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diff --git a/77517-h/77517-h.htm b/77517-h/77517-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7e3887c --- /dev/null +++ b/77517-h/77517-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,28558 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html lang="en"> +<head> + <meta charset="UTF-8"> + <title> + The Life and Times of Selina, Countess of Huntingdon Vol. 1 | Project Gutenberg + </title> + <link rel="icon" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover"> + <style> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + + h1,h2 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + font-weight: normal; +} + +h2 { font-size: 110%; } + +p { + margin-top: .51em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .49em; + text-indent: 1.2em; +} + +.p0 {margin-top: 0em;} +.p1 {margin-top: 1em;} +.p2 {margin-top: 2em;} +.p6 {margin-top: 6em;} + +.p-left {text-indent: 0em; } + +.p-min {margin-top: -.5em;} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: 33.5%; + margin-right: 33.5%; + clear: both; +} + +hr.tb {width: 45%; margin-left: 27.5%; margin-right: 27.5%;} +hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} + +div.chapter {page-break-before: always;} + +ul { list-style-type: none; } +li.i1 { + text-indent: -2em; + padding-left: 2em; +} +li.i2 { + text-indent: -2em; + padding-left: 3em; +} +li.i3 { + text-indent: -2em; + padding-left: 4em; +} + +table { +margin: auto; +width:auto; +border: 0; +border-spacing: 0; +border-collapse: collapse; } + +td { +padding: 0em .2em 0em 2.5em; +border: .1em none white; +text-align: left; +text-indent: -2em; } + +td.cht { +text-align: left; +vertical-align: top; +padding-left: 1.5em; +text-indent: -1em;} + +td.right { +text-align: right; +vertical-align: top; +padding-left: 2em;} + +td.rightb { +text-align: right; +vertical-align: top; +padding-left: 2em; +border-bottom: 1px solid black;} + +.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: small; + text-align: right; + font-style: normal; + font-weight: normal; + font-variant: normal; + text-indent: 0; +} /* page numbers */ + +.blockquot { + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 10%; + font-size: 90%; +} + +#half-title { text-align: center; + font-size: 120%; } + +.hangingindent { + padding-left: 2em ; + text-indent: -2em ;} + +.xs { font-size: x-small;} + +.sm { font-size: small;} + +.xl { font-size: x-large;} + +.center {text-align: center; + text-indent: 0em;} + +.right {text-align: right;} + +.left1 { text-align: left; + text-indent: 2em;} + +.r2 {text-align: right; + margin-right: 2em;} + +.r4 {text-align: right; + margin-right: 4em;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +.allsmcap {font-variant: small-caps; text-transform: lowercase;} + +.gesperrt +{ + letter-spacing: 0.2em; + margin-right: -0.2em; +} + +/* Images */ + +img { + max-width: 100%; + height: auto; +} + +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; + page-break-inside: avoid; + max-width: 100%; +} + +/* Footnotes */ +.footnotes {border: 1px dashed;} + +.footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + +.footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + +.fnanchor { + vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: + none; +} + +/* Poetry */ +.poetry-container +{ +text-align: center; +font-size: 90%; +} + +.poetry-container1 +{ +text-align: center; +font-size: 100%; +} + +.poetry +{ +display: inline-block; +text-align: left; +margin-left: 2.5em; +line-height: 100%; +} + +.poetry .stanza +{ +margin: .5em 0em .5em 1em; +} + +.poetry .ileft {margin-left: -.4em;} +.poetry .i4h {margin-left: 4.5em;} +.poetry .i1 {margin-left: 1em;} +.poetry .i2 {margin-left: 2em;} + +/* Transcriber's notes */ +.transnote {background-color: #E6E6FA; + color: black; + font-size:small; + padding:0.5em; + margin-bottom:5em; + font-family:sans-serif, serif; +} + + </style> +</head> +<body> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77517 ***</div> + + +<p id="half-title" class="p6">THE LIFE AND TIMES<br> + +<span class="xs">OF</span><br> + +SELINA, COUNTESS OF HUNTINGDON.</p> + + <div class="figcenter"> + <img + class="p1" + src="images/frontispiece.jpg" + alt=""> + <p class="p0 sm center">S. Huntingdon</p> + </div> + + +<div class="chapter"> +<h1><span class="sm">THE</span><br> + +<span class="gesperrt">LIFE AND TIMES</span><br> + +<span class="xs">OF</span><br> + +SELINA<br> + +COUNTESS OF HUNTINGDON.</h1> + +<p class="center p2 xs">BY A MEMBER OF THE HOUSES OF SHIRLEY AND HASTINGS.</p> + +<p class="center p2 sm">SIXTH THOUSAND—WITH COPIOUS INDEX.</p> + +<p class="center p2">VOL. I.</p> + +<p class="center sm p2">ENTERED AT STATIONERS’ HALL.</p> + +<p class="center p2 sm">LONDON: WILLIAM EDWARD PAINTER, STRAND;</p> + +<p class="center xs">AND JOHN SNOW, PATERNOSTER ROW.</p> + +<p class="center sm">1844.</p> + +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_v">[v]</span></p> +<h2 class="gesperrt">PREFACE.</h2> +</div> + + +<p>It was the express wish of Lady <span class="smcap">Huntingdon</span>, that, at least +for some years after her decease, her memory should be suffered to +rest, and her actions to make their own impression on the minds of +men. In deference to this wish, all attempts at the publication of her +Correspondence have been resisted by her noble relatives; and it is +only at the present day that a Cadet of her illustrious family, after +long years employed in the collection and examination of the documents +and papers to which he alone, perhaps, was in a condition to have easy +and continued access, has been induced to arrange his materials into +the form of a <span class="smcap">Memoir of the Life and Times of Selina, Countess of +Huntingdon</span>.</p> + +<p>Circumstances having prevented the author from personally +superintending the publication of this work, a large share of +responsibility has been thrown on those to whose hands it was +committed; but the task was a labour of love, and the publication has +been conducted with all possible regard to the public demand for ample +information, to the feelings of the living, and the memory of the dead.</p> + +<p>Among the illustrious characters of the eighteenth century, no one has +shone more conspicuously in the religious world, or enjoyed a greater +share of heartfelt esteem and love, than the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_vi">[vi]</span> venerable <span class="smcap">Countess +of Huntingdon</span>. Above all her celebrated contemporaries, she was +honoured with a life of continued usefulness, protracted to the utmost +period of mortal existence; with extraordinary talents, ample means, +and a head and heart alike devoted to promote the “glory of God in the +highest, and on earth peace and good-will towards man.”</p> + +<p>Her body has long been committed to the earth from which it sprang, and +her soul has returned to God who gave it, but she has left on earth a +testimony which will outlive monuments of brass and stone—a reputation +which has spread to the corners of the world—and a name which is +reverenced by all whose approbation is praise.</p> + +<p>The curiosity that has been as generally expressed as universally felt, +to know more of the life and character of this, in the best sense of +the word, illustrious woman, is a feeling which ought to be respected; +and it has at length become a duty to make every effort in order +to save from destruction those invaluable records of her heart and +feeling, those delightful traits of her distinguished friends, those +heart-stirring pictures of her private and every-day life, and those +important records of her public services to religion and humanity, +which are contained in these volumes, and which, but for the present +publication, might have expired with their compiler, or have left but +a vague memory of her excellence, except in those instances where the +sacrifice of her fortune has raised imperishable monuments to her piety.</p> + +<p>The object of the present work has been to afford a view of the “life +and times” of this distinguished woman, so clear and ample as to render +superfluous all future or collateral efforts at illustration. Every +fact and incident of her long life is here recorded—every triumph of +the cross under her vigorous and well-directed leading—every place of +worship opened under<span class="pagenum" id="Page_vii">[vii]</span> her auspices—and every mark of divine favour and +encouraging grace bestowed upon her labours.</p> + +<p>Conscious of the purity of his motive, and having for all his incentive +the desire to pay just tribute to the memory of the departed saint +whose name he honours, the author has spoken truth from his heart, +resolved to flatter no one—to know no fear in the discharge of his +duty. He has sought, with candid zeal, to avoid every evidence of a +sectarian or party spirit in his statements. Bigotry, on both sides, +may censure; but the just and generous, on all sides, will approve his +course. Narrow prejudices are already vanishing; and good men, of all +denominations, are ready to embrace the truth and each other. The good +Countess was, in this respect, before her age; and it is her Catholic +and Christian spirit which appears to have inspired her kinsman in the +composition of this Memoir. Read in the same spirit, it will serve to +accelerate the benevolent current of true godliness, and to sweep away +the narrow and contracted dispositions which would check its overflow +or turn aside its course.</p> + +<p>With this feeling, the author has drawn, without hesitation, from +all accessible sources, the illustrative matter of his Memoir. The +biographies of <span class="smcap">Whitefield</span>, <span class="smcap">Wesley</span>, <span class="smcap">Venn</span>, +and the works and letters of <span class="smcap">Fletcher</span>, <span class="smcap">Berridge</span>, +<span class="smcap">Romaine</span>, <span class="smcap">Watts</span>, <span class="smcap">Hill</span>, and other eminently +pious individuals, have supplied invaluable contributions to the work; +but its more valuable portion consists in the original letters and +anecdotes with which it teems, and in the straightforward integrity of +purpose in its author. Of himself and of his work, he says—</p> + +<p>“To <span class="smcap">God</span>, only wise, the Author of every good and perfect gift, +my humble acknowledgments are paid. His grace rendered the subject of +this Memoir what she was—His wisdom directed her pious and benevolent +efforts for the extension of the Redeemer’s kingdom—and His Spirit +supported her in her<span class="pagenum" id="Page_viii">[viii]</span> departing hours. To Him, therefore, and Him +alone, whose influence I implore, I commit these Memoirs, such as they +are, in the hope that He will vouchsafe His blessing on a work which +originated in an ardent desire to promote His glory; and that He will +render it an instrument to extend the knowledge and experience of the +glorious Gospel of God our Saviour.”</p> + +<p>With these glowing words of the pious author, the conductors commit +his work to the candid judgment of the enlightened reader; remarking +merely, as they are in justice bound to do, that the religious +institution now known as “<i>The Connexion of the late Countess of +Huntingdon</i>” does not incur the slightest responsibility with +regard to this work; and that the reverend author of the Introduction +to the present volume has undertaken to resume his pen for a similar +introductory paper to the second volume of these Memoirs.</p> +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_ix">[ix]</span></p> + +<h2>INTRODUCTION.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="center p2">PART I.</p> + + +<p>Man, amidst an almost infinite variety of circumstances, and modified, +both in body and mind, by a thousand accidental influences, is, in +every age and country, essentially the same. The <i>os sublime</i> and +the <i>mens alta</i> alike distinguish him from the other inhabitants +of the earth, and show, whatever may be his complexion and mental +training, that <span class="smcap">God</span> has made him to have dominion over the +works of his hands—has put all things in subjection under him. Nor +is there less of identity in man’s moral propensities than in his +corporeal and instinctive powers. Bent from his original rectitude, he +stoops towards earth and the things of earth, and gives sad proof of +having lost affection for the Source of his existence, and of being +inclined to worship the creature more than the Creator. The rude +savage, the superstitious devotee, and the intellectual sceptic do not +like to retain <span class="smcap">God</span> in their knowledge—that <span class="smcap">God</span> who +is “glorious in holiness,” who is partially made known to his creatures +by the works of his hands, and more fully revealed, and in a more +encouraging light, by the words of his mouth.</p> + +<p>This Atheistic spirit laboured with a giant’s strength to deface the +character of Deity impressed on the world before the flood; had cursed +the earth with abominable idolatry, or with heartless<span class="pagenum" id="Page_x">[x]</span> superstition, +before the coming of our Lord in the flesh; and, not satisfied with +the mischief effected under dispensations of mercy less intelligible +and distinct, has, to a most awful extent, corrupted a Church, +professedly Christian, as it had polluted both the Jewish temple and +the Patriarchal tent. To educe good out of evil is the province of the +Supreme Good; to pervert the good, and, so far as it relates to his own +perceptions and conduct, to abuse and prostitute it to the worst of +purposes, is, alas! the work of man.</p> + +<p>Nothing can more affectingly evince the truth of this remark than the +contrast of the Church of Rome with the Church of the Apostles; than +the pomp and mummery, the dogmatism and tyranny, the secularity, the +superstition, and the heathenism of Popery, with the simplicity, the +spirituality, and the divinity of that religion which the writers of +the New Testament advocated, for which they all suffered, and for which +most of them died. The vapour which, rising from the twofold shores +of Corinth and the province of Galatia, annoyed <span class="smcap">St. Paul</span>, +continued to spread itself and to increase in density, till the true +Church of <span class="smcap">Jesus Christ</span> became scarcely perceptible, and +ultimately was totally obscured by the thick and dark cloud. Let +the mind proceed from the apostles to <span class="smcap">Eusebius</span>, thence to +<span class="smcap">Augustine</span>, and the next advance is to settled darkness, +rendered visible by a few solitary rays of piety—real, though faint +and sickly—and the transient scintillations of scholastic wit and +learning. The page of ecclesiastical history, though inscribed by +persons less evangelical than the <span class="smcap">Milners</span>, will show that even +superstition was only one shade in the dark ages; that vital godliness, +as if in disgust, had fled from the Church, as she was pleased to call +herself, to deserts, and mountains, and dens, and caves of the earth; +that justification before <span class="smcap">God</span>, by faith alone in <span class="smcap">Jesus +Christ</span>, the “<i>Articulus stantis aut cadentis Ecclesiæ</i>,” +as <span class="smcap">Luther</span> termed it, was buried beneath the records of +Councils and the volumes of Fathers; and that men, having renounced +the <span class="smcap">Lord</span> as their <span class="allsmcap">RIGHTEOUSNESS</span>, were without him as +their <span class="allsmcap">STRENGTH</span>. Like <span class="smcap">Samson</span>, the Church was shorn of +her energy and deprived of sight—the sport of the Philistines.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xi">[xi]</span></p> + +<p>It was the glory of the Reformation that it struck at the root of the +evil. The Church of Rome, not satisfied with seeking righteousness by +the works of the law, must needs arrogate to herself a property in +works of supererogation, and impudently bring it into the market; but +for this daring imposition on common sense, the fire of <span class="smcap">Luther</span> +might have been employed rather in consuming the drapery of the Man of +Sin than in the destruction of his person. The sale of indulgences, +however, was such an outrage on the principle of the Gospel, that it +roused his powerful mind, even when only partially enlightened, to +bring all its united force against the blighting and unholy doctrine +of human merit. Thus, in the process of resuscitation, the <span class="smcap">Holy +Spirit</span>, by the agency of the Reformers, instead of restoring vital +heat by friction at the extremities, breathed into the dead Church the +breath of life, and restored to her a living soul. Animation diffused +itself through a vast range of nominal Christians, converting them into +living members of the body of <span class="smcap">Christ</span>; and the life, which was +felt to be redeemed, was consecrated to Him “who loved his Church, and +gave himself for it.”</p> + +<p>The number of truly converted persons was, no doubt, very considerable +in the days of the Reformers, and the hallowed work progressed under +their survivors, both on the continent of Europe and in Great Britain. +It would, however, be false charity to conclude that all Protestants, +even during the warmth and freshness of the Reformation, were true +Christians: an acquaintance with the history of the times and with +human nature, as well as with the subsequent condition of Protestant +Christendom, will compel us to say, “that all were not Israel who were +of Israel;” that multitudes, from political and secular motives, and +from the force of custom, or from a conviction of the truth rather as +an intellectual than as a moral proposition, protested more against +the errors of the Man of Sin than against his iniquities, and were +more anxious for emancipation from the thraldom of superstition, than +from the bondage of corruption. The easy transition, indeed, of the +majority from one state to another, under <span class="smcap">Henry the Eighth</span> +and the youthful <span class="smcap">Edward</span>; their coming back again to Popery +under <span class="smcap">Mary</span>; and their<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xii">[xii]</span> ready return to Protestantism under +her sister, proves that, however many loved the truth, even unto the +death, more were indifferent to its divine claims, and accommodated +themselves to the times. The Vicar of Bray was only one of many who +ebbed and flowed with the ocean, and of those who will always show that +a national religious improvement may be effected where the renewal of +the mind in the great body of society does not take place. Worldly men +will preserve the element of their character amidst great external +modifications—an element as decidedly opposed to the holy and humbling +truths of the Gospel in the Protestant as in the Papist, though +exhibited under different forms.</p> + +<p>This was the case in the reign of <span class="smcap">Elizabeth</span>. We hail, indeed, +with feelings kindred with those of <span class="smcap">Milton</span> when he escaped +“the Stygian Pool,” the settling of a better order of ecclesiastical +affairs, the liberty of prophesying given to the ministers of +<span class="smcap">Christ</span>, and the eminent piety, learning, and zeal of many +of the clergy. Her reign is as illustrious for men devoted to the +kingdom of our <span class="smcap">Lord Jesus Christ</span> as it is for patriots and +politicians: the preaching and the writings of those men, some of whom +were the survivors of the martyrs, and of whom others seemed to grow +out of their ashes, tended much to instruct the people in the great +principles of the Gospel. These labourers, however, were few, compared +with the extent and population of their spheres of action, and they +could not fail to leave the mass of the people without the knowledge +of true religion, and, consequently, unrenewed by its power. Nay, the +majority of those who professed to guide the blind were themselves, +it is to be feared, destitute of the wisdom that cometh from above, +and thus unqualified to show to others the way of salvation; for we +are informed that, “by the Report of the visitors to the Queen, it +was found that comparatively very few of the Popish Bishops, Clergy, +and Heads of Colleges, resigned their preferments on account of the +new order of things; and it was remembered that the greatest part +of them went with the tide in <span class="smcap">Edward’s</span> reign, and veered +about as readily with the wind on the accession of <span class="smcap">Mary</span>.” +(<i>Custance’s Reformation</i>). It would have been <i>ex fumo dare +lucem</i>, indeed, if such men had done<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xiii">[xiii]</span> much towards the evangelizing +of the nation. The Queen, herself a genuine <span class="smcap">Tudor</span>, aiming at +absolute sovereignty, wished to encircle her throne with clouds of +darkness, admitting only so much light as might show that she, and +not the Bishop of Rome, was seated on it. She chose, and with reason, +men of powerful minds to assist her in working the State machine; but +she by no means wished that society at large should be enlightened +with principles which, raising the intellectual as well as the moral +character, and cherishing a consciousness of this elevation, would +probably lead her subjects to question, where it was more convenient to +her that they should obey. “One preacher is enough for a county,” was +the recorded expression of her sentiment on this most important subject.</p> + +<p>We must, therefore, conclude, that under this extraordinary ruler—for +one does not like to contemplate her as a woman—the nation, as a +whole, with all its improvements, was dark, or, at best, only relieved +with a dim religious light. Under <span class="smcap">James</span>, the Bible was +re-translated, copies of it were multiplied, and ministers sincerely +Protestant greatly increased in number; but there was a re-action +in theological sentiments, which tended to lower the tone of piety +in those even who were truly religious. <span class="smcap">Calvinism</span>, as it +is called, had, before this reign, in numerous instances, assumed +an appearance of harshness, in the employment of supralapsarian +terms, though so generally and ably supported by men of the most holy +character and kindly hearts; but now the influence of <span class="smcap">Arminius</span> +was experienced. A large part of the clergy went over from scholastic +terms and metaphysical notions, more speculative than practical, to +doctrines which, as they reject the grace by which we are saved, +necessarily leave the soul, amidst all its moral boastings, in the +bonds of iniquity. This obscuration of the glorious Gospel of the +blessed <span class="smcap">God</span> by low, self-righteous instructors, more than +by any affectation of godliness, in the time of the Protector, +prepared the nation for that laxity, both of morals and of creed—that +licentiousness and infidelity, which stamp infamy on the reign of the +second <span class="smcap">Charles</span>. The ribaldry of <span class="smcap">Rochester</span>, the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xiv">[xiv]</span> wit +of <span class="smcap">Butler</span>, and the buffoonery of <span class="smcap">South</span>, all had a +baneful influence on the court and the nation, and obscured the holy +light which had appeared to radiate from the stake of the martyrs.</p> + +<p>Morals and religious principles have perhaps never been at a lower +ebb in our nation, since the Reformation, than during this period—a +period, the true character of which it is one of the most difficult +studies in English history to determine. Even the best men of the +age, in their joy for a restored monarchy, and bewilderment at the +splendour and politeness of the Court, were led to give a false colour +to their records of these times, and to merge the all-important +considerations of morals and truth in the theoretic speculations of a +civil and religious establishment. Whatever may be said on the question +of equity, there can, we imagine, be no doubt in an unprejudiced +Christian, that the ejecting of the Nonconformists, and the patronizing +of a very different class of men, taken as a whole, both ecclesiastic +and secular, was a heavy blow inflicted on true piety, and introduced +a style of preaching which operates as a soporific on the moral sense, +and as a cloud on the moral vision. Most victories are costly, and the +triumph of monarchical principle, however desirable, by overlaying the +living and evangelical spirit with a uniform machinery, in too many +instances worked by careless hands, was gained at an expense which it +is not easy to calculate, but which must qualify the pleasure suggested +to a loyal heart by the return of the twenty-ninth of May.</p> + +<p>England may well be proud of the science and literature of +the subsequent age, and call it Augustan. <span class="smcap">Newton</span> and +<span class="smcap">Locke</span>, in the worlds of matter and of mind; <span class="smcap">Dryden</span>, +<span class="smcap">Pope</span>, and <span class="smcap">Thomson</span>, in that of the imagination; and +<span class="smcap">Addison</span>, with a host of prose writers, on subjects of taste +and morals—have given it claims to distinction, and illuminated its +pages in intellectual history. These writers obtained great influence +over the nation, and whatever good they effected, by giving currency to +thought, they directed it in channels leading <i>from</i> evangelical +piety, to sentiment, and ethics, and taste, or to physical knowledge. +The waters were indeed clear and beautiful, but they were unhealthy, +and, in some respects, the opposite of the prophetic<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xv">[xv]</span> stream, of which +it is predicated, “Everything shall live whither the river cometh.” +The most chaste and moral of these popular works, though recognizing +Christianity, are unvivified by its spirit; and while they advocate the +claims of virtue, found not their argument on the principles of the +Gospel, and teach, often not otherwise than as a heathen would have +taught, social duties and graces, rather than “<i>the obedience of +faith</i>.” The founder of Methodism was not far from the truth when he +said that few things were more unfriendly to the progress of the Gospel +than the national fondness for <span class="smcap">Addison’s</span> <i>Spectator</i>.</p> + +<p>Nor was the political feeling without its baneful influence on the +religious character of the people. As the fashion of the Court, +under the profligate <span class="smcap">Charles</span>, had raised up many wits, like +<span class="smcap">Butler</span>, to caricature true piety, by confounding it with +hypocrisy, so the repeated efforts made to restore the <span class="smcap">Stuarts</span> +filled Protestants with a dread of change, and induced the High Church +party, most unjustly, to consider all Dissenters, however attached +to the House of <span class="smcap">Brunswick</span>, and however excelling in all the +virtues of true religion, as confederate with the Scottish Nonjurors +and Jacobites; and thus, by an easy though fallacious transition, to +identify evangelical doctrine with revolutionary propensities.</p> + +<p>This, as the following work will show, was a reason assigned by the +local magistrates of the day for their leaving the Methodist preachers +unprotected to the mal-treatment of the mob, in opposition to royal +pleasure directly expressed; and this, too, was the pretext under +which the magistrates themselves avowedly and ostensibly excited the +ignorant to violence and outrage. Let us not be deemed illiberal if +we notice, as one cause of the general apathy, the great popularity +of <span class="smcap">Tillotson</span>. It would, indeed, be uncandid and unjust not +to recognize his numerous excellences, both as a man and as a writer, +and his merit of giving a more popular character to pulpit addresses +in the Established Church; but whatever other good his sermons may +have effected, there was little in them to send the people home imbued +with the great principles of the Gospel, and sympathizing with St. +<span class="smcap">Paul</span>, when he exclaims, “But <span class="smcap">God</span> forbid<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xvi">[xvi]</span> that I +should glory, save in the cross of our <span class="smcap">Lord Jesus Christ</span>, by +whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.”</p> + +<p>An almost total absence of evangelical doctrine—the blood of +sprinkling—and an evident carelessness about the great object of +the Christian ministry, even where there may not be gaiety and +immorality of conduct, are so palpably inconsistent and reprehensible +in a professed minister of the Gospel, that the evil, in a great +degree, neutralizes itself; but when moral excellence combines with +truth indeed, animated with zeal and affection, yet lacking that +prominence of the all-important doctrines of revelation which the +<span class="smcap">Holy Ghost</span> has in all ages been pleased to bless to the +glorifying of <span class="smcap">Christ</span>, a sort of <i>quietus</i> is ministered +to the conscience, and decorum and formality take the place of +“repentance towards <span class="smcap">God</span>, and faith towards our <span class="smcap">Lord +Jesus Christ</span>.” Such writers as <span class="smcap">Tillotson</span>, and his +older friend, <span class="smcap">Barrow</span>, will be studied with advantage by men +spiritually minded, because such readers will give an evangelical +cast to the strong reasoning and beautiful illustrations of these +writers; but where the tone of feeling is to be received from the +authors themselves, we cannot but think that it will be cold. English +literature, from <span class="smcap">Steele</span> to <span class="smcap">Johnson</span>, though its period +has become an era in the history of morals, has had the same tendency. +Amusement and instruction, taste and decorum, were circulated among +a people now denominated “a reading nation;” but who ever heard of a +sinner being brought to true repentance, and to rejoice in <span class="smcap">Christ +Jesus</span>, having no confidence in the flesh, by a paper of the +<i>Spectator</i> or of the <i>Rambler</i>? All these movements, +indeed, had a beneficial influence on society, in preparing the way +for a revival in religion, by exciting the attention and teaching +the mind how to think; but the direct effect, in most cases, of such +instruction, was either to lull the moral sense altogether, or to +awaken it to a class of feelings of a self-righteous character, and, as +such, opposed to the Gospel—the righteousness which is of <span class="smcap">God</span> +by faith.</p> + +<p>Thus the slumbering embers of the martyr-flame had died out, and a +degeneracy of doctrine and profligacy of manners had spread a chilling +and destructive influence over a partially enlightened<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xvii">[xvii]</span> community; +and infidelity, political convulsions, and even literature itself, +had each contributed its quota to form a national soporific. Happily, +there were a few in the national pulpits who had not drank of this +cup, and among the Dissenters some holy men, such as <span class="smcap">Watts</span> +and <span class="smcap">Doddridge</span>, well represented those who had suffered for +conscience sake after the Restoration. Theological writings, too, had +accumulated, which will continue to instruct and bless the Church of +<span class="smcap">Christ</span> till she shall know even as she is known: but there +was a heaviness in those folios, and too much of evenness in the +public ministrations of the word, for an age which needed a moral +disturbance to prevent its sleeping the sleep of death. Arguments +against infidelity, and ethics cold though beautiful, were the usual +themes of the parochial desk; and the withering influence of Arianism, +or of a heartless orthodoxy, produced death in many of the Dissenting +congregations. England and Wales, therefore, in an improved condition +of politics and literature, and perhaps also of morals, was generally +benumbed by the torpedo of formality; and the vital feeling and zealous +activity of Christianity were known to the few only, and these rather +mourned over the state of things in secret, than exerted themselves in +public to effect an alteration.</p> + +<p>It is not for us to hazard even a conjecture respecting the number of +persons who truly loved our <span class="smcap">Lord Jesus</span> in this country at +the earlier part of the last century. Piety is essentially a quiet +and secret thing, and, though it labours to do good at all times, +is greatly dependent on circumstances for the platform on which it +acts—that may be the domestic hearth, or it may be “a spectacle to +the world.” At this period, as if wearied with political distractions +and disgusted with the impertinence of infidelity, the pious of all +denominations very much sought retirement. We may hope, therefore, +that the number of those who loved the Gospel was much greater than +at first, and by comparison with the present age, it seems to have +been; and perhaps no documents furnished greater proofs of this +delightful fact than the early correspondence of the <span class="smcap">Countess +of Huntingdon</span>. This gives the most satisfactory evidence that +“honourable women not a few,” and some men also in the highest +walks, were quietly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xviii">[xviii]</span> exercising the Christian graces, and waiting +and longing for better days, before the Methodists had obtained +publicity. Christians in the lower ranks of the community, though less +conspicuous, were not likely to be far behind the rich and the noble +in true religion; from which we infer that a goodly number, even in +those seasons of visible lifelessness, was reserved by himself for the +<span class="smcap">God</span> of all grace, especially to hail and to aid the new era +which was about to rise on the Church. Extending charity, however, to +the utmost point which correct judgment will allow, we must look back +on that period with feelings far from pleasurable. The Church is not +likely to be in a healthy state when she is without exercise, and when +she makes little or no aggressions on the world; nor can she richly +enjoy those blessings herself which she is not anxious to distribute to +others. But there are speculations which may not become us: “the day +shall declare it.”</p> + +<p>Happy was it for the world that this slumbering did not continue—that +men arose, who, instead of enquiring about the number who should be +saved, themselves strove to enter in at the strait gate, and zealously +endeavoured to excite others to follow their example. The rise of +Methodism now took place, in a band of brothers who studied at Oxford. +Mr. <span class="smcap">John Wesley</span>, in point of time as well as of talent, may +be considered the first, though it is evident that He, who brings the +blind by a way they know not, was simultaneously preparing the hearts +of many for a most efficient co-operation in the blessed work about to +be performed. Such were <span class="smcap">Whitefield</span>, <span class="smcap">Charles Wesley</span>, +<span class="smcap">Ingham</span>, and <span class="smcap">Hervey</span>. The piety of these great men +was deep and energetic, and it clothed them with so much boldness, +that, although their pretensions were humble, and they were in a great +degree the creatures of circumstances, as well as of divine grace, +yet they were distinguished from their contemporaries—even from the +best of them—and appeared the representatives of the ancient prophets +and apostles. Men felt that they were the servants of the <span class="smcap">Most +High</span>, and earnest in declaring unto them the way of salvation. +Like the ministry of <span class="smcap">John</span> the Baptist, theirs was a voice in +the wilderness, and while it proclaimed the kingdom of heaven, it was +heard with no ordinary attention.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xix">[xix]</span></p> + +<p>The reader who, piously curious, desires to trace the movements of the +<span class="smcap">Holy Spirit</span> on the heart, will find no common gratification +in the following records: he will behold, in so many parts of the +great deep, numerous symptoms of life, and will conclude that they are +not to be attributed to any artificial or partial heat, but to divine +power. “The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” There is, +perhaps, no error to which we are more exposed than that of supposing +that the originators of a series of movements, <i>à priori</i>, saw the +whole process from the beginning, and acted from plan rather than from +circumstances. <i>We</i> see the connexion which an event has with its +antecedent, and therefore imagine the agent was well acquainted with +the tendency of the one to effect the other. Universal experience, +however, contradicts this inference: even in the history of men of +this world, whose plans are often sagaciously formed, and whose object +is more definite, we see that the ultimate success is more owing to a +skilful and prompt use of accidents than to the guidance of an original +design. No philosophy, independently of experience, could foresee the +branching and stately oak in the acorn.</p> + +<p>To assert, therefore, that the founders of Methodism began their +career by chalking out their future operations, is to pay a compliment +to their foresight at the expense of truth, and of the continued +superintendence of that Being who apportions to his servants their +daily work, as much as he does their daily bread. <span class="smcap">God</span> has a +plan, but he does not expose it to the workmen of the temple: it is +enough that each knows what he has to do, and how to perform it, at the +present moment.</p> + +<p>The following history will abundantly verify these sentiments. Can +a sober man, however systematized, imagine that anything like the +impression which was made would have been effected, both in our own +country and in America, if the leaders of the cause—<i>all</i> of +whom were attached to the Established Church—had maintained what is +called regularity, and a tame canonical obedience to men who had no +spirit of enterprise in their character? Would the highways and hedges +have been visited? Would the various branches of orthodox Dissenters +have been<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xx">[xx]</span> roused to co-operation? Would lay agency have been made +available to the furtherance of the cause? Would the more regular +clergy themselves have been so active and useful <i>within</i> the pale +of their own community, if there had been no pressure and provocation +from <i>without</i>?</p> + +<p>Now, nothing is more evident than that this irregularity was +unintended. Zeal, indeed, was enkindled, but it would have continued to +warm the churches had it not been dislodged by ecclesiastical power. +The fire, however, was inextinguishable; and being forbidden to burn +on the usual altar, it sought every avenue of escape, and visited and +blessed other places. Field-preaching succeeded rejection from the +churches; and the <span class="smcap">Countess of Huntingdon</span>, who thought only +of chaplains for her preachers, and of Episcopal ordination for her +students, was at length compelled, very much against her will, to +violate ecclesiastical order, and shelter herself and her companions +in zeal under the Act of Toleration. This growth in the cause of the +Gospel, and extension of their original design, characterize these +“workers together with God,” and secure all the glory of the plan, as +it does that of the execution, to Him: while this view of the economy +meets a thousand objections urged by the enemies of vital godliness +against this labour of mercy.</p> + +<p>If, turning from the more general to the more particular instance, we +contemplate the chief subject of the following biography, we shall +recognize the same characteristic of divine guidance. How steadily and +beautifully does grace advance in the Countess! We follow her, in the +present history, from the girl of nine years of age, impressed with +solemn thought and purposes on witnessing a funeral, through a series +of changes, till we mark an elevation of spirit truly and sublimely +Christian, which rises above the splendour of a court—which dares to +allow zeal to act, first in visiting the poor—then in opening the +drawing-room for noble hearers of the Gospel—then in the employment of +laymen and in providing chapels for the accommodation of the multitude, +even although those chapels were to be denominated conventicles! +The <span class="allsmcap">CHILD</span> becomes a <span class="allsmcap">MOTHER</span> in Israel indeed, and +theologians of the first-rate powers feel it a privilege to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xxi">[xxi]</span> learn the +way of <span class="smcap">God</span> more perfectly from the lips and the pen of this +saintly woman.</p> + +<p>No contemplative mind will peruse <span class="smcap">The Life and Times of the +Countess of Huntingdon</span> without noticing the power and the beauty +of divine grace, when brought in contact with a vigorous mind, elevated +in society by nobility and fortune. That energy which, unsanctified, +gives obstinacy to prejudice and pride to vanity, when under the +control of “the meekness of wisdom” leads to boldness of investigation, +the avowal of Evangelical truth, and to humility, which, in the sight +of <span class="smcap">God</span>, is of great price.</p> + +<p>It will be difficult, indeed, to find an instance of the power of +<span class="smcap">God</span> unto salvation brighter than that here exhibited. A +woman, a noble personage, a favourite at Court, the wife of a nobleman +who only tolerated and aided her zeal as he was won over by her +chaste conversation; a widow, and at times much afflicted in her +children—living, too, in an age when the gaiety and superstition of +the nation were scarcely disturbed by the sober and reasonable voice of +truth—every disadvantage overcome, and a meek yet firm profession made +of love to our <span class="smcap">Lord Jesus Christ</span>.</p> + +<p>Nor is the providence less conspicuous than the grace of <span class="smcap">God</span> +in the Life of the Countess, as related to her Times. There was +needed a hallowed work in progress among the poor and middle classes +in society, but the means of reaching these, which the necessity +of the case directed, such as preaching in fields and in barns, +were not likely to command the attention of the rich and the noble. +There needed, therefore, an instrument to bring the Gospel into +friendly contact with the highest ranks. This instrument was the +Countess. There was an attraction and an influence about her which +were felt by many of the great in an extraordinary degree; and not +only the courtly <span class="smcap">Chesterfield</span>, the political Duchess of +<span class="smcap">Marlborough</span>, the gay and frivolous <span class="smcap">Nash</span>, but the +infidel <span class="smcap">Bolingbroke</span> paid her marked and sincere homage, and +listened to the preachers whom she patronized and commended. Many will, +doubtless, be astonished, on reading the following pages, to find so +large a number of distinguished personages brought by this<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xxii">[xxii]</span> zealous +woman to hear the word of truth, as well in the despised conventicle +as in her own habitation. It was thus, by applying the discharging-rod +to the two extremes, that a shock was given, and that circulation and +sensibility were effected in the social body. Many of the rich and more +of the poor met together, and their place of meeting was the foot of +the cross. How wisely <span class="smcap">God</span> adapts his agents to his work!</p> + +<p>The personal character of the Countess of <span class="smcap">Huntingdon</span> will +be best seen in the general history of her <i>Life and Times</i>: +she stands, indeed, so connected with almost all which was good in +the last century, that the character of the age, so far as religion +is concerned, was in some measure her own. It is not insinuated +that she alone impressed that character on the Church, but that she +entirely sympathized with it, and was not a whit behind the foremost +in affection for souls and zeal for God—in spirituality of mind and +fervour of devotion—in contrivance and energy for the extension of the +Gospel—in a large and disinterested soul. If she did not appear as +the public advocate of the cause, it was because a woman is forbidden +to speak in the Church; and if she did not more excel in literary +productions, it was because she knew her proper talent—that she was +rather fitted to think with vigour and comprehensiveness, than to +marshal words to please a critical review. She never, indeed, seems +to have thought of the manner and structure of her sentences, but +only of giving utterance to the sentiments—always pious, frequently +burning—which filled her breast. Those who may be inclined to blame +her letters, as deficient in smoothness and perspicuity, will do well +to remember that they were not intended for the public eye; they will +also admit that some minds of a high order and especially endowed with +a power over others, are remarkable for an abruptness of expression +which sometimes involves confusion: of this <span class="smcap">Cromwell</span> was a +striking instance. The mental powers of Lady <span class="smcap">Huntingdon</span> were +anything but feeble. No lady, however pious and exalted by rank, could +have commanded such respect as she did, unless in the possession of +intellectual superiority. The sincerity of her piety and the ardour +of her zeal were felt by the first personages of the land, as they +were combined<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xxiii">[xxiii]</span> with the force of her understanding; and it is believed +that the recognition of this fact, in the following work, will, by +all impartial readers, be considered a sufficient refutation of Dr. +<span class="smcap">Southey’s</span> poetic imaginings of her mental weakness, and, +indeed, <i>insanity</i>!</p> + +<p>It will, likewise, be seen that the vigour of the Countess’s mind and +the boldness of her zeal were in perfect keeping with the feminine +graces. She was not an <span class="smcap">Elizabeth</span>. The lady, the friend of +the poor, the wife, the mother, the sister, the widow—all private +and domestic relations—were adorned by her elegance and affection, +her meekness of wisdom and boundless kindness, her chaste and winning +conversation. The reader will find it difficult to judge whether she +appears to the greater advantage when co-operating with the spirits +which were effecting a change throughout the moral world, or when +quietly moving in domestic and social life.</p> + +<p>The circumstances, too, in which she was placed, were favourable to +the development of her character. Light enough shone on the professing +Church to render the darkness visible; the efforts of the Oxford band, +with those of other pious ministers of various denominations, both in +England and in Scotland, had brought the deadness of merely formal +Christianity into juxtaposition with the living truth of the Gospel, +and the Countess saw the contrast, and her eye affected her heart. She +wept, she vowed, she acted. She determined to throw all the weight of +her influence into the scale of the Gospel; and while considerations +of sex, of the disposition and views of her beloved lord, of the rank +she held, and which she was so well qualified to support, would have +restrained an ordinary mind of common piety from public interference, +these very circumstances to her appeared to be talents of great worth, +and she was excited to employ them to the greatest advantage. She +beheld the rude and cruel treatment which holy men endured, as well +from the educated and wealthy as from the ignorant and poor—from +magistrates and ecclesiastics as much as from private individuals; +and for what? For promulgating the truth—truth which she felt was +essential to human salvation—and she generously stepped<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xxiv">[xxiv]</span> forward to +their defence and encouragement. She had magnanimity enough to break +the ranks of her order, and attraction enough to induce many to follow +her example. She was as persevering as she was courageous; and you see +her, having passed the rubicon, steadily advancing to the capitol. +She remembered <span class="smcap">Lot’s</span> wife; and no opposition—no unforeseen +difficulty—no associations necessary to the furtherance of her work, +however plebeian, could induce her to look backward. When, therefore, +it was necessary to remove out of the drawing-room into the chapel, +she did remove; and when she could no longer conduct the services with +an ecclesiastical regularity, to which she was attached to the utmost +reasonable extent, she braved the reproach of the conventicle; and as +the demand for help increased, while clerical labourers were few, she +went before even <span class="smcap">Wesley</span> in taking advantage of lay agency. She +followed where, in her judgment, <span class="smcap">God</span> was pleased to direct; +and, secluded from her former elegant associations, she ultimately gave +up herself entirely to the direction of her college and of her more +immediate Connexion, and to the most really Catholic co-operation with +all who loved the <span class="smcap">Lord Jesus</span> in sincerity.</p> + +<p>The world has, perhaps, never seen a finer instance of the power of +divine grace, in enabling the mind to rise above all the unchristian +restraints of State etiquette, the prejudice of early ecclesiastical +associations, and the spirit of party and sectarianism. The last +triumph will be viewed by some who understand human nature as the +greatest of the three; for it is easier to shake off the trammels of +rank and of education, than to merge the individuality of selfishness +in the general cause of souls and of <span class="smcap">Christ</span>. In this fine +characteristic, to the glory of her age let it be recorded, the +Countess met with much sympathy. Her <i>Life and Times</i> will prove +how grand, how sublime, were the views of most of the distinguished +agents in the work of <span class="smcap">God</span> at that stirring period. With the +exception of the leader of the great section of Methodism—whose +intention to organize a distinct body we do not blame—all seemed +to be so intent on the <i>general</i> good of the Church, that they +overlooked the advantage of their own particular denominations, and +were too eager to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xxv">[xxv]</span> pluck men as brands from the burning, to spend time +and energy in discussing questions of comparative non-importance. It +was, indeed, to be expected that a time of greater leisure and calmness +would follow, and that then an opportunity would be furnished of +investigating the merits of the respective modes of worship and forms +of government. We blame not this exercise when kept in a subordinate +station; but who, possessed of a shred of the Countess’s mantle, does +not weep over the state of truly Evangelical parties in the present day +of strife? So far from combining their powers to oppose and overturn +infidelity and idolatry, they more than waste a large portion of +them in direct contention with each other. This is an unholy warfare +indeed—a species of fratricide. What, indeed, is Churchmanship or +Dissent compared with the salvation of the soul? The spirits of the +noble group encircling the truly Catholic <span class="smcap">Selina</span> return an +answer—“<i>What indeed!</i>”</p> + +<p>Should the perusal of the following pages enkindle no breast into +zeal for <span class="smcap">Christ</span>, they will certainly fail of their reward; +for we can scarcely conceive of anything, next to the history of our +blessed <span class="smcap">Lord</span> and his apostles, more likely, under the divine +blessing, to set the heart on fire than the facts here recorded. Zeal, +glowing, active, untiring zeal, animates all the story, and forms the +living soul of the entire body: and while, on the one hand, we behold +how <span class="smcap">God</span> honours zeal in his servants, in making it tell so +powerfully on the world; on the other hand, we see the proper workings +of the doctrines of the cross, and how they consecrate the affections +and form the true philanthropist. Let the world be brought under the +action of the same principles, and what a scene of brotherly kindness +and charity, of mutual zeal, of millennial happiness, will it exhibit!</p> + +<p>The publication of the <span class="smcap">Life and Times of the Countess of +Huntingdon</span> will appear to many very opportune, as a spirit of +missionary enterprize has been conferred on the Churches, and success +has attended, in an extraordinary degree, the efforts which have been +made in the South Sea Islands,<a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> so dear to the heart of this zealous +and almost prophetic woman;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xxvi">[xxvi]</span> and as the Lord has put it into the hearts +of many to seek, with growing earnestness, the revival of this work at +home. Those who look upon meetings of Christians for especial prayer +for the <span class="smcap">Holy Ghost</span>, or upon public exertions in endeavouring +to impress the conscience and win over the heart to <span class="smcap">Christ</span>, +with surprise, as though some new thing had happened, will stand +corrected as they find how the present movements were anticipated +by those holy personages whose lives are here recorded. Had their +successors in the great work been warmed with their zeal, and secured +the aid of the <span class="smcap">Almighty</span> with prayer, united and continuous +as theirs, the Church would have presented a different appearance. We +only, therefore, seem to be returning to the piety and fervour of the +days of old, when we become most anxious to work out our principles and +to win souls to our divine <span class="smcap">Redeemer</span>. The rise and success of +Methodism, in all its sections, are the models of revival meetings, and +an encouragement to engage in them.</p> + +<p>Those persons who may look on the gracious principle of the Gospel with +fear or disapprobation will remember, that if the sacred band to which +these pages refer did, in their zeal for the Gospel of the grace of +<span class="smcap">God</span>, ride over the forms of dull and lifeless ethics, which +had been so generally adopted, and if they did offend the vicious and +the self-righteous, their object was as pure as it was benevolent. +They carried with them “letters of commendation” in the holiness of +their own conduct, and personified the apostolic sentiment, that “grace +reigns through righteousness.” Let any man of impartial mind read the +following biography, and then say that the tendency of a gratuitous +salvation is licentious. Nor could such a leader, however attached to +one of the great sections of Methodism, with any fairness, charge the +followers of the other leader, as a body, either with an undermining of +moral requirements, or with a rejection of the righteousness which is +of <span class="smcap">God</span> by faith. Let facts, and not <i>à priori</i> reasoning, +guide the judgment, and it will decide that the doctrines of faith +are doctrines which purify the heart; and that the essential, plain, +scriptural statements and belief of those doctrines, and not scholastic +and metaphysical<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xxvii">[xxvii]</span> refinements, are the great instruments, in the +economy of our salvation, of transforming the mind and of adorning the +character with the Christian graces. The day is gone by, we trust, or +at least it ought to have passed away, when either party shall condemn +the other for deductions which are not admitted; when the Calvinist +shall charge the Wesleyan with denying a sinner’s justification in the +sight of <span class="smcap">God</span> by faith alone in <span class="smcap">Jesus Christ</span>; and +when the Wesleyan shall teach his hearers to identify the Calvinistic +scheme, as it is generally received, with the monstrous practical error +of Antinomianism. “My little children, love one another.” Perhaps few, +since the days of the catholic and amiable Apostle <span class="smcap">John</span>, +have repeated these words with more sincerity and emphasis than +<span class="smcap">Selina, Countess of Huntingdon</span>. She chose her side of the +controversy—and, we think, with reason; but however strongly those +writers might have expressed themselves, whom, on the whole, she +approved, and whatever transient alienations may have taken place, they +were clouds passing before the sun: the habit of her mind was Christian +affection, and her prayer was for grace to be with all them that love +our <span class="smcap">Lord Jesus Christ</span> in sincerity.</p> + +<p>A rigid examiner and critic of the following papers may, perhaps, +be able to detect some variations, at different periods of her +life, in the minuter parts of the Countess’s creed, as well as in +her attachments—a temporary leaning towards mysticism, or towards +legality, or towards hyper-Calvinism; but these aberrations were kept +within bounds, and mutually corrected each other. He will, however, +never find a want of true Catholicity, or the temperament of piety low +and frigid. The fervour of her Christian affections would not allow her +to be indifferent and heartless; her strong sense and reverence for the +holy Scriptures preserved her from the practical errors of the mystics; +and her views of the <span class="smcap">Saviour</span> were too enlarged to admit of +self-righteous pride; while her concern for the glory of <span class="smcap">God</span> +and the salvation of mankind was too abiding and active to suffer her +to be otherwise than “zealous of good works.” She practically as well +as theoretically confessed her imperfection and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xxviii">[xxviii]</span> sinfulness, whilst she +rejoiced in the all-sufficiency of <span class="smcap">God</span> her <span class="smcap">Saviour</span>; +and of no one perhaps whose name adorns the history of the Church of +<span class="smcap">Christ</span> can it be said with greater propriety than of this +extraordinary Lady—“Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou +excellest them all. Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain; but a +woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. Give her of the +fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.”</p> + +<p class="r2 p-min">J. K. FOSTER.</p> + +<p class="smcap">Cheshunt College,</p> +<p class="left1">April 15th, 1839.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> +</div> + + +<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.</a></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>Antiquity of the Shirley Family. Saxon Origin. Norman Dignities. Royal Alliances. +Foreign Crowns. British Coronets. The Clanricardes. Battle of Aghrim. The Parkers. +The Lord High Chancellor found guilty. The Levinges. Irish Alliances. Birth of Lady +Selina. Her Early Character. First Religious Impressions. The Grave of Youth. Piety. +Private Prayer. Fashionable Life. Marriage. The Huntingdon Family. Its Ancestry. +Tho Earl of Huntingdon. His Character. “Tears of the Muses.” Self-righteousness. The +Methodists. Lady Margaret Hastings. The Light of Religious Truth. Force of Example. +Conversion.</p> +</div> + +<p class="center p1"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.</a></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>Lord Huntingdon. The Bishop of Gloucester. Mr. Whitefield’s Preaching. Its effects. +Dr. Southey. Dr. Hurd. Archbishop Seeker. First Methodist Society. Lady Anne Frankland. +Lord Scarborough. Dr. Young. Lady Fanny Shirley. Mrs. Temple. Lady Mary +Wortley Montague. Lady Townshend. Mr. Pope. Mr. Ingham. Mr. Charles Wesley. +Miss Robinson. Lord Lisburne. The House of Lords. Hammond the Poet. Somerville +the Poet. Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough. Anecdotes. Duchess of Buckingham. Anecdotes. +Duchess of Queensbury. Lord Orford. Lady Hinchinbroke.</p> +</div> + +<p class="center p1"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.</a></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>Early Methodists. Lay Preaching. Mr. Bowers. Mr. Cennick. Itinerants. Ordination. +Mr. Maxfield. Mr. Wesley’s Opinion of his Call. Mr. Wesley’s Sanction. Bishop of Derry. +Fetter-lane Society. Conduct of the Bishops. Opposition without. Bickerings. Shaw. +The Moravians. Separation in Fetter-lane. First Division. The Society in Moorfields. +Enthusiasm. Pluralities. Bishop Burnet. Mrs. Mitchell. Anecdote. Mr. Charles Wesley +and the Moravians. David Taylor. General Baptists. Mr. Bennett. Grace Murray. John +Nelson.</p> +</div> + +<p class="center p1"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.</a></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>The Clergy. Mr. Simpson. Mr. Wesley’s Opinion of him. The One Wrong Principle. +Mr. Graves. His Recantation. His Explanatory Declaration. Lady Huntingdon’s Schools. +Lord Huntingdon’s Character. Miss Cooper: her Death. Letters. The Poor. Death of +Mr. Jones. The Poor Penitent’s Death-bed. Mr. Wesley’s preaching on his Father’s Tomb. +Donnington Park. Lady Abney. Dr. Watts. “The Grave.” Dr. Blair. Letters. Colonel +Gardiner. His Marvellous Conversion. Letters.</p> +</div> + +<p class="center p1"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.</a></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>Lay-Preachers. Mr. Wesley’s Defence of them. Converted Clergy. Death of Lady +Huntingdon’s Sons, George and Ferdinando Hastings. First Methodist Conference. Dr. +Doddridge. Letters from Lady Huntingdon. Mr. Jones. The Pretender. Lord Carteret. +George II. Death of Colonel Gardiner. Letters to Mr. Wesley, Dr. Doddridge, and Charles +Wesley.</p> +</div> + +<p class="center p1"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.</a></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>Death of the Earl of Huntingdon. His Lordship’s Epitaph. Letters from Sir John Thorold. +Lady Huntingdon’s Piety. Letter to Dr. Doddridge. Lady Kilmorey. Duchess of Somerset. +Welsh Preachers. Lady Frances Hastings. Mrs. Edwin. Lady Huntingdon’s adherence to +the Church of England. Letter from Dr. Watts to Dr. Doddridge.</p> +</div> + +<p class="center p1"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.</a></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>Mr. Whitefield arrives in England. Preaches at Lady Huntingdon’s. Letters. Lord +Chesterfield. Lord Bolingbroke. Anecdotes of Mr. Whitefield’s Preaching. Appointed +Chaplain to Lady Huntingdon. Christian Soldiers. Bishop of Exeter. Colonel Gumley. +Mrs. Edwin. Lord St. John. Lady Suffolk. The Court Beauties. Lord Chesterfield. Marquis +of Lothian. Lady Mary Hamilton. Anecdotes. Lady Townshend. English Nobility +at Lady Huntingdon’s. Sir Watkin Williams Wynn. Persecution of the Welsh Methodists. +Liberal Conduct of the Government. Marmaduke Gwynne, Esq.</p> +</div> + +<p class="center p1"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII.</a></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>Dr. Gibbons. Dr. Gill. Mr. Darracott. The Young Lord Huntingdon. Lord Chesterfield. +The Jews. German Minister. An Impostor. David Levi. Lady Fanny Shirley. Mr. +Whitefield and Mr. Wesley. Ashby-place. Mr. Baddelley. Lady Huntingdon’s Illness. +Lady Anne Hastings. Mr. Hervey. Bishop of Exeter. Mr. Thompson. Duke of Somerset. +Mr. Moses Bruce. Bishop Lavington.</p> +</div> + +<p class="center p1"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX.</a></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>Mr. Romaine. Earthquake in London. Mr. Romaine appointed Chaplain to Lady Huntingdon. +Ashby-place. Dr. Stonhouse. Dr. Akenside. New Jersey College. Governor +Belcher. President Burr. Dissenting Ministers. Dr. Doddridge. Education of Ministers. +Mrs. Hester Gibbon. Mr. Law. Mr. Whitefield’s success at Rotherham. Lord Lyttleton. +Mr. Hervey. Dr. Doddridge.</p> +</div> + +<p class="center p1"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X.</a></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>Mr. Whitefield at Ashby. Mr. Moses Browne. Mr. Martin Madan. Lady Frances Hastings. +Dr. Stonhouse. Mr. Hartley. Death of the Prince of Wales. Anecdote. Lady +Charlotte Edwin. Dr. Ayscough. Lord Lyttleton. Death of Lord Bolingbroke. Dr. Trapp. +Dr. Church. Anecdotes.</p></div> + +<p class="center p1"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI.</a></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>Mr. Whitefield visits Scotland. Dr. Erskine and Dr. Robertson. Scotch Nobility. Mr. +and Lady Jane Nimmo. Letter to Lady Huntingdon. Mr. Wardrobe. Mr. Hervey: his +“Theron and Aspasio.” Letters to Lady Huntingdon. Lady Fanny Shirley. Prince and +Princess of Wales. Mr. Hervey’s Method of Preaching. Letter from Lady Huntingdon. +Mr. Steward. Lady Hastings.</p></div> + +<p class="center p1"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII.</a></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>History of Mr. Whitefield’s Tabernacle and Tottenham-court Chapel. Whitefield in +London. Mr. Broughton. Countess of Hertford. Fetter-lane. Mr. Cennick. Methodist +Society. Tabernacle commenced. Welsh Preachers. Moorfields. Lay Preachers. Nobility +at the Tabernacle. Opposition of the Dissenters. Anecdotes of Dr. Watts. Lady Huntingdon +and the Moravians. Sir Thomas and Lady Abney. Tabernacle opened. Long-acre +Chapel. Hon. Hume Campbell. Tottenham-court Chapel opened. Mr. Edward Shuter. +Foote the Player. “The Minor.” Lord Halifax. Duke of Grafton. Mr. Fox. Mr. Pitt. +Mr. Rowland Hill. Captain Joss. Mr. Matthew Wilks. Mr. Knight. Mr. Hyatt. Mr. +Whitefield’s Will.</p></div> + +<p class="center p1"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII.</a></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>Mr. Venn begins to attract notice. Revival of Religion in the Established Church and +among the Methodists. By whom first commenced. Mr. Venn’s acquaintance with Mr. +Broughton, one of the Original Methodists. Dr. Haweis. Mr. Law. Illness of Mr. Venn. +Accompanies Mr. Whitefield to Bristol. Remains with Lady Huntingdon at Clifton. +Letter from Mr. Whitefield. Letter to Mr. Venn from Lady Huntingdon. Mr. Whitefield’s +Letter to Mr. Venn. Oxford Students. Dr. Haweis. Mr. Whitefield’s Letter to Dr. Haweis. +Convicts. Preaching to the Nobility at Lady Huntingdon’s. Handel. Giardini. Musical +Composers.</p></div> + +<p class="center p1"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV.</a></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>Lady Huntingdon and Mr. Fletcher. Introduction to Lady Huntingdon by Mr. Wesley. +Bishop of London. Letter to Mr. Charles Wesley. Mr. Fletcher preaches and celebrates +the Communion at Lady Huntingdon’s. Letter to Mr. C. Wesley. Letter to Lady Huntingdon. +Mr. Fletcher appointed Vicar of Madely. Writes to Lady Huntingdon and Mr. Charles +Wesley. Visits Mr. Berridge. Letter to Lady Huntingdon. Induction to Madely. Success +of his Ministry. Letter to Lady Huntingdon.</p></div> + +<p class="center p1"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV.</a></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>Rise of Methodism in Yorkshire. Mr. Ingham. Count Zinzendorff. Mr. Delamotte. +Mr. Okeley. Mr. Rogers. Letter from Mr. Whitefield. The United Brethren. Mr. Batty. +Lady Betty Hastings. Ledstone Hall. Mr. Ingham’s Marriage with Lady Margaret Hastings. +Count Zinzendorff visits Yorkshire. Moravian Settlement at Fulneck. John Nelson. Mr. +Whitefield’s Letter to Mr. Ingham. Mr. Grimshaw. Lord and Lady Huntingdon visit +Ledstone Hall. Mr. Charles Wesley. Mr. Graves encourages John Nelson. Persecution. +Provincial Magistrates. John Nelson taken to Prison. Liberated by the influence of Lady +Huntingdon. Lord Sunderland. Letter from Lady Huntingdon to Mr. Ingham. The Vicar +of Colne. Mr. Grimshaw’s Opinions. Moravian Nobles. John Cennick. Mr. Ingham leaves +the Moravians. John Allen.</p></div> + +<p class="center p1"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI.</a></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>Mr. Whitefield returns to England. Writes to Mr. Ingham. Visits Yorkshire. Lady +Huntingdon in Yorkshire. Extraordinary Occurrence. Mr. Graves. Mr. Milner. Mr. +Grimshaw. Conference at Leeds. Mr. Ingham is chosen General Overseer. Mr. Charles +Wesley. Mr. Whitefield at Haworth. Inghamite Churches. Church Discipline. Inghamite +Preachers. Mr. Newton visits Yorkshire. His Letter to Mr. Wesley. Anecdote of his +Preaching at Leeds. Mr. Romaine’s Opinion of the Inghamite Churches. Lady Huntingdon +at Aberford. Mr. Romaine preaches in Mr. Ingham’s Chapels. Mr. George Burder. Mr. +Romaine at Haworth. Mr. Grimshaw. Sandeman’s Letters. Church Government.</p></div> + +<p class="center p1"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII.</a></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>Mr. Venn removed to Huddersfield. Mr. Burnett. Lord Dartmouth. Dr. Conyers. +Visitation Sermon. Mr. Thornton. Lady Huntingdon visits Yorkshire. Mr. Romaine. +Mr. Wesley. Mr. Madan. Letters from Dr. Conyers to Lady Huntingdon. Letter from Mr. +Venn. Mr. Titus Knight. Letter from Mr. Grimshaw. Death of Mr. Grimshaw. Letter +from Mr. Venn. Letter from Dr. Conyers. Letter from Mr. Fletcher. Lady Huntingdon, +with Messrs. Townshend and Fletcher, visit Huddersfield. Illness of Lady Huntingdon. +Mr. Whitefield in Yorkshire. William Shent. Mr. Venn’s Irregularities. Mrs. Hannah +More. Defence of Mr. Venn. Letter from Mr. Fletcher. Mrs. Deane. Lady Irvine. Mr. +Occum, the Indian Preacher. Captain Scott. The London Shunamite. Mr. Wilson.</p></div> + +<p class="center p1"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII.</a></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>Melancholy State of Mr. Ingham. Lady Huntingdon and Mr. Venn. Illness and Death +of Lady Margaret Ingham. Letter from Mr. Ingham. Letter from Mr. Romaine. Mr. +Ingham’s Treatise on the Faith and Hope of the Gospel. Mr. Riddell. Lady Huntingdon +sends Students to Yorkshire. Letter from Mr. Riddell. Mr. Joseph Milner, of Hull, attends +Lady Huntingdon’s Preachers. Begins to Preach the Gospel. Mr. Myler. Letter from Lady +Huntingdon to Mr. Romaine. Mr. Tyler’s Labours at Hull. Letter from Lady Huntingdon +to Mr. Milner. York. Mr. Wren. Letter from Lady Huntingdon. Letter from Mr. Wren. +Mr. Glascott. Mr. Wells. Mr. Powley. Lady Huntingdon’s Chapel at York.</p></div> + +<p class="center p1"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX.</a></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>Death of the Hon. Henry Hastings. Lady Huntingdon’s Exertions at Brighton. Joseph +Wall. Mr. Whitefield’s first Visit to Brighton. Lady Huntingdon sells her Jewels. The +Chapel opened by Mr. Madan. Mr. Romaine. Oathall. Captain Scott. Anecdote. Old +Abraham. Letters from Mr. Fletcher and Mr. Romaine. Christian Perfection. Mr. Maxfield +and Mr. Bell. Letter from Mr. Romaine. Mr. Madan. Letters from Messrs. Berridge, +Romaine, and Venn. Mr. Jones (of St. Saviour’s).</p></div> + +<p class="center p1"><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX.</a></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>Dr. Haweis. Mr. Romaine driven from the Chapel of the Broadway. Lord Dartmouth. +Letters from Messrs. Romaine and Conyers. Sinless Perfection. Letters from Messrs. +Romaine and Wesley. Erasmus, Bishop of Arcadia. Mr. Toplady. Letters from Messrs. +Fletcher and Berridge. Death of Lady Selina Hastings. Colonel Hastings. Account of +Lady Selina’s Death. Letters from Lord Dartmouth. Mr. Venn. Mr. Fletcher. Mr. Berridge. +Oathall Chapel. Letters from Mr. Berridge. Mr. Venn’s “Complete Duty of Man.” +Letters from Messrs. Venn and Berridge.</p></div> + +<p class="center p1"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI</a>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>Mr. Romaine. Lectureship at St. Dunstan’s. Lord Mansfield. Darkness Visible. The +Bishop of Peterborough. Popular Election. St. Ann’s, Blackfriars. Probation Sermon. +Contest. Canvassing. Scrutiny. Second Election. Suit in Chancery. Gratitude of Lady +Huntingdon. Mr. Jesse. Mr. Shirley. Mr. Romaine’s Views of his Preferment. Lewes. +Lady Huntingdon procures an opening for Mr. Romaine, for Mr. Madan, and Mr. Fletcher. +The Oratorio. Musical Taste of Mr. Madan and Dr. Haweis. Lady Huntingdon’s Chapel +at Lewes opened and re-opened. Mr. Mason. His Work on the Catechism. Mr. Edwards, +of Ipswich. Mr. Berridge and the Bees. Southey’s “Reflections.” Their Refutation. Character +of Berridge. His Wit. His Labours. Berridge and the Bishop.</p></div> + +<p class="center p1"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII.</a></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>Mr. and Mrs. Powys. Letters. Mr. Whitefield. Mr. Fletcher. Mr. Venn. Sir C. Hotham. +Howel Harris. Chapel at Brighton re-opened. Letters. Mr. Romaine. Mr. Talbot. Mr. +Berridge. Anecdote of the Countess. Mr. De Courcy. Mr. Vincent Perronet. Mr. Toplady. +Mr. Bliss. Mr. Pentycross. Chapel at Chichester opened. Chapels at Petworth, at Guildford, +and Basingstoke. Enlargement of that at Brighton. Mr. Thomas Jones.</p></div> + +<p class="center p1"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII.</a></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>Public Fast. Extracts from Lady Huntingdon’s Letters. Prayer-meetings for the Nation. +Mr. Venn. Mr. Berridge. Singular Effects of his Preaching. Mr. Romaine and Mr. Madan’s +visit to Everton. Mr. Wesley preaches at Everton. Convulsive Motions amongst the Congregation. +Letters to Lady Huntingdon. Lady Huntingdon visits Mr. Berridge. Mr. Venn +and Mr. Fletcher preach at Everton. Loud Cries amongst their Hearers. Duke of York. +Dr. Dodd. Murder of Mr. Johnson. Lord Ferrers. Tried by his Peers. Visited in Prison +by Lady Huntingdon. Singular Conduct of Lord Ferrers. Execution.</p></div> + +<p class="center p1"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">CHAPTER XXIV.</a></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>Proposed Union among the Evangelical Clergy. Methodism in Scotland. Lady Frances +Gardiner. Mr. Townshend sent to Edinburgh. Mr. De Courcy. Lady Glenorchy. Mr. +Wesley. Lady Maxwell. Samson Occum, the Indian Preacher. Mohegan Indians. Dr. +Haweis. Affair of Aldwincle. Lady Huntingdon purchases the Advowson; writes to Mr. +Thornton. Lady Huntingdon’s Letters to Lord Dartmouth and Mr. Madan. Anecdote.</p></div> + +<p class="center p1"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXV">CHAPTER XXV.</a></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>Progress of Piety at Cambridge. Rowland Hill. Oxford. St. Edmund’s Hall. The Six +Students. Expulsion. Sir Richard Hill. Dr. Horne, Bishop of Norwich. Mr. Goodwyn. +Charges against Lady Huntingdon. Account of the Students, and the Proceedings against +them. Letter from Lady Huntingdon. Lady Buchan. Letter from Mr. Wesley. Cheltenham. +Lord Dartmouth. Letter from Mr. Venn. Mr. Wells. Mr. Trinder. Mr. Whitefield +to Mr. Madan. Mr. Madan to Mr. Wesley. Lady Huntingdon to Mr. Alderman Harris. +Gloucestershire Association. Lady Huntingdon to Mr. Brewer. Chapels at Gloucester, +Worcester, and Cheltenham. Lady Huntingdon’s Letter concerning them.</p></div> + +<p class="center p1"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI">CHAPTER XXVI.</a></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>Chapel at Bath. Pope the Poet. Warburton, Bishop of Gloucester. Lady Fanny Shirley. +Charles Wesley. John Wesley. Beau Nash. Anecdote. Mr. Hervey. Methodist Conference. +Mr. Larwood. Potter, Archbishop of Canterbury. Dr. Doddridge. Hon. Mrs. +Seawen. Mr. Cruttenden. Mr. Neal. Dr. Doddridge visits Bristol. Visits Lady Huntingdon +at Bath. Anecdote. Dr. Oliver. Dr. Hartley. Prior Park. Death of Dr. Doddridge. +Mr. Grinfield. The Moravians. Count Zinzendorff. Elizabeth King. Lady Gertrude +Hotham. Death of Miss Hotham. Marriage of Sir Charles Hotham. Death of his Lady. +His own Decease. Death of his Mother, Lady Gertrude. Mr. Theophilus Lindsay. Mrs. +Brewer. Lord Huntingdon and Mr. Grimshaw. Lord Chesterfield and Mr. Stanhope. +Countess of Moira. Mrs. Carteret and Mr. Cavendish. Countess Delitz. Lady Chesterfield. +Earl of Bath. Lord Cork. Anecdote of George II.</p></div> + +<p class="center p1"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVII">CHAPTER XXVII.</a></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>Chapter at Bath. Bretby Hall. Mr. Townsend and Mr. Jesse. Mr. Romaine. Mr. +Shrapnell. Mrs. Wordsworth. Letters from Mr. Romaine. Chapel opened at Bath. Mr. +Whitefield and Mr. Townsend. Mr. Fletcher’s Labours at Bath. Lord and Lady Glenorchy. +Letter from Lady Glenorchy to Lady Huntingdon. Death of Lord and Lady Sutherland. +Lady Huntingdon, the Wesleys, and Mr. Whitefield. Letter from Lady Huntingdon to Mr. +Wesley. Horace Walpole. Lady Betty Cobbe. Nobility attend Lady Huntingdon’s Chapel. +Letter from Mr. Whitefield to Mr. Powys. Mr. Stillingfleet. Mr. Venn and Sir Charles +Hotham. Anecdotes of Mr. Venn. Mr. Andrews and the Bishop of Gloucester. Mr. Venn +at Trevecca. Mr. Lee. Captain Scott and Mr. Venn. Anecdotes of Captain Scott. Letter +from Mr. Venn. Mr. Howel Davies. Anecdote. Dr. Haweis. Mr. Cradock Glascott’s +Letter from Mr. Fletcher.</p></div> + + <div class="figcenter"> + <img + class="p1" + src="images/i_b000.jpg" + alt=""> + <p class="p0 sm center">George Whitefield</p> + </div> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">[1]</span></p> + +<p class="p2 center gesperrt">LIFE AND TIMES</p> +</div> + +<p class="center xs">OF THE</p> + +<p class="center xl">COUNTESS OF HUNTINGDON</p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hangingindent">Antiquity of the Shirley Family—Saxon origin—Norman +dignities—Royal alliances—Foreign crowns—British +coronets—the Clanricardes—Battle of Aghrim—the Parkers—The +Lord High Chancellor found guilty—the Levinges—Irish +alliances—Birth of Lady Selina—her early character—First +religious impressions—The grave of youth—Piety—Private +prayer—Fashionable life—Marriage—The Huntingdon family—its +ancestry—The Earl of Huntingdon—his character—“Tears +of the Muses”—Self-righteousness—The Methodists—Lady +Margaret Hastings—The light of Religious Truth—Force of +Example—Conversion.</p> +</div> + + +<p>SELINA, <span class="smcap">Countess of Huntingdon</span>, the most extraordinary woman +perhaps of an age fertile in extraordinary characters, and in many +respects the greatest whom England has produced, was descended from +the ancient and honourable house of <span class="smcap">Shirley</span>—a house as +remarkable for a long successive union of piety with nobility, as for +the rarely-equalled purity of its genealogical tree, one of whose +ancient branches is coeval with the time of Edward the Confessor. +All its intermarriages having taken place with the most ancient and +illustrious English houses, many of its line having distinguished +themselves in the military history of their country—it would be +difficult to find a family more illustrious or better entitled to the +claim of true nobility. The devotion and fidelity they have always +borne to their Sovereign Princes are great and singular. Their high +and renowned alliances joined them in a near degree of propinquity of +blood to the Royal Stem of England, both Saxon and Norman; to those of +France, Scotland, Denmark, Aragon, Leon, Castile, the Roman Empire, and +almost all the princely houses of Christendom. Within the kingdom of +Great Britain, they are connected with the most honourable and princely +houses of the Barons of Berkeley, Dukes of Norfolk and Buckingham, +Earls<span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">[2]</span> of Arundel, Oxford, Northumberland, Shrewsbury, Kent, Derby, +Worcester, Huntingdon, Pembroke, Nottingham, Suffolk, Berkshire, and +to most of the ancient and flourishing families of the nobility and +gentry of the monarchy. Thus the living descendants of this illustrious +house have the honour to issue from the blood of Emperors, Kings, +Princes, Dukes, and some of the most renowned Earls. The lands and +seigniories which they have held from the remotest period have added to +their honour; but, above all earthly things, we hold their ardent and +inextinguishable zeal for the advancement of the service of the Most +High God, and their singular liberality towards the Church—for they +have, at all periods, evinced the sincerity of their devotion by the +great number of places of worship they have founded, built, re-edified, +endowed, or enriched, with their means and revenue, in various parts of +the kingdom.</p> + +<p>The <span class="smcap">Shirleys</span> derive their descent from Sasuallo or Sewallus +de Etingdon, whose name (says Dugdale, in his “Antiquities of +Warwickshire”) argues him to have been of the old English stock; which +Sewallus resided at Nether-Etingdon, in the county of Warwick, about +the reign of Edward the Confessor, the seat of his ancestors for many +generations before. After the Conquest, the lordship of Nether-Etingdon +was given to Henry, Earl of Ferrars, in Normandy, who was one of the +principal adventurers with the Norman Duke William, and was held under +him by this Sewallus; to whose posterity, in the male line, it has +continued to the present day.</p> + +<p>From this Sewallus descended, in a direct line, Sir <span class="smcap">Henry +Shirley</span>, Bart., who was sheriff of Leicester in the last year +of the reign of James the First. He married, in 1615, Lady Dorothy +Devereux, the youngest of the two daughters of that great but +unfortunate favourite of Queen Elizabeth, Robert, Earl of Essex, and +sister and co-heiress to her brother, the last Earl of Essex. By this +alliance, the Earls Ferrars quarter the arms of France and England with +their own; the Earl of Essex having been maternally descended from +Richard Plantagenet, Earl of Cambridge, grandson to King Edward III., +and grandfather to King Edward IV., and also from Thomas Plantagenet, +Duke of Gloucester, youngest son of Edward III. Sir Henry Shirley +had, by the Lady Dorothy Devereux,<a id="FNanchor_2" href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> two sons and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">[3]</span> one daughter, +Lettice,<a id="FNanchor_3" href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> who married William de Burgh, Earl of Clanricarde. His +eldest son, Charles, died unmarried about the year 1649; and Sir Henry +Shirley was succeeded by his son, Sir Robert Shirley, who, for his +loyalty to Charles I., was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">[4]</span> imprisoned<a id="FNanchor_4" href="#Footnote_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> in the Tower of London, by +Oliver Cromwell, where he died during his confinement, not without +suspicion of poison. It was his singular praise to have <i>done</i> +the best in the worst times, and to have <i>hoped</i> even in the most +calamitous circumstances. By his wife, Catherine, daughter of Humphrey +Okeover, Esq., of Okeover, in the county of Stafford, he had two sons: +Sir Seymour Shirley, his successor, and Sir Robert, afterwards Earl +Ferrers;—also two daughters: Catherine, married to Peter Venables, +Baron of Kinderton; and Dorothy, to George Vernon, Esq., of Sudbury, +in Derbyshire. The only son of Sir Seymour Shirley, by the Lady Diana +Bruce, daughter of the Earl of Aylesbury, surviving his father but a +short time, the title of Baronet devolved on his uncle, Sir Robert +Shirley, <i>the grandfather of Lady Huntingdon</i>; which Sir Robert +Shirley, <span class="smcap">First Earl Ferrers</span>, was born at East-Sheen, in +Surrey, during his father’s confinement in the Tower; and on December +14, 1677, his Majesty King Charles II., taking into consideration that +this Sir Robert Shirley was grandson and heir to Lady Dorothy Devereux, +the younger of the two sisters and heirs of Robert Devereux, the last +Earl of Essex of that family, and that the issue male of the elder +sister and co-heiress, the Lady Frances, who married William Seymour, +Marquis of Hertford, was then extinct, was pleased to confirm unto him +and his heirs the ancient Baronies of <span class="smcap">Ferrars</span> of Chartley, +Bourchier, and Lovaine; which honour had been in abeyance between the +Ladies Frances and Dorothy Devereux, and their descendants, from the +decease of their brother, the Earl of Essex, without issue. Sir Robert +Shirley being so declared <span class="smcap">Lord Ferrars of Chartley</span>, &c., was +introduced into the House of Peers, January 28, 1677–8, and took his +place according to the ancient writ of summons to John de Ferrars, +his lineal ancestor [February 6, 27th Edward I.] He was Master of the +Horse and Steward of the Household to Queen Catherine, consort of +King Charles II., and was sworn of the Privy Council to King William +[May 25, 1699]. In the reign of Queen Anne, he was again sworn of the +Privy Council [November 25, 1708], according to the act for the union +of the two kingdoms; and on the 3rd September, 1711, was advanced to +the titles of <span class="smcap">Viscount Tamworth</span> and <span class="smcap">Earl Ferrars</span>, by +reason of his descent from the ancient and noble family of Ferrars.</p> + +<p>His Lordship was twice married, and had a family of <i>twenty-seven</i> +children. His first Countess was daughter and heiress to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[5]</span> Lawrence +Washington, Esq., of Caresden, in Wiltshire, who, dying October 2, +1693, was buried at Stanton-Harold; he married, as his second wife, +in August, 1699, Selina, daughter of George Finch, Esq., of the city +of London. This Lady Ferrars died March 20, 1762. Robert Shirley, the +eldest son, was created Earl Ferrars, but died before his father. He +had been twice married; first, to his cousin, Catherine, daughter +to Peter Venables, Baron of Kinderton, who dying in her nonage, he +married, secondly, Anne, daughter of Sir Humphrey Ferrars, heiress to +her grandfather, John de Ferrars, Esq., of Tamworth Castle, last heir +male of the Barons Ferrars of Groby. She bore him three sons, Robert, +Ferrars, and Thomas, and a daughter, Elizabeth. Robert became, by his +father’s death, heir-apparent to his grandfather, and was elected +Knight of the Shire for the county of Leicester in the last Parliament +called by Queen Anne. He survived both his brothers, and likewise died +of the small-pox in the life-time of his grandfather, July 5, 1714, +unmarried, leaving his sister Elizabeth, married, in 1716, to James +Compton, Earl of Northumberland, his heir; she died March, 1740–1, +leaving an only daughter, and heiress, Charlotte, Baroness Ferrars, +first wife of George, Marquis Townshend.</p> + +<p>Earl Ferrars departed this life on the 25th of December, 1717, and was +succeeded in his title and estates by his second son, the Honourable +Washington Shirley, who took his seat in the House of Peers as Second +Earl Ferrars. His Lordship was father to Lady Huntingdon, and was born +June 22, 1677, and named Washington, after his mother, the daughter and +heiress, as we have said, to Lawrence Washington, Esq., by Eleanor, +sister to Sir Christopher Guise, Bart., of Hynam Court, in the county +of Gloucester. Lord Ferrars was a nobleman of great honour and +probity, and a lover of justice; the affability and benevolence of his +disposition, and the goodness of his understanding, made him beloved +and esteemed throughout his life. The respect and veneration paid to +him while he lived, and the universal lamentations at his death, are +ample testimonies of a character not easily to be paralleled.</p> + +<p>Lady Huntingdon’s mother was descended from a family of great +respectability and antiquity, seated at Parwick, in the county of +Derby, as early as 1561. Her great grandfather, Richard Levinge, Esq., +of Parwick, married the aunt of Thomas Parker, an eminent lawyer, who +rose to the dignity of Lord High Chancellor and Earl of Macclesfield. +It was an extraordinary instance of the fallibility of human virtue, +that this every way distinguished character, one of the great ornaments +of the Peerage, who had so long presided at the administration of +justice,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">[6]</span> should himself be arraigned as a criminal on charges of +corruption. He was tried at the bar of the House, and unanimously +pronounced guilty; in consequence of which he was removed from his high +office and fined <i>thirty thousand pounds</i>, as a punishment for +his offence. He was the second Lord Chancellor of England impeached +by the grand inquest of the nation for corruption of office; and, +like his great predecessor, Lord St. Alban’s, found guilty of the +charge. The prosecution was carried on with great virulence; and +though rigid justice demanded a severe sentence, yet party zeal and +personal animosity were supposed to have had their weight in that which +was passed upon him. His Lordship’s son succeeded, as second Earl of +Macclesfield; and his only daughter, Lady Elizabeth Parker, married +Sir William Heathcote, of Hursley, in the county of Southampton, Bart. +Upon the male descendants of this lady the honours of her father are +entailed, in default, at any period, of the direct male line.</p> + +<p>Her Ladyship’s grandfather, the Right Hon. Sir Richard Levinge, +Knight, of Parwick, Recorder of, and member for, Chester, having +attained great eminence at the English Bar, was appointed, in 1690, +Solicitor-General in Ireland and Speaker of the House of Commons. He +was created a Baronet of that kingdom by Queen Anne, October 26, 1704; +he was a man of good judgment and great integrity; and set himself with +great application to the functions of his important post. In 1711, +Sir Richard was nominated Attorney-General, and in 1720, Lord Chief +Justice of the Court of Common Pleas. A few years after his removal to +Ireland he purchased the estate of High Park, now Knockdrin Castle, in +the county of Westmeath, the present residence of the Levinge family. +Sir Richard married, first, in 1680, Mary, daughter and co-heiress +of Sir Gawen Corbyn, of London, Knt., by whom he had three sons and +three daughters; the eldest of the latter, Mary, married Washington, +Earl Ferrars; the second, Dorothea, married first Sir John Rawdon, of +Moira, and afterwards, Dr. Charles Cobb, Archbishop of Dublin; the +third, Grace, married Edward Kennedy, Esq., of Mullow, in the county of +Longford.</p> + +<p>Sir Richard Levinge married, second, Mary, daughter of the Hon. +Robert Johnson, one of the Barons of the Exchequer in Ireland, by +whom he had one son, who died July 13, 1724, and was interred in St. +Mary’s, in Dublin. His eldest son, Sir Richard, succeeded to him as +the second Baronet. He was for many years member of Parliament for +Blessington, and died November 2, 1731, without issue. Lady Levinge +survived him till the 25th of February, 1747. She was a daughter of +Sir<span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[7]</span> Arthur Rawdon (brother of Mary, Countess of Granard, and nephew +of Edward, Earl Conway), by Helena, daughter and heiress to Sir James +Graham, third and youngest son of William, Earl of Monteith and +Airth, in Scotland. The title devolved upon Sir Richard’s brother, +Sir Charles Levinge, whose grandson, Sir Richard Levinge, the present +representative of the family, married the eldest daughter of Lord +Rancliffe, and has a very numerous family. Miss Selina Levinge, sister +to Sir Richard, married the Rev. Henry Lambert Bayley, of Ballyarthur, +in the county of Wicklow; and Miss Anne Levinge espoused the Rev. +William Gregory, second son of W. Gregory, Esq., Secretary of the Civil +Department in Ireland, and grandson, maternally, of William, first Earl +of Clancarthy, and nephew of the present Archbishop of Tuam.</p> + +<p>Dorothy Levinge, one of the three sisters of the Right. Hon. Sir +Richard Levinge, Bart., married Henry Buckston, Esq., whose ancestors +had been seated at Bradborne, in Derbyshire, for several centuries. +His descendant, the Rev. German Buckston of Bradborne, is the present +representative of that family.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Lady Selina Shirley</span> was the second of the three daughters and +co-heiresses of Washington, second Earl Ferrars, and was born August +24, 1707. Her eldest sister, the Lady Elizabeth, was married to Joseph +Gascoigne Nightingale, Esq., of Enfield, in the county of Middlesex, +and Mamhead, in the county of Devon; and the youngest, Lady Mary, to +Thomas Needham, Viscount Kilmorey, of the kingdom of Ireland, nephew +to the Earl of Huntingdon. His Lordship dying Feb. 3, 1768, without +issue by Lady Kilmorey, who died August 12, 1784, was succeeded by his +next surviving brother, John, tenth Viscount, grandfather of Francis, +present Earl of Kilmorey. Lady Elizabeth Nightingale had a son, named +Washington Nightingale, who died, unmarried, in 1754; and a daughter, +Elizabeth, sole heiress to her father and mother, who was married +to Wilmot, Earl of Lisburne, an Irish Peer, and died May 19, 1755, +in giving birth to Wilmot Vaughan, second Earl of Lisburne. On the +death of Sir Robert Nightingale, Bart., one of the directors of the +East India Company, who died, unmarried, in 1722, the family estates +devolved upon his cousin, Robert Gascoigne, Esq., second son of the +Rev. Joseph Gascoigne, of Enfield; and the baronetcy lay dormant +for three quarters of a century, until it was claimed, in 1797, by +Lieut.-Colonel Edward Nightingale, father of the present Baronet. But +the eldest son of Mr. Gascoigne had assumed the name of Nightingale +previous to his marriage with the Lady Elizabeth Shirley, in 1725, who +was interred with him in Westminster<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[8]</span> Abbey, where a well-known and +unrivalled monument by Roubilliac is erected to their memory.</p> + +<p>Lady <span class="smcap">Selina’s</span> mind, even in very early infancy, was of a +serious cast. When she was only nine years of age, the sight of a +corpse, about her own age, on its way to the grave, induced her to +attend the burial. There the first impressions of deep seriousness +concerning an eternal world took possession of her heart, and with many +tears she earnestly implored God, on the spot, that whenever he should +be pleased to take her away, he would deliver her from all her fears, +and give her a happy departure. She often, afterwards, visited that +grave, and always preserved a lively sense of the affecting scene she +had there witnessed.</p> + +<p>Though no correct views of evangelical truth had hitherto enlightened +her Ladyship’s mind, yet even during her juvenile days she frequently +retired for prayer to a particular closet, where she could not be +observed, and in all her little troubles found relief in pouring +out the feelings of her heart to God. When she grew up and was +introduced into the world, she continued to pray that she might marry +into a serious family. None kept up more of the ancient dignity and +propriety than the house of Huntingdon: the family possessed a sort of +decorum which she perhaps mistook for religion. With the head of that +family she accordingly became united on the 3rd of June, 1728. His +Lordship was descended in a direct line from Francis, second Earl of +Huntingdon, who married Catherine, eldest daughter and co-heiress to +Henry Cole, Lord Montacute, son and heir to Sir Richard Cole, Knight +of the Garter, and Margaret, Countess of Salisbury, daughter to George +Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence, brother to Edward IV., and heiress to +her brother Edward, Earl of Warwick, who was the last heir male of +the Royal House of Plantagenet. Talent and piety adorned the Hastings +family: Lord Hastings, the uncle of Lord Huntingdon, was a nobleman of +great learning, and of so excellent a disposition, that no less than +ninety-eight elegies were made on him, and published under the title +of “Lacrymæ Musarum; the Tears of the Muses:” among which was Dryden’s +first essay.</p> + +<p>The house of Huntingdon has produced many bright examples of religious +females, who consecrated their endowments to the service of God. Of +this number was the Lady Elizabeth Langham, the lady of Sir J. Langham, +Bart., and aunt to Lord Huntingdon, of whom an interesting account has +been preserved in “Burder’s Memoirs of eminently Pious Women.” His +Lordship’s sisters, particularly Lady Betty and Lady Margaret Hastings, +were women of singular excellence.</p> + +<p>Theophilus, ninth Earl of Huntingdon, was the eldest son of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[9]</span> +Theophilus, seventh Earl, by his <i>second</i> marriage, and was born +at Donnington Park, November 12, 1696, and was baptized on the 20th +of the same month. He succeeded his half-brother George, eighth Earl +of Huntingdon, February 22, 1704–5; and at the coronation of George +II., October 11, 1727, carried the sword of State. His Lordship’s +mother, Frances, Countess of Huntingdon, was daughter and sole heiress +to Francis Levison Fowler, Esq., of Harnage-Grange, in the county +of Salop, and granddaughter of Lord Kinderton, who had married Lady +Catherine Shirley, sister to Robert, first Earl Ferrars.</p> + +<p>Lord Huntingdon’s exemplary character, his marriage and issue, are set +forth in an elegant inscription from the pen of Lord Bolingbroke, on a +monument erected to his memory<a id="FNanchor_5" href="#Footnote_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> by Lady Huntingdon, in the church of +Ashby-de-la-Zouch, where he lies interred.</p> + +<p>Such was the noble Earl to whom the Lady <span class="smcap">Selina Shirley</span> was +united “in love’s inviolable bonds;” and his Lordship well knew how +to value the treasure which Providence had given him, in a woman of +such exalted merit and amiable qualities, and accordingly made it +his study to repay the felicity with which she crowned his life. He +considered himself possessed of the greatest possible addition to his +earthly happiness, and from the period of his marriage was uniformly an +attentive and affectionate husband, which character he maintained with +a becoming mixture of dignity and affection till the day of his death. +His esteem for her was equal to that affection, and he often declared +that time increased it—that her life and actions rendered virtue +amiable, and that in her society he found his greatest happiness. Nor +could any one be happier than herself in such a partner; for whom, the +longer she knew him, she had the greater reason to bless God: indeed, +the venerable Countess continued to the last moments of her protracted +life to express the highest veneration and affection for his memory; +and, but a short time before her death, she discovered how incapable +she was of forgetting him, by shedding fresh tears at every mention of +his name.</p> + +<p>Lady Huntingdon was, unquestionably, formed for eminence. Her tender +age exhibited a fine dawn of her mature excellence; and she gave +early presages of proving highly useful and ornamental to society, +if permitted to arrive at those years necessary for maturing the +powers of the human mind. Her endowments were much above the ordinary +standard. She possessed a highly intelligent mind, an extraordinary +quickness of apprehension, a brilliant fancy, a retentive memory, a +strong clear understanding,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[10]</span> and a sound judgment, much improved by +reading, conversation, deep thought, and observation. Her knowledge of +mankind, even at an early age, and her penetration into the characters +of those with whom she was acquainted, were admirable. Though she was +obliged, from her situation in life, to mix with others in fashionable +amusements, an attachment to them, or to the ornament of dress, was +not the foible of her discerning and contemplative mind. Though not +a regular beauty, she possessed a large portion of the charms of her +sex: her person was noble, commanding respect—her countenance was the +living picture of her mind, and united in it, in a happy combination, +both the great and the condescending. This engaging exterior was +animated by a soul, lively and ardent in its pursuits, and enriched +with those qualities which the world most highly commends and esteems.</p> + +<p>At a very early period of life, Lady Huntingdon discovered an elevated +turn of mind: she was impressed with a deep sense of divine things—a +feeling which had a powerful influence on her conduct, in leading +her to read the word of God with great diligence. She manifested an +extraordinary turn for religious meditation; and repeatedly felt the +most awful convictions of the certainty and eternal duration of a +future state. Her conversation was modest, and her whole conduct marked +with a degree of rectitude not usually to be found in early life. +After her marriage, she manifested a particularly serious deportment; +and though sometimes at Court, yet, in visiting the higher circles, +she took no pleasure in the fashionable follies of the great. At +Donnington Park she was the <i>Lady Bountiful</i> among her neighbours +and dependents; though, as she herself afterwards felt and declared, +going about to establish her own righteousness, she endeavoured, by +prayer, and fasting, and alms-deeds, to commend herself to the favour +of the Most High. For, notwithstanding the early appearance of piety in +Lady Huntingdon, it is evident she continued for many years a perfect +stranger to the true nature of that Gospel which is the power of God to +every one that believes. She aspired after rectitude, and was anxious +to possess every moral perfection—she counted much upon the dignity of +human nature, and was ambitious to act in a manner becoming her exalted +ideas of that dignity. And here her Ladyship outstripped the multitude +in an uncommon degree: she was rigidly just in her dealings, and +inflexibly true to her word; she was a strict observer of her several +duties in every relation of life; her sentiments were liberal, and her +charity profuse; she was prudent in her conduct, and courteous in her +deportment; she was a diligent enquirer after truth, and a strenuous +advocate for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[11]</span> virtue; she was frequent in her sacred meditations, and +was a regular attendant at public worship. Possessed of so many moral +accomplishments, while she was admired by the world, it is no wonder +that she should cast a look of self-complacency upon her character, and +consider herself, with respect to her attainments in virtue, abundantly +superior to the common herd of mankind. But while the Countess was +taken up in congratulating herself upon her own fancied eminence in +piety, she was an absolute stranger to that inward and universal change +of heart, wrought by the gracious operations of the Spirit of God, by +which new principles are established in the mind, new inclinations are +imparted, and new objects pursued.</p> + +<p>In acting thus, Lady Huntingdon was by no means singular. It is the +faith of multitudes in the present day, who call themselves Christians, +but who, by presuming to compare their own imaginary good deeds with +the all-perfect and only justifying righteousness of the Saviour, as +the ground of their acceptance before God, make void, as far as in them +lies, all the glorious designs of Jehovah’s free and sovereign mercy in +man’s salvation.</p> + +<p>Nothing short of the depravity of our fallen nature can account for our +obstinately persisting in the notion, that the sinner can do anything +towards reconciling himself to the favour of the Most High and Most +Holy; forgetting that the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, being +in all respects consummate and glorious, cannot want, and will not +admit of, any works of the sinner as auxiliary to his justification. +For, “by the obedience of <i>one</i>, many are made righteous.” And, +“to him that worketh not, but believeth in Him that justifieth the +ungodly, his faith is counted to him for righteousness.”</p> + +<p>He who made the heart, and He alone, can change it. A truth this, +to which the experience of every true believer bears an additional +testimony, and which is confirmed by the express authority of the Word +of God. “Without me (says the Saviour) ye can do nothing.” And he says +again, “No man <i>can</i> come unto me except the Father, which hath +sent me, <i>draw</i> him.” If ever the sinner is converted to God, +and pursues heavenly and divine objects, it must be through the power +of the Holy Spirit, by whom he is “created anew in Christ Jesus unto +good works, which God hath before ordained that he should walk in +them.” This gracious change Lady Huntingdon now experienced, for which +thousands and tens of thousands will have abundant reason to bless +God to all eternity. The manner in which it was brought about, and +the mighty effects produced by it, it now becomes the province of her +biographer to relate.</p> + +<p>Mr. Whitefield, Mr. Ingham, the Wesleys, Mr. Hervey, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[12]</span> others, the +great revivers of heartfelt and serious religion, had now awakened +great attention in the land, and were branded with the name of +<i>Methodists</i>. As they all set out with professions of strict +adherence to the Church of England, the distinguishing tenets of her +Articles and Homilies were particularly enforced by them. As this was +utterly unlike the manner of preaching which then chiefly obtained, +they attracted numerous audiences; and the lively manner of address, as +well as the matter of their discourses, exceedingly struck the hearers +with their novelty, as well as importance. Nothing awakened greater +attention to their preaching, than their quitting the universal habit +of <i>reading their sermons from a book</i>, without any animation, +and addressing extempore discourses to the congregations where they +ministered.</p> + +<p>The multitudes that followed them were much affected; a great and +visible change was produced in the minds of many; the attention paid +to these ministers, and the blessings evidently attendant on their +labours, roused them to vigorous and increasing exertions: they were +always at their work, preaching wherever they could find admittance +into the churches, and, perhaps—for they were human—not a little +flattered by the popularity attending their ministrations. Some +wild-fire could hardly fail to mingle with the sacred flame—whilst +the sensation created by their preaching was inconceivable. Roused +by opposition and encouraged by success, the Methodists continued to +extend their influence and spread their name over various parts of +the kingdom. The churches being incapable of containing the crowds +which flocked after them, they took to the fields, and preached +everywhere. Their congregations under the canopy of heaven were +prodigious—sometimes, indeed, riotous and insulting, but, in general, +solemn and attentive. By these labours a flood of Gospel light +broke upon the nation—societies increased by thousands, and their +ministry was blessed, to the great revival of religion, wherever they +itinerated. Men more laborious than these leaders were, have hardly +appeared since the days of the apostles: they repeatedly travelled +over a space more than the circumference of the globe—wherever they +moved, they were as a flame of fire, and left behind them a train of +evangelical light. They were in preaching unwearied—two, or three, +and frequently four times a-day, and this sometimes in places many +miles distant from each other; and notice having been previously given +of their coming, thousands awaited and welcomed them, heard them with +reverence, and received them as angels of God. By their instrumentality +many Church ministers were awaked from the lethargy which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[13]</span> had beset +them, and amazing multitudes were called to the happy experience of the +salvation of Jesus by their labours, and added to the church of such as +shall be everlastingly saved.</p> + +<p>As all are by nature alike, in a moral and spiritual sense, equally +guilty and vile, weak and worthless, so divine grace is a kind of +leveller of distinctions, and is no respecter of persons or classes. +Though not many women wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many +noble are called; yet, to show the sovereignty, and power, and riches +of divine grace, God is pleased sometimes to select the monuments of +his mercy from among the wealthy and noble, and to show that he is no +respecter of persons, but is rich in mercy to all that call upon him. +The sisters of Lord Huntingdon were women not more distinguished by +rank than by general excellence of character. From motives of curiosity +some of the Ladies Hastings were induced to attend the preaching of the +first Methodists, and there the Lord met them with the blessings of his +grace. Under this ministry they were given to see the insufficiency of +their own righteousness and the method of salvation on which they had +been resting, and were made willing to receive the Lord Jesus Christ +as the foundation of their hope and trust. Then “what things were once +gain to them,” they, with St. Paul, “counted loss for Christ. Yea, +counted all things but loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of +Christ Jesus their Lord.” They soon joined themselves to the people of +God, and never appeared to be ashamed to own whose they were, or whom +they served.</p> + +<p>Salvation to one of a family, to one of a city, is often but the +prelude of salvation to the whole house, and to hundreds in that city. +When the streams of mercy begin to flow through such channels, who +can say how many different directions they may take, and how far they +may ultimately extend? Upon the important result of one conversion, +no man is able to calculate; and, therefore, it is said—no doubt +with some reference to the truth of this remark—“that there is joy +in the presence of the angels over <i>one</i> sinner that repenteth.” +All who are themselves brought near to God by the blood of the cross, +will be earnestly concerned for the salvation of others, especially +their own kindred; and they will estimate the success of their +labours for the accomplishment of this object as the highest joy +in time, and their crown of rejoicing in that day when the Lord of +Hosts shall make up his jewels. No sooner did the Lord Jesus Christ +manifest himself to the woman of Samaria, than she went into the +city to proclaim the glory of his name, and many of the Samaritans +of that city believed on him through<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[14]</span> her testimony. Lady Margaret +Hastings was the first who received the truth as it is in Jesus; and +the change effected by the power of the Holy Spirit on her heart soon +became visible to all. Considering the obligations she was under to +the sovereign grace of God, she felt herself called upon to seek the +salvation of her fellow-creatures, and the promotion of their best +and eternal interests. Next to her own soul, the salvation of her +own family and friends became her care. She exhorted them faithfully +and affectionately, one by one, to “flee from the wrath to come;” +and the Lord was pleased to make her the honoured instrument of Lady +Huntingdon’s conversion, as well as of many others of her family.</p> + +<p>Conversing with Lady Margaret one day on this subject, Lady Huntingdon +was exceedingly struck with a sentiment she uttered, “<i>that since +she had known and believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, for life and +salvation, she had been as happy as an angel</i>.” To any such +sensation of happiness, Lady Huntingdon felt that she was, as yet, +an utter stranger. The more she examined herself, and considered the +subject, the more she was convinced of the momentous truth. This +conviction caused many reflections to arise in her mind; and beginning +also to see her sinfulness and guilt, and the entire corruption and +depravity of her whole nature, her hope of being able to reconcile +herself to God by her own works and deservings, began gradually to die +away. She sought, however, by the most rigorous austerities, to conquer +her evil nature, and dispel the distressing thoughts which continually +engrossed her mind. But, alas! the more she strove, the more she saw +and felt that all her thoughts, words, and works, however specious +before men, were utterly sinful before Him who is of purer eyes than to +behold iniquity.</p> + +<p>A dangerous illness having, soon after, brought her to the brink of the +grave, the fear of death fell terribly upon her, and her conscience was +greatly distressed. She now perceived that she had beguiled herself +with prospects of a visionary nature; was entirely blinded to her +own real character; had long placed her happiness in mere chimeras, +and grounded her vain hopes upon imaginary foundations. It was to no +purpose that she reminded herself of the morality of her conduct; in +vain did she recollect the many encomiums that had been passed upon her +early piety and virtue. Her best righteousness now appeared to be but +“filthy rags,” which, so far from justifying her before God, increased +her condemnation. The remorse which before attended conscience, on +account of sin, respected only the outward actions of her life; but +now she saw her “heart was deceitful above all things, and desperately +wicked—that all have<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[15]</span> sinned and come short of the glory of God;” and +that “the thoughts of man’s heart are only evil, and that continually.” +When upon the point of perishing in her own apprehension, the words of +Lady Margaret returned strongly to her recollection, and she felt an +earnest desire, renouncing every other hope, to cast herself wholly +upon Christ for life and salvation. From her bed she lifted up her +heart to her Saviour, with this important prayer, and immediately all +her distress and fears were removed, and she was filled with peace and +joy in believing.</p> + +<p>Now the day began to dawn—Jesus, the Sun of Righteousness, arose, and +burst in meridian splendour on her benighted soul. The scales fell +from her eyes, and opened a passage for the light of life which sprang +in, and death and darkness fled before it. Viewing herself as a brand +plucked from the burning, she could not but stand astonished at the +mighty power of that grace which saved her from eternal destruction +just when she stood upon its very brink, and raised her from the gates +of hell to the confines of heaven; and the depths from which she was +raised, made the heights which she reached only the more amazing; +she felt the Rock beneath her, and from that secure position looked +with astonishment downward to that horrible pit from which she was so +mercifully delivered—and upwards, in ecstacy, to that glory to which +she should be raised. The “sorrow of the world, which worketh death,” +was now exchanged for that godly sorrow which worketh repentance +unto life; and “joy unspeakable, and full of glory,” succeeded that +bitterness that comes of the conviction of sin; she enjoyed, already, +a delightful foretaste of heaven. Her disorder from that moment took +a favourable turn; she was restored to perfect health, and, what was +better, to newness of life. She determined thenceforward to present +herself to God, as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable, which she +was now convinced was her reasonable service.</p> + +<p>This mighty change began at her Ladyship’s heart, and extended its +salutary influence to all the sublime faculties of her mind, and the +whole tenor of her outward conversation. Her understanding was renewed +in knowledge. The stubbornness of the will was broken, and changed into +a passive acquiescence in the sovereign will of God. “Her carnal mind, +which was enmity against God,” was subdued by the superior influence +of Divine grace. All offences at the Gospel plan of salvation died +away; for, when the veil of unbelief that covered her heart was rent, +it then “turned to the Lord,” and from that moment she learned “to +count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ +Jesus her Lord.” The eye of her understanding being illuminated, and +her heart enraptured<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[16]</span> with a view of matchless excellency, she was +ready to exclaim, “Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none +upon earth that I desire besides thee!” The desire of her soul was to +him, and to the remembrances of his great name and glorious salvation. +Believing in Jesus, as the Scripture hath said, she found in him a +well of consolation, “springing up unto everlasting life.” All her +wanderings were at once happily terminated—her doubts were removed, +her tears were dried up, and she rejoiced in hope of the glory of God, +whom she contemplated, in all his amiable and august perfections, with +delight and wonder; and enraptured with a view of him as reconciled +to her in the Son of his love, she gave vent to the fulness of her +heart in the most glowing affections of gratitude and astonishment. +Her conversion, in which the hand of God was so conspicuous, was +not imaginary, but real. It not only influenced her sentiments, but +extended to her conduct, and was productive of the most salutary +effects. No sooner was her heart surrendered to God, and her alienated +affections restored to their original claimant, than outward fruits +appeared in her conversation: her renovation introduced new light into +her understanding, and new desires into her heart and affections, +and produced its effect upon her temper; not wholly to eradicate its +constitutional peculiarity, but to sanctify, and render it subservient +to the glory of God and the good of souls. Reason resigned its +pretensions to the sacred authority of revelation: her intellectual +powers were extricated from the darkness of nature, and brought by the +irradiating Spirit of God into the bright region of light and liberty. +Whom she had found a Saviour, Him she was unalterably determined to +follow as a Guide: He possessed the supreme affection, reverence, and +homage of her heart—was the centre of its wishes, and the spring +of its comforts. A great cloud of witnesses are ready to testify, +that from her earliest acquaintance with the truths of the Gospel, +the venerable and elect Countess of Huntingdon continued, through +every stage of her protracted pilgrimage, to walk worthy of her high +vocation, “growing in grace, and adorning the doctrine of God her +Saviour in all things.”</p> +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[17]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hangingindent">Lord Huntingdon—The Bishop of Gloucester—Mr. Whitefield’s +Preaching—its Effects—Dr. Southey—Dr. Hurd—Archbishop +Secker—First Methodist Society—Lady Anne Frankland—Lord +Scarborough—Dr. Young—Lady Fanny Shirley—Mrs. +Temple—Lady Mary Wortley Montagu—Lady Townsend—Mr. +Pope—Mr. Ingham—Mr. C. Wesley—Miss Robinson—Lord +Lisburne—The House of Lords—Hammond the Poet—Somervile the +Poet—Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough—Anecdotes—Duchess of +Buckingham—Anecdotes—Duchess of Queensbury—Lord Oxford—Lady +Hinchinbroke.</p> +</div> + + +<p>The biography of pious persons, who have devoted their lives to the +benefit of mankind and to the glory of God, is an acknowledged source +of pleasure and profit, and a species of writing possessing peculiar +attractiveness, as we trace our subject through the scenes of life +and the chamber of death, to the very gate of heaven! The illustrious +subject of the present memoir was an example of piety, benevolence, and +zeal, in the best of causes, such as succeeding generations may admire, +when the warriors and statesmen who were her contemporaries shall be +known no more.</p> + +<p>On Lady Huntingdon’s recovery from the illness adverted to at page 14, +she sent a kind message to Messrs. John and Charles Wesley, who were +then preaching in the neighbourhood, professing to be one with them in +heart, cordially wishing them good speed in the name of the Lord, and +assuring them of her determined purpose to live for Him who had died +for her.</p> + +<p>The change which divine grace had wrought upon her Ladyship’s heart +soon became observable to all around, by the open confession which she +made of the faith once delivered to the saints, and by the zealous +support she gave to the cause of God, amidst the torrents of reproach +with which it was attended. To the noble circle in which the Countess +moved, such professions and conduct appeared strange; and there were +not wanting some who, under the guise of friendship, wished Lord +Huntingdon to interpose his authority; but, although<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[18]</span> he differed +from her Ladyship in her views of religion, he continued to manifest +the same affection and respect, and at his demise left her the entire +management of her children and their fortunes. His Lordship was too +generous to yield to such insidious advice, but he recommended her to +converse with Bishop Benson, who had been his tutor, and with this +request she readily complied. The Bishop was accordingly sent for, and +he attempted to convince her Ladyship of the unnecessary strictness +of her sentiments and conduct. But she pressed him so hard with +Scripture, brought so many arguments from the Articles and Homilies, +and so plainly and faithfully urged upon him the awful responsibility +of his station under the Great Head of the Church, that his temper was +ruffled, and he rose up in haste to depart, bitterly lamenting that he +had ever laid his hands upon George Whitefield, to whom he attributed +the change wrought in her Ladyship. “My Lord! (said the Countess) mark +my words: when you are on your dying bed, that will be one of the few +ordinations you will reflect upon with complacence.” The Bishop’s +conduct at that solemn season verified her prediction: for when near +his death he sent ten guineas to Mr. Whitefield, as a token of regard +and veneration, and begged to be remembered by him in his prayers!<a id="FNanchor_6" href="#Footnote_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a></p> + +<p>Dr. Southey has, with a partiality little to his credit, related +the former, but suppressed the latter portion of this anecdote, and +has prostituted his talents in order to heap sarcasm, ridicule, and +contempt upon the Countess. Her religious feelings, he insinuates, +originated in a “<i>decided insanity in her family</i>!”—an assertion +as wicked as it is false—and tells us that all the arguments of Bishop +Benson “were ineffectual to bring her to a saner sense of devotion.” In +the next edition of his caricature of Mr. Wesley, it would be candour +to notice the Bishop’s <i>dying<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[19]</span> gift</i> to Mr. Whitefield—his +<i>dying professions of regard</i> for Mr. Whitefield—and his <i>dying +request</i> for Mr. Whitefield’s <i>prayers</i>; a luminous commentary +on the almost prophetic language of Lady Huntingdon, and a decisive +reproof to the Poet Laureate’s fiction of hereditary insanity, which +indeed is sufficiently disproved by her every act, her every letter, +and her every word.</p> + +<p>Though few persons have ever had so just a claim as her Ladyship to +universal approbation, she was far from courting the applause of a +world in which her Lord and Master had been publicly despised and +rejected, or of making an ostentatious display of superior parts and +accomplishments. Her family and connections, her attainments in science +and grace, with whatever else might be considered as tending to her +advantage, she regarded as matters of trivial estimation; while, in the +lowliness of her heart, she adopted the language of the great Apostle; +“God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus +Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.”</p> + +<p>In 1738, the first Methodist Society was formed in the (now Moravian) +chapel, a plain but venerable building, in Neville’s-court, +Fetter-lane, London: Messrs. Wesley, Whitefield, Ingham, Howell Harris, +and many other eminent men, preached there with amazing power and +success; Messrs. Cennick and Oakley, and others who afterwards made +a distinguished figure in the Church of Christ, were members of the +congregation at this time. It was at this place that Lord and Lady +Huntingdon first attended the Society meetings. Sir John Phillips +and Sir John Thorold were amongst the awakened, and members of the +Fetter-lane Society. Mr. Whitefield, who had lately returned from +Bristol, where he had been preaching in the open air, was now in +London, and, with Howell Harris, preached frequently at Fetter-lane. +This was the central place of meeting. Here they had their love-feasts, +and encouraged each other in devotedness to God. “On the first night +of the new year (says Mr.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[20]</span> Wesley), Messrs. Hall, Kineton, Ingham, +Whitefield, Hutchins, and my brother Charles were present at our +love-feast, with about sixty of our brethren. About three in the +morning, as we were continuing intent in prayer, the power of God came +mightily upon us, insomuch that many cried out for exceeding joy, and +many fell to the ground. As soon as we recovered a little from our awe +and amazement at the presence of the Divine Majesty, we broke out with +one voice, ‘<i>We praise thee, O God! we acknowledge thee to be the +Lord!</i>’” “It was a pentecost season indeed (says Mr. Whitefield): +sometimes whole nights were spent in prayer: often have they been +filled as with new wine, and often have I seen them overwhelmed with +the Divine Presence, and heard them cry out, ‘<i>Will God indeed dwell +with men upon earth? How dreadful is this place! This is no other than +the house of God and the gate of heaven!</i>’”</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, +who were powerfully affected by the fire which 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 amongst the nobility +in the metropolis.<a id="FNanchor_7" href="#Footnote_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> Her Ladyship spent much of her time with Lady +Huntingdon, from whose society and conversation she derived great +comfort; but was so affected by the many mortifications she met with,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[21]</span> +that she survived her brother, Lord Scarborough, but a few days, and +her separation from Mr. Frankland only eight months.</p> + +<p>The illustrious author of the “Night Thoughts” lived at this time +among the great with that respect to which his literary talents +justly entitled him. He had married Lady Elizabeth Lee, daughter of +the Earl of Lichfield, and widow of Colonel Lee.<a id="FNanchor_8" href="#Footnote_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> With Mrs. Temple, +the amiable daughter of Lady Elizabeth, by her former husband, Lady +Huntingdon had been extremely intimate; and having met Dr. Young at +the residence of Lord Bolingbroke, soon after his return from abroad, +their conversation had reference to the death of this lady, who died +of a consumption at Montpelier, the year after her marriage with Mr. +Temple, son of Lord Palmerston. It is more than poetically true, that +the Doctor and Lady Elizabeth accompanied her to the continent.</p> + + <div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="ileft">“I flew, I snatched her from the rigid north,</div> + <div>And bore her nearer to the Sun.”</div> + </div> + </div> + </div> + +<p>But in vain. Her funeral was attended with the difficulties painted in +such animated colours in “Night the Third.”<a id="FNanchor_9" href="#Footnote_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a></p> + +<p>Lady Huntingdon, who had many opportunities of seeing Dr. Young at this +time, observed a settled melancholy in his disposition, and with a +view to remove the load of domestic grief<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[22]</span> which seemed to oppress his +spirits, introduced him to Mr. Charles Wesley, with whom he conversed +freely, and of whom he afterwards spoke to her Ladyship in times of +high commendation. From the preaching of the great Methodist leaders, +whose ministry he occasionally attended, he appeared to derive some +consolation and support. But another breach in his domestic happiness +was soon after made by the decease of Lady Elizabeth; and to the sorrow +Dr. Young felt from these losses, religion and morality are indebted +for the “Night Thoughts.”</p> + + <div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="hangingindent">“There is a pleasure in sadness which mourners only know!”</div> + </div> + </div> + </div> + +<p>Lady Huntingdon’s intimacy with Lord Bolingbroke, and her frequent +visits to Twickenham, the residence of her aunt, Lady Fanny Shirley, +brought her acquainted with most of the literary characters of that +day.<a id="FNanchor_10" href="#Footnote_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> Lady Fanny had long been one of the reigning beauties of the +Court of George the First, and her only rival was the Lady Mary Wortley +Montagu, whose talents, wit, literary genius, and eccentricities, +have made her fame as extensive as the English language. Lady Fanny +frequently attracted the notice of his Majesty, and likewise that of +the Prince of Wales.<a id="FNanchor_11" href="#Footnote_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a></p> + +<p>Previous to any decided religious impression having been made on her +mind, Lady Huntingdon was much at Court, but took no part in the +fashionable levities of the great and gay. Amongst her acquaintances, +at that period, we find Lady Betty Finch, daughter of Daniel, Earl +of Nottingham, who had just espoused Mr. Murray, afterwards Lord +Mansfield; Lord Townshend’s Lady, whose wit and eccentricities made so +much noise<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[23]</span> during a great part of the last century,<a id="FNanchor_12" href="#Footnote_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> and Lady Mary +Wortley Montagu (the rival of Lady Fanny Shirley), who was the life and +soul of the Court circle, and at one period very intimate with Lady +Huntingdon, though her senior by seventeen years.<a id="FNanchor_13" href="#Footnote_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a></p> + +<p>At one period of her life, Lady Huntingdon appears to have been much +occupied with political questions. Her sentiments were conformable +with those of Sir Robert Walpole and his Administration; and she was +much connected with the courtiers of that day. A little incident which +occurred at this period will serve to mark the natural ardour of her +character. There were some stormy debates in the House of Lords, in May +1738, on the depredations of the Spaniards, in which Lord Huntingdon, +Lord Hervey, and others of his intimate friends, took a leading part. +Her Ladyship expressed her intention of being present, though ladies +were excluded. “At the last warm debate in the House of Lords (says +Lady Mary Wortley Montagu), it was unanimously resolved there should +be no unnecessary auditors; consequently the fair sex were excluded, +and the gallery destined to the sole use of the House of Commons. +Notwithstanding which determination, a tribe of dames resolved to +show, on this occasion, that neither men nor laws could resist them. +These heroines were Lady Huntingdon, the Duchess of Queensbury, the +Duchess of Ancaster, Lady Westmoreland, Lady Cobham, Lady Charlotte +Edwin, Lady Archibald Hamilton and her daughter Mrs. Scott, Mrs. +Pendarves, and Lady Frances Saunderson. I am thus particular in their +names, since I looked upon them to be the boldest assertors and +most resigned sufferers for liberty I ever read of. They presented +themselves at the door at nine o’clock in the morning, when Sir William +Saunderson respectfully informed them that the Chancellor had made an +order against their admittance. The Duchess of Queensbury, as head +of the squadron, ‘pished’ at the ill-breeding of a mere lawyer, and +desired Sir William to let them up stairs privately. After some modest +refusals, he swore he would not admit them. Her Grace, with a noble +warmth, answered, they would come in, in spite of the Chancellor and +the whole House. This being<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[24]</span> reported, the Peers resolved to starve +them out; an order was made that the doors should not be opened till +they had raised their siege. These Amazons now showed themselves +qualified for the duty even of foot-soldiers; they stood there till +five in the afternoon, without sustenance, every now and then plying +volleys of thumps, kicks, and raps, with so much violence against the +door, that the speakers in the House were scarce heard. When the Lords +were not to be conquered by this, the two Duchesses (very well apprised +of the use of stratagems in war) commanded a silence of half an hour; +and the Chancellor, who thought this a certain proof of their absence +(the Commons also being very impatient to enter), gave orders for the +opening of the door, upon which they all rushed in, pushed aside their +competitors, and placed themselves in the front rows of the gallery. +They stayed there till after eleven, when the House rose; and during +the debate gave applause, and showed marks of dislike, not only by +smiles and winks (which have always been allowed in these cases), but +by noisy laughs and apparent contempts, which is supposed the true +reason why poor Lord Hervey<a id="FNanchor_14" href="#Footnote_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> spoke so miserably.”</p> + +<p>Her high birth of course entitled Lady Huntingdon to the society +and respect of her equals; and Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, and +Catherine, Duchess of Buckingham, were her correspondents. The former +and her sister, the Countess of Tyrconnell, were two of the most +remarkable beauties of their day. The Duchess of Marlborough was, in +early life, appointed maid of honour to the Duchess of York, and to her +external attractions added, what was rarely met with in those days, all +the witchery of mind and all the dignity of conscious rectitude. Her +conversation and deportment were alike irresistible, from a just and +delightful mixture of softness and sprightliness: a little petulance +and caprice of temper; a little heedlessness of manner; a good deal of +her sex’s pride, yet more of its vanity; a quickness of imagination, +which sometimes hurried her to the verge of imprudence, and a natural +acuteness and readiness of wit which as often extricated her—</p> + + <div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div>“Yielding by nature, stubborn but for fame,”</div> + </div> + </div> + </div> + +<p class="p-left">were the characteristics of this woman’s masculine mind and intriguing +spirit, which, by her influence in the Cabinet, may be said to have +swayed the destinies of Europe with greater effect than did her husband +by his talents in the field. Her name is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[25]</span> introduced in this place, +however, to show the vanity of earthly triumphs. Two letters from her +Grace of Marlborough to Lady Huntingdon, written about this time, refer +principally to the preaching of the great Methodist leaders, whom her +Ladyship had invited the Duchess to hear:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“My dear Lady Huntingdon is always so very good to me, and I +really do feel so very sensibly all your kindness and attention, +that I must accept your very obliging invitation to accompany +you to hear Mr. Whitefield, though I am still suffering from +the effects of a severe cold. Your concern for my improvement +in religious knowledge is very obliging, and I do hope that I +shall be the better for all your excellent advice. God knows +we all need mending, and none more than myself. I have lived +to see great changes in the world—have acted a conspicuous +part myself—and now hope, in my old days, to obtain mercy from +God, as I never expect any at the hands of my fellow-creatures. +The Duchess of Ancaster, Lady Townshend, and Lady Cobham were +exceedingly pleased with many observations in Mr. Whitefield’s +sermon at St. Sepulchre’s Church, which has made me lament ever +since that I did not hear it, as it might have been the means of +doing me some good—<i>for good, alas</i>! I <span class="allsmcap">DO WANT</span>: +but where among the corrupt sons and daughters of Adam am I to +find it? Your Ladyship must direct me. You are all goodness +and kindness, and I often wish I had a portion of it. Women +of wit, beauty, and quality, cannot hear too many humiliating +truths—they shock our pride. But we must die—we must converse +with earth and worms.</p> + +<p>“Pray do me the favour to present my humble service to your +excellent spouse. A more amiable man I do not know than Lord +Huntingdon. And believe me, my dear Madam, your most faithful +and most humble servant,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“S. Marlborough.”</p> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Your letter, my dear Madam, was very acceptable. Many thanks to +Lady Fanny for her good wishes. Any communications from her, and +my dear good Lady Huntingdon, are always welcome, and always, +in every particular, to my satisfaction. <i>I have no comfort +in my own family</i>, therefore must look for that pleasure and +gratification which others can impart. I hope you will shortly +come and see me, and give me more of your company than I have +had latterly. In truth, I always feel more happy and more +contented after an hour’s conversation with you, than I do after +a whole week’s round of amusement. <i>When alone, my reflections +and recollections almost kill me</i>, and I am forced to fly +to the society of those I detest and abhor. Now there is Lady +Frances Saunderson’s<a id="FNanchor_15" href="#Footnote_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> great route to-morrow night—all the +world will be there, and I must go. I do hate that woman as much +as I do hate a physician; but I must go, if for no other purpose +than to mortify and spite her. This is very wicked, I know, but +I confess all my little peccadillos to you, for I know your +goodness will lead you to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[26]</span> be mild and forgiving, and perhaps my +wicked heart may gain some good from you in the end.</p> + +<p>“Make my kindest respects to Lord Huntingdon. Lady Fanny has +my best wishes for the success of her attack on that crooked, +perverse little wretch at Twickenham.<a id="FNanchor_16" href="#Footnote_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> Assure yourself, my +dear good Madam, that I am your most faithful and most obliged +humble servant,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“S. Marlborough.”</p> +</div> + +<p>This very conspicuous, very assailable, and very irritable woman, so +celebrated for quarrelling with all the rest of human kind, always took +in good part whatever Lady Huntingdon said or wrote, and never appears +to have been affronted or offended by the home-truths which she must +have heard from her.<a id="FNanchor_17" href="#Footnote_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a></p> + +<p>The Duchess of Buckingham, a woman perfectly mad with pride, was +distantly connected with Lady Huntingdon’s family. Her first husband, +the Earl of Anglesea, from whom she was separated by the unanimous +consent of the King and Parliament, was cousin-german to Charles +Annesley, Esq., Captain of the Battle-Axe-Guard, who married Lady +Levinge, the second wife of the Right Hon. Sir Richard Levinge, the +grandfather of Lady Huntingdon. A few years after this she was married +to John Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham, died at her house in St. James’s +Park (now Buckingham Palace), March 13, 1742,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[27]</span> and was publicly +interred about a month after in Westminster Abbey. During the early +days of Methodism, her Grace occasionally attended the preaching of +Mr. Whitefield and the Wesleys, but she was decidedly opposed to the +doctrines which they promulgated. In a short epistle to Lady Huntingdon +she says:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I thank your Ladyship for the information concerning the +Methodist preachers; their doctrines are most repulsive, and +strongly tinctured with impertinence and disrespect towards +their superiors, in perpetually endeavouring to level all ranks, +and do away with all distinctions. It is monstrous to be told, +that you have a heart as sinful as the common wretches that +crawl on the earth. This is highly offensive and insulting; +and I cannot but wonder that your Ladyship should relish any +sentiments so much at variance with high rank and good breeding.</p> + +<p>“Your Ladyship does me infinite honour by your obliging +inquiries after my health. I shall be most happy to accept your +kind offer of accompanying me to hear your favourite preacher, +and shall wait your arrival. The Duchess of Queensbury insists +on my patronizing her on this occasion; consequently she will be +an <i>addition</i> to our party.</p> + +<p>“I have the honour to be, my dear Lady Huntingdon, your +Ladyship’s most faithful and obliged,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“C. Buckingham.”<a id="FNanchor_18" href="#Footnote_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a></p> +</div> + +<p>During her last illness, Lady Huntingdon made some efforts to see her, +but from a short note which remains, written by one of her maids of +honour, there is reason to believe the attempt was vain:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“The Duchess of Buckingham presents her compliments to the +Countess of Huntingdon, is extremely obliged by her kind offer +and attentions, but regrets exceedingly her entire inability to +undergo the fatigue of conversation.</p> + +<p class="p-min">“<i>March 2, 1742.</i>”</p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[28]</span></p> + +<p>The Duchess of Queensbury, to whom allusion has been made, was a very +conspicuous figure in the circles of fashion at this period; she was +second daughter of the Earl of Clarendon and Rochester, and celebrated +for extraordinary beauty, wit, and sprightliness, by Pope, Swift, and +other poets, particularly by Prior, in one of his well-known ballads. +She and the Duke were forbid the Court by George II., for their +patronage of the poet Gay, but were received by Frederick, Prince of +Wales, and the Duke had an appointment in his household.</p> + +<p>At one period of her life, the Duchess was much affected by the +preaching of the first Methodists, whose ministry she constantly +attended. But her wit and beauty drew her back into the vortex of +dissipation, and she appears to have lost all trace of the impressions +which had been made on her mind in early life. She was particularly +partial to the preaching of Mr. Charles Wesley and Mr. Ingham, who +occasionally visited London, and were extremely popular. Her Grace +survived both her children, one of whom shot himself by accident, and +the other died from the fright and fatigue he underwent at Lisbon, at +the time of the destruction of that city by the great earthquake, in +1755.</p> + +<p>A deep gloom was cast over the family and connections of Lady +Huntingdon at this time, by the sudden and very alarming illness of +Charles Cotes, Esq., Member of Parliament for Tamworth, then on a visit +at Lord Huntingdon’s house, whilst attending his parliamentary duties. +Dr. Battie and Mr. Cheselden, head surgeons to Chelsea hospital, were +in daily attendance on Mr. Cotes, who was soon pronounced out of +danger, and in a few weeks completely convalescent. Religious subjects +were frequently discussed during the visits of these medical gentlemen; +and, on one occasion, a passage in the beginning of Mr. Locke’s +“Reasonableness of Christianity,” which implies the eternity of that +death which all the race of Adam were exposed to by his transgression, +until redeemed by Christ, became the subject of warm debate. Mr. Locke +explains 1 Cor. v. 22—“As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be +made alive”—thus: as the death that all men suffer is owing to Adam, +so the life that all shall be restored to again is procured them by +Christ. Dr. Battie differed from Lady Huntingdon and Mr. Cheselden in +the interpretation of this passage; and some time after communicated to +his friends the result of his reflections, in a pamphlet printed for +private circulation. Both these medical gentlemen were men of singular +excellence, and esteemed the first men in their profession. One of the +daughters of Dr. Battie was the wife of Admiral Sir George Young, one<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[29]</span> +of the bravest officers in the British service. The only child of Mr. +Cheselden was married to the above-mentioned Mr. Cotes, the cousin of +Lady Huntingdon, and nephew of Lady Fanny Shirley.</p> + +<p>Some time prior to this period, Lady Huntingdon, who was distinguished +by that superiority of demeanour which is acquired by the habit of +intercourse with persons of the most cultivated talents and the most +polished manners, had formed an intimacy with Margaret Cavendish +Harley, only daughter and heir of the Earl of Oxford, who had married +the Duke of Portland, a lady well known for her love of the arts +and her patronage of literature. Their friendship was cemented by +her Ladyship’s frequent visits to Wimpole, in Cambridgeshire, the +seat of Lord Oxford, a nobleman eminently distinguished for his +disinterestedness both in public and private life, and respected as +one of the principal patrons of literature in his age. His Lordship +had a high opinion of the singular worth of Lady Huntingdon, whom he +had known from his earliest days, and, when near his death, sent for +her to attend him and administer consolation in his last moments. +He was a great admirer of Mr. Whitefield’s eloquence, and often +attended his ministry; but barren admiration seems to have been the +utmost effect produced on the mind of his Lordship. What might have +been the result of Lady Huntingdon’s faithful and heart-searching +conversations with him, in his dying hours, we are not informed. He +died at his house in Dover-street, June 16, 1741, and was buried in +Westminster Abbey. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, speaking of his death, +says he refused all remedies till too late. His Lordship’s valuable +collection of manuscripts was preserved by his Countess, at her +residence in Dover-street, till her Ladyship, for the service of the +public, consented to their purchase by the Parliament, in 1754, and +they are now deposited in the British Museum. The Harleian Library was +the choicest and most extensive in England; and the catalogue of its +literary treasures was printed in two large folio volumes. Lord Oxford +was only forty-two years of age at the time of his decease.</p> + +<p>It was during one of Lady Huntingdon’s visits to Wimpole that she +first became acquainted with Miss Robinson, a lady perhaps better +known in her time in the circles of fashion and genius than any +of her contemporaries. She was afterwards married to Mr. Montagu, +a man eminent for his acquirements in science, particularly in +mathematics, and much beloved and respected for his amiable character +and strong understanding. Lady Huntingdon, with a large circle of her +acquaintance, was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[30]</span> present at the marriage ceremony; and her Ladyship, +many years after, had the pleasure of seeing that she was an exemplary +wife to a man much older than herself, and proved herself worthy to be +the bosom friend of a husband whose strict honour and integrity, as a +gentleman and a member of Parliament, were not less conspicuous than +his unwearied diligence and deep research as a man of science.</p> + +<p>Lord Lisburne dying about this time, without male issue, was succeeded +in title and estates by his next brother, Wilmot, the third Viscount. +This nobleman was on terms of great intimacy with the family of +Lord Huntingdon, to whom he had been introduced by his cousin, Lady +Hinchinbroke, the mother of John, fourth Earl of Sandwich. Lord +Lisburne had married Miss Watson, of Berwick-upon-Tweed, a woman of +great excellence, and a frequent attendant on the preaching of the +first Methodists. Roused by their powerful ministry to a lively concern +for eternal things, she zealously sought to diffuse in the circle +of her acquaintance the savour of those truths which she loved and +believed. Her Ladyship’s intimacy with Lady Huntingdon was considerably +increased some years after by the marriage of her son, Lord Lisburne, +with Miss Nightingale, the only daughter of Lady Elizabeth Nightingale, +and the niece of Lady Huntingdon.</p> + +<p>Lady Hinchinbroke, the granddaughter to the Duke of Montagu, and +nearly allied to those ladies of epistolary genius, Lady Mary Wortley +and Mrs. Montagu, was early left a widow, and was afterwards married +to the second son of the renowned Sir Edward Seymour, Bart., and +brother to the eighth Duke of Somerset. Her Ladyship had many domestic +afflictions, which she bore with patient resignation to the will of +Heaven. Her mind was deeply imbued with a sense of religion, under +the powerful ministry of these great Methodist leaders, and there +is abundant reason to believe that she was truly converted to God. +Her early acquaintance with Lady Huntingdon was of essential service +in directing her attention to the great and important concerns of +eternity; and, in one of her letters to the Countess, we find her thus +expressing herself:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“My dear Madam,—I am extremely sensible of the honour your +Ladyship has done me by the book which you have sent, from +which I expect to derive much gratification and instruction. I +am deeply indebted to your kindness, and the anxiety you have +manifested at all times for my spiritual improvement. Indeed, +I stand in need of all your sympathy and all your unwearied +exertions; for I feel myself utterly helpless, miserable, and +guilty, in the sight of Heaven; and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[31]</span> were it not for the ray of +hope which I have in the atoning sacrifice of Christ, would be +driven to despair and ruin.</p> + +<p>“I shall have much pleasure in waiting on your Ladyship +to-morrow. Have you heard where Mr. Whitefield and Mr. +Wesley are to preach this week? With kindest regards to Lord +Huntingdon, I remain, my dear Madam, your faithful friend and +most humble servant,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“E. Hinchinbroke.”<a id="FNanchor_19" href="#Footnote_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a></p> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hangingindent">Early Methodists—Lay Preaching—Mr. Bowers—Mr. +Cennick—Itinerants—Ordination—Mr. Maxfield—Mrs. Wesley’s +opinion of his call—Mr. Wesley’s sanction—Bishop of +Derry—Fetter-lane Society—Conduct of the Bishops—Opposition +without—Bickerings—Shaw—The Moravians—Separation +in Fetter-lane—First Division—The Society in +Moorfields—Enthusiasm —Pluralities—Bishop Burnet—Mrs. +Mitchell—Anecdote—Charles Wesley and the Moravians—David +Taylor—General Baptists—Mr. Bennett—Grace Murray—John Nelson.</p> +</div> + + +<p>Methodism, from the reports made of it, and the place it maintains in +the page of history, is so well known, that for its advocates to try +and conceal anything concerning it would be a vain attempt, even were +they so disposed. Such was the artlessness, simplicity, and integrity +of those excellent men, on whose life and doctrine the epithet +was first fixed; and so far were they from having anything of the +deceitfulness of unrighteousness about them, that their rejoicing was +this—the testimony of their conscience, that in simplicity and godly +sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, they had +their conversation in the world.</p> + +<p>They came forth with no plan before them but that which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[32]</span> they supposed +would have been executed within the sphere of a parish, and by their +own personal exertion. Had they foreseen the extent of the work which +was to be assigned to them, and the help they must have required, +being themselves devoted to letters, having formed a just estimate of +literary endowments, and knowing their subservience to the work of the +ministry, it is most probable that men of such qualifications would +have been the persons they would have mainly sought and solicited to +take part with them in the ministry. But such was the providential +appointment they were under, that the extent of their work, at the +first commencement of it, was concealed from them: and the help +provided for it was brought to them, accompanied with evidence that it +was not for them to seek, but for the Lord to send.</p> + +<p>The first example of lay-preaching appears to have been set by a Mr. +Bowers, who is not otherwise named in the history of Methodism. Once, +after Mr. Whitefield had finished a sermon in Islington churchyard, Mr. +Bowers got up to address the people; Charles Wesley entreated him to +desist, but his entreaties were disregarded. Mr. Bowers preached again +in the streets of Oxford, and, after a severe reproof from Charles +Wesley, confessed that he had done wrong, and promised he would do so +no more. Mr. Wesley had formerly appointed Mr. Cennick to reside at +Kingswood, with a view to meet the Society as often as he could, in +order to confirm them in the ways of God, either by reading to them, or +by prayer, or by exhortation. The want of an assistant of this kind was +particularly felt in London, and Mr. Wesley being compelled to leave +town on some important business, and having no clergyman to watch over +the flock in his absence, he appointed Mr. Maxfield to pray with the +people, and to give them such advice as he judged to be needful. Both +these persons were men of great natural powers, and, though ultimately +both separated from him, they did honour to his discernment, and never +disgraced his choice.</p> + +<p>Lady Huntingdon, at this time, was a constant attendant at Fetter-lane, +and a member of the first Methodist Society formed in that place. +Having frequently heard Mr. Maxfield pray, she at length urged him +to expound the Scriptures. He was remarkably useful, and excited the +astonishment of those who heard him. Her Ladyship having heard him +several times with pleasure and profit, wrote to Mr. Wesley in terms of +high commendation:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I never mentioned to you that I have seen Maxfield: he is +one of the greatest instances of God’s peculiar favour that I +know: he is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[33]</span> raised from the stones to sit among the princes +of his people. He is my astonishment! How is God’s power shown +in weakness! You can have no idea what an attachment I have to +him. He is highly favoured of the Lord. <i>The first time I made +him expound</i>, expecting little from him, I sat over against +him, and thought what a power of God must be with him to make +<i>me</i> give attention to him. But before he had gone over +one-fifth part, any one that had seen me would have thought I +had been made of wood or stone; so quite immoveable I both felt +and looked. His power in prayer is quite extraordinary. To deal +plainly, I could either talk or write for an hour about him.”</p> +</div> + +<p>This letter was written the latter end of the year 1739, or the +beginning of 1740; and is no inconsiderable testimony in favour of Mr. +Maxfield, especially from so excellent and extraordinary a character in +the Church of God.</p> + +<p>From expounding to preaching is an easy step. It is certain Mr. Wesley +had not the most distant idea of his attempting to preach, nor does it +appear that Mr. Maxfield had any such intention himself. Being fervent +in spirit, and mighty in the Scriptures, he greatly profited the +people. Multitudes crowded to hear him; and by the increase of their +number, as well as by their earnest and deep attention, and the urgent +entreaties of Lady Huntingdon, he was insensibly led to go further than +he had at first designed, and at last began <i>to preach</i>! The Lord +so blessed his word that many were not only deeply awakened and brought +to repentance, but were also made happy in a consciousness of pardon. +The Scripture marks of true conversion, inward peace, and power to walk +in all holiness, evinced the work of God.</p> + +<p>Mr. Maxfield was, therefore, the first itinerant lay-preacher thrust +forth among the people, and thus Lady Huntingdon was the honoured +instrument of sending this new and unwearied sickle into the harvest; +and to old age she retained a firm regard for one, of whom in early +life she had so highly spoken. After Mr. Maxfield had laboured +faithfully and successfully for a few years, he received episcopal +ordination from the Bishop of Derry, who, during a residence at Bath +for the benefit of his health, frequently attended the ministry of Mr. +Whitefield, Mr. Romain, Mr. Fletcher, and others, at the chapel of +Lady Huntingdon, in that city, whither he was led by her Ladyship’s +relative, the Lady Betty Cobbe. On receiving Mr. Maxfield at Mr. +Wesley’s particular recommendation, the Bishop said the following +remarkable words:—“Sir, I ordain you to assist that good man, that he +may not work himself to death.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Maxfield was for several years stationed in London; and his +withdrawing from Mr. Wesley was a great blow to the latter,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[34]</span> as it +occasioned him a loss of no less than six hundred of his members. +Mr. Wesley was so deeply affected at it, that he feelingly, and with +tears, preached from that pathetic passage, “If I am bereaved of my +children, I am bereaved.” Mr. Maxfield, after this, had a very large +chapel in Princes-street, in the neighbourhood of Moorfields, where +he was made very useful for many years. He also frequently preached +in the chapels of Lady Huntingdon, particularly at Bath; and often +supplied the parish of Everton, during the absence of Mr. Berridge in +his itinerant excursions for Lady Huntingdon. At one time Mr. Maxfield +was situated near South Petherton, and was made the instrument of much +benefit to the late well-known Dr. Cope, at that period curate of +Petherton. Mr. Maxfield died very suddenly, of a paralytic stroke, but +undoubtedly he was prepared for the solemn change, and was, therefore, +thus suddenly translated to that glorious “rest which remaineth for the +people of God.” Mr. Maxfield having thus, as some thought, usurped the +sacred office without a regular call, gave great offence to many; and, +however successful his preaching, it was represented to Mr. Wesley as +an irregularity which it required his presence to put a stop to, and +he was requested to hasten to London without delay, in order to arrest +the evil in its progress. His mother lived at that time in his house +adjoining the Foundry. She was a woman of deep piety, strong sense, and +sound judgment in the things of God: she had heard Mr. Maxfield preach, +and was fully persuaded that he was called of God to the work of the +ministry. Perceiving marks of displeasure in the countenance of her +son on his arrival, she enquired the cause. He warmly replied, “Thomas +Maxfield has turned preacher, I find.” Mrs. Wesley looked at him +seriously, and said, “John, you know what my sentiments have been; you +cannot suspect me of favouring readily anything of this kind; but take +care what you do with respect to that young man, for he is as surely +called of God to preach as you are. Examine what have been the fruits +of his preaching, and hear him also yourself.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Wesley was always ready to correct any part of his conduct, or +system, as soon as he discovered it was inconvenient or erroneous. He +was too wise a man to be obstinate, and too sincere in all his actions +to feel any reluctance at acknowledging that he had been mistaken. He +heard Mr. Maxfield preach, and expressed at once his satisfaction and +his sanction, by saying, “It is the Lord; let Him do what seemeth Him +good.” He saw that it was impossible to prevent his followers from +preaching, and with admirable readiness resolved to lead the stream +which it was beyond his power to turn. From that time, therefore,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[35]</span> he +admitted volunteers whom he thought qualified to serve him, as “sons of +the Gospel;” but always on condition that they should labour where he +appointed, because otherwise they would have stood in each other’s way.</p> + +<p>The Methodists still continued to attract considerable attention, +and the persons of rank who attended their ministry became objects +of notoriety, “The Methodists (says the Countess of Hertford) have +had the honour to convert my Lord and Lady Huntingdon both to their +doctrines and practice; and the town says that Lady Margaret Hastings +is certainly to marry one of the preachers, whose name is Ingham.” +“The news I have heard from London is (writes Lady Mary Wortley +Montagu, from Rome), Lady Margaret Hastings has disposed of herself to +a poor wandering Methodist!” The irregularity of Mr. Wesley’s and Mr. +Whitefield’s proceedings—their frequent practice of field-preaching, +and particularly the encouragement they now gave to lay-preachers, were +thought sufficient causes of alarm and discontent to the careless, +and even to the more regular part of their brother clergymen. The +spirit of opposition was consequently excited in the minds of all +those who either did not understand, or did not approve, the doctrine +and practices of the infant sect. Most of the churches were now shut +against them. Everything that railing and calumny could effect was +employed to crush the new doctrine. The sober part of the clergy +lamented, and laboured to check, the rising spirit of enthusiasm; while +the lethargic and the vicious employed the base arts of persecution +and misrepresentation, to stifle that disposition to enquiry which now +began so much to prevail among the people.</p> + +<p>Nor was opposition from the enemies of Methodism among its greatest +troubles. Whilst the societies had fightings without, they were +harassed by fears within; and although they increased in number daily, +yet intestine bickerings and misunderstandings began to threaten their +very existence.</p> + +<p>Some of the Fetter-lane brethren meantime had pursued their master’s +fundamental principle further than he had any intention of following +it. A layman, whose name was Shaw, embraced the notion, that any +Christian might preach and administer the sacraments; and that, in +fact, Christianity knew nothing of any distinctive order of men, as +spiritual church-officers. Such a teacher found ready believers; and +two or three more ardent innovators began to trouble the brethren with +their speculations, and to disturb their meetings by unseasonable +intrusions. Lady Huntingdon set her face against the leaders of +this faction, who, although laymen, claimed a right to baptize, and +administer the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[36]</span> Lord’s Supper; and, at a meeting held at her Ladyship’s +house, it was unanimously agreed by Mr. Ingham, Mr. Stonhouse, and +others, that she should write an account of these proceedings to Mr. +Wesley, and urge his presence in London as speedily as possible.</p> + +<p>Many of the Moravians had joined the society in Fetter-lane, and now +began to introduce some fatal errors among them. All was confusion. +By some it was contended that believers had nothing to do with the +ordinances—were not subject to them—and ought to be <i>still</i>: +that they ought to leave off the means of grace; and not go to church; +not to communicate; not to search the Scriptures; not to use private +prayer, till they had living faith; and to be <i>still</i> till they +had it. And it was further explicitly affirmed, that there were <i>no +degrees</i> in faith—that none had any faith who had ever any doubt or +fear, and that none were justified till they had clean hearts, with the +perpetual indwelling of Christ and of the Holy Ghost—and that every +one who had not this, ought, till he had it, to be <i>still</i>—that +is, as it was explained, not to use the ordinances, or <i>means of +grace</i> so called. At length matters came to a crisis, and a division +was unavoidable. On Mr. Wesley’s arrival, much time was spent in +useless debate, and fruitless attempts to reclaim those who had erred +from the faith. A meeting was held at his mother’s, at which Lady +Huntingdon attended, and after prayer and much deliberation, it was +unanimously agreed what steps should be taken with regard to their +brethren of Fetter-lane. Mr. Ingham, being about to leave London, +preached to the society, and bore a noble testimony to the ordinances +of God and the reality of real faith. But the short answer was, “You +are blind, and speak of the things you know not.” The following Sunday +Mr. Wesley preached in Moorfields: and, accompanied by Lady Huntingdon, +Mr. Seward, and others, went in the evening to the love-feast in +Fetter-lane, at the conclusion of which he read a prayer, expressive +of his belief, and his abhorrence of the errors into which they had +fallen. He then withdrew, and was followed by a very small portion of +the society.</p> + +<p>This was the first division among the Methodists. After the withdrawal +of Mr. Wesley and his friends, the Moravians retained quiet possession +of the meeting-house, and received large additions to their numbers. It +is still in the possession of the united brethren, and is known under +the name of Neville’s-court. In the room of this place, the Foundry, +in Upper Moorfields, was engaged, and thither the feeble remains of +the society repaired. There the first Methodists continued to meet,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[37]</span> +till the differences between Mr. Whitefield and Mr. Wesley caused +another separation to take place. Thus the chapel in Fetter-lane was +the original cradle of the whole Methodist body! There the <i>first</i> +society was formed—there likewise the <i>first</i> lay-preachers +commenced their immensely blessed labours—there the noble Countess, +destined to take such a prominent lead in the great revival of +religion—there the great leaders in this glorious warfare, with their +zealous coadjutors—persons whose whole souls were consecrated to the +cause of God our Saviour—often took sweet counsel together. They +have all long since gone to their rest, to meet in the better temple +together, as they have often worshipped in the temple below, and to go +out no more.</p> + +<p>There is in every new community a superior energy, a peculiar fervour +in the early days of its existence, which is heightened by an +opposition from the world, that harasses, but does not crush. This +energy was evident in the beginning of Christianity; it appeared again +at the reformation from Popery; it was roused once more at the era of +nonconformity; and at the period of which we speak, was in full force +among the Methodists. It is a pleasing and commendable spirit, but +enthusiasm sometimes lurks under the name, and wholly occupies the +place of piety, or almost pushes religion out of the heart. Indeed, +in every revival of the Church of Christ, even where the pure truth +is preached with the greatest wisdom and sobriety, it has been found +that, in numerous instances, while the passions were moved almost to +extasy, the soul has not been truly renewed. Enthusiasm and fanaticism +were the epithets bestowed on Methodism by the regular clergy. The +Methodists may perhaps, in some instances, have been wanting in candour +towards the clergy: and under the feeling of personal insult, or of +zeal arising out of general apathy, may have employed epithets not +sufficiently courteous; nevertheless the general conduct of many of +the clergy deserved the severest reprehension. Their ignorance and +irreligion were become proverbial. Although they were amply paid to +instruct the people in Christianity, yet the amount of their labours +was a dry critical discourse on a Sunday, which charmed their hearers +to sleep, and left them as lukewarm as their teachers. With the +doctrines of religion they never meddled, nor did they attempt to +arouse the affections by any of the motives that may be supposed to +influence the human heart in the pursuit of an important object. It +is no wonder, therefore, that infidelity prevailed; and as the civil +government was mild and tolerant, the most barefaced attacks were +made upon the truths of Christianity. This afforded a new topic for +the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[38]</span> discourse of the clergy, but as little conducive to edification +as the former, while the religion of the heart was neglected. At this +critical juncture, the Methodists sprung up, to awaken the energies +of the Establishment, and to instil new life and vigour into the +different sects. Animated by an apostolic zeal, they burst the fetters +of sectarian bigotry, and went forth preaching the glad tidings of the +Gospel to all grades and classes of their countrymen. The boundless +labours of these energetic men gave great offence to the more cold +and regular brethren, who, alarmed at their popularity, and put to +shame by their diligence, endeavoured to silence them by episcopal +authority, and by various acts of persecution. Lampooned in pamphlets, +belied in newspapers, threatened by men in authority, and robbed by +those of the baser sort, the Methodists, however, persevered with +fervour and constancy in their work; and their extraordinary courage, +zeal, and activity in this noble cause rendered them a perpetual thorn +in the sides of the Bishops, who left no engine unemployed either to +silence or ruin them. When some person complained to George II. of Mr. +Whitefield’s popularity and success, and recommended some restraint +upon his preaching, the monarch answered with jocose severity—“I +believe the best way will be to make a Bishop of him!” But all the +thunder of the Episcopal Bench was ineffectual to stay the Methodists +in their course. Sincere in the cause they had undertaken, opposition +only served as a stimulus, and abundant success attended their +exertions. From this time, the cause of religion revived and prospered +in the Establishment, and a flame was kindled in the nation, which has +continued burning to the present day. The duty enjoined all Methodists +to propagate the spirit of religion, and the unwearied endeavours of +almost every individual to convert his neighbours, confer the most +distinguished honour on their system. From the days of the Apostles, +the great principle, “that it is the duty of every Christian to +endeavour to convert sinners from the evil of their ways,” was never so +fully acted upon as by the English Methodists of both divisions. This +assertion we make boldly; for at the period of the Reformation itself +the great object was to work a national and outward change in the +<i>form</i> more than in the spirit of religion: the reformation of the +Methodists aimed at the heart.</p> + +<p>For their discourses, too, the Methodists are entitled to singular +praise. The talents of the leaders are known, and some of their +helpers were men of ability, knowledge, and wisdom, as well as zeal. +With respect to the greater part of them, as to method, propriety +of language, and delivery, they were exceedingly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[39]</span> defective; but +in the choice of subjects, and in bearing upon the great design +of their ministry, they have scarcely been equalled. To convert +sinners was their business and their object, and they kept it in +view with a steadiness and perseverance, of which there has perhaps +not been another instance in any sect of the Christian Church. In +the edification of believers they depended more on their power of +animation, and their knowledge of practical religion, than on the +resources of artificial eloquence and minute points of controversy; +but in plain, earnest, forcible, and highly-impassioned addresses to +the impenitent, they are a pattern to all, and their labours were +accompanied with success in an uncommon degree. This practice has since +been adopted by the evangelical preachers of every other denomination +in England, so far as it suits the circumstances of such as officiate +in stated congregations. The subject is kept more constantly in view +than it was before; scarcely a discourse is preached, in which the +conversion of a sinner to God is not hinted at, and in some measure +explained and enforced. The practice is sanctioned by its success.</p> + +<p>On the subject of pluralities, Lady Huntingdon always spoke with +marked disapprobation. “The awful responsibility of such men (says her +Ladyship) makes me tremble. How the blood of lost, neglected souls will +cry against them in that great day when the Chief Shepherd shall summon +them to His tribunal!” She was fond of relating an anecdote of that +excellent and conscientious prelate, Bishop Burnet, who, in his charge +to the clergy of his diocese, with disinterested integrity exclaimed +against pluralities as a most sacrilegious robbery. In his first +visitation at Salisbury he urged the authority of St. Bernard, who, +being consulted by one of his followers, whether he might accept of two +benefices, replied, “And how will you be able to serve them both?” “I +intend (answered the priest) to officiate in one of them by a deputy.” +“Will your deputy be damned for you too?” (cried the saint). “Believe +me, you may serve your cure by proxy, but you must be damned in person.”</p> + +<p>“I venerate the memory of this good prelate (says her Ladyship); and +I love those who have descended from him, praying that the like faith +which was in him may be in them also.” Richard West, Esq., only son +of Lord Chancellor West, of Ireland, by Elizabeth, daughter of Bishop +Burnet, was a great favourite with Lord and Lady Huntingdon; but in +1742, a rapid consumption terminated his brief career, in the 26th +year of his age. In a letter to Mr. Wesley, her Ladyship pathetically +laments the death of this young man, whose piety and talents bid +fair for extensive usefulness. For Mrs. Mitchell, a daughter<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[40]</span> of the +Bishop’s, Lady Huntingdon had a great esteem. She was a woman of great +piety and benevolence, and was often heard to say, that not being able +to do more good was the greatest burden which attended her through +life, and the infinite mercy of God in Christ Jesus her only refuge and +chief support in the prospect of dissolution. She was very frequent in +her visits to Lady Huntingdon, who used to take great delight in her +conversation. “I was well acquainted with Mrs. Mitchell<a id="FNanchor_20" href="#Footnote_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> (says her +Ladyship); she was the daughter of Bishop Burnet, one of very superior +parts, and an excellent woman.” To the best of my memory, from her I +had the following pleasant fact conveyed to my still admiring mind:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Her father, the Bishop, from his zealous care of his diocese, +made it a rule yearly to visit the various parishes of which +it was composed; and treated with the most distinguished +regard such ministers as were eminent for their piety, and +most attentive in their care of the souls of the people. One +of those had frequently expressed the great importance of well +understanding our Lord’s meaning of the beatitudes, and of this +in particular—‘<i>Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit +the earth</i>.’ Many anxious enquiries yet left this gracious +minister unsatisfied in his own mind of the just and true +explanation, and many prayers were added, to prevent any partial +view or hasty opinion from being adopted by him.</p> + +<p>“In this unresolved state, he took a morning’s walk some +considerable distance from his parish, and observing a +habitation more wretched than any he had before seen, walked +towards it, and to his surprise heard a voice of great joyous +praise: drawing nearer, he heard it as that of an individual +only. He wanted to learn the cause, and, looking in at the +window, viewed the poor inhabitant in the most wretched state +of outward want and poverty that he had ever beheld. She had, +on a little stool before her, a piece of black bread and a cup +of cold water; and with her eyes and hands lifted up to heaven, +as in a rapture of praise, repeated these words—‘<i>What! all +this, and Jesus Christ too? What! all this, and Jesus Christ +too?</i>’ It wants not to be added, that with the living lesson +which this blessed man here learnt, he with holy gratitude +returned, well understanding who only inherited, in our Lord’s +sense, the whole earth, by possessing Him. And thus we best find +out the supposed paradox of St. Paul—‘as having nothing, yet +possessing all things.’”</p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[41]</span></p> + +<p>Mr. Wesley had at this time some cause for apprehending a division, +which would have grieved him far more than anything which had occurred +to him. His brother Charles, who had assisted him so cordially in +opposing the errors which sprang up among the members of the society +in Fetter-lane, was inclined to side with the Moravians, and proceeded +so far as to declare his intention not to preach any more at the +Foundry. “The Philistines are upon thee, Sampson (says Mr. Wesley +in his Journal on this occasion), but the Lord is not departed from +thee. He shall strengthen thee yet again, and thou shalt be avenged +of them for the loss of thine eyes.” Mr. Hutchings, Mr. Stonhouse, +the Vicar of Islington, Mr. Chapman, Mr. Hall, and Charles Wesley, +kept aloof from all connexion with the Foundry, and appeared inclined +to join the Moravians, with whom they associated, and amongst whom +they occasionally preached. This was the cause of much grief to Lady +Huntingdon, who had a sincere regard for Mr. Charles Wesley, with whom +she remonstrated very freely, and who soon yielded to the opinions of +the Countess, whom he so entirely respected and loved. A breach between +the brothers, indeed, would have afforded a malignant pleasure to +their enemies, but they had too long been linked together for good to +be separated by any slight difference. Mr. Wesley was fully sensible +of the value of such a coadjutor as his brother, who had one heart +and object with himself; whom he knew so thoroughly, and upon whom +he could perfectly rely; and whose life, conversation, talents, and +acquirements, he could hold up to the world as confidently as his own, +defying calumny, and courting investigation.</p> + +<p>That Lady Huntingdon was the instrument in God’s hands of Mr. Charles +Wesley’s deliverance from the errors of the Moravians is obvious from +her Ladyship’s letter to his brother:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="r2">“October 24, 1741.