumphant
+love. If in the land of the living, I hope to pay my best respects
+to you next week. If not, reverend and dear sir, farewell." He had
+soon the satisfaction of witnessing the recovery of his friend, who
+was to survive him more than twenty years.
+
+We have already intimated that Whitefield used his influence in
+Scotland in favor of the New Jersey college, located at Princeton.
+In accordance with his advice, the friends of the college in this
+country sent over the Rev. Samuel Davies, afterwards president of
+the college, and the Rev. Gilbert Tennent, to promote its interests
+in the British islands. A few extracts from the manuscript diary of
+Davies, with the use of which we have been favored for this volume,
+will show the readiness of Whitefield to labor, or to "be nothing,"
+so that the cause of Christ might be advanced. The deputation
+arrived in England in the closing month of 1753, and thus writes
+Davies:
+
+"Wednesday, December 26. Mr. Whitefield having sent us an invitation
+last night to make his house our home during our stay here, we
+were perplexed what to do, lest we should blast the success of our
+mission among the dissenters, who are generally disaffected to him.
+We at length concluded, with the advice of our friends and his, that
+a public intercourse with him would be imprudent, in our present
+situation, and visited him privately this evening; and the kind
+reception he gave us revived dear Mr. Tennent. He spoke in the most
+encouraging manner as to the success of our mission. And in all
+his conversation discovered so much zeal and candor, that I could
+not but admire the man as the wonder of the age. When we returned,
+Mr. Tennent's heart was all on fire, and after we had gone to bed,
+he suggested that we should watch and pray; and we rose and prayed
+together till about three o'clock in the morning.
+
+"Jan. 1. Went in the evening to hear Mr. Whitefield in the
+Tabernacle, a large, spacious building. The assembly was very
+numerous, though not equal to what is common. He preached on the
+parable of the barren fig-tree; and though the discourse was
+incoherent, yet it seemed to me better calculated to do good to
+mankind than all the accurate, languid discourses I ever heard.
+After sermon I enjoyed his pleasing conversation at his house."
+
+It would seem that Messrs. Davies and Tennent had their trials, as
+well as their encouragements. Writing Jan. 14, Mr. Davies says,
+"Spent an hour with Mr. Whitefield. He thinks we have not taken
+the best method in endeavoring to keep in with all parties, but
+should 'come out boldly,' as he expressed it, which would secure the
+affections of the pious people, from whom we might expect the most
+generous contributions." On the evening after this, they dined with
+Whitefield at the house of a common friend, and he rejoiced in the
+abundant success they afterwards met with from nearly all parties.
+
+"Jan. 25. Dined with Mr. Bradbury, who has been in the ministry
+about fifty-seven years. He read us some letters which passed
+between Mr. Whitefield and him, _anno_ 1741; occasioned by Mr.
+Whitefield's reproving him in a letter for singing a song in a
+tavern, in a large company, in praise of old English beef. The old
+gentleman sung it to us, and we found it was partly composed by
+himself, in the high-flying days of Queen Anne. He is a man of a
+singular turn, which would be offensive to the greatest number of
+serious people; but for my part I could say,
+
+    'I knew 'twas his peculiar whim,
+     Nor took it ill, as't came from him.'"
+
+In March, 1754, Whitefield, in company with twenty-two poor
+destitute children, sailed the fifth time for America.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+     FIFTH VISIT TO AMERICA--RENEWED LABORS IN GREAT
+     BRITAIN--TOTTENHAM-COURT-ROAD CHAPEL.
+
+1754-1763.
+
+On this voyage to America, Whitefield sailed for South Carolina by
+way of Lisbon. His health demanded repose; he thought that seeing
+Popery as it is when unrestrained by public opinion, might be of use
+to him in his future labors; and moreover, he had with him a number
+of orphans whom he wished comfortably to settle at Bethesda before
+he visited the northern provinces. It would be pleasant, if our
+limits would allow it, to furnish the letters he wrote from Lisbon
+during nearly four weeks, but a few sentences must suffice: "This
+leaves me an inhabitant of Lisbon. We have now been here almost
+a week, and I suppose shall stay a fortnight longer. A reputable
+merchant has received me into his house, and every day shows me the
+ecclesiastical curiosities of the country. O, my dear friend, bless
+the Lord of all lords, for causing your lot to be cast in such a
+fair ground as England, and giving you such a goodly heritage. It
+is impossible to be sufficiently thankful for civil and religious
+liberty, for simplicity of worship, and powerful preaching of the
+word of God. O for simplicity of manners, and a correspondent
+behavior. The air agrees with my poor constitution extremely well.
+Through divine assistance; I hope what I see will also improve
+my better part, and help to qualify me better for preaching the
+everlasting gospel."
+
+In another letter he writes, "Never did civil and religious liberty
+appear to me in so amiable a light as now. What a spirit must Martin
+Luther and the first reformers be endued with, that dared to appear
+as they did for God. Lord, hasten that blessed time when others,
+excited by the same spirit, shall perform like wonders. Oh, happy
+England! Oh, happy Methodists, who are Methodists indeed! And all I
+account such, who, being dead to sects and parties, aim at nothing
+else but as holy a method of living to, and dying in the blessed
+Jesus."
+
+He was heartily glad to get away from Popish processions and
+superstitious rites, and again to visit his "dear America."
+
+Our evangelist arrived with his orphans at Beaufort, in South
+Carolina, May 27, 1754, greatly improved in health, with a heart
+burning with love and zeal for his Lord and Master. He says, with
+his usual energy, "Oh that I may at length learn to begin to live.
+I am ashamed of my sloth and lukewarmness, and long to be on the
+stretch for God." His family now consisted, "black and white," of
+one hundred and six members, all dependent on his personal efforts
+and influence. He regarded his charge as a stewardship for God, and
+collected accordingly, nothing doubting. It was now summer, and
+besides the oppressive heat, "great thunders, violent lightnings,
+and heavy rains" frequently beat upon him as he journeyed from
+place to place. His health improved, and his spirits rose as he
+advanced on his journey. At Charleston, and elsewhere, his labors
+were received with the same degree of acceptance as formerly, and
+he was much encouraged by the conversion of a clergyman, a faithful
+successor to Mr. Smith of the city just named, and the first student
+sent forth from Bethesda.
+
+He arrived at New York, by water, July 27, and divided his labors
+between that city and Philadelphia almost entirely for nearly two
+months. In the latter city, he tells us, he was seized with violent
+_cholera morbus_, and brought to the gates of death. To use his own
+words, he "had all his cables out, ready to cast anchor within the
+port of eternity;" but he was soon "at sea again," although only
+able to preach once a day for some time. "Everywhere," he says, "a
+divine power accompanied the word, prejudices were removed, and a
+more effectual door opened than ever for preaching the gospel." When
+he looked at "the glorious range for hunting in the American woods,"
+he was at a loss on which hand to turn.... "Affection, intense
+affection cries aloud, Away to New England, _dear_ New England,
+immediately. Providence, and the circumstances of the southern
+provinces, point directly to Virginia."
+
+While thus undecided, he visited his old friend Governor Belcher,
+then governor of New Jersey, and residing at Elizabeth town. He
+found the good old man ripening for heaven, willing to depart and to
+be with Christ. At this time the commencement of New Jersey college
+was held, and as a mark of their respect, the president and trustees
+conferred on him the honorary degree of master of arts. The meeting
+of the synod immediately followed, respecting which body he says,
+"I was much refreshed with the company of the whole synod; such a
+number of simple-hearted, united ministers I never saw before. I
+preached to them several times, and the great Master of assemblies
+was in the midst of us."
+
+Influenced by what he saw and heard in New Jersey, Whitefield
+determined to go to New England, and to return from thence by
+Virginia to Georgia, and made his arrangements accordingly; it would
+comprise a circuit of more than two thousand miles, but he said,
+"The Redeemer's strength will be more than sufficient."
+
+It has been thought that it was during this visit of Whitefield
+to New Jersey, and probably at the table of Governor Belcher,
+that he dined in company with a number of ministers, and held the
+often-reported conversation with "Father Tennent." After dinner,
+Mr. Whitefield adverted to the difficulties attending the Christian
+ministry; lamented that all their zeal availed but little; said that
+he was weary with the burden of the day; and declared his great
+comfort in the thought, that in a short time his work would be done,
+when he should depart and be with Christ. He then appealed to the
+ministers, if it was not their great comfort that they should soon
+go to rest. They generally assented, except Mr. Tennent, who sat
+next to Mr. Whitefield in silence, and by his countenance indicated
+but little pleasure in the conversation.
+
+Seeing this, Mr. Whitefield, gently tapping him on the knee, said,
+"Well, brother Tennent, you are the oldest man among us; do you not
+rejoice to think that your time is so near at hand, when you will
+be called home?" Mr. Tennent bluntly answered, "I have no wish about
+it." Mr. Whitefield pressed him again. Mr. Tennent again answered,
+"No, sir, it is no pleasure to me at all; and if you knew your
+duty, it would be none to you. I have nothing to do with death; my
+business is to live as long as I can, as well as I can, until He
+shall think proper to call me home." Mr. Whitefield still urged for
+an explicit answer to his question, in case the time of death were
+left to his own choice. Mr. Tennent replied, "I have no choice about
+it; I am God's servant, and have engaged to do his business as long
+as he pleases to continue me therein. But now, brother, let me ask
+you a question. What do you think I should say, if I was to send my
+servant into the field to plough; and if at noon I should go to the
+field, and find him lounging under a tree, and complaining, 'Master,
+the sun is very hot, and the ploughing hard; I am weary of the work
+you have appointed me, and am overdone with the heat and burden of
+the day. Do, master, let me return home, and be discharged from this
+hard service?' What should I say? Why, that he was a lazy fellow,
+and that it was his business to do the work that I had appointed
+him, until I should think fit to call him home."
+
+Accompanied by President Burr, Whitefield set out, October 1, for
+Boston, and arrived there on the 9th. Here he stayed a week, and
+saw there, morning after morning, three or four thousand people
+hanging in breathless silence on his lips, and weeping silent tears.
+Whitefield himself calls it "a lovely scene," and says he "never
+saw a more effectual door opened for the gospel. Sinners have been
+awakened, saints quickened, and enemies made at peace with me.
+Grace, grace! Surely my coming here was of God. Convictions _do_
+fasten, and many souls are comforted." Such were the crowds at the
+early sermons, that in order to reach the pulpit, he had to get
+in at the windows of the churches. In a letter to the Countess of
+Huntingdon, he wrote, "In Boston, the tide ran full as high as ever
+your ladyship knew it at Edinburgh, or in any part of Scotland."
+
+While at Boston, Whitefield heard with much pleasure of the
+appointment of his friend Habersham as secretary to the new governor
+of Georgia, and wrote to him, "I wish you joy of your new honor.
+May the King of kings enable you to discharge your trust as becomes
+a good patriot, subject, and Christian. You have now a call, I
+think, to retire from business, and to give up your time to the
+public." Our evangelist travelled north as far as Portsmouth, in
+New Hampshire, generally preaching two or three times a day, till
+November 7, when he took his farewell at Boston, at four o'clock in
+the morning. Speaking of this journey, he says, "What have I seen?
+Dagon falling everywhere before the ark; enemies silenced, or made
+to own the finger of God; and the friends of Jesus triumphing in
+his glorious conquests. A hundredth part cannot be told. We had
+scarcely one dry meeting." When he arrived in the neighborhood of
+Portsmouth, the northern boundary of his journey, he was overwhelmed
+with humility as well as joy, by the large cavalcade which came out
+to meet and welcome him. He says of them, "They were too many;" and
+of this northern journey, "It seems to me the most important one I
+was ever engaged in."
+
+Of no portion of Whitefield's life are we so ignorant as of the
+journey he now made from New England to the South. Journal, letters,
+historians, and newspapers alike fail us. Gillies tells us only that
+from Boston he "proceeded to Rhode Island, and went onward through
+Maryland and Virginia, with a prospect so pleasing, that he lamented
+he had not come sooner. The whole country seemed eager to hear the
+gospel, many coming forty or fifty miles, and a spirit of conviction
+and consolation appeared in every congregation. Prejudices seemed
+to have fled; churches were opened to him; high and low, rich and
+poor, now seemed to think favorably of his ministrations; and
+many acknowledged what God had done for their souls through his
+preaching, when he was there before." It scarcely appears probable
+that he went from Rhode Island to Maryland by water; but if he
+did not, he must have passed through New York, New Jersey, and
+Philadelphia, and we feel somewhat of surprise that no records of
+the journey appear to have been preserved.
+
+Dr. Franklin relates a very characteristic anecdote of Mr.
+Whitefield, which probably occurred in Philadelphia or its
+neighborhood at a period not later than this. "The eloquent orator"
+was preaching in an open field, when a drummer was present, who
+was determined to interrupt the preacher, and rudely beat his drum
+in a violent manner, in order to drown his voice. Whitefield spoke
+very loud, but could not make so much noise as the instrument.
+He therefore called out to the drummer, "Friend, you and I serve
+the two greatest masters existing, but in different callings. You
+beat up for volunteers for King George, I for the Lord Jesus: in
+God's name, then, let us not interrupt each other; the world is
+wide enough for both, and we may get recruits in abundance." This
+speech had such an effect on the drummer, that he went away in great
+good-humor, and left the preacher in full possession of the field.
+
+Virginia, alike from the success of his former labors there, and
+from the general characteristics of the people, must have presented
+a scene of intense interest to Whitefield at this time. Everywhere
+great preparations were made for his coming, and large congregations
+assembled to hear him. It is said, that on one occasion, as he was
+speaking on the banks of one of the rivers of this noble province,
+and spoke of the strength of human depravity, and the insufficiency
+of the means of grace to convert the sinner without the influence
+of the Holy Spirit: "Sinners," said he, "think not that I expect to
+convert a single soul of you by any thing that I can say, without
+the assistance of Him who is 'mighty to save.' Go and stand by that
+river, as it moves on its strong and deep current to the ocean, and
+bid it stop, and see if it will obey you. Just as soon should I
+expect to stop that river by a word, as by my preaching to stop that
+current of sin which is carrying you to perdition. Father in heaven,
+see! they are hurried on towards hell; save them, or they perish!"
+The impression which this address produced on his hearers was so
+strong, that they were ready to respond with trembling, "Save,
+Lord; we perish!"
+
+Whitefield must have been highly gratified on reaching Charleston,
+in attending the ordination of the young minister there, his first
+student from Bethesda, of whom we have already spoken as succeeding
+Mr. Smith; and not less would he rejoice that one of the actors
+at the Charleston theatre had been "snatched as a brand from the
+burning."
+
+Though we have not the exact date of his arrival at Savannah, we
+know that he remained there but a very short time. His health
+again declined, his former vomitings returned with violence, and
+his animal spirits failed with his strength. In February, 1755, we
+again find him at Charleston; and in the latter end of March, he
+embarked for England, arriving, after a comparatively short voyage,
+at Newhaven, in Sussex, May the eighth.
+
+Two strong impressions were made on the mind of Whitefield as he now
+looked on his native land. The first was that of grief on account of
+its condition. Nothing less than war with France was daily expected,
+for the French threatened to invade Britain, and were constantly
+making encroachments on her American colonies. "At this time," he
+says, "next to Jesus Christ, my king and my country were upon my
+heart, I hope I shall always think it my duty, next to inviting
+sinners to the blessed Jesus, to exhort my hearers to resist the
+first approaches of popish tyranny and arbitrary power. O that we
+may be enabled to watch and pray against all the opposition of
+antichrist in our own hearts; for, after all, there lies the most
+dangerous man of sin." His second feeling was one of holy joy; for
+during his absence the preaching of the gospel had been abundantly
+successful. He writes, "Glory be to the great Head of the church!
+The poor despised Methodists are as lively as ever; and in several
+churches the gospel is now preached with power. Many in Oxford are
+awakened to the knowledge of the truth; and I have heard almost
+every week of some fresh minister or another, who seems 'determined
+to know nothing but Jesus Christ, and him crucified.'"
+
+At the Tabernacle in London, as might be expected, Whitefield
+enjoyed what he terms "golden seasons;" but by this time not a few
+of the London clergy had begun to preach Christ with holy fidelity;
+and as this was the principal thing he desired, he says his "call to
+go abroad was still more clear." Indeed, so little did he now esteem
+London as a sphere of labor, and so much did he regard places by the
+amount of their destitution, that he wished at once to return to
+America, without ranging through England or Scotland. Hence he says,
+"Methinks I could set out for America to-morrow, though I have not
+yet entered upon my country range."
+
+But if he loved America most, England loved herself more, and he
+was drawn again into Gloucestershire and Bristol. He went also, at
+the request of Lady Huntingdon, to dedicate the new Tabernacle at
+Norwich, to which we have already referred. At this last place,
+he says, August 30, 1755, "Notwithstanding offences have come,
+there has been a glorious work begun, and is now carrying on. The
+polite and great seem to hear with much attention; and I scarcely
+ever preached a week together with greater freedom." For a long
+period the work of God abundantly prospered in connection with this
+"Tabernacle." Two years after its dedication, the Hon. and Rev.
+Walter Shirley preached some time in it, and had eight hundred
+communicants in fellowship, and he said of them, "Their experience,
+lives, and conversation are so excellent, that there is nothing like
+it in the whole kingdom."
+
+On Whitefield's return to London, there were those who urgently
+entreated him to engage in a new controversy with the Messrs.
+Wesley, some of whose followers had been jealous of his success at
+Norwich. He declined, with his common remark, "I have no time for
+controversy," and reserved what he had to say till he could see them
+"face to face," simply writing to assure them that he had no party
+designs on foot.
+
+Very soon after this, he set out for his northern circuit; and
+wonderfully indeed did the Lord grant him success. One thing,
+however, on this journey grieved him. His friends at Leeds, without
+his knowledge, had built a large church edifice. He saw at once,
+that this circumstance would create an "awful separation among
+the societies" formed by the Messrs. Wesley and his own friends;
+and lost no time in writing to those ministers, that they might
+endeavor to prevent a breach. Both the plan and the spirit of this
+undertaking so grieved him, that he exclaimed, "Oh this self-love,
+this self-will, is the _devil of devils_." This he wrote to Lady
+Huntingdon, a proof that party was not their object; and it is
+pleasant to add, that Whitefield's fears were groundless. Leeds,
+even then, contained population sufficient to fill both houses,
+and the whole movement "fell out rather to the furtherance of the
+gospel." During two months he preached twice, and some days three
+times, to greater numbers than ever before, inviting them to Christ,
+and "exhorting them to pray for King George, and the dear friends
+in America." He heard at this time, that the American ladies were
+making the soldiers' coats; and he immediately wrote to urge his own
+female friends in the new world to be "some of the most active in
+this labor of love."
+
+Though Mr. Whitefield stood very high in the esteem of that class
+of ministers who embraced his views of evangelical truth, and who
+approved the plans he pursued for the evangelization of the world,
+they never considered him perfect, nor were some of them backward,
+when they deemed it needful, to reprove him. In a sermon he once
+preached in Haworth church, Yorkshire, of which his friend Grimshaw
+was the minister, having spoken severely of those professors of the
+gospel who, by their loose and evil conduct, caused the ways of
+truth to be evil spoken of, he intimated his hope, that it was not
+necessary to enlarge much on that topic to the congregation before
+him, who had so long enjoyed the labors of an able and faithful
+preacher; and he was willing to believe that their profiting
+appeared to all men. This latter expression roused Mr. Grimshaw's
+spirit, and notwithstanding his great regard for the preacher, he
+stood up and interrupted him, saying, with a loud voice, "O sir,
+for God's sake, do not speak so; I pray you, do not flatter. I fear
+the greater part of them are going to hell with their eyes open."
+
+Notwithstanding the astonishing labors of Whitefield on this
+tour, he returned to London apparently in full flesh, and was
+congratulated by his friends on his improved appearance. Alas, all
+this, as he well knew, was disease, which indeed very soon became
+apparent. He was seized with inflammatory sore throat, that was
+followed by quinsy, assuming an almost fatal aspect. One physician
+prescribed silence and warmth, and the preacher "promised to be
+very obedient," but a few days afterwards, another recommended a
+perpetual blister: this proposal roused him, and he determined to
+try his own remedy--perpetual preaching. The remedy itself was
+painful, but he said, "When this grand catholicon fails, it is
+all over with me." At this time the sad news of the earthquake at
+Lisbon arrived in London; he was unable to preach on the subject,
+but when told of it he said, "Blessed be God, I am ready; I know
+that my Redeemer liveth. Oh that all in Portugal had known this!
+Then an earthquake would only be a _rumbling_ chariot to carry the
+soul to God. Poor Lisbon, how soon are thy riches and superstitious
+pageantry swallowed up!"
+
+In the winter of 1755-6, he was applied to to preach in the vicinity
+of the two great theatres, which he began to do in Long Acre chapel.
+Disturbances took place, and the Bishop of London interposed to stop
+him. In the end he erected Tottenham Court-road chapel, as already
+detailed in our third chapter.
+
+Mr. Whitefield's ministry in London at this time was still
+successful. Thousands hung on his lips with delight, not a few of
+whom were won to the service of Christ. He tells us, among many
+similar facts, of the conversion of a Mr. Crane, who was afterwards
+appointed steward of the orphan-house in Georgia. This gentleman
+had one evening determined to visit the theatre, and set out
+for Drury-lane; that house being crowded, he resolved to go to
+Covent-garden; that also being so full that he could not obtain
+admittance, he changed his plan, and resolved on being entertained
+with one of Whitefield's sermons, and hastened to Tottenham
+Court-road chapel. It pleased God to impress the word on his heart,
+and he became an eminent Christian. So truly is the prediction
+verified, "I am found of them who sought me not."
+
+During this year he published "A Short Address to Persons of all
+Denominations, occasioned by an Alarm of an intended Invasion."
+We have examined it, and not without pleasure. It is a faithful
+exposure of Popery and its bitter fruits.
+
+It is a charge often preferred against the faithful ministers of
+Christ, by those whose consciences testify to their own guilt,
+that they are _personal_ in their remarks, and mean to censure
+particular individuals. It is certain that this was often done by
+Mr. Whitefield, and sometimes with very happy effect. He once drew,
+from the conduct of his female servant, the picture of a Christian
+failing in his duty, which painfully distressed her, till he gave
+her an assurance of his entire forgiveness.
+
+Nor was this the only time when his hearers were compelled to
+feel, "he means _me_." The celebrated comedian, Shuter, had a great
+personal regard for Mr. Whitefield, and not unfrequently attended
+his ministry. At one period of his popularity he was acting in
+a drama under the character of _Ramble_. During the run of the
+performance, he attended service at Tottenham Court chapel, and was
+seated in a pew exactly opposite the pulpit. Mr. Whitefield on that
+occasion gave full vent to his feelings, and in his own energetic
+manner invited sinners to the Saviour. While doing this, fixing his
+eye full on Shuter, he added, "And thou, poor _Ramble_, who hast
+long rambled from him, come also. Oh, end your rambling by coming
+to Jesus." Shuter was exceedingly struck, and going afterwards to
+Whitefield, he said, "I thought I should have fainted; how could you
+serve me so?"
+
+In the early part of 1756, Whitefield was engaged in London,
+preaching and collecting for the poor not only at Bethesda, but
+also for the French Protestants. At the Tabernacle, a man came up
+to him in the pulpit, threatening his life, and handing him three
+anonymous letters denouncing sudden and certain death, unless he
+ceased to preach and to pursue the offenders by law. One of these
+letters Whitefield sent to the government, who at once offered a
+reward, and his majesty's pardon, to any one who would discover
+the writer. While this fact gratified, it also embarrassed him. He
+wrote to Lady Huntingdon, "My greatest distress is to act so as to
+avoid rashness on the one hand, and timidity on the other." For his
+own sake, he would not have cared about the matter; but looking at
+it as connected with the cause of civil and religious freedom, he
+wisely allowed the law to take its course at the hazard of his own
+life by assassination. Agreeably with the advice of the government,
+he carried the whole affair into the court of the King's Bench; this
+alarmed the offenders, and the annoyance ceased.
+
+We next find him at Bristol, but not to rest, though the labors
+and anxieties of the winter and spring had nearly worn out his
+strength and spirits. Here he preached as usual, and then returned
+to London. During this journey he preached in several places
+in Gloucestershire, his native county, and in Bradford, Frome,
+Warminster, and Portsmouth, spending about three months in the tour.
+
+In the county which gave Whitefield birth, is still to be seen
+a chair on which he often sat, and on which may be yet read the
+following lines:
+
+    "If love of souls should e'er be wanting here,
+     Remember me, for I am Whitefield's chair;
+     I bore his weight, was witness to his fears,
+     His earnest prayers, his interesting tears.
+     His holy soul was fired with love divine:
+     If thine be such, sit down and call me _thine_."
+
+A very few weeks passed, and we find him in Kent. In a letter
+written July 27, after his visit to that county, he says, "The
+gospel flourishes in London. I am just returned from preaching at
+Sheerness, Chatham, and in the camp." On the next day he set off
+towards Scotland. On August 14, he writes from Sunderland, "How
+swiftly doth my precious time pass away! It is now a fortnight since
+I came to Leeds, in and about which I preached eight days, thrice
+almost every day, to thronged and affected auditories. On Sunday
+last at Bradford, in the morning, the auditory consisted of about
+ten thousand; at noon and in the evening, at Birstal, to nearly
+double the number. Though hoarse, I was helped to speak so that all
+heard. Next morning I took a sorrowful leave of Leeds, preached at
+Doncaster at noon, and at York the same night. On Wednesday, at
+Warstall, about fifty miles off; on Thursday, twice at Yarm; and
+last night and this morning, here." Wherever he labored, he heard
+of the good effects of his preaching in those places last year, and
+was constantly finding "many trophies of redeeming love." Such was
+the effect of the two sermons he preached at Birstal, that "several
+hundreds rode eight miles with him in the evening, singing and
+praising God."
+
+In a day or two after this, we find him at Edinburgh and Glasgow,
+preaching, as usual, to vast crowds, and with his accustomed
+success. At the former places especially, even politicians gave him
+a cordial welcome, and thronged to hear him, while the newspapers
+applauded him for his spirit-stirring exposures of "Popish
+tyranny and arbitrary power." He preached twice every day in the
+Orphan-hospital park, and blended with almost every sermon rousing
+appeals to the Protestantism, courage, and loyalty of the Scotch.
+At the close of one of his sermons he pleaded the cause of the poor
+Highlanders, and collected at its close about three hundred dollars.
+
+On his way back to London, Whitefield held a peculiarly solemn
+and refreshing meeting with his friends at Leeds; and after it,
+he braced his nerves by a tour of _mountain preaching_ in company
+with his friend Grimshaw. But it was now late in October, and
+as he found "these cold countries bringing on his last year's
+disorder," and having, as he significantly says, "grown very
+prudent," he returned to London, and dedicated Tottenham Court-road
+church edifice. Another errand also had taken him to that city.
+The new governor of Georgia had sent for him, to consult with him
+before sailing to that colony. Whitefield met him, and was so much
+delighted with him, that he wrote off to Bethesda to prepare them
+for a _state_ visit. He says, "Waited upon his excellency, and gave
+him, and all whom he pleases to bring, an invitation to Bethesda.
+Dear Mrs. C---- will make proper provision." He went even farther,
+and proposed that the governor, if possible, should be received at
+Bethesda with military honors.
+
+The success of his new house of worship in Tottenham Court-road
+showed the necessity and propriety of its erection on that spot.
+Several persons of distinction came, and engaged permanent seats;
+and the place was often so crowded, that hundreds were unable to
+obtain admission. It was now usual with him to preach about fifteen
+times every week, which, with a weak appetite, want of rest, and
+much care upon his mind, greatly enfeebled him. He writes, "But the
+joy of the Lord is my strength; and my greatest grief is, that I can
+do no more for Him who hath done and suffered so much for me."
+
+In the following year, 1757, Whitefield planned another journey to
+Scotland, at the time the general assembly of the church was held.
+Before leaving London, he had placed the affairs of his projected
+college in the hands of Lord Halifax, and he now seems to have
+hoped that this journey to Scotland would have promoted that object,
+as well as others. It is said, that about a hundred ministers at a
+time attended his sermons, thirty of whom invited him to a public
+entertainment. Lord Cathcart, his majesty's commissioner to the
+assembly, also invited him to his own table. Whitefield says that he
+preached "just fifty times" on this visit, which extended to about a
+month.
+
+From Scotland he went, in June, as we have seen, to Ireland, and
+enjoyed, in the midst of no small persecution, much preaching, and
+much success. On his return to London, he found that the governor
+of Georgia had visited Bethesda, and promised to communicate
+his sentiments to Lord Halifax, "concerning its being enlarged
+into a college;" but the pressure of public affairs hindered his
+application to the government. Bad news arrived from America, "about
+the fleet," and therefore Whitefield kept a fast-day at his houses
+of worship.
+
+The health of our evangelist now sadly failed. He was brought to
+live on the "short allowance of preaching but once a day, and thrice
+on the Sunday;" very "short allowance" for _him_. Once, however, he
+broke through the restraint, and preached three times on the success
+of the king of Prussia; which, he says, "somewhat _recovered_" him,
+after he had been for a week at the gates of the grave. He was not
+able this winter to attempt what he considered great things; but
+Tottenham Court was his _Bethel_, as he called it. This house was
+then surrounded by a beautiful piece of ground, and he formed the
+plan of building on it an almshouse for "twelve godly widows,"
+as a "standing monument that the Methodists were not against good
+works." This charity he soon carried into effect. His thoughts,
+however, were not confined to home. Although broken down in health
+and spirits, by weakness and want of rest, he watched the affairs of
+Prussia with intense interest, and assured the German Protestants,
+through Professor Francke, that "we looked on their distresses as
+our own."
+
+In the spring of 1758, he laid the foundation-stone of his
+almshouse, and in June of the same year began to select its inmates.
+Pointing to these houses, some years afterwards, he said to a
+gentleman who was visiting him, "Those are my redoubts. The prayers
+of the poor women who reside in them, protect me in my house."
+Having arranged for the supply of his London pulpits, Whitefield
+went into the west of England, and proceeded from thence into Wales.
+But his health was so feeble, that he could not bear to drive, nor
+even ride in a one-horse chaise. The roads were rough, and riding
+shook him nearly to pieces. "Every thing," he says, "wearies this
+shattered bark now." A friend purchased for him a close chaise,
+advancing the money until he could conveniently repay it. He
+deeply felt this kindness, because by no other means could he have
+itinerated. "I would not," he says, "lay out a single farthing but
+for my blessed Master; but it is inconceivable what I have undergone
+these three weeks. _I never was so before._ O for a _hearse_ to
+carry my weary carcass to the wished for grave." During all this
+tour he was unable to sit up in company even once; yet he often
+preached to ten or fifteen thousand people, and made their "tears
+flow like water from the rock." His views of himself at this time
+were more than usually humble. He said to Lady Huntingdon, "Oh, I
+am sick--sick in body, but infinitely more so in mind, to see so
+much dross in my soul. Blessed be God, there is One who will sit as
+a refiner's fire, to purify the sons of Levi. I write out of the
+burning bush. Christ is there; Christ is there!"
+
+Among the many illustrations of Scripture which Whitefield often
+introduced into his sermons, one is truly worthy of record.
+Preaching from the words, "Wherefore, glorify ye the Lord in the
+fires," Isa. 24:15, he says, "When I was, some years ago, at
+Shields, I went into a glass-house, and standing very attentively,
+I saw several masses of burning glass of various forms. The workman
+took one piece of glass, and put it into one furnace, then he put
+it into a second, and then into a third. I asked him, 'Why do you
+put that into so many fires?' He answered me, 'Oh, sir, the first
+was not hot enough, nor the second, and therefore we put it into the
+third, and that will make it transparent.' 'Oh,' thought I, 'does
+this man put this glass into one furnace after another, that it
+may be rendered perfect? Oh, my God, put me into one furnace after
+another, that my soul may be transparent, that I may see God as he
+is.'"
+
+In the month of July, Whitefield again set out for Scotland,
+preaching on his way in many pulpits, including "Bishop Bunyan's,"
+as he used to call him, at Bedford, Berridge's at Everton, and
+Doddridge's at Northampton. Four Episcopal clergymen lent him their
+pulpits. His health received, for some time, little benefit, so that
+he sometimes feared he must return. But he adds, "Through divine
+strength, I hope to go forward; and shall strive, as much as in me
+lies, to die in this glorious work." He preached and collected in
+Scotland with his accustomed energy and success, and returned to
+London with his health somewhat renovated. This year he lost by
+death some of his earliest and warmest friends, including Hervey in
+England, and Presidents Burr and Edwards, and Governor Belcher, in
+America. Such removals gave him also "a desire to depart," but his
+work on earth was not yet done.
+
+Three principal facts connected with our evangelist may be said to
+mark the year 1759. One was, that he had the satisfaction to clear
+off all his debts for the orphan-house. "Bethesda's God," he writes,
+"lives for ever, and is faithful and all-sufficient." He longed
+again to visit America, but several difficulties intervened for the
+present.
+
+A second event which marked the year, was another journey to
+Scotland. He complains in his letters, that though his congregations
+at Edinburgh and Glasgow were never more numerous and attentive,
+yet, with respect to the power of religion, it was a dead time in
+Scotland, in comparison with London and several other parts of
+England. His presence in Scotland, however, at this time was very
+important, especially in collecting for his orphan-house and the
+Highland Society for the support of children. Many Scottish soldiers
+were now in America, which greatly increased the interest felt in
+every thing relating to it.
+
+In this year, 1759, Mr. Whitefield also for the first time
+visited Brighthelmstone, now called Brighton, a very fashionable
+watering-place, where George IV. afterwards, while regent, built a
+tawdry tasteless palace. The preacher's first sermon was delivered
+under a tree in a field behind the White Lion inn. Among his
+congregation on that day was a young man named Tuppen, about
+eighteen years of age. He had been educated by a pious mother in
+the strict observance of the external parts of religion, but was
+entirely destitute of its power. He attended not so much from
+curiosity, as from the intention to insult and interrupt the
+preacher. He tells us, "I had therefore provided myself with stones
+in my pocket, if opportunity offered, to pelt the preacher; but
+I had not heard long, before the stone was taken out of my heart
+of flesh; and then the other stones, with shame and weeping, were
+dropped one by one out upon the ground." The words, "Turn ye, turn
+ye," became the means of turning him from sin to God. Mr. Tuppen
+became an excellent Christian minister, and labored as a pastor for
+some years in Portsmouth. He then removed to the city of Bath, where
+he originated a congregation, and built a house for public worship.
+He was succeeded in this important sphere by the late distinguished
+William Jay, who labored there for about sixty-four years.
+
+Such was the prosperity attendant on the efforts of Messrs.
+Whitefield, Madan, Romaine, Berridge, Venn, and Fletcher, at
+Brighton, that Lady Huntingdon felt it her duty to erect a church
+edifice there, and being unable to do it in any other way, sold her
+jewels to the amount of nearly three thousand five hundred dollars.
+The cause still flourishes there, and very many have been turned to
+righteousness.
+
+While Whitefield's ministry at the Tabernacle was at its height of
+popularity, Foote, a comedian of eminent talent for mimicry, who
+was frequently in difficulties on account of his love of ridicule,
+by which indeed his life was shortened, employed his wit to bring
+the distinguished preacher into contempt. One of his biographers
+says, that "very pressing embarrassments in his affairs compelled
+him to bring out his comedy of '_The Minor_,' in 1760, to ridicule
+Methodism, which, though successful, gave great offence, and was at
+last suppressed." Of this miserable piece of buffoonery, it may be
+enough to say, that Foote, and the agents employed at the Tabernacle
+and Tottenham Court-road chapel to collect materials from Whitefield
+for the accomplishment of their object, were so disgracefully
+ignorant of the inspired writings, as not to know that what they
+took for Mr. Whitefield's peculiar language was that of the word of
+God.
+
+Lady Huntingdon interposed in the matter, first with the Lord
+Chamberlain, by whose license alone any play could then be performed
+in London, and then with Mr. Garrick, the latter of whom assured her
+that he would use his influence to exclude it, and added, that had
+he been aware of the offence it was adapted to give, it should never
+have appeared with his concurrence. The representation of this piece
+of mummery, as might have been expected, considerably increased
+Whitefield's popularity, and brought thousands of new persons to
+hear the gospel: thus Providence gave him the victory over his
+opposers.
+
+To report the sicknesses, the labors, and the successes of
+Whitefield from this time to that of his sixth embarkation for
+America, would be little more than a repetition of the past. Suffice
+it to say, that in England, and in Scotland, he labored amid much
+ill-health, and surrounded with many dangers; but at length, having
+found an Episcopal clergyman, the Rev. John Berridge, a man of
+somewhat eccentric manners, but of great learning, of eminent piety,
+and of burning zeal, who was willing to labor for a time in London,
+Whitefield set sail in the ship Fanny, Captain Archibald Galbraith,
+bound from Greenock to Virginia, June 1, 1763, and arrived at
+Rappahannock, after a tedious, but otherwise pleasant voyage of
+about twelve weeks, in the last week of August.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+SIXTH VISIT AND LABORS IN AMERICA--RENEWED LABORS IN GREAT BRITAIN.
+
+1763-1767.
+
+
+Whitefield was now for the sixth time in America. He was twelve
+weeks on the voyage; but though tedious, it had done him good. "I
+enjoyed," he says, "that quietness which I have in vain sought after
+for some years on shore." Owing to the violence of his asthma, he
+had set sail "with but little hopes of farther public usefulness;"
+but after being six weeks at sea, he wrote to a friend, "Who knows
+but our latter end may _yet_ increase? If not in public usefulness,
+Lord Jesus, let it be in heart-holiness. I know who says Amen. I
+add, Amen and amen."
+
+On his arrival in Virginia, Whitefield was surrounded by many
+Christian friends, the fruits of his former labors in that colony,
+but whom he had not hitherto known. It was with great difficulty,
+however, that he preached to them; for though his general health
+was better, his breathing was very bad. The months of September,
+October, and November, he spent in Philadelphia. He says, "Here are
+some young bright witnesses rising up in the church. Perhaps I have
+already conversed with forty _new creature_ ministers of various
+denominations. Sixteen popular students, I am credibly informed,
+were converted in New Jersey college last year. What an open door if
+I had strength! Last Tuesday we had a remarkable season among the
+Lutherans; children and grown people were much impressed." Ill as he
+was, he preached twice a week, and with his usual success.
+
+He intensely desired at this time to visit Georgia, but was
+absolutely prohibited by his physicians, till he had recovered his
+strength. In the end of November, therefore, he passed over into New
+Jersey, visiting the college, and Elizabethtown. He tells us that
+at the college he had "four sweet seasons." His spirits rose at the
+sight of the young soldiers who were to fight when he had fallen. It
+was now winter, and "cold weather and a warm heart" put him in good
+spirits, so that he was able to preach three times a week.
+
+A young man, a member of the college, hearing that Whitefield was
+to preach in the neighborhood, and being more than a little anxious
+to ascertain whether he really deserved all the celebrity he
+enjoyed, went to hear him. The day was very rainy, and the audience
+was small; the preacher, accustomed to address thousands, did not
+feel his powers called forth as at other times. After having heard
+about one-third part of the sermon, the young man said to himself,
+"The man is not so great a wonder after all--quite commonplace and
+superficial--nothing but show, and not a great deal of that;" and
+looking round upon the audience, he saw that they appeared about as
+uninterested as usual, and that old father ----, who sat directly
+in front of the pulpit, and who always went to sleep after hearing
+the text and plan of the sermon, was enjoying his accustomed nap.
+About this time, Whitefield stopped. His face went rapidly through
+many changes, till it looked more like a rising thunder-cloud than
+any thing else; and beginning very deliberately, he said, "If I had
+come to speak to you in my own name, you might rest your elbows upon
+your knees, and your heads upon your hands, and sleep; and once in a
+while look up and say, 'What does the babbler talk of?' But I have
+not come to you in my own name. No; I have come to you in the name
+of the Lord God of hosts, and"--here he brought down his hand and
+foot at once, so as to make the whole house ring--"and I must, and
+will be heard." Every one in the house started, and old father ----
+among the rest. "Aye, aye," continued the preacher, looking at him,
+"I have waked you up, have I? I meant to do it. I am not come here
+to preach to stocks and stones; I have come to you in the name of
+the Lord God of hosts, and I must, and I will have an audience." The
+congregation was fully aroused, and the remaining part of the sermon
+produced a considerable effect.
+
+From New Jersey, Whitefield passed on to New York, where he says,
+"Such a flocking of all ranks I never saw before at New York....
+Prejudices have most strangely subsided. The better sort flock as
+eagerly as the common people, and are fond of coming for private
+gospel conversation. Congregations continue very large, and I trust
+saving impressions are made upon many." Such also was his influence
+as a philanthropist, that though prejudices ran high against the
+Indians, on account of a threatened insurrection in the south, he
+collected about six hundred dollars for Dr. Wheelock's Indian school
+at Lebanon, Conn., which he soon after visited with much pleasure.
+
+An extract of a letter from New York, dated Jan. 23, 1754, which
+appeared in the Boston Gazette, may show the esteem in which he was
+held: "The Rev. George Whitefield has spent seven weeks with us,
+preaching twice a week, with more general approbation than ever; and
+has been treated with great respect by many of the gentlemen and
+merchants of this place. During his stay he preached two charity
+sermons, the one on the occasion of the annual collection for the
+poor, in which double the sum was collected that ever was upon the
+like occasion; the other was for the benefit of Mr. Wheelock's
+Indian school at Lebanon, for which he collected, notwithstanding
+the present prejudices of many people against the Indians, the sum
+of one hundred and twenty pounds. In his last sermon, he took a very
+affectionate leave of the people of this city, who expressed great
+concern at his departure. May God restore this great and good man,
+in whom the gentleman, the Christian, and accomplished orator shine
+forth with such peculiar lustre, to a perfect state of health, and
+continue him long a blessing to the world and the church of Christ."
+
+Leaving New York, he visited and preached, as far as his strength
+would allow, at Easthampton Bridge, Hampton, and Southhold, on
+Long Island; at Shelter Island, and at New London, Norwich, and
+Providence.
+
+Whitefield arrived at Boston in the end of February, 1764, and was
+welcomed by multitudes with cordial affection; and again he saw "the
+Redeemer's stately steps in the great congregation." Boston at that
+time was visited with small-pox, and Whitefield therefore devoted
+much of his labor to the adjacent towns. Writing from Concord, he
+says, "How would you have been delighted to have seen Mr. Wheelock's
+Indians. Such a promising nursery of future missionaries, I believe,
+was never seen in New England before. Pray encourage it with all
+your might." About two months after his arrival in Boston, his
+illness returned, but did not long prevent him from preaching, and
+the people still flocked in crowds to hear him. He left Boston for
+the south; but messengers were sent to entreat his return, and
+especially urged him to renew his six o'clock morning lecture. He
+did return, but was now unable to preach at the early hour they
+desired; he appeared, however, in the pulpit for some time on
+three occasions in the week, and such was the number of converts
+discovered, that after he had left it was proposed to send him a
+book filled with their names, as desiring his return.
+
+We ought to have said, that according to the Boston Gazette,
+about the time of the arrival of Whitefield, "at a meeting of the
+freeholders and other inhabitants of the town of Boston, it was
+unanimously voted that the thanks of the town be given to the Rev.
+George Whitefield, for his charitable care and pains in collecting
+a considerable sum of money in Great Britain for the distressed
+sufferers by the great fire in Boston, 1760. A respectable committee
+was appointed to wait on Mr. Whitefield, to inform him of the vote,
+and present him with a copy thereof."
+
+Notwithstanding the earnest entreaties of his friends, he left
+Boston in the early part of June. On the first of that month he
+wrote, "Friends have even constrained me to stay here, for fear of
+running into the summer's heat. Hitherto I find the benefit of it.
+Whatever it is owing to, through mercy, I am much better in health
+than I was this time twelve months, and can preach thrice a week to
+very large auditories without hurt; and every day I hear of some
+brought under concern. This is all of grace."
+
+Sorrowfully parting from his friends at Boston, Whitefield left them
+for New York by way of New Haven. Here he preached to the students,
+and had taken his leave of them; but such was the impression he had
+made on their minds, that they requested the president to go after
+him, to entreat for another "quarter of an hour's exhortation." He
+complied with the request, and the effect was what he called "the
+_crown_ of the expedition." He continued at New York till the end of
+August. While there he writes, "At present my health is better than
+usual, and as yet I have felt no inconvenience from the summer's
+heat. I have preached twice lately in the fields, and we sat under
+the blessed Redeemer's shadow with great delight. My late excursions
+upon Long Island, I trust, have been blessed. It would surprise you
+to see above one hundred carriages at every sermon in the new world."
+
+On his way to Philadelphia, in September, Whitefield preached at the
+New Jersey college commencement; for which, and for the influence
+he had exerted in favor of the institution, the trustees sent him
+a vote of thanks. His reception at the college was all he could
+desire. The governor and the ex-governor of the state, with many
+other gentlemen, attended, and every other mark of respect was shown
+him. At Philadelphia, he describes the effect of his labors as
+"great indeed," and as usual, he was compelled to exclaim, "Grace,
+grace!"
+
+Leaving Pennsylvania, he went on through Virginia; here he tells
+us, in places as "unlikely as _Rome_ itself," he found societies of
+Christians, formed and led on by a wealthy planter of that colony;
+they met him in a body, wishing publicly to identify themselves with
+him. "Surely the _Londoners_," he writes, "who are fed to the full,
+will not envy the poor souls in these parts. I almost determine to
+come back in the spring" from Georgia to them.
+
+On one occasion, while he was preaching in this colony, a Mr. Allen,
+afterwards a member of the eminent Mr. Davies' church at Hanover,
+and who, with his family, "addicted himself to the ministry of the
+saints," fell on the ground at full length, suddenly, as if shot
+through the heart, and lay for the remainder of the evening as one
+who was dead. His descendants are now very numerous, and many of
+them are among the most zealous Christians in that state.
+
+From Virginia, Whitefield proceeded to South Carolina, and, Nov.
+22, wrote, "At Newbern, last Sunday, good impressions were made. I
+have met with what they call 'New Lights' in almost every place,
+and have the names of several of their preachers." Having preached
+at Charleston, he passed on to Bethesda, and had the happiness to
+find the whole colony in a prosperous condition. Here he spent the
+winter, and writes, "Peace and plenty reign at Bethesda. All things
+go on successfully. God hath given me great favor in the sight of
+the governor, council, and assembly. A memorial was presented for
+an additional grant of lands, consisting of two thousand acres. It
+was immediately complied with. Both houses addressed the governor
+on behalf of the intended college. A warm answer was given; and I
+am now putting every thing in repair, and getting every thing ready
+for that purpose. Every heart seems to leap for joy at the prospect
+of its future usefulness to this and the neighboring colonies. He
+who holdeth the stars in his right hand will direct, in due time,
+whether I shall directly embark for England, or take one tour more
+to the northward. I am in delightful winter quarters for once. His
+excellency dined with me yesterday, and expressed his satisfaction
+in the warmest terms. Who knows how many youths may be trained up
+for the service of the ever-loving and altogether lovely Jesus. Thus
+far, however, we may set up our Ebenezer. Hitherto the bush hath
+been burning, but is not consumed." To this statement he adds, "Mr.
+Wright hath done much in a little time; but he hath worked night and
+day, and not stirred a mile for many weeks. Thanks be to God, all
+outward things are settled on this side the water. The auditing the
+accounts, and laying the foundation for a college, hath silenced
+enemies and comforted friends. The finishing of this affair confirms
+my call to England at this time."
+
+But the intense anxiety of multitudes to hear his preaching,
+prevented Whitefield from leaving America for several months longer.
+He had, indeed, as early as the middle of February, determined not
+to visit New England till his return from Europe; but arriving at
+Charleston, he was compelled to devote to labors there the whole
+month of March, and then set out for Philadelphia, preaching at many
+places on his way. He says, "All the way from Charleston to this
+place the cry is, 'For Christ's sake, stay and preach to us.' Oh for
+a thousand lives to spend for Jesus."
+
+The heat of the weather made it indispensable for his health that
+he should go to sea, and July 5th he once more arrived in England,
+on his last return voyage from America. He says, "We have had but
+a twenty-eight days' passage. The transition has been so sudden,
+that I can scarcely believe that I am in England. I hope, ere long,
+to have a more sudden transition into a better country." When he
+arrived in his native land, he was ill of a nervous fever, which
+left him extremely weak in body, and unable to exert himself as
+formerly. Yet, still intent on his work, he did what he could, in
+expectation of soon entering into his eternal rest. "Oh, to end life
+well!" he writes; "methinks I have now but one river to pass over.
+And we know of One who can carry us over without being ankle deep."
+
+On Whitefield's arrival in England, he found that his excellent
+friend the Countess of Huntingdon was erecting a large and beautiful
+church edifice in the fashionable city of Bath, and to that place he
+at once repaired. There he found several of his clerical brethren
+preaching in the private chapel at Bretby Hall, belonging to the
+Earl of Chesterfield, who had placed it for the time being at the
+disposal of Lady Huntingdon. On Whitefield's arrival, this place was
+of necessity exchanged for the Park, where the concourse of people
+was as vast as ever.
+
+October 6, he preached the dedicatory sermon of Lady Huntingdon's
+church at Bath, to an immense crowd. To his friend Robert Keen,
+Esq., one of the managers of his London houses, he wrote, "Could
+you have come, and have been present at the opening of the chapel,
+you would have been much pleased. The building is extremely plain,
+and yet equally grand. A most beautiful original! All was conducted
+with great solemnity. Though a wet day, the place was very full, and
+assuredly the great Shepherd and Bishop of souls consecrated and
+made it holy ground by his presence."
+
+He made but a short stay at Bath, and returned to London, still
+feeble and tottering, but still compelled to labor. He had an
+interview with his old friend John Wesley, who says of him, "He
+seemed to be an old man, being fairly worn out in his Master's
+service, though he has hardly seen fifty years; and yet it pleases
+God that I, who am now in my sixty-third year, find no disorder,
+no weakness, no decay, no difference from what I was at five and
+twenty, only that I have fewer teeth, and more gray hairs." Writing
+to a friend at Sheerness, in Kent, Jan. 18, 1766, Whitefield says,
+"I am sorry to acquaint you that it is not in my power to comply
+with your request, for want of more assistance. I am confined in
+town with the care of two important posts, when I am only fit to be
+put into some garrison among invalids." By some means, however, he
+obtained a release, for in March we find him at Bath and Bristol.
+Writing, March 17, he says, "The uncertainty of my motions has made
+me slow in writing; and a desire to be a while free from London
+cares, has made me indifferent about frequent hearing from thence.
+Last Friday evening, and twice yesterday, I preached at Bath, to
+very thronged and brilliant auditories."
+
+Whitefield's interest in America was not lessened by his absence
+from it. He ardently loved it, and wished for the return of its
+peace and prosperity. He hoped, with many others, that the repeal
+of the Stamp Act would lead to this result; hence, we find in his
+Letter-book this entry: "March 16, 1766, Stamp Act repealed. _Gloria
+Deo._"
+
+Among the remarkable men of his day was Samson Occam. He was
+descended, on his mother's side, from Uncas, chief of the Mohegans.
+He was born in 1723, of parents who led a wandering life, depending
+on hunting and fishing for subsistence. None cultivated their
+lands, all dwelt in wigwams, and Samson was one of the very first
+of the tribe who learned to read. About the year 1740, at the age
+of seventeen, he was converted by the labors of Whitefield, Gilbert
+Tennent, and their companions. In a year or two he had learned to
+read his Bible with ease, and to his great advantage. He was a
+pupil at the school originally founded by Dr. Wheelock, at Lebanon,
+Conn., for the benefit exclusively of Indians, four years, and
+was then a teacher for eleven years. In 1759, he was ordained by
+the Suffolk Presbytery, and became an eminently zealous preacher
+to the scattered Mohegans. In 1766, in company with the Rev. Mr.
+Whitaker of Norwich, he went to England to advocate the cause of
+Dr. Wheelock's Indian school, which school was afterwards merged in
+Dartmouth college, of which Mr. Wheelock was also founder and first
+president. Occum preached in the churches of Whitefield and Lady
+Huntingdon, as well as in some others of different denominations. We
+remember half a century ago hearing an old lady at Kidderminster,
+the town of Richard Baxter, describe a scene which occurred in
+Fawcett's church in that town. Occum had preached, and a handsome
+collection had been taken for his object; with tears of gratitude
+and joy the good man thanked them, and in tones which neither the
+weeping nor the mimetic talent of the old lady would allow her fully
+to imitate, assured them that the blessing of many ready to perish
+would come upon them. The place was a Bochim, and nothing could
+prevent the people from having the plates again carried round, that
+they might add to the liberal contributions they had already made.
+
+Occum preached in Great Britain from three to four hundred sermons;
+and as no North American Indian had ever preached in England before,
+public curiosity was great, and his pecuniary success considerable.
+He brought to this country, with his companion, as the produce of
+their labors, more than forty-five thousand dollars. In 1772 he
+published an interesting sermon which he preached to an Indian at
+his execution. An excellent portrait of him was published in England.
+
+Dr. Timothy Dwight writes, "I heard Mr. Occum twice. His
+discourses, though not proofs of superior talents, were decent;
+and his utterance in some degree eloquent. His character at one
+time labored under some imputations; yet there is good reason to
+believe that most, if not all of them were unfounded; and there is
+satisfactory evidence that he was a man of piety." An account of the
+Montauk Indians, written by Occum, is preserved in the "Historical
+Collections." He died at New Stockbridge, N. Y., July, 1792. It has
+been said that the first Sunday-school in these United States was
+founded in the house of his sister, a few months after his death.
+
+Occum was somewhat of a wit, and could well apply his talent in his
+conflict with the enemies of divine truth. He once ended a long
+controversial conversation with a Universalist, by saying, "Well,
+well, remember, if you are correct, I am safe; if you are not
+correct, I am safe. I have two strings to my bow; you have but one."
+
+In June, 1766, we again find Whitefield in the neighborhood of
+Bristol, whence he writes, "As my feverish heat continues, and the
+weather is too wet to travel, I have complied with the advice of
+friends, and have commenced a Hot-wells water drinker twice a day.
+However, twice this week, at six o'clock in the morning, I have
+been enabled to call thirsty souls to come and 'drink of the water
+of life freely.' Tomorrow evening, God willing, the call is to be
+repeated, and again on Sunday." On his return to London, he writes,
+under date of September 25, "Many in this metropolis seem to be on
+the wing for God; the shout of a king is yet heard in the Methodist
+camp. Had I wings, I would gladly fly from pole to pole; but they
+are clipped by thirty years' feeble labors. Twice or thrice a week
+I am permitted to ascend my gospel throne. The love of Christ, I am
+persuaded, will constrain you to pray that the last glimmering of
+an expiring taper may be blessed to the guiding of many, wandering
+souls to the Lamb of God."
+
+The good providence of God now gave Whitefield a colleague in the
+ministry at the Tabernacle and Tottenham Court-road chapel, the Rev.
+Torial Joss. This gentleman had spent many years as captain at sea;
+converted by divine grace, and filled with holy zeal, he devoted
+his popular talents to the welfare of his fellow-men, preaching
+both on sea and land. In a remarkable manner, Mr. Whitefield became
+acquainted with him, and, without his knowledge, published that he
+would preach in his houses of worship, which, though with extreme
+reluctance, Joss did. These services were often renewed, and
+Whitefield gave him no rest till he abandoned the sea, and devoted
+himself to the ministry. Everywhere he was popular, and everywhere
+useful. He continued minister of the two places in London--spending
+four or five months in each year travelling and preaching--for
+twenty-seven years after the death of his friend, and then departed
+from earth, in 1797, in holy triumph, in the 66th year of his age.
+
+One of the most extraordinary men in modern times was the late Rev.
+Rowland Hill, who erected Surrey chapel, London, and continued to
+preach in it till his death, in his eighty-ninth year, in 1833. He
+was eminently dignified in person, possessed extraordinary zeal,
+and was honored by his great Master with probably more success in
+the direct work of saving souls than any other minister of his day.
+He was a man of considerable rank, his father being a gentleman of
+title, one of his brothers a member of Parliament for many years,
+representing his native county, and the late eminent statesman
+and soldier Lord Hill was his nephew. Mr. Hill himself in early
+life became a Christian, and was educated for the ministry in the
+established church, but violated its rules, and preached wherever he
+could; for many years he was greatly persecuted by his own family,
+some of whom, however, in the end sustained the yoke of Christ.
+When Rowland began his somewhat erratic career, the opposition from
+his father was so great, that he was reduced sometimes to extreme
+poverty; and he was exactly the man to be encouraged by such men
+as Whitefield and Berridge. We give a few extracts from letters
+addressed to him by Whitefield, which certainly show no small
+degree of ardor, though we cannot see in them what Hill's clerical
+biographer, Mr. Sidney, professed to find, "an aspiration after the
+honors, when he had no prospect of the sufferings of martyrdom." The
+fact was, that Mr. Sidney was offended with Whitefield, as he was
+with his venerable uncle, Mr. Hill, for having deviated from the
+rigid laws of the establishment. It is only needful to introduce
+the first letter by saying that it was dated, London, December 27,
+1766, and was sent in answer to one in which Mr. Hill had asked his
+counsel.
+
+"About thirty-four years ago, the master of Pembroke college,
+where I was educated, took me to task for visiting the sick and
+going to the prisons. In my haste I said, 'Sir, if it displeaseth
+you I will go no more.' My heart smote me immediately; I repented,
+and went again; he heard of it--threatened--but for fear he should
+be looked on as a persecutor, let me alone. The hearts of all
+are in the Redeemer's hands. I would not have you give way; no,
+not for a moment. The storm is too great to hold long. Visiting
+the sick and imprisoned, and instructing the ignorant, are the
+very vitals of true and undefiled religion. If threatened, denied
+degree, or expelled _for this_, it will be the best degree you can
+take--a glorious preparative for, and a blessed presage of future
+usefulness. I have seen the dreadful consequences of giving way and
+looking back. How many by this wretched cowardice, and fear of the
+cross, have been turned into pillars, not of useful, but of useless
+salt. Now is your time to prove the strength of Jesus yours. If
+opposition did not so much abound, your consolations would not so
+abound. Blind as he is, Satan sees some great good coming on. We
+never prospered so much at Oxford as when we were hissed at and
+reproached as we walked along the streets, as being counted the
+dung and offscouring of all things. That is a poor building which
+a little stinking breath of Satan's vassals can throw down. Your
+house, I trust, is better founded. Is it not built upon a rock? Is
+not that rock the blessed Jesus? The gates of hell, therefore, shall
+not be able to prevail against it. Go on, therefore, my dear man, go
+on. Old Berridge, I believe, would give you the same advice; you are
+honored in sharing his reproach and name. God be praised that you
+are enabled to bless when others blaspheme. God bless and direct and
+support you. He will, he will. Good Lady Huntingdon is in town; she
+will rejoice to hear that you are under the cross. You will not want
+her prayers, or the poor prayers of, my dear honest young friend,
+yours, in an all-conquering Jesus."
+
+The opposition Mr. Hill met with from his parents increased, and
+the threat of his degree being withheld, was, on the part of
+the university authorities, more determined; still, however, he
+persevered in his preaching and his visits, in violation of the
+laws of discipline. In June, 1767, Mr. Whitefield wrote him: "I
+wish you joy of the late high dignity conferred upon you--higher
+than if you were made the greatest professor in the university of
+Cambridge. The honorable degrees you intend giving to your promising
+candidates, [allowing some of his fellow-students to preach in the
+various places which he had visited,] I trust will excite a holy
+ambition, and a holy emulation; let me know who is first honored. As
+I have been admitted to the degree of doctor for near these thirty
+years, I assure you I like my field preferment, my airy pluralities,
+exceedingly well. For these three weeks last past I have been
+beating up for fresh recruits in Gloucestershire and South Wales.
+Thousands and thousands attended, and good Lady Huntingdon was
+present at one of our reviews. Her ladyship's aid-de-camp preached
+in Brecknock-street, and Captain Scott, that glorious field-officer,
+lately fixed up his standard upon dear Mr. Fletcher's horseblock
+at Madeley. Being invited thither, I have a great inclination to
+lift up the Redeemer's ensign next week in the same place; with
+what success, you and your dearly beloved candidates for good
+old methodistical contempt shall know hereafter. God willing, I
+intend fighting my way up to town. Soon after my arrival there,
+I hope thousands and thousands of volleys of prayers, energetic,
+effectual, fervent, heaven-besieging, heaven-opening, heaven-taking
+prayers, shall be poured forth for you all. Oh, my dearly beloved
+and longed-for in the Lord, my bowels yearn towards you. Fear not
+to go without the camp; keep open the correspondence between the
+two universities. Remember the praying legions--they were never
+known to yield. God bless those that are gone to their respective
+_cures_--I say not _livings_, a term of too modern date. Christ is
+our life; Christ is the Levite's inheritance, and Christ will be the
+true disinterested Levite's lot and portion and all. Greet your dear
+young companions whom I saw; they are welcome to write when they
+please. God be your physician under your bodily malady. A thorn, a
+thorn! but Christ's grace will be sufficient for you. To his tender,
+never-failing mercy I commit you."
+
+A few weeks after this, Mr. Hill was much depressed in spirits,
+partly from bodily illness, partly because he was about to leave
+Cambridge and its surrounding villages, where he had latterly so
+frequently preached, but chiefly from the fact that he was going
+home, where he would again meet the frowns of his honored parents,
+for what they deemed his overrighteousness. In the midst of all
+this, however, he knew that he would meet at Hawkstone, his father's
+residence, the cordial welcome of his sister and elder brother,
+Richard Hill, afterwards a baronet. This gentleman had lately become
+a village preacher and a visitor of prisons, like his brother. Under
+these circumstances he was addressed by Whitefield, in his own
+peculiar and energetic style: "What said our Lord to Martha? 'Did I
+not say unto thee, If thou wouldest believe, thou shouldst see the
+glory of God?' Blessed, for ever blessed be the God and Father of
+our Lord Jesus Christ, for what he hath done for your dear brother.
+A preaching, prison-preaching, field-preaching _esquire_, strikes
+more than all the black gowns and lawn sleeves in the world. And
+if I am not mistaken, the great Shepherd and Bishop of souls will
+let the world, and his own children too, know that he will not be
+prescribed to in respect to men, or garbs, or places; much less will
+he be confined to any order or set of men under heaven. I wish you
+both much, very much prosperity. You will have it--_you will have
+it_. This is the way, walk ye in it. Both Tabernacle and [Tottenham
+Court-road] chapel pulpits shall be open to a captain or an esquire
+sent of God. The good news from Oxford is encouraging. Say what they
+will, preaching should be one part of the education of a student in
+divinity. I pray for you night and day."
+
+On the arrival of Mr. Hill at his father's beautiful seat, it was
+his happiness to find that his brother Brian, afterwards useful as
+a clergyman, was added to the number of believers in Christ; he
+learned also, that one of his college friends had been threatened
+to have an exhibition, or yearly gift towards his university
+expenses, withdrawn, unless he renounced his evangelical doctrines
+and practices. The reader will now understand Mr. Whitefield's
+letter: "I have been sadly hindered from answering your last letter,
+delivered to me by your brother. I gave it him to read, and we had,
+I trust, a profitable conference. God be praised if another of your
+brothers is gained. What grace is this! Four or five out of one
+family--it is scarcely to be paralleled. Who knows but the root,
+as well as the branches, may be taken by and by? Abba, Father, all
+things are possible with thee! Steadiness and perseverance in the
+children will be one of the best means, under God, of convincing the
+parents. This present opposition I think cannot last very long; if
+it does, to obey God rather than man, when forbidden to do what is
+undoubted duty, is the invariable rule. Our dear Penty [afterwards
+the Rev. Thomas Pentycross] is under the cross at Cambridge. But
+
+    "'Satan thwarts, and men object,
+      Yet the thing they thwart effect.'
+
+I should be glad if any one's exhibition was taken from him for
+visiting the sick, etc. It would vastly tend to the furtherance of
+the gospel; but Satan sees too far, I imagine, to play such a game
+now. Let him do his work; he is only a mastiff chained. Continue to
+inform me how he barks, and how far he is permitted to go in your
+parts; and God's people shall be more stirred up to pray for you
+all."
+
+The close of Mr. Hill's life was truly interesting and instructive.
+As has been intimated, he preached with scarcely diminished power
+until within a few weeks of his death. During the last two or three
+years of his life he very frequently repeated the following lines of
+an old poet:
+
+              "And when I'm to die,
+               Receive me, I'll cry,
+    For Jesus has loved me, I cannot tell why;
+               But this I can find,
+               We two are so joined,
+    That he'll not be in glory, and leave me behind."
+
+"The last time he occupied my pulpit," writes his neighbor, the Rev.
+George Clayton, "when he preached excellently for an hour, in behalf
+of a charitable institution, he retired to the vestry after service
+under feelings of great and manifest exhaustion. Here he remained
+until every individual except the pew-openers, his servant, and
+myself had left the place. At length he seemed with some reluctance
+to summon energy enough to take his departure, intimating that it
+was in all probability the last time he should preach in Walworth.
+His servant went before to open the carriage-door, the pew-openers
+remaining in the vestry. I offered my arm, which he declined, and
+then followed him as he passed down the aisle of the chapel. The
+lights were nearly extinguished, the silence was profound, nothing
+indeed was heard but the slow majestic tread of his own footsteps,
+when, in an undertone, he thus soliloquized:
+
+                 "'And when I'm to die,' etc.
+
+To my heart this was a scene of unequalled solemnity, nor can I ever
+recur to it without a revival of that hallowed, sacred, shuddering
+sympathy which it originally awakened."
+
+When the good old saint lay literally dying, and when apparently
+unconscious, a friend put his mouth close to his ear, and repeated
+slowly his favorite lines:
+
+                  "And when I'm to die," etc.
+
+The light came back to his fast-fading eye, a smile overspread his
+face, and his lips moved in the ineffectual attempt to articulate
+the words. This was the last sign of consciousness which he gave.
+
+We could almost wish that every disciple of Christ would commit
+these lines, quaint as they are, to memory, and weave them into
+the web of his Christian experience. Confidence in Christ, and
+undeviating adherence to him, can alone enable us to triumph in life
+and death.
+
+In November, 1766, Whitefield again visited Bath and Bristol, and
+then passed on to Gloucestershire and Oxford. Never did so many
+of the nobility attend his ministry as he now saw at Bath, and
+the results of his whole journey were such as to fill him with
+the most devout gratitude. He saw too the number of his clerical
+friends largely increasing, and especially rejoiced in the fact
+that the excellent Fletcher, of Madeley, preached in his pulpits in
+London. He writes of this event, "Dear Mr. Fletcher has become a
+_scandalous_ Tottenham Court preacher.... Were we more scandalous,
+more good would be done.... Still, 'the shout of a king is yet
+heard' in the Methodist camp."
+
+In January, 1767, Whitefield wrote a recommendatory preface to
+the works of John Bunyan, whom he pleasantly designated, "Bishop
+Bunyan;" and as soon as the weather would permit, we find him
+at Norwich, and then at Rodborough, Woodstock, Gloucester, and
+Haverfordwest, from which last place he wrote, "Thousands and
+thousands attend by eight in the morning. Life and light seem to
+fly all around." On a second visit to Gloucester on this tour, he
+wrote, "Blessed be God, I have got on this side the Welsh mountains.
+Blessed be God, I have been on the other side. What a scene last
+Sunday! What a cry for more of the bread of life! But I was quite
+worn down."
+
+In September following, he again visited the north of England,
+writing from day to day in high spirits. September 28, he says,
+"My body feels much fatigued in travelling; comforts in the soul
+overbalance;" and from Leeds, October 3, he writes, "Field and
+street preaching have rather bettered than hurt my bodily health."
+
+Whitefield now returned to London, to sustain a heavy
+disappointment. The negotiations relative to the college at Bethesda
+were this winter brought to an issue. A memorial addressed to his
+Majesty was put into the hands of the clerk of the Privy Council,
+setting forth the great utility of a college in that place to the
+southern provinces; and praying that a charter might be granted upon
+the plan of the college in New Jersey. This memorial was transmitted
+by the clerk of the Privy Council to the lord president, and by his
+lordship referred to the Archbishop of Canterbury, to whom also a
+draft of an intended charter was presented by the Earl of Dartmouth.
+A correspondence followed all this between the archbishop and
+Whitefield; the consequence of which was, that his grace gave the
+draft of the college to the lord president, who promised he would
+consider of it; and gave it as his opinion that "the head of the
+college ought to be a member of the church of England; that this was
+a qualification not to be dispensed with; and also, that the public
+prayers should not be extempore ones, but the liturgy of the church,
+or some other settled and established form." Whitefield replied
+that these restrictions he could by no means agree to, because the
+greatest part of the contributions for the orphan-house came from
+Protestant dissenters; and because he had constantly declared that
+the intended college should be founded upon a broad foundation, and
+no other.
+
+"This," said he, "I judged I was sufficiently warranted to do,
+from the known, long-established, mild, and uncoercive genius of
+the British government; also from your grace's moderation towards
+Protestant dissenters; from the unconquerable attachment of the
+Americans to toleration principles, as well as from the avowed
+habitual feelings of my own heart. This being the case, and as
+your grace, by your silence, seems to be like-minded with the lord
+president; and as your grace's and his lordship's influence will
+undoubtedly extend itself to others, I would beg leave, after
+returning all due acknowledgments, to inform your grace that I
+intend troubling your grace and his lordship no more about this so
+long depending concern. As it hath pleased the great Head of the
+church in some degree to renew my bodily strength, I propose now
+to renew my feeble efforts, and to turn the charity into a more
+generous, and consequently into a more useful channel. I have no
+ambition to be looked upon as the founder of a college; but I would
+fain act the part of an honest man, a disinterested minister of
+Jesus Christ, and a true, catholic, moderate presbyter of the church
+of England."
+
+Thus ended Whitefield's labors to establish a college at Bethesda.
+Berridge, and not a few others of his friends rather rejoiced in his
+disappointment, as they thought there was some fear, uncontrolled as
+the institution might hereafter be by men of established principles
+of piety, that an unconverted ministry might be increased by its
+means.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+     HIS LAST LABORS IN GREAT BRITAIN--COLLEGE AT TREVECCA--EARL OF
+     BUCHAN--TUNBRIDGE WELLS.
+
+1767-1769.
+
+
+Whitefield had abandoned the idea of a charter for a college at
+present, but he was yet ardently desirous of a public academy being
+added to his orphan-house, similar to what existed at Philadelphia
+before a college charter was granted. He thought that if this
+could be done, a better day might arrive, when a charter on broad
+principles might be obtained. He developed his whole plan in a
+letter to Governor Wright. Feeling too the uncertainty of life, he
+wrote to his friend Mr. Keen, "None but God knows what a concern is
+upon me now, in respect of Bethesda. As another voyage, perhaps, may
+be the issue and the result of all at last, I would beg you and my
+dear Mr. H---- to let me have all my papers and letters, that I may
+revise and dispose of them in a proper manner. This can do no hurt,
+come life or come death."
+
+October 28th, 1767, Whitefield preached at the London Tabernacle
+before the society for promoting religious knowledge among the poor,
+usually called, The Book Society. This society had been organized
+seventeen years before this period, and included in it such men as
+Watts, Doddridge, and Gifford. He gave way to all the zeal of his
+heart while he discussed the petition, "Thy kingdom come." Luke
+11:2. The congregation was immense, many had to go away unable
+to obtain admittance. It was believed that a larger number of
+dissenting ministers were present than ever before heard a sermon
+from an Episcopal minister, and the collection reached more than
+five hundred dollars, or above four times the usual amount, besides
+eighty new annual subscribers. After the service, he dined with a
+very large party, including the ministers, where harmony reigned,
+and much respect was shown him.
+
+It may be readily supposed, that with advancing years and increasing
+experience, some changes might have taken place both in the style
+and manner of Whitefield's preaching. The Rev. Cornelius Winter, who
+had become somewhat closely associated with him, says, "He dealt
+more in the explanatory and doctrinal mode on the Sabbath morning
+than at any other time, and sometimes made a little, but by no means
+an improper show of learning. His afternoon sermon was more general
+and exhortatory. In the evening, he drew his bow at a venture;
+vindicated the doctrines of grace, fenced them with articles and
+homilies, referred to the martyr's seal, and exemplified the power
+of divine grace by quotations from the venerable Foxe. Sinners were
+then closely plied, numbers of whom, from curiosity, coming to
+hear for a minute or two, were often compelled to hear the whole
+sermon. How many in the judgment-day will rise to prove that they
+heard to the salvation of the soul. Upon the members of society,
+the practice of Christianity was then usually inculcated, not
+without some pertinent anecdote of a character worthy to be held
+up for an example, and in whose conduct the hints recommended were
+exemplified. On Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays,
+he preached at six in the morning; and never, perhaps, did he
+preach greater sermons than at this hour." This, with the frequent
+administration of the Lord's supper to hundreds of communicants, was
+his usual plan for several years; but now he became more colloquial
+in his style, with but little action; he gave pertinent expositions
+of the Scriptures, with striking remarks, all comprehended within an
+hour. Winter adds, "The peculiar talents he possessed, subservient
+to great usefulness, can be but faintly conceived from his sermons
+in print; though, as formerly, God has made the reading of them
+useful, and I have no doubt that in future they will have their use."
+
+But even yet our evangelist had to engage in war. The opposition
+of the universities in Oxford and Cambridge to the principles and
+practices introduced by Whitefield, Wesley, and their companions,
+grew and strengthened, till an event occurred at Oxford singularly
+remarkable in its history for opposition to evangelical religion,
+which for many years continued to excite very extraordinary
+interest. The London "St. James' Chronicle," of Thursday, March 17,
+1763, contained the following "extract of a letter from Oxford:"
+"On Friday last, six students, belonging to Edmund Hall, were
+expelled the university, after a hearing of several hours before
+Mr. Vice-Chancellor and some of the heads of houses, for holding
+methodistical tenets, and taking upon them to pray, read, and
+expound the Scriptures, and singing hymns in a private house.
+The ---- of the ---- [The Principal of the Edmund Hall, Rev. Dr.
+Dixon] defended their doctrines from the Thirty-nine Articles of
+the established church, and spoke in the highest terms of the piety
+and exemplariness of their lives; but his motion was overruled,
+and sentence pronounced against them. Dr. ----, [Dixon,] one of
+the heads of houses present, observed, that as these six gentlemen
+were expelled for having too much religion, it would be very proper
+to inquire into the conduct of some who had too little; and Mr.
+---- [Dr. Nowell] was heard to tell their chief accuser, that the
+university was much obliged to him for his good work."
+
+To detail the events which followed this extraordinary act, and to
+describe the excitement thus created, form no part of the design of
+our volume. We have referred to the fact because Mr. Whitefield and
+his friend Sir Richard Hill took part in the controversy. Referring
+to Dr. Nowell's assertion to Mr. Higson, their "chief accuser," and
+who was also their tutor, that the university was obliged to him,
+Whitefield says to the Vice-Chancellor, "What thanks, reverend sir,
+he may meet with from the whole university I know not; but one thing
+I know, namely, that he will receive no thanks for that day's work
+from the innumerable company of angels, the general assembly of the
+first-born which are written in heaven, or from God the Judge of
+all, in that day when Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant shall
+come in his own glory, in the glory of the Father and his holy
+angels, and gather his elect from all the four corners of the world.
+
+"It is true, indeed, one article of impeachment was, that 'some of
+them were of _trades_ before they entered into the university.'
+But what evil or crime worthy of expulsion can there be in that?
+To be called from any, though the meanest mechanical employment,
+to the study of the liberal arts, where a natural genius hath been
+given, was never yet looked upon as a reproach to, or diminution of
+any great and public character whatsoever. Profane history affords
+us a variety of examples of the greatest heroes, who have been
+fetched even from the plough to command armies, and who performed
+the greatest exploits for their country's good. And if we examine
+_sacred_ history, we shall find that even David, after he was
+anointed king, looked back with sweet complacency to the rock from
+whence he was hewn, and is not ashamed to leave it upon record, that
+God took him away from the sheepfolds, as he was following the ewes
+great with young; and, as though he loved to repeat it, he took
+him, he says, 'that he might feed Jacob his people, and Israel his
+inheritance.'
+
+"But why speak I of David, when Jesus of Nazareth, David's Lord and
+David's King, had for his reputed father a carpenter? and in all
+probability, as it was a common proverb among the Jews, that 'he
+who did not teach his son a trade, taught him to be a thief,' he
+worked at the trade of a carpenter himself. For this, indeed, he was
+reproached and maligned: 'Is not this,' said they, 'the carpenter's
+son?' Nay, 'Is not this the carpenter?' But who were these
+maligners? The greatest enemies to the power of godliness which
+the world ever saw, the scribes and Pharisees, that 'generation of
+vipers,' as John the Baptist calls them, who, upon every occasion,
+were spitting out their venom, and shooting their arrows, even
+bitter words, against that Son of man, even that Son of God who,
+to display his sovereignty, and confound the wisdom of the worldly
+wise, chose poor fishermen to be his apostles; and whose chief of
+the apostles, though brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, both before
+and after his call to the apostleship, labored with his own hands,
+and worked at the trade of a tent-maker."
+
+It is pleasant to know that the young men thus expelled became
+useful in the church of Christ. One of them, indeed, Erasmus
+Middleton, who had been sustained at Oxford by Mr. Fuller, a
+dissenter and banker in London, was ordained in Ireland by the
+bishop of Down, and having married a lady of the ducal family of
+Gordon, in Scotland, was curate successively to the Rev. Messrs.
+Romaine and Cadogan in London, and finally rector of Turvey, in
+Bedfordshire, where he was the immediate predecessor of the sainted
+Legh Richmond.
+
+Many delightful evidences yet exist that as Whitefield drew nearer
+the end of his career on earth, his holy zeal increased, rather
+than lessened. We have lying before us three of his letters, not
+included either in the collection of his printed correspondence, or
+in the lives which have been published. The first was addressed to a
+gentleman at Wisbeach, and appears to have been written from London.
+It is dated Sept. 25, 1766.
+
+"DEAR SIR--As your letter breathes the spirit of a sincere
+follower of the Lamb of God, I am sorry that it hath lain by
+so long unanswered; but bodily weakness, and a multiplicity of
+correspondents, both from abroad and at home, must be pleaded
+as excuses. 'Blessed be God, our salvation is nearer than when
+we believed.' It should seem that you have now served three
+apprenticeships in Christ's school, and yet I suppose the language
+of your heart is, 'I love my Master, and will not go from him;' and
+Oh, what a mercy, that whom Jesus loves, he loves to the end! Do you
+not begin to long to see him more than ever? Do you not groan in
+this tabernacle, being burdened? Courage, courage; he that cometh
+will come, and will not tarry. Oh that patience may have its perfect
+work! Many in this metropolis seem to be on the wing for God; the
+shout of a king is yet heard in the Methodist camp. Had I wings, I
+would gladly fly from pole to pole; but they are clipped by thirty
+years' feeble labors. Twice or thrice a week I am permitted to
+ascend my gospel throne. The love of Christ, I am persuaded, will
+constrain you to pray that the last glimmering of an expiring taper
+may be blessed to the guiding of many wandering souls to the Lamb of
+God."
+
+The second letter was written from the same city, February 12, in
+the following year, and was addressed to Captain Scott, a military
+officer then "quartered at Leicester." This gentleman, in early
+life, had been much devoted to the gayeties of fashionable society;
+long after he had entered the army, he was converted to God, under
+the ministry of the Rev. W. Romaine; and a few weeks before Mr.
+Whitefield addressed to him this letter, he had begun to preach the
+grand message of reconciliation. He afterwards left the army, was
+ordained as a Congregational minister, and labored for many years in
+almost innumerable places in city and country, with abundant success.
+
+"What, not answer so modest a request, namely, to snatch a few
+moments to send dear Captain Scott a few lines? God forbid. I must
+again welcome him into the field of battle. I must again entreat
+him to keep his rank as captain, and not suffer any persuasions to
+influence him to descend to the low degree of a common soldier. If
+God will choose a red-coat preacher, who shall say unto him, 'What
+doest thou?'
+
+    "Prevent thy foes, nor wait their charge;
+     But call the lingering battle on;
+     But strongly grasp thy seven-fold targe,
+     And bear the world and Satan down.
+
+    "Strong in the Lord's almighty power,
+     And armed in panoply divine,
+     Firm mayest thou stand in danger's hour,
+     And prove the strength of Jesus thine.
+
+    "The helmet of salvation take,
+     The Lord the Spirit's conquering sword;
+     Speak from the word, in lightning speak;
+     Cry out, and thunder from the Lord.
+
+    "Through friends and foes pursue thy way,
+     Be mindful of a dying God;
+     Finish thy course, and win the day,
+     Though called to seal the truth with blood.
+
+"Gladly would I come, and in my poor way endeavor to strengthen your
+hands; but alas, I am fit for nothing, but, as an invalid, to be
+put into some garrison, and now and then put my hand to some old
+gun. Blessed be the Captain of our salvation for drafting out some
+young champions to reconnoitre and attack the enemy. You will beat
+the march in every letter, and bid the common soldiers not halt, but
+go forwards. Good Lady Huntingdon wishes you much prosperity. Pray
+write to her at Brighthelmstone, [now Brighton,] Sussex. She will
+most gladly answer you; and I assure you, her Ladyship's letters
+are always weighty. Hoping one day or another to see your face in
+the flesh, and more than hoping to see you crowned with glory in
+the kingdom of heaven, I must hasten to subscribe myself, my dear
+captain, yours in our all-glorious Captain-general,
+
+  "G. WHITEFIELD."
+
+The last letter we shall introduce in this connection was addressed
+by Whitefield to the Honorable and Rev. Walter Shirley, of Ireland,
+a near relative of the Countess of Huntingdon, who breathed, as a
+minister of Christ, much of the spirit of his great Master. It was
+dated, Bath, Dec. 8, 1767:
+
+"REV. AND VERY DEAR SIR--How glad was I to hear by the London
+Shunamite, [Mrs. Herritage,] that you and your lady were well;
+that God had given you a son; that you reflected on your preaching
+at Tottenham Court chapel with pleasure; that you had gotten a
+curate; and, to complete all, that you intended to visit England
+next spring. This news rejoiced me before I left town, and was most
+grateful to our good Lady Huntingdon, whom I have the honor of
+waiting upon at this time in Bath. She hath been sick, nigh unto
+death, but through mercy is now somewhat recovered, though as
+yet unable to write much. This her ladyship much regrets on your
+account; and therefore enjoins me to inform you, that your letter
+did not reach her hands till many weeks after the proper time; that
+ever since she has been visited with lingering sickness, but begs
+you will not linger in coming over to our Macedonia to help us. The
+thought of it seems to refresh her heaven-born soul. Blessed be God,
+her ladyship still takes the lead.
+
+"She is now doing honor to the remains of the Earl of Buchan, who
+sweetly slept in Jesus last week. All hath been awful, and more
+than awful. On Saturday evening, before the corpse was taken from
+Buchan house, a word of exhortation was given, and a hymn sung
+in the room where the corpse lay. The young Earl stood with his
+hands on the head of the coffin, the Countess Dowager of Buchan
+on his right hand, Lady Ann Agnes, and Lady Isabella Erskine on
+his left, and their brother the Hon. Thomas Erskine next to their
+mother, with Miss O----, Miss W----, Miss G----; on one side
+all the domestics, with a few friends on the other. The word of
+exhortation was received with great solemnity, and most wept under
+the parting prayer. At ten, the corpse was removed to good Lady
+Huntingdon's chapel, where it was deposited within a place railed in
+for that purpose, covered with black baize, and the usual funeral
+concomitants, except escutcheons.
+
+"On Sunday morning, all attended in mourning at early sacrament.
+They were seated by themselves, at the feet of the corpse, and with
+their head servants, received first, and a particular address was
+made to them. Immediately after receiving, these verses were sung
+for them:
+
+    "'Our lives, our blood, we here present,
+      If for thy truth they may be spent:
+      Fulfil thy glorious counsel, Lord;
+      Thy will be done, thy name adored.
+
+    "'Give them thy strength, O God of power,
+      Then let men rave or devils roar,
+      Thy faithful witnesses they'll be;
+      'Tis fixed, they can do all through thee!'
+
+"Then they received this blessing: 'The Lord bless you, and keep
+you; the Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you; the
+Lord cause his face to shine upon you, and give you peace;' and so
+returned to their places.
+
+"Sacrament ended, and a blessed sacrament it was, the noble mourners
+returned to the good Countess of Huntingdon's house, which was lent
+them for the day. At eleven, public worship began. The bereaved
+relatives sat in order within, and the domestics round the outside
+of the rail. The chapel was more than crowded. Near three hundred
+tickets, signed by the present earl, were given out to the nobility
+and gentry, to be admitted. All was hushed and solemn. Proper hymns
+were sung, and I preached on the words, 'Blessed are the dead that
+die in the Lord.' Attention sat on every countenance, and deep
+and almost universal impressions were made. The like scene, and
+if possible more solemn, was exhibited in the evening, and I was
+enabled to preach a second time, and a like power attended the word
+as in the morning. Ever since, there hath been public service and
+preaching twice a day. This is to be continued till Friday morning,
+then all is to be removed to Bristol, in order to be shipped off to
+Scotland. The inscription on the coffin runs thus: 'His life was
+honorable--his death blessed--he sought earnestly peace with God--he
+found it, with unspeakable joy, alone in the merits of Jesus Christ,
+witnessed by the Holy Spirit to his soul--he yet speaketh. Go and do
+likewise.'
+
+"I have often wished for you here. Congregations are very large,
+attentive, and deeply impressed. Great numbers of all ranks crowd
+to see and hear; and I trust many will also feel. Surely the death
+of this noble earl, thus improved, will prove the life of many.
+He behaved like the patriarch Jacob, when by faith, leaning upon
+his staff, he blessed his children. The earl added, 'Yea, and they
+shall be blessed.' He laid his hands on, and blessed his children,
+assuring them of his personal interest in Jesus. He had great
+foretastes of heaven. 'Had I strength of body,' cried he, 'I would
+not be ashamed, before men and angels, to tell what the Lord Jesus
+hath done for my soul. Come, Holy Ghost--come, Holy Ghost; happy,
+happy, happy!' and then sweetly slept in Jesus. All surviving
+relatives still feel the influence. They sit round the corpse,
+attended by their domestics and supporters, twice a day. Good Lady
+S---- gets fresh spirits. The present noble earl, I believe, hath
+got the blessing indeed, and seems, upon the best evidence, to
+determine to know nothing but Jesus Christ, and him crucified. He
+hath behaved in the most delicate manner to the Countess, and other
+noble survivors."
+
+The summer of 1768 brought to Whitefield a series of changes.
+For the last time he now visited Edinburgh, where he found his
+congregations as large, and his Christian friends as affectionate
+as ever. Soon after his return to London, Mrs. Whitefield was
+seized with inflammatory fever, and died, as we have already seen,
+on the 9th of August. His own health too was more than declining.
+He writes, "I have been in hopes of my own departure. Through hard
+writing, and frequent preaching, I have burst a vein. The flux is
+in a great measure stopped; but rest and quietness are strictly
+enjoined."
+
+"Rest and quietness!" With Whitefield such things were impossible as
+long as he could move or speak. His fire must burn till its whole
+material was expended; his heart overflowed, and he must labor till
+his body sank under exhaustion. No persecution could appall him, no
+sickness could long keep him from his beloved engagements. He would
+preach till he died, being fully assured that his "labor was not in
+vain in the Lord."
+
+Neither Whitefield nor any of his friends could ever be the
+advocates of an unlearned ministry. Many of the men engaged under
+his direction, and preaching in what was already called "Lady
+Huntingdon's connection," needed, as they well knew, a better
+education than they possessed. Hence her ladyship obtained a lease
+of an old structure, supposed to have been part of an ancient
+castle erected in the reign of Henry the Second. The date over the
+entrance, now almost effaced, is 1176. It was called Trevecca House,
+was situated in the parish of Talgarth, in South Wales, and was for
+some time the residence of Howel Harris. This building was opened
+as a college for religious and literary instruction, and the chapel
+dedicated to the preaching of the everlasting gospel, Aug. 24, 1768,
+the anniversary of the Bartholomew act, and of the birth of her
+ladyship. Mr. Whitefield preached from Exod. 24:24: "In all places
+where I record my name, I will come unto thee and bless thee;"
+and on the following Sabbath he addressed a congregation of some
+thousands, who assembled in the court before the college. His text
+on that occasion was, "Other foundation can no man lay than that is
+laid, which is Jesus Christ." When speaking of the dedication of the
+college, Mr. Whitefield says, "What we have seen and felt at the
+college is unspeakable."
+
+After her ladyship's death the institution was removed to Cheshunt,
+about thirteen miles north of London, where it still flourishes
+under the presidency of the Rev. Dr. W. H. Stowell.
+
+In the early part of 1769, Mr. Whitefield was for some weeks
+seriously ill, but towards the close of March, he was able to
+write, "Through infinite mercy I have been able to preach four
+days successively." During his illness he received many offers of
+assistance from his brethren in the ministry, but from none more
+cordially than from the Honorable and Rev. Mr. Shirley. Writing to
+him, April 1, Whitefield says:
+
+"How much am I obliged to you for your two kind letters, and more
+especially for the repeated offers of your ministerial assistance.
+They will be most gratefully accepted, and, I humbly hope, be
+remarkably succeeded by Him who hath promised to be with us always,
+even unto the end of the world. Blessed be His name, we have been
+favored with most delightful passover feasts. The shout of the
+King of kings is still heard in the midst of our Methodist camps;
+and the shout of, Grace, grace! resounds from many quarters. Our
+almighty Jesus knows how to build his temple in troublous times. His
+work prospers in the hands of the elect countess, who is gone to
+Bath, much recovered from her late indisposition. Worthy Lady Fanny
+Shirley proposes soon to follow, in order to reside there. Some more
+coronets, I hear, are likely to be laid at the Redeemer's feet. They
+glitter gloriously when set in and surrounded by a _crown of thorns_.
+
+    "'Subjects of the Lord, be bold;
+      esus will his kingdom hold;
+      Wheels encircling wheels must run,
+      Each in course to bring it on.'"
+
+That the friendship of Dr. Franklin towards Mr. Whitefield was
+sincere, cannot be doubted; there is, however, somewhat painful
+in the thought, that even in this connection Franklin could not
+conceal his scepticism. In 1769 both these eminent men were in
+London, and every one knows that the state of our country was very
+trying. Franklin thus wrote to Whitefield: "I am under continued
+apprehensions that we may have bad news from America. The sending
+soldiers to Boston always appeared to me a dangerous step; they
+could do no good, they might occasion mischief. When I consider
+the warm resentment of a people who think themselves injured and
+oppressed, and the common insolence of the soldiery, who are taught
+to consider that people as in rebellion, I cannot but fear the
+consequences of bringing them together. It seems like setting up
+a smith's forge in a magazine of gunpowder. I _see_ with you that
+our affairs are not well managed by our rulers here below; I wish I
+could _believe_ with you, that they are well attended to by those
+above: I rather suspect, from certain circumstances, that though
+the general government of the universe is well administered, our
+particular little affairs are perhaps below notice, and left to take
+the chance of human prudence or imprudence, as either may happen to
+be uppermost. It is, however, an uncomfortable thought, and I leave
+it."
+
+It would have been strange indeed if Whitefield had allowed a
+letter closing in this manner to pass without a remark; hence we
+are prepared to find that, in his own handwriting, at the foot
+of the autograph letter, he wrote, "_Uncomfortable_ indeed! and,
+blessed be God, _unscriptural_; for we are fully assured that 'the
+Lord reigneth,' and are directed to cast _all_ our own care on him,
+because he careth for us." Could Dr. Franklin have seen the splendid
+results of that management which he thought indicated the absence of
+a particular providence--could he have beheld the vast Republic, the
+abode of liberty, commerce, literature, and religion, which in less
+than a century has grown out of the insurgent colonies--he would
+surely have exclaimed, in the language of the prophet, "Verily there
+is a God in the earth!"
+
+In July, Whitefield was called by Lady Huntingdon to visit Tunbridge
+Wells, a popular watering place in Kent, some twenty or thirty miles
+from London, to dedicate a new and beautiful house to the service
+of God. The congregation was far too large to be accommodated within
+the walls; he therefore preached out of doors from a mount in the
+court before the house. His text was, "This is none other but the
+house of God, and this is the gate of heaven." Gen. 28:17. This
+sermon is said to have been one of his most eloquent and thrilling
+efforts; the lofty energy of his tones, the utter forgetfulness
+of himself in the all-absorbing interest of his subject, the very
+impersonation of the truths which he uttered as he stretched forth
+his hand, "Look yonder; what is that I see? It is my agonizing Lord!
+Hark, hark! do you not hear? O earth, earth, earth, hear the word
+of the Lord!" thrilled the vast congregation, riveting the eye,
+piercing the conscience, and holding strong men breathless before
+the resistless might of his inspired eloquence. After the service
+he delivered an exhortation, and on the next day again preached and
+administered the Lord's supper.
+
+He now began to prepare for his _seventh_, and as it proved, his
+_last_ voyage to America, especially to visit his beloved orphans
+and friends in Georgia. The only thing which seems to have grieved
+him, was the pain of parting for a time from his London friends.
+This was nothing new, but his feelings were even less reconciled to
+the event than formerly. "Oh," he says, "these partings! without
+a divine support they would be intolerable. Talk not of taking
+_personal_ leave; you know my _make_. Paul could stand a whipping,
+but not a weeping farewell."
+
+The text of his last sermon was John 10:27, 28: "My sheep hear my
+voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them
+eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man
+pluck them out of my hand." The sermon was printed, and that very
+incorrectly; but a few sentences will show that it was strikingly
+characteristic: "These words, it will be recollected, were uttered
+by Christ at the feast of dedication. This festival was of bare
+human invention, and yet I do not find that our Lord preached
+against it. And I believe that when we see things as we ought, we
+shall not entertain our auditories about rites and ceremonies,
+but about the grand thing. It is the glory of Methodists, that
+while they have been preaching forty years, there has not been,
+that I know of, one single pamphlet published by them about the
+non-essentials of religion.... The Lord divides the world into
+sheep and goats. O sinners, you are come to hear a poor creature
+take his last farewell; but I want you to forget the creature and
+his preaching. I want to lead you further than the Tabernacle--even
+to mount Calvary, to see with what expense of blood Jesus Christ
+purchased 'his own.' Now, before I go any further, will you be so
+good, before the world gets into your hearts, to inquire whether
+you belong to Christ or not. Surely the world did not get into
+your hearts before you rose from your beds. Many of you were up
+sooner than usual. [The sermon was preached at seven o'clock in the
+morning.] I hope the world does not get into your hearts before
+nine. Man, woman, sinner, put thy hand upon thy heart, and say,
+Didst thou ever hear Christ's voice so as to follow him?... I once
+heard Dr. Marryatt, who was not ashamed of 'market language,' say
+at Pinner's Hall, 'God has a great dog to fetch his sheep back
+when they wander.' He sends the devil after them, to bark at them;
+but instead of barking them further off, he barks them back to the
+fold.... 'None shall pluck them out of my hand.' This implies that
+there is always somebody plucking at Christ's sheep. The lust of the
+flesh is plucking; the pride of life is plucking; and the devil is
+continually plucking at them; 'but nothing shall pluck them out of
+my hand;' I have bought them, and am gone to heaven to 'prepare a
+place for them.'"
+
+Of this sermon, as taken in shorthand and printed, Whitefield
+received a copy while at Deal, and was much dissatisfied with it. He
+says, "This morning I received a surreptitious copy of my Tabernacle
+farewell sermon, taken, as the shorthand writer professes,
+verbatim as I spoke it. But surely he is mistaken. The whole is so
+injudiciously paragraphed, and so wretchedly unconnected, that I
+owe no thanks to the misguided, though it may be well-meant zeal of
+the writer and publisher, be they who they will." Had Whitefield
+known that the lad of seventeen who had thus taken down his sermon,
+would hereafter become a devoted and useful minister of Christ, the
+secretary of the London Missionary Society, the originator of the
+London Religious Tract Society, and for many years the editor of the
+London Evangelical Magazine, and the author of "Village Sermons,"
+which have circulated by hundreds of thousands of volumes in both
+hemispheres, how would his heart have warmed towards him. Let us
+copy from the journal of George Burder, as given in his life by his
+son, the Rev. Dr. H. F. Burder, a short passage:
+
+"August, 1769. About this time I heard Mr. Whitefield preach
+several sermons, particularly his two last in London; that at
+Tottenham Court chapel on Sabbath morning, and that at the
+Tabernacle on Wednesday morning at seven o'clock. I remember a
+thought which passed my mind, I think, as I was going to hear his
+last sermon--'Which would I rather be, Garrick or Whitefield?' I
+thought each, in point of oratory, admirable in his way. I doubt not
+conscience told me which was best. I wrote Mr. Whitefield's sermons
+in shorthand, though standing in a crowd. The latter I copied out,
+and by the request of a friend it was printed in about a week. I
+remember sitting up part of a night to write it out, and at the same
+time I observed the comet which then appeared. The sermon was very
+incorrect, and Mr. Whitefield being detained at Deal before he left
+England, saw it, and complained of it."
+
+Before we entirely separate from the Tabernacle, we wish to record
+some other interesting facts associated with it, especially relating
+to Thomas Wilson, Esq., for many years the treasurer of Hoxton,
+afterwards Highbury, college, who gave the ground on which the
+latter building stands, devoted his fortune to the extension of the
+cause of Christ, and in addition to many other noble acts, erected
+five large houses of worship in the British metropolis, capable of
+seating eight thousand persons. The father of this gentleman was for
+many years a devoted deacon of a Congregational church, but entered
+into full sympathy with the labors of Whitefield, attending the
+Tabernacle on Lord's-day evenings. "To this circumstance, perhaps,
+may be traced much of his own zeal for the glory of God, and no
+inconsiderable portion of that public spirit which afterwards
+distinguished his son Thomas, who well remembered being carried
+in his nurse's arms, in company with his parents, to the scene of
+Whitefield's ministry, and listening with such interest as one so
+young was likely to feel, to a preacher of surpassing eloquence
+and power." The Rev. Dr. Morison, one of his biographers, adds:
+"Thus did he imbibe in early life a strong prepossession for
+animated public address, which he never lost in after-years, and
+which he never failed to urge upon all youthful candidates for the
+sacred office. As might have been expected, the Tabernacle became
+his Sabbath home, where he was wont to listen to men of fervent
+eloquence, and of purely evangelical sentiment. He entered, while
+very young, into communion with the church in that place, and
+afforded a pleasing example of early and consistent dedication to
+the service of Christ."
+
+Having finished the service of the Tabernacle which we just now
+described, Whitefield went immediately to Gravesend, twenty miles
+from London, to set sail, embarking in the Friendship, Captain
+Ball, for Charleston. His companions on the voyage were Messrs.
+Winter and Smith, both of them young ministers of lively zeal; and
+the former especially, was distinguished in after-life by great
+success in his labors for Christ and his church. Whitefield wrote,
+"I am comfortable on every side--a civil captain and passengers;
+all willing to attend on divine worship, and to hear of religious
+things."
+
+But delay was the lot of our evangelist and his friends. They
+arrived in the Downs, and had to stay there about a month waiting
+for a fair wind. While here, he was delighted with a most unexpected
+visit from Dr. Gibbons of London, and the Rev. Mr. Bradbury of
+Ramsgate, who had met at Deal to ordain a young minister. He says,
+"Wednesday, Sept. 13, I went on shore, and attended an ordination
+solemnity at the dissenting meeting. Several ministers officiated.
+Several important questions were asked and answered before, and
+a solemn charge given after imposition of hands. But the prayer
+put up in the very act of laying on of hands, by Dr. Gibbons, was
+so affecting, and the looks and behavior of those that joined so
+serious and solemn, that I hardly know when I was more struck under
+any one's ministration. The ordination being over, at the desire
+of the ministers and other gentlemen, I went and dined with them:
+our conversation was edifying; and being informed that many were
+desirous to hear me preach, I willingly complied; and I trust some
+seed was sown the same evening at Deal, which, by God's heavenly
+blessing, will spring up to life eternal. The people of Deal seemed
+very civil, and some came to me who had not forgotten my preaching
+to them, and their deceased friends and parents, thirty-two years
+ago."
+
+Whitefield tells a somewhat amusing anecdote of Dr. Gibbons, on one
+of his visits on board. The worthy doctor was unused to the sea,
+and became sea-sick, so that he was obliged to lie down for some
+time in the state-cabin. "There," says our evangelist, "he learned
+more experimentally to pray for those who do business in the great
+waters." While yet in the Downs, Whitefield preached not only on
+board, but at Ramsgate and elsewhere. On September 25, in company
+with many other ships, they sailed, but soon were again compelled
+to cast anchor over against New Romney and Dungenness. At length,
+however, they cleared the channel, and after a long and dangerous
+voyage arrived safe at Charleston, S. C. Happily, Whitefield's
+health had become greatly renovated, so that he felt better than
+after any voyage he had made for many years. In his memorandum he
+wrote:
+
+"November, 1769. For the last week we were beating about our port,
+within sight of it, and continued for two days in Five-fathom hole,
+just over the bar. A dangerous situation, as the wind blew hard, and
+our ship, like a young Christian, for want of more ballast, would
+not obey the helm. But through infinite mercy, on November 30, a
+pilot-boat came and took us safe ashore to Charleston, having been
+on board almost thirteen weeks. Friends received me most cordially.
+Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his mercies. Oh, to
+begin to be a Christian and minister of Jesus!" On the very day of
+his landing, Whitefield preached at Charleston, and learned from his
+friend Mr. Wright that all was well at Bethesda.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+SEVENTH VISIT AND LABORS IN AMERICA--DEATH.
+
+1769, 1770.
+
+
+Whitefield now lost no time in proceeding to his beloved Bethesda,
+which at present wore a very inviting aspect. Writing, January 11,
+1770, he says, "Every thing exceeds my most sanguine expectations.
+I am almost tempted to say, 'It is good for me to be here;' but all
+must give way to gospel ranging--divine employ!
+
+    "'For this, let men revile my name,
+      I'll shun no cross, I'll fear no shame;
+      All hail, reproach!'"
+
+In another letter he says, "The increase of this colony is almost
+incredible. Two wings are added to the orphan-house, for the
+accommodation of students; of which Governor Wright laid the
+foundation, March 25, 1769."
+
+An official paper of the Georgia legislature will show the esteem in
+which Whitefield was held by that body.
+
+"Commons House of Assembly, Monday, Jan. 29, 1770. Mr. Speaker
+reported, that he, with the house, having waited on the Rev. Mr.
+Whitefield, in consequence of his invitation, at the orphan-house
+academy, heard him preach a very suitable and pious sermon on the
+occasion; and with great pleasure observed the promising appearance
+of improvement towards the good purposes intended, and the decency
+and propriety of behavior of the several residents there; and
+were sensibly affected, when they saw the happy success which has
+attended Whitefield's indefatigable zeal for promoting the welfare
+of the province in general, and the orphan-house in particular.
+Ordered, that this report be printed in the Gazette.
+
+  "JOHN SIMPSON, Clerk."
+
+In pursuance of this vote, we find in the Georgia Gazette as
+follows: "Savannah, January 31, 1770. Last Sunday, his Excellency
+the Governor, Council, and Assembly, having been invited by the
+Rev. Mr. Whitefield, attended divine service in the chapel of the
+orphan-house academy, where prayers were read by the Rev. Mr.
+Ellington, and a very suitable sermon was preached by the Rev. Mr.
+Whitefield, from Zechariah 4:10, 'For who hath despised the day
+of small things?' to the great satisfaction of the auditory; in
+which he took occasion to mention the many discouragements he met
+with, well known to many there, in carrying on the institution for
+upwards of thirty years past, and the present promising prospect of
+its future and more extensive usefulness. After divine service, the
+company were very politely entertained with a handsome and plentiful
+dinner; and were greatly pleased to see the useful improvements
+made in the house, the two additional wings of apartments for
+students, one hundred and fifty feet each in length, and other
+lesser buildings, in so much forwardness; and the whole executed
+with taste, and in so masterly a manner; and being sensible of
+the truly generous and disinterested benefactions derived to the
+province through his means, they expressed their gratitude in the
+most respectful terms."
+
+On February 10, we find a letter written at Charleston by Whitefield
+to his friend Mr. Robert Keen of London:
+
+"Through infinite mercy, this leaves me enjoying a greater share of
+bodily health than I have known for many years. I am now enabled
+to preach almost every day, and my poor feeble labors seem not to
+be in vain in the Lord. Blessed be God, all things are in great
+forwardness at Bethesda. I have conversed with the governor in the
+most explicit manner, more than once, concerning an act of Assembly
+for the establishment of the intended orphan-house college. He most
+readily consents. I have shown him a draft, which he much approves
+of, and all will be finished at my return from the northward; in the
+meanwhile the building will be carried on. As two ministers from New
+Jersey and Rhode Island have been soliciting benefactions for their
+respective colleges, no application of that nature can be made here;
+but the Lord will provide.... Since my being in Charleston, I have
+shown the draft to some persons of great eminence and influence.
+They highly approve of it, and willingly consent to be some of the
+wardens. Nearly twenty are to be of Georgia, and about six of this
+place; one of Philadelphia, one of New York, one of Boston, three of
+Edinburgh, two of Glasgow, and six of London. Those of Georgia and
+South Carolina are to be qualified; the others to be only honorary
+corresponding wardens."
+
+Two days afterwards he again writes to the same friend, "In a few
+months, I hope all will be completed. But what may these few months
+produce? Lord Jesus, prepare us for whatsoever thou hast prepared
+for us, and give peace in our time, for thine infinite mercy's sake.
+You must expect another draft soon. God be praised for that saying,
+'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' You would be pleased
+to see with what attention the people hear the word preached. I have
+been in Charleston near a fortnight--am to preach at a neighboring
+country parish church next Sunday, and hope to see Georgia the week
+following. Perhaps I may sail from thence to the northward, and
+perhaps embark from thence. Lord Jesus, direct my goings in thy way.
+I am blessed with bodily health, and am enabled to go on my way
+rejoicing. Grace, grace!"
+
+On returning to Bethesda, his heart seems to have been full of the
+orphan-house and the college. For the direction of the latter, he
+prepared a series of rules, and especially provided for the reading
+of the old Puritan and Non-conformist writers of the seventeenth and
+eighteenth centuries. Every letter he wrote contained references
+to the improved state of his health, and the increased number of
+preaching engagements which he was now able to fulfil. His spirits
+seem to have been better, and his exultations in the divine kindness
+more ardent than ever, while his correspondence indicates much
+heavenly-mindedness, and lively desires for the highest happiness of
+his friends.
+
+As Whitefield had now been in the south more than five months, we
+are not surprised to find that applications poured in from every
+part of the north, entreating him to revisit the scenes of other
+years. He left Bethesda and its affairs in the hands of persons
+worthy of his confidence, of whom he said, "Such a set of helpers I
+never met with."
+
+After some hesitation as to where he should first go, he set out
+for Philadelphia, where he arrived on the 6th of May. Writing three
+days afterwards, he says, "The evening following, I was enabled to
+preach to a large auditory, and have to repeat the delightful task
+this evening. Pulpits, hearts, and affections, seem to be as open
+and enlarged to me as ever." On the 24th he again wrote, "A wide
+and effectual door, I trust, has been opened in this city. People
+of all ranks flock as much as ever. Impressions are made on many,
+and I trust they will abide. To all the Episcopal churches, as
+well as most of the other places of worship, I have free access.
+Notwithstanding I preach twice on the Lord's day, and three or four
+times a week besides, yet I am rather better than I have been for
+many years. This is the Lord's doing." On June 14, he says, "This
+leaves me just returned from a one hundred and fifty miles' circuit,
+in which, blessed be God, I have been enabled to preach every day.
+So many new as well as old doors are open, and so many invitations
+sent from various quarters, that I know not which way to turn
+myself."
+
+Of his last visit to New Jersey, Bishop White of Philadelphia, then
+a young man of twenty-three, says, "When he was on his way from
+Philadelphia to Boston, late in the summer, he had been prevailed on
+to promise to cross from Bristol to Burlington, and to preach there.
+I happened to be in the latter place, and staying in the house of a
+relative, when it was announced that Mr. Whitefield was at a tavern
+on the other side of the river. He was expected to be escorted by
+my relative. I went with him; and we returned in a boat with Mr.
+Whitefield and his company. He preached to the assembled citizens in
+front of the court-house, and afterwards dined at the house of my
+relative. During dinner, he was almost the only speaker, as was said
+to be common; all present being disposed to listen."
+
+A few days after this visit, we find him at New York, writing, June
+30, "I have been here just a week. Have been enabled to preach
+four times; and am to repeat the delightful task this evening.
+Congregations are larger than ever. Blessed be God, I have been
+strengthened to itinerate and preach daily for some time. Next
+week I purpose to go to Albany; from thence, perhaps to the Oneida
+Indians. There is to be a very large Indian congress; Mr. Kirkland
+accompanies me. He is a truly Christian minister and missionary.
+Every thing possible should be done to strengthen his hands and his
+heart. Perhaps I may not see Georgia till Christmas. As yet, I keep
+to my intended plan, in respect to my returning. Lord Jesus, direct
+my goings in thy way. The heat begins now to be a little intense;
+but through mercy I am enabled to bear up bravely. What a God do we
+serve!"
+
+On the twenty-ninth of July, he again writes from the same city, and
+it is the _last entry_ in his memorandum: "Since my last, and during
+this month, I have been above a five hundred miles' circuit; and
+have been enabled to preach and travel through the heat every day.
+The congregations have been very large, attentive, and affected;
+particularly at Albany, Schenectady, Great Barrington, Norfolk,
+Salisbury, Sharon, Smithfield, Poughkeepsie, Fishkill, New Rumbart,
+New Windsor, and Peck's Hill. Last night I returned hither, and
+hope to set out for Boston in two or three days. O what a new scene
+of usefulness is opening in various parts of this world! All fresh
+work where I have been. The divine influence has been as at first.
+Invitations crowd upon me both from ministers and people, from many,
+many quarters. A very peculiar providence led me very lately to a
+place where a horse-stealer was executed. Thousands attended. The
+poor criminal had sent me several letters, hearing I was in the
+country. The sheriff allowed him to come and hear a sermon under
+an adjacent tree. Solemn, solemn! After being by himself about an
+hour, I walked half a mile with him to the gallows. His heart had
+been softened before my first visit. He seemed full of solid, divine
+consolation. An instructive walk! I went up with him into the cart.
+He gave a short exhortation. I then stood upon the coffin--added,
+I trust, a word in season--prayed--gave the blessing, and took
+my leave. Effectual good, I hope, was done to the hearers and
+spectators. Grace, grace!"
+
+Our local histories seem to delight to honor Whitefield by the
+introduction of his name whenever they have an opportunity.
+In a notice of Sharon, in "Barber's Historical Collections of
+Connecticut," the writer says, "In the latter part of July, 1770,
+the Rev. George Whitefield passed through this town on a preaching
+tour. There was considerable opposition to his being admitted into
+the meeting-house, and arrangements had been made to hold the
+service in an orchard still standing near the meeting-house, in case
+he should be refused. Mr. Smith, [the Rev. Cotton Mather Smith, a
+descendant of Cotton Mather,] invited him into the pulpit, though
+strongly opposed by a considerable number of influential men. An
+immense congregation from this and the neighboring towns filled the
+meeting-house to overflowing. His text was, 'Marvel not that I said
+unto you, Ye must be born again.' He proceeded to discourse on the
+doctrine of the new birth with astonishing power and eloquence,
+and the congregation were much moved by the power of the truth
+and Spirit of God. The concluding words of his discourse were a
+quotation, with a little variation, from the close of the fourth
+chapter of Solomon's Song. 'Awake, O north wind, and come, thou
+south; blow upon _this_ garden, that the spices thereof may flow
+out. Let my Beloved come into _this_ garden, and eat his pleasant
+fruits.' Many of the inhabitants of Sharon followed him for several
+successive days, to hear the word of life from this devoted minister
+of the cross."
+
+We think it must have been in this journey that Whitefield's
+ministry was blessed to the conversion of a young man who has left
+his mark on the age. Benjamin Randall was born in New Castle,
+New Hampshire, in 1749. In his twenty-second year he was brought
+under the ministry of Whitefield, by which means he became deeply
+convinced of sin, and was soon after converted to God. In 1776,
+he united with a Calvinistic Baptist church; but before long
+began to preach what he accounted more correct doctrines in his
+native town, and was honored of God to effect a very powerful and
+extensive revival. He is considered the founder of the denomination
+of Freewill Baptists, which now comprises from eleven to twelve
+hundred churches, more than a thousand pastors and licentiates, and
+upwards of fifty thousand communicants. Mr. Randall was a man of
+strong mental powers, and though he had not a classical education,
+he was a good English scholar, aspired after general and religious
+knowledge, had fine discriminating talent, and was remarkable for
+the perseverance with which he pursued whatever he undertook. Above
+all, like his spiritual father, he possessed what a living preacher
+has well called, "a passion for souls."
+
+From New York Whitefield proceeded to Boston, and short extracts
+from two of his letters, and those _the last_ he wrote, will show
+his position and his feelings:
+
+September 17, he says to Mr. Wright, at Bethesda, "Fain would
+I come by Captain Souder, from Philadelphia; but people are so
+importunate for my stay in these parts, that I fear it will be
+impracticable. 'My God will supply all my need according to the
+riches of his grace in Christ Jesus.' Two or three evenings ago, I
+was taken in the night with a violent flux, attended with retching
+and shivering, so that I was obliged to return from Newbury; but
+through infinite mercy I am restored, and to-morrow morning hope
+to begin again. Never was the word received with greater eagerness
+than now. All opposition seems, as it were, for a while to cease. I
+find God's time is the best. The season is critical as to outward
+circumstances; but when forts are given up, the Lord Jesus can
+appoint salvation for walls and for bulwarks; he has promised to be
+a wall of fire round about his people. This comforts me concerning
+Bethesda, though we should have a Spanish war. You will be pleased
+to hear, I never was carried through the summer's heat so well."
+
+And finally, to his dear friend Mr. Keen of London, he wrote from
+Portsmouth, New Hampshire, September 23, just one week before his
+death, "By this time I thought to be moving southward. But never
+was greater importunity used to detain me longer in these northern
+parts. Poor New England is much to be pitied; Boston people most of
+all. How grossly misrepresented! What a mercy that our Christian
+charter cannot be dissolved! Blessed be God for an unchangeable
+Jesus! You will see, by the many invitations, what a door is opened
+for preaching the everlasting gospel. I was so ill on Friday that I
+could not preach, though thousands were waiting to hear. Well, the
+day of release will shortly come, but it does not seem yet; for by
+riding sixty miles I am better, and hope to preach here to-morrow.
+I trust my blessed Master will accept these poor efforts to serve
+him. O for a warm heart! O to stand fast in the faith, to acquit
+ourselves like men, and be strong! May this be the happy experience
+of you and yours. I suppose your letters are gone for me in the
+Anderson to Georgia. If spared so long, I expect to see them about
+Christmas. Still pray and praise. I am so poorly, and so engaged
+when able to preach, that this must apologize for not writing to
+more friends: it is quite impracticable."
+
+Whitefield's hope to "preach here to-morrow" was fully realized. In
+the "Pennsylvania Journal and Weekly Advertiser," we find a letter
+from Portsmouth, dated Sept. 28, 1770, which says, "Last Sunday
+morning came to town from Boston, the Rev. George Whitefield, and
+in the afternoon he preached at the Rev. Dr. Haven's meeting-house;
+Monday morning he preached again at the same place, to a very large
+and crowded audience. Tuesday morning a most numerous assembly met
+at the Rev. Dr. Langdon's meeting-house, which it is said will hold
+nearly six thousand people, and was well filled, even the aisles.
+Evening he preached at the Rev. Mr. John Rodgers' meeting-house in
+Kittery, and yesterday at the Rev. Mr. Lyman's in York, to which
+place a number of ladies and gentlemen from town accompanied him.
+This morning [Friday] he will preach at the Rev. Dr. Langdon's
+meeting-house in this town."
+
+We are now approaching the closing scene, and are invited to hear
+Whitefield's last sermon. On his way to Newburyport, where he had
+engaged to preach on Sunday morning, September 30, he was entreated
+to preach at Exeter. This had been the scene of some of his former
+triumphs. He was once preaching here, when a man was present who had
+loaded his pocket with stones to throw at the preacher. He heard
+his prayer with patience, but as soon as he had read his text, the
+man took a stone out of his pocket and held it in his hand, waiting
+for an opportunity to throw it. But God sent a word to his heart,
+and the stone dropped from his hand. After the sermon, the poor
+fellow went to Mr. Whitefield, and said, "Sir, I came here to-day
+with the intention of breaking your head, but God has given me a
+broken heart." This man was converted to God, and lived an ornament
+to the gospel.
+
+As though it had been felt by the public that this might be our
+preacher's last sermon, inconvenient as Saturday noon must be for
+the assembling of a congregation for worship, such a multitude was
+collected that no house could contain them, and Whitefield, for
+nearly two hours, discoursed to an attentive crowd in the open air.
+Of this last sermon at Exeter, a gentleman who was present has given
+a deeply interesting and affecting account. The relator was then in
+his eighty-sixth year, but he retained a strong remembrance of the
+most trivial incidents connected with that extraordinary man. He
+says:
+
+"It was usual for Mr. Whitefield to be attended by Mr. Smith,
+who preached when he was unable on account of sudden attacks of
+asthma. At the time referred to, after Mr. Smith had delivered a
+short discourse, Mr. Whitefield seemed desirous of speaking; but
+from the weak state in which he then was, it was thought almost
+impossible. He rose from the seat in the pulpit, and stood erect,
+and his appearance alone was a powerful sermon. The thinness of his
+visage, the paleness of his countenance, the evident struggling of
+the heavenly spark in a decayed body for utterance, were all deeply
+interesting; the spirit was willing, but the flesh was dying. In
+this situation he remained several minutes, unable to speak; he
+then said, 'I will wait for the gracious assistance of God, for
+he will, I am certain, assist me once more to speak in his name.'
+He then delivered perhaps one of his best sermons, for the light
+generally burns most splendidly when about to expire. The subject
+was a contrast of the present with the future; a part of this sermon
+I read to a popular and learned clergyman in New York, who could
+not refrain from weeping when I repeated the following: 'I go, I go
+to rest prepared; my sun has arisen, and by aid from heaven, given
+light to many; 't is now about to set for--no, it cannot be! 't is
+to rise to the zenith of immortal glory; I have outlived many on
+earth, but they cannot outlive me in heaven. Many shall live when
+this body is no more, but then--Oh, thought divine!--I shall be in a
+world where time, age, pain, and sorrow are unknown. My body fails,
+my spirit expands; how willingly would I live for ever to preach
+Christ! but I die to be with him. How brief, comparatively brief,
+has been my life, compared with the vast labors I see before me yet
+to be accomplished; but if I leave now, while so few care about
+heavenly things, the God of peace will surely visit you.' These,
+and many other things he said, which, though simple, were rendered
+important by circumstances; for death had let fly his arrow, and
+the shaft was deeply enfixed when utterance was given to them: his
+countenance, his tremulous voice, his debilitated frame, all gave
+convincing evidence that the eye which saw him should shortly see
+him no more for ever. When I visited the place where he is entombed,
+Newburyport, I could not help saying, 'The memory of the just is
+blessed,' Few are there like George Whitefield; however zealous,
+they do not possess the masterly power, and those who do, too often
+turn it to a purpose that does not glorify God."
+
+We have already spoken of the Rev. Daniel Rodgers, a descendant of
+the martyr of that name, and pastor of the second congregational
+church at Exeter. It was this old friend of Whitefield who had
+importuned him to preach at Exeter. The "_Almanack Journal_" of
+this excellent man contains the following items of the activity of
+our "eloquent orator" in his closing days: "September 10, 1770,
+dear Mr. Whitefield preached here, A. M., ten o'clock. 11th, Mr.
+Whitefield preached again in Mr. Parsons' meeting-house. 12th, I
+rode over to Rowley, Mr. Whitefield preached there. 14th, a storm
+of rain. 15th, the rain continues. Mr. Whitefield went to Boston,
+not well. 25th, I heard dear Mr. Whitefield preach. 26th, he went to
+Kittery, and preached for brother John; P. M. I rode to York. 27th,
+Mr. Whitefield preached at York; P. M. we returned to Portsmouth.
+28th, Mr. Whitefield preached his farewell sermon; I returned home.
+29th, dear Mr. Whitefield preached for me the last sermon he ever
+preached."
+
+Mr. Smith's account of the closing scene will not be considered too
+minute in its details. "Before he commenced his journey of fifteen
+miles from Portsmouth to Exeter, Mr. Clarkson, senior, observing
+him more uneasy than usual, said to him, 'Sir, you are more fit to
+go to bed than to preach.' Whitefield's reply was, 'True, sir;' but
+turning aside, he clasped his hands together, and looking up, said,
+'Lord Jesus, I am weary _in_ thy work, but not _of_ thy work. If I
+have not yet finished my course, let me go and speak for thee once
+more in the fields, seal thy truth, and come home and die.' His last
+sermon was from 2 Cor. 13:5, 'Examine yourselves, whether ye be in
+the faith. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in
+you, except ye be reprobates?' He dined at Captain Gillman's. After
+dinner, Mr. Whitefield and Mr. Parsons rode to Newbury. I did not
+get there till two hours after them. I found them at supper. I asked
+Mr. Whitefield how he felt after his journey. He said he was tired,
+therefore he supped early, and went to bed. He ate a very little
+supper, talked but little, asked Mr. Parsons to discharge the table,
+and perform family duty, and then retired up stairs."
+
+The Rev. Dr. Hallock tells us, that, in 1822, he visited Newburyport
+and the tomb of Whitefield. He was then told by persons whom he
+considered reliable, that when Whitefield was retiring to his
+chamber on this last evening of his life, many were so desirous to
+see and hear him, that he stood on the stairs with a lamp in his
+hand, and there gave them a tender spiritual address.
+
+We resume Mr. Smith's account: "He said he would sit and read till I
+came to him, which I did as soon as possible; and found him reading
+the Bible, with Dr. Watts' Psalms lying open before him. He asked
+me for some water-gruel, and took about half his usual quantity; and
+kneeling down by his bedside, closed the evening with prayer. After
+a little conversation, he went to rest, and slept till two in the
+morning, when he awoke, and asked for a little cider; he drank about
+a wine-glass full. I asked him how he felt, for he seemed to pant
+for breath. He said to me, 'My asthma is coming on again; I must
+have two or three days' rest. Two or three days' riding, without
+preaching, would set me up again.' Soon afterwards, he asked me to
+put the window up a little higher, though it was half up all night.
+'For,' said he, 'I cannot breathe; but I hope I shall be better by
+and by: a good pulpit sweat to-day may give me relief; I shall be
+better after preaching.' I said to him, 'I wish you would not preach
+so often.' He replied, 'I had rather wear out than rust out.' I then
+told him, I was afraid he took cold in preaching yesterday. He said
+he believed he had; and then sat up in bed, and prayed that God
+would be pleased to bless his preaching where he had been, and also
+bless his preaching that day, that more souls might be brought to
+Christ. He prayed for direction whether he should winter in Boston,
+or hasten to the southward; and he prayed for a blessing on his
+Bethesda college, and his dear family there, for the Tabernacle and
+Chapel congregations, and all connections on the other side of the
+water; and then he laid himself down to sleep again.
+
+"This was near three o'clock. At a quarter past four he awoke,
+and said, 'My asthma, my asthma is coming on; I wish I had not
+given out word to preach at Haverhill on Monday; I don't think I
+shall be able; but I shall see what to-day will bring forth. If I
+am no better to-morrow, I will take two or three days' ride!' He
+then desired me to warm him a little gruel; and in breaking the
+fire-wood, I waked Mr. Parsons, who thinking I knocked for him, rose
+and came in. He went to Mr. Whitefield's bedside, and asked him
+how he felt. He answered, 'I am almost suffocated. I can scarcely
+breathe, my asthma quite chokes me.' I was then not a little
+surprised to hear how quickly, and with what difficulty he drew his
+breath. He got out of bed, and went to the open window for air. This
+was exactly at five o'clock. I went to him, and for about the space
+of five minutes saw no danger, only that he had a great difficulty
+in breathing, as I had often seen before. Soon afterwards, he turned
+himself to me, and said, '_I am dying_.' I said, 'I hope not, sir.'
+He ran to the other window, panting for breath, but could get no
+relief. It was agreed that I should go for Dr. Sawyer; and on my
+coming back, I saw death on his face; and he again said, '_I am
+dying_.' His eyes were fixed, his underlip drawing inward every time
+he drew breath. I persuaded him to sit down in the chair, and have
+his cloak on; he consented by a sign, but could not speak. I then
+offered him a glass of warm wine; he took half of it, but it seemed
+as if it would have stopped his breath entirely. He went towards
+the window, and we offered him some warm wine, with lavender drops,
+which he refused.
+
+"In a little time he brought up a considerable quantity of phlegm.
+I then began to have some small hopes. Mr. Parsons said he thought
+Mr. Whitefield breathed more freely than he did, and would recover.
+I said, 'No, sir, he is certainly dying.' I was continually employed
+in taking the phlegm out of his mouth with a handkerchief, and
+bathing his temples with drops, rubbing his wrists, etc., to give
+him relief, if possible, but all in vain; his hands and feet were
+as cold as clay. When the doctor came in, and saw him in the chair
+leaning upon my breast, he felt his pulse, and said, 'He is a dead
+man.' Mr. Parsons said, 'I do not believe it; you must do something,
+doctor.' He said, 'I cannot; he is now near his last breath.' And
+so indeed it was; for he fetched but one gasp, and stretched out
+his feet, and breathed no more. This was exactly at six o'clock. We
+continued rubbing his legs, hands, and feet, with warm cloths, and
+bathed him with spirits for some time, but all in vain. I then put
+him into a warm bed, the doctor standing by, and often raised him
+upright, continued rubbing him and putting spirits to his nose for
+an hour, till all hopes were gone. The people came in crowds to see
+him."
+
+Whitefield seems to have had somewhat of a presentiment that
+his death would be unattended with any remarkable expression of
+spiritual enjoyment. In his last preceding visit to this country,
+he had spent a day or two under the roof of the Rev. Dr. Finley,
+then president of the college at Princeton, New Jersey. One day Dr.
+Finley said at the dinner-table, "Mr. Whitefield, I hope it will be
+very long before you will be called home; but when that event shall
+arrive, I shall be glad to hear the noble testimony you will bear
+for God." Whitefield replied, "You would be disappointed, doctor; I
+shall die silent. It has pleased God to enable me to bear so many
+testimonies for him during my life, that he will require none from
+me when I die. No, no. It is your dumb Christians, who have walked
+in fear and darkness, and thereby been unable to bear a testimony
+for God during their lives, that he compels to speak out for him on
+their death-beds."
+
+We resume Mr. Smith's narrative: "The Rev. Mr. Parsons, at whose
+house my dear master died, sent for Captain Fetcomb, and Mr.
+Boadman, and others of his elders and deacons, and they took the
+whole of the burial upon themselves, prepared the vault, and sent
+and invited the bearers. Many ministers of all persuasions came to
+the house of the Rev. Mr. Parsons, where several of them gave a very
+particular account of their first awakenings under his ministry
+several years ago, and also of many in their congregations that,
+to their knowledge, under God, owed their conversion to his coming
+among them, often referring to the blessed seasons they had enjoyed
+under his preaching; and all said, that this last visit was attended
+with more power than any other, and that all opposition fell
+before him. Then one and another would pity and pray for his dear
+Tabernacle and Chapel congregations, and it was truly affecting to
+hear them bemoan America and England's loss. Thus they continued for
+two hours, conversing about his great usefulness, and praying that
+God would scatter his gifts, and drop his mantle among them."
+
+Dr. Gillies says, "Early next morning, Mr. Sherburn of Portsmouth
+sent Mr. Clarkson and Dr. Haven with a message to Mr. Parsons,
+desiring that Mr. Whitefield's remains might be buried in his own
+new tomb, at his own expense; and in the evening several gentlemen
+from Boston came to Mr. Parsons, desiring the body might be carried
+there. But as Mr. Whitefield had repeatedly desired to be buried
+before Mr. Parsons' pulpit, if he died at Newburyport, Mr. Parsons
+thought himself obliged to deny both these requests."
+
+Mr. Parsons, in a note to his funeral sermon, says, "At one o'clock
+all the bells in the town were tolled for half an hour, and all the
+vessels in the harbor gave their proper signals of mourning. At two
+o'clock the bells tolled a second time. At three the bells called
+to attend the funeral. The Rev. Dr. Haven of Portsmouth, and the
+Rev. Messrs. Rodgers of Exeter, Jewet and Chandler of Rowley, Moses
+Parsons of Newbury, and Bass of Newburyport, were pall-bearers.
+Mr. Parsons and his family, with many other respectable persons,
+followed the corpse in mourning."
+
+"The procession," says Mr. Smith, "was only one mile, and then the
+corpse was carried into the Presbyterian church, and placed at the
+foot of the pulpit, close to the vault; the Rev. Daniel Rodgers made
+a very affecting prayer, and openly declared, that, under God, he
+owed his conversion to that dear man of God whose precious remains
+now lay before them. Then he cried out, 'O my father, my father!'
+then stopped and wept as though his heart would break; the people
+weeping all through the place. Then he recovered, and finished his
+prayer, and sat down and wept. Then one of the deacons gave out the
+hymn,
+
+  "'Why do we mourn departing friends?'
+
+some of the people weeping, some singing, and so on alternately.
+The Rev. Mr. Jewet preached a funeral discourse; and made an
+affectionate address to his brethren, to lay to heart the death of
+that useful man of God, begging that he and they might be upon their
+watchtower, and endeavor to follow his blessed example. The corpse
+was then put into the vault, and all concluded with a short prayer,
+and dismission of the people, who went weeping through the streets
+to their respective places of abode."
+
+The Rev. Mr. Rodgers, from whose "Almanack Journal" we have quoted,
+records that the vast assembly at the funeral consisted of "four,
+since thought five thousand people," and adds, Oct. 7, "I preached
+from those words in the first Philippians, 'Having a desire to
+depart and be with Christ,' etc. I spoke extempore, somewhat
+largely, of dear Mr. Whitefield's character."
+
+The late venerable Mr. Bartlet of Newburyport, some years ago,
+erected a monument to the memory of Whitefield in the church beneath
+which his remains are interred. The cenotaph was executed by Mr.
+Struthers of Philadelphia, after a design of Strickland, and the
+inscription which follows was written by the late Rev. Dr. Ebenezer
+Porter, of the Theological seminary at Andover.
+
+
+  THIS CENOTAPH
+
+  is ERECTED, WITH AFFECTIONATE VENERATION,
+
+  To the Memory
+
+  OF
+
+  THE REV. GEORGE WHITEFIELD,
+
+  BORN AT GLOUCESTER, ENGLAND, DECEMBER 16, 1714;
+  EDUCATED AT OXFORD UNIVERSITY; ORDAINED 1736.
+  IN A MINISTRY OF THIRTY-FOUR YEARS,
+  HE CROSSED THE ATLANTIC THIRTEEN TIMES,
+  AND PREACHED MORE THAN EIGHTEEN THOUSAND SERMONS.
+  AS A SOLDIER OF THE CROSS, HUMBLE, DEVOUT, ARDENT,
+  HE PUT ON THE WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD:
+  PREFERRING THE HONOR OF CHRIST TO HIS OWN INTEREST, REPOSE,
+  REPUTATION, AND LIFE.
+  AS A CHRISTIAN ORATOR, HIS DEEP PIETY, DISINTERESTED ZEAL,
+  AND VIVID IMAGINATION,
+  GAVE UNEXAMPLED ENERGY TO HIS LOOK, UTTERANCE, AND ACTION.
+  BOLD, FERVENT, PUNGENT, AND POPULAR IN HIS ELOQUENCE,
+  NO OTHER UNINSPIRED MAN EVER PREACHED TO SO LARGE ASSEMBLIES,
+  OR ENFORCED THE SIMPLE TRUTHS OF THE GOSPEL BY MOTIVES
+  SO PERSUASIVE AND AWFUL, AND WITH AN INFLUENCE SO POWERFUL,
+  ON THE HEARTS OF HIS HEARERS.
+  HE DIED OF ASTHMA, SEPTEMBER 30, 1770.
+  SUDDENLY EXCHANGING HIS LIFE OF UNPARALLELED LABORS
+  FOR HIS ETERNAL REST.
+
+[Illustration: OLD SOUTH CHURCH, BOSTON.]
+
+[Illustration: MONUMENT]
+
+[Illustration: OLD SOUTH, AT NEWBURYPORT]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+TESTIMONIES AND FACTS ILLUSTRATIVE OF WHITEFIELD'S CHARACTER.
+
+
+"Last evening," says a letter from Boston, October 1, 1770, to the
+"Pennsylvania Journal," "we were informed by a melancholy messenger
+from Newburyport, that yesterday morning about six o'clock, at
+that place, the renowned and Rev. George Whitefield, chaplain to
+the Right Hon. the Countess of Huntingdon, etc., was, by a sudden
+mandate, summoned to the bosom of his Saviour. He had been preaching
+in divers parts of this province since his arrival from the
+southward, with his usual diligence and energy; was now from a tour
+to the province of New Hampshire on his return to this town, but
+being seized with a violent fit of the asthma, was in a short space
+translated from the labors of this life to the enjoyment of a better.
+
+"Of this truly pious and very extraordinary personage, little can
+be said but what every friend to vital Christianity who has sat
+under his ministry will readily attest. In his public performances
+throughout Europe and British America, he has, for a long course of
+years, astonished the world as a prodigy of eloquence and devotion.
+With what frequency and cheerfulness did he ascend the desk, the
+language of his actions being ever, 'Wist ye not that I must be
+about my Master's business?' With what divine pathos did he plead
+with, and persuade by the most engaging incitements, the impenitent
+sinner to the practice of piety and virtue. Filled with the spirit
+of grace, he spoke from the heart; and with a fervency of zeal
+perhaps unequalled since the apostles, ornamented the celestial
+annunciations of the preacher with the graceful and most enticing
+charms of rhetoric and oratory. From the pulpit he was unrivalled
+in the command of an ever-crowded and admiring auditory; nor was
+he less entertaining and instructive in his private conversation
+and deportment. Happy in a remarkable ease of address, willing to
+communicate, studious to edify, and formed to amuse--such, in more
+retired life, was he whom we lament. And while a peculiar pleasantry
+enlivened and rendered his company agreeable, his conversation was
+ever marked with the greatest objects of his pursuit--virtue and
+religion. It were to be wished that the good impressions of his
+ministry may be long retained; and that the rising generation, like
+their pious ancestors, may catch a spark of that ethereal flame
+which burnt with such lustre in the sentiments and practice of this
+faithful servant of the most high God."
+
+Another contemporaneous article says, "Dr. Cooper of Brattle-street,
+called an enthusiast by none, won early to serious religion by his
+[Whitefield's] instrumentality, delivered a sermon upon his death,
+in which he pronounced a strong eulogy in favor of his holy and
+successful activity in the cause of vital and practical religion
+through the English dominions. Pews, aisles, and seats were so
+crowded, and heads and shoulders were in such close phalanx, that it
+looked as though a man might walk everywhere upon the upper surface
+of the assembly, without finding an opening for descending to the
+floor."
+
+When the news of Mr. Whitefield's death reached Georgia, its
+inhabitants vied with each other in showing him the highest respect.
+All the black cloth in the stores was bought up; the pulpit and
+desk of the church, the branches, the organ-loft, and the pews of
+the governor and council were covered with black. The governor and
+council in deep mourning convened at the state-house, and went in
+procession to church, where they were received by the organ playing
+a funeral dirge. Two funeral sermons were there listened to by the
+authorities. In the Legislature high eulogiums were pronounced
+on the admirable preacher, and a sum of money was unanimously
+appropriated for removing his remains to Georgia, to be interred
+at his orphan-house; but the inhabitants of Newburyport strongly
+objected, and the design was relinquished. Forty-five years later
+when a new county was formed in Georgia, it received the name of
+Whitefield in commemoration of his worth and useful services.
+
+In a letter from Dr. Franklin to a gentleman in Georgia, he says,
+"I cannot forbear expressing the pleasure it gives me to see
+an account of the respect paid to his memory by your assembly.
+I knew him intimately upwards of thirty years; his integrity,
+disinterestedness, and indefatigable zeal in prosecuting every good
+work, I have never seen equalled, I shall never see excelled."
+
+Of course it would be expected that the sermons at Savannah would
+be of great interest. Such a discourse was delivered by the Rev.
+Mr. Ellington, who very truly said, "Whitefield's longing desires
+for the salvation of immortal souls would not admit of his being
+confined within the limits of any walls. How he has preached, with
+showers of stones, and many other instruments of malice and revenge
+about his ears, many of his surviving friends can witness. But
+having the salvation of sinners at heart, and a great desire to
+rescue them from the power of an eternal death, he resolved to spend
+and be spent for the service of precious and immortal souls; and
+spared no pains and refused no labor, so that he might administer
+to their real and eternal good. He died like a hero on the field
+of battle. Thousands in England, Scotland, and America have great
+reason to bless God for his ministrations."
+
+Who shall attempt to describe the feelings of the congregations
+at the Tabernacle and Tottenham Court chapels, when the news of
+their pastor's death first reached them? All were indeed clothed in
+mourning. By Whitefield's own previous appointment, the Rev. John
+Wesley preached the funeral sermon at Tottenham Court-road chapel.
+The preacher bore this testimony: "In his public labors he has for
+many years astonished the world with his eloquence and devotion.
+With what divine pathos did he persuade the impenitent sinner to
+embrace the practice of early piety and virtue. Filled with the
+spirit of grace, he spoke from the heart with a fervency of zeal
+perhaps unequalled since the days of the apostles; and adorned
+the truths he delivered with the most graceful charms of rhetoric
+and oratory. From the pulpit he was unrivalled in the command of
+an ever-crowded auditory. It was the love of God shed abroad in
+his heart by the Holy Ghost which filled his soul with tender,
+disinterested love to every child of man.... Mention has been
+already made of his unparalleled zeal, his indefatigable activity,
+his tender-heartedness to the afflicted, and charitableness towards
+the poor. But should we not likewise mention his deep gratitude to
+all whom God had used as instruments of good to him? of whom he did
+not cease to speak in the most respectful manner, even to his dying
+day. Should we not mention that he had a heart susceptible of the
+most generous and the most tender friendship? I have frequently
+thought that this, of all others, was the distinguishing part of
+his character. How few have we known of so kind a temper, of such
+large and flowing affections! Was it not principally by this that
+the hearts of others were so strongly drawn and knit to him? Can
+any thing but love beget love? This shone in his very countenance,
+and continually breathed in all his words, whether in public or
+private. Was it not this which, quick and penetrating as lightning,
+flew from heart to heart; which gave that life to his sermons, his
+conversation, his letters? Ye are witnesses."
+
+The Rev. John Newton preached a funeral sermon at Olney, where
+he was then settled, from the highly appropriate text, "He was a
+burning and a shining light," John 5:35, in which he thus speaks
+of Whitefield: "Some ministers are burning and shining lights
+in a peculiar and eminent degree. Such a one, I doubt not, was
+the servant of God whose death we now lament. I have had some
+opportunities of looking over the history of the church in past
+ages; I am not backward to say, that I have not read or heard
+of any person, since the apostles' days, of whom it may be more
+emphatically said, 'He was a burning and a shining light,' than the
+late Mr. Whitefield; whether we consider the warmth of his zeal, the
+greatness of his ministerial talents, or the extensive usefulness
+with which the Lord honored him. I do not mean to praise the man,
+but the Lord who furnished him, and made him what he was. He was
+raised up to shine in a dark place. The state of religion when he
+first appeared in public, was very low in our established church.
+I speak the truth, though to some it may be an offensive truth.
+The doctrines of grace were seldom heard from the pulpit, and the
+life and power of godliness were little known. Many of the most
+spiritual among the dissenters, were mourning under a sense of a
+great spreading declension on their side. What a change has taken
+place throughout the land within a little more than thirty years;
+that is, since the time when the first set of despised ministers
+came to Oxford! And how much of this change has been owing to God's
+blessing on Mr. Whitefield's labors, is well known to many who have
+lived through this period, and can hardly be denied by those who are
+least willing to allow it.... His zeal was not like wildfire, but
+directed by sound principles, and a sound judgment.... The Lord gave
+him a manner of preaching which was peculiarly his own. He copied
+from none, and I never met with any one who could imitate him with
+success."
+
+With regret we tear ourselves away from Romaine and Toplady, from
+Pemberton and Parsons, and from a multitude of others who bore
+testimonies like those we have given, but which would exceed the
+limits of our narrative.
+
+Mr. Newton, after his removal to London, once breakfasting with
+a company of noblemen and gentlemen, was asked if he knew Mr.
+Whitefield. He answered in the affirmative, and remarked, that as a
+preacher Mr. Whitefield far exceeded every other man of his time.
+Mr. Newton added, "I bless God that I lived in his time: many were
+the winter mornings I rose at four o'clock to attend his Tabernacle
+discourses at five; and I have seen Moorfields as full of lanterns
+at these times, as I suppose the Hay market is full of flambeaux
+on an opera night." As a proof of the power of Mr. Whitefield's
+preaching, Mr. Newton said, that a military officer at Glasgow, who
+had heard him preach, laid a wager with another, that at a certain
+charity sermon, though he went with prejudice, he would be compelled
+to give something. The other, to make sure that he would not, laid
+aside all the money out of his pockets; but before he left the
+church, he was glad to borrow some, and lose his bet. Mr. Newton
+mentioned as another striking illustration of Mr. Whitefield's
+persuasive oratory, his collecting after one sermon £600, or about
+$3,000, for the inhabitants of an obscure village in Germany, that
+had been burned down. After this sermon, Whitefield said, "We shall
+sing a hymn, during which those who do not choose to give their
+mite on this awful occasion, may sneak off." Not one moved; he came
+down from the pulpit, ordered all the doors to be shut but one, at
+which he held the plate himself, and collected the large sum we have
+named. Mr. Newton farther stated what he knew to be a fact, that at
+the time of Whitefield's greatest persecution, when obliged to speak
+in the streets, in one week he received not fewer than a thousand
+letters from persons distressed in their consciences by the energy
+of his preaching.
+
+A gentleman of title in England was one day examining some works
+of the distinguished sculptor, John Bacon. Among them he observed
+a bust of Mr. Whitefield, which led him to remark, "After all that
+has been said, this was truly a great man; he was the founder of a
+new religion." Mr. Bacon replied, "A new religion, sir?" "Yes," said
+the baronet; "what do you call it?" "Nothing," was the reply, "but
+the old religion revived with new energy, and treated as though the
+preacher meant what he said."
+
+Several interesting narratives have been given of visits to the tomb
+of Whitefield, which show the preciousness of his memory.
+
+In 1834, the Rev. Andrew Reed, D. D., of London, and the late
+Rev. James Matheson, D. D., of Durham, visited this country as a
+deputation to its churches from the Congregational Union of England
+and Wales. In describing their visit to Newburyport, Dr. Reed says,
+"We had a conference with the pastors here, and afterwards went
+to the church which is enriched with the remains of Whitefield.
+The elders of the church were present in the porch to receive us.
+We descended to the vault. There were three coffins before us.
+Two pastors of the church lay on either side, and the remains of
+Whitefield in the centre. The cover was slipt aside, and they lay
+beneath my eye. I had before stood in his pulpits; seen his books,
+his rings, and chairs; but never before had I looked on part of his
+very self. The skull, which is perfect, clean, and fair, I received,
+as is the custom, into my hand. I could say nothing; but thought
+and feeling were busy. On returning to the church, I proposed an
+exercise of worship. We collected over the grave of the eloquent,
+the devoted, and seraphic man, and gave expression to the sentiments
+that possessed us, by solemn psalmody and fervent prayer. It was not
+an ordinary service to any of us."
+
+In the year 1835, a similar deputation visited this country from
+the Baptist Union of Great Britain and Ireland. It consisted of
+the late Rev. F. A. Cox, D. D., of London, and the Rev. James
+Hoby, D. D., then of Birmingham. They also visited the tomb of our
+never-to-be-forgotten evangelist. We give a few sentences from their
+report: "We made an excursion to Newburyport, thirty-nine miles from
+Boston, to see the tomb of Whitefield. On our arrival, we hastened
+to the depository of the precious remains of that eminent servant
+of God.... We descended with some difficulty into the subterraneous
+vault, which is immediately behind the pulpit, in a small chamber
+like a vestry, external to the body of the church. Deep expectant
+emotions thrilled through our bosoms, while a kind of trap-door was
+opened, and we descended beneath the floor to another door, which
+stood perpendicularly, by which we entered, or rather crept, into
+the awful and silent sepulchre. There were three coffins placed
+in parallel lines; two of them containing the mortal part of Mr.
+Parsons and Mr. Prince, pastors of the church. We instinctively
+took our seats, the one on the one coffin, the other on the other,
+with the coffin of Whitefield between, over which, when the upper
+part of the lid was removed, to reveal the skeleton secrets of the
+narrow prison-house, we bent in solemn stillness and awe. We gazed
+on the fragments--we contemplated and handled the skull of that
+great preacher of righteousness--we thought of his devoted life,
+his blessed death, his high and happy destiny; and whispered our
+adorations of the grace that formed him both for earth and heaven."
+
+The following lines were written by the departed and amiable William
+B. Tappan, on visiting this spot in September, 1837.
+
+    "And this was Whitefield!--this, the dust now blending
+     With kindred dust, that wrapt his soul of fire--
+     Which, from the mantle freed, is still ascending
+     Through regions of far glory, holier, higher.
+
+     Oh, as I gaze here with a solemn joy
+     And awful reverence, in which shares Decay,
+     Who, this fair frame reluctant to destroy,
+     Yields it not yet to doom which all obey--
+     How follows thought his flight, at Love's command,
+     From hemisphere in sin, to hemisphere,
+     Warning uncounted multitudes with tears--
+     Preaching the risen Christ on sea and land--
+     And now those angel journeyings above!
+     Souls, his companions, saved by such unwearied love!"
+
+In December, 1845, one of the London daily papers, "The Sun,"
+contained a somewhat extended account of Whitefield in New England,
+and especially his death, funeral, and tomb, from which we
+borrow mementos that in both hemispheres may be interesting "for
+generations to come."
+
+"I was spending Sunday at Old Ipswich, in the latter part of last
+September, when by accident I fell in with an old inhabitant of
+the town who had heard Whitefield preach there. He was a sort of
+patriarch of the place, and as he sat on one of the stones which
+surrounded the ancient orthodox meeting-house, his grey locks
+streaming from beneath his queerly shaped hat, and attired in his
+primly cut old-fashioned coat, he appeared no bad representative of
+the departed Puritans who, in former days, had soberly and decently
+obeyed the call of the Sabbath bell, and worshipped in the same
+temple whose steeple now casts its shadow athwart the green sward
+beneath.... As the bell of Old Ipswich church swung out that bright
+Sabbath morning, it was a pretty sight to see the village people
+coming from different points to the decaying old church, which
+was situated, as most country churches in New England are, on a
+hill-top. While I was enjoying the scene, the old man to whom I have
+alluded, and who was sitting on a stone, accosted me, and asked me
+if I was not a stranger 'in these parts.' On my informing him that I
+was, he pointed out to me the 'lions' of the neighborhood, and wound
+up by asking, 'I suppose, sir, you've heard of Whitefield?'
+
+"'Of Whitefield? to be sure I have.'
+
+"'Well, I've seen Whitefield, George Whitefield stood on this very
+stone,' (dropping his stick feebly from his shaking hands,) 'and I
+heard him preach here.'
+
+"'And do you remember any thing about him?' I asked.
+
+"'Well, I guess I do. I was but a bit of a boy then; but here he
+stood on this stone, looking like a flying angel, and we call this
+Whitefield's pulpit to this day.... There was folks here from all
+parts to hear him; so he was obliged to preach outside, for the
+church wasn't half big enough for 'em, and no two ways about it.
+I've heard many parsons sin' that time, but none on 'em could come
+nigh him, any how they could fix it.'
+
+"'Do you remember any thing of his sermons?' I inquired.
+
+"'Oh, I was too young to notice aught, sir, but the preacher hisself
+and the crowds of people, but I know he had a very sweet voice;
+and as I said, when he spread his arms out, with a little Bible in
+his hand, he looked like a flying angel. There never were so many
+people, afore nor since, in Old Ipswich. I suppose, sir, you'll be
+going to see his bones? He was buried at Newburyport, and you can
+see 'em if you like.'
+
+"I made up my mind that I would see them, if possible. On the
+following day, I went over to Newburyport by railroad, and proceeded
+first to the house in which Whitefield died. It was at the time the
+residence of the Rev. Jonathan Parsons, the first regular pastor of
+the Presbyterian Society in the town. It is a plain unpretending
+structure, possessing no other claims to attention than its being
+the spot where the last scene of Whitefield's career was enacted.
+I knocked, and asked of a lady who answered my summons, if I might
+be allowed to see the room in which Mr. Whitefield died. She very
+courteously showed me up a flight of stairs into a chamber, which,
+she said, Mr. Whitefield used to sleep in. 'Here is the place he
+died in,' said the lady, as she showed me a little entry just
+outside the door of the chamber, directly over the entrance to the
+house. 'He lay the night before he died,' said the lady, 'in that
+bed-chamber; and when he was struck with death, he ran out to this
+entry window for breath, and died while sitting in a chair opposite
+to it.'
+
+"The Federal-street church, where Whitefield was buried, was but a
+short distance from the house in which he died, and on my way to
+it I called on the sexton.... He preceded me through the aisle of
+the church, and opening a little narrow door by the side of the
+pulpit, we passed into a dim gloomy room behind it, and from thence
+descending four or five steps, found ourselves in a brick vault
+which lay directly under the pulpit. It was two or three minutes
+before my eyes got accustomed to the gloom; but soon objects became
+discernible, and I saw three old coffins, two of them serving as
+supporters to the third, which lay across them.... The sexton
+trimmed his lamp, then lifted the lid of an old coffin, and holding
+the flame close to it, said, 'Here, look in, ... THAT'S THE MAN.'
+
+"Yes, there lay the man, or at least, all that remains of the once
+mighty preacher. A strange awe came over me at his words, '_That's
+the man._' I took the skull in my hands, and examined it carefully.
+The forehead was rather narrow than broad, and by no means high. I
+soon put it back again to the coffin."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Among the more prominent traits in the character of Whitefield,
+we may designate his _indifference to his own honor and ease_, of
+which his narrative contains almost innumerable illustrations. In
+the preparation of the deed of trust for his intended college, he
+entirely omitted his own name, that the proposed trustees might
+accept the office without suffering contempt for being connected
+with him. It was not pretence which led him often to say, "Let the
+name of George Whitefield perish, if God be glorified." On the
+same principle of almost self-annihilation he acted in reference
+to the accumulation of money. He secured nothing for himself. It
+does not seem that what he left to his friends by his will was or
+could be paid; what had been left him as legacies had been nearly
+all expended, and would have been entirely, had he lived to return
+to his beloved Bethesda. By his will he placed the institution in
+the hands of Lady Huntingdon, who sent out ministers and other
+persons to conduct it. But soon after this, the buildings were burnt
+down. After the fire, came the Revolutionary war, which tended to
+unsettle the tenure of property, and at the time of its close, the
+whole plans, alike of the orphan-house and the college, were nearly
+unknown. The authorities of Savannah, in accordance with the high
+regard which they still entertained for Whitefield's memory, secured
+whatever they could of the wreck, the proceeds of which they
+invested in a school for the young, which yet flourishes.
+
+Perhaps no man was ever more thoroughly _fond of labor_. From a
+memorandum in which Mr. Whitefield recorded the times and places
+of his ministerial labors, it appears that from the period of his
+ordination to that of his death, which was thirty-four years,
+he preached upwards of _eighteen thousand sermons_. It would be
+difficult to imagine how many thousand miles he travelled. When he
+ascertained that his physical powers began to fail, putting himself
+on what he called "short allowance," he preached _only once on every
+week-day, and three times on the Sabbath_. In view of his various
+journeyings in the slow and inconvenient modes of travelling then
+in use, his thirteen voyages across the Atlantic, and all that he
+accomplished, it appears that few men ever performed so much labor
+within the same period.
+
+Nearly every one who has attempted a description of Whitefield has
+said much of his _extraordinary voice_. It is known that Garrick was
+heard to say that he would give a hundred guineas if he could say
+"Oh!" as Whitefield did. The late Rev. Dr. Haweis, speaking of his
+"wonderful voice," and of its sweetness and variety of tone, said he
+believed on a serene evening it might be distinctly heard for nearly
+a mile. Others have given similar evidence.
+
+The late Sir George Beaumont, no mean authority on such a subject,
+thus familiarly speaks: "Oh yes; I heard that young gentleman this
+morning allude to 'roaring Whitefield,' and was amused at his
+mistake. It is a common one. Whitefield did not roar. I have been
+his auditor more than once, and was delighted with him. Whitefield's
+voice could be heard at an immense distance; but that was owing to
+its fulness, roundness, and clearness. It was a perfectly sound
+voice. It is an odd description, but I can hit upon no better; there
+was neither crack nor flaw. To describe him as a bellowing, roaring
+field preacher, is to describe a mountebank, not Whitefield. He had
+powers of pathos of the highest order. The tender, soft, persuasive
+tones of his voice were melodious in the extreme. And when he
+desired to win, or persuade, or plead, or soothe, the gush of
+feeling which his voice conveyed at once surprised and overpowered
+you."
+
+Speaking on the authority of his tutor, the Rev. Cornelius Winter,
+the late excellent Mr. Jay says that Whitefield's voice was
+incomparable: not only distinct and loud, but abounding with every
+kind of inflection, and perfectly under his power; so that he could
+render every thing he expressed, however common or insignificant in
+itself, striking and affecting.
+
+This distinguished man had a peculiar talent for making the
+_narration of facts tell in the pulpit_. Nothing occurred among
+even his own family connections, but he would make it contribute to
+the edification of his auditors. One Lord's day morning, with his
+usual fervor he exhorted his hearers to give up the use of means for
+the spiritual good of their relatives and friends only with their
+lives. He told them he had a brother, for whose spiritual welfare
+he had very long used every possible means. He had warned him, and
+prayed for him, but all apparently to no purpose, till a few weeks
+previous; when that brother, to his astonishment and joy, came to
+his house, and with many tears declared that he had come up from
+the country to testify to him the great change which divine grace
+had wrought in his heart, and to acknowledge with gratitude his
+obligation to the man by whom God had wrought. Mr. Whitefield added,
+that he had that morning received information, that on his brother's
+return to Gloucestershire, where he resided, he dropped down dead as
+he was getting out of a stagecoach. "Let us pray always," said he,
+"for ourselves, and for those who are dear to us, and never faint."
+
+This habit of making every occurrence bear on his ministry, Mr.
+Winter, who knew him more intimately, and has told us more of his
+private life and conduct than any other man, tells us was "perfectly
+in character with Mr. Whitefield. He turned every thing into gold;
+he improved every thing for good. Passing occurrences determined
+the matter of his sermons, and, in some degree, the manner of his
+address. Thus, if he had read on astronomy in the course of the
+week, you would be sure to discover it. He knew how to convert
+the centripetal motion of the planets to the disposition of the
+Christian towards Christ; and the fatal attraction of the world
+was very properly represented by a reference to the centrifugal.
+If he attended any extraordinary trial, he would avail himself of
+the formality of the judge in pronouncing sentence. It would only
+be by hearing him, and by beholding his attitude and tears, that a
+person could well conceive the effect; for it was impossible but
+that solemnity must surround him who, under God, became the means
+of making all solemn."
+
+He sometimes made use of an incident of history in the reign of
+Henry VIII. The apprentices of London appeared before that monarch,
+pleading his pardon for their insurrections, manifesting intense
+feeling on the matter, and praying for "mercy, mercy." "Take them
+away, take them away," was the monarch's request, moved by the sight
+and the cries of these youths, "I cannot bear it." The application,
+as will be readily supposed, was, that if an earthly monarch of
+Henry's character could be so moved, how prevalent must be the plea
+of the sinner in the ears of infinite Love.
+
+The case of two Scotchmen in the convulsion of the state at the
+time of Charles II. served him on more than one occasion. These
+men, having to pass some of the troops, were thinking of their
+danger, and meditating the best way of escape, when one of them
+proposed wearing a skullcap; but the other, thinking that would
+imply distrust of the providence of God, determined to proceed
+bareheaded. The last was the first laid hold of, and being asked,
+"Are you for the covenant?" replied, "Yes;" and being further asked,
+"What covenant?" answered, "The covenant of grace;" by which reply,
+eluding farther inquiry, he was allowed to pass; but the other, not
+answering satisfactorily, received a blow from the sabre, which
+penetrating through the cap, struck him dead. In the application,
+Mr. Whitefield, warning against vain confidence, exclaimed, "Beware
+of your skullcaps."
+
+An American clergyman has told us that he once related to Whitefield
+an affecting occurrence, but did it with the ordinary brevity and
+feeling of common conversation. Afterwards he heard Mr. Whitefield
+preach, and tell this same story with such nature, pathos, and
+power, that the clergyman found himself weeping like a child. It has
+been well said, that he spoke with the tones of the soul; and that
+his gestures were impelled by the same spontaneous magical influence
+which made them, as well as his words, seem part of his soul.
+Indeed, he threw his soul into every thing he did and said.
+
+It is said that Whitefield would sometimes rise in the sacred desk,
+and for a minute or two looking in silence around his vast audience,
+as if salvation or perdition teemed in every cast of his eye, would
+burst into tears, while the swift contagion, before he uttered a
+word, had reached every heart that could feel, and dimmed every eye
+that could weep.[2]
+
+  [2] The New York Evangelist, in 1830, made the remark, that
+  "Whitefield would have lost much of his oratorical influence on his
+  hearers, had his speaking eyes been covered with a pair of modern
+  spectacles."
+
+While his path to the sinner's heart was thus met with tears, he was
+never without strength or aim. He struck everywhere. He swung his
+glittering weapon, "the sword of the Spirit," in every direction,
+the same whether he preached in the cushioned and carpeted pulpit to
+lords, ladies, and gentlemen, or encountered a mob of stage-players
+and merry-andrews in the open field. He insisted on instant,
+visible, decisive action in his hearers. All was commotion where he
+moved. The very earth would seem to be shaken with the thunder of
+his eloquence; the heavens seemed, in the bold metaphor of Isaiah,
+to "drop down from above, and the skies to pour down righteousness,"
+when he set the trumpet of the gospel to his lips, and made the
+notes of salvation or perdition ring in the ears of dying men. Such
+unwonted sounds startled the multitude into life, rousing energies
+that were forthwith enlisted either for or against the mighty cause
+which he advocated, with the boldness and fervor of one who had
+received immediate commission from heaven. His sacred ambition was
+content with nothing short of the conquest of thousands.
+
+It has been well said by a living American writer, that "Whitefield
+was, in sacred eloquence, what Handel was in sacred music. There
+was an air, a soul, and a _movement_ in his oratory, which created
+indescribable emotion in his vast assemblies, and if Handel, with a
+thousand auxiliary voices and instruments, astonished the multitude
+in Westminster Abbey, even to raising them on their feet, by the
+performance of his Messiah, Whitefield did greater wonders in his
+single person by _preaching_ the Messiah to the immense crowds in
+Tottenham Court-road and Moorfields."
+
+The same writer has said elsewhere, "The influence of Whitefield and
+Edwards on theology and pulpit eloquence were immense. There was in
+those two men indeed 'a diversity of gifts, but the same spirit,'
+The intellect prevailed in Edwards, the impassioned in Whitefield.
+Pure truth came forth from the mind of the one as nakedly
+demonstrated as it ever was on the pages of Newton and Locke; for
+Edwards, when but a child, read Locke with enthusiasm. From the
+soul of Whitefield it came forth arrayed in the gorgeous robes of
+his own many-colored imagination, baptized in the tenderness of his
+own sympathetic spirit. At times, indeed, the thunders of Sinai
+seemed to shake the sacred desk, but the softer music of the harp
+of Zion was more congenial with his compassionate spirit, though he
+was always bold for God, and braved danger in every form for the
+salvation of sinners. It is not strange that American preachers
+venerate, even to enthusiasm, the memory of such a man, and visit
+his dust, enshrined as it is in the bosom of New England, with
+feelings of indescribable interest. His labors were for us; his rest
+is with us; his example is before us. The first were indefatigable;
+the second is peaceful; the last is glorious."
+
+The Rev. Mr. Winter says, "I hardly ever knew him to go through
+a sermon without weeping more or less;" and again, "It was only
+by beholding his attitude and tears, that one could well conceive
+of the effect." No doubt there was a connection between the tears
+of Whitefield and his piety; but it must not be supposed that he
+was always "the weeping prophet;" he could smile as well as weep.
+A venerable lady in New York, known to some yet living, speaking
+of the influence which first won her heart to God, said that "Mr.
+Whitefield was so cheerful that it _tempted her to be a Christian_."
+
+Every thing about this distinguished man excited attention. His
+voice, accompanied by his look from crossed eyes, and proceeding
+from a man of his robust frame, produced wonderful effects. It
+is said that when once preaching in a graveyard, two young men
+conducted themselves improperly, when he fixed his eyes upon them,
+and with a voice resembling thunder, said, "Come down, ye rebels."
+They instantly fell, neither of them being inclined again to come
+into contact with such a look, or to hear such a voice.
+
+He was once preaching to a vast crowd of people in southern
+Pennsylvania, which was at that time ignorant and uncivilized. He
+was incessantly disturbed by their noise, and twice reproved them
+with great severity. At length he was so overcome by their noisy and
+irreverent conduct, that he stopped short, dropped his head into his
+hands, burst into a flood of tears, and exclaimed, "Oh, Lord God, I
+am ashamed that these people are provoking thy wrath, and I dare not
+reprove them a third time." Such was the effect of his conduct and
+feeling, that his audience became perfectly quiet, and remained so
+till the end of his discourse.
+
+We have before us two narratives of his preaching during very heavy
+storms. Dr. Campbell, a successor of Whitefield in the _Tabernacle_
+in London, and whose ministry has been marked by much of the power
+and success of his great predecessor, has given to the first of
+these narratives the title of "_Thunder and Eloquence_." Before
+he commenced his sermon on this occasion, long darkening columns
+crowded the bright sunny sky of the morning, and swept their dull
+shadows over the building, in fearful augury of the storm.
+
+His text was, "Strive to enter in at the strait gate; for many,
+I say unto you, shall seek to enter in, and shall not be able."
+"See," said he, pointing to a shadow that was flitting across the
+floor--"see that emblem of human life. It passed for a moment, and
+concealed the brightness of heaven from our view; but it is gone.
+And where will ye be, my hearers, when your lives have passed away
+like that dark cloud? Oh, my dear friends, I see thousands sitting
+attentively, with their eyes fixed on the poor unworthy preacher.
+In a few days, we shall all meet at the judgment-seat of Christ.
+We shall form a part of that vast assembly that will gather before
+the throne; and every eye will behold the Judge. With a voice whose
+call you must abide and answer, he will inquire whether on earth you
+strove to enter in at the strait gate; whether you were supremely
+devoted to God; whether your hearts were absorbed in him. My blood
+runs cold when I think how many of you will then seek to enter in,
+and shall not be able. Oh, what plea can you make before the Judge
+of the whole earth? Can you say it has been your whole endeavor to
+mortify the flesh, with its affections and lusts--that your life has
+been one long effort to do the will of God? No; you must answer, 'I
+made myself easy in the world by flattering myself that all would
+end well; but I have deceived my own soul, and am lost.'
+
+"You, O false, and hollow Christian, of what avail will it be that
+you have done many things--that you have read much in the sacred
+word--that you have made long prayers--that you have attended
+religious duties, and that you have appeared holy in the eyes of
+men? What will all this be, if, instead of loving Him supremely,
+you have been supposing you should exalt yourself in heaven by acts
+really polluted and unholy?
+
+"And you, rich men, wherefore do you hoard your silver? Wherefore
+count the price you have received for Him whom you every day crucify
+in your love of gain? Why--that when you are too poor to buy a
+drop of cold water, your beloved son may be rolled to hell in his
+chariot, pillowed and cushioned around him."
+
+The eye of the preacher gradually lighted up as he proceeded, till
+towards the close it seemed to sparkle with celestial fire. With
+his whole energy he exclaimed, "O sinners, by all your hopes of
+happiness, I beseech you to repent. Let not the wrath of God be
+awakened. Let not the fires of eternity be kindled against you. See
+there!" pointing to the lightning, which played on the corner of the
+pulpit, "it is a glance from the angry eye of Jehovah!" Raising his
+finger in a listening attitude, as the distant thunder grew louder
+and louder, and broke in one tremendous crash over the building, he
+continued, "Hark! It was the voice of the Almighty as he passed by
+in his anger!" As the sound died away, he covered his face with his
+hands, and knelt beside his pulpit, apparently lost in inward and
+intense prayer. The storm passed rapidly away, and the sun, beaming
+forth in his might, threw across the heavens a magnificent arch of
+peace. Rising, and pointing to the beautiful object, he exclaimed,
+"Look upon the rainbow, and praise Him who made it. Very beautiful
+it is in the brightness thereof. It compasseth the heavens about
+with glory; and the hands of the Most High have bended it!"
+
+On another occasion, as Mr. Whitefield was preaching in Boston, on
+the wonders of creation, providence, and redemption, a violent
+storm of thunder and lightning came on. In the midst of the sermon
+it attained to so alarming a height that the congregation sat in
+almost breathless awe. The preacher closed his note-book, and
+stepping into one of the wings of the desk, fell on his knees, and
+with much feeling and fine taste repeated:
+
+    "Hark, THE ETERNAL rends the sky!
+     A mighty voice before him goes--
+     A voice of music to his friends,
+     But threatening thunder to his foes:
+    'Come, children, to your Father's arms;
+     Hide in the chambers of my grace,
+     Till the fierce storm be overblown,
+     And my revenging fury cease--'
+
+"Let us devoutly sing to the praise and glory of God this hymn, Old
+Hundred."
+
+The whole congregation instantly rose, and poured forth the sacred
+song, in which they were accompanied by the organ, in a style of
+simple grandeur and heartfelt devotion that was probably never
+surpassed. By the time the hymn was finished the storm was hushed.
+The remainder of the services were well adapted to sustain the
+elevated feeling which had been produced; and the benediction with
+which the good man dismissed the flock was universally received with
+streaming eyes, and hearts overflowing with tenderness and gratitude.
+
+Another writer has thus described his appearance in the pulpit.
+There was nothing in the appearance of this extraordinary man which
+would lead you to suppose that a Felix would tremble before him.
+He was something above the middle stature, well proportioned, and
+remarkable for a native gracefulness of manner. His complexion
+was very fair, his features regular, and his dark blue eyes small
+and lively. In recovering from the measles he had contracted a
+squint with one of them; but this peculiarity rather rendered the
+expression of his countenance more remarkable, than in any degree
+lessened the effect of its uncommon sweetness. His voice excelled
+both in melody and compass; and its fine modulations were happily
+accompanied by that grace of action which he possessed in an eminent
+degree, and which has been said to be the chief requisite in an
+orator. To see him when he first commenced, one would have thought
+him any thing but enthusiastic and glowing; but as he proceeded,
+his heart warmed with his subject, and his manner became impetuous
+and animated; till, forgetful of every thing around him, he seemed
+to kneel at the throne of Jehovah, and to beseech in agony for his
+fellow-beings.
+
+After he had finished his prayer, he knelt for a long time in
+profound silence, and so powerful was the effect on the most
+heartless of his audience, that a stillness like that of the tomb
+pervaded the whole house.
+
+Mr. Tracy, in his narrative of "the Great Awakening" about 1740,
+has admirably remarked, "It is often said that Whitefield cannot
+have been a very great man, because his printed sermons contain only
+plain, common thoughts, such as men of ordinary minds habitually
+use. But what made those thoughts so common? They were not common
+when he began to utter them. In England especially, and to a
+considerable extent here also, they astonished his hearers by their
+strangeness. What is more common than a voyage across the Atlantic?
+But was Columbus, therefore, only an ordinary man? The case of
+Copernicus is more nearly parallel. He reasserted a truth which had
+been uttered, repudiated, and forgotten. That truth is now common,
+even among school-boys. But was he, therefore, only a child in
+intellect?"
+
+There are yet extant about eighty of the sermons by which Whitefield
+agitated nations, and the more remote influence of which is still
+distinctly to be traced, in the popular divinity and national
+character of Great Britain and of the United States. Of these
+compositions, Sir James Stephen, an evangelical Episcopalian of
+London, wrote at some length in the "Edinburgh Review," 1838, and
+we shall make no apology for borrowing a portion of his remarks,
+combining them with some of our own.
+
+It is true, that these sermons have fallen into very general
+neglect; for to win permanent acceptance for a book, into which the
+principles of life were not infused by its author, is a miracle
+which not even the zeal of religious proselytes can accomplish. Yet,
+inferior as were his inventive to his mimetic powers, Whitefield is
+entitled, among theological writers, to a place which, if it cannot
+challenge admiration, may at least excite and reward curiosity.
+Many, and those by far the worst of his discourses, bear the marks
+of careful preparation. Take at hazard a sermon of one of the
+preachers usually distinguished as evangelical, add a little to
+its length, and subtract a great deal from its point and polish,
+and you have one of his more elaborate common topics discussed in
+a commonplace way; a respectable mediocrity of thought and style;
+endless variations on one or two cardinal truths--in short, the task
+of a clerical Saturday evening, executed with piety, good sense, and
+exceeding sedateness. But open one of that series of Whitefield's
+sermons which bears the stamp of having been conceived and uttered
+at the same moment, and imagine it recited to myriads of eager
+listeners with every charm of voice and gesture, and the secret
+of his unrivalled fascination is at least partially disclosed. He
+places himself on terms of intimacy and unreserved confidence with
+you, and makes it almost as difficult to decline the invitation
+to his familiar talk as if Montaigne himself had issued it. The
+egotism is amusing, affectionate, and warm-hearted, with just that
+slight infusion of self-importance without which it would pass for
+affectation. In his art of rhetoric, personification holds the first
+place; and the prosopopoeia is so managed as to quicken abstractions
+into life, and to give them individuality and distinctness without
+the exhibition of any of those spasmodic and distorted images which
+obey the incantations of vulgar exorcists. Every trace of study and
+contrivance is obliterated by the hearty earnestness which pervades
+each successive period, and by the vernacular and homely idioms in
+which his meaning is conveyed.
+
+It is in the grandeur and singleness of purpose that the charm of
+Whitefield's preaching seems to have consisted. You feel that you
+have to do with a man who lived and spoke, and who would gladly
+have died, to deter his hearers from the path of destruction, and
+to guide them to holiness and peace. His gossipping stories, and
+dramatic forms of speech, are never employed to hide the awful
+realities on which he is intent. Conscience is not permitted to
+find an intoxicating draught in even spiritual excitement, or an
+anodyne in glowing imagery. Guilt and its punishment, pardon and
+spotless purity, death and an eternal existence, stand out in bold
+relief on every page. From these the eye of the teacher is never
+withdrawn, and to these the attention of the hearer is riveted. All
+that is poetic, grotesque, or rapturous is employed to deepen these
+impressions, and is dismissed as soon as that purpose is answered.
+Deficient in learning, meagre in thought, and redundant in language
+as are these discourses, they yet fulfil the one great condition of
+genuine eloquence. They propagate their own kindly warmth, and leave
+their stings behind them.
+
+The enumeration of the sources of Whitefield's power is still
+essentially defective. Neither energy, nor eloquence, nor histrionic
+talents, nor any artifices of style, nor the most genuine sincerity
+and self-devotedness, nor all these united, would have enabled him
+to mould the religious character of millions in his own and future
+generations. The secret lies deeper. It consisted in the theology
+he taught--in its perfect simplicity and universal application.
+"Would ministers," says he, "preach for eternity, they would then
+act the part of true Christian orators; and not only calmly and
+coolly inform the understanding, but by pathetic and persuasive
+address, endeavor to move the affections and to warm the heart. To
+act otherwise, betrays a sad ignorance of human nature, and such
+an inexcusable ignorance and indifference in a preacher, as must
+constrain the hearers to suspect, whether they will or not, that
+the preacher, let him be whom he will, only deals in the false
+commerce of unfelt truth." His eighteen thousand sermons were but
+so many variations on two key-notes: man is guilty, but may obtain
+forgiveness; he is immortal, and must ripen here for endless weal or
+woe hereafter. Expanded into innumerable forms, and diversified by
+infinite varieties of illustration, these two cardinal principles
+were ever in his heart and on his tongue. Let who would invoke
+poetry to embellish the Christian system, or philosophy to explore
+its esoteric depths, from his lips it was delivered as an awful and
+urgent summons to repent, to believe, and to obey. To set to music
+the orders issued to seamen in a storm, or to address them in the
+language of Aristotle or Descartes, would have seemed to him not a
+whit more preposterous than to divert his hearers from their danger
+and their refuge, their duties and their hopes, to any topics more
+trivial or more abstruse. In fine, he was thoroughly and continually
+in earnest, and therefore possessed that tension of the soul which
+admitted neither of lassitude nor relaxation, few and familiar
+as were the topics to which he was confined. His was, therefore,
+precisely that state of mind in which alone eloquence, properly so
+called, can be engendered, and a moral and intellectual sovereignty
+won.
+
+Nor less important is it to remark, though we need not illustrate
+it at length, that much was effected by every one seeing that he
+always forgot himself in his subject, and rested only on heaven for
+success. He felt himself called to serve Christ, and gave himself
+to his task, to save sinners, and he cared for nothing else. No
+one ever doubted his sincerity when he prayed, "Help me, Friend of
+sinners, to be nothing, to say nothing, that thou mayest say and do
+every thing, and be my all in all." If the same feelings were fully
+shown by the ministry at present, our messages would tell more on
+the hearts of our hearers.
+
+We need hardly remind the reader that Whitefield was remarkable for
+_a devotional spirit_. Probably no man ever lived nearer to God. Had
+he been less prayerful, he would have been less powerful. It has
+been said that during a few of the last years of his life he read
+the voluminous exposition of Matthew Henry, comprising six quarto
+volumes, in a kneeling posture, pausing and praying that God would
+engraft upon his mind the instructions of that extraordinary man.
+When he came before his auditors, he looked like one who had been
+with God. This it was which won for him the title of _seraphic_--he
+was a human _seraph_, and burnt out in the blaze of his own fire.
+Usually for an hour or two before he went into the pulpit, he
+claimed retirement. In this claim he was imperative, and would not
+be interrupted in his seasons of hallowed intercourse with God.
+
+Engaged almost incessantly in preaching, or in preparation for it,
+it was impossible, however much he desired it, to pay many private
+visits of a religious nature. We are told, however, that on one
+occasion, when a young minister, afterwards exceedingly popular and
+useful, was once visiting him, he was sent for to visit a poor woman
+who had been so dreadfully burnt that she could not survive many
+hours. He went immediately, and prayed with her. He had no sooner
+returned, than she called out, "Oh, where is Mr. Whitefield?" Urged
+by her entreaty, her friends requested him to visit her a second
+time. He complied, and again prayed with her. The poor afflicted
+woman continued still to desire his presence. When her friends came
+for him a third time, "I begged of him," said the young clergyman,
+"not to go; for he could scarcely expect to do any good. 'Your
+nerves are too weak, your feelings are too acute to endure such
+scenes.' I shall never forget his mild reproof: 'Leave me; my Master
+can save to the uttermost, to the _very uttermost_.'"
+
+In conversation with his friends, Whitefield was as far removed as
+possible from duplicity and mere compliment. He invited from his
+friends whatever of instruction and of reproof they considered him
+to need. And while he was always ready to receive reproof, he was,
+when called to the duty, ready to give it, and often in a way which
+his friends did not expect. A censorious professor of religion,
+knowing the doctrinal differences between the two men, asked
+Whitefield if he thought they would see Mr. John Wesley in heaven.
+His answer was truly admirable: "No, sir, I fear not; for he will
+be so near the throne, and we shall be at such a distance, we shall
+hardly get sight of him."
+
+It is said, that when he was once travelling in company with a
+Christian man, they had occasion to stay for a night at a road-side
+tavern. After they had retired, they were greatly annoyed by a
+company of gamblers, who were in an adjoining room. Whitefield
+could not rest, and told his friend that he would go into the room
+and reprove them for their conduct. The other remonstrated against
+his doing so, but in vain. He went; and unhappily, his words fell
+apparently powerless upon them. Returning, he laid down to sleep.
+"What," asked his companion, "did you gain by your trouble?"
+Whitefield characteristically answered, "A soft pillow."
+
+In his intercourse with general society, Mr. Whitefield never forgot
+his dignity as a servant of Jesus Christ. When he was in the zenith
+of his popularity, Lord Clare, who knew that his influence was
+considerable, applied to him by letter, requesting his influence
+at Bristol at the ensuing general election. To this request Mr.
+Whitefield replied, that in general elections he never interfered;
+but he would earnestly exhort his lordship to use great diligence to
+make his own particular "calling and election sure."
+
+Mr. Whitefield was greatly distinguished, even from early life, for
+neatness in his person, order in his apartments, and regular method
+in the management of all his affairs. He was accustomed to say that
+a minister should be "without a spot;" and on one occasion remarked,
+that he could not feel comfortable if he knew that his _gloves_
+were out of their proper place. The advantages of such habits are
+numerous. They save time, give a degree of comfort which can only
+be known by experience, and add not a little to the dignity of the
+Christian minister.
+
+The device upon Whitefield's seal, of which probably few impressions
+are now to be found, was truly characteristic. It was a winged heart
+soaring above the globe, and its motto was, "_Astra petamus_"--Let
+us seek heaven.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+CHARACTER OF WHITEFIELD AS A PREACHER--CENTENNIAL COMMEMORATIONS.
+
+
+In suggesting a few of the CHARACTERISTICS OF WHITEFIELD'S
+PREACHING, we are very greatly indebted to an excellent anonymous
+writer in the London Evangelical Magazine for 1853. We consider as
+among the reasons of his success, and as worthy of our imitation,
+
+First, _the prominence given to the leading truths of salvation,
+and the constant exaltation of Christ in them_. There needs no
+minute inquiry, or great analytical care, to ascertain what was
+the pervading theme of this popular minister: it was "Christ,
+and him crucified," and the glorious truths that hover around
+the cross, and derive from it their being and lustre. There was
+no other subject, in Whitefield's estimation, that was worthy of
+preëminence, and to unfold, elucidate, and apply it, was the great
+design of his labors. He saw in it such a wonderful adaptation to
+the necessities and condition of fallen humanity, that he stood in
+the midst of its wants and woes with all the confidence of a good
+physician who had a sovereign and sufficient remedy to propose.
+He knew that there was no case which it could not meet, no moral
+disease from which it would not recover, no spiritual need which
+it would not supply; and therefore, however far gone men might
+be from original righteousness, however hardened in sin, sunk in
+iniquity, or however elevated by the delusions of a false morality
+and fancied self-righteousness, he propounded this as the only and
+all-sufficient antidote, at once to destroy and heal, to kill and
+to make alive. As to the spurious production of a rationalistic
+theory on the one hand, or the prescriptions of ceremonial virtue
+and sacramental grace on the other, he knew them not. He saw at
+once their hollowness and insufficiency, and would not mock the
+necessities of our fallen nature, or aggravate the wounds which sin
+had made by a proposal of them. His acquaintance with the human
+heart was deep, and his knowledge of the different modifications
+of the original disease was so great, that he despaired of relief
+from any expedients save that which infinite Wisdom had devised, and
+which "the gospel of the grace of God" revealed. Philosophy with
+all its discoveries, and reason with all its powers, the law with
+all its authority, and virtue with all its rewards, he knew could
+only, like the priests and the Levites, have passed the patient by,
+and left him to despair, till a greater than they should arrive,
+and say, "I will come and heal you." On that adorable Personage,
+therefore, and the wonders of his skill and love, he delighted to
+dwell. Every sermon was full of Christ; every discourse was odorous
+of him. From whatever part of revealed truth he derived his text,
+and with whatever peculiar development of man's moral physiology he
+had to do, there was something to suggest, to demonstrate the need,
+or the suitableness, or the all-sufficiency of the Saviour of the
+world. To set him forth, in the glories of his wonderful person, the
+variety of his offices, the perfection of his righteousness, the
+completeness of his atonement, and the plenitude of his grace, was
+his perpetual aim. To these he gave continual prominence, at all
+times, and in every place. There was no reserve, no equivocation, no
+partial statement on such themes. It was a full, clear, consistent
+gospel. From his lips the gospel gave no "uncertain sound." This
+made him a welcome messenger of glad tidings to all. This gave him
+a key to the hearts of many, who, as they stood around him, and
+wondered at him, like those five thousand whom the Redeemer fed
+with "five loaves and two small fishes," found all their appetites
+suited, and all their necessities supplied. It was the magic power
+which arrested them; the centre of gravitation which attracted them;
+the bread of life which fed them. "As Moses lifted up the serpent
+in the wilderness," so now was the Son of man lifted up by the
+ministry of this his devoted herald; and far as the camp extended,
+and wide as the circumference of poison and death was spread, the
+wounded looked thereon and lived. A restorative virtue issued from
+it. The hardest heart was softened. The most obstinate in rebellion
+was overcome. The blindest saw. The moral lepers were cleansed.
+The broken in heart were made whole, and the spiritually dead were
+raised to life. "This was the Lord's doing, and it was marvellous in
+their eyes." They beheld the man. They heard him preach. They felt
+the power. It was because He was exalted among them who had said,
+"I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me."
+
+Secondly, _the glow of feeling, the melting compassion, which
+pervaded his own soul_. Oh, it is supremely delightful and deeply
+affecting to observe the tender affection and melting pathos with
+which Whitefield propounded and proclaimed the precious truths and
+everlasting verities of the gospel to his fellow-men. He stood
+among them as one of their race, one of their number, conscious of
+the common misery into which all had fallen, and weeping over the
+miseries and ruin in which by nature they were alike involved. As
+he opened up the treasures of infinite mercy, and the riches of
+redeeming love to their view, he wept to think how long they had
+been unknown or despised by many, and with what base ingratitude
+thousands would probably still turn away from them. As one who
+saw their immortal being in jeopardy, and their souls standing
+on the verge of irretrievable ruin, he hastened, with joy in his
+countenance and tenderness in his heart, to tell them of One who was
+"mighty to save," and that "now was the accepted time, and now the
+day of salvation." Not as one who had a cold lecture on ethics to
+deliver, or a dissertation on philosophy to expound, or a problem
+in mathematics to solve, did he proceed to such a work; but as one
+who felt the weight of his great commission, and knew the worth
+of never-dying souls. The evil of sin, the danger of impenitence,
+the powers of the world to come, the glories of heaven, and the
+unutterable miseries of the regions of woe, were visibly present to
+his own mind; and of these, "out of the abundance of his heart," he
+spoke to others. He could not be calm, he could not be apathetic on
+such themes as these.
+
+        "Passion was reason, transport temper, here."
+
+And with much of the melting tenderness of Him who wept over
+Jerusalem, he spoke of these things to all that resorted to him.
+What moving words did he utter on Blackheath hill, in the Tabernacle
+pulpit, and on Kingswood mount! His vivid eye beamed with the glow
+of tenderness, and his tears, as he spoke, oft-times moistened his
+little Bible or bedewed the ground. In his printed sermons, which
+doubtless are but feeble specimens of his free and fervent manner,
+there are strains of tender pathos and impassioned oratory, which it
+is almost impossible to read even now without being moved to share
+in his feelings and in the emotions which they must have enkindled
+around; and in the perusal of which we wonder not that, in all the
+circumstances, the place in which he stood was a Bochim--a place of
+weeping. Oh, the melting power, the exquisite pathos, the tender
+expostulation of this preëminent man, and unrivalled preacher of the
+gospel of our salvation! We wish we could catch them now--that all
+preachers possessed them; that the rising ministry especially would
+emulate him in these things. Whitefield showed his intense feeling,
+not from the mere power of ratiocination, or from the poetic
+memento, or for the sake of producing effect by the tears that were
+unfelt, or which only flowed from the surface; but from the meltings
+of a tender heart, influenced by a Saviour's love, and overflowing
+with the commiseration of a benign compassion for dying multitudes
+around. Doddridge's beautiful hymn,
+
+            "Arise, my tenderest thoughts, arise,"
+
+one might almost think was written at Whitefield's side. The
+tenderness of John, and the "weeping" of Paul, were blended in him
+with the boldness of Peter. The love that agonized in the garden of
+Gethsemane, and bled on the cross of Calvary, was largely diffused
+through all his powers.
+
+Thirdly, _the direct address of his ministry_. The characteristic
+mode of his preaching, and the style of his public ministrations,
+was, to direct his appeal to the hearts and consciences of his
+hearers, and to "preach _to_ the people all the words of this
+life." It was not an harangue _before_ them. It was not an oration
+beautifully prepared, read, or delivered in their hearing, and
+presented simply for their acceptance and admiration; but a
+direct address, an affectionate appeal, a solemn and earnest
+communication of the message he had received from God to them. Oh,
+we have sometimes thought, what a marked difference there ought
+to be between the ministrations of a servant of Christ to his
+fellow-immortals, on things of eternal importance in which they are
+personally and deeply concerned, and the delivery of a lecture from
+the philosopher's desk, or even of a dissertation on theology from
+the professorial chair. So thought the apostles. So thought the
+prophets and public teachers of sacred mysteries of old. They had
+the "burden of the Lord" to deliver, and it was _unto_ the people.
+They had an embassy to execute, and it was by negotiating directly
+with, and in the consciences of their hearers. Whitefield caught
+their spirit, proceeded in their way, and did such mighty execution,
+not by the mere symmetrical illustration of divine truth, but by
+the direct presentation of it to their minds. They had not to ask,
+"For whom is all this intended?" and, "Is it designed for us?" They
+felt that it was. It came home to their consciences, and to their
+very hearts. They could not transfer it to others, nor avoid the
+application of it to themselves. Had the preacher called them by
+name, which in his skilful delineation of character, he sometimes
+virtually did, they could not have been more certain that he
+intended it for them, and that it was at their peril to neglect or
+pass it by. "I have a message from God unto thee," he substantially
+said in every discourse he uttered, and the people were compelled
+to believe it. "Go, and tell this people," said the divine voice
+to Isaiah, "Ye hear indeed, but do not understand; ye see indeed,
+but do not perceive." "Therefore," said Peter, "let all the house
+of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus, _whom
+ye have crucified_, both Lord and Christ." "Now then," said Paul,
+"we are ambassadors for Christ; as though God did beseech _you_ by
+us, we pray _you_, in Christ's stead, _be ye_ reconciled to God."
+Such was the tenor of the apostolic ministry. Such the secret of
+its mighty power and success. And such also was the characteristic
+of the faithful and seraphic Whitefield, by which he knocked at the
+door of many hearts, and those hearts were opened to him, to his
+message, and to his Lord. His plan was that of heavenly wisdom; his
+appeal was the same. "Unto you, O men, I call, and my voice is to
+the sons of men." In him were verified the poet's graphic lines:
+
+    "There stands the messenger of truth; there stands
+    The legate of the skies: his theme divine,
+    His office sacred, his credentials clear.
+    By him the violated law speaks out
+    Its thunders; and by him, in strains as sweet
+    As angels use, the gospel whispers peace.
+    He stablishes the strong, restores the weak,
+    Reclaims the wanderer, binds the broken heart,
+    And sues the sinner to return to God."
+
+Fourthly, _his habitual dependence on the Spirit of God, and his
+earnest aspirations for the manifestation of his power_. That he
+was conscious of his own superior talents as an orator, and knew
+how to employ them on sacred themes; that he skilfully wielded
+all the weapons of a well-studied eloquence to gain access to the
+human mind, and knew both how to alarm and how to persuade, and
+could attempt both with as much success probably as any speaker,
+either of ancient or modern times; that he had a large and minute
+acquaintance with the powers and passions of the human soul, and
+knew well when and how to touch the hidden springs of its energies
+and actions; that he had a good amount of common and sacred learning
+at his command, and like that Apollos whom among the early teachers
+of Christianity he most resembled, was "mighty in the Scriptures;"
+and that he delighted to expatiate on the wonders and glories of
+redemption as a restorative scheme preëminently adapted to interest
+and attract, to impress and rule our common nature--are facts open
+to all who inspect his writings and accompany him in his labors,
+and will be denied by none. But with all these, and amid all, in
+every sermon he composed and delivered, and in his most impassioned
+addresses to his hearers, there is manifested an underlying and
+all-pervading dependence on the power and grace of the Spirit
+of God, which was in character, if not in degree, meek, humble,
+genuine, entire, like that of the most eminent apostle or adoring
+saint at the foot of the divine throne. With him it was not merely a
+sentiment, but a feeling; and that feeling constant and habitual, as
+it was in him who in the review of his labors said, "I have planted,
+Apollos watered, but God gave the increase." He knew that none but
+the almighty Spirit could gain effectual access to the spirit of
+man; and that not even a Melancthon, a Luther, or a Whitefield,
+could make old Adam yield, unless constrained by a superior power.
+He seemed to stand in the valley of vision among the dry bones, as
+the prophet did, and while he addressed them with something like a
+prophet's power, he had no expectation or hope of success until the
+wind of heaven came down and blew upon them. Therefore he prophesied
+to it as well as to them. "Come from the four winds, O breath, and
+breathe upon the slain, that they may live," was often the mighty
+cry of his soul, before preaching, while preaching, and after
+preaching. It seemed to be his joy, his only, his all-sustaining
+confidence, that he lived under "the dispensation of the Spirit,"
+and wrought in a day, and preached upon a theme, in connection with
+which "the ministration of the Spirit" was to be "glorious," by his
+wonderful works of conviction, conversion, and sanctification, among
+the children of men. To that Spirit, as the glorifier of Christ, he
+often devoutly and earnestly appealed. Sometimes, in the midst of
+an unusual flow of tender and eloquent address to his hearers on
+his favorite theme of the glories and grace of his divine Master,
+he would pause in solemn silence, and lifting up his hands and his
+voice to heaven, and carrying the hearts of his audience with him,
+invoke aloud the descending and all-consuming fire. The present God
+was acknowledged and felt. The word came "in demonstration of the
+Spirit and of power." And while the habitual aim of his preaching
+was to exalt "Christ Jesus the Lord," and while he reasoned, and
+opened the Scriptures, and taught and alarmed or invited his
+hearers, in the most touching strains of urgent remonstrance and
+tender entreaty, to accept now "the great salvation," the inward
+state of his soul was that of entire reliance on the presence and
+coöperation of the Holy Spirit of God. To him were sent up his most
+intense aspirations. In all the records of his success, to that
+Spirit the honor is always ascribed. "Not I, but the grace of God
+which was with me," is the grateful acknowledgment he makes in the
+review of every field occupied and every triumph won. And thus it
+was that the fabric of his ministry, and of all his ministrations,
+in the multitudinous labors which he directed against the kingdom
+of darkness and of Satan in his day, was like the mystic vision
+which Ezekiel saw, _instinct with life_. The spirit of the living
+creatures was in the wheels. "When this went, those went; when this
+stood, those stood; when this was lifted up from the earth, those
+were lifted up." It was all life. A living preacher; a living theme;
+a living power, giving life, and spreading it all around. Therefore
+it was that life followed in the region of death, and at his coming
+the desert rejoiced, and the wilderness blossomed as the rose.
+
+    "Dry bones were raised, and clothed afresh,
+     And hearts of stone were turned to flesh."
+
+By preaching such as we have now attempted to describe, thousands
+and tens of thousands were gathered to Christ. "An exceeding great
+army" stood up. Slumbering churches were awakened, religion was
+revived, and "righteousness and praise" were caused to "spring forth
+before all the nations." And as this apostolic man surveyed the
+amazing scene, and glanced at the wide circumference of his labors,
+in the British Isles and in the New World, he might have exclaimed,
+as one before him had done, "Now thanks be unto God, who always
+causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savor of
+his name by us in every place." "Through mighty signs and wonders,
+_by the power of the Spirit of God_, from Jerusalem round about to
+Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ." "For I am
+not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God to
+salvation; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." Who, in the
+remembrance of Whitefield and his times, will not long for their
+return, and exclaim, "Awake, awake; put on strength, O arm of the
+Lord; awake, as in the ancient days." "O that thou wouldest rend
+the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might
+flow down at thy presence, as when the melting fire burneth, the
+fire causeth the waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine
+adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence!" Spirit
+of the living God, descend and replenish with thy power all our
+souls, our ministry, our temples, our land.
+
+In estimating the character of Whitefield, it should be observed
+that _he dealt with his hearers, individually and collectively, as
+immortal beings_. To use the language of Isaac Taylor, "he held
+MAN as if in the abstract, or as if whatever is not common to all
+men were forgotten. The most extreme diversities, intellectual and
+moral, differences of rank, culture, national modes of thought, all
+gave way and ceased to be thought of; distinctions were swept from
+the ground where he took his position. At the first opening of his
+lips, and as the rich harmony of his voice spread its undulations
+over the expanse of human faces, and at the instant when the sparkle
+of his bright eye caught every other eye, human nature, in a manner,
+dropped its individuality, and presented itself in its very elements
+to be moulded anew. Whitefield, although singularly gifted with a
+perception of the varieties of character, yet spoke as if he could
+know nothing of the thousands before him but their immortality and
+their misery; and so it was that these thousands listened to him.
+
+"No preacher whose history is on record, has trod so wide a field as
+did Whitefield, or has retrod it so often, or has repeated himself
+so much, or has carried so far the experiment of exhausting himself,
+and of spending his popularity, if it could have been spent, but
+it never was spent. Within the compass of a few weeks he might
+have been heard addressing the negroes of the Bermuda islands,
+adapting himself to their infantile understandings, and to their
+debauched hearts; and then at Chelsea, with the aristocracy of rank
+and wit before him, approving himself to listeners such as the
+lords Bolingbroke and Chesterfield. Whitefield might as easily have
+produced a Hamlet or a Paradise Lost, as have excogitated a sermon
+which, as a composition, a product of thought, would have tempted
+men like these to hear him a second time; and as to his faculty and
+graces as a speaker, his elocution and action, a second performance
+would have contented them. But in fact Bolingbroke, and many of his
+class, thought not the hour long, time after time, while, with much
+sameness of _material_ and of language, he spoke of eternity and of
+salvation in Christ.... Floods of tears moistened cheeks rough and
+smooth; and sighs, suppressed or loudly uttered, gave evidence that
+human nature is one and the same when it comes in presence of truths
+which bear upon the guilty and the immortal without distinction."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Rev. Dr. James Hamilton of London has admirably delineated
+Whitefield, in a passage which must be admired by all who read
+it: "Whitefield was the prince of English preachers. Many have
+surpassed him as sermon-makers, but none have approached him
+as a pulpit orator. Many have outshone him in the clearness of
+their logic, the grandeur of their conceptions, and the sparkling
+beauty of single sentences; but in the power of darting the gospel
+direct into the conscience, he eclipsed them all. With a full and
+beaming countenance, and the frank and easy port which the English
+people love--for it is the symbol of honest purpose and friendly
+assurance--he combined a voice of rich compass, which could easily
+thrill over Moorfields in musical thunder, or whisper its terrible
+secret in every private ear; and to this gainly aspect and tuneful
+voice he added a most expressive and eloquent action. Improved by
+conscientious practice, and instinct with his earnest nature, this
+elocution was the acted sermon, and by its pantomimic portrait
+enabled the eye to anticipate each rapid utterance, and helped the
+memory to treasure up the palatable ideas. None ever used so boldly,
+nor with more success, the highest styles of impersonation: as when
+he described to his sailor-auditors a storm at sea, and compelled
+them to shout, 'Take to the longboat, sir!' His 'hark, hark!' could
+conjure up Gethsemane with its faltering moon, and awake again the
+cry of horror-stricken innocence; and an apostrophe to Peter on
+the holy mount would light up another Tabor, and drown it in glory
+from the opening heaven. His thoughts were possessions, and his
+feelings were transformations; and he spoke because he felt, his
+hearers understood because they saw. They were not only enthusiastic
+amateurs, like Garrick, who ran to weep and tremble at his bursts
+of passion, but even the colder critics of the Walpole school
+were surprised into momentary sympathy and reluctant wonder. Lord
+Chesterfield was listening in Lady Huntingdon's pew when Whitefield
+was comparing the benighted sinner to a blind beggar on a dangerous
+road. His little dog gets away from him when skirting the edge of
+a precipice, and he is left to explore the path with his iron-shod
+staff. On the very verge of the cliff this blind guide slips through
+his fingers and skims away down the abyss. All unconscious, the
+owner stoops down to regain it, and stumbling forward--'Good God,
+he is gone!' shouted Chesterfield, who had been watching with
+breathless alarm the blind man's movements, and who jumped from his
+feet to save the catastrophe.
+
+"But the glory of Whitefield's preaching was his heart-kindled
+and heart-melting gospel. But for this, all his bold strokes and
+brilliant surprises might have been no better than the rhetorical
+triumphs of Kirwan and other pulpit dramatists. He was an orator,
+but he only sought to be an evangelist. Like a volcano where gold
+and gems may be darted forth as well as common things, but where
+gold and molten granite flow all alike in fiery fusion, bright
+thoughts and splendid images might be projected from his pulpit,
+but all were merged in the stream which bore along the gospel
+and himself in blended fervor. Indeed, so simple was his nature,
+that glory to God and good will to man had filled it; there was
+room for little more. Having no church to found, no family to
+enrich, and no memory to immortalize, he was simply the ambassador
+of God; and inspired with its genial piteous spirit--so full of
+heaven reconciled and humanity restored--he soon himself became a
+living gospel. Radiant with its benignity, and trembling with its
+tenderness, by a sort of spiritual induction a vast audience would
+speedily be brought into a frame of mind--the transfusing of his
+own; and the white furrows on their sooty faces told that Kingswood
+colliers were weeping, or the quivering of an ostrich plume bespoke
+its elegant wearer's deep emotion. And coming to his pulpit direct
+from communion with his Master, and in the strength of accepted
+prayer, there was an elevation in his mien which often paralyzed
+hostility, and a self-possession which made him amid uproar and
+confusion the more sublime. With an electric bolt he would bring the
+jester in his fool's cap from his perch on the tree, or galvanize
+the brickbat from the skulking miscreant's grasp, or sweep down in
+crouching submission and shamefaced silence the whole of Bartholomew
+fair; while a revealing flash of sententious doctrine, of vivified
+Scripture, would disclose to awe-struck hundreds the forgotten
+verities of another world, or the unsuspected arcana of their inner
+man. 'I came to break your head, but, through you, God has broken
+my heart,' was a sort of confession with which he was familiar; and
+to see the deaf old gentlewoman who used to mutter imprecations
+at him as he passed along the streets, clambering up the pulpit
+stairs to catch his angelic words, was a sort of spectacle which the
+triumphant gospel often witnessed in his day. And when it is known
+that his voice could be heard by twenty thousand, and that ranging
+all the empire, as well as America, he would often preach thrice
+on a working-day, and that he has received in one week as many as
+a thousand letters from persons awakened by his sermons, if no
+estimate can be formed of the results of his ministry, some idea may
+be suggested of its vast extent and singular effectiveness."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Very admirably has a writer in the North British Review compared and
+contrasted Whitefield and Wesley. He says, "Few characters could be
+more completely the converse, and in the church's exigencies, more
+happily the supplement of one another, than were those of George
+Whitefield and John Wesley; and had their views been identical,
+and their labors all along coincident, their large services to the
+gospel might have repeated Paul and Barnabas. Whitefield was soul,
+and Wesley was system. Whitefield was a summer cloud which burst at
+morning or noon a fragrant exhalation over an ample track, and took
+the rest of the day to gather again; Wesley was the polished conduit
+in the midst of the garden, through which the living water glided
+in pearly brightness and perennial music, the same vivid stream
+from day to day. After a preaching paroxysm, Whitefield lay panting
+on his couch, spent, breathless, and deathlike; after his morning
+sermon in the foundry, Wesley would mount his pony, and trot and
+chat, and gather simples, till he reached some country hamlet, where
+he would bait his charger, and talk through a little sermon with the
+villagers, and remount his pony and trot away again. In his aërial
+poise, Whitefield's eagle eye drank lustre from the source of light,
+and loved to look down on men in assembled myriads; Wesley's falcon
+glance did not sweep so far, but it searched more keenly and marked
+more minutely where it pierced. A master of assemblies, Whitefield
+was no match for the isolated man. Seldom coping with the multitude,
+but strong in astute sagacity and personal ascendency, Wesley could
+conquer any number one by one. All force and impetus, Whitefield
+was the powder-blast in the quarry, and by one explosive sermon
+would shake a district, and detach materials for other men's long
+work--deft, neat, and painstaking, Wesley loved to split and trim
+each fragment into uniform plinths and polished stones. Or, taken
+otherwise, Whitefield was the bargeman or the wagoner who brought
+the timber of the house, and Wesley was the architect who set it up.
+Whitefield had no patience for ecclesiastical polity, no aptitude
+for pastoral details--with a beaver-like propensity for building,
+Wesley was always constructing societies, and with a king-like
+craft of ruling, was most at home when presiding over a class or a
+conference. It was their infelicity that they did not always work
+together--it was the happiness of the age, and the furtherance of
+the gospel, that they lived alongside of one another."
+
+
+CENTENNIAL COMMEMORATIONS.
+
+When a century had elapsed from the commencement of Whitefield's
+public labors, it was deemed desirable by many in England to
+hold public services of a devotional and practical character, in
+celebration of the event. Especially was it designed that such
+celebrations should have a reference, as far as possible, to
+advance open-air preaching. The first services of this character
+were very properly held in the Tabernacle, London, on May 21, 1839,
+and well do we remember with what intense interest, in common with
+thousands, we attended them. Ministers and laymen of at least
+four religious denominations assisted in them, and eloquently
+discoursed on subjects illustrating the grace of God in connection
+with Whitefield, but still more intent were they on benefiting the
+present and future generations of men. Dr. Campbell delivered a
+sermon on the character and labors of Apollos, illustrated by those
+of Whitefield; the late Dr. Cox discoursed on the genius and labors
+of Whitefield; the late Rev. John Blackburn described the past and
+present state of religion in England; and the Rev. John Young, LL.
+D., urged the propriety, duty, and necessity of open-air preaching.
+In addition to these sermons, several admirable speeches were made,
+and every thing was marked by a spirit of earnest devotion. A small
+volume, containing the sermons and speeches, was printed, and put
+into extensive circulation.
+
+About the same time, a number of ministers of the Congregational
+order met in a central town of Gloucestershire, when one of them
+suggested, that "as the present year was the centenary of the Rev.
+George Whitefield's labors in reviving the apostolic practice of
+open-air preaching, it might be desirable to commemorate them by a
+special religious open-air celebration. It was further remarked,
+that Whitefield was a native of Gloucester; that as many ministers
+present presided over churches instituted by his ministry; that
+as Stinchcombe hill, in the very centre of the county, presented
+a most beautiful and eligible spot for a public meeting; and as
+upon its summit, a century ago, Whitefield himself had preached and
+showed the glad tidings of the kingdom of God, it seemed a duty to
+improve the opportunity it offered of addressing, on the gracious
+persuasives of the cross, a large concourse of persons, many of whom
+might never hear the gospel, and of promoting in the county the
+revival of evangelical religion, which God so highly honored his
+devoted servant in commencing in our land."
+
+The suggestion was most cordially received, arrangements were made,
+and, July 30, 1839, though the weather was unfavorable, the meeting
+was attended by at least seven thousand persons. A large preaching
+stand was erected for the ministers, nearly one hundred of whom
+were present. Sermons were preached by the Rev. Drs. Matheson and
+Ross, and by the Rev. Messrs. T. East, J. H. Hinton, and J. Sibree;
+and addresses were given, and the devotional exercises led by many
+others. The services were solemnly impressive. The late Josiah
+Conder, Esq., wrote two hymns especially for the occasion, which are
+well worthy of preservation; we therefore transfer them to our pages.
+
+I.
+
+      How sweet from crowded throngs,
+      Zion, ascend thy songs,
+    With choral swells through echoing aisles!
+      Where brethren, brethren meet,
+      These songs rise doubly sweet,
+    From humbler rooms or loftier piles.
+
+      But here, not made with hands,
+      A nobler temple stands;
+    Here, 'mid thy works, O God, we bow,
+      Where all around, above,
+      Proclaims thy power and love;
+    Oh, tune our hearts to praise thee now.
+
+      We bless thy gracious care,
+      For many a house of prayer,
+    Where saints may meet with conscience free,
+      To keep thy simple rites,
+      In which thy church delights,
+    And unforbidden, wait on thee.
+
+      But now, beneath the sky,
+      We raise our songs on high,
+    To Him who gave all nature birth;
+      While the free air wafts round
+      To distant vales the sound--
+    Praise to the Lord of heaven and earth.
+
+      So to the mountain air
+      The Saviour breathed his prayer;
+    So 'mid green hills or deserts rude,
+      The poor he meekly taught,
+      And gracious wonders wrought,
+    Or fed the famished multitude.
+
+      So did apostles teach;
+      So did our Whitefield preach;
+    These hills have heard his fervent prayer:
+      Oh, let the saving word
+      Throughout our land be heard,
+    Free as the light, and open as the air.
+
+
+II.
+
+    Where is the voice of Whitefield now?
+      Where does his mantle rest?
+    Oh, for Elisha's from the plough,
+      With kindred zeal possessed!
+    Apostles of heroic mould,
+      With love seraphic fired,
+    Divinely called, like those of old
+      At Pentecost inspired!
+
+    Oh THOU, our Head, enthroned on high,
+      By whom thy members live,
+    Wilt thou not hear our fervent cry,
+      The holy unction give?
+    In all the plenitude of grace
+      Thy gifts of might bestow;
+    And by us, Lord, in every place,
+      Thy saving virtue show.
+
+    This Christian land with error teems,
+      The blind by blinder led;
+    The sophist weaves his Atheist schemes;
+      Wide has the poison spread.
+    Arise, O Lord, send forth thy word;
+      Thy faithful heralds call;
+    And while the gospel trump is heard,
+      Let Satan's bulwarks fall.
+
+    Free, pure, and vital as the light,
+      GOD'S message to our race;
+    Like genial gales the SPIRIT'S might,
+      Sovereign, mysterious grace.
+    Breathe forth, O wind, and to new birth
+      Quicken the bones of death;
+    Regenerate this withered earth;
+      Give to the dying breath.
+
+It is pleasant to add to this account, that satisfactory evidences
+were given that some, during these services, were brought to the
+saving knowledge of "the truth as in Jesus." And it may be mentioned
+as a singular circumstance, that an old man one hundred and three
+years of age attended on this occasion, who had been carried in his
+mother's arms to this same spot to hear Whitefield preach just a
+century before.
+
+The last centenary service to which we shall make reference, is the
+one held at the _Bristol_ Tabernacle, November 25, 1853. The sermon
+on _The Character of Whitefield_, by the Rev. John Angell James, was
+from the text, "This one thing I do." Phil. 3:13. In it he said:
+
+"We hear much in our days about the adaptation of the gospel to
+the age. There is no word I more hate or love, dread or desire,
+according to the sense in, or the purpose for which it is used,
+than this word _adaptation_ as applied to preaching. Now, if by
+adaptation be meant, more philosophy, and less Christianity; more of
+cold abstract intellectualism, and less of popular, simple, earnest
+statement of gospel truth; more profound discussion and artificial
+elaboration addressed to the learned few, and less of warm-hearted
+appeal to the multitude, may God preserve us from such adaptation,
+for it is high-treason against truth and the salvation of souls. But
+if by this be meant a stronger intelligence, a chaster composition,
+a sterner logic, a more powerful rhetoric, a more correct criticism,
+and a more varied illustration, but all employed to set forth the
+gospel as comprehending those two great words, _redemption and
+regeneration_, let us have it; we need it; and come in ever such
+abundance, it will be a blessing.
+
+"Adaptation! the gospel is adaptation, from beginning to end, to
+every age of time, and to all conditions of humanity. It is God's
+own adaptation. It is he who knows every ward of the lock of
+man's nature, who has constructed this admirable key; and all the
+miserable tinkering of a vain and deceitful philosophy can make no
+better key, nor can all the attempts of a philosophizing theology
+make this key better fit the wards of the lock.