</p> + +<p>“Wisdom is justified of her children. Your answer to the former +part of mine has quite silenced me on that subject. But I +believe your brother’s Journal will clear up my meaning more +fully to you, for I should labour very much to have as few +snares in his way as possible. Since you left us, the <i>still +ones</i> are not without their attacks. I fear much more for him +than for myself, as the conquest of the one would be nothing +to the other. They have by one of their agents reviled me very +much, but I have taken no sort of notice, as if I had never +heard it. I comfort myself very much that you will approve a +step, with respect to them, your brother and I have taken. No +less than his declaring open war with them. He seemed under +some difficulty about it at first, till he had free liberty +given him to use my name, as the instrument in God’s hand that +had delivered him from them. I rejoiced<span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[42]</span> much at it, hoping it +might be a means of working my deliverance from them. I have +desired him to enclose to them yours on Christian perfection. +The doctrine therein contained I hope to live and die by; it +is absolutely the most complete thing I know. God hath helped +your infirmities; His Spirit was with you of a truth. You cannot +guess how I in spirit rejoice over it.</p> + +<p>“Your brother is also to give his reasons for quite separating; +and I am to have a copy of the letter he sends them to keep by +me. I have great faith God will not let him fall; he will surely +have mercy on him, and not on him only, for many would fall with +him. I feel he would make me stagger through his fall; but I fly +from them as far as pole from pole; for I will be sound in my +obedience. His natural parts, his judgment, and the improvement +he has made, are so far above the very highest of them, that I +should imagine nothing but frenzy had seized upon him; but when +I consider him, with so many advocates for the flesh about him, +having the form of angels of light, my flesh trembleth for fear +of him, and I should have no comfort did I not know assuredly, +that He that is for him is greater than he that is against him.</p> + +<p>“When you receive his Journal, you will rejoice much when you +come to Thursday, October 15. I think you must have felt our +happiness; it was more than I can express. We set out a week +ago for Donnington. I will not allow you to call me a <i>still +branch</i>. I spoke so strongly against boasting, I can desire +nothing at present, but that my name may be cast out from among +men, and that you and your brother might think on me as you do +on no one else. I am sure God will reward you ten thousand times +for your labour and love to my soul; I am sure of your prayers. +You are continually borne upon my heart to God, as well as the +flock over whom the Holy Ghost has made you overseer.</p> + +<p>“You shall hear from me as soon as I get to Donnington, and have +heard how your little flock goes on in that neighbourhood.</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“S. Huntingdon.</p> +</div> + +<p>Most of the first race of itinerant preachers, like their predecessors, +the first ministers of the Gospel, were men of sound judgment and of a +quick understanding, in the fear of the Lord. Satisfied of their call +from God, and burning with holy zeal for his glory, they went forth in +his strength, making mention of his righteousness, and his only. They +simply and affectionately related to their congregations the important +truths which they had been taught from the Scriptures, and which they +had happily experienced in their own souls—“not in the wisdom which +the world teacheth, but in the demonstration of the Spirit and with +power.” And the great Head of the Church bore testimony to the words of +his servants.</p> + +<p>The excellent Lady Huntingdon, who had drank deep into the spirit of +the great Methodist leaders, and entered warmly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[43]</span> into their views, +exerted all the influence which her rank and fortune gave her to +promote their success. The labours of Mr. Ingham, and of his zealous +coadjutors, in Yorkshire and the surrounding counties, had received her +warmest approbation. Having witnessed the immensely blessed labours +of the itinerants sent forth by Mr. Whitefield and the Wesleys, her +Ladyship now determined to become the patroness of itinerant preaching +in the neighbourhood of Donnington Park.</p> + +<p>David Taylor, one of Lord Huntingdon’s servants, a man of ability, +knowledge, and wisdom, who had received a tolerable education, was +early called to the knowledge of the grace of God in truth, under the +preaching of the Methodists. Having tasted of the good word of God, and +felt the powers of the world to come, he was anxiously concerned for +the state of his fellow-servants, and also for his neighbours, whom he +saw thronging the downward road, and perishing for lack of knowledge. +This induced the Countess to send him forth to the villages and +hamlets in the immediate vicinity of Donnington Park, to speak to lost +sinners of their dreadful state—of the gracious intentions of God in +Christ Jesus concerning them—and of the happiness resulting from the +possession of true religion. His word was in the demonstration of the +Spirit, and with power, so that her Ladyship was encouraged to extend +the sphere of his usefulness. In one of these itinerant excursions, +David Taylor was sent, in 1741, to visit Glenfield and Ratby, two +villages near Leicester. Many were incited, through curiosity, to hear +the strange preacher and his new doctrines, and to enquire concerning +their sect, which, at that time, was everywhere spoken against; and +among the rest, Mr. Samuel Deacon, of Ratby, being informed, while at +work in the field, that a person had been preaching in the streets of +Glenfield, and that he was going to preach again at Ratby, immediately +laid down his scythe and went to hear him. The sermon made a lasting +impression on his mind, and induced him to search the Scriptures. The +dissoluteness and ignorance of the clergyman of his parish now struck +him in a new light, and he began to reflect on his own danger, a part +of the flock of so careless a shepherd. After much reading, reasoning, +and perplexity, he was enabled to rely on Christ for salvation, and +immediately found peace and joy in believing.</p> + +<p>Eventually Mr. Deacon became the pastor of a little Church at +Barton-fabis, in Leicestershire, which arose out of his labours, and +those of a few colleagues, over which he presided fifty-two years. This +Church, like the leaven in the meal, spread to Hugglescote, Melbourne, +Loughborough, Derby, Leicester<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[44]</span> (where an old decayed Church was +resuscitated), Nottingham, &c. These Churches, at least such of them +as then existed, with others in Yorkshire, Cambridgeshire, &c., were +formed into a Connexion in 1770, and its beginning was small, but its +latter end has greatly increased. It now contains one <span class="allsmcap">HUNDRED AND +THIRTEEN CHURCHES</span>, 11,358 members, five District Home Missionary +Societies, a Foreign Missionary Society, established in 1816, two +Academies, &c. The principal strength of the New Connexion of General +Baptists is in the Midland Counties, and Barton-fabis is considered +the “mother of them all!” In 1802, the Midland Conference included +twenty-one Churches. In 1816, the Warwickshire Churches, six in number, +formed themselves into a separate Conference; as also in 1825, four or +five Churches in the north of Nottinghamshire were formed into what was +called the North Midland Conference. The Midland Conference, in 1832, +included forty-two Churches. These <i>forty-two</i> Churches in the +Midland Counties probably contain 7,000 members; many of the chapels +are large and well attended; the Sunday-schools attached have many +hundred children in them. As the little one has become a thousand, may +the small one at home and abroad become a strong nation!</p> + +<p>These details, when viewed in connexion with the itinerant labours of +a servant belonging to the Countess of Huntingdon, sent forth under +her patronage, are peculiarly interesting. But for those labours, and +the benedictions of the Spirit resting upon them, giving maturity +and reproduction to the seed sown, what would have been the state of +thousands in those villages and towns? Coventry is a Home Missionary +station of this district, as are also Northampton, Mansfield, +Ashbourne, Macclesfield, Manchester, &c.</p> + +<p>The success attending David Taylor’s efforts induced Lady Huntingdon +to enlarge the circle of his labours. He now began to itinerate in +various parts of Cheshire and Derbyshire; and soon after commenced +field-preaching in the neighbourhood of Chinley, which was about the +same time visited by Messrs. Whitefield and Wesley, and Mr. Ingham, +from Yorkshire. Many were awakened to a concern for their eternal +interests, and began to meet together for prayer and reading the +Scriptures. These innovations were opposed by Dr. Clegg, the Dissenting +Minister at Chinley, both in his sermons and private admonitions, so +strenuously, that several of his respectable hearers took offence at +his conduct, and espoused the cause of the Methodists. By this event +his mind was much wounded, and his popularity impaired in the latter +years of his life.</p> + +<p>The late Mr. Bennett, a gentleman of respectable family in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[45]</span> Derbyshire, +who had been intended for one of the learned professions, with a view +to which he received a classical education, having heard much to his +own spiritual profit from one of the itinerant Methodist preachers, +became warmly attached to them, and was the first person who introduced +Mr. Ingham and David Taylor into his own and the adjoining counties. +He was soon made known to Lady Huntingdon, and paid her a visit at +Donnington Park; and by her was first induced to declare the things +which he had seen and felt; and his word was remarkably owned and +blessed of God. By her Ladyship he was introduced to Mr. Whitefield and +Mr. Wesley, and soon after commenced preacher in connexion with them. +His extraordinary labours were attended with a remarkable blessing, +and he was instrumental in raising several societies in Lancashire, +before Mr. Whitefield or Mr. Wesley had visited that part of the +kingdom. His sentiments coinciding more with those of the former than +the latter, he publicly separated from Mr. Wesley a few years after at +Bolton, and a chapel was erected for him at Warburton, in Cheshire, a +thinly-inhabited part of the country, where Methodism gained some of +its earliest trophies. His ministry, however, was not confined to this +people, but he extended his itinerant excursions to various parts of +the country, frequently visiting Donnington Park and its neighbourhood, +until the year 1759, when he sunk under a series of most arduous, +self-denying, and highly useful labours, and “finished his course with +joy.”</p> + +<p>Mrs. Bennett was a native of Newcastle-upon-Tyne; her maiden name was +Norman, but under that of Grace Murray (which she derived from a former +marriage) she occupies a place no less distinguished than that of +her husband in the annals of early Methodism. She possessed superior +personal accomplishments, united to a mind cultivated by education, +and an imagination brilliant and lively in the highest degree. She +was employed by Mr. Wesley to organise his female societies, and for +this purpose she travelled through various parts of both England +and Ireland. Mr. Wesley used to call her his right hand; and it is +known that he wished to make her his wife. An acquaintance, however, +was formed between her and Mr. Bennett, which, in its origin and +continuance, was marked by several extraordinary circumstances, +and which eventually led to their marriage. For several years she +continued to travel with her husband; but when her family and its cares +increased, she retired to the neighbourhood of Chapel-en-le-Frith, +where, for more than half a century, her life and conversation +uniformly did the greatest honour to her religious principles and +profession. Her<span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[46]</span> views of Gospel doctrines, after her separation from +Mr. Wesley, were always decidedly Calvinistic, but she retained a +partiality to the modes and usages of the Methodists, and had for many +years a class-meeting in her house. She died, after a short illness, +Feb. 23, 1803, in the 89th year of her age; her last words being, +“Glory be to thee, my God: peace thou givest me!”</p> + +<p>With Lady Huntingdon’s permission, David Taylor frequently assisted +Mr. Ingham, preaching with distinguished success amongst his societies +in various parts of Yorkshire, particularly at Bristol, where he was +instrumental in exciting a great spirit of enquiry, prior to the +arrival of John Nelson in his native town, and the commencement of the +immensely blessed labours of that extraordinary man in Yorkshire and +various other parts of the kingdom.</p> + +<p>In the letters of Lady Huntingdon, and in Mr. Wesley’s journals, +frequent mention is made of David Taylor; and about this period he +seems to have incurred their displeasure; but from what cause, unless +perhaps it was an ill-judged marriage, does not appear. He still, +however, continued under Lord Huntingdon’s roof, and remained for +several years after in Mr. Wesley’s connexion. In the following letter +to Mr. Wesley, her Ladyship makes particular mention of him:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="r2">“January 9th, 1742.</p> + +<p>“Your opinion of David Taylor will, I fear, be found too true. +I think it will be best to take no notice till I find a way to +do it effectually. When we lose our plainness, there ends the +Christian. A double-minded man who can bear?</p> + +<p>“I have enclosed you Mr. Simpson’s conversation. He has left +the Moravians, as he tells me, and is not quite at rest now. I +have no doubt but he will be brought right at last. I leave the +affair of your sister to you and your brother. Act in it as you +think best, and know that God will order all things as shall be +most for his glory; I feel no desire on earth or heaven, but to +cease from offending him, that his name may be glorified upon +earth, and that all the world may know the salvation of God.</p> + +<p>“I know that your pious soul would rejoice at the object<a id="FNanchor_21" href="#Footnote_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> now +before me, who is waiting for the consolation of Israel with +that firmness of faith and hope that is not to be described: and +indeed she grows in grace, and in the knowledge and love of our +Lord and Saviour. She has no joys; but the work seems gradual, +and the light, I doubt not, will shine out ere she is called +hence.</p> + +<p>“I think there is not one thing in the Journal that ought to +be omitted. The manner in which you speak of yourself cannot +be mended, supposing you have done justice to the grace you +have received. We never forget to recommend you, and all your +undertakings,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[47]</span> at the throne of grace; <i>and as long as you +follow the Lord Jesus in simplicity and godly sincerity</i>, +I hope to be the happy friend that shall live and die by you, +if the Lord permit; and may you be his peculiar charge now, +henceforth, and for ever.</p> + +<p>“My whole heart has not one single grain, this moment, of thirst +after approbation. I feel alone with God; he fills the whole +void; I see all mortals under my feet. I have not one wish, one +will, one desire, but in him; he hath set my feet in a large +room. All but God’s children seem as so many machines appointed +for uses which I have nothing to do with. I have wondered and +stood amazed that God should make a conquest of all within me +by love. Others may be conquered by less gifts and graces, but +what must that evil heart be that nothing but the love of God +can conquer? I am brought to less than nothing; broken to pieces +like the potter’s vessel. O may you thus be subject—may these +tears be your meat night and day. I long to leap into the flames +to get rid of my sinful flesh, and that every atom of these +ashes might be separate, that neither time, place, nor person +should stay God’s Spirit. And may the same Spirit dwell in you, +protect and guide you to love the Lord Jesus in sincerity and +truth! Fear not, be strong, and he will establish you. Adieu, +your most faithful friend,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“S. Huntingdon.”</p> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hangingindent">The Clergy—Mr. Simpson—Mr. Wesley’s opinion of him—The one +wrong Principle—Mr. Graves—His Recantation—His Explanatory +Declaration—Lady Huntingdon’s Schools—Lord Huntingdon’s +character—Miss Cooper—Her death—Letters—The Poor—Death +of Mr. Jones—The Poor Penitent’s Death-bed—Mr. Wesley’s +Preaching on his Father’s Tomb—Donnington Park—Lady Abney—Dr. +Watts—“The Grave”—Dr. Blair—Letters—Colonel Gardiner—His +Marvellous Conversion—Letters.</p> +</div> + + +<p>At this period there were two awakened clergymen in the neighbourhood +of Donnington Park, with whom Lady Huntingdon became acquainted by +means of Mr. Wesley. Concerning Mr. Simpson there is little information +to be obtained at this distance of time. He was a student at Oxford, +and one of those who composed the first Methodist society in that +University. Soon after he was ordained, he got a living of considerable +value in Leicestershire, which he was persuaded to dispose of, when +he left the Church of England and joined the Moravians. For some time +before he took this step, he preached amongst Mr. Ingham’s societies +in Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and Derbyshire, and his ministry was owned +of God to the conversion of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[48]</span> many. When speaking of him after he +joined the Moravians, Mr. Wesley says, “Of this I am fully persuaded, +that whatever he does, it is in the uprightness of his heart: but +he is led into a thousand mistakes by one wrong principle (the same +which many either ignorantly or wickedly ascribe to the whole body +of the people called Methodists), the making inward impressions his +rule of action, and not the written word.” He appears to have been a +pious, well-meaning man, but was led to adopt some of those singular +notions which distinguished the Moravian body at that time. He was for +a time resident at Nottingham, Ogbrook, Breson, and Markfield, where +he propagated his sentiments, and drew many people from the Church, +asserting that “there was no Scripture for family prayers, nor for +praying in private at any particular seasons, which a believer need not +do.” Lady Huntingdon had a great regard for him, and used her utmost +exertions to lead him back to the path he had left, but in vain. Some +years after, however, he withdrew from the Moravians, and expressed a +wish to return to the Church of England, when his friends promised to +provide for him. The last mention of him which we have been able to +trace, is in Mr. Wesley’s Journal for 1747, where he says, “Poor Mr. +Simpson spent an hour with me, distressed on every side: drawn up to +London by fair and specious words, and then left to perish, unless he +would promise <i>never more to preach out of a church</i>. Alas! what +a method of conversion is this! I love the Church too; but I would no +more <i>starve</i> men into the Church, than <i>burn</i> them into it.”</p> + +<p>Of Mr. Graves we have likewise but very scanty information. He was +a student of St. Mary Magdalen College, Oxford, where he became +acquainted with the Messrs. Wesley, and joined the Methodists in the +University. For some time after his ordination he was very zealous, +preaching in the fields and wherever Providence opened a door for +him. But giving way to the fear of man, and the opinion of those whom +he accounted wiser than himself, he was induced to sign a paper, +renouncing all connexion with the Methodists, and promising for the +future not to frequent their meetings or attend their expositions. Mr. +Graves experienced considerable uneasiness of mind after this sinful +compliance, and in 1742 joined Mr. Wesley at Bristol, when, being +unable to delay it any longer, he sent the following letter to the +fellows of St. Mary Magdalen College:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="r2">“Bristol, August 29, 1742.</p> + +<p>“Gentlemen,—In December, 1740, I signed a paper containing +the following words:—‘I, Charles Caspar Graves, do hereby +declare, that I do renounce the modern practice and principles +of the persons commonly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[49]</span> called Methodists, namely, of preaching +in fields, of assembling together and expounding the holy +Scriptures in private houses, and elsewhere than in churches, in +an irregular manner; and their pretensions to an extraordinary +inspiration and inward feeling of the Holy Spirit.</p> + +<p>“‘I do further declare my conformity to the Liturgy of the +Church of England, and my unfeigned assent and consent to the +Articles thereof, commonly called the Thirty-nine Articles.</p> + +<p>“‘Lastly, I do declare that I am heartily sorry that I have +given offence and scandal by frequenting the meetings and +attending the expositions of the persons commonly called +Methodists, and that I will not frequent their meetings nor +attend their expositions for the future, nor take upon me to +preach and expound the Scriptures in the manner preached by them.</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“‘Charles Caspar Graves.’</p> + +<p>“I believe myself indispensably obliged openly to declare before +God and the world, that the motives whereby I was induced to +sign that paper were partly a sinful fear of man; partly an +improper deference to the judgment of those whom I accounted +wiser than myself; and, lastly, a resolution, that if my own +judgment should at any time be better informed, I would then +openly retract, in the presence of God and man, whatever I +should be convinced I had said or done amiss.</p> + +<p>“Accordingly, having now had (besides a strong conviction +immediately consequent thereon) many opportunities of informing +my judgment better, and being fully convinced of my fault, I do +hereby declare my sincere repentance for my wicked compliance +with those oppressive men who, without any colour of law, human +or divine, imposed such a condition, of receiving a testimonial, +upon me.</p> + +<p>“I do further declare, that I know no <i>principles</i> of +the Methodists (so called) which are contrary to the word of +God, nor any practices of theirs but what are agreeable both +to Scripture and to the laws of the Church of England; and +I believe, in particular, their <i>preaching</i> the Gospel +<i>in the fields</i> (being first forbid to do so in churches, +although a dispensation of the Gospel is committed to them, and +woe unto them if they preach not the Gospel), or in <i>private +houses</i>, or in any part of His dominion who filleth heaven +and earth, can never be proved to be contrary to any written +law, either of God or man: that I am not apprised of their +preaching anywhere in <i>an irregular, disorderly manner</i>, +neither of their <i>pretending</i> to any <i>extraordinary</i> +inspiration or <i>extraordinary</i> feelings of the Holy Spirit; +but to those <i>ordinary</i> ones only, which, if a man have +not, he is <i>without hope and without God in the world</i>.</p> + +<p>“I do yet further declare, that (whatever indiscretion I may in +other respects have been guilty of) I know no just <i>offence +or scandal</i> which I ever gave, by frequenting the meetings +or attending the expositions of the persons commonly called +Methodists, and that I verily believe no offence was ever taken +thereat, unless either by persons loaded by prejudice, or by +those who enter not into the kingdom of heaven themselves, and +if others would enter in, suffer them not.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[50]</span></p> + +<p>“I do lastly declare, that I look upon myself to be under no +kind of obligation (except only that I still assent and consent +to the Articles and Liturgy of the Church) to observe anything +contained in that scandalous paper, so unchristianly imposed +upon me.</p> + +<p class="left1">(Witness my hand).</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“Charles Caspar Graves.”</p> +</div> + +<p>About a month after the date of this paper, Mr. Charles Wesley and Mr. +Graves visited Donnington Park, and were received by Lady Huntingdon +with the utmost cordiality and kindness. Her Ladyship rejoiced that Mr. +Graves had burst his degrading fetters, and was determined once more, +in the strength of his Divine Master, to go forth into the highways, +and proclaim the savour of that name which he loved. During their stay, +Lady Huntingdon invited many persons in the upper ranks in society, +to whom they declared “the unsearchable riches of Christ,” and were +heard with apparent deep and serious attention. From this period Mr. +Charles Wesley and his brother, and those connected with them, became +constant visitors at Donnington Park, where they were always received +by her Ladyship as the servants of that God to whom she had so solemnly +dedicated herself, and treated with every mark of polite attention on +the part of the noble Earl. This accomplished nobleman undoubtedly had +a high esteem and ardent affection for the Countess; indeed, a man with +far less discernment than he possessed could not have been insensible +to her superior talents and worth. The high veneration in which she +was held by him was abundantly evinced by his permitting and enabling +her to promote those schemes of usefulness, and those plans for the +advancement of the interests of religion, which he well knew constantly +lay so near her heart. Every minister of the Gospel, of whatever name +and denomination, whom she wished to invite, was always welcome at +Donnington Park, and treated by his Lordship with that politeness and +affability for which he was so distinguished. With many of these worthy +men Lord Huntingdon would freely converse on subjects of a religious +nature, proving, however, that he himself was not imbued with true +devotion. It was on one of those occasions that the conversation turned +on the great doctrine of the Atonement through the death of Christ, +when his Lordship observed, “The morality of the Bible I admire, but +the doctrine of Atonement I cannot comprehend.”</p> + +<p>The Countess appears to have continued at Donnington Park the greater +part of this year, fully occupied in devising schemes for the more +extensive diffusion of divine truth, and meliorating the condition +of the poor around her. Sensible of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[51]</span> the benefits resulting from a +religious education, her Ladyship established schools at Ashley and +Markfield, for the instruction of the children of those districts. For +a time they seemed to prosper well; but not succeeding according to her +wishes, she was obliged to give them up, and discharge the masters. +This circumstance is briefly noticed in one of her letters to Mr. +Wesley:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="r2">“March 15, 1742.</p> + +<p>“My very much beloved Friend in the Lord—I cannot help saying +that I thought it long till I heard from you; not but I was +well assured that some good reason had prevented you. May the +Lord strengthen you more and more! I am sure you are a chosen +vessel, and sent for the defence of the Gospel. It is the Lord’s +work, and the good that is done upon earth he doeth it himself. +Stagger not then through unbelief at any of his promises. He +is come to send fire upon earth, and soon I believe it will be +kindled. O that we may all be fit for the day of trial! He will +thoroughly purge his floor. The chaff and the wheat are now +mixed together, and it is the Lord of Hosts must separate them. +But I trust we shall be among those who rejoice at his appearing.</p> + +<p>“Many things agreeing have determined me to lay aside the +school at Markfield, and for that end I have discharged the +schoolmasters. It is but too plain the time is not yet come. +Mr. E—— is gone much backward; fear, and all evil, I find, +now break in upon him. I believe longer experience, with much +better observations than I am able to make, will prove this an +undeniable truth—that a school will never answer the end of +bringing forth any of the Gospel fruits of holiness, till the +parents are first made Christians. The parents must lay up for +the children, not the children for the parents.</p> + +<p>“* * * * * Surely, my friend has a mind to exercise his gift of +humility in an extraordinary manner, when he could once ask my +opinion upon his Journal. That it will both delight and comfort +me, I have no doubt; and I think nothing is left for me but to +speak my heart, knowing the love God hath for you. He will bring +good out of evil for your sake, and in this hope I will do my +uttermost in much simplicity.<a id="FNanchor_22" href="#Footnote_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> Our friend,<a id="FNanchor_23" href="#Footnote_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> now in town, +seems as a lamb in the midst of wolves. May the Lord give him +the wisdom of the serpent and the innocence of the dove! Divine +grace and the uprightness of his heart will make him more than +conqueror.</p> + +<p>“I think and believe that God had blessed your conversation +to Mr. Graves, whom I have just heard has, with much love and +gratitude, expressed warm sentiments for you. The Lord will +water his word in his own time.</p> + +<p>“All goes on well here with respect to an abundance of the +outward<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[52]</span> means; but, alas! none of the signs which follow +believers. Do you not think that John the Baptist’s disciples +had remission of sins under his ministry? It is said, ‘that he +was filled with the Holy Ghost, and that he gave the knowledge +of salvation by the remission of sins.’ Or rather, is it only +meant here, the good tidings which were to follow, and that +our Lord was to give the knowledge of salvation? We read, that +repentance went before his baptism; and is it not proved that +pardon followed it, by fire and the Holy Ghost, given by our +Lord himself? Surely less is not meant than entire purification +of soul. But my blindness your light will assist in this, when +you have leisure.</p> + +<p>“We are earnest in prayer for you; and, could I do justice to +my heart, I should say, how much love and gratitude I hourly +feel for you; and it is the only good I know that it ever was +possessed of. May the Lord enable you to remember me! May your +patience be tried by this, as I think it is the only good you +can receive by so tedious and unpleasant a scrawl. May our Lord +bless you; I wish you good luck in his name, and that he may +prosper your handiwork. Your most unworthy, but affectionate +friend,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“S. Huntingdon.”</p> +</div> + +<p>There was at this period a young lady residing with Lady Huntingdon of +the name of Cooper.<a id="FNanchor_24" href="#Footnote_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> She was in the last stage of consumption, and +her soul was on the wing for eternity. Miss Cooper having expressed +an earnest wish to see Mr. Wesley, Lady Huntingdon wrote to him on +Saturday, the 15th of May, pressing him to come without delay, and +pay the last office of friendship to one whose spirit was hovering on +the brink of the eternal world. Three days after the receipt of this +letter, Mr. Wesley left London, and arrived on Saturday, the 22nd, at +Lord Huntingdon’s. “About five in the afternoon (says Mr. Wesley) I +reached Donnington Park. Miss Cooper was just alive; but as soon as we +came in, her spirit greatly revived. For three days we rejoiced in the +grace of God, whereby she was filled with a hope full of immortality; +with meekness, gentleness, patience, and humble love, knowing in whom +she had believed.”</p> + +<p>The following letter to Mrs. Bridget Bethel, of Bath, contains some +account of her last hours:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“My dear Friend in the Lord—Upon receiving yours, we could not +help falling prostrate before the throne of grace to acknowledge +the great love wherewith the Lord hath loved you; and with +praises, and thanksgivings, and hearts of joy, expressing our +gratitude. I never think on you but with uncommon comfort. Dear +Miss Fanny Cooper was then with us, and day and night prayed +to the Lord to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[53]</span> increase and strengthen your faith: she has at +last laid down the burden in much joy and peace. O! my dear +friend, were I to tell you the whole of her sufferings, and the +wonderful supports she had, you would declare that God was with +her of a truth. * * * May the Lord grant us to follow Christ +as she has done, for a blessed saint she lived and died. Whole +nights, when for her pain she could not rest, yet in hymns, and +prayers, and reading, she would say—‘O! how delightful a night +have I felt.’ Miss Cooper is still with me: it has not seemed +like death amongst us: we rejoice upon every remembrance of her; +all tears are wiped from our eyes; her last hours were all spent +in prayer: and when her change came her countenance spoke her +blessed; and I for a moment tasted her joy, for I thought my +whole soul was so filled with delight it could have followed. +She often would say, ‘That sweet woman, Mrs. Bethel, I pray for +her.’</p> + +<p>“I beg my most sincere compliments to dear Lady Cox<a id="FNanchor_25" href="#Footnote_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> and +Mrs. Bethel; and believe me, your most sincere and affectionate +friend in the Lord Jesus,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“S. Huntingdon.</p> + +<p>“I find the world more and more a burden to me—pray for me, +that I may no longer live to the desire of man, but of God.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Lady Huntingdon appears to have been much affected by this incident: +nevertheless she still continued actively engaged in doing good to +the souls and bodies of the poor around her; she bountifully relieved +them in their necessities, visited in sickness, conversed with and led +them to their knees, praying with them and for them. She sought them +out with the most industrious care, and gave bountifully, and always +with more pleasure than even the poor themselves felt at receiving +her alms. Her satisfaction appeared in her countenance and eyes; she +spoke to them with kindness, and entered into all the particulars of +their wretchedness; and the more rude, ignorant, and barbarous she +found them, the more they became the objects of her compassion. In +the exercise of these and of all other virtues she was wonderfully +secret, endeavouring to come up as near as she could to the rule of not +“letting her left hand know what her right hand did.”</p> + +<p>The inexpressible concern which her Ladyship felt for the enlargement +of the kingdom of Christ and the salvation of immortal souls induced +her to speak concerning divine things in all companies, where she had +any prospect of doing good thereby, and to set her face as a flint +against all who might oppose the truth or grace of God. Animated with +that burning charity by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[54]</span> which the great Apostle of the Gentiles was +impelled to publish the Gospel from nation to nation, Lady Huntingdon +was constrained to warn the ignorant, the careless, and the abandoned, +that the “wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness +and unrighteousness of men.” Her highest wish was to “convert the +wicked from the errors of his ways,” and her labours were not in vain.</p> + +<p>The following letter to Mr. Wesley, written shortly after Miss Cooper’s +death, will prove how incessant and unwearied were the labours of Lady +Huntingdon to save perishing fallen mortals from the error of their +ways:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“My dear Friend—The Lord hath removed from you one whom you +much loved: but I have the pleasure to believe, because he +loved her better, and therefore he graciously delivered her +from this present evil world. Some plain account, unornamented, +of what her life and death were, under the character of a +believer, would have the most weight, in which we might justly +boast of God’s love to her. I would have as little of the +creature thought of as possible, that God may be <span class="allsmcap">ALL</span> in +<span class="allsmcap">ALL</span>.”</p> +</div> + +<p>The Countess here relates the death of Mr. Jones, of Fonmon Castle, in +Wales; a gentleman of large fortune and a truly pious convert, through +the labours of the early Methodists, to the truth as it is in Christ +Jesus. He died in June, 1742, and Mr. C. Wesley wrote an elegy on his +memory, to which in this letter Lady Huntingdon refers, observing that—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“For this fortnight past I have found that instruction and +some short exhortations to the weak have been of great use, +especially among my workpeople, with whom I spend part of every +day.<a id="FNanchor_26" href="#Footnote_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> I have found much comfort in this myself, and am rarely +or ever out of the presence of God. He is a pillar of light +before me. I want more of this knowledge, that I may keep his +holy law. Yea, I then shall keep it with my whole heart; clouds +and darkness are at times the habitation of his seat: but there +shall go a consuming fire before him, which shall burn up his +enemies, and shall destroy all them that persecute me; and he +shall say unto my soul, ‘I am thy salvation.’ The Lord often +appeareth out of Zion in great beauty. Surely he hath done a +marvellous thing of late; and I find so much done by this act +of his love, that I am all love and wonder. The heaviness of my +heart<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[55]</span> respecting Miss Cooper’s death is, that she, having so +much light, I expected great things from her. My heart used to +say, we have prayed so much, and have longed so much for this +triumph of faith in her last moments, that we shall surely have +it: not considering that we should not be heard for our much +speaking, or that there is anything in man that could incline +God, but only for his holy name’s sake. The devil thrust sore at +me, but I looked unto the Lord, and, though in the dark, he bade +me tarry his leisure.</p> + +<p>“After Miss Anne Cooper was gone, I walked a little way from +their house by the water-side, where there are some houses for +the poor, in number about six, two of which were ale-houses, and +appear to be a harbour for the devils themselves. I called in at +one of the other houses to see a poor woman that I used to think +meant well, in order to stir her up a little. After talking with +her, she told me she had been asking one of her neighbours if +she had any hope of knowing before she died whether she should +be happy? and they both wished to know my opinion. I answered, +that as they believed, so would it be done unto them; and added, +that I would come down and read to them. *** I took a friend +with me, and found her apparently in great bodily suffering, but +on feeling her pulse I could not find it so much as ruffled; but +her sweats were the most violent I had ever seen. Her agony of +mind was so great, that she could not contain, but cried out, +‘This is nothing; I possibly may die, and what will become of my +soul? O, pray for me! O mercy! mercy!’ Her trouble and misery +were such as brought tears from all our eyes. I beheld her with +my heart filled with love and pity, and said, ‘Now where are +all your good works? What is become of all your honest labour +for sixty years? What! are you a perishing sinner at last?’ +She answered, ‘It will not do, I am too bad to be saved.’ Her +tears and the expression of her sufferings were more than can be +described. I said, ‘Well, now that you are quite lost, you will +find Him who came to seek and to save just such as you are. Now, +my life upon it, he will soon come.’ ‘What! (she cried), to such +a sinner as I am?’ I answered, ‘Yes, it was only for such that +he died.’ These extreme agonies had so affected her body that we +thought they had brought on a fever, but from her pulse this did +not appear. ‘I shall die (she said). Peace will be your portion +first’—but she would not be comforted.</p> + +<p>“Next day I found her still the same, and we received the +sacrament with her. I found the presence of the Lord there. As +soon as it was over, I said, ‘O what a living Saviour have you!’ +The tears were still flowing down her cheeks, with all the marks +of misery as before—the sight was enough to affect a heart of +stone.</p> + +<p>“About six at night, they brought me word that she was seized +with a cold shivering fit, and was in the agonies of death, and +had desired to take leave of her children. This was her last +plunge into the deep. Her soul and body were as if in hell. Four +men were not sufficient to hold her in bed, so great was Satan’s +power over her. After these hours of sufferings, the heavenly +child was born. The poor people were surprised to find her on +a sudden lie so still: and she continued twelve hours, as it +were, feeding on the fatted calf. She told<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[56]</span> them, ‘I have not +slept, but have been all night partaking of the joys of heaven.’ +When I came at noon to see her, she said, ‘O, my Lady, my dear +Lady, what great things the Lord hath done for me! I have no +doubt or fear. He hath given me that peace which the world can +neither give nor take away.’ Her looks were altered; she laid +with such sweetness and complacency in her countenance, that +my soul delighted to behold her. ‘You have saved my soul’ (she +said); ‘you know the blessedness I have found this night: I have +such tastes of divine love as are not to be expressed. O! what +a thing it is to have the heart all flaming to the Lord Jesus!’ +From that hour she has felt no pain, either of body or mind, but +exhorts all who come near her to turn to the Lord. She has quite +forgot all the knowledge and experience of seventy years, and is +become a little child. I have sent many to see her; and one of +her daughters is now seeking in the bitterness of her heart that +Lord who hath so comforted her mother.</p> + +<p>“Much of my time is taken up in bringing souls to seek after the +Lord. I have some difficulty in keeping them from clinging to +me—such wondrous love they bear me; and this I know must be for +the Lord’s sake, for in me dwelleth no good thing.</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“S. Huntingdon.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Her Ladyship continues her interesting account of the poor penitent in +the following letter:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“My dear Friend—What blessed effects does the love of God +produce in the heart of those who abide in him! and how solid +is the peace, and how divine the joy, that springs from an +assurance that we are united to the Saviour by a living faith! +Blessed be his name, I have an abiding sense of his presence +with me, notwithstanding all the weakness and unworthiness I +feel; and an intense desire that he may be glorified in the +salvation of souls, especially those who lay nearest my heart +and affections. But how vile and worthless are my best services! +After the poor labours of the day are over, my heart still +cries, ‘God be merciful to me a sinner!’ I am deeply sensible +that I daily, hourly, and momentarily stand in need of the +sprinkling of my Saviour’s blood. Thanks be to God, the fountain +is always open. There I may daily wash, and be cleansed from +every spot and every stain. O! what an anchor is this to the +soul!</p> + +<p>“The poor woman whom I mentioned to you lately has left us, and +has joined the Church of the first-born whose names are written +in heaven. About a week before her triumphant exit she was in +great pain all the day, and in the evening Lady Anne, Lady +Frances, and I went to prayer with her. When prayer was ended, +she broke forth in praise to God, and continued for a long time, +crying, ‘All glory! glory! glory to the Lamb!’ During the night +she broke out again in an holy extasy of joy and praise.</p> + +<p>“She endured constant, often violent, pain. We esteemed it a +privilege to visit her. Never did I see the power of faith more +remarkably exemplified. She drank deep of the cup of suffering; +but through divine grace and the supporting hand of the great +Author of her eternal salvation, was made more than conqueror. I +prevailed on my Lord Huntingdon to visit her. He was surprised +and affected even<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[57]</span> to tears. She was supposed to be dying. As +soon as she saw him, she cried aloud, ‘Glory be to God, that +Jesus Christ came to seek and to save the lost! How great is +his love for poor sinners! If we are saved, it is because he +has died, and poured out his precious blood to wash our guilty +souls. God be praised for that Scripture—<i>He that cometh +unto me I will in no wise cast out</i>.’ Sometimes her voice +was loud, and then so low that we supposed her dying. The whole +of the next day she continued in a state of extreme weakness, +waiting with calm resignation for the appearance of her Lord. +In the evening she desired us to sing; after which, and prayer, +she was much exhausted. The following day many symptoms of +approaching dissolution appeared. I visited her again, with +Lady Anne and Lady Frances, and found her extremely weak. Lady +Frances said, ‘Your sufferings will soon be over.’ She put forth +her hand and bid us farewell. A little before her departure, +she said, ‘The fear of death is gone—O, the name of Jesus! how +sweet it is! All glory to the Lamb!’ She attempted to proceed, +but was unable; but signs, looks, and broken accents explained +the happiness she enjoyed. Just before she breathed her last, +she gave us a parting smile, and her happy spirit entered into +rest.</p> + +<p>“There were many witnesses around her dying bed, to whom I spoke +with much fervour and fidelity. The impression will, I trust, be +lasting. Vast numbers, from respect, as well as from curiosity, +attended her funeral.</p> + +<p>“I had a visit from Mr. Graves lately. He seems much alive to +God, and much in earnest for the salvation of souls. Mrs. Ingham +and Lady Margaret intend coming to Donnington next week. I wish +you or your brother could give us a little of your time to +meet them here. May every blessing attend you, prays your most +faithful friend,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“S. Huntingdon.”</p> +</div> + +<p>To return to Mr. Wesley: before the death of Miss Cooper he quitted +Donnington Park, and preached in various places in Yorkshire. On his +return thence, he visited Epworth, the place of his nativity, where +he was refused the use of the church by the curate. In the afternoon +the church was exceedingly full, a report being spread that Mr. Wesley +was to preach. After service, David Taylor, who had accompanied him +from Donnington Park, stood in the churchyard, and gave notice, as the +people came out, that Mr. Wesley, not being permitted to preach in the +church, designed to preach there at six o’clock. “Accordingly at six +(says he) I came, and found such a congregation as, I believe, Epworth +never saw before. I stood near the east end of the church, upon my +father’s tombstone, and cried, ‘The kingdom of heaven is not meat and +drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.’”</p> + +<p>Mr. Wesley returned to Donnington Park on the 19th of June. The next +day being Sunday, he preached in the morning<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[58]</span> at Ogbrooke, and at six +in the evening at Melbourne. At the latter place, and at Markfield, +the congregations were so large that they could not be accommodated +within the church, and Mr. Wesley was obliged to preach in the open +air. At this period Mr. Wesley’s visits at Donnington Park were very +frequent; Lady Huntingdon having a very sincere esteem for him, and +they were much united in sentiments of a theological nature. Easy and +affable in his demeanour, he accommodated himself to every society, and +showed how happily the most finished courtesy may be blended with the +most perfect piety. In his conversation, we might be at a loss which to +admire most, his fine classical taste, his extensive knowledge of men +and things, or his overflowing goodness of heart. While the grave and +serious were charmed with his wisdom, his sportive sallies of innocent +mirth delighted even the young and thoughtless; and both saw, in his +uninterrupted cheerfulness, the excellency of true religion.</p> + +<p>It was about this period that Lady Huntingdon became acquainted with +the well-known and much-admired Dr. Watts, to whom her Ladyship appears +to have been introduced by his kind friend and patroness, Lady Abney. +Between these truly excellent characters a warm friendship existed, +which, however, was of short duration, as the Doctor and Lady Abney +were at this time rapidly descending the vale of life, and a few short +years after were numbered amongst the spirits of the just made perfect; +whilst the noble and elect Countess was destined, during the protracted +period of half a century, to exhibit to mankind a life of the most +extensive usefulness, unbounded intrepidity, and intrinsic excellence, +in the cause of religion. Unequivocally may it be said, that her +character has never been surpassed or equalled in any age, or even +nation.</p> + +<p>From a fragment of a letter still remaining, it has been ascertained, +that somewhat about this period Dr. Watts transmitted to Lady +Huntingdon the manuscript copy of a poem, entitled, “The Grave,” at +the particular request of the author, the Rev. Robert Blair, a Scotch +divine, minister of Athelstaneford, in East Lothian.<a id="FNanchor_27" href="#Footnote_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> With this +accomplished man her Ladyship<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[59]</span> was not altogether unacquainted, having +often heard honourable mention made of him by her valued friends, +Colonel and Lady Frances Gardiner. Lady Huntingdon appears to have +approved of the poem and advised its publication, for in a letter, +written some considerable time after, Colonel Gardiner says—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Our good friend is much flattered by your Ladyship’s +approbation of his production. Good Dr. Watts has likewise +signified his approval of the piece in a manner most obliging. +Many thanks for your oft-repeated expressions of regard for one +so worthless as I am. I shall convey your Ladyship’s assurances +of esteem and respect for Dr. Blair, to whom I intend writing +very soon. Few stand in need of your prayers and advice more +than I do. May the Almighty Saviour preserve your valuable life; +bless your exertions for the eternal good of others; and that +you may ever enjoy a thriving soul in a healthful body, shall be +the continual prayer of, my dear Madam, your most faithful, most +obliged, and most humble servant.”</p> +</div> + +<p>For Dr. Watts, Colonel Gardiner had a most sincere esteem. He had been +introduced to the Doctor at Lord Huntingdon’s house, during one of his +visits to the metropolis. Speaking of this sweet singer in our Israel, +he says:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I have been in pain lest that excellent person should have been +called to heaven before I had an opportunity to let him know +how much his works have been blessed to me, and of course of +returning him my hearty thanks: for though it is owing to the +operation of the blessed Spirit, that anything works effectually +upon our hearts, yet if we are not thankful to the instrument +which God is pleased to make use of, whom we do see, how shall +we be thankful to the Almighty, whom we have not seen? Therefore +I must beg the favour of you to let him know, that I intended to +have waited upon him in the beginning of last May, when I was in +London, but was informed, and that to my great sorrow, that he +was extremely ill, and therefore I did not think that a visit +would have been seasonable; especially considering that I have +not the happiness to be much acquainted with the Doctor; but +well am I acquainted with his works, especially with his psalms, +hymns, and lyrics. How often, by singing some of these to myself +on horseback and elsewhere, has the evil spirit been made to +flee away:—</p> + + <div class="poetry-container1"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="ileft">‘Where’er my heart in tune was found,</div> + <div>Like David’s harp of solemn sound.’</div> + </div> + </div> + </div> + +<p>“I desire to bless God for the good news of his recovery; and +entreat you to tell him, that although I cannot keep pace with +him here, in celebrating the high praises of our glorious +Redeemer, which is the great grief of my heart, yet I am +persuaded, that when I join the glorious company above, where +there will be no drawbacks, that none will outsing me there; +because I shall not find any that has been more indebted to the +wonderful riches of divine grace than I:—</p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[60]</span></p> + + <div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="ileft">‘Give me a place at thy saints’ feet,</div> + <div>Or some fallen angel’s vacant seat;</div> + <div>I’ll strive to sing as loud as they</div> + <div>Who sit above in brighter day.’</div> + </div> + </div> + </div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I know it is natural for every one who has felt that almighty +power which raised our glorious Redeemer from the grave to +believe his case singular. But I have made every one in this +respect submit, as soon as he has heard my story; and if you +seem so surprised at the account which I gave you, what will you +be when you hear it all?</p> + + <div class="poetry-container1"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="ileft">‘Oh! if I had an angel’s voice,</div> + <div>And could be heard from pole to pole;</div> + <div>I would to all the listening world</div> + <div>Proclaim thy goodness to my soul.’”</div> + </div> + </div> + </div> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>“I cannot express (says the Countess) how much I esteem that +most excellent man, Colonel Gardiner. What love and mercy has +God shown to him in snatching him as a brand from the burning! +He is truly alive to God; and pleads nothing but the plea +of the publican in the temple—‘<i>God be merciful to me, a +sinner!</i>’ Surely God’s work is perfect. What a monument of +the grace, mercy, and love of God! To glorify God, and to serve +him with all his ransomed powers, is now his only aim and end.”</p> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hangingindent">Lay Preachers—Mr. Wesley’s defence of them—Converted +Clergy—Death of Lady Huntingdon’s Sons, George and Ferdinando +Hastings—First Methodist Conference—Dr. Doddridge—Letter from +Lady Huntingdon—Mr. Jones—The Pretender—Lord Carteret—George +II.—Death of Colonel Gardiner—Letters from Mr. Wesley, Dr. +Doddridge, and Charles Wesley.</p> +</div> + + +<p>Methodism had now assumed some form and consistence, and had taken +deep root in the land. Meeting-houses were erected in various places, +societies were formed and disciplined, funds raised, rules enacted, +lay-preachers admitted, and a regular system of itinerancy begun. When +the great leaders had once admitted the assistance of lay-preachers, +volunteers in abundance offered their zealous services. If they +had been disposed to be nice in the selection, it was not in their +power. They had called up a spirit which they could not lay; but they +were still able to control and direct it. They had taken no step in +their whole progress so reluctantly as this. The measure was forced +upon them by circumstances, and by the strong remonstrances of Lady +Huntingdon, whose penetrating mind perceived, that if these men were +not permitted to preach with the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[61]</span> sanction of Mr. Whitefield and Mr. +Wesley, they would not be withheld from exercising the power which they +felt in themselves. Her Ladyship had coolly and impartially considered +the difficulties of the case, and upon the calmest view of it, +notwithstanding her educational prejudices in favour of the Established +Church, and her repugnance to the irregularity which was sanctioned +by this step, she still thought, that those who were called only of +God, and not of man, had <i>more</i> right to preach than those who +were called only of man, and not of God. Now, that many of the clergy, +though called of man, are not called of God to preach his Gospel, is +undeniable: first, because they themselves utterly disclaim, nay, and +ridicule the inward call; and, secondly, because they do not know what +the Gospel is; of consequence they <i>do not</i>, and <i>cannot</i> +preach it.</p> + +<p>Mr. Wesley justified the measure by showing how it had arisen: a plain +account of the whole proceeding was, he thought, the best defence of +it:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“And I am bold to affirm (says he, in one of his appeals to +men of reason and religion), that these unlettered men have +help from God for that great work, the saving souls from death; +seeing he hath enabled, and doth enable them still, to turn many +to righteousness. Thus hath he ‘destroyed the wisdom of the +wise, and brought to nought the understanding of the prudent.’ +When they imagined they had effectually shut the door, and +locked up every passage, whereby any help could come to two or +three preachers, weak in body as well as soul, whom they might +reasonably believe would, humanly speaking, wear themselves out +in a short time—when they had gained their point, by securing +(as they supposed) all the men of learning in the nation, ‘He +that sitteth in heaven laughed them to scorn,’ and came upon +them by a way they thought not of. Out of the stones he raised +up those who should beget children to Abraham. We had no more +foresight of this than you. Nay, we had the deepest prejudices +against it, until we could not but own that God gave wisdom from +above to those unlearned and ignorant men, so that the work +of the Lord prospered in their hands, and sinners were daily +converted to God.”</p> +</div> + +<p>About this time, several clergymen, who were awakened by the preaching +of Messrs. Wesley, Mr. Whitefield, and their zealous coadjutors, boldly +came forth, and, according to the measure of light dawning on their +minds, bore a faithful testimony to the atonement and grace of the +Redeemer. Of these, the Rev. John Hodges, Rector of Wenvo; Rev. Henry +Piers, Vicar of Bexley, Kent; Rev. Samuel Taylor, Vicar of Quintin, +Gloucestershire; Rev. Charles Manning, Vicar of Hayes; Rev. Vincent +Perronet, Vicar of Shoreham, Sussex; and the Rev. John Merriton, from +the Isle of Man, joined the Methodist<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[62]</span> Society, attended several of the +Conference meetings, and laboured zealously to promote the cause of God +our Saviour wherever they itinerated, as well as in their respective +parishes. To these was added the Rev. Richard Thomas Bateman, a man +of high birth and great natural endowments; he was Rector of St. +Bartholomew’s the Great, London, and also held a living in Wales, where +he was awakened under the powerful ministry of the Rev. Howell Davies.</p> + +<p>These excellent men were early and intimately acquainted with Lady +Huntingdon, whose patronage and support were powerfully influential in +exciting and encouraging them to persevere in an itinerant course of +life; and some of them proved eminently useful and laborious ministers +of the Gospel. They did not disdain to associate with the lay-preachers +in these labours of love—they were one in heart and mind with those +devoted men, many of whom were instrumental either in awakening, +converting, or building up souls—labours which have ever been regarded +as the great business and the peculiar glory of a Methodist preacher. +After a time many of the first preachers withdrew from the career, not +because they were desirous of returning to the ways of the world, and +emancipating themselves from the restraints of their new profession, +but because the labour was too great. Through the instrumentality of +Lady Huntingdon, Messrs. Maxfield, Merrick, Richards, Reeves, and +Williams, whom her Ladyship particularly noticed and recommended to +Mr. Wesley as the first lay-preachers who assisted him, were, with +several others, episcopally ordained, became useful ministers of the +Establishment, and most indefatigable and successful labourers in the +vineyard.</p> + +<p>It pleased the Almighty Disposer of human events to remove from Lady +Huntingdon, at this time, two of her beloved children, George and +Ferdinando Hastings; one aged thirteen and the other eleven, within a +very short period of each other. They died of the small-pox, a disease +very prevalent at that time.</p> + +<p>Her Ladyship’s mind was much affected with this solemn event: she was +properly sensible of the loss she had sustained, and felt as a mother. +Her only source of relief was the unbounded goodness of God, exhibited +in the precious promises of his word. Deeply humbled before Him under +this bereaving stroke, yet was she enabled to reap much spiritual +profit; she saw light through the dark cloud, for the Lord can and will +comfort the mourners in Zion.</p> + +<p>On the 25th of June, 1744, the first Methodist Conference was held +in London. There were six clergymen and four<span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[63]</span> travelling preachers +present. Lady Huntingdon was then in London, and received them with +much hospitality at her house. This is the first mention we have of any +public service at her Ladyship’s during Lord Huntingdon’s life-time. +On this occasion Mr. Wesley preached from this passage, “What hath God +wrought?” Mr. Piers, Vicar of Bexley, and Mr. Hodges, Rector of Wenvo, +assisted at the other parts of the service; Messrs. Maxfield, Richards, +and Bennett, who settled as minister of a Dissenting congregation, and +John Downes, who died in the work, were present. Downes was a man of +sincere, unaffected piety, of great affliction, and possessed of an +uncommon genius; he died in the pulpit of West-street chapel. His last +text was, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I +will give you rest.” His words were unusually weighty, and with power, +but few: he perceived he could not finish his discourse, and gave out +this verse of the hymn—</p> + + <div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="ileft">“Father, I lift my heart to thee;</div> + <div>No other help I know.”</div> + </div> + </div> + </div> + +<p>His voice failing, he fell upon his knees as meaning to pray, but he +could not be heard. The preachers ran and lifted him from his knees, +for he could not raise himself. They carried him to bed, where he lay +quiet and speechless till eight o’clock on Saturday morning (Nov. 6th, +1744), and then fell asleep. His widow, who had but one sixpence in the +world at the moment of his death, was afterwards befriended by Lady +Huntingdon.</p> + +<p>Her Ladyship, though circumscribed in her means, continued to pursue +her labours with new zeal, and the Redeemer crowned them with augmented +blessings. She ever kept one great object in view, the conversion of +souls to God, and the increased dominion of the religion of Jesus over +the hearts and lives of its professors. She now (in 1744) formed some +of those friendships with pious and distinguished persons beyond the +pale of her own communion, which were the honour and delight of her +future days. She became the friend of Doddridge,<a id="FNanchor_28" href="#Footnote_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a> author of “The +Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul,” a work of such excellencies +and defects as render it equally hazardous to praise or blame: but +which, with all the faults imputed to it, has been honoured with +extensive usefulness. The letters of the Doctor cannot be laid before +the reader, but those of the Countess sufficiently indicate the tone +of the correspondence, as the following specimen will testify. It was +written in answer<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[64]</span> to one from Dr. Doddridge, and treats principally on +the necessity of preaching free grace:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="r2">“May 10th, 1744.</p> + +<p>“Dear Sir—I was most extremely obliged by your very kind +letter, and though I am very glad and thankful to hear from my +Christian friends, yet I consider their callings as so many +interruptions from what their inclinations are often most +disposed to. We want not that friendship which the world has, +discovering its degree by the mere outside shows of ceremony, +but those hearts who <i>know</i> Him that was from the +beginning; by this acquaintance they can trace back the several +other influences upon their minds, besides the secret ones of +his to them, and will not wonder such things should help them to +maintain an esteem of mankind till a stronger motive supplies +its place. No, my worthy friend, never be under any care about +anything relating to me; I never can esteem you less, and only +more, by the further favour the Lord Jesus Christ shall and will +still more bestow upon you; and may you abound in hope, through +the power of the Holy Ghost! If I understand upon what your +satisfaction was founded in my discourse with Mr. Jones,<a id="FNanchor_29" href="#Footnote_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> I +think it depended upon my open and free declaration of present +salvation—to be free, and through Jesus Christ alone; and yet, +for many reasons, your being as open in it as a preacher may +not be so effectual, to your universal service I mean, as by +attending to smaller degrees of good in all. In my last letter +to Mr. Whitefield, I think I have said to this effect: ‘It is +for this point we must contend, of which we are witnesses: +with that tender regard to all degrees or steps leading to it, +by which we can alone extricate ourselves from the trifling +wrangles of the schools upon words, and better confound the +infidel world. It is the only answer to that remark, which, +though I never have heard it, is surely strong; viz., that +<i>uncertain ties</i> must level all religious feeling too much; +and they must arise always rather upon the conclusions of men, +then the sapient evidence of the divine propositions.’</p> + +<p>“Here, then, my friend, is what our Lord offers us. It is for +such a religion I live, and in which, with his grace, I will +die. This manifestation in the soul of Britain will prove as +satisfactory as light is to the eye; and whenever this light +appears equally great, there will be a perfect agreement; the +degrees may and will cause disputes, as about the several +imperfect objects a day-dawn produces: and in this state, +the well-meaning among the Moravians seem disputing with all +who see differently with them. In this case our Lord’s rule +seems best, which was, not to destroy error with evil, but, +by the establishment of truth, the rather to let it fall from +its own weakness: exhort all the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[65]</span> souls back, and the deadly +thing will not hurt them, though they drink of it. I must +fear their political schemes, and cannot tell how to account +for many things upon any other principle than as prior to the +introduction of <i>this</i>, as their phrase is, <i>infallible +Church</i>; and, indeed, when we go beyond the written word, +which will, simply attended to, open with the light by degrees, +as we receive its blessed rays; I say, when we go beyond this, +where must the great confusion end? In nothing but a mere +traditionary Church, made up of many pious but superstitious +minds; which I hope Turkey is not without.</p> + +<p>“Your sermon<a id="FNanchor_30" href="#Footnote_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> I read with much care, as well as attention to +your request, that I would sit with pen and paper by me, to mark +all I could find amiss in it; but if it will be any satisfaction +to you to know it, I assure you, with all my care I was not able +to make one objection, nor even to fear one from any mortal +for you; and I must beg you will be so good to let me have a +hundred sent, in order to give away. I hope Mr. Hervey’s fears +are groundless about the dedication; it is, in all respects, the +very best judged one, both for your character and his, that I +think could be penned; you have done right, and my grand maxim +will support you: “Do that which is best, and leave the rest +to God.” By your confidence in me, you have led me to be thus +free to you. I speak from my heart; it may mean well, but do you +correct its judgments when you find them wrong. I think I should +be even glad to confess them so, whenever I see them so; and I +hope for more excellent ways of godliness and truth. With many +wishes to Mrs. Doddridge for her safety, and prayers for you, my +friend, I remain, most sincerely and faithfully yours,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“S. Huntingdon.</p> + +<p>“P.S. Do not forget unworthy me in your prayers. Lady Frances +Gardiner is to be in England soon, as Mr. Whitefield writes me +word.”</p> +</div> + +<p>In the year 1745, Lady Huntingdon felt, in common with most who were +deeply interested in the welfare of religion, the most distressing +alarms from the rebellion in the north. The Jacobite faction, which +existed chiefly in Scotland and in the northern parts of the kingdom, +made a last and desperate effort to overturn our liberties and enthrone +the Pretender. The exiled Stuarts, who had ever been the dupes of the +Roman Catholic princes, were again thrown upon our shores, as an apple +of discord, to divide our attention and procure a diversion in favour +of the enemy. The young Pretender landed in Scotland when there were +no hopes of shaking the throne of his rival; and with all the silly +fondness for royal pomp which characterised his family, wasted his +precious moments of unexpected prosperity in proclaiming his father, +and disposing of seats in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[66]</span> the paradise which he had not yet regained. +During the struggle many valuable lives were lost; and the excellent +Colonel Gardiner fell a sacrifice to the good cause, which eventually +triumphed.</p> + +<p>While the civil and religious liberties of our country were thus +exposed to jeopardy, it was natural for the government to look around +with the keen eye of jealousy, to see which way men’s hearts turned. +That the character of the government should be affected by the violence +of political feeling is not at all surprising: and if persons in power +have occasionally shown hatred to the Methodists, their malice has +been defeated, either by the tolerant disposition of the monarch, or +by a variety of other circumstances which have had a favourable effect +upon religious liberty. Although the storm of rebellion and popery was +dispelled by the victory at Culloden, the principles that distinguished +the bulk of the Pretender’s adherents diffused themselves throughout +the country. When a rogue wishes to supplant an honest man in the +favour of his prince, it is no uncommon thing for him to libel his +character by a charge of disloyalty. For the attachment they showed +to the great cause of civil and religious liberty, and for the joy +that some of them expressed at the downfall of the house of Stuart, +the Methodists were held up as disaffected to their own country. The +strangest suspicions and calumnies were circulated; and men believe any +calumnies, however preposterously absurd, against those of whom they +are disposed to think ill. It was commonly reported that Mr. Wesley was +a Papist, if not a Jesuit; that he kept Popish priests in his house: +nay, it was beyond dispute that he received large remittances from +Spain, in order to make a party among the poor; and when the Spaniards +landed, he was to join them with twenty thousand men. Sometimes it was +reported that he was in prison upon a charge of high treason: and there +were people who confidently affirmed that they had seen him with the +Pretender in France. Reports to this effect were so prevalent, that +when a proclamation was issued requiring all Papists to leave London, +he thought it prudent to remain a week there, that he might cut off all +occasion of reproach; but this did not prevent the Surrey magistrates +from summoning him, and making him take the oath of allegiance, and +sign the declaration against Popery. Mr. Wesley was indifferent to +all accusations; but the charge of disaffection, in such times, might +have brought upon him serious inconvenience. He therefore drew up a +loyal address to the King, in the name of “The Societies in derision +called Methodists.” They thought it incumbent upon<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[67]</span> them to offer this +address. This paper said, they must stand as a distinct body from their +brethren; but they protested that they were a part, however mean, +of the Protestant Church established in these kingdoms, and that it +was their principle to revere the higher powers as of God, and to be +subject for conscience sake.</p> + +<p>Lady Huntingdon was likewise attacked in a very scandalous manner, +and accused of favouring the Pretender. These aspersions tended to +aggravate the increasing obloquy under which her Ladyship, and those +whom she patronised, were now labouring. But she paid little attention +to these malicious reports, until several of the itinerants under +her auspices were beaten and ill-treated. Some of the neighbouring +magistrates refused to act in behalf of the Methodists, when their +persons and property were attacked; and her Ladyship was forced to +apply to higher authority. She addressed a remonstrance to Lord +Carteret, one of his Majesty’s Principal Secretaries of State, +who laid it before the King. George II. was a prince of superior +accomplishments—of an enlarged and liberal mind—and well skilled +in the art of government. True to those principles that placed him +upon the throne, he continued to the last the decided friend of civil +and religious liberty. If the evil spirit that resided in the clergy +walked forth upon some occasions, it was instantly laid by the genial +influence of a tolerant monarch. It is well known that some evil-minded +persons commenced a prosecution against the amiable Doddridge for +keeping an academy, which being represented to the King, he instantly +put a stop to it, declaring that he would suffer no persecution in his +reign.</p> + +<p>Lord Carteret, a nobleman well known in the annals of the State, was +upon very intimate terms with the family of Lord Huntingdon. Lady +Worsley,<a id="FNanchor_31" href="#Footnote_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> the mother of Lady Carteret, to whose illustrious descent +were added a fine person and delicate understanding, was a relative +of Lady Huntingdon’s. Lord Carteret’s reply to Lady Huntingdon’s +communication was dated November 19th, 1745, only a few days before +his going out of office, in which he was succeeded by the Earl of +Harrington. It was as follows:—</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[68]</span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Madam—I laid your remonstrance before his Majesty the King; +my Royal Master commands me to assure your Ladyship, that, +as the father and protector of his people, he will suffer no +persecution on account of religion; and I am desired to inform +all magistrates to afford protection and countenance to such +persons as may require to be protected in the conscientious +discharge of their religious observances.</p> + +<p>“His Majesty is fully sensible of your Ladyship’s attachment +to the House of Hanover; and has directed me to assure your +Ladyship of his most gracious favour and kindest wishes. I have +the honour to be, Madam, your Ladyship’s most obedient humble +servant,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“Carteret”.</p> +</div> + +<p>Mr. Charles Wesley was more seriously incommoded by the imputation +of disloyalty than his brother, or Lady Huntingdon. When he was +itinerating in Yorkshire, an accusation was laid against him of having +spoken treasonable words, and witnesses were summoned before the +magistrates at Wakefield to depose against him. Fortunately for him he +learnt this in time to present himself and confront the witnesses. He +had prayed that the Lord would call home his banished ones; and this +the accusers construed, in good faith, to mean the Pretender. The words +would have had that meaning from the mouth of a Jacobite: but Charles +Wesley, with perfect sincerity, disclaimed any such intention. “I +had no thought (he said) of praying for the Pretender, but for those +who confess themselves strangers and pilgrims upon earth—who seek a +country, knowing this is not their home. You, Sir (he added) addressing +himself to a clergyman upon the bench,—you, Sir, know that the +Scriptures speak of us as captive exiles, who are absent from the Lord +while present in the body. We are not at home till we are in heaven.” +The magistrates were men of sense: they perceived that he explained +himself clearly—that his declarations were frank and unequivocal, and +they avowed themselves perfectly satisfied.</p> + +<p>These aspersions aggravated the odium under which the Methodists +were now labouring. “Every Sunday (says Charles Wesley) damnation +is denounced against all who hear us; for we are Papists, Jesuits, +seducers, and bringers in of the Pretender. The clergy murmur aloud at +the number of communicants, and threaten to repel them.” He was himself +repelled at Bristol, with circumstances of indecent violence. In many +places they were exposed to the insults of the rude mob, who had not +yet forgotten the art of disturbing conventicles, nor entirely lost +the relish of those delights which they enjoyed, when terrifying the +women or children whom<span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[69]</span> they found in those assemblies. It, therefore, +became necessary for the Methodists, either to endure all the injuries +which the Nonconformists suffered when they were considered as outlaws, +or to contradict their solemn professions of indissoluble union with +the Established Church, by classing themselves with Dissenters, +taking refuge under the Toleration Act, registering their places of +worship, and licensing their preachers, as that Act required. They +were not so in love either with persecution or the Church of England, +as to hesitate long between the unequal alternatives; but instantly +became Dissenters in the eye of the law, in order to become Christians +according to the dictates of conscience.</p> + +<p>It was, indeed, a curious phenomenon to behold a whole host of persons, +who rejected the name of Dissenters as an unfounded calumny, who +professed themselves the truest sons of the Church; attached to her +doctrines, ceremonies, and hierarchy; many of whom retained, even in +their places of meeting, her Liturgy and vestments, and who still +communicated at her altars; yet resorting for protection to an Act +passed “to exempt persons dissenting from the Church of England from +certain pains and penalties.” Had they professed to dissent, it would +have been a question whether the Toleration Act could have afforded +them legal protection; for neither this, nor any other law, could be +intended to provide for all possible futurity, and to gather under its +wing every sect, of whatever principles and practices, which might +arise in the revolution of ages. But when the Methodists declared they +were not Dissenters, how could they claim the advantages of an Act +made to protect persons dissenting from the Church of England from the +penalties of certain laws?</p> + +<p>The politic conduct of the government, in choosing rather to give a +large and liberal interpretation to the Toleration Act, than to run +the hazard of introducing another, was a grand step in the progress of +religious liberty; for it converted this law into a much more extensive +and mighty blessing than it was ever designed to be.</p> + +<p>As the Methodists of every class—those who still remained within +the walls of the Establishment; those who, like Whitefield, retained +her doctrines, but broke loose from her restraints; and those who, +with Mr. Wesley, adopted the Arminian creed,—all formed a body as +active as they were new, they put the practical liberality of the +government and the nation to a severe test. The Methodists came forth +as a foreign army, they traversed the kingdom through all its extent; +professing to belong to the Establishment, they entered into its +precincts,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">[70]</span> sought their converts in its very bosom, and thus roused +attention, jealousy, and rage, by the novelty, nearness, and anomalous +singularity of their attack. The practice of field-preaching, which Mr. +Whitefield, their most intrepid champion, introduced, was a measure +daring as it was unprecedented. When the government heard that he drew +out of London the almost incredible number of thirty thousand persons +to hear him preach on Kennington Common—when he regularly collected +numbers, not much inferior, in Moorfields—when Mr. Wesley imitated +the bold measure, and thus rendered it a Methodist fashion to stand +upon Tower-hill—in the streets of Bristol—amidst the colliers at +Kingswood or Newcastle—among the miners of Cornwall, or wherever +else immense crowds could be collected—would it have been surprising +if the usual jealousy of governments had been displayed by the new +dynasty, which had just begun to sit firm on the British throne? +What then must have been the wisdom of the prince, and the conscious +strength and dignity of the government, that, in such untried and +critical circumstances, <i>laissez nous faire</i> prevailed without +limitation, and the rising sect not only gave neither alarm nor offence +to the civil powers, but was even defended by the sword and the mace? +Whenever the mobs were excited by their own depraved passion, or by +the insidious arts of bigoted gentry or clergy, to disturb the worship +of the Methodists, though inferior magistrates might refuse redress, +the superior courts were a sure refuge, where not scanty justice, but +liberal countenance was afforded to the new species of Dissenters. At +Bristol the magistrates instantly quelled the persecuting spirit of +the populace, and placed the Methodists in perfect peace and security. +And such was the effect of the timely and determined interposition of +the civil power, that the Methodists were never again disturbed by +the rabble in that city. If the London mobs were more violent, the +persecuted people received the satisfaction of being informed, from +high authority, before they made application for redress, that they +had no need to suffer the insults and injuries which they experienced, +since the justices of the peace had received particular orders from the +government to afford them full protection. The House of Hanover, being +assured of the affections of the Dissenters, regarded them as among the +firmest supporters of the throne: it is, therefore, not improbable that +this new accession to their numbers was far from being disagreeable +to the court, which gladly extended to the Methodists the protection +originally designed for other denominations.</p> + +<p>The storm that threatened to blast every prospect of usefulness soon +blew over, and left Lady Huntingdon to exchange<span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[71]</span> the cry of danger—the +prayer of faith—for the song of praise, and this grateful enquiry, +“What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits?” The rebellion +called forth all her ardour in the cause of liberty, both civil and +religious; and the sermons and exhortations of the great leaders of +the Methodist cause spoke the lively interest which they felt in the +success of the contest. Nor were the evangelical Dissenters less +zealous or less agitated with solicitude for the safety of the tolerant +throne of Brunswick. Dr. Doddridge exerted himself with great zeal, and +at considerable expense, in a cause which appeared to him to affect the +Christian as deeply as the patriot. His biographer says:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“When a regiment was raising in Northamptonshire, to be under +the command of the Earl of Halifax, he wrote many letters to his +friends in that county and neighbourhood to further the design. +He went among his own people to encourage them to enlist, and +had the pleasure to find many of them engaging cheerfully in the +cause. He drew up, and printed at his own expense, a friendly +letter to the private soldiers of a regiment of foot, which was +one of those engaged in the glorious battle of Culloden.”</p> +</div> + +<p>When his friend Colonel Gardiner fell in the struggle between the House +of Hanover and the family of Stuart, Dr. Doddridge honoured him as one +who had poured out his blood for the sacred as well as civil liberties +of Britain. It was his high sense of the importance of the contest to +the religious interests of the kingdom which inspired the biographer +with the unusual eloquence that glows in his memoirs of the Colonel. +The Doctor preached an eloquent and animated discourse on the occasion +of his death, which was afterwards published, one hundred copies of +which he sent to Lady Huntingdon for distribution. Her Ladyship’s +opinion of this sermon is given in a letter to Mr. Wesley, in which she +likewise expresses her lamentations on the death of the Colonel:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="r2">“Jan. 15, 1746.</p> + +<p>“My much esteemed Friend—I deferred acknowledging your last +kind favour till I could send you the excellent sermon of my +good friend, Dr. Doddridge, upon the lamented death of that +eminent Christian and gallant soldier, Colonel Gardiner. His +death is a heavy affliction to good Lady Frances, as well as to +all his numerous family and acquaintances. But he is gone to the +great Captain of our salvation, to see him as he is: to praise +him who covered his head in the day of battle, and has taken him +to himself to sing the wonders of that love which hath redeemed +him from the earth, and made him meet to be a partaker of the +inheritance of the saints in light.</p> + +<p>“Eminently successful in illuminating multitudes in various +parts of the country with the knowledge of the truth as it is in +Jesus, the soul<span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[72]</span> of this excellent minister of Christ is ever +burning for a more extensive advancement of religion, where it +is not yet known, or its blessed effects felt by the people. +A high degree of praise is due to this devoted man for his +exertions in calling sinners to repentance, and stirring up the +professors of religion to the spirit of the Gospel. He would +do honour to any age of the Church, and his honesty and zeal +entitle him to unqualified praise.</p> + +<p>“If I mistake not, you will be much delighted with the energy +of expression and the evangelical strain which runs through his +discourse. Though it may be deficient in vigour, it is rich in +the display of Gospel truth. No man can be more remote from +party spirit, or exhibit more of that love which embraces all +who love the Lord Jesus Christ, of every name and sect, than the +Doctor does in all his writings. This I record to his honour, +while there are but too many of the Dissenting denomination +very differently minded, who are cold, and stand aloof from +Christians and fellow-heirs of the same inheritance, because +they gather not with them.</p> + +<p>“Amidst abounding opposition much good still continues to be +done, and many poor souls are returning to the fold of the great +Shepherd. The hand of a King is amongst us: many hard-hearted +rebels have been subdued by the resistless power of the Word: +many have fled for refuge to the hope set before them: and very +many are asking the way to Zion. May the great Shepherd and +Bishop of our souls give us more abundant increase! The fruits +of your ministry yet flourish: and we long for your coming once +more amongst us. May your ministry be attended and followed by +the blessing of the Holy Ghost, and many be added by your means +to the Church of such as shall be saved.</p> + +<p>“I have lately heard from dear Mr. Whitefield. He is making full +proof of his ministry in America. Mr. Jones has been with me for +some weeks; and has been very acceptable and useful to many. +I have just seen Mr. West’s ‘Observations on the History and +Evidences of Christ’s Resurrection,’ but have not yet perused +it. Dr. Doddridge has a high opinion of it, and thinks it +calculated for great and extensive usefulness amongst infidels.</p> + +<p>“And now, my good friend, farewell! I heartily commend you +to the care and guidance of my adorable Master—Him on whom +I hang the weight of my eternal interests, and through whose +precious blood I hope to be cleansed from all my vileness, my +worthlessness, and misery, and made a partaker of the blessings +of his everlasting covenant.</p> + +<p>“I am, my worthy and esteemed friend, your very obliged,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“S. Huntingdon.”</p> +</div> + +<p>In the month of April, Lady Huntingdon was attacked by a severe +illness, and her friends became seriously alarmed; but, by the blessing +of God on the means used by her medical advisers, she was restored +to many years of labour and usefulness. To promote the spread of the +religion of Christ was ever the most prominent object of her life, and +she made personal ease and convenience entirely subservient to it. +Notwithstanding her<span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[73]</span> debility at this time, she wrote to Dr. Doddridge +and Mr. Charles Wesley, asking them to recommend her a pious clergyman +to supply the church at Markfield, the living of which she had given to +the Rev. George Baddelley, D.D., then domestic chaplain at Donnington +Park.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="r2">“June, 1746.</p> + +<p>“My worthy Friend—This very day, after my letter to you, I was +taken ill of a fever, and am now far from a state of perfect +recovery, and I am sure I shall have your prayers, that all +those adorable instances of God’s great mercy to me may be +answered according to his kind intentions towards me.</p> + +<p>“Weak as I am, a circumstance I am much interested about makes +me forget all I feel at present: a young gentleman, to whom I +have just given the rectory of Markfield, in Leicestershire, +and who serves in my family as my chaplain, is at present in +great want of a curate to supply that place in his absence. His +situation with me gives him an entrance into four churches: and, +could we get a Gospel curate, very great good would be done. I +hope he has here won the hearts of many people, and a little +meeting in my house is begun, and though with much bitterness +to me, in spite of all opposition, it increases. Should Mr. +Baddelley leave me to fix in his living, all this prospect +would be at an end: but could we get a faithful minister for +his assistance, the having two who would then preach the Gospel +might be instrumental to unspeakable good. Such a person, who is +properly qualified, he has not yet been able to meet with: he +should be not only a good Christian, but one who is a sensible +man, who can act prudently, and who, in Mr. Baddelley’s absence, +would be proper to perform his duty in my family.</p> + +<p>“So surrounded am I by eyes that long to find fault with all +I do, that it makes me cautious to give no offence, either to +Jew, Gentile, or the Church of God; but to serve <i>all</i> men +to their good edification, and to labour with the remains of +life to advance our Lord and Saviour’s kingdom upon earth. Do, +my friend, try to look out for me for this purpose; and if you +know or can hear of any man so qualified, let me know from you. +Could I explain the consequences of this matter with sufficient +strength, I am sure it would raise emotion in so warm and +earnest a heart as yours, for your most active trial. May heaven +assist you, and live assured that, with great sincerity and pure +friendship, I am, my worthy friend, your very obliged,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“S. Huntingdon.”</p> +</div> + +<p>The next letter is dated June 18, 1746. It is addressed to Mr. Wesley, +and repeats the early part of the preceding:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I have written to my worthy friend, Dr. Doddridge, to assist in +obtaining a pious, sensible man, one whose whole soul is alive +to God and the concerns of eternity, and I have to solicit your +assistance, my good friend, in aiding me in this matter. Amongst +your very numerous connexions, you may hear of some one suited +to the situation, which is of great importance, as he will have +four churches open to him,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[74]</span> where the light of divine truth may +be widely extended amongst a people hungering and thirsting +after the bread of life.</p> + +<p>“Do aid me in this business with your willing services, your +prayers, and your advice. I am but a weak instrument, and need +the supporting care of my great Advocate every minute of my +existence. Though I am hardly able to hold my pen, yet I am +willing, thanks be to God, to be employed in any way that may +conduce to the good of others. Pray for me, my good friend, that +if it be the will of God and our Lord Jesus Christ, I may be +strengthened for the work which is before me, and that which he +has appointed for me on earth. I feel the flame still burning +within me—the ardent longing to save sinners from the error of +their ways. O, how does the zeal of others reprove me! O, that +my poor cold heart could catch a spark from others, and be as +a flame of fire in the Redeemer’s service! Some few instances +of success, which God, in the riches of his mercy, has lately +favoured me with, have greatly comforted me during my season +of affliction; and I have felt the presence of God in my soul +in a very remarkable manner, particularly when I have prayed +for the advancement of his kingdom amongst men in the world. +This revives me, and if God prolongs my poor unprofitable life, +I trust it will ever be engaged in one continued series of +zealous, active services for him, and the good of precious, +immortal souls.</p> + +<p>“Adieu, my most worthy friend. Let me hear from you soon, and +give me some tidings to rejoice my heart. Your most faithful +friend,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“S. Huntingdon.”</p> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hangingindent">Death of the Earl of Huntingdon—His Lordship’s Epitaph—Letter +from Sir John Thorold—Lady Huntingdon’s Piety—Letter to +Dr. Doddridge—Lady Kilmorey—Duchess of Somerset—Welsh +Preachers—Lady Frances Hastings—Mrs. Edwin—Lady Huntingdon’s +adherence to the Church of England—Letter from Dr. Watts to Dr. +Doddridge.</p> +</div> + + +<p>Afflictions seldom come alone. The loss of Lady Huntingdon’s children +was soon followed by the decease of the Earl, who departed this +life on the 13th of October, 1746, at his house, in Downing-street, +Westminster, in the fiftieth year of his age. His Lordship (who, it +was remarkable, had hardly ever dreamt in his life before) dreamed +one night, that death, in the semblance of a skeleton, appeared at +the bed’s foot, and, after standing a while, untucked the bed-clothes +at the bottom, and crept up to the top of the bed (under the clothes) +and lay between him<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[75]</span> and his lady. His Lordship told his dream, in +the morning, to the Countess, who affected to make light of it; but +the Earl died of a fit of apoplexy, in about a fortnight after. This +circumstance was narrated by her Ladyship to Mr. Toplady, at Romford, +in Essex, April 12, 1776, and was printed in his posthumous works.<a id="FNanchor_32" href="#Footnote_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a></p> + +<p>The death of Lord Huntingdon formed a new era in the life of his +devoted Countess. The loss of children, and the decease of her Lord, +gave such a blow to the elasticity of her mind as a loss like this at +her time of life was calculated to inflict. She had a fine bust of +herself placed upon the tomb of her deceased husband, and the widowed +bosom, in which his memory was enshrined, remained as cold to earthly +passion as the insensible marble amidst the symbols of death.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[76]</span></p> + +<p>During Lord Huntingdon’s life, her Ladyship’s means of usefulness were +necessarily circumscribed. Yet all that she possessed was expended in +promoting the extension of the Redeemer’s kingdom, or in relieving +the temporal distress of the indigent. Unlike the summer bird, which +flies on the first approach of the winter’s storm, the chilly blasts +of adversity had peculiar attractions for her benevolent heart. The +beautiful description of an amiable writer was not more applicable to +his deceased friend, than to his illustrative personage: “She was seen +wherever disappointment and losses had left nothing but the attraction +of misery. She and the selfish crew were sure to meet very near the +door—<i>they</i> leaving their friends when they found nothing more +was to be enjoyed, and <i>she</i> hastening thither as soon as she +found something was necessary to be done.”</p> + +<p>Lady Huntingdon was left a widow in the thirty-ninth year of her age, +with the entire management of her children and their fortunes, which +she carefully attended to, and improved with the greatest fidelity. +Her family affairs necessarily occupied her attention during Lord +Huntingdon’s life; but now, become her own mistress by the demise of +his Lordship, she resolved to devote herself wholly to the service of +Christ and to the souls redeemed by his blood.</p> + +<p>Few characters have been more erroneously estimated by the world than +that of Lady Huntingdon. She was, in fact, neither the gloomy fanatic, +the weak visionary, nor the abstracted devotee which different parties +have delighted to paint her.</p> + +<p>The circumstance of her having forbidden the publication of her papers, +and her retired mode of life, for even her charities were principally +distributed through the medium of her chaplains, were the causes that +baffled the curiosity of those who felt desirous of discovering the +motives which could tempt a woman to resign the allurements of fashion, +frivolity, and high station, and to devote upwards of <i>a hundred +thousand pounds</i> during her life for the extension of peculiar +religious opinions: and that too without any view towards the personal +distinction which has been too often a leading inducement with the +founders of new sects.</p> + +<p>Instead of giving way to unavailing grief under this afflicting +bereavement, or suffering her mind to prey upon itself in seclusion, +Lady Huntingdon endeavoured to find comfort in affliction by those +unremitting exertions for the extension of divine truth which +characterised every part of her life. The first six months of her +widowhood were spent at Donnington Park, which she continued to occupy +till the young Earl of Huntingdon<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[77]</span> became of age. The members of the +little societies in her neighbourhood were perpetually in her thoughts, +and her heart was penetrated with the most lively concern for their +welfare. Although her endeavours during this season of affliction +were chiefly exercised for their spiritual benefit, yet was her heart +enlarged also toward all the children of God, by whatever name they +were distinguished, or wherever the bounds of their habitation were +fixed.</p> + +<p>The consolations of friendship were highly valued by the Countess. To +her most excellent friend, Sir John Thorold, she expressed herself +deeply indebted for the paternal interest which he took in her +concerns, and his unremitting exertions for the improvement of her +children’s fortunes. Sir John was a man of piety, and the early and +steady friend of her deceased Lord.<a id="FNanchor_36" href="#Footnote_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a></p> + +<p>From this period Lady Huntingdon’s devotion to Christ was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[78]</span> sincere and +unreserved. Whatever she had formerly admired and pursued, she now +voluntarily laid at the feet of her Lord: and dedicated her time, her +studies, her acquisitions, and her substance to the service of God, +and the furtherance of his cause in the world; desiring at once to +present him with her whole being, as a living sacrifice, expressive of +her entire devotion. She had no interest to serve, no inclination to +gratify, nor any connection to maintain, but such as was necessary to +prove the sincerity of her zeal, or the fervour of her love. Wherever +she appeared, she breathed the spirit of devotion; and wherever she +was familiarly known, the purity, the fervour, the resolution, and +the constancy of that devotion were universally apparent. Possessed +of that faith which “overcometh the world,” she beheld it with the +feelings of her tempted Master; anxious for its good, but despising its +yoke; prepared to labour in its service, but resolute to reject its +rewards; deaf to its promises, blind to its prospects, and dead to its +enjoyments.</p> + +<p>Wherever she was called by the providence of God, she was acknowledged +as a “burning and shining light.” The common lights of Christianity +were eclipsed before her; and even her spiritual friends could never +stand in her presence, without being overwhelmed with a consciousness +of their own inferiority and unprofitableness. Amongst innumerable +instances which might be adduced, I shall merely add the testimony +of the late excellent Mr. Toplady, who considered her Ladyship “the +most precious saint of God he ever knew.” The following letters to +Dr. Doddridge, written at this period, prove the love and veneration +which he had for a character of such inestimable worth; and while they +exhibit her extraordinary zeal for the glory of God, which blazed forth +with such undiminished fervour through every stage of her existence, +and continued with unabated vigour till removed to her eternal +rest, will cause every reader to blush at his own ingratitude and +luke-warmness.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="r2">“February 23, 1747.</p> + +<p>“My very worthy and much-esteemed Friend—I would not lose +the opportunity of conveying my enquiries after you, and most +thankfully acknowledging your letters, for one of which, I find, +I am obliged to a mistake.</p> + +<p>“As there is nothing you either write or do that I am not +interested for, you must forgive my reminding you that so +faithful a minister of the glorious Gospel not only merits our +highest regards, but our many blessings also. I hope you will +comfort me by all the accounts you can gather of the flourishing +and spreading of the glad tidings. O!<span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">[79]</span> how do I lament the +weakness of my hands, the feebleness of my knees, and coolness +of my heart. I want it on fire always, not for self-delight, +but to spread the Gospel from pole to pole. Pray for me, my +very excellent friend, and cause others to do so. I dread slack +hands in the vineyard: we must be all up and doing; the Lord is +at hand, and let us not lose the things we have wrought, but +labour and exhort each other to diligence and faithfulness. O! +my friend, we shall reap plentifully if we faint not: it is +thinking of your unwearied labours that inspires even so dead a +heart as mine at this moment with great earnestness; and I want +words to tell you what shall be your reward: all I can say is, +it is not less than Infinite Bounty which is to pay you.”</p> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="r2">“March 15th, 1747.</p> + +<p>“My most excellent Friend—I have so sincere a regard for +you, that I own it would flatter me to have you think it long +since you heard from me. Company, some business, and my weak +body, make my writing often to be attended with difficulty. +I wished much to have been earlier in my acknowledgments of +your last than usual, as it gave not only all that spirit of +Christian friendship that I now am honoured by from you, but +the consolation of assuring me you have hopes of finding out +a youth who may be thought worthy, from pious disposition and +education, for the ministry. What contribution will be wanting +from me towards this purpose, I beg you will let me know, +and my excellent friend may depend upon my utmost gratitude +for this high honour vouchsafed me: I feel my mite is cast +into the treasury of God; and O! inexpressible consolation! +that he in his love is sending these calls to poor, vile, and +unworthy me. My heart wants nothing so much as to dispense +<i>all</i>—<i>all</i> for the glory of Him whom my soul loveth.</p> + +<p>“I have ventured to send you a letter written by a young lady +upon the death of her sister, but with perfect confidence that +you will communicate it to <i>no one but</i> Mrs. Doddridge, +and that you will be so good as to return it. A most wonderful +conversion, and it has had the same effect upon both the sisters +left behind! I knew it would make your gracious heart glad, as +many incidents lately happening would do, could I enumerate all. +O! many prophets and religious men have desired to see those +days, and have not seen them: great, great is the power of the +Lord, and for ever glorified be his name. Some important time +is coming: O might I hope it is that time when all things shall +be swallowed up by the enlightening and comforting displays of +our glorious Redeemer’s kingdom; when love shall be the burning +language of the heart, and every soul be longing for the moment +of his appearing. My hopes are not only full of immortality, +but of this. Your works are blessed, and God is making you a +polished shaft in his quiver. I want everybody to pray with you, +and for you, that you may wax stronger and stronger. I have +had a letter from Lord Bolingbroke, who thus says—‘I desire +my compliments and thanks to Dr. Doddridge, and hope I shall +continue to deserve his good opinion.’</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">[80]</span></p> + +<p>“I am strongly baited to have some advice about my health: +it seems good enough for me, but not for my children, and my +sister, who is now with me, and who is very unhappy to see me so +weak and ill. In submission, I have consented to apply to one of +the faculty, and I have desired that it may be Dr. Stonhouse, of +your town, who is the only person to be sent for to me, whenever +I should be so ill as to be thought in any immediate danger: +and, till then, his advice taken upon my case.</p> + +<p>“I have this day received a fresh mark of your unwearied +pains and thoughts about me. Alas! could you know those sighs +and tears I am continually offering through the weakness and +unprofitableness of my life, they would speak cruel and bitter +answers to the tender care of all my dear friends. I often look +to that bed which promises me a refuge from an evil world, and +from a yet more evil heart; but how does it bound, as the roe +or hind over the mountains, when that all-transporting view +presents itself—presents, O glorious! an eternity of joy, +to follow this glad release from time; everlasting triumphs +sounding throughout the angelic thrones to welcome my arrival. +Such love and pity dwell in heaven, and only there, for misery +and poverty like mine. What liberty to delight in that which is +most excellent! How enlarged those faculties which can take in +celestial purity, and, by sweet attraction, engage and eternally +maintain a union with it! Thus do I look on death; he is called +a monster, a king of terrors, but as a Gabriel’s salutation +shall my soul meet him: he can bring no other message to the +redeemed in Christ, but, ‘Hail, thou who art highly favoured +of the Lord!’ and though it is true so great a stranger may +surprise for a little, yet his smiles of victory will clear even +the grievance of flesh and blood, and make the grave appear a +consecrated dormitory for sweet repose. O glorious Emmanuel! +how, how do I long for that immortal voice to praise thee with; +and till then, that mortal one which may sound through earth thy +love to man!</p> + +<p>“The post will not let me say more. I am happy in writing to +you, as I find so perfect a liberty in my mind as causes me +to rejoice. My kindest services to Mrs. Doddridge and your +daughters; thank them a thousand times for their thoughts about +me; and live assured of the most unfeigned esteem and highest +regard of your most unworthy friend, who hopes to continue to +all eternity, ever, ever your friend,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“S. Huntingdon.”</p> +</div> + +<p>The following allusion to the malignity of popular persecution must be +deeply interesting:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="r2">“May 21, 1747.</p> + +<p>“My excellent Friend—I delivered your letter to our friend, who +was here, and read it with pleasure and joy, as all that comes +from you occasions to those who love our Lord in sincerity. We +have prayed earnestly together for you, and recommended, just +before we parted, the young man.</p> + +<p>“My heart is the same; I drag about a painful companion, and yet +I am quite satisfied to do so: how long it may last I know not. +Our affronts and persecutions here, for the world’s sake, are +hardly to be described.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[81]</span></p> + +<p>But, alas, these are among those honours that should not be +mentioned by me: that so unworthy a mortal should thus be +favoured by so loving a Father ought to make me bow down +with confusion of face that he should regard me. Many secret +and shameful enemies of the Gospel, by His will, appear; the +particulars would amuse you, and, blessed be God, they rejoice +me, as good must follow from it. They called out in the open +streets for me, saying, if they had me, they would tear me +to pieces, &c.; but, alas! this does but prove that it is +the Lord that offends them, and so must He continue to the +unregenerate heart. In haste I must assure you how sincerely and +affectionately I remain your obliged friend,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“S. Huntingdon.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Other letters of interest we are compelled to omit; one, written on the +eve of her sister’s<a id="FNanchor_37" href="#Footnote_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a> departure for Shropshire, when Lady Bentley +was also to leave her, is conceived in a spirit of extreme humility, +gratitude, and affection, and of intense longing for relief from the +burden of the flesh.</p> + +<p>Lady Huntingdon’s health, although she had a partial recovery, soon +began to decline, and her disorder to increase, to an alarming degree. +Dr. Stonhouse was sent for; but her complaint increasing rather than +abating, he wisely recommended her to go, as soon as convenient, to +Bath, as the most likely means to restore her. On her way thither, she +spent some days with her sister, Lady Kilmorey, in Shropshire. A letter +to Dr. Doddridge, written about this time, sufficiently manifests +the blessed state of her mind during the season of affliction, and +expresses the humility and faith of this illustrious woman:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="r2">“Bath, Nov. 1747.</p> + +<p>“I hope you will never care about the ceremony of time in your +letters to me, but just when attended with the greatest ease to +yourself, as we both agree in this sentiment, that the one thing +worth living for must be, the proclaiming the love of God to +man in Jesus Christ; so all calls for that end will secure my +approbation for your silence.</p> + +<p>“I am nothing—Christ is all; I disclaim, as well as disdain, +any righteousness but his. I not only rejoice that there is no +wisdom for his people but that from above, but reject every +pretension to any but what comes from himself. I want no +holiness he does not give me, and I could not accept a heaven he +did not prepare me for: I can wish for no liberty but what he +likes for me, and I am satisfied with every misery he does not +redeem me from; that in all things I may feel that without him +I can do nothing. To sit at his feet and hearken to his sayings +is an honour worthy of Gabriel, who is always in the presence +of God; to behold the glory of such a Saviour even the seraphs +might veil their faces—such love and honour, I say, as this, +ought to make us breathe his praises from pole to pole. Many +are our enemies, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[82]</span> of these, not only our own sins, but the +spirit of that world in which dwells nothing but wretchedness; +but while it is through his love that we are to conquer, let +the patience of his saints be seen in us; let our prayers and +labours be useful (instrumentally) in obtaining crowns of pure +gold to be placed on the heads of our most cruel foes; that +the infinite evil of the worst may serve only to raise our +hearts to heaven for their infinite good. Did we enough take +root downward, we should bear more of this fruit upwards: ’tis +humility must make us ascend by the fiery chariot: that Divine +Being (whom my soul most delights in) shows me my lesson in +these few words, ‘Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly.’</p> + +<p>“My family consists of two sons and as many daughters; for all +of them I have nothing to do but to praise God. The children +of so many prayers and tears, I doubt not, shall one day be +blest, your prayers for us all helping. The hint you gave me is +great matter of joy to me; my soul longeth for grace. To preach +Christ and his blessing upon repentance over the earth is the +commission—the event must be with him; all else is from man, +and of man: He must gather and unite the faithful, since it is +He alone who sits in heaven that may instruct the heart for His +purposes. At present the more the little leaven is hid in all, +the more of the whole will be leavened. Parties and divisions +have ever been the stumbling-blocks of the weak; if we were +altogether with the Lord, as watchmen for him, calling day and +night in order only to prepare the materials, we need not be +fearful, for the city would be established and prevail upon the +earth; but this having always been attempted by man’s power, +and so little in grace, it hath come to nought. May the Lord +give us <i>all</i> such love, to live and to die to <i>Him</i> +and for <i>Him</i> alone. I am, with most kind respects to Mrs. +Doddridge, your most sincere, but weak and unworthy friend,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“S. Huntingdon.</p> + +<p>“P.S. As I write from my heart, and not from my head, you may +more easily forgive incorrectness when you meet with it.”</p> +</div> + +<p>The learning, piety, candour, and politeness of Dr. Doddridge +recommended him to the esteem and friendship of Lady Huntingdon; and +her correspondence with him, from which the subjoined extracts are +made, was continued up to the time of his death.</p> + +<p>A letter from Dr. Watts to Dr. Doddridge, dated Nov. 1747, contains the +following words:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Yesterday my Lady Hertford<a id="FNanchor_38" href="#Footnote_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a> gave me the honour of a letter, +wherein she expresses a very high esteem and respect for you, as +the author of the ‘Rise and Progress,’ and for your account of +‘Colonel Gardiner’s Life,’ which pleased her very much, and she +tells me that I should let you know it.”</p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">[83]</span></p> + +<p>But it was reserved for Lady Huntingdon to be the means of introducing +the Doctor to the correspondence of the Duchess. In one of her +Ladyship’s letters she writes thus concerning this celebrated woman:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Reverend Sir—Since I wrote my last to you, I have received +a letter from my beloved Duchess of Somerset, who thus writes +concerning you—‘I should be very glad to see any sermons of +Dr. Doddridge, and should look upon a letter from him as an +honour, provided he will write to me as a person who wants both +instruction and reproof, but not as one who has attained any +share of that Christian piety and self-denial without which all +pretensions to the name of a disciple are vain.’</p> + +<p>“I could not satisfy myself till I had sent you the above, as +it will not only encourage you to write to her, but show you +how amiable and humble a disposition you have to address. I +pray to God to improve this friendship to you both, and then I +shall think myself of some service in life. You were so good as +to design for us a parcel, which I shall be glad to receive, as +there is nothing you either write or do but I am interested in. +You must forgive my reminding you, that so faithful a minister +of the Gospel not only merits our highest regards, but our many +blessings also.</p> + +<p>“My kindest respects to Mrs. Doddridge, and the young gentleman +who was with you here, and to Mr. Jones, whom I shall be +extremely glad to see whenever he has an opportunity of coming +my way. Live assured of the most sincere regard of a very +unworthy, but truly faithful and obliged friend,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“S. Huntingdon.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Lady Huntingdon had diligently studied the Gospel, and had just ideas +of the extent and importance of Christian liberty. She had impartially +examined the controversy between the Dissenters and the Church of +England, and thought it her duty to adhere to the latter. But she +was desirous to countenance and encourage all those who appeared to +have the interest of religion much at heart, and to be zealous to +instruct and save souls, though they were of different persuasions from +herself. Her generous heart never confined truth and goodness to one +particular sect, nor in any other respect appeared bigoted to that, +or uncharitable to those who differed from her. She rejoiced when she +met with worthy ministers of moderate principle; thought herself happy +in the intimate friendship of some of them; and maintained a regular +correspondence with others. She always spoke of them in the most +respectful terms, frequently invited them to her house, and did them +all the service in her power, as she believed they acted agreeably to +the convictions of their own consciences. Dr. Doddridge was eminently a +man of candour and liberality. A rigid spirit, and a stiffness<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[84]</span> about +things non-essential, he very much disliked; he entertained a high +opinion of the piety and zeal of many of those clergymen of the Church +of England who were stigmatized as Methodists. He had seen the good +effects of their itinerant labours in his own neighbourhood—he had +heard of more, and on unquestionable authority; and this left him no +room to doubt that God had owned them. He was well aware that there was +some enthusiasm among them, and much among their followers; but he was +nevertheless fully convinced that they were eminently useful in rousing +the attention of the careless and indifferent to the great things of +eternity; in leading them to read and study the Scriptures, and attend +religious worship in places where they might be better instructed and +edified. Many friendly and faithful admonitions he gave them, and it +was no inconsiderable evidence of the humility and candour of some +of the great leaders of Methodism, particularly Mr. Whitefield and +Lady Huntingdon, with whom he was more congenial in sentiment, that +they desired him freely to tell them what he thought amiss in their +sentiments and conduct, and that they received his admonitions with +thankfulness. He endeavoured to show them their errors and to regulate +their zeal, which he thought a more friendly part, and more becoming a +Christian minister, than to revile and ridicule them. As they saw the +common people struck and captivated with their address and appearance +of zeal, he wished their wiser brethren would plainly and seriously +teach the Gospel, take due care of the souls committed to them, labour +more abundantly in their Master’s work, and thereby secure yet greater +popularity and acceptance by means which they themselves must think +just and laudable; for these he thought it their duty to use, whatever +their particular sentiments and stations were.</p> + +<p>About the month of May, 1748, Lady Huntingdon and her daughters, +accompanied by Lady Anne and Lady Frances Hastings, left Bath, where +they had been staying some considerable time, on a tour through +Wales. It is a matter of regret that so little information can now be +obtained of her Ladyship’s journey into a part of the kingdom where she +was destined in after years to reap a harvest so abundant. From the +scanty materials, however, which remain, an imperfect and irregular +journal in the handwriting of Lady Frances Hastings, we are informed +that Lady Huntingdon was met at Bristol by Mr. Howel Harris, Mr. +Griffith Jones, Mr. Daniel Rowlands, and Mr. Howel Davies, all of whom +accompanied her into the principality. They appear to have travelled +slowly, taking short<span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">[85]</span> stages every day. For fifteen days successively +two of the ministers that accompanied her Ladyship preached in some +town or village through which they passed, by which means the seed +of divine truth was widely scattered over a large extent of country. +In Cardiganshire her Ladyship was visited by the Rev. Philip Pugh, a +Dissenting minister, eminent for his piety, diligence, and success. +On their arrival at Trevecca, in Brecknockshire, they were joined by +several of the awakened clergymen, particularly Mr. William Williams, +Mr. Thomas Lewis, Mr. Penry Baillie, Mr. John Powel, and Mr. Thomas +Jones; also by some of the exhorters, or lay-preachers, and some pious +and laborious Dissenting ministers, amongst whom Mr. John Watkins, Mr. +Lewis Jones, of Glamorganshire, and Mr. Lewis Rees, from North Wales, +were the most notable. Her Ladyship remained a few days at Trevecca, +which exactly twenty years after became her chief residence and scene +of action. Whilst there, they had preaching four or five times a day, +to immense crowds who had collected from all the adjacent country. “The +divine influence of the Spirit of God (says Lady Frances) was very +evidently afforded with his word, and many were added unto the Lord’s +people.” On one occasion, when Mr. Griffith Jones preached in a large +field from that passage in the fortieth chapter of the prophecies of +Isaiah, “What shall I cry?” there was an extraordinary manifestation of +the grace and power of God over the assembled multitude, so that many +were deeply convinced of their misery and guilt, and cried aloud in the +most awful manner. When the sermon was ended, Lady Huntingdon enquired +of many of those who had been so affected, the cause of their loud and +bitter cries. Most of them replied, “that they were so powerfully and +deeply convinced of their sinfulness and awful condition in the sight +of God, that they were afraid he never would have mercy on them.” The +people in general, through the whole assembly, seemed greatly bowed +down and humbled before the Lord, and many said, “they should never +forget the time when God was so gracious unto them.”</p> + +<p>On another occasion, when Mr. Rowlands preached at a small town in +Carmarthenshire, God accompanied the word in a very powerful manner. +“It was remarkable at this season (observes Lady Frances) that as +sinners were generally under a most distressing sense of their guilt, +so the people of God were sensibly refreshed and comforted. Their souls +were magnifying the Lord, and rejoicing in God their Saviour, who hath +done<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">[86]</span> such great things for them; while others in distressing agony +were crying out, ‘<i>Men and brethren what shall we do?</i>’”</p> + +<p>Accompanied by Mr. Howel Harris and Mr. Howel Davies, Lady Huntingdon +left Wales, and arrived in London on the 15th June, a few weeks before +Mr. Whitefield’s return from America. Her Ladyship was both gratified +and refreshed by what she witnessed in the principality. “On a review +of all I have seen and heard, during the last few weeks (says the +Countess), I am constrained to exclaim, ‘Bless the Lord, O my soul, and +all that is within me bless his holy name.’ The sermons were in general +lively and awakening, containing the most solemn and awful truths—such +as the utter ruin of man by the fall, and his redemption and recovery +by the Lord Jesus Christ, the energetic declaration of which produced +great and visible effects in many. I enquired the meaning of the outcry +which sometimes spread through the congregation, and when informed +that it arose from a deep conviction of sin working powerfully on the +awakened conscience, I could not but acknowledge, ‘<i>This is the +Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes</i>.’ Many, on these +solemn occasions, there is reason to believe, were brought out of +nature’s deepest darkness into the marvellous light of the all-glorious +Gospel of Christ. My earnest prayer to God for them is, that they may +continue in his grace and love: and, with full purpose of heart, cleave +unto the Lord, approve themselves the true and faithful disciples of a +crucified Saviour, and through manifold temptations, opposition, and +reproach, be enabled to press toward the mark for the high prize of the +calling of God in Christ Jesus.”</p> + +<p>Not long after her Ladyship’s return to London, Dr. Doddridge paid a +visit to the metropolis. During his stay he was very frequently at Lady +Huntingdon’s house. In a letter to Mrs. Doddridge he says:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I can conclude with telling you that I am now come to the +conclusion of one of the most pleasant days I shall ever +spend without you. After an hour’s charming conversation with +Lady Huntingdon and Mrs. Edwin, I preached in her family, by +express desire, and met Colonel Gumley, who is really a second +Colonel Gardiner. Such a monument of the power and sovereignty +of divine grace as, truly, I have hardly met with since I was +acquainted with his story. After dinner, the ladies entertained +us with their voices and a harpsichord, with which I was highly +delighted: and I have stolen a hymn, which I steadfastly believe +to be written by good Lady Huntingdon, and which I shall not +fail to communicate to you.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>“Lady Huntingdon is quite a mother to the poor; she visits them<span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">[87]</span> +and prays with them in their sicknesses; and they leave their +children to her for a legacy when they die, and she takes care +of them. I was really astonished at the traces of religion I +discovered in her and Mrs. Edwin,<a id="FNanchor_39" href="#Footnote_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a> and cannot but glorify +God for them. More cheerfulness I never saw intermingled with +devotion. Lady Frances Gardiner sets out on Tuesday next: I have +taken my leave of her.”</p> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hangingindent">Mr. Whitefield arrives in England—Preaches at Lady +Huntingdon’s—Letters—Lord Chesterfield—Lord +Bolingbroke—Anecdotes of Mr. Whitefield’s preaching—Appointed +Chaplain to Lady Huntingdon—Christian Soldiers—Bishop +of Exeter—Colonel Gumley—Mr. Edwin—Lord St. John—Lady +Suffolk—The Court Beauties—Lord Chesterfield—Marquis of +Lothian—Lady Mary Hamilton—Anecdotes—Lady Townshend—English +Nobility at Lady Huntingdon’s—Sir Watkins Williams +Wynne—Persecution of the Welsh Methodists—Liberal Conduct of +the Government—Marmaduke Gwynne, Esq.</p> +</div> + + +<p>Lady Huntingdon had now become the open and avowed patroness of all +the zealous clergy of the Church of England who dared to be singular +in the unambiguous preaching of the Gospel, many of whom exposed +themselves, particularly at this period, to much obloquy, abuse, +and persecution. Her Ladyship became a shelter and the companion of +all those who were so used. A difference on some doctrinal points +caused a separation between Mr. Whitefield and Mr. Wesley, and their<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">[88]</span> +disciples soon after became divided. “They parted, indeed (says Dr. +Haweis), like Paul and Barnabas; but the extent of the sphere of +their usefulness was thereby enlarged.” Her Ladyship’s correspondence +with Mr. Howel Harris, and several of the Welsh clergy who had been +awakened under Mr. Whitefield’s ministry, was the means, under God, +of leading her into more consistent views of divine truth, which she +ever after maintained, and in the firm belief of which she ended her +days. Her zealous heart embraced with cordiality all whom she esteemed +real Christians, whatever their denomination or opinion might be; but +from this period her connexions with ministers and Christians of the +Calvinistic persuasion, according to the liberal sense of the Articles +of the Church of England, became greatly enlarged.</p> + +<p>Lady Huntingdon’s heart expanded towards all the children of God—she +loved all those whom she had reason to believe loved her Divine +Master—and considering herself as “a debtor both to the Greeks and +Barbarians,” she was ready, had it been possible, to have visited the +uttermost parts of the earth with the glorious truths of the Gospel of +God our Saviour.</p> + +<p>At what exact period Lady Huntingdon first became acquainted with Mr. +Whitefield cannot now be ascertained with any degree of accuracy. +But it must have been previous to his voyage to America in 1744. Her +Ladyship had heard him preach several times in London, Bristol, and +other places, and was personally acquainted with him at a very early +period. In one of his letters from Boston, in the beginning of the +year 1745, he speaks of her Ladyship’s kindness to him, and his joy at +hearing that she continued steadfast and immovable in her profession +of the faith once delivered to the saints. From Bethesda, in December, +1746, when writing to Howel Harris, he says:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Blessed be God for the good effected by your ministry at the +Tabernacle, of which I have been informed by letters from +Herbert Jenkins and Thomas Adams. The good Countess had been +there frequently, and was much pleased, I am told. She shines +brighter and brighter every day; and will yet, I trust, be +spared for a nursing-mother to our Israel. This revives me, +after the miserable divisions that have taken place amongst my +English friends. I trust the storm is now blown over, and that +the little flock will enjoy a calm. Her Ladyship’s example and +conduct in this trying affair will be productive of much good. +My poor prayers will be daily offered up to the God of all grace +to keep her steadfast in the faith, and make her a burning and a +shining light in our British Israel.”</p> +</div> + +<p>And again, in June, 1747, when writing from New York, he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">[89]</span> begs to +“return his most dutiful respects to good Lady Huntingdon, the Marquis +of Lothian, &c.”</p> + +<p>After four years’ absence he returns to England, and in one of his +earliest letters, after landing at Deal, he says:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“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.<a id="FNanchor_40" href="#Footnote_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a> But it seems I am not to +die, but live—O that it may be to declare the works of the +Lord!”</p> +</div> + +<p>Howel Harris was at this time in London, having come thither with the +Countess, whom he accompanied from Wales. Her Ladyship having now drank +in the same spirit with Mr. Whitefield, requested Mr. Harris to bring +him to her house at Chelsea as soon as he came on shore. He went, +accompanied by Mr. Harris, and having preached twice, her Ladyship +wrote to him, that several of the nobility desired to hear him. This +was on the 20th of August, and the next day Mr. Whitefield sent the +following letter to the Countess:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="r2">“August 21, 1748.</p> + +<p>“Honoured Madam—I received your Ladyship’s letter last night, +and write this to inform you that I am quite willing to comply +with your invitation. As I am to preach, God willing, at St. +Bartholomew’s on Wednesday evening, I will wait upon you the +next morning, and spend the whole day at Chelsea. Blessed be God +that the rich and great begin to have hearing ears. I think it +is a good sign that our Lord intends to give to some, at least, +an obedient heart. Surely your Ladyship and Madam Edwin<a id="FNanchor_41" href="#Footnote_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a> are +only the first-fruits. May you increase and multiply! I believe +you will. How wonderfully does our Redeemer deal with souls. If +they will hear the Gospel only under a cieled roof, ministers +shall be sent to them there. If only in a church or a field, +they shall have it there. A word in the lesson, when I was last +at your Ladyship’s, struck me—‘<i>Paul preached privately to +those who were of reputation</i>.’ This must be the way, I +presume, of dealing with the nobility who yet know not the Lord. +O that I may be enabled, when called to preach to any of them, +so to preach as to win their souls to the blessed Jesus! I know +you will pray that it may be so. As for my poor prayers, such as +they are, your Ladyship hath them every day. That the blessed +Jesus may make you happily instrumental in bringing many of the +noble and mighty to the saving knowledge of his eternal self, +and water your own soul every moment, is the continual request +of, honoured Madam, your Ladyship’s most obliged, obedient, +humble servant,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“G. Whitefield.”</p> +</div> + +<p>He delayed his departure from London to preach to the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[90]</span> nobility at +Lady Huntingdon’s: to her Ladyship’s invitation the following letter +refers:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Ever since the reading of your Ladyship’s condescending letter +(says he), my soul has been overpowered with His presence who is +all in all. As there seems to be a door opening for the nobility +to hear the Gospel, I will defer my journey till Thursday, and, +God willing, preach at your Ladyship’s on Thursday. In the mean +while I wait upon or send to the Count, the Danish Ambassador’s +brother, who favours me with his company on Monday, to dine. +On Monday morning, from nine to near eleven, I will be at your +Ladyship’s, and wait to know your order concerning Tuesday. O +that God may be with me and make me humble! I am ashamed to +think you will admit me under your roof, much more am I amazed +that the Lord Jesus will make use of such a creature as I am. +Under a sense of this I write to you now. It is late, and my +poor body calls for rest. But as I am to preach <i>four</i> +times to-morrow, I thought it my duty to send these few lines +to-night. Quite astonished at your Ladyship’s condescension, and +the unremitted superabounding grace and goodness of Him who has +loved me and given himself for me, I subscribe myself, honoured +Madam, your Ladyship’s most obliged, obedient, humble, and +willing servant,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“G. Whitefield.”</p> +</div> + +<p>On the day appointed, Mr. Whitefield preached at Lady Huntingdon’s. The +Earl of Chesterfield, and a whole circle of the nobility, attended; +and having heard once, desired they might hear him again. “My hands +(says he) have been full of work, and I have been among great company. +A Privy Councillor of the King of Denmark and others, with one of the +Prince of Wales’s favourites, dined and drank tea with me on Monday. +On Tuesday I preached twice at Lady Huntingdon’s to several of the +nobility. In the morning the Earl of Chesterfield was present; in the +evening the Lord Bolingbroke. All behaved quite well, and were in +some degree affected. Lord Chesterfield thanked me, and said, ‘Sir, +I will not tell you what I shall tell others, how I approve of you,’ +or words to this purpose. He conversed with me freely afterwards. +Lord Bolingbroke was much moved, and desired I would come and see him +the next morning. I did, and his Lordship behaved with great candour +and frankness. All accepted of my sermons, and seemed surprised, but +pleased. Thus the world turns round; ‘In all time of my wealth, good +Lord, deliver me!’”</p> + +<p>Mr. Whitefield never sought the patronage of the great, nor<span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[91]</span> ever +employed it for any personal end. To the credit of his first noble +friends—the Marquis of Lothian, Earl of Leven, and Lord Roe—they +sought his friendship because they admired his talents and appreciated +his character. They were captivated by the preaching which won the +multitude; and when they wrote to him, he answered them, just as he +did any one else who sought his counsel or prayers, cautiously and +faithfully. He paid them, indeed, the current compliments of his +times; and if these ever amounted to flattery in appearance, they were +followed by <i>warnings</i> which no real flatterer would have dared +to whisper. In his first letters to the Marquis of Lothian, he said, +“You do well, my Lord, to <i>fear</i> lest your convictions should +wear off. Your Lordship is in a dangerous situation in the world. Come +then, and lay yourself at the <i>feet</i> of Jesus. As for praying in +your <i>family</i>, I entreat you, my Lord, not to neglect it. You are +bound to do it. Apply to Christ for strength to overcome your present +fears. They are the effects of pride, or infidelity, or both.” These +are not unfair specimens of Mr. Whitefield’s correspondence with the +Scotch nobles who honoured him with their confidence. Upon some of the +English noblemen, who were brought to hear him by Lady Huntingdon, his +influence was equally great and good.</p> + +<p>Among his friends were, also, “honourable women not a few.” These +needed “strong consolation,” in order to resist the strong temptations +presented by a frivolous Court, a witty Peerage, and a learned Bench, +in favour of a formal religion. Nothing but “the joy of the Lord” +could have sustained them in such a sphere. Happiness in religion +was the best security for their holiness. They could not be laughed +out of a good hope through grace. Wit and banter may make the fear +of persisting seem a weakness or a fancy; but they cannot make hope, +peace, or joy seem absurd. Neither the rough jibes of Warburton, nor +the polished sarcasms of Chesterfield and Bolingbroke, could touch the +<i>consciousness</i> of peace in believing, or of enjoyment in secret +prayer, in the hearts of those Peeresses who had found, at the Cross +and the Mercy-seat, the happiness they had sought in vain from the +world.</p> + +<p>Few preachers possessed eloquence so well adapted to an auditory as Mr. +Whitefield. His metaphors were drawn from sources easily understood +by his hearers, and frequently from the circumstances of the moment. +The application was generally happy, and sometimes rose to the true +sublime; for he was a man of warm imagination, and by no means devoid +of taste. In a company of noblemen and gentlemen, at breakfast, some<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">[92]</span> +years since, the conversation turned on powerful preachers, when Mr. +Whitefield was naturally mentioned. The Rev. John Newton said—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I bless God that I have lived in his time; many were the +winter mornings I have got up at four, to attend his Tabernacle +discourses at five: and I have seen Moorfields as full of +lanterns at these times as I suppose the Haymarket is full of +flambeaux on an Opera night. As a preacher, if any man were to +ask me who was the second I ever had heard, I should be at some +loss; but in regard to the first, Mr. Whitefield exceeded so far +every other man of my time, that I should be at none. He was the +original of popular preaching, and all our popular ministers are +only his copies.”<a id="FNanchor_42" href="#Footnote_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a></p> +</div> + +<p>As might have been expected, the spirit-stirring eloquence of Mr. +Whitefield fixed the attention of the Countess, and she resolved to +appoint him her Chaplain. Her Ladyship’s letter, with the offer of a +scarf, and her patronage and protection, is thus acknowledged by Mr. +Whitefield, on the eve of his departure from London.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="r2">“London, Sept. 1, 1748.</p> + +<p>“Honoured Madam—Although it is time for me to be setting +out, yet I dare not leave town without dropping a few lines, +gratefully to acknowledge the many favours I have received from +your Ladyship, especially the honour you have done me in making +me one of your Chaplains. A sense of it humbles me, and makes +me to pray more intensely for more grace, to walk more worthy +of that God who has called me to his kingdom and his glory. +As your Ladyship hath been pleased to confer on me the honour +before mentioned, I shall think it my duty to send you weekly +accounts of what the Lord Jesus is pleased to do for and by me. +Glory be to his great name, the prospect is promising. My Lord +Bath received me yesterday morning very cordially, and would +give me five guineas for the orphans, though I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[93]</span> refused taking +anything for the books. I send your Ladyship a little box of +my sermons, and the last account of God’s dealing with me, +and of the money expended for the Orphan-house, with my oath +before the magistrates of Savannah. I hope God intends to honour +your Ladyship in making you instrumental in doing good to the +nobility. His Providence, his peculiar Providence, hath placed +you at Chelsea. I am persuaded you will not quit that part till +he that hath placed you there plainly gives you a dismission. +I dare add no more, but my hearty prayers for the temporal and +eternal welfare of your Ladyship, and your whole household; and +I subscribe myself, honoured Madam, your Ladyship’s most obliged +humble servant,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“G. Whitefield.”/p> +</div> + +<p>Mr. Whitefield’s connexion with Lady Huntingdon, as her Chaplain, and +his having preached to large numbers of the nobility at her house, now +became generally spoken of in all circles, so that his popularity was +considerably increased thereby. The manner in which he refers to this +introduction amongst the great has been quoted against him as a proof +of vanity. Why should it? “True (he says in his letters to Mr. Wesley +and other private friends), the noble, the mighty, and the wise have +been to hear me.” These are also the very words which Lady Huntingdon +employed in her letters to Dr. Doddridge at the time. Was <i>she +vain</i>, or flattered, because she rejoiced that a door was opened +for the nobility to hear the Gospel? Besides, this new sphere did not +divert him from any of his old work, nor at all change his spirit or +purposes. At the very crisis of his elevation, he said to Mr. Wesley, +“My attachment to America will not permit me to abide long in England. +If I formed societies, I should but weave a <i>Penelope’s</i> web. I +intend, therefore, to go about preaching the Gospel to every creature.” +His preaching so frequently at St. Bartholomew’s Church gave great +offence to Dr. Gibson, then Bishop of London, and involved Mr. Bateman, +the reader, in some unpleasant litigations with his Lordship: for that +prelate had given strict injunctions to the clergy of his diocese to +exclude all whom they were pleased to brand with Methodism; which is +<i>literally preaching and zealously inculcating the Articles they have +themselves subscribed</i>.<a id="FNanchor_43" href="#Footnote_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a></p> + +<p>The war in Flanders being now over, the British troops returned from +the Continent. In a letter to Mr. Bateman, Mr. Whitefield says:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I was much delighted to hear there were so many Christian +soldiers<span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[94]</span> among the King’s forces that came from Flanders. A +young Christian lady, under whose roof they were, while in +Scotland, told me that one or other of them were continually +wrestling with God.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Some of these devout soldiers soon became known to Colonel Gumley,<a id="FNanchor_44" href="#Footnote_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a> +and he presented them to Lady Huntingdon, who took a great interest +in the welfare of those pious veterans. “I was truly amazed (says the +Countess) with the devotional spirit of these poor men, many of whom +are rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom.” Mr. Whitefield collected +them together, and formed them into a small society at Edinburgh; and +on his removal to Glasgow, addressed the following letter to the little +band, a copy of which he sent to Lady Huntingdon:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="center">“To some devout Soldiers.</p> + +<p class="r2">“Glasgow, Sept. 29, 1748.</p> + +<p>“My dear brethren—It gave me no small satisfaction, when I was +lately at Edinburgh, to hear that several of you were enabled +to behave like good soldiers of Jesus Christ. I rejoice greatly +that you are made partakers of his grace; and I earnestly +entreat the Lord of all lords that you may grow and increase in +it day by day. This is the Christian’s duty—he must forget the +things that are behind; he must press forward towards the things +which are before: he must not stop till he arrives at the mark +of the prize of his high calling. I trust, my dear brethren, you +are all thus minded; and that whatever befalls you, you will, +through divine assistance, hold on and hold out to the end. If +I can be any way serviceable to you, be not backward to send +to me. I hear of others of your profession that have lately +enlisted under the banner of the ever blessed Redeemer. Happy +they! happy you! You have a good Captain, a good cause, good +armour, and an exceeding great reward. That you may at all times +quit yourselves like men, and be strong; that you may fight the +good fight of faith, and at length lay hold on life eternal, is +the hearty prayer of, my dear brethren, your affectionate friend +and willing servant, for Christ’s sake,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“G. Whitefield.”</p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[95]</span></p> + +<p>About this period Lavington, the inveterate enemy of Methodists +and Moravians, having but lately been advanced to the bishopric of +Exeter, delivered a charge to the clergy of his diocese. Some persons, +from what motive it is difficult to say, circulated a manuscript +copy of what his Lordship was <i>said</i> to have delivered at the +visitation, which contained such a declaration of doctrines and +Christian experience as soon exposed him to the stigma of Methodism. +This <i>pretended</i> charge was soon after printed, and was the means +of producing several pamphlets in reply and congratulation. This drew +forth a “declaration” from the angry prelate, in which he charged the +Methodist leaders with being the authors of the fraud. A gentleman, +who appears to have had some influence with the Bishop, vindicated the +character of Mr. Whitefield, and informed his Lordship that he knew +nothing of the printing of his pretended charge, or of the pamphlets +occasioned by it. When the former was sent to Mr. Whitefield in +manuscript, as the production of the Bishop of Exeter, he immediately +said it could not be his:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“When I found it printed (says he), I spoke to the officious +printer, who did it out of his own head, and blamed him very +much. When I saw the pamphlet, I was still more offended; +repeatedly, in several companies, I urged the injustice as well +as imprudence thereof, and said it would produce what it did—I +mean a declaration from his Lordship that he was no Methodist. +I am sorry he had such an occasion given him to declare his +aversion to what is called Methodism; and though I think +his Lordship in his ‘declaration’ hath been somewhat severe +concerning some of the Methodist leaders; yet I cannot blame +him for saying <i>that he thought some of them were worse than +ignorant and misguided</i>, supposing that he had sufficient +proof, that they either caused to be printed, or wrote against +when printed, a charge which his Lordship had never owned nor +published.”</p> +</div> + +<p>The Bishop’s “declaration” obtained a wide circulation; and the bitter +invectives against the Methodists were not easily forgotten by those +who longed for an opportunity to load them with calumny and approach. +Although well assured that neither Mr. Whitefield or the Messrs. Wesley +had any hand in the publication or circulation of the spurious charge, +his Lordship had not candour to acquit them of the heavy charges which +he brought against them. Jealous of the reputation of her Chaplain, and +feeling the aspersions cast upon all the professors of the Gospel as +most cruel and unjustifiable, Lady Huntingdon determined to interpose, +and wrote to his Lordship of Exeter, demanding a candid and honourable +renunciation of the charges contained in his “declaration.” Her letter +contained an acknowledgment, on the part of the printer, that the +publication of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">[96]</span> charge was <i>solely</i> his deed—that he had got +the manuscript from one entirely unconnected with the Methodists—and +that he was ready to verify his statement on oath when required.</p> + +<p>The Bishop had the rudeness to suffer Lady Huntingdon’s communication +to remain unnoticed, which drew forth a most spirited letter from +her Ladyship, announcing her determination of making the transaction +public, except his Lordship complied with her demand, and retracted the +charge he had brought against her Chaplain and the Messrs. Wesley. This +had the desired effect, and the Bishop sent the following recantation +to Lady Huntingdon, which she caused to be inserted in the leading +journals of the day:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“The Bishop of Exeter, having received the most positive +assurance from the Countess of Huntingdon and other respectable +persons, that neither Mr. Whitefield nor Mr. Wesley, nor any one +in connexion with, or authorized by them, had any concern in the +fabrication and publication of a charge said to be delivered +by him to the clergy of his diocese, takes this opportunity of +apologizing to her Ladyship and Messrs. Whitefield and Wesley +for the harsh and unjust censures which he was led to pass +on them, from the supposition that they were in some measure +concerned in, or had countenanced the late imposition on the +public.</p> + +<p>“The Bishop of Exeter feels that it is imperative on him to make +this concession to the Countess of Huntingdon; and requests +her Ladyship and Messrs. Whitefield and Wesley will accept his +unfeigned regret at having unjustly wounded their feelings and +exposed them to the odium of the world.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Such was the recantation of this wily prelate, but it was only in the +language of hypocrisy. He had cast all the odium of this transaction +on the Methodist leaders, but had not the honesty <i>publicly</i> to +apologize for the error into which he had been betrayed, and the false, +unjust, and injurious accusations which he had made. This implacable +enemy of all Methodists had flattered himself that Lady Huntingdon +would have been fully satisfied with the submissive apology which he +wrote, and that it would obtain a circulation only among the Methodist +body. But his Lordship’s indignation rose to its utmost height when +informed that his humiliating concessions were made public by the +Countess; and from that period he became the bitter and malignant +reviler of her Ladyship and the Methodist leaders.</p> + +<p>With the intention of giving Mr. Whitefield a wider field of +usefulness, Lady Huntingdon now removed to London, and opened her house +in Park-street for the preaching of the Gospel; supposing, as a Peeress +of the realm, that she had an indisputable right to employ as her +family Chaplains those ministers of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">[97]</span> Church whom she patronized. +Early in November, Mr. Whitefield returned from Scotland, and on the +10th of that month opened his ministry at her Ladyship’s residence, +before a large circle of the nobility, and continued to preach there +twice a week during the winter. “Good Lady Huntingdon (says he) is +come to town, and I am to preach at her Ladyship’s house twice a week +to the great and noble. O that some of them may be effectually called, +and taste of the riches of redeeming love! About thirty have desired to +come, and I suppose they will bring thirty more. I have heard of two +or three more dear Christians among the <i>great ones</i>. I know you +will pray the Lord of all lords to increase their number. Her Ladyship +hath a great regard for all those in Scotland who stand up for vital +religion. She intends to send you down the picture of poor Aaron, the +late negro preacher.”</p> + +<p>The Earl of Chesterfield, Lord Bolingbroke, the Earl of Bath, Lady +Townshend, Lady Thanet, and many of the nobility attached to the Prince +of Wales’s Court, were constant in their attendance on Mr. Whitefield’s +ministry. Lord St. John was also very frequently at Lady Huntingdon’s +house at this time, and was amongst the few “great ones” who had heard +to profit.<a id="FNanchor_45" href="#Footnote_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“My last (says Lady Huntingdon, in one of her letters, dated +February, 1749, and addressed to Mr. Whitefield) mentioned +the sudden illness of my Lord St. John. A few days after, her +Ladyship wrote to me in great alarm, and begged me to send +some pious clergyman to her Lord, who was most anxious to +receive the sacrament before his death, which was then fast +approaching. Mr. Bateman happening to be with me when the letter +came, went immediately to his Lordship, whom he found in the +last extremity. He grasped the hand of Mr. Bateman, on his +approaching his bed; enquired for me, and for you, to whom he +said he was deeply indebted. Mr. Bateman prayed and read some +chapters from the Bible; after which his Lordship expressed +his firm reliance on the Lord Jesus Christ, renouncing every +dependence on his own merit. His last words to Mr. Bateman +were—‘<i>To God I commit myself—I feel how unworthy I am—but +He died to save sinners, and the prayer of my heart now to Him +is, God be merciful to me a sinner!</i>’ Shortly after this his +Lordship’s imminent danger became apparent. At the request of +poor Lady St. John, Mr. Bateman remained with her expiring Lord, +who breathed his last about an hour after, whilst Mr. Bateman +was concluding a most importunate prayer on his behalf.</p> + +<p>“This, my good friend (continues the Countess) is the +first-fruits of that plenteous harvest, which I trust the great +Husbandman will yet<span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">[98]</span> reap amongst the nobility of our land. +Thus the great Lord of the harvest hath put honour on your +ministry, and hath given my heart an encouraging token of the +utility of our feeble efforts. O that He may crown them still +more abundantly with his blessing! Some, I trust, are savingly +awakened, while many are enquiring. My Lord Bolingbroke was +much struck with his brother’s language in his last moments: I +have not seen him since, but am told he feels deeply. O that +the obdurate heart of this desperate infidel may yet be shook +to its very centre—may his eyes be opened by the illuminating +influence of Divine truth—and may the Lord Jesus Christ be +revealed to his heart as the hope of glory and immortal bliss +hereafter! I tremble for his destiny—he is a singularly awful +character; and I am fearfully alarmed lest that Gospel which he +so heartily despises, yet affects to reverence, should prove +eventually the savour of death unto death to his immortal soul.”</p> +</div> + +<p>With the family of Lord Bolingbroke, Lady Huntingdon lived on terms +of great intimacy. The impression made upon him by Mr. Whitefield’s +preaching may be judged by his saying to the Countess, “You may command +my pen when you will: it shall be drawn in your service. For, admitting +the Bible to be true, I shall have little apprehension of maintaining +the doctrines of predestination and grace, against all your revilers.” +His Lordship’s sister, Lady Luxborough, the friend and correspondent +of Shenstone, the poet, and his sister-in-law, Lady St. John, were +amongst her most intimate friends. With them were associated Lady +Monson, daughter of the first Lord Rockingham, and Anne, relict of +Lewis Watson, Earl of Rockingham, all of whom were very frequent in +their attendance on Mr. Whitefield’s ministry, whenever he preached at +Lady Huntingdon’s. Lady Rockingham was a woman of general knowledge, +of infinite wit and pleasantry, of a delightful temper, and with a +mind most disinterested. She was cousin-german to Lady Huntingdon, and +niece to Lady Fanny Shirley. A few years after the decease of Lord +Rockingham, she became the third wife of Francis North, first Earl of +Guildford, by which marriage he acquired the noble seat of Waldershare, +near Dover, and a large surrounding estate of great value: her Ladyship +possessed considerable influence in the higher circles, and had an +extensive acquaintance with persons of genius in her day. She was often +at Court, and lost no opportunity of recommending religion to the +notice of the great.</p> + +<p>Mr. Whitefield’s lectures to the “brilliant circle” at Lady +Huntingdon’s were evidently as faithful as they were eloquent. The +well-known Countess of Suffolk found them so. Lady Rockingham prevailed +on Lady Huntingdon to admit this beauty to hear her chaplain; he, +however, knew nothing of her presence:<span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">[99]</span> he drew his bow at a venture, +but every arrow seemed aimed at her. She just managed to sit out the +service in silence, and when Mr. Whitefield retired she flew into a +violent passion, abused Lady Huntingdon to her face, and denounced the +sermon as a deliberate attack on herself. In vain her sister-in-law, +Lady Betty Germain, tried to appease the beautiful fury, or to explain +her mistake—in vain old Lady Eleanor Bertie and the Duchess Dowager of +Ancaster, both relatives of Lady Suffolk, commanded her silence: she +maintained that she had been insulted. She was compelled, however, by +her relatives who were present, to apologize to Lady Huntingdon: having +done this with a bad grace, the mortified beauty left the place, to +return no more.<a id="FNanchor_46" href="#Footnote_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a></p> + +<p>Just about this period Lord Chesterfield, who had been dismissed from +the situation of Lord High Steward, with marks of strong resentment, +was admitted into the Cabinet, very much against the will of the King, +who had long considered him as a personal enemy. He had married the +King’s sister, the natural daughter of George I., and having served +his Majesty with steadiness for many years, seemed to have a right to +expect particular favours, but in this he was disappointed. The secret +cause of this disappointment was his behaviour towards the Queen and +Lady Suffolk, which Lady Huntingdon often lamented:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I fear (says her Ladyship) that neither influence nor offers +can ever recall Lord Chesterfield from the line of conduct he +has adopted towards the Queen and Lady Suffolk.<a id="FNanchor_47" href="#Footnote_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a> I wish it +were otherwise; my<span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">[100]</span> friendship would save him from this error, +as well as others more fatal; but it is God alone that can +open the eyes of his understanding, to see and know the things +which belong to his everlasting peace, as well as his upright +intentions towards his fellow-men, which would be rendered more +just and honourable thereby. I do sometimes hope well of him, +as of Lord Bolingbroke, and some others, and pray continually +that the grace and love of the Saviour may be magnified in their +renovation.”</p> +</div> + +<p>The Marquis of Lothian now arrived in London to attend his +Parliamentary duties, having been elected one of the sixteen Scotch +peers successively returned to all the Parliaments of Great Britain +since the union. He was accompanied by the Marchioness, then in a very +declining state of health. She was a daughter of Sir Thomas Nicholson, +Bart., of Kemnay, in the county of Aberdeen, and, from her parents, had +imbibed those principles of religion which became so influential in +after life.<a id="FNanchor_48" href="#Footnote_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">[101]</span> Her Ladyship was one of those pious females of rank +and influence who united with the Countess of Leven, Lady Balgonie, +Lady Frances Gardiner, Lady Jane Nimmo, and Lady Mary Hamilton,<a id="FNanchor_49" href="#Footnote_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a> +in establishing a meeting for prayer and reading the Scriptures, to +be held alternately at each other’s houses, which continued to be +well attended, and singularly useful for many years. It was strictly +confined to a very select circle of women in high life, many of whom +were ornaments to the Christian Church, and adorned the doctrine which +they professed by a life of holiness, and deadness to the present evil +world. Many years after, the then Countess of Northesk and Hopetown, +the daughters to Lord and Lady Leven, the Countess of Buchan, Lady +Maxwell, Lady Glenorchy, Wilhelmina Countess of Leven (formerly Lady +Balgonie), with her excellent sisters, Lady Ruthven and Lady Banff, +Lady Henrietta Hope, and Sophia, Countess of Haddington, were valuable +members of this select band. These have all long since joined the +general assembly and church of the redeemed from amongst men, and are +now uniting in ascriptions of praise to Him who hath redeemed them to +God by His blood.</p> + +<p>Lady Huntingdon’s acquaintance with the Scottish nobility was much +increased by the introduction, through the Lothian family, of several +of the representative peers, most of whom were induced to attend the +ministry of Mr. Whitefield at her Ladyship’s house. Amongst these, +the Countess particularly notices Archibald, Duke of Argyle, cousin +to the Marquis of Lothian, the Earl of Aberdeen, Earl of Lauderdale, +and Earl of Hyndford, who had just then returned to England, after +many years’ absence, having been appointed Envoy Extraordinary to the +King of Prussia, from whose Court he proceeded, in the same character, +to the Emperor of Russia; his Lordship’s mother, the Dowager Lady +Hyndford, who was the intimate friend of Lady Huntingdon, the Duchess +of Somerset, and the Marquis of Tweeddale, also a representative peer +and Secretary of State for Scotland,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">[102]</span> were all very frequently at Lady +Huntingdon’s about this period. The Marchioness was youngest daughter +of John, last Earl of Granville, and sister to Lady Louisa Carteret, +who married the Viscount Weymouth, cousin to the Duchess of Somerset, +by whom they were introduced to Lady Huntingdon.</p> + +<p>The following letter from Lady Huntingdon to Dr. Doddridge, written at +this time, will give some idea of the success of the Gospel among the +“great ones” who frequented her Ladyship’s circle:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="r2">“London, 1748.</p> + +<p>“My being ill has interfered with my answering yours; and +with it some interruptions arose which you would, I know, be +much pleased with. Religion was, I believe, never so much the +subject of conversation as now. Some of the great of this world +hear with me the Gospel patiently; and thus much seed is sown +by Mr. Whitefield’s preaching, and, I need not tell you, some +of the best. Oh! that it may fall in good ground, and bring +forth fruit abundantly. I am sorry to find that you are still +interrupted by the Moravians: many good souls are among them, +and, by-and-by, our Lord will separate them from the chaff. I +have sent Christian salutations to the Count Zinzendorff, and +expect to see him. If the Lord will allow me, I expect to speak +a word in the spirit of love and meekness, but with plainness, +to him, upon many points he establishes as fixed, on which, in +some particulars, the Scripture is silent; and in many others, +it is absolutely contrary to most of their avowed principles. A +hymn-book is lately published by them, which, to speak as I feel +towards them in love, can be thought of no other way but as the +product of the most wild enthusiasts upon the earth.</p> + +<p>“I had the pleasure, yesterday, of Mr. Gibbon’s and Mr. +Cruttenden’s company, with that of Mr. Gifford, to dine with me. +Lord Lothian and Lady Frances Gardiner gave them the meeting, +and we had truly a most primitive and heavenly day; our hearts +and voices praised the Lord, prayed to Him, and talked of Him. I +had another lady present, whose face, since I saw you last, is +turned Zionwards. Of the honourable women, I trust there will +be not a few; patience shall have its proper work; and if we +love our Lord, we must be tender over his lambs, and lead those +gently who yet appear not to be so. I trust he will assist us to +keep fanning the flame in every heart: this, my friend, is our +joyful task for the best master we can serve, either in time or +eternity. Do not let our hands hang down; we must wrestle for +ourselves, and for all dead in their sins, till the day break, +and the shadows of time flee away. Many will be our attacks +from a world lying in the way of the Wicked One, from our evil +hearts, and the infirmity of our flesh; but let us remember we +know in whom we believe, and that the Captain that leads us is +nothing less than an Almighty Conqueror over all those, and that +nothing is too hard for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">[103]</span> Him. Remember, it will soon be over; +and let us withstand, for a moment, eyeing the recompense of +reward.</p> + +<p>“My kind respects attend Mr. Doddridge. My family are obliged +by your kind enquiries. I am, Sir, beseeching your constant +prayers, your most sincere and affectionate friend,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“S. Huntingdon.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Whilst Lady Huntingdon thus sought to promote the spiritual interests +of the rich and the noble, she was not unmindful of those of her more +humble neighbours; to them her house was constantly open, that they +might be enriched with that “faith which comes by hearing, and which +is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not +seen”—a practice which was regularly continued for several years. On +the week-days her kitchen was filled with the poor of the flock, for +whom she provided suitable instruction; and on the Sabbath the rich +and the noble were invited to spend the evening in her drawing-rooms, +where Mr. Whitefield and other eminent ministers of Christ proclaimed +all the words of this life, and with eloquence which was exceeded +only by their faithfulness and affection. The following anecdote, +communicated by Lady Huntingdon to the late Mr. Barry, R.A., proves +that Mr. Whitefield had other trophies besides the rich and noble, who +had escaped eternal death through the blood and righteousness of the +Son of God. Some ladies called one Saturday morning to pay a visit to +Lady Huntingdon, and during the visit her Ladyship enquired of them +if they had ever heard Mr. Whitefield preach? Upon 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 were as good as their word; and upon calling on the +Monday morning on Lady Huntingdon, she anxiously enquired if they +had heard Mr. Whitefield on the previous evening, and how they liked +him? The reply was, “O 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 <i>castaways</i>! Now, my Lady, did you ever hear +of such a thing since you were born?” To which her Ladyship made +the following reply: “There is something, I acknowledge, a little +singular in the invitation, and I do not recollect to have ever met +with it before; but, as Mr. Whitefield is below in the parlour, we +will have him up, and let him answer for himself.” Upon his entering +the drawing-room, Lady Huntingdon said, “Mr. Whitefield, these ladies +have been preferring a very heavy charge<span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">[104]</span> against you, and I thought +it best that you should come up and defend yourself: they say, that in +your sermon last evening, speaking of the willingness of Jesus Christ +to receive sinners, you expressed yourself in the following terms: +‘So ready is Christ to receive sinners who come to Him, that he is +willing to receive 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 +from the following circumstance:—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 her to be shown into the parlour, when she accosted me in +the following manner:—‘I believe, Sir, you preached last evening at +such a chapel?’ ‘Yes, I did.’ ‘Ah, Sir, I was accidently 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 receiving the devil’s +castaways. Now, Sir, I have been on the town for many years, and <i>am +so worn out in his service</i>, that I think I may with truth be called +one of the devil’s castaways. Do you think, Sir, that Jesus Christ +would receive me?’ ‘I (said Mr. Whitefield) assured her there was not +a doubt of it, if she was but willing to go to Him.’” From the sequel, +it appeared that this was the case, and that it ended in the sound +conversion of this poor creature; and Lady Huntingdon was assured, +from most respectable authority, that the woman left a very charming +testimony behind her, that, though her sins had been of a crimson hue, +the atoning blood of Christ had washed them white as snow.</p> + +<p>That would-be wit and affected woman, Lady Townshend,<a id="FNanchor_50" href="#Footnote_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a> was one of +Mr. Whitefield’s earliest and most strenuous admirers; she was always +running from one extreme to another,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">[105]</span> always extravagant in ideas and +conduct—she changed about from one opinion to another with singular +velocity.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Have you heard (says Horace Walpole) the great loss the Church +of England has had? It is not avowed, but hear the evidence and +judge. On Sunday last, as George Selwyn was strolling home to +dinner, at half an hour after four, he saw my Lady Townshend’s +coach stop at Carracioli’s chapel; he watched—saw her go in: +her footman laughed—he followed. She went up to the altar, a +woman brought her a cushion—she knelt, crossed herself, and +prayed. He stole up and knelt by her—conceive her face, if you +can, when she turned and found him close to her—in his most +demure voice, he said, ‘Pray, Madam, how long has your Ladyship +left the pale of our Church?’ She looked furies, and made no +answer. Next day he went to her, and she turned it off upon +curiosity; but is anything more natural?—no: she certainly +means to go armed with every viaticum—the Church of England in +one hand, Methodism in the other, and the Host in her mouth!”</p> +</div> + +<p>Lady Townshend was attacked with severe illness, and her life was +considered in danger; Lady Huntingdon, who was frequent in her +attendance, informed Mr. Whitefield of her state, and, as she professed +to be under serious impressions at times, he wisely considered that a +letter at such a moment might be attended with lasting benefit:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="r2">“London, Nov. 19, 1748.</p> + +<p>“Honoured Madam—When I was lately in Scotland, Colonel Gumley +wrote me word, that your Ladyship was pleased to desire my poor +prayers. Before his writing, they had been put up to the throne +of grace in behalf of your Ladyship very frequently, and I would +then have written to you, had I not feared it would have been +making too free. Yesterday, good Lady Huntingdon informed me +that your Ladyship was ill; had I judged it proper, I would have +waited upon you this morning; but I was cautious of intruding. +However, the regard I bear to your Ladyship constrains me to +inform you, that my heart’s desire and prayer to God is, that +this sickness may not be unto death, but to his glory, and the +present and eternal good of your better part—your precious and +immortal soul. This, no doubt, is the end of afflictions—God’s +name and nature is <span class="smcap">Love</span>; he cannot, therefore, chastise +us for any other purpose, than that we may be made partakers of +his holiness. Every cross and disappointment—every degree of +pain, brings this important call with it, ‘My son, my daughter, +give me thy heart.’ O that your Ladyship’s soul may echo back, +‘My heart, Lord Jesus, will I give!’ O that from a feeling, +spiritual, abiding sense of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">[106]</span> the vanity and emptiness of all +created good, you may, in a holy resentment, cry out—</p> + + <div class="poetry-container1"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="ileft">‘Be gone, vain world, my heart resign,</div> + <div>For I must be no longer thine:</div> + <div>A nobler, a diviner guest,</div> + <div>Now claims possession of my breast!’</div> + </div> + </div> + </div> + +<p>“Then, and not till then, your Ladyship’s mind will be at unity +with itself; then, and not till then, will your Ladyship, upon +truly rational principles, with cheerfulness wait for the +approach of death, and the coming of the Lord from heaven. +It is faith in Jesus—a true and living faith in the Son of +God, that can alone bring present real peace, and lay a solid +foundation for future and eternal comfort. I cannot wish your +Ladyship anything greater, anything more noble, than a large +share of this precious faith; and a large, yea, very large share +in the glorious Redeemer, ready to give to all that sincerely +ask for and seek after it. He waits to be gracious—He giveth +liberally—He upbraideth not. When, like Noah’s dove, we have +been wandering about in a fruitless search after happiness, +and have found no rest for the soles of our feet, he is ready +to reach out his merciful hand, and receive us into his ark. +His hand, honoured Madam, is he reaching out to you. May you +be constrained to give your heart entirely to him, and thereby +enter into that rest which remains for the happy, though +despised people of God. But whither am I going? I forget that +your Ladyship is indisposed, and I almost a stranger to you: I +will only make this apology—‘the love of Jesus constrains me.’ +Hoping, therefore, your Ladyship will excuse the freedom I have +here taken, I beg leave to subscribe myself, honoured Madam, +your Ladyship’s most obliged humble servant,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“G. Whitefield.”<a id="FNanchor_51" href="#Footnote_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a></p> +</div> + +<p>Some years before her death, which took place in 1788, Lady Townshend +was again under serious concern for her eternal interests; several +letters passed between her and Lady Huntingdon, only one of which has +been rescued from oblivion;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">[107]</span> it is without date, but was written in +1775, the period of Lady Townshend’s illness:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“My dearest Madam—The postscript of your Ladyship’s letter +engaged all my few poor attempts to answer that meaning of our +only wise and true Instructor, who enjoins to this purpose +in saying, ‘Freely ye have received, freely give.’ The state +of your heart (as it appears to me) is in the Lord’s hands, +preparing for his own appearance to your joy. The praying for +anything but the faith we have not, and which only can reveal to +our distressed souls that true and heavenly manifestation of our +salvation, seems to have little meaning in it, as this must, and +this only can, be the foundation of any lasting peace, or Jesus +Christ the proper object of our everlasting praise. He must take +us <i>as sinners</i> into favour, and no preparation that our +own ideas form can alter the nature of our true condition. Let +us pass through what we will, all can only prove our want of a +satisfactory knowledge of him, as <i>our</i> Saviour; and when +he has thus addressed our hearts he will become himself the true +Leader and Teacher.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>“With the truest esteem, and best wishes for your eternal +welfare, I am, my dear Madam, your Ladyship’s most faithful +friend,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“S. Huntingdon.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Early in December, Mr. Whitefield made an excursion to Gloucester and +Bristol, where he preached to great multitudes. He intended remaining +some time in Gloucestershire, and proposed making an excursion into +Cornwall, but a letter from Lady Huntingdon on the 12th of December, +requiring his immediate return to London, obliged him to postpone his +intention. We find him about this time submitting his journals to +the correction of Dr. Doddridge, who gave him some excellent advice +relative to this publication:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I thank you (says he to the Doctor) for your letter a thousand +times: it has led me to the throne of grace, where I have been +crying, ‘Lord, counsel my counsellors, and show them all that +thou wouldest have me to do!’ Alas, alas! how can I be too +severe against myself, who, Peter-like, have cut off so many +ears, and by imprudence mixed with my zeal, have dishonoured +the cause of Jesus? I can only look up to Him who healed the +high priest’s servant’s ear, and say, ‘Lord, heal all the +wounds my misguided zeal has given.’ Assure yourself, dear Sir, +everything I print shall be revised: I always have submitted +my poor performances to the correction of my friends. Time +and experience, I find, ripen men’s judgments, and make them +more solid, rational, and consistent, both in their conduct +and writings. O that this may be my case! O that the blessed +Jesus may enable me to hold on, and hold out, and keep me from +flagging in the latter stages of my road.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Dr. Doddridge also communicated his ideas on the same<span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">[108]</span> subject to Lady +Huntingdon, who was of opinion that the journals, as corrected by the +Doctor and others, should be reprinted.</p> + +<p>On his return to London, Mr. Whitefield was occupied in his usual +way, besides preaching very frequently at Lady Huntingdon’s to very +numerous and brilliant assemblies. In a letter to Dr. Doddridge, he +says, “Blessed be God, the prospect is promising. Last Sunday evening +I preached to a most brilliant assembly indeed; they expressed great +approbation, and some, I think, begin to feel. Good Lady Huntingdon +is indeed a mother in Israel—she is all in a flame for Jesus.” To +Howel Harris he says, “I am now waiting for Lord Bolingbroke and some +others, who are coming to hear the glorious Gospel. Lord Lothian is in +town. Our good Lady is going on, and every day increasing her reward in +heaven.” And again to Mr. Hervey: “You will not be offended if I tell +you that good Lady Huntingdon saw your letter: she was much pleased +with it, and has a great regard for you. She goes on from strength +to strength—the prospect of doing good to the rich that attend her +Ladyship’s house is very encouraging. I preach twice a week, and +yesterday Lord Bolingbroke was one of my auditors: his Lordship was +pleased to express very great satisfaction. Who knows what God may do? +He can never work by a meaner instrument.”</p> + +<p>Horace Walpole, when writing to his friend, Sir Horace Man, at this +time, says, in his scoffing way, “If you ever think of returning to +England, as I hope it will be long first, you must prepare yourself +with Methodism—I really believe by that time it will be necessary; +this sect increases as fast as almost ever any religious nonsense did. +Lady Fanny Shirley<a id="FNanchor_52" href="#Footnote_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a> has chosen this way of bestowing the dregs +of her beauty; and Mr. Lyttleton<a id="FNanchor_53" href="#Footnote_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a> is very near making the same +sacrifice of the dregs of all those various characters that he has +worn. The Methodists love your big sinners, as proper subjects to work +upon—and indeed they have a plentiful harvest.” Amongst the persons of +distinction who attended at Lady Huntingdon’s house at this time, we +find the following names:—Duchess of Argyle—Lady Betty Campbell—Lady +Ferrers, whom Walpole styles “General my Lady Dowager Ferrers,” a +woman of singular habits, and extremely odd in many respects—Lord +Burlington—Bubb Doddington<a id="FNanchor_54" href="#Footnote_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a>—George Selwyn—Lady Sophia +Thomas—the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">[109]</span> Duchess of Montagu<a id="FNanchor_55" href="#Footnote_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a>—Lady Cardigan—Lady Lincoln—Lord +Holderness—Lord Townshend—Charles Townshend—Mr. Lyttleton—Mr. +Pitt—Lord North—Countess of Rockingham—Mrs. Boscawen—Mrs. +Pitt—Miss Rich—Lady Fitzwalter—Sir Luke and Lady Schaubs—Lady +Caroline Petersham—Duke of Kingston—Lord Trentham—Lord March—Lord +Haddington—Duchess of Queensbury—Duchess of Manchester—Mr. +Hussey<a id="FNanchor_56" href="#Footnote_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a>—Mr. Hume Campbell<a id="FNanchor_57" href="#Footnote_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a>—Lady Hinchinbroke—Lord +Sandwich,<a id="FNanchor_58" href="#Footnote_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a> &c.</p> + +<p>After six weeks’ incessant preaching at Lady Huntingdon’s to large +circles of the nobility, Mr. Whitefield, finding his health much +impaired, thought that travelling and preaching in the country would +do him good; he therefore made another excursion to Bristol, and from +thence to Exeter and Plymouth, where he was agreeably surprised to find +a great alteration in the people since his former visit. From Bristol +he wrote thus to her Ladyship:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I came hither this evening, where I found my brother in the +very temper I could wish, seemingly quite fixed to leave the +world for God. His visit to town has been greatly blessed to +him. Surely your Ladyship will never know, till the day of +judgment, the great ends God had in view in calling you to +London. I rejoice in the prospect of seeing your Ladyship +happy amidst a crowd of your spiritual children, who will come +to you, from time to time, to be built up in their most holy +faith: you will suffer many pangs for them; but all shall work +for your present and eternal good. I suffer much in my bodily +health for preaching to the nobility; but thanks be to God that +some seem to have a hearing ear and an understanding heart. My +warmest prayers are continually ascending to the throne of grace +for your Ladyship, and for all those who have heard the word, +especially those honourable women that used to join with you in +receiving the sacred symbols of the Redeemer’s blessed body and +blood. My cry to our Lord in their behalf is this,</p> + + <div class="poetry-container1"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="ileft">‘Take their poor hearts, and let them be</div> + <div>For ever closed to all but thee.’”</div> + </div> + </div> + </div> + +</div> + +<p>Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, of Wynnstay, in the county of Denbigh, Bart., +representative of one of the most ancient and influential families +in the principality of Wales, was at this time the bitter enemy and +persecutor of all whom he suspected of being tinctured with Methodism; +but the immensely blessed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">[110]</span> labours of the apostolic Howel Harris could +not be checked by the persecuting spirit of the Welsh magistrates. “The +gentlemen (says he), in part of Brecknockshire and Carmarthenshire, +hunt us like partridges; but still the work prospers.” In a letter to +one of his friends, Mr. Harris gives an interesting account of his +continued labours, sufferings, and success in Wales:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Are you surprised (says he) at my silence? Could you but take +a turn with me for two or three months, and see my labours and +trials, your surprise would cease. However, I will inform you, +that it is now about nine weeks since I began to go round South +and North Wales, and this week returned home. I have visited, in +that time, thirteen counties, travelled about one hundred and +fifty miles every week, and discoursed twice a day, occasionally +three or four times. In this last journey I have not taken off +my clothes for seven nights together, being obliged to meet the +people, and discourse at midnight, or very early in the morning, +to avoid persecution. One man, near Wrexham, the week before I +went thither, was obliged to pay twenty shillings to Sir W. W. +Wynn, several of the hearers five shillings; and one of them, +who had paid that sum before, was now fined ten shillings. This +is the third time the poor people have been so served in that +neighbourhood for assembling together. Near the town of Bala, +where I was formerly like to be murdered, I had a severe blow on +my head, but received no hurt. I never saw such crowds coming to +hear; many hearts and doors have been opened lately; we know of +several who have been awakened; and many speak with delight in +coming to hear Mr. Whitefield when he visits us again.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Mr. Whitefield and Mr. Harris having communicated to Lady Huntingdon +the conduct of Sir W. W. Wynn, and the sufferings of the Methodists +in several parts of Wales, through the intemperate conduct of the +magistrates, her Ladyship lost no time in laying the particulars before +Government; and, to the no small mortification of Sir Watkin, the +different sums of money which he had exacted from time to time from +the Methodists were ordered to be returned. The conduct of the Welsh +preachers excited the indignation of this haughty and persecuting +baronet, who vowed to take ample revenge upon every Methodist in +Denbighshire; but before the lapse of many months the unhappy man was +summoned to another world, having died suddenly in consequence of a +fall from his horse when returning from hunting.</p> + +<p>All the Welsh magistrates, however, were not alike culpable. Howel +Harris being once expected near Garth, in Breconshire, the residence of +Marmaduke Gwynne, Esq., that gentleman, alarmed at the reports he had +heard respecting him, determined, as a magistrate, to put an end to his +proceedings.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">[111]</span> Regarding him as an incendiary in Church and State, Mr. +Gwynne prepared himself for an open attack, but said to his lady, on +going out, “I’ll hear the man myself before I commit him.” Accordingly, +he made one of the congregation, eagerly waiting to lay hold of +anything that might be construed into a charge against the preacher. +He had also the Riot Act in his pocket, which he was prepared to read, +and thus disperse the people. Mr. Harris’s sermon, however, was so +truly evangelical, so calculated to arouse the careless, to alarm +the wicked, and to encourage the penitent, and his manner so zealous +and affectionate, that Mr. Gwynne thought he resembled one of the +apostles. He was so convinced of the purity of his doctrines and of the +benevolence of his motives, that, at the end of the discourse, he went +up to him, shook him by the hand, told him how much he had been misled +by slanderous reports, avowed the intention he had formed of committing +him, asked his pardon, and, to the amazement of the assembly, entreated +him to accompany him back to Garth to supper.</p> + +<p>The authority and countenance of Mr. Gwynne and his family now became +highly important to the cause of religion. Regardless of public and +private censure, he openly stood up in Mr. Harris’s defence, and made +use of his extensive influence in promoting the spread of the Gospel. +One of his daughters was soon after married to Mr. Charles Wesley.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hangingindent">Dr. Gibbons—Dr. Gill—Mr. Darracott—Lord Huntingdon—Lord +Chesterfield—The Jews—German Ministers—An Impostor—David +Levi—Lady Fanny Shirley—Mr. Whitefield and Mr. +Wesley—Ashby-place—Mr. Baddelley—Lady Huntingdon’s +Illness—Lady Anne Hastings—Mr. Hervey—Bishop of Exeter—Mr. +Thompson—Duke of Somerset—Mr. Moses Browne.</p> +</div> + + +<p>On Mr. Whitefield’s leaving London, Lady Huntingdon invited Mr. Wesley +to preach at her house, which he did twice a week, and continued so to +do, with the occasional assistance of Mr. Charles Wesley, Mr. Bateman, +and some others, until Mr. Whitefield’s return to the metropolis. Her +Ladyship’s acquaintance with Dr. Andrew Gifford and Dr. Gibbons, men +of great piety,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">[112]</span> of unimpeachable morals, refined manners, upright +and benevolent, and of great cheerfulness, enabled her to enlarge the +circle of her usefulness. Her spirit and temper were catholic, in the +only true sense of the word. The Christian minister, whatever the name +or denomination of his Church, was always welcomed to her house. The +late Robert Cruttenden, Esq., a pious Dissenter, in a letter to Mr. +Whitefield, writes thus:—“Dr. Gibbons went with me to wait on her +Ladyship, where he owns he spent two hours with more pleasure than he +ever remembered to have done in any company before; and, I must freely +own, he spoke my own sentiments.” This intelligence was gratifying to +the benevolent heart of that great and good man:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I am glad (says he) your Ladyship approves of Dr. Gibbons. He +is, I think, a worthy man. By maintaining your present course, +you will have an opportunity of conversing with the best of all +parties, without being a bigot and too strenuously attached +to any. Surely in this your Ladyship is directed from above. +The blessed Jesus cares for his people of all denominations. +He is gathering his elect out of all. Happy they, who, with a +disinterested view, take in the whole Church militant, and, in +spite of narrow-hearted bigots, breathe an undissembled catholic +spirit towards all. I believe that you will daily reap the fruit +of this spirit, and a free conversation with the truly gracious +of all denominations. It is a conduct truly godlike. I rejoice +that your Ladyship hath such a promising prospect of doing good +among the rich and great—that you approve of Mr. Wesley’s +conduct, and that he hath preached at your house. The language +of my heart is—Lord, send by whom thou wilt send, only convert +some of the mighty and noble, for thy mercy’s sake! Then, I +care not if I am heard of no more. I am much obliged to those +honourable ladies who are pleased to send me their good wishes. +In return, they have my earnest prayers that they may be filled +with all the fulness of God.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Few men were more unconscious of their own abilities, or more +desirous of improving by the meanest instrument, than Mr. Whitefield. +In lowliness of mind, he would prefer others to himself. He never +considered himself as George Whitefield, the celebrated preacher, but +as a poor guilty sinner, equally indebted to Divine grace with the +lowest and meanest of the human race. Lady Huntingdon having written +him word, that “the prospect of doing good at his return to London +was very encouraging,” this otherwise intrepid man trembled at the +idea of again addressing the rich and honourable. In a letter to Mr. +Cruttenden, he thus expresses himself:—“This post carries answers to +the honourable women. I suppose you will<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">[113]</span> be pleased to find that I am +thus far on my return to London. O my friend, my friend, I come with +fear and trembling. To speak to the rich and great, so as to win them +to the blessed Jesus, is indeed a task. But wherefore do we fear? We +can do all things through Christ strengthening us.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Whitefield now returned to London, having travelled about six +hundred miles in the West of England, where he had found, to his +satisfaction, that his former labours had been abundantly blessed. +At this period Lady Huntingdon had a house in North Audley-street, +where he preached every Thursday evening to very crowded auditories, +composed chiefly of the nobility, whom her Ladyship invited to hear +him. To an American correspondent, he says:—“The news you have had of +my preaching to some great ones is true; I have done so for some time +twice a week; and, thanks be to the blessed Redeemer, it has already +produced great effects. Lady Huntingdon is a mirror of piety indeed. +In time, I trust, of the honourable women, there will not be a few who +dare to confess the Lord Jesus before men.”</p> + +<p>Lady Huntingdon continued in London till the month of June, when she +removed to Clifton for the benefit of her health; and about this time +became acquainted with that eminent writer, Dr. Gill, whose private +character was so excellent, that it has been said, his learning and +labours were exceeded only by the invariable sanctity of his life and +conversation. He had then lately published his celebrated Commentary +on the New Testament, in three folio volumes, which impressed Lady +Huntingdon with esteem for the purity of his intentions, and admiration +for the magnitude of his labours. The immense reading and learning +which it displayed induced the University of Aberdeen to send him +the diploma of D.D., with the following compliment: “On account of +his knowledge of the Scriptures, of the Oriental languages, and of +Jewish antiquities, of his learned defence of the Scriptures against +deists and infidels, and the reputation gained by his other works, +the University had, without his privity, unanimously agreed to confer +on him the degree of Doctor of Divinity.” His intimate friend and +warm admirer, Mr. Toplady, has left on record a high opinion of his +excellent character.</p> + +<p>The young Earl of Huntingdon was now approaching his majority, and Lady +Huntingdon was preparing to resign Donnington Park to her son. She left +Bristol early in the month of August, and taking a house at Ashby, +established herself there with her other children, and her excellent +sisters-in-law,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">[114]</span> the Ladies Hastings. In a letter to the Rev. Risdon +Darracott her Ladyship mentions this favourite residence:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“The affairs of my family called me from home; but I am again +brought back in safety, and much happiness of heart, and that +to a sweet little family, who live but to devote every hour +more and more to the love and knowledge of the Lord Jesus. We +had agreed upon this retreat, and taken a larger house among +us for this purpose, and we wish all your prayers. To become +the Lord’s in body, soul, and spirit, is the one cry and desire +of our hearts; and we know He will not reject us, nor cast us +out; and though we can do nothing, yet we can receive of his +fulness grace for grace; and in this world suffer reproach and +persecution for his name’s sake, which is sweet and honourable +to us; when, though we can do nothing, we glory in this, that, +to his praise, he hath redeemed, and will make us priests unto +God. We should rejoice to see you amongst us: and I hope nothing +will prevent it, if convenient to you. All Gospel ministers +it is our highest honour and happiness to serve, and no +denomination do we ever reject.”<a id="FNanchor_59" href="#Footnote_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a></p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">[115]</span></p> + +<p>On coming of age, the Earl of Huntingdon took possession of Donnington +Park, Ledstone Hall, &c.; and soon after set out on his travels through +France, Italy, and Germany. The Earl of Albemarle was then ambassador +to the court of France, and lived in a style of great magnificence. +Among the English residents in Paris, were Lady Hervey, Sir John +Lambert, Colonel York, and Lord Stormont, who received the young Earl +with most polite attention. Lord Chesterfield, who considered himself +his second father, thus introduces him to the notice of one of his most +intimate correspondents, a lady whose accomplishments and personal +virtues were at least equal to her birth and high rank:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“In spite of my promises, Madam, not to saddle you with my +countrymen, here is one whom I take the liberty to recommend to +you. Don’t be afraid, don’t be presently angry, and I dare say +you will thank me hereafter. It is the Earl of Huntingdon, one +of the first peers of England, whose family is celebrated in the +most ancient records. His merit and talents are at least equal +to his descent; he is distinguished from all our young nobility +by his personal erudition; in short, he wants nothing to make +him perfect, but what he will acquire with you, better than +anywhere else; I mean an acquaintance with the polite world. I +will venture to add one merit more, which I flatter myself he +will have in your opinion, which is that of being my particular +friend. He looks upon me as his father, and I consider him as my +adopted son. I therefore earnestly beg, Madam, you will protect, +encourage, and even advise him. He has too much discernment +not to be sensible of the value of your friendship, and too +much feeling ever to forget it. To sum up all in one word, he +will soon be what his second father is now, your very faithful +servant,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“Chesterfield.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Lady Fanny Shirley now began to make an open profession of the faith +once delivered to the saints, and amidst all the scoffs and tauntings +of a benighted, ill-natured, and ridiculing world, to rejoice with +joy unspeakable, even a joy that is full of glory. During Lady +Huntingdon’s absence from London, Lady Fanny opened her house for the +preaching of the Gospel: there Mr. Whitefield, and other ministers of +Christ, proclaimed all the words of this life, and were heard with +deep and serious attention. “On Saturday (says he, in a letter to +Lady Huntingdon), I had the honour of being almost all the day long +with Lady Fanny, Lady Gertrude Hotham, Lady Chesterfield, and the +Countess Delitz. Lady Fanny and the Countess received the blessed +sacrament before the others came, and I think they both grow.” The +Countess Delitz had been the instrument of much good to Lady Fanny, +and was the open and avowed friend of Mr. Whitefield, and all who were +suffering for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">[116]</span> the testimony of Jesus. When writing to her Ladyship, he +observes—“How much are you indebted to divine grace, that hath singled +you out from among the mighty and noble, and placed your Ladyship in +the number of those happy few to whom it is given to know the mysteries +of the kingdom of God! I trust your honoured sister (Lady Chesterfield) +will ere long bear you company, and travel with you in that narrow +road which leads to eternal life. When I remember you, I always think +of her, and beg my most dutiful respects may find acceptance with her +Ladyship.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Whitefield was very attentive to the spiritual interests of his +converts in high life, and maintained a constant correspondence with +several of them. Soon after he left London, for a tour in Yorkshire and +the North of England, he writes thus to Lady Fanny Shirley:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="r2">“Newcastle, Oct. 1, 1749.</p> + +<p>“Honoured Madam—Some time last week, my wife sent me the +letter your Ladyship was pleased to favour me with about three +weeks ago; though I was sorry it did not reach me before I left +town, yet I rejoiced to find that it bespoke your Ladyship’s +attachment to the ever-loving, ever-lovely Jesus, and a desire +to partake of the sacred symbols of his most blessed body and +blood. I doubt not but your Ladyship, with full purpose of +heart, will cleave unto him, and, in spite of men and devils, +go on in that narrow way which leads to life eternal. God’s +grace will be sufficient for you—he hath promised, and he is +faithful who hath promised, never to leave or forsake those that +put their trust in him. He is in the burning bush—he is in the +fiery furnace—he can and will make us more than conquerors over +all. With what courage then may your Ladyship go on through +this howling wilderness, whilst leaning on our beloved Saviour! +In him alone is all our strength found. Honoured Madam, look +to him, consider him, and thereby you will be kept from being +weary and faint in your mind. I doubt not but you meet with +daily crosses. Persons that stand alone, and in high places, +must expect storms; but Jesus is able and willing to uphold +you—thanks be to his great name for giving you such a share of +prudence and courage. May the glorious Immanuel increase both; +and, without being attached to any party, may you be preserved +unspotted from the world, and be a common friend to all! My +heart’s desire and prayer is, that you may go on from strength +to strength, and be continually growing in the knowledge of +yourself and Christ Jesus your Lord. I must now add no more, +but my repeated thanks for all your Ladyship’s favours, and my +repeated assurances of being, honoured Madam, your Ladyship’s +most obliged, obedient, and ready servant, for Christ’s sake,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“G. Whitefield.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Another object lay near to Mr. Whitefield’s heart at this time. It +was during this winter that he formed the design of identifying<span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">[117]</span> Lady +Huntingdon with his Societies—the <i>only</i> plan he ever laid +for perpetuating them. He told Lady Fanny that he had disengaged +himself from the immediate care of the Societies, that he might be +more at liberty to preach the Gospel; and he saw Lady Huntingdon a +<i>Dorcas</i>, and felt that she might and ought to be a Phœbe. She +had used her influence, at his solicitation, with the Court and the +Government, in behalf of the sufferers in the Cork riots; and had +readily patronized such poor or persecuted ministers as he brought +under her notice. All this, and the want of a <i>leader</i>, led him to +seek her patronage, especially for his Societies in the west end of the +town. How he <i>opened</i> the subject to her is not known, but it does +not seem to have been ill received, for she desired the public prayers +of the Tabernacle for herself at the time; and Mr. Whitefield read that +part of her letter to the people, and informed her, that “thousands +heartily joined in singing the following verses for her Ladyship:”—</p> + + <div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="i1">“Gladly we join to pray for those</div> + <div class="i2">Who, rich with worldly honours, shine,</div> + <div class="i1">Who dare to own a Saviour’s cause,</div> + <div class="i2">And in that hated cause to join:</div> + <div>Yes we would praise thee, that a few</div> + <div>Love thee, though rich and noble too.”</div> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="i1">“Uphold this star in thy right hand—</div> + <div class="i2">Crown her endeavours with success;</div> + <div class="i1">Among the great ones may she stand,</div> + <div class="i2">A witness of thy righteousness,</div> + <div>Till many nobles join thy train,</div> + <div>And triumph in the Lamb that’s slain.”</div> + </div> + </div> + </div> + +<p>In the same letter he said to her—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“A <i>leader</i> is wanting. This honour hath been put upon your +Ladyship by the great Head of the Church; an honour conferred +on few, but an earnest of one to be put upon your Ladyship +before men and angels, when time shall be no more. That you may +every day add to the splendour of your future crown, be always +abounding in the work of the Lord, is the fervent prayer of, +&c.——”</p> +</div> + +<p>The great leaders of both the Methodistic connexions were at this +period in the metropolis, each at their different spheres, labouring +diligently to promote the salvation of immortal souls. Lady Huntingdon, +always desirous of promoting peace and unanimity amongst those who +professed to be the followers of her adorable Master, determined on an +endeavour to heal the differences that then existed between these great +and good men. For this benevolent purpose she wrote to Mr. Whitefield +and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">[118]</span> Mr. Wesley, urging on them to love as brethren, to let controversy +alone, and to labour more zealously for the service of their Lord and +Master. This advice seems to have had the desired effect. In a letter, +dated the 12th of January, 1750, Mr. Whitefield informed her Ladyship +that he had offered Mr. Wesley to assist occasionally at his chapel:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“And I do not know (says he) but it may be accepted: your +Ladyship will hear soon. O that I may learn from all I see to +desire to be nothing! and to think it my highest privilege to +be an assistant to all, but the head of none. I find a love +of power sometimes intoxicates even God’s own dear children, +and makes them to mistake passion for zeal, and an overbearing +spirit for an authority given them from above. For my own part, +I find it much easier to obey than govern, and that it is much +safer to be trodden under foot, than to have it in one’s power +to serve others so. This makes me fly from that, which at our +first setting out we are too apt to court. Thanks be to the +Lord of all lords for taking any pains with hell-deserving +me! I cannot well buy humility at too dear a rate. This is a +grace after which your Ladyship pants, and with which our Lord +will delight to fill you more and more. Your Ladyship’s letter +convinces me that those who know and do most, think they know +and do least. If it were not so, grace itself would prove our +bane, and goodness and zeal, through the pride and corruption +of our hearts, be our destroyers. Honoured Madam, my hands and +heart are continually lifted up for you, that you may abound +ever more in every good word and work, and be clothed with that +humility which your Ladyship delights to wear every day—I mean +that humble mind which was in Christ Jesus.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Peace being thus happily restored, Mr. Wesley read prayers at the +chapel in West-street, on Friday, the 19th of January, after which +Mr. Whitefield preached an affectionate discourse to a very crowded +congregation. On the following Lord’s-day Mr. Whitefield read prayers, +and Mr. Wesley preached at the Tabernacle, after which the sacrament +was administered to above <i>twelve hundred</i> persons. The following +morning Mr. Wesley prayed at the Foundry, and Howel Harris preached +a powerful sermon to an overflowing auditory. This delighted Mr. +Whitefield much. “Oh for love and gratitude! (he exclaims) I have +preached thrice in Mr. Wesley’s chapel, and God was with us of a +truth.” From this time those two great men always spoke of each other +in the most affectionate manner, and assisted each other in their +labours wherever they providentially met; and kept up a correspondence +by letter while Mr. Whitefield lived.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Thanks be to God (says Lady Huntingdon) for the love and +unanimity which have been displayed on this happy occasion. +May the God of peace and harmony unite us all in a bond of +affection! In<span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">[119]</span> forbearance towards each other, and mutual +kindness, may we imitate his blessed disciples, so that +all those who take knowledge of us may say—‘See how these +Christians love one another!’”</p> +</div> + +<p>The close of the year 1749, and beginning of the succeeding year, +Lady Huntingdon spent at Ashby-place, fully occupied in administering +to the spiritual and temporal necessities of the poor around her. In +these labours of love her Ladyship was ably assisted by her domestic +chaplain, Mr. Baddelley, and her excellent sisters, the Lady Anne and +Lady Frances Hastings. In her Ladyship’s intercourse with the poor and +illiterate, she always studied what was most plain and easy, and best +suited to their capacities; and endeavoured to set before them from +time to time the most important and necessary truths of Christianity, +such as most immediately concerned their speedy conversion to God; the +sinfulness and misery of their state by nature; the desperate depravity +of their hearts; the entire pollution of their natures; the heavy guilt +they were under, and their liability to everlasting punishment; as +also their utter inability to save themselves, either from their sins, +or from those miseries which are the just punishment of them; their +unworthiness of any mercy at the hands of God, on account of anything +they themselves could do to procure his favour; and consequently +their extreme need of Christ to save them. These truths were insisted +on with zeal and fidelity, while, at the same time, her Ladyship +endeavoured to open to the view of her attentive listeners the fulness, +all-sufficiency, and freedom of that redemption which the Son of God +has wrought out by his obedience and suffering—how this provision he +had made was suited to all their wants; and how he called and invited +them to accept of everlasting life freely offered, notwithstanding all +their sinfulness, inability, and utter unworthiness.</p> + +<p>The degree of knowledge which some of these poor people attained was +considerable: and that which afforded Lady Huntingdon the greatest +encouragement, amidst many difficulties and disconsolate hours, was +that the truth of God’s word seemed at times to be attended with some +power upon the hearts and consciences of those around her. Several of +them came of their own accord, to speak with her Ladyship about their +souls’ concerns; and some, with tears, enquired what they must do to be +saved? A visible reformation appeared in the lives and manners of some; +many vicious practices were broken off; and a greater degree of regard +was manifested for the Lord’s-day. Yet there was much of a discouraging +nature; and while the benevolent heart of the Countess rejoiced to +observe any seriousness<span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">[120]</span> among the poor in her neighbourhood, she was +not without continual fear lest such encouraging appearances might +prove like a morning cloud that passeth away.</p> + +<p>Mr. Baddelley resided, as we have said, in the family of Lady +Huntingdon, in the capacity of domestic chaplain: his piety and talents +were much respected by her Ladyship, and he was very zealous in the +discharge of his ministerial duties. His views of divine truth became +more consistent; and at this change his religious friends rejoiced, and +none more than Lady Huntingdon, whose heart-searching conversations, +under the influence of the Spirit of God, first directed his +apprehensions to Christ’s righteousness; and led him to a clear light +and understanding of the Gospel of the grace of God. He seems to have +been peculiarly endeared to her Ladyship, from the frequent mention of +him in Mr. Whitefield’s letters.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I thank the Lord (says he) ten thousand times that your +Ladyship is so well pleased with Mr. Baddelley: he expresses the +strong sense he has of the obligations he lies under to the Lord +Jesus Christ, and under him, to your Ladyship. O that neither of +us may prove ungrateful in any respect!” And again: “I bless God +for Mr. Baddelley, and rejoice exceedingly in the comfort which +your Ladyship has in him. I will take care to cultivate our +acquaintance, and earnestly pray that it may be blessed to our +natural improvement. I trust he will be a good soldier of Jesus +Christ, and doubt not ere long I shall hear of his receiving +some wounds and scars of honour in the field of battle.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Mr. Whitefield had a strong personal regard for Mr. Baddelley, and +frequently corresponded with him. The following letter, while it +exhibits that good man’s concern for him, makes Mr. Baddelley’s +principles and views also evident:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="r2">“London, Jan. 12, 1750.</p> + +<p>“My very dear Sir—Lest I should be hindered to-morrow, or +in the beginning of the week, I now sit down to answer your +kind letter. O that I may be helped to write something that +may do you service, and be a means of quickening you in that +delightful cause in which you are embarked. I see, my dear Sir, +you are likely to have hot work before you quit the field; for +I find you have begun to batter Satan’s strongest holds—I +mean the self-righteousness of man. Here, Sir, you must expect +the strongest opposition—it is the Diana of every age—it +is the golden image which that apostate Nebuchadnezzar, man, +continually sets up; and the not falling down to worship it, +but much more the speaking, writing, or preaching against it, +exposes one immediately to the fury of its blind votaries, and +we are thrown directly into a den of devouring lions. But fear +not, Mr. Baddelley; the God whom we serve—the Captain under +whose banner we are listed, is able to deliver us: he knows how +to train us up gradually for war, and is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">[121]</span> engaged to bring us +off more than conquerors from the field of battle. If any one +need give way, it must be the poor creature that is writing to +you, for I believe there is not a person living more timorous by +nature. But I trust, in a degree, Jesus hath delivered me from +worldly hopes and worldly fears, and by his grace strengthening +me, he makes me often bold as a lion. But O, my dear Sir, this +petty character of mine I did not at first care to part with; +’twas death to be despised, and worse than death to think of +being laughed at by all: but when I began to consider Him who +endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, I then +longed to drink of the same cup, and, blessed be God, contempt +and I am pretty intimate, and have been so for about twice seven +years. Jesus’ love makes it a very agreeable companion, and I no +longer wonder that Moses made such a blessed choice, and rather +chose to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy +the pleasures of sin for a season. May the Lord Jesus make us +thus indeed! For there is no doing good without enduring the +scourge of the tongue; and take this for a certain rule, ‘the +more successful you are, the more hated you will be by Satan, +and the more despised you will be by those that know not God.’ +What has the honoured Lady Huntingdon suffered, under whose roof +you dwell? Above all, what did your blessed Master suffer, who +hath done such great things for you? O let us follow him, though +it be through a sea of blood. I could enlarge, but time will not +permit. I am ashamed of my unprofitableness, and must retire +after begging that you will not forget, reverend and dear Sir, +yours, &c.,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“G. Whitefield.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Whilst Lady Huntingdon was thus actively engaged in the country, Mr. +Whitefield was rejoicing in the success attending his ministry in the +metropolis:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Though I am wearied (says he) in walking to and from South +Audley-street,<a id="FNanchor_60" href="#Footnote_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a> yet I must not omit sending to your Ladyship +this night. Every day we have new hearers, and I find some one +or another is almost continually brought under convictions, or +is edified at the Tabernacle. Were it as big again, I believe, +on Sunday mornings, it would be filled. This day hath been spent +with the Countess,<a id="FNanchor_61" href="#Footnote_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a> Lady Gertrude,<a id="FNanchor_62" href="#Footnote_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a> Colonel Gumley, &c. +I gave them the communion, and afterwards preached; the public +minister from Genoa came to hear me, and I believe it was a +profitable season. Lady Fanny holds on, and writes word to the +Countess, that she wishes all were as happy as she hath been in +reading Bishop Hall’s ‘Contemplations.’”</p> +</div> + +<p>He also expounded at the residence of Lady Gertrude Hotham—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Where (says he) I gave the blessed sacrament, and afterwards a +word of exhortation. Our Lord was there, and your Ladyship and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">[122]</span> +honoured sisters were remembered before Him. On Tuesday next the +blessed feast is to be again repeated at the Countess’s house.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Towards the end of January, Lady Huntingdon was attacked by an alarming +indisposition, which for several days seemed to threaten the loss +of her valuable life. The Ladies Hastings, with that solicitude all +must feel for an object of so much moment, sought the best medical +assistance which could be procured in the vicinity of Ashby-place, yet +looked continually to God for his blessing on every means pointed out +for the relief of the Countess. An express was immediately despatched +to Northampton, and in about ten days the violence of the disease +began to abate under the judicious treatment of Dr. Stonhouse, and +her Ladyship became so far recovered as to be able to write to her +friends, though for some weeks unable to leave her apartment. Lady Anne +Hastings wrote to apprise Mr. Whitefield of Lady Huntingdon’s alarming +situation, but he being in the country, did not receive her letter, +and knew nothing of her Ladyship’s indisposition, till he heard of her +recovery on his arrival at Bristol, whence he wrote to her thus:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“With great delight (on my coming to Bristol last night), I +heard of your Ladyship’s recovery. May the Lord of all lords +perfect the begun blessing, and give you to live many years to +be an ornament to his Church, and a blessing to his people. May +the Lord Jesus be with your spirit, and with the spirit of your +honoured sisters, whom I always remember. I doubt not but they +were much concerned at your Ladyship’s illness. May they long +live with you to be fellow-helpers of each other’s faith, and to +shine as lights in the world! May the blessing of many ready to +perish descend on your Ladyship!”</p> +</div> + +<p>Immediately on the approach of convalescence, Lady Huntingdon wrote to +Mr. Whitefield, who replied from Bristol, where he was still labouring, +to the following effect:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, in +mercy to his Church and people, is yet pleased to hold your soul +in life, and make your Ladyship instrumental in plucking sinners +as brands out of the burning. All these things I look upon only +as the earnests of good things to come. Goodness and mercy will +follow your Ladyship all the days of your life, and you shall +dwell in the house of the Lord for ever! Lady Anne’s sudden +shock<a id="FNanchor_63" href="#Footnote_63" class="fnanchor">[63]</a> proves that the old observation is true, ‘seldom one +affliction comes alone.’ I rejoice to hear that her Ladyship is +recovered, and pray the Lord of all lords so to sanctify it to +her better part, that she may be ready at a moment’s warning +to go forth and meet the heavenly Bridegroom. O, to be<span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">[123]</span> always +ready—to have nothing to do but to die! Surely the Redeemer +hath purchased this blessing for us. Doth not your Ladyship find +it difficult to be resigned to life, and to continue so long +absent from the Lord? But there is one consideration which may +make life desirable to the greatest saint on earth; he may here +do and suffer for Jesus, and call sinners to Him; but in heaven +all this will be over. Come life, then, come death, Jesus, may +thy will be done, in, by, and upon thy people! I know your +Ladyship’s heart echoes back, Amen. But what shall I say to the +opposition arising at Ashby? I trust it is a sign that good has +already been done, and that more is still doing. The Searcher +of hearts knows how highly I value your Ladyship’s letters: yet +I think it honour enough to have leave to write to you, without +expecting punctual answers. O that I may gladden your heart +with glad tidings from the west! I believe I shall. I have been +much helped in preaching here, and have heard of two that were +thoroughly ashamed when I was here last. But I forget that your +Ladyship is yet confined to your room. May the Lord Jesus make +it a Bethel, a house of God, and a gate of heaven to your soul!”</p> +</div> + +<p>Hitherto Lady Huntingdon had not corresponded with Mr. Hervey, though +she had long entertained a great regard for this amiable man. One or +two letters had passed between them, but no regular correspondence took +place till the close of the year 1749, at which time Mr. Whitefield +congratulated him thus:—“I am glad you have opened a correspondence +with our elect Lady. Keep it open, I entreat you, my dear friend, +and be not <i>nimis nullus</i>.” To the repeated request of Lady +Huntingdon, conveyed through Mr. Whitefield, Mr. Hervey at length +yielded, and commenced a correspondence, which continued uninterrupted +till he was removed to his eternal reward. His first letter was dated +February 2, 1750, and runs thus:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“My Lady—It is impossible for me to withhold my pen, or to +neglect the opportunity of the very first post, since I am +assured by your ladyship’s excellent chaplain, that a letter +from so mean a hand may hope for the honour of your acceptance.</p> + +<p>“But how shall I proceed, now I have begun? What religious truth +can I write that your Ladyship has not known? What Christian +grace can I suggest, that your Ladyship does not exercise? Or, +what valuable subject touch upon, which your own meditations +have not gone through? Yes, there is <i>one</i> subject, which +even your Ladyship’s exalted apprehensions have never found out +to perfection; I mean the sublime and adorable attributes of +the infinite God. What amazing glories shine forth, even in the +‘back parts’ of the Lord Jehovah, in those transient and dim +discoveries of himself which He vouchsafes to the children of +men—to creatures that dwell in clay!</p> + +<p>“If we talk of <i>power</i>, who is like unto the Lord our God?<span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">[124]</span> +‘which shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars +thereof tremble; which commandeth the sun and it riseth not, and +sealeth up the stars; which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and +treadeth upon the waves of the sea; which doeth great things +past finding out; yea, and wonders without number.’</p> + +<p>“If we admire <i>greatness</i>, how supremely great is He who +inhabits eternity; who spans immensity; before whom all nations +are as the small drop of the bucket; are as the smaller dust +upon the balance; are less than nothing, and vanity.</p> + +<p>“If we reverence <i>holiness</i>, the Lord of Hosts is ‘glorious +in holiness.’ O how transcendently holy is that Being who +looketh into the moon, and it shineth not; yea, the stars are +not pure in his sight; who sees defilement in the brightness +of the firmament, and charges his angels with folly; to the +footstool of whose throne not the most irreproachable saint may +draw near, but only through the atonement and intercession of a +Divine Mediator.</p> + +<p>“Does <i>wisdom</i> challenge our esteem? ‘O the depths of the +riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!’ He has ordered +all things, through heaven, through earth, and through universal +nature, in numbers, weight, and measure. But, by the marvellous +work of redemption, he has brought light out of darkness; +fetched the most sovereign good from the most destructive +evil; has reconciled the claims of inflexible justice with +the overtures of unmerited mercy. Has given such a display +of his unsearchably wise counsels, as the highest archangels +contemplate with amazement, adoration, and joy.</p> + +<p>“Is <i>goodness</i> aimable? How superabundant is the goodness +of the Lord! To give us a world for our accommodation, enriched +with innumerable conveniences, adorned with innumerable +beauties, is a small thing for the God of love. He has prepared +a heaven of happiness, and mansions of immortal glory, for our +final reception. Is not this enough?—enough, one would think, +to charm our hearts, and make them glow with gratitude. Yet +not nearly enough for the boundless beneficence of our God. He +spared us when we deserved everlasting punishment. He loved us +when we were altogether become abominable. So immensely, so +inconceivably did he love us, apostates and rebels as we were, +that he gave his Son, his Son beyond thought illustrious, to die +in our stead, and to make a reconciliation for our iniquities.</p> + +<p>“My paper shortens, and my subject increases: I must therefore +refrain. Only I pray that your Ladyship may enjoy, every day, +every hour, every moment, richer manifestations of this adorable +God, and of Jesus Christ, whom he hath sent. May your Ladyship +delight yourself in this unutterably excellent Being, and may he +give you the desire of your heart! Your Ladyship’s desire, I am +persuaded, is, that you may be conformed to his lovely image, +and resigned to his blessed will. My desire, and the desire of +thousands, to whom your Ladyship’s bounty has been a relief, +and your Ladyship’s example a blessing, is comprehended in that +precious promise recorded Psalm xci. 14, 15, 16. I have not +room to transcribe it; but it shall be turned<span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">[125]</span> into a prayer for +your Ladyship, by your Ladyship’s most obliged and most dutiful +servant,”</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“James Hervey.”</p> +</div> + +<p>To return to Mr. Whitefield. From Bristol he proceeded to the Land’s +End, preaching at a great many places by the way. From St. Ginny’s he +writes thus:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I preached at Tavistock on my way hither, and yesterday was +a glorious day of the Son of Man. Our Lord gave us to see his +stately steps and outdoings in the sanctuary. Four of Mr. +Wesley’s preachers were present, and also four clergymen in +their gowns and cassocks; Mr. Bennett, aged four-score, Mr. +Thompson, Mr. Grigg, and myself. Mr. Thompson desired that his +most dutiful respects might be presented to your Ladyship. +Blessed be God that you are better. I am not forgetful of you +by night or by day. I hope the souls of your honoured sisters +do prosper; and that you will yet live to see Jesus Christ +formed in the hearts of all your relations. That everything +your Ladyship writes, says, or does, may be mightily owned +and blessed by the Redeemer, is the continual prayer of your +Ladyship’s most obliged and ready servant, for Christ’s sake.”</p> +</div> + +<p>One reason for Mr. Whitefield’s visit to the West, at this time, was +to see how his letter to the Bishop of Exeter had been received. He +found, in his own circle there, that it had been “much blest.” He +learnt also that “my Lord of Exeter had said, he writes like an honest +man, and had recanted several things; but (added Lavington) he <i>goes +on</i> in the same way yet.” He did. He went to Exeter, and appeared +in the <i>fields</i> again. The Bishop, therefore, threatened another +pamphlet. Lavington could do no more against Methodists than write. Mr. +Thompson, Vicar of St. Ginny’s—the intimate friend of Lady Huntingdon, +Mr. Whitefield, Mr. Wesley, and Mr. Hervey—was educated at Exeter +College, Oxford; and after entering into orders, became chaplain to +the “Tiger” man-of-war, in which he went to America. On his return +to England, he became incumbent of St. Ginny’s, near Camelford, in +Cornwall, and succeeded to a family estate of about five hundred pounds +a year. He was a first-rate genius, and much caressed by neighbouring +ministers and gentry; but was a very gay, dissipated young man. In +the midst of his debaucheries, he had the following dream:—“This day +month, at six in the afternoon, you must appear before the judgment of +Christ, to give an account of the dreadful abuse of all your talents, +and the injuries done to the souls committed to your care.” This +remarkable dream, twice repeated, with circumstances of great terror, +was the means of his conversion. He was now filled with a burning zeal +for the honour of God, and love for immortal souls. He<span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">[126]</span> returned to his +pulpit, and commenced preaching experimentally the doctrine of man’s +fall, sin, and misery; the necessity of regeneration; the imputation +of Christ’s righteousness; the necessity of holiness as the evidence +of acceptance before a holy God; and the absolute need of the energy +of the Holy Spirit, to begin and carry on a saving change in the heart +and life. The hand of the Lord remarkably sealed the promulgation of +these doctrines in the conversion of numbers in his parish. In March, +1748, all the neighbouring ministers shut their pulpit doors against +him; and he was soon after summoned before his diocesan to answer the +charges made against him. The Bishop threatened to “strip the gown from +him” for his “Methodistical practices,” and for daring to countenance +Mr. Whitefield. His Lordship was saved the trouble; for that moment +Mr. Thompson stripped himself, and throwing the gown at Lavington’s +feet, said, “I can preach the Gospel without a gown;”<a id="FNanchor_64" href="#Footnote_64" class="fnanchor">[64]</a> and retired. +Astonished at such independent conduct, the Bishop stood amazed, and on +recovering his surprise, sent for Mr. Thompson, and soothed him; but he +indemnified himself for his condescension, by publishing immediately +the second part of his “Enthusiasm Compared.” Mr. Whitefield had good +reason, as well as great provocation, to say of both parts, “The Bishop +has served the Methodists as the Bishop of Constance served John +Huss, when he ordered painted devils to be put round his head before +burning him.” He did not answer him. He did better. He went to Exeter,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">[127]</span> +accompanied by a Rural Dean, to preach the Gospel as usual, and divine +influence accompanied the word. “This (he says) is, I think, the best +way to answer those who oppose themselves.” He preached there twice +on the same day. In the evening, the Bishop and several of his Clergy +stood near to him, and saw ten thousand persons awe-struck by his +appeals. They saw also three large stones thrown in succession at his +head, by a furious drunkard, one of which cut him severely; but neither +the high-priest nor his Levites interfered, although one of their own +parishioners also was felled to the ground at the same time.</p> + +<p>These particulars are detailed in a letter from Mr. Whitefield to Lady +Huntingdon.</p> + +<p>About this period Lady Huntingdon received the melancholy intelligence +of the death of the Duke of Somerset, which occurred on the 7th of +February, at Percy Lodge, near Colnbrook. “Truly (writes her Ladyship) +I sympathize with my beloved Duchess on the loss of such a husband, +who was not more distinguished for his high birth and exalted rank, +than for generosity, affability, and every amiable quality which can +render a nobleman beloved and esteemed.” For some time previous to +his decease, his Grace was afflicted with severe pain, which he was +enabled to bear with the utmost patience and sweetness of temper. He +was a man of real piety, and presented to the view of every noble +person a pattern worthy of imitation. His end was peace: and in his +last moments he displayed such a calmness, composure, and resignedness, +such a heroic fortitude and constancy in death, as excited admiration, +and left a glorious proof of the powerful support with which the faith +and hope of the real Christian will furnish the good man in his most +destitute and latest moments.</p> + +<p>On the decease of the Duke, her Grace retired to “Percy Lodge,” the +place so often mentioned in the works of Shenstone, Thomson, and other +poets of her time, by whom she was deservedly admired and celebrated +for her fine taste, distinguished genius, amiable manners, and exalted +virtues. It was at Bath that Lady Huntingdon first became acquainted +with the Duchess, to whom she was introduced by the Dowager Lady +Hyndford, when a friendship commenced that continued uninterrupted to +the death of her Grace, which took place a few years after.<a id="FNanchor_65" href="#Footnote_65" class="fnanchor">[65]</a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">[128]</span></p> + +<p>Her Grace’s acquaintance with Lady Huntingdon was the means, under +God, of leading her to a saving knowledge of the Gospel before she was +removed hence. Mr. Whitefield, writing to Governor Belcher, speaking +of Lady Huntingdon, says:—“Her Ladyship corresponds with the Duchess +of Somerset, but I fear the latter doth not yet glory in the cross +of Christ so much as might be wished. You know we must have true +self-denial and a disinterested spirit, before we can be sincerely +willing to be accounted fools for Christ’s sake.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hangingindent">Earthquake in London—Mr. Romaine, his popularity—Lord +Northampton—The King’s Coachman—Lady Huntingdon appoints +Mr. Romaine her Chaplain—Ashby-place—Dr. Stonhouse—Dr. +Akenside—New Jersey College—Governor Belcher—President +Burr—Dissenting Ministers—Dr. Doddridge—Education of +Ministers—Mrs. Hester Gibbon—Mr. Law—Mr. Whitefield—Success +of his Ministry at Rotherham—Dr. Doddridge dedicates his Sermon +to Lady Huntingdon—Lord Lyttleton—Mr. Hervey—Dr. Doddridge +visits Ashby—Singular Accident—Lady Stonhouse—Colonel and Mr. +Galatin—Dr. Cotton—Miss Hotham.</p> +</div> + + +<p>Events of a most disastrous and terrifying nature had at this time +spread a general alarm, and awakened the most stolid in the metropolis +to a sense of danger. The earthquake by which Lisbon was destroyed, +the shocks felt in London, and the false alarm excited by pretended +prophecies of still greater devastation, had filled many with terror, +whom they could not bring to repentance. These signal judgments of +Jehovah were preceded by great profligacy of manners, and its fruitful +parent, licentiousness of principle. Iniquity stalked with brazen front +through the streets; and error, in ten thousand forms, vented its +unsoftened blasphemies against God and his Messiah.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">[129]</span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“As to faith (says one who preached on that occasion), 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 +O 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>: 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.”<a id="FNanchor_66" href="#Footnote_66" class="fnanchor">[66]</a></p> +</div> + +<p>The shocks felt in London at this time were considerably more violent +than any remembered for a great number of years: the earth moved +westward, then east, then westward again, through all London and +Westminster. It was a strong and jarring motion, attended with a +rumbling noise like that of thunder. Many houses were much shaken, and +some chimneys thrown down, but without any further hurt. Multitudes of +every description fled from the city with astonishing precipitation, +and others repaired to the fields and open places in the city. +Tower-hill, Moorfields, and, above all, Hyde Park, were crowded with +men, women, and children, who remained there a whole night under +direful apprehensions. Places of worship were thronged with frightened +sinners, especially the chapels of the Methodists, where multitudes +came all night knocking at the doors and begging admittance for God’s +sake. The convulsions of nature are always regarded by enthusiasts and +fanatics as the sure harbingers of its final 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. In consequence of 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 beholding the prophecy fulfilled: whilst thousands ran about the +streets in the most wild and frantic state of consternation, quite +certain that the day of judgment was about to commence: the scene<span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">[130]</span> was +truly awful. Fear filled the chapels of the Methodists with persons of +every description. Mr. Charles Wesley, who was then in London, preached +incessantly, and very many were awakened to a sense of their awful +condition before God, and led 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 +the most essential and important intelligence that ever assailed the +ear of mortals—that there is a Saviour, Christ the Lord. The darkness +of the night, and the awful horrors 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 that bespoke the fervour +of his soul, and with a grand majestic voice that commanded attention, +he took occasion from the circumstances of their assembling to call +the attention of the surrounding thousands to that most important +event, in which every soul will be essentially and particularly +concerned—namely, the grand final consummation of all things, the +universal wreck of nature, the dissolution of this lower world, and +the confirming and fixing the eternal and unalterable state of every +son and daughter of Adam. The awful manner in which he addressed the +careless, Christless sinner, the sublimity of the discourse, and the +appearance of the place, added to the gloom of the night, combined to +impress the mind with seriousness, and to render the event solemn and +memorable in the highest degree. Among those who failed not to improve +these awful providences was Mr. Romaine, who then published his “Alarm +to a Careless World,” and “The Duty of Watchfulness Enforced”—subjects +treated so nobly, and with such awful views of our state and danger, +that the two discourses remain, not merely the temporary warnings of +the day, but equally applicable at the present time to the inhabitants +of the great metropolis, where the sins that bring down God’s judgment, +and the number of those who commit them, seem to have gone on in an +increasing ratio, and the same punishment for which can be delayed or +averted only by the piety and prayers of such men as Mr. Whitefield and +Mr. Romaine.</p> + +<p>We must brave abuse when speaking the truth, and fear not to lay open +the nakedness of the land, because of the enmity which the fidelity +of our narrative may excite. It may be a bold, but it is nevertheless +a faithful assertion, that Mr. Romaine was, at the time of which we +speak, almost, if not altogether, singular in the testimony he bore for +Christ in the Church of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">[131]</span> England in this metropolis. The Methodists +had indeed awakened great attention; they had at their commencement +attracted immense auditories by their occasional discourses in the +different churches to which they were invited; but as no one of them +had any church settlement in the metropolis which could be considered +as legally his own, the doors of the Church were soon closed against +them, and they were driven into the fields, or into the chapels of +their own erection, whither they whom their ministry had awakened fled +for refuge, resolved to hear <i>the Gospel</i> wheresoever it should +be preached, rather than be confined to mere morals and the husks of +formality. They who have once tasted that the Lord is gracious must +have the bread of life, and they will seek it even in Egypt.</p> + +<p>Mr. Romaine, who had descended from the stilts of self-taught +excellence, and the enticing words of man’s wisdom, to the plainness +and simplicity of the doctrine of the cross, determined henceforth +to know nothing else but Jesus Christ, and him crucified; and God +immediately began to bless his testimony with the signs of conversion. +He had been elected to St. Dunstan’s somewhat before his appointment to +St. George’s, Hanover-square, and at both places the word of the Lord, +preached in the light of love, was glorified. Mr. Romaine’s now eminent +position drew attention—to his voice, his manner, and more especially +to the subjects he treated, to the dissimilarity of all around him +to what was observed in other churches. Although he still adhered to +the written sermon, he delivered it with energy and pathos, and great +and small bore testimony to the power with which he spake. The Gospel +from his mouth appeared to them another Gospel from that which they +had heard before. His fame spread—multitudes thronged around him; the +church was crowded, the parishioners incommoded;<a id="FNanchor_67" href="#Footnote_67" class="fnanchor">[67]</a> the merely formal +among the clergy were tacitly reproved by his example, so opposite to +theirs; a conspiracy was formed to remove him, and the rector, wrought +upon by his enemies, was induced to dismiss him, on no other ground +than that he had ceased not to preach and to teach the Gospel of Christ +Jesus. Among the members of the congregation who continued stedfast to +Mr. Romaine was Mr. John Sanderson, many years state coachman to George +III. He exemplified in himself <i>the life</i>,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">[132]</span> <i>the walk</i>, and +<i>the triumph of faith</i> so excellently described by the honoured +instrument of his conversion. Of this individual, now occupying a +place before Him who is no respecter of persons, a few recollections +may be acceptable. He was brought up a coachman, and although, in his +day, post-chaises were in little use, yet his <i>road-work</i>, such +as driving the nobility down to Bath, &c., had already pointed him out +for good conduct and recommended him to favour, when, being at Exeter, +while Mr. Cennick was preaching in the streets, a new motive for the +exercise of Christian energy was afforded him; the preacher, who had +already been ill-treated by the mob, was expatiating on the blood of +Christ, when a ruffian butcher, exclaiming “If you like blood, you +shall soon have enough of it,” rushed from his shop with a pail nearly +full of blood, which he would have cast on Mr. Cennick, had not Mr. +Sanderson calmly met him, and, suddenly catching the pail, poured its +contents over the man’s own head. This drew the attention of the mob +from the preacher to Mr. Sanderson, who escaped with difficulty, and +was obliged to leave the city early in the morning. From that moment to +his death, which occurred on the 13th of August, 1799, in the 89th year +of his age, he adorned the doctrine he professed by a conversation such +as becometh godliness.</p> + +<p>But the greatest good often results from the sufferings and +persecutions of God’s people; as the blood of the martyrs has been +always the seed of the Church. Lord Northampton, who had married Lady +Huntingdon’s relative, the Baroness Ferrars, of Chartley, granddaughter +and heir of Robert, first Earl Ferrars,<a id="FNanchor_68" href="#Footnote_68" class="fnanchor">[68]</a> had mentioned Mr. Romaine +with high commendation. He spoke of his doctrine with respect, and of +his abilities with admiration. He was now turned out of St. George’s, +Hanover-square, but, reluctant to part with many who were dear to him, +and who wished still to profit by his labours, he met them at the house +of a Mr. Butcher; for which pretended irregularity, being threatened +with a prosecution in the most apostolic spiritual court, the excellent +Lady Huntingdon, supposing she had a right to protect him from this +fresh opposition, invited him to her house in Park-street, gave him her +scarf, and, as her chaplain, he continued long to preach to the poor +in her kitchen<span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">[133]</span> unmolested; as he did afterwards in her drawing-room, +to numbers of the nobility who were invited by her Ladyship to hear +the Gospel, and where, by his aid, with that of Mr. Whitefield, the +seraphic Mr. Jones of St. Saviour’s, Mr. Wesley, and others, a weekly +lecture was delivered to a very polite circle. The utility of these +labours shortly after induced the Countess to erect or open a variety +of chapels at Brighton, Oathall, Bath, and Bretby, in all which Mr. +Romaine zealously laboured for her with singular benediction. But the +relation of these faithful services, and the great success attending +them, must be reserved for a fitter period of our history, with the +observation, that God never fails to bring still greater good out of +man’s enmity and opposition to his Gospel. “The wrath of man shall +praise him.”</p> + +<p>To return to the earthquake. During that awful visitation Lady +Huntingdon continued at Ashby-place, much indisposed. In a letter to +her Ladyship, Mr. Whitefield says:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“God has been terribly shaking the metropolis. I hope it is an +earnest of his giving a shock to secure sinners, and making +them to cry out, <i>What shall we do to be saved?</i> I trust, +honoured Madam, you have been brought to believe on the Lord +Jesus, and have experienced the beginning of a real salvation +in your heart. What a mercy is this! To be plucked as a brand +out of the burning—to be one of those few <i>mighty</i> and +<i>noble</i> that are called effectually by the grace of God; +what consolation must this administer to your Ladyship under all +afflictions! What can shake a soul whose hopes of happiness, in +time and in eternity, are built upon the Rock of Ages? Winds may +blow, rains may and will descend even upon persons of the most +exalted stations; but they that trust in the Lord Jesus Christ +never shall, never can, be totally confounded.”</p> +</div> + +<p>In a letter to the Countess Delitz, sister to the excellent Lady +Chesterfield, he likewise notices the awful occurrences in the +metropolis:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“The earthquake hath been an alarming providence. Happy they +that have an interest in Christ, and are always ready! On him +alone is my strength and safety founded. Did not this support +and comfort your Ladyship under the awful alarm? Go on, then, +honoured Madam, and, by a constant looking to Jesus, make +continual advance in the divine life, which I believe hath +been communicated to you from above. The more you see of His +excellences, the more will all created things sicken and die in +your view and taste. Wherever I am, your Ladyship and honoured +sister, with the other honourable ladies, are continually +remembered by me at the throne of grace. I hope all are +determined with full purpose of heart to cleave unto the Lord.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Lady Huntingdon’s indisposition still continuing, Mr. Whitefield<span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">[134]</span> left +London for Ashby, and on his way thither had an interview with Drs. +Stonhouse and Doddridge, and Messrs. Hervey and Hartley.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“On the Tuesday (says Mr. Whitefield), I preached in the morning +to Dr. Doddridge’s family, and in the afternoon to above two +thousand in the field. Dr. Stonhouse, Mr. Hervey, &c., attended +me, and walked with me afterwards along the street; so that I +hope the physician will now turn his back on the world, and be +content to follow a despised crucified Redeemer without reserve. +I expounded at his house in the evening, and am hereafter to +come to it as my own.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Of this interview Mr. Hervey has preserved the following account:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I have seen lately 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,<a id="FNanchor_69" href="#Footnote_69" class="fnanchor">[69]</a> 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 +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 humour or extravagances +of behaviour, 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> +</div> + +<p>On Mr. Whitefield’s arrival at Ashby, he found the Countess very weak, +but better than he expected. On this, as on a former visit to Ashby, +some of the baser sort were stirred up to riot before her Ladyship’s +door while Mr. Whitefield was preaching, and some persons in their way +home narrowly escaped being murdered. A magistrate residing in the +neighbourhood sent a message to Lady Huntingdon, in order to bring +the offenders before him. In a letter to Mrs. Colonel Galatin, Mr. +Whitefield says:—</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">[135]</span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Good Lady Huntingdon hath been ill, but is recovering. There +hath been an awakening at Ashby; but opposition begins to show +itself in these parts by the instrumentality of a Dissenting +minister.”</p> +</div> + +<p>To another of his correspondents he writes thus:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“For a few days I have been at good Lady Huntingdon’s, who, +though weak in body, is always abounding in the work of the +Lord. I preach daily at her Ladyship’s, and this week, God +willing, I shall preach in two or three churches.”</p> +</div> + +<p>After Mr. Whitefield left Ashby, in a letter to her Ladyship, he says:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I shall be glad to hear what becomes of the rioters. O that +your Ladyship may live to see many of those Ashby stones become +children to Abraham!” And again:—“Ungrateful Ashby! O that +thou knewest the day of thy visitation! Surely your Ladyship +may shake off the dust of your feet against them. This was the +command which the meek and lowly Jesus gave to his apostles +where the Gospel was not received; and he himself departed +when the Gadarenes desired him to go from their coasts. This +justifies your Ladyship in removing Mr. Baddelley. What avails +throwing pearls before swine, who only turn again and rend you?”</p> +</div> + +<p>In a subsequent letter he writes:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Ever-honoured Madam—The Lord, as yet, hath but begun to bless +you; <i>you shall, you shall, you will be made a great blessing +indeed</i>. If dear Mr. Hervey gets Ashby, that will be making +you a blessing. I am glad that both he and Mr. Doddridge have +been with your Ladyship. I would have all good ministers come +and visit you; there are numbers would go scores of miles +willingly for that purpose. Your Ladyship hath acted like +yourself in forgiving the offenders; such offences come that +Christ’s followers may give evidence of his blessed temper being +wrought in their hearts. Your letter revived my heart, and gave +me some fresh hopes for ungrateful Ashby.”</p> +</div> + +<p>To his friend and correspondent, Lady Gertrude Hotham, Mr. Whitefield +says:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Good Lady Huntingdon I left some time ago, weak in body, +but strong in the grace which is in Jesus Christ. Thousands +and thousands flocked to hear the word twice every day, and +the power of God has attended it in a glorious manner. But +the good people of Ashby were so kind as to mob round her +Ladyship’s door whilst the Gospel was preaching. Alas! how +great and irreconcilable is the enmity of the serpent! This is +my comfort—the Seed of the woman shall at length be more than +Conqueror over all. Her Ladyship will yet live, I trust, to +declare the works of the Lord. Ashby is not worthy of so rich a +pearl. The Countess and Lady Fanny were constantly remembered at +Ashby at the holy table.”<a id="FNanchor_70" href="#Footnote_70" class="fnanchor">[70]</a></p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">[136]</span></p> + +<p>About the period that Dr. Stonhouse<a id="FNanchor_71" href="#Footnote_71" class="fnanchor">[71]</a> and Dr. Akenside, author +of the “Pleasures of Imagination,” came to reside at Northampton, +the Rev. James Hervey had also removed to that part of the country, +and his preaching began to be attended with signal success. Mr. +Whitefield soon after paid a visit to Northampton, and was invited +by Dr. Doddridge to preach in his pulpit. This gave violent offence, +and exposed the Doctor<span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">[137]</span> to the censure and expostulations of many of +his brethren in the ministry: but the Christian simplicity and gentle +firmness with which Dr. Doddridge defended himself and two of his +pupils, Mr. Darracott and Mr. Fawcett, from the unmerited and bigoted +reproaches with which his moderate conduct towards the Methodists had +been assailed, reflects the highest credit on his character. The wrath +manifested towards him was unreasonable: for Mr. Whitefield’s visit at +Northampton was rather to his old friend and brother Churchman, the +ingenious author of the “Meditations.”</p> + +<p>Dr. Johnson, in his “Lives of the Poets,” speaking of Akenside, +observes—“Being now to live by his profession, he first commenced +physician at Northampton, where Dr. Stonhouse then practised with such +reputation and success, that a stranger was not likely to gain ground +upon him.” Dr. Akenside was patronized by the Huntingdon family, and +an Ode was addressed by him to the young Lord Hastings, afterwards +Earl of Huntingdon. Encouraged by such patronage, he tried the contest +with Dr. Stonhouse for a time; but his unnecessary zeal for what he +called and thought liberty disgusted Lord Huntingdon: “A zeal (says +Dr. Johnson) which sometimes disguises from the world, and not rarely +from the mind which it possesses, an anxious desire of plundering +wealth or degrading greatness, and of which the immediate tendency is +innovation and anarchy—an impetuous eagerness to subvert and confound, +with very little care what shall be established.” Though the son of a +Presbyterian, and educated for the office of a Dissenting minister, yet +he was entirely unsupported by the Dissenters at Northampton. He might +have had the support and countenance of Dr. Doddridge, to whom he was +known, but the intimacy which had subsisted for some time between him +and Dr. Stonhouse, and the obligation which the town and country owed +to the latter, as the founder of the infirmary, induced him to deny +his support to Dr. Akenside, who, after losing the patronage of Lord +Huntingdon, and deafening the place with clamours for liberty, removed +to Hampstead, where he resided a short time, and then fixed himself in +London, the proper place for a man of accomplishments like his.</p> + +<p>Of Mr. Hervey, Mr. Whitefield says:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Your sentiments concerning Mr. Hervey’s book are very just. +It has gone through six editions; the author of it is my old +friend, a most heavenly-minded creature, one of the first of the +Methodists, who is contented with a small cure, and gives all +that he has to the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">[138]</span> poor. He is very weak, and waits daily for +his dissolution. A neighbouring clergyman<a id="FNanchor_72" href="#Footnote_72" class="fnanchor">[72]</a> near him preaches +the Gospel; and a physician,<a id="FNanchor_73" href="#Footnote_73" class="fnanchor">[73]</a> formerly a noted Deist, has +lately espoused the interest of Jesus of Nazareth. We correspond +with, though we cannot see one another: we shall, ere long, meet +in heaven—</p> + + <div class="poetry-container1"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="ileft">‘There pain, and sin, and sorrow cease,</div> + <div>And all is calm, and joy, and peace.’”</div> + </div> + </div> + </div> + +</div> + +<p>Soon after Dr. Stonhouse, the converted infidel, had become the +apostolic minister, we find Mr. Whitefield writing thus to Mr. Hervey:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“For Christ’s sake, my dear Mr. Hervey, exhort Dr. Stonhouse, +now he hath taken the gown, to play the man, and let the world +see that, not worldly motives, but God’s glory and a love for +souls, have sent him into the ministry. Though when I conversed +with him he was exceedingly weak, yet, as I trust there is +sincerity at the bottom, I hope he will turn out a flamer at +last.”</p> +</div> + +<p>The prevailing weakness of this good man was a dread of being +considered a Methodist. Worldly hopes and worldly fears were a +perpetual stumbling-block in his way. He had not yet learned to endure +the cross, despising the shame.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I earnestly wish (says the Countess) to see you more actively +engaged in the cause of Christ, and in shedding abroad the +savour of his most precious name. Go forth boldly—fear not +the reproach of man—and preach the inestimable gift of God to +impotent sinners. My poor intercessions are ever offered in your +behalf, that you may be led forth to testify the righteousness +of our Immanuel, freely imputed to guilty, hell-deserving man, +for his complete justification and acceptance with the Judge of +all; and I shall cease not to beseech the Father of mercies and +Fountain of light that you may be anointed with the Holy Ghost +and with power.”<a id="FNanchor_74" href="#Footnote_74" class="fnanchor">[74]</a></p> +</div> + +<p>Mr. Whitefield’s interview with Dr. Stonhouse, on his way<span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">[139]</span> to Ashby, +excited in his warm and generous heart the liveliest sensations of +gratitude for the signal conversion which God had wrought. On his +arrival at Lady Huntingdon’s he communicated what he had witnessed to +her Ladyship, who rejoiced with him that the Doctor had been called +without the camp to bear that reproach which all who will live godly +in Christ Jesus, but especially those who preach him to a proud, +self-righteous, gainsaying world, must ever expect to meet for their +fidelity. Knowing some of the peculiarities of his character, Mr. +Whitefield lost not a moment in communicating that advice which he +conceived most needed for the confirming of the new convert.<a id="FNanchor_75" href="#Footnote_75" class="fnanchor">[75]</a> A few +days after his arrival at Lady Huntingdon’s he addressed the following +letter to Dr. Stonhouse:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="r2">“Ashby, May 11, 1750.</p> + +<p>“My dear Doctor—I have thought of and prayed for you much +since we parted at Northampton. Now, I believe, is the time in +which the axe is to be laid at the very root of the tree. How +wonderfully doth the Lord Jesus watch over you! How sweetly +does he lead you out of temptation! O! follow his leadings, my +dear friend, and let every, even the most beloved Isaac, be +immediately sacrificed for God. Kindness is cruelty here. Had +Abraham consulted either Sarah or his affections he never would +have taken the knife to slay his son. God’s law is our rule, +and God will have all the heart or none. Agags will plead, but +they must be hewn in pieces. May the Lord strengthen, stablish, +and settle you! Good Lady Huntingdon was much rejoiced to hear +that you had been without the camp. May you quit yourself like a +man, and in every respect behave like a good soldier of Jesus<span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">[140]</span> +Christ! Her Ladyship is very weak, <i>but I hope will yet be +spared to do much good on earth</i>. O, the happiness of giving +up all for Christ, who hath given himself for us. The Lord be +with you. I am yours to command,</p> + +<p class="r2 p-min">“G. W.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Lady Huntingdon was much interested at this time about an institution +which seemed to promise much benefit to the cause of God, and the +extension of his kingdom on the continent of America. From time to +time her Ladyship had received letters from his Excellency Governor +Belcher, relative to the Presbyterian College in the New Jerseys. The +importance and extensive usefulness in this seminary to the spread of +the Gospel in the New World had been often mentioned by Mr. Whitefield, +who had been on the spot, and had conversed with many connected with +it. Principally by the exertions of Governor Belcher, the College was +now on a different footing from what it had hitherto been; and in the +early part of this year two gentlemen, Mr. Allen and Colonel Williams, +friends of the Governor, arrived in England, to negotiate all matters +concerning the institution, and collect funds which would enable the +president and trustees to enlarge the sphere of its operations. These +gentlemen brought letters to Lady Huntingdon, from Governor Belcher +and President Burr, which Mr. Whitefield presented to her on her +arrival at Ashby. A statement of the intended plan and enlargement of +the College was drawn up, and several of the Dissenting ministers in +London promised their assistance. By the advice of Lady Huntingdon this +statement was printed, together with a recommendation of the plan, +subscribed by her Ladyship, Dr. Doddridge, Mr. Whitefield, and others. +Being desirous of serving the interests of this rising institution, +which had many worthy presidents, some of whose names are well known in +the learned world, such as President Burr, Dr. Jonathan Edwards, Dr. +Samuel Davies, Dr. Samuel Finley, Dr. Witherspoon, &c., her Ladyship +was very active in collecting considerable sums amongst her friends +and acquaintances, and corresponded with many persons of eminence in +England and Scotland, to whom she communicated the mission of Mr. Allen +and Colonel Williams. Mr. Whitefield, likewise, lost no opportunity of +recommending the institution to the attention of those who, he thought, +could effectually further the objects it had in view. He preached +several sermons in its behalf; and in the course of a few months +considerable sums were collected, which were immediately transmitted to +America.</p> + +<p>Mr. Whitefield, in a letter to the Rev. Mr. McCulloch, of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">[141]</span> Cambuslang, +dated about a week after his arrival at Lady Huntingdon’s, says, “I +have desired to write you a long letter for a considerable time, +but was so hurried when at London that I could not be so explicit +as the affair I wanted to write about necessarily required. It is +concerning the Presbyterian College in the New Jerseys, the importance +and extensive usefulness of which I suppose you have long since been +apprized of. Mr. Allen, a friend of Governor Belcher’s, is come over +with a commission to negotiate this matter: he hath brought with him +a copy of a letter, which Mr. Pemberton sent to you some months past. +This letter hath been shown to Dr. Doddridge and several of the London +ministers, who all approve of the thing, and promise their assistance. +Last week I preached at Northampton, and conversed with Dr. Doddridge +concerning it. The scheme that was then judged most practicable +was this:—‘That Mr. Pemberton’s letter should be printed, and a +recommendation of the affair, subscribed by Dr. Doddridge and others, +be annexed;—that a subscription and collections should be then set on +foot in England, and afterwards that Mr. Allen should go to Scotland.’ +I think it is an affair that requires despatch. Governor Belcher<a id="FNanchor_76" href="#Footnote_76" class="fnanchor">[76]</a> is +old, but a most hearty man for promoting God’s glory and the good of +mankind. He looks upon the College as his own daughter, and will do all +he can to endow her with proper privileges. The present<span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">[142]</span> President, Mr. +Burr,<a id="FNanchor_77" href="#Footnote_77" class="fnanchor">[77]</a> and most of the trustees, I am well acquainted with. They are +friends to vital piety, and I trust this work of the Lord will prosper +in their hands. The spreading of the Gospel in Maryland and Virginia in +a great measure depends upon it, and therefore I wish them much success +in the name of the Lord.”</p> + +<p>Unhappily for the scheme of the New Jersey College, Mr. Allen, who came +over on purpose to negotiate it, was smitten by the fatal infection +which, during the summer of this year, was so prevalent at the Old +Bailey,<a id="FNanchor_78" href="#Footnote_78" class="fnanchor">[78]</a> and died about two months after his arrival in England. +Colonel Williams returned to America, and Dr. Doddridge wrote largely +to Mr. Pemberton, urging him to visit England the ensuing summer, and +to bring over with him some of the converted Indians—a scheme which +had been suggested by Lady Huntingdon, from an idea that it<span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">[143]</span> would be +a convincing proof to the public of the good that had already been +effected, and was likely to result more largely from the extended +operations of the College. Thus matters remained till the visit of +Messrs. Tennant and Davies to England in 1753.</p> + +<p>It was about the same period that several meetings were held in London +for the purpose of establishing an academy for the education of young +men for the ministry amongst the Dissenters. In many congregations the +life and power of religion was almost extinct, and others were wholly +destitute of pastors; so much so, that when Mr. Whitefield was applied +to for a minister to take charge of a church in America, he returned +for answer:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I wish I could send you good news about your minister. But, +alas! I despair of procuring one. I waited upon Dr. Gifford +immediately after my arrival; he gave no hopes. The person that +was fixed upon declined it. Several of the large congregations +in London, besides many more in the country, are without +pastors: they are obliged to make use of our preachers. O that +the Lord of the harvest may thrust out more labourers into his +harvest!”</p> +</div> + +<p>Dr. Doddridge felt extremely anxious for the establishment of an +institution that would furnish a succession of true Christian +evangelical ministers to the churches. He circulated the printed +prospectus which had been sent him by the Committee in London, and +was very active in procuring funds, and recommending it to the +Dissenting churches in his neighbourhood. From Lady Huntingdon, to +whom he mentioned the scheme when at Ashby, he received a most liberal +contribution, accompanied by her prayers and good wishes for its +success. When her Ladyship’s donation was remitted to the Committee +in London, the Rev. John Barker, an eminent Dissenting minister in +the metropolis, says, “Lady Huntingdon’s generosity is noble and +catholic.”<a id="FNanchor_79" href="#Footnote_79" class="fnanchor">[79]</a></p> + +<p>Mr. Barker was morning preacher at Salter’s Hall, long esteemed one +of the most celebrated places of worship among the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">[144]</span> Dissenters. For +many years the congregation was large and respectable, and it was +considerably increased during Mr. Barker’s ministration, by the +attendance of great numbers of the awakened people in the metropolis, +who were eager to profit by his preaching. Lady Huntingdon, Lady +Chesterfield, Lord Dartmouth, and some others of the nobility, +occasionally formed part of his auditory.</p> + +<p>In the correspondence of Lady Huntingdon, Dr. Doddridge, and Mr. +Barker, frequent allusion is made to the decline of vital godliness in +many of the Dissenting churches. “In my opinion (says the Countess), +coldness and indifference have much to do with the desertion so often +and so justly complained of. Were the Gospel of our adorable Saviour +preached in purity and with zeal, the places would be filled with +hearers, and God would bless his own word to the conversion of souls. +Witness the effects produced by those whom he hath sent forth of late +to proclaim his salvation. What numbers have been converted to God, and +what multitudes attend to hear the word wherever it is proclaimed in +the light and the love of it.”</p> + +<p>In his “Free Thoughts on the most probable means of serving the +Dissenting Interest,” and in his letter to his numerous correspondents, +Dr. Doddridge expresses his firm persuasion that the preaching of +evangelical doctrines in a plain, spiritual, experimental, and +affectionate way, is the only thing which can preserve a congregation +from decay, and revive it when it is decayed. So much did the existence +of Dissenters, in his view, depend on this one thing, that he expresses +his sentiments in the following terms:—</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">[145]</span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I cannot but believe, if the Established clergy and the +Dissenting ministers in general were mutually to exchange their +strain of preaching and their manner of living but for one year, +it would be the ruin of our cause, even though there should be +no alteration in the constitution and discipline of the Church +of England. However you might fare at London, or in some very +singular cases elsewhere, I can hardly imagine that there would +be Dissenters enough left in some considerable counties to fill +one of our largest meeting-places.”</p> +</div> + +<p>On the character of its ministers the prosperity of the Church will at +all times greatly depend. That they should first be men of talents and +piety is devoutly to be desired. Education succeeds to prepare them +for this peculiar service. Could a greater blessing be wished for the +human race, than that it might be regarded as an universal maxim, “that +no man should receive an education for the pastoral office who had not +first been made a partaker of a divine nature, and know the grace of +God in truth?” Could a man write Latin with the elegance of a Cicero, +or Greek with the sublimity of a Plato—could he compose poetry like +Virgil, and vie as a mathematician with Euclid or Sir Isaac Newton, +how little would they all conduce to make him a good minister of Jesus +Christ; for they all lie at the remotest distance from the knowledge of +a Saviour, and the doctrine which is according to godliness. The most +illiterate man that ever entered a pulpit, if he understands the method +of salvation, is versed in the Scriptures, and can tell one unvarnished +tale of Him who died upon the cross to save the chief of sinners, +though he cannot utter a single sentence without a breach of the rules +of grammar, is infinitely better qualified for the pastoral office, and +will do unspeakably more service in promoting the salvation of immortal +souls.</p> + +<p>The awful departure from the “faith once delivered to the saints” +in many of the old Dissenting congregations, and the great want of +evangelical ministers and students to supply the place of those who +were daily dropping into another world, became the objects of Lady +Huntingdon’s particular solicitude. She had contributed nobly to the +evangelical seminary to be established by the Dissenting ministers in +London, and now turned her attention to the academy at Northampton, +under the management of Dr. Doddridge, whom she and some of her friends +enabled to increase his establishment by the addition of two tutors, +and six boys to be instructed in grammatical learning:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“The want of ministers and students is so seen and felt (says +the Doctor), and the necessity of the scheme for educating lads +not yet<span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">[146]</span> ripe for academical studies is grown so apparent, that +between three and four score pounds per annum have been, by +well-disposed persons, without any pressing solicitations from +me, subscribed for that purpose. And I have now in that view +the six following—Mr. Bennett, a serious lad, lately arrived, +and who is subsisted by an exhibition of ten guineas yearly +from Lady Huntingdon; Messrs. Howe, Brooks, Robotham, Cole, +and Smith, three of whom come from a distance: and I hope they +will many of them prove a seed to serve the Lord, who shall be +accounted to him for a generation. The number of pupils and lads +altogether is now thirty-six.”<a id="FNanchor_80" href="#Footnote_80" class="fnanchor">[80]</a></p> +</div> + +<p>Mr. Whitefield appears to have continued at Ashby about a fortnight, +actively engaged in preaching whenever he could obtain a pulpit:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Your kind letter (says he to Dr. Doddridge) found me happy +at our good Lady Huntingdon’s, whose path shines brighter and +brighter unto the perfect day. Gladly shall I call upon you +again at Northampton, if the Lord spares my life; and in the +meanwhile shall not fail to pray that the work of our common +Lord may more and more prosper in your hands. I thank you a +thousand times for your kindness to the chief of sinners, and +assure you, reverend Sir, that the affection is reciprocal. Good +Lady Huntingdon greatly esteems you. I go with regret from her +Ladyship, who intends writing to you this evening: do come and +see her soon. I shall not be unmindful of your sick student.<a id="FNanchor_81" href="#Footnote_81" class="fnanchor">[81]</a> +May the Lord Jesus sanctify all pain, and through his sufferings +make him perfect.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Leaving Ashby, Mr. Whitefield proceeded to Nottingham, and on his way +thither preached at Milburn and Radcliff. At the latter place, where +he was attended by great crowds, he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">[147]</span> preached on these words: “But one +thing is needful.” After sermon he conversed with Mrs. Hester Gibbon, +Mrs. Hutcheson, and a sister of the celebrated mystic, Mr. Law. The +divine power accompanied the word, “and many (says Mr. Whitefield) were +deeply impressed. Mr. Law’s sister seems to be under awakenings.”</p> + +<p>About ten years previous to this period, Mrs. Hester Gibbon, aunt to +the eloquent but infidel historian of the “Decline and Fall,” and Mrs. +Hutcheson, widow of Archibald Hutcheson, Esq., of the Middle Temple, +having formed the plan of retiring from the world to the exercise of +charitable and religious duties, took the well-known author of “The +Serious Call to a Devout Life” as their chaplain, instructor, and +almoner, and came to reside at King’s Cliffe, in Northamptonshire, +having previously lived for a short time at Thrapston, in the same +county. With these singular and benevolent characters Lady Huntingdon +soon became acquainted, and occasionally corresponded with Mrs. Gibbon +and Mr. Law. They were frequently visited by Mr. Hartley, who was an +extravagant admirer of the mystic writers, and in the latter years of +his life an enthusiastic follower of the Baron Swedenborg. The severe +indisposition under which Lady Huntingdon so long and resignedly +laboured appears to have excited considerable alarm in the minds of +Mrs. Gibbon and her amiable associates, and Mr. Hartley was deputed +bearer of the following letter to her Ladyship:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="r2">“King’s Cliffe, May 29, 1750.</p> + +<p>“My dear Madam—Your excellent physician, and our worthy and +respected friend, Dr. Stonhouse, about a month since, was +so kind as to inform us of your Ladyship’s illness, and the +alarming state of debility to which you were reduced. At our +particular wish, Mr. Law requested good Mr. Hartley to visit +Ashby, and report to us the result of his observations; but the +duties of his parish prevented his leaving home at that time, +and we were not able to learn any tidings of your Ladyship till +the other day, when we were delighted with the sight of your +valuable chaplain, Mr. Whitefield. O, my dear Madam, how have +we prayed and wrestled with the great Author of life and light +for the preservation of your invaluable existence! Precious +above estimation is the prolongation of such a life as yours. +We mourned, we wept, we prayed, and each returning day your +case was presented on our family altar. Thanks, eternal thanks +to Him, with whom are the issues of life and death, for your +restoration and subsequent amendment. My dear Mrs. Hutcheson has +not been quite well for some time, and good Mr. Law’s advanced +stage of life precludes our leaving our beloved retreat, +or we should do ourselves the gratification of personally +congratulating you on your recovery. Present our united<span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">[148]</span> thanks +and good wishes to Lady Anne Hastings for her kind remembrance +of us. We hope, now that your Ladyship is so much better, she +will pay us her long-promised visit. Best compliments to Lady +Frances and all your amiable circle, in which good Mr. Law most +cordially unites.</p> + +<p>“I remain, my dear Madam, very sincerely, and with Christian +affection, your faithful friend,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“Hester Gibbon.”<a id="FNanchor_82" href="#Footnote_82" class="fnanchor">[82]</a></p> +</div> + +<p>At Nottingham, Mr. Whitefield was attended by great multitudes, who +thronged every avenue to the place appointed for his preaching. +“Several came to me (says he) enquiring what they should do to be +saved? I preached four times. One evening Lord Essex and several +gentlemen were present, and behaved with great decency.” After leaving +Nottingham, Mr. Whitefield proceeded to Mansfield, Rotherham, and +Sheffield, in which places he preached several times with great and +remarkable success.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“After leaving Mansfield (writes Mr. Whitefield), I went to +Rotherham, where Satan rallied his forces again. However, I +preached twice on the Friday evening and Saturday morning. +The crier was employed to give notice of a bear-baiting: your +Ladyship may guess who was the <i>bear</i>. About seven in the +morning the drum was heard, and several watermen attended it +with great staves. The constable was struck, and two of the +mobbers were apprehended, but rescued afterwards. But all this +does not come up to the kind usage of the people of Ashby. I +preached on these words: ‘Fear not, little flock.’ They were +both fed and feasted; and after a short stay I left Rotherham, +when I knew it was to become more pacific.”</p> +</div> + +<p>With this species of brutal opposition, the propagation of malicious +falsehoods was encouraged, with a design to counteract the good effects +of his labours. Mr. Thorpe, afterwards pastor of the Independent Church +at Masborough, near Rotherham, ranged under the standard of his most +virulent opposers; and not content with personal insult, added private +ridicule to public interruption. Public houses became theatres where +the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">[149]</span> fate of religious opinions was to be determined.<a id="FNanchor_83" href="#Footnote_83" class="fnanchor">[83]</a> But a mighty +change awaited Mr. Thorpe, the heart of the scoffer became changed, +and the people whom, in the days of his blindness and thraldom to +Satan, he so frequently reviled, became the object of his delight. +He sought their company with avidity, and soon after became a member +of Mr. Ingham’s connexion, which at this period had spread over a +great part of Yorkshire and some of the neighbouring counties. His +habitual seriousness and uniform morality soon endeared him to his new +connexions, and the specimen he gave of his talents, in his occasional +exercises in private, flattered their hopes that he would soon be +called forth to public notice. In these expectations they were not +disappointed,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">[150]</span> for he was quickly sent forth by Mr. Ingham to “preach +the faith which he once laboured to destroy.” He afterwards preached +for a short time in Mr. Wesley’s connexion; but his ideas becoming +more enlarged in the doctrines of grace, he was eventually chosen +pastor of the Independent Church at Masborough, where he exercised the +ministerial function thirteen years. On the 8th of November, 1776, +and the 46th year of his age, he gently resigned his breath without a +struggle, and doubtless went triumphantly to the perfect worship and +happiness of heaven! He left a son, the Rev. William Thorpe, for many +years one of the stated supplies at the Tabernacle and Tottenham-court +Chapel, London, and minister of Castle-green meeting, in Bristol.</p> + +<p>It was about this time that Dr. Doddridge, who had long known and +highly estimated the talents and virtues of Lady Huntingdon, preached +at a meeting of ministers at Creaton, in Northamptonshire, and +afterwards published a sermon, the title of which is, “Christian +Candour and Unanimity stated, illustrated, and urged.” This is an +admirable discourse, and exhibits a fine transcript of the author’s +own mind, which was fully attuned to the virtue he recommended. It was +addressed to Lady Huntingdon,<a id="FNanchor_84" href="#Footnote_84" class="fnanchor">[84]</a> and strongly displays his admiration +of her excellent character.</p> + +<p>Not long after the publication of this sermon, Lady Huntingdon wrote +to Dr. Doddridge. Her letter speaks of his friendship and candour, and +towards the close mentions Mr., afterwards the well known and excellent +Lord Lyttleton, with whom her Ladyship became acquainted about this +time. The letter is dated Ashby-place, June 6, 1750:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“My most excellent Friend—I know no one who, without intending +it, seems more calculated to betray me into a spirit of +partiality than yourself: for as your friendship and great +kindness to me bind me by obligation, so your piety and +abilities obtain both my love and highest estimation; and were I +to judge by you of all that think with you, I should have more +to say for my partiality than has fallen to the share<span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">[151]</span> of any +particular denomination; and yet, by looking a little farther, +I find to distinguish is my best privilege, as it ever will be +one of yours to be the most eminently distinguished; and thus my +preference honours and admires in you only what it would rejoice +to see in <i>all</i>; but this is reserved for heaven, and a few +pledges of it are given us to show how worthy it will be to all +eternity of our friendship.</p> + +<p>“Your candour is such a blessedness about you, that I fear it +will make you too soon fit for heaven, and leave no mourning +followers of your example. It is what my whole soul aspires +after—it is my reigning object, as well as subject of delight; +yet how do the fetters of prejudice, weakness, and ignorance, +contend with me; and still hope assures me, that feeling these +so strong will but occasion my bolder springs for liberty; and +while my chains thus oppress me, my longing heart pants for the +deliverance, and sighs after the happy prospect of breathing +love upon the whole creation. I live satisfied <i>for this</i> +to be despised, mistaken, and reproached; rejected by all, yet +rejecting none; from the unwearied labours of my life and love +hoping all things, and, in conformity to heaven’s best gift to +man, the Son of God, ready to yield up those prison garments +of flesh and blood a humble offering to testify it. For such +a paradise <i>in man</i> it was that Jesus Christ paid the +penalty—for this blessed reality he died. O, this high price! +Happy am I, though but a redeemed slave, and following my mighty +Conqueror in the bonds of guilt, fear, and shame; the multitude +does not make him forget me, though so far behind them all; and +on his pardon, the captive’s liberty has reached my rebellious +heart, he will yet delight to listen.</p> + +<p>“Thus does divine compassion show me the extremes of love in +him, and by it best discovers the depths of misery in myself, +and that nothing but a sad insensibility to the one can +exclude me from the other. That watchful care follows every +unguarded thought, and with those eyes which are as flames of +fire pursues all our enemies and drives them out before us, so +will he prepare the habitation of his creatures for himself, +till, from the charity of their souls, he can rejoice in them; +it is through this transparency alone we can behold him, for +‘blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God;’ and, +indeed, when we reflect upon the price of our ransom, we can +join in the reasonableness of the Apostle’s argument, and expect +unboundedly from such liberality—‘He who spared not his own +Son, but delivered <i>him</i> up for us all, <i>how shall he +not with him freely give us all things</i>?’ and yet by man a +guilty heart is thought too much to offer him! Oh! had he not +the love of God, even earth could not bear us, heaven could not +receive us, and then our miserable but just portion in eternal +banishment would be to enjoy only our own horrid natures—all +we could have left, and hell enough. I can say, for <i>one</i>, +mine would be so were I left to it, and that, my worthy +friend, I find myself a miserable being, existing in time out +of eternity; but that only in order to become, by an infinite +redemption from evil, a glorious, happy, and immortal creature, +by an acquaintance and resemblance of nature with the God and +Lord of all heaven and earth; and I do <i>now</i>, in part, by +<i>actual</i> possession, rejoice in the hope of that glory with +God for evermore. These truths<span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">[152]</span> want no metaphors: that well of +living water is ever springing up, and will eternally abound +with further displays of these infallible truths; and thus a +Christian can never have cause to despair, or ask any one if +the promises in the Bible belong to him;—he has got them, they +are wrote with the Spirit of the <i>living</i> God within him, +and each hour serves but to make the characters more legible. +Of this divine knowledge my soul <i>now</i> breathes with the +force and ardour of anticipated glory in hallelujahs with those +blessed spirits who are permitted to rejoice for us, though +not with us; they are strangers to the joys of redemption; and +oh! they must long to have come from Abraham’s loins, since +the humility of Jesus took upon him his nature; and who, being +thus lowly, makes them the blessed beings they are. Alas! what +a lesson of humility have they come from; rather, how must they +see their glory in this respect to be nothing, by reason of that +which so far excelled in the Son of God: they gaze and admire, +but these depths exceed the capacities of their natures. But +how or where am I looking myself? Even in a mystery the angels +are not worthy to look into. Forgive the eager adoration and +high sensibility of the love of Jesus Christ which carries my +transported heart to forget what I am, from the view of what +his love is resolved to make me, and from my great poverty: do +not wonder that this exaltation seems too much for me; it is +literally taking the beggar out of the dust and seating him for +a moment with the princes of his people.</p> + +<p>“But I must now beg you to return my kindest respects to Mr. +Lyttleton. I honour his sentiments of universal love to all good +men; may the choicest of all blessings rest upon him! I own I +should be glad to hear he was out of those trammels his vast +parts and knowledge may make him liable to continue in long; +his heart none ever doubted of being truly upright; but under +such his great temporal advantages, these humble condescensions +of becoming simple and quite unknown before God as a little +child, perhaps his whole life has been calculated to destroy; +books, men, friends, earthly pursuits, with the wise man’s +ambitious heart, all serve but to hold that humility cheap which +is to exalt God above all <i>these</i>; and till <i>He is</i> +depended upon <i>for all</i>, as the ignorance and helplessness +of a little child makes his parent the object of <i>all</i> its +hopes and fears, there is no help for man that can yield him a +rational joy or a secure hour upon earth. I suspect you have +spoken of me to him with that partiality of the friend I have +felt you to be: this is owing to your knowing me little, as well +as the goodness of your heart, that it makes you hope all things.</p> + +<p>“Assure Mrs. Doddridge it is I must sustain the disappointment, +by not having the pleasure of seeing her. How am I bound to your +prayers! It is these have again lifted me from the gates of +death. Do thank and bless <i>for me</i> the kindness of those +charitable souls who so entreated for me; may heaven, with every +pure joy upon earth, be their reward.</p> + +<p>“I am, my most excellent friend, with the truest respect and +most affectionate regard, your companion in the Gospel of Jesus +Christ,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“S. Huntingdon.”</p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">[153]</span></p> + +<p>Before Mr. Whitefield left Ashby, Lady Huntingdon wrote to Mr. +Hervey, requesting him to pay her a visit as soon as convenient. Mr. +Hervey obeyed the summons, and arrived at Ashby a few days before Mr. +Whitefield set out on his tour. Mr. Baddelley had been some weeks in +London, and during his absence Mr. Graves and Mr. Simpson alternately +supplied his place as domestic chaplain to the Countess and the Ladies +Hastings. Mr. Baddelley had been usefully and actively engaged during +his stay in the metropolis, preaching wherever he could obtain a +pulpit:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I am glad (says Mr. Whitefield) you have sounded the silver +trumpet in London; <i>crescit eundo</i> must be your motto and +mine. There is nothing like keeping the wheels oiled by action. +The more we do, the more we may do; every act strengthens the +habit: and the best preparation for preaching on Sundays, is to +preach every day in the week. I am glad you have peace at Ashby. +What a fool is Satan, always to overshoot his mark! I hope that +Mr. Graves, as well as Mr. Simpson, will hold on. They will be +glorious monuments of free grace indeed. I am like-minded with +you in respect to the Doctor’s comment; he is indeed a glorious +writer! May the Lord Jesus strengthen him to finish the work! My +dear Mr. Baddelley, what blessed opportunities do you enjoy for +meditation, study, and prayer! Now is your time to get rich in +grace, to search into the depths of divine love, and the mystery +of iniquity hid in your own heart. <i>Such an example, and such +advantages, no one in England is favoured with but yourself.</i> +I do not envy you; but I pray the Redeemer, from my inmost soul, +to sanctify your situation, and give you to increase with all +the increase of God.”</p> +</div> + +<p>In the month of June, Dr. Doddridge arrived at Ashby, but his stay +was of short duration, the duties of his congregation obliging him to +return to Northampton, having but lately returned from London, Norwich, +and other places, where he had been preaching with great acceptance and +success. He remained one Lord’s-day at her Ladyship’s, on which day Mr. +Baddelley read the service of the Church of England, and the Doctor +preached to a numerous congregation. In the evening Dr. Doddridge +exchanged places with her Ladyship’s chaplain, reading the Liturgy, and +Mr. Baddelley preaching. Speaking of this circumstance, Lady Huntingdon +remarks:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“His is a true Catholic spirit, that wishes well to the cause of +Christ in every denomination. I would that all the Dissenting +ministers I hear of were like-minded; less attached to all +the punctilios of order, system, regularity, &c., and more +determined to publish the glorious Gospel of the ever-blessed +Immanuel, in season and out of season, wherever men were +assembled to hear, whether in a church, a meeting-house, a +field, or a barn;—less desirous to convince men of the errors<span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">[154]</span> +in the discipline of those churches who hold the great doctrines +of the Reformation, and more anxiously solicitous to gather +souls to Christ, the true Shiloh. This should be the one great +object of those who are called to the high and honourable office +of ambassadors of Christ—all others are unimportant when +compared with this.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Of this visit to Ashby, the providential escape of his MSS. from +destruction, and some singular circumstances which preceded it, the +Doctor has preserved the following very interesting account, contained, +in a letter to his pupil, the Rev. Benjamin Fawcett, of Kidderminster:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="r2">“Northampton, June 26, 1750.</p> + +<p>“Lady Huntingdon, for whom I desired your prayers, is +wonderfully recovered. She walked with me in the garden and +park, and almost wearied me; such is her recruit of strength: +but the strength of her soul is amazing. I think I never saw so +much of the image of God in woman upon earth. Were I to write +what I know of her, it would fill your heart with wonder, joy, +and praise. She desired me to educate a lad for the Dissenting +ministry, at her expense, till he be fit to come into my academy +on an exhibition; and this is but one of a multitude of good +works she is continually performing. I must tell you, however, +one observation of hers, which struck me much: ‘None (said she) +know how to prize Christ but those who are zealous in good +works. Men know not till they try what imperfect things our best +works are, and how deficient we are in them; and the experience +of that sweetness which attends their performance makes me +more sensible of those obligations to Him whose grace is the +principle of them in our hearts.’ She has God dwelling in her, +and she is ever bearing her testimony to the present salvation +he has given us, and to the fountain of living waters, which she +feels springing up in her soul; so that she knows the divine +original of the promises before the performance of them to her, +as she knows God to be her Creator by the life he has given her.</p> + +<p>“As I was setting out for my blessed journey to her, for such +indeed it was, yesterday was seven-night, a terrible accident +happened in my study, which might have been attended with fatal +consequences: I had been sealing a letter with a little roll +of wax, and I thought I had blown it out, when, fanned by the +motion of the air, as I arose in haste, it was re-kindled. It +burnt about a quarter of an hour, while we were at prayer, and +would have gone on to consume, perhaps, the closet and the +house, had not my opposite neighbour seen the flame, and given +an alarm. When I came up, I found my desk, which was covered +with papers, burning like an altar; many letters, papers of +memoranda, and schemes for sermons, were consumed. My book of +accounts was on fire, and the names at the top almost burnt +through, a volume of the ‘Family Expositor,’ the original MSS. +from Corinthians to Ephesians, surrounded with flames, and +drenched in melted wax; the fire had kindled up around it, and +burnt off some leaves and the corners of the other books, so +that there is not one leaf entire: and yet so did God<span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">[155]</span> moderate +the rage of this element, and determine in his Providence +the time of our entrance, that not one account is rendered +uncertain by what it suffered, nor is one line which had not +been transcribed destroyed in the MS. I have to add that all +my vouchers for Miss Ekins’<a id="FNanchor_85" href="#Footnote_85" class="fnanchor">[85]</a> money, all my sermons and MSS. +intended for the press, and, among the rest, the remainder of +the ‘Family Expositor,’ were all in such danger, that the fire, +in another quarter of an hour, had probably consumed them. +Observe, my dear friend, the hand of God, and magnify the Lord +with me.”</p> +</div> + +<p>We find in the memoranda of remarkable incidents in the life of Dr. +Doddridge—a narrative of what he considered the special dealings +of Providence with regard to himself and some persons of his +acquaintance—these allusions to our subject:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“The mercies of my journey (says he) I would solemnly +acknowledge; the wonderful preservation of my study from fire, +and the great goodness of God in sparing the dear and excellent +Lady Huntingdon, my interview with her, and the preservation and +growing friendship of her Ladyship.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Leaving Rotherham, Mr. Whitefield proceeded to Sheffield and Leeds, +where he was attended by vast multitudes; and from thence to Aberford, +on a visit to Mr. and Lady Margaret Ingham. At Sheffield the people +received the word gladly, and a great alteration was discernible in +their looks and behaviour<span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">[156]</span> since he had been there before. Mr. Grimshaw +and Mr. Ingham joined Mr. Whitefield at Leeds, and the crowds that +assembled from every side exceeded anything they had ever seen before +in that part of Yorkshire. “Last night (says he), I preached to many, +many thousands, and this morning also at five o’clock. Methinks I am +now got into another climate. It must be a warm one, where there are so +many of God’s people. Our Pentecost is to be kept at Mr. Grimshaw’s: I +have seen him and Mr. Ingham.” For these occasional itinerant visits +Mr. Whitefield’s talents were admirably adapted. His manner, his voice, +his action, and, above all, his solemnity and fervour, commanded and +riveted the attention beyond anything that modern times have exhibited. +When he was at Haworth, the Lord’s Supper was frequently administered, +not only to the stated communicants, but to hundreds from other +quarters, who resorted thither on those solemn occasions, esteeming +them, in a peculiar sense, as “days of the Son of Man;” such, in many +respects, as had never been witnessed since the first promulgation of +Christianity, when the Spirit was, in so eminent a degree, “poured out +from on high.” “Pen (says Mr. Whitefield, in a letter to Mr. Hervey) +cannot well describe what glorious scenes have opened in Yorkshire. +Perhaps, since I saw you at Ashby, seventy or eighty thousand +have attended the word preached in divers places. At Haworth, on +Whit-Sunday, the church was thrice filled with communicants. It was a +precious season.”</p> + +<p>Accompanied by Mr. Grimshaw and Mr. Ingham, Mr. Whitefield visited +Manchester, where they found Colonel and Mrs. Galatin, who received +them with the greatest cordiality. “All was quiet (he writes to Lady +Huntingdon) at Manchester, and I humbly hope the Redeemer will gather +to himself a people there. Kind Colonel Galatin and his lady will +acquaint your Ladyship with particulars. I hope he will prove a good +soldier of Jesus Christ. I advised him to send your Ladyship word +of their coming to Ashby, that they might be directed the best road +from Derby.” Through different parts of Lancashire, Westmoreland, +and Cumberland, Mr. Whitefield was accompanied by Mr. Ingham and +Mr. Milner; Mr. Grimshaw having returned to Haworth. Everywhere he +preached in Mr. Ingham’s chapels, and, as usual, was attended by +large and attentive congregations. At Kendal, and Ulverston, and +Whitehaven, where Lady Huntingdon afterwards had chapels, he was +followed by immense multitudes, who thronged around him, eager to +hear all the words of this life. From Kendal we find him writing thus +to Mr. Hervey:—“I guess this will find you<span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">[157]</span> returned from good Lady +Huntingdon, with whom, undoubtedly, you have taken sweet counsel, and +been mightily refreshed in talking about the things which belong to the +kingdom of God. This leaves me at Kendal, where I arrived this morning, +and where, God willing, I shall preach the everlasting Gospel this +evening.” Soon after his arrival he was joined by Mr. Batty, a very +popular preacher in Mr. Ingham’s connexion. Mr. Whitefield preached +on the brow of a hill, which overlooks the town, to many thousands of +hearers. That night, some evil-disposed persons got into the barn and +stable where his travelling carriage and horses were locked up: the +leathers were all destroyed, and the carriage otherwise much abused; +they also cut off the long tails of a pair of black horses that he had +had a long time, and greatly esteemed. Nevertheless, he rejoiced at the +success attending his labours. “Still (he observes, in a letter to Lady +Huntingdon), the Lord of all lords vouchsafes to prosper the Gospel +plough. Such an entrance hath been made into Kendal as could not have +been expected. I preached twice to several thousands last week, and the +people were so importunate that I was prevailed on to return hither +again last night; the congregation was greatly increased, and the power +of the Lord was displayed in the midst of them.”</p> + +<p>After preaching some weeks in Scotland, Mr. Whitefield returned +to London, where, besides his usual labours at the Tabernacle, he +frequently assisted Mr. Wesley at West-street Chapel. “Mr. Wesley +(says he) breakfasted and prayed with me this morning; and Mr. Hervey +was so kind as to come up and be with me in my house. He is a dear +man, and I trust will yet be spared to write much for the Redeemer’s +glory. I have prevailed on him to sit for his picture, and it will +be published in a short time.” Mr. Hervey’s health was so delicate, +that Dr. Stonhouse advised change of air, and Mr. Whitefield invited +him to the Tabernacle-house, in London. On his way thither he paid a +visit to Dr. Cotton, an eminent physician and poet, who resided at +St. Alban’s, where he kept an asylum for lunatics, in the treatment +of whom he was remarkably skilful. By means of Dr. Stonhouse he was +introduced to the notice of Lady Huntingdon, who had a great esteem +for him, and occasionally corresponded with him. When the Doctor +published his “Visions,” he sent a copy to her Ladyship, who, in her +letter acknowledging the receipt of the present, made some strong +animadversions on the defects of the poem:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I am glad (says her Ladyship) that my good friend was not +offended at my late well-meant admonition and reproof. We must +be<span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">[158]</span> faithful to each other, or else how can we expect to meet +with joy at the great tribunal? I trust he will yet be enabled +to see by faith the Lord’s Christ. Blessed be God, in him +all fulness dwells, of merit and righteousness, of grace and +salvation, and this for the vilest of the vile, for whoever +will. O, then, my friend,</p> + + <div class="poetry-container1"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="ileft">“If haply still thy mental shade</div> + <div>Dark as the midnight gloom be made,</div> + <div>On the sure faithful arm Divine,</div> + <div>Firm let thy fast’ning trust recline.</div> + <div>The gentlest sire, the best of friends,</div> + <div>To thee nor loss nor harm intends;</div> + <div>Though toss’d on a tempestuous main,</div> + <div>No wreck thy vessel shall sustain.</div> + <div>Should there remain of rescuing grace</div> + <div>No glimpse, no footsteps left to trace,</div> + <div>Hear the Lord’s voice; ’tis Jesus’ will—</div> + <div>‘Believe (thou poor dark pilgrim) still.’</div> + </div> + </div> + </div> + +<p>“Thus much (continues the Countess) I have written to my worthy +friend at St. Alban’s, and I trust God will bless my poor +unworthy services to his eternal good. I long to see his fine +genius consecrated to the best of causes—the glory of our +incarnate God, and the salvation of souls redeemed by his most +precious blood.”</p> +</div> + +<p>To his pious and ingenious friend, the author of “Meditations,” Dr. +Cotton also sent a copy of his “Visions.” In a letter to Dr. Stonhouse, +also a poet and a critic, Mr. Hervey makes some excellent observations +on the merits and defects of the Doctor’s work:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Please (says he) to make my best thanks to Dr. Cotton for his +very delicate ‘Visions.’ I think they may do good, and promote +virtue; then, I am persuaded, they will answer the benevolent +intention of the author. I wish, at the same, that he would be +a little explicit and courageous for Jesus Christ. He deserves +it at our hands, who, for our sake, endured the cross and +despised the shame: he will recompense it unto our bosom, by +owning us before his Father and the holy angels. Nor can I ever +think that the spread of our performances will be obstructed by +pleasing Him who has all hearts and all events in his sovereign +hand. A vision upon death, without a display of Christ, seems +to me like a body without a heart, or a heart without animal +spirits. I am sure, when I was lately (as myself and every one +apprehended) on the brink of eternity, I found no consolation +but in Christ. Then I felt, what I had so often read, that there +is no other name given under heaven whereby man may obtain life +and salvation, but only the name, the precious and inestimable +name of Jesus Christ. O, that its savour may be to us, both +living and dying, <i>as ointment poured out</i>. Shall I beg +you to tell Dr. Cotton, that his beautiful ‘Visions’ were, by +Dodsley, the bookseller, put into the hands of a very pious and +ingenious friend of mine (Mr. Moses Browne), who proposes an +alteration in a line, where he would read <i>Jesus</i>, instead +of <i>virtue</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">[159]</span></p> + + <div class="poetry-container1"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="ileft">“‘At that important hour of need,</div> + <div>Jesus shall prove a friend indeed.’</div> + </div> + </div> + </div> + +<p>“But I am not of his opinion, unless an uniform vein of +evangelical doctrine had run through the whole. This, I must +confess, I could have been glad to have seen in so elegant a +poem where Spenser’s fancy and Prior’s ease are united. And I +hope, if the Doctor should ever write any more poetry, he will +take this important hint into his consideration. Indeed, he +ought; for even in his ‘Vision on Death’ he has not paid the +least regard to Christ the Redeemer, the Conqueror of death.”</p> +</div> + +<p>During Mr. Hervey’s residence in London, Dr. Cotton visited the +metropolis, and it was Lady Huntingdon’s wish that that good man should +avail himself of the Doctor’s medical skill, and at the same time drop +such hints as might, by the blessing of God, be made useful to him. +“If I am tolerably well (says Mr. Hervey), I will wait upon Dr. Cotton +on Tuesday morning. He has a delicate genius, and I dare say he is an +excellent physician. O that his fine parts may be grafted into the true +olive-tree, and bring forth fruit unto God. If Providence permits us to +meet, I hope to have some evangelical discourse with him.”</p> + +<p>Some time after, Lady Huntingdon sent Dr. Cotton a present of +Marshall’s “Gospel Mystery of Sanctification,” a work that has long +had the seal of high approbation from many judicious ministers and +Christians. It had been recommended to her Ladyship’s notice by Mr. +Cudworth, a preacher in Mr. Whitefield’s connexion, who sometimes +visited Mr. Hervey, and occasionally preached at Ashby and other places +in the neighbourhood. But Dr. Cotton thought the doctrine contained +in Marshall’s<a id="FNanchor_86" href="#Footnote_86" class="fnanchor">[86]</a> book inconsistent with Scripture and repugnant to +reason. This produced a little controversy, in which Mr. Hervey ably +defended his favourite author. On this subject he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">[160]</span> uses a little +pleasantry with his friend Dr. Stonhouse, who became the medium of +communication in this affair:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Tell our ingenious friend at St. Alban’s, if I did not give +a direct answer to his question, it was because he stated it +improperly. His manner was like making a raw apothecary’s +apprentice the proper judge of a doctor’s bill. If such a +chap should take upon himself to say, ‘Doctor, your language +is unintelligible, your recipes are injudicious,’ what answer +would you make? Some such answer must be made to Dr. Cotton, +if he maintain, or would intimate, that the ‘Mystery of +Sanctification,’ as delineated by Marshall, is unintelligible +and injudicious, merely because <i>he</i> does not immediately +discern its propriety.</p> + +<p>“‘This (says Dr. Cotton) is my firm faith—that if we do well, +we shall be accepted through the merits of Christ.’ I might +ask the Doctor whether he does well? Dare he avow this, even +before me, his fellow-worm and fellow-sinner? How, then, will +he maintain the pretension before that infinitely pure God, in +whose sight the very heavens are unclean? But I choose to ask +him (what may seem less offensive), has he never read of ‘the +righteousness of faith?’ of being ‘made righteous by one man’s +obedience?’ of ‘righteousness imputed without works?’ Now I +should be glad to learn what the Holy Spirit means by these +expressions? And if our worthy friend pleases to show how his +faith can be made conformable to any one of these texts, I will +undertake to demonstrate the conformity of my faith to them all. +Ah! why should we hug a despicable rag, and reject a suit of +beautiful apparel? May the Lord Jesus enable us all to discern +the things that are excellent.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Prevailed on by the repeated importunity of Lady Huntingdon and Mr. +Whitefield, Mr. Hervey came to London by easy stages, in order to +try whether change of air might be of any service to his decayed +constitution; his worthy physician, Dr. Stonhouse, having declared +that nothing which he could prescribe was likely to administer relief. +One of the winters he stayed in London he lodged at the house of his +good friend, Mr. Whitefield, adjoining the Tabernacle, in Moorfields. +“I took up my abode (says he), not at my brother’s after the flesh, +but with the brother of my heart.” By means of Lady Huntingdon he +soon became acquainted with many pious and excellent characters in +London, particularly Lady Gertrude Hotham, Lady Chesterfield, the +Countess Delitz, and Lady Fanny Shirley, at whose house he occasionally +expounded to very polite and attentive auditories. With the latter he +maintained a very intimate correspondence for several years, which was +published after her death by her executors. It was to Lady Fanny that +he dedicated his celebrated work, “Theron and Aspasio,” which she was +the means of introducing to the notice of Royalty, “I should never +have been known to such<span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">[161]</span> grand personages (says he), if you had not +condescended to introduce me. My name had never been heard by a royal +ear, if it had not received some credit by your Ladyship’s notice.” +His “Observations on Lord Bolingbroke’s work ‘On the Use and Study of +History,’” were likewise addressed to her Ladyship.</p> + +<p>Mr. Hervey had also frequent interviews with Miss Hotham, and on one +occasion administered the sacrament at Lady Gertrude’s before Mr. +Whitefield’s return from Portsmouth. Of his last interview he has +preserved a short notice in his letter to Lady Huntingdon:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I had the pleasure of perusing your Ladyship’s letter to +Mr. Whitefield, and return my grateful acknowledgments for +your condescension in enquiring after me. My kind patroness, +Lady Chesterfield, and many honourable persons whose names +I trust are written in the Book of Life, are very desirous +for your Ladyship’s return to the great city. I have lately +expounded, and administered the ordinance, at good Lady +Gertrude Hotham’s. Her daughter is ripening fast for glory. I +had but little conversation with her, for she is too weak to +endure much fatigue. When speaking of God’s stupendous love, +in giving his only Son for our salvation, and of our interest +in the all-sufficient propitiation of his death, I quoted +these portions of Scripture:—‘He came into the world to save +sinners—He poured out his soul for transgressors.’ ‘Yes (said +Miss Hotham, who had been listening with singular attention), He +died, the just for the unjust—he suffered death upon the cross, +that we might reign with him in glory.’ On a subsequent visit I +found her much altered for the worse, as respected her bodily +health. Mr. Whitefield had been to see her the preceding day, +and has since gone to erect the joyful standard at Portsmouth. +Blessed be God, she enjoyed much peace and tranquillity of +mind, and a firm persuasion that God was her reconciled Father, +and the blessed Redeemer her all-sufficient portion. I expect +to hear every day of her abundant entrance into the joy of +her Lord. Good Lady Gertrude, and all her noble relatives and +friends, are wonderfully supported in this trying affair. May +the inestimably precious Jesus refresh and uphold them with the +choicest cordials of his glorious Gospel! and may his name be +very precious to them!”</p> +</div> + +<p>As often as his health permitted, he attended the ministry of Mr. +Whitefield and his faithful associates, at the Tabernacle; he says of +him:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“On Sunday he preached with his usual fervour, and administered +the sacrament to a great number of very serious communicants. +He delights in the work of the ministry, and embraces every +opportunity of preaching the everlasting Gospel. He is, indeed, +in labours more abundant. What a pattern of zeal and ministerial +fidelity is our excellent friend! and God rewards him with joy +unspeakable. God also fulfils to him, in a remarkable manner, +his gracious promise, ‘Them that honour me, I will honour.’ +This day he was most respectfully<span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">[162]</span> entertained at the houses +of two noblemen. What a most exalted satisfaction must he +enjoy in attending these great personages—not to cringe for +favour, but to lay upon them an everlasting obligation—not to +ask their interest at court, but to be the minister of their +reconciliation to the King of kings.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Again:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Yesterday our indefatigable friend renewed his labour of love. +He preached to a crowded audience, and yet multitudes went away +for want of room. In the midst of this audience was a clergyman +in his canonical dress—a stranger; his name I could not learn. +He behaved with exemplary seriousness, and expressed much +satisfaction.”</p> +</div> + +<p>While in the metropolis he was visited by Dr. Gill, Dr. Gifford, and +other ministers of eminence, both in the Established Church and amongst +the Dissenters, and declares it was his own fault if he reaped not +much advantage by their conversation. With Mr. Cennick, Mr. Cudworth, +and other devoted men who laboured at that period in the Tabernacle +connexion, he formed a very intimate friendship. There, also, for the +first time, he heard Mr. Romaine, to whom he was introduced at Lady +Huntingdon’s particular request. To Lady Fanny Shirley he gives an +account of Mr. Romaine’s style and manner of preaching, and wishes much +success to him in explaining the Gospel to his thronged auditors. Mr. +Romaine often visited him at the Tabernacle-house, and occasionally +accompanied him to hear Mr. Whitefield. On one occasion Mr. Wesley and +Mr. Romaine breakfasted with Mr. Whitefield. Besides Mr. Hervey, there +were present Dr. Gifford, Dr. Gill, Mr. Cudworth, and Mr. Cennick. Mr. +Romaine led the doctrinal part of the service, and Dr. Gill addressed +a short exhortation to his brethren in the ministry. At other seasons +these excellent men often met at the residence of the Countess Delitz, +Lady Gertrude Hotham, and Lady Fanny Shirley, where they proclaimed +the truth of the Gospel to polite and fashionable auditors, and were +enriched with spoils—spoils won from the kingdoms of darkness, and +consecrated to the Captain of our salvation.</p> +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">[163]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hangingindent">Mr. Whitefield at Ashby—Mr. Moses Browne—Mr. Martin +Madan—Lady Frances Hastings—Dr. Stonhouse—Mr. Hartley—Death +of the Prince of Wales—Anecdote—Lady Charlotte Edwin—Dr. +Ayscough—Lord Lyttleton—Death of Sir George Lyttleton—Death +of Lord Bolingbroke—Dr. Trapp—Dr. Church—Anecdotes—Lady +Luxborough—Mr. Mallet—Mr. Pope.</p> +</div> + + +<p>Early in the month of October, Lady Huntingdon had the pleasure of +another visit from Mr. Whitefield, who had been again ranging about, as +he expresses it, to see who would believe the Gospel report. “I am now +(says he) at Lady Huntingdon’s house, with four other clergymen, who +I believe love and preach Christ in sincerity.” Whilst he remained at +Ashby-place the sacrament was administered every morning by some of the +clergymen who were with her Ladyship; and in the evening Mr. Whitefield +preached.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“It was a time of refreshing from the presence of our God +(writes her Ladyship to Lady Fanny Shirley): several of our +little circle have been wonderfully filled with the love of God, +and have had joy unspeakable and full of glory. Lady Frances +is rejoicing in hope of the glory of God. It is impossible +to conceive a more real happiness than she enjoys. Dear Mr. +Whitefield’s sermons and exhortations were close, searching, +experimental, awful, and awakening. Surely God was with him—he +appeared to speak of spiritual and divine things as awful +realities. Many of us could witness to the truth of what he +uttered, by finding that which our hearts discovered and read to +us. His discourses in the neighbouring churches were attended +with power from on high, and the kingdom of darkness trembled +before the Gospel of Christ.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Mr. Whitefield, in a letter to the Countess Delitz, says:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Good Lady Huntingdon goes on acting the part of a mother +in Israel more and more. For a day or two she has had five +clergymen under her roof, which makes her Ladyship look like a +<i>good archbishop</i>, with his chaplains around him. Her house +is a Bethel: to us in the ministry it looks like a college. +We have the sacrament every morning, heavenly conversation +all day, and preach at night. This is to <i>live at Court</i> +indeed! Last night I had the pleasure of seeing a little flock +that seemed to be awakened by the grace of God; so that out of +ungrateful Ashby I trust there will be raised up many children +unto Abraham. Your Ladyship and the other elect ladies are never +forgotten by us. I would write to good Lady Fanny, but I hear +she is out of town.”</p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">[164]</span></p> + +<p>To Lady Gertrude Hotham he writes:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="r2">“Ashby, October 11, 1750.</p> + +<p>“Honoured Madam—It is with great pleasure that I have heard +from good Lady Huntingdon of your Ladyship’s being so supported +under your late bereavement [Lady Gertrude had just lost her +daughter], and of the good impressions made on surviving +relatives by it. Thus the Redeemer delights to magnify his +strength in his people’s weakness, and causes the death of one +to be the life, as it were, the resurrection of another. O +what amazing mysteries will be unfolded when each link in the +golden chain of Providence and grace shall be seen and scanned +by beatified spirits in the kingdom of heaven. There all will +appear symmetry and harmony; and even the most intricate, and +seemingly most contrary dispensations, will be evidenced to be +the result of infinite and consummate wisdom, power, and love. +Above all, there the believer will see the infinite depths of +that mystery of godliness, ‘God manifest in the flesh,’ and join +with that blessed choir who, with a restless unweariness, are +ever singing the song of Moses and the Lamb. May your Ladyship +live to see all your surviving children taught and born of +God! I must not enlarge—neither have I room to acquaint your +Ladyship how that mirror of piety, good Lady Huntingdon, adorns +the gospel of her Lord in all things. I wrote some particulars +of our situation to the good Countess.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Lady Huntingdon used all her interest in endeavouring to extend the +knowledge of the doctrine of her crucified Lord; and she appears to +have been actively engaged about this time in procuring ordination for +Mr. Moses Browne, and the living of Ashby for Mr. Hervey, who was then +officiating as curate to his father, in the charge of Collingtree; +but upon his demise, in 1752, Mr. Hervey succeeded to the living of +Weston Favell. From what cause Lady Huntingdon did not succeed in +placing Mr. Hervey at Ashby it is difficult, at this distance of time, +to ascertain, as no further mention is made of the affair in the +correspondence or papers of her Ladyship or Mr. Whitefield.</p> + +<p>Mr. Moses Browne, afterwards well known as Vicar of Olney, and Chaplain +of Morden College, Blackheath, was at this time very desirous of +procuring ordination, but many obstacles opposed his wishes. He had +never been at either of the Universities; he had a large family, +and his circumstances were very contracted. He had, among his other +talents, a taste for poetry, and some of his early productions are +remarkably easy and elegant. On the institution of the <i>Gentleman’s +Magazine</i>, about the year 1730, he became a constant contributor to +it, and obtained some of the prizes offered by Mr. Cave for the best +poems.<a id="FNanchor_87" href="#Footnote_87" class="fnanchor">[87]</a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">[165]</span></p> + +<p>By the kindness of Dr. Watts, Mr. Browne was introduced to the notice +of Lady Huntingdon and Lady Hertford, at whose house he met most of the +poets and eminent literary characters of that time. During a severe +illness, which threatened his life, he was penetrated with a deep sense +of the divine reality and importance of religion; but his rage for +dancing and theatrical amusements frequently obliterated for a season +those sacred impressions. Whilst in this state he was providentially +led to attend the preaching of the first Methodists, under whose +powerful and awakening preaching he began to view the things which +concerned his salvation in a clearer light; and from that time his +sentiments and conduct appeared to have undergone a complete revolution.</p> + +<p>Just at this period, the Rev. Martin Madan, who was originally bred +to the study of the law, changed, by the advice of his friends, Lady +Huntingdon, Mr. Jones of St. Saviour’s, Mr. Romaine, and others, the +abstruse practice of the bar for the elocution of the pulpit. Mr. +Madan, founder and first chaplain of the Lock Hospital, near Hyde +Park-corner, afterwards so celebrated for his writings and as a popular +preacher in the chapels of Lady Huntingdon, was the eldest son of +Colonel Madan, of the Guards, by his wife Judith, daughter of Judge +Cowper, the brother of the Lord Chancellor. Like many others, his +conversion arose from circumstances apparently trivial. The preaching +of the first Methodists had excited universal attention, and roused +many from the torpor of indifference. Mr. Madan, being in company +one evening with some of his gay companions at a coffee-house, was +requested by them to go and hear Mr. Wesley, who, they were told, +was to preach in the neighbourhood; and then to return and exhibit +his <i>manner</i> and <i>discourse</i> for their entertainment. He +went with that intention, and just as he entered the place, Mr. +Wesley named as his text, “<i>Prepare to meet thy God!</i>” with a +solemnity of accent which struck him, and which inspired a seriousness +that increased as the good man proceeded in exhorting his hearers +to repentance. He returned<span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">[166]</span> to the coffee-room, and was asked by +his acquaintance “if he had taken off the old Methodist?” To which +he answered, “<i>No, gentlemen, but he has taken me off</i>.” From +that time he withdrew from their company altogether, and in future +associated with persons of a different stamp. His first friend and +intimate in the religious world was Lady Huntingdon, who had been +well acquainted with his mother-in-law, Lady Hale, relict of Sir +Bernard Hale, Chief Baron of the Exchequer in Ireland, the friend and +contemporary of her Ladyship’s grandfather, Sir Richard Levinge, Lord +Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. Lady Huntingdon’s cousin, Sir Edward +Dering, Bart., grandson of Lady Anne Shirley, afterwards married a +niece of Mr. Madan’s, daughter of William Hale, Esq., of King’s Walden, +and sister to Mrs. Stillingfleet, of West Bromwich.</p> + +<p>Possessing a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures in the original +languages, and having embraced those evangelical views of Gospel +truth, of which he afterwards was so zealous a defender, Mr. Madan +was desirous of diffusing amongst his fellow-men the savour of that +name which he loved. Master of an independent fortune, he entered the +ministry without any mercenary views: and though his brother, Dr. +Spencer Madan, was successively Bishop of Bristol and Peterborough, he +never accepted any benefice or emolument in the Church. In consequence +of his religious sentiments, and the open avowal he made of the faith +once delivered to the saints, he experienced some difficulty in +obtaining orders; but through the perseverance and interest of Lady +Huntingdon and some others, he was at length successful. Alluding to +this circumstance, Mr. Whitefield says:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I am glad Mr. Madan is ordained, and hope Mr. Browne will be +the next. By the Bishop’s letter to him, I find your Ladyship +has acted in the affair like yourself. Your Ladyship shall +have a copy of it, and you will then see how matters go on. +Mr. Browne is much for embarking in Christ’s cause, and if the +Duchess would but help him at this juncture he might be a useful +and happy man. Both he and Mr. Hervey have the most grateful +sense of your Ladyship’s great kindness. The latter, I believe, +intends to winter with me in London. If possible, I will prevail +on Mr. Hartley to come and pay him a visit.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Soon after his ordination, Mr. Madan was called to preach his first +sermon in the church of All-hallows, Lombard-street. The lawyer +turning divine was novel: curiosity prevailed among the million of the +metropolis. The manly eloquence of the preacher drew general attention +and excited applause. The poor heard the Gospel with gladness, and +the rich were not sent empty away. Many were filled with wonder. The +croaking<span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">[167]</span> cry of prejudice was silenced—her raven voice sunk amidst +the loud acclaims of the friends of religion, who heard the doctrines +of the Reformation nobly defended by an able advocate, whose knowledge +was equal to his zeal. Like Boanerges, a son of Thunder, he proclaimed +the law from the flaming mountain; and from the summit of Zion’s hill +he appeared a Barnabas, a son of consolation. Mr. Madan was rather tall +in stature, and of a robust constitution: his countenance was majestic, +open, and engaging, and his looks commanding veneration: his delivery +is said to have been peculiarly graceful. He preached without notes; +his voice was musical, well-modulated, full and powerful; his language +plain, nervous, pleasing, and memorable; and his arguments strong, +bold, rational, and conclusive: his doctrines were drawn from the +sacred fountain: he was mighty in the Scriptures—a workman that needed +not be ashamed of his labours, rightly dividing the word of truth.</p> + +<p>The success attending her Ladyship’s applications in behalf of Mr. +Madan induced her to redouble her efforts to serve Mr. Browne:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I have had a polite refusal (says Lady Huntingdon) from the +Bishop of Winchester,<a id="FNanchor_88" href="#Footnote_88" class="fnanchor">[88]</a> but have hopes that my letter to +his Lordship of Worcester will prove more favourable. The +testimonials, signed by Hervey, Hartley, and Baddelley, all +beneficed clergymen, men of known integrity and reputation, +remain in the Bishop’s hands. My dear Lady Chesterfield has been +very kind, and takes a great interest in Mr. Browne’s case. The +Countess Delitz has sent me ten guineas for him. I have written +to Lady Fanny, and hope her application to the Duchess will be +successful.<a id="FNanchor_89" href="#Footnote_89" class="fnanchor">[89]</a> My Lord Bath has promised me his support, and I +doubt not but he will be generous likewise. Let the cry of every +heart be addressed to Him who has all hearts at his disposal, +and will do whatsoever seemeth him good in this as in every +other case. Our business is to spread it before him in prayer; +the result will be according to his most righteous will.”</p> +</div> + +<p>All these efforts were vain—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Poor Mr. Browne (says Mr. Whitefield, in a letter to Lady +Fanny<span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">[168]</span> Shirley) is much obliged to you for speaking in his +behalf. He happened to be with me when your letter came. The +reception your Ladyship’s kind motion met with convinces me +more and more that ‘Be ye warmed and be ye filled,’ without +giving anything to be warmed or filled with, is the farthest +that most professors go. Words are cheap, and cost nothing; and, +therefore, many can say ‘they pity,’ and that extremely too, +when at the same time their practice shows it is only a verbal, +and not a real compassion.”</p> +</div> + +<p>At length, however, through the interest of the Hon. Welbore Ellis,<a id="FNanchor_90" href="#Footnote_90" class="fnanchor">[90]</a> +Lady Huntingdon succeeded in obtaining ordination for Mr. Browne, +who soon after commenced his ministry as curate to Mr. Hervey, at +Collingtree. That inconceivably amiable, humble man had frequently +urged him to enter the ministry; and in one of his letters to him +says:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“As to your entering into holy orders, I have no manner of +doubt; by all means do it. It is what I have been praying for +these several years; it is what all the disciples of Christ are +directed to implore at the Lord’s hands, that he would send many +such labourers into his vineyard. As God has inclined your heart +to the work—as he has given you so clear a knowledge of the +truth as it is in Jesus, and stirred you up to be zealous for +the interests of a bleeding Saviour—I assure you, if the king +would make me a bishop, one of the first acts of my episcopal +office should be to ordain the author of ‘Sunday Thoughts.’ I +hope the Lord will guide you by his Spirit, and commission you +to feed his flock, and make you a chosen instrument of bringing +many sinners to Christ—many sons to glory.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Immediately on coming to Collingtree, Mr. Browne was invited to +Ashby-place, and some of his first and most effective discourses were +delivered amongst the people there. When Lady Huntingdon removed to +London, he occasionally visited the metropolis, and at her Ladyship’s +house united with that great apostle of the Lord, Mr. Whitefield, +in preaching the unsearchable riches of Christ to the polite and +fashionable. He likewise assisted Mr. Madan at the Lock, and Mr. Jones +at St. Saviour’s; and the great Shepherd and Bishop of souls bore +testimony to the word of his servant, and gave him many seals to his +ministry.</p> + +<p>Early in the month of December, Lady Huntingdon was again alarmingly +indisposed. Mr. Whitefield also was dangerously ill at the same time in +London. Dr. Doddridge appears to have been extremely apprehensive as to +her Ladyship’s state of health, and in a letter to his correspondent, +the Rev. Mr. Wood, of Norwich, dated December 4th, says—“Dear +Lady Huntingdon is in a very declining way. Pray devoutly for her +important<span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">[169]</span> life.” On the 22nd of the same month he again mentions her +Ladyship—“I am printing the funeral sermon for my excellent friend +at St. Alban’s.<a id="FNanchor_91" href="#Footnote_91" class="fnanchor">[91]</a> Lady Huntingdon continues very ill. I fear we +shall soon lose her too. But the Lord liveth, and blessed be our +rock.” At the close of a letter from Mr. Hervey to the Rev. Moses +Browne, dated December 22, he enquires—“What account can you give +of Lady Huntingdon’s health? Never, never will the physician’s skill +be employed for the lengthening a more valuable life. May Almighty +goodness bless those prescriptions, and command her constitution and +our zeal to flourish.”</p> + +<p>The beginning of the year 1715, Lady Huntingdon’s health declined so +rapidly that Mr. Whitefield was sent for express. “I rode post to Ashby +(says he), not knowing whether I should see good Lady Huntingdon alive. +Blessed be God, she is somewhat better, and I trust will not yet die, +but live, and abound more and more in the work of the Lord. Entreat +all our friends to pray for her. Indeed she is worthy.” Lady Selina +was slowly recovering from a fever, and Lady Frances had died suddenly +a few hours before Mr. Whitefield reached Ashby. She was a retired +character, lived silently, and was removed to that</p> + + <div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div>————“land of pure delight,</div> + <div>Where saints immortal dwell,”</div> + </div> + </div> + </div> + +<p class="p-left">without a sigh or a struggle. Her Ladyship was born at Donnington +Park, January 8, 1694, and died unmarried, January 23, 1751.<a id="FNanchor_92" href="#Footnote_92" class="fnanchor">[92]</a> Her +humility, meekness, sincerity, and heavenly-mindedness were conspicuous +in all her deportment, and rendered her much esteemed and respected by +all who had the happiness of her acquaintance. In her intercourse with +society,<a id="FNanchor_93" href="#Footnote_93" class="fnanchor">[93]</a> she was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">[170]</span> a pattern to all, manifesting an uniform piety, +a deadness to the world, and a conversation that in all things adorned +the doctrine of our Saviour. She was universally lamented by the +poor in the neighbourhood, of whom a multitude attended her funeral. +Before the body was removed, Mr. Whitefield gave a solemn exhortation; +and after her Ladyship’s remains were interred amongst those of her +ancestors, he addressed an attentive and weeping multitude, preaching +from the words, “Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord, from +henceforth; yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their +labours, and their works do follow them.”</p> + +<p>The following letter from Mr. Whitefield to Lady Mary Hamilton contains +some interesting particulars of the death of Lady Frances:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Honoured Madam—Last Monday evening, through the goodness of +our ever-blessed Redeemer, I got safe to Ashby, where I found +good Lady Huntingdon very sick, though I trust not unto death. +All advise her Ladyship to take a journey to Bristol, for the +benefit of the waters, which her Ladyship seems determined to +do. The death of Lady Frances has not affected her so as to +hurt her. She rejoices at the thought of her sister’s being +so quickly translated out of this house of bondage into the +glorious liberty of the sons of God. Her death was a translation +indeed! Her Ladyship died without a groan. She seemed, as it +were, to smile at death; and may be said, I trust truly, to +fall asleep in Jesus. Ere long, she and all that sleep in Jesus +shall come with him. Almost all have been ill in their turns. +Lady Selina has had a fever, but is better. Lady Betty is more +affected than ever I saw her. Lady Anne bears up pretty well; +but Miss Wheeler is inconsolable. It is a house of mourning: +that is better than a house of feasting. The corpse is to be +interred on Friday evening. May all that follow it look and +learn! I mean, learn to live and learn to die. This is a lesson +which you and yours, honoured Madam, I trust, are learning every +day. We had need be careful to get our lesson perfect, since +we know not when the Son of Man will come, whether at evening, +cock-crowing, or in the morning. To be ready at that hour is all +in all. Good Lady Huntingdon sends her sincerest compliments. If +anything extraordinary happens before my return, your Ladyship +shall hear again from, honoured Madam, your Ladyship’s most +dutiful, obliged, and ready servant for Christ’s sake,</p> + +<p class="r2 p-min">“G. W.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Mrs. Whitefield’s illness obliging her husband to return to London, +he wrote to Dr. Stonhouse the day before his departure,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">[171]</span> urging him +to use his influence with Mr. Hartley to come without delay to Ashby; +but he being then unable to leave his parish, Dr. Stonhouse went to +Ashby, where he remained till her Ladyship was sufficiently recovered +to remove to Bristol Hot Wells, whither she went in the beginning of +March. This was an important circumstance for the Doctor, who seemed +halting between two opinions, notwithstanding the searching letters +and eloquently urgent remonstrances of Mr. Whitefield. Lady Huntingdon +says, in a letter written just before leaving Ashby:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“The dear and excellent Dr. Doddridge and Dr. Stonhouse have +been to see me. I long to see the latter embark more boldly +in the cause of Christ, but he has an unaccountable dread of +the opinion of the world, and is fearful of being called a +Methodist. We spoke most faithfully and solemnly to him; he +appeared affected, and shed tears. He and Dr. Doddridge have +preached alternately every evening, and have occasionally +assisted in the administration of the sacrament. How holy, how +humble, is that excellent man! and what divine words fell from +his lips at the last sacramental feast! How close and searching +were his addresses! I think I was scarce ever so happy before. I +trust my journey to Bristol will be for good! O that my health +and strength may be wholly employed for that blessed Redeemer +who has done such great things for me!”</p> +</div> + +<p>Mr. Whitefield left Ashby the first week in February, and towards the +close of the month received a letter from Lady Huntingdon, with an +account of the continued improvement in her health, which rejoiced the +benevolent heart of that great and good man.</p> + +<p>Early in the month of March, Lady Huntingdon and family left Ashby for +Bristol. A few days after her arrival she was agreeably surprised by +a visit from Mr. Whitefield, who had been preaching at Gloucester and +Tewkesbury, with his accustomed zeal and success. Intending to proceed +towards the south, he wrote to Mr. Hervey to supply his place:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“This comes (says he) with a summons from good Lady Huntingdon +for you to appear in Bristol and abide for a month or two at my +brother’s house; you must not refuse. The God who has carried +that elect Lady through such bad roads from Ashby hither will +take care of you, and I am persuaded you will not repent your +journey. Her Ladyship made the motion to me, and intends writing +herself. Blessed be God, she is much better, and I trust will do +well. She will have nobody to give her the sacrament unless you +come.”</p> +</div> + +<p>But Mr. Hervey’s precarious state of health would not permit his +accepting her Ladyship’s kind invitation. He was in London, and under +the roof of his valued friend, at the Tabernacle-house.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">[172]</span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“This (says Mr. Whitefield) I count a great honour, and such a +privilege, that I wish to have the favour conferred on me as +long as I live. These my hands, could they work, or was there +occasion for it, should readily minister to your necessities.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Disappointed of Mr. Hervey’s assistance, Mr. Whitefield wrote to Mr. +Hartley on the 30th of March, enclosing a letter from Lady Huntingdon, +requesting him to visit Bristol without delay:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I am persuaded (says he) you were surprised to find our elect +Lady gone from Ashby, and I was as much surprised to see her +Ladyship at Bristol; I hope her journey was of God. The waters +agree with her wonderfully already, and I trust she will be +restored to perfect health. As dear Mr. Hervey cannot be +prevailed upon to come down, if it would any way suit you to +be with her Ladyship a month, it would much refresh her, and I +believe be very agreeable to you. Some pulpits would be open for +you, and who knows but you might catch some great fish in the +Gospel net? But I need not enforce this, since her Ladyship hath +written to you herself. May the blessed Redeemer direct your +going in his way!”</p> +</div> + +<p>After a short visit to Plymouth, Exeter, and other places in Devonshire +and Somersetshire, Mr. Whitefield returned to Bristol, where he found +Mr. Daniel Rowlands, who had arrived a few days before, on a visit +to Lady Huntingdon. These apostolic labourers preached frequently at +this time in the open air, to vast multitudes, who heard them with +apparently deep and serious attention:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“It is delightful (says her Ladyship) to see such multitudes +flocking to hear the word. Mr. Whitefield and Mr. Rowlands +are greatly owned and honoured of the Lord in the conversion +of notorious profligates and self-righteous formalists. Very +many have been compelled to lay down the arms of rebellion, +and submit to the all-conquering sword of the Spirit. Mr. +Hartley hath preached several times in the churches with great +acceptance. I trust my journey hither was of the Lord, and that +some great good will yet appear the result of it. I often find +Luther’s words applicable to myself—<i>He was never employed +about any fresh work, but he was either visited with a fit of +sickness or violent temptation.</i>”</p> +</div> + +<p>About this time the Duchess of Somerset, being extremely anxious to +learn the state of her Ladyship’s health, wrote both to Ashby and +Bristol, but not receiving any reply, her Grace wrote thus to Dr. +Doddridge on the 14th of April:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I have wrote twice to Lady Huntingdon since I have had a letter +from her; but a gentleman, who came from Bristol last week, +told me that she was there; but not having the happiness to be +acquainted with her, he could give me no account of her health, +which I most earnestly pray may be restored by the use of those +waters.”</p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">[173]</span></p> + +<p>Mr. Hervey also, when writing to Lady Frances Shirley, in the month of +June, says:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I have not had the favour of a line from Lady Huntingdon for +some months. When I was at London, to see Mrs. Whitefield, on +her return from Bristol, she told me that the good Countess’s +health was very much restored by the waters: that she was (to +use her own expression) charmingly well. I hope this amendment +continues, and wish it may be perpetuated.”</p> +</div> + +<p>The unexpected death of the Prince of Wales at this time was an +alarming stroke to the nation:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I suppose (says Mr. Whitefield) the death of our Prince has +affected you. It has given me a shock—but the Lord reigneth, +and that is our comfort.”</p> +</div> + +<p>The unhappy misunderstanding between the Prince and his father, George +the Second, caused him to emancipate himself from all restraint, and +form a party of his own. Inflamed by the artifices and ambition of +his supporters, his opposition to Government became systematic, and +he conceived a most ill-founded antipathy against Sir Robert Walpole, +his father’s minister. As he had a taste for the arts and a fondness +for literary pursuits, he sought the society of persons who were most +conspicuous for their talents and knowledge. He was thrown into the +company of Carteret, Chesterfield, Pulteney, Cobham, and Sir William +Wyndham, who were considered as the leading characters for wit, +talents, and urbanity. His house became the rendezvous of young men of +the highest expectation—Pitt, Lyttleton, and the Granvilles; whom he +afterwards took into his household, and made his associates. The usual +topic of conversation in this select society was abuse of the minister, +and condemnation of his measures, urged with all the keenness of wit +and powers of eloquence. The Prince found the men whose reputation was +most eminent in literature, particularly Swift, Pope, and Thomson,<a id="FNanchor_94" href="#Footnote_94" class="fnanchor">[94]</a> +adverse to Walpole, who was the object of their private and public +satire. But the person who principally contributed to aggravate his +opposition was Bolingbroke, whose ambition ever aimed at the summit +of power, and whose immoderate desires nothing seemed capable of +satisfying but the liberty of governing all things without a rival. +About 1748 the party of the Prince began to form a new opposition; and +in the second and third sessions of the new Parliament they took the +lead against the administration. In the third session, which commenced +in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">[174]</span> January, 1751, the party of the Prince seemed likely to gain great +accession, from the merited unpopularity which the ministry incurred by +the subsidiary treaties in Germany; while Lord Cobham and his friends +meditated a secession from the ministerial phalanx. But the unexpected +death of the Prince gave a new aspect to public affairs, and produced a +great and singular change in the temper of the court and the councils +of the kingdom. “Providence (says the Duchess of Somerset, in a letter +to Dr. Doddridge) seems to have directed the blow where we thought +ourselves the most secure; for among the many schemes of hopes and +fears which people were laying down to themselves, this was never +mentioned as a supposable event. The harmony which appears to subsist +between his Majesty and the Prince of Wales is the best support for the +spirits of the nation, under their present concern and astonishment. +He died in the forty-fifth year of his age, and is generally allowed +to have been a Prince of amiable and generous disposition, of elegant +manners, and of considerable talents.”<a id="FNanchor_95" href="#Footnote_95" class="fnanchor">[95]</a></p> + +<p>The loss of this amiable and accomplished Prince was most sensibly felt +by Lady Huntingdon, who, in early life, was frequent in her attendance +at court, and had many opportunities of witnessing the simplicity and +elegance of his manners, the liberality of his principles, and the +benevolence of his disposition. When the Prince’s difference with his +father led him to keep his own court, her Ladyship attended it, and +Lord Huntingdon, Lord Ferrars, and other of her Ladyship’s friends, +were his political supporters. When her Ladyship withdrew from her +attendance at the fashionable circle of the great, the line of conduct +which she thought proper to pursue naturally excited the enmity of +those of her own rank, although she had a testimony in the consciences +of them, as appeared even in their words, that what she did was right. +One day, at Court, the Prince of Wales enquired of Lady Charlotte +Edwin,<a id="FNanchor_96" href="#Footnote_96" class="fnanchor">[96]</a> a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">[175]</span> lady of fashion, where my Lady Huntingdon was, that she +so seldom visited the circle? Lady Charlotte replied, with a sneer “I +suppose praying with her beggars.” The Prince shook his head, and, +turning to Lady Charlotte, said, “Lady Charlotte, when I am dying, I +think I shall be happy to seize the skirt of Lady Huntingdon’s mantle, +to lift me up with her to heaven.”</p> + +<p>A letter from Lord Bolingbroke had apprised Lady Huntingdon of +the unexpected demise of the Prince of Wales: “an event (says his +Lordship) likely to cause many extraordinary changes at Court, and much +discontent in the kingdom.” Her Ladyship never took any interest or +part in the politics of the times, although, from family connexions and +other causes, her earliest associates were generally in the opposition +rank. Desirous of knowing the feelings and sentiments of the Prince at +the close of life, she wrote to Mr. Lyttleton, who had been principal +secretary to his Royal Highness. Little could be ascertained, yet that +little was satisfactory:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“It is certain (says her Ladyship) that he was in the habit +of reading Dr. Doddridge’s works, which had been presented to +the Princess, and has been heard to express his approbation of +them in the highest terms. He had frequent argument with my +Lord Bolingbroke, who thought his Royal Highness fast verging +towards Methodism, the doctrines of which he was very curious +to ascertain. His Lordship told me that the Prince went more +than once privately to hear Mr. Whitefield, with whom he said +he was much pleased. Had he lived, it is not improbable but Mr. +Whitefield would have been promoted in some way. But an all-wise +Providence has seen fit to remove him to another world. May +the Judge of all the earth dignify him with the illustrious +character of King and Priest, in that kingdom purchased for the +heirs of salvation by the unspeakable precious merits of Him +who was exalted as a Prince and a Saviour, and humbled himself +to death, even the death of the cross, to procure for us a +heavenly—a blissful inheritance beyond the skies!”</p> +</div> + +<p>Dr. Francis Ayscough, afterwards Dean of Bristol, who had married one +of the sisters of Lord Lyttleton, was appointed clerk of the closet to +the Prince of Wales, and first preceptor to his late Majesty, George +III. On being appointed by the Prince to take charge of the education +of his children, Dr. Doddridge wrote him a letter of congratulation; in +reply to which the Doctor says:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I am truly sensible of the difficulties as well as the +advantages of the station I am placed in. A trust of such +importance to posterity is a charge which I have not only on +my mind, but in my conscience.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">[176]</span> I hope God will enable me to +go through it with success; and I think I have a right to +call upon every good man and lover of his country for advice +and assistance in the discharge of a duty, on the faithful +performance of which the public good so much depends. And as +you have been so much concerned in the education of youth, I +shall always be glad to receive any advice or instructions from +you, which I desire you to give me freely, and I promise you it +shall be most friendly received. I thank God I have one great +encouragement to quicken me in my duty, which is, the good +disposition of the children entrusted to me: as an instance +of it, I must tell you that Prince George<a id="FNanchor_97" href="#Footnote_97" class="fnanchor">[97]</a> (to his honour +and my shame) had learned several pages in your little book of +verses without any directions from me: and I must say of all the +children (for they are all committed to my care) that they are +as conformable and as capable of receiving instruction as any I +ever yet met with. How unpardonable, then, should I be in the +sight of God and man, if I neglected my part towards them! All +that I can say is, that no care or diligence shall be wanting in +me; and I beg the prayer of you, and every honest man, for the +Divine blessing on my endeavours.”</p> +</div> + +<p>It was through the kindness of Lady Huntingdon that Dr. Ayscough had +become acquainted with her favourite, Dr. Doddridge, whom her Ladyship +represented as a gentleman, a scholar, and an able and pious minister +of Christ. Lady Huntingdon prevailed upon the Doctor to present, as +we before stated, his work on the “Rise and Progress of Religion” to +the Princess of Wales, through the medium of Dr. Ayscough, who thus +informed him of the execution of the commission he had entrusted him +with:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I presented your book to her Royal Highness, and ought long +since to have acquainted you with her most gracious acceptance +of it, and that I was commanded to return you her thanks for it. +There is, indeed, such a spirit of piety in it as deserves the +thanks of every good Christian. May God grant it may have its +proper effect in awakening this present careless age! and then I +am sure you will have your end in publishing it.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Dr. Doddridge was at this time publishing “The Family Expositor,” by +subscription. One volume had already appeared, and few persons in the +circle of the Doctor’s friends made more strenuous exertions for the +circulation of his work than Lady Huntingdon. But the dangerous illness +of their faithful and much-esteemed friend, Mr. Lyttleton, retarded the +printing of the remaining volumes.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“The three volumes (says Dr. Doddridge) will hardly be +published at so small a price as a thousand pounds, and I +shall judge it the part of prudence, and therefore of duty, +not to send them to the press on any terms on which I shall +not be secure; and if there be such a number<span class="pagenum" id="Page_177">[177]</span> subscribed for, +or bespoke by booksellers, as to effect that, I shall go on +with the publication as fast as I can; and bless God for such +an opportunity of doing any public homage to his word, and +endeavouring with all integrity and simplicity to make it +understood, and to enforce it on men’s consciences according to +the little ability he has been pleased to give me; which truly +I think so little, that I am sometimes almost ashamed of having +undertaken so great a work.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Mr. Lyttleton, however, soon recovered, and in a short time transmitted +to Lady Huntingdon a long list of additional subscribers:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I have the unspeakable pleasure (says her Ladyship) of +communicating intelligence that will rejoice my much-esteemed +friend. You will be thankful that the great Author of all good +has raised our friend, Mr. Lyttleton, from the borders of +the grave, and he is now quite recovered from his late most +alarming indisposition. I have just had a letter from him, +lamenting his not having procured a larger list of subscribers +to ‘The Expositor,’ owing principally to the delay caused by +his illness; but hopes, as soon as his strength is restored, to +redeem the time that is lost by redoubling his exertions.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Mr. Lyttleton’s exertions in procuring subscriptions for the remaining +volumes of “The Family Expositor” were the means of introducing it to +many in high life, to whom it might otherwise have had no access. “Most +earnestly (continues her Ladyship) do I pray the Lord of all lords to +prolong your valuable life, and give you strength and abilities for the +completion of a work so calculated to promote the glory of his name, +and the everlasting good of mankind.”</p> + +<p>It was now that letters from the Duchess of Bridgewater and Dr. +Ayscough to Lady Huntingdon announced the unexpected death of Sir +Thomas Lyttleton, who had long been an intimate friend of the late +Lord Huntingdon and several branches of the house of Hastings. “My +father (says Sir George, afterwards the well-known and respected Lord +Lyttleton) met death with so noble a firmness and so assured a hope +of a blessed immortality, that it has raised our thoughts above our +grief, and fixed them much more in the example he has left us, than in +the loss we have sustained.” Ill health had obliged him to retire from +a public station, and he lived retired, in the continual exercise of +all the virtues which can ennoble private life; his sound judgment, +inflexible integrity, and universal candour, recommended him to the +esteem of all parties. Though in a state of great bodily suffering, his +immediate death was not contemplated by his family:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“As far as I can judge (writes Lady Huntingdon) from what the +Duchess and Dr. Ayscough write concerning Sir Thomas, he must +have<span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">[178]</span> left these scenes of mortality with a well-founded hope +of happiness. The perusal of Dr. Doddridge’s ‘Rise and Progress +of Religion’ was much blessed to him; and on his dying bed he +recommended it to the serious attention of his children. I +have not time at present to give you many particulars; but one +expression that dropped from him the day before his departure +appears satisfactory, and most consoling to his afflicted +family. Mr. Lyttleton had read some chapters from the Bible, +and afterwards engaged in prayer for his dying parent; when he +had concluded, Sir George expressed his readiness to depart, +adding, ‘My dear child, I feel that God my Saviour has pardoned +all my sins; and from what you have just read, that his blood +cleanseth from all iniquity, I derive great comfort, for he is +my <span class="allsmcap">ONLY, ONLY HOPE</span>.’ I pray that this affliction may be +sanctified to the good of surviving relatives. The Duchess is +quite inconsolable; but the good Doctor rejoices in the eternal +happiness of his respected father-in-law. I shall write to both +the next post.”<a id="FNanchor_98" href="#Footnote_98" class="fnanchor">[98]</a></p> +</div> + +<p>Intelligence of the death of the excellent Dr. Doddridge now arrived +in England, and was quickly followed by that of a character in every +respect dissimilar—namely, the Lord Viscount Bolingbroke,<a id="FNanchor_99" href="#Footnote_99" class="fnanchor">[99]</a> a man +of fascinating manners and commanding eloquence, abounding in wit and +fancy, master of polite learning, which he knew how to draw forth on +all occasions; but in his private character without morals and without +principles. The intelligence was communicated to her Ladyship by his +Lordship’s only sister, the eccentric and accomplished Lady Luxborough, +the friend and correspondent of Shenstone, the poet.</p> + +<p>His Lordship entertained a very contemptuous opinion of clergymen +in general; and this is not much to be wondered at, for many of +those with whom he had come in contact were mere sycophants and +time-servers—fawning on the great for preferment. The well-known Dr. +Trapp, rector of the united parishes of Christ Church, Newgate-street, +and St. Leonard, Foster-lane, was his chaplain. He acted as manager +to that celebrated<span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">[179]</span> High Church bigot, Dr. Sacheverel, in his trial +before the House of Lords. With Lord and Lady Huntingdon, Dr. Trapp +was well acquainted, and was a frequent guest at their house. From a +mistaken notion that he was recommending himself to his ecclesiastical +superiors, he invariably manifested the most implacable hatred to the +whole Methodist body. His “Preservative against Unsettled Notions in +Religion,” and his “Sin and Folly of being Righteous over-much,” were +answered by Messrs. Whitefield, Wesley, and Law.</p> + +<p>Dr. Thomas Church, Vicar of Battersea and Prebendary of St. Paul’s, +was likewise the intimate friend of Lord Bolingbroke, and, after his +Lordship’s decease, published an Analysis of his Philosophical Works. +He also was a violent exposer of the Methodists, and addressed a +“Serious and Expostulatory Letter” to Mr. Whitefield, and “Remarks on +Mr. Wesley’s Journal,” in a letter to that gentleman.<a id="FNanchor_100" href="#Footnote_100" class="fnanchor">[100]</a></p> + +<p>It is well known that Lord Bolingbroke professed himself a Deist: and +those principles which he had all along avowed he confirmed with his +dying breath, having given orders that none of the clergy should be +permitted to trouble him in his latest moments. He often attended Mr. +Whitefield’s ministry, and on several occasions complimented him on his +eloquence and abilities:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“He is (says his Lordship, in a letter to Lady Huntingdon) +the most extraordinary man in our times. He has the most +commanding eloquence I ever heard in any person; his abilities +are very considerable; his zeal unquenchable; and his piety and +excellence genuine—unquestionable. The bishops and inferior +orders of the clergy are very angry with him, and endeavour +to represent him as a hypocrite, an enthusiast; but this is +not astonishing—there is so little real goodness<span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">[180]</span> or honesty +amongst them. Your Ladyship will be somewhat amused at hearing +that the King has recommended to his Grace of Canterbury that +Mr. Whitefield should be advanced to the Bench, as the only +means of putting an end to his preaching. What a keen—what a +biting remark! but how just, and how well-earned by those mitred +lords!”</p> +</div> + +<p>His friendship for Lady Huntingdon, and his admiration of her +talents and her devotedness to the cause of God her Saviour, were +extraordinary, and continued unabated to the close of his life. With +her Ladyship he frequently conversed on the most solemn truths of +religion. Disdaining the restraints of God’s law, and priding himself +in freedom of thought above the vulgar, the wisdom of God, in his +eyes, was foolishness; and revelation, at the bar of his “exalted +reason,” was weighed and found wanting! Nevertheless, he was seldom in +her company without discussing some topic beneficial to his eternal +interests, and he always paid the utmost respect and deference to her +Ladyship’s opinion. On one occasion he said, “How does your Ladyship +reconcile prayer to God for particular blessings, with absolute +resignation to the Divine will?” “Very easily (replied the Countess); +just as if I was to offer a petition to a monarch of whose kindness and +wisdom I have the highest opinion. In such a case my language would +be—‘I wish you to bestow on me such a favour; but your Majesty knows +better than I how far it would be agreeable to you, or right in itself +to grant my desire. I therefore content myself with humbly presenting +my petition, and leave the event of it entirely to you.’”</p> + +<p>Lord Bolingbroke’s second wife, the Marchioness of Villetta, was niece +to the celebrated Madame de Maintenon (wife of Louis XIV.), the cruel +instigator of those horrid persecutions of the Protestants which +disgraced the reign of that great monarch. She was a woman of superior +accomplishments, and styled by her aunt, in her published letters, +“the most sensible person among her female relations.” Between her +Ladyship and the eccentric Lady Luxborough, his Lordship’s only sister, +there existed little cordiality. With Lady Fanny Shirley she was +particularly intimate; and was very regular in her attendance at Lady +Huntingdon’s to hear Mr. Whitefield, and other eminent ministers. “Of +Lord Bolingbroke and the Marchioness (says her Ladyship) I sometimes +have a hope; they attend with such regularity, and hear with such +apparent attention. But Lady Luxborough is so odd, and so engrossed +with her poets and literary acquaintances, that she has neither time +nor attention to spare for that which concerns her never-dying soul: +she is good-humoured and good-natured, though no great love exists<span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">[181]</span> +between her and the Marchioness, for what cause I know not. I cannot +help feeling very anxious about them, and hope and pray that the Father +of light may illuminate their darkened understandings, and give them at +last the knowledge of himself, whom to know was everlasting life.”<a id="FNanchor_101" href="#Footnote_101" class="fnanchor">[101]</a></p> + +<p>Not long after the death of Lord Bolingbroke, his works, in five +pompous quartos, edited by Mr. David Mallet, were given to the public. +The wild and pernicious ravings, under the name of “Philosophy,” +which were thus ushered into the world, gave great offence to all +well-principled men, and produced a host of answers and refutations. +Of these, the most celebrated were by Clayton, Bishop of Clogher; +Warburton, Bishop of Gloucester; Dr. Leland, in his “Review of +Deistical Writers;” and Mr. Hervey, whose answer to his Lordship’s +observations on the “Use and Study of History” was addressed to Lady +Fanny Shirley. Dr. Johnson, hearing of the mischievous tendency of Lord +Bolingbroke’s works, which nobody disputed, was roused with a just +indignation, and pronounced this memorable sentence on the noble author +and his editor: “Sir, he was a scoundrel and a coward: a scoundrel, for +charging a blunderbuss against religion and morality; a coward, because +he had not resolution to fire it off himself, but left half-a-crown to +a beggarly Scotchman to draw the trigger after his death!”</p> + +<p>Lady Huntingdon, hearing of Mr. Mallet’s intention, made some fruitless +efforts to prevent the publication of Lord Bolingbroke’s works. “I +have written to Mr. Mallet (says her Ladyship), and used my influence +with Lord Chesterfield and others, to try, if possible, to suppress +what must be so detrimental to mankind.” But Mallet was a determined +infidel, and, in other<span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">[182]</span> respects, a worthless character. By address or +accident, perhaps by his dependence on the Prince of Wales, to whom he +was under-secretary, Mallet found his way to Lord Bolingbroke, a man +whose pride and petulance made his kindness difficult to gain or keep, +and whom Mallet was content to court by an act of unexampled infamy. +On the death of Pope, when it was found that he had clandestinely +printed an unauthorized number of the pamphlet called “The Patriot +King,” Bolingbroke, in a fit of useless fury, resolved to blast his +memory, and employed Mallet as the instrument of his vengeance. This +time-server had not virtue, or had not spirit, to refuse the office; +and was rewarded not long after with the legacy of Lord Bolingbroke’s +works. This man also received a legacy of five hundred pounds from +Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, to write the life of her husband; but +he never fulfilled the engagement; and if anything could add to his +infamy, it was the publishing of libels against Byng, while that +unfortunate admiral was on his trial; and for which the calumniator was +rewarded with a pension and a place. “I mourn the fate of poor Byng +(says Lady Huntingdon), and envy not the feelings of his vilifier. +Every effort to save him proved ineffectual; and he is added to the +number of victims to popular clamour and ministerial policy.”</p> + +<p>In whatever light we view the character of Lord Bolingbroke, we shall +find him rather an object of wonder than an example for imitation; +more to be feared than esteemed, and gaining our admiration without +our love. The world now begins to think justly both of him and of +Pope—that Pope was the greatest poet, but not the most disinterested +man in the world; and that Bolingbroke had not all those virtues nor +all those talents which the other so proclaimed: that he did not even +deserve the friendship which lent him so much merit, and for the mere +loan of which he dissembled attachment to Pope, to whom in his heart he +was as perfidious and as false as he was to the rest of the world.</p> +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">[183]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hangingindent">Mr. Whitefield in Scotland—Dr. Erskine and Dr. +Robertson—Scotch Nobility—Mr. and Lady Jane Nimmo—Letter +to Lady Huntingdon—Mr. Wardrobe—Mr. Hervey: his “Theron and +Aspasio”—Letters to Lady Huntingdon—Lady Fanny Shirley—Prince +and Princess of Wales—Mr. Hervey’s method of preaching—Letter +from Lady Huntingdon—Mr. Steward—Lady Anne Hastings.</p> +</div> + + +<p>Mr. Whitefield visited Scotland, for the first time, in 1741. The +fame of his success as a popular preacher, in England and America, +had induced individuals of different persuasions, and in particular a +class of ministers who had lately seceded from the Established Church, +to invite him earnestly to that country, from an expectation that he +might be as successful in promoting the revival of religion there, as +they believed him to have been in England and America; it was also not +unreasonably hoped, on the part of the seceding friends, that, by means +of his popularity, directed by them, they might gain both attention and +influence to their infant sect.</p> + +<p>He continued to officiate, as he had originally done in England, +sometimes in the parish churches, and more frequently in the fields, in +the most populous districts of Scotland; from Edinburgh and Glasgow, to +Leith, Dundee, and Aberdeen, everywhere attended by immense multitudes +of people; on many occasions producing effects on his hearers, of every +rank, age, and character, of which, though there may have been similar +examples, yet there are certainly not many more striking or perhaps +equal instances on record.</p> + +<p>On this first visit to Scotland, he was most hospitably received by +many persons of rank, who behaved towards him with great politeness +and attention: and this attention was considerably increased, in +every subsequent visit, after he became chaplain to the Countess of +Huntingdon; her Ladyship being, as we have already shown, well known +to many of the Scotch nobility, among whom she had a very extensive +acquaintance. His adherence to the doctrines of Calvin, which he +affirmed to be the doctrines of the Church of England, rendered him far +more popular than Mr. Wesley; who, although he was more literary, and +spoke with more classical correctness, was yet compelled to admit the +effect of Mr. Whitefield’s eloquence, amidst all the improprieties of +manner and language which he imputed to him.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">[184]</span></p> + +<p>The countenance which was given to Mr. Whitefield, and the astonishing +effects resulting from his labours, not only created much diversity +of opinion within the Established Church, but occasioned violent +dissensions in private life, as many individuals still living can +attest.</p> + +<p>The late Dr. Erskine, minister of the old Greyfriars’ Church, was +still, at the period of which we speak, a student at the University of +Edinburgh, and was one of those who zealously defended the character +of Mr. Whitefield. He felt the force of his powerful and popular +eloquence, and seems to have had a strong impression of the usefulness +and efficacy of his evangelical doctrines. Dr. Robertson, then also a +student at the University, certainly entertained a different opinion, +both of his character, which they did not at that time consider +sufficiently established, and of the extraordinary effects imputed to +his public ministrations.</p> + +<p>Dr. Robertson and Dr. Erskine had been associated in a literary +society, in the University, with a number of individuals who became +afterwards considerable in different departments. Unfortunately, the +question of Mr. Whitefield’s character and usefulness was introduced +into their debates; and, calling forth very contrary opinions, was +agitated with so much zeal and asperity, as to occasion the dissolution +of their society, and to interrupt even their intercourse in private +life.<a id="FNanchor_102" href="#Footnote_102" class="fnanchor">[102]</a></p> + +<p>The clamour excited in England, before this time, against the +progress of Methodism, in which the characters of Lady Huntingdon, +Mr. Whitefield, and the Wesleys, were treated with equal freedom and +severity, must have greatly contributed to heighten the prejudices +circulated in Scotland against Mr. Whitefield, and the respectability +or success of his labours. There was not, indeed, the same prejudice in +Scotland as in England against field-preaching. During the preceding +century the persecuted Presbyterians, driven from their churches, had +transmitted to their descendants a partiality for religious assemblies +in the fields, which, although no longer the effect of necessity, +continued to be in very general practice, as often as the sacrament of +the Lord’s Supper was dispensed, and in some districts of the country +are not even at this day completely disused. When Mr. Whitefield, +therefore, appeared in the Orphan Hospital Park, at Edinburgh, the +circumstance of his addressing the people in the open air exhibited +no novelty to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">[185]</span> an audience who were far too numerous to have been +contained in any church of the city, and who were accustomed to +field-preaching in almost every parish of the country in which they +occasionally resided.</p> + +<p>Some of the most distinguished families in the kingdom were, as often +as the opportunity was given them, his constant hearers, and were, +besides, in the habit of admitting him to their private society; and +among those, in particular, was a nobleman, who was then his Majesty’s +representative, as Lord High Commissioner, in the General Assembly, who +not only attended his ministrations and invited him to his house, but +who introduced him to his public table during the session of Assembly.</p> + +<p>His visits to Scotland continued, and in the summer of 1750 we find him +at the hospitable residence of Mr. Nimmo,<a id="FNanchor_103" href="#Footnote_103" class="fnanchor">[103]</a> where he was most kindly +received during his then stay in Edinburgh. Greater multitudes than in +any former visits flocked to hear<span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">[186]</span> him, and earnestly entreated him +not to leave them soon. Though burning with fever, and much indisposed +from a violent cold, he continued to preach twice a day, early in the +morning and at six in the evening. “Your Ladyship’s health (says he, in +a letter to the Countess) is drank and enquired after every day. Mr. +Nimmo, who married Lord Marchmont’s sister, has given me three franks, +and his family are in the number of those who are left in Sardis, and +have not defiled their garments.”</p> + +<p>It was during this visit of Mr. Whitefield to Scotland that Lady Jane +Nimmo wrote the following letter to Lady Huntingdon:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Madam—Accept my thanks for your very obliging message by Mr. +Whitefield; and I hope to avail myself of your kind offer the +first time I go to London with Mr. Nimmo. Your very acceptable +and truly Christian letter was conveyed to me by my brother, +and I ought to have answered it sooner, had not some family +occurrences interfered, which obliged me to leave home for a +distant part of the kingdom.</p> + +<p>“Your Ladyship will rejoice to hear that greater crowds than +ever flock to hear Mr. Whitefield. The energy and power of the +Gospel word is truly remarkable, and such as to cause great joy +and thankfulness among the people of God. Dear Lady Frances +Gardiner is very active in bringing people to hear him, to some +of whom there is reason to believe the word has been blessed. +There is a great awakening among all classes. Truth is great +and will prevail, notwithstanding all manner of evil is spoken +against it. The fields are more than white, and ready unto +harvest, in Scotland. Many prayers are offered up for your +Ladyship, and many bless God for your sending your chaplain to +these parts. The infinitely condescending Redeemer vouchsafes +to bless your labours for the good of souls in England: and +your Ladyship will shortly have my native country to add to the +brilliancy of that diadem which shall adorn your brow in the +great day of the Lord. I blush and am confounded when I think to +what little purpose I have lived. It is time now to begin to do +something for Him who has done so much for me, and suffered so +much for my sinful soul. I beg, dear Madam, you will pray for +me while life lasts. I feel under manifold obligations to your +Ladyship, and hope to spend an eternity with you in praising +that grace and love that has plucked us as brands out of the +burning. Mr. Nimmo begs his most cordial salutations to you, +yours, and all who love your dear Lord and Saviour in sincerity; +and, wishing you the best of blessings, I subscribe myself, my +dear Madam, your Ladyship’s most affectionately, in our common +Lord,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“J. Nimmo.”</p> + +<p class="p-min">“August 9th.”</p> +</div> + +<p>In one of Lady Huntingdon’s letters to Mr. Whitefield she requests +him to invite the correspondence of the Rev. James Robe, minister of +Kilsyth, well known in Scotland for his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">[187]</span> zealous exertions in the cause +of truth, and by the publication of his “Narrative” of the revival of +religion, and the visible convulsive agitations which accompanied his +ministrations, and those of the parish ministers in his neighbourhood.</p> + +<p>Dr. Gillies, of Glasgow, Mr. Adams, of Falkirk, Mr. Robe, of Kilsyth, +Dr. Webster, of Edinburgh, and Mr. Wardrobe, of Bathgate, were men of +great piety, and of more liberality of mind than was commonly found +among the Scotch ministers at the time of which we are writing. They +cultivated an acquaintance with the Methodists, and frequently invited +Mr. Whitefield and Mr. Wesley to visit Scotland. With Lady Huntingdon +several of them kept up a constant correspondence for many years, +particularly Mr. Wardrobe, for whom her Ladyship had a great regard, +and whom she often called her zealous Scotch chaplain.<a id="FNanchor_104" href="#Footnote_104" class="fnanchor">[104]</a></p> + +<p>It was about this time that Mr. Hervey commenced his inimitable work +of “Theron and Aspasio.” Of the amiable and excellent Hervey it may +be truly said, that few lives have ever been more heavenly, and few +deaths more triumphant. He died in the Lord, and is now at rest, where +even “the wicked cease from troubling.” His name is recorded in the +annals of eternity, and the honours conferred on him by Christ will +for ever continue blooming and incorruptible in the world of glory; +his character, both in his public and private capacity, was of the +most exemplary kind; his writings afford a lasting and indisputable +proof of his grace and abilities—these were given him for the use of +the Church of God, and they were laid out for that end. His style has +been much admired: it must be owned that there is much of brilliancy +and floridness in all his compositions; but persons of refined taste +have expressed themselves much less satisfied with his language than +his thoughts. The nervous, chaste, and manly style of the ancient +classics he certainly has not copied; but rather that laboured +attention to words and forms which has been objected to in Seneca, +Austin, and others. However, this is but of small importance, compared +with the heavenly truths he delivered, and the seraphic ardour with +which he uttered them. The casket, indeed, is brilliant, and carefully +embellished; but it is the jewel within that gives it value.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">[188]</span></p> + +<p>His “Theron and Aspasio” has proved eminently useful to multitudes, and +it still continues to exhibit, with increasing usefulness, all those +grand doctrines of Christianity which are of universal concernment and +of the last importance. With that humility which was so conspicuous in +this amiable man, we find him, in the following letter, submitting the +first four dialogues of his work to the critical inspection of Lady +Huntingdon:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Madam—With gratitude I received, and with inexpressible +delight I perused, your Ladyship’s very kind and truly Christian +letter. I assure you I esteem such epistles to be favours +indeed. May I be so bold as to beg you to continue them? +The languor of my constitution is so great, and the failure +of my spirits so frequent, that I have not been able to pay +the indispensable debt of gratitude and friendship due to my +correspondents; but though I have not written to your Ladyship +as frequently as I ought, I have taken every opportunity to +enquire after you. Lady Frances Shirley has lately given me some +pleasing instances of your Ladyship’s usefulness to the souls of +your fellow-mortals. May your words be ‘as polished shafts’ in +the victorious Redeemer’s quiver, and ‘as a nail fastened in a +sure place!’ May the seed which you are daily sowing in various +parts of the kingdom grow and prosper; and may the ground before +you be like the harvest of the sixth year in Israel—doubly +fruitful.</p> + +<p>“Your Ladyship is pleased to express a wish that I should +proceed without delay in finishing my intended work. Be assured +your wishes, Madam, have all the force of a command with me. +I send you the first four dialogues, beseeching you to peruse +them, not with the partiality of a friend, but the severity +of a critic. The like request I have made of others, and have +received their friendly corrections. I am deeply sensible of my +own deficiencies, and in order, therefore, to render my work, +if possible, fit for public view—meet for the Master’s use—I +shall feel obliged by any corrections or improvements which your +pen may make. Your Ladyship is at liberty to show the manuscript +to whom you please. Your remarks, and those of your friends, +may supply the sterility of my invention and the poverty of my +language.</p> + +<p>“The letter of my honourable friend, Lady Frances, brought me +your Ladyship’s message. Most gladly will I lend my pulpit to +any minister whom you send; but it would give me unspeakable +pleasure to see you at Weston. O do come, and diffuse a little +of that holy zeal which continually burns in your heart, and +which, I trust, will warm the hearts of multitudes! May your +Ladyship be made the honoured instrument of training up many, +very many, for a life of distinguished holiness and extensive +usefulness in the world below, and for a life of consummate +happiness and everlasting glory in the mansions of eternal +felicity above!</p> + +<p>“My good friend Mr. Hartley begs me to present his respects +and Christian regards to your Ladyship, to which Dr. Stonhouse +requests his may be united. The latter was much benefitted by +your very seasonable letter to him. Once more, I earnestly beg +that you will<span class="pagenum" id="Page_189">[189]</span> bestow your free corrections on my manuscript. +If you really approve what I have sketched, I shall be +encouraged to proceed in my work. May I not hope for the honour +of dedicating it to your Ladyship? It would give me singular +pleasure to have any work of my pen patronized by the Countess +of Huntingdon.</p> + +<p>“Praying that the Lord Jesus may prosper you in all your +labours, and enable you to pray for the weakest of all your +brethren, I remain, Madam, in great weakness, but with great +sincerity, your Ladyship’s truly affectionate friend and willing +servant, for Christ’s sake,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“James Hervey.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Lady Huntingdon, entering fully into the design of Mr. Hervey’s work, +claimed the assistance of all those whom she considered capable of +suggesting improvements and useful hints, and transmitted their +observations to the author. The imputation of Christ’s righteousness, +which is considered very distinctly and copiously in the Dialogues +of “Theron and Aspasio,” becoming the topic of conversation at +her Ladyship’s, when several ministers were present, the late Mr. +Hartley,<a id="FNanchor_105" href="#Footnote_105" class="fnanchor">[105]</a> Rector of Winwick, in Northamptonshire, objected to the +doctrine, and said it would be better to suppress than to publish the +intended work. This information was communicated to Mr. Hervey, who, in +a letter to Mr. Ryland, of Northampton, father of the late Dr. Ryland, +of Bristol, thus notices the circumstance:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“My good friend and pious brother Hartley has just published +a volume of sermons. He is a friend to the righteousness of +Christ; but, so far as it is formed in our hearts, he does not +like the doctrine of imputed righteousness: and said, at Lady +Huntingdon’s, from the sincerity and impartiality of his zeal, +that it would be better to have my intended work suppressed than +published. This I was told under the rose; and this I speak only +<i>inter nos</i>. I heartily wish my brother Hartley’s sermons +may be accompanied with an abundant blessing, and bring much +honour to our crucified Lord.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Lady Huntingdon, as will appear from the following letter, dated July +14, 1753, declined the offered dedication. Mr. Hervey says—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Madam—Accept my thanks for taking the trouble of perusing my +very imperfect manuscript, and my grateful acknowledgments for +the improving touches and remarks you have made, as well as +for those of your highly valuable friends and acquaintances. +The corrections you have done me the honour to transmit will +be exceedingly beneficial to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">[190]</span> the work, and render it more +acceptable to the public in general. But I confess I feel +disappointed at your Ladyship’s declining to patronize the +public attempt of my pen; nevertheless, your observations are so +sensible and just, and carry with them so much weight, that I +cannot think of pressing the matter on your attention, further +than to solicit your prayers for the success of the undertaking, +and for the unworthy author. O that a double portion of +the divine benediction may attend it!—that it may be made +instrumental in awakening the supine, and directing many to take +shelter in our Divine Mediator!</p> + +<p>“Your Ladyship’s hint relative to Lady Frances I shall certainly +improve without delay. I rejoice to hear that the Redeemer’s +cause prospers. O may the arm of the Lord be revealed more and +more amongst us, and the triumphs of free grace have wider +spread and freer course! May your bow ever abide in strength, +and may your ability for the service of our Divine Master +increase, as much as mine decreases!</p> + +<p>“When you write next to dear Mr. Whitefield, your Ladyship +will much oblige me by conveying to him my kindest wishes and +my Christian love. I shall write in a post or two to Lady +Frances. The moment my work comes from the press, I must beg +your acceptance of a few copies for your Ladyship and friends. +Continue to beseech the Lord Jesus to make it subservient to the +furtherance of his cause, and cease not to pray for its most +unworthy author. May the eye of Omnipotence be your guide and +mine! Your obliged friend and servant, for Christ’s sake,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“James Hervey.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Few religious authors met with more acceptance than Mr. Hervey, and +few have met with more opposition:<a id="FNanchor_106" href="#Footnote_106" class="fnanchor">[106]</a> his “Theron and Aspasio” has +been severely censured. This is the more surprising, as it contains the +leading truths of the Gospel, such as they were formerly maintained +by all the Protestant Churches and a great number of the soundest and +most holy divines; and, indeed, is chiefly prized by the most judicious +and evangelical friends of the truth. Among many others, the late +evangelical Romaine says, “Read his ‘Theron and Aspasio,’ and when +you are thoroughly convinced that ‘Christ is the end of the law for +righteousness to every one that believeth,’ and can say with faith, +‘In the Lord have I righteousness and salvation,’ then your mind will +be settled in peace and comfort, and you will be delivered from those +dangerous errors which are now propagated concerning the righteousness +of the Lord Jesus. Thank God for the masterly defence of it in these +Dialogues. In them,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">[191]</span> Mr. Hervey, being dead, yet speaketh the promise +of the adorable Redeemer, and clearly proves that we have our salvation +through his righteousness.” Even his combatant, Mr. Wesley, owns that +in it most of the grand truths of Christianity are explained and proved +with great strength and clearness.</p> + +<p>Lady Fanny Shirley now became the patroness of Mr. Hervey. The lively +imagination, solid judgment, correct taste, and luxuriance of style +displayed in his writing soon attracted the cultivated mind of her +Ladyship, who invariably expressed herself highly pleased with the +clear, pleasant, and judicious views of divine truth which he exhibited +to the minds of his readers. Her name has been immortalized by the +dedication of “Theron and Aspasio” to her Ladyship—a work which, for +nearly a century, has wonderfully contributed to the diffusion of +evangelical truth in Britain and elsewhere; and we fondly hope the +saving effects of the principles it contains may be still more widely +extended for ages to come.</p> + +<p>Lady Fanny, having perused Lord Bolingbroke’s “Letters on the Study and +Use of History,” wrote to Mr. Hervey, asking his opinion concerning +his Lordship’s remarks on Scriptural History. Mr. Hervey immediately +procured the book, and submitted to her Ladyship’s judgment the +thoughts which occurred whilst reading it. His “Letter” was addressed +to Lady Fanny, whose name, though it would have graced and recommended +his performance, he was not allowed to mention. Her Ladyship’s +commands, which would admit of no excuse, drew the remarks from his +pen; and her desire, which with him always had the force of a command, +brought them to the press. At the commencement of his “Letter,” he +assures her Ladyship that, though many might discuss the point much +more clearly and satisfactorily than the person she favoured with her +commands, yet no one could think it a greater honour to receive, or a +greater pleasure to execute them.</p> + +<p>The cross of Christ was the doctrine that lay nearest the heart of +this good man; this, in all its tendencies and bearings, in all its +relations to the honour of God and the salvation of men, he delighted +to elucidate in every diversity or form of words, and on this he dwelt +with growing zeal and ardour to the close of life. It was the subject +that met him in every direction, that beautified and adorned every +other topic, that lived and breathed in all his preaching, the centre +point of all his sermons; in reference to, and in dependence upon +which, other subjects were considered.</p> + +<p>His manner of preaching was impressive: indeed, he thought his message +written on his heart. He spoke of the guilt of sin<span class="pagenum" id="Page_192">[192]</span> and the sufferings +of Christ in the exercise of feeling his own guilt, and leaning on +these sufferings for its expiation. He expatiated on the love of Christ +under the influence of a heart kindled with it; and on the glory to +come, in the temper of one who expects and longs to be a sharer in that +glory. Of his mode of preaching, and the manner in which he exercised +his ministry, an interesting account has been preserved by Lady +Huntingdon, in a letter to one of her intimate correspondents, most +probably to Lady Fanny Shirley:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“My dear Friend—Your account of the old man was highly +satisfactory. The intelligence from Trevecca is most +encouraging, and Mr. Harris is rejoicing over a multitude +snatched as firebrands out of the burning. * * *</p> + +<p>“Our dear Mr. Hervey goes on in his usual way; I lately had an +interesting account of his manner of lecturing in his church, +which pleased me much, and I send it to you, knowing how +delighted you will be with anything that relates to him:—‘Last +Sabbath-day, after preaching in the morning at Olney, with +three others, I rode to hear one Mr. Hervey, a minister of +the Church of England, who preached at Collingtree, and, to +my great surprise as well as satisfaction, having never seen +such a thing before, in prayer-time, instead of singing psalms, +they sung two of Dr. Watts’s hymns, the clerk giving them out +line by line. After prayer, without going out of the desk, the +minister put off his surplice, and turned to the 15th of St. +Matthew, which was the second lesson of the day, and told the +people what pleasure had occurred in his mind whilst reading +the parable of our Saviour’s feeding the four thousand men, +besides women and children, with seven loaves and a few little +fishes; he then spoke in a plain, simple manner about it, and +afterwards spiritualized it by observing what great things the +Lord sometimes does by small things and weak instruments. And +then, without going up into the pulpit, he turned to the 5th +chapter of the Ephesians, and read the 25th, 26th, and 27th +verses, and very sweetly and clearly he spoke from them; showing +the meaning of those words in the creed—<i>I believe in the +Holy Catholic Church</i>, wherein he observed, they do not +believe in the Church as in God Almighty and in his Son Jesus +Christ our Lord; but the meaning, he observed, was, I believe +God has a Holy Catholic Church: and the word <i>Catholic</i> +signifies <i>universal</i>; that there always was, now is, and +will be a Church of Christ. He then from the holy word showed +who were the members of this Church—such as were cleansed, +washed, or justified from their sins in the blood of our Lord +Jesus Christ: and here he spoke very clearly to the people, +and told them that <i>all</i> were not of or in this Church, +which he compared to Noah and his family in the ark being +safe, when all the rest were drowned in the deluge. In like +manner he showed, notwithstanding their coming to that place or +building, if they were not members of that Church he had been +describing, by being united to Jesus Christ by faith, they, +as the people out of the ark, must perish at last. And as he +had been telling them<span class="pagenum" id="Page_193">[193]</span> who were the members of this Church, he +spake in a humble way of himself, as being an unworthy member +thereof. And now having shown what was meant by the Church, +and who were its members, he showed, lastly, from the words +he had read, what were the Church’s privileges. And first, +Christ loved the Church—secondly, he gave himself for it—and +last, to crown all, he would ‘present it to himself a glorious +Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.’ Thus +far I have been particular, for such a way of proceeding in +the Church of England seems wonderful to me. But what shall we +say? God is no respecter of persons, neither of places. Oh that +others of his brethren, the clergy, may go and do likewise! And +I am not without hope that many will. I was with him a little +after he had done preaching, and he spake of two more of the +clergy who are coming on much in the same way, and live down +lower in the country, near Daventry; and another who came out +of Huntingdonshire some time ago, on purpose to see him, and +since has written a letter to him. This Mr. Hervey expounds +every Wednesday night at the same church, preaches twice on the +Sabbath-day, catechizes the children, and meets some people on +Tuesdays and Thursdays, in or near the parish where his father +preached.<a id="FNanchor_107" href="#Footnote_107" class="fnanchor">[107]</a></p> + +<p>“Though long, I am persuaded your gratification will be as great +as mine at this narration of his proceedings among his people. +The fields are everywhere ready unto harvest, and I consider +it right, and the bounden duty of ministers, to use all lawful +efforts for the Gospel’s sake: and our success therein will at +once declare God’s voice to the land. O how little do we do +for Him who hath done so much for us! May we be continually on +the stretch for God—now is the time. Let us use all possible +exertions while it is day, for the night cometh when no man can +work. Dear Mr. Rowlands says, ‘The Lord gets himself the victory +in a wonderful manner in Wales, and many are added to the Lord. +The work is on the increase everywhere.’</p> + +<p>“And now, my dear friend, your remembering me before the throne +of grace makes me prize you more than ever. Continue to bear +me—my poor, vile, and worthless self—and all my wretched +performances for Him, when you approach the mercy-seat, and +plead powerfully in my behalf. Oh! I need it—</p> + + <div class="poetry-container1"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="ileft">‘Strengthen thy servant, gracious Lord,</div> + <div>Subdue her sins thro’ Jesu’s blood;</div> + <div>And when she would from thee depart,</div> + <div>O bind her, Jesus, to thy heart.’</div> + </div> + </div> + </div> + +<p>“May the God of love be with you to the close of your earthly +career, is the earnest prayer of your ever faithful and +affectionate friend,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“S. Huntingdon.”</p> +</div> + +<p>About this time Lady Huntingdon was much affected on account of the +death of the Rev. Mr. Steward, a valuable minister, who began to be +popular in the Church, but was soon called to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_194">[194]</span> his everlasting rest. +Being acquainted with some members of the Huntingdon family, he was +invited to her Ladyship’s house to hear Mr. Whitefield, and was among +the first witnesses to the benediction of the Spirit of God upon their +labours of love.<a id="FNanchor_108" href="#Footnote_108" class="fnanchor">[108]</a></p> + +<p>Mr. Whitefield was deeply affected at the loss of this excellent man, +whose lustre was eclipsed in the zenith of merited popularity, and +whose ministerial career was interrupted before he had well attained +the meridian of life. “Strange (says he, writing to Mr. Charles Wesley) +that so many should be so soon discharged, and we continued! Eighteen +years have I been waiting for the coming of the Son of God; but I find +we are immortal till our work is done. O that we may never live to be +ministered unto, but to minister! Mr. Steward spoke for his Lord as +long as he could speak at all. He had no clouds nor darkness! I was +with him till a few minutes before he slept in Jesus.”</p> + +<p>The summer of 1754, Lady Huntingdon spent at Ashby-place, where she +was visited by Mr. Ingham, who preached frequently during his stay. +She also went to Aberford for some time, and from thence repaired to +London. “I was surprised (says the Countess of Hertford) to meet Lady +Huntingdon on the road last Saturday fortnight; she was on her way to +London, but her coach drove by so fast that I had only time to send +Lomas after her with my compliments: she seemed to me to look as well +as ever I saw her.”</p> + +<p>In May, 1755, Mr. Whitefield returned to England from America, and on +his arrival in London was disappointed at finding Lady Huntingdon had +gone to Ashby. He was, however, much gratified at receiving a liberal +benefaction from her Ladyship for Bethesda, and delighted by the +intelligence that so many had been “stirred up to preach a crucified +Saviour” during his absence. “Many (says Mr. W.) in Oxford are awakened +to the knowledge of the truth, and I have heard almost every week of +some fresh minister or another that seems determined to know nothing +but Jesus Christ and him crucified. This excites the enmity of the old +serpent, which discovers itself in various shapes. The greatest venom +is spit out against Mr. Romaine, who, having been reputed a great +scholar, is now looked upon and treated as a great fool, because made +wise himself, and earnestly desirous that others also should be made +wise to eternal salvation.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_195">[195]</span></p> + +<p>On the 1st of July, Lady Anne Jaqueline Hastings was removed to her +eternal rest, after a short illness, in the 65th year of her age. “At +Bristol (says Mr. Whitefield) I heard of the death of good Lady Anne, +and was glad to find that Miss Wheeler bore the news of it with so much +composure. Alas! how many has your Ladyship lived to see go before you; +John Cennick is now added to the happy number of those who are called +to see Him as He is. I do not envy, but I want to follow after them.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 id="CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hangingindent">Retrospective Glances—Georgia—The Orphan House—Whitefield +in London—His Ordination—The Clergy—Mr. Broughton—Countess +of Hertford—Breach with Wesley—Societies for the Reformation +of Manners—Methodist Societies—Tabernacle Commenced—Its +History—Welsh Preachers—Moorfields—Lay Preachers—Nobility +at the Tabernacle—Opposition of the Dissenters—Anecdote of +Dr. Watts and Lady Huntingdon—Moravians—Sir Thomas and Lady +Abney—Tabernacle Opened—Long-acre Chapel—The Hon. Hume +Campbell—Tottenham-court Chapel Opened—Ned Shuter—Foote, the +Player—The Minor—Lord Halifax—Duke of Grafton—Mr. Fax—Mr. +Pitt—Mr. Rowland Hill—Captain Joss—Mr. Matthew Wilks—Mr. +Knight—Mr. Hyatt—Mr. Whitefield’s Will—Dr. Ford—Mr. Berridge +and Lady Huntingdon.</p> +</div> + + +<p>It may be well, at this point of our history, to pause and take a +retrospective glance at the progress of Methodism. In 1736, Mr. +Whitefield preached his first sermon at Gloucester, and he continued +with zeal and energy unparalleled, and with extraordinary eloquence, +to preach the Gospel. After the Society broke up at Oxford, he came +to London, and, in spite of his boyish appearance, and the sneers +it excited, succeeded in fixing deep and serious attention, by his +first sermon preached at Bishopsgate Church. On his second visit to +London crowds of hearers climbed the leads and hung on the rails of +the churches, while multitudes were willing, but unable, to get near +enough to hear. These scenes were new to the Church of England, which +had not been troubled with the excessive popularity of its preachers +since the days of Baxter, Vincent, and the Puritans. The managers of +churches of which the coffers were exhausted applied to Mr. Whitefield, +who preached four times on each Lord’s day, and often nine times in +the week, administering the sacrament before day-break in the morning, +and thus rousing thousands to a state of solicitude for their eternal +happiness. He<span class="pagenum" id="Page_196">[196]</span> then went to Georgia, and on his return he was received +with coldness by the clergy, but with extreme enthusiasm by the people. +He came to England to receive priest’s orders and to collect for the +Orphan-house.<a id="FNanchor_109" href="#Footnote_109" class="fnanchor">[109]</a> He preached where he could, but many of the pulpits +were now closed against him, as the apostle of a new sect; and the +Bishop of London (Dr. Edmond Gibson) thought it necessary to write +a pastoral letter, warning the people of his diocese against the +Methodists.<a id="FNanchor_110" href="#Footnote_110" class="fnanchor">[110]</a> Nevertheless he accepted Mr. Whitefield’s title, and +gave him letters dimissory to the Bishop of Oxford (Dr. Seeker), who, +in return, gave him similar letters to the Bishop of Gloucester (Dr. +Benson), in virtue of which he was ordained at Oxford, in accordance +with his own previously recorded prayer to God, that the same excellent +prelate, at whose hands he had been ordained deacon, might make him a +priest. The good Bishop, in a letter to his pupil, Lord Huntingdon, +gives an account of Mr. Whitefield’s ordination, expressing his hope +that the act “will give some satisfaction to my Lady, and that she +will not have occasion to find fault with your Lordship’s old tutor. +Though mistaken on some points, I think him (Mr. Whitefield) a very +pious, well-meaning young man, with good abilities and great zeal. I +find his Grace of Canterbury thinks highly of him. I pray God grant +him great success in all his undertakings for the good of mankind, and +the revival of true religion and holiness among us in these degenerate +days; in which prayer I am sure your Lordship and my kind good Lady +Huntingdon will most heartily join.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Whitefield returned from Oxford to London, and the opposition to +his preaching was increased by his expounding in societies and reading +and praying in private houses, for joining in which several of the +ministers threatened their parishioners with prosecution.<a id="FNanchor_111" href="#Footnote_111" class="fnanchor">[111]</a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_197">[197]</span></p> + +<p>The celebrated Countess of Hertford, afterwards Duchess of Somerset, in +a letter to the Countess of Pomfret, then on the continent, observes on +this part of our history—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I do not know whether you have heard of our new sect, who call +themselves Methodists. There is one Whitefield at the head +of them, a young man under five-and-twenty, who has for some +months gone about preaching in the fields and market-places +in the country, and in London at May-fair and Moorfields, to +ten or twelve thousand people at a time. He went to Georgia +with General Oglethorpe, and returned to take priest’s orders, +which he did; and I believe, since that time, hardly a day has +passed that he has not preached, and generally twice. At first +he and some of his brethren seemed only to aim at restoring the +practice of the primitive Christians as to daily sacraments, +stated fasts, frequent prayers, relieving prisoners, visiting +the sick, and giving alms to the poor: but, upon sound ministers +refusing these men their pulpits, they have betaken themselves +to preaching in the fields; and they have such crowds of +followers that they have set in a flame all the clergy in the +kingdom, who represent them as hypocrites and enthusiasts. As +to the latter epithet, some passages in Mr. Whitefield’s latest +journals seem to countenance the accusation; but I think their +manner of living has not afforded any grounds to suspect them +of hypocrisy. The Bishop of London, however, has thought it +necessary to write a pastoral letter, to warn the people of his +diocese against being led away by them; though at the same time +he treats them personally with great tenderness and moderation. +I cannot say Dr. Trapp has done the same in a sermon which he +has published, entitled, ‘The great Folly and Danger of being +Righteous over-much’<a id="FNanchor_112" href="#Footnote_112" class="fnanchor">[112]</a>—a doctrine which does not seem +absolutely necessary to be preached to the people of the present +age.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Now came the breach between the great Methodist leaders. While Mr. +Wesley was preaching in favour of perfection, and against election, +Mr. Whitefield, whose Calvinistic doctrines were confirmed and +enlightened by the descendants of the Puritans in America, wrote his +letters against “The Whole Duty of Man,” and “Archbishop Tillotson.” +Mr. Charles Wesley, who was more kind and generous, less positive and +hostile to Calvinism than his brother, wept and prayed that the breach +might be prevented; but John Wesley seems to have parted with his old +companion with great coolness. Mr. Whitefield is said to have told +him, “You and I preach a different Gospel:” then they turned one to +the right hand, and the other to the left.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_198">[198]</span> Mr. Whitefield was only +once allowed to preach in the Foundry; and “at Bristol (he says) I was +forbidden to preach in the house I had founded.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Cennick, with others of the first labourers in the cause of +Methodism, having adopted Mr. Whitefield’s views, joined with him at +Bristol, and assisted him to build another place at Kingswood, near +that of which Mr. Wesley kept possession; so that a congregation was +established there on Calvinistic principles; and the colliers, who, +before Mr. Whitefield introduced the Gospel among them, were a race +of semi-barbarians, now worship God with constant delight and serious +attention, displaying to conviction the power of the Gospel on the +rudest of the human race.</p> + +<p>“Calvin (says Beza, in his Life of that Reformer) is turned out +of Geneva, but behold a new Church rises!” These words animated +Mr. Whitefield; the clergy of the Establishment were now more +angry with him than ever, for avowing the sentiments of Calvin; +he therefore sought a substitute for the parochial pulpits; and +<i>societies</i><a id="FNanchor_113" href="#Footnote_113" class="fnanchor">[113]</a> were formed in Beech-lane, Crooked-lane, +Redcross-street, Southwark, the Minories, Wapping, Dowgate-hill, +Crutched-friars, and various parts of the metropolis. Many of the +Calvinistic Dissenters, who perceived in his preaching the savour +of their popular commentator, Matthew Henry, whose creed was the +catechism composed by the Westminster Assembly of Divines, stood +firmly by him in this time of trial; they procured a piece of ground +in Moorfields, and erected a temporary shed to screen the auditory +from cold and rain at their meetings early in the morning. This place +was called a Tabernacle, in allusion to the moveable tent constructed +by divine direction, for the devotions of the Israelites, while they +were travelling in the wilderness. It was opened in June, 1741, +but Mr. Whitefield did not like the site, because, being near the +Foundry, where Mr. Wesley was preaching, it had the appearance of one +altar set up against another. Great success, however, followed his +exertions here; and, having obtained the aid of Messrs. Cennick, Adams, +Jenkins, Smith, Stevens, Ingham, Reynolds, Edwards, Kelley, Middleton, +Seagrave, Humphries, Godwin, Howel Harris, and the Rev. Daniel +Rowlands, a beneficed clergyman, the congregations were kept up by +variety, increased by novelty, and powerfully affected by the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_199">[199]</span> “Welsh +fire” which was displayed in the animated addresses of these Cambrian +brethren. Mr. Whitefield was thus enabled to be present at many other +places where the Lord called, and new scenes of usefulness arose.</p> + +<p>It was now that he made his grand assault on that “vanity fair,” which +on holidays had assembled in Moorfields all the booths and shows of +Smithfield on St. Bartholomew’s day. The idea of preaching to the mob +of idlers thus collected was by many considered wildly quixotic; but +we may quote his own words, to prove that his efforts were not in +vain. “Soon after, <i>three hundred and fifty</i> awakened souls were +received into the society in one day; and numbers that seemed, as it +were, to have been bred up for Tyburn, were, at that time, plucked as +brands out of the burning.”</p> + +<p>But not alone the lowly and the miserable; even the great and wealthy +were among the congregation at the Tabernacle.</p> + +<p>In the winter of 1742, the Earl and Countess of Huntingdon were +constant in their attendance, and were often accompanied by his +Lordship’s sisters, the Ladies Hastings, and occasionally by Sarah, +Duchess of Marlborough, and Catherine, Duchess of Buckingham, two of +the most celebrated and remarkable women of their day; also by Lord +Lonsdale<a id="FNanchor_114" href="#Footnote_114" class="fnanchor">[114]</a> and others.<a id="FNanchor_115" href="#Footnote_115" class="fnanchor">[115]</a></p> + +<p>While the noble and the lowly heard with equal reverence the preaching +of the first Methodists, the leading Dissenters<span class="pagenum" id="Page_200">[200]</span> contemplated +their proceedings with feelings of disgust and suspicion. The Rev. +Risdon Darracott (minister of Wellington), and the Rev. Benjamin +Fawcett (minister of Kidderminster), as well as Mr. Doddridge, were +exceptions; but their reception of Mr. Whitefield, and their preaching +at the Tabernacle, exposed them to the censure of their metropolitan +brethren.<a id="FNanchor_116" href="#Footnote_116" class="fnanchor">[116]</a> Even the amiable Dr. Watts was disposed, from the +reports made to him, to judge unkindly of his friend: “I am sorry (says +the Doctor) that since your departure I have had many questions asked +me about your preaching in the Tabernacle, and sinking the character +of a minister, and especially of a tutor, among the Dissenters, so +low thereby. I find many of our friends entertaining this idea: but +I can give no answer, as not knowing how much you have been engaged +there. I pray God to guard us from every temptation!” This amiable man, +however, took no part in the very warm censures of his Nonconformist +brethren; and very soon after became the intimate friend of Lady +Huntingdon and the great leaders of the Methodist body, for each +of whom he entertained the highest respect and esteem.<a id="FNanchor_117" href="#Footnote_117" class="fnanchor">[117]</a> During +Mr. Whitefield’s absence in America, Mr. Harris chiefly conducted +the affairs of the Tabernacle. On some difference with the latter +gentleman, Mr. Cennick quitted the Connexion, and went over to the +Moravians—a circumstance which Lady Huntingdon vainly struggled to +prevent.</p> + +<p>On Mr. Whitefield’s return from America he found his congregation<span class="pagenum" id="Page_201">[201]</span> much +scattered. “Matters (says he) were in great confusion by reason of +Mr. Cennick going over to the Moravians: but, blessed be God, we are +now easy at the Tabernacle, and the word falls with might and power.” +About the same period there were similar divisions in Dr. Doddridge’s +congregation, at Northampton, of which frequent mention is made in his +correspondence with Lady Huntingdon and Mr. Whitefield. The latter, in +his reply to the Doctor, thus very feelingly notices the conduct of the +brethren:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I thank you, dear Sir, for your solemn charge in respect to +my health. But what shall I say concerning your present trial? +Shall I wish you joy? Surely I may with great propriety, +since an inspired writer hath said, ‘Count it all joy when +you fall into divers temptations.’ But, at the same time, I +most earnestly sympathize with you, having had the same trial +from the same quarter long ago. The Moravians first divided my +family, then my parish at Georgia, and after that the societies +which, under God, I was an instrument of gathering. I suppose +not less than <i>four hundred</i>, through their practices, have +left the Tabernacle. All this I find but little enough to teach +me to cease from man, and to wean me from that great fondness +which spiritual fathers are apt to have for their spiritual +children. Thus blessed Paul was served—thus must all expect to +he treated who are of Paul’s spirit, and are honoured with any +degree of Paul’s success. Our Lord blessed you in your writings; +nay, your people’s treating you as they are now permitted to +do, perhaps, is one of the greatest blessings you ever received +from heaven. May patience have its perfect work, and may you be +enabled to sanctify the Lord God in your heart! I know of no +other way of dealing with the Moravians than to go on preaching +the truth as it is in Jesus, and rest upon that promise, ‘Every +plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be plucked +up.’ Doubtless there are many of God’s children in the Moravian +flock; but many of their principles and practices are decidedly +wrong, for which, I doubt not, our Lord will rebuke them in +his own time. I thank you<span class="pagenum" id="Page_202">[202]</span> for your sermon. It contains the +very life of preaching—I mean, sweet invitations to close with +Christ. I do not wonder you are dubbed a Methodist on account +of it. Last Sunday evening I preached to a most brilliant +assembly indeed. They expressed great approbation, and some, I +think, begin to feel. Good Lady Huntingdon is indeed a mother +in Israel. She is all in a flame for Jesus. You may guess, by a +word or two in this, that she hath shown me your last letter. I +suppose she will write to you soon.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Shortly after Mr. Whitefield’s return to England, matters assumed a +different appearance at the Tabernacle, and he now began to think +of erecting a more spacious edifice, which his enlarged soul and +mighty powers of elocution filled for many years after. In the summer +of 1751, Mr. Whitefield being at Lady Huntingdon’s residence at +Ashby-de-la-Zouch, in Leicestershire, the building of the Tabernacle +was first discussed, in presence of Mr. Hervey, Mr. Hartley, Dr. +Doddridge, and Dr. Stonhouse. <i>The design seems to have originated +with her Ladyship</i>, who was exceedingly zealous in the cause, and +who had already given largely towards the Tabernacle at Kingswood—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I am much interested (says her Ladyship) about the intended +building, and trust it will be for the glory of our common Lord, +and the increase of his kingdom among men. O that very many +precious souls may be there awakened, renewed, pardoned, and +consecrated to God! Mr. Hervey, Mr. Hartley, Dr. Doddridge, and +Dr. Stonhouse are most cordial in their approval and promise +of support. May the hearts of the people of God be opened to +contribute for this most desirable object! If our eye be single, +and his glory and the salvation of souls our only end in view +all will be well. To him I commit this cause, and my poor +prayers shall be daily offered for a blessing to rest upon it.”</p> +</div> + +<p>How unspeakably great and precious hath been the answer to these +prayers!</p> + +<p>In the winter of 1752 the subject was again renewed at Lady Frances +Shirley’s residence in South Audley-street, in the month of November; +and in compliance with the urgent entreaties of her Ladyship and Lady +Huntingdon, Mr. Whitefield now began strenuously to exert himself in +making collections. “It would have pleased your Ladyship (says he) +to have seen how willingly the people gave last Lord’s-day. At seven +in the morning we collected fifty pounds, in the evening one hundred +and twenty-six. Blessed be God, we have now near nine hundred pounds +in hand.” Still he was determined not to commence building without a +sufficient sum to proceed with; therefore the foundation-stone of the +Tabernacle was not laid till the 1st of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_203">[203]</span> March, 1753. In a letter to +Mr. Charles Wesley, there is an interesting account of this event:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“On Tuesday morning the first brick of our new Tabernacle was +laid with awful solemnity. I preached from Exodus the twentieth, +and the latter part of the twenty-fourth verse: ‘In all places +where I record my name, I will come in to thee and bless thee.’ +Afterwards we sung, and prayed for God’s blessing in all places +where his glorious name is recorded. The wall is now about a +yard high. The building is to be eighty feet square. It is on +the old spot. We have purchased the house, and, if we finish +what we have begun, shall be rent free for forty-six years. We +have about eleven hundred pounds now in hand.”</p> +</div> + +<p>As the new Tabernacle was intended to be much larger than the temporary +one already mentioned, the shell of it was constructed round the other, +in order that the congregation might be accommodated with a place to +meet in while that part was erecting. It was opened for the preaching +of the everlasting Gospel on Sunday, June 10, 1753, on which occasion +Mr. Whitefield preached, in the morning, from 1 Kings viii. 11: “And +it was so, that when Solomon had made an end of praying all this +prayer,” &c.; and in the evening, from 1 Chron. xxix. 9, “Then the +people rejoiced, for that they offered willingly,” &c. The Tabernacle, +though capable, with its surrounding galleries, of containing about +four thousand persons, was crowded almost to suffocation in every part: +and there, as in every other place, the Lord made manifest, by this +apostolic man and his zealous colleagues, the savour of his grace.</p> + +<p>Not long after the opening of the Tabernacle in Moorfields, application +was made to Mr. Whitefield to preach twice a week, in Long-acre +Chapel, then in the possession of the Rev. John Barnard,<a id="FNanchor_118" href="#Footnote_118" class="fnanchor">[118]</a> who had +officiated in it for some time, as a Protestant Dissenting minister. +The chapel was licensed, and Mr. Whitefield had permission to use the +Liturgy, if he thought proper. Looking upon this as a providential call +from Him, who in the days of his flesh taught all who were willing to +hear, on a mount, in a ship, or by the sea-side, and who, after his +ascension, commanded his ministers, by his apostle, to be “instant +in season and out of season,” Mr. Whitefield readily complied, and +preached there for the first time, December 23, 1755.</p> + +<p>The assemblies at the residences of Lady Huntingdon, Lady Frances +Shirley, and Lady Gertrude Hotham, were composed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_204">[204]</span> chiefly of persons +in the upper ranks of life, who were very importunate to have, nearer +home, the blessings of the Gospel, and hoped it would prove a mercy +to their neighbours; but a conspiracy was formed to remove him from +Long-acre. Some soldiers and others, provided with a copper furnace, +bells, drums, clappers, &c, made it their business to raise the +loudest din they possibly could, from the moment he began preaching +to the end of his sermon. Persons were encouraged to riot at the +chapel door during the time of divine service, and insult and abuse +him and the congregation after it was over. The chapel windows were +repeatedly broken by large stones, which severely wounded many of +the congregation. In consequence of these unwarrantable proceedings, +Mr. Whitefield wrote to Dr. Zachariah Pearce,<a id="FNanchor_119" href="#Footnote_119" class="fnanchor">[119]</a> Bishop of Bangor, +then Dean of Westminster, and applied to a neighbouring magistrate +for protection, which being immediately afforded, Mr. Whitefield thus +addressed him:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Gratitude (says he) constrains me to send you a few lines of +thanks for the care and zeal you have expressed in suppressing +the late disorders at Long-acre Chapel. A better acknowledgment +will, I trust, wait you at His bar, by whom kings reign and +princes decree justice, and who hath instituted magistracy to +be a terror to evil-doers, and a praise to them that do well. I +hear that some unhappy men have incurred the penalty inflicted +by our salutary laws. As peace, not revenge, is the thing +aimed at, I should rejoice if this could be procured without +the delinquents suffering any further punishment. Perhaps what +hath been done already may be sufficient to deter others from +any further illegal proceedings, and that will be satisfaction +enough.”</p> +</div> + +<p>After preaching a few weeks at the chapel, he was prohibited from +again officiating there by an order from the Bishop of Bangor. But Mr. +Whitefield was not a man to be suspended from the free declaration +of the Gospel by the veto of any intolerant or persecuting superior. +He complained less of the veto than of the interruption which was +now got up by members of the Bishop’s own vestry; of this he spoke +energetically, as the following letter will show:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I beg the favour of your Lordship so far to interpose as to +desire the persons belonging to your vestry to desist from such +irregular proceedings. For my own irregularity in preaching +I am ready at any time to answer; and was I myself the only +sufferer, I should be entirely unconcerned, whatever personal +ill-treatment I might meet with in the way of my duty. If no +more noise be made on their part, I assure your Lordship no +further resentment shall be made on mine. But if<span class="pagenum" id="Page_205">[205]</span> they persist, +I have the authority of an apostle, on a like occasion, to +appeal unto Cæsar. And thanks be to God, we have a Cæsar to +appeal to, whose laws will not suffer any of his loyal subjects +to be used in such an inhuman manner. I have only one favour +to beg of your Lordship, that you would send (as they are your +Lordship’s parishioners) to the above gentlemen, and desire them +henceforward to desist from such unchristian, such riotous and +dangerous proceedings. Whether as a chaplain to a most worthy +Peeress, a Presbyter of the Church of England, and a steady, +disinterested friend to our present happy constitution, I have +not a right to ask such a favour, I leave to your Lordship’s +mature deliberation. You will allow I have a right to do myself +justice, and therefore I hope you will not be offended if I lay +a plain and fair narration of the whole affair, together with +what hath passed between your Lordship and myself, before the +world.”</p> +</div> + +<p>As the uproar was still continued, and the facts were so flagrant, he +determined to prosecute the offenders by law. This being understood, +his life was threatened; when, judging that others were concerned as +well as himself, and that it was an affair that had reference to the +welfare of the civil government, he, by the advice of Lady Huntingdon, +consulted the Hon. Hume Campbell.<a id="FNanchor_120" href="#Footnote_120" class="fnanchor">[120]</a> Alluding to these disagreeable +circumstances, in a letter to Lady Huntingdon, he says:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“My greatest distress is, how to act, so as to avoid rashness +on the one hand, and timidity on the other. I have been +introduced to the Earl of Holdernesse,<a id="FNanchor_121" href="#Footnote_121" class="fnanchor">[121]</a> who received me very +courteously, and seemed to make no objection against issuing a +reward for the discovery of the letter-writer.<a id="FNanchor_122" href="#Footnote_122" class="fnanchor">[122]</a> Mr. Hume +Campbell advises me, by all means, to put all concerned into the +Court of King’s Bench. I see no other way for me to act, than +either resolutely to persist in preaching and prosecuting, or +entirely to desist from preaching, which I think would bring +intolerable guilt upon my soul, and give the adversary cause to +blaspheme. Alas! alas! what a condition would this land be in +were the Protestant interest not to prevail! Glad should I be +to die by the hands of an assassin if Popery is to get footing +here. I shall then be taken away from the evil to come.”</p> +</div> + +<p>One effect of this persecution was to induce Mr. Whitefield to erect +a permanent and suitable place of worship at the westend<span class="pagenum" id="Page_206">[206]</span> of London. +The first account of his intention is contained in a letter to Lady +Huntingdon, dated May 2, 1756—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I find that all things happen for the furtherance of the +Gospel. I suppose your Ladyship hath seen his Majesty’s promise +of a pardon to any that will discover the letter-writer: and +this brings your Ladyship the further news of my having taken a +piece of ground, very commodious to build on, not far from the +Foundling Hospital. On Sunday I opened the subscription, and, +through God’s blessing, it hath already amounted to near six +hundred pounds. If he is pleased to continue to smile upon my +poor endeavours, and to open the hearts of some more of his dear +children to contribute, I hope in a few months to have what hath +long been wanted—a place for the Gospel at the other end of the +town. This morning, God willing, I venture once more to preach +at Long-acre.<a id="FNanchor_123" href="#Footnote_123" class="fnanchor">[123]</a> The enemy boasts that I am frightened away; +but the triumph of the wicked is short. Our people, Mr. Hume +Campbell, Mr. Madan,<a id="FNanchor_124" href="#Footnote_124" class="fnanchor">[124]</a> &c, are for bringing the rioters to +the King’s Bench; and, perhaps, upon the whole, it may be best.”</p> +</div> + +<p>The foundation-stone of Tottenham-court Chapel was laid with great +solemnity in the beginning of June, 1756, on which occasion Mr. +Whitefield was supported by three celebrated Dissenting ministers, +who stood by him—Dr. Benjamin Grosvenor, Dr. Thomas Gibbons, and +Dr. Andrew Gifford, assistant librarian at the British Museum. +Their countenance at this period, and on this occasion, and their +occasionally preaching at the Tabernacle for him, are proofs of +liberality which redound much to their honour. It is, perhaps, not +generally known that it was Mr. Whitefield’s intention to place this +chapel under <i>Lady Huntingdon’s protection</i>:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“We have consulted the Commons (says he) about putting it under +your Ladyship’s protection. This is the answer:—‘No nobleman +can license a chapel, or in any manner have one, <i>but in +his dwelling-house</i>. The chapel must be private—that is, +not with doors to the street, for any person to resort to at +pleasure, for then it becomes public. A chapel cannot be built +and used as such, without the consent of the parson of the +parish; and when it is done with his consent, no minister can +preach therein without license of the bishop of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_207">[207]</span> diocese.’ +There seems, then, to be but one way—to license it as our other +houses are; and thanks be to Jesus for that liberty which we +have!”</p> +</div> + +<p>Through the liberal contributions of Lady Huntingdon and other persons +of rank, the chapel advanced rapidly, and on the 7th of November, +1756, it was opened for divine worship, according to the forms of the +Church of England. On this occasion Mr. Whitefield preached from 1 +Chronicles iii. 11. The chapel became an object of intense interest and +curiosity.<a id="FNanchor_125" href="#Footnote_125" class="fnanchor">[125]</a></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“A neighbouring doctor (says Mr. Whitefield) calls the place +<span class="smcap">Whitefield’s Soul-trap</span>. I pray the Friend of sinners to +make it a soul-trap indeed to many wandering creatures.” In a +subsequent letter he adds, “At Long-acre, indeed, the word ran; +and at Tottenham-court Chapel we have had some glorious earnests +of future blessings. My constant work now is, preaching about +<span class="allsmcap">FIFTEEN TIMES</span> a-week. Conviction and conversion go on +here. God hath met us at our new building. Last Sunday there was +a wonderful stirring amongst the dry bones; some great people +came, and begged they might have a constant seat.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Among Mr. Whitefield’s frequent hearers at the new chapel was +Shuter, the comedian, then in the height of his reputation as the +representative of <i>Ramble</i>. On one occasion he was seated in the +pew exactly opposite the pulpit, and while Mr. Whitefield, in his +energetic address, was inviting sinners to the Saviour, he fixed his +eye on Shuter, saying—“And thou, poor <i>Ramble</i>, who hast long +rambled from him, come thou also. O, end thy ramblings by coming to +Jesus!” Shuter was exceedingly struck, and afterwards, coming to Mr. +Whitefield, said, “I thought I should have fainted—how could you serve +me so?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_208">[208]</span></p> + +<p>The Rev. Mr. Kinsman, another intimate friend of Shuter’s, tried +hard to wean him from his profession. Meeting one day in Portsmouth, +Mr. Kinsman said he had been preaching so often, and to such large +auditories, that Dr. Fothergill advised change of air to avert a +threatened illness. “And I (said Shuter) have been acting till ready +to die; but, oh, how different our conditions! Had <i>you</i> fallen, +it would have been in the service of God; but in whose service have +<i>my</i> powers been wasted? I dread to think of it. I certainly had a +call once, while studying my part in the park, and had Mr. Whitefield +received me at the Lord’s table I never should have gone back; but the +caresses of the great, who, when unhappy, want Shuter to make them +laugh, are too seducing. There is a good and moral play to-night, but +no sooner is it over than I come in with my farce of ‘<i>A dish of all +sorts</i>,’ and knock all the moral on the head.” Being seen with Mr. +Kinsman, his friends rated him as a Methodist. “A precious method is +mine (said Shuter): no, I wish I were; if any be right, they are.” The +attractions of his profession, however, nipped in the bud the flowers +of promise which his religious friend hoped to see blooming fully.</p> + +<p>Shuter once visited Lady Huntingdon at Bath, when performing in that +city. Her Ladyship met him in the street, and, though personally +unknown to him, enquired after his health, and invited him to her +house. The only account of this interview which now remains is +contained in a short extract of a letter from her Ladyship to Lady +Fanny Shirley. Speaking of Shuter, she says:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I have had a visit from Shuter, the comedian, whom I saw in the +street, and asked to call on me. He was wonderfully astonished +when I announced my name. We had much conversation; but he +cannot give up his profession for another more reputable. +He spoke of Mr. Whitefield with great affection, and with +admiration of his talents. He promised to come some other time, +when he had more leisure for conversation. Poor fellow! I think +he is not far from the kingdom.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Another actor,<a id="FNanchor_126" href="#Footnote_126" class="fnanchor">[126]</a> equal in professional eminence to Shuter,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_209">[209]</span> but of +a very different moral character, was employed by Mr. Whitefield’s +enemies to mimic and burlesque him, in a manner the most profane and +ludicrous, on the stage of the Theatre Royal, Drury-lane. His success +at that theatre induced him to write, and bring out at the Haymarket +Theatre, his “Minor”—a ridiculous farce levelled at the Methodists. Of +this miserable piece of buffoonery it may be enough to say, that he, +and the agents employed at the Tabernacle and Tottenham-court Chapel +to procure materials, 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>A letter addressed to Mr. Garrick, written by the Rev. Martin Madan, +on the intended representation of this piece, had a most extensive +circulation, and Lady Huntingdon waited on the Lord Chamberlain, +to apply for the suppression of “The Minor.” Her request could not +immediately be granted; but his Lordship assured her that if he had had +any intimation of the evil tendency of “The Minor,” previous to its +being licensed, it never should have appeared. Lady Huntingdon next +sought an interview with Mr. Garrick, who treated her Ladyship with the +utmost deference and respect; and her remonstrances so far succeeded, +that Roscius promised to use his influence in excluding it for the +present, and added, that had he been aware of the offence it was +calculated to give, it should never have appeared with his concurrence.</p> + +<p>The opposition manifested towards Mr. Whitefield at Long-acre Chapel, +and the representation of that wretched piece of mummery at the +theatres, so far from lessening the number of his congregation, +considerably increased his popularity, and brought thousands of new +persons to hear the Gospel, which was the very thing he aimed at; and +thus Providence gave him the victory. About this period he preached +frequently at the Tabernacle and Tottenham-court Chapel, in behalf +of the poor French Protestants in Prussia, who had suffered so much +from the cruelty of the Russians, when great numbers of the nobility +and many of the highest officers of the crown went to hear him. The +collections on these occasions amounted to upwards of <i>fifteen +hundred pounds</i>; and for this disinterested act of benevolence Mr. +Whitefield received the thanks of his Prussian Majesty.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_210">[210]</span></p> + +<p>Again, on the day appointed for a general fast, Mr. Whitefield preached +at Tottenham-court Chapel, from Joel ii. 15, and in the evening at +the Tabernacle, from Gen. vii. 1; after which collections, amounting +to upwards of <i>five hundred and sixty pounds</i>, were made for +the relief of the German Protestants and the sufferers by fire at +Boston, for which he received the unanimous thanks of the freeholders +and inhabitants of that town. On this occasion several persons of +consequence were present. “It would delight you (says Lady Huntingdon) +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. All appeared pleased and surprised.” Lady +Chesterfield, Lady Gertrude Hotham, and Lady Fanny Shirley, also took +large parties of the nobility with them. Lords Halifax and Holdernesse, +the personal friends of Lady Huntingdon, the latter at that moment +Secretary of State, but succeeded in that office a few weeks after by +Lord Bute, who was likewise present: the young Duke of Grafton, then +rising rapidly into public life, and Lady Harrington, his Grace’s aunt; +the Duchess<a id="FNanchor_127" href="#Footnote_127" class="fnanchor">[127]</a> was prevented availing herself of Lady Huntingdon’s +invitation. The Duke, now chiefly remembered as having been the subject +of attack from the eloquent but rabid pen of the celebrated Junius, +whose “Letters” are said to have driven him from the helm, was soon +after in office as Secretary of State, and First Lord of the Treasury. +To these celebrated personages may be added the names of two of the +greatest men of their day, Charles Fox and William Pitt, who, with Mr. +Orby Hunter, Lord Villiers, and Mr. Soame Jenyns, the admired author +of a treatise on the internal evidence of the Christian religion, +were to be found mingling with the crowd that thronged every part of +these edifices. Few places could boast of such a constellation of +transcendant genius and senatorial talent, such a brilliant assemblage +of wisdom, magnanimity, and oratorical powers, as was then to be found +within the walls of Tottenham-court Chapel and the Tabernacle. These +congregations were long attracted by the eloquence of Whitefield alone, +and he for many years was the sole minister of those chapels, which +have continued almost ever since to supply a portion of the life-blood +of vital Christianity to the metropolis. In 1766, indeed, he associated +with himself the late Captain Joss; before speaking<span class="pagenum" id="Page_211">[211]</span> of whom, however, +let us remind our readers of one of the most popular of the supplies at +these chapels, the late Rowland Hill, who, in the summer of 1772, by +his ministry in them, was the means of reviving the cause of Methodism. +The distinguished situation in which he was placed held him up more +than ever before public observation. His labours in the metropolis were +immense, and great and small bore testimony to the power with which he +spake. The displays of Gospel grace under the ministry of this faithful +labourer in the Lord’s vineyard were truly surprising; and his success +was, from the beginning, as great as the situation in which he stood +was peculiar and eminent.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“The popularity of Mr. Hill (says Lady Huntingdon, in a letter +written at this period), and the crowds that follow him wherever +he is called to preach, overwhelm me with astonishment, and +gratitude to the God of all grace, who hath endowed him with +such gifts. He boldly proclaims the doctrines of the cross, and +the word of the Lord runs and is glorified in the conversion of +multitudes. Dear Captain Joss told me above a hundred wakened +souls, the fruits of his preaching, have been received into the +Tabernacle Society—so eminently does the benediction of our +dear and precious Immanuel rest on the labours of his servant. I +have attended him at Blackheath and Kensington, where the Lord +blessed his testimony in a very remarkable manner. Thousands and +thousands attended, and the most awful and solemn impression +seemed to pervade the vast assemblies. Excepting my beloved +and lamented Mr. Whitefield, I never witnessed any person’s +preaching wherein there was such displays of the divine power +and glory as in Mr. Hill’s. May <span class="smcap">He</span> who hath raised +up this <i>second Whitefield</i>, with talents and zeal so +distinguished, make him eminent in his day and generation, +crown his message with success, and by his own Almighty +power, the copious effusions of his Spirit, and the effectual +manifestations of his grace to his soul, keep him faithful to +the end.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Mr. Hill’s residence was at the Tabernacle House, in Moorfields, from +which he made preaching excursions in the neighbourhood of London, in +addition to his labours in the metropolis itself. The effects of his +addresses to the people on these occasions were extraordinary in the +extreme. One individual wrote him word, for his encouragement, that +the Lord had blessed the truth he had delivered to “hundreds”—nay, he +might safely say, “thousands;” and earnestly entreated him to return as +soon as possible, as “multitudes longed for the time when they should +hear him again.” “Many (he continues) I have visited on their sick bed, +blessing God for the time they heard you. Notes of thanks were put up +from whole families, stirred up to seek the Lord by your ministry.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_212">[212]</span></p> + +<p>The style of Rowland Hill’s addresses to the people was, at this period +of life, extremely simple and forcible; they abounded with lucid views +of the doctrines of the Gospel, mingled with sudden bursts of vivid, +sublime, and sometimes singular illustrations. A specimen of this mode +of appealing to the people is to be found in a preface to a little +work, containing an address to those who had been converted by his +ministry in London. It is dated Tabernacle House, August 27, 1772. Soon +after, he proceeded to the degree of Master of Arts, at Cambridge, +and visited his excellent friend and patron, Mr. Berridge, vicar of +Everton, in the neighbourhood of the University. He again preached +to immense crowds at the Tabernacle and Tottenham-court Chapel after +which he retired, as the winter came on, to the seat of his family in +Shropshire. From his friend Captain Joss he received, whilst there, +accounts of his converts in London. “We have taken (he informs him) +above one hundred into society, concerning whom it may be said that you +were the happy instrument of opening their eyes. There are many more +with whom I have conversed, who, I sincerely trust, will be your crown +of rejoicing in the day of the Lord. Indeed, my dear brother, what the +Lord hath done by you in London cannot but afford you matter of joy and +humiliation.”</p> + +<p>This was before Mr. Hill had obtained episcopal ordination. On the +6th of June, 1773, through the kind and unexpected interposition of +Providence, he was ordained by the Bishop of Bath and Wells, <i>without +any promise or condition whatever</i>, and preached his first sermon +for his dear and valued friend, Mr. Rouquet, at St. Werburgh’s, +Bristol, on the 8th of June, to a very large congregation. He then +retired to his curacy at Kingston, in Somersetshire, and after a few +months spent there, returned to London, to supply the Tabernacle and +Tottenham-court Chapel. The recollection of his early preaching in +these places was cherished by him to the end of his days, with a happy +retrospect of the ease with which he spoke, and the crowds who attended +his ministry. In the last sermon he ever preached, delivered on March +31, 1833, he said, “O! my dear brethren, I almost wish to be made young +again, if I could but see such days as when I first came and preached +at Tottenham-court Chapel, and was in the habit of preaching in the +streets and lanes for want of room. O! how I love to recollect what I +then felt.”</p> + +<p>To return to Captain Joss. On him Mr. Whitefield prevailed to leave the +compass, the chart, and the ocean, for the service of the sanctuary. +A maritime employment is not<span class="pagenum" id="Page_213">[213]</span> generally very favourable to religious +improvement: but that God who “sitteth upon the floods can (as Mr. +Whitefield said of him and Captain Scott) bring a shark from the ocean +and a lion from the forest,” and “form them for himself, to show forth +his praise.” His sermons, in the former years of his residence in +London, were not only attended by large auditories, but with energy, +to the conversion of many souls; nor did God leave him without many +witnesses to the close of his ministerial labours. He generally +spent four or five months in the year out of London, for the purpose +of itinerating. In this period he regularly visited South Wales, +Gloucestershire, Bristol Tabernacle, and, occasionally, other parts of +the kingdom. In Pembrokeshire the Welsh followed him in multitudes; +and on the Lord’s-day would travel from one to twenty miles round +Haverfordwest to hear him. To not a few of them he became a spiritual +father; and, indeed, wherever he exercised his talents, though but a +few weeks, he left some seals of his ministry behind.</p> + +<p>Mr. Whitefield and the Rev. Toriel Joss were joint ministers, till the +death of the former, in 1770; soon after which event a Mr. Brooksbanks +was appointed assistant preacher. How long he continued is uncertain, +but most probably to the autumn of 1775, when the Rev. Matthew Wilks +was admitted a minister of the Tabernacle Connexion. This venerable and +respected man was called under the ministry of the Rev. William Piercy, +who at that period was curate of West Bromwich, in Staffordshire, and +afterwards chaplain to the Countess of Huntingdon. Early discovering +the intellectual powers and moral worth of Mr. Wilks, and anticipating +his becoming of extraordinary use to the Church of Christ, Mr. Piercy +not only manifested great personal attachment towards him, but insisted +upon his devoting himself to the work of the Christian ministry. +Quoting Mr. Wilks’s own words:—“To the Countess of Huntingdon’s +College, at Trevecca, I <i>must</i> and <i>should</i> go; and, though +against my inclination, I went, and closely pursued my studies.”</p> + +<p>During the latter part of his college life, Mr. Keene, one of the +executors of Mr. Whitefield, and a manager of his London chapels, paid +Lady Huntingdon a visit in Wales, and heard Mr. Wilks preach part of a +Sabbath in the College Chapel. The result was an invitation to London +as a supply, and in the autumn of 1775 his appointment as minister of +the Tabernacle connexion took place, the Rev. Messrs. Berridge, Piercy, +and Joss taking parts in his ordination.</p> + +<p>For more than <i>fifty years</i> this venerable servant of Christ<span class="pagenum" id="Page_214">[214]</span> +proclaimed the Gospel of his Divine Master in the pulpits of the +Tabernacle and Tottenham-court Chapel, and during this very extended +period his ministry was attended by all the best proofs of a decided +popularity. The benediction of the Spirit of God rested upon his +labours of love, and numerous have been the Christian pastors who +attributed their conversion to him, as God’s honoured instrument, many +of whom have been introduced to their spheres of labour by his kind +and effective patronage. He was greatly honoured of God, in being the +father of several of the great schemes now in operation at home and +abroad for the salvation of souls. The “Evangelical Magazine” owes +its origin to the mutual efforts of the Rev. John Eyre and himself, +both educated at Trevecca, and introduced into public life under the +auspices of the Countess of Huntingdon. He was one of the fathers of +the London Missionary Society, and preached a sermon, previous to +its formation, at Tottenham-court Chapel, in the year 1795, from Ps. +xliii. 3—“O send out thy life and thy truth;” which was the means +of awakening a missionary spirit in the hearts of many who had the +privilege of hearing it. A sermon preached at its annual meeting, at +Surrey Chapel, in 1812, if not the most eloquent, was, beyond all +dispute, the most ingenious and effective ever preached in its behalf; +for from that sermon have arisen all the Auxiliary and Branch Societies +in England and America.</p> + +<p>For some years previous to his decease the health of Mr. Joss was in +a declining state. This good man, whom Mr. Berridge used to style +“The Archdeacon of Tottenham,” was removed to his eternal rest April +17, 1797. In consequence of his inability to preach as frequently as +formerly, about eight years previous to his decease, Messrs. Keene +and West gave the Rev. Joel Abraham Knight a cordial and affectionate +invitation to settle in the Tabernacle connexion. He had been ordained +to the work of the ministry in Lady Huntingdon’s Connexion, at +Spa-fields Chapel, March 9, 1783, and was assistant there and master of +the charity-school for some years. This respected and useful servant +of Christ entered into the joy of his Lord, April 22, 1808. Some years +previous to his death, the Rev. John Hyatt, then of Frome, was invited +as a supply to the Tabernacle and Tottenham-court Chapel. His talents +arrested the attention of the congregations, and the declining health +of Mr. Knight induced the managers to consider Mr. Hyatt as a suitable +person to become a stated minister in the Connexion. This invitation +was given to him with unanimity, and accepted, on his part, with +cordiality. On this immense<span class="pagenum" id="Page_215">[215]</span> field he entered, and here for twenty +years he laboured, finishing his course January 30, 1826. His venerable +colleague, Mr. Wilks, survived him till January, 1829. His last audible +expressions were uttered when his friend Mr. Townsend informed him that +they had fulfilled his wish, and thought it would relieve his mind to +know that all was arranged with Mr. Campbell to succeed him: he lifted +up his hand, and exclaimed softly, “Thank God! God be praised!—that is +well!”</p> + +<p>During Mr. Whitefield’s life-time the management of his chapels was +frequently committed to a few trusty friends. Amongst them we find +the names of Robert Cruttenden, Esq., Charles Hardy, Esq., Robert +Keene, Esq., and Mr. Beckman, a man of great integrity and worth, and +often mentioned in the letters of Mr. Whitefield and Mr. Berridge. +Whilst, absent in America, in 1764, the affairs of the Tabernacle and +Tottenham-court Chapel were in the hands of Messrs. Keene,<a id="FNanchor_128" href="#Footnote_128" class="fnanchor">[128]</a> Hardy, +and Beckham. “Three such friends (says he) surely could not be picked +out for the London affairs.” Two years previous to his last voyage to +America he formed the determination of making a final arrangement of +his chapels, and all that he possessed in England. In a letter to Mr. +Keene, dated November 27, 1767, he says:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“As another voyage, perhaps, may be the issue and result of all +at last, I would beg you and dear Mr. Hardy to let me have my +papers and letters, that I may revise and dispose of everything +in a proper manner. This can do no hurt, come life or come +death, or whether I stay at home or go abroad.”</p> +</div> + +<p>In the order of Divine Providence there is a strange combination of +circumstances, by which what is appointed is brought to pass. In +the same year died Mr. Whitefield, the Rev. Howel Davies, rector of +Prengast, near Haverfordwest, the head of Calvinistic Methodism in +Pembrokeshire, and the Rev. Thomas Adams, minister of the Tabernacle at +Rodborough, the leader of the same cause in Gloucestershire and Wilts, +and Mr. Whitefield’s only surviving first fellow-labourer, to each of +whom he had bequeathed a small legacy. Though the Tabernacle at Bristol +was under Mr. Whitefield’s auspices, yet, strange to say, in his will +we do not find the least mention of it. The trustees in London offered +to befriend it, but would not accept<span class="pagenum" id="Page_216">[216]</span> it as a part of their charge. The +Honourable James Habersham was appointed executor for his affairs in +the province of Georgia, and Messrs. Hardy, West, and Keene for those +in England.</p> + +<p>Having by his will left both of his places of worship in London, his +houses, library, and all things appertaining thereto, to <i>two</i> +of his executors, in survivorship, Mr. West and Mr. Keene, they were +enabled, through the abundant goodness of God, to carry on the work +in the same manner as in Mr. Whitefield’s life-time, without the +least diminution either of the largeness of the congregations, or the +visible power of God attending the ministry of those faithful men +who laboured for them. Two persons could not have been more happily +associated than Mr. West and Mr. Keene. They were always regular and +exact in the discharge of the weighty duties that devolved upon them. +An uninterrupted harmony characterized all their public transactions. +It was now their study to conciliate the affections of the ministers, +to promote the glory of Jesus Christ, and the spiritual interests of +the congregations; and they had the happiness to see the pleasure of +the Lord prosper in their hands. The late Mr. Berridge, who had a very +high regard for them, when speaking of them, says:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Could I discover lucrative views in them, as much as I love the +Tabernacle (that old bee-hive which has filled many bee-hives +with her swarms), I would visit her no longer. But the more +I know of the trustees, the more I am confirmed in their +integrity, which they will give a proof of shortly, by adopting +Dr. Ford as a third trustee.”</p> +</div> + +<p>This was in the year 1777. From this, as well as from other +circumstances, it would appear that the Doctor, being known as a +preacher and trustee in Lady Huntingdon’s Connexion, was associated +with Messrs. West and Keene in the Tabernacle trust. After the +mournful difference between her Ladyship and Mr. Wills, in 1788, some +propositions were made relative to a union between the two Connexions, +but of what nature, or to what extent, we have no information. Mr. +Berridge, the mutual friend of both, appears to have been a chief +instrument in negotiating this affair. Lady Huntingdon being in London, +in September, 1788, commissioned Mr. Berridge, then residing at the +Tabernacle House, to propose the intended plan, the fulfilment of which +she seems to have had much at heart. But the only document we have been +enabled to procure, which throws any light on the subject, is a short +letter from Mr. Berridge to her Ladyship. It is dated Tabernacle House, +September 25, 1778:—</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_217">[217]</span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“My Lady—My ears are so deaf, that I can hear nothing without +bawling, as Mr. Dupont<a id="FNanchor_129" href="#Footnote_129" class="fnanchor">[129]</a> knows to his sorrow, which makes a +visit very troublesome to others and disagreeable to myself. On +this account I thought it more advisable to send you in a letter +what has been shouted into my ears by the trustees, than to +wait upon you in person, and the message I have to communicate +is this: ‘When Dr. Ford returns to London, a fortnight hence, +the trustees will consider of the proposal made to them by Mr. +Dupont and others.’</p> + +<p>“I was grieved to hear of Mr. Wills’s departure; but our wise +Jesus can overrule this separation for his glory, as well as +that between Paul and Barnabas. I return this week to Everton. +May the Lord Jesus abide with you and go with me, and give us +both a triumphant exit at last. So prayeth your affectionate +servant,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“John Berridge.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Mr. Keene died on the 30th of January, 1793. His name deserves to be +recorded in the annals of the Church, as an illustrious example of +holiness and zeal in the cause of God. Mr. West survived him till +the 30th of September, 1796. He was in the 70th year of his age. His +remains were interred under the communion-table, in a vault that +contained the remains of Mrs. Whitefield, Mrs. West, and Mr. Keene. It +is a singular circumstance, that Mrs. Whitefield, Mr. Keene, and Mrs. +West all died on the 30th day of the month, and Mr. Whitefield and Mr. +West on the 30th of September. Mr. West, by his last will, bequeathed +the management of the places to Samuel Foyster, Esq., and John Wilson, +Esq., both of whom are since dead. Mr. Foyster’s removal to another +world took place February 2, 1805. He was one of his Majesty’s justices +of the peace, and was a humble, pious, and peaceable Christian, and an +ornament to his religious profession.</p> + +<p>The ministers who supplied immediately after Mr. Whitefield’s death +were Mr. Berridge, Mr. Green, Mr. Elliott, Mr. Piercy, Mr. Rowlands, +Mr. Shirley, Mr. De Courcy, Mr. Hill, Mr. Owen, Dr. Peckwell, Dr. +Illingworth, Mr. West—all clergymen; and Mr. Kinsman, Mr. Medley, Mr. +Edwards, Mr. Scott, Mr. Titus Knight, Mr. Heath, Mr. Winter, Mr. Beck, +Mr. Ashburner, Mr. Durant, and a long list of worthy clergymen and +Dissenting ministers from the country, who esteemed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_218">[218]</span> it their privilege +to preach to every large, serious, and attentive congregation, whose +hearts were filled with thankfulness, and at the same time engaged +in prayer for every such minister of Christ; and an unusual blessing +commonly attended both the sowers and reapers. It was the desire of the +managers to let the pulpits be open to every disinterested minister +that might occasionally visit London, of good moral character, sound in +the faith, of moderate Calvinistic principles, without distinction of +parties or denominations, whose talents were suitable to preach with +life and power to overflowing congregations.</p> + +<p>Here let us pause, and lift our hearts in thankfulness to the great +Head of the Church, for the plenteous harvest of immortal souls that +hath been gathered to the true Shiloh in these highly-favoured chapels. +The benediction of the Spirit seems to have rested in a peculiar manner +on the labours of the ministers of Christ in these vast fields of +usefulness. They were men of renown in their day, who, through evil +report and good report, preached the everlasting Gospel, and were as +distinguished by the success which crowned their labours, as by the +zeal and ability with which they performed them. This noble army of +confessors are now before the throne. The great Captain of Salvation +hath called them to their eternal reward. May their surviving brethren +catch a glowing spark of the flame of zeal which animated these men of +God, imitate their excellencies, avoid their infirmities, and leave +behind them a memory as blessed, and a monument as enduring, in the +hearts of thousands converted by their ministrations! Such were the +men “whom the Lord delighted to honour.” Happy shall we be if counted +worthy to sit at their feet in Christ’s kingdom of eternal glory!</p> +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_219">[219]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hangingindent">Mr. Venn begins to attract notice—Revival of Religion +in the Established Church and among the Methodists—By +whom first commenced—Mr. Venn’s Acquaintance with Mr. +Broughton—Mr. Broughton one of the original Methodists—Dr. +Haweis—Mr. Law—Illness of Mr. Venn—Accompanies Mr. +Whitefield to Bristol—Remains with Lady Huntingdon at +Clifton—Letter from Mr. Whitefield—Letter to Mr. Venn +from Lady Huntingdon—Mr. Whitefield’s Letter to Mr. +Venn—Oxford Students—Dr. Haweis—Mr. Whitefield’s Letter +to Dr. Haweis—Convicts—Preaching to the Nobility at Lady +Huntingdon’s—Handel—Giardini—Musical Composers.</p> +</div> + + +<p>That faithful and able servant of our Lord, the Rev. Henry Venn, had +now commenced his useful ministry as curate of Clapham, and served +three lectureships in the city. At Clapham he became intimately +acquainted with the late excellent and benevolent John Thornton, Esq., +then a young man of deep piety, and rising rapidly into notice. At his +house Mr. Venn had many opportunities of meeting Lady Huntingdon and +Mr. Whitefield, whose ardent and disinterested zeal, so successfully +employed in the service of their great Master, conduced to lead him to +clearer views of divine truth. Mr. Whitefield frequently expounded at +Mr. Thornton’s to overflowing assemblies, and on such occasions Mr. +Venn was always present. To Miss Gideon, the friend and correspondent +of Mr. Venn, Mr. Whitefield writes:—“At both ends of the town the word +runs and is glorified. The champions in the Church go on like sons +of Thunder. I am to be at Clapham this evening: Mr. Venn will gladly +embrace the first opportunity. May it be a Bethel!”</p> + +<p>The venerable names of Romaine, Venn, Adams, Walker (of Truro), and +others, will long be remembered as among the early and honoured +instruments employed by Almighty God to rouse a slumbering Church from +its lethargy, and to revive the cause of vital religion at a period +when the doctrines of the Reformation were almost forgotten, and +Christianity had become little better than a name.</p> + +<p>The unquestionable excellence of their character, and the extent of +their usefulness, add greatly to the importance of their history; and +the more we venerate and admire their devotedness to God, the more +desirous we become to learn something of the commencement and progress +of the work of divine grace upon their minds, and the special dealings +of Providence in leading them to spheres of usefulness.</p> + +<p>God sends by whom he will send; but it has been the infirmity even +of good men, and I fear it has not ceased to be<span class="pagenum" id="Page_220">[220]</span> so, to resemble the +people whose cry was, “The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord +are we!” For, while all cordially unite in ascribing the glory of all +good to God, there is no small contention among the different sections +of the Christian Church for the honour of the instruments employed +in the work. It ought, however, to be regarded as a subject of very +inferior consideration, who, amongst those whom the great Head of the +Church was pleased to employ and crown with success, were first in the +field, or most honoured by their great Master.</p> + +<p>Thus in the lives of Walker and Venn, as well as in other publications, +it is attempted to be shown that the revival of vital religion in the +Established Church within the last century is not to be attributed to +the instrumentality of the great Methodist leaders, and the eminently +devoted men who laboured with them; but it is to be regarded as a +distinct and separate dispensation of divine grace.</p> + +<p>The biographers of Venn, Walker, and other eminent ministers, appear +to feel for the honour of the Church, and are anxious to free her +from the reproach of Methodism; but these departed worthies were +faithful ministers of the Church of England, yet by their labours a +great measure of what is called Methodism was diffused and maintained +within the pale of the Church. That the effects of the labours of Mr. +Whitefield, the Wesleys, and their coadjutors, were “confined to their +own followers,” and only “manifested in the extension of Methodism,” +is assuredly a great mistake, and proves the writer to be but very +imperfectly acquainted with the genius and history of Methodism.</p> + +<p>It is well known that those men of God were sincere as well as avowed +members and ministers of the Church of England. They were educated +within her pale, and were zealously devoted to her service; and it +was not until insuperable difficulties were opposed to their labours +in the Establishment that they were constrained to go forth into the +highways and hedges to call sinners to repentance. The effects of their +ministry soon attested its divine authority, and furnished irresistible +evidence that they had not mistaken the call of God. The mere forms of +ecclesiastical authority must not be pleaded against the great object +and design of the Christian ministry itself; and, with all respect for +the Establishment, it is to be regarded only as in the order of means, +and must be estimated according to its adaptation to accomplish its +great end—the salvation of men.</p> + +<p>At the period referred to, as it is justly observed by Dr. Haweis, +“the nation was sunk down into corruption, and the Church erected a +feeble barrier against the fashionable pursuits. The life and power +of godliness fell to a very low standard, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_221">[221]</span> only here and there an +individual cleaved to the faith once delivered to the saints, and dared +to be singular.” Speaking of the first instruments of the revival of +vital Christianity among us, the Doctor adds—“By the labours of these +indefatigable men, a flood of Gospel light broke upon the nation. At +first they were wholly confined to the Church of England, as their +attachment to it by education was strong; and had they been fixed in +any settled station, they had not improbably lived and died good men, +useful men, but unnoticed and unknown. A series of providences had +designed them for far greater and more extensive usefulness.”<a id="FNanchor_130" href="#Footnote_130" class="fnanchor">[130]</a></p> + +<p>To this unexceptionable testimony we may add that of the late Mr. +Hall:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Such 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 +doctrine 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 instruction, 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 <i>old</i> +appeared like the introduction of a <i>new</i> 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> +</div> + +<p>If, in its commencement, Methodism meant anything definite, it meant +neither more nor less than Christianity in its life and power. The +term, from the beginning, was applied not so much to a peculiar system, +as to a class of character. It was invariably employed to designate +all that was sincere and spiritual in religion. It thus became the +badge of serious piety and Christian zeal wherever they appeared. Mr. +Whitefield and the Wesleys, by their incessant itinerancy, obtained a +sort of ubiquity in the land, and the fruit of their labours was almost +everywhere visible. He must, therefore, be a bold man who will maintain +that their instrumentality contributed little or nothing to the revival +of religion in the Church. Many of the more pious of the clergy lived +among the disciples of Methodism,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_222">[222]</span> and some of them belonged to +Methodist families, and were the personal friends of the great leaders +of both Connexions.</p> + +<p>If what God has wrought be but duly acknowledged, we are not at all +anxious to determine the respective claims of the first instruments; +nor would we wish to deprive the respected clergy of the Establishment +of what they seem to value so highly—the privilege of being perfectly +independent of the instrumentality of Methodism. Whether there were, +as is affirmed, “two kindred, but separate and independent, streams of +light,” proceeding from the same source, but “flowing in two distinct +channels,” one descending on the Methodists, and the other upon the +Church; or whether the heavenly influence is to be regarded as forming +one general intervention of divine mercy for the revival and spread +of vital religion throughout the land, we leave to the judgment of +the reader. Whatever interest may be attached to the distinction by +sectarian prejudice, we cannot persuade ourselves that its importance +is recognized either by the Head of the Church, or by those great and +good men whom He so signally honoured. They have long since cast their +crowns at the feet of Him to whom they were indebted for the whole of +their success, and who alone caused them to “triumph in Christ,” in +making “manifest the savour of his knowledge by them in every place.”</p> + +<p>One thing, however, is too well known to admit, of dispute—that +previous to the appearance of the Messrs. Wesley and Whitefield, and +the extraordinary effects produced by their ministry, the public +attention had in no degree been called to any description of ministers +in the Establishment who inculcated the evangelical doctrines and +excited observation by the fruit of their labours. It was not until +several years after the former had become extensively known, both by +their preaching and writings, that a few individuals of the clergy +were recognized as having embraced similar sentiments, and as being +zealously and successfully employed in calling sinners to repentance.</p> + +<p>How far it may please God to communicate the light of his truth, or the +influence of his grace, by particular means or instruments, cannot be +determined by man. We venture to believe that the water of life retains +its virtue by whatever channel it may be communicated.</p> + +<p>In the darkest times that the Church of England has known, when the +light of evangelical truth seemed nearly extinguished, the Bible +exhibited the same divine truths as at present: the Articles, the +Liturgy, and the Homilies contained the same spiritual doctrines, and +all that beauty and excellence which have been since found in them; +and yet the land continued to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_223">[223]</span> be overspread with the shadow of death, +until it pleased God to raise up living witnesses, clothed with his +own power, and to send them forth to proclaim to sinners the Gospel of +salvation, He himself giving “testimony to the word of his grace.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Venn, when he ceased to reside in College, accepted the curacy of +a Mr. Langley, who held the livings of St. Matthew, Friday-street, +London, and West Horsley, near Guildford, in Surrey. His duty was to +serve the Church in London during part of the summer, and to reside +the remainder of the year at Horsley. His duties in London brought +him in contact with the Rev. Bryan Broughton, Secretary to the +Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, and this was probably one +of the most important events of his life; for Mr. Broughton was one +of the original band of Methodists at Oxford, and the correspondent, +associate, and fellow-labourer of Mr. Whitefield and the Wesleys: and +it is extremely probable that he was one of the first, if not the +very first, who directed the attention of Mr. Venn to the important +concerns of eternity. About the same time Mr. Law’s “Serious Call” made +a deep and lasting impression on his mind. He read and read again this +pleasing and most unanswerable advocate for the reasonableness and +dignity of a life of holiness; and set himself diligently to conform +to his prescriptions of rigid weekly fastings and prayer, and keeping +a daily journal of his thoughts, words, and deeds. Thus impressed with +Mr. Law’s “Call,” we need not say with what eagerness he seized on his +“Spirit of Prayer” as soon as it appeared; but his disappointment was +equal to his ardour, when he found the atonement of Christ, of which he +had now begun to feel his need, was degraded into annihilation, and a +something crucified within represented as the only satisfaction due for +sin.</p> + +<p>At this critical period a friend from Oxford, the late venerable Dr. +Haweis, whom he had pressed to spend some time with him at Clapham, +visited him, and commenced a friendship and correspondence that ceased +only with life. As the Doctor was a convert of that revered man, Mr. +Walker, of Truro, he was firmly established in the principles of free +grace, now generally termed Calvinistic. Hence naturally arose much +candid investigation of the subject: both were conscious they sincerely +meant the glory of God and the salvation of men’s souls; both were +active labourers in the vineyard, and both esteemed the religion of the +heart as only fundamental; yet both being well informed, their friendly +disputes entered deeply into the consideration of the Scriptures on +the subject, without any immediate considerable change of sentiment. +“Allow me, my dear Haweis (said Mr. Venn), to be something more than +a stone.”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_224">[224]</span> The manner in which he canvassed the subject in debate +manifested no aversion to receive the divine truth as far as he +discovered it. He searched the Scriptures daily if those things were +so, and every day grew more disposed to acknowledge the impotence and +guilt of man, and the sovereignty of the grace of God. He set himself +vigorously to preach what he believed, which he did four or five times +a week at his cure and lectureships, besides his private exhortations +among his friends. His ministry was much attended and greatly blessed, +many calling him <span class="smcap">Father</span>, as being begotten by him in the +Gospel. Though he generally preached written sermons, yet he first +perhaps, of any of the Church ministers of that day, broke through the +bondage of reading, and commenced a free address to the conscience. In +this he preceded Mr. Romaine, whose name and ministry about the same +time attracted more general notice.</p> + +<p>Mr. Venn had not been long at Clapham before he was attacked by a +severe illness, which incapacitated him for duty for several months. +This, however, was a most useful season to him. He had time to reflect +upon his principles and conduct; and he used to observe, that after +that period he was no longer able to preach the sermons which he +had previously composed. His views of eternal things had now become +clearer—his meditations on the attributes of God more profound—his +views of the greatness of the salvation of Christ more distinct; +and the whole of his religion had received that tincture of more +elevated devotion which rendered his conversation and his preaching +doubly instructive. Just at this period Mr. Whitefield induced Mr. +Venn to accompany him and Mr. Madan on a preaching excursion into +Gloucestershire. At Bristol immense crowds attended whenever they +proclaimed the glad tidings of salvation. “Seven Gospel ministers +(says Mr. Whitefield) were together at Bristol when the Counsellor +(Mr. Madan) preached.” During Mr. Venn’s stay in Gloucestershire he +was hospitably entertained at Lady Huntingdon’s residence at Clifton. +Mr. Madan and Mr. Howel Davies, then supplying the Tabernacle at +Bristol, were likewise at her Ladyship’s house. The conversation of +Lady Huntingdon, and those devoted men by whom she was surrounded, was +attended with the happiest results to Mr. Venn. The light of divine +truth burst through the darkness in which his mind had been involved, +and he now strenuously laboured to extend, by every means in his +power, the knowledge which had been imparted to him. The salvation of +souls excited his watchfulness, his prayers, and his zeal; and in his +whole life he was an “epistle of Christ, known and read of all men.” +Governed by a disinterested concern for the everlasting welfare of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_225">[225]</span> +souls committed to his charge, he was “instant in season, and out of +season; reproving, rebuking, and exhorting, with all long-suffering and +gentleness”—</p> + + <div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="ileft">“And, as a bird each fond endearment tries</div> + <div>To tempt its new-fledged offspring to the skies,</div> + <div>He tried each art, reproved each dull delay,</div> + <div>Allured to brighter worlds, and led the way.”</div> + </div> + </div> + </div> + +<p>In a letter to Lady Huntingdon, written at this time, Mr. Whitefield +says:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“The worthy Venn is valiant for the truth—a son of Thunder. +He labours abundantly, and his ministry has been owned of the +Lord in the conversion of sinners. Thanks be to God for such +an instrument as this to strengthen our hands! I know the +intelligence will rejoice your Ladyship. Your exertions in +bringing him to a clearer knowledge of the everlasting Gospel +have indeed been blessed. He owes your Ladyship much, under God, +and I believe his whole soul is gratitude to the Divine Author +of his mercies, and to you, the honoured instrument in leading +him to the fountain of truth.”</p> +</div> + +<p>That the noble Countess was the instrument of much good to Mr. Venn is +obvious from Mr. Whitefield’s letter; and is, moreover, confirmed by an +extract from one addressed by her Ladyship to Mr. Venn, soon after his +return to his charge at Clapham. After remonstrating with him on the +tenor of some of his discourses, her Ladyship adds:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“O, my friend! we can make no atonement to a violated law—we +have no inward holiness of our own—the Lord Jesus Christ +is the Lord our Righteousness. Cling not to such beggarly +elements—such filthy rags—mere cobwebs of Pharisiacal +pride—but look to Him who hath wrought out a perfect +righteousness for his people. You find it a hard task to come +naked and miserable to Christ—to come divested of every +recommendation but that of abject wretchedness and misery, and +receive from the outstretched hand of our Divine Emmanuel the +riches, the superabounding riches of redeeming grace. But if you +come at all, you must come thus; and, like the dying thief, the +cry of your heart must be, ‘<i>Lord, remember me</i>.’ There +must be no conditions—Christ, and <i>Christ alone</i>, must +be the only Mediator between God and sinful men—no miserable +performances can be placed between the sinner and the Saviour. +Let the eye of faith ever be directed to the Lord Jesus Christ; +and I beseech him to bring every thought of your heart into +captivity to the obedience of our great High Priest.</p> + +<p>“And now, my dear friend, no longer let false doctrine disgrace +your pulpit. Preach Christ crucified as the only foundation of +the sinner’s hope. Preach him as the Author and Finisher, as +well as the sole object of faith—that faith which is the gift +of God. Exhort Christless, impenitent sinners to fly to this +city of refuge—to look to him who is exalted as a Prince and a +Saviour, to give repentance and the remission<span class="pagenum" id="Page_226">[226]</span> of sins. Go on +thus, and may your bow abide in strength! Be bold—be firm—be +decisive. Let Christ be the Alpha and Omega of all you advance +in your addresses to your fellow-men. Leave the consequences +with your Divine Master. He will be with his faithful ministers +to the end of time. May his gracious benediction rest upon your +labours, and may you be blessed to the conversion of very many, +who shall be your joy and crown of rejoicing in the great day +when the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall appear.”</p> +</div> + +<p>About this period considerable attention was paid to the subject of +religion by many students in the University of Oxford. Lady Huntingdon, +in a letter to Mr. Stillingfleet, mentions prayer meetings as very +common among the students. “I am really rejoiced (said her Ladyship) +that so many at the Universities are determined to be on the Lord’s +side. May they be kept faithful and steady!” Mr. Whitefield likewise +takes notice of the awakening at Oxford in particular: “Many (says he) +in Oxford are awakened to the knowledge of the truth;” and again, “Many +students at Oxford are earnestly learning Christ.”</p> + +<p>Amongst the number of those who stood forth in the midst of abounding +reproach and hostility, and bore a fearless and faithful testimony +to the grace and atonement of the Redeemer, was the late venerable +Dr. Haweis, who had entered the University as a student and gentleman +commoner of Christ Church, but afterwards removed to Magdalene Hall. +Early in life he was awakened under the powerful ministry of that good +man, Mr. Walker, of Truro. Mr. Whitefield, hearing of the zeal and +the success attending his labours at Oxford, and accidentally seeing +a letter of his to a correspondent at Bristol, determined to write to +him, and endeavour to strengthen his hands in the great cause.</p> + +<p>The following letter contains some useful hints to young ministers and +candidates for the ministry; and is peculiarly valuable as having been +addressed to one who, for considerably more than half a century after, +was destined by the Great Head of the Church to bear a fearless and +faithful testimony to the atonement and grace of the Redeemer, before a +proud, self-righteous, and gainsaying world:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="r2">”Bristol, May 20, 1756.</p> + +<p class="left1">“To the Rev. Mr. Haweis,</p> + +<p>“My very dear Sir—For so I must address myself, having had you +in a peculiar manner upon my heart ever since I saw and read +a letter that came from you some months ago. It bespoke the +language of a heart devoted to the ever-living, ever-lovely +Jesus. Mrs. Bevan confirmed me in this opinion yesterday, and +withal told me she believed you would be glad of a line from me, +who am indeed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_227">[227]</span> less than the least of all saints, but willing, +if I know anything of my own heart, to spend and be spent for +the good of souls. They are redeemed by the blood of Jesus, +whose cross, blessed be his name, hath been made delightful +to me for some years. I thank God that I am cast out for my +Master’s sake. Indeed, my very dear Sir, it is preferable to all +other preferment whatsoever; it is the way to the crown. Glory +be to God that there are some young champions coming forth; +methinks I could now sing my <i>nunc dimittis</i> with triumph +and joy. Though I decrease, may you, my very dear Sir, increase! +O that you may be kept from conferring with flesh and blood! O +that you may be owned and blessed of God! I believe you will, +and never more so than when you are reviled and despised by +man. It is a fatal mistake to think we must keep our characters +in order to be good; this is called <i>prudence</i>—in most, +I fear, it is <i>trimming</i>. Honesty I find always to be the +best policy. Them who honour Jesus, he will honour. Even in +this world, if we confess him, his truth, and his people, we +shall receive a hundred-fold. To lose all in this respect is to +find all. But whither am I going? Excuse, my very dear Sir, the +overflowings of a heart that loves you dearly for the glorious +Redeemer’s sake. I am here preaching his cross, and expect to +stay over Sunday. Next week I have thoughts of being at Bath +and Westbury. I lead a pilgrim life—you will pray that I may +have a pilgrim heart. Ere long I hope my heavenly Father will +take me home. I am ambitious; I want to sit upon a throne. Jesus +hath purchased and provided a throne in heaven for me. That you +may have an exalted place at his right hand is and shall be +the earnest prayer of, reverend and very dear Sir, yours most +affectionately in our common Lord,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“G. Whitefield.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Lady Huntingdon had interested herself about this time in the case +of an unhappy youth, belonging to an honourable family, who had +been guilty of some serious breach of the law, and had obtained his +Majesty’s pardon, through the benevolent exertions of her Ladyship. +This young man appears to have been benefitted by the mercy which had +been extended to him, and the advice which her Ladyship had kindly +given him. “As I thought it would give your Ladyship satisfaction (says +Mr. Whitefield), I herein enclose the copies of two letters sent from +the condemned youth in whose behalf your Ladyship hath interposed.” Her +liberality was likewise extended to some convicts, whom Mr. Whitefield +felt much interested about. On the 2nd of March, 1757, we find him +writing thus to her Ladyship:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Ever-honoured Madam—A few days ago I received the kind +benefaction for the unhappy convicts. Not doubting of success, I +had advanced some guineas, which, with what hath been procured +from other hands, hath bought both their liberties, and they +are provided for on the other side of the water; just now, I +believe, they are under sail. O that he, who I suppose will now +receive a pardon, was alike favoured!<span class="pagenum" id="Page_228">[228]</span> But not many mighty, not +many noble, are called. I hope this will not find your Ladyship +ill of the gout. May the Lord Jesus bear all your sickness, +and heal all your infirmities, both of body and soul! I am +sensibly touched when anything affects your Ladyship; gratitude +constrains to this. What shall I render unto the Lord for all +his mercies? I would preach for him, if I could, a hundred times +a day. Surely such a worthless worm was never honoured to speak +for the Redeemer before. Your Ladyship will excuse me, I must +away, and give a little vent to the heart of, ever-honoured +Madam, your Ladyship’s most dutiful, obliged, and ready servant, +for Christ’s sake,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“G. Whitefield.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Lady Huntingdon now arrived in London with her family, and soon opened +her house, twice every week, for the preaching of the Gospel. Messrs. +Romaine, Madan, and Venn principally officiated at her Ladyship’s +at that time. “I rejoice (says Mr. Whitefield) in the increase of +your Ladyship’s spiritual routs. I can guess at the consolation such +uncommon scenes must afford to your Ladyship’s new-born soul. No wonder +you are distressed from other quarters. Indeed, my most noble and +ever-honoured patroness, thus it must be. Christ’s witnesses must be +purged at home. Inward domestic trials fit for outward public work. +Nature recoils, when constrained to take the cross, and it may be from +a near and dear relation’s hand; but infinite wisdom knows what is +best.”</p> + +<p>Amongst the great and fashionable who attended at Lady Huntingdon’s +house during the season we find the names of many who made some figure +in the circles of the great; as the Duchess of Bedford, Duchess of +Grafton, Lady Jane Scott, Lord and Lady Dacre, Mr. and Lady Anne +Connolly, Lady Elizabeth Keppel, Lady Betty Waldegrave, Lady Coventry, +Lord Weymouth, Lord Tavistock, Lady Charlotte Edwin, Duchess of +Hamilton, Duchess of Richmond, Lady Ailesbury, Lord and Lady Hertford, +Lady Townshend, Lord Trafford, Lord Northampton, Lady Hervey, Lady +Pembroke, Lady Northumberland, Lady Rebecca Paulet, Lord Edgecumbe, +Lord Lyttleton, Mrs. Shirley, mother of the unfortunate Lord Ferrers, +&c. &c. &c. Lady Essex and Mrs. Charles Yorke, both of whom had +frequently attended at her Ladyship’s house, died rather suddenly, +at this time, of sore throats. The circumstance caused considerable +sensation amongst a numerous circle, and the awful providence was +improved by Mr. Whitefield on his arrival in London. Lady Thanet’s +decease had preceded that of Lady Essex and Mrs. Yorke. When Lady +Huntingdon heard of her illness, she sent to offer her to come and +prepare her for the last solemn hour: but Lady Thanet sent her word +it was in vain, for she could neither be prepared to live or die. Her +great care upon her<span class="pagenum" id="Page_229">[229]</span> death-bed was the fear of being buried alive; to +prevent which she ordered herself not to be taken out of her bed for +twelve days.</p> + +<p>The acquaintance which Lady Huntingdon had formed in early life with +the celebrated Handel, after being suspended for some considerable +number of years, was renewed about this time. Handel now found himself +fast declining, and considered his recovery as hopeless. The loss +of his sight and the prospect of his approaching dissolution made a +great change in his temper and general behaviour. He became a man of +blameless morals, and throughout his after-life manifested a deep +sense of religion. In conversation he would frequently speak of the +pleasure he had experienced in setting the Scriptures to music, and +how much some of the sublime passages of the Psalms had contributed to +his comfort and satisfaction. And now, when he found himself drawing +near to the close of his mortal state, those sentiments were improved +into solid and rational piety, attended by a calm and undisturbed +mind. The course of his life was regular and uniform. For some years +after his arrival in England his time was divided between study and +practice—that is to say, betwixt composing pieces of music, and +conducting concerts at the Duke of Rutland’s, the Earl of Burlington’s, +the Earl of Huntingdon’s, and the houses of others of the nobility who +were patrons of music and his friends. His little foibles, of which his +biographers have made much, appear to have been the incidental errors +of his time and nation.<a id="FNanchor_131" href="#Footnote_131" class="fnanchor">[131]</a></p> + +<p>Not long before his death Lady Huntingdon saw him, at his particular +request. “I have had a most pleasing interview (says her Ladyship) with +Handel—an interview which I shall not soon forget. He is now old, +and at the close of his long career; yet he is not dismayed at the +prospect before him. Blessed be God for the comforts and consolations +which the Gospel affords in every situation, and in every time of our +need! Mr. Madan has been with him often, and he seems much attached +to him.” Handel died in April, 1759. Over the place of his interment, +in Westminster Abbey, was erected a monument, designed and executed +by Roubilliac, representing him at full length, in an erect posture, +having a scroll in his hand, inscribed—“I know that my Redeemer +liveth,” with the notes to which these words are set in “The Messiah.”</p> + +<p>With most of the eminent musicians of her time Lady Huntingdon was well +acquainted. Giardini, whose great taste, hand, and style in playing on +the violin, procured him universal admiration, was a great favourite of +her Ladyship’s. Lady Gertrude<span class="pagenum" id="Page_230">[230]</span> Hotham, and Lady Chesterfield, who was +esteemed one of the first private musicians of her day, gave occasional +concerts of sacred music at their residences; and there Giardini’s +performance on the violin, in which, at that time, he excelled every +other master in Europe, was heard with the most rapturous applause, +and equally astonished and delighted all his auditors. At Lady +Huntingdon’s request he composed a few tunes to some of the hymns used +in her chapels; and this circumstance, becoming public, led Horace +Walpole to say—“It will be a great acquisition to the Methodist +sect to have their hymns set by Giardini.” Some time after, he was +recommended by Lady Huntingdon to the protection and patronage of +Sir William Hamilton, whom he accompanied to Naples. About the same +period there was another Italian musical composer and writer, with a +name very similar, Tomaso Giordani, with whom Lady Huntingdon was also +acquainted, and who resided so many years in London, that he was almost +as well acquainted with the English language and English style of music +as any individual of his time. He likewise composed some hymn tunes, +and particularly the well-known air called “Cambridge,” adapted to the +words—“Father, how wide thy glory shines!” &c., in Lady Huntingdon’s +collection. Mr. Kent, of Winchester, was also well known to Lady +Huntingdon, Mr. Whitefield, and the Wesleys. As a composer of sacred +music, he followed closely the style of Dr. Croft; and few persons have +succeeded better than he in that due intermixture of harmony and melody +which renders this species of music interesting both to the learned and +unlearned auditors. He composed some popular anthems and hymn tunes, +which have long been in use amongst the Methodists: few anthems have +obtained more celebrity than—“O Lord, our Governor,” “My song shall be +of mercy,” and “Hear my prayer.”</p> + +<p>Two of the sons of Mr. Charles Wesley afforded a very early indication +of musical genius. Lady Huntingdon was so well pleased with the eldest, +Charles, that she kindly offered her interest with Dr. Boyce to get +him admitted among the King’s boys. He was introduced by her Ladyship +to two eminent musicians of that day, Mr. Stanley and Dr. Morgan, +both of whom were extremely kind to him, particularly the latter, who +frequently entertained him by playing on the harpsichord. Several years +after, Charles Wesley published a set of six hymn tunes, one of which, +adapted to the words, “In Christ my treasure’s all contained,” was +composed at the request of Lady Huntingdon. This little publication +also included the well-known hymn by his father on the death of Mr. +Whitefield, set to music by Dr. Boyce, composer to his Majesty George +III.</p> +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_231">[231]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hangingindent">Lady Huntingdon and Mr. Fletcher—Introduced to Lady Huntingdon +by Mr. Wesley—Bishop of London—Letter to Mr. Charles +Wesley—Mr. Fletcher preaches and celebrates the Communion +at Lady Huntingdon’s—Letter to Mr. Charles Wesley—Letter +to Lady Huntingdon—Mr. Fletcher appointed Vicar of +Madely—Writes to Lady Huntingdon and Mr. Charles Wesley—Visits +Mr. Berridge—Letters to Lady Huntingdon—Induction to +Madely—Success of his Ministry—Letters to Lady Huntingdon.</p> +</div> + + +<p>In the spring of the year 1758, Lady Huntingdon first became acquainted +with that singularly holy and zealous minister, the late Mr. Fletcher, +vicar of Madely, near Bridgnorth, in Shropshire. In the family of +Thomas Hill, Esq,, of Tern-hall, near Shrewsbury, he had spent some +years in the capacity of tutor, but having been ordained the preceding +year by Dr. Egerton, then Bishop of Bangor, in the Chapel Royal of St. +James’s, he was at that time very popular in London and other places, +preaching in Mr. Wesley’s chapels, and wherever the providence of God +opened a door to proclaim the “unsearchable riches of Christ.”</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I have seen Mr. Fletcher (says Lady Huntingdon, in a letter +dated March 19th, 1758), and was both pleased and refreshed +by the interview. He was accompanied by Mr. Wesley, who had +frequently mentioned him in terms of high commendation, as +had Mr. Whitefield, Mr. Charles Wesley, and others; so that I +was anxious to become acquainted with one so devoted, and who +appears to glory in nothing save in the cross of our Divine +Lord and Master. Hearing that he preached in French, his native +language, I mentioned the case of the French prisoners at +Tunbridge. May the Lord of the harvest bless his word, and send +forth many such faithful ambassadors.”</p> +</div> + +<p>At Lady Huntingdon’s request Mr. Fletcher did preach to the French +prisoners on their parole at Tunbridge. They appeared deeply affected, +and earnestly requested him to preach to them on every Lord’s-day, and +they presented a petition to the Bishop of London for his leave. The +Bishop, however, peremptorily rejected their petition! A few months +afterwards he died of a cancer in his mouth.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Perhaps (says Mr. Wesley) some may think this was a just +retribution for silencing such a prophet on such an occasion! I +am not ashamed to acknowledge this is my own sentiment; and I do +not<span class="pagenum" id="Page_232">[232]</span> think it any breach of charity to suppose that an action so +unworthy of a Christian Bishop had its punishment in this world.”</p> +</div> + +<p>On this opinion of Mr. Wesley, the reader will form his own judgment.</p> + +<p>The estimation in which the humble and devoted Fletcher held the +Countess of Huntingdon, with whom, in the following spring, he had many +interviews, may be gathered from the following short extract from one +of his letters to Mr. Charles Wesley, dated March 22, 1759:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I was this morning with Lady Huntingdon, who salutes you, and +unites with me in saying, that we have need of you to make one +in our threefold cord, and to beg you will hasten your return, +when Providence permits. Our conversation was deep, and full of +the energy of faith on the part of the Countess; as to me, I sat +like Paul at the feet of Gamaliel.”</p> +</div> + +<p>When (in the November of that year) the Countess recommenced the +religious assemblies in her own house, Mr. Fletcher was one of the +clergymen whom she requested to preach and administer the sacrament to +the elegant and pious persons whom she gathered around her. Of this +invitation we find Mr. Fletcher giving the following account in another +letter to Mr. Charles Wesley:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Your letter (he says) was not put into my hands till eight days +after my arrival in London. I carried the enclosed agreeably to +its address, and passed three hours with a modern prodigy—<i>a +pious and humble Countess</i>! I went with trembling, and in +obedience to your orders; but I soon perceived a little of what +the disciples felt, when Christ said to them, ‘<i>It is I, +be not afraid</i>.’ She proposed to me something of what you +hinted to me in your garden; namely, to celebrate the communion +sometimes at her house in a morning, and to preach when occasion +offered; in such a manner, however, as not to restrain my +liberty, or prevent my assisting you, or preaching to the French +refugees; and that only till Providence should clearly point out +the path in which I should go. Charity, politeness, and reason +accompanied her offer; and I confess, in spite of the resolution +which I had almost <i>absolutely</i> formed, to fly the houses +of the great, without even the exception of the Countess’s, I +found myself so greatly changed that I should have accepted, on +the spot, a proposal which I should have declined from any other +mouth, but my engagement with you withheld me; and, thanking +the Countess, I told her, when I had reflected on her obliging +offer, I would do myself the honour of waiting upon her again.</p> + +<p>“Nevertheless, two difficulties stand in my way. Will it be +consistent with that poverty of spirit which I seek? Can I +accept an office for which I have such small talents? And +shall I not dishonour the cause of God, by stammering out the +mysteries of the Gospel in a place where the most approved +ministers of the Lord have preached<span class="pagenum" id="Page_233">[233]</span> with so much power and so +much success? I suspect that my own vanity gives more weight to +this second objection than it ought to have; what think you?”</p> +</div> + +<p>Mr. Wesley’s answer was no doubt encouraging, and the invitation of the +Countess was accepted.</p> + +<p>Neither exalted by the grace he had received, nor elated with his +previous success in the ministry, he opened his commission amongst +the great and honourable in the drawing-rooms of the Countess, in the +lowly manner of the apostle—“Unto me, who am less than the least of +all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach the unsearchable +riches of Christ.” On this, as on many subsequent occasions, the +affectionate and fervent manner in which he addressed his hearers, and +the earnestness and zeal with which he delivered his message, were +affecting proofs of the interest he took in their spiritual concerns; +and there is much reason to believe that his labours in this way were +not “in vain in the Lord.”</p> + +<p>During the winter Lady Huntingdon continued to be useful in every +possible way, endeavouring, with the most ardent zeal and unwearied +diligence, to advance the honour and interest of her Divine Master. +At home and abroad, in company and alone, in public and in private, +she ceased not to keep in view and prosecute, with the most intense +application, her great and important design; suffering no talent to +remain unoccupied, nor any moment to pass unimproved. In Mr. Fletcher +she found a powerful auxiliary, and one every way calculated to fan the +inextinguishable flame of holy zeal which burned upon the altar of her +heart.</p> + +<p>He continued in London during four months, assisting the Messrs. +Wesley, and preaching alternately with them and others at the houses +of Lady Huntingdon, Lady Gertrude Hotham, and Lady Frances Shirley, +generally once, and frequently twice in every week.</p> + +<p>In 1760 he employed himself in working in the field of usefulness he +found at Brighton, after which he returned to London: but Mr. Venn, +who had been with him at Brighton, having accompanied the Countess +of Huntingdon to Aberford, in Yorkshire, Mr. Fletcher went down to +Tern-hall, where he had few opportunities of preaching, partly owing +to the shyness of the neighbouring clergy, and partly to the fears +which Mr. Hill entertained, lest his interest at Shrewsbury should be +lessened at the approaching election, if Mr. Fletcher delivered his +sentiments with unrestrained freedom. He speaks of this in a letter +written about this period to Lady Huntingdon, dated Tern, September 6, +1760, and addressed to her Ladyship “At Lady<span class="pagenum" id="Page_234">[234]</span> Margaret Ingham’s, at +Aberford, near Tadcaster, in Yorkshire.” We make a short extract from +this letter:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I am greatly indebted to your Ladyship for what light I have +into the nature of the foundation of Christianity; and, although +I have great reason to be ashamed of the little use I have made +of it, I hope it will work its way, by the power of Christ’s +Spirit, through the thick darkness of my self-righteous, +unbelieving heart, and then to be a closer follower of you, as +you are of Christ.</p> + +<p>“The fear Mr. Hill has lest I should lessen his interest at +Shrewsbury against the next election, the shyness of the +neighbouring clergy, and the want I feel of an ordination from +the great Shepherd and Bishop of my soul, will probably prevent +my preaching at all in the country. O may the Spirit of God +preach in the meantime the Gospel to my heart!</p> + +<p>“Generous as you are, Madam, I believe you would have saved me +the shame of receiving the present you made me at Paddington, +had you foreseen what uneasy thoughts it raised in my heart. +‘Is not this making godliness a gain? Can I in conscience +receive what is devoted to the poor, and when I am not in actual +want?’ I am not ashamed of living upon charity, but to receive +it without being an immediate object is what gives me more +uneasiness than want could possibly do. And now I am deprived +of many months of the unspeakable advantage of living upon +Providence, and must live upon a stock, as well as the rich of +this world! Is not this a lesson? And does not your generosity, +Madam, bid me look to Jesus for <i>poverty of spirit</i>, +without which all outward acts are nothing but pride, sin, +misery, and lies?</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“J. Fletcher.”</p> +</div> + +<p>While living at Tern-hall,<a id="FNanchor_132" href="#Footnote_132" class="fnanchor">[132]</a> Mr. Fletcher was often requested to do +duty for Mr. Chambers, vicar of Madely, which being ten miles distant, +a groom was ordered to get a horse ready for him every Sunday morning; +but so great was his aversion to giving trouble, that if the groom did +not wake at the time, he seldom suffered him to be called, but prepared +the horse himself.</p> + +<p>On the 26th of September, Mr. Fletcher wrote again to Lady Huntingdon, +giving an account of his call to Madely, to the following effect:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“The light I expected from our friend at Bristol is come, though +from a different quarter. A fortnight ago the minister of the +parish, with whom I have had no connexion for these two years, +sent me word (I know not why) that his pulpit should be at my +service at any time, and seems now very friendly. Some days +after, I ventured, without design, a visit of civility to the +vicar of a neighbouring parish, who fell out with me three years +ago for preaching faith in his church: he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_235">[235]</span> received me with the +greatest kindness, and said often he should have me take care +of souls somewhere or other. Last Sunday the vicar of Madely, +to whom I was formerly curate, coming to pay a visit here, +expressed great regard for me, seemed to be quite reconciled, +and assured me that he would do all that was in his power to +serve me; of which he yesterday gave me a proof, by sending +me a testimonial unasked. He was no sooner gone than news was +brought that the old clergyman I mentioned to your Ladyship +died suddenly the day before; and that same day, before I heard +it, Mr. Hill, meeting at the races his nephew, who is patron of +Madely, told him, that if he would present me to that cure, he +would give the vicar of that parish the living vacated by the +old clergyman’s death. This was immediately agreed to, as Mr. +Hill himself informed me in the evening, wishing me joy.<a id="FNanchor_133" href="#Footnote_133" class="fnanchor">[133]</a> +This new promise, the manner in which Mr. Hill forced me from +London to be here at this time, and the kindness of the three +ministers I mentioned, whose hearts seemed to be turned at this +juncture to sign my testimonials for institution, are so many +orders to be still, and wait till the door is quite open or +shut. I beg, therefore, your Ladyship would present my respects +and thanks to Lady Margaret and Mr. Ingham, and acquaint them +with the necessity which these circumstances lay me under to +follow the leadings of Providence.”</p> +</div> + +<p>To Mr. Charles Wesley he says:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“My heart revolts at the idea of being here alone, opposed by +my superiors, hated by my neighbours, and despised by all the +world. Without piety, without talents, without resolution, how +shall I repel the assaults and surmount the obstacles which +I foresee, if I discharge my duty at Madely with fidelity? +On the other hand, to reject this presentation, to burn the +certificate, and to leave in the desert the sheep whom the +Lord has evidently brought me into the world to feed, appears +to me nothing but obstinacy and refined self-love. I will +hold a middle course between these extremes: I will be wholly +<i>passive</i>, in the steps I must take, and <i>active</i> in +praying the Lord to deliver me from the evil one, and to conduct +me in the way he would have me go.</p> + +<p>“If you can see anything better, inform me of it speedily; and, +at the same time, remember me in all your prayers, that, if +this matter be<span class="pagenum" id="Page_236">[236]</span> not of the Lord, the enmity of the Bishop of +Lichfield, who must countersign my testimonials; the threats of +the chaplain of the Bishop of Hereford, who was a witness to +my preaching at West-street; the objections drawn from my not +being naturalized, or some other obstacle, may prevent the kind +intentions of Mr. Hill.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Having occasion, about this period, to accompany his pupils to +London,<a id="FNanchor_134" href="#Footnote_134" class="fnanchor">[134]</a> he determined to avail himself of that opportunity to +call upon Mr. Berridge, vicar of Everton. He accordingly introduced +himself as a raw convert, who had taken the liberty to wait upon him +for the benefit of his instruction and advice. From his accent and +manners, Mr. Berridge perceived that he was a foreigner, and enquired +what countryman he was. “A Swiss, from the canton of Berne,” was the +reply. “From Berne! then, probably, you can give me some account of a +young countryman of yours, one John Fletcher, who has lately preached +a few times for the Messrs. Wesley, and of whose talents, learning, +and piety, they both speak in terms of high eulogy. Do you know him?” +“Yes, sir, I know him intimately; and, did those gentlemen know him +as well, they would not speak of him in such terms, for which he is +more obliged to their partial friendship than to his own merits.” “You +surprise me (said Mr. Berridge) in speaking so coldly of a countryman +in whose praise they are so warm.” “I have the best reason (he +rejoined) for speaking of him as I do—I am John Fletcher!” “If you be +John Fletcher (replied his host) you must do me the favour to take my +pulpit to-morrow; and when we are better acquainted, without implicitly +receiving your statement, or that of your friends, I shall be able to +judge for myself.” Thus commenced an intimacy with Mr. Berridge, which +controversy could not interrupt.</p> + +<p>On the 3rd of October, Mr. Fletcher, in a letter to the Countess of +Huntingdon, thus refers to his induction at Madely:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Were I to have my choice, I would prefer waiting at the pool +under your roof, or that of those who think like you, to any +other way of life; and I will own to your Ladyship, that the +thought of giving this up is one of the chief difficulties +I have now to encounter. But I seem to be the prisoner of +Providence, who is going, in all probability, to cast my lot +among the colliers and forgemen of Madely; the two thousand +souls of that parish, for whom I was called into the ministry, +are many sheep in the wilderness, which, after all, I cannot +sacrifice to my own private choice. When I was suffered to +attend them for a few days, some began to return to the Shepherd +of their souls, and I found<span class="pagenum" id="Page_237">[237]</span> it then in my heart to spend and +be spent for them; when I was sent away from them, that zeal, +it is true, cooled to such a degree, that I have wished a +thousand times they might never be committed to my care; but +the impression of the tears of those who, when I left them, ran +after me, crying, ‘Who shall now show us the way to heaven’? +never wore quite off from the bottom of my heart, and, upon +second thoughts, I always concluded that if the Lord made my +way plain to their church, I could not run away from it without +disobeying the order of Providence. That time is come—the +church is vacated—the presentation to it brought, unasked for, +into my hands—the difficulty of getting proper testimonials, +which I looked upon as insurmountable, vanishes at once—the +three clergymen that had opposed me with most bitterness signed +them—and the Bishop of Lichfield countersigns them without the +least objection—the lord of the manor, my great opposer, leaves +the parish—and the very man (the vicar) who told me I should +never preach in that church, now recommends me to it, and tells +me he will induct me himself. Are not these intimations of the +will of God? It seems so to me. What does your Ladyship think of +it? I long to go and consult you in Yorkshire, but cannot do it +now, without giving up the point on which I want your advice.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Again, on the 28th of October, 1760, he thus addresses the Countess:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Since I had the honour to write last to your Ladyship, all the +little circumstances of my institution and induction have taken +such an easy turn, that I question whether any clergyman noted +for good fellowship ever got over them with less trouble. I +preached last Sunday for the first time in my church, and shall +continue to do so, though I propose staying with Mr. Hill till +he leaves the country, which will be, I suppose, in a fortnight, +partly to comply with him to the last, partly to avoid falling +out with my predecessor, who is still at Madely, but who will +remove about the same time.</p> + +<p>“Among many little providences I have seen the finger of God +in lately, I shall mention one to your Ladyship. The Bishop +having unexpectedly sent me word to go to him for institution +without delay, if I would not be at the trouble of following +him to London, I set out in haste for Hereford, where I arrived +the day before his Lordship’s departure. As I went along, I +thought that if my going to Madely was from the Lord, it was +providential that I should be thus called to be instituted in +the country, for were it to be in London, Sir Peter Rivers, +the Bishop’s chaplain, who examined me for orders, and last +summer made so much noise in West-street Chapel, where he found +me preaching, would infallibly defeat the end of my journey, +according to his threatenings. Thus did worldly wisdom work in +my heart; but no divination can stand against the God of Jacob, +who is a jealous God, and does not give his glory to another. A +clergyman, named Sir Dutton Colt, came to see the Bishop just +as I entered the palace, and the secretary coming to him, said, +in my hearing, ‘Sir Peter is just come from London to take +possession of a prebend, which the Bishop has<span class="pagenum" id="Page_238">[238]</span> given him; he +is now in the palace—how do you rank with him?’—My surprise +was great for a moment, and my first thought was to ride away +without institution: but having gone too far to retreat, I +had an instant strength from on high to be still and see the +salvation of the Lord. My second thought was to thank God for +sending this man from London in that point of time to defeat +Mr. Hill’s design; and easily throwing up Madely, I cried for +strength to make a good confession before the High-priest and +the Scribe; and I felt I had it, but was not called to use it, +for the Bishop was alone, the ceremony was over in ten minutes, +and Sir Peter did not come in till after. I met him at the door +of the Bishop’s room, and a wig I had on that day prevented +his recollecting who I was. Your Ladyship cannot conceive how +thankful I was for this little incident, not because I was +disappointed of a living, but because I saw and felt that, +had I been disappointed, it would have been no manner of +disappointment to me.</p> + +<p>“If I know anything of myself, I shall be much more ready +to resign my benefice, when I have had a fair trial of my +unprofitableness to the people committed to my care, than I was +to accept it. Mr. John Wesley bids me do it without a trial. +He will have me ‘see the devil’s snare, and fly from it at the +peril of my soul.’ I answer, I cannot see it in that light. He +adds, ‘others may do well in a living—you <i>can</i> not, it +is not your calling.’ I tell him I readily own that I am not +fit to plant or water any part of the Lord’s vineyard, but that +<i>if</i> I am called at all, I am called to preach at Madely, +where I was first sent into the ministry, and where a chain of +providences I could not break has again fastened me; and that +though I should be as unsuccessful as Noah, yet I am determined +to try to be there a preacher of Christ’s righteousness; and +that, notwithstanding my universal inability, I am not quite +without hopes that he who reproved a prophet’s madness by the +mouth of an ass, may reprove a collier’s profaneness even by +my mouth. I reserve for another letter an account of my own +soul, and what begins to be as dear to me as my own soul—<i>my +parish</i>. In the mean time, I earnestly recommend both to your +Ladyship’s prayers.”</p> +</div> + +<p>His next letter to the Countess is dated Tern, Nov. 19th, 1760; it is +written in a somewhat desponding tone, as the following extract shows:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I have hitherto wrote my sermons, but am carried so far beyond +my notes, when in the pulpit, that I propose preaching with only +my sermon-case in my hand next Friday, when I shall venture +on an evening lecture for the first time. I question whether +I shall have above half-a-dozen hearers, as the God of a busy +world is doubly the God of this part of the world; but I am +resolved to try. The weather and the roads are so bad, that the +way to the church is almost impracticable; nevertheless, all +the seats were full last Sunday. Some begin to come from the +adjacent parishes, and some more (as they say) <i>threaten</i> +to come when the season permits it. I cannot yet discern any +deep work, or indeed anything but what will always attend the +crying down man’s righteousness, and insisting upon Christ’s—I +mean a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_239">[239]</span> general liking among the poor, and offence, ridicule, +and opposition among the ‘reputable’ and ‘wise’ people. Should +the Lord vouchsafe to plant the Gospel in this country, my +parish seems to be the best spot for a centre of a work, as it +lies just among the most populous, profane, and ignorant. But +it is well if, after all, there is any work in my parish. I +despair even of this when I look at myself, and fall in quite +with Mr. John Wesley’s opinion about me; though sometimes, too, +I hope the Lord hath not sent me here for nothing; and I beg +for strength to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. +Nevertheless, I am still fully determined to resign my living +after a while, if the Lord does not think me worthy to be his +instrument. If your Ladyship could at any time spare a minute, +I should be glad to know whether you do not think that I shall +<i>then</i> be at full liberty to do it before God. I abhor the +title of a living for a living’s sake—it is death to me.</p> + +<p>“There are three meetings in my parish—a Papist, Quaker, and +Baptist—and they begin to call the fourth <i>the Methodist +one</i>—I mean the church. But the bulk of the inhabitants are +stupid heathens, who seem past all curiosity, as well as all +sense of godliness. I am ready to run after them into their pits +and forges, and I only wait for Providence to show me the way. +I am often reduced to great perplexity, but the end of it is +sweet. I am driven to the Lord, and he comforts, encourages, and +teaches me. I sometimes feel that zeal which forced Paul to wish +to be accursed for his brethren’s sake; but I want to feel it +without interruption. The devil, my friends, and my heart, have +pushed at me to make me fall into worldly cares and creature +snares—first, by the thoughts of marrying, then by the offers +of several boarders, one of whom offered me sixty pounds a year +(and he is a Christian youth), but I have been enabled to cry, +‘<i>Nothing but Jesus</i>, and the service of his people,’ and I +trust the Lord will keep me in the same mind.</p> + +<p>“Wherever this finds your Ladyship, may the angel of the Lord’s +presence prevent, accompany, and follow all your steps, which +is and will always be the prayer of your Ladyship’s unworthy +servant,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“J. Fletcher.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Again, in a letter of the 6th January, 1761, he says:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I had a secret expectation to be the instrument of a work in +this part of our Church, and I did not despair of being soon a +<i>little Berridge</i>; and thus warmed with sparks of my own +kindling, I looked out to see the rocks broke in pieces, and +the waters flowing out; but, to the great disappointment of my +hopes, I am now forced to look within, and see the need I have +of being broken, and of relenting myself. If my being stationed +in this howling wilderness is to answer no public end as to +the Gospel of Christ, I will not give up the hopes that it may +answer a private end as to myself, in humbling me under a sense +of universal unprofitableness. If I preach the Gospel ten years +here (suppose I live so long), and see no fruits of my labours, +in either case I promise to praise God, if I can but say from my +heart, ‘<i>I am nothing—I have nothing—I can do nothing</i>.’ +* * * I complained secretly a month ago of my want of concern, +and my stupidity, at my<span class="pagenum" id="Page_240">[240]</span> solemn times of waiting upon God; and +the Lord, in answer to my prayers, I believe, let loose upon +me, for some moments every evening, the enemy of my soul. I +might call him the dog of the good Shepherd; for a straying +loitering sheep that hears a bull-dog barking, and sees him +ready to devour, cannot fly into the sheepfold with more speed +than those odd visits made me betake myself to the stronghold +of my soul. But to my shame, the pressure was no sooner removed +but I returned to my stupid state. Where I am, and what the Lord +will do with me, or by me, I know not. If I can but once truly +hold him, I shall not care, for then I shall follow him, though +blindfold, whithersoever he goeth.</p> + +<p>“As to my parish, all that I see hitherto in it is nothing +but what one may expect from speaking plainly and with some +degree of earnestness: a crying out—‘He is a Methodist—a +downright Methodist.’ While some of the poorer sort say, ‘Nay, +but he speaketh the truth!’ Some of the best farmers and most +respectable tradesmen talk often, among themselves (as I am +told), about turning me out of my living, as a Methodist, or +a Baptist; and spread about such stories as your Ladyship may +guess at, without my writing them. My Friday lecture took +better than I expected, and I propose to continue it till the +congregation desert me. The number of hearers at that time is +generally larger than that which my predecessor had on Sunday. +The number of communicants is increased from thirty to above a +hundred; and a few seem to seek grace in the means. May they +do it in sincerity! * * I thank your Ladyship for mentioning +Mr. Jones as a curate. There is little probability of my ever +wanting one. My oath obliges me to residence, and when I am here +I can easily manage all the business, and only wait for some +opportunities of bearing oftener witness to the truth.”</p> +</div> + +<p>One more extract from this interesting correspondence shall conclude +this chapter. The letter we are about to quote is dated Madely, April +27, 1761:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Conscious that few people can sympathize with me in so feeling +a manner as your Ladyship, I shall make no apology for pouring +out my complaints before you in this letter.</p> + +<p>“I learn, by slow experience, that in me dwelleth no good +thing. This, I find, cannot be learned of man, nor by man—it +is a lesson that grace alone teaches effectually in the furnace +of affliction; I am still at the first line, but I think I +read it and understand it in a manner quite different from +what I did before. Surely the Saviour speaks as no man ever +spake, and he teaches with authority, not as the scribes; +his words are riveted in the heart—those of man only graze +the surface of the understanding. I have met with several +trials since Providence has cast me (I shall not say in this +part of the Lord’s vineyard, but) into this part of our +spiritual Sodom; nevertheless, they did not work upon me as +they ought to have done: I stood out against them in a kind +of <i>self-resolution</i>, supported by human fortitude, +rather than divine humility, and so they did not bring down +the strength of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_241">[241]</span> nature, but rather increased it; for the old +man, if he cannot have his own food, will live quietly and +comfortably on spiritual food too. Yea, he is often pampered by +what the natural mind supposes will poison him. But of late I +have met a trial that, by God’s infinite mercy, has found its +way to my heart. O may the wound be deep enough to let in the +mind of Jesus!</p> + +<p>“A young woman, daughter of one of my most substantial +parishioners, giving place to Satan, by pride and impatience, +is driven, in her conviction, into a kind of madness. I could +bear patiently enough before the reports that went about that I +drove people mad; but the fear of having this laid to my charge, +backed with so glaring an instance, has thrown me into some +agonies of soul, in which, through very great storms, I got into +a very great calm; and the Lord, in compassion to my infirmity, +perhaps also for the honour of his cause, seems to hear me in +that which I feared, and I believe there is some hope that the +snare will be broken.</p> + +<p>“Why God permits these offences to arise has not a little +staggered me. Once I was for taking to my heels, and, +hireling-like, for flying at the first approach of the wolf. +But, thanks be to the divine grace, I now try to commit to the +Lord the keeping of his own ark, and cry for a blind faith +in him who calls light out of darkness. Had not this trial +staggered me, I should have great hopes that a few living +stones may be gathered here for the temple of the Lord. There +is a considerable stir about religion in the neighbourhood; +and though most people rise up against it, yet some begin to +enquire in earnest what they must do to be saved, and some get +a sight of the way. My church is full, notwithstanding the +oaths that some of my parishioners have sworn never to hear me +again. I am insensibly led into exhorting sometimes in my house, +and elsewhere. I preach Sunday morning and Friday evening; and +Sunday evening, after catechizing or preaching to the children, +I read one of the homilies, or a sermon of Archbishop Usher’s, +insisting on all that confirms what I advanced in the morning, +which greatly stops the mouths of the gainsayers, till God shall +turn their hearts.</p> + +<p>“I beg your Ladyship (when the blessed Spirit blows) would +remember my poor flock and their poor shepherd at the throne of +grace. I propose writing soon to Mr. Charles Hotham and Mrs. +Carteret; nevertheless, should take it kindly if, Madam, you +would, in the meantime, present my respects, without forgetting +Lady Gertrude, Mrs. Cavendish, and Mrs. Leighton.</p> + +<p>“I am, my Lady, with the truest regard and gratitude,</p> + +<p class="r4 p-min">Your Ladyship’s unworthy servant,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“J. Fletcher.”</p> +</div> +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_242">[242]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hangingindent">Rise of Methodism in Yorkshire—Mr. Ingham—Count +Zinzendorff—M. Delamotte—Mr. Okeley—Mr. Rogers—Letters +from Mr. Whitefield—United Brethren—Mr. Batty—Lady Betty +Hastings—Ledstone-hall—Mr. Ingham’s marriage with Lady +Margaret Hastings—Count Zinzendorff visits Yorkshire—Moravian +settlement at Fulneck—John Nelson—Mr. Whitefield’s Letter +to Mr. Ingham—Mr. Grimshaw—Lord and Lady Huntingdon +visit Ledstone-hall—Mr. Charles Wesley—Mr. Graves—Lady +Huntingdon encourages John Nelson—Persecution—Provincial +Magistrates—John Nelson taken to prison—Liberated by the +influence of Lady Huntingdon—Lord Sunderland—Letter from Lady +Huntingdon to Mr. Ingham—The Vicar of Colne—Mr. Grimshaw’s +Opinions—Moravian Nobles—John Cennick—Mr. Ingham leaves the +Moravians—John Allen.</p> +</div> + + +<p>More than one hundred years have elapsed since the rise of Methodism +in Yorkshire. The chief instrument in the revival of religion in that +county was the Rev. Benjamin Ingham, brother-in-law to the Countess +of Huntingdon, and one of the original band of Methodists at Oxford. +This amiable and exemplary man was born at Osset, in the parish of +Dewsbury, in the county of York, June the 11th, 1712. Being intended +for the Church, he received a liberal education at Batley School, from +whence he removed to Queen’s College, Oxford, where he soon attracted +the notice and acquired the respect of his superiors. Two years after +his residence at the University, he began to associate with the +Messrs. Wesley and others, who were at this time noted for a variety +of particular observances and devotional exercises, which gained them +the name of <i>Methodists</i>. Soon after, Mr. Whitefield, then a youth +about 19, joined himself to the society, of which he was destined to +be the great Apollos. At that time they were fourteen or fifteen in +number, all collegians, of one heart and mind. From these very small +beginnings what a great increase has been given!</p> + +<p>On the 1st of July, 1734, Mr. Ingham returned from Oxford to Osset, and +began to keep religious meetings at his mother’s house; in a little +time several of the neighbours attended, and within the space of six +months a considerable number of persons assembled, many of whom were +brought under a concern for their souls. This was the commencement of +the awakening in Yorkshire.</p> + +<p>Mr. Ingham was admitted into holy orders, June, 1735, in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_243">[243]</span> Christ +Church, by Dr. John Potter, then Bishop of Oxford; and on that very +day commenced his public ministry, by preaching his first sermon to +the prisoners in Oxford Castle. On the 4th of the same month he left +the University for London, and was accompanied thither by Mr. Gambold. +He read prayers and preached for the first time in Christ Church, and +afterwards in St. Sepulchre’s, where his labours were attended with the +happiest effects. His zeal and diligence advanced with the extension of +his sphere: far beyond the precincts of London he published the Gospel, +preaching in many of the surrounding villages with singular success, so +that great numbers in these places carried with them into eternity the +grateful recollection of his ministry.</p> + +<p>In consequence of a pressing request for his assistance in preaching +from Mr. Wesley, he embarked for Georgia, in America, on the 14th of +October, 1735, accompanied by Mr. Charles Wesley and Mr. Delamotte, +the son of a merchant in London.<a id="FNanchor_135" href="#Footnote_135" class="fnanchor">[135]</a> During the voyage they employed +their time, with scrupulous exactness and laborious diligence, in acts +of devotion, in the study of the Scriptures, and in the instruction of +those who were willing to learn. There were on board the vessel several +Germans, who were missionaries from the Church of the United Brethren, +under the direction of David Nitchman, a Moravian bishop, for whom Mr. +Ingham conceived a great regard during the voyage. The first attempt +made by the Brethren was for the establishment of a school-house for +Indian children of the Greek nation living in their neighbourhood, +about five miles from the town of Savannah. Many Indians residing there +in one place, gave the missionaries an opportunity to preach the glad +tidings, that unto them also was born a Saviour, who had redeemed them, +and purchased for them freedom from sin and eternal salvation. In Mr. +Ingham the Brethren found an able assistant. He went and lived among +the Indians for some time, and proved very serviceable in regulating +and promoting the aim of the schools. Having succeeded in his attempt +to learn the language, he composed an Indian grammar for the use of the +colony; but he was soon called away to England, where he arrived the +latter end of the year 1736.</p> + +<p>With a view to profit by the example and advice of the Moravian +Brethren, he determined to visit Germany, where, at<span class="pagenum" id="Page_244">[244]</span> Hernhuth in +particular, he expected to meet with many who had long trodden the +paths of holiness, and who would rejoice to be the helpers of his +joy. Accordingly, he embarked at Gravesend in the month of June, +1738, and landed at Rotterdam. On his journey through Holland and +Germany, he found many followers of the Lord Jesus, who treated +him with the greatest hospitality. At Marienbourn he met with +Count Zinzendorff,<a id="FNanchor_136" href="#Footnote_136" class="fnanchor">[136]</a> Count de Solmes, and several other eminent +Moravians, who all encouraged him to proceed without wavering in the +glorious cause in which he was engaged. At Hernhuth, where he stayed +a fortnight, he was exceedingly strengthened and comforted by the +Christian conversation of the Brethren. Towards the end of the year +he returned to England, when he found the work of Methodism had been +making rapid advances all over the kingdom.</p> + +<p>On Mr. Ingham’s return to Osset, his native place, he renewed his +labours, and preached in all the churches and chapels about Wakefield, +Leeds, and Halifax; and the Lord was pleased marvellously to display +the unsearchable riches and adorable sovereignty of divine grace in the +assemblies of his people. Such awful reverence, such glorious concern +of mind, and such solemnity under the word, was seldom before witnessed +in that part of the vineyard.</p> + +<p>Private religious meetings greatly multiplied, and many, very many, had +an inflamed desire to live to Him who died for them and rose again. Of +such a season as this it may be well said, “I have heard thee in a time +accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, +now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”</p> + +<p>Such proceedings soon roused the envy and enmity of the clergy; and by +an order made at the Visitation, held at Wakefield, June 6th, 1739, +Mr. Ingham was prohibited from preaching in any of the churches in +the diocese of York. He immediately began to preach in the fields, +barns, dwellings, and houses; and such was the power attending his +ministrations, that there were societies formed in <span class="allsmcap">FORTY</span> +different places.</p> + +<p>Whilst the knowledge of the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus +Christ was thus winning its way in Yorkshire, the same glorious cause +was spreading with astonishing rapidity in Bedfordshire, through the +instrumentality of Mr. Francis Okeley and the Rev. Jacob Rogers, +a clergyman of the Church of England<span class="pagenum" id="Page_245">[245]</span> who had been preaching the +long-exploded doctrines of the Reformation with great zeal and success. +Thither Mr. Ingham immediately repaired, and found among the awakened, +persons not much concerned about hearing the word, but truly in earnest +to experience the power of it in their hearts. During his stay he +preached and expounded several times, in St. Paul’s church, to vast +multitudes, who heard him with an extraordinary degree of attention.</p> + +<p>The number of converts daily increasing, they were formed into +societies, and, by the advice of Mr. Ingham, placed under the care +of the Moravian ministers, who were about this time invited into +Bedfordshire by Mr. Rogers. This led the way for the settlement of the +United Brethren at Bedford, which was formed in the year 1745. A chapel +was built for the preaching of the Gospel, and consecrated in the +year 1751. The ministers residing at Bedford preached also at several +places in the neighbourhood, particularly at Risely, where a chapel was +erected, which proved a signal blessing to many.</p> + +<p>Concerning Mr. Rogers, Mr. Whitefield writes thus:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Mr. Rogers, like me, has lately been thrust out of the +synagogues for speaking of justification by faith and the new +birth; and has commenced as field preacher. Once he was shut +up in prison for a short time; but thousands flocked to hear +him, and God blessed him more and more. I believe we are the +first professed ministers of the Church of England that were so +soon, without cause, excluded every pulpit. Whether our reverend +brethren can justify such conduct, the last day will determine.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Hearing of the amazing success attending his ministry, and the +continued determined opposition of the High Church clergy, Mr. +Whitefield, before he left America, wrote to Mr. Rogers the following +letter:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="r2">“Philadelphia, Nov. 10, 1739.</p> + +<p>“My dear brother Rogers—Before I left England I heard of your +progress in Leicestershire and Nottingham. I then rejoiced, yea, +and I do now rejoice, that God hath sent you into his vineyard. +I wish you all imaginable success, with my whole heart. The +next news I hear from England I suppose will inform me of your +suffering as well as preaching for Christ. But I am persuaded +a prospect of suffering does not damp, but excite, the zeal of +my dear fellow-labourer. He lives in a place where honest John +Bunyan was a prisoner of the Lord for twelve years. And oh! +what sweet communion did he enjoy in Bedford gaol! I really +believe a minister will learn more by one month’s confinement +than by a year’s study. Press on then, my dear brother, press +on, and faint not; speak till you can speak no more. Wait upon +the Lord and you shall renew your strength. Though sometimes +faint, yet still pursue. Up and be doing, and the Lord be with +you. See<span class="pagenum" id="Page_246">[246]</span> how the fields are white, everywhere ready to harvest. +See how our Lord’s sheep are scattered abroad, having few, too +few true shepherds. I beseech you go on, and point out to them +the Redeemer’s good pastures. Say not, Wherewithal shall I feed +them? The great Shepherd shall furnish you with food enough +and to spare. Give of your loaves, and ye shall take up of the +fragments that remain. To him that hath shall be given. Satan, +no doubt, will resist you; he will bid you, out of a false +humility, to hold your peace; but let my friend speak out boldly +as he ought to speak. The Holy Spirit will give him utterance, +and apply the word to the hearers. If prayers may water the good +seed, you may depend on mine. Remember the dear Bedford people. +O let them not forget your poor weak brother in Christ,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“George Whitefield.