+
+"Adaptation! was not the gospel in all its purity and simplicity
+adapted to human nature as it existed in commercial, scholastic,
+philosophical Corinth? And did not Paul think so when he determined
+to know nothing there, but 'Christ, and him crucified?' Was it not
+by this very gospel, which many are "beginning to imagine is not
+suited to an intellectual and philosophical age, that Christianity
+fought its first battles, and achieved its victories over the
+hosts of darkness? Against the axe, the stake, the sword of the
+gladiator, and the lions of the amphitheatre; against the ridicule
+of wits, the reasoning of sages, the interests, influence, and craft
+of the priesthood; against the prowess of armies, and the brute
+passions of the mob, Christianity, strong in its weakness, sublime
+in its simplicity, potent in its isolation, asking and receiving
+no protection from the sceptre of the monarch or the sword of the
+warrior, went forth to do battle with the wisdom of Greece and the
+mythology of Rome. Everywhere it prevailed, and gathered its laurels
+from the snows of Scythia, the sands of Africa, the plains of India,
+and the green fields of Europe. With the gospel alone she overturned
+the altars of impiety in her march. Power felt his arm wither at her
+glance. She silenced the lying oracles by the majesty of her voice,
+and extinguished the deceptive light of philosophy in the schools,
+till at length she who went forth forlorn and weeping from Calvary
+to the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, ascended, upon the ruins of the
+temples, the idols, and the altars she had demolished, to the throne
+of the Cæsars, and with the diadem on her brow, and the purple on
+her shoulders, gave laws to the world from that very tribunal where
+she had been dragged as a criminal and condemned as a malefactor.[3]
+
+  [3] See Dr. John M. Mason's Funeral Sermon for Mrs. Graham.
+
+"Adaptation! is not justification by faith the very substance of the
+gospel, and was it not by this doctrine that Luther effected the
+enfranchisement of the human intellect, from the chains of slavery
+which had been forged in the Vatican; achieved the liberation of
+half Europe from the yoke of Rome, and gave an impulse to human
+thought and vital Christianity which has not yet spent itself, and
+never will, till it issues in the jubilee of the nations and the
+glories of the millennium?
+
+"Adaptation! did not Whitefield move this kingdom almost to its
+centre, and equally so our then great transatlantic colony to
+its extremities, fascinating alike the colliers of Kingswood and
+the citizens of the metropolis; and by this mighty theme enable
+myriads to burst the chains of sin and Satan, and to walk abroad
+disenthralled by the mighty power of redeeming grace?
+
+"Adaptation! is not this gospel now proving its power in heathen
+countries to raise the savage into civilized man, the civilized man
+into the saint, and in this ascending scale of progression, the
+saint into the seraph?
+
+"And yet, with these proofs of the power of the gospel to adapt
+itself to every age of the world, and to every condition of
+humanity, there are those who want something else to effect the
+regeneration of mankind. 'And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all
+men unto me.' So said the Saviour of men. The cross is the great
+moral magnet for all ages and all countries, to draw men from
+barbarism to civilization, from sin to holiness, from misery to
+happiness, and from earth to heaven; and it were as rational to say
+the loadstone had lost its original power of polar attraction, and
+the mariner's compass is an old, stale invention, and must now be
+replaced with some new device, better adapted to the modern light
+of science, as to suppose that the doctrine of the cross had become
+effete, and must give way to some new phase of theological truth.
+
+"I now consider the _manner_ in which Whitefield carried out his own
+purpose into action. '_One thing I do_:' and _how_ did he accomplish
+it?
+
+"Never was the joyful sound sent over the world by a more
+magnificent _voice_. All his biographers labor, as do the
+historians of Greece in describing the power of Demosthenes, to
+make us understand his wondrous oratory. Perhaps, after all, that
+which gives us the most vivid idea of it is, not the _crowds_ it
+attracted, moved, and melted, but that it warmed the cold and
+calculating Franklin, and fascinated the philosophical and sceptical
+Hume. Heaven rarely ever gave, or gives to man the faculty of speech
+in such perfection. But what is particularly worthy of notice is,
+that he trusted not to its native power, but increased that power
+by assiduous cultivation. His matchless elocution was not only an
+endowment, but an acquirement. If he preached a sermon twenty times,
+he went on to the last improving his method of delivering it, both
+as to tones and action; not for theatrical display--no man was
+ever more free from this--but to carry out his 'one thing'--_the
+salvation of souls_. He knew, and deeply and philosophically entered
+into the meaning of that text, 'Faith cometh by hearing;' and he
+also knew that attentive hearing comes by the power of speaking.
+With such a theme as the gospel, with such an object as salvation,
+with such an aim as eternity, and such a Master to serve as Christ,
+he would not give utterance to such subjects, and for such purposes,
+in careless and slovenly speech. He studied to be the orator, that
+he might thus pluck souls as brands from the burning. In this let us
+imitate him. Of all our faculties, that of speech is perhaps least
+cultivated, yet is most susceptible of cultivation, and pays best
+for the pains bestowed upon it. My brethren, speech is the great
+instrument of our ministerial labor. Our assault upon the rebel town
+of Mansoul is to be carried on, and our entrance to be effected,
+to use the language of Bunyan, at ear-gate. The tongue, rather
+than the pen, is the weapon of most of us. For the love of souls,
+let us endeavor to be good speakers. With the loftiest themes in
+the universe for our subjects, do, do let us endeavor to speak of
+them in some measure worthily. It is an instructive and astounding,
+and to us humiliating and disgraceful fact, that the stage-player,
+whether in comedy or in tragedy, takes ten times more pains to
+give effective utterance to his follies, vices, and passions, for
+the amusement of his audience, than we do to eternal and momentous
+truths for the salvation of ours. The stage seems the only arena
+where the power of oratory is much studied. Should this be?
+
+"A few characteristics of Whitefield's manner deserve emphatic
+mention and particular attention, as connected with the execution
+of his one great purpose. The first I notice is _solemnity_. He
+never, as did some of his followers, degraded the pulpit by making
+it the arena of low humor and wit; abounding in anecdote, and even
+in action, he was uniformly solemn. His deep devotional spirit
+contributed largely to this, for his piety was the inward fire
+which supplied the ardor of his manner. He was eminently a man of
+prayer; and had he been less prayerful, he would also have been less
+powerful. He came into the pulpit from the closet, where he had been
+communing with God, and could no more trifle with merry humor at
+such a time than could Moses when he came down from the mount to the
+people; or than the high-priest when he came out from the blazing
+symbols of the divine presence between the cherubim in the holy of
+holies; or Isaiah when he saw the Lord of hosts, high and lifted up,
+with his train filling the temple. Happily the age and taste for
+pulpit buffoonery is gone, I hope never to return.
+
+  ''Tis pitiful to count a gain when you should woo a soul.'
+
+It was the stamp and impress of eternity upon his preaching, that
+gave Whitefield such power. He spoke like a man that stood upon
+the borders of the unseen world, alternately rapt in ecstasy as he
+gazed upon the felicities of heaven, and convulsed with terror as
+he seemed to hear the howlings of the damned, and saw the smoke
+of their torment ascending from the pit for ever and ever. His
+maxim was to preach, as Apelles painted, for eternity, and he
+said, if ministers preached for eternity, they would then act the
+part of true Christian orators. And tell me, my brethren, what are
+all the prettinesses, the beauties, or even sublimities of human
+eloquence--what the similes, metaphors, and other garniture of
+rhetoric--what the philosophy and intellectualities which many in
+this day are aiming at, to move and bow and conquer the human soul,
+compared with 'the powers of the world to come?'
+
+"But there was another characteristic of Whitefield's manner, and
+that was its _tenderness_. Our Lord, as to his humanity, was a man
+of sorrows, and therefore of tears; so was Paul, so was Whitefield.
+Perhaps the latter somewhat too much so, at any rate far too much so
+for any preacher but himself, and with him the fountain of his tears
+was somewhat too full and flowing. But Oh, what an apology for this,
+and what a stroke of pathetic eloquence was that appeal when on one
+occasion he said, 'You blame me for weeping, but how can I help
+it, when you will not weep for yourselves, although your immortal
+souls are on the verge of destruction, and for aught I know you are
+hearing your last sermon, and may never more have an opportunity
+to have Christ offered to you.' Man is an emotional as well as an
+intellectual creature, and sympathy is one of the powers of our
+physical and mental economy. The passions are of an infectious
+nature, and men feel more in a crowd than in solitude. The adage of
+the ancient elocutionist is still true, 'If you wish me to weep,
+weep yourself.' Whitefield's tears drew forth those of his audience,
+and his pathos softened their hearts for the impressions of the
+truth. It is forgotten by many preachers that they may do much by
+the heart, as well as by the head. We are not the teachers of logic,
+mathematics, metaphysics, or natural philosophy, which have nothing
+to do with the heart, but of religion, the very seat of which is
+there; and _we_ address ourselves not only to the logical, but to
+the æsthetical part of man's complex nature. By argument, I know
+we must convince, but we must not stop in the judgment, but go on
+to reach the heart, and we ourselves must feel as well as reason.
+_Clear, but cold_, is too descriptive of much modern preaching. It
+is the frosty moonlight of a winter's night, not the warm sunshine
+of a summer's day. A cold preacher is likely to have cold hearers.
+Cold! What, when the love of God, the death of Christ, the salvation
+of souls, the felicities of heaven, and the torments of hell are the
+theme? Enthusiasm here is venial, compared with lukewarmness.
+
+"Need I say that _earnestness_ was characteristic of Whitefield's
+preaching? Yes, that one word, perhaps, more than any other in our
+language, is its epitome. An intense earnestness marked its whole
+career, and was carried to such a pitch as to subject him, as did
+that of Paul, to the imputation of madness. The salvation of souls
+was so entirely the one thing that engrossed his soul, his time,
+his labors, that not a step deviated from it. Every moment, every
+day, was an approximation to it. His devotions, his recreations,
+if any such he had, his journeys, his voyages, his sermons, his
+correspondence, were all referred to this one end. His exertions
+never relaxed for a moment, and he, with his great compeer Wesley,
+made the trial so seldom made, what is the utmost effect which, in
+the way of saving souls, may be granted to any one preacher of the
+gospel in any age or country.
+
+"What may not be done, and is not done by earnestness? It gives
+_some_ success to any error, however absurd or enormous, and to any
+scheme of wickedness, however flagrant and atrocious. What is it
+that has given such success to popery, to infidelity, to Mormonism?
+_Earnestness._ And shall the apostles and advocates of error be
+more in earnest than the friends of truth? Whitefield often quoted
+Betterton the player, who affirmed that the stage would soon be
+deserted if the actors spoke like the preachers. And what _would_
+empty the play-house, that is, dulness and coldness, _does_ often
+empty the meeting-house. 'Mr. Betterton's answer to a worthy
+prelate,' says Whitefield, 'is worthy of lasting regard.' When asked
+how it is that the clergy, who speak of things _real_, affected
+the people so little, and the players, who speak only of things
+imaginary, affected them so much, replied 'My lord, I can assign but
+one reason--we players speak of things imaginary as though they were
+real, and too many of the clergy speak of things real as though they
+were imaginary.' It is not always so. Many a preacher, even in our
+own day, by the unaffected earnestness of his manner, carries away
+his audience upon the tide of his own feeling. They hear what he
+says, they see what he feels, his eye helps his tongue, the workings
+of his countenance disclose the feelings of his heart; his manner is
+a lucid comment upon his matter, breaks down the limits which words
+impose upon the communication of ideas, and gives them not only an
+apprehension of the meaning, but a sense of the importance of his
+subject, which unimpassioned language and manner could not have done.
+
+"I name but one thing more as characteristic of this great man,
+and which it would be well for us to imitate, and that is, his
+_dauntless courage_. See him not only facing mobs, defying threats,
+and even lifting up his pulpit amid the wild uproar of a London
+fair, the boldest achievement that a speaker ever accomplished, but
+holding on his noble career unterrified, and working amid the storm
+of obloquy that came upon him from so many quarters. Who that has
+ever read, can ever forget Cowper's exquisite description of him?
+
+    "'LEUCONOMUS--beneath well-sounding Greek
+      I show a name a poet must not speak--
+      Stood pilloried on infamy's high stage,
+      And bore the pelting storm of half an age,
+      The very butt of slander, and the blot
+      For every dart that malice ever shot.
+      The man that mentioned him at once dismissed
+      All mercy from his lips, and sneered and hissed.
+      His crimes were such as Sodom never knew,
+      And perjury stood up to swear all true;
+      His aim was mischief, and his zeal pretence,
+      His speech rebellion against common-sense:
+      A knave when tried on honesty's plain rule,
+      And when by that of reason, a mere fool.
+      The world's best comfort was, his doom was passed,
+      Die when he might, he must be damned at last.
+      Now truth, perform thine office, waft aside
+      The curtain drawn by prejudice and pride,
+      Reveal--the man is dead--to wondering eyes,
+      This more than monster, in his proper guise.
+      He loved the world that hated him; the tear
+      That dropped upon his Bible was sincere:
+      Assailed by scandal and the tongue of strife,
+      His only answer was--a blameless life;
+      And he that forged, and he that threw the dart,
+      Had each a brother's interest in his heart.
+      Paul's love of Christ, and steadiness unbribed,
+      Were copied close in him, and well transcribed.
+      He followed Paul--his zeal a kindred flame,
+      His apostolic charity the same.
+      Like him, crossed cheerfully tempestuous seas,
+      Forsaking country, kindred, friends, and ease.
+      Like him he labored, and like him, content
+      To bear it, suffered shame where'er he went.
+      Blush, calumny! and write upon his tomb,
+      If honest eulogy can spare the room,
+      Thy deep repentance of thy thousand lies,
+      Which, aimed at him, have pierced the offended skies;
+      And say, Blot out my sin, confessed, deplored,
+      Against thine image, in thy saint, O Lord.'
+
+"What but a guilty cowardice is it, a false and pusillanimous shame,
+that keeps us in these days from some novel and bolder method of
+aggression upon the domain of darkness? Are we not wanting here in
+that moral courage which would make us, when conscious of doing
+right, indifferent to the stare of the ignorant, and the wonder
+of the timid; to the shaft of ridicule, and the malignant censure
+of the cynic? How enslaved are we by the fetters of custom, or
+restrained by the trammels of conventiality! How little are we
+disposed to go out of the usual track, even in saving souls! Very
+few are disposed to imitate the boldness, ingenuity, and novelty
+of that noble-hearted brother,[4] who hired a disengaged theatre
+in the city where he dwelt, and for four months preached there to
+listening and well-behaved crowds, the gospel of salvation; and for
+his reward had very many given to him, who are his joy now, and will
+be his crown of rejoicing in the presence of Christ at his coming.
+Who can see Paul on Mars-Hill, addressing himself to the sages and
+their followers of all sects, and preaching to them a doctrine so
+repugnant to the mythology of the temple and the philosophy of the
+schools, as Christ, the last judgment, and the resurrection of the
+body, without being impressed with the moral courage of such an act?
+It is this spiritual heroism that is wanted in our modern preaching,
+and indeed, which was no less needful when the Methodistic company
+commenced their preaching.
+
+  [4] The Rev. Richard Knill of Chester, formerly a missionary in
+  India, and afterwards in Russia, since deceased.--B.
+
+"Nor is it only in this unwillingness to go off from our own
+ground for saving souls that our guilty cowardice is seen, but in
+the disposition to shirk the more solemn and searching truths of
+revelation. Are we not giving way too much to the fastidiousness of
+modern taste and refinement, which is craving after smooth things;
+which desires the sentimental, the picturesque, the imaginative, but
+turns with disgust from the solemn, the alarming, the awakening? Are
+we not too gentle and courteous to mention such a word as 'hell'
+to modern ears polite? Are we not too fearful to break in with the
+thunders of a violated law upon those who are at ease in Zion? I do
+not ask for a gross, revolting method of describing the punishment
+of the wicked, as if the preacher delighted in harrowing up the
+feelings of his audience. This is as disgusting as if, in order
+to keep men from crime, our judges and magistrates were ever and
+anon giving a minute detail of the process of an execution, and the
+convulsive pangs of an expiring wretch suspended to the beam of the
+gibbet. We ask not for a harsh, scolding, and denunciating style of
+preaching; but we do want more of the unflinching boldness, and the
+dauntless courage, which, are necessary to fidelity, and absolutely
+essential to him who would win souls to Christ. It is too generally
+forgotten, that our Lord Jesus, who was incarnate love, was the most
+solemn and awful of all preachers. He whose gentle spirit so often
+breathed out itself in invitation, and whose compassion melted into
+tears, at other times robed himself in terror, and uttered the most
+alarming peals of divine indignation. What we need for our ministry
+is this mixture of tenderness and solemnity, which entered so deeply
+into the ministry of Christ, and was so characteristic of his
+servant, whose labors we this day commemorate and commend."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Hear also the Rev. John Glanville, the present successor of
+Whitefield in the Tabernacle at Bristol: "And such preaching _must
+continue_, if the world is to be saved. Nothing but this is suited
+to man's necessities; nothing else can meet man's miseries. The
+battle must be fought with the old, well-tried, but not worn-out
+weapons. God has provided them, and we must use them. We require
+nothing else; the world has not outgrown the old gospel, so as to
+need something new to soothe its sorrows and satisfy its wants.
+
+"Not that ministers can now produce the effect Whitefield did. He
+was a man standing alone. The charm and power of his preaching
+have never been explained. It was all fire and flame, shooting
+out red-hot thunderbolts against the citadels of sin. It was an
+undivided soul, solemnly consecrated to one object--an entire life,
+zealously employed in one thing. As he preached, every feature
+spoke, the whole man became vocal, and the truth of God stood out
+in its full proportions and beauty, in the bright and broad daylight
+of heaven. So unreserved was his self-consecration, that every thing
+was deemed impertinent which obtruded upon, or interfered with the
+one great end of his existence. He lived in communion with God--more
+in heaven than on earth. He was much at the foot of the throne,
+and got his strength there; he prevailed with men, because he had
+prevailed with God. His whole soul was filled with life, and fired
+with love, from being in habitual contact with the cross.
+
+"And _we_ must pursue the same course, and try to do the same thing.
+We have the power, and we must bring it forth and use it. God has
+given the machinery, and it is for us to set it in motion. The
+world is perishing, and we must save it; it is dying, and we must
+give it life. God from his eternal throne calls us--Christ from his
+bleeding cross speaks to us--voices from the abodes of sin, and the
+regions of despair, sound in our ears. And we all, as ministers and
+as members, must rise up in the vigor of piety and the fervor of
+prayer. We must rise up from the slumbers of selfishness, and tear
+off the fetters of the world, and act as those who believe in the
+existence of an eternal heaven and an eternal hell, and that all
+souls will be found in the one or in the other--as those who have a
+great work to do, and but a short and uncertain time to do it in.
+Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake, as in the
+ancient days, in the generations of old."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Transcriber's note:
+
+Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note.
+Irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have been retained as
+printed.
+
+Missing page numbers are page numbers that were not shown in the
+original text.
+
+Mismatched quotes are not fixed if it's not sufficiently clear where
+the missing quote should be placed.
+
+The cover for the eBook version of this book was created by the
+transcriber and is placed in the public domain.
+
+
+
+
+
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of George Whitefield, by Joseph Belcher
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: George Whitefield
+       A Biography, with special reference to his labors in America
+
+Author: Joseph Belcher
+
+Release Date: November 9, 2013 [EBook #44140]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GEORGE WHITEFIELD ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Heather Clark, Julia Neufeld, Illustration
+images from TIA and the Online Distributed Proofreading
+Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from
+scanned images of public domain material from the Google
+Print project.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 358px;">
+<img src="images/title.jpg" width="358" height="600" alt="titlepage" />
+
+</div>
+<hr class="tb" />
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 381px;">
+<img src="images/frontis.jpg" width="381" height="600" alt="frontis" />
+<div class="caption"><p class="center">George Whitefield.
+</p></div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<h1>
+GEORGE WHITEFIELD:<br />
+
+A BIOGRAPHY,</h1>
+
+<p class="center space-above"><small>WITH</small><br />
+
+SPECIAL REFERENCE TO HIS LABORS<br />
+IN AMERICA.</p>
+
+
+<p class="center space-above">
+COMPILED</p>
+
+<h2>BY JOSEPH BELCHER, D. D.,</h2>
+<p class="center">
+<small>AUTHOR OF THE LIFE OF REV. DR. CAREY, MISSIONARY TO INDIA,<br />
+ETC., ETC.</small></p>
+
+<p class="center space-above">
+PUBLISHED BY THE<br />
+AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY,<br />
+150 NASSAU-STREET, NEW YORK.
+</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+
+<h2>CONTENTS.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="center">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="contents">
+<tr><td align="center">CHAPTER I.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="hanging">MORAL STATE OF GREAT BRITAIN IN THE EARLY PART OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY&mdash;WHITEFIELD, FROM HIS BIRTH TO HIS FIRST SERMON.</p></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">1714-1736.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="hanging">Low state of religion in Great Britain and its dependencies when Whitefield appeared&mdash;His birth in Gloucester&mdash;Hooper&mdash;Raikes&mdash;Whitefield's early life&mdash;His entrance at the university of Oxford&mdash;Becomes connected with the Wesleys and other Methodists&mdash;Illness and mental trials&mdash;Relief&mdash;Preparation for the ministry&mdash;Return to Gloucester&mdash;Ordination&mdash;First sermon</p></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_13">13</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">CHAPTER II.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="center">WHITEFIELD'S SUCCESS AS A PREACHER IN ENGLAND&mdash;FIRST VISIT TO AMERICA.</p></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">1736-1738.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="hanging">Whitefield's return to Oxford&mdash;Usefulness there&mdash;Visits London&mdash;Great popularity&mdash;Georgia&mdash;His anxiety as to duty&mdash;Invited to Georgia by the Wesleys&mdash;Preparation and departure&mdash;Preaching and excitement at Deal&mdash;Labors and success on board&mdash;Arrival and labors at Gibraltar&mdash;Interesting incidents on the voyage&mdash;Sickness and recovery&mdash;His reception at Savannah&mdash;Visit to an Indian king&mdash;Origin of the Orphan asylum&mdash;Visit to Frederica&mdash;Return to Savannah&mdash;Visit to Charleston&mdash;Treatment by Garden&mdash;Embarkation for Europe&mdash;Stormy voyage&mdash;Arrival in Limerick&mdash;Journey to London&mdash;Meeting with the trustees of Georgia&mdash;Ordination as priest&mdash;Return to London&mdash;First extempore prayer&mdash;First idea of open-air preaching</p></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_40">40</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span>CHAPTER III.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="center">OPEN-AIR PREACHING IN ENGLAND AND WALES&mdash;ERECTION OF THE TABERNACLE IN LONDON.</p></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">1738, 1739.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="hanging">Whitefield's visit to Bristol&mdash;New opposition&mdash;Interviews with the chancellor of the diocese&mdash;Preaching at Kingswood&mdash;Large congregations&mdash;Preaching at Bristol&mdash;Labors in Wales with Howel Harris&mdash;Gloucester&mdash;Old Mr. Cole&mdash;Return to London&mdash;Conflict with Bishop Warburton and others&mdash;Moorfields&mdash;Kennington Common&mdash;Blackheath&mdash;Anecdotes&mdash;Erection of the Tabernacle&mdash;New Tabernacle&mdash;Certificate&mdash;Visit to Norwich&mdash;Conversion of Robert Robinson&mdash;Preaching at the West End of London&mdash;Liberality of Whitefield's congregations&mdash;Attendance of the nobility on Whitefield's ministry&mdash;Architecture of Tabernacle and Tottenham Court road chapel</p></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_71">71</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">CHAPTER IV.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="center">WHITEFIELD'S SECOND VISIT TO AMERICA.</p></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">1739, 1740.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="hanging">Joseph Periam's release by Whitefield from Bedlam&mdash;Whitefield's arrival at Philadelphia&mdash;Preaches to vast crowds in the open air&mdash;Testimony of Dr. Franklin and others&mdash;Account of the Log College&mdash;William Tennent, Sen.&mdash;Whitefield's own account of his preaching at Philadelphia&mdash;Subsequent discovery of the conversion of Dr. Rodgers&mdash;Whitefield's first visit to New York&mdash;Description of him by one of his hearers&mdash;Sermons in New Jersey&mdash;Old Tennent church&mdash;Places of preaching at New York&mdash;Address to sailors&mdash;Letter to Pemberton&mdash;Interview with Gilbert Tennent&mdash;Some of Whitefield's sermons printed&mdash;Departure from Philadelphia&mdash;Sermons on his journey to Savannah&mdash;Arrival and reception at Charleston&mdash;Departure for Savannah&mdash;Dangers of the way&mdash;State of things in Georgia&mdash;Whitefield revisits Charleston&mdash;Controversy with Commissary Garden&mdash;Lays the foundation-stone of the Orphan house&mdash;Sermon by Smith on the character of Whitefield</p></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_97">97</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">CHAPTER V.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="center">CONTINUATION OF HIS SECOND VISIT TO AMERICA.</p></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">1740.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="hanging">Feebleness of Whitefield's health&mdash;Again visits Charleston, Philadelphia, etc.&mdash;Extent of his former success&mdash;Extracts from Seward's journal&mdash;Extracts from newspapers&mdash;Whitefield's letter to England&mdash;His correspondence on marriage&mdash;Birth and death of his son&mdash;His funeral sermon for his wife&mdash;Franklin and others on Whitefield's eloquence&mdash;Anecdote&mdash;Extract from the New England Weekly Journal&mdash;Return to Savannah&mdash;Manner of his reception&mdash;Activity at Savannah&mdash;Again visits Charleston&mdash;Cited into the Commissary's court&mdash;Various examinations&mdash;Whitefield's appeal to the Court of Chancery&mdash;Interview with the Commissary&mdash;Usefulness at Charleston&mdash;Sails for New England</p></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_129">129</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span>CHAPTER VI.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="center">WHITEFIELD'S FIRST VISIT TO NEW ENGLAND.</p></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">SEPTEMBER TO NOVEMBER, 1740.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="hanging">State of religion in New England&mdash;Testimony of Prince&mdash;Dr. I. Mather&mdash;Dr. Jonathan Edwards' success&mdash;Prevalence of prayer&mdash;Whitefield's arrival and labors at Newport&mdash;Interview with Clap&mdash;Honeyman&mdash;Letter from Barber&mdash;Journey to Boston&mdash;Interview with the Commissary and the clergy&mdash;Preaches at Brattle-street, Old South church, New North, Common, Roxbury, Old North, Cambridge, First church&mdash;Interview with Governor Belcher&mdash;Roxbury&mdash;Hollis-street&mdash;Old South church&mdash;Brattle-street&mdash;Marblehead&mdash;Salem&mdash;Ipswich&mdash;Newbury&mdash;Hampton&mdash;Portsmouth&mdash;York&mdash;Return to Boston&mdash;Frequent preaching&mdash;Invitation to children&mdash;Interesting conversation with a child&mdash;Anecdote of juvenile usefulness&mdash;Remarks on an unconverted ministry&mdash;Whitefield's character of Boston&mdash;Preaches at Concord, Sudbury, Marlborough, Worcester, Leicester, Brookfield, Cold Spring, Hadley, Northampton&mdash;Revival there&mdash;Whitefield's opinion of Mr. Edwards and family&mdash;Important interview&mdash;Preaching at East Windsor, Westfield, Springfield, Suffield&mdash;Opinion of Mr. and Mrs. Edwards, Sen.&mdash;Relinquishment of appointments to preach&mdash;Visit to New Haven&mdash;Interview with Principal Clap&mdash;Departure from New England&mdash;Whitefield's character of it&mdash;Conversion of Mr. Emerson&mdash;Prince's account of Whitefield's visit&mdash;Dr. Baron Stow on its results&mdash;Anecdote,</p></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_148">148</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">CHAPTER VII.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="center">LABORS IN NEW YORK AND THE MIDDLE AND SOUTHERN STATES.</p></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">1740, 1741.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="hanging">Whitefield's arrival and labors at New York, Staten Island, and Newark&mdash;Mr. Burr&mdash;Meeting with Gilbert Tennent&mdash;Visit to Baskinridge&mdash;Tennent's preaching in Cross' barn&mdash;Whitefield preaches in the new house at Philadelphia&mdash;Franklin's advice to Gilbert Tennent&mdash;Remarkable instances of conversion&mdash;Success in Philadelphia&mdash;Apostrophe in a sermon&mdash;Visit to Gloucester, Greenwich, Cohansey, Salem, Newcastle, Fagg's Manor, Bohemia&mdash;Sails from Reedy island to Charleston&mdash;Arrival at Bethesda&mdash;Remarkable escape from death&mdash;Prosecution at Charleston&mdash;Preaching&mdash;Letters from Boston&mdash;Departure for England&mdash;Separation from Messrs. Wesley&mdash;Difficulties in London&mdash;Triumph&mdash;Howel Harris</p></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_196">196</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span>CHAPTER VIII.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="center">FIRST AND SECOND VISITS TO SCOTLAND&mdash;LABORS IN ENGLAND AND WALES.</p></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">1741-1744.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="hanging">Scheme of comprehension&mdash;Account of Rev. John Cennick&mdash;Voyage to Scotland&mdash;Letter to Rodgers&mdash;Visit to Erskine&mdash;Preaching in Edinburgh&mdash;Labors at Glasgow&mdash;His sermons printed&mdash;Return to England&mdash;Letter from McCulloch&mdash;Renewed glance at Edinburgh&mdash;Public attention deeply riveted&mdash;Execution of a convict&mdash;Improvement of the event in a sermon&mdash;Conversion of a mimic&mdash;A drunken sergeant&mdash;Miss Hunter&mdash;Marquis of Lothian&mdash;Conduct of Rev. Mr. Ogilvie&mdash;Second visit to Scotland&mdash;Cambuslang&mdash;Kilmarnock&mdash;Glance at subsequent visits&mdash;Orphan-house park, Edinburgh&mdash;Glasgow&mdash;Increasing reputation&mdash;Extracts from letters&mdash;Anecdotes&mdash;Visit to Wales&mdash;Letters from America&mdash;Visit to Gloucester, Strand, Tewkesbury&mdash;Encouraging news from America&mdash;Success in London&mdash;Awakening at the Tabernacle&mdash;Visit to Gloucester and its neighborhood&mdash;South Wales&mdash;Return to London&mdash;Bristol&mdash;Exeter&mdash;Mr. Saunders&mdash;Conversion of Thomas Olivers&mdash;Birmingham&mdash;Kidderminster&mdash;Health&mdash;Assizes at Gloucester&mdash;Plymouth&mdash;Deliverance from assassination&mdash;Conversion of Mr. Tanner&mdash;Visits to the poor&mdash;Anecdote&mdash;Embarkation for America</p></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_222">222</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">CHAPTER IX.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="center">WHITEFIELD'S SECOND VISIT TO NEW ENGLAND.</p></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">1744, 1745.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="hanging">Incidents of the voyage from England&mdash;Prayer heard&mdash;General alarm&mdash;Whitefield's illness&mdash;Arrival at York&mdash;Threatening sickness&mdash;Rev. Mr. Moody&mdash;Preaching at York and Portsmouth&mdash;Apparent danger of death&mdash;Departure for Boston&mdash;Constant preaching there&mdash;Chelsea&mdash;Malden&mdash;Prince's account of his preaching and conduct&mdash;Objections made to his administration of the Lord's supper&mdash;Changes in New England&mdash;Opposition to Whitefield in Connecticut, New Haven, Massachusetts, Harvard College&mdash;Large meeting in his favor at Boston&mdash;Number of signatures to the testimony&mdash;Progress of revival&mdash;Proceedings of Harvard College&mdash;Whitefield's defence&mdash;Subsequent act of the College&mdash;Expositions at Boston, Ipswich, Portland, Exeter&mdash;Expedition against Cape Breton&mdash;Sherburne's request&mdash;Sermon to the soldiers&mdash;Refusal of chaplaincy&mdash;Conversion of a colored trumpeter&mdash;Of a noted scoffer&mdash;Anecdote of Whitefield and Dr. Hopkins</p></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_254">254</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span>CHAPTER X.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="center">LABORS IN THE MIDDLE AND SOUTHERN STATES&mdash;THE BERMUDAS.</p></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">1745-1748.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="hanging">Whitefield's preaching in New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia&mdash;Liberal offer declined&mdash;Usefulness of his printed sermons in Virginia&mdash;Preaches at Hanover&mdash;Isaac Oliver&mdash;Visit to Bethesda&mdash;His account of the Orphan-house&mdash;His character as given by the New York Post-boy&mdash;Public testimony as to Whitefield's integrity&mdash;Preaching tour in Maryland&mdash;Visit to Charleston&mdash;Success of his preaching in Maryland&mdash;Visits New York, Newport, Portsmouth, Boston&mdash;Return to Philadelphia&mdash;Bohemia&mdash;Journey to North Carolina&mdash;Embarkation for the Bermudas&mdash;His progress and labors&mdash;Honored by the governor and others&mdash;Usefulness among the negroes&mdash;Summary of his proceedings in the Bermudas&mdash;Kindness of the people there&mdash;Voyage to England&mdash;His labors on the voyage&mdash;Arrival at Deal</p></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_277">277</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">CHAPTER XI.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="center">LABORS IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND&mdash;CHAPLAIN TO LADY HUNTINGDON.</p></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">1748, 1749.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="hanging">Triumphs and trials in London&mdash;Becomes chaplain to the Countess of Huntingdon&mdash;Complimented by the great&mdash;Bolingbroke and Rev. Mr. Church&mdash;Rev. James Hervey&mdash;Honors conferred on Whitefield&mdash;Falsehoods of Horace Walpole&mdash;Charged with vulgarism&mdash;Defence&mdash;Third visit to Scotland&mdash;Return to London&mdash;Visit to the west of England&mdash;Conversions in Gloucestershire&mdash;Tour in Cornwall&mdash;Brilliant assemblies in London&mdash;Excursion to Exeter and Plymouth&mdash;Rev. Andrew Kinsman&mdash;Return to London&mdash;Decline of health and visit to Portsmouth and Wales&mdash;Arrival of Mrs. Whitefield from the Bermudas&mdash;Visit to the north of England&mdash;Popularity there&mdash;Intensely interesting services&mdash;Rev. W. Grimshawe&mdash;Solemn instances of mortality&mdash;Return to London for the winter&mdash;Usefulness</p></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_301">301</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">CHAPTER XII.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="hanging">LABORS IN GREAT BRITAIN&mdash;FOURTH VISIT TO AMERICA&mdash;NEW TABERNACLE IN LONDON, AND TABERNACLE AT BRISTOL.</p></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">1750-1754.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="hanging">Efforts made by Whitefield for Bethesda&mdash;His ardent love for America&mdash;Love to his mother&mdash;His mourning for sin&mdash;Dr. Doddridge<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span>&mdash;London ministers&mdash;Interview with Doddridge and Hervey&mdash;Earthquake in London&mdash;Bishop Horne's sermon&mdash;Universal consternation&mdash;Preaching of Whitefield at midnight in Hyde park&mdash;Whitefield and his friends at Court&mdash;Journey to Bristol&mdash;Taunton&mdash;Rev. R. Darracott&mdash;Preaching at Rotherham, Bolton, Ulverston&mdash;Conversion of Mr. Thorpe&mdash;Edinburgh and other places in Scotland&mdash;Testimony of Hume&mdash;Second visit to Ireland&mdash;Opposition on Oxmantown Green&mdash;Usefulness in Ireland&mdash;Rev. John Edwards&mdash;Fourth voyage to America&mdash;Interview with Lady Huntingdon&mdash;Moravians&mdash;Lady Huntingdon's testimony&mdash;Letter to Dr. Franklin&mdash;Itinerant labors&mdash;Revision of manuscripts&mdash;Erection of the new Tabernacle&mdash;Again itinerates&mdash;Dedication of the Tabernacle at Bristol&mdash;Somersetshire&mdash;Condolence on Mr. Wesley's sickness&mdash;Visit of Messrs. Davies and Tennent to England&mdash;Whitefield's fifth voyage to America</p></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_323">323</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">CHAPTER XIII.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="hanging">FIFTH VISIT TO AMERICA&mdash;RENEWED LABORS IN GREAT BRITAIN&mdash;TOTTENHAM COURT-ROAD CHAPEL.</p></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">1754-1763.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="hanging">Whitefield's arrival and proceedings in Lisbon&mdash;Lands at Beaufort, S. C.&mdash;Voyage to New York&mdash;New Jersey&mdash;Interview with William Tennent&mdash;Accompanies President Burr to New England&mdash;Popularity at Boston&mdash;Correspondence with Habersham&mdash;Portsmouth&mdash;Rhode Island&mdash;Franklin's narrative of a drummer and Whitefield&mdash;Powerful address in Virginia&mdash;Pleasant interview at Charleston&mdash;Embarks for England&mdash;Arrival at New Haven&mdash;His feelings on arriving in England&mdash;Labors at the Tabernacle&mdash;Love for America&mdash;Journey to Bristol, Gloucestershire, Norwich&mdash;Returns to London&mdash;Reproof from Grimshawe&mdash;Serious illness&mdash;Earthquake at Lisbon&mdash;Tottenham Court-road Chapel&mdash;Conversion of Mr. Crane&mdash;Publication of "A short Address"&mdash;Personal character of Whitefield's preaching&mdash;His servant&mdash;Shuter&mdash;Violent persecution&mdash;Interference of government&mdash;Journey to Bristol&mdash;Lines on a chair&mdash;Journey to Kent, north of England, Scotland&mdash;Meeting at Leeds&mdash;Interview with the new governor of Georgia&mdash;Prosperity of Tottenham Court&mdash;Journey to Scotland&mdash;Ireland&mdash;Returns to London&mdash;Ill health&mdash;Anecdote&mdash;Another visit to Scotland&mdash;Death of friends&mdash;Debts of Bethesda paid&mdash;Renewed visit to Scotland&mdash;Visit to Brighton&mdash;Foote's mimicry&mdash;Activity&mdash;Sails on his sixth voyage to America</p></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_350">350</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span>CHAPTER XIV.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="center">SIXTH VISIT AND LABORS IN AMERICA&mdash;RENEWED LABORS IN GREAT BRITAIN.</p></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">1763-1767.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="hanging">Improvement of Whitefield's health&mdash;Friends in Virginia&mdash;Proceedings in Philadelphia&mdash;New Jersey&mdash;A collegiate hearer&mdash;New York&mdash;Letter from Boston Gazette&mdash;Opposition of Seabury&mdash;Arrival and preaching at Boston&mdash;Public thanks to him&mdash;Leaves Boston&mdash;New Haven&mdash;New York&mdash;New Jersey College&mdash;Philadelphia&mdash;Virginia&mdash;South Carolina&mdash;Bethesda&mdash;Proceedings of the government&mdash;Prosperity of the Orphan-house&mdash;Thoughts of returning to England&mdash;Still detained in America&mdash;Sails for England&mdash;Arrival there&mdash;Dedicates a church at Bath&mdash;Returns to London&mdash;Sickness&mdash;Interest in American affairs&mdash;Rev. Samson Occum&mdash;Labors with Mr. Whitaker in England&mdash;Success&mdash;Whitefield's journey to Bristol&mdash;Success in London&mdash;Mr. Joss becomes his colleague&mdash;Rev. Rowland Hill&mdash;Whitefield again visits Bath and Bristol&mdash;Mr. Fletcher's sermons in London&mdash;Preface to Bunyan's works&mdash;Whitefield in Wales and Gloucestershire&mdash;North of England&mdash;Disappointed in obtaining a charter for Bethesda</p></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_375">375</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">CHAPTER XV.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="center">HIS LAST LABORS IN GREAT BRITAIN&mdash;COLLEGE AT TREVECCA&mdash;EARL OF BUCHAN&mdash;TUNBRIDGE WELLS.</p></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">1767-1769.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Letter to Keen&mdash;Whitefield preaches before the Book Society&mdash;Change in his style and manner of preaching&mdash;Expulsion of six students from Oxford&mdash;Whitefield's letter to the Vice-chancellor&mdash;Usefulness of the expelled young men&mdash;Letter to a gentleman at Wisbeach&mdash;To Captain Scott&mdash;To Hon. and Rev. Walter Shirley&mdash;Death and funeral services of the Earl of Buchan&mdash;Whitefield's last visit to Edinburgh&mdash;Death of Mrs. Whitefield&mdash;Whitefield's own sickness&mdash;Dedication of the college at Trevecca&mdash;Improvement of his health&mdash;Letter to Mr. Shirley&mdash;Letter of Dr. Franklin to Whitefield&mdash;Whitefield's remarks on it&mdash;Dedication of church at Tunbridge Wells&mdash;Contemplated voyage to America&mdash;His last sermon&mdash;Account of Rev. George Burder&mdash;Messrs. Wilson&mdash;Embarkation of Whitefield&mdash;Detained in the Downs&mdash;Ordination and preaching at Deal&mdash;Anecdote of Dr. Gibbons&mdash;Clears the Channel&mdash;Arrival at Charleston</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_400">400</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span>CHAPTER XVI.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="center">SEVENTH VISIT AND LAST LABORS IN AMERICA&mdash;DEATH.</p></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">1769, 1770.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="hanging">Arrival at Bethesda&mdash;Its prosperity&mdash;Honors paid him by the legislature&mdash;Letter at Charleston&mdash;Plan of the proposed college&mdash;Visits Philadelphia&mdash;Preaches at Burlington, New York, Albany&mdash;Attends an execution&mdash;Visit to Sharon&mdash;Conversion of Mr. Randall&mdash;Visit to Boston&mdash;Letters to Messrs. Wright and Keen&mdash;Letter in Pennsylvania Journal&mdash;Arrival at Exeter&mdash;Anecdote&mdash;Vast congregation&mdash;Delivers his last sermon&mdash;Account of it&mdash;His solemnly interesting appearance&mdash;Rodgers' Journal&mdash;Journey of Whitefield to Newburyport&mdash;Alarming illness&mdash;Death&mdash;His remarks to Dr. Finley&mdash;Arrangements for the funeral&mdash;Its solemn services&mdash;Cenotaph</p></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_423">423</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">CHAPTER XVII.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="center">TESTIMONIES AND FACTS ILLUSTRATIVE OF WHITEFIELD'S CHARACTER.</p></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="hanging">Funeral sermon by Dr. Cooper&mdash;Respect shown to his memory in Georgia&mdash;Whitefield county&mdash;Sermon by Rev. Mr. Ellington&mdash;Arrival of the news in London&mdash;Sermon by Rev. J. Wesley&mdash;Rev. John Newton&mdash;Anecdote&mdash;Reply of Bacon the sculptor&mdash;Visits to his tomb&mdash;Old man in Ipswich&mdash;Whitefield's indifference to his reputation and ease&mdash;Institution at Georgia&mdash;Laborious life&mdash;Extraordinary voice&mdash;Use of common facts&mdash;Anecdotes&mdash;His solemnity of manner&mdash;Testimony of an American preacher&mdash;Of Winter&mdash;Anecdotes&mdash;Sermons in storms&mdash;Appearance in the pulpit&mdash;Character of his printed sermons&mdash;His devotional spirit&mdash;Visiting the sick&mdash;Intercourse with society&mdash;Neatness</p></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_445">445</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">CHAPTER XVIII.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="center">CHARACTER OF WHITEFIELD AS A PREACHER&mdash;CENTENNIAL COMMEMORATIONS.</p></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><p class="hanging">Prominence given by him to the truths of salvation&mdash;His ardent glow of feeling&mdash;His direct address&mdash;His habitual dependence on the Spirit of God&mdash;Dealt with men as immortal beings&mdash;Dr. Hamilton's estimate of Whitefield&mdash;Comparison of Whitefield and Wesley&mdash;Centennial commemorations&mdash;Hymns by Mr. Conder&mdash;Usefulness&mdash;Bristol Tabernacle&mdash;Mr. James' sermon&mdash;Character of Whitefield's ministry, by Mr. Glanville</p></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_479">479</a></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">&nbsp;</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>PREFACE.</h2>
+
+
+<p>The excellent Matthew Henry has very truly said,
+"There are remains of great and good men, which,
+like Elijah's mantle, ought to be gathered up and preserved
+by the survivors&mdash;their sayings, their writings,
+their examples; that as their works follow them in
+the reward of them, they may stay behind in the benefit
+of them."</p>
+
+<p>Influenced by this and kindred sentiments, the
+compiler of this volume has devoted no small labor
+to gather from every source to which he could gain
+access, whatever appeared to him important to be
+known respecting the most distinguished uninspired
+preacher perhaps of any age or country. Whatever
+may be the faults of the work, to use the language of
+the Rev. Dr. Campbell, one of the present pastors of
+Whitefield's churches in London, in reference to a
+short sketch he had himself prepared of our great
+evangelist, "It will serve to bring him and his apostolic
+labors before the minds of vast multitudes of
+the rising generation, to whom both are all but unknown;
+and this is far from unimportant. Whatever
+tends to fix the minds of men afresh upon the
+character of <span class="smcap">Whitefield</span> is, and it always will be,
+something gained to the cause of true religion. The
+contemplation of that character is one of the most
+healthful exercises that can occupy a Christian heart,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span>
+or a Christian understanding. It is an admirable
+theme for ministerial meditation. It tends equally to
+humble, to instruct, and to encourage; to excite love
+to Christ, zeal for his glory, and compassion for the
+souls of men. What Alexander and C&#230;sar, Charles
+XII. of Sweden and Napoleon the first, are to those
+of the sons of men who have not yet ceased to 'learn
+war,' that Whitefield and Wesley are to those who
+aspire to eminent usefulness as ministers and missionaries
+of the cross."</p>
+
+<p>In the preparation of this memoir, the compiler
+has sought to collect together incidents which might
+interest and instruct, especially in connection with
+Whitefield's labors in America; to present him as
+much as possible in his own dress; and to use the
+facts of his life to excite and cherish his own spirit,
+so far as he had the spirit of Christ. Facts reflecting
+on the reputation and feelings of others have
+been used only as the interests of truth seemed to
+demand.</p>
+
+<p>It would have been easy to place on almost every
+page an array of authorities, and to give here a long
+list of friends to whom the writer has been indebted
+for aid; but the sole object of the volume is the honor
+of Christ in the salvation of men, and that this may
+be accomplished, we pray that the blessing of Heaven
+may rest upon it.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Philadelphia</span>, 1857.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">&nbsp;</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>GEORGE WHITEFIELD.</h2>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<h3>MORAL STATE OF GREAT BRITAIN IN THE EARLY
+PART OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY&mdash;WHITEFIELD
+FROM HIS BIRTH TO HIS FIRST SERMON.</h3></blockquote>
+
+
+<p>That we may have a clear and comprehensive view
+of the labors and success of George Whitefield, it is
+important that we consider the moral condition of
+Great Britain and its dependencies when the Head of
+the church brought him on the field of action. The
+latter part of the seventeenth and the beginning of the
+eighteenth centuries presented in that country a scene
+of moral darkness, the more remarkable as it so soon
+succeeded the triumph of evangelical truth which distinguished
+the seventeenth century, and which is perpetuated
+in a religious literature that will bless the
+world. Causes had long been at work which produced
+such insensibility and decline as to all that is
+good, and such a bold and open activity in evil, as it
+is hoped the grace of God may avert from his churches
+in all future time. The doctrine of the divine right
+of kings to implicit obedience on the part of their subjects;
+the principle of priestly control of the minds of
+men in religious matters; and clerical influence, sustained<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span>
+by kingly authority, in favor of sports on the
+Lord's day, together with the evil examples of men high
+in rank and power, had produced their natural results
+on the masses of the people, and make it painful, even
+at this distant period, to survey the scene.</p>
+
+<p>Nor were these all the evils of that day. The expulsion
+from their pulpits, by the "Act of Uniformity,"
+of two thousand of the most able and useful of
+the clergy in England, had led to great ignorance
+and neglect of religion; and though men like Leighton
+and Owen, Flavel and Baxter, with Bunyan and
+a host of others, had continued, in spite of opposing
+laws, to preach when they were not shut up in prison,
+and to write their immortal practical works, by the
+time of which we are speaking they had been called
+to their eternal reward, leaving very few men of like
+spirit behind them. Thus infidelity, profligacy, and
+formalism almost universally prevailed.</p>
+
+<p>The low state of religion in the established church
+at that time may be learned from the Rev. Augustus
+M. Toplady, himself one of its ministers, who died in
+1778. In a sermon yet extant he says, "I believe no
+denomination of professing Christians, the church of
+Rome excepted, were so generally void of the light
+and life of godliness, so generally destitute of the doctrine
+and of the grace of the gospel, as was the church
+of England, considered as a body, about fifty years
+ago. At that period a <em>converted</em> minister in the establishment
+was as great a wonder as a comet; but now,
+blessed be God, since that precious, that great apostle
+of the English empire, the late dear Mr. Whitefield,
+was raised up in the spirit and power of Elias, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span>
+word of God has run and been glorified; many have
+believed and been added to the Lord all over the
+three kingdoms; and blessed be his name, the great
+Shepherd and Bishop of souls continues still to issue
+his word, and great is the company of preachers,
+greater and greater every year."</p>
+
+<p>If it be said that Toplady, as he belonged to a
+different school of theology from that which then generally
+prevailed, could scarcely be expected to be
+impartial, we ask leave to transcribe a few lines from
+Bishop Butler, who within six months of Whitefield's
+ordination wrote thus: "It is come, I know not how,
+to be taken for granted by many persons, that Christianity
+is not so much as a subject of inquiry; but
+that it is now at length discovered to be fictitious.
+And accordingly they treat it as if in the present age
+this were an agreed point among all people of discernment;
+and nothing remained but to set it up as a
+principal subject of mirth and ridicule, as it were by
+way of reprisals for its having so long interrupted the
+pleasures of the world." Bishop Warburton, who
+commenced his ministry a few years before Whitefield,
+and who cannot be charged with enthusiasm,
+says, "I have lived to see that fatal crisis, when religion
+hath lost its hold on the minds of the people."</p>
+
+<p>Many other witnesses might be brought to testify
+that error and worldly mindedness had made mournful
+havoc among the clergy, and that spiritual religion
+had been almost buried in forms and ceremonies.
+A recent writer has well described the state of religion
+in the established church at that time, as only to
+be compared to a frozen or palsied carcass. "There,"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span>
+says this Episcopal clergyman, "were the time-honored
+formularies which the wisdom of the reformers had
+provided. There were the services and lessons from
+Scripture, just in the same order as we have them now.
+But as to preaching the gospel, in the established
+church there was almost none. The distinguishing
+doctrines of Christianity&mdash;the atonement, the work
+and office of Christ and the Spirit&mdash;were comparatively
+lost sight of. The vast majority of sermons
+were miserable moral essays, utterly devoid of any
+thing calculated to awaken, convert, save, or sanctify
+souls." Southey, a biographer of Wesley, who assuredly
+will not be accused of too strong a tendency to
+evangelical truth, is compelled to say, "A laxity of
+opinions as well as morals obtained, and infidelity, a
+plague which had lately found its way into the country,
+was becoming so prevalent, that the vice-chancellor
+of the university at Oxford, in a <em>programma</em>, exhorted
+the tutors to discharge their duties by double diligence,
+and had forbidden the under-graduates to read
+such books as might tend to the weakening of their
+faith."</p>
+
+<p>There were undoubtedly some learned and conscientious
+bishops at this era. Such men were Secker
+and Gibson, Lowth and Horne, Butler, and others.
+But even the best of them seem sadly to have misunderstood
+the requirements of the day they lived in.
+They spent their strength in writing apologies for
+Christianity, and contending against infidels. They
+could not see that without the direct preaching of the
+essential doctrines of the gospel, their labors must be
+sadly defective. The man who dared to preach the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span>
+doctrines of the Bible, and in harmony with the Articles
+and Homilies of his church, was set down as an
+enthusiast or fanatic.</p>
+
+<p>Among those who had dissented from the established
+hierarchy, and who were untrammelled by the
+impositions of secular authority, the state of vital godliness
+was also unhappily very low. The noble spirits
+of early non-conformity had passed from earth, or
+crossed the Atlantic to the frozen shores of New England,
+and a race of men had sprung up, some of whom
+retained the tenets of orthodoxy, but had lost its
+power; while others reposed on comfortable endowments,
+and lulled themselves, or were drawn by favorable
+breezes, into the cold elements of Arianism and
+Socinianism. As persons in the frozen regions are
+said to sleep longer and more soundly than others, so
+did they; and a more terrific blast of the trumpet of
+the gospel was required to rouse and awake them
+from their spiritual slumbers. Happily indeed for the
+world, and for the church in it, there were some exceptions.
+Watts and Guyse and Doddridge, and their
+pious associates in different parts of the land, were
+laborers together in "God's husbandry," and ceased
+not to cultivate it with affectionate faithfulness and
+care; and wherever their labors extended, the plants
+of grace grew and flourished. Darracott, "the star of
+the west," threw his mild rays over the vales of Somerset;
+and in the north also a few faithful men were
+found.</p>
+
+<p>Nor have we even now said all that should be
+written as to the character of those times. The highest
+personages in the land then openly lived in ways<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span>
+contrary to the law of God, and no man rebuked
+them. Profligacy and irreligion were reputable and
+respectable. Judging from the description we have
+of men and manners in those days, a gentleman might
+have been defined as a creature who got drunk, gambled,
+swore, fought duels, and violated the seventh
+commandment, and for all this very few thought the
+worse of him.</p>
+
+<p>Those too were the days when the men whom even
+kings delighted to honor were such as Bolingbroke,
+Chesterfield, Walpole, and Newcastle. To be an infidel,
+to obtain power by intrigue, and to retain it by
+the grossest and most notorious bribery, were considered
+no disqualifications even for the highest offices.
+Such men indeed were not only tolerated, but praised.
+In those days too, Hume, an avowed infidel, put forth
+his History, and obtained a pension. Sterne and
+Swift then wrote their talented, but obscene books;
+both of them were clergymen, but the public saw little
+inconsistency in their conduct. Fielding and Smollett
+were the popular authors, and the literary taste
+of high and low was suited by Roderick Random,
+Peregrine Pickle, Joseph Andrews, and Tom Jones.
+These authors were ingenious heathen philosophers,
+assuming the name of Christians, and forcibly paganizing
+Christianity for the sake of pleasing the world.</p>
+
+<p>Turning to <em>Scotland</em>, we find that the bold proclamation
+of the discriminating truths of the gospel
+which characterize the preaching of Knox, Welsh,
+and others, was being rapidly laid aside, and cold
+formal addresses, verging towards a kind of Socinianism
+were becoming fashionable. Old Mr. Hutchinson,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span>
+minister of Kilellan, in Renfrewshire, who saw
+but the beginning of this sad change, used to say to
+Wodrow the historian, "When I compare the times
+before the restoration with those since the revolution,
+I must own that the young ministers preach accurately,
+and methodically; but there was far more of the
+power and efficacy of the Spirit and of the grace of
+God went along with sermons in those days than now.
+For my own part&mdash;all the glory be to God&mdash;I seldom
+set my foot in a pulpit in those days, but I had notice
+of the blessed effects of the word." It is true, that
+even then there were a few faithful witnesses for God
+in Scotland, such as the brothers Erskine, in the Secession
+church; but for the most part, coldness, barrenness,
+and death prevailed. The people knew not
+God, and were strangers to the life-giving influence
+and power of the gospel.</p>
+
+<p>The Arianism of England had been carried to the
+north of <em>Ireland</em>, and finding a state of feeling suitable
+to its reception, it took root and grew up, so
+as to characterize a distinct section of the Presbyterian
+church, then and still distinguished by the
+name of the Remonstrant Synod. The south and
+west of Ireland were subjected to a blight not less
+withering, though of a different kind, and which continued
+much longer&mdash;continued, to a great extent,
+throughout the whole of the last century. The clergy
+were usually sons of the gentry, and accustomed to
+their sporting, drinking, and riotous habits. They
+had no preparation for ministerial duties but a college
+degree; and no education, either literary or
+moral, which had not been obtained among wild<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span>
+young men at the university. According to the interest
+which they happened to have, they passed at
+once from college to ministerial charges, and again
+mixed in all the dissipations of the districts where
+these lay. Ignorant of the truth, they and their congregations
+were satisfied with some short moral discourse.
+Many of the people were almost as ignorant
+of the Scriptures and scripture truth as the inhabitants
+of Hindostan. The Catholic priests meanwhile
+were at work among the people, and they had many
+to help them. The sick and the dying were watched;
+their fears were wrought upon; they were told of
+the power which the priests had, of the influence possessed
+by the Virgin, and much about the <em>old church</em>;
+and as soon as any seemed to give way, on whatever
+point, the priest was sent for, who plied them anew,
+and seldom failed in succeeding with the poor ignorant
+people. They were now ready to receive absolution;
+but he had farther conditions to propose.
+The whole family must submit to be rebaptized, or at
+least promise to attend mass&mdash;and this also was not
+unfrequently gained; the Protestant clergyman being
+all the while at a distance, neither knowing nor much
+caring what was going on. In this way great numbers
+of the lower and middle classes of the Protestants
+went over to the church of Rome. Throughout
+whole districts the Protestant churches were almost
+emptied, and many of those in rural districts were
+allowed to fall into ruins.</p>
+
+<p>Of <em>Wales</em> it is not important at present to say
+much. From the middle ages downwards, great darkness
+and superstition had prevailed among its mountains.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span>
+It is true that in the days of James I., a clergyman
+named Wroth, whose conversion to the truth
+had been remarkable, had labored with eminent zeal
+and success, but at the period of which we are now
+writing declension had succeeded. Within the establishment
+all was cold and dead; nearly every minister
+was ignorant of the Welsh language, a fact which
+also applied to several successive bishops, while the
+state of morals, among even the leaders of the hierarchy,
+was truly deplorable. An old Methodist simply
+but truly described the country at this period, and of
+his correct narrative we will here give a free translation.</p>
+
+<p>The land, he tells us, was dark indeed. Scarcely
+any of the lower ranks could read at all. The morals
+of the country were very corrupt; and in this
+respect there was no difference between high and low,
+layman and clergyman. Gluttony, drunkenness, and
+licentiousness prevailed through the whole country.
+Nor were the operations of the church at all adapted
+to repress these evils. From the pulpit the name of
+the Redeemer was scarcely heard; nor was much mention
+made of the natural sinfulness of man, or of the
+influence of the Holy Spirit. On Sunday mornings,
+the poor were more constant in their attendance at
+church than the gentry; but the Sunday evenings
+were spent by all in idle amusements. Every Sabbath
+there was practised a kind of sport, called in Welsh
+<i lang="cy" xml:lang="cy">Achwaren-gamp</i>, in which all the young men of the
+neighborhood had a trial of strength, and the people
+assembled from the surrounding country to witness
+their feats. On a Saturday night, particularly in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span>
+summer, the young men and women held what they
+called <i lang="cy" xml:lang="cy">Nosweithian cann</i>, or singing eves; that is, they
+met together and amused themselves by singing in
+turns to the harp, till the dawn of the Sabbath.
+These things, with the performance of rustic dramas,
+would occupy sometimes the whole of the sacred day
+itself; while a set of vagabonds, called the <i lang="cy" xml:lang="cy">Bobl
+gerdded</i>, or walking people, used to traverse the villages,
+begging with impunity, to the disgrace alike of
+the law and the country. With all this social sprightliness,
+the Welsh were then a superstitious, and even
+a gloomy people. They still retained many habits
+apparently derived from paganism, and not a few of
+the practices of popery. Their funerals, like those of
+the Irish, were scenes of riot and drunkenness, followed
+by prayers for the release of the deceased from
+the pains of purgatory. Such was the superstition of
+the people, that when Methodism was first introduced
+among them, many of the peasantry expressed their
+horror of the new opinions by the truly Popish gesture
+of crossing the forehead; and when Wesley first
+visited them, he pronounced them "as little versed in
+the principles of Christianity as a Creek or Cherokee
+Indian." To this declaration he added the striking
+remark, that, "notwithstanding their superstition and
+ignorance, the people 'were ripe for the gospel,' and
+most enthusiastically anxious to avail themselves of
+every opportunity of instruction."</p>
+
+<p>As an illustration of the truth of the remark we
+have just introduced from the discerning Wesley, we
+may mention an incident which occurred in 1736. At
+this period dissent itself was reduced so low in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span>
+country, that there were only six dissenting houses of
+worship in all North Wales. One Sunday, Mr. Lewis
+Rees, a dissenting minister from South Wales, and the
+father of Dr. Rees, the author of the celebrated Cyclopedia
+which bears his name, visited Pwllheli, a town
+on the promontory of Sl&#235;yn, in Caernarvonshire, and
+one of the few places in which the Independents still
+had a chapel. After the service, the congregation,
+collecting around him, complained very sorely that
+their numbers were rapidly diminishing, that the few
+who yet remained were for the most part poor, and
+that every thing connected with their cause looked
+gloomy. To which the minister replied, "The dawn
+of religion is again breaking out in South Wales,"
+referring them to the fact, that already a distinguished
+man&mdash;Howel Harris&mdash;had risen up, going
+about instructing the people in the truths of the
+gospel. Such was the character of the times when
+God was raising up agents to revive and extend his
+cause. We shall before long return to Wales with
+lively interest.</p>
+
+<p>"Such," says the eloquent Robert Hall, "was the
+situation of things when Whitefield and Wesley made
+their appearance, who, whatever failings the severest
+criticism can discover in their character, will be hailed
+by posterity as the second reformers of England.
+Nothing was farther from the views of these excellent
+men than to innovate on the established religion of
+their country; their sole aim was to recall the people
+to the good old way, and to imprint the doctrines of
+the Articles and Homilies on the spirits of men. But
+this doctrine had been so long a dead letter, and so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span>
+completely obliterated from the mind by contrary
+instructions, that the attempt to revive it met with
+all the opposition that innovation is sure to encounter,
+in addition to what naturally results from the
+nature of the doctrine itself, which has to contend
+with the whole force of human corruption. The revival
+of the <em>old</em>, appeared like the introduction of a
+<em>new</em> religion; and the hostility it excited was less
+sanguinary, but scarcely less virulent, than that which
+signalized the first publication of Christianity. The
+gospel of Christ, or that system of truth which was
+laid at the foundation of the Reformation, has since
+made rapid advances, and in every step of its progress
+has sustained the most furious assaults."</p>
+
+<p>It ought here to be stated, as illustrating the providence
+of God in preparing the British empire for the
+reception of the gospel, that the revolution of 1688
+introduced the spirit of toleration, and in 1714, the
+very year of Whitefield's birth, Anne, the last English
+sovereign of a persecuting spirit, died, and the throne
+was assumed by George I., the first prince of the
+house of Hanover. The way of the Lord was thus
+prepared for bright illustrations of his mercy.</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<p>Rising from the beautiful valley of the Severn, and
+on the borders of that noble stream, reposes in antique
+glory the affluent city of <span class="smcap">Gloucester</span>, with its
+regular streets, and its majestic cathedral and other
+relics of bygone days. In that city the traveller
+may examine three spots which will long be interesting
+to the student of ecclesiastical curiosities. The
+first of these is the ancient church of Mary de Crypt,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span>
+where reposes the dust of Robert Raikes, the founder
+of Sunday-schools; the second, is the little stone
+which, in a pensive-looking inclosure, marks the site
+on which the truly noble-minded and Protestant Bishop
+Hooper was burnt, an early martyr of bloody Mary's
+reign. There wicked men stood around to light up
+the flames, and to mock his sorrows; but as we stand
+and look, we exult in the subsequent triumphs of
+truth.</p>
+
+<p>The third spot, and the one to us at the present
+moment the most interesting, is the Bell inn or hotel,
+yet standing, though enlarged and beautified since
+the period of which we write. There <span class="smcap">Whitefield</span>&mdash;the
+saint, the seraph, the "angel flying in the midst
+of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to
+them that dwell on the earth"&mdash;first breathed the
+vital air. Venerable city, we will rejoice that though
+within thy walls one glorious luminary of salvation
+was extinguished, another "burning and shining light"
+was raised up to diffuse joy and happiness over the
+two most influential quarters of the globe, and a third
+has since been given to suggest the simple plan by
+which millions of the young have already acquired
+the knowledge of salvation.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">George Whitefield</span>, the sixth son of Thomas and
+Elizabeth Whitefield, was born December 16, 1714, old
+style. Concerning his father and mother he writes,
+"The former died when I was two years old; the
+latter died in December, 1751, in the seventy-first
+year of her age, and has often told me how she endured
+fourteen weeks' sickness after she brought me
+into the world; but was used to say, even when I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span>
+was an infant, that she expected more comfort from
+me than from any other of her children. This, with the
+circumstance of my being born in an inn, has often
+been of service to me, in exciting my endeavors to
+make good my mother's expectations, and so follow
+the example of my dear Saviour, who was laid in a
+manger belonging to an inn."</p>
+
+<p>In one of his journals, which he commenced at a
+very early part of his ministry, Whitefield details with
+great simplicity many incidents of his childhood and
+youth; from which it appears, that though at times
+he had many serious thoughts and impressions, the
+general course of his life, till the age of sixteen, was
+irreligious. He tells us that in early youth he was
+"so brutish as to hate instruction, and used purposely
+to shun all opportunities of receiving it," and that
+he spent much money, improperly obtained from his
+mother, in cards, plays, and romances, "which," says
+he, "were my heart's delight. Often have I joined
+with others in playing roguish tricks; but was generally,
+if not always, happily detected: for this I have
+often since, and do now bless and praise God." His
+full confessions of this character are very affecting,
+and should be a caution to young persons to repel all
+such temptations.</p>
+
+<p>When George was about ten years of age, his
+mother married a second time, thus forming a connection
+which led to much unhappiness. He was, however,
+continued at school; and when twelve years old,
+was transferred to the grammar-school of St. Mary de
+Crypt, where he remained about three years. Having
+a graceful elocution and a good memory, he gained<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span>
+much credit for delivering speeches before the city
+corporation at the annual visitation of the school, and
+received pecuniary rewards for his performances on
+those occasions. How deeply he afterwards deplored
+these celebrations, especially the performance of plays
+in connection with his school-fellows, may be learned
+from his own words: "I cannot but observe here,
+with much concern of mind, how this way of training
+up youth has a natural tendency to debauch the mind,
+to raise ill passions, and to stuff the memory with
+things as contrary to the gospel of Christ, as darkness
+to light, hell to heaven." This sad tendency was
+but too clearly evinced in the case of Whitefield himself.
+"I got acquainted," he says, "with such a set
+of debauched, abandoned, atheistical youths, that if
+God, by his free, unmerited, and special grace, had
+not delivered me out of their hands, I should have sat
+in the scorner's chair, and made a mock at sin. By
+keeping company with them, my thoughts of religion
+grew more and more like theirs. I went to public
+service only to make sport, and walk about. I took
+pleasure in their lewd conversation. I began to reason
+as they did, and to ask why God had given me
+passions, and not permitted me to gratify them. In
+short, I soon made great proficiency in the school of
+the devil. I affected to look rakish, and was in a
+fair way of being as infamous as the worst of them."
+These were the things, and not oratory, as has sometimes
+been said, which Whitefield learned from plays
+and acting.</p>
+
+<p>In the midst of all this, his conscience often made
+him unhappy; and he wished, if possible, to combine<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span>
+religion with his pleasures. He purchased and carefully
+read "Ken's Manual for Winchester Scholars,"
+a book which commended itself as having comforted
+his mother in her afflictions, and which he afterwards
+considered to have been "of great benefit to his
+soul."</p>
+
+<p>At the age of fifteen, he thought he had acquired
+learning enough for any ordinary occupation in life,
+and as his mother's business was declining, he persuaded
+her to allow him to leave school and assist in
+labor. "I began," says he, "to assist her occasionally
+in the public-house, till at length I put on my blue
+apron and my snuffers, washed mops, cleaned rooms,
+and in one word, became professed and common <em>drawer</em>
+for nearly a year and a half." In the midst of the
+activity called for in such a situation, it pleased God
+to renew his religious impressions, which induced him,
+at least at intervals, to attend with much earnestness
+to the concerns of his soul.</p>
+
+<p>From his childhood, Whitefield tells us, he "was
+always fond of being a clergyman, and used frequently
+to imitate the ministers' reading prayers." Nor did
+this tendency towards clerical engagements cease as
+he became older. "Notwithstanding," he says, "I
+was thus employed in a large inn, and had sometimes
+the care of the whole house upon my hands, yet I composed
+two or three sermons, and dedicated one of
+them to my elder brother. One day, I remember, I
+was very much pressed to self-examination, and found
+myself very unwilling to look into my heart. Frequently
+I read the Bible when sitting up at night.
+And a dear youth, now with God, would often entreat<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span>
+me, when serving at the bar, to go to Oxford. My
+general answer was, 'I wish I could.'"</p>
+
+<p>His mother's difficulties increasing, it became necessary
+for her to leave the inn; in which she was succeeded
+by one of her married sons, with whom George
+for some time remained to continue his assistance in
+the business. Some disagreement, however, arising
+between them, he after a time took his departure from
+the inn, and went to spend a month with his eldest
+brother at Bristol. Returning from that city to Gloucester,
+he resided for a short season with his mother.
+While thus living unemployed, without any definite
+object before him, and waiting the openings of providence,
+his mother was visited by an Oxford student,
+a servitor of Pembroke college in that university.
+In the course of their conversation, he told her, that
+after all his expenses at college for the quarter
+were discharged, he had one penny remaining. She
+immediately exclaimed, "This will do for my son!"
+and turning to him, said, "Will you go to Oxford,
+George?" He replied, "With all my heart." Application
+was immediately made to several friends who
+had influence at the college, and they pledged themselves
+to serve her. In this confidence, her favorite
+son returned to the grammar-school, where he not
+only resumed his studies with greater diligence, but
+endeavored, and not altogether in vain, to promote
+religion and virtue among his associates.</p>
+
+<p>Having fully secured his literary preparation for
+the university, Whitefield removed to Oxford in his
+eighteenth year, and was immediately admitted, as a
+servitor, into Pembroke college. He soon found that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span>
+the seat of learning was also a scene of danger. From
+the period of 1662, when the two thousand Non-conformists
+had been expelled from the church, the universities
+had been sinking into a moral lethargy, preferring
+uniformity to vital religion. Our young servitor
+was shocked with the impiety of the students in
+general, and dreading their influence on himself, he
+as much as possible abstained from their society, and
+shut himself up in his study.</p>
+
+<p>Before he went to Oxford, Whitefield had heard
+of a class of young men in the university who "lived
+by rule and method," and were therefore called <em>Methodists</em>.
+They were much talked of, and generally
+despised. Of this party, John Wesley, a Fellow of
+Lincoln college, and already in holy orders, was the
+leader, his brother Charles being also as warmly attached
+to it. They avowed that the great object of
+their lives was to save their souls, and to live wholly
+to the glory of God; and rarely have men subjected
+themselves to greater self-denials and austerities.
+Drawn towards them by kindred feelings, Whitefield
+strenuously defended them whenever he heard them
+reviled, and when he saw them going, through a crowd
+manifesting their ridicule, every Sunday to receive the
+sacrament at St. Mary's or Christ church, he was
+strongly inclined to follow their example.</p>
+
+<p>For more than a year he intensely desired to be
+acquainted with them, but a sense of his pecuniary
+inferiority to them prevented his advances. At length,
+learning that a pauper had attempted suicide, Whitefield
+sent a poor woman to inform Charles Wesley,
+that so he might visit her, and administer religious<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span>
+instruction. He charged the woman not to tell Mr.
+Wesley who sent her, but, contrary to this injunction,
+she told his name; and Charles Wesley, who had frequently
+seen Whitefield walking by himself, on the
+next morning invited him to breakfast. An introduction
+to the little brotherhood soon followed, and he
+also, like them, "began to live by rule, and pick up
+the very fragments of his time, that not a moment
+might be lost."</p>
+
+<p>It is painful to read Whitefield's own account of the
+mortifications of body to which he now submitted; and
+we are not surprised that, as the result, his health
+was so reduced as to place even his life in danger.
+All this time he had no clear view of the way of salvation,
+and was "seeking to work out a righteousness
+of his own." In this state he lay on his bed, his
+tongue parched with fever, and the words of the dying
+Saviour, "I thirst," were impressed on his mind.
+Remembering that this thirst occurred near the end
+of the Saviour's sufferings, the thought arose in his
+mind, "Why may it not be so with me? Why may
+I not now receive deliverance and comfort? Why
+may I not now dare to trust and rejoice in the pardoning
+mercy of God?" There was, as Tracy has
+said, no reason why he might not&mdash;why he ought not.
+He saw nothing to forbid him. He prayed in hope,
+borrowing language from the fact which suggested
+the train of thought&mdash;"I thirst, I thirst for faith in
+pardoning love. Lord, I believe; help thou mine
+unbelief." His prayer was heard. He dared to trust
+in the mercy of God, as revealed in the death of Jesus
+Christ for sinners. Conscience and his Bible bore<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span>
+witness that he did right. The load that had so
+heavily oppressed him, the load of guilt and terror
+and anxiety, that weighed down his spirit while he
+sinfully and ungratefully hesitated to trust in divine
+mercy, was gone. He saw the trustworthiness of the
+mercy of God in Christ, and his heart rejoiced.</p>
+
+<p>"Though," as Tracy has well said, "the English
+universities were established mainly for the purpose
+of educating men for the ministry, Whitefield was not
+likely to gain a good knowledge of theology there.
+He took another, and a characteristic course. Some
+time after his conversion, when he was at Gloucester,
+he says, 'I began to read the holy Scriptures upon my
+knees; laying aside all other books, and praying over,
+if possible, every line and word. This proved meat
+indeed and drink indeed to my soul. I daily received
+fresh life, light, and power from above. I thus got
+more true knowledge in reading the book of God in
+one month, than I could ever have acquired from all
+the writings of men.'"</p>
+
+<p>Every hour of Whitefield's time, especially after
+he had been "filled with peace and joy in believing,"
+was sacredly devoted to preparation for the great
+work to which he had now solemnly devoted himself.
+He visited the prisoners in the jail, and the poor in
+their cottages, and gave as much time as he could to
+communion with God in his closet. His friends now
+earnestly importuned him to apply for ordination;
+but from this his deep sense of unworthiness made
+him shrink. Besides, he intended to have a hundred
+and fifty sermons carefully written before he began
+to preach. He had as yet but one, and he lent that to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span>
+a neighboring clergyman, to convince him that he was
+not yet fit to be ordained. The clergyman kept it
+for two weeks, divided it into two, preached it to his
+own people, and then returned it to Whitefield, with
+a guinea for the use of it.</p>
+
+<p>Still, however, the work of preparation for the
+ministry was rapidly going on. The state of his
+health compelled him to retire for a season from Oxford,
+and he returned home to increase the depth of
+his piety, and to be led, little as he thought of it, at
+once to the pulpit. He writes, "O what sweet communion
+had I daily vouchsafed with God in prayer,
+after my coming to Gloucester. How often have I
+been carried out beyond myself, when meditating in
+the fields. How assuredly I felt that Christ dwelt in
+me, and I in him; and how daily did I walk in the
+comforts of the Holy Ghost, and was edified and refreshed
+in the multitude of peace. I always observed
+that as my inward strength increased, so my outward
+sphere of action increased proportionably."</p>
+
+<p>Thus, happy in himself, and thankful to the gracious
+God who made him so, the affectionate soul of
+George Whitefield ardently desired that others might
+participate in his sacred joys. In order to advance
+this object, he mixed in the society of young people,
+and endeavored to awaken them to a just sense of the
+nature of true religion. Some were convinced of the
+truth, and united with him in religious exercises; and
+these were some of the first-fruits of his pious labors.
+His discovery of the necessity of regeneration, like
+Melancthon's great discovery of the truth, led him to
+imagine that no one could resist the evidence which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span>
+convinced his own mind. He writes, "Upon this,
+like the woman of Samaria, when Christ revealed
+himself to her at the well, I had no rest in my soul
+till I wrote letters to my relations, telling them
+there was such a thing as the <em>new birth</em>. I imagined
+they would have gladly received it; but, alas, my
+words seemed to them as idle tales. They thought I
+was going beside myself." He visited the jail every
+day, and read and prayed with the prisoners; attended
+public worship very frequently, and read twice
+or three times a week to some poor people in the city.
+In addition to all this, he tells us, "During my stay
+here, God enabled me to give a public testimony of
+my repentance as to seeing and acting plays; for
+hearing the strollers had come to town, and knowing
+what an egregious offender I had been, I was stirred
+up to extract Mr. Law's excellent treatise, entitled,
+"The absolute Unlawfulness of the Stage Entertainment."
+The printer, at my request, put a little of it
+in the newspaper for six weeks successively; and God
+was pleased to give it his blessing."</p>
+
+<p>In this manner Whitefield employed himself during
+nine months; and one effect of so doing was, that
+the partition wall of bigotry was soon broken down
+in his heart. He says, "I loved all, of whatever denomination,
+who loved the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity."
+This statement in his diary is connected
+with an account of the benefit he derived from studying
+the works of the Non-conformists. "Baxter's Call,"
+and "Alleine's Alarm," so accorded with his own
+ideas of fidelity and unction, that wherever he recognized
+their spirit he acknowledged "a brother beloved."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span>
+On this portion of his history we dwell with unspeakable
+delight; the only drawback is an undue importance
+he appears to have attached to <em>dreams</em>; and even
+those, considered as an <em>index</em> to his waking hours, are
+interesting, revealing as they do his deep solicitude
+on the behalf of souls.</p>
+
+<p>Here then, before he had completed his twenty-first
+year, we see Whitefield returned to Gloucester,
+and such was already the fame of his piety and talents,
+that Dr. Benson, the bishop of the diocese, offered to
+dispense, in his favor, with the rule which forbids the
+ordination of deacons at so unripe an age. Thus
+graphically did he afterwards describe his acceptance
+of this proposal.</p>
+
+<p>"I never prayed against any corruption I had in
+my life so much as I did against going into holy
+orders so soon as my friends were for having me go.
+Bishop Benson was pleased to honor me with peculiar
+friendship, so as to offer me preferment, or to do
+any thing for me. My friends wanted me to mount
+the church betimes. They wanted me to knock my
+head against the pulpit too young; but how some
+young men stand up here and there and preach, I do
+not know. However it be to them, God knows how
+deep a concern entering into the ministry and preaching
+was to me. I prayed a thousand times, till the
+sweat has dropped from my face like rain, that God
+of his infinite mercy would not let me enter the church
+till he called me and thrust me forth in his work. I
+remember once in Gloucester&mdash;I know the room; I
+look up to the window when I am there and walk
+along the street&mdash;I said, 'Lord, I cannot go; I shall<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span>
+be puffed up with pride, and fall into the condemnation
+of the devil. Lord, do not let me go yet.' I pleaded
+to be at Oxford two or three years more. I intended
+to make one hundred and fifty sermons, and thought
+that I would set up with a good stock in trade. I
+remember praying, wrestling, and striving with God.
+I said, 'I am undone, I am unfit to preach in thy great
+name. Send me not. Lord, send me not yet.' I
+wrote to all my friends in town and country to pray
+against the bishop's solicitation; but they insisted I
+should go into orders before I was twenty-two. After
+all their solicitations these words came into my mind:
+'Nothing shall pluck you out of my hands;' they came
+warm to my heart. Then, and not till then, I said,
+'Lord, <em>I will go</em>; send me when thou wilt.'"</p>
+
+<p>Sunday, June 20, 1736, was the day appointed for
+his ordination in the cathedral at Gloucester. On
+the preceding evening he spent two hours in prayer
+for himself and the others who were to be set apart
+to the sacred office with him; and on the day itself
+he rose early, and passed the morning in prayer and
+meditation on the qualifications and duties of the office
+he was about to undertake. On a review of the solemn
+services of the day, he says, "I trust I answered
+every question from the bottom of my heart, and heartily
+prayed that God might say, Amen. And when
+the bishop laid his hands upon my head, if my vile
+heart do not deceive me, I offered my whole spirit,
+soul, and body to the service of God's sanctuary.
+Let come what will, life or death, depth or height,
+I shall henceforward live like one who this day, in the
+presence of men and angels, took the holy sacrament,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span>
+on the profession of being inwardly moved by the
+Holy Ghost to take upon me that ministration in the
+church. I call heaven and earth to witness, that
+when the bishop laid his hands upon me, I gave myself
+up to be a martyr for Him who hung upon the
+cross for me. Known unto him are all future events
+and contingencies; I have thrown myself blindfold,
+and I trust without reserve, into his almighty hands.
+When I went up to the altar, I could think of nothing
+but Samuel's standing before the Lord with a linen
+ephod."</p>
+
+<p>Having thus received ordination as a deacon of
+the church of England, he delayed not to enter upon
+the work to which he was appointed; and accordingly,
+on the next Sabbath he preached his first sermon
+in his native city of Gloucester, selecting for his subject,
+"The necessity and benefit of religious society."
+At the appointed time he ascended the pulpit, in the
+church of St. Mary de Crypt. We have his own
+record of the service: "Last Sunday, in the afternoon,
+I preached my first sermon in the church where I first
+received the Lord's supper. Curiosity drew a large
+congregation together. The sight, at first, a little
+awed me; but I was comforted with a heartfelt sense
+of the divine presence, and soon found the advantage
+of having been accustomed to public speaking when
+a boy at school, and of exhorting and teaching the
+prisoners and the poor people at their private houses,
+while at the university. By these means I was kept
+from being daunted overmuch. As I proceeded, I
+perceived the fire kindled, till at last, though so young,
+and amidst a crowd of those who knew me in my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span>
+childish days, I trust I was enabled to speak with
+some degree of gospel authority. Some few mocked,
+but most, for the present, seemed struck; and I have
+since heard that a complaint was made to the bishop,
+that I drove fifteen people mad the first sermon. The
+worthy prelate, as I am informed, wished that the
+madness might not be forgotten before the next Sunday.
+Before then, I hope that my sermon upon, 'He
+that is in Christ is a new creature,' will be completed.
+Blessed be God, I now find freedom in writing. Glorious
+Jesus,</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<span class="i0">"'Unloose my stammering tongue to tell<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Thy love immense, unsearchable.'"<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<p>It is remarkable, under all the circumstances of
+the case, that Bishop Benson, a man never distinguished
+for his evangelical views, always showed his
+friendship for Whitefield. Not only did he offer him
+ordination when others might have refused, and defend
+him against the persecutions to which he was exposed,
+but he more than once gave him pecuniary help when
+it was much needed, though the young clergyman had
+never complained.</p>
+
+<p>Thus early apprized of the secret of his strength,
+his profound aspirations for the growth of Christianity,
+the delight of exercising his rare powers, and the
+popular admiration, operating with combined and
+ceaseless force upon a mind impatient of repose, urged
+him into exertions which, if not attested by irrefragable
+proofs, might appear incredible. It was the
+statement of one who knew him well, and who was
+incapable of wilful exaggeration, and it is confirmed
+by his letters, journals, and a "cloud of witnesses,"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span>
+that "in the compass of a single week, and that for
+years, he spoke in general forty hours, and in very
+many sixty, and that to thousands: and after his
+labors, instead of taking any rest, he was engaged in
+offering up prayers and intercessions, with hymns and
+spiritual songs, as his manner was, in every house to
+which he was invited." Never perhaps, since the
+apostolic age, has any man given himself so entirely
+to preaching the gospel of Christ for the salvation of
+souls, adopting as his motto the language of the apostle
+Paul, "<em>This one thing I do</em>."</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">&nbsp;</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2>
+
+<h3>WHITEFIELD'S SUCCESS AS A PREACHER IN ENGLAND&mdash;FIRST
+VISIT TO AMERICA.<br />
+
+1736-1738.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Whitefield, though thus prepared for action, was
+not impatient, but willing to wait till his duty was
+fully ascertained. On the Wednesday after his first
+sermon he went to Oxford, where, he says, "I was
+received with great joy by my religious friends. For
+about a week I continued in my servitor's habit, and
+then took my degree of Bachelor of Arts, after having
+been at the university three years and three quarters,
+and going on towards the twenty-second year of my
+age. My dear and honored friends, the Rev. Messrs.
+John and Charles Wesley, being now embarked for
+Georgia, and one or two others having taken orders,
+the interest of Methodism, as it was then and is now
+termed, had visibly declined, and very few of this
+reputedly mad way were left at the university. This
+somewhat discouraged me at times, but the Lord Jesus
+supported my soul, and made me easy by giving me a
+strong conviction that I was where he would have me
+to be. My degree, I soon found, was of service to
+me, as it gave me access to those I could not be
+seen with when in an inferior station; and as opportunity
+offered, I was enabled to converse with them
+about the things which belonged to the kingdom of
+God. The subscriptions for the poor prisoners, which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span>
+amounted to about forty pounds per annum, were soon
+put into my hands; two or three charity schools,
+maintained by the Methodists, were under my more
+immediate inspection; which, with the time I spent in
+following my studies, private retirement, and religious
+converse, sweetly filled up the whole of my day, and
+kept me from that unaccountable but too common
+complaint of having any time hang upon my hands."</p>
+
+<p>The stay of Mr. Whitefield at Oxford, however,
+was very short. He says, "By a series of unforeseen,
+unexpected, and unsought-for providences, I was called
+in a short time from my beloved retirement to take a
+journey to the metropolis of England. While I was
+an under-graduate, among the religious friends, I was
+very intimate with one Mr. B&mdash;&mdash;n, a professed Methodist,
+who had lately taken orders, and was curate at
+the Tower of London. With him, when absent, I
+frequently corresponded, and when present took sweet
+counsel, and walked to the house of God as friends.
+He mentioned me to that late good and great man,
+Sir John Phillips; and being called down for a while
+into Hampshire, he wrote to me to be of good
+courage, and in the strength of God bade me hasten
+to town to officiate in his absence, and to be refreshed
+with the sight and conversation of many who loved
+me for Christ's sake, and had for a long time desired
+to see me."</p>
+
+<p>On his arrival in London, Whitefield delivered his
+first sermon there in Bishopsgate church, on the afternoon
+of Lord's day, August 8. On entering the pulpit,
+his juvenile aspect excited a general feeling of his
+unfitness for the station, but he had not proceeded far<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span>
+in his sermon before it gave place to universal expressions
+of wonder and pleasure. If however he was thus
+exposed to the danger of vanity, as he says, "God sent
+me something to ballast it. For as I passed along
+the streets, many came out of their shops, admiring to
+see so young a person in a gown and cassock. One
+I remember in particular, cried out, 'There's a boy
+parson;' which, as it served to mortify my pride, put
+me also upon turning that apostolical exhortation into
+prayer, 'Let no man despise thy youth.'" From his
+first sermon to his departure, at the end of two months,
+his popularity in London continued to increase, and
+the crowds were so vast that it was necessary to place
+constables both inside and outside of the churches to
+preserve the peace. He tells us himself, "Here I continued
+for the space of two months, reading prayers
+twice a week, catechizing and preaching once, visiting
+the soldiers in the infirmary and barracks daily. I also
+read prayers every evening at Wapping chapel, and
+preached at Ludgate prison every Tuesday. God
+was pleased to give me favor in the eyes of the inhabitants
+of the Tower; the chapel was crowded on
+Lord's days; religious friends from divers parts of
+the town attended the word, and several young men
+came on Lord's-day morning, under serious impressions,
+to hear me discourse about the <em>new birth</em>, and
+the necessity of renouncing all in affection in order
+to follow Jesus Christ."</p>
+
+<p>The preaching of Mr. Whitefield now excited an
+unusual degree of attention among persons of all
+ranks. In many of the city churches he proclaimed
+the glad tidings of great joy to listening multitudes,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span>
+who were powerfully affected by the fire which was
+displayed in the animated addresses of this man of
+God. Lord and Lady Huntingdon constantly attended
+wherever he preached, and Lady Anne Frankland
+became one of the first-fruits of his ministry
+among the nobility of the metropolis. Her ladyship
+spent much of her time with Lady Huntingdon, from
+whose society and conversation she derived great
+comfort. She was a daughter of Richard, the first
+Earl of Scarborough; was for many years lady of the
+bedchamber to the Princess Anne, and to the Princesses
+Amelia and Caroline; and finally became the
+second wife of Frederic Frankland, Esq., a member
+of Parliament, from whose cruelty she endured much.</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<p>We have already said, that some time before this
+Messrs. John and Charles Wesley had embarked for
+Georgia, and to their names we might have added
+that of Mr. Ingham, also a member of the Methodist
+fraternity at Oxford.</p>
+
+<p>Georgia, which was explored by Sir Walter Raleigh
+in 1584, had been colonized by debtors from
+Europe, by multitudes who had fled from the grasp of
+persecution, and by others who were interested in
+constructing a barrier against Spanish aggression.
+It originally had trustees in England, concerned for
+its interests, including sons of the nobility. The chief
+agent in executing the benevolent designs in view
+was the truly excellent General Oglethorpe, who admirably
+carried out the motto he gave to his companions
+in the work, "<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Non sibi sed aliis</i>"&mdash;"Not for
+themselves, but for others." The children of poverty,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span>
+taken from the overgrown agricultural population,
+already a tax upon parish bounty at home, were to
+be transferred in large numbers to the silk and indigo
+plantations which were established on the savannahs
+and bottoms south and west of the river, which thence
+derived its name from the peculiar conformation of the
+adjoining plains. Combined with these leading purposes,
+it was a cherished principle with the early
+patrons of this colony, that it should become the centre
+for the diffusion of the gospel among the natives;
+while charitable foundations were also laid for the
+secular and religious education of all who would take
+advantage of such provisions. The first Christians
+who left Europe to advance the spiritual interests of
+Georgia were Moravians, and the next were the Wesleys
+and Ingham. The records of the colony, as
+quoted in White's Historical Collections of Georgia,
+show that, Sept. 14, 1735, Charles Wesley was appointed
+"Secretary for the Indian affairs in Georgia,"
+and that, Oct. 10, 1735, John Wesley was appointed
+"missionary at Savannah."</p>
+
+<p>Whitefield had left London, and was laboring
+among a poor and illiterate people in Hampshire,
+when his attention was directly drawn to Georgia.
+This was not, indeed, the first time his heart had been
+interested in the matter. He writes, "When I had
+been about a month in town, letters came from the
+Messrs. Wesley, and the Rev. Mr. Ingham their fellow-laborer,
+an Israelite indeed, from Georgia. Their
+accounts fired my soul, and made me long to go abroad
+for God too. But having no outward call, and being
+as I then thought too weak in body ever to undertake<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span>
+a voyage at sea, I endeavored to lay aside all thoughts
+of going abroad. But my endeavors were all in vain;
+for I felt at times such a strong attraction in my soul
+towards Georgia, that I thought it almost irresistible.
+I strove against it with all my power, begged again
+and again, with many cries and tears, that the Lord
+would not suffer me to be deluded, and at length
+opened my mind to several dear friends. All agreed
+that laborers were wanted at home, that I had as yet
+no visible call abroad, and that it was my duty not
+to be rash, but wait and see what Providence might
+point out to me. To this I consented with my whole
+heart."</p>
+
+<p>The path of duty, however, soon opened before
+him. While fulfilling his duties at Dummer, in Hampshire,
+preaching for the Rev. Mr. Kinchin, who was
+now absent from home, to which labors we have already
+referred, he received an invitation to a lucrative
+curacy in London; but Georgia still rested like one
+of the prophetic "burdens" on his mind. At this
+juncture he received a letter from his clerical friend
+at the Tower, saying that Mr. Charles Wesley had
+arrived in London. Very soon Mr. Wesley himself
+wrote to Whitefield, saying, that he was come
+over to procure laborers, "but," added he, "I dare
+not prevent God's nomination." "In a few days after
+this," writes Mr. Whitefield, "came another letter
+from Mr. John Wesley, wherein were these words:
+'Only Mr. Delamotte is with me, till God shall stir
+up the hearts of some of his servants, who putting
+their lives in their hands, shall come over and help
+us, where the harvest is so great, and the laborers so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span>
+few. What if thou art the man, Mr. Whitefield?'
+In another letter were these words: 'Do you ask me
+what you shall have? Food to eat and raiment to
+put on, a house to lay your head in&mdash;such as our Lord
+had not&mdash;and a crown of glory that fadeth not away.'
+Upon reading this my heart leaped within me, and as
+it were echoed to the call."</p>
+
+<p>After having consulted his bishop, Dr. Benson, as
+also the archbishop of Canterbury, and the trustees
+of Georgia including General James Oglethorpe who
+was then in London, he went to Bristol, Bath, and
+other places, to take leave of his personal friends.
+As he could not refrain from preaching, so every sermon
+increased his popularity. We give his account
+of his preaching at Bristol, as a specimen of the reception
+he met with.</p>
+
+<p>"It was wonderful to see how the people hung
+upon the rails of the organ-loft, climbed upon the
+leads of the church, and made the church itself so hot
+with their breath, that the steam would fall from the
+pillars like drops of rain. Sometimes almost as many
+would go away for want of room as came in, and it
+was with great difficulty I got into the desk to read
+prayers or preach. Persons of all ranks not only
+publicly attended my ministry, but gave me private
+invitations to their houses. A private society or two
+were erected. I preached and collected for the poor
+prisoners in Newgate twice or thrice a week, and
+many made me large offers if I would not go abroad."</p>
+
+<p>Having mentioned General James Edward Oglethorpe,
+the first governor, and indeed the founder of
+the colony of Georgia, and to the end of Whitefield's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span>
+life his cordial friend, a few additional facts concerning
+him may here be stated. He was the son of Sir
+Theophilus Oglethorpe, and was born in London, December
+21, 1688. At sixteen he was admitted a student
+at Oxford, but did not finish his studies, as the
+military profession had more charms for him than
+literary pursuits. He was first commissioned as an ensign.
+After the death of Queen Anne, he entered into
+the service of Prince Eugene. When he attained the
+age of twenty-four years, he entered Parliament, for
+Haslemere, where he continued thirty-two years. In
+November, 1732, Oglethorpe, with one hundred and
+sixteen settlers, embarked for Georgia, and landed at
+Charleston, S. C., January 13, 1733. They shortly
+afterwards proceeded to Georgia, where Oglethorpe
+laid out a town, and called it Savannah. He very
+happily secured the good will of the Indians. In
+1743, he left Georgia for England, to answer charges
+brought against him by Lieutenant-colonel Cook. A
+court martial declared the charges groundless and
+malicious, and Cook was dismissed from the service.
+In 1744 he was appointed one of the field-officers
+under field-marshal the Earl of Stair, to oppose the
+expected invasion of France. He died in 1785. He
+was truly a noble man.</p>
+
+<p>As the period approached when Whitefield was to
+leave England, the people showed their esteem for
+him in almost every possible way. They followed
+him so closely, and in such numbers, for holy counsels,
+that he could scarcely command a moment for retirement.
+They begged to receive from him religious
+books, and to have their names written therein with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span>
+his own hand, as memorials of him, and very many
+followed him from place to place till his final embarkation.</p>
+
+<p>It was indeed a surprising fact, that a young man,
+scarcely more than twenty-two years of age, and previously
+unknown to the world, should be able to collect
+such immense congregations, and rouse and command
+their attention; multitudes hanging upon and
+receiving instructions from his lips. But God had
+endowed him with a singular union of qualities, which
+most eminently fitted him for the work of an evangelist.
+He was faithful to his trust, and his divine Master
+abundantly blessed and honored him in the discharge
+of its momentous duties.</p>
+
+<p>We have now traced the amazing effects of Whitefield's
+<em>first</em> sermons, and it may be interesting briefly
+to inquire into their general character, and to ascertain
+what truths thus aroused the public mind. Three
+of these sermons can, happily, be identified with these
+"times of refreshing;" and they may be depended on,
+as specimens of both the letter and the spirit of his
+preaching, because they were printed from his own
+manuscripts: they are those on "<cite>Early Piety</cite>," "<cite>Regeneration</cite>,"
+and "<cite>Intercession</cite>." Whoever will read
+the appeals in these sermons, realizing the circumstances
+under which they were made, will scarcely
+wonder at the effect produced by them. The topics
+of the second and third, and the tone of all the three,
+are very different from the matter and manner of sermonizing
+then known to the masses of the people.
+They do not surprise <em>us</em>, because happily neither the
+topics nor the tone of them are "strange things to our<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span>
+ears." Both, however, were novelties in those days,
+even in London. When or where had an appeal been
+made like this?</p>
+
+<p>"I beseech you, in love and compassion, to come
+to Jesus. Indeed, all I say is in love to your souls.
+And if I could be but an instrument of bringing you
+to Jesus, I should not envy, but rejoice in your happiness,
+however much you were exalted. If I was to
+make up the <em>last</em> of the train of the companions of the
+blessed Jesus, it would rejoice me to see you above
+me in glory. I could willingly go to prison or to
+death for you, so I could but bring one soul from the
+devil's strong-holds, into the salvation which is by
+Christ Jesus. Come then to Christ, every one that
+hears me this night. Come, come, my guilty brethren;
+I beseech you, for your immortal souls' sake, for
+Christ's sake, come to Christ. Methinks I could
+speak till midnight unto you. Would you have me
+go and tell my Master that you will not come, and
+that I have spent my strength in vain? I cannot bear
+to carry such a message to him. I would not, indeed,
+I would not be a swift witness against you at the
+great day of account; but if you will refuse these
+gracious invitations, I must do it."</p>
+
+<p>In this spirit, not very prevalent even now, Whitefield
+began his ministry. There is a fascination as
+well as fervor, or rather a fascination arising from
+fervor, in some of his earliest as well as his later discourses.
+How bold and beautiful is the peroration of
+that on "<em>Intercession</em>." Referring to the holy impatience
+of "the souls under the altar," for the coming
+of the kingdom of God, he exclaims,</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"And shall not we who are on earth be often
+exercised in this divine employ with the glorious company
+of the spirits of just men made perfect? Since
+our happiness is so much to consist in the communion
+of saints in the church triumphant above, shall we not
+frequently intercede for the church militant below,
+and earnestly beg that we may be all one? To provoke
+you to this work and labor of love, remember,
+that it is the never-ceasing employment of the holy
+and highly exalted Jesus himself; so that he who is
+constantly interceding for others, is doing that on
+earth which the eternal Son of God is always doing
+in heaven. Imagine, therefore, when you are lifting
+up holy hands for one another, that you see the heavens
+opened, and the Son of God in all his glory, as
+the great High-priest of your salvation, pleading for
+you the all-sufficient merit of his sacrifice before the
+throne. Join your intercession with his. The imagination
+will strengthen your faith, and excite a holy
+earnestness in your prayers."</p>
+
+<p>The nearer the time approached for his leaving
+the country, the more affectionate the people grew
+towards him, and the more eagerly did they attend on
+his ministry. Many thousands of ardent petitions
+were presented to heaven on behalf of his person and
+his ministry; and multitudes would stop him in the
+aisles of the churches, or follow him with their tearful
+looks. Most of all was it difficult for him to part
+from his friends at St. Dunstan's, where he administered
+the sacrament, after spending the night before
+in prayer.</p>
+
+<p>The man who had produced these extraordinary<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span>
+effects, says Dr. Gillies, had many natural advantages.
+He was something above the middle stature, well proportioned,
+though at that time slender, and remarkable
+for native gracefulness of manner. His complexion
+was very fair, his features regular, his eyes
+small and lively, of a dark blue color: in recovering
+from the measles, he had contracted a squint with one
+of them; but this peculiarity rather rendered the expression
+of his countenance more rememberable, than
+in any degree lessened the effect of its uncommon
+sweetness. His voice excelled both in melody and
+compass, and its fine modulations were happily accompanied
+by the grace of action which he possessed in
+an eminent degree, and which is said to be the chief
+requisite of an orator. An ignorant man described
+his eloquence oddly, but strikingly, when he said that
+Mr. Whitefield preached like a lion. So strange a
+comparison conveyed no unapt idea of the force, and
+vehemence, and passion&mdash;of the authority which awed
+the hearers, and made them tremble like Felix before
+the apostle. Believing himself to be the messenger of
+God, commissioned to call sinners to repentance, he
+spoke as one conscious of his high credentials, with
+authority and power; yet in all his discourses there
+was a fervor and melting charity, an earnestness of
+persuasion, an outpouring of redundant love, partaking
+of the virtue of the faith from which it flowed,
+insomuch that it seemed to enter the heart which it
+pierced, and to heal it as with a balm.</p>
+
+<p>At length, having preached in a considerable number
+of the London churches, collected about a thousand
+pounds for the charity schools, and obtained upwards<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span>
+of three hundred pounds for the poor in Georgia,
+Whitefield left London, December 28, 1737, in
+the twenty-third of his age, and went in the strength
+of God, as a poor pilgrim, on board the Whitaker.</p>
+
+<p>Scarcely had he entered on his voyage from London,
+when he discovered that but little comfort was
+to be expected in the ship on which he had embarked.
+There was no place for retirement, no disposition to
+receive him as an ambassador of Christ, and a decided
+dislike even to the forms of religion. They moved
+but slowly to the Downs, where they were detained
+for nearly a month, and where Whitefield went on
+shore to visit Deal, an ancient town, one of the Cinque-ports,
+so called, where "the common people," as in
+the case of his great Master, "heard him gladly."
+With him, through his whole ministry, it was of small
+importance whether he preached to the rich or the
+poor; for he viewed the gospel as a message of mercy
+to <em>sinners</em>, and wherever men were found, he was willing
+to persuade them to be reconciled to God.</p>
+
+<p>The account given by Mr. Whitefield of his visit
+to Deal, and of the different treatment he received
+there from different persons, would be almost as correct
+a description of his labors and reception in a
+hundred other places. He spent his first evening
+very comfortably in religious conversation and family
+prayer, at which a poor woman was much affected.
+"Who knows," he says, "what a fire this little spark
+may kindle?" Next evening, eight or nine poor people
+came to him at the report of this poor woman;
+and when, after three or four days, the ship in which
+he had embarked was driven back to Deal, many met<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span>
+together to bewail their own sins and those of others.
+Soon the landlady who owned the house where he
+lodged, sent to her tenants, beseeching them not to
+let any more persons come in, for fear the floor should
+break under them; and they actually put a prop under
+it.</p>
+
+<p>The minister of Upper Deal, a mile or two from
+the town, now invited Whitefield to preach in the
+church; it was much crowded, and many went away
+for want of room. Some stood on the leads of the
+building outside, and looked in at the top windows,
+and all around seemed eager to hear the word. "May
+the Lord," says the good man, "make them <em>doers</em> of it.
+In the evening I was obliged to divide my hearers
+into four companies, and was enabled to expound to
+them from six till ten. Lord, keep me from being
+weary of, or in well-doing."</p>
+
+<p>The excitement at Deal became very great, in consequence
+of the conviction of the people that their
+own minister, the Rev. Dr. Carter, did not preach the
+gospel. The good man, to disprove the charge, published
+a volume of his sermons, which, however admired
+by gay formalists, furnished but too much evidence
+of the justice of the charge.</p>
+
+<p>Just as he had left the church at Upper Deal,
+where he had been preaching to a vast congregation,
+Mr. Whitefield, in consequence of a sudden change of
+the wind, was summoned on board, and the Whitaker
+sailed for Georgia. A very few hours afterwards,
+the vessel which brought back John Wesley from that
+colony anchored in the Downs, when he learned that
+the ships had passed each other, but neither of these<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span>
+remarkable men then knew how dear a friend was on
+board the other. When Wesley landed, he found it
+was still possible to communicate with his friend, and
+Whitefield was surprised to receive a letter from him,
+saying, "When I saw God by the wind which was
+carrying you out brought me in, I asked counsel of
+God. His answer you have enclosed." The enclosure
+was a slip of paper with the words, "Let him
+return to London," which Wesley had obtained by
+lot, to which he had had recourse. Whitefield prayed
+for direction, and went on his voyage.</p>
+
+<p>This first voyage of Whitefield to America was invested
+with scenes of far more than common interest.
+Perhaps, since the apostle Paul's memorable voyage
+to Rome, the ocean had never exhibited a more remarkable
+spectacle than that furnished by this ship.
+He was but a stripling in his twenty-third year, and
+a faint and hesitating homage once on a Sabbath-day,
+from a few of the less obdurate sinners among his
+hearers, would be all that such a clergyman could
+expect from an assemblage of gentlemen, of soldiers
+with their wives and families, and the ship's crew.
+Yet in the hands of this remarkable youth all became
+pliant as a willow. He converted the chief
+cabin into a cloister, the deck into a church, and the
+steerage into a school-room. He so bore down all
+opposition by love, reason, and Scripture, that we
+soon see him, at the request of the captain and officers,
+with the hearty concurrence of the gentlemen
+who were passengers, reading "full public prayers"
+to them twice a day in the great cabin, and expounding
+every night after the evening prayers, besides daily<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span>
+reading prayers, and preaching twice a day on deck
+to the soldiers and sailors, and increasing the services
+on Sundays. In addition to all this, he daily catechized
+a company of young soldiers, and engaged in the
+same exercise with the women apart by themselves.</p>
+
+<p>Nor did even all this suffice to expend his zeal,
+for he commenced a course of expositions on the creed
+and ten commandments; and so convinced was he of
+the value of catechetical teaching, that on February 3d
+he writes, "I began to-night to turn the observations
+made on the lessons in the morning into catechetical
+questions, and was pleased to hear some of the soldiers
+make very apt answers."</p>
+
+<p>Nor were the children forgotten; the Hon. Mr.
+Habersham, a personal friend who accompanied him,
+assumed their instruction as his department of holy
+labor. Mr. Whitefield wrote of him, that he was
+"pleased to see Mr. Habersham so active in teaching
+the children. He has now many scholars&mdash;may God
+bless him."</p>
+
+<p>Friendship for Whitefield had influenced Mr. Habersham
+to accompany the young evangelist to Georgia.
+Mr. Habersham's friends, at Beverly, in Yorkshire,
+where he was born in 1712, were greatly opposed
+to his plans, but surely the hand of God directed
+them. He presided over the Orphan-house till 1744,
+when he entered into a commercial partnership. He
+occupied several important stations, till he became
+president of the colony in 1769. The proceedings
+connected with the revolutionary war more than once
+placed him in great difficulties; he did not live to see
+its happy results, for in 1775 the state of his health<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span>
+compelled him to visit the north, in hope of its renovation.
+The change, however, was of no benefit, and
+he died at New Brunswick, New Jersey, August 28,
+1775. The "Gazette" of the day said of him, "In the
+first stations of the province he conducted himself with
+ability, honor, and integrity, which gained him the love
+and esteem of his fellow-citizens; nor was he less distinguished
+in private life by a conscientious discharge
+of the social duties, as a tender and affectionate parent,
+a sincere and warm friend, and a kind and indulgent
+master. Mr. Habersham was married by the
+Rev. Mr. Whitefield to Mary Bolton at Bethesda, on
+the 26th of December, 1740, by whom he had ten children,
+three of whom, sons, survived him, and were
+zealous in the cause of American liberty."</p>
+
+<p>In harmony with the solemn duties which Mr.
+Whitefield had assumed, he watched over the conduct
+of all around him. He tells us that the ship's cook
+was awfully addicted to drinking, and when reproved
+for this and other sins, he boasted that he would be
+wicked till within two years of his death, and would
+then reform. Alas, he died on the voyage, after an
+illness of six hours, brought on by drinking.</p>
+
+<p>One day on this voyage, finding on Captain Whiting's
+pillow "The Independent Whig," Whitefield exchanged
+it for a book entitled "The Self-Deceiver."
+The next morning, the captain came smiling and inquired
+who made the exchange. Mr. Whitefield confessed
+the fact, and begged his acceptance of the book,
+which he said he had read, and liked very well. From
+thenceforward a visible alteration took place in the
+conduct of the captain.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>On their arrival at Gibraltar, where they had to
+continue some time, Mr. Whitefield found that Major
+Sinclair, without solicitation, had provided a lodging
+for him, and the governor and military invited him
+to their table. Being apprehensive that at a public
+military table he might be more than hospitably
+treated, to prevent any thing disagreeable, he reminded
+his excellency that, at the court of Ahasuerus,
+"none did compel." The governor took the hint, and
+pleasantly replied, "No compulsion of any kind shall
+be used at my table;" and every thing was conducted
+with the greatest propriety. Here he often preached,
+and was heard by many, including all in high offices.
+Unusual indeed were the scenes, both with respect to
+the place and the people. The adjacent promontories,
+and the vastness of the rock of Gibraltar, aided
+in the enlargement of the ideas of the preacher as
+to Him, who "in his strength setteth fast the mountains,
+and is girded about with power." And the
+place being a sort of public rendezvous of all nations,
+he thought, he says, "he saw the world in
+epitome."</p>
+
+<p>The success of Whitefield's ministry at Gibraltar
+was truly remarkable. He quaintly says of it, "Samson's
+riddle was fulfilled there: 'out of the strong
+came forth sweetness.' Who more unlikely to be
+wrought upon than soldiers? And yet, among any
+set of people, I have not been where God has made
+his power more known. Many that were quite blind,
+have received their sight; many that had fallen back,
+have repented and turned to the Lord again; many
+that were ashamed to own Christ openly, have waxed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span>
+bold; and many saints have had their hearts filled
+with joy unspeakable, and full of glory."</p>
+
+<p>Among other religions societies to which Whitefield
+was introduced at Gibraltar, he one day attended
+the Jewish synagogue, and was agreeably surprised
+when one of the rulers handed him into the chief seat.
+The rabbi had the day before heard him preach against
+profane swearing, and now thanked him for his sermon.
+He remained in the synagogue during the whole
+service, engaged, he says, "in secret prayer that the
+veil might be taken from the heart of the Jews, and
+they grafted again into their own olive-tree."</p>
+
+<p>Several facts occurred on the way to Savannah
+after their embarkation from Gibraltar, which are too
+interesting to pass without notice. On one occasion
+Captain Mackay, after Whitefield had preached against
+drunkenness, urged the men to attend to the things
+which had been spoken; telling them that he was a
+notorious swearer until he did so; and beseeching
+them for Christ's sake to give up their sins. On
+another occasion, while marrying a couple on deck,
+Whitefield suddenly shut the prayer-book in the midst
+of the ceremony, because the bridegroom had behaved
+with levity; and not until the laughter was turned
+into weeping, would he proceed. At the close of the
+service he gave the bride a Bible. When a shark
+was caught, with five pilot-fish clinging to its fins, he
+said, "Go to the pilot-fish, thou that forsakest a friend
+in adversity; consider his ways, and be abashed."
+When a dolphin was caught, the change of its hues
+from lovely to livid, reminded him to say, "Just so is
+man; he flourishes for a little while, but when death<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span>
+cometh, how quickly his beauty is gone! A Christian
+may learn instruction from every thing he meets with."
+While he was preaching on the death of Christ darkness
+came on, and he said, "It puts me in mind of that
+darkness which overwhelmed the world when the God
+of nature suffered."</p>
+
+<p>In the latter part of the voyage, fever laid prostrate
+all in the ship except four persons, and at
+length it seized Whitefield, and confined him to his
+bed for a week. The attack, though short, must have
+been severe; for besides other remedies, he was bled
+three times. During his illness, the captain gave up
+his own bed to him, and Mr. Habersham watched him
+day and night; but that which gratified him most
+was, that the sick between decks, whom he had endangered
+his life to console, prayed for him with great
+fervor. He recovered, and repaid the kindness of all.
+At length, on May 5, they came in sight of Savannah
+river, and sent off for a pilot; and such was the joy
+of all, when they came to anchor at Tybee island, that
+he could not help exclaiming, "How infinitely more
+joyful will the children of God be, when, having passed
+through the waves of this troublesome world, they
+arrive at the haven of everlasting rest!" Though
+still weak, he preached a farewell sermon to his "red-coated
+and blue-jacketed parishioners," as he called
+his military and naval congregation. It was heard
+with floods of tears.</p>
+
+<p>Upon this voyage, says Dr. Gillies, he made these
+reflections many years after: "Even at this distance
+of time, the remembrance of the happy hours I enjoyed
+in religious exercises on deck, is refreshing to my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span>
+soul; and although nature sometimes relented at being
+taken from my friends, and I was little accustomed to
+the inconveniences of a sea-life, yet, a consciousness
+that I had the glory of God and the good of souls in
+view, afforded me, from time to time, unspeakable
+satisfaction."</p>
+
+<p>Whitefield was cordially welcomed at Savannah
+by Delamotte and other friends of the Wesleys: the
+magistrates also offered to wait upon him to pay their
+respects; but this he declined, and waited upon them.
+They agreed to build him a tabernacle and a house at
+Frederica, and to accept his services at Savannah as
+long as he pleased. He was soon, however, again
+laid aside by the return of his fever, now accompanied
+with ague. This attack in a few days brought him
+so low, and made so great an alteration in his person,
+that he says, "Had my friends seen me at that hour,
+they might have learned not to have any man's person
+in admiration, and not to think more highly of me
+than they ought to think."</p>
+
+<p>The first thing which Whitefield did after his recovery
+was to visit <em>Tomo-Chici</em>, the Indian king, then
+on his death-bed. This was the micoe, or king, whom
+Oglethorpe had taken to England, in 1734, and introduced
+to king George the Second. He was accompanied
+by his wife and son, and seven other Indians
+of the Creek nation. His eloquent speech to the
+king and queen was so well received at court, that he
+was loaded with presents, and when he had again to
+embark, was sent in one of the royal carriages to
+Gravesend. "He now lay," says Whitefield, "on a
+blanket, thin and meagre; little else but skin and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span>
+bones. Senanki, his wife, sat by, fanning him with
+Indian feathers. There was no one could talk English,
+so I could only shake hands with him and leave
+him. A few days afterwards, Mr. Whitefield again
+went to visit Tomo-Chici, and found that his nephew,
+Tooanoowee, could speak English. Whitefield says, "I
+desired him to ask his uncle, whether he thought he
+should die; who answered, 'I cannot tell.' I then
+asked where he thought he should go after death.
+He replied, 'To heaven.' But alas, how can a drunkard
+enter there? I then exhorted Tooanoowee, who
+is a tall, proper youth, not to get drunk; telling him
+that he understood English, and therefore would be
+punished the more if he did not live better. I then
+asked him whether he believed in a heaven. He said,
+'Yes.' I then asked whether he believed in a hell,
+and described it by pointing to the fire. He replied,
+'No.' From whence we may easily gather, how natural
+it is to all mankind to believe there is a place of
+happiness, because they wish it to be so; and on the
+contrary, how averse they are to believe in a place of
+torment, because they wish it may not be so. But
+God is just and true; and as surely as the righteous
+shall go away into everlasting happiness, so the impenitently
+wicked shall go into everlasting punishment."</p>
+
+<p>The records of Georgia say, under date of December
+21, 1737, "Ordered, that a license be made out
+for the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield to perform ecclesiastical
+offices in Georgia, as a deacon in the church
+of England."</p>
+
+<p>Before Whitefield had any thoughts of going<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span>
+abroad, Charles Wesley talked to him of an orphan-house
+in Georgia, which he and General Oglethorpe
+had contemplated. When he arrived in Savannah,
+and had sufficiently recovered from his illness to
+examine the state of the colony, the condition of the
+children deeply affected him; and he set his heart on
+founding the projected institution as soon as he should
+be able to collect the needful funds. In the mean
+time he opened schools in the villages of Highgate
+and Hampstead, and one also, for girls, in Savannah.
+He afterwards visited the Saltzburgher's orphan-school
+at Ebenezer; and if any thing had been wanted
+to settle his own determination, or to inflame his
+zeal, he found it there. The Saltzburghers were exiles
+for conscience' sake, and were eminent for piety
+and industry. Their ministers, the Rev. Messrs. Grenaw
+and Boltzius, were eminently evangelical, and
+their asylum, which they had been enabled to found
+by British benevolence, for widows and orphans, was
+flourishing. Whitefield was so delighted with the
+order and harmony of Ebenezer, that he gave a share
+of his own "poor's store" to Boltzius, for his orphans.
+Then came the scene which entirely completed his
+purpose: Boltzius "called all the children before him;
+catechized and exhorted them to give God thanks for
+his good providence towards them; then prayed with
+them, and made them pray after him; then sung a
+psalm. Afterwards, the little lambs came and shook
+me by the hand, one by one, and so we parted."
+Whitefield was now pledged to this cause for life.</p>
+
+<p>Most of our readers probably know that the conductors
+of "The Gentleman's Magazine," a work which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span>
+has now been regularly published in London for much
+more than a century, have never been favorable to
+evangelical truth, or its ministers; it is therefore the
+more gratifying to copy from that work for November,
+1737, the following lines: it will be seen that
+they were published more than a month before Mr.
+Whitefield's departure to the American colonies.</p>
+
+
+<p class="center">"TO THE REV. MR. WHITEFIELD, ON HIS DESIGN
+FOR GEORGIA.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"How great, how just thy zeal, adventurous youth,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To spread in heathen climes the light of truth!<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Go, loved of heaven, with every grace refined,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Inform, enrapture each dark Indian's mind;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Grateful, as when to realms long hid from day,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The cheerful dawn foreshows the solar ray.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">How great thy charity, whose large embrace<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Intends the eternal weal of all thy race;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Prompts thee the rage of waves and winds to scorn,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To effect the work for which thy soul was born.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">What multitudes, whom Pagan dreams deceive,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Shall, when they hear thy heavenly voice, believe!<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">On Georgia's shore thy Wesley shall attend,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To hail the wished arrival of his friend;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">With joy the promised harvest he surveys,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And to his Lord for faithful laborers prays;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Though crowded temples here would plead thy stay,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Yet haste, blest prophet, on thy destined way.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Be gentle, winds, and breathe an easy breeze,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Be clear, ye skies, and smooth, ye flowing seas!<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">From heaven, ye guardian angels, swift descend,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Delighted his blest mission to attend;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Which shall from Satan's power whole nations free,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">While half the world to Jesus bow the knee.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Long as Savannah, peaceful stream, shall glide,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Your worth renowned shall be extended wide;<br /></span><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span>
+<span class="i1">Children as yet unborn shall bless your lore,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Who thus to save them left your native shore;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The apostles thus, with ardent zeal inspired,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To gain <em>all nations</em> for their Lord desired.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">They measured seas, a life laborious knew,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And numerous converts to their Master drew;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Whose hallelujahs, on the ethereal plains,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Rise scarce beneath the bright seraphic strains.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"<span class="smcap">Gloucester</span>, Nov. 1, 1737."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>After spending a few weeks at Savannah, laboring
+as much as his health would permit, Whitefield went
+to Frederica, where he was gladly received; the people
+"having had a famine of the word for a long season."
+They had no sanctuary, and therefore he had
+to preach under a tree, or in Mr. Habersham's house.
+This visit, although short, endeared him to all the
+people; and he had the satisfaction before he left, to
+see them "sawing timber for a commodious place of
+worship, until a church could be built." His return,
+however, to Savannah was hastened by a somewhat
+painful event. One of his friends was lost in the
+woods, and missing from Tuesday till Friday. The
+great guns had been fired to direct the wanderer, but
+in vain; and some of the people had searched for him
+day and night, without success. This report was sent
+to Whitefield, and it hurried him away from Frederica.
+He had the pleasure, however, on his arrival at Savannah,
+to find his "lost sheep."</p>
+
+<p>During the stay of Whitefield in Georgia, the
+weather was intensely hot, sometimes almost burning
+his feet through his shoes. Seeing others do it, he
+determined to accustom himself to hardship by lying
+constantly on the floor; which by use he found to be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span>
+so far from being uncomfortable, that afterwards it
+became so to lie on a bed. Nor was he more ready
+to deny himself than he was assiduous to do good;
+preaching often, catechizing the young, visiting the
+sick, and exhorting from house to house. Entirely
+independent and unrestrained, he knew no fear in the
+discharge of what he regarded as his duty. Knowing
+that some men of influence, to whom his voice could
+not be addressed from the pulpit, were living in open
+defiance of morality and shame, he went into the
+court and made an address to the grand jury, urging
+them to present all such offenders without partiality
+or fear, since the miserable state of the colony was
+doubtless owing to divine displeasure against their
+sins.</p>
+
+<p>Reflection on the character, labors, and success of
+his predecessors, stimulated his zeal and encouraged
+his hope. It could not be denied that John Wesley
+had been misrepresented and unkindly treated, both
+in Savannah and Frederica, and Whitefield therefore
+rejoiced to bear honorable testimony of him and his
+colleagues. He says, "Surely I must labor most
+heartily, since I come after such worthy men. The
+good Mr. John Wesley has done in America is inexpressible.
+His name is very precious among the people,
+and he has laid such a foundation, that I hope
+neither men nor devils will be able to shake it. O
+that I may follow him as he has followed Christ."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Whitefield having as yet only received deacon's
+orders, and wishing to be ordained priest, for
+the more complete performance of his duty as a minister
+of the church of England, it became necessary<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span>
+for him to return to Europe for that purpose; and
+being also desirous of making collections for his Orphan-house,
+he left Mr. Habersham at Savannah, and
+went to Charleston, S. C., on his way to England.</p>
+
+<p>At Charleston he became acquainted with the Rev.
+Alexander Garden, the ecclesiastical commissary of
+the Bishop of London, who with apparent cordiality
+twice invited him into his pulpit, and assured him
+that he would defend him with his life and property,
+should the same arbitrary proceedings ever be commenced
+against him which Mr. Wesley had met with
+in Georgia. Dr. Deems, in his recently published
+volume, "The Annals of Southern Methodism," tells
+us, when speaking of his first sermon, "The people at
+first despised his youth, but his engaging address soon
+gained their general esteem, and Mr. Garden thanked
+him most cordially." In an after-period, however,
+when Mr. Garden more fully understood the evangelical
+character of Mr. Whitefield's preaching, he
+frequently took occasion to point out what he called
+the pernicious tendency of his doctrines, and irregular
+manner of life. He represented him as a religious
+quack, who had an excellent way of setting off and
+rendering palatable his poisonous tenets. On one
+occasion Garden, to keep his flock from going after
+this strange pastor, preached from the text, "These
+that have turned the world upside down are come
+hither also." Whitefield, however, was not to be
+silenced in this way, and returned the compliment by
+preaching from the words, "Alexander the coppersmith
+did me much evil; the Lord reward him according
+to his works."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>On September 6, 1738, Whitefield embarked for
+London. The voyage was perilous in the extreme.
+They were tossed about with bad weather, in a ship
+out of repair, and in sad want of provisions. When
+they were over about one-third of the Atlantic, a vessel
+from Jamaica would have gladly received him,
+but he chose to share the lot of his shipmates. They
+highly valued his services, and one of his fellow-passengers,
+Captain Gladman, became, as the result of
+this voyage, a truly pious man. The captain, in a
+subsequent period, at his own earnest request, became
+the fellow-traveller of his teacher.</p>
+
+<p>After a passage of about nine weeks, they made
+the port of Limerick, in Ireland. "I wish," Whitefield
+says, "I could never forget what I felt when
+water and provisions were brought us from the shore.
+Mr. M'Mahon, a country gentleman, came from his
+seat at midnight on purpose to relieve us, and most
+kindly invited me, though unknown, to his house, to
+stay as long as I pleased." At Limerick he was cordially
+received by that worthy prelate, Bishop Birscough,
+who engaged him to preach at the cathedral.
+From thence he went to Dublin, where he preached,
+and was hospitably entertained by Archbishop Bolton,
+Bishop Rundel, and Dr. Delany.</p>
+
+<p>Remaining but a short time in Ireland, he proceeded
+to London, where he arrived December 8.
+Here he had the pleasure of conversing with some of
+the Moravian brethren, whose faith and love refreshed
+his spirit, though he did not entirely approve some
+of their views. He soon discovered somewhat of a
+change of feeling towards him on the part of many of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span>
+the London clergy. Within two days, he found five
+of the churches were closed against him. He called
+on the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of
+London, who received him with cold civility. The
+bishop asked him if his journals were not tinctured
+with enthusiasm; and he replied, with his usual meekness
+and candor, that they were written only for his
+own use, and that of his private friends, and that they
+were published without his knowledge. So anxious
+was he to avoid giving offence, that he took the earliest
+opportunity to expunge from his journals whatever
+he discovered to be erroneous, and whatever he
+had said without imperative necessity, or which was
+likely to injure the character and feelings of any one.</p>
+
+<p>The trustees of Georgia, at a meeting in London,
+received Whitefield with great cordiality, and in compliance
+with the wishes of the colonists, they presented
+him with the living of Savannah, the salary of which
+he declined to receive; but he thankfully accepted
+five hundred acres of land, on which he proposed to
+erect his orphan-house.</p>
+
+<p>On Sunday, January 14, 1739, being then in his
+twenty-fifth year, Whitefield was ordained priest at
+Oxford, by his worthy friend Bishop Benson. Having
+preached twice to very crowded congregations,
+and administered the Lord's supper at the castle, he
+returned to London the next day. As Dr. Benson
+once expressed regret that he had ordained Mr.
+Whitefield, it may be proper here to explain the circumstances.
+Shortly after the late Countess of Huntingdon
+first became acquainted with the truth as it
+is in Jesus, Bishop Benson, who had been lord Huntingdon's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span>
+tutor, was sent for to remonstrate with her
+ladyship, and to induce her to relinquish what were
+then considered her erroneous views; but she pressed
+him so hard with the Articles and Homilies of his own
+church, and so plainly and faithfully urged upon him
+the awful responsibility of his station, that for the
+moment his mind was hurt, and he rose up to depart,
+lamenting that he had ever laid his hands upon George
+Whitefield, to whom he imputed the change which had
+been wrought in her ladyship. "My lord," said she,
+"mark my words; when you come upon your dying
+bed, that will be one of the few ordinations you will
+reflect upon with pleasure." It would seem that it
+was so; for, on his death-bed, the Bishop sent ten
+guineas to Mr. Whitefield as a token of his favor and
+approbation, and begged to be remembered by him in
+his prayers.</p>
+
+<p>The interval between his taking priests' orders,
+and embarking a second time for Georgia, was employed
+by Whitefield, with his usual energy and success,
+in preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
+and in making collections for his Orphan-house. Having,
+before his visit to America, collected large sums
+for the charity schools in the metropolis, he naturally
+expected that the pulpits would not be denied him
+now, in which to plead the interests of his own poor.
+But he was scarcely yet aware that the tide of clerical
+opinion had turned so extensively and strongly
+against him. The doctrines he had preached, and the
+manner in which he had preached them, had produced
+a sensation so strong, that he found himself excluded
+from most of the churches in London. A few, however,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span>
+were yet open to him for his benevolent design.
+The Rev. Mr. Broughton conducted himself, among
+others, very nobly. Having been urged to refuse his
+pulpit, as some of his neighbors had done, he boldly
+replied, that "having obtained the lectureship of St.
+Helen's by Whitefield's influence, he should have the
+pulpit if he desired it." Mr. Whitefield preached,
+but Mr. Broughton thus losing the lectureship, Whitefield
+blamed himself for having done so. Whatever
+he might himself be willing to suffer, he was not willing
+to inflict inconvenience on others.</p>
+
+<p>Only a few days before his being ordained as
+priest, Whitefield offered his first public <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">extempore</i>
+prayer, in a large meeting in Red Cross-street, London.
+He mentions this fact in a note of his diary as
+"the first time I ever prayed extempore before such
+a number." He did not even then suppose that his
+preaching, as well as his prayers in this manner, were
+to develop his mighty power. The crowding of the
+churches now suggested the idea of preaching in the
+open air. He says, "When I was informed that
+nearly a thousand people stood out in the church-yard,
+and that hundreds returned home, this put me
+first upon thinking of preaching without doors. I
+mentioned it to some friends, who looked upon it as a
+<em>mad</em> motion. However, we kneeled down and prayed
+that nothing might be done rashly. Hear and answer,
+O Lord, for thy name's sake."</p>
+
+<p>We shall soon see how his extempore expositions
+and prayers were fitting him for this new enterprise.
+He would have commenced in London now, but he
+lacked a fair opportunity.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER III.</h2>
+
+<h3>OPEN-AIR PREACHING IN ENGLAND AND WALES&mdash;ERECTION
+OF THE TABERNACLE IN LONDON.<br />
+
+1738-1739.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Under the circumstances we have related in our
+last chapter, Whitefield paid another visit to Bristol,
+and soon found that he had to meet with new and
+very unexpected opposition. When he arrived in the
+city, the chancellor of the diocese, while he did not
+approve of what he considered his irregular conduct,
+told him that he would not prohibit any clergyman
+from lending him his church; but in a few days afterwards
+he sent for the evangelist, and announced
+his entire opposition to his movements. Strangely
+enough, he now asked Whitefield by what authority
+he preached in the diocese of Bristol without a license.
+The reply of the intrepid minister was, that he supposed
+such a custom had become obsolete, and asked
+the chancellor in his turn, "And pray, sir, why did
+you not ask the clergyman who preached for you last
+Thursday this question?" The chancellor then read
+to him the canons which forbid any clergyman from
+preaching in a private house; to which Whitefield
+replied, that he did not suppose these canons referred
+to professed ministers of the church of England; and
+when the chancellor told him he was mistaken, he
+reminded his superior, "There is also a canon, sir,
+forbidding all clergymen to frequent taverns and play
+at cards; why is not that put in execution?" And<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span>
+he then added, that notwithstanding any canons to
+the contrary, he could not but speak the things which
+he knew, and that he was resolved to proceed as usual.
+His answer was written down, and the chancellor
+closed the interview with the words, "I am resolved,
+sir, if you preach or expound anywhere in this diocese
+till you have a license, I will first suspend, and
+then excommunicate you." The crisis was now come;
+the Rubicon had been passed, and the inquiry might
+well be made, "What will Whitefield now do?"</p>
+
+<p>Already have we seen that he had earnestly desired,
+in London, to preach in the open air, for want
+of room in the churches, and indeed also from the
+opposition of the clergy, which had begun so strongly
+to manifest itself; and during this journey to Bristol,
+he found it necessary to preach in the open air or not
+at all. As this event was of vast importance in its
+results, both in his own history and that of Mr. Wesley,
+who also began to preach on the same spot within
+two months after Whitefield had opened the way, we
+must stay a while to narrate the facts.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 450px;">
+<img src="images/i073a.jpg" width="450" height="305" alt="tabernacle" />
+<div class="caption"><p class="center">TABERNACLE, p 89.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 450px;">
+<img src="images/i073b.jpg" width="450" height="458" alt="Hanham" />
+<div class="caption"><p class="center">HANHAM MOUNT</p></div>
+</div>
+
+<p>At that time, the colliers of Kingswood, near the
+city of Bristol, were a most depraved and reckless
+class of men. Inconceivably barbarous and ignorant,
+they trampled on all laws, human and divine, and
+hesitated not to set the magistrates at defiance. It
+was dangerous to pass near the scene of their labors,
+even in open day, for robberies and murders were of
+frequent occurrence; in a word, it was truly "a seat
+of Satan." When Whitefield was at Bristol, making
+collections for his projected orphan institution in
+Georgia, not a few persons had said to him, "Why<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span>
+go abroad; have we not Indians enough at home?
+If you have a mind to convert Indians, there are colliers
+enough in Kingswood." "I thought," says he,
+"it might be doing the service of my Creator, who
+had a mountain for his pulpit, and the heavens for his
+sounding-board, and who, when his gospel was refused
+by the Jews, sent his servants into the highways and
+hedges." After much prayer and many inward struggles,
+he went one day to a gentle elevation on the
+south side of Kingswood, called Hanham Mount, and
+there, under an old sycamore-tree, he preached his
+first sermon in the open air to about a hundred colliers.
+The scene must have been very impressive.
+Before him stretched the rich and beautiful valley of
+the Avon, through which the river was gently winding,
+bordered in the distance by the undulating hills;
+while on his right and left the cities of Bath and
+Bristol were within sight.</p>
+
+<p>The fact of his preaching here soon and extensively
+spread, and at meeting after meeting his audience increased,
+till he found himself addressing <em>nearly twenty
+thousand persons</em>. His own account of the effects produced
+is very striking. He says, "The first discovery
+of their being affected, was in the white gutters made
+by their tears, which plentifully fell down their black
+cheeks, as they came out of their coal pits. Hundreds
+and hundreds of them were soon brought under deep
+convictions, which happily ended in sound and thorough
+conversion. As the scene was quite new, and
+I had just begun to be an extempore preacher, I had
+often many inward conflicts. Sometimes, when twenty
+thousand people were before me, I had not, as I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span>
+thought, a word to say; but I was never deserted;
+and I was often so assisted as to understand what
+that meaneth, 'Out of his belly shall flow rivers of
+living water.' The open firmament above; the prospect
+of the adjacent fields; with the sight of thousands
+and thousands, some in coaches, some on horseback,
+and some in the trees, and all so affected as to be
+drenched in tears together, to which sometimes was
+added the solemnity of the approaching night, were
+almost too much for me; I was occasionally all but
+overcome." Writing to Mr. Wesley a few weeks
+afterwards, he says, "Yesterday I began to play the
+madman in Gloucestershire, by preaching on a table
+in Thornbury-street. To-day I have exhorted twice,
+and by and by I shall begin a third time; nothing
+like doing good by the way. I suppose you have
+heard of my proceedings in Kingswood."</p>
+
+<p>We scarcely need to remark here, that Kingswood
+has ever since been regarded as a sacred spot in ecclesiastical
+history. Here houses for Wesleyan Methodists
+and Independents were soon erected, and in
+them thousands have been converted to God. Here
+was placed the first school for the sons of Methodist
+preachers, and on Hanham Mount, besides the voice of
+Whitefield, those of the Wesleys, Coke and Mather,
+Pawson and Benson, and Bradburn, accomplished some
+of the mightiest effects which attended their powerful
+preaching. There are yet some living in the neighborhood
+who were awakened under their ministry, and
+whose eyes glisten as they tell of the blessed days that
+are past.</p>
+
+<p>Besides the colliers, and thousands from the neighboring<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span>
+villages, persons of all ranks daily flocked out
+of Bristol. And he was soon invited by many of the
+most respectable people to preach on a large bowling-green
+in the city itself. Many of the people indeed
+sneered to see a stripling with a gown mount a table
+on unconsecrated ground; this even excited once or
+twice the laugh of some of the higher ranks, who had
+admired him in the churches. But he was unmoved,
+and his preaching was so blessed, that many were
+awakened. Sometimes he was employed almost from
+morning till night answering those who, in distress of
+soul, cried out, "What shall I do to be saved?" He
+now sought the help of Mr. John Wesley, who, after
+much reasoning with himself on the subject, complied
+with the invitation, and followed Whitefield's example,
+who immediately committed the work to him.
+Before leaving the neighborhood, however, Whitefield
+had the satisfaction of laying the foundation of
+a school for Kingswood; for the support of which the
+colliers liberally and cheerfully subscribed.</p>
+
+<p>Taking an affectionate leave of his Bristol friends,
+Whitefield made an excursion into Wales, where a
+revival of religion had commenced several years before,
+under the ministry of the Rev. Griffith Jones,
+and was now carried on by the ministry of Mr. Howel
+Harris, a man of strong mental powers, great Christian
+zeal, and considerable learning. They met at Cardiff.
+Whitefield's heart was then glowing with the fire he
+had himself kindled at Bristol and Kingswood. On
+his way from Bristol to Cardiff, he was delayed at the
+New Passage by contrary winds. He says, "At the
+inn there was an unhappy clergyman who would not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span>
+go over in the passage-boat, because I was in it. Alas,
+thought I, this very temper would make heaven itself
+unpleasant to that man, if he saw me there. I was
+told that he charged me with being a dissenter. I
+saw him, soon after, shaking his elbows over a gaming-table.
+I heartily wish those who charge me causelessly
+with schism and being righteous overmuch,
+would consider that the canons of our church forbid
+the clergy to frequent taverns, or to play at cards or
+dice, or any other unlawful games. Their indulging
+themselves in these things is a stumbling-block to
+thousands."</p>
+
+<p>We have said that Whitefield first met Howel
+Harris at Cardiff. After preaching in the town-hall,
+from the judges' seat, he says, "I was much refreshed
+with the sight of Mr. Howel Harris; whom, though
+I knew not in person, I have long loved, and have
+often felt my soul drawn out in prayer in his behalf....
+When I first saw him, my heart was knit closely to
+him. I wanted to catch some of his fire, and gave
+him the right hand of fellowship with my whole heart.
+After I had saluted him, and given an exhortation to
+a great number of people, who followed me to the inn,
+we spent the remainder of the evening in taking sweet
+counsel together, and telling one another what God
+had done for our souls. A divine and strong sympathy
+seemed to be between us, and I was resolved to
+promote his interest with all my might. Accordingly
+we took an account of the several societies, and agreed
+on such measures as seemed most conducive to promote
+the common interest of our Lord. Blessed be
+God, there seems a noble spirit gone out into Wales;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span>
+and I believe that, ere long, there will be more visible
+fruits of it. What inclines me strongly to think so
+is, that the partition wall of bigotry and party spirit
+is broken down, and ministers and teachers of different
+communions join, with one heart and one mind, to
+carry on the kingdom of Jesus Christ. The Lord
+make all the Christian world thus minded; for, until
+this is done, we must, I fear, despair of any great
+reformation in the church of God."</p>
+
+<p>Before leaving Cardiff, Whitefield preached again
+in the town-hall, to a large assembly. He says, "My
+dear brother Harris sat close by me. I did not observe
+any scoffers within; but without, some were
+pleased to honor me so far as to trail a dead fox, and
+hunt it about the hall. But, blessed be God, my voice
+prevailed. This being done, I went, with many of my
+hearers, among whom were two worthy dissenting
+ministers, to public worship; and in the second lesson
+were these remarkable words: 'The high-priests,
+and the scribes, and the chief of the people sought to
+destroy him; but they could not find what they might
+do to him; for all the people were very attentive to
+hear him.'</p>
+
+<p>"In the afternoon I preached again, without any
+disturbance or scoffing. In the evening, I talked for
+above an hour and a half with the religious society,
+and never did I see a congregation more melted
+down. The love of Jesus touched them to the quick.
+Most of them were dissolved in tears. They came to
+me after, weeping, bidding me farewell, and wishing I
+could continue with them longer. Thanks be to God,
+for such an entrance into Wales. I wrestled with God<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span>
+for them in prayer, and blessed be His holy name for
+sending me into Wales. I hope these are the first-fruits
+of a greater harvest, if ever it should please
+God to bring me back from Georgia. 'Father, thy
+will be done.'"</p>
+
+<p>Whitefield returned from this short excursion, to
+Bristol, baptized with Welsh fire, and renewed his
+labors among the Kingswood colliers with more than
+his usual power and success. He could not, however,
+forget the tears which had entreated him to stay longer
+in Wales, and in three or four weeks he visited
+Usk and Pontypool, where he was again met by Howel
+Harris. At Usk, "the pulpit being denied, I preached
+upon a table, under a large tree, to some hundreds,
+and God was with us of a truth. On my way to Pontypool,
+I was informed by a man who heard it, that
+Counsellor H&mdash;&mdash; did me the honor to make a public
+motion to Judge P&mdash;&mdash; to stop me and brother Howel
+Harris from going about teaching the people. Poor
+man, he put me in mind of Tertullus, in the Acts; but
+my hour is not yet come. I have scarcely begun my
+testimony. For my finishing it, my enemies must
+have power over me from above. Lord, prepare me
+for that hour."</p>
+
+<p>The report to which we have just referred did not
+prevent the curate of Pontypool from cordially inviting
+Whitefield into his pulpit. He also read prayers
+for him. After the sermon, it was found that so many
+had come to hear who could not find room in the
+church, that another sermon was loudly called for.
+He says, "I went and preached to all the people in
+the field. I always find I have most power when I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span>
+preach in the open air; a proof to me that God is
+pleased with this way of preaching. I betook myself
+to rest, full of such unutterable peace as no one can
+conceive of but those who feel it."</p>
+
+<p>In several other places did our evangelist, during
+this excursion, unfurl the banner of the cross; and at
+its close he writes, "Oh how swiftly this week has
+glided away. To me it has been but as one day.
+How do I pity those who complain that time hangs
+on their hands! Let them but love Christ, and
+spend their whole time in his service, and they will
+find but few melancholy hours." Nor will any wonder
+that he should thus speak, who consider the spirit
+which animated his soul. What he some time afterwards
+wrote to Howel Harris, from Philadelphia, indicated
+the spirit he himself cherished: "Intersperse
+prayers with your exhortations, and thereby call down
+fire from heaven, even the fire of the Holy Ghost,</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"'To soften, sweeten, and refine,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And melt them into love.'<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="noindent">Speak every time, my dear brother, as if it were your
+last; <em>weep out</em>, if possible, every argument, and compel
+them to cry, 'Behold how he loveth us.'"</div>
+
+<p>From Wales, Whitefield went to visit his native
+city, Gloucester; and after one or two sermons, he
+found himself here also excluded from the parochial
+pulpits. But notwithstanding his persecutions, and
+the infirm state of his health at that time, his labors
+in Gloucester and its vicinity were constant and eminently
+successful. Bowling-greens, market-crosses,
+highways, and other such places, bore witness to his
+faithful and tearful labors.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>At Gloucester lived at that time the Rev. Mr.
+Cole, an old dissenting minister, who often heard
+Whitefield preach, and used to say, "These are the
+days of the Son of man indeed!" Whitefield, when a
+boy, had been taught to ridicule this Mr. Cole; and
+when he was once asked what profession he would
+engage in, replied, "I will be a minister, but I will
+take care never to tell stories in the pulpit like old
+Cole." Twelve years afterwards, the old minister
+heard the young one preach, and tell some story to
+illustrate his subject, when the venerable servant of
+Christ remarked, "I find young Whitefield can tell
+stories now as well as old Cole." The good man
+was much affected with the preaching of his young
+friend, and was so humble, that he used to subscribe
+himself his curate, and went about in the country preaching
+after him. One evening, while preaching, he was
+struck with death, and asked for a chair to lean on
+till he had finished his sermon. Having done this, he
+was carried up stairs and died. When the fact was
+told to Whitefield, he said, "O blessed God, if it be
+thy holy will, may my exit be like his!" How striking
+is this fact when looked at in connection with the circumstances
+of his own removal from earth.</p>
+
+<p>Intent on the advancement of his orphan-house in
+Georgia, Whitefield soon went to London, passing on
+his way through Oxford. At both places he found
+opposition, and in London was shut out of the churches.
+He preached to thousands in Islington churchyard,
+and now resolved to give himself to the work in the
+open air.</p>
+
+<p>From the conflict with the enemies who a few<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span>
+years before had threatened her existence, the polemics
+of the church of England now turned to resist
+the unwelcome ally who menaced her repose. Bishop
+Warburton led the van, and behind him many a mitred
+front scowled on the audacious innovator. Divested
+of the logomachies which chiefly engaged the attention
+of the disputants, the controversy between Whitefield
+and the bishops lay in a narrow compass. It being
+mutually conceded that the virtues of the Christian
+life can result only from certain divine impulses, and
+that to lay a claim to this holy inspiration when its
+legitimate fruits are wanting, is a fatal delusion, he
+maintained, and they denied, that the person who is
+the subject of this sacred influence has within his own
+bosom an independent attestation of its reality. So
+abstruse a debate required the zest of some more pungent
+ingredients, and the polemics with whom Whitefield
+had to do were not such sciolists in their calling
+as to be ignorant of the necessity of riveting upon
+him some epithet at once opprobrious and vague.
+While therefore milder spirits arraigned him as an
+<em>enthusiast</em>, Warburton, with constitutional energy of
+invective, denounced him as a <em>fanatic</em>. In vain Whitefield
+demanded a definition of these reproachful terms.
+To have fixed their meaning would have been to blunt
+their edge. They afforded a solution, at once compendious,
+obscure, and repulsive, of whatever was remarkable
+in his character, and have been associated
+with his name from that time to the present.</p>
+
+<p>The spots on which Whitefield now began, in his
+own language, "to take the field," and publicly to
+erect the standard of the Redeemer's cross, are well<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span>
+known. Moorfields, then a place of general rendezvous
+and recreation from the crowded city, Kennington
+Common then about two, and Blackheath about five
+miles from London, were the favorite sites to which
+he loved to resort, and "open his mouth boldly" to
+listening thousands, in honor of his crucified and
+glorified Lord. Recording his first engagement of
+this kind in his diary of Sabbath evening, April 29,
+1739, he writes, "Begun to be yet more vile this day,
+for I preached at Moorfields to an exceeding great
+multitude; and at five in the evening went and preached
+at Kennington Common, where upwards of twenty
+thousand were supposed to be present. The wind
+being for me, it carried my voice to the extreme part
+of my audience. All stood attentive, and joined in
+the psalm and the Lord's prayer so regularly, that I
+scarce ever preached with more quietness in a church.
+Many were much affected.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"'For this let men revile my name,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">I'll shun no cross, I'll fear no shame;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">All hail, reproach, and welcome pain,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Only thy terrors, Lord, restrain.'"<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>For several successive months, the places we have
+named were his chief scenes of action. At a moderate
+computation, the audience frequently consisted of
+twenty thousand. It is said that the singing could
+be heard two miles, and the voice of the preacher
+nearly one. Sometimes there were upwards of a hundred
+coaches, besides wagons, scaffolds, and other
+contrivances by which a sight of him could be obtained.
+The rising ground on Blackheath, from which
+Whitefield preached, is still known as "Whitefield's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span>
+mount," and after his death, Lord Dartmouth planted
+it with fir-trees. It will ever be a grateful recollection
+to the author of this volume, that during the
+summer of 1839 he prevailed on some of the most eminent
+ministers of England to preach on every successive
+Monday evening on this hallowed spot; and that
+here many thousands then heard the way of salvation,
+and not a few were brought to the cross of Christ.
+In that immediate neighborhood too, now densely
+populated, he organized, and for some years preached
+to a Christian church. Memorable times! Many
+were the manifestations of the Redeemer's favor.</p>
+
+<p>An anecdote which we heard many years ago from
+one of Whitefield's Blackheath hearers, may here be
+related. While one day preaching on "the heath,"
+there passed along the road at some distance, an old
+man and "Mary" his wife, with their ass and his
+loaded panniers, returning from London to their home
+in Kent. Attracted alike by the crowd and the
+preacher's voice, the old man and his wife turned a
+little out of their way to hear "what the man was
+talking about." Whitefield spoke of somewhat which
+occurred eighteen hundred years ago, and the old
+man said, "Mary, come along, it is only something
+which happened a long while ago;" but Mary's attention
+had been arrested, and she wished to stay a minute
+or two longer. They were both soon in tears,
+and the inquiry was excited in their hearts, "What
+shall we do to be saved?" On their way home, while
+"talking of all these things," the old man recollected
+his neglected Bible, and asked, "Why, Mary, does
+not our old book at home say somewhat about these<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span>
+things?" They went home, and examined the old book
+with new light. "Why, Mary," asked the old man,
+"is this indeed our old book? why, every thing in it
+seems quite new." So true is it, that the teaching of
+the Spirit gives new discernment as to the truths of
+divine revelation.</p>
+
+<p>A fact strikingly illustrating the children's love
+to our evangelist may be here mentioned. In his
+open-air preachings, especially in and about London,
+he was usually attended by many of them, who sat
+round him, in and about the pulpit, and handed to
+him the notes of those who desired his counsels and
+prayers. These children were exposed to the missiles
+with which he was often assailed, but however terrified
+they might be, or even hurt, they seldom shrunk;
+"but," says he, "on the contrary, every time I was
+struck, they turned up their little weeping eyes, and
+seemed to wish they could receive the blows for me."</p>
+
+<p>Speaking of his open-air labors, the devoted preacher
+says, "Words cannot express the displays of divine
+grace which we saw, and heard of, and felt. Lord, not
+unto me, but unto thy name be all the glory." On a subsequent
+occasion he writes, "We have had a glorious
+season, a true Easter. Jesus Christ is risen indeed.
+I have been preaching in Moorfields, and our Saviour
+carries all before us. Nothing can resist his conquering
+blood. It would have delighted you to see poor
+sinners flock from the booths to see Jesus lifted up on
+the pole of the gospel." The climax of his success
+there, is one of the most remarkable letters that ever
+came from a mortal's pen. He records at its close,
+"We then retired to the Tabernacle, with my pockets<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span>
+full of notes from persons brought under concern, and
+read them amidst the praises and spiritual acclamations
+of thousands, who joined with the holy angels in
+rejoicing that so many sinners were snatched, in such
+an unexpected, unlikely place and manner, out of the
+very jaws of the devil. This was the beginning of
+the Tabernacle society. Three hundred and fifty
+awakened souls were received in one day; and I believe
+the number of notes exceeded a thousand. But
+I must have done, believing you want to retire, to join
+in mutual praise with me in thanksgiving to God and
+the Lamb."</p>
+
+<p>Having thus introduced the name of the Tabernacle,
+it is important that the reader should be acquainted
+with the origin of the buildings which have borne
+that name. From the very first of what may be called
+his irregular labors, Whitefield always declared that
+he "would never be the founder of a sect." He kept
+his word; yet two London churches remain as his
+memorial&mdash;the Tabernacle, and Tottenham Court-road
+chapel, the one in the north, and the other in the western
+part of the metropolis. The Tabernacle, which
+was first erected, was his more especial and favorite
+field of labor, and he dwelt in the house adjoining it,
+which is still the pastoral residence.</p>
+
+<p>Moorfields, just without the limits of the old north
+city wall of London, was, a few years before Whitefield
+first knew it, a marsh, and during the greater
+part of the year, was absolutely impassable. Having
+been partially drained, a brick kiln was erected, and
+the first bricks used in London are said to have been
+manufactured there. Afterwards it was a field for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span>
+the practice of archery, when it was laid out in walks,
+and called the City Mall. Though improved in name
+and appearance, it became the rallying ground for the
+rabble of London; wrestlers, boxers, and mountebanks,
+the idle, the dissolute, and the profane, held
+here their daily and nightly revels. It appeared, in
+fact, to be one of the strong-holds of Satan, and therefore
+became a most tempting and important point of
+attack for the daring eloquence of Whitefield. All
+London rang one day with the announcement that
+Whitefield would preach the day following at Moorfields.</p>
+
+<p>This was in January, 1739. Gillies says, "The
+thing being strange and new, he found, on coming out
+of the coach, an incredible number of people assembled.
+Many told him that he would never come out
+of that place alive. He went in, however, between
+two friends, who by the pressure of the crowd were
+soon parted from him entirely, and obliged to leave
+him to the mercy of the rabble. But these, instead of
+hurting him, formed a lane for him, and carried him
+along to the middle of the fields, where a table had
+been placed. This, however, having been broken by
+the crowd, he mounted a wall, and preached to an
+exceeding great multitude in tones so melting, that
+his words drew tears and groans from the most abandoned
+of his hearers. Moorfields became henceforth
+one of the principal scenes of his triumphs. Thirty
+thousand people sometimes gathered together to hear
+him, and generous contributions here poured in for
+his orphan-house at Bethesda. On one occasion
+twenty pounds&mdash;about one hundred dollars&mdash;were received<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span>
+in half-pennies, more than one person was able
+to carry away, and enough to put one out of conceit
+with a specie currency."</p>
+
+<p>It was not till his fifth visit to London, in March,
+1741, that Whitefield ventured to preach in Moorfields
+on <em>a week-day</em>; the day selected for this bold
+action being Good-Friday. His chief, if not his only
+friends on this occasion, he tells us, were a few
+"orthodox dissenters." These people perceiving the
+inconvenience to which he was subjected by the
+weather, during the morning and evening services in
+Moorfields, procured the loan of a piece of ground,
+and employed a carpenter to build a large temporary
+shed, to screen the auditory from the cold and rain.
+This building Whitefield called a "tabernacle," as it
+was only intended to be used a few months during his
+stay in his native country, previous to his return to
+America. Providence, however, had otherwise determined,
+and this proved the commencement of a permanent
+establishment of the means of grace. A great
+spiritual awakening took place; congregations became
+very large, acquiring at the same time considerable
+cohesion, and assuming a stationary character.
+This original fabric of wood was a place of large
+dimensions; and notwithstanding its rude aspect and
+temporary design, it sufficed for the accommodation of
+Whitefield and his flock, during the twelve succeeding
+years&mdash;a period the most brilliant and useful of his
+extraordinary career.</p>
+
+<p>Some of Whitefield's friends, however, did not
+approve of the original wooden structure; and anticipating
+or desiring the formation of a Christian<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span>
+church, they called for the immediate erection of a
+substantial brick building, a point which was debated
+with a warmth approaching to violence, of which
+Whitefield makes pathetic mention seven years afterwards.
+Here then several important facts are established:
+that the original tabernacle sprang not from
+Whitefield, but from a voluntary movement among his
+adherents, composed chiefly, if not wholly, of Protestant
+dissenters; that the expense was borne not by
+him, but by them; that much debate and dissension
+attended the measure, proving the thoroughly free
+and popular character of the original movement; and
+that, as the edifice originated with the people alone,
+so did the institution of regular worship. It is certain
+that fears existed in the mind of Whitefield as to
+the success of such an organization; but the results
+most happily disappointed his expectations.</p>
+
+<p>The subject of the erection of a more spacious
+edifice in the place of the tabernacle of wood, was
+first discussed at the mansion of Lady Huntingdon, in
+Leicestershire, when Drs. Doddridge and Stonehouse,
+and the Rev. Messrs. Hervey and Whitefield happened
+to meet together, in the summer of 1751. During
+the following winter, Whitefield began to make collections
+for the object, and on almost its first presentation
+in London, nine hundred pounds, or four thousand
+five hundred dollars, were subscribed. "But,"
+he says, "on the principle that burned children dread
+the fire, I do not mean to begin until I get one thousand
+in hand, and then to contract at a certain sum
+for the whole." The fact was, that Whitefield had
+often been in great straits for the support of his orphan-house<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span>
+in Georgia, "for I forgot," he says, "that
+Professor Francke built in Glaucha, in a populous
+country, and that I was building at the very tail of
+the world." In March, 1753, he wrote to Mr. Charles
+Wesley, "On Tuesday morning the first brick of our
+new Tabernacle was laid with awful solemnity. I
+preached from Exodus 20:24, 'In all places where I
+record my name, I will come unto thee, and I will
+bless thee.' The wall is now about a yard high. The
+building is to be eighty feet square. It is on the old
+spot. We have bought the house, and if we finish
+what we have begun, shall be rent free for forty-six
+years." In June the dedicatory services took place,
+when the Tabernacle, though capable, with its capacious
+galleries, of holding <em>four thousand</em> people, was
+crowded almost to suffocation. Often have we seen
+this vast building crowded with worshippers, with
+delight have we occupied its pulpit, and with devout
+gratitude do we record, that never for a moment has
+the frown of heaven rested upon it. Thousands will
+ever bless God for its erection.</p>
+
+<p>Not unfrequently has the question been discussed,
+to what denomination of Christians does the Tabernacle
+really belong? In answer to this question, we give
+a legal document which may also show what is done
+in reference to houses of worship in England, under
+the laws for the maintenance of religious toleration.</p>
+
+<p>"These are to certifie whom it may Concern, that
+a Certificate bearing date the Eighteenth Day of June,
+in the year of Our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred
+and Sixty-four, under the Hands of Starkey
+Myddleton Minister, Robert Keen, Thomas Cox,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span>
+Samuel Grace, Robert Hodgson, James Smith, Thomas
+Robinson, Benjamin Coles, Thomas Brooks, and Samuel
+Lockhart, for appropriating and setting apart a Certain
+Building for that purpose erected, situate near
+the Barking Dogs in the Parish of Saint Luke in the
+County of Middlesex, and intended for the meeting
+place of a certain Congregation of Protestant Dissenters
+from the Church of England, calling themselves
+Independents, was Registered in the Registry
+of the Dean and Chapter of the Cathedral Church of
+Saint Paul, London, This Twenty-first Day of June in
+the year of Our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred
+and Sixty-four.</p>
+
+<p class="sig">
+"THOMAS COLLINS, Deputy Registrar."
+</p>
+
+<p>While the new Tabernacle was in the course of
+erection, Whitefield visited Norwich, where his ministry
+was largely attended, and notwithstanding much
+opposition, was followed with considerable success.
+Writing to his friend Keen, he says, "How does God
+delight to exceed even the hopes, and to disappoint the
+fears of his weak, though honest-hearted people. In
+spite of all opposition, he hath caused us to triumph
+even in Norwich. Thousands attend twice every day,
+and hear with the greatest eagerness. I hope it will
+appear yet more and more that God hath much people
+here." Compelled by alarming illness, the result
+of his too much preaching, he suddenly returned to
+London, from whence he thus wrote to one of the converts
+at Norwich: "I shall little regard the weakness
+and indisposition of my body, if I can but have the
+pleasure of hearing, if not before, yet at the great
+day, that good was done to one precious soul at Norwich.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span>
+Blessed be God for the seed sown there. I
+doubt not but it will be watered with the dew of his
+heavenly blessing, and bring forth a divine increase."</p>
+
+<p>Truly the gospel did triumph, not only in the erection
+of the Tabernacle in that city, but in preparing
+sinners to be pillars in the temple of God, and to win
+others to his service.</p>
+
+<p>Among other converts won at Norwich, was the
+afterwards popular and useful minister of Christ, the
+Rev. Robert Robinson, of Cambridge, England. When
+a young man, about eighteen, he resided in that city,
+and was engaged in the business of a barber. When
+he was walking one morning with several companions
+who had agreed that day to take their pleasure, the
+first object which attracted their attention was an old
+woman who pretended to tell fortunes. They immediately
+employed her to tell theirs, and that they
+might qualify her for the undertaking, first made her
+thoroughly intoxicated. Robinson was informed,
+among other things, that he would live to a very old
+age, and see his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren
+growing up around him. Though he
+had assisted in intoxicating the old woman, he had
+credulity enough to be struck with those parts of the
+prediction which related to himself. "And so," said
+he when alone, "I am to see children, grandchildren,
+and great-grandchildren. At that age I must be a
+burden to the young people. What shall I do? There
+is no way for an old man to render himself more
+agreeable to youth, than by sitting and telling them
+pleasant and profitable stories. I will then," thought
+he, "during my youth, endeavor to store my mind<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span>
+with all kinds of knowledge. I will see and hear,
+and note down every thing that is rare and wonderful,
+that I may sit, when incapable of other employments,
+and entertain my descendants. Thus shall my
+company be rendered pleasant, and I shall be respected,
+rather than neglected, in old age. Let me see,
+what can I acquire first? Oh, here is the famous
+Methodist preacher, Whitefield; he is to preach here,
+they say, to-night; I will go and hear him."</p>
+
+<p>From these strange motives, as he told the celebrated
+Rev. Andrew Fuller, he went to hear Whitefield
+preach. That evening his text was, "But when
+he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to
+his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers,
+who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?"
+Matt. 3:7. "Mr. Whitefield," said Robinson, "described
+the Sadducees' character; this did not touch
+me; I thought myself as good a Christian as any man
+in England. From this he went to that of the Pharisees.
+He described their exterior decency, but observed,
+that the poison of the viper rankled in their
+hearts. This rather shook me. At length, in the
+course of his sermon, he abruptly broke off; paused
+for a few moments; then burst into a flood of tears,
+lifted up his hands and eyes, and exclaimed, 'Oh, my
+hearers, <em>the wrath's to come! the wrath's to come!</em>'
+These words sunk into my heart like lead in the
+water; I wept, and when the sermon was ended retired
+alone. For days and weeks I could think of
+little else. Those awful words would follow me wherever
+I went: 'The wrath's to come! The wrath's to
+come!'"</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Scarcely had Whitefield completed the Tabernacle
+in London, before he was earnestly solicited to hold
+public services at the west end of the city, and Long-Acre
+chapel, then under the charge of a dissenter, was
+offered for his use. An unruly rabble endeavored to
+drive the preacher from his post; but a running fire
+of brickbats, broken glass, bells, drums, and clappers,
+neither annoyed nor frightened the intrepid evangelist;
+nor did an interference on the part of the hierarchy,
+which followed soon after, prohibiting his preaching
+in an incorporated chapel. "I hope you will not
+look on it as contumacy," said Whitefield to the bishop,
+"if I persist in prosecuting my design until I am
+more particularly apprized wherein I have erred. I
+trust the irregularity I am charged with will appear
+justifiable to every lover of English liberty, and what
+is all to me, be approved at the awful and impartial
+tribunal of the great Bishop and Shepherd of souls."
+Writing to Lady Huntingdon, he says, "My greatest
+distress is so to act as to avoid rashness on the one
+hand and timidity on the other;" and this shows, what
+indeed was proved in his whole life, an entire absence
+of that malignant element of fanaticism which courts
+opposition and revels in it.</p>
+
+<p>"Determined," as Mrs. Knight says, in her beautiful
+volume, "<cite>Lady Huntingdon and her Friends</cite>," "not
+to be beaten from his ground, yet hoping to escape
+some of its annoyances, Whitefield resolved to build
+a chapel of his own. Hence arose Tottenham Court-road
+chapel, which went by the name of 'Whitefield's
+soul-trap.'" Admirably does he say, "I pray the
+Friend of sinners to make it a soul-trap indeed to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span>
+many wandering creatures. My constant work is
+preaching fifteen times a week. Conviction and conversion
+go on here, for God hath met us in our new
+building." It was completed and dedicated in November,
+1756. Though not equal in its triumphs to
+the Tabernacle, the congregation has always been
+large, and its preachers&mdash;always the same as those
+at the Tabernacle&mdash;have not labored in vain. In
+1829, '30, improvements were made in the building,
+which still, however, contains Whitefield's pulpit. A
+vast area in the centre was originally filled with plain
+seats, where the masses of the people were accommodated
+free of all pew rent.</p>
+
+<p>Let not infidels tell us, that the religion of these
+men and of those times was mere enthusiasm, and that
+the temporal interests of men were neglected in professions
+of high regard for those of a spiritual character.
+Let such men know that within two years of the
+opening of Tottenham Court-road chapel, not only
+did the congregation build a parsonage-house for their
+minister, but twelve almshouses for as many poor widows.
+The Tabernacle has always acted with equal
+generosity. In proportion to their means, few congregations
+in the world have exceeded these two in
+works of benevolence.</p>
+
+<p>Assuredly what has sometimes been charged on
+evangelical ministers&mdash;that they attend to the spiritual
+interests of mankind, but neglect their temporal
+sufferings&mdash;would never apply to Mr. Whitefield. No
+sooner had he completed these large edifices, where
+vast congregations assembled, than he was heard frequently
+to plead for those laboring under oppression<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span>
+or distress in foreign lands. He preached in both
+these houses in behalf of the poor French Protestants
+in Prussia, who had suffered much from the cruelty
+of the Russians, when great numbers of the nobility,
+and some of the highest officers of the crown went to
+hear him. The collections for this object amounted
+to upwards of fifteen hundred pounds, or seven thousand
+five hundred dollars; and for this disinterested
+act of benevolence Whitefield received the thanks of
+his Prussian Majesty.</p>
+
+<p>Again, on the day recommended by the government
+for a general fast, Mr. Whitefield preached both
+at the Tabernacle and at Tottenham Court-road chapel,
+after which he collected five hundred and sixty
+pounds for the relief of the German Protestants, and
+the sufferers by fire at Boston, for which he received
+the unanimous thanks of the inhabitants of that town.
+Lady Huntingdon wrote to one of her friends, "It
+would delight you to have seen what crowds of the
+mighty and noble flocked to hear him. The collection
+was for the relief of the poor German Protestants. I
+invited several to come who probably would not attend
+his ministry on other occasions." Few places at
+that time could boast of such a constellation of transcendent
+genius and senatorial talent, such a brilliant
+assemblage of wisdom, magnanimity, and oratorical
+powers, as were then found within these houses of the
+living God.</p>
+
+<p>One word may be allowed here on the plain architecture
+of these buildings. "We are," says the excellent
+Mr. James, "in many things improved, and I
+rejoice in the improvement; but the occasion of my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span>
+joy is at the same time the occasion of my fear and
+my jealousy also. Our ecclesiastical architecture is
+just now a special object of our attention. Whitefield,
+it may be confessed, paid too little attention to
+this; we, perhaps, are paying too much. His only
+solicitude was to save souls, careless altogether of the
+tastefulness of the building within which that work,
+which has no relation to styles of architecture, was
+carried on. His only calculation in the construction
+of a building was, how many immortal souls could be
+crowded within four square walls, and under a roof,
+to hear 'the joyful sound.' Hence the somewhat uncouth
+buildings which he erected. Ah, but when I
+consider that every stone in those unsightly walls has
+echoed to the sound of salvation and the hymns of
+redeemed spirits, and that almost every spot on the
+floor has been moistened by the tears of penitence,
+then, in a feeling of sanctity I seem to lose the sense
+of deformity, and there comes over me an awe and
+solemnity which no modern gothic structure with its
+lofty arches and painted windows can inspire. But
+still, as religion is not only the most holy, but the
+most beautiful thing in God's universe, there is no
+reason why taste and devotion should not be united.
+It is the ministry of the word, however, upon which
+the church must be chiefly intent."</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2>
+
+<h3>WHITEFIELD'S SECOND VISIT TO AMERICA.<br />
+
+1739, 1740.</h3>
+
+
+<p>As in the preceding chapter, for the sake of connecting
+the history of Whitefield's church edifices in
+London, we have anticipated the order of events, we
+go back to the period shortly before his second voyage
+to America.</p>
+
+<p>About the time of which we are now writing, a
+circumstance occurred of deep interest, which Whitefield
+relates at considerable length. Joseph Periam,
+a young man in London, who had read his sermon on
+"regeneration," became deeply impressed by it; he
+sold all that he possessed, and prayed so loud and
+fasted so long, that his family supposed him deranged,
+and sent him to the Bedlam madhouse, where he was
+treated as "methodistically mad," and as "one of
+Whitefield's gang." The keepers threw him down,
+and forced a key into his mouth, while they drenched
+him with medicine. He was then placed in a cold
+room without windows, and with a damp cellar under
+it. Periam, however, found some means of conveying
+a letter to Whitefield, requesting both advice and a
+visit. These were promptly given. The preacher
+soon discovered that Periam was not mad; and taking
+a Mr. Seward and some other friends with him,
+he went before the committee of the hospital to explain
+the case. It must have been somewhat of a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span>
+ludicrous scene. Seward so astounded the committee
+by quoting Scripture, that they pronounced him to be
+as mad as Periam. The doctors frankly told the deputation,
+that in their opinion, Whitefield and his followers
+were "really beside themselves." It was however
+agreed, that if Whitefield would take Periam out
+to Georgia, his release would be granted. Thus the
+conference ended, and the young man went out as a
+schoolmaster at the Orphan-house. There he was exemplary
+and useful, and when he died two of his sons
+were received into the institution.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Whitefield so successfully pleaded the cause
+of his American orphans, that during his journeys of
+twelve months he collected upwards of one thousand
+pounds towards the erection of his intended house for
+their accommodation. With this sum in his possession,
+he set sail for America the second time, August
+14, 1739, accompanied by his friend Mr. Seward, eight
+men, one boy, and two children.</p>
+
+<p>While all this was going on, the inhabitants of
+Georgia were making every possible preparation for
+his reception. The records of the trustees say, May
+16, 1739, "Read a commission to the Rev. George
+Whitefield to perform all religious and ecclesiastical
+offices at Savannah, in Georgia." Again: "June 2,
+1739. Sealed a grant of five hundred acres of land
+to the Rev. George Whitefield, in trust for the use of
+the house to be erected and maintained for the receiving
+such children as now are, and shall hereafter be
+left orphans in the colony of Georgia, in pursuance of
+the direction of the Common Council held the 30th of
+last month."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Not only was Whitefield anxious to establish the
+orphan-house for the benefit of the whole colony of
+Georgia, but having been ordained priest, for the purpose
+of instructing the inhabitants of the town of Savannah,
+he was desirous of making full proof of his
+ministry among them. After a passage of nine weeks
+he landed at Philadelphia, and was immediately invited
+to preach in the churches; to which people of
+all denominations thronged as in England. He was
+especially pleased to find that they preferred sermons
+when "not delivered within the church walls." And
+it was well they did, for his fame had arrived in the
+city before him, and crowds were collected to hear
+him which no church could contain.</p>
+
+<p>A letter written on this voyage to America has
+recently come to light, which beautifully illustrates
+the spirit by which Whitefield was now animated. It
+was addressed to the Rev. John Cumming of Andover,
+Hampshire, England.</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p class="sig">
+"Wrote at Sea, dated at Philadelphia, Nov. 9, 1739.
+</p>
+
+<p>"<span class="smcap">Reverend and dear Sir</span>&mdash;You see by my writing
+this how willing I am to cultivate a correspondence
+with you. I wish Christians in general, and ministers
+of Christ in particular, were better acquainted. The
+cause of Christ thereby must be necessarily promoted.
+But bigotry and sectarian zeal have been the bane of
+our holy religion. Though we have one Lord, one
+faith, and one baptism, yet if we do not all worship
+God in one particular way, we behave to each other
+like Jews and Samaritans. Dear sir, I hope that neither
+of us have so learned Christ. Blessed be God<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span>
+for his free grace in Christ. The partition wall has for
+some time been broken down out of my heart, and I
+can truly say, whosoever loves the Lord Jesus, 'the
+same is my brother, and sister, and mother.' For this
+reason, dear sir, I love you. For this reason, though
+I decrease, yet I heartily wish you may increase, even
+with all the increase of God. I am persuaded you
+are like-minded. I believe my friends have prayed
+for me. The Lord hath dealt most lovingly with me
+his servant. He has chastened and corrected, but hath
+not given me over into the hands of the enemy. A
+future journal will acquaint you with particulars.
+What I have sent over to be published will afford you
+abundant matter for thanksgiving in behalf of,</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+"Dear sir, your affectionate friend,</p>
+
+<p class="sig">Brother, and servant,<br />
+
+"G. WHITEFIELD."
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>The old court-house of Philadelphia, then standing
+on Second and Market streets, had a balcony,
+which several years before the visit of Whitefield had
+been often used instead of a pulpit. In 1736, we find
+that Mr. Abel Noble had preached "from the court-house
+steps," on a Monday, to a large congregation
+standing in Market-street, on the subject of keeping
+the Sabbath. In the same year, Michael Welfare appeared
+there to give his "warning voice," and now, in
+1739, it became one of the favorite preaching stands
+of the great evangelist. Here he stood, surrounded
+by many thousands, even down to the side of the Delaware
+river, not a few bathed in tears, and inquiring
+after the way of salvation.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 450px;">
+<img src="images/i100a.jpg" width="450" height="491" alt="courthouse" />
+<div class="caption"><p class="center">OLD COURT-HOUSE, PHILADELPHIA.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 450px;">
+<img src="images/i100b.jpg" width="450" height="492" alt="Tennent" />
+<div class="caption"><p class="center">TENNENT CHURCH, FREEHOLD, N. J. p. 117.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Dr. Franklin says, "The multitudes of all sects
+and denominations that attended his sermons were
+enormous; and it was a matter of speculation with
+me to observe the influence of his oratory on his hearers,
+and how much they admired and respected him,
+notwithstanding his common abuse of them, by assuring
+them that they were, naturally, half beasts and
+half devils. It was wonderful to see the change soon
+made in the manners of our inhabitants. From being
+thoughtless and indifferent about religion, it seemed
+as if all the world was growing religious; so that one
+could not walk through the town in an evening without
+hearing psalms sung in different families in every
+street."</p>
+
+<p>A constant attendant on his ministry at this time
+says, "His hearers were never weary; every eye was
+fixed on his expressive countenance; every ear was
+charmed with his melodious voice; every heart captivated
+with the beauty and propriety of his address.
+He was no contracted bigot; all denominations partook
+of his religious charity. Anxious in America
+for our civil privileges, he was alike solicitous for the
+spiritual and temporal happiness of mankind. No
+man since the apostolic age preached oftener or with
+better success. He was, moreover, a polite gentleman,
+a faithful friend, an engaging companion, and a
+sincere Christian. His sermons in the open air lasted
+about one and a half hours."</p>
+
+<p>Watson, in his "Annals of Philadelphia," speaking
+of Whitefield's first visit to that city, tells us that he
+preached to a crowd of fifteen thousand persons on
+Society hill, and adds, "About the same time he so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span>
+far succeeded to repress the usual public amusements,
+that the dancing-school was discontinued, and the
+ball and concert rooms were shut up, as inconsistent
+with the requisitions of the gospel. No less than
+fourteen sermons were preached on Society hill in the
+open air in one week, during the session of the Presbyterian
+church; and the gazette of the day, in noticing
+the fact, says, 'The change to religion here is
+altogether surprising, through the influence of Whitefield;
+no books sell but religious, and such is the
+general conversation.'"</p>
+
+<p>It is said, that though some gentlemen broke open
+the assembly-rooms, no company could be induced to
+visit them. Such was the popularity of Whitefield,
+that when he left the city, about one hundred and
+fifty gentlemen accompanied him as far as Chester,
+fifteen miles from Philadelphia, where he preached to
+about seven thousand people. At White Clay creek,
+he preached to eight thousand people, three thousand
+of whom, it is said, were on horseback. Many complimentary
+effusions to him appeared in the newspapers,
+and James Pemberton, a very distinguished
+<em>Friend</em>, said of him, "In his conversation he is very
+agreeable, and has not much of the priest; he frequents
+no set company."</p>
+
+<p>An old gentleman assured Watson, the annalist,
+that on one occasion the words, "And he taught them,
+saying," as pronounced by Whitefield on Society hill,
+were heard at Gloucester point, a distance by water
+of two miles.</p>
+
+<p>Abundant reasons might be assigned for our introducing
+in this place an account of the institution<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span>
+called "the Log college." It has proved the parent
+of every collegiate and theological institution connected
+with the large and wealthy body of Presbyterians
+in this country; it was originated by a family
+which became especially endeared to Mr. Whitefield;
+and from his journal, recording his visit to it, we
+have, in some respects at least, the clearest statement
+of facts concerning it which history has preserved.</p>
+
+<p>As we have already shown, about one hundred and
+forty years ago, the state of religion, both in Europe
+and America, was very low. Nor was the condition of
+the Presbyterian body an exception. As the late Dr.
+Alexander, in his interesting volume, called "The Log
+College," says, "The ministers composing the Presbyterian
+church in this country were sound in the
+faith, and strongly attached to the Westminster confession
+of faith and catechisms, as were also their people;
+and there were no diversities or contentions
+among them respecting the doctrines of the gospel;
+but as to the vital power of godliness, there is reason
+to believe that it was little known or spoken of.
+Revivals of religion were nowhere heard of, and an
+orthodox creed, and a decent external conduct were
+the only points on which inquiry was made, when persons
+were admitted to the communion of the church.
+Indeed, it was very much a matter of course, for all
+who had been baptized in infancy, to be received into
+communion at the proper age, without exhibiting or
+possessing any satisfactory evidence of a change of
+heart by the supernatural operations of the Holy
+Spirit. And the habit of their preachers was to address<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span>
+their people as though they were all pious, and
+only needed instruction and confirmation."</p>
+
+<p>Such was the lamentable state of things when the
+Rev. William Tennent, sen., an Irish clergyman past
+the middle stage of life arrived in this country, about
+the year 1716. After laboring for a season in the
+state of New York, till about 1721, he received an
+invitation to settle at Bensalem, where he ministered
+to the small Presbyterian congregation till 1726, when
+he was called to Neshaminy, in the same county, where
+he labored for the rest of his life, living till 1746,
+when he died, aged seventy-three. In Neshaminy the
+good man felt that he was called not only to discharge
+the duties of a preacher and pastor, but to look over
+the whole country, and to devise means for the extension
+of the cause of Christ. He had himself four
+sons, the subjects of divine grace, and blessed with
+talents for usefulness in the kingdom of the Redeemer,
+and he felt that when other young men rose up in the
+church, favored with ministerial talents, they also
+would need mental cultivation. Hence his determination
+to erect the humble building of which we now
+write, which was the first Presbyterian literary and
+theological institution in this country, the immediate
+parent of the college at Princeton, and from which,
+indeed, all similar institutions emanated.</p>
+
+<p>The site of the Log college is about a mile from
+Neshaminy creek, where the Presbyterian church has
+long stood. The ground near and around it lies handsomely
+to the eye, and the more distant prospect is
+very beautiful; for while there is a considerable extent
+of fertile, well-cultivated land, nearly level, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span>
+view is bounded to the north and west by a range of
+hills, which have a very pleasing appearance. Mr.
+Whitefield has left in his "Journal," the only description
+we have of the building. "The place," says he,
+"wherein the young men study now, is in contempt
+called 'the college.' It is a log-house about twenty
+feet long, and nearly as many broad; and to me it
+seemed to resemble the school of the old prophets,
+for their habitations were mean. That they sought
+not great things for themselves is plain from these
+passages of Scripture, wherein we are told that each
+of them took a beam to build them a house; and
+that at the feast of the sons of the prophets, one of
+them put on the pot, while the others went to fetch
+some herbs out of the field. All that we can say of
+most of our universities is, they are glorious without.
+From this despised place, seven or eight worthy ministers
+of Jesus have lately been sent forth; more are
+almost ready to be sent, and the foundation is now
+laying for the instruction of many others."</p>
+
+<p>Of the senior Tennent, the founder of the Log college,
+little more is known than what we have already
+given. He was a member of the synod of Philadelphia,
+who were satisfied with his reasons for leaving
+the Established church of Ireland, and for several
+years this body cordially co&#246;perated with him in his
+zealous labors. Their unity of feeling, however, seems
+to have declined. This we learn from a passage in
+Whitefield's "Journal," which also gives us a beautiful
+view of the good old man. "At my return home,
+was much comforted by the coming of one Mr. Tennent,
+an old gray-headed disciple and soldier of Jesus<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span>
+Christ. He keeps an academy about twenty miles
+from Philadelphia, and has been blest with four gracious
+sons, three of which have been, and still continue
+to be eminently useful in the church of Christ.
+He brought three pious souls along with him, and
+rejoiced me by letting me know how they had been
+evil spoken of for their Master's sake. He is a great
+friend of Mr. Erskine, of Scotland; and as far as I
+can learn, both he and his sons are secretly despised
+by the generality of the synod, as Mr. Erskine and
+his friends are hated by the judicatories of Edinburgh,
+and as the Methodist preachers, as they are called,
+are by their brethren in England."</p>
+
+<p>Not long after this, the Log college was visited by
+Whitefield, who wrote the account we have already
+given. He also says, under the date of Nov. 29, 1739,
+"Set out for Neshaminy, twenty miles distant from
+Trent Town, where old Mr. Tennent lives, and keeps
+an academy, and where I was to preach to-day, according
+to appointment. About twelve o'clock, we came
+thither, and found about three thousand people gathered
+together in the meeting-house yard. Mr. William
+Tennent, junior, an eminent servant of Jesus
+Christ, because we stayed beyond the time appointed,
+was preaching to them. When I came up, he soon
+stopped; sung a psalm, and then I began to speak as the
+Lord gave me utterance. At first, the people seemed
+unaffected, but in the midst of my discourse, the power
+of the Lord Jesus came upon me, and I felt such a
+struggling within myself for the people as I scarce
+ever felt before. The hearers began to be melted
+down immediately, and to cry much; and we had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span>
+good reason to hope the Lord intended good for many.
+After I had finished, Mr. Gilbert Tennent gave a word
+of exhortation, to confirm what had been delivered.
+At the end of his discourse, we sung a psalm, and dismissed
+the people with a blessing; O that the people
+may say Amen to it. After our exercises were over,
+we went to old Mr. Tennent's, who entertained us
+like one of the ancient patriarchs. His wife, to me
+seemed like Elizabeth, and he like Zachary; both, as
+far as I can learn, walk in the commandments and
+ordinances of the Lord blameless. Though God was
+pleased to humble my soul, so that I was obliged
+to retire for a while, yet we had sweet communion
+with each other, and spent the evening in concerting
+what measures had best be taken for promoting
+our dear Lord's kingdom. It happened very providentially
+that Mr. Tennent and his brethren are appointed
+to be a presbytery by the synod, so that
+they intend bringing up gracious youths, and sending
+them out from time to time into the Lord's vineyard."</p>
+
+<p>We may be permitted to add here, that among the
+ministers sent out by Mr. Tennent, from the Log college,
+to preach the gospel, were his four sons, Gilbert,
+William, John, and Charles, the Rev. Messrs. Samuel
+Blair, John Blair, Charles Beatty, and Rev. Dr. Samuel
+J. Finley, President of Princeton College; of some of
+these excellent men the reader will hear again in the
+course of this volume.</p>
+
+<p>In reference to his first visit to Philadelphia,
+Whitefield thus writes: "I have scarcely preached
+among them, but I have seen a stirring among the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span>
+dry bones. Go where I will, I find people with great
+gladness receive me into their houses. Sometimes I
+think I am speaking to stocks and stones; but before
+I have done, the power of the Lord comes over them,
+and I find I have been ploughing up some fallow
+ground, in a place where there has been a great famine
+of the word of God. But as God's word increases,
+so will the rage and opposition of the devil. Scoffers
+seem to be at a stand what to say. They mutter in
+coffee-houses, give a curse, drink a barrel of punch,
+and then cry out against me for not preaching more
+morality. Poor men, if God judges them, as he certainly
+will do, by <em>their</em> morality, out of their own
+mouths will he condemn them. Their morality, falsely
+so called, will prove their damnation. God has enlarged
+my heart to pray. Tears trickle down my
+face, and I am in great agony; but the Lord is pleased
+to set his seal to what he enables me to deliver.
+Amid cries and groans in the congregation, God gives
+me much freedom of speech. Many people and many
+ministers weep. My own soul is much carried out.
+I preached to a vast assembly of sinners; nearly
+twelve thousand were collected; and I had not spoken
+long, before I perceived numbers melting; as I proceeded,
+the power increased, and thousands cried out;
+never before did I see so glorious a sight. Oh, what
+strong crying and tears were poured forth after the
+dear Lord Jesus! Some fainted; and when they had
+gotten a little strength, they would hear and faint
+again. Never was my soul filled with greater power.
+Oh, what thoughts and words did God put into my
+heart. As great, if not greater commotion was in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span>
+the hearts of the people. Look where I would, most
+were drowned in tears."</p>
+
+<p>An aged man who was living in 1806, and who
+well remembered the scenes he witnessed, bore testimony
+that after this visit of the great evangelist, public
+worship was regularly celebrated in Philadelphia
+twice a day for a whole year; and that on the Lord's
+day it was celebrated three, and frequently four times
+in each church. He said there were not less than
+twenty-six societies regularly held for prayer and
+Christian conference.</p>
+
+<p>Such was the influence of Whitefield, not only in
+Philadelphia, but throughout the colony of Pennsylvania,
+that in the city attention to commerce was
+suspended, and in the country the cultivation of the
+land for the time being was abandoned, that people
+might hear him proclaim the gospel of the Lord
+Jesus.</p>
+
+<p>Among other very striking conversions in Philadelphia
+at this period, was that of a young lady, who
+had for several years made a public profession of
+Christianity, but who now became fully convinced
+that "she was totally unacquainted with vital piety."
+When Mr. Whitefield began his labors in that city,
+she was greatly affected by his preaching, on which
+she constantly attended, and often afterwards told
+her friends, that after the first sermon she heard
+him preach, she was ready to say with the woman of
+Samaria, "Come see a man who told me all things
+that ever I did." The preacher, she said, so exactly
+described all the secret workings of her heart, her
+wishes, and her actions, that she really believed he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span>
+was either more than human, or else that he was supernaturally
+assisted to know her heart. She was
+not then aware that all depraved hearts are much
+alike, and that he who in lively colors can paint one,
+gives a description which will be recognized by many
+as their own. This young lady once walked twenty
+miles to hear a sermon from Whitefield; she became
+a most eminent Christian, and was one of the constituent
+members of the church organized by Mr. Tennent.
+She married Mr. Hugh Hodge, who was also
+one of the seals of Mr. Whitefield's ministry, and a
+deacon of the church, and for more than sixty years
+she eminently "adorned the gospel of God in all
+things."</p>
+
+<p>During this first visit of Mr. Whitefield to Philadelphia,
+another interesting circumstance occurred.
+Whitefield preached one evening standing on the
+steps of the court-house, in Market-street, which became,
+as we have said, his favorite spot during that
+and subsequent visits. A youth some thirteen years
+of age stood near him, and held a lantern for his accommodation;
+but becoming deeply absorbed in the
+sermon, and strongly agitated, the lantern fell from
+his hands, and was dashed in pieces. Those near the
+boy, observing the cause of the accident, felt specially
+interested, and for a few moments the meeting was
+discomposed by the occurrence. Some fourteen years
+afterwards, Mr. Whitefield, on his fifth visit to this
+country, was visiting St. George's, in Delaware. He
+was one day riding out with the Rev. Dr. John Rodgers,
+then settled as the minister at St. George's, in
+the closed carriage in which Whitefield generally<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span>
+rode. Mr. Rodgers asked him whether he recollected
+the occurrence of the little boy who was so affected
+with his preaching as to let his lantern fall. Mr.
+Whitefield replied, "O yes, I remember it well; and
+have often thought I would give almost any thing in
+my power, to know who that little boy was, and what
+had become of him." Mr. Rodgers replied with a
+smile, "I am that little boy." Mr. Whitefield, with
+tears of joy, started from his seat, took him in his
+arms, and with strong emotion remarked, that he was
+the <em>fourteenth</em> person then in the ministry whom he
+had discovered in the course of that visit to America,
+in whose conversion he had, under God, been instrumental.</p>
+
+<p>From Philadelphia, Whitefield was invited by Mr.
+Noble to New York; this gentleman being the only
+person with whom he then had an acquaintance in
+that city. Upon his arrival, he waited with his
+friend on the commissary, but he refused to Whitefield
+the use of the church. This commissary of the
+bishop, he says, "was full of anger and resentment,
+and denied me the use of his pulpit before I asked for
+it. He said they did not want my assistance. I replied,
+that if they preached the gospel, I wished them
+good luck: I will preach in the fields; for all places
+are alike to me." The undaunted evangelist therefore
+preached in the fields; and on the evening of the
+same day, to a very thronged and attentive audience,
+in the Rev. Mr. Pemberton's meeting-house, in Wall-street;
+and continued to do so twice or three times
+a day, with apparent success.</p>
+
+<p>Of this visit to New York, and of Whitefield's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span>
+labors there, we have a graphic account, furnished by
+one of his hearers, for "Prince's Christian History."
+Of the first sermon in the fields, the writer says, "I
+fear curiosity was the motive that led me and many
+others into that assembly. I had read two or three
+of Mr. Whitefield's sermons and part of his Journal,
+and from them had obtained a settled opinion, that he
+was a good man. Thus far was I prejudiced in his
+favor. But then having heard of so much opposition,
+and many clamors against him, I thought it possible
+he might have carried matters too far; that some enthusiasm
+might have mixed itself with his piety, and
+that his zeal might have exceeded his knowledge.
+With these prepossessions I went into the fields.
+When I came there, I saw a great number of people,
+consisting of Christians of all denominations, some
+Jews, and a few, I believe, of no religion at all.
+When Mr. Whitefield came to the place designated,
+which was a little eminence on the side of a hill, he
+stood still and beckoned with his hand, and disposed
+the multitude upon the descent, before, and on each
+side of him. He then prayed most excellently, in the
+same manner, I suppose, that the first ministers of the
+Christian church prayed. The assembly soon appeared
+to be divided into two companies, the one of which
+I considered as God's church, and the other the devil's
+chapel. The first were collected round the minister,
+and were very serious and attentive; the last had
+placed themselves in the skirts of the assembly, and
+spent most of their time in giggling, scoffing, talking,
+and laughing. I believe the minister saw them, for
+in his sermon, remarking on the cowardice and shamefacedness<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span>
+in Christ's cause, he pointed towards <em>this</em>
+assembly, and reproached the former, those who
+seemed to be Christians, with the boldness and zeal
+with which the devil's vassals serve him. Towards
+the last prayer the whole assembly appeared more
+united, and all became hushed and still; a solemn
+awe and reverence appeared in the faces of most, a
+mighty energy attending the word. I heard and felt
+something astonishing and surprising, but I confess I
+was not at that time fully rid of my scruples. But as
+I thought I saw a visible presence of God with Mr.
+Whitefield, I kept my doubts to myself.</p>
+
+<p>"Under this frame of mind, I went to hear him in
+the evening at the Presbyterian church, where he expounded
+to above two thousand people within and
+without doors. I never in my life saw so attentive
+an audience. All he said was demonstration, life, and
+power. The people's eyes and ears hung on his lips.
+They greedily devoured every word. I came home
+astonished. Every scruple vanished; I never saw
+nor heard the like; and I said within myself, 'Surely
+God is with this man, of a truth.' He preached and
+expounded in this manner twice every day for four
+days, and his evening assemblies were continually
+increasing.</p>
+
+<p>"On Sunday morning at eight o'clock, his congregation
+consisted of about fifteen hundred people; but
+at night several thousands came together to hear him;
+and the place being too strait for them, many were
+forced to go away, and some, it is said, with tears
+lamented their disappointment. After sermon he left
+New York at ten at night, to fulfil a promise that he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span>
+had made to preach at Elizabethtown, at eleven <small>A. M.</small>
+the next day."</p>
+
+<p>We give a few paragraphs from the same vigorous
+pen, relating to the personal manners and the doctrines
+of our evangelist. "He is a man of a middle
+stature, of a slender body, of a fair complexion, and
+of a comely appearance. He is of a sprightly, cheerful
+temper, and acts and moves with great agility and
+life. The endowments of his mind are very uncommon;
+his wit is quick and piercing; his imagination
+lively and florid; and as far as I can discern, both
+are under the direction of an exact and solid judgment.
+He has a most ready memory, and I think
+speaks entirely without notes. He has a clear and
+musical voice, and a wonderful command of it. He
+uses much gesture, but with great propriety. Every
+accent of his voice, every motion of his body <em>speaks</em>,
+and both are natural and unaffected. If his delivery
+is the product of art, it is certainly the perfection of
+it, for it is entirely concealed. He has a great mastery
+of words, but studies much plainness of speech.</p>
+
+<p>"His doctrine is right <em>sterling</em>. I mean, perfectly
+agreeable to the Articles of the church of England, to
+which he frequently appeals for the truth of it. He
+loudly proclaims all men by nature to be under sin, and
+obnoxious to the wrath and curse of God. He maintains
+the absolute necessity of supernatural grace to bring
+men out of this state. He asserts the righteousness
+of Christ to be the only cause of the justification of
+the sinner; that this is received by faith; that this
+faith is the gift of God; that where faith is wrought,
+it brings the sinner under the deepest sense of his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span>
+guilt and unworthiness to the footstool of sovereign
+grace, to accept of mercy as the free gift of God, only
+for Christ's sake. He denies that good works have
+any share in our justification: that indeed they do
+justify our faith, and necessarily flow from it, as
+streams from the fountain; but Christ's external
+righteousness imputed to us, and his inherent righteousness
+wrought in us, is the only cause of man's salvation.
+He asserts the absolute necessity of the new
+birth, where a principle of new life is ingenerated in
+the heart of man, and an entire change is produced in
+the temper and disposition of the soul; and that this
+new production is the work only of God's blessed
+Spirit. That wherever this change is wrought, it is
+permanent and abiding, and that the gates of hell
+shall never prevail against it. He asserts that the
+special influence and indwelling of the Spirit, was not
+peculiar to the first Christians, but that it is the common
+privilege of believers in all ages of the church;
+that the Holy Spirit is the author of the sanctification
+and comfort of all God's people; and that, even in
+these days, if any man have not the spirit of Christ,
+he is none of his. He said, that to many of his hearers,
+he feared he spoke in an unknown tongue; that
+he preached great mysteries; that true Christians
+knew what he meant, and that all his hearers, if they
+are saved, must be brought to understand them. These
+are some of the doctrines which have been attended
+with such mighty power in this city. This is the doctrine
+of the martyrs. This they sealed with their
+blood; notwithstanding that so many in our days
+have departed from it.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Whitefield speaks much of the language of
+the New Testament; and has an admirable faculty in
+explaining the Scriptures. He strikes out of them
+such lights, and unveils those excellencies which surprise
+his hearers, when he expounds them. He expresses
+the highest love and concern for the souls of
+men; and speaks of Christ with the most affectionate
+appropriation&mdash;'<em>My Master! My Lord!</em>' He is no
+enemy to the innocent freedoms and liberties of the
+gospel; nor does he affect singularity in indifferent
+things. He spends not his zeal in trifles, but says,
+'The kingdom of God consists not in meats and
+drinks; but in righteousness, and peace, and joy in the
+Holy Ghost.' He breathes a most catholic spirit, and
+prays most earnestly that God would destroy all that
+bigotry and party zeal which has divided Christians.
+He supposes some of Christ's flock are to be found
+under every denomination, and upbraids the uncharitableness
+of those who confine the church to their own
+communion. He professes a most sincere love to all
+those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity,
+and declares that he has no design to make a party
+in religion. He professes that his whole design in
+preaching the gospel is to bring men to Christ, to
+deliver them from their false confidences, to raise
+them from their dead formalities, and to revive primitive
+Christianity among them; and if he can obtain
+this end, he will leave them to their liberty, and they
+may go to what church, and worship God in what
+form they like best."</p>
+
+<p>While going from Philadelphia to New York, or
+on his return, Whitefield appears to have preached at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span>
+Maidenhead, Abington, Neshaminy, Freehold, Burlington,
+Elizabethtown, and New Brunswick, to many
+thousands, gathered from various parts, among whom
+there had been a considerable awakening under the
+ministry of Mr. Frelinghuysen, a Reformed Dutch
+minister, and the Rev. Messrs. Tennent, Blair, and
+Rowland. It was no less pleasing to him than
+strange to see such congregations in a foreign land;
+ministers and people shedding tears, sinners struck
+with awe, and religious persons who had been much
+persecuted, filled with joy. The old <em>Tennent church</em>
+at Freehold, where preached Whitefield, Brainerd,
+Davies, and other "famous men" of that day, still
+echoes with the same gospel. In size the building is
+forty feet by sixty, with three entrances on the larger
+side. The pulpit is on the north side of the house,
+immediately opposite the central door, so that the
+minister faces the width of the church instead of its
+length. The pulpit is very narrow, and is surmounted
+with a sounding-board, according to the custom of our
+fathers. In the middle aisle lie buried the remains of
+the sainted William Tennent, whose death took place
+about seven years after that of Whitefield, at the age
+of seventy-two years. A handsome monumental tablet
+records the leading dates of his pilgrimage.</p>
+
+<p>Some of our readers may inquire as to the localities
+honored by Whitefield's preaching in and about
+the city of New York. We find many records of his
+discoursing in the open fields of the surrounding country;
+the old City Exchange, which stood at the foot of
+Broad-street, near Water-street, and which was built
+on large arches, was a favorite spot for itinerant<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span>
+preachers, and for Whitefield among the rest. During
+his various visits to New York, from 1745 to
+1760, he generally preached in the Presbyterian church
+in Wall-street, which was then the only church of that
+denomination in the city, and of which the Rev. Dr.
+Pemberton, from Boston, was the minister. Afterwards,
+a few years before his death, he was accustomed
+to preach in the Brick church in Beekman-street;
+which was then familiarly called the "Brick
+meeting," and in common parlance, said to be "in the
+fields;" so little was the city extended at that period.
+So prosperous was his ministry in New York, that it
+was found necessary immediately to enlarge the Presbyterian
+church in Wall-street, by the erection of
+galleries; and a year or two afterwards it was again
+enlarged about one-third, in order to accommodate
+the stated worshippers.</p>
+
+<p>When Whitefield was preaching before a very
+large number of the seamen of New York, he introduced
+the following bold apostrophe into his sermon:
+"Well, my boys, we have a cloudless sky, and are
+making fine headway over a smooth sea, before a light
+breeze, and we shall soon lose sight of land. But
+what means this sudden lowering of the heavens, and
+that dark cloud arising from beneath the western
+horizon? Hark! don't you hear the distant thunder?
+Don't you see those flashes of lightning? There is a
+storm gathering. Every man to his duty. How the
+waves rush and dash against the ship! The air is
+dark. The tempest rages. Our masts are gone!
+What next?" The unsuspecting tars, reminded of
+former perils on the deep, as if struck by the power<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span>
+of magic, arose, and with united voices exclaimed,
+"Take to the longboat, sir!" The reader may well
+imagine how this very natural answer would be used
+by the preacher.</p>
+
+<p>While at New York, Whitefield wrote, "God willing,
+in about seven months I hope to see New England
+on my return to Europe. An effectual door is
+there opened, and no wonder there are many adversaries.
+Shortly I expect to suffer for my dear Master."
+And after his return to Philadelphia, he showed
+his piety and meekness by writing to the Rev. Dr.
+Pemberton, of New York, "I have been much concerned
+since I saw you, lest I behaved not with that
+humility towards you which is due from a babe to a
+father in Christ; but you know, reverend sir, how
+difficult it is to meet with success, and not be puffed
+up with it; and therefore, if any such thing was discernible
+in my conduct, O pity me, and pray to the
+Lord to heal my pride. All I can say is, that I desire
+to learn of Jesus Christ to be meek and lowly in
+heart; but my corruptions are so strong, and my employ
+so dangerous, that I am sometimes afraid."</p>
+
+<p>One of the most important incidents of this journey
+to New York, was the meeting of Whitefield with Gilbert
+Tennent. Two powerful preachers could hardly
+resemble each other less; and the great strength of
+each lay in characteristics in which the other was deficient.
+In one point, especially, Whitefield felt and
+recorded his new friend's superiority. He heard Tennent
+preach. "Never before heard I such a searching
+sermon. He went to the bottom indeed, and did not
+'daub with untempered mortar.' He convinced me,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span>
+more and more, that we can preach the gospel of
+Christ no further than we have experienced the power
+of it in our hearts. I found what a babe and novice
+I was in the things of God." These men, as Tracy
+says, having once met, could not but be friends and
+allies for life; and the effects of their alliance could
+not fail to be felt by thousands.</p>
+
+<p>Both at Philadelphia and New York, printers applied
+to Whitefield for copies of his sermons for publication,
+and two were so issued, in the influence of
+which their author had cause to rejoice. In an after-period,
+the celebrated Benjamin Franklin printed
+Whitefield's "Journal in New England," still extant;
+a copy of which was sold at auction in Philadelphia
+in 1855, for about thirty times its original price. His
+journals, indeed, and his sermons became considerable
+articles in commerce, and did not a little, amid the
+comparatively sparse population of the country, to
+extend both his fame and his usefulness.</p>
+
+<p>But the time was now come when it became important
+that Whitefield should pursue his course towards
+Savannah. He could not, however, regret his
+stay so long on the road. "It is unknown," he says,
+"what deep impressions have been made on the hearts
+of hundreds. Many poor sinners have, I trust, been
+called home, and great numbers are under strong convictions.
+An opposer told me I had unhinged many
+<em>good sort of people</em>. I believe it."</p>
+
+<p>Nor was this the only good he had done. No
+small sympathy had been excited among Christian
+people in favor of his orphan family, and a spirit of
+liberality and of prayer was extensively cherished.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span>
+"They sent me," says the grateful evangelist, "butter,
+sugar, chocolate, pickles, cheese, and flour, for my orphans;
+and indeed, I could almost say, they would
+pluck out their own eyes and give me. O that what
+God says of the church of Philadelphia may now be
+fulfilled in the city called after her name&mdash;'I know
+thy works.'"</p>
+
+<p>The ready liberality which everywhere met Whitefield,
+determined him to pursue his journey by land.
+He therefore procured a vessel, in which he sent on
+his family and their supplies to Savannah. Of this
+sloop, Captain Gladman was master; and a young man
+who had recently been converted by the preaching of
+the great evangelist, willingly offered himself as mate.
+We have already seen that he was accompanied southward
+as far as Chester by a very large company of
+gentlemen of Philadelphia; and on his arrival at that
+place, a court was about to open, but the judges sent
+him word that they would not commence their business
+until the sermon, which they expected from him,
+was over. Nearly a thousand people had travelled
+from Philadelphia to hear it, and it was thought that
+those collected from places many miles around, composed
+an assembly of not less than seven thousand
+persons. A platform was erected, and it was believed
+that many of his hearers obtained something infinitely
+better than the mere gratification of their curiosity.</p>
+
+<p>Among other places at which he preached on this
+journey, was White Clay creek, endeared to him not
+only as the place where he first met with his beloved
+friend William Tennent, but as the residence of a
+Welsh family who had heard him preach at Cardiff<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span>
+and Kingswood before they emigrated, and who bore,
+what was to him a fact of endearing interest, the
+name of <em>Howell</em>. But during this tour Whitefield had
+to endure considerable privations and peril in riding
+through the woods. On one occasion, he heard the
+wolves "howling like a kennel of hounds" near to the
+road; on another, he had a narrow escape in trying
+to cross the Potomac in a storm. Here also he had
+once to swim his horse, owing to the floods; for it
+was now the depth of winter. One night, Seward
+and he lost their way in the woods of South Carolina,
+and were much alarmed at seeing groups of negroes
+dancing around large fires. Notwithstanding all the
+hardships, however, of the journey, no real injury was
+sustained from it.</p>
+
+<p>Our evangelist at length arrived at Charleston in
+good health and spirits. But he could not obtain
+admittance to St. Philip's church; Garden, the commissary,
+who had once promised to "defend him with
+life and fortune," was absent, and the curate would
+not open the doors without his leave. The people,
+however, had not forgotten him, and the Rev. Josiah
+Smith, the congregational minister, and the pastor of
+the French church, at once threw open their houses
+and pulpits, and rich indeed were the blessings they
+enjoyed.</p>
+
+<p>The congregations during his present visit to
+Charleston were large and polite; but he says they
+presented "an affected finery and gayety of dress and
+deportment, which I question if the court-end of London
+could exceed." Before he left, however, there
+was what he called "a glorious alteration in the audience."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span>
+Many of them wept; and the hitherto light
+and airy had visibly strong feelings, as shown in their
+countenances. Such was their extreme anxiety to hear
+more from him, that after he had gone to the shore to
+sail for Georgia, they prevailed on him to preach
+again.</p>
+
+<p>On the next morning, Whitefield and his companions
+left Charleston in a canoe for Savannah; and on
+their way lay on the ground in the woods, surrounded
+by large fires to keep off the wild beasts. On this fact
+he makes the reflection, "An emblem, I thought, of the
+divine love and presence keeping off evils and corruptions
+from the soul." On his arrival at Savannah, January
+11, 1740, he was very happy to meet his family,
+who had arrived there three weeks before him; and
+to find, by letters from England, New York, etc., that
+the work of the Lord prospered. One thing, however,
+greatly distressed him. The colony of Georgia was
+reduced even to a much lower state than when he left
+it, and was deserted by nearly all who could get away.
+He thought that to employ those who were left, would
+render them an important service, and that the money
+thus expended might be the means of keeping them in
+the colony.</p>
+
+<p>During the absence of Mr. Whitefield from Georgia,
+Mr. Habersham had fixed on a plot of ground of
+five hundred acres, about ten miles from Savannah, on
+which the orphan-house should stand, and had already
+commenced to clear and stock it. The orphans, in
+the mean time, were accommodated in a hired house.
+Whitefield afterwards regretted the course pursued.
+He found the condition of the orphans so pitiable, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span>
+the inhabitants so poor, that he immediately opened
+an infirmary, hired a large house at a great rent, and
+took in, at different times, twenty-four orphans.</p>
+
+<p>In the March following, Whitefield was again at
+Charleston, where he went to meet his brother, the
+captain of a ship, from England. Here he was requested
+by many of the inhabitants to give some
+account of his poor orphans, which he did in the house
+of worship occupied by his friend the Rev. Josiah
+Smith, the first native of South Carolina who received
+a literary degree. Such was the spirit excited, that
+the collection amounted to seventy pounds sterling.
+This was no small encouragement, especially as he
+had reason to believe that most of it came from those
+who had received spiritual benefit from his ministry.</p>
+
+<p>But if Whitefield now had his joys in Charleston,
+so he had also his sorrows. We have seen that
+in a previous visit to this city, he had considered
+himself "set for the defence of the gospel." He had
+remarked, in reference to the twelfth article of the
+church of England, "Observe, my dear brethren, the
+words of the article, 'Good works are the fruit of
+faith, and follow after justification.' How can they
+then precede, or be in any way the cause of it? No,
+our persons must be justified, before our performances
+can be accepted." Commissary Garden, of whom we
+have already spoken, now seized the opportunity of
+Whitefield's visit to Charleston, to write him a letter,
+dated March 17, attacking his doctrine of justification,
+and challenging him to defend what he had said
+concerning the bishop of London and his clergy. In
+this letter, he urged in reply to what the evangelist<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span>
+had said, "If good works do necessarily spring out of
+a true and lively faith, and a true and lively faith
+necessarily precedes justification, the consequence is
+plain, that good works must not only follow after, but
+precede justification also." Whitefield replied the
+next day, "I perceive that you are angry overmuch.
+Was I never so much inclined to dispute, I would
+stay till the cool of the day. Your letter more and
+more confirms me, that my charge against the clergy
+is just and reasonable. It would be endless to enter
+into such a private debate as you, reverend sir, seem
+desirous of. You have read my sermon: be pleased
+to read it again; and if there be any thing contrary
+to sound doctrine, or the Articles of the church of
+England, be pleased to let the public know it from
+the press; and then let the world judge whether you
+or my brethren the clergy have been rashly slandered."
+This was but the commencement of a controversy, in
+which were concerned Garden of Charleston, and the
+Rev. Messrs. Croswell and Gee of Boston, portions of
+which are preserved in the Old South church library,
+in the latter city; and which was afterwards resumed
+between Garden and Smith, of Charleston, in the
+"South Carolina Gazette," as may be seen in the
+library of the American Antiquarian Society at Worcester,
+Massachusetts.</p>
+
+<p>In the mean time, Whitefield had returned to Savannah,
+and on March 25, he laid the first brick of
+the main building of the orphan-house, which he called
+<em>Bethesda</em>, that is, a house of mercy. It was built of
+wood, and measured seventy feet by forty. By this
+time nearly forty children had been received, to be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span>
+provided for with food and raiment; and counting
+the workmen with these, he had nearly one hundred
+persons to feed day by day. To do all this he had
+very little money in the bank; still he was not discouraged,
+being persuaded that his present duty was
+to advance the interests of the colony by carrying on
+his work. "As yet," says he, "I am kept from the
+least doubting. The more my family increases, the
+more enlargement and comfort I feel. Set thy almighty
+<em>fiat</em> to it, O gracious Father, and for thine
+own name's sake convince us more and more, that thou
+wilt never forsake those who put their trust in thee."
+On reviewing this passage fifteen years afterwards,
+he wrote, "Hitherto, blessed be God, I have not been
+disappointed of my hope."</p>
+
+<p>We close our present chapter with a very short
+visit to Charleston. In this city Whitefield had assuredly
+produced a very extraordinary excitement,
+and very opposite opinions were entertained in reference
+to his character and doctrines. On the day
+after he had laid the first stone of Bethesda, Mr. Smith
+undertook at Charleston to defend the conduct and
+character of his beloved friend, in a sermon from Job
+32:17: "I said, I will answer also my part; I also
+will show mine opinion." As this discourse was published
+during the following June, with a commendatory
+preface by the Rev. Drs. Colman and Cooper
+of Boston, and is still highly valued as a piece of contemporary
+history, we give an extract, particularly as
+to the <em>manner</em> of the preaching of the great evangelist.</p>
+
+<p>"He is certainly a finished preacher. A noble
+negligence ran through his style. The passion and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span>
+flame of his expressions will, I trust, be long felt by
+many. My pen cannot describe his action and gestures,
+in all their strength and decencies. He appeared
+to me, in all his discourses, to be very deeply affected
+and impressed in his own heart. How did that
+burn and boil within him, when he spake of the things
+which he had 'made touching the King.' How was
+his tongue like the pen of a ready writer, touched as
+with a coal from the altar. With what a flow of
+words, what a ready profusion of language, did he
+speak to us upon the great concerns of our souls. In
+what a flaming light did he set <em>our</em> eternity before us.
+How earnestly he pressed Christ upon us. How did
+he move our passions with the constraining love of
+<em>such</em> a Redeemer. The awe, the silence, the attention
+which sat upon the face of the great audience, was an
+argument how he could reign over all their powers.
+Many thought he spake as never man spake before
+him. So charmed were the people with his manner
+of address, that they shut up their shops, forgot their
+secular business, and laid aside their schemes for the
+world; and the oftener he preached, the keener edge
+he seemed to put upon their desires to hear him again.</p>
+
+<p>"How awfully, with what thunder and sound, did
+he discharge the artillery of heaven upon us. And
+yet, how could he soften and melt even a soldier of
+Ulysses with the mercy of God. How close, strong,
+and pungent were his applications to the conscience;
+mingling light and heat; pointing the arrows of the
+Almighty at the hearts of sinners, while he poured in
+the balm upon the wounds of the contrite, and made
+broken bones rejoice. Eternal themes, the tremendous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span>
+solemnities of our religion, were all <em>alive</em> upon his
+tongue. So, methinks&mdash;if you will forgive the figure&mdash;St.
+Paul would <em>look</em> and speak in a pulpit. In some
+such manner, I am tempted to conceive of a seraph,
+were he sent down to preach among us, and to tell us
+what things he had seen and heard above.</p>
+
+<p>How bold and courageous did he look. He was
+no flatterer; he would not suffer men to settle on their
+lees; and did not prophesy smooth things, nor sew
+pillows under their arms. He taught the way of God
+in truth, and regarded not the persons of men. He
+struck at the politest and most modish of our vices,
+and at the most fashionable entertainments, regardless
+of every one's presence, but His in whose name he
+spoke with this authority. And I dare warrant, if
+none should go to these diversions until they have
+answered the solemn questions he put to their consciences,
+our theatre would soon sink and perish. I
+freely own he has taken my heart."</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER V.</h2>
+
+<h3>CONTINUATION OF WHITEFIELD'S SECOND VISIT TO
+AMERICA.<br />
+1740.</h3>
+
+
+<p>At the period when Whitefield laid the cornerstone
+of his Bethesda, his health was much impaired,
+and his spirits depressed. But it was necessary
+that funds should be obtained, to meet the claims now
+daily made upon him. He had received handsome
+donations from Charleston, New York, and Philadelphia,
+yet the urgent demand was for more. He
+therefore embarked from Charleston for Newcastle,
+Delaware, in a sloop, and arrived there in about ten
+days. Passing on from thence to Philadelphia, he
+found the churches closed against him. The commissary
+told him that he would lend the church to him
+no more. The laconic answer of Whitefield was,
+"The fields are open;" and eight thousand people
+assembled to hear him the same evening, and ten thousand
+on the following day. On the following Lord's
+day morning, he collected one hundred and ten pounds
+sterling for his "poor orphans," and then went to the
+Episcopal church, where the commissary preached a
+sermon on justification by works. As Whitefield was
+recognized at church, it was naturally expected that
+in the evening he would answer the sermon; nor was
+the public expectation disappointed. After his sermon,
+he collected eighty pounds more for Bethesda.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>But far higher success than this attended his labors.
+Societies for worship were commenced in different
+parts of the town; not a few began seriously to inquire
+after the way of salvation; many negroes came
+to the evangelist with the inquiry, "Have I a soul?"
+and a church was formed, of which the distinguished
+Gilbert Tennent was the eminently useful pastor. No
+less than one hundred and forty, who had undergone
+a previous strict examination as to their personal
+piety, were received as constituent members of the
+church, and large additions were from time to time
+made to their number.</p>
+
+<p>Several events of special interest occurred during
+this visit to Philadelphia. Tennent had to tell a series
+of delightful facts as to the usefulness of Whitefield's
+former labors. He began to deliberate on a plan for
+a negro school in Pennsylvania, as he did afterwards
+also in Virginia, but unexpected difficulties intervened,
+and both in the end were abandoned. Mr. Jones, the
+Baptist minister of the city, told Whitefield of the
+change produced by his former preaching on the minds
+of two ministers; one of whom stated to his congregation
+that he had hitherto been deceiving both himself
+and them, and added, that he could not preach to
+them at present, but requested them to unite in prayer
+with him; and the other resigned his charge, to itinerate
+among the unenlightened villages of New Jersey
+and elsewhere. Another fact was, that an Indian
+trader became so impressed with the preaching of
+Whitefield, that he had given up his business, and
+was gone to teach the Indians with whom he used to
+trade. Nor had his usefulness stopped here: he heard<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span>
+of a drinking club, which had attached to it a negro
+boy remarkable for his powers of mimicry. This boy
+was directed by the gentlemen who composed the
+club to exercise his powers on Mr. Whitefield: he did
+so, but very reluctantly; at length he stood up and
+said, "I speak the truth in Christ, I lie not; unless
+you repent, you will all be damned." This unexpected
+speech had such an effect as to break up the club,
+which met no more.</p>
+
+<p>We add a few paragraphs from Seward's journal,
+who soon after sailed for England to promote the
+interests of Georgia, and who died in the parent country.
+They date from the 24th to the 26th of April.
+"Came to Christopher Wigner's plantation in Skippack,
+where many Dutch people are settled, and
+where the famous Mr. Spalemburg lately resided. It
+was surprising to see such a multitude of people gathered
+together in such a wilderness country, thirty
+miles distant from Philadelphia. Mr. Whitefield was
+exceedingly carried out, in his sermon, to press poor
+sinners to come to Christ by faith, and claim all their
+privileges; namely, not only righteousness and peace,
+but joy in the Holy Ghost; and after he had done,
+our dear friend Peter Bohler preached in Dutch, to
+those who could not understand Mr. Whitefield in
+English."</p>
+
+<p>"Before Mr. Whitefield left Philadelphia, he was
+desired to visit one who was under a deep sense of sin,
+from hearing him preach. In praying with this person,
+he was so carried beyond himself, that the whole
+company, about twenty, seemed to be filled with the
+Holy Ghost, and magnified the God of heaven."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Arose at three o'clock, and though Mr. Whitefield
+was very weak in body, yet the Lord enabled
+him to ride nearly fifty miles, and to preach to about
+five thousand people at Amwell, with the same power
+as usual. Mr. Gilbert Tennent, Mr. Rowland, Mr.
+Wales, and Mr. Campbell, four godly ministers, met
+us here."</p>
+
+<p>"Came to New Brunswick. Met Mr. Noble from
+New York, a zealous promoter of our Lord's kingdom.
+He said their society at New York was enlarged
+from seventy to one hundred and seventy, and
+was daily increasing; and that Messrs. Gilbert and
+William Tennent, Mr. Rowland, and several others,
+were hard laborers in our Lord's vineyard."</p>
+
+<p>It will be readily supposed that by this time
+Whitefield and his movements had become so much a
+matter of interest as to be frequently discussed in the
+newspapers of the day.</p>
+
+<p>The "New England Weekly Journal" of April 29,
+1740, copies from a Philadelphia paper of April 17:
+"The middle of last month the Rev. Mr. Whitefield
+was at Charleston, and preached five times, and collected
+at one time upwards of &#163;70 sterling for the
+benefit of the orphan-house in Georgia; and on Sunday
+last, after ten days' passage from Georgia, he
+landed at Newcastle, where he preached morning and
+evening. On Monday morning he preached to about
+three thousand at Wilmington, and in the evening
+arrived in this city. On Tuesday evening he preached
+to about eight thousand on Society hill, and preached
+at the same place yesterday morning and evening."
+Then follows a list of his appointments daily to April<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span>
+29, during which time he was to preach at Whitemarsh,
+Germantown, Philadelphia, Salem, N. J., Neshaminy,
+Skippack, Frederick township, Amwell, New
+Brunswick, Elizabethtown, and New York. On May
+6th, the Journal copied a Philadelphia notice of April
+24th, that he had preached on the previous Sabbath to
+fifteen thousand hearers, and on Monday at Greenwich
+and Gloucester, and that he would return to
+Georgia before visiting New England.</p>
+
+<p>The Journal of May 20th, contains a letter from
+Whitefield to a friend in England, dated New Brunswick,
+N. J., April 27. Of his visit to Charleston
+he says, "A glorious work was begun in the hearts of
+the inhabitants, and many were brought to cry out,
+'What shall we do to be saved?' A fortnight ago,
+after a short passage of ten days, I landed in Pennsylvania,
+and have had the pleasure of seeing and
+hearing that my poor endeavors for promoting Christ's
+kingdom, when here last, were not altogether in vain
+in the Lord. I cannot tell you how many have come
+to me laboring under the deepest convictions, and
+seemingly truly desirous of finding rest in Jesus Christ.
+Several have actually received him into their hearts
+by faith, and have not only righteousness and peace,
+but joy in the Holy Ghost. In short, the word has
+run and been much glorified, and many negroes also
+are in a fair way of being brought home to God.
+Young ones I intend to buy, and do not despair of
+seeing a room full of that despised generation, in a
+short time, singing and making melody with grace in
+their hearts to the Lord.</p>
+
+<p>"An effectual door is opened for preaching the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span>
+everlasting gospel, and I daily receive fresh and most
+importunate invitations to preach in all the counties
+round about. God is pleased to give a great blessing
+to my printed sermons. They are in the hands of
+thousands in these parts, and are a means of enlightening
+and building up many in their most holy faith.
+The clergy, I find, are most offended at me. The
+commissary of Philadelphia, having gotten a little
+stronger than when I was here last, has thrown off
+the mask, denied me the pulpit, and last Sunday
+preached up an historical faith, and justification by
+works. But the people only flock the more. The
+power of God is more visible than ever in our assemblies,
+and more and more are convinced that I preach
+the doctrine of Jesus Christ. Some of the bigoted,
+self-righteous Quakers now also begin to spit out a
+little of the venom of the serpent. They cannot bear
+the doctrine of original sin, and of an imputed righteousness
+as the cause of our acceptance with God.
+I have not yet met with much opposition from the
+dissenters; but when I come to tell many of them,
+ministers as well as people, that they hold the truth
+in unrighteousness, that they talk and preach of justifying
+faith, but never felt it in their hearts, as I am
+persuaded numbers of them have not, then they no
+doubt will shoot out their arrows, even bitter words."</p>
+
+<p>While on his voyage from Charleston to Newcastle,
+Whitefield seems to have devoted the 4th of April,
+1740, to correspondence on the subject of marriage.
+"I find," said he, "by experience, that a mistress is
+absolutely necessary for the due management of my
+increasing family, and to take off some of that care<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span>
+which at present lies upon me." His letters were addressed
+to a young lady and her parents, connected
+with a family much devoted to piety. Here, as everywhere
+else, his heart is transparent. He says to the
+parents of Miss E&mdash;&mdash;, "I write only because I believe
+it is the will of God that I should alter my state; but
+your denial will fully convince me that your daughter
+is not the person appointed for me. He knows my
+heart; I would not marry but for him, and in him, for
+ten thousand worlds."</p>
+
+<p>The next year, having returned to England, Whitefield,
+like his eminent friend John Wesley, was married,
+and, like him also, was unhappy in his domestic
+relation. In each case, the husband exacted a previous
+pledge that the wife should never prevent the
+delivery of a single sermon; and this was followed
+by separation from the wife for weeks, months, or
+even years, in the prosecution of their arduous labors.
+In the case of Whitefield, his marriage in Wales, with
+a widow lady, in 1741, was followed by the birth of
+a son; previous to which event he had said, in the
+joy of his heart, that his name should be John, and
+that he should be a preacher of the everlasting gospel.
+The first prediction was realized, and when his
+child was a week old, the good man told his people in
+the Tabernacle, London, that he would live to preach,
+and "be great in the sight of the Lord." But alas,
+at the end of four months John died, and his father
+very wisely wrote in his journal: "I hope what happened
+before his birth, and since at his death, has
+taught me such lessons as, if duly improved, may render
+his mistaken parent more sober-minded, more experienced<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span>
+in Satan's devices, and consequently more
+useful in his future labors in the church of God."</p>
+
+<p>On the death of his wife somewhat suddenly, August
+9, 1768, Mr. Whitefield himself preached her
+funeral sermon, from Romans 8:28: "And we know
+that all things work together for good to them that
+love God, to them that are the called according to his
+purpose." In describing her character, he particularly
+mentioned her fortitude and courage, and suddenly
+exclaimed, "Do you remember my preaching in those
+fields by the stump of the old tree? The multitude
+was great, and many were disposed to be riotous. At
+first I addressed them with firmness; but when a gang
+of desperate banditti drew near, with the most ferocious
+looks, and horrid imprecations and menaces,
+my courage began to fail. My wife was then standing
+behind me, as I stood on the table. I think I
+hear her now. She pulled my gown"&mdash;himself suiting
+the action to the word, by placing his hand behind
+him and touching his robe&mdash;"and looking up, said,
+'George, play the man for your God.' My confidence
+returned. I again spoke to the multitude with boldness
+and affection; they became still; and many were
+deeply affected."</p>
+
+<p>Before we leave Philadelphia, we may relate an
+instance or two as to the power of his eloquence. Dr.
+Franklin says, "He had a loud and clear voice, and
+articulated his words so perfectly that he might be
+heard and understood to a great distance; especially
+as his auditors observed the most profound silence.
+He preached one evening from the top of the court-house
+steps, which are in the middle of Market-street,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span>
+and on the west side of Second-street, which crosses
+it at right angles. Both streets were filled with his
+hearers to a considerable distance. Being among the
+hindmost in Market-street, I had the curiosity to learn
+how far he might be heard by setting backwards down
+the street towards the river; and I found his voice
+distinct till I came near Front-street, where some
+noise in that street obstructed it. Imagine, then, a
+semicircle of which my distance should be a radius,
+and that it was filled with auditors, to each of whom
+I allowed two square feet, I computed that he might
+well be heard by more than thirty thousand people."</p>
+
+<p>But not only does Franklin bear witness of Whitefield's
+eloquence as to his voice, but still more strongly
+as to its <em>persuasiveness</em>, of which, it seems, he was
+himself a striking illustration. He says, "I refused
+to contribute to his orphan-house in Georgia, thinking
+it injudiciously located. Soon after, I happened
+to attend one of his sermons, in the course of which
+I perceived he intended to finish with a collection,
+and I silently resolved he should get nothing from
+me. I had in my pocket a handful of copper money,
+three or four silver dollars, and five pistoles in
+gold. As he proceeded, I began to soften, and determined
+to give the copper. Another stroke of his
+oratory made me ashamed of that, and determined me
+to give the silver; and he finished so admirably, that
+I emptied my pocket wholly into the collector's dish,
+gold and all. At this sermon there was also one of
+our club; who being of my sentiments respecting the
+building at Georgia, and suspecting a collection might
+be intended, had, by precaution, emptied his pockets<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span>
+before he came from home. Towards the conclusion
+of the discourse, however, he felt a strong inclination
+to give, and applied to a neighbor, who stood near
+him, to lend him some money for the purpose. The
+request was made to, perhaps, the only man in the
+company who had the firmness not to be affected by
+the preacher. His answer was, 'At any other time,
+friend Hodgkinson, I would lend to thee freely; but
+not now, for thee seems to be out of thy right
+senses.'"</p>
+
+<p>Whitefield, much as he loved Philadelphia, had
+now again to leave it. Thus writes the correspondent
+of the "New England Weekly Journal," at Newcastle,
+May 15: "This evening Mr. Whitefield went
+on board his sloop here, to sail for Georgia. On Sunday
+he preached twice In Philadelphia, and in the
+evening, when he preached his farewell sermon, it is
+supposed he had twenty thousand hearers. On Monday
+he preached at Darby and Chester; on Tuesday,
+at Wilmington and White Clay creek; on Wednesday,
+twice at Nottingham; on Thursday, at Fog's
+Manor and Newcastle. The congregations were much
+increased since his being here last. The presence of
+God was much seen in the assemblies, especially at
+Nottingham and Fog's Manor, where the people were
+under such deep soul distress, that their cries almost
+drowned his voice. He has collected in this and the
+neighboring provinces, about &#163;450 sterling for his
+orphans in Georgia."</p>
+
+<p>He arrived at Savannah June 5, and most interesting
+was the manner of his reception. He says, "O
+what a sweet meeting I had with my dear friends!<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span>
+What God has prepared for me, I know not; but
+surely I cannot well expect a greater happiness, till
+I embrace the saints in glory. When I parted, my
+heart was ready to break with sorrow; but now it
+almost bursts with joy. O how did each in turn
+hang upon my neck, kiss, and weep over me with
+tears of joy! And my own soul was so full of a sense
+of God's love when I embraced one friend in particular,
+that I thought I should have expired in the place.
+I felt my soul so full of a sense of the divine goodness,
+that I wanted words to express myself. Why me,
+Lord; why me? When we came to public worship,
+young and old were all dissolved in tears. After
+service, several of my parishioners, all my family, and
+the little children, returned home, crying along the
+streets, and some could not avoid praying very loud.</p>
+
+<p>"Being very weak in body, I laid myself upon a
+bed; but finding so many weeping, I rose and betook
+myself to prayer again. But had I not lifted up my
+voice very high, the groans and cries of the children
+would have prevented my being heard. This continued
+for near an hour; till at last, finding their
+concern rather increase than abate, I desired all to retire.
+Then some or other might be heard praying earnestly,
+in every corner of the house. It happened at
+this time to thunder and lighten, which added very
+much to the solemnity of the night. Next day the
+concern still continued, especially among the girls. I
+mention the orphans in particular, that their benefactors
+may rejoice in what God is doing for their souls."</p>
+
+<p>On the 7th of June, he wrote, "I have brought<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span>
+with me a Latin master, and on Monday laid the
+foundation, in the name of the Lord Jesus, for a university
+in Georgia." On the 28th of the same month,
+he wrote to a Mr. W. D&mdash;&mdash;, in a style admirably
+corresponding with the meek spirit we have already
+seen in his letter to the Rev. Dr. Pemberton, of New
+York. "I thank you for your kind letters and friendly
+cautions; and I trust I shall always reckon those
+my choicest friends, who, in simplicity and meekness,
+tell me the corruptions of my heart. It is that faithfulness
+which has endeared J. S&mdash;&mdash; to me. I think
+I never was obliged to any one so much before. O
+my dear brother, still continue faithful to my soul;
+do not hate me in your heart; in any wise reprove
+me. Exhort all my brethren to forgive my past, I
+fear, too imperious carriage; and let them pray that
+I may know myself to be, what I really am, less than
+the least of them all."</p>
+
+<p>Whitefield's family at Bethesda had now increased
+to not less than one hundred and fifty persons, and to
+advance their interests, it was needful that he should
+again visit Charleston, where he arrived on the third
+of July, and immediately commenced preaching, as on
+former visits. On the following Sabbath, three days
+after his arrival, he attended the Episcopal church,
+where, he says, "I heard the commissary preach as
+virulent and unorthodox, inconsistent a discourse, as
+ever I heard in my life. His heart seemed full of
+choler and resentment. Out of the abundance thereof,
+he poured forth so many bitter words against the
+Methodists, as he called them, in general, and me in
+particular, that several who intended to receive the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span>
+sacrament at his hands, withdrew. Never, I believe,
+was such a preparation sermon preached before. After
+sermon, he sent his clerk to desire me not to come
+to the sacrament till he had spoken with me. I immediately
+retired to my lodgings, rejoicing that I was
+accounted worthy to suffer this further degree of contempt
+for my dear Lord's sake."</p>
+
+<p>The next day, the commissary of the bishop of
+London issued against Whitefield the following ecclesiastical
+writ:</p>
+
+<p>"Alexander Garden, lawfully constituted Commissary
+of the Right Reverend Father in Christ, Edmund,
+by divine permission Lord Bishop of London,
+supported by the royal authority underwritten:</p>
+
+<p>"Alexander Garden, To all and singular clerks,
+and literate persons whomsoever, in and throughout
+the whole province of South Carolina, wheresoever
+appointed, Greeting:</p>
+
+<p>"To you, conjunctly and severally, we commit, and
+strictly enjoining, command, that you do cite, or cause
+to be cited, peremptorily, George Whitefield, clerk,
+and presbyter of the Church of England, that he lawfully
+appear before us, in the parish church of St.
+Philip, Charleston, and in the judicial place of the
+same, on Tuesday, the fifteenth day of this instant
+July, 'twixt the hours of nine and ten in the forenoon,
+then and there in justice to answer to certain articles,
+heads, or interrogatories, which will be objected and
+ministered unto him concerning the mere health of
+his soul, and the reformation and correction of his
+manners and excesses, and chiefly for omitting to use
+the form of prayers prescribed in the Communion-Book;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span>
+and further to do and receive what shall be
+just in that behalf, on pain of law and contempt. And
+what you shall do in the premises, you shall duly certify
+us, together with these presents.</p>
+
+<p>"Given under our hands and seals of our office, at
+Charleston, this seventh day of July, in the year of our
+Lord one thousand seven hundred and forty."</p>
+
+<p>Justice to all parties requires it should be said,
+that the phrase as to the health of Whitefield's <em>soul</em>
+was used by Garden not of choice, but in conformity
+with the forms of English ecclesiastical law; the
+theory of which is, that ecclesiastical courts are only
+held to promote the spiritual health or welfare of
+those who are cited into them. The principal sin of
+Whitefield was "omitting to use the form of prayer
+prescribed in the Common Prayer Book." The undisputed
+matter of fact, as Tracy says, was, that he
+always used that form when he could obtain an Episcopal
+church to preach in; but when he was shut out
+of such pulpits, and was preaching to Baptists, Presbyterians,
+and Congregationalists, in their own houses
+of worship, where none of the congregations had
+prayer books, or knew how to use them, and where
+the introduction of unaccustomed forms would not
+have promoted the devotion of the worshippers, he
+prayed extempore.</p>
+
+<p>On the day this writ was issued, Whitefield preached
+for Mr. Chanler, "a gracious Baptist minister,
+about fourteen miles from Charleston;" and twice on
+the next day "to a large audience in Mr. Osgood's
+meeting-house, a young Independent minister," at Dorchester;
+the next day at Dorchester again, and at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span>
+Charleston in the evening; the next day preached and
+read prayers in Christ's church, and twice at Charleston
+the next day, with great success. And now, on
+July 11th, a citation was served upon him to appear
+on the fifteenth, as required in the writ.</p>
+
+<p>On the 12th, he preached and read prayers twice
+on John's island; and on the 13th, which was the
+Sabbath, he again listened to a sermon from the commissary.
+Of this sermon Whitefield says, "Had some
+infernal spirit been sent to draw my picture, I think
+it scarcely possible that he could paint me in more
+horrid colors. I think, if ever, then was the time that
+all manner of evil was spoken against me falsely for
+Christ's sake. The commissary seemed to ransack
+church history for instances of enthusiasm and abused
+grace. He drew a parallel between me and all the
+Oliverians, Ranters, Quakers, French prophets, till he
+came down to a family of Dutartes, who lived not
+many years ago in South Carolina, and were guilty
+of the most notorious incests and murders."</p>
+
+<p>The next day Whitefield again preached twice;
+and on Tuesday appeared before the commissary, according
+to his citation. This is said to have been
+the first court of the kind ever attempted to be held
+in any of the colonies. It consisted of the reverend
+commissary A. Garden, and the Rev. Messrs. Guy,
+Mellichamp, Roe, and Orr, who, as well as Whitefield
+himself, and his able advocate, Mr. Andrew Rutledge,
+respectively showed their want of familiarity with
+such business, and, after a series of blunders on both
+sides, the court adjourned to nine o'clock the next
+morning, to afford Whitefield time to ascertain the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span>
+extent of the jurisdiction of the bishop and his commissary.
+How little, however, he studied the subject
+may be inferred from the fact, that he preached twice
+during the remainder of the day. The next day, a
+Mr. Graham appeared as a prosecuting attorney, and
+Mr. Rutledge as counsel for the respondent. Whitefield
+made some mistakes, but hints from his quick-sighted
+advocate and his own adroitness saved him
+from their consequences; though he contrived to give
+the court a lecture on the meanness of catching at a
+word as soon as it was out of his lips, without allowing
+him time to correct it. He now filed his objection
+against being judged by the commissary, who, he
+alleged, was prejudiced against him. This gave rise
+to new questions: the court adjourned; and the
+evangelist went to James' island, read prayers, and
+preached. The next day he again appeared in court,
+and found that his exceptions were repelled, and that
+the arbitrators he had asked for would not be appointed.
+He now appealed to the high Court of
+Chancery in London, declaring all further proceedings
+in this court to be null and void. He then retired
+and read letters which refreshed his spirit, by
+informing him how "mightily grew the word of God
+and prevailed" at Philadelphia; and that Mr. Bolton,
+in Georgia, had nearly fifty negroes learning to
+read. On the 18th he preached twice, and on the
+19th again appeared before the commissary, and
+bound himself, in a penalty of ten pounds, to prosecute
+his appeal in London within twelve months. The
+appeal was never tried, as the ecclesiastical authorities
+allowed it to die of neglect.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"The court being ended," says Whitefield, in his
+journal, "the commissary desired to speak with me.
+I asked him to my lodgings. He chose to walk on a
+green near the church. His spirit was somewhat
+calmer than usual; but after an hour's conversation,
+we were as far from agreeing as before." "All his
+discourse was so inconsistent and contrary to the gospel
+of our Lord, that I was obliged to tell him that I
+believed him to be an unconverted man, an enemy to
+God, and of a like spirit with the persecutor Saul.
+At this he smiled; and, after we had talked a long
+while, we parted, and God gave me great satisfaction
+that I had delivered my soul in my private conversation
+with the commissary."</p>
+
+<p>The next day, July 20, was the Sabbath. The
+commissary preached in his usual style, and Whitefield
+preached his farewell sermon to the people of
+Charleston. By his recommendation two or three of
+the dissenting ministers had instituted a weekly lecture;
+and the evangelist "advised the people, as the
+gospel was not preached in church, to go and hear it
+in the meeting-house." On leaving the city, he summed
+up, in his journal, the results of his labors in this
+manner:</p>
+
+<p>"What makes the change more remarkable in the
+Charleston people is, that they seemed to me, at my
+first coming, to be a people wholly devoted to pleasure.
+One well acquainted with their manners and
+circumstances, told me more had been spent on polite
+entertainments, than the poor's-rate came to; but now
+the jewellers and dancing-masters begin to cry out
+that their craft is in danger. A vast alteration is discernible<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span>
+in the ladies' dresses. And some, while I
+have been speaking, have been so convinced of the sin
+of wearing jewels, that I have seen them with blushes
+put their hands to their ears, and cover them with
+their fans. But I hope the reformation has gone farther
+than externals. Many moral, good sort of men,
+who before were settled on their lees, have been gloriously
+awakened to seek after Jesus Christ; and
+many a Lydia's heart hath been opened to receive the
+things that were spoken. Indeed, the word came like
+a hammer and a fire. And a door, I believe, will be
+opened for teaching the poor negroes. Several of
+them have done their usual work in less time, that
+they might come to hear me. Many of their owners,
+who have been awakened, resolved to teach them
+Christianity. Had I time, and proper schoolmasters,
+I might immediately erect a negro school in South
+Carolina, as well as in Pennsylvania. Many would
+willingly contribute both money and land."</p>
+
+<p>The Baptist church in Charleston at this time was
+nearly extinct, being reduced to five or six communicants,
+but Whitefield's success greatly increased their
+number, and it thus gained strength which it has never
+lost. It is also gratefully mentioned even now by the
+church of that denomination at Eutaw, that Whitefield
+during this visit to South Carolina preached the dedication-sermon
+of their house of worship.</p>
+
+<p>Whitefield left Charleston on July 21, visiting and
+preaching on his way homeward, which he reached
+towards the close of the same week. He preached on
+the Sabbath in extreme weakness of body, but "with
+the Holy Ghost from above," and several were hopefully<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span>
+converted to God. On the 18th of August, he
+again left Savannah for Charleston, where he was
+able, for want of bodily strength, to preach but once
+a day, but he thought that his sermons were attended
+with more power and success than ever before. In a
+few days after, having preached a farewell sermon to
+four thousand hearers, he sailed for New England,
+where he had been very cordially invited by leading
+ministers and others in Boston and many other places.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2>
+
+<h3>WHITEFIELD'S FIRST VISIT TO NEW ENGLAND.<br />
+
+SEPTEMBER TO NOVEMBER, 1740.</h3>
+
+
+<p>The religious state of New England in the early
+part of the eighteenth century, was little better than
+the description we have already given of the state
+of Great Britain and its other dependencies at that
+period. Dr. Prince tells us, that the first age of
+New England was one of an almost continual revival.
+Preaching was attended with so much power in some
+places, "that it was a common inquiry, by such members
+of a family as were detained at home on a Sabbath,
+whether any had been visibly awakened in the
+house of God that day." And he adds, "Few Sabbaths
+did pass without some being evidently converted,
+and some convincing proof of the power of God
+accompanying his word."</p>
+
+<p>Dr. Increase Mather, writing towards the close of
+the seventeenth century, while he confirms the statements
+we have already given, bears farther testimony
+which is of a very painful character. He says, "Prayer
+is necessary on this account, that conversions have
+become rare in this age of the world. They that have
+their thoughts exercised in discerning things of this
+nature, have sad apprehensions that the work of conversion
+has come to a stand. During the last age
+scarcely a sermon was preached without some being
+apparently converted, and sometimes hundreds were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span>
+converted by one sermon. Who of us now can say
+that we have seen any thing such as this? Clear,
+sound conversions are not frequent in our congregations;
+the great bulk of the present generation are
+apparently poor, perishing, and if the Lord prevent
+not, undone; many are profane, drunkards, lascivious,
+scoffers at the power of godliness, and disobedient;
+others are civil and outwardly conformed to good order,
+because so educated, but without knowing aught
+of a real change of heart." The same estimable writer
+says, in 1721, "I am now in my eighty-third year, and
+having had an opportunity of conversing with the first
+planters of this country, and having been for <em>sixty-five</em>
+years a preacher of the gospel, I feel as did the ancient
+men who had seen the former temple, and who wept
+aloud as they saw the latter. The children of New
+England are, or once were, for the most part, the children
+of godly parents. What did our fathers come
+into this wilderness for? Not to gain estates as men
+do now, but for religion, and that they might have
+their children in a hopeful way of being truly religious.
+There was a famous man who preached before
+one of the greatest assemblies that ever was addressed;
+it was about seventy years ago; and he said to
+them, 'I lived in a country seven years, and all that
+time I never heard a profane oath, or saw a man
+drunk.' And where was that country? It was New
+England. Ah, degenerate New England! What art
+thou come to at this day? How are those sins become
+common that were once not even heard of!"</p>
+
+<p>Passing over, for the present, indications of a revival
+of religion, which had appeared in other parts<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span>
+of the country, we speak now only of New England.
+In 1734, a very extraordinary work of grace appeared
+at Northampton, Massachusetts, under the ministry of
+the distinguished Jonathan Edwards, the elder, the
+history of which is given in his admirable "Narrative
+of the surprising Work of God" at that period, in
+Northampton and the vicinity.</p>
+
+<p>It is important to remark here, that the preaching
+which led to such delightful results was of the most
+faithful and pungent character. We will give one instance,
+as illustrative of many, as will be distinctly seen
+by those who have read <span class="smcap">Edwards'</span> sermon, "<cite>Sinners in
+the hands of an angry God</cite>," or his "<cite>Justice of God in the
+damnation of Sinners</cite>." Perhaps, however, no sermon
+in New England has ever acquired greater celebrity,
+or accomplished more good, than the one preached
+by President Edwards at Enfield, July 8, 1741, from
+the words, "Their feet shall slide in due time." Deut.
+32:35. "When they went into the meeting-house,
+the appearance of the assembly was thoughtless and
+vain; the people scarcely conducted themselves with
+common decency." But as the sermon proceeded, the
+audience became so overwhelmed with distress and
+weeping, that the preacher was "obliged to speak to
+the people and desire silence, that he might be heard."
+The excitement soon became intense; and it is said
+that a minister who sat in the pulpit with Mr. Edwards,
+in the agitation of his feelings, caught the
+preacher by the skirt of his dress, and said, "Mr.
+Edwards, Mr. Edwards, is not God a God of mercy?"
+Many of the hearers were seen unconsciously holding
+themselves up against the pillars, and the sides of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span>
+pews, as though they already felt themselves sliding
+into the pit. This fact has often been mentioned as
+a proof of the strong and scriptural character of President
+Edwards' peculiar eloquence&mdash;the eloquence of
+truth as attended by influence from heaven; for his
+sermons were read, without gestures.</p>
+
+<p>But there was another element which must be
+taken into account when we look at the result of this
+sermon, as well as others delivered in like circumstances,
+and one which we fear has been often overlooked.
+"While the people of the neighboring towns
+were in great distress about their souls, the inhabitants
+of Enfield were very secure, loose, and vain. A lecture
+had been appointed there, and the neighboring
+people were so affected at the thoughtlessness of the
+inhabitants, and had so much fear that God would, in
+his righteous judgment, pass them by, that many of
+them were prostrate before him a considerable part
+of the previous evening, supplicating the mercy of
+heaven in their behalf. And when the time appointed
+for the lecture came, a number of the surrounding
+ministers were present, as well as some from a distance"&mdash;a
+proof of the prayerful interest felt on behalf
+of the town. In all this we see much of the
+secret of the powerful impression produced by that
+sermon, and are taught that in seasons when God
+seems about to pour out his Spirit on a community,
+Christians should be found "continuing instant in
+prayer."</p>
+
+<p>In this more hopeful state of things than had long
+before existed in New England, Whitefield, who was
+now the second time in America, was most urgently<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span>
+entreated to visit the descendants of the Pilgrim fathers.
+He complied with the request, and arrived at
+Newport on the evening of the Sabbath, September
+14, 1740. We furnish an account, written chiefly by
+himself, in his journal, published in London, 1741, a
+copy of which may be found in the library of Harvard
+University, to which we have had a kind access, and
+which is rich in what we may term <em>Whitefieldian lore</em>.
+He writes,</p>
+
+<p>"Was sick part of the passage, but found afterwards
+the sea-air, under God, much improved my
+health. Arrived at Newport, in Rhode Island, just
+after the beginning of evening service. We came
+purposely thither first with our sloop. I think it the
+most pleasant entrance I ever yet saw. Almost all
+the morning the wind was contrary; but I found a
+very strong inclination to pray that we might arrive
+time enough to be present at public worship. Once I
+called the people; but something prevented their coming.
+At last, finding my impression increase upon me,
+I desired their attendance immediately. They came.
+With a strong assurance that we should be heard, we
+prayed that the Lord would turn the wind, that we
+might give him thanks in the great congregation;
+and also that he would send such to us as he would
+have us to converse with, and who might show us a
+lodging. Though the wind was ahead when we began,
+when we had done praying, and came up out of
+the cabin, it was quite fair.</p>
+
+<p>"With a gentle gale we sailed most pleasantly
+into the harbor; got into public worship before they
+had finished the psalms; and sat, as I thought, undiscovered.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span>
+After service was over, a gentleman asked
+me whether my name was not Whitefield. I told
+him 'yes;' he then desired me to go to his house, and
+he would take care to provide lodgings and necessaries
+for me and my friends. I went, silently admiring
+God's goodness in answering my prayer so minutely.
+Several gentlemen of the town soon came to
+pay their respects to me, among whom was one Mr.
+Clap, an aged dissenting minister, but the most venerable
+man I ever saw. He looked like a good old
+Puritan, and gave me an idea of what stamp those men
+were who first settled New England. His countenance
+was very heavenly; he rejoiced much in spirit
+at the sight of me, and prayed most affectionately for
+a blessing on my coming to Rhode Island."</p>
+
+<p>In the evening, in company with Mr. Clap and
+other friends, Whitefield visited Mr. Honeyman, the
+minister of the church of England, and requested the
+use of his pulpit. "At first he seemed a little unwilling,
+being desirous to know 'what extraordinary call
+I had to preach on week-days,' which he said was
+disorderly. I answered, 'St. Paul exhorted Timothy
+to 'be instant in season and out of season;' that if the
+orders of the church were rightly complied with, our
+ministers should read public prayers twice every day,
+and then it would not be disorderly at such times to
+give them a sermon. As to an extraordinary call, I
+claimed none otherwise than upon the apostle's injunction,
+'As we have opportunity, let us do good unto all
+men.' He still held out, and did not give any positive
+answer; but at last, after he had withdrawn and consulted
+with the gentlemen, he said, 'If my preaching<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span>
+would promote the glory of God, and the good of
+souls, I was welcome to his church as often as I
+would, during my stay in town.' We then agreed to
+make use of it at ten in the morning, and three in the
+afternoon. After this, I went to wait on the governor,
+who seemed to be a very plain man, and had a very
+plain house, which much pleased me. By profession,
+I think he is a Seventh-day Baptist; he is a man of
+good report as to his conduct and dealing with the
+world." As might have been expected, the evening
+was spent in exposition and prayer, with a crowded
+company, in the house of his friend Bowers, the gentleman
+who first addressed him when coming out of
+church.</p>
+
+<p>On Monday morning, he breakfasted with "old
+Mr. Clap, and was much edified by his conversation."
+Of this venerable servant of Christ he says, "I could
+not but think, while at his table, that I was sitting
+with one of the patriarchs. He is full of days, a
+bachelor, and has been minister of a congregation in
+Rhode Island upwards of forty years. People of all
+denominations, I find, respect him. He abounds in
+good works; gives all away, and is wonderfully tender
+of little children; many of different persuasions come
+to be instructed by him. Whenever he dies, I am
+persuaded, with good old Simeon, he will be enabled
+to say, 'Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in
+peace.'" Whitefield preached, according to appointment,
+morning and afternoon, "in the church. It is
+very commodious, and I believe will contain three
+thousand people. It was more than filled in the afternoon.
+Persons of all denominations attended. God<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span>
+assisted me much. I observed numbers affected, and
+had great reason to believe the word of the Lord had
+been 'sharper than a twoedged sword,' in some of the
+hearers' souls."</p>
+
+<p>On the evening of the same day he received the
+following note:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Reverend Sir and beloved Brother</span>&mdash;Although
+mine eyes never saw your face before this day, yet my
+heart and soul have been united to you in love, by
+the bond of the Spirit. I have longed and expected
+to see you for many months past. Blessed be God,
+mine eyes have seen the joyful day. I trust, through
+grace, I have some things to communicate to you that
+will make your heart glad. I shall omit writing any
+thing, and only hereby present my hearty love, and
+let you know that I am waiting now at the post of
+your door for admission. Though I am unworthy,
+my Lord is worthy, in whose name, I trust, I come. I
+am your unworthy brother,</p>
+
+<p class="sig">
+"JONATHAN BARBER."
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>"On reading it," says Whitefield, "I could not but
+think this was one of those young ministers whom
+God had lately made use of in such a remarkable
+manner, at the east end of Long Island. I sent for
+him, and found he was the man. My heart rejoiced.
+We walked out, and took sweet counsel together; and
+among other things, he told me that he came to
+Rhode Island under a full conviction that he should
+see me there, and had been waiting for me about a
+week.... What rendered this more remarkable was,
+I had no intention of sailing to Rhode Island till<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span>
+about three days before I left Carolina; and I had a
+great desire to put in, if I could, at the east end of
+Long Island, to see this very person, whom the great
+God now brought unto me. Lord, accept our thanks,
+sanctify our meeting, and teach us both what we shall
+do for thine own name's sake. In the evening I went
+to the venerable Mr. Clap's, and exhorted and prayed
+with a great multitude, who not only crowded into the
+house, but thronged every way about it. The dear
+old man rejoiced to see the things which he saw; and
+after my exhortation was over, dismissed me with his
+blessing."</p>
+
+<p>Tuesday, we scarcely need remark, was spent by
+Whitefield in the work of his great Master. He
+preached to a vast congregation, including the members
+of the House of Assembly, who adjourned to
+attend the service; and he had very delightful evidence
+that his labors had already been useful. On
+Wednesday he left Newport, and about noon preached
+at Bristol, at the request of the court, which was then
+in session, and slept that night at a hotel on the road
+to Boston. On Thursday morning he set out early,
+and as he passed on with his friends, he says, "Found
+that the people were apprized of my coming, and were
+solicitous for my preaching; but being resolved under
+God, if possible, to reach Boston, we travelled on for
+near fifty miles, and came to Boston about eight in the
+evening. When we were within four miles of the
+city, the governor's son, several other gentlemen, and
+one or two ministers, waited at a gentleman's house
+to give me the meeting. They received me with great
+gladness, and told me many more would have come,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span>
+had not a large funeral been in the town, or if there
+had been more certain notice of my arriving. This
+rejoiced me; for I think I can stand any thing better
+than this. It savors too much of human grandeur.
+But I must be tried every way; the Lord be my
+helper. After stopping a while, we went together to
+Boston, to the house of one Mr. Sandiford, brother-in-law
+to the Rev. Dr. Colman, who long since had
+sent me an invitation.... My heart was but low, and
+my body weak; but, at the request of one of the ministers,
+I gave thanks to our gracious God for bringing
+me in safety, and prayed that my coming might be in
+the fulness of the blessing of the gospel of peace."</p>
+
+<p>He slept well that night, and the next morning, he
+says, "I perceived fresh emanations of divine light
+break in upon and refresh my soul." He was visited
+by several gentlemen, including Josiah Willard, Esq.,
+the secretary of the province, a man who feared God,
+and with whom Whitefield had for some time been in
+correspondence. The governor, Belcher, received him
+with the utmost respect, and requested frequent visits.
+He attended public worship at the church of England,
+and waited on the commissary home, who received
+him very courteously. As it was a day on which the
+clergy of that body had a meeting, he came into the
+company of five of them assembled together. They
+soon attacked him "for calling <em>that Tennent</em> and his
+brethren faithful ministers of Christ." He answered,
+that he believed they were so. They questioned the validity
+of Presbyterian ordination, and quoted from his
+journal his own words against him. He replied, that
+perhaps his sentiments were altered. They then went<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span>
+into a doctrinal discussion, which continued till Whitefield,
+finding how inconsistent they were, took his
+leave, resolving that they should not have the opportunity
+of denying him their pulpits. However, they
+treated him, on the whole, with more courtesy than
+he had lately been accustomed to receive from the
+ministers of his own church.</p>
+
+<p>In the afternoon of the same day, he preached to
+a vast congregation in the Rev. Dr. Colman's meeting-house,
+in Brattle-street, and in the evening exhorted
+and prayed with such as came to his lodgings. On
+Saturday, in the forenoon, he discoursed to a crowded
+audience at the Old South church, where Dr. Sewall
+was pastor, the only church edifice in Boston with
+which Whitefield was connected which is still standing
+as it then was. In the afternoon he preached on
+the Common to about eight thousand persons, and, at
+night to a thronged company at his own lodgings.</p>
+
+<p>On the morning of the next day, which was the
+Sabbath, he heard Dr. Colman preach; in the afternoon,
+he preached at Mr. Foxcroft's meeting-house to
+a vast auditory. This gentleman was the senior pastor
+of the First church, meeting in Chauncy-place, and
+the Rev. Charles Chauncy was his colleague. The
+church edifice was in Cornhill-square, not far from
+the old state-house, and was usually called the "Old
+Brick meeting." As this house was by far too small
+to contain his auditory, he almost immediately afterwards
+preached on the Common, to about fifteen thousand
+hearers; and again at night at his lodgings.
+He says, "Some afterwards came into my room. I
+felt much of the divine presence in my own soul, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span>
+though hoarse was enabled to speak with much power,
+and could have spoke, I believe, till midnight."</p>
+
+<p>On Monday morning, Whitefield preached at Mr.
+Webb's meeting-house, the "New North," on the corner
+of Clark and Hanover streets. "The presence of
+the Lord," he says, "was among us. Look where I
+would around me, visible impressions were made upon
+the auditory. Most wept for a considerable time."
+In the afternoon he meant to have preached at Mr.
+Cheekley's, in Summer-street, but was prevented by
+an accident. Just before the time for the commencement
+of the service, a person broke a board in one of
+the galleries, of which to make a seat; the noise
+alarmed some who heard it, and they imprudently
+cried out that the galleries were giving way. The
+house being much crowded, the whole congregation
+were thrown into the utmost alarm and disorder;
+some jumped from the gallery into the seats below,
+others fell from the windows, and those below pressing
+to get out of the porch, were many of them thrown
+over each other and trodden upon. Many, as might
+be expected, were seriously bruised; others had bones
+broken; and within two days five persons died from
+the injuries they had received. Mr. Whitefield's presence
+of mind did not fail him; he immediately led
+the anxious throng to the Common, and preached to
+them from the text, "Go ye out into the highways
+and hedges, and compel them to come in." He says,
+"The weather was wet, but above eight thousand followed
+into the fields."</p>
+
+<p>On Tuesday morning, Whitefield visited Mr. Walter,
+at Roxbury. This gentleman had been the colleague,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span>
+and was now the successor of John Eliot,
+"the apostle of the Indians." These two men had
+been pastors of that church one hundred and six years.
+Whitefield was much pleased with Walter, who, in
+return, was glad to hear that he, like old Bishop Beveridge,
+called man "half a devil and half a beast."
+He preached that forenoon at Mr. Gee's meeting-house,
+the "Old North," of which church the celebrated
+Dr. Cotton Mather had formerly been pastor. The
+house stood in the North square, and was taken down
+by the British army and burned for fuel at the siege
+of Boston, in 1776. The auditory Whitefield preached
+to that morning was not very crowded, as the people
+were in doubt where he would preach. After
+dining with the secretary of the province, he says, "I
+preached in the afternoon at Dr. Sewall's to a thronged
+congregation, and exhorted and prayed as usual at
+my own lodgings; at neither place without some manifestations
+of a divine power accompanying the word."</p>
+
+<p>Wednesday was not lost. Whitefield himself shall
+describe its proceedings. "Went this morning to see
+and preach at Cambridge, the chief college for training
+up the sons of the prophets in all New England.
+It has one president, I think four tutors, and about a
+hundred students. It is scarce as big as one of our
+least colleges in Oxford, and as far as I could gather
+from some who well knew the state of it, not far superior
+to our universities in piety and true godliness.
+Tutors neglect to pray with, and examine the hearts
+of their pupils. Discipline is at too low an ebb. Bad
+books are become fashionable. Tillotson and Clarke
+are read instead of Sheppard, Stoddard, and such like<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span>
+evangelical writers; and therefore I chose to preach
+on these words: 'We are not as many, who corrupt the
+word of God;' and in the conclusion of my sermon I
+made a close application to tutors and students. A
+great number of neighboring ministers attended, as
+indeed they do at all other times, and God gave me
+great boldness and freedom of speech. The president
+of the college and minister of the parish treated me
+very civilly. In the afternoon I preached again in
+the court, without any particular application to the
+students. I believe there were about seven thousand
+hearers. The Holy Spirit melted many hearts. The
+word was attended with a manifest power; and a
+minister soon after wrote me word, that 'he believed
+one of his daughters was savingly wrought upon at that
+time.' Paid my respects to the lieutenant-governor, who
+lives at Cambridge, and returned in the evening to Boston,
+and prayed with and exhorted many people who
+were waiting round the door for a spiritual morsel.
+I believe our Lord did not send them empty away."</p>
+
+<p>An elm under which Whitefield preached in Cambridge
+became distinguished; it being under its shade
+that Washington, thirty-one years after, first drew his
+sword in the cause of the Revolution, on taking the
+command of the American army. From this circumstance,
+it has been called the "Washington elm." The
+last time the late distinguished Dr. Holyoke, of Salem,
+Mass., was in Cambridge, then nearly a hundred years
+old, while passing this tree with a friend, he said that
+he heard Whitefield's sermon, being at the time a student
+in college.</p>
+
+<p>On Thursday he preached the weekly lecture at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span>
+Mr. Foxcroft's, the First church. But he says, "I
+was so oppressed with a sense of my base ingratitude
+to my dearest Saviour, that Satan would fain have
+tempted me to hold my tongue, and not invite poor
+sinners to Jesus Christ, because I was so great a sinner
+myself. But God enabled me to withstand the
+temptation, and since Jesus Christ had shown such
+mercy to, and had not withdrawn his Holy Spirit from
+me, the chief of sinners, I was enabled more feelingly
+to talk of his love; and afterwards found that one
+stranger, in particular, was in all probability effectually
+convinced by that morning's sermon. After public
+worship, I went, at his excellency's invitation, and
+dined with the governor. Most of the ministers of
+the town were invited with me. Before dinner, the
+governor sent for me up into his chamber. He wept,
+wished me 'good luck in the name of the Lord,' and
+recommended himself, ministers, and people to my
+prayers. Immediately after dinner, I prayed explicitly
+for them all, and went in his coach to the end of
+the town; but had such a sense of my vileness upon
+my soul, that I wondered people did not stone me.
+Crossed a ferry, and preached at Charlestown, a town
+lying on the north side of Boston. The meeting-house
+was very capacious, and quite filled. A gracious melting
+was discernible through the whole congregation,
+and I perceived much freedom and sweetness in my
+own soul, though the damp I felt in the morning was
+not quite gone off. In the evening I exhorted and
+prayed as usual at my lodgings; and blessed be God,
+I found a great alteration in my hearers. They now
+began to melt and weep under the word."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>On Friday, the following day, he preached in the
+morning at Roxbury, from a little ascent, to many
+thousands of people, with much of the divine presence.
+Several came to him afterwards, telling him how they
+were struck with the word. Having dined with Judge
+Dudley, he preached to a still larger congregation
+from a scaffold erected outside Mr. Byles' meeting-house
+in Hollis-street. Wrote to several friends in
+England; gave a short exhortation to a large crowd
+of hearers; and then spent the evening with several
+ministers in edifying conversation, singing, and prayer.</p>
+
+<p>Saturday, he preached in the morning at Mr. Welsteed's
+meeting-house, and in the afternoon to about
+fifteen thousand people on the Common. "But Oh,
+how did the word run! It rejoiced me to see such
+numbers greatly affected, so that some, I believe, could
+scarcely abstain from crying out. That place was no
+other than a Bethel, and a gate of heaven." After
+he had gone home to his lodgings he says, "The power
+and presence of the Lord accompanied and followed
+me. Many now wept bitterly, and cried out under
+the word like persons that were really hungering and
+thirsting after righteousness; and after I left them,
+God gave me to wrestle with him in my chamber, in
+behalf of some dear friends then present, and others
+that were absent from us. The Spirit of the Lord
+was upon them all. It made intercession with groanings
+that cannot be uttered."</p>
+
+<p>On the day following, being the Sabbath, in the
+morning he preached at the Old South church, Dr.
+Sewall's, to a very crowded auditory, "with almost as
+much power and visible appearance of God as yesterday.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span>
+Collected &#163;555 currency for my little lambs;
+was taken very ill after dinner; vomited violently,
+but was enabled to preach at Dr. Colman's in the
+afternoon to as great, if not a greater congregation
+than in the morning. Here also &#163;470 were collected
+for the orphan-house in Georgia. In both places all
+things were carried on with decency and order. People
+went slowly out, as though they had not a mind
+to escape giving; and Dr. Colman said 'it was the
+most pleasant time he ever enjoyed in that meeting-house
+through the whole course of his life.' Blessed
+be God, after sermon I perceived myself somewhat
+refreshed. Supped very early. Had the honor of a
+private visit from the governor, who came full of affection
+to take his leave of me for the present. Went,
+at their request, and preached to a great company of
+negroes, on the conversion of the Ethiopian, Acts the
+eighth; at which the poor creatures, as well as many
+white people, were much affected; and at my return,
+gave an exhortation to a crowd of people who were
+waiting at my lodgings. My animal spirits were
+almost exhausted, and my legs, through expense of
+sweating and vomiting, almost ready to sink under
+me; but the Lord visited my soul, and I went to bed
+greatly refreshed with divine consolations." Even at
+this early period such sufferings of his bodily system
+frequently followed his herculean labors.</p>
+
+<p>Early on Monday morning, Sept. 29, Whitefield
+left Boston on an excursion to the eastward. At
+Marblehead, he "preached to some thousands in a
+broad place in the middle of the town, but not with
+much apparent effect." At Salem, he "preached to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span>
+about seven thousand people. Here the Lord manifested
+forth his glory. One man was, I believe, struck
+down by the power of the word. In every part of the
+congregation, persons might be seen under great concern."
+He went on to Ipswich, where he was kindly
+"entertained at the house of Mr. Rogers, one of the
+ministers of the place." Of this family our evangelist
+was soon to know more than he had hitherto done.
+At about this period, John Rogers, aged 77, and
+Nathanael Rogers, were joint pastors of the First
+church at Ipswich; both of them were ardent promoters
+of the revival, as was also Daniel Rogers, of
+the same family. Whitefield learned with deep interest
+that his host was a descendant of the celebrated
+martyr, John Rogers. The next day he preached
+there to some thousands. "The Lord," says he, "gave
+me freedom, and there was a great melting in the congregation."
+At Newbury, in the afternoon, the Lord
+accompanied the word with power. The meeting-house
+was very large, many ministers were present,
+and the people were greatly affected. Blessed be
+God, his divine power attends us more and more."
+Wednesday, he preached at Hampton, in the open air,
+to some thousands. He was here very highly gratified
+with the conversation of Mr. Colton, the minister,
+and with the Christian simplicity of his excellent
+wife. The high wind prevented his being heard so
+well as he usually was, and he did not enjoy his accustomed
+freedom; still, "some, though not many, were
+affected." At Portsmouth, he "preached to a polite
+auditory, but so very unconcerned, that I began to
+question whether I had been speaking to rational or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span>
+brute creatures. Seeing no immediate effects of the
+word preached, I was a little dejected; but God, to
+comfort my heart, sent one young man, crying out in
+great anguish of spirit, 'What shall I do to be saved?'"</p>
+
+<p>From Portsmouth, our evangelist proceeded to
+York, in Maine, "to see one Mr. Moody, a worthy,
+plain, and powerful minister of Jesus Christ, though
+now much impaired by old age. He has lived by
+faith for many years, would have no settled salary,
+and has been much despised by bad men, and as much
+respected by the true lovers of the blessed Jesus."
+The next morning he was much comforted to hear,
+from Mr. Moody, that he would preach that morning
+to a hundred new creatures; "and indeed," says he,
+"I believe I did; for when I came to preach, I could
+speak little or no terror, but most consolation." He
+preached morning and evening. "The hearers looked
+plain and simple, and the tears trickled apace down
+most of their cheeks." He returned to Portsmouth
+that night, and the next morning preached to a far
+greater congregation, and with much better effect than
+before. "Instead of preaching to dead stocks, I now
+had reason to believe I was preaching to living men.
+People began to melt soon after I began to pray;
+and the power increased more and more during the
+whole sermon." This was still more clearly evinced
+after Mr. Whitefield's departure from the town.</p>
+
+<p>Returning to Boston, through Salem, Marblehead,
+and Malden, in each of which places he preached, and
+being now in improved health, he preached, October 7,
+both morning and evening, "with much power," at
+Brattle-street. There had been for several days a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span>
+report in circulation, that he had died suddenly, or
+was poisoned, and the people greatly rejoiced again
+to see him alive. At Mr. Webb's, the New North
+church, on the following Wednesday, he thought there
+was more of the presence of God through the whole
+ministration, than he had before, known at one time
+in the course of his life. He went there with the
+governor, in his coach, and preached morning and
+evening. "Jesus Christ manifested forth his glory;
+many hearts melted within them; and I think I was
+never drawn out to pray for and invite little children
+to Jesus Christ, as I was this morning. A little before,
+I had heard of a child who was taken sick just
+after it had heard me preach, and said he would go
+to Mr. Whitefield's God, and died in a short time.
+This encouraged me to speak to the little ones. But
+O, how were the old people affected when I said, 'Little
+children, if your parents will not come to Christ,
+do you come, and go to heaven without them.' There
+seemed to be but few dry eyes, look where I would.
+I have not seen a greater commotion since my preaching
+at Boston. Glory be to God, who has not forgotten
+to be gracious." He collected, after this sermon,
+&#163;440 for his orphan-house, which was now more
+generally supported than ever before.</p>
+
+<p>The interesting fact we have just related of the
+impression produced on the mind of a little child by
+the preaching of Mr. Whitefield, may afford the opportunity
+to introduce one or two other facts bearing on
+the same general topic, and suggesting some practical
+lessons.</p>
+
+<p>Whitefield could indeed descend to talk with children.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span>
+Here is a specimen which at once impresses us
+with a lively idea of his spirit, and of the adaptation
+of the religion of Jesus to the young as well as the
+old. A little girl seven years of age, when on her
+death-bed, desired an interview with him; he came, and
+thus they conversed:</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Whitefield.</span> For what purpose, my dear child,
+have you sent for me?</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Girl.</span> I think I am dying, and I wished very
+much to see you.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Whitefield.</span> What can I do for you?</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Girl.</span> You can tell me about Christ, and pray
+for me.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Whitefield.</span> My dear girl, what do you know
+about Christ?</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Girl.</span> I know he is the Saviour of the world.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Whitefield.</span> My dear child, he is so.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Girl.</span> I hope he will be <em>my</em> Saviour also.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Whitefield.</span> I hope, my dear, that this is the
+language of faith out of the mouth of a babe; but tell
+me what ground you have for saying this?</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Girl.</span> Oh, sir, he bids little children, such as I,
+to come unto him, and says, "Of such is the kingdom
+of heaven;" and besides, I love Christ, and am always
+glad when I think of him.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Whitefield.</span> My dear child, you make my very
+heart to rejoice; but are you not a sinner?</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Girl.</span> Yes, I am a sinner, but my blessed Redeemer
+takes away sin, and I long to be with him.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Whitefield.</span> My dear girl, I trust that the desire
+of your heart will be granted; but where do you
+think you will find your Redeemer?</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span></p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Girl.</span> O, sir, I think I shall find him in heaven.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Whitefield.</span> Do you think you will get to heaven?</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Girl.</span> Yes, I do.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Whitefield.</span> But what if you do not find Christ
+there?</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Girl.</span> If I do not find Christ there, I am sure it is
+not heaven; for where he dwells must be heaven, for
+there also dwells God, and holy angels, and all that
+Christ saves.</p>
+
+<p>Who can tell the results of a single sermon, or
+trace the consequences of one conversion? When
+Mr. Whitefield was preaching in New England, a
+lady became the subject of divine grace, and her spirit
+was peculiarly drawn out in prayer for others. But
+in her Christian exercises she was alone; she could
+persuade no one to pray with her but her little daughter,
+about ten years of age. She took this dear child
+into her closet from day to day, as a witness of her
+cries and tears. After a time, it pleased God to
+touch the heart of the child, and to give her the hope
+of salvation by the remission of sin. In a transport
+of holy joy she then exclaimed, "O, mother, if all the
+world knew this! I wish I could tell every body. Pray,
+mother, let me run to some of the neighbors and tell
+them, that they may be happy and love my Saviour
+too." "Ah, my dear child," said the mother, "that
+would be useless, for I suppose that were you to tell
+your experience, there is not one within many miles
+who would not laugh at you, and say it was all delusion."
+"Oh, mother," replied the dear girl, "I think
+they would believe me. I must go over to the shoemaker
+and tell him; he will believe me." She ran<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span>
+over, and found him at work in his shop. She began
+by telling him that he must die, and that he was a
+sinner, and that she was a sinner, but that her blessed
+Saviour had heard her mother's prayers, and had forgiven
+all her sins; and that now she was so happy
+that she did not know how to tell it. The shoemaker
+was struck with surprise, his tears flowed down like
+rain; he threw aside his work, and by prayer and supplication
+sought for mercy. The neighborhood were
+awakened, and within a few months more than fifty
+persons were brought to the knowledge of Jesus, and
+rejoiced in his power and grace.</p>
+
+<p>But to return to our narrative of Whitefield's labors
+in Boston. On Thursday, October 9, he preached
+the public lecture at the Old South church. He had
+selected another text, but it was much impressed on
+his heart that he should preach from our Lord's conference
+with Nicodemus. A large number of ministers
+were present, and when he came to the words,
+"Art thou a master in Israel, and knowest not these
+things?" he says, "The Lord enabled me to open my
+mouth boldly against unconverted ministers, to caution
+tutors to take care of their pupils, and also to advise
+ministers particularly to examine into the experiences
+of candidates for ordination. For I am verily persuaded
+the generality of preachers talk of an unknown
+and unfelt Christ; and the reason why congregations
+have been so dead is, because they have had dead men
+preaching to them. O that the Lord may quicken
+and revive them, for his own name's sake. For how
+can dead men beget living children? It is true, indeed,
+God may convert men by the devil, if he pleases, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span>
+so he may by unconverted ministers; but I believe
+he seldom makes use of either of them for this purpose.
+No; the Lord will choose vessels made meet
+by the operations of the blessed Spirit for his sacred
+use: and as for my own part, I would not lay hands
+on an unconverted man for ten thousand worlds. Unspeakable
+freedom God gave me while treating on
+this head. After sermon, I dined with the governor,
+who seemed more kindly affected than ever, and particularly
+told me, of the minister who has lately begun
+to preach extempore, that 'he was glad he had found
+out a way to save his eyes.' In the afternoon I preached
+on the Common to about fifteen thousand people,
+and collected upwards of two hundred pounds for the
+orphan-house. Just as I had finished my sermon, a
+ticket was put up to me, wherein I was desired to
+pray for a person just entered upon the ministry, but
+under apprehension that he was not converted. God
+enabled me to pray for him with my whole heart; and
+I hope that ticket may teach many others not to run
+before they can give an account of their conversion.
+If they do, they offer to God strange fire." The same
+day and evening, Whitefield attended the funeral of
+one of the provincial council, preached at the almshouse,
+exhorted a great number of persons at the
+workhouse, who followed him there, and conversed
+with many who waited at his lodgings for spiritual
+advice. From the time of his return from the east,
+he had been thronged, morning and evening, with
+anxious inquirers. His friends cried, "Spare thyself;"
+but he says, "I went and ate bread very comfortably
+at a friend's house, where I was invited, and soon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span>
+after retired to my rest. Oh, how comfortable is
+sleep after working for Jesus."</p>
+
+<p>On Friday he preached at Charlestown and at
+Reading to many thousands, and on Saturday from
+the meeting-house door at Cambridge, on Noah as a
+preacher of righteousness; a great number of persons
+were present, who stood very attentively during a
+shower of rain, and were at the latter part of the
+sermon much affected. On the same afternoon he
+returned to Boston, and again preached, and was engaged
+till midnight, chiefly in conversation and prayer
+with persons anxious for their salvation.</p>
+
+<p>Sunday, October 12, he rose with body and soul
+greatly refreshed, and spent its early hours in conversing
+with those who came for spiritual counsel.
+He then "preached with great power and affection"
+at the Old South church, which was so exceedingly
+thronged, that he was obliged to get in at one of the
+windows. He dined with the governor, who came to
+him after dinner weeping, and desired his prayers.
+He heard Dr. Sewall in the afternoon. Both during
+the exercises and after them he was sick, but went
+with the governor in his coach, and preached his farewell
+sermon on the Common, Gillies says, to twenty
+thousand, and Tracy to nearly thirty thousand people,
+though the whole population of Boston did not at that
+time exceed twenty thousand. Great multitudes were
+melted into tears when he spoke of leaving them.
+The governor then went with him to his lodgings.
+He stood in the passage and spoke to a great company,
+both within and without the doors; but they
+were so deeply affected, and cried out so loud, that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span>
+he was compelled to leave off praying. The remaining
+part of the evening was chiefly spent in conversation
+with inquirers.</p>
+
+<p>In closing his account of this day's work, he exclaims,
+"Blessed be God for what things he has done
+in Boston! I hope a glorious work is now begun,
+and that the Lord will stir up some faithful laborers
+to carry it on. Boston is a large, populous place,
+very wealthy. Has the form kept up, but has lost
+much of the power of religion. I have not heard of
+any remarkable stir for these many years. Ministers
+and people are obliged to confess, that the love of many
+is waxed cold. Both, for the generality, seem to be
+too much conformed to the world. There is much of
+the pride of life to be seen in their assemblies. Jewels,
+patches, and gay apparel are commonly worn by the
+female sex; and even the common people, I observed
+dressed up in the pride of life. There are nine meeting-houses
+of the Congregational persuasion, one Baptist,
+one French, and one belonging to the Scotch-Irish.
+One thing Boston is very remarkable for&mdash;the external
+observance of the Sabbath. Men in civil offices
+have a regard for religion. The governor encourages
+them, and the ministers and magistrates are more
+united than in any other place where I have been.
+Both were exceedingly civil to me during my stay. I
+never saw so little scoffing, never had so little opposition.
+But one might easily see much would hereafter
+arise, when I came to be more particular in my
+application to particular persons; for I fear many
+rest in a head-knowledge, are close pharisees, and
+have only a name to live. It must needs be so when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span>
+the power of godliness is dwindled away, and where
+the form only of religion is become fashionable among
+people. Boston people are dear to my soul. They
+were greatly affected by the word, followed me night
+and day, and were very liberal to my dear orphans.
+I promised, God willing, to visit them again, and intend
+to fulfil my promise when it shall please God to
+bring me again from my native country. In the meanwhile,
+dear Boston, adieu. The Lord be with thy
+ministers and people, and grant that the remnant
+which is still left according to the election of grace,
+may take root downwards, and bear fruit upwards,
+and fill the land."</p>
+
+<p>On the morning following these solemn services,
+Whitefield left Boston on his way to Northampton.
+To detail his four days' progress, would be almost to
+repeat what we have already written. At Concord,
+where he arrived on Monday about noon, he preached
+twice to some thousands in the open air, "and a comfortable
+preaching it was. The hearers were sweetly
+melted down." Mr. Bliss, the minister of the town,
+of whose subsequent labors it has been well said, more
+perfect accounts ought to have been preserved, wept
+abundantly. On Tuesday he "preached at Sudbury
+to some thousands with power, and observed a considerable
+commotion in the assembly;" as was also the
+case the same afternoon at Marlborough. At the latter
+place he was met by Governor Belcher, who went
+with him through the rain that night to Worcester.
+Here, on Wednesday, he "preached in the open air to
+some thousands. The word fell with weight indeed.
+It carried all before it. After sermon, the governor<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span>
+said to me, 'I pray God I may apply what has been
+said to my own heart. Pray, Mr. Whitefield, that I
+may hunger and thirst after righteousness.'" Passing
+on, he preached at Leicester, Brookfield, and Cold-Spring,
+on his way to Hadley, where he arrived on
+Friday, and preached about noon. In this place he
+says, "A great work was begun, and carried on some
+years ago; but lately the people of God have complained
+of deadness and losing their first love. However,
+as soon as I mentioned what God had done for their
+souls formerly, it was like putting fire to timber. The
+remembrance of it quickened them, and caused many
+to weep sorely." On the same afternoon he crossed
+the ferry to Northampton.</p>
+
+<p>Of the great revival of religion in New England,
+which commenced at Northampton about 1734, and is
+the subject of President Edwards' "Narrative," we
+have already briefly spoken; its importance will justify
+a more extended notice. It began without any extraordinary
+circumstances to awaken the attention of the
+people, or any uncommon arrangements or efforts by
+the minister. The young people of the place had for
+two or three years shown an increased measure of
+thoughtfulness, and a growing disposition to receive
+religious instruction. There had been, from time to
+time, instances of strong religious impression and of
+hopeful conversion. But in the latter end of December,
+1734, five or six persons, one after another, became
+very suddenly the subjects of the grace of God
+which newly creates the soul. Among these was a
+young woman distinguished for her gayety in youthful
+society, "one of the greatest company-keepers in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span>
+whole town," who came to the pastor with a broken
+heart and a contrite spirit, and with faith and hope in
+the Saviour of sinners, before any one had heard of
+her being at all impressed with serious things. The
+sudden, though, as time proved, the <em>real</em> conversion of
+this young woman, was the power of God striking the
+electric chain of religious sympathies which had imperceptibly,
+but effectually encircled all the families
+of Northampton. Mr. Edwards' "Narrative" says,
+"The news of it seemed to be almost like a flash of
+lightning upon the hearts of young people all over the
+town, and upon many others.... Presently a great
+and earnest concern about the great things of religion
+and the eternal world became universal in all parts
+of the town, and among persons of all degrees and all
+ages. All talk but about spiritual and eternal things
+was soon thrown by; all the conversation in all companies
+was upon these things only, except so much as
+was necessary for people carrying on their ordinary
+secular business. The minds of people were wonderfully
+taken off from the world; it was treated among
+us as a thing of very little consequence. All would
+eagerly lay hold of opportunities for their souls, and
+were wont very often to meet together in private
+houses for religious purposes. And such meetings,
+when appointed, were generally thronged. Those
+who were wont to be the vainest and loosest, and
+those who had been most disposed to think and speak
+lightly of vital and experimental religion, were now
+generally subject to great awakening. And the work
+of conversion was carried on in a most astonishing
+manner, and increased more and more. From day to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span>
+day, for many months together, might be seen evident
+instances of sinners brought out of darkness into marvellous
+light. In the spring and summer following,
+the town seemed to be full of the presence of God; it
+was never so full of love, and yet so full of distress,
+as it was then. It was a time of joy in families, on
+account of salvation being brought to them; parents
+rejoicing over their children as new-born, and husbands
+over their wives, and wives over their husbands.
+The goings of God were then seen in his
+sanctuary, God's day was a delight, and his tabernacles
+were amiable. Our public assemblies were then
+beautiful; the congregation was alive in God's service,
+every one eagerly intent on the public worship,
+every hearer eager to drink in the words of the minister
+as they came from his mouth. The assembly
+were, from time to time, in tears, while the word was
+preached; some weeping with sorrow and distress,
+others with joy and love, others with pity and concern
+for their neighbors."</p>
+
+<p>In December, 1743, nine years after this blessed
+work had begun, Edwards writes, "Ever since the
+great work of God that was wrought here about nine
+years ago, there has been a great, abiding alteration
+in this town, in many respects. There has been vastly
+more religion kept up in the town, among all sorts of
+persons, in religious exercises, and in common conversation,
+than used to be before. There has remained
+a more general seriousness and decency in attending
+the public worship. I suppose the town has been in
+no measure so free from vice, for any long time together,
+for these sixty years, as it has these nine years<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span>
+past. There has also been an evident alteration with
+respect to a charitable spirit to the poor. And though,
+after that great work of nine years ago, there has
+been a very lamentable decay of religious affections,
+and the engagedness of people's spirits in religion,
+yet many societies for prayer and social religion were
+all along kept up, and there were some few instances
+of awakening and deep concern about the things of
+another world, even in the most dead time. In the
+year 1740, in the spring, before Mr. Whitefield came
+to this town, there was a visible alteration. There
+was more seriousness and religious conversation, especially
+among young people. Those things that were
+of ill tendency among them were more forborne; and
+it was a more frequent thing for persons to visit their
+ministers upon soul accounts. In some particular persons,
+there appeared a great alteration about that
+time. And thus it continued till Mr. Whitefield came
+to town, which was about the middle of October
+following."</p>
+
+<p>And what thought Whitefield himself on his arrival
+at Northampton? Let us hear him. "Their pastor's
+name is Edwards, successor and grandson to the
+great Stoddard, whose memory will be always precious
+to my soul, and whose books, entitled, "<cite>A Guide
+to Christ</cite>," and "<cite>Safety of appearing in Christ's righteousness</cite>,"
+I would recommend to all. Mr. Edwards
+is a solid, excellent Christian, but at present weak in
+body. I think I may say I have not seen his fellow
+in all New England. When I came into his pulpit, I
+found my heart drawn out to talk of scarce any thing
+besides the consolations and privileges of saints, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span>
+the plentiful effusion of the Spirit upon the hearts of
+believers. And when I came to remind them of their
+former experiences, and how zealous and lively they
+were at that time, both minister and people wept
+much; and the Holy Ghost enabled me to speak with
+a great deal of power. In the evening, I gave a word
+of exhortation to several who came to Mr. Edwards'
+house."</p>
+
+<p>On the following morning, "At Mr. Edwards' request,
+I spoke to his little children, who were much
+affected. Preached at Hatfield, five miles from Northampton,
+but found myself not much strengthened.
+Conversed profitably on the way about the things of
+God with dear Mr. Edwards, and preached about four
+in the afternoon to his congregation. I began with
+fear and trembling, feeling but little power in the
+morning, but God assisted me. Few dry eyes seemed
+to be in the assembly for a considerable time. I had
+an affecting prospect in my own heart of the glories
+of the upper world, and was enabled to speak of them
+feelingly to others. I believe many were filled, as it
+were, with new wine; and it seemed as if a time of
+refreshing was come from the presence of the Lord."</p>
+
+<p>The day following this was the Sabbath. Whitefield
+tells us in his journal, that he "felt wonderful
+satisfaction in being at the house of Mr. Edwards.
+He is a son himself, and hath also a daughter of Abraham
+for his wife. A sweeter couple I have not yet
+seen. Their children were dressed, not in silks and
+satins, but plain, as becomes the children of those who
+in all things ought to be examples of Christian simplicity.
+She is a woman adorned with a meek and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span>
+quiet spirit, talked feelingly and solidly of the things
+of God, and seemed to be such a help-mate for her
+husband, that she caused me to renew those prayers,
+which, for some months, I have put up to God, that
+he would be pleased to send me a daughter of Abraham
+to be my wife. I find, upon many accounts, it is
+my duty to marry. Lord, I desire to have no choice
+of my own. Thou knowest my circumstances; thou
+knowest I only desire to marry in and for thee."</p>
+
+<p>Whitefield "preached this morning, and perceived
+the melting begin sooner and rise higher than before.
+Dear Mr. Edwards wept during the whole time of
+exercise. The people were equally, if not more affected;
+and my own soul was much lifted up towards
+God. In the afternoon the power increased yet more
+and more. Our Lord seemed to keep the good wine
+till the last. I have not seen four such gracious meetings
+together since my arrival. My soul was much
+knit to these dear people of God; and though I had
+not time to converse with them about their experiences,
+yet one might see they were for the most
+part, a gracious, tender people; and though their
+former fire might be greatly abated, yet it immediately
+appeared when stirred up."</p>
+
+<p>Edwards had looked forward to Whitefield's visit
+to Northampton with interest, for he felt greatly concerned
+for his success. He wrote a week before his
+arrival to his friend Dr. Wheelock, then a young minister
+of twenty-nine, "I think that those that make
+mention of the Lord, should now be awakened and
+encouraged to call upon God, and not keep silence,
+nor give him any rest, till he establish and till he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span>
+make Jerusalem a praise in the earth; and particularly
+should be earnest with God, that he would still
+uphold and succeed the Rev. Mr. Whitefield, the instrument
+that it has pleased him to improve to do
+such great things for the honor of his name, and at
+all times so to guide and direct him under his extraordinary
+circumstances, that Satan may not get any
+advantage of him."</p>
+
+<p>After his visit, Edwards writes, "Mr. Whitefield's
+sermons were suitable to the circumstances of the
+town; containing just reproofs of our backslidings,
+and in a most moving and affecting manner, making
+use of our great profession and our great mercies as
+arguments with us to return to God, from whom we
+had departed. Immediately after this, the minds of
+the people in general appeared more engaged in religion,
+showing a greater forwardness to make it the
+subject of their conversation, and to meet frequently
+for religious purposes, and to embrace all opportunities
+to hear the word preached. The revival at first
+appeared chiefly among professors, and those who had
+entertained the hope that they were in a state of grace,
+to whom Mr. Whitefield chiefly addressed himself;
+but in a very short time, there appeared an awakening
+and deep concern among some young persons that
+looked upon themselves in a Christless state; and
+there were some hopeful appearances of conversion;
+and some professors were greatly revived. In about
+a month or six weeks, there was a great alteration in
+the town, both as to the revivals of professors, and
+awakenings of others."</p>
+
+<p>During this visit of Whitefield to Edwards, some<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span>
+conversation was held between them, of which, several
+years afterwards, as it appears to us, far too much
+was said. Edwards took an opportunity, privately,
+to converse with his friend about <em>impulses</em>, and furnished
+him with some reasons for thinking that he gave
+too much attention to such things. Whitefield did
+not appear offended, neither did he seem inclined to
+converse much on the subject, or to yield to the reasonings
+of his friend Edwards. The latter says, "It
+is true, that I thought Mr. Whitefield liked me not so
+well for my opposing these things; and though he
+treated me with great kindness, yet he never made so
+much of an intimate of me, as of some others." It
+seems also, that they conversed on the strong language
+which the great evangelist was accustomed to
+employ as to those whom he considered to be unconverted,
+and the duty of the people to forsake the
+preaching of ministers whom he did not consider to
+be renewed in the spirit of their minds. Whitefield
+told Edwards also, of the design he had cherished of
+bringing over a number of young men from England,
+to be ordained by the Tennents, in New Jersey; an
+object, however, which he never accomplished.</p>
+
+<p>It appears that after preaching at Northampton
+twice on the Sabbath, Whitefield, accompanied by his
+friend Edwards, rode to the house of the father of the
+last-named gentleman, the Rev. Timothy Edwards, in
+East Windsor, Connecticut. At this place, as also at
+Westfield, Springfield, Suffield, Hartford, Wethersfield,
+Middletown, and Wallingford, he preached to
+large assemblies, generally with his accustomed animation
+and power, and with the happy proofs of success<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span>
+which he so frequently witnessed. During this
+week also, he experienced a remarkable deliverance
+from great danger. He says, "A little after I left
+Springfield, my horse, coming over a broken bridge,
+threw me over his head, directly upon my nose. The
+fall stunned me for a while. My mouth was full of
+dust, I bled a little, but falling upon soft sand, got not
+much damage. After I had recovered myself, and
+mounted my horse, God so filled me with a sense of
+his sovereign, distinguishing love, and my own unworthiness,
+that my eyes gushed out with tears; but
+they were all tears of love. Oh, how did I want to
+sink before the high and lofty One who inhabiteth
+eternity!"</p>
+
+<p>During this week also, on his way to Suffield, he
+met with a minister who said, "It was not absolutely
+necessary for a gospel minister, that he should be converted;"
+meaning, no doubt, that though conversion
+was necessary to his salvation, it was not indispensable
+to his ministerial character and usefulness. This
+gave Whitefield a subject. "I insisted much in my
+discourse upon the doctrine of the new birth, and also
+the necessity of a minister's being converted, before
+he could preach Christ aright. The word came with
+great power, and a great impression was made upon
+the people in all parts of the assembly. Many ministers
+were present. I did not spare them. Most of
+them thanked me for my plain dealing; but one was
+offended; and so would more of his stamp be, if I
+were to continue longer in New England. For unconverted
+ministers are the bane of the Christian
+church; and though I honor the memory of that great<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span>
+and good man Mr. Stoddard, yet I think he is much
+to be blamed for endeavoring to prove that unconverted
+men might be admitted into the ministry. How
+he has handled the controversy, I know not. I think
+no solid arguments can be brought to defend such a
+cause. A sermon lately published by Mr. Gilbert
+Tennent, entitled, '<cite>The Danger of an Unconverted Ministry</cite>,'
+I think unanswerable. Tracy truly says, that
+Stoddard, in his '<cite>Appeal to the Learned</cite>,' assumes that
+an unconverted minister is bound to continue in the
+performance of ministerial duties, and infers that unconverted
+men may therefore be admitted to the church.
+This opinion at one period extensively prevailed,
+though all held it desirable that a minister should be
+a converted man. By his attacks on this opinion, and
+especially by thus endorsing Tennent's Nottingham
+sermon, Whitefield gave great offence."</p>
+
+<p>On Wednesday afternoon, he preached at East
+Windsor, and spent the night with Mr. Edwards, senior,
+"I believe," he says, "a true disciple and minister
+of the Lord Jesus Christ. After exercise, we supped
+at the house of old Mr. Edwards. His wife was
+as aged, I believe, as himself, and I fancied that I was
+sitting in the house of a Zacharias and Elisabeth." On
+the following day, he "preached to many thousands,
+and with much freedom and power," at Hartford in
+the morning, and at Wethersfield in the afternoon.
+Here he met Messrs. Wheelock and Pomeroy, "two
+young, faithful, and zealous ministers of Jesus Christ."
+From this place he had intended to go eastward as
+far as Plymouth, and return by another route to Providence,
+and notice had been given in the newspapers<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span>
+of about twenty sermons which he proposed to preach
+at the times and places specified. He was afterwards
+blamed for making these appointments without first
+consulting the pastors of the several churches; thus
+giving countenance, it was said, to the practice of itinerants
+intruding into other men's parishes without
+their consent. The proceeding was certainly somewhat
+irregular, but Whitefield was not much to be
+blamed for it. The details were settled, and the publication
+made, by men in whose judgment and knowledge
+of the customs of the country he had a right to
+confide; and the appointments were believed, in all
+cases, and doubtless known in some, to be agreeable
+to the parties concerned. At Wethersfield, however,
+the evangelist ascertained the necessity of his hastening
+on to New York, and immediately, therefore, published
+a note recalling these appointments.</p>
+
+<p>On Friday, October 24, Whitefield arrived at New
+Haven, and was entertained at the house of Mr. James
+Pierpont, the brother-in-law of Mr. Edwards, and of
+Mr. Noyes, the minister of the First Congregational
+church. The Legislature of the colony being in session,
+he remained till after the Lord's day; and "had
+the pleasure of seeing numbers daily impressed," under
+his ministrations in the old polygonal meeting-house.
+Several ministers of the vicinity visited him,
+"with whose pious conversation he was much refreshed."
+Good old Governor Tallcott, on whom with
+due politeness he waited to pay his respects, said to
+him, "Thanks be to God for such refreshings in our
+way to heaven." Among others who heard his glowing
+appeals to the congregations that listened to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span>
+him during this visit, was young Samuel Hopkins,
+still well known as an eminent divine. Hopkins was
+now nineteen, and was a student at college; his biographer
+tells us, that "he was much interested in the
+man, and much impressed by his solemn warnings."</p>
+
+<p>The testimony of Hopkins himself may here be
+introduced. He says, speaking of Whitefield, "The
+attention of the people in general was greatly awakened
+upon hearing the fame of him, that there was a
+remarkable preacher from England travelling through
+the country. The people flocked to hear him when
+he came to New Haven. Some travelled twenty miles
+out of the country to hear him. The assemblies were
+crowded, and remarkably attentive; people appeared
+generally to approve, and their conversation turned
+chiefly upon him and his preaching. Some disapproved
+of several things, which occasioned considerable
+disputes. I heard him when he preached in
+public, and when he expounded in private in the
+evening, and highly approved of him, and was impressed
+by what he said in public and in private. He
+preached against mixed dancing and the frolicking
+of males and females together, which practice was
+then very common in New England. This offended
+some, especially young people. But I remember I
+justified him in this in my own mind, and in conversation
+with those who were disposed to condemn him.
+This was in October, 1740, when I had entered on
+my last year in college."</p>
+
+<p>On this visit, Whitefield dined with the Rev. Mr.
+Clap, the rector of the college. Of the college he
+says, "It is about one-third part as big as Cambridge.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span>
+It has one rector, three tutors, and about a
+hundred students. But I hear of no remarkable concern
+among them concerning religion." Mr. Clap, it
+is well known, afterwards became the public opponent
+of Whitefield; and it would seem that his dislike to
+him commenced with this first interview; for he
+"spoke very closely to the students, and showed the
+dreadful consequences of an unconverted ministry."
+In his journal of the day he says, "O that God may
+quicken ministers! O that the Lord may make them a
+flaming fire!" On the two days following, he preached
+at Milford, Stratford, and Fairfield, on his way to New
+York. On Wednesday, when at Stamford, he thus
+speaks of New England and his labors in it:</p>
+
+<p>"I give God thanks for sending me to New England.
+I have now had an opportunity of seeing the
+greatest and most populous parts of it; and take it
+all together, it certainly on many accounts exceeds
+all other provinces of America, and for the establishment
+of religion, perhaps all other parts of the world.
+Never, surely, was so large a spot of ground settled
+in such a manner, in so short a space of one hundred
+years. The towns all through Connecticut and eastwards
+towards York in the province of Massachusetts,
+[Maine,] near the river-side, are large, well peopled,
+and exceedingly pleasant to travel through. Every
+five miles, or perhaps less, you have a meeting-house,
+and I believe there is no such a thing as a pluralist,
+or non-resident minister in both provinces. Many,
+nay, most that preach, I fear do not experimentally
+know Christ; yet I cannot see much worldly advantage
+to tempt them to take upon them the sacred<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span>
+function. Few country ministers, as I have been informed,
+have sufficient allowed them in money to
+maintain a family. God has remarkably, in sundry
+times and in divers manners, poured out his Spirit in
+several parts of both provinces; and it often refreshes
+my soul to hear of the faith of the good forefathers
+who first settled in these parts. Notwithstanding
+they had their foibles, surely they were a set of righteous
+men. They certainly followed our Lord's rule,
+sought first the kingdom of God and his righteousness;
+and behold, all other things God added unto
+them. Their seed are now blessed, in temporal things
+especially, and notwithstanding the rising generation
+seem to be settled on their lees, yet I believe the Lord
+hath more than seven thousand who have not bowed
+the knee to Baal. The ministers and people of Connecticut
+seem to be more simple than those that live
+near Boston, especially in those parts where I went.
+But I think the ministers' preaching almost universally
+by notes, is a certain mark they have in a great measure
+lost the old spirit of preaching. For though all
+are not to be condemned that use notes, yet it is a sad
+symptom of the decay of vital religion when reading
+sermons becomes fashionable, where extempore preaching
+did once almost universally prevail. As for the
+universities, I believe it may be said, their light is
+become darkness, darkness that may be felt, and is
+complained of by the most godly ministers. I pray
+God these fountains may be purified, and send forth
+pure streams to water the cities of our God.... As for
+the civil government of New England, it seems to be
+well regulated, and I think, at opening all their courts,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span>
+either the judge or a minister begins with a prayer.
+Family worship, I believe, is generally kept up. The
+negroes I think better used, both in soul and body,
+than in any other province I have yet seen. In short,
+I like New England exceedingly well; and when a
+spirit of reformation revives, it certainly will prevail
+here more than in other places, because they are simple
+in their worship, less corrupt in their principles,
+and consequently easier to be brought over to the
+form of sound words, into which so many of their
+pious ancestors were delivered. Send forth, O Lord,
+thy light and thy truth, and for thine infinite mercy's
+sake, show thou hast a peculiar delight in these habitable
+parts of the earth. Amen, Lord Jesus, amen,
+and amen."</p>
+
+<p>Among many who became the subjects of divine
+grace during this visit of Whitefield to New England,
+was Daniel Emerson, who was educated at Harvard
+college, where he received his first degree in 1739,
+and where he continued to reside for some time as a
+graduate. While at college, he is said to have been
+very fond of the gay pleasures of this life, until his
+attention was effectually called to religion by the
+preaching of Whitefield, whom he followed from place
+to place for several days. He was ordained at Hollis,
+New Hampshire, in 1743, where, in a ministry of fifty
+years, he was a worthy follower of his spiritual father.
+The chief excellences of his preaching were sound doctrine,
+deep feeling, and zeal at times almost overwhelming.
+He was truly a son of thunder, and a
+flaming light. He was almost incessantly engaged in
+labors, preaching, attending funerals, etc., far and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span>
+near. His efforts were greatly blessed, especially
+among his own people, who under his ministry enjoyed
+extensive revivals of religion, and where also a
+large number of ministers have been called to their
+work. He died in 1801, aged eighty-five.</p>
+
+<p>It may be appropriate to introduce here a sketch
+of Whitefield's doctrines and labors at this time, as
+given us by the eminent Dr. Thomas Prince, in his
+"Christian History," under date of January 26, 1744-5,
+but having reference to Whitefield's first visit to New
+England, which we have just described:</p>
+
+<p>"He spoke with a mighty sense of God, eternity,
+the immortality and preciousness of the souls of his
+hearers, of their original corruption, and of the extreme
+danger the unregenerate are in; with the nature
+and absolute necessity of regeneration by the Holy
+Ghost; and of believing in Christ, in order to our
+pardon, justification, yielding an acceptable obedience,
+and obtaining salvation from hell and an entrance
+into heaven. His doctrine was plainly that of the
+reformers; declaring against our putting our good
+works or morality in the room of Christ's righteousness,
+or their having any hand in our justification, or
+being indeed pleasing to God while we are totally
+unsanctified, acting upon corrupt principles, and unreconciled
+enemies to him; which occasioned some to
+mistake him, as if he opposed morality. But he insisted
+on it, that the tree of the heart is by original
+sin exceedingly corrupted, and must be made good by
+regeneration, that so the fruits proceeding from it may
+be good likewise; that where the heart is renewed, it
+ought and will be careful to maintain good works,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span>
+that if any be not habitually so careful who think
+themselves renewed, they deceive their own souls;
+and even the most improved in holiness, as well as
+others, must entirely depend on the righteousness of
+Christ for the acceptance of their persons and services.
+And though now and then he dropped some expressions
+that were not so accurate and guarded as we
+should expect from aged and long-studied ministers,
+yet I had the satisfaction to observe his readiness with
+great modesty and thankfulness to receive correction
+as soon as offered.</p>
+
+<p>"In short, he was a most importunate wooer of
+souls to come to Christ for the enjoyment of him, and
+all his benefits. He distinctly applied his exhortations
+to the elderly people, the middle-aged, the young,
+the Indians, and negroes, and had a most winning
+way of addressing them. He affectionately prayed
+for our magistrates, ministers, colleges, candidates for
+the ministry, and churches, as well as people in general;
+and before he left us, in a public and moving
+manner, he observed to the people how sorry he was
+to hear that the religious assemblies, especially on
+lectures, had been so thin, exhorted them earnestly to
+a more general attendance on our public ministrations
+for the time to come, and told them how glad he
+should be to hear of the same.</p>
+
+<p>"Multitudes were greatly affected, and many awakened
+with his lively ministry. Though he preached
+every day, the houses were crowded; but when he
+preached on the Common, a vaster number attended;
+and almost every evening the house where he lodged
+was thronged to hear his prayers and counsels.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"On Mr. Whitefield's leaving us, great numbers in
+this town [Boston] were so happily concerned about
+their souls, as we had never seen any thing like it before,
+except at the time of the general earthquake;<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a>
+and their desires excited to hear their ministers more
+than ever. So that our assemblies, both on lectures
+and Sabbaths, were surprisingly increased, and now
+the people wanted to hear us oftener. In consequence
+of which a public lecture was proposed to be
+set up at Dr. Colman's church, near the midst of the
+town, on every Tuesday evening."</p>
+
+<p>In reference to the work of grace which was connected
+with Whitefield's preaching in New England,
+the Rev. Dr. Baron Stow, in his "Centennial Discourse,"
+says, "The result, by the blessing of God, was
+a powerful revival, such as New England had never
+witnessed. The work was opposed with great vehemence;
+and no impartial reader of the history of those
+extraordinary scenes can question that much of the
+hostility was provoked by improprieties of both speech
+and action, that would at any time be offensive to
+those who love good order and Christian decorum.
+But after making liberal allowance for all that was
+truly exceptionable, it is cheerfully admitted by the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span>
+candid Christian, that the excitement was, in the
+main, the product of the Holy Spirit, and that its
+fruits were eminently favorable to the advancement
+of true religion. A torpid community was aroused,
+as by the trump of God, from its long and heavy slumber;
+ministers and people were converted; the style
+of preaching, and the tone of individual piety were
+improved; a cold, cadaverous formalism gave place
+to the living energy of experimental godliness; the
+doctrines of the gospel were brought out from their
+concealment, and made to reassert their claims to a
+cordial, practical credence, and all the interests of
+truth and holiness received new homage from regenerated
+thousands."</p>
+
+<p>One or two other facts connected with Whitefield's
+usefulness in New England are too important to be
+omitted. During this visit he was much gratified by
+an interview with a colored man, who had been his
+chaise-driver when he first visited Cambridge. The
+negro had heard him preach in the college a sermon
+especially addressed "to those who labor and are
+heavy-laden." It took such a hold on the poor man,
+that he repeated it in the kitchen when he reached
+home. Mr. Cooper of Boston was so well satisfied,
+as was Whitefield also, with his account of his conversion,
+that he was admitted to the Lord's table.</p>
+
+<p>Another "brand plucked from the burning" was a
+son of Mackintosh, an English rebel, who had been
+condemned to perpetual imprisonment, and had been
+allowed by George the First to settle in New England.
+One of his daughters, a lady of fortune, had
+heard Whitefield preach in Dr. Prince's church at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span>
+Boston, and had been won by the word to Christ.
+She was soon after smitten by sickness, and ripened
+rapidly for heaven. On her death-bed she cried out
+for her "soul friend" Mr. Whitefield; but checking
+her own impatience, she asked, "Why should I do so?
+He is gone about his Master's work, and in a little
+time we shall meet to part no more." The distinguished
+evangelist had a very high opinion of her
+piety, and his interest in her was increased by the
+fact that she had a very remarkable escape from some
+ruffians who had been bribed to convey her and her
+sister to Scotland, that their uncle might seize on an
+estate worth a thousand pounds a year.</p>
+
+<p>There were at this time not less than twenty ministers
+in the neighborhood of Boston who unhesitatingly
+spoke of Whitefield as their spiritual father,
+directly tracing their conversion to his ministry. Of
+one of these we have an account by Collins, the journalist
+of South Reading. Speaking of 1741, he says,
+"Mr. Whitefield preached upon our Common in the
+open air. Mr. Hobby the minister went with the multitude
+to hear him. It is said that Mr. Hobby afterwards
+remarked, he came to pick a hole in Mr. Whitefield's
+coat, but that Whitefield picked a hole in his
+heart. Mr. Hobby afterwards wrote and published
+a defence of Mr. Whitefield in a letter to Mr. Henchman,
+the minister of Lynn, who had written against
+him."</p>
+
+<p>The letters of Whitefield, during his journeys of
+eleven hundred miles in New England, were few and
+brief; but they clearly indicated that at this time he
+was inclined "to return no more to his native country."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span>
+New England, notwithstanding his trials there,
+had evidently won his heart, and for a time almost
+weaned him from Great Britain. When he left it, as
+he was now about to do, for the south, he wrote,
+"God only knows what a cross it was to me to leave
+dear New England so soon. I hope death will not
+be so bitter to me as was parting with my friends.
+Glad shall I be to be <em>prayed</em> thither again before I see
+my native land. I would just be where He would
+have me, although in the uttermost parts of the earth.
+I am now hunting for poor lost sinners in these <em>ungospelized</em>
+wilds."</p>
+
+<p>Is there not an awfully retributive providence connected
+with the rejection of the gospel and its ministers?
+Do we not see this principle at work in the
+history and present state of the Jews; and has it not
+often appeared also in the history of Christianity?
+There was a beautiful village, now a city, in Massachusetts,
+from which Whitefield was driven with such
+rancorous abuse, that he shook off the dust of his feet,
+and proclaimed that the Spirit of God would not
+visit that spot till the last of those persecutors was
+dead. The good man's language had a fearful truth
+in it, though he was not divinely gifted with the
+prophet's inspiration. A consciousness of desertion
+paralyzed the energies of the church; for nearly a
+century it was nurtured on the unwholesome food of
+unscriptural doctrine. In the very garden of natural
+loveliness, it sat like a heath in the desert, upon
+which there could be no rain; and not till that whole
+generation had passed from the earth, did Zion appear
+there in her beauty and strength.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2>
+
+<h3>LABORS IN NEW YORK AND THE MIDDLE AND
+SOUTHERN STATES.<br />
+
+1740, 1741.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Whitefield was now again on his way to New
+York, preaching at Rye and King's Bridge on the
+road. At the latter place he was met by several
+friends from the city, with whom he pleasantly talked,
+"and found," he says, "an inexpressible satisfaction in
+my soul when I arrived at the house of my very dear
+friend Mr. Noble. After supper the Lord filled my
+heart, and gave me to wrestle with him for New York
+inhabitants and my own dear friends." He was also
+cheered by meeting Mr. Davenport from Long Island,
+whose labors as an evangelist were then exciting much
+interest. Here too he met with a violent pamphlet
+published against him. "Met also with two volumes
+of sermons published in London as delivered by me,
+though I never preached on most of the texts. But
+Satan must try all ways to bring the work of God
+into contempt."</p>
+
+<p>On the morning after his arrival, Whitefield
+preached in Mr. Pemberton's meeting-house, and says
+concerning the service, "Never saw the word of God
+fall with such weight in New York before. Two or
+three cried out. Mr. Noble could scarce refrain himself.
+And look where I would, many seemed deeply
+wounded. At night the word was attended with
+great power. One cried out; and the Lord enabled<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span>
+me at the latter end of my sermon to speak with
+authority. Alas, how vain are the thoughts of men!
+As I came along yesterday, I found my heart somewhat
+dejected, and told Mr. Noble I expected but
+little moving in New York; but he bid me 'expect
+great things from God,' and likewise told me of several
+who were, as he hoped, savingly wrought upon
+by my ministry when I was there last."</p>
+
+<p>On the following day he finished his answer to
+the pamphlet already referred to, and says, "God
+enabled me to write it in the spirit of meekness."
+He adds, "Preached twice as yesterday to very crowded
+auditories, and neither time without power. In
+the evening exercise some fainted, and the Lord
+seemed to show us more and more that a time for
+favoring New York was near at hand. Oh, wherefore
+did I doubt? Lord, increase my faith."</p>
+
+<p>The following day, November 2, was the Sabbath.
+"Preached this morning with freedom and some
+power, but was much dejected before the evening sermon.
+For near half an hour before I left Mr. Noble's
+house, I could only lie before the Lord, and say I was
+a poor sinner, and wonder that Christ would be gracious
+to such a wretch. As I went to meeting I grew
+weaker and weaker, and when I came into the pulpit
+I could have chosen to be silent rather than speak.
+But after I had begun, the Spirit of the Lord gave me
+freedom, till at length it came down like a mighty
+rushing wind, and carried all before it. Immediately
+the whole congregation was alarmed. Shrieking,
+crying, weeping, and wailing were to be heard in
+every corner; men's hearts failing them for fear, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span>
+many falling into the arms of their friends. My soul
+was carried out till I could scarcely speak any more.
+A sense of God's goodness overwhelmed me."</p>
+
+<p>After narrating two or three pleasing incidents as
+to the effect of his preaching even on the minds of
+children, and describing his feelings on his return
+home, he gives an account of the wedding of two
+young persons who were going as his assistants to
+Georgia. "Never," he says, "did I see a more solemn
+wedding. Jesus Christ was called, and he was present
+in a remarkable manner. After Mr. Pemberton
+had married them, I prayed. But my soul, how was
+it enabled to wrestle with and lay hold on God! I
+was in a very great agony, and the Holy Ghost was
+so remarkably present, that most, I believe, could say,
+'Surely God is in this place.' After this, divine manifestations
+flowed in so fast, that my frail tabernacle
+was scarce able to sustain them. My dear friends sat
+round me on the bedsides. I prayed for each of them
+alternately with strong cries, and pierced by the eye
+of faith even within the veil. I continued in this condition
+for about half an hour, astonished at my own
+vileness and the excellency of Christ, then rose full of
+peace and love and joy."</p>
+
+<p>On Monday, the 3d, he preached both morning
+and afternoon to increasing congregations, and says,
+"There was a great and gracious melting both times,
+but no crying out. Nearly &#163;110 currency were collected
+for the orphans; and in the evening many came
+and took an affectionate leave. About seven we took
+boat; reached Staten Island about ten, greatly refreshed
+in my inner man. A dear Christian friend<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span>
+received us gladly, and we solaced ourselves by singing
+and praying. About midnight retired to sleep,
+still longing for that time when I shall sleep no
+more."</p>
+
+<p>On Tuesday he preached on Staten Island from a
+wagon, to three or four hundred people. "The Lord
+came among them," and several inquired after the
+way of salvation. Here he met Gilbert Tennent and
+Mr. Cross. The former of these excellent ministers
+had recently lost his wife, and though he was ardently
+attached to her, he calmly preached her funeral sermon
+with the corpse lying before him. Tennent had
+lately been preaching in New Jersey and Maryland,
+and had a delightful account to give his friend of the
+progress of the good work. Nor was the account
+given by Mr. Cross of less interest. After sermon he
+rode to Newark, where he preached till dark, as he
+thought with but little good effect. "However, at
+night the Lord manifested forth his glory; for, coming
+down to family prayer where I lodged, and perceiving
+many young men around me, my soul was, as
+it were, melted down with concern for them. After
+singing, I gave a word of exhortation; with what
+power none can fully express but those that saw it.
+Oh, how did the word fall like a hammer and like a
+fire. What a weeping was there!"</p>
+
+<p>We must stay a moment to give a fact or two
+in reference to the Rev. Aaron Burr, then quite a
+young man, who two or three years before had been
+ordained at Newark, and whose ministry had been
+attended with a delightful revival the year preceding
+Whitefield's visit. During the period of this revival,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span>
+the neighboring village of Elizabethtown had
+been remarkable for its insensibility; even Whitefield
+had preached there, "and not a single known conversion,"
+says Dr. Stearns, "followed his ministrations."
+Afterwards the pastor, the well-known Jonathan Dickinson,
+saw happy results from very plain preaching.
+Newark caught a new flame from its neighboring altar,
+and Mr. Burr, who had lately been to New England
+in quest of health, had heard the devoted evangelist
+again and again, and invited him to visit his flock,
+which he did about a month afterwards with happy
+results. The account given by Mr. Burr of Whitefield's
+preaching in New England was precisely what
+we should expect from the man who was afterwards
+the first president of Princeton college, and who, fourteen
+years after this, accompanied his eloquent friend
+to New England, "and saw at Boston, morning after
+morning, three or four thousand people hanging in
+breathless silence on the lips of the preacher, and
+weeping silent tears."</p>
+
+<p>The Rev. Stephen Dodd of East Haven, Conn.,
+relates that an old lady told him that when Mr.
+Whitefield came to preach in the old meeting-house at
+Newark, she was twelve years old, and as he entered
+the pulpit she looked at him with distrust, but before
+he got through his prayers herself and all the congregation
+were melted down, and the sermon filled the
+house with groans and tears. The next time he came,
+the congregation was so large that the pulpit window
+was taken out, and he preached through the opening
+to the people in the burying-ground.</p>
+
+<p>On Wednesday, the 5th, he went to Baskinridge,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span>
+Mr. Cross' parish, where he found Mr. Davenport,
+who, according to appointment, had been preaching to
+about three thousand people. He writes, "As I went
+along, I told a friend my soul wept for them, and I
+was persuaded within myself that the Lord would
+that day make his power to be known among them.
+In prayer, I perceived my soul drawn out, and a
+stirring of affections among the people. I had not
+discoursed long before the Holy Ghost displayed his
+power. In every part of the congregation somebody
+or other began to cry out, and almost all melted into
+tears. This abated for a few moments, till a little
+boy about seven or eight years of age cried out exceeding
+piteously indeed, and wept as though his little
+heart would break. Mr. Cross having compassion on
+him, took him up into the wagon, which so affected
+me, that I broke from my discourse, and told the people
+the little boy should preach to them, and that God,
+since old professors would not cry after Christ, had
+displayed his sovereignty, and out of an infant's mouth
+was perfecting praise. God so blessed this, that a
+universal concern fell on the congregation again.
+Fresh persons dropped down here and there, and the
+cry increased more and more."</p>
+
+<p>In the evening, Gilbert Tennent preached excellently
+in Mr. Cross' barn, two miles off. His subject
+was the necessity and benefit of spiritual desertions, a
+remarkable subject, as has been said, at such a time,
+in a barn, and at night. "A great commotion," says
+Whitefield, "was soon observed among the hearers.
+I then gave a word of exhortation. The Lord's presence
+attended it in a surprising manner. One, in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span>
+about six minutes, cried out, 'He is come, He is come!'
+and could scarcely sustain the discovery that Jesus
+Christ made of himself to his soul. Others were so
+earnest for a discovery of the Lord to their souls, that
+their eager crying obliged me to stop, and I prayed
+over them as I saw their agonies and distress increase.
+At length my own soul was so full that I retired, and
+was in a strong agony for some time, and wept before
+the Lord under a deep sense of my own vileness, and
+the sovereignty and greatness of God's everlasting
+love. Most of the people spent the remainder of the
+night in prayer and praise. Two or three young ministers
+spoke alternately, and others prayed as the Lord
+gave them utterance."</p>
+
+<p>The next morning Whitefield exhorted, sung, and
+prayed with the people in the barn, and had some delightful
+conversation with a lad of thirteen, a poor
+negro woman, and several others. In company with
+several Christian friends, he then rode to the house of
+Gilbert Tennent in New Brunswick. Here he found
+letters from Savannah saying that great mortality existed
+in the neighborhood, but that the family at the
+orphan-house continued in health, and that a minister
+was about coming from England to take his church at
+Savannah. "This last," says he, "much rejoiced me,
+being resolved to give up the Savannah living as soon
+as I arrived in Georgia. A parish and the orphan-house
+together are too much for me; besides, God seems
+to show me it is my duty to evangelize, and not to fix
+in any particular place." Here he was met by William
+Tennent also, and after much conversation and prayer,
+it was settled that Gilbert Tennent should go to Boston<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span>
+to carry on the work so happily begun there.
+After preaching, exhortation, and prayer, Whitefield
+went with Davenport to Trenton, and so on to Philadelphia.
+On their way, they were twice remarkably
+preserved from drowning in creeks much swollen by
+the rains; and late on a very dark Saturday night
+arrived in the city, which had been already honored
+by his usefulness.</p>
+
+<p>On the following day, he twice preached in the
+house which his friends were now building for him,
+and in which Gilbert Tennent labored for many years
+with great success. He says, "It is one hundred feet
+long and seventy feet broad. A large gallery is to
+be erected all around in it. Many footsteps of Providence
+have been visible in beginning and carrying it on.
+Both in the morning and evening God's glory filled
+the house, for there was great power in the congregation.
+The roof is not yet up, but the people raised a
+convenient pulpit and boarded the bottom. The joy
+of most of the hearers when they saw me was inexpressible.
+Between services, I received a packet of
+letters from England, dated in March last. May the
+Lord heal, and bring good out of the divisions which
+at present seem to be among the brethren there. God
+giving me freedom, and many friends being in the
+room, I kneeled down and prayed with and exhorted
+them all. But Oh, how did they melt under both; my
+soul was much rejoiced to look round on them."</p>
+
+<p>A fact in connection with the building of this
+church edifice illustrates the practical philosophy of
+Dr. Franklin. Tennent waited on him for aid in the
+erection of the house, which was cheerfully afforded;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span>
+the philosopher was asked by Tennent as to the best
+method of raising the necessary funds, who instantly
+recommended him to call at every house in the town
+to solicit help. He argued thus: "Many are really
+desirous to give, and will be glad to see you; others
+are inclined to be friendly, and will give if they are
+urged; a third will be sure, if they are omitted, to
+say they would have given had they been asked;
+and a fourth class will give you, rather than have
+it said they refused." Tennent acted on the doctor's
+counsel, and the funds were raised without difficulty.</p>
+
+<p>Two instances of the happy influence of the truth
+in the conversion of sinners, in connection with this
+visit, must be given from Whitefield's own pen. The
+first related to a Mr. Brockden, a lawyer eminent in
+his profession, and the recorder of deeds for the city.
+For many years this gentleman had been distinguished
+for Deism. Whitefield writes, "In his younger days
+he had some religious impressions, but going into
+business, the cares of the world so choked the good
+seed, that he not only forgot his God in some degree,
+but at length began to doubt of and to dispute his
+very being. In this state he continued many years,
+and has been very zealous to propagate his deistical,
+I could almost say atheistical principles among moral
+men; but he told me he never endeavored to make
+proselytes of vicious, debauched people. When I
+came to Philadelphia, this time twelvemonth, he told
+me he had not so much as a curiosity to hear me.
+But a brother Deist, his choicest friend, pressed him
+to come and hear me. To satisfy his curiosity, he at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span>
+length complied with the request. I preached at the
+court-house stairs, upon the conference which the Lord
+had with Nicodemus. I had not spoken much before
+the Lord struck his heart. 'For,' said he, 'I saw your
+doctrine tended to make people good.' His family
+knew not that he had been to hear me. After he
+came home, his wife, who had been at sermon, came
+in also, and wished heartily that he had heard me.
+He said nothing. After this, another of his family
+came in, repeating the same wish; and, if I mistake
+not, after that another; till at last, being unable to
+refrain any longer, with tears in his eyes, he said,
+'Why, I have been hearing him;' and then expressed
+his approbation. Ever since he has followed on to
+know the Lord; and I verily believe Jesus Christ
+has made himself manifest to his soul. Though upwards
+of threescore years old, he is now, I believe,
+born again of God. He is as a little child, and often,
+as he told me, receives such communications from
+God, when he retires into the woods, that he thinks
+he could die a martyr for the truth."</p>
+
+<p>The other instance was that of the captain of a
+ship, "as great a reprobate," says Whitefield, "as
+ever I heard of." This man used to go on board the
+transport ships, and offer a guinea for a new oath,
+that he might have the honor of making it. "To the
+honor of God's grace," says our evangelist, "let it be
+said, he is now, I believe, a Christian; not only reformed,
+but renewed. The effectual stroke, he told
+me, was given when I preached last spring at Pennepack.
+Ever since he has been zealous for the truth;
+stood like a lamb when he was beaten, and in danger<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span>
+of being murdered by some of my opposers, and, in
+short, shows his faith by his works."</p>
+
+<p>The stay of Mr. Whitefield in Philadelphia at this
+time was about a week, during which he preached in
+the new house twice every day to large and deeply
+interested congregations. He says, "It would be
+almost endless to recount all the particular instances
+of God's grace which I have seen this week past.
+Many that before were only convicted, now plainly
+proved that they were converted, and had a clear evidence
+of it within themselves. My chief business was
+now to build up and to exhort them to continue in the
+grace of God. Notwithstanding, many were convicted
+almost every day, and came to me under the greatest
+distress and anguish of soul. Several societies are
+now in the town, not only of men and women, but of
+little boys and little girls. Being so engaged, I could
+not visit them as I would, but I hope the Lord will
+raise up some fellow-laborers, and that elders will be
+ordained in every place."</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps no man was ever more free from sectarianism
+than George Whitefield. It is true, that he
+was ordained a clergyman of the church of England,
+and never manifested any degree of reluctance to
+officiate within its walls; but it is equally true, that
+the vast majority of his sermons were delivered in
+connection with other bodies of Christians. When
+he was once preaching from the balcony of the court-house,
+Market-street, Philadelphia, he delivered an
+impressive apostrophe: "Father Abraham, who have
+you in heaven? any Episcopalians?" "No." "Any
+Presbyterians?" "No." "Any Baptists?" "No."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span>
+"Have you any Methodists, Seceders, or Independents
+there?" "No, no!" "Why, who have you there?"
+"We don't know those names here. All who are
+here are Christians, believers in Christ&mdash;men who
+have overcome by the blood of the Lamb, and the
+word of his testimony." "Oh, is that the case? then
+God help me, God help us all, to forget party names,
+and to become Christians, in deed and in truth." It
+might be well for the different bodies of Christians
+to think of the propriety of following this example of
+the holy man. The peculiarities of each Christian
+denomination may have their importance, but they
+ought not to keep good men in a state of separation,
+much less of alienation from each other.</p>
+
+<p>On Monday, November 17, Whitefield left Philadelphia.
+He says, "Was much melted at parting from
+my dear friends. Had it much impressed upon my
+mind, that I should go to England, and undergo trials
+for the truth's sake. These words, 'The Jews sought
+to stone thee, and goest thou thither again?' with our
+Lord's answer, have been for some time lying upon
+me; and while my friends were weeping round me,
+St. Paul's words darted into my soul, 'What mean
+you to weep and break my heart? I am willing not
+only to be bound, but to die for the Lord Jesus.'
+After fervent prayer, I took my leave of some, but
+being to preach at Gloucester in the West Jerseys,
+others accompanied me in boats over the river. We
+sung as we sailed, but my heart was low. I preached
+at Gloucester, but found myself weighed down, and
+was not able to deliver my sermon with my usual
+vigor. However, there was an affecting melting, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span>
+several, as I heard afterwards, who had been in bondage
+before, at that time received joy in the Holy
+Ghost. I rode on in company with several to Greenwich,
+and preached to a few, with scarce any power.
+In the evening we travelled on a few miles, but my
+body was more and more out of order, and I thought
+God was preparing me for future blessings. It is
+good to be humbled. I am never better than when
+I am brought to lie at the foot of the cross. It is a
+certain sign God intends that soul a greater crown.
+Lord, let me always feel myself a poor sinner." On
+Tuesday he preached at Pilesgrove to about two thousand
+people, but saw only a few affected. "At night,"
+he says, "God was pleased so abundantly to refresh
+my soul as to make me forget the weakness of my
+body; I prayed and exhorted with great power in the
+family where I lodged." On Wednesday, at Cohansey,
+where Gilbert Tennent had prepared the way
+for him, he says, "Preached to some thousands both
+morning and afternoon. The word gradually struck
+the hearers, till the whole congregation was greatly
+moved, and two cried out in the bitterness of their
+souls after a crucified Saviour, and were scarcely
+able to stand. My soul was replenished as with new
+wine, and life and power flew all around me." At
+Salem, on the 20th, he preached in the morning at the
+court-house, and in the afternoon in the open air before
+the prison, to about two thousand persons. "Both
+times God was with us." On Friday, November 21,
+he got with some difficulty to Newcastle, where he
+preached in the court-house, and "observed some few
+affected, and some few scoffing." Here he was joined<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span>
+by Mr. Charles Tennent, who had lately married a
+young lady awakened under Whitefield's ministry.
+They went on to White Clay creek, "and God," says
+he, "was pleased to appear for me in an extraordinary
+manner. There were many thousands waiting to hear
+the word. I have not seen a more lovely sight. I
+sang the twenty-third psalm, and these words gave my
+soul unspeakable comfort:</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<span class="i0">"'In presence of my spiteful foes,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">He does my table spread.'<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<p>"The Lord Jesus assisted me in preaching. The
+melting soon began, and the power increased more
+and more, till the greatest part of the congregation
+was exceedingly moved. Several cried out in different
+parts, and others were to be seen wringing their
+hands and weeping bitterly. The stir was ten times
+greater than when I was here last." At Fagg's Manor,
+on Saturday afternoon, he preached "to many thousands,
+and God was pleased mightily to own his word.
+There was a wondrous powerful moving, but it did
+not rise to such a degree as when I preached here
+last spring. I was taken ill after preaching." After
+still farther labors, he retired to rest, and he says,
+"The Lord gave me sweet sleep, and in the morning I
+arose with my natural strength much renewed." This
+was the Sabbath, and he preached at Nottingham "to
+a large congregation, who seemed in no wise to regard
+the rain, so they might be watered with the dew
+of God's blessing."</p>
+
+<p>On the following afternoon, at Bohemia, in Maryland,
+he says, "Preached to about two thousand, and
+have not seen a more solid melting, I think, since my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span>
+arrival. Some scoffers stood on the outside, but the
+Holy Spirit enabled me to lay the terrors of the Lord
+before them, and they grew more serious. My soul
+much rejoiced in the Lord to see salvation brought to
+Maryland." On Tuesday, November 25, "came to
+Reedy Island, and had the wonderful presence of God
+in the assembly in the afternoon. Several of my dear
+Philadelphia friends came to take their last farewell."
+On Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday, he preached
+again. "The Lord was with us every time. I was
+greatly delighted to see the captains of the ships, and
+their respective crews, come constantly to hear the
+word of God on shore, and join with us in religious
+exercises on board."</p>
+
+<p>On December 1, when they sailed from Reedy
+Island to Charleston, he wrote in his journal, "But
+before I go on, stop, O my soul, and look back a little
+on the great things the Lord hath done for thee during
+this excursion. I think it is now the seventy-fifth
+day since I arrived at Rhode Island. My body
+was then weak, but the Lord has much renewed its
+strength. I have been enabled to preach, I think, one
+hundred and seventy-five times in public, besides exhorting
+very frequently in private. I have travelled
+upwards of eight hundred miles, and gotten upwards
+of &#163;700 sterling in goods, provisions, and money for
+my poor orphans. Never did God vouchsafe me such
+great assistances. Never did I perform my journeys
+with so little fatigue, or see such a continuance of the
+divine presence in the congregations to whom I have
+preached. All things concur to convince me that
+America is to be my chief scene for action."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>In about eight days, he arrived at Charleston,
+where he found there had recently been a large fire,
+and to improve the sad event he preached a sermon,
+and passed on to his own home, where he found all
+well, and where he made arrangements for his voyage
+to England, leaving on the 29th of December. On
+that day he narrowly escaped death. A laborer was
+walking behind him with a gun under his arm, which
+went off unawares; happily its muzzle was towards
+the ground, "otherwise," says Whitefield, "I and one
+of my friends, in all probability, should have been
+killed; for we were directly before, and not above a
+yard or two distant from it. How ought we to live
+in such a state as we would not fear to die in; for in
+the midst of life we are in death!" In the evening he
+preached his farewell sermon as pastor of Savannah.</p>
+
+<p>On Mr. Whitefield's arrival at Charleston, in company
+with two gentlemen named Bryan, who had been
+called to suffer persecution for Christ's sake, he had
+the happiness of meeting his brother, the captain of a
+vessel from England, who gave him much interesting
+intelligence of the Christians in that country. Commencing
+with the Sabbath, he preached twice every
+day, in addition to expounding the Scriptures almost
+every evening, and expresses his gratitude for divine
+assistance. But though he had much to rejoice in, he
+had also more than one source of sorrow. Some professors
+of religion, of whom he had hoped well, had
+fallen away, and not a few of his enemies were even
+more enraged than formerly. Hugh Bryan had written
+a letter, in which, among other matters, "it was
+hinted that the clergy break their canons." At the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span>
+request of Jonathan Bryan, Whitefield had corrected
+it for the press, and it was published while he was
+now in the city. Hugh Bryan was apprehended, and
+on his examination, being asked, frankly confessed
+that Whitefield had corrected and made some alterations
+in it. Writing on January 10, he says, "This
+evening a constable came to me with the following
+warrant:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p>"'South Carolina SS. By B&mdash;&mdash; W&mdash;&mdash;, etc.
+Whereas I have received information upon oath that
+George Whitefield, Clerk, hath made and composed a
+false, malicious, scandalous, and infamous Libel against
+the Clergy of this Province, in contempt of His Majesty
+and His Laws, and against the King's Peace: These
+are therefore, in His Majesty's Name, to charge and
+command you and each of you forthwith to apprehend
+the said George Whitefield, and to bring him before
+Me to answer the premises. Hereof fail not, at your
+peril. And for your so doing this shall be your and
+each of your sufficient Warrant. Given under my
+hand and seal this tenth day of January, in the fourteenth
+year of His Majesty's Reign, Anno Domini one
+thousand seven hundred and forty [one.]</p>
+
+<p class="sig">
+"'B&mdash;&mdash; W&mdash;&mdash;.'"
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Whitefield gave security to appear by his attorney
+at the next quarter sessions, under penalty of one hundred
+pounds proclamation money. "Blessed be God,"
+he says in his journal, "for this further honor. My
+soul rejoices in it. I think this may be called persecution.
+I think it is for righteousness' sake." The
+next morning he preached on Herod sending the wise
+men to find out Christ, professing a desire to worship<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span>
+him, but intending to kill him; <em>persecution under pretence
+of religion</em>, being his theme. The afternoon sermon
+was on the murder of Naboth, from which he discoursed
+on <em>the abuse of power by men in authority</em>. He
+says, "My hearers, as well as myself, made the application.
+It was pretty close." No doubt it was. In
+the evening he expounded the narrative of Orpah and
+Ruth, and exhorted his hearers to follow the Lord
+Jesus Christ, though his cause be never so much persecuted
+and spoken against.</p>
+
+<p>On the following Thursday, he received several
+highly gratifying letters from his friends at Boston.
+Mr. Secretary Willard said to him, "Divers young
+men in this town, who are candidates for the ministry,
+have been brought under deep convictions by your
+preaching, and are carried off from the foundation of
+their false hopes to rest only upon Christ for salvation."</p>
+
+<p>The Rev. Mr. Cooper wrote, "I can inform you
+that there are many abiding proofs that you did not
+run in vain, and labor in vain among us in this place.
+I can only say now in general, some have been awakened
+who were before quite secure, and I hope a good
+work begun in them. Others, who had been under
+religious impressions, are now more earnestly pressing
+into the kingdom of heaven, and many of the children
+of God are stirred up to give diligence for the full
+assurance of faith. There is a greater flocking to all
+the lectures in the town, and the people show such a
+disposition to the new Tuesday evening lecture, that
+our large capacious house cannot receive all that
+come. I am sure your visit to us has made a large<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span>
+addition to the prayers that are going up for you in
+one place and another, and I hope also unto the jewels
+that are to make up your crown in the day of the
+Lord."</p>
+
+<p>In addition to these statements, Mr. Welch, a pious
+merchant, wrote, "I fear I am tedious, but I cannot
+break off till I just mention, to the glory of the grace
+of God, and for your comfort and encouragement, the
+success your ministry of late has had among us. Impressions
+made seem to be abiding on the minds of
+many. The doctrines of grace seem to be more the
+topic of conversation than ever I knew them. Nay,
+religious conversation seems to be almost <em>fashionable</em>,
+and almost every one seems disposed to hear or speak
+of the things of God. Multitudes flock to the evening
+lecture, though it has sometimes been the worst of
+weather. Ministers seem to preach with more life,
+and the great auditories seem to hear with solemn
+attention, and I hope our Lord Jesus is getting to
+himself the victory over the hearts of many sinners."</p>
+
+<p>These, and other letters of a similar character,
+filled the heart of Whitefield with grateful pleasure;
+and he went on preaching and enjoying the society of
+his friends till Friday, January 16. He says, "I never
+received such generous tokens of love, I think, from
+any people before, as from some in Charleston. They
+so loaded me with sea-stores, that I sent many of them
+to Savannah." He now went on board, and was fully
+engaged in preparations for the voyage, which however
+was not entered on till the 24th. On that day
+the <em>Minerva</em> sailed over Charleston bar, and after a
+generally pleasant voyage, they landed at Falmouth,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span>
+March 11. "This," says he, "was a profitable voyage
+to my soul, because of my having had many sweet
+opportunities for reading, meditation, and prayer."</p>
+
+<p>The impartiality of history requires us, however
+reluctantly, here to notice the separation which to
+some extent now took place between Whitefield, and
+his old friends Messrs. John and Charles Wesley.
+Their mutual attachment in early life we have already
+seen, as also Whitefield's anxiety in Georgia to defend
+Mr. John Wesley's conduct against those who opposed
+him. Impartial observers, however, after a while began
+to remark, that on some doctrinal points, especially
+on that of predestination, a difference was springing
+up. On his passage to England, February 1, 1741,
+Whitefield thus wrote to Mr. Charles Wesley: "My
+dear, dear brethren, why did you throw out the bone
+of contention? Why did you print that sermon
+against predestination? Why did you in particular,
+my dear brother Charles, affix your hymn, and join in
+putting out your late hymn-book? How can you say
+you will not dispute with me about election, and yet
+print such hymns? and your brother sent his sermon
+against election, to Mr. Garden and others in America.
+Do not you think, my dear brethren, I must be
+as much concerned for truth, or what I think truth,
+as you? God is my judge, I always was, and hope I
+always shall be desirous that you may be preferred
+before me. But I must preach the gospel of Christ,
+and that I cannot <em>now</em> do, without speaking of election."
+He then tells Mr. Charles Wesley, that in
+Christmas-week he had written an answer to his
+brother's sermon, "which," says he, "is now printing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span>
+at Charleston; another copy I have sent to Boston,
+and another I now bring with me, to print in London.
+If it occasion a strangeness between us, it shall not be
+my fault. There is nothing in my answer exciting to
+it, that I know of. O, my dear brethren, my heart
+almost bleeds within me. Methinks I could be willing
+to tarry here on the waters for ever, rather than
+come to England to oppose you."</p>
+
+<p>Dr. Whitehead, in his "Life of John Wesley," has
+very wisely said, "Controversy almost always injures
+the Christian temper, much more than it promotes the
+interests of speculative truth. On this question a
+separation took place between Mr. Wesley and Mr.
+Whitefield, so far as to have different places of worship;
+and some warm and tart expressions dropped
+from each. But their good opinion of each other's
+integrity and usefulness, founded on long and intimate
+acquaintance, could not be injured by such a difference
+of sentiment; and their mutual affection was only obscured
+by a cloud for a season."</p>
+
+<p>The friendship between Mr. Whitefield and the
+Messrs. Wesley was very much increased and perpetuated
+by the wife of Mr. Charles Wesley. This very
+extraordinary lady, whose original name was Gwinne,
+was equally distinguished for her beauty, talents, and
+piety. She had a very cordial regard for Mr. Whitefield,
+who as cordially reciprocated it. She was married
+when the controversy among these eminent men
+was at its height, and stipulated that she should
+always be allowed to hear the preaching of Whitefield
+and his friends. In her latter years especially, and
+she lived till ninety-six, she expressed her pleasure in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span>
+the belief that she promoted the continuance of that
+endearing intercourse which subsisted between Whitefield
+and her husband. She softened all parties, and
+was on all occasions a blessed peacemaker.</p>
+
+<p>One fact relating to this eminently excellent
+woman may be mentioned. She was nearly twenty
+years younger than her husband, and four years after
+her marriage, and at the age of twenty-six, she was
+seized with small-pox, of which at that time her eldest
+child died. She lay twenty-two days in imminent
+danger of death, and when she recovered she was so
+much altered in features that no one could recognize
+her; but never did woman before lose her beauty
+with so little regret. She used sportively to say, that
+the change in her appearance "afforded great satisfaction
+to her dear husband, who was glad to see her
+look so much older, and better suited to be his companion."</p>
+
+<p>On Whitefield's arrival at Falmouth, he immediately
+set off in a post-chaise to London, in order to
+preach on the following Sabbath. But he now found
+occasion for all the patience he had acquired. He
+had, he says, "written two well-meant, though ill-judged
+letters against England's two great favorites,
+'<cite>The Whole Duty of Man</cite>,' and Archbishop Tillotson,
+who, I said, knew no more about religion than Mohammed.
+The Moravians had made inroads on our societies;"
+besides which, the controversy with the Messrs.
+Wesley injured him. His congregations on the Sabbath
+were still large, but on week-days he had not
+more than two or three hundred hearers. He says,
+"Instead of having thousands to attend me, scarcely<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span>
+one of my spiritual children come to see me from
+morning to night. Once, on Kennington Common, I
+had not above a hundred to hear me."</p>
+
+<p>Even this was not all. He says, "One that got
+some hundreds of pounds by my sermons, refused to
+print for me any more. And others wrote to me, that
+God would destroy me in a fortnight, and that my fall
+was as great as Peter's." Still other sorrows attended
+him. He writes, "I was much embarrassed in my outward
+circumstances. A thousand pounds I owed for
+the orphan-house. Two hundred and fifty pounds
+drawn on Mr. Seward, [who was now dead,] were returned
+upon me. I was also threatened to be arrested
+for two hundred pounds more." Besides all this, he
+had "a family of one hundred persons to be maintained,
+four thousand miles off, in the dearest part of his
+majesty's dominions." He now began to preach in
+Moorfields on week-days, under one of the trees;
+where he saw numbers of his spiritual children running
+by him without looking at him, and some of them
+putting their fingers in their ears, that they might not
+hear one word he said. "A like scene," he says,
+"opened at Bristol, where I was denied preaching in
+the house I had founded." It was the Kingswood
+school-house, built for the children of the colliers.</p>
+
+<p>But Whitefield could not long be kept down. His
+friends built a new house and opened a new school at
+Kingswood. Some "free-grace dissenters," as Gillies
+calls them, procured the loan of a building lot in London,
+on which, as we have already seen, they built the
+Tabernacle. Here his congregations immediately increased,
+and he addressed them with his usual power<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span>
+and success. Invitations soon poured in from the
+country, and even from places where he had never
+been. At a common near Braintree, in Essex, he had
+more than ten thousand hearers, and at many other
+places congregations were large and much affected.
+"Sweet," says he, "was the conversation which I had
+with several ministers of Christ." Soon again did he
+triumph, even in England.</p>
+
+<p>Among the men who were now invited to aid, and
+who rendered important assistance to Whitefield in
+his houses of worship in London and Bristol, as well
+as in his itinerant labors, was Howel Harris, a native
+of Wales, a gentleman, and a magistrate, to whom we
+have already referred. His name in Wales is yet "a
+household word," and his labors form a part of the
+history of Welsh Calvinistic Methodism. As soon as
+he had embraced the gospel for himself, he became
+intensely solicitous respecting the condition of his
+neighbors. The scenes of profligacy and vice which
+everywhere presented themselves burdened his heart,
+and he became anxious to be actively employed in
+removing evil and doing good. He determined on
+taking orders in the church of England, and accordingly
+entered St. Mary's Hall, in Oxford university;
+but shocked at the dissolute habits of the collegians,
+and finding what were called his methodistical views
+were in the way of his ordination, he returned to
+Wales, and began to evangelize its towns and villages.
+Wherever there was an opening, there he went, and
+preached Christ to the people; and although defamed
+and persecuted, he manfully prosecuted his work,
+and thousands were by his agency brought to repentance.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span>
+He and Mr. Whitefield were kindred spirits,
+moved by the same impulses, and pursuing the same
+course. Mr. Whitefield spoke of him as "'a burning
+and shining light,' a barrier against profaneness and
+immorality, and an indefatigable promoter of the true
+gospel of Jesus Christ. For these years he has preached
+almost twice a day, for three or four hours together.
+He has been in seven counties, and has made it his
+business to go to wakes and fairs to turn people from
+their lying vanities. He has been made the subject
+of numbers of sermons, has been threatened with public
+prosecutions, and had constables sent to apprehend
+him. But God has blessed him with inflexible courage;
+strength has been communicated to him from
+above, and he still goes on from conquering to conquer.
+God has greatly blessed his pious endeavors;
+many call, and own him as their spiritual father, and
+would, I believe, lay down their lives for his sake."</p>
+
+<p>In the year 1759, when England was threatened
+with a French invasion, Mr. Harris became a captain
+in the Brecknockshire militia, and into whatever place
+in England the regiment was ordered, he uniformly
+began to preach, and was the means of introducing
+the gospel into many ignorant and depraved districts.
+Thus an unusual act and an undesirable office were
+overruled to doing much good. When the regiment
+was disbanded, he again regularly entered on his ministerial
+duties with all his former zeal and activity.
+In a word, he may justly be regarded the evangelist
+of Wales.</p>
+
+<p>As an illustration of the spirit of the energetic
+ministers of Christ in those days, we quote a fact or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span>
+two from the life of Rowland Hill; the more readily
+as Howel Harris is the principal subject. In 1774,
+four years after the death of Whitefield, Mr. Hill
+travelled through Wales, preaching three or four
+times every day; many conversions took place, which
+greatly sustained him under an attack of illness; and
+led to the remark in his "Journal," "My body quite
+weak, but my soul was refreshed." "A like example,"
+says Sidney, one of the biographers of Hill, "had
+been previously before his eyes in the case of Howel
+Harris, one of Mr. Whitefield's energetic followers,
+who was a man of extraordinary powers of body and
+mind. Harris used to relate of himself, that being
+once on a journey through Wales, he was subjected to
+great temptation to desert his Master's cause, when
+he said, 'Satan, I'll match thee for this;' and 'so I
+did,' he used to add; 'for I had not ridden many miles
+before I came to a revel, where there was a show of
+mountebanks, which I entered, and just as they were
+commencing, I jumped into the midst of them and
+cried out, 'Let us pray,' which so thunderstruck them
+that they listened to me quietly, while I preached to
+them a most tremendous sermon, that frightened many
+of them home.' Mr. Hill greatly delighted in this
+anecdote, and often said that amidst somewhat similar
+scenes, he had been enabled successfully to attack the
+kingdom of Satan."</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER VIII.</h2>
+
+<h3>FIRST AND SECOND VISITS TO SCOTLAND&mdash;LABORS
+IN ENGLAND AND WALES.<br />
+
+1740-1744.</h3>
+
+
+<p>We have seen the spirit in which Mr. Whitefield
+returned to London, and the cool manner in which he
+was too generally received. It is painful to say that
+this coldness was not confined to enemies of the
+truth; it appeared in some degree in eminent dissenting
+ministers, as Watts and Bradbury, Barker, and
+even, to some extent, Doddridge. A plan had a few
+years before been agitated to restore the dissenters
+to the church, usually called the <em>Comprehension scheme</em>,
+and assuredly, under the circumstances, friendship
+with Whitefield was by no means favorable to such a
+plan being accomplished, though it was at this period
+greatly desired by many of both parties. Still, however,
+good was done; Whitefield preached, and God
+was glorified. More union between Christians in advancing
+the cause of Christ would have been exceedingly
+desirable, but even the want of this was not
+permitted to stay the progress of this man of God.</p>
+
+<p>One of the most popular and useful ministers employed
+by Whitefield and his friends at this time was
+John Cennick, the author of two well-known hymns,
+beginning,</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<span class="i0">"Jesus, thy blood and righteousness;"<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Jesus, my all, to heaven is gone."<br /></span>
+</div>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span></p>
+<p>He was the preacher who, in Ireland, discoursed from
+the text, "Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling
+clothes," which gave occasion for the Methodists
+in that country to be called "<em>Swaddlers</em>." The
+parents of this excellent man were Quakers, who had
+been imprisoned in Reading jail for the maintenance
+of their religious principles. This persecution reduced
+them from respectability to want, so that, like
+John Bunyan, they were forced to make shoe-laces in
+prison for their support.</p>
+
+<p>The conversion of the son was very remarkable.
+His first deep and lasting religious convictions flashed
+upon his mind like lightning from heaven, while walking
+in the crowds of Cheapside, in London. The
+effects were soon manifested; he became a new man,
+pursuing a new course, and entering on a new work.
+His ministry was very efficient, his views of truth
+were evangelical, his public speaking popular, his zeal
+so great as sometimes to lead him to preach six times
+in one day&mdash;all which labors were followed with abundant
+success.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Cennick was rather below the middle stature,
+of a fair countenance, and though by no means robust
+in health, he knew little of timidity. The spirit in
+which he discharged his ministry may be seen in a
+letter he wrote to a friend: "We sang a hymn, and
+then the devil led on his servants; they began beating
+a drum, and then made fires of gunpowder: at
+first the poor flock was startled; but while God gave
+me power to speak encouragingly to them, they waxed
+bolder, and very few moved. The mob then fired
+guns over the people's heads, and began to play a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span>
+water engine upon brother Harris and myself, till we
+were wet through. They also played an engine upon
+us with hog's-wash and grounds of beer-barrels, and
+covered us with muddy water from a ditch; they
+pelted us with eggs and stones, threw baskets of dust
+over us, and fired their guns so close to us that our
+faces were black with the powder; but, in nothing
+terrified, we remained praying. I think I never saw
+or felt so great a power of God as was there. In the
+midst of the confused multitude, I saw a man laboring
+above measure, earnest to fill the buckets with water
+to throw upon us. I asked him, 'What harm do we
+do? Why are you so furious against us? We only
+come to tell you that Christ loved you, and died for
+you.' He stepped back a little for room, and threw a
+bucket of water in my face. When I had recovered
+myself, I said, 'My dear man, if God should so pour
+his wrath upon you, what would become of you? Yet
+I tell you that Christ loves you.' He threw away
+the bucket, let fall his trembling hands, and looked
+as pale as death; he then shook hands with me, and
+parted from me, I believe under strong convictions."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Cennick had heretofore labored with Whitefield
+and Wesley, but now adhered to the former, and
+labored very successfully in the Tabernacle. After
+some years he united with the Moravian brethren,
+and died in triumph at thirty-five.</p>
+
+<p>In the summer of 1741, some three or four months
+after his arrival from America, Whitefield paid his
+first visit to Scotland. The state of religion in that
+country at the commencement of the ministry of this
+distinguished evangelist, has been already glanced at.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span>
+It is here important to remark, that in 1740 an indication
+of better things began to appear in several
+places, especially in Cambuslang, under the ministry
+of the Rev. Mr. M'Culloch. This excellent man, for
+nearly a year before the revival began, had been
+preaching to his people on those subjects which tend
+most directly to explain the nature and prove the
+necessity of regeneration, according to the different
+aspects in which it is represented in the holy Scriptures.
+The church edifice had become too small
+for the congregation, and the minister, in favorable
+weather, frequently conducted the public worship on
+a green brae on the east side of a deep ravine near the
+church, scooped out in the form of an amphitheatre.
+In this retired and romantic spot, the worthy pastor
+preached in the most impressive manner to the listening
+multitudes, and not unfrequently, after his sermons,
+detailed to them the astonishing effects of
+Whitefield's preaching in America, which did not a
+little to increase the interest of the people, as well
+as lead them to wish to see such an extraordinary
+preacher.</p>
+
+<p>While on his voyage to Scotland, Whitefield gave
+evidence that he had not forgotten America. In his
+second visit to America, he had become intimately
+acquainted with the Rev. Daniel Rodgers of Exeter,
+New Hampshire, a direct descendant of the seventh
+generation of John Rogers, who was burnt at the
+stake for the testimony of Christ in the days of the
+bloody Mary. It is not surprising that Whitefield's
+original letter to him, now in the possession of the
+family of the grandson of Daniel Rodgers, is highly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span>
+valued. It is dated on board the Mary and Ann,
+bound from London to Scotland, July 25, 1741.</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p>"<span class="smcap">My dear Brother Rodgers</span>&mdash;How glad was I to
+receive a letter from your hands, having heard nothing
+from you or of you particularly since we parted.
+Oh, what great things has the Lord shown us since
+that time! methinks I hear you say; and yet I can tell
+of greater things. And I believe we shall see far
+greater yet before we die. The work is beginning
+afresh here. I sometimes think brother Gilbert [Tennent]
+must take a voyage to old England. Most of
+our London ministers too much shun the cross, and do
+not appear boldly for God. Now the Lord has worked
+so powerfully in your college, I have less to object
+against your joining Mr. Web. I am glad to hear that
+you speak <em>plain and close</em>. What comfort will this
+afford you in a dying hour. Go on, my dear brother,
+go on; venture daily upon Christ. Go out in his
+strength, and he will enable us to do wonders. He is
+with me more and more. I have sweetly been carried
+through the heat and burning of every day's labor.
+Jesus bears all my burdens. Jesus enables me to cast
+all my care upon him. Oh then, let us magnify his
+name together. I am now going to Scotland, knowing
+not what will befall me. What God does, you
+may expect to hear of shortly. In the meanwhile, let
+us pray for and write to each other. As iron sharpeneth
+iron, so do the letters of a man his friend. Your
+last I have printed. God's glory called me to it.</p>
+
+<p>"My dear brother, adieu. Dear brother Sims sits
+by and salutes you. My kind love awaits Mr. Web,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span>
+and all who love the Lord in sincerity. In hopes of
+receiving another letter from you shortly, I subscribe
+myself, dear Mr. Rodgers, your most affectionate,
+though very unworthy brother and servant in the
+sweetest Jesus,</p>
+
+<p class="sig">
+"G. W."
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Among those who were most anxious that Mr.
+Whitefield should visit Scotland, were the Rev.
+Messrs. Ebenezer and Ralph Erskine. These two
+excellent brothers had separated themselves from the
+established church, chiefly on the ground of its cold
+formalism, and with some other zealous ministers had
+formed what has since been known as the Associate
+Presbytery. Their wish was, that in coming to Scotland,
+Whitefield should preach only in connection with
+their body, and so help forward the work in which
+they were engaged. To this he objected, regarding
+himself as an evangelist at large. As he proceeded,
+they rather opposed him, as not sufficiently particular
+and discriminative in his zeal. They wished him not
+to labor in the church from which they had seceded,
+saying, "God had left it." "Then," said he, "it is the
+more necessary for me to preach in it, to endeavor to
+bring him back. I'll preach Christ wherever they'll
+let me." On the 30th of July he arrived in Edinburgh,
+where he was urged to preach, but declined till he
+had seen the Messrs. Erskine; and accordingly proceeded
+to Dunfermline. Writing on the 1st of August,
+he says, "I went yesterday to Dunfermline,
+where dear Mr. Ralph Erskine hath got a large and
+separate, or as it is commonly termed, seceding meeting-house.
+He received me very lovingly. I preached<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span>
+to his and the town's people&mdash;a very thronged assembly.
+After I had done prayers and named my text,
+the rustling made by opening the Bibles all at once
+quite surprised me&mdash;a scene I never was witness to
+before."</p>
+
+<p>On the day following, Whitefield returned to
+Edinburgh, accompanied by Mr. Ralph Erskine, and
+preached in the Orphan-house park to a large and
+attentive audience. His text was, "The kingdom of
+God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, and
+peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." Rom. 14:17.
+After the sermon, a large company, including some of
+the nobility, came to bid him God-speed; and among
+others a portly Quaker, a nephew of the Messrs. Erskine,
+who, taking him by the hand, said, "Friend
+George, I am as thou art; I am for bringing all to
+the life and power of the ever-living God; and therefore,
+if thou wilt not quarrel with me about my hat, I
+will not quarrel with thee about thy gown." On
+Sabbath evening, he preached in the same place, to
+upwards of fifteen thousand persons; and on the evenings
+of Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, to nearly as
+many; on Tuesday in the Canongate church; on
+Wednesday and Thursday at Dunfermline; and on
+Friday morning at Queensferry. "Everywhere," says
+he, "the auditories were large and very attentive.
+Great power accompanied the word. Many have
+been brought under convictions, and I have already
+received invitations to different places, which, God
+willing, I intend to comply with." Writing a week
+later, he says, "It would make your heart leap for joy
+to be now in Edinburgh. I question if there be not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span>
+upwards of three hundred in this city seeking after
+Jesus. Every morning I have a constant levee of
+wounded souls, many of whom are quite slain by the
+law. God's power attends the word continually, just
+as when I left London. At seven in the morning we
+have a lecture in the fields, attended not only by the
+common people, but also by persons of rank. I have
+reason to think that several of the latter sort are
+coming to Jesus. Little children also are much
+wrought upon. God much blesses my letters from
+the little orphans, [girls in the hospital.] He loves
+to work by contemptible means. Oh, my dear brother,
+I am quite amazed when I think what God has
+done here in a fortnight. My printed sermons and
+journals have been blessed in an uncommon manner.
+I am only afraid lest people should idolize the instrument,
+and not look enough to the glorious Jesus, in
+whom alone I desire to glory. Congregations consist
+of many thousands. Never did I see so many Bibles,
+nor people looking into them, while I am expounding,
+with so much attention. Plenty of tears flow from the
+hearers' eyes. Their emotions appear in various ways.
+I preach twice daily, and expound at private houses
+at night, and am employed in speaking to souls under
+distress great part of the day. I have just snatched a
+few moments to write to my dear brother. Oh, that
+God may enlarge your heart to pray for me. This
+afternoon I preach out of town, and also to-morrow.
+Next post, God willing, you shall have another letter.
+I walk continually in the comforts of the Holy Ghost.
+The love of Christ quite strikes me dumb. O grace,
+grace! let that be my song. Adieu."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>In this manner Whitefield continued to preach
+very extensively over Scotland; and early in September
+he arrived at Glasgow. On the eleventh of that
+month he began his labors in the High Church-yard,
+and for five days in succession preached there twice a
+day&mdash;at an early hour in the morning, and again in
+the evening. The expectations of the people were
+high, not only in Glasgow, but all around, and crowds
+flocked to hear him preach. Morning after morning,
+and evening after evening, that vast church-yard,
+almost paved as it is with tombstones, was crowded
+with living worshippers, trembling under the word.
+But not satisfied with hearing, the pen of the ready
+writer was from day to day at work, and each sermon
+was printed by itself, and put immediately into circulation.
+His sermons were characterized by great
+simplicity, as if the language of the preacher merely
+expressed what he felt, and yet there was so much
+earnestness, and so much closeness of application, as
+to account for the effects they produced. He was in
+the pulpit very much what Baxter was in the press.
+He spoke as a man realizing all that he said, and laying
+open the feelings of his own heart in addressing
+the hearts of others.</p>
+
+<p>Very few men better knew the human heart than
+Whitefield. He seemed to know all the thoughts and
+feelings of his hearers, and the best way in which to
+meet them. He once preached in Scotland from the
+text, "The door was shut." Matt. 25:10. A respectable
+lady who heard him sat near the door, a considerable
+distance from the pulpit, and observed two
+showy and trifling young men who appeared to turn<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span>
+the solemn appeals of the preacher into ridicule; she
+heard one of them say in a low tone to the other,
+"Well, what if the door be shut? another will open."
+In a very few minutes, to the great surprise of the
+lady, Mr. Whitefield said, "It is possible there may
+be some careless, trifling person here to-day, who may
+ward off the force of this impressive subject by lightly
+thinking, 'What matter if the door be shut? another
+will open.'" The two young men looked at each
+other as though they were paralyzed, as the preacher
+proceeded: "Yes, another door will open; and I will
+tell you what door it will be: it will be the door of
+the bottomless pit, the door of hell!&mdash;the door which
+conceals from the eyes of angels the horrors of damnation."</p>
+
+<p>After Mr. Whitefield's return to England, at the
+close of October, among many letters which followed
+him, detailing the results of his labors, was one from
+Mr. M'Culloch, the excellent minister already referred
+to:</p>
+
+<p>"As it is matter of joy and thankfulness to God,
+who sent you hither, and gave you so much countenance,
+and so remarkably crowned your labors with
+success here at Glasgow, so I doubt not but the following
+account of the many seals to your ministry in
+and about that city, will be very rejoicing to your
+heart, especially as the kingdom of our glorious Redeemer
+is so much advanced thereby, and as the everlasting
+happiness of souls is promoted. I am well
+informed by some ministers, and other judicious and
+experienced Christians, that there are to the amount
+of fifty persons already known, in and about Glasgow,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span>
+who appear to be savingly converted, through the
+blessing and power of God on your ten sermons.
+And there are, besides these, several others apparently
+under conviction, but not reckoned, as being
+still doubtful. Several Christians also, of considerable
+standing, were much strengthened, revived, and
+comforted by what they heard. They were made to
+rejoice in hope of the glory of God, having attained
+to the full assurance of faith. Among those lately
+converted, there are several young people who were
+before openly wicked and flagitious, or at best but
+very negligent as to spiritual things; and yet they
+are now in the way of salvation. Some young converts
+are yet under doubts and fears, but a considerable
+number of them have attained to peace and joy in
+believing. Several of those who were lately wrought
+on in a gracious way, seem to outstrip Christians of
+considerable standing, in spiritual-mindedness, and in
+many other good qualifications; particularly in their
+zeal for the conversion of others, in their love to ordinances,
+and in their freedom from bigotry and party
+zeal. Those converted by your ministry have not
+been discovered at once, but only from time to time.
+A good many of them have been discovered only of
+late. Their convictions were at first less pungent,
+and through the discouragements they met with in the
+families where they resided, as well as from their own
+feelings, they endeavored for a time to conceal their
+state. These circumstances afford ground for hoping,
+that there are yet others who may afterwards become
+known. Besides such as have been awakened through
+the power of God accompanying your sermons, there<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span>
+have been others who have been since awakened, and
+who have been discovered in consequence of the change
+observable in their conduct. These, dear brother, are
+a few hints concerning some of the most remarkable
+things, as to the blessing which accompanied your
+labors at Glasgow."</p>
+
+<p>At Edinburgh, when first visited by Whitefield,
+many persons of the highest rank constantly attended
+his ministry. Among them were the Marquis of Lothian,
+the Earl of Leven, Lord Ray, Lady Mary Hamilton,
+Lady Frances Gardiner, Lady Jane Nimms, and
+Lady Dirleton; and at some one of their houses he
+expounded almost every evening. Numbers of ministers
+and students crowded to hear him; and aged
+Christians told him they could set their seal to what
+he preached.</p>
+
+<p>In connection with this first visit to Edinburgh,
+several incidents have been related which show the
+power that accompanied his preaching, and the skill
+with which he could seize upon passing circumstances,
+and apply them to the great purpose which he
+always had in view. A gentleman, on returning from
+one of his sermons, was met on his way home by
+an eminent minister whom he usually heard, and who
+expressed great surprise that he should go to hear
+such a man. The gentleman replied, "Sir, when I
+hear you, I am planting trees all the time; but during
+the whole of Mr. Whitefield's sermon, I could not
+find time to plant one." A similar instance is related
+of a ship-builder, who usually could "build a ship from
+stem to stern during the sermon; but under Mr. Whitefield,
+could not lay a single plank."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Another narrative has been thus given. An unhappy
+man who had forfeited his life to the offended
+laws of his country, was executed in that neighborhood.
+Mr. Whitefield mingled with the crowd collected
+on the occasion, and was much impressed with
+the decorum and solemnity which were observable in
+the awful scene. His appearance, however, drew the
+eyes of all upon him, and produced a variety of opinions
+as to the motives which led him to join the multitude.</p>
+
+<p>The next day, being Sunday, he preached to a very
+large congregation in a field near the city; and in the
+course of his sermon, he adverted to the scenes of the
+preceding day. "I know," said he, "that many of
+you may find it difficult to reconcile my appearance
+yesterday with my clerical character. Many of you,
+I know, will say that my moments would have been
+better employed in praying for the unhappy man, than
+in attending him to the fatal tree; and that perhaps
+curiosity was the only cause that converted me into a
+spectator on that occasion; but those who ascribe
+that uncharitable motive to me, are under a mistake.
+I went as an observer of human nature, and to see the
+effect that such an occurrence would have on those
+who witnessed it. I watched the conduct of those
+who were present on that awful occasion, and I was
+highly pleased with their demeanor, which has given
+me a very favorable opinion of the Scottish nation.
+Your sympathy was visible on your countenances;
+particularly when the moment arrived that your unhappy
+fellow-creature was to close his eyes on this
+world for ever. Then you all, as if moved by one<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span>
+impulse, turned your heads aside, and wept. Those
+tears were precious, and will be held in remembrance.
+How different it was when the Saviour of mankind
+was extended on the cross! The Jews, instead of sympathizing
+in his sorrows, triumphed in them. They
+reviled him with bitter expressions, with words even
+more bitter than the gall and vinegar which they
+handed him to drink. Not one of all who witnessed
+his pains, turned his head aside, even in the last pang.
+Yes, my friends, there was <em>one</em>&mdash;that glorious luminary,"
+pointing to the sun, "veiled his brightness, and
+travelled on his course in tenfold night."</p>
+
+<p>On another occasion, near the same city, and probably
+in the field to which we have already referred,
+under the shade of a venerable tree, in a lovely meadow,
+a poor unhappy man, thinking to turn him into
+ridicule, placed himself on one of the overhanging
+boughs, immediately above the preacher's head, and
+with monkey-like dexterity mimicking his gestures,
+endeavored to raise a laugh in the audience. Guided
+by the looks of some of his hearers, Whitefield caught
+a glance of him, but without seeming to have noticed
+him, continued his discourse. With the skill of a wise
+orator, he reserved the incident for the proper place
+and time. While forcibly speaking on the power and
+sovereignty of divine grace, with increasing earnestness
+he spoke of the unlikely objects it had often
+chosen, and the unlooked for triumphs it had achieved.
+As he rose to the climax of his inspiring theme, and
+when in the full sweep of his eloquence, he suddenly
+paused, and turning round, and pointing slowly to the
+poor creature above him, he exclaimed, in a tone of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span>
+deep and thrilling pathos, "Even <em>he</em> may yet be the
+subject of that free and resistless grace." It was a
+shaft from the Almighty. Winged by the divine
+Spirit, it struck the scoffer to the heart, and realized
+in his conversion the glorious truth it contained.</p>
+
+<p>Yet another fact may be told connected with
+Whitefield and Edinburgh. When he was once there,
+a regiment of soldiers were stationed in the city, in
+which was a sergeant whose name was Forbes, a very
+abandoned man, who, everywhere he could do so, run
+in debt for liquor, with which he was almost at all
+times drunk. His wife washed for the regiment, and
+thus obtained a little money. She was a pious woman,
+but all her attempts to reclaim her husband were unsuccessful.
+During one of Mr. Whitefield's visits to
+the city, she offered her husband a sum of money, if
+he would for once go and hear the eloquent preacher.
+This was a strong inducement, and he engaged to go.
+The sermon was in a field, as no building could have
+contained the audience. The sergeant was rather
+early, and placed himself in the middle of the field,
+that he might file off when Mr. Whitefield ascended
+the pulpit; as he only wished to be able to say that
+he had seen him. The crowd, however, increased;
+and when the preacher appeared, they pressed forward,
+and the sergeant found it impossible to get
+away. The prayer produced some impression on his
+mind, but the sermon convinced him of his sinfulness
+and danger. He became a changed man, and showed
+the reality of his conversion by living for many years
+in a very penurious manner, till he had satisfied the
+claims of every one of his creditors.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>One fact more should be stated in connection with
+this visit. Mr. James Ogilvie was one of the ministers
+of Aberdeen. This city was not in that day, nor
+indeed in any part of the eighteenth century, warmly
+attached to a fully-exhibited gospel. At this time,
+however, both Mr. Ogilvie and his colleague, Mr. Bisset,
+who, as Sir Henry Moncrieff says, was the highest
+of the High church, were evangelical, though otherwise
+very opposite men. "Though colleagues of the
+same congregation," says Whitefield, "they are very
+different in their natural temper. The one is, what
+they call in Scotland, a sweet-blooded man, the other
+of a choleric disposition. Mr. Bisset is neither a seceder
+nor quite a true kirkman, having great fault to
+find with both. Soon after my arrival, dear Mr.
+Ogilvie took me to pay my respects to him. He was
+prepared for it, and pulled out a paper containing a
+great number of insignificant queries, which I had
+neither time nor inclination to answer." For several
+years Mr. Ogilvie had been corresponding with Mr.
+Whitefield to induce him to visit Aberdeen, hoping
+that some good might be done; and as he was himself
+to preach on Sabbath forenoon in presence of the
+magistrates, he gave Mr. Whitefield his place. The
+congregation was large, and apparently much interested.
+Mr. Bisset, in the afternoon, preached against
+Mr. Whitefield by name. Mr. Ogilvie, without either
+consulting his friend, or noticing the conduct of his
+colleague, stood up, after the sermon, and intimated to
+the congregation that Mr. Whitefield would again
+preach in about half an hour. The magistrates remained
+in the session-house, and the people hastened<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span>
+back, expecting to bear a reply. Mr. Whitefield,
+waiving as much as possible all controversial matter,
+preached Christ. The audience was silent, solemn,
+and deeply impressed. Next day, the magistrates
+apologized for their minister; and as a mark of their
+own respect, presented to Mr. Whitefield the freedom
+of their city. The effect of this visit to Aberdeen
+was great and beneficial.</p>
+
+<p>In 1742, Mr. Whitefield again visited Scotland.
+In the mean time he had heard that his dear friends
+the Erskines had become greatly offended, on account
+of what they considered his lax views of church government.
+But notwithstanding this difference with
+the seceders, he was received by great numbers, among
+whom were some persons of distinction, with cordiality
+and joy, and had the satisfaction of hearing
+more and more of the happy fruits of his ministry.
+At Edinburgh he again preached twice a day, as
+before, in the Hospital-park, where a number of seats
+and shades, in the form of an amphitheatre, were
+erected for the accommodation of his hearers. On
+the day of his arrival at Cambuslang, he preached
+three times to an immense body of people, although
+he had preached that same morning at Glasgow.
+The last service continued till eleven o'clock; and so
+much were the people interested, that Mr. M'Culloch,
+after preaching till past one in the morning, could
+scarcely persuade them to depart. Mr. Whitefield
+himself thus describes the scene: "Persons from all
+parts flocked to see, and many, from many parts, went
+home convinced and converted to God. A brae, or
+hill, near the manse at Cambuslang, seemed to be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span>
+formed by Providence for containing a large congregation.
+People sat unwearied till two in the morning,
+to hear sermons, disregarding the weather. You
+could scarcely walk a yard, but you must tread upon
+some either rejoicing in God for mercies received, or
+crying out for more. Thousands and thousands have
+I seen, before it was possible to catch it by sympathy,
+melted down under the word and power of God. At
+the celebration of the holy communion, their joy was
+so great, that, at the desire of many, both ministers
+and people, in imitation of Hezekiah's passover, they
+had, a month or two afterwards, a second, which was
+a general rendezvous of the people of God. The communion
+was in the field; three tents, at proper distances,
+all surrounded with a multitude of hearers;
+above twenty ministers, among whom was good old
+Mr. Bonner, attending to preach and assist, all enlivening
+and enlivened by one another."</p>
+
+<p>In addition to his labors at Glasgow and Cambuslang,
+it is surprising to observe the number of places
+in the west of Scotland which Whitefield visited in
+the course of a few weeks; preaching wherever he
+went, with his usual frequency, energy, and success.
+A gentleman of piety and intelligence thus refers to
+one of them several years afterwards: "When Mr.
+Whitefield was preaching at Kilmarnock, on the
+twenty-third of August, from the words, 'And of his
+fulness have all we received, and grace for grace,' I
+thought I never heard such a sermon; and from the
+era above mentioned, I have always looked upon him
+as my spiritual father, and frequently heard him afterwards
+in Edinburgh and Glasgow with much satisfaction.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span>
+When Cape Breton was taken, I happened to
+be at Edinburgh, and being invited to breakfast with
+Mr. Whitefield, I never, in all my life, enjoyed such
+another breakfast. He gave the company a fine and
+lively descant upon that part of the world, made us all
+join in a hymn of praise and thanksgiving, and concluded
+with a most devout and fervent prayer." About
+the end of October, Whitefield returned to London.</p>
+
+<p>Probably few are aware that Mr. Whitefield visited
+Scotland no less than <em>fourteen</em> times. These visits
+extended over a period of twenty-seven years, beginning
+in 1741, and ending in 1768. In none of his
+visits after 1742 were there the same extensive awakenings
+as in his first two visits, yet his coming was
+always refreshing to serious persons, infusing new
+life, and increasing their numbers. Young people,
+too, were much benefited by his ministry, and especially
+young students, who afterwards became zealous
+and evangelical preachers. His morning discourses,
+which were generally intended for sincere but disconsolate
+souls, were peculiarly fitted to direct and encourage
+such in the Christian life; and his addresses
+in the evening to the promiscuous multitudes who then
+attended him, were powerful and alarming. There
+was great solemnity in his evening congregations in
+the Orphan-house park at Edinburgh and the High
+Church-yard at Glasgow, especially towards the conclusion
+of his sermons&mdash;which were usually long,
+though they seemed short to his hearers&mdash;when the
+whole multitude stood fixed, and like one man, hung
+upon his lips with silent attention, and many were
+under deep religious impressions.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>His conversation was no less useful and delightful
+than his sermons. Many in Glasgow, Edinburgh, and
+other parts of the land, bore witness of this fact. In
+Glasgow especially, when in company with his excellent
+friends M'Laurin, Scott, and others, one might
+challenge the professed sons of pleasure, with all their
+wit, humor, and gayety, to furnish entertainments so
+gratifying; nor was any part of it more agreeable
+than it was useful and edifying.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Whitefield's friends in Scotland, among whom
+were many of all ranks, from the highest to the lowest,
+were constant and steady in their great regard
+for him, and his opposers from year to year became
+less violent. Indeed, his whole behavior was so transparent
+to the eyes of the world, and his character,
+after it had stood many attacks from all quarters,
+became so thoroughly established, that some of his
+opposers in Scotland seemed to acquire esteem for
+him; at least, they ceased to speak evil of him.</p>
+
+<p>In closing our sketch of Whitefield in Scotland,
+we select a few paragraphs from his letters, which are
+the more interesting as being among the very last
+words he wrote in that country. June 15, 1768, he
+says, "You would be delighted to see our Orphan-house
+park assemblies, as large, attentive, and affectionate
+as ever. Twenty-seven-year-old friends and
+spiritual children remember the days of old; they
+are seeking after their first love, and there seems to
+be a stirring among the dry bones." Writing on the
+second of July, he says, "Could I preach ten times a
+day, thousands and thousands would attend. I have
+been confined for a few days; but on Monday or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span>
+Tuesday next, hope to mount my throne again. O,
+to die there! too great, too great an honor to be expected."
+Again, on the ninth of July, "Every thing
+goes on better and better here; but I am so worn
+down by preaching abroad and talking at home almost
+all the day long, that I have determined, God willing,
+to set off for London next Tuesday."</p>
+
+<p>The respect with which Whitefield was treated in
+Scotland, not only by professing Christians, but in
+general society, was shown by the fact that he was
+presented with the freedom of some of the principal
+cities and towns which he visited. This privilege
+was given him in Stirling, Glasgow, Paisley, and Aberdeen,
+in 1741, and at Irvine and Edinburgh some
+years afterwards.</p>
+
+<p>It is difficult, in such a world as this, so to live as
+that "our good" shall not "be evil spoken of." Mr.
+Whitefield has sometimes been charged with motives
+of a mercenary character, but his whole life showed
+the fallacy of such a charge. Dr. Gillies, his original
+biographer, received from unquestionable testimony
+the knowledge of a fact which ought not to be forgotten.
+During his stay in Scotland, in the year 1759,
+a young lady, Miss Hunter, who possessed a considerable
+fortune, made a full offer to him of her estate in
+money and lands, worth several thousand pounds.
+He promptly refused the offer; and upon his declining
+it for himself, she offered it to him for the benefit
+of his orphan-house. This also he absolutely refused.</p>
+
+<p>Never could Whitefield be accused of moral cowardice.
+When the old Scotch Marquis of Lothian
+professed that his heart was impressed with the importance<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span>
+of religion, but wished to be a Christian in
+the dark, Whitefield said to him, "As for praying in
+your family, I entreat you not to neglect it; you are
+bound to do it. Apply to Christ to overcome your
+present fears; they are the effects of pride or infidelity,
+or both."</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<p>On his return from Scotland to London in 1741,
+Whitefield passed through Wales, where at Abergavenny
+he was married to a Mrs. James, a widow,
+some ten years older than himself. Of this marriage,
+as also of the death of his only child, we have already
+spoken. After preaching at Bristol twice a day for
+several days in succession, he returned to London in
+the beginning of December, where he found letters
+from Georgia, which, on account of the temporal circumstances
+of his orphan family, somewhat discouraged
+him. But to trace his progress, and to report
+all his labors, would be to extend our volume beyond
+its due limits.</p>
+
+<p>He was soon again in the west of England, and
+writing from Gloucester, his native place, December
+23, 1741, he says, "Last Thursday evening the Lord
+brought me hither. I preached immediately to our
+friends in a large barn, and had my Master's presence.
+Both the power and the congregation increased. On
+Sunday, Providence opened a door for my preaching
+in St. John's, one of the parish churches. Great numbers
+came. On Sunday afternoon, after I had preached
+twice at Gloucester, I preached at the hill, six
+miles off, and again at night at Stroud. The people
+seemed to be more hungry than ever, and the Lord to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span>
+be more among them. Yesterday morning I preached
+at Painswick, in the parish church, here in the afternoon,
+and again at night in the barn. God gives me
+unspeakable comfort and uninterrupted joy. Here
+seems to be a new awakening, and a revival of the
+work of God. I find several country people were
+awakened when I preached at Tewkesbury, and have
+heard of three or four that have died in the Lord.
+We shall never know what good field-preaching has
+done till we come to judgment. Many who were
+prejudiced against me begin to be of another mind;
+and God shows me more and more that 'when a man's
+ways please the Lord, he will make even his enemies
+to be at peace with him.'"</p>
+
+<p>In the following February he was still further
+encouraged by receiving letters from America, informing
+him of the remarkable success of the gospel there,
+and that God had stirred up some wealthy friends to
+assist his orphans in their extremity. He writes,
+"The everlasting God reward all their benefactors.
+I find there has been a fresh awakening among them.
+I am informed that twelve negroes belonging to a
+planter lately converted at the orphan-house, are savingly
+brought home to Jesus Christ." Nor were these
+things all which afforded him joy. Writing to a
+friend, April 6, he says, "Our Saviour is doing great
+things in London daily. I rejoice to hear that you
+are helped in your work. Let this encourage you;
+go on, go on; the more we do, the more we may do
+for Jesus. I sleep and eat but little, and am constantly
+employed from morning till midnight, and yet
+my strength is daily renewed. Oh, free grace! it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span>
+fires my soul, and makes me long to do something for
+Jesus. It is true, indeed, I want to go home; but
+here are so many souls ready to perish for lack of
+knowledge, that I am willing to tarry below as long
+as my Master has work for me." It was at this period
+that he first ventured to preach in the fair in
+Moorfields, to which we have already referred. In
+this year he made also his second journey to Scotland,
+the particulars of which have been already given.</p>
+
+<p>On his arrival from Scotland in London, October,
+1742, Whitefield found a new awakening at the Tabernacle,
+which in the mean time had been enlarged.
+He says, "I am employed, and, glory to rich grace, I
+am carried through the duties of each day with cheerfulness
+and almost uninterrupted tranquillity. Our
+society is large, but in good order. My Master gives
+us much of his gracious presence, both in our public
+and private ministrations."</p>
+
+<p>In March, 1743, he went again into Gloucestershire,
+where the people appeared to be more eager to attend
+on his ministry than ever before. "Preaching," says
+he, "in Gloucestershire, is now like preaching at the
+Tabernacle in London." And in a letter, April 7, he
+says, "I preached, and took leave of the Gloucester
+people with mutual and great concern, on Sunday
+evening last. It was past one in the morning before
+I could lay my weary body down, At five I rose
+again, sick for want of rest; but I was enabled to
+get on horseback and ride to Mr. T&mdash;&mdash;'s, where I
+preached to a large congregation, who came there at
+seven in the morning. At ten, I read prayers and
+preached, and afterwards administered the sacrament<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span>
+in Stonehouse church. Then I rode to Stroud, and
+preached to about twelve thousand in Mr. G&mdash;&mdash;'s
+field; and about six in the evening, to a like number
+on Hampton common." Next morning he preached
+near Dursley to some thousands; at about seven
+o'clock he reached Bristol, and preached to a full
+congregation at Smith's hall; and on the following
+morning, after preaching, set out for Waterford, in
+South Wales, where he opened the association which
+he and his brethren had agreed upon, and was several
+days with them, settling the affairs of the societies.
+The work in Wales, during his absence, had very
+greatly extended itself, not a few of the clergy having
+become converted, as well as their people. He
+tells us, "The power of God at the sacrament, under
+the ministry of Mr. Rowland, was enough to make a
+person's heart burn within him. At seven in the morning
+have I seen perhaps ten thousand from different
+parts, in the midst of a sermon, crying, <i lang="cy" xml:lang="cy">Gugunniaut</i>&mdash;<i lang="cy" xml:lang="cy">bendyth</i>&mdash;[glory&mdash;blessed]&mdash;ready
+to leap for joy."
+He continued in Wales some weeks, preaching with
+great apparent success, and in the latter part of April
+returned to Gloucester, after having, in about three
+weeks, travelled about four hundred miles, spent three
+days in attending associations, and preached about
+forty times. Among the interesting events of this
+journey may be reckoned the fact, that when he was
+at Caermarthen the quarterly sessions were held.
+When he was about to preach, the magistrates sent
+him word, that if he would stay till the court rose,
+they would attend on the service. He acceded to
+their proposal, and they were present, with many<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span>
+thousands more, including several persons of high
+rank.</p>
+
+<p>After a few weeks spent in London, preaching to
+vast congregations in Moorfields, and exulting in his
+accustomed success, collecting too for his beloved orphans,
+so as to be able to pay all his debts, and to make
+a remittance to Georgia, we again find him at Bristol,
+and in a few days afterwards at Exeter. Among
+the clergymen who met him there was Mr. Cennick.
+As this gentleman was preaching during this visit in
+the High-street of the city, he was eloquently discoursing
+on the doctrine of the atonement by the
+blood of Christ, when a profane butcher in the crowd
+exclaimed, "If you love blood, you shall presently
+have enough of it," and ran to obtain some to throw
+on him. A Mr. Saunders, who was employed in conveying
+persons from one place to another, though an
+entire stranger to religion, from a sense of justice,
+determined to defend the preacher; and when the
+butcher came with a pail nearly filled with blood, he
+quietly took it from him, and poured it over the
+man's own head. This Mr. Saunders afterwards became
+an eminent Christian. He was, till extreme old
+age, the body-coachman of George III., with whom he
+frequently held Christian conversation, and died happily
+in 1799, at the age of eighty-nine.</p>
+
+<p>During this visit to Bristol, Whitefield's ministry
+was owned of God in the conversion of Thomas Olivers,
+a young profligate Welshman. It is said, he
+had so studied profanity and cursing, that he would
+exemplify the richness of the Welsh language by compounding
+twenty or thirty words into one long and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span>
+horrid blasphemy. He had often sang profane songs
+about Whitefield, and was now induced by curiosity
+to go to hear him. Being too late on the first occasion,
+he went on the following evening nearly three
+hours before the time. The text was, "Is not this a
+brand plucked out of the fire?" Zech. 3:2. His
+heart became broken with a sense of his sins, and he
+was soon enabled to trust in the mercy of Christ. He
+became a zealous and successful minister of Christ
+among the followers of Mr. Wesley, and was the author
+of the well-known hymn,</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+"The God of Abram praise," etc.
+</p>
+
+<p>In August, Whitefield returned to London, but not
+to make a long stay there. "I thank you," he writes
+to a correspondent, "for your kind caution to spare
+myself; but evangelizing is certainly my province.
+Everywhere effectual doors are opened. So far from
+thinking of settling in London, I am more and more
+convinced that I should go from place to place." Accordingly,
+during the three last months of 1743, we
+find him in a large number of places in the central
+and western parts of England. At Birmingham, he
+writes, "I have preached five times this day, and weak
+as I am, through Christ strengthening me, I could
+preach five times more." At Kidderminster he met
+with a distinguished Christian merchant, a Mr. Williams,
+whose published "Memoirs" have been eminently
+useful. Whitefield writes, "I was kindly received by
+Mr. Williams. Many friends were at his house. I
+was greatly refreshed to find what a sweet savor of
+good Baxter's doctrine, works, and discipline remains<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span>
+to this day." Nor did he, amidst all his labors, feel
+his health much impaired. He observes, indeed, that
+he had taken a cold, but adds, "The Lord warms my
+heart."</p>
+
+<p>In the beginning of March, 1744, he was compelled
+to attend the assizes at Gloucester. During the preceding
+summer, the enemies of the Methodists had
+been very violent, especially at Hampton, in that
+county. Forbearance in the case had ceased to be a
+virtue, and Mr. Whitefield was strongly urged to appeal
+to law, which in England in such cases is severe.
+At the preceding sessions the rioters had been convicted,
+but appealed to the assizes, a higher court.
+After a full hearing, a verdict was given in favor of
+Whitefield and his friends, and all the prisoners were
+found guilty. This exposed each to a fine of forty
+pounds, or six months' imprisonment; the rioters were
+greatly alarmed, public feeling on the subject was
+corrected, and the Methodists readily extended forgiveness
+to the unhappy offenders.</p>
+
+<p>Whitefield was now invited by Mr. Smith, an
+American merchant then in England, in the name of
+thousands, to revisit this country, and took passage
+with that gentleman in a vessel sailing from Portsmouth.
+But the captain refused to take him, "for fear," as he
+said, "he would spoil the sailors." On this account
+Mr. Whitefield was compelled to go to Plymouth, another
+seaport, to accomplish his purpose. On his way,
+he preached at Exeter and other places, with delightful
+results. "But," he says, "the chief scene was at
+Plymouth and the Dock, [now called Devonport,]
+where I expected least success."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>While he was at Plymouth, four well-dressed men
+came to the house of one of his particular friends, in
+a kind manner inquiring after him, and desiring to
+know where he lodged. Soon after, Mr. Whitefield
+received a letter informing him that the writer was a
+nephew of Mr. S&mdash;&mdash;, an attorney in New York;
+that he had the pleasure of supping with Mr. Whitefield
+at his uncle's house, and requested his company
+to sup with him and a few friends at a tavern. Mr.
+Whitefield replied to him that he was not accustomed
+to sup abroad at such houses, but he should be glad
+of the gentleman's company to eat a morsel with him
+at his own lodging. The gentleman accordingly came
+and supped, but was observed frequently to look
+around him, and to be very absent. At length he took
+his leave, and returned to his companions in the tavern,
+and on being asked by them what he had done, he answered,
+that he had been treated with so much civility
+and kindness that he had not the heart to touch him.
+One of the company, a lieutenant of a man-of-war, laid
+a wager of ten guineas that he would do his business
+for him. His companions, however, had the precaution
+to take away his sword.</p>
+
+<p>It was now about midnight, and Mr. Whitefield
+having that day preached to a large congregation,
+and visited the French prisoners, had retired to rest,
+when he was awoke and told that a well-dressed gentleman
+earnestly wished to speak with him. Supposing
+that it was some person under conviction of sin,
+many such having previously called upon him, he desired
+him to be brought to his room. The gentleman
+came, sat down by his bedside, congratulated him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span>
+upon the success of his ministry, and expressed considerable
+regret that he had been prevented from
+hearing him. Soon after, however, he began to utter
+the most abusive language, and in a cruel and cowardly
+manner beat him in his bed. The landlady
+and her daughter, hearing the noise, rushed into the
+room and laid hold of the assailant; but disengaging
+himself from them, he renewed his attack on the unoffending
+preacher, who, supposing that he was about
+to be shot or stabbed, underwent all the feelings of a
+sudden and violent death. Soon after, a second person
+came into the house, and called from the bottom
+of the stairs, "Take courage, I am ready to help you."
+But by the repeated cries of murder the neighborhood
+had become so alarmed, that the villains were glad
+to make their escape. "The next morning," says Mr.
+Whitefield, "I was to expound at a private house,
+and then to set out for Biddeford. Some urged me to
+stay and prosecute, but being better employed, I went
+on my intended journey, was greatly blessed in preaching
+the everlasting gospel; and, upon my return, was
+well paid for what I had suffered, curiosity having
+led perhaps two thousand more than ordinary to see
+and hear a man that had like to have been murdered
+in his bed. And I trust, in the five weeks that I waited
+for the convoy, hundreds were awakened and turned
+unto the Lord."</p>
+
+<p>As Whitefield was one day preaching in Plymouth,
+a Mr. Henry Tanner, who was at work as a ship-builder
+at a distance, heard his voice, and resolved,
+with five or six of his companions, to go and drive
+him from the place where he stood; and for this purpose<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span>
+they filled their pockets with stones. When,
+however, Mr. Tanner drew near, and heard Mr.
+Whitefield earnestly inviting sinners to Christ, he
+was filled with astonishment, his resolution failed
+him, and he went home with his mind deeply impressed.
+On the following evening, he again attended,
+and heard Mr. Whitefield on the sin of those who
+crucified the Redeemer. After he had forcibly illustrated
+their guilt, he appeared to look intently on Mr.
+Tanner, as he exclaimed, with great energy, "Thou
+art the man!" These words powerfully impressed
+Mr. Tanner; he felt his transgressions of the divine
+law to be awfully great, and in the agony of his soul
+he cried, "God be merciful to me a sinner!" The
+preacher then proceeded to proclaim the free and
+abundant grace of the Lord Jesus, which he commanded
+to be preached among the very people who
+had murdered him; a gleam of hope entered the heart
+of the penitent, and he surrendered himself to Christ.
+Mr. Tanner afterwards entered the ministry, and labored
+with great success, for many years, at Exeter.</p>
+
+<p>We are not quite certain whether it was on this
+or a subsequent visit to Plymouth, that Whitefield
+had preached on the Sabbath for the Rev. Mr. Kinsman,
+and after breakfast on Monday morning, said to
+him, "Come, let us visit some of your poor people.
+It is not enough that we labor in the pulpit; we must
+endeavor to be useful out of it." On entering the
+dwellings of the afflicted poor, he administered to
+their temporal as well as their spiritual wants. Mr.
+Kinsman, knowing the low state of his finances, was
+surprised at his liberality, and suggested that he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span>
+thought he had been too bountiful. Mr. Whitefield,
+with some degree of smartness, replied, "It is not
+enough, young man, to pray, and put on a serious
+face; true religion, and undefiled, is this, to visit the
+widow and the fatherless in their affliction, and to
+supply their wants. My stock, it is true, is nearly
+exhausted; but God, whom I serve, and whose saints
+we have assisted, will, I doubt not, soon give me a
+supply." His expectation was not disappointed. A
+stranger called on him the same evening, who said,
+"With great pleasure I have heard you preach; you
+are on a journey, as well as myself, and travelling is
+expensive. Do me the honor to accept of this;"
+handing him five guineas, or twenty-five dollars. Returning
+to the family, Mr. Whitefield, very pleasantly
+smiling, showed them the money, saying, "There,
+young man, God has very speedily repaid what I lent
+him this morning. Let this in future teach you not to
+withhold what it is in the power of your hand to give.
+The gentleman to whom I was called is a perfect stranger
+to me; his only business was to give me the sum
+you see." It was a singular fact, that this gentleman,
+though rich, was notorious for a penurious disposition.</p>
+
+<p>During his stay in Plymouth, Whitefield's usefulness
+daily increased. The ferry-men, who obtained
+their living by carrying persons between Plymouth
+and Dock, refused to take money from his hearers,
+saying, "God forbid that we should sell his word!"
+The evangelist exclaimed, "Oh, the thousands that
+flock to the preaching of Christ's gospel!" In the
+midst of these scenes, the convoy arrived, and in delicate
+health he embarked for America.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER IX.</h2>
+
+<h3>WHITEFIELD'S SECOND VISIT TO NEW ENGLAND.<br />
+
+1744, 1745.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Mr. Whitefield commenced his third voyage to
+America in August, 1744. His health while crossing
+the Atlantic became worse, rather than better, the
+voyage lasting eleven weeks. He had set out in
+company with about one hundred and fifty ships,
+attended by several men-of-war as convoys, which,
+however, they lost by storms separating them on the
+way. It was more than six weeks, owing generally
+to want of wind, before they reached any of the western
+islands. When the wind again sprung up, one of
+the vessels, which missed stays, drove upon the ship
+in which Whitefield was, striking her mainsail into
+the bowsprit. The alarm was very great, but no
+lives were lost. He had been singing a hymn on
+deck when the concussion took place; this fact, together
+with that of the concussion itself, was communicated
+to the convoy, and led to the use of much violent
+and wicked language. But the good man was not
+intimidated. He says, "I called my friends together,
+and broke out into these words in prayer: 'God of
+the sea, and God of the dry land, this is a night of
+rebuke and blasphemy. Show thyself, O God, and
+take us under thine own immediate protection. Be
+thou our convoy, and make a difference between those
+who fear thee, and those that fear thee not.'" A difference
+was soon made. Next day a heavy storm<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span>
+arose, which "battered and sent away our convoy, so
+that we saw him no more all the voyage." Whitefield
+at first did not at all regret the loss, but when
+two strange sails appeared in the distance, and preparation
+was made for action by mounting guns, slinging
+hammocks on the sides of the ships, and encircling the
+masts with chains, he being, as he says, "naturally a
+coward," found it formidable to have no convoy. The
+vessels, however, proved to be only a part of their
+own fleet. This was a pleasant discovery to them,
+especially to Whitefield. "The captain, on clearing
+the cabin, said, 'After all, this is the best fighting.'
+You may be sure I concurred, praying that all our
+conflicts with spiritual enemies might at last terminate
+in a thorough cleansing and an eternal purification
+of the defiled <em>cabin</em> of our hearts."</p>
+
+<p>The tediousness of this voyage, in the feeble state
+of his health, seems to have tried Whitefield's patience;
+so that when he arrived in sight of the port
+of York, in the then territory of Maine, in order to
+land a few hours sooner he went on board a fishing
+smack then in the bay; but darkness coming on, she
+missed her course, and was tossed about all night.
+Unfortunately, too, she had no provisions, and he was
+so hungry that he says he "could have gnawed the
+very boards." Besides he was suffering from "nervous
+colic." He was greatly discouraged, until a
+man who was lying at his elbow in the cabin began
+to talk of "one Mr. Whitefield, for whose arrival the
+'New Lights' in New England" were watching and
+praying. "This," he says, "made me take courage.
+I continued undiscovered; and in a few hours, in answer,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span>
+I trust, to <em>new-light</em> prayers, we arrived safe."
+This was on October 19, 1744. He was quite ill
+when he landed; but was received by Dr. Sherburne,
+an eminent physician at York, who was once a Deist,
+but had been converted under Whitefield's ministry.
+This gentleman took him to his own house, and after
+a few days he began to recover.</p>
+
+<p>The Rev. Mr. Moody, of York, the aged and excellent,
+but eccentric minister of whom we have already
+spoken, took the earliest suitable opportunity of calling
+on the great evangelist, and said very characteristically,
+"Sir, you are, first, welcome to America;
+secondly, to New England; thirdly, to all faithful
+ministers in New England; fourthly, to all the good
+people of New England; fifthly, to all the good people
+of York; and sixthly and lastly, to me, dear sir,
+less than the least of all." Prince's "Christian History"
+had announced his arrival, and that his intention
+was "to pass on to Georgia; and as he goes on,
+to meddle with no controversies, but only to preach
+up the parts of vital piety and the pure truths of the
+gospel, to all who are willing to hear them."</p>
+
+<p>After giving Whitefield this hearty welcome,
+Moody urged him for a sermon. The preacher hesitated,
+on account of his illness, but "good old Mr.
+Moody" did not give him the benefit of his own favorite
+maxim, "When you know not what to do, you
+must <em>not</em> do you know not what." Whitefield preached,
+and immediately went to Portsmouth, where he
+preached the same evening, November 6, for Mr.
+Fitch, and was to have preached again the next morning,
+but was too ill, and deferred it till the afternoon.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span>
+In the mean time, as he wrote, "My pains returned;
+but what gave me most concern was, that notice had
+been given of my being engaged to preach. I felt a
+divine life, distinct from my animal life, which made
+me, as it were, laugh at my pains, though every one
+thought I was taken with death. My dear York
+physician was then about to administer a medicine.
+I on a sudden cried out, 'Doctor, my pains are suspended;
+by the help of God, I will go and preach,
+and then come home and die.' With some difficulty
+I reached the pulpit. All looked quite surprised, as
+though they saw one risen from the dead. I indeed
+was as pale as death, and told them they must look
+upon me as a dying man, come to bear my dying testimony
+to the truths I had formerly preached to them.
+All seemed melted, and were drowned in tears. The
+cry after me, when I left the pulpit, was like the cry
+of sincere mourners when attending the funeral of a
+dear departed friend. Upon my coming home, I was
+laid upon a bed on the ground, near the fire, and I
+heard them say, 'He is gone.' But God was pleased
+to order it otherwise. I gradually recovered."</p>
+
+<p>In another account he himself says, "In my own
+apprehension, and in all appearance to others, I was
+a dying man. I preached&mdash;the people heard me&mdash;as
+such. The invisible realities of another world lay
+open to my view. Expecting to launch into eternity,
+and to be with my Master before the morning, I spoke
+with peculiar energy. Such effects followed the word,
+I thought it was worth dying for a thousand times.
+Though wonderfully comforted within at my return
+home, I thought I was dying indeed.... Soon after,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span>
+a poor negro woman would see me. She came, sat
+down upon the ground, and looked earnestly in my
+face, and then said, 'Massa, you just go to heaven's
+gate, but Jesus Christ said, Get you down, get you
+down; you must not come here yet; but go first, and
+call some more poor negroes.' I prayed to the Lord,
+that if I was to live, this might be the event."</p>
+
+<p>It was nearly three weeks before he was sufficiently
+recovered to proceed to Boston. The day before he
+left Portsmouth Mr. Shurtleff wrote, "The prejudices
+of most that set themselves against him before his
+coming, seem to be in a great measure abated, and in
+some, to be wholly removed; and there is no open
+opposition made to him. I have frequent opportunities
+of being with him, and there always appears in
+him such a concern for the advancement of the Redeemer's
+kingdom and the good of souls, such a care
+to employ his whole time to these purposes, such
+sweetness of disposition, and so much of the temper
+of his great Lord and Master, that every time I see
+him, I find my heart further drawn out towards him."</p>
+
+<p>"Prince's Christian History," of December 15, says,
+"The Rev. Mr. Whitefield was so far revived as to be
+able to take coach with his consort, and set out from
+Portsmouth to Boston, Nov. 24; whither he came in
+a very feeble state, the Monday evening after; since
+which he has been able to preach in several of our
+largest houses of public worship, particularly the Rev.
+Dr. Colman's, Dr. Sewall's, Mr. Webb's, and Mr.
+Gee's, to crowded assemblies of people, and to great
+and growing acceptance. At Dr. Colman's desire,
+and with the consent of the church, on the Lord's day<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span>
+after his arrival, he administered to them the holy
+communion. And last Lord's day he preached for the
+venerable Mr. Cheever, of Chelsea, and administered
+the holy supper there. The next day he preached for
+the Rev. Mr. Emerson, of Malden. Yesterday he set
+out to preach for some towns to the northward; proposes
+to return hither the next Wednesday evening,
+and after a few days to comply with the earnest
+invitations of several ministers to go and preach to
+their congregations, in the southern parts of the province.</p>
+
+<p>"He comes with the same extraordinary spirit of
+meekness, sweetness, and universal benevolence as
+before. In opposition to the spirit of separation and
+bigotry, he is still for holding communion with all
+Protestant churches. In opposition to enthusiasm,
+he preaches a close adherence to the Scriptures, the
+necessity of trying all impressions by them, and of
+rejecting whatever is not agreeable to them, as delusions.
+In opposition to Antinomianism, he preaches
+up all kinds of relative and religious duties, though
+to be performed in the strength of Christ; and, in
+short, the doctrines of the church of England, and the
+first fathers of this country. As before, he first
+applies himself to the understandings of his hearers,
+and then to the affections; and the more he preaches,
+the more he convinces people of their mistakes about
+him, and increases their satisfaction."</p>
+
+<p>The administration of the Lord's supper by a priest
+of the church of England in the Congregational church
+in Brattle-street, Boston, gave great offence. Some
+said, the consent of the church was neither given nor<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span>
+asked, and Dr. Colman was blamed for introducing
+Whitefield by his own authority; to which Dr. Colman
+replied, that, as it was customary for pastors to
+invite the assistance of other ministers on such occasions,
+he thought it unnecessary to call for a vote of
+the church; that he plainly intimated his intention in
+his prayer after sermon, and then, on coming to the
+table, said, "The Rev. Mr. Whitefield being providentially
+with us, I have asked him to administer the
+ordinance;" and that by the countenances of the people
+it seemed to be universally agreeable to them,
+which he supposed to be all the consent which the
+case required.</p>
+
+<p>Since Mr. Whitefield's former visit to New England,
+a considerable change had taken place in not a
+few of the ministers and churches. In 1740, he had
+inveighed strongly against many of the ministers, some
+of them even by name, as, in his opinion, unconverted;
+and after his departure, some preachers, who professed
+themselves to be his followers, had created great
+confusion by carrying these charges much farther than
+he would have approved. His second visit was therefore
+anticipated by many with anxiety, lest it might
+cause a new outbreak of enthusiasm and disorder.
+The General Association of Connecticut, in June,
+1745, advised that he be not invited to preach in any
+of the churches. When he visited New Haven, he
+found himself shut out of the pulpit of the First church
+by its minister Mr. Noyes. A great crowd, however,
+assembled to hear him, from the neighboring towns,
+as well as from New Haven, and he preached from a
+platform erected in the street, before Mr. Pierpont's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span>
+house on the Green, to a congregation which neither
+of the meeting-houses could have contained.</p>
+
+<p>From Professor Kingsley's "Sketch of the History
+of Yale College," we learn that "President Clap
+issued a declaration, signed by himself and three
+tutors, that is, Samuel Whittlesey, afterwards minister
+of the First church in New Haven, Thomas Darling,
+for many years chief justice of the Court of Common
+Pleas for the county of New Haven, and John
+Whiting, in which some of the proceedings of Mr.
+Whitefield were condemned. In consequence of the
+religious fervor which had been excited, a much greater
+diversity of theological opinions prevailed in Connecticut
+than at any previous period. Violent controversies
+arose, churches were divided, and the government,
+by interfering to prevent these evils, increased
+rather than checked them. The college became an
+object of jealousy; and the declaration of the rector
+and tutors, respecting the preaching of Whitefield,
+offended some, without effectually conciliating others."</p>
+
+<p>The opposition to Mr. Whitefield of which we
+have spoken, was by no means all that he met with.
+Even before the Association in Connecticut had taken
+action, several similar bodies in Massachusetts had
+acted in a similar manner. The corporation of Harvard
+college published a testimony against him, while
+that of Yale represented that he intended to root out
+all the standing ministers in our land, and to introduce
+foreigners in their stead. The good man, notwithstanding
+all this opposition, and much more, went
+on laboring for the salvation of souls, and God still
+honored him with success.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>While the impartiality to which we hold ourselves
+bound demanded the statement just made, and while
+we are compelled to admit the existence of evils
+attendant on these revivals, we also record some of
+the facts connected with a convention of ministers,
+who assembled in Boston in pursuance of a previous
+notice in the Boston Gazette of May 30, 1743. We
+copy the original invitation.</p>
+
+<p>"It is desired and proposed by a number of ministers,
+both in town and country, that such of their
+brethren as are persuaded that there has been of late
+a happy revival of religion through an extraordinary
+divine influence, in many parts of this land, and are
+concerned for the honor and progress of this remarkable
+work of God, may have an interview at Boston,
+the day after the approaching commencement, to consider
+whether they are not called to give an open,
+conjunct testimony to an event so surprising and gracious;
+as well as against those errors in doctrine, and
+disorders in practice, which through the permitted
+agency of Satan have attended it, and in any measure
+blemished its glory and hindered its advancement;
+and also to consult as to the most likely method to be
+taken to guard people against such delusions and mistakes
+as in such a season they are in danger of falling
+into, and that this blessed work may continue and
+flourish among us." Those who could not be present
+were invited to send written attestations.</p>
+
+<p>In accordance with this proposal, the convention
+met in Boston on Thursday, July 7. The Rev. Dr.
+Sewall of Boston officiated as Moderator, and the Rev.
+Messrs. Prince of Boston, and Hobby of Reading, as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span>
+Scribes. Ninety persons thus assembled, and letters
+were read from twenty-eight who were absent. A
+committee was appointed, consisting of the Rev. Dr.
+Sewall, the Rev. Messrs. Wigglesworth, Prince, Adams,
+Cooper, Nathanael Rogers, Leonard, and Hobby,
+to prepare a report. On the next morning this committee
+presented a document, which, after full discussion,
+was signed by all present; and the meeting was
+dissolved.</p>
+
+<p>Our limits will not allow us to give the whole of
+the report to which we have referred, but a few sentences
+will show its general character:</p>
+
+<p>"We, whose names are undersigned, think it our
+indispensable duty&mdash;without judging or censuring such
+of our brethren as cannot at present see things in the
+same light with us&mdash;in this open and conjunct manner
+to declare, to the glory of sovereign grace, our full
+persuasion, either from what we have seen ourselves,
+or received upon credible testimony, that there has
+been a happy and remarkable revival of religion in
+many parts of this land, through an uncommon divine
+influence, after a long time of decay and deadness, and a
+sensible and very awful withdrawal of the Holy Spirit
+from his sanctuary among us.... The present work
+seems to be remarkable and extraordinary, on account
+of the numbers wrought upon. We never before saw
+so many brought under soul concern, and with great
+distress making the inquiry, 'What must we do to
+be saved?' And these persons were of all ages and
+character. With regard to the suddenness and quick
+progress of it, many persons and places were surprised
+with the gracious visit together, or near about the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span>
+same time, and the heavenly influence diffused itself
+far and wide, like the light of the morning. Also
+[the work seems to be remarkable] in respect to the
+degree of operations, both in a way of terror, and in
+a way of consolation, attended in many with unusual
+bodily effects. Not that all who are accounted the
+subjects of the present work have had these extraordinary
+degrees of previous distress and subsequent joy.
+But many, and we suppose the greater number, have
+been wrought on in a more gentle and silent way,
+and without any other appearances than are common
+and usual at other times, when persons have been
+awakened to a solemn concern about salvation, and
+have been thought to have passed out of a state of
+nature into a state of grace. As to those whose inward
+concern has occasioned extraordinary outward
+distresses, the most of them, when we came to converse
+with them, were able to give what appeared to
+us a rational account of what so affected their
+minds.... The instances were very few in which
+we had reason to think these affections were produced
+by visionary or sensible representations, or by any
+other images than such as the Scripture itself presents
+to us. Of those who were judged hopefully converted,
+and made a public profession of religion, there
+have been fewer instances of scandal and apostasy
+than might be expected.... There appears to be
+more experimental godliness and lively Christianity
+than most of us can remember we have ever seen before....
+And now we desire to bow the knee in
+thanksgiving to the God and Father of our Lord
+Jesus Christ, that our eyes have seen and our ears<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[265]</a></span>
+heard such things. And while these are our sentiments,
+we must necessarily be grieved at any accounts
+sent abroad representing this work as all enthusiasm,
+delusion, and disorder. Indeed, it is not to be denied,
+that in some places many irregularities and extravagances
+have been permitted to accompany it, which
+we would deeply bewail and lament before God, and
+look upon ourselves obliged, for the honor of the
+Holy Spirit, and of his operations on the souls of
+men, to bear a public and faithful testimony against;
+though at the same time it is to be acknowledged,
+with much thankfulness, that in other places where
+the work has greatly flourished, there have been few
+if any of those disorders and excesses. But who can
+wonder if, at such a time as this, Satan should intermingle
+himself to hinder and blemish a work so
+directly contrary to the interests of his own kingdom?...
+Finally, we exhort the children of God to
+continue instant in prayer, that He, with whom is the
+residue of the Spirit, would grant us fresh, more plentiful,
+and extensive effusions, that so this wilderness,
+in all the parts of it, may become a fruitful field;
+that the present appearances may be an earnest of the
+glorious things promised in the latter days, when she
+shall shine with the glory of the Lord arisen upon
+her, so as to dazzle the eyes of beholders, confound
+and put to shame all her enemies, rejoice the hearts of
+her solicitous and now saddened friends, and have
+a strong influence and resplendency throughout the
+earth. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus; come
+quickly."</p>
+
+<p>This paper was signed by eighteen ministers in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[266]</a></span>
+county of Suffolk, among whom were Colman, Sewall,
+Prince, Webb, Cooper, Foxcroft, Checkly, Gee, Eliot,
+and Moorhead of Boston; twelve in the county of
+Essex, nine in Middlesex, six in Worcester, ten in
+Plymouth, one in Barnstable, three in Bristol, three
+in York, five in New Hampshire, and one in Rhode
+Island. There were one hundred and fourteen in all
+who gave attestations, either by signing their names
+to the above document, or by sending written attestations.
+Ninety-six of the one hundred and fourteen
+took their first degree of Bachelor of Arts more than
+ten years previously; consequently before the revival
+commenced. Twenty-six took their first degrees
+above thirty years before. Attestations were received
+but from twelve ministers in Connecticut, as the proposal
+did not reach them in time.</p>
+
+<p>We may add to this statement, as showing in some
+degree the extent of this revival, that while in 1729
+the number of members in the Congregational and
+Presbyterian churches of this country may be estimated
+at thirty-three thousand, the number of communicants
+in 1745 could not be less than seventy-five
+thousand. "The <em>special</em> revivals of religion," says an
+able writer in the "American Quarterly Register,"
+vol. 4, 1832, "were probably the means of adding
+from twenty thousand to thirty thousand members to
+the churches." The same writer adds, "The genuine
+fruits of holiness appeared, according to the acknowledgment
+of all parties, in multitudes of those
+who professed religion. They were Christians, who
+endured unto the end. This is the unanimous testimony
+of those men who were the best able to judge.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[267]</a></span>
+Great numbers who were convinced of sin by Mr.
+Whitefield's preaching, gave ample evidence, living
+and dying, of sincere and fervent love to the commands
+of God. There is reason to believe that a
+<em>preparation</em> had been made for the descent of the Holy
+Spirit, many years before the revival commenced. The
+fasts and public reformations, the prayers and tears of
+good men, from 1700 to 1730, were not in vain."</p>
+
+<p>One fact connected with the testimony against
+Whitefield, published by the faculty of Harvard college,
+we quote, as showing that then, as well as now,
+a difference of opinion existed as to written and extempore
+sermons. They thought his extempore manner
+of preaching "by no means proper," because extempore
+preachers are of necessity less instructive,
+the greater part of the sermon being commonly "the
+same kind of harangue which they have often used
+before, so that this is a most lazy manner" of preaching;
+and because it exposes the preacher to utter rash
+expressions, and even dangerous errors, as Whitefield,
+they thought, had done in several instances, probably
+from that cause. Assuredly he preferred extempore
+preaching to any other; yet he never pretended to
+preach without previous study. His sermons usually
+cost him as much previous labor as if they had been
+written; so that, in his case at least, it was not "a
+lazy way" of preaching. The errors which they said
+he had uttered, were a few hasty expressions, which
+he had retracted as soon as he had been reminded of
+them.</p>
+
+<p>Itinerancy, which had also been objected against
+Whitefield as one of his crimes, he strenuously defended<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[268]</a></span>
+as scriptural and right; understanding an
+evangelist to be, what they said an itinerant was,
+"One that hath no particular charge of his own, but
+goes about from country to country, or from town to
+town in any country, and stands ready to preach to
+any congregation that shall call him to it." For the
+divine command, "Go ye into all the world, and
+preach the gospel to every creature," he argued, "authorizes
+the ministers of Christ, even to the end of
+the world, to preach the gospel in every town and
+country, though not 'of their own head,' yet whenever
+and wherever Providence should open a door, even
+though it should be in a place 'where officers are
+already settled, and the gospel is fully and faithfully
+preached.' This, I humbly apprehend, is every gospel
+minister's indisputable privilege." He further asked,
+"Was not the Reformation begun and carried on by
+itinerant preaching?" He then quoted from "Baxter's
+Reformed Pastor," a plan which had been adopted
+in some parts of England, for circular lectures by
+settled ministers selected for the purpose, and with
+the consent of the pastors.</p>
+
+<p>In reference to Harvard college, Whitefield lived
+long enough to take a Christian's revenge. In 1764,
+he solicited from his friends donations of books for
+their library, which had recently been destroyed by
+fire, and four years afterwards, while his old opponent
+President Holyoke was yet in office, the following
+minute was entered on their records: "At a
+meeting of the President and Fellows of Harvard college,
+August 22, 1768, the Rev. G. Whitefield having,
+in addition to his former kindness to Harvard college,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[269]</a></span>
+lately presented to the library a new edition of his
+Journals, and having procured large benefactions from
+several benevolent and respectable gentlemen; <em>voted</em>,
+that the thanks of the corporation be given to the
+Rev. Mr. Whitefield, for these instances of candor
+and generosity."</p>
+
+<p>It will be readily supposed, that notwithstanding
+all the opposition which Whitefield met, there were
+yet many thousands always ready to attend on his
+ministry. It was now the close of 1744, but the cold
+of winter did not prevent vast crowds assembling at
+early services long before daylight. Speaking of the
+opposition he met, "so that," says he, "for a while
+my situation was rendered uncomfortable," he adds,
+"But amidst all this smoke a blessed fire broke out.
+The awakened souls were as eager as ever to hear
+the word. Having heard that I expounded early in
+Scotland, they begged that I would do the same in
+Boston. I complied, and opened a lecture at six in
+the morning. I seldom preached to less than two
+thousand. It was delightful to see so many of both
+sexes neatly dressed flocking to hear the word, and
+returning home to family prayer and breakfast before
+the opposers were out of their beds."</p>
+
+<p>The late Rev. Dr. Archibald Alexander tells us,
+that when he was at Boston, in 1800, he found in the
+Old South church a lingering relic of Whitefield's
+times, in a convert of his day, a lady between eighty
+and ninety years of age, who belonged to a prayer-meeting
+founded then, which had been kept up weekly
+until within a few years. Of this, she was the only
+surviving member.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[270]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The "Evening Post," which seems to have been
+on the side of those who opposed Whitefield, in its
+issue of March 11, 1745, says, "Prince, Webb, Foxcroft,
+and Gee, are the directors of Mr. Whitefield's
+public conduct, as he himself has lately declared at
+Newbury." He had other powerful friends among
+the clergy, and still more among the laity, who invited
+him by vote into some pulpits where the pastors were
+"shy" of him.</p>
+
+<p>On the 7th of February, we find him at Ipswich,
+where he spent several days. Mr. Pickering, of the
+Second church, declined admitting him into his pulpit,
+and assigned his reasons in a letter, which was published.
+It contains the usual objections set forth in
+the various "testimonies," and is remarkable only for
+one convenient metaphor. The Bishop of London had
+published on "Lukewarmness and Enthusiasm." Whitefield
+had said in reply, "All ought to be thankful to
+that pilot who will teach them to steer a safe and
+middle course;" and Pickering wittily asks, "But
+what if the pilot should take the vane for the compass?"</p>
+
+<p>Early in March we find him making an excursion
+into the east, as we hear of him both at Berwick and
+Portland, in the then territory of Maine. In the latter
+place, he not only made a powerful impression on
+the people, but on their minister. In the outset a
+strong feeling existed against his preaching in the
+pulpit of the First church. Mr. Smith, the pastor,
+says in his "Journal," "The parish are like to be in a
+flame on account of Mr. Whitefield's coming; the leading
+men violently opposing." Under the date of May<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[271]</a></span>
+19, after Whitefield's departure, we find in the "Journal"
+a remarkable passage: "For several Sabbaths,
+and the lecture, I have been all in a blaze; never in
+such a flame, and what I would attend to is, that it
+was not only involuntary, but actually determined
+against. I went to meeting resolving to be calm and
+moderate, lest people should think it was wildness
+and affectation to ape Mr. Whitefield; but God, I
+see, makes use of me as he pleases, and I am only a
+machine in his hand."</p>
+
+<p>About the middle of March, we find our evangelist
+at Exeter, where he afterwards preached his last sermon.
+Here some of the more zealous members of the
+church had withdrawn, and formed a new church.
+Their conduct had been sanctioned by one council,
+and censured by another, two years before this time.
+Whitefield preached to them twice, though Mr. Odlin,
+the pastor of the church from which they had withdrawn,
+"solemnly warned and charged him against
+preaching in his parish." So says the "Evening Post,"
+of March 25, which further calls the people to whom
+he preached, "Separatists."</p>
+
+<p>In this spring of 1745, the first expedition for the
+capture from the French of the island of Cape Breton,
+near Nova Scotia, was set on foot. Colonel Pepperell,
+a warm personal friend of Whitefield, and the only
+native of New England who was created a Baronet of
+Great Britain, was then at Boston, constantly attending
+Whitefield's lectures. On the day before he accepted
+a commission to be general in that expedition,
+he asked his opinion of the matter, and was told, with
+the preacher's usual frankness, that he did not indeed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[272]</a></span>
+think that the scheme proposed for taking Louisburgh
+would be very promising; and that the eyes of all
+would be upon him. If he did not succeed, the widows
+and orphans of the slain soldiers would be like
+lions robbed of their whelps; but if it pleased God to
+give him success, envy would endeavor to eclipse his
+glory: he had need, therefore, if he went, to go with
+a single eye; and then there was no doubt, if Providence
+really called him, he would find his strength
+equal to the difficulties with which he would have to
+contend.</p>
+
+<p>About the same time, Mr. Sherburne, another of
+Whitefield's friends, being appointed one of the commissioners,
+told him he must favor the expedition,
+otherwise the pious people would be discouraged from
+enlisting; not only did he say this, but he insisted
+that the evangelist should give him a motto for his
+flag, for the encouragement of his soldiers. Whitefield
+refused to do this, as it would not be consistent
+with his character as a minister of the gospel of peace.
+But as Sherburne would take no denial, he gave him,
+<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Nil desperandum, Christo Duce</i>&mdash;[Nothing to be despaired
+of, Christ being leader.] In these circumstances
+a large number of men enlisted.</p>
+
+<p>The soldiers and their officers now went farther,
+and before their embarkation requested him to give
+them a sermon. He preached to them from the text,
+"And every one that was in distress, and every one
+that was in debt, and every one that was discontented,
+gathered themselves unto him; and he became
+a captain over them." 1 Samuel 22:2. From this
+somewhat singular text, he discoursed on the manner<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[273]</a></span>
+in which distressed sinners came to Jesus Christ, the
+Son of David; and in his application, exhorted the
+soldiers to behave like the soldiers of David, and the
+officers to act like David's worthies; saying, that if
+they did so, there would be good news from Cape
+Breton. After this he preached to the general himself,
+who invited him to become one of his chaplains.
+Whitefield declined this, saying, that though he should
+esteem this an honor, yet, as he generally preached
+three times a day, to large congregations, he could
+do more service by stirring up the people to pray,
+thus strengthening the hearts and hands of the army.
+In this practice he persevered during the whole siege
+of Louisburgh. "I believe," said he, "if ever people
+went with a disinterested view, the New Englanders
+did then. Though many of them were raw and undisciplined,
+yet numbers were substantial persons, who
+left their farms and willingly ventured all for their
+country's good. An amazing series of providences
+appeared, and though some discouraging accounts
+were sent during the latter end of the siege, yet in
+about six weeks news came of the surrender of Louisburgh.
+Numbers flocked from all quarters to hear a
+thanksgiving sermon upon the occasion. And I trust
+the blessing bestowed upon the country through the
+thanksgivings of many, redounded to the glory of
+God."</p>
+
+<p>Some time before this, the people of Boston had
+proposed to build for Whitefield "the largest place
+of worship ever seen in America," in which he should
+regularly preach; but, as usual, he feared this plan
+would abridge his liberty of itinerating: he thanked<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[274]</a></span>
+them for their offer, but decidedly declined to accept
+it. As his bodily strength increased, he began to
+move southward, and went through Rhode Island and
+Connecticut, preaching to thousands generally twice
+a day. He says, "Though there was much smoke, yet
+every day I had more and more convincing proof that
+a blessed gospel fire had been kindled in the hearts
+both of ministers and people."</p>
+
+<p>About this time occurred a fact which delightfully
+shows how the enemies of this admirable man were
+often converted into friends. A colored trumpeter
+belonging to the English army resolved to interrupt
+him while delivering a sermon in the open air.
+For this purpose he went to the field, carrying his
+trumpet with him, intending to blow it with all his
+might about the middle of the sermon. He took his
+station in front of the minister, and at no great distance
+from him. The crowd became very great, and
+those who were towards the extremity pressed forward,
+that they might hear more distinctly, and caused
+such a pressure where the poor trumpeter stood, that
+he found it impossible at the time when he intended
+to blow his trumpet, to raise the arm which held it,
+by which means he was kept within the sound of the
+gospel as effectually as if he had been chained to the
+spot. In a short time his attention was powerfully
+arrested, and he became so deeply affected by the
+statements of the preacher, that he was seized with
+all the agonies of despair, and was carried to a
+house in the neighborhood. After the service, he
+was visited by Mr. Whitefield, who gave him suitable
+counsels, and from that time the trumpeter became a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[275]</a></span>
+greatly altered man. So true is it in reference to the
+omnipotent and gracious Being,</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<span class="i0">"Hearts base as hell he can control,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And spread new powers throughout the whole."<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<p>While preaching at Boston, he was delighted to
+observe that the sheriff, who had heretofore been the
+leader of the persecution against him, now began to
+hear him preach; and his pleasure was vastly increased,
+when he saw the crowds come around him
+to inquire as to their highest interests.</p>
+
+<p>Among these crowds was a somewhat remarkable
+gentleman of that city. He was a man of ready wit
+and racy humor, who delighted in preaching over a
+bottle to his ungodly companions. He went to hear
+Whitefield, that he might be furnished with matter for
+a "tavern harangue." When he had heard enough of
+the sermon for his purpose, he endeavored to quit the
+church for the inn, but "found his endeavors to get
+out fruitless, he was so pent up." While thus fixed,
+and waiting for "fresh matter of ridicule," the truth
+took possession of his heart. That night he went to
+Mr. Prince full of terror, and sought an introduction
+to ask pardon of the preacher. Whitefield says of
+him, "By the paleness, pensiveness, and horror of his
+countenance, I guessed he was the man of whom I had
+been apprized. 'Sir, can you forgive me?' he cried
+in a low, but plaintive voice. I smiled, and said, 'Yes,
+sir, very readily.' 'Indeed,' he said, 'you cannot when
+I tell you all.' I then asked him to sit down; and
+judging that he had sufficiently felt the lash of the
+law, I preached the gospel to him." This, with other
+remarkable conversions, gave increasing energy and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[276]</a></span>
+influence to his preaching in Boston. "My bodily
+strength," he says, "is recovered, and my soul more
+than ever in love with a crucified Jesus."</p>
+
+<p>Another illustration may also be here given of the
+meekness and gentleness which usually characterized
+our evangelist in his intercourse with his brethren.
+In his later visits to New England, it was Whitefield's
+usual practice to spend a few days with Dr. Hopkins.
+On one of these occasions, after preaching for the doctor
+on the Sabbath, the next day he proposed a ride
+into the country for exercise. During the ride, Whitefield
+spoke with regret of the views of their "good
+brother Edwards on the subject of the witness of the
+Holy Spirit." "Ah," asked Dr. Hopkins, "and what
+is the error?" Here Whitefield made a long pause;
+and Hopkins continued the conversation: "Do you
+believe, Mr. Whitefield, that the witness of the Spirit
+is a direct communication from God?" "I cannot say
+that I do," was the reply. "Well, do you believe
+that Christians have any other witness of the Spirit
+than that afforded by the testimony of their own holy
+affections?" "I cannot say that I do," Mr. Whitefield
+again replied. "Do you believe it to be any
+thing more or less," continued Hopkins, "than the
+Spirit producing in the heart the gracious exercises
+of repentance, faith, etc.?" "No, that is precisely my
+view of it," said Whitefield. "And that is precisely
+the view of good father Edwards," pleasantly returned
+Dr. Hopkins. Whitefield frankly acknowledged
+his error, and rejoiced that there was no disagreement
+on the subject.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[277]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER X.</h2>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<h3>FROM HIS LEAVING NEW ENGLAND TILL HIS ARRIVAL
+IN ENGLAND&mdash;LABORS IN THE MIDDLE AND
+SOUTHERN STATES&mdash;THE BERMUDAS.<br />
+
+1745-1748.</h3></blockquote>
+
+
+<p>Leaving New England, Whitefield proceeded first
+to New York, where he preached as he had formerly
+done, and found that the seed sown in past days had
+produced much fruit. Proceeding still southward, on
+his way towards Philadelphia, arriving in New Jersey,
+he says, "I had the pleasure of preaching by an interpreter
+to some converted Indians, and of seeing nearly
+fifty young ones in one school, near Freehold, learning
+the Assembly's Catechism." A blessed awakening
+had before this time been begun and carried on among
+the Delaware Indians, by the ministry of David Brainerd;
+no such work had been heard of since the days
+of the apostolic Eliot in New England.</p>
+
+<p>Arriving in Philadelphia, Whitefield was rejoiced
+to find that his friend Gilbert Tennent was still blessed
+with success in his labors. Many, he says, were under
+"soul-sickness," and Tennent's health suffered
+much with walking from place to place to see them.