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Mr. Rogers returned with Mr. Ingham to Yorkshire, and afterwards +they visited Nottingham, where their ministry was greatly owned. The +benediction of the Spirit of God seemed to rest in a peculiar manner +on the labours of those apostolic witnesses wherever they itinerated, +preaching the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ; and +very many on those occasions have been called, by their ministrations, +to the knowledge of his grace and faith.</p> + +<p>After some time Mr. Ingham entered into close communion with the +Church of the United Brethren. In the month of November, 1739, he was +visited by Mr. Wm. Delamotte and the Rev. John Toeltschig, a Moravian +minister, who had been in Georgia with Mr. Ingham and Mr. Wesley, and +afterwards accompanied them to Germany. This was the first entrance of +the Moravians into Yorkshire. Others of the Brethren were soon invited, +who laboured for Mr. Ingham with considerable success: and in a little +time the number of lay preachers considerably increased.</p> + +<p>Amongst the most eminent were three brothers, Mr. William Batty, +Mr. Christopher Batty, and Mr. Lawrence Batty, of Catherine +Hall, Cambridge, sons of Mr. Giles Batty, a man of considerable +respectability, who resided at Newby Cote, near Settle, in Craven. Some +notice of each of these brothers will be found in the note below.<a id="FNanchor_137" href="#Footnote_137" class="fnanchor">[137]</a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_247">[247]</span></p> + +<p>They were active labourers in the vineyard, and they had the +satisfaction of witnessing the happy progress of the Gospel through +the circle in which they moved, and the rapid increase of those who +attended their ministry. They were instrumental in changing many of the +outcasts of society into useful members; civilizing even savages, and +filling those lips with prayer and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_248">[248]</span> praise that had been accustomed +only to oaths and imprecations. Societies were formed in <span class="allsmcap">SIXTY</span> +different places, and were visited every month. Thus the seed sown +sprang up and flourished, bearing the rich fruits of every grace and +virtue.</p> + +<p>We must now speak of Mr. Ingham’s marriage, and first of his wife’s +family.</p> + +<p>The Lady Betty Hastings was a woman of singular excellence. Her +maternal grandfather was Sir John Lewis, of Ledstone, in the county +of York, Bart., one moiety and more of whose very large estate came +to her by inheritance; and her father was Theophilus, seventh Earl of +Huntingdon. Her countenance united in it something great and something +condescending; an ingenuous temper, a quickness of understanding, a +benevolent spirit, a flexibility of nature, a devout frame, and a +solemn sense of sacred things, were observable in her infancy, and her +footsteps slipped not in the dangerous ascent of life; so that she was +not only free from every stain of vice in her early days, but superior +to the world and its vain and trifling amusements. Though the splendour +of her birth was great, it was eclipsed by her shining qualities: she +was agreeable in her person, polite and amiable in her manners, and +charming in conversation. Her singular accomplishments in early life +were celebrated by one of the ingenious authors of “The Tatler,” under +the name of “Aspasia.”<a id="FNanchor_138" href="#Footnote_138" class="fnanchor">[138]</a></p> + +<p>Lady Betty’s active life commenced soon after the death of her brother, +George,<a id="FNanchor_139" href="#Footnote_139" class="fnanchor">[139]</a> Earl of Huntingdon, when her excellent virtues shone out, +by what has been the eclipse of virtue in others, the accession of +a large fortune. Her Ladyship spent the greater part of her life at +Ledstone House, where almost every eye beheld her with wonder. Such was +the superiority of her understanding, that in matters of high moment +hundreds would ask counsel of her, who were themselves well qualified +to give it to others: for she was blessed with a rectitude of judgment, +and could readily penetrate through perplexities, unravel them, and +mark out the wisest and safest conduct, having ever for her ground the +interests of truth, fidelity, honour, and religion. Her aim was the +glory of God, and the good of all men; keeping all her capacities, all +her powers, and all her fortune continually upon the stretch for the +benefit of her fellow-creatures; weeping with them that weep, rejoicing +with them that rejoice; given to hospitality, distributing to the +necessities of the saints, and to others that were less so; and having +joy at the conversion of a sinner.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_249">[249]</span></p> + +<p>Lady Anne, Lady Frances, Lady Catherine, and Lady Margaret Hastings, +were the daughters of the same noble Earl, by his second wife, Frances, +daughter and sole heiress to Francis Leveson Fowler, of Harnage-Grange, +in the county of Salop, Esq., by Anne his wife, second daughter to +Peter Venables, Baron of Kinderton, in Cheshire, and widow of Thomas +Needham, Viscount Kilmorey, in Ireland. At this period, when Mr. +Ingham commenced his public ministry in Yorkshire, the Ladies Hastings +were on a visit to Ledstone Hall, and from motives of curiosity were +first induced to hear him preach in a neighbouring parish. He was then +invited to preach in Ledstone Church, and from that period became a +constant visitor at the hall.</p> + +<p>Under the ministry of Mr. Ingham, the Lord met these exalted females +with all the blessings of his grace. They heard him with pleasure, +and drank in, like thirsty travellers, the refreshing streams of +consolation; they made an open profession of the faith, and exhibited a +bright example of female excellence to the world. The higher ranks of +mankind were, by their acquaintance, some of them charmed into the love +of virtue; while others found their virtues heightened and improved. +As to the lower sort, they were guided by their wisdom; and, if they +wanted it, were cherished by their boundless generosity. If in one +grace more than another they resembled their Divine Master, it was in +meekness and humility. Here they were a pattern to all, especially to +those of their own rank and station. They were amiably condescending +to all their inferiors, even to the poorest, and more especially to +the pious poor, and would enter the meanest cottage, with pleasure, to +converse and join in religious exercises with the people of God. With +these excellent women Mr. Ingham soon became a great favourite. On +the death of Lady Betty Hastings, December the 22nd, 1739, her noble +sisters removed to Donnington Park, in Leicestershire, as Ledstone +Hall then became the property of her Ladyship’s brother, the Earl of +Huntingdon. Lady Betty was interred with great funeral solemnity in the +family vault at Ledstone, near her grandfather, Sir John Lewis. She was +a pattern to succeeding ages of all that is good and all that is great. +In short, scarce any age has afforded a greater blessing to many, or +a brighter example to all. Her Ladyship was in the 57th year of her +age.<a id="FNanchor_140" href="#Footnote_140" class="fnanchor">[140]</a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_250">[250]</span></p> + +<p>Lady Margaret had nearly attained her forty-second year, and was +twelve years older than Mr. Ingham. She had many accomplishments, +which recommended her to all who had the happiness of knowing her; but +the greatest glory that shone in her was that of religion, in which +she was not only sincere, but excelled. To this lady Mr. Ingham was +united, November 12, 1741, at the residence of her brother, the Earl +of Huntingdon, in London: and he continued to the last moments of his +life to express the highest veneration and regard for her, and showed a +particular regard and esteem for her noble relatives, several of whom +honoured him with a most intimate friendship.</p> + +<p>About this period Nicholas Lewis, Count of Zinzendorff, again visited +England, and, travelling through Yorkshire, remained some time with +Mr. Ingham. At this time there were several thousand persons in the +different societies which he had established; and by his advice they +committed themselves to the care of those ministers whom the Count +had sent to assist Mr. Ingham, promising withal still to continue in +communion with the Church of England. The ministers who had the care of +these societies lived then at Smith House, and preached in many parts +of the country with much zeal and success. Not long after, however, +many persons having requested to be received into the congregation of +United Brethren, which could not well be refused to such as did not +belong to the Established Church, or had before separated from it, the +Count advised them to take a place near Pudsey, where the Brethren from +Germany, with such of the English as were desirous of living with them, +might build a particular congregation-place.</p> + +<p>Accordingly, the ministers to whom Mr. Ingham had committed the care +of his extensive societies, soon after removed to Pudsey, where they +erected several houses and a chapel on a piece of land which Mr. +Ingham had bought, and generously presented to them for that purpose. +This settlement was called <i>Grace Hill</i>. Mr. Ingham was expected +at Pudsey on the 10th of May, 1746, to lay the foundation-stone of +the chapel and other buildings, but being unexpectedly detained in +Lancashire, where he had been preaching, this office was performed by +Mr. Toeltschig. By degrees several persons came to reside with the +United Brethren, and a congregation-place was erected near the chapel, +which was called, at first, <i>Lamb’s Hill</i>, and now Fulneck. It was +consecrated by the Moravians, May the 22nd, 1748.</p> + +<p>The societies in Yorkshire and Bedfordshire, chiefly collected by the +labours of Mr. Ingham and Mr. Rogers, which were placed under the +care of the United Brethren, were still considered<span class="pagenum" id="Page_251">[251]</span> in communion with +the Church of England, and only in union with the Moravian Church. +But being greatly disturbed by frequent mobs, they were compelled to +license their chapels, and call themselves the Protestant Church of the +United Brethren, or <i>Unitas Fratrum</i>. The Count sent a protest +against this, which was deposited in the archives of the Archbishop +at Lambeth; but little notice being taken of it, he was unable to do +anything more in the affair.</p> + +<p>A very singular character was raised up about this time, whose labours +tended, in a wonderful degree, to enlarge the pale of Methodism in +Yorkshire. John Nelson, a native of Birstal, near Leeds, whose business +led him to reside some years in London, being employed in the building +of Somerset House, was amongst the number of those who frequently heard +Mr. Whitefield and Mr. Wesley preach in the open air in Moorfields, +Kennington-common, and other places. In the memoirs of his life, +written by himself, he gives an account of his hearing Mr. Wesley the +first time, which was out of doors, in Moorfields. He says—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“As soon as he got upon his stand, he stroked back his hair, and +turned his face towards where I stood, and I thought fixed his +eyes upon me. His countenance struck such an awful dread upon +me, before I heard him speak, that it made my heart beat like +the pendulum of a clock; and when he did speak, I thought his +whole discourse was aimed at me.”</p> +</div> + +<p>After he had been made partaker of the grace of God in truth, it was +impressed upon his mind that he must return to his native place: he +longed to impart to his friends and relations the grace of which he had +been made the blessed recipient: and thus he was brought, unawares, to +quote, explain, compare, and enforce several parts of Scripture. This +he did, at first, sitting in his house, till the company increased so +as the house could not contain them. He then stood at the door, which +he was commonly obliged to do in the evening, as soon as he came from +work. This may give the reader an idea of the way and manner in which +many of the first race of Methodist preachers were called to the work +of preaching the Gospel. For some time Mr. Nelson’s friends and his +nearest relations opposed him and were ashamed of him; but he was +steadfast and immovable, and abounded in the work of the Lord.</p> + +<p>These proceedings coming to the ears of Mr. Ingham, he came to Birstal, +enquired into the facts, and talked with Nelson himself, in the closest +manner, concerning his knowledge and spiritual experience. Several +persons being present, Mr. Ingham<span class="pagenum" id="Page_252">[252]</span> said, “Before you all, I give John +leave to exhort in all my societies.” Then, taking him by the hand, +added, “John, God hath given you great honour, in that he hath made use +of you to call sinners to repentance; and I desire you to exhort in all +my societies as often as you can.”</p> + +<p>A mightier instrument was raised up in the person of the Rev. William +Grimshaw, rector of Haworth, near Bradford, who about this time +commenced his apostolic ministry, the influence of which soon extended +beyond the bounds of his parish, and was felt all over Yorkshire and +some of the surrounding counties. Haworth is one of those obscure +places which, like the fishing towns of Galilee favoured with our +Lord’s presence, owe all their celebrity to the Gospel. The name of +Haworth would scarcely be known at a distance, were it not connected +with the name of Grimshaw. The bleak and barren face of the adjacent +country was no improper emblem of the state of the inhabitants, who, in +general, had little more sense of religion than their cattle, and were +wild and uncultivated, like the rocks and mountains which surrounded +them. But, by the blessing of God upon Mr. Grimshaw’s ministry, this +desert soon became a fruitful field—a garden of the Lord, producing +many trees of righteousness planted by the Lord himself, and the barren +wilderness rejoiced and blossomed like the rose.</p> + +<p>The tenor and energy of Mr. Grimshaw’s preaching could not fail of +being talked of, and bringing, out of curiosity, many hundreds to +Haworth church, where the Lord met them with the blessings of his +grace; so that when the rage for novelty had subsided, the church +still continued crowded, many of the congregation coming from a great +distance, and this for twenty years together. Indeed, nothing but the +faithful preaching of the Gospel of the grace of God will draw souls +heartily together, or, according to the prophet’s language, “as doves +to their windows.” His heart was engaged, he was pressed in spirit, he +spoke with earnestness and authority, as one who was well assured of +the truth and importance of his message. Nor did he long speak in vain. +A power from on high applied to the heart what he could only declare to +the ear. An impression, similar to what he himself felt, began to be +felt by some, and in a short space by many of his hearers. The effects +were soon visible. An effectual door was now opened, and adversaries +were not wanting. But a growing number who approved and prized his +ministry were soon distinguished, not only by a change in their views +and sentiments, but in their tempers and conduct. Sin was, in many +instances, forsaken and discountenanced, the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_253">[253]</span> drunkard became sober, +the idle industrious, profaneness gave place to prayer, and riot to +decorum.</p> + +<p>There are four hamlets in the parish of Haworth, and as in them there +were persons whom age, sickness, distance, or prejudice prevented +from attending at church, he considered them all as belonging to his +charge, and was unwilling that any of them should perish in ignorance. +He therefore went to those who could not, or would not, come to him, +teaching and exhorting them from house to house, and preaching in a +more public way in the houses where he was invited.</p> + +<p>Without intermitting his stated services at home, he went much +abroad. In course of time he established two circuits, which, with +some occasional variation, he usually traced every week, alternately. +One of these he often pleasantly called his idle week, because he +seldom preached more than <i>twelve</i> or <i>fourteen</i> times. His +sermons, in his working or busy week, often exceeded the number of +<i>twenty-four</i>, and sometimes amounted to <i>thirty</i>!<a id="FNanchor_141" href="#Footnote_141" class="fnanchor">[141]</a></p> + +<p>About eight months after Mr. Grimshaw had commenced his successful +ministry at Haworth, he became acquainted, and soon afterwards closely +connected, with Mr. Ingham, and laboured unweariedly to diffuse the +glad tidings of the Gospel amongst his societies. Once, and sometimes +twice, a-year, he preached through the circuit appointed by Mr. +Ingham.<a id="FNanchor_142" href="#Footnote_142" class="fnanchor">[142]</a> It is not easy to ascribe such unwearied diligence, and +all amongst the poor, or at least very obscure people, to any motive +but the real one. Whilst he saw multitudes perishing without hope, +and no one breaking to them the bread of life, he was constrained by +love to pity them, and this notwithstanding the selfish reluctance he +felt within to give up his name to still greater reproach, as well as +his time and strength, to proceed in the work of the ministry. What a +reflection does this afford to that laziness of heart, to call it by no +worse name, which thinks the service of God, after calling it in prayer +before him a perfect freedom, to be a hard burden, and which courts +easy duty and large fees, only for an indulgence to the flesh, and to +hold up a sort of foolish and unmeaning respect in the world!</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_254">[254]</span></p> + +<p>During this interval the Earl and Countess of Huntingdon, with the +Ladies Hastings, arrived at Ledstone Hall, which had not been visited +by any of the family since the decease of Lady Betty Hastings. In a +few days they were joined by Mr. and Lady Margaret Ingham, and soon +after the apostolic Grimshaw became a guest at the Hall. Much about +the same period Mr. Charles Wesley and Mr. Charles Graves commenced +preaching in Yorkshire with great success. They were accompanied by +Mr. Bennet and Mr. David Taylor, both of whom were preachers for some +time in Mr. Ingham’s Connexion. On visiting Leeds, Mr. Charles Wesley +and Mr. Graves were invited to Ledstone, where there was preaching +twice a day for several successive days. Great crowds attended, and +people flocked from a vast distance to hear the word. The congregation +usually consisted of many thousands, so that the service was repeatedly +performed without the walls, and a succession of sermons, with some +intervals, were preached in the course of the day to the people in +the open air. Those who object to the irregularity of this course +should remember that there was at that time a great dearth of Gospel +knowledge; the people were hungering for the bread of life: they met +together for the Lord’s sake and in his name, and He who dwelleth not +in temples made with hands was pleased to afford them tokens of his +presence and blessing, as if to prove that the souls of men are not to +be sacrificed to formal notions of “regularity” and order.</p> + +<p>While Messrs. Ingham and Grimshaw were thus triumphing gloriously in +Yorkshire, their fellow-labourer, Mr. Whitefield, was succeeding in +like manner in London. He often wrote to congratulate Mr. Ingham and +Mr. David Taylor on the opening of new doors for the ministry. “The +ram’s-horns (he says) are sounding about Jericho; surely the towering +walls will at length fall.” These letters are dated in the year 1743.</p> + +<p>Lady Huntingdon having heard much of John Nelson, and the surprising +success attending his exhortations, expressed a desire to see and +converse with him. Accompanied by Mr. Ingham and Mr. Graves, her +Ladyship went to Birstal. As Mr. Ingham was expected to preach, they +found a congregation of some thousands assembled, impatiently waiting +their arrival. After a few moments’ repose, Mr. Ingham addressed the +multitude from that passage—“Seek the Lord while he may be found—call +upon him while he is near.” When he had concluded, John Nelson spoke +for about half an hour. The Countess was delighted, and at parting told +him, with her characteristic energy, that God had called him to put his +hand to the plough, and great would be his punishment if he dared to +look<span class="pagenum" id="Page_255">[255]</span> back for a moment; adding, with much emphasis, “He that called +you is mighty to save—fear not—press forward—<i>He will bless your +testimony</i>.”</p> + +<p>Thus encouraged, John Nelson soon began to extend his circuit, and +preach in different parts of the country. The growing stigma of +Methodism exposed him to much suffering and reproach; the clergy were +his bitterest enemies. In some instances, advantage was taken of the +popular cry against the Methodists to break open their doors and +plunder their houses; but greater personal barbarities were exercised +in other places. Some of the preachers received serious injury; others +were held under water till they were nearly dead; and of the women who +attended them, some were so treated by the cowardly and brutal populace +that they never thoroughly recovered. In some places they daubed the +preacher all over with paint; in others, they pelted the people in +the meetings with egg-shells, which they had filled with blood and +stopped with pitch. The progress of Methodism was rather furthered +than impeded by this kind of persecution, for it often rendered the +Methodists objects of curiosity and compassion; and in every instance +the preachers displayed that fearlessness which confidence in God is +sure to inspire, and which, when the madness of the moment was over, +made even their enemies respect them.</p> + +<p>These things were sufficiently disgraceful to the nation; but the +conduct of many of the provincial magistrates was far more so, for they +suffered themselves to be so far influenced by passion and popular +feeling, as to commit acts of abominable oppression under the colour +of the law. The vicar of Birstal, which was John Nelson’s home and +head-quarters, thought it justifiable to rid the parish, by any means, +of a man who preached with more zeal and more effect than himself; +and he readily consented to a proposal from the alehouse-keepers that +Nelson should be pressed for a soldier—a custom then too horribly +prevalent, as the pressing of sailors was at a much later period; +for as fast as he made converts, they lost customers. He was pressed +accordingly, and taken before the commissioners at Halifax, where the +vicar was one of the bench; and though persons enough attended to speak +to his character, the commissioners said they had heard enough of him +from the minister of his parish, and could hear nothing more. “So, +gentlemen (said Nelson), I see there is neither law nor justice for a +man that is called a Methodist;” and addressing the vicar by his name +he said, “What do you know of me that is evil? Whom have I defrauded, +or where have I contracted a debt that I cannot pay?” “You have no +visible means of getting your living,” was the reply. He<span class="pagenum" id="Page_256">[256]</span> answered, “I +am as able to get my living with my hands as any man of my trade in +England is, and you know it.” But all remonstrances were in vain; he +was marched off to Bradford, and there, by order of the commissioners, +put in the dungeon, where there was not even a stone to sit on.</p> + +<p>John Nelson had as high a spirit and as brave a heart as ever +Englishman was blessed with, and he was encouraged by the good offices +of many zealous friends, and the sympathy of some to whom he was a +stranger. A soldier had offered security for him, and an inhabitant of +Bradford, though an enemy to the Methodists, had, from mere feelings +of humanity, offered to give security for him if he might be allowed +to lie in a bed. His friends brought him candles and meat and water, +which they put through a hole in the door, and they sang hymns till +a late hour in the night—they without and he within. A poor fellow +was with him in this miserable place, who might have been starved, if +Nelson’s friends had not brought food for him also. At four in the +morning his wife, who had profited by her husband’s lessons, came to +the prison-door, and, instead of bewailing for him and herself, said to +him through the keyhole:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Fear not: the cause is God’s for which you are here, and he +will plead it himself: therefore be not concerned about me and +the children, for he that feeds the young ravens will be mindful +of us. He will give you strength for your day, and after we have +suffered awhile he will perfect that which is lacking in our +souls, and then bring us where the wicked cease from troubling +and where the weary are at rest.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Early in the morning he was marched under a guard to Leeds; the other +pressed men were ordered to the alehouse, but he was sent to prison, +and there he thought of the poor pilgrims who were arrested in their +progress; for the people came in crowds and looked at him through the +iron grate; some pitied and others reviled him. The gaoler admitted his +friends to see him, and a bed was sent to him by some compassionate +person, when he must otherwise have slept upon damp straw.</p> + +<p>On the following day he was marched to York:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“We were guarded through the city (he says), but it was as if +hell were removed from beneath to meet at my coming. The streets +and windows were filled with people, who shouted and huzzaed +as if I had been one that had laid waste the nation. But the +Lord made my brow like brass, so that I could look upon them as +grasshoppers, and pass through the city as if there had been +none in it but God and myself.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Lots were cast for him at the guard-house, and when it was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_257">[257]</span> thus +determined which captain should have him, he was offered money, which +he refused to take, and for this they bade the serjeant handcuff him +and send him to prison. The handcuffs were not put on, but he was kept +three days in prison, where he preached to the poor reprobates among +whom he was thrown; and, wretches as they were, ignorant of all that +was good, and abandoned to all that was evil, the intrepidity of the +man who reproved them for their blasphemies, and the sound reason +which appeared amidst all the enthusiasm of his discourse, were not +without effect. Strangers brought him food; his wife also followed him +here, and encouraged him to go on and suffer everything bravely for +conscience sake. On the third day a court-martial was held, and he was +guarded to it by a file of musketeers, with their bayonets fixed. When +the court asked “What is this man’s crime?” the answer was, “This is +the Methodist preacher, and he refuses to take money.” Upon which they +turned to him and said, “Sir, you need not find fault with us, for we +must obey our orders, which are to make you act as a soldier; you are +delivered to us, and if you have not justice done you we cannot help +it.” When Nelson plainly told them he would not fight, because it was +against his way of thinking, and when he again refused the money, which +by their bidding was offered to him, they told him that if he ran away +he would be just as liable to suffer as if he had taken it. He replied, +“If I cannot be discharged lawfully, I shall not run away; if I do, +punish me as you please.” He was then sent to his quarters, where his +arms and accoutrements were brought to him and put on. “Why do you gird +me (said he) with these warlike habiliments? I am a man averse to war, +and shall not fight but under the Prince of Peace, the Captain of my +salvation; the weapons he gives me are not carnal like these.” He must +bear these, they told him, till he could get his discharge. To this he +made answer, that he would bear them as a cross, and use them as far as +he could without defiling his conscience, which he would not do for any +man on earth.</p> + +<p>There was a spirit in all this which, when it had ceased to excite +ridicule from his comrades, obtained respect. He had as good +opportunities of exhorting and preaching as he could desire; he +distributed also the little books which Mr. Wesley had printed to +explain and vindicate the tenets of the Methodists, and was as actively +employed in the cause to which he had devoted himself as if he had been +his own master. At last the ensign of his company sent for him, and, +accosting him with an execration, swore he would have no preaching and +praying in the regiment. “Then, sir (said John), you ought to have +no<span class="pagenum" id="Page_258">[258]</span> swearing nor cursing either, for surely I have as much right to +pray and preach as you have to curse and swear.” Upon this the brutal +ensign swore that he should be flogged for what he had done. “Let God +look to that (was the resolute man’s reply); the cause is his; but if +you do not leave off cursing and swearing, it will be worse with you +than with me.” The ensign then bade the corporal put that fellow into +prison directly; and when the corporal said he must not carry a man +to prison unless he gave in his crime with him, he told him it was +for disobeying orders.<a id="FNanchor_143" href="#Footnote_143" class="fnanchor">[143]</a> To prison, therefore, Nelson was taken, +to his heart’s content, and after eight-and-forty hours’ confinement, +was brought before the major, who asked him what he had been put in +confinement for. “For warning people to flee from the wrath to come (he +replied); and if that be a crime I shall commit it again, unless you +cut my tongue out; for it is better to die than to disobey God.” The +major told him, if that were all, it was no crime; when he had done his +duty he might preach as much as he liked, but he must make no mobs. +And then, wishing that all men were like him, he dismissed him to his +quarters.</p> + +<p>Lady Huntingdon exerted all her influence to obtain his discharge. +By means of her acquaintance with Judith, Dowager Countess of +Sunderland,<a id="FNanchor_144" href="#Footnote_144" class="fnanchor">[144]</a> she obtained an interview with her step-son, Charles, +fourth Earl of Sunderland, afterwards Duke of Marlborough, who had a +short time before been promoted to the rank of brigadier-general of +his Majesty’s forces. On a faithful representation of the case, his +Lordship assured Lady Huntingdon that those for whom she had interested +herself should be set at liberty in a few days. This intelligence was +communicated to Nelson by Mr. Charles Wesley, while her Ladyship wrote +to inform Mr. Ingham, who had taken an active part in procuring his +enlargement, of the success of her application.</p> + +<p>On the 28th of July, John Nelson was set at liberty, and the day after +his release from captivity he preached at Newcastle. His companion, +Thomas Beard, who had been pressed for the same reason, would probably +have been discharged also, but the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_259">[259]</span> consequences of his cruel and +illegal impressment had cost him his life. He was seized with a +fever, the effect of fatigue and agitation of mind; after venesection +ill-performed, the lancet wound in his arm festered and mortified—the +limb was amputated, and he died soon after the amputation.</p> + +<p>For a few years during Lord Huntingdon’s life, Ledstone Hall was +visited every summer, and on these occasions there was always frequent +preaching at the church. Mr. Ingham’s societies increased rapidly, +and spread not only through all parts of Yorkshire, but also into +Lancashire, Lincolnshire, and Cheshire. General meetings of the +preachers and exhorters in the Connexion were held frequently, and +plans were formed for the better regulation of the societies, and a +more general diffusion of divine truth in places that had not been +visited before. Lady Huntingdon and Lady Margaret Ingham attended +several of these meetings. The assemblies were exceedingly numerous, +and there was always preaching in the open air. Mr. Grimshaw invariably +attended these meetings, and always preached, never troubling himself +to ask the consent of the minister of the parish, or caring whether he +liked it not. The providence of God favoured him in these attempts; +for though unsupported by great patronage, and unsolicitous to obtain +it, and though he went far beyond all his contemporaries in this +novel, and, to some, offensive method, by which envy, jealousy, and +displeasure were excited against him; yet he was not restrained, nor +have we heard that he met with any serious or determined marks of +disapprobation from his superiors in the Church. It is most probable +they imagined him so determined, intrepid, and undaunted, that it would +be a vain task to attempt to restrain or oppose him in his career. But +he sometimes met with opposition from those who hated to be reformed. +He was once disturbed by a set of rioters, when preaching at Colne, +in Lancashire, to which place he was accompanied by Mr. Ingham and +Mr. Batty, both of whom had been there several times, and had been +successful in establishing a small society.</p> + +<p>After they had commenced the meeting with singing a hymn, the Rev. +George White, the vicar of Colne and Marsden, rushed furiously into +the house with a staff in his hand, attended by the constable and a +mob collected from the lowest and most depraved people of the town. +Mr. White sprang towards Mr. Batty, with intent to strike him, which +Mr. Ingham perceiving, pulled him on one side, and retired into an +adjoining room. The vicar and constable threatened the master of +the house with the stocks, and attempted to take him away by force; +but upon his demanding of the constable his authority for acting +in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_260">[260]</span> this manner, they desisted, but succeeded in driving the people +away. They then insisted that Mr. Ingham and Mr. Grimshaw should sign +a paper, promising not to preach in Colne parish during one whole +year, under the penalty of fifty pounds. The refusing to comply with +so unreasonable a demand, and remonstrating against such scandalous +and disgraceful proceedings on the part of a clergyman, the mob was +ordered by the vicar, whom they styled “Captain-General,” to lead +their prisoners towards Colne, and on the way they beat and abused +every friend who attempted to speak to them. Several times the mob +proposed that Mr. Grimshaw and Mr. Ingham should sign the paper not +to preach for six months, then two, and lastly, if they would promise +upon their word and honour, they should be set at liberty. But when it +was understood that Mr. Grimshaw, Mr. Ingham, and Mr. Batty refused to +comply with any terms, they were violently dragged along the road, the +mob flourishing their clubs over their heads, menacing and annoying. +They were pelted with mud and dirt, and Mr. Ingham’s coat was torn, and +hanging on the ground; thus they were conducted to the Swan Inn, to +remain there till dismissed at Mr. White’s pleasure.</p> + +<p>On another occasion Mr. Wesley accompanied Mr. Grimshaw to Roughlee, +where they were joined by Mr. Batty and Mr. Colbeck, two of Mr. +Ingham’s preachers. Mr. Wesley preached, but before he had got half +through his discourse a great mob from Colne came pouring down the +hill like a torrent. After exchanging a few words with their captain, +who, stated that he was a deputy-constable, to prevent any contest, +Mr. Wesley, Mr. Grimshaw, Mr. Batty, and Mr. Colbeck, went with him +to Barrowford, about two miles distant, as he required. They were +escorted there by a drunken rabble, armed with clubs and staves, who +behaved in a very troublesome and riotous manner, and uttered oaths and +imprecations the entire time. On being brought before the magistrate, +he demanded a promise from Mr. Wesley and his friends that they would +preach no more at Roughlee, but this Mr. Wesley stoutly refused. When +Mr. Wesley attempted to leave the house the mob immediately followed +and beat him to the ground. Mr. Grimshaw, in attempting to make his +escape, was tossed to and fro with the utmost violence, and covered +with dirt and mire of every sort. Those who accompanied them were not +allowed to depart without the most savage treatment: they were made to +run for their lives, amidst showers of stones and dirt, without any +regard to age or sex. Some were trampled in the mire, others dragged +by the hair along the road, and many beaten with clubs without<span class="pagenum" id="Page_261">[261]</span> mercy. +One man was forced to leap from a rock ten or twelve feet high into +the river, and when he crawled out, wet and bruised, they threw him in +again, so that he scarcely escaped with his life, but died soon after +from the effects of such ill-treatment.</p> + +<p>Whenever the vicar of Colne heard of the arrival of any of the +Methodists in his neighbourhood, it was his usual practice to call the +people together by beat of drum, issue a proclamation at the market +cross, and enlist a mob for the defence of the Church against the +incursions of the Methodists. The following proclamation, a curiosity +of its sort, is transcribed from the voluminous private journals of Mr. +Ingham and Mr. Batty, in their handwriting—journals which contain a +mass of information relative to the spread of religion in the north of +England, of the deepest interest:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Notice is hereby given, that if any man be mindful to enlist in +his Majesty’s service, under the command of the Rev. Mr. George +White, Commander-in-Chief, and John Bannister, Lieut.-General, +of his Majesty’s forces for the defence of the Church of +England, and the support of the manufactory in and about Colne, +both which are now in danger, let him repair to the drum-head +at the Cross, where each man shall receive a pint of ale in +advance, and all other proper encouragements.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Such was the conduct of the then vicar of Colne.<a id="FNanchor_145" href="#Footnote_145" class="fnanchor">[145]</a></p> + +<p>Several new societies were formed in Yorkshire, and some changes were +made in their discipline. On the admission of a member into their +societies he received a ticket, which gave him admission to their +meetings, which were very numerous, consisting of general meetings, +love-feasts, choir-meetings of men, and choir-meetings of women, &c. +&c. Stewards were also appointed, and the societies were constantly +visited by the itinerant preachers, who were a kind of general rulers +or elders.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_262">[262]</span> Yorkshire, Westmoreland, Cumberland, and Lancashire, with +parts of Cheshire, Derbyshire, and Lincolnshire, were included in their +circuit.</p> + +<p>Count Zinzendorff assisted in these regulations, as did his son-in-law, +Joannes de Watteville,<a id="FNanchor_146" href="#Footnote_146" class="fnanchor">[146]</a> a bishop of the Moravian Church. This good +man had been married the preceding year to Henrietta-Benigna-Justina, +eldest daughter of Count Zinzendorff, and after a short visit to the +congregations of the Brethren in England, was to proceed to America. +Lady Margaret Ingham was particularly pleased with the missionary +spirit displayed by the Bishop’s consort, who had accompanied her +father to America in 1741, and was now again about to visit that +continent, full of zeal for the cause of God.</p> + +<p>Count Zinzendorff had come to England to watch the cause of the +Moravians in Parliament, and to arrange the affairs of his Church, +by appointing Dr. Wilson, Bishop of Sodor and Man, to succeed Dr. +Cochins, Dean of the King of Prussia’s Chapel, in its administration. +On a subsequent visit the Count was accompanied by the Countess of +Zinzendorff, Count Reuss, and Agnes-Sophia, Countess of Promnitz. On +their way to Yorkshire they had spent a few days with Lady Huntingdon, +at Donnington Park, and were delighted and edified by the piety and +zeal of the Countess and the Ladies Hastings. The Countess Zinzendorff, +whose maiden name was Erdmurth-Dorothea, Countess Reuss, was a woman +eminently devoted to God, and much esteemed by Lady Huntingdon and Lady +Margaret Ingham. Whilst they remained with Mr. Ingham, the negotiation +between him and the Count, concerning the premises on which the +congregation place is built, was concluded. Mr. Ingham accompanied them +in their visits to the congregations at Pudsey, Gomersal, Mirfield, +Wyke, and Dukenfield, in Cheshire, and preached very frequently to +large congregations in the Brethren’s chapels. On their return to +London, a Provincial Synod was held at Lindsey House, Chelsea, at +which the Rev. John Gambold, rector of Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire, +a man greatly esteemed for his piety and learning, and Mr. Ingham’s +contemporary and companion at Oxford, was consecrated a Bishop of the +Church of the Brethren.</p> + +<p>Much about the same time, the Rev. John Cennick arrived in Yorkshire, +to assist Mr. Ingham in the great work in which he was engaged. This +good man, whose grandfather had been a Bohemian refugee, had been +preaching for Mr. Whitefield in and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_263">[263]</span> about Bristol, especially to the +colliers of Kingswood, and also in Wiltshire, with much blessing, and +endured much persecution in many places, especially at Exeter. After +preaching a considerable time amongst Mr. Ingham’s societies, and +those formed by the united Brethren in Yorkshire and Bedfordshire, he +went over to Germany for a short time, and after his return received +a pressing invitation to visit Ireland, and try to diffuse in that +benighted country the light of the Sun of Righteousness.</p> + +<p>No name of professing Protestants in our day has displayed more +fervent zeal for the characteristic principles of Christianity than +the Moravian Brethren. With peculiarities, perhaps, in some respects +exceptionable, yet admitting no such impure ideas as imputed to them +by a Warburton, a Lavington, and the translator of Mosheim, the more +the principles of the Brethren are truly known, and the more intimately +their lives are scrutinized, the more will they be acknowledged among +the few faithful who follow the <i>Lamb</i> in the regeneration. +On their first introduction into England they were led into many +rhapsodies and startling singularities of sentiment and ceremony. Time, +happily, has so pruned the wild luxuriance and the worldly policy of +Moravianism, that it is almost impossible to believe now that Molther +ever taught the doctrines, or Nitschman ever sung the hymns, or +Zinzendorff ever sanctioned the practices in London which Whitefield +and Wesley exposed. Their conduct in many instances did them no credit. +They first alarmed, and then alienated both Watts and Doddridge, as +well as Whitefield and Wesley. Lady Huntingdon seems to have kept +herself more aloof from any connexion with them, and to have early +discovered some of their perilous errors. Charles Wesley was saved +by her means, when she induced him to withdraw from the society in +Fetter-lane; and Mr. Ingham was eventually rescued by the influence she +had over him.</p> +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_264">[264]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hangingindent">Mr. Whitefield returns to England—Writes to Mr. Ingham—Visits +Yorkshire—Lady Huntingdon in Yorkshire—Extraordinary +occurrence—Mr. Graves—Mr. Milner—Mr. Grimshaw—Conference +at Leeds—Mr. Ingham chosen General Overseer—Mr. Charles +Wesley—Mr. Whitefield at Haworth—Inghamite Churches—Church +Discipline—Inghamite Preachers—Mr. Newton visits +Yorkshire—His Letter to Mr. Wesley—Anecdote of his +preaching at Leeds—Mr. Romaine—His Opinion of the Inghamite +Churches—Lady Huntingdon at Aberford—Mr. Romaine preaches +in Mr. Ingham’s Chapels—Mr. George Burder—Mr. Romaine at +Haworth—Mr. Grimshaw—Sandeman’s Letters—Church Government.</p> +</div> + + +<p>Early in the month of July, 1748, Mr. Whitefield arrived in England, +after an absence of nearly four years. Lady Huntingdon had apprized +Lady Margaret Ingham of his return, and the joy that pervaded vast +numbers of persons in the metropolis at seeing him once more among +them. Mr. Ingham wrote to his old and endeared friend, and soon after +received an affectionate reply from the great and good man, who was now +actively engaged in preaching publicly and “privately to those that +were of reputation,” at Lady Huntingdon’s house. From this letter we +make an extract:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“As for me, I am a poor, worthless pilgrim, and thought +long ere now to be with Him who has loved and given himself +for me. But it seems I am not yet to die, but live. O that +it may be to declare the work of the Lord! I think this is +the <i>thirteenth</i> province I have been in within this +<i>twelvemonth</i>; in each of these our Lord has been pleased +to set his seal to my unworthy ministry. I came from Bermudas +last, where I left many souls seeking after Jesus of Nazareth. +In London, Bristol, Gloucester, and Wales, the glorious +Immanuel, since my arrival, has appeared to his people. In +about a fortnight I purpose leaving town again, in order to go +a circuit of about five hundred miles. I need not tell you how +glad I shall be, whenever opportunity offers, to see you face to +face. In the meanwhile let us correspond by letter. May Jesus +bless it to us both! I return cordial respects to Lady Margaret. +I pray the Lord to bless her and her little nursery. For the +present, Adieu.”</p> +</div> + +<p>The year following Mr. Whitefield visited Yorkshire. Mr. Ingham and +Mr. Batty accompanied him through the country, and occasionally +preached with him. At Leeds, Mr. Charles Wesley announced him from +the pulpit, and afterwards introduced him to the pulpit at Newcastle. +Having preached about thirty times in Yorkshire, he accompanied Mr. +Ingham into<span class="pagenum" id="Page_265">[265]</span> Cheshire and Lancashire, where he was attended by amazing +multitudes. At Manchester they were gratified by meeting Mrs. Colonel +Galatin.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I conversed (he says) for about two hours with the Captain and +some other officers upon the nature and necessity of the new +birth. He was affected, and I hope it was blessed. Since I left +them I have preached to many thousands in Rosindale, Aywood, +and Halifax, at Birstal, Pudsey, and Armley, and have had three +precious seasons here. Congregations are exceedingly large +indeed, and both the Established and Dissenting clergy are very +angry. They thundered, I hear, yesterday heartily. But truth +is great and will prevail, though preached in the fields and +streets.”</p> +</div> + +<p>On some of these visits in Yorkshire he was accompanied by Lady +Huntingdon, who delighted in such scenes as she frequently witnessed, +both in this county and in Gloucestershire. “This (said her Ladyship) +the world calls enthusiasm, but I call it the work of God.”<a id="FNanchor_147" href="#Footnote_147" class="fnanchor">[147]</a></p> + +<p>At one of these assemblies, when Mr. Whitefield mounted the temporary +scaffold to address the thousands spread before him, he was observed +to engage in secret prayer for a few seconds. Then casting a look over +the multitude, elevated his hands, and in an energetic manner implored +the divine blessing and presence. With a solemnity peculiarly his own, +he announced his text—“<i>It is appointed unto men once to die, and +after death the judgment</i>.” 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 besought the people to remain +still. Mr. Grimshaw hurried to the spot, and in a few minutes was seen +pressing through the crowd towards the place where Mr. Whitefield +stood. “Brother Whitefield (said he, with that energy which manifested +in the strongest manner the intensity of his feelings, and the ardour +of his concern for the salvation of sinners), you stand amongst 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 people. After +the lapse of a few moments, Mr. Whitefield again<span class="pagenum" id="Page_266">[266]</span> announced his text. +Again a loud and piercing shriek proceeded from the spot where Lady +Huntingdon and Lady Margaret Ingham were standing. A shrill of horror +seemed to spread itself over the multitude when it was understood that +a <i>second</i> person had fallen a victim to the king of terrors. +When the consternation had somewhat subsided, Mr. Whitefield gave +indications of his intention 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 +stillness of death, spread itself over the assembly, as he proceeded +in a strain of tremendous eloquence to warn the careless, Christless +sinner, to flee from the wrath to come.</p> + +<p>In allusion to this journey, Mr. Charles Wesley bears a very singular +and striking testimony to the candour and liberality of Mr. Whitefield. +He had struggled hard to reconcile Mr. Bennett to the Wesleys, and +at Chinley and Bolton tried all the gentle arts of the peace-maker, +showing how easy it was for those who had a great and common end to +agree to differ on minor points.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“At Manchester (says Mr. C. Wesley) I rejoice to see the great +good Mr. Whitefield has done in our societies. He preached as +universally as my brother. He warned them everywhere against +apostasy, and insisted on the necessity of holiness after +justification. He beat down the separating spirit—highly +commending the prayers and services of our Church—charged our +people to meet their bands and classes constantly, and never to +leave the Methodists, or God would leave them. In a word, he did +his utmost to strengthen our hands, and he deserves the thanks +of all the Church for his abundant love.”</p> +</div> + +<p>After itinerating through Lancashire, Mr. Whitefield, Mr. Grimshaw, Mr. +Ingham, and Mr. Milner proceeded to Manchester, Stockport, and Chinley, +where one of the separations above alluded to had taken place, and +where, as at Bolton, Mr. Whitefield endeavoured to heal the breach. +His heavenly frame of mind in this journey is no less remarkable +than his physical strength, which must have been renewed like that +of the eagle; and the list of places and dates at which he preached +would lead us to imagine that he must have possessed also the eagle’s +wings. He would stop at Rotherham, however, because the insults he had +formerly received there had tempted him to return no more. Then he +thought no good was done. Now he found the chief family of his “bitter +persecutors” (the Thorpes)<a id="FNanchor_148" href="#Footnote_148" class="fnanchor">[148]</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_267">[267]</span> converted to God, and ready to welcome +him under their roof. Mr. Charles Wesley, who was then in Yorkshire, +met Mr. Grimshaw at Seacroft, and they proceeded together to Leeds, +where, he says, “I found my brother Whitefield, and was much refreshed +by the account of his abundant labours. I waited on him to our room, +and gladly sat under his word.” From Leeds he went to Birstal, “where +my congregation (says he) was a thousand or two less, through George +Whitefield’s preaching to-day at Haworth. Between four and five +thousand were left to receive my warning from Luke xxi. 34. After +church service we met again; every soul seemed to hang on the word. Two +such precious opportunities I have not enjoyed this many a day. It was +the old time revived. A weighty spirit rested on the congregation, and +they stood like men prepared to meet the Lord.”</p> + +<p>At Leeds, Mr. Whitefield addressed an assembly of at least twenty +thousand. Even York could not withstand the fascination of his +field-preaching; there the Methodists thinned out the minister and +overawed the mob. At Bradford, no place of worship being large enough +to contain the crowd of hearers, he preached in a large open space near +the water-side.<a id="FNanchor_149" href="#Footnote_149" class="fnanchor">[149]</a></p> + +<p>At Birstal a platform was erected at the foot of a hill adjoining +the town, whence Mr. Whitefield addressed a concourse of not fewer +than twenty thousand, who were ranged before him on the declivity of +a hill, in the form of an amphitheatre. At Haworth a temporary booth +was erected in a field, near the house of Mr. Grimshaw’s son, for +Mr. Whitefield and the other ministers. Not only the field, but the +woodland above it, were covered with crowds collected from different +parts. An unusual solemnity pervaded this vast multitude, and at the +close of the service the 100th psalm was sung, and concluded with Mr. +Grimshaw’s favourite doxology—</p> + + <div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div>“Praise God, from whom all blessings flow,” &c.</div> + </div> + </div> + </div> + +<p>The volume of sound produced by the united voices of thousands, while +it re-echoed through the vale below, is said to have had such an effect +as no language can describe.</p> + +<p>In May 1755, Mr. Ingham summoned several of his preachers<a id="FNanchor_150" href="#Footnote_150" class="fnanchor">[150]</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_268">[268]</span> to meet +him at Leeds, in order to attend the Methodist Conference, which was +then sitting. Mr. Wesley admitted Mr. Ingham, but Mr. Batty, Mr. Allen, +and the other preachers were excluded—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“The point (says Mr. Wesley) on which we desired all the +preachers to speak their minds at large was, whether we ought to +separate from the Church? Whatever was advanced on the one side +or the other was seriously and calmly considered; and on the +third day we were all fully agreed in that general conclusion, +that, whether it was <i>lawful</i> or not, it was no ways +<i>expedient</i>.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Some time after the Conference at Leeds, Mr. Ingham went to +Derbyshire and Lincolnshire, and from thence to Ashby, on a visit +to Lady Huntingdon.<a id="FNanchor_151" href="#Footnote_151" class="fnanchor">[151]</a> During his stay he preached frequently +at her Ladyship’s and in the neighbourhood, to very numerous +congregations. On his return to Yorkshire he was accompanied by her +Ladyship, who remained some time, and visited most of the societies +in the neighbourhood. Whilst she was in Yorkshire a general meeting +was held at Winewall. At this Conference it was agreed among the +preachers—<i>first</i>, that justification consists in the forgiveness +of sins, and an imputation of Christ’s righteousness, and that the +instrumental cause of this is faith in Christ; <i>secondly</i>, +that sanctification consists not in holy actions, but in the divine +life, new heart and spirit, which are given by Jesus Christ at our +justification; and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_269">[269]</span> love, joy, and peace, and all the graces or fruits +of the Spirit; and <i>lastly</i>, that all good works spring from +this, as fruit from a tree. At this meeting several matters relating +to Church government were discussed. And it being also agreed that +there should be a <i>general overseer</i> chosen and appointed by the +preachers and with consent of the societies, Mr. Ingham was set apart +to the office; who then proceeded to the dedication of Mr. Batty and +Mr. Allen as his fellow-helpers. They severally gave an account to the +congregation of their conversion and call to the ministry, and being +examined respecting the doctrines they had preached and intended to +preach in future, were solemnly ordained by the laying on of hands and +prayer of the general overseer.</p> + +<p>From this period, Lady Huntingdon used to call Mr. Ingham <i>a +Bishop</i>. She was, however, far from approving many of the rules and +regulations which had been adopted by the Conference on the subject +of Church government and discipline; and, whilst she was at Aberford, +conferred with Mr. Ingham for effecting a more perfect union, by +accommodating matters with Mr. Wesley. At this juncture Mr. Whitefield +again visited Yorkshire, and accompanied Mr. Ingham to Mr. Grimshaw’s, +where the subject of attempting a reconciliation with the Methodists +was renewed. Mr. Whitefield thereupon proceeded to Newcastle-upon-Tyne, +where he met Messrs. John and Charles Wesley, and was commissioned by +Mr. Ingham to offer them his house at Aberford, for the purpose of +discussing the subject; to which proposal Mr. Charles Wesley readily +assented, but his brother as decidedly objected. Mr. Ingham’s views +at that time were very different from Mr. Wesley’s, and, becoming +gradually more clear and scriptural, the line of separation became +still more marked and more distinct; so that, from that time forth, no +further steps were taken to effect a union with the Methodist body.</p> + +<p>Most of the preachers who were raised up to assist Mr. Ingham, +like their predecessors, the first ministers of the Gospel, were +<i>plain</i> men, called of God from their different secular vocations +to take upon them this office and ministry. Edmonson, Hunter, and +Brogden had passed the early part of their lives in the army: having +been brought to a knowledge of the Gospel through the instrumentality +of Mr. Ingham and those who laboured with him, they soon became +active, zealous, and intrepid soldiers of the cross, and, under the +great Captain of Salvation, wielded the sword of the Spirit with +extraordinary decision against the prince of the powers of darkness. +Hunter<span class="pagenum" id="Page_270">[270]</span> was the instrument of laying the foundation of a congregation +at Kirby Lonsdale, to which place he invited Mr. Ingham, Mr. Batty, +and Mr. Allen, all of whom preached there under much persecution and +opposition from Mr. Croft, minister of the parish, and Mr. Cock, +minister of Tunstal. Brogden was pressed for a soldier, having obtained +his discharge from the army many years before, while preaching in a +licensed house at Kirby Stephen, in Westmoreland. After remaining +in prison for some days, he was removed to Newcastle, where he was +confined <i>four</i> months, at the expiration of which time he was +discharged, through the interest of Lady Huntingdon. It was not very +long since he died, having attained the age of one hundred years.</p> + +<p>The Messrs. Allen, Batty, Edwards of Leeds, and Bennet of Chinley, had +received a liberal education. Others succeeded them: the Rev. James +Hartley and the Rev. Richard Smith, both of whom had been awakened +under Mr. Grimshaw’s preaching, became pastors of Baptist congregations +in Yorkshire; the Rev. James Crossley, also one of the fruits of Mr. +Grimshaw’s labours, minister of an Independent Church at Bradford; with +Mr. Molesworth, of Thornhill, and Mr. Fleetwood Churchill, gentlemen +descended from noble families, and moving in the upper walks of +life—all these laboured with Mr. Ingham, and most of them suffered +great persecution for the word of God and the testimony which they +held; but they were enabled to be faithful, and they “endured as seeing +Him who is invisible.”</p> + +<p>The late Mr. Newton, also, occasionally laboured amongst Mr. Ingham’s +societies, preached in his chapels, and attended several of the general +meetings. He was a good deal in Yorkshire prior to his obtaining +ordination in the Established Church, and always preached for Mr. +Grimshaw and Mr. Ingham. In a letter to Mr. Wesley, dated November 14, +1760, Mr. Newton says:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I forgot to tell you in my last that I had the honour to +appear as a Methodist preacher. I was at Haworth—-Mr. Grimshaw +was pressing, and prevailed. I spoke in his house to about +one hundred and fifty persons—a difficult auditory, in my +circumstances, about half Methodists and half Baptists. I was +afraid of displeasing both sides; but my text (John i. 29) led +me to dwell upon a point in which we were all agreed, and before +I had leisure to meddle with doctrines, as they are called, the +hour was expired. In short, it was a comfortable opportunity.</p> + +<p>“Methinks, here again, you are ready to say, Very well; why not +go on in the same way? What more encouragement can you ask, +than<span class="pagenum" id="Page_271">[271]</span> to be assisted and accepted? But, however it may do for a +time or so, I have not strength of body or mind sufficient for +an itinerant preacher; my constitution has been broken for some +years. To ride a horse in the rain, or more than above thirty +miles in a day, usually discomposes and unfits me for anything; +then you must allow me to pay some regard to flesh and blood, +though I would not consult them. I have a maintenance now in my +hands, the gift of a kind Providence, and I do not see that I +have a call to involve myself, and a person who has entrusted +all her concerns to me (and must share in whatever I feel), in +want and difficulties. I have likewise an orphan sister, for +whom it is my duty to provide; consequently it cannot be my duty +to disable myself from fulfilling what I owe her. And still the +weightiest difficulty remains; too many of the preachers are +very different from Mr. Grimshaw; and who would wish to live in +the fire? So that, though I love the people called Methodists, +and vindicate them from unjust aspersions upon all occasions, +and suffer the reproach of the world for being one myself, yet +it seems not practicable for me to join them further than I +do. For the present I must remain as I am, and endeavour to be +as useful as I can in private life, till I can see further. I +shall always be obliged to you for your free sentiments on my +case.”<a id="FNanchor_152" href="#Footnote_152" class="fnanchor">[152]</a></p> +</div> + +<p>About this period Mr. Romaine began to make frequent excursions to +the north of England. His father was a refugee, one of the victims +of the edict of Nantes. He settled in Hartlepool, in the county of +Durham, as a merchant, and became a member of the corporation, which +is a very ancient one. After his death, in 1757, his surviving widow +and one unmarried daughter continued the business, much respected and +beloved. One of his sisters married a Mr. Callendar, of Newcastle; the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_272">[272]</span> +other, a clergyman of the name of Heslup; and after they became serious +characters his visits to the north were more frequent than they had +previously been. Speaking of his family he used to say, “Mr. Whitefield +often put me in mind how singularly favoured I was. He had none of +his family converted; and my father and mother, and three sisters, +were like those blessed people—and Jesus loved Martha and her sister, +and Lazarus; and as they loved him again, so do we.” In a letter to +his sister, dated the year after his father’s decease, he says—“In +a little time I hope to be able to get all my churches provided for, +and then I shall inform you when I shall set out for the north. I have +had sad troubles with the new Vicar of St. Dunstan’s. He will let none +preach for me without a license, which puts me to great inconvenience; +but all is governed by One who knows what is best, for his own glory +and his people’s good.”</p> + +<p>On the occasion of each of these visits to Yorkshire, Mr. Romaine, +as chaplain to Lady Huntingdon, was received by Mr. Ingham and Lady +Margaret with every mark of respect and polite attention. Mr. Romaine +was nearly of the same age and standing as Mr. Ingham; but, though +contemporaries at Oxford, they had been by no means companions; +for, while there, he had studiously avoided all connection with Mr. +Whitefield, Mr. Ingham, the Wesleys, Mr. Hervey, and others, the great +revivers of serious and heartfelt religion, who then began to associate +together, and to be noted for a variety of particular observances +and devotional exercises, which gained them the name of Methodists. +Engrossed with the eager pursuits of literature, united with a set of +scholars who began to be called Hutchinsonians, and having imbibed with +them all their high-church principles, he felt no relish for men of a +spirituality of temper which he had not yet learned to cultivate, and +from whose reproach, as Methodists, he naturally kept aloof.</p> + +<p>During the vacations, when St. Dunstan’s was shut against him, he +constantly travelled about for Lady Huntingdon, preaching everywhere +the doctrine of the kingdom. Nowhere was he more warmly received than +at Aberford. We cannot refrain from noting the cordial remembrance +and regard he bears to his “dear brother Ingham,” whose chapels +he constantly attended, whose friendship he cultivated, and whose +ministry he so highly esteemed. Lady Margaret was a woman of superior +attainments, and he was attached to her in the best of bonds. At +a period when his poor stipend was wholly inadequate to provide +subsistence for his family, his necessities were often liberally<span class="pagenum" id="Page_273">[273]</span> +supplied by her bounty. Mr. Ingham sometimes accompanied him in his +preaching excursions into several parts of the county of Durham; Mr. +Romaine preaching wherever he obtained a church, and Mr. Ingham in the +Methodist chapels and private houses. During these visits to Yorkshire, +Mr. Romaine had many opportunities of conversing with Mr. Batty and +Mr. Allen, and other preachers amongst the Inghamites; occasionally +preached in some of the chapels, and attended several of their meetings +for the regulation of the order and discipline of the churches. That +he entertained a very high opinion of the work carried on by Mr. +Ingham and those who laboured with him is evident from the following +circumstance:—The late respected Mr. Burder was in company with Mr. +Romaine, about the year 1780, at the house of the late D. Parker, Esq., +in the King’s Mews, when the conversation turned upon the congregations +and societies in Yorkshire and Lancashire raised by the labours of Mr. +Ingham and his faithful associates, and among the scattered remnants of +which Mr. Burder occasionally preached while he resided at Lancaster. +Mr. Romaine took up the subject with warmth, and, referring to that +period in which the Gospel gloriously prevailed in Mr. Ingham’s +Connexion (this, by the way, was also the period in which Mr. Romaine +experienced such hostility in London), he said: “If ever there was a +Church of Christ upon earth, that was one. I paid them a visit, and +had a great mind to join them. There was a blessed work of God among +that people, till that horrid blast from the north came upon them and +destroyed all!”</p> + +<p>In September, 1760, Lady Huntingdon and Mr. Romaine arrived at +Aberford, on a visit to Mr. Ingham and Lady Margaret, and were present +at the general meeting of the ministers and members of the societies, +held at Wheatley, on the 27th of that month, when the choice of Church +officers was determined by lot.<a id="FNanchor_153" href="#Footnote_153" class="fnanchor">[153]</a></p> + +<p>At the conclusion of this meeting, Mr. Ingham, Lady Margaret, Lady +Huntingdon, and Mr. Romaine visited several of the societies in +Yorkshire and Lancashire, Messrs. Ingham and Romaine preaching +alternately, almost every day, in some of the chapels. At Thinoaks, +where they remained several days, there was a large assemblage of +people, and two elders were ordained. It was agreed by Mr. Ingham +and the preachers, at this meeting,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_274">[274]</span> to recommend to the different +societies in the Connexion to make collections every Sabbath-day; and +the following circular notice was sent to all the Churches:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Dear Brethren—Being mindful of the words of the Apostle +Paul, we have determined to recommend to our societies to have +voluntary collections on the first day of the week, to defray +all expenses relative to the preachers, meetings, &c. &c. &c. +Farewell!”</p> +</div> + +<p>On the return of Mr. Ingham and his party to Aberford they were joined +by Mr. Grimshaw. Mr. Romaine engaged to preach at Haworth, and there +was a very numerous assemblage. The prayers were read in the church by +Mr. Grimshaw, who then announced to the congregation that “his brother +Romaine would preach the glorious Gospel from brother Whitefield’s +pulpit in the churchyard.” Mr. Romaine, who was averse to open air +preaching, complied in this instance, and preached most powerfully.</p> + +<p>In the year 1759, Mr. Ingham first read a part of “Sandeman’s Letters +on Theron and Aspasio,” and Glas’s “Testimony of the King of Martyrs,” +and at his request Mr. Batty and Mr. Allen undertook a journey into +Scotland <i>privately</i>, for the purpose of acquiring more distinct +information. At Edinburgh they were introduced to Mr. Sandeman; at +Dundee they met Mr. Glas, and returned with the Sandemanian principles +and practice, when several warm debates took place amongst the members +of Mr. Ingham’s societies respecting the nature of a <i>true</i> +Church, of which we have not a more liberal and genuine definition than +is given in one of the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England. +The Church is “a society of faithful people, where the word of God +is truly preached, and the sacraments duly administered.” Let bigots +dispute about modes and forms. If we belong to the best aggregate +society originally, into which corruption of principle and practice has +entered so as to infect the teacher, our duty is to quit such a teacher +and the society which maintains communion with him, and to seek the +fundamentals of a true Church wherever they may be found, and to join +with that in which, according to the best of our knowledge, the word +of God is preached in the greatest purity, and adorned in the practice +of the bishop, presbyter, or pastor, with his congregation, in the +greatest spirituality.</p> + +<p>The societies in connexion with Mr. Ingham might be considered +Baxterians in sentiment, and liberal in their connexion with all good +men, until these fiery disciplinarians taught them to believe the +congregation plan unscriptural, and to laugh at their former views +of experience. Mr. Allen made the first<span class="pagenum" id="Page_275">[275]</span> breach. He expressed his +dissatisfaction with the use of the lot, objected to the choice of +elders, and became jealous of the authority which Mr. Ingham exercised +over the people. But Mr. Ingham, being determined to proceed with the +validity of his commission as general overseer, and the authority +of the lot, wished the dissatisfied to withdraw. Frequent attempts +were made towards a reconciliation between the two parties: Lady +Huntingdon wrote, Mr. Romaine visited Yorkshire, Mr. Whitefield prayed +and wept—but all proved ineffectual. This was a severe trial to Mr. +Ingham, which he never after recovered. Disputes without end arose, +excommunication upon excommunication followed, they condemned one +another for hair-breadth differences, and were thus split, like a +wrecked ship, into a thousand pieces. Out of upwards of <i>eighty</i> +flourishing Churches only thirteen remained!</p> + +<p>He who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks has seen +fit to withdraw his light from those Churches, who were contending +so earnestly, not for the faith, but for forms, and ceremonies, +and matters non-essential. The true Church is <i>Catholic</i>, or +universal: not monopolized by any one body of professing Christians, +but essentially a <i>spiritual Church</i>. The Scriptures everywhere +afford abundant proof of how little importance the outward forms and +administrations in the Church are, compared with holding the Head, +Christ, and believing the glory of his person and sacrifice.</p> + +<p>The claims of mutual forbearance are infinitely stronger than +the pretensions of any <i>exclusive Church</i>; the <i>outward +administration</i> of Church order must be a much less important +concern than all the various denominations have supposed, and the +inward blessings enjoyed in the conscience constitute the essence, +and fill the volume of the sacred records. Every believer in Jesus, +who is a partaker of the grace of God in truth, is a member of the +true Church, to whatever particular denomination of Christians he may +belong: and popes, bishops, presbyters, pastors, or deacons, without +this, are but the limbs of Antichrist, of the synagogue of Satan, and +can belong to no Church acknowledged by the Great Shepherd and Bishop +of Souls.</p> +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_276">[276]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hangingindent">Mr. Venn removed to Huddersfield—Mr. Burnett—Lord +Dartmouth—Dr. Conyers—Visitation Sermon—Mr. Thornton—Lady +Huntingdon visits Yorkshire—Mr. Romaine—Mr. Wesley—Mr. +Madan—Letters from Dr. Conyers to Lady Huntingdon—Letter from +Mr. Venn—Mr. Titus Knight—Letter from Mr. Grimshaw—Death +of Mr. Grimshaw—Letter from Mr. Venn—Letter from Dr. +Conyers—Letter from Mr. Fletcher—Lady Huntingdon, with Messrs. +Townsend and Fletcher, visits Huddersfield—Illness of Lady +Huntingdon—Mr. Whitefield in Yorkshire—William Shent—Mr. +Venn’s irregularities—Mrs. Hannah More—Defence of Mr. +Venn—Letter from Mr. Fletcher—Mrs. Deane—Lady Irvine—Mr. +Occum, the Indian Preacher—Captain Scott—The London +Shunamite—Mr. Wilson.</p> +</div> + + +<p>In 1759, Mr. Venn left the scene of his labours, to the great grief +of his pious friend, Dr. Haweis, and, urged by the necessities of his +family, accepted from Sir John Ramsden, at the solicitation of the Earl +of Dartmouth, the large and valuable living of Huddersfield. He found +his parish in worse than Egyptian darkness; but he prophesied over +the dry bones, and a wonderful rising followed. He was the means of +introducing many valuable clergymen into his parish and neighbourhood, +among whom may be mentioned the late Mr. Burnett,<a id="FNanchor_154" href="#Footnote_154" class="fnanchor">[154]</a> Mr. Powly, Mr. +Wilson, and Mr. Ryland, who were successively curates in his parish, +though most of them afterwards removed to other important situations.</p> + +<p>Mr. Venn might be called the Apostle of the district. On the Sunday he +would often address the congregation from the desk, briefly explaining +and enforcing the Psalms and the Lessons. He would frequently begin +the service with a solemn and most impressive address, exhorting them +to consider themselves as in the presence of the Great God of Heaven, +whose eye was in a particular manner upon them, whilst they drew nigh +to Him in His own house. His whole soul was engaged in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_277">[277]</span> preaching; and +as at this time he only used short notes in the pulpit, ample room was +left to indulge the feelings of compassion, of tenderness, and love +with which his heart overflowed towards his people. In the week he +statedly visited the different hamlets in his extensive parish, and +collecting some of the inhabitants at a private house, he addressed +them with a kindness and earnestness that moved every heart.</p> + +<p>Lord Dartmouth, writing to Mr. Rawlings, says—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I have delightful accounts from Huddersfield of the wonderful +manner in which the ministry of their faithful and laborious +vicar is blessed to that people; and, by my last letters from +thence, have the satisfaction to learn that his health was +never better than at present. Mr. Venn laments exceedingly +the loss of Mr. Burnett, whose infirm state has, I find, at +last obliged him to seek the benefit of change of air. In his +last letter to me are these words concerning him—‘My faithful +helper in the Lord’s work, after many repeated efforts to +continue in the exercise of his duty, is obliged to desist; his +behaviour, under these afflicting circumstances, glorifies his +Saviour and recommends his faith.’ Invincible patience and the +deepest humiliation, justifying God and accepting the strokes +of his rod as a punishment for iniquity, joined to steadfast +confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ, are the abiding tempers +of his heart. It is my prayer that he may be restored to help +me: for I may really say of Mr. Burnett as Paul of Timothy, I +know few like-minded who preach the hatred and mortification of +sin, whilst they exalt the free grace and righteousness of our +God and Saviour—who teach men to live in the denial of every +evil temper and in the exercise of every heavenly grace, and, +at the same time, sensible of their vileness, to cry—<i>God be +merciful to me a sinner!</i>’”</p> +</div> + +<p>Mr. Venn, like the apostolic Grimshaw, was eminently distinguished by +a Catholic spirit with respect to other denominations of professing +Christians. When he visited Mr. Ingham, he could not witness with +indifference the fatal effects of that dreadful division which had +marred the work of God, and scattered so many flourishing Churches +in that part of the vineyard. Great numbers of young persons were +among the fruits of his ministry, and of these at least thirteen +became useful, and some of them very eminent ministers, chiefly in the +Independent connexion.</p> + +<p>About the same period that Mr. Venn removed to Huddersfield, the +late Dr. Conyers commenced his evangelical ministry at Helmsley, in +the North Riding of Yorkshire. For many years before his eyes were +open to see the truth as it is in Jesus, he was a most amiable and +exemplary clergyman, in a moral point of view. Having much to do and +much to learn, he entered upon the weighty duties of his office with +a zeal, though not with a knowledge, proportioned to its magnitude. +Accordingly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_278">[278]</span> he left no part of his large parish neglected, but +regularly visited and familiarly conversed with the most indigent and +illiterate, and attempted, not only by frequent public ministrations, +catechetical exercises, and private conferences, but also by personal +example, to excite to a general propriety of conduct. He was accustomed +to assemble at his own house companies of young men for the purpose of +religious improvement, and, in conjunction with them, appointed that at +a certain hour, at the striking of the church clock, each should retire +to his habitation, and be present in spirit together before God in the +exercise of prayer.</p> + +<p>He was respected and commended as an eminent saint and an exemplary and +able minister; but, alas! he was yet unpossessed of vital godliness, +and ignorant of the true nature of the Gospel, relying solely on his +own righteousness for acceptance. Nay, he imperfectly imbibed the gross +and pernicious errors of a Socinian writer, and actually wrote him a +letter of thanks for his productions, but was prevented from sending +it by the following circumstance. On reading Luke vi. 26, “Woe unto +you when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to +the false prophets,” a flash of conviction darted into his soul. He +was honoured by general approbation; the rancorous fury of calumny had +not interrupted his repose, nor had he to contend with the virulence +of persecuting opposition. He was, therefore, apparently, included in +the tremendous denunciation. Yet hoping, by additional punctuality +in the discharge of his duties, to calm his mental perturbation, he +conducted himself with great propriety, fasted more frequently, and +used sometimes, at the altar in the church, to sign with his own blood, +in a most solemn manner, his resolutions to devote the remains of his +life to the service of his God, and to render himself acceptable to +heaven by peculiar sanctity.</p> + +<p>While reading the lesson for the day in the public service at the +church, the expression of St. Paul (Eph. iii. 8), “The unsearchable +riches of Christ,” made a deep impression upon his mind. On this +Scripture he was involuntarily led to reflect—“<i>The unsearchable +riches of Christ!</i>”—“I never found, I never knew, that there +were unsearchable riches in <i>Him</i>.” Accustomed to consider +the Gospel as extremely simple and intelligible, he was surprised +that the Apostle should assert that the riches of Christ were +<i>unsearchable</i>; immediately he concluded that his sentiments and +experience must be entirely dissimilar to those of the Apostle. Deep +convictions accompanied these reflections, and his trouble was not +a little increased by considering, that if he himself was wrong in +the fundamental articles of religion, he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_279">[279]</span> must also, by his mode of +preaching, have misguided his flock, to the great prejudice of their +souls.</p> + +<p>At length the sorrowful sighing of the prisoner was attended with +success, and on the 25th of December, 1758, while walking in his +room, in a pensive frame, he was led to contemplate those two +passages of Scripture, Heb. ix. 22—“Without shedding of blood there +is no remission,” and John i. 7—“The blood of Jesus Christ his Son +cleanseth us from all sin.” The mists of ignorance were instantaneously +dissipated, and finding that he could centre his hopes in the atoning +blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ, he became the immediate +partaker of real and ineffable joy.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I went upstairs and down again (said he), backwards and +forwards in my room, clapping my hands for joy, and crying out, +‘<i>I have found him—I have found him—I have found him, whom +my soul loveth</i>,’ and for a little time, as the Apostle said, +whether in the body or out of it I could hardly tell.”</p> +</div> + +<p>The first time that his friends were assembled at his house he +embraced the opportunity of informing them, with truly evangelical +simplicity, that they had been by him unintentionally deceived. He +related his former distresses, and made them acquainted with his +present joyful sensations, and concluded by attempting to convince +them from Scripture, that the blood of Christ could only expiate their +innumerable transgressions and produce real peace of mind, and that his +righteousness only could entitle them to the enjoyment of eternal life.</p> + +<p>At the parish church, before a numerous auditory, on the ensuing +Sabbath-day, he began to preach without a pre-composed sermon, spoke +to them freely of the way of salvation by the Lord Jesus alone, +acknowledged that his principles had been erroneous, that he had been +ignorant of the holy Scriptures, and that the doctrine which he had +inculcated and laboured to establish among them was not the Gospel.</p> + +<p>He now found that all men did not speak well of him, and he was soon +called upon to suffer the reproach of the cross. Many of his former +friends began to treat him with negligence and contempt; but none +of these things moving him, he determined, by divine assistance, +unremittingly to persevere. Uncommon success attended his after +labours. As the number of converts considerably increased, he divided +them into distinct classes, men by themselves and women by themselves, +and then into married and unmarried. His extensive parish contained +several small villages, and being divided into hamlets, these select +societies assembled in such places as best suited their convenience. At +appointed times he met them for the purpose of spiritual<span class="pagenum" id="Page_280">[280]</span> conversation, +and every day, at eleven o’clock, preached in some part of the parish. +These services were continued by him or his curates from the time of +his removal from Helmsley.</p> + +<p>After his character, as a man of evangelical principles, became +generally known, he was called to preach a sermon before the clergy at +a visitation of his diocesan, the Archbishop of York. This became the +topic of general conversation among the neighbouring clergy and their +parishioners, who declared “if he should dare to preach his Methodism +in the presence of his Grace, his gown would soon be stripped over his +ears.”</p> + +<p>During his discourse, the beclouded countenances of his clerical +hearers indicated that the important doctrine which he proved and +enforced was extremely offensive, and when the service was concluded, +as he was in the street in conversation with several farmers, +Dr. Drummond, Archbishop of York, advanced, and accosted him as +follows:—“Well, Conyers, you have given us a fine sermon!”—“I +am glad (said the Doctor) it meets the approbation of your +Grace.”—“Approbation! approbation! (replied the Archbishop); if you go +on preaching such stuff you will drive all your parish mad. Were you to +inculcate the morality of Socrates, it would do more good than canting +about the new birth.” His Grace immediately walked off without waiting +for a reply.<a id="FNanchor_155" href="#Footnote_155" class="fnanchor">[155]</a></p> + +<p>With a view to promote the cause of Christ, which, of all other causes, +lay nearest to her heart, Lady Huntingdon made excursions from time +to time, not only into the towns and villages in the neighbourhood +of Brighton, Tunbridge Wells, Bath, and other places, where she +occasionally resided, but to more distant parts of the kingdom. From +the first moment that she was enabled to give herself, her time, her +property, and her talents, wholly to the Lord, she ever preferred the +path of duty before the lap of repose, and was ready, had it been +possible, to visit the uttermost parts of the earth, and convey with +her the blessing of the everlasting Gospel; counting neither ease nor +interest, reputation, nor even life itself, as dear to her, if by their +sacrifice she could in any way be instrumental in bringing before +others the grace of which she had been made the happy recipient.</p> + +<p>Her Ladyship’s journey to Yorkshire, in 1760, was chiefly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_281">[281]</span> owing to the +confusion which was then prevailing amongst Mr. Ingham’s societies, +from the repeated discussions on Church government and discipline. +She was accompanied by Messrs. Romaine and Venn, the latter of whom +was then returning to Huddersfield, after labouring at Brighton for +some weeks with great zeal and success. Her Ladyship was joined by Mr. +Whitefield at Aberford, but their united efforts to restore peace and +prevent confusion, as we have already seen, proved ineffectual.</p> + +<p>The succeeding summer Mr. Wesley was in Yorkshire, and preached at +Knaresborough, Tadcaster, and several places in the immediate vicinity +of Aberford. There had been much conversation about the doctrine +of <i>Perfection</i>, which had been introduced into Yorkshire by +the Wesleyan preachers, and Mr. Wesley laboured hard to defend and +explain it to Messrs. Grimshaw and Venn. His sermon at Haworth was in +the manner of waiting for <i>perfect love</i>, and when he visited +Huddersfield he came to what he calls “a full explanation with that +good man, Mr. Venn,” and he adds, “Lord, if I <i>must</i> dispute, +let it be with the children of the devil: let me be at peace with +<i>thy</i> children.” A few days after, Mr. Wesley went to Kippax; +Mr. Venn came a little time after they were gone into the church; Mr. +Romaine read prayers, and Mr. Wesley preached on <i>Christ crucified, +to the Jews a stumbling-block, and to the Greeks foolishness</i>. “O +why (says he) should they who agree in this great point fall out about +smaller things?”</p> + +<p>In the summer of 1762, Lady Huntingdon paid another visit to Yorkshire, +and on the 9th of August she attended the nineteenth Conference held +at Leeds, when Messrs. Romaine, Madan, Venn, Whitefield, John and +Charles Wesley were also present. After which Mr. Whitefield proceeded +to Scotland, and Lady Huntingdon to Knaresborough, where she remained +some time, and had frequent meetings of all the Gospel clergymen in +Yorkshire, with a view to stimulate them to more active exertions in +diffusing the light of divine truth. Dr. Conyers, being unable to wait +upon her Ladyship, sent the following letter to Knaresborough:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Madam—The many kind messages and invitations which I have +received from your Ladyship, and especially by the Rev. Roger +Bentley, who had the honour and happiness of your company at +Knaresborough, have filled my heart with the most <i>grateful +affections</i>. I have been long in hopes that it would please +God to open a way for me to wait upon your Ladyship, but it +seems not to be his pleasure. I hope I shall meet you in heaven: +we shall ail nothing there—nothing can keep us asunder there. +O thou adorable Lord Jesus, hasten thy kingdom—my heart just +pants after that blessed time when all the elect of God<span class="pagenum" id="Page_282">[282]</span> shall +be gathered together—when I shall see Him whom my soul loves +eye to eye. I humbly beg your Ladyship’s prayers that I may be +strengthened through grace, and, happily triumphant over every +evil, may gain an admission into my heavenly Father’s kingdom. +I love to pray for your Ladyship, I feel a sweetness upon my +soul when I do—it raises in me earnest desires to imitate your +example, that I may be with you for ever. I dare hardly take the +freedom to beg a line from your Ladyship, but I know you love to +do good, and that, through God’s blessing, would do good to me. +I am your Ladyship’s most obedient and most affectionate servant +in Christ Jesus,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“Richard Conyers.</p> + +<p class="p-min">“Helmsley, September 14th, 1762.”</p> +</div> + +<p>From Knaresborough Lady Huntingdon removed to Harrogate, where Mr. +Romaine preached several times; and from thence to Kippax and Aberford, +where she remained several weeks actively engaged in promoting the +kingdom of her Lord and Master. On leaving Yorkshire, her Ladyship +proceeded to Brighton; whilst there she received the following letter +from Mr. Venn:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="r2">“Huddersfield, December 10th, 1762.</p> + +<p>“Your Ladyship’s letter rejoiced the hearts of many in these +parts. Blessed be God for the refreshment and vigour which your +visit to Yorkshire hath diffused in my own dead soul, and for +that light and life which our dear Immanuel hath made you the +honoured instrument of conveying to the hearts of so many of +your fellow-sinners. I cannot but adore the goodness of the Lord +in raising up such a monument of his mercy, and inflaming you +with such a fervent zeal for his blessed name. I trust the Lord +will, in mercy, spare me to see you again in the flesh; perhaps +in March or April I may be able to visit you and give you some +little assistance; in order to do this, may the Spirit of God +open the eyes of my understanding more and more to see my need +of a Saviour, and to behold the suitableness, the freeness, and +fulness of the redemption which was wrought out by the Lord of +life and glory. O help me with your prayers, for truly I need +them. I thank you ten thousand times for all your repeated marks +of love and generosity to me and my family. Continue to pray for +me, and the Lord will return it to you sevenfold.”</p> +</div> + +<p>After some allusion to his preaching with Mr. Ingham at Aberford, and +with Dr. Conyers at Kippax and Huddersfield, he says—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“My congregations are daily increasing. Besides my stated +labours on the Lord’s-day, I generally preach eight or ten +sermons in the week in the distant parts of the parish, where +many come to hear who will not come to the church. I find my +out-door preaching much owned of the Lord.</p> + +<p>“My wife begs her kindest regards to your Ladyship. That the +Father of lights may pour the choicest of his blessings on your +soul, and fill<span class="pagenum" id="Page_283">[283]</span> you with his love, is the repeated wish of your +Lordship’s unworthy friend and servant in Christ,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“H. Venn.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Whilst Lady Huntingdon was at Aberford she enjoyed frequent +opportunities of seeing and conversing with the late Rev. Titus Knight, +who was a constant visitor at Mr. Ingham’s. His first labours, it is +well known, were among the Methodists, in Mr. Wesley’s societies; and +having opportunities of preaching in various parts of the country, +he became signally and extensively useful. From repeated interviews +and conversations with Lady Huntingdon and Mr. Ingham, it pleased God +to give him such consistent views of divine truth, that he could no +longer publicly insist upon certain points of doctrine maintained in +Mr. Wesley’s Connexion. Christian perfection was much insisted upon +at this time by Mr. Wesley, and Lady Huntingdon felt herself bound +to combat this error, which Mr. Knight had adopted, with those clear +views of revealed truth which she had embraced, and which she explained +in a manner so easy and forcible to the minds of others, that many +acknowledged themselves indebted to her Ladyship’s instrumentality +for a deeper insight into the great doctrines of the Gospel. Lady +Huntingdon offered to use her interest in procuring him Episcopal +ordination, as he had attained a considerable knowledge of the Hebrew, +Greek, and Latin languages, and a copious acquaintance with classical +history. This offer, after some consideration, he declined. A few +faithful friends, to whom he had been useful, still adhered to him: and +to them he continued to preach as opportunity permitted. These being +soon increased by the addition of others, a scheme was suggested for +erecting a house in which they might more regularly assemble together, +but the parties had no resources, and Mr. Grimshaw undertook to beg +for it. He was no bigot; he made no distinction of sect or party +the measure of his love towards Christians. He used to say, “I love +Christians, true Christians, of all parties; I do love them, I will +love them, and none shall make me do otherwise.” His first application +was to Lady Huntingdon:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Madam—Your last letter has remained a long time unanswered; +but I know you will excuse what may appear neglect, when +informed that I have been about my Master’s business. Indeed, I +have the pleasure of assuring you that the Lord’s work prospers +amazingly among us. My exhortations are visibly blessed, and I +bless God daily and hourly for it. The societies are everywhere +in a good state. The Lord is adding to them many seekers of the +blessed Jesus—many lively souls who have come to a sense of the +pardoning love of God, and are eagerly hungering and thirsting +after your inestimable <span class="smcap">Redeemer</span> and mine.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_284">[284]</span></p> + +<p>“I have had two visits from Mr. Knight. He professed great +love and respect for your Ladyship, and acknowledges his deep +obligations for the light and knowledge you were instrumental +in communicating to him. He is actively labouring to rescue +sin-slaved souls from the kingdom of darkness, and the Lord +has put honour on his testimony, by giving him seals to his +ministry. The people amongst whom he is sowing the seed of the +kingdom are poor, their means are very limited, yet the Lord has +put it into their hearts to build a house for the preaching of +his word. Now I have come to the point—can your Ladyship spare +a mite to aid these worthy souls? The demands on your generosity +I know to be great, and on that account I feel a repugnance at +asking, because I am persuaded you would give, even to the gown +on your back, if the case required it. Blessed be God, who has +furnished you with means, and with a heart inclined to dispense +the unrighteous mammon for the good of others. But you are the +Lord’s, all you have is his, and bless and praise him night and +day for employing you in his service. May he bless you, sanctify +you, and make you abundantly useful in your day and generation! +He has raised you up for the accomplishment of a mighty work in +the land; I may not live to witness it, but I shall assuredly +see some of the triumphs of the cross, the blood-bought slaves, +the ransomed captives, rescued from the tyranny and slavery +of the great enemy of souls, in the chapels of your Ladyship, +all arrayed in robes of dazzling white, and washed from every +defilement in the fountain open for sin and uncleanness, +praising and blessing Him who hath made them kings and priests +unto God and the Lamb for ever. Yes, when I am before the +throne—then I shall see, and hear, and know what you have been +made the instrument of accomplishing upon earth; and at last we +shall meet as <i>two poor worthless sinners</i>, stripped of +every fancied good, to bless and praise him through eternity!</p> + +<p>“I hope ere long to see my dear brother Whitefield in his own +pulpit again. When will your Ladyship revive us with another +visit? What blessings did the Lord shower upon us the last time +you were here! and how did our hearts burn within us to proclaim +his love and grace to perishing sinners! Come and animate us +afresh—aid us by your counsels and your prayers—communicate a +spark of your glowing zeal, and stir us up to renewed activity +in the cause of God. All the dear apostles go on well—all pray +for your dear Ladyship—and all long for your coming amongst us +again. I have been a long round since you were here, and have +seen brothers Ingham, Venn, Conyers, and Bentley, all alive, +and preaching Christ crucified with wonderful success, and +inexpressible benefit to the souls of many.</p> + +<p>“Excuse this long, incoherent scribble, and assure yourself I +am your Ladyship’s very unworthy and unprofitable friend and +brother,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“William Grimshaw.</p> + +<p class="p-min">“Haworth, November 20th, 1762.”</p> +</div> + +<p>To this appeal Lady Huntingdon responded with her accustomed +liberality; and in a little time such liberal contributions were +obtained as enabled Mr. Knight and his friends to accomplish<span class="pagenum" id="Page_285">[285]</span> their +design. A house was erected, a church formed, and he was ordained +pastor in the summer of 1763. Soon after, his acquaintance with Mr. +Whitefield commenced, which, under God, was the means of extending +his usefulness very considerably; for being invited by Mr. Whitefield +to his pulpit, and his preaching being approved, he afterwards became +one of the assistant preachers, and spent two months every year in +preaching at the Tabernacle, Tottenham-court Chapel, Greenwich, +Woolwich, and other places in the same Connexion.<a id="FNanchor_156" href="#Footnote_156" class="fnanchor">[156]</a></p> + +<p>In the spring of 1763, Lady Huntingdon had the misfortune to lose her +very valuable and faithful friend, the laborious and truly apostolic +Grimshaw. Haworth, in the early part of the year, was afflicted with +a putrid fever, of which many persons died. Mr. Grimshaw had a strong +presage upon his mind that some one of his own family would be added +to the number, and he repeatedly exhorted them all to be ready, as he +knew not which it might be. As for himself, it was not for a man of +his views and spirit to decline the calls of his duty and affection +through apprehension of danger. The fever was highly infectious, and, +in visiting the sick parishioners, he soon caught it. From the first +attack of the disease he expected and welcomed the approach of death. +He knew in whom he believed, and felt His support in the trying hour. +While death pointed his javelin to his heart, he beheld the face of the +King of Terrors as if it were the face of an angel. He said, “Never had +I such a visit from God since I knew him.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Ingham, in a letter to Lady Huntingdon, gives the following account +of his interviews with Mr. Grimshaw:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“From the moment he was seized with the fever he felt the +sentence of death in himself. When I first saw him he said, +‘My last enemy is come! the signs of death are upon me, but I +am not afraid—no! no! blessed be God, my hope is sure, and I +am in his hands.’ When I was pouring out my soul in prayer to +the Lord, I mentioned the further prolongation of his life, +that he might have more opportunities of being useful; and +when I had concluded he said, ‘My dear brother Ingham, if +the Lord should raise me up, I think I could do more for his +glory<span class="pagenum" id="Page_286">[286]</span> than I have hitherto done. Alas! what have my wretched +services been? and I have now need to cry, at the close of my +unprofitable course—<i>God be merciful to me a sinner!</i>’ On +my next visit I found him much worse, and evidently sinking. +I mentioned having received a letter from your Ladyship, and +delivered your message. He seemed much affected, but after a +few moments revived a little. When I had prayed with him, he +said, ‘I harbour no desire of life—my time is come, and I am +entirely resigned to God.’ Then lifting up his hands and eyes +to heaven, added, ‘Thy will be done! Tell her Ladyship, that +dear elect woman, that I thank her from the bottom of my heart +for all her kindnesses to me during the years that I have known +her. With my dying breath I implore every blessing, temporal and +spiritual, to rest upon her. May the God of Abraham, of Isaac, +and of Jacob, bless her—bless her in body, soul, and spirit. I +can never repay the spiritual good I have reaped at her hands. +O that she may be eminently useful in her day and generation!’ +At another time he said, laying his hand upon his breast, ‘I am +quite exhausted, but I shall soon be at home for ever with the +Lord—a poor miserable sinner redeemed by his blood.’ Mr. Venn +having arrived, I shortly after took my leave, but never after +saw my dear brother Grimshaw alive.“<a id="FNanchor_157" href="#Footnote_157" class="fnanchor">[157]</a></p> +</div> + +<p>He died on 7th of April, 1763, in the fifty-fifth year of his age, and +in the twenty-first from his settlement at Haworth, the scene of his +eminent usefulness in the Church of God.<a id="FNanchor_158" href="#Footnote_158" class="fnanchor">[158]</a></p> + +<p>Mr. Grimshaw was twice married, and survived his second wife; by the +former, he had a daughter, who died young, and a son, who survived +him about two years: he married a worthy woman, but drinking was his +besetment. He often addressed the horse his venerable father rode with +these words—“Once<span class="pagenum" id="Page_287">[287]</span> thou carriedst a saint—now thou carriest a devil.” +The many prayers offered up for him were not in vain. The Lord gave +him repentance, and just before he died he exclaimed—“<i>What will my +Father say when he sees me in heaven?</i>” The widow of Mr. Grimshaw’s +son afterwards became the wife of the late Rev. John Cross, vicar of +Bradford. The successors of Mr. Grimshaw, the late Rev. John Richardson +and the Rev. John James Charnock, trod in his steps, to the great good +of Haworth. The blessed effects resulting from Lady Huntingdon’s former +visits to Yorkshire induced many of the ministers of Christ in that +part of the kingdom to solicit her to honour them with her presence +from time to time; and as soon as her Ladyship had determined on taking +a journey into Yorkshire, she wrote to several ministers, explaining +the object she had in view, and soliciting the aid of such as could +with convenience accompany her thither. Mr. Townsend and Mr. Fletcher, +it appears, were early engaged for this labour of love. As early as the +month of February we find the latter writing thus to Mr. Ireland:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“If I can leave my parish, I believe it will be to accompany +Lady Huntingdon to the Goshen of our land, Yorkshire, to learn +the love of Christ at the feet of my brethren and fathers there.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Lady Anne Erskine, who was then residing with her father, Lord +Buchan, at Bath, consented to accompany Lady Huntingdon in her tour +into Yorkshire, and her Ladyship was earnestly entreated to gratify +the anxious wishes of the people of God in Scotland. Lady Huntingdon +readily yielded to the desires of the people of Edinburgh, and as soon +as she had resolved on visiting Scotland, wrote to Mr. Venn and Mr. +Townsend, inviting them to accompany her thither. A few days before she +set out on her tour she received the following reply from Mr. Venn:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Your Ladyship’s letter has rejoiced our hearts, and many more. +Your coming into Yorkshire, attended by two such faithful +labourers, will, I doubt not, be blessed exceedingly to the +souls of the people, as your parlour-preaching will be to our +own souls. If I can, I shall do myself the pleasure of meeting +you at Bretby; if not, on the 9th of next month we shall receive +you and your blessed company with that exalted joy which the +Holy Ghost inspires. I must take the liberty of begging your +Ladyship will present our most respectful compliments to Lady +Anne and Miss Orton, and express our sense of the favour they +will confer on us on coming to my vicarage. We were in hopes +you could have contrived to have spent a Sabbath with us, +rather than at Kippax. Three thousand hearers would be present +to receive the word of life here, whereas at the village there +would be very few. Love to my flock and desire for their good +prompts me to mention this.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_288">[288]</span></p> + +<p>“To make one of your tour to Scotland would delight me much +indeed, but my complaint in my breast is returned, and I am not +able to lift up my voice. On Easter Tuesday I perceived the hurt +very sensibly. I was pleading for the Lord’s honour and glory as +the only Saviour—and how could I help speaking on such a truth +with all energy? But the body will not bear it. However, I had +yesterday a poor profligate came to me, to tell me that, under +that sermon, she, who doubted before the very being of a God, +was pricked to the heart, and is now indeed crying out night and +day—‘<i>What shall I do to be saved?</i>’ Preaching Christ was +never so greatly delightful to me as it is now; and yet that +highest pleasure I am now incapable of enjoying more than once a +week.</p> + +<p>“Praying heartily that your going in and out from place to place +may be under the powerful influence and rich blessings of the +great Leader and Commander of the people, that as one of his +chosen troops you may do valiantly, putting to flight the army +of the aliens, I conclude myself your Ladyship’s servant in the +Gospel, and friend,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“H. Venn.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Dr. Conyers also, to whom her Ladyship had announced her intention of +visiting Yorkshire, felt highly gratified at the prospect of seeing +her, and wrote very much to the purport of the above, under date of +Helmsley, April 21, 1767.</p> + +<p>Early in the month of May, Lady Huntingdon, Lady Anne Erskine, Miss +Orton, and Mr. Howel Harris, left Bath, accompanied by Mr. Whitefield, +on a preaching excursion through a part of Gloucestershire.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“We have had good seasons at Rodborough (says he); I was +regaled with the company of some simple-hearted, first-rate old +Methodists, of nearly thirty years’ standing. God willing, I am +to preach to-morrow morning, and to have a general sacrament on +Friday evening. I have been out twice in the fields. On Sunday +I hope to take to Rodborough-wood again. Good Lady Huntingdon, +&c., were wonderfully delighted. She and her company lay at +Rodborough-house. They honoured dear Mr. Adams with their +presence: he is but poorly, and wants a nurse; perhaps before +next Sunday he may be married to a simple-hearted, plain, good +creature that hath waited upon him and the preachers near twenty +years. She hath no fortune, but is one who, I think, will take +care of and be obedient to him, for Christ’s sake.”</p> +</div> + +<p>From Rodborough they proceeded to Gloucester, “where (says Mr. W.) we +had a most blessed season yesterday. Thousands and thousands, I trust, +heard, saw, and felt.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Whitefield going into Wales, Lady Huntingdon and her party +proceeded to Hawkestone, the celebrated seat of Sir Rowland Hill, +Bart., and from thence to Trevecca, where they were joined by Mr. +Fletcher, who conducted them to Madely, where they spent a few days, +on their way to Derbyshire. The account<span class="pagenum" id="Page_289">[289]</span> of her Ladyship’s progress +is contained in a letter from Mr. Fletcher to Mr. Whitefield, dated +Madely, May 18, 1767:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Reverend and dear Sir—Your mentioning my poor ministrations +among your congregation opens again a wound of shame that was +but half healed. I feel the need of asking God, you, and your +hearers, pardon, for weakening the glorious matter of the Gospel +by my wretched broken manner, and spoiling the heavenly power of +it by the uncleanness of my heart and lips. I should be glad to +go and be your curate some time this year; but I see no opening, +nor the least prospect of any. What between the dead and the +living, a parish ties one down more than a wife. If I could go +anywhere this year it should be to Yorkshire, to accompany Lady +Huntingdon, according to a design that I had half formed last +year; but I fear that I shall be debarred even from this. I set +out, God willing, to-morrow morning for Trevecca, to meet her +Ladyship there, and to show her the way to Madely, where she +proposes to stay three or four days, on her way to Derbyshire. +What chaplain she will have there I know not: God will provide. +I rejoice that, though you are sure of heaven, you have still +a desire to inherit the earth, by being a <i>peace-maker</i>. +Somehow, you will enjoy the blessings that others may possibly +refuse.</p> + +<p>“Last Sunday seven-night Captain Scott preached to my +congregation in a sermon which was more blessed, though preached +only upon my horse-block, than a hundred of those I preach in +the pulpit. I invited him to come and treat her Ladyship next +Sunday with another, now the place is consecrated. If you should +ever favour Shropshire with your presence, you shall have the +captain’s or the parson’s pulpit at your option. Many ask me +whether you will not come to have some fruit here also: what +must I answer them? I, and many more, complain of a stagnation +in the work: what must we do? Everything buds and blossoms +around us, yet our winter is not over. I thought Mr. Newton, +who hath been three weeks in Shropshire, would have brought the +turtle-dove along with him; but I could not prevail upon him +to come to this poor Capernaum. I think I hardly ever met his +fellow for a judicious spirit. Still, what hath God done in him +and in me? I am out of hell, and mine eyes have seen something +of his salvation: though I must and do gladly yield to him and +all my brethren, yet I must and will contend, that my being in +the way to heaven makes me as rich a monument of mercy as he, +or any of them. O that I may feel the wonderful effect of the +patience that is manifested towards me! Lord, break me, and make +me a vessel capable of bearing thy name, and the sweet savour of +it, to my fellow-sinners!</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>“I am, reverend and dear Sir, with, blessed be God, a measure of +sincere affection and respect, your willing, though halting and +unworthy servant,</p> + +<p> +“<span class="smcap">J. Fletcher</span>.” +</p> +</div> + +<p>Lady Huntingdon and her interesting companions continued a few +days at Madely, where they enjoyed the pleasure of Captain Scott’s +company, who, at Mr. Fletcher’s urgent<span class="pagenum" id="Page_290">[290]</span> request, preached to very +large congregations upon his horse-block twice on the Lord’s-day, and +on Monday in Madely-wood, to an immense concourse of people, many of +whom were drawn thither from motives of curiosity to see her Ladyship +and the preaching Captain. From Madely her Ladyship proceeded to +Bretby, where she remained until joined by Mr. Venn and Mr. Townsend, +both of whom preached in her Ladyship’s chapel there, which was at +that time supplied by Mr. Jesse and Mr. Maxfield. As there were now +five clergymen with Lady Huntingdon, there was preaching twice a day +whilst she remained, and many on these occasions were called to the +happy experience of the salvation of Jesus by their labours in that +place. On the 9th of June her Ladyship, attended by Messrs. Venn, +Townsend, and Fletcher, arrived at Huddersfield, where they were kindly +and hospitably received by Mrs. Venn, at the Vicarage-house. Lady +Huntingdon did not proceed to Kippax immediately, according to her +previous engagement, but complied with the earnest wishes of Mr. Venn, +by remaining at Huddersfield the following Sabbath, when Mr. Fletcher +preached twice to very large and deeply attentive congregations, many +of whom received the word with visible demonstrations of joy.</p> + +<p>After leaving Huddersfield, Lady Huntingdon spent some time at Aberford +with Mr. and Lady Margaret Ingham. Whilst there, her Ladyship made +an excursion to Haworth, and as it was understood that Mr. Fletcher +and Mr. Townsend would preach, an immense assemblage of people +collected from all parts. Application was made for the use of “Mr. +Whitefield’s pulpit,” but the incumbent, though a good man, was averse +to out-of-door preaching. Lady Huntingdon remonstrated—the multitude +could not be sent away empty—and as she was attended by two clergymen, +both of whom were willing to undertake the service, the congregation +was addressed in the churchyard, by Mr. Fletcher first, and afterwards +by Mr. Townsend.</p> + +<p>Not long after her arrival at Kippax, on a visit to her niece, Mrs. +Medhurst, Lady Huntingdon became so alarmingly indisposed as to +preclude the possibility of her proceeding to Scotland, at least +for the present. Mr. Townsend, however, was sent forward; and the +particulars of his mission in that kingdom will be found detailed in +another place. Her Ladyship suffered much at this time from bodily +indisposition, which necessarily prevented her from exerting herself in +the execution of those benevolent plans she had devised for the more +general diffusion of divine truth in Yorkshire and the neighbouring +counties. Those who were privileged to attend her at this season +witnessed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_291">[291]</span> her growing zeal for the glory of God, and her evident +desire to live more to him than ever. Her heart burned with love to +his name, and breathed the most fervent wishes to bring others to the +knowledge and love of the Saviour. The beginning of July Mr. Madan +arrived at Kippax, and, with Mr. Fletcher, Mr. Venn, and others, was +fully occupied in preaching almost every day in the adjacent counties +for some weeks. Dr. Conyers, rector of Helmsley, Mr. Burnet, vicar of +Elland, Mr. Ryland, curate of Huddersfield, Mr. Bentley, of Kippax, +and Mr. Powley, vicar of Dewsbury, occasionally assisted, and made +frequent excursions, not only in the neighbourhood, but to the more +distant parts of the county, affectionately inviting the multitudes, +who attended them wherever they itinerated, to “the fountain of living +waters,” and “warning every man, and teaching every man, in all wisdom, +that they might present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.”</p> + +<p>Early in the month of September, Mr. Whitefield arrived in Yorkshire, +where he had what he calls “a blessed Methodist field-street-preaching +plan before him.” Having preached at Leeds and a few other places, he +went on to Newcastle, Sunderland, and Hartlepool, where he preached +at the door of Mr. Romaine’s mother’s house, and then returned to +Leeds. Whilst there, he lodged at the house of one William Shent, whom +he designates “a peruke maker,” a man well-known during the early +struggles of Methodism in Yorkshire.<a id="FNanchor_159" href="#Footnote_159" class="fnanchor">[159]</a></p> + +<p>Mr. Whitefield preached at Helmsley, then visited Dr. Conyers and +Mr. Venn, who never failed to join Mr. Whitefield in the church, the +chapel, the cottage, the street, or the fields. This conduct has, to +our surprise, been thought to require an apology.</p> + +<p>In the account of his life, drawn up by his son, the late Rev. John +Venn, of Clapham, and lately published by his grandson, the Rev. Henry +Venn, curate of St. John’s, Holloway, Islington, we find the following +observation on his having preached frequently for Mr. Hill, at Surrey +Chapel:—“Induced by the hope of doing good, my father, in certain +instances, preached in unconsecrated places. But having acknowledged +this, it becomes my pleasing duty to state that he was no advocate for +irregularity in others; that when he afterwards considered it in its +different bearings and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_292">[292]</span> connections, he lamented that he had given way +to it, and restrained several other persons from such acts by the most +cogent arguments!”</p> + +<p>At what precise time Mr. Venn ceased to be guilty of these very +<i>objectionable irregularities</i>, over which his son was so +solicitous to draw the veil, we are at a loss to conjecture. During +a period of considerably more than <i>thirty</i> years, he continued +in the same undeviating line in which he had commenced as curate of +Clapham, in 1755, when his eyes first opened to the truth. From that +time to his acceptance of the living of Huddersfield, in 1759, he +was frequent in preaching and administering the sacrament at Lady +Huntingdon’s houses in London, Clifton, and other places. While at +Huddersfield and Yelling, he continued his faithful ministrations in +her Ladyship’s chapels, in private houses, and occasionally in the open +air, till some unpleasant litigations, about the year 1782, obliged him +and other beneficed clergymen reluctantly to withdraw their services +from her Ladyship. But he still continued the <i>irregular</i> practice +of preaching in barns, and other unconsecrated places, in the vicinity +of Yelling, and at Surrey and Orange-street Chapels, in London, up +to the year 1790, and within a very short time of his death, when +<i>inability</i>, and not disinclination, obliged him to cease from +labour.</p> + +<p>This view of Mr. Venn’s conduct being considered as offensive, his +descendants have put forth their own representations of these matters. +Both accounts cannot possibly be true. To what, then, can such +contradictions tend? The fact is, the descendants of the worthy Venn +dread the charge of <i>irregularity</i>, and are studious to wipe +him clean of the “odour” of Methodism, which had aspersed him from +the commencement to the close of his ministerial labours. We have no +particular attachment to the term <i>Methodist</i>; but think it would +be the height of folly to suppose that those who have experimentally +felt the truth, and tasted indeed that the Lord is gracious, should +ever expect to steer clear of the odium connected with the avowal of +true piety. Every reviver of Evangelical truth, though labouring within +the strict pale of regularity—every faithful witness who proclaims the +righteousness of our God and Saviour, is sure to sustain the brand of +Methodism, and to be most liberally abused by a proud, self-righteous +world. Nothing is gained for the Gospel by timidity: pious clergymen +would best subserve the cause they love by a bold recognition of +brotherhood with all who love and preach our Lord Jesus Christ in +sincerity. Had more intercourse of a religious character, as far as +the present system of national restrictions allow, been practised by +serious<span class="pagenum" id="Page_293">[293]</span> Churchmen, it would have convinced the world that there are +subjects of paramount importance, in which all the good have a common +interest: their own minds would have reaped advantage, the interchange +of good offices would have promoted reciprocal good feeling, and much +would have been done to prevent that hostility against the Church +of England which has discovered itself in some of the best of the +Dissenters.</p> + +<p>Like many excellent persons, the late Mrs. Hannah More piqued herself +on the regularity of her attachment to the Established Church; and, +for various reasons, good no doubt in her own judgment, though not +so in that of others equally pious, she scrupulously abstained from +attending divine worship where there was no Episcopal sanction, and +did not hesitate to make so pitiable an apology as this, and that to +a bishop too of no remarkable excellence:—“As to connection with +conventicles of any kind, I never had any. Had I been irregular, should +I not have gone sometimes, during my winter residence at Bath, to Lady +Huntingdon’s chapel, a place of great occasional resort? Should I never +have gone to some of Whitefield’s or Wesley’s tabernacles, in London, +where I have spent a long spring for nearly thirty years? Should I not +have strayed now and then into some Methodist meeting in the country? +Yet not one of these things have I ever done.”<a id="FNanchor_160" href="#Footnote_160" class="fnanchor">[160]</a></p> + +<p>Was it necessary for Mrs. Hannah More, in order to prove her own +sincere attachment to the Church, thus to stand in complete separation +from all who were not of her own communion? But she dreaded the name of +Methodist, and from this part of the reproach of the cross she turned +away. She evidently loved (as Mr. Roberts acknowledges) the praises +of her friends and of the public generally. She was flattered by the +attention paid her by persons of rank, in Church and State, and she was +unwilling to endanger it by any, the least, connexion with those whom +it was the fashion to brand as sectaries, enthusiasts, and fanatics. +This was her fault, and it brought its own punishment with it. She has +been indelibly stamped a <i>Methodist</i>, and all the waters of the +Atlantic will not wash her clean from the “foul blot.” How often has +she struggled to throw off the vile imputation? This is the weakness +of her character. When she found it necessary to appeal to the bishop +of the diocese, we find her employing the language of careful apology; +assuring and re-assuring his lordship that she was, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_294">[294]</span> always had +been, entirely free from any connexion with conventiclers. To the rank +and office of the Bishop of Bath and Wells respect was due; but to +religion and truth much more. Higher ground ought to have been taken by +such a character as <span class="smcap">Hannah More</span>; and posterity would not have +blamed her had she shown that, much as she loved the Church, she loved +souls yet better.</p> + +<p>Mr. Venn not only wished Lady Huntingdon “good luck in the name of the +Lord,” but supported her in what some of his more timid brethren might +reckon very objectionable irregularities. Inestimable woman! thou art +gone to thy rest, and whether thy Great Master will blame or praise +thee for doing good to the souls of men, regularly or irregularly, +is now no longer dubious. Hypocrisy itself must be ashamed of the +supposition, that Mr. Venn ever disapproved or discountenanced the +immensely blessed and successful efforts of the Countess of Huntingdon +to spread the knowledge of the doctrine of her crucified Lord.</p> + +<p>Nor was his friendship less for the apostolic Whitefield. How highly +he thought of him, his own account, in the funeral sermon which he +preached in Lady Huntingdon’s Chapel at Bath, will best tell. Such +unequivocal and decided testimonies leave no room for doubt or dispute +on the subject. They are not the friends of Mr. Venn, or the truths he +so ably defended, who would cast a veil over those he most honoured, +and fear to have him associated with those apostolic witnesses. It +is singular that in his memoirs, lately published by his grandson, +scarcely any allusion is made to Mr. Whitefield or the Messrs. Wesley, +or Mr. Venn’s connexion and correspondence with those great men. They +were his first associates when he came to know the grace of God, in +Bath, and continued his intimates to the last. His acquaintance with +Lady Huntingdon extended through a period of more than thirty years, +during which time a very intimate and close correspondence took place +between them, yet not one single letter has appeared in the work! Need +we mention Mr. Whitefield, Mr. Wesley, Mr. Fletcher, the well-known +Howel Harris, and Captain Scott? Some of Mr. Venn’s letters to those +apostolic men have appeared in various publications: he loved them, he +venerated them, and did not disdain to labour in the same vineyard with +them. They are all gone to their glorious rest, to meet in the better +temple together, as they have often worshipped in concert below, and to +go out no more.</p> + +<p>Mr. Fletcher, being obliged to attend the duties of his parish,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_295">[295]</span> could +not prolong his stay in Yorkshire, and therefore left Kippax, after Mr. +Whitefield’s arrival there. On his return to Madely, he wrote thus to +Lady Huntingdon:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“My very dear and honoured Lady—The God of Abraham, Isaac, and +Jacob, who tried Israel, and led them through many a wandering +to the good land, that he might do them more good in their +latter end—this faithful God hath met with you; a rod is in his +hand, but that hand bears so <i>deep</i> a print of love, that +the design of his visitation cannot be mistaken. Nor does he +come without the supporting staff: he kills to make alive—he +wounds to heal—he afflicts to comfort, and to do it more deeply +and effectually. My hearty prayer for your Ladyship is, that +you may drink the cup the Lord holds out to you as a new token +of his unchangeable love. I call it unchangeable, because it is +really so in its nature, though the appearances of it greatly +vary, for the trial of faith. ‘I am God (says he)—I change not, +therefore Israel is not consumed,’ and Shadrac is kept in the +burning fiery furnace. When I think of your Ladyship’s illness, +the words of Paschal often occur to my mind, and are a little +relief to me. ‘Sickness (said that devoted soul)—sickness is +the natural condition of Christians: they are then, as they +should always be, deprived of all the good things that belong to +prosperity, and surrounded with the evils of adversity: their +senses and passions are mortified, their eyes are fixed upon +death, and their hearts on the Prince of Life. What a blessing +(added he) to be placed by the kind hand of Providence in that +very state which we should choose, were we allowed our choice!’</p> + +<p>“I have often heard your Ladyship speaking admirably upon +knowing Christ, and the power of his resurrection, together +with <i>the fellowship of his sufferings</i>. The Lord will +have you improve in that heavenly knowledge, therefore he gives +you so long a lesson at this time. The lesson is hard, I grant, +but the Master is <i>so loving</i>, the science so noble, and +the scholar so used to severe exercises, that it is no wonder +you are placed in this highest form. No cross, no crown! The +heavier the cross, the brighter the crown. I often wish I could +bear your Ladyship’s burden, but check this impotent wish, by +rejoicing that one who feels not only touches of sympathy, but +love everlasting and almighty as Himself, bears it for you, and +bears you with it. On the bosom of this dear heavenly Physician +I desire to place you. There I want you to enjoy all the +birth-sweets of sickness, and when patience hath had its perfect +work there, I beg you may live and love till I have received my +dismission; and when yours is sealed, may I be allowed to come +and meet your departing soul among those whom you have made +your friends with the mammon of unrighteousness and with the +blessings of Gospel righteousness, and who will long to welcome +you into everlasting habitations.</p> + +<p>“Till I received Lady Anne’s letter, I often wanted to persuade +myself that your Ladyship had got quite well soon after I had +left Kippax, and that you were gone to London, about the death +of the person I heard you speak of. I rejoice that the Lord laid +the embargo upon your Ladyship among so many good nurses as I +left you with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_296">[296]</span> I pray God reward them for their labours of love +to your Ladyship, and make their bed for them when they are +visited in their turn. I beg my best respects and warmest thanks +to Mr. and Mrs. Medhurst, Miss Medhurst, and the dear company of +your Ladyship. Their kindness and patience towards me while at +Kippax have laid me under a heavy burden of obligations, which I +desire gratefully to acknowledge.</p> + +<p>“Through a mistake of our good friend Ireland,<a id="FNanchor_161" href="#Footnote_161" class="fnanchor">[161]</a> dear Mr. +Glascott came here the day after I arrived from Yorkshire. He +stayed only one day. This stripling will throw down Goliath. I +blessed that cross and accident which brought me acquainted with +a young soldier that made me so ashamed of myself. Mr. Hill<a id="FNanchor_162" href="#Footnote_162" class="fnanchor">[162]</a> +is gone to Brighthelmstone, where I hope he will be as useful as +he is in Shropshire. Captain Scott set out last Monday for York, +after making a great stir for good in Shrewsbury: he hath been a +prophet to several in his own country.</p> + +<p>“I am loth to trouble Lady Anne with the request of a line, to +know how your Ladyship does, yet I know not well how to give +up the hope she will once more steal two minutes for it. I am, +with peculiar thanks to Lady Anne for her letter, and to your +Ladyship for numberless favours, my Lady, your most indebted and +obliged servant,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“J. Fletcher.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Lady Huntingdon being sufficiently recovered from her late +indisposition, proceeded to Leeds for a short time, and was accompanied +thither by Mr. Whitefield. The late Mrs. Deane, who resided at that +time at Whitkirk, near Leeds, was considered as ranking among the +higher circles. She had occasionally heard Mr. Ingham and Mr. Edwards, +who had withdrawn himself from Mr. Wesley, and had built himself a +place of worship, known by the name of “White Chapel,” at Leeds, where +he continued to dispense the word of life for more than thirty years. +Mr. Edwards mentioned Mrs. Deane to Lady Huntingdon, who, observing +the marks of a penitent in her, invited her to her house, and there +she became acquainted with those bright stars that then shone in +England, and now shine in heaven, Messrs. Whitefield, the Wesleys, +Venn, Ingham, Romaine, and other clergymen, who found a welcome in that +honourable house. She had frequent opportunities of conversing with +Lady Huntingdon, and of enjoying those spiritual pleasures which would +naturally result from communication with one so well qualified as that +excellent lady, to direct and comfort the Christian in his road to +glory.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Deane was a woman of rank, of superior education and +accomplishments, and her letters and meditations afford strong proofs, +that if there be any happiness separate from union and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_297">[297]</span> communion with +God by faith in Jesus Christ, she had powers capable of discerning +and enjoying it. Her writings clearly show that she did not seek +satisfaction in those shadowy scenes of refined iniquity which too +fatally ensnare the majority of those trifling immortals who are ranked +among the rich and great. She used to say—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“People in general are seeking happiness where it can never be +found—in the world and its pleasures, or else in some created +being—in all which they will surely meet with disappointment. +Reason and religion both teach us that to be happy we must be +holy; and the experience of mind bred up in and influenced by +such principles most attest the truth and importance of them. +But yet, notwithstanding all his knowledge and experience +concerning the reasonableness, the fitness, and the beauty of +holiness, let no man trust in or think to find innate goodness +in himself. Let him divest himself of all self-confidence, and +entirely rely on his Saviour in every spiritual conflict; and +let him be assured he will then find a strong tower of defence +against every evil, and will be ready to say—</p> + + <div class="poetry-container1"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="ileft">‘For all the good that is in me,</div> + <div>All glory to the Eternal Three,</div> + <div>Now and to all eternity:’</div> + </div> + </div> + </div> + +<p class="p-left">to which I humbly subscribe in heart and name.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Mrs. Deane was nearly allied to the noble family of Charles, Viscount +Irvine, of Temple Newson, on the river Aire, two miles below Leeds. +His Lordship, who had succeeded to the title in 1763, had married +Miss Shepherd, a lady possessed of a very great fortune. Mrs. Deane’s +attachment to and affection for Lady Irvine, and every member of that +honourable family, were remarkable, and always appeared so vigorous +that they were constantly breaking forth in the most ardent prayers for +their eternal welfare. She soon brought her Ladyship acquainted with +Lady Huntingdon, and never failed to invite Lord and Lady Irvine to her +house whenever the Countess was at Leeds, or at Ledstone Hall. After a +sermon had been delivered with which she had been particularly edified, +her love for their eternal interests naturally made her exclaim, “O +that Lady Irvine and family had heard this.” She sometimes hoped well +of them, and thought that Lady Huntingdon’s conversation had been +blessed to Lady Irvine. In one of her letters to her Ladyship, she +says—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“You will rejoice to hear that my dear Lady Irvine accompanied +me to hear Mr. Charles Wesley. There was a very crowded +congregation, and he preached as for eternity, and could look +his hearers in the face, and say with humble confidence—‘I take +you to record this day that I am pure from the blood of all +men.’ The worship and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_298">[298]</span> service of the day altogether appeared +to my dear friend most sacred, solemn, and delightful. The +impressions which were made on her mind during your Ladyship’s +last conversation with her have continued ever since; and I +earnestly pray and hope may not pass away like the morning +cloud, or like the early dew. Her judgment and understanding +are enlightened, though her conscience may yet be unawakened; +and though she thinks differently on some points on which your +Ladyship spoke so ably, she admits the doctrine of man’s total +depravity by nature, the atonement, justification by faith, the +agency of the Spirit in the work of regeneration, and holiness +of heart and life in order to final salvation. May the Spirit +of God impress those solemn truths on her conscience and apply +them to her heart with power! We often speak of your Ladyship; +and my dear Lady Irvine acknowledges her obligations to you for +the light and comfort which she now enjoys. Lord Irvine always +mentions you in terms of great respect, and admiration of your +talents and your zeal.”<a id="FNanchor_163" href="#Footnote_163" class="fnanchor">[163]</a></p> +</div> + +<p>To return to our narrative. The Rev. Samson Occum, the Indian preacher, +and Mr. Whitaker, minister of Norwich, in New England, who had arrived +in this country the preceding year,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_299">[299]</span> to promote the interests of +the Indian Charity Schools at Lebanon, had been making a tour in +Scotland and collecting money for the object of their mission. At +Newcastle a very considerable sum was collected, after a sermon by +Mr. Wesley, who preached at the particular request of Mr. Whitaker. +They visited several places in Yorkshire, and met with great success; +Mr. Romaine, Mr. Venn, and Mr. Powley also advocating their cause at +Leeds, Huddersfield, and Kippax. Mr. Whitefield preached at Sheffield +the day after Mr. Occum and Mr. Whitaker had left it. “The Americans +were gone (says he) the day before I arrived at Sheffield; I missed +them by coming through Chesterfield, instead of Mansfield.” At Leeds, +Mr. Whitefield and Lady Huntingdon were joined by Captain Scott, who +preached to amazing crowds. His popularity was very great at this +period. Many of the rich, worldly wise, and honourable could not endure +such preaching; but the common people heard him gladly, and blessed +God for the preaching, which they could fully understand, and were as +much disposed as ever to say, “How beautiful are the feet of them that +preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!”</p> + +<p>Mr. Whitefield proceeded to Huddersfield, and passed some weeks with +Mr. Venn, but was compelled to decline Mr. Fletcher’s invitation to +Madely, as stated in a letter to one of his prime favourites, Mrs. +Herritage, whom he calls the “<i>London Shunamite</i>.”</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="r2">“Leeds, Oct. 3, 1767.</p> + +<p>“My good Shunamite—Just as your letter came I was taking pen in +hand to send you a few lines. What a mercy when good news comes +from town and country! And what news so good as that of the word +of the Lord Jesus running and being glorified? This hath been +the case with the willing, but worthless pilgrim. Everywhere the +sound of his Master’s feet hath been heard behind him. Field +and street preaching hath rather bettered than hurt his bodily +health. But as the weather begins to break, he must look towards +winter quarters. This makes it impracticable for him to go to +Madely. It is too far distant. May Jesus support the suffering +martyr. He will! He will!</p> + + <div class="poetry-container1"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="ileft">‘He knows what sore temptations mean,</div> + <div>For he hath felt the same.’</div> + </div> + </div> + </div> + +<p class="p-left">I know this will find you a living martyr, a +witness of the truths and life of Jesus, the only preparative +for dying a martyr. That whether you live, you may live unto +the Lord; or whether you die, you may die unto the Lord, is the +earnest prayer of, dear Mrs. Herritage,</p> + +<p class="r4 p-min">“Yours, &c., in our common Lord,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“George Whitefield.”</p> +</div> + +<p>This was Mr. Whitefield’s last visit to Yorkshire; and it is worthy of +remark that the last sermon preached by that apostolic<span class="pagenum" id="Page_300">[300]</span> witness in that +county was delivered in the pulpit of Huddersfield church.</p> + +<p>The ministry of the Rev. Thomas Wilson, about this period, began to +attract much attention in Yorkshire. Possessed of strong faith in the +divine word, a fervent love of God and Christ, and a living sense of +the vast worth of men’s souls, he became a most diligent preacher, +uncommonly zealous in his manner, and remarkably plain and pointed +in his addresses to men’s consciences. His praise, not as a scholar +indeed, but as a good minister of Jesus Christ, will long continue to +be heard through a large and populous district. His simplicity and +godly sincerity were admitted and admired by great numbers, who could +not be prevailed upon by his tears and entreaties to forsake their +sinful courses; nevertheless, he has left behind him many seals of his +ministry; and many, it is believed, converted by his means, died before +him in faith, and most joyfully received his spirit into the heavenly +habitations. He lived down prejudice and slander in a very uncommon +degree: his rule and his practice were, to overcome evil by doing good. +He was eminently a man of peace—he loved it in his heart—he sought +it earnestly: but this divine and amiable disposition did not damp +his zeal for the cause of God, and his concern to save men’s souls. +He boldly rebuked sin; he showed his abhorrence particularly to that +destructive vice of drunkenness, so prevalent in manufacturing places, +which robs so many of the lower orders not only of their comforts, but +of the necessaries of life. He kept a watchful eye over public-houses: +he felt and frequently expressed the deepest sorrow (and his regrets +were not always unavailing) at the irregularities and excesses which +occurred in those places, and especially on Sunday evenings. Many +nights of broken rest did he pass, occupied with reflections on the +depravity, blindness, and madness of sinners, who were treasuring up +to themselves wrath against the day of wrath, while they despised or +neglected all his warnings—his warm, vehement, affectionate appeals to +their consciences.</p> + +<p>Mr. Wilson was somewhat advanced in life when he first turned his +thoughts towards the ministry; and he had not had the advantage of +a regular classical education. A clergyman of Leeds, of a kindred +spirit, beheld in his fervent piety the dawning of singular usefulness, +and put him in the way of obtaining holy orders. He applied himself +to the study of the languages, and was ordained to a curacy near +Wetherby, Yorkshire. There his ardent spirit laboured diligently; and +much concern about religion appeared in many of his congregation. +Whilst there he received a visit from Lady Huntingdon, in one<span class="pagenum" id="Page_301">[301]</span> of her +numerous rambles through Yorkshire, and her advice and conversation +were of great benefit in exciting him to greater diligence and zeal in +the discharge of the duties of his function. Some things there were, +however, disagreeable to him in that situation; and on the removal of +Mr. Powley to Dewsbury, Mr. Wilson, through his means, became perpetual +curate of Slaighwaite.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 id="CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hangingindent">Melancholy State of Mr. Ingham—Lady Huntingdon and Mr. +Venn—Illness and Death of Lady Margaret Ingham—Letter from +Mr. Ingham—Letter from Mr. Romaine—Mr. Ingham’s Treatise on +the Faith and Hope of the Gospel—Mr. Riddell—Lady Huntingdon +sends Students to Yorkshire—Letter from Mr. Riddell—Mr. Joseph +Milner, of Hull—Attends Lady Huntingdon’s Preachers—Begins +to preach the Gospel—Mr. Tyler—Letter from Lady Huntingdon +to Mr. Romaine—Mr. Tyler’s Labours at Hull—Letter from Lady +Huntingdon to Mr. Milner—York—Mr. Wren—Letter from Lady +Huntingdon—Letter from Mr. Wren—Mr. Glascott—Mr. Wells—Mr. +Powley—Lady Huntingdon’s Chapel at York.</p> +</div> + + +<p>The almost total dispersion of the Yorkshire Churches, caused by the +introduction of the Sandemanian principles, had a sad effect on Mr. +Ingham’s mind. He was liable to sudden transitions from the highest +flow of spirits to the utmost depression, and the peculiar character +of his temperament was an extreme accessibility to sudden attacks of +melancholy. It was his belief that calamity was connected with the +conviction of sin and the desert of punishment. “We are verily guilty +concerning our brother, therefore is this distress come upon us.” “The +thing” which, like Job, he had “greatly feared,” was come upon him—he +was deserted by his spiritual children, and the thought reduced him +to a most distressing state of mind. “‘He is lost! He is lost!’—this +(writes Mr. Venn) is his despairing cry.” Lady Huntingdon wrote to her +afflicted relative, and her words were blessed to his most sorrowful +and anguished spirit. “A thousand and thousand times (he tells her +after his recovery) do I bless and praise my God for the words of +comfort and consolation which your Ladyship’s letters conveyed to my +mournful<span class="pagenum" id="Page_302">[302]</span> heart, dismayed and overwhelmed as it was by the pressure of +my calamities. “Righteous art thou, O Lord, and just are thy judgments.”</p> + +<p>He was soon tried still further, for the health and strength of Lady +Margaret Ingham now sensibly and visibly declined; to the last she +continued to exercise those Christian graces—faith, patience, and +resignation to the will of her Heavenly Father—for which she had +been long distinguished. Of herself and her efforts her view was ever +humble, and any reference to her usefulness she met with grateful +acknowledgments of the sovereignty of that grace that made her the +instrument of good to others. Her end, though painful, was triumphant. +She welcomed the hour—she longed to receive the prize of her high +calling. Mrs. Medhurst and Miss Wheeler repaired to Aberford, and +witnessed her release from the flesh: to both she exclaimed, with all +her wonted energy, “Thanks be to God! thanks be to God! the moment’s +come, the day is dawning!” and thus in holy extasy she winged her way +to glory. Miss Wheeler announced her death to the Countess, who wrote a +letter of consolation to Mr. Ingham; from the reply to which we quote, +as a further illustration of her Ladyship’s happiness in the hour of +trial:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“When she had no longer strength to speak to me (writes Mr. +Ingham), she looked most sweetly at me and smiled. On the +Tuesday before she died, when she had opened her heart to me, +and declared the ground of her hope, her eyes sparkled with +divine joy, her countenance shone, her cheeks were ruddy; I +never saw her look so sweet and lovely in my life. All about her +were affected; no one could refrain from tears, and yet it was a +delight to be with her.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Lady Margaret died on the 30th of April, 1768, in her 68th year; she +was borne to the grave by devout men, and wept by the tears of the +Church.</p> + +<p>Mr. Romaine, in a letter to Mrs. Medhurst, says—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I got a good advancement by the death of Lady Margaret, and +was led into a sweet path of meditation, in which I went on +contemplating till my heart burned within me.... Many a time my +spirit has been refreshed with hearing her relate simply and +feelingly how Jesus was her life.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Her marriage with Mr. Ingham had increased his means, but before that +event his benevolence was no less remarkable than his liberality +afterwards. His purse supplied the expenses of almost all his +preachers. He survived her Ladyship only four years. In person he is +said to have been extremely handsome—“too handsome for a man,” and the +habitual expression of his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_303">[303]</span> countenance was most prepossessing. He was +a gentleman; temperate, and irreproachable in his morals; as a public +speaker, animated and agreeable, rather than eloquent; studious of the +good conversation of his people, and delicately fearful of reproach to +the cause of Christ. His son Ignatius, by his wavering faith, caused +some uneasiness and regret to the friends of his distinguished parents.</p> + +<p>Soon after the establishment, by Lady Huntingdon, of a College in +Wales, Mr. Edward Riddell, a pious Dissenter, who, having made a casual +visit to Hull, was, by a series of providential events, induced to +remain there, wrote to her Ladyship to request her to send down to him +some of the students; for he and others had separated from the Church +with which they had been connected, and a new place of worship was +much wanted in Hull. Her Ladyship complied in this, as in all cases, +where the means of spreading the holy Gospel were within her reach. +The names of the first students at Trevecca who went down to Hull are +irrecoverably lost, but their doctrine is known to have created a deep +feeling in that town. Rich and poor thronged the chapel to hear of +human depravity, of atonement for sin by the sacrifice of Christ, of +justification freely given by grace, of imputed righteousness, and of +the Spirit’s work in regeneration, sanctification, and comfort. Among +the converts Mr. Riddell mentions in a letter to Lady Huntingdon, full +of gratitude for the generous aid she had lent his “infant society,” +a Mr. Milner, head master of the grammar-school, and lecturer of the +principal church in Hull. “He is constant in his attendance on the +ministry of your Ladyship’s students, of whom he has made particular +enquiries concerning your Ladyship’s College in Wales, the teaching +of its president and tutors, and also concerning the chapels at Bath, +Brighton, &c.” Mr. Riddell requests her Ladyship will write to Mr. +Milner, and also urges a visit from one of her Ladyship’s chaplains, +and, after due acknowledgment for all Lady Huntingdon’s efforts in the +cause of the Gospel, says, “The land is still before you, in which the +seed has never yet been sown.” The Mr. Milner here alluded to was a +native of Leeds, born of parents who, if not great or noble, were the +ornaments of the sphere in which they moved. Joseph, their son, owed +much of his deep religious feeling to his mother, a constant hearer +of the Rev. John Edwards. He was introduced by his parent to the Rev. +Christopher Atkinson, of Thorp Arch, near Tadcaster, one of the first +Methodists when at Oxford, and a correspondent of Whitefield, the +Wesleys, Ingham, Hervey, &c., and to his son, the Rev. Myles Atkinson, +afterwards vicar of Kippax, and minister<span class="pagenum" id="Page_304">[304]</span> of St. Paul’s, at Leeds. He +became assistant in the school of Mr. Atkinson, and also in the care +of his church; but Mr. Milner has himself declared that he did not +then feel the true faith, but preached himself, rather than Jesus. +His great ambition was literary fame and the applause of his hearers. +His first sermon at Hull was much applauded, but years afterwards +he took that very discourse into the pulpit, dwelt upon its errors, +exposed its fallacies, and contrasted its doctrines with those he then +avowed. Even the early Methodists themselves were similarly misled; +for they had then scarcely got beyond the natural, though erroneous +hope, of saving themselves by a rigid observance of the law—by a +superstitious excess in abstinence, nay, fasting, instead of simply +looking to the Lord Jesus for righteousness and strength, and making +his merits the sole ground of their justification before God. Mr. +Milner, who was a favourite with his patrons, the Mayor and Aldermen, +had happily secured his election to the school and lectureship before +any outward manifestation had been given of his inward change. Had it +been otherwise his aged mother might have died for want, his niece and +nephew have remained destitute orphans, his brother<a id="FNanchor_164" href="#Footnote_164" class="fnanchor">[164]</a> have laboured +with his hands through life, at the manufactures in Yorkshire—nay, the +town of Hull might have continued without the sound of the Gospel from +the pulpits of the Established Church, ere one vote would have been +given to him for either school or lectureship.</p> + +<p>His moral character was without spot; he was regular, temperate, and +decorous, orthodox and loyal, admired for his preaching as well as +for his learning, and eagerly entrusted with the education of the +children of the chief inhabitants of Hull, with whom he was extremely +popular. It was then that the students of Lady Huntingdon’s College +at Trevecca, by their preaching in Hull, opened the eyes of his mind +to its darkness, and impressed him with the truth of that saying, +“that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, even the chief +of sinners.” They proved to him that he was in the condition of the +unregenerate; and as the light shone on his mind, he poured it out upon +his people, discovering error by the gradual revelation of the truth as +it is in Jesus. It was clear to all that he was in earnest, and that +because he had believed, therefore had he spoken; yet conviction of his +truth did not persuade others. The man who had become intolerable in +the pulpit soon became an unwelcome guest at table, and the “Methodist” +Milner fell out of favour with the men of the world. Except once a +year, when<span class="pagenum" id="Page_305">[305]</span> he preached officially as chaplain to the Mayor, few of the +superior rank ever attended his ministry, but the common people heard +him gladly, and his large church was crowded. The “enthusiast” Milner +became the subject of scandal and foul-faced reproach, and the victim +of intolerable though petty persecution. Now he was described as an +oily hypocrite, courting, by an affected sanctity, the patronage of the +Earl of Dartmouth, Chief Baron Smythe, the Countess of Huntingdon, “and +other notorious enthusiasts;” at another time he was said to be spurred +on by the love of popular applause; and at another the cry was, that +“Milner was a madman!”</p> + +<p>At this moment, Mr. Harris, minister of Dagger-lane Chapel, had +occasion to leave Hull for a period, and at his request Lady Huntingdon +sent down the Rev. William Tyler to supply his place. Mr. Tyler was +about the same age as Milner, and the latter attended his ministry as +one might be expected to do who had been called at the same time and by +the same means, and they found mutual support and improvement in their +communications, which led to an enduring friendship. Lady Huntingdon +soon commenced a correspondence with Mr. Milner, who had thus been +converted by the ministry of her students. In a letter to Mr. Romaine, +her Ladyship says, “I have some students at Hull whose ministry has +been remarkably owned. Dear Mr. Milner writes me word that he has +reason to bless God for putting it into my head to send ministers to +Hull, as the plain preaching of the Gospel of Jesus, not with words and +reasoning which man’s wisdom teacheth, but as the Holy Ghost teacheth, +God has been pleased to honour and bless, in convincing him of the +great necessity he was under of securing an interest in Christ.”<a id="FNanchor_165" href="#Footnote_165" class="fnanchor">[165]</a></p> + +<p>Mr. Tyler was, like Mr. Milner, descended from honest but poor +progenitors; his father, a pious and industrious man, had him +instructed in the ordinary branches of education, and at fourteen +years of age he was bound apprentice to a watchmaker in London; +but his master dying in the first year of his service, young Tyler +returned to his father’s house, which he quitted no more until, in his +twenty-fourth year, he was called to preach<span class="pagenum" id="Page_306">[306]</span> the Gospel. The habits of +virtue he had acquired beneath the parental roof had been shaken in +London, where evil company, especially some of the singers and dancers +at Sadler’s Wells, led him into some excesses. With such a party he had +joined, to create a riot at the Tabernacle; but no sooner was the text +uttered, than feelings of home and heaven rushed upon his heart at the +same instant, and he resolved at once to leave for ever the associates +who had misled him. This resolution he had strength of mind to keep, +and his return home occurred in happy time to prevent any backsliding +or yielding of the spirit. He eagerly accepted the offer of the good +Lady Huntingdon, to whose notice he had been recommended, to go to +her Ladyship’s College, at Trevecca. Here he would fain have acquired +that knowledge from which the scantiness of his early instruction had +excluded him, especially the original languages of the holy Scriptures; +but no sooner had he arrived in Wales than his hand was put to the +plough, and his time was devoted to preaching in different parts of the +country. He was continually travelling, and his sermons were, for the +most part, studied on horseback.</p> + +<p>He had not been a long time resident in Hull before Mr. Milner proposed +to him to go to Cambridge; and as he had been a Dissenter less by +choice than circumstances, to extend his usefulness by obtaining +Episcopal ordination. Mr. Milner devoted himself to the task of +instructing his friend in the necessary preparatory knowledge, and +recommended him to a benevolent society, at whose expense he was sent +to Magdalene College, Cambridge, in November 1778. He took a Bachelor’s +degree, and was ordained deacon in the Temple Church, by the Bishop +of London, on Trinity Sunday, in the year 1782. His title was to the +churches of Partney and Dulby, in Lincolnshire; and by the patronage +of Lord Monson he became perpetual curate of the latter. The rector of +Partney, after three years’ service, dismissed him from his curacy for +holding prayer-meetings in his own and other houses; but in 1786 he was +presented by the Lord Chancellor to the living of Braytoft, where he +laboured for twenty years, serving three churches, and riding sixteen +miles every Sunday, in rain and snow, as well as in sunshine, through +the worst roads in England. In 1806, Dr. Fowler gave him the living of +Ashby, near Spilsby, where he continued till July 14, 1808, when the +Lord dismissed him from this world of sin and sorrow, in the sixtieth +year of his age, leaving a widow and one daughter to lament his loss.</p> + +<p>It will be asked, doubtless, what part Lady Huntingdon took when Mr. +Tyler, at Mr. Milner’s suggestion, left Trevecca, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_307">[307]</span> her Ladyship’s +religious Connexion, to go to the University and to seek ordination? +The following letter to Mr. Milner will answer the question:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“It is no consolation, my dear Sir, that you have so honestly +and so heartily embarked in the cause of good men, of angels, +and of God. Recollect, ‘it is good to be zealously affected +always in a good cause.’ Blessed be God that you have put your +lip to the Gospel trumpet and sounded salvation to the guilty. +Be not deterred by the shafts of ridicule, or the opposition +of the profane. Remember, the God whom you serve ‘rides on the +whirlwind and directs the storm.’ Your progress may be retarded, +but your triumph is secure. Though earth and hell combine their +force against you, yet you shall do the work the Great Head +of the Church has marked out for you. Labour earnestly, for +you shall not labour in vain. Up and be doing, in the name and +for the sake of Christ! slumber not at your post. Be thankful, +highly thankful, that the Lord will condescend to let you do +anything for him and the furtherance of his kingdom among men. +Go on, my good Sir, go on with your blessed work, for it will +not cover you with confusion in the last great day. By and by +you will reap the fruits of your faith and labour of love, +and hear your great Master say unto you—‘Well done, good and +faithful servant.’</p> + +<p>“Universal good to all is my only object upon earth; and I only +look for further light to promote more extensively the honour +of Christ and the best interests of the multitude everywhere +perishing for lack of knowledge. From your most just and +forcible representation, I feel it expedient to relinquish my +claims on the services of Mr. Tyler. Of his abilities you are +capable of judging; and I can supply you with every honourable +and satisfactory testimonial in favour of his piety, temper, and +conduct. With exemplary devotedness and zeal he has laboured +in my plan, and his ministry has everywhere been accompanied +with the converting power of divine grace. His steadfast +faith, his ardent and exalted zeal and singleness of heart, +and his superior merits and talents, qualify him for occupying +a distinguished place amongst the preachers of the Gospel. +Actuated, I trust, by the noblest motives by which the human +mind can be swayed, he has devoted himself to the work of the +ministry; and with the enjoyment of the approbation of his +Great Master, which will ever be his best and highest reward, +may he see also the accomplishment of his heart’s desire—the +conversion of souls to God and Christ.</p> + +<p>“With respect to the work amongst us, of which you seem anxious +to be informed, I have the pleasure to tell you it is very +generally on the increase; and very many in the large towns +where I have chapels have felt the saving efficacy of redeeming +love and the quickening grace of the Holy Ghost. The Sun of +Righteousness has risen, in many villages and country places, +with healing on its wings. There is a trembling and shaking +among the dry bones—sinners are enquiring the way to Zion with +their faces thitherwards—multitudes are a living comment upon +the truths which they believe—and a great success which hath +attended the labours of the ministers and students loudly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_308">[308]</span> +proclaims that the ‘fields are white already to the harvest;’ +and the Spirit of the Lord whispers in our ears—‘The time to +favour Zion, yea, the set time is come.’</p> + +<p>“It affords me the most cordial satisfaction to see a goodly +number of godly young men offering themselves to the service of +our adorable Saviour, of whose talents and piety I judge most +favourably. The school of the prophets at my beloved Trevecca +affords great advantages to young men, as preparatory to the +work, and so easy of access; but the labourers are still few +and the harvest plenteous. In private and in public, my dear +Sir, unite with the Israel of God in imploring the Lord of the +harvest more copiously to pour out his Spirit on the assemblies +of his saints, powerfully constraining a host of willing +labourers to come to the help of the Lord against the mighty.</p> + +<p>“It is my ardent wish and prayer to God that you may be enabled +to press forward with increasing ardour in the glorious cause. +You are a living witness that Jesus Christ has power to forgive +and to subdue sin. Glory to God! Take heed unto yourself and +unto your doctrines; continue in them, for in doing this, +through the divine blessing, you shall both save yourself, and +them that hear you Sabbath after Sabbath; and from day to day +rehearse to your people, and to all you can collect together, +the joyful tidings which the Gospel proclaims. Persuaded that +you are connected with many wrestling souls, I cannot conclude +without proffering to them and you an earnest request for my +unworthy self and those devoted souls who serve God in the +Gospel of his Son—‘Pray for us.’ That you may be wise to win +souls, and may have many who shall be your joy and crown when +the Chief Shepherd of the sheep shall appear, is the earnest and +affectionate prayer of, my dear Sir, your sincere friend and +well-wisher in Christ,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“S. Huntingdon”</p> +</div> + +<p>During Lady Huntingdon’s visit to York (with Mr. Whitefield, Mr. Madan, +Mr. Venn, Captain Scott, &c.), before alluded to, a site for a chapel +was selected. It was in College-street, so called from the religious +brotherhood of the Collegiate Church of St. Wilfred. This chapel was +regularly supplied by the students of Trevecca until 1779, when the +Rev. W. Wren was invited from Lincolnshire, by Lady Huntingdon, to fill +the place of the student then on the spot, who happened to be ill. He +preached his first sermon from Peter’s question to Cornelius—“I ask, +therefore, for what intent you have sent for me?” His services were +most acceptable; and such was his contempt of labour, and zeal for +the calling of perishing sinners to Christ, that while filling this +cure of souls, he contrived to raise and maintain a congregation at +Barrow, first in a barn, and afterwards in a chapel built for that +purpose.<a id="FNanchor_166" href="#Footnote_166" class="fnanchor">[166]</a> The following letter from<span class="pagenum" id="Page_309">[309]</span> Lady Huntingdon exhibits her +Ladyship’s estimate of the devotedness of Mr. Wren in his new sphere of +duty:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I have a letter from Mr. Hubback<a id="FNanchor_167" href="#Footnote_167" class="fnanchor">[167]</a> that has occasioned my +heart to rejoice, that our gracious Lord appears for our labours +in York. Go on, my good young man, as one faithfully devoted to +his blessed service, and fear neither men nor devils. I have +experienced his continued mercies for more than forty years, in +the midst of contempt, malice, persecution without the Church; +and false brethren, treachery, ingratitude, and greater evils +than in the world, within the professing Church; yet no weapon +formed against me has prospered. I can, therefore, in the +confidence of a faithful friend to you, speak good of our King +of kings and Lord of Lords. And for ever blessed be his glorious +name, the Gospel is flourishing and spreading from east to west, +from north to south, under our poor unworthy labours; and thus +while we are testifying that <i>Jesus is exalted as a Prince +and a Saviour, to grant repentance and remission of sins</i>. +Mercy is our only joy that will ever last. Its praises will be +sounded in the courts of heaven by the redeemed to all eternity; +and in this exercise I would fain be foremost to glorify that +mercy which could save such a poor, lost, sinful soul as mine. +While the Lord seems to bless you, I hope you will not think of +stirring. Let me know when you think your message is over at +York, that I may have time to appoint a suitable student in your +place. I have a letter from the people you mention<span class="pagenum" id="Page_310">[310]</span> at Barrow. I +have many heart-aching prayers, occasioned by the calls I have, +from the fields being white unto the harvest, and the labourers +so few. Alas! some past days make me ready to weep, to find that +any poor thirsty souls want the waters of life, and that there +should be no ministration of them, through the want of a poor +earthen vessel to convey them by. Pray, pray in private, pray +in public, that our gracious Lord of the harvest would thrust +out labourers. We find none willing but such as he makes so for +his work. There are many willing for their own work, who say, +‘Lord! Lord!’ but he knows them not. I have reason to praise him +for his tender mercies; the deaths of many, in various parts of +our Connexion, would revive the most drooping hearts. And now +I faithfully commend you to the love, protection, and guidance +of Him who is able to make you wise in all that is good, and to +preserve you blameless to the day of his appearing. In these +prayers for you, I, as ever, remain, your never-ceasing friend, +for the Lord Christ’s sake,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“S. Huntingdon.”</p> + +<p class="p-min">“Spafields, January 4, 1780.”</p> +</div> + +<p>The chapel at York continued to be served by students from Trevecca, +in rotation. In the summer of 1781, the Rev. Cradock Glascott, on his +tour through the north of England, visited York, and preached twice in +her Ladyship’s chapel there. At Leeds, at Kirkburton, at Almondbury, +at Rotherham, and at other places, he also preached to the people +assembled at funerals, &c., as well as in the churches, with great +effect: his introduction everywhere being the name of Lady Huntingdon. +In the summer of 1785, Mr. Wills visited York. At Bradford, Mr. Cross +offered him the church of which he was vicar, but Mr. Wills, fearing to +involve him in any difficulty with his diocesan, declined the offer. At +Leeds, he preached in the White Chapel, formerly belonging to the Rev. +Mr. Edwards, and lately supplied by one of Lady Huntingdon’s senior +students, the Rev. Edward Parsons. At Heckmondwick, he preached in the +rain to several hundred people, including his old college friend, Mr. +Rowley, and seven or eight other ministers of the Establishment, and +of other creeds. At Wakefield, he preached in Mr. Bruce’s academy, one +day; on another, on Hunslet Common. At York, he preached, one evening +in the chapel, and the next at the Market-cross; several of the better +sort listened from their windows to his testimony, and though the bells +of a neighbouring church were kept ringing, the multitude held on and +profited. In 1794, Mr. Wydown visited York. He was of Lady Huntingdon’s +Connexion, and worshipped for some time in College-street, but on the +28th Dec, 1796, his increased congregation built him a separate chapel, +which was opened by the Rev. E. Parsons, of Leeds, and the Rev. H. +Howell, of Knaresborough,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_311">[311]</span> The congregation soon formed itself into +an Independent Church, and on the 18th April, 1797, Mr. Wydown was +ordained pastor.</p> + +<p>We have thus brought to a close the history of Lady Huntingdon’s +exertions in Yorkshire, and may conclude the present chapter by +recording the names of her ministers who remained in that county. Mr. +Parsons settled at Leeds; Mr. Povah, Mr. Bryan, Mr. Parish, and Mr. +Dawson, at Sheffield; Mr. Barnard, Mr. Arbor, and Mr. Morley, at Hull; +Mr. Mather, at Beverley; and Mr. Beard, at Scarborough.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 id="CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hangingindent">Death of the Hon. Henry Hastings—Lady Huntingdon’s exertions +at Brighton—Joseph Wall—Mr. Whitefield’s First Visit to +Brighton—Lady Huntingdon sells her Jewels—The Chapel opened by +Mr. Madan—Mr. Romaine—Oathall—Captain Scott—Anecdotes—Old +Abraham—Letters from Mr. Fletcher and Mr. Romaine—Christian +Perfection—Mr. Maxfield and Mr. Bell—Letter from Mr. +Romaine—Mr. Madan—Letters from Messrs. Berridge, Romaine, and +Venn—Mr. Jones (of St. Saviour’s).</p> +</div> + + +<p>The Hon. Henry Hastings, fourth son of the Countess of Huntingdon, was +born December 12, 1739, and departed this life at Brighton, September +13, 1757, aged eighteen. The only record of this event is found in the +following extract from a letter of Mr. Whitefield to Lady Huntingdon:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I burnt, but I believe I shall never forget the contents +of your Ladyship’s letter. Who but the Redeemer himself can +possibly describe the yearnings of such a tender parent’s heart? +Surely your Ladyship is called to cut off a right hand and +pluck out a right eye; ‘<i>but it is the Lord, let him do what +seemeth him good</i>.’ This was the language of Eli, whose sons +were sinners before the Lord exceedingly. This hath often been +the case with the best of people and the greatest favourites of +heaven; but none know the bitterness of such a cup but those who +are called to drink it. If not sweetened with a sense of the +love and mercy of God in Christ, who could abide it? O! what +physic, what strong physic, do our strong affections oblige +our Heavenly Father to give us! What pruning knives do these +luxuriant branches require, in order to preserve the fruit and +delicacy of the vine! Blessed be God, there is a time coming +when these mysterious, dignified providences shall be explained. +I am glad Mr. L. is with your Ladyship; he has a friendly heart. +May the Lord Jesus raise up your Ladyship many comforters! Above +all, may he come himself. He will—he will! O! that I could +bear your heavy load! But I can<span class="pagenum" id="Page_312">[312]</span> only, in my feeble way, bear +it on my heart, before Him who came to heal our sicknesses and +bear our infirmities. That your Ladyship may come out of these +fiery trials, purged and purified like the brightest gold, is +the earnest prayer of, ever honoured Madam, your most dutiful, +obliged, sympathizing, and ever ready servant for Christ’s sake,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“G. Whitefield.”</p> +</div> + +<p>The illness of her son had brought the Countess from her house in +Park-street to Brighton, where, during her stay, she felt seriously +concerned for the spiritual interests of its inhabitants, and +especially for the company that frequented that place of fashionable +resort, and used her utmost exertions to bestow upon them some +spiritual gift, by carrying to the houses of the nobility and the poor +the welcome tidings of salvation through faith in a crucified Redeemer.</p> + +<p>In the course of her ever-frequent visits of mercy and benevolence at +Brighton, she entered the lodgings of a soldier’s wife who had been +delivered of twins; and having first relieved the temporal wants of the +poor woman, conversed with her on spiritual subjects, affectionately +pointing her to the Fountain of atoning blood opened in the clefts +of the “Rock of Ages.” In the performance of this duty, her Ladyship +displayed an admirable mixture of discretion and zeal, solemnity and +sweetness; and no sooner did she begin to speak of her awful state, +by nature and by practice, and the imminent danger of her soul, if +she died unpardoned, unrenewed, unwashed in the Saviour’s blood, than +the poor soldier’s wife burst into a flood of tears under a sense +of her guilt and misery, and began to call on the Lord with all the +earnestness of which her dying frame was capable; and manifesting +an anxious desire to hear more of that precious salvation which is +provided for the guilty and the lost, she induced the Countess to +repeat her visits. The apartment was contiguous to a public bakehouse, +and the people that came to the oven heard, through a crack in the +partition, her Ladyship conversing on spiritual subjects. This soon +became noised abroad, and other poor women, feeling a desire to +hear such things, attended at the lodgings of the soldier’s wife at +appointed times for that purpose. Her usual method was to converse with +them about the one thing needful, to read and expound the Scriptures, +and to pray with them. In a little time the number of her hearers +increased, and as often as they could be collected she joyfully +proclaimed to them the unsearchable riches of Christ. The affectionate +and fervent manner in which she addressed them was an affecting +proof of the interest she took in their spiritual concerns. There +was an energy in her manner that was irresistible. Her subject—her +language—her gestures—the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_313">[313]</span> tone of her voice—and the turn of her +countenance, all conspired to fix the attention and affect the heart.</p> + +<p>On one of these occasions, a blacksmith, named Joseph Wall, a man +notorious for his profligacy, having been directed to the place of +meeting, obtained admittance, though none but females had hitherto +attended. Lady Huntingdon coming in, felt much surprise at seeing him +in a corner of the room, and hesitated in her mind whether to request +him to withdraw, or to refrain from speaking to him. At length she +determined to take no notice of him, and to proceed in her usual course +(which she considered was the path of duty), by praying with these poor +women, and setting before them the “things which accompany salvation.” +The word thus spoken was applied by the power of the Holy Spirit to +the heart of Joseph Wall, and from that time he became a distinguished +monument of the power of divine grace, so that all who knew him were +constrained to acknowledge the marvellous change. For a period of +twenty-nine years he adorned the doctrine of God his Saviour by a life +of holiness, and through every period of his religious life appeared +as a pilgrim and stranger in the world. He told a friend, a day or two +before his departure for glory, “that he longed to be dissolved, that +he was very happy, had not a doubt of his salvation, and would not +change his state with the king.” About two hours before he expired, +every breath appearing as though it would be the last, his lips were +observed to move, and his anxious and affectionate daughter, bending +her head, heard him slowly but distinctly utter—“Come, Lord Jesus! +come quickly!” The Great Shepherd of the people heard and answered his +prayer, and took him to the heavenly fold the latter end of June, 1786.</p> + +<p>While the Countess was thus usefully and actively engaged, a +gentlewoman, who lived in the vicinity of Brighton, dreamed that a tall +lady, whose dress she particularly noticed, would come to that town, +and be the means of doing much good. It was about three years after +this dream that Lady Huntingdon went down thither. One day the above +person met her Ladyship in the street, and on seeing her exclaimed, “O, +Madam, you are come!” Lady Huntingdon, surprised at the singularity of +such an address from an entire stranger, thought at first the woman +was deranged. “What do you know of me?” asked the Countess. “Madam +(replied the person), I saw you in a dream three years ago, dressed +just as you appear now;” and related the whole of the dream to her. In +consequence of the acquaintance which was then formed between them, +Lady Huntingdon<span class="pagenum" id="Page_314">[314]</span> was made instrumental in her conversion, and she died +about a year afterwards in the confidence of faith.</p> + +<p>It was thus that her zeal and piety prepared the way for the more +public ministrations of Mr. Whitefield, who visited Brighton in the +year 1759, and at first preached under a tree in a field behind the +White Lion Inn.<a id="FNanchor_168" href="#Footnote_168" class="fnanchor">[168]</a></p> + +<p>The awakened people began to increase in numbers, and a small +Christian society was afterwards established, whose members met for +prayer and praise, and the reading of the Scriptures. This promising +state of things induced Lady Huntingdon to erect a small but neat +chapel contiguous to her house, on the site of the present one in +North-street, the expense of which she either wholly, or in part, +defrayed by the sale of her jewels, to the amount of six hundred and +ninety-eight pounds fifteen shillings.<a id="FNanchor_169" href="#Footnote_169" class="fnanchor">[169]</a></p> + +<p>The chapel was opened in the summer of 1761, by the Rev. Martin Madan. +To Mr. Madan succeeded Messrs. Romaine, Berridge, Venn, and Fletcher, +who severally took the charge of a congregation and people for whom +they soon learned to cultivate the sincerest affection. Instant in +season and out of season, these apostolic men diligently performed +the work of evangelists, and lost no opportunity of proclaiming the +unsearchable riches of Christ. Here, as in other places, they laboured +together for the welfare of the Church of God; and as they worshipped +often together in the courts below, they are now doubtless worshipping +in the courts above, and enjoying the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_315">[315]</span> felicity of those, “who, having +turned many to righteousness, shall shine as the stars for ever and +ever.”</p> + +<p>No sooner had these apostolic men unfolded the standard of the true +cross, than a violent clamour was raised against them and their +doctrines, and frequent attempts were made to intimidate them from +preaching and teaching Jesus Christ. But, regardless of the torrents +of reproach which were continually rolling on them from every quarter, +they prosecuted their labours in the most undaunted manner; and the +Great Head of the Church bore testimony to the words of his servants, +and confirmed it by awakening and converting many souls under their +ministry. If God will work, none can let it; the cause is his, and he +must and will conquer; and any instrument is sufficient, though it were +but the jaw-bone of an ass, when the Spirit of the Lord comes upon the +appointed Samson.