+The gentlemen connected with the new house in which
+Tennent preached, were, as well as Tennent himself,
+desirous of securing at least a portion of Whitefield's
+labors, and offered him eight hundred pounds a year,
+if he would become their pastor, and labor with them<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[278]</a></span>
+six months in the year, travelling the other six months
+wherever he thought proper. He thanked them, but
+declined.</p>
+
+<p>Not unfrequently have we been told by frigid critics
+of the inferior character of Whitefield's printed
+sermons. But have they not looked too much for the
+beauties of style, and overlooked the simple energy of
+their scriptural truths? Even these printed sermons
+have, under God, accomplished wonders. In the year
+1743, a young gentleman from Scotland, then residing
+at Hanover, in Virginia, had obtained a volume of
+Whitefield's sermons preached in Glasgow, and taken
+in shorthand, which, after a gentleman of Hanover,
+named Hunt, the father of a distinguished Presbyterian
+minister of that name, had studied with great
+personal benefit, he invited his neighbors to visit his
+house to hear read. By their plainness and fervor,
+attended with the power of God, not a few became
+convinced of their lost condition as sinners, and anxiously
+inquired the way of salvation. The feelings of
+many were powerfully excited, and they could not forbear
+bitter and violent weeping. The intelligence
+spread, curiosity prompted the desire of many others
+to attend such remarkable services; and one and
+another begged for admission, till the houses were
+crowded. Numbers were pricked to the heart; the
+word of God became quick and powerful; and, "What
+shall we do?" was the general cry. What to do or
+say the principal leaders knew not. They themselves
+had been led by a still small voice, they hardly knew
+how, to an acquaintance with the truth; but now the
+Lord was speaking as on mount Sinai, with a voice of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[279]</a></span>
+thunder; and sinners, like that mountain itself, trembled.
+It was not long before Christians had the happiness
+to see a goodly number healed by the same
+word that had wounded them, and brought to rejoice
+in Christ, and his great salvation. "My dwelling-place,"
+said Mr. Morris, one of their number, "was
+at length too small to contain the people, whereupon
+we determined to build a meeting-house merely
+for <em>reading</em>. And having never been used to social
+prayer, none of us durst attempt it." This <em>reading-house</em>,
+as it was called, was followed by others of
+like character, and the number of attendants and the
+power of divine influence were much increased. Mr.
+Morris, as the report spread, was invited to several
+places at a distance to read these sermons. The
+phrase, "Morris' reading-house," has come down by
+tradition to the present age, as well as important
+details of the opposition of the magistracy and other
+classes, who sought, but in vain, to stop the progress
+of the work.</p>
+
+<p>Such was the origin of the Presbyterian church at
+Hanover, where, in after-days, William Robinson and
+President Davies accomplished such mighty triumphs,
+and where the sacred cause still flourishes.</p>
+
+<p>Whitefield does not seem to have been made
+acquainted with these facts till he now arrived in the
+colony, and saw the happy effects which had been produced
+by the labors of the Rev. Messrs. Robinson,
+Tennent, Blair, and others. Of the visit of Whitefield
+among them, one of them writes, "Mr. Whitefield
+came and preached four or five days in these parts,
+which was the happy means of giving us further encouragement,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[280]</a></span>
+and engaging others to the Lord, especially
+among the church people, who received his doctrine
+more readily than they would from ministers of
+the Presbyterian denomination." We may add here,
+that in 1747 there were four houses of worship in and
+around Hanover, which had sprung from the "mustard-seed"
+of the sermons taken in shorthand from Whitefield's
+lips at Glasgow.</p>
+
+<p>Among the converts in the south who met Whitefield,
+was Isaac Oliver, who was both deaf and dumb,
+and had been so from his birth. Notwithstanding
+these great disadvantages, he could both feel and
+evince his strong feelings by the most significant and
+expressive signs. He could, for instance, so represent
+the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ, as to be understood
+by every one; and among his own friends he
+could converse about the love of Christ in the language
+of signs, till he was transported in rapture and
+dissolved in tears. He was much beloved for his
+eminent piety.</p>
+
+<p>Whitefield had not, during any portion of this
+time, forgotten Bethesda. The public had warmly
+sustained it, and he now went forward to see to its
+affairs, and to add to the orphan-house a Latin school,
+intending, indeed, before a long time to found a college.</p>
+
+<p>The following account of the orphan-house in
+1746, was written by Mr. Whitefield in the form of a
+letter to a friend, and published as a small pamphlet.
+We transcribe it from "White's Historical Collections
+of Georgia," published in 1854:</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[281]</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="center">
+"Provide things honest in the sight of all men."&mdash;Rom. 12:17.</p>
+<p class="sig">
+"<span class="smcap">Bethesda</span>, in Georgia, March 21, 1745-6.
+</p>
+
+<p>"Some have thought that the erecting such a
+building was only the produce of my own brain; but
+they are much mistaken; for it was first proposed to
+me by my dear friend the Rev. Mr. Charles Wesley,
+who, with his excellency General Oglethorpe, had concerted
+a scheme for carrying on such a design before
+I had any thoughts of going abroad myself. It was
+natural to think that, as the government intended this
+province for the refuge and support of many of our
+poor countrymen, numbers of such adventurers must
+necessarily be taken off, by being exposed to the hardships
+which unavoidably attend a new settlement. I
+thought it, therefore, a noble design in the general to
+erect a house for fatherless children; and believing
+that such a provision for orphans would be some
+inducement with many to come over, I fell in with the
+design, when mentioned to me by my friend, and was
+resolved, in the strength of God, to prosecute it with
+all my might. This was mentioned to the honorable
+trustees. They took it kindly at my hands, and
+wrote to the bishop of Bath and Wells for leave for
+me to preach a charity sermon on this occasion in the
+Abbey church. This was granted, and I accordingly
+began immediately to compose a suitable discourse.
+But knowing that my first stay in Georgia would
+necessarily be short, on account of my returning again
+to take priest's orders, I thought it most prudent first
+to go and see for myself, and defer prosecuting the
+scheme till I came home.... When I came to Georgia,
+I found many poor orphans, who, though taken<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[282]</a></span>
+notice of by the honorable trustees, yet, through the
+neglect of persons under them, were in miserable circumstances.
+For want of a house to bring them up
+in, the poor little ones were tabled out here and there;
+others were at hard services, and likely to have no
+education at all.</p>
+
+<p>"Upon seeing this, and finding that his Majesty
+and Parliament had the interest of the colony much at
+heart, I thought I could not better show my regard to
+God and my country than by getting a house and land
+for these children, where they might learn to labor,
+read, and write, and at the same time be brought up
+in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Accordingly,
+at my return to England, in the year 1738, to
+take priest's orders, I applied to the honorable society
+for a grant of five hundred acres of land, and laid
+myself under an obligation to build a house upon it,
+and to receive from time to time as many orphans as
+the land and stock would maintain. As I had always
+acted like a clergyman of the church of England, having
+preached in a good part of the London churches,
+and but a few months before collected near a thousand
+pounds sterling for the children belonging to the
+charity schools in London and Westminster, it was
+natural to think that I might now have the use at
+least of some of these churches to preach in for the
+orphans hereafter more immediately to be committed
+to my care. But by the time I had taken priest's
+orders, the spirit of the clergy began to be much imbittered.
+Churches were gradually denied me, and I
+must let this good design drop, and thousands, and I
+might add ten thousands, go without hearing the word<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[283]</a></span>
+of God, or preach in the fields. Indeed, two churches,
+one in London, namely, Spitalfields, and one in Bristol,
+namely, St. Philip's and Jacob, were lent me on
+this occasion, but those were all. I collected for the
+orphan-house in Moorfields two hundred and fifty
+pounds one Sabbath-day morning, twenty-two pounds
+of which were in copper. In the afternoon I collected
+again at Kennington Common, and continued to do
+so at most of the places where I preached. Besides
+this, two or three of the bishops, and several persons
+of distinction contributed, until at length, having gotten
+about a thousand and ten pounds, I gave over
+collecting, and went with what I had to Georgia. At
+that time multitudes offered to accompany me; but I
+chose to take over only a surgeon and a few more of
+both sexes, that I thought would be useful in carrying
+on my design. My dear fellow-traveller William
+Seward, Esq., also joined with them. Our first voyage
+was to Philadelphia, where I was willing to go
+for the sake of laying in provision. I laid out in
+London a good part of the thousand pounds for goods,
+and got as much by them in Philadelphia as nearly
+defrayed the families' expenses of coming over. Here
+God blessed my ministry daily....</p>
+
+<p>"January following, 1739, I met my family at
+Georgia, and being unwilling to lose any time, I hired
+a large house, and took in all the orphans I could find
+in the colony. A great many also of the town's children
+came to school gratis, and many poor people
+that could not maintain their children, upon application,
+had leave given them to send their little ones
+for a month or two, or more as they could spare them,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[284]</a></span>
+till at length my family consisted of between sixty
+and seventy. Most of the orphans were in poor case,
+and three or four almost eaten up with lice. I likewise
+erected an infirmary, in which many sick people
+were cured and taken care of gratis. I have now by
+me a list of upwards of a hundred and thirty patients,
+which were under the surgeon's hands, exclusive
+of my own private family. About March I began
+the great house, having only about one hundred and
+fifty pounds in cash. I called it <em>Bethesda</em>, because I
+hoped it would be a house of mercy to many souls.
+Many boys have been put out to trades, and many
+girls put out to service. I had the pleasure, the other
+day, to see three boys work at the house in which
+they were bred, one of them out of his time, a journeyman,
+and the others serving under their masters.
+One that I brought from New England is handsomely
+settled in Carolina; and another from Philadelphia
+is married, and lives very comfortably in
+Savannah. We have lately begun to use the plough,
+and next year I hope to have many acres of good
+oats and barley. We have nearly twenty sheep and
+lambs, fifty head of cattle, and seven horses. We
+hope to kill a thousand weight of pork this season.
+Our garden is very beautiful, furnishes us with all
+sorts of greens, etc., etc. We have plenty of milk,
+eggs, poultry, and make a good deal of butter weekly.
+A good quantity of wool and cotton have been given
+me, and we hope to have sufficient spun and wove for
+the next winter's clothing. The family now consists
+of twenty-six persons. Two of the orphan boys are
+blind, one is little better than an idiot. I have two<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[285]</a></span>
+women to take care of the household work, and two
+men and three boys employed about the plantation
+and cattle. A set of Dutch servants has been
+lately sent over. The magistrates were pleased to
+give me two; and I took in a poor widow, aged near
+seventy, whom nobody else cared to have. A valuable
+young man from New England is my schoolmaster,
+and in my absence performs duty in the family.
+On Sabbaths, the grown people attend on public worship
+at Savannah, or at White Bluff, a village near
+Bethesda, where a Dutch minister officiates. The
+house is a noble, commodious building, and every
+thing sweetly adapted for bringing up youth. Georgia
+is very healthy; not above one, and that a little
+child, has died out of our family since it removed to
+Bethesda."</p>
+
+<p>A tabular statement follows this account, giving
+full particulars of the eighty-six children who to that
+period had been admitted into the establishment.</p>
+
+<p>Old newspapers, as daguerreotyping the facts, and
+even the feelings of any particular period, are sometimes
+invaluable. In New York, as everywhere
+else, Whitefield had his enemies, and many charges
+were brought against him. But that there were those
+who took a strongly favorable view of his character
+and conduct, is very clear from an extract we give
+from "The New York Post-Boy," of April, 1746:
+"Mr. Whitefield's excellent parts, fine elocution, and
+masterly address; his admirable talent of opening the
+Scriptures, and enforcing the most weighty subjects
+upon the conscience; his polite and serious behavior,
+his unaffected and superior piety, his prudence, humility,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[286]</a></span>
+and catholic spirit, are things which must silence
+and disarm prejudice itself. By these qualifications
+of the orator, the divine, and the Christian, he has
+not only fixed himself deeper in the affections of his
+former friends, but greatly increased the number
+wherever he has preached; and made his way into
+the hearts of several who, till this visit, had said all
+the severe things against him that enmity itself seemed
+capable of."</p>
+
+<p>From this period, this paper especially noticed
+the various movements of this apostolic man; his arrivals
+in the city, his engagements in it, his departures
+from it, and the places of his destination, were
+all given with the minuti&#230; with which even the movements
+of monarchs are recorded.</p>
+
+<p>It was not without its use that the organs of the
+public thus expressed their high sense of his character.
+In 1745, suspicions were whispered abroad as
+to the entire integrity of this excellent man in the
+appropriation of the funds collected for Bethesda.
+But happily for all parties, the magistrates of Savannah
+published in the Philadelphia Gazette an affidavit,
+that they had carefully examined Mr. Whitefield's
+receipts and disbursements, and found that what he
+had collected in behalf of the orphans, had been honestly
+applied, and that besides, he had given considerably
+to them of his own property.</p>
+
+<p>Having done what he could at Bethesda, feeling
+his health failing him, needing resources for his orphans,
+and urged on by his love of preaching, Whitefield
+was soon again in the field, far away from his
+home. In the autumn of 1746, we find many passages<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[287]</a></span>
+in his journals and letters like these, while in Maryland:
+"I trust the time for favoring this and the neighboring
+southern provinces is come. Everywhere,
+almost, the door is opened for preaching, great numbers
+flock to hear, and the power of an ascended
+Saviour attends the word. For it is surprising how
+the Lord causes prejudices to subside, and makes my
+former most bitter enemies to be at peace with me....
+Lately I have been in seven counties in Maryland,
+and preached with abundant success." At Charleston,
+South Carolina, he writes, January 1747, "The
+Lord Jesus is pleased to give me great access to multitudes
+of souls." A few weeks later, he writes from
+the same place, that Bethesda was never in a better
+condition; that he had opened a Latin school there
+during the winter, and that he hoped yet to see ministers
+furnished from Georgia.</p>
+
+<p>In April, we again find him in Maryland, as he
+writes on the twenty-fifth of that month from Bohemia,
+in that province, and speaks of the success of Mr. Samuel,
+afterwards President Davies, in Virginia, but
+adds that a proclamation had been issued in that state
+against itinerants, so that he himself was shut out of
+it. In the middle of May he exults, "Maryland is
+yielding converts to the blessed Jesus. The gospel
+seems to be moving southward. The harvest is promising.
+The time of the singing birds is come;" and
+five days afterwards he says, "I have been now a three
+hundred miles' circuit in Maryland, and through one
+or two counties in Pennsylvania. Everywhere the
+people have a hearing ear, and I trust some have an
+obedient heart."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[288]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>On the first of June we find him in Philadelphia,
+from whence he writes, "At present I have full work
+here. The congregations yesterday were large, and
+for this month past I have been preaching to thousands
+in different places." During the whole of this month
+his health was in a very critical state. Here we have
+a few sentences from his pen, as given on different
+days: "I am sick and well, as I used to be in England;
+but the Redeemer fills me with comfort. I am
+determined, in his strength, to die fighting.... I
+have almost a continual burning fever. With great
+regret I have omitted preaching <em>one</em> night to oblige
+my friends, and purpose to do so once more, that they
+may not charge me with murdering myself. But I
+hope yet to die in the pulpit, or soon after I come out
+of it.... Since my last, I have been several times
+on the verge of eternity. At present I am so weak
+that I cannot preach. It is hard work to be silent,
+but I must be tried every way."</p>
+
+<p>Sickness did not interrupt Whitefield's labors, if
+he could move or preach at all. "I am determined,"
+he says to Gilbert Tennent, "to die fighting, though
+it be on my <em>stumps</em>." He was soon after at New York,
+Newport, Portsmouth, and Boston. At New York
+he writes, "I am as willing to hunt for souls as ever.
+I am not weary of my work." On the next day he
+writes, "I have preached to a very large auditory,
+and do not find myself much worse for it." He did
+so again with success. He then says, "I shall go to
+Boston like an arrow out of a bow, if Jesus strengthen
+me. I am resolved to preach and work for Him
+until I can preach and work no more. I have been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[289]</a></span>
+upon the water three or four days, and now eat like
+a sailor." He went on to Boston, where he heard of
+the sudden but joyful death of his venerable and excellent
+friend Dr. Colman. He adds, "My reception
+at Boston and elsewhere was like unto the first. Arrows
+of conviction fled and stuck fast. Congregations
+were larger than ever, and opposers' mouths
+were stopped."</p>
+
+<p>After again making short visits to Philadelphia
+and Bohemia, Whitefield, according to previous arrangements,
+went to spend the winter in North Carolina.
+Before he left Bohemia, however, he wrote to
+his friends at New York, who were intensely anxious
+about his health, but he could only say it was yet
+fluctuating. Even so was it when he arrived in North
+Carolina, yet he writes, "I am here, hunting in the
+woods, these <em>ungospelized</em> wilds, for sinners. It is
+pleasant work, though my body is weak and crazy.
+But after a short <em>fermentation</em> in the grave, it will be
+fashioned like unto Christ's glorious body. The
+thought of this rejoices my soul, and makes me long
+to <em>leap</em> my seventy years. I sometimes think all will
+go to heaven before me. Pray for me as a dying
+man; but Oh, pray that I may not go off as a <em>snuff</em>.
+I would fain die <em>blazing</em>&mdash;not with human glory, but
+with the love of Jesus."</p>
+
+<p>Such was his weakness, that his journey to Bathtown,
+in North Carolina, was long and slow. Even
+a short ride was fatiguing and painful. Still, he preached
+with considerable power; cheered on from stage
+to stage by the hope that the conversion of "North
+Carolina sinners would be glad news in heaven." His<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[290]</a></span>
+letters indicated lively hopes of an extensive revival,
+but his expectations were not fully realized. His
+health was still exceedingly feeble, and his physicians
+ordered him to try a change of climate. He accordingly
+embarked for the Bermudas, where he landed,
+March 15, 1748.</p>
+
+<p>The Bermudas are a group of four small islands
+lying about nine hundred miles east of Georgia. The
+largest of the islands is called St. George's, with a
+capital of the same name; the climate is remarkably
+fine, and well adapted for the temporary residence
+and recovery of invalids. Here Whitefield met with
+an exceedingly kind reception, and remained on the
+island with great benefit to his health, more than a
+month. We scarcely need to say that he was not idle
+during his residence here, but traversed the island
+from one end to the other, generally preaching twice
+a day. A few passages from his journal will best
+show the facts.</p>
+
+<p>"The simplicity and plainness of the people, together
+with the pleasant situation of the island, much delighted
+me. The Rev. Mr. Holiday, minister of Spanish
+Point, received me in a most affectionate, Christian
+manner; and begged I would make his house my
+home. In the evening, I expounded at the house of
+Mr. Savage, at Port Royal, which was very commodious;
+and which also he would have me make my
+home. I went with Mr. Savage in a boat to the town
+of St. George, in order to pay our respects to the
+governor. All along we had a most pleasant prospect
+of the other part of the island; a more pleasant one I
+never saw. Mrs. Smith, of St. George, for whom I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[291]</a></span>
+had a letter of recommendation from my dear old
+friend Mr. Smith, of Charlestown, received me into
+her house. About noon, with one of the council and
+Mr. Savage, I waited upon the governor. He received
+us courteously, and invited us to dine with him and
+the council. We accepted the invitation, and all behaved
+with great civility and respect. After the governor
+rose from the table, he desired, if I stayed in
+town on the Sunday, that I would dine with him at
+his own house.</p>
+
+<p>"Sunday, March 20. Read prayers and preached
+twice this day, to what were esteemed here large
+auditories&mdash;in the morning at Spanish Point church,
+and in the evening at Brackish Pond church, about
+two miles distant from each other. In the afternoon
+I spoke with greater freedom than in the morning,
+and I trust not altogether in vain. All were attentive,
+some wept. I dined with Colonel Butterfield,
+one of the council; and received several invitations
+to other gentlemen's houses. May God bless and
+reward them, and incline them to open their hearts to
+receive the Lord Jesus.</p>
+
+<p>"Wednesday, March 23. Dined with Captain
+Gibbs, and went from thence and expounded at the
+house of Captain F&mdash;&mdash;le, at Hunbay, about two miles
+distant. The company here also was large, attentive,
+and affected. Our Lord gave me utterance. I expounded
+the first part of the eighth chapter of Jeremiah.
+After lecture, Mr. Riddle, a counsellor, invited me to
+his house; as did Mr. Paul, an aged Presbyterian minister,
+to his pulpit; which I complied with upon condition
+that the rumor was true, that the governor had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[292]</a></span>
+served the ministers with an injunction that I should
+not preach in the churches.</p>
+
+<p>"Sunday, March 27. Glory be to God! I hope
+this has been a profitable Sabbath to many souls; it
+has been a pleasant one to mine. Both morning and
+afternoon I preached to a large auditory, for the Bermudas,
+in Mr. Paul's meeting-house, which I suppose
+contains about four hundred. Abundance of negroes,
+and many others, were in the porch, and about the
+house. The word seemed to be clothed with a convincing
+power, and to make its way into the hearts
+of the hearers. Between sermons, I was entertained
+very civilly in a neighboring house. Judge Bascom,
+and three more of the council, came thither, and each
+gave me an invitation to his house. How does the
+Lord make way for a poor stranger in a strange land.
+After the second sermon I dined with Mr. Paul; and
+in the evening expounded to a very large company at
+Councillor Riddle's. My body was somewhat weak;
+but the Lord carried me through, and caused me to go
+to rest rejoicing. May I thus go to my grave, when
+my ceaseless and uninterrupted rest shall begin.</p>
+
+<p>"Thursday, March 31. Dined on Tuesday at Colonel
+Corbusier's, and on Wednesday at Colonel Gilbert's,
+both of the council; and found, by what I
+could hear, that some good had been done, and many
+prejudices removed. Who shall hinder, if God will
+work? Went to an island this afternoon called
+Ireland, upon which live a few families; and to my
+surprise, found a great many gentlemen, and other
+people, with my friend Mr. Holiday, who came from
+different quarters to hear me. Before I began preaching,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[293]</a></span>
+I went round to see a most remarkable cave, which
+very much displayed the exquisite workmanship of
+Him, who in 'his strength setteth fast the mountains,
+and is girded about with power.' While I was in the
+cave, quite unexpectedly I turned and saw Councillor
+Riddle, who, with his son, came to hear me; and
+while we were in the boat, told me that he had been
+with the governor, who declared he had no personal
+prejudice against me, and wondered I did not come to
+town and preach there, for it was the desire of the
+people; and that any house in the town, the court-house
+not excepted, should be at my service. Thanks
+be to God for so much favor. If his cause requires
+it, I shall have more. He knows my heart; I value
+the favor of man no farther than as it makes room for
+the gospel, and gives me a larger scope to promote
+the glory of God. There being no capacious house
+upon the island, I preached for the first time here in
+the open air. All heard very attentively; and it was
+very pleasant, after sermon, to see so many boats full
+of people returning from the worship of God. I talked
+seriously to some in our own boat, and sung a psalm,
+in which they readily joined.</p>
+
+<p>"Sunday, April 3. Preached twice this day at
+Mr. Paul's meeting-house, as on the last Sabbath, but
+with greater freedom and power, especially in the
+morning; and I think to as great, if not greater auditories.
+Dined with Colonel Harvy, another of the
+council; visited a sick woman, where many came to
+hear; and expounded afterwards to a great company,
+at Captain John Dorrel's, Mrs. Dorrel's son, who with
+his wife courteously entertained me, and desired me<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[294]</a></span>
+to make his house my home. So true is that promise
+of our Lord, that 'whosoever leaves father or mother,
+houses or lands, shall have in this life a hundred-fold
+with persecution, and in the world to come, life everlasting.'
+Lord, I have experienced the one; in thy
+good time grant that I may experience the other also.</p>
+
+<p>"Wednesday, April 6. Preached yesterday at the
+house of Mr. Anthony Smith, of Baylis Bay, with a
+considerable degree of warmth; and rode afterwards
+to St. George, the only town on the island. The
+gentlemen of the town had sent me an invitation by
+Judge Bascom; and he, with several others, came to
+visit me at my lodgings; and informed me that the
+governor desired to see me. About ten I waited upon
+his excellency, who received me with great civility,
+and told me he had no objection against my person or
+my principles, having never yet heard me; and he
+knew nothing with respect to my conduct in moral
+life, that might prejudice him against me; but his
+intentions were to let none preach in the island, unless
+he had a written license to preach somewhere in
+America, or the West Indies; at the same time he
+acknowledged that it was but a matter of mere form.
+I informed his excellency that I had been regularly
+inducted into the parish of Savannah; that I was ordained
+priest by letters dismissory from my lord of
+London, and was under no church censure from his
+lordship; and would always read the church prayers,
+if the clergy would give me the use of their churches.
+I added farther, that a minister's pulpit was always
+looked upon as his freehold; and that I knew one
+clergyman who had denied his own diocesan the use<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[295]</a></span>
+of his pulpit. But I told his excellency I was satisfied
+with the liberty he allowed me, and would not
+act contrary to his injunction. I then begged leave
+to be dismissed, as I was obliged to preach at eleven
+o'clock. His excellency said he intended to do himself
+the pleasure to hear me. At eleven, the church bell
+rung. The church Bible, prayer-book, and cushion,
+were sent to the town-house. The governor, several
+of the council, the minister of the parish, and assembly-men,
+with a great number of the town's people,
+assembled in great order. I was very sick, through
+a cold I caught last night; but read the church prayers.
+The first lesson was the fifteenth chapter of the
+first book of Samuel. I preached on those words,
+'Righteousness exalteth a nation.' Being weak and
+faint, and afflicted much with the headache, I did not
+do that justice to my subject which I sometimes am
+enabled to do; but the Lord so helped me that, as I
+found afterwards, the governor and the other gentlemen
+expressed their approbation, and acknowledged
+they did not expect to be so well entertained. Not
+unto me, Lord, not unto me, but to thy free grace
+be all the glory!</p>
+
+<p>"After sermon, Dr. F&mdash;&mdash;bs, and Mr. P&mdash;&mdash;t, the
+collector, came to me, and desired me to favor them
+and the gentlemen of the town with my company at
+dinner. I accepted the invitation. The governor,
+and the president, and Judge Bascom were there.
+All wondered at my speaking so freely and fluently
+without notes. The governor asked whether I used
+minutes. I answered, 'No.' He said it was a great
+gift. At table, his excellency introduced something<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[296]</a></span>
+of religion by asking me the meaning of the word
+<span class="smcap">Hades</span>. Several other things were started about freewill,
+Adam's fall, predestination, etc., to all which God
+enabled me to answer so pertinently, and taught me
+to mix the <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">utile</i> and <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">dulce</i> [useful and pleasant] so together,
+that all at table seemed highly pleased, shook
+me by the hand, and invited me to their respective
+houses. The governor, in particular, asked me to
+dine with him on the morrow; and Dr. F&mdash;&mdash;, one
+of his particular intimates, invited me to drink tea in
+the afternoon. I thanked all, returned proper respects,
+and went to my lodgings with some degree of
+thankfulness for the assistance vouchsafed me, and
+abased before God at the consideration of my unspeakable
+unworthiness. In the afternoon, about five
+o'clock, I expounded the parable of the prodigal son
+to many people at a private house; and in the evening
+had liberty to speak freely and closely to those
+who supped with me. O that this may be the beginning
+of good gospel times to the inhabitants of this
+town."</p>
+
+<p>We might fill other pages from Whitefield's journal,
+but will only give two more passages. The first
+will show him in connection with the African race, in
+whose highest welfare he always took a special
+interest.</p>
+
+<p>"Saturday, May 7. In my conversation these two
+days with some of my friends, I was diverted much
+in hearing several things that passed among the poor
+negroes, since I preached to them last Sunday. One
+of the women, it seems, said that 'if the book I preached
+out of was the best book that was ever bought at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[297]</a></span>
+London, she was sure it had never all that in it which
+I spoke to the negroes,' The old man who spoke out
+loud last Sunday, and said 'yes' when I asked them
+whether all the negroes would not go to heaven, being
+questioned by somebody why he spoke out so, answered,
+that 'the gentleman put the question once or twice
+to them, and the other fools had not the manners to
+make any answer; till at last I seemed to point at
+him, and he was ashamed that nobody should answer
+me, and therefore he did.' Another, wondering why
+I said negroes had black hearts, was answered by his
+black brother, 'Ah, thou fool, dost not thou understand
+it? He means black with sin.' Two girls
+were overheard by their mistress talking about religion,
+and they said 'they knew, if they did not repent,
+they must be damned.' From all which I infer that
+these negroes on the Bermudas are more awake than
+I supposed; that their consciences are awake, and
+consequently prepared in a good measure for hearing
+the gospel preached to them."</p>
+
+<p>Whitefield sums up the events which had occurred
+in connection with himself on the Bermudas, the
+praise of which islands has also been celebrated by
+the distinguished Bishop Berkeley, who resided there
+for some time, and by Waller the poet.</p>
+
+<p>"Sunday, May 22. Blessed be God, the little
+leaven thrown into the three measures of meal begins
+to ferment and work almost every day for the week
+past. I have conversed with souls loaded with a
+sense of their sins, and as far as I can judge, really
+pricked to the heart. I preached only three times,
+but to almost three times larger auditories than usual.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[298]</a></span>
+Indeed, the fields are white, ready to harvest. God
+has been pleased to bless private visits. Go where I
+will, upon the least notice, houses are crowded, and
+the poor souls that follow are soon drenched in tears.
+This day I took, as it were, another farewell. As the
+ship did not sail, I preached at Somerset in the morning
+to a large congregation in the fields; and expounded
+in the evening at Mr. Harvy's house, around
+which stood many hundreds of people. But in the
+morning and evening how did the poor souls weep.
+Abundance of prayers and blessings were put up for
+my safe passage to England, and speedy return to the
+Bermudas again. May they enter into the ears of the
+Lord of sabaoth. With all humility and thankfulness
+of heart will I here, O Lord, set up my <em>Ebenezer</em>,
+for hitherto surely hast thou helped me. Thanks be
+to the Lord for sending me hither. I have been received
+in a manner I dared not to expect, and have
+met with little, very little opposition indeed. The
+inhabitants seem to be plain and open-hearted. They
+have loaded me with provisions for my sea-store; and
+in the several parishes, by a private voluntary contribution,
+have raised me upwards of <em>one hundred pounds
+sterling</em>. This will pay a little of Bethesda's debt,
+and enable me to make such a remittance to my dear
+yoke-fellow, as may keep her from being embarrassed,
+or too much beholden in my absence. Blessed be
+God for bringing me out of my embarrassments by
+degrees. May the Lord reward all my benefactors a
+thousand-fold. I hear that what was given, was given
+heartily, and people only lamented that they could
+do no more."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[299]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Whitefield now transmitted to Georgia what had
+been collected for the orphan-house; but fearing a
+relapse, if he returned to the south during the hot
+season, which was near commencing, and pressed also
+again to visit England, he took his passage in a brig,
+and in twenty-eight days arrived at Deal.</p>
+
+<p>On his voyage, he completed an abridgment,
+which he had previously begun, of "<cite>Law's serious Call
+to a devout and holy Life</cite>," which he endeavored to
+make more useful by excluding whatever is not truly
+evangelical, and illustrating the subject more fully,
+especially from the holy Scriptures. He also wrote
+letters to his friends, one of which strikingly illustrates
+his Christian humility. It bears date June 24,
+1748. "Yesterday I made an end of revising all my
+journals. Alas, alas, in how many things I have
+judged and acted wrong. I have been too rash and
+hasty in giving characters both of places and persons.
+Being fond of Scripture language, I have used a style
+too apostolical, and at the same time I have been too
+bitter in my zeal. Wildfire has been mixed with it,
+and I find that I frequently wrote and spoke in my
+own spirit, when I thought I was writing and speaking
+by the assistance of the Spirit of God. I have,
+likewise, too much made inward impressions my rule
+of acting, and too soon and too explicitly published
+what had been better kept in longer, or told after my
+death. By these things I have hurt the blessed cause
+I would defend, and also stirred up a needless opposition.
+This has humbled me much, and made me
+think of a saying of Mr. Henry, 'Joseph had more
+honesty than he had policy, or he never would have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[300]</a></span>
+told his dreams.' At the same time, I cannot but
+praise God, who fills me with so much of his holy fire,
+and carried me, a poor weak youth, through such a
+torrent, both of popularity and contempt, and set so
+many seals to my unworthy ministrations. I bless
+him for ripening my judgment a little more, for giving
+me to see and confess, and I hope in some degree to
+correct and amend some of my former mistakes."</p>
+
+<p>In the early part of this year, 1748, the "Gentleman's
+Magazine" had announced Whitefield's death
+as having taken place in America. One of his first
+letters on his arrival at Deal in that year, says,
+"Words cannot express how joyful my friends were
+to see me once more in the land of the living, for I
+find the newspapers had buried me ever since April
+last. But it seems I am not to die, but live. O that
+it may be to declare the works of the Lord."</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[301]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER XI.</h2>
+
+<h3>LABORS IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND&mdash;CHAPLAIN
+TO LADY HUNTINGDON.<br />
+
+1748, 1749.</h3>
+
+
+<p>On the evening of July 6, 1748, Whitefield again
+found himself in London, after an absence of nearly
+four years. Here he was welcomed with joy by many
+thousands. The large church of St. Bartholomew was
+at once thrown open to him, where multitudes flocked
+to hear, and where on the first Sabbath he had a
+thousand communicants. But in his own more immediate
+circle many things were in an unhappy condition.
+His congregation at the Tabernacle had been
+much scattered during his absence; Antinomianism
+had made sad havoc among the people; and one of
+this party threatened to rival him in Moorfields.
+Whitefield sent him word, "The fields are no doubt
+as free to you as to another. God send you a clear
+head and a <em>clean</em> heart. I intend preaching there on
+Sunday evening." He did so; and found "Moorfields
+as white to harvest as ever." Our evangelist
+was again called to mourn the evils of poverty. He
+found himself compelled to sell his household furniture,
+to pay, in part, the debts of his orphan-house,
+which were yet far from being cancelled; his aged
+mother, for whom he always retained the highest
+regard, also needed his aid. These and other trials
+pressed him sorely; but on the other hand, he felt
+happy in his work, and his congregation were soon
+reunited, and happy in his labors.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[302]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>We have seen that as early as 1738, Lady Huntingdon,
+with his lordship her husband, as frequently
+as they could, heard Whitefield preach; since that
+period his lordship had died, leaving her ladyship a
+widow, in the thirty-ninth year of her age. At what
+period she became more openly and intimately Whitefield's
+friend does not appear; but when he landed at
+Deal from his third visit to America, she sent Howel
+Harris to bring him to her house at Chelsea, where
+he preached to large circles of the gay world, who
+thronged this then fashionable watering-place. For
+the benefit of this class of hearers, she soon after
+removed to London, at that time some three miles
+distant from Chelsea, appointed Whitefield her chaplain,
+and during the winter of 1748 and '49, opened
+her splendid mansion in Park-street for the preaching
+of the gospel. "Good Lady Huntingdon," he writes,
+"has come to town, and I am to preach twice a week
+at her house to the great and noble. O that some of
+them might be effectually called to taste the riches of
+redeeming love." On the first day appointed, Chesterfield
+and Bolingbroke, both of them well-known
+for their gayety and infidelity, and a circle of the
+nobility, attended; and having heard him once, they
+desired to come again. "Lord Chesterfield thanked
+me," he says. "Lord Bolingbroke was moved, and
+asked me to come and see him the next morning. My
+hands have been full of work, and I have been among
+great company. All accepted my sermons. Thus the
+world turns round. '<em>In all time of my wealth, good
+Lord, deliver me.</em>'"</p>
+
+<p>The death-bed of Lord St. John Bolingbroke,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[303]</a></span>
+whom we have already mentioned as one of his parlor-hearers,
+exhibited scenes unusual in the circle where
+he moved. The Bible was read to him, and his cry
+was, "God be merciful to me a sinner." "My Lord
+Bolingbroke," wrote Lady Huntingdon to Whitefield,
+"was much struck with his brother's language in his
+last moments. O that his eyes might be opened by
+the illuminating influence of divine truth. He is a
+singularly awful character; and I am fearfully alarmed,
+lest the gospel which he so heartily despises, yet
+affects to reverence, should prove the savor of death
+unto death to him. Some, I trust, are savingly awakened,
+while many are inquiring; thus the great Lord
+of the harvest hath put honor on your ministry, and
+hath given my heart an encouraging token of the utility
+of our feeble efforts."</p>
+
+<p>It is related that the Rev. Mr. Church, a clergyman
+who died curate of Battersea, near London, one
+day called on Bolingbroke, who said to him, "You
+have caught me reading John Calvin; he was indeed
+a man of great parts, profound sense, and vast learning;
+he handles the doctrines of grace in a very masterly
+manner." "Doctrines of grace," replied the
+clergyman; "the doctrines of grace have set all mankind
+by the ears." "I am surprised to hear you say
+so," answered Lord Bolingbroke, "you who profess to
+believe and to preach Christianity. Those doctrines
+are certainly the doctrines of the Bible, and if I believe
+the Bible I must believe them. And let me seriously
+tell you, that the greatest miracle in the world
+is the subsistence of Christianity, and its continued
+preservation, as a religion, when the preaching of it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[304]</a></span>
+is committed to the care of such unchristian men as
+you."</p>
+
+<p>At this period Whitefield renewed his acquaintance
+with the Rev. James Hervey, who has not improperly
+been called the Melancthon of the second
+reformation in England. Among all the converts of
+our evangelist, no one was more distinguished for piety,
+or for his fascination as a writer, than this admirable
+clergyman. His writings, though too flowery in their
+style, were eminently suitable, as Whitefield himself
+says, "for the taste of the polite world." Hervey
+wrote to Whitefield, "Your journals and sermons, and
+especially that sweet sermon on 'What think ye of
+Christ?' were a means of bringing me to the knowledge
+of the truth." Whitefield felt the warmest
+attachment to Hervey in return, and when he introduced
+some of his works into America, wrote, "The
+author is my old friend; a most heavenly-minded
+creature; one of the first Methodists, who is contented
+with a small <em>cure</em>, and gives all he has to the poor.
+We correspond with, though we cannot see each
+other." Whitefield intimated in one of his journals
+his intention of sketching Hervey's character, but this
+was one of the many intended things which were
+never accomplished. Dr. Doddridge wrote a preface
+to one of his works, which Warburton, as might be
+expected, called "a weak rhapsody."</p>
+
+<p>Under the auspices of Lady Huntingdon, a prayer-meeting
+was established for the women who, from the
+circles of rank and fashion, became the followers of
+the Lord. Among these were Lady Frances Gardiner,
+Lady Mary Hamilton, daughter of the Marquis of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[305]</a></span>
+Lothian, who had attended the ministry of Whitefield
+in Scotland, Lady Gertrude Hotham and Countess
+Delitz, sisters of Lady Chesterfield, Lady Chesterfield
+herself, and Lady Fanny Shirley. "Religion," says
+Lady Huntingdon, when writing to Doddridge, "was
+never so much the subject of conversation as now.
+Some of the great ones hear with me the gospel patiently,
+and thus much seed is sown by Mr. Whitefield's
+preaching. O that it may fall on good ground,
+and bring forth abundantly."</p>
+
+<p>Some one, we believe a bishop, complained to
+George II. of the popularity and success of Whitefield,
+and entreated his majesty in some way or other
+to silence him. The monarch, thinking, no doubt, of
+the class described by the martyr Latimer, as "unpreaching
+prelates," replied with jocose severity, "I
+believe the best way will be to make a bishop of
+him."</p>
+
+<p>But if Whitefield was honored by some of the
+great, he received from others unmingled hostility.
+Horace Walpole, the gay man, and the corrupt courtier,
+thought it worth while to introduce the Methodist
+preacher into his "Private Correspondence." The
+statement he makes of professed facts is altogether
+incredible, but shows unmistakably the spirit of the
+writer. "The apostle Whitefield is come to some
+shame. He went to Lady Huntingdon lately, and
+asked for forty pounds for some distressed saint or
+other. She said she had not so much money in the
+house, but would give it him the first time she had.
+He was very pressing, but in vain. At last he said,
+'There's your watch and trinkets, you don't want<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[306]</a></span>
+such vanities; I will have that.' She would have put
+him off; but he persisting, she said, 'Well, if you must
+have it, you must.' About a fortnight afterwards,
+going to his house, and being carried into his wife's
+chamber, among the paraphernalia of the latter the
+countess found her own offering. This has made a
+terrible schism; she tells the story herself. I had
+not it from Saint Frances, [Lady Fanny Shirley,] but
+I hope it is true." Every thing goes to prove the
+sincerity of his hope, though founded on falsehood.</p>
+
+<p>It has generally happened that the most effective
+public speakers, whether secular or sacred, have been
+accused by a fastidious class with <em>vulgarisms</em>. So with
+Cicero, Burke, and Chatham; so with Patrick Henry
+and Daniel Webster; and to turn to eminent preachers,
+so with Luther, Latimer, and Whitefield. The
+reason was, that intent on the greatest good to the
+greatest number, they used what Dr. Johnson, after
+Daniel Burgess, called "market language." Dr. William
+Bates, an accomplished and courtly non-conformist
+minister, in the seventeenth century, once complained
+in the presence of his faithful but unpolished
+friend Daniel Burgess, that he found very little success
+in his work as a minister; when his aged brother
+smartly replied, "Thank your velvet mouth for that&mdash;too
+fine to speak market language." Whitefield, very
+happily for thousands, had no squeamishness of this
+sort.</p>
+
+<p>Some ladies called one Saturday morning to pay a
+visit to Lady Huntingdon, and during the interview,
+her ladyship inquired of them if they had ever heard
+Mr. Whitefield preach. On being answered in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[307]</a></span>
+negative, she said, "I wish you would hear him; he
+is to preach to-morrow evening." They promised her
+ladyship they would certainly attend. They fulfilled
+their promise; and when they called on her ladyship
+the next Monday morning, she anxiously inquired if
+they had heard Mr. Whitefield on the previous evening,
+and how they liked him. The reply was, "Oh,
+my lady, of all the preachers we ever heard, he is the
+most strange and unaccountable! Among other preposterous
+things, would your ladyship believe it, he
+declared that Jesus Christ was so willing to receive
+sinners, that he did not object to receive even the
+devil's <em>castaways</em>! Now, my lady, did you ever hear
+of such a thing since you were born?" Her ladyship,
+in reply, said, "There is something, I acknowledge, a
+little singular in the invitation, and I do not recollect
+to have met with it before; but as Mr. Whitefield is
+below in the parlor, we will have him up, and let him
+answer for himself."</p>
+
+<p>On Mr. Whitefield's entering the drawing-room,
+Lady Huntingdon said, "Sir, these ladies have been
+preferring a very heavy charge against you, and I
+thought it best that you should come up and defend
+yourself. They say, that in your sermon last evening,
+in speaking of the willingness of Jesus Christ to receive
+sinners, you said, that 'so ready was Christ to
+receive sinners who came to him, that he was willing
+to receive even the devil's castaways.'" Mr. Whitefield
+immediately replied, "I certainly, my lady, must
+plead guilty to the charge; whether I did what was
+right, or otherwise, your ladyship shall judge when
+you have heard a fact. Did your ladyship notice,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[308]</a></span>
+about half an hour ago, a very modest single rap at
+the door? It was given by a poor, miserable looking
+aged female, who requested to speak with me. I desired
+that she might be shown into the parlor, when
+she thus addressed me: 'I believe, sir, you preached
+last evening at such a chapel.' 'Yes, I did.' 'Ah,
+sir, I was accidentally passing the door of that chapel,
+and hearing the voice of some one preaching, I did
+what I have never been in the habit of doing&mdash;I went
+in; and one of the first things I heard you say, was,
+that Jesus Christ was so willing to receive sinners,
+that he did not object to receive the devil's castaways.
+Do you think, sir, that Jesus Christ would receive me?'
+I answered her that there was not a doubt of it, if she
+was but willing to go to him."</p>
+
+<p>It is pleasant to add, that the impression conveyed
+in the singular language of Mr. Whitefield ended in
+the conversion of the poor woman to God. She gave
+satisfactory evidence that her great and numerous sins
+had been forgiven through the atonement of the Lord
+Jesus Christ. Was Mr. Whitefield to be censured for
+the use of this language?</p>
+
+<p>In September, 1748, Mr. Whitefield made his third
+visit to Scotland, where he met with a cordial welcome,
+and where his labors became increasingly valued.
+Some of the clergy at Glasgow, Perth, and
+Edinburgh used their influence to exclude him from
+the pulpits, but the majority voted in his favor; and
+a full examination vindicated his character, and made
+his excellences more generally known. All the ministers
+who were disposed to invite him to preach, were
+at liberty to do so, except in the presbytery of Edinburgh;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[309]</a></span>
+here, however, he was accommodated by the
+magistrates with a church to preach in whenever he
+visited the city. In Scotland he now warmly advocated
+the cause of the college in New Jersey: of the
+results of his labors we shall hear more hereafter.</p>
+
+<p>On his return to London, Whitefield resumed his
+preaching at Lady Huntingdon's to "the great ones,"
+as he calls them. Thirty, and sometimes even sixty
+persons of rank attended, although the newspapers
+gave false and degrading accounts of the reception he
+met with in Scotland. He now availed himself of the
+influence he possessed, to forward his intended college,
+in addition to his orphan-house, for which his plea
+was, "If some such thing be not done, I cannot see
+how the southern parts will be provided with ministers;
+for all are afraid to go over." On this ground
+he appealed to the trustees of Georgia; reminding
+them that he had expended five thousand pounds upon
+the orphan-house; begging them to relieve it, as a
+charitable institution, from all quit-rent and taxes;
+and especially to allow him the labor of blacks in cultivating
+the farm. "White hands," he said, "had left
+his tract of land uncultivated."</p>
+
+<p>It will not be expected that Whitefield could stay
+long, even in the courtly circles of London, where he
+met with so much acceptance. We very soon find him
+among his old friends at Gloucester and Bristol. The
+bishop of the latter see, he says, behaved very respectfully
+to him; he visited also his old tutor, now become
+one of the prebendaries, and met with the old
+kindness received at Oxford. "I told him, that my
+judgment, as I trust, was a little more ripened than it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[310]</a></span>
+was some years ago; and that as fast as I found out
+my faults, I should be glad to acknowledge them.
+He said the offence of the governors of the church
+would wear off as I grew <em>moderate</em>." The evangelist
+did not tell the doctor how little he cared for such
+moderation as the governors of the church in that day
+required; but he wrote to Lady Huntingdon, on the
+subject of their favor, "I am pretty easy about that.
+If I can but act an honest part, and be kept from
+<em>trimming</em>, I leave all consequences to Him who orders
+all things well." During this journey, many new converts
+were won. One of these was a counsellor, who
+was so much affected, that his zeal in inviting others
+to hear Whitefield led his wife to suspect him of
+madness.</p>
+
+<p>An interesting fact connected with Gloucestershire,
+his native county, may be introduced in this
+place, though we are not sure that it occurred during
+this journey. John Skinner of Houndscroft was a
+strolling fiddler, going from fair to fair, supplying
+music to any party that would hire him. Having
+determined to interrupt Mr. Whitefield while preaching,
+he obtained a standing on a ladder raised to a
+window near the pulpit. Here he remained a quiet,
+if not an attentive hearer, till the text was read, when
+he intended to begin his annoying exercise on the violin.
+It pleased God, however, while he was putting
+his instrument in tune, to convey the word preached
+with irresistible power to his soul; his attention was
+diverted from his original purpose, he heard the whole
+sermon, and became a new man.</p>
+
+<p>Happily Whitefield was blessed in bringing to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[311]</a></span>
+Christ many who were made eminently useful. Among
+others we might mention the late Rev. Cornelius
+Winter, an eminent minister, who afterwards accompanied
+our evangelist in his last voyage to America,
+and who after his death conveyed his will to England,
+and sought ordination to return and labor in
+Georgia. Disappointed in this, he became an able
+and successful minister in England; and also trained
+several young men for the Christian ministry, including
+the late celebrated William Jay of Bath.
+Whitefield had often been heard by Winter with
+great pleasure, for he admired his eloquence; but for
+some time no good effects were apparent. One night,
+while playing at cards, an amusement in which he
+much delighted, and though surrounded by a number
+of gay companions, the thought presented itself to
+Winter's mind that he might that evening hear his
+favorite preacher. He broke off from play in the
+midst of the game, which made his companions very
+angry, as they suspected where he was going. He
+tells us that it was a night much to be remembered.
+He had reason to hope the scales of ignorance were
+then removed from his eyes, he had a sense of his
+misery as a sinner, and was led to earnest inquiry
+after the way of salvation. It is scarcely necessary
+to say, that he never again played at cards.</p>
+
+<p>From the exhilarating scenes of Gloucestershire
+and Bristol, we must accompany Whitefield into Cornwall,
+among the glens and dales of which, or on
+the seaside to a somewhat similar population and
+with almost equal success, he spoke "all the words of
+this life." The robust and determined miners of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[312]</a></span>
+west of England, whose very employment gives hardihood
+alike to their character and frame, at first received
+him in somewhat rough and unpolished style,
+but were soon after melted and transformed by the
+grace which had displayed its triumphs among their
+brethren at Kingswood. "I am just returned," he
+writes on one occasion, "from near the Land's End,
+where thousands and thousands heard the gospel gladly.
+Everywhere the word of God has run and been
+glorified. Every day I have been travelling and
+preaching; and could I stay a month, it might be
+spent to great advantage. At a place called Port
+Isaac, the Redeemer's stately steps were indeed seen.
+At Camelford I preached with great quietness in the
+streets. At St. Ann's we had a very powerful season;
+and yesterday at Redruth several thousands attended,
+and the word was quick and powerful." Again he
+writes, "Immediately after writing my last, I preached
+to many thousands at a place called Gwennap.
+The rain descended, but the grace of God seemed to
+fall like a gentle dew, sprinkling rain upon our souls.
+It was indeed a fine spring shower. In the evening
+I rode to St. Ives, and preached to many who gladly
+attended to hear the word; a great power seemed to
+accompany it. On the Lord's day I preached twice
+to great auditories. On Monday I preached again at
+Redruth, at ten in the morning, to nearly, as they
+were computed, ten thousand souls. Arrows of conviction
+seemed to fly fast." Again, in a communication
+to the Countess of Huntingdon, he says, "I have
+been very near the Land's End, and everywhere souls
+have fled to hear the word preached, 'like doves to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[313]</a></span>
+their windows.' The harvest is great, yea, very great,
+but laborers are few. O that the Lord of the harvest
+would thrust out more laborers." And yet again he
+says, "Invitations are sent to me from Falmouth and
+several other places, but I cannot attend to them all
+at present. I want more tongues, more bodies, more
+souls, for the Lord Jesus. Had I ten thousand, he
+should have them all." Such was the noble spirit he
+displayed, and such were the manner and fruits of his
+"entering in among" the, at that time, benighted children
+of Cornwall. A great light shone upon them.
+They came from the caverns of the earth to welcome
+its rising, and to look upon its brightness. Thousands
+of them were indeed "brought out of darkness into
+marvellous light," and turned by it from sin to holiness,
+and from Satan to God; and thousands are still
+rejoicing in its beams.</p>
+
+<p>On his return to London, Whitefield found his
+assemblies at the countess's "brilliant indeed," and
+Lord Bolingbroke still one among them. Of this talented
+nobleman our evangelist at this time indulged
+a happy hope, which, alas, seems never to have been
+realized.</p>
+
+<p>In February, 1749, Whitefield made an excursion
+to Exeter and Plymouth, where he was agreeably surprised
+to find a great alteration had taken place since
+his preceding visit, five years before. He loved to
+"range," as he called it, "after precious souls," and
+happily for him and for others he found them. During
+this and subsequent visits to Plymouth, he resided
+with the Rev. Andrew Kinsman, an excellent Congregational
+minister, of whom we have already spoken.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[314]</a></span>
+He was born in Devonshire in 1724, and was therefore
+ten years younger than Whitefield. While peculiarly
+amiable in his manners, and remarkable for his
+regard to his parents, he was unacquainted with the
+religion of the heart till his seventeenth year, when he
+met with a volume of Mr. Whitefield's sermons, and
+one of those on the new birth alarmed him. His
+pious friends were few, but his religious feelings were
+deeply moved, and God at length gave him "the oil
+of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the
+spirit of heaviness." Concerned for the highest interests
+of his relatives, he one night, as the family were
+retiring to rest, broke out, with intense emotion, "What,
+shall we go to bed without prayer? How do we know
+but some of us may awake in hell before morning?"
+This unexpected address struck the family with solemn
+awe; and while they looked at each other with conscious
+shame, for the neglect of so clear a duty, he
+fell upon his knees and prayed with so much readiness
+and fervor that it excited their astonishment.</p>
+
+<p>As might be expected, his concern for others did
+not stop here; he was anxious that his neighbors
+might also find "the unsearchable riches of Christ."
+He began, therefore, to read Whitefield's sermons to
+as many as would attend, supposing, with Melancthon,
+that what had proved so great a blessing to himself,
+would not fail of similar effects on others, as soon as
+they were heard. After a short time, he began himself
+to expound and preach, and was encouraged by
+many conversions under his ministry, including those
+of his father, mother, and three sisters. Not long
+after these events, Whitefield, in entering on one of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[315]</a></span>
+his voyages to America, had been compelled to stay
+at Plymouth, where Kinsman first saw and heard him.
+By a series of remarkable events, Mr. Kinsman was
+brought to settle as a minister at Plymouth, where
+the "Tabernacle" was erected on ground given by
+himself, and the congregation were served by him and
+other ministers with abundant success. In the whole
+neighborhood an extraordinary blessing attended his
+labors, and his usefulness and deliverances from danger
+were only second to those of Whitefield himself.
+Nor was he less respected, nor his ministry attended
+with less success, at Bristol and London&mdash;cities to
+which he was invited by Whitefield; who used to
+call Bristol "<em>Kinsman's America</em>," alluding to his own
+reception and success in the western world.</p>
+
+<p>On one occasion, when Whitefield was about to
+sail for America, he sent for Kinsman to London, and
+on his arrival dined with his distinguished friend at
+the Tabernacle house. After dinner there was a violent
+storm of thunder and lightning. As they stood at
+the window looking out on the raging elements, Mr.
+Kinsman, supposing a young clergyman who had dined
+with them, and who now stood by his side, to be a
+pious man, familiarly put his hand on his shoulder,
+and with great cheerfulness and energy repeated the
+lines of Dr. Watts:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"The God who rules on high,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And thunders when he please;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Who rides upon the stormy sky,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And manages the seas&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1"><em>This awful God is ours</em>,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Our Father, and our love!"<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[316]</a></span></p>
+<p>The words so appropriately introduced, and so
+emphatically spoken, made a deep impression on the
+mind of the young clergyman, and gave rise to a conversation
+which, by the blessing of God, led to his
+conversion.</p>
+
+<p>At the Tabernacle in London, the ministry of Mr.
+Kinsman was greatly distinguished for its excellence
+and success, and he thought himself highly honored in
+preaching the first sermon delivered from the pulpit
+of the present Tabernacle. His musical voice, his
+lively and pathetic address, and the richness of the
+evangelical truths he proclaimed, brought numbers of
+all classes of society to hear him. Among them was
+Shuter, the comedian, to whom we shall again refer
+as a hearer of Whitefield, and who years afterwards,
+in an interview with Kinsman, drew a striking contrast
+between their professions, and bitterly lamented
+that he had not cordially embraced religion, when his
+conscience was impressed under the preaching of the
+great evangelist.</p>
+
+<p>But we must not stay longer to speak of Kinsman;
+suffice it to say that he founded, in addition to Plymouth,
+a new church three miles from thence, at a place
+now called Devonport, and labored with energy and
+holy success till the sixty-ninth year of his age, when he
+died in triumph, February 28, 1793. Of such a man
+it was truly said, that for Whitefield "he retained the
+most filial affection to his dying day; and frequently
+travelled with, and consulted him as a father upon all
+his religious concerns."</p>
+
+<p>In March Whitefield returned to London, where
+the feeble state of his health made him feel weary<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[317]</a></span>
+even in his success. He says, "I have seen enough of
+popularity to be sick of it, and did not the interest of
+my blessed Master require my appearing in public,
+the world should hear but little of me henceforward."
+Yet his zeal abated not. "I dread the thoughts of
+flagging in the latter stages of my road," is an expression
+often used in his letters to his friends. He
+thought that preaching and travelling contributed to
+his health. In a letter to Hervey, he says, "Fear not
+your weak body, we are immortal till our work is
+done. Christ's laborers must live by miracle; if not,
+I must not live at all, for God only knows what I
+daily endure. My continual vomitings almost kill
+me, and yet the pulpit is my cure; so that my friends
+begin to pity me less, and to leave off that ungrateful
+caution, 'Spare thyself.' I speak this to encourage
+you."</p>
+
+<p>All this Whitefield meant. Hence in May we find
+him preaching at Portsmouth daily, for more than a
+week, to very large and attentive auditories; where
+was shown another remarkable instance of the power
+which attended his preaching, for many who a few
+days before were speaking all manner of evil against
+him, were very desirous of his longer stay to preach
+the gospel among them. From Bristol, June 24, he
+writes, "Yesterday God brought me here, after a circuit
+of about eight hundred miles, and enabled me to
+preach to, I suppose, upwards of a hundred thousand
+souls. I have been in eight Welsh counties, and I
+think we have not had one dry meeting. The work
+in Wales is much upon the advance, and likely to
+increase daily."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[318]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Whitefield returned to London to welcome his
+wife home from the Bermuda Islands. From her he
+learned that there his character had been aspersed by
+one of the clergy; but while he grieved over the fact,
+he said, "I am content to wait till the day of judgment
+for the clearing up of my character; and after I am
+dead, I desire no other epitaph than this, 'Here lies
+George Whitefield. What sort of a man he was, the
+great day will discover.'"</p>
+
+<p>In the midst of his sorrows, Whitefield was comforted
+by a visit from two German ministers, who had
+been laboring among the Jews with apparently happy
+results. He found also several of the peeresses, and
+others of "the great," cordially disposed to receive
+him; and shortly afterwards was visited by Mr. Grimshaw,
+a clergyman from Yorkshire, for whom in September
+he went to preach. Thousands in the village of
+Haworth attended his preaching, even ten thousand at
+a time, and a thousand communicants approached the
+table of the Lord. At Leeds also he preached, at the
+invitation of Mr. Wesley's people, to ten thousand
+persons, and Mr. Charles Wesley himself introduced
+him to the pulpit at Newcastle-upon-Tyne.</p>
+
+<p>In the north of England the visits of Mr. Whitefield
+were always looked for with intense interest. In
+one of his letters, he thus describes the state of things
+there in August, 1756: "It is now a fortnight since I
+came to Leeds, in and about which I preached eight
+days successively, three times almost every day, to
+thronged and affected auditories. On Sunday last at
+Bradford, in the morning, the audience consisted of
+above ten thousand; at noon, and in the evening, at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[319]</a></span>
+Birstal, of nearly double that number. Though hoarse,
+I was able to speak so that they all heard." These
+hallowed services were often spoken of by the late
+Rev. Dr. John Fawcett, for more than half a century
+an eminent Baptist minister of that neighborhood, to
+whose soul they proved a rich blessing. After having
+heard Whitefield at Bradford in the morning, he
+followed him to Birstal, where a platform was erected
+at the foot of a hill adjoining the town, whence Mr.
+Whitefield addressed an immense concourse of people,
+not fewer, it was believed, than twenty thousand, who
+were ranged before him on the declivity in the form
+of an amphitheatre. "I lay," says Fawcett, "under
+the scaffold, and it appeared as if all his words were
+addressed to me, and as if he had known my most
+secret thoughts from ten years of age. As long as
+life remains, I shall remember both the text and the
+sermon." Accustomed as he was to preach to large
+and promiscuous multitudes, when he looked on this
+vast assemblage, and was about to mount the temporary
+stage, he expressed to his surrounding friends a
+considerable feeling of timidity; but when he began
+to speak, an unusual solemnity pervaded the assembly,
+and thousands, in the course of the sermon, as was
+often the fact, gave vent to their emotions by tears
+and groans. Fools who came to mock, began to pray,
+and to cry out, "What must we do to be saved?"</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Shirley, in giving an account of this same service,
+tells us that "not only the field, but the woodlands
+about it, were covered with crowds collected
+from different parts. An unusual solemnity pervaded
+this vast multitude, and at the close of the service the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[320]</a></span>
+one hundredth psalm was sung, and concluded with
+Mr. Grimshaw's favorite doxology,</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+"'Praise God, from whom all blessings flow.'
+</p>
+
+<div class="noindent">The volume of sound produced by the united voices
+of thousands, while it re&#235;choed through the vale below,
+had such an effect as no language can describe."</div>
+
+<p>Mr. Grimshaw was a very remarkable clergyman
+connected with the church of England, though found
+fault with on account of his irregularity. He studied
+at Cambridge for the ministry before he was acquainted
+with the reality of true religion. His conversion
+was very striking; after which he became a remarkably
+faithful and pungent preacher. He settled at
+Haworth, in Yorkshire, where Mr. Whitefield visited
+him.</p>
+
+<p>In one of the services held by Mr. Whitefield in
+Yorkshire, a deep solemnity was created by providential
+circumstances. He had mounted the temporary
+scaffold to address the thousands before him. Casting
+a look over the multitude, he elevated his hands,
+and in an energetic manner implored the divine presence
+and blessing. With a solemnity peculiarly his
+own, he then announced his text, "It is appointed
+unto men once to die, but after this the judgment."
+Heb. 11:27. After a short pause, as he was about
+to proceed, a wild, terrifying shriek issued from the
+centre of the congregation. A momentary alarm and
+confusion ensued. Mr. Whitefield waited to ascertain
+the cause, and requested the people to remain still.
+Mr. Grimshaw hurried to the spot, and in a few minutes
+was seen pressing towards the place where Mr.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[321]</a></span>
+Whitefield stood. "Brother Whitefield," said he,
+manifesting in the strongest manner the intensity of
+his feelings, and the ardor of his concern for the salvation
+of sinners, "you stand among the dead and the
+dying. An immortal soul has been called into eternity;
+the destroying angel is passing over the congregation;
+cry aloud, and spare not." The awful
+occurrence was speedily announced to the congregation.
+After the lapse of a few moments, Mr. Whitefield
+again announced his text. Again a loud and
+piercing shriek proceeded from the spot near where
+Lady Huntingdon and Lady Margaret Ingham were
+standing. A thrill of horror seemed to escape from
+the multitude when it was understood that a <em>second</em>
+person had fallen a victim to the king of terrors.
+When the consternation had somewhat subsided, Mr.
+Whitefield gave indications of proceeding with the
+service. The excited feelings of many were wound up
+to their highest point. All was hushed; not a sound
+was to be heard; and a stillness like the awful silence
+of death spread over the assembly, as he proceeded in
+melting strains to warn the careless, Christless sinner
+to "flee from the wrath to come."</p>
+
+<p>As winter was now approaching, Whitefield felt it
+important to return to the metropolis. During the
+tour he had made, he won to Christ not a few of those
+who afterwards laid the foundations of churches now
+flourishing in the counties of Lancaster, York, and
+Northumberland. He met, however, with so much
+"rude treatment here and there, as sent him home
+praying, 'Lord, give me a pilgrim heart for my pilgrim
+life.'" He was now in "winter quarters," but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[322]</a></span>
+was neither idle nor useless. To use his own words,
+"The glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle, and the
+shout of a king was in the camp," and that from week
+to week. "Thousands, thousands crowded to hear."
+Every day also he heard of instances of conversion.
+One of these pleased him greatly. It was that of a
+boatswain, who, before hearing him, knew no more
+about divine truth "than the whistle he blew on
+board." He mentions also a boy eleven years of age,
+a woman of eighty, and a baker, who had been "a
+Jerusalem sinner," all of whom bowed before the
+cross, and placed their hopes of salvation on Him
+who died thereon.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[323]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER XII.</h2>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<h3>LABORS IN GREAT BRITAIN&mdash;FOURTH VISIT TO
+AMERICA&mdash;NEW TABERNACLE IN LONDON, AND
+TABERNACLE AT BRISTOL.<br />
+
+1750-1754.</h3></blockquote>
+
+
+<p>At the beginning of the year 1750, Whitefield was
+still in London. At this time his intended college at
+Bethesda occupied much of his attention. He wrote
+to his friends in every quarter for help. His usual
+appeal was, "We propose having an academy or college
+at the orphan-house. The house is large, and
+will hold a hundred. My <em>heart</em>, I trust, is larger, and
+will hold ten thousand." Though in London, his
+heart was in America. He says, "Ranging seems my
+province; and methinks I hear a voice behind me saying,
+'This is the way, walk in it.' My heart echoes
+back, 'Lord, let thy presence go with me, and then
+send me where thou pleasest.' In the midst of all,
+America, <em>dear</em> America, is not forgotten. I begin to
+count the days, and to say to the months, 'Fly fast
+away, that I may spread the gospel-net once more in
+dear America.'"</p>
+
+<p>Be it here mentioned, that amid the busy scenes
+of his life, and while surrounded with the flatteries of
+the great and noble, Whitefield did not forget the
+duties he owed to his mother. A person whom he had
+employed to obtain some comforts for her, had neglected
+the duty, so that the now aged matron might<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[324]</a></span>
+have felt a week's anxiety. He wrote to her, "I
+should never forgive myself, was I, by negligence or
+any wrong conduct, to give you a moment's needless
+pain. Alas, how little have I done for you. Christ's
+care for his mother excites me to wish I could do any
+thing for you. If you would have any thing more
+brought, pray write, honored mother. * * * Tomorrow
+it will be <em>thirty-five</em> years since you brought
+unworthy me into the world. O that my head were
+waters, and mine eyes fountains of tears, that I might
+bewail my barrenness and unfruitfulness in the church
+of God."</p>
+
+<p>While he was now fully engaged in preaching, and
+was surrounded with flatteries, he did not forget his
+duty to conflict with sin. He writes, "I find a love
+of power sometimes intoxicates even God's dear children.
+It is much easier for me to obey than govern.
+This makes me fly from that which, at our first setting
+out, we are apt to court. I cannot well buy humility
+at too dear a rate."</p>
+
+<p>Dr. Philip Doddridge, as every reader knows, was
+one of the most pious and accomplished preachers and
+writers of the Non-conformists of England in his day.
+Nor was his <em>missionary</em> zeal small in its degree.
+Though he died as early as 1751, he had said, "I am
+now intent on having something done among the dissenters,
+in a more public manner, for propagating the
+gospel abroad, which lies near my heart. I wish to
+live to see this design brought into execution, at least
+into some forwardness, and then I should die the more
+cheerfully." It was indeed the passion of his life to
+promote the interests of evangelical truth, and save<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[325]</a></span>
+the souls of men. And though, as his recent eulogist,
+the Rev. John Stoughton, has said, condemned by
+some, and suspected by others for so doing, he took a
+deep and sympathetic interest in the evangelical labors
+of Whitefield. It seems strange in our day to
+think of Whitefield being regarded as an enthusiast
+by orthodox dissenters. Yet there were those who
+did thus regard him. Bradbury poured on him streams
+of wit; Barker regarded his sermons as low and
+coarse; and another in writing calls him "honest,
+crazy, confident Mr. Whitefield." But Doddridge
+regarded him as far otherwise, and spoke of him as
+"a flaming servant of Christ." He prayed on one
+occasion at the Tabernacle, but Dr. Watts was much
+grieved by it; and when, on Whitefield's visiting
+Northampton, Doddridge gave him the use of his
+pulpit, the managers of the college of which he was
+president remonstrated with him for so doing.</p>
+
+<p>The visit of Whitefield to Doddridge was in February,
+1750, where he met with the Rev. Dr. Sir James
+Stonehouse, and the Rev. Messrs. Hartley and Hervey.
+The latter eminent clergyman thus writes: "I have
+lately seen that most excellent minister of the ever-blessed
+Jesus, Mr. Whitefield. I dined, supped, and
+spent the evening with him at Northampton, in company
+with Dr. Doddridge, and two pious, ingenious
+clergymen of the church of England, both of them
+known to the learned world by their valuable writings.
+And surely I never spent a more delightful
+evening, or saw one that seemed to make nearer
+approaches to the felicity of heaven. A gentleman of
+great worth and rank in the town invited us to his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[326]</a></span>
+house, and gave us an elegant treat; but how mean
+was his provision, how coarse his delicacies, compared
+with the fruit of my friend's lips: they dropped as
+honey from the honey-comb, and were a well of life.
+Surely people do not know that amiable and exemplary
+man, or else, I cannot but think, instead of
+depreciating, they would applaud and love him. For
+my part, I never beheld so fair a copy of our Lord,
+such a living image of the Saviour, such exalted delight
+in God, such enlarged benevolence to man, such
+a steady faith in the divine promises, and such a fervent
+zeal for the divine glory; and all this without
+the least moroseness of humor, or extravagance of
+behavior, sweetened with the most engaging cheerfulness
+of temper, and regulated by all the sobriety of
+reason and wisdom of Scripture; insomuch that I
+cannot forbear applying the wise man's encomium of
+an illustrious woman to this eminent minister of the
+everlasting gospel: 'Many sons have done virtuously,
+but thou excellest them all.'"</p>
+
+<p>In the month of March, 1750, a general alarm had
+been awakened by earthquakes in London, and fears
+were excited by pretended prophecies of still greater
+devastation. These signal judgments of Jehovah
+were preceded by great profligacy of manners, and its
+fruitful parent, licentiousness of principle. Dr. Horne,
+afterwards dean of Canterbury and bishop of Bristol,
+in a sermon preached at the time, says, "As to faith,
+is not the doctrine of the Trinity, and that of the divinity
+of our Lord and Saviour&mdash;without which our redemption
+is absolutely void, and we are yet in our
+sins, lying under the intolerable burden of the wrath<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[327]</a></span>
+of God&mdash;blasphemed and ridiculed openly in conversation
+and in print? And as to righteousness of life,
+are not the people of this land dead in trespasses and
+sins? Idleness, drunkenness, luxury, extravagance,
+and debauchery; for these things cometh the wrath
+of God, and disordered nature proclaims the impending
+distress and perplexity of nations. And Oh, may
+we of this nation never read a handwriting upon the
+wall of heaven, in illuminated capitals of the Almighty,
+<span class="smcap">Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin</span>&mdash;God hath numbered
+the kingdom, and finished it. Thou art weighed
+in the balances of heaven, and found wanting the
+merits of a rejected Redeemer, and therefore the kingdom
+is divided and given away."</p>
+
+<p>The shocks felt in London in February and March
+of this year, were far more violent than any remembered
+for a long series of years. The earth moved
+throughout the whole cities of London and Westminster.
+It was a strong and jarring motion, attended
+with a rumbling noise like that of thunder. Multitudes
+of persons of every class fled from these cities
+with the utmost haste, and others repaired to the
+fields and open places in the neighborhood. Towerhill,
+Moorfields, and Hyde Park were crowded with
+men, women, and children, who remained a whole
+night under the most fearful apprehensions. Places
+of worship were filled with persons in the utmost
+state of alarm. Especially was this the case with
+those attached to Methodist congregations, where
+multitudes came all night, knocking at the doors, and
+for God's sake begging admittance. As convulsions
+of nature are usually regarded by enthusiasts and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[328]</a></span>
+fanatics as the sure harbinger of its dissolution, a
+soldier "had a revelation," that a great part of London
+and Westminster would be destroyed by an earthquake
+on a certain night, between the hours of twelve
+and one o'clock. Believing his assertion, thousands
+fled from the city for fear of being suddenly overwhelmed,
+and repaired to the fields, where they continued
+all night, in momentary expectation of seeing
+the prophecy fulfilled; while thousands of others ran
+about the streets in the most wild and frantic state
+of consternation, apparently quite certain that the
+day of judgment was about to commence. The whole
+scene was truly awful.</p>
+
+<p>Under these circumstances, the ministers of Christ
+preached almost incessantly, and many were awakened
+to a sense of their awful condition before God, and to
+rest their hopes of eternal salvation on the Rock of
+ages. Mr. Whitefield, animated with that burning
+charity which shone so conspicuously in him, ventured
+out at midnight to Hyde Park, where he proclaimed
+to the affrighted and astonished multitudes that there
+is a Saviour, Christ the Lord. The darkness of the
+night, and the awful apprehensions of an approaching
+earthquake, added much to the solemnity of the scene.
+The sermon was truly sublime, and to the ungodly
+sinner, the self-righteous pharisee, and the artful hypocrite,
+strikingly terrific. With a pathos which showed
+the fervor of his soul, and with a grand majestic
+voice that commanded attention, he took occasion from
+the circumstances of the assembly, to call their attention
+to that most important event in which every one
+will be interested, the final consummation of all things,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[329]</a></span>
+the universal wreck of nature, the dissolution of earth,
+and the eternal sentence of every son and daughter of
+Adam. The whole scene was one of a most memorable
+character. Mr. Charles Wesley, Mr. Romaine,
+and others preached in a similar manner, and with
+like happy results.</p>
+
+<p>At this period, Whitefield and his female friends
+especially, were the subjects of royal attention at the
+court of George the Second. It is said that on one
+occasion Lady Chesterfield appeared in a dress "with
+a brown ground and silver flowers," of foreign manufacture.
+The king, smiling significantly, said to her
+aloud, "I know who chose that gown for you&mdash;Mr.
+Whitefield; I hear you have attended on him for a
+year and a half." Her ladyship acknowledged she
+had done so, and professed her approbation of his
+character and ministry; and afterwards deeply regretted
+that she had not said more when she had so
+good an opportunity. Whitefield had occasion to
+wait on the secretary of state, in company with Dr.
+Gifford, a Baptist pastor in London, to ask relief for
+some persecuted Christians in Ireland, and was assured
+that "no hurt was designed by the state to the Methodists."
+He also renewed his friendship with the
+Messrs. Wesley, and several times exchanged pulpits
+with them. He writes, "I have now preached thrice
+in Mr. Wesley's chapel, and God was with us of a
+truth."</p>
+
+<p>Again was our evangelist tired of London, and
+again had he grown sick for want of field-preaching.
+Accordingly he set out for Bristol and other parts of
+the west of England; and although rain and hail pelted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[330]</a></span>
+him in his field-pulpits, he preached "about twenty
+times in eight or nine days." As soon as he found
+himself in his own element, he saw every thing in his
+old lights. He says, "Every thing I meet with seems
+to carry this voice with it: 'Go thou and preach the
+gospel; be a pilgrim on earth; have no party, or
+certain dwelling-place.' My heart echoes back, 'Lord
+Jesus, help me to do or suffer thy will. When thou
+seest me in danger of <em>nestling</em>, in pity, in tender pity
+put a thorn in my nest, to prevent me from it.'"</p>
+
+<p>From Bristol, Whitefield went to Taunton, where
+he met with the Rev. Richard Pearsall, an eminent
+and excellent Presbyterian minister, of whom he
+speaks very highly; and from thence, on his way to
+Plymouth, he stayed at Wellington, to preach for the
+Rev. Risdon Darracott, who has ever since been distinguished
+as "the star in the west." Mr. Darracott was
+the son of a dissenting minister in Dorsetshire, where
+he was born in 1717, when Whitefield was three years
+old. He studied for the ministry under the Rev. Dr.
+Doddridge, at Northampton, and entered on his ministerial
+course in Cornwall in 1738, which situation
+he was most reluctantly compelled to leave two years
+afterwards from violent hemorrhage of the lungs.
+Under this alarming visitation he spent about six
+months with his friends in Devonshire, where his fervent-minded
+father had preached till his death at the
+age of forty. While here, he had a call to succeed a
+venerable minister at Wellington, who had recently
+deceased. He found the congregation small, and the
+number of communicants but twenty-eight. His ministry
+soon drew a large congregation, many of whom<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[331]</a></span>
+had never before made a profession of religion, and
+were first attracted into the town from the neighboring
+villages out of mere curiosity to hear him. The
+house of worship was soon insufficient to contain his
+hearers; and even when it was enlarged, many were
+frequently compelled to stand out of doors, unable to
+obtain an entrance. The Rev. Benjamin Fawcett, who
+preached his funeral sermon, said, "I never knew any
+congregation which appeared to have so many instances
+of abiding religious impressions;" and added,
+"I have good reason to believe that his ministry was
+owned to the effectual conversion of many hundreds
+of souls."</p>
+
+<p>The night before the death of this excellent man,
+which took place in his forty-second year, he exclaimed,
+"Oh, what a good God have I, in and through
+Jesus Christ. I would praise him, but my lips cannot.
+Eternity will be too short to speak his praises."
+The physician coming in, he said to him, "Oh, what a
+mercy is it to be interested in the atoning blood of
+Jesus. I come to the Lord as a vile sinner, trusting
+in the merits and precious blood of my dear Redeemer.
+O grace, grace, free grace!" His last words
+were, "I am going from weeping friends to congratulating
+angels, and rejoicing saints in glory. He is
+coming. Oh, speed thy chariot wheels; why are they
+so long in coming? I long to be gone!" He left in
+his church more than two hundred communicants.</p>
+
+<p>Whitefield and Darracott were congenial spirits,
+and Darracott, like his friend, had suffered much reproach
+in the cause of his Master; he was what
+Whitefield called him, "a flaming and successful<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[332]</a></span>
+preacher of the gospel." He had just at this time
+lost three lovely children. "Two of them," says
+Whitefield, "had died on the Saturday evening before
+the sacrament; but weeping did not prevent
+sowing. He preached the next day, and administered
+as usual. Our Lord strengthened him; and for his
+three natural, gave him above <em>thirty</em> spiritual children;
+and he is likely to have many more. He has
+ventured his little all for Christ; and last week a
+saint died who left him and his heirs two hundred
+pounds in land. Did ever any one trust in God, and
+was forsaken?" This interview with Darracott, and
+with good old Mr. Pearsall, who had been a preacher
+of righteousness before Whitefield was born, had an
+inspiring influence upon him. He says, "I <em>began</em> to
+take the field again at his dwelling for the spring!
+I begin to <em>begin</em> to spend and be spent for Him who
+shed his own dear heart's blood for me. He makes
+<em>ranging</em> exceedingly pleasant."</p>
+
+<p>Soon after this, Whitefield went again into Yorkshire.
+At Rotherham he says, "Satan rallied his
+forces. The crier was employed to give notice of a
+bear-baiting. You may guess who was the bear!
+However, I preached twice. The drum was heard,
+and several watermen attended with great staves.
+The constable was struck, and two of the mobbers
+apprehended, but rescued afterwards." Sheffield and
+Leeds he found to be a new and warmer climate.
+Lancashire, however, was still but cold to him. All
+was quiet at Manchester, and he "humbly hoped some
+had enlisted," but no great impression was then made.
+At Bolton, a drunkard stood up behind him to preach;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[333]</a></span>
+and the wife of the man who lent him the field, twice
+attempted to stab the workman who put up the stand
+for him. This roused him, and he bore down all opposition
+by a torrent of eloquence, which quite exhausted
+him. In the night, however, some rude fellows
+got into the barn and stables where his chaise
+and horses had been put, and cut them very shamefully.
+This conduct he called, "Satan showing his
+teeth."</p>
+
+<p>To narrate the particulars of this journey would
+be little more than a repetition of scenes of insult and
+of success with which the reader has already become
+familiar. At Ulverston he says, "Satan made some
+small resistance. A clergyman, who looked more like
+a <em>butcher</em> than a minister, came with two others, and
+charged a constable with me; but I never saw a poor
+creature sent off with such disgrace."</p>
+
+<p>One of the most remarkable conversions recorded
+in the history of the church occurred during this journey
+by the ministry of Mr. Whitefield. The full particulars
+are recorded in the Life of the Countess of
+Huntingdon, and can only be briefly mentioned here.</p>
+
+<p>In the early period of Whitefield's ministry, many
+of the taverns became places where his doctrines and
+zeal were talked of and ridiculed. A Mr. Thorpe,
+and several other young men in Yorkshire, undertook
+at one of these parties to mimic the preaching of Mr.
+Whitefield. The proposition met with applause; one
+after another stood on a table to perform his part,
+and it devolved on Mr. Thorpe to close this irreverent
+scene. Much elated, and confident of success, he
+exclaimed, as he ascended the table, "I shall beat you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[334]</a></span>
+all." Who would have supposed that the mercy of
+God was now about to be extended to this transgressor
+of his law? The Bible was handed to him; and
+by the guidance of unerring Providence, it opened at
+Luke 13:3: "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise
+perish." The moment he read the text his mind was
+impressed in a most extraordinary manner; he saw
+clearly the nature and importance of the subject; and
+as he afterwards said, if he ever preached with the
+assistance of the Holy Spirit, it was at that time. His
+address produced a feeling of depression in his auditors;
+and when he had finished, he instantly retired
+to weep over his sins. He soon after became associated
+with the people of God, and died a successful
+minister of Christ, at Masborough, in Yorkshire, in
+1776, about six years after the death of Mr. Whitefield.
+He was the father of the distinguished Rev.
+William Thorpe, of Bristol.</p>
+
+<p>Passing on to Edinburgh, Whitefield was, as usual,
+received with the most unfeigned tenderness and joy,
+preaching to great multitudes of attentive and serious
+people, whose earnest desire to hear him made him
+exert himself beyond his strength. He says, "By
+preaching always twice, once thrice, and once four
+times in a day, I am quite weakened; but I hope to
+recruit again. Christ's presence makes me smile at
+pain." He returned to London, having preached
+about one hundred times, it was believed to not less
+than one hundred thousand people.</p>
+
+<p>Among the occasional hearers of Whitefield when
+in Scotland, was the celebrated infidel historian, David
+Hume. An intimate friend having asked him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[335]</a></span>
+what he thought of Mr. Whitefield's preaching, he
+replied, "He is, sir, the most ingenious preacher I
+ever heard; it is worth while to go twenty miles to
+hear him." He then repeated the following passage,
+which occurred towards the close of the discourse he
+had been hearing. "After a solemn pause, Mr. Whitefield
+thus addressed his numerous audience: 'The attendant
+angel is just about to leave the threshold, and
+ascend to heaven. And shall he ascend, and not bear
+with him the news of one sinner, among all this multitude,
+reclaimed from the error of his ways?' To
+give the greater effect to this exclamation, he stamped
+with his foot, lifted up his eyes and hands to heaven,
+and with gushing tears cried aloud, 'Stop, Gabriel!
+stop, Gabriel! stop, ere you enter the sacred portals,
+and yet carry with you the news of one sinner converted
+to God.' He then, in the most simple but energetic
+language, described what he called a Saviour's
+dying love to sinful man, so that almost the whole assembly
+melted into tears. This address was accompanied
+with such animated, yet natural action, that it
+surpassed any thing I ever saw or heard in any other
+preacher."</p>
+
+<p>In the summer of 1751, Whitefield paid a second
+visit to Ireland, and was most hospitably received in
+Dublin by a respectable and opulent gentleman named
+Lunell, who had been brought to Christ by the first
+Methodist itinerant preacher in that city. During
+this excursion, Whitefield preached about eighty sermons,
+fourteen of them in Dublin, and seven in Limerick.
+His hearers in Dublin organized themselves into
+a public society, which does not seem to have met his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[336]</a></span>
+approbation. He says, "This morning I have been
+talking with dear Mr. Adams, and can not help thinking
+that you have run before the Lord, in forming
+yourselves into a public society as you have done. I
+am sincere when I profess that I do not choose to set
+myself at the head of any party. When I came to Ireland,
+my intention was to preach the gospel to all;
+and if it should ever please the Lord of all lords to
+send me thither again, I purpose to pursue the same
+plan. For I am a debtor to all of every denomination,
+and have no design, if I know any thing of this desperately
+wicked and deceitful heart, but to promote the
+common salvation of mankind. The love of Christ
+constrains me to this."</p>
+
+<p>During this visit, Whitefield a few times ventured
+out of the city to Oxmantown-green, then a large open
+place, situated near the royal barracks, where the Ormond
+and Liberty boys, two factions among the lowest
+class of the people, generally assembled on the
+Sabbath to fight with each other. The congregations
+at first were very numerous, and deeply affected, nor
+did any disturbance occur. Thus encouraged, the
+preacher ventured again, and gave notice of his intention
+to resume his labors. He went through the barracks,
+the door of which opened into the green, and
+pitched his tent near the barrack walls, not doubting
+of the protection, or at least of the interposition of
+the officers and soldiers, if there should be occasion
+for it. The multitude in attendance was indeed vast.
+After singing and prayer, Whitefield preached without
+molestation, except that now and then a few stones
+and clods of dirt were thrown at him. It being war-time,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[337]</a></span>
+he took occasion to exhort his hearers, as was
+his usual practice, not only to fear God, but to honor
+the king; and prayed for the success of the king of
+Prussia. When the service was over, he thought to
+return home by the way he came, but, to his great surprise,
+a passage through the barracks was denied;
+and he was compelled to pass from one end of the
+green to the other, through thousands of Roman-catholics.
+He was unattended; for a soldier and four
+preachers who came with him had fled from the scene
+of danger, and he was seriously attacked by the mob.
+They threw vollies of stones upon him from all quarters,
+and he reeled backwards and forwards till he
+was almost breathless and covered with blood. At
+length, with great difficulty he staggered to the door
+of a minister's house near the green, which was kindly
+opened to him. For a while he continued speechless,
+and panting for breath; but his weeping friends
+having given him a cordial, and washed his wounds,
+a coach was procured, in which, amidst the oaths, imprecations,
+and threatenings of the rabble, he got safe
+home, and united in a hymn of thanksgiving with his
+friends. In a letter written to a friend soon after this
+event, he says, "I received many blows and wounds;
+one was particularly large, and near my temple: I
+thought of Stephen, and was in hopes, like him, to go
+off in this bloody triumph to the immediate presence
+of my Master."</p>
+
+<p>Unpromising, however, as things were in Ireland,
+the labors of Whitefield, followed as they were by
+those of the Wesleys, became the foundation of a number
+of Christian societies that proved vast blessings<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[338]</a></span>
+to Ireland; and some of them grew into large churches,
+which continue to flourish till this day.</p>
+
+<p>The society to which reference has been made,
+which assembled in Skinner's alley, secured ministerial
+aid from the late Rev. John Edwards, who was one of
+Whitefield's converts, and among the earliest preachers
+at the Tabernacle in London; and who also itinerated
+over nearly the whole of England, Scotland, and Ireland.
+The period was one of great persecution, and
+this good man had several remarkable preservations
+from death. At one time, while he resided in Dublin,
+he was returning from preaching at a village, when he
+was seized by a party of rude fellows, who declared
+they would throw him over the bridge into the Liffey.
+This was observed by an opposite political party, residing
+on the other side of the river, who encountered his
+assailants, and rescued him out of their hands, saying
+he lived on their side the river, and none should hurt
+him. At another time, having preached out of doors,
+a furious mob of the <em>White-boys</em>, a political party so
+called, beset the house in which he was, and threatened
+to burn it to the ground, unless he was driven
+out of it. His anxious friends could see but one way
+for his escape, which was through a window that opened
+into a garden belonging to a justice of the peace,
+who was himself a violent persecutor of the Methodists.
+Through this window Mr. Edwards was, like
+the apostle Paul, let down in a basket. Here he stood
+some time in great consternation, fearing the family
+might observe him, and charge him with breaking into
+the garden for improper purposes, and so both religion
+and himself would be injured. At length he ventured<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[339]</a></span>
+to knock at the door, and asked for the magistrate, to
+whom he ingenuously stated the facts, and who most
+generously protected and extended to him the hospitalities
+of his house for two days.</p>
+
+<p>One fact more must be told of this excellent man.
+He resolved to visit a town to which had removed a
+number of soldiers who had received benefit from his
+ministry. He was met, however, by some of these
+pious men, who told him that the inhabitants were
+determined to take his life. Edwards was not to be
+dissuaded from his purpose; and on his arrival he
+immediately preached in the street, and several distinguished
+persons, including the mayor of the town,
+came to hear him, and by their influence prevented disturbance.
+After the service, the mayor invited him
+to breakfast with several of the principal inhabitants,
+and told him they were very glad he was come&mdash;that
+the people were extremely dissolute in their manners,
+and the clergy, both Protestants and Catholics, exceedingly
+remiss in their duty, and they hoped the
+Methodists would succeed in reforming the town.
+These gentlemen subscribed to the support of stated
+preaching, and extensive and lasting good was done.</p>
+
+<p>Amid Whitefield's innumerable engagements and
+declining health, Bethesda and his beloved America
+could not be forgotten. While he was at Glasgow
+during this summer of 1751, he was greatly delighted
+to hear that Mr. Dinwiddie, brother-in-law to the Rev.
+Mr. M'Culloch, of Cambuslang, was appointed governor
+of Virginia. The gospel had been much opposed
+there, and he thought the appointment now made
+would greatly tend to check persecution.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[340]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Whitefield, as it appears to us, now very suddenly
+determined on another voyage to America. He arrived
+in London from Edinburgh in the early part of
+August, with improved health, the country air having
+healed his hemorrhage. He took a hasty leave of his
+friends, and set sail for Georgia, in the Antelope,
+Captain M'Lellan, taking several orphans with him.
+He arrived at Savannah Oct. 27, and had the happiness
+of finding the orphan-house in a prosperous condition.
+Here, however, he did not stay long; as in
+November we hear of him in his usual labors, and
+with his usual ardor engaged in his constant work of
+preaching. Having formerly suffered much from the
+climate of America in the summer, he determined
+again to embark for London, which he did in April.
+We can scarcely trace his object in this journey to
+and from America, except in some designs of the government
+to place Georgia on a new footing.</p>
+
+<p>In June, 1752, Mr. Whitefield was found in the
+society of the Countess of Huntingdon at Bath, where
+he continued about three weeks, preaching every evening
+to great numbers of the nobility. Here he became
+acquainted with Mrs. Grinfield, a lady who attended
+on the person of Queen Caroline. "One of C&#230;sar's
+household," he writes, "hath been lately awakened,
+through her ladyship's instrumentality, and I hope
+others will meet with the like blessing." He afterwards
+visited her at the palace of St. James, and says,
+"The court, I believe, rings of her, and if she stands,
+I trust she will make a glorious martyr for her blessed
+Lord."</p>
+
+<p>The Moravians, or United Brethren, were at one<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[341]</a></span>
+period on terms of very cordial friendship with the
+Messrs. Wesley and Whitefield. At the time of which
+we are writing, a series of strange absurdities, resembling
+the adoration of saints and other superstitions
+of popery, developed themselves among members of
+that body, at the head of which then stood Count
+Zinzendorf, to whom Whitefield wrote an urgent
+remonstrance on the subject. An open separation
+took place, and Mrs. Grinfield, the Rev. John Cennick,
+and some others, adhered to the count, while
+Whitefield and Lady Huntingdon endeavored to bring
+him back to what they believed the simplicity of the
+gospel. Lady Huntingdon, speaking of her final
+interview with him, says, "Our conference was long,
+and as the count honored me with his company for a
+few days, was resumed at intervals, always closing
+with a solemn scriptural prayer to our great and glorious
+Head, for the illuminating influences of his Spirit
+to guide us into all truth. We parted with the utmost
+cordiality."</p>
+
+<p>"Dear Mr. Whitefield's letter," says Lady Huntingdon,
+"has much grieved the count. But his remonstrance
+is faithful, and the awful exposures he has
+reluctantly been forced to make, may be productive of
+the highest good in opening the eyes of many to the
+miserable delusions under which they lie."</p>
+
+<p>A correspondence, indeed we may say friendship,
+had for years existed between Whitefield and the
+eminent philosopher Dr. Benjamin Franklin. The
+following, from a letter of Whitefield, August 17,
+1752, shows his fidelity to the eminent citizen and
+statesman: "I find you grow more and more famous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[342]</a></span>
+in the learned world. As you have made a pretty
+considerable progress in the mysteries of electricity,
+I would now humbly recommend to your diligent,
+unprejudiced pursuit and study, the mystery of the
+new birth. It is a most important, interesting study,
+and when mastered, will richly answer and repay you
+for all your pains. One, at whose bar we are shortly
+to appear, hath solemnly declared that, without it, we
+cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. You will
+excuse this freedom. I must have <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">aliquid Christi</i>&mdash;something
+of Christ, in all my letters." This honest
+letter ought to have delighted the philosopher in his
+closet, even more than the eulogium he heard while
+standing behind the bar of the House of Lords, when
+Earl Chatham said of him, "Franklin is one whom
+Europe holds in high estimation for his knowledge
+and wisdom; one who is an honor, not to the English
+nation only, but to human nature."</p>
+
+<p>In the course of the summer of 1752, and the following
+one, Whitefield visited Scotland twice, and
+preached much also throughout England and Wales.
+As usual, he greatly rejoiced in the presence and service
+of God, and never appears to have been more
+happy than in this period of his life. "Since I left
+Newcastle," he writes, "I have scarcely known sometimes
+whether I have been in heaven or on earth.
+Thousands and thousands flock twice or thrice a day
+to hear the word of life. God favors us with weather,
+and I would fain make hay while the sun shines. Oh
+that I had as many tongues as there are hairs in my
+head. The ever-loving, ever-lovely Jesus should have
+them all. Fain would I die preaching."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[343]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>About this period also, Mr. Hervey and he were
+employed in revising each other's manuscripts; the
+former was then preparing his "Theron and Aspasio,"
+a work which, though florid in its style, has been
+eminently useful in conducting many of its readers to
+a saving knowledge of the doctrines of the gospel.
+Of his friend's writings Mr. Whitefield says, "For me
+to play the critic on them, would be like holding up
+a candle to the sun. However, I will just mark a few
+places, as you desire. I foretell their fate; nothing
+but your scenery can screen you. Self will never bear
+to die, though slain in so genteel a manner, without
+showing some resentment against its artful murderer....
+I thank you a thousand times for the trouble
+you have been at in revising my poor compositions,
+which I am afraid you have not treated with a becoming
+severity. How many pardons shall I ask for
+mangling, and, I fear, murdering your 'Theron and
+Aspasio?' If you think my two sermons will do for
+the public, pray return them immediately. I have
+nothing to comfort me but this, that the Lord chooses
+the weak things of this world to confound the strong,
+and things that are not, to bring to naught things that
+are. I write for the poor; you for the polite and
+noble. God will assuredly own and bless what you
+write."</p>
+
+<p>Whitefield was now also very busy in erecting his
+second London Tabernacle, which he dedicated, June
+10, 1753. We have, for the sake of completing the
+narrative of its first building, already given in our
+third chapter a statement of the second tabernacle, to
+which the reader is referred.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[344]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Both the judgment and inclination of Mr. Whitefield
+concurred to induce him to persevere in his itinerant
+course, correctly judging that in this way he best
+employed his peculiar talents. After preaching, therefore,
+with his usual fervor and success for a short time
+in his newly erected Tabernacle, he again set out towards
+Scotland, where he spent some days at Edinburgh
+and Glasgow, and preached generally twice,
+sometimes three times a day, and once five times. He
+says, "Attention sat upon all faces, and friends came
+round like bees, importuning me to stay another week."
+This he found too much for his strength, but still went
+forward, often expressing his desire to serve his divine
+Master to the utmost limit of his power, and his hopes
+to be with him soon in heaven. During this journey,
+including his return to London, where he arrived the
+latter end of September, he travelled about twelve
+hundred miles, and preached one hundred and eighty
+times, to many thousands of hearers.</p>
+
+<p>As converts increased in Bristol and its neighborhood,
+Mr. Whitefield felt compelled to erect there
+also a "tabernacle." Lady Huntingdon was one of
+the earliest contributors to this important object, and
+through her influence Lord Chesterfield gave twenty
+pounds to it. He had no taste for religion, but he
+well understood oratory, and in his letter to Lady
+Huntingdon covering his remittance, he said, "Mr.
+Whitefield's eloquence is unrivalled, his zeal inexhaustible."
+The Earl of Bath sent fifty pounds, saying,
+"Mocked and reviled as Mr. Whitefield is by all
+ranks of society, still, I contend that the day will
+come when England will be just, and own his greatness<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[345]</a></span>
+as a reformer, and his goodness as a minister of
+the most high God."</p>
+
+<p>The Tabernacle at Bristol was dedicated November
+25, 1753, with a sermon from Whitefield. Its
+history is one of deep interest. Its early ministers
+were worthy of any age, but remarkably fitted for that
+in which their lot was cast; men of pith and power,
+undismayed at dangers, braving all kinds of difficulty
+and toil, and prepared equally for labor and sufferings
+in the cause of their great Master. Nor have
+later ministers dishonored their predecessors; the
+cause still flourishes, and the hallowed house has been
+the birthplace of many eminent Christians. What
+Whitefield then said of this house might often be said
+of it now: "It is large, but not half large enough; for
+if the place could contain them, nearly as many would
+attend as in London." He always delighted in his
+visits to this place, and laid here a foundation for vast
+benefits, even to the present day. On one of his visits
+to preach here, he began a series of sermons on the
+evening before the commencement of the fair. His
+text was, "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to
+the waters; and he that hath no money, come ye,
+buy and eat; yea, come buy wine and milk without
+money, and without price." Isa. 55:1. The congregation
+was large, and thus he began: "My dear hearers,
+I fear that many of you are come to attend Bristol
+fair. So am I. You do not mean to show your
+goods until to-morrow; but I shall exhibit mine to-night.
+You are afraid purchasers will not come up
+to your price; but I am afraid my buyers will not
+come down to mine; for mine," striking his hand<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[346]</a></span>
+on the Bible, "are 'without money, and without
+price.'"</p>
+
+<p>After the dedication of this Bristol Tabernacle,
+Whitefield preached in the open air in various parts
+of Somersetshire, at seven o'clock at night. "My
+hands and body," says he, "were pierced with cold;
+but what are outward things, when the soul is warmed
+with the love of God? The stars shone with exceeding
+brightness; by an eye of faith I saw Him who
+'calleth them all by their names.' My soul was filled
+with a holy ambition, and I longed to be one of those
+who 'shall shine as the stars for ever and ever.'"</p>
+
+<p>At this time he had a fine opportunity to show his
+Christian attachment to his old friends. Mr. John
+Wesley had, by a series of extraordinary labors,
+brought his life into great danger, and Whitefield,
+hearing of this while at Bristol, wrote a sympathizing
+letter to his brother Charles, in which he prays for
+the descending garment of Elijah to rest on the surviving
+Elisha, and encloses an ardent and solemn
+farewell to the invalid, who was supposed to be dying.
+He says, "The news and prospect of your approaching
+dissolution have quite weighed me down. I pity
+myself and the church, but not you. A radiant throne
+awaits you, and ere long you will enter into your
+Master's joy. Yonder he stands with a massy crown,
+ready to put it on your head, amidst an admiring
+throng of saints and angels. But I, poor I, that have
+been waiting for my dissolution these nineteen years,
+must be left behind to grovel here below. Well, this
+is my comfort, it cannot be long ere the chariots will
+be sent even for worthless me. If prayers can detain<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[347]</a></span>
+you, even you, reverend and very dear sir, shall not
+leave us yet. But if the decree is gone forth that you
+must now sleep in Jesus, may he kiss your soul away,
+and give you to die in the embraces of triumphant love.
+If in the land of the living, I hope to pay my best
+respects to you next week. If not, reverend and dear
+sir, farewell." He had soon the satisfaction of witnessing
+the recovery of his friend, who was to survive
+him more than twenty years.</p>
+
+<p>We have already intimated that Whitefield used
+his influence in Scotland in favor of the New Jersey
+college, located at Princeton. In accordance with
+his advice, the friends of the college in this country
+sent over the Rev. Samuel Davies, afterwards president
+of the college, and the Rev. Gilbert Tennent, to
+promote its interests in the British islands. A few
+extracts from the manuscript diary of Davies, with
+the use of which we have been favored for this volume,
+will show the readiness of Whitefield to labor, or to
+"be nothing," so that the cause of Christ might be
+advanced. The deputation arrived in England in the
+closing month of 1753, and thus writes Davies:</p>
+
+<p>"Wednesday, December 26. Mr. Whitefield having
+sent us an invitation last night to make his house
+our home during our stay here, we were perplexed
+what to do, lest we should blast the success of our
+mission among the dissenters, who are generally disaffected
+to him. We at length concluded, with the
+advice of our friends and his, that a public intercourse
+with him would be imprudent, in our present situation,
+and visited him privately this evening; and the kind
+reception he gave us revived dear Mr. Tennent. He<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[348]</a></span>
+spoke in the most encouraging manner as to the success
+of our mission. And in all his conversation discovered
+so much zeal and candor, that I could not but
+admire the man as the wonder of the age. When we
+returned, Mr. Tennent's heart was all on fire, and
+after we had gone to bed, he suggested that we should
+watch and pray; and we rose and prayed together
+till about three o'clock in the morning.</p>
+
+<p>"Jan. 1. Went in the evening to hear Mr. Whitefield
+in the Tabernacle, a large, spacious building.
+The assembly was very numerous, though not equal to
+what is common. He preached on the parable of the
+barren fig-tree; and though the discourse was incoherent,
+yet it seemed to me better calculated to do
+good to mankind than all the accurate, languid discourses
+I ever heard. After sermon I enjoyed his
+pleasing conversation at his house."</p>
+
+<p>It would seem that Messrs. Davies and Tennent had
+their trials, as well as their encouragements. Writing
+Jan. 14, Mr. Davies says, "Spent an hour with
+Mr. Whitefield. He thinks we have not taken the
+best method in endeavoring to keep in with all parties,
+but should 'come out boldly,' as he expressed it,
+which would secure the affections of the pious people,
+from whom we might expect the most generous contributions."
+On the evening after this, they dined
+with Whitefield at the house of a common friend, and
+he rejoiced in the abundant success they afterwards
+met with from nearly all parties.</p>
+
+<p>"Jan. 25. Dined with Mr. Bradbury, who has
+been in the ministry about fifty-seven years. He read
+us some letters which passed between Mr. Whitefield<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[349]</a></span>
+and him, <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">anno</i> 1741; occasioned by Mr. Whitefield's
+reproving him in a letter for singing a song in a tavern,
+in a large company, in praise of old English beef.
+The old gentleman sung it to us, and we found it was
+partly composed by himself, in the high-flying days of
+Queen Anne. He is a man of a singular turn, which
+would be offensive to the greatest number of serious
+people; but for my part I could say,</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<span class="i0">'I knew 'twas his peculiar whim,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Nor took it ill, as't came from him.'"<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<p>In March, 1754, Whitefield, in company with twenty-two
+poor destitute children, sailed the fifth time for
+America.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[350]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER XIII.</h2>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<h3>FIFTH VISIT TO AMERICA&mdash;RENEWED LABORS IN
+GREAT BRITAIN&mdash;TOTTENHAM-COURT-ROAD CHAPEL.<br />
+
+1754-1763.</h3></blockquote>
+
+<p>On this voyage to America, Whitefield sailed for
+South Carolina by way of Lisbon. His health demanded
+repose; he thought that seeing Popery as it is
+when unrestrained by public opinion, might be of use
+to him in his future labors; and moreover, he had with
+him a number of orphans whom he wished comfortably
+to settle at Bethesda before he visited the northern
+provinces. It would be pleasant, if our limits would
+allow it, to furnish the letters he wrote from Lisbon
+during nearly four weeks, but a few sentences must suffice:
+"This leaves me an inhabitant of Lisbon. We
+have now been here almost a week, and I suppose shall
+stay a fortnight longer. A reputable merchant has
+received me into his house, and every day shows me the
+ecclesiastical curiosities of the country. O, my dear
+friend, bless the Lord of all lords, for causing your
+lot to be cast in such a fair ground as England, and
+giving you such a goodly heritage. It is impossible to
+be sufficiently thankful for civil and religious liberty,
+for simplicity of worship, and powerful preaching of
+the word of God. O for simplicity of manners, and a
+correspondent behavior. The air agrees with my
+poor constitution extremely well. Through divine<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[351]</a></span>
+assistance; I hope what I see will also improve my
+better part, and help to qualify me better for preaching
+the everlasting gospel."</p>
+
+<p>In another letter he writes, "Never did civil and
+religious liberty appear to me in so amiable a light
+as now. What a spirit must Martin Luther and the
+first reformers be endued with, that dared to appear
+as they did for God. Lord, hasten that blessed time
+when others, excited by the same spirit, shall perform
+like wonders. Oh, happy England! Oh, happy Methodists,
+who are Methodists indeed! And all I account
+such, who, being dead to sects and parties, aim at
+nothing else but as holy a method of living to, and
+dying in the blessed Jesus."</p>
+
+<p>He was heartily glad to get away from Popish
+processions and superstitious rites, and again to visit
+his "dear America."</p>
+
+<p>Our evangelist arrived with his orphans at Beaufort,
+in South Carolina, May 27, 1754, greatly improved
+in health, with a heart burning with love and
+zeal for his Lord and Master. He says, with his
+usual energy, "Oh that I may at length learn to begin
+to live. I am ashamed of my sloth and lukewarmness,
+and long to be on the stretch for God." His family
+now consisted, "black and white," of one hundred and
+six members, all dependent on his personal efforts
+and influence. He regarded his charge as a stewardship
+for God, and collected accordingly, nothing doubting.
+It was now summer, and besides the oppressive
+heat, "great thunders, violent lightnings, and heavy
+rains" frequently beat upon him as he journeyed from
+place to place. His health improved, and his spirits<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[352]</a></span>
+rose as he advanced on his journey. At Charleston,
+and elsewhere, his labors were received with the same
+degree of acceptance as formerly, and he was much
+encouraged by the conversion of a clergyman, a faithful
+successor to Mr. Smith of the city just named, and
+the first student sent forth from Bethesda.</p>
+
+<p>He arrived at New York, by water, July 27, and
+divided his labors between that city and Philadelphia
+almost entirely for nearly two months. In the latter
+city, he tells us, he was seized with violent <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">cholera
+morbus</i>, and brought to the gates of death. To use
+his own words, he "had all his cables out, ready to
+cast anchor within the port of eternity;" but he was
+soon "at sea again," although only able to preach
+once a day for some time. "Everywhere," he says,
+"a divine power accompanied the word, prejudices
+were removed, and a more effectual door opened than
+ever for preaching the gospel." When he looked at
+"the glorious range for hunting in the American
+woods," he was at a loss on which hand to turn....
+"Affection, intense affection cries aloud, Away to New
+England, <em>dear</em> New England, immediately. Providence,
+and the circumstances of the southern provinces,
+point directly to Virginia."</p>
+
+<p>While thus undecided, he visited his old friend
+Governor Belcher, then governor of New Jersey, and
+residing at Elizabeth town. He found the good old
+man ripening for heaven, willing to depart and to be
+with Christ. At this time the commencement of New
+Jersey college was held, and as a mark of their respect,
+the president and trustees conferred on him the
+honorary degree of master of arts. The meeting of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[353]</a></span>
+the synod immediately followed, respecting which body
+he says, "I was much refreshed with the company of
+the whole synod; such a number of simple-hearted,
+united ministers I never saw before. I preached to
+them several times, and the great Master of assemblies
+was in the midst of us."</p>
+
+<p>Influenced by what he saw and heard in New Jersey,
+Whitefield determined to go to New England,
+and to return from thence by Virginia to Georgia,
+and made his arrangements accordingly; it would
+comprise a circuit of more than two thousand miles,
+but he said, "The Redeemer's strength will be more
+than sufficient."</p>
+
+<p>It has been thought that it was during this visit of
+Whitefield to New Jersey, and probably at the table
+of Governor Belcher, that he dined in company with
+a number of ministers, and held the often-reported
+conversation with "Father Tennent." After dinner,
+Mr. Whitefield adverted to the difficulties attending
+the Christian ministry; lamented that all their zeal
+availed but little; said that he was weary with the
+burden of the day; and declared his great comfort in
+the thought, that in a short time his work would be
+done, when he should depart and be with Christ. He
+then appealed to the ministers, if it was not their
+great comfort that they should soon go to rest. They
+generally assented, except Mr. Tennent, who sat next
+to Mr. Whitefield in silence, and by his countenance
+indicated but little pleasure in the conversation.</p>
+
+<p>Seeing this, Mr. Whitefield, gently tapping him on
+the knee, said, "Well, brother Tennent, you are the
+oldest man among us; do you not rejoice to think that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[354]</a></span>
+your time is so near at hand, when you will be called
+home?" Mr. Tennent bluntly answered, "I have no
+wish about it." Mr. Whitefield pressed him again.
+Mr. Tennent again answered, "No, sir, it is no pleasure
+to me at all; and if you knew your duty, it would
+be none to you. I have nothing to do with death;
+my business is to live as long as I can, as well as I
+can, until He shall think proper to call me home."
+Mr. Whitefield still urged for an explicit answer to
+his question, in case the time of death were left to his
+own choice. Mr. Tennent replied, "I have no choice
+about it; I am God's servant, and have engaged to do
+his business as long as he pleases to continue me therein.
+But now, brother, let me ask you a question.
+What do you think I should say, if I was to send my
+servant into the field to plough; and if at noon I
+should go to the field, and find him lounging under a
+tree, and complaining, 'Master, the sun is very hot,
+and the ploughing hard; I am weary of the work you
+have appointed me, and am overdone with the heat
+and burden of the day. Do, master, let me return
+home, and be discharged from this hard service?'
+What should I say? Why, that he was a lazy fellow,
+and that it was his business to do the work that I had
+appointed him, until I should think fit to call him
+home."</p>
+
+<p>Accompanied by President Burr, Whitefield set
+out, October 1, for Boston, and arrived there on the
+9th. Here he stayed a week, and saw there, morning
+after morning, three or four thousand people hanging
+in breathless silence on his lips, and weeping silent
+tears. Whitefield himself calls it "a lovely scene,"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[355]</a></span>
+and says he "never saw a more effectual door opened
+for the gospel. Sinners have been awakened, saints
+quickened, and enemies made at peace with me.
+Grace, grace! Surely my coming here was of God.
+Convictions <em>do</em> fasten, and many souls are comforted."
+Such were the crowds at the early sermons, that in
+order to reach the pulpit, he had to get in at the windows
+of the churches. In a letter to the Countess of
+Huntingdon, he wrote, "In Boston, the tide ran full
+as high as ever your ladyship knew it at Edinburgh,
+or in any part of Scotland."</p>
+
+<p>While at Boston, Whitefield heard with much
+pleasure of the appointment of his friend Habersham
+as secretary to the new governor of Georgia, and
+wrote to him, "I wish you joy of your new honor.
+May the King of kings enable you to discharge your
+trust as becomes a good patriot, subject, and Christian.
+You have now a call, I think, to retire from
+business, and to give up your time to the public."
+Our evangelist travelled north as far as Portsmouth,
+in New Hampshire, generally preaching two or three
+times a day, till November 7, when he took his farewell
+at Boston, at four o'clock in the morning. Speaking
+of this journey, he says, "What have I seen?
+Dagon falling everywhere before the ark; enemies
+silenced, or made to own the finger of God; and the
+friends of Jesus triumphing in his glorious conquests.
+A hundredth part cannot be told. We had scarcely
+one dry meeting." When he arrived in the neighborhood
+of Portsmouth, the northern boundary of his
+journey, he was overwhelmed with humility as well as
+joy, by the large cavalcade which came out to meet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[356]</a></span>
+and welcome him. He says of them, "They were too
+many;" and of this northern journey, "It seems to me
+the most important one I was ever engaged in."</p>
+
+<p>Of no portion of Whitefield's life are we so ignorant
+as of the journey he now made from New England
+to the South. Journal, letters, historians, and
+newspapers alike fail us. Gillies tells us only that
+from Boston he "proceeded to Rhode Island, and
+went onward through Maryland and Virginia, with a
+prospect so pleasing, that he lamented he had not
+come sooner. The whole country seemed eager to
+hear the gospel, many coming forty or fifty miles, and
+a spirit of conviction and consolation appeared in
+every congregation. Prejudices seemed to have fled;
+churches were opened to him; high and low, rich and
+poor, now seemed to think favorably of his ministrations;
+and many acknowledged what God had done
+for their souls through his preaching, when he was
+there before." It scarcely appears probable that he
+went from Rhode Island to Maryland by water; but
+if he did not, he must have passed through New York,
+New Jersey, and Philadelphia, and we feel somewhat
+of surprise that no records of the journey appear to
+have been preserved.</p>
+
+<p>Dr. Franklin relates a very characteristic anecdote
+of Mr. Whitefield, which probably occurred in
+Philadelphia or its neighborhood at a period not later
+than this. "The eloquent orator" was preaching in
+an open field, when a drummer was present, who was
+determined to interrupt the preacher, and rudely beat
+his drum in a violent manner, in order to drown his
+voice. Whitefield spoke very loud, but could not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[357]</a></span>
+make so much noise as the instrument. He therefore
+called out to the drummer, "Friend, you and I serve
+the two greatest masters existing, but in different
+callings. You beat up for volunteers for King George,
+I for the Lord Jesus: in God's name, then, let us not
+interrupt each other; the world is wide enough for
+both, and we may get recruits in abundance." This
+speech had such an effect on the drummer, that he
+went away in great good-humor, and left the preacher
+in full possession of the field.</p>
+
+<p>Virginia, alike from the success of his former labors
+there, and from the general characteristics of the people,
+must have presented a scene of intense interest to
+Whitefield at this time. Everywhere great preparations
+were made for his coming, and large congregations
+assembled to hear him. It is said, that on one
+occasion, as he was speaking on the banks of one of
+the rivers of this noble province, and spoke of the
+strength of human depravity, and the insufficiency of
+the means of grace to convert the sinner without the
+influence of the Holy Spirit: "Sinners," said he, "think
+not that I expect to convert a single soul of you by
+any thing that I can say, without the assistance of
+Him who is 'mighty to save.' Go and stand by that
+river, as it moves on its strong and deep current to
+the ocean, and bid it stop, and see if it will obey you.
+Just as soon should I expect to stop that river by a
+word, as by my preaching to stop that current of sin
+which is carrying you to perdition. Father in heaven,
+see! they are hurried on towards hell; save them,
+or they perish!" The impression which this address
+produced on his hearers was so strong, that they were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[358]</a></span>
+ready to respond with trembling, "Save, Lord; we
+perish!"</p>
+
+<p>Whitefield must have been highly gratified on
+reaching Charleston, in attending the ordination of
+the young minister there, his first student from Bethesda,
+of whom we have already spoken as succeeding
+Mr. Smith; and not less would he rejoice that
+one of the actors at the Charleston theatre had been
+"snatched as a brand from the burning."</p>
+
+<p>Though we have not the exact date of his arrival
+at Savannah, we know that he remained there but a
+very short time. His health again declined, his former
+vomitings returned with violence, and his animal
+spirits failed with his strength. In February, 1755,
+we again find him at Charleston; and in the latter end
+of March, he embarked for England, arriving, after a
+comparatively short voyage, at Newhaven, in Sussex,
+May the eighth.</p>
+
+<p>Two strong impressions were made on the mind
+of Whitefield as he now looked on his native land.
+The first was that of grief on account of its condition.
+Nothing less than war with France was daily expected,
+for the French threatened to invade Britain, and
+were constantly making encroachments on her American
+colonies. "At this time," he says, "next to Jesus
+Christ, my king and my country were upon my heart,
+I hope I shall always think it my duty, next to inviting
+sinners to the blessed Jesus, to exhort my hearers
+to resist the first approaches of popish tyranny and
+arbitrary power. O that we may be enabled to watch
+and pray against all the opposition of antichrist in
+our own hearts; for, after all, there lies the most dangerous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[359]</a></span>
+man of sin." His second feeling was one of
+holy joy; for during his absence the preaching of the
+gospel had been abundantly successful. He writes,
+"Glory be to the great Head of the church! The
+poor despised Methodists are as lively as ever; and
+in several churches the gospel is now preached with
+power. Many in Oxford are awakened to the knowledge
+of the truth; and I have heard almost every
+week of some fresh minister or another, who seems
+'determined to know nothing but Jesus Christ, and
+him crucified.'"</p>
+
+<p>At the Tabernacle in London, as might be expected,
+Whitefield enjoyed what he terms "golden
+seasons;" but by this time not a few of the London
+clergy had begun to preach Christ with holy fidelity;
+and as this was the principal thing he desired, he says
+his "call to go abroad was still more clear." Indeed,
+so little did he now esteem London as a sphere of labor,
+and so much did he regard places by the amount
+of their destitution, that he wished at once to return
+to America, without ranging through England or
+Scotland. Hence he says, "Methinks I could set out
+for America to-morrow, though I have not yet entered
+upon my country range."</p>
+
+<p>But if he loved America most, England loved herself
+more, and he was drawn again into Gloucestershire
+and Bristol. He went also, at the request of
+Lady Huntingdon, to dedicate the new Tabernacle at
+Norwich, to which we have already referred. At this
+last place, he says, August 30, 1755, "Notwithstanding
+offences have come, there has been a glorious work
+begun, and is now carrying on. The polite and great<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[360]</a></span>
+seem to hear with much attention; and I scarcely
+ever preached a week together with greater freedom."
+For a long period the work of God abundantly prospered
+in connection with this "Tabernacle." Two
+years after its dedication, the Hon. and Rev. Walter
+Shirley preached some time in it, and had eight hundred
+communicants in fellowship, and he said of them,
+"Their experience, lives, and conversation are so
+excellent, that there is nothing like it in the whole
+kingdom."</p>
+
+<p>On Whitefield's return to London, there were
+those who urgently entreated him to engage in a new
+controversy with the Messrs. Wesley, some of whose
+followers had been jealous of his success at Norwich.
+He declined, with his common remark, "I have no
+time for controversy," and reserved what he had to
+say till he could see them "face to face," simply writing
+to assure them that he had no party designs on
+foot.</p>
+
+<p>Very soon after this, he set out for his northern
+circuit; and wonderfully indeed did the Lord grant
+him success. One thing, however, on this journey
+grieved him. His friends at Leeds, without his knowledge,
+had built a large church edifice. He saw at
+once, that this circumstance would create an "awful
+separation among the societies" formed by the Messrs.
+Wesley and his own friends; and lost no time in writing
+to those ministers, that they might endeavor to
+prevent a breach. Both the plan and the spirit of
+this undertaking so grieved him, that he exclaimed,
+"Oh this self-love, this self-will, is the <em>devil of devils</em>."
+This he wrote to Lady Huntingdon, a proof that party<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[361]</a></span>
+was not their object; and it is pleasant to add, that
+Whitefield's fears were groundless. Leeds, even then,
+contained population sufficient to fill both houses, and
+the whole movement "fell out rather to the furtherance
+of the gospel." During two months he preached
+twice, and some days three times, to greater numbers
+than ever before, inviting them to Christ, and "exhorting
+them to pray for King George, and the dear
+friends in America." He heard at this time, that the
+American ladies were making the soldiers' coats; and
+he immediately wrote to urge his own female friends
+in the new world to be "some of the most active in
+this labor of love."</p>
+
+<p>Though Mr. Whitefield stood very high in the
+esteem of that class of ministers who embraced his
+views of evangelical truth, and who approved the
+plans he pursued for the evangelization of the world,
+they never considered him perfect, nor were some of
+them backward, when they deemed it needful, to reprove
+him. In a sermon he once preached in Haworth
+church, Yorkshire, of which his friend Grimshaw
+was the minister, having spoken severely of those
+professors of the gospel who, by their loose and evil
+conduct, caused the ways of truth to be evil spoken
+of, he intimated his hope, that it was not necessary
+to enlarge much on that topic to the congregation
+before him, who had so long enjoyed the labors of
+an able and faithful preacher; and he was willing
+to believe that their profiting appeared to all men.
+This latter expression roused Mr. Grimshaw's spirit,
+and notwithstanding his great regard for the preacher,
+he stood up and interrupted him, saying, with a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[362]</a></span>
+loud voice, "O sir, for God's sake, do not speak so;
+I pray you, do not flatter. I fear the greater part of
+them are going to hell with their eyes open."</p>
+
+<p>Notwithstanding the astonishing labors of Whitefield
+on this tour, he returned to London apparently
+in full flesh, and was congratulated by his friends
+on his improved appearance. Alas, all this, as he
+well knew, was disease, which indeed very soon became
+apparent. He was seized with inflammatory
+sore throat, that was followed by quinsy, assuming an
+almost fatal aspect. One physician prescribed silence
+and warmth, and the preacher "promised to be very
+obedient," but a few days afterwards, another recommended
+a perpetual blister: this proposal roused him,
+and he determined to try his own remedy&mdash;perpetual
+preaching. The remedy itself was painful, but he
+said, "When this grand catholicon fails, it is all over
+with me." At this time the sad news of the earthquake
+at Lisbon arrived in London; he was unable
+to preach on the subject, but when told of it he said,
+"Blessed be God, I am ready; I know that my Redeemer
+liveth. Oh that all in Portugal had known
+this! Then an earthquake would only be a <em>rumbling</em>
+chariot to carry the soul to God. Poor Lisbon, how
+soon are thy riches and superstitious pageantry swallowed
+up!"</p>
+
+<p>In the winter of 1755-6, he was applied to to preach
+in the vicinity of the two great theatres, which he
+began to do in Long Acre chapel. Disturbances took
+place, and the Bishop of London interposed to stop
+him. In the end he erected Tottenham Court-road
+chapel, as already detailed in our third chapter.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[363]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Mr. Whitefield's ministry in London at this time
+was still successful. Thousands hung on his lips with
+delight, not a few of whom were won to the service
+of Christ. He tells us, among many similar facts, of
+the conversion of a Mr. Crane, who was afterwards
+appointed steward of the orphan-house in Georgia.
+This gentleman had one evening determined to visit
+the theatre, and set out for Drury-lane; that house
+being crowded, he resolved to go to Covent-garden;
+that also being so full that he could not obtain admittance,
+he changed his plan, and resolved on being entertained
+with one of Whitefield's sermons, and hastened
+to Tottenham Court-road chapel. It pleased
+God to impress the word on his heart, and he became
+an eminent Christian. So truly is the prediction verified,
+"I am found of them who sought me not."</p>
+
+<p>During this year he published "A Short Address
+to Persons of all Denominations, occasioned by an
+Alarm of an intended Invasion." We have examined
+it, and not without pleasure. It is a faithful exposure
+of Popery and its bitter fruits.</p>
+
+<p>It is a charge often preferred against the faithful
+ministers of Christ, by those whose consciences testify
+to their own guilt, that they are <em>personal</em> in their remarks,
+and mean to censure particular individuals.
+It is certain that this was often done by Mr. Whitefield,
+and sometimes with very happy effect. He once
+drew, from the conduct of his female servant, the picture
+of a Christian failing in his duty, which painfully
+distressed her, till he gave her an assurance of his
+entire forgiveness.</p>
+
+<p>Nor was this the only time when his hearers were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[364]</a></span>
+compelled to feel, "he means <em>me</em>." The celebrated
+comedian, Shuter, had a great personal regard for Mr.
+Whitefield, and not unfrequently attended his ministry.
+At one period of his popularity he was acting
+in a drama under the character of <em>Ramble</em>. During
+the run of the performance, he attended service at
+Tottenham Court chapel, and was seated in a pew
+exactly opposite the pulpit. Mr. Whitefield on that
+occasion gave full vent to his feelings, and in his own
+energetic manner invited sinners to the Saviour.
+While doing this, fixing his eye full on Shuter, he
+added, "And thou, poor <em>Ramble</em>, who hast long rambled
+from him, come also. Oh, end your rambling by
+coming to Jesus." Shuter was exceedingly struck,
+and going afterwards to Whitefield, he said, "I thought
+I should have fainted; how could you serve me so?"</p>
+
+<p>In the early part of 1756, Whitefield was engaged
+in London, preaching and collecting for the poor not
+only at Bethesda, but also for the French Protestants.
+At the Tabernacle, a man came up to him in the pulpit,
+threatening his life, and handing him three anonymous
+letters denouncing sudden and certain death, unless
+he ceased to preach and to pursue the offenders by
+law. One of these letters Whitefield sent to the government,
+who at once offered a reward, and his majesty's
+pardon, to any one who would discover the
+writer. While this fact gratified, it also embarrassed
+him. He wrote to Lady Huntingdon, "My greatest
+distress is to act so as to avoid rashness on the one
+hand, and timidity on the other." For his own sake,
+he would not have cared about the matter; but looking
+at it as connected with the cause of civil and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[365]</a></span>
+religious freedom, he wisely allowed the law to take
+its course at the hazard of his own life by assassination.
+Agreeably with the advice of the government,
+he carried the whole affair into the court of the King's
+Bench; this alarmed the offenders, and the annoyance
+ceased.</p>
+
+<p>We next find him at Bristol, but not to rest, though
+the labors and anxieties of the winter and spring had
+nearly worn out his strength and spirits. Here he
+preached as usual, and then returned to London.
+During this journey he preached in several places in
+Gloucestershire, his native county, and in Bradford,
+Frome, Warminster, and Portsmouth, spending about
+three months in the tour.</p>
+
+<p>In the county which gave Whitefield birth, is still
+to be seen a chair on which he often sat, and on which
+may be yet read the following lines:</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<span class="i0">"If love of souls should e'er be wanting here,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Remember me, for I am Whitefield's chair;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">I bore his weight, was witness to his fears,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">His earnest prayers, his interesting tears.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">His holy soul was fired with love divine:<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">If thine be such, sit down and call me <em>thine</em>."<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<p>A very few weeks passed, and we find him in
+Kent. In a letter written July 27, after his visit to
+that county, he says, "The gospel flourishes in London.
+I am just returned from preaching at Sheerness,
+Chatham, and in the camp." On the next day he set
+off towards Scotland. On August 14, he writes from
+Sunderland, "How swiftly doth my precious time pass
+away! It is now a fortnight since I came to Leeds,
+in and about which I preached eight days, thrice
+almost every day, to thronged and affected auditories.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[366]</a></span>
+On Sunday last at Bradford, in the morning, the auditory
+consisted of about ten thousand; at noon and in
+the evening, at Birstal, to nearly double the number.
+Though hoarse, I was helped to speak so that all
+heard. Next morning I took a sorrowful leave of
+Leeds, preached at Doncaster at noon, and at York
+the same night. On Wednesday, at Warstall, about
+fifty miles off; on Thursday, twice at Yarm; and last
+night and this morning, here." Wherever he labored,
+he heard of the good effects of his preaching in those
+places last year, and was constantly finding "many
+trophies of redeeming love." Such was the effect of
+the two sermons he preached at Birstal, that "several
+hundreds rode eight miles with him in the evening,
+singing and praising God."</p>
+
+<p>In a day or two after this, we find him at Edinburgh
+and Glasgow, preaching, as usual, to vast
+crowds, and with his accustomed success. At the
+former places especially, even politicians gave him a
+cordial welcome, and thronged to hear him, while the
+newspapers applauded him for his spirit-stirring exposures
+of "Popish tyranny and arbitrary power."
+He preached twice every day in the Orphan-hospital
+park, and blended with almost every sermon rousing
+appeals to the Protestantism, courage, and loyalty of
+the Scotch. At the close of one of his sermons he
+pleaded the cause of the poor Highlanders, and collected
+at its close about three hundred dollars.</p>
+
+<p>On his way back to London, Whitefield held a
+peculiarly solemn and refreshing meeting with his
+friends at Leeds; and after it, he braced his nerves
+by a tour of <em>mountain preaching</em> in company with his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[367]</a></span>
+friend Grimshaw. But it was now late in October,
+and as he found "these cold countries bringing on his
+last year's disorder," and having, as he significantly
+says, "grown very prudent," he returned to London,
+and dedicated Tottenham Court-road church edifice.
+Another errand also had taken him to that city. The
+new governor of Georgia had sent for him, to consult
+with him before sailing to that colony. Whitefield
+met him, and was so much delighted with him,
+that he wrote off to Bethesda to prepare them for a
+<em>state</em> visit. He says, "Waited upon his excellency,
+and gave him, and all whom he pleases to bring, an
+invitation to Bethesda. Dear Mrs. C&mdash;&mdash; will make
+proper provision." He went even farther, and proposed
+that the governor, if possible, should be received
+at Bethesda with military honors.</p>
+
+<p>The success of his new house of worship in Tottenham
+Court-road showed the necessity and propriety
+of its erection on that spot. Several persons
+of distinction came, and engaged permanent seats;
+and the place was often so crowded, that hundreds
+were unable to obtain admission. It was now usual
+with him to preach about fifteen times every week,
+which, with a weak appetite, want of rest, and much
+care upon his mind, greatly enfeebled him. He writes,
+"But the joy of the Lord is my strength; and my
+greatest grief is, that I can do no more for Him who
+hath done and suffered so much for me."</p>
+
+<p>In the following year, 1757, Whitefield planned
+another journey to Scotland, at the time the general
+assembly of the church was held. Before leaving
+London, he had placed the affairs of his projected college<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[368]</a></span>
+in the hands of Lord Halifax, and he now seems
+to have hoped that this journey to Scotland would
+have promoted that object, as well as others. It is
+said, that about a hundred ministers at a time attended
+his sermons, thirty of whom invited him to a public
+entertainment. Lord Cathcart, his majesty's commissioner
+to the assembly, also invited him to his own
+table. Whitefield says that he preached "just fifty
+times" on this visit, which extended to about a month.</p>
+
+<p>From Scotland he went, in June, as we have seen,
+to Ireland, and enjoyed, in the midst of no small persecution,
+much preaching, and much success. On his
+return to London, he found that the governor of Georgia
+had visited Bethesda, and promised to communicate
+his sentiments to Lord Halifax, "concerning its
+being enlarged into a college;" but the pressure of
+public affairs hindered his application to the government.
+Bad news arrived from America, "about the
+fleet," and therefore Whitefield kept a fast-day at his
+houses of worship.</p>
+
+<p>The health of our evangelist now sadly failed. He
+was brought to live on the "short allowance of preaching
+but once a day, and thrice on the Sunday;" very
+"short allowance" for <em>him</em>. Once, however, he broke
+through the restraint, and preached three times on
+the success of the king of Prussia; which, he says,
+"somewhat <em>recovered</em>" him, after he had been for a
+week at the gates of the grave. He was not able this
+winter to attempt what he considered great things;
+but Tottenham Court was his <em>Bethel</em>, as he called it.
+This house was then surrounded by a beautiful piece
+of ground, and he formed the plan of building on it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[369]</a></span>
+an almshouse for "twelve godly widows," as a "standing
+monument that the Methodists were not against
+good works." This charity he soon carried into
+effect. His thoughts, however, were not confined to
+home. Although broken down in health and spirits,
+by weakness and want of rest, he watched the affairs
+of Prussia with intense interest, and assured the German
+Protestants, through Professor Francke, that "we
+looked on their distresses as our own."</p>
+
+<p>In the spring of 1758, he laid the foundation-stone
+of his almshouse, and in June of the same year began
+to select its inmates. Pointing to these houses, some
+years afterwards, he said to a gentleman who was
+visiting him, "Those are my redoubts. The prayers
+of the poor women who reside in them, protect me in
+my house." Having arranged for the supply of his
+London pulpits, Whitefield went into the west of England,
+and proceeded from thence into Wales. But
+his health was so feeble, that he could not bear to
+drive, nor even ride in a one-horse chaise. The roads
+were rough, and riding shook him nearly to pieces.
+"Every thing," he says, "wearies this shattered bark
+now." A friend purchased for him a close chaise,
+advancing the money until he could conveniently
+repay it. He deeply felt this kindness, because by no
+other means could he have itinerated. "I would not,"
+he says, "lay out a single farthing but for my blessed
+Master; but it is inconceivable what I have undergone
+these three weeks. <em>I never was so before.</em> O for
+a <em>hearse</em> to carry my weary carcass to the wished for
+grave." During all this tour he was unable to sit up
+in company even once; yet he often preached to ten<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[370]</a></span>
+or fifteen thousand people, and made their "tears flow
+like water from the rock." His views of himself at
+this time were more than usually humble. He said
+to Lady Huntingdon, "Oh, I am sick&mdash;sick in body,
+but infinitely more so in mind, to see so much dross
+in my soul. Blessed be God, there is One who will
+sit as a refiner's fire, to purify the sons of Levi. I
+write out of the burning bush. Christ is there; Christ
+is there!"</p>
+
+<p>Among the many illustrations of Scripture which
+Whitefield often introduced into his sermons, one is
+truly worthy of record. Preaching from the words,
+"Wherefore, glorify ye the Lord in the fires," Isa.
+24:15, he says, "When I was, some years ago, at
+Shields, I went into a glass-house, and standing very
+attentively, I saw several masses of burning glass of
+various forms. The workman took one piece of glass,
+and put it into one furnace, then he put it into a
+second, and then into a third. I asked him, 'Why do
+you put that into so many fires?' He answered me,
+'Oh, sir, the first was not hot enough, nor the second,
+and therefore we put it into the third, and that will
+make it transparent.' 'Oh,' thought I, 'does this man
+put this glass into one furnace after another, that it
+may be rendered perfect? Oh, my God, put me into
+one furnace after another, that my soul may be transparent,
+that I may see God as he is.'"</p>
+
+<p>In the month of July, Whitefield again set out for
+Scotland, preaching on his way in many pulpits, including
+"Bishop Bunyan's," as he used to call him, at
+Bedford, Berridge's at Everton, and Doddridge's at
+Northampton. Four Episcopal clergymen lent him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[371]</a></span>
+their pulpits. His health received, for some time,
+little benefit, so that he sometimes feared he must
+return. But he adds, "Through divine strength, I
+hope to go forward; and shall strive, as much as in
+me lies, to die in this glorious work." He preached
+and collected in Scotland with his accustomed energy
+and success, and returned to London with his health
+somewhat renovated. This year he lost by death
+some of his earliest and warmest friends, including
+Hervey in England, and Presidents Burr and Edwards,
+and Governor Belcher, in America. Such
+removals gave him also "a desire to depart," but his
+work on earth was not yet done.</p>
+
+<p>Three principal facts connected with our evangelist
+may be said to mark the year 1759. One was,
+that he had the satisfaction to clear off all his debts
+for the orphan-house. "Bethesda's God," he writes,
+"lives for ever, and is faithful and all-sufficient." He
+longed again to visit America, but several difficulties
+intervened for the present.</p>
+
+<p>A second event which marked the year, was
+another journey to Scotland. He complains in his
+letters, that though his congregations at Edinburgh
+and Glasgow were never more numerous and attentive,
+yet, with respect to the power of religion, it was
+a dead time in Scotland, in comparison with London
+and several other parts of England. His presence in
+Scotland, however, at this time was very important,
+especially in collecting for his orphan-house and the
+Highland Society for the support of children. Many
+Scottish soldiers were now in America, which greatly
+increased the interest felt in every thing relating to it.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[372]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>In this year, 1759, Mr. Whitefield also for the first
+time visited Brighthelmstone, now called Brighton, a
+very fashionable watering-place, where George IV.
+afterwards, while regent, built a tawdry tasteless
+palace. The preacher's first sermon was delivered
+under a tree in a field behind the White Lion inn.
+Among his congregation on that day was a young
+man named Tuppen, about eighteen years of age. He
+had been educated by a pious mother in the strict
+observance of the external parts of religion, but was
+entirely destitute of its power. He attended not so
+much from curiosity, as from the intention to insult
+and interrupt the preacher. He tells us, "I had therefore
+provided myself with stones in my pocket, if opportunity
+offered, to pelt the preacher; but I had not
+heard long, before the stone was taken out of my heart
+of flesh; and then the other stones, with shame and
+weeping, were dropped one by one out upon the
+ground." The words, "Turn ye, turn ye," became the
+means of turning him from sin to God. Mr. Tuppen
+became an excellent Christian minister, and labored
+as a pastor for some years in Portsmouth. He then
+removed to the city of Bath, where he originated a
+congregation, and built a house for public worship.
+He was succeeded in this important sphere by the late
+distinguished William Jay, who labored there for
+about sixty-four years.</p>
+
+<p>Such was the prosperity attendant on the efforts
+of Messrs. Whitefield, Madan, Romaine, Berridge,
+Venn, and Fletcher, at Brighton, that Lady Huntingdon
+felt it her duty to erect a church edifice there,
+and being unable to do it in any other way, sold her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[373]</a></span>
+jewels to the amount of nearly three thousand five
+hundred dollars. The cause still flourishes there, and
+very many have been turned to righteousness.</p>
+
+<p>While Whitefield's ministry at the Tabernacle was
+at its height of popularity, Foote, a comedian of eminent
+talent for mimicry, who was frequently in difficulties
+on account of his love of ridicule, by which
+indeed his life was shortened, employed his wit to
+bring the distinguished preacher into contempt. One
+of his biographers says, that "very pressing embarrassments
+in his affairs compelled him to bring out his
+comedy of '<cite>The Minor</cite>,' in 1760, to ridicule Methodism,
+which, though successful, gave great offence, and
+was at last suppressed." Of this miserable piece of
+buffoonery, it may be enough to say, that Foote, and
+the agents employed at the Tabernacle and Tottenham
+Court-road chapel to collect materials from
+Whitefield for the accomplishment of their object,
+were so disgracefully ignorant of the inspired writings,
+as not to know that what they took for Mr.
+Whitefield's peculiar language was that of the word
+of God.</p>
+
+<p>Lady Huntingdon interposed in the matter, first
+with the Lord Chamberlain, by whose license alone
+any play could then be performed in London, and then
+with Mr. Garrick, the latter of whom assured her that
+he would use his influence to exclude it, and added,
+that had he been aware of the offence it was adapted
+to give, it should never have appeared with his concurrence.
+The representation of this piece of mummery,
+as might have been expected, considerably increased
+Whitefield's popularity, and brought thousands<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[374]</a></span>
+of new persons to hear the gospel: thus Providence
+gave him the victory over his opposers.</p>
+
+<p>To report the sicknesses, the labors, and the successes
+of Whitefield from this time to that of his sixth
+embarkation for America, would be little more than
+a repetition of the past. Suffice it to say, that in England,
+and in Scotland, he labored amid much ill-health,
+and surrounded with many dangers; but at length,
+having found an Episcopal clergyman, the Rev. John
+Berridge, a man of somewhat eccentric manners, but
+of great learning, of eminent piety, and of burning
+zeal, who was willing to labor for a time in London,
+Whitefield set sail in the ship Fanny, Captain Archibald
+Galbraith, bound from Greenock to Virginia,
+June 1, 1763, and arrived at Rappahannock, after a
+tedious, but otherwise pleasant voyage of about twelve
+weeks, in the last week of August.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">[375]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER XIV.</h2>
+
+<blockquote>
+<h3>SIXTH VISIT AND LABORS IN AMERICA&mdash;RENEWED
+LABORS IN GREAT BRITAIN.<br />
+
+1763-1767.</h3></blockquote>
+
+
+<p>Whitefield was now for the sixth time in America.
+He was twelve weeks on the voyage; but though
+tedious, it had done him good. "I enjoyed," he says,
+"that quietness which I have in vain sought after for
+some years on shore." Owing to the violence of his
+asthma, he had set sail "with but little hopes of farther
+public usefulness;" but after being six weeks at
+sea, he wrote to a friend, "Who knows but our latter
+end may <em>yet</em> increase? If not in public usefulness,
+Lord Jesus, let it be in heart-holiness. I know who
+says Amen. I add, Amen and amen."</p>
+
+<p>On his arrival in Virginia, Whitefield was surrounded
+by many Christian friends, the fruits of his
+former labors in that colony, but whom he had not
+hitherto known. It was with great difficulty, however,
+that he preached to them; for though his general
+health was better, his breathing was very bad.
+The months of September, October, and November,
+he spent in Philadelphia. He says, "Here are some
+young bright witnesses rising up in the church. Perhaps
+I have already conversed with forty <em>new creature</em>
+ministers of various denominations. Sixteen popular
+students, I am credibly informed, were converted in
+New Jersey college last year. What an open door if
+I had strength! Last Tuesday we had a remarkable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">[376]</a></span>
+season among the Lutherans; children and grown people
+were much impressed." Ill as he was, he preached
+twice a week, and with his usual success.</p>
+
+<p>He intensely desired at this time to visit Georgia,
+but was absolutely prohibited by his physicians, till
+he had recovered his strength. In the end of November,
+therefore, he passed over into New Jersey, visiting
+the college, and Elizabethtown. He tells us that
+at the college he had "four sweet seasons." His spirits
+rose at the sight of the young soldiers who were
+to fight when he had fallen. It was now winter, and
+"cold weather and a warm heart" put him in good
+spirits, so that he was able to preach three times a
+week.</p>
+
+<p>A young man, a member of the college, hearing
+that Whitefield was to preach in the neighborhood,
+and being more than a little anxious to ascertain
+whether he really deserved all the celebrity he enjoyed,
+went to hear him. The day was very rainy,
+and the audience was small; the preacher, accustomed
+to address thousands, did not feel his powers called
+forth as at other times. After having heard about
+one-third part of the sermon, the young man said to
+himself, "The man is not so great a wonder after all&mdash;quite
+commonplace and superficial&mdash;nothing but show,
+and not a great deal of that;" and looking round upon
+the audience, he saw that they appeared about as uninterested
+as usual, and that old father &mdash;&mdash;, who sat
+directly in front of the pulpit, and who always went
+to sleep after hearing the text and plan of the sermon,
+was enjoying his accustomed nap. About this time,
+Whitefield stopped. His face went rapidly through<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">[377]</a></span>
+many changes, till it looked more like a rising thunder-cloud
+than any thing else; and beginning very
+deliberately, he said, "If I had come to speak to you
+in my own name, you might rest your elbows upon
+your knees, and your heads upon your hands, and
+sleep; and once in a while look up and say, 'What
+does the babbler talk of?' But I have not come to
+you in my own name. No; I have come to you in
+the name of the Lord God of hosts, and"&mdash;here he
+brought down his hand and foot at once, so as to
+make the whole house ring&mdash;"and I must, and will be
+heard." Every one in the house started, and old
+father &mdash;&mdash; among the rest. "Aye, aye," continued
+the preacher, looking at him, "I have waked you up,
+have I? I meant to do it. I am not come here to
+preach to stocks and stones; I have come to you in
+the name of the Lord God of hosts, and I must, and I
+will have an audience." The congregation was fully
+aroused, and the remaining part of the sermon produced
+a considerable effect.</p>
+
+<p>From New Jersey, Whitefield passed on to New
+York, where he says, "Such a flocking of all ranks I
+never saw before at New York.... Prejudices have
+most strangely subsided. The better sort flock as
+eagerly as the common people, and are fond of coming
+for private gospel conversation. Congregations continue
+very large, and I trust saving impressions are
+made upon many." Such also was his influence as
+a philanthropist, that though prejudices ran high
+against the Indians, on account of a threatened insurrection
+in the south, he collected about six hundred
+dollars for Dr. Wheelock's Indian school at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">[378]</a></span>
+Lebanon, Conn., which he soon after visited with
+much pleasure.</p>
+
+<p>An extract of a letter from New York, dated Jan.
+23, 1754, which appeared in the Boston Gazette, may
+show the esteem in which he was held: "The Rev.
+George Whitefield has spent seven weeks with us,
+preaching twice a week, with more general approbation
+than ever; and has been treated with great
+respect by many of the gentlemen and merchants of
+this place. During his stay he preached two charity
+sermons, the one on the occasion of the annual collection
+for the poor, in which double the sum was collected
+that ever was upon the like occasion; the
+other was for the benefit of Mr. Wheelock's Indian
+school at Lebanon, for which he collected, notwithstanding
+the present prejudices of many people against
+the Indians, the sum of one hundred and twenty pounds.
+In his last sermon, he took a very affectionate leave of
+the people of this city, who expressed great concern
+at his departure. May God restore this great and
+good man, in whom the gentleman, the Christian, and
+accomplished orator shine forth with such peculiar
+lustre, to a perfect state of health, and continue him
+long a blessing to the world and the church of Christ."</p>
+
+<p>Leaving New York, he visited and preached, as
+far as his strength would allow, at Easthampton
+Bridge, Hampton, and Southhold, on Long Island; at
+Shelter Island, and at New London, Norwich, and
+Providence.</p>
+
+<p>Whitefield arrived at Boston in the end of February,
+1764, and was welcomed by multitudes with
+cordial affection; and again he saw "the Redeemer's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">[379]</a></span>
+stately steps in the great congregation." Boston at
+that time was visited with small-pox, and Whitefield
+therefore devoted much of his labor to the adjacent
+towns. Writing from Concord, he says, "How would
+you have been delighted to have seen Mr. Wheelock's
+Indians. Such a promising nursery of future missionaries,
+I believe, was never seen in New England before.
+Pray encourage it with all your might." About
+two months after his arrival in Boston, his illness
+returned, but did not long prevent him from preaching,
+and the people still flocked in crowds to hear
+him. He left Boston for the south; but messengers
+were sent to entreat his return, and especially urged
+him to renew his six o'clock morning lecture. He
+did return, but was now unable to preach at the early
+hour they desired; he appeared, however, in the pulpit
+for some time on three occasions in the week, and
+such was the number of converts discovered, that after
+he had left it was proposed to send him a book filled
+with their names, as desiring his return.</p>
+
+<p>We ought to have said, that according to the
+Boston Gazette, about the time of the arrival of
+Whitefield, "at a meeting of the freeholders and other
+inhabitants of the town of Boston, it was unanimously
+voted that the thanks of the town be given to the Rev.
+George Whitefield, for his charitable care and pains
+in collecting a considerable sum of money in Great
+Britain for the distressed sufferers by the great fire in
+Boston, 1760. A respectable committee was appointed
+to wait on Mr. Whitefield, to inform him of the vote,
+and present him with a copy thereof."</p>
+
+<p>Notwithstanding the earnest entreaties of his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">[380]</a></span>
+friends, he left Boston in the early part of June. On
+the first of that month he wrote, "Friends have even
+constrained me to stay here, for fear of running into
+the summer's heat. Hitherto I find the benefit of it.
+Whatever it is owing to, through mercy, I am much
+better in health than I was this time twelve months,
+and can preach thrice a week to very large auditories
+without hurt; and every day I hear of some brought
+under concern. This is all of grace."</p>
+
+<p>Sorrowfully parting from his friends at Boston,
+Whitefield left them for New York by way of New
+Haven. Here he preached to the students, and had
+taken his leave of them; but such was the impression
+he had made on their minds, that they requested the
+president to go after him, to entreat for another "quarter
+of an hour's exhortation." He complied with the
+request, and the effect was what he called "the <em>crown</em>
+of the expedition." He continued at New York till
+the end of August. While there he writes, "At present
+my health is better than usual, and as yet I have
+felt no inconvenience from the summer's heat. I have
+preached twice lately in the fields, and we sat under
+the blessed Redeemer's shadow with great delight.
+My late excursions upon Long Island, I trust, have
+been blessed. It would surprise you to see above one
+hundred carriages at every sermon in the new world."</p>
+
+<p>On his way to Philadelphia, in September, Whitefield
+preached at the New Jersey college commencement;
+for which, and for the influence he had exerted
+in favor of the institution, the trustees sent him a vote
+of thanks. His reception at the college was all he
+could desire. The governor and the ex-governor of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">[381]</a></span>
+the state, with many other gentlemen, attended, and
+every other mark of respect was shown him. At
+Philadelphia, he describes the effect of his labors as
+"great indeed," and as usual, he was compelled to
+exclaim, "Grace, grace!"</p>
+
+<p>Leaving Pennsylvania, he went on through Virginia;
+here he tells us, in places as "unlikely as <em>Rome</em>
+itself," he found societies of Christians, formed and
+led on by a wealthy planter of that colony; they met
+him in a body, wishing publicly to identify themselves
+with him. "Surely the <em>Londoners</em>," he writes, "who
+are fed to the full, will not envy the poor souls in
+these parts. I almost determine to come back in the
+spring" from Georgia to them.</p>
+
+<p>On one occasion, while he was preaching in this
+colony, a Mr. Allen, afterwards a member of the eminent
+Mr. Davies' church at Hanover, and who, with
+his family, "addicted himself to the ministry of the
+saints," fell on the ground at full length, suddenly, as
+if shot through the heart, and lay for the remainder of
+the evening as one who was dead. His descendants
+are now very numerous, and many of them are among
+the most zealous Christians in that state.</p>
+
+<p>From Virginia, Whitefield proceeded to South
+Carolina, and, Nov. 22, wrote, "At Newbern, last Sunday,
+good impressions were made. I have met with
+what they call 'New Lights' in almost every place,
+and have the names of several of their preachers."
+Having preached at Charleston, he passed on to Bethesda,
+and had the happiness to find the whole colony
+in a prosperous condition. Here he spent the
+winter, and writes, "Peace and plenty reign at Bethesda.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382">[382]</a></span>
+All things go on successfully. God hath
+given me great favor in the sight of the governor,
+council, and assembly. A memorial was presented for
+an additional grant of lands, consisting of two thousand
+acres. It was immediately complied with. Both
+houses addressed the governor on behalf of the intended
+college. A warm answer was given; and I am
+now putting every thing in repair, and getting every
+thing ready for that purpose. Every heart seems to
+leap for joy at the prospect of its future usefulness to
+this and the neighboring colonies. He who holdeth
+the stars in his right hand will direct, in due time,
+whether I shall directly embark for England, or take
+one tour more to the northward. I am in delightful
+winter quarters for once. His excellency dined with
+me yesterday, and expressed his satisfaction in the
+warmest terms. Who knows how many youths may
+be trained up for the service of the ever-loving and
+altogether lovely Jesus. Thus far, however, we may
+set up our Ebenezer. Hitherto the bush hath been
+burning, but is not consumed." To this statement he
+adds, "Mr. Wright hath done much in a little time;
+but he hath worked night and day, and not stirred a
+mile for many weeks. Thanks be to God, all outward
+things are settled on this side the water. The auditing
+the accounts, and laying the foundation for a college,
+hath silenced enemies and comforted friends.
+The finishing of this affair confirms my call to England
+at this time."</p>
+
+<p>But the intense anxiety of multitudes to hear his
+preaching, prevented Whitefield from leaving America
+for several months longer. He had, indeed, as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383">[383]</a></span>
+early as the middle of February, determined not to
+visit New England till his return from Europe; but
+arriving at Charleston, he was compelled to devote
+to labors there the whole month of March, and then
+set out for Philadelphia, preaching at many places on
+his way. He says, "All the way from Charleston to
+this place the cry is, 'For Christ's sake, stay and
+preach to us.' Oh for a thousand lives to spend for
+Jesus."</p>
+
+<p>The heat of the weather made it indispensable for
+his health that he should go to sea, and July 5th he
+once more arrived in England, on his last return voyage
+from America. He says, "We have had but a
+twenty-eight days' passage. The transition has been
+so sudden, that I can scarcely believe that I am in
+England. I hope, ere long, to have a more sudden
+transition into a better country." When he arrived
+in his native land, he was ill of a nervous fever,
+which left him extremely weak in body, and unable to
+exert himself as formerly. Yet, still intent on his
+work, he did what he could, in expectation of soon
+entering into his eternal rest. "Oh, to end life well!"
+he writes; "methinks I have now but one river to
+pass over. And we know of One who can carry us
+over without being ankle deep."</p>
+
+<p>On Whitefield's arrival in England, he found that
+his excellent friend the Countess of Huntingdon was
+erecting a large and beautiful church edifice in the
+fashionable city of Bath, and to that place he at once
+repaired. There he found several of his clerical
+brethren preaching in the private chapel at Bretby
+Hall, belonging to the Earl of Chesterfield, who had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384">[384]</a></span>
+placed it for the time being at the disposal of Lady
+Huntingdon. On Whitefield's arrival, this place was
+of necessity exchanged for the Park, where the concourse
+of people was as vast as ever.</p>
+
+<p>October 6, he preached the dedicatory sermon
+of Lady Huntingdon's church at Bath, to an immense
+crowd. To his friend Robert Keen, Esq., one of the
+managers of his London houses, he wrote, "Could you
+have come, and have been present at the opening of
+the chapel, you would have been much pleased. The
+building is extremely plain, and yet equally grand.
+A most beautiful original! All was conducted with
+great solemnity. Though a wet day, the place was
+very full, and assuredly the great Shepherd and Bishop
+of souls consecrated and made it holy ground by
+his presence."</p>
+
+<p>He made but a short stay at Bath, and returned
+to London, still feeble and tottering, but still compelled
+to labor. He had an interview with his old
+friend John Wesley, who says of him, "He seemed to
+be an old man, being fairly worn out in his Master's
+service, though he has hardly seen fifty years; and yet
+it pleases God that I, who am now in my sixty-third
+year, find no disorder, no weakness, no decay, no difference
+from what I was at five and twenty, only that
+I have fewer teeth, and more gray hairs." Writing
+to a friend at Sheerness, in Kent, Jan. 18, 1766, Whitefield
+says, "I am sorry to acquaint you that it is not
+in my power to comply with your request, for want of
+more assistance. I am confined in town with the care
+of two important posts, when I am only fit to be put
+into some garrison among invalids." By some means,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_385" id="Page_385">[385]</a></span>
+however, he obtained a release, for in March we find
+him at Bath and Bristol. Writing, March 17, he says,
+"The uncertainty of my motions has made me slow in
+writing; and a desire to be a while free from London
+cares, has made me indifferent about frequent hearing
+from thence. Last Friday evening, and twice yesterday,
+I preached at Bath, to very thronged and brilliant
+auditories."</p>
+
+<p>Whitefield's interest in America was not lessened
+by his absence from it. He ardently loved it, and
+wished for the return of its peace and prosperity. He
+hoped, with many others, that the repeal of the Stamp
+Act would lead to this result; hence, we find in his
+Letter-book this entry: "March 16, 1766, Stamp Act
+repealed. <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Gloria Deo.</i>"</p>
+
+<p>Among the remarkable men of his day was Samson
+Occam. He was descended, on his mother's side,
+from Uncas, chief of the Mohegans. He was born in
+1723, of parents who led a wandering life, depending
+on hunting and fishing for subsistence. None cultivated
+their lands, all dwelt in wigwams, and Samson
+was one of the very first of the tribe who learned to
+read. About the year 1740, at the age of seventeen, he
+was converted by the labors of Whitefield, Gilbert Tennent,
+and their companions. In a year or two he had
+learned to read his Bible with ease, and to his great
+advantage. He was a pupil at the school originally
+founded by Dr. Wheelock, at Lebanon, Conn., for the
+benefit exclusively of Indians, four years, and was
+then a teacher for eleven years. In 1759, he was ordained
+by the Suffolk Presbytery, and became an eminently
+zealous preacher to the scattered Mohegans.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_386" id="Page_386">[386]</a></span>
+In 1766, in company with the Rev. Mr. Whitaker of
+Norwich, he went to England to advocate the cause
+of Dr. Wheelock's Indian school, which school was
+afterwards merged in Dartmouth college, of which
+Mr. Wheelock was also founder and first president.
+Occum preached in the churches of Whitefield and
+Lady Huntingdon, as well as in some others of different
+denominations. We remember half a century ago
+hearing an old lady at Kidderminster, the town of
+Richard Baxter, describe a scene which occurred in
+Fawcett's church in that town. Occum had preached,
+and a handsome collection had been taken for his
+object; with tears of gratitude and joy the good man
+thanked them, and in tones which neither the weeping
+nor the mimetic talent of the old lady would allow
+her fully to imitate, assured them that the blessing of
+many ready to perish would come upon them. The
+place was a Bochim, and nothing could prevent the
+people from having the plates again carried round,
+that they might add to the liberal contributions they
+had already made.</p>
+
+<p>Occum preached in Great Britain from three to
+four hundred sermons; and as no North American
+Indian had ever preached in England before, public
+curiosity was great, and his pecuniary success considerable.
+He brought to this country, with his companion,
+as the produce of their labors, more than forty-five
+thousand dollars. In 1772 he published an interesting
+sermon which he preached to an Indian at his
+execution. An excellent portrait of him was published
+in England.</p>
+
+<p>Dr. Timothy Dwight writes, "I heard Mr. Occum<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_387" id="Page_387">[387]</a></span>
+twice. His discourses, though not proofs of superior
+talents, were decent; and his utterance in some degree
+eloquent. His character at one time labored under
+some imputations; yet there is good reason to believe
+that most, if not all of them were unfounded; and
+there is satisfactory evidence that he was a man of
+piety." An account of the Montauk Indians, written
+by Occum, is preserved in the "Historical Collections."
+He died at New Stockbridge, N. Y., July,
+1792. It has been said that the first Sunday-school
+in these United States was founded in the house of
+his sister, a few months after his death.</p>
+
+<p>Occum was somewhat of a wit, and could well
+apply his talent in his conflict with the enemies of divine
+truth. He once ended a long controversial conversation
+with a Universalist, by saying, "Well, well,
+remember, if you are correct, I am safe; if you are not
+correct, I am safe. I have two strings to my bow;
+you have but one."</p>
+
+<p>In June, 1766, we again find Whitefield in the
+neighborhood of Bristol, whence he writes, "As my
+feverish heat continues, and the weather is too wet to
+travel, I have complied with the advice of friends,
+and have commenced a Hot-wells water drinker twice
+a day. However, twice this week, at six o'clock in
+the morning, I have been enabled to call thirsty souls
+to come and 'drink of the water of life freely.' Tomorrow
+evening, God willing, the call is to be repeated,
+and again on Sunday." On his return to London,
+he writes, under date of September 25, "Many in this
+metropolis seem to be on the wing for God; the shout
+of a king is yet heard in the Methodist camp. Had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_388" id="Page_388">[388]</a></span>
+I wings, I would gladly fly from pole to pole; but
+they are clipped by thirty years' feeble labors. Twice
+or thrice a week I am permitted to ascend my gospel
+throne. The love of Christ, I am persuaded, will
+constrain you to pray that the last glimmering of an
+expiring taper may be blessed to the guiding of many,
+wandering souls to the Lamb of God."</p>
+
+<p>The good providence of God now gave Whitefield
+a colleague in the ministry at the Tabernacle and
+Tottenham Court-road chapel, the Rev. Torial Joss.
+This gentleman had spent many years as captain at
+sea; converted by divine grace, and filled with holy
+zeal, he devoted his popular talents to the welfare of
+his fellow-men, preaching both on sea and land. In a
+remarkable manner, Mr. Whitefield became acquainted
+with him, and, without his knowledge, published
+that he would preach in his houses of worship, which,
+though with extreme reluctance, Joss did. These
+services were often renewed, and Whitefield gave him
+no rest till he abandoned the sea, and devoted himself
+to the ministry. Everywhere he was popular, and
+everywhere useful. He continued minister of the two
+places in London&mdash;spending four or five months in
+each year travelling and preaching&mdash;for twenty-seven
+years after the death of his friend, and then departed
+from earth, in 1797, in holy triumph, in the 66th year
+of his age.</p>
+
+<p>One of the most extraordinary men in modern
+times was the late Rev. Rowland Hill, who erected
+Surrey chapel, London, and continued to preach in it
+till his death, in his eighty-ninth year, in 1833. He
+was eminently dignified in person, possessed extraordinary<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_389" id="Page_389">[389]</a></span>
+zeal, and was honored by his great Master
+with probably more success in the direct work of saving
+souls than any other minister of his day. He
+was a man of considerable rank, his father being a
+gentleman of title, one of his brothers a member of
+Parliament for many years, representing his native
+county, and the late eminent statesman and soldier
+Lord Hill was his nephew. Mr. Hill himself in early
+life became a Christian, and was educated for the
+ministry in the established church, but violated its
+rules, and preached wherever he could; for many
+years he was greatly persecuted by his own family,
+some of whom, however, in the end sustained the yoke
+of Christ. When Rowland began his somewhat erratic
+career, the opposition from his father was so
+great, that he was reduced sometimes to extreme poverty;
+and he was exactly the man to be encouraged
+by such men as Whitefield and Berridge. We give a
+few extracts from letters addressed to him by Whitefield,
+which certainly show no small degree of ardor,
+though we cannot see in them what Hill's clerical
+biographer, Mr. Sidney, professed to find, "an aspiration
+after the honors, when he had no prospect of
+the sufferings of martyrdom." The fact was, that
+Mr. Sidney was offended with Whitefield, as he was
+with his venerable uncle, Mr. Hill, for having deviated
+from the rigid laws of the establishment. It is only
+needful to introduce the first letter by saying that it
+was dated, London, December 27, 1766, and was sent
+in answer to one in which Mr. Hill had asked his
+counsel.</p>
+
+<p>"About thirty-four years ago, the master of Pembroke<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390">[390]</a></span>
+college, where I was educated, took me to task
+for visiting the sick and going to the prisons. In my
+haste I said, 'Sir, if it displeaseth you I will go no
+more.' My heart smote me immediately; I repented,
+and went again; he heard of it&mdash;threatened&mdash;but for
+fear he should be looked on as a persecutor, let me
+alone. The hearts of all are in the Redeemer's hands.
+I would not have you give way; no, not for a moment.
+The storm is too great to hold long. Visiting
+the sick and imprisoned, and instructing the ignorant,
+are the very vitals of true and undefiled religion. If
+threatened, denied degree, or expelled <em>for this</em>, it will
+be the best degree you can take&mdash;a glorious preparative
+for, and a blessed presage of future usefulness.
+I have seen the dreadful consequences of giving way
+and looking back. How many by this wretched cowardice,
+and fear of the cross, have been turned into
+pillars, not of useful, but of useless salt. Now is your
+time to prove the strength of Jesus yours. If opposition
+did not so much abound, your consolations would
+not so abound. Blind as he is, Satan sees some great
+good coming on. We never prospered so much at
+Oxford as when we were hissed at and reproached as
+we walked along the streets, as being counted the
+dung and offscouring of all things. That is a poor
+building which a little stinking breath of Satan's vassals
+can throw down. Your house, I trust, is better
+founded. Is it not built upon a rock? Is not that
+rock the blessed Jesus? The gates of hell, therefore,
+shall not be able to prevail against it. Go on, therefore,
+my dear man, go on. Old Berridge, I believe,
+would give you the same advice; you are honored in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_391" id="Page_391">[391]</a></span>
+sharing his reproach and name. God be praised that
+you are enabled to bless when others blaspheme. God
+bless and direct and support you. He will, he will.
+Good Lady Huntingdon is in town; she will rejoice to
+hear that you are under the cross. You will not want
+her prayers, or the poor prayers of, my dear honest
+young friend, yours, in an all-conquering Jesus."</p>
+
+<p>The opposition Mr. Hill met with from his parents
+increased, and the threat of his degree being
+withheld, was, on the part of the university authorities,
+more determined; still, however, he persevered
+in his preaching and his visits, in violation of the laws
+of discipline. In June, 1767, Mr. Whitefield wrote
+him: "I wish you joy of the late high dignity conferred
+upon you&mdash;higher than if you were made the
+greatest professor in the university of Cambridge.
+The honorable degrees you intend giving to your
+promising candidates, [allowing some of his fellow-students
+to preach in the various places which he had
+visited,] I trust will excite a holy ambition, and a
+holy emulation; let me know who is first honored.
+As I have been admitted to the degree of doctor for
+near these thirty years, I assure you I like my field
+preferment, my airy pluralities, exceedingly well.
+For these three weeks last past I have been beating up
+for fresh recruits in Gloucestershire and South Wales.
+Thousands and thousands attended, and good Lady
+Huntingdon was present at one of our reviews. Her
+ladyship's aid-de-camp preached in Brecknock-street,
+and Captain Scott, that glorious field-officer, lately
+fixed up his standard upon dear Mr. Fletcher's horseblock
+at Madeley. Being invited thither, I have a great<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_392" id="Page_392">[392]</a></span>
+inclination to lift up the Redeemer's ensign next week
+in the same place; with what success, you and your
+dearly beloved candidates for good old methodistical
+contempt shall know hereafter. God willing, I intend
+fighting my way up to town. Soon after my arrival
+there, I hope thousands and thousands of volleys of
+prayers, energetic, effectual, fervent, heaven-besieging,
+heaven-opening, heaven-taking prayers, shall be poured
+forth for you all. Oh, my dearly beloved and longed-for
+in the Lord, my bowels yearn towards you. Fear
+not to go without the camp; keep open the correspondence
+between the two universities. Remember the
+praying legions&mdash;they were never known to yield.
+God bless those that are gone to their respective
+<em>cures</em>&mdash;I say not <em>livings</em>, a term of too modern date.
+Christ is our life; Christ is the Levite's inheritance,
+and Christ will be the true disinterested Levite's lot
+and portion and all. Greet your dear young companions
+whom I saw; they are welcome to write
+when they please. God be your physician under your
+bodily malady. A thorn, a thorn! but Christ's grace
+will be sufficient for you. To his tender, never-failing
+mercy I commit you."</p>
+
+<p>A few weeks after this, Mr. Hill was much depressed
+in spirits, partly from bodily illness, partly
+because he was about to leave Cambridge and its surrounding
+villages, where he had latterly so frequently
+preached, but chiefly from the fact that he was going
+home, where he would again meet the frowns of his
+honored parents, for what they deemed his overrighteousness.
+In the midst of all this, however, he knew
+that he would meet at Hawkstone, his father's residence,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_393" id="Page_393">[393]</a></span>
+the cordial welcome of his sister and elder
+brother, Richard Hill, afterwards a baronet. This
+gentleman had lately become a village preacher and a
+visitor of prisons, like his brother. Under these circumstances
+he was addressed by Whitefield, in his
+own peculiar and energetic style: "What said our
+Lord to Martha? 'Did I not say unto thee, If thou
+wouldest believe, thou shouldst see the glory of God?'
+Blessed, for ever blessed be the God and Father of
+our Lord Jesus Christ, for what he hath done for your
+dear brother. A preaching, prison-preaching, field-preaching
+<em>esquire</em>, strikes more than all the black
+gowns and lawn sleeves in the world. And if I am
+not mistaken, the great Shepherd and Bishop of souls
+will let the world, and his own children too, know
+that he will not be prescribed to in respect to men,
+or garbs, or places; much less will he be confined to
+any order or set of men under heaven. I wish you
+both much, very much prosperity. You will have it&mdash;<em>you
+will have it</em>. This is the way, walk ye in it. Both
+Tabernacle and [Tottenham Court-road] chapel pulpits
+shall be open to a captain or an esquire sent of
+God. The good news from Oxford is encouraging.
+Say what they will, preaching should be one part of
+the education of a student in divinity. I pray for
+you night and day."</p>
+
+<p>On the arrival of Mr. Hill at his father's beautiful
+seat, it was his happiness to find that his brother
+Brian, afterwards useful as a clergyman, was added
+to the number of believers in Christ; he learned also,
+that one of his college friends had been threatened to
+have an exhibition, or yearly gift towards his university<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394">[394]</a></span>
+expenses, withdrawn, unless he renounced his evangelical
+doctrines and practices. The reader will now
+understand Mr. Whitefield's letter: "I have been
+sadly hindered from answering your last letter, delivered
+to me by your brother. I gave it him to read,
+and we had, I trust, a profitable conference. God be
+praised if another of your brothers is gained. What
+grace is this! Four or five out of one family&mdash;it is
+scarcely to be paralleled. Who knows but the root,
+as well as the branches, may be taken by and by?
+Abba, Father, all things are possible with thee!
+Steadiness and perseverance in the children will be
+one of the best means, under God, of convincing the
+parents. This present opposition I think cannot last
+very long; if it does, to obey God rather than man,
+when forbidden to do what is undoubted duty, is the
+invariable rule. Our dear Penty [afterwards the
+Rev. Thomas Pentycross] is under the cross at Cambridge.
+But</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"'Satan thwarts, and men object,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Yet the thing they thwart effect.'<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="noindent">I should be glad if any one's exhibition was taken
+from him for visiting the sick, etc. It would vastly
+tend to the furtherance of the gospel; but Satan sees
+too far, I imagine, to play such a game now. Let
+him do his work; he is only a mastiff chained. Continue
+to inform me how he barks, and how far he is
+permitted to go in your parts; and God's people
+shall be more stirred up to pray for you all."</div>
+
+<p>The close of Mr. Hill's life was truly interesting
+and instructive. As has been intimated, he preached
+with scarcely diminished power until within a few<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_395" id="Page_395">[395]</a></span>
+weeks of his death. During the last two or three
+years of his life he very frequently repeated the following
+lines of an old poet:</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<span class="i10">"And when I'm to die,<br /></span>
+<span class="i11">Receive me, I'll cry,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For Jesus has loved me, I cannot tell why;<br /></span>
+<span class="i11">But this I can find,<br /></span>
+<span class="i11">We two are so joined,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That he'll not be in glory, and leave me behind."<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<p>"The last time he occupied my pulpit," writes his
+neighbor, the Rev. George Clayton, "when he preached
+excellently for an hour, in behalf of a charitable
+institution, he retired to the vestry after service under
+feelings of great and manifest exhaustion. Here he
+remained until every individual except the pew-openers,
+his servant, and myself had left the place. At
+length he seemed with some reluctance to summon
+energy enough to take his departure, intimating that
+it was in all probability the last time he should preach
+in Walworth. His servant went before to open the
+carriage-door, the pew-openers remaining in the vestry.
+I offered my arm, which he declined, and then
+followed him as he passed down the aisle of the
+chapel. The lights were nearly extinguished, the
+silence was profound, nothing indeed was heard but
+the slow majestic tread of his own footsteps, when, in
+an undertone, he thus soliloquized:</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+"'And when I'm to die,' etc.<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>To my heart this was a scene of unequalled solemnity,
+nor can I ever recur to it without a revival of that
+hallowed, sacred, shuddering sympathy which it originally
+awakened."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_396" id="Page_396">[396]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>When the good old saint lay literally dying, and
+when apparently unconscious, a friend put his mouth
+close to his ear, and repeated slowly his favorite lines:</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+"And when I'm to die," etc.
+</p>
+
+<p>The light came back to his fast-fading eye, a smile
+overspread his face, and his lips moved in the ineffectual
+attempt to articulate the words. This was the
+last sign of consciousness which he gave.</p>
+
+<p>We could almost wish that every disciple of Christ
+would commit these lines, quaint as they are, to memory,
+and weave them into the web of his Christian
+experience. Confidence in Christ, and undeviating
+adherence to him, can alone enable us to triumph in
+life and death.</p>
+
+<p>In November, 1766, Whitefield again visited Bath
+and Bristol, and then passed on to Gloucestershire
+and Oxford. Never did so many of the nobility attend
+his ministry as he now saw at Bath, and the results of
+his whole journey were such as to fill him with the
+most devout gratitude. He saw too the number of
+his clerical friends largely increasing, and especially
+rejoiced in the fact that the excellent Fletcher, of
+Madeley, preached in his pulpits in London. He writes
+of this event, "Dear Mr. Fletcher has become a <em>scandalous</em>
+Tottenham Court preacher.... Were we
+more scandalous, more good would be done....
+Still, 'the shout of a king is yet heard' in the Methodist
+camp."</p>
+
+<p>In January, 1767, Whitefield wrote a recommendatory
+preface to the works of John Bunyan, whom he
+pleasantly designated, "Bishop Bunyan;" and as soon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_397" id="Page_397">[397]</a></span>
+as the weather would permit, we find him at Norwich,
+and then at Rodborough, Woodstock, Gloucester,
+and Haverfordwest, from which last place he wrote,
+"Thousands and thousands attend by eight in the
+morning. Life and light seem to fly all around." On
+a second visit to Gloucester on this tour, he wrote,
+"Blessed be God, I have got on this side the Welsh
+mountains. Blessed be God, I have been on the other
+side. What a scene last Sunday! What a cry for
+more of the bread of life! But I was quite worn
+down."</p>
+
+<p>In September following, he again visited the north
+of England, writing from day to day in high spirits.
+September 28, he says, "My body feels much fatigued
+in travelling; comforts in the soul overbalance;" and
+from Leeds, October 3, he writes, "Field and street
+preaching have rather bettered than hurt my bodily
+health."</p>
+
+<p>Whitefield now returned to London, to sustain a
+heavy disappointment. The negotiations relative to
+the college at Bethesda were this winter brought to an
+issue. A memorial addressed to his Majesty was put
+into the hands of the clerk of the Privy Council, setting
+forth the great utility of a college in that place
+to the southern provinces; and praying that a charter
+might be granted upon the plan of the college in New
+Jersey. This memorial was transmitted by the clerk
+of the Privy Council to the lord president, and by his
+lordship referred to the Archbishop of Canterbury,
+to whom also a draft of an intended charter was presented
+by the Earl of Dartmouth. A correspondence
+followed all this between the archbishop and Whitefield;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_398" id="Page_398">[398]</a></span>
+the consequence of which was, that his grace
+gave the draft of the college to the lord president,
+who promised he would consider of it; and gave it as
+his opinion that "the head of the college ought to be
+a member of the church of England; that this was a
+qualification not to be dispensed with; and also, that
+the public prayers should not be extempore ones, but
+the liturgy of the church, or some other settled and
+established form." Whitefield replied that these restrictions
+he could by no means agree to, because the
+greatest part of the contributions for the orphan-house
+came from Protestant dissenters; and because he had
+constantly declared that the intended college should
+be founded upon a broad foundation, and no other.</p>
+
+<p>"This," said he, "I judged I was sufficiently warranted
+to do, from the known, long-established, mild,
+and uncoercive genius of the British government; also
+from your grace's moderation towards Protestant dissenters;
+from the unconquerable attachment of the
+Americans to toleration principles, as well as from
+the avowed habitual feelings of my own heart. This
+being the case, and as your grace, by your silence,
+seems to be like-minded with the lord president; and
+as your grace's and his lordship's influence will undoubtedly
+extend itself to others, I would beg leave,
+after returning all due acknowledgments, to inform
+your grace that I intend troubling your grace and his
+lordship no more about this so long depending concern.
+As it hath pleased the great Head of the
+church in some degree to renew my bodily strength,
+I propose now to renew my feeble efforts, and to turn
+the charity into a more generous, and consequently<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_399" id="Page_399">[399]</a></span>
+into a more useful channel. I have no ambition to
+be looked upon as the founder of a college; but I
+would fain act the part of an honest man, a disinterested
+minister of Jesus Christ, and a true, catholic,
+moderate presbyter of the church of England."</p>
+
+<p>Thus ended Whitefield's labors to establish a college
+at Bethesda. Berridge, and not a few others of
+his friends rather rejoiced in his disappointment, as
+they thought there was some fear, uncontrolled as the
+institution might hereafter be by men of established
+principles of piety, that an unconverted ministry might
+be increased by its means.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_400" id="Page_400">[400]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER XV.</h2>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<h3>HIS LAST LABORS IN GREAT BRITAIN&mdash;COLLEGE
+AT TREVECCA&mdash;EARL OF BUCHAN&mdash;TUNBRIDGE
+WELLS.<br />
+
+1767-1769.</h3></blockquote>
+
+
+<p>Whitefield had abandoned the idea of a charter
+for a college at present, but he was yet ardently desirous
+of a public academy being added to his orphan-house,
+similar to what existed at Philadelphia before
+a college charter was granted. He thought that if
+this could be done, a better day might arrive, when a
+charter on broad principles might be obtained. He
+developed his whole plan in a letter to Governor
+Wright. Feeling too the uncertainty of life, he wrote
+to his friend Mr. Keen, "None but God knows what a
+concern is upon me now, in respect of Bethesda. As
+another voyage, perhaps, may be the issue and the
+result of all at last, I would beg you and my dear
+Mr. H&mdash;&mdash; to let me have all my papers and letters,
+that I may revise and dispose of them in a proper
+manner. This can do no hurt, come life or come
+death."</p>
+
+<p>October 28th, 1767, Whitefield preached at the London
+Tabernacle before the society for promoting religious
+knowledge among the poor, usually called, The
+Book Society. This society had been organized seventeen
+years before this period, and included in it such
+men as Watts, Doddridge, and Gifford. He gave<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_401" id="Page_401">[401]</a></span>
+way to all the zeal of his heart while he discussed the
+petition, "Thy kingdom come." Luke 11:2. The
+congregation was immense, many had to go away
+unable to obtain admittance. It was believed that a
+larger number of dissenting ministers were present
+than ever before heard a sermon from an Episcopal
+minister, and the collection reached more than five
+hundred dollars, or above four times the usual amount,
+besides eighty new annual subscribers. After the
+service, he dined with a very large party, including the
+ministers, where harmony reigned, and much respect
+was shown him.</p>
+
+<p>It may be readily supposed, that with advancing
+years and increasing experience, some changes might
+have taken place both in the style and manner of
+Whitefield's preaching. The Rev. Cornelius Winter,
+who had become somewhat closely associated with him,
+says, "He dealt more in the explanatory and doctrinal
+mode on the Sabbath morning than at any other time,
+and sometimes made a little, but by no means an improper
+show of learning. His afternoon sermon was
+more general and exhortatory. In the evening, he
+drew his bow at a venture; vindicated the doctrines
+of grace, fenced them with articles and homilies, referred
+to the martyr's seal, and exemplified the power of
+divine grace by quotations from the venerable Foxe.
+Sinners were then closely plied, numbers of whom,
+from curiosity, coming to hear for a minute or two,
+were often compelled to hear the whole sermon. How
+many in the judgment-day will rise to prove that they
+heard to the salvation of the soul. Upon the members
+of society, the practice of Christianity was then<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_402" id="Page_402">[402]</a></span>
+usually inculcated, not without some pertinent anecdote
+of a character worthy to be held up for an example,
+and in whose conduct the hints recommended
+were exemplified. On Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays,
+and Thursdays, he preached at six in the morning;
+and never, perhaps, did he preach greater sermons
+than at this hour." This, with the frequent
+administration of the Lord's supper to hundreds of
+communicants, was his usual plan for several years;
+but now he became more colloquial in his style, with
+but little action; he gave pertinent expositions of the
+Scriptures, with striking remarks, all comprehended
+within an hour. Winter adds, "The peculiar talents
+he possessed, subservient to great usefulness, can be
+but faintly conceived from his sermons in print;
+though, as formerly, God has made the reading of
+them useful, and I have no doubt that in future they
+will have their use."</p>
+
+<p>But even yet our evangelist had to engage in war.
+The opposition of the universities in Oxford and Cambridge
+to the principles and practices introduced by
+Whitefield, Wesley, and their companions, grew and
+strengthened, till an event occurred at Oxford singularly
+remarkable in its history for opposition to evangelical
+religion, which for many years continued to
+excite very extraordinary interest. The London "St.
+James' Chronicle," of Thursday, March 17, 1763, contained
+the following "extract of a letter from Oxford:"
+"On Friday last, six students, belonging to Edmund
+Hall, were expelled the university, after a hearing of
+several hours before Mr. Vice-Chancellor and some
+of the heads of houses, for holding methodistical<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_403" id="Page_403">[403]</a></span>
+tenets, and taking upon them to pray, read, and expound
+the Scriptures, and singing hymns in a private
+house. The &mdash;&mdash; of the &mdash;&mdash; [The Principal of the
+Edmund Hall, Rev. Dr. Dixon] defended their doctrines
+from the Thirty-nine Articles of the established
+church, and spoke in the highest terms of the piety
+and exemplariness of their lives; but his motion was
+overruled, and sentence pronounced against them.
+Dr. &mdash;&mdash;, [Dixon,] one of the heads of houses present,
+observed, that as these six gentlemen were expelled for
+having too much religion, it would be very proper to
+inquire into the conduct of some who had too little;
+and Mr. &mdash;&mdash; [Dr. Nowell] was heard to tell their
+chief accuser, that the university was much obliged to
+him for his good work."</p>
+
+<p>To detail the events which followed this extraordinary
+act, and to describe the excitement thus created,
+form no part of the design of our volume.
+We have referred to the fact because Mr. Whitefield
+and his friend Sir Richard Hill took part in the controversy.
+Referring to Dr. Nowell's assertion to
+Mr. Higson, their "chief accuser," and who was also
+their tutor, that the university was obliged to him,
+Whitefield says to the Vice-Chancellor, "What thanks,
+reverend sir, he may meet with from the whole university
+I know not; but one thing I know, namely,
+that he will receive no thanks for that day's work
+from the innumerable company of angels, the general
+assembly of the first-born which are written in heaven,
+or from God the Judge of all, in that day when
+Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant shall come in
+his own glory, in the glory of the Father and his holy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_404" id="Page_404">[404]</a></span>
+angels, and gather his elect from all the four corners
+of the world.</p>
+
+<p>"It is true, indeed, one article of impeachment
+was, that 'some of them were of <em>trades</em> before they
+entered into the university.' But what evil or crime
+worthy of expulsion can there be in that? To be
+called from any, though the meanest mechanical employment,
+to the study of the liberal arts, where a
+natural genius hath been given, was never yet looked
+upon as a reproach to, or diminution of any great and
+public character whatsoever. Profane history affords
+us a variety of examples of the greatest heroes, who
+have been fetched even from the plough to command
+armies, and who performed the greatest exploits for
+their country's good. And if we examine <em>sacred</em> history,
+we shall find that even David, after he was
+anointed king, looked back with sweet complacency
+to the rock from whence he was hewn, and is not
+ashamed to leave it upon record, that God took him
+away from the sheepfolds, as he was following the
+ewes great with young; and, as though he loved to
+repeat it, he took him, he says, 'that he might feed
+Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.'</p>
+
+<p>"But why speak I of David, when Jesus of Nazareth,
+David's Lord and David's King, had for his
+reputed father a carpenter? and in all probability,
+as it was a common proverb among the Jews, that 'he
+who did not teach his son a trade, taught him to be a
+thief,' he worked at the trade of a carpenter himself.
+For this, indeed, he was reproached and maligned:
+'Is not this,' said they, 'the carpenter's son?' Nay,
+'Is not this the carpenter?' But who were these maligners?<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_405" id="Page_405">[405]</a></span>
+The greatest enemies to the power of godliness
+which the world ever saw, the scribes and Pharisees,
+that 'generation of vipers,' as John the Baptist
+calls them, who, upon every occasion, were spitting
+out their venom, and shooting their arrows, even bitter
+words, against that Son of man, even that Son of
+God who, to display his sovereignty, and confound
+the wisdom of the worldly wise, chose poor fishermen
+to be his apostles; and whose chief of the apostles,
+though brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, both before
+and after his call to the apostleship, labored with
+his own hands, and worked at the trade of a tent-maker."</p>
+
+<p>It is pleasant to know that the young men thus
+expelled became useful in the church of Christ. One
+of them, indeed, Erasmus Middleton, who had been
+sustained at Oxford by Mr. Fuller, a dissenter and
+banker in London, was ordained in Ireland by the
+bishop of Down, and having married a lady of the
+ducal family of Gordon, in Scotland, was curate successively
+to the Rev. Messrs. Romaine and Cadogan
+in London, and finally rector of Turvey, in Bedfordshire,
+where he was the immediate predecessor of the
+sainted Legh Richmond.</p>
+
+<p>Many delightful evidences yet exist that as Whitefield
+drew nearer the end of his career on earth, his
+holy zeal increased, rather than lessened. We have
+lying before us three of his letters, not included either
+in the collection of his printed correspondence, or in
+the lives which have been published. The first was
+addressed to a gentleman at Wisbeach, and appears
+to have been written from London. It is dated Sept.
+25, 1766.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_406" id="Page_406">[406]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Sir</span>&mdash;As your letter breathes the spirit of
+a sincere follower of the Lamb of God, I am sorry
+that it hath lain by so long unanswered; but bodily
+weakness, and a multiplicity of correspondents, both
+from abroad and at home, must be pleaded as excuses.
+'Blessed be God, our salvation is nearer than when
+we believed.' It should seem that you have now
+served three apprenticeships in Christ's school, and
+yet I suppose the language of your heart is, 'I love
+my Master, and will not go from him;' and Oh, what
+a mercy, that whom Jesus loves, he loves to the end!
+Do you not begin to long to see him more than ever?
+Do you not groan in this tabernacle, being burdened?
+Courage, courage; he that cometh will come, and will
+not tarry. Oh that patience may have its perfect
+work! Many in this metropolis seem to be on the
+wing for God; the shout of a king is yet heard in
+the Methodist camp. Had I wings, I would gladly
+fly from pole to pole; but they are clipped by thirty
+years' feeble labors. Twice or thrice a week I am
+permitted to ascend my gospel throne. The love of
+Christ, I am persuaded, will constrain you to pray
+that the last glimmering of an expiring taper may
+be blessed to the guiding of many wandering souls to
+the Lamb of God."</p>
+
+<p>The second letter was written from the same city,
+February 12, in the following year, and was addressed
+to Captain Scott, a military officer then "quartered
+at Leicester." This gentleman, in early life, had been
+much devoted to the gayeties of fashionable society;
+long after he had entered the army, he was converted
+to God, under the ministry of the Rev. W. Romaine;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_407" id="Page_407">[407]</a></span>
+and a few weeks before Mr. Whitefield addressed to
+him this letter, he had begun to preach the grand message
+of reconciliation. He afterwards left the army,
+was ordained as a Congregational minister, and labored
+for many years in almost innumerable places
+in city and country, with abundant success.</p>
+
+<p>"What, not answer so modest a request, namely,
+to snatch a few moments to send dear Captain Scott
+a few lines? God forbid. I must again welcome him
+into the field of battle. I must again entreat him to
+keep his rank as captain, and not suffer any persuasions
+to influence him to descend to the low degree of
+a common soldier. If God will choose a red-coat
+preacher, who shall say unto him, 'What doest thou?'</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Prevent thy foes, nor wait their charge;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">But call the lingering battle on;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">But strongly grasp thy seven-fold targe,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And bear the world and Satan down.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Strong in the Lord's almighty power,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And armed in panoply divine,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Firm mayest thou stand in danger's hour,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And prove the strength of Jesus thine.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"The helmet of salvation take,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The Lord the Spirit's conquering sword;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Speak from the word, in lightning speak;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Cry out, and thunder from the Lord.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Through friends and foes pursue thy way,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Be mindful of a dying God;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Finish thy course, and win the day,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Though called to seal the truth with blood.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>"Gladly would I come, and in my poor way endeavor
+to strengthen your hands; but alas, I am fit
+for nothing, but, as an invalid, to be put into some<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_408" id="Page_408">[408]</a></span>
+garrison, and now and then put my hand to some old
+gun. Blessed be the Captain of our salvation for
+drafting out some young champions to reconnoitre
+and attack the enemy. You will beat the march in
+every letter, and bid the common soldiers not halt,
+but go forwards. Good Lady Huntingdon wishes you
+much prosperity. Pray write to her at Brighthelmstone,
+[now Brighton,] Sussex. She will most gladly
+answer you; and I assure you, her Ladyship's letters
+are always weighty. Hoping one day or another to
+see your face in the flesh, and more than hoping to
+see you crowned with glory in the kingdom of heaven,
+I must hasten to subscribe myself, my dear captain,
+yours in our all-glorious Captain-general,</p>
+
+<p class="sig">
+"G. WHITEFIELD."
+</p>
+
+<p>The last letter we shall introduce in this connection
+was addressed by Whitefield to the Honorable and
+Rev. Walter Shirley, of Ireland, a near relative of the
+Countess of Huntingdon, who breathed, as a minister
+of Christ, much of the spirit of his great Master. It
+was dated, Bath, Dec. 8, 1767:</p>
+
+<p>"<span class="smcap">Rev. and very dear Sir</span>&mdash;How glad was I to
+hear by the London Shunamite, [Mrs. Herritage,] that
+you and your lady were well; that God had given
+you a son; that you reflected on your preaching at
+Tottenham Court chapel with pleasure; that you had
+gotten a curate; and, to complete all, that you intended
+to visit England next spring. This news rejoiced
+me before I left town, and was most grateful to our
+good Lady Huntingdon, whom I have the honor of
+waiting upon at this time in Bath. She hath been
+sick, nigh unto death, but through mercy is now somewhat<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_409" id="Page_409">[409]</a></span>
+recovered, though as yet unable to write much.
+This her ladyship much regrets on your account; and
+therefore enjoins me to inform you, that your letter
+did not reach her hands till many weeks after the
+proper time; that ever since she has been visited with
+lingering sickness, but begs you will not linger in
+coming over to our Macedonia to help us. The
+thought of it seems to refresh her heaven-born soul.
+Blessed be God, her ladyship still takes the lead.</p>
+
+<p>"She is now doing honor to the remains of the
+Earl of Buchan, who sweetly slept in Jesus last week.
+All hath been awful, and more than awful. On Saturday
+evening, before the corpse was taken from Buchan
+house, a word of exhortation was given, and a
+hymn sung in the room where the corpse lay. The
+young Earl stood with his hands on the head of the
+coffin, the Countess Dowager of Buchan on his right
+hand, Lady Ann Agnes, and Lady Isabella Erskine on
+his left, and their brother the Hon. Thomas Erskine
+next to their mother, with Miss O&mdash;&mdash;, Miss W&mdash;&mdash;,
+Miss G&mdash;&mdash;; on one side all the domestics, with a few
+friends on the other. The word of exhortation was
+received with great solemnity, and most wept under
+the parting prayer. At ten, the corpse was removed
+to good Lady Huntingdon's chapel, where it was deposited
+within a place railed in for that purpose, covered
+with black baize, and the usual funeral concomitants,
+except escutcheons.</p>
+
+<p>"On Sunday morning, all attended in mourning at
+early sacrament. They were seated by themselves,
+at the feet of the corpse, and with their head servants,
+received first, and a particular address was made to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_410" id="Page_410">[410]</a></span>
+them. Immediately after receiving, these verses were
+sung for them:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"'Our lives, our blood, we here present,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">If for thy truth they may be spent:<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Fulfil thy glorious counsel, Lord;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Thy will be done, thy name adored.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"'Give them thy strength, O God of power,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Then let men rave or devils roar,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Thy faithful witnesses they'll be;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">'Tis fixed, they can do all through thee!'<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>"Then they received this blessing: 'The Lord bless
+you, and keep you; the Lord lift up the light of his
+countenance upon you; the Lord cause his face to
+shine upon you, and give you peace;' and so returned
+to their places.</p>
+
+<p>"Sacrament ended, and a blessed sacrament it was,
+the noble mourners returned to the good Countess of
+Huntingdon's house, which was lent them for the day.
+At eleven, public worship began. The bereaved relatives
+sat in order within, and the domestics round the
+outside of the rail. The chapel was more than crowded.
+Near three hundred tickets, signed by the present
+earl, were given out to the nobility and gentry,
+to be admitted. All was hushed and solemn. Proper
+hymns were sung, and I preached on the words,
+'Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord.' Attention
+sat on every countenance, and deep and almost
+universal impressions were made. The like scene,
+and if possible more solemn, was exhibited in the
+evening, and I was enabled to preach a second time,
+and a like power attended the word as in the morning.
+Ever since, there hath been public service and
+preaching twice a day. This is to be continued till<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_411" id="Page_411">[411]</a></span>
+Friday morning, then all is to be removed to Bristol,
+in order to be shipped off to Scotland. The inscription
+on the coffin runs thus: 'His life was honorable&mdash;his
+death blessed&mdash;he sought earnestly peace with
+God&mdash;he found it, with unspeakable joy, alone in the
+merits of Jesus Christ, witnessed by the Holy Spirit
+to his soul&mdash;he yet speaketh. Go and do likewise.'</p>
+
+<p>"I have often wished for you here. Congregations
+are very large, attentive, and deeply impressed.
+Great numbers of all ranks crowd to see and hear;
+and I trust many will also feel. Surely the death of
+this noble earl, thus improved, will prove the life of
+many. He behaved like the patriarch Jacob, when
+by faith, leaning upon his staff, he blessed his children.
+The earl added, 'Yea, and they shall be blessed.'
+He laid his hands on, and blessed his children,
+assuring them of his personal interest in Jesus. He
+had great foretastes of heaven. 'Had I strength of
+body,' cried he, 'I would not be ashamed, before men
+and angels, to tell what the Lord Jesus hath done for
+my soul. Come, Holy Ghost&mdash;come, Holy Ghost;
+happy, happy, happy!' and then sweetly slept in Jesus.
+All surviving relatives still feel the influence. They
+sit round the corpse, attended by their domestics and
+supporters, twice a day. Good Lady S&mdash;&mdash; gets
+fresh spirits. The present noble earl, I believe, hath
+got the blessing indeed, and seems, upon the best evidence,
+to determine to know nothing but Jesus Christ,
+and him crucified. He hath behaved in the most delicate
+manner to the Countess, and other noble survivors."</p>
+
+<p>The summer of 1768 brought to Whitefield a series<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_412" id="Page_412">[412]</a></span>
+of changes. For the last time he now visited
+Edinburgh, where he found his congregations as large,
+and his Christian friends as affectionate as ever. Soon
+after his return to London, Mrs. Whitefield was seized
+with inflammatory fever, and died, as we have already
+seen, on the 9th of August. His own health too was
+more than declining. He writes, "I have been in
+hopes of my own departure. Through hard writing,
+and frequent preaching, I have burst a vein. The
+flux is in a great measure stopped; but rest and quietness
+are strictly enjoined."</p>
+
+<p>"Rest and quietness!" With Whitefield such
+things were impossible as long as he could move or
+speak. His fire must burn till its whole material was
+expended; his heart overflowed, and he must labor
+till his body sank under exhaustion. No persecution
+could appall him, no sickness could long keep him
+from his beloved engagements. He would preach till
+he died, being fully assured that his "labor was not in
+vain in the Lord."</p>
+
+<p>Neither Whitefield nor any of his friends could
+ever be the advocates of an unlearned ministry. Many
+of the men engaged under his direction, and preaching
+in what was already called "Lady Huntingdon's
+connection," needed, as they well knew, a better education
+than they possessed. Hence her ladyship obtained
+a lease of an old structure, supposed to have
+been part of an ancient castle erected in the reign of
+Henry the Second. The date over the entrance, now
+almost effaced, is 1176. It was called Trevecca
+House, was situated in the parish of Talgarth, in
+South Wales, and was for some time the residence of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_413" id="Page_413">[413]</a></span>
+Howel Harris. This building was opened as a college
+for religious and literary instruction, and the chapel
+dedicated to the preaching of the everlasting gospel,
+Aug. 24, 1768, the anniversary of the Bartholomew
+act, and of the birth of her ladyship. Mr. Whitefield
+preached from Exod. 24:24: "In all places where I
+record my name, I will come unto thee and bless
+thee;" and on the following Sabbath he addressed a
+congregation of some thousands, who assembled in the
+court before the college. His text on that occasion
+was, "Other foundation can no man lay than that is
+laid, which is Jesus Christ." When speaking of the
+dedication of the college, Mr. Whitefield says, "What
+we have seen and felt at the college is unspeakable."</p>
+
+<p>After her ladyship's death the institution was removed
+to Cheshunt, about thirteen miles north of London,
+where it still flourishes under the presidency of
+the Rev. Dr. W. H. Stowell.</p>
+
+<p>In the early part of 1769, Mr. Whitefield was for
+some weeks seriously ill, but towards the close of
+March, he was able to write, "Through infinite mercy
+I have been able to preach four days successively."
+During his illness he received many offers of assistance
+from his brethren in the ministry, but from none
+more cordially than from the Honorable and Rev.
+Mr. Shirley. Writing to him, April 1, Whitefield
+says:</p>
+
+<p>"How much am I obliged to you for your two kind
+letters, and more especially for the repeated offers of
+your ministerial assistance. They will be most gratefully
+accepted, and, I humbly hope, be remarkably succeeded
+by Him who hath promised to be with us always,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_414" id="Page_414">[414]</a></span>
+even unto the end of the world. Blessed be
+His name, we have been favored with most delightful
+passover feasts. The shout of the King of kings is
+still heard in the midst of our Methodist camps; and
+the shout of, Grace, grace! resounds from many quarters.
+Our almighty Jesus knows how to build his
+temple in troublous times. His work prospers in the
+hands of the elect countess, who is gone to Bath, much
+recovered from her late indisposition. Worthy Lady
+Fanny Shirley proposes soon to follow, in order to
+reside there. Some more coronets, I hear, are likely
+to be laid at the Redeemer's feet. They glitter gloriously
+when set in and surrounded by a <em>crown of
+thorns</em>.</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<span class="i0">"'Subjects of the Lord, be bold;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Jesus will his kingdom hold;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Wheels encircling wheels must run,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Each in course to bring it on.'"<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<p>That the friendship of Dr. Franklin towards Mr.
+Whitefield was sincere, cannot be doubted; there is,
+however, somewhat painful in the thought, that even
+in this connection Franklin could not conceal his
+scepticism. In 1769 both these eminent men were in
+London, and every one knows that the state of our
+country was very trying. Franklin thus wrote to
+Whitefield: "I am under continued apprehensions that
+we may have bad news from America. The sending
+soldiers to Boston always appeared to me a dangerous
+step; they could do no good, they might occasion mischief.
+When I consider the warm resentment of a
+people who think themselves injured and oppressed,
+and the common insolence of the soldiery, who are
+taught to consider that people as in rebellion, I cannot<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_415" id="Page_415">[415]</a></span>
+but fear the consequences of bringing them together.
+It seems like setting up a smith's forge in a
+magazine of gunpowder. I <em>see</em> with you that our affairs
+are not well managed by our rulers here below;
+I wish I could <em>believe</em> with you, that they are well
+attended to by those above: I rather suspect, from
+certain circumstances, that though the general government
+of the universe is well administered, our
+particular little affairs are perhaps below notice,
+and left to take the chance of human prudence or
+imprudence, as either may happen to be uppermost.
+It is, however, an uncomfortable thought, and I leave
+it."</p>
+
+<p>It would have been strange indeed if Whitefield
+had allowed a letter closing in this manner to pass
+without a remark; hence we are prepared to find that,
+in his own handwriting, at the foot of the autograph
+letter, he wrote, "<em>Uncomfortable</em> indeed! and, blessed
+be God, <em>unscriptural</em>; for we are fully assured that 'the
+Lord reigneth,' and are directed to cast <em>all</em> our own
+care on him, because he careth for us." Could Dr.
+Franklin have seen the splendid results of that management
+which he thought indicated the absence of a
+particular providence&mdash;could he have beheld the vast
+Republic, the abode of liberty, commerce, literature,
+and religion, which in less than a century has grown
+out of the insurgent colonies&mdash;he would surely have
+exclaimed, in the language of the prophet, "Verily
+there is a God in the earth!"</p>
+
+<p>In July, Whitefield was called by Lady Huntingdon
+to visit Tunbridge Wells, a popular watering
+place in Kent, some twenty or thirty miles from London,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_416" id="Page_416">[416]</a></span>
+to dedicate a new and beautiful house to the
+service of God. The congregation was far too large
+to be accommodated within the walls; he therefore
+preached out of doors from a mount in the court before
+the house. His text was, "This is none other
+but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."
+Gen. 28:17. This sermon is said to have been one
+of his most eloquent and thrilling efforts; the lofty
+energy of his tones, the utter forgetfulness of himself
+in the all-absorbing interest of his subject, the very
+impersonation of the truths which he uttered as he
+stretched forth his hand, "Look yonder; what is
+that I see? It is my agonizing Lord! Hark, hark!
+do you not hear? O earth, earth, earth, hear the
+word of the Lord!" thrilled the vast congregation,
+riveting the eye, piercing the conscience, and holding
+strong men breathless before the resistless might of
+his inspired eloquence. After the service he delivered
+an exhortation, and on the next day again preached
+and administered the Lord's supper.</p>
+
+<p>He now began to prepare for his <em>seventh</em>, and as it
+proved, his <em>last</em> voyage to America, especially to visit
+his beloved orphans and friends in Georgia. The
+only thing which seems to have grieved him, was the
+pain of parting for a time from his London friends.
+This was nothing new, but his feelings were even less
+reconciled to the event than formerly. "Oh," he
+says, "these partings! without a divine support they
+would be intolerable. Talk not of taking <em>personal</em>
+leave; you know my <em>make</em>. Paul could stand a whipping,
+but not a weeping farewell."</p>
+
+<p>The text of his last sermon was John 10:27, 28:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_417" id="Page_417">[417]</a></span>
+"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they
+follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and
+they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck
+them out of my hand." The sermon was printed, and
+that very incorrectly; but a few sentences will show
+that it was strikingly characteristic: "These words,
+it will be recollected, were uttered by Christ at the
+feast of dedication. This festival was of bare human
+invention, and yet I do not find that our Lord preached
+against it. And I believe that when we see things as
+we ought, we shall not entertain our auditories about
+rites and ceremonies, but about the grand thing. It
+is the glory of Methodists, that while they have been
+preaching forty years, there has not been, that I know
+of, one single pamphlet published by them about the
+non-essentials of religion.... The Lord divides the
+world into sheep and goats. O sinners, you are come
+to hear a poor creature take his last farewell; but I
+want you to forget the creature and his preaching. I
+want to lead you further than the Tabernacle&mdash;even
+to mount Calvary, to see with what expense of blood
+Jesus Christ purchased 'his own.' Now, before I go
+any further, will you be so good, before the world
+gets into your hearts, to inquire whether you belong
+to Christ or not. Surely the world did not get into
+your hearts before you rose from your beds. Many
+of you were up sooner than usual. [The sermon was
+preached at seven o'clock in the morning.] I hope
+the world does not get into your hearts before nine.
+Man, woman, sinner, put thy hand upon thy heart,
+and say, Didst thou ever hear Christ's voice so as to
+follow him?... I once heard Dr. Marryatt, who was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_418" id="Page_418">[418]</a></span>
+not ashamed of 'market language,' say at Pinner's
+Hall, 'God has a great dog to fetch his sheep back
+when they wander.' He sends the devil after them,
+to bark at them; but instead of barking them further
+off, he barks them back to the fold.... 'None shall
+pluck them out of my hand.' This implies that there
+is always somebody plucking at Christ's sheep. The
+lust of the flesh is plucking; the pride of life is plucking;
+and the devil is continually plucking at them;
+'but nothing shall pluck them out of my hand;' I
+have bought them, and am gone to heaven to 'prepare
+a place for them.'"</p>
+
+<p>Of this sermon, as taken in shorthand and printed,
+Whitefield received a copy while at Deal, and was
+much dissatisfied with it. He says, "This morning I
+received a surreptitious copy of my Tabernacle farewell
+sermon, taken, as the shorthand writer professes,
+verbatim as I spoke it. But surely he is mistaken.
+The whole is so injudiciously paragraphed, and so
+wretchedly unconnected, that I owe no thanks to the
+misguided, though it may be well-meant zeal of the
+writer and publisher, be they who they will." Had
+Whitefield known that the lad of seventeen who had
+thus taken down his sermon, would hereafter become
+a devoted and useful minister of Christ, the secretary
+of the London Missionary Society, the originator of the
+London Religious Tract Society, and for many years
+the editor of the London Evangelical Magazine, and the
+author of "Village Sermons," which have circulated
+by hundreds of thousands of volumes in both hemispheres,
+how would his heart have warmed towards
+him. Let us copy from the journal of George Burder,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_419" id="Page_419">[419]</a></span>
+as given in his life by his son, the Rev. Dr. H. F.
+Burder, a short passage:</p>
+
+<p>"August, 1769. About this time I heard Mr.
+Whitefield preach several sermons, particularly his
+two last in London; that at Tottenham Court chapel
+on Sabbath morning, and that at the Tabernacle on
+Wednesday morning at seven o'clock. I remember a
+thought which passed my mind, I think, as I was going
+to hear his last sermon&mdash;'Which would I rather be,
+Garrick or Whitefield?' I thought each, in point of
+oratory, admirable in his way. I doubt not conscience
+told me which was best. I wrote Mr. Whitefield's
+sermons in shorthand, though standing in a
+crowd. The latter I copied out, and by the request
+of a friend it was printed in about a week. I remember
+sitting up part of a night to write it out, and at
+the same time I observed the comet which then appeared.
+The sermon was very incorrect, and Mr.
+Whitefield being detained at Deal before he left England,
+saw it, and complained of it."</p>
+
+<p>Before we entirely separate from the Tabernacle,
+we wish to record some other interesting facts associated
+with it, especially relating to Thomas Wilson,
+Esq., for many years the treasurer of Hoxton, afterwards
+Highbury, college, who gave the ground on
+which the latter building stands, devoted his fortune
+to the extension of the cause of Christ, and in addition
+to many other noble acts, erected five large
+houses of worship in the British metropolis, capable
+of seating eight thousand persons. The father of
+this gentleman was for many years a devoted deacon
+of a Congregational church, but entered into full<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_420" id="Page_420">[420]</a></span>
+sympathy with the labors of Whitefield, attending
+the Tabernacle on Lord's-day evenings. "To this
+circumstance, perhaps, may be traced much of his own
+zeal for the glory of God, and no inconsiderable portion
+of that public spirit which afterwards distinguished
+his son Thomas, who well remembered being
+carried in his nurse's arms, in company with his parents,
+to the scene of Whitefield's ministry, and listening
+with such interest as one so young was likely
+to feel, to a preacher of surpassing eloquence and
+power." The Rev. Dr. Morison, one of his biographers,
+adds: "Thus did he imbibe in early life a
+strong prepossession for animated public address,
+which he never lost in after-years, and which he never
+failed to urge upon all youthful candidates for the
+sacred office. As might have been expected, the Tabernacle
+became his Sabbath home, where he was wont
+to listen to men of fervent eloquence, and of purely
+evangelical sentiment. He entered, while very young,
+into communion with the church in that place, and
+afforded a pleasing example of early and consistent
+dedication to the service of Christ."</p>
+
+<p>Having finished the service of the Tabernacle
+which we just now described, Whitefield went immediately
+to Gravesend, twenty miles from London, to
+set sail, embarking in the Friendship, Captain Ball,
+for Charleston. His companions on the voyage were
+Messrs. Winter and Smith, both of them young ministers
+of lively zeal; and the former especially, was
+distinguished in after-life by great success in his labors
+for Christ and his church. Whitefield wrote, "I am
+comfortable on every side&mdash;a civil captain and passengers;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_421" id="Page_421">[421]</a></span>
+all willing to attend on divine worship, and
+to hear of religious things."</p>
+
+<p>But delay was the lot of our evangelist and his
+friends. They arrived in the Downs, and had to stay
+there about a month waiting for a fair wind. While
+here, he was delighted with a most unexpected visit
+from Dr. Gibbons of London, and the Rev. Mr. Bradbury
+of Ramsgate, who had met at Deal to ordain a
+young minister. He says, "Wednesday, Sept. 13, I
+went on shore, and attended an ordination solemnity
+at the dissenting meeting. Several ministers officiated.
+Several important questions were asked and
+answered before, and a solemn charge given after
+imposition of hands. But the prayer put up in the
+very act of laying on of hands, by Dr. Gibbons, was
+so affecting, and the looks and behavior of those that
+joined so serious and solemn, that I hardly know when
+I was more struck under any one's ministration. The
+ordination being over, at the desire of the ministers
+and other gentlemen, I went and dined with them:
+our conversation was edifying; and being informed
+that many were desirous to hear me preach, I willingly
+complied; and I trust some seed was sown
+the same evening at Deal, which, by God's heavenly
+blessing, will spring up to life eternal. The people of
+Deal seemed very civil, and some came to me who
+had not forgotten my preaching to them, and their
+deceased friends and parents, thirty-two years ago."</p>
+
+<p>Whitefield tells a somewhat amusing anecdote of
+Dr. Gibbons, on one of his visits on board. The worthy
+doctor was unused to the sea, and became sea-sick,
+so that he was obliged to lie down for some time in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_422" id="Page_422">[422]</a></span>
+the state-cabin. "There," says our evangelist, "he
+learned more experimentally to pray for those who
+do business in the great waters." While yet in the
+Downs, Whitefield preached not only on board, but at
+Ramsgate and elsewhere. On September 25, in company
+with many other ships, they sailed, but soon
+were again compelled to cast anchor over against
+New Romney and Dungenness. At length, however,
+they cleared the channel, and after a long and dangerous
+voyage arrived safe at Charleston, S. C. Happily,
+Whitefield's health had become greatly renovated,
+so that he felt better than after any voyage he
+had made for many years. In his memorandum he
+wrote:</p>
+
+<p>"November, 1769. For the last week we were
+beating about our port, within sight of it, and continued
+for two days in Five-fathom hole, just over the
+bar. A dangerous situation, as the wind blew hard,
+and our ship, like a young Christian, for want of
+more ballast, would not obey the helm. But through
+infinite mercy, on November 30, a pilot-boat came and
+took us safe ashore to Charleston, having been on
+board almost thirteen weeks. Friends received me
+most cordially. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget
+not all his mercies. Oh, to begin to be a Christian
+and minister of Jesus!" On the very day of his
+landing, Whitefield preached at Charleston, and learned
+from his friend Mr. Wright that all was well at
+Bethesda.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_423" id="Page_423">[423]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER XVI.</h2>
+
+<h3>SEVENTH VISIT AND LABORS IN AMERICA&mdash;DEATH.<br />
+
+1769, 1770.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Whitefield now lost no time in proceeding to his
+beloved Bethesda, which at present wore a very inviting
+aspect. Writing, January 11, 1770, he says, "Every
+thing exceeds my most sanguine expectations. I
+am almost tempted to say, 'It is good for me to be
+here;' but all must give way to gospel ranging&mdash;divine
+employ!</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"'For this, let men revile my name,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">I'll shun no cross, I'll fear no shame;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">All hail, reproach!'"<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="noindent">In another letter he says, "The increase of this colony
+is almost incredible. Two wings are added to the
+orphan-house, for the accommodation of students; of
+which Governor Wright laid the foundation, March
+25, 1769."</div>
+
+<p>An official paper of the Georgia legislature will
+show the esteem in which Whitefield was held by that
+body.</p>
+
+<p>"Commons House of Assembly, Monday, Jan. 29,
+1770. Mr. Speaker reported, that he, with the house,
+having waited on the Rev. Mr. Whitefield, in consequence
+of his invitation, at the orphan-house academy,
+heard him preach a very suitable and pious sermon on
+the occasion; and with great pleasure observed the
+promising appearance of improvement towards the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_424" id="Page_424">[424]</a></span>
+good purposes intended, and the decency and propriety
+of behavior of the several residents there; and
+were sensibly affected, when they saw the happy success
+which has attended Whitefield's indefatigable
+zeal for promoting the welfare of the province in
+general, and the orphan-house in particular. Ordered,
+that this report be printed in the Gazette.</p>
+
+<p class="sig">
+"JOHN SIMPSON, Clerk."