</p> + +<p>The connexion of Mr. Romaine with the Countess of Huntingdon, as +her chaplain, exhibits the interesting picture of two characters of +exalted excellence striving together for the hope of the Gospel—the +one by her influence and wealth, the other by his zeal and diligence. +And, to the honour of Mr. Romaine, his long and active labours were +without the least expectation of any remuneration; and all he ever +got from Lady Huntingdon barely paid his journeys and his expenses. +Notwithstanding the basest stories, neither he nor Mr. Whitefield were +ever a shoe-latchet the richer for any service done her Ladyship. Not +that this is meant to impeach her boundless liberality: never perhaps +did mortal make a nobler use of what she possessed: her time, her +talents, her soul and body were consecrated to God. She knew that it +was laudable to feed the hungry and clothe the naked: but all inferior +considerations seemed to be lost in her superior concern for the +everlasting happiness of perishing mortals.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Never (says the late Rev. John Eyre, one of her senior +ministers) shall I lose the strong impression which was made +on my mind in a conversation I had with her about the wants of +a family who appeared to be in great distress:—‘I can do for +them (said she) but very little. I am obliged to be a spectator +of miseries which I pity, but cannot relieve. For when I gave +myself up to the Lord, I likewise devoted to him all my fortune; +with this reserve, that I would take with a sparing hand what +might be necessary for my food and raiment, and for the support +of my children, should they live to be reduced. I was led to +this (continued she) from a consideration, that there were many +benevolent persons who had no religion, who would feel for the +temporal miseries of others, and help them; but few, even among +professors, who had a proper concern for the awful condition of +ignorant and perishing souls. What, therefore, I can save for a +while out of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_316">[316]</span> my own necessaries, I will give them; but more I +dare not take without being guilty of sacrilege.’”</p> +</div> + +<p>The value of such a life can never be ascertained till the heavens and +the earth be no more. And then, when temporal happiness and misery +shall have vanished like the illusion of a dream, thousands and tens +of thousands will be thankful that she lived so long the faithful +servant of God, and the happy instrument of their conversion. All could +see her zeal and her devotion, but herself. The Churches of Christ +honoured her as the chief of saints, but she always confessed herself +to be the chief of sinners. Her life was a better comment than all +that was ever written by expositors on those words of Christ, “Make to +yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, that when ye fail +they may receive you into everlasting habitations.” What an innumerable +multitude, who had never seen her face in the flesh, were waiting with +rapture to receive her happy spirit into mansions of everlasting glory!</p> + +<p>Another house of prayer was the next work of her Ladyship’s hands. +An old gentleman of the name of Warden, a justice of the peace for +the county of Sussex, a man well known, then occupied the mansion +of Oathall, which had formerly belonged to a branch of the house of +Shirley,<a id="FNanchor_170" href="#Footnote_170" class="fnanchor">[170]</a> from which her Ladyship descended. Hearing of her wish +to carry the Gospel into the wilds of Sussex, he waited on her at +Brighton, and offered to let her the house for a term of years for the +very purpose she meditated. The agreement was immediately adjusted, she +entered upon the premises—fitted up a large hall for the chapel,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_317">[317]</span> and +furnished the upper rooms for her own residence, and for the ministers +she brought with her. There, Messrs. Romaine, Venn, Madan, Berridge, +Shirley, Townsend, Toplady, and Haweis, with many others, yielded their +services, and there were they blessed with some singular tokens of +divine favour, among a people in whom much of the simplicity of the +Gospel was apparent.</p> + +<p>Captain Scott, son of Richard Scott, Esq., of Betton, in the county +of Salop, an ancient and highly respectable family, having received a +polite education, embraced the profession of arms in his seventeenth +year. He began his military career as cornet, and was promoted to the +rank of Captain in the 7th regiment of Dragoons. He was present at the +famous battle fought near Minden, on the 1st of August, 1759, attached +to the cavalry of the right wing, commanded by Lord George Sackville.</p> + +<p>The danger to which, as a soldier, he was exposed, was seriously +impressed upon his mind. This led to a train of thought and a +succession of resolutions, which appear to have been preparatory to his +acquiring self-knowledge, to his reception of the Gospel, and which +eventually led to the conversion of his soul.</p> + +<p>It was daily his practice (though felt as a toilsome duty) to read the +psalms and lessons of the day—a practice well known to his brother +officers: but as his conduct in other respects conformed to theirs, +they gave him no opposition, but were used pleasantly to ask him, +“Well, Scott, have you read your psalms and lessons to-day?” But while +he continued to strive to make himself righteous by his own works, he +necessarily laboured in vain. Happening to be quartered somewhere in +the neighbourhood of Oathall, and being out on a shooting party, he +was driven by a storm for cover to the house of a farmer, with whom +some horses of the regiment were at grass. There he found several +labourers, who had taken shelter in the same cottage. The farmer being +a pious man, and Captain Scott happening at this time to be in one of +his “religious fits,” as he was accustomed to call his periods of good +resolution, he entered into conversation, and heard him speak on divine +subjects in a way that astonished him. This naturally produced the +enquiry, where they had collected their information and the sentiments +they expressed. They told him at the hall yonder, where there was now +a very famous man, a Mr. Romaine, preaching for Lady Huntingdon, and +they importunately invited him to come and hear for himself. This he +determined to do the following Sunday. Thither he accordingly repaired, +and he was particularly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_318">[318]</span> struck with the neatness and solemnity which +pervaded the congregation, as well as with the impressive manner in +which the service was conducted. Mr. Romaine preached on our Lord’s +words, in John xiv. 6—“<i>I am the way</i>.” The truth then delivered +was exactly suited to the case of Captain Scott; and God, who, in +his good providence, had brought him to hear it, by the power of his +grace made it effectual to the everlasting benefit of his soul. From +that time the happy change commenced for which hundreds have since had +reason to bless God, who have been called under his ministry.</p> + +<p>He continued a soldier, but his altered conduct exposed him to many +annoyances in the army; and as he was marching through Leicester with +his regiment, he opened his commission as a minister of the Lord Jesus +Christ. A pious person, to whom he was introduced, having, probably, +been informed of his usefulness in holding meetings with some of the +men in his regiment, put him into a parlour, and left him with no other +company but a Bible, a hymn-book, and his God, telling him that he must +preach there that evening. He complied with the earnest request, and +thus entered into that work to which the Great Head of the Church had +chosen him, and in which he honoured him with abundant success.</p> + +<p>Having put his hand to the plough, he never turned back, but preached +in his regimentals wherever he was stationed. Mr. Fletcher, in a letter +to Lady Huntingdon, says—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I went last Monday to meet Captain Scott, one of the +first-fruits that have grown for the Lord at Oathall—a captain +of the truth—a bold soldier of Jesus Christ. God hath thrown +down before him the middle wall of bigotry, and he boldly +launches into an irregular usefulness. For some months he has +exhorted his dragoons daily; for some weeks he hath preached +publicly at Leicester, in the Methodist meeting-house, in his +regimentals, to numerous congregations, with good success. The +stiff regular ones pursue him with hue and cry, but I believe he +is quite beyond their reach. God keep him zealous and simple! I +believe this <i>red-coat</i> will shame many a black one. I am +sure he shames me.”</p> +</div> + +<p>In a subsequent letter he adds:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Captain Scott set out last Monday for York, after making a +great stir for good in Shrewsbury—he hath been a prophet to +several in his own country.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Mr. Whitefield gave some account of him in the Tabernacle pulpit, and +said—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I have invited the Captain to come to London, and bring his +artillery to Tabernacle-rampart, and try what execution he can +do here.”</p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_319">[319]</span></p> + +<p>He was one of the supplies there for upwards of <i>twenty</i> years; +and, it should be noticed, to the praise of Mr. Romaine’s liberality, +that he not only gave him encouragement to preach, but was particularly +active in bringing him to that place. A tremendous storm of thunder and +lightning, which took place as he was entering London, was construed +by him as a probable indication of the divine displeasure, and caused +him to fear that the case of the old prophet misleading the young one +was exemplified in his present circumstance. He, however, persevered, +and came to the Tabernacle, where an immense congregation was assembled +to hear him; but when the season for addressing them arrived, he was +absorbed in tears, and his utterance completely failed him; at length +he became composed, and was enabled to deliver his message in a manner +that laid the foundation of his future popularity in London.</p> + +<p>After a while, Captain Scott sold his commission, and quitted the army +for the ministry of the Gospel; and thus ended all the brilliant views +of military rank and fame to which, had he continued in the army, he +might have aspired. He was well qualified for a military command. His +mind was fertile, his apprehension quick, his utterance ready, and his +fortitude great. The way to worldly honour was open before him. He +had a prospect of obtaining what was once the object of his highest +ambition; but the great Sovereign of the world and the Church had +destined him to more important services and higher honours than any +that mere military heroes can ever perform or attain.</p> + +<p>Another fruit of the ministry of her Ladyship’s chaplains at Oathall +was an old man, called Abraham. He was born in Sussex; being an idle +youth, he enlisted for a soldier, and after fifty years’ service, +obtained his discharge, and with his wife settled near Oathall. +He grew serious, sought after truth, attended at church, and, not +quite satisfied with what he heard at home, went round to the +neighbouring churches; but what he heard seemed very unsatisfactory +and contradictory to what the Church prayers he read seemed to speak. +Uncertain what was truth, he roamed about, till providentially the +chapel opened by Lady Huntingdon at Oathall awakened attention; and +though he did not like the Methodists, he resolved for once to go and +hear. He was then just <i>a hundred years old</i>, but still hearty, +and in the perfect use of his faculties. Mr. Venn was at that time +with Lady Huntingdon, and preached at Oathall the morning old Abraham +attended. The truth struck his mind with an evidence and power he +had never before felt. He listened with the deepest attention and +delight—he could hardly contain himself; and as soon as the service +was ended, he laid his hand<span class="pagenum" id="Page_320">[320]</span> upon the shoulder of a neighbour who was +next him, “Ah! (says he) neighbour, this is the very truth of God’s +word which I have been seeking, and never heard it so plain before. +Here will I abide.”</p> + +<p>From that day his conversation bespoke the blessed Spirit he had +received. He spoke of that day as the day of his birth, and used to +say that he was a child born at a hundred years old. He attended all +the ministers whom Lady Huntingdon sent, and continued to make happy +advances in knowledge and experience. His age and white head made him +very distinguished, and his conversation rendered him very precious to +all the serious persons round the neighbourhood.</p> + +<p>One day Lady Huntingdon was talking with him, and he was giving an +account of his little trials to her:—“Ah, my Lady (says he), ’tis my +grief that my old partner is a little too apt to run ahead sometimes: +but I will tell ye what happened the other day—when that remarkable +darkness and tempest came over us here, she was terribly frightened, +and thought it was the day of judgment, and in she ran with an old +gossip of hers, who was of her mind and against me, and down they fell +upon their knees upon the floor, and said ‘Abraham, come and pray +for us.’ So said I, ‘What is the matter, dame?’ ‘O (said she), it is +the day of judgment! it is the day of judgment! Ar’n’t you afraid?’ +‘Afraid! no (said I); what should I be afraid of? If it is the day of +judgment, then I shall see Christ Jesus my Lord, and that will be a +joyful sight.’ So, my Lady, I began to sing a hymn. By and by the storm +was over, and then they both forgot the fright it had put them in.” He +died in the 106th year of his age, persevering in the Christian walk, +and adorning the doctrine of our Saviour in all things; and, as a ripe +sheaf in the day of harvest, was gathered into the bosom of our Saviour +in peace by a gentle dissolution, old and full of days.</p> + +<p>The summer of 1762 Lady Huntingdon spent principally in Yorkshire, +where her active spirit was engaged in forming fresh plans for erecting +the standard of Immanuel “amongst the thickest ranks of his enemies.” +The “little cloud” at Brighton, which at the first was “no bigger than +a man’s hand,” had gradually increased, and diffused such a copious +shower of blessings as fertilized the hearts of many in that part of +the vineyard. Anxious that the progress of the Gospel should still +continue to increase—that the banner of redeeming love should be +unfurled wider, and the sound of the Gospel trumpet wax louder and +louder in that favoured place, she continued her exertions in procuring +suitable supplies, and sought the aid of those apostolic labourers who +were fired with zeal for their Master’s<span class="pagenum" id="Page_321">[321]</span> honour, to convey this best +of blessings to the many yet enveloped in the shades of ignorance and +perishing for lack of knowledge.</p> + +<p>Mr. Fletcher was obliged to decline her Ladyship’s invitation, as will +be seen by the following extract from a letter dated Madely, 26th July, +1762, and addressed to the Countess of Huntingdon, Knaresborough, +Yorkshire. “I humbly thank you for your obliging invitation to wait +for your Ladyship at Brighthelmstone. It was the more welcome, as it +hath removed the fear I had that my wish was presumptuous. Hitherto I +have been closely tied to my parish: no clergyman chose to have any +intercourse with me, and I have not yet preached out of my church. Of +late, blessed be the precious name of Jesus for it, the work deepens +in the hearts of those that have been convinced, and I begin not to +be at a loss for the company of some sincere fellow-travellers to our +Jerusalem above. One is now entering that glorious city through the +gate of death, with the steadiness of faith and the joy of hope which +attended dear Mr. Jones<a id="FNanchor_171" href="#Footnote_171" class="fnanchor">[171]</a> in his last moments. May our latter end be +like theirs!”</p> + +<p>Mr. Romaine says—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I have so managed my matters as to be able to set out for +Brighthelmstone on Monday morning next: and, God willing, shall +stay there till Michaelmas. O! join your prayers with ours, that +the Lord of the harvest would be with us, and bless our labours +in this part of his harvest-field. By all accounts, the desires +of the people are very pressing for my coming down to help them, +which I hope is of the Lord’s doing, and is a good token for us. +But be that as it will, it is ours to sow the seed—to rain and +shine upon it, and to give the increase, is God’s part. To him +we must leave it.</p> + +<p>“I should be glad to hear from your Ladyship about any part of +my work in Brighthelmstone, and anything you would have me to +do relating to your house or affairs while I am there. It would +be a pleasure to me to hear from you. I am, with my wishes for +yours and Lady Selina’s health, your faithful friend and servant +for the Lord’s sake,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“W. Romaine.”</p> + +<p class="p-min">“August 21, 1762.</p> + +<p>“I breakfasted this morning with Sir Charles Hotham, who is, I +think, in good spirits, and all his friends.”</p> +</div> + +<p>About this time Mr. Wesley’s doctrine of the perfection of the +Christian character was taken up and carried to extravagant enthusiasm +by several ministers, of whom Mr. Fletcher speaks in the following +extract:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I have a particular regard for Maxfield and Bell; both of them +are<span class="pagenum" id="Page_322">[322]</span> my correspondents, I am strongly prejudiced in favour of +the witnesses, and do not willingly receive what is said against +them; but allowing that what is reported is one half mere +exaggeration, the tenth part of the rest shows that spiritual +pride, presumption, arrogance, stubbornness, party spirit, +uncharitableness, prophetic mistakes—in short, that <i>every +sinew</i> of enthusiasm is now at work in many of that body. I +do not credit any one’s bare word, but I ground my sentiments on +Bell’s own letters.</p> + +<p>“May I presume, unasked, to lay before you my mite of +observation? If I had it in my power to overlook the matter, as +you have, would it be wrong in me calmly to sit down with some +unprejudiced friends and lovers of both parties, and fix with +them the marks and symptoms of enthusiasm; then insist, at first +in love, and afterwards, if necessary, with all the weight of +my authority, upon those who <i>have them</i>, or <i>plead for +them</i>, either to stand to the sober rule of Christianity, or +<i>openly</i> to depart from us?”</p> +</div> + +<p>Matters every day became more desperate; and when Mr. Maxfield was +excluded from preaching in the chapels of Mr. Wesley, he took one for +himself, and drew away several hundreds of the society. The conduct of +George Bell and his followers drew great odium on the whole body of +the Methodists. Their wildness and enthusiasm daily increasing, Lady +Huntingdon hastened to London, to endeavour to stop the plague by every +means in her power.</p> + +<p>Her Ladyship had frequent opportunities of speaking to Mr. Maxfield +and others: and her conversation seems to have had some effect upon +that gentleman, for from that time he became more settled and more +Calvinistic in his sentiments. Soon after the change in his opinions, +he published an answer to Mr. Wesley’s Narrative, which Mr. Wesley was +far from approving. “It was (says he) at the pressing instances of Mr. +Whitefield and Lady Huntingdon that he wrote that wretched book against +me.” Mr. Fletcher did not consider it a wretched performance, for, +after a critical examination of it, he says—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Mr. Maxfield’s reply to Mr. Wesley’s answer seems to me just in +<i>some</i> points, and in <i>others</i> too severe. Mr. Wesley +is, perhaps, too tenacious of some expressions, and too prone to +credit what he wishes concerning some mistaken witnesses of the +state of fathers in Christ. Mr. Maxfield, perhaps, esteems too +little the inestimable privilege of being perfected in that love +which casts out fear. But, in general, I conceive, if I do not +presume of myself in answering your question, that it would be +better for babes, or young men in Christ, to cry for a growth in +grace, than to dispute whether fathers in Christ enjoy such or +such privileges.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Mr. Romaine’s visit to Brighton, and the effects of his ministry, were +peculiarly useful at this time, for some of these enthusiastic<span class="pagenum" id="Page_323">[323]</span> notions +on the doctrine of perfection, which had caused such mischief in +London, had crept amongst the society there, and threatened to disturb +the peace and tranquillity of the Church of Christ in that place. Mr. +Romaine’s letter to Lady Huntingdon, dated Lambeth, Nov. 11th, 1762, +details the particulars of what occurred on this occasion:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Madam—As you have got Mr. Madan down with you, I hope the Lord +Christ will make his ministry useful, and that his stay may be +as long as he chooses. I will undertake for any duty at the +Lock, or for all the duty, if he would let Mr. Haweis go his +intended journey. Although this be inconvenient for me, yet I +don’t mind that. I find my heart very closely knit to the little +church at Brighthelmstone, and would do anything to promote +their true happiness. My love to them would turn inconvenience +into a pleasure. Since I came to town several things have +happened to make the people more dear to me than when I was +among them. I find they are not to live long in peace—they are +going on too well to meet with no disturbance. The enemy has +begun to attack them, and has in part succeeded. He sees how +safe they are while they make Jesus all their salvation and all +their hope—and how happy while they live wholly by faith upon +him; and this vexes old Satan. Since he cannot dethrone our +exalted Head in heaven, he shows his malice against his members +upon earth. The temptation with which, at this day, he disturbs +them, is to hinder them from living upon Christ, as poor, needy, +helpless sinners, and from finding by faith all they want in +his fulness. This exalts the Saviour too much, and makes them +too safe and happy; therefore Satan would persuade them to +get riches, strength, and a clean heart, quite without sin in +themselves; so that then they may look inward with complacency +and delight, and look outwards on others of supposed smaller +attainments with a ‘<span class="allsmcap">STAND BY—I AM HOLIER THAN THOU</span>,’ +and look upwards with a ‘<i>God, I thank thee that I am not as +other men are</i>.’ Thus you see pride enters in, and Christ is +thrust out.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Mr. Madan appears to have remained at Brighton nearly three months, +with much utility to the cause of God in that town. Desirous of +supplying his place with the services of some able minister, her +Ladyship wrote to Mr. Berridge, Mr. Romaine, and Mr. Venn, inviting +them to Brighton, to proclaim the “unsearchable riches of Christ” to a +rapidly increasing congregation.</p> + +<p>Mr. Berridge says, in a letter dated Everton, Nov. 16, 1762—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I cannot see my call to Brighthelmstone; and I ought to see +it for myself, not another for me. Was any good done when I +was there? It was God’s doing: all the glory be to him. This +shows I did not then go without my Master, but it is no proof +of a second call. Many single calls have I had to villages, +when some good was done, but no further call. I am not well +able to ride so long a journey, and my heart<span class="pagenum" id="Page_324">[324]</span> is utterly set +against wheel-carriages in these roads. Indeed, I see not my +call—I cannot think of the journey; and therefore pray your +Ladyship to think no more of it. I write thus plainly, not out +of forwardness I trust, but to save your Ladyship the trouble +of sending a second request, and myself the pain of returning +a second denial. You threaten me, Madam, like a pope, not like +a mother in Israel, when you declare roundly that God will +scourge me if I do not come: but I know your Ladyship’s good +meaning, and this menace was not despised. It made me slow in +resolving, and of course slow in writing; it made me also attend +to the state of my own mind during its deliberation, which was +as follows:—Whilst I was looking towards the sea, partly drawn +thither with the hope of doing good, and partly driven by your +<i>Vatican Bull</i>, I found nothing but thorns in my way; but +as soon as I turned my eyes from it, I found peace; and now, +whilst I am sending a peremptory denial, I feel no check or +reproof within, which I generally do when I am not willing to go +about my Master’s business.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Mr. Venn observes, in a letter dated Huddersfield, December 10, 1762—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“In March or April I may be able to visit you and give you some +little assistance. I do love to minister to the dear flock at +Brighton; and, in order to do this, may the Spirit of God open +the eyes of my understanding more and more to see my need of +a Saviour, and to behold the suitableness, the freeness, and +fulness of redemption, which was wrought out by the Lord of Life +and Glory. O help me with your prayers, for truly I need them. I +thank you ten thousand times for all your repeated marks of love +and generosity to me and mine. Continue to pray for me, and the +Lord will return it to you sevenfold.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Mr. Romaine says, under date of Lambeth, Dec. 28, 1762—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Dear Madam—I have received the enclosed in a letter from Mr. +Grimshaw, and being engaged to preach on Saturday evening at +the Lock, I could not send it till this day’s post. My heart +and my prayers are with you; but the Lord does not make a way +for me to visit you. To him I submit in this (although it be +a great self-denial), as well as in other things. His will is +always good, and it is always good for us to be resigned to +it; but when the Spirit is willing, the flesh is often weak; +therefore the Lord repeats lesson upon lesson, line upon line, +to teach us to submit to his blessed and holy will. I am a poor +dull scholar, but he is a kind Master, and through him I get on, +though halting and slowly. Such am I, and such is he, that I can +be telling of nothing else but of his salvation all the day long.</p> + +<p>“I cannot forget the dear little church. I think they must be +better for my fervent prayers. The Lord Christ keep them all, +and add to their number. I hear Bateman has left you, but I +have not seen her. This life itself is changing, and therefore +we need not wonder all things in it change. But Jesus is the +same—He changeth not; and the happiness derived from Him is +the only unchanging happiness. May this be your portion and +mine! More we cannot ask, more we cannot have. I am, with great +respect, for the Lord’s sake, your servant.”</p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_325">[325]</span></p> + +<p>On the departure of Mr. Madan for London, his place was supplied by +Mr. Fletcher, who continued some weeks at Brighton, and was succeeded +by Mr. Howel Davies. The labours of these excellent men contributed, +with the divine blessing, to the restoration of peace and the healing +of those divisions which had caused Lady Huntingdon and her friends +so much uneasiness and anxiety. By the recent death of Mr. Jones, of +St. Saviour’s, she was deprived of a valuable and useful auxiliary +in the great work in which she was engaged. He had often preached at +her Ladyship’s in London, and she had calculated on his services at +Brighton and Oathall. His first awakening was by the gradual working +of the law upon his conscience; and his inward convictions of sin, +wrought by the Spirit of God, were very deep and distressing. While +under this concern Lady Huntingdon’s acquaintance with him first began; +and her great intimacy and friendship gave her a constant opportunity +of being a witness of God’s gracious dealings with his soul. He was +greatly strengthened and established in the faith of the Gospel by her +Ladyship’s advice and conversation. He had great gifts and great grace; +and he needed both for the work to which Providence called him. His +sweetness of natural temper, eminently great as it was, would never +have supported him under the numberless insults he met with, had it +not been strengthened, as well as adorned, by a sublimer influence. +It was this, and only this, which enabled him to overcome evil with +good, as well as to have, not the <i>form</i> only, but the <i>power of +godliness</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Dear Mr. Jones (observes her Ladyship) lived happily and died +rejoicing. He was long the subject of affliction, and often at +death’s door; but he was refined in the furnace of affliction, +and his growth in grace and knowledge of the Saviour great and +remarkable. My foolish heart fondly looked to his ministerial +labours at Brighton; but our glorious Head has frustrated my +views in this, as well as in many other ways, to humble me, and +teach me to look more constantly to Him who doeth what seemeth +him best.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Mr. Jones exchanged this lower world of sin and sorrow for the pure +unmixed joys of God’s eternal kingdom above on the 6th of June, 1762, +in the thirty-third year of his age.</p> +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_326">[326]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hangingindent">Dr. Haweis—Mr. Romaine driven from the Chapel of the +Broadway—Lord Dartmouth—Letters from Messrs. Romaine and +Conyers—Sinless Perfection—Letters from Messrs. Romaine +and Wesley—Erasmus, Bishop of Arcadia—Mr. Toplady—Letters +from Messrs. Fletcher and Berridge—Death of Lady Selina +Hastings—Colonel Hastings—Account of Lady Selina’s +Death—Letters from Lord Dartmouth—Mr. Venn—Mr. Fletcher—Mr. +Berridge—Oathall Chapel—Letters from Mr. Berridge—Mr. Venn’s +Complete Duty of Man—Letters from Messrs. Venn and Berridge.</p> +</div> + + +<p>Dr. Haweis was now preaching at the Lock, but the chapel in Broadway, +Westminster, becoming vacant by the death of Mr. Briant, the widow +proposed to let it to the Doctor, who applied to the Dean of +Westminster, then Bishop of Rochester, of which see the chapel was +a peculiar, for a licence. This modest application was ungraciously +refused. In vain did Dr. Haweis remonstrate; he had been oppressively +driven from Oxford, and had preached at the Lock Hospital. These were +his crimes, and an abuse of authority was thought justifiable, in order +to crush him. Happily these repeated insults moved him not one jot from +the line chalked out for him, nor did he cease to proclaim the glory of +that God and Saviour in whom he trusted.</p> + +<p>Dr. Haweis withdrew from the contest, but Mr. Romaine, who had already +a licence to preach in the diocese of London, opened the chapel, and +preached with wonderful effect from that pulpit; but before one year +expired the Bishop’s mandate compelled him to desist, under fears of +the terrors of the spiritual court, and to leave the congregation he +had with care collected. These able men were thus denied a privilege +which the most ignorant curate in the kingdom might have enjoyed. And +why? Because they had dared to preach the Gospel, and had offended +thereby those in authority, who loved darkness rather than light. +Lord Dartmouth offered Mr. Romaine a living in the country, and Mr. +Whitefield invited him first, and Dr. Haweis afterwards, to settle at +the great church in Philadelphia; but both had reasons for maintaining +their stand, and rearing the cross on the mount of the Lord’s house. +Mr. Romaine especially felt himself bound, like Cocles, to keep the +pass against Porsenna and his forces; yea, and if the bridge fell, to +leap into the Tiber.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_327">[327]</span></p> + +<p>Mr. Romaine wished to assist Lady Huntingdon, and would have succeeded +Mr. Howel Davies at Brighton, but Mr. Madan being refused admission +to his pulpit, and Dr. Haweis being still without a licence, he could +not conveniently leave London. Mr. Downing, who had been with Mr. +Romaine in town, had departed at the very time when Mr. Davies left her +Ladyship at Brighton; and Mr. Tilney, like the Doctor, was without a +licence. To this effect he wrote to Lady Huntingdon, under date of the +5th of February, 1763, from Lambeth; we shall not repeat that part of +the letter of which we have just given the substance; but the following +interesting extract may be acceptable:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Our kind love and continual good wishes to Lady Huntingdon. +It would be a great blessing if the Head of the Church should +have more places open to sound his fame and praise in your +neighbourhood; and if he has such a gracious design, there +shall not be wanting heralds to proclaim his style and titles. +Get churches, and you won’t want ministers. For my part, I am +quite fixed, and every day more so, in my present work. I am +called to it, and commanded therein to abide with God. People +say to me, you might be more useful here—or, what a great deal +of good you might do there. Alas! they know me not. What can I +do? Just nothing, except it be marring and spoiling all that I +take in hand: and I do it so entirely, that I want to hide my +face for shame. I don’t know that I ever got up to open my mouth +in public, but my heart smites me; and I am distressed beyond +measure, both with the sorry stuff I utter, and also with the +wretched manner of doing it. Such a very fool surely was never +set up for a preacher. Yea, at times I am so broken down with +the utter abhorrence I have of mine own ministry, that I could +go and live in the country with my mother, and seal up my mouth. +But then my dear tender Master gives me a cordial, and tells me +’tis good for me to be kept thus low, and his own glory shall +not be hurt by it. The poorness of the minister shall not make +the Gospel of none effect, but out of the mouths of babes and +sucklings he will perfect praise. Upon which I begin again to +lisp out his praises as well as I can, but at the very best I +am ashamed. I have such a view of the person of Christ, and of +his offices, and graces, and salvation, that when I attempt to +speak of them I know the highest description cannot come up to +their true merit and dignity, they being altogether divine and +infinite: and then I am quite discouraged, till I recollect that +all the tongues in heaven can only show forth half his praise, +and therefore I hope he will forgive me my poor thoughts of him, +and poor discourses, and poor doings for him. I see I must live +upon him in all things, as my Saviour, and then I get well.”</p> +</div> + +<p>The following is the letter of Dr. Conyers, dated Helmsley, February 8, +1763:—</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_328">[328]</span></p><div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Madam—It is with the utmost satisfaction and with the most +sincere affection that I now sit down to write to your Ladyship. +’Tis true, I never had the happiness of seeing you, but in the +bowels of Jesus Christ do I love you; and it is with the most +longing desire that I look forward to that happy, happy time +when I trust to be with your Ladyship <span class="allsmcap">FOR EVER</span>. O that +blessed God! that out of mere free grace has opened my poor +blind eyes in some measure to see his exceeding great love in +his dear Son. It constrains my heart to love him—it binds my +affections to him—and I trust the same grace that laid hold +upon me will help me to the end, and preserve me to his heavenly +kingdom. When I examine the condition into which sin had brought +me, when I look at, one by one, the wants of my soul—my +guilt, my filthiness, my weakness, my nakedness, and my utter +wretchedness—and then contemplate the graces of the Redeemer +as they are held out to me in the Scriptures of truth—when I +look at myself, and then at him, O what my heart feels! how I +admire! how I adore and love! Now I know, O thou great and holy +Lord God, that thou lovest me, seeing thou hast not withheld thy +Son, thine only Son, from me. If I judge aright, Madam, I am +pouring out my heart to one who is no stranger to the language +of Canaan. Your Ladyship is a sinner as well as I. I know you +feel it, and therefore will not be angry with me for saying so; +and I know that I am now talking with one who will not accuse +me of running out too far, as the world calls it, in the great +Redeemer’s praises, but who will join with me, nay, far, very +far outdo me in love and gratitude, in thankfulness and praise, +to that precious Lamb of God who loved us and gave himself +for us, that he might make us, miserable worms of the earth, +partakers of his own eternity. O thou adorable Lord Jesus! +what should we talk of, or think of, or write of, or glory in +else, but thy blessed self, who art altogether lovely? What can +I do—what can your Ladyship do—what can any one do without +him?—and what can they not do that have him? We are complete +in him—look by faith to him who hung upon the cross, and every +mouth of every enemy is stopped, every accusation is silenced; +there is peace without and peace within, and peace with God that +passeth understanding. Dear Lady, if we are so happy in his love +when we cannot see him, O what shall we be when we are made like +him, and shall see him as he is?</p> + +<p>“I thank your Ladyship for your kind solicitude for my health. +God be praised, it is much better—I can preach again now; and +O may I no longer live than I preach and love Jesus Christ! Mr. +Bentley has been ill, but is much better; he sends his humblest +regards to your Ladyship. The work of God grows here. I beg your +Ladyship’s prayers that it may grow more and more; and for me, +that utterance may be given unto me, that I may be preserved +from evil spirits and evil men, and from my own exceedingly evil +heart.</p> + +<p>“O Madam! you know not what need I stand in of your prayers—do +let me have the comfort of them—do pray that I may go with you +to the kingdom of the dear Lord Jesus. I am, your Ladyship’s +most obedient and affectionate servant in our common Lord,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“Richard Conyers.”</p> + +<p class="p-min">“Helmsley, Feb. 8, 1763.</p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_329">[329]</span></p> + +<p>With a laudable desire of enlarging the circle of his usefulness, and +with a hope that the air of the place might have a beneficial effect +on his health, Lady Huntingdon invited Dr. Conyers to Brighton; but +he modestly declined her invitation, observing that “the duties of +his parish, which was very extensive, demanded all his abilities, all +his zeal, and all his strength; and that he was fearful of venturing +where so many great and eloquent servants of Christ had so successfully +proclaimed his grace and salvation.”<a id="FNanchor_172" href="#Footnote_172" class="fnanchor">[172]</a></p> + +<p>On the subject of these disputes concerning perfection, we append a +letter without date—rather a remarkable circumstance for the very +regular and generally accurate writer—but it is inscribed in the +handwriting of Lady Huntingdon—“Received at Brighthelmstone, March 21, +1763, S. H.,” which is the reason of its postponement to this place:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“My Lady—For a considerable time I have had it upon my mind +to write a few lines to your Ladyship, although I cannot learn +that your Ladyship ever enquired whether I was living or dead. +By the mercy of God I am still alive, and following the work to +which he has called me, although without any help, even in the +most trying times, from those I might have expected it from. +Their voice seemed to be rather, ‘<i>Down with him—down with +him; even to the ground</i>.’ I mean (for I use no ceremony or +circumlocution) Mr. Madan, Mr. Haweis, Mr. Berridge, and (I am +sorry to say it) Mr. Whitefield. Only Mr. Romaine has shown a +truly sympathizing spirit, and acted the part of a brother. I +am the more surprised at this, because he owed me nothing, only +the love which we all owe one another. He was not my son in the +Gospel, neither do I know that he ever received any help through +me. So much the more welcome was his kindness now. The Lord +repay it sevenfold into his bosom.</p> + +<p>“As to the prophecies of these poor wild men, George Bell and +half a dozen more, I am not a jot more accountable for them +than Mr. Whitefield is, having never countenanced them in any +degree, but opposed them from the moment I heard them; neither +have these extravagances any foundation in any doctrine which I +teach. The loving God with all our heart, soul, and strength, +and the loving all men as Christ loved us, is, and ever was, for +these thirty years, the sum of what I deliver, as pure religion +and undefiled.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_330">[330]</span></p> + +<p>“However, if I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved! The +will of the Lord be done!</p> + + <div class="poetry-container1"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="ileft hangingindent">‘Poor and helpless as I am, Thou dost for my vileness care!</div> + <div class="hangingindent">Thou hast called me by my name! Thou dost all my burdens bear,’</div> + </div> + </div> + </div> + +<p>“Wishing your Ladyship a continual increase of all blessings, I +am, my Lady, your Ladyship’s servant for Christ’s sake,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“John Wesley.”</p> +</div> + +<p>A letter from Mr. Romaine, dated Lambeth, March 26, 1763 (five days +after), appears, in some degree, at variance with that of Mr. Wesley. +It runs thus:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Madam—Thanks to your Ladyship for your kind remembrance of me +in your last. I rejoice in your joy, and am always glad to hear +of the prosperity of your family: for yours the dear people are, +and are as nearly related as your own children are. They are +also to me tied in the best bonds, and what is in my power shall +not be wanting for them. I do not despair of seeing them for a +few days before the summer.</p> + +<p>“Enclosed is poor Mr. John’s (Wesley’s) letter. The contents +of it, as far as I am concerned, surprised me: for no one has +spoken more freely of what is now passing among the people +than myself. Indeed, I have not preached so much as others +whose names he mentions, nor could I. My subject is one, and +I dare not vary from it. The more I read and preach upon the +all-sufficiency of the adorable Jesus, the more I am determined +to know nothing but him, and him crucified. But whatever stands +in my way of exalting him I would tread upon it as the merest +dross and dung. A perfection out of Christ, call it grace, and +say it is grace from him, yet with me it is all rank pride and +damnable sin. Oh! Madam, we should be careful of his glory, +and not give it to another, least of all to ourselves. Depend +upon it, man cannot be laid too low, nor Christ set too high. I +would, therefore, always aim, as good brother Grimshaw expresses +it, to get the old gentleman down, and keep him down: and then +Christ reigns like himself, when he is <span class="allsmcap">ALL</span>, and man is +nothing!</p> + +<p>“I pity Mr. John from my heart. His societies are in great +confusion; and the point which brought them into the wilderness +of rant and madness is still insisted on as much as ever. I +fear the end of this delusion. As the late alarming Providence +has not had its proper effect, and <i>perfection</i> is still +the cry, God will certainly give them up to some more dreadful +thing. May their eyes be opened before it be too late!</p> + +<p>“I am glad we shall see you so soon. I rejoice for myself; +but I fear you will not stay long. Things are not here as at +Brighthelmstone. We have many precious souls, but we really +want <span class="smcap">Love</span>. The <i>Foundry</i>, the <i>Tabernacle</i>, +the <i>Lock</i>, the <i>Meeting</i>, yea, <i>St. Dunstan’s</i>, +has each its party, and brotherly love is almost lost in our +disputes. Thank God, I am out of them. I wish them all well, and +love them all; and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_331">[331]</span> where we differ, there is exercise for my +charity. But I condemn none that will not subscribe to my creed. +By the grace of God I am what I am. My wife joins me in duty and +affection to your Ladyship, and we are your faithful servants in +our most dear and eternally precious Jesus,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“W. Romaine.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Her Ladyship was recalled from London, after a very short visit, by the +melancholy intelligence of the serious illness of Lady Selina Hastings, +which obliged her to return to Brighton. The next remarkable incident +of her visit to town was the attempt of a person named Erasmus, a Greek +bishop, whose see was, according to the Patriarch of Constantinople, +Arcadia, in Crete, to introduce himself to her Ladyship. “There is +something singular in this man (writes her Ladyship), and it strikes +me that he is not altogether what he appears or pretends to be. Mr. +Romaine, Mr. Madan, and others, have strong doubts of the reality +of his office.” Mr. Wesley, however, was of another opinion, and +in opposition to the advice of his brother Charles, and against +the opinions of his best friends, obtained orders for some of his +lay-preachers from the Bishop of Arcadia. Mr. Jones and Mr. Staniforth +(the latter had been a soldier in Flanders) were so ordained, but found +their appointment so invidiously regarded that they never exercised +their functions. Others coveted the distinction, and obtained of the +foreign bishop the laying on of hands without Mr. Wesley’s knowledge, +for which contempt of his authority he excluded the so-ordained pastors +from his Connexion. Mr. Toplady, who had great doubts concerning the +authority of Erasmus, Bishop of Arcadia, wrote against his ordination +of ministers of the Church in England, and his objections were, with +Mr. Wesley’s privity, replied to by Mr. Thomas Olivers. Mr. Wesley was +accused of a breach of the oath of supremacy, by thus availing himself +of the powers of a foreign prelate; and he was further charged with +having pressed the bishop to consecrate him, Mr. Wesley himself, a +bishop, that he might have power to ordain whomsoever he would. The +former charge was denied by Mr. Olivers, and the latter justified, on +the ground that the inward call of Mr. Wesley and his followers being +manifest, they naturally desired the outward call also. This being +refused them by the English bishops, justified them, it was believed, +in seeking it wheresoever they pleased.</p> + +<p>The Countess, on her return to Brighton, proceeded immediately to +Oathall, and there, on the 12th May, 1763, was visited with the +severest domestic calamity—the loss of her affectionate and amiable +daughter, Lady Selina Hastings, whose unwearied attentions, kindness, +and affection, had been long a source of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_332">[332]</span> comfort to the Countess, +amidst the many trials with which she was surrounded. A heavier +infliction could not have been laid upon her. Lady Selina had been ill +sixteen days, having been seized on the 26th of April. She was the +youngest of seven children, four sons and three daughters, and was born +Dec. 3, 1737. Her Ladyship was one of six Earls’ daughters who assisted +the Princess Augusta in supporting the train of Queen Charlotte, at +her coronation, on the 22nd Sept., 1761. She was to have been married, +with the consent of the Countess her mother, and her brother, Francis, +Earl of Huntingdon, to her relative, Colonel George Hastings, son of +Henry, Lord Hastings, as he was called by courtesy, on account of his +affinity to the then bachelor Earl. The Colonel was two years older +than Lady Selina, and had been educated at the expense of her father, +Theophilus,<a id="FNanchor_173" href="#Footnote_173" class="fnanchor">[173]</a> with her brother Francis. He married (after the death +of Lady Selina) Sarah, daughter of Colonel Thomas Hodges, and died in +1802, leaving three sons, two of whom died unmarried, and the third was +Hans Francis, twelfth Earl of Huntingdon, and father of the present +Earl.</p> + +<p>The following interesting account of the illness and death of Lady +Selina Hastings was drawn up by the good Countess herself, and it +affords an affecting evidence of her piety and resignation:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“It pleased our dear God and only Saviour to take from me, +May 12, 1763, at three quarters after four in the morning, my +dearest, my altogether lovely child and daughter, Lady Selina +Hastings, the desire of my eyes and continual pleasure of my +heart. On the 26th of April she was taken ill of a fever, which +lasted obstinate till the 17th day from the time it began. On +her going to bed she said she should never rise from it more; +and from all she said to me through her illness, it was evident +that she continued satisfied she could not live. She said she +did not begin to think about death then, and that she had no +desire<span class="pagenum" id="Page_333">[333]</span> to live; ‘therefore, my dear mother, why not now? The +Lord can make me ready for himself in a moment, and if I live +longer I may not be <i>better prepared; I am a poor creature—I +can do nothing myself—I only hope you will be supported</i>.’ +She often desired me to pray by her, and with great earnestness +accompanied me. And at one time she called me and said, ‘<i>My +dearest mother, come and lie down by me, and let my heart be +laid close to yours, and then I shall get rest</i>.’ She often +called on the Lord Jesus to have mercy on her, and complained of +her impatience, though no one ever heard a complaint pass her +lips, notwithstanding her sufferings were very great. I said +she was blessed with patience; she replied, ‘<i>Oh, no!</i>’ +with some tears. During the last four days these sentences at +times fell from her:—‘<i>Jesus, teach me!—Jesus, wash me, +cleanse me, and purify me!</i>’ Lying quiet, she said, <i>two +angels were beckoning her, and she must go, but could not get up +the ladder</i>. Another time she said—‘<i>I am as happy as my +heart can desire to be</i>.’ The day before her death, I came +to her and asked if she knew me? She answered, ‘<i>My dearest +mother</i>.’ I then asked if her heart was happy? She replied, +‘<i>I now well understand you</i>;’ and raising her head from +the pillow, added, ‘<i>I am happy</i>, <span class="allsmcap">VERY, VERY</span> +<i>happy</i>!’ and then put out her lips to kiss me. She gave +directions to her servant, Catherine Spooner, about the disposal +of some rings, observing that she mentioned it to her, lest it +should shock her dear mother to tell her. She often said, <i>to +be resigned to God’s will was all, and that she had no hope of +salvation but in the mercy of Jesus Christ alone</i>. Blessed +are the dead that die in the Lord.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Mr. Romaine, in a letter to Mrs. Medhurst, of Kippax, the niece of Lady +Huntingdon, and one of his most intimate and attached friends, says—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“The Lord does not leave himself without a witness among us +poor sinners. He has been doing miracles of mercy for Lady +Huntingdon; and as she herself says, <i>in the midst of judgment +he remembered mercy</i>. You have heard, I suppose, of Lady +Selina’s illness. She had a violent fever for about seventeen +days, and the physicians did not apprehend she was in any great +danger, although she was near her end. On Thursday morning, +about four o’clock, the Lord took her to himself. O what a +stroke was that, say you, to Lady Huntingdon! No, indeed, it +was all mercy, all love, like the rest of Jesus’s gracious +dealings with his people. During her illness, Lady Huntingdon +had every day many promises given her of God’s kindness to her +daughter; all which she interpreted in a carnal sense, like +the Jews, and thought her daughter would recover, and do well +again. By this means she was wonderfully supported, and her +spirits were kept up to the last. And when the Lord let her see +things were otherwise intended than she thought, then he had +prepared for her a fresh fund of comfort; for such was Lady +Selina’s behaviour, and such her speeches, from the beginning +of her illness, that there is no doubt but she died happy in +the arms of Jesus. My dear friend, if I had time to tell you +all the particulars of her death, your soul would abundantly +rejoice, and all<span class="pagenum" id="Page_334">[334]</span> that is within you would bless the God of +your salvation. To him she committed herself, trusted him, +found him faithful, and declared, over and over again, that in +him she was happy. Her last words to her mother, when she took +her leave, were these:—Lady Huntingdon had said, ‘My dearest +child, how do you feel your heart? are you happy?’ Lady Selina +answered, lifting up her head from the pillow, which she had +not done for several days, ‘<i>I am happy, exceedingly happy in +Jesus</i>’—then she kissed Lady Huntingdon and presently went +home. Although my Lady bears this so well, yet she feels it. She +is but a woman, and though a gracious one, yet grace does not +destroy nature. She is a parent, and at present incapable of +writing.”</p> +</div> + +<p>It was Lady Selina’s happiness to be born of a parent who considered a +religious education the highest accomplishment with which her daughter +could be graced, and the most valuable patrimony with which she could +be endowed. Her disposition was naturally amiable, and she studied to +repay maternal affection with an attachment that “grew with her growth, +and strengthened with her strength.” Her religion was the religion of +the heart, and consisted in an habitual intercourse with her God, from +which neither the attractions of youth and fortune, nor the dazzling +splendour of high life, could divert her. Her conduct demonstrated the +reality and energy of a divine principle, always alive and active in +its influence on her mind; and as her life was amiable and useful, so +its closing scenes were highly interesting. Possessing the <i>grace</i> +and living the <i>life</i>, she had the consolation of departing in the +full enjoyment of <i>faith</i>. From the commencement of her illness +to the closing scene she discovered great serenity and composure of +mind, arising from a firm reliance on the mediation, righteousness, and +atonement of the Redeemer—a sweet complacency in the consolations of +the Gospel, and the abounding display of divine mercy to the chief of +sinners, through the method of salvation.</p> + +<p>To resign into the arms of death so affectionate and dutiful a daughter +was a severe trial to the Countess; but the consideration that it was +ordered by that Being who is too wise to be mistaken, and too good +to be unkind, silenced every opposing thought. “The choicest flowers +we collect from the garden of society, which yields us the richest +fragrance, too often fade in our bosom, drop their leaves, and moulder +in the dust.” The loss of such a child was very sensibly felt by her +afflicted mother; she best knew her worth, and most keenly deplored the +parting stroke. But through the whole of this suffering season, this +time of sorest anguish, she was enabled to look for help and strength +to the Rock of her salvation, to yield implicit submission to the will +of God, to be absolutely resigned to his disposal, and to repress every +murmuring thought. “It is the Lord,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_335">[335]</span> let him do what seemeth him good,” +was the prevailing sentiment of her humble, sorrowing, submissive soul.</p> + +<p>This was a period much to be remembered by Lady Huntingdon, for the +many affecting testimonies of distress which appeared on every side. A +multitude of consolatory letters were addressed to her Ladyship on this +afflicting event, by friends who were united to her in that intimacy +of heart which is felt only by those who love the brethren for the +truth’s sake. Mr. Whitefield was in Scotland, and just on the eve of +embarking for America, at the time of Lady Selina’s illness and death. +In a letter to Mr. Keene he says, “I rejoice to hear that good Lady +Huntingdon is so supported;” and also to another correspondent—“Yours +to Lady Huntingdon is taken care of. I hear her daughter died well, and +that her Ladyship is comforted and resigned.”</p> + +<p>The Earl of Dartmouth writes, under date of Blackheath, May 18, 1763—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“My dear Madam—Permit Lady Dartmouth and myself to sympathize +with you on the recent departure of the amiable and excellent +Lady Selina Hastings. Mr. Romaine was so good as to let me see +your Ladyship’s letter to him, announcing the solemn event, +and detailing the supports and divine consolations which she +enjoyed in her last moments. Little did we imagine, when we had +the pleasure of seeing her so lately in London, that she was so +near the confines of the eternal world. But we know not what +a day or a night may bring forth. Though nature must feel the +loss of such a darling object, now must your Ladyship’s grief +be mingled with joyful satisfaction and complacency that the +noble evidence she gave of the grace and hope of the Gospel, and +the loving-kindness and mercy of the Saviour, manifested in her +dying moments. Oh, my dear Madam, Lady Selina is now singing the +praises of redeeming love before the throne of God and of the +Lamb.</p> + + <div class="poetry-container1"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="ileft">‘She is happy now, and we,</div> + <div>Soon her happiness shall see.’</div> + </div> + </div> + </div> + +<p>“Lady Dartmouth feels most sensibly for your Ladyship on this +occasion, and has been deeply affected by the touching close of +your daughter’s earthly course. We are deeply indebted to your +Ladyship, more deeply than we can express. Our obligations are +of a nature never to be repaid by us; but you will be rewarded +openly before an assembled world, when we shall swell that +innumerable train of children which the Lord hath given to you. +There, Madam, we shall hope to meet you and join your beatified +child. God grant you grace to feel resigned and submissive under +this event. To his never-failing kindness and mercy we commend +you—living and dying may you be the Lord’s!</p> + +<p>“With a grateful sense of your kindness, I remain, my dear +Madam, your very affectionate, humble servant,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“Dartmouth.”</p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_336">[336]</span></p> + +<p>Mr. Venn writes from Huddersfield, May 31, 1763, as follows:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Amongst the many in these parts who have a love for your +Ladyship’s name, and a tender sympathy with you, as a member +of Christ, I desire to assure your Ladyship I do not forget to +offer up many prayers, that your present very severe cross may +be sanctified, and the agonizing separation be made supportable, +by larger manifestations of the faithfulness and marvellous +loving-kindness of God our Saviour.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>“I was exceedingly glad to hear from Mr. Romaine’s letter to +Mrs. Medhurst, that in the midst of so much grief there is so +much cause to bless God for the manifestation of his love to +your deceased daughter. How truly are we compared to the tender +short-lived flower. In the short time of only nine months, no +less than two of your Ladyship’s visitors at Knaresborough have +been gathered to their long home. Mr. Grimshaw is now before +the throne above, and that very amiable youth your Ladyship was +so kind as to take some notice of, Mr. Thomas Hudson, received +his dismission about two months since. His end, as his life, +was much to the glory of free grace. Very delightful were the +expressions of comfort that dropped from his lips.”<a id="FNanchor_174" href="#Footnote_174" class="fnanchor">[174]</a></p> +</div> + +<p>Mr. Berridge writes from Everton, June 23, 1763:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“My Lady—I received your letter from Brighthelmstone, and +hope you will soon learn to bless your Redeemer for snatching +away your daughter so speedily. Methinks I see great mercy in +the suddenness of her removal, and when your bowels have done +yearning for her you will see it too. O! what is she snatched +from? Why, truly, from the plague of an evil heart, a wicked +world, and a crafty devil—snatched from all such bitter grief +as now overwhelms you—snatched from everything that might +wound her ear, afflict her eye, or pain her heart. And what +is she snatched to? To a land of everlasting peace, where the +voice of the turtle is ever heard, where every inhabitant can +say, ‘I am no more sick!’—no more whim in the head, no more +plague in the heart; but all full of love and full of praise, +ever seeing with enraptured eyes, ever blessing with adoring +hearts, that dear Lamb who has washed them in his blood, and +has now made them kings and priests unto God for ever and ever. +Amen. O Madam! what would you have? Is it not better to sing in +heaven, ‘Worthy is the Lamb that was slain,’ &c., than crying at +Oathall, ‘O wretched woman that I am?’ Is it not better for her +to go before, than to stay after you, and then to be lamenting, +‘Ah, my mother!’ as you now lament, ‘Ah, my daughter?’ Is it not +better to have your Selina taken to heaven, than to have your<span class="pagenum" id="Page_337">[337]</span> +heart divided between Christ and Selina? If she was a silver +idol before, might she not have proved a golden one afterwards? +She is gone to pay a most blessed visit, and will see you again +by and by, never to part more. Had she crossed the sea and gone +to Ireland, you could have borne it; but now she is gone to +heaven ’tis almost intolerable. Wonderful strange love this! +Such behaviour in others would not surprise me, but I could +almost beat you for it; and I am sure Selina would beat you too, +if she was called back but one moment from heaven, to gratify +your fond desires. I cannot soothe you, and I must not flatter +you. I am glad the dear creature is gone to heaven before you. +Lament if you please; but glory, glory, glory, be to God, says</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“John Berridge.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Mr. Fletcher’s letter of condolence is dated Madely, September 10, +1763:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Blessed be God (he says) for giving us the unspeakable +satisfaction to see Lady Selina safely landed, and out of the +reach of vanity. This is mercy rejoicing over judgment of a +truth. This is an answer to the blood of Jesus and prayers. This +is an earnest of what the Lord will do for my Lady in his time.</p> + +<p>“Come, my Lady, let us travel on, sticking close to our heavenly +Guide; let us keep a hold of the hem of his garment, by firmly +believing the arms of his wise providence and everlasting love +are underneath us; let us hasten to our friends in light; and +while we thus stand still, we shall see the salvation, the +<i>great</i> salvation of our God. He that cometh will come, and +will not tarry—even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly, and let us +all be lost together in thy love and praise.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Another passage from one of Mr. Berridge’s letters, a good specimen +of his epistolary style, cannot be otherwise than acceptable to the +reader. It is dated June 27, 1763:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“My poor clay ever wants to teach God how to be a good potter; +and may not your Dresden have something in it that resembles my +Delf? You would not, like Uzziah, lay your hand on the ark of +God; but may you not be too solicitous about a driver of the +cart?—and a blinder hobgoblin than myself you need not desire. +Indeed, I am so dissatisfied with my own carting, that, if I +durst, I should throw the whip out of my hands. Every hour I +lose my way—every day forget what I learnt the day before; +neither instruction nor correction mends me. Yea, verily, though +I know myself to be a most stupid ass, yet at times I am a +most conceited one also. Though not fit to drive a dung-cart, +yet at some certain seasons I can fancy myself qualified to be +the King’s coachman. And nothing so much discovers to me the +sovereign hypocrisy of my heart as when any one is so cruelly +kind as to tell me that all the mean things I say of myself are +very true. Nay, if your Ladyship should send me word that you +really think me that hobgoblin which I seem to think myself, and +fully think myself to be, it might put me so much out of conceit +with you<span class="pagenum" id="Page_358">[358]</span> as to fancy that your Dresden was now no better than +my Delf. Oh! I am sick, mighty sick of this self. How can you +but rejoice for that happy creature who was delivered from this +self, almost as soon as she felt the curse of it?”</p> +</div> + +<p>In another letter, dated July 3, Mr. Berridge says:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Oh heart! heart! what art thou? a mass of fooleries and +absurdities! the vainest, foolishest, craftiest, wickedest +thing in nature. And yet the Lord Jesus asks me for this heart, +woos me for it, died to win it. O wonderful love! adorable +condescension!</p> + + <div class="poetry-container1"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="ileft">“Take it, Lord, and let it be</div> + <div>Ever closed to all but thee.”</div> + </div> + </div> + </div> + +</div> + +<p>Again, under date of July 9, 1763, he says:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Mrs. Bateman has sent me a mighty pretty letter to coax me into +Sussex, and withal acquaints me that your Ladyship has been +ill of a fever, but is now better. I was glad to hear of both. +Nothing expels undue grief of mind like bodily corrections. +Nothing makes the child leave crying like the rod; at least, +I find it so by experience. However, I durst not send such +consolation to many Christians, because they are not able to +see the truth or bear the weight of it. I found your heart was +sorely pained, and I pitied you, but durst not soothe you; for +soothing, though it eases grief for a moment, only makes Lady +Self grow more burdensome, and occasions more tears in the end. +A little whipping from your Father will dry up your tears much +sooner than a thousand pretty lullabies from your brethren. And +I now hope you will be well soon.”</p> +</div> + +<p>When Lady Huntingdon removed from Brighton to Oathall, in the June +of this year (1763), she was engaged in making arrangements for the +services of her chapel, which had been suspended during the illness and +by the death of Lady Selina. Mr. Berridge could not leave Everton till +relieved by Mr. Madan or Dr. Haweis. Mr. Madan went first to Brighton, +and promised Mr. Berridge to visit Everton on Mr. Romaine’s return from +Yorkshire. The Tottenham congregation would not be deprived of the +services of Mr. Dyer,<a id="FNanchor_175" href="#Footnote_175" class="fnanchor">[175]</a> depending on Mr. Green;<a id="FNanchor_176" href="#Footnote_176" class="fnanchor">[176]</a> and neither the +hospital chaplains<a id="FNanchor_177" href="#Footnote_177" class="fnanchor">[177]</a> nor the vicar of St. Dunstan’s<a id="FNanchor_178" href="#Footnote_178" class="fnanchor">[178]</a> cared (we +quote Mr. Berridge) to peep into the Tottenham pulpit.</p> + +<p>In the course of this summer, Mr. Venn, having come from Huddersfield +to London, to superintend the publication of his “Complete Duty of +Man,” proceeded thence to Brighton, on a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_339">[339]</span> visit to Lady Huntingdon. He +preached frequently in Brighton, but could not accompany her Ladyship +to Oathall. On the 27th of August, after his return to Huddersfield, +he wrote to acknowledge a letter from the Countess, and observes—“I +desire to be abased, and am filled with the deepest wonder at the +account you send me of the Lord’s prospering my poor attempts to preach +his name among your people. <i>My visit to your Ladyship was indeed a +great blessing to my own soul.</i>” In the letter he alludes to a visit +which he paid to Ipswich, on his way homeward, to his brother, Dr. +Edward Venn, M.D., of St. John’s College, Cambridge, who settled as a +physician at Ipswich,<a id="FNanchor_179" href="#Footnote_179" class="fnanchor">[179]</a> where, he tells us, his wife’s brother was +minister of the great church.</p> + +<p>Mr. Romaine reached Everton on the 1st of August, and Mr. Berridge set +out for Oathall, whence, after a time, he proceeded to London, and +preached at the Tottenham Chapel, and returned to Everton before the +end of a month. In the meanwhile Mr. Madan had succeeded Mr. Romaine +at Everton, and afterwards, by Lady Huntingdon’s desire, extended his +excursion to Yorkshire. Mr. Romaine had by this time reached Brighton. +In Mr. Berridge’s letter to Lady Huntingdon, written after his return +home, and dated Everton, September 2nd, 1763, he says he heard Mr. +Edwards, of Leeds, at the Tabernacle, whom he describes as a sensible +man, who seems alive, but a wonderful admirer of method, and one who +has swallowed John Calvin whole at a mouthful. The congregation at +Tottenham-street, when Mr. Berridge preached, were, he says, “much +like the mien and garb of an undertaker—rather dismal than dolorous.” +He had been hurried from London, he says, by a letter from Mr. Hicks, +of Wrestlingworth, whose wife had died very suddenly. He tells Lady +Huntingdon that Mr. Reeves<a id="FNanchor_180" href="#Footnote_180" class="fnanchor">[180]</a> and Mr. Prior had been elected +afternoon lecturers at Whitechapel—salary, 50<i>l.</i> a year; duty, a +sermon alternately on Sunday afternoons. Mr. Maxfield, he says, grows +violent, and Bell recovers his delusion apace, bidding fair for a +greater enthusiast than ever. He speaks highly of Mr. Richardson and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_340">[340]</span> +Mr. Tilney, and concludes his long but amusing letter by promising a +speedy return to the Tabernacle.</p> + +<p>Lady Huntingdon continued at Brighton. Her friends, Mrs. Cartaret and +Mrs. Cavendish, were her inmates there in the middle of September, +about which period she received another letter from Mr. Berridge, dated +the Tabernacle House, but we do not think it necessary to make any +further extracts from this interesting correspondence.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 id="CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hangingindent">Mr. Romaine—Lectureship at St. Dunstan’s—Lord +Mansfield—Darkness Visible—The Bishop of Peterborough—Popular +Election—St. Ann’s, Blackfriars—Probation +Sermon—Contest—Canvassing—Scrutiny—Second Election—Suit +in Chancery—Gratitude of Lady Huntingdon—Mr. Jesse—Mr. +Shirley—Mr. Romaine’s Views of his Preferment—Lewes—Lady +Huntingdon procures an opening for Mr. Romaine, for Mr. +Madan, and Mr. Fletcher—The Oratorio—Musical Taste of Mr. +Madan and Dr. Haweis—Lady Huntingdon’s Chapel at Lewes +opened—and re-opened—Mr. Mason; his Work on the Catechism—Mr. +Edwards, of Ipswich—Mr. Berridge and his Bees—Southey’s +Reflections—Their Refutation—Character of Berridge; his Wit; +his Labours—Berridge and the Bishop.</p> +</div> + + +<p>At the beginning of the year 1764, Mr. Romaine was preaching at +Brighton. He was now a married man, and blessed with a family, yet his +provision from the church amounted to no more than <i>eighteen pounds +a year</i>—such was the value of his only preferment, the lectureship +of St. Dunstan’s. But he was chaplain to Lady Huntingdon, and had many +pious friends, who proved, in his case, that they had pondered on the +saying, “They who minister at the altar shall live by the altar.” He +was besides singularly abstemious—a grace of poverty which secured +to him the riches of confirmed and continued health throughout a +long career of usefulness. Even the paltry pittance we have named +he was not suffered to enjoy. As at St. George’s, Hanover-square, +so at St. Dunstan’s, his preaching offended the rector, who always +took possession of the pulpit before the Liturgy was read through, to +prevent Mr. Romaine from preaching. He appealed to the law, and Lord +Mansfield decided that he could not be excluded from the pulpit: yet +the loose decision of the judge enabled the opposite party to keep the +church<span class="pagenum" id="Page_341">[341]</span> closed to the very latest moment, which they failed not to +do, while thousands congregated in the street, and no sooner were the +doors opened than they rushed in, to the great peril of each other’s +lives. The churchwardens refused to light the church, or suffer it to +be lighted, and Mr. Romaine often preached by the light of a single +candle, which he held in his own hand. Ultimately, by the influence of +the Bishop of Peterborough,<a id="FNanchor_181" href="#Footnote_181" class="fnanchor">[181]</a> this vexatious opposition was put an +end to, and he was suffered to see his congregation.</p> + +<p>About this time occurred a popular election for the living of St. +Ann’s, Blackfriars, the right of presentation to which is vested +alternately in the Crown and in the parishioners. The last incumbent +was the nephew of the Lord Chancellor Henley, afterwards Earl of +Northington, an intimate friend of Lady Huntingdon. This pious young +clergyman had caught a putrid fever whilst visiting a parishioner +suffering under that disorder, and, as Mr. Cadogan tells us, died +suddenly of this frightful disorder, after he had held the living six +years and a half. “It was immediately impressed on my mind (said Lady +Huntingdon), that Mr. Henley’s vacancy was to be filled by dear Mr. +Romaine.” She spoke to the Lord Chancellor, and, at her suggestion, Mr. +Thornton and Mr. Madan made interest with the parishioners. Mr. Romaine +was absent in Yorkshire, and his canvassers frequently heard his pride +urged against him. “He (it was said) disdains to ask our voices, +while the candidate in canonicals comes hat in hand, bowing from door +to door.”<a id="FNanchor_182" href="#Footnote_182" class="fnanchor">[182]</a> On the 30th<span class="pagenum" id="Page_342">[342]</span> of September, 1764, the candidates were +to preach the probation sermon, and Mr. Romaine, apprised by his +friends, was on the spot, and preached from these words:—“We preach +not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants +for Jesus’ sake.” The sermon contained the truth, the whole truth, and +nothing but the truth, as it is in Jesus. His friends, including Lady +Huntingdon, absented themselves, in order that the regular parishioners +might not be incommoded, nor have any shadow of offence. The word +was well received, and was afterwards printed, at the request of the +parishioners. The election proceeded, a scrutiny was demanded, but the +qualification of the votes could not be settled. A second election took +place—Mr. Romaine obtained a great majority of unchallenged votes, but +the friends of the opposite candidates raised new difficulties, and the +matter was thrown into the Court of Chancery.</p> + +<p>Pending this vexatious suit, Mr. Romaine preached for Lady Huntingdon, +at Brighton, Oathall, and Bath, and took a journey into Yorkshire to +meet her Ladyship, preaching on his way at Bretby, Derby, &c. His +letters to Lady Huntingdon during this suspense mark its influence on +his mind. In one letter he solicits her Ladyship’s influence with two +Quakers named Webb, who had great power with the voters. His friends, +he says, accuse him of being too easy, “but (he continues) I think not. +* * * Blackfriars’ Church is desirable, but we cannot tell whether +Jesus wants it or not; if he does, he will bring it about: if not, his +will be done.” The cause was put off from day to day; but, for the sake +of order, we may here anticipate the due chronological course of our +narrative, to observe that in the beginning of February, 1766, the Lord +Chancellor Henley finally decreed in his favour, and he was instituted +and inducted accordingly. During the ceremony he was observed to +tremble, and it is well known that numbers of his congregation received +their new pastor most unwillingly; he lived, however, to remove all +their prejudices, and to bless them, with, as well as against, their +own consent. While his friends were wishing him joy of this preferment, +he saw it in a different light: “It is my Master’s will (he says), and +I submit.” To Lady Huntingdon he writes:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Now, when I was setting up my rest, and had begun to say unto +my soul, ‘Soul, take thine ease,’ I am called into a public +station, and to the sharpest engagement, just as I had got into +winter quarters—an engagement for life. I can see nothing +before me, so long as the breath is in my body, but war, and +that with unreasonable men, a divided parish, an angry clergy, +a wicked Sodom, and a wicked world, all to be resisted and +overcome: besides all these, a sworn enemy,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_343">[343]</span> subtle and cruel, +with whom I can make no peace, no, not a moment’s truce, night +and day, with all his children and his host, is aiming at +my destruction. When I take counsel of the flesh I begin to +faint; but when I go to the sanctuary I see my good cause, and +my Master is Almighty—a tried Friend, and then he makes my +courage revive. Although I am no way fit for the work, yet he +called me to it, and on him I depend for strength to do it and +for success to crown it, I utterly despair of doing anything +as of myself, and therefore the more I have to do, I shall be +forced to live more by faith upon him. In this view I hope to +get a great income by my <span class="allsmcap">LIVING</span>. I shall want my Jesus +more, and shall get closer to him. As he has made my application +to him more necessary and more constant, he has given me +stronger tokens of his love. Methinks I can hear his sweet +voice—‘<i>Come closer, come closer, soul! nearer yet; I will +bring you into circumstances that you cannot do without me!</i>”</p> +</div> + +<p>No one strove more on his side, or rejoiced more in his success, than +the zealous Countess:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Through the gracious hand of God (says her Ladyship) my dear +and excellent Romaine has at length succeeded, and the decision +of the Lord Chancellor has put to silence the evil clamours of +his unreasonable opponents.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Mr. Jesse, who, with Mr. Shirley, was then at Oathall, says—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“We have had quite a little jubilee on the confirmation of the +validity of our dear brother Romaine’s election. Never have I +seen more heartfelt joy and gratitude than was expressed on that +occasion by her Ladyship. I verily believe that if Mr. Romaine +had not gained his election, the disappointment and vexation +would have well nigh killed her.”</p> +</div> + +<p>His success was ample; he was heard with reverence by his parishioners, +and vast sums were distributed out of their communion offerings. The +neglect, by the then rulers of the Church, of such men as Romaine, +Walker of Truro, Adams of Wintringham, Venn, Newton, Shirley, Townsend, +Haweis, Grimshaw, Berridge, Madan, Fletcher, Talbot, Conyers, +Pentycross, Milner, Jesse, and others, should be a lesson to the candid +diocesan and Church patrons of our day.</p> + +<p>In the beginning of the year 1765, the Countess of Huntingdon, ever +active in well doing, began to concert measures for introducing the +Gospel into the town of Lewes, where already her Brighton chaplains had +reaped fruit. She first obtained for Mr. Romaine one of the pulpits, +where his preaching gave great umbrage; he afterwards preached in a +large room, and ultimately in the open fields:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“All gave earnest heed (said her Ladyship) while he applied +those solemn words, ‘Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh +away the sins of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_344">[344]</span> the world.’ I did not see one careless or +inattentive person, and there is reason to think that many poor +sinners were cut to the heart.”</p> +</div> + +<p>But her Ladyship, in all her continued efforts to serve the Master +who had washed her from sin, never exalts, but debases herself, and +considers her best exertions valueless in his sight. In February her +Ladyship was in London, at the residence of Lady Fanny Shirley, and, +in company with her chaplains, attended the performance of Ruth, an +oratorio, at the Lock Chapel. Mr. Madan and Dr. Haweis were both +extremely musical, and composers. The music of “Before Jehovah’s awful +throne”—“From all that dwell below the skies”—“Salvation! O the +joyful sound”—“To God, the only wise”—and many others, by Mr. Madan, +are well known and deservedly popular. She returned to Brighton, and +thence to Lewes, and obtained there a pulpit for Mr. Madan and Mr. +Fletcher. The clergy opposed them violently, and they betook themselves +to a large room, where they preached alternately to great numbers. +Very soon, however, Lady Huntingdon, erected a chapel, which was +opened on the 13th of August, 1765, by Mr. Peckwell, Mr. Pentycross, +and the Rev. George Burder, then a member of the Tabernacle, and about +to enter on his ministerial career. The chapel was regularly supplied +by the ministers of Lady Huntingdon’s Connexion. Mr. Jones, a student +of Trevecca, occupied it for some time, and thirty years after Dr. +Peckwell’s opening, it was re-opened by the Rev. G. S. White, of +Cheshunt, on the 21st of July, 1805.</p> + +<p>Mr. William Mason, who had been brought to a knowledge of the light by +the Rev. John Wesley, and had been a class leader in his Connexion, +having attended the Tabernacle, and hearing Mr. Whitefield and other +Calvinistic preachers, withdrew from Mr. Wesley. It was about this time +that he published “A Letter to the Rev. Dr. Free, on the morality and +divinity contained in certain articles proposed by the Doctor to the +Court of Assistants of the Worshipful Company of Salters.” This letter +was a defence of his honoured and much-esteemed friends, the Rev. Mr. +Romaine and Mr. Jones. He was a magistrate of the county of Surrey, and +resided at Rotherhithe-wall, whence he addressed to Lady Huntingdon an +apology for declining an invitation to Brighton. This letter is dated +January 26, 1765:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Many thanks (he says) for your Ladyship’s honour done me in +the third invitation to Brighthelmstone. How happy should I be, +if I may he permitted an excursion from business to embrace it. +Our dear Mr. Romaine is elected to Blackfriars, 134 against 105. +I heard from dear Mrs. Romaine last week, when I dined there, +that your Ladyship<span class="pagenum" id="Page_345">[345]</span> is bringing up a little company for Jesus. +Have you seen my poor thoughts on a sermon and catechism for +children?”</p> +</div> + +<p>In April Mr. Romaine again visited Brighton, and was aided in carrying +out the pious views of Lady Huntingdon by the Rev. Howel Davies and +the Rev. Peter Williams. At Worthing several clergymen attempted to +excite a riot while Mr. Davies was preaching, and not succeeding in +their efforts, went away, threatening revenge on the first Methodist +parson they might meet. What a contrast does this conduct afford to +that of Mr. Edwards, of Ipswich, a Dissenting minister, who, having +been recommended to Lady Huntingdon by Mr. Williams, was invited by her +Ladyship to visit her at Brighton. “I have no objection to truth from +the lips of a Dissenter (said her Ladyship), provided he has no design +to form a party.” To this Mr. Edwards replied:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“With an incessant dependence on the Divine Spirit, I desire +that my whole thoughts, aims, and endeavours, in the course +of my ministry, may be to lead the minds of the people to +Jesus Christ’s person, offices, character, &c., and to lay no +manner of stress upon the outskirts of religion, and, like +your Ladyship, practise what I explode; that thereby the fury +of bigotry may be tamed and subdued, and, under the blessing +of God, a spirit of love may be kindled towards all who love +Jesus Christ in sincerity. Notwithstanding the sad divisions +that are in the Church, yet the children of God are one: one +in relation—one family—one flock, and, as far as they are +sanctified, one in image and likeness—one in their aims and +requests—one in friendship—one in interest and inheritance. +It is a pity, then, that any should have a narrow spirit, or +an alienation of affection between them, seeing that they +have but one common interest to engage in. However, I have +had repeated evidences, from many parts of the kingdom, that +your Ladyship’s truly Catholic spirit has influenced many; and +a review of that evangelical temper which you cultivate will +afford an inward satisfaction, which applause cannot give, or +censure take away. What a great historian says of Vespasian is +equally applicable to your Ladyship—that your noble descent +and your rich abundance have changed nothing in you but this, +that your power of doing good is made in some degree to answer +your will, counting it a greater honour to lay out for God than +to lay up for yourself. May your life upon earth continue to a +very distant period—the life of faith continually increase; +and may you daily enjoy in rich abundance that <span class="allsmcap">UNCTION</span> +from the <span class="smcap">Holy One</span>; and at last, with a full gale, enter +the harbour of eternal glory. These wishes, as they are the +agreeable employ of my thoughts, so they are the earnest prayer +of, Madam, your Ladyship’s, &c.”<a id="FNanchor_183" href="#Footnote_183" class="fnanchor">[183]</a></p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_346">[346]</span></p> + +<p>During this summer the number of Lady Huntingdon’s clerical guests +at Brighton and Oathall was increased by the visit of the Rev. +Edward Spencer, afterwards the celebrated rector of Winkfield, near +Bradford, in Wiltshire. At the time of which we speak he was curate +to Dr. Chapman, of Bradford, master of St. John’s Hospital, Bath. His +preaching was appealed against as Methodistical, and complaints made +to Dr. Hume, Bishop of Salisbury. He was invited by Lady Huntingdon to +join her Connexion; but, with all respect and devotion, he declined +this offer, feeling that within the pale of regularity he might +encounter offence and work his Master’s business. During this summer +her Ladyship opened her chapels at Bretby and Bath, and did not return +to her beloved Brighton till November. In that month Mr. Romaine +addressed to her Ladyship a letter, which commenced thus:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Dear and honoured in our eternally precious Jesus, grace be +to you. His mercies fail not. He is exceedingly, according to +his infinite nature, kind and good to me and mine. In temporals +beyond our hopes. Here we are at home in safety, and in want of +nothing. In spirituals, he is a Saviour to us, and what would we +more?”</p> +</div> + +<p>Having spent the winter of 1765 between Brighton and Oathall, her +Ladyship, early in the spring of 1766, applied to Mr. Hicks, rector +of Wrestlingworth, to supply her chapels for a time. Her Ladyship’s +request was made through Mr. Berridge, under date of February 12th, and +a few days afterwards he addressed to her Ladyship one of his able but +eccentric notes, declining not only for Mr. Hicks, but for himself, her +Ladyship’s invitation:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“As to myself (he says), I am now determined not to quit my +charge again in a hurry. Never do I leave my bees, though for a +short space only, but at my return I find them either casting +and colting, or fighting and robbing each other; not gathering +honey from every flower in God’s garden, but filling the air +with their buzzings, and darting out the venom of their little +hearts in their fiery stings. Nay, so inflamed they often are, +and a mighty little thing disturbs them, that three months’ +tinkling afterwards with a warming-pan will scarce hive them +at last, and make them settle to work again. They are now in +a mighty ferment, occasioned by the sounding brass of a Welsh +<span class="smcap">Dyer</span>,<a id="FNanchor_184" href="#Footnote_184" class="fnanchor">[184]</a> who has done me the same kind office at +Everton that he has done my friend at Tottenham. ’Tis a pity +he should have the charge of anything but <i>wasps</i>; these +he might allure into the treacle pot, and step in before them +himself, but he never will fill a hive with honey.”</p> +</div> + +<p>He goes on thus figuratively to warn her Ladyship against the +Independents and Baptists, and other Dissenters, who were<span class="pagenum" id="Page_347">[347]</span> at that time +alluring the congregations from her Ladyship’s chapels.</p> + +<p>This singular style of Mr. Berridge has led Mr. Southey to call him a +“buffoon as well as fanatic.” He was neither. Lady Huntingdon invited +him repeatedly to meet at her house the elegant and the courtly, and +Mr. Whitefield called him an “angel of the Church” indeed, employing +him repeatedly as his own substitute at Tottenham-court Chapel and the +Tabernacle.</p> + +<p>The late Mr. Simeon, of Cambridge, did not think so, when he +preached his funeral sermon. Clare Hall did not think him either, +when it presented him to the vicarage of Everton. But his office of +<i>Moderator</i> is abundant proof that he was neither a buffoon or +fanatic. Unhappily for Southey, when he ventured to write the life of +Wesley, he was ignorant both of the men and the subject he handled. +Mr. Watson has taught him a lesson, which he will remember to the +last hour of his existence; and the exclamation of George the Fourth, +on the perusal of Mr. Watson’s defence of Wesley—“Oh! my poor Poet +Laureate! my poor Poet Laureate!”—must have been cutting to Southey. +Berridge was not such a buffoon as South, nor such a punster as Donne, +nor such a satirist as Lavington. His wit never wounded a penitent, +nor hardened a sinner. It disturbed many a solemn drone, and mortified +the self-righteous; but it never intimidated the humble, nor led the +weak to confound Methodism with hypocrisy. He was constitutionally +<i>mercurial</i>, and his perfect scholarship, as a <i>classic</i>, +enabled him to give <i>point</i> to piquant thoughts—for he was +equally familiar with Aristotelian and Aristophanic Greek; and there +will be some buffoonery whenever the latter is understood. He did not, +however,</p> + + <div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div>“Win a grin, where he should woo a soul.”</div> + </div> + </div> + </div> + +<p class="p-left">He often caused a smile, that he might create a tear—a +hazardous, if not an unwarrantable experiment in the pulpit. In +learning he was inferior to very few of the most celebrated sons of +science and literature at the University: his masculine ability, his +uniform sobriety, and long residence at college, were favourable to +improvement; and so insatiable was his thirst for knowledge, that +from his entrance at Clare Hall to his acceptance of the vicarage of +Everton, he regularly studied fifteen hours a day. The late Mr. Venn, +who had been in habits of intimacy with him from their admission into +college, has declared, “that he was as familiar with the learned +languages as he was with his mother-tongue.” He also added, “that he +could be under no temptation to court respect by itinerant preaching, +for he merited and enjoyed <i>that</i> in a high degree among all ranks +of the literary professions at the University.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_348">[348]</span></p> + +<p>The <i>mode</i> of his <i>public ministrations</i> was emphatically +original. He evidently observed method in all his sermons; but it +was unhackneyed. It was not his custom to arrange his subjects under +general heads of discourse; but when he made the attempt, his divisions +would be particularly natural, and rigidly adhered to. As he rarely +allegorized, or accommodated the Scriptures, he was less liable to +mistake their meaning. He seldom referred to their original text; but +when he did, his remarks were pertinent. In his discussion of general +topics, his figures were new, his illustrations apposite, and his +arguments conclusive. Though he obtained the just reputation of being +a learned man, and was conversant with all the beauties of language, +so ardent was his desire of doing good to his most illiterate hearers, +that he laid aside an affected style of elegance, and, from principle, +cultivated an easy and familiar diction.</p> + +<p>His stature was tall, but not awkward—his make was lusty, but not +corpulent—his voice deep, but not hoarse—strong, but not noisy—his +pronunciation was distinct, but not broad. In his countenance there was +gravity without grimace. His address was solemn, but not sour—easy, +but not careless—deliberate, but not drawling—pointed, but not +personal—affectionate, but not fawning. He would often weep, but +never whine: his sentences were short, but not ambiguous—his ideas +were collected, but not crowded. Upon the whole, his manner and person +were agreeable and majestic. But what transcended all the above +excellences, and gave him such an ascendancy in the consciences of +his numerous hearers, were the <i>doctrines</i> he taught, together +with their unbounded influence upon all the powers of his mind and +transactions of his life. Deep necessity compelled him to embrace and +preach Jesus Christ; and the same necessity led him into more enlarged +discoveries of his grace. Living under their perpetual control, and +enjoying their ineffable sweetness, he was not only willing to impart +the truths of the everlasting Gospel, but to consecrate himself to the +service of his Lord and the souls of men. For twenty-four years he +continued to ride nearly one hundred miles, and to preach some ten or +twelve sermons, every week. At home, for his hearers who came from a +distance, his table was served, and his stables open for their horses; +and abroad, houses and barns were rented, lay preachers supplied, and +his own expenses paid out of his own pocket. His ear was ever attentive +to the tale of woe, his eye was keen to observe the miseries of the +poor, the law of kindness was written upon his heart, and his hand +was always ready to administer relief. The gains of his vicarage, of +his fellowship, and of his patrimonial income (for his father died +very rich), and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_349">[349]</span> even his family plate, were appropriated to support +his liberality, he was always a favourite with Lady Huntingdon. Her +conversation and correspondence with him were greatly blessed to his +profit and advantage, and instrumental, under the divine blessing, +in leading him to clearer and more consistent views of the plan of +salvation, and of preaching the whole counsel of God with greater +boldness and clearness. To her he was indebted for much spiritual +light, and her liberality in other matters was felt and acknowledged by +him.</p> + +<p>“Soon after I began to preach the Gospel at Everton (says Mr. +Berridge) the churches in the neighbourhood were deserted, and mine so +overcrowded, that the squire, who ‘did not like strangers (he said), +and hated to be incommoded,’ joined with the offended parsons, and soon +after, a complaint having been made against me, I was summoned before +the bishop. ‘Well, Berridge (said his lordship), did I institute you to +Eaton or Potten? Why do you go preaching out of your own parish?’ ‘My +Lord (says I), I make no claims to the living of those parishes; ’tis +true, I was once at Eaton, and finding a few poor people assembled, I +admonished them to repent of their sins, and to believe in the Lord +Jesus Christ, for the salvation of their souls. At that very moment, +my lord, there were five or six clergymen out of their own parishes, +and enjoying themselves on the Eaton bowling-green.’ ‘I tell you +(retorted his lordship), that if you continue preaching where you have +no right, you will very likely be sent to Huntingdon gaol.’ ‘I have no +more regard, my lord, for a gaol than other folks (rejoined I); but I +had rather go there with a good conscience, than be at liberty without +one.’ His lordship looked very hard at me, ‘Poor fellow! (said he), you +are beside yourself, and in a few months you will either be better or +worse.’ ‘Then, my lord (said I), you may make yourself quite happy in +this business; for if I should be better, you suppose I shall desist +of my own accord; and if worse, you need not send me to Huntingdon +gaol, for I shall be better accommodated in Bedlam.’ His lordship then +pathetically entreated me, as one who had been and wished to continue +my friend, not to embitter the remaining portion of his days by any +squabbles with my brother clergymen, but to go home to my parish, +and so long as I kept within it, I should be at liberty to do what I +liked there.’ As to your conscience (said his lordship), you know that +preaching out of your parish is contrary to the canons of the Church.’ +‘There is one canon, my lord (said I) which I dare not disobey, and +that says, <i>Go, preach the Gospel to</i> <span class="allsmcap">EVERY CREATURE</span>.’”</p> + +<p>The bishop was displeased, but Berridge gave himself little<span class="pagenum" id="Page_350">[350]</span> uneasiness +on the subject; in the mean while an old friend, a fellow of Clare +Hall, who was very intimate with Pitt (afterwards Lord Chatham), +stimulated him to exert his influence with a nobleman who had been the +means of the bishop’s promotion. This noble lord immediately applied to +the bishop in behalf of Berridge, and, notwithstanding the efforts of +his numerous enemies, the good man was suffered to occupy “the lines +which had fallen to him in pleasant places.” Although, however, Mr. +Berridge attributes his triumph over the squire and his party to the +influence of Mr. Pitt, we must not forget that Lord Chancellor Henley, +who had promoted the bishop (Dr. John Green) to the see of Lincoln, was +the friend of Lady Huntingdon, and that to her Ladyship’s application +Mr. Berridge owed the interference with the bishop of his immediate +patron—an influence not inferior to that of the renowned Earl of +Chatham. To this Mr. Grimshaw alludes in a letter of this period, when +he says—“May the Lord eternally bless that dear, good, honourable Lady +Huntingdon, who would defend a persecuted minister of Christ to the +last gown on her back and the last shilling in her pocket!”</p> + +<p>In the beginning of this year her Ladyship came from Brighton to +London, and went thence to Bath, returning to town in July. One of Mr. +Berridge’s very singular but powerful letters was addressed to her +Ladyship in that month. It refers, among other matters, to the fatal +illness of Mr. Beckman, a particular friend of Mr. Whitefield’s, who, +with Messrs. Keene and Hardy, managed the affairs of the Tabernacle and +Tottenham-court Chapel. We would quote this letter at length, but fear +lest we should be thought to have already trespassed too long on the +patience of the reader with the eccentric and self-condemning letters +of this excellent and amiable, but very original writer. It is a duty, +however, which the biographer cannot with propriety neglect, to let men +paint themselves. The Christian can not take offence at the exhibition +of Christian weakness. If any such weak brother be offended by the +quaint strength of Mr. Berridge’s epistolary language, let him remember +how the apostles speak of their own weakness and that of each other, +and let self-examination lead to better thoughts and milder judgments. +The exuberant humour of Berridge, and his very figurative and even +whimsical mode of illustration, should act as a warning on all who feel +any tendency to singularity in this way. Let them remember, whether +in writing or in speaking, this sacred injunction—in doctrine, show +incorruptness, <i>gravity</i>, and sincerity.</p> + +<p>We have before us a series of letters, a correspondence between<span class="pagenum" id="Page_371">[371]</span> Mr. +Berridge and Mr. Thornton. The first of the letters to which we allude +is dated Everton, September 21, 1775, and in it Berridge gives a +whimsical account of his loss of a tooth, of the ill effects of this +loss on his utterance, of his supplying the cavity with bees’ wax, +which fell out in the midst of a sermon, and compelled him to conclude +abruptly, in horror of the hissing and indistinct sounds he uttered. He +goes on quaintly to relate a struggle between himself and Lady Pride, +who advises him to go to London and have a new tooth, but to apply +to Mr. Thornton to advance 10<i>l.</i>, which would be necessary for +the journey and the operation. To this curious letter of the vicar of +Everton the following delightful and instructive reply was sent by Mr. +Thornton, under date of Clapham, October 17, 1775:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="center">“TO THE REV. JOHN BERRIDGE.</p> + +<p>“Dear Sir—Your favour, with the enclosed note, I received: we +merchants are better taught than to be offended at any that +enclose us good bank bills, for they are always acceptable; +there is more danger of my being awkward in the acknowledgment +of the receipt, than offended. I recollect but one instance +that any of your cloth put me to the test, and that was through +roguery, so I did let it travel back again to Dr. Shylock, but I +promise you I have not a thought of it now. I shall only add, I +thank you for the opportunity, and desire you will be free with +me at all times.</p> + +<p>“In some discussions we have had relative to ‘<i>The Christian +World Unmasked</i>,’ I could not help laughing with you, though +at the same time I felt a check within; your reasons silenced, +but did not satisfy me. Your vein of humour and mine seem much +alike; if there is any difference between us, it lies here—I +would strive against mine, while you seem to indulge yours. +I fight against mine, because I find the ludicrous spirit is +just as dangerous as the sullen one: and it is much the same +to our great adversary, whether he falls in with a capricious +or facetious turn of mind. I could not forbear smiling at your +humorous allegory about the tooth, and was pleased with the good +sense displayed in it; yet something came across my mind—Is +this method agreeable to the idea we ought to entertain of a +father in Israel? It would pass mighty well in a newspaper, or +anything calculated for public entertainment; but it certainly +wanted that solidity or seriousness that a Christian minister +should write with. What the apostle said in another sense +will apply here—‘When I was a child, I spake as a child,’ +&c. An expression of yours in your prayer before sermon, when +at Tottenham-court, struck me; that <i>God would give us</i> +<span class="allsmcap">NEW</span> <i>bread, not stale, but what was baked in the oven +that day</i>. Whether it is that I am too little, or you too +much, used to such expressions, I won’t pretend to determine; +but I could not help thinking it savoured of attention to men +more than to God. I know the apology frequently made<span class="pagenum" id="Page_352">[352]</span> for such +language is, that the common people require it—it fixes their +attention, and affords matter for conversation afterwards; for +a sentence out of the common road is more remembered than all +the rest. This may be true; but the effect it has is only a loud +laugh among their acquaintances; not one person is edified, +and many are offended by such like expressions. Some ministers +I have known run into the other extreme, and think something +grand must be uttered to strike the audience; but this seems +to me as unnecessary as the other, and both have a twang of +self-conceit, and seem like leaning to carnal wisdom. Truth, +simple truth, requires no embellishments, nor should it be +degraded; we are not to add or to take from it, but to remember +the power is of God wholly. My reverend friend, as an old man, +might be indulged in his favourite peculiarities, if they would +stop with him; but others catch the infection, and we find young +ministers and common people indulging themselves in the same +way—they think they are authorized so to do by such an example. +Wit in any person is dangerous and often mischievous, when used +improperly, and especially on religious subjects; for as the +professing part of an audience will much longer retain a witty +or a low expression, than one more serious, so will the wicked +part of it too, and turn it to the disadvantage of religion. +I recollect but one humorous passage in all the Bible, which +is that of Elijah with the Baalites; and when the time, place, +and circumstances are properly considered, nothing could be +more seasonable—nothing so effectually expose the impotency +of their false god and the absurdity of their vain worship. +The prophets often speak ironically, sometimes satirically, +but I do not remember of their ever speaking ludicrously. Our +Lord and his apostles never had recourse to any such methods. +The short abstracts we have of their sermons and conversations +are all in serious strain, and ministers cannot copy after +better examples. I dare not say that giving liberty to a man’s +natural turn, or an endeavour to put and keep the people in +good humour, is sinful; but this I may assert, such a method is +universally followed on the stage, and in all places of public +entertainment; and therefore it seems to me to savour much more +of the old man than of the new.</p> + +<p>“I remember you once jocularly informed me you was born with a +fool’s cap on: pray, my dear sir, is it not high time it was +pulled off? Such an accoutrement may suit a natural birth, and +be of service; but surely it has nothing to do with a spiritual +one, nor ever can be made ornamental to a serious man, much +less to a Christian minister. I waive mentioning Scripture +injunctions, such as, ‘Let your speech be with grace,’ &c., as +you know these better than I do. Surely they should have some +weight, for idle and unprofitable words stand forbidden. If it +should please God to give you to see things as I do, you will +think it necessary to be more guarded; but should you think me +mistaken, I trust it will make no interruption in our friendship +that I am thus free with you, as it proceeds from a sincere +love and regard. The Tabernacle people are in general wild and +enthusiastic, and delight in anything out of the common, which +is a temper of mind, though in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_353">[353]</span> some respects necessary, yet +should never be encouraged. If you and some few others, who have +the greatest influence over them, would use the curb, instead +of the spur, I am persuaded the effect would be very blessed. +Wild fire is better than no fire; but there is a divine warmth +between these two extremes which the real Christian catches, and +which, when obtained, is evidenced by a cool head and a warm +heart, and makes him a glorious, shining example to all around +him. I desire to be earnest in prayer that we may be more and +more partakers of this heavenly wisdom, and ascribe all might, +majesty, and dominion to the Lord alone. I am, dear Sir, yours +affectionately,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“John Thornton.”</p> +</div> + +<p>The reply to this letter is an honour equally to both correspondents: +it is addressed to John Thornton, Esq., and dated Everton, October 22, +1765:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Dear and honoured Sir—Your favour of the 17th requires an +answer, attended with a challenge. And I do hereby challenge +you, and defy all your acquaintances to prove, that I have a +single correspondent half so honest as yourself. Epistolary +intercourses are become a polite traffic; and he that can +say pretty things, and wink at bad things, is an admired +correspondent. Indeed, for want of due authority and meekness +on one side, and of patience and humility on the other, to give +or to take reproof, a fear of raising indignation, instead +of conviction, often puts a bar on the door of my lips; for +I find where reproof does not humble, it hardens; and the +seasonable time of striking, if we can catch it, is when the +iron is hot—when the heart is melted down in a furnace. Then +it submits to the stroke, and takes and retains the impression. +I wish you would exercise the trade of a Gospel limner, and +draw the features of all my brethren in black, and send them +their portraits. I believe you would do them justice every +way, by giving every cheek its proper blush, without hiding a +dimple upon it. Yet I fear, if your subsistence depended on +this business, you would often want a morsel of bread, unless I +sent you a quartern loaf from Everton. As to myself, you know +the man: odd things break from me as abruptly as croaking from +a raven. I was born with a fool’s cap. ‘True (you say), yet why +is the cap not put off?—it suits the first Adam, but not the +second.’ A very proper question, and my answer is this: a fool’s +cap is not put off so readily as a night-cap. One cleaves to +the head and one to the heart. Not many prayers only, but many +furnaces, are needful for this purpose. And, after all, the same +thing happens to a tainted heart as to a tainted cask, which may +be sweetened by many washings and firings, yet a scent remains +still. Late furnaces have singed the bonnet of my cap, but the +crown still abides on my head; and I must confess that the +crown so abides in whole or in part, for want of a closer walk +with God, and nearer communion with him. ”When I creep near the +throne, this humour disappears, or is tempered so well as not to +be distasteful. Hear, Sir, how my Master deals with me: when I +am running wild, and saying things somewhat rash or very quaint, +he gives me an immediate blow on my breast, which stuns<span class="pagenum" id="Page_354">[354]</span> me. +Such a check I received whilst I was uttering that expression in +prayer you complained of; but the bolt was too far shot to be +recovered. Thus I had intelligence from above before I received +it from your hand. However, I am bound to thank you, and do +hereby acknowledge myself reimbursed for returning your note.</p> + +<p>“And now, dear Sir, having given you an honest account of +myself, and acknowledged the obligation I owe you, I would +return the obligation in the best manner I am able. It has +been a matter of surprise to me how Dr. Conyers could accept +of Deptford living, and how Mr. Thornton could present him to +it. The Lord says, ‘<i>Woe to the idle shepherd that leaveth +his flock</i>.’ Is not Helmsley flock, and a choice flock too, +left—left altogether, and left in the hands, not of shepherds +to feed, but of wolves to devour them? Has not lucre led him to +Deptford, and has not a family connexion overruled your private +judgment? You may give me a box on the ear for these questions, +if you please, and I will take it kindly, and still love and +pray for you. The Lord bless you, and bless your family, and +bless your affectionate servant,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“John Berridge.”</p> +</div> + +<p>At the close of this letter Mr. Berridge alludes to a circumstance +which may require some explanation. Mr. Thornton was induced, in 1765, +to visit Dr. Conyers, then rector of Helmsley, in the North Riding +of Yorkshire. Delighted as such men must be with each other, they +became friends, and soon after brothers, for Mr. Thornton’s sister, +Mrs. Knipe, a rich and pious widow, was united to Dr. Conyers in 1765. +They were the blessing of their district; but their happiness was not +long-lived, for a lingering illness carried off Mrs. Conyers, to the +deep regret of the parish; yet was this stroke less heavy than that +by which it was followed, for within eighteen months the rectory of +St. Paul’s, Deptford, the presentation to which had been purchased +by Mr. Thornton, became vacant, and Dr. Conyers was removed from his +parishioners, to their heartfelt sorrow. They were his children in the +Gospel; and when we say that the regular communicants were eighteen +hundred, we need add nothing in his praise. But he quitted them, +and to avoid the confusion that he apprehended from their vehement +leave-taking,<a id="FNanchor_185" href="#Footnote_185" class="fnanchor">[185]</a> he quitted Helmsley at midnight. His departure has +been defended by some and blamed by others; but by his parishioners his +loss was the more deplored, as his successor was more of the wolf than +the sheep-dog, and devastated rather than kept the fold.</p> +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_355">[355]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hangingindent">Mr. and Mrs. Powys—Letters—Mr. Whitefield—Mr. +Fletcher—Mr. Venn—Sir C. Hotham—Howel Harris—Chapel +at Brighton re-opened—Letters—Mr. Romaine—Mr. +Talbot—Mr. Berridge—Anecdote of the Countess—Mr. De +Courcy—Mr. Vincent Perronet—Mr. Toplady—Mr. Bliss—Mr. +Pentycross—Chapel at Chichester opened—Chapel at Petworth—at +Guildford—Basingstoke—Enlargement of that at Brighton—Mr. +Thomas Jones.</p> +</div> + + +<p>Mr. and Mrs. Powys visited Lady Huntingdon, at Oathall and Brighton, +in the course of this summer (1766):<a id="FNanchor_186" href="#Footnote_186" class="fnanchor">[186]</a> making some stay in London +on their way, they were introduced to Mr. Whitefield and Mr. Fletcher, +and became intimate with both. Mr. Whitefield’s farewell letter to +this “honoured and happy pair,” when his “cloud pointed to Bath and +Bristol,” theirs to Brighthelmstone, was dated Tottenham-court, June 2, +1766: “How glad (he says) will the noble Countess be of the intended +visit! How will the hearts, both of the visited and the visitors, +be made to burn within them!” Mr. Fletcher and Mr. Romaine were at +Brighton and Oathall during the visit of Mr. and Mrs. Powys, and on +their departure Mr. Venn and Sir Charles Hotham arrived. The two latter +proceeded from Brighton to Bath, where they were met by Mr. Howel +Harris, to whom Sir Charles was introduced by Lady Huntingdon; he +accompanied them to Trevecca, whence, just before his departure with +Sir Charles and Captain Wilson for Berwick, the residence of Mr. Powys, +he wrote the following letter to Lady Huntingdon:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="r2">“Trevecca, Nov. 30, 1766.</p> + +<p>“Dear Madam—The favour of yours, by Sir Charles, I began +immediately to answer; and then again another; but your last +coming before I could send either, I can only now say, it is my +real cross that it is not in my power to come <i>directly</i> +myself, instead of sending this,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_356">[356]</span> to offer, with all my +readiness, any little assistance I am able. When yours came +to hand, our Saviour had been just laying your matters on my +heart in an earnest spirit of intercession, as he often does, +notwithstanding the backwardness of my pen. And on my laying +the contents of your letter before those that help me here, +Evan Moses said that your matters had been of late laid often, +more than usual, on his heart, to wrestle with God for you, +&c. &c. &c.; and they would all have consented to my coming +<i>directly</i> to Sussex, but that I had, above a fortnight +ago, sent to publish a long round, which I begin this week, of +about fifteen opportunities, where several thousands, I expect, +will attend, and several of the places I never was in before. +And I had been laying it before the Lord before I sent, and we +were all in conscience afraid of disappointing so many. And on +laying it again before the Lord, it seemed clearly to be his +mind I should go this round; and as soon as I return I trust our +Saviour will help me to come to Sussex.</p> + +<p>“I hope to commemorate our Saviour’s circumcision and entrance +on his sufferings with your Ladyship at Brighton; and to set +out from hence as soon as I return from my journey, in which +(when you find that nothing should have kept me from complying +immediately with your request, but being bound in spirit, as +well as conscience and truth) I am sure you will hold up my +hands, and follow me with your prevalent prayers of faith; and +that I may be counted worthy to contribute some weak help to +your Ladyship, in your well-meant labours for the glory of the +Redeemer and the good of a dark, ungrateful age.</p> + +<p>“My wife, and Hannah, and Betty, Evan Moses, and Jerry +Pritchard, all join in most grateful regards to your Ladyship; +and are so far from hindering me, that they are sorry that I +can’t come directly; and all feel a oneness between your work +and ours, and that your cares and burdens are ours.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>“Will you believe me if I say I shall feel the time long till +the Lord, I trust, will bring me to Brighthelmstone? Your +Ladyship’s most unworthy, but affectionate and obliged humble +servant,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“Howel Harris.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Mr. Fletcher went from Brighton to London, “where (says Mr. Whitefield) +he became a <i>scandalous</i> Tottenham-court preacher.” Lady +Huntingdon followed him to London, and Mr. and Mrs. Powys went on +a visit to Mr. Venn, in Yorkshire. To that place Lady Huntingdon +addressed the following letter:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“My dear Madam—As I have no expectation of seeing you again, +from the uncertainty of all things on earth, which suffers us +not to call anything our own that time possesses us of, I could +not forbear communicating my sentiments of love and tender +regard to you and Mr. Powys, hoping that the conviction that +will follow from them will be sufficient to assure you how +glad I should be to wait upon you, though the interposition +of Providence may prevent my ever having that opportunity. I +really mean that my friendships, visits, conversation, with +every intercourse of mankind, should lead to but one end. I +don’t<span class="pagenum" id="Page_357">[357]</span> mean by this merely the necessary consistency required of +a religious profession, or the splendid <i>appearances</i> of +a devout (or <i>sanctimonious</i>) character. O no! these the +poorest and blindest hypocrite may excel in; but the knowledge +of truth, essentially and effectually distinguished from all the +plausible opinions <i>about it</i>, is my all.</p> + +<p>“These words in your letter struck me with a simplicity I +loved—‘All I know is, that I am exceedingly ignorant, and have +need to be taught as a little child.’ To this real disposition +is all truth eminently and specially addressed; and without +this kind of docility we must remain where we were. I don’t +suppose you consider it needful to become so, as to man; but +are you so before Him who alone can teach, guide, and lead into +all truth? Read from the 25th verse to the end of the 14th +chapter of St. Luke, and see if, out of that great multitude +that followed Him, you would have rejoiced when he turned and +said to them, <i>‘If any man come to me, and hate not,’ &c., +‘he cannot be my disciple;’</i> for we hear of none that chose +him out of that multitude; and in what a state of preparation +for heavenly things must <i>that</i> heart have been that could +have embraced him, in his low and despised estate, so highly as +to fly from all things else, nearest and dearest, as hateful, +to follow Him. Is, then, this the disposition of your heart, +my dearest Madam? This was not said to apostles, or eminently +chosen instruments, but <i>if any man come to me</i>. Should +this be our Saviour’s first lesson to your heart, and it is +<i>truly</i> in this child-like disposition, you will naturally +forego every hindrance—you will embrace the summons, leaving +all behind joyfully; if not, you will reason, and find out +how wise you are in accommodating these highest privileges of +his Gospel with securing to yourself (from worldly prudence) +every comfort he would call you from the enjoyment of, and rest +in the consolation, doctrinally, of the sufficiency of his +sacrifice for sinners. Such, dearest Madam, is the blindness +and deceitfulness of our hearts; whereas, true faith in that +sacrifice calls upon all for the sacrifice of <i>their all</i>, +in testimony of their faith; and whenever we see a sincere +heart, though overrun with weakness, unbelief, &c., as Peter +and others, yet we find them brought through all to the point +their simple hearts truly aimed at; therefore we have no reason +to be discouraged at anything we are not now, as he first works +in us to will, and then to do, of his own good pleasure. But +the reserves willingly held at the bottom of the heart, and not +being alive or awake upon the necessity of this condition of +the mind, or by evading the force of these truths, by arguments +drawn from Scripture, with art, to satisfy the poor foolish +heart—this, of all states, appears to be the worst sort—these +are those that are ever learning, and never coming to the +knowledge of the truth, and carry the savour of death with them +wherever they go.</p> + +<p>“A lady of great quality I knew, that had most serious and +religious sentiments, and of this world, in person, fortune, +family, friends, &c. an uncommon share: a gentleman who was +well acquainted with her, and saw the snares that would beset +her, in order to prevent the solid<span class="pagenum" id="Page_378">[378]</span> experience of the truth, +dealt most plainly with her, and showed her the consequence of +a divided heart: it gave her great pain for a time; but at and +before her death she often would cry out, ‘<i>O what great, what +unspeakable obligations do I now feel for that dear and faithful +friend who dealt so plainly with me</i>:’ and, indeed, her death +was the most blessed proof of that solid and most substantial +evidence she had of future glory: for mortality was swallowed up +of life visibly to others.</p> + +<p>“It is this sort of friends I feel I want for myself, who will +ever contend with every false rest 1 would set up; and with +faith and zeal be hastening my slow and lazy steps through this +rough wilderness of woe; such it only is to pilgrims—they +cannot take up with what is in it, yet loiter in that way, when +faith and love would make them wings to soar upon.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>“Thus, my dearest Madam, may you and I <i>practically know</i>, +understand, and follow, by the guidance of the Spirit of truth, +the meaning and intent of all religious truths revealed in the +Bible; unless this is the case, we are, and shall be found, +the sounding brass, and nothing better. To our great Prophet, +Priest, and King may we ever trust and commit ourselves, and in +his arms of love and mercy may we be found, when nothing else +but the merits of his death shall fill heaven and our hearts +with his praises. I am, dearest Madam, your much obliged friend +and obedient humble servant,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“S. Huntingdon.”</p> + +<p class="p-min">“To Mrs. Powys.</p> +</div> + +<p>Mr. Whitefield at the same time wrote to Mr. Powys, congratulating him +on having around him <i>four</i> Methodist preachers;<a id="FNanchor_187" href="#Footnote_187" class="fnanchor">[187]</a> “enough +(he observes) when Jesus says, ‘Loose them and let them go,’ to set a +whole kingdom on fire for God.” “Our truly noble mother in Israel (he +continues, adverting to the Countess) is come to London, full of the +scars of Christian honour: <i>crescit sub pondere virtus</i>. Happy +they who have the honour of her acquaintance.”</p> + +<p>In February, Howel Harris came to London, and, after preaching for Mr. +Whitefield several times, went down to Brighton to the Countess. This +was a favourite place of resort to the good Lady Huntingdon, and there +she had opened her first chapel, which had so prospered, that she now +found it necessary considerably to enlarge the building. Accordingly, +on the 20th of March, she gathered her chaplains around her, and the +enlarged chapel was re-opened. On the 19th her Ladyship had devoted +several hours to solemn and solitary prayer, wrestling with God for +a blessing on this house which she had reared to him;<a id="FNanchor_188" href="#Footnote_188" class="fnanchor">[188]</a> and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_359">[359]</span> that +night a prayer meeting had been held in her own house for the same +purpose. On the day of opening, Mr. Whitefield preached from 2 Peter +iii. 18, “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of the Lord and +Saviour Jesus Christ: to him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.” Mr. +Madan preached in the forenoon, and Mr. Whitefield in the evening, and +vast crowds assembled, and heard as if deeply affected.</p> + +<p>Mr. Fletcher, under date of Madely, March 16th, 1767, acknowledges +her Ladyship’s intimation concerning the chapel, “her Ladyship’s +comfortable and profitable letter,” which he waits to answer until he +can enter into the spirit of her favourite Mary; but he says, “I am a +stupid sinner still—to say all in one word, I am <i>myself</i> still;” +and he continues to paint his own struggles for power in the manner +of several of his former letters. Mr. Venn, he says, on his way from +Yorkshire to Bath, brought him the intelligence that Mr. Harris had +visited her Ladyship, and had promised to visit Madely on his return. +“Jones (he writes) has told me that he preached in your Ladyship’s +chapel, and he mentions Mrs. Hill and Mr. and Mrs. Powys as having +profited by their visit to London and her Ladyship.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Harris addressed her Ladyship from Trevecca, in a very energetic +letter, on the very day of the opening at Brighton:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I am this morning happy (he says) in viewing the glory that I +am sure is this day among you at Brighthelmstone. My prayer is +that your bow may ever abide in strength—that your faith may +never fail—and that the sacred fire may be ever blazing in your +heart, life, and pen, without which all our light is but mere +death and darkness.”</p> +</div> + +<p>He promises to be in Bath in May, and adds, that he has prevailed on +Mr. Hart and Mr. Jones to be there, but that Mr. Jesse did not well +receive his remonstrance.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_360">[360]</span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Mr. Romaine (he says) did not preach as I would wish; Mr. +Madan spoke much against Sandeman (Haweis being present). You +have heard, I suppose, of my calling at Lord Dartmouth’s, and +seeing there Stillingfleet, Talbot, and Powys; and Lady Gertrude +Hotham’s—Sir Charles—Mrs. Cartwright and Miss Cavendish; and +of what passed at Bath, of my speaking to a society-fellowship +with Lady Anne, and expounding at Lord Buchan’s?” &c.</p> + +<p>“If this comes to hand before the meeting breaks up, I beg my +warmest love to all, being really present there among you in my +spirit, and crying that all there may be <i>indeed devoted to +the Lord</i>. O how few, my dear Madam, mind Him alone! having +no object or care but Him! Sure he is but little really known, +else all the family would have but <i>one</i> heart, <i>one</i> +voice, <i>one</i> cry, <i>one</i> song, and <i>one</i> joy! But +stop—He does not despise the day of small things, and we should +bless him that <i>it is</i> a day of small things now, and that +the day-star begins to rise on a dark, fallen, benighted land.”</p> +</div> + +<p>He concludes with a remembrance to Miss Orton, Mrs. Turner, and the +whole society. Mr. Romaine writes from Lambeth, on the 26th of the +month, thus:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Honoured Madam—I was, according to your Ladyship’s request, +at your meeting, and waited on you in spirit, with my prayers, +which I have offered up, and shall offer up, for a blessing +upon it. I informed Mrs. Cartwright and Mrs. Cavendish that +this was the only way in which I could be present with you. My +curate has left me. I am without an assistant, and cannot hear +of one. The parochial duty tires me quite, and I would not go +through it, but that I am perfectly satisfied it was the will of +God I should have this church. I never durst take the cure of +souls. Several years ago Lord Dartmouth offered me the living +of Bromwich, where his seat is. I refused, never intending to +burden myself with such a heavy charge. Since that time I have +frequently refused the like offer. When Blackfriars was vacant, +I was put up without my knowledge, being then in Yorkshire. And +I would never meddle with the election; but it was carried on, +and succeeded, against mine own will. As sure as ever any man +had a call from heaven, this was one. I have been long satisfied +of this: and, therefore, I may not reason nor now complain. +My time is short; I must up and be doing; for I have a home +prospect, bounded in very narrow limits. I must go briskly on +with my work, leaving it to my Lord to find me strength for it, +and success in it; his blessing I expect here, and for ever: +not for anything done at Blackfriars; and yet I would labour +as hard as if heaven were to be the reward of my labours. When +I was allowed more time and liberty, I gladly laid them out in +your part of the vineyard, and what I can spare so I hope to do +again. The people are very dear to me at Brighton and Oathall, +having been so much with them, and personally acquainted with +most of their experiences. I shall be amongst you in all your +meetings, and shall keep up with you the communion of saints. +May much life and power be with ministers and people, and may +the chapel be consecrated anew by the presence and glory of the +Lord Jesus,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_361">[361]</span> which have so often filled it. All, with you, share +in my best wishes. I am, with great affection, in the bond of +all union, your faithful servant and friend,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“W. Romaine.”</p> +</div> + +<p>In April, 1767, Lady Huntingdon and Miss Orton went from Brighton to +Bath, and thence through Wales into Yorkshire. Her Ladyship was much +occupied in arrangements for her college at Trevecca. In the summer of +1768, she was again at Brighton. “Her only view in Sussex (says Mr. +Romaine) is to carry glad tidings to a wretchedly ignorant people. +He has hitherto prospered her design, and while he smiles upon it I +believe she will never give it up.” The Rev. W. Talbot,<a id="FNanchor_189" href="#Footnote_189" class="fnanchor">[189]</a> vicar of +St. Giles’s, Reading, accompanied her Ladyship into Sussex. He and his +wife were pious and excellent persons, and were both venerated by the +congregations of the Countess.</p> + +<p>About this time her Ladyship wrote two kind and consoling letters to +Mr. Berridge, who was alarmingly ill; as he expressed it, laid on +the ground as “flat as a flounder.” His letter is the most admirable +description of a disease and its effects that can be conceived, but +couched in the most figurative and extraordinary language. He excuses +his declining her Ladyship’s invitation to visit her, by pleading that +he has no coat fit to appear in out of Everton, and concludes by asking +her to patch his coat by a small bank bill. Her Ladyship immediately +complied with his request, and forwarded a sum for the relief of his +necessities.<a id="FNanchor_190" href="#Footnote_190" class="fnanchor">[190]</a> He afterwards grew worse, and sent to her Ladyship +to borrow a “Gospel baker” (a minister), lest his parishioners should +perish for want of bread.</p> + +<p>After the dedication of the chapel at Tunbridge Wells, Lady Huntingdon +proceeded to Lewes, accompanied by Mr. De Courcy, who preached twice +to very large congregations in the open air.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_362">[362]</span> From thence her Ladyship +went to Brighton, where she made but a short stay, and leaving Mr. +De Courcy to supply the chapels there and at Oathall, returned to +Tunbridge Wells, where she continued till the month of August, when she +took a journey into Wales, to attend the approaching anniversary of her +college. Here Mr. De Courcy laboured with great zeal, truthfulness, and +success. He did not confine himself to the ordinary routine of labours +on the Sabbath and week days, but occasionally went from “house to +house, teaching and preaching Jesus Christ.” He also held a meeting +for the purpose of praying with the society, and hearing them declare +what God had done for their souls. On these occasions he was peculiarly +useful in speaking “a word in season” to the weary, heavy laden, +troubled, tempted, and distressed soul. The great Head of the Church +did not suffer him to labour in vain, but gave him many souls as seals +to his ministry, some of whom fell asleep in Jesus before him, and +would doubtless welcome him to the realms of eternal day.</p> + +<p>The following letter expresses Mr. De Courcy’s admiration of her +Ladyship, and details his labours in her service and that of the Lord:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Honoured Madam—It has been matter of concern to me that I have +not been able fully to answer your Ladyship’s most affectionate +favour of the 16th instant sooner; but I am confident you will +readily pardon my delay, when I inform your Ladyship that my +dear Lord and Master has honoured me with such constant employ +in his service that I have really wanted leisure.</p> + +<p>“It affords me inexpressible satisfaction to find that my poor +services in the Gospel are at all acceptable to your Ladyship; +and it is matter of deep self-abasement that the Lord is pleased +to render them so agreeable, and a little profitable to the +<i>dear, dear</i> people amongst whom I labour. O my Lady! +could I give your Ladyship a window in my breast, to discover +the secret workings of my heart, you would see, through much +vileness and imperfection, that disinterested love for the +propagation of the Gospel, and ardent gratitude to the Lord +for placing me under your Ladyship’s wing, and the sweet +constraining motions that prompt me to spend and be spent in the +Sussex work. I can, in my present situation, join issue with the +Psalmist, and say, ‘The lots have fallen to me in a fair place; +yea, I have a goodly heritage!’ I am thankful, unfeignedly +thankful, to your Ladyship for honouring an unworthy creature +so far as to send him to a people among whom the Lord resides, +and to whom I feel myself so united, that a separation from them +would be a very keen trial.</p> + +<p>“Since your Ladyship heard from me last, I have been at Hust, +a town distant about five miles from Ditchling. From reports, +we had a prospect of a severe persecution, but that promise, +‘Fear not, for I am with thee—be not dismayed, for I am thy +God,’ &c., kept my heart at<span class="pagenum" id="Page_363">[363]</span> perfect peace. Many friends from +Ditchling, Oathall, Brighthelmstone, &c. &c., accompanied me. +As soon as we made our appearance in the streets, the whole +town was in a commotion, as if invaded by some foreign enemy. +It was with much difficulty I could get a chair to stand on. +I proceeded in the first hymn and prayer, and a little of my +discourse, without interruption, but in a short time some +laughed, some shouted, others brought out a table with liquor, +and began to sing round it, whilst others blew a horn: and +while I invited the inhabitants of Hust freely to drink of the +water of life, a poor sinner came to me with a mug of ale in +his hand, begging I would drink of his liquor. In the midst +of all this the Lord made me as bold as a lion, so that I was +enabled to bear an awful testimony against these scoffers, +and had the pleasure to see many of them so far cut down by +the word that they were silent for some time. But after I had +preached about forty minutes, the uproar was so great that I was +obliged to desist, concluding with a hymn. Towards the close of +my discourse my bowels yearned so over these poor creatures, +that I could have wept tears of blood for their precious souls. +However, notwithstanding the tumult, many were deeply attentive, +and much affected; and I have since heard that a man in the town +has made an offer of any part of his house for us to meet in, +whenever we go again. I am very confident the Lord will have +a people in Hust, and feel a longing desire to pay it another +visit.</p> + +<p>“Last Sunday se’nnight I went to a place called Hellingby, +twenty miles from hence. A man who lives near the place, and is +a pretender to Christianity, invited me down by a letter, which +he sent to one of the society here, wherein he represented the +parish as wholly destitute of a minister, alleging that the +curate was dismissed, and that the rector would not supply his +place. Thinking this a fair opportunity for the introduction of +the Gospel, I left this the Saturday after I saw the letter, to +go to Hellingby. In the way I called on this man, and found, to +my great astonishment, that the greatest part of this letter +was palpably false, for the rector was then come. In short, he +was quite indifferent, and would not own us. This was indeed +a trial; but I remember it was strongly impressed on my mind +that the Lord suffered this for some wise ends; therefore faith +looked to that promise—‘All things shall work together for +good;’ and patience waited its fulfilment in this affair. On +Sunday morning I waited on the minister. When he found I had +some connexion with your Ladyship he would not admit me into +his church. I returned, very much resigned, to a few friends +from Brighthelmstone, &c., who accompanied me to a place +called Laughton, where I stood up under a branching venerable +tree, and preached to a very sweet attentive congregation, +though not very numerous. We stood on an eminence, and made +the hills and vales re-echo with the praises of the Lamb. It +was a blessed season. Many were much affected, and after I had +concluded, begged hard for one sermon more. I have given them +a promise, and hope soon to fulfil it, for I long once more to +stand under that same tree. The work in Sussex calls aloud for +more labourers. It is impossible for me to give your Ladyship +any idea of the universal thirst there is for the Gospel, on +every side of us,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_364">[364]</span> in the country parts. Every time I preach at +Oathall people come to me, and cry out, like persons famishing +with hunger and begging a morsel of bread—‘<i>Oh, Sir, won’t +you come to such a place?</i>’ Indeed, I wish it were in my +power to supply every place, but my calls are so various that +it is quite impracticable. I think Mr. Harman computed ten or +twelve different parts to which we have been invited. I pray +that the Lord may send us some help. I think Sussex seems to be +on fire: and though the devil strives to extinguish the sacred +flame, yet, glory be to God, it receives additional strength +from every fresh flood poured on it, and burns the brighter. The +Lord is reviving his work in the hearts of some here who have +lost ground; he blesses us in every meeting. Yesterday was one +of the days of the Son of Man. Oathall church was as full as it +could hold, and the Lord was in the midst of us. The word was +as a fire. I preached at eight in the morning five miles from +Oathall—at eleven, at Oathall—at six, at Brighthelmstone; +and the Lord gave me such strength of body and spirit that he +enabled me to go through the whole like a giant refreshed with +new wine. I really felt no more lassitude of spirit or fatigue +of body than if I had not spoken a word the whole day. That +promise, ‘As thy day is, so shall thy strength be,’ was my +support, and was literally fulfilled to me. O my Lady! what a +Master do we serve! What an ample reward does he give us even +here! How sweet is his service!</p> + +<p>“My Lord and Lady Sussex were at chapel yesterday evening, and +seemed vastly attentive. I received this day a heart-reviving +cordial of an epistle from dear Mr. Whitefield. He rejoices +in the prospect of being with your Ladyship this summer at +Tunbridge Wells. Your Ladyship is pleased to ask me what you +shall do about my ordination. This I answer—I am certain your +Ladyship will do whatever is our Lord’s will, and therefore do +not presume to prescribe. I bless God, my mind is perfectly +calm and resigned concerning this matter. The ordination +of the Great Bishop of Souls is infinitely more valid than +that of any creature. I feel much gratitude to the Lord, and +am inexpressibly thankful to your Ladyship for my present +comfortable situation. The free offer you make of being the +friend of all my wants is more than I desire; and all the +requital I can make is to pray that the Lord may reward you +sevenfold into your own bosom. May the Lord Jesus bear all your +burdens! May he crown your labours with abundant success, and +give your Ladyship to see the travail of your Redeemer’s soul +in the conversion of many souls! But I must at length conclude, +with most affectionate respects to Lady Buchan, Lady Anne, +Miss Orton, &c., your Ladyship’s much obliged and most dutiful +servant,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“Richard De Courcy.</p> + +<p class="p-min">“Brighthelmstone, June 26, 1769.</p> + +<p>“P.S.—If it were not inconvenient, I should be glad to be +permitted to lie at your Ladyship’s house; for, being obliged +to go out warm after preaching, I risk my health. I hope your +Ladyship will pardon this freedom.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Mr. De Courcy was extremely popular at this period. And<span class="pagenum" id="Page_365">[365]</span> so much was he +esteemed in the chapels of the Countess, that multitudes flocked from +every quarter to hear him; and the Chief Shepherd, who had furnished +him with great gifts, condescended to bless them, for the awakening, +quickening, and reviving the souls of many, especially of young +persons. “Surely, my Lady (writes Mr. Fletcher), you have found at last +a man altogether after your Ladyship’s heart, in Mr. De Courcy; yea, +and a man after the Lord’s own heart, whom he is pleased to honour.”</p> + +<p>The winter of 1769 Lady Huntingdon spent in London. The first +day of the year 1770 her Ladyship set apart for the exercise of +abstinence—for the duties of impartial examination, humiliation, and +renewed dedication of herself to God. In the morning she was much +profited under a sermon from Isaiah xxxv. 3: “Strengthen ye the weak +hands, and confirm the feeble knees.” The preacher was the Rev. Andrew +Kinsman, of Plymouth, then supplying the Tabernacle and Tottenham-court +Chapel—a man held in great estimation by her Ladyship and Mr. +Whitefield. In the evening she heard Mr. Romaine at the Lock Chapel, +from those striking words in the prophecies of Jeremiah—“This year +thou shalt die.” From a letter written partly on the evening of this +day, but not concluded for some days after, we extract the following +passages, which detail the causes of her sorrows, and from whence arose +her joys:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“—— I am but just returned from the Lock, where I heard +a profitable sermon from dear Mr. Romaine, on that awful +passage—‘<i>This year thou shalt die</i>.’ If the Lord shall +see fit to remove me hence during the year just commenced, may +my worthless soul be numbered with the redeemed before the +throne. Of late I have enjoyed much intimate fellowship with +the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit has frequently +witnessed with my spirit that I am his child. This has caused +me to rejoice with joy unspeakable. Truly I can set up my +Ebenezer, saying, ‘<i>Hitherto the Lord hath helped me</i>.’ +During the year that is gone he appeared wonderfully in my +behalf; and has repeatedly given me to find it is not in vain +to trust him. Nevertheless, I am keenly penetrated with a sense +of my own utter helplessness, nothingness, and depravity. Oh! +the desperate deceitfulness of the human heart! What depths of +depravity are within! I am a very Judas, ready to betray my Lord +and Master, and did not mighty grace prevent, would have been a +traitor long since. But the Lord is still merciful and gracious, +and, though often provoked, has not yet forsaken me. Through +mercy I still hold fast my confidence. My anchor is fixed, and +the Lord Jesus is my wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and +redemption; and with the apostle I am enabled to forget those +things which are behind, and reach forth to those things which +are before.”</p> +</div> + +<p>But whilst inward consolation abounded, outward trials and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_366">[366]</span> +disappointments increased. But He who is rich in mercy knew what she +was able to bear, and proportioned her sufferings to her strength. In +many places where she was instrumental in planting the Gospel standard, +great success attended the first promulgation of divine truth, and +much life and zeal glowed in the hearts of those who received the +truth in the love of it. But after a season the scene changed, and +deadness seemed to spread over the work. To some such complaints of her +Ladyship, Mr. Berridge thus replies, under the date of Everton, January +9, 1770:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“You complain that every new work, after a season, becomes a +lifeless work. And was it not in the beginning as it is now? +Do not the Acts and Epistles show that the primitive Churches +much resembled our own? In their infancy we find them of one +heart and soul, having all things common; but presently read +of partiality in the distribution of their Church stock, then +of eager and lasting contentions about circumcision, coupling +Moses with Jesus, and setting the servant on a level with +his master. And Gentile Churches were much on a footing with +Jewish. The Corinthians soon fell into parties about their +leaders, into errors about the resurrection, and into many gross +immoralities. The Galatians seemed ready at first to present +Paul with their own eyes, but grew desirous at last of plucking +out his. The Ephesians had been much tossed with winds of +doctrine. The Colossians had fallen into will worship, &c.; and +the Thessalonians had some of our gossips among them who would +not work, but sauntered about picking up news and telling tales. +St. Paul’s labours were much employed in Asia, and many Churches +were gathered there; yet I hear him complaining in a certain +place, ‘that all they in Asia were turned aside from him.’ The +<i>General</i> Epistles, which were written late, unanimously +show that errors and corruptions had broke into all Churches +during the apostle’s life-time: and the seven Epistles dictated +by Jesus in the Revelation confirm the same. Scripture mentions +a former and a latter rain: between which there must of course +be an <i>interval</i> of drought and barrenness. The former +rain falls just after seed-time; when there is plenty of manna +coming down from above, plenty of honey flowing out of the rock, +and plenty of joyful hosannahs rising up to Jesus. After this +rain comes the <i>interval</i>; during which most of the stony +and thorny grounds sheer off, taking a final leave of Jesus; +and the good grounds are scarcely discernible, so barren they +appear and full of weeds, and so exceedingly cold and swampy. +Now one soars up into the cloud of perfection, crying out, ‘<i>I +am a queen!</i>’ and becomes the devil’s goddess. Another falls +asleep and snores hard in election; God’s truth, indeed, is +often made the devil’s cradle. A third drops plump into a pond, +and then keeps roaming day and night about the devil’s wash-pot. +A fourth gets bemired in the world, and lies quite contented, +though nearly choked in the devil’s quagmire. At length the Lord +ariseth in just indignation to chastise and vex his people, +continuing his plagues till he has broken their bones and +humbled<span class="pagenum" id="Page_367">[367]</span> their hearts, causing them to see, and feel, and loathe +their backslidings, and raising up a sigh and a cry in their +hearts for deliverance. Then comes the latter rain to revive and +settle; after which they learn to walk humbly with God.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Some time during the month of January her Ladyship paid a visit to that +very venerable man, Vincent Perronet, vicar of Shoreham, in Sussex, who +had but just recovered from a long illness—a man certainly entitled, +on various accounts, to a conspicuous place amongst the brightest +ornaments of the Christian Church in the last century. For though he +was possessed of talents and accomplishments which would have qualified +him to have filled any station with dignity, and his connexions in life +were such that he had good reason to expect considerable preferment; +yet as soon as the glorious light of the Gospel visited his mind, he +instantly renounced every prospect of temporal advantage, counting all +things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus his +Lord; and from that moment he unreservedly devoted himself to the glory +of his Redeemer and the interests of the Church militant.</p> + +<p>With Lady Huntingdon, Mr. Perronet had occasionally corresponded, but +till this period never had a personal interview with her Ladyship, who +was much impressed with the manly and exalted nature of his piety, +his Christian courtesy, and the cheerfulness and sweetness of his +disposition and deportment. “A most heavenly man (says her Ladyship), +with the most lively piety, joined with the profoundest humility +and ardent concern for the salvation of the people committed to his +charge.” And as he was one of the most aged ministers of Christ in +the kingdom, so he was inferior to none, either in the fervour of his +spirit, the simplicity of his manners, or the ancient hospitality +of the Gospel. At the same time, those who were favoured with his +friendship can never forget the delicacy and refinement of his +sentiments, and the frankness and generosity of his temper—qualities +which are not to be expected but from great and liberal minds.</p> + +<p>Lady Huntingdon was accompanied by Mr. Wesley, who remained at Shoreham +a few days, whilst her Ladyship proceeded to Tunbridge Wells, to +regulate some affairs connected with her chapel there. From thence she +went to Brighton and Oathall, where Mr. Romaine had arrived a day or +two before. Her Ladyship returned to her residence, in Portland-row, +in the month of February. On Tuesday, the 6th, Mr. Wesley administered +the sacrament at her house <i>for the last time</i>. Mr. Maxfield +preached and spoke strongly against Perfection, a doctrine Mr. Wesley +contended for at this time with much zeal. The following week, however, +he was again at her Ladyship’s house, when Mr.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_368">[368]</span> Talbot, of Reading, +administered the Lord’s Supper, and Mr. Browne, of Olney, preached; +after which Mr. Wesley concluded with prayer and the usual benediction.</p> + +<p>For some weeks Mr. Talbot and Mr. Browne administered the sacrament +and preached alternately at her Ladyship’s, assisted by Mr. Maxfield, +Mr. Green, and Mr. Foster, then curate and lecturer of St. Ann’s, +Blackfriars. Early in March, Mr. Romaine returned to London, and on the +5th accompanied her Ladyship to Reading, where she remained a few days +with her excellent friends, Mr. and Mrs. Talbot. On the 9th she reached +Bristol, where Mr. Romaine preached twice on Sunday, the 11th. The next +day she went to Bath, and the following evening Mr. Romaine preached in +the chapel to a very large and serious congregation. Passing through +Stroud and Painswick, she arrived at Cheltenham, Wednesday, the 14th. +Being refused the use of the parish church, Mr. Romaine addressed a +numerous body of people in a large school-room, where Mr. Madan, Mr. +Talbot, and others had occasionally preached some years before. On the +16th her Ladyship left Cheltenham for Oxford; and the following day +reached Reading, where she remained till Monday, Mr. Romaine having +engaged to preach on the Sunday for Mr. Talbot. After spending two +days in London, Lady Huntingdon set off for Brighton on the 22nd, +accompanied by Lady Anne Erskine, Miss Orton, and Mr. Maxfield.</p> + +<p>On the 26th her Ladyship received the following letter from Mr. +Berridge, in answer to one she had lately written him, at the close of +which he makes a slight allusion to the disappointment she experienced +at this time by the withdrawment of Mr. De Courcy from her Ladyship’s +patronage and Connexion—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="r2">“Everton, March 23, 1770.</p> + +<p>“My Lady—Your letter just suited my case: it was a bleeding +plaster for a bleeding heart. These many months I have done +little else but mourn for myself and others, to see how we lie +among the tombs, contented with a decent suit of grave-clothes. +At times my heart has been refreshed with these words, ‘On +the land of my people is come up briars and thorns, until the +Spirit be poured out upon them from on high;’ but the comfort +soon vanisheth, like gleams of a winter sun. I cannot wish for +transports, such as we once had, and which almost turned our +heads; but I do long to see a spirit poured forth of triumphant +faith, heavenly love, and steadfast cleaving to the Lord.</p> + +<p>“Before I parted with honest Glascott, I cautioned him much +against petticoat snares. He has burnt his wings already. Sure +he will not imitate a foolish gnat, and hover again about the +candle? If he should fall into a sleeping-lap, he will soon need +a flannel night-cap, and a rusty chain to fix him down, like +a church bible to the reading-desk. No trap so mischievous to +the field-preacher as wedlock,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_369">[369]</span> and it is laid for him at every +hedge corner. Matrimony has quite maimed poor Charles,<a id="FNanchor_191" href="#Footnote_191" class="fnanchor">[191]</a> and +might have spoiled John<a id="FNanchor_192" href="#Footnote_192" class="fnanchor">[192]</a> and George,<a id="FNanchor_193" href="#Footnote_193" class="fnanchor">[193]</a> if a wise Master +had not graciously sent them a brace of ferrets. Dear George has +now got his liberty again, and he will escape well if he is not +caught by another tenterhook.</p> + +<p>“Eight or nine years ago, having been grievously tormented with +housekeepers, I truly had thoughts of looking out for a Jezebel +myself. But it seemed highly needful to ask advice of the Lord. +So, falling down on my knees before a table, with a Bible +between my hands, I besought the Lord to give me a direction; +then letting the Bible fall open of itself, I fixed my eyes +immediately on these words, ‘When my son was entered into his +wedding chamber he fell down and died.’ (2 Esdras x. 1). This +frightened me heartily, you may easily think; but Satan, who +stood peeping at my elbow, not liking the heavenly caution, +presently suggested a scruple, that the book was Apocryphal, and +the words not to be heeded. Well, after a short pause, I fell +on my knees again, and prayed the Lord not to be angry with me, +whilst, like Gideon, I requested a second sign, and from the +canonical Scripture; then letting my Bible fall open as before, +I fixed my eyes directly on this passage, ‘Thou shalt not take +thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in this +place.’ (Jer. xvi. 2). I was now completely satisfied; and being +thus made acquainted with my Lord’s mind, I make it one part of +my prayers. And I can look on these words, not only as a rule of +direction, but as a promise of security—‘<i>Thou shalt not take +a wife</i>’—that is, I will keep thee from taking one.</p> + +<p>“This method of procuring divine intelligence is much flouted +by flimsy professors,<a id="FNanchor_194" href="#Footnote_194" class="fnanchor">[194]</a> who walk at large, and desire not +that sweet and secret access to the mercy-seat which babes +of the kingdom do find. During the last twelve years I have +had occasion to consult the oracle three or four times, on +matters that seemed important and dubious, and have received +answers full and plain. Was not this the practice of the Jewish +Church? God gave laws and statutes to them, as well as to us; +but when dubious cases arose they consulted the oracle, which +gave directions how to act. Joshua and Israel are blamed for +not consulting the oracle before they made a league with the +Gibeonites. Yea, in the patriarchal times we find Rebecca +enquiring of the Lord concerning her twins; and are there not +now, as well as formerly, many dubious cases? And can we think +that God will deny that direction to the Christian Church which +he freely granted to the Jewish? Is not access to the mercy-seat +more free and more open than before? I believe perplexed cases +are often sent on purpose to teach us to enquire of the Lord. +But leaving the oracles of God, we make an oracle of man. A +dozen wise heads are consulted, and their sparkling opinions +usually prove as various as the colours of the rainbow. Thus +we are<span class="pagenum" id="Page_390">[390]</span> plunged into greater perplexity than before: a very +proper chastisement for our folly! At my first setting out, +I trudged on in this old, beaten, dirty track, and many wise +folks perplexed me soundly, as I, in my turn, have perplexed +yourself; witness the Welsh College. At length I found the +method little better than ‘seeking to familiar spirits, and to +wizards that peep and mutter; should not a people seek to their +God?’ (Isaiah viii. 19). Daniel sought to his God, and got out +the <i>secret</i> of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. ‘O yes (cries a +casuistical professor, one of Isaiah’s muttering wizards), but +this was a most extraordinary case.’ True, and yet David affirms +that the <i>secret</i> of the Lord is with all them that fear +him. Where is faith? Buried under mountains, and not removing +them. However, this oracular enquiry is not to be made on light +and trifling occasions, and much less with a light and trifling +spirit. Whoever consults the oracle aright will enter on the +enquiry with the same solemnity as the high priest entered +into the holy of holies; neither must this be done upon any +day, but on a high day; not on trifling occasions, but on very +important concerns. And whoever thus consults the word of God as +his oracle, with a hearty desire to know and do God’s will, I +believe he will receive due information. Some people, I am told, +have had answers on their first enquiries, but afterwards have +received no answer at all. The reason may easily be guessed. +We begin our enquiries with momentous matters, and receive +satisfaction; we naturally slide into matters of no moment, +which are either plainly resolved by the word, or require only +common faith and waiting; and thus we make the consultation +matter of amusement, like the drawing a picture card out of a +Scripture pack, which is not pleasing unto God; for, though he +is willing to be consulted, he is not willing to be trifled +with, and much less to be made the subject of amusement or +diversion.”</p> +</div> + +<p>From this time to the period of her decease Lady Huntingdon was +frequent in her visits to Brighton and Oathall; and the labours of +her Ladyship’s ministers were attended with such signal tokens of +the divine favour, that the chapel at Brighton was soon found to be +too small for the numbers who wished to attend. In the year 1774 it +was taken down and rebuilt, chiefly at the expense of Miss Orton +(afterwards Mrs. Haweis); and it is worthy to be here recorded, that +several pious young men connected with the congregation, who were +mechanics, gave their services at over-hours, in order to expedite the +necessary work. The chapel was soon finished, and solemnly dedicated +to God on the 24th of July, 1774, on which interesting occasion Mr. +Romaine preached in the morning from 1 Kings viii. 11—“For the glory +of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord;” and in the evening from +John i. 14—“We behold the glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of +the Father, full of grace and truth.”</p> + +<p>The following year Mr. Toplady visited Brighton, where he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_391">[391]</span> found +a “very considerable gathering to the standard of the cross.” His +ministry was much blessed, and he was exceedingly attached to the +people. “I have found (says he) much union with them, and the unction +of the Holy One has given me much comfort and enlargement among them +hitherto, in our public approaches to God.” Being a man of extensive +knowledge, diversified talents, and great zeal—whose mind was enlarged +by science, whose heart was expanded by the benevolent system of the +Gospel, and whose aims were directed to the best and noblest ends, +it is natural to suppose his discourses contained a rich body of +evangelical truths, urged upon his hearers in a strong and forcible +manner.<a id="FNanchor_195" href="#Footnote_195" class="fnanchor">[195]</a></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I have seldom ministered to a congregation (says he) for whom +I have felt more real love and union of spirit. Communion with +the saints is one of the sweetest privileges of the people of +God; and this I have eminently enjoyed at Brighthelmstone, +where there are very many precious souls whom I esteem as the +excellent of the earth, and in whom the Lord delighteth.”</p> +</div> + +<p>With Mr. Toplady was associated the Rev. Thomas Bliss, vicar of Ashford +and Yarncombe, in Devonshire,<a id="FNanchor_196" href="#Footnote_196" class="fnanchor">[196]</a> of whom he says, “Your Ladyship has +done me an inestimable benefit by associating me with the amiable, the +excellent, the zealous, the heavenly-minded Mr. Bliss, a pattern for +believers, and particularly ministers of Jesus.”</p> + +<p>At sixteen Mr. Bliss heard Mr. Romaine at Oxford, and was quite +exasperated at his preaching; but soon afterwards hearing Dr. Haweis, +his view of religion changed, and he became at that early age, what he +ever afterwards remained, a true Christian.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_372">[372]</span> He left the University +in 1760, and was introduced by Lady Huntingdon to Mr. Grimshaw, whom +he assisted till he was appointed to the living of Ashford, near +Barnstaple, in Devonshire, where he died in 1802. He was the life-long +victim of nervous disease: a friend one day calling upon him, and +asking him how he was, he replied, “I am tremblingly alive all over; +every nerve is the seat of torture. Though, to lull my pains, I take +opium enough every day to kill three strong men, the anguish I feel is +so inconceivably excruciating, as can only be exceeded by suffering the +flames of hell.” At other times he would frequently say, “My life is so +unspeakably burthensome, that nothing short of the mighty power of God, +and the support which real and experimental religion affords, could +restrain me from laying violent hands on myself.” He died happily. A +few days before his dissolution, he preached a sermon from his pillow, +on “Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord,” with an astonishing +energy and pathos. He might, on this occasion, have literally adopted +the lines of the eminently pious Baxter—</p> + + <div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="ileft">“I preach as if I ne’er should preach again;</div> + <div>And as a dying man to dying men.”</div> + </div> + </div> + </div> + +<p>The Countess meanwhile extended on all sides the circle of her utility. +Her oldest chaplain, Mr. Romaine, was her adviser and assistant on +all occasions, and to him the younger ministers looked up with the +highest reverence and affection, and his advice was always to bear with +spiritual wickedness in high places, and to keep within the pale of the +Church.</p> + +<p>His true love and respect for the Church of England was in no wise +lessened, nor did ever any man take more effectual pains to serve her, +whether by his preaching or his advice. Many of his vacations were +employed in her service, and he constantly travelled about with her +Ladyship, preaching the doctrine of the kingdom. Sussex and Hampshire +enjoyed much of the fruits of these excursions.</p> + +<p>The labours of Mr. Romaine, and of those men of God who united with him +in “holding forth the word of life,” were truly astonishing. They were +not suffered to labour in vain, or spend their strength for nought, +when called to go forth in the name of their Divine Master. His word +directs—“In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not +thine hand; for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or +that.”</p> + +<p>The same ardent zeal animating Lady Huntingdon’s spirit, she embraced +the offer of an individual at Chichester to occupy his house and try to +diffuse in that city, and the region around it, the light of the Sun of +Righteousness. Thither she went, with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_373">[373]</span> the ministers who laboured for +her in the blessed work of spreading the everlasting Gospel. A chapel +was soon erected, and opened by Mr. Pentycross. Mr. English, one of her +Ladyship’s senior students, left it to take charge of a congregation at +Gosport, of which the late Dr. Bogue was afterwards pastor. Mr. English +had been labouring at Worcester, and from thence had been removed by +Lady Huntingdon to Chichester. His ministry was generally acceptable, +and he was favoured with encouragement and marks of usefulness. He was +succeeded by Mr. Matthew Wilks, and then by the students of Trevecca in +rotation. Two large chapels were soon after erected at the neighbouring +village of Emsworth, and others at Petworth and Guildford. Such were +the fruits of Lady Huntingdon’s labours at Chichester.</p> + +<p>Great and illustrious, indeed, was the cause in which this venerable +woman was engaged. Surveying the moral condition of mankind—the +imperishable nature and unalterable destination of the human +spirit—how feelingly does she lament the feebleness and insufficiency +of the instrument in so divine a work, and the numberless imperfections +which mingled with all her best services! Nevertheless, she cherished +sensations of joy and thankfulness while she contemplated the glorious +effects which, through such feeble and imperfect means, the power of +the Almighty had accomplished. It was his Spirit which kindled this +flame of divine charity, and, by his efficacious impulse in her heart, +constrained her to unceasing exertions in scattering the precious +seed of the everlasting Gospel in various parts of the kingdom, then +desolate as the barren heath, but in succeeding generations producing +plenteously the plants of righteousness, and the ripe fruits of grace +and glory.</p> + +<p>In 1755 a place of worship was opened by her Ladyship’s means at +Basingstoke. After some years it was found too small and inconvenient +for a rapidly increasing congregation, under the Rev. Thomas Thorne, +one of her Ladyship’s ministers, who had settled there. About the year +1799 a new chapel was erected, capable of accommodating six hundred +people, and opened for divine worship on the 11th of July, 1802. In the +morning, Mr. Thorne, minister of the chapel, who was much attached to +the use of the Liturgy of the Church of England, and enjoyed himself +most where it was most esteemed, read the prayers of the Established +Church; and the Rev. William Cooper, who was afterwards minister of +her Ladyship’s chapel in Dublin, preached from Gen. xxviii. 16–17. Mr. +Wilkins preached in the afternoon, and Mr. Cooper again in the evening. +Mr. Thorne continued at Basingstoke about ten years.</p> + +<p>In 1779 Mr. Wills had resigned his charge at St. Agnes,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_394">[394]</span> near Truro, in +Cornwall, and had entered the Connexion of the Countess of Huntingdon, +happy in travelling from town to town, and from city to city, to +diffuse abroad the savour of that name which he loved. At the same +time, Dr. Haweis, Mr. Glascott, and Mr. Taylor were frequent in their +visits to Brighton and Oathall, and the other chapels of her Ladyship +in the neighbourhood. In 1782 the congregation enjoyed the labours of +the Rev. Edward Burn, minister of St. Mary’s, Birmingham.</p> + +<p>In the year 1788 another alteration took place in the chapel at +Brighton; a front gallery was erected by the voluntary subscriptions of +several friends, chiefly for the accommodation of the Sunday-school: +and in the year 1810–11 a further alteration was effected, by throwing +open to the chapel a large parlour, by means of folding doors, +principally for the accommodation of the visitors, building a fourth +gallery for the poor and the children of the school, and erecting a +minister’s vestry behind the pulpit. The chapel was now rendered a +very commodious place of worship, and was capable of containing about +a thousand persons. On the completion of this alteration, the Rev. +Rowland Hill preached in the morning and evening, and the Rev. Mr. +Whitefoot, of Enfield, delivered a discourse in the afternoon.</p> + +<p>In the year 1822 it was deemed expedient again to enlarge the chapel, +by enclosing a piece of ground at the south end, equal in size to +rather more than half the ground floor in 1810; and on Sunday, the +19th April, 1822, the Rev. Rowland Hill again preached twice at the +re-opening. The chapel is now considered sufficiently capacious to +contain fifteen hundred persons, and is characterized by a neat and +chaste simplicity throughout.</p> + +<p>At Brighton and Oathall the Rev. Thomas Jones passed the last +twenty-six years of his life, which closed September 15th, 1814. At +that time he was the senior minister in Lady Huntingdon’s Connexion, +having been admitted at Trevecca in 1769. How encouraging, how +animating are these relations of the success attending the benevolent +efforts of the noble Countess! The footsteps of Divine Providence, +in the government of the world at large, are traced with devout +attention by every real Christian; but those events which are visibly +connected with the extension of the Saviour’s kingdom among men are +observed with the most diligent and affectionate regard. To those +who are the subjects of the great Redeemer the interests of pure and +vital godliness are inexpressibly dear; and every advance towards the +establishment of his gracious reign must be pleasing in the highest +degree. The foregoing narrative hath furnished abundant<span class="pagenum" id="Page_375">[375]</span> evidence of +the Lord’s gracious approbation of the various and zealous efforts of +the ministers sent forth by her Ladyship, and, consequently, strong +encouragement to those that remain to proceed with increasing diligence +and vigour in this noble cause. O! how did the heart of the venerable +Foundress of the Connexion glow with holy ardour for the honour of her +Divine Lord, and for the salvation of lost sinners! And how was she +constrained to employ all her powers, to exert all their vigour, to +advance the same interests for which the Saviour’s companion prompted +him to live and die! Much, very much indeed, remains to be done. The +voice of the Great Leader and Commander is—<span class="smcap">Go forward!</span> The +voice of an approving Providence is—Go forward!</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 id="CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hangingindent">Public Fast—Extracts from Lady Huntingdon’s +Letters—Prayer-meetings for the Nation—Mr. Venn—Mr. +Berridge—Singular effects of his preaching—Mr. Romaine +and Mr. Madan’s visit to Everton—Mr. Wesley preaches at +Everton—Convulsive motions amongst the congregation—Letters to +Lady Huntingdon—Lady Huntingdon visits Mr. Berridge—Mr. Venn +and Mr. Fletcher preach at Everton—Loud cries amongst their +hearers—Duke of York—Dr. Dodd—Murder of Mr. Johnson—Lord +Ferrers—Tried by his Peers—Visited in prison by Lady +Huntingdon—Singular conduct of Lord Ferrers—Execution.</p> +</div> + + +<p>At the commencement of the year 1759, we find Lady Huntingdon at Bath, +accompanied by Lady Fanny Shirley and Lady Selina Hastings. On the +4th of January her Ladyship went to Bristol to meet Mr. Wesley, who +accompanied her to Bath, and after preaching to several of the nobility +at her house, proceeded to Salisbury, on his way to London.</p> + +<p>Early in February, Lady Huntingdon returned to London; and Friday, the +16th, being the day appointed for a public fast, her Ladyship went +to the Tabernacle to hear Mr. Whitefield, who addressed an immense +congregation from those solemn words, “Rend your hearts, and not your +garments,” &c. In the evening she heard Mr. Wesley at the Foundry, who +preached to an overflowing multitude from “Seek the Lord while he may<span class="pagenum" id="Page_376">[376]</span> +be found,” &c. Every place of public worship was crowded on this day, +and an unusual air of seriousness pervaded all ranks.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Surely (observes her Ladyship) the Lord has appeared remarkably +for our sinful land. O that the prayers and supplications which +so lately ascended from so many quarters may be heard and +answered, and abundant blessings be poured down upon our sinful +country! If our cup of iniquity is not yet full, gracious Lord, +O spare us!—spare thy people, and hide them in the clefts of +the Rock of Ages!”</p> +</div> + +<p>Her Ladyship felt “a particular call in Providence” to wrestle +mightily with God in behalf of our nation, and for the important work +of intercession, prayer-meetings were established at her house. On +Wednesday, the 21st of February, Mr. Whitefield, Mr. Charles Wesley, +Mr. Maxfield, and Mr. Venn successively engaged in this solemn +exercise; and on Friday, the 23rd, Mr. Romaine, Mr. Wesley, Mr. Madan, +and Mr. Jones conducted the service at her Ladyship’s house, when a +deep sense of the Divine presence seemed to penetrate every soul in +attendance.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I trust (says her Ladyship) great and permanent effects will +follow, and national judgments be suspended. May the Lord +graciously countenance this attempt, and grant that increasing +prayer in the name of Jesus may ascend from every heart. Of +late I have felt the most ardent desires for the exaltation +of the Lord Jesus in every heart, and the most holy ardour of +desire to promote his cause upon earth. I seem to have done +nothing, and would lie down in the dust before him, and lament +my unfaithfulness, my unprofitableness, and my unfruitfulness. +May he increase my faith, animate my heart with a zeal for his +glory, enlarge my sphere, and make me more faithful in the +sphere in which I move.</p> + +<p>“Thursday, the 27th (says Mr. Wesley), I walked, with my brother +and Mr. Maxfield, to Lady Huntingdon’s. After breakfast, came in +Messrs. Whitefield, Madan, Romaine, Jones, Downing, and Venn, +with some persons of quality, and a few others. Mr. Whitefield, +I found, was to have administered the sacrament, but he +insisted upon my doing it: after which, at the request of Lady +Huntingdon, I preached on 1 Cor. xiii. 13—”<i>And now abideth +faith, hope, charity, these three—but the greatest of these is +charity</i>.”</p> +</div> + +<p>On the evening of Wednesday, the 28th, the usual prayer-meeting was +held at her Ladyship’s house, when Mr. Wesley, Mr. Venn, and Mr. Madan +engaged in the solemn service, which was closed by a short exhortation +from Mr. Whitefield. The following morning Mr. Jones preached, and +Mr. Romaine concluded with a short scriptural prayer, and the usual +benediction. At the prayer-meeting on Friday evening, Mr. Charles +Wesley gave an address; and the other parts of the service were<span class="pagenum" id="Page_397">[397]</span> +conducted by Messrs. Whitefield, Romaine, Downing, and Venn. The +Lord’s Supper was administered on Tuesday, the 6th of March, by Mr. +Whitefield, when he addressed the communicants in a most solemn and +impressive manner. “All were touched to the heart (says her Ladyship), +and dissolved in tears. My inmost soul felt penetrated at the height +and depth of that love which passeth knowledge, and I was ready, with +Peter, to say, ‘<i>It is good to be here</i>.’ Lord, teach me how to +improve to the utmost these gracious visitations.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Whitefield was assisted by Messrs. Romaine and Madan. The former +prayed before and the latter after the distribution of the elements. +Amongst the communicants were the Earl and Countess of Dartmouth, +Countess of Chesterfield, Lady Gertrude Hotham, Sir Charles Hotham, +Mrs. Carteret, Mrs. Cavendish, Sir Sidney Halford Smythe, Mr. Thornton, +Rev. Messrs. Venn, Jones, Maxfield, Downing, and others. When this +solemn service was concluded, the Earls of Chesterfield and Holderness, +and several persons of distinction, with a few others, came in. Mr. +Whitefield preached with his accustomed eloquence and energy from that +passage—“Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out.” “On +this occasion (her Ladyship observes), The Lord was eminently present. +The word seemed clothed with an irresistible energy, and drew sighs +from every heart and tears from every eye. Mr. Fletcher concluded with +a prayer, every syllable of which appeared to be uttered under the +immediate teaching of the Spirit, and he has told me since that he +never had more intimate communion with God, or enjoyed so much of his +immediate presence, as on that occasion. Ah! how poor and trifling does +all created good appear when thus highly favoured of God. He in mercy +keeps me sensible of my weakness, and dependent upon himself, for which +I praise him. He has strengthened my body to undergo more fatigue than +usual, without being hurt by it. But my pen would fail to testify of +the goodness of my God. Bless the Lord, O my soul! and forget not all +his benefits.”</p> + +<p>It was now that John Berridge, the vicar of Everton, in Bedfordshire, +and Mr. Hicks, vicar of Wrestlingworth, by their preaching, produced +the same convulsions in their hearers as had formerly prevailed at +Bristol.<a id="FNanchor_197" href="#Footnote_197" class="fnanchor">[197]</a></p> + +<p>Lady Huntingdon wrote to Mr. Romaine from Bath, requesting<span class="pagenum" id="Page_398">[398]</span> him and Mr. +Madan to repair immediately to Everton, and examine minutely into the +circumstances. They were warmly received by Mr. Berridge and Mr. Hicks. +At first they were astonished, and for a time doubted whether the work +was genuine; but after they had conversed with several of those who had +fallen in violent convulsive fits, and had accompanied Mr. Berridge +and Mr. Hicks in some of their itinerant excursions, and witnessed the +effects of their preaching, they were filled with a solemn awe, and +felt fully convinced the work was of God, though occasionally mingled +with the wild-fire of enthusiasm.