+</p>
+
+<p>In pursuance of this vote, we find in the Georgia
+Gazette as follows: "Savannah, January 31, 1770.
+Last Sunday, his Excellency the Governor, Council,
+and Assembly, having been invited by the Rev. Mr.
+Whitefield, attended divine service in the chapel of
+the orphan-house academy, where prayers were read
+by the Rev. Mr. Ellington, and a very suitable sermon
+was preached by the Rev. Mr. Whitefield, from Zechariah
+4:10, 'For who hath despised the day of small
+things?' to the great satisfaction of the auditory; in
+which he took occasion to mention the many discouragements
+he met with, well known to many there, in
+carrying on the institution for upwards of thirty years
+past, and the present promising prospect of its future
+and more extensive usefulness. After divine service,
+the company were very politely entertained with a
+handsome and plentiful dinner; and were greatly
+pleased to see the useful improvements made in the
+house, the two additional wings of apartments for
+students, one hundred and fifty feet each in length,
+and other lesser buildings, in so much forwardness;
+and the whole executed with taste, and in so masterly
+a manner; and being sensible of the truly generous
+and disinterested benefactions derived to the province<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_425" id="Page_425">[425]</a></span>
+through his means, they expressed their gratitude in
+the most respectful terms."</p>
+
+<p>On February 10, we find a letter written at Charleston
+by Whitefield to his friend Mr. Robert Keen of
+London:</p>
+
+<p>"Through infinite mercy, this leaves me enjoying
+a greater share of bodily health than I have known
+for many years. I am now enabled to preach almost
+every day, and my poor feeble labors seem not
+to be in vain in the Lord. Blessed be God, all things
+are in great forwardness at Bethesda. I have conversed
+with the governor in the most explicit manner,
+more than once, concerning an act of Assembly for
+the establishment of the intended orphan-house college.
+He most readily consents. I have shown him
+a draft, which he much approves of, and all will be
+finished at my return from the northward; in the
+meanwhile the building will be carried on. As two
+ministers from New Jersey and Rhode Island have
+been soliciting benefactions for their respective colleges,
+no application of that nature can be made here;
+but the Lord will provide.... Since my being in
+Charleston, I have shown the draft to some persons of
+great eminence and influence. They highly approve
+of it, and willingly consent to be some of the wardens.
+Nearly twenty are to be of Georgia, and about six of
+this place; one of Philadelphia, one of New York,
+one of Boston, three of Edinburgh, two of Glasgow,
+and six of London. Those of Georgia and South
+Carolina are to be qualified; the others to be only
+honorary corresponding wardens."</p>
+
+<p>Two days afterwards he again writes to the same<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_426" id="Page_426">[426]</a></span>
+friend, "In a few months, I hope all will be completed.
+But what may these few months produce? Lord
+Jesus, prepare us for whatsoever thou hast prepared
+for us, and give peace in our time, for thine infinite
+mercy's sake. You must expect another draft soon.
+God be praised for that saying, 'It is more blessed to
+give than to receive.' You would be pleased to see
+with what attention the people hear the word preached.
+I have been in Charleston near a fortnight&mdash;am
+to preach at a neighboring country parish church
+next Sunday, and hope to see Georgia the week following.
+Perhaps I may sail from thence to the northward,
+and perhaps embark from thence. Lord Jesus,
+direct my goings in thy way. I am blessed with
+bodily health, and am enabled to go on my way rejoicing.
+Grace, grace!"</p>
+
+<p>On returning to Bethesda, his heart seems to have
+been full of the orphan-house and the college. For the
+direction of the latter, he prepared a series of rules,
+and especially provided for the reading of the old
+Puritan and Non-conformist writers of the seventeenth
+and eighteenth centuries. Every letter he wrote contained
+references to the improved state of his health,
+and the increased number of preaching engagements
+which he was now able to fulfil. His spirits seem to
+have been better, and his exultations in the divine
+kindness more ardent than ever, while his correspondence
+indicates much heavenly-mindedness, and lively
+desires for the highest happiness of his friends.</p>
+
+<p>As Whitefield had now been in the south more
+than five months, we are not surprised to find that
+applications poured in from every part of the north,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_427" id="Page_427">[427]</a></span>
+entreating him to revisit the scenes of other years.
+He left Bethesda and its affairs in the hands of persons
+worthy of his confidence, of whom he said, "Such
+a set of helpers I never met with."</p>
+
+<p>After some hesitation as to where he should first
+go, he set out for Philadelphia, where he arrived on
+the 6th of May. Writing three days afterwards, he
+says, "The evening following, I was enabled to preach
+to a large auditory, and have to repeat the delightful
+task this evening. Pulpits, hearts, and affections, seem
+to be as open and enlarged to me as ever." On the
+24th he again wrote, "A wide and effectual door, I
+trust, has been opened in this city. People of all
+ranks flock as much as ever. Impressions are made
+on many, and I trust they will abide. To all the
+Episcopal churches, as well as most of the other places
+of worship, I have free access. Notwithstanding I
+preach twice on the Lord's day, and three or four
+times a week besides, yet I am rather better than I
+have been for many years. This is the Lord's doing."
+On June 14, he says, "This leaves me just returned
+from a one hundred and fifty miles' circuit, in which,
+blessed be God, I have been enabled to preach every
+day. So many new as well as old doors are open,
+and so many invitations sent from various quarters,
+that I know not which way to turn myself."</p>
+
+<p>Of his last visit to New Jersey, Bishop White of
+Philadelphia, then a young man of twenty-three, says,
+"When he was on his way from Philadelphia to Boston,
+late in the summer, he had been prevailed on to
+promise to cross from Bristol to Burlington, and to
+preach there. I happened to be in the latter place,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_428" id="Page_428">[428]</a></span>
+and staying in the house of a relative, when it was
+announced that Mr. Whitefield was at a tavern on
+the other side of the river. He was expected to be
+escorted by my relative. I went with him; and we
+returned in a boat with Mr. Whitefield and his company.
+He preached to the assembled citizens in front
+of the court-house, and afterwards dined at the house
+of my relative. During dinner, he was almost the
+only speaker, as was said to be common; all present
+being disposed to listen."</p>
+
+<p>A few days after this visit, we find him at New
+York, writing, June 30, "I have been here just a
+week. Have been enabled to preach four times; and
+am to repeat the delightful task this evening. Congregations
+are larger than ever. Blessed be God, I
+have been strengthened to itinerate and preach daily
+for some time. Next week I purpose to go to Albany;
+from thence, perhaps to the Oneida Indians. There
+is to be a very large Indian congress; Mr. Kirkland
+accompanies me. He is a truly Christian minister
+and missionary. Every thing possible should be done
+to strengthen his hands and his heart. Perhaps I may
+not see Georgia till Christmas. As yet, I keep to my
+intended plan, in respect to my returning. Lord
+Jesus, direct my goings in thy way. The heat begins
+now to be a little intense; but through mercy I am
+enabled to bear up bravely. What a God do we
+serve!"</p>
+
+<p>On the twenty-ninth of July, he again writes from
+the same city, and it is the <em>last entry</em> in his memorandum:
+"Since my last, and during this month, I have
+been above a five hundred miles' circuit; and have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_429" id="Page_429">[429]</a></span>
+been enabled to preach and travel through the heat
+every day. The congregations have been very large,
+attentive, and affected; particularly at Albany, Schenectady,
+Great Barrington, Norfolk, Salisbury, Sharon,
+Smithfield, Poughkeepsie, Fishkill, New Rumbart,
+New Windsor, and Peck's Hill. Last night I returned
+hither, and hope to set out for Boston in two or
+three days. O what a new scene of usefulness is opening
+in various parts of this world! All fresh work
+where I have been. The divine influence has been as
+at first. Invitations crowd upon me both from ministers
+and people, from many, many quarters. A very
+peculiar providence led me very lately to a place
+where a horse-stealer was executed. Thousands attended.
+The poor criminal had sent me several letters,
+hearing I was in the country. The sheriff allowed
+him to come and hear a sermon under an adjacent
+tree. Solemn, solemn! After being by himself about
+an hour, I walked half a mile with him to the gallows.
+His heart had been softened before my first
+visit. He seemed full of solid, divine consolation.
+An instructive walk! I went up with him into the
+cart. He gave a short exhortation. I then stood
+upon the coffin&mdash;added, I trust, a word in season&mdash;prayed&mdash;gave
+the blessing, and took my leave. Effectual
+good, I hope, was done to the hearers and spectators.
+Grace, grace!"</p>
+
+<p>Our local histories seem to delight to honor Whitefield
+by the introduction of his name whenever they
+have an opportunity. In a notice of Sharon, in "Barber's
+Historical Collections of Connecticut," the writer
+says, "In the latter part of July, 1770, the Rev.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_430" id="Page_430">[430]</a></span>
+George Whitefield passed through this town on a
+preaching tour. There was considerable opposition
+to his being admitted into the meeting-house, and
+arrangements had been made to hold the service in
+an orchard still standing near the meeting-house, in
+case he should be refused. Mr. Smith, [the Rev. Cotton
+Mather Smith, a descendant of Cotton Mather,]
+invited him into the pulpit, though strongly opposed
+by a considerable number of influential men. An immense
+congregation from this and the neighboring
+towns filled the meeting-house to overflowing. His
+text was, 'Marvel not that I said unto you, Ye must
+be born again.' He proceeded to discourse on the
+doctrine of the new birth with astonishing power and
+eloquence, and the congregation were much moved
+by the power of the truth and Spirit of God. The
+concluding words of his discourse were a quotation,
+with a little variation, from the close of the fourth
+chapter of Solomon's Song. 'Awake, O north wind,
+and come, thou south; blow upon <em>this</em> garden, that
+the spices thereof may flow out. Let my Beloved
+come into <em>this</em> garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.'
+Many of the inhabitants of Sharon followed him for
+several successive days, to hear the word of life from
+this devoted minister of the cross."</p>
+
+<p>We think it must have been in this journey that
+Whitefield's ministry was blessed to the conversion
+of a young man who has left his mark on the age.
+Benjamin Randall was born in New Castle, New
+Hampshire, in 1749. In his twenty-second year he
+was brought under the ministry of Whitefield, by
+which means he became deeply convinced of sin, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_431" id="Page_431">[431]</a></span>
+was soon after converted to God. In 1776, he united
+with a Calvinistic Baptist church; but before long
+began to preach what he accounted more correct doctrines
+in his native town, and was honored of God to
+effect a very powerful and extensive revival. He is
+considered the founder of the denomination of Freewill
+Baptists, which now comprises from eleven to
+twelve hundred churches, more than a thousand pastors
+and licentiates, and upwards of fifty thousand
+communicants. Mr. Randall was a man of strong
+mental powers, and though he had not a classical education,
+he was a good English scholar, aspired after
+general and religious knowledge, had fine discriminating
+talent, and was remarkable for the perseverance
+with which he pursued whatever he undertook.
+Above all, like his spiritual father, he possessed what
+a living preacher has well called, "a passion for
+souls."</p>
+
+<p>From New York Whitefield proceeded to Boston,
+and short extracts from two of his letters, and those
+<em>the last</em> he wrote, will show his position and his feelings:</p>
+
+<p>September 17, he says to Mr. Wright, at Bethesda,
+"Fain would I come by Captain Souder, from Philadelphia;
+but people are so importunate for my stay
+in these parts, that I fear it will be impracticable.
+'My God will supply all my need according to the
+riches of his grace in Christ Jesus.' Two or three
+evenings ago, I was taken in the night with a violent
+flux, attended with retching and shivering, so that I
+was obliged to return from Newbury; but through
+infinite mercy I am restored, and to-morrow morning<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_432" id="Page_432">[432]</a></span>
+hope to begin again. Never was the word received
+with greater eagerness than now. All opposition
+seems, as it were, for a while to cease. I find God's
+time is the best. The season is critical as to outward
+circumstances; but when forts are given up, the Lord
+Jesus can appoint salvation for walls and for bulwarks;
+he has promised to be a wall of fire round
+about his people. This comforts me concerning Bethesda,
+though we should have a Spanish war. You
+will be pleased to hear, I never was carried through
+the summer's heat so well."</p>
+
+<p>And finally, to his dear friend Mr. Keen of London,
+he wrote from Portsmouth, New Hampshire,
+September 23, just one week before his death, "By
+this time I thought to be moving southward. But
+never was greater importunity used to detain me
+longer in these northern parts. Poor New England
+is much to be pitied; Boston people most of all. How
+grossly misrepresented! What a mercy that our
+Christian charter cannot be dissolved! Blessed be
+God for an unchangeable Jesus! You will see, by
+the many invitations, what a door is opened for
+preaching the everlasting gospel. I was so ill on
+Friday that I could not preach, though thousands
+were waiting to hear. Well, the day of release will
+shortly come, but it does not seem yet; for by riding
+sixty miles I am better, and hope to preach here to-morrow.
+I trust my blessed Master will accept these
+poor efforts to serve him. O for a warm heart! O
+to stand fast in the faith, to acquit ourselves like
+men, and be strong! May this be the happy experience
+of you and yours. I suppose your letters are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_433" id="Page_433">[433]</a></span>
+gone for me in the Anderson to Georgia. If spared
+so long, I expect to see them about Christmas. Still
+pray and praise. I am so poorly, and so engaged
+when able to preach, that this must apologize for not
+writing to more friends: it is quite impracticable."</p>
+
+<p>Whitefield's hope to "preach here to-morrow" was
+fully realized. In the "Pennsylvania Journal and
+Weekly Advertiser," we find a letter from Portsmouth,
+dated Sept. 28, 1770, which says, "Last Sunday
+morning came to town from Boston, the Rev.
+George Whitefield, and in the afternoon he preached
+at the Rev. Dr. Haven's meeting-house; Monday
+morning he preached again at the same place, to a
+very large and crowded audience. Tuesday morning
+a most numerous assembly met at the Rev. Dr. Langdon's
+meeting-house, which it is said will hold nearly
+six thousand people, and was well filled, even the
+aisles. Evening he preached at the Rev. Mr. John
+Rodgers' meeting-house in Kittery, and yesterday at
+the Rev. Mr. Lyman's in York, to which place a
+number of ladies and gentlemen from town accompanied
+him. This morning [Friday] he will preach
+at the Rev. Dr. Langdon's meeting-house in this
+town."</p>
+
+<p>We are now approaching the closing scene, and
+are invited to hear Whitefield's last sermon. On his
+way to Newburyport, where he had engaged to preach
+on Sunday morning, September 30, he was entreated
+to preach at Exeter. This had been the scene of
+some of his former triumphs. He was once preaching
+here, when a man was present who had loaded his
+pocket with stones to throw at the preacher. He<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_434" id="Page_434">[434]</a></span>
+heard his prayer with patience, but as soon as he had
+read his text, the man took a stone out of his pocket
+and held it in his hand, waiting for an opportunity to
+throw it. But God sent a word to his heart, and the
+stone dropped from his hand. After the sermon, the
+poor fellow went to Mr. Whitefield, and said, "Sir,
+I came here to-day with the intention of breaking
+your head, but God has given me a broken heart."
+This man was converted to God, and lived an ornament
+to the gospel.</p>
+
+<p>As though it had been felt by the public that this
+might be our preacher's last sermon, inconvenient as
+Saturday noon must be for the assembling of a congregation
+for worship, such a multitude was collected
+that no house could contain them, and Whitefield, for
+nearly two hours, discoursed to an attentive crowd in
+the open air. Of this last sermon at Exeter, a gentleman
+who was present has given a deeply interesting
+and affecting account. The relator was then in
+his eighty-sixth year, but he retained a strong remembrance
+of the most trivial incidents connected with
+that extraordinary man. He says:</p>
+
+<p>"It was usual for Mr. Whitefield to be attended
+by Mr. Smith, who preached when he was unable on
+account of sudden attacks of asthma. At the time
+referred to, after Mr. Smith had delivered a short
+discourse, Mr. Whitefield seemed desirous of speaking;
+but from the weak state in which he then was,
+it was thought almost impossible. He rose from the
+seat in the pulpit, and stood erect, and his appearance
+alone was a powerful sermon. The thinness of his
+visage, the paleness of his countenance, the evident<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_435" id="Page_435">[435]</a></span>
+struggling of the heavenly spark in a decayed body
+for utterance, were all deeply interesting; the spirit
+was willing, but the flesh was dying. In this situation
+he remained several minutes, unable to speak; he then
+said, 'I will wait for the gracious assistance of God,
+for he will, I am certain, assist me once more to speak
+in his name.' He then delivered perhaps one of his
+best sermons, for the light generally burns most splendidly
+when about to expire. The subject was a contrast
+of the present with the future; a part of this
+sermon I read to a popular and learned clergyman in
+New York, who could not refrain from weeping when
+I repeated the following: 'I go, I go to rest prepared;
+my sun has arisen, and by aid from heaven, given
+light to many; 't is now about to set for&mdash;no, it cannot
+be! 't is to rise to the zenith of immortal glory; I
+have outlived many on earth, but they cannot outlive
+me in heaven. Many shall live when this body is no
+more, but then&mdash;Oh, thought divine!&mdash;I shall be in a
+world where time, age, pain, and sorrow are unknown.
+My body fails, my spirit expands; how willingly
+would I live for ever to preach Christ! but I
+die to be with him. How brief, comparatively brief,
+has been my life, compared with the vast labors I see
+before me yet to be accomplished; but if I leave now,
+while so few care about heavenly things, the God of
+peace will surely visit you.' These, and many other
+things he said, which, though simple, were rendered
+important by circumstances; for death had let fly his
+arrow, and the shaft was deeply enfixed when utterance
+was given to them: his countenance, his tremulous
+voice, his debilitated frame, all gave convincing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_436" id="Page_436">[436]</a></span>
+evidence that the eye which saw him should shortly
+see him no more for ever. When I visited the place
+where he is entombed, Newburyport, I could not help
+saying, 'The memory of the just is blessed,' Few are
+there like George Whitefield; however zealous, they
+do not possess the masterly power, and those who do,
+too often turn it to a purpose that does not glorify
+God."</p>
+
+<p>We have already spoken of the Rev. Daniel Rodgers,
+a descendant of the martyr of that name, and
+pastor of the second congregational church at Exeter.
+It was this old friend of Whitefield who had importuned
+him to preach at Exeter. The "<cite>Almanack
+Journal</cite>" of this excellent man contains the following
+items of the activity of our "eloquent orator" in his
+closing days: "September 10, 1770, dear Mr. Whitefield
+preached here, <small>A. M.</small>, ten o'clock. 11th, Mr.
+Whitefield preached again in Mr. Parsons' meeting-house.
+12th, I rode over to Rowley, Mr. Whitefield
+preached there. 14th, a storm of rain. 15th, the
+rain continues. Mr. Whitefield went to Boston, not
+well. 25th, I heard dear Mr. Whitefield preach.
+26th, he went to Kittery, and preached for brother
+John; <small>P. M.</small> I rode to York. 27th, Mr. Whitefield
+preached at York; <small>P. M.</small> we returned to Portsmouth.
+28th, Mr. Whitefield preached his farewell sermon;
+I returned home. 29th, dear Mr. Whitefield preached
+for me the last sermon he ever preached."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Smith's account of the closing scene will not
+be considered too minute in its details. "Before he
+commenced his journey of fifteen miles from Portsmouth
+to Exeter, Mr. Clarkson, senior, observing him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_437" id="Page_437">[437]</a></span>
+more uneasy than usual, said to him, 'Sir, you are
+more fit to go to bed than to preach.' Whitefield's
+reply was, 'True, sir;' but turning aside, he clasped
+his hands together, and looking up, said, 'Lord Jesus,
+I am weary <em>in</em> thy work, but not <em>of</em> thy work. If I
+have not yet finished my course, let me go and speak
+for thee once more in the fields, seal thy truth, and
+come home and die.' His last sermon was from
+2 Cor. 13:5, 'Examine yourselves, whether ye be in
+the faith. Know ye not your own selves, how that
+Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?' He
+dined at Captain Gillman's. After dinner, Mr. Whitefield
+and Mr. Parsons rode to Newbury. I did not
+get there till two hours after them. I found them at
+supper. I asked Mr. Whitefield how he felt after his
+journey. He said he was tired, therefore he supped
+early, and went to bed. He ate a very little supper,
+talked but little, asked Mr. Parsons to discharge the
+table, and perform family duty, and then retired up
+stairs."</p>
+
+<p>The Rev. Dr. Hallock tells us, that, in 1822, he
+visited Newburyport and the tomb of Whitefield. He
+was then told by persons whom he considered reliable,
+that when Whitefield was retiring to his chamber on
+this last evening of his life, many were so desirous to
+see and hear him, that he stood on the stairs with a
+lamp in his hand, and there gave them a tender spiritual
+address.</p>
+
+<p>We resume Mr. Smith's account: "He said he
+would sit and read till I came to him, which I did as
+soon as possible; and found him reading the Bible,
+with Dr. Watts' Psalms lying open before him. He<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_438" id="Page_438">[438]</a></span>
+asked me for some water-gruel, and took about half
+his usual quantity; and kneeling down by his bedside,
+closed the evening with prayer. After a little conversation,
+he went to rest, and slept till two in the
+morning, when he awoke, and asked for a little cider;
+he drank about a wine-glass full. I asked him how
+he felt, for he seemed to pant for breath. He said to
+me, 'My asthma is coming on again; I must have two
+or three days' rest. Two or three days' riding, without
+preaching, would set me up again.' Soon afterwards,
+he asked me to put the window up a little
+higher, though it was half up all night. 'For,' said
+he, 'I cannot breathe; but I hope I shall be better by
+and by: a good pulpit sweat to-day may give me relief;
+I shall be better after preaching.' I said to him,
+'I wish you would not preach so often.' He replied,
+'I had rather wear out than rust out.' I then told
+him, I was afraid he took cold in preaching yesterday.
+He said he believed he had; and then sat up in bed,
+and prayed that God would be pleased to bless his
+preaching where he had been, and also bless his
+preaching that day, that more souls might be brought
+to Christ. He prayed for direction whether he should
+winter in Boston, or hasten to the southward; and he
+prayed for a blessing on his Bethesda college, and his
+dear family there, for the Tabernacle and Chapel congregations,
+and all connections on the other side of
+the water; and then he laid himself down to sleep
+again.</p>
+
+<p>"This was near three o'clock. At a quarter past
+four he awoke, and said, 'My asthma, my asthma is
+coming on; I wish I had not given out word to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_439" id="Page_439">[439]</a></span>
+preach at Haverhill on Monday; I don't think I
+shall be able; but I shall see what to-day will bring
+forth. If I am no better to-morrow, I will take two
+or three days' ride!' He then desired me to warm
+him a little gruel; and in breaking the fire-wood, I
+waked Mr. Parsons, who thinking I knocked for him,
+rose and came in. He went to Mr. Whitefield's bedside,
+and asked him how he felt. He answered, 'I
+am almost suffocated. I can scarcely breathe, my
+asthma quite chokes me.' I was then not a little surprised
+to hear how quickly, and with what difficulty
+he drew his breath. He got out of bed, and went to
+the open window for air. This was exactly at five
+o'clock. I went to him, and for about the space of
+five minutes saw no danger, only that he had a great
+difficulty in breathing, as I had often seen before.
+Soon afterwards, he turned himself to me, and said,
+'<em>I am dying</em>.' I said, 'I hope not, sir.' He ran to
+the other window, panting for breath, but could get
+no relief. It was agreed that I should go for Dr.
+Sawyer; and on my coming back, I saw death on his
+face; and he again said, '<em>I am dying</em>.' His eyes were
+fixed, his underlip drawing inward every time he
+drew breath. I persuaded him to sit down in the
+chair, and have his cloak on; he consented by a sign,
+but could not speak. I then offered him a glass of
+warm wine; he took half of it, but it seemed as if it
+would have stopped his breath entirely. He went
+towards the window, and we offered him some warm
+wine, with lavender drops, which he refused.</p>
+
+<p>"In a little time he brought up a considerable
+quantity of phlegm. I then began to have some small<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_440" id="Page_440">[440]</a></span>
+hopes. Mr. Parsons said he thought Mr. Whitefield
+breathed more freely than he did, and would recover.
+I said, 'No, sir, he is certainly dying.' I was continually
+employed in taking the phlegm out of his mouth
+with a handkerchief, and bathing his temples with
+drops, rubbing his wrists, etc., to give him relief, if
+possible, but all in vain; his hands and feet were as
+cold as clay. When the doctor came in, and saw him
+in the chair leaning upon my breast, he felt his pulse,
+and said, 'He is a dead man.' Mr. Parsons said, 'I
+do not believe it; you must do something, doctor.'
+He said, 'I cannot; he is now near his last breath.'
+And so indeed it was; for he fetched but one gasp,
+and stretched out his feet, and breathed no more.
+This was exactly at six o'clock. We continued rubbing
+his legs, hands, and feet, with warm cloths, and
+bathed him with spirits for some time, but all in vain.
+I then put him into a warm bed, the doctor standing
+by, and often raised him upright, continued rubbing
+him and putting spirits to his nose for an hour, till
+all hopes were gone. The people came in crowds to
+see him."</p>
+
+<p>Whitefield seems to have had somewhat of a presentiment
+that his death would be unattended with
+any remarkable expression of spiritual enjoyment.
+In his last preceding visit to this country, he had
+spent a day or two under the roof of the Rev. Dr.
+Finley, then president of the college at Princeton,
+New Jersey. One day Dr. Finley said at the dinner-table,
+"Mr. Whitefield, I hope it will be very long
+before you will be called home; but when that event
+shall arrive, I shall be glad to hear the noble testimony<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_441" id="Page_441">[441]</a></span>
+you will bear for God." Whitefield replied, "You
+would be disappointed, doctor; I shall die silent. It
+has pleased God to enable me to bear so many testimonies
+for him during my life, that he will require
+none from me when I die. No, no. It is your dumb
+Christians, who have walked in fear and darkness,
+and thereby been unable to bear a testimony for God
+during their lives, that he compels to speak out for
+him on their death-beds."</p>
+
+<p>We resume Mr. Smith's narrative: "The Rev. Mr.
+Parsons, at whose house my dear master died, sent for
+Captain Fetcomb, and Mr. Boadman, and others of
+his elders and deacons, and they took the whole of
+the burial upon themselves, prepared the vault, and
+sent and invited the bearers. Many ministers of all
+persuasions came to the house of the Rev. Mr. Parsons,
+where several of them gave a very particular
+account of their first awakenings under his ministry
+several years ago, and also of many in their congregations
+that, to their knowledge, under God, owed their
+conversion to his coming among them, often referring
+to the blessed seasons they had enjoyed under his
+preaching; and all said, that this last visit was attended
+with more power than any other, and that all opposition
+fell before him. Then one and another would
+pity and pray for his dear Tabernacle and Chapel
+congregations, and it was truly affecting to hear them
+bemoan America and England's loss. Thus they
+continued for two hours, conversing about his great
+usefulness, and praying that God would scatter his
+gifts, and drop his mantle among them."</p>
+
+<p>Dr. Gillies says, "Early next morning, Mr. Sherburn<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_442" id="Page_442">[442]</a></span>
+of Portsmouth sent Mr. Clarkson and Dr.
+Haven with a message to Mr. Parsons, desiring that
+Mr. Whitefield's remains might be buried in his own
+new tomb, at his own expense; and in the evening
+several gentlemen from Boston came to Mr. Parsons,
+desiring the body might be carried there. But as
+Mr. Whitefield had repeatedly desired to be buried
+before Mr. Parsons' pulpit, if he died at Newburyport,
+Mr. Parsons thought himself obliged to deny both
+these requests."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Parsons, in a note to his funeral sermon, says,
+"At one o'clock all the bells in the town were tolled
+for half an hour, and all the vessels in the harbor
+gave their proper signals of mourning. At two o'clock
+the bells tolled a second time. At three the bells
+called to attend the funeral. The Rev. Dr. Haven
+of Portsmouth, and the Rev. Messrs. Rodgers of Exeter,
+Jewet and Chandler of Rowley, Moses Parsons
+of Newbury, and Bass of Newburyport, were
+pall-bearers. Mr. Parsons and his family, with many
+other respectable persons, followed the corpse in
+mourning."</p>
+
+<p>"The procession," says Mr. Smith, "was only one
+mile, and then the corpse was carried into the Presbyterian
+church, and placed at the foot of the pulpit,
+close to the vault; the Rev. Daniel Rodgers made a
+very affecting prayer, and openly declared, that, under
+God, he owed his conversion to that dear man
+of God whose precious remains now lay before them.
+Then he cried out, 'O my father, my father!' then
+stopped and wept as though his heart would break;
+the people weeping all through the place. Then he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_443" id="Page_443">[443]</a></span>
+recovered, and finished his prayer, and sat down and
+wept. Then one of the deacons gave out the hymn,</p>
+
+<p>
+"'Why do we mourn departing friends?'<br />
+</p>
+
+<div class="noindent">some of the people weeping, some singing, and so on
+alternately. The Rev. Mr. Jewet preached a funeral
+discourse; and made an affectionate address to his
+brethren, to lay to heart the death of that useful man
+of God, begging that he and they might be upon their
+watchtower, and endeavor to follow his blessed example.
+The corpse was then put into the vault, and all
+concluded with a short prayer, and dismission of the
+people, who went weeping through the streets to their
+respective places of abode."</div>
+
+<p>The Rev. Mr. Rodgers, from whose "Almanack
+Journal" we have quoted, records that the vast assembly
+at the funeral consisted of "four, since thought
+five thousand people," and adds, Oct. 7, "I preached
+from those words in the first Philippians, 'Having a
+desire to depart and be with Christ,' etc. I spoke
+extempore, somewhat largely, of dear Mr. Whitefield's
+character."</p>
+
+<p>The late venerable Mr. Bartlet of Newburyport,
+some years ago, erected a monument to the memory
+of Whitefield in the church beneath which his remains
+are interred. The cenotaph was executed by Mr.
+Struthers of Philadelphia, after a design of Strickland,
+and the inscription which follows was written
+by the late Rev. Dr. Ebenezer Porter, of the Theological
+seminary at Andover.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_444" id="Page_444">[444]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<p class="center">
+THIS CENOTAPH<br />
+<br />
+is ERECTED, WITH AFFECTIONATE VENERATION,</p>
+
+<p class="center oldenglish">To the Memory</p>
+
+<p class="center">OF<br />
+<br />
+<big>THE REV. GEORGE WHITEFIELD,</big><br />
+<br />
+BORN AT GLOUCESTER, ENGLAND, DECEMBER 16, 1714;<br />
+EDUCATED AT OXFORD UNIVERSITY; ORDAINED 1736.<br />
+IN A MINISTRY OF THIRTY-FOUR YEARS,<br />
+HE CROSSED THE ATLANTIC THIRTEEN TIMES,<br />
+AND PREACHED MORE THAN EIGHTEEN THOUSAND SERMONS.<br />
+AS A SOLDIER OF THE CROSS, HUMBLE, DEVOUT, ARDENT,<br />
+HE PUT ON THE WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD:<br />
+PREFERRING THE HONOR OF CHRIST TO HIS OWN INTEREST, REPOSE,<br />
+REPUTATION, AND LIFE.<br />
+AS A CHRISTIAN ORATOR, HIS DEEP PIETY, DISINTERESTED ZEAL,<br />
+AND VIVID IMAGINATION,<br />
+GAVE UNEXAMPLED ENERGY TO HIS LOOK, UTTERANCE, AND ACTION.<br />
+BOLD, FERVENT, PUNGENT, AND POPULAR IN HIS ELOQUENCE,<br />
+NO OTHER UNINSPIRED MAN EVER PREACHED TO SO LARGE ASSEMBLIES,<br />
+OR ENFORCED THE SIMPLE TRUTHS OF THE GOSPEL BY MOTIVES<br />
+SO PERSUASIVE AND AWFUL, AND WITH AN INFLUENCE SO POWERFUL,<br />
+ON THE HEARTS OF HIS HEARERS.<br />
+HE DIED OF ASTHMA, SEPTEMBER 30, 1770.<br />
+SUDDENLY EXCHANGING HIS LIFE OF UNPARALLELED LABORS<br />
+FOR HIS ETERNAL REST.
+</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 365px;">
+<img src="images/i444a.jpg" width="365" height="550" alt="Old South" />
+<div class="caption"><p class="center">OLD SOUTH CHURCH, BOSTON.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 221px;">
+<img src="images/i444b.jpg" width="221" height="450" alt="Monument" />
+<div class="caption"><p class="center">MONUMENT</p></div>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 287px;">
+<img src="images/i444c.jpg" width="287" height="450" alt="Newburyport" />
+<div class="caption"><p class="center">OLD SOUTH, AT NEWBURYPORT</p></div>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_445" id="Page_445">[445]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER XVII.</h2>
+
+<h3>TESTIMONIES AND FACTS ILLUSTRATIVE OF WHITEFIELD'S
+CHARACTER.</h3>
+
+
+<p>"Last evening," says a letter from Boston, October
+1, 1770, to the "Pennsylvania Journal," "we were
+informed by a melancholy messenger from Newburyport,
+that yesterday morning about six o'clock, at that
+place, the renowned and Rev. George Whitefield,
+chaplain to the Right Hon. the Countess of Huntingdon,
+etc., was, by a sudden mandate, summoned to the
+bosom of his Saviour. He had been preaching in
+divers parts of this province since his arrival from
+the southward, with his usual diligence and energy;
+was now from a tour to the province of New Hampshire
+on his return to this town, but being seized with
+a violent fit of the asthma, was in a short space translated
+from the labors of this life to the enjoyment of
+a better.</p>
+
+<p>"Of this truly pious and very extraordinary personage,
+little can be said but what every friend to
+vital Christianity who has sat under his ministry will
+readily attest. In his public performances throughout
+Europe and British America, he has, for a long
+course of years, astonished the world as a prodigy of
+eloquence and devotion. With what frequency and
+cheerfulness did he ascend the desk, the language of
+his actions being ever, 'Wist ye not that I must be
+about my Master's business?' With what divine pathos
+did he plead with, and persuade by the most engaging<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_446" id="Page_446">[446]</a></span>
+incitements, the impenitent sinner to the practice
+of piety and virtue. Filled with the spirit of grace,
+he spoke from the heart; and with a fervency of zeal
+perhaps unequalled since the apostles, ornamented
+the celestial annunciations of the preacher with the
+graceful and most enticing charms of rhetoric and
+oratory. From the pulpit he was unrivalled in the
+command of an ever-crowded and admiring auditory;
+nor was he less entertaining and instructive in his
+private conversation and deportment. Happy in a
+remarkable ease of address, willing to communicate,
+studious to edify, and formed to amuse&mdash;such, in
+more retired life, was he whom we lament. And while
+a peculiar pleasantry enlivened and rendered his company
+agreeable, his conversation was ever marked
+with the greatest objects of his pursuit&mdash;virtue and
+religion. It were to be wished that the good impressions
+of his ministry may be long retained; and that
+the rising generation, like their pious ancestors, may
+catch a spark of that ethereal flame which burnt with
+such lustre in the sentiments and practice of this
+faithful servant of the most high God."</p>
+
+<p>Another contemporaneous article says, "Dr. Cooper
+of Brattle-street, called an enthusiast by none, won
+early to serious religion by his [Whitefield's] instrumentality,
+delivered a sermon upon his death, in which
+he pronounced a strong eulogy in favor of his holy
+and successful activity in the cause of vital and practical
+religion through the English dominions. Pews,
+aisles, and seats were so crowded, and heads and
+shoulders were in such close phalanx, that it looked
+as though a man might walk everywhere upon the upper<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_447" id="Page_447">[447]</a></span>
+surface of the assembly, without finding an opening
+for descending to the floor."</p>
+
+<p>When the news of Mr. Whitefield's death reached
+Georgia, its inhabitants vied with each other in showing
+him the highest respect. All the black cloth in
+the stores was bought up; the pulpit and desk of the
+church, the branches, the organ-loft, and the pews of
+the governor and council were covered with black.
+The governor and council in deep mourning convened
+at the state-house, and went in procession to church,
+where they were received by the organ playing a funeral
+dirge. Two funeral sermons were there listened
+to by the authorities. In the Legislature high eulogiums
+were pronounced on the admirable preacher,
+and a sum of money was unanimously appropriated
+for removing his remains to Georgia, to be interred
+at his orphan-house; but the inhabitants of Newburyport
+strongly objected, and the design was relinquished.
+Forty-five years later when a new county was
+formed in Georgia, it received the name of Whitefield
+in commemoration of his worth and useful services.</p>
+
+<p>In a letter from Dr. Franklin to a gentleman in
+Georgia, he says, "I cannot forbear expressing the
+pleasure it gives me to see an account of the respect
+paid to his memory by your assembly. I knew him
+intimately upwards of thirty years; his integrity, disinterestedness,
+and indefatigable zeal in prosecuting
+every good work, I have never seen equalled, I shall
+never see excelled."</p>
+
+<p>Of course it would be expected that the sermons
+at Savannah would be of great interest. Such a discourse<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_448" id="Page_448">[448]</a></span>
+was delivered by the Rev. Mr. Ellington, who
+very truly said, "Whitefield's longing desires for the
+salvation of immortal souls would not admit of his
+being confined within the limits of any walls. How
+he has preached, with showers of stones, and many
+other instruments of malice and revenge about his
+ears, many of his surviving friends can witness. But
+having the salvation of sinners at heart, and a great
+desire to rescue them from the power of an eternal
+death, he resolved to spend and be spent for the service
+of precious and immortal souls; and spared no
+pains and refused no labor, so that he might administer
+to their real and eternal good. He died like a
+hero on the field of battle. Thousands in England,
+Scotland, and America have great reason to bless
+God for his ministrations."</p>
+
+<p>Who shall attempt to describe the feelings of the
+congregations at the Tabernacle and Tottenham Court
+chapels, when the news of their pastor's death first
+reached them? All were indeed clothed in mourning.
+By Whitefield's own previous appointment, the
+Rev. John Wesley preached the funeral sermon at
+Tottenham Court-road chapel. The preacher bore
+this testimony: "In his public labors he has for many
+years astonished the world with his eloquence and
+devotion. With what divine pathos did he persuade
+the impenitent sinner to embrace the practice of early
+piety and virtue. Filled with the spirit of grace, he
+spoke from the heart with a fervency of zeal perhaps
+unequalled since the days of the apostles; and adorned
+the truths he delivered with the most graceful
+charms of rhetoric and oratory. From the pulpit he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_449" id="Page_449">[449]</a></span>
+was unrivalled in the command of an ever-crowded
+auditory. It was the love of God shed abroad in his
+heart by the Holy Ghost which filled his soul with
+tender, disinterested love to every child of man....
+Mention has been already made of his unparalleled
+zeal, his indefatigable activity, his tender-heartedness
+to the afflicted, and charitableness towards the poor.
+But should we not likewise mention his deep gratitude
+to all whom God had used as instruments of
+good to him? of whom he did not cease to speak in
+the most respectful manner, even to his dying day.
+Should we not mention that he had a heart susceptible
+of the most generous and the most tender friendship?
+I have frequently thought that this, of all others,
+was the distinguishing part of his character. How
+few have we known of so kind a temper, of such large
+and flowing affections! Was it not principally by
+this that the hearts of others were so strongly drawn
+and knit to him? Can any thing but love beget love?
+This shone in his very countenance, and continually
+breathed in all his words, whether in public or private.
+Was it not this which, quick and penetrating
+as lightning, flew from heart to heart; which gave
+that life to his sermons, his conversation, his letters?
+Ye are witnesses."</p>
+
+<p>The Rev. John Newton preached a funeral sermon
+at Olney, where he was then settled, from the highly
+appropriate text, "He was a burning and a shining
+light," John 5:35, in which he thus speaks of Whitefield:
+"Some ministers are burning and shining lights
+in a peculiar and eminent degree. Such a one, I doubt
+not, was the servant of God whose death we now lament.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_450" id="Page_450">[450]</a></span>
+I have had some opportunities of looking over
+the history of the church in past ages; I am not backward
+to say, that I have not read or heard of any
+person, since the apostles' days, of whom it may be
+more emphatically said, 'He was a burning and a shining
+light,' than the late Mr. Whitefield; whether we
+consider the warmth of his zeal, the greatness of his
+ministerial talents, or the extensive usefulness with
+which the Lord honored him. I do not mean to praise
+the man, but the Lord who furnished him, and made
+him what he was. He was raised up to shine in a
+dark place. The state of religion when he first appeared
+in public, was very low in our established
+church. I speak the truth, though to some it may be
+an offensive truth. The doctrines of grace were seldom
+heard from the pulpit, and the life and power of
+godliness were little known. Many of the most spiritual
+among the dissenters, were mourning under a
+sense of a great spreading declension on their side.
+What a change has taken place throughout the land
+within a little more than thirty years; that is, since
+the time when the first set of despised ministers came
+to Oxford! And how much of this change has been
+owing to God's blessing on Mr. Whitefield's labors,
+is well known to many who have lived through this
+period, and can hardly be denied by those who are
+least willing to allow it.... His zeal was not like
+wildfire, but directed by sound principles, and a sound
+judgment.... The Lord gave him a manner of
+preaching which was peculiarly his own. He copied
+from none, and I never met with any one who could
+imitate him with success."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_451" id="Page_451">[451]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>With regret we tear ourselves away from Romaine
+and Toplady, from Pemberton and Parsons, and from
+a multitude of others who bore testimonies like those
+we have given, but which would exceed the limits of
+our narrative.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Newton, after his removal to London, once
+breakfasting with a company of noblemen and gentlemen,
+was asked if he knew Mr. Whitefield. He
+answered in the affirmative, and remarked, that as a
+preacher Mr. Whitefield far exceeded every other
+man of his time. Mr. Newton added, "I bless God
+that I lived in his time: many were the winter mornings
+I rose at four o'clock to attend his Tabernacle
+discourses at five; and I have seen Moorfields as full
+of lanterns at these times, as I suppose the Hay market
+is full of flambeaux on an opera night." As a proof
+of the power of Mr. Whitefield's preaching, Mr. Newton
+said, that a military officer at Glasgow, who had
+heard him preach, laid a wager with another, that at
+a certain charity sermon, though he went with prejudice,
+he would be compelled to give something. The
+other, to make sure that he would not, laid aside all
+the money out of his pockets; but before he left the
+church, he was glad to borrow some, and lose his bet.
+Mr. Newton mentioned as another striking illustration
+of Mr. Whitefield's persuasive oratory, his collecting
+after one sermon &#163;600, or about $3,000, for the inhabitants
+of an obscure village in Germany, that had been
+burned down. After this sermon, Whitefield said,
+"We shall sing a hymn, during which those who do
+not choose to give their mite on this awful occasion,
+may sneak off." Not one moved; he came down<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_452" id="Page_452">[452]</a></span>
+from the pulpit, ordered all the doors to be shut but
+one, at which he held the plate himself, and collected
+the large sum we have named. Mr. Newton farther
+stated what he knew to be a fact, that at the time
+of Whitefield's greatest persecution, when obliged
+to speak in the streets, in one week he received
+not fewer than a thousand letters from persons distressed
+in their consciences by the energy of his
+preaching.</p>
+
+<p>A gentleman of title in England was one day examining
+some works of the distinguished sculptor,
+John Bacon. Among them he observed a bust of Mr.
+Whitefield, which led him to remark, "After all that
+has been said, this was truly a great man; he was
+the founder of a new religion." Mr. Bacon replied,
+"A new religion, sir?" "Yes," said the baronet;
+"what do you call it?" "Nothing," was the reply,
+"but the old religion revived with new energy,
+and treated as though the preacher meant what he
+said."</p>
+
+<p>Several interesting narratives have been given of
+visits to the tomb of Whitefield, which show the preciousness
+of his memory.</p>
+
+<p>In 1834, the Rev. Andrew Reed, D. D., of London,
+and the late Rev. James Matheson, D. D., of
+Durham, visited this country as a deputation to its
+churches from the Congregational Union of England
+and Wales. In describing their visit to Newburyport,
+Dr. Reed says, "We had a conference with the
+pastors here, and afterwards went to the church
+which is enriched with the remains of Whitefield.
+The elders of the church were present in the porch<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_453" id="Page_453">[453]</a></span>
+to receive us. We descended to the vault. There
+were three coffins before us. Two pastors of the
+church lay on either side, and the remains of Whitefield
+in the centre. The cover was slipt aside, and
+they lay beneath my eye. I had before stood in his
+pulpits; seen his books, his rings, and chairs; but
+never before had I looked on part of his very self.
+The skull, which is perfect, clean, and fair, I received,
+as is the custom, into my hand. I could say nothing;
+but thought and feeling were busy. On returning to
+the church, I proposed an exercise of worship. We
+collected over the grave of the eloquent, the devoted,
+and seraphic man, and gave expression to the sentiments
+that possessed us, by solemn psalmody and fervent
+prayer. It was not an ordinary service to any
+of us."</p>
+
+<p>In the year 1835, a similar deputation visited this
+country from the Baptist Union of Great Britain and
+Ireland. It consisted of the late Rev. F. A. Cox,
+D. D., of London, and the Rev. James Hoby, D. D.,
+then of Birmingham. They also visited the tomb of
+our never-to-be-forgotten evangelist. We give a few
+sentences from their report: "We made an excursion
+to Newburyport, thirty-nine miles from Boston, to see
+the tomb of Whitefield. On our arrival, we hastened
+to the depository of the precious remains of that eminent
+servant of God.... We descended with some
+difficulty into the subterraneous vault, which is immediately
+behind the pulpit, in a small chamber like a
+vestry, external to the body of the church. Deep expectant
+emotions thrilled through our bosoms, while
+a kind of trap-door was opened, and we descended<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_454" id="Page_454">[454]</a></span>
+beneath the floor to another door, which stood perpendicularly,
+by which we entered, or rather crept,
+into the awful and silent sepulchre. There were three
+coffins placed in parallel lines; two of them containing
+the mortal part of Mr. Parsons and Mr. Prince,
+pastors of the church. We instinctively took our
+seats, the one on the one coffin, the other on the other,
+with the coffin of Whitefield between, over which,
+when the upper part of the lid was removed, to reveal
+the skeleton secrets of the narrow prison-house, we
+bent in solemn stillness and awe. We gazed on
+the fragments&mdash;we contemplated and handled the
+skull of that great preacher of righteousness&mdash;we
+thought of his devoted life, his blessed death, his high
+and happy destiny; and whispered our adorations
+of the grace that formed him both for earth and
+heaven."</p>
+
+<p>The following lines were written by the departed
+and amiable William B. Tappan, on visiting this spot
+in September, 1837.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"And this was Whitefield!&mdash;this, the dust now blending<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">With kindred dust, that wrapt his soul of fire&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Which, from the mantle freed, is still ascending<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Through regions of far glory, holier, higher.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i1">Oh, as I gaze here with a solemn joy<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And awful reverence, in which shares Decay,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Who, this fair frame reluctant to destroy,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Yields it not yet to doom which all obey&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">How follows thought his flight, at Love's command,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">From hemisphere in sin, to hemisphere,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Warning uncounted multitudes with tears&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Preaching the risen Christ on sea and land&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And now those angel journeyings above!<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Souls, his companions, saved by such unwearied love!"<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_455" id="Page_455">[455]</a></span></p>
+<p>In December, 1845, one of the London daily papers,
+"The Sun," contained a somewhat extended account
+of Whitefield in New England, and especially his
+death, funeral, and tomb, from which we borrow mementos
+that in both hemispheres may be interesting
+"for generations to come."</p>
+
+<p>"I was spending Sunday at Old Ipswich, in the
+latter part of last September, when by accident I fell
+in with an old inhabitant of the town who had heard
+Whitefield preach there. He was a sort of patriarch
+of the place, and as he sat on one of the stones which
+surrounded the ancient orthodox meeting-house, his
+grey locks streaming from beneath his queerly shaped
+hat, and attired in his primly cut old-fashioned coat,
+he appeared no bad representative of the departed
+Puritans who, in former days, had soberly and decently
+obeyed the call of the Sabbath bell, and worshipped in
+the same temple whose steeple now casts its shadow
+athwart the green sward beneath.... As the bell of
+Old Ipswich church swung out that bright Sabbath
+morning, it was a pretty sight to see the village people
+coming from different points to the decaying old
+church, which was situated, as most country churches
+in New England are, on a hill-top. While I was enjoying
+the scene, the old man to whom I have alluded,
+and who was sitting on a stone, accosted me, and
+asked me if I was not a stranger 'in these parts.' On
+my informing him that I was, he pointed out to me the
+'lions' of the neighborhood, and wound up by asking,
+'I suppose, sir, you've heard of Whitefield?'</p>
+
+<p>"'Of Whitefield? to be sure I have.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Well, I've seen Whitefield, George Whitefield<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_456" id="Page_456">[456]</a></span>
+stood on this very stone,' (dropping his stick
+feebly from his shaking hands,) 'and I heard him
+preach here.'</p>
+
+<p>"'And do you remember any thing about him?' I
+asked.</p>
+
+<p>"'Well, I guess I do. I was but a bit of a boy
+then; but here he stood on this stone, looking like a
+flying angel, and we call this Whitefield's pulpit to
+this day.... There was folks here from all parts
+to hear him; so he was obliged to preach outside, for
+the church wasn't half big enough for 'em, and no
+two ways about it. I've heard many parsons sin'
+that time, but none on 'em could come nigh him, any
+how they could fix it.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Do you remember any thing of his sermons?'
+I inquired.</p>
+
+<p>"'Oh, I was too young to notice aught, sir, but the
+preacher hisself and the crowds of people, but I know
+he had a very sweet voice; and as I said, when he
+spread his arms out, with a little Bible in his hand,
+he looked like a flying angel. There never were so
+many people, afore nor since, in Old Ipswich. I suppose,
+sir, you'll be going to see his bones? He was
+buried at Newburyport, and you can see 'em if you
+like.'</p>
+
+<p>"I made up my mind that I would see them, if
+possible. On the following day, I went over to Newburyport
+by railroad, and proceeded first to the house
+in which Whitefield died. It was at the time the
+residence of the Rev. Jonathan Parsons, the first regular
+pastor of the Presbyterian Society in the town.
+It is a plain unpretending structure, possessing no<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_457" id="Page_457">[457]</a></span>
+other claims to attention than its being the spot where
+the last scene of Whitefield's career was enacted. I
+knocked, and asked of a lady who answered my summons,
+if I might be allowed to see the room in which
+Mr. Whitefield died. She very courteously showed
+me up a flight of stairs into a chamber, which, she
+said, Mr. Whitefield used to sleep in. 'Here is the
+place he died in,' said the lady, as she showed me a
+little entry just outside the door of the chamber, directly
+over the entrance to the house. 'He lay the
+night before he died,' said the lady, 'in that bed-chamber;
+and when he was struck with death, he ran out
+to this entry window for breath, and died while sitting
+in a chair opposite to it.'</p>
+
+<p>"The Federal-street church, where Whitefield was
+buried, was but a short distance from the house in
+which he died, and on my way to it I called on the
+sexton.... He preceded me through the aisle of the
+church, and opening a little narrow door by the side
+of the pulpit, we passed into a dim gloomy room
+behind it, and from thence descending four or five
+steps, found ourselves in a brick vault which lay directly
+under the pulpit. It was two or three minutes
+before my eyes got accustomed to the gloom; but
+soon objects became discernible, and I saw three old
+coffins, two of them serving as supporters to the third,
+which lay across them.... The sexton trimmed his
+lamp, then lifted the lid of an old coffin, and holding
+the flame close to it, said, 'Here, look in, ... <small>THAT'S
+THE MAN</small>.'</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, there lay the man, or at least, all that remains
+of the once mighty preacher. A strange awe<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_458" id="Page_458">[458]</a></span>
+came over me at his words, '<em>That's the man.</em>' I took
+the skull in my hands, and examined it carefully. The
+forehead was rather narrow than broad, and by no
+means high. I soon put it back again to the coffin."</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<p>Among the more prominent traits in the character
+of Whitefield, we may designate his <em>indifference to his
+own honor and ease</em>, of which his narrative contains
+almost innumerable illustrations. In the preparation
+of the deed of trust for his intended college, he entirely
+omitted his own name, that the proposed trustees
+might accept the office without suffering contempt
+for being connected with him. It was not pretence
+which led him often to say, "Let the name of George
+Whitefield perish, if God be glorified." On the same
+principle of almost self-annihilation he acted in reference
+to the accumulation of money. He secured nothing
+for himself. It does not seem that what he left
+to his friends by his will was or could be paid; what
+had been left him as legacies had been nearly all
+expended, and would have been entirely, had he lived
+to return to his beloved Bethesda. By his will he
+placed the institution in the hands of Lady Huntingdon,
+who sent out ministers and other persons to conduct
+it. But soon after this, the buildings were burnt
+down. After the fire, came the Revolutionary war,
+which tended to unsettle the tenure of property, and
+at the time of its close, the whole plans, alike of the
+orphan-house and the college, were nearly unknown.
+The authorities of Savannah, in accordance with the
+high regard which they still entertained for Whitefield's
+memory, secured whatever they could of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_459" id="Page_459">[459]</a></span>
+wreck, the proceeds of which they invested in a school
+for the young, which yet flourishes.</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps no man was ever more thoroughly <em>fond of
+labor</em>. From a memorandum in which Mr. Whitefield
+recorded the times and places of his ministerial labors,
+it appears that from the period of his ordination to
+that of his death, which was thirty-four years, he
+preached upwards of <em>eighteen thousand sermons</em>. It
+would be difficult to imagine how many thousand
+miles he travelled. When he ascertained that his
+physical powers began to fail, putting himself on what
+he called "short allowance," he preached <em>only once on
+every week-day, and three times on the Sabbath</em>. In view
+of his various journeyings in the slow and inconvenient
+modes of travelling then in use, his thirteen voyages
+across the Atlantic, and all that he accomplished,
+it appears that few men ever performed so much labor
+within the same period.</p>
+
+<p>Nearly every one who has attempted a description
+of Whitefield has said much of his <em>extraordinary voice</em>.
+It is known that Garrick was heard to say that he
+would give a hundred guineas if he could say "Oh!"
+as Whitefield did. The late Rev. Dr. Haweis, speaking
+of his "wonderful voice," and of its sweetness and
+variety of tone, said he believed on a serene evening
+it might be distinctly heard for nearly a mile. Others
+have given similar evidence.</p>
+
+<p>The late Sir George Beaumont, no mean authority
+on such a subject, thus familiarly speaks: "Oh yes; I
+heard that young gentleman this morning allude to
+'roaring Whitefield,' and was amused at his mistake.
+It is a common one. Whitefield did not roar. I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_460" id="Page_460">[460]</a></span>
+have been his auditor more than once, and was delighted
+with him. Whitefield's voice could be heard
+at an immense distance; but that was owing to its
+fulness, roundness, and clearness. It was a perfectly
+sound voice. It is an odd description, but I can hit
+upon no better; there was neither crack nor flaw.
+To describe him as a bellowing, roaring field preacher,
+is to describe a mountebank, not Whitefield. He
+had powers of pathos of the highest order. The tender,
+soft, persuasive tones of his voice were melodious
+in the extreme. And when he desired to win, or persuade,
+or plead, or soothe, the gush of feeling which
+his voice conveyed at once surprised and overpowered
+you."</p>
+
+<p>Speaking on the authority of his tutor, the Rev.
+Cornelius Winter, the late excellent Mr. Jay says that
+Whitefield's voice was incomparable: not only distinct
+and loud, but abounding with every kind of inflection,
+and perfectly under his power; so that he could render
+every thing he expressed, however common or insignificant
+in itself, striking and affecting.</p>
+
+<p>This distinguished man had a peculiar talent for
+making the <em>narration of facts tell in the pulpit</em>. Nothing
+occurred among even his own family connections, but
+he would make it contribute to the edification of his
+auditors. One Lord's day morning, with his usual
+fervor he exhorted his hearers to give up the use of
+means for the spiritual good of their relatives and
+friends only with their lives. He told them he had a
+brother, for whose spiritual welfare he had very long
+used every possible means. He had warned him, and
+prayed for him, but all apparently to no purpose, till<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_461" id="Page_461">[461]</a></span>
+a few weeks previous; when that brother, to his astonishment
+and joy, came to his house, and with many
+tears declared that he had come up from the country
+to testify to him the great change which divine grace
+had wrought in his heart, and to acknowledge with
+gratitude his obligation to the man by whom God had
+wrought. Mr. Whitefield added, that he had that
+morning received information, that on his brother's
+return to Gloucestershire, where he resided, he dropped
+down dead as he was getting out of a stagecoach.
+"Let us pray always," said he, "for ourselves,
+and for those who are dear to us, and never
+faint."</p>
+
+<p>This habit of making every occurrence bear on his
+ministry, Mr. Winter, who knew him more intimately,
+and has told us more of his private life and conduct
+than any other man, tells us was "perfectly in character
+with Mr. Whitefield. He turned every thing into
+gold; he improved every thing for good. Passing
+occurrences determined the matter of his sermons,
+and, in some degree, the manner of his address. Thus,
+if he had read on astronomy in the course of the week,
+you would be sure to discover it. He knew how to
+convert the centripetal motion of the planets to the
+disposition of the Christian towards Christ; and the
+fatal attraction of the world was very properly represented
+by a reference to the centrifugal. If he attended
+any extraordinary trial, he would avail himself of
+the formality of the judge in pronouncing sentence.
+It would only be by hearing him, and by beholding
+his attitude and tears, that a person could well conceive
+the effect; for it was impossible but that solemnity<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_462" id="Page_462">[462]</a></span>
+must surround him who, under God, became the
+means of making all solemn."</p>
+
+<p>He sometimes made use of an incident of history
+in the reign of Henry VIII. The apprentices of London
+appeared before that monarch, pleading his pardon
+for their insurrections, manifesting intense feeling
+on the matter, and praying for "mercy, mercy." "Take
+them away, take them away," was the monarch's request,
+moved by the sight and the cries of these youths,
+"I cannot bear it." The application, as will be readily
+supposed, was, that if an earthly monarch of Henry's
+character could be so moved, how prevalent must
+be the plea of the sinner in the ears of infinite Love.</p>
+
+<p>The case of two Scotchmen in the convulsion of the
+state at the time of Charles II. served him on more
+than one occasion. These men, having to pass some
+of the troops, were thinking of their danger, and meditating
+the best way of escape, when one of them proposed
+wearing a skullcap; but the other, thinking
+that would imply distrust of the providence of God,
+determined to proceed bareheaded. The last was
+the first laid hold of, and being asked, "Are you for
+the covenant?" replied, "Yes;" and being further
+asked, "What covenant?" answered, "The covenant
+of grace;" by which reply, eluding farther inquiry, he
+was allowed to pass; but the other, not answering
+satisfactorily, received a blow from the sabre, which
+penetrating through the cap, struck him dead. In the
+application, Mr. Whitefield, warning against vain
+confidence, exclaimed, "Beware of your skullcaps."</p>
+
+<p>An American clergyman has told us that he once
+related to Whitefield an affecting occurrence, but did<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_463" id="Page_463">[463]</a></span>
+it with the ordinary brevity and feeling of common
+conversation. Afterwards he heard Mr. Whitefield
+preach, and tell this same story with such nature,
+pathos, and power, that the clergyman found himself
+weeping like a child. It has been well said, that he
+spoke with the tones of the soul; and that his gestures
+were impelled by the same spontaneous magical influence
+which made them, as well as his words, seem part
+of his soul. Indeed, he threw his soul into every
+thing he did and said.</p>
+
+<p>It is said that Whitefield would sometimes rise in
+the sacred desk, and for a minute or two looking in
+silence around his vast audience, as if salvation or
+perdition teemed in every cast of his eye, would burst
+into tears, while the swift contagion, before he uttered
+a word, had reached every heart that could feel, and
+dimmed every eye that could weep.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p>
+
+<p>While his path to the sinner's heart was thus met
+with tears, he was never without strength or aim.
+He struck everywhere. He swung his glittering
+weapon, "the sword of the Spirit," in every direction,
+the same whether he preached in the cushioned and
+carpeted pulpit to lords, ladies, and gentlemen, or encountered
+a mob of stage-players and merry-andrews
+in the open field. He insisted on instant, visible,
+decisive action in his hearers. All was commotion
+where he moved. The very earth would seem to be
+shaken with the thunder of his eloquence; the heavens<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_464" id="Page_464">[464]</a></span>
+seemed, in the bold metaphor of Isaiah, to "drop
+down from above, and the skies to pour down righteousness,"
+when he set the trumpet of the gospel to
+his lips, and made the notes of salvation or perdition
+ring in the ears of dying men. Such unwonted sounds
+startled the multitude into life, rousing energies that
+were forthwith enlisted either for or against the
+mighty cause which he advocated, with the boldness
+and fervor of one who had received immediate commission
+from heaven. His sacred ambition was content
+with nothing short of the conquest of thousands.</p>
+
+<p>It has been well said by a living American writer,
+that "Whitefield was, in sacred eloquence, what Handel
+was in sacred music. There was an air, a soul,
+and a <em>movement</em> in his oratory, which created indescribable
+emotion in his vast assemblies, and if Handel,
+with a thousand auxiliary voices and instruments,
+astonished the multitude in Westminster Abbey, even
+to raising them on their feet, by the performance of
+his Messiah, Whitefield did greater wonders in his
+single person by <em>preaching</em> the Messiah to the immense
+crowds in Tottenham Court-road and Moorfields."</p>
+
+<p>The same writer has said elsewhere, "The influence
+of Whitefield and Edwards on theology and pulpit
+eloquence were immense. There was in those
+two men indeed 'a diversity of gifts, but the same
+spirit,' The intellect prevailed in Edwards, the impassioned
+in Whitefield. Pure truth came forth from
+the mind of the one as nakedly demonstrated as it
+ever was on the pages of Newton and Locke; for Edwards,
+when but a child, read Locke with enthusiasm.
+From the soul of Whitefield it came forth arrayed in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_465" id="Page_465">[465]</a></span>
+the gorgeous robes of his own many-colored imagination,
+baptized in the tenderness of his own sympathetic
+spirit. At times, indeed, the thunders of Sinai
+seemed to shake the sacred desk, but the softer music
+of the harp of Zion was more congenial with his compassionate
+spirit, though he was always bold for God,
+and braved danger in every form for the salvation of
+sinners. It is not strange that American preachers
+venerate, even to enthusiasm, the memory of such a
+man, and visit his dust, enshrined as it is in the bosom
+of New England, with feelings of indescribable interest.
+His labors were for us; his rest is with us; his
+example is before us. The first were indefatigable;
+the second is peaceful; the last is glorious."</p>
+
+<p>The Rev. Mr. Winter says, "I hardly ever knew
+him to go through a sermon without weeping more or
+less;" and again, "It was only by beholding his attitude
+and tears, that one could well conceive of the
+effect." No doubt there was a connection between
+the tears of Whitefield and his piety; but it must not
+be supposed that he was always "the weeping prophet;"
+he could smile as well as weep. A venerable
+lady in New York, known to some yet living, speaking
+of the influence which first won her heart to God,
+said that "Mr. Whitefield was so cheerful that it
+<em>tempted her to be a Christian</em>."</p>
+
+<p>Every thing about this distinguished man excited
+attention. His voice, accompanied by his look from
+crossed eyes, and proceeding from a man of his robust
+frame, produced wonderful effects. It is said that
+when once preaching in a graveyard, two young men
+conducted themselves improperly, when he fixed his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_466" id="Page_466">[466]</a></span>
+eyes upon them, and with a voice resembling thunder,
+said, "Come down, ye rebels." They instantly fell,
+neither of them being inclined again to come into
+contact with such a look, or to hear such a voice.</p>
+
+<p>He was once preaching to a vast crowd of people
+in southern Pennsylvania, which was at that time
+ignorant and uncivilized. He was incessantly disturbed
+by their noise, and twice reproved them with
+great severity. At length he was so overcome by
+their noisy and irreverent conduct, that he stopped
+short, dropped his head into his hands, burst into a
+flood of tears, and exclaimed, "Oh, Lord God, I am
+ashamed that these people are provoking thy wrath,
+and I dare not reprove them a third time." Such was
+the effect of his conduct and feeling, that his audience
+became perfectly quiet, and remained so till the end
+of his discourse.</p>
+
+<p>We have before us two narratives of his preaching
+during very heavy storms. Dr. Campbell, a successor
+of Whitefield in the <em>Tabernacle</em> in London, and whose
+ministry has been marked by much of the power and
+success of his great predecessor, has given to the first
+of these narratives the title of "<cite>Thunder and Eloquence</cite>."
+Before he commenced his sermon on this occasion,
+long darkening columns crowded the bright
+sunny sky of the morning, and swept their dull shadows
+over the building, in fearful augury of the storm.</p>
+
+<p>His text was, "Strive to enter in at the strait
+gate; for many, I say unto you, shall seek to enter
+in, and shall not be able." "See," said he, pointing
+to a shadow that was flitting across the floor&mdash;"see
+that emblem of human life. It passed for a moment,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_467" id="Page_467">[467]</a></span>
+and concealed the brightness of heaven from our view;
+but it is gone. And where will ye be, my hearers,
+when your lives have passed away like that dark
+cloud? Oh, my dear friends, I see thousands sitting
+attentively, with their eyes fixed on the poor unworthy
+preacher. In a few days, we shall all meet at
+the judgment-seat of Christ. We shall form a part
+of that vast assembly that will gather before the
+throne; and every eye will behold the Judge. With
+a voice whose call you must abide and answer, he
+will inquire whether on earth you strove to enter in
+at the strait gate; whether you were supremely devoted
+to God; whether your hearts were absorbed in
+him. My blood runs cold when I think how many of
+you will then seek to enter in, and shall not be able.
+Oh, what plea can you make before the Judge of the
+whole earth? Can you say it has been your whole
+endeavor to mortify the flesh, with its affections and
+lusts&mdash;that your life has been one long effort to do
+the will of God? No; you must answer, 'I made
+myself easy in the world by flattering myself that
+all would end well; but I have deceived my own
+soul, and am lost.'</p>
+
+<p>"You, O false, and hollow Christian, of what avail
+will it be that you have done many things&mdash;that you
+have read much in the sacred word&mdash;that you have
+made long prayers&mdash;that you have attended religious
+duties, and that you have appeared holy in the eyes
+of men? What will all this be, if, instead of loving
+Him supremely, you have been supposing you should
+exalt yourself in heaven by acts really polluted and
+unholy?</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_468" id="Page_468">[468]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"And you, rich men, wherefore do you hoard your
+silver? Wherefore count the price you have received
+for Him whom you every day crucify in your love of
+gain? Why&mdash;that when you are too poor to buy a
+drop of cold water, your beloved son may be rolled
+to hell in his chariot, pillowed and cushioned around
+him."</p>
+
+<p>The eye of the preacher gradually lighted up as
+he proceeded, till towards the close it seemed to sparkle
+with celestial fire. With his whole energy he
+exclaimed, "O sinners, by all your hopes of happiness,
+I beseech you to repent. Let not the wrath of God
+be awakened. Let not the fires of eternity be kindled
+against you. See there!" pointing to the lightning,
+which played on the corner of the pulpit, "it is a
+glance from the angry eye of Jehovah!" Raising his
+finger in a listening attitude, as the distant thunder
+grew louder and louder, and broke in one tremendous
+crash over the building, he continued, "Hark! It was
+the voice of the Almighty as he passed by in his anger!"
+As the sound died away, he covered his face
+with his hands, and knelt beside his pulpit, apparently
+lost in inward and intense prayer. The storm passed
+rapidly away, and the sun, beaming forth in his might,
+threw across the heavens a magnificent arch of peace.
+Rising, and pointing to the beautiful object, he exclaimed,
+"Look upon the rainbow, and praise Him
+who made it. Very beautiful it is in the brightness
+thereof. It compasseth the heavens about with glory;
+and the hands of the Most High have bended it!"</p>
+
+<p>On another occasion, as Mr. Whitefield was
+preaching in Boston, on the wonders of creation,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_469" id="Page_469">[469]</a></span>
+providence, and redemption, a violent storm of thunder
+and lightning came on. In the midst of the sermon
+it attained to so alarming a height that the congregation
+sat in almost breathless awe. The preacher
+closed his note-book, and stepping into one of the
+wings of the desk, fell on his knees, and with much
+feeling and fine taste repeated:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Hark, <span class="smcap">the Eternal</span> rends the sky!<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">A mighty voice before him goes&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">A voice of music to his friends,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">But threatening thunder to his foes:<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">'Come, children, to your Father's arms;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Hide in the chambers of my grace,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Till the fierce storm be overblown,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And my revenging fury cease&mdash;'<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="noindent">"Let us devoutly sing to the praise and glory of God
+this hymn, Old Hundred."</div>
+
+<p>The whole congregation instantly rose, and poured
+forth the sacred song, in which they were accompanied
+by the organ, in a style of simple grandeur and
+heartfelt devotion that was probably never surpassed.
+By the time the hymn was finished the storm was
+hushed. The remainder of the services were well
+adapted to sustain the elevated feeling which had
+been produced; and the benediction with which the
+good man dismissed the flock was universally received
+with streaming eyes, and hearts overflowing with tenderness
+and gratitude.</p>
+
+<p>Another writer has thus described his appearance
+in the pulpit. There was nothing in the appearance
+of this extraordinary man which would lead you to
+suppose that a Felix would tremble before him. He
+was something above the middle stature, well proportioned,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_470" id="Page_470">[470]</a></span>
+and remarkable for a native gracefulness of
+manner. His complexion was very fair, his features
+regular, and his dark blue eyes small and lively. In
+recovering from the measles he had contracted a
+squint with one of them; but this peculiarity rather
+rendered the expression of his countenance more remarkable,
+than in any degree lessened the effect of its
+uncommon sweetness. His voice excelled both in
+melody and compass; and its fine modulations were
+happily accompanied by that grace of action which
+he possessed in an eminent degree, and which has
+been said to be the chief requisite in an orator. To
+see him when he first commenced, one would have
+thought him any thing but enthusiastic and glowing;
+but as he proceeded, his heart warmed with his subject,
+and his manner became impetuous and animated;
+till, forgetful of every thing around him, he seemed to
+kneel at the throne of Jehovah, and to beseech in
+agony for his fellow-beings.</p>
+
+<p>After he had finished his prayer, he knelt for a
+long time in profound silence, and so powerful was
+the effect on the most heartless of his audience, that a
+stillness like that of the tomb pervaded the whole
+house.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Tracy, in his narrative of "the Great Awakening"
+about 1740, has admirably remarked, "It is
+often said that Whitefield cannot have been a very
+great man, because his printed sermons contain only
+plain, common thoughts, such as men of ordinary
+minds habitually use. But what made those thoughts
+so common? They were not common when he began
+to utter them. In England especially, and to a considerable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_471" id="Page_471">[471]</a></span>
+extent here also, they astonished his hearers
+by their strangeness. What is more common than a
+voyage across the Atlantic? But was Columbus,
+therefore, only an ordinary man? The case of Copernicus
+is more nearly parallel. He reasserted a
+truth which had been uttered, repudiated, and forgotten.
+That truth is now common, even among
+school-boys. But was he, therefore, only a child in
+intellect?"</p>
+
+<p>There are yet extant about eighty of the sermons
+by which Whitefield agitated nations, and the more
+remote influence of which is still distinctly to be
+traced, in the popular divinity and national character
+of Great Britain and of the United States. Of these
+compositions, Sir James Stephen, an evangelical Episcopalian
+of London, wrote at some length in the
+"Edinburgh Review," 1838, and we shall make no
+apology for borrowing a portion of his remarks, combining
+them with some of our own.</p>
+
+<p>It is true, that these sermons have fallen into very
+general neglect; for to win permanent acceptance
+for a book, into which the principles of life were not
+infused by its author, is a miracle which not even the
+zeal of religious proselytes can accomplish. Yet, inferior
+as were his inventive to his mimetic powers,
+Whitefield is entitled, among theological writers, to
+a place which, if it cannot challenge admiration, may
+at least excite and reward curiosity. Many, and those
+by far the worst of his discourses, bear the marks of
+careful preparation. Take at hazard a sermon of one
+of the preachers usually distinguished as evangelical,
+add a little to its length, and subtract a great deal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_472" id="Page_472">[472]</a></span>
+from its point and polish, and you have one of his
+more elaborate common topics discussed in a commonplace
+way; a respectable mediocrity of thought and
+style; endless variations on one or two cardinal
+truths&mdash;in short, the task of a clerical Saturday evening,
+executed with piety, good sense, and exceeding
+sedateness. But open one of that series of Whitefield's
+sermons which bears the stamp of having been
+conceived and uttered at the same moment, and imagine
+it recited to myriads of eager listeners with every
+charm of voice and gesture, and the secret of his
+unrivalled fascination is at least partially disclosed.
+He places himself on terms of intimacy and unreserved
+confidence with you, and makes it almost as
+difficult to decline the invitation to his familiar talk
+as if Montaigne himself had issued it. The egotism
+is amusing, affectionate, and warm-hearted, with just
+that slight infusion of self-importance without which
+it would pass for affectation. In his art of rhetoric,
+personification holds the first place; and the prosopop&oelig;ia
+is so managed as to quicken abstractions into
+life, and to give them individuality and distinctness
+without the exhibition of any of those spasmodic and
+distorted images which obey the incantations of vulgar
+exorcists. Every trace of study and contrivance
+is obliterated by the hearty earnestness which pervades
+each successive period, and by the vernacular
+and homely idioms in which his meaning is conveyed.</p>
+
+<p>It is in the grandeur and singleness of purpose
+that the charm of Whitefield's preaching seems to
+have consisted. You feel that you have to do with
+a man who lived and spoke, and who would gladly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_473" id="Page_473">[473]</a></span>
+have died, to deter his hearers from the path of destruction,
+and to guide them to holiness and peace. His
+gossipping stories, and dramatic forms of speech, are
+never employed to hide the awful realities on which
+he is intent. Conscience is not permitted to find an
+intoxicating draught in even spiritual excitement, or
+an anodyne in glowing imagery. Guilt and its punishment,
+pardon and spotless purity, death and an
+eternal existence, stand out in bold relief on every
+page. From these the eye of the teacher is never
+withdrawn, and to these the attention of the hearer is
+riveted. All that is poetic, grotesque, or rapturous
+is employed to deepen these impressions, and is dismissed
+as soon as that purpose is answered. Deficient
+in learning, meagre in thought, and redundant in language
+as are these discourses, they yet fulfil the one
+great condition of genuine eloquence. They propagate
+their own kindly warmth, and leave their stings
+behind them.</p>
+
+<p>The enumeration of the sources of Whitefield's power
+is still essentially defective. Neither energy, nor
+eloquence, nor histrionic talents, nor any artifices of
+style, nor the most genuine sincerity and self-devotedness,
+nor all these united, would have enabled him to
+mould the religious character of millions in his own
+and future generations. The secret lies deeper. It
+consisted in the theology he taught&mdash;in its perfect
+simplicity and universal application. "Would ministers,"
+says he, "preach for eternity, they would then
+act the part of true Christian orators; and not only
+calmly and coolly inform the understanding, but by
+pathetic and persuasive address, endeavor to move<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_474" id="Page_474">[474]</a></span>
+the affections and to warm the heart. To act otherwise,
+betrays a sad ignorance of human nature, and
+such an inexcusable ignorance and indifference in a
+preacher, as must constrain the hearers to suspect,
+whether they will or not, that the preacher, let him
+be whom he will, only deals in the false commerce of
+unfelt truth." His eighteen thousand sermons were
+but so many variations on two key-notes: man is
+guilty, but may obtain forgiveness; he is immortal,
+and must ripen here for endless weal or woe hereafter.
+Expanded into innumerable forms, and diversified by
+infinite varieties of illustration, these two cardinal
+principles were ever in his heart and on his tongue.
+Let who would invoke poetry to embellish the Christian
+system, or philosophy to explore its esoteric
+depths, from his lips it was delivered as an awful and
+urgent summons to repent, to believe, and to obey.
+To set to music the orders issued to seamen in a
+storm, or to address them in the language of Aristotle
+or Descartes, would have seemed to him not a
+whit more preposterous than to divert his hearers
+from their danger and their refuge, their duties and
+their hopes, to any topics more trivial or more abstruse.
+In fine, he was thoroughly and continually
+in earnest, and therefore possessed that tension of
+the soul which admitted neither of lassitude nor relaxation,
+few and familiar as were the topics to which
+he was confined. His was, therefore, precisely that
+state of mind in which alone eloquence, properly so
+called, can be engendered, and a moral and intellectual
+sovereignty won.</p>
+
+<p>Nor less important is it to remark, though we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_475" id="Page_475">[475]</a></span>
+need not illustrate it at length, that much was effected
+by every one seeing that he always forgot himself
+in his subject, and rested only on heaven for success.
+He felt himself called to serve Christ, and gave himself
+to his task, to save sinners, and he cared for
+nothing else. No one ever doubted his sincerity
+when he prayed, "Help me, Friend of sinners, to be
+nothing, to say nothing, that thou mayest say and do
+every thing, and be my all in all." If the same feelings
+were fully shown by the ministry at present,
+our messages would tell more on the hearts of our
+hearers.</p>
+
+<p>We need hardly remind the reader that Whitefield
+was remarkable for <em>a devotional spirit</em>. Probably
+no man ever lived nearer to God. Had he been less
+prayerful, he would have been less powerful. It has
+been said that during a few of the last years of his
+life he read the voluminous exposition of Matthew
+Henry, comprising six quarto volumes, in a kneeling
+posture, pausing and praying that God would engraft
+upon his mind the instructions of that extraordinary
+man. When he came before his auditors, he looked
+like one who had been with God. This it was which
+won for him the title of <em>seraphic</em>&mdash;he was a human
+<em>seraph</em>, and burnt out in the blaze of his own fire.
+Usually for an hour or two before he went into the
+pulpit, he claimed retirement. In this claim he was
+imperative, and would not be interrupted in his seasons
+of hallowed intercourse with God.</p>
+
+<p>Engaged almost incessantly in preaching, or in
+preparation for it, it was impossible, however much
+he desired it, to pay many private visits of a religious<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_476" id="Page_476">[476]</a></span>
+nature. We are told, however, that on one occasion,
+when a young minister, afterwards exceedingly
+popular and useful, was once visiting him, he was
+sent for to visit a poor woman who had been so
+dreadfully burnt that she could not survive many
+hours. He went immediately, and prayed with her.
+He had no sooner returned, than she called out, "Oh,
+where is Mr. Whitefield?" Urged by her entreaty,
+her friends requested him to visit her a second time.
+He complied, and again prayed with her. The poor
+afflicted woman continued still to desire his presence.
+When her friends came for him a third time, "I begged
+of him," said the young clergyman, "not to go; for
+he could scarcely expect to do any good. 'Your
+nerves are too weak, your feelings are too acute to
+endure such scenes.' I shall never forget his mild
+reproof: 'Leave me; my Master can save to the uttermost,
+to the <em>very uttermost</em>.'"</p>
+
+<p>In conversation with his friends, Whitefield was
+as far removed as possible from duplicity and mere
+compliment. He invited from his friends whatever of
+instruction and of reproof they considered him to
+need. And while he was always ready to receive reproof,
+he was, when called to the duty, ready to give
+it, and often in a way which his friends did not expect.
+A censorious professor of religion, knowing the doctrinal
+differences between the two men, asked Whitefield
+if he thought they would see Mr. John Wesley
+in heaven. His answer was truly admirable: "No,
+sir, I fear not; for he will be so near the throne, and
+we shall be at such a distance, we shall hardly get
+sight of him."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_477" id="Page_477">[477]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>It is said, that when he was once travelling in
+company with a Christian man, they had occasion to
+stay for a night at a road-side tavern. After they
+had retired, they were greatly annoyed by a company
+of gamblers, who were in an adjoining room. Whitefield
+could not rest, and told his friend that he would
+go into the room and reprove them for their conduct.
+The other remonstrated against his doing so, but in
+vain. He went; and unhappily, his words fell apparently
+powerless upon them. Returning, he laid down
+to sleep. "What," asked his companion, "did you
+gain by your trouble?" Whitefield characteristically
+answered, "A soft pillow."</p>
+
+<p>In his intercourse with general society, Mr. Whitefield
+never forgot his dignity as a servant of Jesus
+Christ. When he was in the zenith of his popularity,
+Lord Clare, who knew that his influence was considerable,
+applied to him by letter, requesting his influence
+at Bristol at the ensuing general election. To
+this request Mr. Whitefield replied, that in general
+elections he never interfered; but he would earnestly
+exhort his lordship to use great diligence to make his
+own particular "calling and election sure."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Whitefield was greatly distinguished, even
+from early life, for neatness in his person, order in
+his apartments, and regular method in the management
+of all his affairs. He was accustomed to say
+that a minister should be "without a spot;" and on
+one occasion remarked, that he could not feel comfortable
+if he knew that his <em>gloves</em> were out of their proper
+place. The advantages of such habits are numerous.
+They save time, give a degree of comfort which can<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_478" id="Page_478">[478]</a></span>
+only be known by experience, and add not a little to
+the dignity of the Christian minister.</p>
+
+<p>The device upon Whitefield's seal, of which probably
+few impressions are now to be found, was truly
+characteristic. It was a winged heart soaring above
+the globe, and its motto was, "<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Astra petamus</i>"&mdash;Let
+us seek heaven.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_479" id="Page_479">[479]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2>
+
+<h3>CHARACTER OF WHITEFIELD AS A PREACHER&mdash;CENTENNIAL
+COMMEMORATIONS.</h3>
+
+
+<p>In suggesting a few of the <span class="smcap">characteristics of
+Whitefield's preaching</span>, we are very greatly indebted
+to an excellent anonymous writer in the London
+Evangelical Magazine for 1853. We consider as
+among the reasons of his success, and as worthy of
+our imitation,</p>
+
+<p>First, <em>the prominence given to the leading truths of
+salvation, and the constant exaltation of Christ in them</em>.
+There needs no minute inquiry, or great analytical
+care, to ascertain what was the pervading theme of
+this popular minister: it was "Christ, and him crucified,"
+and the glorious truths that hover around the
+cross, and derive from it their being and lustre.
+There was no other subject, in Whitefield's estimation,
+that was worthy of pre&#235;minence, and to unfold, elucidate,
+and apply it, was the great design of his labors.
+He saw in it such a wonderful adaptation to the
+necessities and condition of fallen humanity, that he
+stood in the midst of its wants and woes with all the
+confidence of a good physician who had a sovereign
+and sufficient remedy to propose. He knew that
+there was no case which it could not meet, no moral
+disease from which it would not recover, no spiritual
+need which it would not supply; and therefore, however
+far gone men might be from original righteousness,
+however hardened in sin, sunk in iniquity, or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_480" id="Page_480">[480]</a></span>
+however elevated by the delusions of a false morality
+and fancied self-righteousness, he propounded this as
+the only and all-sufficient antidote, at once to destroy
+and heal, to kill and to make alive. As to the spurious
+production of a rationalistic theory on the one
+hand, or the prescriptions of ceremonial virtue and
+sacramental grace on the other, he knew them not.
+He saw at once their hollowness and insufficiency,
+and would not mock the necessities of our fallen nature,
+or aggravate the wounds which sin had made by
+a proposal of them. His acquaintance with the human
+heart was deep, and his knowledge of the different
+modifications of the original disease was so great,
+that he despaired of relief from any expedients save
+that which infinite Wisdom had devised, and which
+"the gospel of the grace of God" revealed. Philosophy
+with all its discoveries, and reason with all its
+powers, the law with all its authority, and virtue
+with all its rewards, he knew could only, like the
+priests and the Levites, have passed the patient by,
+and left him to despair, till a greater than they should
+arrive, and say, "I will come and heal you." On that
+adorable Personage, therefore, and the wonders of his
+skill and love, he delighted to dwell. Every sermon
+was full of Christ; every discourse was odorous of
+him. From whatever part of revealed truth he derived
+his text, and with whatever peculiar development
+of man's moral physiology he had to do, there
+was something to suggest, to demonstrate the need,
+or the suitableness, or the all-sufficiency of the Saviour
+of the world. To set him forth, in the glories of his
+wonderful person, the variety of his offices, the perfection<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_481" id="Page_481">[481]</a></span>
+of his righteousness, the completeness of his
+atonement, and the plenitude of his grace, was his
+perpetual aim. To these he gave continual prominence,
+at all times, and in every place. There was
+no reserve, no equivocation, no partial statement on
+such themes. It was a full, clear, consistent gospel.
+From his lips the gospel gave no "uncertain sound."
+This made him a welcome messenger of glad tidings
+to all. This gave him a key to the hearts of many,
+who, as they stood around him, and wondered at him,
+like those five thousand whom the Redeemer fed with
+"five loaves and two small fishes," found all their
+appetites suited, and all their necessities supplied.
+It was the magic power which arrested them; the
+centre of gravitation which attracted them; the bread
+of life which fed them. "As Moses lifted up the serpent
+in the wilderness," so now was the Son of man
+lifted up by the ministry of this his devoted herald;
+and far as the camp extended, and wide as the circumference
+of poison and death was spread, the wounded
+looked thereon and lived. A restorative virtue issued
+from it. The hardest heart was softened. The most
+obstinate in rebellion was overcome. The blindest
+saw. The moral lepers were cleansed. The broken
+in heart were made whole, and the spiritually dead
+were raised to life. "This was the Lord's doing, and
+it was marvellous in their eyes." They beheld the
+man. They heard him preach. They felt the power.
+It was because He was exalted among them who had
+said, "I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw
+all men unto me."</p>
+
+<p>Secondly, <em>the glow of feeling, the melting compassion,</em><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_482" id="Page_482">[482]</a></span>
+<em>which pervaded his own soul</em>. Oh, it is supremely
+delightful and deeply affecting to observe the tender
+affection and melting pathos with which Whitefield
+propounded and proclaimed the precious truths and
+everlasting verities of the gospel to his fellow-men.
+He stood among them as one of their race, one of their
+number, conscious of the common misery into which
+all had fallen, and weeping over the miseries and ruin
+in which by nature they were alike involved. As he
+opened up the treasures of infinite mercy, and the
+riches of redeeming love to their view, he wept to
+think how long they had been unknown or despised
+by many, and with what base ingratitude thousands
+would probably still turn away from them. As one
+who saw their immortal being in jeopardy, and their
+souls standing on the verge of irretrievable ruin, he
+hastened, with joy in his countenance and tenderness
+in his heart, to tell them of One who was "mighty to
+save," and that "now was the accepted time, and now
+the day of salvation." Not as one who had a cold
+lecture on ethics to deliver, or a dissertation on philosophy
+to expound, or a problem in mathematics to
+solve, did he proceed to such a work; but as one who
+felt the weight of his great commission, and knew the
+worth of never-dying souls. The evil of sin, the danger
+of impenitence, the powers of the world to come,
+the glories of heaven, and the unutterable miseries of
+the regions of woe, were visibly present to his own
+mind; and of these, "out of the abundance of his
+heart," he spoke to others. He could not be calm,
+he could not be apathetic on such themes as these.</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+"Passion was reason, transport temper, here."
+</p>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_483" id="Page_483">[483]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="noindent">And with much of the melting tenderness of Him
+who wept over Jerusalem, he spoke of these things
+to all that resorted to him. What moving words did
+he utter on Blackheath hill, in the Tabernacle pulpit,
+and on Kingswood mount! His vivid eye beamed
+with the glow of tenderness, and his tears, as he
+spoke, oft-times moistened his little Bible or bedewed
+the ground. In his printed sermons, which doubtless
+are but feeble specimens of his free and fervent manner,
+there are strains of tender pathos and impassioned
+oratory, which it is almost impossible to read
+even now without being moved to share in his feelings
+and in the emotions which they must have enkindled
+around; and in the perusal of which we
+wonder not that, in all the circumstances, the place
+in which he stood was a Bochim&mdash;a place of weeping.
+Oh, the melting power, the exquisite pathos, the tender
+expostulation of this pre&#235;minent man, and unrivalled
+preacher of the gospel of our salvation! We
+wish we could catch them now&mdash;that all preachers
+possessed them; that the rising ministry especially
+would emulate him in these things. Whitefield showed
+his intense feeling, not from the mere power of
+ratiocination, or from the poetic memento, or for the
+sake of producing effect by the tears that were unfelt,
+or which only flowed from the surface; but from the
+meltings of a tender heart, influenced by a Saviour's
+love, and overflowing with the commiseration of a
+benign compassion for dying multitudes around. Doddridge's
+beautiful hymn,</div>
+
+<p class="center">
+"Arise, my tenderest thoughts, arise,"
+</p>
+
+<div class="noindent">one might almost think was written at Whitefield's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_484" id="Page_484">[484]</a></span>
+side. The tenderness of John, and the "weeping" of
+Paul, were blended in him with the boldness of Peter.
+The love that agonized in the garden of Gethsemane,
+and bled on the cross of Calvary, was largely diffused
+through all his powers.</div>
+
+<p>Thirdly, <em>the direct address of his ministry</em>. The
+characteristic mode of his preaching, and the style of
+his public ministrations, was, to direct his appeal to
+the hearts and consciences of his hearers, and to
+"preach <em>to</em> the people all the words of this life." It
+was not an harangue <em>before</em> them. It was not an
+oration beautifully prepared, read, or delivered in
+their hearing, and presented simply for their acceptance
+and admiration; but a direct address, an affectionate
+appeal, a solemn and earnest communication
+of the message he had received from God to them.
+Oh, we have sometimes thought, what a marked difference
+there ought to be between the ministrations of
+a servant of Christ to his fellow-immortals, on things
+of eternal importance in which they are personally
+and deeply concerned, and the delivery of a lecture
+from the philosopher's desk, or even of a dissertation
+on theology from the professorial chair. So thought
+the apostles. So thought the prophets and public
+teachers of sacred mysteries of old. They had the
+"burden of the Lord" to deliver, and it was <em>unto</em> the
+people. They had an embassy to execute, and it was
+by negotiating directly with, and in the consciences
+of their hearers. Whitefield caught their spirit, proceeded
+in their way, and did such mighty execution,
+not by the mere symmetrical illustration of divine
+truth, but by the direct presentation of it to their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_485" id="Page_485">[485]</a></span>
+minds. They had not to ask, "For whom is all this
+intended?" and, "Is it designed for us?" They felt
+that it was. It came home to their consciences, and
+to their very hearts. They could not transfer it to
+others, nor avoid the application of it to themselves.
+Had the preacher called them by name, which in his
+skilful delineation of character, he sometimes virtually
+did, they could not have been more certain that he
+intended it for them, and that it was at their peril to
+neglect or pass it by. "I have a message from God
+unto thee," he substantially said in every discourse he
+uttered, and the people were compelled to believe it.
+"Go, and tell this people," said the divine voice to
+Isaiah, "Ye hear indeed, but do not understand; ye
+see indeed, but do not perceive." "Therefore," said
+Peter, "let all the house of Israel know assuredly that
+God hath made that same Jesus, <em>whom ye have crucified</em>,
+both Lord and Christ." "Now then," said Paul,
+"we are ambassadors for Christ; as though God did
+beseech <em>you</em> by us, we pray <em>you</em>, in Christ's stead, <em>be
+ye</em> reconciled to God." Such was the tenor of the
+apostolic ministry. Such the secret of its mighty
+power and success. And such also was the characteristic
+of the faithful and seraphic Whitefield, by
+which he knocked at the door of many hearts, and
+those hearts were opened to him, to his message, and
+to his Lord. His plan was that of heavenly wisdom;
+his appeal was the same. "Unto you, O men, I call,
+and my voice is to the sons of men." In him were
+verified the poet's graphic lines:</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<span class="i0">"There stands the messenger of truth; there stands<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The legate of the skies: his theme divine,<br /></span><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_486" id="Page_486">[486]</a></span>
+<span class="i1">His office sacred, his credentials clear.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">By him the violated law speaks out<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Its thunders; and by him, in strains as sweet<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">As angels use, the gospel whispers peace.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">He stablishes the strong, restores the weak,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Reclaims the wanderer, binds the broken heart,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And sues the sinner to return to God."<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Fourthly, <em>his habitual dependence on the Spirit of
+God, and his earnest aspirations for the manifestation of
+his power</em>. That he was conscious of his own superior
+talents as an orator, and knew how to employ them on
+sacred themes; that he skilfully wielded all the weapons
+of a well-studied eloquence to gain access to the
+human mind, and knew both how to alarm and how to
+persuade, and could attempt both with as much success
+probably as any speaker, either of ancient or modern
+times; that he had a large and minute acquaintance
+with the powers and passions of the human soul, and
+knew well when and how to touch the hidden springs
+of its energies and actions; that he had a good amount
+of common and sacred learning at his command, and
+like that Apollos whom among the early teachers of
+Christianity he most resembled, was "mighty in the
+Scriptures;" and that he delighted to expatiate on
+the wonders and glories of redemption as a restorative
+scheme pre&#235;minently adapted to interest and attract,
+to impress and rule our common nature&mdash;are facts
+open to all who inspect his writings and accompany
+him in his labors, and will be denied by none. But
+with all these, and amid all, in every sermon he composed
+and delivered, and in his most impassioned
+addresses to his hearers, there is manifested an underlying
+and all-pervading dependence on the power and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_487" id="Page_487">[487]</a></span>
+grace of the Spirit of God, which was in character, if
+not in degree, meek, humble, genuine, entire, like that
+of the most eminent apostle or adoring saint at the
+foot of the divine throne. With him it was not
+merely a sentiment, but a feeling; and that feeling
+constant and habitual, as it was in him who in the
+review of his labors said, "I have planted, Apollos
+watered, but God gave the increase." He knew that
+none but the almighty Spirit could gain effectual
+access to the spirit of man; and that not even a Melancthon,
+a Luther, or a Whitefield, could make old
+Adam yield, unless constrained by a superior power.
+He seemed to stand in the valley of vision among the
+dry bones, as the prophet did, and while he addressed
+them with something like a prophet's power, he had
+no expectation or hope of success until the wind of
+heaven came down and blew upon them. Therefore
+he prophesied to it as well as to them. "Come from
+the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon the slain,
+that they may live," was often the mighty cry of his
+soul, before preaching, while preaching, and after
+preaching. It seemed to be his joy, his only, his all-sustaining
+confidence, that he lived under "the dispensation
+of the Spirit," and wrought in a day, and
+preached upon a theme, in connection with which "the
+ministration of the Spirit" was to be "glorious," by
+his wonderful works of conviction, conversion, and
+sanctification, among the children of men. To that
+Spirit, as the glorifier of Christ, he often devoutly
+and earnestly appealed. Sometimes, in the midst of
+an unusual flow of tender and eloquent address to his
+hearers on his favorite theme of the glories and grace<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_488" id="Page_488">[488]</a></span>
+of his divine Master, he would pause in solemn silence,
+and lifting up his hands and his voice to heaven, and
+carrying the hearts of his audience with him, invoke
+aloud the descending and all-consuming fire. The
+present God was acknowledged and felt. The word
+came "in demonstration of the Spirit and of power."
+And while the habitual aim of his preaching was to
+exalt "Christ Jesus the Lord," and while he reasoned,
+and opened the Scriptures, and taught and alarmed
+or invited his hearers, in the most touching strains of
+urgent remonstrance and tender entreaty, to accept
+now "the great salvation," the inward state of his soul
+was that of entire reliance on the presence and co&#246;peration
+of the Holy Spirit of God. To him were
+sent up his most intense aspirations. In all the records
+of his success, to that Spirit the honor is always
+ascribed. "Not I, but the grace of God which was
+with me," is the grateful acknowledgment he makes in
+the review of every field occupied and every triumph
+won. And thus it was that the fabric of his ministry,
+and of all his ministrations, in the multitudinous labors
+which he directed against the kingdom of darkness
+and of Satan in his day, was like the mystic
+vision which Ezekiel saw, <em>instinct with life</em>. The spirit
+of the living creatures was in the wheels. "When
+this went, those went; when this stood, those stood;
+when this was lifted up from the earth, those were
+lifted up." It was all life. A living preacher; a living
+theme; a living power, giving life, and spreading
+it all around. Therefore it was that life followed in
+the region of death, and at his coming the desert rejoiced,
+and the wilderness blossomed as the rose.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_489" id="Page_489">[489]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<span class="i0">"Dry bones were raised, and clothed afresh,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And hearts of stone were turned to flesh."<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<p>By preaching such as we have now attempted to
+describe, thousands and tens of thousands were gathered
+to Christ. "An exceeding great army" stood up.
+Slumbering churches were awakened, religion was
+revived, and "righteousness and praise" were caused
+to "spring forth before all the nations." And as this
+apostolic man surveyed the amazing scene, and glanced
+at the wide circumference of his labors, in the British
+Isles and in the New World, he might have exclaimed,
+as one before him had done, "Now thanks be unto
+God, who always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and
+maketh manifest the savor of his name by us in every
+place." "Through mighty signs and wonders, <em>by the
+power of the Spirit of God</em>, from Jerusalem round
+about to Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel
+of Christ." "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of
+Christ: for it is the power of God to salvation; to the
+Jew first, and also to the Greek." Who, in the remembrance
+of Whitefield and his times, will not long for
+their return, and exclaim, "Awake, awake; put on
+strength, O arm of the Lord; awake, as in the ancient
+days." "O that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that
+thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might
+flow down at thy presence, as when the melting fire
+burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make
+thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations
+may tremble at thy presence!" Spirit of the living
+God, descend and replenish with thy power all our
+souls, our ministry, our temples, our land.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_490" id="Page_490">[490]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>In estimating the character of Whitefield, it should
+be observed that <em>he dealt with his hearers, individually
+and collectively, as immortal beings</em>. To use the language
+of Isaac Taylor, "he held <small>MAN</small> as if in the abstract,
+or as if whatever is not common to all men
+were forgotten. The most extreme diversities, intellectual
+and moral, differences of rank, culture, national
+modes of thought, all gave way and ceased to be
+thought of; distinctions were swept from the ground
+where he took his position. At the first opening of
+his lips, and as the rich harmony of his voice spread
+its undulations over the expanse of human faces, and
+at the instant when the sparkle of his bright eye
+caught every other eye, human nature, in a manner,
+dropped its individuality, and presented itself in its
+very elements to be moulded anew. Whitefield,
+although singularly gifted with a perception of the
+varieties of character, yet spoke as if he could know
+nothing of the thousands before him but their immortality
+and their misery; and so it was that these
+thousands listened to him.</p>
+
+<p>"No preacher whose history is on record, has trod
+so wide a field as did Whitefield, or has retrod it so
+often, or has repeated himself so much, or has carried
+so far the experiment of exhausting himself, and of
+spending his popularity, if it could have been spent,
+but it never was spent. Within the compass of a few
+weeks he might have been heard addressing the negroes
+of the Bermuda islands, adapting himself to
+their infantile understandings, and to their debauched
+hearts; and then at Chelsea, with the aristocracy of
+rank and wit before him, approving himself to listeners<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_491" id="Page_491">[491]</a></span>
+such as the lords Bolingbroke and Chesterfield.
+Whitefield might as easily have produced a Hamlet
+or a Paradise Lost, as have excogitated a sermon
+which, as a composition, a product of thought, would
+have tempted men like these to hear him a second
+time; and as to his faculty and graces as a speaker,
+his elocution and action, a second performance would
+have contented them. But in fact Bolingbroke, and
+many of his class, thought not the hour long, time
+after time, while, with much sameness of <em>material</em> and
+of language, he spoke of eternity and of salvation in
+Christ.... Floods of tears moistened cheeks rough
+and smooth; and sighs, suppressed or loudly uttered,
+gave evidence that human nature is one and the same
+when it comes in presence of truths which bear upon
+the guilty and the immortal without distinction."</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<p>The Rev. Dr. James Hamilton of London has admirably
+delineated Whitefield, in a passage which must
+be admired by all who read it: "Whitefield was the
+prince of English preachers. Many have surpassed
+him as sermon-makers, but none have approached him
+as a pulpit orator. Many have outshone him in the
+clearness of their logic, the grandeur of their conceptions,
+and the sparkling beauty of single sentences;
+but in the power of darting the gospel direct into the
+conscience, he eclipsed them all. With a full and
+beaming countenance, and the frank and easy port
+which the English people love&mdash;for it is the symbol
+of honest purpose and friendly assurance&mdash;he combined
+a voice of rich compass, which could easily thrill
+over Moorfields in musical thunder, or whisper its terrible<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_492" id="Page_492">[492]</a></span>
+secret in every private ear; and to this gainly
+aspect and tuneful voice he added a most expressive
+and eloquent action. Improved by conscientious practice,
+and instinct with his earnest nature, this elocution
+was the acted sermon, and by its pantomimic
+portrait enabled the eye to anticipate each rapid
+utterance, and helped the memory to treasure up the
+palatable ideas. None ever used so boldly, nor with
+more success, the highest styles of impersonation: as
+when he described to his sailor-auditors a storm at
+sea, and compelled them to shout, 'Take to the longboat,
+sir!' His 'hark, hark!' could conjure up Gethsemane
+with its faltering moon, and awake again the
+cry of horror-stricken innocence; and an apostrophe
+to Peter on the holy mount would light up another
+Tabor, and drown it in glory from the opening heaven.
+His thoughts were possessions, and his feelings
+were transformations; and he spoke because he felt,
+his hearers understood because they saw. They were
+not only enthusiastic amateurs, like Garrick, who ran
+to weep and tremble at his bursts of passion, but even
+the colder critics of the Walpole school were surprised
+into momentary sympathy and reluctant wonder.
+Lord Chesterfield was listening in Lady Huntingdon's
+pew when Whitefield was comparing the benighted
+sinner to a blind beggar on a dangerous road. His
+little dog gets away from him when skirting the edge
+of a precipice, and he is left to explore the path with
+his iron-shod staff. On the very verge of the cliff this
+blind guide slips through his fingers and skims away
+down the abyss. All unconscious, the owner stoops
+down to regain it, and stumbling forward&mdash;'Good<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_493" id="Page_493">[493]</a></span>
+God, he is gone!' shouted Chesterfield, who had been
+watching with breathless alarm the blind man's movements,
+and who jumped from his feet to save the catastrophe.</p>
+
+<p>"But the glory of Whitefield's preaching was his
+heart-kindled and heart-melting gospel. But for
+this, all his bold strokes and brilliant surprises might
+have been no better than the rhetorical triumphs of
+Kirwan and other pulpit dramatists. He was an orator,
+but he only sought to be an evangelist. Like a
+volcano where gold and gems may be darted forth as
+well as common things, but where gold and molten
+granite flow all alike in fiery fusion, bright thoughts
+and splendid images might be projected from his pulpit,
+but all were merged in the stream which bore
+along the gospel and himself in blended fervor. Indeed,
+so simple was his nature, that glory to God and
+good will to man had filled it; there was room for little
+more. Having no church to found, no family to
+enrich, and no memory to immortalize, he was simply
+the ambassador of God; and inspired with its genial
+piteous spirit&mdash;so full of heaven reconciled and humanity
+restored&mdash;he soon himself became a living
+gospel. Radiant with its benignity, and trembling
+with its tenderness, by a sort of spiritual induction a
+vast audience would speedily be brought into a frame
+of mind&mdash;the transfusing of his own; and the white
+furrows on their sooty faces told that Kingswood colliers
+were weeping, or the quivering of an ostrich
+plume bespoke its elegant wearer's deep emotion.
+And coming to his pulpit direct from communion with
+his Master, and in the strength of accepted prayer,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_494" id="Page_494">[494]</a></span>
+there was an elevation in his mien which often paralyzed
+hostility, and a self-possession which made him
+amid uproar and confusion the more sublime. With
+an electric bolt he would bring the jester in his fool's
+cap from his perch on the tree, or galvanize the brickbat
+from the skulking miscreant's grasp, or sweep
+down in crouching submission and shamefaced silence
+the whole of Bartholomew fair; while a revealing
+flash of sententious doctrine, of vivified Scripture,
+would disclose to awe-struck hundreds the forgotten
+verities of another world, or the unsuspected arcana
+of their inner man. 'I came to break your head, but,
+through you, God has broken my heart,' was a sort
+of confession with which he was familiar; and to see
+the deaf old gentlewoman who used to mutter imprecations
+at him as he passed along the streets, clambering
+up the pulpit stairs to catch his angelic words,
+was a sort of spectacle which the triumphant gospel
+often witnessed in his day. And when it is known
+that his voice could be heard by twenty thousand, and
+that ranging all the empire, as well as America, he
+would often preach thrice on a working-day, and that
+he has received in one week as many as a thousand
+letters from persons awakened by his sermons, if no
+estimate can be formed of the results of his ministry,
+some idea may be suggested of its vast extent and
+singular effectiveness."</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<p>Very admirably has a writer in the North British
+Review compared and contrasted Whitefield and Wesley.
+He says, "Few characters could be more completely
+the converse, and in the church's exigencies,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_495" id="Page_495">[495]</a></span>
+more happily the supplement of one another, than
+were those of George Whitefield and John Wesley;
+and had their views been identical, and their labors
+all along coincident, their large services to the gospel
+might have repeated Paul and Barnabas. Whitefield
+was soul, and Wesley was system. Whitefield was a
+summer cloud which burst at morning or noon a fragrant
+exhalation over an ample track, and took the
+rest of the day to gather again; Wesley was the polished
+conduit in the midst of the garden, through
+which the living water glided in pearly brightness
+and perennial music, the same vivid stream from day
+to day. After a preaching paroxysm, Whitefield lay
+panting on his couch, spent, breathless, and deathlike;
+after his morning sermon in the foundry, Wesley
+would mount his pony, and trot and chat, and gather
+simples, till he reached some country hamlet, where
+he would bait his charger, and talk through a little
+sermon with the villagers, and remount his pony and
+trot away again. In his a&#235;rial poise, Whitefield's
+eagle eye drank lustre from the source of light, and
+loved to look down on men in assembled myriads;
+Wesley's falcon glance did not sweep so far, but it
+searched more keenly and marked more minutely
+where it pierced. A master of assemblies, Whitefield
+was no match for the isolated man. Seldom coping
+with the multitude, but strong in astute sagacity and
+personal ascendency, Wesley could conquer any number
+one by one. All force and impetus, Whitefield
+was the powder-blast in the quarry, and by one explosive
+sermon would shake a district, and detach materials
+for other men's long work&mdash;deft, neat, and painstaking,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_496" id="Page_496">[496]</a></span>
+Wesley loved to split and trim each fragment
+into uniform plinths and polished stones. Or, taken
+otherwise, Whitefield was the bargeman or the wagoner
+who brought the timber of the house, and Wesley
+was the architect who set it up. Whitefield had no
+patience for ecclesiastical polity, no aptitude for pastoral
+details&mdash;with a beaver-like propensity for building,
+Wesley was always constructing societies, and
+with a king-like craft of ruling, was most at home
+when presiding over a class or a conference. It was
+their infelicity that they did not always work together&mdash;it
+was the happiness of the age, and the furtherance
+of the gospel, that they lived alongside of one
+another."</p>
+
+
+<p class="center">CENTENNIAL COMMEMORATIONS.</p>
+
+<p>When a century had elapsed from the commencement
+of Whitefield's public labors, it was deemed desirable
+by many in England to hold public services
+of a devotional and practical character, in celebration
+of the event. Especially was it designed that such
+celebrations should have a reference, as far as possible,
+to advance open-air preaching. The first services of
+this character were very properly held in the Tabernacle,
+London, on May 21, 1839, and well do we
+remember with what intense interest, in common with
+thousands, we attended them. Ministers and laymen
+of at least four religious denominations assisted in
+them, and eloquently discoursed on subjects illustrating
+the grace of God in connection with Whitefield,
+but still more intent were they on benefiting the present<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_497" id="Page_497">[497]</a></span>
+and future generations of men. Dr. Campbell
+delivered a sermon on the character and labors of
+Apollos, illustrated by those of Whitefield; the late
+Dr. Cox discoursed on the genius and labors of Whitefield;
+the late Rev. John Blackburn described the past
+and present state of religion in England; and the Rev.
+John Young, LL. D., urged the propriety, duty, and
+necessity of open-air preaching. In addition to these
+sermons, several admirable speeches were made, and
+every thing was marked by a spirit of earnest devotion.
+A small volume, containing the sermons and
+speeches, was printed, and put into extensive circulation.</p>
+
+<p>About the same time, a number of ministers of the
+Congregational order met in a central town of Gloucestershire,
+when one of them suggested, that "as the
+present year was the centenary of the Rev. George
+Whitefield's labors in reviving the apostolic practice
+of open-air preaching, it might be desirable to commemorate
+them by a special religious open-air celebration.
+It was further remarked, that Whitefield was
+a native of Gloucester; that as many ministers present
+presided over churches instituted by his ministry;
+that as Stinchcombe hill, in the very centre of the
+county, presented a most beautiful and eligible spot
+for a public meeting; and as upon its summit, a century
+ago, Whitefield himself had preached and showed
+the glad tidings of the kingdom of God, it seemed a
+duty to improve the opportunity it offered of addressing,
+on the gracious persuasives of the cross, a large
+concourse of persons, many of whom might never hear
+the gospel, and of promoting in the county the revival<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_498" id="Page_498">[498]</a></span>
+of evangelical religion, which God so highly honored
+his devoted servant in commencing in our land."</p>
+
+<p>The suggestion was most cordially received, arrangements
+were made, and, July 30, 1839, though the
+weather was unfavorable, the meeting was attended
+by at least seven thousand persons. A large preaching
+stand was erected for the ministers, nearly one
+hundred of whom were present. Sermons were
+preached by the Rev. Drs. Matheson and Ross, and by
+the Rev. Messrs. T. East, J. H. Hinton, and J. Sibree;
+and addresses were given, and the devotional exercises
+led by many others. The services were solemnly impressive.
+The late Josiah Conder, Esq., wrote two
+hymns especially for the occasion, which are well
+worthy of preservation; we therefore transfer them
+to our pages.</p>
+
+<p class="center">I.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">How sweet from crowded throngs,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Zion, ascend thy songs,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With choral swells through echoing aisles!<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Where brethren, brethren meet,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">These songs rise doubly sweet,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">From humbler rooms or loftier piles.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">But here, not made with hands,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">A nobler temple stands;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Here, 'mid thy works, O God, we bow,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Where all around, above,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Proclaims thy power and love;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Oh, tune our hearts to praise thee now.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">We bless thy gracious care,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">For many a house of prayer,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Where saints may meet with conscience free,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To keep thy simple rites,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">In which thy church delights,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And unforbidden, wait on thee.<br /></span><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_499" id="Page_499">[499]</a></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">But now, beneath the sky,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">We raise our songs on high,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To Him who gave all nature birth;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">While the free air wafts round<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To distant vales the sound&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Praise to the Lord of heaven and earth.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">So to the mountain air<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The Saviour breathed his prayer;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">So 'mid green hills or deserts rude,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The poor he meekly taught,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And gracious wonders wrought,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Or fed the famished multitude.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">So did apostles teach;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">So did our Whitefield preach;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">These hills have heard his fervent prayer:<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Oh, let the saving word<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Throughout our land be heard,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Free as the light, and open as the air.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<p class="center">II.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Where is the voice of Whitefield now?<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Where does his mantle rest?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Oh, for Elisha's from the plough,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">With kindred zeal possessed!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Apostles of heroic mould,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">With love seraphic fired,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Divinely called, like those of old<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">At Pentecost inspired!<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Oh <span class="smcap">Thou</span>, our Head, enthroned on high,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">By whom thy members live,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Wilt thou not hear our fervent cry,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The holy unction give?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In all the plenitude of grace<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Thy gifts of might bestow;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And by us, Lord, in every place,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Thy saving virtue show.<br /></span><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_500" id="Page_500">[500]</a></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">This Christian land with error teems,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The blind by blinder led;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The sophist weaves his Atheist schemes;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Wide has the poison spread.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Arise, O Lord, send forth thy word;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Thy faithful heralds call;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And while the gospel trump is heard,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Let Satan's bulwarks fall.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Free, pure, and vital as the light,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><span class="smcap">God's</span> message to our race;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Like genial gales the <span class="smcap">Spirit's</span> might,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Sovereign, mysterious grace.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Breathe forth, O wind, and to new birth<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Quicken the bones of death;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Regenerate this withered earth;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Give to the dying breath.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>It is pleasant to add to this account, that satisfactory
+evidences were given that some, during these services,
+were brought to the saving knowledge of "the
+truth as in Jesus." And it may be mentioned as a
+singular circumstance, that an old man one hundred
+and three years of age attended on this occasion,
+who had been carried in his mother's arms to this
+same spot to hear Whitefield preach just a century
+before.</p>
+
+<p>The last centenary service to which we shall make
+reference, is the one held at the <em>Bristol</em> Tabernacle,
+November 25, 1853. The sermon on <cite>The Character
+of Whitefield</cite>, by the Rev. John Angell James, was
+from the text, "This one thing I do." Phil. 3:13.
+In it he said:</p>
+
+<p>"We hear much in our days about the adaptation
+of the gospel to the age. There is no word I more
+hate or love, dread or desire, according to the sense<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_501" id="Page_501">[501]</a></span>
+in, or the purpose for which it is used, than this word
+<em>adaptation</em> as applied to preaching. Now, if by adaptation
+be meant, more philosophy, and less Christianity;
+more of cold abstract intellectualism, and less of
+popular, simple, earnest statement of gospel truth;
+more profound discussion and artificial elaboration
+addressed to the learned few, and less of warm-hearted
+appeal to the multitude, may God preserve
+us from such adaptation, for it is high-treason
+against truth and the salvation of souls. But if by
+this be meant a stronger intelligence, a chaster composition,
+a sterner logic, a more powerful rhetoric, a
+more correct criticism, and a more varied illustration,
+but all employed to set forth the gospel as comprehending
+those two great words, <em>redemption and
+regeneration</em>, let us have it; we need it; and come in
+ever such abundance, it will be a blessing.</p>
+
+<p>"Adaptation! the gospel is adaptation, from beginning
+to end, to every age of time, and to all conditions
+of humanity. It is God's own adaptation. It
+is he who knows every ward of the lock of man's
+nature, who has constructed this admirable key; and
+all the miserable tinkering of a vain and deceitful
+philosophy can make no better key, nor can all the
+attempts of a philosophizing theology make this key
+better fit the wards of the lock.</p>
+
+<p>"Adaptation! was not the gospel in all its purity
+and simplicity adapted to human nature as it existed
+in commercial, scholastic, philosophical Corinth?
+And did not Paul think so when he determined to
+know nothing there, but 'Christ, and him crucified?'
+Was it not by this very gospel, which many<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_502" id="Page_502">[502]</a></span>
+are "beginning to imagine is not suited to an intellectual
+and philosophical age, that Christianity fought its
+first battles, and achieved its victories over the hosts
+of darkness? Against the axe, the stake, the sword
+of the gladiator, and the lions of the amphitheatre;
+against the ridicule of wits, the reasoning of sages,
+the interests, influence, and craft of the priesthood;
+against the prowess of armies, and the brute passions
+of the mob, Christianity, strong in its weakness, sublime
+in its simplicity, potent in its isolation, asking
+and receiving no protection from the sceptre of the
+monarch or the sword of the warrior, went forth to do
+battle with the wisdom of Greece and the mythology
+of Rome. Everywhere it prevailed, and gathered its
+laurels from the snows of Scythia, the sands of Africa,
+the plains of India, and the green fields of Europe.
+With the gospel alone she overturned the altars of
+impiety in her march. Power felt his arm wither at
+her glance. She silenced the lying oracles by the
+majesty of her voice, and extinguished the deceptive
+light of philosophy in the schools, till at length she
+who went forth forlorn and weeping from Calvary
+to the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, ascended, upon
+the ruins of the temples, the idols, and the altars she
+had demolished, to the throne of the C&#230;sars, and with
+the diadem on her brow, and the purple on her shoulders,
+gave laws to the world from that very tribunal
+where she had been dragged as a criminal and condemned
+as a malefactor.<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p>
+
+<p>"Adaptation! is not justification by faith the
+very substance of the gospel, and was it not by this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_503" id="Page_503">[503]</a></span>
+doctrine that Luther effected the enfranchisement of
+the human intellect, from the chains of slavery which
+had been forged in the Vatican; achieved the liberation
+of half Europe from the yoke of Rome, and gave
+an impulse to human thought and vital Christianity
+which has not yet spent itself, and never will, till it
+issues in the jubilee of the nations and the glories of
+the millennium?</p>
+
+<p>"Adaptation! did not Whitefield move this kingdom
+almost to its centre, and equally so our then
+great transatlantic colony to its extremities, fascinating
+alike the colliers of Kingswood and the citizens
+of the metropolis; and by this mighty theme
+enable myriads to burst the chains of sin and Satan,
+and to walk abroad disenthralled by the mighty
+power of redeeming grace?</p>
+
+<p>"Adaptation! is not this gospel now proving its
+power in heathen countries to raise the savage into
+civilized man, the civilized man into the saint, and in
+this ascending scale of progression, the saint into the
+seraph?</p>
+
+<p>"And yet, with these proofs of the power of the
+gospel to adapt itself to every age of the world, and
+to every condition of humanity, there are those who
+want something else to effect the regeneration of
+mankind. 'And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all
+men unto me.' So said the Saviour of men. The
+cross is the great moral magnet for all ages and all
+countries, to draw men from barbarism to civilization,
+from sin to holiness, from misery to happiness,
+and from earth to heaven; and it were as rational to
+say the loadstone had lost its original power of polar<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_504" id="Page_504">[504]</a></span>
+attraction, and the mariner's compass is an old, stale
+invention, and must now be replaced with some new
+device, better adapted to the modern light of science,
+as to suppose that the doctrine of the cross had become
+effete, and must give way to some new phase of
+theological truth.</p>
+
+<p>"I now consider the <em>manner</em> in which Whitefield
+carried out his own purpose into action. '<em>One thing
+I do</em>:' and <em>how</em> did he accomplish it?</p>
+
+<p>"Never was the joyful sound sent over the world
+by a more magnificent <em>voice</em>. All his biographers
+labor, as do the historians of Greece in describing the
+power of Demosthenes, to make us understand his
+wondrous oratory. Perhaps, after all, that which
+gives us the most vivid idea of it is, not the <em>crowds</em>
+it attracted, moved, and melted, but that it warmed
+the cold and calculating Franklin, and fascinated the
+philosophical and sceptical Hume. Heaven rarely
+ever gave, or gives to man the faculty of speech in
+such perfection. But what is particularly worthy of
+notice is, that he trusted not to its native power, but
+increased that power by assiduous cultivation. His
+matchless elocution was not only an endowment, but
+an acquirement. If he preached a sermon twenty
+times, he went on to the last improving his method of
+delivering it, both as to tones and action; not for
+theatrical display&mdash;no man was ever more free from
+this&mdash;but to carry out his 'one thing'&mdash;<em>the salvation
+of souls</em>. He knew, and deeply and philosophically
+entered into the meaning of that text, 'Faith cometh
+by hearing;' and he also knew that attentive hearing
+comes by the power of speaking. With such a theme<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_505" id="Page_505">[505]</a></span>
+as the gospel, with such an object as salvation, with
+such an aim as eternity, and such a Master to serve
+as Christ, he would not give utterance to such subjects,
+and for such purposes, in careless and slovenly
+speech. He studied to be the orator, that he might
+thus pluck souls as brands from the burning. In this
+let us imitate him. Of all our faculties, that of speech
+is perhaps least cultivated, yet is most susceptible of
+cultivation, and pays best for the pains bestowed upon
+it. My brethren, speech is the great instrument of
+our ministerial labor. Our assault upon the rebel
+town of Mansoul is to be carried on, and our entrance
+to be effected, to use the language of Bunyan, at ear-gate.
+The tongue, rather than the pen, is the weapon
+of most of us. For the love of souls, let us endeavor
+to be good speakers. With the loftiest themes in the
+universe for our subjects, do, do let us endeavor to
+speak of them in some measure worthily. It is an
+instructive and astounding, and to us humiliating and
+disgraceful fact, that the stage-player, whether in
+comedy or in tragedy, takes ten times more pains to
+give effective utterance to his follies, vices, and passions,
+for the amusement of his audience, than we do
+to eternal and momentous truths for the salvation of
+ours. The stage seems the only arena where the
+power of oratory is much studied. Should this be?</p>
+
+<p>"A few characteristics of Whitefield's manner deserve
+emphatic mention and particular attention, as
+connected with the execution of his one great purpose.
+The first I notice is <em>solemnity</em>. He never, as did some
+of his followers, degraded the pulpit by making it the
+arena of low humor and wit; abounding in anecdote,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_506" id="Page_506">[506]</a></span>
+and even in action, he was uniformly solemn. His
+deep devotional spirit contributed largely to this, for
+his piety was the inward fire which supplied the ardor
+of his manner. He was eminently a man of prayer;
+and had he been less prayerful, he would also have
+been less powerful. He came into the pulpit from the
+closet, where he had been communing with God, and
+could no more trifle with merry humor at such a time
+than could Moses when he came down from the mount
+to the people; or than the high-priest when he came
+out from the blazing symbols of the divine presence
+between the cherubim in the holy of holies; or Isaiah
+when he saw the Lord of hosts, high and lifted up,
+with his train filling the temple. Happily the age
+and taste for pulpit buffoonery is gone, I hope never
+to return.</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+''Tis pitiful to count a gain when you should woo a soul.'
+</p>
+
+<p>It was the stamp and impress of eternity upon his
+preaching, that gave Whitefield such power. He spoke
+like a man that stood upon the borders of the unseen
+world, alternately rapt in ecstasy as he gazed upon
+the felicities of heaven, and convulsed with terror as
+he seemed to hear the howlings of the damned, and
+saw the smoke of their torment ascending from the
+pit for ever and ever. His maxim was to preach, as
+Apelles painted, for eternity, and he said, if ministers
+preached for eternity, they would then act the part of
+true Christian orators. And tell me, my brethren,
+what are all the prettinesses, the beauties, or even
+sublimities of human eloquence&mdash;what the similes,
+metaphors, and other garniture of rhetoric&mdash;what the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_507" id="Page_507">[507]</a></span>
+philosophy and intellectualities which many in this
+day are aiming at, to move and bow and conquer
+the human soul, compared with 'the powers of the
+world to come?'</p>
+
+<p>"But there was another characteristic of Whitefield's
+manner, and that was its <em>tenderness</em>. Our Lord,
+as to his humanity, was a man of sorrows, and therefore
+of tears; so was Paul, so was Whitefield. Perhaps
+the latter somewhat too much so, at any rate far
+too much so for any preacher but himself, and with
+him the fountain of his tears was somewhat too full
+and flowing. But Oh, what an apology for this, and
+what a stroke of pathetic eloquence was that appeal
+when on one occasion he said, 'You blame me for
+weeping, but how can I help it, when you will not
+weep for yourselves, although your immortal souls
+are on the verge of destruction, and for aught I know
+you are hearing your last sermon, and may never more
+have an opportunity to have Christ offered to you.'
+Man is an emotional as well as an intellectual creature,
+and sympathy is one of the powers of our physical
+and mental economy. The passions are of an
+infectious nature, and men feel more in a crowd than
+in solitude. The adage of the ancient elocutionist is
+still true, 'If you wish me to weep, weep yourself.'
+Whitefield's tears drew forth those of his audience,
+and his pathos softened their hearts for the impressions
+of the truth. It is forgotten by many preachers
+that they may do much by the heart, as well as by the
+head. We are not the teachers of logic, mathematics,
+metaphysics, or natural philosophy, which have nothing
+to do with the heart, but of religion, the very seat<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_508" id="Page_508">[508]</a></span>
+of which is there; and <em>we</em> address ourselves not only
+to the logical, but to the &#230;sthetical part of man's
+complex nature. By argument, I know we must convince,
+but we must not stop in the judgment, but go
+on to reach the heart, and we ourselves must feel as
+well as reason. <em>Clear, but cold</em>, is too descriptive of
+much modern preaching. It is the frosty moonlight
+of a winter's night, not the warm sunshine of a summer's
+day. A cold preacher is likely to have cold
+hearers. Cold! What, when the love of God, the
+death of Christ, the salvation of souls, the felicities
+of heaven, and the torments of hell are the theme?
+Enthusiasm here is venial, compared with lukewarmness.</p>
+
+<p>"Need I say that <em>earnestness</em> was characteristic of
+Whitefield's preaching? Yes, that one word, perhaps,
+more than any other in our language, is its epitome.
+An intense earnestness marked its whole career, and
+was carried to such a pitch as to subject him, as did
+that of Paul, to the imputation of madness. The salvation
+of souls was so entirely the one thing that
+engrossed his soul, his time, his labors, that not a step
+deviated from it. Every moment, every day, was an
+approximation to it. His devotions, his recreations,
+if any such he had, his journeys, his voyages, his sermons,
+his correspondence, were all referred to this
+one end. His exertions never relaxed for a moment,
+and he, with his great compeer Wesley, made the
+trial so seldom made, what is the utmost effect which,
+in the way of saving souls, may be granted to any one
+preacher of the gospel in any age or country.</p>
+
+<p>"What may not be done, and is not done by earnestness?<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_509" id="Page_509">[509]</a></span>
+It gives <em>some</em> success to any error, however
+absurd or enormous, and to any scheme of wickedness,
+however flagrant and atrocious. What is it
+that has given such success to popery, to infidelity, to
+Mormonism? <em>Earnestness.</em> And shall the apostles
+and advocates of error be more in earnest than the
+friends of truth? Whitefield often quoted Betterton
+the player, who affirmed that the stage would soon be
+deserted if the actors spoke like the preachers. And
+what <em>would</em> empty the play-house, that is, dulness and
+coldness, <em>does</em> often empty the meeting-house. 'Mr.
+Betterton's answer to a worthy prelate,' says Whitefield,
+'is worthy of lasting regard.' When asked how
+it is that the clergy, who speak of things <em>real</em>, affected
+the people so little, and the players, who speak only
+of things imaginary, affected them so much, replied
+'My lord, I can assign but one reason&mdash;we players
+speak of things imaginary as though they were real,
+and too many of the clergy speak of things real as
+though they were imaginary.' It is not always so.
+Many a preacher, even in our own day, by the unaffected
+earnestness of his manner, carries away his
+audience upon the tide of his own feeling. They hear
+what he says, they see what he feels, his eye helps his
+tongue, the workings of his countenance disclose the
+feelings of his heart; his manner is a lucid comment
+upon his matter, breaks down the limits which words
+impose upon the communication of ideas, and gives
+them not only an apprehension of the meaning, but a
+sense of the importance of his subject, which unimpassioned
+language and manner could not have done.</p>
+
+<p>"I name but one thing more as characteristic of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_510" id="Page_510">[510]</a></span>
+this great man, and which it would be well for us to
+imitate, and that is, his <em>dauntless courage</em>. See him not
+only facing mobs, defying threats, and even lifting up
+his pulpit amid the wild uproar of a London fair, the
+boldest achievement that a speaker ever accomplished,
+but holding on his noble career unterrified, and working
+amid the storm of obloquy that came upon him
+from so many quarters. Who that has ever read, can
+ever forget Cowper's exquisite description of him?</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<span class="i0">"'<span class="smcap">Leuconomus</span>&mdash;beneath well-sounding Greek<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">I show a name a poet must not speak&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Stood pilloried on infamy's high stage,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And bore the pelting storm of half an age,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The very butt of slander, and the blot<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">For every dart that malice ever shot.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The man that mentioned him at once dismissed<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">All mercy from his lips, and sneered and hissed.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">His crimes were such as Sodom never knew,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And perjury stood up to swear all true;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">His aim was mischief, and his zeal pretence,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">His speech rebellion against common-sense:<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">A knave when tried on honesty's plain rule,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And when by that of reason, a mere fool.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The world's best comfort was, his doom was passed,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Die when he might, he must be damned at last.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Now truth, perform thine office, waft aside<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The curtain drawn by prejudice and pride,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Reveal&mdash;the man is dead&mdash;to wondering eyes,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">This more than monster, in his proper guise.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">He loved the world that hated him; the tear<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">That dropped upon his Bible was sincere:<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Assailed by scandal and the tongue of strife,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">His only answer was&mdash;a blameless life;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And he that forged, and he that threw the dart,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Had each a brother's interest in his heart.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Paul's love of Christ, and steadiness unbribed,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Were copied close in him, and well transcribed.<br /></span><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_511" id="Page_511">[511]</a></span>
+<span class="i1">He followed Paul&mdash;his zeal a kindred flame,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">His apostolic charity the same.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Like him, crossed cheerfully tempestuous seas,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Forsaking country, kindred, friends, and ease.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Like him he labored, and like him, content<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To bear it, suffered shame where'er he went.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Blush, calumny! and write upon his tomb,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">If honest eulogy can spare the room,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Thy deep repentance of thy thousand lies,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Which, aimed at him, have pierced the offended skies;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And say, Blot out my sin, confessed, deplored,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Against thine image, in thy saint, O Lord.'<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<p>"What but a guilty cowardice is it, a false and
+pusillanimous shame, that keeps us in these days from
+some novel and bolder method of aggression upon the
+domain of darkness? Are we not wanting here in
+that moral courage which would make us, when conscious
+of doing right, indifferent to the stare of the
+ignorant, and the wonder of the timid; to the shaft
+of ridicule, and the malignant censure of the cynic?
+How enslaved are we by the fetters of custom, or restrained
+by the trammels of conventiality! How little
+are we disposed to go out of the usual track, even
+in saving souls! Very few are disposed to imitate
+the boldness, ingenuity, and novelty of that noble-hearted
+brother,<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> who hired a disengaged theatre in
+the city where he dwelt, and for four months preached
+there to listening and well-behaved crowds, the gospel
+of salvation; and for his reward had very many given
+to him, who are his joy now, and will be his crown of
+rejoicing in the presence of Christ at his coming.
+Who can see Paul on Mars-Hill, addressing himself<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_512" id="Page_512">[512]</a></span>
+to the sages and their followers of all sects, and
+preaching to them a doctrine so repugnant to the
+mythology of the temple and the philosophy of the
+schools, as Christ, the last judgment, and the resurrection
+of the body, without being impressed with the
+moral courage of such an act? It is this spiritual
+heroism that is wanted in our modern preaching, and
+indeed, which was no less needful when the Methodistic
+company commenced their preaching.</p>
+
+<p>"Nor is it only in this unwillingness to go off from
+our own ground for saving souls that our guilty cowardice
+is seen, but in the disposition to shirk the more
+solemn and searching truths of revelation. Are we
+not giving way too much to the fastidiousness of
+modern taste and refinement, which is craving after
+smooth things; which desires the sentimental, the
+picturesque, the imaginative, but turns with disgust
+from the solemn, the alarming, the awakening? Are
+we not too gentle and courteous to mention such a
+word as 'hell' to modern ears polite? Are we not
+too fearful to break in with the thunders of a violated
+law upon those who are at ease in Zion? I do not
+ask for a gross, revolting method of describing the
+punishment of the wicked, as if the preacher delighted
+in harrowing up the feelings of his audience. This is
+as disgusting as if, in order to keep men from crime,
+our judges and magistrates were ever and anon giving
+a minute detail of the process of an execution, and the
+convulsive pangs of an expiring wretch suspended to
+the beam of the gibbet. We ask not for a harsh,
+scolding, and denunciating style of preaching; but
+we do want more of the unflinching boldness, and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_513" id="Page_513">[513]</a></span>
+dauntless courage, which, are necessary to fidelity,
+and absolutely essential to him who would win souls
+to Christ. It is too generally forgotten, that our
+Lord Jesus, who was incarnate love, was the most
+solemn and awful of all preachers. He whose gentle
+spirit so often breathed out itself in invitation, and
+whose compassion melted into tears, at other times
+robed himself in terror, and uttered the most alarming
+peals of divine indignation. What we need for
+our ministry is this mixture of tenderness and solemnity,
+which entered so deeply into the ministry of
+Christ, and was so characteristic of his servant, whose
+labors we this day commemorate and commend."</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<p>Hear also the Rev. John Glanville, the present
+successor of Whitefield in the Tabernacle at Bristol:
+"And such preaching <em>must continue</em>, if the world is to
+be saved. Nothing but this is suited to man's necessities;
+nothing else can meet man's miseries. The
+battle must be fought with the old, well-tried, but not
+worn-out weapons. God has provided them, and we
+must use them. We require nothing else; the world
+has not outgrown the old gospel, so as to need something
+new to soothe its sorrows and satisfy its wants.</p>
+
+<p>"Not that ministers can now produce the effect
+Whitefield did. He was a man standing alone. The
+charm and power of his preaching have never been
+explained. It was all fire and flame, shooting out
+red-hot thunderbolts against the citadels of sin. It
+was an undivided soul, solemnly consecrated to one
+object&mdash;an entire life, zealously employed in one thing.
+As he preached, every feature spoke, the whole man<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_514" id="Page_514">[514]</a></span>
+became vocal, and the truth of God stood out in its full
+proportions and beauty, in the bright and broad daylight
+of heaven. So unreserved was his self-consecration,
+that every thing was deemed impertinent which
+obtruded upon, or interfered with the one great end
+of his existence. He lived in communion with God&mdash;more
+in heaven than on earth. He was much at the
+foot of the throne, and got his strength there; he
+prevailed with men, because he had prevailed with
+God. His whole soul was filled with life, and fired
+with love, from being in habitual contact with the
+cross.</p>
+
+<p>"And <em>we</em> must pursue the same course, and try to
+do the same thing. We have the power, and we must
+bring it forth and use it. God has given the machinery,
+and it is for us to set it in motion. The world
+is perishing, and we must save it; it is dying, and we
+must give it life. God from his eternal throne calls
+us&mdash;Christ from his bleeding cross speaks to us&mdash;voices
+from the abodes of sin, and the regions of despair,
+sound in our ears. And we all, as ministers
+and as members, must rise up in the vigor of piety
+and the fervor of prayer. We must rise up from the
+slumbers of selfishness, and tear off the fetters of the
+world, and act as those who believe in the existence
+of an eternal heaven and an eternal hell, and that all
+souls will be found in the one or in the other&mdash;as
+those who have a great work to do, and but a short
+and uncertain time to do it in. Awake, awake, put
+on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake, as in the
+ancient days, in the generations of old."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+<h2>FOOTNOTES:</h2>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Dr. Prince, in a note, here says, "Though people were <em>then</em>,"
+in the time of the earthquake, "generally frightened, and many
+awakened to such a sense of their duty as to offer themselves to our
+communion, yet very few came to me <em>then</em> under deep convictions
+of their unconverted and lost condition, in comparison of what
+came <em>now</em>. Nor did those who came to me <em>then</em>, come so much
+with the inquiry, 'What shall we do to be saved?' as to signify
+they had such a sense of their duty to come to the Lord's table
+that they dare not stay away any longer."</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> The New York Evangelist, in 1830, made the remark, that
+"Whitefield would have lost much of his oratorical influence on his
+hearers, had his speaking eyes been covered with a pair of modern
+spectacles."</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> See Dr. John M. Mason's Funeral Sermon for Mrs. Graham.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> The Rev. Richard Knill of Chester, formerly a missionary in
+India, and afterwards in Russia, since deceased.&mdash;B.</p></div>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="tn"><h3>Transcriber's note:</h3>
+<p>Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. Irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have been retained as printed.</p>
+
+<p>Missing page numbers are page numbers that were not shown in the original text.</p>
+
+<p>Mismatched quotes are not fixed if it's not sufficiently clear where the missing quote should be placed.</p>
+
+<p>The cover for the eBook version of this book was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of George Whitefield, by Joseph Belcher
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of George Whitefield, by Joseph Belcher
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: George Whitefield
+       A Biography, with special reference to his labors in America
+
+Author: Joseph Belcher
+
+Release Date: November 9, 2013 [EBook #44140]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GEORGE WHITEFIELD ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Heather Clark, Julia Neufeld, Illustration
+images from TIA and the Online Distributed Proofreading
+Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from
+scanned images of public domain material from the Google
+Print project.)
+
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's note:
+
+Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).
+
+Small capital text has been replaced with all capitals.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Illustration: titlepage]
+
+[Illustration: George Whitefield. (handwritten signature)]
+
+
+
+
+  GEORGE WHITEFIELD:
+
+  A BIOGRAPHY,
+
+  WITH
+
+  SPECIAL REFERENCE TO HIS LABORS
+  IN AMERICA.
+
+  COMPILED
+  BY JOSEPH BELCHER, D. D.,
+
+  AUTHOR OF THE LIFE OF REV. DR. CAREY, MISSIONARY TO INDIA,
+  ETC., ETC.
+
+  PUBLISHED BY THE
+  AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY,
+  150 NASSAU-STREET, NEW YORK.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+  CHAPTER I.
+
+  MORAL STATE OF GREAT BRITAIN IN THE EARLY
+  PART OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY--WHITEFIELD,
+  FROM HIS BIRTH TO HIS FIRST SERMON.
+
+  1714-1736.
+
+  Low state of religion in Great Britain and its dependencies
+  when Whitefield appeared--His birth in Gloucester--Hooper--
+  Raikes--Whitefield's early life--His entrance at the
+  university of Oxford--Becomes connected with the Wesleys
+  and other Methodists--Illness and mental trials--Relief--
+  Preparation for the ministry--Return to Gloucester--
+  Ordination--First sermon                                       13
+
+
+  CHAPTER II.
+
+  WHITEFIELD'S SUCCESS AS A PREACHER IN ENGLAND--FIRST
+  VISIT TO AMERICA.
+
+  1736-1738.
+
+  Whitefield's return to Oxford--Usefulness there--Visits
+  London--Great popularity--Georgia--His anxiety as to duty--
+  Invited to Georgia by the Wesleys--Preparation and
+  departure--Preaching and excitement at Deal--Labors and
+  success on board--Arrival and labors at Gibraltar--
+  Interesting incidents on the voyage--Sickness and recovery--
+  His reception at Savannah--Visit to an Indian king--Origin
+  of the Orphan asylum--Visit to Frederica--Return to
+  Savannah--Visit to Charleston--Treatment by Garden--
+  Embarkation for Europe--Stormy voyage--Arrival in Limerick--
+  Journey to London--Meeting with the trustees of Georgia--
+  Ordination as priest--Return to London--First extempore
+  prayer--First idea of open-air preaching                       40
+
+
+  CHAPTER III.
+
+  OPEN-AIR PREACHING IN ENGLAND AND WALES--ERECTION
+  OF THE TABERNACLE IN LONDON.
+
+  1738, 1739.
+
+  Whitefield's visit to Bristol--New opposition--Interviews
+  with the chancellor of the diocese--Preaching at Kingswood--
+  Large congregations--Preaching at Bristol--Labors in Wales
+  with Howel Harris--Gloucester--Old Mr. Cole--Return to
+  London--Conflict with Bishop Warburton and others--
+  Moorfields--Kennington Common--Blackheath--Anecdotes--
+  Erection of the Tabernacle--New Tabernacle--Certificate--
+  Visit to Norwich--Conversion of Robert Robinson--Preaching
+  at the West End of London--Liberality of Whitefield's
+  congregations--Attendance of the nobility on Whitefield's
+  ministry--Architecture of Tabernacle and Tottenham Court
+  road chapel                                                    71
+
+
+  CHAPTER IV.
+
+  WHITEFIELD'S SECOND VISIT TO AMERICA.
+
+  1739, 1740.
+
+  Joseph Periam's release by Whitefield from Bedlam--
+  Whitefield's arrival at Philadelphia--Preaches to vast
+  crowds in the open air--Testimony of Dr. Franklin and
+  others--Account of the Log College--William Tennent, Sen.--
+  Whitefield's own account of his preaching at Philadelphia--
+  Subsequent discovery of the conversion of Dr. Rodgers--
+  Whitefield's first visit to New York--Description of him by
+  one of his hearers--Sermons in New Jersey--Old Tennent
+  church--Places of preaching at New York--Address to sailors--
+  Letter to Pemberton--Interview with Gilbert Tennent--Some of
+  Whitefield's sermons printed--Departure from Philadelphia--
+  Sermons on his journey to Savannah--Arrival and reception at
+  Charleston--Departure for Savannah--Dangers of the way--State
+  of things in Georgia--Whitefield revisits Charleston--
+  Controversy with Commissary Garden--Lays the foundation-stone
+  of the Orphan house--Sermon by Smith on the character of
+  Whitefield                                                     97
+
+
+  CHAPTER V.
+
+  CONTINUATION OF HIS SECOND VISIT TO AMERICA.
+
+  1740.
+
+  Feebleness of Whitefield's health--Again visits Charleston,
+  Philadelphia, etc.--Extent of his former success--Extracts
+  from Seward's journal--Extracts from newspapers--Whitefield's
+  letter to England--His correspondence on marriage--Birth and
+  death of his son--His funeral sermon for his wife--Franklin
+  and others on Whitefield's eloquence--Anecdote--Extract from
+  the New England Weekly Journal--Return to Savannah--Manner of
+  his reception--Activity at Savannah--Again visits Charleston--
+  Cited into the Commissary's court--Various examinations--
+  Whitefield's appeal to the Court of Chancery--Interview with
+  the Commissary--Usefulness at Charleston--Sails for New
+  England                                                       129
+
+
+  CHAPTER VI.
+
+  WHITEFIELD'S FIRST VISIT TO NEW ENGLAND.
+
+  SEPTEMBER TO NOVEMBER, 1740.
+
+  State of religion in New England--Testimony of Prince--Dr.
+  I. Mather--Dr. Jonathan Edwards' success--Prevalence of
+  prayer--Whitefield's arrival and labors at Newport--Interview
+  with Clap--Honeyman--Letter from Barber--Journey to Boston--
+  Interview with the Commissary and the clergy--Preaches at
+  Brattle-street, Old South church, New North, Common, Roxbury,
+  Old North, Cambridge, First church--Interview with Governor
+  Belcher--Roxbury--Hollis-street--Old South church--
+  Brattle-street--Marblehead--Salem--Ipswich--Newbury--Hampton--
+  Portsmouth--York--Return to Boston--Frequent preaching--
+  Invitation to children--Interesting conversation with a
+  child--Anecdote of juvenile usefulness--Remarks on an
+  unconverted ministry--Whitefield's character of Boston--
+  Preaches at Concord, Sudbury, Marlborough, Worcester,
+  Leicester, Brookfield, Cold Spring, Hadley, Northampton--
+  Revival there--Whitefield's opinion of Mr. Edwards and
+  family--Important interview--Preaching at East Windsor,
+  Westfield, Springfield, Suffield--Opinion of Mr. and Mrs.
+  Edwards, Sen.--Relinquishment of appointments to preach--
+  Visit to New Haven--Interview with Principal Clap--Departure
+  from New England--Whitefield's character of it--Conversion
+  of Mr. Emerson--Prince's account of Whitefield's visit--Dr.
+  Baron Stow on its results--Anecdote,                          148
+
+
+  CHAPTER VII.
+
+  LABORS IN NEW YORK AND THE MIDDLE AND SOUTHERN
+  STATES.
+
+  1740, 1741.
+
+  Whitefield's arrival and labors at New York, Staten Island,
+  and Newark--Mr. Burr--Meeting with Gilbert Tennent--Visit to
+  Baskinridge--Tennent's preaching in Cross' barn--Whitefield
+  preaches in the new house at Philadelphia--Franklin's advice
+  to Gilbert Tennent--Remarkable instances of conversion--
+  Success in Philadelphia--Apostrophe in a sermon--Visit to
+  Gloucester, Greenwich, Cohansey, Salem, Newcastle, Fagg's
+  Manor, Bohemia--Sails from Reedy island to Charleston--
+  Arrival at Bethesda--Remarkable escape from death--
+  Prosecution at Charleston--Preaching--Letters from Boston--
+  Departure for England--Separation from Messrs. Wesley--
+  Difficulties in London--Triumph--Howel Harris                 196
+
+
+  CHAPTER VIII.
+
+  FIRST AND SECOND VISITS TO SCOTLAND--LABORS
+  IN ENGLAND AND WALES.
+
+  1741-1744.
+
+  Scheme of comprehension--Account of Rev. John Cennick--
+  Voyage to Scotland--Letter to Rodgers--Visit to Erskine--
+  Preaching in Edinburgh--Labors at Glasgow--His sermons
+  printed--Return to England--Letter from McCulloch--Renewed
+  glance at Edinburgh--Public attention deeply riveted--
+  Execution of a convict--Improvement of the event in a
+  sermon--Conversion of a mimic--A drunken sergeant--Miss
+  Hunter--Marquis of Lothian--Conduct of Rev. Mr. Ogilvie--
+  Second visit to Scotland--Cambuslang--Kilmarnock--Glance
+  at subsequent visits--Orphan-house park, Edinburgh--
+  Glasgow--Increasing reputation--Extracts from letters--
+  Anecdotes--Visit to Wales--Letters from America--Visit to
+  Gloucester, Strand, Tewkesbury--Encouraging news from
+  America--Success in London--Awakening at the Tabernacle--
+  Visit to Gloucester and its neighborhood--South Wales--
+  Return to London--Bristol--Exeter--Mr. Saunders--Conversion
+  of Thomas Olivers--Birmingham--Kidderminster--Health--
+  Assizes at Gloucester--Plymouth--Deliverance from
+  assassination--Conversion of Mr. Tanner--Visits to the
+  poor--Anecdote--Embarkation for America                       222
+
+
+  CHAPTER IX.
+
+  WHITEFIELD'S SECOND VISIT TO NEW ENGLAND.
+
+  1744, 1745.
+
+  Incidents of the voyage from England--Prayer heard--General
+  alarm--Whitefield's illness--Arrival at York--Threatening
+  sickness--Rev. Mr. Moody--Preaching at York and Portsmouth--
+  Apparent danger of death--Departure for Boston--Constant
+  preaching there--Chelsea--Malden--Prince's account of his
+  preaching and conduct--Objections made to his administration
+  of the Lord's supper--Changes in New England--Opposition to
+  Whitefield in Connecticut, New Haven, Massachusetts, Harvard
+  College--Large meeting in his favor at Boston--Number of
+  signatures to the testimony--Progress of revival--
+  Proceedings of Harvard College--Whitefield's defence--
+  Subsequent act of the College--Expositions at Boston,
+  Ipswich, Portland, Exeter--Expedition against Cape Breton--
+  Sherburne's request--Sermon to the soldiers--Refusal of
+  chaplaincy--Conversion of a colored trumpeter--Of a noted
+  scoffer--Anecdote of Whitefield and Dr. Hopkins               254
+
+
+  CHAPTER X.
+
+  LABORS IN THE MIDDLE AND SOUTHERN STATES--THE
+  BERMUDAS.
+
+  1745-1748.
+
+  Whitefield's preaching in New York, New Jersey,
+  Philadelphia--Liberal offer declined--Usefulness of his
+  printed sermons in Virginia--Preaches at Hanover--Isaac
+  Oliver--Visit to Bethesda--His account of the Orphan-house--
+  His character as given by the New York Post-boy--Public
+  testimony as to Whitefield's integrity--Preaching tour in
+  Maryland--Visit to Charleston--Success of his preaching in
+  Maryland--Visits New York, Newport, Portsmouth, Boston--
+  Return to Philadelphia--Bohemia--Journey to North Carolina--
+  Embarkation for the Bermudas--His progress and labors--
+  Honored by the governor and others--Usefulness among the
+  negroes--Summary of his proceedings in the Bermudas--
+  Kindness of the people there--Voyage to England--His labors
+  on the voyage--Arrival at Deal                                277
+
+
+  CHAPTER XI.
+
+  LABORS IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND--CHAPLAIN
+  TO LADY HUNTINGDON.
+
+  1748, 1749.
+
+  Triumphs and trials in London--Becomes chaplain to the
+  Countess of Huntingdon--Complimented by the great--
+  Bolingbroke and Rev. Mr. Church--Rev. James Hervey--Honors
+  conferred on Whitefield--Falsehoods of Horace Walpole--
+  Charged with vulgarism--Defence--Third visit to Scotland--
+  Return to London--Visit to the west of England--Conversions
+  in Gloucestershire--Tour in Cornwall--Brilliant assemblies
+  in London--Excursion to Exeter and Plymouth--Rev. Andrew
+  Kinsman--Return to London--Decline of health and visit to
+  Portsmouth and Wales--Arrival of Mrs. Whitefield from the
+  Bermudas--Visit to the north of England--Popularity there--
+  Intensely interesting services--Rev. W. Grimshawe--Solemn
+  instances of mortality--Return to London for the winter--
+  Usefulness                                                    301
+
+
+  CHAPTER XII.
+
+  LABORS IN GREAT BRITAIN--FOURTH VISIT TO AMERICA--NEW
+  TABERNACLE IN LONDON, AND TABERNACLE
+  AT BRISTOL.
+
+  1750-1754.
+
+  Efforts made by Whitefield for Bethesda--His ardent love for
+  America--Love to his mother--His mourning for sin--Dr.
+  Doddridge--London ministers--Interview with Doddridge and
+  Hervey--Earthquake in London--Bishop Horne's sermon--
+  Universal consternation--Preaching of Whitefield at midnight
+  in Hyde park--Whitefield and his friends at Court--Journey to
+  Bristol--Taunton--Rev. R. Darracott--Preaching at Rotherham,
+  Bolton, Ulverston--Conversion of Mr. Thorpe--Edinburgh and
+  other places in Scotland--Testimony of Hume--Second visit to
+  Ireland--Opposition on Oxmantown Green--Usefulness in
+  Ireland--Rev. John Edwards--Fourth voyage to America--
+  Interview with Lady Huntingdon--Moravians--Lady Huntingdon's
+  testimony--Letter to Dr. Franklin--Itinerant labors--
+  Revision of manuscripts--Erection of the new Tabernacle--
+  Again itinerates--Dedication of the Tabernacle at Bristol--
+  Somersetshire--Condolence on Mr. Wesley's sickness--Visit of
+  Messrs. Davies and Tennent to England--Whitefield's fifth
+  voyage to America                                             323
+
+
+  CHAPTER XIII.
+
+  FIFTH VISIT TO AMERICA--RENEWED LABORS IN
+  GREAT BRITAIN--TOTTENHAM COURT-ROAD CHAPEL.
+
+  1754-1763.
+
+  Whitefield's arrival and proceedings in Lisbon--Lands at
+  Beaufort, S. C.--Voyage to New York--New Jersey--Interview
+  with William Tennent--Accompanies President Burr to New
+  England--Popularity at Boston--Correspondence with
+  Habersham--Portsmouth--Rhode Island--Franklin's narrative of
+  a drummer and Whitefield--Powerful address in Virginia--
+  Pleasant interview at Charleston--Embarks for England--
+  Arrival at New Haven--His feelings on arriving in England--
+  Labors at the Tabernacle--Love for America--Journey to
+  Bristol, Gloucestershire, Norwich--Returns to London--
+  Reproof from Grimshawe--Serious illness--Earthquake at
+  Lisbon--Tottenham Court-road Chapel--Conversion of Mr.
+  Crane--Publication of "A short Address"--Personal character
+  of Whitefield's preaching--His servant--Shuter--Violent
+  persecution--Interference of government--Journey to
+  Bristol--Lines on a chair--Journey to Kent, north of England,
+  Scotland--Meeting at Leeds--Interview with the new governor
+  of Georgia--Prosperity of Tottenham Court--Journey to
+  Scotland--Ireland--Returns to London--Ill health--Anecdote--
+  Another visit to Scotland--Death of friends--Debts of
+  Bethesda paid--Renewed visit to Scotland--Visit to
+  Brighton--Foote's mimicry--Activity--Sails on his sixth
+  voyage to America                                             350
+
+  CHAPTER XIV.
+
+  SIXTH VISIT AND LABORS IN AMERICA--RENEWED
+  LABORS IN GREAT BRITAIN.
+
+  1763-1767.
+
+  Improvement of Whitefield's health--Friends in Virginia--
+  Proceedings in Philadelphia--New Jersey--A collegiate
+  hearer--New York--Letter from Boston Gazette--Opposition of
+  Seabury--Arrival and preaching at Boston--Public thanks to
+  him--Leaves Boston--New Haven--New York--New Jersey
+  College--Philadelphia--Virginia--South Carolina--Bethesda--
+  Proceedings of the government--Prosperity of the Orphan-
+  house--Thoughts of returning to England--Still detained in
+  America--Sails for England--Arrival there--Dedicates a
+  church at Bath--Returns to London--Sickness--Interest in
+  American affairs--Rev. Samson Occum--Labors with Mr.
+  Whitaker in England--Success--Whitefield's journey to
+  Bristol--Success in London--Mr. Joss becomes his colleague--
+  Rev. Rowland Hill--Whitefield again visits Bath and
+  Bristol--Mr. Fletcher's sermons in London--Preface to
+  Bunyan's works--Whitefield in Wales and Gloucestershire--
+  North of England--Disappointed in obtaining a charter
+  for Bethesda                                                  375
+
+
+  CHAPTER XV.
+
+  HIS LAST LABORS IN GREAT BRITAIN--COLLEGE
+  AT TREVECCA--EARL OF BUCHAN--TUNBRIDGE
+  WELLS.
+
+  1767-1769.
+
+  Letter to Keen--Whitefield preaches before the Book
+  Society--Change in his style and manner of preaching--
+  Expulsion of six students from Oxford--Whitefield's letter
+  to the Vice-chancellor--Usefulness of the expelled young
+  men--Letter to a gentleman at Wisbeach--To Captain Scott--
+  To Hon. and Rev. Walter Shirley--Death and funeral services
+  of the Earl of Buchan--Whitefield's last visit to
+  Edinburgh--Death of Mrs. Whitefield--Whitefield's own
+  sickness--Dedication of the college at Trevecca--Improvement
+  of his health--Letter to Mr. Shirley--Letter of Dr. Franklin
+  to Whitefield--Whitefield's remarks on it--Dedication of
+  church at Tunbridge Wells--Contemplated voyage to America--
+  His last sermon--Account of Rev. George Burder--Messrs.
+  Wilson--Embarkation of Whitefield--Detained in the Downs--
+  Ordination and preaching at Deal--Anecdote of Dr. Gibbons--
+  Clears the Channel--Arrival at Charleston                     400
+
+
+  CHAPTER XVI.
+
+  SEVENTH VISIT AND LAST LABORS IN AMERICA--DEATH.
+
+  1769, 1770.
+
+  Arrival at Bethesda--Its prosperity--Honors paid him by the
+  legislature--Letter at Charleston--Plan of the proposed
+  college--Visits Philadelphia--Preaches at Burlington, New
+  York, Albany--Attends an execution--Visit to Sharon--
+  Conversion of Mr. Randall--Visit to Boston--Letters to
+  Messrs. Wright and Keen--Letter in Pennsylvania Journal--
+  Arrival at Exeter--Anecdote--Vast congregation--Delivers his
+  last sermon--Account of it--His solemnly interesting
+  appearance--Rodgers' Journal--Journey of Whitefield to
+  Newburyport--Alarming illness--Death--His remarks to Dr.
+  Finley--Arrangements for the funeral--Its solemn services--
+  Cenotaph                                                      423
+
+
+  CHAPTER XVII.
+
+  TESTIMONIES AND FACTS ILLUSTRATIVE OF WHITEFIELD'S
+  CHARACTER.
+
+  Funeral sermon by Dr. Cooper--Respect shown to his memory in
+  Georgia--Whitefield county--Sermon by Rev. Mr. Ellington--
+  Arrival of the news in London--Sermon by Rev. J. Wesley--
+  Rev. John Newton--Anecdote--Reply of Bacon the sculptor--
+  Visits to his tomb--Old man in Ipswich--Whitefield's
+  indifference to his reputation and ease--Institution at
+  Georgia--Laborious life--Extraordinary voice--Use of common
+  facts--Anecdotes--His solemnity of manner--Testimony of an
+  American preacher--Of Winter--Anecdotes--Sermons in storms--
+  Appearance in the pulpit--Character of his printed sermons--
+  His devotional spirit--Visiting the sick--Intercourse with
+  society--Neatness                                             445
+
+
+  CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+  CHARACTER OF WHITEFIELD AS A PREACHER--CENTENNIAL
+  COMMEMORATIONS.
+
+  Prominence given by him to the truths of salvation--His
+  ardent glow of feeling--His direct address--His habitual
+  dependence on the Spirit of God--Dealt with men as immortal
+  beings--Dr. Hamilton's estimate of Whitefield--Comparison of
+  Whitefield and Wesley--Centennial commemorations--Hymns by
+  Mr. Conder--Usefulness--Bristol Tabernacle--Mr. James'
+  sermon--Character of Whitefield's ministry, by Mr. Glanville  479
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+The excellent Matthew Henry has very truly said, "There are remains
+of great and good men, which, like Elijah's mantle, ought to be
+gathered up and preserved by the survivors--their sayings, their
+writings, their examples; that as their works follow them in the
+reward of them, they may stay behind in the benefit of them."
+
+Influenced by this and kindred sentiments, the compiler of this
+volume has devoted no small labor to gather from every source to
+which he could gain access, whatever appeared to him important to be
+known respecting the most distinguished uninspired preacher perhaps
+of any age or country. Whatever may be the faults of the work,
+to use the language of the Rev. Dr. Campbell, one of the present
+pastors of Whitefield's churches in London, in reference to a short
+sketch he had himself prepared of our great evangelist, "It will
+serve to bring him and his apostolic labors before the minds of
+vast multitudes of the rising generation, to whom both are all but
+unknown; and this is far from unimportant. Whatever tends to fix
+the minds of men afresh upon the character of WHITEFIELD is, and
+it always will be, something gained to the cause of true religion.
+The contemplation of that character is one of the most healthful
+exercises that can occupy a Christian heart, or a Christian
+understanding. It is an admirable theme for ministerial meditation.
+It tends equally to humble, to instruct, and to encourage; to excite
+love to Christ, zeal for his glory, and compassion for the souls of
+men. What Alexander and Caesar, Charles XII. of Sweden and Napoleon
+the first, are to those of the sons of men who have not yet ceased
+to 'learn war,' that Whitefield and Wesley are to those who aspire
+to eminent usefulness as ministers and missionaries of the cross."
+
+In the preparation of this memoir, the compiler has sought to
+collect together incidents which might interest and instruct,
+especially in connection with Whitefield's labors in America; to
+present him as much as possible in his own dress; and to use the
+facts of his life to excite and cherish his own spirit, so far as
+he had the spirit of Christ. Facts reflecting on the reputation and
+feelings of others have been used only as the interests of truth
+seemed to demand.
+
+It would have been easy to place on almost every page an array of
+authorities, and to give here a long list of friends to whom the
+writer has been indebted for aid; but the sole object of the volume
+is the honor of Christ in the salvation of men, and that this may be
+accomplished, we pray that the blessing of Heaven may rest upon it.
+
+PHILADELPHIA, 1857.
+
+
+
+
+GEORGE WHITEFIELD.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+     MORAL STATE OF GREAT BRITAIN IN THE EARLY PART OF THE EIGHTEENTH
+     CENTURY--WHITEFIELD FROM HIS BIRTH TO HIS FIRST SERMON.
+
+
+That we may have a clear and comprehensive view of the labors and
+success of George Whitefield, it is important that we consider
+the moral condition of Great Britain and its dependencies when
+the Head of the church brought him on the field of action. The
+latter part of the seventeenth and the beginning of the eighteenth
+centuries presented in that country a scene of moral darkness, the
+more remarkable as it so soon succeeded the triumph of evangelical
+truth which distinguished the seventeenth century, and which is
+perpetuated in a religious literature that will bless the world.
+Causes had long been at work which produced such insensibility and
+decline as to all that is good, and such a bold and open activity in
+evil, as it is hoped the grace of God may avert from his churches
+in all future time. The doctrine of the divine right of kings to
+implicit obedience on the part of their subjects; the principle
+of priestly control of the minds of men in religious matters; and
+clerical influence, sustained by kingly authority, in favor of
+sports on the Lord's day, together with the evil examples of men
+high in rank and power, had produced their natural results on the
+masses of the people, and make it painful, even at this distant
+period, to survey the scene.
+
+Nor were these all the evils of that day. The expulsion from their
+pulpits, by the "Act of Uniformity," of two thousand of the most
+able and useful of the clergy in England, had led to great ignorance
+and neglect of religion; and though men like Leighton and Owen,
+Flavel and Baxter, with Bunyan and a host of others, had continued,
+in spite of opposing laws, to preach when they were not shut up in
+prison, and to write their immortal practical works, by the time of
+which we are speaking they had been called to their eternal reward,
+leaving very few men of like spirit behind them. Thus infidelity,
+profligacy, and formalism almost universally prevailed.
+
+The low state of religion in the established church at that time
+may be learned from the Rev. Augustus M. Toplady, himself one of
+its ministers, who died in 1778. In a sermon yet extant he says,
+"I believe no denomination of professing Christians, the church
+of Rome excepted, were so generally void of the light and life of
+godliness, so generally destitute of the doctrine and of the grace
+of the gospel, as was the church of England, considered as a body,
+about fifty years ago. At that period a _converted_ minister in the
+establishment was as great a wonder as a comet; but now, blessed
+be God, since that precious, that great apostle of the English
+empire, the late dear Mr. Whitefield, was raised up in the spirit
+and power of Elias, the word of God has run and been glorified;
+many have believed and been added to the Lord all over the three
+kingdoms; and blessed be his name, the great Shepherd and Bishop of
+souls continues still to issue his word, and great is the company of
+preachers, greater and greater every year."
+
+If it be said that Toplady, as he belonged to a different school of
+theology from that which then generally prevailed, could scarcely
+be expected to be impartial, we ask leave to transcribe a few lines
+from Bishop Butler, who within six months of Whitefield's ordination
+wrote thus: "It is come, I know not how, to be taken for granted
+by many persons, that Christianity is not so much as a subject of
+inquiry; but that it is now at length discovered to be fictitious.
+And accordingly they treat it as if in the present age this were an
+agreed point among all people of discernment; and nothing remained
+but to set it up as a principal subject of mirth and ridicule, as
+it were by way of reprisals for its having so long interrupted
+the pleasures of the world." Bishop Warburton, who commenced his
+ministry a few years before Whitefield, and who cannot be charged
+with enthusiasm, says, "I have lived to see that fatal crisis, when
+religion hath lost its hold on the minds of the people."
+
+Many other witnesses might be brought to testify that error and
+worldly mindedness had made mournful havoc among the clergy,
+and that spiritual religion had been almost buried in forms and
+ceremonies. A recent writer has well described the state of religion
+in the established church at that time, as only to be compared to a
+frozen or palsied carcass. "There," says this Episcopal clergyman,
+"were the time-honored formularies which the wisdom of the reformers
+had provided. There were the services and lessons from Scripture,
+just in the same order as we have them now. But as to preaching
+the gospel, in the established church there was almost none. The
+distinguishing doctrines of Christianity--the atonement, the work
+and office of Christ and the Spirit--were comparatively lost sight
+of. The vast majority of sermons were miserable moral essays,
+utterly devoid of any thing calculated to awaken, convert, save, or
+sanctify souls." Southey, a biographer of Wesley, who assuredly will
+not be accused of too strong a tendency to evangelical truth, is
+compelled to say, "A laxity of opinions as well as morals obtained,
+and infidelity, a plague which had lately found its way into the
+country, was becoming so prevalent, that the vice-chancellor of
+the university at Oxford, in a _programma_, exhorted the tutors to
+discharge their duties by double diligence, and had forbidden the
+under-graduates to read such books as might tend to the weakening of
+their faith."
+
+There were undoubtedly some learned and conscientious bishops
+at this era. Such men were Secker and Gibson, Lowth and Horne,
+Butler, and others. But even the best of them seem sadly to have
+misunderstood the requirements of the day they lived in. They spent
+their strength in writing apologies for Christianity, and contending
+against infidels. They could not see that without the direct
+preaching of the essential doctrines of the gospel, their labors
+must be sadly defective. The man who dared to preach the doctrines
+of the Bible, and in harmony with the Articles and Homilies of his
+church, was set down as an enthusiast or fanatic.
+
+Among those who had dissented from the established hierarchy, and
+who were untrammelled by the impositions of secular authority, the
+state of vital godliness was also unhappily very low. The noble
+spirits of early non-conformity had passed from earth, or crossed
+the Atlantic to the frozen shores of New England, and a race of men
+had sprung up, some of whom retained the tenets of orthodoxy, but
+had lost its power; while others reposed on comfortable endowments,
+and lulled themselves, or were drawn by favorable breezes, into the
+cold elements of Arianism and Socinianism. As persons in the frozen
+regions are said to sleep longer and more soundly than others, so
+did they; and a more terrific blast of the trumpet of the gospel
+was required to rouse and awake them from their spiritual slumbers.
+Happily indeed for the world, and for the church in it, there were
+some exceptions. Watts and Guyse and Doddridge, and their pious
+associates in different parts of the land, were laborers together in
+"God's husbandry," and ceased not to cultivate it with affectionate
+faithfulness and care; and wherever their labors extended, the
+plants of grace grew and flourished. Darracott, "the star of the
+west," threw his mild rays over the vales of Somerset; and in the
+north also a few faithful men were found.
+
+Nor have we even now said all that should be written as to the
+character of those times. The highest personages in the land then
+openly lived in ways contrary to the law of God, and no man rebuked
+them. Profligacy and irreligion were reputable and respectable.
+Judging from the description we have of men and manners in those
+days, a gentleman might have been defined as a creature who got
+drunk, gambled, swore, fought duels, and violated the seventh
+commandment, and for all this very few thought the worse of him.
+
+Those too were the days when the men whom even kings delighted
+to honor were such as Bolingbroke, Chesterfield, Walpole, and
+Newcastle. To be an infidel, to obtain power by intrigue, and
+to retain it by the grossest and most notorious bribery, were
+considered no disqualifications even for the highest offices. Such
+men indeed were not only tolerated, but praised. In those days
+too, Hume, an avowed infidel, put forth his History, and obtained
+a pension. Sterne and Swift then wrote their talented, but obscene
+books; both of them were clergymen, but the public saw little
+inconsistency in their conduct. Fielding and Smollett were the
+popular authors, and the literary taste of high and low was suited
+by Roderick Random, Peregrine Pickle, Joseph Andrews, and Tom Jones.
+These authors were ingenious heathen philosophers, assuming the name
+of Christians, and forcibly paganizing Christianity for the sake of
+pleasing the world.
+
+Turning to _Scotland_, we find that the bold proclamation of the
+discriminating truths of the gospel which characterize the preaching
+of Knox, Welsh, and others, was being rapidly laid aside, and
+cold formal addresses, verging towards a kind of Socinianism were
+becoming fashionable. Old Mr. Hutchinson, minister of Kilellan, in
+Renfrewshire, who saw but the beginning of this sad change, used to
+say to Wodrow the historian, "When I compare the times before the
+restoration with those since the revolution, I must own that the
+young ministers preach accurately, and methodically; but there was
+far more of the power and efficacy of the Spirit and of the grace
+of God went along with sermons in those days than now. For my own
+part--all the glory be to God--I seldom set my foot in a pulpit in
+those days, but I had notice of the blessed effects of the word." It
+is true, that even then there were a few faithful witnesses for God
+in Scotland, such as the brothers Erskine, in the Secession church;
+but for the most part, coldness, barrenness, and death prevailed.
+The people knew not God, and were strangers to the life-giving
+influence and power of the gospel.
+
+The Arianism of England had been carried to the north of _Ireland_,
+and finding a state of feeling suitable to its reception, it took
+root and grew up, so as to characterize a distinct section of the
+Presbyterian church, then and still distinguished by the name of the
+Remonstrant Synod. The south and west of Ireland were subjected to
+a blight not less withering, though of a different kind, and which
+continued much longer--continued, to a great extent, throughout
+the whole of the last century. The clergy were usually sons of the
+gentry, and accustomed to their sporting, drinking, and riotous
+habits. They had no preparation for ministerial duties but a college
+degree; and no education, either literary or moral, which had not
+been obtained among wild young men at the university. According
+to the interest which they happened to have, they passed at once
+from college to ministerial charges, and again mixed in all the
+dissipations of the districts where these lay. Ignorant of the
+truth, they and their congregations were satisfied with some short
+moral discourse. Many of the people were almost as ignorant of the
+Scriptures and scripture truth as the inhabitants of Hindostan.
+The Catholic priests meanwhile were at work among the people, and
+they had many to help them. The sick and the dying were watched;
+their fears were wrought upon; they were told of the power which
+the priests had, of the influence possessed by the Virgin, and much
+about the _old church_; and as soon as any seemed to give way, on
+whatever point, the priest was sent for, who plied them anew, and
+seldom failed in succeeding with the poor ignorant people. They were
+now ready to receive absolution; but he had farther conditions to
+propose. The whole family must submit to be rebaptized, or at least
+promise to attend mass--and this also was not unfrequently gained;
+the Protestant clergyman being all the while at a distance, neither
+knowing nor much caring what was going on. In this way great numbers
+of the lower and middle classes of the Protestants went over to the
+church of Rome. Throughout whole districts the Protestant churches
+were almost emptied, and many of those in rural districts were
+allowed to fall into ruins.
+
+Of _Wales_ it is not important at present to say much. From the
+middle ages downwards, great darkness and superstition had prevailed
+among its mountains. It is true that in the days of James I.,
+a clergyman named Wroth, whose conversion to the truth had been
+remarkable, had labored with eminent zeal and success, but at the
+period of which we are now writing declension had succeeded. Within
+the establishment all was cold and dead; nearly every minister
+was ignorant of the Welsh language, a fact which also applied to
+several successive bishops, while the state of morals, among even
+the leaders of the hierarchy, was truly deplorable. An old Methodist
+simply but truly described the country at this period, and of his
+correct narrative we will here give a free translation.
+
+The land, he tells us, was dark indeed. Scarcely any of the lower
+ranks could read at all. The morals of the country were very
+corrupt; and in this respect there was no difference between
+high and low, layman and clergyman. Gluttony, drunkenness, and
+licentiousness prevailed through the whole country. Nor were the
+operations of the church at all adapted to repress these evils. From
+the pulpit the name of the Redeemer was scarcely heard; nor was much
+mention made of the natural sinfulness of man, or of the influence
+of the Holy Spirit. On Sunday mornings, the poor were more constant
+in their attendance at church than the gentry; but the Sunday
+evenings were spent by all in idle amusements. Every Sabbath there
+was practised a kind of sport, called in Welsh _Achwaren-gamp_,
+in which all the young men of the neighborhood had a trial of
+strength, and the people assembled from the surrounding country
+to witness their feats. On a Saturday night, particularly in the
+summer, the young men and women held what they called _Nosweithian
+cann_, or singing eves; that is, they met together and amused
+themselves by singing in turns to the harp, till the dawn of the
+Sabbath. These things, with the performance of rustic dramas, would
+occupy sometimes the whole of the sacred day itself; while a set of
+vagabonds, called the _Bobl gerdded_, or walking people, used to
+traverse the villages, begging with impunity, to the disgrace alike
+of the law and the country. With all this social sprightliness, the
+Welsh were then a superstitious, and even a gloomy people. They
+still retained many habits apparently derived from paganism, and
+not a few of the practices of popery. Their funerals, like those of
+the Irish, were scenes of riot and drunkenness, followed by prayers
+for the release of the deceased from the pains of purgatory. Such
+was the superstition of the people, that when Methodism was first
+introduced among them, many of the peasantry expressed their horror
+of the new opinions by the truly Popish gesture of crossing the
+forehead; and when Wesley first visited them, he pronounced them
+"as little versed in the principles of Christianity as a Creek or
+Cherokee Indian." To this declaration he added the striking remark,
+that, "notwithstanding their superstition and ignorance, the people
+'were ripe for the gospel,' and most enthusiastically anxious to
+avail themselves of every opportunity of instruction."
+
+As an illustration of the truth of the remark we have just
+introduced from the discerning Wesley, we may mention an incident
+which occurred in 1736. At this period dissent itself was reduced so
+low in the country, that there were only six dissenting houses of
+worship in all North Wales. One Sunday, Mr. Lewis Rees, a dissenting
+minister from South Wales, and the father of Dr. Rees, the author of
+the celebrated Cyclopedia which bears his name, visited Pwllheli, a
+town on the promontory of Sleyn, in Caernarvonshire, and one of the
+few places in which the Independents still had a chapel. After the
+service, the congregation, collecting around him, complained very
+sorely that their numbers were rapidly diminishing, that the few
+who yet remained were for the most part poor, and that every thing
+connected with their cause looked gloomy. To which the minister
+replied, "The dawn of religion is again breaking out in South
+Wales," referring them to the fact, that already a distinguished
+man--Howel Harris--had risen up, going about instructing the people
+in the truths of the gospel. Such was the character of the times
+when God was raising up agents to revive and extend his cause. We
+shall before long return to Wales with lively interest.
+
+"Such," says the eloquent Robert Hall, "was the situation of things
+when Whitefield and Wesley made their appearance, who, whatever
+failings the severest criticism can discover in their character,
+will be hailed by posterity as the second reformers of England.
+Nothing was farther from the views of these excellent men than to
+innovate on the established religion of their country; their sole
+aim was to recall the people to the good old way, and to imprint the
+doctrines of the Articles and Homilies on the spirits of men. But
+this doctrine had been so long a dead letter, and so completely
+obliterated from the mind by contrary instructions, that the attempt
+to revive it met with all the opposition that innovation is sure to
+encounter, in addition to what naturally results from the nature
+of the doctrine itself, which has to contend with the whole force
+of human corruption. The revival of the _old_, appeared like the
+introduction of a _new_ religion; and the hostility it excited
+was less sanguinary, but scarcely less virulent, than that which
+signalized the first publication of Christianity. The gospel of
+Christ, or that system of truth which was laid at the foundation of
+the Reformation, has since made rapid advances, and in every step of
+its progress has sustained the most furious assaults."
+
+It ought here to be stated, as illustrating the providence of God in
+preparing the British empire for the reception of the gospel, that
+the revolution of 1688 introduced the spirit of toleration, and in
+1714, the very year of Whitefield's birth, Anne, the last English
+sovereign of a persecuting spirit, died, and the throne was assumed
+by George I., the first prince of the house of Hanover. The way of
+the Lord was thus prepared for bright illustrations of his mercy.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Rising from the beautiful valley of the Severn, and on the borders
+of that noble stream, reposes in antique glory the affluent city of
+GLOUCESTER, with its regular streets, and its majestic cathedral
+and other relics of bygone days. In that city the traveller may
+examine three spots which will long be interesting to the student of
+ecclesiastical curiosities. The first of these is the ancient church
+of Mary de Crypt, where reposes the dust of Robert Raikes, the
+founder of Sunday-schools; the second, is the little stone which,
+in a pensive-looking inclosure, marks the site on which the truly
+noble-minded and Protestant Bishop Hooper was burnt, an early martyr
+of bloody Mary's reign. There wicked men stood around to light up
+the flames, and to mock his sorrows; but as we stand and look, we
+exult in the subsequent triumphs of truth.
+
+The third spot, and the one to us at the present moment the most
+interesting, is the Bell inn or hotel, yet standing, though
+enlarged and beautified since the period of which we write. There
+WHITEFIELD--the saint, the seraph, the "angel flying in the midst of
+heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to them that dwell
+on the earth"--first breathed the vital air. Venerable city, we
+will rejoice that though within thy walls one glorious luminary of
+salvation was extinguished, another "burning and shining light" was
+raised up to diffuse joy and happiness over the two most influential
+quarters of the globe, and a third has since been given to suggest
+the simple plan by which millions of the young have already acquired
+the knowledge of salvation.
+
+GEORGE WHITEFIELD, the sixth son of Thomas and Elizabeth Whitefield,
+was born December 16, 1714, old style. Concerning his father and
+mother he writes, "The former died when I was two years old; the
+latter died in December, 1751, in the seventy-first year of her age,
+and has often told me how she endured fourteen weeks' sickness after
+she brought me into the world; but was used to say, even when I
+was an infant, that she expected more comfort from me than from any
+other of her children. This, with the circumstance of my being born
+in an inn, has often been of service to me, in exciting my endeavors
+to make good my mother's expectations, and so follow the example of
+my dear Saviour, who was laid in a manger belonging to an inn."
+
+In one of his journals, which he commenced at a very early part
+of his ministry, Whitefield details with great simplicity many
+incidents of his childhood and youth; from which it appears, that
+though at times he had many serious thoughts and impressions,
+the general course of his life, till the age of sixteen, was
+irreligious. He tells us that in early youth he was "so brutish as
+to hate instruction, and used purposely to shun all opportunities
+of receiving it," and that he spent much money, improperly obtained
+from his mother, in cards, plays, and romances, "which," says he,
+"were my heart's delight. Often have I joined with others in playing
+roguish tricks; but was generally, if not always, happily detected:
+for this I have often since, and do now bless and praise God." His
+full confessions of this character are very affecting, and should be
+a caution to young persons to repel all such temptations.
+
+When George was about ten years of age, his mother married a second
+time, thus forming a connection which led to much unhappiness.
+He was, however, continued at school; and when twelve years old,
+was transferred to the grammar-school of St. Mary de Crypt, where
+he remained about three years. Having a graceful elocution and a
+good memory, he gained much credit for delivering speeches before
+the city corporation at the annual visitation of the school, and
+received pecuniary rewards for his performances on those occasions.
+How deeply he afterwards deplored these celebrations, especially
+the performance of plays in connection with his school-fellows,
+may be learned from his own words: "I cannot but observe here,
+with much concern of mind, how this way of training up youth has
+a natural tendency to debauch the mind, to raise ill passions,
+and to stuff the memory with things as contrary to the gospel of
+Christ, as darkness to light, hell to heaven." This sad tendency
+was but too clearly evinced in the case of Whitefield himself. "I
+got acquainted," he says, "with such a set of debauched, abandoned,
+atheistical youths, that if God, by his free, unmerited, and special
+grace, had not delivered me out of their hands, I should have sat
+in the scorner's chair, and made a mock at sin. By keeping company
+with them, my thoughts of religion grew more and more like theirs.
+I went to public service only to make sport, and walk about. I took
+pleasure in their lewd conversation. I began to reason as they did,
+and to ask why God had given me passions, and not permitted me to
+gratify them. In short, I soon made great proficiency in the school
+of the devil. I affected to look rakish, and was in a fair way of
+being as infamous as the worst of them." These were the things, and
+not oratory, as has sometimes been said, which Whitefield learned
+from plays and acting.
+
+In the midst of all this, his conscience often made him unhappy; and
+he wished, if possible, to combine religion with his pleasures. He
+purchased and carefully read "Ken's Manual for Winchester Scholars,"
+a book which commended itself as having comforted his mother in her
+afflictions, and which he afterwards considered to have been "of
+great benefit to his soul."
+
+At the age of fifteen, he thought he had acquired learning enough
+for any ordinary occupation in life, and as his mother's business
+was declining, he persuaded her to allow him to leave school and
+assist in labor. "I began," says he, "to assist her occasionally
+in the public-house, till at length I put on my blue apron and
+my snuffers, washed mops, cleaned rooms, and in one word, became
+professed and common _drawer_ for nearly a year and a half." In the
+midst of the activity called for in such a situation, it pleased God
+to renew his religious impressions, which induced him, at least at
+intervals, to attend with much earnestness to the concerns of his
+soul.
+
+From his childhood, Whitefield tells us, he "was always fond of
+being a clergyman, and used frequently to imitate the ministers'
+reading prayers." Nor did this tendency towards clerical engagements
+cease as he became older. "Notwithstanding," he says, "I was thus
+employed in a large inn, and had sometimes the care of the whole
+house upon my hands, yet I composed two or three sermons, and
+dedicated one of them to my elder brother. One day, I remember, I
+was very much pressed to self-examination, and found myself very
+unwilling to look into my heart. Frequently I read the Bible when
+sitting up at night. And a dear youth, now with God, would often
+entreat me, when serving at the bar, to go to Oxford. My general
+answer was, 'I wish I could.'"
+
+His mother's difficulties increasing, it became necessary for her
+to leave the inn; in which she was succeeded by one of her married
+sons, with whom George for some time remained to continue his
+assistance in the business. Some disagreement, however, arising
+between them, he after a time took his departure from the inn, and
+went to spend a month with his eldest brother at Bristol. Returning
+from that city to Gloucester, he resided for a short season with his
+mother. While thus living unemployed, without any definite object
+before him, and waiting the openings of providence, his mother
+was visited by an Oxford student, a servitor of Pembroke college
+in that university. In the course of their conversation, he told
+her, that after all his expenses at college for the quarter were
+discharged, he had one penny remaining. She immediately exclaimed,
+"This will do for my son!" and turning to him, said, "Will you go
+to Oxford, George?" He replied, "With all my heart." Application
+was immediately made to several friends who had influence at
+the college, and they pledged themselves to serve her. In this
+confidence, her favorite son returned to the grammar-school,
+where he not only resumed his studies with greater diligence, but
+endeavored, and not altogether in vain, to promote religion and
+virtue among his associates.
+
+Having fully secured his literary preparation for the university,
+Whitefield removed to Oxford in his eighteenth year, and was
+immediately admitted, as a servitor, into Pembroke college. He soon
+found that the seat of learning was also a scene of danger. From
+the period of 1662, when the two thousand Non-conformists had been
+expelled from the church, the universities had been sinking into a
+moral lethargy, preferring uniformity to vital religion. Our young
+servitor was shocked with the impiety of the students in general,
+and dreading their influence on himself, he as much as possible
+abstained from their society, and shut himself up in his study.
+
+Before he went to Oxford, Whitefield had heard of a class of
+young men in the university who "lived by rule and method," and
+were therefore called _Methodists_. They were much talked of, and
+generally despised. Of this party, John Wesley, a Fellow of Lincoln
+college, and already in holy orders, was the leader, his brother
+Charles being also as warmly attached to it. They avowed that the
+great object of their lives was to save their souls, and to live
+wholly to the glory of God; and rarely have men subjected themselves
+to greater self-denials and austerities. Drawn towards them by
+kindred feelings, Whitefield strenuously defended them whenever he
+heard them reviled, and when he saw them going, through a crowd
+manifesting their ridicule, every Sunday to receive the sacrament
+at St. Mary's or Christ church, he was strongly inclined to follow
+their example.
+
+For more than a year he intensely desired to be acquainted with
+them, but a sense of his pecuniary inferiority to them prevented his
+advances. At length, learning that a pauper had attempted suicide,
+Whitefield sent a poor woman to inform Charles Wesley, that so he
+might visit her, and administer religious instruction. He charged
+the woman not to tell Mr. Wesley who sent her, but, contrary to
+this injunction, she told his name; and Charles Wesley, who had
+frequently seen Whitefield walking by himself, on the next morning
+invited him to breakfast. An introduction to the little brotherhood
+soon followed, and he also, like them, "began to live by rule, and
+pick up the very fragments of his time, that not a moment might be
+lost."
+
+It is painful to read Whitefield's own account of the mortifications
+of body to which he now submitted; and we are not surprised that, as
+the result, his health was so reduced as to place even his life in
+danger. All this time he had no clear view of the way of salvation,
+and was "seeking to work out a righteousness of his own." In this
+state he lay on his bed, his tongue parched with fever, and the
+words of the dying Saviour, "I thirst," were impressed on his mind.
+Remembering that this thirst occurred near the end of the Saviour's
+sufferings, the thought arose in his mind, "Why may it not be so
+with me? Why may I not now receive deliverance and comfort? Why
+may I not now dare to trust and rejoice in the pardoning mercy of
+God?" There was, as Tracy has said, no reason why he might not--why
+he ought not. He saw nothing to forbid him. He prayed in hope,
+borrowing language from the fact which suggested the train of
+thought--"I thirst, I thirst for faith in pardoning love. Lord, I
+believe; help thou mine unbelief." His prayer was heard. He dared
+to trust in the mercy of God, as revealed in the death of Jesus
+Christ for sinners. Conscience and his Bible bore witness that he
+did right. The load that had so heavily oppressed him, the load of
+guilt and terror and anxiety, that weighed down his spirit while he
+sinfully and ungratefully hesitated to trust in divine mercy, was
+gone. He saw the trustworthiness of the mercy of God in Christ, and
+his heart rejoiced.
+
+"Though," as Tracy has well said, "the English universities were
+established mainly for the purpose of educating men for the
+ministry, Whitefield was not likely to gain a good knowledge of
+theology there. He took another, and a characteristic course. Some
+time after his conversion, when he was at Gloucester, he says,
+'I began to read the holy Scriptures upon my knees; laying aside
+all other books, and praying over, if possible, every line and
+word. This proved meat indeed and drink indeed to my soul. I daily
+received fresh life, light, and power from above. I thus got more
+true knowledge in reading the book of God in one month, than I could
+ever have acquired from all the writings of men.'"
+
+Every hour of Whitefield's time, especially after he had been
+"filled with peace and joy in believing," was sacredly devoted to
+preparation for the great work to which he had now solemnly devoted
+himself. He visited the prisoners in the jail, and the poor in their
+cottages, and gave as much time as he could to communion with God in
+his closet. His friends now earnestly importuned him to apply for
+ordination; but from this his deep sense of unworthiness made him
+shrink. Besides, he intended to have a hundred and fifty sermons
+carefully written before he began to preach. He had as yet but one,
+and he lent that to a neighboring clergyman, to convince him that
+he was not yet fit to be ordained. The clergyman kept it for two
+weeks, divided it into two, preached it to his own people, and then
+returned it to Whitefield, with a guinea for the use of it.
+
+Still, however, the work of preparation for the ministry was rapidly
+going on. The state of his health compelled him to retire for a
+season from Oxford, and he returned home to increase the depth of
+his piety, and to be led, little as he thought of it, at once to the
+pulpit. He writes, "O what sweet communion had I daily vouchsafed
+with God in prayer, after my coming to Gloucester. How often have
+I been carried out beyond myself, when meditating in the fields.
+How assuredly I felt that Christ dwelt in me, and I in him; and how
+daily did I walk in the comforts of the Holy Ghost, and was edified
+and refreshed in the multitude of peace. I always observed that
+as my inward strength increased, so my outward sphere of action
+increased proportionably."
+
+Thus, happy in himself, and thankful to the gracious God who made
+him so, the affectionate soul of George Whitefield ardently desired
+that others might participate in his sacred joys. In order to
+advance this object, he mixed in the society of young people, and
+endeavored to awaken them to a just sense of the nature of true
+religion. Some were convinced of the truth, and united with him in
+religious exercises; and these were some of the first-fruits of his
+pious labors. His discovery of the necessity of regeneration, like
+Melancthon's great discovery of the truth, led him to imagine that
+no one could resist the evidence which convinced his own mind. He
+writes, "Upon this, like the woman of Samaria, when Christ revealed
+himself to her at the well, I had no rest in my soul till I wrote
+letters to my relations, telling them there was such a thing as the
+_new birth_. I imagined they would have gladly received it; but,
+alas, my words seemed to them as idle tales. They thought I was
+going beside myself." He visited the jail every day, and read and
+prayed with the prisoners; attended public worship very frequently,
+and read twice or three times a week to some poor people in the
+city. In addition to all this, he tells us, "During my stay here,
+God enabled me to give a public testimony of my repentance as to
+seeing and acting plays; for hearing the strollers had come to
+town, and knowing what an egregious offender I had been, I was
+stirred up to extract Mr. Law's excellent treatise, entitled, "The
+absolute Unlawfulness of the Stage Entertainment." The printer,
+at my request, put a little of it in the newspaper for six weeks
+successively; and God was pleased to give it his blessing."
+
+In this manner Whitefield employed himself during nine months; and
+one effect of so doing was, that the partition wall of bigotry was
+soon broken down in his heart. He says, "I loved all, of whatever
+denomination, who loved the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity." This
+statement in his diary is connected with an account of the benefit
+he derived from studying the works of the Non-conformists. "Baxter's
+Call," and "Alleine's Alarm," so accorded with his own ideas of
+fidelity and unction, that wherever he recognized their spirit he
+acknowledged "a brother beloved." On this portion of his history
+we dwell with unspeakable delight; the only drawback is an undue
+importance he appears to have attached to _dreams_; and even those,
+considered as an _index_ to his waking hours, are interesting,
+revealing as they do his deep solicitude on the behalf of souls.
+
+Here then, before he had completed his twenty-first year, we see
+Whitefield returned to Gloucester, and such was already the fame of
+his piety and talents, that Dr. Benson, the bishop of the diocese,
+offered to dispense, in his favor, with the rule which forbids the
+ordination of deacons at so unripe an age. Thus graphically did he
+afterwards describe his acceptance of this proposal.
+
+"I never prayed against any corruption I had in my life so much as
+I did against going into holy orders so soon as my friends were for
+having me go. Bishop Benson was pleased to honor me with peculiar
+friendship, so as to offer me preferment, or to do any thing for me.
+My friends wanted me to mount the church betimes. They wanted me
+to knock my head against the pulpit too young; but how some young
+men stand up here and there and preach, I do not know. However it
+be to them, God knows how deep a concern entering into the ministry
+and preaching was to me. I prayed a thousand times, till the sweat
+has dropped from my face like rain, that God of his infinite mercy
+would not let me enter the church till he called me and thrust me
+forth in his work. I remember once in Gloucester--I know the room; I
+look up to the window when I am there and walk along the street--I
+said, 'Lord, I cannot go; I shall be puffed up with pride, and fall
+into the condemnation of the devil. Lord, do not let me go yet.' I
+pleaded to be at Oxford two or three years more. I intended to make
+one hundred and fifty sermons, and thought that I would set up with
+a good stock in trade. I remember praying, wrestling, and striving
+with God. I said, 'I am undone, I am unfit to preach in thy great
+name. Send me not. Lord, send me not yet.' I wrote to all my friends
+in town and country to pray against the bishop's solicitation; but
+they insisted I should go into orders before I was twenty-two. After
+all their solicitations these words came into my mind: 'Nothing
+shall pluck you out of my hands;' they came warm to my heart. Then,
+and not till then, I said, 'Lord, _I will go_; send me when thou
+wilt.'"
+
+Sunday, June 20, 1736, was the day appointed for his ordination
+in the cathedral at Gloucester. On the preceding evening he spent
+two hours in prayer for himself and the others who were to be set
+apart to the sacred office with him; and on the day itself he rose
+early, and passed the morning in prayer and meditation on the
+qualifications and duties of the office he was about to undertake.
+On a review of the solemn services of the day, he says, "I trust I
+answered every question from the bottom of my heart, and heartily
+prayed that God might say, Amen. And when the bishop laid his hands
+upon my head, if my vile heart do not deceive me, I offered my whole
+spirit, soul, and body to the service of God's sanctuary. Let come
+what will, life or death, depth or height, I shall henceforward
+live like one who this day, in the presence of men and angels, took
+the holy sacrament, on the profession of being inwardly moved by
+the Holy Ghost to take upon me that ministration in the church. I
+call heaven and earth to witness, that when the bishop laid his
+hands upon me, I gave myself up to be a martyr for Him who hung
+upon the cross for me. Known unto him are all future events and
+contingencies; I have thrown myself blindfold, and I trust without
+reserve, into his almighty hands. When I went up to the altar, I
+could think of nothing but Samuel's standing before the Lord with a
+linen ephod."
+
+Having thus received ordination as a deacon of the church of
+England, he delayed not to enter upon the work to which he was
+appointed; and accordingly, on the next Sabbath he preached his
+first sermon in his native city of Gloucester, selecting for his
+subject, "The necessity and benefit of religious society." At the
+appointed time he ascended the pulpit, in the church of St. Mary de
+Crypt. We have his own record of the service: "Last Sunday, in the
+afternoon, I preached my first sermon in the church where I first
+received the Lord's supper. Curiosity drew a large congregation
+together. The sight, at first, a little awed me; but I was comforted
+with a heartfelt sense of the divine presence, and soon found the
+advantage of having been accustomed to public speaking when a boy
+at school, and of exhorting and teaching the prisoners and the
+poor people at their private houses, while at the university. By
+these means I was kept from being daunted overmuch. As I proceeded,
+I perceived the fire kindled, till at last, though so young, and
+amidst a crowd of those who knew me in my childish days, I trust
+I was enabled to speak with some degree of gospel authority. Some
+few mocked, but most, for the present, seemed struck; and I have
+since heard that a complaint was made to the bishop, that I drove
+fifteen people mad the first sermon. The worthy prelate, as I am
+informed, wished that the madness might not be forgotten before the
+next Sunday. Before then, I hope that my sermon upon, 'He that is in
+Christ is a new creature,' will be completed. Blessed be God, I now
+find freedom in writing. Glorious Jesus,
+
+    "'Unloose my stammering tongue to tell
+      Thy love immense, unsearchable.'"
+
+It is remarkable, under all the circumstances of the case, that
+Bishop Benson, a man never distinguished for his evangelical views,
+always showed his friendship for Whitefield. Not only did he offer
+him ordination when others might have refused, and defend him
+against the persecutions to which he was exposed, but he more than
+once gave him pecuniary help when it was much needed, though the
+young clergyman had never complained.
+
+Thus early apprized of the secret of his strength, his profound
+aspirations for the growth of Christianity, the delight of
+exercising his rare powers, and the popular admiration, operating
+with combined and ceaseless force upon a mind impatient of repose,
+urged him into exertions which, if not attested by irrefragable
+proofs, might appear incredible. It was the statement of one who
+knew him well, and who was incapable of wilful exaggeration, and it
+is confirmed by his letters, journals, and a "cloud of witnesses,"
+that "in the compass of a single week, and that for years, he
+spoke in general forty hours, and in very many sixty, and that to
+thousands: and after his labors, instead of taking any rest, he
+was engaged in offering up prayers and intercessions, with hymns
+and spiritual songs, as his manner was, in every house to which he
+was invited." Never perhaps, since the apostolic age, has any man
+given himself so entirely to preaching the gospel of Christ for
+the salvation of souls, adopting as his motto the language of the
+apostle Paul, "_This one thing I do_."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+WHITEFIELD'S SUCCESS AS A PREACHER IN ENGLAND--FIRST VISIT TO
+AMERICA.
+
+1736-1738.
+
+
+Whitefield, though thus prepared for action, was not impatient,
+but willing to wait till his duty was fully ascertained. On the
+Wednesday after his first sermon he went to Oxford, where, he says,
+"I was received with great joy by my religious friends. For about
+a week I continued in my servitor's habit, and then took my degree
+of Bachelor of Arts, after having been at the university three
+years and three quarters, and going on towards the twenty-second
+year of my age. My dear and honored friends, the Rev. Messrs. John
+and Charles Wesley, being now embarked for Georgia, and one or
+two others having taken orders, the interest of Methodism, as it
+was then and is now termed, had visibly declined, and very few of
+this reputedly mad way were left at the university. This somewhat
+discouraged me at times, but the Lord Jesus supported my soul, and
+made me easy by giving me a strong conviction that I was where he
+would have me to be. My degree, I soon found, was of service to
+me, as it gave me access to those I could not be seen with when in
+an inferior station; and as opportunity offered, I was enabled to
+converse with them about the things which belonged to the kingdom of
+God. The subscriptions for the poor prisoners, which amounted to
+about forty pounds per annum, were soon put into my hands; two or
+three charity schools, maintained by the Methodists, were under my
+more immediate inspection; which, with the time I spent in following
+my studies, private retirement, and religious converse, sweetly
+filled up the whole of my day, and kept me from that unaccountable
+but too common complaint of having any time hang upon my hands."
+
+The stay of Mr. Whitefield at Oxford, however, was very short. He
+says, "By a series of unforeseen, unexpected, and unsought-for
+providences, I was called in a short time from my beloved retirement
+to take a journey to the metropolis of England. While I was an
+under-graduate, among the religious friends, I was very intimate
+with one Mr. B----n, a professed Methodist, who had lately taken
+orders, and was curate at the Tower of London. With him, when
+absent, I frequently corresponded, and when present took sweet
+counsel, and walked to the house of God as friends. He mentioned
+me to that late good and great man, Sir John Phillips; and being
+called down for a while into Hampshire, he wrote to me to be of
+good courage, and in the strength of God bade me hasten to town to
+officiate in his absence, and to be refreshed with the sight and
+conversation of many who loved me for Christ's sake, and had for a
+long time desired to see me."
+
+On his arrival in London, Whitefield delivered his first sermon
+there in Bishopsgate church, on the afternoon of Lord's day, August
+8. On entering the pulpit, his juvenile aspect excited a general
+feeling of his unfitness for the station, but he had not proceeded
+far in his sermon before it gave place to universal expressions of
+wonder and pleasure. If however he was thus exposed to the danger
+of vanity, as he says, "God sent me something to ballast it. For as
+I passed along the streets, many came out of their shops, admiring
+to see so young a person in a gown and cassock. One I remember in
+particular, cried out, 'There's a boy parson;' which, as it served
+to mortify my pride, put me also upon turning that apostolical
+exhortation into prayer, 'Let no man despise thy youth.'" From
+his first sermon to his departure, at the end of two months, his
+popularity in London continued to increase, and the crowds were
+so vast that it was necessary to place constables both inside and
+outside of the churches to preserve the peace. He tells us himself,
+"Here I continued for the space of two months, reading prayers twice
+a week, catechizing and preaching once, visiting the soldiers in the
+infirmary and barracks daily. I also read prayers every evening at
+Wapping chapel, and preached at Ludgate prison every Tuesday. God
+was pleased to give me favor in the eyes of the inhabitants of the
+Tower; the chapel was crowded on Lord's days; religious friends from
+divers parts of the town attended the word, and several young men
+came on Lord's-day morning, under serious impressions, to hear me
+discourse about the _new birth_, and the necessity of renouncing all
+in affection in order to follow Jesus Christ."
+
+The preaching of Mr. Whitefield now excited an unusual degree
+of attention among persons of all ranks. In many of the city
+churches he proclaimed the glad tidings of great joy to listening
+multitudes, who were powerfully affected by the fire which was
+displayed in the animated addresses of this man of God. Lord and
+Lady Huntingdon constantly attended wherever he preached, and Lady
+Anne Frankland became one of the first-fruits of his ministry among
+the nobility of the metropolis. Her ladyship spent much of her
+time with Lady Huntingdon, from whose society and conversation she
+derived great comfort. She was a daughter of Richard, the first
+Earl of Scarborough; was for many years lady of the bedchamber to
+the Princess Anne, and to the Princesses Amelia and Caroline; and
+finally became the second wife of Frederic Frankland, Esq., a member
+of Parliament, from whose cruelty she endured much.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We have already said, that some time before this Messrs. John and
+Charles Wesley had embarked for Georgia, and to their names we
+might have added that of Mr. Ingham, also a member of the Methodist
+fraternity at Oxford.
+
+Georgia, which was explored by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1584, had been
+colonized by debtors from Europe, by multitudes who had fled from
+the grasp of persecution, and by others who were interested in
+constructing a barrier against Spanish aggression. It originally had
+trustees in England, concerned for its interests, including sons of
+the nobility. The chief agent in executing the benevolent designs
+in view was the truly excellent General Oglethorpe, who admirably
+carried out the motto he gave to his companions in the work, "_Non
+sibi sed aliis_"--"Not for themselves, but for others." The children
+of poverty, taken from the overgrown agricultural population,
+already a tax upon parish bounty at home, were to be transferred
+in large numbers to the silk and indigo plantations which were
+established on the savannahs and bottoms south and west of the
+river, which thence derived its name from the peculiar conformation
+of the adjoining plains. Combined with these leading purposes, it
+was a cherished principle with the early patrons of this colony,
+that it should become the centre for the diffusion of the gospel
+among the natives; while charitable foundations were also laid for
+the secular and religious education of all who would take advantage
+of such provisions. The first Christians who left Europe to advance
+the spiritual interests of Georgia were Moravians, and the next
+were the Wesleys and Ingham. The records of the colony, as quoted
+in White's Historical Collections of Georgia, show that, Sept. 14,
+1735, Charles Wesley was appointed "Secretary for the Indian affairs
+in Georgia," and that, Oct. 10, 1735, John Wesley was appointed
+"missionary at Savannah."
+
+Whitefield had left London, and was laboring among a poor and
+illiterate people in Hampshire, when his attention was directly
+drawn to Georgia. This was not, indeed, the first time his heart had
+been interested in the matter. He writes, "When I had been about a
+month in town, letters came from the Messrs. Wesley, and the Rev.
+Mr. Ingham their fellow-laborer, an Israelite indeed, from Georgia.
+Their accounts fired my soul, and made me long to go abroad for God
+too. But having no outward call, and being as I then thought too
+weak in body ever to undertake a voyage at sea, I endeavored to
+lay aside all thoughts of going abroad. But my endeavors were all
+in vain; for I felt at times such a strong attraction in my soul
+towards Georgia, that I thought it almost irresistible. I strove
+against it with all my power, begged again and again, with many
+cries and tears, that the Lord would not suffer me to be deluded,
+and at length opened my mind to several dear friends. All agreed
+that laborers were wanted at home, that I had as yet no visible call
+abroad, and that it was my duty not to be rash, but wait and see
+what Providence might point out to me. To this I consented with my
+whole heart."
+
+The path of duty, however, soon opened before him. While fulfilling
+his duties at Dummer, in Hampshire, preaching for the Rev. Mr.
+Kinchin, who was now absent from home, to which labors we have
+already referred, he received an invitation to a lucrative curacy in
+London; but Georgia still rested like one of the prophetic "burdens"
+on his mind. At this juncture he received a letter from his clerical
+friend at the Tower, saying that Mr. Charles Wesley had arrived in
+London. Very soon Mr. Wesley himself wrote to Whitefield, saying,
+that he was come over to procure laborers, "but," added he, "I dare
+not prevent God's nomination." "In a few days after this," writes
+Mr. Whitefield, "came another letter from Mr. John Wesley, wherein
+were these words: 'Only Mr. Delamotte is with me, till God shall
+stir up the hearts of some of his servants, who putting their lives
+in their hands, shall come over and help us, where the harvest is
+so great, and the laborers so few. What if thou art the man, Mr.
+Whitefield?' In another letter were these words: 'Do you ask me what
+you shall have? Food to eat and raiment to put on, a house to lay
+your head in--such as our Lord had not--and a crown of glory that
+fadeth not away.' Upon reading this my heart leaped within me, and
+as it were echoed to the call."
+
+After having consulted his bishop, Dr. Benson, as also the
+archbishop of Canterbury, and the trustees of Georgia including
+General James Oglethorpe who was then in London, he went to Bristol,
+Bath, and other places, to take leave of his personal friends. As
+he could not refrain from preaching, so every sermon increased his
+popularity. We give his account of his preaching at Bristol, as a
+specimen of the reception he met with.
+
+"It was wonderful to see how the people hung upon the rails of
+the organ-loft, climbed upon the leads of the church, and made
+the church itself so hot with their breath, that the steam would
+fall from the pillars like drops of rain. Sometimes almost as many
+would go away for want of room as came in, and it was with great
+difficulty I got into the desk to read prayers or preach. Persons
+of all ranks not only publicly attended my ministry, but gave me
+private invitations to their houses. A private society or two were
+erected. I preached and collected for the poor prisoners in Newgate
+twice or thrice a week, and many made me large offers if I would not
+go abroad."
+
+Having mentioned General James Edward Oglethorpe, the first
+governor, and indeed the founder of the colony of Georgia, and to
+the end of Whitefield's life his cordial friend, a few additional
+facts concerning him may here be stated. He was the son of Sir
+Theophilus Oglethorpe, and was born in London, December 21, 1688.
+At sixteen he was admitted a student at Oxford, but did not finish
+his studies, as the military profession had more charms for him
+than literary pursuits. He was first commissioned as an ensign.
+After the death of Queen Anne, he entered into the service of Prince
+Eugene. When he attained the age of twenty-four years, he entered
+Parliament, for Haslemere, where he continued thirty-two years. In
+November, 1732, Oglethorpe, with one hundred and sixteen settlers,
+embarked for Georgia, and landed at Charleston, S. C., January 13,
+1733. They shortly afterwards proceeded to Georgia, where Oglethorpe
+laid out a town, and called it Savannah. He very happily secured
+the good will of the Indians. In 1743, he left Georgia for England,
+to answer charges brought against him by Lieutenant-colonel Cook.
+A court martial declared the charges groundless and malicious, and
+Cook was dismissed from the service. In 1744 he was appointed one of
+the field-officers under field-marshal the Earl of Stair, to oppose
+the expected invasion of France. He died in 1785. He was truly a
+noble man.
+
+As the period approached when Whitefield was to leave England,
+the people showed their esteem for him in almost every possible
+way. They followed him so closely, and in such numbers, for holy
+counsels, that he could scarcely command a moment for retirement.
+They begged to receive from him religious books, and to have their
+names written therein with his own hand, as memorials of him,
+and very many followed him from place to place till his final
+embarkation.
+
+It was indeed a surprising fact, that a young man, scarcely more
+than twenty-two years of age, and previously unknown to the world,
+should be able to collect such immense congregations, and rouse
+and command their attention; multitudes hanging upon and receiving
+instructions from his lips. But God had endowed him with a singular
+union of qualities, which most eminently fitted him for the work of
+an evangelist. He was faithful to his trust, and his divine Master
+abundantly blessed and honored him in the discharge of its momentous
+duties.
+
+We have now traced the amazing effects of Whitefield's _first_
+sermons, and it may be interesting briefly to inquire into their
+general character, and to ascertain what truths thus aroused the
+public mind. Three of these sermons can, happily, be identified
+with these "times of refreshing;" and they may be depended on,
+as specimens of both the letter and the spirit of his preaching,
+because they were printed from his own manuscripts: they are those
+on "_Early Piety_," "_Regeneration_," and "_Intercession_." Whoever
+will read the appeals in these sermons, realizing the circumstances
+under which they were made, will scarcely wonder at the effect
+produced by them. The topics of the second and third, and the tone
+of all the three, are very different from the matter and manner of
+sermonizing then known to the masses of the people. They do not
+surprise _us_, because happily neither the topics nor the tone
+of them are "strange things to our ears." Both, however, were
+novelties in those days, even in London. When or where had an appeal
+been made like this?
+
+"I beseech you, in love and compassion, to come to Jesus. Indeed,
+all I say is in love to your souls. And if I could be but an
+instrument of bringing you to Jesus, I should not envy, but rejoice
+in your happiness, however much you were exalted. If I was to
+make up the _last_ of the train of the companions of the blessed
+Jesus, it would rejoice me to see you above me in glory. I could
+willingly go to prison or to death for you, so I could but bring
+one soul from the devil's strong-holds, into the salvation which
+is by Christ Jesus. Come then to Christ, every one that hears me
+this night. Come, come, my guilty brethren; I beseech you, for your
+immortal souls' sake, for Christ's sake, come to Christ. Methinks I
+could speak till midnight unto you. Would you have me go and tell
+my Master that you will not come, and that I have spent my strength
+in vain? I cannot bear to carry such a message to him. I would not,
+indeed, I would not be a swift witness against you at the great day
+of account; but if you will refuse these gracious invitations, I
+must do it."
+
+In this spirit, not very prevalent even now, Whitefield began his
+ministry. There is a fascination as well as fervor, or rather a
+fascination arising from fervor, in some of his earliest as well as
+his later discourses. How bold and beautiful is the peroration of
+that on "_Intercession_." Referring to the holy impatience of "the
+souls under the altar," for the coming of the kingdom of God, he
+exclaims,
+
+"And shall not we who are on earth be often exercised in this
+divine employ with the glorious company of the spirits of just men
+made perfect? Since our happiness is so much to consist in the
+communion of saints in the church triumphant above, shall we not
+frequently intercede for the church militant below, and earnestly
+beg that we may be all one? To provoke you to this work and labor
+of love, remember, that it is the never-ceasing employment of the
+holy and highly exalted Jesus himself; so that he who is constantly
+interceding for others, is doing that on earth which the eternal
+Son of God is always doing in heaven. Imagine, therefore, when
+you are lifting up holy hands for one another, that you see the
+heavens opened, and the Son of God in all his glory, as the great
+High-priest of your salvation, pleading for you the all-sufficient
+merit of his sacrifice before the throne. Join your intercession
+with his. The imagination will strengthen your faith, and excite a
+holy earnestness in your prayers."
+
+The nearer the time approached for his leaving the country, the more
+affectionate the people grew towards him, and the more eagerly did
+they attend on his ministry. Many thousands of ardent petitions were
+presented to heaven on behalf of his person and his ministry; and
+multitudes would stop him in the aisles of the churches, or follow
+him with their tearful looks. Most of all was it difficult for him
+to part from his friends at St. Dunstan's, where he administered the
+sacrament, after spending the night before in prayer.
+
+The man who had produced these extraordinary effects, says Dr.
+Gillies, had many natural advantages. He was something above the
+middle stature, well proportioned, though at that time slender, and
+remarkable for native gracefulness of manner. His complexion was
+very fair, his features regular, his eyes small and lively, of a
+dark blue color: in recovering from the measles, he had contracted
+a squint with one of them; but this peculiarity rather rendered the
+expression of his countenance more rememberable, than in any degree
+lessened the effect of its uncommon sweetness. His voice excelled
+both in melody and compass, and its fine modulations were happily
+accompanied by the grace of action which he possessed in an eminent
+degree, and which is said to be the chief requisite of an orator.
+An ignorant man described his eloquence oddly, but strikingly,
+when he said that Mr. Whitefield preached like a lion. So strange
+a comparison conveyed no unapt idea of the force, and vehemence,
+and passion--of the authority which awed the hearers, and made them
+tremble like Felix before the apostle. Believing himself to be the
+messenger of God, commissioned to call sinners to repentance, he
+spoke as one conscious of his high credentials, with authority and
+power; yet in all his discourses there was a fervor and melting
+charity, an earnestness of persuasion, an outpouring of redundant
+love, partaking of the virtue of the faith from which it flowed,
+insomuch that it seemed to enter the heart which it pierced, and to
+heal it as with a balm.
+
+At length, having preached in a considerable number of the London
+churches, collected about a thousand pounds for the charity
+schools, and obtained upwards of three hundred pounds for the
+poor in Georgia, Whitefield left London, December 28, 1737, in the
+twenty-third of his age, and went in the strength of God, as a poor
+pilgrim, on board the Whitaker.
+
+Scarcely had he entered on his voyage from London, when he
+discovered that but little comfort was to be expected in the ship
+on which he had embarked. There was no place for retirement, no
+disposition to receive him as an ambassador of Christ, and a decided
+dislike even to the forms of religion. They moved but slowly to
+the Downs, where they were detained for nearly a month, and where
+Whitefield went on shore to visit Deal, an ancient town, one of the
+Cinque-ports, so called, where "the common people," as in the case
+of his great Master, "heard him gladly." With him, through his whole
+ministry, it was of small importance whether he preached to the
+rich or the poor; for he viewed the gospel as a message of mercy to
+_sinners_, and wherever men were found, he was willing to persuade
+them to be reconciled to God.
+
+The account given by Mr. Whitefield of his visit to Deal, and of the
+different treatment he received there from different persons, would
+be almost as correct a description of his labors and reception in a
+hundred other places. He spent his first evening very comfortably in
+religious conversation and family prayer, at which a poor woman was
+much affected. "Who knows," he says, "what a fire this little spark
+may kindle?" Next evening, eight or nine poor people came to him at
+the report of this poor woman; and when, after three or four days,
+the ship in which he had embarked was driven back to Deal, many met
+together to bewail their own sins and those of others. Soon the
+landlady who owned the house where he lodged, sent to her tenants,
+beseeching them not to let any more persons come in, for fear the
+floor should break under them; and they actually put a prop under it.
+
+The minister of Upper Deal, a mile or two from the town, now invited
+Whitefield to preach in the church; it was much crowded, and many
+went away for want of room. Some stood on the leads of the building
+outside, and looked in at the top windows, and all around seemed
+eager to hear the word. "May the Lord," says the good man, "make
+them _doers_ of it. In the evening I was obliged to divide my
+hearers into four companies, and was enabled to expound to them from
+six till ten. Lord, keep me from being weary of, or in well-doing."
+
+The excitement at Deal became very great, in consequence of the
+conviction of the people that their own minister, the Rev. Dr.
+Carter, did not preach the gospel. The good man, to disprove the
+charge, published a volume of his sermons, which, however admired by
+gay formalists, furnished but too much evidence of the justice of
+the charge.
+
+Just as he had left the church at Upper Deal, where he had been
+preaching to a vast congregation, Mr. Whitefield, in consequence of
+a sudden change of the wind, was summoned on board, and the Whitaker
+sailed for Georgia. A very few hours afterwards, the vessel which
+brought back John Wesley from that colony anchored in the Downs,
+when he learned that the ships had passed each other, but neither
+of these remarkable men then knew how dear a friend was on board
+the other. When Wesley landed, he found it was still possible to
+communicate with his friend, and Whitefield was surprised to receive
+a letter from him, saying, "When I saw God by the wind which was
+carrying you out brought me in, I asked counsel of God. His answer
+you have enclosed." The enclosure was a slip of paper with the
+words, "Let him return to London," which Wesley had obtained by lot,
+to which he had had recourse. Whitefield prayed for direction, and
+went on his voyage.
+
+This first voyage of Whitefield to America was invested with scenes
+of far more than common interest. Perhaps, since the apostle Paul's
+memorable voyage to Rome, the ocean had never exhibited a more
+remarkable spectacle than that furnished by this ship. He was but
+a stripling in his twenty-third year, and a faint and hesitating
+homage once on a Sabbath-day, from a few of the less obdurate
+sinners among his hearers, would be all that such a clergyman
+could expect from an assemblage of gentlemen, of soldiers with
+their wives and families, and the ship's crew. Yet in the hands of
+this remarkable youth all became pliant as a willow. He converted
+the chief cabin into a cloister, the deck into a church, and the
+steerage into a school-room. He so bore down all opposition by love,
+reason, and Scripture, that we soon see him, at the request of the
+captain and officers, with the hearty concurrence of the gentlemen
+who were passengers, reading "full public prayers" to them twice a
+day in the great cabin, and expounding every night after the evening
+prayers, besides daily reading prayers, and preaching twice a day
+on deck to the soldiers and sailors, and increasing the services
+on Sundays. In addition to all this, he daily catechized a company
+of young soldiers, and engaged in the same exercise with the women
+apart by themselves.
+
+Nor did even all this suffice to expend his zeal, for he commenced
+a course of expositions on the creed and ten commandments; and so
+convinced was he of the value of catechetical teaching, that on
+February 3d he writes, "I began to-night to turn the observations
+made on the lessons in the morning into catechetical questions, and
+was pleased to hear some of the soldiers make very apt answers."
+
+Nor were the children forgotten; the Hon. Mr. Habersham, a personal
+friend who accompanied him, assumed their instruction as his
+department of holy labor. Mr. Whitefield wrote of him, that he was
+"pleased to see Mr. Habersham so active in teaching the children. He
+has now many scholars--may God bless him."
+
+Friendship for Whitefield had influenced Mr. Habersham to accompany
+the young evangelist to Georgia. Mr. Habersham's friends, at
+Beverly, in Yorkshire, where he was born in 1712, were greatly
+opposed to his plans, but surely the hand of God directed them.
+He presided over the Orphan-house till 1744, when he entered into
+a commercial partnership. He occupied several important stations,
+till he became president of the colony in 1769. The proceedings
+connected with the revolutionary war more than once placed him in
+great difficulties; he did not live to see its happy results, for in
+1775 the state of his health compelled him to visit the north, in
+hope of its renovation. The change, however, was of no benefit, and
+he died at New Brunswick, New Jersey, August 28, 1775. The "Gazette"
+of the day said of him, "In the first stations of the province he
+conducted himself with ability, honor, and integrity, which gained
+him the love and esteem of his fellow-citizens; nor was he less
+distinguished in private life by a conscientious discharge of the
+social duties, as a tender and affectionate parent, a sincere and
+warm friend, and a kind and indulgent master. Mr. Habersham was
+married by the Rev. Mr. Whitefield to Mary Bolton at Bethesda, on
+the 26th of December, 1740, by whom he had ten children, three of
+whom, sons, survived him, and were zealous in the cause of American
+liberty."
+
+In harmony with the solemn duties which Mr. Whitefield had assumed,
+he watched over the conduct of all around him. He tells us that the
+ship's cook was awfully addicted to drinking, and when reproved for
+this and other sins, he boasted that he would be wicked till within
+two years of his death, and would then reform. Alas, he died on the
+voyage, after an illness of six hours, brought on by drinking.
+
+One day on this voyage, finding on Captain Whiting's pillow "The
+Independent Whig," Whitefield exchanged it for a book entitled "The
+Self-Deceiver." The next morning, the captain came smiling and
+inquired who made the exchange. Mr. Whitefield confessed the fact,
+and begged his acceptance of the book, which he said he had read,
+and liked very well. From thenceforward a visible alteration took
+place in the conduct of the captain.
+
+On their arrival at Gibraltar, where they had to continue some time,
+Mr. Whitefield found that Major Sinclair, without solicitation, had
+provided a lodging for him, and the governor and military invited
+him to their table. Being apprehensive that at a public military
+table he might be more than hospitably treated, to prevent any
+thing disagreeable, he reminded his excellency that, at the court
+of Ahasuerus, "none did compel." The governor took the hint, and
+pleasantly replied, "No compulsion of any kind shall be used at my
+table;" and every thing was conducted with the greatest propriety.
+Here he often preached, and was heard by many, including all in high
+offices. Unusual indeed were the scenes, both with respect to the
+place and the people. The adjacent promontories, and the vastness of
+the rock of Gibraltar, aided in the enlargement of the ideas of the
+preacher as to Him, who "in his strength setteth fast the mountains,
+and is girded about with power." And the place being a sort of
+public rendezvous of all nations, he thought, he says, "he saw the
+world in epitome."
+
+The success of Whitefield's ministry at Gibraltar was truly
+remarkable. He quaintly says of it, "Samson's riddle was fulfilled
+there: 'out of the strong came forth sweetness.' Who more unlikely
+to be wrought upon than soldiers? And yet, among any set of people,
+I have not been where God has made his power more known. Many that
+were quite blind, have received their sight; many that had fallen
+back, have repented and turned to the Lord again; many that were
+ashamed to own Christ openly, have waxed bold; and many saints have
+had their hearts filled with joy unspeakable, and full of glory."
+
+Among other religions societies to which Whitefield was introduced
+at Gibraltar, he one day attended the Jewish synagogue, and was
+agreeably surprised when one of the rulers handed him into the chief
+seat. The rabbi had the day before heard him preach against profane
+swearing, and now thanked him for his sermon. He remained in the
+synagogue during the whole service, engaged, he says, "in secret
+prayer that the veil might be taken from the heart of the Jews, and
+they grafted again into their own olive-tree."
+
+Several facts occurred on the way to Savannah after their
+embarkation from Gibraltar, which are too interesting to pass
+without notice. On one occasion Captain Mackay, after Whitefield
+had preached against drunkenness, urged the men to attend to the
+things which had been spoken; telling them that he was a notorious
+swearer until he did so; and beseeching them for Christ's sake to
+give up their sins. On another occasion, while marrying a couple on
+deck, Whitefield suddenly shut the prayer-book in the midst of the
+ceremony, because the bridegroom had behaved with levity; and not
+until the laughter was turned into weeping, would he proceed. At the
+close of the service he gave the bride a Bible. When a shark was
+caught, with five pilot-fish clinging to its fins, he said, "Go to
+the pilot-fish, thou that forsakest a friend in adversity; consider
+his ways, and be abashed." When a dolphin was caught, the change
+of its hues from lovely to livid, reminded him to say, "Just so is
+man; he flourishes for a little while, but when death cometh, how
+quickly his beauty is gone! A Christian may learn instruction from
+every thing he meets with." While he was preaching on the death
+of Christ darkness came on, and he said, "It puts me in mind of
+that darkness which overwhelmed the world when the God of nature
+suffered."
+
+In the latter part of the voyage, fever laid prostrate all in the
+ship except four persons, and at length it seized Whitefield, and
+confined him to his bed for a week. The attack, though short, must
+have been severe; for besides other remedies, he was bled three
+times. During his illness, the captain gave up his own bed to
+him, and Mr. Habersham watched him day and night; but that which
+gratified him most was, that the sick between decks, whom he had
+endangered his life to console, prayed for him with great fervor. He
+recovered, and repaid the kindness of all. At length, on May 5, they
+came in sight of Savannah river, and sent off for a pilot; and such
+was the joy of all, when they came to anchor at Tybee island, that
+he could not help exclaiming, "How infinitely more joyful will the
+children of God be, when, having passed through the waves of this
+troublesome world, they arrive at the haven of everlasting rest!"
+Though still weak, he preached a farewell sermon to his "red-coated
+and blue-jacketed parishioners," as he called his military and naval
+congregation. It was heard with floods of tears.
+
+Upon this voyage, says Dr. Gillies, he made these reflections many
+years after: "Even at this distance of time, the remembrance of the
+happy hours I enjoyed in religious exercises on deck, is refreshing
+to my soul; and although nature sometimes relented at being taken
+from my friends, and I was little accustomed to the inconveniences
+of a sea-life, yet, a consciousness that I had the glory of God
+and the good of souls in view, afforded me, from time to time,
+unspeakable satisfaction."
+
+Whitefield was cordially welcomed at Savannah by Delamotte and
+other friends of the Wesleys: the magistrates also offered to wait
+upon him to pay their respects; but this he declined, and waited
+upon them. They agreed to build him a tabernacle and a house at
+Frederica, and to accept his services at Savannah as long as he
+pleased. He was soon, however, again laid aside by the return of his
+fever, now accompanied with ague. This attack in a few days brought
+him so low, and made so great an alteration in his person, that he
+says, "Had my friends seen me at that hour, they might have learned
+not to have any man's person in admiration, and not to think more
+highly of me than they ought to think."
+
+The first thing which Whitefield did after his recovery was to
+visit _Tomo-Chici_, the Indian king, then on his death-bed. This
+was the micoe, or king, whom Oglethorpe had taken to England, in
+1734, and introduced to king George the Second. He was accompanied
+by his wife and son, and seven other Indians of the Creek nation.
+His eloquent speech to the king and queen was so well received at
+court, that he was loaded with presents, and when he had again to
+embark, was sent in one of the royal carriages to Gravesend. "He now
+lay," says Whitefield, "on a blanket, thin and meagre; little else
+but skin and bones. Senanki, his wife, sat by, fanning him with
+Indian feathers. There was no one could talk English, so I could
+only shake hands with him and leave him. A few days afterwards,
+Mr. Whitefield again went to visit Tomo-Chici, and found that
+his nephew, Tooanoowee, could speak English. Whitefield says, "I
+desired him to ask his uncle, whether he thought he should die;
+who answered, 'I cannot tell.' I then asked where he thought he
+should go after death. He replied, 'To heaven.' But alas, how can
+a drunkard enter there? I then exhorted Tooanoowee, who is a tall,
+proper youth, not to get drunk; telling him that he understood
+English, and therefore would be punished the more if he did not live
+better. I then asked him whether he believed in a heaven. He said,
+'Yes.' I then asked whether he believed in a hell, and described it
+by pointing to the fire. He replied, 'No.' From whence we may easily
+gather, how natural it is to all mankind to believe there is a place
+of happiness, because they wish it to be so; and on the contrary,
+how averse they are to believe in a place of torment, because they
+wish it may not be so. But God is just and true; and as surely as
+the righteous shall go away into everlasting happiness, so the
+impenitently wicked shall go into everlasting punishment."
+
+The records of Georgia say, under date of December 21, 1737,
+"Ordered, that a license be made out for the Rev. Mr. George
+Whitefield to perform ecclesiastical offices in Georgia, as a deacon
+in the church of England."
+
+Before Whitefield had any thoughts of going abroad, Charles Wesley
+talked to him of an orphan-house in Georgia, which he and General
+Oglethorpe had contemplated. When he arrived in Savannah, and had
+sufficiently recovered from his illness to examine the state of
+the colony, the condition of the children deeply affected him; and
+he set his heart on founding the projected institution as soon
+as he should be able to collect the needful funds. In the mean
+time he opened schools in the villages of Highgate and Hampstead,
+and one also, for girls, in Savannah. He afterwards visited the
+Saltzburgher's orphan-school at Ebenezer; and if any thing had been
+wanted to settle his own determination, or to inflame his zeal, he
+found it there. The Saltzburghers were exiles for conscience' sake,
+and were eminent for piety and industry. Their ministers, the Rev.
+Messrs. Grenaw and Boltzius, were eminently evangelical, and their
+asylum, which they had been enabled to found by British benevolence,
+for widows and orphans, was flourishing. Whitefield was so delighted
+with the order and harmony of Ebenezer, that he gave a share of
+his own "poor's store" to Boltzius, for his orphans. Then came the
+scene which entirely completed his purpose: Boltzius "called all the
+children before him; catechized and exhorted them to give God thanks
+for his good providence towards them; then prayed with them, and
+made them pray after him; then sung a psalm. Afterwards, the little
+lambs came and shook me by the hand, one by one, and so we parted."
+Whitefield was now pledged to this cause for life.
+
+Most of our readers probably know that the conductors of "The
+Gentleman's Magazine," a work which has now been regularly
+published in London for much more than a century, have never been
+favorable to evangelical truth, or its ministers; it is therefore
+the more gratifying to copy from that work for November, 1737, the
+following lines: it will be seen that they were published more than
+a month before Mr. Whitefield's departure to the American colonies.
+
+
+"TO THE REV. MR. WHITEFIELD, ON HIS DESIGN FOR GEORGIA.
+
+    "How great, how just thy zeal, adventurous youth,
+     To spread in heathen climes the light of truth!
+     Go, loved of heaven, with every grace refined,
+     Inform, enrapture each dark Indian's mind;
+     Grateful, as when to realms long hid from day,
+     The cheerful dawn foreshows the solar ray.
+     How great thy charity, whose large embrace
+     Intends the eternal weal of all thy race;
+     Prompts thee the rage of waves and winds to scorn,
+     To effect the work for which thy soul was born.
+     What multitudes, whom Pagan dreams deceive,
+     Shall, when they hear thy heavenly voice, believe!
+     On Georgia's shore thy Wesley shall attend,
+     To hail the wished arrival of his friend;
+     With joy the promised harvest he surveys,
+     And to his Lord for faithful laborers prays;
+     Though crowded temples here would plead thy stay,
+     Yet haste, blest prophet, on thy destined way.
+     Be gentle, winds, and breathe an easy breeze,
+     Be clear, ye skies, and smooth, ye flowing seas!
+     From heaven, ye guardian angels, swift descend,
+     Delighted his blest mission to attend;
+     Which shall from Satan's power whole nations free,
+     While half the world to Jesus bow the knee.
+     Long as Savannah, peaceful stream, shall glide,
+     Your worth renowned shall be extended wide;
+     Children as yet unborn shall bless your lore,
+     Who thus to save them left your native shore;
+     The apostles thus, with ardent zeal inspired,
+     To gain _all nations_ for their Lord desired.
+     They measured seas, a life laborious knew,
+     And numerous converts to their Master drew;
+     Whose hallelujahs, on the ethereal plains,
+     Rise scarce beneath the bright seraphic strains.
+
+    "GLOUCESTER, Nov. 1, 1737."
+
+After spending a few weeks at Savannah, laboring as much as his
+health would permit, Whitefield went to Frederica, where he was
+gladly received; the people "having had a famine of the word for a
+long season." They had no sanctuary, and therefore he had to preach
+under a tree, or in Mr. Habersham's house. This visit, although
+short, endeared him to all the people; and he had the satisfaction
+before he left, to see them "sawing timber for a commodious place
+of worship, until a church could be built." His return, however,
+to Savannah was hastened by a somewhat painful event. One of his
+friends was lost in the woods, and missing from Tuesday till Friday.
+The great guns had been fired to direct the wanderer, but in vain;
+and some of the people had searched for him day and night, without
+success. This report was sent to Whitefield, and it hurried him away
+from Frederica. He had the pleasure, however, on his arrival at
+Savannah, to find his "lost sheep."
+
+During the stay of Whitefield in Georgia, the weather was intensely
+hot, sometimes almost burning his feet through his shoes. Seeing
+others do it, he determined to accustom himself to hardship by
+lying constantly on the floor; which by use he found to be so far
+from being uncomfortable, that afterwards it became so to lie on a
+bed. Nor was he more ready to deny himself than he was assiduous
+to do good; preaching often, catechizing the young, visiting the
+sick, and exhorting from house to house. Entirely independent and
+unrestrained, he knew no fear in the discharge of what he regarded
+as his duty. Knowing that some men of influence, to whom his voice
+could not be addressed from the pulpit, were living in open defiance
+of morality and shame, he went into the court and made an address to
+the grand jury, urging them to present all such offenders without
+partiality or fear, since the miserable state of the colony was
+doubtless owing to divine displeasure against their sins.
+
+Reflection on the character, labors, and success of his
+predecessors, stimulated his zeal and encouraged his hope. It could
+not be denied that John Wesley had been misrepresented and unkindly
+treated, both in Savannah and Frederica, and Whitefield therefore
+rejoiced to bear honorable testimony of him and his colleagues.
+He says, "Surely I must labor most heartily, since I come after
+such worthy men. The good Mr. John Wesley has done in America is
+inexpressible. His name is very precious among the people, and he
+has laid such a foundation, that I hope neither men nor devils will
+be able to shake it. O that I may follow him as he has followed
+Christ."
+
+Mr. Whitefield having as yet only received deacon's orders, and
+wishing to be ordained priest, for the more complete performance
+of his duty as a minister of the church of England, it became
+necessary for him to return to Europe for that purpose; and being
+also desirous of making collections for his Orphan-house, he left
+Mr. Habersham at Savannah, and went to Charleston, S. C., on his way
+to England.
+
+At Charleston he became acquainted with the Rev. Alexander Garden,
+the ecclesiastical commissary of the Bishop of London, who with
+apparent cordiality twice invited him into his pulpit, and assured
+him that he would defend him with his life and property, should the
+same arbitrary proceedings ever be commenced against him which Mr.
+Wesley had met with in Georgia. Dr. Deems, in his recently published
+volume, "The Annals of Southern Methodism," tells us, when speaking
+of his first sermon, "The people at first despised his youth, but
+his engaging address soon gained their general esteem, and Mr.
+Garden thanked him most cordially." In an after-period, however,
+when Mr. Garden more fully understood the evangelical character of
+Mr. Whitefield's preaching, he frequently took occasion to point
+out what he called the pernicious tendency of his doctrines, and
+irregular manner of life. He represented him as a religious quack,
+who had an excellent way of setting off and rendering palatable his
+poisonous tenets. On one occasion Garden, to keep his flock from
+going after this strange pastor, preached from the text, "These that
+have turned the world upside down are come hither also." Whitefield,
+however, was not to be silenced in this way, and returned the
+compliment by preaching from the words, "Alexander the coppersmith
+did me much evil; the Lord reward him according to his works."
+
+On September 6, 1738, Whitefield embarked for London. The voyage was
+perilous in the extreme. They were tossed about with bad weather,
+in a ship out of repair, and in sad want of provisions. When they
+were over about one-third of the Atlantic, a vessel from Jamaica
+would have gladly received him, but he chose to share the lot of
+his shipmates. They highly valued his services, and one of his
+fellow-passengers, Captain Gladman, became, as the result of this
+voyage, a truly pious man. The captain, in a subsequent period, at
+his own earnest request, became the fellow-traveller of his teacher.
+
+After a passage of about nine weeks, they made the port of Limerick,
+in Ireland. "I wish," Whitefield says, "I could never forget what
+I felt when water and provisions were brought us from the shore.
+Mr. M'Mahon, a country gentleman, came from his seat at midnight
+on purpose to relieve us, and most kindly invited me, though
+unknown, to his house, to stay as long as I pleased." At Limerick
+he was cordially received by that worthy prelate, Bishop Birscough,
+who engaged him to preach at the cathedral. From thence he went
+to Dublin, where he preached, and was hospitably entertained by
+Archbishop Bolton, Bishop Rundel, and Dr. Delany.
+
+Remaining but a short time in Ireland, he proceeded to London, where
+he arrived December 8. Here he had the pleasure of conversing with
+some of the Moravian brethren, whose faith and love refreshed his
+spirit, though he did not entirely approve some of their views. He
+soon discovered somewhat of a change of feeling towards him on the
+part of many of the London clergy. Within two days, he found five
+of the churches were closed against him. He called on the Archbishop
+of Canterbury and the Bishop of London, who received him with cold
+civility. The bishop asked him if his journals were not tinctured
+with enthusiasm; and he replied, with his usual meekness and candor,
+that they were written only for his own use, and that of his private
+friends, and that they were published without his knowledge. So
+anxious was he to avoid giving offence, that he took the earliest
+opportunity to expunge from his journals whatever he discovered to
+be erroneous, and whatever he had said without imperative necessity,
+or which was likely to injure the character and feelings of any one.
+
+The trustees of Georgia, at a meeting in London, received Whitefield
+with great cordiality, and in compliance with the wishes of the
+colonists, they presented him with the living of Savannah, the
+salary of which he declined to receive; but he thankfully accepted
+five hundred acres of land, on which he proposed to erect his
+orphan-house.
+
+On Sunday, January 14, 1739, being then in his twenty-fifth year,
+Whitefield was ordained priest at Oxford, by his worthy friend
+Bishop Benson. Having preached twice to very crowded congregations,
+and administered the Lord's supper at the castle, he returned to
+London the next day. As Dr. Benson once expressed regret that he
+had ordained Mr. Whitefield, it may be proper here to explain the
+circumstances. Shortly after the late Countess of Huntingdon first
+became acquainted with the truth as it is in Jesus, Bishop Benson,
+who had been lord Huntingdon's tutor, was sent for to remonstrate
+with her ladyship, and to induce her to relinquish what were then
+considered her erroneous views; but she pressed him so hard with
+the Articles and Homilies of his own church, and so plainly and
+faithfully urged upon him the awful responsibility of his station,
+that for the moment his mind was hurt, and he rose up to depart,
+lamenting that he had ever laid his hands upon George Whitefield, to
+whom he imputed the change which had been wrought in her ladyship.
+"My lord," said she, "mark my words; when you come upon your dying
+bed, that will be one of the few ordinations you will reflect upon
+with pleasure." It would seem that it was so; for, on his death-bed,
+the Bishop sent ten guineas to Mr. Whitefield as a token of his
+favor and approbation, and begged to be remembered by him in his
+prayers.
+
+The interval between his taking priests' orders, and embarking a
+second time for Georgia, was employed by Whitefield, with his usual
+energy and success, in preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
+and in making collections for his Orphan-house. Having, before his
+visit to America, collected large sums for the charity schools in
+the metropolis, he naturally expected that the pulpits would not be
+denied him now, in which to plead the interests of his own poor.
+But he was scarcely yet aware that the tide of clerical opinion had
+turned so extensively and strongly against him. The doctrines he had
+preached, and the manner in which he had preached them, had produced
+a sensation so strong, that he found himself excluded from most of
+the churches in London. A few, however, were yet open to him for
+his benevolent design. The Rev. Mr. Broughton conducted himself,
+among others, very nobly. Having been urged to refuse his pulpit,
+as some of his neighbors had done, he boldly replied, that "having
+obtained the lectureship of St. Helen's by Whitefield's influence,
+he should have the pulpit if he desired it." Mr. Whitefield
+preached, but Mr. Broughton thus losing the lectureship, Whitefield
+blamed himself for having done so. Whatever he might himself be
+willing to suffer, he was not willing to inflict inconvenience on
+others.
+
+Only a few days before his being ordained as priest, Whitefield
+offered his first public _extempore_ prayer, in a large meeting
+in Red Cross-street, London. He mentions this fact in a note of
+his diary as "the first time I ever prayed extempore before such a
+number." He did not even then suppose that his preaching, as well
+as his prayers in this manner, were to develop his mighty power.
+The crowding of the churches now suggested the idea of preaching in
+the open air. He says, "When I was informed that nearly a thousand
+people stood out in the church-yard, and that hundreds returned
+home, this put me first upon thinking of preaching without doors. I
+mentioned it to some friends, who looked upon it as a _mad_ motion.
+However, we kneeled down and prayed that nothing might be done
+rashly. Hear and answer, O Lord, for thy name's sake."
+
+We shall soon see how his extempore expositions and prayers were
+fitting him for this new enterprise. He would have commenced in
+London now, but he lacked a fair opportunity.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+OPEN-AIR PREACHING IN ENGLAND AND WALES--ERECTION OF THE TABERNACLE
+IN LONDON.
+
+1738-1739.
+
+
+Under the circumstances we have related in our last chapter,
+Whitefield paid another visit to Bristol, and soon found that he had
+to meet with new and very unexpected opposition. When he arrived in
+the city, the chancellor of the diocese, while he did not approve
+of what he considered his irregular conduct, told him that he would
+not prohibit any clergyman from lending him his church; but in a
+few days afterwards he sent for the evangelist, and announced his
+entire opposition to his movements. Strangely enough, he now asked
+Whitefield by what authority he preached in the diocese of Bristol
+without a license. The reply of the intrepid minister was, that he
+supposed such a custom had become obsolete, and asked the chancellor
+in his turn, "And pray, sir, why did you not ask the clergyman who
+preached for you last Thursday this question?" The chancellor then
+read to him the canons which forbid any clergyman from preaching
+in a private house; to which Whitefield replied, that he did not
+suppose these canons referred to professed ministers of the church
+of England; and when the chancellor told him he was mistaken, he
+reminded his superior, "There is also a canon, sir, forbidding all
+clergymen to frequent taverns and play at cards; why is not that
+put in execution?" And he then added, that notwithstanding any
+canons to the contrary, he could not but speak the things which
+he knew, and that he was resolved to proceed as usual. His answer
+was written down, and the chancellor closed the interview with the
+words, "I am resolved, sir, if you preach or expound anywhere in
+this diocese till you have a license, I will first suspend, and then
+excommunicate you." The crisis was now come; the Rubicon had been
+passed, and the inquiry might well be made, "What will Whitefield
+now do?"
+
+Already have we seen that he had earnestly desired, in London, to
+preach in the open air, for want of room in the churches, and indeed
+also from the opposition of the clergy, which had begun so strongly
+to manifest itself; and during this journey to Bristol, he found it
+necessary to preach in the open air or not at all. As this event was
+of vast importance in its results, both in his own history and that
+of Mr. Wesley, who also began to preach on the same spot within two
+months after Whitefield had opened the way, we must stay a while to
+narrate the facts.
+
+[Illustration: TABERNACLE, p 89.]
+
+[Illustration: HANHAM MOUNT]
+
+At that time, the colliers of Kingswood, near the city of Bristol,
+were a most depraved and reckless class of men. Inconceivably
+barbarous and ignorant, they trampled on all laws, human and divine,
+and hesitated not to set the magistrates at defiance. It was
+dangerous to pass near the scene of their labors, even in open day,
+for robberies and murders were of frequent occurrence; in a word, it
+was truly "a seat of Satan." When Whitefield was at Bristol, making
+collections for his projected orphan institution in Georgia, not a
+few persons had said to him, "Why go abroad; have we not Indians
+enough at home? If you have a mind to convert Indians, there are
+colliers enough in Kingswood." "I thought," says he, "it might be
+doing the service of my Creator, who had a mountain for his pulpit,
+and the heavens for his sounding-board, and who, when his gospel
+was refused by the Jews, sent his servants into the highways and
+hedges." After much prayer and many inward struggles, he went one
+day to a gentle elevation on the south side of Kingswood, called
+Hanham Mount, and there, under an old sycamore-tree, he preached his
+first sermon in the open air to about a hundred colliers. The scene
+must have been very impressive. Before him stretched the rich and
+beautiful valley of the Avon, through which the river was gently
+winding, bordered in the distance by the undulating hills; while on
+his right and left the cities of Bath and Bristol were within sight.
+
+The fact of his preaching here soon and extensively spread, and at
+meeting after meeting his audience increased, till he found himself
+addressing _nearly twenty thousand persons_. His own account of the
+effects produced is very striking. He says, "The first discovery of
+their being affected, was in the white gutters made by their tears,
+which plentifully fell down their black cheeks, as they came out of
+their coal pits. Hundreds and hundreds of them were soon brought
+under deep convictions, which happily ended in sound and thorough
+conversion. As the scene was quite new, and I had just begun to
+be an extempore preacher, I had often many inward conflicts.
+Sometimes, when twenty thousand people were before me, I had not,
+as I thought, a word to say; but I was never deserted; and I was
+often so assisted as to understand what that meaneth, 'Out of his
+belly shall flow rivers of living water.' The open firmament above;
+the prospect of the adjacent fields; with the sight of thousands
+and thousands, some in coaches, some on horseback, and some in the
+trees, and all so affected as to be drenched in tears together, to
+which sometimes was added the solemnity of the approaching night,
+were almost too much for me; I was occasionally all but overcome."
+Writing to Mr. Wesley a few weeks afterwards, he says, "Yesterday I
+began to play the madman in Gloucestershire, by preaching on a table
+in Thornbury-street. To-day I have exhorted twice, and by and by
+I shall begin a third time; nothing like doing good by the way. I
+suppose you have heard of my proceedings in Kingswood."
+
+We scarcely need to remark here, that Kingswood has ever since been
+regarded as a sacred spot in ecclesiastical history. Here houses
+for Wesleyan Methodists and Independents were soon erected, and in
+them thousands have been converted to God. Here was placed the first
+school for the sons of Methodist preachers, and on Hanham Mount,
+besides the voice of Whitefield, those of the Wesleys, Coke and
+Mather, Pawson and Benson, and Bradburn, accomplished some of the
+mightiest effects which attended their powerful preaching. There are
+yet some living in the neighborhood who were awakened under their
+ministry, and whose eyes glisten as they tell of the blessed days
+that are past.
+
+Besides the colliers, and thousands from the neighboring villages,
+persons of all ranks daily flocked out of Bristol. And he was
+soon invited by many of the most respectable people to preach
+on a large bowling-green in the city itself. Many of the people
+indeed sneered to see a stripling with a gown mount a table on
+unconsecrated ground; this even excited once or twice the laugh of
+some of the higher ranks, who had admired him in the churches. But
+he was unmoved, and his preaching was so blessed, that many were
+awakened. Sometimes he was employed almost from morning till night
+answering those who, in distress of soul, cried out, "What shall I
+do to be saved?" He now sought the help of Mr. John Wesley, who,
+after much reasoning with himself on the subject, complied with
+the invitation, and followed Whitefield's example, who immediately
+committed the work to him. Before leaving the neighborhood, however,
+Whitefield had the satisfaction of laying the foundation of a school
+for Kingswood; for the support of which the colliers liberally and
+cheerfully subscribed.
+
+Taking an affectionate leave of his Bristol friends, Whitefield made
+an excursion into Wales, where a revival of religion had commenced
+several years before, under the ministry of the Rev. Griffith Jones,
+and was now carried on by the ministry of Mr. Howel Harris, a man
+of strong mental powers, great Christian zeal, and considerable
+learning. They met at Cardiff. Whitefield's heart was then glowing
+with the fire he had himself kindled at Bristol and Kingswood. On
+his way from Bristol to Cardiff, he was delayed at the New Passage
+by contrary winds. He says, "At the inn there was an unhappy
+clergyman who would not go over in the passage-boat, because I was
+in it. Alas, thought I, this very temper would make heaven itself
+unpleasant to that man, if he saw me there. I was told that he
+charged me with being a dissenter. I saw him, soon after, shaking
+his elbows over a gaming-table. I heartily wish those who charge
+me causelessly with schism and being righteous overmuch, would
+consider that the canons of our church forbid the clergy to frequent
+taverns, or to play at cards or dice, or any other unlawful games.
+Their indulging themselves in these things is a stumbling-block to
+thousands."
+
+We have said that Whitefield first met Howel Harris at Cardiff.
+After preaching in the town-hall, from the judges' seat, he says, "I
+was much refreshed with the sight of Mr. Howel Harris; whom, though
+I knew not in person, I have long loved, and have often felt my
+soul drawn out in prayer in his behalf.... When I first saw him, my
+heart was knit closely to him. I wanted to catch some of his fire,
+and gave him the right hand of fellowship with my whole heart. After
+I had saluted him, and given an exhortation to a great number of
+people, who followed me to the inn, we spent the remainder of the
+evening in taking sweet counsel together, and telling one another
+what God had done for our souls. A divine and strong sympathy
+seemed to be between us, and I was resolved to promote his interest
+with all my might. Accordingly we took an account of the several
+societies, and agreed on such measures as seemed most conducive to
+promote the common interest of our Lord. Blessed be God, there seems
+a noble spirit gone out into Wales; and I believe that, ere long,
+there will be more visible fruits of it. What inclines me strongly
+to think so is, that the partition wall of bigotry and party spirit
+is broken down, and ministers and teachers of different communions
+join, with one heart and one mind, to carry on the kingdom of
+Jesus Christ. The Lord make all the Christian world thus minded;
+for, until this is done, we must, I fear, despair of any great
+reformation in the church of God."
+
+Before leaving Cardiff, Whitefield preached again in the town-hall,
+to a large assembly. He says, "My dear brother Harris sat close by
+me. I did not observe any scoffers within; but without, some were
+pleased to honor me so far as to trail a dead fox, and hunt it
+about the hall. But, blessed be God, my voice prevailed. This being
+done, I went, with many of my hearers, among whom were two worthy
+dissenting ministers, to public worship; and in the second lesson
+were these remarkable words: 'The high-priests, and the scribes,
+and the chief of the people sought to destroy him; but they could
+not find what they might do to him; for all the people were very
+attentive to hear him.'
+
+"In the afternoon I preached again, without any disturbance or
+scoffing. In the evening, I talked for above an hour and a half
+with the religious society, and never did I see a congregation more
+melted down. The love of Jesus touched them to the quick. Most
+of them were dissolved in tears. They came to me after, weeping,
+bidding me farewell, and wishing I could continue with them longer.
+Thanks be to God, for such an entrance into Wales. I wrestled with
+God for them in prayer, and blessed be His holy name for sending me
+into Wales. I hope these are the first-fruits of a greater harvest,
+if ever it should please God to bring me back from Georgia. 'Father,
+thy will be done.'"
+
+Whitefield returned from this short excursion, to Bristol, baptized
+with Welsh fire, and renewed his labors among the Kingswood colliers
+with more than his usual power and success. He could not, however,
+forget the tears which had entreated him to stay longer in Wales,
+and in three or four weeks he visited Usk and Pontypool, where he
+was again met by Howel Harris. At Usk, "the pulpit being denied, I
+preached upon a table, under a large tree, to some hundreds, and God
+was with us of a truth. On my way to Pontypool, I was informed by
+a man who heard it, that Counsellor H---- did me the honor to make
+a public motion to Judge P---- to stop me and brother Howel Harris
+from going about teaching the people. Poor man, he put me in mind of
+Tertullus, in the Acts; but my hour is not yet come. I have scarcely
+begun my testimony. For my finishing it, my enemies must have power
+over me from above. Lord, prepare me for that hour."
+
+The report to which we have just referred did not prevent the curate
+of Pontypool from cordially inviting Whitefield into his pulpit. He
+also read prayers for him. After the sermon, it was found that so
+many had come to hear who could not find room in the church, that
+another sermon was loudly called for. He says, "I went and preached
+to all the people in the field. I always find I have most power
+when I preach in the open air; a proof to me that God is pleased
+with this way of preaching. I betook myself to rest, full of such
+unutterable peace as no one can conceive of but those who feel it."
+
+In several other places did our evangelist, during this excursion,
+unfurl the banner of the cross; and at its close he writes, "Oh how
+swiftly this week has glided away. To me it has been but as one day.
+How do I pity those who complain that time hangs on their hands! Let
+them but love Christ, and spend their whole time in his service,
+and they will find but few melancholy hours." Nor will any wonder
+that he should thus speak, who consider the spirit which animated
+his soul. What he some time afterwards wrote to Howel Harris,
+from Philadelphia, indicated the spirit he himself cherished:
+"Intersperse prayers with your exhortations, and thereby call down
+fire from heaven, even the fire of the Holy Ghost,
+
+    "'To soften, sweeten, and refine,
+      And melt them into love.'
+
+Speak every time, my dear brother, as if it were your last; _weep
+out_, if possible, every argument, and compel them to cry, 'Behold
+how he loveth us.'"
+
+From Wales, Whitefield went to visit his native city, Gloucester;
+and after one or two sermons, he found himself here also excluded
+from the parochial pulpits. But notwithstanding his persecutions,
+and the infirm state of his health at that time, his labors in
+Gloucester and its vicinity were constant and eminently successful.
+Bowling-greens, market-crosses, highways, and other such places,
+bore witness to his faithful and tearful labors.
+
+At Gloucester lived at that time the Rev. Mr. Cole, an old
+dissenting minister, who often heard Whitefield preach, and used to
+say, "These are the days of the Son of man indeed!" Whitefield, when
+a boy, had been taught to ridicule this Mr. Cole; and when he was
+once asked what profession he would engage in, replied, "I will be a
+minister, but I will take care never to tell stories in the pulpit
+like old Cole." Twelve years afterwards, the old minister heard the
+young one preach, and tell some story to illustrate his subject,
+when the venerable servant of Christ remarked, "I find young
+Whitefield can tell stories now as well as old Cole." The good man
+was much affected with the preaching of his young friend, and was so
+humble, that he used to subscribe himself his curate, and went about
+in the country preaching after him. One evening, while preaching, he
+was struck with death, and asked for a chair to lean on till he had
+finished his sermon. Having done this, he was carried up stairs and
+died. When the fact was told to Whitefield, he said, "O blessed God,
+if it be thy holy will, may my exit be like his!" How striking is
+this fact when looked at in connection with the circumstances of his
+own removal from earth.
+
+Intent on the advancement of his orphan-house in Georgia, Whitefield
+soon went to London, passing on his way through Oxford. At both
+places he found opposition, and in London was shut out of the
+churches. He preached to thousands in Islington churchyard, and now
+resolved to give himself to the work in the open air.
+
+From the conflict with the enemies who a few years before had
+threatened her existence, the polemics of the church of England now
+turned to resist the unwelcome ally who menaced her repose. Bishop
+Warburton led the van, and behind him many a mitred front scowled
+on the audacious innovator. Divested of the logomachies which
+chiefly engaged the attention of the disputants, the controversy
+between Whitefield and the bishops lay in a narrow compass. It
+being mutually conceded that the virtues of the Christian life can
+result only from certain divine impulses, and that to lay a claim
+to this holy inspiration when its legitimate fruits are wanting,
+is a fatal delusion, he maintained, and they denied, that the
+person who is the subject of this sacred influence has within his
+own bosom an independent attestation of its reality. So abstruse a
+debate required the zest of some more pungent ingredients, and the
+polemics with whom Whitefield had to do were not such sciolists in
+their calling as to be ignorant of the necessity of riveting upon
+him some epithet at once opprobrious and vague. While therefore
+milder spirits arraigned him as an _enthusiast_, Warburton, with
+constitutional energy of invective, denounced him as a _fanatic_. In
+vain Whitefield demanded a definition of these reproachful terms. To
+have fixed their meaning would have been to blunt their edge. They
+afforded a solution, at once compendious, obscure, and repulsive, of
+whatever was remarkable in his character, and have been associated
+with his name from that time to the present.
+
+The spots on which Whitefield now began, in his own language,
+"to take the field," and publicly to erect the standard of the
+Redeemer's cross, are well known. Moorfields, then a place of
+general rendezvous and recreation from the crowded city, Kennington
+Common then about two, and Blackheath about five miles from London,
+were the favorite sites to which he loved to resort, and "open his
+mouth boldly" to listening thousands, in honor of his crucified and
+glorified Lord. Recording his first engagement of this kind in his
+diary of Sabbath evening, April 29, 1739, he writes, "Begun to be
+yet more vile this day, for I preached at Moorfields to an exceeding
+great multitude; and at five in the evening went and preached at
+Kennington Common, where upwards of twenty thousand were supposed
+to be present. The wind being for me, it carried my voice to the
+extreme part of my audience. All stood attentive, and joined in
+the psalm and the Lord's prayer so regularly, that I scarce ever
+preached with more quietness in a church. Many were much affected.
+
+    "'For this let men revile my name,
+      I'll shun no cross, I'll fear no shame;
+      All hail, reproach, and welcome pain,
+      Only thy terrors, Lord, restrain.'"
+
+For several successive months, the places we have named were his
+chief scenes of action. At a moderate computation, the audience
+frequently consisted of twenty thousand. It is said that the singing
+could be heard two miles, and the voice of the preacher nearly
+one. Sometimes there were upwards of a hundred coaches, besides
+wagons, scaffolds, and other contrivances by which a sight of him
+could be obtained. The rising ground on Blackheath, from which
+Whitefield preached, is still known as "Whitefield's mount," and
+after his death, Lord Dartmouth planted it with fir-trees. It will
+ever be a grateful recollection to the author of this volume, that
+during the summer of 1839 he prevailed on some of the most eminent
+ministers of England to preach on every successive Monday evening
+on this hallowed spot; and that here many thousands then heard
+the way of salvation, and not a few were brought to the cross of
+Christ. In that immediate neighborhood too, now densely populated,
+he organized, and for some years preached to a Christian church.
+Memorable times! Many were the manifestations of the Redeemer's
+favor.
+
+An anecdote which we heard many years ago from one of Whitefield's
+Blackheath hearers, may here be related. While one day preaching on
+"the heath," there passed along the road at some distance, an old
+man and "Mary" his wife, with their ass and his loaded panniers,
+returning from London to their home in Kent. Attracted alike by the
+crowd and the preacher's voice, the old man and his wife turned a
+little out of their way to hear "what the man was talking about."
+Whitefield spoke of somewhat which occurred eighteen hundred years
+ago, and the old man said, "Mary, come along, it is only something
+which happened a long while ago;" but Mary's attention had been
+arrested, and she wished to stay a minute or two longer. They were
+both soon in tears, and the inquiry was excited in their hearts,
+"What shall we do to be saved?" On their way home, while "talking
+of all these things," the old man recollected his neglected Bible,
+and asked, "Why, Mary, does not our old book at home say somewhat
+about these things?" They went home, and examined the old book with
+new light. "Why, Mary," asked the old man, "is this indeed our old
+book? why, every thing in it seems quite new." So true is it, that
+the teaching of the Spirit gives new discernment as to the truths of
+divine revelation.
+
+A fact strikingly illustrating the children's love to our evangelist
+may be here mentioned. In his open-air preachings, especially in and
+about London, he was usually attended by many of them, who sat round
+him, in and about the pulpit, and handed to him the notes of those
+who desired his counsels and prayers. These children were exposed to
+the missiles with which he was often assailed, but however terrified
+they might be, or even hurt, they seldom shrunk; "but," says he, "on
+the contrary, every time I was struck, they turned up their little
+weeping eyes, and seemed to wish they could receive the blows for
+me."
+
+Speaking of his open-air labors, the devoted preacher says, "Words
+cannot express the displays of divine grace which we saw, and heard
+of, and felt. Lord, not unto me, but unto thy name be all the
+glory." On a subsequent occasion he writes, "We have had a glorious
+season, a true Easter. Jesus Christ is risen indeed. I have been
+preaching in Moorfields, and our Saviour carries all before us.
+Nothing can resist his conquering blood. It would have delighted you
+to see poor sinners flock from the booths to see Jesus lifted up on
+the pole of the gospel." The climax of his success there, is one of
+the most remarkable letters that ever came from a mortal's pen. He
+records at its close, "We then retired to the Tabernacle, with my
+pockets full of notes from persons brought under concern, and read
+them amidst the praises and spiritual acclamations of thousands, who
+joined with the holy angels in rejoicing that so many sinners were
+snatched, in such an unexpected, unlikely place and manner, out of
+the very jaws of the devil. This was the beginning of the Tabernacle
+society. Three hundred and fifty awakened souls were received in
+one day; and I believe the number of notes exceeded a thousand. But
+I must have done, believing you want to retire, to join in mutual
+praise with me in thanksgiving to God and the Lamb."
+
+Having thus introduced the name of the Tabernacle, it is important
+that the reader should be acquainted with the origin of the
+buildings which have borne that name. From the very first of what
+may be called his irregular labors, Whitefield always declared that
+he "would never be the founder of a sect." He kept his word; yet
+two London churches remain as his memorial--the Tabernacle, and
+Tottenham Court-road chapel, the one in the north, and the other
+in the western part of the metropolis. The Tabernacle, which was
+first erected, was his more especial and favorite field of labor,
+and he dwelt in the house adjoining it, which is still the pastoral
+residence.
+
+Moorfields, just without the limits of the old north city wall of
+London, was, a few years before Whitefield first knew it, a marsh,
+and during the greater part of the year, was absolutely impassable.
+Having been partially drained, a brick kiln was erected, and the
+first bricks used in London are said to have been manufactured
+there. Afterwards it was a field for the practice of archery,
+when it was laid out in walks, and called the City Mall. Though
+improved in name and appearance, it became the rallying ground for
+the rabble of London; wrestlers, boxers, and mountebanks, the idle,
+the dissolute, and the profane, held here their daily and nightly
+revels. It appeared, in fact, to be one of the strong-holds of
+Satan, and therefore became a most tempting and important point
+of attack for the daring eloquence of Whitefield. All London rang
+one day with the announcement that Whitefield would preach the day
+following at Moorfields.
+
+This was in January, 1739. Gillies says, "The thing being strange
+and new, he found, on coming out of the coach, an incredible number
+of people assembled. Many told him that he would never come out of
+that place alive. He went in, however, between two friends, who by
+the pressure of the crowd were soon parted from him entirely, and
+obliged to leave him to the mercy of the rabble. But these, instead
+of hurting him, formed a lane for him, and carried him along to the
+middle of the fields, where a table had been placed. This, however,
+having been broken by the crowd, he mounted a wall, and preached to
+an exceeding great multitude in tones so melting, that his words
+drew tears and groans from the most abandoned of his hearers.
+Moorfields became henceforth one of the principal scenes of his
+triumphs. Thirty thousand people sometimes gathered together to hear
+him, and generous contributions here poured in for his orphan-house
+at Bethesda. On one occasion twenty pounds--about one hundred
+dollars--were received in half-pennies, more than one person was
+able to carry away, and enough to put one out of conceit with a
+specie currency."
+
+It was not till his fifth visit to London, in March, 1741, that
+Whitefield ventured to preach in Moorfields on _a week-day_; the day
+selected for this bold action being Good-Friday. His chief, if not
+his only friends on this occasion, he tells us, were a few "orthodox
+dissenters." These people perceiving the inconvenience to which
+he was subjected by the weather, during the morning and evening
+services in Moorfields, procured the loan of a piece of ground, and
+employed a carpenter to build a large temporary shed, to screen the
+auditory from the cold and rain. This building Whitefield called
+a "tabernacle," as it was only intended to be used a few months
+during his stay in his native country, previous to his return to
+America. Providence, however, had otherwise determined, and this
+proved the commencement of a permanent establishment of the means of
+grace. A great spiritual awakening took place; congregations became
+very large, acquiring at the same time considerable cohesion, and
+assuming a stationary character. This original fabric of wood was a
+place of large dimensions; and notwithstanding its rude aspect and
+temporary design, it sufficed for the accommodation of Whitefield
+and his flock, during the twelve succeeding years--a period the most
+brilliant and useful of his extraordinary career.
+
+Some of Whitefield's friends, however, did not approve of the
+original wooden structure; and anticipating or desiring the
+formation of a Christian church, they called for the immediate
+erection of a substantial brick building, a point which was debated
+with a warmth approaching to violence, of which Whitefield makes
+pathetic mention seven years afterwards. Here then several important
+facts are established: that the original tabernacle sprang not from
+Whitefield, but from a voluntary movement among his adherents,
+composed chiefly, if not wholly, of Protestant dissenters; that the
+expense was borne not by him, but by them; that much debate and
+dissension attended the measure, proving the thoroughly free and
+popular character of the original movement; and that, as the edifice
+originated with the people alone, so did the institution of regular
+worship. It is certain that fears existed in the mind of Whitefield
+as to the success of such an organization; but the results most
+happily disappointed his expectations.
+
+The subject of the erection of a more spacious edifice in the place
+of the tabernacle of wood, was first discussed at the mansion
+of Lady Huntingdon, in Leicestershire, when Drs. Doddridge and
+Stonehouse, and the Rev. Messrs. Hervey and Whitefield happened to
+meet together, in the summer of 1751. During the following winter,
+Whitefield began to make collections for the object, and on almost
+its first presentation in London, nine hundred pounds, or four
+thousand five hundred dollars, were subscribed. "But," he says, "on
+the principle that burned children dread the fire, I do not mean
+to begin until I get one thousand in hand, and then to contract at
+a certain sum for the whole." The fact was, that Whitefield had
+often been in great straits for the support of his orphan-house
+in Georgia, "for I forgot," he says, "that Professor Francke built
+in Glaucha, in a populous country, and that I was building at the
+very tail of the world." In March, 1753, he wrote to Mr. Charles
+Wesley, "On Tuesday morning the first brick of our new Tabernacle
+was laid with awful solemnity. I preached from Exodus 20:24, 'In all
+places where I record my name, I will come unto thee, and I will
+bless thee.' The wall is now about a yard high. The building is to
+be eighty feet square. It is on the old spot. We have bought the
+house, and if we finish what we have begun, shall be rent free for
+forty-six years." In June the dedicatory services took place, when
+the Tabernacle, though capable, with its capacious galleries, of
+holding _four thousand_ people, was crowded almost to suffocation.
+Often have we seen this vast building crowded with worshippers, with
+delight have we occupied its pulpit, and with devout gratitude do we
+record, that never for a moment has the frown of heaven rested upon
+it. Thousands will ever bless God for its erection.
+
+Not unfrequently has the question been discussed, to what
+denomination of Christians does the Tabernacle really belong? In
+answer to this question, we give a legal document which may also
+show what is done in reference to houses of worship in England,
+under the laws for the maintenance of religious toleration.
+
+"These are to certifie whom it may Concern, that a Certificate
+bearing date the Eighteenth Day of June, in the year of Our Lord
+One Thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty-four, under the Hands of
+Starkey Myddleton Minister, Robert Keen, Thomas Cox, Samuel Grace,
+Robert Hodgson, James Smith, Thomas Robinson, Benjamin Coles,
+Thomas Brooks, and Samuel Lockhart, for appropriating and setting
+apart a Certain Building for that purpose erected, situate near the
+Barking Dogs in the Parish of Saint Luke in the County of Middlesex,
+and intended for the meeting place of a certain Congregation of
+Protestant Dissenters from the Church of England, calling themselves
+Independents, was Registered in the Registry of the Dean and Chapter
+of the Cathedral Church of Saint Paul, London, This Twenty-first
+Day of June in the year of Our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and
+Sixty-four.
+
+  "THOMAS COLLINS, Deputy Registrar."
+
+While the new Tabernacle was in the course of erection, Whitefield
+visited Norwich, where his ministry was largely attended, and
+notwithstanding much opposition, was followed with considerable
+success. Writing to his friend Keen, he says, "How does God delight
+to exceed even the hopes, and to disappoint the fears of his weak,
+though honest-hearted people. In spite of all opposition, he hath
+caused us to triumph even in Norwich. Thousands attend twice every
+day, and hear with the greatest eagerness. I hope it will appear
+yet more and more that God hath much people here." Compelled by
+alarming illness, the result of his too much preaching, he suddenly
+returned to London, from whence he thus wrote to one of the converts
+at Norwich: "I shall little regard the weakness and indisposition of
+my body, if I can but have the pleasure of hearing, if not before,
+yet at the great day, that good was done to one precious soul at
+Norwich. Blessed be God for the seed sown there. I doubt not but
+it will be watered with the dew of his heavenly blessing, and bring
+forth a divine increase."
+
+Truly the gospel did triumph, not only in the erection of the
+Tabernacle in that city, but in preparing sinners to be pillars in
+the temple of God, and to win others to his service.
+
+Among other converts won at Norwich, was the afterwards popular and
+useful minister of Christ, the Rev. Robert Robinson, of Cambridge,
+England. When a young man, about eighteen, he resided in that city,
+and was engaged in the business of a barber. When he was walking
+one morning with several companions who had agreed that day to take
+their pleasure, the first object which attracted their attention
+was an old woman who pretended to tell fortunes. They immediately
+employed her to tell theirs, and that they might qualify her for the
+undertaking, first made her thoroughly intoxicated. Robinson was
+informed, among other things, that he would live to a very old age,
+and see his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren growing
+up around him. Though he had assisted in intoxicating the old
+woman, he had credulity enough to be struck with those parts of the
+prediction which related to himself. "And so," said he when alone,
+"I am to see children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. At
+that age I must be a burden to the young people. What shall I do?
+There is no way for an old man to render himself more agreeable to
+youth, than by sitting and telling them pleasant and profitable
+stories. I will then," thought he, "during my youth, endeavor
+to store my mind with all kinds of knowledge. I will see and
+hear, and note down every thing that is rare and wonderful, that
+I may sit, when incapable of other employments, and entertain my
+descendants. Thus shall my company be rendered pleasant, and I shall
+be respected, rather than neglected, in old age. Let me see, what
+can I acquire first? Oh, here is the famous Methodist preacher,
+Whitefield; he is to preach here, they say, to-night; I will go and
+hear him."
+
+From these strange motives, as he told the celebrated Rev. Andrew
+Fuller, he went to hear Whitefield preach. That evening his text
+was, "But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come
+to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who
+hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" Matt. 3:7. "Mr.
+Whitefield," said Robinson, "described the Sadducees' character;
+this did not touch me; I thought myself as good a Christian as any
+man in England. From this he went to that of the Pharisees. He
+described their exterior decency, but observed, that the poison of
+the viper rankled in their hearts. This rather shook me. At length,
+in the course of his sermon, he abruptly broke off; paused for a
+few moments; then burst into a flood of tears, lifted up his hands
+and eyes, and exclaimed, 'Oh, my hearers, _the wrath's to come! the
+wrath's to come!_' These words sunk into my heart like lead in the
+water; I wept, and when the sermon was ended retired alone. For days
+and weeks I could think of little else. Those awful words would
+follow me wherever I went: 'The wrath's to come! The wrath's to
+come!'"
+
+Scarcely had Whitefield completed the Tabernacle in London, before
+he was earnestly solicited to hold public services at the west
+end of the city, and Long-Acre chapel, then under the charge of a
+dissenter, was offered for his use. An unruly rabble endeavored to
+drive the preacher from his post; but a running fire of brickbats,
+broken glass, bells, drums, and clappers, neither annoyed nor
+frightened the intrepid evangelist; nor did an interference on the
+part of the hierarchy, which followed soon after, prohibiting his
+preaching in an incorporated chapel. "I hope you will not look on
+it as contumacy," said Whitefield to the bishop, "if I persist in
+prosecuting my design until I am more particularly apprized wherein
+I have erred. I trust the irregularity I am charged with will appear
+justifiable to every lover of English liberty, and what is all to
+me, be approved at the awful and impartial tribunal of the great
+Bishop and Shepherd of souls." Writing to Lady Huntingdon, he says,
+"My greatest distress is so to act as to avoid rashness on the
+one hand and timidity on the other;" and this shows, what indeed
+was proved in his whole life, an entire absence of that malignant
+element of fanaticism which courts opposition and revels in it.
+
+"Determined," as Mrs. Knight says, in her beautiful volume, "_Lady
+Huntingdon and her Friends_," "not to be beaten from his ground,
+yet hoping to escape some of its annoyances, Whitefield resolved to
+build a chapel of his own. Hence arose Tottenham Court-road chapel,
+which went by the name of 'Whitefield's soul-trap.'" Admirably
+does he say, "I pray the Friend of sinners to make it a soul-trap
+indeed to many wandering creatures. My constant work is preaching
+fifteen times a week. Conviction and conversion go on here, for God
+hath met us in our new building." It was completed and dedicated in
+November, 1756. Though not equal in its triumphs to the Tabernacle,
+the congregation has always been large, and its preachers--always
+the same as those at the Tabernacle--have not labored in vain. In
+1829, '30, improvements were made in the building, which still,
+however, contains Whitefield's pulpit. A vast area in the centre was
+originally filled with plain seats, where the masses of the people
+were accommodated free of all pew rent.
+
+Let not infidels tell us, that the religion of these men and of
+those times was mere enthusiasm, and that the temporal interests
+of men were neglected in professions of high regard for those of
+a spiritual character. Let such men know that within two years
+of the opening of Tottenham Court-road chapel, not only did the
+congregation build a parsonage-house for their minister, but twelve
+almshouses for as many poor widows. The Tabernacle has always
+acted with equal generosity. In proportion to their means, few
+congregations in the world have exceeded these two in works of
+benevolence.
+
+Assuredly what has sometimes been charged on evangelical
+ministers--that they attend to the spiritual interests of mankind,
+but neglect their temporal sufferings--would never apply to Mr.
+Whitefield. No sooner had he completed these large edifices, where
+vast congregations assembled, than he was heard frequently to plead
+for those laboring under oppression or distress in foreign lands.
+He preached in both these houses in behalf of the poor French
+Protestants in Prussia, who had suffered much from the cruelty of
+the Russians, when great numbers of the nobility, and some of the
+highest officers of the crown went to hear him. The collections for
+this object amounted to upwards of fifteen hundred pounds, or seven
+thousand five hundred dollars; and for this disinterested act of
+benevolence Whitefield received the thanks of his Prussian Majesty.
+
+Again, on the day recommended by the government for a general fast,
+Mr. Whitefield preached both at the Tabernacle and at Tottenham
+Court-road chapel, after which he collected five hundred and sixty
+pounds for the relief of the German Protestants, and the sufferers
+by fire at Boston, for which he received the unanimous thanks of
+the inhabitants of that town. Lady Huntingdon wrote to one of her
+friends, "It would delight you to have seen what crowds of the
+mighty and noble flocked to hear him. The collection was for the
+relief of the poor German Protestants. I invited several to come
+who probably would not attend his ministry on other occasions."
+Few places at that time could boast of such a constellation of
+transcendent genius and senatorial talent, such a brilliant
+assemblage of wisdom, magnanimity, and oratorical powers, as were
+then found within these houses of the living God.
+
+One word may be allowed here on the plain architecture of these
+buildings. "We are," says the excellent Mr. James, "in many things
+improved, and I rejoice in the improvement; but the occasion of my
+joy is at the same time the occasion of my fear and my jealousy
+also. Our ecclesiastical architecture is just now a special
+object of our attention. Whitefield, it may be confessed, paid
+too little attention to this; we, perhaps, are paying too much.
+His only solicitude was to save souls, careless altogether of the
+tastefulness of the building within which that work, which has
+no relation to styles of architecture, was carried on. His only
+calculation in the construction of a building was, how many immortal
+souls could be crowded within four square walls, and under a roof,
+to hear 'the joyful sound.' Hence the somewhat uncouth buildings
+which he erected. Ah, but when I consider that every stone in those
+unsightly walls has echoed to the sound of salvation and the hymns
+of redeemed spirits, and that almost every spot on the floor has
+been moistened by the tears of penitence, then, in a feeling of
+sanctity I seem to lose the sense of deformity, and there comes over
+me an awe and solemnity which no modern gothic structure with its
+lofty arches and painted windows can inspire. But still, as religion
+is not only the most holy, but the most beautiful thing in God's
+universe, there is no reason why taste and devotion should not be
+united. It is the ministry of the word, however, upon which the
+church must be chiefly intent."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+WHITEFIELD'S SECOND VISIT TO AMERICA.
+
+1739, 1740.
+
+
+As in the preceding chapter, for the sake of connecting the history
+of Whitefield's church edifices in London, we have anticipated the
+order of events, we go back to the period shortly before his second
+voyage to America.
+
+About the time of which we are now writing, a circumstance occurred
+of deep interest, which Whitefield relates at considerable length.
+Joseph Periam, a young man in London, who had read his sermon on
+"regeneration," became deeply impressed by it; he sold all that he
+possessed, and prayed so loud and fasted so long, that his family
+supposed him deranged, and sent him to the Bedlam madhouse, where he
+was treated as "methodistically mad," and as "one of Whitefield's
+gang." The keepers threw him down, and forced a key into his mouth,
+while they drenched him with medicine. He was then placed in a cold
+room without windows, and with a damp cellar under it. Periam,
+however, found some means of conveying a letter to Whitefield,
+requesting both advice and a visit. These were promptly given.
+The preacher soon discovered that Periam was not mad; and taking
+a Mr. Seward and some other friends with him, he went before the
+committee of the hospital to explain the case. It must have been
+somewhat of a ludicrous scene. Seward so astounded the committee by
+quoting Scripture, that they pronounced him to be as mad as Periam.
+The doctors frankly told the deputation, that in their opinion,
+Whitefield and his followers were "really beside themselves." It was
+however agreed, that if Whitefield would take Periam out to Georgia,
+his release would be granted. Thus the conference ended, and the
+young man went out as a schoolmaster at the Orphan-house. There he
+was exemplary and useful, and when he died two of his sons were
+received into the institution.
+
+Mr. Whitefield so successfully pleaded the cause of his American
+orphans, that during his journeys of twelve months he collected
+upwards of one thousand pounds towards the erection of his intended
+house for their accommodation. With this sum in his possession, he
+set sail for America the second time, August 14, 1739, accompanied
+by his friend Mr. Seward, eight men, one boy, and two children.
+
+While all this was going on, the inhabitants of Georgia were making
+every possible preparation for his reception. The records of the
+trustees say, May 16, 1739, "Read a commission to the Rev. George
+Whitefield to perform all religious and ecclesiastical offices at
+Savannah, in Georgia." Again: "June 2, 1739. Sealed a grant of five
+hundred acres of land to the Rev. George Whitefield, in trust for
+the use of the house to be erected and maintained for the receiving
+such children as now are, and shall hereafter be left orphans in
+the colony of Georgia, in pursuance of the direction of the Common
+Council held the 30th of last month."
+
+Not only was Whitefield anxious to establish the orphan-house
+for the benefit of the whole colony of Georgia, but having been
+ordained priest, for the purpose of instructing the inhabitants of
+the town of Savannah, he was desirous of making full proof of his
+ministry among them. After a passage of nine weeks he landed at
+Philadelphia, and was immediately invited to preach in the churches;
+to which people of all denominations thronged as in England. He
+was especially pleased to find that they preferred sermons when
+"not delivered within the church walls." And it was well they did,
+for his fame had arrived in the city before him, and crowds were
+collected to hear him which no church could contain.
+
+A letter written on this voyage to America has recently come to
+light, which beautifully illustrates the spirit by which Whitefield
+was now animated. It was addressed to the Rev. John Cumming of
+Andover, Hampshire, England.
+
+          "Wrote at Sea, dated at Philadelphia, Nov. 9, 1739.
+
+     "REVEREND AND DEAR SIR--You see by my writing this how willing
+     I am to cultivate a correspondence with you. I wish Christians
+     in general, and ministers of Christ in particular, were better
+     acquainted. The cause of Christ thereby must be necessarily
+     promoted. But bigotry and sectarian zeal have been the bane of
+     our holy religion. Though we have one Lord, one faith, and one
+     baptism, yet if we do not all worship God in one particular
+     way, we behave to each other like Jews and Samaritans. Dear
+     sir, I hope that neither of us have so learned Christ. Blessed
+     be God for his free grace in Christ. The partition wall has
+     for some time been broken down out of my heart, and I can truly
+     say, whosoever loves the Lord Jesus, 'the same is my brother,
+     and sister, and mother.' For this reason, dear sir, I love you.
+     For this reason, though I decrease, yet I heartily wish you may
+     increase, even with all the increase of God. I am persuaded
+     you are like-minded. I believe my friends have prayed for me.
+     The Lord hath dealt most lovingly with me his servant. He has
+     chastened and corrected, but hath not given me over into the
+     hands of the enemy. A future journal will acquaint you with
+     particulars. What I have sent over to be published will afford
+     you abundant matter for thanksgiving in behalf of,
+
+     "Dear sir, your affectionate friend,
+     Brother, and servant,
+
+     "G. WHITEFIELD."
+
+The old court-house of Philadelphia, then standing on Second and
+Market streets, had a balcony, which several years before the visit
+of Whitefield had been often used instead of a pulpit. In 1736, we
+find that Mr. Abel Noble had preached "from the court-house steps,"
+on a Monday, to a large congregation standing in Market-street,
+on the subject of keeping the Sabbath. In the same year, Michael
+Welfare appeared there to give his "warning voice," and now, in
+1739, it became one of the favorite preaching stands of the great
+evangelist. Here he stood, surrounded by many thousands, even down
+to the side of the Delaware river, not a few bathed in tears, and
+inquiring after the way of salvation.
+
+[Illustration: OLD COURT-HOUSE, PHILADELPHIA.]
+
+[Illustration: TENNENT CHURCH, FREEHOLD, N. J. p. 117.]
+
+Dr. Franklin says, "The multitudes of all sects and denominations
+that attended his sermons were enormous; and it was a matter
+of speculation with me to observe the influence of his oratory
+on his hearers, and how much they admired and respected him,
+notwithstanding his common abuse of them, by assuring them that
+they were, naturally, half beasts and half devils. It was wonderful
+to see the change soon made in the manners of our inhabitants.
+From being thoughtless and indifferent about religion, it seemed
+as if all the world was growing religious; so that one could not
+walk through the town in an evening without hearing psalms sung in
+different families in every street."
+
+A constant attendant on his ministry at this time says, "His
+hearers were never weary; every eye was fixed on his expressive
+countenance; every ear was charmed with his melodious voice; every
+heart captivated with the beauty and propriety of his address. He
+was no contracted bigot; all denominations partook of his religious
+charity. Anxious in America for our civil privileges, he was alike
+solicitous for the spiritual and temporal happiness of mankind. No
+man since the apostolic age preached oftener or with better success.
+He was, moreover, a polite gentleman, a faithful friend, an engaging
+companion, and a sincere Christian. His sermons in the open air
+lasted about one and a half hours."
+
+Watson, in his "Annals of Philadelphia," speaking of Whitefield's
+first visit to that city, tells us that he preached to a crowd of
+fifteen thousand persons on Society hill, and adds, "About the same
+time he so far succeeded to repress the usual public amusements,
+that the dancing-school was discontinued, and the ball and concert
+rooms were shut up, as inconsistent with the requisitions of the
+gospel. No less than fourteen sermons were preached on Society hill
+in the open air in one week, during the session of the Presbyterian
+church; and the gazette of the day, in noticing the fact, says,
+'The change to religion here is altogether surprising, through the
+influence of Whitefield; no books sell but religious, and such is
+the general conversation.'"
+
+It is said, that though some gentlemen broke open the
+assembly-rooms, no company could be induced to visit them. Such was
+the popularity of Whitefield, that when he left the city, about
+one hundred and fifty gentlemen accompanied him as far as Chester,
+fifteen miles from Philadelphia, where he preached to about seven
+thousand people. At White Clay creek, he preached to eight thousand
+people, three thousand of whom, it is said, were on horseback. Many
+complimentary effusions to him appeared in the newspapers, and James
+Pemberton, a very distinguished _Friend_, said of him, "In his
+conversation he is very agreeable, and has not much of the priest;
+he frequents no set company."
+
+An old gentleman assured Watson, the annalist, that on one occasion
+the words, "And he taught them, saying," as pronounced by Whitefield
+on Society hill, were heard at Gloucester point, a distance by water
+of two miles.
+
+Abundant reasons might be assigned for our introducing in this place
+an account of the institution called "the Log college." It has
+proved the parent of every collegiate and theological institution
+connected with the large and wealthy body of Presbyterians in this
+country; it was originated by a family which became especially
+endeared to Mr. Whitefield; and from his journal, recording his
+visit to it, we have, in some respects at least, the clearest
+statement of facts concerning it which history has preserved.
+
+As we have already shown, about one hundred and forty years ago,
+the state of religion, both in Europe and America, was very low.
+Nor was the condition of the Presbyterian body an exception. As
+the late Dr. Alexander, in his interesting volume, called "The Log
+College," says, "The ministers composing the Presbyterian church
+in this country were sound in the faith, and strongly attached to
+the Westminster confession of faith and catechisms, as were also
+their people; and there were no diversities or contentions among
+them respecting the doctrines of the gospel; but as to the vital
+power of godliness, there is reason to believe that it was little
+known or spoken of. Revivals of religion were nowhere heard of,
+and an orthodox creed, and a decent external conduct were the only
+points on which inquiry was made, when persons were admitted to
+the communion of the church. Indeed, it was very much a matter of
+course, for all who had been baptized in infancy, to be received
+into communion at the proper age, without exhibiting or possessing
+any satisfactory evidence of a change of heart by the supernatural
+operations of the Holy Spirit. And the habit of their preachers was
+to address their people as though they were all pious, and only
+needed instruction and confirmation."
+
+Such was the lamentable state of things when the Rev. William
+Tennent, sen., an Irish clergyman past the middle stage of life
+arrived in this country, about the year 1716. After laboring for
+a season in the state of New York, till about 1721, he received
+an invitation to settle at Bensalem, where he ministered to the
+small Presbyterian congregation till 1726, when he was called to
+Neshaminy, in the same county, where he labored for the rest of
+his life, living till 1746, when he died, aged seventy-three. In
+Neshaminy the good man felt that he was called not only to discharge
+the duties of a preacher and pastor, but to look over the whole
+country, and to devise means for the extension of the cause of
+Christ. He had himself four sons, the subjects of divine grace, and
+blessed with talents for usefulness in the kingdom of the Redeemer,
+and he felt that when other young men rose up in the church, favored
+with ministerial talents, they also would need mental cultivation.
+Hence his determination to erect the humble building of which we now
+write, which was the first Presbyterian literary and theological
+institution in this country, the immediate parent of the college at
+Princeton, and from which, indeed, all similar institutions emanated.
+
+The site of the Log college is about a mile from Neshaminy creek,
+where the Presbyterian church has long stood. The ground near and
+around it lies handsomely to the eye, and the more distant prospect
+is very beautiful; for while there is a considerable extent of
+fertile, well-cultivated land, nearly level, the view is bounded to
+the north and west by a range of hills, which have a very pleasing
+appearance. Mr. Whitefield has left in his "Journal," the only
+description we have of the building. "The place," says he, "wherein
+the young men study now, is in contempt called 'the college.' It
+is a log-house about twenty feet long, and nearly as many broad;
+and to me it seemed to resemble the school of the old prophets, for
+their habitations were mean. That they sought not great things for
+themselves is plain from these passages of Scripture, wherein we are
+told that each of them took a beam to build them a house; and that
+at the feast of the sons of the prophets, one of them put on the
+pot, while the others went to fetch some herbs out of the field. All
+that we can say of most of our universities is, they are glorious
+without. From this despised place, seven or eight worthy ministers
+of Jesus have lately been sent forth; more are almost ready to be
+sent, and the foundation is now laying for the instruction of many
+others."
+
+Of the senior Tennent, the founder of the Log college, little more
+is known than what we have already given. He was a member of the
+synod of Philadelphia, who were satisfied with his reasons for
+leaving the Established church of Ireland, and for several years
+this body cordially cooperated with him in his zealous labors.
+Their unity of feeling, however, seems to have declined. This we
+learn from a passage in Whitefield's "Journal," which also gives
+us a beautiful view of the good old man. "At my return home, was
+much comforted by the coming of one Mr. Tennent, an old gray-headed
+disciple and soldier of Jesus Christ. He keeps an academy about
+twenty miles from Philadelphia, and has been blest with four
+gracious sons, three of which have been, and still continue to be
+eminently useful in the church of Christ. He brought three pious
+souls along with him, and rejoiced me by letting me know how they
+had been evil spoken of for their Master's sake. He is a great
+friend of Mr. Erskine, of Scotland; and as far as I can learn, both
+he and his sons are secretly despised by the generality of the
+synod, as Mr. Erskine and his friends are hated by the judicatories
+of Edinburgh, and as the Methodist preachers, as they are called,
+are by their brethren in England."
+
+Not long after this, the Log college was visited by Whitefield, who
+wrote the account we have already given. He also says, under the
+date of Nov. 29, 1739, "Set out for Neshaminy, twenty miles distant
+from Trent Town, where old Mr. Tennent lives, and keeps an academy,
+and where I was to preach to-day, according to appointment. About
+twelve o'clock, we came thither, and found about three thousand
+people gathered together in the meeting-house yard. Mr. William
+Tennent, junior, an eminent servant of Jesus Christ, because we
+stayed beyond the time appointed, was preaching to them. When
+I came up, he soon stopped; sung a psalm, and then I began to
+speak as the Lord gave me utterance. At first, the people seemed
+unaffected, but in the midst of my discourse, the power of the Lord
+Jesus came upon me, and I felt such a struggling within myself for
+the people as I scarce ever felt before. The hearers began to be
+melted down immediately, and to cry much; and we had good reason
+to hope the Lord intended good for many. After I had finished, Mr.
+Gilbert Tennent gave a word of exhortation, to confirm what had
+been delivered. At the end of his discourse, we sung a psalm, and
+dismissed the people with a blessing; O that the people may say Amen
+to it. After our exercises were over, we went to old Mr. Tennent's,
+who entertained us like one of the ancient patriarchs. His wife,
+to me seemed like Elizabeth, and he like Zachary; both, as far as
+I can learn, walk in the commandments and ordinances of the Lord
+blameless. Though God was pleased to humble my soul, so that I was
+obliged to retire for a while, yet we had sweet communion with each
+other, and spent the evening in concerting what measures had best
+be taken for promoting our dear Lord's kingdom. It happened very
+providentially that Mr. Tennent and his brethren are appointed to be
+a presbytery by the synod, so that they intend bringing up gracious
+youths, and sending them out from time to time into the Lord's
+vineyard."
+
+We may be permitted to add here, that among the ministers sent out
+by Mr. Tennent, from the Log college, to preach the gospel, were his
+four sons, Gilbert, William, John, and Charles, the Rev. Messrs.
+Samuel Blair, John Blair, Charles Beatty, and Rev. Dr. Samuel J.
+Finley, President of Princeton College; of some of these excellent
+men the reader will hear again in the course of this volume.
+
+In reference to his first visit to Philadelphia, Whitefield thus
+writes: "I have scarcely preached among them, but I have seen a
+stirring among the dry bones. Go where I will, I find people with
+great gladness receive me into their houses. Sometimes I think I am
+speaking to stocks and stones; but before I have done, the power
+of the Lord comes over them, and I find I have been ploughing up
+some fallow ground, in a place where there has been a great famine
+of the word of God. But as God's word increases, so will the rage
+and opposition of the devil. Scoffers seem to be at a stand what to
+say. They mutter in coffee-houses, give a curse, drink a barrel of
+punch, and then cry out against me for not preaching more morality.
+Poor men, if God judges them, as he certainly will do, by _their_
+morality, out of their own mouths will he condemn them. Their
+morality, falsely so called, will prove their damnation. God has
+enlarged my heart to pray. Tears trickle down my face, and I am in
+great agony; but the Lord is pleased to set his seal to what he
+enables me to deliver. Amid cries and groans in the congregation,
+God gives me much freedom of speech. Many people and many ministers
+weep. My own soul is much carried out. I preached to a vast assembly
+of sinners; nearly twelve thousand were collected; and I had not
+spoken long, before I perceived numbers melting; as I proceeded, the
+power increased, and thousands cried out; never before did I see so
+glorious a sight. Oh, what strong crying and tears were poured forth
+after the dear Lord Jesus! Some fainted; and when they had gotten a
+little strength, they would hear and faint again. Never was my soul
+filled with greater power. Oh, what thoughts and words did God put
+into my heart. As great, if not greater commotion was in the hearts
+of the people. Look where I would, most were drowned in tears."
+
+An aged man who was living in 1806, and who well remembered the
+scenes he witnessed, bore testimony that after this visit of the
+great evangelist, public worship was regularly celebrated in
+Philadelphia twice a day for a whole year; and that on the Lord's
+day it was celebrated three, and frequently four times in each
+church. He said there were not less than twenty-six societies
+regularly held for prayer and Christian conference.
+
+Such was the influence of Whitefield, not only in Philadelphia, but
+throughout the colony of Pennsylvania, that in the city attention to
+commerce was suspended, and in the country the cultivation of the
+land for the time being was abandoned, that people might hear him
+proclaim the gospel of the Lord Jesus.
+
+Among other very striking conversions in Philadelphia at this
+period, was that of a young lady, who had for several years made
+a public profession of Christianity, but who now became fully
+convinced that "she was totally unacquainted with vital piety."
+When Mr. Whitefield began his labors in that city, she was greatly
+affected by his preaching, on which she constantly attended, and
+often afterwards told her friends, that after the first sermon she
+heard him preach, she was ready to say with the woman of Samaria,
+"Come see a man who told me all things that ever I did." The
+preacher, she said, so exactly described all the secret workings of
+her heart, her wishes, and her actions, that she really believed
+he was either more than human, or else that he was supernaturally
+assisted to know her heart. She was not then aware that all depraved
+hearts are much alike, and that he who in lively colors can paint
+one, gives a description which will be recognized by many as their
+own. This young lady once walked twenty miles to hear a sermon
+from Whitefield; she became a most eminent Christian, and was one
+of the constituent members of the church organized by Mr. Tennent.
+She married Mr. Hugh Hodge, who was also one of the seals of Mr.
+Whitefield's ministry, and a deacon of the church, and for more than
+sixty years she eminently "adorned the gospel of God in all things."
+
+During this first visit of Mr. Whitefield to Philadelphia, another
+interesting circumstance occurred. Whitefield preached one evening
+standing on the steps of the court-house, in Market-street,
+which became, as we have said, his favorite spot during that and
+subsequent visits. A youth some thirteen years of age stood near
+him, and held a lantern for his accommodation; but becoming deeply
+absorbed in the sermon, and strongly agitated, the lantern fell from
+his hands, and was dashed in pieces. Those near the boy, observing
+the cause of the accident, felt specially interested, and for a
+few moments the meeting was discomposed by the occurrence. Some
+fourteen years afterwards, Mr. Whitefield, on his fifth visit to
+this country, was visiting St. George's, in Delaware. He was one
+day riding out with the Rev. Dr. John Rodgers, then settled as the
+minister at St. George's, in the closed carriage in which Whitefield
+generally rode. Mr. Rodgers asked him whether he recollected the
+occurrence of the little boy who was so affected with his preaching
+as to let his lantern fall. Mr. Whitefield replied, "O yes, I
+remember it well; and have often thought I would give almost any
+thing in my power, to know who that little boy was, and what had
+become of him." Mr. Rodgers replied with a smile, "I am that little
+boy." Mr. Whitefield, with tears of joy, started from his seat, took
+him in his arms, and with strong emotion remarked, that he was the
+_fourteenth_ person then in the ministry whom he had discovered in
+the course of that visit to America, in whose conversion he had,
+under God, been instrumental.
+
+From Philadelphia, Whitefield was invited by Mr. Noble to New
+York; this gentleman being the only person with whom he then had
+an acquaintance in that city. Upon his arrival, he waited with his
+friend on the commissary, but he refused to Whitefield the use of
+the church. This commissary of the bishop, he says, "was full of
+anger and resentment, and denied me the use of his pulpit before I
+asked for it. He said they did not want my assistance. I replied,
+that if they preached the gospel, I wished them good luck: I will
+preach in the fields; for all places are alike to me." The undaunted
+evangelist therefore preached in the fields; and on the evening of
+the same day, to a very thronged and attentive audience, in the Rev.
+Mr. Pemberton's meeting-house, in Wall-street; and continued to do
+so twice or three times a day, with apparent success.
+
+Of this visit to New York, and of Whitefield's labors there,
+we have a graphic account, furnished by one of his hearers, for
+"Prince's Christian History." Of the first sermon in the fields,
+the writer says, "I fear curiosity was the motive that led me
+and many others into that assembly. I had read two or three of
+Mr. Whitefield's sermons and part of his Journal, and from them
+had obtained a settled opinion, that he was a good man. Thus far
+was I prejudiced in his favor. But then having heard of so much
+opposition, and many clamors against him, I thought it possible he
+might have carried matters too far; that some enthusiasm might have
+mixed itself with his piety, and that his zeal might have exceeded
+his knowledge. With these prepossessions I went into the fields.
+When I came there, I saw a great number of people, consisting of
+Christians of all denominations, some Jews, and a few, I believe,
+of no religion at all. When Mr. Whitefield came to the place
+designated, which was a little eminence on the side of a hill, he
+stood still and beckoned with his hand, and disposed the multitude
+upon the descent, before, and on each side of him. He then prayed
+most excellently, in the same manner, I suppose, that the first
+ministers of the Christian church prayed. The assembly soon appeared
+to be divided into two companies, the one of which I considered
+as God's church, and the other the devil's chapel. The first were
+collected round the minister, and were very serious and attentive;
+the last had placed themselves in the skirts of the assembly,
+and spent most of their time in giggling, scoffing, talking, and
+laughing. I believe the minister saw them, for in his sermon,
+remarking on the cowardice and shamefacedness in Christ's cause, he
+pointed towards _this_ assembly, and reproached the former, those
+who seemed to be Christians, with the boldness and zeal with which
+the devil's vassals serve him. Towards the last prayer the whole
+assembly appeared more united, and all became hushed and still; a
+solemn awe and reverence appeared in the faces of most, a mighty
+energy attending the word. I heard and felt something astonishing
+and surprising, but I confess I was not at that time fully rid of my
+scruples. But as I thought I saw a visible presence of God with Mr.
+Whitefield, I kept my doubts to myself.
+
+"Under this frame of mind, I went to hear him in the evening at
+the Presbyterian church, where he expounded to above two thousand
+people within and without doors. I never in my life saw so attentive
+an audience. All he said was demonstration, life, and power. The
+people's eyes and ears hung on his lips. They greedily devoured
+every word. I came home astonished. Every scruple vanished; I never
+saw nor heard the like; and I said within myself, 'Surely God is
+with this man, of a truth.' He preached and expounded in this manner
+twice every day for four days, and his evening assemblies were
+continually increasing.
+
+"On Sunday morning at eight o'clock, his congregation consisted of
+about fifteen hundred people; but at night several thousands came
+together to hear him; and the place being too strait for them, many
+were forced to go away, and some, it is said, with tears lamented
+their disappointment. After sermon he left New York at ten at night,
+to fulfil a promise that he had made to preach at Elizabethtown, at
+eleven A. M. the next day."
+
+We give a few paragraphs from the same vigorous pen, relating to
+the personal manners and the doctrines of our evangelist. "He is a
+man of a middle stature, of a slender body, of a fair complexion,
+and of a comely appearance. He is of a sprightly, cheerful temper,
+and acts and moves with great agility and life. The endowments of
+his mind are very uncommon; his wit is quick and piercing; his
+imagination lively and florid; and as far as I can discern, both are
+under the direction of an exact and solid judgment. He has a most
+ready memory, and I think speaks entirely without notes. He has a
+clear and musical voice, and a wonderful command of it. He uses much
+gesture, but with great propriety. Every accent of his voice, every
+motion of his body _speaks_, and both are natural and unaffected. If
+his delivery is the product of art, it is certainly the perfection
+of it, for it is entirely concealed. He has a great mastery of
+words, but studies much plainness of speech.
+
+"His doctrine is right _sterling_. I mean, perfectly agreeable
+to the Articles of the church of England, to which he frequently
+appeals for the truth of it. He loudly proclaims all men by nature
+to be under sin, and obnoxious to the wrath and curse of God. He
+maintains the absolute necessity of supernatural grace to bring
+men out of this state. He asserts the righteousness of Christ to
+be the only cause of the justification of the sinner; that this is
+received by faith; that this faith is the gift of God; that where
+faith is wrought, it brings the sinner under the deepest sense of
+his guilt and unworthiness to the footstool of sovereign grace, to
+accept of mercy as the free gift of God, only for Christ's sake. He
+denies that good works have any share in our justification: that
+indeed they do justify our faith, and necessarily flow from it,
+as streams from the fountain; but Christ's external righteousness
+imputed to us, and his inherent righteousness wrought in us, is the
+only cause of man's salvation. He asserts the absolute necessity of
+the new birth, where a principle of new life is ingenerated in the
+heart of man, and an entire change is produced in the temper and
+disposition of the soul; and that this new production is the work
+only of God's blessed Spirit. That wherever this change is wrought,
+it is permanent and abiding, and that the gates of hell shall never
+prevail against it. He asserts that the special influence and
+indwelling of the Spirit, was not peculiar to the first Christians,
+but that it is the common privilege of believers in all ages of the
+church; that the Holy Spirit is the author of the sanctification and
+comfort of all God's people; and that, even in these days, if any
+man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his. He said, that
+to many of his hearers, he feared he spoke in an unknown tongue;
+that he preached great mysteries; that true Christians knew what he
+meant, and that all his hearers, if they are saved, must be brought
+to understand them. These are some of the doctrines which have been
+attended with such mighty power in this city. This is the doctrine
+of the martyrs. This they sealed with their blood; notwithstanding
+that so many in our days have departed from it.
+
+"Mr. Whitefield speaks much of the language of the New Testament;
+and has an admirable faculty in explaining the Scriptures. He
+strikes out of them such lights, and unveils those excellencies
+which surprise his hearers, when he expounds them. He expresses the
+highest love and concern for the souls of men; and speaks of Christ
+with the most affectionate appropriation--'_My Master! My Lord!_' He
+is no enemy to the innocent freedoms and liberties of the gospel;
+nor does he affect singularity in indifferent things. He spends
+not his zeal in trifles, but says, 'The kingdom of God consists
+not in meats and drinks; but in righteousness, and peace, and joy
+in the Holy Ghost.' He breathes a most catholic spirit, and prays
+most earnestly that God would destroy all that bigotry and party
+zeal which has divided Christians. He supposes some of Christ's
+flock are to be found under every denomination, and upbraids the
+uncharitableness of those who confine the church to their own
+communion. He professes a most sincere love to all those who love
+our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, and declares that he has no
+design to make a party in religion. He professes that his whole
+design in preaching the gospel is to bring men to Christ, to deliver
+them from their false confidences, to raise them from their dead
+formalities, and to revive primitive Christianity among them; and
+if he can obtain this end, he will leave them to their liberty, and
+they may go to what church, and worship God in what form they like
+best."
+
+While going from Philadelphia to New York, or on his return,
+Whitefield appears to have preached at Maidenhead, Abington,
+Neshaminy, Freehold, Burlington, Elizabethtown, and New Brunswick,
+to many thousands, gathered from various parts, among whom there
+had been a considerable awakening under the ministry of Mr.
+Frelinghuysen, a Reformed Dutch minister, and the Rev. Messrs.
+Tennent, Blair, and Rowland. It was no less pleasing to him than
+strange to see such congregations in a foreign land; ministers
+and people shedding tears, sinners struck with awe, and religious
+persons who had been much persecuted, filled with joy. The old
+_Tennent church_ at Freehold, where preached Whitefield, Brainerd,
+Davies, and other "famous men" of that day, still echoes with the
+same gospel. In size the building is forty feet by sixty, with three
+entrances on the larger side. The pulpit is on the north side of the
+house, immediately opposite the central door, so that the minister
+faces the width of the church instead of its length. The pulpit is
+very narrow, and is surmounted with a sounding-board, according
+to the custom of our fathers. In the middle aisle lie buried the
+remains of the sainted William Tennent, whose death took place about
+seven years after that of Whitefield, at the age of seventy-two
+years. A handsome monumental tablet records the leading dates of his
+pilgrimage.
+
+Some of our readers may inquire as to the localities honored by
+Whitefield's preaching in and about the city of New York. We
+find many records of his discoursing in the open fields of the
+surrounding country; the old City Exchange, which stood at the
+foot of Broad-street, near Water-street, and which was built on
+large arches, was a favorite spot for itinerant preachers, and for
+Whitefield among the rest. During his various visits to New York,
+from 1745 to 1760, he generally preached in the Presbyterian church
+in Wall-street, which was then the only church of that denomination
+in the city, and of which the Rev. Dr. Pemberton, from Boston, was
+the minister. Afterwards, a few years before his death, he was
+accustomed to preach in the Brick church in Beekman-street; which
+was then familiarly called the "Brick meeting," and in common
+parlance, said to be "in the fields;" so little was the city
+extended at that period. So prosperous was his ministry in New York,
+that it was found necessary immediately to enlarge the Presbyterian
+church in Wall-street, by the erection of galleries; and a year or
+two afterwards it was again enlarged about one-third, in order to
+accommodate the stated worshippers.
+
+When Whitefield was preaching before a very large number of the
+seamen of New York, he introduced the following bold apostrophe into
+his sermon: "Well, my boys, we have a cloudless sky, and are making
+fine headway over a smooth sea, before a light breeze, and we shall
+soon lose sight of land. But what means this sudden lowering of
+the heavens, and that dark cloud arising from beneath the western
+horizon? Hark! don't you hear the distant thunder? Don't you see
+those flashes of lightning? There is a storm gathering. Every man
+to his duty. How the waves rush and dash against the ship! The
+air is dark. The tempest rages. Our masts are gone! What next?"
+The unsuspecting tars, reminded of former perils on the deep, as
+if struck by the power of magic, arose, and with united voices
+exclaimed, "Take to the longboat, sir!" The reader may well imagine
+how this very natural answer would be used by the preacher.
+
+While at New York, Whitefield wrote, "God willing, in about
+seven months I hope to see New England on my return to Europe.
+An effectual door is there opened, and no wonder there are many
+adversaries. Shortly I expect to suffer for my dear Master." And
+after his return to Philadelphia, he showed his piety and meekness
+by writing to the Rev. Dr. Pemberton, of New York, "I have been much
+concerned since I saw you, lest I behaved not with that humility
+towards you which is due from a babe to a father in Christ; but
+you know, reverend sir, how difficult it is to meet with success,
+and not be puffed up with it; and therefore, if any such thing was
+discernible in my conduct, O pity me, and pray to the Lord to heal
+my pride. All I can say is, that I desire to learn of Jesus Christ
+to be meek and lowly in heart; but my corruptions are so strong, and
+my employ so dangerous, that I am sometimes afraid."
+
+One of the most important incidents of this journey to New York,
+was the meeting of Whitefield with Gilbert Tennent. Two powerful
+preachers could hardly resemble each other less; and the great
+strength of each lay in characteristics in which the other was
+deficient. In one point, especially, Whitefield felt and recorded
+his new friend's superiority. He heard Tennent preach. "Never before
+heard I such a searching sermon. He went to the bottom indeed, and
+did not 'daub with untempered mortar.' He convinced me, more and
+more, that we can preach the gospel of Christ no further than we
+have experienced the power of it in our hearts. I found what a babe
+and novice I was in the things of God." These men, as Tracy says,
+having once met, could not but be friends and allies for life; and
+the effects of their alliance could not fail to be felt by thousands.
+
+Both at Philadelphia and New York, printers applied to Whitefield
+for copies of his sermons for publication, and two were so issued,
+in the influence of which their author had cause to rejoice. In an
+after-period, the celebrated Benjamin Franklin printed Whitefield's
+"Journal in New England," still extant; a copy of which was sold at
+auction in Philadelphia in 1855, for about thirty times its original
+price. His journals, indeed, and his sermons became considerable
+articles in commerce, and did not a little, amid the comparatively
+sparse population of the country, to extend both his fame and his
+usefulness.
+
+But the time was now come when it became important that Whitefield
+should pursue his course towards Savannah. He could not, however,
+regret his stay so long on the road. "It is unknown," he says, "what
+deep impressions have been made on the hearts of hundreds. Many poor
+sinners have, I trust, been called home, and great numbers are under
+strong convictions. An opposer told me I had unhinged many _good
+sort of people_. I believe it."
+
+Nor was this the only good he had done. No small sympathy had been
+excited among Christian people in favor of his orphan family, and a
+spirit of liberality and of prayer was extensively cherished. "They
+sent me," says the grateful evangelist, "butter, sugar, chocolate,
+pickles, cheese, and flour, for my orphans; and indeed, I could
+almost say, they would pluck out their own eyes and give me. O that
+what God says of the church of Philadelphia may now be fulfilled in
+the city called after her name--'I know thy works.'"
+
+The ready liberality which everywhere met Whitefield, determined
+him to pursue his journey by land. He therefore procured a vessel,
+in which he sent on his family and their supplies to Savannah. Of
+this sloop, Captain Gladman was master; and a young man who had
+recently been converted by the preaching of the great evangelist,
+willingly offered himself as mate. We have already seen that he was
+accompanied southward as far as Chester by a very large company of
+gentlemen of Philadelphia; and on his arrival at that place, a court
+was about to open, but the judges sent him word that they would
+not commence their business until the sermon, which they expected
+from him, was over. Nearly a thousand people had travelled from
+Philadelphia to hear it, and it was thought that those collected
+from places many miles around, composed an assembly of not less than
+seven thousand persons. A platform was erected, and it was believed
+that many of his hearers obtained something infinitely better than
+the mere gratification of their curiosity.
+
+Among other places at which he preached on this journey, was White
+Clay creek, endeared to him not only as the place where he first met
+with his beloved friend William Tennent, but as the residence of
+a Welsh family who had heard him preach at Cardiff and Kingswood
+before they emigrated, and who bore, what was to him a fact of
+endearing interest, the name of _Howell_. But during this tour
+Whitefield had to endure considerable privations and peril in riding
+through the woods. On one occasion, he heard the wolves "howling
+like a kennel of hounds" near to the road; on another, he had a
+narrow escape in trying to cross the Potomac in a storm. Here also
+he had once to swim his horse, owing to the floods; for it was now
+the depth of winter. One night, Seward and he lost their way in the
+woods of South Carolina, and were much alarmed at seeing groups
+of negroes dancing around large fires. Notwithstanding all the
+hardships, however, of the journey, no real injury was sustained
+from it.
+
+Our evangelist at length arrived at Charleston in good health and
+spirits. But he could not obtain admittance to St. Philip's church;
+Garden, the commissary, who had once promised to "defend him with
+life and fortune," was absent, and the curate would not open the
+doors without his leave. The people, however, had not forgotten him,
+and the Rev. Josiah Smith, the congregational minister, and the
+pastor of the French church, at once threw open their houses and
+pulpits, and rich indeed were the blessings they enjoyed.
+
+The congregations during his present visit to Charleston were large
+and polite; but he says they presented "an affected finery and
+gayety of dress and deportment, which I question if the court-end
+of London could exceed." Before he left, however, there was what
+he called "a glorious alteration in the audience." Many of them
+wept; and the hitherto light and airy had visibly strong feelings,
+as shown in their countenances. Such was their extreme anxiety to
+hear more from him, that after he had gone to the shore to sail for
+Georgia, they prevailed on him to preach again.
+
+On the next morning, Whitefield and his companions left Charleston
+in a canoe for Savannah; and on their way lay on the ground in the
+woods, surrounded by large fires to keep off the wild beasts. On
+this fact he makes the reflection, "An emblem, I thought, of the
+divine love and presence keeping off evils and corruptions from the
+soul." On his arrival at Savannah, January 11, 1740, he was very
+happy to meet his family, who had arrived there three weeks before
+him; and to find, by letters from England, New York, etc., that the
+work of the Lord prospered. One thing, however, greatly distressed
+him. The colony of Georgia was reduced even to a much lower state
+than when he left it, and was deserted by nearly all who could get
+away. He thought that to employ those who were left, would render
+them an important service, and that the money thus expended might be
+the means of keeping them in the colony.
+
+During the absence of Mr. Whitefield from Georgia, Mr. Habersham
+had fixed on a plot of ground of five hundred acres, about ten
+miles from Savannah, on which the orphan-house should stand, and
+had already commenced to clear and stock it. The orphans, in the
+mean time, were accommodated in a hired house. Whitefield afterwards
+regretted the course pursued. He found the condition of the orphans
+so pitiable, and the inhabitants so poor, that he immediately
+opened an infirmary, hired a large house at a great rent, and took
+in, at different times, twenty-four orphans.
+
+In the March following, Whitefield was again at Charleston, where he
+went to meet his brother, the captain of a ship, from England. Here
+he was requested by many of the inhabitants to give some account of
+his poor orphans, which he did in the house of worship occupied by
+his friend the Rev. Josiah Smith, the first native of South Carolina
+who received a literary degree. Such was the spirit excited, that
+the collection amounted to seventy pounds sterling. This was no
+small encouragement, especially as he had reason to believe that
+most of it came from those who had received spiritual benefit from
+his ministry.
+
+But if Whitefield now had his joys in Charleston, so he had also
+his sorrows. We have seen that in a previous visit to this city,
+he had considered himself "set for the defence of the gospel." He
+had remarked, in reference to the twelfth article of the church of
+England, "Observe, my dear brethren, the words of the article, 'Good
+works are the fruit of faith, and follow after justification.' How
+can they then precede, or be in any way the cause of it? No, our
+persons must be justified, before our performances can be accepted."
+Commissary Garden, of whom we have already spoken, now seized the
+opportunity of Whitefield's visit to Charleston, to write him a
+letter, dated March 17, attacking his doctrine of justification, and
+challenging him to defend what he had said concerning the bishop of
+London and his clergy. In this letter, he urged in reply to what
+the evangelist had said, "If good works do necessarily spring out
+of a true and lively faith, and a true and lively faith necessarily
+precedes justification, the consequence is plain, that good works
+must not only follow after, but precede justification also."
+Whitefield replied the next day, "I perceive that you are angry
+overmuch. Was I never so much inclined to dispute, I would stay
+till the cool of the day. Your letter more and more confirms me,
+that my charge against the clergy is just and reasonable. It would
+be endless to enter into such a private debate as you, reverend
+sir, seem desirous of. You have read my sermon: be pleased to read
+it again; and if there be any thing contrary to sound doctrine, or
+the Articles of the church of England, be pleased to let the public
+know it from the press; and then let the world judge whether you or
+my brethren the clergy have been rashly slandered." This was but
+the commencement of a controversy, in which were concerned Garden
+of Charleston, and the Rev. Messrs. Croswell and Gee of Boston,
+portions of which are preserved in the Old South church library, in
+the latter city; and which was afterwards resumed between Garden
+and Smith, of Charleston, in the "South Carolina Gazette," as may
+be seen in the library of the American Antiquarian Society at
+Worcester, Massachusetts.
+
+In the mean time, Whitefield had returned to Savannah, and on
+March 25, he laid the first brick of the main building of the
+orphan-house, which he called _Bethesda_, that is, a house of mercy.
+It was built of wood, and measured seventy feet by forty. By this
+time nearly forty children had been received, to be provided for
+with food and raiment; and counting the workmen with these, he had
+nearly one hundred persons to feed day by day. To do all this he
+had very little money in the bank; still he was not discouraged,
+being persuaded that his present duty was to advance the interests
+of the colony by carrying on his work. "As yet," says he, "I am
+kept from the least doubting. The more my family increases, the
+more enlargement and comfort I feel. Set thy almighty _fiat_ to it,
+O gracious Father, and for thine own name's sake convince us more
+and more, that thou wilt never forsake those who put their trust in
+thee." On reviewing this passage fifteen years afterwards, he wrote,
+"Hitherto, blessed be God, I have not been disappointed of my hope."
+
+We close our present chapter with a very short visit to Charleston.
+In this city Whitefield had assuredly produced a very extraordinary
+excitement, and very opposite opinions were entertained in reference
+to his character and doctrines. On the day after he had laid the
+first stone of Bethesda, Mr. Smith undertook at Charleston to defend
+the conduct and character of his beloved friend, in a sermon from
+Job 32:17: "I said, I will answer also my part; I also will show
+mine opinion." As this discourse was published during the following
+June, with a commendatory preface by the Rev. Drs. Colman and Cooper
+of Boston, and is still highly valued as a piece of contemporary
+history, we give an extract, particularly as to the _manner_ of the
+preaching of the great evangelist.
+
+"He is certainly a finished preacher. A noble negligence ran
+through his style. The passion and flame of his expressions will,
+I trust, be long felt by many. My pen cannot describe his action
+and gestures, in all their strength and decencies. He appeared to
+me, in all his discourses, to be very deeply affected and impressed
+in his own heart. How did that burn and boil within him, when he
+spake of the things which he had 'made touching the King.' How was
+his tongue like the pen of a ready writer, touched as with a coal
+from the altar. With what a flow of words, what a ready profusion
+of language, did he speak to us upon the great concerns of our
+souls. In what a flaming light did he set _our_ eternity before
+us. How earnestly he pressed Christ upon us. How did he move our
+passions with the constraining love of _such_ a Redeemer. The awe,
+the silence, the attention which sat upon the face of the great
+audience, was an argument how he could reign over all their powers.
+Many thought he spake as never man spake before him. So charmed
+were the people with his manner of address, that they shut up their
+shops, forgot their secular business, and laid aside their schemes
+for the world; and the oftener he preached, the keener edge he
+seemed to put upon their desires to hear him again.
+
+"How awfully, with what thunder and sound, did he discharge the
+artillery of heaven upon us. And yet, how could he soften and
+melt even a soldier of Ulysses with the mercy of God. How close,
+strong, and pungent were his applications to the conscience;
+mingling light and heat; pointing the arrows of the Almighty at the
+hearts of sinners, while he poured in the balm upon the wounds of
+the contrite, and made broken bones rejoice. Eternal themes, the
+tremendous solemnities of our religion, were all _alive_ upon his
+tongue. So, methinks--if you will forgive the figure--St. Paul would
+_look_ and speak in a pulpit. In some such manner, I am tempted to
+conceive of a seraph, were he sent down to preach among us, and to
+tell us what things he had seen and heard above.
+
+How bold and courageous did he look. He was no flatterer; he would
+not suffer men to settle on their lees; and did not prophesy smooth
+things, nor sew pillows under their arms. He taught the way of God
+in truth, and regarded not the persons of men. He struck at the
+politest and most modish of our vices, and at the most fashionable
+entertainments, regardless of every one's presence, but His in whose
+name he spoke with this authority. And I dare warrant, if none
+should go to these diversions until they have answered the solemn
+questions he put to their consciences, our theatre would soon sink
+and perish. I freely own he has taken my heart."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+CONTINUATION OF WHITEFIELD'S SECOND VISIT TO AMERICA. 1740.
+
+
+At the period when Whitefield laid the cornerstone of his Bethesda,
+his health was much impaired, and his spirits depressed. But it
+was necessary that funds should be obtained, to meet the claims
+now daily made upon him. He had received handsome donations from
+Charleston, New York, and Philadelphia, yet the urgent demand was
+for more. He therefore embarked from Charleston for Newcastle,
+Delaware, in a sloop, and arrived there in about ten days. Passing
+on from thence to Philadelphia, he found the churches closed against
+him. The commissary told him that he would lend the church to him
+no more. The laconic answer of Whitefield was, "The fields are
+open;" and eight thousand people assembled to hear him the same
+evening, and ten thousand on the following day. On the following
+Lord's day morning, he collected one hundred and ten pounds sterling
+for his "poor orphans," and then went to the Episcopal church,
+where the commissary preached a sermon on justification by works.
+As Whitefield was recognized at church, it was naturally expected
+that in the evening he would answer the sermon; nor was the public
+expectation disappointed. After his sermon, he collected eighty
+pounds more for Bethesda.
+
+But far higher success than this attended his labors. Societies for
+worship were commenced in different parts of the town; not a few
+began seriously to inquire after the way of salvation; many negroes
+came to the evangelist with the inquiry, "Have I a soul?" and a
+church was formed, of which the distinguished Gilbert Tennent was
+the eminently useful pastor. No less than one hundred and forty, who
+had undergone a previous strict examination as to their personal
+piety, were received as constituent members of the church, and large
+additions were from time to time made to their number.
+
+Several events of special interest occurred during this visit to
+Philadelphia. Tennent had to tell a series of delightful facts
+as to the usefulness of Whitefield's former labors. He began to
+deliberate on a plan for a negro school in Pennsylvania, as he did
+afterwards also in Virginia, but unexpected difficulties intervened,
+and both in the end were abandoned. Mr. Jones, the Baptist minister
+of the city, told Whitefield of the change produced by his former
+preaching on the minds of two ministers; one of whom stated to his
+congregation that he had hitherto been deceiving both himself and
+them, and added, that he could not preach to them at present, but
+requested them to unite in prayer with him; and the other resigned
+his charge, to itinerate among the unenlightened villages of New
+Jersey and elsewhere. Another fact was, that an Indian trader became
+so impressed with the preaching of Whitefield, that he had given up
+his business, and was gone to teach the Indians with whom he used to
+trade. Nor had his usefulness stopped here: he heard of a drinking
+club, which had attached to it a negro boy remarkable for his powers
+of mimicry. This boy was directed by the gentlemen who composed the
+club to exercise his powers on Mr. Whitefield: he did so, but very
+reluctantly; at length he stood up and said, "I speak the truth in
+Christ, I lie not; unless you repent, you will all be damned." This
+unexpected speech had such an effect as to break up the club, which
+met no more.
+
+We add a few paragraphs from Seward's journal, who soon after
+sailed for England to promote the interests of Georgia, and who
+died in the parent country. They date from the 24th to the 26th of
+April. "Came to Christopher Wigner's plantation in Skippack, where
+many Dutch people are settled, and where the famous Mr. Spalemburg
+lately resided. It was surprising to see such a multitude of people
+gathered together in such a wilderness country, thirty miles distant
+from Philadelphia. Mr. Whitefield was exceedingly carried out,
+in his sermon, to press poor sinners to come to Christ by faith,
+and claim all their privileges; namely, not only righteousness
+and peace, but joy in the Holy Ghost; and after he had done, our
+dear friend Peter Bohler preached in Dutch, to those who could not
+understand Mr. Whitefield in English."
+
+"Before Mr. Whitefield left Philadelphia, he was desired to visit
+one who was under a deep sense of sin, from hearing him preach. In
+praying with this person, he was so carried beyond himself, that
+the whole company, about twenty, seemed to be filled with the Holy
+Ghost, and magnified the God of heaven."
+
+"Arose at three o'clock, and though Mr. Whitefield was very weak
+in body, yet the Lord enabled him to ride nearly fifty miles, and
+to preach to about five thousand people at Amwell, with the same
+power as usual. Mr. Gilbert Tennent, Mr. Rowland, Mr. Wales, and Mr.
+Campbell, four godly ministers, met us here."
+
+"Came to New Brunswick. Met Mr. Noble from New York, a zealous
+promoter of our Lord's kingdom. He said their society at New York
+was enlarged from seventy to one hundred and seventy, and was
+daily increasing; and that Messrs. Gilbert and William Tennent,
+Mr. Rowland, and several others, were hard laborers in our Lord's
+vineyard."
+
+It will be readily supposed that by this time Whitefield and
+his movements had become so much a matter of interest as to be
+frequently discussed in the newspapers of the day.
+
+The "New England Weekly Journal" of April 29, 1740, copies from a
+Philadelphia paper of April 17: "The middle of last month the Rev.
+Mr. Whitefield was at Charleston, and preached five times, and
+collected at one time upwards of L70 sterling for the benefit of
+the orphan-house in Georgia; and on Sunday last, after ten days'
+passage from Georgia, he landed at Newcastle, where he preached
+morning and evening. On Monday morning he preached to about three
+thousand at Wilmington, and in the evening arrived in this city.
+On Tuesday evening he preached to about eight thousand on Society
+hill, and preached at the same place yesterday morning and evening."
+Then follows a list of his appointments daily to April 29, during
+which time he was to preach at Whitemarsh, Germantown, Philadelphia,
+Salem, N. J., Neshaminy, Skippack, Frederick township, Amwell, New
+Brunswick, Elizabethtown, and New York. On May 6th, the Journal
+copied a Philadelphia notice of April 24th, that he had preached on
+the previous Sabbath to fifteen thousand hearers, and on Monday at
+Greenwich and Gloucester, and that he would return to Georgia before
+visiting New England.
+
+The Journal of May 20th, contains a letter from Whitefield to a
+friend in England, dated New Brunswick, N. J., April 27. Of his
+visit to Charleston he says, "A glorious work was begun in the
+hearts of the inhabitants, and many were brought to cry out, 'What
+shall we do to be saved?' A fortnight ago, after a short passage of
+ten days, I landed in Pennsylvania, and have had the pleasure of
+seeing and hearing that my poor endeavors for promoting Christ's
+kingdom, when here last, were not altogether in vain in the Lord. I
+cannot tell you how many have come to me laboring under the deepest
+convictions, and seemingly truly desirous of finding rest in Jesus
+Christ. Several have actually received him into their hearts by
+faith, and have not only righteousness and peace, but joy in the
+Holy Ghost. In short, the word has run and been much glorified, and
+many negroes also are in a fair way of being brought home to God.
+Young ones I intend to buy, and do not despair of seeing a room full
+of that despised generation, in a short time, singing and making
+melody with grace in their hearts to the Lord.
+
+"An effectual door is opened for preaching the everlasting gospel,
+and I daily receive fresh and most importunate invitations to preach
+in all the counties round about. God is pleased to give a great
+blessing to my printed sermons. They are in the hands of thousands
+in these parts, and are a means of enlightening and building up many
+in their most holy faith. The clergy, I find, are most offended
+at me. The commissary of Philadelphia, having gotten a little
+stronger than when I was here last, has thrown off the mask, denied
+me the pulpit, and last Sunday preached up an historical faith,
+and justification by works. But the people only flock the more.
+The power of God is more visible than ever in our assemblies, and
+more and more are convinced that I preach the doctrine of Jesus
+Christ. Some of the bigoted, self-righteous Quakers now also begin
+to spit out a little of the venom of the serpent. They cannot bear
+the doctrine of original sin, and of an imputed righteousness as
+the cause of our acceptance with God. I have not yet met with much
+opposition from the dissenters; but when I come to tell many of
+them, ministers as well as people, that they hold the truth in
+unrighteousness, that they talk and preach of justifying faith,
+but never felt it in their hearts, as I am persuaded numbers of
+them have not, then they no doubt will shoot out their arrows, even
+bitter words."
+
+While on his voyage from Charleston to Newcastle, Whitefield seems
+to have devoted the 4th of April, 1740, to correspondence on the
+subject of marriage. "I find," said he, "by experience, that a
+mistress is absolutely necessary for the due management of my
+increasing family, and to take off some of that care which at
+present lies upon me." His letters were addressed to a young lady
+and her parents, connected with a family much devoted to piety.
+Here, as everywhere else, his heart is transparent. He says to the
+parents of Miss E----, "I write only because I believe it is the
+will of God that I should alter my state; but your denial will fully
+convince me that your daughter is not the person appointed for me.
+He knows my heart; I would not marry but for him, and in him, for
+ten thousand worlds."
+
+The next year, having returned to England, Whitefield, like his
+eminent friend John Wesley, was married, and, like him also, was
+unhappy in his domestic relation. In each case, the husband exacted
+a previous pledge that the wife should never prevent the delivery
+of a single sermon; and this was followed by separation from the
+wife for weeks, months, or even years, in the prosecution of their
+arduous labors. In the case of Whitefield, his marriage in Wales,
+with a widow lady, in 1741, was followed by the birth of a son;
+previous to which event he had said, in the joy of his heart, that
+his name should be John, and that he should be a preacher of the
+everlasting gospel. The first prediction was realized, and when
+his child was a week old, the good man told his people in the
+Tabernacle, London, that he would live to preach, and "be great in
+the sight of the Lord." But alas, at the end of four months John
+died, and his father very wisely wrote in his journal: "I hope what
+happened before his birth, and since at his death, has taught me
+such lessons as, if duly improved, may render his mistaken parent
+more sober-minded, more experienced in Satan's devices, and
+consequently more useful in his future labors in the church of God."
+
+On the death of his wife somewhat suddenly, August 9, 1768, Mr.
+Whitefield himself preached her funeral sermon, from Romans 8:28:
+"And we know that all things work together for good to them that
+love God, to them that are the called according to his purpose." In
+describing her character, he particularly mentioned her fortitude
+and courage, and suddenly exclaimed, "Do you remember my preaching
+in those fields by the stump of the old tree? The multitude was
+great, and many were disposed to be riotous. At first I addressed
+them with firmness; but when a gang of desperate banditti drew
+near, with the most ferocious looks, and horrid imprecations and
+menaces, my courage began to fail. My wife was then standing behind
+me, as I stood on the table. I think I hear her now. She pulled my
+gown"--himself suiting the action to the word, by placing his hand
+behind him and touching his robe--"and looking up, said, 'George,
+play the man for your God.' My confidence returned. I again spoke to
+the multitude with boldness and affection; they became still; and
+many were deeply affected."
+
+Before we leave Philadelphia, we may relate an instance or two as
+to the power of his eloquence. Dr. Franklin says, "He had a loud
+and clear voice, and articulated his words so perfectly that he
+might be heard and understood to a great distance; especially as his
+auditors observed the most profound silence. He preached one evening
+from the top of the court-house steps, which are in the middle of
+Market-street, and on the west side of Second-street, which crosses
+it at right angles. Both streets were filled with his hearers to a
+considerable distance. Being among the hindmost in Market-street,
+I had the curiosity to learn how far he might be heard by setting
+backwards down the street towards the river; and I found his voice
+distinct till I came near Front-street, where some noise in that
+street obstructed it. Imagine, then, a semicircle of which my
+distance should be a radius, and that it was filled with auditors,
+to each of whom I allowed two square feet, I computed that he might
+well be heard by more than thirty thousand people."
+
+But not only does Franklin bear witness of Whitefield's eloquence as
+to his voice, but still more strongly as to its _persuasiveness_, of
+which, it seems, he was himself a striking illustration. He says, "I
+refused to contribute to his orphan-house in Georgia, thinking it
+injudiciously located. Soon after, I happened to attend one of his
+sermons, in the course of which I perceived he intended to finish
+with a collection, and I silently resolved he should get nothing
+from me. I had in my pocket a handful of copper money, three or
+four silver dollars, and five pistoles in gold. As he proceeded, I
+began to soften, and determined to give the copper. Another stroke
+of his oratory made me ashamed of that, and determined me to give
+the silver; and he finished so admirably, that I emptied my pocket
+wholly into the collector's dish, gold and all. At this sermon there
+was also one of our club; who being of my sentiments respecting the
+building at Georgia, and suspecting a collection might be intended,
+had, by precaution, emptied his pockets before he came from home.
+Towards the conclusion of the discourse, however, he felt a strong
+inclination to give, and applied to a neighbor, who stood near him,
+to lend him some money for the purpose. The request was made to,
+perhaps, the only man in the company who had the firmness not to be
+affected by the preacher. His answer was, 'At any other time, friend
+Hodgkinson, I would lend to thee freely; but not now, for thee seems
+to be out of thy right senses.'"
+
+Whitefield, much as he loved Philadelphia, had now again to leave
+it. Thus writes the correspondent of the "New England Weekly
+Journal," at Newcastle, May 15: "This evening Mr. Whitefield went
+on board his sloop here, to sail for Georgia. On Sunday he preached
+twice In Philadelphia, and in the evening, when he preached his
+farewell sermon, it is supposed he had twenty thousand hearers. On
+Monday he preached at Darby and Chester; on Tuesday, at Wilmington
+and White Clay creek; on Wednesday, twice at Nottingham; on
+Thursday, at Fog's Manor and Newcastle. The congregations were
+much increased since his being here last. The presence of God was
+much seen in the assemblies, especially at Nottingham and Fog's
+Manor, where the people were under such deep soul distress, that
+their cries almost drowned his voice. He has collected in this and
+the neighboring provinces, about L450 sterling for his orphans in
+Georgia."
+
+He arrived at Savannah June 5, and most interesting was the manner
+of his reception. He says, "O what a sweet meeting I had with my
+dear friends! What God has prepared for me, I know not; but surely
+I cannot well expect a greater happiness, till I embrace the saints
+in glory. When I parted, my heart was ready to break with sorrow;
+but now it almost bursts with joy. O how did each in turn hang upon
+my neck, kiss, and weep over me with tears of joy! And my own soul
+was so full of a sense of God's love when I embraced one friend
+in particular, that I thought I should have expired in the place.
+I felt my soul so full of a sense of the divine goodness, that I
+wanted words to express myself. Why me, Lord; why me? When we came
+to public worship, young and old were all dissolved in tears. After
+service, several of my parishioners, all my family, and the little
+children, returned home, crying along the streets, and some could
+not avoid praying very loud.
+
+"Being very weak in body, I laid myself upon a bed; but finding so
+many weeping, I rose and betook myself to prayer again. But had
+I not lifted up my voice very high, the groans and cries of the
+children would have prevented my being heard. This continued for
+near an hour; till at last, finding their concern rather increase
+than abate, I desired all to retire. Then some or other might be
+heard praying earnestly, in every corner of the house. It happened
+at this time to thunder and lighten, which added very much to the
+solemnity of the night. Next day the concern still continued,
+especially among the girls. I mention the orphans in particular,
+that their benefactors may rejoice in what God is doing for their
+souls."
+
+On the 7th of June, he wrote, "I have brought with me a Latin
+master, and on Monday laid the foundation, in the name of the Lord
+Jesus, for a university in Georgia." On the 28th of the same month,
+he wrote to a Mr. W. D----, in a style admirably corresponding with
+the meek spirit we have already seen in his letter to the Rev.
+Dr. Pemberton, of New York. "I thank you for your kind letters
+and friendly cautions; and I trust I shall always reckon those my
+choicest friends, who, in simplicity and meekness, tell me the
+corruptions of my heart. It is that faithfulness which has endeared
+J. S---- to me. I think I never was obliged to any one so much
+before. O my dear brother, still continue faithful to my soul; do
+not hate me in your heart; in any wise reprove me. Exhort all my
+brethren to forgive my past, I fear, too imperious carriage; and let
+them pray that I may know myself to be, what I really am, less than
+the least of them all."
+
+Whitefield's family at Bethesda had now increased to not less than
+one hundred and fifty persons, and to advance their interests, it
+was needful that he should again visit Charleston, where he arrived
+on the third of July, and immediately commenced preaching, as on
+former visits. On the following Sabbath, three days after his
+arrival, he attended the Episcopal church, where, he says, "I heard
+the commissary preach as virulent and unorthodox, inconsistent a
+discourse, as ever I heard in my life. His heart seemed full of
+choler and resentment. Out of the abundance thereof, he poured forth
+so many bitter words against the Methodists, as he called them, in
+general, and me in particular, that several who intended to receive
+the sacrament at his hands, withdrew. Never, I believe, was such
+a preparation sermon preached before. After sermon, he sent his
+clerk to desire me not to come to the sacrament till he had spoken
+with me. I immediately retired to my lodgings, rejoicing that I was
+accounted worthy to suffer this further degree of contempt for my
+dear Lord's sake."
+
+The next day, the commissary of the bishop of London issued against
+Whitefield the following ecclesiastical writ:
+
+"Alexander Garden, lawfully constituted Commissary of the Right
+Reverend Father in Christ, Edmund, by divine permission Lord Bishop
+of London, supported by the royal authority underwritten:
+
+"Alexander Garden, To all and singular clerks, and literate persons
+whomsoever, in and throughout the whole province of South Carolina,
+wheresoever appointed, Greeting:
+
+"To you, conjunctly and severally, we commit, and strictly
+enjoining, command, that you do cite, or cause to be cited,
+peremptorily, George Whitefield, clerk, and presbyter of the Church
+of England, that he lawfully appear before us, in the parish church
+of St. Philip, Charleston, and in the judicial place of the same, on
+Tuesday, the fifteenth day of this instant July, 'twixt the hours of
+nine and ten in the forenoon, then and there in justice to answer to
+certain articles, heads, or interrogatories, which will be objected
+and ministered unto him concerning the mere health of his soul, and
+the reformation and correction of his manners and excesses, and
+chiefly for omitting to use the form of prayers prescribed in the
+Communion-Book; and further to do and receive what shall be just
+in that behalf, on pain of law and contempt. And what you shall do
+in the premises, you shall duly certify us, together with these
+presents.
+
+"Given under our hands and seals of our office, at Charleston, this
+seventh day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven
+hundred and forty."
+
+Justice to all parties requires it should be said, that the phrase
+as to the health of Whitefield's _soul_ was used by Garden not of
+choice, but in conformity with the forms of English ecclesiastical
+law; the theory of which is, that ecclesiastical courts are only
+held to promote the spiritual health or welfare of those who are
+cited into them. The principal sin of Whitefield was "omitting to
+use the form of prayer prescribed in the Common Prayer Book." The
+undisputed matter of fact, as Tracy says, was, that he always used
+that form when he could obtain an Episcopal church to preach in; but
+when he was shut out of such pulpits, and was preaching to Baptists,
+Presbyterians, and Congregationalists, in their own houses of
+worship, where none of the congregations had prayer books, or knew
+how to use them, and where the introduction of unaccustomed forms
+would not have promoted the devotion of the worshippers, he prayed
+extempore.
+
+On the day this writ was issued, Whitefield preached for Mr.
+Chanler, "a gracious Baptist minister, about fourteen miles from
+Charleston;" and twice on the next day "to a large audience in
+Mr. Osgood's meeting-house, a young Independent minister," at
+Dorchester; the next day at Dorchester again, and at Charleston
+in the evening; the next day preached and read prayers in Christ's
+church, and twice at Charleston the next day, with great success.
+And now, on July 11th, a citation was served upon him to appear on
+the fifteenth, as required in the writ.
+
+On the 12th, he preached and read prayers twice on John's island;
+and on the 13th, which was the Sabbath, he again listened to a
+sermon from the commissary. Of this sermon Whitefield says, "Had
+some infernal spirit been sent to draw my picture, I think it
+scarcely possible that he could paint me in more horrid colors. I
+think, if ever, then was the time that all manner of evil was spoken
+against me falsely for Christ's sake. The commissary seemed to
+ransack church history for instances of enthusiasm and abused grace.
+He drew a parallel between me and all the Oliverians, Ranters,
+Quakers, French prophets, till he came down to a family of Dutartes,
+who lived not many years ago in South Carolina, and were guilty of
+the most notorious incests and murders."
+
+The next day Whitefield again preached twice; and on Tuesday
+appeared before the commissary, according to his citation. This is
+said to have been the first court of the kind ever attempted to be
+held in any of the colonies. It consisted of the reverend commissary
+A. Garden, and the Rev. Messrs. Guy, Mellichamp, Roe, and Orr, who,
+as well as Whitefield himself, and his able advocate, Mr. Andrew
+Rutledge, respectively showed their want of familiarity with such
+business, and, after a series of blunders on both sides, the court
+adjourned to nine o'clock the next morning, to afford Whitefield
+time to ascertain the extent of the jurisdiction of the bishop and
+his commissary. How little, however, he studied the subject may be
+inferred from the fact, that he preached twice during the remainder
+of the day. The next day, a Mr. Graham appeared as a prosecuting
+attorney, and Mr. Rutledge as counsel for the respondent. Whitefield
+made some mistakes, but hints from his quick-sighted advocate and
+his own adroitness saved him from their consequences; though he
+contrived to give the court a lecture on the meanness of catching at
+a word as soon as it was out of his lips, without allowing him time
+to correct it. He now filed his objection against being judged by
+the commissary, who, he alleged, was prejudiced against him. This
+gave rise to new questions: the court adjourned; and the evangelist
+went to James' island, read prayers, and preached. The next day
+he again appeared in court, and found that his exceptions were
+repelled, and that the arbitrators he had asked for would not be
+appointed. He now appealed to the high Court of Chancery in London,
+declaring all further proceedings in this court to be null and
+void. He then retired and read letters which refreshed his spirit,
+by informing him how "mightily grew the word of God and prevailed"
+at Philadelphia; and that Mr. Bolton, in Georgia, had nearly fifty
+negroes learning to read. On the 18th he preached twice, and on the
+19th again appeared before the commissary, and bound himself, in
+a penalty of ten pounds, to prosecute his appeal in London within
+twelve months. The appeal was never tried, as the ecclesiastical
+authorities allowed it to die of neglect.
+
+"The court being ended," says Whitefield, in his journal, "the
+commissary desired to speak with me. I asked him to my lodgings. He
+chose to walk on a green near the church. His spirit was somewhat
+calmer than usual; but after an hour's conversation, we were as far
+from agreeing as before." "All his discourse was so inconsistent and
+contrary to the gospel of our Lord, that I was obliged to tell him
+that I believed him to be an unconverted man, an enemy to God, and
+of a like spirit with the persecutor Saul. At this he smiled; and,
+after we had talked a long while, we parted, and God gave me great
+satisfaction that I had delivered my soul in my private conversation
+with the commissary."
+
+The next day, July 20, was the Sabbath. The commissary preached in
+his usual style, and Whitefield preached his farewell sermon to
+the people of Charleston. By his recommendation two or three of
+the dissenting ministers had instituted a weekly lecture; and the
+evangelist "advised the people, as the gospel was not preached in
+church, to go and hear it in the meeting-house." On leaving the
+city, he summed up, in his journal, the results of his labors in
+this manner:
+
+"What makes the change more remarkable in the Charleston people
+is, that they seemed to me, at my first coming, to be a people
+wholly devoted to pleasure. One well acquainted with their
+manners and circumstances, told me more had been spent on polite
+entertainments, than the poor's-rate came to; but now the jewellers
+and dancing-masters begin to cry out that their craft is in danger.
+A vast alteration is discernible in the ladies' dresses. And some,
+while I have been speaking, have been so convinced of the sin of
+wearing jewels, that I have seen them with blushes put their hands
+to their ears, and cover them with their fans. But I hope the
+reformation has gone farther than externals. Many moral, good sort
+of men, who before were settled on their lees, have been gloriously
+awakened to seek after Jesus Christ; and many a Lydia's heart hath
+been opened to receive the things that were spoken. Indeed, the word
+came like a hammer and a fire. And a door, I believe, will be opened
+for teaching the poor negroes. Several of them have done their usual
+work in less time, that they might come to hear me. Many of their
+owners, who have been awakened, resolved to teach them Christianity.
+Had I time, and proper schoolmasters, I might immediately erect a
+negro school in South Carolina, as well as in Pennsylvania. Many
+would willingly contribute both money and land."
+
+The Baptist church in Charleston at this time was nearly extinct,
+being reduced to five or six communicants, but Whitefield's success
+greatly increased their number, and it thus gained strength which
+it has never lost. It is also gratefully mentioned even now by the
+church of that denomination at Eutaw, that Whitefield during this
+visit to South Carolina preached the dedication-sermon of their
+house of worship.
+
+Whitefield left Charleston on July 21, visiting and preaching on his
+way homeward, which he reached towards the close of the same week.
+He preached on the Sabbath in extreme weakness of body, but "with
+the Holy Ghost from above," and several were hopefully converted to
+God. On the 18th of August, he again left Savannah for Charleston,
+where he was able, for want of bodily strength, to preach but once a
+day, but he thought that his sermons were attended with more power
+and success than ever before. In a few days after, having preached a
+farewell sermon to four thousand hearers, he sailed for New England,
+where he had been very cordially invited by leading ministers and
+others in Boston and many other places.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+WHITEFIELD'S FIRST VISIT TO NEW ENGLAND.
+
+SEPTEMBER TO NOVEMBER, 1740.
+
+
+The religious state of New England in the early part of the
+eighteenth century, was little better than the description we
+have already given of the state of Great Britain and its other
+dependencies at that period. Dr. Prince tells us, that the first age
+of New England was one of an almost continual revival. Preaching was
+attended with so much power in some places, "that it was a common
+inquiry, by such members of a family as were detained at home on a
+Sabbath, whether any had been visibly awakened in the house of God
+that day." And he adds, "Few Sabbaths did pass without some being
+evidently converted, and some convincing proof of the power of God
+accompanying his word."
+
+Dr. Increase Mather, writing towards the close of the seventeenth
+century, while he confirms the statements we have already given,
+bears farther testimony which is of a very painful character.
+He says, "Prayer is necessary on this account, that conversions
+have become rare in this age of the world. They that have their
+thoughts exercised in discerning things of this nature, have sad
+apprehensions that the work of conversion has come to a stand.
+During the last age scarcely a sermon was preached without some
+being apparently converted, and sometimes hundreds were converted
+by one sermon. Who of us now can say that we have seen any thing
+such as this? Clear, sound conversions are not frequent in our
+congregations; the great bulk of the present generation are
+apparently poor, perishing, and if the Lord prevent not, undone;
+many are profane, drunkards, lascivious, scoffers at the power of
+godliness, and disobedient; others are civil and outwardly conformed
+to good order, because so educated, but without knowing aught of
+a real change of heart." The same estimable writer says, in 1721,
+"I am now in my eighty-third year, and having had an opportunity
+of conversing with the first planters of this country, and having
+been for _sixty-five_ years a preacher of the gospel, I feel as did
+the ancient men who had seen the former temple, and who wept aloud
+as they saw the latter. The children of New England are, or once
+were, for the most part, the children of godly parents. What did our
+fathers come into this wilderness for? Not to gain estates as men
+do now, but for religion, and that they might have their children
+in a hopeful way of being truly religious. There was a famous man
+who preached before one of the greatest assemblies that ever was
+addressed; it was about seventy years ago; and he said to them, 'I
+lived in a country seven years, and all that time I never heard a
+profane oath, or saw a man drunk.' And where was that country? It
+was New England. Ah, degenerate New England! What art thou come to
+at this day? How are those sins become common that were once not
+even heard of!"
+
+Passing over, for the present, indications of a revival of religion,
+which had appeared in other parts of the country, we speak now
+only of New England. In 1734, a very extraordinary work of grace
+appeared at Northampton, Massachusetts, under the ministry of the
+distinguished Jonathan Edwards, the elder, the history of which is
+given in his admirable "Narrative of the surprising Work of God" at
+that period, in Northampton and the vicinity.
+
+It is important to remark here, that the preaching which led to such
+delightful results was of the most faithful and pungent character.
+We will give one instance, as illustrative of many, as will be
+distinctly seen by those who have read EDWARDS' sermon, "_Sinners
+in the hands of an angry God_," or his "_Justice of God in the
+damnation of Sinners_." Perhaps, however, no sermon in New England
+has ever acquired greater celebrity, or accomplished more good, than
+the one preached by President Edwards at Enfield, July 8, 1741, from
+the words, "Their feet shall slide in due time." Deut. 32:35. "When
+they went into the meeting-house, the appearance of the assembly was
+thoughtless and vain; the people scarcely conducted themselves with
+common decency." But as the sermon proceeded, the audience became
+so overwhelmed with distress and weeping, that the preacher was
+"obliged to speak to the people and desire silence, that he might
+be heard." The excitement soon became intense; and it is said that
+a minister who sat in the pulpit with Mr. Edwards, in the agitation
+of his feelings, caught the preacher by the skirt of his dress, and
+said, "Mr. Edwards, Mr. Edwards, is not God a God of mercy?" Many of
+the hearers were seen unconsciously holding themselves up against
+the pillars, and the sides of the pews, as though they already felt
+themselves sliding into the pit. This fact has often been mentioned
+as a proof of the strong and scriptural character of President
+Edwards' peculiar eloquence--the eloquence of truth as attended by
+influence from heaven; for his sermons were read, without gestures.
+
+But there was another element which must be taken into account when
+we look at the result of this sermon, as well as others delivered in
+like circumstances, and one which we fear has been often overlooked.
+"While the people of the neighboring towns were in great distress
+about their souls, the inhabitants of Enfield were very secure,
+loose, and vain. A lecture had been appointed there, and the
+neighboring people were so affected at the thoughtlessness of the
+inhabitants, and had so much fear that God would, in his righteous
+judgment, pass them by, that many of them were prostrate before
+him a considerable part of the previous evening, supplicating the
+mercy of heaven in their behalf. And when the time appointed for the
+lecture came, a number of the surrounding ministers were present,
+as well as some from a distance"--a proof of the prayerful interest
+felt on behalf of the town. In all this we see much of the secret
+of the powerful impression produced by that sermon, and are taught
+that in seasons when God seems about to pour out his Spirit on a
+community, Christians should be found "continuing instant in prayer."
+
+In this more hopeful state of things than had long before existed
+in New England, Whitefield, who was now the second time in America,
+was most urgently entreated to visit the descendants of the Pilgrim
+fathers. He complied with the request, and arrived at Newport on
+the evening of the Sabbath, September 14, 1740. We furnish an
+account, written chiefly by himself, in his journal, published in
+London, 1741, a copy of which may be found in the library of Harvard
+University, to which we have had a kind access, and which is rich in
+what we may term _Whitefieldian lore_. He writes,
+
+"Was sick part of the passage, but found afterwards the sea-air,
+under God, much improved my health. Arrived at Newport, in Rhode
+Island, just after the beginning of evening service. We came
+purposely thither first with our sloop. I think it the most pleasant
+entrance I ever yet saw. Almost all the morning the wind was
+contrary; but I found a very strong inclination to pray that we
+might arrive time enough to be present at public worship. Once I
+called the people; but something prevented their coming. At last,
+finding my impression increase upon me, I desired their attendance
+immediately. They came. With a strong assurance that we should be
+heard, we prayed that the Lord would turn the wind, that we might
+give him thanks in the great congregation; and also that he would
+send such to us as he would have us to converse with, and who might
+show us a lodging. Though the wind was ahead when we began, when we
+had done praying, and came up out of the cabin, it was quite fair.
+
+"With a gentle gale we sailed most pleasantly into the harbor; got
+into public worship before they had finished the psalms; and sat, as
+I thought, undiscovered. After service was over, a gentleman asked
+me whether my name was not Whitefield. I told him 'yes;' he then
+desired me to go to his house, and he would take care to provide
+lodgings and necessaries for me and my friends. I went, silently
+admiring God's goodness in answering my prayer so minutely. Several
+gentlemen of the town soon came to pay their respects to me, among
+whom was one Mr. Clap, an aged dissenting minister, but the most
+venerable man I ever saw. He looked like a good old Puritan, and
+gave me an idea of what stamp those men were who first settled New
+England. His countenance was very heavenly; he rejoiced much in
+spirit at the sight of me, and prayed most affectionately for a
+blessing on my coming to Rhode Island."
+
+In the evening, in company with Mr. Clap and other friends,
+Whitefield visited Mr. Honeyman, the minister of the church of
+England, and requested the use of his pulpit. "At first he seemed
+a little unwilling, being desirous to know 'what extraordinary
+call I had to preach on week-days,' which he said was disorderly.
+I answered, 'St. Paul exhorted Timothy to 'be instant in season
+and out of season;' that if the orders of the church were rightly
+complied with, our ministers should read public prayers twice every
+day, and then it would not be disorderly at such times to give them
+a sermon. As to an extraordinary call, I claimed none otherwise than
+upon the apostle's injunction, 'As we have opportunity, let us do
+good unto all men.' He still held out, and did not give any positive
+answer; but at last, after he had withdrawn and consulted with the
+gentlemen, he said, 'If my preaching would promote the glory of
+God, and the good of souls, I was welcome to his church as often
+as I would, during my stay in town.' We then agreed to make use of
+it at ten in the morning, and three in the afternoon. After this,
+I went to wait on the governor, who seemed to be a very plain man,
+and had a very plain house, which much pleased me. By profession,
+I think he is a Seventh-day Baptist; he is a man of good report
+as to his conduct and dealing with the world." As might have been
+expected, the evening was spent in exposition and prayer, with a
+crowded company, in the house of his friend Bowers, the gentleman
+who first addressed him when coming out of church.
+
+On Monday morning, he breakfasted with "old Mr. Clap, and was much
+edified by his conversation." Of this venerable servant of Christ
+he says, "I could not but think, while at his table, that I was
+sitting with one of the patriarchs. He is full of days, a bachelor,
+and has been minister of a congregation in Rhode Island upwards of
+forty years. People of all denominations, I find, respect him. He
+abounds in good works; gives all away, and is wonderfully tender of
+little children; many of different persuasions come to be instructed
+by him. Whenever he dies, I am persuaded, with good old Simeon, he
+will be enabled to say, 'Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart
+in peace.'" Whitefield preached, according to appointment, morning
+and afternoon, "in the church. It is very commodious, and I believe
+will contain three thousand people. It was more than filled in the
+afternoon. Persons of all denominations attended. God assisted me
+much. I observed numbers affected, and had great reason to believe
+the word of the Lord had been 'sharper than a twoedged sword,' in
+some of the hearers' souls."
+
+On the evening of the same day he received the following note:
+
+     REVEREND SIR AND BELOVED BROTHER--Although mine eyes never saw
+     your face before this day, yet my heart and soul have been
+     united to you in love, by the bond of the Spirit. I have longed
+     and expected to see you for many months past. Blessed be God,
+     mine eyes have seen the joyful day. I trust, through grace, I
+     have some things to communicate to you that will make your heart
+     glad. I shall omit writing any thing, and only hereby present
+     my hearty love, and let you know that I am waiting now at the
+     post of your door for admission. Though I am unworthy, my Lord
+     is worthy, in whose name, I trust, I come. I am your unworthy
+     brother,
+
+     "JONATHAN BARBER."
+
+"On reading it," says Whitefield, "I could not but think this was
+one of those young ministers whom God had lately made use of in such
+a remarkable manner, at the east end of Long Island. I sent for him,
+and found he was the man. My heart rejoiced. We walked out, and took
+sweet counsel together; and among other things, he told me that he
+came to Rhode Island under a full conviction that he should see me
+there, and had been waiting for me about a week.... What rendered
+this more remarkable was, I had no intention of sailing to Rhode
+Island till about three days before I left Carolina; and I had a
+great desire to put in, if I could, at the east end of Long Island,
+to see this very person, whom the great God now brought unto me.
+Lord, accept our thanks, sanctify our meeting, and teach us both
+what we shall do for thine own name's sake. In the evening I went
+to the venerable Mr. Clap's, and exhorted and prayed with a great
+multitude, who not only crowded into the house, but thronged every
+way about it. The dear old man rejoiced to see the things which
+he saw; and after my exhortation was over, dismissed me with his
+blessing."
+
+Tuesday, we scarcely need remark, was spent by Whitefield in the
+work of his great Master. He preached to a vast congregation,
+including the members of the House of Assembly, who adjourned to
+attend the service; and he had very delightful evidence that his
+labors had already been useful. On Wednesday he left Newport, and
+about noon preached at Bristol, at the request of the court, which
+was then in session, and slept that night at a hotel on the road to
+Boston. On Thursday morning he set out early, and as he passed on
+with his friends, he says, "Found that the people were apprized of
+my coming, and were solicitous for my preaching; but being resolved
+under God, if possible, to reach Boston, we travelled on for near
+fifty miles, and came to Boston about eight in the evening. When
+we were within four miles of the city, the governor's son, several
+other gentlemen, and one or two ministers, waited at a gentleman's
+house to give me the meeting. They received me with great gladness,
+and told me many more would have come, had not a large funeral
+been in the town, or if there had been more certain notice of my
+arriving. This rejoiced me; for I think I can stand any thing
+better than this. It savors too much of human grandeur. But I must
+be tried every way; the Lord be my helper. After stopping a while,
+we went together to Boston, to the house of one Mr. Sandiford,
+brother-in-law to the Rev. Dr. Colman, who long since had sent me an
+invitation.... My heart was but low, and my body weak; but, at the
+request of one of the ministers, I gave thanks to our gracious God
+for bringing me in safety, and prayed that my coming might be in the
+fulness of the blessing of the gospel of peace."
+
+He slept well that night, and the next morning, he says, "I
+perceived fresh emanations of divine light break in upon and refresh
+my soul." He was visited by several gentlemen, including Josiah
+Willard, Esq., the secretary of the province, a man who feared God,
+and with whom Whitefield had for some time been in correspondence.
+The governor, Belcher, received him with the utmost respect, and
+requested frequent visits. He attended public worship at the church
+of England, and waited on the commissary home, who received him
+very courteously. As it was a day on which the clergy of that body
+had a meeting, he came into the company of five of them assembled
+together. They soon attacked him "for calling _that Tennent_ and
+his brethren faithful ministers of Christ." He answered, that he
+believed they were so. They questioned the validity of Presbyterian
+ordination, and quoted from his journal his own words against him.
+He replied, that perhaps his sentiments were altered. They then
+went into a doctrinal discussion, which continued till Whitefield,
+finding how inconsistent they were, took his leave, resolving that
+they should not have the opportunity of denying him their pulpits.
+However, they treated him, on the whole, with more courtesy than he
+had lately been accustomed to receive from the ministers of his own
+church.
+
+In the afternoon of the same day, he preached to a vast congregation
+in the Rev. Dr. Colman's meeting-house, in Brattle-street, and in
+the evening exhorted and prayed with such as came to his lodgings.
+On Saturday, in the forenoon, he discoursed to a crowded audience at
+the Old South church, where Dr. Sewall was pastor, the only church
+edifice in Boston with which Whitefield was connected which is still
+standing as it then was. In the afternoon he preached on the Common
+to about eight thousand persons, and, at night to a thronged company
+at his own lodgings.
+
+On the morning of the next day, which was the Sabbath, he heard
+Dr. Colman preach; in the afternoon, he preached at Mr. Foxcroft's
+meeting-house to a vast auditory. This gentleman was the senior
+pastor of the First church, meeting in Chauncy-place, and the
+Rev. Charles Chauncy was his colleague. The church edifice was in
+Cornhill-square, not far from the old state-house, and was usually
+called the "Old Brick meeting." As this house was by far too small
+to contain his auditory, he almost immediately afterwards preached
+on the Common, to about fifteen thousand hearers; and again at night
+at his lodgings. He says, "Some afterwards came into my room. I felt
+much of the divine presence in my own soul, and though hoarse was
+enabled to speak with much power, and could have spoke, I believe,
+till midnight."
+
+On Monday morning, Whitefield preached at Mr. Webb's meeting-house,
+the "New North," on the corner of Clark and Hanover streets. "The
+presence of the Lord," he says, "was among us. Look where I would
+around me, visible impressions were made upon the auditory. Most
+wept for a considerable time." In the afternoon he meant to have
+preached at Mr. Cheekley's, in Summer-street, but was prevented
+by an accident. Just before the time for the commencement of the
+service, a person broke a board in one of the galleries, of which
+to make a seat; the noise alarmed some who heard it, and they
+imprudently cried out that the galleries were giving way. The
+house being much crowded, the whole congregation were thrown into
+the utmost alarm and disorder; some jumped from the gallery into
+the seats below, others fell from the windows, and those below
+pressing to get out of the porch, were many of them thrown over each
+other and trodden upon. Many, as might be expected, were seriously
+bruised; others had bones broken; and within two days five persons
+died from the injuries they had received. Mr. Whitefield's presence
+of mind did not fail him; he immediately led the anxious throng to
+the Common, and preached to them from the text, "Go ye out into the
+highways and hedges, and compel them to come in." He says, "The
+weather was wet, but above eight thousand followed into the fields."
+
+On Tuesday morning, Whitefield visited Mr. Walter, at Roxbury. This
+gentleman had been the colleague, and was now the successor of John
+Eliot, "the apostle of the Indians." These two men had been pastors
+of that church one hundred and six years. Whitefield was much
+pleased with Walter, who, in return, was glad to hear that he, like
+old Bishop Beveridge, called man "half a devil and half a beast." He
+preached that forenoon at Mr. Gee's meeting-house, the "Old North,"
+of which church the celebrated Dr. Cotton Mather had formerly been
+pastor. The house stood in the North square, and was taken down by
+the British army and burned for fuel at the siege of Boston, in
+1776. The auditory Whitefield preached to that morning was not very
+crowded, as the people were in doubt where he would preach. After
+dining with the secretary of the province, he says, "I preached
+in the afternoon at Dr. Sewall's to a thronged congregation, and
+exhorted and prayed as usual at my own lodgings; at neither place
+without some manifestations of a divine power accompanying the word."
+
+Wednesday was not lost. Whitefield himself shall describe its
+proceedings. "Went this morning to see and preach at Cambridge, the
+chief college for training up the sons of the prophets in all New
+England. It has one president, I think four tutors, and about a
+hundred students. It is scarce as big as one of our least colleges
+in Oxford, and as far as I could gather from some who well knew the
+state of it, not far superior to our universities in piety and true
+godliness. Tutors neglect to pray with, and examine the hearts of
+their pupils. Discipline is at too low an ebb. Bad books are become
+fashionable. Tillotson and Clarke are read instead of Sheppard,
+Stoddard, and such like evangelical writers; and therefore I chose
+to preach on these words: 'We are not as many, who corrupt the
+word of God;' and in the conclusion of my sermon I made a close
+application to tutors and students. A great number of neighboring
+ministers attended, as indeed they do at all other times, and God
+gave me great boldness and freedom of speech. The president of the
+college and minister of the parish treated me very civilly. In the
+afternoon I preached again in the court, without any particular
+application to the students. I believe there were about seven
+thousand hearers. The Holy Spirit melted many hearts. The word was
+attended with a manifest power; and a minister soon after wrote me
+word, that 'he believed one of his daughters was savingly wrought
+upon at that time.' Paid my respects to the lieutenant-governor,
+who lives at Cambridge, and returned in the evening to Boston, and
+prayed with and exhorted many people who were waiting round the door
+for a spiritual morsel. I believe our Lord did not send them empty
+away."
+
+An elm under which Whitefield preached in Cambridge became
+distinguished; it being under its shade that Washington, thirty-one
+years after, first drew his sword in the cause of the Revolution,
+on taking the command of the American army. From this circumstance,
+it has been called the "Washington elm." The last time the late
+distinguished Dr. Holyoke, of Salem, Mass., was in Cambridge, then
+nearly a hundred years old, while passing this tree with a friend,
+he said that he heard Whitefield's sermon, being at the time a
+student in college.
+
+On Thursday he preached the weekly lecture at Mr. Foxcroft's, the
+First church. But he says, "I was so oppressed with a sense of my
+base ingratitude to my dearest Saviour, that Satan would fain have
+tempted me to hold my tongue, and not invite poor sinners to Jesus
+Christ, because I was so great a sinner myself. But God enabled
+me to withstand the temptation, and since Jesus Christ had shown
+such mercy to, and had not withdrawn his Holy Spirit from me, the
+chief of sinners, I was enabled more feelingly to talk of his love;
+and afterwards found that one stranger, in particular, was in all
+probability effectually convinced by that morning's sermon. After
+public worship, I went, at his excellency's invitation, and dined
+with the governor. Most of the ministers of the town were invited
+with me. Before dinner, the governor sent for me up into his
+chamber. He wept, wished me 'good luck in the name of the Lord,'
+and recommended himself, ministers, and people to my prayers.
+Immediately after dinner, I prayed explicitly for them all, and
+went in his coach to the end of the town; but had such a sense of
+my vileness upon my soul, that I wondered people did not stone me.
+Crossed a ferry, and preached at Charlestown, a town lying on the
+north side of Boston. The meeting-house was very capacious, and
+quite filled. A gracious melting was discernible through the whole
+congregation, and I perceived much freedom and sweetness in my own
+soul, though the damp I felt in the morning was not quite gone off.
+In the evening I exhorted and prayed as usual at my lodgings; and
+blessed be God, I found a great alteration in my hearers. They now
+began to melt and weep under the word."
+
+On Friday, the following day, he preached in the morning at Roxbury,
+from a little ascent, to many thousands of people, with much of the
+divine presence. Several came to him afterwards, telling him how
+they were struck with the word. Having dined with Judge Dudley, he
+preached to a still larger congregation from a scaffold erected
+outside Mr. Byles' meeting-house in Hollis-street. Wrote to several
+friends in England; gave a short exhortation to a large crowd of
+hearers; and then spent the evening with several ministers in
+edifying conversation, singing, and prayer.
+
+Saturday, he preached in the morning at Mr. Welsteed's
+meeting-house, and in the afternoon to about fifteen thousand
+people on the Common. "But Oh, how did the word run! It rejoiced
+me to see such numbers greatly affected, so that some, I believe,
+could scarcely abstain from crying out. That place was no other
+than a Bethel, and a gate of heaven." After he had gone home to his
+lodgings he says, "The power and presence of the Lord accompanied
+and followed me. Many now wept bitterly, and cried out under the
+word like persons that were really hungering and thirsting after
+righteousness; and after I left them, God gave me to wrestle with
+him in my chamber, in behalf of some dear friends then present,
+and others that were absent from us. The Spirit of the Lord was
+upon them all. It made intercession with groanings that cannot be
+uttered."
+
+On the day following, being the Sabbath, in the morning he preached
+at the Old South church, Dr. Sewall's, to a very crowded auditory,
+"with almost as much power and visible appearance of God as
+yesterday. Collected L555 currency for my little lambs; was taken
+very ill after dinner; vomited violently, but was enabled to preach
+at Dr. Colman's in the afternoon to as great, if not a greater
+congregation than in the morning. Here also L470 were collected for
+the orphan-house in Georgia. In both places all things were carried
+on with decency and order. People went slowly out, as though they
+had not a mind to escape giving; and Dr. Colman said 'it was the
+most pleasant time he ever enjoyed in that meeting-house through the
+whole course of his life.' Blessed be God, after sermon I perceived
+myself somewhat refreshed. Supped very early. Had the honor of a
+private visit from the governor, who came full of affection to
+take his leave of me for the present. Went, at their request, and
+preached to a great company of negroes, on the conversion of the
+Ethiopian, Acts the eighth; at which the poor creatures, as well as
+many white people, were much affected; and at my return, gave an
+exhortation to a crowd of people who were waiting at my lodgings. My
+animal spirits were almost exhausted, and my legs, through expense
+of sweating and vomiting, almost ready to sink under me; but the
+Lord visited my soul, and I went to bed greatly refreshed with
+divine consolations." Even at this early period such sufferings of
+his bodily system frequently followed his herculean labors.
+
+Early on Monday morning, Sept. 29, Whitefield left Boston on an
+excursion to the eastward. At Marblehead, he "preached to some
+thousands in a broad place in the middle of the town, but not with
+much apparent effect." At Salem, he "preached to about seven
+thousand people. Here the Lord manifested forth his glory. One man
+was, I believe, struck down by the power of the word. In every part
+of the congregation, persons might be seen under great concern." He
+went on to Ipswich, where he was kindly "entertained at the house
+of Mr. Rogers, one of the ministers of the place." Of this family
+our evangelist was soon to know more than he had hitherto done. At
+about this period, John Rogers, aged 77, and Nathanael Rogers, were
+joint pastors of the First church at Ipswich; both of them were
+ardent promoters of the revival, as was also Daniel Rogers, of the
+same family. Whitefield learned with deep interest that his host
+was a descendant of the celebrated martyr, John Rogers. The next
+day he preached there to some thousands. "The Lord," says he, "gave
+me freedom, and there was a great melting in the congregation." At
+Newbury, in the afternoon, the Lord accompanied the word with power.
+The meeting-house was very large, many ministers were present, and
+the people were greatly affected. Blessed be God, his divine power
+attends us more and more." Wednesday, he preached at Hampton, in
+the open air, to some thousands. He was here very highly gratified
+with the conversation of Mr. Colton, the minister, and with the
+Christian simplicity of his excellent wife. The high wind prevented
+his being heard so well as he usually was, and he did not enjoy his
+accustomed freedom; still, "some, though not many, were affected."
+At Portsmouth, he "preached to a polite auditory, but so very
+unconcerned, that I began to question whether I had been speaking
+to rational or brute creatures. Seeing no immediate effects of
+the word preached, I was a little dejected; but God, to comfort my
+heart, sent one young man, crying out in great anguish of spirit,
+'What shall I do to be saved?'"
+
+From Portsmouth, our evangelist proceeded to York, in Maine, "to
+see one Mr. Moody, a worthy, plain, and powerful minister of Jesus
+Christ, though now much impaired by old age. He has lived by faith
+for many years, would have no settled salary, and has been much
+despised by bad men, and as much respected by the true lovers of
+the blessed Jesus." The next morning he was much comforted to hear,
+from Mr. Moody, that he would preach that morning to a hundred new
+creatures; "and indeed," says he, "I believe I did; for when I came
+to preach, I could speak little or no terror, but most consolation."
+He preached morning and evening. "The hearers looked plain and
+simple, and the tears trickled apace down most of their cheeks." He
+returned to Portsmouth that night, and the next morning preached to
+a far greater congregation, and with much better effect than before.
+"Instead of preaching to dead stocks, I now had reason to believe I
+was preaching to living men. People began to melt soon after I began
+to pray; and the power increased more and more during the whole
+sermon." This was still more clearly evinced after Mr. Whitefield's
+departure from the town.
+
+Returning to Boston, through Salem, Marblehead, and Malden, in each
+of which places he preached, and being now in improved health, he
+preached, October 7, both morning and evening, "with much power,"
+at Brattle-street. There had been for several days a report in
+circulation, that he had died suddenly, or was poisoned, and the
+people greatly rejoiced again to see him alive. At Mr. Webb's, the
+New North church, on the following Wednesday, he thought there was
+more of the presence of God through the whole ministration, than
+he had before, known at one time in the course of his life. He
+went there with the governor, in his coach, and preached morning
+and evening. "Jesus Christ manifested forth his glory; many hearts
+melted within them; and I think I was never drawn out to pray for
+and invite little children to Jesus Christ, as I was this morning. A
+little before, I had heard of a child who was taken sick just after
+it had heard me preach, and said he would go to Mr. Whitefield's
+God, and died in a short time. This encouraged me to speak to the
+little ones. But O, how were the old people affected when I said,
+'Little children, if your parents will not come to Christ, do you
+come, and go to heaven without them.' There seemed to be but few
+dry eyes, look where I would. I have not seen a greater commotion
+since my preaching at Boston. Glory be to God, who has not forgotten
+to be gracious." He collected, after this sermon, L440 for his
+orphan-house, which was now more generally supported than ever
+before.
+
+The interesting fact we have just related of the impression produced
+on the mind of a little child by the preaching of Mr. Whitefield,
+may afford the opportunity to introduce one or two other facts
+bearing on the same general topic, and suggesting some practical
+lessons.
+
+Whitefield could indeed descend to talk with children. Here is
+a specimen which at once impresses us with a lively idea of his
+spirit, and of the adaptation of the religion of Jesus to the young
+as well as the old. A little girl seven years of age, when on her
+death-bed, desired an interview with him; he came, and thus they
+conversed:
+
+WHITEFIELD. For what purpose, my dear child, have you sent for me?
+
+GIRL. I think I am dying, and I wished very much to see you.
+
+WHITEFIELD. What can I do for you?
+
+GIRL. You can tell me about Christ, and pray for me.
+
+WHITEFIELD. My dear girl, what do you know about Christ?
+
+GIRL. I know he is the Saviour of the world.
+
+WHITEFIELD. My dear child, he is so.
+
+GIRL. I hope he will be _my_ Saviour also.
+
+WHITEFIELD. I hope, my dear, that this is the language of faith out
+of the mouth of a babe; but tell me what ground you have for saying
+this?
+
+GIRL. Oh, sir, he bids little children, such as I, to come unto him,
+and says, "Of such is the kingdom of heaven;" and besides, I love
+Christ, and am always glad when I think of him.
+
+WHITEFIELD. My dear child, you make my very heart to rejoice; but
+are you not a sinner?
+
+GIRL. Yes, I am a sinner, but my blessed Redeemer takes away sin,
+and I long to be with him.
+
+WHITEFIELD. My dear girl, I trust that the desire of your heart will
+be granted; but where do you think you will find your Redeemer?
+
+GIRL. O, sir, I think I shall find him in heaven.
+
+WHITEFIELD. Do you think you will get to heaven?
+
+GIRL. Yes, I do.
+
+WHITEFIELD. But what if you do not find Christ there?
+
+GIRL. If I do not find Christ there, I am sure it is not heaven; for
+where he dwells must be heaven, for there also dwells God, and holy
+angels, and all that Christ saves.
+
+Who can tell the results of a single sermon, or trace the
+consequences of one conversion? When Mr. Whitefield was preaching
+in New England, a lady became the subject of divine grace, and her
+spirit was peculiarly drawn out in prayer for others. But in her
+Christian exercises she was alone; she could persuade no one to pray
+with her but her little daughter, about ten years of age. She took
+this dear child into her closet from day to day, as a witness of her
+cries and tears. After a time, it pleased God to touch the heart of
+the child, and to give her the hope of salvation by the remission
+of sin. In a transport of holy joy she then exclaimed, "O, mother,
+if all the world knew this! I wish I could tell every body. Pray,
+mother, let me run to some of the neighbors and tell them, that they
+may be happy and love my Saviour too." "Ah, my dear child," said the
+mother, "that would be useless, for I suppose that were you to tell
+your experience, there is not one within many miles who would not
+laugh at you, and say it was all delusion." "Oh, mother," replied
+the dear girl, "I think they would believe me. I must go over to
+the shoemaker and tell him; he will believe me." She ran over, and
+found him at work in his shop. She began by telling him that he must
+die, and that he was a sinner, and that she was a sinner, but that
+her blessed Saviour had heard her mother's prayers, and had forgiven
+all her sins; and that now she was so happy that she did not know
+how to tell it. The shoemaker was struck with surprise, his tears
+flowed down like rain; he threw aside his work, and by prayer and
+supplication sought for mercy. The neighborhood were awakened, and
+within a few months more than fifty persons were brought to the
+knowledge of Jesus, and rejoiced in his power and grace.
+
+But to return to our narrative of Whitefield's labors in Boston. On
+Thursday, October 9, he preached the public lecture at the Old South
+church. He had selected another text, but it was much impressed on
+his heart that he should preach from our Lord's conference with
+Nicodemus. A large number of ministers were present, and when he
+came to the words, "Art thou a master in Israel, and knowest not
+these things?" he says, "The Lord enabled me to open my mouth boldly
+against unconverted ministers, to caution tutors to take care of
+their pupils, and also to advise ministers particularly to examine
+into the experiences of candidates for ordination. For I am verily
+persuaded the generality of preachers talk of an unknown and unfelt
+Christ; and the reason why congregations have been so dead is,
+because they have had dead men preaching to them. O that the Lord
+may quicken and revive them, for his own name's sake. For how can
+dead men beget living children? It is true, indeed, God may convert
+men by the devil, if he pleases, and so he may by unconverted
+ministers; but I believe he seldom makes use of either of them for
+this purpose. No; the Lord will choose vessels made meet by the
+operations of the blessed Spirit for his sacred use: and as for
+my own part, I would not lay hands on an unconverted man for ten
+thousand worlds. Unspeakable freedom God gave me while treating on
+this head. After sermon, I dined with the governor, who seemed more
+kindly affected than ever, and particularly told me, of the minister
+who has lately begun to preach extempore, that 'he was glad he had
+found out a way to save his eyes.' In the afternoon I preached on
+the Common to about fifteen thousand people, and collected upwards
+of two hundred pounds for the orphan-house. Just as I had finished
+my sermon, a ticket was put up to me, wherein I was desired to pray
+for a person just entered upon the ministry, but under apprehension
+that he was not converted. God enabled me to pray for him with my
+whole heart; and I hope that ticket may teach many others not to
+run before they can give an account of their conversion. If they
+do, they offer to God strange fire." The same day and evening,
+Whitefield attended the funeral of one of the provincial council,
+preached at the almshouse, exhorted a great number of persons at
+the workhouse, who followed him there, and conversed with many who
+waited at his lodgings for spiritual advice. From the time of his
+return from the east, he had been thronged, morning and evening,
+with anxious inquirers. His friends cried, "Spare thyself;" but he
+says, "I went and ate bread very comfortably at a friend's house,
+where I was invited, and soon after retired to my rest. Oh, how
+comfortable is sleep after working for Jesus."
+
+On Friday he preached at Charlestown and at Reading to many
+thousands, and on Saturday from the meeting-house door at Cambridge,
+on Noah as a preacher of righteousness; a great number of persons
+were present, who stood very attentively during a shower of rain,
+and were at the latter part of the sermon much affected. On the same
+afternoon he returned to Boston, and again preached, and was engaged
+till midnight, chiefly in conversation and prayer with persons
+anxious for their salvation.
+
+Sunday, October 12, he rose with body and soul greatly refreshed,
+and spent its early hours in conversing with those who came for
+spiritual counsel. He then "preached with great power and affection"
+at the Old South church, which was so exceedingly thronged, that
+he was obliged to get in at one of the windows. He dined with the
+governor, who came to him after dinner weeping, and desired his
+prayers. He heard Dr. Sewall in the afternoon. Both during the
+exercises and after them he was sick, but went with the governor in
+his coach, and preached his farewell sermon on the Common, Gillies
+says, to twenty thousand, and Tracy to nearly thirty thousand
+people, though the whole population of Boston did not at that time
+exceed twenty thousand. Great multitudes were melted into tears when
+he spoke of leaving them. The governor then went with him to his
+lodgings. He stood in the passage and spoke to a great company, both
+within and without the doors; but they were so deeply affected, and
+cried out so loud, that he was compelled to leave off praying. The
+remaining part of the evening was chiefly spent in conversation with
+inquirers.
+
+In closing his account of this day's work, he exclaims, "Blessed be
+God for what things he has done in Boston! I hope a glorious work is
+now begun, and that the Lord will stir up some faithful laborers to
+carry it on. Boston is a large, populous place, very wealthy. Has
+the form kept up, but has lost much of the power of religion. I have
+not heard of any remarkable stir for these many years. Ministers
+and people are obliged to confess, that the love of many is waxed
+cold. Both, for the generality, seem to be too much conformed
+to the world. There is much of the pride of life to be seen in
+their assemblies. Jewels, patches, and gay apparel are commonly
+worn by the female sex; and even the common people, I observed
+dressed up in the pride of life. There are nine meeting-houses of
+the Congregational persuasion, one Baptist, one French, and one
+belonging to the Scotch-Irish. One thing Boston is very remarkable
+for--the external observance of the Sabbath. Men in civil offices
+have a regard for religion. The governor encourages them, and the
+ministers and magistrates are more united than in any other place
+where I have been. Both were exceedingly civil to me during my stay.
+I never saw so little scoffing, never had so little opposition.
+But one might easily see much would hereafter arise, when I came
+to be more particular in my application to particular persons; for
+I fear many rest in a head-knowledge, are close pharisees, and
+have only a name to live. It must needs be so when the power of
+godliness is dwindled away, and where the form only of religion
+is become fashionable among people. Boston people are dear to my
+soul. They were greatly affected by the word, followed me night
+and day, and were very liberal to my dear orphans. I promised, God
+willing, to visit them again, and intend to fulfil my promise when
+it shall please God to bring me again from my native country. In the
+meanwhile, dear Boston, adieu. The Lord be with thy ministers and
+people, and grant that the remnant which is still left according
+to the election of grace, may take root downwards, and bear fruit
+upwards, and fill the land."
+
+On the morning following these solemn services, Whitefield left
+Boston on his way to Northampton. To detail his four days' progress,
+would be almost to repeat what we have already written. At Concord,
+where he arrived on Monday about noon, he preached twice to some
+thousands in the open air, "and a comfortable preaching it was. The
+hearers were sweetly melted down." Mr. Bliss, the minister of the
+town, of whose subsequent labors it has been well said, more perfect
+accounts ought to have been preserved, wept abundantly. On Tuesday
+he "preached at Sudbury to some thousands with power, and observed
+a considerable commotion in the assembly;" as was also the case the
+same afternoon at Marlborough. At the latter place he was met by
+Governor Belcher, who went with him through the rain that night to
+Worcester. Here, on Wednesday, he "preached in the open air to some
+thousands. The word fell with weight indeed. It carried all before
+it. After sermon, the governor said to me, 'I pray God I may apply
+what has been said to my own heart. Pray, Mr. Whitefield, that I may
+hunger and thirst after righteousness.'" Passing on, he preached
+at Leicester, Brookfield, and Cold-Spring, on his way to Hadley,
+where he arrived on Friday, and preached about noon. In this place
+he says, "A great work was begun, and carried on some years ago;
+but lately the people of God have complained of deadness and losing
+their first love. However, as soon as I mentioned what God had done
+for their souls formerly, it was like putting fire to timber. The
+remembrance of it quickened them, and caused many to weep sorely."
+On the same afternoon he crossed the ferry to Northampton.
+
+Of the great revival of religion in New England, which commenced at
+Northampton about 1734, and is the subject of President Edwards'
+"Narrative," we have already briefly spoken; its importance will
+justify a more extended notice. It began without any extraordinary
+circumstances to awaken the attention of the people, or any uncommon
+arrangements or efforts by the minister. The young people of the
+place had for two or three years shown an increased measure of
+thoughtfulness, and a growing disposition to receive religious
+instruction. There had been, from time to time, instances of strong
+religious impression and of hopeful conversion. But in the latter
+end of December, 1734, five or six persons, one after another,
+became very suddenly the subjects of the grace of God which newly
+creates the soul. Among these was a young woman distinguished for
+her gayety in youthful society, "one of the greatest company-keepers
+in the whole town," who came to the pastor with a broken heart
+and a contrite spirit, and with faith and hope in the Saviour of
+sinners, before any one had heard of her being at all impressed
+with serious things. The sudden, though, as time proved, the _real_
+conversion of this young woman, was the power of God striking the
+electric chain of religious sympathies which had imperceptibly,
+but effectually encircled all the families of Northampton. Mr.
+Edwards' "Narrative" says, "The news of it seemed to be almost
+like a flash of lightning upon the hearts of young people all over
+the town, and upon many others.... Presently a great and earnest
+concern about the great things of religion and the eternal world
+became universal in all parts of the town, and among persons of
+all degrees and all ages. All talk but about spiritual and eternal
+things was soon thrown by; all the conversation in all companies
+was upon these things only, except so much as was necessary for
+people carrying on their ordinary secular business. The minds of
+people were wonderfully taken off from the world; it was treated
+among us as a thing of very little consequence. All would eagerly
+lay hold of opportunities for their souls, and were wont very often
+to meet together in private houses for religious purposes. And
+such meetings, when appointed, were generally thronged. Those who
+were wont to be the vainest and loosest, and those who had been
+most disposed to think and speak lightly of vital and experimental
+religion, were now generally subject to great awakening. And the
+work of conversion was carried on in a most astonishing manner, and
+increased more and more. From day to day, for many months together,
+might be seen evident instances of sinners brought out of darkness
+into marvellous light. In the spring and summer following, the town
+seemed to be full of the presence of God; it was never so full of
+love, and yet so full of distress, as it was then. It was a time
+of joy in families, on account of salvation being brought to them;
+parents rejoicing over their children as new-born, and husbands
+over their wives, and wives over their husbands. The goings of God
+were then seen in his sanctuary, God's day was a delight, and his
+tabernacles were amiable. Our public assemblies were then beautiful;
+the congregation was alive in God's service, every one eagerly
+intent on the public worship, every hearer eager to drink in the
+words of the minister as they came from his mouth. The assembly
+were, from time to time, in tears, while the word was preached; some
+weeping with sorrow and distress, others with joy and love, others
+with pity and concern for their neighbors."
+
+In December, 1743, nine years after this blessed work had begun,
+Edwards writes, "Ever since the great work of God that was wrought
+here about nine years ago, there has been a great, abiding
+alteration in this town, in many respects. There has been vastly
+more religion kept up in the town, among all sorts of persons, in
+religious exercises, and in common conversation, than used to be
+before. There has remained a more general seriousness and decency
+in attending the public worship. I suppose the town has been in no
+measure so free from vice, for any long time together, for these
+sixty years, as it has these nine years past. There has also been
+an evident alteration with respect to a charitable spirit to the
+poor. And though, after that great work of nine years ago, there
+has been a very lamentable decay of religious affections, and the
+engagedness of people's spirits in religion, yet many societies for
+prayer and social religion were all along kept up, and there were
+some few instances of awakening and deep concern about the things of
+another world, even in the most dead time. In the year 1740, in the
+spring, before Mr. Whitefield came to this town, there was a visible
+alteration. There was more seriousness and religious conversation,
+especially among young people. Those things that were of ill
+tendency among them were more forborne; and it was a more frequent
+thing for persons to visit their ministers upon soul accounts. In
+some particular persons, there appeared a great alteration about
+that time. And thus it continued till Mr. Whitefield came to town,
+which was about the middle of October following."
+
+And what thought Whitefield himself on his arrival at Northampton?
+Let us hear him. "Their pastor's name is Edwards, successor and
+grandson to the great Stoddard, whose memory will be always precious
+to my soul, and whose books, entitled, "_A Guide to Christ_," and
+"_Safety of appearing in Christ's righteousness_," I would recommend
+to all. Mr. Edwards is a solid, excellent Christian, but at present
+weak in body. I think I may say I have not seen his fellow in all
+New England. When I came into his pulpit, I found my heart drawn out
+to talk of scarce any thing besides the consolations and privileges
+of saints, and the plentiful effusion of the Spirit upon the
+hearts of believers. And when I came to remind them of their former
+experiences, and how zealous and lively they were at that time, both
+minister and people wept much; and the Holy Ghost enabled me to
+speak with a great deal of power. In the evening, I gave a word of
+exhortation to several who came to Mr. Edwards' house."
+
+On the following morning, "At Mr. Edwards' request, I spoke to his
+little children, who were much affected. Preached at Hatfield, five
+miles from Northampton, but found myself not much strengthened.
+Conversed profitably on the way about the things of God with dear
+Mr. Edwards, and preached about four in the afternoon to his
+congregation. I began with fear and trembling, feeling but little
+power in the morning, but God assisted me. Few dry eyes seemed to be
+in the assembly for a considerable time. I had an affecting prospect
+in my own heart of the glories of the upper world, and was enabled
+to speak of them feelingly to others. I believe many were filled, as
+it were, with new wine; and it seemed as if a time of refreshing was
+come from the presence of the Lord."
+
+The day following this was the Sabbath. Whitefield tells us in his
+journal, that he "felt wonderful satisfaction in being at the house
+of Mr. Edwards. He is a son himself, and hath also a daughter of
+Abraham for his wife. A sweeter couple I have not yet seen. Their
+children were dressed, not in silks and satins, but plain, as
+becomes the children of those who in all things ought to be examples
+of Christian simplicity. She is a woman adorned with a meek and
+quiet spirit, talked feelingly and solidly of the things of God, and
+seemed to be such a help-mate for her husband, that she caused me to
+renew those prayers, which, for some months, I have put up to God,
+that he would be pleased to send me a daughter of Abraham to be my
+wife. I find, upon many accounts, it is my duty to marry. Lord, I
+desire to have no choice of my own. Thou knowest my circumstances;
+thou knowest I only desire to marry in and for thee."
+
+Whitefield "preached this morning, and perceived the melting begin
+sooner and rise higher than before. Dear Mr. Edwards wept during
+the whole time of exercise. The people were equally, if not more
+affected; and my own soul was much lifted up towards God. In the
+afternoon the power increased yet more and more. Our Lord seemed to
+keep the good wine till the last. I have not seen four such gracious
+meetings together since my arrival. My soul was much knit to these
+dear people of God; and though I had not time to converse with them
+about their experiences, yet one might see they were for the most
+part, a gracious, tender people; and though their former fire might
+be greatly abated, yet it immediately appeared when stirred up."
+
+Edwards had looked forward to Whitefield's visit to Northampton with
+interest, for he felt greatly concerned for his success. He wrote
+a week before his arrival to his friend Dr. Wheelock, then a young
+minister of twenty-nine, "I think that those that make mention of
+the Lord, should now be awakened and encouraged to call upon God,
+and not keep silence, nor give him any rest, till he establish and
+till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth; and particularly
+should be earnest with God, that he would still uphold and succeed
+the Rev. Mr. Whitefield, the instrument that it has pleased him
+to improve to do such great things for the honor of his name, and
+at all times so to guide and direct him under his extraordinary
+circumstances, that Satan may not get any advantage of him."
+
+After his visit, Edwards writes, "Mr. Whitefield's sermons were
+suitable to the circumstances of the town; containing just
+reproofs of our backslidings, and in a most moving and affecting
+manner, making use of our great profession and our great mercies
+as arguments with us to return to God, from whom we had departed.
+Immediately after this, the minds of the people in general appeared
+more engaged in religion, showing a greater forwardness to make
+it the subject of their conversation, and to meet frequently for
+religious purposes, and to embrace all opportunities to hear
+the word preached. The revival at first appeared chiefly among
+professors, and those who had entertained the hope that they were
+in a state of grace, to whom Mr. Whitefield chiefly addressed
+himself; but in a very short time, there appeared an awakening and
+deep concern among some young persons that looked upon themselves
+in a Christless state; and there were some hopeful appearances of
+conversion; and some professors were greatly revived. In about a
+month or six weeks, there was a great alteration in the town, both
+as to the revivals of professors, and awakenings of others."
+
+During this visit of Whitefield to Edwards, some conversation
+was held between them, of which, several years afterwards, as it
+appears to us, far too much was said. Edwards took an opportunity,
+privately, to converse with his friend about _impulses_, and
+furnished him with some reasons for thinking that he gave too much
+attention to such things. Whitefield did not appear offended,
+neither did he seem inclined to converse much on the subject, or to
+yield to the reasonings of his friend Edwards. The latter says, "It
+is true, that I thought Mr. Whitefield liked me not so well for my
+opposing these things; and though he treated me with great kindness,
+yet he never made so much of an intimate of me, as of some others."
+It seems also, that they conversed on the strong language which
+the great evangelist was accustomed to employ as to those whom he
+considered to be unconverted, and the duty of the people to forsake
+the preaching of ministers whom he did not consider to be renewed
+in the spirit of their minds. Whitefield told Edwards also, of the
+design he had cherished of bringing over a number of young men from
+England, to be ordained by the Tennents, in New Jersey; an object,
+however, which he never accomplished.
+
+It appears that after preaching at Northampton twice on the Sabbath,
+Whitefield, accompanied by his friend Edwards, rode to the house of
+the father of the last-named gentleman, the Rev. Timothy Edwards,
+in East Windsor, Connecticut. At this place, as also at Westfield,
+Springfield, Suffield, Hartford, Wethersfield, Middletown, and
+Wallingford, he preached to large assemblies, generally with his
+accustomed animation and power, and with the happy proofs of
+success which he so frequently witnessed. During this week also,
+he experienced a remarkable deliverance from great danger. He
+says, "A little after I left Springfield, my horse, coming over a
+broken bridge, threw me over his head, directly upon my nose. The
+fall stunned me for a while. My mouth was full of dust, I bled a
+little, but falling upon soft sand, got not much damage. After
+I had recovered myself, and mounted my horse, God so filled me
+with a sense of his sovereign, distinguishing love, and my own
+unworthiness, that my eyes gushed out with tears; but they were all
+tears of love. Oh, how did I want to sink before the high and lofty
+One who inhabiteth eternity!"
+
+During this week also, on his way to Suffield, he met with a
+minister who said, "It was not absolutely necessary for a gospel
+minister, that he should be converted;" meaning, no doubt, that
+though conversion was necessary to his salvation, it was not
+indispensable to his ministerial character and usefulness. This gave
+Whitefield a subject. "I insisted much in my discourse upon the
+doctrine of the new birth, and also the necessity of a minister's
+being converted, before he could preach Christ aright. The word
+came with great power, and a great impression was made upon the
+people in all parts of the assembly. Many ministers were present. I
+did not spare them. Most of them thanked me for my plain dealing;
+but one was offended; and so would more of his stamp be, if I were
+to continue longer in New England. For unconverted ministers are
+the bane of the Christian church; and though I honor the memory of
+that great and good man Mr. Stoddard, yet I think he is much to
+be blamed for endeavoring to prove that unconverted men might be
+admitted into the ministry. How he has handled the controversy, I
+know not. I think no solid arguments can be brought to defend such a
+cause. A sermon lately published by Mr. Gilbert Tennent, entitled,
+'_The Danger of an Unconverted Ministry_,' I think unanswerable.
+Tracy truly says, that Stoddard, in his '_Appeal to the Learned_,'
+assumes that an unconverted minister is bound to continue in the
+performance of ministerial duties, and infers that unconverted men
+may therefore be admitted to the church. This opinion at one period
+extensively prevailed, though all held it desirable that a minister
+should be a converted man. By his attacks on this opinion, and
+especially by thus endorsing Tennent's Nottingham sermon, Whitefield
+gave great offence."
+
+On Wednesday afternoon, he preached at East Windsor, and spent
+the night with Mr. Edwards, senior, "I believe," he says, "a true
+disciple and minister of the Lord Jesus Christ. After exercise, we
+supped at the house of old Mr. Edwards. His wife was as aged, I
+believe, as himself, and I fancied that I was sitting in the house
+of a Zacharias and Elisabeth." On the following day, he "preached to
+many thousands, and with much freedom and power," at Hartford in the
+morning, and at Wethersfield in the afternoon. Here he met Messrs.
+Wheelock and Pomeroy, "two young, faithful, and zealous ministers
+of Jesus Christ." From this place he had intended to go eastward
+as far as Plymouth, and return by another route to Providence, and
+notice had been given in the newspapers of about twenty sermons
+which he proposed to preach at the times and places specified.
+He was afterwards blamed for making these appointments without
+first consulting the pastors of the several churches; thus giving
+countenance, it was said, to the practice of itinerants intruding
+into other men's parishes without their consent. The proceeding
+was certainly somewhat irregular, but Whitefield was not much to
+be blamed for it. The details were settled, and the publication
+made, by men in whose judgment and knowledge of the customs of
+the country he had a right to confide; and the appointments
+were believed, in all cases, and doubtless known in some, to be
+agreeable to the parties concerned. At Wethersfield, however, the
+evangelist ascertained the necessity of his hastening on to New
+York, and immediately, therefore, published a note recalling these
+appointments.
+
+On Friday, October 24, Whitefield arrived at New Haven, and was
+entertained at the house of Mr. James Pierpont, the brother-in-law
+of Mr. Edwards, and of Mr. Noyes, the minister of the First
+Congregational church. The Legislature of the colony being in
+session, he remained till after the Lord's day; and "had the
+pleasure of seeing numbers daily impressed," under his ministrations
+in the old polygonal meeting-house. Several ministers of the
+vicinity visited him, "with whose pious conversation he was much
+refreshed." Good old Governor Tallcott, on whom with due politeness
+he waited to pay his respects, said to him, "Thanks be to God for
+such refreshings in our way to heaven." Among others who heard his
+glowing appeals to the congregations that listened to him during
+this visit, was young Samuel Hopkins, still well known as an eminent
+divine. Hopkins was now nineteen, and was a student at college; his
+biographer tells us, that "he was much interested in the man, and
+much impressed by his solemn warnings."
+
+The testimony of Hopkins himself may here be introduced. He says,
+speaking of Whitefield, "The attention of the people in general was
+greatly awakened upon hearing the fame of him, that there was a
+remarkable preacher from England travelling through the country. The
+people flocked to hear him when he came to New Haven. Some travelled
+twenty miles out of the country to hear him. The assemblies were
+crowded, and remarkably attentive; people appeared generally to
+approve, and their conversation turned chiefly upon him and his
+preaching. Some disapproved of several things, which occasioned
+considerable disputes. I heard him when he preached in public, and
+when he expounded in private in the evening, and highly approved of
+him, and was impressed by what he said in public and in private.
+He preached against mixed dancing and the frolicking of males
+and females together, which practice was then very common in New
+England. This offended some, especially young people. But I remember
+I justified him in this in my own mind, and in conversation with
+those who were disposed to condemn him. This was in October, 1740,
+when I had entered on my last year in college."
+
+On this visit, Whitefield dined with the Rev. Mr. Clap, the rector
+of the college. Of the college he says, "It is about one-third part
+as big as Cambridge. It has one rector, three tutors, and about a
+hundred students. But I hear of no remarkable concern among them
+concerning religion." Mr. Clap, it is well known, afterwards became
+the public opponent of Whitefield; and it would seem that his
+dislike to him commenced with this first interview; for he "spoke
+very closely to the students, and showed the dreadful consequences
+of an unconverted ministry." In his journal of the day he says, "O
+that God may quicken ministers! O that the Lord may make them a
+flaming fire!" On the two days following, he preached at Milford,
+Stratford, and Fairfield, on his way to New York. On Wednesday, when
+at Stamford, he thus speaks of New England and his labors in it:
+
+"I give God thanks for sending me to New England. I have now had
+an opportunity of seeing the greatest and most populous parts of
+it; and take it all together, it certainly on many accounts exceeds
+all other provinces of America, and for the establishment of
+religion, perhaps all other parts of the world. Never, surely, was
+so large a spot of ground settled in such a manner, in so short a
+space of one hundred years. The towns all through Connecticut and
+eastwards towards York in the province of Massachusetts, [Maine,]
+near the river-side, are large, well peopled, and exceedingly
+pleasant to travel through. Every five miles, or perhaps less,
+you have a meeting-house, and I believe there is no such a thing
+as a pluralist, or non-resident minister in both provinces. Many,
+nay, most that preach, I fear do not experimentally know Christ;
+yet I cannot see much worldly advantage to tempt them to take upon
+them the sacred function. Few country ministers, as I have been
+informed, have sufficient allowed them in money to maintain a
+family. God has remarkably, in sundry times and in divers manners,
+poured out his Spirit in several parts of both provinces; and it
+often refreshes my soul to hear of the faith of the good forefathers
+who first settled in these parts. Notwithstanding they had their
+foibles, surely they were a set of righteous men. They certainly
+followed our Lord's rule, sought first the kingdom of God and his
+righteousness; and behold, all other things God added unto them.
+Their seed are now blessed, in temporal things especially, and
+notwithstanding the rising generation seem to be settled on their
+lees, yet I believe the Lord hath more than seven thousand who have
+not bowed the knee to Baal. The ministers and people of Connecticut
+seem to be more simple than those that live near Boston, especially
+in those parts where I went. But I think the ministers' preaching
+almost universally by notes, is a certain mark they have in a great
+measure lost the old spirit of preaching. For though all are not to
+be condemned that use notes, yet it is a sad symptom of the decay
+of vital religion when reading sermons becomes fashionable, where
+extempore preaching did once almost universally prevail. As for
+the universities, I believe it may be said, their light is become
+darkness, darkness that may be felt, and is complained of by the
+most godly ministers. I pray God these fountains may be purified,
+and send forth pure streams to water the cities of our God....
+As for the civil government of New England, it seems to be well
+regulated, and I think, at opening all their courts, either the
+judge or a minister begins with a prayer. Family worship, I believe,
+is generally kept up. The negroes I think better used, both in soul
+and body, than in any other province I have yet seen. In short, I
+like New England exceedingly well; and when a spirit of reformation
+revives, it certainly will prevail here more than in other places,
+because they are simple in their worship, less corrupt in their
+principles, and consequently easier to be brought over to the form
+of sound words, into which so many of their pious ancestors were
+delivered. Send forth, O Lord, thy light and thy truth, and for
+thine infinite mercy's sake, show thou hast a peculiar delight in
+these habitable parts of the earth. Amen, Lord Jesus, amen, and
+amen."
+
+Among many who became the subjects of divine grace during this visit
+of Whitefield to New England, was Daniel Emerson, who was educated
+at Harvard college, where he received his first degree in 1739, and
+where he continued to reside for some time as a graduate. While at
+college, he is said to have been very fond of the gay pleasures of
+this life, until his attention was effectually called to religion by
+the preaching of Whitefield, whom he followed from place to place
+for several days. He was ordained at Hollis, New Hampshire, in 1743,
+where, in a ministry of fifty years, he was a worthy follower of
+his spiritual father. The chief excellences of his preaching were
+sound doctrine, deep feeling, and zeal at times almost overwhelming.
+He was truly a son of thunder, and a flaming light. He was almost
+incessantly engaged in labors, preaching, attending funerals, etc.,
+far and near. His efforts were greatly blessed, especially among
+his own people, who under his ministry enjoyed extensive revivals
+of religion, and where also a large number of ministers have been
+called to their work. He died in 1801, aged eighty-five.
+
+It may be appropriate to introduce here a sketch of Whitefield's
+doctrines and labors at this time, as given us by the eminent Dr.
+Thomas Prince, in his "Christian History," under date of January
+26, 1744-5, but having reference to Whitefield's first visit to New
+England, which we have just described:
+
+"He spoke with a mighty sense of God, eternity, the immortality
+and preciousness of the souls of his hearers, of their original
+corruption, and of the extreme danger the unregenerate are in; with
+the nature and absolute necessity of regeneration by the Holy Ghost;
+and of believing in Christ, in order to our pardon, justification,
+yielding an acceptable obedience, and obtaining salvation from
+hell and an entrance into heaven. His doctrine was plainly that
+of the reformers; declaring against our putting our good works or
+morality in the room of Christ's righteousness, or their having any
+hand in our justification, or being indeed pleasing to God while
+we are totally unsanctified, acting upon corrupt principles, and
+unreconciled enemies to him; which occasioned some to mistake him,
+as if he opposed morality. But he insisted on it, that the tree of
+the heart is by original sin exceedingly corrupted, and must be
+made good by regeneration, that so the fruits proceeding from it
+may be good likewise; that where the heart is renewed, it ought
+and will be careful to maintain good works, that if any be not
+habitually so careful who think themselves renewed, they deceive
+their own souls; and even the most improved in holiness, as well as
+others, must entirely depend on the righteousness of Christ for the
+acceptance of their persons and services. And though now and then
+he dropped some expressions that were not so accurate and guarded
+as we should expect from aged and long-studied ministers, yet I had
+the satisfaction to observe his readiness with great modesty and
+thankfulness to receive correction as soon as offered.
+
+"In short, he was a most importunate wooer of souls to come to
+Christ for the enjoyment of him, and all his benefits. He distinctly
+applied his exhortations to the elderly people, the middle-aged,
+the young, the Indians, and negroes, and had a most winning way
+of addressing them. He affectionately prayed for our magistrates,
+ministers, colleges, candidates for the ministry, and churches, as
+well as people in general; and before he left us, in a public and
+moving manner, he observed to the people how sorry he was to hear
+that the religious assemblies, especially on lectures, had been so
+thin, exhorted them earnestly to a more general attendance on our
+public ministrations for the time to come, and told them how glad he
+should be to hear of the same.
+
+"Multitudes were greatly affected, and many awakened with his lively
+ministry. Though he preached every day, the houses were crowded; but
+when he preached on the Common, a vaster number attended; and almost
+every evening the house where he lodged was thronged to hear his
+prayers and counsels.
+
+"On Mr. Whitefield's leaving us, great numbers in this town [Boston]
+were so happily concerned about their souls, as we had never
+seen any thing like it before, except at the time of the general
+earthquake;[1] and their desires excited to hear their ministers
+more than ever. So that our assemblies, both on lectures and
+Sabbaths, were surprisingly increased, and now the people wanted
+to hear us oftener. In consequence of which a public lecture was
+proposed to be set up at Dr. Colman's church, near the midst of the
+town, on every Tuesday evening."
+
+  [1] Dr. Prince, in a note, here says, "Though people were _then_,"
+  in the time of the earthquake, "generally frightened, and many
+  awakened to such a sense of their duty as to offer themselves to our
+  communion, yet very few came to me _then_ under deep convictions of
+  their unconverted and lost condition, in comparison of what came
+  _now_. Nor did those who came to me _then_, come so much with the
+  inquiry, 'What shall we do to be saved?' as to signify they had such
+  a sense of their duty to come to the Lord's table that they dare not
+  stay away any longer."
+
+In reference to the work of grace which was connected with
+Whitefield's preaching in New England, the Rev. Dr. Baron Stow,
+in his "Centennial Discourse," says, "The result, by the blessing
+of God, was a powerful revival, such as New England had never
+witnessed. The work was opposed with great vehemence; and no
+impartial reader of the history of those extraordinary scenes can
+question that much of the hostility was provoked by improprieties of
+both speech and action, that would at any time be offensive to those
+who love good order and Christian decorum. But after making liberal
+allowance for all that was truly exceptionable, it is cheerfully
+admitted by the candid Christian, that the excitement was, in the
+main, the product of the Holy Spirit, and that its fruits were
+eminently favorable to the advancement of true religion. A torpid
+community was aroused, as by the trump of God, from its long and
+heavy slumber; ministers and people were converted; the style of
+preaching, and the tone of individual piety were improved; a cold,
+cadaverous formalism gave place to the living energy of experimental
+godliness; the doctrines of the gospel were brought out from their
+concealment, and made to reassert their claims to a cordial,
+practical credence, and all the interests of truth and holiness
+received new homage from regenerated thousands."
+
+One or two other facts connected with Whitefield's usefulness in New
+England are too important to be omitted. During this visit he was
+much gratified by an interview with a colored man, who had been his
+chaise-driver when he first visited Cambridge. The negro had heard
+him preach in the college a sermon especially addressed "to those
+who labor and are heavy-laden." It took such a hold on the poor man,
+that he repeated it in the kitchen when he reached home. Mr. Cooper
+of Boston was so well satisfied, as was Whitefield also, with his
+account of his conversion, that he was admitted to the Lord's table.
+
+Another "brand plucked from the burning" was a son of Mackintosh,
+an English rebel, who had been condemned to perpetual imprisonment,
+and had been allowed by George the First to settle in New England.
+One of his daughters, a lady of fortune, had heard Whitefield preach
+in Dr. Prince's church at Boston, and had been won by the word to
+Christ. She was soon after smitten by sickness, and ripened rapidly
+for heaven. On her death-bed she cried out for her "soul friend" Mr.
+Whitefield; but checking her own impatience, she asked, "Why should
+I do so? He is gone about his Master's work, and in a little time we
+shall meet to part no more." The distinguished evangelist had a very
+high opinion of her piety, and his interest in her was increased by
+the fact that she had a very remarkable escape from some ruffians
+who had been bribed to convey her and her sister to Scotland, that
+their uncle might seize on an estate worth a thousand pounds a year.
+
+There were at this time not less than twenty ministers in the
+neighborhood of Boston who unhesitatingly spoke of Whitefield
+as their spiritual father, directly tracing their conversion to
+his ministry. Of one of these we have an account by Collins, the
+journalist of South Reading. Speaking of 1741, he says, "Mr.
+Whitefield preached upon our Common in the open air. Mr. Hobby
+the minister went with the multitude to hear him. It is said that
+Mr. Hobby afterwards remarked, he came to pick a hole in Mr.
+Whitefield's coat, but that Whitefield picked a hole in his heart.
+Mr. Hobby afterwards wrote and published a defence of Mr. Whitefield
+in a letter to Mr. Henchman, the minister of Lynn, who had written
+against him."
+
+The letters of Whitefield, during his journeys of eleven hundred
+miles in New England, were few and brief; but they clearly indicated
+that at this time he was inclined "to return no more to his native
+country." New England, notwithstanding his trials there, had
+evidently won his heart, and for a time almost weaned him from Great
+Britain. When he left it, as he was now about to do, for the south,
+he wrote, "God only knows what a cross it was to me to leave dear
+New England so soon. I hope death will not be so bitter to me as
+was parting with my friends. Glad shall I be to be _prayed_ thither
+again before I see my native land. I would just be where He would
+have me, although in the uttermost parts of the earth. I am now
+hunting for poor lost sinners in these _ungospelized_ wilds."
+
+Is there not an awfully retributive providence connected with the
+rejection of the gospel and its ministers? Do we not see this
+principle at work in the history and present state of the Jews; and
+has it not often appeared also in the history of Christianity? There
+was a beautiful village, now a city, in Massachusetts, from which
+Whitefield was driven with such rancorous abuse, that he shook off
+the dust of his feet, and proclaimed that the Spirit of God would
+not visit that spot till the last of those persecutors was dead. The
+good man's language had a fearful truth in it, though he was not
+divinely gifted with the prophet's inspiration. A consciousness of
+desertion paralyzed the energies of the church; for nearly a century
+it was nurtured on the unwholesome food of unscriptural doctrine. In
+the very garden of natural loveliness, it sat like a heath in the
+desert, upon which there could be no rain; and not till that whole
+generation had passed from the earth, did Zion appear there in her
+beauty and strength.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+LABORS IN NEW YORK AND THE MIDDLE AND SOUTHERN STATES.
+
+1740, 1741.
+
+
+Whitefield was now again on his way to New York, preaching at Rye
+and King's Bridge on the road. At the latter place he was met by
+several friends from the city, with whom he pleasantly talked, "and
+found," he says, "an inexpressible satisfaction in my soul when I
+arrived at the house of my very dear friend Mr. Noble. After supper
+the Lord filled my heart, and gave me to wrestle with him for New
+York inhabitants and my own dear friends." He was also cheered
+by meeting Mr. Davenport from Long Island, whose labors as an
+evangelist were then exciting much interest. Here too he met with a
+violent pamphlet published against him. "Met also with two volumes
+of sermons published in London as delivered by me, though I never
+preached on most of the texts. But Satan must try all ways to bring
+the work of God into contempt."
+
+On the morning after his arrival, Whitefield preached in Mr.
+Pemberton's meeting-house, and says concerning the service, "Never
+saw the word of God fall with such weight in New York before. Two or
+three cried out. Mr. Noble could scarce refrain himself. And look
+where I would, many seemed deeply wounded. At night the word was
+attended with great power. One cried out; and the Lord enabled me
+at the latter end of my sermon to speak with authority. Alas, how
+vain are the thoughts of men! As I came along yesterday, I found my
+heart somewhat dejected, and told Mr. Noble I expected but little
+moving in New York; but he bid me 'expect great things from God,'
+and likewise told me of several who were, as he hoped, savingly
+wrought upon by my ministry when I was there last."
+
+On the following day he finished his answer to the pamphlet already
+referred to, and says, "God enabled me to write it in the spirit of
+meekness." He adds, "Preached twice as yesterday to very crowded
+auditories, and neither time without power. In the evening exercise
+some fainted, and the Lord seemed to show us more and more that a
+time for favoring New York was near at hand. Oh, wherefore did I
+doubt? Lord, increase my faith."
+
+The following day, November 2, was the Sabbath. "Preached this
+morning with freedom and some power, but was much dejected before
+the evening sermon. For near half an hour before I left Mr. Noble's
+house, I could only lie before the Lord, and say I was a poor
+sinner, and wonder that Christ would be gracious to such a wretch.
+As I went to meeting I grew weaker and weaker, and when I came into
+the pulpit I could have chosen to be silent rather than speak. But
+after I had begun, the Spirit of the Lord gave me freedom, till
+at length it came down like a mighty rushing wind, and carried
+all before it. Immediately the whole congregation was alarmed.
+Shrieking, crying, weeping, and wailing were to be heard in every
+corner; men's hearts failing them for fear, and many falling into
+the arms of their friends. My soul was carried out till I could
+scarcely speak any more. A sense of God's goodness overwhelmed me."
+
+After narrating two or three pleasing incidents as to the effect
+of his preaching even on the minds of children, and describing his
+feelings on his return home, he gives an account of the wedding
+of two young persons who were going as his assistants to Georgia.
+"Never," he says, "did I see a more solemn wedding. Jesus Christ
+was called, and he was present in a remarkable manner. After Mr.
+Pemberton had married them, I prayed. But my soul, how was it
+enabled to wrestle with and lay hold on God! I was in a very great
+agony, and the Holy Ghost was so remarkably present, that most,
+I believe, could say, 'Surely God is in this place.' After this,
+divine manifestations flowed in so fast, that my frail tabernacle
+was scarce able to sustain them. My dear friends sat round me on the
+bedsides. I prayed for each of them alternately with strong cries,
+and pierced by the eye of faith even within the veil. I continued in
+this condition for about half an hour, astonished at my own vileness
+and the excellency of Christ, then rose full of peace and love and
+joy."
+
+On Monday, the 3d, he preached both morning and afternoon to
+increasing congregations, and says, "There was a great and gracious
+melting both times, but no crying out. Nearly L110 currency were
+collected for the orphans; and in the evening many came and took an
+affectionate leave. About seven we took boat; reached Staten Island
+about ten, greatly refreshed in my inner man. A dear Christian
+friend received us gladly, and we solaced ourselves by singing and
+praying. About midnight retired to sleep, still longing for that
+time when I shall sleep no more."
+
+On Tuesday he preached on Staten Island from a wagon, to three
+or four hundred people. "The Lord came among them," and several
+inquired after the way of salvation. Here he met Gilbert Tennent
+and Mr. Cross. The former of these excellent ministers had recently
+lost his wife, and though he was ardently attached to her, he calmly
+preached her funeral sermon with the corpse lying before him.
+Tennent had lately been preaching in New Jersey and Maryland, and
+had a delightful account to give his friend of the progress of the
+good work. Nor was the account given by Mr. Cross of less interest.
+After sermon he rode to Newark, where he preached till dark, as he
+thought with but little good effect. "However, at night the Lord
+manifested forth his glory; for, coming down to family prayer where
+I lodged, and perceiving many young men around me, my soul was, as
+it were, melted down with concern for them. After singing, I gave
+a word of exhortation; with what power none can fully express but
+those that saw it. Oh, how did the word fall like a hammer and like
+a fire. What a weeping was there!"
+
+We must stay a moment to give a fact or two in reference to the
+Rev. Aaron Burr, then quite a young man, who two or three years
+before had been ordained at Newark, and whose ministry had been
+attended with a delightful revival the year preceding Whitefield's
+visit. During the period of this revival, the neighboring village
+of Elizabethtown had been remarkable for its insensibility; even
+Whitefield had preached there, "and not a single known conversion,"
+says Dr. Stearns, "followed his ministrations." Afterwards the
+pastor, the well-known Jonathan Dickinson, saw happy results from
+very plain preaching. Newark caught a new flame from its neighboring
+altar, and Mr. Burr, who had lately been to New England in quest
+of health, had heard the devoted evangelist again and again,
+and invited him to visit his flock, which he did about a month
+afterwards with happy results. The account given by Mr. Burr of
+Whitefield's preaching in New England was precisely what we should
+expect from the man who was afterwards the first president of
+Princeton college, and who, fourteen years after this, accompanied
+his eloquent friend to New England, "and saw at Boston, morning
+after morning, three or four thousand people hanging in breathless
+silence on the lips of the preacher, and weeping silent tears."
+
+The Rev. Stephen Dodd of East Haven, Conn., relates that an old
+lady told him that when Mr. Whitefield came to preach in the old
+meeting-house at Newark, she was twelve years old, and as he entered
+the pulpit she looked at him with distrust, but before he got
+through his prayers herself and all the congregation were melted
+down, and the sermon filled the house with groans and tears. The
+next time he came, the congregation was so large that the pulpit
+window was taken out, and he preached through the opening to the
+people in the burying-ground.
+
+On Wednesday, the 5th, he went to Baskinridge, Mr. Cross' parish,
+where he found Mr. Davenport, who, according to appointment, had
+been preaching to about three thousand people. He writes, "As I went
+along, I told a friend my soul wept for them, and I was persuaded
+within myself that the Lord would that day make his power to be
+known among them. In prayer, I perceived my soul drawn out, and a
+stirring of affections among the people. I had not discoursed long
+before the Holy Ghost displayed his power. In every part of the
+congregation somebody or other began to cry out, and almost all
+melted into tears. This abated for a few moments, till a little boy
+about seven or eight years of age cried out exceeding piteously
+indeed, and wept as though his little heart would break. Mr. Cross
+having compassion on him, took him up into the wagon, which so
+affected me, that I broke from my discourse, and told the people the
+little boy should preach to them, and that God, since old professors
+would not cry after Christ, had displayed his sovereignty, and out
+of an infant's mouth was perfecting praise. God so blessed this,
+that a universal concern fell on the congregation again. Fresh
+persons dropped down here and there, and the cry increased more and
+more."
+
+In the evening, Gilbert Tennent preached excellently in Mr. Cross'
+barn, two miles off. His subject was the necessity and benefit of
+spiritual desertions, a remarkable subject, as has been said, at
+such a time, in a barn, and at night. "A great commotion," says
+Whitefield, "was soon observed among the hearers. I then gave a word
+of exhortation. The Lord's presence attended it in a surprising
+manner. One, in about six minutes, cried out, 'He is come, He is
+come!' and could scarcely sustain the discovery that Jesus Christ
+made of himself to his soul. Others were so earnest for a discovery
+of the Lord to their souls, that their eager crying obliged me to
+stop, and I prayed over them as I saw their agonies and distress
+increase. At length my own soul was so full that I retired, and was
+in a strong agony for some time, and wept before the Lord under a
+deep sense of my own vileness, and the sovereignty and greatness of
+God's everlasting love. Most of the people spent the remainder of
+the night in prayer and praise. Two or three young ministers spoke
+alternately, and others prayed as the Lord gave them utterance."
+
+The next morning Whitefield exhorted, sung, and prayed with the
+people in the barn, and had some delightful conversation with
+a lad of thirteen, a poor negro woman, and several others. In
+company with several Christian friends, he then rode to the house
+of Gilbert Tennent in New Brunswick. Here he found letters from
+Savannah saying that great mortality existed in the neighborhood,
+but that the family at the orphan-house continued in health, and
+that a minister was about coming from England to take his church at
+Savannah. "This last," says he, "much rejoiced me, being resolved
+to give up the Savannah living as soon as I arrived in Georgia. A
+parish and the orphan-house together are too much for me; besides,
+God seems to show me it is my duty to evangelize, and not to fix
+in any particular place." Here he was met by William Tennent also,
+and after much conversation and prayer, it was settled that Gilbert
+Tennent should go to Boston to carry on the work so happily begun
+there. After preaching, exhortation, and prayer, Whitefield went
+with Davenport to Trenton, and so on to Philadelphia. On their way,
+they were twice remarkably preserved from drowning in creeks much
+swollen by the rains; and late on a very dark Saturday night arrived
+in the city, which had been already honored by his usefulness.
+
+On the following day, he twice preached in the house which his
+friends were now building for him, and in which Gilbert Tennent
+labored for many years with great success. He says, "It is one
+hundred feet long and seventy feet broad. A large gallery is to be
+erected all around in it. Many footsteps of Providence have been
+visible in beginning and carrying it on. Both in the morning and
+evening God's glory filled the house, for there was great power in
+the congregation. The roof is not yet up, but the people raised a
+convenient pulpit and boarded the bottom. The joy of most of the
+hearers when they saw me was inexpressible. Between services, I
+received a packet of letters from England, dated in March last. May
+the Lord heal, and bring good out of the divisions which at present
+seem to be among the brethren there. God giving me freedom, and
+many friends being in the room, I kneeled down and prayed with and
+exhorted them all. But Oh, how did they melt under both; my soul was
+much rejoiced to look round on them."
+
+A fact in connection with the building of this church edifice
+illustrates the practical philosophy of Dr. Franklin. Tennent waited
+on him for aid in the erection of the house, which was cheerfully
+afforded; the philosopher was asked by Tennent as to the best
+method of raising the necessary funds, who instantly recommended him
+to call at every house in the town to solicit help. He argued thus:
+"Many are really desirous to give, and will be glad to see you;
+others are inclined to be friendly, and will give if they are urged;
+a third will be sure, if they are omitted, to say they would have
+given had they been asked; and a fourth class will give you, rather
+than have it said they refused." Tennent acted on the doctor's
+counsel, and the funds were raised without difficulty.
+
+Two instances of the happy influence of the truth in the conversion
+of sinners, in connection with this visit, must be given from
+Whitefield's own pen. The first related to a Mr. Brockden, a lawyer
+eminent in his profession, and the recorder of deeds for the city.
+For many years this gentleman had been distinguished for Deism.
+Whitefield writes, "In his younger days he had some religious
+impressions, but going into business, the cares of the world so
+choked the good seed, that he not only forgot his God in some
+degree, but at length began to doubt of and to dispute his very
+being. In this state he continued many years, and has been very
+zealous to propagate his deistical, I could almost say atheistical
+principles among moral men; but he told me he never endeavored
+to make proselytes of vicious, debauched people. When I came to
+Philadelphia, this time twelvemonth, he told me he had not so much
+as a curiosity to hear me. But a brother Deist, his choicest friend,
+pressed him to come and hear me. To satisfy his curiosity, he at
+length complied with the request. I preached at the court-house
+stairs, upon the conference which the Lord had with Nicodemus. I had
+not spoken much before the Lord struck his heart. 'For,' said he, 'I
+saw your doctrine tended to make people good.' His family knew not
+that he had been to hear me. After he came home, his wife, who had
+been at sermon, came in also, and wished heartily that he had heard
+me. He said nothing. After this, another of his family came in,
+repeating the same wish; and, if I mistake not, after that another;
+till at last, being unable to refrain any longer, with tears in his
+eyes, he said, 'Why, I have been hearing him;' and then expressed
+his approbation. Ever since he has followed on to know the Lord;
+and I verily believe Jesus Christ has made himself manifest to his
+soul. Though upwards of threescore years old, he is now, I believe,
+born again of God. He is as a little child, and often, as he told
+me, receives such communications from God, when he retires into the
+woods, that he thinks he could die a martyr for the truth."
+
+The other instance was that of the captain of a ship, "as great a
+reprobate," says Whitefield, "as ever I heard of." This man used to
+go on board the transport ships, and offer a guinea for a new oath,
+that he might have the honor of making it. "To the honor of God's
+grace," says our evangelist, "let it be said, he is now, I believe,
+a Christian; not only reformed, but renewed. The effectual stroke,
+he told me, was given when I preached last spring at Pennepack. Ever
+since he has been zealous for the truth; stood like a lamb when he
+was beaten, and in danger of being murdered by some of my opposers,
+and, in short, shows his faith by his works."