<a id="FNanchor_198" href="#Footnote_198" class="fnanchor">[198]</a></p> + +<p>Filled with astonishment at what God had wrought, and at the surprising +work which he was carrying on in the hearts of multitudes, Mr. Romaine +and Mr. Madan returned to London, and Mr. Wesley went to Everton, who, +after describing the cries and convulsions, says—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I have often observed more or less of these outward symptoms to +attend the beginning of a general work of God. So it was in New +England, Scotland, Holland, Ireland, and many parts of England, +but after a time they gradually decreased, and the work goes on +more quietly and silently. Those whom it pleases God to employ +in his work ought to be quite passive in this respect. They +should <i>choose</i> nothing, but leave entirely to him all the +circumstances of his own work.”</p> +</div> + +<p>In a letter to Lady Huntingdon, Mr. Wesley says—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“The agreeable hour which I spent with your Ladyship the last +week recalled to my mind the former times, and gave me much +matter of thankfulness to the Giver of every good gift. I have +found great satisfaction in conversing with those instruments +whom God has<span class="pagenum" id="Page_379">[379]</span> lately raised up. But still there is I know not +what in them whom we have known from the beginning, and who have +borne the burden and heat of the day, which we do not find in +those who have risen up since, though they are of upright heart. +Perhaps, too, those who have but lately come into the harvest +are led to think and speak more largely of justification, and +the other first principles of the doctrine of Christ. And it may +be proper for <i>them</i> so to do. Yet <i>we</i> find a thirst +after something farther. We want to sink deeper and rise higher +in the knowledge of God our Saviour. We want all helps for +walking closely with Him whom we have received, that we may the +more speedily come to the measure of the stature of the fulness +of Christ.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Berridge appears to be one of the most simple as well +as most sensible men of all whom it pleased God to employ in +reviving primitive Christianity. I designed to have spent +but one night with him; but Mr. Gilbert’s mistake (who sent +him word I would be at Everton on Friday) obliged me to stay +there another day, or multitudes of people would have been +disappointed. They come now twelve or fourteen miles to hear +him; and very few come in vain. His word is with power: he +speaks as plain and home as John Nelson, but with all the +propriety of Mr. Romaine and the tenderness of Mr. Hervey.</p> + +<p>“At Colchester, likewise, the word of God has free course—only +no house will contain the congregation. On Sunday I was obliged +to preach on St. John’s-green; the people stood on a smooth +sloping ground, sheltered by the walls of an old castle, and +behaved as men who felt that God was there.</p> + +<p>“I am persuaded your Ladyship still remembers in your prayers +your willing servant, for Christ’s sake,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“John Wesley.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Mr. Berridge informed Lady Huntingdon of his call to Cambridge, to +preach before the University, complaining of his ill health and want of +assistance in his own parish. Her Ladyship applied to Mr. Fletcher, who +volunteered his service till Mr. Madan or Mr. Romaine could relieve him.</p> + +<p>Soon after he had gone to Everton, Lady Huntingdon, accompanied by Mr. +Madan, proceeded thither, anxious to witness the astonishing effects +which had there resulted from the preaching of the Gospel. She had +intimated her intention to Mr. Berridge some days before her departure +from London, and on the morning after their arrival, at an early hour, +an amazing concourse of people had been collected from all parts. +At seven o’clock Mr. Berridge preached in a field near the church, +when the power of God fell upon all the assembled multitude in a very +uncommon manner. At eleven o’clock public service commenced in the +church. Mr. Hicks read prayers, after which Mr. Venn explained the “joy +that is in heaven over one sinner that repenteth.” In the afternoon, +the church being unable to contain a fifth of the people, Mr. Madan +stood in the open air and cried to the listening multitude, “If any man +thirst, let him come unto me<span class="pagenum" id="Page_400">[400]</span> and drink.” The following day there was +a public service again: Mr. Fletcher read prayers, and Mr. Madan spoke +very energetically on “Ye must be born again.” The congregation was +immense, the windows being filled within and without. In the afternoon +Mr. Berridge read prayers, and Mr. Venn enforced these solemn words on +an attentive congregation—“This is life eternal, to know thee, the +only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.” Great numbers, +who were unable to gain admittance, remained about the church after the +service was concluded: Mr. Berridge addressed them from the words of +the prophet—“Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while +he is near.”</p> + +<p>The arrival of Lady Huntingdon at Everton, and the preaching of the +ministers who accompanied her, was quickly reported for many miles +round, and awakened considerable attention, insomuch that on the +following day it was judged <i>ten thousand</i> at least assembled +to hear. While Mr. Venn was enforcing those awful words of the +prophet—“The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not +saved,” several persons, both men and women, sunk down and wept +bitterly. In the afternoon a still greater multitude collected. The +evening being calm and still, all heard distinctly, whilst Mr. Berridge +preached on these words—“Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the +sin of the world.” Towards the close of the sermon, five persons, +almost at once, sunk down as dead. Others cried with a loud and bitter +cry, “What must we do to be saved?” In a little time all was silent, +and Mr. Berridge finished his sermon, after which the service concluded +with singing—</p> + + <div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="ileft">“Arm of the Lord, awake! awake!</div> + <div>Thine own immortal strength put on,” &c.</div> + </div> + </div> + </div> + +<p>Mr. Madan having consented to remain at Everton, to supply Mr. +Berridge’s church till Mr. Romaine was at liberty to take his place, +Lady Huntingdon returned to London with Mr. Fletcher, Mr. Venn, and +Mr. Berridge, whom her Ladyship was desirous of introducing to the +religious circles of the metropolis, with a view to his spiritual +improvement. During his stay he preached two or three times in the +city churches, assisted by Mr. Whitefield and the Messrs. Wesley, +and expounded almost every morning and evening at Lady Huntingdon’s, +besides his occasional lectures at Lady Gertrude Hotham’s, in New +Norfolk-street, Grosvenor-square, and Lady Fanny Shirley’s, in South +Audley-street.</p> + +<p>It was about this time that Prince Edward, afterwards created Duke +of York, paid a visit to the Magdalene. His Royal Highness<span class="pagenum" id="Page_381">[381]</span> having +expressed a wish to attend the evening service, a party was formed at +Northumberland House for that purpose. The Prince<a id="FNanchor_199" href="#Footnote_199" class="fnanchor">[199]</a> was accompanied +by Colonel Brudenel, Lady Northumberland, Lady Mary Coke, Lady +Carlisle, Miss Pelham, Lady Hertford, Lord Beauchamp, Lord Huntingdon, +and Horace Walpole. As soon as he entered the chapel the organ played, +and a hymn was sung by the Magdalenes, about one hundred and thirty in +number. After the prayers were read, Dr. Dodd preached an eloquent and +impressive sermon from Luke xix. 20, which was afterwards published, by +the express desire of the Prince; a hymn was then sung, after which his +Royal Highness was conducted to the parlour, where the Governors kissed +the Prince’s hand. He particularly noticed Lady Huntingdon and Lady +Chesterfield, with whom he conversed for several minutes on the merits +of the sermon and the excellence of the institution, expressed himself +highly gratified at what he had witnessed, and at taking his departure +left fifty pounds for the benefit of the institution.<a id="FNanchor_200" href="#Footnote_200" class="fnanchor">[200]</a></p> + +<p>The dreadful calamity by which Lady Huntingdon’s family was afflicted +in 1760 had a powerful effect on her Ladyship’s mind for a season. +Lawrence, fourth Earl of Ferrers, eldest son of her uncle, the Hon. +Lawrence Shirley, by a daughter of Sir Walter Clarges, of Aston, in +Hertfordshire, Bart., though he was at times a very intelligent person, +and a nobleman conversant in the constitution of his country, yet, +on divers occasions, exhibited symptoms of constitutional insanity. +For more than a twelvemonth he had supplied a topic for conversation +by an attempt to murder his wife, and every body that took her part. +Having broken the peace, which the House of Lords had bound him over +to keep, the cause was again brought before them; but instead of +attending it, he went to the assizes at Hertford<span class="pagenum" id="Page_402">[402]</span> to appear against a +highwayman.<a id="FNanchor_201" href="#Footnote_201" class="fnanchor">[201]</a> The Countess was sister to Sir W. Meredith, and had +no fortune. The Earl always said she had trepanned him into matrimony, +having met him at an assembly where he was intoxicated, and having +kept him in a state of drunkenness till the ceremony was over. As he +was seldom sober before or afterwards, it is hardly fair to impute his +excesses to this pretty, and, unless it were a crime to wish to be a +Countess, very blameless person.</p> + +<p>His misfortunes, as he called them, were dated from his marriage, +though he had been guilty of horrid excesses unconnected with +matrimony, and is even believed to have killed a groom, who died a year +after receiving a cruel beating from him. He had a mistress before his +marriage, by whom he had two or three children, and he took her again +after the separation from his wife. He was fond of both, and used +both ill: Lady Ferrers so ill—always carrying pistols to bed, and +threatening to kill her before morning, beating her, and being jealous +without provocation—that she obtained a separation from him by Act of +Parliament, in which were appointed receivers of his estate, to secure +her allowance. This he could not bear. However, he named his steward as +one of these receivers. Afterwards, finding out that Mr. Johnson<a id="FNanchor_202" href="#Footnote_202" class="fnanchor">[202]</a> +had paid Lady Ferrers fifty pounds without his knowledge, and +suspecting him of being in the confederacy against him, he determined, +when he failed of opportunities of murdering his wife, to kill the +steward, which he effected.</p> + +<p>Having ordered Mr. Johnson to attend him at Stanton, his Lordship +contrived to send all the men-servants out of the way, so that there +was no person in the house but himself and three female servants. +On Mr. Johnson entering the room, Lord Ferrers locked the door. His +lordship then ordered him to settle an account, and after a little +time produced a paper, purporting, as he said, to be a confession of +his villany, and required<span class="pagenum" id="Page_383">[383]</span> Mr. Johnson to sign it. Johnson refused; +on which his lordship, drawing a pistol from his pocket, ordered him +to kneel down, which the terrified man did, upon one knee; but Lord +Ferrers cried out so loud as to be heard by one of the women at the +kitchen door, “Down on your other knee—declare what you have acted +against Lord Ferrers—your time is come, and you must die.” He fired, +and the ball entered Mr. Johnson’s body just below the last rib, yet he +did not drop, but rose up, and expressed the sensations of a dying man +both by his looks and broken sentences. An alarm was soon given, and +Dr. Kirkland was sent for.<a id="FNanchor_203" href="#Footnote_203" class="fnanchor">[203]</a></p> + +<p>At the time of his arrest, Lord Ferrers was armed with a blunderbuss, +two or three pistols, and a dagger. From Ashby-de-la-Zouch his Lordship +was sent to Leicester gaol, and from thence, about a fortnight +afterwards, was brought to London, in his own landau and six horses, +under a strong guard. He was dressed like a jockey, in close riding +frock, boots, and cap. Immediately on his arrival, he was carried +before the House of Lords. It is impossible to conceive the shock which +the evidence contained in the coroner’s inquest gave the court: many +of the Lords were standing to look at him, but they soon turned from +him with detestation. He was then committed to the custody of the Black +Rod, and ordered to the Tower.</p> + +<p>After two months’ imprisonment in the Tower, on the 16th April, 1759, +Lord Ferrers was brought to his trial in Westminster Hall. He would +not plead <i>guilty</i>, and yet had nothing to plead; and at last, to +humour his family, pleaded <i>madness</i>, against his inclination. +It was melancholy to see two of his brothers brought to depose to +lunacy as existing in their own blood, in order to save their brother’s +life.<a id="FNanchor_204" href="#Footnote_204" class="fnanchor">[204]</a> On a former affair, in the House of Lords, he is said to +have behaved with great shrewdness; no such thing, however, appeared +at his trial; and it was afterwards pretended that his being forced by +his family, against his inclination, to plead<span class="pagenum" id="Page_384">[384]</span> insanity, prevented his +exerting his parts; but Lord Ferrers did not act in anything as if his +family had influence over him.<a id="FNanchor_205" href="#Footnote_205" class="fnanchor">[205]</a></p> + +<p>The trial lasted three days. His Lordship was sentenced to be hanged, +and to have his body dissected and anatomized, the evidence of his +insanity not proving satisfactory to their Lordships. But the Right +Hon. Lord Henley, late Earl of Nottingham, who acted as High Steward +at this awful solemnity, with consent of the Peers, respited his +Lordship’s execution till Monday, May 5th. On receiving sentence, the +unfortunate nobleman begged his Peers to recommend him to mercy: but +all application from himself and friends proved ineffectual, and he was +left for execution.</p> + +<p>The conduct of Lord Ferrers after his condemnation was singular and +extraordinary. The very night he received sentence he played at +picquet, and would have continued to play every evening, had not +permission been refused, at the particular request of Lady Huntingdon +and other members of his family. Lord Cornwallis, Governor of the +Tower, shortened his allowance of wine after his conviction, agreeably +to the strict acts concerning the crime of murder which had passed both +Houses of Parliament. This his Lordship much disliked, and at last +pressed his brother to intercede, that at least he might have more +porter;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_385">[385]</span> “for (said he), what I have is not a draught.” Mr. Shirle +remonstrated, but at last consented. Then said the Earl, “Now is as +good a time as any to take leave of you. Adieu!”</p> + +<p>Very great exertions were made by Lady Huntingdon and other branches +of the family to save his life. Two petitions were presented to the +King—one by his mother, and the other by all the members of his +family; but his Majesty said, as the House of Lords had unanimously +found him guilty, he would not interfere. Another petition was +presented by my Lord Keeper, but the King refused to hear him.</p> + +<p>Dr. Pearce, Bishop of Rochester, offered his services to his Lordship: +he thanked the Bishop, and said, as his own brother was a clergyman, +he chose to have him; but Lady Huntingdon was more frequently with +him than any other relation. The Earl, although by no means disposed +to pay attention to the subjects she brought before his mind, allowed +her to visit him frequently, and often sent for her <i>for the sake +of company</i>. He grew tired of her Ladyship’s unwearied exertions +to produce effect upon a conscience so hardened and impenetrable, and +complained that she was enough to provoke anybody; yet he permitted +her to visit him to the last, even after he had declined seeing his +brothers; and had two interviews with Mr. Whitefield, to whom he +behaved with great politeness. At Lady Huntingdon’s request, Mr. +Whitefield repeatedly offered up public prayer for Lord Ferrers; “and +that impertinent fellow (says Horace Walpole) told his enthusiasts, +in his sermons, that my Lord’s heart was stone.” The very hardened +conduct of Lord Ferrers, through every intricacy of this most horrid +affair, even to the last moment of his departure out of life, but +too well justified Mr. Whitefield. Witness his fearful insensibility +the night before his execution, when he made one of his keepers read +<i>Hamlet</i> to him after he was in bed; he paid all his bills in +the morning as coolly as if leaving an inn; and half an hour before +the arrival of the sheriffs to convey him to the place of execution, +corrected some verses he had written in the Tower, in imitation of the +Duke of Buckingham’s epitaph:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="center">“<i>Dubius sed non improbus vixi.</i></p> + + <div class="poetry-container1"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div>In doubt I lived—in doubt I die,—</div> + <div>Yet stand prepared the vast abyss to try—</div> + <div>And undismay’d, expect eternity!”<a id="FNanchor_206" href="#Footnote_206" class="fnanchor">[206]</a></div> + </div> + </div> + </div> + +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_386">[386]</span></p> + +<p>On the morning of the 5th of May his body was demanded of the keeper +at the gates of the Tower by the sheriffs of London and Middlesex. +His Lordship being informed of it, sent a message to the sheriffs +requesting that he might go in his own landau, instead of the +mourning coach that had been provided by his family; and his request +being granted, he entered his landau, drawn by six horses, with Mr. +Humphries, chaplain of the Tower, who had been admitted to his Lordship +that morning for the first time. The landau was conducted to the outer +gate by the officers of the Tower, and was there delivered to the +sheriffs. Here Mr. Sheriff Vaillant entered the landau of Lord Ferrers, +and expressing his concern at having so melancholy a duty to perform, +his Lordship said “he was much obliged to him, and took it kindly that +he accompanied him.”</p> + +<p>He was dressed in his wedding clothes, which were of a light colour, +and embroidered in silver, and said he thought this, at least, as good +an occasion of putting them on as that for which they were first made. +Soon after Mr. Sheriff Vaillant came into the landau, he said, “You may +perhaps, sir, think it strange to see me in this dress, but I have my +particular reasons for it.”</p> + +<p>Sir William Meredith, and even Lady Huntingdon, were strongly convinced +that his courage would fail him at last; but they were deceived. +His courage rose where it was most likely to fail. The mixture of +pageantry, shame, ignominy, and even of delay, could not shake his +resolution. He set out from the Tower at nine, amidst crowds of +spectators.<a id="FNanchor_207" href="#Footnote_207" class="fnanchor">[207]</a></p> + +<p>The procession was two hours and three quarters on its way; but during +the whole time Lord Ferrers appeared perfectly easy and composed, +though he often expressed his desire to have it over, saying, “that the +apparatus of death, and the passing<span class="pagenum" id="Page_387">[387]</span> through such crowds of people, +were ten times worse than death itself.” At first his Lordship talked +on indifferent matters, and observing the prodigious confluence of +people, he said, “But they never saw a lord hanged, and perhaps will +never see another.” One of the dragoons was thrown in consequence of +his horse’s leg becoming entangled in the hind wheel. Lord Ferrers +expressed much concern, and said, “I hope there will be no death to-day +but mine,” and was pleased when Mr. Sheriff Vaillant told him that +the man was not hurt. He told the sheriff “that he had written to the +King to beg that he might suffer there where his ancestor, the Earl of +Essex, the favourite of Elizabeth, had suffered, and was in great hopes +of obtaining that favour, as he had the honour of being allied to his +Majesty, and of quartering part of the royal arms; he thought it hard +(he said) that he must die at the place appointed for the execution +of common felons.” The sheriff made excuses to him on his office. “On +the contrary (said the Earl), I am much obliged to you. I feared the +disagreeableness of the duty might make you depute your under-sheriff. +As you are so good as to execute it yourself, I am persuaded the +dreadful apparatus will be conducted with more expedition.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Humphries, chaplain of the Tower, who sat backwards, then thought +it his turn to speak, and began to talk on religious subjects; but Lord +Ferrers received the overture with impatience. However, the chaplain +persevered, and said he wished to bring his Lordship to some confession +or acknowledgment of contrition for a crime so repugnant to the laws +of God and man, and wished him to endeavour to do whatever could be +done in so short a time. The Earl replied, “he had done everything he +had purposed to do with regard to God and man; and as to discourses on +religion, you and I, sir (said he to the clergyman), shall probably +not agree on that subject. The passage is very short—you will not +have time to convince me, nor I to refute you; it cannot be ended +before we arrive.” The clergyman still insisted, and urged that, at +least, the world would expect some satisfaction, and would naturally be +very inquisitive concerning the religion his Lordship professed. Lord +Ferrers replied, with some impatience—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Sir, what have I to do with the world? I am going to pay a +forfeit life, which my country has thought proper to take from +me. What do I care now what the world thinks of me? But, sir, +since you do desire some confession, I confess one thing to you: +I do believe there is a God, the Maker of all things. As to +modes of worship, we had better not talk of them: all nations +and countries have a form of religion by which the people are +governed, and whoever disturbs it I look<span class="pagenum" id="Page_388">[388]</span> upon as an enemy +to society. Whatever my notions may have been, I have never +propagated them, or endeavoured to gain persons over to my +persuasion. I always thought Lord Bolingbroke in the wrong to +publish his notions on religion: I will not fall into the same +error. The many sects, and their disputes about religion, have +almost turned morality out of doors: and I can never believe +what some sectaries teach, that faith alone will save mankind; +so that if a man just before he dies should say only, ‘I +believe’—that <i>that</i> alone will save him.”</p> +</div> + +<p>The chaplain represented to him that it would be expected from one of +his calling, and that even decency required, that some prayer should be +used on the scaffold, and asked his leave, at least, to use the Lord’s +Prayer there. Lord Ferrers replied, “I always thought it a good prayer: +you may use it if you please.”</p> + +<p>The landau being now advanced to the place of execution, his Lordship +alighted from it, and, with the same composure and fortitude of mind he +had possessed from the time he left the Tower, mounted the scaffold: it +was hung with black by the undertaker, at the expense of his family. +Under the gallows was a newly-invented stage, to be struck from under +him. He showed no kind of fear or discomposure, only just looking at +the gallows with a slight motion of dissatisfaction. He said little, +kneeled for a moment at the Lord’s Prayer, and afterwards, with great +energy, uttered the following ejaculations, “O God! forgive me all my +errors—pardon all my sins.”</p> + +<p>His Lordship then, rising quickly, mounted the upper stage. He had come +pinioned with a black sash, and was unwilling to have his hands tied +or his face covered, but was persuaded to both. When the rope was put +round his neck he turned pale, but recovered instantly. Within seven +minutes after leaving the landau the signal was given for striking the +stage, and in four minutes he was quite dead.<a id="FNanchor_208" href="#Footnote_208" class="fnanchor">[208]</a></p> + +<p>Mr. Shirley remained in London some time after the execution in +order to pay his brother’s debts, that no further dishonour might be +reflected on his memory. Lady Huntingdon, likewise, continued in London +till the end of June. This is confirmed by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_409">[409]</span> an extract of a letter from +the Countess of Northumberland to Mr. Lindsay, dated June 17th:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“As I am in doubt about your direction I shall send this to +Northumberland House, and order them to carry it to Lady +Huntingdon, where, I conclude, they will be able to learn how +to convey it safely to you. My Lord desires his compliments to +you, and I beg to trouble you with mine to Lady Huntingdon, Lady +Selina, and Mrs. Hastings.”<a id="FNanchor_209" href="#Footnote_209" class="fnanchor">[209]</a></p> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 id="CHAPTER_XXIV">CHAPTER XXIV.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hangingindent">Proposed Union among the Evangelical Clergy—Methodism +in Scotland—Lady Frances Gardiner—Mr. Townsend sent to +Edinburgh—Mr. De Courcy—Lady Glenorchy—Mr. Wesley—Lady +Maxwell—Samson Occum, the Indian Preacher—Mohegan Indians—Dr. +Haweis—Affair of Aldwincle—Lady Huntingdon purchases the +Advowson—Writes to Mr. Thornton—Lady Huntingdon’s Letters to +Lord Dartmouth and Mr. Madan—Anecdote.</p> +</div> + + +<p>It was now that Mr. Wesley attempted to form an open and active +union between all the clergymen who preached these fundamental +truths—original sin, and justification by faith, producing inward +and outward holiness. With this hope he transmitted a circular letter +to some fifty ministers of the Church, known in later times by the +appellation of “Evangelical, or Gospel ministers,” wherein he proposed +that, leaving free the disputable points of <i>predestination</i> on +one side, and <i>perfection</i> on the other—laying no stress upon +expressions, and binding themselves to no peculiar discipline,<a id="FNanchor_210" href="#Footnote_210" class="fnanchor">[210]</a> +they should think and speak kindly of each other, form, as it were, a +defensive league, and each help the other on in his work, and enlarge +his influence by all rightful means.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“For (as he said, in a letter to Lady Huntingdon) some years +since God began a great work in England, but the labourers were +few; at first these few were of one heart, but this did not +continue long; one and another broke off, till no two of us were +left together in the work but my brother and me. This prevented +much good and occasioned much evil; it grieved our spirits and +weakened our hands; it gave the common enemies occasion to +blaspheme; it perplexed and puzzled<span class="pagenum" id="Page_410">[410]</span> many sincere Christians; it +caused many to draw back to perditon; it grieved the Holy Spirit +of God.</p> + +<p>“As labourers increased, disunion increased—offences were +multiplied; and instead of coming nearer to, they stood farther +and farther from each other; till, at length, those who were not +only brethren in Christ, but fellow-labourers in his Gospel, +had no more connexion<a id="FNanchor_211" href="#Footnote_211" class="fnanchor">[211]</a> nor fellowship with each other than +Protestants have with Papists.”</p> +</div> + +<p>This attempt at union took place only a few days before Mr. Wesley’s +great and final breach with the Calvinistic brethren.</p> + +<p>It was in 1751 that Mr. Wesley, accompanied by Mr. Christopher Hopper, +first sought Scotland, on a visit to Colonel Galatin, then in quarters +at Musselborough. Notwithstanding the warning of Mr. Whitefield, who +had told him that his principles would not do in Scotland, he preached +frequently and with great success.<a id="FNanchor_212" href="#Footnote_212" class="fnanchor">[212]</a> Dr. Gillies (Glasgow), Mr. +Wardrope (Bathgate), Mr. Adams (Falkirk), and other ministers, as well +as several of the nobility, received him with great kindness, and +listened with respect to his exhortations; but Mr. Wesley’s comments on +Mr. Hervey’s “Theron and Aspasio” produced a new work, called “Aspasio +Vindicated,” published after Mr. Hervey’s death, and reflecting on the +opinions of Mr. Wesley. About the time of which we write (1766) this +work was reprinted, with a preface by Dr. Erskine, one of the ministers +of the old Grey Friars’ Church, Edinburgh. Lady Frances Gardiner (widow +of the pious Colonel), and Lady Glenorchy, who had been introduced by +Lady Huntingdon to Mr. Whitefield, and who, though differing from Mr. +Wesley, attended his preaching and the ministry of his associates, with +other distinguished persons, separated from him after the publication +of these letters.</p> + +<p>It was now (1767) that Mr. Townsend visited Scotland, on a mission from +Lady Huntingdon, as before adverted to, when her Ladyship was detained +at Kippax, and prevented from visiting Scotland, according to her fixed +intention. Mr. Townsend was received by Drs. Webster and Erskine, +Messrs. Walker, Plenderleath, and Johnson, and other pious and able +ministers of the Established Church. He preached at Coldstream (then +a small village) on his first entrance into Scotland, thence in two +days he reached Edinburgh, where he preached first at Mr. Lee’s English +Chapel, to one hundred and fifty people, and then in the Park to a vast +multitude, afterwards in the College church, and then at Dalkeith, and +afterwards at Leith, with great success.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_411">[411]</span> He was accompanied by Mr. +Davies, and remained in Edinburgh at least two months. During his stay +he preached at five o’clock in the morning, at which early hour the +church, and even the neighbouring park, were crowded.</p> + +<p>These proceedings, under the patronage of Lady Huntingdon and Lady +Glenorchy, and the efforts of the clergy of Edinburgh against +Arminianism, raised up hosts against Mr. Wesley on his return to +Scotland. He refers in his Journal to the labours of “<i>good Mr. +Townsend</i>,” whereby his flock of one hundred and fifty were +reduced to fifty. Mr. Townsend soon after revisited Edinburgh, under +the patronage of Lady Huntingdon, and, at Lady Glenorchy’s desire, +Mr. De Courcy and Mr. Erasmus Middleton met him there, and they, +alternately with Mr. Wesley’s preachers, performed divine service in +Lady Glenorchy’s chapel. The former being decidedly Calvinistic and +the latter Perfectionists, an incongruity in teaching arose, to remedy +which Lady Glenorchy withdrew from Mr. Wesley’s Connexion. Her Ladyship +in a letter to a friend says, “the Methodists charge Mr. De Courcy +with having influenced me, and Lady Maxwell, in particular, is greatly +offended with me.” Mr. Wesley’s letter to Lady Maxwell about this note +especially warns her against the influence of Mr. De Courcy and the +preaching of Mr. Townsend—prophesying that the former, at least, will +be a considerable favourite with Lady Glenorchy. The Wesleyan doctrine +and practice have never made great progress in Scotland.</p> + +<p>About this period the Rev. Samson Occum<a id="FNanchor_213" href="#Footnote_213" class="fnanchor">[213]</a> arrived in England, with +Mr. Whitaker, the minister of Norwich, to promote the interests of +the Indian charity school founded by Dr. Eleazar Wheeloch, one of the +most interesting, eloquent, and successful ministers in New England, +first President and Founder of Dartmouth College. Occum was the first +Indian preacher who<span class="pagenum" id="Page_392">[392]</span> visited England, and, having brought letters of +introduction to Lady Huntingdon, was soon received in all the religious +circles in London. He preached several times for Mr. Whitefield at the +Tabernacle, and at Tottenham-court chapel, which were filled in every +part by thronged and attentive auditories. During his stay in England +he preached in various parts of the kingdom between three and four +hundred sermons. The money which he collected for the Indian school +was put into the hands of trustees in England, of whom the Earl of +Dartmouth was the principal.</p> + +<p>During his stay in England he was sensibly affected by the kindness of +Lady Huntingdon, who not only hospitably entertained him at her house, +but likewise introduced him to the notice of several pious persons +amongst the nobility, both in England and Scotland.<a id="FNanchor_214" href="#Footnote_214" class="fnanchor">[214]</a></p> + +<p>Lady Huntingdon appears to have been much interested about the Mohegan +Indians, from accounts related to her by Occum:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Ere long (says her Ladyship) I trust the Lord will make his way +plain through all that country, that under a preached Gospel +these several tribes may become one fold under the spiritual +guidance of the Great Shepherd and Bishop of Souls. Occum has +been the instrument of great good to many of his tribe—many of +whom have renounced their idolatry, and worshipped Him who died +upon the cross. I hope yet to have it in my power, if the Lord +should see fit to continue me in his service, to extend some aid +to this interesting people.”</p> +</div> + +<p>There were other native preachers scarcely less worthy of remembrance +than Occum, though not so intimately connected with our subject. One of +these, Joseph Johnson, was born at Mohegan about 1750. He was educated +at Dr. Wheeloch’s school at Lebanon, and was afterwards licensed to +preach among<span class="pagenum" id="Page_393">[393]</span> the Six Nations of Indians. It was there that, in 1776, +he received a letter from General Washington, dated at Cambridge, +February 20, saying—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Tell them that we don’t want them to take up the hatchet for +us, except they choose it; we only desire that they will not +fight against us. We want that the chain of friendship should +always remain bright between our friends of the Six Nations and +us. We recommend you to them, and hope, by your spreading the +truths of the Gospel among them, it will keep the chain bright.”</p> +</div> + +<p>The Rev. James Fitch, minister of Norwich, was well acquainted with +the Mohegan language, and preached the Gospel of salvation to that +once powerful tribe for many years. He even gave some of his own +lands to induce them to renounce their savage manner of living. The +descendants of those Indians at Mohegan, for whose benefit he toiled +more than forty years, have recently had a chapel built for them, by +the liberality of the citizens of Norwich.<a id="FNanchor_215" href="#Footnote_215" class="fnanchor">[215]</a></p> + +<p>From these instances it will be seen that the school at Lebanon has +been extensively useful among the Indians, for whose use it was +established. Lady Huntingdon contributed richly to this institution, +and Mr. Whitefield made frequent collections for it. Dr. Wheeloch +died April 24, 1779, aged sixty-eight. His son, Lieutenant-Colonel +Wheeloch, became President of Dartmouth College on the death of his +father. In 1783 the trustees resolved to send him to England to promote +the interests of the College. With letters from General Washington to +Lady Huntingdon, and from Governors Trumbull and Livingston to several +persons of influence, he arrived in England, and having procured +considerable donations for the College, in money, books, &c., returned +to America, but was shipwrecked on the bar off the point of Cape Cod, +losing his strong box, containing all his money and papers. He died in +1817.</p> + +<p>One of the persons who took interest in the Indian preachers was +Dr. Haweis, who was at this moment placed in a somewhat awkward +predicament. Mr. Kimpton, who had held the living of Aldwincle, in +Northamptonshire, for several years, had, by some very strange and +imprudent conduct, fallen into difficulties,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_414">[414]</span> and became a prisoner in +the King’s Bench. A long absence from his parish could not be dispensed +with by his superior, and as he was unable to return to Aldwincle, +the living was in danger of lapsing to the Bishop of the Diocese. It +therefore became necessary for Mr. Kimpton either to sell the advowson, +or obtain the Bishop’s leave for some clergyman to hold it for a +limited time. Dr. Haweis, not having any preferment from the time he +had been driven from his cure at Oxford,<a id="FNanchor_216" href="#Footnote_216" class="fnanchor">[216]</a> was recommended to Mr. +Kimpton by Mr. Madan, who had been introduced to him by the Rev. Samuel +Brewer; and as the Bishop’s leave could not be obtained for any person +to hold the living for a limited time, he presented it to Dr. Haweis. +The whole transaction was concluded with Mr. Madan and Dr. Haweis +by Mr. Kimpton, when no other person was present. Mr. Madan and Dr. +Haweis, no doubt, acted in this business as upright and conscientious +men, but in the eyes of those equally excellent, Lady Huntingdon, Mr. +Whitefield, and Mr. Thornton, their conduct appeared less pure.<a id="FNanchor_217" href="#Footnote_217" class="fnanchor">[217]</a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_395">[395]</span></p> + +<p>Some months after Mr. Kimpton had signed the presentation, a gentleman +made him an offer of one thousand guineas for the advowson, whereupon +he immediately made an application to Dr. Haweis, intimating his hopes +of a resignation, or at least of having a compensation in money. +However, as no promises, or even so much as a hint of a consideration, +had been made at the time when Dr. Haweis was presented to the living, +that gentleman and Mr. Madan peremptorily refused either resignation or +compensation. The distress which this refusal brought upon Mr. Kimpton +and his family was almost beyond parallel; Mr. Kimpton himself being +still a prisoner in the King’s Bench, his son driven out of his mind, +and the rest of his family nearly starving.</p> + +<p>This affair soon became very public, and the foulest aspersions were +thrown on the characters of Mr. Madan and Dr. Haweis by Mr. Kimpton +and his friends. On the part of Dr. Haweis, it was contended that Mr. +Kimpton presented him to the living without any pecuniary consideration +whatever, either at the time of his acceptance of it, or the least +promise or engagement for any future recompense. Mr. Kimpton and his +friends did not deny this; but said it must be presumed that when the +patron first waited upon Mr. Madan for his advice in the unfortunate +situation he was then in, that he told him his case, and that Mr. Madan +must have <i>known what he wanted</i>; and though no promises, or +even so much as a hint of a consideration, were made at the time the +presentation was signed, yet Dr. Haweis <i>must have known</i> that Mr. +Kimpton wholly relied on his honour, and could not think that he would +be willing to give his living away <i>absolutely</i> to a man he never +saw before, and to one who was likely to enjoy it a great number of +years, when he might have found a person of more than twice the age of +Dr. Haweis to have given it to.</p> + +<p>Mr. Madan sought the advice of the first legal authorities, and +having himself been an able practitioner at the bar, felt confident +that he had acted in the most conscientious and honourable manner by +Mr. Kimpton. Lord Apsley, afterwards Lord Bathurst, then Lord High +Chancellor of England, to whom Mr. Madan was chaplain, decided in his +favour, as did also several persons conversant with ecclesiastical +law. The obloquy and reproach to which Mr. Madan was exposed, and the +base attacks made upon his character for the part which he took in +this unhappy affair, obliged him to publish a narrative of the whole<span class="pagenum" id="Page_396">[396]</span> +transaction, in which he accuses Mr. Kimpton of stating what was false, +and of having acted a very close and designing part in not declaring +his real sentiments. This narrative was also designed to answer the +account which Mr. Kimpton had published a short time before.<a id="FNanchor_218" href="#Footnote_218" class="fnanchor">[218]</a></p> + +<p>Matters were in this state when Lady Huntingdon arrived in London. +After much consultation with Mr. Whitefield, Mr. Thornton, and others, +the purchase of the advowson by her Ladyship was considered the best +means to deliver the Christian cause from that obloquy and reproach +which was so abundantly heaped upon it through this affair, and help +out of prison and debt the miserable sufferers by it, as well as, at +the same time, to make a way for Mr. Madan and Dr. Haweis to stand on +ground that might, in the sight of all good and reasonable men, become +truly Christian and honourable. On the 1st of March, Lady Huntingdon +sent by Mr. Whitefield a draft for <i>one thousand pounds</i> to Mr. +Thornton, and commissioned him, Mr. Whitefield, Mr. West, and Mr. +Brewer, to purchase the perpetual advowson of Aldwincle, and deliver +Mr. Kimpton and his family out of their difficulties and distress. +By her Ladyship’s desire an advertisement was inserted in the public +papers, directing all his creditors to apply to Mr. Thornton to receive +their respective demands.</p> + +<p>The following is a copy of her Ladyship’s letter to Mr. Thornton:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="r2">March 1st, 1768.</p> + +<p>“Dear Sir—In consequence of the visit you had on Saturday, +and your approbation of what appeared most right to me, I have +one favour to ask from your kind and Christian influence. The +natural effects to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_417">[417]</span> Mr. Kimpton, on being made easy, may flow +in a degree of gratitude to me that would exceedingly hurt me +under any form whatever, either from him or his friends. I wish +extremely it may appear, as it faithfully is, unconnected with +Mr. Madan, and in such a way also as may silence those evil +effects of his conduct; but with no spirit even to him that had +not the most simple and Christian meaning to all, and this can +only be done by that coolness and indifference that belong to +every common just action in life. You would, therefore, highly +oblige me to have in view for me the suppression of any notices +on this occasion. Nothing could so grieve me. My heart feels too +much ashamed before Him who sees it, to receive any approbation +from man; may he forgive my best meanings when mixed with such +imperfect actions as I feel all mine to be. Your kind assistance +in this will lay a perpetual obligation on her who most highly +esteems you, and on all occasions acknowledges herself, dear +Sir, your obliged and faithful humble servant,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“S. Huntingdon.</p> + +<p>“P. S.—I send the note for 1,000<i>l.</i> by Mr. Whitefield.”</p> +</div> + +<p>To this memorable letter Mr. Thornton sent the following answer:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Madam—I have received, by the Rev. Mr. Whitefield, your +Ladyship’s favour of a draft on Messrs. Boldero and Co. for a +thousand pounds; and it shall be my endeavour to prove myself +obedient to your commands in all respects. And I cannot but +admire the true Christian manner in which you are pleased to +study to act, with a single eye to the honour and glory of our +dear Lord and Master, in this great good work. I trust he will +own this and all your Ladyship’s labours of love, and shine +upon you more and more, till he receives you where we shall be +everlastingly employed in praise. I am, with the most sincere +regard your Ladyship’s most obedient humble servant,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“John Thornton.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Lord Dartmouth having likewise taken an active part in this unhappy +affair, and having intimated his anxiety that the characters of Mr. +Madan and Dr. Haweis should not suffer through her Ladyship’s kind and +generous intentions, she wrote to his Lordship the same day on which +she commissioned Mr. Thornton to purchase the advowson, informing him +of what she had done.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="r2">“March 1st, 1768.</p> + +<p>“My Lord—I have this day sent, by the hands of Mr. Whitefield, +to Mr. Thornton, a note for a thousand pounds, to pay (as by +agreement with Mr. Kimpton) for the perpetual advowson of +Aldwincle living, and which was the full supposed value before +Dr. Haweis had possession of it. As your Lordship must have +known the want of concurrence my heart has ever had in this +whole affair, so I did think your Lordship had a right to the +earliest and fullest information of this<span class="pagenum" id="Page_418">[418]</span> transaction, and +also of what appeared to me the one best means to deliver from +reproach, on this account, the Christian cause, and help out +of prison and debt the miserable sufferers by it, as well as +at the same time to make a way for Mr. Madan and Dr. Haweis +to stand on ground that might, in the sight of all good and +reasonable men, become truly Christian and honourable. Your +Lordship, in wishing the protection of the character of those +you regard, has seen this matter in a light, tender, friendly, +and charitable; but this medium is not that through which all +can see in it that exactness requisite to actions that appear of +such consequence to the clearing up of their fidelity when less +known. A thousand therefore to one, as well in the Christian as +rational world, must and do see it in another; these, doubtless, +claim that consideration as due to them which every Christian +heart would by concession willingly make, whenever consciously +mistaken—else woe to the world indeed because of offences, +which would yet remain the hindrance of their peace, by the +false impressions received against the power and purity which, +through mistaken conduct, must continue so obscured. As to any +reserves pride may make on these subjects, may the Lord keep me, +your Lordship, and all who name the name of Christ, from them. +Should not these measures meet with your Lordship’s approbation, +my satisfaction will receive that difference only. As far as +I know, my eye has been single to these three points I have +mentioned, and that to Him whose I am, and from whose compassion +I look for pity to all my ignorance and weakness, in want of +further abilities in this matter, as well as for every other +purpose to his glory, and in all situations, remain, my Lord, +your Lordship’s obliged and faithful humble servant,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“S. Huntingdon.”</p> +</div> + +<p>It now remained for Lady Huntingdon to conclude this unfortunate +transaction, by writing to Mr. Madan, with a full disclosure of her +sentiments, informing him of the step which she thought it most prudent +to take. We transcribe the letter, and Mr. Madan’s reply, from a +manuscript in her Ladyship’s handwriting:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="r2">“London, March 1st, 1768.</p> + +<p>“Rev. Sir—Some time in last April was a year, in my lodgings +at Chelsea, you were so good as to inform me of this unhappy +affair of Aldwincle. On having your representation read over, +my sentiments on that point I most freely gave, and thought, +as the matter stood, I could not see how Dr. Haweis, as an +honest man, could continue to keep that living. The objection +then made against giving it up was the charge of simony, which +might in that case be brought. To avoid even the suspicion +of this, it instantly occurred to my mind that you and Dr. +Haweis immediately taking Mr. Kimpton to the Bishop, and +proving yourselves free from the charge that was or might be +brought against you, necessarily obliged him (the Bishop) +either to allow the resignation of the living in testimony of +your innocence, or acquit your characters in keeping it, if +he refused to receive it. From the inferior<span class="pagenum" id="Page_399">[399]</span> objection of the +300<i>l.</i> laid out on the house by Dr. Haweis (and which +was afterwards offered to be paid by a friend on resignation +of the living), it did not then seem expedient to you that +the living should be given up. I then had no more to say, and +became satisfied to share in the certain shame and reproach so +many of God’s people have had on this occasion; but from the +conviction of my mind I could take up no weapons of defence on +this subject. It remained from your own testimony to me just the +same under every various and future appearance to the world. +Since I last came to town I have found a severe scourge indeed +upon the Church of God, and which, by going on, must end in +every evil word and work. To deliver, therefore, a miserable +family, and to stop all further grief to God’s people, who are +alike in all parts affected by this blow, I had but one thing +that suggested itself to me adequate to its relief, and whereby +these best motives might be explained. In order to do this the +most effectually in my power, I have commissioned Mr. Thornton, +Mr. Whitefield, Mr. West, and Mr. Brewer (by this day giving +them a note for 1,000<i>l.</i>) to purchase the advowson of +Aldwincle, and they are now gone to see Mr. Kimpton released +from prison, restored to his family, and the debts relative to +the advowson, and all his other debts, punctually discharged. +Thus far have I gone, but alas! I can go no farther. It remains +now only for me to pray to God to enable both you and Mr. Haweis +to make every proper and public concession<a id="FNanchor_219" href="#Footnote_219" class="fnanchor">[219]</a> to the world +for any <i>conscious</i> infirmity, weakness, temptation, or +mistaken step throughout this transaction. May you stand by the +cross of Christ in this humbling and trying instance. It will +be sufficient to support and carry you victoriously through +all, and bring back the love, the just love and honour due to +you from the Church of God, and in the end can alone preserve +that character, whose defence from man has wanted that success +which God only can give. Should I ever live to see this happy +day of peace proclaimed, you will then find me that faithful and +affectionate friend I desire to be found by you both. Till then, +I can only say, I remain your servant for Christ’s sake,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“S. Huntingdon.”</p> +</div> + +<p>The concession, drawn up by Lady Huntingdon, which she<span class="pagenum" id="Page_420">[420]</span> proposed in the +above letter to be signed by Mr. Madan and Dr. Haweis, and circulated +in the public prints, never obtained any publicity.</p> + +<p>The following is Mr. Madan’s reply, dated March 3, 1768:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Madam—When I had the honour of your Ladyship’s letter I was +confined to my bed, and therefore could not answer it by your +servant. I am at present very unfit for writing, or business of +any sort; but lest my longer silence should be misconstrued into +disrespect, I trouble your Ladyship with the following answer.</p> + +<p>“Your Ladyship acquaints me that you have sent a thousand pounds +for the purchase of the advowson of Aldwincle. This step your +Ladyship may have taken with the best intentions; but, under all +the circumstances of the case, it is very evident to me that +the necessary consequence of it will be an increase of reproach +and injury to my friend Dr. Haweis’s character and my own; and +therefore I hope your Ladyship will do us the justice, upon all +occasions, to declare that this step has been taken without our +knowledge, privity, consent, or approbation.</p> + +<p>“As to the part which Dr. Haweis and I have taken, it has +been, all things considered, a very disagreeable one for us; +and nothing could have supported us under the oppression and +persecution we have met with, but a consciousness of our having +acted uprightly and sincerely. This has enabled us to stem +the torrent of abuse which hath been poured upon us from all +quarters, and I trust will enable us to assert our integrity as +long as we live.</p> + +<p>“As to the concessions your Ladyship is pleased to mention, as +we do not conceive we have any to make, so we must assure you +that none can ever be made, by <i>us</i> I mean, for I by no +means despair that some may appear on the other side of the +question, when conscience shall do its office with respect to +the wrongs we have sustained, and our just dealing shall be as +the noon-day sun.</p> + +<p>“When evil is spoken of us <i>falsely</i>, we are commanded to +rejoice; when any can be said <i>truly</i>, I shall hope that +you will find none more ready to acknowledge and lament it than +dear Dr. Haweis, and,</p> + +<p class="r4 p-min">“Madam, your Ladyship’s humble servant,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“Martin Madan”</p> +</div> + +<p>The preaching of Mr. Haweis, which Mr. Newton (one of the ministers who +approved his conduct and that of Mr. Madan) said had, like the report +of cannon, sounded through the country, attracted vast congregations to +Aldwincle church.<a id="FNanchor_220" href="#Footnote_220" class="fnanchor">[220]</a> Mr. Romaine,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_401">[401]</span> Mr. Venn, as well as Mr. Newton, +visited him in his living. The friendship of such men is unequivocal +testimony to the piety of Dr. Haweis: but we do not mean to offer any +opinion on the affair of Aldwincle; suppose him to have erred in this, +let the mistakes of such men be beacons for our admonition and warning, +while their fidelity and devotedness inspire us with the zeal of +imitation, and arouse us to exertion.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 id="CHAPTER_XXV">CHAPTER XXV.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hangingindent">Progress of Piety at Cambridge—Rowland Hill—Oxford—St. +Edmund’s Hall—The Six Students—Expulsion—Sir Richard +Hill—Dr. Horne, Bishop of Norwich—Mr. Godwyn—Charges against +Lady Huntingdon—Account of the Students, and the proceedings +against them—Letter from Lady Dartmouth—Lady Buchan—Letter +from Mr. Wesley—Cheltenham—Lord Dartmouth—Letter from +Mr. Venn—Mr. Wells—Mr. Trinder—Mr. Whitefield to Mr. +Madan—Mr. Madan to Mr. Wesley—Lady Huntingdon to Mr. Alderman +Harris—Gloucester Association—Lady Huntingdon to Mr. +Brewer—Chapels at Gloucester, Worcester, and Cheltenham—Lady +Huntingdon’s Letter concerning them.</p> +</div> + + +<p>At this period (1767–8) many students of the Universities were deeply +imbued with a sense of the value and importance of religion. The +Cambridge band was headed by Rowland Hill, whose whole soul was bent +on promoting the growth of piety in himself, and among his friends, +Pentycross, Simpson, Robinson, and others, who, imbued with his zeal +and spirit, possessed, perhaps, less fire, and energy, and unflinching +boldness. At the head of the religious youth of Oxford was Mr. Halward, +the constant correspondent of Mr. Hill, and whose letters became at +this period peculiarly interesting. Mr. Durbridge, a humble,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_422">[422]</span> but pious +friend of Mr. Whitefield, had lately suffered a triumphant death, and +at the house of his widow, Dr. Stillingfleet, Mr. Halward, of Worcester +College, Mr. Foster, of Queen’s College, Mr. Pugh, of Hertford College, +Mr. Gordon, of Magdalene, and Mr. Clark, of St. John’s, were wont +to meet for prayer and mutual encouragement in religion. To this +congregation were added the celebrated six students of St. Edmund’s +Hall, of whom we are about to speak more at length:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Faithful and devoted souls (says Lady Huntingdon), and active +in diffusing the light and love of which they are the happy +recipients. With some of them I have long been acquainted, and +have heard most interesting particulars of their proceedings +from dear Mr. Whitefield. O let earnest, ardent prayer ascend +from every gracious soul for the success of these young +witnesses, whom the Lord of the harvest hath mercifully raised +up to proclaim the Gospel of salvation. The hand of the +persecutor is upon some of them, and they have deep waters to +wade through; but, amidst every outward opposition, the little +flock continues to augment its numbers. I expect great things +from them, and hope and pray that these witnesses will rise up +and testify to the Gospel of the grace of God long after I am +numbered with the dead.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Mr. Halward, in his letter to Mr. Hill, spoke of the meeting, and of +the excitement thereby created both in “town and gown.”</p> + +<p>At length the storm which had so long been gathering, and which had +already given a few warnings of its violence, burst, and poured +the full torrent of its vengeance on the devoted heads of the six +students of St. Edmund’s Hall. They had been in the habit of meeting +Dr. Stillingfleet, then a fellow of Merton College, but afterwards +Prebendary of Worcester, a well-known writer, and the cherished friend +of Lady Huntingdon, at Mrs. Durbridge’s, where the doctor would +expound, and pray, and invite the students to do likewise. Their +unusual piety and zealous efforts, expounding at private houses and +preaching in the neighbourhood, had, as we have seen, excited the +jealousy of the Church and attracted the ridicule of the gay townsmen. +Mr. Higson, tutor of St. Edmund’s Hall, a person who was liable +to attacks of insanity, and who had been treated as insane, first +formally complained to the Principal, Dr. Dixon, of several students +in the Hall, “enthusiasts, who talked of inspiration, regeneration, +and drawing nigh to God.” The worthy Principal, who was thoroughly +acquainted with the right views and pure lives of the accused students, +looked upon the tutor’s complaint as an evidence of his recurring +insanity. Not so the Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Durrell, to whom Mr. Higson +next applied. He considered that the tutor of St. Edmund’s merited, +by his zeal, the thanks of the whole University; and fearing that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_423">[423]</span> +these young men, who already imitated Wesley and Whitefield in their +piety, might, like them, “turn the world upside down and the Church +inside out,” he summoned a conclave, appointed assessors, and cited the +offending students before him.</p> + +<p>The conclave consisted of Drs. Durrell, Randolph, Fothergill, Nowell, +and the senior proctor, Atterbury. Dr. Nowell took notes, which were +afterwards published in vindication of the Vice-Chancellor and his +junta. The students arraigned were Benjamin Kay, Thomas Jones, Thomas +Grove, Erasmus Middleton, and Joseph Shipman. Several heads of houses +warmly espoused the cause of the students, especially Dr. Dixon, who, +as Principal of their Hall, bore direct testimony to their admirable +conduct and exemplary piety, and defended them against Mr. Higson’s +charges, out of the Thirty-nine Articles themselves. His amendment was, +however, overruled, and sentence of expulsion was passed against them; +the Vice-Chancellor declaring that each of them deserved expulsion, and +adding, “I, therefore, by my visitorial power, do hereby pronounce them +expelled.” Such was the Oxford bull of 1768.</p> + +<p>Mr. Whitefield immediately addressed an admirable letter, written in +his most forcible manner, to the Vice-Chancellor, which has been very +frequently printed, but is now extremely scarce. Sir Richard Hill wrote +a capital pamphlet, entitled “Pietas Oxoniensis,” dedicated to the +Earl of Lichfield, then Chancellor of the University of Oxford. Dr. +Horne, afterwards Bishop of Norwich, very ably defended the students, +and condemned the conclave in a powerful paper; and Mr. Macgowan and +several others severely lashed the Heads of Houses for their sentence. +On the other hand, there were a pamphlet by the Vice-Chancellor, an +answer to Sir Richard Hill by Dr. Nowell, and other vindicatory tracts +of great ability. The Rev. Charles Godwyn, one of the Fellows of +Balliol College, writing to Mr. Hutchins, the historian of Devon, says—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“A very odd affair has happened here. The Principal of Edmund +Hall has been indiscreet enough to admit into his Hall, <i>by +the recommendation of Lady Huntingdon</i>, seven London +tradesmen, one a tapster, another a barber, &c. They have +little or no learning, but have all of them a high opinion of +themselves, as being ambassadors of ‘King Jesus.’ One of them, +upon that title, conferred by himself, has been a preacher. +Complaint was made to the Vice-Chancellor, I believe by the +Bishop of Oxford, and he, in his own right, as Vice-Chancellor, +had last week a visitation of the Hall. Six of the preaching +tradesmen were found so void of learning that they were +expelled, and the tutor, with his pupils, not choosing to live +under such a Principal, are removing, I believe, to Christ +Church.”</p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_404">[404]</span></p> + +<p>In a subsequent letter Mr. Godwyn adds:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“The Vice-Chancellor has done very well in removing from hence +some ‘ambassadors from Jesus Christ,’ who were made up of +ignorance and assurance, and were likely to do more harm than +good. There is a short sensible pamphlet published in defence +of him, relating barely the facts, and producing the reasons +upon which the Vice-Chancellor proceeded. It says just as much +as is proper, and nothing more. A person among us, of some +consequence, has shown his piety to his <i>alma mater</i> by +publishing what he calls ‘Pietas Oxoniensis.’ It is in defence +of our Methodists, from whence you may judge of the odd turn of +the man. We are at a loss to find out who is the person; the +Vice-Chancellor knows. Nothing of any value has been published +against it.”</p> +</div> + +<p>The expulsion itself was thus announced in the <i>St. James’s +Chronicle</i>:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“On Friday last (March 11, 1768), six students belonging to +Edmund Hall were expelled the University, after a hearing of +several hours before the Vice-Chancellor and some of the Heads +of Houses, <i>for holding Methodistical tenets, and taking upon +them to pray, read, and expound the Scriptures, and singing +hymns in private houses</i>. The Principal of the College (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. 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 enquire into the conduct of some who had too little; +yet Mr. Vice-Chancellor Durrell was heard to tell the chief +accuser that the University was much obliged to him for his good +work.”</p> +</div> + +<p>We add in a note some particulars of the expelled students.<a id="FNanchor_221" href="#Footnote_221" class="fnanchor">[221]</a> +In the public journals of the day Lady Huntingdon was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_405">[405]</span> accused not +only as Mr. Godwyn accused her, but of “seducing” several young men +from their respective trades and avocations, and sending them to the +University, where they were maintained at her expense, that they might +afterwards “skulk into orders.” Her Ladyship was at Bath during the +whole transaction, and she regarded not without anxiety the arbitrary +proceedings of the heads of the University against these young men—for +what? For maintaining the fundamental doctrines of the Reformation and +of the Church of England, viz., election, perseverance, justification +by faith alone, and the necessity of the influence of the Holy Spirit +to constitute every one a child of God—doctrines<span class="pagenum" id="Page_406">[406]</span> which lie at the +very foundation of Christianity, and have ever been esteemed the great +bulwark of Protestantism; insomuch that there is not a Reformed Church +in Europe but admits them to the chief place in her confessions of +faith.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“It is a grievous thing (says her Ladyship) to find men who +have solemnly subscribed to the doctrines of the Reformation +acting with such inconsistent cruelty, tyranny, falsehood, +and scurrility towards those who conscientiously adhere to +the tenets of our excellent Church and endeavour to propagate +her principles. Such conduct on the part of our Church rulers +and the heads of the Universities is a sad blow to the Church +to which they profess to belong, and strengthens the hands of +our Popish adversaries. Of what solemn perjury are those men +guilty who, for the sake of filthy lucre and creeping into high +places, swear to the belief of doctrines and principles which, +in their hearts, they disbelieve and detest? How will the Great +Head of the Church be avenged on such people as these; and how +he will reward their fidelity a future day will disclose to +the view of an assembled world! O, my soul, come not thou into +the secrets of such men! With the foul invectives of common +newspapers I have nothing to do, neither am I accountable for +the impudent falsehood of those who have maliciously asserted +that I have inveigled six ignorant young men from their trades +in the country and maintained them at the University. All these, +and many other absurd and ridiculous accusations, insinuations, +and statements, are utterly false, and without any, the least, +foundation of truth to support them; but the Lord God is witness +between me and my accusers in this matter; and woe unto them +that call good evil, and evil good; that put darkness for light, +and light for darkness. Dr. Nowell seems to be of opinion that +the expulsion of the students ‘is a seasonable interposition, +and has disappointed the hopes of those who were desirous of +filling the Church with their votaries.’ Bold assertion often +supplies the place of truth with some men. May the Lord pardon +him for the unjust part he has acted in this affair, and +convince him that his conduct, and that of the other members +of the University, has been utterly inconsistent with every +sentiment of truth, justice, conscience, religion, humanity, and +candour.”</p> +</div> + +<p>We have dwelt at some length on the expulsion of these students on +account of the interest Lady Huntingdon took in the affair, because of +Mr. Whitefield’s zealous interference in behalf of the victims, and +because we hope and believe this Oxford bull will remain the last of +its race. <i>Now</i> public opinion would expel from the University +of Christian fellowship any number of Heads of Houses who should +repeat this tyranny. That great tribunal has just pronounced the +sentence of unqualified condemnation against the late Popish “<i>Oxford +Tracts</i>,” and neither the Chancellor nor ex-Chancellor could now +obtain, were they inclined to try, any mitigation of the sentence.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_407">[407]</span></p> + +<p>The Tracts are unprotestant and therefore unpopular; and, by parity +of reasoning, the conduct of the persecuted students would have been +supported by popular opinion, had it occurred in our day, for their +conduct was eminently Protestant. The hisses and yells in which the raw +witlings of Oxford indulged against the Dissenters at the installation +of the Duke of Wellington were the mere ebullitions of political folly, +and proved nothing against the University but the want of good manners +on <i>gala</i> days; whereas the Tracts proved the absence of good +theology—a defect of more importance in such an institution, and not +quite so easily supplied. It may tend to the purification of doctrines +and manners to preserve and keep before the world the names of the +conclave who expelled six Oxonians for extempore prayer and singing +psalms, and retained one who had been proved guilty of ridiculing the +miracles of Moses and Jesus Christ. But Oxford was never without her +<i>Abdiels</i>, and it gives us real pleasure to recall the names +of those faithful ones who protested against the outrages on truth, +decency, and consistency. Her cloud of witnesses is not great, but it +is sufficiently splendid to inspire high hopes, as well as hallowed +recollections. Middleton, in his “Ecclesiastical Memoir,” laments +that any decree so unsuitable to the spirit of a purely Protestant +institution, as this decree of the Vice-Chancellor, should continue +to disgrace the archives of Oxford; but it appears to us a fortunate +circumstance that the document has been preserved, for were it not in +the archives of Oxford, who would believe that it had ever existed?</p> + +<p>Whilst Lady Huntingdon was thus deploring the effects of spiritual +wickedness in high places, hostile to that cause which more than life +she valued, there were, on the other hand, signs of blessedness to +rouse her to more vigorous exertion. The triumphant death of Lord +Buchan, and the impressions made on surviving relatives, were very +remarkable circumstances.</p> + +<p>The Dowager Countess was a woman of strong natural understanding, and +of a highly cultivated mind. She now became the devoted Christian, and +consecrated her honours and her talents at the foot of the cross. It +was at this period that Lady Anne Erskine, her eldest daughter, took up +her residence with Lady Huntingdon. The young Earl also was valiant for +the truth, and Mr. Venn and Mr. Berridge were appointed his chaplains. +Mr. Wesley was honoured by a similar mark of regard, through the +intervention of Lady Huntingdon, which he acknowledged in the following +letter, dated London, June 4th, 1768, and addressed to the Countess, at +Bute:—</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_408">[408]</span></p><div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“My dear Lady—I am obliged to your Ladyship and to Lady Buchan +for such a mark of your regard as I did not at all expect. I +purpose to return her Ladyship thanks by this post.</p> + +<p>“That remark is very striking, as well as just—if it is the +Holy Spirit that bears witness, then all speaking against that +witness is one species of blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. And +when this is done by those who peculiarly profess to honour +Him, it must in a peculiar manner grieve that blessed Spirit. +Yet I have been lately surprised to observe how many, who +affirm salvation by faith, have run into this meaning—fall +into Sandeman’s notion, that faith is merely an assent to the +Bible, and not only undervaluing, but even ridiculing the +whole experience of the children of God. But so much the more +do I rejoice that your Ladyship is still preserved from that +spreading contagion, and also enabled plainly and openly to avow +the plain, old, simple, unfashionable Gospel. I am glad to hear +your Ladyship has thoughts of being soon in town, but sorry that +your health is not yet re-established. Yet certainly</p> + + <div class="poetry-container1"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div>‘Health we shall have, if health be best:’</div> + </div> + </div> + </div> + +<p class="p-left">for the Lord still ruleth in heaven and earth. Wishing your +Ladyship many happy years, I remain, my dear Lady, your very +affectionate servant,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“John Wesley.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Mr. Shirley and Mr. Powling (of Dewsbury, in Yorkshire) were at this +time in Bath, and their ministry was attended by great crowds. Mr. +Daniel Rowlands repaired thither, to accompany her Ladyship and Mr. +Shirley on a tour into Gloucestershire. Proceeding through Stroud, +Painswick, and Gloucester, they arrived at Tewkesbury, where Mr. +Shirley preached from that passage—“Awake, thou that sleepest!” The +audience was exceedingly large and deeply attentive. In the afternoon +Mr. Rowlands explained and enforced those solemn words—“It is +appointed unto men once to die.” The congregation was more numerous +than in the morning, and there was not an inattentive hearer. “A +remarkable power from on high (observes her Ladyship) accompanied the +message of his servants, and many felt the arrows of distress. O may we +rejoice in a world of spirits that <i>we have not run in vain, neither +laboured in vain</i>, but that many in this populous town may be found +amongst the redeemed and ransomed of the Lord!”</p> + +<p>From Tewkesbury, Lady Huntingdon proceeded to Cheltenham, where much +good had been effected through the instrumentality of those who +laboured with her in this honourable and glorious cause.<a id="FNanchor_222" href="#Footnote_222" class="fnanchor">[222]</a></p> + +<p>Cheltenham was now well supplied with Gospel ministers,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_429">[429]</span> through the +interest and exertions of Lady Huntingdon and Lord Dartmouth. Mr. +Downing, his Lordship’s chaplain, obtained the pulpit of the parish +church two or three times; but the rector and churchwardens, envious of +the signal success of his preaching, and prejudiced against him, the +doctrines he taught, and the persons who crowded to hear him, refused +to admit him again. Thus excluded from the church, Mr. Downing preached +twice a week at Lord Dartmouth’s residence, and on Sunday evenings the +attendance was always very numerous. An enquiry was excited, and the +prospect of usefulness becoming daily more encouraging, his Lordship +wrote to Lady Huntingdon for further help.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I wish (says he) your Ladyship would use your influence +with Mr. Whitefield and Mr. Romaine to pay us a visit. Mr. +Stillingfleet has been obliged to return to Oxford to attend +some indispensable duties, and I know not where to direct to +Mr. Madan or Mr. Venn. Mr. Talbot has promised to come as soon +as possible, and next month I expect good Mr. Walker, of Truro. +The rector was so displeased with Mr. Downing preaching, and the +great crowds that flocked to hear him, that he excluded him from +the pulpit after three or four sermons, and refused to admit +Mr. Stillingfleet, though I said everything I could to induce +him to do so. Since then I have opened my house, but find it +too small for the numbers who solicit permission to attend. I +hope shortly we shall have a large place, for I have no hopes of +again obtaining the use of the parish church.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Just at that time Mr. Madan arrived in Cheltenham, and was soon after +joined by Messrs. Venn and Maddock.<a id="FNanchor_223" href="#Footnote_223" class="fnanchor">[223]</a> Contrary to the expectations +of Lord Dartmouth, both Mr. Madan and Mr. Venn were several times +admitted to preach in the parish church. About ten days after, Mr. +Whitefield came to Cheltenham, and notice of his arrival having been +circulated by Lord Dartmouth, an immense crowd collected from all +parts, expecting he would preach in the church. At the time appointed, +Mr. Whitefield, attended by Lord and Lady Dartmouth, Messrs. Madan, +Venn, Talbot, and Downing, arrived at the church door, and finding +it closed, Mr. Whitefield stood upon a tombstone and addressed a +most attentive multitude from “Ho! every one that thirsteth,” &c. In +the evening the sacrament was administered by Mr. Whitefield at his +Lordship’s residence, after which Mr. Talbot gave a short exhortation, +and Mr. Venn<span class="pagenum" id="Page_430">[430]</span> closed the solemnities of the evening with a most +scriptural prayer.</p> + +<p>On these subjects Mr. Venn writes to Lady Huntingdon in the following +terms:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“To give your Ladyship any just description of what our eyes +have witnessed and our hearts felt within the last few days +exceeds my feeble powers. My inmost soul is penetrated with +an overwhelming sense of the awful power and presence of +Jehovah, who hath visited us with the blessed effusion of his +Spirit, on this occasion, in a very eminent manner. Under Mr. +Whitefield’s first sermon there was a visible appearance of much +soul-concern among the immense crowd that filled every part of +the burial-ground, so that many were overcome with fainting: +others sobbed deeply, some wept silently, and a solemn concern +appeared on the countenance of almost the whole assembly. When +he came to press the injunction in the text (Isaiah li. 1) upon +the unconverted and the ungodly, his words seemed to cut like a +sword upon several in the congregation, so that whilst he was +speaking they could no longer contain, but burst out in the +most piercing, bitter cries. At this juncture Mr. Whitefield +made an awful pause of a few seconds—then burst into a flood +of tears. During this short interval Mr. Madan and myself stood +up, and requested the people as much as possible to restrain +themselves from making any noise. Twice afterwards we had to +repeat the same counsel, still advising the people to endeavour +to moderate and bound their feelings, but not so as to resist or +stifle their convictions. O with what eloquence, what energy, +what melting tenderness did Mr. Whitefield beseech sinners to +be reconciled to God—to come to him for life everlasting, and +rest their weary souls in Christ, the Saviour! When the sermon +was ended the people seemed chained to the ground. Mr. Madan, +Mr. Talbot, Mr. Downing, and myself, found ample employment in +endeavouring to comfort those who had broken down under a sense +of guilt. We separated in different directions among the crowd, +and each was quickly surrounded by an attentive audience, still +eager to hear all the words of this life. Of such a season as +this it may well be said, ‘I have heard thee in a time accepted, +and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold! +<i>now</i> is the accepted time—behold! <i>now</i> is the day +of salvation.’</p> + +<p>“The next day a like scene was exhibited to our wondering eyes, +when dear Mr. Whitefield preached to a prodigious congregation +from that passage—‘Seek the Lord while he may be found, call +upon him while he is near.’ In the evening Mr. Talbot preached +at Lord Dartmouth’s to as many as the rooms would hold. Hundreds +crowded round his Lordship’s residence, anxiously expecting Mr. +Whitefield to preach. Exhausted as he was from his wonderful +exertions in the morning, when he heard that there were +multitudes without, he stood upon a table near the front of the +house, and proclaimed the efficacy of the Saviour’s blood to +cleanse the vilest of the vile from the guilt and filth of sin +and iniquity.</p> + +<p>“Intelligence of the extraordinary power attending the word +soon<span class="pagenum" id="Page_431">[431]</span> spread, and the next day we had Mr. Charles Wesley and +many friends from Bristol, Gloucester, Tewkesbury, Rodborough, +and the villages in the neighbourhood; but all loud weeping and +piercing cries had subsided, and the work of conversion went on, +though in a more silent manner. For several days we have had +public preaching, which has been well attended, and much solid +good has been done.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Whitefield and myself purpose leaving this for London the +day after to-morrow, and Mr. Madan and Mr. Talbot go in a few +days to Northamptonshire. I shall defer further particulars +till I have the honour of waiting upon your Ladyship. With many +thanks for all your kindness to a sinful man, and increasing +prayers for your eternal welfare, I remain, Madam, yours in the +Gospel of our adorable Lord,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“H. Venn.”</p> +</div> + +<p>On leaving Cheltenham, Mr. Madan and Mr. Talbot itinerated through +Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, and Northamptonshire. At Winwick their +preaching was attended by great crowds, having been invited thither by +Mr. Hartley, the pious and useful rector of that place. From thence +they proceeded to Weston Favel, where they were most joyfully received +by Mr. Hervey. When writing to his excellent friend and correspondent, +the late Mr. Ryland, then of Warwick, but afterwards of Northampton, +he says, “I had, not long ago, the favour of a visit from your worthy +neighbour, Mr. Talbot. He came accompanied by Mr. Madan, and both were +like men baptized with the Holy Ghost and with fire, fervent in spirit, +and setting their faces as a flint.”</p> + +<p>From Northampton they returned to Cheltenham, where they were allowed +the occasional use of the pulpit, though the rector still persisted in +excluding Lord Dartmouth’s chaplain, Mr. Downing. Not long after, Mr. +Walker, of Truro, arrived at his Lordship’s, on his way to visit Mr. +Hervey, in Northamptonshire, and during his stay he preached frequently +with much acceptance.</p> + +<p>The late Mr. Samuel Wells then resided in Cheltenham, as head master +of an extensive public seminary: he was a man of deep piety, and +having tasted of the richness of the Gospel, opened his house whenever +the pulpit of the church could not be obtained. There many able and +faithful ministers, especially Mr. Talbot and Mr. Madan, preached two +or three times in the course of the week, and officiated occasionally +at several villages in the neighbourhood.</p> + +<p>The late Mr. Thomas Trinder, the respectable deacon of the Baptist +Church at Northampton, was at that time a pupil at Mr. Wells’s school.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“On the 17th of July (says he) I first heard the Rev. Mr. +Madan.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_432">[432]</span> His discourse was founded upon the third chapter of +St. John’s Gospel and the first nine verses, containing the +conference between Nicodemus and our Lord Jesus Christ. I +do not intend to give any larger account of his sermon than +just to say, he showed what regeneration was not, but more +particularly what it was. The word was armed with power to +me. I was convinced I had never experienced the great change; +I saw the necessity of it, and that without it I should be +miserable to all eternity. When the service was over I came +home with my master and schoolfellows, but I think it was with +great difficulty that I could refrain from tears in going along +the streets. When at home, I retired into my chamber, upon my +knees, there to give vent to my tears, and prayed, if I could +pray, that I might be born again. I felt that I was a lost +creature.... My soul was now all on fire for the preaching of +the word, and about three of my schoolfellows got together after +school, in our room, and read the New Testament. The Gospel +according to John wrought most upon me, but chiefly the eight +or nine last chapters; these I read over and over privately to +myself. I, with some others who were most affected, were ready +to break through the rules of decency and good manners to hear +but a single word concerning salvation. I well remember that +whenever Mr. Madan came to Mr. Wells’s, as he commonly did two +or three times a week (Mr. Wells being the only religious person +that he and his brethren were conversant with in Cheltenham), +if we could obtain the knowledge of it, we should immediately +run down from school; and happiest was he who could obtain the +keyhole to hear the conversation.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Mr. Madan appears to have continued at Cheltenham some considerable +length of time, making frequent excursions to various parts of +Gloucestershire and Warwickshire, and had the satisfaction of seeing +his labours blessed. Encouraged by the success he had met with, he +now made application for the use of the parish church for a week-day +sermon, which he soon obtained through the interest of Lord Apsley, to +whom he was chaplain, and who was at this time a visitor at Cheltenham. +As soon as he had accomplished this object he wrote to inform Mr. +Whitefield, from whom he shortly after received the following reply, +dated London, Nov. 3, 1757:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Your kind letter was very acceptable. Ere now, I trust, the +Redeemer hath given you the prospect of the barren wilderness +being turned to a fruitful field. Never fear; Jesus will delight +to honour you. Every clergyman’s name is Legion. Two more are +lately ordained.</p> + + <div class="poetry-container1"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="ileft">“Satan lets and men object,</div> + <div>Yet the thing they thwart effect.</div> + <div>Thoughts are vain against the Lord—</div> + <div>All subserves his standing word;</div> + <div>Wheels encircling wheels must run,</div> + <div>Each in course, to bring it on.</div> + </div> + </div> + </div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_413">[413]</span></p> + +<p>“You need not remind me of praying for the noble pair; surely +they are not to be prisoners another winter. The kingdom of God +suffereth violence; and really if we would take it by force, +we must do violence to our softest passions, and be content +to be esteemed unkind by those whose idols we once were. This +is hard work; but, Abba, Father, all things are possible with +thee! Blessed be God for putting it into your heart to ask the +pulpit for a week-day sermon. Are we not commanded to be instant +in season and out of season? If dear Mrs. Madan will take my +word for it, I will be answerable for your health. The joy +resulting from doing good will be a continual feast. God knows +how long our time of working may last. This order undoes us. As +affairs now stand, we must be disorderly or useless. O for more +labourers! Go on, my dear Sir, and tell a sinful nation that +sin and unbelief are the accursed things which prevent success. +Thus, at least, we shall deliver our own souls, and be free from +the blood of all men. But I forget; I suppose you are preparing +for the pulpit: I dare not detain you. My best respects await +Mrs. Madan; your mother is well. That you may return to London +in all the fulness of the blessings of the Gospel of Christ is +and shall be the prayer of, dear Sir, yours, &c.,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“G. Whitefield.”</p> +</div> + +<p>In a letter to Mr. Wesley, Mr. Madan speaks thus of Lord and Lady +Dartmouth, whose conduct in opening their house for the preaching of +the Gospel at Cheltenham rendered them extremely conspicuous:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I have been this month (says he) at Cheltenham to drink the +waters, and have preached every Sunday. Some of the company are +much offended—others very thankful: the poor people of the +place are very desirous to hear, and those of all persuasions +flock to hear the word of life. Last time the Quakers and +Baptists made no inconsiderable part of the congregation; and +this confirms me in an opinion I have long had, that if the +truth was preached <i>in the Church</i>, few, if any, would +separate from it.</p> + +<p>“Lord and Lady Dartmouth are here; we pass much time together: +and I have daily more and more reason to rejoice before God +in their behalf; all prejudice is taken out of their hearts, +and I verily believe their delight is in the saints that are +upon the earth, and in such as exceed in virtue, without any +party spirit, in narrowing their affection towards any of their +brethren in Christ Jesus upon account of any outward difference. +O, Sir, how extraordinary it is to see people of their rank, +youth, and property, joined by every qualification and endowment +of mind and body which can make them amiable in the eyes of the +world, desiring to become yet <i>more vile</i> for Christ’s +sake—to see them breathing after inward holiness, as the +hart panteth after the water-brooks! Surely nothing less than +Almighty power could effect this. I trust you will remember both +them and me in your prayers, that we may not stop short of the +crown and prize.”</p> +</div> + +<p>By the labours of these eminent persons considerable attention<span class="pagenum" id="Page_434">[434]</span> was +excited to the subject of religion in this resort of fashion and +dissipation. Lady Huntingdon also frequently visited Cheltenham, and +her active spirit diffused there, as in every other place, the savour +of that name which she loved. On one of her visits to Cheltenham her +Ladyship writes thus:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I sincerely hope that I may he enabled to pay much attention +to this interesting field of labour. There is certainly an +incorrigible apathy prevalent amongst the gay who frequent this +place, and it is difficult to prevail upon them to attend the +faithful preaching of the truth as it is in Jesus. Nevertheless, +much good has been done, and not a few have given manifest +proofs of the reality of their conversion to God, and of their +love to his ways. Over such we do and will rejoice as the fruits +of our humble efforts. Lord, give us the spirit of ardent labour +and of patient faith; for ‘neither is he that planteth anything, +neither is he that watereth, but God that giveth the increase.’ +To his name, then, be all the glory.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Some time after her Ladyship’s college was established at Trevecca, +at the particular request of some of the leading members in +the Gloucestershire Association, she sent some of the students +to Cheltenham: those who laboured there and in other parts of +Gloucestershire were Messrs. Matthew and Mark Wilks, Boddily, +Richardson, Honeywell, Shenstone, and Brewer. Mr. Shenstone, having +adopted some opinions on the subject of infant baptism, drew away many +of the congregation, and acted in other respects so as to displease +his kind patroness and supporter. Many disagreeable circumstances +arising from some improper interference with the students, her Ladyship +wrote to Mr. Whitefield’s old friend, Gabriel Harris, Esq., one of the +aldermen of Gloucester, giving an ample detail of her proceedings. This +was in September, 1781:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“My dear Sir—You will find by this how much I feel obliged by +taking your word, but before I have done I fear your patience +will be proved. My present difficulties oblige my confidence +in you, hoping to prevent any perplexities by so judicious +a friend, and that in the course which I account my only +happiness on earth. Your good opinion of Mr. Hogg, and your long +acquaintance with him, renders your access easy and natural +to find out matters so dark and obscure, as well as extremely +distressing to me. In March last I had a letter from Mr. +Butler, one of the principals in the Gloucestershire Connexion, +earnestly requesting me to take the chapel at Cheltenham into my +hands, as they had no ministers for it. I had no great ease upon +my mind on the subject, from the delicacy of appearing in so +wrong and unfaithful a light as entering into others’ labours. +I got Mr. Groves (one that often preaches for them) to write +me word if it was the <i>united desire</i> of the managers; to +which, by letter, he replied in the affirmative. I then sent the +student I believe best calculated for that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_415">[415]</span> service. Mr. Hogg +wrote me the most thankful and Christian letter on the occasion. +Very soon after this —— met with some of my students in our +work in various parts of Wiltshire, and told them that the old +man intended seducing the students I had sent to Cheltenham; +and in consequence of this the Wiltshire student, a very honest +young man, shocked at the duplicity that did appear in this +matter, came over to inform me of it. I said I could not give +credit to anything so unworthy; but as he seemed so uneasy, +being a student himself, and liable to much reflection upon +himself by any suspicion, I advised him, as he heard this said, +to go, as <i>from himself</i>, to the old man, and ask if there +was any truth in it. He went directly from Bath (where I then +was) and opened the matter. They positively declared such a +thing never entered into their thoughts; and after, he went to +his brother student at Cheltenham, who had not been (of his four +years) but one year and a half. He also denied the thought. At +this very time the acceptance of another student serving our +work in Staffordshire was transacting, and a letter was found +by the master of the college, with directions for him to go +and settle at Wootton-under-Edge. I called on Mr. Hogg on my +way here, and had the most Christian and friendly reception. +He wanted me to go to Rodborough; but I on no account could do +this, and gently said, ‘I don’t approve your ministers;’ and +that day I first heard that the student had arrived there from +my college. I let all pass, and coming home, found <i>that</i> +student gone, after labouring to divide and bring all confusion +into the college. I wrote to the Cheltenham student (Shenstone) +to order him to France, as having a more able one to employ +while the company was there. But he sent him back, and said +he would not go. I then repeated my orders to both to change, +and the France student went to Cheltenham; and again Shenstone +said he would not stir, sent his horse home to the college, and +refused even answering my letter. In this situation I am. They +want me to be angry and to turn him off, and so charge all this +on me, in order to have him leave me with appearance of some +face of justice; and I am bound to conclude they will take back +Cheltenham, and fix that student there. Their whole connexion of +preachers are those who have broken through every tie that could +hold an honest man in order. You may enquire this most fully +after them. This conduct I abhor, of entering into those blessed +men’s labours, and trying to bring every scandal upon the best +of men, who for near forty years I have known, loved, and +honoured, for the most disinterested services I have yet known +in the world or Church either. The point is now to seduce away, +by any means, those whom I, at much expense, labour, and care +for the poorest, and with the Lord’s blessing, have maintained. +After a year or two their gifts appear, and, while honest and +simple, are useful—these are the objects, as you see above, and +by these to raise a connexion to oppose and distress me. Four +years is their absolute engagement to labour in the place; those +from under my roof, * * * * they get as they can, without the +least information or the smallest civility to me. This is the +hopeful state of the Gloucestershire Connexion. The good old +man Hogg<span class="pagenum" id="Page_416">[416]</span> desired peace and union with me from his heart; but +still truant principles rule; I may be silent, but never will +approve. I send you articles of agreement under the strictest +equity I know. The wicked and most shameful confusion they have +made in Wales must be no longer continued; the Spirit of God +must be in all righteousness, goodness, and truth: the divisions +and distractions occasioned in God’s Church by those, prove this +is not their guide; and no peace can be made with my dear Welsh +friends and me but what has this for the foundation. —— has +been in London to offer peace, and wanted to preach in our large +congregation, and by getting in, bring nothing but division. I +have avoided this with him, but upon these conditions, viz., +that the Welsh work be instantly returned to the association, +and that my own ministers must have the lead through all the +work. There are nine or ten of the first clergymen in this +nation for abilities, disinterestedness, gifts, and grace; and +had their eyes been single they would have rejoiced in these, +in the room of such poor runaway boys as they only employ among +them.</p> + +<p>“Matters go on ill in dear Mr. Whitefield’s places, and you must +judge, when the good old men drop in Gloucestershire, what these +poor honest souls must be left to, and which I have some reason +to believe does distress their poor old hearts. My intention +by this (trusting on your fidelity) is to come to these close +quarters of conscience with Hogg—how receiving these men can +be consistent with common justice, and if he thinks such who +have acted so unfaithfully can be good men, or men fit to be +trusted with the souls of simple, honest people? Take notice, +I mention this to prevent future robbery; as our work is so +immense, we want all hands that appear fit to be sent, and such +reproach brought upon the college by all honest men by this +means, that makes my heart ache, and often makes me, like him +under the juniper tree, say, ‘It is better for me to die;’ but +strength comes for the next day of trial, and hitherto the Lord +Jesus has kept my poor unworthy soul in his hands, and my weak, +foolish, and blundering labours as my only honour and happiness +through all in his dear divine services. Could any further +proceedings for such barefaced wrong be prevented, and I serve +them on any occasion, as a truly disinterested friend for the +Lord’s sake, I can say my heart is ready; but to be the dupe +for such evil practices I must make great distance and silence +my point, ever wishing to do my worst enemy any possible good, +so it does not essentially affect those my honour and justice +oblige me to defend. Perfect harmony and the most astonishing +success now follow our disinterested labours over England and +Wales; and unless this point is universally carried through +<i>by all</i>, I would suffer death rather than one dying moment +should convince me any part of my life had another meaning. +I know your love and faithful regard to dear Mr. Whitefield +would make you feel for these miserable threatenings. You will +be sure unceasing difficulties to me must arise did any know +of my communicating this to you—but you must assert the facts +without <i>my name on any account</i>; and if a possible evil +can be avoided for the future by your means, I am sure<span class="pagenum" id="Page_437">[437]</span> you +will rejoice. I should just mention ——’s conduct previous to +this, in taking possession of two congregations the college had +laboured in and raised to me, at my great expense; and trying +every means to reflect and bring disgrace upon us all, by +trying to divide my friends from me, and so taking us all up, +at times, as his merry Andrews, into the pulpit, and leaving a +bitter sting, as far as he could, through his evil jokes. All +this, though not fair or upright, I should have so far despised +as, for peace’ sake, to have passed over; but it is the worm +that yet lies at the bottom of the gourd in Wales, that no +honest conscience can put up with, that staggers all within +me, knowing the whole of this by the friends departed from the +association to me, with all particulars—ministers, and <i>the +true trustees</i> for the place they possess.</p> + +<p>“Boddily and Brewer have written to me very lately, as wishing +to give me no offence, and they have all my good wishes for +them. As I mean to hurt none by this, but save the cause from +offence, and to prevent the ruin of young men ignorant of the +world, and drawn in thus to their destruction, this is also +due from me by a means that cannot hurt the worst, and on this +account I could wish, on your being fully apprised of these my +simple and honest wishes, to prevent this falling into any hands +whatsoever, you would burn it. I am tired with thinking I tire +so severely my kind and worthy friend; but in this most faithful +relation my heart seems relieved, knowing that a single meaning +to hurt any creature is not intended by me, but one single +desire to prevent the evil of all, and the honour of our blessed +Lord’s Church among all his servants. The very, very meanest and +least he ever had, is, ever dear Sir, your truly faithful and +ever obliged friend,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“S. Huntingdon.</p> + +<p>“P.S.—Let me hear soon that you have received this.</p> + +<p>“The articles <i>intended</i> to be proposed, and which never +were, I sent you; but since the proposals for peace were sent +from Mr. Keene and Mr. Hill, in London, I could not abide by +them universally, yet partially they might be considered as +having some utility in them.”<a id="FNanchor_224" href="#Footnote_224" class="fnanchor">[224]</a></p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_438">[438]</span></p> + +<p>At length the differences and divisions became so disagreeable that +Lady Huntingdon determined on giving up Cheltenham altogether, and +accordingly wrote to Mr. Brewer to that effect. Her letter is dated +from Trevecca, February 10th, 1782:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Mr. Brewer—Your principal situation in the Rodborough +Connexion obliges me to give you this trouble. You must be +well acquainted that at the request of others, and Mr. Butler +in particular, I undertook the services at Cheltenham, by no +means my choice, and that lest difficulties might arise in its +being in the midst of another Connexion, which I had never for a +moment interfered with, and so produce some consequences wherein +peace, the bond of all union, might in the end be miserably +wanting. The friendly appearances in this matter made me glad +at length to give any assistance, and I appointed one of my +students, Mr. Shenstone, a sober and serious young man, who had +long been ill at the college, hoping that the poor might be +profited by his labours and his health restored: in the last it +proved successful, but his whole conduct so reversed the meaning +of this college that I never mean to admit of his return here or +to labour in any part of this Connexion. I am obliged to be thus +explicit, as he has taken the liberty to order my student at +Worcester to change with him, while his own unfaithful practice +regarded no orders given to himself. This, with various other +instances of insolence most unfit for his own character, and +that while under obligations of his own making, and even quite +unsought by me, renders him the last kind of disposition I can +hope any good from myself, or recommend to others as a minister +of that Gospel which is in all truth and righteousness. The +warning I had of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_419">[419]</span> the intended imposition relative to Cheltenham +I gave no credit to, though now too clearly explained by the +event; as I had supposed it impossible that honest men, fearing +God, could mean to act so deceitfully by one kindly disposed +to serve them, and never having given them any offence, so on +that account I could not look to the warmth of any personal +resentment for the possible cause. The whole of this affair +obliges me to give up Cheltenham for any future care under this +Connexion. Should the united ill-usage of the managers have +been occasioned by Shenstone’s intended views of being joined +with them, the end is now most certainly obtained, yet on both +sides <i>most</i> unworthy of honest men. I wish them all every +blessing connected for the future with the most upright conduct +towards God and man; but I am truly glad they are freed from one +they could use so ill, and adding this satisfaction to them, of +being sure of my never, on any occasion, troubling them for one +moment in future. Nevertheless, the Judge of the whole earth +will do right; and they must bear their burdens, whosoever they +be.</p> + +<p>“As I never heard you were concerned in this affair, and +believing you a faithful servant of God, I thought you most +proper to give this information to the managers, Shenstone +and Ballinger, at Cheltenham; praying God a thousand-fold +of blessings may arise to the succeeding trust of that very +important stand for the Gospel, and most faithfully and +earnestly requesting every increasing honour upon your judicious +and upright services in the Church of Christ, and wherein you +may be eminently owned by the Lord in bringing glory to his +name, and abounding joy and peace to your own soul. Live in +peace, and the God of peace shall be with you. This is my motto, +as far as lies in us to maintain; and when this disposition is +wanting, distance and silence may remain the next best fruit of +divine charity to our worst enemies.</p> + +<p>“Blessed be God, the offence of the cross does not sever us +from the world with so many threatenings, but love and harmony +unite us to each other. I am, Mr. Brewer, with great regard and +respect to your character, your much obliged and faithful friend,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“S. Huntingdon.</p> + +<p>“P.S.—I hope to give you pleasure by assuring you your honest +porter promises well, and I hope you will have great cause to +rejoice in future for your recommendation.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Thus, by the conduct of Mr. Shenstone, Lady Huntingdon was induced +to withdraw her valuable assistance from Cheltenham; and the narrow, +confined views of this gentleman ended in establishing a small +Baptist congregation, which, with a still smaller one, belonging +to the Wesleyan Methodists, and the parish church, constituted all +the places of worship at that time in the town—a poor provision +for the accommodation of a place containing three thousand resident +inhabitants, and which was the annual resort of many thousand persons, +who visited it for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_440">[440]</span> the benefit of the waters. For a number of years +the town continued increasing, and while Christians of various +denominations felt the inconveniency of having no place of worship +suited to their wishes, those which existed were not capable of holding +all that were disposed to attend.<a id="FNanchor_225" href="#Footnote_225" class="fnanchor">[225]</a></p> + +<p>Lady Huntingdon’s attention was now directed to Gloucestershire and +Worcestershire, where a spirit of religious enquiry continued to +increase. This was not only apparent from the numbers who attended +the ministry of Mr. Andrews, and of those ministers who occasionally +visited Gloucester, but in the deep seriousness which they manifested +while sitting under the word. The labours of Mr. Alderman Harris had +been abundantly blessed. Through evil report and through good, this +excellent man held<span class="pagenum" id="Page_421">[421]</span> on the unvarying tenor of his way, and many, by his +instrumentality, experienced the grace of God in truth.</p> + +<p>On Lady Huntingdon’s visit to Gloucester she was accompanied by Mr. +Shirley and Mr. Rowlands, both of whom preached several times in the +pulpits of the Established Church. A chapel was afterwards erected, +and supplied by the ministers and students in the Connexion. The late +Mr. Thorne, who had his education at Trevecca, was for many years the +resident minister at Gloucester. From Gloucester, Lady Huntingdon, and +the clergymen who accompanied her, proceeded to Worcester—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Where (says her Ladyship) we have full employment in +ministering to a people not unwilling to hear the Gospel. The +labours of Mr. Glascott, Mr. Venn, and others, have excited a +disposition among the inhabitants of this city to attend to the +things which belong to their peace. Nearly two hundred persons +have been united in religious society, many of whom have given +decisive proofs of their conversion to God, and are encouraging +rewards of our disinterested labours for our great and gracious +Master. To spread the knowledge of his blessed name amongst +those who knew not God has been my chief desire for many years; +and I think that desire has suffered no diminution, but rather +gained strength, since I left Bath; and my daily prayers and +exertions are made with a view to an increased ability to +afford my fellow-sinners all the blessings connected with that +unspeakably precious Gospel which is the power of God unto +salvation.”</p> +</div> + +<p>The vigorous and well-directed efforts of her Ladyship, and the +powerful preaching of Mr. Shirley and Mr. Rowlands, excited an +interest so lively and extensive, that her Ladyship was solicited by a +considerable number of persons to erect a chapel for the preaching of +that Gospel which they could not hear within the walls of their parish +churches. To this request she readily yielded, and the necessary steps +for this purpose were taken without delay.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Thus have I been called (observes her Ladyship) to erect +another chapel for the service of the living God. May He deign +to bless it, and cause the cloud of his gracious presence to +rest upon it! It is his work; I can only plant: his Holy Spirit +will water, and give the increase. I leave all events with him. +Great difficulties and discouragements attend every effort to +spread the knowledge of divine truth; but those who labour with +me have been taught to feel that it is not by might, nor by +power, and that nothing short of the vital energy of the Holy +Ghost can give success to the preaching of the Gospel.”</p> +</div> + +<p>About the year 1771 a chapel was erected in Bridport-street, partly by +subscription, and the interest of the remaining debt<span class="pagenum" id="Page_442">[442]</span> was paid by Lady +Huntingdon till the congregation was enabled to liquidate the whole. +This chapel was opened by the Hon. and Rev. Walter Shirley, in 1773.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“It will afford you unspeakable pleasure (writes Lady +Huntingdon) to hear of the amazing success which hath attended +our labours at Worcester. The chapel was crowded, and multitudes +went away unable to gain admittance. We had a glorious display +of the power and grace of our adorable Immanuel, and dear +Mr. Shirley was enabled to testify of the salvation which +is provided for the guilty and the lost with great boldness +and fidelity. I know not which way to turn, I have so many +applications from the people in various parts of the kingdom for +more labourers. Pray mightily to the Lord to send forth a host +of holy devoted souls to proclaim the glory of his righteousness +and blood to an unbelieving and degenerate world. I feel that +if I had a thousand worlds and a thousand lives, through grace +assisting, that dear Lamb of God, my best, my eternal, my only +Friend, should have all devoted to his service and glory. O +pray for me, that I may be more extensively useful in promoting +the extension of his kingdom upon earth, for it is matter of +unceasing grief that I have done so little for so good a Master.”</p> +</div> + +<p>For several years the chapel continued to be supplied by the students +from Trevecca, amongst whom we find the names of Green, Hayes, English, +Jones, Merror, Winkworth, Newel, and French. The congregation having +increased, it was determined, in 1804, that this chapel should be +taken down, and a more capacious one erected on its site, capable of +containing about a thousand persons. It was opened by the Rev. John +Brown, of Cheltenham. Under the ministry of the respected pastor, +the Rev. Edward Lake, the Lord “added to the Church,” and the chapel +became so thronged by the increasing congregation, as to render it +necessary to make considerable enlargement. On the completion of these +alterations, in 1815, the chapel was re-opened by the Rev. Rowland +Hill. The building, which is capable of containing more than 1,500 +persons, was soon well filled by an overflowing congregation. Attached +to the chapel are Sunday-schools, first established by the Rev. Mr. +Harris, in 1791. They were regulated and re-organized in 1799, by +the late Rev. Robert Bradley, of Manchester; and there are now ten +schools in the city and suburbs belonging to the chapel, and nine in +the villages. The number of children under instruction is about twelve +hundred. The whole of the teachers act gratuitously in this important +sphere of labour.</p> + +<p>Several schools in the western part of the county, bordering on +Herefordshire, were taught and supported by the congregation at Lady +Huntingdon’s chapel; but as there are three<span class="pagenum" id="Page_443">[443]</span> chapels now erected, +whose congregations support their own schools, they are not numbered +among the children of her Ladyship’s chapel at Worcester. There are +also nine stations in the country, at various distances from the city, +for village preaching, which are rendered a great blessing to many, +the power of the Holy Ghost having evidently accompanied the simple +declaration of the truths of the everlasting Gospel.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 id="CHAPTER_XXVI">CHAPTER XXVI.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hangingindent">Chapel at Bath—Pope, the Poet—Warburton, Bishop of +Gloucester—Lady Fanny Shirley—Charles Wesley—John +Wesley—Beau Nash—Anecdote—Mr. Hervey—Methodist +Conference—Mr. Larwood—Potter, Archbishop of Canterbury—Dr. +Doddridge—Hon. Mrs. Scawen—Mr. Cruttenden—Mr. Neal—Dr. +Doddridge visits Bristol—Visits Lady Huntingdon at +Bath—Anecdote—Dr. Oliver—Dr. Hartley—Prior Park—Death +of Dr. Doddridge—Mrs. Grinfield—The Moravians—Count +Zinzendorff—Elizabeth King—Lady Gertrude Hotham—Death of Miss +Hotham—Marriage of Sir Charles Hotham—Death of his Lady—His +own Decease—Death of his Mother, Lady Gertrude—Mr. Theophilus +Lindsay—Mrs. Brewer—Lord Huntingdon and Mr. Grimshaw—Lord +Chesterfield and Mr. Stanhope—Countess of Moira—Mrs. Carteret +and Mrs. Cavendish—Countess Delitz—Lady Chesterfield—Earl of +Bath—Lord Cork—Anecdote of George II.</p> +</div> + + +<p>The frequent visits of Lady Huntingdon to Bath, during a period of +twenty-five years prior to the opening of her chapel in that city, +were attended with the happiest results. Wherever she went she +invariably produced an extraordinary degree of attention to religious +subjects. Her Ladyship’s character<a id="FNanchor_226" href="#Footnote_226" class="fnanchor">[226]</a> was in many respects new. +There was a publicity in her religion which no other, Dissenter, +Puritan, Churchman, or Reformer, had ever displayed, at least since +the Reformation. Wherever she was, and in whatever company, her +conversation was on religion, in which there was this peculiarity, that +she spoke of the sins and errors of her former life, her conversion to +God, the alteration in her heart and conduct; and she plainly said to +all, it was absolutely necessary that the same change should take place +in them, if they would have any hope in death. What an<span class="pagenum" id="Page_424">[424]</span> innumerable +multitude will have abundant cause to bless God to all eternity on her +account, as the honoured instrument in his hands of leading them to +a saving acquaintance with the truth as it is in Jesus. The means on +which she chiefly relied in this good work was the erecting of numerous +chapels, where the glad tidings of a free and full salvation, suited to +the wants and necessities of the ruined, the vilest, and most abject +of the human race, have been, and still continue to be, faithfully +proclaimed; whereby many outcasts and wanderers have been brought back +to the fold of the Great Shepherd and Bishop of Souls.</p> + +<p>Towards the close of the year 1739, the Earl of Huntingdon, who had +been much indisposed during the summer, had been recommended to use the +Bath waters. One of his friends, the late Mr. Allen, then resided at +Widcombe, where Pope (the poet) and Dr. Warburton (afterwards Bishop of +Gloucester) were on a visit.<a id="FNanchor_227" href="#Footnote_227" class="fnanchor">[227]</a> In the society of these distinguished +men<a id="FNanchor_228" href="#Footnote_228" class="fnanchor">[228]</a> Lady Huntingdon enjoyed many opportunities of advancing the +interests of true religion, which she uniformly embraced with all the +ardour of a newly-awakened convert, and with that energy and talent +which she so remarkably possessed. The bigoted and intolerant Warburton +took every occasion to rally her Ladyship on her newly-adopted +sentiments, and, with his characteristic rudeness, pronounced her an +incurable enthusiast; for with him all personal experience of a divine +witness, by the Spirit of God, in the heart was rank enthusiasm: +and this Lady Huntingdon maintained as the essence of truth and +Christianity. She pleaded for the application and enjoyment of divine +truth<span class="pagenum" id="Page_445">[445]</span> in the conscience; Warburton for bishops, priests, and deacons, +and the two sacraments of sacerdotal administration, as essential +to the being of a Christian. Through life this singular man was +strongly prejudiced against, and warmly opposed and censured, both the +principles and people that Lady Huntingdon honoured and respected, and +on numberless occasions manifested an undeviating opposition, contempt +of, and endeavour to suppress, what he was pleased to style Methodism, +which he abhorred, but which her Ladyship loved and vindicated—even +that true, spiritual, experimental religion that is really felt in the +heart, and acknowledged to be the work of the Holy Ghost, illuminating, +converting, and comforting the chosen people of God.</p> + +<p>Mr. Charles Wesley was at Bath,<a id="FNanchor_230" href="#Footnote_230" class="fnanchor">[230]</a> but meeting great opposition, +preached only once or twice. Lady Huntingdon, however, attended his +preaching at Bristol, Bradford, and other<span class="pagenum" id="Page_446">[446]</span> places, where he was heard +by thousands. The ridicule of Warburton was ever ready to encounter her +Ladyship on her return from these excursions.</p> + +<p>In the year 1745 the second Methodist Conference was held in Bristol. +Besides Messrs. John and Charles Wesley, there were present the Rev. +John Hodges, rector of Wenvo, and seven travelling preachers—Thomas +Richards, Samuel Larwood,<a id="FNanchor_231" href="#Footnote_231" class="fnanchor">[231]</a> Thomas Meyrick, James Wheatley,<a id="FNanchor_232" href="#Footnote_232" class="fnanchor">[232]</a> +Richard Moss, John Slocombe,<a id="FNanchor_233" href="#Footnote_233" class="fnanchor">[233]</a> and Herbert Jenkins.<a id="FNanchor_234" href="#Footnote_234" class="fnanchor">[234]</a> Lady +Huntingdon was then at Clifton, and formed an acquaintance with several +of these apostolic labourers, some of whom, particularly Messrs. +Richards, Meyrick, and Moss, she invited to Bath, whither she went for +a short period. The preaching of these men of God was attended by a +divine power, and many in the middling and inferior classes of society, +as well as some in the more refined circles, became the “seals of their +apostleship in the Lord.”<a id="FNanchor_235" href="#Footnote_235" class="fnanchor">[235]</a></p> + +<p>In 1747, Lady Huntingdon again visited Bath, for the benefit of +her health. Previous to her Ladyship leaving London she called on +Dr. Potter, Archbishop of Canterbury; and as he was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_427">[427]</span> then in his +seventy-fifth year, and in a declining state, her Ladyship, with the +utmost tenderness and fidelity, spoke of the near approach of that last +solemn event which would terminate all earthly friendships. He appeared +sensibly affected, and at parting, took her Ladyship’s hand, and said, +with great earnestness, “May the Lord God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of +Jacob bless thee!” For many years she enjoyed the friendship of this +learned divine, who succeeded Dr. Wake in the see of Canterbury, which +high and important office he supported with much dignity for a period +of ten years. When Bishop of Oxford he had an opportunity of witnessing +the rise of Methodism in the University; and afterwards ordained the +Messrs. Wesley, Ingham, Hervey, Broughton, Clayton, Kinchin, &c., +the first members of that society. On one occasion he treated Mr. +Charles Wesley with great severity; but towards the close of life his +sentiments respecting the Methodists seem to have undergone a more +favourable change; his long intimacy with Lady Huntingdon may have +contributed to this end. On the death of Lord Huntingdon, he visited +her frequently, and always treated her with parental tenderness. Not +long after her Ladyship left London for Bath, his Grace was seized with +an alarming illness, from which he never entirely recovered. The last +act of his life was writing the following note to her Ladyship, on the +10th of October, 1747:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Dear Madam—I have been very well since I last saw you. I hope +soon to hear from you, that your health is better for your +being at Bath. Continue to pray for me until we meet in that +place where our joy shall be complete. I am, as ever, your +affectionate friend,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“John Cantuar.”</p> +</div> + +<p>After his Grace had written the above, he was walking with it to his +scrutoire, and (as his son, Mr. Potter, acquainted Lady Huntingdon), +being seized with a sudden syncope, dropped upon the floor, and expired +with the letter in his hand!</p> + +<p>Lady Huntingdon was again in Bath in 1750. At this period she was +extremely ill, and serious apprehensions were entertained for her life. +At the close of a letter from Mr. Hervey to the Rev. Moses Browne, +afterwards vicar of Olney, dated December 22, 1750, he enquires—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“What account can you give of Lady Huntingdon’s health? Never, +never will the physician’s skill be employed for the lengthening +of a more valuable life. May Almighty goodness bless those +prescriptions, and command her constitution and our zeal to +flourish!”</p> +</div> + +<p>Dr. Doddridge, in a letter to his correspondent, the Rev. Mr.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_428">[428]</span> Wood, of +Norwich, dated about the same time, says—“Dear Lady Huntingdon is in +a very declining way. Pray devoutly for her important life.”<a id="FNanchor_236" href="#Footnote_236" class="fnanchor">[236]</a> From +a letter written by the Duchess of Somerset, better known to the world +as the Countess of Hertford, to the Rev. Theophilus Lindsay, dated +Percy Lodge, July 9th, 1751, we learn that Lady Huntingdon’s health had +by that time considerably improved—“I have had no letter from Lady +Huntingdon (says the Duchess), but I hear she is at Cheltenham, and +pretty well.” In a subsequent letter from the Duchess of Somerset we +find Lady Huntingdon had returned to Bath in the month of August, or +beginning of September. Her Grace writes—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I have had a very agreeable letter last week from Dr. +Oliver, who tells me that Lady Huntingdon is pretty well, and +much employed in attending Dr. Doddridge, who is in a deep +consumption at Bath, but is to set out in a few days, in order +to embark at Falmouth, for Lisbon, from whence, it is Dr. +Oliver’s opinion, he will never return.”<a id="FNanchor_237" href="#Footnote_237" class="fnanchor">[237]</a></p> +</div> + +<p>The consumptive disease under which Dr. Doddridge had long suffered now +began to make more rapid progress. His health declined so fast that +his excellent physician, Dr. Stonhouse,<a id="FNanchor_238" href="#Footnote_238" class="fnanchor">[238]</a> recommended him a voyage +to Lisbon. He had been at Shrewsbury for some time, for the benefit +of air, exercise, and an entire cessation from business and company. +From thence he proceeded to Bristol, where he remained several weeks, +during which period he received numerous letters of condolence from his +friends, filled with anxious enquiries after the state of his health. +The letters of Lady Huntingdon, the Honourable Mrs. Scawen,<a id="FNanchor_239" href="#Footnote_239" class="fnanchor">[239]</a> Robert +Cruttenden, Esq.,<a id="FNanchor_240" href="#Footnote_240" class="fnanchor">[240]</a> Nathaniel Neale,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_449">[449]</span> + Esq.,<a id="FNanchor_241" href="#Footnote_241" class="fnanchor">[241]</a> and Lord Lyttleton, +were peculiarly interesting and affectionate, from the friendship +expressed in them, and the divine consolations which they administered.</p> + +<p>The worthy Doctor hesitated to take the journey to Portugal, lest the +necessary expense should injure his family; but Lady Huntingdon, with +that noble generosity which so distinguished her character, contributed +the sum of one hundred pounds; and her liberality did not stop here, +for with the assistance of Lady Chesterfield, Lady Fanny Shirley, +Lord Lyttleton, Lord Bath, and a few others amongst the nobility, she +gathered a sum of about three hundred pounds, which she placed in the +hands of Mrs. Doddridge.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Words (says her Ladyship) cannot express the gratitude and +thankfulness with which dear Mrs. Doddridge accepted the +contributions which I was enabled to collect. I felt grateful to +God that he enabled me thus, in a trifling degree, to administer +to the external comfort of one of his dear servants. Less than +the least, I feel humbled before him for this instance of his +goodness, in making me instrumental of any benefit to the saints +that are upon the earth. The Lord disposed my heart to add one +hundred pounds to the benefactions of dear Lady Chesterfield, +Lady Fanny, Lord Lyttleton, and Lord Bath, making a total +of nearly three hundred; which, with that Mr. Neale and his +friends amongst the Dissenters may collect, will, I hope, be +of essential service in procuring him every comfort which his +almost helpless state requires.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Accordingly, on the 17th of September, Dr. Doddridge left Bristol, and, +on his arrival in Bath, became the guest of Lady Huntingdon, until the +period of his departure for Falmouth.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_450">[450]</span> In the morning of the day on +which he set out from Bath to Falmouth, Lady Huntingdon came into the +room, and found him weeping over that passage in Daniel ix. 11, 12, +“Daniel, a man greatly beloved,” &c. “You are in tears, Sir,” said Lady +Huntingdon. “I am weeping, Madam (answered the Doctor), but they are +tears of comfort and joy; I can give up my country, my relations, my +friends, into the hands of God; and, as to myself, I can as well go to +heaven from Lisbon, as from my own study at Northampton.”</p> + +<p>Dr. Oliver, Mr. Allen, Pope, and Dr. Warburton, testified their regard +for Dr. Doddridge at this period. Between Warburton and Doddridge long +and intimate friendship existed, and much of the correspondence between +them has been preserved in Nichols’s “Literary Anecdotes,” and the +“Diary and Correspondence of Dr. Doddridge,” lately published. In the +last letter which he wrote, that worthy and amiable man, whilst at the +Hot-wells for the benefit of the waters, says:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Your kind letter gave me, and will give Mr. Allen,<a id="FNanchor_242" href="#Footnote_242" class="fnanchor">[242]</a> great +concern; but for ourselves, and not for you, death, whenever +it happens, in a life spent like yours, is to be envied, not +pitied; and you will have the prayers of your friends, as +conquerors have the shouts of the crowd. God preserve you, if he +continues you here to go on in his service; if he takes you to +himself, to be crowned with glory, be assured the memory of our +friendship will be as durable as my life.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Warburton visited Lady Huntingdon while Dr. Doddridge was her +guest, and in the presence of Dr. Oliver and Dr. Hartley, author +of “Observations on Man,” rated her Ladyship and Doddridge about +enthusiasm. On another occasion, when Lady Huntingdon dined at Prior +Park, the subject of conversation happening to turn on Mr. Whitefield, +who had just then embarked for America, Dr. Hartley<a id="FNanchor_243" href="#Footnote_243" class="fnanchor">[243]</a> spoke of his +abilities with admiration, and of his doctrines with respect. “Of his +oratorical powers (said Warburton), and their astonishing influence +on the minds of thousands, there can be no doubt—they are of a high<span class="pagenum" id="Page_451">[451]</span> +order; but with respect to his doctrines, I consider them pernicious +and false.” A very animated and interesting debate took place, in the +course of which Dr. Hartley ably defended Mr. Whitefield against the +unjustifiable aspersions of his unreasonable antagonist, and proved +the uniformity of his doctrines with the articles and formularies of +the Established Church, and their accordance with the Confessions of +Faith of all the Reformed Churches in Christendom. In this sentiment +Lady Huntingdon, Dr. Oliver,<a id="FNanchor_244" href="#Footnote_244" class="fnanchor">[244]</a> and Mr. Allen concurred. Warburton’s +irascibility and unappeasable malignity to what he denominated +Methodism could not endure this, and he hastily left the apartment.</p> + +<p>On the 30th of September, Dr. Doddridge embarked at Falmouth, and +landed at Lisbon on the 13th of October. A few days after his departure +from Bath, Lady Huntingdon writes thus concerning him:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Our dear and much-loved Doddridge has left us for Lisbon, and +left us without the shadow of a hope of meeting again on this +side eternity. May the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ +go with him, and abide with him to his journey’s end: and give +him at last a triumphant entrance into his kingdom of eternal +rest and glory, reserved for the people of his choice, the +objects of his redeeming love and boundless mercy!”</p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_452">[452]</span></p> + +<p>Of the serene and happy state of the Doctor’s mind, in the prospect of +approaching dissolution, the following extract from one of his letters, +written during this solemn season, is a characteristic and instructive +proof:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I see, indeed, no hope of recovery, yet <i>my heart +rejoiceth</i> in my God and in my Saviour; and I can call Him, +under this failure of everything else, <i>its strength</i> +and everlasting portion. I must now thank you for your +heart-reviving letter to strengthen my faith, to comfort my +soul, and assist me in <i>swallowing up death in victory</i>! +God hath indeed been wonderfully good to me; but I am less +than the least of his mercies, less than the least hope of his +children. Adored be his grace for whatever it hath wrought by +me; and blessed be you of the Lord for the strong consolations +you have been the instrument of administering. Let me desire you +to write again, and to pour out your heart freely with all its +strong cordial sentiments of Christianity; nothing will give me +greater joy. What a friend you will be in heaven! How glad shall +I be to welcome you there, after a long and glorious course of +service, to increase the lustre of your crown! May you long +shine with your light, warmth, and influence, like a sun upon +the earth, when there remains not any united particles of that +poor, wasting, sinking frame, which enables this immortal spirit +to call itself your friend in everlasting bonds.”</p> +</div> + +<p>The melancholy intelligence of his death was communicated by Dr. +Stonhouse to Lady Huntingdon, than whom, in the extensive circle of +his acquaintance, few had a warmer friendship for the Doctor, or more +sincerely mourned his removal in the height of vigour, usefulness, and +honour:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“The death of my dear lamented Doddridge has affected my heart +in a very uncommon manner, and I am often melted into tears +when I reflect upon his unspeakable loss to the Church and +the world. But all my murmurings are silenced by the voice of +Him, in whose hands are the issues of life and death, and who +hath said—‘<i>Shall I not do what I will with my own?</i>’ +With my hand on my mouth, and my mouth in the dust, I desire +to acquiesce in this divine prerogative to take and leave as +seemeth good to him, crying from my heart, ‘<i>Thy righteous +will be done!</i>’”</p> +</div> + +<p>The remains of Dr. Doddridge were interred in the burying ground +belonging to the British Factory at Lisbon; and a handsome monument +was afterwards erected to his memory at Northampton, at the expense of +the congregation, and an epitaph inscribed upon it, drawn up by his +much-esteemed friend, Gilbert West, Esq., Clerk of the Privy Council, +and nephew of Lord Viscount Cobham.</p> + +<p>The latter end of May, 1752, found Lady Huntingdon again at Bath.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_433">[433]</span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“May the waters (writes Mr. Whitefield) be abundantly blessed +to the restoring of your bodily health, and may the comforts +of the ever-living, ever-lovely Jesus fill and refresh your +soul! I hope to see your Ladyship about the 24th of this month. +Next week, God willing, I go to Portsmouth, and from thence to +Bath. My body is much enfeebled, but the joy of the Lord is +my strength. Hoping shortly to see your Ladyship prospering, +both in soul and body, and begging a continual interest in your +Ladyship’s prayers, I subscribe myself,” &c.</p> +</div> + +<p>On the 22nd of June, Mr. Whitefield arrived in Bath, and continued with +Lady Huntingdon about three weeks, preaching every evening to great +numbers of the nobility. Here he first became acquainted with the late +Mrs. Grinfield,<a id="FNanchor_245" href="#Footnote_245" class="fnanchor">[245]</a> a lady who attended on Queen Caroline:—“One of +Cæsar’s household (writes Mr. Whitefield) hath been lately awakened +through her Ladyship’s instrumentality, and I hope others will meet +with the like blessing.”</p> + +<p>The dangerous illness of Mrs. Charles Wesley obliging Lady Huntingdon +to remove to Bristol, Mrs. Grinfield returned to London to attend her +duties at Court, and Mr. Whitefield to his usual occupation. In a few +days he writes thus:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Yesterday morning I obeyed your Ladyship’s commands, and +carried the enclosed to Mrs. Grinfield, at St. James’s palace. I +was much satisfied with my visit, and am rejoiced to find that +she seems resolved to show out at once. The Court, I believe, +rings of her, and if she stands, I trust she will make a +glorious martyr for her blessed Lord.”</p> +</div> + +<p>In another letter he says:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Till Mrs. Grinfield can meet with company that is really in +earnest, I think the closer she keeps to her God and her book +the better. The Lord strengthen, stablish, and settle her in his +ways and will!”</p> +</div> + +<p>Now was the period of the Moravian controversy, to which we have +alluded, and the result of which was to draw Mrs. Grinfield,<a id="FNanchor_246" href="#Footnote_246" class="fnanchor">[246]</a> with +Mr. Cennick and others, over to the Church of the United Brethren.</p> + +<p>Mr. Whitefield wrote his remonstrance to the Count, Bishop<span class="pagenum" id="Page_454">[454]</span> of the +United Church in England, and the Countess of Huntingdon’s part in the +affair may be related in her own words. Count Zinzendorff paid her +Ladyship a visit, and was received with the hospitality, dignity, and +politeness due to a person of high distinction. Her Ladyship, with +mingled tenderness and fidelity, remonstrated with the Count on the +farrago of superstitious fopperies and shocking offences introduced +by the leading brethren in London and other places, whereby hundreds +of honest-hearted Christians were deluded and involved in unspeakable +distress and anguish of mind.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“He heard my remonstrance with patience (says the Countess), +and seemed much troubled when I mentioned the cases of those +persons who have been involved in utter ruin by means of the +brethren. I entered at some length into the superstitious +horrors acted at Hatton-garden, and the evident impropriety of +usurping an authority over the consciences and properties of +the people. Our conference was long, and, as the Count honoured +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 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> +</div> + +<p>About this period the illness of one of her daughters obliged Lady +Gertrude Hotham to remove to Bath. In the summer of 1755, Mr. +Whitefield again visited that city, and preached frequently at the +residence of Lady Gertrude. Lord Chesterfield and Mr. Stanhope, who had +just then returned from the continent after a long absence, were on a +visit to Lady Gertrude. Mrs. Bevan<a id="FNanchor_247" href="#Footnote_247" class="fnanchor">[247]</a> and Mrs. Grinfield were also of +the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_435">[435]</span> party; but the most interesting member of this remarkable circle +was the young lady whose illness had brought Lady Gertrude and her +friends to Bath. She was the eldest daughter, and had all her mother’s +piety. When Lady Gertrude opened her house to the preaching of the +Gospel, and when the house of Lady Huntingdon was a temple, at which +the great were not ashamed to worship Christ, this young lady had been +heartily awakened by the preaching of Mr. Whitefield.<a id="FNanchor_248" href="#Footnote_248" class="fnanchor">[248]</a> Before the +period of which we write she had long seemed to be preparing for that +inheritance which was reserved for her in the courts<span class="pagenum" id="Page_436">[436]</span> above; but her +friends had little expectation of the calm splendour of that closing +scene which rendered her an example to the Church. A few days before +her departure Mr. Whitefield visited her, at the particular request +of Lady Gertrude. She had been prayed for very earnestly two days +before at the administration of the sacrament at Lady Huntingdon’s, the +preceding day at the administration of the same ordinance at Lady Fanny +Shirley’s, and likewise, previous to his interview, in Lady Gertrude’s +drawing-room, on which occasion her Ladyship, Sir Charles Hotham, the +Misses Melisina and Gertrude Hotham, the Countess Delitz, Lady Fanny +Shirley, and the attending domestics, were much affected with the awful +and impressive solemnity of the scene. When Mr. Whitefield approached +her bed-side, she seemed glad to see him, but requested he would +speak and pray as softly as he could. She desired to keep her lying +posture; “but I can rise to take physic (she exclaimed); why not to +pray?” He conversed with her a little, during which she dropped some +strong expressions about the depravity of her heart, the vanity of the +world, and the littleness of every thing out of Christ. She appeared +to speak out of the abundance of her heart, from a feeling sense of +her own vileness. After prayer she seemed as though she felt things +unutterable. Those about her wept for joy. A short time before her +dissolution she declared to those around her dying bed, her peace and +hope, and bore the strongest testimony to the faithfulness and love +of God to her soul at that solemn season. She knew in whom she had +believed; and her hope of eternal life, founded on the Rock of Ages, +was an anchor to her soul, “both sure and steadfast.” Before the final +struggle she affectionately embraced her whole family, and, with almost +her last breath, assured her afflicted parent that she was quite free +from pain or fear. In this peaceful state she took her leave of earthly +scenes and entered into the joy of her Lord.<a id="FNanchor_249" href="#Footnote_249" class="fnanchor">[249]</a></p> + +<p>In December, 1757, Lady Gertrude had the happiness of seeing her son, +Sir Charles Hotham, married to an amiable and accomplished young lady, +Miss Clara Anne Clutterbuck, daughter and heiress of Thos. Clutterbuck, +Esq., of Mill-green, in Essex. Their union was but of short duration. +In June, 1759, Lady Hotham was suddenly seized with a violent fever, +which, in the course of a few days, terminated in death. This severe +affliction, however, was the appointed means of leading<span class="pagenum" id="Page_457">[457]</span> Sir Charles to +a deeper knowledge and experience of the truth as it is in Jesus. He +had frequently heard Mr. Whitefield and other eminent ministers at his +mother’s house in London and Bath, and had not drunk the poison of his +uncle, Lord Chesterfield; yet he was not a decided character until he +became a lonely widower. From that time he defied all the sneers of the +Court, and dared to be “singularly good.”</p> + +<p>Soon after the death of his lady, Sir Charles Hotham became Groom of +the Bedchamber to George III., through the interest of his uncle, Lord +Chesterfield; owing to his increased ill health, and being ordered +change of air, he went to Germany in 1767, and in the same year died +there, at a village near the Spa. This last stroke was a severe one +to Lady Gertrude. She had already lost her hopes, and now her Isaac +was called for, but in the trial she showed an Abraham’s faith and +patience. The very evening after she received the intelligence of +her melancholy loss, being alone and reading, she set fire to her +ruffles, and the linen about her neck and head burnt so rapidly, that +for fifteen days she was under means for her recovery. She would not +suffer her friends to lament the accident, blamed herself for having +been desirous of a speedy flight, or marking out the way to God. While +Mr. Adair dressed her wounds, which daily occupied an hour and a +half, she would speak of God’s mercies to her. The surgeon would say +that her good life had merited heaven; but she, in holy indignation, +would rouse her fainting spirits to reply, that there was no merit +but in Christ Jesus, and that in his blood and righteousness were all +her hopes. She called on her friends to bless God for her accident, +and suffered the means of recovery to be taken with her only in the +spirit of submission, lest it should be God’s will that she should +live. For every nourishment afforded, she gave peculiar thanks, and on +being directed to take some wine, she could not speak of its restoring +influence without remembering that on his cross her Saviour was denied +the kind indulgence then afforded her. A few minutes before her death +her friends put some liquid in her mouth, and she, who had spoken +little for three days, said, “Enough—happy—happy!” and one sigh set +her spirit at liberty!<a id="FNanchor_250" href="#Footnote_250" class="fnanchor">[250]</a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_458">[458]</span></p> + +<p>Sir Charles Hotham had been the intimate companion of the young Earl +of Huntingdon, upon whom he had exerted some good influence, at least +for a time. Mr. Whitefield, in a letter to Lady Fanny Shirley, says, in +reference to the friendship of Sir Charles and her nephew, the Earl of +Huntingdon—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“It will be pleasant to see Sir Charles and the Earl striving +who shall go fastest to heaven. Your Ladyship will scorn to be +outstripped by any. The Almighty God approves the ambition, and +angels look down with pleasure to see the event. Blessed be God, +that is certain. All believers here do run, and all hereafter +shall obtain the prize.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Unfortunately, the Earl of Huntingdon was not a Sir Charles Hotham. +Little has ever been made known relative to this accomplished nobleman, +the eldest and only surviving son of Lady Huntingdon. He was born in +1729, the memorable year in which Methodism took its rise at Oxford.</p> + +<p>We have already spoken of his tour to France, and his introduction from +his adopted father, Lord Chesterfield, formerly ambassador to that +Court, to the celebrated Lady Hervey, mother of the excellent Lady Mary +Fitzgerald, the friend and correspondent of Lady Huntingdon, Mr. Venn, +Mr. Fletcher, and Mr. Wesley. When young, the public expectation was +raised very high regarding him; and an ode was addressed to him by Dr. +Mark Akenside, who, as the reader knows, had settled as a physician at +Northampton, and was patronized by the Huntingdon family.</p> + +<p>In November 1756, he was appointed Master of the Horse to George III., +then Prince of Wales, who, succeeding to the crown October 25, 1760, +continued his Lordship in that office, and nominated him one of the +Privy Council in December following. His Lordship carried the Sword +of State at his Majesty’s coronation, in 1761; and December 29th, the +following year, was appointed Lord Lieutenant and Custos Rotulorum of +the West Riding of Yorkshire, and of the city of York and county of the +same. At the baptism of Prince Frederick, his Majesty’s second son, on +Wednesday evening, September 14, 1763, the Earl of Huntingdon, being +then Groom of the Stole (which office he resigned in January, 1770), +stood proxy for the Duke of York, one of the sponsors. His Lordship +was also enrolled among the members of the Royal Society. He is said +to have left his place at Court, and given up all employment, offended +at being refused the Dukedom of Clarence, which he had claimed by +hereditary right. Although his manners were much more like those of a +foreigner than an Englishman<span class="pagenum" id="Page_459">[459]</span> (speaking French, Italian, and Spanish +perfectly, with all the elegance of a foreign courtier), yet he never +made a display of anything like superiority. It was impossible to +be in his society without obtaining information, and he was equally +polite to the wise and to the ignorant. His venerable mother, however, +through a long life, had to mourn over the infidelity of her child, +and the baseness of those principles which he had imbibed from Lord +Chesterfield and Lord Bolingbroke.<a id="FNanchor_251" href="#Footnote_251" class="fnanchor">[251]</a></p> + +<p>When Lady Huntingdon was in Yorkshire, Mr. Grimshaw, rector of Haworth, +used to be much with her Ladyship, and had frequent arguments with Lord +Huntingdon on the internal evidence of the Christian religion. On one +occasion, after a discussion of this nature, Mr. Grimshaw, with the +openness and frankness so characteristic of that apostolic labourer, +told his Lordship “that the fault was not so much in his head as in +his heart.” His Lordship was so much affected with this remark that he +never encountered that antagonist again. So true it is that the most +insurmountable, as well as the most usual, obstacle to our belief, +arises from our passions, appetites, and interests; for faith being +an act of the will as much as of the understanding, we more often +disbelieve for want of inclination than for want of evidence.</p> + +<p>Lord Huntingdon died before his venerable parent, October 2, 1789. He +was unmarried, but left a natural son, Lieutenant-General Sir Charles +Hastings, Bart. The barony of Hastings devolved on his sister, the +Countess of Moira, but the Earldom<span class="pagenum" id="Page_460">[460]</span> remained unclaimed till January +14, 1819, when Hans Francis Hastings, son of Lieutenant-Colonel George +Hastings, who had been educated at the sole expense of Theophilus, Earl +of Huntingdon, was confirmed in his claim to the Earldom, and took his +seat in the House of Peers as <i>twelfth</i> Earl of Huntingdon.</p> + +<p>Lady Elizabeth Hastings, afterwards Countess of Moira, was the eldest +daughter of Lady Huntingdon. In early life she was much admired at +Court for her elegance of manners, her vivacity, and great abilities. +She was appointed Lady of the Bedchamber to the Princesses Amelia and +Caroline, sisters to George III., in March 1749, in the room of Lady +Anne Montague, who resigned. Her Ladyship held the situation only a +few months. Horace Walpole, afterwards Lord Orford, says, “The Queen +of the Methodists got her daughter named for Lady of the Bedchamber +to the Princesses; but it is all off again, as she will not let her +play at cards on Sundays.” Whether this was the real cause we do not +pretend to know; but she was shortly succeeded by a daughter of Earl +Gower. Lady Elizabeth married, in 1752, John, first Earl of Moira, +and on the decease of her brother, Francis, tenth Earl of Huntingdon, +in 1789, carried the Baronies, <i>by writ</i>, Botreaux, Hungerford, +Molines, and Hastings, to that family. Her grandson, George Augustus +Francis, present Marquis of Hastings, married Barbara Gray de Ruthyn, +heir to the whole blood of the Earls of Pembroke, and the elder branch +of the house of Hastings. His infant son is heir to <i>three</i> noble +families—namely, the Marquisate of Hastings, the Scotch Earldom of +Loudon, and the Barony of Ruthyn. The Earl of Moira was Baron Rawdon +at the period of his union with Lady Elizabeth Hastings. He was the +cousin-german to Lady Huntingdon, and their marriage appears to have +given her considerable satisfaction. Soon after the union, the Countess +of Hertford, when writing to a friend, says—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Lady Rawdon’s marriage has given unmingled satisfaction to +all her family and friends, and Lady Huntingdon tells me she +is extremely happy and contented. I rejoice at this, not only +on her account, but on account of her worthy mother, who has +certainly done her duty by her, and fulfilled her trust with +the most scrupulous fidelity. Lady Selina (this letter was +written before the death of that excellent young lady) is +a great comfort to her, and is a most amiable, pious, and +affectionate character. What an affliction is Lord Huntingdon’s +dislike to religion! And what have not my Lords Chesterfield and +Bolingbroke to answer for? But he is most attentive, respectful, +and kind to Lady Huntingdon. This is some consolation; and we +may hope that, in the course of time, her example, and the +excellent advice which he has<span class="pagenum" id="Page_441">[441]</span> received, may have their full +weight of influence on his character. He is a most interesting, +elegant, and accomplished young nobleman, and very likely to +make some figure in the world. He was much affected at the +death of Miss Hotham, to whom he is said to have been greatly +attached; but of this I cannot speak with any certainty, as Lady +Huntingdon has never mentioned it to me.”</p> +</div> + +<p>The writer of these pages was very intimate with Lady Moira after she +had passed her seventieth year, and received from her many interesting +particulars relative to her venerable mother. Her Ladyship always spoke +of Lady Huntingdon with marked respect and affection. She frequently +called attention to an original likeness of her Ladyship, which +represents the Countess placing her foot on her coronet. This portrait +must have been painted prior to the year 1773; for we find Horace +Walpole, in one of his letters of that date, mentioning what he terms +the “beatific print” of Lady Huntingdon, just then published, which was +copied from it. Lady Moira was a great political character; she was a +woman of exquisite taste, of extensive literary acquirements, and the +patroness of all the literary geniuses of her day. Lord Moira died in +1793, and his Countess survived him till April 12, 1808. She was in her +seventy-eighth year.</p> + +<p>Among Lady Huntingdon’s visitors at Bath this season were Mrs. Carteret +and Mrs. Cavendish, two sisters, allied to two of the noblest and most +ancient families in England; they formed part of the great harvest +collected at Lady Huntingdon’s house in London, having there first +heard and received the Gospel in the light and in the love of it. Being +women of rank and fortune, their influence was considerable, and many, +by their instrumentality, were induced to attend Mr. Whitefield’s +ministry. They united with Lady Huntingdon, Lady Gertrude Hotham, and +the other “honourable women,” in their exertions to spread in the +region around them the light of the Sun of Righteousness, and very +many monuments remained of their successful labours. In the published +correspondence of Mr. Fletcher, Mr. Berridge, and others, letters to +these excellent women will be found. There is an interesting narrative +of their dying experience in a volume of the “Christian Guardian,” +in a letter addressed to their very dear and intimate friend, the +ever-to-be-revered Lady Mary Fitzgerald, now united to them in glory. +In their last illness they were frequently visited by Messrs. Romaine, +Newton, Hill, Cecil, Foster, Jones (of Langan), Venn, and other eminent +ministers of Christ. Two or three days before Mrs. Carteret’s death, +her dear old friend, Mr. Venn, went in to look at her. She took hold +of his hand, and prayed most earnestly that the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_462">[462]</span> Lord Jesus would blot +out every spot of sin in his most precious blood, and clothe her in his +most glorious righteousness, that therein her soul might be justified. +These prayers she repeated again and again with great earnestness; they +were prayers which received and embraced the promises, and, laying hold +of them with a sure and certain hope, she rejoiced in a full salvation.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Cavendish said, “It is enough—an everlasting covenant, ordered +in all things and sure—this is all my salvation, and all my desire.” +Her favourite hymn, during the whole course of her illness, was the one +commencing—</p> + + <div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div>“There was a fountain filled,” &c.</div> + </div> + </div> + </div> + +<p>They were removed hence within a short time of each other, to meet +again in the kingdom of their Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. “They were +lovely in their lives, and in their deaths were not divided.”</p> + +<p>The Countess Delitz, one of the daughters of the Duchess of Kendal and +the sister of Lady Chesterfield, was another gem of the same crown; +and many of the letters of Mr. Whitefield to her Ladyship have been +preserved in the collection published by his executors. The Countess +was particularly intimate with Lady Fanny Shirley, and is frequently +mentioned in the correspondence of Mr. Hervey with her Ladyship. She +died in Chesterfield-street, May-fair, November 2, 1773.</p> + +<p>Such were Mr. Whitefield’s trophies in the Chesterfield family. He won +souls in it, upon the right hand and the left of the Earl; thus leaving +him without excuse for his wilful blindness and obstinate rejection of +divine truth: his Countess made a better choice.</p> + +<p>Lady Chesterfield was a natural daughter of George I., and was created +Countess of Walsingham and Baroness of Aldborough in her own right. +Her mother was Melosina de Schulenberg, Duchess of Kendal, who died +in 1743, when her title became extinct. Born to wealth, and allied to +a rich and noble house, she was fitted to make a distinguished figure +among the great, and to shine at Court. Her various accomplishments +attracted general admiration; and she was for many years fascinated +with the splendour and allurements of high life, which seemed to absorb +all her thoughts and gratify her utmost wishes. But it pleased God to +lead her to attend the preaching of Mr. Whitefield, at the Countess +of Huntingdon’s house; and to convince her that no situation, however +high and elevated, can secure to its possessor uninterrupted felicity; +and, at the same time, exhibited to her view the source of true and +permanent happiness.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_463">[463]</span> Lady Chesterfield knew the world too well not to +expect its hatred and reproach for casting her fortune, her honours, +and her talents at the foot of his cross. In compliance with the wishes +of Lord Chesterfield, her Ladyship sometimes went to Court, and mixed +with the gay and thoughtless, but found no pleasure in the fashionable +follies of those around her. The last time she visited the royal +circle, her plain but elegant dress was of a brown ground with silver +flowers, which Lord Chesterfield, a nobleman of undoubted taste, had +obtained from the continent at considerable expense. His Majesty, who +it seems was well acquainted with the proceedings at Lady Huntingdon’s, +coming up to Lady Chesterfield, first smiled, and then forgetting royal +decorum, remarked—“I know who chose that gown for you—Mr. Whitefield; +and I hear you have attended on him this year and a half.” Lady +Chesterfield replied, “Yes, I have, and like him very well;” but after +she came to her chair, was grieved she had not said more, when she had +so favourable an opportunity.</p> + +<p>Lord Chesterfield had been the intimate companion and friend of +the Earl of Huntingdon, on whose decease the young Earl became, as +we have stated, his adopted son. Hence an extraordinary degree of +intimacy subsisted between the families; and he was on all occasions +the counsellor and friend of Lady Huntingdon and her children. +Notwithstanding his infidel sentiments, he was very constant in his +attendance at her Ladyship’s whenever Mr. Whitefield was to preach.</p> + +<p>Lady Huntingdon had at times some favourable hopes of Lord +Chesterfield. She said to Dr. Doddridge—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Sometimes I do hope for dear Lord Chesterfield and Lord Bath, +Mr. Stanhope, and one of the privy council of Denmark,<a id="FNanchor_252" href="#Footnote_252" class="fnanchor">[252]</a> +with a great many ladies and people of fashion, as well as of +quality. I know your warm heart will rejoice at this, and your +prayers will help with ours for an increase to our blessed +Lord’s kingdom, even among them.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Lord Chesterfield, however, deceived her hopes. He called death a “leap +in the dark!” but Lady Huntingdon, discussing this subject with him, +said—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“The sentence which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall pass +upon impenitent sinners at the great day of judgment, will be +final and irreversible. It is our unspeakable advantage that we +are not left merely to the uncertain light or feeble conjectures +of our own unassisted reason in matters of the highest +importance. In the revelation which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_444">[444]</span> he has given us of himself, +he declares, with great solemnity, that it <i>shall be more +tolerable in the day of judgment</i> for the most profligate +parts of the heathen world, than for those who obstinately +reject and abuse his offers of mercy and salvation—‘<i>This is +the condemnation</i> (saith the Saviour himself), <i>that</i> +light is come <i>into the world; but men love darkness rather +than light, because their deeds are evil</i>’—and so go on +in an obstinate course of aggravated guilt, in opposition to +the clearest light and most glorious advantages. Nor is it any +impeachment of the wisdom, justice, and equity of the divine +government, that obstinate sinners, who now reject his mercy +and grace, should never be admitted to that transcendant bliss +and glory which he hath of his own free and sovereign goodness +promised to the righteous, but be left to perish to their sins, +and for ever abide under the stinging reflections of their own +guilty consciences.”</p> +</div> + +<p>His Lordship lived, with increasing infirmities, to the 24th of March, +1773. Not all the efforts of Lady Chesterfield, of his sister, Lady +Gertrude Hotham, nor of Lady Huntingdon, could induce the hardened +infidel to follow their example.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I saw my dear and valued friend (says Lady Huntingdon) a +short time before his departure. The blackness of darkness, +accompanied by every gloomy horror, thickened most awfully round +his dying moments. Dear Lady Chesterfield could not be persuaded +to leave his room for an instant. What unmitigated anguish has +she endured.<a id="FNanchor_253" href="#Footnote_253" class="fnanchor">[253]</a> But her confidential communications I am not +at liberty to disclose. The curtain has fallen—his immortal +part has passed to another state of existence. Oh! my soul, come +not thou unto his end!”<a id="FNanchor_254" href="#Footnote_254" class="fnanchor">[254]</a></p> +</div> + +<p>In his will he mentions his servants, “his unfortunate friends, his +equals by nature,” and the mother of his natural son; but not one word +is said of his excellent lady, who survived him only a few years; but +how different was her death-bed.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I was with her to the last (says Lady Huntingdon), and never +saw a soul more humbled in the dust before God, on account +of her own vileness and nothingness, but having a sure and +steadfast hope in the love and mercy of God in Christ, +constantly affirming that his blood cleanseth from all sin. +The last audible expressions that fell from her, a few moments +before the final struggle, were—‘<i>Oh! my friend, I have +hope—a strong hope—through grace!</i>’ then taking my hand, +and clasping it earnestly between hers, exclaimed with much +energy—‘<i>God be merciful to me a sinner!</i>’”</p> +</div> + +<p>Lady Chesterfield died September 16, 1778, without issue, whereby her +titles became extinct.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_465">[465]</span></p> + +<p>Though Lord Chesterfield seldom exerted his poetical talents except in +epigrams and ballads; the few that are known to be his are evidently by +the hand of a master; witness his “Fanny, blooming fair,” written on +Lady Fanny Shirley, a reigning beauty at Court; “Advice to a Lady in +Autumn,” addressed to the same; his epigram on the Duchess of Richmond; +and verses written in a lady’s “Sherlock on Death,” &c. No attack of +an enemy could have degraded his character so much as the publication +of his “Letters to his Son,” which, if they do not deserve the severe +reprehension of Dr. Johnson, that they “inculcated the morals of a +strumpet with the manners of a dancing-master,” certainly display a +relaxation of principle for which no talents can make amends, and which +prove him to have been a man in whose mind the applause of the world +was the great, and almost the sole, governing principle.</p> + +<p>At the same time with Lady Chesterfield, William Pulteney, Earl of +Bath, the celebrated statesman, and a person of much notoriety in his +day, was deeply impressed under Mr. Whitefield’s ministry. There had +been for many years the most intimate friendship between him and Lady +Huntingdon, in which Lady Fanny Shirley had no small share. Whatever, +therefore, may be thought of his public character, he must have been +rather more than <i>moral</i>, to have secured their esteem. He is said +to have been extremely amiable in his private life, and much beloved +by his friends. Lord Chesterfield’s malignity towards him was keen and +inveterate. Like his political antagonist, Sir Robert Walpole, Lord +Bath could, when</p> + + <div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="i4h">“Uncumbered by the venal tribe,</div> + <div>Smile without art, and win without a bribe.”</div> + </div> + </div> + </div> + +<p>He attended Tottenham-court chapel regularly for some years, and was +very liberal on several occasions, contributing munificently to the +establishment of the Orphan-house, in Georgia, and the erection of +the Tabernacle at Bristol. He died July 7th, 1764, without surviving +issue.<a id="FNanchor_255" href="#Footnote_255" class="fnanchor">[255]</a></p> +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_466">[466]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_XXVII">CHAPTER XXVII.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hangingindent">Chapel at Bath—Bretby Hall—Mr. Townsend and Mr. Jesse—Mr. +Romaine—Mr. Shrapnell—Mrs. Wordsworth—Letters from Mr. +Romaine—Chapel opened at Bath—Mr. Whitefield and Mr. +Townsend—Mr. Fletcher’s labours at Bath—Lord and Lady +Glenorchy—Letter from Lady Glenorchy to Lady Huntingdon—Death +of Lord and Lady Sutherland—Lady Huntingdon, the Wesleys, +and Mr. Whitefield—Letter from Lady Huntingdon to Mr. +Wesley—Horace Walpole—Lady Betty Cobbe—Nobility attend +Lady Huntingdon’s Chapel—Letters from Mr. Whitefield to +Mr. Powys—Mr. Stillingfleet—Mr. Venn and Sir Charles +Hotham—Anecdotes of Mr. Venn—Mr. Andrews and the Bishop of +Gloucester—Mr. Venn at Trevecca—Mr. Lee—Capt. Scott and Mr. +Venn—Anecdotes of Captain Scott—Letter from Mr. Venn—Mr. +Howel Davies—Anecdote—Dr. Haweis—Mr. Cradock Glascott—Letter +from Mr. Fletcher.</p> +</div> + + +<p>In the year 1765 her Ladyship bought a piece of ground in the Vineyards +at Bath, and erected there a house and the beautiful chapel which was +destined to prove so great a blessing. While those buildings were in +course of erection, her Ladyship accepted Lord Chesterfield’s offer of +his house and chapel at Bretby Hall. Thither she went with Mr. Jesse, +of West Bromwich. Mr. Romaine was prevented from accompanying, but +promised to follow her Ladyship, and Mr. Townsend joined her on her +arrival, which was towards the close of July in the year above named. +These ministers preached alternately in the Hall chapel, which, on +Mr. Whitefield’s arrival, was exchanged for the Park, so vast was the +concourse, and Mr. Romanie’s auditors were hardly less numerous; but he +refused to be a <i>field</i>-preacher, and the crowd heard only what +they could gather from the pulpit.<a id="FNanchor_256" href="#Footnote_256" class="fnanchor">[256]</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_467">[467]</span> Lady Huntingdon left Bretby +for Bath, recalled by the indisposition of Mrs. Wordsworth.<a id="FNanchor_257" href="#Footnote_257" class="fnanchor">[257]</a></p> + +<p>Soon after her arrival at Bath, Lady Huntingdon summoned the ministers +who laboured for her, Messrs. Whitefield, Shirley, Romaine, Venn, +Madan, and Townsend, to the opening of her chapel there.</p> + +<p>Mr. Romaine was willing to attend the summons, but having been received +in Yorkshire with the greatest attention by the clergy, who, on account +of his greater “regularity,” opened to him pulpits which were closed +against Mr. Whitefield; and, being then engaged with equal ardour and +success at Oathall and Brighton, he preferred remaining there. “The +Society (he says) most earnestly intreat you, if Mr. Madan should come +down to Bath, that I may be suffered to stay here with them. Why should +we both be there at the same time, to stand in one another’s way? Why +should Bath have all, poor Brighton none?” This note is dated September +11, 1765. Mr. Madan was prevented from attending, and Lady Huntingdon +wrote again to Mr. Romaine, who replied, under the date of October 1st, +1765, again denying her request—“I must openly tell you (he says) +that my very heart and soul are now in this work; inasmuch that I have +not minded going to Oathall wet to the skin, for the joy that was set +before me.” Lady Huntingdon insisted no more, and Mr. Romaine was +suffered to remain at Oathall.</p> + +<p>On the 6th of October, 1765, the chapel was dedicated to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_448">[448]</span> God and the +preaching of his everlasting Gospel. An immense crowd attended, and +great numbers of the nobility, who had been specially invited by Lady +Huntingdon. Mr. Whitefield preached in the morning, and the rector of +Pewsey, the son of the celebrated Alderman Townsend, of London, in the +evening.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Could you have come (says Mr. Whitefield, in a letter to his +friend, Robert Keene, Esq.), 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> +</div> + +<p>Mr. Whitefield preached but a few times, being obliged to return to +London. Mr. Madan, however, arrived soon after he left Bath, and his +ministry was attended with very considerable success. Thither, also, +Mr. Romaine followed, and spent there many of his vacations, with +great utility to the cause of God; for the Lord was pleased to make +known, by him, the savour of his grace in every place. There, as at +Brighton, he united in labour with that great apostle of the Lord, Mr. +Whitefield, and though many are now so shy of mentioning his name, or +owning their obligations to his diffusive zeal, Mr. Romaine honoured +his character, gloried in his friendship, and cheerfully associated +with him in his labours. They were, indeed, <i>par nobile fratrum</i>. +In point of popular eloquence and commanding oratory, Mr. Whitefield +was certainly his superior, as indeed he was to every other man of his +day. He had arrows in his quiver which he alone knew how to sharpen; +but in erudition and critical knowledge of the Scriptures Mr. Romaine +far excelled him, and, indeed, most of his contemporaries.</p> + +<p>Much about the same period Mr. Fletcher repaired to Bath, on a summons +from Lady Huntingdon, and entered on the duties of his vocation with +an extraordinary degree of earnestness and zeal. Instant in season and +out of season, this man of God diligently performed the work of an +evangelist, faithfully dispensing the word of life, according as every +man had need: instructing the ignorant, reasoning with gainsayers, +exhorting the immoral, rebuking the obstinate, and earnestly beseeching +all to flee from the wrath to come, and lay hold on the hope set before +them in the Gospel of God our Saviour.</p> + +<p>No age or country has ever produced a man of more fervent piety or +more perfect charity; no Church has ever possessed a more apostolic +minister. Being by this time fully acquainted<span class="pagenum" id="Page_469">[469]</span> with the English +language, he generally trusted to his powers, and preached <i>ex +tempore</i>, that mode of address so universal on the Continent, being +much more consonant with the lively feelings and ready utterance of Mr. +Fletcher than the reading of a pre-composed sermon, however important +the subject, or well-arranged its materials. The deep attention he had +paid to the recesses of his own heart enabled him to form no inadequate +idea of the internal feelings of others. Hence he knew when to probe +and when to heal—when to depress and when to encourage: and no +person’s case was so perplexed or desperate, but he was in some measure +prepared to explain and relieve it. A happy talent which he possessed +of selecting, at a moment, the most appropriate passages of Scripture, +clothed his words with a divine authority, and enabled him to speak as +one who was conscious of his high credentials.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“There was an energy in his preaching (says Mr. Gilpin) that +was irresistible. His subjects, his language, his gestures, +the tone of his voice, and the turn of his countenance, all +conspired to fix the attention and affect the heart. Without +aiming at sublimity, he was truly sublime; and uncommonly +eloquent without affecting the orator. He was wondrously skilled +in adapting himself to the different capacities and conditions +of his hearers. He could stoop to the illiterate, and rise with +the learned: he had incontrovertible arguments for the sceptic, +and powerful persuasions for the listless believer; he had sharp +remonstrance for the obstinate, and strong consolation for the +mourner. To hear him without admiration was impossible—without +profit, improbable! The unthinking went from his presence under +the influence of serious impressions, and the obdurate with +kindled relentings.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Such was the man whom Lady Huntingdon appointed to hold forth the word +of life to the numerous auditories that thronged her chapel at Bath. +His words were clothed with power, and entered the heart of many a +sinner.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Deep and awful (says her Ladyship) are the impressions +made on every hand. Dear Mr. Fletcher’s preaching is truly +apostolic—the divine blessing accompanies his word in a +very remarkable manner. He is ever at his work, is amazingly +followed, and singularly owned of God.”</p> +</div> + +<p>In one of his pastoral letters to his flock at Madely, in reference to +his labours at Bath, he says—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“By the help of Divine Providence and the assistance of your +prayers I came safe here. I was, and am still, a good deal +weighed down under the sense of my own insufficiency to preach +the unsearchable riches of Christ to poor dying souls. This +place is the seat of Satan’s gaudy throne; the Lord hath, +nevertheless, a few names here,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_470">[470]</span> who are not ashamed of him, and +of whom he is not ashamed, both among the poor and among the +rich. There are not many of the last, though blessed be God for +any one; it is a great miracle if one camel pass through the eye +of a needle: or, in other words, if one rich man enters into the +kingdom of heaven. I have been sowing the seed the Lord hath +given me both in Bath and Bristol, and I hope your prayers have +not been lost upon me as a minister; for though I have not been +enabled to discharge my office as I would, the Lord hath yet, +in some measure, stood by me, and overruled my foolishness and +helplessness. I am much supported by the thought that you bear +me on your hearts, and when you come to the throne of grace ask +a blessing for me in the name of Jesus, and that the Lord doth +in no wise cast you out.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Lord and Lady Glenorchy had but lately returned from the Continent, +and at this time resided at Great Sugnal, a place at a short distance +from Hawkestone, the celebrated seat of Sir Rowland Hill, Bart. At this +time several of the younger branches of this family—Mr. Richard Hill, +the Rev. Rowland Hill, Miss Hill, their eldest sister, and another +sister, Elizabeth, who afterwards married Clement Tudway, Esq., member +of Parliament for Wells—were of a decidedly pious character, and bore +the reproach ordinarily connected with it, from the thoughtless, the +formal, and the profligate. Lady Glenorchy visited this family, became +intimate with it, revered and loved its members, and secretly wished +that she were like them. Happily the time was at hand in which God +fulfilled these desires of her heart.</p> + +<p>Lady Glenorchy was not yet twenty-four, and Miss Hill was about her own +age, or perhaps somewhat older. They had before been intimate—from +this time they became bosom friends. The goodness of God was very +evident in providing for Lady Glenorchy an adviser so well informed, so +wise and prudent, so faithful and affectionate. In the summer of 1765 +her Ladyship was seized with a dangerous putrid fever, and was confined +to her bed for a considerable time. On her convalescence, by a singular +circumstance in Providence, a train of serious thoughts and reasonings +was produced, followed by convictions and purposes which ended in a +complete renovation of heart and conduct. From that interesting moment, +without hesitation or conferring with flesh and blood, she resolutely +turned her back on the dissipated world, and without reserve devoted +herself, and all that she could command and influence, to the service +of Christ and the glory of God; and in this she invariably persisted to +her latest breath.</p> + +<p>In order to divert her mind from those serious subjects which occupied +it, Lord Glenorchy was advised to leave the country,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_471">[471]</span> at an earlier +season of the year than usual, for London and Bath, where every means +were employed to induce her to return to the gaieties of the world. +Her judgment and her conscience, however, were decidedly against it: +and neither severity or art (both were put in practice) could divert +her from her purpose. Just at this juncture her intimacy with Lady +Huntingdon was of the most essential service to her. The excellent +advice and heart-searching conversation of the Countess, united +with the preaching of Mr. Madan, Mr. Romaine, and other ministers, +contributed to establish and confirm her in the faith and hope of the +Gospel. Lady Glenorchy’s future path of life lay through evil report +and through good report; in the midst of deep adversity and high +prosperity; of severe trials and strong temptations, both temporal and +spiritual; but none of these things moved her from the steadfastness +of her Christian profession. Although her road was often rough in the +extreme, and her enemies cruel, strong, and numerous, yet on she went +in her Christian course, never deviating to the right hand nor to the +left, but ever pressing towards the mark for the prize of her high +calling of God in Christ Jesus.</p> + +<p>Lady Glenorchy was destined to be the <span class="smcap">Selina</span> of Scotland. +Lady Huntingdon was her model, although her biographer seems to have +forgotten the fact. She derived great spiritual benefit, and caught her +inspiration in the cause of God, from the example and the chaplains of +the Countess. Dr. Thomas Snell Jones, who had received his education +at Trevecca, was supplying the Tabernacle at Plymouth, having been +sent thither by Lady Huntingdon, when first introduced to the notice +of Lady Glenorchy, whose chaplain and biographer he eventually became. +It is somewhat extraordinary that Dr. Jones should have made so little +mention of his former noble patroness, to whom he was so deeply +indebted, or of the long and very intimate connexion and correspondence +that existed between these excellent women. Her Ladyship left Bath in +the spring; and soon after her arrival in Edinburgh thus expressed her +gratitude and thanks to Lady Huntingdon for the inestimable benefits +she had reaped from her conversation and society:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“My dear Madam—How shall I express the sense I have of your +goodness?—it is impossible in words. But my comfort is, that +the Lord knows the grateful thoughts of my heart, and he will +amply reward you for the kindness you have shown a poor unworthy +creature, whom blindness and ignorance render an object of pity. +When you say your heart is attached to me, I tremble lest I +should prove an additional cross to you in the end, and the pain +I suffer in the apprehension of this is unspeakable. I hope the +Lord permits it as a spur<span class="pagenum" id="Page_472">[472]</span> to me to be watchful, and to keep +near to Him who alone is able to keep me from falling. <i>I can +truly say, that, next to the favour of God, my utmost ambition +is to be found worthy of the regard which your Ladyship is +pleased to honour me with, and to be one of those who shall make +up the crown of rejoicing for you in the day of our Lord.</i></p> + +<p>“I am sorry to take up more of your precious time than is +needful to express my gratitude for the obliging lines your +Ladyship favoured me with; and will only add, that I ever +am, with the greatest respect and affection, my dear and +much-honoured Madam, your most obedient servant,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“W. Glenorchy.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Suffering under a depression of spirits by the untimely death of their +eldest daughter, Lord and Lady Sutherland sought relief by change in +the society and amusements of Bath, where they arrived shortly after +Lady Glenorchy had departed for Scotland. Lady Sutherland was the only +sister of Lady Glenorchy, who introduced her by letter to the notice +and attention of Lady Huntingdon.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Never (says her Ladyship) have I seen a more lovely +couple—they may, indeed, with justice, be called the <i>Flower +of Scotland</i>; and such amiability of disposition, so +teachable, so mild! They have, indeed, been cast in Nature’s +finest mould. Bowed down to the earth by grief, they are almost +inconsolable for the loss of their daughter. The good Providence +of God has, I hope, directed them to this place, in order to +divert their attention from their recent loss, and lead them +to the Fountain of living waters, from whence to draw all the +consolation and comfort they stand in need of. May the word of +the Lord be powerfully applied to their hearts in this season +of trial! Dear Lady Glenorchy is extremely anxious on their +account.”</p> +</div> + +<p>At this critical moment Mr. Whitefield returned to Bath, and the +youthful Earl and Countess of Sutherland were induced to attend his +preaching.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Last Friday evening (says he), and twice yesterday, I preached +at Bath to very thronged and brilliant auditories. I am told it +was a very high day. The glory of the Lord filled the house. +To-morrow, God willing, I return thither again. Mr. Townsend is +too ill to officiate. Lady Huntingdon is mounting on her high +places.”