+
+The stay of Mr. Whitefield in Philadelphia at this time was about
+a week, during which he preached in the new house twice every day
+to large and deeply interested congregations. He says, "It would
+be almost endless to recount all the particular instances of God's
+grace which I have seen this week past. Many that before were
+only convicted, now plainly proved that they were converted, and
+had a clear evidence of it within themselves. My chief business
+was now to build up and to exhort them to continue in the grace
+of God. Notwithstanding, many were convicted almost every day,
+and came to me under the greatest distress and anguish of soul.
+Several societies are now in the town, not only of men and women,
+but of little boys and little girls. Being so engaged, I could
+not visit them as I would, but I hope the Lord will raise up some
+fellow-laborers, and that elders will be ordained in every place."
+
+Perhaps no man was ever more free from sectarianism than George
+Whitefield. It is true, that he was ordained a clergyman of the
+church of England, and never manifested any degree of reluctance to
+officiate within its walls; but it is equally true, that the vast
+majority of his sermons were delivered in connection with other
+bodies of Christians. When he was once preaching from the balcony
+of the court-house, Market-street, Philadelphia, he delivered an
+impressive apostrophe: "Father Abraham, who have you in heaven? any
+Episcopalians?" "No." "Any Presbyterians?" "No." "Any Baptists?"
+"No." "Have you any Methodists, Seceders, or Independents there?"
+"No, no!" "Why, who have you there?" "We don't know those names
+here. All who are here are Christians, believers in Christ--men
+who have overcome by the blood of the Lamb, and the word of his
+testimony." "Oh, is that the case? then God help me, God help us
+all, to forget party names, and to become Christians, in deed and
+in truth." It might be well for the different bodies of Christians
+to think of the propriety of following this example of the holy
+man. The peculiarities of each Christian denomination may have
+their importance, but they ought not to keep good men in a state of
+separation, much less of alienation from each other.
+
+On Monday, November 17, Whitefield left Philadelphia. He says, "Was
+much melted at parting from my dear friends. Had it much impressed
+upon my mind, that I should go to England, and undergo trials for
+the truth's sake. These words, 'The Jews sought to stone thee,
+and goest thou thither again?' with our Lord's answer, have been
+for some time lying upon me; and while my friends were weeping
+round me, St. Paul's words darted into my soul, 'What mean you to
+weep and break my heart? I am willing not only to be bound, but
+to die for the Lord Jesus.' After fervent prayer, I took my leave
+of some, but being to preach at Gloucester in the West Jerseys,
+others accompanied me in boats over the river. We sung as we sailed,
+but my heart was low. I preached at Gloucester, but found myself
+weighed down, and was not able to deliver my sermon with my usual
+vigor. However, there was an affecting melting, and several, as
+I heard afterwards, who had been in bondage before, at that time
+received joy in the Holy Ghost. I rode on in company with several
+to Greenwich, and preached to a few, with scarce any power. In
+the evening we travelled on a few miles, but my body was more and
+more out of order, and I thought God was preparing me for future
+blessings. It is good to be humbled. I am never better than when I
+am brought to lie at the foot of the cross. It is a certain sign
+God intends that soul a greater crown. Lord, let me always feel
+myself a poor sinner." On Tuesday he preached at Pilesgrove to
+about two thousand people, but saw only a few affected. "At night,"
+he says, "God was pleased so abundantly to refresh my soul as to
+make me forget the weakness of my body; I prayed and exhorted
+with great power in the family where I lodged." On Wednesday, at
+Cohansey, where Gilbert Tennent had prepared the way for him, he
+says, "Preached to some thousands both morning and afternoon. The
+word gradually struck the hearers, till the whole congregation was
+greatly moved, and two cried out in the bitterness of their souls
+after a crucified Saviour, and were scarcely able to stand. My
+soul was replenished as with new wine, and life and power flew all
+around me." At Salem, on the 20th, he preached in the morning at the
+court-house, and in the afternoon in the open air before the prison,
+to about two thousand persons. "Both times God was with us." On
+Friday, November 21, he got with some difficulty to Newcastle, where
+he preached in the court-house, and "observed some few affected,
+and some few scoffing." Here he was joined by Mr. Charles Tennent,
+who had lately married a young lady awakened under Whitefield's
+ministry. They went on to White Clay creek, "and God," says he, "was
+pleased to appear for me in an extraordinary manner. There were many
+thousands waiting to hear the word. I have not seen a more lovely
+sight. I sang the twenty-third psalm, and these words gave my soul
+unspeakable comfort:
+
+    "'In presence of my spiteful foes,
+      He does my table spread.'
+
+"The Lord Jesus assisted me in preaching. The melting soon began,
+and the power increased more and more, till the greatest part of the
+congregation was exceedingly moved. Several cried out in different
+parts, and others were to be seen wringing their hands and weeping
+bitterly. The stir was ten times greater than when I was here
+last." At Fagg's Manor, on Saturday afternoon, he preached "to many
+thousands, and God was pleased mightily to own his word. There was
+a wondrous powerful moving, but it did not rise to such a degree as
+when I preached here last spring. I was taken ill after preaching."
+After still farther labors, he retired to rest, and he says, "The
+Lord gave me sweet sleep, and in the morning I arose with my natural
+strength much renewed." This was the Sabbath, and he preached at
+Nottingham "to a large congregation, who seemed in no wise to regard
+the rain, so they might be watered with the dew of God's blessing."
+
+On the following afternoon, at Bohemia, in Maryland, he says,
+"Preached to about two thousand, and have not seen a more solid
+melting, I think, since my arrival. Some scoffers stood on the
+outside, but the Holy Spirit enabled me to lay the terrors of
+the Lord before them, and they grew more serious. My soul much
+rejoiced in the Lord to see salvation brought to Maryland." On
+Tuesday, November 25, "came to Reedy Island, and had the wonderful
+presence of God in the assembly in the afternoon. Several of my
+dear Philadelphia friends came to take their last farewell." On
+Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday, he preached again. "The Lord was
+with us every time. I was greatly delighted to see the captains of
+the ships, and their respective crews, come constantly to hear the
+word of God on shore, and join with us in religious exercises on
+board."
+
+On December 1, when they sailed from Reedy Island to Charleston,
+he wrote in his journal, "But before I go on, stop, O my soul, and
+look back a little on the great things the Lord hath done for thee
+during this excursion. I think it is now the seventy-fifth day since
+I arrived at Rhode Island. My body was then weak, but the Lord has
+much renewed its strength. I have been enabled to preach, I think,
+one hundred and seventy-five times in public, besides exhorting very
+frequently in private. I have travelled upwards of eight hundred
+miles, and gotten upwards of L700 sterling in goods, provisions,
+and money for my poor orphans. Never did God vouchsafe me such
+great assistances. Never did I perform my journeys with so little
+fatigue, or see such a continuance of the divine presence in the
+congregations to whom I have preached. All things concur to convince
+me that America is to be my chief scene for action."
+
+In about eight days, he arrived at Charleston, where he found there
+had recently been a large fire, and to improve the sad event he
+preached a sermon, and passed on to his own home, where he found
+all well, and where he made arrangements for his voyage to England,
+leaving on the 29th of December. On that day he narrowly escaped
+death. A laborer was walking behind him with a gun under his arm,
+which went off unawares; happily its muzzle was towards the ground,
+"otherwise," says Whitefield, "I and one of my friends, in all
+probability, should have been killed; for we were directly before,
+and not above a yard or two distant from it. How ought we to live
+in such a state as we would not fear to die in; for in the midst
+of life we are in death!" In the evening he preached his farewell
+sermon as pastor of Savannah.
+
+On Mr. Whitefield's arrival at Charleston, in company with two
+gentlemen named Bryan, who had been called to suffer persecution
+for Christ's sake, he had the happiness of meeting his brother, the
+captain of a vessel from England, who gave him much interesting
+intelligence of the Christians in that country. Commencing with the
+Sabbath, he preached twice every day, in addition to expounding the
+Scriptures almost every evening, and expresses his gratitude for
+divine assistance. But though he had much to rejoice in, he had
+also more than one source of sorrow. Some professors of religion,
+of whom he had hoped well, had fallen away, and not a few of his
+enemies were even more enraged than formerly. Hugh Bryan had written
+a letter, in which, among other matters, "it was hinted that the
+clergy break their canons." At the request of Jonathan Bryan,
+Whitefield had corrected it for the press, and it was published
+while he was now in the city. Hugh Bryan was apprehended, and on
+his examination, being asked, frankly confessed that Whitefield had
+corrected and made some alterations in it. Writing on January 10,
+he says, "This evening a constable came to me with the following
+warrant:
+
+     "'South Carolina SS. By B---- W----, etc. Whereas I have
+     received information upon oath that George Whitefield, Clerk,
+     hath made and composed a false, malicious, scandalous, and
+     infamous Libel against the Clergy of this Province, in contempt
+     of His Majesty and His Laws, and against the King's Peace: These
+     are therefore, in His Majesty's Name, to charge and command
+     you and each of you forthwith to apprehend the said George
+     Whitefield, and to bring him before Me to answer the premises.
+     Hereof fail not, at your peril. And for your so doing this shall
+     be your and each of your sufficient Warrant. Given under my hand
+     and seal this tenth day of January, in the fourteenth year of
+     His Majesty's Reign, Anno Domini one thousand seven hundred and
+     forty [one.]
+
+     "'B---- W----.'"
+
+Whitefield gave security to appear by his attorney at the next
+quarter sessions, under penalty of one hundred pounds proclamation
+money. "Blessed be God," he says in his journal, "for this
+further honor. My soul rejoices in it. I think this may be called
+persecution. I think it is for righteousness' sake." The next
+morning he preached on Herod sending the wise men to find out
+Christ, professing a desire to worship him, but intending to kill
+him; _persecution under pretence of religion_, being his theme.
+The afternoon sermon was on the murder of Naboth, from which he
+discoursed on _the abuse of power by men in authority_. He says,
+"My hearers, as well as myself, made the application. It was pretty
+close." No doubt it was. In the evening he expounded the narrative
+of Orpah and Ruth, and exhorted his hearers to follow the Lord Jesus
+Christ, though his cause be never so much persecuted and spoken
+against.
+
+On the following Thursday, he received several highly gratifying
+letters from his friends at Boston. Mr. Secretary Willard said
+to him, "Divers young men in this town, who are candidates for
+the ministry, have been brought under deep convictions by your
+preaching, and are carried off from the foundation of their false
+hopes to rest only upon Christ for salvation."
+
+The Rev. Mr. Cooper wrote, "I can inform you that there are many
+abiding proofs that you did not run in vain, and labor in vain
+among us in this place. I can only say now in general, some have
+been awakened who were before quite secure, and I hope a good work
+begun in them. Others, who had been under religious impressions,
+are now more earnestly pressing into the kingdom of heaven, and
+many of the children of God are stirred up to give diligence for
+the full assurance of faith. There is a greater flocking to all the
+lectures in the town, and the people show such a disposition to the
+new Tuesday evening lecture, that our large capacious house cannot
+receive all that come. I am sure your visit to us has made a large
+addition to the prayers that are going up for you in one place and
+another, and I hope also unto the jewels that are to make up your
+crown in the day of the Lord."
+
+In addition to these statements, Mr. Welch, a pious merchant,
+wrote, "I fear I am tedious, but I cannot break off till I just
+mention, to the glory of the grace of God, and for your comfort
+and encouragement, the success your ministry of late has had among
+us. Impressions made seem to be abiding on the minds of many. The
+doctrines of grace seem to be more the topic of conversation than
+ever I knew them. Nay, religious conversation seems to be almost
+_fashionable_, and almost every one seems disposed to hear or speak
+of the things of God. Multitudes flock to the evening lecture,
+though it has sometimes been the worst of weather. Ministers seem to
+preach with more life, and the great auditories seem to hear with
+solemn attention, and I hope our Lord Jesus is getting to himself
+the victory over the hearts of many sinners."
+
+These, and other letters of a similar character, filled the heart
+of Whitefield with grateful pleasure; and he went on preaching and
+enjoying the society of his friends till Friday, January 16. He
+says, "I never received such generous tokens of love, I think, from
+any people before, as from some in Charleston. They so loaded me
+with sea-stores, that I sent many of them to Savannah." He now went
+on board, and was fully engaged in preparations for the voyage,
+which however was not entered on till the 24th. On that day the
+_Minerva_ sailed over Charleston bar, and after a generally pleasant
+voyage, they landed at Falmouth, March 11. "This," says he, "was a
+profitable voyage to my soul, because of my having had many sweet
+opportunities for reading, meditation, and prayer."
+
+The impartiality of history requires us, however reluctantly, here
+to notice the separation which to some extent now took place between
+Whitefield, and his old friends Messrs. John and Charles Wesley.
+Their mutual attachment in early life we have already seen, as also
+Whitefield's anxiety in Georgia to defend Mr. John Wesley's conduct
+against those who opposed him. Impartial observers, however, after
+a while began to remark, that on some doctrinal points, especially
+on that of predestination, a difference was springing up. On his
+passage to England, February 1, 1741, Whitefield thus wrote to
+Mr. Charles Wesley: "My dear, dear brethren, why did you throw
+out the bone of contention? Why did you print that sermon against
+predestination? Why did you in particular, my dear brother Charles,
+affix your hymn, and join in putting out your late hymn-book? How
+can you say you will not dispute with me about election, and yet
+print such hymns? and your brother sent his sermon against election,
+to Mr. Garden and others in America. Do not you think, my dear
+brethren, I must be as much concerned for truth, or what I think
+truth, as you? God is my judge, I always was, and hope I always
+shall be desirous that you may be preferred before me. But I must
+preach the gospel of Christ, and that I cannot _now_ do, without
+speaking of election." He then tells Mr. Charles Wesley, that in
+Christmas-week he had written an answer to his brother's sermon,
+"which," says he, "is now printing at Charleston; another copy I
+have sent to Boston, and another I now bring with me, to print in
+London. If it occasion a strangeness between us, it shall not be my
+fault. There is nothing in my answer exciting to it, that I know of.
+O, my dear brethren, my heart almost bleeds within me. Methinks I
+could be willing to tarry here on the waters for ever, rather than
+come to England to oppose you."
+
+Dr. Whitehead, in his "Life of John Wesley," has very wisely
+said, "Controversy almost always injures the Christian temper,
+much more than it promotes the interests of speculative truth. On
+this question a separation took place between Mr. Wesley and Mr.
+Whitefield, so far as to have different places of worship; and some
+warm and tart expressions dropped from each. But their good opinion
+of each other's integrity and usefulness, founded on long and
+intimate acquaintance, could not be injured by such a difference of
+sentiment; and their mutual affection was only obscured by a cloud
+for a season."
+
+The friendship between Mr. Whitefield and the Messrs. Wesley was
+very much increased and perpetuated by the wife of Mr. Charles
+Wesley. This very extraordinary lady, whose original name was
+Gwinne, was equally distinguished for her beauty, talents, and
+piety. She had a very cordial regard for Mr. Whitefield, who as
+cordially reciprocated it. She was married when the controversy
+among these eminent men was at its height, and stipulated that
+she should always be allowed to hear the preaching of Whitefield
+and his friends. In her latter years especially, and she lived
+till ninety-six, she expressed her pleasure in the belief that
+she promoted the continuance of that endearing intercourse which
+subsisted between Whitefield and her husband. She softened all
+parties, and was on all occasions a blessed peacemaker.
+
+One fact relating to this eminently excellent woman may be
+mentioned. She was nearly twenty years younger than her husband, and
+four years after her marriage, and at the age of twenty-six, she
+was seized with small-pox, of which at that time her eldest child
+died. She lay twenty-two days in imminent danger of death, and when
+she recovered she was so much altered in features that no one could
+recognize her; but never did woman before lose her beauty with so
+little regret. She used sportively to say, that the change in her
+appearance "afforded great satisfaction to her dear husband, who
+was glad to see her look so much older, and better suited to be his
+companion."
+
+On Whitefield's arrival at Falmouth, he immediately set off in a
+post-chaise to London, in order to preach on the following Sabbath.
+But he now found occasion for all the patience he had acquired. He
+had, he says, "written two well-meant, though ill-judged letters
+against England's two great favorites, '_The Whole Duty of Man_,'
+and Archbishop Tillotson, who, I said, knew no more about religion
+than Mohammed. The Moravians had made inroads on our societies;"
+besides which, the controversy with the Messrs. Wesley injured him.
+His congregations on the Sabbath were still large, but on week-days
+he had not more than two or three hundred hearers. He says, "Instead
+of having thousands to attend me, scarcely one of my spiritual
+children come to see me from morning to night. Once, on Kennington
+Common, I had not above a hundred to hear me."
+
+Even this was not all. He says, "One that got some hundreds of
+pounds by my sermons, refused to print for me any more. And others
+wrote to me, that God would destroy me in a fortnight, and that my
+fall was as great as Peter's." Still other sorrows attended him.
+He writes, "I was much embarrassed in my outward circumstances. A
+thousand pounds I owed for the orphan-house. Two hundred and fifty
+pounds drawn on Mr. Seward, [who was now dead,] were returned upon
+me. I was also threatened to be arrested for two hundred pounds
+more." Besides all this, he had "a family of one hundred persons
+to be maintained, four thousand miles off, in the dearest part of
+his majesty's dominions." He now began to preach in Moorfields on
+week-days, under one of the trees; where he saw numbers of his
+spiritual children running by him without looking at him, and some
+of them putting their fingers in their ears, that they might not
+hear one word he said. "A like scene," he says, "opened at Bristol,
+where I was denied preaching in the house I had founded." It was the
+Kingswood school-house, built for the children of the colliers.
+
+But Whitefield could not long be kept down. His friends built a
+new house and opened a new school at Kingswood. Some "free-grace
+dissenters," as Gillies calls them, procured the loan of a building
+lot in London, on which, as we have already seen, they built the
+Tabernacle. Here his congregations immediately increased, and he
+addressed them with his usual power and success. Invitations soon
+poured in from the country, and even from places where he had never
+been. At a common near Braintree, in Essex, he had more than ten
+thousand hearers, and at many other places congregations were large
+and much affected. "Sweet," says he, "was the conversation which I
+had with several ministers of Christ." Soon again did he triumph,
+even in England.
+
+Among the men who were now invited to aid, and who rendered
+important assistance to Whitefield in his houses of worship in
+London and Bristol, as well as in his itinerant labors, was Howel
+Harris, a native of Wales, a gentleman, and a magistrate, to whom we
+have already referred. His name in Wales is yet "a household word,"
+and his labors form a part of the history of Welsh Calvinistic
+Methodism. As soon as he had embraced the gospel for himself,
+he became intensely solicitous respecting the condition of his
+neighbors. The scenes of profligacy and vice which everywhere
+presented themselves burdened his heart, and he became anxious to
+be actively employed in removing evil and doing good. He determined
+on taking orders in the church of England, and accordingly
+entered St. Mary's Hall, in Oxford university; but shocked at the
+dissolute habits of the collegians, and finding what were called
+his methodistical views were in the way of his ordination, he
+returned to Wales, and began to evangelize its towns and villages.
+Wherever there was an opening, there he went, and preached Christ
+to the people; and although defamed and persecuted, he manfully
+prosecuted his work, and thousands were by his agency brought to
+repentance. He and Mr. Whitefield were kindred spirits, moved by
+the same impulses, and pursuing the same course. Mr. Whitefield
+spoke of him as "'a burning and shining light,' a barrier against
+profaneness and immorality, and an indefatigable promoter of the
+true gospel of Jesus Christ. For these years he has preached almost
+twice a day, for three or four hours together. He has been in seven
+counties, and has made it his business to go to wakes and fairs to
+turn people from their lying vanities. He has been made the subject
+of numbers of sermons, has been threatened with public prosecutions,
+and had constables sent to apprehend him. But God has blessed him
+with inflexible courage; strength has been communicated to him from
+above, and he still goes on from conquering to conquer. God has
+greatly blessed his pious endeavors; many call, and own him as their
+spiritual father, and would, I believe, lay down their lives for his
+sake."
+
+In the year 1759, when England was threatened with a French
+invasion, Mr. Harris became a captain in the Brecknockshire militia,
+and into whatever place in England the regiment was ordered, he
+uniformly began to preach, and was the means of introducing the
+gospel into many ignorant and depraved districts. Thus an unusual
+act and an undesirable office were overruled to doing much good.
+When the regiment was disbanded, he again regularly entered on his
+ministerial duties with all his former zeal and activity. In a word,
+he may justly be regarded the evangelist of Wales.
+
+As an illustration of the spirit of the energetic ministers of
+Christ in those days, we quote a fact or two from the life of
+Rowland Hill; the more readily as Howel Harris is the principal
+subject. In 1774, four years after the death of Whitefield, Mr.
+Hill travelled through Wales, preaching three or four times every
+day; many conversions took place, which greatly sustained him under
+an attack of illness; and led to the remark in his "Journal," "My
+body quite weak, but my soul was refreshed." "A like example,"
+says Sidney, one of the biographers of Hill, "had been previously
+before his eyes in the case of Howel Harris, one of Mr. Whitefield's
+energetic followers, who was a man of extraordinary powers of body
+and mind. Harris used to relate of himself, that being once on a
+journey through Wales, he was subjected to great temptation to
+desert his Master's cause, when he said, 'Satan, I'll match thee
+for this;' and 'so I did,' he used to add; 'for I had not ridden
+many miles before I came to a revel, where there was a show of
+mountebanks, which I entered, and just as they were commencing, I
+jumped into the midst of them and cried out, 'Let us pray,' which
+so thunderstruck them that they listened to me quietly, while I
+preached to them a most tremendous sermon, that frightened many
+of them home.' Mr. Hill greatly delighted in this anecdote, and
+often said that amidst somewhat similar scenes, he had been enabled
+successfully to attack the kingdom of Satan."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+FIRST AND SECOND VISITS TO SCOTLAND--LABORS IN ENGLAND AND WALES.
+
+1740-1744.
+
+
+We have seen the spirit in which Mr. Whitefield returned to London,
+and the cool manner in which he was too generally received. It is
+painful to say that this coldness was not confined to enemies of the
+truth; it appeared in some degree in eminent dissenting ministers,
+as Watts and Bradbury, Barker, and even, to some extent, Doddridge.
+A plan had a few years before been agitated to restore the
+dissenters to the church, usually called the _Comprehension scheme_,
+and assuredly, under the circumstances, friendship with Whitefield
+was by no means favorable to such a plan being accomplished, though
+it was at this period greatly desired by many of both parties.
+Still, however, good was done; Whitefield preached, and God was
+glorified. More union between Christians in advancing the cause of
+Christ would have been exceedingly desirable, but even the want of
+this was not permitted to stay the progress of this man of God.
+
+One of the most popular and useful ministers employed by Whitefield
+and his friends at this time was John Cennick, the author of two
+well-known hymns, beginning,
+
+    "Jesus, thy blood and righteousness;"
+    "Jesus, my all, to heaven is gone."
+
+He was the preacher who, in Ireland, discoursed from the text,
+"Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes," which
+gave occasion for the Methodists in that country to be called
+"_Swaddlers_." The parents of this excellent man were Quakers,
+who had been imprisoned in Reading jail for the maintenance of
+their religious principles. This persecution reduced them from
+respectability to want, so that, like John Bunyan, they were forced
+to make shoe-laces in prison for their support.
+
+The conversion of the son was very remarkable. His first deep and
+lasting religious convictions flashed upon his mind like lightning
+from heaven, while walking in the crowds of Cheapside, in London.
+The effects were soon manifested; he became a new man, pursuing
+a new course, and entering on a new work. His ministry was very
+efficient, his views of truth were evangelical, his public speaking
+popular, his zeal so great as sometimes to lead him to preach six
+times in one day--all which labors were followed with abundant
+success.
+
+Mr. Cennick was rather below the middle stature, of a fair
+countenance, and though by no means robust in health, he knew little
+of timidity. The spirit in which he discharged his ministry may be
+seen in a letter he wrote to a friend: "We sang a hymn, and then the
+devil led on his servants; they began beating a drum, and then made
+fires of gunpowder: at first the poor flock was startled; but while
+God gave me power to speak encouragingly to them, they waxed bolder,
+and very few moved. The mob then fired guns over the people's heads,
+and began to play a water engine upon brother Harris and myself,
+till we were wet through. They also played an engine upon us with
+hog's-wash and grounds of beer-barrels, and covered us with muddy
+water from a ditch; they pelted us with eggs and stones, threw
+baskets of dust over us, and fired their guns so close to us that
+our faces were black with the powder; but, in nothing terrified, we
+remained praying. I think I never saw or felt so great a power of
+God as was there. In the midst of the confused multitude, I saw a
+man laboring above measure, earnest to fill the buckets with water
+to throw upon us. I asked him, 'What harm do we do? Why are you so
+furious against us? We only come to tell you that Christ loved you,
+and died for you.' He stepped back a little for room, and threw a
+bucket of water in my face. When I had recovered myself, I said,
+'My dear man, if God should so pour his wrath upon you, what would
+become of you? Yet I tell you that Christ loves you.' He threw away
+the bucket, let fall his trembling hands, and looked as pale as
+death; he then shook hands with me, and parted from me, I believe
+under strong convictions."
+
+Mr. Cennick had heretofore labored with Whitefield and Wesley, but
+now adhered to the former, and labored very successfully in the
+Tabernacle. After some years he united with the Moravian brethren,
+and died in triumph at thirty-five.
+
+In the summer of 1741, some three or four months after his arrival
+from America, Whitefield paid his first visit to Scotland. The state
+of religion in that country at the commencement of the ministry of
+this distinguished evangelist, has been already glanced at. It
+is here important to remark, that in 1740 an indication of better
+things began to appear in several places, especially in Cambuslang,
+under the ministry of the Rev. Mr. M'Culloch. This excellent man,
+for nearly a year before the revival began, had been preaching to
+his people on those subjects which tend most directly to explain the
+nature and prove the necessity of regeneration, according to the
+different aspects in which it is represented in the holy Scriptures.
+The church edifice had become too small for the congregation, and
+the minister, in favorable weather, frequently conducted the public
+worship on a green brae on the east side of a deep ravine near the
+church, scooped out in the form of an amphitheatre. In this retired
+and romantic spot, the worthy pastor preached in the most impressive
+manner to the listening multitudes, and not unfrequently, after his
+sermons, detailed to them the astonishing effects of Whitefield's
+preaching in America, which did not a little to increase the
+interest of the people, as well as lead them to wish to see such an
+extraordinary preacher.
+
+While on his voyage to Scotland, Whitefield gave evidence that he
+had not forgotten America. In his second visit to America, he had
+become intimately acquainted with the Rev. Daniel Rodgers of Exeter,
+New Hampshire, a direct descendant of the seventh generation of John
+Rogers, who was burnt at the stake for the testimony of Christ in
+the days of the bloody Mary. It is not surprising that Whitefield's
+original letter to him, now in the possession of the family of the
+grandson of Daniel Rodgers, is highly valued. It is dated on board
+the Mary and Ann, bound from London to Scotland, July 25, 1741.
+
+     "MY DEAR BROTHER RODGERS--How glad was I to receive a letter
+     from your hands, having heard nothing from you or of you
+     particularly since we parted. Oh, what great things has the
+     Lord shown us since that time! methinks I hear you say; and yet
+     I can tell of greater things. And I believe we shall see far
+     greater yet before we die. The work is beginning afresh here.
+     I sometimes think brother Gilbert [Tennent] must take a voyage
+     to old England. Most of our London ministers too much shun the
+     cross, and do not appear boldly for God. Now the Lord has worked
+     so powerfully in your college, I have less to object against
+     your joining Mr. Web. I am glad to hear that you speak _plain
+     and close_. What comfort will this afford you in a dying hour.
+     Go on, my dear brother, go on; venture daily upon Christ. Go out
+     in his strength, and he will enable us to do wonders. He is with
+     me more and more. I have sweetly been carried through the heat
+     and burning of every day's labor. Jesus bears all my burdens.
+     Jesus enables me to cast all my care upon him. Oh then, let us
+     magnify his name together. I am now going to Scotland, knowing
+     not what will befall me. What God does, you may expect to hear
+     of shortly. In the meanwhile, let us pray for and write to each
+     other. As iron sharpeneth iron, so do the letters of a man his
+     friend. Your last I have printed. God's glory called me to it.
+
+     "My dear brother, adieu. Dear brother Sims sits by and salutes
+     you. My kind love awaits Mr. Web, and all who love the Lord
+     in sincerity. In hopes of receiving another letter from you
+     shortly, I subscribe myself, dear Mr. Rodgers, your most
+     affectionate, though very unworthy brother and servant in the
+     sweetest Jesus,
+
+     "G. W."
+
+Among those who were most anxious that Mr. Whitefield should visit
+Scotland, were the Rev. Messrs. Ebenezer and Ralph Erskine. These
+two excellent brothers had separated themselves from the established
+church, chiefly on the ground of its cold formalism, and with some
+other zealous ministers had formed what has since been known as the
+Associate Presbytery. Their wish was, that in coming to Scotland,
+Whitefield should preach only in connection with their body, and
+so help forward the work in which they were engaged. To this he
+objected, regarding himself as an evangelist at large. As he
+proceeded, they rather opposed him, as not sufficiently particular
+and discriminative in his zeal. They wished him not to labor in
+the church from which they had seceded, saying, "God had left it."
+"Then," said he, "it is the more necessary for me to preach in it,
+to endeavor to bring him back. I'll preach Christ wherever they'll
+let me." On the 30th of July he arrived in Edinburgh, where he was
+urged to preach, but declined till he had seen the Messrs. Erskine;
+and accordingly proceeded to Dunfermline. Writing on the 1st of
+August, he says, "I went yesterday to Dunfermline, where dear Mr.
+Ralph Erskine hath got a large and separate, or as it is commonly
+termed, seceding meeting-house. He received me very lovingly. I
+preached to his and the town's people--a very thronged assembly.
+After I had done prayers and named my text, the rustling made by
+opening the Bibles all at once quite surprised me--a scene I never
+was witness to before."
+
+On the day following, Whitefield returned to Edinburgh, accompanied
+by Mr. Ralph Erskine, and preached in the Orphan-house park to a
+large and attentive audience. His text was, "The kingdom of God
+is not meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in
+the Holy Ghost." Rom. 14:17. After the sermon, a large company,
+including some of the nobility, came to bid him God-speed; and
+among others a portly Quaker, a nephew of the Messrs. Erskine, who,
+taking him by the hand, said, "Friend George, I am as thou art; I
+am for bringing all to the life and power of the ever-living God;
+and therefore, if thou wilt not quarrel with me about my hat, I
+will not quarrel with thee about thy gown." On Sabbath evening, he
+preached in the same place, to upwards of fifteen thousand persons;
+and on the evenings of Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, to nearly as
+many; on Tuesday in the Canongate church; on Wednesday and Thursday
+at Dunfermline; and on Friday morning at Queensferry. "Everywhere,"
+says he, "the auditories were large and very attentive. Great power
+accompanied the word. Many have been brought under convictions, and
+I have already received invitations to different places, which, God
+willing, I intend to comply with." Writing a week later, he says,
+"It would make your heart leap for joy to be now in Edinburgh. I
+question if there be not upwards of three hundred in this city
+seeking after Jesus. Every morning I have a constant levee of
+wounded souls, many of whom are quite slain by the law. God's power
+attends the word continually, just as when I left London. At seven
+in the morning we have a lecture in the fields, attended not only
+by the common people, but also by persons of rank. I have reason to
+think that several of the latter sort are coming to Jesus. Little
+children also are much wrought upon. God much blesses my letters
+from the little orphans, [girls in the hospital.] He loves to work
+by contemptible means. Oh, my dear brother, I am quite amazed when
+I think what God has done here in a fortnight. My printed sermons
+and journals have been blessed in an uncommon manner. I am only
+afraid lest people should idolize the instrument, and not look
+enough to the glorious Jesus, in whom alone I desire to glory.
+Congregations consist of many thousands. Never did I see so many
+Bibles, nor people looking into them, while I am expounding, with so
+much attention. Plenty of tears flow from the hearers' eyes. Their
+emotions appear in various ways. I preach twice daily, and expound
+at private houses at night, and am employed in speaking to souls
+under distress great part of the day. I have just snatched a few
+moments to write to my dear brother. Oh, that God may enlarge your
+heart to pray for me. This afternoon I preach out of town, and also
+to-morrow. Next post, God willing, you shall have another letter.
+I walk continually in the comforts of the Holy Ghost. The love of
+Christ quite strikes me dumb. O grace, grace! let that be my song.
+Adieu."
+
+In this manner Whitefield continued to preach very extensively
+over Scotland; and early in September he arrived at Glasgow.
+On the eleventh of that month he began his labors in the High
+Church-yard, and for five days in succession preached there twice
+a day--at an early hour in the morning, and again in the evening.
+The expectations of the people were high, not only in Glasgow, but
+all around, and crowds flocked to hear him preach. Morning after
+morning, and evening after evening, that vast church-yard, almost
+paved as it is with tombstones, was crowded with living worshippers,
+trembling under the word. But not satisfied with hearing, the pen of
+the ready writer was from day to day at work, and each sermon was
+printed by itself, and put immediately into circulation. His sermons
+were characterized by great simplicity, as if the language of the
+preacher merely expressed what he felt, and yet there was so much
+earnestness, and so much closeness of application, as to account
+for the effects they produced. He was in the pulpit very much what
+Baxter was in the press. He spoke as a man realizing all that he
+said, and laying open the feelings of his own heart in addressing
+the hearts of others.
+
+Very few men better knew the human heart than Whitefield. He seemed
+to know all the thoughts and feelings of his hearers, and the best
+way in which to meet them. He once preached in Scotland from the
+text, "The door was shut." Matt. 25:10. A respectable lady who heard
+him sat near the door, a considerable distance from the pulpit, and
+observed two showy and trifling young men who appeared to turn the
+solemn appeals of the preacher into ridicule; she heard one of them
+say in a low tone to the other, "Well, what if the door be shut?
+another will open." In a very few minutes, to the great surprise of
+the lady, Mr. Whitefield said, "It is possible there may be some
+careless, trifling person here to-day, who may ward off the force
+of this impressive subject by lightly thinking, 'What matter if the
+door be shut? another will open.'" The two young men looked at each
+other as though they were paralyzed, as the preacher proceeded:
+"Yes, another door will open; and I will tell you what door it
+will be: it will be the door of the bottomless pit, the door of
+hell!--the door which conceals from the eyes of angels the horrors
+of damnation."
+
+After Mr. Whitefield's return to England, at the close of October,
+among many letters which followed him, detailing the results of his
+labors, was one from Mr. M'Culloch, the excellent minister already
+referred to:
+
+"As it is matter of joy and thankfulness to God, who sent you
+hither, and gave you so much countenance, and so remarkably crowned
+your labors with success here at Glasgow, so I doubt not but the
+following account of the many seals to your ministry in and about
+that city, will be very rejoicing to your heart, especially as
+the kingdom of our glorious Redeemer is so much advanced thereby,
+and as the everlasting happiness of souls is promoted. I am well
+informed by some ministers, and other judicious and experienced
+Christians, that there are to the amount of fifty persons already
+known, in and about Glasgow, who appear to be savingly converted,
+through the blessing and power of God on your ten sermons. And there
+are, besides these, several others apparently under conviction,
+but not reckoned, as being still doubtful. Several Christians
+also, of considerable standing, were much strengthened, revived,
+and comforted by what they heard. They were made to rejoice in
+hope of the glory of God, having attained to the full assurance
+of faith. Among those lately converted, there are several young
+people who were before openly wicked and flagitious, or at best
+but very negligent as to spiritual things; and yet they are now
+in the way of salvation. Some young converts are yet under doubts
+and fears, but a considerable number of them have attained to
+peace and joy in believing. Several of those who were lately
+wrought on in a gracious way, seem to outstrip Christians of
+considerable standing, in spiritual-mindedness, and in many other
+good qualifications; particularly in their zeal for the conversion
+of others, in their love to ordinances, and in their freedom from
+bigotry and party zeal. Those converted by your ministry have not
+been discovered at once, but only from time to time. A good many
+of them have been discovered only of late. Their convictions were
+at first less pungent, and through the discouragements they met
+with in the families where they resided, as well as from their own
+feelings, they endeavored for a time to conceal their state. These
+circumstances afford ground for hoping, that there are yet others
+who may afterwards become known. Besides such as have been awakened
+through the power of God accompanying your sermons, there have been
+others who have been since awakened, and who have been discovered
+in consequence of the change observable in their conduct. These,
+dear brother, are a few hints concerning some of the most remarkable
+things, as to the blessing which accompanied your labors at Glasgow."
+
+At Edinburgh, when first visited by Whitefield, many persons of the
+highest rank constantly attended his ministry. Among them were the
+Marquis of Lothian, the Earl of Leven, Lord Ray, Lady Mary Hamilton,
+Lady Frances Gardiner, Lady Jane Nimms, and Lady Dirleton; and at
+some one of their houses he expounded almost every evening. Numbers
+of ministers and students crowded to hear him; and aged Christians
+told him they could set their seal to what he preached.
+
+In connection with this first visit to Edinburgh, several incidents
+have been related which show the power that accompanied his
+preaching, and the skill with which he could seize upon passing
+circumstances, and apply them to the great purpose which he always
+had in view. A gentleman, on returning from one of his sermons, was
+met on his way home by an eminent minister whom he usually heard,
+and who expressed great surprise that he should go to hear such a
+man. The gentleman replied, "Sir, when I hear you, I am planting
+trees all the time; but during the whole of Mr. Whitefield's sermon,
+I could not find time to plant one." A similar instance is related
+of a ship-builder, who usually could "build a ship from stem to
+stern during the sermon; but under Mr. Whitefield, could not lay a
+single plank."
+
+Another narrative has been thus given. An unhappy man who had
+forfeited his life to the offended laws of his country, was
+executed in that neighborhood. Mr. Whitefield mingled with the
+crowd collected on the occasion, and was much impressed with the
+decorum and solemnity which were observable in the awful scene. His
+appearance, however, drew the eyes of all upon him, and produced
+a variety of opinions as to the motives which led him to join the
+multitude.
+
+The next day, being Sunday, he preached to a very large congregation
+in a field near the city; and in the course of his sermon, he
+adverted to the scenes of the preceding day. "I know," said he,
+"that many of you may find it difficult to reconcile my appearance
+yesterday with my clerical character. Many of you, I know, will
+say that my moments would have been better employed in praying
+for the unhappy man, than in attending him to the fatal tree; and
+that perhaps curiosity was the only cause that converted me into a
+spectator on that occasion; but those who ascribe that uncharitable
+motive to me, are under a mistake. I went as an observer of
+human nature, and to see the effect that such an occurrence
+would have on those who witnessed it. I watched the conduct of
+those who were present on that awful occasion, and I was highly
+pleased with their demeanor, which has given me a very favorable
+opinion of the Scottish nation. Your sympathy was visible on your
+countenances; particularly when the moment arrived that your unhappy
+fellow-creature was to close his eyes on this world for ever. Then
+you all, as if moved by one impulse, turned your heads aside, and
+wept. Those tears were precious, and will be held in remembrance.
+How different it was when the Saviour of mankind was extended on the
+cross! The Jews, instead of sympathizing in his sorrows, triumphed
+in them. They reviled him with bitter expressions, with words
+even more bitter than the gall and vinegar which they handed him
+to drink. Not one of all who witnessed his pains, turned his head
+aside, even in the last pang. Yes, my friends, there was _one_--that
+glorious luminary," pointing to the sun, "veiled his brightness, and
+travelled on his course in tenfold night."
+
+On another occasion, near the same city, and probably in the field
+to which we have already referred, under the shade of a venerable
+tree, in a lovely meadow, a poor unhappy man, thinking to turn him
+into ridicule, placed himself on one of the overhanging boughs,
+immediately above the preacher's head, and with monkey-like
+dexterity mimicking his gestures, endeavored to raise a laugh in the
+audience. Guided by the looks of some of his hearers, Whitefield
+caught a glance of him, but without seeming to have noticed him,
+continued his discourse. With the skill of a wise orator, he
+reserved the incident for the proper place and time. While forcibly
+speaking on the power and sovereignty of divine grace, with
+increasing earnestness he spoke of the unlikely objects it had often
+chosen, and the unlooked for triumphs it had achieved. As he rose
+to the climax of his inspiring theme, and when in the full sweep of
+his eloquence, he suddenly paused, and turning round, and pointing
+slowly to the poor creature above him, he exclaimed, in a tone of
+deep and thrilling pathos, "Even _he_ may yet be the subject of
+that free and resistless grace." It was a shaft from the Almighty.
+Winged by the divine Spirit, it struck the scoffer to the heart, and
+realized in his conversion the glorious truth it contained.
+
+Yet another fact may be told connected with Whitefield and
+Edinburgh. When he was once there, a regiment of soldiers were
+stationed in the city, in which was a sergeant whose name was
+Forbes, a very abandoned man, who, everywhere he could do so, run in
+debt for liquor, with which he was almost at all times drunk. His
+wife washed for the regiment, and thus obtained a little money. She
+was a pious woman, but all her attempts to reclaim her husband were
+unsuccessful. During one of Mr. Whitefield's visits to the city,
+she offered her husband a sum of money, if he would for once go and
+hear the eloquent preacher. This was a strong inducement, and he
+engaged to go. The sermon was in a field, as no building could have
+contained the audience. The sergeant was rather early, and placed
+himself in the middle of the field, that he might file off when Mr.
+Whitefield ascended the pulpit; as he only wished to be able to say
+that he had seen him. The crowd, however, increased; and when the
+preacher appeared, they pressed forward, and the sergeant found it
+impossible to get away. The prayer produced some impression on his
+mind, but the sermon convinced him of his sinfulness and danger.
+He became a changed man, and showed the reality of his conversion
+by living for many years in a very penurious manner, till he had
+satisfied the claims of every one of his creditors.
+
+One fact more should be stated in connection with this visit. Mr.
+James Ogilvie was one of the ministers of Aberdeen. This city
+was not in that day, nor indeed in any part of the eighteenth
+century, warmly attached to a fully-exhibited gospel. At this time,
+however, both Mr. Ogilvie and his colleague, Mr. Bisset, who, as
+Sir Henry Moncrieff says, was the highest of the High church, were
+evangelical, though otherwise very opposite men. "Though colleagues
+of the same congregation," says Whitefield, "they are very different
+in their natural temper. The one is, what they call in Scotland, a
+sweet-blooded man, the other of a choleric disposition. Mr. Bisset
+is neither a seceder nor quite a true kirkman, having great fault
+to find with both. Soon after my arrival, dear Mr. Ogilvie took me
+to pay my respects to him. He was prepared for it, and pulled out
+a paper containing a great number of insignificant queries, which
+I had neither time nor inclination to answer." For several years
+Mr. Ogilvie had been corresponding with Mr. Whitefield to induce
+him to visit Aberdeen, hoping that some good might be done; and as
+he was himself to preach on Sabbath forenoon in presence of the
+magistrates, he gave Mr. Whitefield his place. The congregation was
+large, and apparently much interested. Mr. Bisset, in the afternoon,
+preached against Mr. Whitefield by name. Mr. Ogilvie, without either
+consulting his friend, or noticing the conduct of his colleague,
+stood up, after the sermon, and intimated to the congregation
+that Mr. Whitefield would again preach in about half an hour. The
+magistrates remained in the session-house, and the people hastened
+back, expecting to bear a reply. Mr. Whitefield, waiving as much as
+possible all controversial matter, preached Christ. The audience
+was silent, solemn, and deeply impressed. Next day, the magistrates
+apologized for their minister; and as a mark of their own respect,
+presented to Mr. Whitefield the freedom of their city. The effect of
+this visit to Aberdeen was great and beneficial.
+
+In 1742, Mr. Whitefield again visited Scotland. In the mean time
+he had heard that his dear friends the Erskines had become greatly
+offended, on account of what they considered his lax views of church
+government. But notwithstanding this difference with the seceders,
+he was received by great numbers, among whom were some persons of
+distinction, with cordiality and joy, and had the satisfaction
+of hearing more and more of the happy fruits of his ministry.
+At Edinburgh he again preached twice a day, as before, in the
+Hospital-park, where a number of seats and shades, in the form of
+an amphitheatre, were erected for the accommodation of his hearers.
+On the day of his arrival at Cambuslang, he preached three times
+to an immense body of people, although he had preached that same
+morning at Glasgow. The last service continued till eleven o'clock;
+and so much were the people interested, that Mr. M'Culloch, after
+preaching till past one in the morning, could scarcely persuade them
+to depart. Mr. Whitefield himself thus describes the scene: "Persons
+from all parts flocked to see, and many, from many parts, went home
+convinced and converted to God. A brae, or hill, near the manse at
+Cambuslang, seemed to be formed by Providence for containing a
+large congregation. People sat unwearied till two in the morning,
+to hear sermons, disregarding the weather. You could scarcely walk
+a yard, but you must tread upon some either rejoicing in God for
+mercies received, or crying out for more. Thousands and thousands
+have I seen, before it was possible to catch it by sympathy, melted
+down under the word and power of God. At the celebration of the holy
+communion, their joy was so great, that, at the desire of many,
+both ministers and people, in imitation of Hezekiah's passover,
+they had, a month or two afterwards, a second, which was a general
+rendezvous of the people of God. The communion was in the field;
+three tents, at proper distances, all surrounded with a multitude of
+hearers; above twenty ministers, among whom was good old Mr. Bonner,
+attending to preach and assist, all enlivening and enlivened by one
+another."
+
+In addition to his labors at Glasgow and Cambuslang, it is
+surprising to observe the number of places in the west of Scotland
+which Whitefield visited in the course of a few weeks; preaching
+wherever he went, with his usual frequency, energy, and success.
+A gentleman of piety and intelligence thus refers to one of them
+several years afterwards: "When Mr. Whitefield was preaching at
+Kilmarnock, on the twenty-third of August, from the words, 'And of
+his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace,' I thought I
+never heard such a sermon; and from the era above mentioned, I have
+always looked upon him as my spiritual father, and frequently heard
+him afterwards in Edinburgh and Glasgow with much satisfaction.
+When Cape Breton was taken, I happened to be at Edinburgh, and being
+invited to breakfast with Mr. Whitefield, I never, in all my life,
+enjoyed such another breakfast. He gave the company a fine and
+lively descant upon that part of the world, made us all join in a
+hymn of praise and thanksgiving, and concluded with a most devout
+and fervent prayer." About the end of October, Whitefield returned
+to London.
+
+Probably few are aware that Mr. Whitefield visited Scotland no
+less than _fourteen_ times. These visits extended over a period
+of twenty-seven years, beginning in 1741, and ending in 1768.
+In none of his visits after 1742 were there the same extensive
+awakenings as in his first two visits, yet his coming was always
+refreshing to serious persons, infusing new life, and increasing
+their numbers. Young people, too, were much benefited by his
+ministry, and especially young students, who afterwards became
+zealous and evangelical preachers. His morning discourses, which
+were generally intended for sincere but disconsolate souls, were
+peculiarly fitted to direct and encourage such in the Christian
+life; and his addresses in the evening to the promiscuous multitudes
+who then attended him, were powerful and alarming. There was great
+solemnity in his evening congregations in the Orphan-house park at
+Edinburgh and the High Church-yard at Glasgow, especially towards
+the conclusion of his sermons--which were usually long, though they
+seemed short to his hearers--when the whole multitude stood fixed,
+and like one man, hung upon his lips with silent attention, and many
+were under deep religious impressions.
+
+His conversation was no less useful and delightful than his
+sermons. Many in Glasgow, Edinburgh, and other parts of the land,
+bore witness of this fact. In Glasgow especially, when in company
+with his excellent friends M'Laurin, Scott, and others, one might
+challenge the professed sons of pleasure, with all their wit, humor,
+and gayety, to furnish entertainments so gratifying; nor was any
+part of it more agreeable than it was useful and edifying.
+
+Mr. Whitefield's friends in Scotland, among whom were many of all
+ranks, from the highest to the lowest, were constant and steady
+in their great regard for him, and his opposers from year to year
+became less violent. Indeed, his whole behavior was so transparent
+to the eyes of the world, and his character, after it had stood many
+attacks from all quarters, became so thoroughly established, that
+some of his opposers in Scotland seemed to acquire esteem for him;
+at least, they ceased to speak evil of him.
+
+In closing our sketch of Whitefield in Scotland, we select a few
+paragraphs from his letters, which are the more interesting as
+being among the very last words he wrote in that country. June 15,
+1768, he says, "You would be delighted to see our Orphan-house
+park assemblies, as large, attentive, and affectionate as ever.
+Twenty-seven-year-old friends and spiritual children remember the
+days of old; they are seeking after their first love, and there
+seems to be a stirring among the dry bones." Writing on the second
+of July, he says, "Could I preach ten times a day, thousands and
+thousands would attend. I have been confined for a few days; but on
+Monday or Tuesday next, hope to mount my throne again. O, to die
+there! too great, too great an honor to be expected." Again, on the
+ninth of July, "Every thing goes on better and better here; but I am
+so worn down by preaching abroad and talking at home almost all the
+day long, that I have determined, God willing, to set off for London
+next Tuesday."
+
+The respect with which Whitefield was treated in Scotland, not only
+by professing Christians, but in general society, was shown by the
+fact that he was presented with the freedom of some of the principal
+cities and towns which he visited. This privilege was given him in
+Stirling, Glasgow, Paisley, and Aberdeen, in 1741, and at Irvine and
+Edinburgh some years afterwards.
+
+It is difficult, in such a world as this, so to live as that "our
+good" shall not "be evil spoken of." Mr. Whitefield has sometimes
+been charged with motives of a mercenary character, but his whole
+life showed the fallacy of such a charge. Dr. Gillies, his original
+biographer, received from unquestionable testimony the knowledge
+of a fact which ought not to be forgotten. During his stay in
+Scotland, in the year 1759, a young lady, Miss Hunter, who possessed
+a considerable fortune, made a full offer to him of her estate in
+money and lands, worth several thousand pounds. He promptly refused
+the offer; and upon his declining it for himself, she offered it to
+him for the benefit of his orphan-house. This also he absolutely
+refused.
+
+Never could Whitefield be accused of moral cowardice. When the old
+Scotch Marquis of Lothian professed that his heart was impressed
+with the importance of religion, but wished to be a Christian in
+the dark, Whitefield said to him, "As for praying in your family,
+I entreat you not to neglect it; you are bound to do it. Apply to
+Christ to overcome your present fears; they are the effects of pride
+or infidelity, or both."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+On his return from Scotland to London in 1741, Whitefield passed
+through Wales, where at Abergavenny he was married to a Mrs. James,
+a widow, some ten years older than himself. Of this marriage, as
+also of the death of his only child, we have already spoken. After
+preaching at Bristol twice a day for several days in succession,
+he returned to London in the beginning of December, where he
+found letters from Georgia, which, on account of the temporal
+circumstances of his orphan family, somewhat discouraged him. But to
+trace his progress, and to report all his labors, would be to extend
+our volume beyond its due limits.
+
+He was soon again in the west of England, and writing from
+Gloucester, his native place, December 23, 1741, he says, "Last
+Thursday evening the Lord brought me hither. I preached immediately
+to our friends in a large barn, and had my Master's presence. Both
+the power and the congregation increased. On Sunday, Providence
+opened a door for my preaching in St. John's, one of the parish
+churches. Great numbers came. On Sunday afternoon, after I had
+preached twice at Gloucester, I preached at the hill, six miles off,
+and again at night at Stroud. The people seemed to be more hungry
+than ever, and the Lord to be more among them. Yesterday morning I
+preached at Painswick, in the parish church, here in the afternoon,
+and again at night in the barn. God gives me unspeakable comfort and
+uninterrupted joy. Here seems to be a new awakening, and a revival
+of the work of God. I find several country people were awakened when
+I preached at Tewkesbury, and have heard of three or four that have
+died in the Lord. We shall never know what good field-preaching has
+done till we come to judgment. Many who were prejudiced against me
+begin to be of another mind; and God shows me more and more that
+'when a man's ways please the Lord, he will make even his enemies to
+be at peace with him.'"
+
+In the following February he was still further encouraged by
+receiving letters from America, informing him of the remarkable
+success of the gospel there, and that God had stirred up some
+wealthy friends to assist his orphans in their extremity. He writes,
+"The everlasting God reward all their benefactors. I find there
+has been a fresh awakening among them. I am informed that twelve
+negroes belonging to a planter lately converted at the orphan-house,
+are savingly brought home to Jesus Christ." Nor were these things
+all which afforded him joy. Writing to a friend, April 6, he says,
+"Our Saviour is doing great things in London daily. I rejoice to
+hear that you are helped in your work. Let this encourage you; go
+on, go on; the more we do, the more we may do for Jesus. I sleep
+and eat but little, and am constantly employed from morning till
+midnight, and yet my strength is daily renewed. Oh, free grace! it
+fires my soul, and makes me long to do something for Jesus. It is
+true, indeed, I want to go home; but here are so many souls ready to
+perish for lack of knowledge, that I am willing to tarry below as
+long as my Master has work for me." It was at this period that he
+first ventured to preach in the fair in Moorfields, to which we have
+already referred. In this year he made also his second journey to
+Scotland, the particulars of which have been already given.
+
+On his arrival from Scotland in London, October, 1742, Whitefield
+found a new awakening at the Tabernacle, which in the mean time had
+been enlarged. He says, "I am employed, and, glory to rich grace,
+I am carried through the duties of each day with cheerfulness and
+almost uninterrupted tranquillity. Our society is large, but in good
+order. My Master gives us much of his gracious presence, both in our
+public and private ministrations."
+
+In March, 1743, he went again into Gloucestershire, where the
+people appeared to be more eager to attend on his ministry than
+ever before. "Preaching," says he, "in Gloucestershire, is now like
+preaching at the Tabernacle in London." And in a letter, April 7,
+he says, "I preached, and took leave of the Gloucester people with
+mutual and great concern, on Sunday evening last. It was past one in
+the morning before I could lay my weary body down, At five I rose
+again, sick for want of rest; but I was enabled to get on horseback
+and ride to Mr. T----'s, where I preached to a large congregation,
+who came there at seven in the morning. At ten, I read prayers and
+preached, and afterwards administered the sacrament in Stonehouse
+church. Then I rode to Stroud, and preached to about twelve thousand
+in Mr. G----'s field; and about six in the evening, to a like number
+on Hampton common." Next morning he preached near Dursley to some
+thousands; at about seven o'clock he reached Bristol, and preached
+to a full congregation at Smith's hall; and on the following
+morning, after preaching, set out for Waterford, in South Wales,
+where he opened the association which he and his brethren had agreed
+upon, and was several days with them, settling the affairs of the
+societies. The work in Wales, during his absence, had very greatly
+extended itself, not a few of the clergy having become converted,
+as well as their people. He tells us, "The power of God at the
+sacrament, under the ministry of Mr. Rowland, was enough to make
+a person's heart burn within him. At seven in the morning have I
+seen perhaps ten thousand from different parts, in the midst of a
+sermon, crying, _Gugunniaut_--_bendyth_--[glory--blessed]--ready
+to leap for joy." He continued in Wales some weeks, preaching with
+great apparent success, and in the latter part of April returned
+to Gloucester, after having, in about three weeks, travelled about
+four hundred miles, spent three days in attending associations,
+and preached about forty times. Among the interesting events
+of this journey may be reckoned the fact, that when he was at
+Caermarthen the quarterly sessions were held. When he was about to
+preach, the magistrates sent him word, that if he would stay till
+the court rose, they would attend on the service. He acceded to
+their proposal, and they were present, with many thousands more,
+including several persons of high rank.
+
+After a few weeks spent in London, preaching to vast congregations
+in Moorfields, and exulting in his accustomed success, collecting
+too for his beloved orphans, so as to be able to pay all his debts,
+and to make a remittance to Georgia, we again find him at Bristol,
+and in a few days afterwards at Exeter. Among the clergymen who
+met him there was Mr. Cennick. As this gentleman was preaching
+during this visit in the High-street of the city, he was eloquently
+discoursing on the doctrine of the atonement by the blood of Christ,
+when a profane butcher in the crowd exclaimed, "If you love blood,
+you shall presently have enough of it," and ran to obtain some to
+throw on him. A Mr. Saunders, who was employed in conveying persons
+from one place to another, though an entire stranger to religion,
+from a sense of justice, determined to defend the preacher; and
+when the butcher came with a pail nearly filled with blood, he
+quietly took it from him, and poured it over the man's own head.
+This Mr. Saunders afterwards became an eminent Christian. He was,
+till extreme old age, the body-coachman of George III., with whom he
+frequently held Christian conversation, and died happily in 1799, at
+the age of eighty-nine.
+
+During this visit to Bristol, Whitefield's ministry was owned of God
+in the conversion of Thomas Olivers, a young profligate Welshman.
+It is said, he had so studied profanity and cursing, that he
+would exemplify the richness of the Welsh language by compounding
+twenty or thirty words into one long and horrid blasphemy. He had
+often sang profane songs about Whitefield, and was now induced by
+curiosity to go to hear him. Being too late on the first occasion,
+he went on the following evening nearly three hours before the time.
+The text was, "Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?" Zech.
+3:2. His heart became broken with a sense of his sins, and he was
+soon enabled to trust in the mercy of Christ. He became a zealous
+and successful minister of Christ among the followers of Mr. Wesley,
+and was the author of the well-known hymn,
+
+                "The God of Abram praise," etc.
+
+In August, Whitefield returned to London, but not to make a long
+stay there. "I thank you," he writes to a correspondent, "for
+your kind caution to spare myself; but evangelizing is certainly
+my province. Everywhere effectual doors are opened. So far from
+thinking of settling in London, I am more and more convinced that
+I should go from place to place." Accordingly, during the three
+last months of 1743, we find him in a large number of places in the
+central and western parts of England. At Birmingham, he writes, "I
+have preached five times this day, and weak as I am, through Christ
+strengthening me, I could preach five times more." At Kidderminster
+he met with a distinguished Christian merchant, a Mr. Williams,
+whose published "Memoirs" have been eminently useful. Whitefield
+writes, "I was kindly received by Mr. Williams. Many friends were
+at his house. I was greatly refreshed to find what a sweet savor of
+good Baxter's doctrine, works, and discipline remains to this day."
+Nor did he, amidst all his labors, feel his health much impaired.
+He observes, indeed, that he had taken a cold, but adds, "The Lord
+warms my heart."
+
+In the beginning of March, 1744, he was compelled to attend the
+assizes at Gloucester. During the preceding summer, the enemies of
+the Methodists had been very violent, especially at Hampton, in that
+county. Forbearance in the case had ceased to be a virtue, and Mr.
+Whitefield was strongly urged to appeal to law, which in England in
+such cases is severe. At the preceding sessions the rioters had been
+convicted, but appealed to the assizes, a higher court. After a full
+hearing, a verdict was given in favor of Whitefield and his friends,
+and all the prisoners were found guilty. This exposed each to a
+fine of forty pounds, or six months' imprisonment; the rioters were
+greatly alarmed, public feeling on the subject was corrected, and
+the Methodists readily extended forgiveness to the unhappy offenders.
+
+Whitefield was now invited by Mr. Smith, an American merchant then
+in England, in the name of thousands, to revisit this country,
+and took passage with that gentleman in a vessel sailing from
+Portsmouth. But the captain refused to take him, "for fear," as he
+said, "he would spoil the sailors." On this account Mr. Whitefield
+was compelled to go to Plymouth, another seaport, to accomplish his
+purpose. On his way, he preached at Exeter and other places, with
+delightful results. "But," he says, "the chief scene was at Plymouth
+and the Dock, [now called Devonport,] where I expected least
+success."
+
+While he was at Plymouth, four well-dressed men came to the house of
+one of his particular friends, in a kind manner inquiring after him,
+and desiring to know where he lodged. Soon after, Mr. Whitefield
+received a letter informing him that the writer was a nephew of Mr.
+S----, an attorney in New York; that he had the pleasure of supping
+with Mr. Whitefield at his uncle's house, and requested his company
+to sup with him and a few friends at a tavern. Mr. Whitefield
+replied to him that he was not accustomed to sup abroad at such
+houses, but he should be glad of the gentleman's company to eat a
+morsel with him at his own lodging. The gentleman accordingly came
+and supped, but was observed frequently to look around him, and to
+be very absent. At length he took his leave, and returned to his
+companions in the tavern, and on being asked by them what he had
+done, he answered, that he had been treated with so much civility
+and kindness that he had not the heart to touch him. One of the
+company, a lieutenant of a man-of-war, laid a wager of ten guineas
+that he would do his business for him. His companions, however, had
+the precaution to take away his sword.
+
+It was now about midnight, and Mr. Whitefield having that day
+preached to a large congregation, and visited the French prisoners,
+had retired to rest, when he was awoke and told that a well-dressed
+gentleman earnestly wished to speak with him. Supposing that it was
+some person under conviction of sin, many such having previously
+called upon him, he desired him to be brought to his room. The
+gentleman came, sat down by his bedside, congratulated him upon the
+success of his ministry, and expressed considerable regret that he
+had been prevented from hearing him. Soon after, however, he began
+to utter the most abusive language, and in a cruel and cowardly
+manner beat him in his bed. The landlady and her daughter, hearing
+the noise, rushed into the room and laid hold of the assailant;
+but disengaging himself from them, he renewed his attack on the
+unoffending preacher, who, supposing that he was about to be shot or
+stabbed, underwent all the feelings of a sudden and violent death.
+Soon after, a second person came into the house, and called from
+the bottom of the stairs, "Take courage, I am ready to help you."
+But by the repeated cries of murder the neighborhood had become so
+alarmed, that the villains were glad to make their escape. "The
+next morning," says Mr. Whitefield, "I was to expound at a private
+house, and then to set out for Biddeford. Some urged me to stay and
+prosecute, but being better employed, I went on my intended journey,
+was greatly blessed in preaching the everlasting gospel; and, upon
+my return, was well paid for what I had suffered, curiosity having
+led perhaps two thousand more than ordinary to see and hear a man
+that had like to have been murdered in his bed. And I trust, in the
+five weeks that I waited for the convoy, hundreds were awakened and
+turned unto the Lord."
+
+As Whitefield was one day preaching in Plymouth, a Mr. Henry Tanner,
+who was at work as a ship-builder at a distance, heard his voice,
+and resolved, with five or six of his companions, to go and drive
+him from the place where he stood; and for this purpose they filled
+their pockets with stones. When, however, Mr. Tanner drew near, and
+heard Mr. Whitefield earnestly inviting sinners to Christ, he was
+filled with astonishment, his resolution failed him, and he went
+home with his mind deeply impressed. On the following evening, he
+again attended, and heard Mr. Whitefield on the sin of those who
+crucified the Redeemer. After he had forcibly illustrated their
+guilt, he appeared to look intently on Mr. Tanner, as he exclaimed,
+with great energy, "Thou art the man!" These words powerfully
+impressed Mr. Tanner; he felt his transgressions of the divine law
+to be awfully great, and in the agony of his soul he cried, "God be
+merciful to me a sinner!" The preacher then proceeded to proclaim
+the free and abundant grace of the Lord Jesus, which he commanded to
+be preached among the very people who had murdered him; a gleam of
+hope entered the heart of the penitent, and he surrendered himself
+to Christ. Mr. Tanner afterwards entered the ministry, and labored
+with great success, for many years, at Exeter.
+
+We are not quite certain whether it was on this or a subsequent
+visit to Plymouth, that Whitefield had preached on the Sabbath for
+the Rev. Mr. Kinsman, and after breakfast on Monday morning, said
+to him, "Come, let us visit some of your poor people. It is not
+enough that we labor in the pulpit; we must endeavor to be useful
+out of it." On entering the dwellings of the afflicted poor, he
+administered to their temporal as well as their spiritual wants.
+Mr. Kinsman, knowing the low state of his finances, was surprised
+at his liberality, and suggested that he thought he had been too
+bountiful. Mr. Whitefield, with some degree of smartness, replied,
+"It is not enough, young man, to pray, and put on a serious face;
+true religion, and undefiled, is this, to visit the widow and the
+fatherless in their affliction, and to supply their wants. My stock,
+it is true, is nearly exhausted; but God, whom I serve, and whose
+saints we have assisted, will, I doubt not, soon give me a supply."
+His expectation was not disappointed. A stranger called on him
+the same evening, who said, "With great pleasure I have heard you
+preach; you are on a journey, as well as myself, and travelling is
+expensive. Do me the honor to accept of this;" handing him five
+guineas, or twenty-five dollars. Returning to the family, Mr.
+Whitefield, very pleasantly smiling, showed them the money, saying,
+"There, young man, God has very speedily repaid what I lent him this
+morning. Let this in future teach you not to withhold what it is in
+the power of your hand to give. The gentleman to whom I was called
+is a perfect stranger to me; his only business was to give me the
+sum you see." It was a singular fact, that this gentleman, though
+rich, was notorious for a penurious disposition.
+
+During his stay in Plymouth, Whitefield's usefulness daily
+increased. The ferry-men, who obtained their living by carrying
+persons between Plymouth and Dock, refused to take money from his
+hearers, saying, "God forbid that we should sell his word!" The
+evangelist exclaimed, "Oh, the thousands that flock to the preaching
+of Christ's gospel!" In the midst of these scenes, the convoy
+arrived, and in delicate health he embarked for America.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+WHITEFIELD'S SECOND VISIT TO NEW ENGLAND.
+
+1744, 1745.
+
+
+Mr. Whitefield commenced his third voyage to America in August,
+1744. His health while crossing the Atlantic became worse,
+rather than better, the voyage lasting eleven weeks. He had set
+out in company with about one hundred and fifty ships, attended
+by several men-of-war as convoys, which, however, they lost by
+storms separating them on the way. It was more than six weeks,
+owing generally to want of wind, before they reached any of the
+western islands. When the wind again sprung up, one of the vessels,
+which missed stays, drove upon the ship in which Whitefield was,
+striking her mainsail into the bowsprit. The alarm was very great,
+but no lives were lost. He had been singing a hymn on deck when
+the concussion took place; this fact, together with that of the
+concussion itself, was communicated to the convoy, and led to the
+use of much violent and wicked language. But the good man was not
+intimidated. He says, "I called my friends together, and broke
+out into these words in prayer: 'God of the sea, and God of the
+dry land, this is a night of rebuke and blasphemy. Show thyself,
+O God, and take us under thine own immediate protection. Be thou
+our convoy, and make a difference between those who fear thee, and
+those that fear thee not.'" A difference was soon made. Next day a
+heavy storm arose, which "battered and sent away our convoy, so
+that we saw him no more all the voyage." Whitefield at first did
+not at all regret the loss, but when two strange sails appeared
+in the distance, and preparation was made for action by mounting
+guns, slinging hammocks on the sides of the ships, and encircling
+the masts with chains, he being, as he says, "naturally a coward,"
+found it formidable to have no convoy. The vessels, however, proved
+to be only a part of their own fleet. This was a pleasant discovery
+to them, especially to Whitefield. "The captain, on clearing the
+cabin, said, 'After all, this is the best fighting.' You may be sure
+I concurred, praying that all our conflicts with spiritual enemies
+might at last terminate in a thorough cleansing and an eternal
+purification of the defiled _cabin_ of our hearts."
+
+The tediousness of this voyage, in the feeble state of his health,
+seems to have tried Whitefield's patience; so that when he arrived
+in sight of the port of York, in the then territory of Maine, in
+order to land a few hours sooner he went on board a fishing smack
+then in the bay; but darkness coming on, she missed her course,
+and was tossed about all night. Unfortunately, too, she had no
+provisions, and he was so hungry that he says he "could have gnawed
+the very boards." Besides he was suffering from "nervous colic." He
+was greatly discouraged, until a man who was lying at his elbow in
+the cabin began to talk of "one Mr. Whitefield, for whose arrival
+the 'New Lights' in New England" were watching and praying. "This,"
+he says, "made me take courage. I continued undiscovered; and in a
+few hours, in answer, I trust, to _new-light_ prayers, we arrived
+safe." This was on October 19, 1744. He was quite ill when he
+landed; but was received by Dr. Sherburne, an eminent physician
+at York, who was once a Deist, but had been converted under
+Whitefield's ministry. This gentleman took him to his own house, and
+after a few days he began to recover.
+
+The Rev. Mr. Moody, of York, the aged and excellent, but eccentric
+minister of whom we have already spoken, took the earliest suitable
+opportunity of calling on the great evangelist, and said very
+characteristically, "Sir, you are, first, welcome to America;
+secondly, to New England; thirdly, to all faithful ministers in New
+England; fourthly, to all the good people of New England; fifthly,
+to all the good people of York; and sixthly and lastly, to me, dear
+sir, less than the least of all." Prince's "Christian History" had
+announced his arrival, and that his intention was "to pass on to
+Georgia; and as he goes on, to meddle with no controversies, but
+only to preach up the parts of vital piety and the pure truths of
+the gospel, to all who are willing to hear them."
+
+After giving Whitefield this hearty welcome, Moody urged him for a
+sermon. The preacher hesitated, on account of his illness, but "good
+old Mr. Moody" did not give him the benefit of his own favorite
+maxim, "When you know not what to do, you must _not_ do you know
+not what." Whitefield preached, and immediately went to Portsmouth,
+where he preached the same evening, November 6, for Mr. Fitch, and
+was to have preached again the next morning, but was too ill, and
+deferred it till the afternoon. In the mean time, as he wrote, "My
+pains returned; but what gave me most concern was, that notice had
+been given of my being engaged to preach. I felt a divine life,
+distinct from my animal life, which made me, as it were, laugh at
+my pains, though every one thought I was taken with death. My dear
+York physician was then about to administer a medicine. I on a
+sudden cried out, 'Doctor, my pains are suspended; by the help of
+God, I will go and preach, and then come home and die.' With some
+difficulty I reached the pulpit. All looked quite surprised, as
+though they saw one risen from the dead. I indeed was as pale as
+death, and told them they must look upon me as a dying man, come to
+bear my dying testimony to the truths I had formerly preached to
+them. All seemed melted, and were drowned in tears. The cry after
+me, when I left the pulpit, was like the cry of sincere mourners
+when attending the funeral of a dear departed friend. Upon my
+coming home, I was laid upon a bed on the ground, near the fire,
+and I heard them say, 'He is gone.' But God was pleased to order it
+otherwise. I gradually recovered."
+
+In another account he himself says, "In my own apprehension, and
+in all appearance to others, I was a dying man. I preached--the
+people heard me--as such. The invisible realities of another world
+lay open to my view. Expecting to launch into eternity, and to be
+with my Master before the morning, I spoke with peculiar energy.
+Such effects followed the word, I thought it was worth dying for a
+thousand times. Though wonderfully comforted within at my return
+home, I thought I was dying indeed.... Soon after, a poor negro
+woman would see me. She came, sat down upon the ground, and looked
+earnestly in my face, and then said, 'Massa, you just go to heaven's
+gate, but Jesus Christ said, Get you down, get you down; you must
+not come here yet; but go first, and call some more poor negroes.' I
+prayed to the Lord, that if I was to live, this might be the event."
+
+It was nearly three weeks before he was sufficiently recovered to
+proceed to Boston. The day before he left Portsmouth Mr. Shurtleff
+wrote, "The prejudices of most that set themselves against him
+before his coming, seem to be in a great measure abated, and in
+some, to be wholly removed; and there is no open opposition made
+to him. I have frequent opportunities of being with him, and there
+always appears in him such a concern for the advancement of the
+Redeemer's kingdom and the good of souls, such a care to employ his
+whole time to these purposes, such sweetness of disposition, and so
+much of the temper of his great Lord and Master, that every time I
+see him, I find my heart further drawn out towards him."
+
+"Prince's Christian History," of December 15, says, "The Rev. Mr.
+Whitefield was so far revived as to be able to take coach with his
+consort, and set out from Portsmouth to Boston, Nov. 24; whither he
+came in a very feeble state, the Monday evening after; since which
+he has been able to preach in several of our largest houses of
+public worship, particularly the Rev. Dr. Colman's, Dr. Sewall's,
+Mr. Webb's, and Mr. Gee's, to crowded assemblies of people, and
+to great and growing acceptance. At Dr. Colman's desire, and with
+the consent of the church, on the Lord's day after his arrival,
+he administered to them the holy communion. And last Lord's day he
+preached for the venerable Mr. Cheever, of Chelsea, and administered
+the holy supper there. The next day he preached for the Rev. Mr.
+Emerson, of Malden. Yesterday he set out to preach for some towns to
+the northward; proposes to return hither the next Wednesday evening,
+and after a few days to comply with the earnest invitations of
+several ministers to go and preach to their congregations, in the
+southern parts of the province.
+
+"He comes with the same extraordinary spirit of meekness, sweetness,
+and universal benevolence as before. In opposition to the spirit
+of separation and bigotry, he is still for holding communion with
+all Protestant churches. In opposition to enthusiasm, he preaches
+a close adherence to the Scriptures, the necessity of trying all
+impressions by them, and of rejecting whatever is not agreeable to
+them, as delusions. In opposition to Antinomianism, he preaches up
+all kinds of relative and religious duties, though to be performed
+in the strength of Christ; and, in short, the doctrines of the
+church of England, and the first fathers of this country. As before,
+he first applies himself to the understandings of his hearers,
+and then to the affections; and the more he preaches, the more he
+convinces people of their mistakes about him, and increases their
+satisfaction."
+
+The administration of the Lord's supper by a priest of the church
+of England in the Congregational church in Brattle-street, Boston,
+gave great offence. Some said, the consent of the church was
+neither given nor asked, and Dr. Colman was blamed for introducing
+Whitefield by his own authority; to which Dr. Colman replied, that,
+as it was customary for pastors to invite the assistance of other
+ministers on such occasions, he thought it unnecessary to call for
+a vote of the church; that he plainly intimated his intention in
+his prayer after sermon, and then, on coming to the table, said,
+"The Rev. Mr. Whitefield being providentially with us, I have asked
+him to administer the ordinance;" and that by the countenances of
+the people it seemed to be universally agreeable to them, which he
+supposed to be all the consent which the case required.
+
+Since Mr. Whitefield's former visit to New England, a considerable
+change had taken place in not a few of the ministers and churches.
+In 1740, he had inveighed strongly against many of the ministers,
+some of them even by name, as, in his opinion, unconverted; and
+after his departure, some preachers, who professed themselves to
+be his followers, had created great confusion by carrying these
+charges much farther than he would have approved. His second visit
+was therefore anticipated by many with anxiety, lest it might cause
+a new outbreak of enthusiasm and disorder. The General Association
+of Connecticut, in June, 1745, advised that he be not invited to
+preach in any of the churches. When he visited New Haven, he found
+himself shut out of the pulpit of the First church by its minister
+Mr. Noyes. A great crowd, however, assembled to hear him, from the
+neighboring towns, as well as from New Haven, and he preached from a
+platform erected in the street, before Mr. Pierpont's house on the
+Green, to a congregation which neither of the meeting-houses could
+have contained.
+
+From Professor Kingsley's "Sketch of the History of Yale College,"
+we learn that "President Clap issued a declaration, signed by
+himself and three tutors, that is, Samuel Whittlesey, afterwards
+minister of the First church in New Haven, Thomas Darling, for many
+years chief justice of the Court of Common Pleas for the county of
+New Haven, and John Whiting, in which some of the proceedings of Mr.
+Whitefield were condemned. In consequence of the religious fervor
+which had been excited, a much greater diversity of theological
+opinions prevailed in Connecticut than at any previous period.
+Violent controversies arose, churches were divided, and the
+government, by interfering to prevent these evils, increased rather
+than checked them. The college became an object of jealousy; and the
+declaration of the rector and tutors, respecting the preaching of
+Whitefield, offended some, without effectually conciliating others."
+
+The opposition to Mr. Whitefield of which we have spoken, was
+by no means all that he met with. Even before the Association
+in Connecticut had taken action, several similar bodies in
+Massachusetts had acted in a similar manner. The corporation of
+Harvard college published a testimony against him, while that of
+Yale represented that he intended to root out all the standing
+ministers in our land, and to introduce foreigners in their stead.
+The good man, notwithstanding all this opposition, and much more,
+went on laboring for the salvation of souls, and God still honored
+him with success.
+
+While the impartiality to which we hold ourselves bound demanded
+the statement just made, and while we are compelled to admit the
+existence of evils attendant on these revivals, we also record some
+of the facts connected with a convention of ministers, who assembled
+in Boston in pursuance of a previous notice in the Boston Gazette of
+May 30, 1743. We copy the original invitation.
+
+"It is desired and proposed by a number of ministers, both in town
+and country, that such of their brethren as are persuaded that
+there has been of late a happy revival of religion through an
+extraordinary divine influence, in many parts of this land, and are
+concerned for the honor and progress of this remarkable work of
+God, may have an interview at Boston, the day after the approaching
+commencement, to consider whether they are not called to give an
+open, conjunct testimony to an event so surprising and gracious; as
+well as against those errors in doctrine, and disorders in practice,
+which through the permitted agency of Satan have attended it, and
+in any measure blemished its glory and hindered its advancement;
+and also to consult as to the most likely method to be taken to
+guard people against such delusions and mistakes as in such a season
+they are in danger of falling into, and that this blessed work may
+continue and flourish among us." Those who could not be present were
+invited to send written attestations.
+
+In accordance with this proposal, the convention met in Boston
+on Thursday, July 7. The Rev. Dr. Sewall of Boston officiated as
+Moderator, and the Rev. Messrs. Prince of Boston, and Hobby of
+Reading, as Scribes. Ninety persons thus assembled, and letters
+were read from twenty-eight who were absent. A committee was
+appointed, consisting of the Rev. Dr. Sewall, the Rev. Messrs.
+Wigglesworth, Prince, Adams, Cooper, Nathanael Rogers, Leonard,
+and Hobby, to prepare a report. On the next morning this committee
+presented a document, which, after full discussion, was signed by
+all present; and the meeting was dissolved.
+
+Our limits will not allow us to give the whole of the report to
+which we have referred, but a few sentences will show its general
+character:
+
+"We, whose names are undersigned, think it our indispensable
+duty--without judging or censuring such of our brethren as cannot
+at present see things in the same light with us--in this open
+and conjunct manner to declare, to the glory of sovereign grace,
+our full persuasion, either from what we have seen ourselves, or
+received upon credible testimony, that there has been a happy
+and remarkable revival of religion in many parts of this land,
+through an uncommon divine influence, after a long time of decay
+and deadness, and a sensible and very awful withdrawal of the Holy
+Spirit from his sanctuary among us.... The present work seems to
+be remarkable and extraordinary, on account of the numbers wrought
+upon. We never before saw so many brought under soul concern, and
+with great distress making the inquiry, 'What must we do to be
+saved?' And these persons were of all ages and character. With
+regard to the suddenness and quick progress of it, many persons and
+places were surprised with the gracious visit together, or near
+about the same time, and the heavenly influence diffused itself
+far and wide, like the light of the morning. Also [the work seems
+to be remarkable] in respect to the degree of operations, both in a
+way of terror, and in a way of consolation, attended in many with
+unusual bodily effects. Not that all who are accounted the subjects
+of the present work have had these extraordinary degrees of previous
+distress and subsequent joy. But many, and we suppose the greater
+number, have been wrought on in a more gentle and silent way, and
+without any other appearances than are common and usual at other
+times, when persons have been awakened to a solemn concern about
+salvation, and have been thought to have passed out of a state of
+nature into a state of grace. As to those whose inward concern has
+occasioned extraordinary outward distresses, the most of them, when
+we came to converse with them, were able to give what appeared to us
+a rational account of what so affected their minds.... The instances
+were very few in which we had reason to think these affections were
+produced by visionary or sensible representations, or by any other
+images than such as the Scripture itself presents to us. Of those
+who were judged hopefully converted, and made a public profession of
+religion, there have been fewer instances of scandal and apostasy
+than might be expected.... There appears to be more experimental
+godliness and lively Christianity than most of us can remember we
+have ever seen before.... And now we desire to bow the knee in
+thanksgiving to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that
+our eyes have seen and our ears heard such things. And while these
+are our sentiments, we must necessarily be grieved at any accounts
+sent abroad representing this work as all enthusiasm, delusion, and
+disorder. Indeed, it is not to be denied, that in some places many
+irregularities and extravagances have been permitted to accompany
+it, which we would deeply bewail and lament before God, and look
+upon ourselves obliged, for the honor of the Holy Spirit, and of
+his operations on the souls of men, to bear a public and faithful
+testimony against; though at the same time it is to be acknowledged,
+with much thankfulness, that in other places where the work has
+greatly flourished, there have been few if any of those disorders
+and excesses. But who can wonder if, at such a time as this, Satan
+should intermingle himself to hinder and blemish a work so directly
+contrary to the interests of his own kingdom?... Finally, we exhort
+the children of God to continue instant in prayer, that He, with
+whom is the residue of the Spirit, would grant us fresh, more
+plentiful, and extensive effusions, that so this wilderness, in
+all the parts of it, may become a fruitful field; that the present
+appearances may be an earnest of the glorious things promised in the
+latter days, when she shall shine with the glory of the Lord arisen
+upon her, so as to dazzle the eyes of beholders, confound and put
+to shame all her enemies, rejoice the hearts of her solicitous and
+now saddened friends, and have a strong influence and resplendency
+throughout the earth. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus; come quickly."
+
+This paper was signed by eighteen ministers in the county of
+Suffolk, among whom were Colman, Sewall, Prince, Webb, Cooper,
+Foxcroft, Checkly, Gee, Eliot, and Moorhead of Boston; twelve in
+the county of Essex, nine in Middlesex, six in Worcester, ten in
+Plymouth, one in Barnstable, three in Bristol, three in York, five
+in New Hampshire, and one in Rhode Island. There were one hundred
+and fourteen in all who gave attestations, either by signing their
+names to the above document, or by sending written attestations.
+Ninety-six of the one hundred and fourteen took their first degree
+of Bachelor of Arts more than ten years previously; consequently
+before the revival commenced. Twenty-six took their first degrees
+above thirty years before. Attestations were received but from
+twelve ministers in Connecticut, as the proposal did not reach them
+in time.
+
+We may add to this statement, as showing in some degree the extent
+of this revival, that while in 1729 the number of members in the
+Congregational and Presbyterian churches of this country may be
+estimated at thirty-three thousand, the number of communicants in
+1745 could not be less than seventy-five thousand. "The _special_
+revivals of religion," says an able writer in the "American
+Quarterly Register," vol. 4, 1832, "were probably the means of
+adding from twenty thousand to thirty thousand members to the
+churches." The same writer adds, "The genuine fruits of holiness
+appeared, according to the acknowledgment of all parties, in
+multitudes of those who professed religion. They were Christians,
+who endured unto the end. This is the unanimous testimony of those
+men who were the best able to judge. Great numbers who were
+convinced of sin by Mr. Whitefield's preaching, gave ample evidence,
+living and dying, of sincere and fervent love to the commands of
+God. There is reason to believe that a _preparation_ had been made
+for the descent of the Holy Spirit, many years before the revival
+commenced. The fasts and public reformations, the prayers and tears
+of good men, from 1700 to 1730, were not in vain."
+
+One fact connected with the testimony against Whitefield, published
+by the faculty of Harvard college, we quote, as showing that then,
+as well as now, a difference of opinion existed as to written and
+extempore sermons. They thought his extempore manner of preaching
+"by no means proper," because extempore preachers are of necessity
+less instructive, the greater part of the sermon being commonly "the
+same kind of harangue which they have often used before, so that
+this is a most lazy manner" of preaching; and because it exposes the
+preacher to utter rash expressions, and even dangerous errors, as
+Whitefield, they thought, had done in several instances, probably
+from that cause. Assuredly he preferred extempore preaching to any
+other; yet he never pretended to preach without previous study. His
+sermons usually cost him as much previous labor as if they had been
+written; so that, in his case at least, it was not "a lazy way" of
+preaching. The errors which they said he had uttered, were a few
+hasty expressions, which he had retracted as soon as he had been
+reminded of them.
+
+Itinerancy, which had also been objected against Whitefield as one
+of his crimes, he strenuously defended as scriptural and right;
+understanding an evangelist to be, what they said an itinerant was,
+"One that hath no particular charge of his own, but goes about from
+country to country, or from town to town in any country, and stands
+ready to preach to any congregation that shall call him to it."
+For the divine command, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the
+gospel to every creature," he argued, "authorizes the ministers of
+Christ, even to the end of the world, to preach the gospel in every
+town and country, though not 'of their own head,' yet whenever and
+wherever Providence should open a door, even though it should be
+in a place 'where officers are already settled, and the gospel is
+fully and faithfully preached.' This, I humbly apprehend, is every
+gospel minister's indisputable privilege." He further asked, "Was
+not the Reformation begun and carried on by itinerant preaching?" He
+then quoted from "Baxter's Reformed Pastor," a plan which had been
+adopted in some parts of England, for circular lectures by settled
+ministers selected for the purpose, and with the consent of the
+pastors.
+
+In reference to Harvard college, Whitefield lived long enough
+to take a Christian's revenge. In 1764, he solicited from his
+friends donations of books for their library, which had recently
+been destroyed by fire, and four years afterwards, while his old
+opponent President Holyoke was yet in office, the following minute
+was entered on their records: "At a meeting of the President and
+Fellows of Harvard college, August 22, 1768, the Rev. G. Whitefield
+having, in addition to his former kindness to Harvard college,
+lately presented to the library a new edition of his Journals, and
+having procured large benefactions from several benevolent and
+respectable gentlemen; _voted_, that the thanks of the corporation
+be given to the Rev. Mr. Whitefield, for these instances of candor
+and generosity."
+
+It will be readily supposed, that notwithstanding all the opposition
+which Whitefield met, there were yet many thousands always ready to
+attend on his ministry. It was now the close of 1744, but the cold
+of winter did not prevent vast crowds assembling at early services
+long before daylight. Speaking of the opposition he met, "so that,"
+says he, "for a while my situation was rendered uncomfortable,"
+he adds, "But amidst all this smoke a blessed fire broke out. The
+awakened souls were as eager as ever to hear the word. Having heard
+that I expounded early in Scotland, they begged that I would do
+the same in Boston. I complied, and opened a lecture at six in
+the morning. I seldom preached to less than two thousand. It was
+delightful to see so many of both sexes neatly dressed flocking to
+hear the word, and returning home to family prayer and breakfast
+before the opposers were out of their beds."
+
+The late Rev. Dr. Archibald Alexander tells us, that when he was
+at Boston, in 1800, he found in the Old South church a lingering
+relic of Whitefield's times, in a convert of his day, a lady between
+eighty and ninety years of age, who belonged to a prayer-meeting
+founded then, which had been kept up weekly until within a few
+years. Of this, she was the only surviving member.
+
+The "Evening Post," which seems to have been on the side of
+those who opposed Whitefield, in its issue of March 11, 1745,
+says, "Prince, Webb, Foxcroft, and Gee, are the directors of Mr.
+Whitefield's public conduct, as he himself has lately declared at
+Newbury." He had other powerful friends among the clergy, and still
+more among the laity, who invited him by vote into some pulpits
+where the pastors were "shy" of him.
+
+On the 7th of February, we find him at Ipswich, where he spent
+several days. Mr. Pickering, of the Second church, declined
+admitting him into his pulpit, and assigned his reasons in a letter,
+which was published. It contains the usual objections set forth in
+the various "testimonies," and is remarkable only for one convenient
+metaphor. The Bishop of London had published on "Lukewarmness and
+Enthusiasm." Whitefield had said in reply, "All ought to be thankful
+to that pilot who will teach them to steer a safe and middle
+course;" and Pickering wittily asks, "But what if the pilot should
+take the vane for the compass?"
+
+Early in March we find him making an excursion into the east, as we
+hear of him both at Berwick and Portland, in the then territory of
+Maine. In the latter place, he not only made a powerful impression
+on the people, but on their minister. In the outset a strong feeling
+existed against his preaching in the pulpit of the First church. Mr.
+Smith, the pastor, says in his "Journal," "The parish are like to be
+in a flame on account of Mr. Whitefield's coming; the leading men
+violently opposing." Under the date of May 19, after Whitefield's
+departure, we find in the "Journal" a remarkable passage: "For
+several Sabbaths, and the lecture, I have been all in a blaze; never
+in such a flame, and what I would attend to is, that it was not only
+involuntary, but actually determined against. I went to meeting
+resolving to be calm and moderate, lest people should think it was
+wildness and affectation to ape Mr. Whitefield; but God, I see,
+makes use of me as he pleases, and I am only a machine in his hand."
+
+About the middle of March, we find our evangelist at Exeter,
+where he afterwards preached his last sermon. Here some of the
+more zealous members of the church had withdrawn, and formed a
+new church. Their conduct had been sanctioned by one council, and
+censured by another, two years before this time. Whitefield preached
+to them twice, though Mr. Odlin, the pastor of the church from
+which they had withdrawn, "solemnly warned and charged him against
+preaching in his parish." So says the "Evening Post," of March 25,
+which further calls the people to whom he preached, "Separatists."
+
+In this spring of 1745, the first expedition for the capture from
+the French of the island of Cape Breton, near Nova Scotia, was set
+on foot. Colonel Pepperell, a warm personal friend of Whitefield,
+and the only native of New England who was created a Baronet of
+Great Britain, was then at Boston, constantly attending Whitefield's
+lectures. On the day before he accepted a commission to be general
+in that expedition, he asked his opinion of the matter, and was
+told, with the preacher's usual frankness, that he did not indeed
+think that the scheme proposed for taking Louisburgh would be very
+promising; and that the eyes of all would be upon him. If he did
+not succeed, the widows and orphans of the slain soldiers would be
+like lions robbed of their whelps; but if it pleased God to give
+him success, envy would endeavor to eclipse his glory: he had need,
+therefore, if he went, to go with a single eye; and then there
+was no doubt, if Providence really called him, he would find his
+strength equal to the difficulties with which he would have to
+contend.
+
+About the same time, Mr. Sherburne, another of Whitefield's friends,
+being appointed one of the commissioners, told him he must favor
+the expedition, otherwise the pious people would be discouraged
+from enlisting; not only did he say this, but he insisted that
+the evangelist should give him a motto for his flag, for the
+encouragement of his soldiers. Whitefield refused to do this, as
+it would not be consistent with his character as a minister of the
+gospel of peace. But as Sherburne would take no denial, he gave him,
+_Nil desperandum, Christo Duce_--[Nothing to be despaired of, Christ
+being leader.] In these circumstances a large number of men enlisted.
+
+The soldiers and their officers now went farther, and before their
+embarkation requested him to give them a sermon. He preached to
+them from the text, "And every one that was in distress, and every
+one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered
+themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them." 1 Samuel
+22:2. From this somewhat singular text, he discoursed on the
+manner in which distressed sinners came to Jesus Christ, the Son
+of David; and in his application, exhorted the soldiers to behave
+like the soldiers of David, and the officers to act like David's
+worthies; saying, that if they did so, there would be good news
+from Cape Breton. After this he preached to the general himself,
+who invited him to become one of his chaplains. Whitefield declined
+this, saying, that though he should esteem this an honor, yet, as
+he generally preached three times a day, to large congregations,
+he could do more service by stirring up the people to pray, thus
+strengthening the hearts and hands of the army. In this practice
+he persevered during the whole siege of Louisburgh. "I believe,"
+said he, "if ever people went with a disinterested view, the New
+Englanders did then. Though many of them were raw and undisciplined,
+yet numbers were substantial persons, who left their farms and
+willingly ventured all for their country's good. An amazing series
+of providences appeared, and though some discouraging accounts
+were sent during the latter end of the siege, yet in about six
+weeks news came of the surrender of Louisburgh. Numbers flocked
+from all quarters to hear a thanksgiving sermon upon the occasion.
+And I trust the blessing bestowed upon the country through the
+thanksgivings of many, redounded to the glory of God."
+
+Some time before this, the people of Boston had proposed to build
+for Whitefield "the largest place of worship ever seen in America,"
+in which he should regularly preach; but, as usual, he feared this
+plan would abridge his liberty of itinerating: he thanked them for
+their offer, but decidedly declined to accept it. As his bodily
+strength increased, he began to move southward, and went through
+Rhode Island and Connecticut, preaching to thousands generally twice
+a day. He says, "Though there was much smoke, yet every day I had
+more and more convincing proof that a blessed gospel fire had been
+kindled in the hearts both of ministers and people."
+
+About this time occurred a fact which delightfully shows how the
+enemies of this admirable man were often converted into friends.
+A colored trumpeter belonging to the English army resolved to
+interrupt him while delivering a sermon in the open air. For this
+purpose he went to the field, carrying his trumpet with him,
+intending to blow it with all his might about the middle of the
+sermon. He took his station in front of the minister, and at no
+great distance from him. The crowd became very great, and those who
+were towards the extremity pressed forward, that they might hear
+more distinctly, and caused such a pressure where the poor trumpeter
+stood, that he found it impossible at the time when he intended to
+blow his trumpet, to raise the arm which held it, by which means
+he was kept within the sound of the gospel as effectually as if
+he had been chained to the spot. In a short time his attention
+was powerfully arrested, and he became so deeply affected by the
+statements of the preacher, that he was seized with all the agonies
+of despair, and was carried to a house in the neighborhood. After
+the service, he was visited by Mr. Whitefield, who gave him suitable
+counsels, and from that time the trumpeter became a greatly altered
+man. So true is it in reference to the omnipotent and gracious Being,
+
+    "Hearts base as hell he can control,
+     And spread new powers throughout the whole."
+
+While preaching at Boston, he was delighted to observe that the
+sheriff, who had heretofore been the leader of the persecution
+against him, now began to hear him preach; and his pleasure was
+vastly increased, when he saw the crowds come around him to inquire
+as to their highest interests.
+
+Among these crowds was a somewhat remarkable gentleman of that city.
+He was a man of ready wit and racy humor, who delighted in preaching
+over a bottle to his ungodly companions. He went to hear Whitefield,
+that he might be furnished with matter for a "tavern harangue." When
+he had heard enough of the sermon for his purpose, he endeavored
+to quit the church for the inn, but "found his endeavors to get
+out fruitless, he was so pent up." While thus fixed, and waiting
+for "fresh matter of ridicule," the truth took possession of his
+heart. That night he went to Mr. Prince full of terror, and sought
+an introduction to ask pardon of the preacher. Whitefield says of
+him, "By the paleness, pensiveness, and horror of his countenance,
+I guessed he was the man of whom I had been apprized. 'Sir, can you
+forgive me?' he cried in a low, but plaintive voice. I smiled, and
+said, 'Yes, sir, very readily.' 'Indeed,' he said, 'you cannot when
+I tell you all.' I then asked him to sit down; and judging that he
+had sufficiently felt the lash of the law, I preached the gospel
+to him." This, with other remarkable conversions, gave increasing
+energy and influence to his preaching in Boston. "My bodily
+strength," he says, "is recovered, and my soul more than ever in
+love with a crucified Jesus."
+
+Another illustration may also be here given of the meekness and
+gentleness which usually characterized our evangelist in his
+intercourse with his brethren. In his later visits to New England,
+it was Whitefield's usual practice to spend a few days with Dr.
+Hopkins. On one of these occasions, after preaching for the doctor
+on the Sabbath, the next day he proposed a ride into the country
+for exercise. During the ride, Whitefield spoke with regret of the
+views of their "good brother Edwards on the subject of the witness
+of the Holy Spirit." "Ah," asked Dr. Hopkins, "and what is the
+error?" Here Whitefield made a long pause; and Hopkins continued
+the conversation: "Do you believe, Mr. Whitefield, that the witness
+of the Spirit is a direct communication from God?" "I cannot say
+that I do," was the reply. "Well, do you believe that Christians
+have any other witness of the Spirit than that afforded by the
+testimony of their own holy affections?" "I cannot say that I do,"
+Mr. Whitefield again replied. "Do you believe it to be any thing
+more or less," continued Hopkins, "than the Spirit producing in the
+heart the gracious exercises of repentance, faith, etc.?" "No, that
+is precisely my view of it," said Whitefield. "And that is precisely
+the view of good father Edwards," pleasantly returned Dr. Hopkins.
+Whitefield frankly acknowledged his error, and rejoiced that there
+was no disagreement on the subject.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+     FROM HIS LEAVING NEW ENGLAND TILL HIS ARRIVAL IN ENGLAND--LABORS
+     IN THE MIDDLE AND SOUTHERN STATES--THE BERMUDAS.
+
+1745-1748.
+
+
+Leaving New England, Whitefield proceeded first to New York, where
+he preached as he had formerly done, and found that the seed sown in
+past days had produced much fruit. Proceeding still southward, on
+his way towards Philadelphia, arriving in New Jersey, he says, "I
+had the pleasure of preaching by an interpreter to some converted
+Indians, and of seeing nearly fifty young ones in one school, near
+Freehold, learning the Assembly's Catechism." A blessed awakening
+had before this time been begun and carried on among the Delaware
+Indians, by the ministry of David Brainerd; no such work had been
+heard of since the days of the apostolic Eliot in New England.
+
+Arriving in Philadelphia, Whitefield was rejoiced to find that his
+friend Gilbert Tennent was still blessed with success in his labors.
+Many, he says, were under "soul-sickness," and Tennent's health
+suffered much with walking from place to place to see them. The
+gentlemen connected with the new house in which Tennent preached,
+were, as well as Tennent himself, desirous of securing at least a
+portion of Whitefield's labors, and offered him eight hundred pounds
+a year, if he would become their pastor, and labor with them six
+months in the year, travelling the other six months wherever he
+thought proper. He thanked them, but declined.
+
+Not unfrequently have we been told by frigid critics of the inferior
+character of Whitefield's printed sermons. But have they not looked
+too much for the beauties of style, and overlooked the simple energy
+of their scriptural truths? Even these printed sermons have, under
+God, accomplished wonders. In the year 1743, a young gentleman
+from Scotland, then residing at Hanover, in Virginia, had obtained
+a volume of Whitefield's sermons preached in Glasgow, and taken
+in shorthand, which, after a gentleman of Hanover, named Hunt,
+the father of a distinguished Presbyterian minister of that name,
+had studied with great personal benefit, he invited his neighbors
+to visit his house to hear read. By their plainness and fervor,
+attended with the power of God, not a few became convinced of
+their lost condition as sinners, and anxiously inquired the way of
+salvation. The feelings of many were powerfully excited, and they
+could not forbear bitter and violent weeping. The intelligence
+spread, curiosity prompted the desire of many others to attend such
+remarkable services; and one and another begged for admission,
+till the houses were crowded. Numbers were pricked to the heart;
+the word of God became quick and powerful; and, "What shall we
+do?" was the general cry. What to do or say the principal leaders
+knew not. They themselves had been led by a still small voice,
+they hardly knew how, to an acquaintance with the truth; but now
+the Lord was speaking as on mount Sinai, with a voice of thunder;
+and sinners, like that mountain itself, trembled. It was not long
+before Christians had the happiness to see a goodly number healed
+by the same word that had wounded them, and brought to rejoice in
+Christ, and his great salvation. "My dwelling-place," said Mr.
+Morris, one of their number, "was at length too small to contain
+the people, whereupon we determined to build a meeting-house merely
+for _reading_. And having never been used to social prayer, none of
+us durst attempt it." This _reading-house_, as it was called, was
+followed by others of like character, and the number of attendants
+and the power of divine influence were much increased. Mr. Morris,
+as the report spread, was invited to several places at a distance to
+read these sermons. The phrase, "Morris' reading-house," has come
+down by tradition to the present age, as well as important details
+of the opposition of the magistracy and other classes, who sought,
+but in vain, to stop the progress of the work.
+
+Such was the origin of the Presbyterian church at Hanover, where, in
+after-days, William Robinson and President Davies accomplished such
+mighty triumphs, and where the sacred cause still flourishes.
+
+Whitefield does not seem to have been made acquainted with these
+facts till he now arrived in the colony, and saw the happy effects
+which had been produced by the labors of the Rev. Messrs. Robinson,
+Tennent, Blair, and others. Of the visit of Whitefield among them,
+one of them writes, "Mr. Whitefield came and preached four or five
+days in these parts, which was the happy means of giving us further
+encouragement, and engaging others to the Lord, especially among
+the church people, who received his doctrine more readily than they
+would from ministers of the Presbyterian denomination." We may add
+here, that in 1747 there were four houses of worship in and around
+Hanover, which had sprung from the "mustard-seed" of the sermons
+taken in shorthand from Whitefield's lips at Glasgow.
+
+Among the converts in the south who met Whitefield, was Isaac
+Oliver, who was both deaf and dumb, and had been so from his birth.
+Notwithstanding these great disadvantages, he could both feel and
+evince his strong feelings by the most significant and expressive
+signs. He could, for instance, so represent the crucifixion of the
+Lord Jesus Christ, as to be understood by every one; and among
+his own friends he could converse about the love of Christ in the
+language of signs, till he was transported in rapture and dissolved
+in tears. He was much beloved for his eminent piety.
+
+Whitefield had not, during any portion of this time, forgotten
+Bethesda. The public had warmly sustained it, and he now went
+forward to see to its affairs, and to add to the orphan-house a
+Latin school, intending, indeed, before a long time to found a
+college.
+
+The following account of the orphan-house in 1746, was written by
+Mr. Whitefield in the form of a letter to a friend, and published
+as a small pamphlet. We transcribe it from "White's Historical
+Collections of Georgia," published in 1854:
+
+  "Provide things honest in the sight of all men."--Rom. 12:17.
+
+                    "BETHESDA, in Georgia, March 21, 1745-6.
+
+"Some have thought that the erecting such a building was only the
+produce of my own brain; but they are much mistaken; for it was
+first proposed to me by my dear friend the Rev. Mr. Charles Wesley,
+who, with his excellency General Oglethorpe, had concerted a scheme
+for carrying on such a design before I had any thoughts of going
+abroad myself. It was natural to think that, as the government
+intended this province for the refuge and support of many of our
+poor countrymen, numbers of such adventurers must necessarily be
+taken off, by being exposed to the hardships which unavoidably
+attend a new settlement. I thought it, therefore, a noble design in
+the general to erect a house for fatherless children; and believing
+that such a provision for orphans would be some inducement with many
+to come over, I fell in with the design, when mentioned to me by my
+friend, and was resolved, in the strength of God, to prosecute it
+with all my might. This was mentioned to the honorable trustees.
+They took it kindly at my hands, and wrote to the bishop of Bath and
+Wells for leave for me to preach a charity sermon on this occasion
+in the Abbey church. This was granted, and I accordingly began
+immediately to compose a suitable discourse. But knowing that my
+first stay in Georgia would necessarily be short, on account of my
+returning again to take priest's orders, I thought it most prudent
+first to go and see for myself, and defer prosecuting the scheme
+till I came home.... When I came to Georgia, I found many poor
+orphans, who, though taken notice of by the honorable trustees,
+yet, through the neglect of persons under them, were in miserable
+circumstances. For want of a house to bring them up in, the poor
+little ones were tabled out here and there; others were at hard
+services, and likely to have no education at all.
+
+"Upon seeing this, and finding that his Majesty and Parliament had
+the interest of the colony much at heart, I thought I could not
+better show my regard to God and my country than by getting a house
+and land for these children, where they might learn to labor, read,
+and write, and at the same time be brought up in the nurture and
+admonition of the Lord. Accordingly, at my return to England, in
+the year 1738, to take priest's orders, I applied to the honorable
+society for a grant of five hundred acres of land, and laid myself
+under an obligation to build a house upon it, and to receive from
+time to time as many orphans as the land and stock would maintain.
+As I had always acted like a clergyman of the church of England,
+having preached in a good part of the London churches, and but a
+few months before collected near a thousand pounds sterling for the
+children belonging to the charity schools in London and Westminster,
+it was natural to think that I might now have the use at least
+of some of these churches to preach in for the orphans hereafter
+more immediately to be committed to my care. But by the time I had
+taken priest's orders, the spirit of the clergy began to be much
+imbittered. Churches were gradually denied me, and I must let this
+good design drop, and thousands, and I might add ten thousands,
+go without hearing the word of God, or preach in the fields.
+Indeed, two churches, one in London, namely, Spitalfields, and one
+in Bristol, namely, St. Philip's and Jacob, were lent me on this
+occasion, but those were all. I collected for the orphan-house in
+Moorfields two hundred and fifty pounds one Sabbath-day morning,
+twenty-two pounds of which were in copper. In the afternoon I
+collected again at Kennington Common, and continued to do so at
+most of the places where I preached. Besides this, two or three of
+the bishops, and several persons of distinction contributed, until
+at length, having gotten about a thousand and ten pounds, I gave
+over collecting, and went with what I had to Georgia. At that time
+multitudes offered to accompany me; but I chose to take over only a
+surgeon and a few more of both sexes, that I thought would be useful
+in carrying on my design. My dear fellow-traveller William Seward,
+Esq., also joined with them. Our first voyage was to Philadelphia,
+where I was willing to go for the sake of laying in provision. I
+laid out in London a good part of the thousand pounds for goods, and
+got as much by them in Philadelphia as nearly defrayed the families'
+expenses of coming over. Here God blessed my ministry daily....
+
+"January following, 1739, I met my family at Georgia, and being
+unwilling to lose any time, I hired a large house, and took in all
+the orphans I could find in the colony. A great many also of the
+town's children came to school gratis, and many poor people that
+could not maintain their children, upon application, had leave given
+them to send their little ones for a month or two, or more as they
+could spare them, till at length my family consisted of between
+sixty and seventy. Most of the orphans were in poor case, and three
+or four almost eaten up with lice. I likewise erected an infirmary,
+in which many sick people were cured and taken care of gratis. I
+have now by me a list of upwards of a hundred and thirty patients,
+which were under the surgeon's hands, exclusive of my own private
+family. About March I began the great house, having only about one
+hundred and fifty pounds in cash. I called it _Bethesda_, because
+I hoped it would be a house of mercy to many souls. Many boys have
+been put out to trades, and many girls put out to service. I had
+the pleasure, the other day, to see three boys work at the house in
+which they were bred, one of them out of his time, a journeyman,
+and the others serving under their masters. One that I brought from
+New England is handsomely settled in Carolina; and another from
+Philadelphia is married, and lives very comfortably in Savannah. We
+have lately begun to use the plough, and next year I hope to have
+many acres of good oats and barley. We have nearly twenty sheep and
+lambs, fifty head of cattle, and seven horses. We hope to kill a
+thousand weight of pork this season. Our garden is very beautiful,
+furnishes us with all sorts of greens, etc., etc. We have plenty
+of milk, eggs, poultry, and make a good deal of butter weekly. A
+good quantity of wool and cotton have been given me, and we hope to
+have sufficient spun and wove for the next winter's clothing. The
+family now consists of twenty-six persons. Two of the orphan boys
+are blind, one is little better than an idiot. I have two women to
+take care of the household work, and two men and three boys employed
+about the plantation and cattle. A set of Dutch servants has been
+lately sent over. The magistrates were pleased to give me two; and I
+took in a poor widow, aged near seventy, whom nobody else cared to
+have. A valuable young man from New England is my schoolmaster, and
+in my absence performs duty in the family. On Sabbaths, the grown
+people attend on public worship at Savannah, or at White Bluff, a
+village near Bethesda, where a Dutch minister officiates. The house
+is a noble, commodious building, and every thing sweetly adapted
+for bringing up youth. Georgia is very healthy; not above one, and
+that a little child, has died out of our family since it removed to
+Bethesda."
+
+A tabular statement follows this account, giving full particulars of
+the eighty-six children who to that period had been admitted into
+the establishment.
+
+Old newspapers, as daguerreotyping the facts, and even the feelings
+of any particular period, are sometimes invaluable. In New York, as
+everywhere else, Whitefield had his enemies, and many charges were
+brought against him. But that there were those who took a strongly
+favorable view of his character and conduct, is very clear from an
+extract we give from "The New York Post-Boy," of April, 1746: "Mr.
+Whitefield's excellent parts, fine elocution, and masterly address;
+his admirable talent of opening the Scriptures, and enforcing
+the most weighty subjects upon the conscience; his polite and
+serious behavior, his unaffected and superior piety, his prudence,
+humility, and catholic spirit, are things which must silence and
+disarm prejudice itself. By these qualifications of the orator, the
+divine, and the Christian, he has not only fixed himself deeper in
+the affections of his former friends, but greatly increased the
+number wherever he has preached; and made his way into the hearts of
+several who, till this visit, had said all the severe things against
+him that enmity itself seemed capable of."
+
+From this period, this paper especially noticed the various
+movements of this apostolic man; his arrivals in the city, his
+engagements in it, his departures from it, and the places of his
+destination, were all given with the minutiae with which even the
+movements of monarchs are recorded.
+
+It was not without its use that the organs of the public thus
+expressed their high sense of his character. In 1745, suspicions
+were whispered abroad as to the entire integrity of this excellent
+man in the appropriation of the funds collected for Bethesda. But
+happily for all parties, the magistrates of Savannah published in
+the Philadelphia Gazette an affidavit, that they had carefully
+examined Mr. Whitefield's receipts and disbursements, and found that
+what he had collected in behalf of the orphans, had been honestly
+applied, and that besides, he had given considerably to them of his
+own property.
+
+Having done what he could at Bethesda, feeling his health failing
+him, needing resources for his orphans, and urged on by his love of
+preaching, Whitefield was soon again in the field, far away from
+his home. In the autumn of 1746, we find many passages in his
+journals and letters like these, while in Maryland: "I trust the
+time for favoring this and the neighboring southern provinces is
+come. Everywhere, almost, the door is opened for preaching, great
+numbers flock to hear, and the power of an ascended Saviour attends
+the word. For it is surprising how the Lord causes prejudices to
+subside, and makes my former most bitter enemies to be at peace
+with me.... Lately I have been in seven counties in Maryland, and
+preached with abundant success." At Charleston, South Carolina, he
+writes, January 1747, "The Lord Jesus is pleased to give me great
+access to multitudes of souls." A few weeks later, he writes from
+the same place, that Bethesda was never in a better condition; that
+he had opened a Latin school there during the winter, and that he
+hoped yet to see ministers furnished from Georgia.
+
+In April, we again find him in Maryland, as he writes on the
+twenty-fifth of that month from Bohemia, in that province, and
+speaks of the success of Mr. Samuel, afterwards President Davies,
+in Virginia, but adds that a proclamation had been issued in that
+state against itinerants, so that he himself was shut out of it. In
+the middle of May he exults, "Maryland is yielding converts to the
+blessed Jesus. The gospel seems to be moving southward. The harvest
+is promising. The time of the singing birds is come;" and five days
+afterwards he says, "I have been now a three hundred miles' circuit
+in Maryland, and through one or two counties in Pennsylvania.
+Everywhere the people have a hearing ear, and I trust some have an
+obedient heart."
+
+On the first of June we find him in Philadelphia, from whence
+he writes, "At present I have full work here. The congregations
+yesterday were large, and for this month past I have been preaching
+to thousands in different places." During the whole of this month
+his health was in a very critical state. Here we have a few
+sentences from his pen, as given on different days: "I am sick and
+well, as I used to be in England; but the Redeemer fills me with
+comfort. I am determined, in his strength, to die fighting.... I
+have almost a continual burning fever. With great regret I have
+omitted preaching _one_ night to oblige my friends, and purpose to
+do so once more, that they may not charge me with murdering myself.
+But I hope yet to die in the pulpit, or soon after I come out of
+it.... Since my last, I have been several times on the verge of
+eternity. At present I am so weak that I cannot preach. It is hard
+work to be silent, but I must be tried every way."
+
+Sickness did not interrupt Whitefield's labors, if he could move or
+preach at all. "I am determined," he says to Gilbert Tennent, "to
+die fighting, though it be on my _stumps_." He was soon after at
+New York, Newport, Portsmouth, and Boston. At New York he writes,
+"I am as willing to hunt for souls as ever. I am not weary of my
+work." On the next day he writes, "I have preached to a very large
+auditory, and do not find myself much worse for it." He did so again
+with success. He then says, "I shall go to Boston like an arrow
+out of a bow, if Jesus strengthen me. I am resolved to preach and
+work for Him until I can preach and work no more. I have been upon
+the water three or four days, and now eat like a sailor." He went
+on to Boston, where he heard of the sudden but joyful death of his
+venerable and excellent friend Dr. Colman. He adds, "My reception at
+Boston and elsewhere was like unto the first. Arrows of conviction
+fled and stuck fast. Congregations were larger than ever, and
+opposers' mouths were stopped."
+
+After again making short visits to Philadelphia and Bohemia,
+Whitefield, according to previous arrangements, went to spend the
+winter in North Carolina. Before he left Bohemia, however, he wrote
+to his friends at New York, who were intensely anxious about his
+health, but he could only say it was yet fluctuating. Even so was
+it when he arrived in North Carolina, yet he writes, "I am here,
+hunting in the woods, these _ungospelized_ wilds, for sinners. It is
+pleasant work, though my body is weak and crazy. But after a short
+_fermentation_ in the grave, it will be fashioned like unto Christ's
+glorious body. The thought of this rejoices my soul, and makes me
+long to _leap_ my seventy years. I sometimes think all will go to
+heaven before me. Pray for me as a dying man; but Oh, pray that I
+may not go off as a _snuff_. I would fain die _blazing_--not with
+human glory, but with the love of Jesus."
+
+Such was his weakness, that his journey to Bathtown, in North
+Carolina, was long and slow. Even a short ride was fatiguing and
+painful. Still, he preached with considerable power; cheered on from
+stage to stage by the hope that the conversion of "North Carolina
+sinners would be glad news in heaven." His letters indicated
+lively hopes of an extensive revival, but his expectations were not
+fully realized. His health was still exceedingly feeble, and his
+physicians ordered him to try a change of climate. He accordingly
+embarked for the Bermudas, where he landed, March 15, 1748.
+
+The Bermudas are a group of four small islands lying about nine
+hundred miles east of Georgia. The largest of the islands is called
+St. George's, with a capital of the same name; the climate is
+remarkably fine, and well adapted for the temporary residence and
+recovery of invalids. Here Whitefield met with an exceedingly kind
+reception, and remained on the island with great benefit to his
+health, more than a month. We scarcely need to say that he was not
+idle during his residence here, but traversed the island from one
+end to the other, generally preaching twice a day. A few passages
+from his journal will best show the facts.
+
+"The simplicity and plainness of the people, together with the
+pleasant situation of the island, much delighted me. The Rev.
+Mr. Holiday, minister of Spanish Point, received me in a most
+affectionate, Christian manner; and begged I would make his house
+my home. In the evening, I expounded at the house of Mr. Savage, at
+Port Royal, which was very commodious; and which also he would have
+me make my home. I went with Mr. Savage in a boat to the town of
+St. George, in order to pay our respects to the governor. All along
+we had a most pleasant prospect of the other part of the island; a
+more pleasant one I never saw. Mrs. Smith, of St. George, for whom
+I had a letter of recommendation from my dear old friend Mr. Smith,
+of Charlestown, received me into her house. About noon, with one of
+the council and Mr. Savage, I waited upon the governor. He received
+us courteously, and invited us to dine with him and the council. We
+accepted the invitation, and all behaved with great civility and
+respect. After the governor rose from the table, he desired, if I
+stayed in town on the Sunday, that I would dine with him at his own
+house.
+
+"Sunday, March 20. Read prayers and preached twice this day, to
+what were esteemed here large auditories--in the morning at Spanish
+Point church, and in the evening at Brackish Pond church, about two
+miles distant from each other. In the afternoon I spoke with greater
+freedom than in the morning, and I trust not altogether in vain. All
+were attentive, some wept. I dined with Colonel Butterfield, one of
+the council; and received several invitations to other gentlemen's
+houses. May God bless and reward them, and incline them to open
+their hearts to receive the Lord Jesus.
+
+"Wednesday, March 23. Dined with Captain Gibbs, and went from thence
+and expounded at the house of Captain F----le, at Hunbay, about
+two miles distant. The company here also was large, attentive,
+and affected. Our Lord gave me utterance. I expounded the first
+part of the eighth chapter of Jeremiah. After lecture, Mr. Riddle,
+a counsellor, invited me to his house; as did Mr. Paul, an aged
+Presbyterian minister, to his pulpit; which I complied with upon
+condition that the rumor was true, that the governor had served
+the ministers with an injunction that I should not preach in the
+churches.
+
+"Sunday, March 27. Glory be to God! I hope this has been a
+profitable Sabbath to many souls; it has been a pleasant one to
+mine. Both morning and afternoon I preached to a large auditory, for
+the Bermudas, in Mr. Paul's meeting-house, which I suppose contains
+about four hundred. Abundance of negroes, and many others, were
+in the porch, and about the house. The word seemed to be clothed
+with a convincing power, and to make its way into the hearts of
+the hearers. Between sermons, I was entertained very civilly in a
+neighboring house. Judge Bascom, and three more of the council,
+came thither, and each gave me an invitation to his house. How does
+the Lord make way for a poor stranger in a strange land. After the
+second sermon I dined with Mr. Paul; and in the evening expounded to
+a very large company at Councillor Riddle's. My body was somewhat
+weak; but the Lord carried me through, and caused me to go to
+rest rejoicing. May I thus go to my grave, when my ceaseless and
+uninterrupted rest shall begin.
+
+"Thursday, March 31. Dined on Tuesday at Colonel Corbusier's, and on
+Wednesday at Colonel Gilbert's, both of the council; and found, by
+what I could hear, that some good had been done, and many prejudices
+removed. Who shall hinder, if God will work? Went to an island this
+afternoon called Ireland, upon which live a few families; and to my
+surprise, found a great many gentlemen, and other people, with my
+friend Mr. Holiday, who came from different quarters to hear me.
+Before I began preaching, I went round to see a most remarkable
+cave, which very much displayed the exquisite workmanship of Him,
+who in 'his strength setteth fast the mountains, and is girded
+about with power.' While I was in the cave, quite unexpectedly I
+turned and saw Councillor Riddle, who, with his son, came to hear
+me; and while we were in the boat, told me that he had been with
+the governor, who declared he had no personal prejudice against
+me, and wondered I did not come to town and preach there, for it
+was the desire of the people; and that any house in the town, the
+court-house not excepted, should be at my service. Thanks be to God
+for so much favor. If his cause requires it, I shall have more.
+He knows my heart; I value the favor of man no farther than as it
+makes room for the gospel, and gives me a larger scope to promote
+the glory of God. There being no capacious house upon the island,
+I preached for the first time here in the open air. All heard very
+attentively; and it was very pleasant, after sermon, to see so many
+boats full of people returning from the worship of God. I talked
+seriously to some in our own boat, and sung a psalm, in which they
+readily joined.
+
+"Sunday, April 3. Preached twice this day at Mr. Paul's
+meeting-house, as on the last Sabbath, but with greater freedom
+and power, especially in the morning; and I think to as great,
+if not greater auditories. Dined with Colonel Harvy, another of
+the council; visited a sick woman, where many came to hear; and
+expounded afterwards to a great company, at Captain John Dorrel's,
+Mrs. Dorrel's son, who with his wife courteously entertained me, and
+desired me to make his house my home. So true is that promise of
+our Lord, that 'whosoever leaves father or mother, houses or lands,
+shall have in this life a hundred-fold with persecution, and in the
+world to come, life everlasting.' Lord, I have experienced the one;
+in thy good time grant that I may experience the other also.
+
+"Wednesday, April 6. Preached yesterday at the house of Mr. Anthony
+Smith, of Baylis Bay, with a considerable degree of warmth; and
+rode afterwards to St. George, the only town on the island. The
+gentlemen of the town had sent me an invitation by Judge Bascom;
+and he, with several others, came to visit me at my lodgings;
+and informed me that the governor desired to see me. About ten I
+waited upon his excellency, who received me with great civility,
+and told me he had no objection against my person or my principles,
+having never yet heard me; and he knew nothing with respect to my
+conduct in moral life, that might prejudice him against me; but his
+intentions were to let none preach in the island, unless he had a
+written license to preach somewhere in America, or the West Indies;
+at the same time he acknowledged that it was but a matter of mere
+form. I informed his excellency that I had been regularly inducted
+into the parish of Savannah; that I was ordained priest by letters
+dismissory from my lord of London, and was under no church censure
+from his lordship; and would always read the church prayers, if the
+clergy would give me the use of their churches. I added farther,
+that a minister's pulpit was always looked upon as his freehold; and
+that I knew one clergyman who had denied his own diocesan the use
+of his pulpit. But I told his excellency I was satisfied with the
+liberty he allowed me, and would not act contrary to his injunction.
+I then begged leave to be dismissed, as I was obliged to preach at
+eleven o'clock. His excellency said he intended to do himself the
+pleasure to hear me. At eleven, the church bell rung. The church
+Bible, prayer-book, and cushion, were sent to the town-house. The
+governor, several of the council, the minister of the parish, and
+assembly-men, with a great number of the town's people, assembled in
+great order. I was very sick, through a cold I caught last night;
+but read the church prayers. The first lesson was the fifteenth
+chapter of the first book of Samuel. I preached on those words,
+'Righteousness exalteth a nation.' Being weak and faint, and
+afflicted much with the headache, I did not do that justice to my
+subject which I sometimes am enabled to do; but the Lord so helped
+me that, as I found afterwards, the governor and the other gentlemen
+expressed their approbation, and acknowledged they did not expect to
+be so well entertained. Not unto me, Lord, not unto me, but to thy
+free grace be all the glory!
+
+"After sermon, Dr. F----bs, and Mr. P----t, the collector, came
+to me, and desired me to favor them and the gentlemen of the town
+with my company at dinner. I accepted the invitation. The governor,
+and the president, and Judge Bascom were there. All wondered at my
+speaking so freely and fluently without notes. The governor asked
+whether I used minutes. I answered, 'No.' He said it was a great
+gift. At table, his excellency introduced something of religion by
+asking me the meaning of the word HADES. Several other things were
+started about freewill, Adam's fall, predestination, etc., to all
+which God enabled me to answer so pertinently, and taught me to mix
+the _utile_ and _dulce_ [useful and pleasant] so together, that all
+at table seemed highly pleased, shook me by the hand, and invited me
+to their respective houses. The governor, in particular, asked me to
+dine with him on the morrow; and Dr. F----, one of his particular
+intimates, invited me to drink tea in the afternoon. I thanked
+all, returned proper respects, and went to my lodgings with some
+degree of thankfulness for the assistance vouchsafed me, and abased
+before God at the consideration of my unspeakable unworthiness. In
+the afternoon, about five o'clock, I expounded the parable of the
+prodigal son to many people at a private house; and in the evening
+had liberty to speak freely and closely to those who supped with
+me. O that this may be the beginning of good gospel times to the
+inhabitants of this town."
+
+We might fill other pages from Whitefield's journal, but will only
+give two more passages. The first will show him in connection with
+the African race, in whose highest welfare he always took a special
+interest.
+
+"Saturday, May 7. In my conversation these two days with some of my
+friends, I was diverted much in hearing several things that passed
+among the poor negroes, since I preached to them last Sunday. One of
+the women, it seems, said that 'if the book I preached out of was
+the best book that was ever bought at London, she was sure it had
+never all that in it which I spoke to the negroes,' The old man who
+spoke out loud last Sunday, and said 'yes' when I asked them whether
+all the negroes would not go to heaven, being questioned by somebody
+why he spoke out so, answered, that 'the gentleman put the question
+once or twice to them, and the other fools had not the manners to
+make any answer; till at last I seemed to point at him, and he
+was ashamed that nobody should answer me, and therefore he did.'
+Another, wondering why I said negroes had black hearts, was answered
+by his black brother, 'Ah, thou fool, dost not thou understand it?
+He means black with sin.' Two girls were overheard by their mistress
+talking about religion, and they said 'they knew, if they did not
+repent, they must be damned.' From all which I infer that these
+negroes on the Bermudas are more awake than I supposed; that their
+consciences are awake, and consequently prepared in a good measure
+for hearing the gospel preached to them."
+
+Whitefield sums up the events which had occurred in connection with
+himself on the Bermudas, the praise of which islands has also been
+celebrated by the distinguished Bishop Berkeley, who resided there
+for some time, and by Waller the poet.
+
+"Sunday, May 22. Blessed be God, the little leaven thrown into the
+three measures of meal begins to ferment and work almost every
+day for the week past. I have conversed with souls loaded with a
+sense of their sins, and as far as I can judge, really pricked to
+the heart. I preached only three times, but to almost three times
+larger auditories than usual. Indeed, the fields are white, ready
+to harvest. God has been pleased to bless private visits. Go where
+I will, upon the least notice, houses are crowded, and the poor
+souls that follow are soon drenched in tears. This day I took, as
+it were, another farewell. As the ship did not sail, I preached
+at Somerset in the morning to a large congregation in the fields;
+and expounded in the evening at Mr. Harvy's house, around which
+stood many hundreds of people. But in the morning and evening how
+did the poor souls weep. Abundance of prayers and blessings were
+put up for my safe passage to England, and speedy return to the
+Bermudas again. May they enter into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.
+With all humility and thankfulness of heart will I here, O Lord,
+set up my _Ebenezer_, for hitherto surely hast thou helped me.
+Thanks be to the Lord for sending me hither. I have been received
+in a manner I dared not to expect, and have met with little, very
+little opposition indeed. The inhabitants seem to be plain and
+open-hearted. They have loaded me with provisions for my sea-store;
+and in the several parishes, by a private voluntary contribution,
+have raised me upwards of _one hundred pounds sterling_. This
+will pay a little of Bethesda's debt, and enable me to make such
+a remittance to my dear yoke-fellow, as may keep her from being
+embarrassed, or too much beholden in my absence. Blessed be God for
+bringing me out of my embarrassments by degrees. May the Lord reward
+all my benefactors a thousand-fold. I hear that what was given,
+was given heartily, and people only lamented that they could do no
+more."
+
+Whitefield now transmitted to Georgia what had been collected for
+the orphan-house; but fearing a relapse, if he returned to the
+south during the hot season, which was near commencing, and pressed
+also again to visit England, he took his passage in a brig, and in
+twenty-eight days arrived at Deal.
+
+On his voyage, he completed an abridgment, which he had previously
+begun, of "_Law's serious Call to a devout and holy Life_," which he
+endeavored to make more useful by excluding whatever is not truly
+evangelical, and illustrating the subject more fully, especially
+from the holy Scriptures. He also wrote letters to his friends, one
+of which strikingly illustrates his Christian humility. It bears
+date June 24, 1748. "Yesterday I made an end of revising all my
+journals. Alas, alas, in how many things I have judged and acted
+wrong. I have been too rash and hasty in giving characters both
+of places and persons. Being fond of Scripture language, I have
+used a style too apostolical, and at the same time I have been too
+bitter in my zeal. Wildfire has been mixed with it, and I find that
+I frequently wrote and spoke in my own spirit, when I thought I
+was writing and speaking by the assistance of the Spirit of God. I
+have, likewise, too much made inward impressions my rule of acting,
+and too soon and too explicitly published what had been better kept
+in longer, or told after my death. By these things I have hurt
+the blessed cause I would defend, and also stirred up a needless
+opposition. This has humbled me much, and made me think of a saying
+of Mr. Henry, 'Joseph had more honesty than he had policy, or he
+never would have told his dreams.' At the same time, I cannot but
+praise God, who fills me with so much of his holy fire, and carried
+me, a poor weak youth, through such a torrent, both of popularity
+and contempt, and set so many seals to my unworthy ministrations. I
+bless him for ripening my judgment a little more, for giving me to
+see and confess, and I hope in some degree to correct and amend some
+of my former mistakes."
+
+In the early part of this year, 1748, the "Gentleman's Magazine"
+had announced Whitefield's death as having taken place in America.
+One of his first letters on his arrival at Deal in that year, says,
+"Words cannot express how joyful my friends were to see me once more
+in the land of the living, for I find the newspapers had buried me
+ever since April last. But it seems I am not to die, but live. O
+that it may be to declare the works of the Lord."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+LABORS IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND--CHAPLAIN TO LADY HUNTINGDON.
+
+1748, 1749.
+
+
+On the evening of July 6, 1748, Whitefield again found himself in
+London, after an absence of nearly four years. Here he was welcomed
+with joy by many thousands. The large church of St. Bartholomew
+was at once thrown open to him, where multitudes flocked to hear,
+and where on the first Sabbath he had a thousand communicants. But
+in his own more immediate circle many things were in an unhappy
+condition. His congregation at the Tabernacle had been much
+scattered during his absence; Antinomianism had made sad havoc
+among the people; and one of this party threatened to rival him in
+Moorfields. Whitefield sent him word, "The fields are no doubt as
+free to you as to another. God send you a clear head and a _clean_
+heart. I intend preaching there on Sunday evening." He did so; and
+found "Moorfields as white to harvest as ever." Our evangelist
+was again called to mourn the evils of poverty. He found himself
+compelled to sell his household furniture, to pay, in part, the
+debts of his orphan-house, which were yet far from being cancelled;
+his aged mother, for whom he always retained the highest regard,
+also needed his aid. These and other trials pressed him sorely; but
+on the other hand, he felt happy in his work, and his congregation
+were soon reunited, and happy in his labors.
+
+We have seen that as early as 1738, Lady Huntingdon, with his
+lordship her husband, as frequently as they could, heard Whitefield
+preach; since that period his lordship had died, leaving her
+ladyship a widow, in the thirty-ninth year of her age. At what
+period she became more openly and intimately Whitefield's friend
+does not appear; but when he landed at Deal from his third visit
+to America, she sent Howel Harris to bring him to her house at
+Chelsea, where he preached to large circles of the gay world, who
+thronged this then fashionable watering-place. For the benefit of
+this class of hearers, she soon after removed to London, at that
+time some three miles distant from Chelsea, appointed Whitefield her
+chaplain, and during the winter of 1748 and '49, opened her splendid
+mansion in Park-street for the preaching of the gospel. "Good Lady
+Huntingdon," he writes, "has come to town, and I am to preach twice
+a week at her house to the great and noble. O that some of them
+might be effectually called to taste the riches of redeeming love."
+On the first day appointed, Chesterfield and Bolingbroke, both of
+them well-known for their gayety and infidelity, and a circle of the
+nobility, attended; and having heard him once, they desired to come
+again. "Lord Chesterfield thanked me," he says. "Lord Bolingbroke
+was moved, and asked me to come and see him the next morning. My
+hands have been full of work, and I have been among great company.
+All accepted my sermons. Thus the world turns round. '_In all time
+of my wealth, good Lord, deliver me._'"
+
+The death-bed of Lord St. John Bolingbroke, whom we have already
+mentioned as one of his parlor-hearers, exhibited scenes unusual in
+the circle where he moved. The Bible was read to him, and his cry
+was, "God be merciful to me a sinner." "My Lord Bolingbroke," wrote
+Lady Huntingdon to Whitefield, "was much struck with his brother's
+language in his last moments. O that his eyes might be opened by the
+illuminating influence of divine truth. He is a singularly awful
+character; and I am fearfully alarmed, lest the gospel which he so
+heartily despises, yet affects to reverence, should prove the savor
+of death unto death to him. Some, I trust, are savingly awakened,
+while many are inquiring; thus the great Lord of the harvest hath
+put honor on your ministry, and hath given my heart an encouraging
+token of the utility of our feeble efforts."
+
+It is related that the Rev. Mr. Church, a clergyman who died curate
+of Battersea, near London, one day called on Bolingbroke, who said
+to him, "You have caught me reading John Calvin; he was indeed a man
+of great parts, profound sense, and vast learning; he handles the
+doctrines of grace in a very masterly manner." "Doctrines of grace,"
+replied the clergyman; "the doctrines of grace have set all mankind
+by the ears." "I am surprised to hear you say so," answered Lord
+Bolingbroke, "you who profess to believe and to preach Christianity.
+Those doctrines are certainly the doctrines of the Bible, and if I
+believe the Bible I must believe them. And let me seriously tell
+you, that the greatest miracle in the world is the subsistence of
+Christianity, and its continued preservation, as a religion, when
+the preaching of it is committed to the care of such unchristian
+men as you."
+
+At this period Whitefield renewed his acquaintance with the Rev.
+James Hervey, who has not improperly been called the Melancthon
+of the second reformation in England. Among all the converts
+of our evangelist, no one was more distinguished for piety, or
+for his fascination as a writer, than this admirable clergyman.
+His writings, though too flowery in their style, were eminently
+suitable, as Whitefield himself says, "for the taste of the polite
+world." Hervey wrote to Whitefield, "Your journals and sermons, and
+especially that sweet sermon on 'What think ye of Christ?' were a
+means of bringing me to the knowledge of the truth." Whitefield felt
+the warmest attachment to Hervey in return, and when he introduced
+some of his works into America, wrote, "The author is my old friend;
+a most heavenly-minded creature; one of the first Methodists, who
+is contented with a small _cure_, and gives all he has to the poor.
+We correspond with, though we cannot see each other." Whitefield
+intimated in one of his journals his intention of sketching Hervey's
+character, but this was one of the many intended things which
+were never accomplished. Dr. Doddridge wrote a preface to one of
+his works, which Warburton, as might be expected, called "a weak
+rhapsody."
+
+Under the auspices of Lady Huntingdon, a prayer-meeting was
+established for the women who, from the circles of rank and fashion,
+became the followers of the Lord. Among these were Lady Frances
+Gardiner, Lady Mary Hamilton, daughter of the Marquis of Lothian,
+who had attended the ministry of Whitefield in Scotland, Lady
+Gertrude Hotham and Countess Delitz, sisters of Lady Chesterfield,
+Lady Chesterfield herself, and Lady Fanny Shirley. "Religion," says
+Lady Huntingdon, when writing to Doddridge, "was never so much the
+subject of conversation as now. Some of the great ones hear with me
+the gospel patiently, and thus much seed is sown by Mr. Whitefield's
+preaching. O that it may fall on good ground, and bring forth
+abundantly."
+
+Some one, we believe a bishop, complained to George II. of the
+popularity and success of Whitefield, and entreated his majesty in
+some way or other to silence him. The monarch, thinking, no doubt,
+of the class described by the martyr Latimer, as "unpreaching
+prelates," replied with jocose severity, "I believe the best way
+will be to make a bishop of him."
+
+But if Whitefield was honored by some of the great, he received from
+others unmingled hostility. Horace Walpole, the gay man, and the
+corrupt courtier, thought it worth while to introduce the Methodist
+preacher into his "Private Correspondence." The statement he makes
+of professed facts is altogether incredible, but shows unmistakably
+the spirit of the writer. "The apostle Whitefield is come to some
+shame. He went to Lady Huntingdon lately, and asked for forty pounds
+for some distressed saint or other. She said she had not so much
+money in the house, but would give it him the first time she had. He
+was very pressing, but in vain. At last he said, 'There's your watch
+and trinkets, you don't want such vanities; I will have that.'
+She would have put him off; but he persisting, she said, 'Well, if
+you must have it, you must.' About a fortnight afterwards, going
+to his house, and being carried into his wife's chamber, among the
+paraphernalia of the latter the countess found her own offering.
+This has made a terrible schism; she tells the story herself. I had
+not it from Saint Frances, [Lady Fanny Shirley,] but I hope it is
+true." Every thing goes to prove the sincerity of his hope, though
+founded on falsehood.
+
+It has generally happened that the most effective public speakers,
+whether secular or sacred, have been accused by a fastidious class
+with _vulgarisms_. So with Cicero, Burke, and Chatham; so with
+Patrick Henry and Daniel Webster; and to turn to eminent preachers,
+so with Luther, Latimer, and Whitefield. The reason was, that
+intent on the greatest good to the greatest number, they used what
+Dr. Johnson, after Daniel Burgess, called "market language." Dr.
+William Bates, an accomplished and courtly non-conformist minister,
+in the seventeenth century, once complained in the presence of his
+faithful but unpolished friend Daniel Burgess, that he found very
+little success in his work as a minister; when his aged brother
+smartly replied, "Thank your velvet mouth for that--too fine to
+speak market language." Whitefield, very happily for thousands, had
+no squeamishness of this sort.
+
+Some ladies called one Saturday morning to pay a visit to Lady
+Huntingdon, and during the interview, her ladyship inquired of them
+if they had ever heard Mr. Whitefield preach. On being answered
+in the negative, she said, "I wish you would hear him; he is to
+preach to-morrow evening." They promised her ladyship they would
+certainly attend. They fulfilled their promise; and when they called
+on her ladyship the next Monday morning, she anxiously inquired if
+they had heard Mr. Whitefield on the previous evening, and how they
+liked him. The reply was, "Oh, my lady, of all the preachers we
+ever heard, he is the most strange and unaccountable! Among other
+preposterous things, would your ladyship believe it, he declared
+that Jesus Christ was so willing to receive sinners, that he did not
+object to receive even the devil's _castaways_! Now, my lady, did
+you ever hear of such a thing since you were born?" Her ladyship, in
+reply, said, "There is something, I acknowledge, a little singular
+in the invitation, and I do not recollect to have met with it
+before; but as Mr. Whitefield is below in the parlor, we will have
+him up, and let him answer for himself."
+
+On Mr. Whitefield's entering the drawing-room, Lady Huntingdon
+said, "Sir, these ladies have been preferring a very heavy charge
+against you, and I thought it best that you should come up and
+defend yourself. They say, that in your sermon last evening, in
+speaking of the willingness of Jesus Christ to receive sinners, you
+said, that 'so ready was Christ to receive sinners who came to him,
+that he was willing to receive even the devil's castaways.'" Mr.
+Whitefield immediately replied, "I certainly, my lady, must plead
+guilty to the charge; whether I did what was right, or otherwise,
+your ladyship shall judge when you have heard a fact. Did your
+ladyship notice, about half an hour ago, a very modest single rap
+at the door? It was given by a poor, miserable looking aged female,
+who requested to speak with me. I desired that she might be shown
+into the parlor, when she thus addressed me: 'I believe, sir, you
+preached last evening at such a chapel.' 'Yes, I did.' 'Ah, sir, I
+was accidentally passing the door of that chapel, and hearing the
+voice of some one preaching, I did what I have never been in the
+habit of doing--I went in; and one of the first things I heard you
+say, was, that Jesus Christ was so willing to receive sinners, that
+he did not object to receive the devil's castaways. Do you think,
+sir, that Jesus Christ would receive me?' I answered her that there
+was not a doubt of it, if she was but willing to go to him."
+
+It is pleasant to add, that the impression conveyed in the singular
+language of Mr. Whitefield ended in the conversion of the poor
+woman to God. She gave satisfactory evidence that her great and
+numerous sins had been forgiven through the atonement of the Lord
+Jesus Christ. Was Mr. Whitefield to be censured for the use of this
+language?
+
+In September, 1748, Mr. Whitefield made his third visit to Scotland,
+where he met with a cordial welcome, and where his labors became
+increasingly valued. Some of the clergy at Glasgow, Perth, and
+Edinburgh used their influence to exclude him from the pulpits, but
+the majority voted in his favor; and a full examination vindicated
+his character, and made his excellences more generally known. All
+the ministers who were disposed to invite him to preach, were at
+liberty to do so, except in the presbytery of Edinburgh; here,
+however, he was accommodated by the magistrates with a church to
+preach in whenever he visited the city. In Scotland he now warmly
+advocated the cause of the college in New Jersey: of the results of
+his labors we shall hear more hereafter.
+
+On his return to London, Whitefield resumed his preaching at
+Lady Huntingdon's to "the great ones," as he calls them. Thirty,
+and sometimes even sixty persons of rank attended, although the
+newspapers gave false and degrading accounts of the reception he
+met with in Scotland. He now availed himself of the influence he
+possessed, to forward his intended college, in addition to his
+orphan-house, for which his plea was, "If some such thing be not
+done, I cannot see how the southern parts will be provided with
+ministers; for all are afraid to go over." On this ground he
+appealed to the trustees of Georgia; reminding them that he had
+expended five thousand pounds upon the orphan-house; begging them
+to relieve it, as a charitable institution, from all quit-rent
+and taxes; and especially to allow him the labor of blacks in
+cultivating the farm. "White hands," he said, "had left his tract of
+land uncultivated."
+
+It will not be expected that Whitefield could stay long, even in the
+courtly circles of London, where he met with so much acceptance. We
+very soon find him among his old friends at Gloucester and Bristol.
+The bishop of the latter see, he says, behaved very respectfully
+to him; he visited also his old tutor, now become one of the
+prebendaries, and met with the old kindness received at Oxford. "I
+told him, that my judgment, as I trust, was a little more ripened
+than it was some years ago; and that as fast as I found out my
+faults, I should be glad to acknowledge them. He said the offence of
+the governors of the church would wear off as I grew _moderate_."
+The evangelist did not tell the doctor how little he cared for such
+moderation as the governors of the church in that day required;
+but he wrote to Lady Huntingdon, on the subject of their favor, "I
+am pretty easy about that. If I can but act an honest part, and be
+kept from _trimming_, I leave all consequences to Him who orders all
+things well." During this journey, many new converts were won. One
+of these was a counsellor, who was so much affected, that his zeal
+in inviting others to hear Whitefield led his wife to suspect him of
+madness.
+
+An interesting fact connected with Gloucestershire, his native
+county, may be introduced in this place, though we are not sure
+that it occurred during this journey. John Skinner of Houndscroft
+was a strolling fiddler, going from fair to fair, supplying music
+to any party that would hire him. Having determined to interrupt
+Mr. Whitefield while preaching, he obtained a standing on a ladder
+raised to a window near the pulpit. Here he remained a quiet, if not
+an attentive hearer, till the text was read, when he intended to
+begin his annoying exercise on the violin. It pleased God, however,
+while he was putting his instrument in tune, to convey the word
+preached with irresistible power to his soul; his attention was
+diverted from his original purpose, he heard the whole sermon, and
+became a new man.
+
+Happily Whitefield was blessed in bringing to Christ many who were
+made eminently useful. Among others we might mention the late Rev.
+Cornelius Winter, an eminent minister, who afterwards accompanied
+our evangelist in his last voyage to America, and who after his
+death conveyed his will to England, and sought ordination to return
+and labor in Georgia. Disappointed in this, he became an able and
+successful minister in England; and also trained several young men
+for the Christian ministry, including the late celebrated William
+Jay of Bath. Whitefield had often been heard by Winter with great
+pleasure, for he admired his eloquence; but for some time no good
+effects were apparent. One night, while playing at cards, an
+amusement in which he much delighted, and though surrounded by a
+number of gay companions, the thought presented itself to Winter's
+mind that he might that evening hear his favorite preacher. He broke
+off from play in the midst of the game, which made his companions
+very angry, as they suspected where he was going. He tells us that
+it was a night much to be remembered. He had reason to hope the
+scales of ignorance were then removed from his eyes, he had a sense
+of his misery as a sinner, and was led to earnest inquiry after the
+way of salvation. It is scarcely necessary to say, that he never
+again played at cards.
+
+From the exhilarating scenes of Gloucestershire and Bristol, we
+must accompany Whitefield into Cornwall, among the glens and dales
+of which, or on the seaside to a somewhat similar population and
+with almost equal success, he spoke "all the words of this life."
+The robust and determined miners of the west of England, whose
+very employment gives hardihood alike to their character and frame,
+at first received him in somewhat rough and unpolished style,
+but were soon after melted and transformed by the grace which
+had displayed its triumphs among their brethren at Kingswood.
+"I am just returned," he writes on one occasion, "from near the
+Land's End, where thousands and thousands heard the gospel gladly.
+Everywhere the word of God has run and been glorified. Every day I
+have been travelling and preaching; and could I stay a month, it
+might be spent to great advantage. At a place called Port Isaac,
+the Redeemer's stately steps were indeed seen. At Camelford I
+preached with great quietness in the streets. At St. Ann's we had
+a very powerful season; and yesterday at Redruth several thousands
+attended, and the word was quick and powerful." Again he writes,
+"Immediately after writing my last, I preached to many thousands at
+a place called Gwennap. The rain descended, but the grace of God
+seemed to fall like a gentle dew, sprinkling rain upon our souls. It
+was indeed a fine spring shower. In the evening I rode to St. Ives,
+and preached to many who gladly attended to hear the word; a great
+power seemed to accompany it. On the Lord's day I preached twice to
+great auditories. On Monday I preached again at Redruth, at ten in
+the morning, to nearly, as they were computed, ten thousand souls.
+Arrows of conviction seemed to fly fast." Again, in a communication
+to the Countess of Huntingdon, he says, "I have been very near
+the Land's End, and everywhere souls have fled to hear the word
+preached, 'like doves to their windows.' The harvest is great, yea,
+very great, but laborers are few. O that the Lord of the harvest
+would thrust out more laborers." And yet again he says, "Invitations
+are sent to me from Falmouth and several other places, but I cannot
+attend to them all at present. I want more tongues, more bodies,
+more souls, for the Lord Jesus. Had I ten thousand, he should have
+them all." Such was the noble spirit he displayed, and such were
+the manner and fruits of his "entering in among" the, at that time,
+benighted children of Cornwall. A great light shone upon them. They
+came from the caverns of the earth to welcome its rising, and to
+look upon its brightness. Thousands of them were indeed "brought out
+of darkness into marvellous light," and turned by it from sin to
+holiness, and from Satan to God; and thousands are still rejoicing
+in its beams.
+
+On his return to London, Whitefield found his assemblies at the
+countess's "brilliant indeed," and Lord Bolingbroke still one among
+them. Of this talented nobleman our evangelist at this time indulged
+a happy hope, which, alas, seems never to have been realized.
+
+In February, 1749, Whitefield made an excursion to Exeter and
+Plymouth, where he was agreeably surprised to find a great
+alteration had taken place since his preceding visit, five years
+before. He loved to "range," as he called it, "after precious
+souls," and happily for him and for others he found them. During
+this and subsequent visits to Plymouth, he resided with the Rev.
+Andrew Kinsman, an excellent Congregational minister, of whom we
+have already spoken. He was born in Devonshire in 1724, and was
+therefore ten years younger than Whitefield. While peculiarly
+amiable in his manners, and remarkable for his regard to his
+parents, he was unacquainted with the religion of the heart till
+his seventeenth year, when he met with a volume of Mr. Whitefield's
+sermons, and one of those on the new birth alarmed him. His pious
+friends were few, but his religious feelings were deeply moved,
+and God at length gave him "the oil of joy for mourning, and the
+garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness." Concerned for the
+highest interests of his relatives, he one night, as the family were
+retiring to rest, broke out, with intense emotion, "What, shall we
+go to bed without prayer? How do we know but some of us may awake
+in hell before morning?" This unexpected address struck the family
+with solemn awe; and while they looked at each other with conscious
+shame, for the neglect of so clear a duty, he fell upon his knees
+and prayed with so much readiness and fervor that it excited their
+astonishment.
+
+As might be expected, his concern for others did not stop here; he
+was anxious that his neighbors might also find "the unsearchable
+riches of Christ." He began, therefore, to read Whitefield's sermons
+to as many as would attend, supposing, with Melancthon, that what
+had proved so great a blessing to himself, would not fail of similar
+effects on others, as soon as they were heard. After a short time,
+he began himself to expound and preach, and was encouraged by many
+conversions under his ministry, including those of his father,
+mother, and three sisters. Not long after these events, Whitefield,
+in entering on one of his voyages to America, had been compelled
+to stay at Plymouth, where Kinsman first saw and heard him. By a
+series of remarkable events, Mr. Kinsman was brought to settle
+as a minister at Plymouth, where the "Tabernacle" was erected on
+ground given by himself, and the congregation were served by him and
+other ministers with abundant success. In the whole neighborhood an
+extraordinary blessing attended his labors, and his usefulness and
+deliverances from danger were only second to those of Whitefield
+himself. Nor was he less respected, nor his ministry attended with
+less success, at Bristol and London--cities to which he was invited
+by Whitefield; who used to call Bristol "_Kinsman's America_,"
+alluding to his own reception and success in the western world.
+
+On one occasion, when Whitefield was about to sail for America,
+he sent for Kinsman to London, and on his arrival dined with his
+distinguished friend at the Tabernacle house. After dinner there
+was a violent storm of thunder and lightning. As they stood at the
+window looking out on the raging elements, Mr. Kinsman, supposing a
+young clergyman who had dined with them, and who now stood by his
+side, to be a pious man, familiarly put his hand on his shoulder,
+and with great cheerfulness and energy repeated the lines of Dr.
+Watts:
+
+    "The God who rules on high,
+     And thunders when he please;
+     Who rides upon the stormy sky,
+     And manages the seas--
+     _This awful God is ours_,
+     Our Father, and our love!"
+
+The words so appropriately introduced, and so emphatically spoken,
+made a deep impression on the mind of the young clergyman, and gave
+rise to a conversation which, by the blessing of God, led to his
+conversion.
+
+At the Tabernacle in London, the ministry of Mr. Kinsman was greatly
+distinguished for its excellence and success, and he thought himself
+highly honored in preaching the first sermon delivered from the
+pulpit of the present Tabernacle. His musical voice, his lively and
+pathetic address, and the richness of the evangelical truths he
+proclaimed, brought numbers of all classes of society to hear him.
+Among them was Shuter, the comedian, to whom we shall again refer as
+a hearer of Whitefield, and who years afterwards, in an interview
+with Kinsman, drew a striking contrast between their professions,
+and bitterly lamented that he had not cordially embraced religion,
+when his conscience was impressed under the preaching of the great
+evangelist.
+
+But we must not stay longer to speak of Kinsman; suffice it to say
+that he founded, in addition to Plymouth, a new church three miles
+from thence, at a place now called Devonport, and labored with
+energy and holy success till the sixty-ninth year of his age, when
+he died in triumph, February 28, 1793. Of such a man it was truly
+said, that for Whitefield "he retained the most filial affection to
+his dying day; and frequently travelled with, and consulted him as a
+father upon all his religious concerns."
+
+In March Whitefield returned to London, where the feeble state of
+his health made him feel weary even in his success. He says, "I
+have seen enough of popularity to be sick of it, and did not the
+interest of my blessed Master require my appearing in public, the
+world should hear but little of me henceforward." Yet his zeal
+abated not. "I dread the thoughts of flagging in the latter stages
+of my road," is an expression often used in his letters to his
+friends. He thought that preaching and travelling contributed to his
+health. In a letter to Hervey, he says, "Fear not your weak body,
+we are immortal till our work is done. Christ's laborers must live
+by miracle; if not, I must not live at all, for God only knows what
+I daily endure. My continual vomitings almost kill me, and yet the
+pulpit is my cure; so that my friends begin to pity me less, and to
+leave off that ungrateful caution, 'Spare thyself.' I speak this to
+encourage you."
+
+All this Whitefield meant. Hence in May we find him preaching at
+Portsmouth daily, for more than a week, to very large and attentive
+auditories; where was shown another remarkable instance of the power
+which attended his preaching, for many who a few days before were
+speaking all manner of evil against him, were very desirous of his
+longer stay to preach the gospel among them. From Bristol, June 24,
+he writes, "Yesterday God brought me here, after a circuit of about
+eight hundred miles, and enabled me to preach to, I suppose, upwards
+of a hundred thousand souls. I have been in eight Welsh counties,
+and I think we have not had one dry meeting. The work in Wales is
+much upon the advance, and likely to increase daily."
+
+Whitefield returned to London to welcome his wife home from the
+Bermuda Islands. From her he learned that there his character had
+been aspersed by one of the clergy; but while he grieved over the
+fact, he said, "I am content to wait till the day of judgment for
+the clearing up of my character; and after I am dead, I desire no
+other epitaph than this, 'Here lies George Whitefield. What sort of
+a man he was, the great day will discover.'"
+
+In the midst of his sorrows, Whitefield was comforted by a visit
+from two German ministers, who had been laboring among the Jews with
+apparently happy results. He found also several of the peeresses,
+and others of "the great," cordially disposed to receive him; and
+shortly afterwards was visited by Mr. Grimshaw, a clergyman from
+Yorkshire, for whom in September he went to preach. Thousands in the
+village of Haworth attended his preaching, even ten thousand at a
+time, and a thousand communicants approached the table of the Lord.
+At Leeds also he preached, at the invitation of Mr. Wesley's people,
+to ten thousand persons, and Mr. Charles Wesley himself introduced
+him to the pulpit at Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
+
+In the north of England the visits of Mr. Whitefield were always
+looked for with intense interest. In one of his letters, he thus
+describes the state of things there in August, 1756: "It is now a
+fortnight since I came to Leeds, in and about which I preached eight
+days successively, three times almost every day, to thronged and
+affected auditories. On Sunday last at Bradford, in the morning,
+the audience consisted of above ten thousand; at noon, and in
+the evening, at Birstal, of nearly double that number. Though
+hoarse, I was able to speak so that they all heard." These hallowed
+services were often spoken of by the late Rev. Dr. John Fawcett,
+for more than half a century an eminent Baptist minister of that
+neighborhood, to whose soul they proved a rich blessing. After
+having heard Whitefield at Bradford in the morning, he followed
+him to Birstal, where a platform was erected at the foot of a hill
+adjoining the town, whence Mr. Whitefield addressed an immense
+concourse of people, not fewer, it was believed, than twenty
+thousand, who were ranged before him on the declivity in the form of
+an amphitheatre. "I lay," says Fawcett, "under the scaffold, and it
+appeared as if all his words were addressed to me, and as if he had
+known my most secret thoughts from ten years of age. As long as life
+remains, I shall remember both the text and the sermon." Accustomed
+as he was to preach to large and promiscuous multitudes, when he
+looked on this vast assemblage, and was about to mount the temporary
+stage, he expressed to his surrounding friends a considerable
+feeling of timidity; but when he began to speak, an unusual
+solemnity pervaded the assembly, and thousands, in the course of the
+sermon, as was often the fact, gave vent to their emotions by tears
+and groans. Fools who came to mock, began to pray, and to cry out,
+"What must we do to be saved?"
+
+Mr. Shirley, in giving an account of this same service, tells us
+that "not only the field, but the woodlands about it, were covered
+with crowds collected from different parts. An unusual solemnity
+pervaded this vast multitude, and at the close of the service the
+one hundredth psalm was sung, and concluded with Mr. Grimshaw's
+favorite doxology,
+
+       "'Praise God, from whom all blessings flow.'
+
+The volume of sound produced by the united voices of thousands,
+while it reechoed through the vale below, had such an effect as no
+language can describe."
+
+Mr. Grimshaw was a very remarkable clergyman connected with the
+church of England, though found fault with on account of his
+irregularity. He studied at Cambridge for the ministry before he
+was acquainted with the reality of true religion. His conversion
+was very striking; after which he became a remarkably faithful and
+pungent preacher. He settled at Haworth, in Yorkshire, where Mr.
+Whitefield visited him.
+
+In one of the services held by Mr. Whitefield in Yorkshire, a
+deep solemnity was created by providential circumstances. He had
+mounted the temporary scaffold to address the thousands before him.
+Casting a look over the multitude, he elevated his hands, and in an
+energetic manner implored the divine presence and blessing. With a
+solemnity peculiarly his own, he then announced his text, "It is
+appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." Heb.
+11:27. After a short pause, as he was about to proceed, a wild,
+terrifying shriek issued from the centre of the congregation. A
+momentary alarm and confusion ensued. Mr. Whitefield waited to
+ascertain the cause, and requested the people to remain still. Mr.
+Grimshaw hurried to the spot, and in a few minutes was seen pressing
+towards the place where Mr. Whitefield stood. "Brother Whitefield,"
+said he, manifesting in the strongest manner the intensity of his
+feelings, and the ardor of his concern for the salvation of sinners,
+"you stand among the dead and the dying. An immortal soul has been
+called into eternity; the destroying angel is passing over the
+congregation; cry aloud, and spare not." The awful occurrence was
+speedily announced to the congregation. After the lapse of a few
+moments, Mr. Whitefield again announced his text. Again a loud and
+piercing shriek proceeded from the spot near where Lady Huntingdon
+and Lady Margaret Ingham were standing. A thrill of horror seemed
+to escape from the multitude when it was understood that a _second_
+person had fallen a victim to the king of terrors. When the
+consternation had somewhat subsided, Mr. Whitefield gave indications
+of proceeding with the service. The excited feelings of many were
+wound up to their highest point. All was hushed; not a sound was to
+be heard; and a stillness like the awful silence of death spread
+over the assembly, as he proceeded in melting strains to warn the
+careless, Christless sinner to "flee from the wrath to come."
+
+As winter was now approaching, Whitefield felt it important to
+return to the metropolis. During the tour he had made, he won to
+Christ not a few of those who afterwards laid the foundations of
+churches now flourishing in the counties of Lancaster, York, and
+Northumberland. He met, however, with so much "rude treatment here
+and there, as sent him home praying, 'Lord, give me a pilgrim heart
+for my pilgrim life.'" He was now in "winter quarters," but was
+neither idle nor useless. To use his own words, "The glory of the
+Lord filled the tabernacle, and the shout of a king was in the
+camp," and that from week to week. "Thousands, thousands crowded to
+hear." Every day also he heard of instances of conversion. One of
+these pleased him greatly. It was that of a boatswain, who, before
+hearing him, knew no more about divine truth "than the whistle he
+blew on board." He mentions also a boy eleven years of age, a woman
+of eighty, and a baker, who had been "a Jerusalem sinner," all of
+whom bowed before the cross, and placed their hopes of salvation on
+Him who died thereon.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+     LABORS IN GREAT BRITAIN--FOURTH VISIT TO AMERICA--NEW TABERNACLE
+     IN LONDON, AND TABERNACLE AT BRISTOL.
+
+1750-1754.
+
+
+At the beginning of the year 1750, Whitefield was still in London.
+At this time his intended college at Bethesda occupied much of
+his attention. He wrote to his friends in every quarter for help.
+His usual appeal was, "We propose having an academy or college at
+the orphan-house. The house is large, and will hold a hundred. My
+_heart_, I trust, is larger, and will hold ten thousand." Though
+in London, his heart was in America. He says, "Ranging seems my
+province; and methinks I hear a voice behind me saying, 'This is
+the way, walk in it.' My heart echoes back, 'Lord, let thy presence
+go with me, and then send me where thou pleasest.' In the midst of
+all, America, _dear_ America, is not forgotten. I begin to count the
+days, and to say to the months, 'Fly fast away, that I may spread
+the gospel-net once more in dear America.'"
+
+Be it here mentioned, that amid the busy scenes of his life, and
+while surrounded with the flatteries of the great and noble,
+Whitefield did not forget the duties he owed to his mother. A person
+whom he had employed to obtain some comforts for her, had neglected
+the duty, so that the now aged matron might have felt a week's
+anxiety. He wrote to her, "I should never forgive myself, was I, by
+negligence or any wrong conduct, to give you a moment's needless
+pain. Alas, how little have I done for you. Christ's care for his
+mother excites me to wish I could do any thing for you. If you
+would have any thing more brought, pray write, honored mother.
+* * * Tomorrow it will be _thirty-five_ years since you brought
+unworthy me into the world. O that my head were waters, and mine
+eyes fountains of tears, that I might bewail my barrenness and
+unfruitfulness in the church of God."
+
+While he was now fully engaged in preaching, and was surrounded
+with flatteries, he did not forget his duty to conflict with sin.
+He writes, "I find a love of power sometimes intoxicates even God's
+dear children. It is much easier for me to obey than govern. This
+makes me fly from that which, at our first setting out, we are apt
+to court. I cannot well buy humility at too dear a rate."
+
+Dr. Philip Doddridge, as every reader knows, was one of the most
+pious and accomplished preachers and writers of the Non-conformists
+of England in his day. Nor was his _missionary_ zeal small in its
+degree. Though he died as early as 1751, he had said, "I am now
+intent on having something done among the dissenters, in a more
+public manner, for propagating the gospel abroad, which lies near
+my heart. I wish to live to see this design brought into execution,
+at least into some forwardness, and then I should die the more
+cheerfully." It was indeed the passion of his life to promote
+the interests of evangelical truth, and save the souls of men.
+And though, as his recent eulogist, the Rev. John Stoughton, has
+said, condemned by some, and suspected by others for so doing, he
+took a deep and sympathetic interest in the evangelical labors of
+Whitefield. It seems strange in our day to think of Whitefield
+being regarded as an enthusiast by orthodox dissenters. Yet there
+were those who did thus regard him. Bradbury poured on him streams
+of wit; Barker regarded his sermons as low and coarse; and another
+in writing calls him "honest, crazy, confident Mr. Whitefield."
+But Doddridge regarded him as far otherwise, and spoke of him as
+"a flaming servant of Christ." He prayed on one occasion at the
+Tabernacle, but Dr. Watts was much grieved by it; and when, on
+Whitefield's visiting Northampton, Doddridge gave him the use of
+his pulpit, the managers of the college of which he was president
+remonstrated with him for so doing.
+
+The visit of Whitefield to Doddridge was in February, 1750, where
+he met with the Rev. Dr. Sir James Stonehouse, and the Rev. Messrs.
+Hartley and Hervey. The latter eminent clergyman thus writes: "I
+have lately seen that most excellent minister of the ever-blessed
+Jesus, Mr. Whitefield. I dined, supped, and spent the evening with
+him at Northampton, in company with Dr. Doddridge, and two pious,
+ingenious clergymen of the church of England, both of them known to
+the learned world by their valuable writings. And surely I never
+spent a more delightful evening, or saw one that seemed to make
+nearer approaches to the felicity of heaven. A gentleman of great
+worth and rank in the town invited us to his house, and gave us
+an elegant treat; but how mean was his provision, how coarse his
+delicacies, compared with the fruit of my friend's lips: they
+dropped as honey from the honey-comb, and were a well of life.
+Surely people do not know that amiable and exemplary man, or else,
+I cannot but think, instead of depreciating, they would applaud
+and love him. For my part, I never beheld so fair a copy of our
+Lord, such a living image of the Saviour, such exalted delight in
+God, such enlarged benevolence to man, such a steady faith in the
+divine promises, and such a fervent zeal for the divine glory; and
+all this without the least moroseness of humor, or extravagance of
+behavior, sweetened with the most engaging cheerfulness of temper,
+and regulated by all the sobriety of reason and wisdom of Scripture;
+insomuch that I cannot forbear applying the wise man's encomium of
+an illustrious woman to this eminent minister of the everlasting
+gospel: 'Many sons have done virtuously, but thou excellest them
+all.'"
+
+In the month of March, 1750, a general alarm had been awakened
+by earthquakes in London, and fears were excited by pretended
+prophecies of still greater devastation. These signal judgments
+of Jehovah were preceded by great profligacy of manners, and its
+fruitful parent, licentiousness of principle. Dr. Horne, afterwards
+dean of Canterbury and bishop of Bristol, in a sermon preached at
+the time, says, "As to faith, is not the doctrine of the Trinity,
+and that of the divinity of our Lord and Saviour--without which
+our redemption is absolutely void, and we are yet in our sins,
+lying under the intolerable burden of the wrath of God--blasphemed
+and ridiculed openly in conversation and in print? And as to
+righteousness of life, are not the people of this land dead in
+trespasses and sins? Idleness, drunkenness, luxury, extravagance,
+and debauchery; for these things cometh the wrath of God, and
+disordered nature proclaims the impending distress and perplexity of
+nations. And Oh, may we of this nation never read a handwriting upon
+the wall of heaven, in illuminated capitals of the Almighty, MENE,
+MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN--God hath numbered the kingdom, and finished
+it. Thou art weighed in the balances of heaven, and found wanting
+the merits of a rejected Redeemer, and therefore the kingdom is
+divided and given away."
+
+The shocks felt in London in February and March of this year, were
+far more violent than any remembered for a long series of years. The
+earth moved throughout the whole cities of London and Westminster.
+It was a strong and jarring motion, attended with a rumbling noise
+like that of thunder. Multitudes of persons of every class fled
+from these cities with the utmost haste, and others repaired to the
+fields and open places in the neighborhood. Towerhill, Moorfields,
+and Hyde Park were crowded with men, women, and children, who
+remained a whole night under the most fearful apprehensions. Places
+of worship were filled with persons in the utmost state of alarm.
+Especially was this the case with those attached to Methodist
+congregations, where multitudes came all night, knocking at the
+doors, and for God's sake begging admittance. As convulsions of
+nature are usually regarded by enthusiasts and fanatics as the
+sure harbinger of its dissolution, a soldier "had a revelation,"
+that a great part of London and Westminster would be destroyed
+by an earthquake on a certain night, between the hours of twelve
+and one o'clock. Believing his assertion, thousands fled from the
+city for fear of being suddenly overwhelmed, and repaired to the
+fields, where they continued all night, in momentary expectation of
+seeing the prophecy fulfilled; while thousands of others ran about
+the streets in the most wild and frantic state of consternation,
+apparently quite certain that the day of judgment was about to
+commence. The whole scene was truly awful.
+
+Under these circumstances, the ministers of Christ preached almost
+incessantly, and many were awakened to a sense of their awful
+condition before God, and to rest their hopes of eternal salvation
+on the Rock of ages. Mr. Whitefield, animated with that burning
+charity which shone so conspicuously in him, ventured out at
+midnight to Hyde Park, where he proclaimed to the affrighted and
+astonished multitudes that there is a Saviour, Christ the Lord. The
+darkness of the night, and the awful apprehensions of an approaching
+earthquake, added much to the solemnity of the scene. The sermon
+was truly sublime, and to the ungodly sinner, the self-righteous
+pharisee, and the artful hypocrite, strikingly terrific. With
+a pathos which showed the fervor of his soul, and with a grand
+majestic voice that commanded attention, he took occasion from the
+circumstances of the assembly, to call their attention to that
+most important event in which every one will be interested, the
+final consummation of all things, the universal wreck of nature,
+the dissolution of earth, and the eternal sentence of every son
+and daughter of Adam. The whole scene was one of a most memorable
+character. Mr. Charles Wesley, Mr. Romaine, and others preached in a
+similar manner, and with like happy results.
+
+At this period, Whitefield and his female friends especially,
+were the subjects of royal attention at the court of George the
+Second. It is said that on one occasion Lady Chesterfield appeared
+in a dress "with a brown ground and silver flowers," of foreign
+manufacture. The king, smiling significantly, said to her aloud, "I
+know who chose that gown for you--Mr. Whitefield; I hear you have
+attended on him for a year and a half." Her ladyship acknowledged
+she had done so, and professed her approbation of his character and
+ministry; and afterwards deeply regretted that she had not said more
+when she had so good an opportunity. Whitefield had occasion to wait
+on the secretary of state, in company with Dr. Gifford, a Baptist
+pastor in London, to ask relief for some persecuted Christians in
+Ireland, and was assured that "no hurt was designed by the state to
+the Methodists." He also renewed his friendship with the Messrs.
+Wesley, and several times exchanged pulpits with them. He writes, "I
+have now preached thrice in Mr. Wesley's chapel, and God was with us
+of a truth."
+
+Again was our evangelist tired of London, and again had he grown
+sick for want of field-preaching. Accordingly he set out for Bristol
+and other parts of the west of England; and although rain and hail
+pelted him in his field-pulpits, he preached "about twenty times
+in eight or nine days." As soon as he found himself in his own
+element, he saw every thing in his old lights. He says, "Every
+thing I meet with seems to carry this voice with it: 'Go thou and
+preach the gospel; be a pilgrim on earth; have no party, or certain
+dwelling-place.' My heart echoes back, 'Lord Jesus, help me to do
+or suffer thy will. When thou seest me in danger of _nestling_, in
+pity, in tender pity put a thorn in my nest, to prevent me from it.'"
+
+From Bristol, Whitefield went to Taunton, where he met with the Rev.
+Richard Pearsall, an eminent and excellent Presbyterian minister, of
+whom he speaks very highly; and from thence, on his way to Plymouth,
+he stayed at Wellington, to preach for the Rev. Risdon Darracott,
+who has ever since been distinguished as "the star in the west." Mr.
+Darracott was the son of a dissenting minister in Dorsetshire, where
+he was born in 1717, when Whitefield was three years old. He studied
+for the ministry under the Rev. Dr. Doddridge, at Northampton,
+and entered on his ministerial course in Cornwall in 1738, which
+situation he was most reluctantly compelled to leave two years
+afterwards from violent hemorrhage of the lungs. Under this alarming
+visitation he spent about six months with his friends in Devonshire,
+where his fervent-minded father had preached till his death at the
+age of forty. While here, he had a call to succeed a venerable
+minister at Wellington, who had recently deceased. He found the
+congregation small, and the number of communicants but twenty-eight.
+His ministry soon drew a large congregation, many of whom had never
+before made a profession of religion, and were first attracted
+into the town from the neighboring villages out of mere curiosity
+to hear him. The house of worship was soon insufficient to contain
+his hearers; and even when it was enlarged, many were frequently
+compelled to stand out of doors, unable to obtain an entrance. The
+Rev. Benjamin Fawcett, who preached his funeral sermon, said, "I
+never knew any congregation which appeared to have so many instances
+of abiding religious impressions;" and added, "I have good reason to
+believe that his ministry was owned to the effectual conversion of
+many hundreds of souls."
+
+The night before the death of this excellent man, which took place
+in his forty-second year, he exclaimed, "Oh, what a good God have I,
+in and through Jesus Christ. I would praise him, but my lips cannot.
+Eternity will be too short to speak his praises." The physician
+coming in, he said to him, "Oh, what a mercy is it to be interested
+in the atoning blood of Jesus. I come to the Lord as a vile sinner,
+trusting in the merits and precious blood of my dear Redeemer. O
+grace, grace, free grace!" His last words were, "I am going from
+weeping friends to congratulating angels, and rejoicing saints in
+glory. He is coming. Oh, speed thy chariot wheels; why are they so
+long in coming? I long to be gone!" He left in his church more than
+two hundred communicants.
+
+Whitefield and Darracott were congenial spirits, and Darracott, like
+his friend, had suffered much reproach in the cause of his Master;
+he was what Whitefield called him, "a flaming and successful
+preacher of the gospel." He had just at this time lost three lovely
+children. "Two of them," says Whitefield, "had died on the Saturday
+evening before the sacrament; but weeping did not prevent sowing.
+He preached the next day, and administered as usual. Our Lord
+strengthened him; and for his three natural, gave him above _thirty_
+spiritual children; and he is likely to have many more. He has
+ventured his little all for Christ; and last week a saint died who
+left him and his heirs two hundred pounds in land. Did ever any one
+trust in God, and was forsaken?" This interview with Darracott, and
+with good old Mr. Pearsall, who had been a preacher of righteousness
+before Whitefield was born, had an inspiring influence upon him. He
+says, "I _began_ to take the field again at his dwelling for the
+spring! I begin to _begin_ to spend and be spent for Him who shed
+his own dear heart's blood for me. He makes _ranging_ exceedingly
+pleasant."
+
+Soon after this, Whitefield went again into Yorkshire. At Rotherham
+he says, "Satan rallied his forces. The crier was employed to give
+notice of a bear-baiting. You may guess who was the bear! However,
+I preached twice. The drum was heard, and several watermen attended
+with great staves. The constable was struck, and two of the mobbers
+apprehended, but rescued afterwards." Sheffield and Leeds he found
+to be a new and warmer climate. Lancashire, however, was still but
+cold to him. All was quiet at Manchester, and he "humbly hoped some
+had enlisted," but no great impression was then made. At Bolton, a
+drunkard stood up behind him to preach; and the wife of the man who
+lent him the field, twice attempted to stab the workman who put up
+the stand for him. This roused him, and he bore down all opposition
+by a torrent of eloquence, which quite exhausted him. In the night,
+however, some rude fellows got into the barn and stables where his
+chaise and horses had been put, and cut them very shamefully. This
+conduct he called, "Satan showing his teeth."
+
+To narrate the particulars of this journey would be little more
+than a repetition of scenes of insult and of success with which the
+reader has already become familiar. At Ulverston he says, "Satan
+made some small resistance. A clergyman, who looked more like a
+_butcher_ than a minister, came with two others, and charged a
+constable with me; but I never saw a poor creature sent off with
+such disgrace."
+
+One of the most remarkable conversions recorded in the history of
+the church occurred during this journey by the ministry of Mr.
+Whitefield. The full particulars are recorded in the Life of the
+Countess of Huntingdon, and can only be briefly mentioned here.
+
+In the early period of Whitefield's ministry, many of the taverns
+became places where his doctrines and zeal were talked of and
+ridiculed. A Mr. Thorpe, and several other young men in Yorkshire,
+undertook at one of these parties to mimic the preaching of Mr.
+Whitefield. The proposition met with applause; one after another
+stood on a table to perform his part, and it devolved on Mr. Thorpe
+to close this irreverent scene. Much elated, and confident of
+success, he exclaimed, as he ascended the table, "I shall beat you
+all." Who would have supposed that the mercy of God was now about to
+be extended to this transgressor of his law? The Bible was handed to
+him; and by the guidance of unerring Providence, it opened at Luke
+13:3: "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." The moment
+he read the text his mind was impressed in a most extraordinary
+manner; he saw clearly the nature and importance of the subject;
+and as he afterwards said, if he ever preached with the assistance
+of the Holy Spirit, it was at that time. His address produced a
+feeling of depression in his auditors; and when he had finished,
+he instantly retired to weep over his sins. He soon after became
+associated with the people of God, and died a successful minister of
+Christ, at Masborough, in Yorkshire, in 1776, about six years after
+the death of Mr. Whitefield. He was the father of the distinguished
+Rev. William Thorpe, of Bristol.
+
+Passing on to Edinburgh, Whitefield was, as usual, received with the
+most unfeigned tenderness and joy, preaching to great multitudes
+of attentive and serious people, whose earnest desire to hear him
+made him exert himself beyond his strength. He says, "By preaching
+always twice, once thrice, and once four times in a day, I am quite
+weakened; but I hope to recruit again. Christ's presence makes me
+smile at pain." He returned to London, having preached about one
+hundred times, it was believed to not less than one hundred thousand
+people.
+
+Among the occasional hearers of Whitefield when in Scotland, was
+the celebrated infidel historian, David Hume. An intimate friend
+having asked him what he thought of Mr. Whitefield's preaching, he
+replied, "He is, sir, the most ingenious preacher I ever heard; it
+is worth while to go twenty miles to hear him." He then repeated
+the following passage, which occurred towards the close of the
+discourse he had been hearing. "After a solemn pause, Mr. Whitefield
+thus addressed his numerous audience: 'The attendant angel is just
+about to leave the threshold, and ascend to heaven. And shall he
+ascend, and not bear with him the news of one sinner, among all
+this multitude, reclaimed from the error of his ways?' To give
+the greater effect to this exclamation, he stamped with his foot,
+lifted up his eyes and hands to heaven, and with gushing tears cried
+aloud, 'Stop, Gabriel! stop, Gabriel! stop, ere you enter the sacred
+portals, and yet carry with you the news of one sinner converted to
+God.' He then, in the most simple but energetic language, described
+what he called a Saviour's dying love to sinful man, so that almost
+the whole assembly melted into tears. This address was accompanied
+with such animated, yet natural action, that it surpassed any thing
+I ever saw or heard in any other preacher."
+
+In the summer of 1751, Whitefield paid a second visit to Ireland,
+and was most hospitably received in Dublin by a respectable and
+opulent gentleman named Lunell, who had been brought to Christ by
+the first Methodist itinerant preacher in that city. During this
+excursion, Whitefield preached about eighty sermons, fourteen
+of them in Dublin, and seven in Limerick. His hearers in Dublin
+organized themselves into a public society, which does not seem
+to have met his approbation. He says, "This morning I have been
+talking with dear Mr. Adams, and can not help thinking that you
+have run before the Lord, in forming yourselves into a public
+society as you have done. I am sincere when I profess that I do
+not choose to set myself at the head of any party. When I came to
+Ireland, my intention was to preach the gospel to all; and if it
+should ever please the Lord of all lords to send me thither again,
+I purpose to pursue the same plan. For I am a debtor to all of
+every denomination, and have no design, if I know any thing of this
+desperately wicked and deceitful heart, but to promote the common
+salvation of mankind. The love of Christ constrains me to this."
+
+During this visit, Whitefield a few times ventured out of the city
+to Oxmantown-green, then a large open place, situated near the
+royal barracks, where the Ormond and Liberty boys, two factions
+among the lowest class of the people, generally assembled on the
+Sabbath to fight with each other. The congregations at first were
+very numerous, and deeply affected, nor did any disturbance occur.
+Thus encouraged, the preacher ventured again, and gave notice of
+his intention to resume his labors. He went through the barracks,
+the door of which opened into the green, and pitched his tent near
+the barrack walls, not doubting of the protection, or at least of
+the interposition of the officers and soldiers, if there should be
+occasion for it. The multitude in attendance was indeed vast. After
+singing and prayer, Whitefield preached without molestation, except
+that now and then a few stones and clods of dirt were thrown at
+him. It being war-time, he took occasion to exhort his hearers,
+as was his usual practice, not only to fear God, but to honor the
+king; and prayed for the success of the king of Prussia. When the
+service was over, he thought to return home by the way he came,
+but, to his great surprise, a passage through the barracks was
+denied; and he was compelled to pass from one end of the green to
+the other, through thousands of Roman-catholics. He was unattended;
+for a soldier and four preachers who came with him had fled from
+the scene of danger, and he was seriously attacked by the mob.
+They threw vollies of stones upon him from all quarters, and he
+reeled backwards and forwards till he was almost breathless and
+covered with blood. At length, with great difficulty he staggered
+to the door of a minister's house near the green, which was kindly
+opened to him. For a while he continued speechless, and panting for
+breath; but his weeping friends having given him a cordial, and
+washed his wounds, a coach was procured, in which, amidst the oaths,
+imprecations, and threatenings of the rabble, he got safe home,
+and united in a hymn of thanksgiving with his friends. In a letter
+written to a friend soon after this event, he says, "I received many
+blows and wounds; one was particularly large, and near my temple: I
+thought of Stephen, and was in hopes, like him, to go off in this
+bloody triumph to the immediate presence of my Master."
+
+Unpromising, however, as things were in Ireland, the labors of
+Whitefield, followed as they were by those of the Wesleys, became
+the foundation of a number of Christian societies that proved vast
+blessings to Ireland; and some of them grew into large churches,
+which continue to flourish till this day.
+
+The society to which reference has been made, which assembled
+in Skinner's alley, secured ministerial aid from the late Rev.
+John Edwards, who was one of Whitefield's converts, and among
+the earliest preachers at the Tabernacle in London; and who also
+itinerated over nearly the whole of England, Scotland, and Ireland.
+The period was one of great persecution, and this good man had
+several remarkable preservations from death. At one time, while he
+resided in Dublin, he was returning from preaching at a village,
+when he was seized by a party of rude fellows, who declared they
+would throw him over the bridge into the Liffey. This was observed
+by an opposite political party, residing on the other side of the
+river, who encountered his assailants, and rescued him out of their
+hands, saying he lived on their side the river, and none should hurt
+him. At another time, having preached out of doors, a furious mob
+of the _White-boys_, a political party so called, beset the house
+in which he was, and threatened to burn it to the ground, unless he
+was driven out of it. His anxious friends could see but one way for
+his escape, which was through a window that opened into a garden
+belonging to a justice of the peace, who was himself a violent
+persecutor of the Methodists. Through this window Mr. Edwards was,
+like the apostle Paul, let down in a basket. Here he stood some
+time in great consternation, fearing the family might observe him,
+and charge him with breaking into the garden for improper purposes,
+and so both religion and himself would be injured. At length he
+ventured to knock at the door, and asked for the magistrate, to
+whom he ingenuously stated the facts, and who most generously
+protected and extended to him the hospitalities of his house for two
+days.
+
+One fact more must be told of this excellent man. He resolved to
+visit a town to which had removed a number of soldiers who had
+received benefit from his ministry. He was met, however, by some of
+these pious men, who told him that the inhabitants were determined
+to take his life. Edwards was not to be dissuaded from his purpose;
+and on his arrival he immediately preached in the street, and
+several distinguished persons, including the mayor of the town, came
+to hear him, and by their influence prevented disturbance. After
+the service, the mayor invited him to breakfast with several of
+the principal inhabitants, and told him they were very glad he was
+come--that the people were extremely dissolute in their manners, and
+the clergy, both Protestants and Catholics, exceedingly remiss in
+their duty, and they hoped the Methodists would succeed in reforming
+the town. These gentlemen subscribed to the support of stated
+preaching, and extensive and lasting good was done.
+
+Amid Whitefield's innumerable engagements and declining health,
+Bethesda and his beloved America could not be forgotten. While
+he was at Glasgow during this summer of 1751, he was greatly
+delighted to hear that Mr. Dinwiddie, brother-in-law to the Rev. Mr.
+M'Culloch, of Cambuslang, was appointed governor of Virginia. The
+gospel had been much opposed there, and he thought the appointment
+now made would greatly tend to check persecution.
+
+Whitefield, as it appears to us, now very suddenly determined on
+another voyage to America. He arrived in London from Edinburgh in
+the early part of August, with improved health, the country air
+having healed his hemorrhage. He took a hasty leave of his friends,
+and set sail for Georgia, in the Antelope, Captain M'Lellan, taking
+several orphans with him. He arrived at Savannah Oct. 27, and had
+the happiness of finding the orphan-house in a prosperous condition.
+Here, however, he did not stay long; as in November we hear of
+him in his usual labors, and with his usual ardor engaged in his
+constant work of preaching. Having formerly suffered much from the
+climate of America in the summer, he determined again to embark for
+London, which he did in April. We can scarcely trace his object in
+this journey to and from America, except in some designs of the
+government to place Georgia on a new footing.
+
+In June, 1752, Mr. Whitefield was found in the society of the
+Countess of Huntingdon at Bath, where he continued about three
+weeks, preaching every evening to great numbers of the nobility.
+Here he became acquainted with Mrs. Grinfield, a lady who attended
+on the person of Queen Caroline. "One of Caesar's household,"
+he writes, "hath been lately awakened, through her ladyship's
+instrumentality, and I hope others will meet with the like
+blessing." He afterwards visited her at the palace of St. James,
+and says, "The court, I believe, rings of her, and if she stands, I
+trust she will make a glorious martyr for her blessed Lord."
+
+The Moravians, or United Brethren, were at one period on terms of
+very cordial friendship with the Messrs. Wesley and Whitefield. At
+the time of which we are writing, a series of strange absurdities,
+resembling the adoration of saints and other superstitions of
+popery, developed themselves among members of that body, at the head
+of which then stood Count Zinzendorf, to whom Whitefield wrote an
+urgent remonstrance on the subject. An open separation took place,
+and Mrs. Grinfield, the Rev. John Cennick, and some others, adhered
+to the count, while Whitefield and Lady Huntingdon endeavored to
+bring him back to what they believed the simplicity of the gospel.
+Lady Huntingdon, speaking of her final interview with him, says,
+"Our conference was long, and as the count honored me with his
+company for a few days, was resumed at intervals, always closing
+with a solemn scriptural prayer to our great and glorious Head,
+for the illuminating influences of his Spirit to guide us into all
+truth. We parted with the utmost cordiality."
+
+"Dear Mr. Whitefield's letter," says Lady Huntingdon, "has much
+grieved the count. But his remonstrance is faithful, and the awful
+exposures he has reluctantly been forced to make, may be productive
+of the highest good in opening the eyes of many to the miserable
+delusions under which they lie."
+
+A correspondence, indeed we may say friendship, had for years
+existed between Whitefield and the eminent philosopher Dr. Benjamin
+Franklin. The following, from a letter of Whitefield, August 17,
+1752, shows his fidelity to the eminent citizen and statesman:
+"I find you grow more and more famous in the learned world. As
+you have made a pretty considerable progress in the mysteries
+of electricity, I would now humbly recommend to your diligent,
+unprejudiced pursuit and study, the mystery of the new birth. It
+is a most important, interesting study, and when mastered, will
+richly answer and repay you for all your pains. One, at whose bar
+we are shortly to appear, hath solemnly declared that, without it,
+we cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. You will excuse this
+freedom. I must have _aliquid Christi_--something of Christ, in
+all my letters." This honest letter ought to have delighted the
+philosopher in his closet, even more than the eulogium he heard
+while standing behind the bar of the House of Lords, when Earl
+Chatham said of him, "Franklin is one whom Europe holds in high
+estimation for his knowledge and wisdom; one who is an honor, not to
+the English nation only, but to human nature."
+
+In the course of the summer of 1752, and the following one,
+Whitefield visited Scotland twice, and preached much also throughout
+England and Wales. As usual, he greatly rejoiced in the presence
+and service of God, and never appears to have been more happy than
+in this period of his life. "Since I left Newcastle," he writes, "I
+have scarcely known sometimes whether I have been in heaven or on
+earth. Thousands and thousands flock twice or thrice a day to hear
+the word of life. God favors us with weather, and I would fain make
+hay while the sun shines. Oh that I had as many tongues as there are
+hairs in my head. The ever-loving, ever-lovely Jesus should have
+them all. Fain would I die preaching."
+
+About this period also, Mr. Hervey and he were employed in revising
+each other's manuscripts; the former was then preparing his "Theron
+and Aspasio," a work which, though florid in its style, has been
+eminently useful in conducting many of its readers to a saving
+knowledge of the doctrines of the gospel. Of his friend's writings
+Mr. Whitefield says, "For me to play the critic on them, would be
+like holding up a candle to the sun. However, I will just mark a
+few places, as you desire. I foretell their fate; nothing but your
+scenery can screen you. Self will never bear to die, though slain
+in so genteel a manner, without showing some resentment against its
+artful murderer.... I thank you a thousand times for the trouble you
+have been at in revising my poor compositions, which I am afraid you
+have not treated with a becoming severity. How many pardons shall I
+ask for mangling, and, I fear, murdering your 'Theron and Aspasio?'
+If you think my two sermons will do for the public, pray return them
+immediately. I have nothing to comfort me but this, that the Lord
+chooses the weak things of this world to confound the strong, and
+things that are not, to bring to naught things that are. I write for
+the poor; you for the polite and noble. God will assuredly own and
+bless what you write."
+
+Whitefield was now also very busy in erecting his second London
+Tabernacle, which he dedicated, June 10, 1753. We have, for the sake
+of completing the narrative of its first building, already given in
+our third chapter a statement of the second tabernacle, to which the
+reader is referred.
+
+Both the judgment and inclination of Mr. Whitefield concurred to
+induce him to persevere in his itinerant course, correctly judging
+that in this way he best employed his peculiar talents. After
+preaching, therefore, with his usual fervor and success for a short
+time in his newly erected Tabernacle, he again set out towards
+Scotland, where he spent some days at Edinburgh and Glasgow, and
+preached generally twice, sometimes three times a day, and once five
+times. He says, "Attention sat upon all faces, and friends came
+round like bees, importuning me to stay another week." This he found
+too much for his strength, but still went forward, often expressing
+his desire to serve his divine Master to the utmost limit of his
+power, and his hopes to be with him soon in heaven. During this
+journey, including his return to London, where he arrived the latter
+end of September, he travelled about twelve hundred miles, and
+preached one hundred and eighty times, to many thousands of hearers.
+
+As converts increased in Bristol and its neighborhood, Mr.
+Whitefield felt compelled to erect there also a "tabernacle." Lady
+Huntingdon was one of the earliest contributors to this important
+object, and through her influence Lord Chesterfield gave twenty
+pounds to it. He had no taste for religion, but he well understood
+oratory, and in his letter to Lady Huntingdon covering his
+remittance, he said, "Mr. Whitefield's eloquence is unrivalled, his
+zeal inexhaustible." The Earl of Bath sent fifty pounds, saying,
+"Mocked and reviled as Mr. Whitefield is by all ranks of society,
+still, I contend that the day will come when England will be just,
+and own his greatness as a reformer, and his goodness as a minister
+of the most high God."
+
+The Tabernacle at Bristol was dedicated November 25, 1753, with a
+sermon from Whitefield. Its history is one of deep interest. Its
+early ministers were worthy of any age, but remarkably fitted for
+that in which their lot was cast; men of pith and power, undismayed
+at dangers, braving all kinds of difficulty and toil, and prepared
+equally for labor and sufferings in the cause of their great Master.
+Nor have later ministers dishonored their predecessors; the cause
+still flourishes, and the hallowed house has been the birthplace of
+many eminent Christians. What Whitefield then said of this house
+might often be said of it now: "It is large, but not half large
+enough; for if the place could contain them, nearly as many would
+attend as in London." He always delighted in his visits to this
+place, and laid here a foundation for vast benefits, even to the
+present day. On one of his visits to preach here, he began a series
+of sermons on the evening before the commencement of the fair. His
+text was, "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters; and
+he that hath no money, come ye, buy and eat; yea, come buy wine and
+milk without money, and without price." Isa. 55:1. The congregation
+was large, and thus he began: "My dear hearers, I fear that many of
+you are come to attend Bristol fair. So am I. You do not mean to
+show your goods until to-morrow; but I shall exhibit mine to-night.
+You are afraid purchasers will not come up to your price; but I am
+afraid my buyers will not come down to mine; for mine," striking his
+hand on the Bible, "are 'without money, and without price.'"
+
+After the dedication of this Bristol Tabernacle, Whitefield preached
+in the open air in various parts of Somersetshire, at seven o'clock
+at night. "My hands and body," says he, "were pierced with cold; but
+what are outward things, when the soul is warmed with the love of
+God? The stars shone with exceeding brightness; by an eye of faith
+I saw Him who 'calleth them all by their names.' My soul was filled
+with a holy ambition, and I longed to be one of those who 'shall
+shine as the stars for ever and ever.'"
+
+At this time he had a fine opportunity to show his Christian
+attachment to his old friends. Mr. John Wesley had, by a series
+of extraordinary labors, brought his life into great danger, and
+Whitefield, hearing of this while at Bristol, wrote a sympathizing
+letter to his brother Charles, in which he prays for the descending
+garment of Elijah to rest on the surviving Elisha, and encloses
+an ardent and solemn farewell to the invalid, who was supposed
+to be dying. He says, "The news and prospect of your approaching
+dissolution have quite weighed me down. I pity myself and the
+church, but not you. A radiant throne awaits you, and ere long you
+will enter into your Master's joy. Yonder he stands with a massy
+crown, ready to put it on your head, amidst an admiring throng of
+saints and angels. But I, poor I, that have been waiting for my
+dissolution these nineteen years, must be left behind to grovel here
+below. Well, this is my comfort, it cannot be long ere the chariots
+will be sent even for worthless me. If prayers can detain you, even
+you, reverend and very dear sir, shall not leave us yet. But if the
+decree is gone forth that you must now sleep in Jesus, may he kiss
+your soul away, and give you to die in the embraces of triumphant
+love. If in the land of the living, I hope to pay my best respects
+to you next week. If not, reverend and dear sir, farewell." He had
+soon the satisfaction of witnessing the recovery of his friend, who
+was to survive him more than twenty years.
+
+We have already intimated that Whitefield used his influence in
+Scotland in favor of the New Jersey college, located at Princeton.
+In accordance with his advice, the friends of the college in this
+country sent over the Rev. Samuel Davies, afterwards president of
+the college, and the Rev. Gilbert Tennent, to promote its interests
+in the British islands. A few extracts from the manuscript diary of
+Davies, with the use of which we have been favored for this volume,
+will show the readiness of Whitefield to labor, or to "be nothing,"
+so that the cause of Christ might be advanced. The deputation
+arrived in England in the closing month of 1753, and thus writes
+Davies:
+
+"Wednesday, December 26. Mr. Whitefield having sent us an invitation
+last night to make his house our home during our stay here, we
+were perplexed what to do, lest we should blast the success of our
+mission among the dissenters, who are generally disaffected to him.
+We at length concluded, with the advice of our friends and his, that
+a public intercourse with him would be imprudent, in our present
+situation, and visited him privately this evening; and the kind
+reception he gave us revived dear Mr. Tennent. He spoke in the most
+encouraging manner as to the success of our mission. And in all
+his conversation discovered so much zeal and candor, that I could
+not but admire the man as the wonder of the age. When we returned,
+Mr. Tennent's heart was all on fire, and after we had gone to bed,
+he suggested that we should watch and pray; and we rose and prayed
+together till about three o'clock in the morning.
+
+"Jan. 1. Went in the evening to hear Mr. Whitefield in the
+Tabernacle, a large, spacious building. The assembly was very
+numerous, though not equal to what is common. He preached on the
+parable of the barren fig-tree; and though the discourse was
+incoherent, yet it seemed to me better calculated to do good to
+mankind than all the accurate, languid discourses I ever heard.
+After sermon I enjoyed his pleasing conversation at his house."
+
+It would seem that Messrs. Davies and Tennent had their trials, as
+well as their encouragements. Writing Jan. 14, Mr. Davies says,
+"Spent an hour with Mr. Whitefield. He thinks we have not taken
+the best method in endeavoring to keep in with all parties, but
+should 'come out boldly,' as he expressed it, which would secure the
+affections of the pious people, from whom we might expect the most
+generous contributions." On the evening after this, they dined with
+Whitefield at the house of a common friend, and he rejoiced in the
+abundant success they afterwards met with from nearly all parties.
+
+"Jan. 25. Dined with Mr. Bradbury, who has been in the ministry
+about fifty-seven years. He read us some letters which passed
+between Mr. Whitefield and him, _anno_ 1741; occasioned by Mr.
+Whitefield's reproving him in a letter for singing a song in a
+tavern, in a large company, in praise of old English beef. The old
+gentleman sung it to us, and we found it was partly composed by
+himself, in the high-flying days of Queen Anne. He is a man of a
+singular turn, which would be offensive to the greatest number of
+serious people; but for my part I could say,
+
+    'I knew 'twas his peculiar whim,
+     Nor took it ill, as't came from him.'"
+
+In March, 1754, Whitefield, in company with twenty-two poor
+destitute children, sailed the fifth time for America.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+     FIFTH VISIT TO AMERICA--RENEWED LABORS IN GREAT
+     BRITAIN--TOTTENHAM-COURT-ROAD CHAPEL.
+
+1754-1763.
+
+On this voyage to America, Whitefield sailed for South Carolina by
+way of Lisbon. His health demanded repose; he thought that seeing
+Popery as it is when unrestrained by public opinion, might be of use
+to him in his future labors; and moreover, he had with him a number
+of orphans whom he wished comfortably to settle at Bethesda before
+he visited the northern provinces. It would be pleasant, if our
+limits would allow it, to furnish the letters he wrote from Lisbon
+during nearly four weeks, but a few sentences must suffice: "This
+leaves me an inhabitant of Lisbon. We have now been here almost
+a week, and I suppose shall stay a fortnight longer. A reputable
+merchant has received me into his house, and every day shows me the
+ecclesiastical curiosities of the country. O, my dear friend, bless
+the Lord of all lords, for causing your lot to be cast in such a
+fair ground as England, and giving you such a goodly heritage. It
+is impossible to be sufficiently thankful for civil and religious
+liberty, for simplicity of worship, and powerful preaching of the
+word of God. O for simplicity of manners, and a correspondent
+behavior. The air agrees with my poor constitution extremely well.
+Through divine assistance; I hope what I see will also improve
+my better part, and help to qualify me better for preaching the
+everlasting gospel."
+
+In another letter he writes, "Never did civil and religious liberty
+appear to me in so amiable a light as now. What a spirit must Martin
+Luther and the first reformers be endued with, that dared to appear
+as they did for God. Lord, hasten that blessed time when others,
+excited by the same spirit, shall perform like wonders. Oh, happy
+England! Oh, happy Methodists, who are Methodists indeed! And all I
+account such, who, being dead to sects and parties, aim at nothing
+else but as holy a method of living to, and dying in the blessed
+Jesus."
+
+He was heartily glad to get away from Popish processions and
+superstitious rites, and again to visit his "dear America."
+
+Our evangelist arrived with his orphans at Beaufort, in South
+Carolina, May 27, 1754, greatly improved in health, with a heart
+burning with love and zeal for his Lord and Master. He says, with
+his usual energy, "Oh that I may at length learn to begin to live.
+I am ashamed of my sloth and lukewarmness, and long to be on the
+stretch for God." His family now consisted, "black and white," of
+one hundred and six members, all dependent on his personal efforts
+and influence. He regarded his charge as a stewardship for God, and
+collected accordingly, nothing doubting. It was now summer, and
+besides the oppressive heat, "great thunders, violent lightnings,
+and heavy rains" frequently beat upon him as he journeyed from
+place to place. His health improved, and his spirits rose as he
+advanced on his journey. At Charleston, and elsewhere, his labors
+were received with the same degree of acceptance as formerly, and
+he was much encouraged by the conversion of a clergyman, a faithful
+successor to Mr. Smith of the city just named, and the first student
+sent forth from Bethesda.
+
+He arrived at New York, by water, July 27, and divided his labors
+between that city and Philadelphia almost entirely for nearly two
+months. In the latter city, he tells us, he was seized with violent
+_cholera morbus_, and brought to the gates of death. To use his own
+words, he "had all his cables out, ready to cast anchor within the
+port of eternity;" but he was soon "at sea again," although only
+able to preach once a day for some time. "Everywhere," he says, "a
+divine power accompanied the word, prejudices were removed, and a
+more effectual door opened than ever for preaching the gospel." When
+he looked at "the glorious range for hunting in the American woods,"
+he was at a loss on which hand to turn.... "Affection, intense
+affection cries aloud, Away to New England, _dear_ New England,
+immediately. Providence, and the circumstances of the southern
+provinces, point directly to Virginia."
+
+While thus undecided, he visited his old friend Governor Belcher,
+then governor of New Jersey, and residing at Elizabeth town. He
+found the good old man ripening for heaven, willing to depart and to
+be with Christ. At this time the commencement of New Jersey college
+was held, and as a mark of their respect, the president and trustees
+conferred on him the honorary degree of master of arts. The meeting
+of the synod immediately followed, respecting which body he says,
+"I was much refreshed with the company of the whole synod; such a
+number of simple-hearted, united ministers I never saw before. I
+preached to them several times, and the great Master of assemblies
+was in the midst of us."
+
+Influenced by what he saw and heard in New Jersey, Whitefield
+determined to go to New England, and to return from thence by
+Virginia to Georgia, and made his arrangements accordingly; it would
+comprise a circuit of more than two thousand miles, but he said,
+"The Redeemer's strength will be more than sufficient."
+
+It has been thought that it was during this visit of Whitefield
+to New Jersey, and probably at the table of Governor Belcher,
+that he dined in company with a number of ministers, and held the
+often-reported conversation with "Father Tennent." After dinner,
+Mr. Whitefield adverted to the difficulties attending the Christian
+ministry; lamented that all their zeal availed but little; said that
+he was weary with the burden of the day; and declared his great
+comfort in the thought, that in a short time his work would be done,
+when he should depart and be with Christ. He then appealed to the
+ministers, if it was not their great comfort that they should soon
+go to rest. They generally assented, except Mr. Tennent, who sat
+next to Mr. Whitefield in silence, and by his countenance indicated
+but little pleasure in the conversation.
+
+Seeing this, Mr. Whitefield, gently tapping him on the knee, said,
+"Well, brother Tennent, you are the oldest man among us; do you not
+rejoice to think that your time is so near at hand, when you will
+be called home?" Mr. Tennent bluntly answered, "I have no wish about
+it." Mr. Whitefield pressed him again. Mr. Tennent again answered,
+"No, sir, it is no pleasure to me at all; and if you knew your
+duty, it would be none to you. I have nothing to do with death; my
+business is to live as long as I can, as well as I can, until He
+shall think proper to call me home." Mr. Whitefield still urged for
+an explicit answer to his question, in case the time of death were
+left to his own choice. Mr. Tennent replied, "I have no choice about
+it; I am God's servant, and have engaged to do his business as long
+as he pleases to continue me therein. But now, brother, let me ask
+you a question. What do you think I should say, if I was to send my
+servant into the field to plough; and if at noon I should go to the
+field, and find him lounging under a tree, and complaining, 'Master,
+the sun is very hot, and the ploughing hard; I am weary of the work
+you have appointed me, and am overdone with the heat and burden of
+the day. Do, master, let me return home, and be discharged from this
+hard service?' What should I say? Why, that he was a lazy fellow,
+and that it was his business to do the work that I had appointed
+him, until I should think fit to call him home."
+
+Accompanied by President Burr, Whitefield set out, October 1, for
+Boston, and arrived there on the 9th. Here he stayed a week, and
+saw there, morning after morning, three or four thousand people
+hanging in breathless silence on his lips, and weeping silent tears.
+Whitefield himself calls it "a lovely scene," and says he "never
+saw a more effectual door opened for the gospel. Sinners have been
+awakened, saints quickened, and enemies made at peace with me.
+Grace, grace! Surely my coming here was of God. Convictions _do_
+fasten, and many souls are comforted." Such were the crowds at the
+early sermons, that in order to reach the pulpit, he had to get
+in at the windows of the churches. In a letter to the Countess of
+Huntingdon, he wrote, "In Boston, the tide ran full as high as ever
+your ladyship knew it at Edinburgh, or in any part of Scotland."
+
+While at Boston, Whitefield heard with much pleasure of the
+appointment of his friend Habersham as secretary to the new governor
+of Georgia, and wrote to him, "I wish you joy of your new honor.
+May the King of kings enable you to discharge your trust as becomes
+a good patriot, subject, and Christian. You have now a call, I
+think, to retire from business, and to give up your time to the
+public." Our evangelist travelled north as far as Portsmouth, in
+New Hampshire, generally preaching two or three times a day, till
+November 7, when he took his farewell at Boston, at four o'clock in
+the morning. Speaking of this journey, he says, "What have I seen?
+Dagon falling everywhere before the ark; enemies silenced, or made
+to own the finger of God; and the friends of Jesus triumphing in
+his glorious conquests. A hundredth part cannot be told. We had
+scarcely one dry meeting." When he arrived in the neighborhood of
+Portsmouth, the northern boundary of his journey, he was overwhelmed
+with humility as well as joy, by the large cavalcade which came out
+to meet and welcome him. He says of them, "They were too many;" and
+of this northern journey, "It seems to me the most important one I
+was ever engaged in."
+
+Of no portion of Whitefield's life are we so ignorant as of the
+journey he now made from New England to the South. Journal, letters,
+historians, and newspapers alike fail us. Gillies tells us only that
+from Boston he "proceeded to Rhode Island, and went onward through
+Maryland and Virginia, with a prospect so pleasing, that he lamented
+he had not come sooner. The whole country seemed eager to hear the
+gospel, many coming forty or fifty miles, and a spirit of conviction
+and consolation appeared in every congregation. Prejudices seemed
+to have fled; churches were opened to him; high and low, rich and
+poor, now seemed to think favorably of his ministrations; and
+many acknowledged what God had done for their souls through his
+preaching, when he was there before." It scarcely appears probable
+that he went from Rhode Island to Maryland by water; but if he
+did not, he must have passed through New York, New Jersey, and
+Philadelphia, and we feel somewhat of surprise that no records of
+the journey appear to have been preserved.
+
+Dr. Franklin relates a very characteristic anecdote of Mr.
+Whitefield, which probably occurred in Philadelphia or its
+neighborhood at a period not later than this. "The eloquent orator"
+was preaching in an open field, when a drummer was present, who
+was determined to interrupt the preacher, and rudely beat his drum
+in a violent manner, in order to drown his voice. Whitefield spoke
+very loud, but could not make so much noise as the instrument.
+He therefore called out to the drummer, "Friend, you and I serve
+the two greatest masters existing, but in different callings. You
+beat up for volunteers for King George, I for the Lord Jesus: in
+God's name, then, let us not interrupt each other; the world is
+wide enough for both, and we may get recruits in abundance." This
+speech had such an effect on the drummer, that he went away in great
+good-humor, and left the preacher in full possession of the field.
+
+Virginia, alike from the success of his former labors there, and
+from the general characteristics of the people, must have presented
+a scene of intense interest to Whitefield at this time. Everywhere
+great preparations were made for his coming, and large congregations
+assembled to hear him. It is said, that on one occasion, as he was
+speaking on the banks of one of the rivers of this noble province,
+and spoke of the strength of human depravity, and the insufficiency
+of the means of grace to convert the sinner without the influence
+of the Holy Spirit: "Sinners," said he, "think not that I expect to
+convert a single soul of you by any thing that I can say, without
+the assistance of Him who is 'mighty to save.' Go and stand by that
+river, as it moves on its strong and deep current to the ocean, and
+bid it stop, and see if it will obey you. Just as soon should I
+expect to stop that river by a word, as by my preaching to stop that
+current of sin which is carrying you to perdition. Father in heaven,
+see! they are hurried on towards hell; save them, or they perish!"
+The impression which this address produced on his hearers was so
+strong, that they were ready to respond with trembling, "Save,
+Lord; we perish!"
+
+Whitefield must have been highly gratified on reaching Charleston,
+in attending the ordination of the young minister there, his first
+student from Bethesda, of whom we have already spoken as succeeding
+Mr. Smith; and not less would he rejoice that one of the actors
+at the Charleston theatre had been "snatched as a brand from the
+burning."
+
+Though we have not the exact date of his arrival at Savannah, we
+know that he remained there but a very short time. His health
+again declined, his former vomitings returned with violence, and
+his animal spirits failed with his strength. In February, 1755, we
+again find him at Charleston; and in the latter end of March, he
+embarked for England, arriving, after a comparatively short voyage,
+at Newhaven, in Sussex, May the eighth.
+
+Two strong impressions were made on the mind of Whitefield as he now
+looked on his native land. The first was that of grief on account of
+its condition. Nothing less than war with France was daily expected,
+for the French threatened to invade Britain, and were constantly
+making encroachments on her American colonies. "At this time," he
+says, "next to Jesus Christ, my king and my country were upon my
+heart, I hope I shall always think it my duty, next to inviting
+sinners to the blessed Jesus, to exhort my hearers to resist the
+first approaches of popish tyranny and arbitrary power. O that we
+may be enabled to watch and pray against all the opposition of
+antichrist in our own hearts; for, after all, there lies the most
+dangerous man of sin." His second feeling was one of holy joy; for
+during his absence the preaching of the gospel had been abundantly
+successful. He writes, "Glory be to the great Head of the church!
+The poor despised Methodists are as lively as ever; and in several
+churches the gospel is now preached with power. Many in Oxford are
+awakened to the knowledge of the truth; and I have heard almost
+every week of some fresh minister or another, who seems 'determined
+to know nothing but Jesus Christ, and him crucified.'"
+
+At the Tabernacle in London, as might be expected, Whitefield
+enjoyed what he terms "golden seasons;" but by this time not a few
+of the London clergy had begun to preach Christ with holy fidelity;
+and as this was the principal thing he desired, he says his "call to
+go abroad was still more clear." Indeed, so little did he now esteem
+London as a sphere of labor, and so much did he regard places by the
+amount of their destitution, that he wished at once to return to
+America, without ranging through England or Scotland. Hence he says,
+"Methinks I could set out for America to-morrow, though I have not
+yet entered upon my country range."
+
+But if he loved America most, England loved herself more, and he
+was drawn again into Gloucestershire and Bristol. He went also, at
+the request of Lady Huntingdon, to dedicate the new Tabernacle at
+Norwich, to which we have already referred. At this last place,
+he says, August 30, 1755, "Notwithstanding offences have come,
+there has been a glorious work begun, and is now carrying on. The
+polite and great seem to hear with much attention; and I scarcely
+ever preached a week together with greater freedom." For a long
+period the work of God abundantly prospered in connection with this
+"Tabernacle." Two years after its dedication, the Hon. and Rev.
+Walter Shirley preached some time in it, and had eight hundred
+communicants in fellowship, and he said of them, "Their experience,
+lives, and conversation are so excellent, that there is nothing like
+it in the whole kingdom."
+
+On Whitefield's return to London, there were those who urgently
+entreated him to engage in a new controversy with the Messrs.
+Wesley, some of whose followers had been jealous of his success at
+Norwich. He declined, with his common remark, "I have no time for
+controversy," and reserved what he had to say till he could see them
+"face to face," simply writing to assure them that he had no party
+designs on foot.
+
+Very soon after this, he set out for his northern circuit; and
+wonderfully indeed did the Lord grant him success. One thing,
+however, on this journey grieved him. His friends at Leeds, without
+his knowledge, had built a large church edifice. He saw at once,
+that this circumstance would create an "awful separation among
+the societies" formed by the Messrs. Wesley and his own friends;
+and lost no time in writing to those ministers, that they might
+endeavor to prevent a breach. Both the plan and the spirit of this
+undertaking so grieved him, that he exclaimed, "Oh this self-love,
+this self-will, is the _devil of devils_." This he wrote to Lady
+Huntingdon, a proof that party was not their object; and it is
+pleasant to add, that Whitefield's fears were groundless. Leeds,
+even then, contained population sufficient to fill both houses,
+and the whole movement "fell out rather to the furtherance of the
+gospel." During two months he preached twice, and some days three
+times, to greater numbers than ever before, inviting them to Christ,
+and "exhorting them to pray for King George, and the dear friends
+in America." He heard at this time, that the American ladies were
+making the soldiers' coats; and he immediately wrote to urge his own
+female friends in the new world to be "some of the most active in
+this labor of love."
+
+Though Mr. Whitefield stood very high in the esteem of that class
+of ministers who embraced his views of evangelical truth, and who
+approved the plans he pursued for the evangelization of the world,
+they never considered him perfect, nor were some of them backward,
+when they deemed it needful, to reprove him. In a sermon he once
+preached in Haworth church, Yorkshire, of which his friend Grimshaw
+was the minister, having spoken severely of those professors of the
+gospel who, by their loose and evil conduct, caused the ways of
+truth to be evil spoken of, he intimated his hope, that it was not
+necessary to enlarge much on that topic to the congregation before
+him, who had so long enjoyed the labors of an able and faithful
+preacher; and he was willing to believe that their profiting
+appeared to all men. This latter expression roused Mr. Grimshaw's
+spirit, and notwithstanding his great regard for the preacher, he
+stood up and interrupted him, saying, with a loud voice, "O sir,
+for God's sake, do not speak so; I pray you, do not flatter. I fear
+the greater part of them are going to hell with their eyes open."
+
+Notwithstanding the astonishing labors of Whitefield on this
+tour, he returned to London apparently in full flesh, and was
+congratulated by his friends on his improved appearance. Alas, all
+this, as he well knew, was disease, which indeed very soon became
+apparent. He was seized with inflammatory sore throat, that was
+followed by quinsy, assuming an almost fatal aspect. One physician
+prescribed silence and warmth, and the preacher "promised to be
+very obedient," but a few days afterwards, another recommended a
+perpetual blister: this proposal roused him, and he determined to
+try his own remedy--perpetual preaching. The remedy itself was
+painful, but he said, "When this grand catholicon fails, it is
+all over with me." At this time the sad news of the earthquake at
+Lisbon arrived in London; he was unable to preach on the subject,
+but when told of it he said, "Blessed be God, I am ready; I know
+that my Redeemer liveth. Oh that all in Portugal had known this!
+Then an earthquake would only be a _rumbling_ chariot to carry the
+soul to God. Poor Lisbon, how soon are thy riches and superstitious
+pageantry swallowed up!"
+
+In the winter of 1755-6, he was applied to to preach in the vicinity
+of the two great theatres, which he began to do in Long Acre chapel.
+Disturbances took place, and the Bishop of London interposed to stop
+him. In the end he erected Tottenham Court-road chapel, as already
+detailed in our third chapter.
+
+Mr. Whitefield's ministry in London at this time was still
+successful. Thousands hung on his lips with delight, not a few of
+whom were won to the service of Christ. He tells us, among many
+similar facts, of the conversion of a Mr. Crane, who was afterwards
+appointed steward of the orphan-house in Georgia. This gentleman
+had one evening determined to visit the theatre, and set out
+for Drury-lane; that house being crowded, he resolved to go to
+Covent-garden; that also being so full that he could not obtain
+admittance, he changed his plan, and resolved on being entertained
+with one of Whitefield's sermons, and hastened to Tottenham
+Court-road chapel. It pleased God to impress the word on his heart,
+and he became an eminent Christian. So truly is the prediction
+verified, "I am found of them who sought me not."
+
+During this year he published "A Short Address to Persons of all
+Denominations, occasioned by an Alarm of an intended Invasion."
+We have examined it, and not without pleasure. It is a faithful
+exposure of Popery and its bitter fruits.
+
+It is a charge often preferred against the faithful ministers of
+Christ, by those whose consciences testify to their own guilt,
+that they are _personal_ in their remarks, and mean to censure
+particular individuals. It is certain that this was often done by
+Mr. Whitefield, and sometimes with very happy effect. He once drew,
+from the conduct of his female servant, the picture of a Christian
+failing in his duty, which painfully distressed her, till he gave
+her an assurance of his entire forgiveness.
+
+Nor was this the only time when his hearers were compelled to
+feel, "he means _me_." The celebrated comedian, Shuter, had a great
+personal regard for Mr. Whitefield, and not unfrequently attended
+his ministry. At one period of his popularity he was acting in
+a drama under the character of _Ramble_. During the run of the
+performance, he attended service at Tottenham Court chapel, and was
+seated in a pew exactly opposite the pulpit. Mr. Whitefield on that
+occasion gave full vent to his feelings, and in his own energetic
+manner invited sinners to the Saviour. While doing this, fixing his
+eye full on Shuter, he added, "And thou, poor _Ramble_, who hast
+long rambled from him, come also. Oh, end your rambling by coming
+to Jesus." Shuter was exceedingly struck, and going afterwards to
+Whitefield, he said, "I thought I should have fainted; how could you
+serve me so?"
+
+In the early part of 1756, Whitefield was engaged in London,
+preaching and collecting for the poor not only at Bethesda, but
+also for the French Protestants. At the Tabernacle, a man came up
+to him in the pulpit, threatening his life, and handing him three
+anonymous letters denouncing sudden and certain death, unless he
+ceased to preach and to pursue the offenders by law. One of these
+letters Whitefield sent to the government, who at once offered a
+reward, and his majesty's pardon, to any one who would discover
+the writer. While this fact gratified, it also embarrassed him. He
+wrote to Lady Huntingdon, "My greatest distress is to act so as to
+avoid rashness on the one hand, and timidity on the other." For his
+own sake, he would not have cared about the matter; but looking at
+it as connected with the cause of civil and religious freedom, he
+wisely allowed the law to take its course at the hazard of his own
+life by assassination. Agreeably with the advice of the government,
+he carried the whole affair into the court of the King's Bench; this
+alarmed the offenders, and the annoyance ceased.
+
+We next find him at Bristol, but not to rest, though the labors
+and anxieties of the winter and spring had nearly worn out his
+strength and spirits. Here he preached as usual, and then returned
+to London. During this journey he preached in several places
+in Gloucestershire, his native county, and in Bradford, Frome,
+Warminster, and Portsmouth, spending about three months in the tour.
+
+In the county which gave Whitefield birth, is still to be seen
+a chair on which he often sat, and on which may be yet read the
+following lines:
+
+    "If love of souls should e'er be wanting here,
+     Remember me, for I am Whitefield's chair;
+     I bore his weight, was witness to his fears,
+     His earnest prayers, his interesting tears.
+     His holy soul was fired with love divine:
+     If thine be such, sit down and call me _thine_."
+
+A very few weeks passed, and we find him in Kent. In a letter
+written July 27, after his visit to that county, he says, "The
+gospel flourishes in London. I am just returned from preaching at
+Sheerness, Chatham, and in the camp." On the next day he set off
+towards Scotland. On August 14, he writes from Sunderland, "How
+swiftly doth my precious time pass away! It is now a fortnight since
+I came to Leeds, in and about which I preached eight days, thrice
+almost every day, to thronged and affected auditories. On Sunday
+last at Bradford, in the morning, the auditory consisted of about
+ten thousand; at noon and in the evening, at Birstal, to nearly
+double the number. Though hoarse, I was helped to speak so that all
+heard. Next morning I took a sorrowful leave of Leeds, preached at
+Doncaster at noon, and at York the same night. On Wednesday, at
+Warstall, about fifty miles off; on Thursday, twice at Yarm; and
+last night and this morning, here." Wherever he labored, he heard
+of the good effects of his preaching in those places last year, and
+was constantly finding "many trophies of redeeming love." Such was
+the effect of the two sermons he preached at Birstal, that "several
+hundreds rode eight miles with him in the evening, singing and
+praising God."
+
+In a day or two after this, we find him at Edinburgh and Glasgow,
+preaching, as usual, to vast crowds, and with his accustomed
+success. At the former places especially, even politicians gave him
+a cordial welcome, and thronged to hear him, while the newspapers
+applauded him for his spirit-stirring exposures of "Popish
+tyranny and arbitrary power." He preached twice every day in the
+Orphan-hospital park, and blended with almost every sermon rousing
+appeals to the Protestantism, courage, and loyalty of the Scotch.
+At the close of one of his sermons he pleaded the cause of the poor
+Highlanders, and collected at its close about three hundred dollars.
+
+On his way back to London, Whitefield held a peculiarly solemn
+and refreshing meeting with his friends at Leeds; and after it,
+he braced his nerves by a tour of _mountain preaching_ in company
+with his friend Grimshaw. But it was now late in October, and
+as he found "these cold countries bringing on his last year's
+disorder," and having, as he significantly says, "grown very
+prudent," he returned to London, and dedicated Tottenham Court-road
+church edifice. Another errand also had taken him to that city.
+The new governor of Georgia had sent for him, to consult with him
+before sailing to that colony. Whitefield met him, and was so much
+delighted with him, that he wrote off to Bethesda to prepare them
+for a _state_ visit. He says, "Waited upon his excellency, and gave
+him, and all whom he pleases to bring, an invitation to Bethesda.
+Dear Mrs. C---- will make proper provision." He went even farther,
+and proposed that the governor, if possible, should be received at
+Bethesda with military honors.
+
+The success of his new house of worship in Tottenham Court-road
+showed the necessity and propriety of its erection on that spot.
+Several persons of distinction came, and engaged permanent seats;
+and the place was often so crowded, that hundreds were unable to
+obtain admission. It was now usual with him to preach about fifteen
+times every week, which, with a weak appetite, want of rest, and
+much care upon his mind, greatly enfeebled him. He writes, "But the
+joy of the Lord is my strength; and my greatest grief is, that I can
+do no more for Him who hath done and suffered so much for me."
+
+In the following year, 1757, Whitefield planned another journey to
+Scotland, at the time the general assembly of the church was held.
+Before leaving London, he had placed the affairs of his projected
+college in the hands of Lord Halifax, and he now seems to have
+hoped that this journey to Scotland would have promoted that object,
+as well as others. It is said, that about a hundred ministers at a
+time attended his sermons, thirty of whom invited him to a public
+entertainment. Lord Cathcart, his majesty's commissioner to the
+assembly, also invited him to his own table. Whitefield says that he
+preached "just fifty times" on this visit, which extended to about a
+month.
+
+From Scotland he went, in June, as we have seen, to Ireland, and
+enjoyed, in the midst of no small persecution, much preaching, and
+much success. On his return to London, he found that the governor
+of Georgia had visited Bethesda, and promised to communicate
+his sentiments to Lord Halifax, "concerning its being enlarged
+into a college;" but the pressure of public affairs hindered his
+application to the government. Bad news arrived from America, "about
+the fleet," and therefore Whitefield kept a fast-day at his houses
+of worship.
+
+The health of our evangelist now sadly failed. He was brought to
+live on the "short allowance of preaching but once a day, and thrice
+on the Sunday;" very "short allowance" for _him_. Once, however, he
+broke through the restraint, and preached three times on the success
+of the king of Prussia; which, he says, "somewhat _recovered_" him,
+after he had been for a week at the gates of the grave. He was not
+able this winter to attempt what he considered great things; but
+Tottenham Court was his _Bethel_, as he called it. This house was
+then surrounded by a beautiful piece of ground, and he formed the
+plan of building on it an almshouse for "twelve godly widows,"
+as a "standing monument that the Methodists were not against good
+works." This charity he soon carried into effect. His thoughts,
+however, were not confined to home. Although broken down in health
+and spirits, by weakness and want of rest, he watched the affairs of
+Prussia with intense interest, and assured the German Protestants,
+through Professor Francke, that "we looked on their distresses as
+our own."
+
+In the spring of 1758, he laid the foundation-stone of his
+almshouse, and in June of the same year began to select its inmates.
+Pointing to these houses, some years afterwards, he said to a
+gentleman who was visiting him, "Those are my redoubts. The prayers
+of the poor women who reside in them, protect me in my house."
+Having arranged for the supply of his London pulpits, Whitefield
+went into the west of England, and proceeded from thence into Wales.
+But his health was so feeble, that he could not bear to drive, nor
+even ride in a one-horse chaise. The roads were rough, and riding
+shook him nearly to pieces. "Every thing," he says, "wearies this
+shattered bark now." A friend purchased for him a close chaise,
+advancing the money until he could conveniently repay it. He
+deeply felt this kindness, because by no other means could he have
+itinerated. "I would not," he says, "lay out a single farthing but
+for my blessed Master; but it is inconceivable what I have undergone
+these three weeks. _I never was so before._ O for a _hearse_ to
+carry my weary carcass to the wished for grave." During all this
+tour he was unable to sit up in company even once; yet he often
+preached to ten or fifteen thousand people, and made their "tears
+flow like water from the rock." His views of himself at this time
+were more than usually humble. He said to Lady Huntingdon, "Oh, I
+am sick--sick in body, but infinitely more so in mind, to see so
+much dross in my soul. Blessed be God, there is One who will sit as
+a refiner's fire, to purify the sons of Levi. I write out of the
+burning bush. Christ is there; Christ is there!"
+
+Among the many illustrations of Scripture which Whitefield often
+introduced into his sermons, one is truly worthy of record.
+Preaching from the words, "Wherefore, glorify ye the Lord in the
+fires," Isa. 24:15, he says, "When I was, some years ago, at
+Shields, I went into a glass-house, and standing very attentively,
+I saw several masses of burning glass of various forms. The workman
+took one piece of glass, and put it into one furnace, then he put
+it into a second, and then into a third. I asked him, 'Why do you
+put that into so many fires?' He answered me, 'Oh, sir, the first
+was not hot enough, nor the second, and therefore we put it into the
+third, and that will make it transparent.' 'Oh,' thought I, 'does
+this man put this glass into one furnace after another, that it
+may be rendered perfect? Oh, my God, put me into one furnace after
+another, that my soul may be transparent, that I may see God as he
+is.'"
+
+In the month of July, Whitefield again set out for Scotland,
+preaching on his way in many pulpits, including "Bishop Bunyan's,"
+as he used to call him, at Bedford, Berridge's at Everton, and
+Doddridge's at Northampton. Four Episcopal clergymen lent him their
+pulpits. His health received, for some time, little benefit, so that
+he sometimes feared he must return. But he adds, "Through divine
+strength, I hope to go forward; and shall strive, as much as in me
+lies, to die in this glorious work." He preached and collected in
+Scotland with his accustomed energy and success, and returned to
+London with his health somewhat renovated. This year he lost by
+death some of his earliest and warmest friends, including Hervey in
+England, and Presidents Burr and Edwards, and Governor Belcher, in
+America. Such removals gave him also "a desire to depart," but his
+work on earth was not yet done.
+
+Three principal facts connected with our evangelist may be said to
+mark the year 1759. One was, that he had the satisfaction to clear
+off all his debts for the orphan-house. "Bethesda's God," he writes,
+"lives for ever, and is faithful and all-sufficient." He longed
+again to visit America, but several difficulties intervened for the
+present.
+
+A second event which marked the year, was another journey to
+Scotland. He complains in his letters, that though his congregations
+at Edinburgh and Glasgow were never more numerous and attentive,
+yet, with respect to the power of religion, it was a dead time in
+Scotland, in comparison with London and several other parts of
+England. His presence in Scotland, however, at this time was very
+important, especially in collecting for his orphan-house and the
+Highland Society for the support of children. Many Scottish soldiers
+were now in America, which greatly increased the interest felt in
+every thing relating to it.
+
+In this year, 1759, Mr. Whitefield also for the first time
+visited Brighthelmstone, now called Brighton, a very fashionable
+watering-place, where George IV. afterwards, while regent, built a
+tawdry tasteless palace. The preacher's first sermon was delivered
+under a tree in a field behind the White Lion inn. Among his
+congregation on that day was a young man named Tuppen, about
+eighteen years of age. He had been educated by a pious mother in
+the strict observance of the external parts of religion, but was
+entirely destitute of its power. He attended not so much from
+curiosity, as from the intention to insult and interrupt the
+preacher. He tells us, "I had therefore provided myself with stones
+in my pocket, if opportunity offered, to pelt the preacher; but
+I had not heard long, before the stone was taken out of my heart
+of flesh; and then the other stones, with shame and weeping, were
+dropped one by one out upon the ground." The words, "Turn ye, turn
+ye," became the means of turning him from sin to God. Mr. Tuppen
+became an excellent Christian minister, and labored as a pastor for
+some years in Portsmouth. He then removed to the city of Bath, where
+he originated a congregation, and built a house for public worship.
+He was succeeded in this important sphere by the late distinguished
+William Jay, who labored there for about sixty-four years.
+
+Such was the prosperity attendant on the efforts of Messrs.
+Whitefield, Madan, Romaine, Berridge, Venn, and Fletcher, at
+Brighton, that Lady Huntingdon felt it her duty to erect a church
+edifice there, and being unable to do it in any other way, sold her
+jewels to the amount of nearly three thousand five hundred dollars.
+The cause still flourishes there, and very many have been turned to
+righteousness.
+
+While Whitefield's ministry at the Tabernacle was at its height of
+popularity, Foote, a comedian of eminent talent for mimicry, who
+was frequently in difficulties on account of his love of ridicule,
+by which indeed his life was shortened, employed his wit to bring
+the distinguished preacher into contempt. One of his biographers
+says, that "very pressing embarrassments in his affairs compelled
+him to bring out his comedy of '_The Minor_,' in 1760, to ridicule
+Methodism, which, though successful, gave great offence, and was at
+last suppressed." Of this miserable piece of buffoonery, it may be
+enough to say, that Foote, and the agents employed at the Tabernacle
+and Tottenham Court-road chapel to collect materials from Whitefield
+for the accomplishment of their object, were so disgracefully
+ignorant of the inspired writings, as not to know that what they
+took for Mr. Whitefield's peculiar language was that of the word of
+God.
+
+Lady Huntingdon interposed in the matter, first with the Lord
+Chamberlain, by whose license alone any play could then be performed
+in London, and then with Mr. Garrick, the latter of whom assured her
+that he would use his influence to exclude it, and added, that had
+he been aware of the offence it was adapted to give, it should never
+have appeared with his concurrence. The representation of this piece
+of mummery, as might have been expected, considerably increased
+Whitefield's popularity, and brought thousands of new persons to
+hear the gospel: thus Providence gave him the victory over his
+opposers.
+
+To report the sicknesses, the labors, and the successes of
+Whitefield from this time to that of his sixth embarkation for
+America, would be little more than a repetition of the past. Suffice
+it to say, that in England, and in Scotland, he labored amid much
+ill-health, and surrounded with many dangers; but at length, having
+found an Episcopal clergyman, the Rev. John Berridge, a man of
+somewhat eccentric manners, but of great learning, of eminent piety,
+and of burning zeal, who was willing to labor for a time in London,
+Whitefield set sail in the ship Fanny, Captain Archibald Galbraith,
+bound from Greenock to Virginia, June 1, 1763, and arrived at
+Rappahannock, after a tedious, but otherwise pleasant voyage of
+about twelve weeks, in the last week of August.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+SIXTH VISIT AND LABORS IN AMERICA--RENEWED LABORS IN GREAT BRITAIN.
+
+1763-1767.
+
+
+Whitefield was now for the sixth time in America. He was twelve
+weeks on the voyage; but though tedious, it had done him good. "I
+enjoyed," he says, "that quietness which I have in vain sought after
+for some years on shore." Owing to the violence of his asthma, he
+had set sail "with but little hopes of farther public usefulness;"
+but after being six weeks at sea, he wrote to a friend, "Who knows
+but our latter end may _yet_ increase? If not in public usefulness,
+Lord Jesus, let it be in heart-holiness. I know who says Amen. I
+add, Amen and amen."
+
+On his arrival in Virginia, Whitefield was surrounded by many
+Christian friends, the fruits of his former labors in that colony,
+but whom he had not hitherto known. It was with great difficulty,
+however, that he preached to them; for though his general health
+was better, his breathing was very bad. The months of September,
+October, and November, he spent in Philadelphia. He says, "Here are
+some young bright witnesses rising up in the church. Perhaps I have
+already conversed with forty _new creature_ ministers of various
+denominations. Sixteen popular students, I am credibly informed,
+were converted in New Jersey college last year. What an open door if
+I had strength! Last Tuesday we had a remarkable season among the
+Lutherans; children and grown people were much impressed." Ill as he
+was, he preached twice a week, and with his usual success.
+
+He intensely desired at this time to visit Georgia, but was
+absolutely prohibited by his physicians, till he had recovered his
+strength. In the end of November, therefore, he passed over into New
+Jersey, visiting the college, and Elizabethtown. He tells us that
+at the college he had "four sweet seasons." His spirits rose at the
+sight of the young soldiers who were to fight when he had fallen. It
+was now winter, and "cold weather and a warm heart" put him in good
+spirits, so that he was able to preach three times a week.
+
+A young man, a member of the college, hearing that Whitefield was
+to preach in the neighborhood, and being more than a little anxious
+to ascertain whether he really deserved all the celebrity he
+enjoyed, went to hear him. The day was very rainy, and the audience
+was small; the preacher, accustomed to address thousands, did not
+feel his powers called forth as at other times. After having heard
+about one-third part of the sermon, the young man said to himself,
+"The man is not so great a wonder after all--quite commonplace and
+superficial--nothing but show, and not a great deal of that;" and
+looking round upon the audience, he saw that they appeared about as
+uninterested as usual, and that old father ----, who sat directly
+in front of the pulpit, and who always went to sleep after hearing
+the text and plan of the sermon, was enjoying his accustomed nap.
+About this time, Whitefield stopped. His face went rapidly through
+many changes, till it looked more like a rising thunder-cloud than
+any thing else; and beginning very deliberately, he said, "If I had
+come to speak to you in my own name, you might rest your elbows upon
+your knees, and your heads upon your hands, and sleep; and once in a
+while look up and say, 'What does the babbler talk of?' But I have
+not come to you in my own name. No; I have come to you in the name
+of the Lord God of hosts, and"--here he brought down his hand and
+foot at once, so as to make the whole house ring--"and I must, and
+will be heard." Every one in the house started, and old father ----
+among the rest. "Aye, aye," continued the preacher, looking at him,
+"I have waked you up, have I? I meant to do it. I am not come here
+to preach to stocks and stones; I have come to you in the name of
+the Lord God of hosts, and I must, and I will have an audience." The
+congregation was fully aroused, and the remaining part of the sermon
+produced a considerable effect.
+
+From New Jersey, Whitefield passed on to New York, where he says,
+"Such a flocking of all ranks I never saw before at New York....
+Prejudices have most strangely subsided. The better sort flock as
+eagerly as the common people, and are fond of coming for private
+gospel conversation. Congregations continue very large, and I trust
+saving impressions are made upon many." Such also was his influence
+as a philanthropist, that though prejudices ran high against the
+Indians, on account of a threatened insurrection in the south, he
+collected about six hundred dollars for Dr. Wheelock's Indian school
+at Lebanon, Conn., which he soon after visited with much pleasure.
+
+An extract of a letter from New York, dated Jan. 23, 1754, which
+appeared in the Boston Gazette, may show the esteem in which he was
+held: "The Rev. George Whitefield has spent seven weeks with us,
+preaching twice a week, with more general approbation than ever; and
+has been treated with great respect by many of the gentlemen and
+merchants of this place. During his stay he preached two charity
+sermons, the one on the occasion of the annual collection for the
+poor, in which double the sum was collected that ever was upon the
+like occasion; the other was for the benefit of Mr. Wheelock's
+Indian school at Lebanon, for which he collected, notwithstanding
+the present prejudices of many people against the Indians, the sum
+of one hundred and twenty pounds. In his last sermon, he took a very
+affectionate leave of the people of this city, who expressed great
+concern at his departure. May God restore this great and good man,
+in whom the gentleman, the Christian, and accomplished orator shine
+forth with such peculiar lustre, to a perfect state of health, and
+continue him long a blessing to the world and the church of Christ."
+
+Leaving New York, he visited and preached, as far as his strength
+would allow, at Easthampton Bridge, Hampton, and Southhold, on
+Long Island; at Shelter Island, and at New London, Norwich, and
+Providence.
+
+Whitefield arrived at Boston in the end of February, 1764, and was
+welcomed by multitudes with cordial affection; and again he saw "the
+Redeemer's stately steps in the great congregation." Boston at that
+time was visited with small-pox, and Whitefield therefore devoted
+much of his labor to the adjacent towns. Writing from Concord, he
+says, "How would you have been delighted to have seen Mr. Wheelock's
+Indians. Such a promising nursery of future missionaries, I believe,
+was never seen in New England before. Pray encourage it with all
+your might." About two months after his arrival in Boston, his
+illness returned, but did not long prevent him from preaching, and
+the people still flocked in crowds to hear him. He left Boston for
+the south; but messengers were sent to entreat his return, and
+especially urged him to renew his six o'clock morning lecture. He
+did return, but was now unable to preach at the early hour they
+desired; he appeared, however, in the pulpit for some time on
+three occasions in the week, and such was the number of converts
+discovered, that after he had left it was proposed to send him a
+book filled with their names, as desiring his return.
+
+We ought to have said, that according to the Boston Gazette,
+about the time of the arrival of Whitefield, "at a meeting of the
+freeholders and other inhabitants of the town of Boston, it was
+unanimously voted that the thanks of the town be given to the Rev.
+George Whitefield, for his charitable care and pains in collecting
+a considerable sum of money in Great Britain for the distressed
+sufferers by the great fire in Boston, 1760. A respectable committee
+was appointed to wait on Mr. Whitefield, to inform him of the vote,
+and present him with a copy thereof."
+
+Notwithstanding the earnest entreaties of his friends, he left
+Boston in the early part of June. On the first of that month he
+wrote, "Friends have even constrained me to stay here, for fear of
+running into the summer's heat. Hitherto I find the benefit of it.
+Whatever it is owing to, through mercy, I am much better in health
+than I was this time twelve months, and can preach thrice a week to
+very large auditories without hurt; and every day I hear of some
+brought under concern. This is all of grace."
+
+Sorrowfully parting from his friends at Boston, Whitefield left them
+for New York by way of New Haven. Here he preached to the students,
+and had taken his leave of them; but such was the impression he had
+made on their minds, that they requested the president to go after
+him, to entreat for another "quarter of an hour's exhortation." He
+complied with the request, and the effect was what he called "the
+_crown_ of the expedition." He continued at New York till the end of
+August. While there he writes, "At present my health is better than
+usual, and as yet I have felt no inconvenience from the summer's
+heat. I have preached twice lately in the fields, and we sat under
+the blessed Redeemer's shadow with great delight. My late excursions
+upon Long Island, I trust, have been blessed. It would surprise you
+to see above one hundred carriages at every sermon in the new world."
+
+On his way to Philadelphia, in September, Whitefield preached at the
+New Jersey college commencement; for which, and for the influence
+he had exerted in favor of the institution, the trustees sent him
+a vote of thanks. His reception at the college was all he could
+desire. The governor and the ex-governor of the state, with many
+other gentlemen, attended, and every other mark of respect was shown
+him. At Philadelphia, he describes the effect of his labors as
+"great indeed," and as usual, he was compelled to exclaim, "Grace,
+grace!"
+
+Leaving Pennsylvania, he went on through Virginia; here he tells
+us, in places as "unlikely as _Rome_ itself," he found societies of
+Christians, formed and led on by a wealthy planter of that colony;
+they met him in a body, wishing publicly to identify themselves with
+him. "Surely the _Londoners_," he writes, "who are fed to the full,
+will not envy the poor souls in these parts. I almost determine to
+come back in the spring" from Georgia to them.
+
+On one occasion, while he was preaching in this colony, a Mr. Allen,
+afterwards a member of the eminent Mr. Davies' church at Hanover,
+and who, with his family, "addicted himself to the ministry of the
+saints," fell on the ground at full length, suddenly, as if shot
+through the heart, and lay for the remainder of the evening as one
+who was dead. His descendants are now very numerous, and many of
+them are among the most zealous Christians in that state.
+
+From Virginia, Whitefield proceeded to South Carolina, and, Nov.
+22, wrote, "At Newbern, last Sunday, good impressions were made. I
+have met with what they call 'New Lights' in almost every place,
+and have the names of several of their preachers." Having preached
+at Charleston, he passed on to Bethesda, and had the happiness to
+find the whole colony in a prosperous condition. Here he spent the
+winter, and writes, "Peace and plenty reign at Bethesda. All things
+go on successfully. God hath given me great favor in the sight of
+the governor, council, and assembly. A memorial was presented for
+an additional grant of lands, consisting of two thousand acres. It
+was immediately complied with. Both houses addressed the governor
+on behalf of the intended college. A warm answer was given; and I
+am now putting every thing in repair, and getting every thing ready
+for that purpose. Every heart seems to leap for joy at the prospect
+of its future usefulness to this and the neighboring colonies. He
+who holdeth the stars in his right hand will direct, in due time,
+whether I shall directly embark for England, or take one tour more
+to the northward. I am in delightful winter quarters for once. His
+excellency dined with me yesterday, and expressed his satisfaction
+in the warmest terms. Who knows how many youths may be trained up
+for the service of the ever-loving and altogether lovely Jesus. Thus
+far, however, we may set up our Ebenezer. Hitherto the bush hath
+been burning, but is not consumed." To this statement he adds, "Mr.
+Wright hath done much in a little time; but he hath worked night and
+day, and not stirred a mile for many weeks. Thanks be to God, all
+outward things are settled on this side the water. The auditing the
+accounts, and laying the foundation for a college, hath silenced
+enemies and comforted friends. The finishing of this affair confirms
+my call to England at this time."
+
+But the intense anxiety of multitudes to hear his preaching,
+prevented Whitefield from leaving America for several months longer.
+He had, indeed, as early as the middle of February, determined not
+to visit New England till his return from Europe; but arriving at
+Charleston, he was compelled to devote to labors there the whole
+month of March, and then set out for Philadelphia, preaching at many
+places on his way. He says, "All the way from Charleston to this
+place the cry is, 'For Christ's sake, stay and preach to us.' Oh for
+a thousand lives to spend for Jesus."
+
+The heat of the weather made it indispensable for his health that
+he should go to sea, and July 5th he once more arrived in England,
+on his last return voyage from America. He says, "We have had but
+a twenty-eight days' passage. The transition has been so sudden,
+that I can scarcely believe that I am in England. I hope, ere long,
+to have a more sudden transition into a better country." When he
+arrived in his native land, he was ill of a nervous fever, which
+left him extremely weak in body, and unable to exert himself as
+formerly. Yet, still intent on his work, he did what he could, in
+expectation of soon entering into his eternal rest. "Oh, to end life
+well!" he writes; "methinks I have now but one river to pass over.
+And we know of One who can carry us over without being ankle deep."
+
+On Whitefield's arrival in England, he found that his excellent
+friend the Countess of Huntingdon was erecting a large and beautiful
+church edifice in the fashionable city of Bath, and to that place he
+at once repaired. There he found several of his clerical brethren
+preaching in the private chapel at Bretby Hall, belonging to the
+Earl of Chesterfield, who had placed it for the time being at the
+disposal of Lady Huntingdon. On Whitefield's arrival, this place was
+of necessity exchanged for the Park, where the concourse of people
+was as vast as ever.
+
+October 6, he preached the dedicatory sermon of Lady Huntingdon's
+church at Bath, to an immense crowd. To his friend Robert Keen,
+Esq., one of the managers of his London houses, he wrote, "Could
+you have come, and have been present at the opening of the chapel,
+you would have been much pleased. The building is extremely plain,
+and yet equally grand. A most beautiful original! All was conducted
+with great solemnity. Though a wet day, the place was very full, and
+assuredly the great Shepherd and Bishop of souls consecrated and
+made it holy ground by his presence."
+
+He made but a short stay at Bath, and returned to London, still
+feeble and tottering, but still compelled to labor. He had an
+interview with his old friend John Wesley, who says of him, "He
+seemed to be an old man, being fairly worn out in his Master's
+service, though he has hardly seen fifty years; and yet it pleases
+God that I, who am now in my sixty-third year, find no disorder,
+no weakness, no decay, no difference from what I was at five and
+twenty, only that I have fewer teeth, and more gray hairs." Writing
+to a friend at Sheerness, in Kent, Jan. 18, 1766, Whitefield says,
+"I am sorry to acquaint you that it is not in my power to comply
+with your request, for want of more assistance. I am confined in
+town with the care of two important posts, when I am only fit to be
+put into some garrison among invalids." By some means, however, he
+obtained a release, for in March we find him at Bath and Bristol.
+Writing, March 17, he says, "The uncertainty of my motions has made
+me slow in writing; and a desire to be a while free from London
+cares, has made me indifferent about frequent hearing from thence.
+Last Friday evening, and twice yesterday, I preached at Bath, to
+very thronged and brilliant auditories."
+
+Whitefield's interest in America was not lessened by his absence
+from it. He ardently loved it, and wished for the return of its
+peace and prosperity. He hoped, with many others, that the repeal
+of the Stamp Act would lead to this result; hence, we find in his
+Letter-book this entry: "March 16, 1766, Stamp Act repealed. _Gloria
+Deo._"
+
+Among the remarkable men of his day was Samson Occam. He was
+descended, on his mother's side, from Uncas, chief of the Mohegans.
+He was born in 1723, of parents who led a wandering life, depending
+on hunting and fishing for subsistence. None cultivated their
+lands, all dwelt in wigwams, and Samson was one of the very first
+of the tribe who learned to read. About the year 1740, at the age
+of seventeen, he was converted by the labors of Whitefield, Gilbert
+Tennent, and their companions. In a year or two he had learned to
+read his Bible with ease, and to his great advantage. He was a
+pupil at the school originally founded by Dr. Wheelock, at Lebanon,
+Conn., for the benefit exclusively of Indians, four years, and
+was then a teacher for eleven years. In 1759, he was ordained by
+the Suffolk Presbytery, and became an eminently zealous preacher
+to the scattered Mohegans. In 1766, in company with the Rev. Mr.
+Whitaker of Norwich, he went to England to advocate the cause of
+Dr. Wheelock's Indian school, which school was afterwards merged in
+Dartmouth college, of which Mr. Wheelock was also founder and first
+president. Occum preached in the churches of Whitefield and Lady
+Huntingdon, as well as in some others of different denominations. We
+remember half a century ago hearing an old lady at Kidderminster,
+the town of Richard Baxter, describe a scene which occurred in
+Fawcett's church in that town. Occum had preached, and a handsome
+collection had been taken for his object; with tears of gratitude
+and joy the good man thanked them, and in tones which neither the
+weeping nor the mimetic talent of the old lady would allow her fully
+to imitate, assured them that the blessing of many ready to perish
+would come upon them. The place was a Bochim, and nothing could
+prevent the people from having the plates again carried round, that
+they might add to the liberal contributions they had already made.
+
+Occum preached in Great Britain from three to four hundred sermons;
+and as no North American Indian had ever preached in England before,
+public curiosity was great, and his pecuniary success considerable.
+He brought to this country, with his companion, as the produce of
+their labors, more than forty-five thousand dollars. In 1772 he
+published an interesting sermon which he preached to an Indian at
+his execution. An excellent portrait of him was published in England.
+
+Dr. Timothy Dwight writes, "I heard Mr. Occum twice. His
+discourses, though not proofs of superior talents, were decent;
+and his utterance in some degree eloquent. His character at one
+time labored under some imputations; yet there is good reason to
+believe that most, if not all of them were unfounded; and there is
+satisfactory evidence that he was a man of piety." An account of the
+Montauk Indians, written by Occum, is preserved in the "Historical
+Collections." He died at New Stockbridge, N. Y., July, 1792. It has
+been said that the first Sunday-school in these United States was
+founded in the house of his sister, a few months after his death.
+
+Occum was somewhat of a wit, and could well apply his talent in his
+conflict with the enemies of divine truth. He once ended a long
+controversial conversation with a Universalist, by saying, "Well,
+well, remember, if you are correct, I am safe; if you are not
+correct, I am safe. I have two strings to my bow; you have but one."
+
+In June, 1766, we again find Whitefield in the neighborhood of
+Bristol, whence he writes, "As my feverish heat continues, and the
+weather is too wet to travel, I have complied with the advice of
+friends, and have commenced a Hot-wells water drinker twice a day.
+However, twice this week, at six o'clock in the morning, I have
+been enabled to call thirsty souls to come and 'drink of the water
+of life freely.' Tomorrow evening, God willing, the call is to be
+repeated, and again on Sunday." On his return to London, he writes,
+under date of September 25, "Many in this metropolis seem to be on
+the wing for God; the shout of a king is yet heard in the Methodist
+camp. Had I wings, I would gladly fly from pole to pole; but they
+are clipped by thirty years' feeble labors. Twice or thrice a week
+I am permitted to ascend my gospel throne. The love of Christ, I am
+persuaded, will constrain you to pray that the last glimmering of
+an expiring taper may be blessed to the guiding of many, wandering
+souls to the Lamb of God."
+
+The good providence of God now gave Whitefield a colleague in the
+ministry at the Tabernacle and Tottenham Court-road chapel, the Rev.
+Torial Joss. This gentleman had spent many years as captain at sea;
+converted by divine grace, and filled with holy zeal, he devoted
+his popular talents to the welfare of his fellow-men, preaching
+both on sea and land. In a remarkable manner, Mr. Whitefield became
+acquainted with him, and, without his knowledge, published that he
+would preach in his houses of worship, which, though with extreme
+reluctance, Joss did. These services were often renewed, and
+Whitefield gave him no rest till he abandoned the sea, and devoted
+himself to the ministry. Everywhere he was popular, and everywhere
+useful. He continued minister of the two places in London--spending
+four or five months in each year travelling and preaching--for
+twenty-seven years after the death of his friend, and then departed
+from earth, in 1797, in holy triumph, in the 66th year of his age.
+
+One of the most extraordinary men in modern times was the late Rev.
+Rowland Hill, who erected Surrey chapel, London, and continued to
+preach in it till his death, in his eighty-ninth year, in 1833. He
+was eminently dignified in person, possessed extraordinary zeal,
+and was honored by his great Master with probably more success in
+the direct work of saving souls than any other minister of his day.
+He was a man of considerable rank, his father being a gentleman of
+title, one of his brothers a member of Parliament for many years,
+representing his native county, and the late eminent statesman
+and soldier Lord Hill was his nephew. Mr. Hill himself in early
+life became a Christian, and was educated for the ministry in the
+established church, but violated its rules, and preached wherever he
+could; for many years he was greatly persecuted by his own family,
+some of whom, however, in the end sustained the yoke of Christ.
+When Rowland began his somewhat erratic career, the opposition from
+his father was so great, that he was reduced sometimes to extreme
+poverty; and he was exactly the man to be encouraged by such men
+as Whitefield and Berridge. We give a few extracts from letters
+addressed to him by Whitefield, which certainly show no small
+degree of ardor, though we cannot see in them what Hill's clerical
+biographer, Mr. Sidney, professed to find, "an aspiration after the
+honors, when he had no prospect of the sufferings of martyrdom." The
+fact was, that Mr. Sidney was offended with Whitefield, as he was
+with his venerable uncle, Mr. Hill, for having deviated from the
+rigid laws of the establishment. It is only needful to introduce
+the first letter by saying that it was dated, London, December 27,
+1766, and was sent in answer to one in which Mr. Hill had asked his
+counsel.
+
+"About thirty-four years ago, the master of Pembroke college,
+where I was educated, took me to task for visiting the sick and
+going to the prisons. In my haste I said, 'Sir, if it displeaseth
+you I will go no more.' My heart smote me immediately; I repented,
+and went again; he heard of it--threatened--but for fear he should
+be looked on as a persecutor, let me alone. The hearts of all
+are in the Redeemer's hands. I would not have you give way; no,
+not for a moment. The storm is too great to hold long. Visiting
+the sick and imprisoned, and instructing the ignorant, are the
+very vitals of true and undefiled religion. If threatened, denied
+degree, or expelled _for this_, it will be the best degree you can
+take--a glorious preparative for, and a blessed presage of future
+usefulness. I have seen the dreadful consequences of giving way and
+looking back. How many by this wretched cowardice, and fear of the
+cross, have been turned into pillars, not of useful, but of useless
+salt. Now is your time to prove the strength of Jesus yours. If
+opposition did not so much abound, your consolations would not so
+abound. Blind as he is, Satan sees some great good coming on. We
+never prospered so much at Oxford as when we were hissed at and
+reproached as we walked along the streets, as being counted the
+dung and offscouring of all things. That is a poor building which
+a little stinking breath of Satan's vassals can throw down. Your
+house, I trust, is better founded. Is it not built upon a rock? Is
+not that rock the blessed Jesus? The gates of hell, therefore, shall
+not be able to prevail against it. Go on, therefore, my dear man, go
+on. Old Berridge, I believe, would give you the same advice; you are
+honored in sharing his reproach and name. God be praised that you
+are enabled to bless when others blaspheme. God bless and direct and
+support you. He will, he will. Good Lady Huntingdon is in town; she
+will rejoice to hear that you are under the cross. You will not want
+her prayers, or the poor prayers of, my dear honest young friend,
+yours, in an all-conquering Jesus."
+
+The opposition Mr. Hill met with from his parents increased, and
+the threat of his degree being withheld, was, on the part of
+the university authorities, more determined; still, however, he
+persevered in his preaching and his visits, in violation of the
+laws of discipline. In June, 1767, Mr. Whitefield wrote him: "I
+wish you joy of the late high dignity conferred upon you--higher
+than if you were made the greatest professor in the university of
+Cambridge. The honorable degrees you intend giving to your promising
+candidates, [allowing some of his fellow-students to preach in the
+various places which he had visited,] I trust will excite a holy
+ambition, and a holy emulation; let me know who is first honored. As
+I have been admitted to the degree of doctor for near these thirty
+years, I assure you I like my field preferment, my airy pluralities,
+exceedingly well. For these three weeks last past I have been
+beating up for fresh recruits in Gloucestershire and South Wales.
+Thousands and thousands attended, and good Lady Huntingdon was
+present at one of our reviews. Her ladyship's aid-de-camp preached
+in Brecknock-street, and Captain Scott, that glorious field-officer,
+lately fixed up his standard upon dear Mr. Fletcher's horseblock
+at Madeley. Being invited thither, I have a great inclination to
+lift up the Redeemer's ensign next week in the same place; with
+what success, you and your dearly beloved candidates for good
+old methodistical contempt shall know hereafter. God willing, I
+intend fighting my way up to town. Soon after my arrival there,
+I hope thousands and thousands of volleys of prayers, energetic,
+effectual, fervent, heaven-besieging, heaven-opening, heaven-taking
+prayers, shall be poured forth for you all. Oh, my dearly beloved
+and longed-for in the Lord, my bowels yearn towards you. Fear not
+to go without the camp; keep open the correspondence between the
+two universities. Remember the praying legions--they were never
+known to yield. God bless those that are gone to their respective
+_cures_--I say not _livings_, a term of too modern date. Christ is
+our life; Christ is the Levite's inheritance, and Christ will be the
+true disinterested Levite's lot and portion and all. Greet your dear
+young companions whom I saw; they are welcome to write when they
+please. God be your physician under your bodily malady. A thorn, a
+thorn! but Christ's grace will be sufficient for you. To his tender,
+never-failing mercy I commit you."
+
+A few weeks after this, Mr. Hill was much depressed in spirits,
+partly from bodily illness, partly because he was about to leave
+Cambridge and its surrounding villages, where he had latterly so
+frequently preached, but chiefly from the fact that he was going
+home, where he would again meet the frowns of his honored parents,
+for what they deemed his overrighteousness. In the midst of all
+this, however, he knew that he would meet at Hawkstone, his father's
+residence, the cordial welcome of his sister and elder brother,
+Richard Hill, afterwards a baronet. This gentleman had lately become
+a village preacher and a visitor of prisons, like his brother. Under
+these circumstances he was addressed by Whitefield, in his own
+peculiar and energetic style: "What said our Lord to Martha? 'Did I
+not say unto thee, If thou wouldest believe, thou shouldst see the
+glory of God?' Blessed, for ever blessed be the God and Father of
+our Lord Jesus Christ, for what he hath done for your dear brother.
+A preaching, prison-preaching, field-preaching _esquire_, strikes
+more than all the black gowns and lawn sleeves in the world. And
+if I am not mistaken, the great Shepherd and Bishop of souls will
+let the world, and his own children too, know that he will not be
+prescribed to in respect to men, or garbs, or places; much less will
+he be confined to any order or set of men under heaven. I wish you
+both much, very much prosperity. You will have it--_you will have
+it_. This is the way, walk ye in it. Both Tabernacle and [Tottenham
+Court-road] chapel pulpits shall be open to a captain or an esquire
+sent of God. The good news from Oxford is encouraging. Say what they
+will, preaching should be one part of the education of a student in
+divinity. I pray for you night and day."
+
+On the arrival of Mr. Hill at his father's beautiful seat, it was
+his happiness to find that his brother Brian, afterwards useful as
+a clergyman, was added to the number of believers in Christ; he
+learned also, that one of his college friends had been threatened
+to have an exhibition, or yearly gift towards his university
+expenses, withdrawn, unless he renounced his evangelical doctrines
+and practices. The reader will now understand Mr. Whitefield's
+letter: "I have been sadly hindered from answering your last letter,
+delivered to me by your brother. I gave it him to read, and we had,
+I trust, a profitable conference. God be praised if another of your
+brothers is gained. What grace is this! Four or five out of one
+family--it is scarcely to be paralleled. Who knows but the root,
+as well as the branches, may be taken by and by? Abba, Father, all
+things are possible with thee! Steadiness and perseverance in the
+children will be one of the best means, under God, of convincing the
+parents. This present opposition I think cannot last very long; if
+it does, to obey God rather than man, when forbidden to do what is
+undoubted duty, is the invariable rule. Our dear Penty [afterwards
+the Rev. Thomas Pentycross] is under the cross at Cambridge. But
+
+    "'Satan thwarts, and men object,
+      Yet the thing they thwart effect.'
+
+I should be glad if any one's exhibition was taken from him for
+visiting the sick, etc. It would vastly tend to the furtherance of
+the gospel; but Satan sees too far, I imagine, to play such a game
+now. Let him do his work; he is only a mastiff chained. Continue to
+inform me how he barks, and how far he is permitted to go in your
+parts; and God's people shall be more stirred up to pray for you
+all."
+
+The close of Mr. Hill's life was truly interesting and instructive.
+As has been intimated, he preached with scarcely diminished power
+until within a few weeks of his death. During the last two or three
+years of his life he very frequently repeated the following lines of
+an old poet:
+
+              "And when I'm to die,
+               Receive me, I'll cry,
+    For Jesus has loved me, I cannot tell why;
+               But this I can find,
+               We two are so joined,
+    That he'll not be in glory, and leave me behind."
+
+"The last time he occupied my pulpit," writes his neighbor, the Rev.
+George Clayton, "when he preached excellently for an hour, in behalf
+of a charitable institution, he retired to the vestry after service
+under feelings of great and manifest exhaustion. Here he remained
+until every individual except the pew-openers, his servant, and
+myself had left the place. At length he seemed with some reluctance
+to summon energy enough to take his departure, intimating that it
+was in all probability the last time he should preach in Walworth.
+His servant went before to open the carriage-door, the pew-openers
+remaining in the vestry. I offered my arm, which he declined, and
+then followed him as he passed down the aisle of the chapel. The
+lights were nearly extinguished, the silence was profound, nothing
+indeed was heard but the slow majestic tread of his own footsteps,
+when, in an undertone, he thus soliloquized:
+
+                 "'And when I'm to die,' etc.
+
+To my heart this was a scene of unequalled solemnity, nor can I ever
+recur to it without a revival of that hallowed, sacred, shuddering
+sympathy which it originally awakened."
+
+When the good old saint lay literally dying, and when apparently
+unconscious, a friend put his mouth close to his ear, and repeated
+slowly his favorite lines:
+
+                  "And when I'm to die," etc.
+
+The light came back to his fast-fading eye, a smile overspread his
+face, and his lips moved in the ineffectual attempt to articulate
+the words. This was the last sign of consciousness which he gave.
+
+We could almost wish that every disciple of Christ would commit
+these lines, quaint as they are, to memory, and weave them into
+the web of his Christian experience. Confidence in Christ, and
+undeviating adherence to him, can alone enable us to triumph in life
+and death.
+
+In November, 1766, Whitefield again visited Bath and Bristol, and
+then passed on to Gloucestershire and Oxford. Never did so many
+of the nobility attend his ministry as he now saw at Bath, and
+the results of his whole journey were such as to fill him with
+the most devout gratitude. He saw too the number of his clerical
+friends largely increasing, and especially rejoiced in the fact
+that the excellent Fletcher, of Madeley, preached in his pulpits in
+London. He writes of this event, "Dear Mr. Fletcher has become a
+_scandalous_ Tottenham Court preacher.... Were we more scandalous,
+more good would be done.... Still, 'the shout of a king is yet
+heard' in the Methodist camp."
+
+In January, 1767, Whitefield wrote a recommendatory preface to
+the works of John Bunyan, whom he pleasantly designated, "Bishop
+Bunyan;" and as soon as the weather would permit, we find him
+at Norwich, and then at Rodborough, Woodstock, Gloucester, and
+Haverfordwest, from which last place he wrote, "Thousands and
+thousands attend by eight in the morning. Life and light seem to
+fly all around." On a second visit to Gloucester on this tour, he
+wrote, "Blessed be God, I have got on this side the Welsh mountains.
+Blessed be God, I have been on the other side. What a scene last
+Sunday! What a cry for more of the bread of life! But I was quite
+worn down."
+
+In September following, he again visited the north of England,
+writing from day to day in high spirits. September 28, he says,
+"My body feels much fatigued in travelling; comforts in the soul
+overbalance;" and from Leeds, October 3, he writes, "Field and
+street preaching have rather bettered than hurt my bodily health."
+
+Whitefield now returned to London, to sustain a heavy
+disappointment. The negotiations relative to the college at Bethesda
+were this winter brought to an issue. A memorial addressed to his
+Majesty was put into the hands of the clerk of the Privy Council,
+setting forth the great utility of a college in that place to the
+southern provinces; and praying that a charter might be granted upon
+the plan of the college in New Jersey. This memorial was transmitted
+by the clerk of the Privy Council to the lord president, and by his
+lordship referred to the Archbishop of Canterbury, to whom also a
+draft of an intended charter was presented by the Earl of Dartmouth.
+A correspondence followed all this between the archbishop and
+Whitefield; the consequence of which was, that his grace gave the
+draft of the college to the lord president, who promised he would
+consider of it; and gave it as his opinion that "the head of the
+college ought to be a member of the church of England; that this was
+a qualification not to be dispensed with; and also, that the public
+prayers should not be extempore ones, but the liturgy of the church,
+or some other settled and established form." Whitefield replied
+that these restrictions he could by no means agree to, because the
+greatest part of the contributions for the orphan-house came from
+Protestant dissenters; and because he had constantly declared that
+the intended college should be founded upon a broad foundation, and
+no other.
+
+"This," said he, "I judged I was sufficiently warranted to do,
+from the known, long-established, mild, and uncoercive genius of
+the British government; also from your grace's moderation towards
+Protestant dissenters; from the unconquerable attachment of the
+Americans to toleration principles, as well as from the avowed
+habitual feelings of my own heart. This being the case, and as
+your grace, by your silence, seems to be like-minded with the lord
+president; and as your grace's and his lordship's influence will
+undoubtedly extend itself to others, I would beg leave, after
+returning all due acknowledgments, to inform your grace that I
+intend troubling your grace and his lordship no more about this so
+long depending concern. As it hath pleased the great Head of the
+church in some degree to renew my bodily strength, I propose now
+to renew my feeble efforts, and to turn the charity into a more
+generous, and consequently into a more useful channel. I have no
+ambition to be looked upon as the founder of a college; but I would
+fain act the part of an honest man, a disinterested minister of
+Jesus Christ, and a true, catholic, moderate presbyter of the church
+of England."
+
+Thus ended Whitefield's labors to establish a college at Bethesda.
+Berridge, and not a few others of his friends rather rejoiced in his
+disappointment, as they thought there was some fear, uncontrolled as
+the institution might hereafter be by men of established principles
+of piety, that an unconverted ministry might be increased by its
+means.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+     HIS LAST LABORS IN GREAT BRITAIN--COLLEGE AT TREVECCA--EARL OF
+     BUCHAN--TUNBRIDGE WELLS.
+
+1767-1769.
+
+
+Whitefield had abandoned the idea of a charter for a college at
+present, but he was yet ardently desirous of a public academy being
+added to his orphan-house, similar to what existed at Philadelphia
+before a college charter was granted. He thought that if this
+could be done, a better day might arrive, when a charter on broad
+principles might be obtained. He developed his whole plan in a
+letter to Governor Wright. Feeling too the uncertainty of life, he
+wrote to his friend Mr. Keen, "None but God knows what a concern is
+upon me now, in respect of Bethesda. As another voyage, perhaps, may
+be the issue and the result of all at last, I would beg you and my
+dear Mr. H---- to let me have all my papers and letters, that I may
+revise and dispose of them in a proper manner. This can do no hurt,
+come life or come death."
+
+October 28th, 1767, Whitefield preached at the London Tabernacle
+before the society for promoting religious knowledge among the poor,
+usually called, The Book Society. This society had been organized
+seventeen years before this period, and included in it such men as
+Watts, Doddridge, and Gifford. He gave way to all the zeal of his
+heart while he discussed the petition, "Thy kingdom come." Luke
+11:2. The congregation was immense, many had to go away unable
+to obtain admittance. It was believed that a larger number of
+dissenting ministers were present than ever before heard a sermon
+from an Episcopal minister, and the collection reached more than
+five hundred dollars, or above four times the usual amount, besides
+eighty new annual subscribers. After the service, he dined with a
+very large party, including the ministers, where harmony reigned,
+and much respect was shown him.
+
+It may be readily supposed, that with advancing years and increasing
+experience, some changes might have taken place both in the style
+and manner of Whitefield's preaching. The Rev. Cornelius Winter, who
+had become somewhat closely associated with him, says, "He dealt
+more in the explanatory and doctrinal mode on the Sabbath morning
+than at any other time, and sometimes made a little, but by no means
+an improper show of learning. His afternoon sermon was more general
+and exhortatory. In the evening, he drew his bow at a venture;
+vindicated the doctrines of grace, fenced them with articles and
+homilies, referred to the martyr's seal, and exemplified the power
+of divine grace by quotations from the venerable Foxe. Sinners were
+then closely plied, numbers of whom, from curiosity, coming to
+hear for a minute or two, were often compelled to hear the whole
+sermon. How many in the judgment-day will rise to prove that they
+heard to the salvation of the soul. Upon the members of society,
+the practice of Christianity was then usually inculcated, not
+without some pertinent anecdote of a character worthy to be held
+up for an example, and in whose conduct the hints recommended were
+exemplified. On Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays,
+he preached at six in the morning; and never, perhaps, did he
+preach greater sermons than at this hour." This, with the frequent
+administration of the Lord's supper to hundreds of communicants, was
+his usual plan for several years; but now he became more colloquial
+in his style, with but little action; he gave pertinent expositions
+of the Scriptures, with striking remarks, all comprehended within an
+hour. Winter adds, "The peculiar talents he possessed, subservient
+to great usefulness, can be but faintly conceived from his sermons
+in print; though, as formerly, God has made the reading of them
+useful, and I have no doubt that in future they will have their use."
+
+But even yet our evangelist had to engage in war. The opposition
+of the universities in Oxford and Cambridge to the principles and
+practices introduced by Whitefield, Wesley, and their companions,
+grew and strengthened, till an event occurred at Oxford singularly
+remarkable in its history for opposition to evangelical religion,
+which for many years continued to excite very extraordinary
+interest. The London "St. James' Chronicle," of Thursday, March 17,
+1763, contained the following "extract of a letter from Oxford:"
+"On Friday last, six students, belonging to Edmund Hall, were
+expelled the university, after a hearing of several hours before
+Mr. Vice-Chancellor and some of the heads of houses, for holding
+methodistical tenets, and taking upon them to pray, read, and
+expound the Scriptures, and singing hymns in a private house.
+The ---- of the ---- [The Principal of the Edmund Hall, Rev. Dr.
+Dixon] defended their doctrines from the Thirty-nine Articles of
+the established church, and spoke in the highest terms of the piety
+and exemplariness of their lives; but his motion was overruled,
+and sentence pronounced against them. Dr. ----, [Dixon,] one of
+the heads of houses present, observed, that as these six gentlemen
+were expelled for having too much religion, it would be very proper
+to inquire into the conduct of some who had too little; and Mr.
+---- [Dr. Nowell] was heard to tell their chief accuser, that the
+university was much obliged to him for his good work."
+
+To detail the events which followed this extraordinary act, and to
+describe the excitement thus created, form no part of the design of
+our volume. We have referred to the fact because Mr. Whitefield and
+his friend Sir Richard Hill took part in the controversy. Referring
+to Dr. Nowell's assertion to Mr. Higson, their "chief accuser," and
+who was also their tutor, that the university was obliged to him,
+Whitefield says to the Vice-Chancellor, "What thanks, reverend sir,
+he may meet with from the whole university I know not; but one thing
+I know, namely, that he will receive no thanks for that day's work
+from the innumerable company of angels, the general assembly of the
+first-born which are written in heaven, or from God the Judge of
+all, in that day when Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant shall
+come in his own glory, in the glory of the Father and his holy
+angels, and gather his elect from all the four corners of the world.
+
+"It is true, indeed, one article of impeachment was, that 'some of
+them were of _trades_ before they entered into the university.'
+But what evil or crime worthy of expulsion can there be in that?
+To be called from any, though the meanest mechanical employment,
+to the study of the liberal arts, where a natural genius hath been
+given, was never yet looked upon as a reproach to, or diminution of
+any great and public character whatsoever. Profane history affords
+us a variety of examples of the greatest heroes, who have been
+fetched even from the plough to command armies, and who performed
+the greatest exploits for their country's good. And if we examine
+_sacred_ history, we shall find that even David, after he was
+anointed king, looked back with sweet complacency to the rock from
+whence he was hewn, and is not ashamed to leave it upon record, that
+God took him away from the sheepfolds, as he was following the ewes
+great with young; and, as though he loved to repeat it, he took
+him, he says, 'that he might feed Jacob his people, and Israel his
+inheritance.'
+
+"But why speak I of David, when Jesus of Nazareth, David's Lord and
+David's King, had for his reputed father a carpenter? and in all
+probability, as it was a common proverb among the Jews, that 'he
+who did not teach his son a trade, taught him to be a thief,' he
+worked at the trade of a carpenter himself. For this, indeed, he was
+reproached and maligned: 'Is not this,' said they, 'the carpenter's
+son?' Nay, 'Is not this the carpenter?' But who were these
+maligners? The greatest enemies to the power of godliness which
+the world ever saw, the scribes and Pharisees, that 'generation of
+vipers,' as John the Baptist calls them, who, upon every occasion,
+were spitting out their venom, and shooting their arrows, even
+bitter words, against that Son of man, even that Son of God who,
+to display his sovereignty, and confound the wisdom of the worldly
+wise, chose poor fishermen to be his apostles; and whose chief of
+the apostles, though brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, both before
+and after his call to the apostleship, labored with his own hands,
+and worked at the trade of a tent-maker."
+
+It is pleasant to know that the young men thus expelled became
+useful in the church of Christ. One of them, indeed, Erasmus
+Middleton, who had been sustained at Oxford by Mr. Fuller, a
+dissenter and banker in London, was ordained in Ireland by the
+bishop of Down, and having married a lady of the ducal family of
+Gordon, in Scotland, was curate successively to the Rev. Messrs.
+Romaine and Cadogan in London, and finally rector of Turvey, in
+Bedfordshire, where he was the immediate predecessor of the sainted
+Legh Richmond.
+
+Many delightful evidences yet exist that as Whitefield drew nearer
+the end of his career on earth, his holy zeal increased, rather
+than lessened. We have lying before us three of his letters, not
+included either in the collection of his printed correspondence, or
+in the lives which have been published. The first was addressed to a
+gentleman at Wisbeach, and appears to have been written from London.
+It is dated Sept. 25, 1766.
+
+"DEAR SIR--As your letter breathes the spirit of a sincere
+follower of the Lamb of God, I am sorry that it hath lain by
+so long unanswered; but bodily weakness, and a multiplicity of
+correspondents, both from abroad and at home, must be pleaded
+as excuses. 'Blessed be God, our salvation is nearer than when
+we believed.' It should seem that you have now served three
+apprenticeships in Christ's school, and yet I suppose the language
+of your heart is, 'I love my Master, and will not go from him;' and
+Oh, what a mercy, that whom Jesus loves, he loves to the end! Do you
+not begin to long to see him more than ever? Do you not groan in
+this tabernacle, being burdened? Courage, courage; he that cometh
+will come, and will not tarry. Oh that patience may have its perfect
+work! Many in this metropolis seem to be on the wing for God; the
+shout of a king is yet heard in the Methodist camp. Had I wings, I
+would gladly fly from pole to pole; but they are clipped by thirty
+years' feeble labors. Twice or thrice a week I am permitted to
+ascend my gospel throne. The love of Christ, I am persuaded, will
+constrain you to pray that the last glimmering of an expiring taper
+may be blessed to the guiding of many wandering souls to the Lamb of
+God."
+
+The second letter was written from the same city, February 12, in
+the following year, and was addressed to Captain Scott, a military
+officer then "quartered at Leicester." This gentleman, in early
+life, had been much devoted to the gayeties of fashionable society;
+long after he had entered the army, he was converted to God, under
+the ministry of the Rev. W. Romaine; and a few weeks before Mr.
+Whitefield addressed to him this letter, he had begun to preach the
+grand message of reconciliation. He afterwards left the army, was
+ordained as a Congregational minister, and labored for many years in
+almost innumerable places in city and country, with abundant success.
+
+"What, not answer so modest a request, namely, to snatch a few
+moments to send dear Captain Scott a few lines? God forbid. I must
+again welcome him into the field of battle. I must again entreat
+him to keep his rank as captain, and not suffer any persuasions to
+influence him to descend to the low degree of a common soldier. If
+God will choose a red-coat preacher, who shall say unto him, 'What
+doest thou?'
+
+    "Prevent thy foes, nor wait their charge;
+     But call the lingering battle on;
+     But strongly grasp thy seven-fold targe,
+     And bear the world and Satan down.
+
+    "Strong in the Lord's almighty power,
+     And armed in panoply divine,
+     Firm mayest thou stand in danger's hour,
+     And prove the strength of Jesus thine.
+
+    "The helmet of salvation take,
+     The Lord the Spirit's conquering sword;
+     Speak from the word, in lightning speak;
+     Cry out, and thunder from the Lord.
+
+    "Through friends and foes pursue thy way,
+     Be mindful of a dying God;
+     Finish thy course, and win the day,
+     Though called to seal the truth with blood.
+
+"Gladly would I come, and in my poor way endeavor to strengthen your
+hands; but alas, I am fit for nothing, but, as an invalid, to be
+put into some garrison, and now and then put my hand to some old
+gun. Blessed be the Captain of our salvation for drafting out some
+young champions to reconnoitre and attack the enemy. You will beat
+the march in every letter, and bid the common soldiers not halt, but
+go forwards. Good Lady Huntingdon wishes you much prosperity. Pray
+write to her at Brighthelmstone, [now Brighton,] Sussex. She will
+most gladly answer you; and I assure you, her Ladyship's letters
+are always weighty. Hoping one day or another to see your face in
+the flesh, and more than hoping to see you crowned with glory in
+the kingdom of heaven, I must hasten to subscribe myself, my dear
+captain, yours in our all-glorious Captain-general,
+
+  "G. WHITEFIELD."
+
+The last letter we shall introduce in this connection was addressed
+by Whitefield to the Honorable and Rev. Walter Shirley, of Ireland,
+a near relative of the Countess of Huntingdon, who breathed, as a
+minister of Christ, much of the spirit of his great Master. It was
+dated, Bath, Dec. 8, 1767:
+
+"REV. AND VERY DEAR SIR--How glad was I to hear by the London
+Shunamite, [Mrs. Herritage,] that you and your lady were well;
+that God had given you a son; that you reflected on your preaching
+at Tottenham Court chapel with pleasure; that you had gotten a
+curate; and, to complete all, that you intended to visit England
+next spring. This news rejoiced me before I left town, and was most
+grateful to our good Lady Huntingdon, whom I have the honor of
+waiting upon at this time in Bath. She hath been sick, nigh unto
+death, but through mercy is now somewhat recovered, though as
+yet unable to write much. This her ladyship much regrets on your
+account; and therefore enjoins me to inform you, that your letter
+did not reach her hands till many weeks after the proper time; that
+ever since she has been visited with lingering sickness, but begs
+you will not linger in coming over to our Macedonia to help us. The
+thought of it seems to refresh her heaven-born soul. Blessed be God,
+her ladyship still takes the lead.
+
+"She is now doing honor to the remains of the Earl of Buchan, who
+sweetly slept in Jesus last week. All hath been awful, and more
+than awful. On Saturday evening, before the corpse was taken from
+Buchan house, a word of exhortation was given, and a hymn sung
+in the room where the corpse lay. The young Earl stood with his
+hands on the head of the coffin, the Countess Dowager of Buchan
+on his right hand, Lady Ann Agnes, and Lady Isabella Erskine on
+his left, and their brother the Hon. Thomas Erskine next to their
+mother, with Miss O----, Miss W----, Miss G----; on one side
+all the domestics, with a few friends on the other. The word of
+exhortation was received with great solemnity, and most wept under
+the parting prayer. At ten, the corpse was removed to good Lady
+Huntingdon's chapel, where it was deposited within a place railed in
+for that purpose, covered with black baize, and the usual funeral
+concomitants, except escutcheons.
+
+"On Sunday morning, all attended in mourning at early sacrament.
+They were seated by themselves, at the feet of the corpse, and with
+their head servants, received first, and a particular address was
+made to them. Immediately after receiving, these verses were sung
+for them:
+
+    "'Our lives, our blood, we here present,
+      If for thy truth they may be spent:
+      Fulfil thy glorious counsel, Lord;
+      Thy will be done, thy name adored.
+
+    "'Give them thy strength, O God of power,
+      Then let men rave or devils roar,
+      Thy faithful witnesses they'll be;
+      'Tis fixed, they can do all through thee!'
+
+"Then they received this blessing: 'The Lord bless you, and keep
+you; the Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you; the
+Lord cause his face to shine upon you, and give you peace;' and so
+returned to their places.
+
+"Sacrament ended, and a blessed sacrament it was, the noble mourners
+returned to the good Countess of Huntingdon's house, which was lent
+them for the day. At eleven, public worship began. The bereaved
+relatives sat in order within, and the domestics round the outside
+of the rail. The chapel was more than crowded. Near three hundred
+tickets, signed by the present earl, were given out to the nobility
+and gentry, to be admitted. All was hushed and solemn. Proper hymns
+were sung, and I preached on the words, 'Blessed are the dead that
+die in the Lord.' Attention sat on every countenance, and deep
+and almost universal impressions were made. The like scene, and
+if possible more solemn, was exhibited in the evening, and I was
+enabled to preach a second time, and a like power attended the word
+as in the morning. Ever since, there hath been public service and
+preaching twice a day. This is to be continued till Friday morning,
+then all is to be removed to Bristol, in order to be shipped off to
+Scotland. The inscription on the coffin runs thus: 'His life was
+honorable--his death blessed--he sought earnestly peace with God--he
+found it, with unspeakable joy, alone in the merits of Jesus Christ,
+witnessed by the Holy Spirit to his soul--he yet speaketh. Go and do
+likewise.'
+
+"I have often wished for you here. Congregations are very large,
+attentive, and deeply impressed. Great numbers of all ranks crowd
+to see and hear; and I trust many will also feel. Surely the death
+of this noble earl, thus improved, will prove the life of many.
+He behaved like the patriarch Jacob, when by faith, leaning upon
+his staff, he blessed his children. The earl added, 'Yea, and they
+shall be blessed.' He laid his hands on, and blessed his children,
+assuring them of his personal interest in Jesus. He had great
+foretastes of heaven. 'Had I strength of body,' cried he, 'I would
+not be ashamed, before men and angels, to tell what the Lord Jesus
+hath done for my soul. Come, Holy Ghost--come, Holy Ghost; happy,
+happy, happy!' and then sweetly slept in Jesus. All surviving
+relatives still feel the influence. They sit round the corpse,
+attended by their domestics and supporters, twice a day. Good Lady
+S---- gets fresh spirits. The present noble earl, I believe, hath
+got the blessing indeed, and seems, upon the best evidence, to
+determine to know nothing but Jesus Christ, and him crucified. He
+hath behaved in the most delicate manner to the Countess, and other
+noble survivors."
+
+The summer of 1768 brought to Whitefield a series of changes.
+For the last time he now visited Edinburgh, where he found his
+congregations as large, and his Christian friends as affectionate
+as ever. Soon after his return to London, Mrs. Whitefield was
+seized with inflammatory fever, and died, as we have already seen,
+on the 9th of August. His own health too was more than declining.
+He writes, "I have been in hopes of my own departure. Through hard
+writing, and frequent preaching, I have burst a vein. The flux is
+in a great measure stopped; but rest and quietness are strictly
+enjoined."
+
+"Rest and quietness!" With Whitefield such things were impossible as
+long as he could move or speak. His fire must burn till its whole
+material was expended; his heart overflowed, and he must labor till
+his body sank under exhaustion. No persecution could appall him, no
+sickness could long keep him from his beloved engagements. He would
+preach till he died, being fully assured that his "labor was not in
+vain in the Lord."
+
+Neither Whitefield nor any of his friends could ever be the
+advocates of an unlearned ministry. Many of the men engaged under
+his direction, and preaching in what was already called "Lady
+Huntingdon's connection," needed, as they well knew, a better
+education than they possessed. Hence her ladyship obtained a lease
+of an old structure, supposed to have been part of an ancient
+castle erected in the reign of Henry the Second. The date over the
+entrance, now almost effaced, is 1176. It was called Trevecca House,
+was situated in the parish of Talgarth, in South Wales, and was for
+some time the residence of Howel Harris. This building was opened
+as a college for religious and literary instruction, and the chapel
+dedicated to the preaching of the everlasting gospel, Aug. 24, 1768,
+the anniversary of the Bartholomew act, and of the birth of her
+ladyship. Mr. Whitefield preached from Exod. 24:24: "In all places
+where I record my name, I will come unto thee and bless thee;"
+and on the following Sabbath he addressed a congregation of some
+thousands, who assembled in the court before the college. His text
+on that occasion was, "Other foundation can no man lay than that is
+laid, which is Jesus Christ." When speaking of the dedication of the
+college, Mr. Whitefield says, "What we have seen and felt at the
+college is unspeakable."
+
+After her ladyship's death the institution was removed to Cheshunt,
+about thirteen miles north of London, where it still flourishes
+under the presidency of the Rev. Dr. W. H. Stowell.
+
+In the early part of 1769, Mr. Whitefield was for some weeks
+seriously ill, but towards the close of March, he was able to
+write, "Through infinite mercy I have been able to preach four
+days successively." During his illness he received many offers of
+assistance from his brethren in the ministry, but from none more
+cordially than from the Honorable and Rev. Mr. Shirley. Writing to
+him, April 1, Whitefield says:
+
+"How much am I obliged to you for your two kind letters, and more
+especially for the repeated offers of your ministerial assistance.
+They will be most gratefully accepted, and, I humbly hope, be
+remarkably succeeded by Him who hath promised to be with us always,
+even unto the end of the world. Blessed be His name, we have been
+favored with most delightful passover feasts. The shout of the
+King of kings is still heard in the midst of our Methodist camps;
+and the shout of, Grace, grace! resounds from many quarters. Our
+almighty Jesus knows how to build his temple in troublous times. His
+work prospers in the hands of the elect countess, who is gone to
+Bath, much recovered from her late indisposition. Worthy Lady Fanny
+Shirley proposes soon to follow, in order to reside there. Some more
+coronets, I hear, are likely to be laid at the Redeemer's feet. They
+glitter gloriously when set in and surrounded by a _crown of thorns_.
+
+    "'Subjects of the Lord, be bold;
+      esus will his kingdom hold;
+      Wheels encircling wheels must run,
+      Each in course to bring it on.'"
+
+That the friendship of Dr. Franklin towards Mr. Whitefield was
+sincere, cannot be doubted; there is, however, somewhat painful
+in the thought, that even in this connection Franklin could not
+conceal his scepticism. In 1769 both these eminent men were in
+London, and every one knows that the state of our country was very
+trying. Franklin thus wrote to Whitefield: "I am under continued
+apprehensions that we may have bad news from America. The sending
+soldiers to Boston always appeared to me a dangerous step; they
+could do no good, they might occasion mischief. When I consider
+the warm resentment of a people who think themselves injured and
+oppressed, and the common insolence of the soldiery, who are taught
+to consider that people as in rebellion, I cannot but fear the
+consequences of bringing them together. It seems like setting up
+a smith's forge in a magazine of gunpowder. I _see_ with you that
+our affairs are not well managed by our rulers here below; I wish I
+could _believe_ with you, that they are well attended to by those
+above: I rather suspect, from certain circumstances, that though
+the general government of the universe is well administered, our
+particular little affairs are perhaps below notice, and left to take
+the chance of human prudence or imprudence, as either may happen to
+be uppermost. It is, however, an uncomfortable thought, and I leave
+it."
+
+It would have been strange indeed if Whitefield had allowed a
+letter closing in this manner to pass without a remark; hence we
+are prepared to find that, in his own handwriting, at the foot
+of the autograph letter, he wrote, "_Uncomfortable_ indeed! and,
+blessed be God, _unscriptural_; for we are fully assured that 'the
+Lord reigneth,' and are directed to cast _all_ our own care on him,
+because he careth for us." Could Dr. Franklin have seen the splendid
+results of that management which he thought indicated the absence of
+a particular providence--could he have beheld the vast Republic, the
+abode of liberty, commerce, literature, and religion, which in less
+than a century has grown out of the insurgent colonies--he would
+surely have exclaimed, in the language of the prophet, "Verily there
+is a God in the earth!"
+
+In July, Whitefield was called by Lady Huntingdon to visit Tunbridge
+Wells, a popular watering place in Kent, some twenty or thirty miles
+from London, to dedicate a new and beautiful house to the service
+of God. The congregation was far too large to be accommodated within
+the walls; he therefore preached out of doors from a mount in the
+court before the house. His text was, "This is none other but the
+house of God, and this is the gate of heaven." Gen. 28:17. This
+sermon is said to have been one of his most eloquent and thrilling
+efforts; the lofty energy of his tones, the utter forgetfulness
+of himself in the all-absorbing interest of his subject, the very
+impersonation of the truths which he uttered as he stretched forth
+his hand, "Look yonder; what is that I see? It is my agonizing Lord!
+Hark, hark! do you not hear? O earth, earth, earth, hear the word
+of the Lord!" thrilled the vast congregation, riveting the eye,
+piercing the conscience, and holding strong men breathless before
+the resistless might of his inspired eloquence. After the service
+he delivered an exhortation, and on the next day again preached and
+administered the Lord's supper.
+
+He now began to prepare for his _seventh_, and as it proved, his
+_last_ voyage to America, especially to visit his beloved orphans
+and friends in Georgia. The only thing which seems to have grieved
+him, was the pain of parting for a time from his London friends.
+This was nothing new, but his feelings were even less reconciled to
+the event than formerly. "Oh," he says, "these partings! without
+a divine support they would be intolerable. Talk not of taking
+_personal_ leave; you know my _make_. Paul could stand a whipping,
+but not a weeping farewell."
+
+The text of his last sermon was John 10:27, 28: "My sheep hear my
+voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them
+eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man
+pluck them out of my hand." The sermon was printed, and that very
+incorrectly; but a few sentences will show that it was strikingly
+characteristic: "These words, it will be recollected, were uttered
+by Christ at the feast of dedication. This festival was of bare
+human invention, and yet I do not find that our Lord preached
+against it. And I believe that when we see things as we ought, we
+shall not entertain our auditories about rites and ceremonies,
+but about the grand thing. It is the glory of Methodists, that
+while they have been preaching forty years, there has not been,
+that I know of, one single pamphlet published by them about the
+non-essentials of religion.... The Lord divides the world into
+sheep and goats. O sinners, you are come to hear a poor creature
+take his last farewell; but I want you to forget the creature and
+his preaching. I want to lead you further than the Tabernacle--even
+to mount Calvary, to see with what expense of blood Jesus Christ
+purchased 'his own.' Now, before I go any further, will you be so
+good, before the world gets into your hearts, to inquire whether
+you belong to Christ or not. Surely the world did not get into
+your hearts before you rose from your beds. Many of you were up
+sooner than usual. [The sermon was preached at seven o'clock in the
+morning.] I hope the world does not get into your hearts before
+nine. Man, woman, sinner, put thy hand upon thy heart, and say,
+Didst thou ever hear Christ's voice so as to follow him?... I once
+heard Dr. Marryatt, who was not ashamed of 'market language,' say
+at Pinner's Hall, 'God has a great dog to fetch his sheep back
+when they wander.' He sends the devil after them, to bark at them;
+but instead of barking them further off, he barks them back to the
+fold.... 'None shall pluck them out of my hand.' This implies that
+there is always somebody plucking at Christ's sheep. The lust of the
+flesh is plucking; the pride of life is plucking; and the devil is
+continually plucking at them; 'but nothing shall pluck them out of
+my hand;' I have bought them, and am gone to heaven to 'prepare a
+place for them.'"
+
+Of this sermon, as taken in shorthand and printed, Whitefield
+received a copy while at Deal, and was much dissatisfied with it. He
+says, "This morning I received a surreptitious copy of my Tabernacle
+farewell sermon, taken, as the shorthand writer professes,
+verbatim as I spoke it. But surely he is mistaken. The whole is so
+injudiciously paragraphed, and so wretchedly unconnected, that I
+owe no thanks to the misguided, though it may be well-meant zeal of
+the writer and publisher, be they who they will." Had Whitefield
+known that the lad of seventeen who had thus taken down his sermon,
+would hereafter become a devoted and useful minister of Christ, the
+secretary of the London Missionary Society, the originator of the
+London Religious Tract Society, and for many years the editor of the
+London Evangelical Magazine, and the author of "Village Sermons,"
+which have circulated by hundreds of thousands of volumes in both
+hemispheres, how would his heart have warmed towards him. Let us
+copy from the journal of George Burder, as given in his life by his
+son, the Rev. Dr. H. F. Burder, a short passage:
+
+"August, 1769. About this time I heard Mr. Whitefield preach
+several sermons, particularly his two last in London; that at
+Tottenham Court chapel on Sabbath morning, and that at the
+Tabernacle on Wednesday morning at seven o'clock. I remember a
+thought which passed my mind, I think, as I was going to hear his
+last sermon--'Which would I rather be, Garrick or Whitefield?' I
+thought each, in point of oratory, admirable in his way. I doubt not
+conscience told me which was best. I wrote Mr. Whitefield's sermons
+in shorthand, though standing in a crowd. The latter I copied out,
+and by the request of a friend it was printed in about a week. I
+remember sitting up part of a night to write it out, and at the same
+time I observed the comet which then appeared. The sermon was very
+incorrect, and Mr. Whitefield being detained at Deal before he left
+England, saw it, and complained of it."
+
+Before we entirely separate from the Tabernacle, we wish to record
+some other interesting facts associated with it, especially relating
+to Thomas Wilson, Esq., for many years the treasurer of Hoxton,
+afterwards Highbury, college, who gave the ground on which the
+latter building stands, devoted his fortune to the extension of the
+cause of Christ, and in addition to many other noble acts, erected
+five large houses of worship in the British metropolis, capable of
+seating eight thousand persons. The father of this gentleman was for
+many years a devoted deacon of a Congregational church, but entered
+into full sympathy with the labors of Whitefield, attending the
+Tabernacle on Lord's-day evenings. "To this circumstance, perhaps,
+may be traced much of his own zeal for the glory of God, and no
+inconsiderable portion of that public spirit which afterwards
+distinguished his son Thomas, who well remembered being carried
+in his nurse's arms, in company with his parents, to the scene of
+Whitefield's ministry, and listening with such interest as one so
+young was likely to feel, to a preacher of surpassing eloquence
+and power." The Rev. Dr. Morison, one of his biographers, adds:
+"Thus did he imbibe in early life a strong prepossession for
+animated public address, which he never lost in after-years, and
+which he never failed to urge upon all youthful candidates for the
+sacred office. As might have been expected, the Tabernacle became
+his Sabbath home, where he was wont to listen to men of fervent
+eloquence, and of purely evangelical sentiment. He entered, while
+very young, into communion with the church in that place, and
+afforded a pleasing example of early and consistent dedication to
+the service of Christ."
+
+Having finished the service of the Tabernacle which we just now
+described, Whitefield went immediately to Gravesend, twenty miles
+from London, to set sail, embarking in the Friendship, Captain
+Ball, for Charleston. His companions on the voyage were Messrs.
+Winter and Smith, both of them young ministers of lively zeal; and
+the former especially, was distinguished in after-life by great
+success in his labors for Christ and his church. Whitefield wrote,
+"I am comfortable on every side--a civil captain and passengers;
+all willing to attend on divine worship, and to hear of religious
+things."
+
+But delay was the lot of our evangelist and his friends. They
+arrived in the Downs, and had to stay there about a month waiting
+for a fair wind. While here, he was delighted with a most unexpected
+visit from Dr. Gibbons of London, and the Rev. Mr. Bradbury of
+Ramsgate, who had met at Deal to ordain a young minister. He says,
+"Wednesday, Sept. 13, I went on shore, and attended an ordination
+solemnity at the dissenting meeting. Several ministers officiated.
+Several important questions were asked and answered before, and
+a solemn charge given after imposition of hands. But the prayer
+put up in the very act of laying on of hands, by Dr. Gibbons, was
+so affecting, and the looks and behavior of those that joined so
+serious and solemn, that I hardly know when I was more struck under
+any one's ministration. The ordination being over, at the desire
+of the ministers and other gentlemen, I went and dined with them:
+our conversation was edifying; and being informed that many were
+desirous to hear me preach, I willingly complied; and I trust some
+seed was sown the same evening at Deal, which, by God's heavenly
+blessing, will spring up to life eternal. The people of Deal seemed
+very civil, and some came to me who had not forgotten my preaching
+to them, and their deceased friends and parents, thirty-two years
+ago."
+
+Whitefield tells a somewhat amusing anecdote of Dr. Gibbons, on one
+of his visits on board. The worthy doctor was unused to the sea,
+and became sea-sick, so that he was obliged to lie down for some
+time in the state-cabin. "There," says our evangelist, "he learned
+more experimentally to pray for those who do business in the great
+waters." While yet in the Downs, Whitefield preached not only on
+board, but at Ramsgate and elsewhere. On September 25, in company
+with many other ships, they sailed, but soon were again compelled
+to cast anchor over against New Romney and Dungenness. At length,
+however, they cleared the channel, and after a long and dangerous
+voyage arrived safe at Charleston, S. C. Happily, Whitefield's
+health had become greatly renovated, so that he felt better than
+after any voyage he had made for many years. In his memorandum he
+wrote:
+
+"November, 1769. For the last week we were beating about our port,
+within sight of it, and continued for two days in Five-fathom hole,
+just over the bar. A dangerous situation, as the wind blew hard, and
+our ship, like a young Christian, for want of more ballast, would
+not obey the helm. But through infinite mercy, on November 30, a
+pilot-boat came and took us safe ashore to Charleston, having been
+on board almost thirteen weeks. Friends received me most cordially.
+Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his mercies. Oh, to
+begin to be a Christian and minister of Jesus!" On the very day of
+his landing, Whitefield preached at Charleston, and learned from his
+friend Mr. Wright that all was well at Bethesda.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+SEVENTH VISIT AND LABORS IN AMERICA--DEATH.
+
+1769, 1770.
+
+
+Whitefield now lost no time in proceeding to his beloved Bethesda,
+which at present wore a very inviting aspect. Writing, January 11,
+1770, he says, "Every thing exceeds my most sanguine expectations.
+I am almost tempted to say, 'It is good for me to be here;' but all
+must give way to gospel ranging--divine employ!
+
+    "'For this, let men revile my name,
+      I'll shun no cross, I'll fear no shame;
+      All hail, reproach!'"
+
+In another letter he says, "The increase of this colony is almost
+incredible. Two wings are added to the orphan-house, for the
+accommodation of students; of which Governor Wright laid the
+foundation, March 25, 1769."
+
+An official paper of the Georgia legislature will show the esteem in
+which Whitefield was held by that body.
+
+"Commons House of Assembly, Monday, Jan. 29, 1770. Mr. Speaker
+reported, that he, with the house, having waited on the Rev. Mr.
+Whitefield, in consequence of his invitation, at the orphan-house
+academy, heard him preach a very suitable and pious sermon on the
+occasion; and with great pleasure observed the promising appearance
+of improvement towards the good purposes intended, and the decency
+and propriety of behavior of the several residents there; and
+were sensibly affected, when they saw the happy success which has
+attended Whitefield's indefatigable zeal for promoting the welfare
+of the province in general, and the orphan-house in particular.
+Ordered, that this report be printed in the Gazette.
+
+  "JOHN SIMPSON, Clerk."
+
+In pursuance of this vote, we find in the Georgia Gazette as
+follows: "Savannah, January 31, 1770. Last Sunday, his Excellency
+the Governor, Council, and Assembly, having been invited by the
+Rev. Mr. Whitefield, attended divine service in the chapel of the
+orphan-house academy, where prayers were read by the Rev. Mr.
+Ellington, and a very suitable sermon was preached by the Rev. Mr.
+Whitefield, from Zechariah 4:10, 'For who hath despised the day
+of small things?' to the great satisfaction of the auditory; in
+which he took occasion to mention the many discouragements he met
+with, well known to many there, in carrying on the institution for
+upwards of thirty years past, and the present promising prospect of
+its future and more extensive usefulness. After divine service, the
+company were very politely entertained with a handsome and plentiful
+dinner; and were greatly pleased to see the useful improvements
+made in the house, the two additional wings of apartments for
+students, one hundred and fifty feet each in length, and other
+lesser buildings, in so much forwardness; and the whole executed
+with taste, and in so masterly a manner; and being sensible of
+the truly generous and disinterested benefactions derived to the
+province through his means, they expressed their gratitude in the
+most respectful terms."
+
+On February 10, we find a letter written at Charleston by Whitefield
+to his friend Mr. Robert Keen of London:
+
+"Through infinite mercy, this leaves me enjoying a greater share of
+bodily health than I have known for many years. I am now enabled
+to preach almost every day, and my poor feeble labors seem not to
+be in vain in the Lord. Blessed be God, all things are in great
+forwardness at Bethesda. I have conversed with the governor in the
+most explicit manner, more than once, concerning an act of Assembly
+for the establishment of the intended orphan-house college. He most
+readily consents. I have shown him a draft, which he much approves
+of, and all will be finished at my return from the northward; in the
+meanwhile the building will be carried on. As two ministers from New
+Jersey and Rhode Island have been soliciting benefactions for their
+respective colleges, no application of that nature can be made here;
+but the Lord will provide.... Since my being in Charleston, I have
+shown the draft to some persons of great eminence and influence.
+They highly approve of it, and willingly consent to be some of the
+wardens. Nearly twenty are to be of Georgia, and about six of this
+place; one of Philadelphia, one of New York, one of Boston, three of
+Edinburgh, two of Glasgow, and six of London. Those of Georgia and
+South Carolina are to be qualified; the others to be only honorary
+corresponding wardens."
+
+Two days afterwards he again writes to the same friend, "In a few
+months, I hope all will be completed. But what may these few months
+produce? Lord Jesus, prepare us for whatsoever thou hast prepared
+for us, and give peace in our time, for thine infinite mercy's sake.
+You must expect another draft soon. God be praised for that saying,
+'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' You would be pleased
+to see with what attention the people hear the word preached. I have
+been in Charleston near a fortnight--am to preach at a neighboring
+country parish church next Sunday, and hope to see Georgia the week
+following. Perhaps I may sail from thence to the northward, and
+perhaps embark from thence. Lord Jesus, direct my goings in thy way.
+I am blessed with bodily health, and am enabled to go on my way
+rejoicing. Grace, grace!"
+
+On returning to Bethesda, his heart seems to have been full of the
+orphan-house and the college. For the direction of the latter, he
+prepared a series of rules, and especially provided for the reading
+of the old Puritan and Non-conformist writers of the seventeenth and
+eighteenth centuries. Every letter he wrote contained references
+to the improved state of his health, and the increased number of
+preaching engagements which he was now able to fulfil. His spirits
+seem to have been better, and his exultations in the divine kindness
+more ardent than ever, while his correspondence indicates much
+heavenly-mindedness, and lively desires for the highest happiness of
+his friends.
+
+As Whitefield had now been in the south more than five months, we
+are not surprised to find that applications poured in from every
+part of the north, entreating him to revisit the scenes of other
+years. He left Bethesda and its affairs in the hands of persons
+worthy of his confidence, of whom he said, "Such a set of helpers I
+never met with."
+
+After some hesitation as to where he should first go, he set out
+for Philadelphia, where he arrived on the 6th of May. Writing three
+days afterwards, he says, "The evening following, I was enabled to
+preach to a large auditory, and have to repeat the delightful task
+this evening. Pulpits, hearts, and affections, seem to be as open
+and enlarged to me as ever." On the 24th he again wrote, "A wide
+and effectual door, I trust, has been opened in this city. People
+of all ranks flock as much as ever. Impressions are made on many,
+and I trust they will abide. To all the Episcopal churches, as
+well as most of the other places of worship, I have free access.
+Notwithstanding I preach twice on the Lord's day, and three or four
+times a week besides, yet I am rather better than I have been for
+many years. This is the Lord's doing." On June 14, he says, "This
+leaves me just returned from a one hundred and fifty miles' circuit,
+in which, blessed be God, I have been enabled to preach every day.
+So many new as well as old doors are open, and so many invitations
+sent from various quarters, that I know not which way to turn
+myself."
+
+Of his last visit to New Jersey, Bishop White of Philadelphia, then
+a young man of twenty-three, says, "When he was on his way from
+Philadelphia to Boston, late in the summer, he had been prevailed on
+to promise to cross from Bristol to Burlington, and to preach there.
+I happened to be in the latter place, and staying in the house of a
+relative, when it was announced that Mr. Whitefield was at a tavern
+on the other side of the river. He was expected to be escorted by
+my relative. I went with him; and we returned in a boat with Mr.
+Whitefield and his company. He preached to the assembled citizens in
+front of the court-house, and afterwards dined at the house of my
+relative. During dinner, he was almost the only speaker, as was said
+to be common; all present being disposed to listen."
+
+A few days after this visit, we find him at New York, writing, June
+30, "I have been here just a week. Have been enabled to preach
+four times; and am to repeat the delightful task this evening.
+Congregations are larger than ever. Blessed be God, I have been
+strengthened to itinerate and preach daily for some time. Next
+week I purpose to go to Albany; from thence, perhaps to the Oneida
+Indians. There is to be a very large Indian congress; Mr. Kirkland
+accompanies me. He is a truly Christian minister and missionary.
+Every thing possible should be done to strengthen his hands and his
+heart. Perhaps I may not see Georgia till Christmas. As yet, I keep
+to my intended plan, in respect to my returning. Lord Jesus, direct
+my goings in thy way. The heat begins now to be a little intense;
+but through mercy I am enabled to bear up bravely. What a God do we
+serve!"
+
+On the twenty-ninth of July, he again writes from the same city, and
+it is the _last entry_ in his memorandum: "Since my last, and during
+this month, I have been above a five hundred miles' circuit; and
+have been enabled to preach and travel through the heat every day.
+The congregations have been very large, attentive, and affected;
+particularly at Albany, Schenectady, Great Barrington, Norfolk,
+Salisbury, Sharon, Smithfield, Poughkeepsie, Fishkill, New Rumbart,
+New Windsor, and Peck's Hill. Last night I returned hither, and
+hope to set out for Boston in two or three days. O what a new scene
+of usefulness is opening in various parts of this world! All fresh
+work where I have been. The divine influence has been as at first.
+Invitations crowd upon me both from ministers and people, from many,
+many quarters. A very peculiar providence led me very lately to a
+place where a horse-stealer was executed. Thousands attended. The
+poor criminal had sent me several letters, hearing I was in the
+country. The sheriff allowed him to come and hear a sermon under
+an adjacent tree. Solemn, solemn! After being by himself about an
+hour, I walked half a mile with him to the gallows. His heart had
+been softened before my first visit. He seemed full of solid, divine
+consolation. An instructive walk! I went up with him into the cart.
+He gave a short exhortation. I then stood upon the coffin--added,
+I trust, a word in season--prayed--gave the blessing, and took
+my leave. Effectual good, I hope, was done to the hearers and
+spectators. Grace, grace!"
+
+Our local histories seem to delight to honor Whitefield by the
+introduction of his name whenever they have an opportunity.
+In a notice of Sharon, in "Barber's Historical Collections of
+Connecticut," the writer says, "In the latter part of July, 1770,
+the Rev. George Whitefield passed through this town on a preaching
+tour. There was considerable opposition to his being admitted into
+the meeting-house, and arrangements had been made to hold the
+service in an orchard still standing near the meeting-house, in case
+he should be refused. Mr. Smith, [the Rev. Cotton Mather Smith, a
+descendant of Cotton Mather,] invited him into the pulpit, though
+strongly opposed by a considerable number of influential men. An
+immense congregation from this and the neighboring towns filled the
+meeting-house to overflowing. His text was, 'Marvel not that I said
+unto you, Ye must be born again.' He proceeded to discourse on the
+doctrine of the new birth with astonishing power and eloquence,
+and the congregation were much moved by the power of the truth
+and Spirit of God. The concluding words of his discourse were a
+quotation, with a little variation, from the close of the fourth
+chapter of Solomon's Song. 'Awake, O north wind, and come, thou
+south; blow upon _this_ garden, that the spices thereof may flow
+out. Let my Beloved come into _this_ garden, and eat his pleasant
+fruits.' Many of the inhabitants of Sharon followed him for several
+successive days, to hear the word of life from this devoted minister
+of the cross."
+
+We think it must have been in this journey that Whitefield's
+ministry was blessed to the conversion of a young man who has left
+his mark on the age. Benjamin Randall was born in New Castle,
+New Hampshire, in 1749. In his twenty-second year he was brought
+under the ministry of Whitefield, by which means he became deeply
+convinced of sin, and was soon after converted to God. In 1776,
+he united with a Calvinistic Baptist church; but before long
+began to preach what he accounted more correct doctrines in his
+native town, and was honored of God to effect a very powerful and
+extensive revival. He is considered the founder of the denomination
+of Freewill Baptists, which now comprises from eleven to twelve
+hundred churches, more than a thousand pastors and licentiates, and
+upwards of fifty thousand communicants. Mr. Randall was a man of
+strong mental powers, and though he had not a classical education,
+he was a good English scholar, aspired after general and religious
+knowledge, had fine discriminating talent, and was remarkable for
+the perseverance with which he pursued whatever he undertook. Above
+all, like his spiritual father, he possessed what a living preacher
+has well called, "a passion for souls."
+
+From New York Whitefield proceeded to Boston, and short extracts
+from two of his letters, and those _the last_ he wrote, will show
+his position and his feelings:
+
+September 17, he says to Mr. Wright, at Bethesda, "Fain would
+I come by Captain Souder, from Philadelphia; but people are so
+importunate for my stay in these parts, that I fear it will be
+impracticable. 'My God will supply all my need according to the
+riches of his grace in Christ Jesus.' Two or three evenings ago, I
+was taken in the night with a violent flux, attended with retching
+and shivering, so that I was obliged to return from Newbury; but
+through infinite mercy I am restored, and to-morrow morning hope
+to begin again. Never was the word received with greater eagerness
+than now. All opposition seems, as it were, for a while to cease. I
+find God's time is the best. The season is critical as to outward
+circumstances; but when forts are given up, the Lord Jesus can
+appoint salvation for walls and for bulwarks; he has promised to be
+a wall of fire round about his people. This comforts me concerning
+Bethesda, though we should have a Spanish war. You will be pleased
+to hear, I never was carried through the summer's heat so well."
+
+And finally, to his dear friend Mr. Keen of London, he wrote from
+Portsmouth, New Hampshire, September 23, just one week before his
+death, "By this time I thought to be moving southward. But never
+was greater importunity used to detain me longer in these northern
+parts. Poor New England is much to be pitied; Boston people most of
+all. How grossly misrepresented! What a mercy that our Christian
+charter cannot be dissolved! Blessed be God for an unchangeable
+Jesus! You will see, by the many invitations, what a door is opened
+for preaching the everlasting gospel. I was so ill on Friday that I
+could not preach, though thousands were waiting to hear. Well, the
+day of release will shortly come, but it does not seem yet; for by
+riding sixty miles I am better, and hope to preach here to-morrow.
+I trust my blessed Master will accept these poor efforts to serve
+him. O for a warm heart! O to stand fast in the faith, to acquit
+ourselves like men, and be strong! May this be the happy experience
+of you and yours. I suppose your letters are gone for me in the
+Anderson to Georgia. If spared so long, I expect to see them about
+Christmas. Still pray and praise. I am so poorly, and so engaged
+when able to preach, that this must apologize for not writing to
+more friends: it is quite impracticable."
+
+Whitefield's hope to "preach here to-morrow" was fully realized. In
+the "Pennsylvania Journal and Weekly Advertiser," we find a letter
+from Portsmouth, dated Sept. 28, 1770, which says, "Last Sunday
+morning came to town from Boston, the Rev. George Whitefield, and
+in the afternoon he preached at the Rev. Dr. Haven's meeting-house;
+Monday morning he preached again at the same place, to a very large
+and crowded audience. Tuesday morning a most numerous assembly met
+at the Rev. Dr. Langdon's meeting-house, which it is said will hold
+nearly six thousand people, and was well filled, even the aisles.
+Evening he preached at the Rev. Mr. John Rodgers' meeting-house in
+Kittery, and yesterday at the Rev. Mr. Lyman's in York, to which
+place a number of ladies and gentlemen from town accompanied him.
+This morning [Friday] he will preach at the Rev. Dr. Langdon's
+meeting-house in this town."
+
+We are now approaching the closing scene, and are invited to hear
+Whitefield's last sermon. On his way to Newburyport, where he had
+engaged to preach on Sunday morning, September 30, he was entreated
+to preach at Exeter. This had been the scene of some of his former
+triumphs. He was once preaching here, when a man was present who had
+loaded his pocket with stones to throw at the preacher. He heard
+his prayer with patience, but as soon as he had read his text, the
+man took a stone out of his pocket and held it in his hand, waiting
+for an opportunity to throw it. But God sent a word to his heart,
+and the stone dropped from his hand. After the sermon, the poor
+fellow went to Mr. Whitefield, and said, "Sir, I came here to-day
+with the intention of breaking your head, but God has given me a
+broken heart." This man was converted to God, and lived an ornament
+to the gospel.
+
+As though it had been felt by the public that this might be our
+preacher's last sermon, inconvenient as Saturday noon must be for
+the assembling of a congregation for worship, such a multitude was
+collected that no house could contain them, and Whitefield, for
+nearly two hours, discoursed to an attentive crowd in the open air.
+Of this last sermon at Exeter, a gentleman who was present has given
+a deeply interesting and affecting account. The relator was then in
+his eighty-sixth year, but he retained a strong remembrance of the
+most trivial incidents connected with that extraordinary man. He
+says:
+
+"It was usual for Mr. Whitefield to be attended by Mr. Smith,
+who preached when he was unable on account of sudden attacks of
+asthma. At the time referred to, after Mr. Smith had delivered a
+short discourse, Mr. Whitefield seemed desirous of speaking; but
+from the weak state in which he then was, it was thought almost
+impossible. He rose from the seat in the pulpit, and stood erect,
+and his appearance alone was a powerful sermon. The thinness of his
+visage, the paleness of his countenance, the evident struggling of
+the heavenly spark in a decayed body for utterance, were all deeply
+interesting; the spirit was willing, but the flesh was dying. In
+this situation he remained several minutes, unable to speak; he
+then said, 'I will wait for the gracious assistance of God, for
+he will, I am certain, assist me once more to speak in his name.'
+He then delivered perhaps one of his best sermons, for the light
+generally burns most splendidly when about to expire. The subject
+was a contrast of the present with the future; a part of this sermon
+I read to a popular and learned clergyman in New York, who could
+not refrain from weeping when I repeated the following: 'I go, I go
+to rest prepared; my sun has arisen, and by aid from heaven, given
+light to many; 't is now about to set for--no, it cannot be! 't is
+to rise to the zenith of immortal glory; I have outlived many on
+earth, but they cannot outlive me in heaven. Many shall live when
+this body is no more, but then--Oh, thought divine!--I shall be in a
+world where time, age, pain, and sorrow are unknown. My body fails,
+my spirit expands; how willingly would I live for ever to preach
+Christ! but I die to be with him. How brief, comparatively brief,
+has been my life, compared with the vast labors I see before me yet
+to be accomplished; but if I leave now, while so few care about
+heavenly things, the God of peace will surely visit you.' These,
+and many other things he said, which, though simple, were rendered
+important by circumstances; for death had let fly his arrow, and
+the shaft was deeply enfixed when utterance was given to them: his
+countenance, his tremulous voice, his debilitated frame, all gave
+convincing evidence that the eye which saw him should shortly see
+him no more for ever. When I visited the place where he is entombed,
+Newburyport, I could not help saying, 'The memory of the just is
+blessed,' Few are there like George Whitefield; however zealous,
+they do not possess the masterly power, and those who do, too often
+turn it to a purpose that does not glorify God."
+
+We have already spoken of the Rev. Daniel Rodgers, a descendant of
+the martyr of that name, and pastor of the second congregational
+church at Exeter. It was this old friend of Whitefield who had
+importuned him to preach at Exeter. The "_Almanack Journal_" of
+this excellent man contains the following items of the activity of
+our "eloquent orator" in his closing days: "September 10, 1770,
+dear Mr. Whitefield preached here, A. M., ten o'clock. 11th, Mr.
+Whitefield preached again in Mr. Parsons' meeting-house. 12th, I
+rode over to Rowley, Mr. Whitefield preached there. 14th, a storm
+of rain. 15th, the rain continues. Mr. Whitefield went to Boston,
+not well. 25th, I heard dear Mr. Whitefield preach. 26th, he went to
+Kittery, and preached for brother John; P. M. I rode to York. 27th,
+Mr. Whitefield preached at York; P. M. we returned to Portsmouth.
+28th, Mr. Whitefield preached his farewell sermon; I returned home.
+29th, dear Mr. Whitefield preached for me the last sermon he ever
+preached."
+
+Mr. Smith's account of the closing scene will not be considered too
+minute in its details. "Before he commenced his journey of fifteen
+miles from Portsmouth to Exeter, Mr. Clarkson, senior, observing
+him more uneasy than usual, said to him, 'Sir, you are more fit to
+go to bed than to preach.' Whitefield's reply was, 'True, sir;' but
+turning aside, he clasped his hands together, and looking up, said,
+'Lord Jesus, I am weary _in_ thy work, but not _of_ thy work. If I
+have not yet finished my course, let me go and speak for thee once
+more in the fields, seal thy truth, and come home and die.' His last
+sermon was from 2 Cor. 13:5, 'Examine yourselves, whether ye be in
+the faith. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in
+you, except ye be reprobates?' He dined at Captain Gillman's. After
+dinner, Mr. Whitefield and Mr. Parsons rode to Newbury. I did not
+get there till two hours after them. I found them at supper. I asked
+Mr. Whitefield how he felt after his journey. He said he was tired,
+therefore he supped early, and went to bed. He ate a very little
+supper, talked but little, asked Mr. Parsons to discharge the table,
+and perform family duty, and then retired up stairs."
+
+The Rev. Dr. Hallock tells us, that, in 1822, he visited Newburyport
+and the tomb of Whitefield. He was then told by persons whom he
+considered reliable, that when Whitefield was retiring to his
+chamber on this last evening of his life, many were so desirous to
+see and hear him, that he stood on the stairs with a lamp in his
+hand, and there gave them a tender spiritual address.
+
+We resume Mr. Smith's account: "He said he would sit and read till I
+came to him, which I did as soon as possible; and found him reading
+the Bible, with Dr. Watts' Psalms lying open before him. He asked
+me for some water-gruel, and took about half his usual quantity; and
+kneeling down by his bedside, closed the evening with prayer. After
+a little conversation, he went to rest, and slept till two in the
+morning, when he awoke, and asked for a little cider; he drank about
+a wine-glass full. I asked him how he felt, for he seemed to pant
+for breath. He said to me, 'My asthma is coming on again; I must
+have two or three days' rest. Two or three days' riding, without
+preaching, would set me up again.' Soon afterwards, he asked me to
+put the window up a little higher, though it was half up all night.
+'For,' said he, 'I cannot breathe; but I hope I shall be better by
+and by: a good pulpit sweat to-day may give me relief; I shall be
+better after preaching.' I said to him, 'I wish you would not preach
+so often.' He replied, 'I had rather wear out than rust out.' I then
+told him, I was afraid he took cold in preaching yesterday. He said
+he believed he had; and then sat up in bed, and prayed that God
+would be pleased to bless his preaching where he had been, and also
+bless his preaching that day, that more souls might be brought to
+Christ. He prayed for direction whether he should winter in Boston,
+or hasten to the southward; and he prayed for a blessing on his
+Bethesda college, and his dear family there, for the Tabernacle and
+Chapel congregations, and all connections on the other side of the
+water; and then he laid himself down to sleep again.
+
+"This was near three o'clock. At a quarter past four he awoke,
+and said, 'My asthma, my asthma is coming on; I wish I had not
+given out word to preach at Haverhill on Monday; I don't think I
+shall be able; but I shall see what to-day will bring forth. If I
+am no better to-morrow, I will take two or three days' ride!' He
+then desired me to warm him a little gruel; and in breaking the
+fire-wood, I waked Mr. Parsons, who thinking I knocked for him, rose
+and came in. He went to Mr. Whitefield's bedside, and asked him
+how he felt. He answered, 'I am almost suffocated. I can scarcely
+breathe, my asthma quite chokes me.' I was then not a little
+surprised to hear how quickly, and with what difficulty he drew his
+breath. He got out of bed, and went to the open window for air. This
+was exactly at five o'clock. I went to him, and for about the space
+of five minutes saw no danger, only that he had a great difficulty
+in breathing, as I had often seen before. Soon afterwards, he turned
+himself to me, and said, '_I am dying_.' I said, 'I hope not, sir.'
+He ran to the other window, panting for breath, but could get no
+relief. It was agreed that I should go for Dr. Sawyer; and on my
+coming back, I saw death on his face; and he again said, '_I am
+dying_.' His eyes were fixed, his underlip drawing inward every time
+he drew breath. I persuaded him to sit down in the chair, and have
+his cloak on; he consented by a sign, but could not speak. I then
+offered him a glass of warm wine; he took half of it, but it seemed
+as if it would have stopped his breath entirely. He went towards
+the window, and we offered him some warm wine, with lavender drops,
+which he refused.
+
+"In a little time he brought up a considerable quantity of phlegm.
+I then began to have some small hopes. Mr. Parsons said he thought
+Mr. Whitefield breathed more freely than he did, and would recover.
+I said, 'No, sir, he is certainly dying.' I was continually employed
+in taking the phlegm out of his mouth with a handkerchief, and
+bathing his temples with drops, rubbing his wrists, etc., to give
+him relief, if possible, but all in vain; his hands and feet were
+as cold as clay. When the doctor came in, and saw him in the chair
+leaning upon my breast, he felt his pulse, and said, 'He is a dead
+man.' Mr. Parsons said, 'I do not believe it; you must do something,
+doctor.' He said, 'I cannot; he is now near his last breath.' And
+so indeed it was; for he fetched but one gasp, and stretched out
+his feet, and breathed no more. This was exactly at six o'clock. We
+continued rubbing his legs, hands, and feet, with warm cloths, and
+bathed him with spirits for some time, but all in vain. I then put
+him into a warm bed, the doctor standing by, and often raised him
+upright, continued rubbing him and putting spirits to his nose for
+an hour, till all hopes were gone. The people came in crowds to see
+him."
+
+Whitefield seems to have had somewhat of a presentiment that
+his death would be unattended with any remarkable expression of
+spiritual enjoyment. In his last preceding visit to this country,
+he had spent a day or two under the roof of the Rev. Dr. Finley,
+then president of the college at Princeton, New Jersey. One day Dr.
+Finley said at the dinner-table, "Mr. Whitefield, I hope it will be
+very long before you will be called home; but when that event shall
+arrive, I shall be glad to hear the noble testimony you will bear
+for God." Whitefield replied, "You would be disappointed, doctor; I
+shall die silent. It has pleased God to enable me to bear so many
+testimonies for him during my life, that he will require none from
+me when I die. No, no. It is your dumb Christians, who have walked
+in fear and darkness, and thereby been unable to bear a testimony
+for God during their lives, that he compels to speak out for him on
+their death-beds."
+
+We resume Mr. Smith's narrative: "The Rev. Mr. Parsons, at whose
+house my dear master died, sent for Captain Fetcomb, and Mr.
+Boadman, and others of his elders and deacons, and they took the
+whole of the burial upon themselves, prepared the vault, and sent
+and invited the bearers. Many ministers of all persuasions came to
+the house of the Rev. Mr. Parsons, where several of them gave a very
+particular account of their first awakenings under his ministry
+several years ago, and also of many in their congregations that,
+to their knowledge, under God, owed their conversion to his coming
+among them, often referring to the blessed seasons they had enjoyed
+under his preaching; and all said, that this last visit was attended
+with more power than any other, and that all opposition fell
+before him. Then one and another would pity and pray for his dear
+Tabernacle and Chapel congregations, and it was truly affecting to
+hear them bemoan America and England's loss. Thus they continued for
+two hours, conversing about his great usefulness, and praying that
+God would scatter his gifts, and drop his mantle among them."
+
+Dr. Gillies says, "Early next morning, Mr. Sherburn of Portsmouth
+sent Mr. Clarkson and Dr. Haven with a message to Mr. Parsons,
+desiring that Mr. Whitefield's remains might be buried in his own
+new tomb, at his own expense; and in the evening several gentlemen
+from Boston came to Mr. Parsons, desiring the body might be carried
+there. But as Mr. Whitefield had repeatedly desired to be buried
+before Mr. Parsons' pulpit, if he died at Newburyport, Mr. Parsons
+thought himself obliged to deny both these requests."
+
+Mr. Parsons, in a note to his funeral sermon, says, "At one o'clock
+all the bells in the town were tolled for half an hour, and all the
+vessels in the harbor gave their proper signals of mourning. At two
+o'clock the bells tolled a second time. At three the bells called
+to attend the funeral. The Rev. Dr. Haven of Portsmouth, and the
+Rev. Messrs. Rodgers of Exeter, Jewet and Chandler of Rowley, Moses
+Parsons of Newbury, and Bass of Newburyport, were pall-bearers.
+Mr. Parsons and his family, with many other respectable persons,
+followed the corpse in mourning."
+
+"The procession," says Mr. Smith, "was only one mile, and then the
+corpse was carried into the Presbyterian church, and placed at the
+foot of the pulpit, close to the vault; the Rev. Daniel Rodgers made
+a very affecting prayer, and openly declared, that, under God, he
+owed his conversion to that dear man of God whose precious remains
+now lay before them. Then he cried out, 'O my father, my father!'
+then stopped and wept as though his heart would break; the people
+weeping all through the place. Then he recovered, and finished his
+prayer, and sat down and wept. Then one of the deacons gave out the
+hymn,
+
+  "'Why do we mourn departing friends?'
+
+some of the people weeping, some singing, and so on alternately.
+The Rev. Mr. Jewet preached a funeral discourse; and made an
+affectionate address to his brethren, to lay to heart the death of
+that useful man of God, begging that he and they might be upon their
+watchtower, and endeavor to follow his blessed example. The corpse
+was then put into the vault, and all concluded with a short prayer,
+and dismission of the people, who went weeping through the streets
+to their respective places of abode."
+
+The Rev. Mr. Rodgers, from whose "Almanack Journal" we have quoted,
+records that the vast assembly at the funeral consisted of "four,
+since thought five thousand people," and adds, Oct. 7, "I preached
+from those words in the first Philippians, 'Having a desire to
+depart and be with Christ,' etc. I spoke extempore, somewhat
+largely, of dear Mr. Whitefield's character."
+
+The late venerable Mr. Bartlet of Newburyport, some years ago,
+erected a monument to the memory of Whitefield in the church beneath
+which his remains are interred. The cenotaph was executed by Mr.
+Struthers of Philadelphia, after a design of Strickland, and the
+inscription which follows was written by the late Rev. Dr. Ebenezer
+Porter, of the Theological seminary at Andover.
+
+
+  THIS CENOTAPH
+
+  is ERECTED, WITH AFFECTIONATE VENERATION,
+
+  To the Memory
+
+  OF
+
+  THE REV. GEORGE WHITEFIELD,
+
+  BORN AT GLOUCESTER, ENGLAND, DECEMBER 16, 1714;
+  EDUCATED AT OXFORD UNIVERSITY; ORDAINED 1736.
+  IN A MINISTRY OF THIRTY-FOUR YEARS,
+  HE CROSSED THE ATLANTIC THIRTEEN TIMES,
+  AND PREACHED MORE THAN EIGHTEEN THOUSAND SERMONS.
+  AS A SOLDIER OF THE CROSS, HUMBLE, DEVOUT, ARDENT,
+  HE PUT ON THE WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD:
+  PREFERRING THE HONOR OF CHRIST TO HIS OWN INTEREST, REPOSE,
+  REPUTATION, AND LIFE.
+  AS A CHRISTIAN ORATOR, HIS DEEP PIETY, DISINTERESTED ZEAL,
+  AND VIVID IMAGINATION,
+  GAVE UNEXAMPLED ENERGY TO HIS LOOK, UTTERANCE, AND ACTION.
+  BOLD, FERVENT, PUNGENT, AND POPULAR IN HIS ELOQUENCE,
+  NO OTHER UNINSPIRED MAN EVER PREACHED TO SO LARGE ASSEMBLIES,
+  OR ENFORCED THE SIMPLE TRUTHS OF THE GOSPEL BY MOTIVES
+  SO PERSUASIVE AND AWFUL, AND WITH AN INFLUENCE SO POWERFUL,
+  ON THE HEARTS OF HIS HEARERS.
+  HE DIED OF ASTHMA, SEPTEMBER 30, 1770.
+  SUDDENLY EXCHANGING HIS LIFE OF UNPARALLELED LABORS
+  FOR HIS ETERNAL REST.
+
+[Illustration: OLD SOUTH CHURCH, BOSTON.]
+
+[Illustration: MONUMENT]
+
+[Illustration: OLD SOUTH, AT NEWBURYPORT]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+TESTIMONIES AND FACTS ILLUSTRATIVE OF WHITEFIELD'S CHARACTER.
+
+
+"Last evening," says a letter from Boston, October 1, 1770, to the
+"Pennsylvania Journal," "we were informed by a melancholy messenger
+from Newburyport, that yesterday morning about six o'clock, at
+that place, the renowned and Rev. George Whitefield, chaplain to
+the Right Hon. the Countess of Huntingdon, etc., was, by a sudden
+mandate, summoned to the bosom of his Saviour. He had been preaching
+in divers parts of this province since his arrival from the
+southward, with his usual diligence and energy; was now from a tour
+to the province of New Hampshire on his return to this town, but
+being seized with a violent fit of the asthma, was in a short space
+translated from the labors of this life to the enjoyment of a better.
+
+"Of this truly pious and very extraordinary personage, little can
+be said but what every friend to vital Christianity who has sat
+under his ministry will readily attest. In his public performances
+throughout Europe and British America, he has, for a long course of
+years, astonished the world as a prodigy of eloquence and devotion.
+With what frequency and cheerfulness did he ascend the desk, the
+language of his actions being ever, 'Wist ye not that I must be
+about my Master's business?' With what divine pathos did he plead
+with, and persuade by the most engaging incitements, the impenitent
+sinner to the practice of piety and virtue. Filled with the spirit
+of grace, he spoke from the heart; and with a fervency of zeal
+perhaps unequalled since the apostles, ornamented the celestial
+annunciations of the preacher with the graceful and most enticing
+charms of rhetoric and oratory. From the pulpit he was unrivalled
+in the command of an ever-crowded and admiring auditory; nor was
+he less entertaining and instructive in his private conversation
+and deportment. Happy in a remarkable ease of address, willing to
+communicate, studious to edify, and formed to amuse--such, in more
+retired life, was he whom we lament. And while a peculiar pleasantry
+enlivened and rendered his company agreeable, his conversation was
+ever marked with the greatest objects of his pursuit--virtue and
+religion. It were to be wished that the good impressions of his
+ministry may be long retained; and that the rising generation, like
+their pious ancestors, may catch a spark of that ethereal flame
+which burnt with such lustre in the sentiments and practice of this
+faithful servant of the most high God."
+
+Another contemporaneous article says, "Dr. Cooper of Brattle-street,
+called an enthusiast by none, won early to serious religion by his
+[Whitefield's] instrumentality, delivered a sermon upon his death,
+in which he pronounced a strong eulogy in favor of his holy and
+successful activity in the cause of vital and practical religion
+through the English dominions. Pews, aisles, and seats were so
+crowded, and heads and shoulders were in such close phalanx, that it
+looked as though a man might walk everywhere upon the upper surface
+of the assembly, without finding an opening for descending to the
+floor."
+
+When the news of Mr. Whitefield's death reached Georgia, its
+inhabitants vied with each other in showing him the highest respect.
+All the black cloth in the stores was bought up; the pulpit and
+desk of the church, the branches, the organ-loft, and the pews of
+the governor and council were covered with black. The governor and
+council in deep mourning convened at the state-house, and went in
+procession to church, where they were received by the organ playing
+a funeral dirge. Two funeral sermons were there listened to by the
+authorities. In the Legislature high eulogiums were pronounced
+on the admirable preacher, and a sum of money was unanimously
+appropriated for removing his remains to Georgia, to be interred
+at his orphan-house; but the inhabitants of Newburyport strongly
+objected, and the design was relinquished. Forty-five years later
+when a new county was formed in Georgia, it received the name of
+Whitefield in commemoration of his worth and useful services.
+
+In a letter from Dr. Franklin to a gentleman in Georgia, he says,
+"I cannot forbear expressing the pleasure it gives me to see
+an account of the respect paid to his memory by your assembly.
+I knew him intimately upwards of thirty years; his integrity,
+disinterestedness, and indefatigable zeal in prosecuting every good
+work, I have never seen equalled, I shall never see excelled."
+
+Of course it would be expected that the sermons at Savannah would
+be of great interest. Such a discourse was delivered by the Rev.
+Mr. Ellington, who very truly said, "Whitefield's longing desires
+for the salvation of immortal souls would not admit of his being
+confined within the limits of any walls. How he has preached, with
+showers of stones, and many other instruments of malice and revenge
+about his ears, many of his surviving friends can witness. But
+having the salvation of sinners at heart, and a great desire to
+rescue them from the power of an eternal death, he resolved to spend
+and be spent for the service of precious and immortal souls; and
+spared no pains and refused no labor, so that he might administer
+to their real and eternal good. He died like a hero on the field
+of battle. Thousands in England, Scotland, and America have great
+reason to bless God for his ministrations."
+
+Who shall attempt to describe the feelings of the congregations
+at the Tabernacle and Tottenham Court chapels, when the news of
+their pastor's death first reached them? All were indeed clothed in
+mourning. By Whitefield's own previous appointment, the Rev. John
+Wesley preached the funeral sermon at Tottenham Court-road chapel.
+The preacher bore this testimony: "In his public labors he has for
+many years astonished the world with his eloquence and devotion.
+With what divine pathos did he persuade the impenitent sinner to
+embrace the practice of early piety and virtue. Filled with the
+spirit of grace, he spoke from the heart with a fervency of zeal
+perhaps unequalled since the days of the apostles; and adorned
+the truths he delivered with the most graceful charms of rhetoric
+and oratory. From the pulpit he was unrivalled in the command of
+an ever-crowded auditory. It was the love of God shed abroad in
+his heart by the Holy Ghost which filled his soul with tender,
+disinterested love to every child of man.... Mention has been
+already made of his unparalleled zeal, his indefatigable activity,
+his tender-heartedness to the afflicted, and charitableness towards
+the poor. But should we not likewise mention his deep gratitude to
+all whom God had used as instruments of good to him? of whom he did
+not cease to speak in the most respectful manner, even to his dying
+day. Should we not mention that he had a heart susceptible of the
+most generous and the most tender friendship? I have frequently
+thought that this, of all others, was the distinguishing part of
+his character. How few have we known of so kind a temper, of such
+large and flowing affections! Was it not principally by this that
+the hearts of others were so strongly drawn and knit to him? Can
+any thing but love beget love? This shone in his very countenance,
+and continually breathed in all his words, whether in public or
+private. Was it not this which, quick and penetrating as lightning,
+flew from heart to heart; which gave that life to his sermons, his
+conversation, his letters? Ye are witnesses."
+
+The Rev. John Newton preached a funeral sermon at Olney, where
+he was then settled, from the highly appropriate text, "He was a
+burning and a shining light," John 5:35, in which he thus speaks
+of Whitefield: "Some ministers are burning and shining lights
+in a peculiar and eminent degree. Such a one, I doubt not, was
+the servant of God whose death we now lament. I have had some
+opportunities of looking over the history of the church in past
+ages; I am not backward to say, that I have not read or heard
+of any person, since the apostles' days, of whom it may be more
+emphatically said, 'He was a burning and a shining light,' than the
+late Mr. Whitefield; whether we consider the warmth of his zeal, the
+greatness of his ministerial talents, or the extensive usefulness
+with which the Lord honored him. I do not mean to praise the man,
+but the Lord who furnished him, and made him what he was. He was
+raised up to shine in a dark place. The state of religion when he
+first appeared in public, was very low in our established church.
+I speak the truth, though to some it may be an offensive truth.
+The doctrines of grace were seldom heard from the pulpit, and the
+life and power of godliness were little known. Many of the most
+spiritual among the dissenters, were mourning under a sense of a
+great spreading declension on their side. What a change has taken
+place throughout the land within a little more than thirty years;
+that is, since the time when the first set of despised ministers
+came to Oxford! And how much of this change has been owing to God's
+blessing on Mr. Whitefield's labors, is well known to many who have
+lived through this period, and can hardly be denied by those who are
+least willing to allow it.... His zeal was not like wildfire, but
+directed by sound principles, and a sound judgment.... The Lord gave
+him a manner of preaching which was peculiarly his own. He copied
+from none, and I never met with any one who could imitate him with
+success."
+
+With regret we tear ourselves away from Romaine and Toplady, from
+Pemberton and Parsons, and from a multitude of others who bore
+testimonies like those we have given, but which would exceed the
+limits of our narrative.
+
+Mr. Newton, after his removal to London, once breakfasting with
+a company of noblemen and gentlemen, was asked if he knew Mr.
+Whitefield. He answered in the affirmative, and remarked, that as a
+preacher Mr. Whitefield far exceeded every other man of his time.
+Mr. Newton added, "I bless God that I lived in his time: many were
+the winter mornings I rose at four o'clock to attend his Tabernacle
+discourses at five; and I have seen Moorfields as full of lanterns
+at these times, as I suppose the Hay market is full of flambeaux
+on an opera night." As a proof of the power of Mr. Whitefield's
+preaching, Mr. Newton said, that a military officer at Glasgow, who
+had heard him preach, laid a wager with another, that at a certain
+charity sermon, though he went with prejudice, he would be compelled
+to give something. The other, to make sure that he would not, laid
+aside all the money out of his pockets; but before he left the
+church, he was glad to borrow some, and lose his bet. Mr. Newton
+mentioned as another striking illustration of Mr. Whitefield's
+persuasive oratory, his collecting after one sermon L600, or about
+$3,000, for the inhabitants of an obscure village in Germany, that
+had been burned down. After this sermon, Whitefield said, "We shall
+sing a hymn, during which those who do not choose to give their
+mite on this awful occasion, may sneak off." Not one moved; he came
+down from the pulpit, ordered all the doors to be shut but one, at
+which he held the plate himself, and collected the large sum we have
+named. Mr. Newton farther stated what he knew to be a fact, that at
+the time of Whitefield's greatest persecution, when obliged to speak
+in the streets, in one week he received not fewer than a thousand
+letters from persons distressed in their consciences by the energy
+of his preaching.
+
+A gentleman of title in England was one day examining some works
+of the distinguished sculptor, John Bacon. Among them he observed
+a bust of Mr. Whitefield, which led him to remark, "After all that
+has been said, this was truly a great man; he was the founder of a
+new religion." Mr. Bacon replied, "A new religion, sir?" "Yes," said
+the baronet; "what do you call it?" "Nothing," was the reply, "but
+the old religion revived with new energy, and treated as though the
+preacher meant what he said."
+
+Several interesting narratives have been given of visits to the tomb
+of Whitefield, which show the preciousness of his memory.
+
+In 1834, the Rev. Andrew Reed, D. D., of London, and the late
+Rev. James Matheson, D. D., of Durham, visited this country as a
+deputation to its churches from the Congregational Union of England
+and Wales. In describing their visit to Newburyport, Dr. Reed says,
+"We had a conference with the pastors here, and afterwards went
+to the church which is enriched with the remains of Whitefield.
+The elders of the church were present in the porch to receive us.
+We descended to the vault. There were three coffins before us.
+Two pastors of the church lay on either side, and the remains of
+Whitefield in the centre. The cover was slipt aside, and they lay
+beneath my eye. I had before stood in his pulpits; seen his books,
+his rings, and chairs; but never before had I looked on part of his
+very self. The skull, which is perfect, clean, and fair, I received,
+as is the custom, into my hand. I could say nothing; but thought
+and feeling were busy. On returning to the church, I proposed an
+exercise of worship. We collected over the grave of the eloquent,
+the devoted, and seraphic man, and gave expression to the sentiments
+that possessed us, by solemn psalmody and fervent prayer. It was not
+an ordinary service to any of us."
+
+In the year 1835, a similar deputation visited this country from
+the Baptist Union of Great Britain and Ireland. It consisted of
+the late Rev. F. A. Cox, D. D., of London, and the Rev. James
+Hoby, D. D., then of Birmingham. They also visited the tomb of our
+never-to-be-forgotten evangelist. We give a few sentences from their
+report: "We made an excursion to Newburyport, thirty-nine miles from
+Boston, to see the tomb of Whitefield. On our arrival, we hastened
+to the depository of the precious remains of that eminent servant
+of God.... We descended with some difficulty into the subterraneous
+vault, which is immediately behind the pulpit, in a small chamber
+like a vestry, external to the body of the church. Deep expectant
+emotions thrilled through our bosoms, while a kind of trap-door was
+opened, and we descended beneath the floor to another door, which
+stood perpendicularly, by which we entered, or rather crept, into
+the awful and silent sepulchre. There were three coffins placed
+in parallel lines; two of them containing the mortal part of Mr.
+Parsons and Mr. Prince, pastors of the church. We instinctively
+took our seats, the one on the one coffin, the other on the other,
+with the coffin of Whitefield between, over which, when the upper
+part of the lid was removed, to reveal the skeleton secrets of the
+narrow prison-house, we bent in solemn stillness and awe. We gazed
+on the fragments--we contemplated and handled the skull of that
+great preacher of righteousness--we thought of his devoted life,
+his blessed death, his high and happy destiny; and whispered our
+adorations of the grace that formed him both for earth and heaven."
+
+The following lines were written by the departed and amiable William
+B. Tappan, on visiting this spot in September, 1837.
+
+    "And this was Whitefield!--this, the dust now blending
+     With kindred dust, that wrapt his soul of fire--
+     Which, from the mantle freed, is still ascending
+     Through regions of far glory, holier, higher.
+
+     Oh, as I gaze here with a solemn joy
+     And awful reverence, in which shares Decay,
+     Who, this fair frame reluctant to destroy,
+     Yields it not yet to doom which all obey--
+     How follows thought his flight, at Love's command,
+     From hemisphere in sin, to hemisphere,
+     Warning uncounted multitudes with tears--
+     Preaching the risen Christ on sea and land--
+     And now those angel journeyings above!
+     Souls, his companions, saved by such unwearied love!"
+
+In December, 1845, one of the London daily papers, "The Sun,"
+contained a somewhat extended account of Whitefield in New England,
+and especially his death, funeral, and tomb, from which we
+borrow mementos that in both hemispheres may be interesting "for
+generations to come."
+
+"I was spending Sunday at Old Ipswich, in the latter part of last
+September, when by accident I fell in with an old inhabitant of
+the town who had heard Whitefield preach there. He was a sort of
+patriarch of the place, and as he sat on one of the stones which
+surrounded the ancient orthodox meeting-house, his grey locks
+streaming from beneath his queerly shaped hat, and attired in his
+primly cut old-fashioned coat, he appeared no bad representative of
+the departed Puritans who, in former days, had soberly and decently
+obeyed the call of the Sabbath bell, and worshipped in the same
+temple whose steeple now casts its shadow athwart the green sward
+beneath.... As the bell of Old Ipswich church swung out that bright
+Sabbath morning, it was a pretty sight to see the village people
+coming from different points to the decaying old church, which
+was situated, as most country churches in New England are, on a
+hill-top. While I was enjoying the scene, the old man to whom I have
+alluded, and who was sitting on a stone, accosted me, and asked me
+if I was not a stranger 'in these parts.' On my informing him that I
+was, he pointed out to me the 'lions' of the neighborhood, and wound
+up by asking, 'I suppose, sir, you've heard of Whitefield?'
+
+"'Of Whitefield? to be sure I have.'
+
+"'Well, I've seen Whitefield, George Whitefield stood on this very
+stone,' (dropping his stick feebly from his shaking hands,) 'and I
+heard him preach here.'
+
+"'And do you remember any thing about him?' I asked.
+
+"'Well, I guess I do. I was but a bit of a boy then; but here he
+stood on this stone, looking like a flying angel, and we call this
+Whitefield's pulpit to this day.... There was folks here from all
+parts to hear him; so he was obliged to preach outside, for the
+church wasn't half big enough for 'em, and no two ways about it.
+I've heard many parsons sin' that time, but none on 'em could come
+nigh him, any how they could fix it.'
+
+"'Do you remember any thing of his sermons?' I inquired.
+
+"'Oh, I was too young to notice aught, sir, but the preacher hisself
+and the crowds of people, but I know he had a very sweet voice;
+and as I said, when he spread his arms out, with a little Bible in
+his hand, he looked like a flying angel. There never were so many
+people, afore nor since, in Old Ipswich. I suppose, sir, you'll be
+going to see his bones? He was buried at Newburyport, and you can
+see 'em if you like.'
+
+"I made up my mind that I would see them, if possible. On the
+following day, I went over to Newburyport by railroad, and proceeded
+first to the house in which Whitefield died. It was at the time the
+residence of the Rev. Jonathan Parsons, the first regular pastor of
+the Presbyterian Society in the town. It is a plain unpretending
+structure, possessing no other claims to attention than its being
+the spot where the last scene of Whitefield's career was enacted.
+I knocked, and asked of a lady who answered my summons, if I might
+be allowed to see the room in which Mr. Whitefield died. She very
+courteously showed me up a flight of stairs into a chamber, which,
+she said, Mr. Whitefield used to sleep in. 'Here is the place he
+died in,' said the lady, as she showed me a little entry just
+outside the door of the chamber, directly over the entrance to the
+house. 'He lay the night before he died,' said the lady, 'in that
+bed-chamber; and when he was struck with death, he ran out to this
+entry window for breath, and died while sitting in a chair opposite
+to it.'
+
+"The Federal-street church, where Whitefield was buried, was but a
+short distance from the house in which he died, and on my way to
+it I called on the sexton.... He preceded me through the aisle of
+the church, and opening a little narrow door by the side of the
+pulpit, we passed into a dim gloomy room behind it, and from thence
+descending four or five steps, found ourselves in a brick vault
+which lay directly under the pulpit. It was two or three minutes
+before my eyes got accustomed to the gloom; but soon objects became
+discernible, and I saw three old coffins, two of them serving as
+supporters to the third, which lay across them.... The sexton
+trimmed his lamp, then lifted the lid of an old coffin, and holding
+the flame close to it, said, 'Here, look in, ... THAT'S THE MAN.'
+
+"Yes, there lay the man, or at least, all that remains of the once
+mighty preacher. A strange awe came over me at his words, '_That's
+the man._' I took the skull in my hands, and examined it carefully.
+The forehead was rather narrow than broad, and by no means high. I
+soon put it back again to the coffin."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Among the more prominent traits in the character of Whitefield,
+we may designate his _indifference to his own honor and ease_, of
+which his narrative contains almost innumerable illustrations. In
+the preparation of the deed of trust for his intended college, he
+entirely omitted his own name, that the proposed trustees might
+accept the office without suffering contempt for being connected
+with him. It was not pretence which led him often to say, "Let the
+name of George Whitefield perish, if God be glorified." On the
+same principle of almost self-annihilation he acted in reference
+to the accumulation of money. He secured nothing for himself. It
+does not seem that what he left to his friends by his will was or
+could be paid; what had been left him as legacies had been nearly
+all expended, and would have been entirely, had he lived to return
+to his beloved Bethesda. By his will he placed the institution in
+the hands of Lady Huntingdon, who sent out ministers and other
+persons to conduct it. But soon after this, the buildings were burnt
+down. After the fire, came the Revolutionary war, which tended to
+unsettle the tenure of property, and at the time of its close, the
+whole plans, alike of the orphan-house and the college, were nearly
+unknown. The authorities of Savannah, in accordance with the high
+regard which they still entertained for Whitefield's memory, secured
+whatever they could of the wreck, the proceeds of which they
+invested in a school for the young, which yet flourishes.
+
+Perhaps no man was ever more thoroughly _fond of labor_. From a
+memorandum in which Mr. Whitefield recorded the times and places
+of his ministerial labors, it appears that from the period of his
+ordination to that of his death, which was thirty-four years,
+he preached upwards of _eighteen thousand sermons_. It would be
+difficult to imagine how many thousand miles he travelled. When he
+ascertained that his physical powers began to fail, putting himself
+on what he called "short allowance," he preached _only once on every
+week-day, and three times on the Sabbath_. In view of his various
+journeyings in the slow and inconvenient modes of travelling then
+in use, his thirteen voyages across the Atlantic, and all that he
+accomplished, it appears that few men ever performed so much labor
+within the same period.
+
+Nearly every one who has attempted a description of Whitefield has
+said much of his _extraordinary voice_. It is known that Garrick was
+heard to say that he would give a hundred guineas if he could say
+"Oh!" as Whitefield did. The late Rev. Dr. Haweis, speaking of his
+"wonderful voice," and of its sweetness and variety of tone, said he
+believed on a serene evening it might be distinctly heard for nearly
+a mile. Others have given similar evidence.
+
+The late Sir George Beaumont, no mean authority on such a subject,
+thus familiarly speaks: "Oh yes; I heard that young gentleman this
+morning allude to 'roaring Whitefield,' and was amused at his
+mistake. It is a common one. Whitefield did not roar. I have been
+his auditor more than once, and was delighted with him. Whitefield's
+voice could be heard at an immense distance; but that was owing to
+its fulness, roundness, and clearness. It was a perfectly sound
+voice. It is an odd description, but I can hit upon no better; there
+was neither crack nor flaw. To describe him as a bellowing, roaring
+field preacher, is to describe a mountebank, not Whitefield. He had
+powers of pathos of the highest order. The tender, soft, persuasive
+tones of his voice were melodious in the extreme. And when he
+desired to win, or persuade, or plead, or soothe, the gush of
+feeling which his voice conveyed at once surprised and overpowered
+you."
+
+Speaking on the authority of his tutor, the Rev. Cornelius Winter,
+the late excellent Mr. Jay says that Whitefield's voice was
+incomparable: not only distinct and loud, but abounding with every
+kind of inflection, and perfectly under his power; so that he could
+render every thing he expressed, however common or insignificant in
+itself, striking and affecting.
+
+This distinguished man had a peculiar talent for making the
+_narration of facts tell in the pulpit_. Nothing occurred among
+even his own family connections, but he would make it contribute to
+the edification of his auditors. One Lord's day morning, with his
+usual fervor he exhorted his hearers to give up the use of means for
+the spiritual good of their relatives and friends only with their
+lives. He told them he had a brother, for whose spiritual welfare
+he had very long used every possible means. He had warned him, and
+prayed for him, but all apparently to no purpose, till a few weeks
+previous; when that brother, to his astonishment and joy, came to
+his house, and with many tears declared that he had come up from
+the country to testify to him the great change which divine grace
+had wrought in his heart, and to acknowledge with gratitude his
+obligation to the man by whom God had wrought. Mr. Whitefield added,
+that he had that morning received information, that on his brother's
+return to Gloucestershire, where he resided, he dropped down dead as
+he was getting out of a stagecoach. "Let us pray always," said he,
+"for ourselves, and for those who are dear to us, and never faint."
+
+This habit of making every occurrence bear on his ministry, Mr.
+Winter, who knew him more intimately, and has told us more of his
+private life and conduct than any other man, tells us was "perfectly
+in character with Mr. Whitefield. He turned every thing into gold;
+he improved every thing for good. Passing occurrences determined
+the matter of his sermons, and, in some degree, the manner of his
+address. Thus, if he had read on astronomy in the course of the
+week, you would be sure to discover it. He knew how to convert
+the centripetal motion of the planets to the disposition of the
+Christian towards Christ; and the fatal attraction of the world
+was very properly represented by a reference to the centrifugal.
+If he attended any extraordinary trial, he would avail himself of
+the formality of the judge in pronouncing sentence. It would only
+be by hearing him, and by beholding his attitude and tears, that a
+person could well conceive the effect; for it was impossible but
+that solemnity must surround him who, under God, became the means
+of making all solemn."
+
+He sometimes made use of an incident of history in the reign of
+Henry VIII. The apprentices of London appeared before that monarch,
+pleading his pardon for their insurrections, manifesting intense
+feeling on the matter, and praying for "mercy, mercy." "Take them
+away, take them away," was the monarch's request, moved by the sight
+and the cries of these youths, "I cannot bear it." The application,
+as will be readily supposed, was, that if an earthly monarch of
+Henry's character could be so moved, how prevalent must be the plea
+of the sinner in the ears of infinite Love.
+
+The case of two Scotchmen in the convulsion of the state at the
+time of Charles II. served him on more than one occasion. These
+men, having to pass some of the troops, were thinking of their
+danger, and meditating the best way of escape, when one of them
+proposed wearing a skullcap; but the other, thinking that would
+imply distrust of the providence of God, determined to proceed
+bareheaded. The last was the first laid hold of, and being asked,
+"Are you for the covenant?" replied, "Yes;" and being further asked,
+"What covenant?" answered, "The covenant of grace;" by which reply,
+eluding farther inquiry, he was allowed to pass; but the other, not
+answering satisfactorily, received a blow from the sabre, which
+penetrating through the cap, struck him dead. In the application,
+Mr. Whitefield, warning against vain confidence, exclaimed, "Beware
+of your skullcaps."
+
+An American clergyman has told us that he once related to Whitefield
+an affecting occurrence, but did it with the ordinary brevity and
+feeling of common conversation. Afterwards he heard Mr. Whitefield
+preach, and tell this same story with such nature, pathos, and
+power, that the clergyman found himself weeping like a child. It has
+been well said, that he spoke with the tones of the soul; and that
+his gestures were impelled by the same spontaneous magical influence
+which made them, as well as his words, seem part of his soul.
+Indeed, he threw his soul into every thing he did and said.
+
+It is said that Whitefield would sometimes rise in the sacred desk,
+and for a minute or two looking in silence around his vast audience,
+as if salvation or perdition teemed in every cast of his eye, would
+burst into tears, while the swift contagion, before he uttered a
+word, had reached every heart that could feel, and dimmed every eye
+that could weep.[2]
+
+  [2] The New York Evangelist, in 1830, made the remark, that
+  "Whitefield would have lost much of his oratorical influence on his
+  hearers, had his speaking eyes been covered with a pair of modern
+  spectacles."
+
+While his path to the sinner's heart was thus met with tears, he was
+never without strength or aim. He struck everywhere. He swung his
+glittering weapon, "the sword of the Spirit," in every direction,
+the same whether he preached in the cushioned and carpeted pulpit to
+lords, ladies, and gentlemen, or encountered a mob of stage-players
+and merry-andrews in the open field. He insisted on instant,
+visible, decisive action in his hearers. All was commotion where he
+moved. The very earth would seem to be shaken with the thunder of
+his eloquence; the heavens seemed, in the bold metaphor of Isaiah,
+to "drop down from above, and the skies to pour down righteousness,"
+when he set the trumpet of the gospel to his lips, and made the
+notes of salvation or perdition ring in the ears of dying men. Such
+unwonted sounds startled the multitude into life, rousing energies
+that were forthwith enlisted either for or against the mighty cause
+which he advocated, with the boldness and fervor of one who had
+received immediate commission from heaven. His sacred ambition was
+content with nothing short of the conquest of thousands.
+
+It has been well said by a living American writer, that "Whitefield
+was, in sacred eloquence, what Handel was in sacred music. There
+was an air, a soul, and a _movement_ in his oratory, which created
+indescribable emotion in his vast assemblies, and if Handel, with a
+thousand auxiliary voices and instruments, astonished the multitude
+in Westminster Abbey, even to raising them on their feet, by the
+performance of his Messiah, Whitefield did greater wonders in his
+single person by _preaching_ the Messiah to the immense crowds in
+Tottenham Court-road and Moorfields."
+
+The same writer has said elsewhere, "The influence of Whitefield and
+Edwards on theology and pulpit eloquence were immense. There was in
+those two men indeed 'a diversity of gifts, but the same spirit,'
+The intellect prevailed in Edwards, the impassioned in Whitefield.
+Pure truth came forth from the mind of the one as nakedly
+demonstrated as it ever was on the pages of Newton and Locke; for
+Edwards, when but a child, read Locke with enthusiasm. From the
+soul of Whitefield it came forth arrayed in the gorgeous robes of
+his own many-colored imagination, baptized in the tenderness of his
+own sympathetic spirit. At times, indeed, the thunders of Sinai
+seemed to shake the sacred desk, but the softer music of the harp
+of Zion was more congenial with his compassionate spirit, though he
+was always bold for God, and braved danger in every form for the
+salvation of sinners. It is not strange that American preachers
+venerate, even to enthusiasm, the memory of such a man, and visit
+his dust, enshrined as it is in the bosom of New England, with
+feelings of indescribable interest. His labors were for us; his rest
+is with us; his example is before us. The first were indefatigable;
+the second is peaceful; the last is glorious."
+
+The Rev. Mr. Winter says, "I hardly ever knew him to go through
+a sermon without weeping more or less;" and again, "It was only
+by beholding his attitude and tears, that one could well conceive
+of the effect." No doubt there was a connection between the tears
+of Whitefield and his piety; but it must not be supposed that he
+was always "the weeping prophet;" he could smile as well as weep.
+A venerable lady in New York, known to some yet living, speaking
+of the influence which first won her heart to God, said that "Mr.
+Whitefield was so cheerful that it _tempted her to be a Christian_."
+
+Every thing about this distinguished man excited attention. His
+voice, accompanied by his look from crossed eyes, and proceeding
+from a man of his robust frame, produced wonderful effects. It
+is said that when once preaching in a graveyard, two young men
+conducted themselves improperly, when he fixed his eyes upon them,
+and with a voice resembling thunder, said, "Come down, ye rebels."
+They instantly fell, neither of them being inclined again to come
+into contact with such a look, or to hear such a voice.
+
+He was once preaching to a vast crowd of people in southern
+Pennsylvania, which was at that time ignorant and uncivilized. He
+was incessantly disturbed by their noise, and twice reproved them
+with great severity. At length he was so overcome by their noisy and
+irreverent conduct, that he stopped short, dropped his head into his
+hands, burst into a flood of tears, and exclaimed, "Oh, Lord God, I
+am ashamed that these people are provoking thy wrath, and I dare not
+reprove them a third time." Such was the effect of his conduct and
+feeling, that his audience became perfectly quiet, and remained so
+till the end of his discourse.
+
+We have before us two narratives of his preaching during very heavy
+storms. Dr. Campbell, a successor of Whitefield in the _Tabernacle_
+in London, and whose ministry has been marked by much of the power
+and success of his great predecessor, has given to the first of
+these narratives the title of "_Thunder and Eloquence_." Before
+he commenced his sermon on this occasion, long darkening columns
+crowded the bright sunny sky of the morning, and swept their dull
+shadows over the building, in fearful augury of the storm.
+
+His text was, "Strive to enter in at the strait gate; for many,
+I say unto you, shall seek to enter in, and shall not be able."
+"See," said he, pointing to a shadow that was flitting across the
+floor--"see that emblem of human life. It passed for a moment, and
+concealed the brightness of heaven from our view; but it is gone.
+And where will ye be, my hearers, when your lives have passed away
+like that dark cloud? Oh, my dear friends, I see thousands sitting
+attentively, with their eyes fixed on the poor unworthy preacher.
+In a few days, we shall all meet at the judgment-seat of Christ.
+We shall form a part of that vast assembly that will gather before
+the throne; and every eye will behold the Judge. With a voice whose
+call you must abide and answer, he will inquire whether on earth you
+strove to enter in at the strait gate; whether you were supremely
+devoted to God; whether your hearts were absorbed in him. My blood
+runs cold when I think how many of you will then seek to enter in,
+and shall not be able. Oh, what plea can you make before the Judge
+of the whole earth? Can you say it has been your whole endeavor to
+mortify the flesh, with its affections and lusts--that your life has
+been one long effort to do the will of God? No; you must answer, 'I
+made myself easy in the world by flattering myself that all would
+end well; but I have deceived my own soul, and am lost.'
+
+"You, O false, and hollow Christian, of what avail will it be that
+you have done many things--that you have read much in the sacred
+word--that you have made long prayers--that you have attended
+religious duties, and that you have appeared holy in the eyes of
+men? What will all this be, if, instead of loving Him supremely,
+you have been supposing you should exalt yourself in heaven by acts
+really polluted and unholy?
+
+"And you, rich men, wherefore do you hoard your silver? Wherefore
+count the price you have received for Him whom you every day crucify
+in your love of gain? Why--that when you are too poor to buy a
+drop of cold water, your beloved son may be rolled to hell in his
+chariot, pillowed and cushioned around him."
+
+The eye of the preacher gradually lighted up as he proceeded, till
+towards the close it seemed to sparkle with celestial fire. With
+his whole energy he exclaimed, "O sinners, by all your hopes of
+happiness, I beseech you to repent. Let not the wrath of God be
+awakened. Let not the fires of eternity be kindled against you. See
+there!" pointing to the lightning, which played on the corner of the
+pulpit, "it is a glance from the angry eye of Jehovah!" Raising his
+finger in a listening attitude, as the distant thunder grew louder
+and louder, and broke in one tremendous crash over the building, he
+continued, "Hark! It was the voice of the Almighty as he passed by
+in his anger!" As the sound died away, he covered his face with his
+hands, and knelt beside his pulpit, apparently lost in inward and
+intense prayer. The storm passed rapidly away, and the sun, beaming
+forth in his might, threw across the heavens a magnificent arch of
+peace. Rising, and pointing to the beautiful object, he exclaimed,
+"Look upon the rainbow, and praise Him who made it. Very beautiful
+it is in the brightness thereof. It compasseth the heavens about
+with glory; and the hands of the Most High have bended it!"
+
+On another occasion, as Mr. Whitefield was preaching in Boston, on
+the wonders of creation, providence, and redemption, a violent
+storm of thunder and lightning came on. In the midst of the sermon
+it attained to so alarming a height that the congregation sat in
+almost breathless awe. The preacher closed his note-book, and
+stepping into one of the wings of the desk, fell on his knees, and
+with much feeling and fine taste repeated:
+
+    "Hark, THE ETERNAL rends the sky!
+     A mighty voice before him goes--
+     A voice of music to his friends,
+     But threatening thunder to his foes:
+    'Come, children, to your Father's arms;
+     Hide in the chambers of my grace,
+     Till the fierce storm be overblown,
+     And my revenging fury cease--'
+
+"Let us devoutly sing to the praise and glory of God this hymn, Old
+Hundred."
+
+The whole congregation instantly rose, and poured forth the sacred
+song, in which they were accompanied by the organ, in a style of
+simple grandeur and heartfelt devotion that was probably never
+surpassed. By the time the hymn was finished the storm was hushed.
+The remainder of the services were well adapted to sustain the
+elevated feeling which had been produced; and the benediction with
+which the good man dismissed the flock was universally received with
+streaming eyes, and hearts overflowing with tenderness and gratitude.
+
+Another writer has thus described his appearance in the pulpit.
+There was nothing in the appearance of this extraordinary man which
+would lead you to suppose that a Felix would tremble before him.
+He was something above the middle stature, well proportioned, and
+remarkable for a native gracefulness of manner. His complexion
+was very fair, his features regular, and his dark blue eyes small
+and lively. In recovering from the measles he had contracted a
+squint with one of them; but this peculiarity rather rendered the
+expression of his countenance more remarkable, than in any degree
+lessened the effect of its uncommon sweetness. His voice excelled
+both in melody and compass; and its fine modulations were happily
+accompanied by that grace of action which he possessed in an eminent
+degree, and which has been said to be the chief requisite in an
+orator. To see him when he first commenced, one would have thought
+him any thing but enthusiastic and glowing; but as he proceeded,
+his heart warmed with his subject, and his manner became impetuous
+and animated; till, forgetful of every thing around him, he seemed
+to kneel at the throne of Jehovah, and to beseech in agony for his
+fellow-beings.
+
+After he had finished his prayer, he knelt for a long time in
+profound silence, and so powerful was the effect on the most
+heartless of his audience, that a stillness like that of the tomb
+pervaded the whole house.
+
+Mr. Tracy, in his narrative of "the Great Awakening" about 1740,
+has admirably remarked, "It is often said that Whitefield cannot
+have been a very great man, because his printed sermons contain only
+plain, common thoughts, such as men of ordinary minds habitually
+use. But what made those thoughts so common? They were not common
+when he began to utter them. In England especially, and to a
+considerable extent here also, they astonished his hearers by their
+strangeness. What is more common than a voyage across the Atlantic?
+But was Columbus, therefore, only an ordinary man? The case of
+Copernicus is more nearly parallel. He reasserted a truth which had
+been uttered, repudiated, and forgotten. That truth is now common,
+even among school-boys. But was he, therefore, only a child in
+intellect?"
+
+There are yet extant about eighty of the sermons by which Whitefield
+agitated nations, and the more remote influence of which is still
+distinctly to be traced, in the popular divinity and national
+character of Great Britain and of the United States. Of these
+compositions, Sir James Stephen, an evangelical Episcopalian of
+London, wrote at some length in the "Edinburgh Review," 1838, and
+we shall make no apology for borrowing a portion of his remarks,
+combining them with some of our own.
+
+It is true, that these sermons have fallen into very general
+neglect; for to win permanent acceptance for a book, into which the
+principles of life were not infused by its author, is a miracle
+which not even the zeal of religious proselytes can accomplish. Yet,
+inferior as were his inventive to his mimetic powers, Whitefield is
+entitled, among theological writers, to a place which, if it cannot
+challenge admiration, may at least excite and reward curiosity.
+Many, and those by far the worst of his discourses, bear the marks
+of careful preparation. Take at hazard a sermon of one of the
+preachers usually distinguished as evangelical, add a little to
+its length, and subtract a great deal from its point and polish,
+and you have one of his more elaborate common topics discussed in
+a commonplace way; a respectable mediocrity of thought and style;
+endless variations on one or two cardinal truths--in short, the task
+of a clerical Saturday evening, executed with piety, good sense, and
+exceeding sedateness. But open one of that series of Whitefield's
+sermons which bears the stamp of having been conceived and uttered
+at the same moment, and imagine it recited to myriads of eager
+listeners with every charm of voice and gesture, and the secret
+of his unrivalled fascination is at least partially disclosed. He
+places himself on terms of intimacy and unreserved confidence with
+you, and makes it almost as difficult to decline the invitation
+to his familiar talk as if Montaigne himself had issued it. The
+egotism is amusing, affectionate, and warm-hearted, with just that
+slight infusion of self-importance without which it would pass for
+affectation. In his art of rhetoric, personification holds the first
+place; and the prosopopoeia is so managed as to quicken abstractions
+into life, and to give them individuality and distinctness without
+the exhibition of any of those spasmodic and distorted images which
+obey the incantations of vulgar exorcists. Every trace of study and
+contrivance is obliterated by the hearty earnestness which pervades
+each successive period, and by the vernacular and homely idioms in
+which his meaning is conveyed.
+
+It is in the grandeur and singleness of purpose that the charm of
+Whitefield's preaching seems to have consisted. You feel that you
+have to do with a man who lived and spoke, and who would gladly
+have died, to deter his hearers from the path of destruction, and
+to guide them to holiness and peace. His gossipping stories, and
+dramatic forms of speech, are never employed to hide the awful
+realities on which he is intent. Conscience is not permitted to
+find an intoxicating draught in even spiritual excitement, or an
+anodyne in glowing imagery. Guilt and its punishment, pardon and
+spotless purity, death and an eternal existence, stand out in bold
+relief on every page. From these the eye of the teacher is never
+withdrawn, and to these the attention of the hearer is riveted. All
+that is poetic, grotesque, or rapturous is employed to deepen these
+impressions, and is dismissed as soon as that purpose is answered.
+Deficient in learning, meagre in thought, and redundant in language
+as are these discourses, they yet fulfil the one great condition of
+genuine eloquence. They propagate their own kindly warmth, and leave
+their stings behind them.
+
+The enumeration of the sources of Whitefield's power is still
+essentially defective. Neither energy, nor eloquence, nor histrionic
+talents, nor any artifices of style, nor the most genuine sincerity
+and self-devotedness, nor all these united, would have enabled him
+to mould the religious character of millions in his own and future
+generations. The secret lies deeper. It consisted in the theology
+he taught--in its perfect simplicity and universal application.
+"Would ministers," says he, "preach for eternity, they would then
+act the part of true Christian orators; and not only calmly and
+coolly inform the understanding, but by pathetic and persuasive
+address, endeavor to move the affections and to warm the heart. To
+act otherwise, betrays a sad ignorance of human nature, and such
+an inexcusable ignorance and indifference in a preacher, as must
+constrain the hearers to suspect, whether they will or not, that
+the preacher, let him be whom he will, only deals in the false
+commerce of unfelt truth." His eighteen thousand sermons were but
+so many variations on two key-notes: man is guilty, but may obtain
+forgiveness; he is immortal, and must ripen here for endless weal or
+woe hereafter. Expanded into innumerable forms, and diversified by
+infinite varieties of illustration, these two cardinal principles
+were ever in his heart and on his tongue. Let who would invoke
+poetry to embellish the Christian system, or philosophy to explore
+its esoteric depths, from his lips it was delivered as an awful and
+urgent summons to repent, to believe, and to obey. To set to music
+the orders issued to seamen in a storm, or to address them in the
+language of Aristotle or Descartes, would have seemed to him not a
+whit more preposterous than to divert his hearers from their danger
+and their refuge, their duties and their hopes, to any topics more
+trivial or more abstruse. In fine, he was thoroughly and continually
+in earnest, and therefore possessed that tension of the soul which
+admitted neither of lassitude nor relaxation, few and familiar
+as were the topics to which he was confined. His was, therefore,
+precisely that state of mind in which alone eloquence, properly so
+called, can be engendered, and a moral and intellectual sovereignty
+won.
+
+Nor less important is it to remark, though we need not illustrate
+it at length, that much was effected by every one seeing that he
+always forgot himself in his subject, and rested only on heaven for
+success. He felt himself called to serve Christ, and gave himself
+to his task, to save sinners, and he cared for nothing else. No
+one ever doubted his sincerity when he prayed, "Help me, Friend of
+sinners, to be nothing, to say nothing, that thou mayest say and do
+every thing, and be my all in all." If the same feelings were fully
+shown by the ministry at present, our messages would tell more on
+the hearts of our hearers.
+
+We need hardly remind the reader that Whitefield was remarkable for
+_a devotional spirit_. Probably no man ever lived nearer to God. Had
+he been less prayerful, he would have been less powerful. It has
+been said that during a few of the last years of his life he read
+the voluminous exposition of Matthew Henry, comprising six quarto
+volumes, in a kneeling posture, pausing and praying that God would
+engraft upon his mind the instructions of that extraordinary man.
+When he came before his auditors, he looked like one who had been
+with God. This it was which won for him the title of _seraphic_--he
+was a human _seraph_, and burnt out in the blaze of his own fire.
+Usually for an hour or two before he went into the pulpit, he
+claimed retirement. In this claim he was imperative, and would not
+be interrupted in his seasons of hallowed intercourse with God.
+
+Engaged almost incessantly in preaching, or in preparation for it,
+it was impossible, however much he desired it, to pay many private
+visits of a religious nature. We are told, however, that on one
+occasion, when a young minister, afterwards exceedingly popular and
+useful, was once visiting him, he was sent for to visit a poor woman
+who had been so dreadfully burnt that she could not survive many
+hours. He went immediately, and prayed with her. He had no sooner
+returned, than she called out, "Oh, where is Mr. Whitefield?" Urged
+by her entreaty, her friends requested him to visit her a second
+time. He complied, and again prayed with her. The poor afflicted
+woman continued still to desire his presence. When her friends came
+for him a third time, "I begged of him," said the young clergyman,
+"not to go; for he could scarcely expect to do any good. 'Your
+nerves are too weak, your feelings are too acute to endure such
+scenes.' I shall never forget his mild reproof: 'Leave me; my Master
+can save to the uttermost, to the _very uttermost_.'"
+
+In conversation with his friends, Whitefield was as far removed as
+possible from duplicity and mere compliment. He invited from his
+friends whatever of instruction and of reproof they considered him
+to need. And while he was always ready to receive reproof, he was,
+when called to the duty, ready to give it, and often in a way which
+his friends did not expect. A censorious professor of religion,
+knowing the doctrinal differences between the two men, asked
+Whitefield if he thought they would see Mr. John Wesley in heaven.
+His answer was truly admirable: "No, sir, I fear not; for he will
+be so near the throne, and we shall be at such a distance, we shall
+hardly get sight of him."
+
+It is said, that when he was once travelling in company with a
+Christian man, they had occasion to stay for a night at a road-side
+tavern. After they had retired, they were greatly annoyed by a
+company of gamblers, who were in an adjoining room. Whitefield
+could not rest, and told his friend that he would go into the room
+and reprove them for their conduct. The other remonstrated against
+his doing so, but in vain. He went; and unhappily, his words fell
+apparently powerless upon them. Returning, he laid down to sleep.
+"What," asked his companion, "did you gain by your trouble?"
+Whitefield characteristically answered, "A soft pillow."
+
+In his intercourse with general society, Mr. Whitefield never forgot
+his dignity as a servant of Jesus Christ. When he was in the zenith
+of his popularity, Lord Clare, who knew that his influence was
+considerable, applied to him by letter, requesting his influence
+at Bristol at the ensuing general election. To this request Mr.
+Whitefield replied, that in general elections he never interfered;
+but he would earnestly exhort his lordship to use great diligence to
+make his own particular "calling and election sure."
+
+Mr. Whitefield was greatly distinguished, even from early life, for
+neatness in his person, order in his apartments, and regular method
+in the management of all his affairs. He was accustomed to say that
+a minister should be "without a spot;" and on one occasion remarked,
+that he could not feel comfortable if he knew that his _gloves_
+were out of their proper place. The advantages of such habits are
+numerous. They save time, give a degree of comfort which can only
+be known by experience, and add not a little to the dignity of the
+Christian minister.
+
+The device upon Whitefield's seal, of which probably few impressions
+are now to be found, was truly characteristic. It was a winged heart
+soaring above the globe, and its motto was, "_Astra petamus_"--Let
+us seek heaven.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+CHARACTER OF WHITEFIELD AS A PREACHER--CENTENNIAL COMMEMORATIONS.
+
+
+In suggesting a few of the CHARACTERISTICS OF WHITEFIELD'S
+PREACHING, we are very greatly indebted to an excellent anonymous
+writer in the London Evangelical Magazine for 1853. We consider as
+among the reasons of his success, and as worthy of our imitation,
+
+First, _the prominence given to the leading truths of salvation,
+and the constant exaltation of Christ in them_. There needs no
+minute inquiry, or great analytical care, to ascertain what was
+the pervading theme of this popular minister: it was "Christ,
+and him crucified," and the glorious truths that hover around
+the cross, and derive from it their being and lustre. There was
+no other subject, in Whitefield's estimation, that was worthy of
+preeminence, and to unfold, elucidate, and apply it, was the great
+design of his labors. He saw in it such a wonderful adaptation to
+the necessities and condition of fallen humanity, that he stood in
+the midst of its wants and woes with all the confidence of a good
+physician who had a sovereign and sufficient remedy to propose.
+He knew that there was no case which it could not meet, no moral
+disease from which it would not recover, no spiritual need which
+it would not supply; and therefore, however far gone men might
+be from original righteousness, however hardened in sin, sunk in
+iniquity, or however elevated by the delusions of a false morality
+and fancied self-righteousness, he propounded this as the only and
+all-sufficient antidote, at once to destroy and heal, to kill and
+to make alive. As to the spurious production of a rationalistic
+theory on the one hand, or the prescriptions of ceremonial virtue
+and sacramental grace on the other, he knew them not. He saw at
+once their hollowness and insufficiency, and would not mock the
+necessities of our fallen nature, or aggravate the wounds which sin
+had made by a proposal of them. His acquaintance with the human
+heart was deep, and his knowledge of the different modifications
+of the original disease was so great, that he despaired of relief
+from any expedients save that which infinite Wisdom had devised, and
+which "the gospel of the grace of God" revealed. Philosophy with
+all its discoveries, and reason with all its powers, the law with
+all its authority, and virtue with all its rewards, he knew could
+only, like the priests and the Levites, have passed the patient by,
+and left him to despair, till a greater than they should arrive,
+and say, "I will come and heal you." On that adorable Personage,
+therefore, and the wonders of his skill and love, he delighted to
+dwell. Every sermon was full of Christ; every discourse was odorous
+of him. From whatever part of revealed truth he derived his text,
+and with whatever peculiar development of man's moral physiology he
+had to do, there was something to suggest, to demonstrate the need,
+or the suitableness, or the all-sufficiency of the Saviour of the
+world. To set him forth, in the glories of his wonderful person, the
+variety of his offices, the perfection of his righteousness, the
+completeness of his atonement, and the plenitude of his grace, was
+his perpetual aim. To these he gave continual prominence, at all
+times, and in every place. There was no reserve, no equivocation, no
+partial statement on such themes. It was a full, clear, consistent
+gospel. From his lips the gospel gave no "uncertain sound." This
+made him a welcome messenger of glad tidings to all. This gave him
+a key to the hearts of many, who, as they stood around him, and
+wondered at him, like those five thousand whom the Redeemer fed
+with "five loaves and two small fishes," found all their appetites
+suited, and all their necessities supplied. It was the magic power
+which arrested them; the centre of gravitation which attracted them;
+the bread of life which fed them. "As Moses lifted up the serpent
+in the wilderness," so now was the Son of man lifted up by the
+ministry of this his devoted herald; and far as the camp extended,
+and wide as the circumference of poison and death was spread, the
+wounded looked thereon and lived. A restorative virtue issued from
+it. The hardest heart was softened. The most obstinate in rebellion
+was overcome. The blindest saw. The moral lepers were cleansed.
+The broken in heart were made whole, and the spiritually dead were
+raised to life. "This was the Lord's doing, and it was marvellous in
+their eyes." They beheld the man. They heard him preach. They felt
+the power. It was because He was exalted among them who had said,
+"I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me."
+
+Secondly, _the glow of feeling, the melting compassion, which
+pervaded his own soul_. Oh, it is supremely delightful and deeply
+affecting to observe the tender affection and melting pathos with
+which Whitefield propounded and proclaimed the precious truths and
+everlasting verities of the gospel to his fellow-men. He stood
+among them as one of their race, one of their number, conscious of
+the common misery into which all had fallen, and weeping over the
+miseries and ruin in which by nature they were alike involved. As
+he opened up the treasures of infinite mercy, and the riches of
+redeeming love to their view, he wept to think how long they had
+been unknown or despised by many, and with what base ingratitude
+thousands would probably still turn away from them. As one who
+saw their immortal being in jeopardy, and their souls standing
+on the verge of irretrievable ruin, he hastened, with joy in his
+countenance and tenderness in his heart, to tell them of One who was
+"mighty to save," and that "now was the accepted time, and now the
+day of salvation." Not as one who had a cold lecture on ethics to
+deliver, or a dissertation on philosophy to expound, or a problem
+in mathematics to solve, did he proceed to such a work; but as one
+who felt the weight of his great commission, and knew the worth
+of never-dying souls. The evil of sin, the danger of impenitence,
+the powers of the world to come, the glories of heaven, and the
+unutterable miseries of the regions of woe, were visibly present to
+his own mind; and of these, "out of the abundance of his heart," he
+spoke to others. He could not be calm, he could not be apathetic on
+such themes as these.
+
+        "Passion was reason, transport temper, here."
+
+And with much of the melting tenderness of Him who wept over
+Jerusalem, he spoke of these things to all that resorted to him.
+What moving words did he utter on Blackheath hill, in the Tabernacle
+pulpit, and on Kingswood mount! His vivid eye beamed with the glow
+of tenderness, and his tears, as he spoke, oft-times moistened his
+little Bible or bedewed the ground. In his printed sermons, which
+doubtless are but feeble specimens of his free and fervent manner,
+there are strains of tender pathos and impassioned oratory, which it
+is almost impossible to read even now without being moved to share
+in his feelings and in the emotions which they must have enkindled
+around; and in the perusal of which we wonder not that, in all the
+circumstances, the place in which he stood was a Bochim--a place of
+weeping. Oh, the melting power, the exquisite pathos, the tender
+expostulation of this preeminent man, and unrivalled preacher of the
+gospel of our salvation! We wish we could catch them now--that all
+preachers possessed them; that the rising ministry especially would
+emulate him in these things. Whitefield showed his intense feeling,
+not from the mere power of ratiocination, or from the poetic
+memento, or for the sake of producing effect by the tears that were
+unfelt, or which only flowed from the surface; but from the meltings
+of a tender heart, influenced by a Saviour's love, and overflowing
+with the commiseration of a benign compassion for dying multitudes
+around. Doddridge's beautiful hymn,
+
+            "Arise, my tenderest thoughts, arise,"
+
+one might almost think was written at Whitefield's side. The
+tenderness of John, and the "weeping" of Paul, were blended in him
+with the boldness of Peter. The love that agonized in the garden of
+Gethsemane, and bled on the cross of Calvary, was largely diffused
+through all his powers.
+
+Thirdly, _the direct address of his ministry_. The characteristic
+mode of his preaching, and the style of his public ministrations,
+was, to direct his appeal to the hearts and consciences of his
+hearers, and to "preach _to_ the people all the words of this
+life." It was not an harangue _before_ them. It was not an oration
+beautifully prepared, read, or delivered in their hearing, and
+presented simply for their acceptance and admiration; but a
+direct address, an affectionate appeal, a solemn and earnest
+communication of the message he had received from God to them. Oh,
+we have sometimes thought, what a marked difference there ought
+to be between the ministrations of a servant of Christ to his
+fellow-immortals, on things of eternal importance in which they are
+personally and deeply concerned, and the delivery of a lecture from
+the philosopher's desk, or even of a dissertation on theology from
+the professorial chair. So thought the apostles. So thought the
+prophets and public teachers of sacred mysteries of old. They had
+the "burden of the Lord" to deliver, and it was _unto_ the people.
+They had an embassy to execute, and it was by negotiating directly
+with, and in the consciences of their hearers. Whitefield caught
+their spirit, proceeded in their way, and did such mighty execution,
+not by the mere symmetrical illustration of divine truth, but by
+the direct presentation of it to their minds. They had not to ask,
+"For whom is all this intended?" and, "Is it designed for us?" They
+felt that it was. It came home to their consciences, and to their
+very hearts. They could not transfer it to others, nor avoid the
+application of it to themselves. Had the preacher called them by
+name, which in his skilful delineation of character, he sometimes
+virtually did, they could not have been more certain that he
+intended it for them, and that it was at their peril to neglect or
+pass it by. "I have a message from God unto thee," he substantially
+said in every discourse he uttered, and the people were compelled
+to believe it. "Go, and tell this people," said the divine voice
+to Isaiah, "Ye hear indeed, but do not understand; ye see indeed,
+but do not perceive." "Therefore," said Peter, "let all the house
+of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus, _whom
+ye have crucified_, both Lord and Christ." "Now then," said Paul,
+"we are ambassadors for Christ; as though God did beseech _you_ by
+us, we pray _you_, in Christ's stead, _be ye_ reconciled to God."
+Such was the tenor of the apostolic ministry. Such the secret of
+its mighty power and success. And such also was the characteristic
+of the faithful and seraphic Whitefield, by which he knocked at the
+door of many hearts, and those hearts were opened to him, to his
+message, and to his Lord. His plan was that of heavenly wisdom; his
+appeal was the same. "Unto you, O men, I call, and my voice is to
+the sons of men." In him were verified the poet's graphic lines:
+
+    "There stands the messenger of truth; there stands
+    The legate of the skies: his theme divine,
+    His office sacred, his credentials clear.
+    By him the violated law speaks out
+    Its thunders; and by him, in strains as sweet
+    As angels use, the gospel whispers peace.
+    He stablishes the strong, restores the weak,
+    Reclaims the wanderer, binds the broken heart,
+    And sues the sinner to return to God."
+
+Fourthly, _his habitual dependence on the Spirit of God, and his
+earnest aspirations for the manifestation of his power_. That he
+was conscious of his own superior talents as an orator, and knew
+how to employ them on sacred themes; that he skilfully wielded
+all the weapons of a well-studied eloquence to gain access to the
+human mind, and knew both how to alarm and how to persuade, and
+could attempt both with as much success probably as any speaker,
+either of ancient or modern times; that he had a large and minute
+acquaintance with the powers and passions of the human soul, and
+knew well when and how to touch the hidden springs of its energies
+and actions; that he had a good amount of common and sacred learning
+at his command, and like that Apollos whom among the early teachers
+of Christianity he most resembled, was "mighty in the Scriptures;"
+and that he delighted to expatiate on the wonders and glories of
+redemption as a restorative scheme preeminently adapted to interest
+and attract, to impress and rule our common nature--are facts open
+to all who inspect his writings and accompany him in his labors,
+and will be denied by none. But with all these, and amid all, in
+every sermon he composed and delivered, and in his most impassioned
+addresses to his hearers, there is manifested an underlying and
+all-pervading dependence on the power and grace of the Spirit
+of God, which was in character, if not in degree, meek, humble,
+genuine, entire, like that of the most eminent apostle or adoring
+saint at the foot of the divine throne. With him it was not merely a
+sentiment, but a feeling; and that feeling constant and habitual, as
+it was in him who in the review of his labors said, "I have planted,
+Apollos watered, but God gave the increase." He knew that none but
+the almighty Spirit could gain effectual access to the spirit of
+man; and that not even a Melancthon, a Luther, or a Whitefield,
+could make old Adam yield, unless constrained by a superior power.
+He seemed to stand in the valley of vision among the dry bones, as
+the prophet did, and while he addressed them with something like a
+prophet's power, he had no expectation or hope of success until the
+wind of heaven came down and blew upon them. Therefore he prophesied
+to it as well as to them. "Come from the four winds, O breath, and
+breathe upon the slain, that they may live," was often the mighty
+cry of his soul, before preaching, while preaching, and after
+preaching. It seemed to be his joy, his only, his all-sustaining
+confidence, that he lived under "the dispensation of the Spirit,"
+and wrought in a day, and preached upon a theme, in connection with
+which "the ministration of the Spirit" was to be "glorious," by his
+wonderful works of conviction, conversion, and sanctification, among
+the children of men. To that Spirit, as the glorifier of Christ, he
+often devoutly and earnestly appealed. Sometimes, in the midst of
+an unusual flow of tender and eloquent address to his hearers on
+his favorite theme of the glories and grace of his divine Master,
+he would pause in solemn silence, and lifting up his hands and his
+voice to heaven, and carrying the hearts of his audience with him,
+invoke aloud the descending and all-consuming fire. The present God
+was acknowledged and felt. The word came "in demonstration of the
+Spirit and of power." And while the habitual aim of his preaching
+was to exalt "Christ Jesus the Lord," and while he reasoned, and
+opened the Scriptures, and taught and alarmed or invited his
+hearers, in the most touching strains of urgent remonstrance and
+tender entreaty, to accept now "the great salvation," the inward
+state of his soul was that of entire reliance on the presence and
+cooperation of the Holy Spirit of God. To him were sent up his most
+intense aspirations. In all the records of his success, to that
+Spirit the honor is always ascribed. "Not I, but the grace of God
+which was with me," is the grateful acknowledgment he makes in the
+review of every field occupied and every triumph won. And thus it
+was that the fabric of his ministry, and of all his ministrations,
+in the multitudinous labors which he directed against the kingdom
+of darkness and of Satan in his day, was like the mystic vision
+which Ezekiel saw, _instinct with life_. The spirit of the living
+creatures was in the wheels. "When this went, those went; when this
+stood, those stood; when this was lifted up from the earth, those
+were lifted up." It was all life. A living preacher; a living theme;
+a living power, giving life, and spreading it all around. Therefore
+it was that life followed in the region of death, and at his coming
+the desert rejoiced, and the wilderness blossomed as the rose.
+
+    "Dry bones were raised, and clothed afresh,
+     And hearts of stone were turned to flesh."
+
+By preaching such as we have now attempted to describe, thousands
+and tens of thousands were gathered to Christ. "An exceeding great
+army" stood up. Slumbering churches were awakened, religion was
+revived, and "righteousness and praise" were caused to "spring forth
+before all the nations." And as this apostolic man surveyed the
+amazing scene, and glanced at the wide circumference of his labors,
+in the British Isles and in the New World, he might have exclaimed,
+as one before him had done, "Now thanks be unto God, who always
+causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savor of
+his name by us in every place." "Through mighty signs and wonders,
+_by the power of the Spirit of God_, from Jerusalem round about to
+Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ." "For I am
+not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God to
+salvation; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." Who, in the
+remembrance of Whitefield and his times, will not long for their
+return, and exclaim, "Awake, awake; put on strength, O arm of the
+Lord; awake, as in the ancient days." "O that thou wouldest rend
+the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might
+flow down at thy presence, as when the melting fire burneth, the
+fire causeth the waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine
+adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence!" Spirit
+of the living God, descend and replenish with thy power all our
+souls, our ministry, our temples, our land.
+
+In estimating the character of Whitefield, it should be observed
+that _he dealt with his hearers, individually and collectively, as
+immortal beings_. To use the language of Isaac Taylor, "he held
+MAN as if in the abstract, or as if whatever is not common to all
+men were forgotten. The most extreme diversities, intellectual and
+moral, differences of rank, culture, national modes of thought, all
+gave way and ceased to be thought of; distinctions were swept from
+the ground where he took his position. At the first opening of his
+lips, and as the rich harmony of his voice spread its undulations
+over the expanse of human faces, and at the instant when the sparkle
+of his bright eye caught every other eye, human nature, in a manner,
+dropped its individuality, and presented itself in its very elements
+to be moulded anew. Whitefield, although singularly gifted with a
+perception of the varieties of character, yet spoke as if he could
+know nothing of the thousands before him but their immortality and
+their misery; and so it was that these thousands listened to him.
+
+"No preacher whose history is on record, has trod so wide a field as
+did Whitefield, or has retrod it so often, or has repeated himself
+so much, or has carried so far the experiment of exhausting himself,
+and of spending his popularity, if it could have been spent, but
+it never was spent. Within the compass of a few weeks he might
+have been heard addressing the negroes of the Bermuda islands,
+adapting himself to their infantile understandings, and to their
+debauched hearts; and then at Chelsea, with the aristocracy of rank
+and wit before him, approving himself to listeners such as the
+lords Bolingbroke and Chesterfield. Whitefield might as easily have
+produced a Hamlet or a Paradise Lost, as have excogitated a sermon
+which, as a composition, a product of thought, would have tempted
+men like these to hear him a second time; and as to his faculty and
+graces as a speaker, his elocution and action, a second performance
+would have contented them. But in fact Bolingbroke, and many of his
+class, thought not the hour long, time after time, while, with much
+sameness of _material_ and of language, he spoke of eternity and of
+salvation in Christ.... Floods of tears moistened cheeks rough and
+smooth; and sighs, suppressed or loudly uttered, gave evidence that
+human nature is one and the same when it comes in presence of truths
+which bear upon the guilty and the immortal without distinction."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Rev. Dr. James Hamilton of London has admirably delineated
+Whitefield, in a passage which must be admired by all who read
+it: "Whitefield was the prince of English preachers. Many have
+surpassed him as sermon-makers, but none have approached him
+as a pulpit orator. Many have outshone him in the clearness of
+their logic, the grandeur of their conceptions, and the sparkling
+beauty of single sentences; but in the power of darting the gospel
+direct into the conscience, he eclipsed them all. With a full and
+beaming countenance, and the frank and easy port which the English
+people love--for it is the symbol of honest purpose and friendly
+assurance--he combined a voice of rich compass, which could easily
+thrill over Moorfields in musical thunder, or whisper its terrible
+secret in every private ear; and to this gainly aspect and tuneful
+voice he added a most expressive and eloquent action. Improved by
+conscientious practice, and instinct with his earnest nature, this
+elocution was the acted sermon, and by its pantomimic portrait
+enabled the eye to anticipate each rapid utterance, and helped the
+memory to treasure up the palatable ideas. None ever used so boldly,
+nor with more success, the highest styles of impersonation: as when
+he described to his sailor-auditors a storm at sea, and compelled
+them to shout, 'Take to the longboat, sir!' His 'hark, hark!' could
+conjure up Gethsemane with its faltering moon, and awake again the
+cry of horror-stricken innocence; and an apostrophe to Peter on
+the holy mount would light up another Tabor, and drown it in glory
+from the opening heaven. His thoughts were possessions, and his
+feelings were transformations; and he spoke because he felt, his
+hearers understood because they saw. They were not only enthusiastic
+amateurs, like Garrick, who ran to weep and tremble at his bursts
+of passion, but even the colder critics of the Walpole school
+were surprised into momentary sympathy and reluctant wonder. Lord
+Chesterfield was listening in Lady Huntingdon's pew when Whitefield
+was comparing the benighted sinner to a blind beggar on a dangerous
+road. His little dog gets away from him when skirting the edge of
+a precipice, and he is left to explore the path with his iron-shod
+staff. On the very verge of the cliff this blind guide slips through
+his fingers and skims away down the abyss. All unconscious, the
+owner stoops down to regain it, and stumbling forward--'Good God,
+he is gone!' shouted Chesterfield, who had been watching with
+breathless alarm the blind man's movements, and who jumped from his
+feet to save the catastrophe.
+
+"But the glory of Whitefield's preaching was his heart-kindled
+and heart-melting gospel. But for this, all his bold strokes and
+brilliant surprises might have been no better than the rhetorical
+triumphs of Kirwan and other pulpit dramatists. He was an orator,
+but he only sought to be an evangelist. Like a volcano where gold
+and gems may be darted forth as well as common things, but where
+gold and molten granite flow all alike in fiery fusion, bright
+thoughts and splendid images might be projected from his pulpit,
+but all were merged in the stream which bore along the gospel
+and himself in blended fervor. Indeed, so simple was his nature,
+that glory to God and good will to man had filled it; there was
+room for little more. Having no church to found, no family to
+enrich, and no memory to immortalize, he was simply the ambassador
+of God; and inspired with its genial piteous spirit--so full of
+heaven reconciled and humanity restored--he soon himself became a
+living gospel. Radiant with its benignity, and trembling with its
+tenderness, by a sort of spiritual induction a vast audience would
+speedily be brought into a frame of mind--the transfusing of his
+own; and the white furrows on their sooty faces told that Kingswood
+colliers were weeping, or the quivering of an ostrich plume bespoke
+its elegant wearer's deep emotion. And coming to his pulpit direct
+from communion with his Master, and in the strength of accepted
+prayer, there was an elevation in his mien which often paralyzed
+hostility, and a self-possession which made him amid uproar and
+confusion the more sublime. With an electric bolt he would bring the
+jester in his fool's cap from his perch on the tree, or galvanize
+the brickbat from the skulking miscreant's grasp, or sweep down in
+crouching submission and shamefaced silence the whole of Bartholomew
+fair; while a revealing flash of sententious doctrine, of vivified
+Scripture, would disclose to awe-struck hundreds the forgotten
+verities of another world, or the unsuspected arcana of their inner
+man. 'I came to break your head, but, through you, God has broken
+my heart,' was a sort of confession with which he was familiar; and
+to see the deaf old gentlewoman who used to mutter imprecations
+at him as he passed along the streets, clambering up the pulpit
+stairs to catch his angelic words, was a sort of spectacle which the
+triumphant gospel often witnessed in his day. And when it is known
+that his voice could be heard by twenty thousand, and that ranging
+all the empire, as well as America, he would often preach thrice
+on a working-day, and that he has received in one week as many as
+a thousand letters from persons awakened by his sermons, if no
+estimate can be formed of the results of his ministry, some idea may
+be suggested of its vast extent and singular effectiveness."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Very admirably has a writer in the North British Review compared and
+contrasted Whitefield and Wesley. He says, "Few characters could be
+more completely the converse, and in the church's exigencies, more
+happily the supplement of one another, than were those of George
+Whitefield and John Wesley; and had their views been identical,
+and their labors all along coincident, their large services to the
+gospel might have repeated Paul and Barnabas. Whitefield was soul,
+and Wesley was system. Whitefield was a summer cloud which burst at
+morning or noon a fragrant exhalation over an ample track, and took
+the rest of the day to gather again; Wesley was the polished conduit
+in the midst of the garden, through which the living water glided
+in pearly brightness and perennial music, the same vivid stream
+from day to day. After a preaching paroxysm, Whitefield lay panting
+on his couch, spent, breathless, and deathlike; after his morning
+sermon in the foundry, Wesley would mount his pony, and trot and
+chat, and gather simples, till he reached some country hamlet, where
+he would bait his charger, and talk through a little sermon with the
+villagers, and remount his pony and trot away again. In his aerial
+poise, Whitefield's eagle eye drank lustre from the source of light,
+and loved to look down on men in assembled myriads; Wesley's falcon
+glance did not sweep so far, but it searched more keenly and marked
+more minutely where it pierced. A master of assemblies, Whitefield
+was no match for the isolated man. Seldom coping with the multitude,
+but strong in astute sagacity and personal ascendency, Wesley could
+conquer any number one by one. All force and impetus, Whitefield
+was the powder-blast in the quarry, and by one explosive sermon
+would shake a district, and detach materials for other men's long
+work--deft, neat, and painstaking, Wesley loved to split and trim
+each fragment into uniform plinths and polished stones. Or, taken
+otherwise, Whitefield was the bargeman or the wagoner who brought
+the timber of the house, and Wesley was the architect who set it up.
+Whitefield had no patience for ecclesiastical polity, no aptitude
+for pastoral details--with a beaver-like propensity for building,
+Wesley was always constructing societies, and with a king-like
+craft of ruling, was most at home when presiding over a class or a
+conference. It was their infelicity that they did not always work
+together--it was the happiness of the age, and the furtherance of
+the gospel, that they lived alongside of one another."
+
+
+CENTENNIAL COMMEMORATIONS.
+
+When a century had elapsed from the commencement of Whitefield's
+public labors, it was deemed desirable by many in England to
+hold public services of a devotional and practical character, in
+celebration of the event. Especially was it designed that such
+celebrations should have a reference, as far as possible, to
+advance open-air preaching. The first services of this character
+were very properly held in the Tabernacle, London, on May 21, 1839,
+and well do we remember with what intense interest, in common with
+thousands, we attended them. Ministers and laymen of at least
+four religious denominations assisted in them, and eloquently
+discoursed on subjects illustrating the grace of God in connection
+with Whitefield, but still more intent were they on benefiting the
+present and future generations of men. Dr. Campbell delivered a
+sermon on the character and labors of Apollos, illustrated by those
+of Whitefield; the late Dr. Cox discoursed on the genius and labors
+of Whitefield; the late Rev. John Blackburn described the past and
+present state of religion in England; and the Rev. John Young, LL.
+D., urged the propriety, duty, and necessity of open-air preaching.
+In addition to these sermons, several admirable speeches were made,
+and every thing was marked by a spirit of earnest devotion. A small
+volume, containing the sermons and speeches, was printed, and put
+into extensive circulation.
+
+About the same time, a number of ministers of the Congregational
+order met in a central town of Gloucestershire, when one of them
+suggested, that "as the present year was the centenary of the Rev.
+George Whitefield's labors in reviving the apostolic practice of
+open-air preaching, it might be desirable to commemorate them by a
+special religious open-air celebration. It was further remarked,
+that Whitefield was a native of Gloucester; that as many ministers
+present presided over churches instituted by his ministry; that
+as Stinchcombe hill, in the very centre of the county, presented
+a most beautiful and eligible spot for a public meeting; and as
+upon its summit, a century ago, Whitefield himself had preached and
+showed the glad tidings of the kingdom of God, it seemed a duty to
+improve the opportunity it offered of addressing, on the gracious
+persuasives of the cross, a large concourse of persons, many of whom
+might never hear the gospel, and of promoting in the county the
+revival of evangelical religion, which God so highly honored his
+devoted servant in commencing in our land."
+
+The suggestion was most cordially received, arrangements were made,
+and, July 30, 1839, though the weather was unfavorable, the meeting
+was attended by at least seven thousand persons. A large preaching
+stand was erected for the ministers, nearly one hundred of whom
+were present. Sermons were preached by the Rev. Drs. Matheson and
+Ross, and by the Rev. Messrs. T. East, J. H. Hinton, and J. Sibree;
+and addresses were given, and the devotional exercises led by many
+others. The services were solemnly impressive. The late Josiah
+Conder, Esq., wrote two hymns especially for the occasion, which are
+well worthy of preservation; we therefore transfer them to our pages.
+
+I.
+
+      How sweet from crowded throngs,
+      Zion, ascend thy songs,
+    With choral swells through echoing aisles!
+      Where brethren, brethren meet,
+      These songs rise doubly sweet,
+    From humbler rooms or loftier piles.
+
+      But here, not made with hands,
+      A nobler temple stands;
+    Here, 'mid thy works, O God, we bow,
+      Where all around, above,
+      Proclaims thy power and love;
+    Oh, tune our hearts to praise thee now.
+
+      We bless thy gracious care,
+      For many a house of prayer,
+    Where saints may meet with conscience free,
+      To keep thy simple rites,
+      In which thy church delights,
+    And unforbidden, wait on thee.
+
+      But now, beneath the sky,
+      We raise our songs on high,
+    To Him who gave all nature birth;
+      While the free air wafts round
+      To distant vales the sound--
+    Praise to the Lord of heaven and earth.
+
+      So to the mountain air
+      The Saviour breathed his prayer;
+    So 'mid green hills or deserts rude,
+      The poor he meekly taught,
+      And gracious wonders wrought,
+    Or fed the famished multitude.
+
+      So did apostles teach;
+      So did our Whitefield preach;
+    These hills have heard his fervent prayer:
+      Oh, let the saving word
+      Throughout our land be heard,
+    Free as the light, and open as the air.
+
+
+II.
+
+    Where is the voice of Whitefield now?
+      Where does his mantle rest?
+    Oh, for Elisha's from the plough,
+      With kindred zeal possessed!
+    Apostles of heroic mould,
+      With love seraphic fired,
+    Divinely called, like those of old
+      At Pentecost inspired!
+
+    Oh THOU, our Head, enthroned on high,
+      By whom thy members live,
+    Wilt thou not hear our fervent cry,
+      The holy unction give?
+    In all the plenitude of grace
+      Thy gifts of might bestow;
+    And by us, Lord, in every place,
+      Thy saving virtue show.
+
+    This Christian land with error teems,
+      The blind by blinder led;
+    The sophist weaves his Atheist schemes;
+      Wide has the poison spread.
+    Arise, O Lord, send forth thy word;
+      Thy faithful heralds call;
+    And while the gospel trump is heard,
+      Let Satan's bulwarks fall.
+
+    Free, pure, and vital as the light,
+      GOD'S message to our race;
+    Like genial gales the SPIRIT'S might,
+      Sovereign, mysterious grace.
+    Breathe forth, O wind, and to new birth
+      Quicken the bones of death;
+    Regenerate this withered earth;
+      Give to the dying breath.
+
+It is pleasant to add to this account, that satisfactory evidences
+were given that some, during these services, were brought to the
+saving knowledge of "the truth as in Jesus." And it may be mentioned
+as a singular circumstance, that an old man one hundred and three
+years of age attended on this occasion, who had been carried in his
+mother's arms to this same spot to hear Whitefield preach just a
+century before.
+
+The last centenary service to which we shall make reference, is the
+one held at the _Bristol_ Tabernacle, November 25, 1853. The sermon
+on _The Character of Whitefield_, by the Rev. John Angell James, was
+from the text, "This one thing I do." Phil. 3:13. In it he said:
+
+"We hear much in our days about the adaptation of the gospel to
+the age. There is no word I more hate or love, dread or desire,
+according to the sense in, or the purpose for which it is used,
+than this word _adaptation_ as applied to preaching. Now, if by
+adaptation be meant, more philosophy, and less Christianity; more of
+cold abstract intellectualism, and less of popular, simple, earnest
+statement of gospel truth; more profound discussion and artificial
+elaboration addressed to the learned few, and less of warm-hearted
+appeal to the multitude, may God preserve us from such adaptation,
+for it is high-treason against truth and the salvation of souls. But
+if by this be meant a stronger intelligence, a chaster composition,
+a sterner logic, a more powerful rhetoric, a more correct criticism,
+and a more varied illustration, but all employed to set forth the
+gospel as comprehending those two great words, _redemption and
+regeneration_, let us have it; we need it; and come in ever such
+abundance, it will be a blessing.
+
+"Adaptation! the gospel is adaptation, from beginning to end, to
+every age of time, and to all conditions of humanity. It is God's
+own adaptation. It is he who knows every ward of the lock of
+man's nature, who has constructed this admirable key; and all the
+miserable tinkering of a vain and deceitful philosophy can make no
+better key, nor can all the attempts of a philosophizing theology
+make this key better fit the wards of the lock.
+
+"Adaptation! was not the gospel in all its purity and simplicity
+adapted to human nature as it existed in commercial, scholastic,
+philosophical Corinth? And did not Paul think so when he determined
+to know nothing there, but 'Christ, and him crucified?' Was it not
+by this very gospel, which many are "beginning to imagine is not
+suited to an intellectual and philosophical age, that Christianity
+fought its first battles, and achieved its victories over the
+hosts of darkness? Against the axe, the stake, the sword of the
+gladiator, and the lions of the amphitheatre; against the ridicule
+of wits, the reasoning of sages, the interests, influence, and craft
+of the priesthood; against the prowess of armies, and the brute
+passions of the mob, Christianity, strong in its weakness, sublime
+in its simplicity, potent in its isolation, asking and receiving
+no protection from the sceptre of the monarch or the sword of the
+warrior, went forth to do battle with the wisdom of Greece and the
+mythology of Rome. Everywhere it prevailed, and gathered its laurels
+from the snows of Scythia, the sands of Africa, the plains of India,
+and the green fields of Europe. With the gospel alone she overturned
+the altars of impiety in her march. Power felt his arm wither at her
+glance. She silenced the lying oracles by the majesty of her voice,
+and extinguished the deceptive light of philosophy in the schools,
+till at length she who went forth forlorn and weeping from Calvary
+to the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, ascended, upon the ruins of the
+temples, the idols, and the altars she had demolished, to the throne
+of the Caesars, and with the diadem on her brow, and the purple on
+her shoulders, gave laws to the world from that very tribunal where
+she had been dragged as a criminal and condemned as a malefactor.[3]
+
+  [3] See Dr. John M. Mason's Funeral Sermon for Mrs. Graham.
+
+"Adaptation! is not justification by faith the very substance of the
+gospel, and was it not by this doctrine that Luther effected the
+enfranchisement of the human intellect, from the chains of slavery
+which had been forged in the Vatican; achieved the liberation of
+half Europe from the yoke of Rome, and gave an impulse to human
+thought and vital Christianity which has not yet spent itself, and
+never will, till it issues in the jubilee of the nations and the
+glories of the millennium?
+
+"Adaptation! did not Whitefield move this kingdom almost to its
+centre, and equally so our then great transatlantic colony to
+its extremities, fascinating alike the colliers of Kingswood and
+the citizens of the metropolis; and by this mighty theme enable
+myriads to burst the chains of sin and Satan, and to walk abroad
+disenthralled by the mighty power of redeeming grace?
+
+"Adaptation! is not this gospel now proving its power in heathen
+countries to raise the savage into civilized man, the civilized man
+into the saint, and in this ascending scale of progression, the
+saint into the seraph?
+
+"And yet, with these proofs of the power of the gospel to adapt
+itself to every age of the world, and to every condition of
+humanity, there are those who want something else to effect the
+regeneration of mankind. 'And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all
+men unto me.' So said the Saviour of men. The cross is the great
+moral magnet for all ages and all countries, to draw men from
+barbarism to civilization, from sin to holiness, from misery to
+happiness, and from earth to heaven; and it were as rational to say
+the loadstone had lost its original power of polar attraction, and
+the mariner's compass is an old, stale invention, and must now be
+replaced with some new device, better adapted to the modern light
+of science, as to suppose that the doctrine of the cross had become
+effete, and must give way to some new phase of theological truth.
+
+"I now consider the _manner_ in which Whitefield carried out his own
+purpose into action. '_One thing I do_:' and _how_ did he accomplish
+it?
+
+"Never was the joyful sound sent over the world by a more
+magnificent _voice_. All his biographers labor, as do the
+historians of Greece in describing the power of Demosthenes, to
+make us understand his wondrous oratory. Perhaps, after all, that
+which gives us the most vivid idea of it is, not the _crowds_ it
+attracted, moved, and melted, but that it warmed the cold and
+calculating Franklin, and fascinated the philosophical and sceptical
+Hume. Heaven rarely ever gave, or gives to man the faculty of speech
+in such perfection. But what is particularly worthy of notice is,
+that he trusted not to its native power, but increased that power
+by assiduous cultivation. His matchless elocution was not only an
+endowment, but an acquirement. If he preached a sermon twenty times,
+he went on to the last improving his method of delivering it, both
+as to tones and action; not for theatrical display--no man was
+ever more free from this--but to carry out his 'one thing'--_the
+salvation of souls_. He knew, and deeply and philosophically entered
+into the meaning of that text, 'Faith cometh by hearing;' and he
+also knew that attentive hearing comes by the power of speaking.
+With such a theme as the gospel, with such an object as salvation,
+with such an aim as eternity, and such a Master to serve as Christ,
+he would not give utterance to such subjects, and for such purposes,
+in careless and slovenly speech. He studied to be the orator, that
+he might thus pluck souls as brands from the burning. In this let us
+imitate him. Of all our faculties, that of speech is perhaps least
+cultivated, yet is most susceptible of cultivation, and pays best
+for the pains bestowed upon it. My brethren, speech is the great
+instrument of our ministerial labor. Our assault upon the rebel town
+of Mansoul is to be carried on, and our entrance to be effected,
+to use the language of Bunyan, at ear-gate. The tongue, rather
+than the pen, is the weapon of most of us. For the love of souls,
+let us endeavor to be good speakers. With the loftiest themes in
+the universe for our subjects, do, do let us endeavor to speak of
+them in some measure worthily. It is an instructive and astounding,
+and to us humiliating and disgraceful fact, that the stage-player,
+whether in comedy or in tragedy, takes ten times more pains to
+give effective utterance to his follies, vices, and passions, for
+the amusement of his audience, than we do to eternal and momentous
+truths for the salvation of ours. The stage seems the only arena
+where the power of oratory is much studied. Should this be?
+
+"A few characteristics of Whitefield's manner deserve emphatic
+mention and particular attention, as connected with the execution
+of his one great purpose. The first I notice is _solemnity_. He
+never, as did some of his followers, degraded the pulpit by making
+it the arena of low humor and wit; abounding in anecdote, and even
+in action, he was uniformly solemn. His deep devotional spirit
+contributed largely to this, for his piety was the inward fire
+which supplied the ardor of his manner. He was eminently a man of
+prayer; and had he been less prayerful, he would also have been less
+powerful. He came into the pulpit from the closet, where he had been
+communing with God, and could no more trifle with merry humor at
+such a time than could Moses when he came down from the mount to the
+people; or than the high-priest when he came out from the blazing
+symbols of the divine presence between the cherubim in the holy of
+holies; or Isaiah when he saw the Lord of hosts, high and lifted up,
+with his train filling the temple. Happily the age and taste for
+pulpit buffoonery is gone, I hope never to return.
+
+  ''Tis pitiful to count a gain when you should woo a soul.'
+
+It was the stamp and impress of eternity upon his preaching, that
+gave Whitefield such power. He spoke like a man that stood upon
+the borders of the unseen world, alternately rapt in ecstasy as he
+gazed upon the felicities of heaven, and convulsed with terror as
+he seemed to hear the howlings of the damned, and saw the smoke
+of their torment ascending from the pit for ever and ever. His
+maxim was to preach, as Apelles painted, for eternity, and he
+said, if ministers preached for eternity, they would then act the
+part of true Christian orators. And tell me, my brethren, what are
+all the prettinesses, the beauties, or even sublimities of human
+eloquence--what the similes, metaphors, and other garniture of
+rhetoric--what the philosophy and intellectualities which many in
+this day are aiming at, to move and bow and conquer the human soul,
+compared with 'the powers of the world to come?'
+
+"But there was another characteristic of Whitefield's manner, and
+that was its _tenderness_. Our Lord, as to his humanity, was a man
+of sorrows, and therefore of tears; so was Paul, so was Whitefield.
+Perhaps the latter somewhat too much so, at any rate far too much so
+for any preacher but himself, and with him the fountain of his tears
+was somewhat too full and flowing. But Oh, what an apology for this,
+and what a stroke of pathetic eloquence was that appeal when on one
+occasion he said, 'You blame me for weeping, but how can I help
+it, when you will not weep for yourselves, although your immortal
+souls are on the verge of destruction, and for aught I know you are
+hearing your last sermon, and may never more have an opportunity
+to have Christ offered to you.' Man is an emotional as well as an
+intellectual creature, and sympathy is one of the powers of our
+physical and mental economy. The passions are of an infectious
+nature, and men feel more in a crowd than in solitude. The adage of
+the ancient elocutionist is still true, 'If you wish me to weep,
+weep yourself.' Whitefield's tears drew forth those of his audience,
+and his pathos softened their hearts for the impressions of the
+truth. It is forgotten by many preachers that they may do much by
+the heart, as well as by the head. We are not the teachers of logic,
+mathematics, metaphysics, or natural philosophy, which have nothing
+to do with the heart, but of religion, the very seat of which is
+there; and _we_ address ourselves not only to the logical, but to
+the aesthetical part of man's complex nature. By argument, I know
+we must convince, but we must not stop in the judgment, but go on
+to reach the heart, and we ourselves must feel as well as reason.
+_Clear, but cold_, is too descriptive of much modern preaching. It
+is the frosty moonlight of a winter's night, not the warm sunshine
+of a summer's day. A cold preacher is likely to have cold hearers.
+Cold! What, when the love of God, the death of Christ, the salvation
+of souls, the felicities of heaven, and the torments of hell are the
+theme? Enthusiasm here is venial, compared with lukewarmness.
+
+"Need I say that _earnestness_ was characteristic of Whitefield's
+preaching? Yes, that one word, perhaps, more than any other in our
+language, is its epitome. An intense earnestness marked its whole
+career, and was carried to such a pitch as to subject him, as did
+that of Paul, to the imputation of madness. The salvation of souls
+was so entirely the one thing that engrossed his soul, his time,
+his labors, that not a step deviated from it. Every moment, every
+day, was an approximation to it. His devotions, his recreations,
+if any such he had, his journeys, his voyages, his sermons, his
+correspondence, were all referred to this one end. His exertions
+never relaxed for a moment, and he, with his great compeer Wesley,
+made the trial so seldom made, what is the utmost effect which, in
+the way of saving souls, may be granted to any one preacher of the
+gospel in any age or country.
+
+"What may not be done, and is not done by earnestness? It gives
+_some_ success to any error, however absurd or enormous, and to any
+scheme of wickedness, however flagrant and atrocious. What is it
+that has given such success to popery, to infidelity, to Mormonism?
+_Earnestness._ And shall the apostles and advocates of error be
+more in earnest than the friends of truth? Whitefield often quoted
+Betterton the player, who affirmed that the stage would soon be
+deserted if the actors spoke like the preachers. And what _would_
+empty the play-house, that is, dulness and coldness, _does_ often
+empty the meeting-house. 'Mr. Betterton's answer to a worthy
+prelate,' says Whitefield, 'is worthy of lasting regard.' When asked
+how it is that the clergy, who speak of things _real_, affected
+the people so little, and the players, who speak only of things
+imaginary, affected them so much, replied 'My lord, I can assign but
+one reason--we players speak of things imaginary as though they were
+real, and too many of the clergy speak of things real as though they
+were imaginary.' It is not always so. Many a preacher, even in our
+own day, by the unaffected earnestness of his manner, carries away
+his audience upon the tide of his own feeling. They hear what he
+says, they see what he feels, his eye helps his tongue, the workings
+of his countenance disclose the feelings of his heart; his manner is
+a lucid comment upon his matter, breaks down the limits which words
+impose upon the communication of ideas, and gives them not only an
+apprehension of the meaning, but a sense of the importance of his
+subject, which unimpassioned language and manner could not have done.
+
+"I name but one thing more as characteristic of this great man,
+and which it would be well for us to imitate, and that is, his
+_dauntless courage_. See him not only facing mobs, defying threats,
+and even lifting up his pulpit amid the wild uproar of a London
+fair, the boldest achievement that a speaker ever accomplished, but
+holding on his noble career unterrified, and working amid the storm
+of obloquy that came upon him from so many quarters. Who that has
+ever read, can ever forget Cowper's exquisite description of him?
+
+    "'LEUCONOMUS--beneath well-sounding Greek
+      I show a name a poet must not speak--
+      Stood pilloried on infamy's high stage,
+      And bore the pelting storm of half an age,
+      The very butt of slander, and the blot
+      For every dart that malice ever shot.
+      The man that mentioned him at once dismissed
+      All mercy from his lips, and sneered and hissed.
+      His crimes were such as Sodom never knew,
+      And perjury stood up to swear all true;
+      His aim was mischief, and his zeal pretence,
+      His speech rebellion against common-sense:
+      A knave when tried on honesty's plain rule,
+      And when by that of reason, a mere fool.
+      The world's best comfort was, his doom was passed,
+      Die when he might, he must be damned at last.
+      Now truth, perform thine office, waft aside
+      The curtain drawn by prejudice and pride,
+      Reveal--the man is dead--to wondering eyes,
+      This more than monster, in his proper guise.
+      He loved the world that hated him; the tear
+      That dropped upon his Bible was sincere:
+      Assailed by scandal and the tongue of strife,
+      His only answer was--a blameless life;
+      And he that forged, and he that threw the dart,
+      Had each a brother's interest in his heart.
+      Paul's love of Christ, and steadiness unbribed,
+      Were copied close in him, and well transcribed.
+      He followed Paul--his zeal a kindred flame,
+      His apostolic charity the same.
+      Like him, crossed cheerfully tempestuous seas,
+      Forsaking country, kindred, friends, and ease.
+      Like him he labored, and like him, content
+      To bear it, suffered shame where'er he went.
+      Blush, calumny! and write upon his tomb,
+      If honest eulogy can spare the room,
+      Thy deep repentance of thy thousand lies,
+      Which, aimed at him, have pierced the offended skies;
+      And say, Blot out my sin, confessed, deplored,
+      Against thine image, in thy saint, O Lord.'
+
+"What but a guilty cowardice is it, a false and pusillanimous shame,
+that keeps us in these days from some novel and bolder method of
+aggression upon the domain of darkness? Are we not wanting here in
+that moral courage which would make us, when conscious of doing
+right, indifferent to the stare of the ignorant, and the wonder
+of the timid; to the shaft of ridicule, and the malignant censure
+of the cynic? How enslaved are we by the fetters of custom, or
+restrained by the trammels of conventiality! How little are we
+disposed to go out of the usual track, even in saving souls! Very
+few are disposed to imitate the boldness, ingenuity, and novelty
+of that noble-hearted brother,[4] who hired a disengaged theatre
+in the city where he dwelt, and for four months preached there to
+listening and well-behaved crowds, the gospel of salvation; and for
+his reward had very many given to him, who are his joy now, and will
+be his crown of rejoicing in the presence of Christ at his coming.
+Who can see Paul on Mars-Hill, addressing himself to the sages and
+their followers of all sects, and preaching to them a doctrine so
+repugnant to the mythology of the temple and the philosophy of the
+schools, as Christ, the last judgment, and the resurrection of the
+body, without being impressed with the moral courage of such an act?
+It is this spiritual heroism that is wanted in our modern preaching,
+and indeed, which was no less needful when the Methodistic company
+commenced their preaching.
+
+  [4] The Rev. Richard Knill of Chester, formerly a missionary in
+  India, and afterwards in Russia, since deceased.--B.
+
+"Nor is it only in this unwillingness to go off from our own
+ground for saving souls that our guilty cowardice is seen, but in
+the disposition to shirk the more solemn and searching truths of
+revelation. Are we not giving way too much to the fastidiousness of
+modern taste and refinement, which is craving after smooth things;
+which desires the sentimental, the picturesque, the imaginative, but
+turns with disgust from the solemn, the alarming, the awakening? Are
+we not too gentle and courteous to mention such a word as 'hell'
+to modern ears polite? Are we not too fearful to break in with the
+thunders of a violated law upon those who are at ease in Zion? I do
+not ask for a gross, revolting method of describing the punishment
+of the wicked, as if the preacher delighted in harrowing up the
+feelings of his audience. This is as disgusting as if, in order
+to keep men from crime, our judges and magistrates were ever and
+anon giving a minute detail of the process of an execution, and the
+convulsive pangs of an expiring wretch suspended to the beam of the
+gibbet. We ask not for a harsh, scolding, and denunciating style of
+preaching; but we do want more of the unflinching boldness, and the
+dauntless courage, which, are necessary to fidelity, and absolutely
+essential to him who would win souls to Christ. It is too generally
+forgotten, that our Lord Jesus, who was incarnate love, was the most
+solemn and awful of all preachers. He whose gentle spirit so often
+breathed out itself in invitation, and whose compassion melted into
+tears, at other times robed himself in terror, and uttered the most
+alarming peals of divine indignation. What we need for our ministry
+is this mixture of tenderness and solemnity, which entered so deeply
+into the ministry of Christ, and was so characteristic of his
+servant, whose labors we this day commemorate and commend."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Hear also the Rev. John Glanville, the present successor of
+Whitefield in the Tabernacle at Bristol: "And such preaching _must
+continue_, if the world is to be saved. Nothing but this is suited
+to man's necessities; nothing else can meet man's miseries. The
+battle must be fought with the old, well-tried, but not worn-out
+weapons. God has provided them, and we must use them. We require
+nothing else; the world has not outgrown the old gospel, so as to
+need something new to soothe its sorrows and satisfy its wants.
+
+"Not that ministers can now produce the effect Whitefield did. He
+was a man standing alone. The charm and power of his preaching
+have never been explained. It was all fire and flame, shooting
+out red-hot thunderbolts against the citadels of sin. It was an
+undivided soul, solemnly consecrated to one object--an entire life,
+zealously employed in one thing. As he preached, every feature
+spoke, the whole man became vocal, and the truth of God stood out
+in its full proportions and beauty, in the bright and broad daylight
+of heaven. So unreserved was his self-consecration, that every thing
+was deemed impertinent which obtruded upon, or interfered with the
+one great end of his existence. He lived in communion with God--more
+in heaven than on earth. He was much at the foot of the throne,
+and got his strength there; he prevailed with men, because he had
+prevailed with God. His whole soul was filled with life, and fired
+with love, from being in habitual contact with the cross.
+
+"And _we_ must pursue the same course, and try to do the same thing.
+We have the power, and we must bring it forth and use it. God has
+given the machinery, and it is for us to set it in motion. The
+world is perishing, and we must save it; it is dying, and we must
+give it life. God from his eternal throne calls us--Christ from his
+bleeding cross speaks to us--voices from the abodes of sin, and the
+regions of despair, sound in our ears. And we all, as ministers and
+as members, must rise up in the vigor of piety and the fervor of
+prayer. We must rise up from the slumbers of selfishness, and tear
+off the fetters of the world, and act as those who believe in the
+existence of an eternal heaven and an eternal hell, and that all
+souls will be found in the one or in the other--as those who have a
+great work to do, and but a short and uncertain time to do it in.
+Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake, as in the
+ancient days, in the generations of old."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Transcriber's note:
+
+Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note.
+Irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have been retained as
+printed.
+
+Missing page numbers are page numbers that were not shown in the
+original text.
+
+Mismatched quotes are not fixed if it's not sufficiently clear where
+the missing quote should be placed.
+
+The cover for the eBook version of this book was created by the
+transcriber and is placed in the public domain.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of George Whitefield, by Joseph Belcher
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