</p> +</div> + +<p>But one affliction rapidly succeeded another. Soon after their arrival, +the Earl was attacked with a putrid fever, with which he struggled +<i>fifty-four</i> days, and then expired. The attentions of the +Countess, who was devoted to her Lord, were so unremitting—having +watched him in his chamber for <i>twenty-one</i> nights and days +without intermission or retiring to rest—that at last, overcome +with fatigue, anxiety, and grief, she sunk, an unavailing victim to +an amiable but excessive attachment, seventeen days before the death +of her Lord. In this season of sorest<span class="pagenum" id="Page_453">[453]</span> anguish, Lady Huntingdon had +several interviews with Lady Sutherland, and endeavoured to pour into +her bleeding heart all the consolation and comfort which the religion +of Jesus can impart. Prayer, both public and private, was incessantly +offered up on their behalf. The best medical advice was of no avail.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Everybody (says Lady Huntingdon) was interested about them, and +I never saw such a universal concern at the death of any persons +before. Many seem cut to the heart—others plunged into the +deepest grief. It has been a most awful event, and has brought +many to the chapel who had hitherto refused to enter it.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Lady Sutherland was in her twenty-fifth year, and Lord Sutherland +in his thirty-first. They left an infant daughter, Lady Elizabeth, +who succeeded her father in the honours of Sutherland, and who, +having married the late Marquis of Stafford, survived him and the +Duchess-Countess Dowager of Sutherland, and died only a few months +since.<a id="FNanchor_258" href="#Footnote_258" class="fnanchor">[258]</a> Thus the venerable Countess of Huntingdon, and her +celebrated chaplain, the apostolic Whitefield, ministered to her +Grace’s suffering parents when she was an unconscious infant!</p> + +<p>This melancholy event spread a general gloom over the gay inhabitants +of Bath. Two sermons were preached on the occasion in Lady Huntingdon’s +chapel, attended by almost all the nobility then in Bath, many of +whom seemed to feel the awful Providence. A remarkable circumstance +aggravated this bereavement to the family. Strange and unaccountable +as the circumstance may appear, yet it is a fact of which there can be +no doubt, that Lady Sutherland’s mother, Lady Alava, knew nothing of +the death of her daughter for nearly three weeks after the event had +taken place. The death of her daughter had been concealed from her, +and only that of Lord Sutherland communicated. The way in which she +at last became acquainted with it was in itself particularly singular +and affecting. Whilst Lady Alava was hastening from Scotland to the +assistance of her daughter, she happened to alight from her carriage +at the door of an inn on the road to Bath, where she saw <i>two</i> +hearses standing. Upon enquiring whose remains they contained, she +was told they were those of Lord and Lady Sutherland, on their way to +Scotland for interment!</p> + +<p>Soon after the death of the Earl and Countess of Sutherland, Lady +Huntingdon left Bath and proceeded to Brighton, where she remained +the principal part of the summer. About the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_474">[474]</span> same time Mr. Whitefield +appears to have gone to Bath, where his health became so much impaired +by his exertions, that he was obliged to retire to Cottam, near +Bristol, for a few weeks. But his active spirit was not idle there.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“As my feverish heat continues (says he), and the weather is +too wet to travel, I have complied with the advice of friends, +and have commenced hot-well water-drinker twice a day. However, +twice this week, at six in the morning, I have been enabled +to call thirsty souls to come and drink of the water of life +freely. To-morrow evening, God willing, the call is to be +repeated. Good seasons at Bath. Good seasons here. Large +auditories. Grace! Grace!”</p> +</div> + +<p>Towards the end of August, Mr. Wesley, being in Bath, was invited, as +usual, to preach in her Ladyship’s chapel. “Many (says he) were not a +little surprised at seeing me in the Countess of Huntingdon’s chapel. +The congregation was not only large, but serious, and I fully delivered +my own soul.”</p> + +<p>Hitherto, Mr. Wesley and Mr. Whitefield had interchanged letters not +very frequently, and they preached occasionally in each other’s pulpit: +but there was no cordial intercourse—no hearty co-operation. Such +a wound as had been made in their friendships always leaves a scar, +however well, to outward appearance, it may have healed. Nevertheless, +they did justice to each other’s intentions and virtues; and old +feelings rose again, as from the dead, like the blossoming of spring +flowers in autumn, which reminds us that the season of hope and of joy +is gone. It is pleasant to observe that this tenderness increased as +they advanced towards the decline of life. When Mr. Whitefield returned +from America to England, for the last time, Mr. Wesley was struck with +the change in his appearance. “He seemed (says he, in his Journal) to +be an old man, being fairly worn out in his Master’s service, though he +has hardly seen fifty years.” Mr. Whitefield, at this time, to use Mr. +Wesley’s language, breathed nothing but peace and love. “Bigotry (says +he) cannot stand before him, but hides its head wherever he comes.” On +a summons from Lady Huntingdon, Mr. Wesley hastened from Yorkshire to +meet Mr. Whitefield in London.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“And if no other good result from it (says Mr. Wesley) but our +firm union with Mr. Whitefield, it is an abundant recompense +for my labour. My brother and I conferred with him every day; +and let the honourable men do what they please, we resolved, by +the grace of God, to go on, hand in hand, through honour and +dishonour.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Mr. Wesley’s plan of union amongst the Evangelical clergymen in +different parts of England, at that period not more than<span class="pagenum" id="Page_475">[475]</span> <i>forty</i> +in number, not having met with any cordial support, it was agreed, +about this time, that Lady Huntingdon, Mr. Whitefield, Mr. John and Mr. +Charles Wesley, should meet as frequently as convenient, and co-operate +with each other in the general diffusion of divine truth. That this +alliance had been entered into is certain; but we cannot concur with +Southey in his “Life of Mr. Wesley,” imputing the non-fulfilment of +it to what he is pleased to call the “bigotry and intolerance of Lady +Huntingdon and a clique of Calvinistic clergy,” whom she had collected +around her. Mr. Charles Wesley was of a different opinion. In a letter +to Lady Huntingdon, written after the publication of the Minutes +of Conference of 1770, and after Mr. John Wesley had preached Mr. +Whitefield’s funeral sermon at the Tabernacle, he remarks:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“<i>You</i> remember a sort of quadruple alliance entered into +three or four years ago, which <i>one of the parties never +thought of from that day to this</i>. How soon is that alliance +come to nothing! One is safely landed—another <i>removed to +an immeasurable distance</i>—while yet we live, scarce one +short year perhaps betwixt <i>us two</i>, let there be peace! +I am very sensible that <i>my</i> night cometh; my course is +well nigh finished, and I pray and hope my work and life will +end together. I expect to be in town the beginning of February, +without my family. There and in all places let me find the +benefit of your prayers, till I also arrive where the wicked +cease from troubling—where the weary are at rest!”</p> +</div> + +<p>That Mr. Wesley had entered into this alliance is further evident +from the offer which he made to Lady Huntingdon, of supplying her +chapel at Bath during his stay at Bristol. Her Ladyship’s reply to Mr. +Wesley, expressing her gratitude for his kind offer, and his universal +devotedness to the glory of their Divine Master and the souls redeemed +by his blood, will be read with deep interest. Southey might have had +access to this document, as it appeared in the twentieth volume of +the <i>Methodist Magazine</i>, and it would have corrected one of the +numerous blunders, false statements, and wilful misrepresentations with +which his work everywhere abounds.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="r2">“September 14, 1766.</p> + +<p>“My dear Sir—I am most highly obliged by your kind offer of +serving the chapel at Bath during your stay at Bristol; I mean +on Sundays. It is the most important time, being the height of +the latter season, when the great of this world are only in +the reach of the sound of the Gospel from that quarter. The +mornings are their time—the evenings the inhabitants chiefly. +<i>I do trust that this union which is commenced</i> will be +for the furtherance of our faith and mutual love to each other. +It is for the interest of the best of causes that we should<span class="pagenum" id="Page_456">[456]</span> +all be found, first, faithful to the Lord, and then to each +other. I find something wanting, and that is, a meeting now +and then agreed upon, that you, your brother, Mr. Whitefield, +and I, should at times be glad regularly to communicate our +observations upon the general state of the work. Light might +follow, and would be a kind of guide to me, as I am connected +with many.</p> + +<p>“Universal and constant usefulness to all, is the important +lesson. And when we are fully and wholly given up to the Lord, +I am sure the heart can long for nothing so much as that our +time, talents, life, soul, and spirit, may become upon earth a +constant and living sacrifice. How I can be most so, that is the +one object of my poor heart. Therefore, to have all the light +that is possible, to see my way in this matter, is my prayer day +and night; for worthy is the Lamb to receive all honour, and +glory, and blessing.</p> + +<p>“What you say of reproach, I hope never to be without, so that +it be for obeying. I am honoured by every degree of contempt, +while my heart has its faithful testimony before Him who can +search it to the bottom, and knows that his glory and the good +of souls is my one object upon earth. I shall turn coward, and +disgrace you all, when I have any worse ground to stand upon; +and I am sure my prayer will be answered, which has been made +these seven-and-twenty years, that whenever his eye, which is +as a flame of fire, sees any other end or purpose of my heart, +he will remove my poor wretched being from this earth. But so +vile, and foolish, and helpless as I am, he keeps my heart full +of faith, that he never will leave me nor forsake me: having +neither help nor hope, but that he will each moment prove the +Lord—the Lord full of mercy and compassionate love, to such a +poor worm. Pray, when you have leisure, let me hear from you, +and believe me, most faithfully, your affectionate friend,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“S. Huntingdon.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Lady Huntingdon’s chapel was at this time principally supplied by Mr. +Madan and Mr. Townsend, and two Welsh clergymen of great notoriety, Mr. +Howel Davies and Mr. Daniel Rowlands, with the occasional assistance +of Mr. Whitefield, who generally preached once, and sometimes twice, +a week, besides his stated labours at Clifton and Bristol. On Mr. +Madan leaving Bath for Aldwincle, in Northamptonshire, whither he went +to preach for Dr. Haweis, Mr. Romaine supplied his place during the +months of October and November. Early in the month of October, Mr. +Wesley arrived in Bath, and during his stay preached frequently in her +Ladyship’s chapel. Being very popular at this time he was remarkably +well attended, and his labours were not altogether in vain in the Lord. +On Sunday, the 5th of October, at eight o’clock in the morning, he +administered the sacrament, and at eleven preached on these words in +the Gospel of the day—“Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” “The +word (says Mr. Wesley) was quick and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_477">[477]</span> powerful, and I trust many, even +of the rich and great, felt themselves sinners before God.”</p> + +<p>At this period Horace Walpole visited Bath. There was a sort of family +connexion between the Walpoles and Lady Huntingdon;<a id="FNanchor_259" href="#Footnote_259" class="fnanchor">[259]</a> and therefore, +perhaps, Horace Walpole accompanied his friends, Lord and Lady Powys, +to the chapel. Mr. Wesley was the preacher, but the chapel itself was +attractive.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“They have (says he) boys and girls with charming voices that +sing hymns in parts. The chapel is very neat, with <i>true</i> +Gothic windows. I was glad to see that luxury is creeping in +upon them before persecution. They have very neat mahogany +stands for branches, and brackets of the same, in taste. At the +upper end is a broad <i>hautpas</i> of four steps, advancing in +the middle; at each end of the broadest part are two eagles, +with red cushions, for the parson and clerk. Behind them rise +three more steps, in the midst of which is a third eagle for +a pulpit. Scarlet arm chairs to all three. On either hand a +balcony for elect ladies. The rest of the congregation sit on +forms. Behind the pit, in a dark niche, is a plain table within +rails; so you see the throne is for the apostle. Wesley is a +clean elderly man, fresh coloured, his hair smoothly combed, +but with a little <i>soupçon</i> of curl at the ends. Wondrous +clever, but as evidently an actor as Garrick. He spoke his +sermon, but so fast, and with so little accent, that I am sure +he has often uttered it, for it was like a lesson. There were +parts and eloquence in it; but towards the end he exalted his +voice, and acted very vulgar enthusiasm.”<a id="FNanchor_260" href="#Footnote_260" class="fnanchor">[260]</a></p> +</div> + +<p>There were several persons of distinction at this time in Bath, almost +all of whom, according to Walpole, were constantly in the habit of +attending divine service at Lady Huntingdon’s chapel. Indeed, he says, +it was quite the rage amongst persons in high life to form parties to +hear the different preachers who<span class="pagenum" id="Page_478">[478]</span> supplied the chapel. Amongst these +he enumerates Lord Camden (then Lord High Chancellor of England), Lord +Northington (Lord President of the Council), Earl Chatham and family, +Lord Rockingham, Lady Malpas, Lord and Lady Powys, Lord and Lady Buchan +and family, Miss Rich (sister to Lord Lyttleton), the Duke of Bedford +and family, Mr. and Lady Lucy Trevor, &c.<a id="FNanchor_261" href="#Footnote_261" class="fnanchor">[261]</a></p> + +<p>Early in the month of November we find Mr. Whitefield again at Bath. +He and Mr. Romaine preached alternately at Lady Huntingdon’s chapel to +very numerous and attentive auditories. “Bath air (says Mr. Whitefield) +will never agree with me long. However, if good is done, all will be +well. Sunday and last night were seasons of power. Some, we trust, were +made willing.” During his stay at Bath his health was indifferent, but +he went occasionally to Bristol, where he preached to very crowded +congregations. On one occasion he administered the sacrament there, and +used <i>eight</i> bottles of wine. His popularity continued to increase +at Bath, and many of the nobility who had not before heard him were now +eager to attend his ministry.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Such a numerous and brilliant assembly (says he) of the mighty +and noble I never saw attend before at Bath. Everything is so +promising that I am constrained to give notice of preaching next +Sunday. I hope the Redeemer will give us a blessed Sabbath. +I trust already the arm of the Lord hath been revealed. +Congregations have been very large and very solemn. O what +Bethels hath Jesus given to us! We were filled as with new wine.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Receiving an invitation from Mr. Stillingfleet to visit Oxford, on his +return to London, Mr. Whitefield resolved to go thither immediately—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“And have, therefore (says he), written to dear Mr. Jesse to +stay two or three weeks at London. Mr. Howel Davies, who, they +say,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_479">[479]</span> is expected here next week, may then officiate for that +space of time at Bath, and, at Mr. Jesse’s leaving London, +may go up to town. I beg Captain Joss may go through with the +Tabernacle work, and stick to it with his whole heart.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Mr. Whitefield was followed by Mr. Venn, one of the most powerful +and successfully pious preachers of the time; but he was not only +distinguished as a minister—as a companion he was the most agreeable +man imaginable; he had a flow of conversation which never ceased to +delight and edify; and, out of a store of anecdotes treasured up in his +memory, produced a fund of entertainment as well as usefulness, which +those who were his favoured companions seldom forgot.<a id="FNanchor_262" href="#Footnote_262" class="fnanchor">[262]</a></p> + +<p>In his journey from Brighton to Bath, Mr. Venn paid a visit to his +valued friend, Mr. Townsend, at Pewsey.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“That dear minister (says he) has a single eye and a warm heart. +Three young students are in his house, in order to prepare +for the ministry. Here I spoke the word of life to a small +church-full, and to a large room-full afterwards; and, though +the sphere of action in his parish is small, yet round about +there are a great number of souls awakened, and some who know +the Lord to be their God.”</p> +</div> + +<p>In his letter to Miss Wheeler, niece to Lady Huntingdon, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_480">[480]</span> one of +the daughters of Lady Catherine Wheeler, Mr. Venn says—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“At Bath we heard Mr. Romaine, in the plain but elegant chapel +of Lady Huntingdon. He was very well attended on the week-days, +but on Sundays the chapel is crowded. My kind friend, Miss +Gideon, I had both the pleasure and grief of seeing, with +Mr. and Mrs. Romaine—the pleasure, because she triumphs in +the blood of the cross, and is, indeed, an ornament to her +Christian faith; but it was a grief to see her labouring under +a complication of diseases, and one among these the dropsy, so +that Dr. Moisey told me he apprehended there was great danger of +her soon being called hence. Yet which of her friends can coolly +wish her to stay?—as not only a most infirm, afflicted body +prevents the full exercise of her mental powers, but even in our +best estate of body here, how poor, how sinful is the soul! We +cannot possibly be like Jesus till we see him as he is.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Mr. Andrews<a id="FNanchor_263" href="#Footnote_263" class="fnanchor">[263]</a> occasionally visited Bath, and united with those men +of renown who in that day dared to be singular in the cause of Christ. +He was very zealous in the discharge of his ministerial duties, but was +incapacitated by ill-health from doing as much as many of his brethren. +He frequently preached in other places, and was always delighted with +the visits of Mr. Whitefield and Mr. Wesley, and any other minister who +proclaimed the name of that Saviour whom he loved.</p> + +<p>When Lady Huntingdon was at Bath, Mr. Andrews preached very frequently +at her Ladyship’s, and united with those cross-bearing labourers who +aided her in the great work of spreading the everlasting Gospel. He +went boldly to Christ without the camp, bearing his reproach. He was +a faithful minister of the Church of England, but never ashamed of +the brand of Methodism, or of those most liberally abused by a wicked +world, and often most obnoxious to their own brethren. His work was his +wages, and the souls of men redeemed his object.</p> + +<p>Such conduct provoked the implacable enmity of the intolerant +Warburton, then Bishop of Gloucester, who, like his neighbour, +Lavington, Bishop of Exeter, was the inveterate enemy of all Methodists +and Moravians. His Lordship informed Mr. Andrews that he had received +several complaints of him, and,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_461">[461]</span> unless he had ample satisfaction, +threatened to revoke his license by process in the spiritual court.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I shall insist upon your constant residence in your parish, not +so much for the good you are likely to do there, as to prevent +the mischief you may do by rambling about in other places. Your +Bishop and (though your fanatic conduct has almost made me +ashamed to own it) your patron,<a id="FNanchor_264" href="#Footnote_264" class="fnanchor">[264]</a></p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“W. Gloucester.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Mr. Andrews acquainted the Bishop, by letter, in answer to the first +charge, “that he had resided at least two years and nine months out +of the three years that he had been in possession of the living;” +and, in reply to the second, “that the Bishop had at Bath, in +consideration of the smallness of the income and Mr. Andrews’s want +of health, recommended it to him to officiate at Stinchcombe only +once on a Sunday, and that, notwithstanding he had several times done +double duty; that many other clergymen in the Bishop’s diocese, on +much better livings, did not reside at all; and that he had refused a +living of eighty pounds a year, and taken one of thirty-six pounds, +merely on account of its requiring less duty.” But, as might have been +anticipated, remonstrance with such a man as Warburton was in vain. +Mr. Andrews was a Methodist; he had committed the unpardonable crime +of preaching for Lady Huntingdon, and, without a divine legation, the +Bishop was resolved to interdict his itinerancy.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“If I indulged you in giving your parish only one service on +a Sunday, I hereby revoke that indulgence, and insist on your +giving them full service.</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“W. Gloucester.”</p> +</div> + +<p>The Bishop appears somewhat <i>amiable</i> in his correspondence with +Doddridge, and not a little faithful in exposing “the unclean beasts” +in his own ark; but he could <i>persecute</i>, as well as <i>rail</i>. +At length Lady Huntingdon interfered.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Poor Andrews (says her Ladyship) is sadly used by his Bishop. I +have written to his Lordship, hoping that my long and intimate +acquaintance with him may induce him to relax a little of his +severity; but I much fear, knowing his implacable enmity, so +long indulged, and his most unreasonable hostility to dear +Mr. Whitefield and myself, whom he sometimes treated most +uncourteously.”</p> +</div> + +<p>The reply of Warburton was laconic, and quite in character. It ran +thus:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Madam—Mr. Andrews is under my jurisdiction, and I am resolved +to keep him and his fanatic conduct within his own parish. I +remain, Madam, your obedient servant,</p> + +<p class="smcap r2 p-min">“W. Gloucester.”</p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_482">[482]</span></p> + +<p>The preceding year the Bishop of Gloucester had published “The Doctrine +of Grace; or, the Office and Operation of the Holy Spirit vindicated +from the Insults of Infidelity and the Abuses of Fanaticism”—a work +containing many shrewd and pertinent observations, and original lucky +turns of thought, with a considerable portion of critical sagacity. +This most “impudent man of the age,” through almost every part of his +book, not only wantonly throws about the arrows and firebrands of +scurrility, buffoonery, and personal abuse, but at the same time, on +account of some unguarded expressions and indiscretions of a particular +set of honest, though fallible men, takes occasion to wound, vilify, +and totally deny the all-powerful operations of the Spirit of God, +by which alone his Lordship, or any other man, can be sanctified +and sealed to the day of eternal redemption. The work soon produced +answers from Mr. Whitefield and Mr. Wesley, one from Mr. Payne, +Accountant-General to the Bank, and one from Mr. Andrews, entitled +“The Scripture Doctrine of Grace, in an answer to a Treatise on the +Doctrine of Grace, by William, Lord Bishop of Gloucester, so far as +that important doctrine is considered.”</p> + +<p>On leaving Bath, Mr. Venn preached at Bristol and Gloucester, and in +the pulpit of Mr. Andrews; thence he passed on to Trevecca, “Happy +Trevecca!” as he styles it, of which, and of Mr. Howel Harris, he gives +the following account, in a letter to Miss Wheeler:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Howel Harris is the father of that settlement, and the founder. +After labouring for fifteen years, more violently than any of +the servants of Christ, in this revival, he was so hurt in +body as to be confined to his own house for seven years. Upon +the beginning of this confinement, first one and then another, +whom the Lord had converted under his word, to the number of +near a hundred, came and desired to live with him, and that +they would work and get their bread. By this means, near one +hundred and twenty, men, women, and children, from very distant +parts of Wales, came and fixed their tents at Trevecca. We were +there three days, and heard their experience, which they spoke +in Welsh to Mr. Harris, and he interpreted to us. Of all the +people I ever saw, this society seems to be the most advanced +in grace. They speak as men and women who feel themselves every +moment worthy of eternal punishment, and infinitely base; and +yet, at the same time, have such certainty of salvation through +the second Man, the Lord from heaven, as is indeed delightful to +behold. My heart received a blessing from them and their pastor +which will abide with me.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Mr. Venn, being obliged to return to Huddersfield before the end of the +month, could make but a short stay at Trevecca; but<span class="pagenum" id="Page_483">[483]</span> there, as in other +places where the churches were not open to him, he hesitated not to +proclaim the riches, the glory, and the grace of his Lord and Master.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“From Trevecca (says Mr. Venn, in his long letter to Lady +Huntingdon) we came to Berwick, where, though we did not find +you had yet made the Squire a preacher, yet both his consort and +himself were much the better in their souls for the rummaging +they went through at Brighthelmstone—not from the custom-house +officers, but from one who is very zealous lest the revenue of +Jesus should sustain damage, and that none should be deceived +into a notion that their goods have the seal royal upon them, +when it is no more than a counterfeit ticket. In a word, they +are both, I trust, in earnest, seeking the face of the Lord, and +to know the certainty of the words of truth. A few days after +we got there, a Mr. Lee, a man of estate in Shropshire, came to +pay his visit. He is, I do think, of all the persons I ever saw +in my life, the very one that you would be made a blessing to. +His understanding is clear and strong; his sight of human nature +in its fall amazingly deep; his spirit bold and intrepid—only +fearful of being deceived to take that for grace and faith which +may not be so. He speaks of himself as yet a seeker; and I trust +the Lord will give him to know his love, and his peace, and +the power of his resurrection. We returned, with Mr. and Mr. +Powys, the visit; and in his parlour I preached to <i>eighty +people</i>. If your Ladyship comes into Shropshire, he will +certainly seek an opportunity of being in your company; or, if +he goes to Bath, you will see him there in the spring.”</p> +</div> + +<p>To Miss Wheeler, Mr. Venn says, “Mr. Lee is a gentleman of fortune, +about forty years of age, and a man of uncommon parts, with whom I was +much delighted. Mr. Whitefield and Mr. Wesley visited him whenever they +were in Shropshire, and his house was usually open for the preaching +of the Gospel. Mr. Wesley being in that part of the country in March, +1769, was invited by Mr. Lee to his house. “My horse being lame (says +he), and part of the road very bad, I did not reach Mr. Lee’s, of +Cotery, till noon. The house is delightfully situated in his park, +at the top of a fruitful hill. His chaplain had just begun reading +prayers; afterwards he desired me to give an exhortation.” In the month +of August, the same year, Mr. Wesley was again in Shrewsbury, on his +way to attend the anniversary of Lady Huntingdon’s College at Trevecca, +and receiving invitations from Messrs. Powys and Lee, preached at +Berwick and Cotery.</p> + +<p>While Mr. Venn was at Berwick, Captain Scott, of whose conversion by +Mr. Romaine we have spoken, had succeeded in obtaining an introduction +to that honoured instrument of his conversion, who would not see him at +Brighton, but at London kindly received and prayed with and for him. +On Captain Scott<span class="pagenum" id="Page_484">[484]</span> taking leave, Mr. Romaine gave him a letter for Mr. +Powys, of Berwick, in Shropshire, whither the Captain was proceeding. +Leaving London in the Shrewsbury mail-coach, as soon as he had well +adjusted himself, Captain Scott found, by the common observations which +curiosity ever makes on the associates with whom we travel, that one +of his companions was a Major, destined to Shrewsbury. Among other +conversations which took place in the interval before they fell asleep, +the Captain asked whether he knew any families there. He answered in +the affirmative, and enumerated, among other families of his particular +acquaintance, the Scotts. Captain Scott professed himself to have had +formerly some acquaintance with this family, and begged to know such +particulars as occurred respecting those members of it he had lately +seen or heard of. After the mention of a variety of particulars, in +which the Captain expected his own name to have occurred, but without +being gratified, he asked if the Major had heard nothing of any other +branches of the family. He replied, “Yes—there was one mad fellow, +who many years ago went into the army; and, when he was there, turned +Methodist, and went about preaching with the regiment.”</p> + +<p>Captain Scott asked if he had shown any other mark of derangement +besides those he had mentioned, which appeared to be of a religious +kind. The Major replied, “he could not say, as he really knew very +little about him.” The night drew on, and the parties slept and +conversed at intervals till they arrived at Oxford, when they got +out of the coach, and were ushered into a room, lighted by two large +candles. The Captain immediately, taking one of the candles in each +hand, walked, with a firm step, up to the Major, and bowing, said, +“Give me leave, Sir, to introduce to you the mad Captain Scott.” The +Major appeared overwhelmed with surprise and confusion. He seemed much +hurt at what had passed, but Captain Scott, seeing his embarrassment, +soon relieved him—assured him that he had not felt hurt at anything +he had said; and, indeed, under the circumstances, could not be so; +and only begged of him the favour, as he was then going to Shropshire, +and would probably see many of his friends, to correct their mistaken +apprehensions of his being deranged; for that he had travelled with +him from London, and discovered (as Captain Scott hoped) no mark of a +disordered mind.</p> + +<p>Captain Scott observed to him that it was no uncommon thing for a man +to be charged, by the unthinking part of mankind, with derangement, +at the very time when he was beginning to be truly wise, and to live +to better purpose than any part of his preceding life, particularly +when he begins to reflect that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_485">[485]</span> he has an immortal and invaluable +soul, and makes it his great concern to secure its eternal happiness. +Captain Scott admitted that, when he went into the army, he had been +a dissipated character, but that a great revolution in his sentiments +and conduct had afterwards taken place; and he begged the indulgence of +the Major briefly to state to him the nature of those views of religion +which he had imbibed, that he might be enabled to judge whether they +merited the severe reflections with which they had been charged. This +gave him an opportunity of opening to him the plan of divine truth, as +revealed in the Gospel; which was, no doubt, accompanied with Captain +Scott’s earnest prayer for his conversion. The Major bowed assent to +every thing advanced, and declared it very sober, very rational, very +proper, &c., but whether any salutary effects were produced the Captain +did not learn, never afterwards having the opportunity of another +interview with his polite and candid friend.</p> + +<p>After a few days spent amongst his family and friends, Captain Scott +rode to Berwick, to deliver the letter which Mr. Romaine had entrusted +to him. We have said that at that time Mr. Powys entertained Mr. Venn +as a visitor in his house. One morning, soon after breakfast and family +prayer, Mr. and Mrs. Powys and Mr. Venn were looking from the parlour +window in front of the hall, and who should they see but Captain Scott, +who was now bringing Mr. Romaine’s letter, enter upon the lawn, dressed +in his uniform and riding his military horse. Mr. Powys recognized him +at a distance, and said, “There is Captain Scott; what can he want +here? I am determined not to see him if I can avoid it.” Upon this they +all withdrew.</p> + +<p>Captain Scott rode up and asked, “Is Mr. Powys at home?” The servant, +uninstructed by his master to adopt the fashionable expedient of +stating an untruth to avoid an inconvenience, informed him that he was. +Mr. Powys was called, and received his visitor with an air of distant +civility, thinking that his presence would be an interruption to the +spiritual enjoyments of himself and friends; but after he had read +Mr. Romaine’s letter, which he received with considerable agitation, +giving an account of Captain Scott’s conversion, he caught him in his +arms, embraced and rejoiced over him as over one raised from the dead. +In this position, with an elevated voice, he cried out, “Mr. Venn! Mr. +Venn! Mrs. Powys! Mrs. Powys! come, come here quickly! Here is Captain +Scott, a convert to Christ! a new creature in Christ Jesus!” They both +came, and being informed of the contents of Mr. Romaine’s letter, all +three, in the joy of their hearts, embraced the penitent, and, in +imitation of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_486">[486]</span> angels in heaven, rejoiced over him who had been +dead, but was alive again; who had been lost, but was found.</p> + +<p>Of Manchester, where Mr. Venn next proceeded, he says—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“There is much life in Mr. Wesley’s society, and a great +crowding to hear the word. And well for the nation it is so: +since in the churches, at all the great towns we came to, there +are no worshippers scarce of any sort to be found. Absolute +profaneness begins visibly to reign. Formality and pharisaism +is, and has been of late, so much besieged and battered down, +that a crisis seems approaching. Real believers possessing the +Holy Ghost, or open revilers of Christian faith, seem to be +the two standards under which men will rank themselves. As to +my own flock, I found them, at my return, well. The Lord is +with us. Sinners are converted, souls are happy in Christ, and +his pleasant odours diffuse their life-giving fragrance in the +congregation.”</p> +</div> + +<p>In the meanwhile the Rev. Howel Davies came to Bath, to supply her +Ladyship’s chapel. He was one of her Ladyship’s oldest acquaintances +in the principality; and, with the Rev. Daniel Rowlands, Rev. Peter +Williams, Rev. William Williams, and other awakened clergymen, +was eminently useful in the great revival of religion in Wales. +He was educated by the apostolic Jones, rector of Llandowrer, in +Carmarthenshire, who, when he received priest’s orders, gave notice to +the whole congregation of it, and desired an interest in their prayers, +that the Lord would bless him, and give him success in the ministry. +The first church in which Mr. Davies was called to officiate was +Llys-y-fran, in Pembrokeshire; but he was soon turned out, on account +of his zeal and faithfulness in the cause of God and truth. He was a +Boanerges, and mere formalists could not bear his faithful application +of the truths of the Gospel to the heart and life. He was a burning +and a shining light, and preached in four different places statedly, +besides his daily labours in houses, barns, fields, commons, mountains, +&c. He had upwards of two thousand communicants, and the church has +been frequently emptied twice, to make room for the third congregation +to partake of the Lord’s Supper! He would break through the form of +words used upon these occasions, and would speak of Christ and his +sufferings in a variety of Scripture expressions.<a id="FNanchor_265" href="#Footnote_265" class="fnanchor">[265]</a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_487">[487]</span></p> + +<p>It was about this period that the Rev. Dr. Haweis, rector of Aldwincle; +the Rev. Cradock Glascott, afterwards vicar of Hatherleigh, in +Devonshire; the Rev. William Jesse, perpetual curate and lecturer +of West Bromwich, in Staffordshire; and the Rev. John Harmer, of +Warrington, commenced preaching in the chapels of Lady Huntingdon, +and wherever she required them to itinerate. In the early part of +his ministry Mr. Jesse was an occasional preacher at Tottenham-court +Chapel, and was held in good estimation by Mr. Whitefield and +Lady Huntingdon. In 1771 this exemplary minister was situated in +Lincolnshire. Mr. Venn, in a letter to Mrs. Ryland, says, “Mr. Jesse +met me at Malton, and accompanied me as far as Hull: he is a very +excellent man, and seems appointed to evangelize the <i>Wolds</i>, +the inhabitants of which are dark almost as the Indians.” How highly +Lady Huntingdon thought of him, her own words will best tell—“Dear, +honest-hearted Jesse has my best wishes. He is a humble, devoted +soul, and much in earnest in his Master’s work. Having ever found +him faithful, I can in truth recommend him to your Lordship’s kind +notice and patronage.” This was addressed to Lord Dartmouth, through +whose interest he became curate and lecturer of West Bromwich. He also +became rector of Dowles and Riblesford, in the county of Worcester, and +chaplain to the Earl of Glasgow. Mr. Harmer was sent by her Ladyship to +Brighton and Oathall; he also preached occasionally at Bath, but he was +not a popular speaker. After some time, however, he thought proper to +withdraw from all connexion with her Ladyship, and declined preaching +in her chapels, without assigning any cause for such a step. This was +the source of much vexation and disappointment to her Ladyship; and +to this Mr. Fletcher alludes in the following letter, dated Morley, +December 9, 1766:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I stayed in London just to receive your Ladyship’s letter, +but not to see Mr. Glascott or Mr. Harmer. For some days the +<i>latter</i> had kept out of my way, nor did I know the reason. +He told Jesse his design<span class="pagenum" id="Page_468">[468]</span> to decline serving the chapels of +your Ladyship, but hid it from me. I had it from Jesse the day +before I set out. So far as I could gather, he was fixed in his +resolution; and whether his reasons were solid or only pretended +ones, to his own Master he stands or falls, and by Him they +will be tried. In the Gospel I had rather have nobody than an +unwilling servant and a slave. Providence, I hope, designs you +a son. Sarah waited long for Isaac. She saw the ingratitude of +Hagar, and the pertness of Ishmael, before the true seed was +given her. The believer does not make haste. It is a blessing +that the cause is the Lord’s, and that the disposal of all +affairs and all hearts is in his hands. If a sparrow falleth +not to the ground without his leave, much less can a minister +fall from an agreement without it. He will never suffer a +disappointment to befall us, but to prevent a greater one, or to +bring in a superior blessing. This we shall see in the end. In +the meantime, I repeat it, we walk by faith.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Mr. Harmer joined Mr. Wesley, and in the year 1780 was situated at +Warrington; of his subsequent history little is known. The Rev. W. +Buckingham, who held a curacy in Cornwall, preached for Lady Huntingdon +on Mr. Harmer’s secession. Soon after he too joined Mr. Wesley, but in +two years withdrew from the Methodists. “He had no sooner done this +(says Mr. Wesley), than the Bishop rewarded him by turning him out of +his curacy, which, had he continued to walk in Christian simplicity, +he would probably have had to this day.” In 1781 he was residing in +London, assisting Mr. Wesley as a curate, with Mr. Richardson; but at +what period he terminated his course we have not been able to learn.</p> + + +<p class="center sm p2">END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.</p> + + +<p class="center xs p2">WILLIAM EDWARD PAINTER, STRAND, LONDON, PRINTER.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 id="INDEX_TO_VOL_I">INDEX TO VOL. I.</h2> +</div> + +<ul> + <li class="i1">Abney, Lady, + <a href="#Page_58">58</a></li> + <li class="i2">Sir Thomas and Lady, + <a href="#Page_201">201</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Abraham, Old, at Oathall, + <a href="#Page_319">319</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Akenside, Dr., + <a href="#Page_136">136</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Aldwincle living and Mr. Kimpton, + <a href="#Page_413">413</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Andrews, Mr., and Bishop of Gloucester, + <a href="#Page_480">480</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Anecdote of Lord Bolingbroke and Dr. Church, + <a href="#Page_179">179</a></li> + <li class="i2">of Newton’s preaching at Leeds, + <a href="#Page_271">271</a></li> + <li class="i2">of Captain Scott, + <a href="#Page_317">317</a>, + <a href="#Page_381">381</a>, + <a href="#Page_484">484</a></li> + <li class="i2">of Conversion of an old Inn Keeper at Aldwincle Church, + <a href="#Page_420">420</a></li> + <li class="i2">of Dr. Doddridge on leaving Bath for Falmouth, + <a href="#Page_450">450</a></li> + <li class="i2">of George I. and Lady Chesterfield, + <a href="#Page_463">463</a></li> + <li class="i2">of Mr. Venn, + <a href="#Page_479">479</a>, + <a href="#Page_486">486</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Articles of Peace, + <a href="#Page_437">437</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Ashby-place, Lady Huntingdon at, + <a href="#Page_119">119</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Ayscough, Dr., Dean of Bristol, and Doddridge, + <a href="#Page_175">175</a></li> +</ul> + +<ul> + <li class="i1">Baddelley, Mr., Letter of Whitefield to, + <a href="#Page_120">120</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Baptists, General, + <a href="#Page_44">44</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Bath, Earl of, impressed under Whitefield’s preaching, + <a href="#Page_465">465</a></li> + <li class="i2">the Countess’s Chapel at, + <a href="#Page_443">443</a>, + <a href="#Page_467">467</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Batty, the Messrs., account of, + <a href="#Page_247">247</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Belcher, Governor, of New Jersey College, + <a href="#Page_140">140</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Bell and Maxfield, Fletcher’s regard for, + <a href="#Page_321">321</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Bennett, Mr., visits the Countess at Donnington Park, + <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Berridge and the Countess, + <a href="#Page_216">216</a></li> + <li class="i2">Letters to the Countess, + <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, + <a href="#Page_336">336</a>, + <a href="#Page_359">359</a>, + <a href="#Page_386">386</a>, + <a href="#Page_388">388</a></li> + <li class="i2">Extracts of Letters from, + <a href="#Page_358">358</a></li> + <li class="i2">and the Bees, + <a href="#Page_366">366</a></li> + <li class="i2">Character of, wit and labours, + <a href="#Page_367">367</a></li> + <li class="i2">and the Bishop, + <a href="#Page_369">369</a></li> + <li class="i2">Letter to, from Mr. Thornton, + <a href="#Page_371">371</a></li> + <li class="i2">—— from, to Mr. Thornton, + <a href="#Page_373">373</a></li> + <li class="i2">Illness of, + <a href="#Page_381">381</a></li> + <li class="i2">Singular effects of the preaching of, + <a href="#Page_397">397</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Bishops, Conduct of, + <a href="#Page_38">38</a></li> + <li class="i2">of London, Oxford, and Gloucester, + <a href="#Page_196">196</a></li> + <li class="i2">—— Death of, + <a href="#Page_231">231</a></li> + <li class="i2">Seat of, in Bath Chapel, + <a href="#Page_477">477</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Blair, Dr., + <a href="#Page_58">58</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Bliss, Mr., impressed under Dr. Haweis, + <a href="#Page_391">391</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Bowers, first lay preacher among the Methodists, + <a href="#Page_32">32</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Bolingbroke, Lord, hears Whitefield, + <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li> + <li class="i2">Death of, + <a href="#Page_178">178</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Bretby Hall, the Countess at, + <a href="#Page_466">466</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Brethren, the United, + <a href="#Page_246">246</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Brighton, Chapel re-opened, + <a href="#Page_378">378</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Broughton, Rev., Bryan and Whitefield, + <a href="#Page_196">196</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Browne, Rev. Moses, Chaplain to the Duke of Somerset, + <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, + <a href="#Page_164">164</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Buchan, Lady, + <a href="#Page_427">427</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Buckingham, Duchess of, + <a href="#Page_27">27</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Burder, Rev. George, and Romaine, + <a href="#Page_273">273</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Burnet, Bishop, + <a href="#Page_39">39</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Burnett, Rev. G., impressed under Mr. Walker of Truro, + <a href="#Page_276">276</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Burr, President, of New Jersey College, + <a href="#Page_140">140</a></li> +</ul> + +<ul> + <li class="i1">Cambridge, Progress of piety at, + <a href="#Page_421">421</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Campbell, the Hon. Hume, + <a href="#Page_205">205</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Carteret, Lord, Letter to the Countess, + <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Cavendish, Mrs., visits the Countess at Bath, + <a href="#Page_461">461</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Cennick, Mr., + <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, + <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, + <a href="#Page_262">262</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Chancellor, Lord High, found guilty of corruption, + <a href="#Page_6">6</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Chapel of the Countess, at York, + <a href="#Page_310">310</a></li> + <li class="i2">at Brighton, + <a href="#Page_314">314</a>, + <a href="#Page_390">390</a></li> + <li class="i2">at Lewes, + <a href="#Page_364">364</a></li> + <li class="i2">at Chichester, Petworth, Guildford and Basingstoke, + <a href="#Page_393">393</a></li> + <li class="i2">at Gloucester, Worcester, and Cheltenham, + <a href="#Page_440">440</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Charges against the Countess, + <a href="#Page_424">424</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Cheltenham, Whitefield, Madan, and Venn preached there, + <a href="#Page_429">429</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Chesterfield, Lord, + <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, + <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, + <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, + <a href="#Page_458">458</a></li> + <li class="i2">Lady, impressed under Whitefield, + <a href="#Page_462">462</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Church, Dr., + <a href="#Page_179">179</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Clanricardes, Pedigree of, + <a href="#Page_3">3</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Clergy, awakened under the preaching of Whitefield and Wesley, + <a href="#Page_61">61</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Coachman of George III., Anecdote of, + <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Cobb, Lady Betty, influence over the Bishops, + <a href="#Page_477">477</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Colne, Vicar of, and Messrs. Grimshaw and Ingham, + <a href="#Page_259">259</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Conference, First Methodist, + <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li> + <li class="i2">at Leeds, + <a href="#Page_267">267</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Convict, the Countess’s exertions in behalf of a, + <a href="#Page_227">227</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Conyers, Dr., commencement of Evangelical Ministry of, + <a href="#Page_277">277</a></li> + <li class="i2">Visitation Sermon displeases the Archbishop of York, + <a href="#Page_280">280</a></li> + <li class="i2">Letter from, to the Countess, + <a href="#Page_281">281</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Cooper, Miss; Death of, + <a href="#Page_52">52</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Cotton, Dr., and the Countess, + <a href="#Page_157">157</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Cruttenden, Robert, Esq., Account of, + <a href="#Page_448">448</a></li> +</ul> + +<ul> + <li class="i1">Darracott, Rev. R., Letter to, from the Countess, + <a href="#Page_114">114</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Dartmouth, Lord, + <a href="#Page_276">276</a>, + <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, + <a href="#Page_429">429</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Davies, Howell, + <a href="#Page_486">486</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Deane, Mrs., Character of, + <a href="#Page_296">296</a></li> + + <li class="i1">De Courcy, Mr., + <a href="#Page_381">381</a>, + <a href="#Page_411">411</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Delamotte and Charles Wesley, + <a href="#Page_243">243</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Delitz, the Countess, + <a href="#Page_462">462</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Derry, Bishop of, + <a href="#Page_33">33</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Dodd, Dr., + <a href="#Page_401">401</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Doddridge, Dr., Letter to, from the Countess, + <a href="#Page_64">64</a></li> + <li class="i2">Letter of, to Mr. Fawcett, + <a href="#Page_154">154</a></li> + <li class="i2">Ill health of, visits the Countess at Bath, + <a href="#Page_448">448</a>, + <a href="#Page_449">449</a></li> + <li class="i2">embarks at Falmouth and lands at Lisbon, + <a href="#Page_451">451</a></li> + <li class="i2">his views when near death, + <a href="#Page_452">452</a></li> + <li class="i2">his peaceful dissolution, + <a href="#Page_452">452</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Downes, Mr., Death of, in the pulpit, + <a href="#Page_63">63</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Dream of a lady respecting Lady Huntingdon, + <a href="#Page_313">313</a></li> +</ul> + +<ul> + <li class="i1">Earthquake in London, + <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Edwin, Mrs., + <a href="#Page_86">86</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Edwin, Lady Charlotte, + <a href="#Page_175">175</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Erasmus, Bishop of Arcadia, + <a href="#Page_331">331</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Erskine, Dr., and Dr. Robertson, + <a href="#Page_184">184</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Evangelical Magazine commenced, + <a href="#Page_214">214</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Exeter, Bishop of, + <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, + <a href="#Page_125">125</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Extraordinary occurrence, + <a href="#Page_205">205</a></li> +</ul> + +<ul> + <li class="i1">Fast, the public, + <a href="#Page_395">395</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Ferrers, the, + <a href="#Page_4">4</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Ferrers, Lord, tried—visited by the Countess—singular conduct—execution, + <a href="#Page_402">402</a>, + <a href="#Page_409">409</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Fletcher, Mr., introduced to the Countess by John Wesley, + <a href="#Page_231">231</a></li> + <li class="i2">Letter of, to Whitefield, + <a href="#Page_289">289</a></li> + <li class="i2">—— to his Flock at Madeley, + <a href="#Page_469">469</a></li> + <li class="i2">Letters of, to Charles Wesley, + <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, + <a href="#Page_235">235</a></li> + <li class="i2">—— to the Countess, + <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, + <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, + <a href="#Page_295">295</a>, + <a href="#Page_357">357</a>, + <a href="#Page_487">487</a></li> + <li class="i2">preaches & celebrates the Communion at the Countess’s, + <a href="#Page_232">232</a></li> + <li class="i2">appointed vicar of Madeley, + <a href="#Page_234">234</a></li> + <li class="i2">visits Berridge, + <a href="#Page_236">236</a></li> + <li class="i2">Success of, in the Ministry, + <a href="#Page_237">237</a></li> + <li class="i2">and Mr. Venn preach at Everton, loud cries in the Congregation, + <a href="#Page_400">400</a></li> + <li class="i2">Labours of, at Bath, + <a href="#Page_468">468</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Foote, the player, + <a href="#Page_208">208</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Ford, Dr., + <a href="#Page_216">216</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Fox, Mr. Charles, + <a href="#Page_210">210</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Frankland, Lady Anne, + <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> +</ul> + +<ul> + <li class="i1">Galatin, Colonel and Mrs., + <a href="#Page_156">156</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Gardiner, Colonel, + <a href="#Page_59">59</a></li> + <li class="i2">Marvellous Conversion of, + <a href="#Page_60">60</a></li> + <li class="i2">Death of, + <a href="#Page_66">66</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Gardiner, Lady Frances, + <a href="#Page_410">410</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Garrick and Dr. Stonhouse, + <a href="#Page_139">139</a></li> + + <li class="i1">George II., + <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Gertrude, Lady, + <a href="#Page_456">456</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Giardini, + <a href="#Page_229">229</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Gibbon, Mrs. Hester, + <a href="#Page_147">147</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Gibbons, Dr., + <a href="#Page_111">111</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Gill, Dr., + <a href="#Page_113">113</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Glascott, Mr., + <a href="#Page_310">310</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Glenorchy, Lady, + <a href="#Page_411">411</a></li> + <li class="i2">Lord and Lady, + <a href="#Page_470">470</a></li> + <li class="i2">Lady, Letter from, to the Countess, + <a href="#Page_471">471</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Gloucester, Bishop of, + <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Gloucestershire Association, + <a href="#Page_434">434</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Godwyn, Rev. Charles, + <a href="#Page_423">423</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Government, Liberal conduct of, to the Welsh Methodists, + <a href="#Page_110">110</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Grafton, Duke of, + <a href="#Page_210">210</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Graves, Mr., his Recantation and Letters, + <a href="#Page_48">48–51</a></li> + <li class="i2">encourages John Nelson, + <a href="#Page_255">255</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Grenfield, Mrs., + <a href="#Page_453">453</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Grimshaw, Mr., + <a href="#Page_252">252</a></li> + <li class="i2">Opinions of, + <a href="#Page_259">259</a></li> + <li class="i2">Account of, + <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, + <a href="#Page_271">271</a>, + <a href="#Page_286">286</a></li> + <li class="i2">Letter of, + <a href="#Page_284">284</a></li> + <li class="i2">and his friend Robertshaw, + <a href="#Page_286">286</a></li> + <li class="i2">Death of, + <a href="#Page_286">286</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Gumley, Colonel, + <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Gwynne, Marmaduke, Esq., + <a href="#Page_110">110</a></li> +</ul> + +<ul> + <li class="i1">Halifax, Lord, + <a href="#Page_210">210</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Hammond, the Poet, + <a href="#Page_22">22</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Handel, + <a href="#Page_229">229</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Harris, Howel, + <a href="#Page_378">378</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Hartley, Mr., + <a href="#Page_172">172</a></li> + + <li class="i1">—— Dr., + <a href="#Page_450">450</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Hastings, Lady Margaret, + <a href="#Page_14">14</a></li> + <li class="i2">George and Ferdinando (sons of the Countess), Death of, + <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li> + <li class="i2">Lady Frances, + <a href="#Page_84">84</a></li> + <li class="i2">—— Anne, + <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> + <li class="i2">—— Betty, + <a href="#Page_248">248</a></li> + <li class="i2">Hon. Henry, Death of, + <a href="#Page_311">311</a></li> + <li class="i2">Lady Selina, Illness and death of, + <a href="#Page_331">331</a></li> + <li class="i2">Colonel George, + <a href="#Page_332">332</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Haweis, Dr., + <a href="#Page_223">223</a></li> + <li class="i2">preaching at the Lock, + <a href="#Page_326">326</a></li> + <li class="i2">and the living of Aldwincle, + <a href="#Page_414">414</a></li> + <li class="i2">itinerates for the Countess, + <a href="#Page_487">487</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Hertford, Countess of, Letter of, + <a href="#Page_197">197</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Hervey, Mr., Letter of, to the Countess, + <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li> + <li class="i2">at Ashby with the Countess, + <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li> + <li class="i2">commences “Theron and Aspasio”, + <a href="#Page_187">187</a></li> + <li class="i2">method of preaching, + <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li> + <li class="i2">Letters to the Countess, + <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, + <a href="#Page_189">189</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Hill, Mr. Rowland, great popularity, + <a href="#Page_211">211</a></li> + <li class="i2">style of preaching, + <a href="#Page_212">212</a></li> + <li class="i2">great success at Tabernacle and Tottenham-court Chapels, + <a href="#Page_212">212</a></li> + <li class="i2">Ordination by the Bishop of Bath and Wells and first Sermon, + <a href="#Page_212">212</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Hill, Sir Richard, + <a href="#Page_423">423</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Hinchingbroke, Lady, + <a href="#Page_30">30</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Horne, Dr., Bishop of Norwich, + <a href="#Page_423">423</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Hotham, Lady Gertrude, + <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, + <a href="#Page_454">454</a></li> + <li class="i2">Sir Charles, + <a href="#Page_375">375</a></li> + <li class="i2">—— Marriage of, and death, + <a href="#Page_456">456</a>, + <a href="#Page_457">457</a></li> + <li class="i2">Miss, Happy death of, + <a href="#Page_456">456</a></li> + <li class="i2">Lady, Death of, + <a href="#Page_456">456</a></li> + <li class="i2">Lady Gertrude, Happy death of, + <a href="#Page_457">457</a></li> + + <li class="i1"><span class="smcap">Huntingdon</span> Family, + <a href="#Page_7">7</a></li> + <li class="i2">Earl of, his family, + <a href="#Page_8">8</a></li> + <li class="i2">—— his character, + <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, + <a href="#Page_50">50</a></li> + <li class="i2">—— visits Ledstone Hall, + <a href="#Page_254">254</a></li> + <li class="i2">—— remarkable dream, and death, + <a href="#Page_74">74</a></li> + <li class="i2">—— epitaph, + <a href="#Page_75">75</a></li> + <li class="i2">Young Lord, comes of age, tour to France, &c., + <a href="#Page_115">115</a></li> + <li class="i2">—— his high appointments under George III., + <a href="#Page_458">458</a></li> + <li class="i2">—— his Infidelity, interview with Grimshaw, and death, + <a href="#Page_459">459</a></li> + <li class="i2">Lady—her birth—early character—first religious impressions—grave +of youth—piety—private prayer—fashionable life—marriage, + <a href="#Page_7">7–10</a></li> + <li class="i3">Letter from, to Charles Wesley, + <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li> + <li class="i3">—— to John Wesley, + <a href="#Page_46">46</a></li> + <li class="i3">—— of, respecting a penitent, + <a href="#Page_55">55</a></li> + <li class="i3">—— respecting Mr. Harvey, + <a href="#Page_192">192</a></li> + <li class="i3">—— to Dr. Doddridge, + <a href="#Page_64">64</a></li> + <li class="i3">—— to Mr. Wesley, + <a href="#Page_71">71</a></li> + <li class="i3">—— to Dr. Doddridge, + <a href="#Page_78">78–83</a>, + <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, + <a href="#Page_150">150</a></li> + <li class="i3">—— to Mr. Venn, + <a href="#Page_225">225</a></li> + <li class="i3">—— to Romaine, + <a href="#Page_305">305</a></li> + <li class="i3">—— to Mr. Milner, + <a href="#Page_307">307</a></li> + <li class="i3">—— to Mr. Wren, + <a href="#Page_309">309</a></li> + <li class="i3">—— to Gabriel Harris, + <a href="#Page_443">443</a></li> + <li class="i3">—— to Mr. Brewer, + <a href="#Page_438">438</a></li> + <li class="i3">—— to Mr. Wesley, + <a href="#Page_475">475</a></li> + <li class="i2">and the Moravians, + <a href="#Page_201">201</a></li> + <li class="i2">Illness of, and recovery, + <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> + <li class="i2">Letters of, to Lord Dartmouth and Mr. Madan, + <a href="#Page_417">417</a>, + <a href="#Page_418">418</a></li> + <li class="i2">her first acquaintance with Mr. Fletcher—Letter of, concerning +Mr. Fletcher—her request to him to preach to the French prisoners at Tunbridge, + <a href="#Page_231">231</a></li> + <li class="i2">liberates John Nelson from prison, by her influence, + <a href="#Page_258">258</a></li> + <li class="i2">visits Yorkshire, with Whitefield, + <a href="#Page_265">265</a></li> + <li class="i2">visits Aberford, with Romaine, + <a href="#Page_273">273</a></li> + <li class="i2">visits Yorkshire and Lancashire, with Romaine, Mr. Ingham, and Lady Margaret, + <a href="#Page_273">273</a></li> + <li class="i2">visits Yorkshire again, has frequent meetings with the pious Clergy there, + <a href="#Page_281">281</a></li> + <li class="i2">attends the 19th Conference at Leeds, with Messrs. Romaine, Madan, +Venn, Whitefield, John and Charles Wesley, + <a href="#Page_281">281</a></li> + <li class="i2">visits Aberford again—takes an excursion to Haworth, Fletcher and +Townsend preach in the churchyard—visits Huddersfield, + <a href="#Page_290">290</a></li> + <li class="i2">Illness of, + <a href="#Page_290">290</a></li> + <li class="i2">and Mr. Venn, respecting Mr. Ingham’s state of mind, + <a href="#Page_301">301</a></li> + <li class="i2">sends students to Yorkshire, + <a href="#Page_303">303</a></li> + <li class="i2">Chapel of, at York, + <a href="#Page_310">310</a></li> + <li class="i2">—— at Lewes, opened, enlarged, and re-opened, + <a href="#Page_364">364</a></li> + <li class="i2">—— at Gloucester, Worcester, and Cheltenham, + <a href="#Page_441">441</a>, + <a href="#Page_442">442</a></li> + <li class="i2">—— at Bath, + <a href="#Page_443">443</a></li> + <li class="i2">exertions at Brighton, + <a href="#Page_312">312</a></li> + <li class="i2">sells her Jewels to build a Chapel at Brighton, + <a href="#Page_314">314</a></li> + <li class="i2">Gratitude of, respecting Mr. Romaine’s success at St. Anne’s, Blackfriars, + <a href="#Page_363">363</a></li> + <li class="i2">—— at Chichester, Guildford, and Basingstoke, + <a href="#Page_393">393</a></li> + <li class="i2">Extracts from letters respecting the Fast, + <a href="#Page_395">395</a></li> + <li class="i2">visits Mr. Berridge, with Mr. Madan, + <a href="#Page_399">399</a></li> + <li class="i2">visits Earl Ferrers in prison—her exertions to save his life, + <a href="#Page_405">405</a></li> + <li class="i2">purchases the Advowson of Aldwincle, and writes to Mr. Thornton, + <a href="#Page_416">416</a></li> + <li class="i2">Charges against, respecting the six expelled Oxford Students, + <a href="#Page_424">424</a></li> + <li class="i2">Letter of, respecting them, + <a href="#Page_442">442</a></li> + <li class="i2">Illness of, greatly blest, + <a href="#Page_14">14</a></li> + <li class="i2">Schools of, + <a href="#Page_51">51</a></li> + <li class="i2">Anecdote of one of her workmen, + <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li> + <li class="i2">Death of the Sons of, + <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li> + <li class="i2">her attachment to the Church of England, + <a href="#Page_83">83</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Huntingdon, Lady, Nobility meeting at her house, + <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, + <a href="#Page_228">228</a></li> + <li class="i2">the Wesleys, and Whitefield, + <a href="#Page_474">474</a></li> + <li class="i2">the Nobility attend her Chapel at Bath, + <a href="#Page_477">477</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Hurd, Dr., Bishop of Worcester, Anecdote of, + <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Hyatt, Mr. John, his settlement at Tabernacle, and Tottenham Chapel, + <a href="#Page_214">214</a></li> +</ul> + +<ul> + <li class="i1">Incident, Singular, concerning Dr. Doddridge, + <a href="#Page_154">154</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Ingham, Mr., + <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, + <a href="#Page_242">242</a></li> + <li class="i2">Marriage of, to Lady Margaret Hastings, + <a href="#Page_248">248</a></li> + <li class="i2">leaves the Moravians, + <a href="#Page_263">263</a></li> + <li class="i2">chosen General Overseer, + <a href="#Page_269">269</a></li> + <li class="i2">Melancholy state of, + <a href="#Page_301">301</a></li> + <li class="i2">Lady Margaret, Illness and death of, + <a href="#Page_302">302</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Inghamite Churches and Discipline, + <a href="#Page_269">269</a></li> + <li class="i2">Preachers, + <a href="#Page_270">270</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Impostor, an, + <a href="#Page_114">114</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Irvine, Lady, + <a href="#Page_297">297</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Itinerants, + <a href="#Page_33">33</a></li> +</ul> + +<ul> + <li class="i1">Jesse, Mr., Letter of, + <a href="#Page_363">363</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Jews, the, + <a href="#Page_114">114</a></li> + + <li class="i1">John, Lord St., attendant at the Countess’s, Death of, + <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Johnson, Dr., on Bolingbroke’s Works, + <a href="#Page_181">181</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Johnson, Mr., the Murder of, by Lord Ferrers, + <a href="#Page_402">402</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Jones, Mr., the death of, + <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li> + <li class="i2">of St. Saviour’s, the death of, + <a href="#Page_325">325</a></li> + <li class="i2">Thomas, + <a href="#Page_394">394</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Joss, Captain, unites in the Ministry with Whitefield, + <a href="#Page_212">212</a></li> +</ul> + +<ul> + <li class="i1">Keene, Mr., + <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, + <a href="#Page_468">468</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Kilmorey, Lady, + <a href="#Page_81">81</a></li> + + <li class="i1">King, Elizabeth, + <a href="#Page_453">453</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Knight, Mr. Joel Abraham, + <a href="#Page_214">214</a></li> + + <li class="i1">—— Titus, + <a href="#Page_283">283</a></li> +</ul> + +<ul> + <li class="i1">Larwood, Mr., + <a href="#Page_446">446</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Law, Mr., + <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, + <a href="#Page_223">223</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Lee, Mr., + <a href="#Page_483">483</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Levi, David, + <a href="#Page_114">114</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Levinges, the, + <a href="#Page_6">6</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Lewes, the Countess procures an opening for Messrs. Romaine, +Madan, and Fletcher at, + <a href="#Page_363">363</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Lewes, Chapel of the Countess at, opened and re-opened, + <a href="#Page_364">364</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Lindsay, Theophilus, + <a href="#Page_459">459</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Lisburne, Lord, + <a href="#Page_30">30</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Long-Acre Chapel, + <a href="#Page_203">203</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Lothian, Marquis of, + <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Luxborough, Lady, + <a href="#Page_181">181</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Lyttleton, Lord, + <a href="#Page_150">150</a></li> + + <li class="i1">—— Mr., + <a href="#Page_177">177</a></li> +</ul> + +<ul> + <li class="i1">Madan, Mr. Martin, his family, conversion, ordination, &c., + <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, + <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, + <a href="#Page_323">323</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Madan, Mr. Martin, opens the Chapel at Brighton, + <a href="#Page_314">314</a></li> + <li class="i2">and Dr. Haweis, Musical taste of, + <a href="#Page_364">364</a></li> + <li class="i2">Letter of the Countess to, + <a href="#Page_418">418</a></li> + <li class="i2">Reply of, + <a href="#Page_420">420</a></li> + <li class="i2">Letter of, to John Wesley, + <a href="#Page_433">433</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Magistrates and John Nelson, + <a href="#Page_255">255</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Mallet, Mr. David, and Bolingbroke’s Works, + <a href="#Page_181">181</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Marlborough, Sarah, Duchess of, + <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Mason, Mr. William, Letter of, to Dr. Free, + <a href="#Page_364">364</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Maxfield, Mr., + <a href="#Page_32">32</a></li> + <li class="i2">and Bell, + <a href="#Page_321">321</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Maxwell, Lady, + <a href="#Page_411">411</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Methodists, the, + <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, + <a href="#Page_31">31</a></li> + <li class="i2">the first Society of, + <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li> + <li class="i2">Welsh, Persecution of, + <a href="#Page_110">110</a></li> + <li class="i2">Societies, + <a href="#Page_195">195</a></li> + <li class="i2">Conference, + <a href="#Page_446">446</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Methodism, Rise of, in Yorkshire, + <a href="#Page_242">242</a></li> + <li class="i2">in Scotland, + <a href="#Page_410">410</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Milner, Mr., + <a href="#Page_267">267</a></li> + <li class="i2">Mr. Joseph, attends the Countess’s Preachers, and begins to preach the Gospel, + <a href="#Page_303">303</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Ministers, the German, + <a href="#Page_115">115</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Minor, The, publication of, + <a href="#Page_209">209</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Mitchell, Mrs., + <a href="#Page_40">40</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Mohegan Indians, + <a href="#Page_411">411</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Moira, Countess of, + <a href="#Page_460">460</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Montague, Lady Mary Wortley, + <a href="#Page_22">22</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Moravians, the, + <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, + <a href="#Page_453">453</a></li> + <li class="i2">and Charles Wesley, + <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li> + <li class="i2">Settlement of, at Fulneck, + <a href="#Page_250">250</a></li> + <li class="i2">Nobles, + <a href="#Page_262">262</a></li> + + <li class="i1">More, Mrs. Hannah, + <a href="#Page_293">293</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Moorfields, Preaching of Whitefield and Wesley in, + <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, + <a href="#Page_199">199</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Murray, Grace, marriage to Mr. Bennett, + <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li> +</ul> + +<ul> + <li class="i1">Nash, Beau, + <a href="#Page_445">445</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Nelson, John, + <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, + <a href="#Page_251">251</a></li> + <li class="i2">Spirit of, encouraged by the Countess, + <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, + <a href="#Page_256">256</a></li> + <li class="i2">imprisoned, + <a href="#Page_257">257</a></li> + <li class="i2">liberated through the influence of the Countess, + <a href="#Page_258">258</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Newton, Rev. John, Anecdote related by, respecting Whitefield, + <a href="#Page_92">92</a></li> + <li class="i2">visits Yorkshire, + <a href="#Page_270">270</a></li> + <li class="i2">Letter of, to John Wesley, + <a href="#Page_270">270</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Nimmo, Mr. and Lady Jane, + <a href="#Page_185">185</a></li> + <li class="i2">Lady Jane, Letter of, to the Countess, + <a href="#Page_186">186</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Nobility, Scotch, + <a href="#Page_185">185</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Nobility attend preaching at the Countess’s, + <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, + <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, + <a href="#Page_477">477</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Northampton, Lord, + <a href="#Page_132">132</a></li> +</ul> + +<ul> + <li class="i1">Oathall, + <a href="#Page_316">316</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Occum, the Indian Preacher, + <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, + <a href="#Page_411">411</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Okeley, Mr. Francis, + <a href="#Page_244">244</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Oliver, Dr., + <a href="#Page_450">450</a>, + <a href="#Page_451">451</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Oratorio, at the Lock Chapel, + <a href="#Page_364">364</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Oxford, Lord, + <a href="#Page_29">29</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Oxford, Students of, + <a href="#Page_421">421</a></li> + <li class="i2">Progress of piety among, + <a href="#Page_226">226</a></li> + <li class="i2">St. Edmund’s Hall, the expulsion of, + <a href="#Page_422">422</a></li> +</ul> + +<ul> + <li class="i1">Penitent’s Death Bed, + <a href="#Page_55">55</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Pentycross, Mr., + <a href="#Page_393">393</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Perfection, Christian and sinless, + <a href="#Page_321">321</a>, + <a href="#Page_329">329</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Perronet, Vincent, + <a href="#Page_387">387</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Piety, Progress of, at Cambridge, + <a href="#Page_421">421</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Pitt, Mr., + <a href="#Page_210">210</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Pope, the poet, + <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, + <a href="#Page_444">444</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Potter, Dr., Archbishop of Canterbury, + <a href="#Page_446">446</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Powys, Mr. and Mrs., + <a href="#Page_375">375</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Preaching, Lay, + <a href="#Page_32">32</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Preachers, Lay, + <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, + <a href="#Page_198">198</a></li> + <li class="i2">Mr. Wesley’s Defence of, + <a href="#Page_61">61</a></li> + <li class="i2">Welsh, + <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, + <a href="#Page_198">198</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Pretender, the, + <a href="#Page_65">65</a></li> +</ul> + +<ul> + <li class="i1">Queensbury, Duchess of, + <a href="#Page_28">28</a></li> +</ul> + +<ul> + <li class="i1">Religion, Revival of, in the Establishment and among the Methodists, + <a href="#Page_220">220</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Riddell, Mr., Letter of, to the Countess, + <a href="#Page_303">303</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Robinson, Miss, + <a href="#Page_29">29</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Rogers, Mr., + <a href="#Page_244">244</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Romaine, Mr., Family of, + <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> + <li class="i2">Letters of, to the Countess, + <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, + <a href="#Page_324">324</a>, + <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, + <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, + <a href="#Page_362">362</a></li> + <li class="i2">—— to Mrs. Medhurst, + <a href="#Page_302">302</a>, + <a href="#Page_333">333</a></li> + <li class="i2">Great popularity of, + <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> + <li class="i2">appointed Chaplain to the Countess, + <a href="#Page_132">132</a></li> + <li class="i2">Opinion of, respecting the Inghamite Churches, + <a href="#Page_273">273</a></li> + <li class="i2">preaches in Mr. Ingham’s Chapels, + <a href="#Page_273">273</a></li> + <li class="i2">at Haworth, preaches in the open air, + <a href="#Page_274">274</a></li> + <li class="i2">Wesley, Madan, Whitefield, &c. in Yorkshire, + <a href="#Page_281">281</a></li> + <li class="i2">Connexion of, with the Countess, + <a href="#Page_315">315</a></li> + <li class="i2">driven from the chapel of the Broadway, + <a href="#Page_326">326</a></li> + <li class="i2">and the Lectureship at St. Dunstan’s, + <a href="#Page_360">360</a></li> + <li class="i2">Lord Mansfield’s decision in favour of, + <a href="#Page_360">360</a></li> + <li class="i2">Influence of the Bishop of Peterborough for, + <a href="#Page_361">361</a></li> + <li class="i2">Election for St. Ann’s Blackfriars living on behalf of, + <a href="#Page_361">361</a></li> + <li class="i2">Probation Sermon; contest, canvassing and scrutiny, + <a href="#Page_361">361</a></li> + <li class="i2">Second Election on behalf of, + <a href="#Page_362">362</a></li> + <li class="i2">view of his preferment in a letter to the Countess, + <a href="#Page_363">363</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Romaine, Mr., Suit in Chancery against, but decided in his favour, + <a href="#Page_362">362</a></li> + <li class="i2">preaches at Bristol and Cheltenham, + <a href="#Page_388">388</a></li> + <li class="i2">and Madan visit Everton, + <a href="#Page_398">398</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Rowley, Mr., + <a href="#Page_310">310</a></li> +</ul> + +<ul> + <li class="i1">Sandeman’s letters, + <a href="#Page_274">274</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Scarborough, Lord, + <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Scawen, Mrs., + <a href="#Page_448">448</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Scott, Captain, + <a href="#Page_299">299</a>, + <a href="#Page_317">317</a></li> + <li class="i2">and Mr. Venn, + <a href="#Page_485">485</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Secker, Archbishop, + <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Shent, Mr. William, + <a href="#Page_291">291</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Shirley, Family of, &c., + <a href="#Page_1">1</a></li> + <li class="i2">Lady Fanny, + <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, + <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, + <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, + <a href="#Page_444">444</a></li> + <li class="i2">Mr., + <a href="#Page_363">363</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Shrapnell, + <a href="#Page_467">467</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Shunamite, the London, + <a href="#Page_299">299</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Shuter, Mr. Edward, the comedian, Anecdote of, + <a href="#Page_207">207</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Simpson, Mr., Mr. Wesley’s opinion of, + <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Society at Fetter-lane, Separation of, + <a href="#Page_35">35</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Soldiers, Christian, + <a href="#Page_93">93</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Somerset, the Duchess of, + <a href="#Page_82">82</a></li> + <li class="i2">the Duke of, + <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Somerville, the Poet, + <a href="#Page_22">22</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Southey, Dr., + <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li> + <li class="i2">Reflections of, on Berridge, and their refutation, + <a href="#Page_367">367</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Steward, Mr., + <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Stillingfleet, Mr., + <a href="#Page_478">478</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Stonehouse, Lady, + <a href="#Page_155">155</a></li> + <li class="i2">Dr., + <a href="#Page_170">170</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Suffolk, Lady, + <a href="#Page_98">98</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Sunderland, Lord, + <a href="#Page_258">258</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Sutherland, Lord and Lady, Death of, + <a href="#Page_472">472</a></li> +</ul> + +<ul> + <li class="i1">Tabernacle and Tottenham-court Chapels, History of, commencement, opening, &c., + <a href="#Page_196">196–206</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Talbot, Rev. W., + <a href="#Page_381">381</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Taylor, David, + <a href="#Page_43">43</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Temples, the, + <a href="#Page_21">21</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Thompson, Mr., + <a href="#Page_126">126</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Thorne, Rev. Thomas, + <a href="#Page_393">393</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Thornton, Mr., + <a href="#Page_280">280</a></li> + <li class="i2">—— Letter of, to Berridge, + <a href="#Page_371">371</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Thorold, Sir John, + <a href="#Page_77">77</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Thorpe, Mr., mimics Whitefield, and is converted, + <a href="#Page_149">149</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Toplady, Mr., + <a href="#Page_331">331</a>, + <a href="#Page_390">390</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Tottenham-court Chapel opened, + <a href="#Page_206">206</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Townsend, Lady, + <a href="#Page_22">22</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Townsend, Mr., sent to Edinburgh, + <a href="#Page_411">411</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Townsend, Mr. and Mr. Jesse, + <a href="#Page_466">466</a></li> + <li class="i2">—— Whitefield, &c., + <a href="#Page_467">467</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Trapp, Dr., + <a href="#Page_179">179</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Trinder, Mr., + <a href="#Page_431">431</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Tyler, Mr., + <a href="#Page_305">305</a></li> + <li class="i2">—— Labours of, at Hull, + <a href="#Page_306">306</a></li> +</ul> + +<ul> + <li class="i1">Union among the Evangelical Clergy proposed, + <a href="#Page_409">409</a></li> +</ul> + +<ul> + <li class="i1">Venn, Mr., begins to attract notice, + <a href="#Page_219">219</a></li> + <li class="i2">Acquaintance of, with Mr. Broughton, one of the original Methodists, + <a href="#Page_223">223</a></li> + <li class="i2">Illness of; accompanies Mr. Whitefield to Bristol; remains with the Countess at Clifton, + <a href="#Page_224">224</a></li> + <li class="i2">removes to Huddersfield, + <a href="#Page_276">276</a></li> + <li class="i2">Letters of, to the Countess, + <a href="#Page_282">282</a>, + <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, + <a href="#Page_336">336</a>, + <a href="#Page_359">359</a>, + <a href="#Page_430">430</a></li> + <li class="i2">publishes “The Complete Duty of Man”, + <a href="#Page_359">359</a></li> + <li class="i2">Letter of, + <a href="#Page_486">486</a></li> + <li class="i2">Irregularities of, + <a href="#Page_291">291</a></li> + <li class="i2">Defence of, + <a href="#Page_294">294</a></li> + <li class="i2">Whitefield and Fletcher, + <a href="#Page_375">375</a></li> + <li class="i2">and Fletcher preach at Everton, + <a href="#Page_398">398</a></li> + <li class="i2">at Trevecca, + <a href="#Page_482">482</a></li> +</ul> + +<ul> + <li class="i1">Wales, Death of the Prince of, + <a href="#Page_173">173</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Wall, Joseph, + <a href="#Page_313">313</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Walpole, Horace, + <a href="#Page_465">465</a></li> + <li class="i2">at Bath, + <a href="#Page_477">477</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Warburton, Dr., Bishop of Gloucester, + <a href="#Page_444">444</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Wardrobe, Mr., + <a href="#Page_187">187</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Watts, Dr., + <a href="#Page_58">58</a></li> + <li class="i2">Letter of, to Dr. Doddridge, + <a href="#Page_82">82</a></li> + <li class="i2">Anecdote of, + <a href="#Page_200">200</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Wells, Mr. Samuel, + <a href="#Page_431">431</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Wesley, Charles and Mr. Ingham, + <a href="#Page_28">28</a></li> + <li class="i3">—— and the Moravians, + <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li> + <li class="i2">John, Opinion of, respecting Mr. Maxfield’s call to the Ministry, + <a href="#Page_34">34</a></li> + <li class="i3">—— of, respecting Mr. Simpson, + <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li> + <li class="i3">preaching on his father’s tombstone, + <a href="#Page_57">57</a></li> + <li class="i3">defence of Lay-preaching, + <a href="#Page_60">60</a></li> + <li class="i3">and Whitefield, + <a href="#Page_118">118</a></li> + <li class="i3">and Whitefield, Breach between, + <a href="#Page_197">197</a></li> + <li class="i3">on sinless perfection, + <a href="#Page_329">329</a></li> + <li class="i3">preaching at Everton, + <a href="#Page_398">398</a></li> + <li class="i3">Letters of, to Lady Huntingdon, + <a href="#Page_398">398</a>, + <a href="#Page_427">427</a></li> + <li class="i3">—— to Lady Maxwell, + <a href="#Page_411">411</a></li> + <li class="i3">Interesting anecdote of, at Bath, interrupted in preaching by Beau Nash, + <a href="#Page_445">445</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Wesley, John, Whitefield, and Lady Huntingdon, + <a href="#Page_474">474</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Whitefield, the preaching of, + <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li> + <li class="i2">arrives in England, + <a href="#Page_89">89</a></li> + <li class="i2">Letters of, + <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, + <a href="#Page_89">89</a></li> + <li class="i2">—— to Mr. Baddeley, + <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, + <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li> + <li class="i2">—— to the Countess, + <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, + <a href="#Page_311">311</a></li> + <li class="i2">Letter of, to Lady Townshend, + <a href="#Page_105">105</a></li> + <li class="i2">—— to Lady Fanny Shirley, + <a href="#Page_116">116</a></li> + <li class="i2">—— to Dr. Haweis, + <a href="#Page_226">226</a></li> + <li class="i2">—— to Robert Keene, Esq., + <a href="#Page_468">468</a></li> + <li class="i2">—— to Mr. Madan, + <a href="#Page_432">432</a></li> + <li class="i2">preaching of, Anecdote, + <a href="#Page_102">102</a></li> + <li class="i2">nobility hear him, + <a href="#Page_108">108</a></li> + <li class="i2">and Wesley, + <a href="#Page_118">118</a></li> + <li class="i2">Success of, at Rotherham, + <a href="#Page_148">148</a></li> + <li class="i2">at Ashby, + <a href="#Page_163">163</a></li> + <li class="i2">visits Scotland, + <a href="#Page_183">183</a></li> + <li class="i2">in London, + <a href="#Page_196">196</a></li> + <li class="i2">and Wesley, Breach between, + <a href="#Page_197">197</a></li> + <li class="i2">preaches in Moorfields on St. Bartholomew’s day, + <a href="#Page_199">199</a></li> + <li class="i2">the Will of, + <a href="#Page_216">216</a></li> + <li class="i2">returns to England, and writes to Mr. Ingham, + <a href="#Page_264">264</a></li> + <li class="i2">visits Yorkshire, preaches at Leeds, York, Bradford, Haworth, &c., + <a href="#Page_267">267</a></li> + <li class="i2">visits Yorkshire again, + <a href="#Page_291">291</a></li> + <li class="i2">First visit of, to Brighton, + <a href="#Page_314">314</a></li> + <li class="i2">Fletcher, Venn, and Sir C. Hotham, + <a href="#Page_375">375</a></li> + <li class="i2">Wesley, Maxfield, and others hold prayer meetings for the nation, + <a href="#Page_396">396</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Wilks, Matthew, + <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Wills, Mr., + <a href="#Page_310">310</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Wilson, Mr., + <a href="#Page_300">300</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Wordsworth, Mrs., + <a href="#Page_467">467</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Wren, Mr., + <a href="#Page_308">308</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Wynn, Sir Watkin Williams, + <a href="#Page_109">109</a></li> +</ul> + +<ul> + <li class="i1">York, Chapel of the Countess at, + <a href="#Page_308">308</a></li> + <li class="i2">Duke of, + <a href="#Page_400">400</a></li> + + <li class="i1">Young, Dr., + <a href="#Page_21">21</a></li> +</ul> + +<ul> + <li class="i1">Zinzendorff, Count, + <a href="#Page_244">244</a></li> + <li class="i2">visits the Countess, + <a href="#Page_454">454</a></li> + <li class="i2">—— Yorkshire, + <a href="#Page_261">261</a></li> +</ul> + + +<div class="footnotes"><h2>FOOTNOTES:</h2> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="label">[1]</a> See Williams’s “Missionary Enterprizes.”</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_2" href="#FNanchor_2" class="label">[2]</a> Lady Dorothy Shirley took for her second husband, in 1634, +William Stafford of Blatherwick, county of Northampton, Esq. The last +male heir of this family was William Stafford, Esq., who died without +issue. Of his two sisters, his co-heirs, the elder, Susannah, married +in 1699, Henry O’Brien, Esq., son of Sir Donatus O’Brien, of Dromoland, +in the county of Clare. The present representative of this family is +Stafford O’Brien, Esq., of Blatherwycke Park, who married a daughter of +the late excellent Lady Barham: the younger, Anne, became the wife of +George Lord Carberry.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_3" href="#FNanchor_3" class="label">[3]</a> She had a numerous family, and two of her five sons +were successively Earls of Clanricarde; Richard, the eldest, left a +daughter, Lady Dorothy, who married Alexander Pendarves, Esq., of +Roscarron, in Cornwall; John, the second son, who succeeded to the +title after the death of his brother Richard, without issue male, was +the colonel of a regiment of foot in King James’s army, and created +by that monarch, after his abdication, Baron de Burgh, of Bophin, an +island adjacent to the county of Galway. He was taken prisoner at the +battle of Aghrim, at the head of his regiment, brought to the castle +of Dublin, and thence went to England, being outlawed and attained, +and his estates forfeited, for his adherence to that king; but, in the +first year of the reign of Queen Anne, an act of Parliament was passed +for making provision for the Protestant children of Richard, Earl of +Clanricarde, and John Lord Bophin, whereby he was acquitted of all +treasons and attainders, himself and children restored to their blood +and estate; and Montague, Earl of Abingdon, Robert Earl Ferrars (the +grandfather of Lady Huntingdon), and Henry Thynne, Esq., afterwards +Viscount Weymouth, his next (Protestant) relations, were appointed +guardians to his sons, for the purpose of completing their education in +the Protestant religion. One of these sons, Michael, who became tenth +Earl, was great grandfather to the present Marquis of Clanricarde.</p> + +<p>Ulick de Burgh, the fourth son of Lettice, Countess of Clanricarde, +was created Viscount Galway. He was a nobleman of true courage, and +endowed with many good qualities: he commanded a regiment of foot in +King James’s army, and was killed at the battle of Aghrim, in the 22nd +year of his age. As he died without issue, as well as the third and +fifth sons of his mother, the title became extinct. Besides five sons, +Lady Clanricarde had four daughters, two of whom died unmarried; Lady +Margaret, the eldest, married, first, Bryan, Viscount Magennis, of +Iveagh; and secondly, Thomas Butler, Esq., of Kilcash, in the county +of Tipperary, where she died, his widow, July 19, 1744; Lady Honora, +the second daughter, first married Patrick Sarsfield, Earl of Lucan, +who was killed at the battle of Landen, July 19, 1693; and secondly, +in the chapel of the Castle of St. Germain’s, near Paris, in 1695, +James Fitz-James, Duke of Berwick, Marshal, Duke, and Peer of France +(eldest natural son of James II. by Lady Arabella Churchill, sister to +John, Duke of Marlborough), one of the greatest Generals in Europe, +who was killed at the siege of Philipsburgh, June 12, 1734, leaving +issue by her (who died at Pezenas, a city of Languedoc, in 1698), +James Francis Fitz-James, Duke of Berwick, founder of the branch of +the House of <span class="smcap">Stuart</span>, established in Spain. He was created +by Philip V. Duke of Liria and Xercia, Grandee of Spain of the first +Class, Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece, of St. Andrew, and St. +Alexandro, and Chamberlain to the King of Spain. He married Catherine +de Portugal-Columb, daughter and heir of the Duke of Veraguas, a +Grandee of Spain, in whose right he bore that title. Having been +sent Ambassador from Philip V. to his son Don Carlos, King of the +two Sicilies, he died at Naples, June 1, 1738, aged forty-two years, +leaving issue by his Duchess (who died in October, 1739), two sons and +one daughter, viz.:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>James Fitz-James Stuart, Duke of Berwick, +Liria, and de Veraguas, who had a son named +Charles-Bernard-Paschal-Fitz-James, baptized July 5, 1751, and +ennobled as Marquis of Jamaica.</p> + +<p>Lord Peter Fitz-James, called in Spain Don Pedro, and created +Marquis de Saint Leonard, in May, 1774, Lieutenant-General and +Admiral of Spain. He married and left issue.</p> + +<p>Donna-Maria, married to the Duke of Mirandola, Duke and Grandee +of the first Class, whose widow she died at Madrid, November 11, +1750.</p> +</div> + + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_4" href="#FNanchor_4" class="label">[4]</a> See, in Nichol’s History of Leicestershire, a fac-simile +of a letter from Charles II. to his widow; and a portrait of Sir +Robert.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_5" href="#FNanchor_5" class="label">[5]</a> See Chap. VI., where the epitaph will be found.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_6" href="#FNanchor_6" class="label">[6]</a> There was a considerable alteration in his religious +sentiments before his death, which took place August 30th, 1752. At the +close of the long inscription on his monument, in Gloucester Cathedral, +it is written: “Under the most acute pains of his last tedious illness, +he possessed his soul in patience, and, with a firm trust in his +Redeemer, calmly resigned his spirit to the Father of Mercies.” To +that epitaph might have been added, as the most distinguishing honour +of this Bishop’s life, that <i>he</i> was the prelate who ordained the +greatest, the most eloquent, and the most useful minister that any age +since that of the Apostles had produced.</p> + +<p>The venerable Dr. Hurd, Bishop of Worcester, being in the habit of +preaching frequently, had observed a poor man remarkably attentive, +and made him some little present. After a while he missed his humble +auditor, and meeting him, said, “John, how is it that I do not see you +in the aisle, as usual?” John, with some hesitation, replied, “My Lord, +I hope you will not be offended, and I will tell you the truth. I went +the other day to hear the Methodists, and I understand their plain +words so much better, that I have attended them ever since.” The Bishop +put his hand into his pocket and gave him a guinea, with words to this +effect—“God bless you, and go where you can receive the greatest +profit to your soul!” An instance of episcopal candour like this is +well worth recording. We may be pardoned if we subjoin another.</p> + +<p>Archbishop Secker, when laid on his couch with a broken thigh, was +visited at Lambeth by Mr. Talbot, Vicar of St. Giles’s, Reading, who +had lived in great intimacy with him, and received his preferment from +him. “You will pray with me, Talbot?” said the Archbishop, during this +interview. Mr. Talbot rose, and went to look for a Prayer Book. “That +is not what I want now (said the dying prelate); kneel down by me, and +pray for me in the way I know you are used to do.” With which command +this zealous man of God readily complied, and prayed earnestly from his +heart for his dying friend, whom he saw no more.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_7" href="#FNanchor_7" class="label">[7]</a> Her Ladyship was daughter of Richard, first Earl of +Scarborough, and became second wife to Frederick Frankland, Esq., +Member of Parliament for Thirsk, in Yorkshire, a Commissioner of the +Revenue in Ireland, and a Commissioner of the Excise in England, son +of Sir Thomas Frankland, Bart., and nephew to the Earl of Fauconberg. +For many years Lady Anne held the situation of Lady of the Bedchamber +to the Princess Anne, and to the Princesses Amelia and Caroline. +Attracted by the fame of the first Methodists, who had been mentioned +with high approbation by her friend, Lady Huntingdon, soon after her +marriage, Lady Anne, with her sisters, the Lady Barbara Leigh and the +Lady Henrietta Lumley, sometimes attended their ministry, and received +much spiritual good. This excited the displeasure of Mr. Frankland to +such a degree, that he treated her Ladyship with the utmost cruelty and +unkindness. “Poor Lady Anne Frankland (says Lady Hertford,) is already +parted from her husband, and, I think, without any one person giving +her the least share of blame. It seems that he parted beds with her +before she had been three weeks married, and on all occasions behaved +towards her with the utmost cruelty. However, she made no complaint, +till he insisted on her leaving the house, when she begged of him not +to force her to do that, and told him, that provided he would allow +her to have the sanction of being under his roof, she would submit to +anything. His answer was, that if she continued there, he would either +murder her or himself. She then applied to my Lord Scarborough, who +spoke to her husband with great warmth. He did not lay any fault to her +charge, but only declared that she was his aversion, and persisted in +the resolution of forcing her to leave him, or killing her or himself. +It is said, that he returns her fortune, allows her six hundred pounds +a year, and has given her a thousand pounds to buy a house. His strange +conduct towards her has been so contrary to his former character, +that his friends rather ascribe it to madness than to his natural +disposition.”</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_8" href="#FNanchor_8" class="label">[8]</a> His connexion with this lady arose from his father’s +acquaintance with Lady Anne Wharton, who was co-heiress of Sir Henry +Lee, of Ditchley, in Oxfordshire—a lady celebrated for her poetical +talents by Burnet and by Waller, when poetry had been taught by Addison +to aspire to the arms of nobility, though certainly without any +extraordinary success.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_9" href="#FNanchor_9" class="label">[9]</a> As the Doctor saw her gradually declining, he used +frequently to walk backwards and forwards in a place called the King’s +Garden, to find the most solitary spot where he might show his last +token of affection, by leaving her remains as secure as possible from +those savages who would have denied her Christian burial; for at +that time, an Englishman in France was looked upon as an heretic, an +infidel, or a devil. The under-gardener, being bribed, pointed out +the most solitary place, dug the grave, and let him bury his beloved +daughter. The man, through a private door, admitted the Doctor at +midnight, bringing his daughter, wrapped in a sheet, upon his shoulder; +he laid her in the hole, sat down, and shed a flood of tears over the +remains of his dear Narcissa—</p> + + <div class="poetry-container1"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div>“With pious sacrilege a grave I stole.”</div> + </div> + </div> + </div> + +<p>Mr. Temple married a second time a daughter of Sir John Bernard, then +Lord Mayor of London. Dying in 1749, he left an only son, afterwards +Viscount Palmerston, father of the present Secretary of State for +Foreign Affairs. Mr. and Mrs. Temple have generally been considered as +the Philander and Narcissa of the “Night Thoughts.”</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_10" href="#FNanchor_10" class="label">[10]</a> Anthony Hammond, Esq., a Commissioner of the Navy, and +some time representative in Parliament for the county of Huntingdon, +and also for the University of Cambridge, was very frequently at Lord +Huntingdon’s at that period. With him was his son, James Hammond, the +elegiac poet, whose fame and fortune were raised by the influence of +Lady Huntingdon, and Lady Fanny Shirley, to whose hand it was believed +he vainly aspired—to whom some of his elegies are supposed to be +addressed. He died at Lord Cobham’s house, Stowe, while member for +Truro, in Cornwall. This gentleman, the “silver-tongued” Hammond of +Lord Bolingbroke, who had, says Lord Chesterfield, all the senses but +common sense, was a relative of the Shirley family; he married the +eldest daughter of Sir W. Clarges, Bart., whose family made a triple +alliance with that of Lady Huntingdon by marriage. At the same time, +Somervile, the author of the “Chace,” was introduced to Lady Huntingdon +by the eccentric Lady Luxborough, the sister of Lord Bolingbroke.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_11" href="#FNanchor_11" class="label">[11]</a> The three favourite ladies who accompanied the King from +Hanover were Mademoiselle de Schulenberg, the Countess Plater, and +Madam Kilmanseg; the first alone, whom he created Duchess of Kendal, +was lodged in St. James’s Palace, and had such respect paid her as very +much confirmed the rumour of a left-handed marriage. She was mother of +Lady Chesterfield, and as she usually presided at the King’s evening +parties, was on familiar terms with those who formed his society.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_12" href="#FNanchor_12" class="label">[12]</a> She was the first who extolled the preaching of Mr. +Whitefield, whom she alternately liked and disliked. Her Ladyship is +the supposed original of <i>Lady Bellaston</i> in “<i>Tom Jones</i>;” +and <i>Lady Tempest</i> in “<i>Pompey the Little</i>.” She was the +mother of George, the first Marquis Townshend, and of the famous +Charles Townshend.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_13" href="#FNanchor_13" class="label">[13]</a> On her return from the continent, at Mr. Pope’s +solicitation, Lady Mary fixed her summer residence at Twickenham; but +it was not long before she had a bitter and lasting quarrel with that +irritable bard; when having exhausted all the pleasures that England +could afford, and disgusted perhaps at that alienation which the +sarcasm of her wit had too often produced, she obtained her husband’s +leave to pass the remainder of her days on the continent.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_14" href="#FNanchor_14" class="label">[14]</a> Lord Hervey was father of the late excellent Lady Mary +Fitzgerald, the friend and correspondent of Lady Huntingdon, Mr. +Fletcher, Mr. Venn, and others alike celebrated.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_15" href="#FNanchor_15" class="label">[15]</a> Lady Frances was one of the daughters of the Earl of +Manchester, and had married Henry, the son and heir of the celebrated +Dr. Robert Saunderson, Bishop of Lincoln.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_16" href="#FNanchor_16" class="label">[16]</a> Alexander Pope, the poet.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_17" href="#FNanchor_17" class="label">[17]</a> The calmness and heavenly peace which surrounded Lady +Huntingdon were powerful enough to avoid the hurricanes of temper to +which this singular woman was liable, to such a degree that she would +punish even herself rather than forego her resentment. This is proved +by the well-known story of her cutting off her own hair, only because +it was esteemed her most beautiful feature in the eyes of her husband; +on whom to revenge some supposed opposition to her sovereign will, she +disfigured herself. The Duke was not irritated by this rash act, which +the Duchess often related with characteristic candour, weeping always, +as she wound up her story, with the remark, that after his death she +found her treasured ringlets in the cabinet wherein he kept whatever he +esteemed most precious.</p> + +<p>It was her temper that involved her in law-suits with her own children. +Her eldest grandson, Robert, Earl of Sunderland, died before he had +forfeited her favour. Charles was no sooner elevated to his father’s +dignity, than she openly quarrelled with, and in the Court of Chancery +pleaded her own cause against him. She accused him of pawning one by +one the diamonds in the famous baldric of the great Marlborough’s +sword, and by extravagance gave point to the charge: yet John, her +youngest grandson, who was no less profligate, retained her favour in +the midst of his excesses. Her granddaughter, Lady Anne Egerton, was +as proud as the Duchess herself, and no less fiery; on some quarrel +between them, the Duchess of Marlborough had Lady Anne’s picture daubed +with black, and over it this inscription—“She is much blacker within.” +With her the ruling passion was strong even against death. About four +years before her demise, the Duchess was attacked by a dangerous +disease, and had lain a great while ill, without speaking: her +physician, believing her case very bad, said, “She must be blistered, +or she will die.” Her Grace, who had listened with attention, called +out, “I won’t be blistered, and I won’t die!” She kept her word.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_18" href="#FNanchor_18" class="label">[18]</a> The Duchess was avowedly the natural daughter of King +James the Second; but supposed to be <i>really</i> the daughter of +Colonel Graham, an admirer of her mother, Lady Dorchester. This lady, +who was the only daughter of Sir Charles Sedley, the celebrated wit, +was mistress to the King, and had a pension of five thousand per +annum on the Irish Establishment. She afterwards married the Earl of +Portmore, and left two sons, one of whom succeeded to the title, and +was grandfather to the present Earl. The Duchess was so proud of her +birth, that she would never go to the Court of Versailles, because +they would not give her the rank of Princess of the blood. She not +only regulated the ceremony of her own burial, and dressed up the +waxen figure of herself for Westminster Abbey, but had shown the +same insensible pride on the death of her only son, the last Duke of +Buckingham, dressing his figure, and sending messages to her friends, +that if they had a mind to see him lie in state, she would carry +them in conveniently by a back door. She sent to the old Duchess of +Marlborough to borrow the triumphal car that had carried the Duke’s +body. Old Sarah, as mad and as proud as herself, sent her word, “that +it had carried my Lord Marlborough, and should never be profaned by any +other corpse.” Proud Buckingham returned, “that she had spoken to the +undertaker, and he had engaged to make a finer car for twenty pounds!”</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_19" href="#FNanchor_19" class="label">[19]</a> The conduct of her mother-in-law, the old Lady Sandwich, +had left an indelible impression on her mind, which spread a gloom over +her latter years. Lord Sandwich being confined, and denied access to +by his eccentric Countess, was rendered so much a cipher, that all the +duties of his station devolved upon Lord Hinchinbroke, who was an able, +active, and spirited young man. His extraordinary mother, one of the +daughters of the witty and repentant Earl of Rochester, partook of all +the fire and vivacity of her father. She detested restraint herself, +but put her Lord into “durance vile” in his own house. At his death she +quitted England, too stupid, she said, for her, and resided at Paris, +in habits of intimacy with the Duchess of Orleans, Mazarine, Madame de +Berri, the Regent’s daughter, and also that beautiful octogenary, the +Ninon de L’Enclos. Unhappily Lord Hinchinbroke died in the life-time of +his weak but worthy father.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_20" href="#FNanchor_20" class="label">[20]</a> Mrs. Mary Mitchell died at her house in Hart-street, +Bloomsbury, December 18, 1773, and was interred in St. James’s Church, +Clerkenwell, near the remains of her venerable father. On taking +down the old Church, in September, 1778, the Bishop’s remains were +unavoidably disturbed. His body was found in a leaden coffin, broken +at the head, through which the skull and some hair were visible. +The Bishop left three sons—William, Governor of New York and the +Massachusetts; Gilbert, in holy orders, who took an active part on the +side of Bishop Hoadley, in the Bangorian controversy; and Sir Thomas, +who became one of the best lawyers of his time—Serjeant and Justice of +the Common Pleas. He published the posthumous history of his father, +and died in 1753.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_21" href="#FNanchor_21" class="label">[21]</a> Miss Anne Cooper, who died a few months after.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_22" href="#FNanchor_22" class="label">[22]</a> It is evident from the above, as well as from the +preceding letter, that Mr. Wesley consulted Lady Huntingdon relative +to his Journals, the manuscripts of which were submitted to her +inspection, and that her Ladyship gave her opinion of them before they +were published.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_23" href="#FNanchor_23" class="label">[23]</a> Mr. Charles Wesley.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_24" href="#FNanchor_24" class="label">[24]</a> In some of her Ladyship’s letters the name is given as +above, but in others it is written Cowper.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_25" href="#FNanchor_25" class="label">[25]</a> Lady Cox was one of the fruits of Mr. Whitefield’s +ministry at Bath, and likewise derived much profit from the preaching +and heart-searching conversation of the apostolic Griffith Jones, +Rector of Llandower, in Carmarthenshire, and Mr. Thompson, Vicar of St. +Ginney’s, in Cornwall, both of whom were often at Bath at this period.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_26" href="#FNanchor_26" class="label">[26]</a> Her Ladyship once spoke to a workman who was repairing a +garden wall, and pressed him to take some thought concerning eternity +and the state of his soul. Some years afterwards she was speaking to +another on the same subject, and said to him, “Thomas, I fear you never +pray, nor look to Christ for salvation.” “Your Ladyship is mistaken +(answered the man): I heard what passed between you and James at such +a time, and the word you designed for him took effect on me.” “How did +you hear it?” asked her Ladyship. “I heard it, (answered the man) on +the other side of the garden, through a hole in the wall, and shall +never forget the impression I received.”</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_27" href="#FNanchor_27" class="label">[27]</a> The very popular, but unequal, poem of “The Grave” was +first printed in London in 1743; and soon after its appearance her +Ladyship was presented with a copy by Dr. Watts, at the particular +request of Mr. Blair, as an expression of high gratitude for the +patronage she afforded him. The Doctor had experienced considerable +difficulty in the publication of this little piece, and was at last +compelled to cross his own inclination to please popular taste. “The +booksellers can scarcely think (says Mr. Blair), considering how +critical an age we live in, with respect to such kind of writings, that +a person living three hundred miles from London could write so as to be +acceptable to the fashionable and polite.”</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_28" href="#FNanchor_28" class="label">[28]</a> To whose pupil, Risdon Darracott, her Ladyship is named +with eulogy in a letter from Mrs. Anne Dutton, written about this +period.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_29" href="#FNanchor_29" class="label">[29]</a> This gentleman held the living of Ripton Abbots, in +Huntingdonshire, and appears to have possessed not only a highly +Catholic spirit, but sound learning. Lady Huntingdon’s conversation was +highly beneficial in leading him to clearer views of divine truth. Mr. +Jones was afterwards presented to the Vicarage of Alconbury, which he +resigned in a few years for a living in Bedfordshire. Whilst there he +accepted the curacy of Welwyn from Dr. Young, the celebrated author of +“Night Thoughts,” and continued there till the Doctor’s decease. He was +killed by a fall from his horse.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_30" href="#FNanchor_30" class="label">[30]</a> For the benefit of the Hospital at Northampton, or +Northampton Infirmary.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_31" href="#FNanchor_31" class="label">[31]</a> She was sole daughter of Lord Weymouth, and descended +from Lady Frances Devereux, eldest daughter of Robert, Earl of Essex. +Sir Robert and Lady Worsley were persons of great honour and integrity, +and with Lady Carteret and the Countess Granville, mother to Lord +Carteret, frequently attended the preaching of the first Methodists. +Lady Worsley was aunt to the Duchess of Somerset, better known as the +Countess of Hertford, celebrated for her patronage of literature and +her own amiable genius.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_32" href="#FNanchor_32" class="label">[32]</a> The epitaph, referred to at page 9, is as follows:—</p> + +<p>“Here lie the remains of the Right Honourable Theophilus, Earl of +Huntingdon, Lord Hastings, Hungerford, Botreaux, Moels, Newmark, and +Molins. If his death deserved respect, his life deserved it more. +If he derived his title from a long roll of illustrious ancestors, +he reflected back on them superior honours. He ennobled nobility by +virtue. He was of the first rank in both; good in every relation of +natural duty and social life. The learning he acquired at school he +improved at Oxford, under the care of that excellent person, the late +Bishop of Gloucester.<a id="FNanchor_33" href="#Footnote_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> Acquainted by his studies with the characters +of past ages, he acquired by his travels a knowledge of the men and +manners of his own: he visited France, Italy, and even Spain. After +these excursions into other countries, he settled in his own. His own +was dear to him. No man had juster notions of the true constitution +of her government: no man had a more comprehensive view of her real +interests, domestic and foreign. Capable of excelling in every form +of public life, he chose to appear in none. His mind fraught with +knowledge, his heart elevated with sentiments of unaffected patriotism, +he looked down from higher ground on the low level of a futile and +corrupt generation. Despairing to do national good, he mingled as +little as his rank permitted in national affairs. Home is the refuge +of a wise man’s life; home was the refuge of his. By his marriage with +the Lady Selina Shirley, second daughter, and one of the co-heirs of +Washington, Earl Ferrars, he secured to himself, in retreat, a scene of +happiness he could not have found in the world; the uninterrupted joys +of conjugal love, the never-failing comforts of cordial friendship. +Every care was softened, every satisfaction heightened, every hour +passed smoothly away, in the company of one who enjoyed a perpetual +serenity of soul, that none but those can feel in this life who are +prepared for greater bliss in the next. By her, this monument is +erected to record the virtues of the deceased and the grief of the +living. He was born November 12, 1696, and married the said Lady, June +3, 1728. By her he had four sons and three daughters, Francis,<a id="FNanchor_34" href="#Footnote_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> the +present Earl, born March 13, 1729; George, born March 29, 1730, who +died of the small-pox, aged fourteen; Ferdinando, born January 23, +1732, who also died of the small-pox, aged eleven Elizabeth,<a id="FNanchor_35" href="#Footnote_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> the +eldest daughter, born March 23, 1731; Selina, born June, 1735, who died +an infant; Selina, the third daughter, born December 3, 1737. The said +Earl died of a fit of apoplexy, October 13, 1746, in the fiftieth year +of his age.”</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_33" href="#FNanchor_33" class="label">[33]</a> Dr. Martin Benson, who had ordained Mr. Whitefield.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_34" href="#FNanchor_34" class="label">[34]</a> Tenth and last Earl of that line.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_35" href="#FNanchor_35" class="label">[35]</a> Afterwards Countess of Moira.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_36" href="#FNanchor_36" class="label">[36]</a> He was one of the first members of the Methodist Society +in Fetter-lane, and, with Sir John Phillips, of Picton Castle, also +member of the same Society, very useful in aiding and encouraging the +labours of Mr. Whitefield and the Wesleys. He was a correspondent of +the celebrated Griffith Jones, whom he assisted in the establishment +of his Welsh schools, and of Dr. Doddridge, and a letter from him to +Mr. Wesley appears in an early volume of the “Methodist Magazine.” +His death, which occurred in 1748, was a great loss to the early +Methodists. He was twice married, and left five children. His family +was one of the oldest in Lincolnshire, and had given “reeves” to +that “shire” prior to the conquest. By his mother he was related to +Sanderson, Bishop of Lincoln, whose eldest son married Lady Frances +Montagu, daughter of the Earl of Manchester. We will conclude this +long note with an extract from Sir John’s letter of condolence to Lady +Huntingdon, dated “St. James’s-place, 14th Nov., 1746,” and signed +“your affectionate and most faithful humble servant, John Thorold.”</p> + +<p>“My fellow-sharer in the cup of sorrow, the painful task has been +imposed upon us of consigning the remains of your tenderly affectionate +husband, and my most faithful friend, to the bosom of our mother earth, +‘where the wicked cease to trouble, and where the weary are for ever +at rest.’ You have been called upon, by this sad stroke, to entomb in +the cold and silent grave one who has long been deeply entombed in your +warm affectionate heart: but the words of the great apostle, ‘thanks be +unto God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!’ +will help to soothe your sorrows, and, in the midst of your mourning +and distress, assist in drying up your tears. I sympathise with you, +but sorrow not as one without hope. There is hope concerning our dear +friend: I believe it is well with him. Your loss must be borne—he +cannot come back to you. The event calls you to self-examination. +May every divine support and comfort be abundantly administered to +the disconsolate widow! and may every blessing rest upon your young +and interesting family. Look to the Rock of Hope—the Fountain Head +of power—that you may derive supplies of vigour to enable you to +prosecute the work which God hath assuredly marked out for you upon the +earth. The Captain of your salvation is Jesus Christ, who has promised +you strength for every time of need. Awake! look up! and endure +hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ; and may you be made truly +invincible in the cause of God and truth, only laying down your weapons +when your dust shall return into the dust, and your spirit unto the God +that gave it!”</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_37" href="#FNanchor_37" class="label">[37]</a> Lady Kilmorey.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_38" href="#FNanchor_38" class="label">[38]</a> The Duchess of Somerset, a celebrated patroness of +literature, of virtue, and religion.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_39" href="#FNanchor_39" class="label">[39]</a> Several of the Edwin family were conspicuous in the early +days of Methodism. John Edwin, Esq., the husband of the above-named +Mrs. Edwin, held several offices under Government, and was a member of +Parliament. Dr. Doddridge, in his Reflections on the opening of the +year 1749, thus speaks of him:—“The accession of several valuable +friends, to balance the loss of some few by death, is also to be +gratefully remembered; particularly my Lady Huntingdon, Mr. Edwin, and +Colonel Gumley.” His only daughter and heir, Miss Elizabeth Edwin, whom +Horace Walpole complains of to his correspondent, Sir Horace Mann, as +having turned Methodist, was the particular friend of the eccentric +Lady Townshend, and married Charles Dalrymple, Esq., grandson of the +Hon. Sir Hugh Dalrymple, brother of John, second Viscount Stair. (See +a Note, post, page 89). Charles Edwin, Esq., M.P., the brother of +Mr. Edwin, married Lady Charlotte Hamilton, one of the attendants of +the Prince of Wales’s children. Their mother, Lady Catherine Edwin, +was sister to the first Duke of Manchester, and to Anne, Countess of +Suffolk. Sir Humphrey Edwin, Lord Mayor of London, was grandfather to +Mr. Edwin; Mrs. Edwin’s family formed alliance with that of the Marquis +of Westminster, and Lord St. John, of Bletsloe. She was eldest daughter +of Sir Roger Bradshaigh, of Haigh, in the county of Lancaster, Bart., +and M.P. On the failure of the male branch of this family, in 1787, the +estate of Haigh devolved on Mrs. Edwin’s granddaughter, the Countess of +Balcarres.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_40" href="#FNanchor_40" class="label">[40]</a> See “Gentleman’s Magazine,” 1748.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_41" href="#FNanchor_41" class="label">[41]</a> Mrs. Edwin was a woman of great rank, and her influence +at Court, which exposed her more to the shafts of ridicule, and made +her especially liable to the attacks of vanity, rendered her conversion +the more remarkable. She was the fast friend of Lady Huntingdon, and a +great favourite with Mr. Whitefield, who, in all his letters, warned +her against the snares to which her condition led. “To see any one +converted (he says) is a miracle; but to see a rich person, one of the +mighty, one of the noble, converted, is a greater. May the Lord Jesus +add more of your rank to his Church!” See the note at close of the last +chapter, p. 87.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_42" href="#FNanchor_42" class="label">[42]</a> As a proof of the power of Mr. Whitefield’s preaching, +Mr. Newton mentioned, that an 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, laid 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 another striking example of Mr. Whitefield’s +persuasive oratory—his collecting at one sermon <i>six hundred +pounds</i> for the inhabitants of an obscure village in Germany that +had been burnt down: no very interesting object, surely, for the public +in London. However, after the sermon, Mr. 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 stirred; he got down +from the pulpit, and ordered all the doors to be shut but one, at which +he held the plate himself, and collected the above sum; more than was +ever done on a similar occasion. Mr. Newton related as a fact, that at +the time of his greatest persecution, when obliged to preach in the +streets, in one week he received no fewer than a thousand letters from +persons distressed in their consciences by the energy of his preaching.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_43" href="#FNanchor_43" class="label">[43]</a> The Bishop’s death put an end to the proceedings against +Mr. Bateman, who, notwithstanding Southey’s eulogy, appears, from his +warm altercation with Mr. Charles Wesley, to have been a very sincere +friend to the Methodists.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_44" href="#FNanchor_44" class="label">[44]</a> The Earl of Bath, who married the eldest of the three +daughters of Colonel Gumley, introduced that gentleman to Lady +Huntingdon; and at her house, through the preaching of Mr. Whitefield, +and the heart-searching conversation of the Countess, who were God’s +instruments in Colonel Gumley’s conversion, the Lord met him with the +blessings of his grace. Mr. Whitefield kept up a correspondence with +him when absent from London; for he was ever careful to keep alive +the flame he had lit up in the heart of his hearers. In one of these +letters to the Colonel, he says—“Good Lady Huntingdon has an extract +of a letter from a soldier, which will please you: may the Lord Jesus +add more to the Church of such converts.”</p> + +<p>The sisters and co-heiresses of the Countess of Bath were Letitia, +who married Lancelot Charles Lake, Esq., whose sons were, Warwick, a +Commissioner of the Stamp Office, and Gerard, first Viscount Lake, +a distinguished officer in the army; and Mary, who married Francis +Colman, Esq., father of the elder and grandfather of the younger George +Colman, both celebrated as dramatic writers.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_45" href="#FNanchor_45" class="label">[45]</a> His Lordship was half-brother to Lord Bolingbroke, and +had married the daughter of Sir Richard Furness, Bart., who was uncle +to Lady Huntingdon by his marriage with Lady Anne Shirley, sister to +Lady Fanny, and daughter of Robert, first Earl of Ferrars.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_46" href="#FNanchor_46" class="label">[46]</a> Henrietta, Countess of Suffolk, sister to the first +Earl of Buckinghamshire, a few years after the death of Lord Suffolk, +married the Hon. George Berkeley, a son of the second Earl Berkeley, +whom she survived more than twenty years. She had been a widow only +a short time, and had lately lost her only son, Lord Suffolk, when +she was invited to Lady Huntingdon’s to hear Mr. Whitefield. She +lived principally at Marble-hill, Twickenham, and was a well-known +acquaintance of Pope, the poet, under the name of “Mrs. Howard.” +She was in much favour with George II., an influence which is +supposed to have contributed to the grant of her mother’s peerage. +Having ingratiated herself into the favour of Queen Caroline, then +Electoral Princess, she accompanied her to England, and became her +bedchamber-woman. If we were to draw an estimate of the understanding +and character of Lady Suffolk from the representations of Pope, Swift, +and Gay, during the time of her favour, we might suppose that she +possessed every accomplishment and good quality which were ever the +lot of a woman. The real truth is, she was more remarkable for beauty +than for understanding, and the passion which the King entertained +for her was rather derived from chance, than from any combination of +those transcendant qualities which Pope and Swift ascribed to their +court-divinity. She lived to an advanced age, not dying till 1767. +During her last illness Lady Huntingdon made some efforts to see her, +but the mortified Lady Suffolk carried her resentment to the grave, and +would never admit her Ladyship.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_47" href="#FNanchor_47" class="label">[47]</a> Lord Chesterfield paid his court (according to +those maxims and false pretensions to superior penetration which +characterized him) to Lady Suffolk, and not to the Queen; and of +those who acted thus the Queen never failed to oppose the rise: Lord +Chesterfield is a remarkable instance. He had long coveted the post of +Secretary of State, and an arrangement had been made in his favour: +after an audience of the Queen, to which he had been introduced by +Walpole, and thanking her for her concurrence, he had the imprudence +to make a long visit to Lady Suffolk; the Queen was informed of the +circumstance, and his appointment did not take place. At another +time he had requested the Queen to speak to the King for some small +favour; the Queen promised, but forgot it: a few days afterwards, +recollecting her promise, she expressed regret at her forgetfulness, +and added, she would certainly mention it that very day. Chesterfield +replied, that her Majesty need not give herself that trouble, for +Lady Suffolk had spoken to the King. The Queen made no reply, but on +seeing the King, told him she had long promised to mention a trifling +request to his Majesty, but it was needless, because Lord Chesterfield +had just informed her that she had been anticipated by Lady Suffolk. +The King, who always preserved great decorum with the Queen, and was +very unwilling to have it supposed that the favourite interfered, was +extremely displeased, both with Lord Chesterfield and Lady Suffolk; the +consequence was, that in a short time her Ladyship went to Bath for +her health, and returned no more to Court; Chesterfield was dismissed +from his office, and never heard the reason until two years before his +death, when he was informed by Lord Oxford, that his disgrace was owing +to his having offended the Queen by paying court to Lady Suffolk.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_48" href="#FNanchor_48" class="label">[48]</a> The loss of her youngest son, Lord Robert Ker, had +so violent an effect upon the Marchioness of Lothian, as nearly to +overturn her reason and ever after to leave a shade of melancholy +upon her mind. He was a captain in the army, and killed at the battle +of Culloden, in April, 1746. Her Ladyship was the bearer of a letter +from her sister-in-law, Lady Mary Hamilton, to Lady Huntingdon, +recommending Lady Lothian to the particular notice of the Countess. +“Her affliction (says Lady Mary) seems to prey so deeply on her mind, +that I am perpetually afraid of her losing her reason. I have done all +in my power to rouse her from this state of dejection; and I think Mr. +Whitefield’s ministry, when last in Edinburgh, was of signal service to +her Ladyship. She is so much attached to your Ladyship, that I have the +most sanguine hopes that the Lord will graciously bless your society +and converse to her complete restoration. The Marquis is most painfully +anxious for her recovery, and feels persuaded you will be the means, +under God, of effecting a great change in her spirits. I think you will +find his Lordship much increased in an experimental knowledge of divine +things.”</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_49" href="#FNanchor_49" class="label">[49]</a> Lady Mary Hamilton was one of those persons in high life +who attended the ministry of Mr. Whitefield when he visited Scotland, +and was a leading character in the circles in Edinburgh. She was the +youngest daughter of the Marquis of Lothian, and sister to William, +third Marquis, the Countess of Home, Lady Cranstown, and Lady Ross. Her +Ladyship’s mother was daughter of Archibald Campbell, the unfortunate +Earl of Argyle, who was beheaded in 1685. She had married Alexander +Hamilton, of Ballincrieff, member of Parliament for the county of +Linlithgow, Postmaster-General of Scotland, and representative of the +family of Innerwick. Mr. Hamilton was very partial to the preaching of +Mr. Whitefield, and always received him at his house with every mark of +polite attention. To the period of her death, in 1768, Lady Mary was +the constant correspondent of Mr. Whitefield.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_50" href="#FNanchor_50" class="label">[50]</a> Lady Townshend’s father, Edward Harrison, Esq., of +Balls, in the county of Hertford, had formerly been Governor of Fort +St. George, in the East Indies; she was sole heir to his immense +fortune. Her eldest son, the first Marquis Townshend, who had served +at the battles of Dettingen, Fontenoy, and Culloden, and also at +the remarkable siege of Quebec, which town surrendered into his +hands, as commander-in-chief, after the fatal death of Wolfe, became +nearly allied to Lady Huntingdon by his marriage with Lady Charlotte +Compton, only surviving issue of James, Earl of Northampton, by +Elizabeth Shirley, who was in her own right Baroness Ferrars, of +Chartley. Her second son, Charles Townshend, was celebrated for his +brilliant talents, by which he distinguished himself in a most eminent +degree, both in the Senate and Cabinet; perhaps there never arose, +in any country, a man of more pointed and finished wit; and, where +his passions were not concerned, of a more refined, exquisite, and +penetrating judgment; but although a man of genius, he appears to +have been rather more fit for literary than political attainments, +and from the versatility of his political conduct he acquired the +nick-name of “the weathercock.” He died in 1767, and his brother, the +Marquis Townshend, survived him exactly forty years; both through life +maintained a steady friendship for Lady Huntingdon, who outlived their +eccentric mother only a few years.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_51" href="#FNanchor_51" class="label">[51]</a> Apropos of Lady Townshend, we may here observe that +Horace Walpole unwittingly bears testimony to the uniform consistency +of Mr. Whitefield’s creed and character. When the peace-festival was +celebrated at Ranelagh, some one in the clique of wits, most likely +himself, was talking of the Methodists, and said, “Pray, Madam, is it +true that Whitefield has <i>recanted</i>?” Lady Townshend replied, +“O no; he has only <i>canted</i>.” Walpole thought this a happy hit, +little dreaming it to be a compliment to a man who might have had +preferment at the time, if he would have recanted even his clerical +irregularities. In a letter from Bristol dated in the December of +this year, Mr. Whitefield tells Lady Huntingdon, “the Bishop behaved +respectfully when I was at sacrament at the cathedral, and my old +tutor, one of the prebendaries, was very cordial when I waited upon +him. I told him that my judgment was (I trusted) a little more ripened +than it was some years ago, and that as fast as I found out my faults, +I would be glad to acknowledge them. He said, the offence the governors +of the Church had taken against me would lessen and wear off as I grew +moderate. Blessed be God, I am pretty easy about that; so that I can +act an honest part, <i>and be kept from trimming</i>, I will, through +the Divine assistance, leave all consequences to Him who orders all +things well.”</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_52" href="#FNanchor_52" class="label">[52]</a> Often styled “Saint Frances” by Walpole.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_53" href="#FNanchor_53" class="label">[53]</a> Afterwards Lord Lyttleton.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_54" href="#FNanchor_54" class="label">[54]</a> Afterwards Lord Melcombe.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_55" href="#FNanchor_55" class="label">[55]</a> Daughter of the great Duke of Marlborough, and mother of +Lady Cardigan.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_56" href="#FNanchor_56" class="label">[56]</a> Created Baron Beaulieu in 1762, and Earl Beaulieu in +1784.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_57" href="#FNanchor_57" class="label">[57]</a> Baron Hume, but the title became extinct at his death, in +1781.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_58" href="#FNanchor_58" class="label">[58]</a> Member of the Privy Council, and First Lord Commissioner +of the Admiralty.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_59" href="#FNanchor_59" class="label">[59]</a> This excessive liberality on the part of Lady Huntingdon +exposed her sometimes to the artifices of the designing, who failed +not to prey upon her pious generosity. About the date of this letter +great efforts were made on the Continent, assisted by the support +of the charitable in England, to convert the Jews to Christianity. +Two zealous students in the University of Halle, in Saxony, devoted +themselves to this work of grace, travelling over Europe during several +years; preaching, and raising funds for the maintenance of proselytes +and catechumens, and for the publication of tracts, those messengers +of mercy, which were dispersed in thousands, by Russian officers, a +Swedish bishop, the Danish missionaries, and other zealous persons, +wherever an individual of the Jewish nation was to be found. An account +of these efforts was published in 1732, in a pamphlet of forty-eight +pages, drawn up by Professor John Henry Collenberg, of Halle, which +was reprinted in London in 1751, with a view to its distribution among +Jews and Mohammedans, by English merchants trading to the East. Of +the seed thus sown, good fruit was expected, but tares sprung up to +destroy the wholesome grain and to deceive the hopes of the sower. +Hypocrisy and apostasy marred the fair work of conversion, and the +wicked pretender applied to his own use the contributions intended for +the persecuted convert. In September 1749, Mr. Whitefield introduced +to Lady Huntingdon two German ministers, who had laboured in this +vineyard, and preached in the German chapel here with great power; +but the time for the conversion of the Jews, that great triumph which +is to crown the Christian verity, had not yet arrived. Her Ladyship, +waiting for the fulness of time, failed not to pour in her mite towards +the accomplishment of so pure a purpose. But these true ministers were +followed by impostors, two of whom, a father and son, after having been +several times baptized in various countries of Europe, came to repeat +the profitable experiment in England. They found a liberal friend in +Lady Huntingdon, whom they grossly deceived; and, as we learn from +David Levi (see his work on the Prophecies, p. 114), persuaded her +that they were not only proselytes to Christianity, but that they had +also converted him (Levi), whose example was calculated to produce +a powerful effect on his whole nation. Levi amuses himself with the +credulity of the sufferers, from whom these impostors had obtained +upwards of 1,800<i>l.</i> “Lady Huntingdon (he says) requested me +to wait on her, whether for my conversion, or to be better informed +concerning the imposture, I cannot tell, for her illness prevented the +interview.”</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_60" href="#FNanchor_60" class="label">[60]</a> The residence of the Countess Delitz.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_61" href="#FNanchor_61" class="label">[61]</a> Countess Delitz.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_62" href="#FNanchor_62" class="label">[62]</a> Lady Gertrude Hotham.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_63" href="#FNanchor_63" class="label">[63]</a> Lady Anne Hastings, in consequence of the constant +attendance on, and anxiety for, Lady Huntingdon, suffered a serious but +brief indisposition during the illness of the Countess.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_64" href="#FNanchor_64" class="label">[64]</a> Dr. Doddridge, in his “Life of Colonel Gardiner,” alludes +to Mr. Thompson when he says, ‘The conversion of Colonel Gardiner is +not altogether singular. There is, at least, a second, whose story +may be told whenever the Established Church shall lose one of its +brightest living ornaments, and one of the most useful members which +that, or perhaps any Christian communion, can boast.’ Remarking on +this passage, the late Mr. Palmer, of Hackney, in his correspondence +with Mr. Newton, has supposed Mr. Grimshaw was the clergyman referred +to; but Mr. Davidson, who, in June, 1748, had the account from Dr. +Doddridge’s own mouth, says it was Mr. Thompson. Mr. Hervey, during +his residence at Bideford, was intimate with Mr. Thompson, to whose +revisal were submitted his “Meditations and Reflections,” and the first +volume of his “Meditations” was dedicated to Mr. Thompson’s eldest +daughter. Mr. Thompson died in 1781, and his widow, a very pious and +amiable woman, in 1786. (See some interesting particulars of his life +in “Zion’s Trumpet,” a periodical published in 1800). His letter to +Dr. Watts, printed in “Dr. Gibson’s Memoirs,” is well worth perusal, +and a volume of his religious poems was published without his name, +by the Rev. Samuel Furlong, of St. Roche. Mr. Thompson lost his sight +several years before his death; and, although he had joined himself to +a Church of the United Brethren, retained his living, and continued +active and useful in his parish. He was a visitor and correspondent of +the Countess, and a man of lively passions and of jocular discourse, +and his poetical abilities were considerable. When Mr. Whitefield or +Mr. Wesley visited Cornwall, he itinerated with them, and was made +instrumental in the conversion of his neighbour, the Rev. W. Hill, of +Tavistock.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_65" href="#FNanchor_65" class="label">[65]</a> Before her formal introduction, however, the Countess had +exchanged letters with her Grace, at the express request of the Rev. +Moses Browne, who acted as the Duke’s chaplain, when his Grace did not +himself officiate in that capacity; for he thought it not unbecoming +his station as a peer of the realm to lead the prayers of his family. +Mr. Browne was an eye-witness of the Duke’s singular worth, and had +begun to taste his favours when he was taken to his eternal rest. “Had +the Duke lived (observes Mr. Hervey), poor Browne would have met with +the encouragement he deserves. He loved and fully intended to have +served him.” A short poem, called “Percy Hill,” was written by Mr. +Browne, at the request of the Duke and Duchess, but was not published +till 1756, after the death of both.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_66" href="#FNanchor_66" class="label">[66]</a> See a sermon preached before the University of Oxford, +and at several other places, on occasion of the late earthquakes, by +George Horne, M.A., Fellow of Magdalene College, afterwards Dean of +Canterbury and Bishop of Norwich.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_67" href="#FNanchor_67" class="label">[67]</a> Among them was the old Earl of Northampton, who well +rebuked those who complained of the crowding in the church of God, by +reminding them that they bore the greater crowd of a ball-room, an +assembly, or a play-house, without the least complaint. “If (he said) +the power to attract be imputed as matter of admiration to Garrick, +why should it be urged as a crime against Romaine? Shall excellence be +considered exceptionable only in divine things?”</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_68" href="#FNanchor_68" class="label">[68]</a> His Lordship’s youngest daughter, Lady Charlotte Compton, +succeeded, on the termination of the abeyance, by the demise of her +eldest sister, in 1749, as Baroness Ferrars, of Chartley, and carried +that barony by marriage, in 1751, with George, first Marquis Townshend, +to the family of Townshend, as also the Barony of Compton, on the +demise of her father, in 1754. The Earl of Northampton died without +issue male, October 3, 1754. His attention was called to the concerns +of an eternal world by the preaching of Mr. Whitefield at the house of +Lady Huntingdon.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_69" href="#FNanchor_69" class="label">[69]</a> Dr. Stonhouse and Mr. Hartley.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_70" href="#FNanchor_70" class="label">[70]</a> Some years after, a chapel in Lady Huntingdon’s Connexion +was opened at Ashby, and supplied by clergymen and students from +Trevecca. In the summer of 1784, Mr. Wills preached there to a very +large congregation, on these words: “How can man be justified with +God?” (Job xxv. 4). “It is very remarkable (says Mr. Wills), that so +long ago as when dear Lady Huntingdon resided in this town, though it +is one of the manors belonging to Lord Huntingdon’s family, nothing +could exceed the enmity shown against the Gospel, and even personally +to her Ladyship, on many occasions; but now this public opposition +appears to be at an end—at least, I met with nothing of the kind.” +The old chapel being very much out of repair and too small, a new one +was erected, and opened in July, 1825, on which occasion Dr. Collyer +preached morning and evening to respectable and numerous congregations.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_71" href="#FNanchor_71" class="label">[71]</a> Dr. Stonhouse, afterwards so well known as the Rev. Sir +James Stonhouse, Bart., Rector of Great and Little Cheveril, Wilts, had +his education at Winchester School, and was afterwards of St. John’s +College, Oxford. He had his medical education under Dr. Nicholls, the +celebrated anatomist, and Professor of Anatomy, in Oxford. He was a +Deist, and took great pains to instil his pernicious principles into +the minds of his pupils. “Under him (said Dr. Stonhouse) I commenced +infidel.” During the years that he remained in this awful state of +delusion, he did all he could to subvert Christianity, and wrote a keen +pamphlet against it; “for writing and spreading of which (says he), I +humbly hope God has forgiven me, though I never can forgive myself.” +His conversion to Christianity, and the various circumstances attending +it, were such, that he was persuaded to write the history of his life, +with many reflections on the several circumstances of it. He kept +this by him for some years, altering and adding, as his recollection +enabled him. He read it occasionally to some of his intimate friends, +who highly approved of it; and it was his intention that it should +have been printed soon after his death, not through vanity, but as a +public acknowledgment of his heinous offences against God, and his hope +of pardon through a crucified Redeemer. But on reading it to a person +for whose judgment he had the highest regard, he gave the Doctor such +valid reasons against the publication, that he burnt it soon after, +lest an ill use should have been made of it after his decease. In a +letter to a friend, speaking of this event, Dr. Doddridge expresses +himself in the following manner: “One of the most signal instances in +which God has ever honoured me is in the conversion of a physician in +this town, who was once free in his manner of living, and a confirmed +Deist. God made me the means of first bringing him to a conviction of +the truth of Christianity, and at length of enlightening his mind with +the true and saving knowledge of Christ, to which I bless God he has +now attained. Good Mr. Hervey has been honoured as a fellow-labourer +with me in this work. My book on the ‘Rise and Progress of Religion’ +has been, I hope, honoured of God, as one great means of producing this +blessed change.” A full account of Dr. Stonhouse, and the circumstances +of his conversion from infidelity, may be found in—“Hervey’s Letters,” +“Doddridge’s Letters,” and “Letters from Sir James Stonhouse to the +Rev. Thomas Stedman, Vicar of St. Chad’s, Shrewsbury.” Mr. Hervey’s +letters on his ordination, first as deacon, by the Bishop of Hereford, +and then as priest, by the Bishop of Bristol; the letters of Mr. +Whitefield and Lady Huntingdon; and the death of his wife (the eldest +daughter of J. Neal, Esq., M.P. for Coventry), were among the things +that led to his conversion.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_72" href="#FNanchor_72" class="label">[72]</a> Mr. Hartley, Rector of Winwick.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_73" href="#FNanchor_73" class="label">[73]</a> Dr. Stonhouse.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_74" href="#FNanchor_74" class="label">[74]</a> Her Ladyship, for whom he preached at Northampton, Weston +Favel, and at Ashby, and at whose house he often expounded, was plain +and clear in her remonstrances. He acknowledges one of her Ladyship’s +letters in these terms: “Many, many thanks, my dear Madam, for the +judgment, discrimination, and fidelity you have displayed in the letter +I have lately had the honour of receiving from your Ladyship. I humbly +hope the glory of my Divine Master and the salvation of souls have been +the ruling motives which induced me to seek to be a minister of the +everlasting Gospel. Pray for me, my dear Madam, that I may be faithful +unto death, and that some, by my instrumentality, may be turned from +darkness to light. Allow me to express my heartfelt gratitude for +the very faithful manner in which you have placed my various duties +before me—duties high and honourable, but arduous indeed. May He that +hath called me to the work, give me grace to continue faithful to the +end! What holy and excellent examples have I in the exalted piety and +ministerial fidelity of Doddridge, Hervey, Hartley, and the undaunted +zeal of that great apostle, Mr. Whitefield. May I be a follower of them +as they are followers of Christ! and whatever little differences may +exist between us, may we all finally meet before the throne of God and +the Lamb!”</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_75" href="#FNanchor_75" class="label">[75]</a> Dr. Stonhouse is said to have been one of the most +correct and elegant preachers in the kingdom. When he entered into holy +orders he took occasion to profit by his acquaintance with Garrick, +to procure from him some valuable instructions in elocution. Being +once engaged to read prayers and to preach at a church in the city, he +prevailed upon Garrick to go with him. After the service, the British +Roscius asked the Doctor what particular business he had to do when +the duty was over. “None,” said the other. “I thought you had (said +Garrick), on seeing you enter the reading-desk in such a hurry. Nothing +(added he) can be more indecent than to see a clergyman set about +sacred business as if he were a tradesman, and go into the church as +if he wanted to get out of it as soon as possible.” He next asked the +Doctor “what books he had in the desk before him?” “<i>Only</i> the +Bible and Prayer Book.” “<i>Only</i> the Bible and Prayer Book (replied +the player); why you tossed them backwards and forwards, and turned the +leaves as carelessly, as if they were those of a day-book and ledger.” +The Doctor was wise enough to see the force of these observations, and +ever after avoided the faults they were designed to reprove.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_76" href="#FNanchor_76" class="label">[76]</a> Jonathan Belcher, for many years Governor of +Massachusetts and New Jersey. He succeeded Governor Burnet, eldest +son of the celebrated Bishop Burnet. He was named William, after the +Prince of Orange, who stood his godfather. At one period he possessed a +considerable fortune, but it had been wrecked in the South Sea scheme, +which reduced so many opulent families to indigence. After the loss of +his fortune, he emigrated to America, and in process of time became +Governor of New York and New Jersey. He was afterwards Governor of +Massachusetts and New Hampshire, which post he held to the time of his +death. When Mr. Whitefield was at Boston, in 1740, Governor Belcher +treated him with the utmost respect and attention. He even followed +him as far as Worcester, and requested him to continue his faithful +instructions and pungent addresses to the conscience, desiring him +<i>to spare neither ministers nor rulers</i>. This good man expressed +the humblest sense of his own character, and the most exalted views of +the rich, free, and glorious grace offered in the Gospel to sinners. +His faith worked by love, and produced the genuine fruits of obedience. +It exhibited itself in a life of piety and devotion, of meekness and +humility, of justice, truth, and benevolence. He died August 31, 1747, +aged 76 years. One of his sons studied law at the Temple in London, and +gained some distinction at the bar in England. He was afterwards Chief +Justice of Nova Scotia, and died at Halifax, March, 1776. Governor +Belcher was succeeded by William Shirley, Esq., a relative of Lady +Huntingdon’s, who was for a time commander-in-chief of the British +forces in America, in which office he was succeeded by Major-General +Abercrombie. Governor Shirley was also Governor of one of the Bahama +Islands for a number of years. He died in 1771.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_77" href="#FNanchor_77" class="label">[77]</a> Mr. Aaron Burr was educated at Yale College, in +Connecticut, New England; and for his great abilities and well-approved +piety, was unanimously chosen in, 1747, to succeed the Rev. Mr. +Dickenson, the first President of New Jersey College, a man of +learning, of distinguished talents, and much celebrated as a preacher. +In the year 1754, Governor Burr accompanied Mr. Whitefield to Boston, +having a high esteem for the character of that eloquent itinerant +preacher, and greatly rejoiced in the success of his labours. After +a life of usefulness and honour, devoted to his Master in heaven, he +was called into the eternal world, September 24, 1757, in the midst of +his days, being in the forty-third year of his age. At the approach of +death, that Gospel which he had preached to others, and which discloses +a crucified Redeemer, gave him support and consolation, and enabled him +to triumph over the last enemy. He married a daughter of Dr. Jonathan +Edwards, his successor to the Presidency of the College. She died the +year after the death of her husband, leaving a son and a daughter.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_78" href="#FNanchor_78" class="label">[78]</a> On the 11th of May, 1750, the Sessions began at the Old +Bailey, and continued for some days, in which time a great number of +malefactors were tried; and there was present in the court a great +multitude of persons to hear the trial of Captain Clarke for killing +Captain Innes, both officers in the Navy. It was generally supposed +that the air was at first tainted from the bar, by some of the +prisoners, then ill of the gaol distemper; and the poisonous quality of +the atmosphere was considerably increased by the heat and closeness of +the court, occasioned by the great number of persons penned up for the +most part of the day, without breathing the free air, or receiving any +refreshment. The Bench consisted of six persons, Sir Samuel Pennant, +then Lord Mayor; Lord Chief Justice Lee; Sir Thomas Abney, Justice of +the Common Pleas; Baron Clarke; and Sir Daniel Lambert, Alderman and +M.P. for London, whereof four died, together with two or three of the +counsel, one of the Under-Sheriffs, several of the Middlesex jury, +and others present, to the amount of above forty in the whole. This +event is noticed by Lady Huntingdon, in one of her letters, in which +she laments the death of an intimate friend, Stanhope Otway, Esq., +barrister-at-law, whose sudden decease was improved by Mr. Whitefield +at Ashby, before a numerous congregation. A narrative of the awful +circumstances connected with the Black Sessions at the Old Bailey was +drawn up by Dr. Pringle, afterwards Sir John Pringle, son-in-law of +Dr. Oliver, of Bath, the particular friend of Lady Huntingdon. (See +Pringle’s “Observations on the Diseases of the Army.”)</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_79" href="#FNanchor_79" class="label">[79]</a> Mr. Barker had the reputation of being one of the most +popular preachers in the metropolis amongst the Dissenters. He was +a great favourite with Lady Huntingdon, whom he frequently visited +when in London, and on some occasions expounded at her house. Few +ministers lamented more the decay of evangelical truth amongst the +Dissenters in London, and the open departure of many of his brethren +from some of those doctrines which lie at the foundation of Christian +hope. Through life he discovered an uniform and zealous attachment to +the great doctrines of the Reformation, and heartily longed for the +union of all real Christians, and the breaking down of the wall of +separation between the Church of England and the Dissenters. Though +firmly attached to the principles of Protestant Dissent, yet he had +the interest of vital godliness more at heart; and he considered a +lively evangelical mode of preaching, such as then chiefly prevailed +amongst those denominated Methodists, as best adapted to extend its +influence. In one of his letters to Lady Huntingdon he feelingly +laments the decay of evangelical truth in the pulpits of many of the +Dissenting churches in London. “Alas! (says he), the distinguished +doctrines of the Gospel—Christ crucified, the only ground of hope for +fallen man—salvation through his atoning blood—the sanctification +by his eternal Spirit, are old-fashioned things now, seldom heard in +our churches. A cold comfortless kind of preaching prevails almost +everywhere; and reason, the great law of reason, and the eternal law +of reason, is idolized and deified. But blessed be God for the revival +that has taken place in another branch of the Church of Christ; the +labours of the Methodists will, I hope, infuse new life into some of +our dying churches, and be the means, under God, of spreading such +a stream of light in England, that all the vain efforts of false +doctrines and false philosophy can never darken. We are much indebted +to the zeal and catholic charity which your Ladyship, Mr. Whitefield, +and some others, have evinced. I am now in the decline of life, having +attained more than seventy years. Assist me with your prayers, my dear +Madam, that my few remaining years may be devoted to the interests of +my Divine Master, and the spread of his kingdom amongst men.”</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_80" href="#FNanchor_80" class="label">[80]</a> There were mingled with the theological students educated +by Dr. Doddridge, besides the Earl of Drummond, twelve gentlemen of +fortune, not intended for the liberal professions; and of those who +were, it appears that five entered the law. Three others were elected +members of Parliament. Of the theological pupils, six conformed to +the Established Church, while the great body remained Dissenters. Of +these many were distinguished for their piety and learning, and others +for their heterodoxy. The names of Darracott, Fawcett, and Taylor, of +Ashworth, and Kippis, will naturally present themselves to the mind of +the reader.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_81" href="#FNanchor_81" class="label">[81]</a> The Rev. Richard Denny, the last surviving pupil of the +excellent Doddridge. He was forty years pastor of the Independent +Church and congregation at Long Buckby, in Northamptonshire, and was +distinguished for his unfeigned regard to all who love the Lord Jesus +Christ in sincerity—for devotion, warm and fervent to the last—and +for the exemplary conduct and useful labour of a life protracted to +the age of nearly ninety. He was introduced by Lady Huntingdon and +Mr. Whitefield to the notice of Dr. Doddridge, who most kindly and +cordially received him under his care and tuition in 1747. During his +severe indisposition, whilst a student at Nottingham, Lady Huntingdon +paid him every mark of attention, and as soon as he was well enough to +move abroad invited him to Ashby for the recovery of his health. He +died at Long Buckby, April 14, 1813.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_82" href="#FNanchor_82" class="label">[82]</a> Mrs. Gibbon’s annual income was nearly 1,000<i>l.</i>; +Mrs. Hutcheson’s about 2,000<i>l.</i> per annum; and their bounty was +bestowed upon the poor of an extensive circle. Mr. Law died April 9, +1761, at the advanced age of seventy-five, and his remains were placed +in a new tomb, built by Mrs. Gibbon, in the church at King’s Cliffe. +Having long survived their spiritual guide and faithful companion, +Mrs. Hutcheson died in January, 1781, aged ninety-one, and her remains +were placed, by her particular desire, <i>at the feet of Mr. Law</i>, +in a new tomb. Mrs. Gibbon followed her old friends and companions in +June, 1790, aged eighty-six, and was buried with Mr. Law. Her property +she gave by will to her nephew, the historian, who long expected it, +but not without fears that his aunt would leave it to the friends and +purposes to which she had devoted her life.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_83" href="#FNanchor_83" class="label">[83]</a> It was at one of these convivial resorts that Mr. Thorpe +and three of his associates, to enliven the company, undertook to +mimic Mr. Whitefield. The proposition was highly gratifying to all +parties present, and a wager agreed upon to inspire each individual +with a desire of excelling in this impious attempt. That their jovial +auditors might adjudge the prize to the most adroit performer, it was +concluded that each should open the Bible and hold forth from the +first text that should present itself to the eye. Accordingly three in +their turn mounted the table, and entertained their wicked companions +at the expense of everything sacred. When they had exhausted their +little stock of buffoonery, it devolved on Mr. Thorpe to close this +very irreverent scene. Much elevated, and confident of success, he +exclaimed, as he ascended the table, “I shall beat you all!” But O, the +stupendous depths of divine mercy! when the Bible was handed to him it +opened at that remarkable passage, Luke xiii. 3—“Except ye repent, ye +shall all likewise perish.” No sooner had he uttered these words than +his mind was affected in a very extraordinary manner. The sharpest +pangs of conviction now seized him, and conscience denounced tremendous +vengeance upon his soul. In a moment he was favoured with a clear view +of his subject, and divided his discourse more like a divine who had +been accustomed to speak on portions of Scripture, than like one who +never so much as thought on religious topics, except for the purpose +of ridicule. He found no deficiency of matter, no want of utterance, +and he has frequently declared, “If ever I preached in my life by the +assistance of the Spirit of God, it was at that time.” The impression +made upon his mind by the subject had such an effect on his manner, +that the most ignorant and profane could not but perceive that what he +had spoken was with the greatest sincerity. The unexpected solemnity +and pertinacity of his address, instead of entertaining the company, +first spread a visible depression, and afterwards a sullen gloom, +upon every countenance. This sudden change in the complexion of his +associates did not a little conduce to increase the convictions of his +own bosom. No individual appeared disposed to interrupt him; but, on +the contrary, their attention was deeply engaged with the pointedness +of his remarks; yea, many of his sentences, as he often related, made, +to his apprehension, his own hair stand erect!</p> + +<p>When he left the table not a syllable was uttered concerning the wager, +but a profound silence pervaded the company. Mr. Thorpe immediately +withdrew, without taking the least notice of any person present, and +returned home, with very painful reflections, and in the deepest +distress imaginable. Happily for him, this was his last Bacchanalian +revel. His impressions were manifestly genuine; and from that period +the connexion between him and his former companions was entirely +dissolved. Thus by a sovereign and almost unexampled act of divine +grace, in a place where, and at a time when, it was least expected, +“the prey was taken from the mighty, and the lawful captive delivered!”</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_84" href="#FNanchor_84" class="label">[84]</a> We insert the inscription, written as it is with evident +sincerity:—</p> + +<p>“To the Right Honourable the Countess of Huntingdon, that eminent +example of the Christian candour here recommended, and of every +other virtue and grace which can inspire, support, and adorn it—the +<span class="smcap">Author</span>, finding himself (after repeated attempts) incapable of +writing any dedication, under the restraints which her humility, amidst +its utmost indulgence, has prescribed him, or to mention any excellence +which would not seem an encomium on her, has chosen thus most +respectfully to inscribe this Discourse; entreating that his farther +silence in this connexion may be interpreted by her <span class="smcap">Ladyship</span>, +and by every <span class="smcap">Reader</span>, as the most sensible and painful proof +he can give of the deference, veneration, and grateful affection with +which he is her Ladyship’s most obliged and obedient humble servant.”</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_85" href="#FNanchor_85" class="label">[85]</a> Afterwards Lady Stonhouse, the only child and heir of +Thomas Ekins, Esq., of Chester-on-the-Water, in Northamptonshire, a +justice of the peace, and a most religious man. His funeral sermon +was preached at Wellingborough, by Dr. Doddridge, and afterwards +transcribed from the Doctor’s <i>short</i> hand copy, in <i>long</i> +hand, by a son of Dr. Johnstone, a worthy physician at Worcester; the +text is Heb. xi. 26. “Her father (says Dr. Stonhouse) was a Christian +of the first magnitude, who left Dr. Doddridge sole guardian to his +child. The Doctor died before I married her, which I did not do till +after she was of age, and in full possession of her property. Dr. +Doddridge’s account of her estate and expenses was so very just, +that he really did not do himself justice. In consideration of +which, we made his widow a handsome present, as a satisfaction for +his undercharges.” Lady Stonhouse died at the Hot Wells, Bristol, +December 10, 1778, aged fifty-five. A plain but elegant monument was +erected to her memory in the Wells chapel, with an epitaph written by +Mrs. Hannah More. She left two sons, John, in the civil service of +the East India Company at Bengal, father of the present Bart., Sir +John Brooke Stonhouse; Timothy, in holy orders, Vicar of Sunningwell, +county of Berks, who took the surname and arms of Vigor, and married +Miss Huntingford, niece of the Bishop of Hereford; and a daughter, +Clarissa, wife of Henry Tripp Vigor, Esq. The first wife of Sir James +Stonhouse was Anne Neale, as already stated, one of the maids of honour +to Caroline, Queen of George II., by whom he had issue Sir Thomas +Stonhouse, the thirteenth Baronet, who died unmarried, and Sarah, who +married her cousin, George Vansittart, Esq., of Bisham Abbey, M.P. +for the county of Berks in several Parliaments, by whom she had three +sons and three daughters. Mr. Vansittart was uncle to the present Lord +Bexley. The Rev. Sir James Stonhouse survived Lady Stonhouse but a few +years. He died December 8, 1792, aged eighty, and was buried in the +Wells chapel, in the same grave with his beloved wife.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_86" href="#FNanchor_86" class="label">[86]</a> The famed poet, William Cowper, Esq., who had been long +under Dr. Cotton’s care, at St. Alban’s, was very partial to this work. +In one of his letters we find the following words: “Marshall lies on +my table, and is an old acquaintance of mine. I have both read him +and heard him read with pleasure and edification; the doctrines he +maintains are, under the influence of the Spirit of Christ, the very +life of my soul, and the soul of all my happiness. I think Marshall one +of the best writers, and the most spiritual expositor of the Scriptures +I ever read: I admire the strength of his argument and the clearness +of his reasoning upon the parts of our holy religion which are least +understood (even by real Christians), as a master-piece of the kind.”</p> + +<p>Dr. Cotton is said to have studied under Boerhaave, the most celebrated +professor of physic of the early part of the eighteenth century, at +Leyden, where he took his Doctor’s degree. He was very assiduous in his +attentions to Dr. Young, author of “Night Thoughts,” whom he attended +in his last illness. His works, which are chiefly on medical subjects, +were collected and published in two volumes, in 1791. He died August 2, +1788.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_87" href="#FNanchor_87" class="label">[87]</a> A marked testimony to the poetic talents of Dr. Watts +was shown him by this gentleman, who, in order to excite emulation, +and procure for his work productions of real genius, proposed to give +certain rewards to his poetical correspondents, and wrote to the +Doctor, requesting him to decide upon their respective merits. His +natural modesty revolted at the idea of becoming a literary judge; +but on being pressed, he gave his opinion with so much candour and +judicious discrimination, that all parties expressed their gratitude, +and cheerfully acquiesced in his decision. It was this circumstance +which first introduced Mr. Browne to the notice of Dr. Watts, who, +during the remainder of his life, took a kind and almost parental +interest in all his concerns. The extensive learning and poetical +abilities, the exemplary piety, the active benevolence, and steady +friendship of that excellent man and bright ornament of the Christian +Church, were not less the subjects of delightful conversation in the +privacy of Mr. Browne’s life, than they have been the theme of just +eulogium to an impartial posterity.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_88" href="#FNanchor_88" class="label">[88]</a> Dr. Benjamin Hoadley, the celebrated prelate who gave +rise to the Bangorian controversy.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_89" href="#FNanchor_89" class="label">[89]</a> Lady Fanny was very active in her endeavours to procure +pecuniary assistance for Mr. Browne. She had applied to the Duchess +of Somerset and Dr. Stephen Hales, physician to the Prince of Wales, +who, at her request, had presented Mr. Hervey’s works to the Princess, +by whom they were received in a very obliging manner. Dr. Hales was +a philosopher and divine, and is said to have been a man of great +science, humility, and piety. He was successively presented to the +livings of Teddington, Middlesex; Portlock, Somersetshire; and +Farringdon, in Hampshire. After the death of the Prince of Wales, the +Princess Dowager made him clerk of her closet, and after his death, in +1761, erected a monument to his memory in Westminster Abbey.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_90" href="#FNanchor_90" class="label">[90]</a> Then one of the Lords of the Admiralty. He was nephew of +Lady Gertrude Hotham, and afterwards became Lord Mendip.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_91" href="#FNanchor_91" class="label">[91]</a> The Rev. Dr. Samuel Clark, compiler of the “Promises,” to +whom Dr. Doddridge was under very particular obligations in the course +of his educational studies.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_92" href="#FNanchor_92" class="label">[92]</a> She was the third daughter of Theophilus, seventh Earl of +Huntingdon, by his (second) marriage with Frances, daughter of Francis +Leveson Fowler, of Harnage Grange, in the county of Salop, Esq., and +relict of Thomas, sixth Viscount Kilmorey. There was a double connexion +between those families; Lord Kilmorey, the nephew of Lady Frances +Hastings, having married Lady Mary Shirley, the youngest sister of Lady +Huntingdon.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_93" href="#FNanchor_93" class="label">[93]</a> Amongst the early friends and associates of the Ladies +Hastings were the daughters of the Marquis of Lothian. Their mother was +a Campbell, sister to the first Duke of Argyle. Lady Mary Kerr, the +youngest daughter, married Alexander Hamilton, Esq., of Ballincrieff, +member of Parliament for the county of Linlithgow, Postmaster-General +of Scotland, and representative of the family of Innerwick. Lady Mary’s +intimacy with the Ladies Hastings soon brought her into contact with +Mr. Whitefield and the Messrs. Wesley, and under the preaching of those +men of God she was led to embrace the truth as it is in Jesus. For many +years she was the intimate friend and correspondent of Mr. Whitefield; +and in the collection of letters published by his executors, several +will be found addressed to Lady Mary Hamilton, whose mother, we have it +on Mr. Whitefield’s authority, set her the example of piety; she died +in 1740. The Marquis of Lothian, the brother of Lady Mary, was also a +correspondent of Mr. Whitefield, and, as we have before stated (see +page 91), was one of his hearers at the house of Lady Huntingdon. Lady +Mary died Nov. 17, 1768, leaving no surviving issue.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_94" href="#FNanchor_94" class="label">[94]</a> In the library of Cheshunt College is a volume of “The +Seasons,” presented by Thomson himself to Lady Huntingdon, with an +autograph inscription.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_95" href="#FNanchor_95" class="label">[95]</a> His Royal Highness had some claims to consideration on +the score of literary talents. See Park’s edition of Lord Orford’s +Royal and Noble Authors, vol. i. p. 171.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_96" href="#FNanchor_96" class="label">[96]</a> Lady Charlotte was a daughter of James, Duke of Hamilton, +who was unfortunately killed in a duel by his brother-in-law, Lord +Mohun. She married Charles Edwin, of Dunraven, in Glamorganshire, Esq., +M.P. for that county, who died at Kensington, June 29, 1756. Lady +Charlotte was one of the ladies of the bedchamber to Augusta, Princess +of Wales; and died at London, Feb. 1, 1777, in her 74th year, without +issue, leaving a huge fortune, chiefly to the Duke of Hamilton. Lady +Charlotte, some years after the circumstance related above, became very +intimate with Lady Huntingdon, and a constant attendant on the ministry +of Mr. Whitefield and those faithful men who preached for her Ladyship. +The misfortunes of her sister, Lady Susan Keck, and the conduct of +her sister-in-law, the notorious Lady Vane, had a powerful effect in +leading her to think with deep seriousness on the great concerns of an +eternal world. Frequent mention is made of Lady Charlotte in the Diary +of the celebrated Bubb Doddington, afterwards Lord Melcombe.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_97" href="#FNanchor_97" class="label">[97]</a> His late Majesty George III.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_98" href="#FNanchor_98" class="label">[98]</a> Several of the family of Sir Thomas Lyttleton had much +of the external appearance of religion; and it is hoped that some of +them possessed the life and power of divine truth in their own souls. +Of the Duchess of Bridgewater little is known. Her Grace occasionally +attended Mr. Whitefield’s preaching at Lady Huntingdon’s, and sometimes +corresponded with her Ladyship, as did also several members of the +family, all of whom retained a high respect and esteem for a character +of such exalted excellence. Lady Lyttleton, who had been one of the +Maids of Honour to Queen Anne, was a daughter of Sir Richard Temple, +of Stow; her eldest sister married Dr. Richard West, Prebendary of +Winchester, and was mother of Gilbert West, Esq., a poet, and well +known for his “Observations on the Resurrection.”</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_99" href="#FNanchor_99" class="label">[99]</a> He was affected with a cancer in the cheek-bone, for +which he was treated by W. Cheselden, Esq., head surgeon of St. +Thomas’s and Chelsea Hospitals; but renouncing the aid of this +accomplished surgeon, and employing a quack, the philosophic infidel +died most miserably.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_100" href="#FNanchor_100" class="label">[100]</a> The Rev. Martin Madan, in his “Comments on the +Thirty-nine Articles,” relates the following curious anecdote of Lord +Bolingbroke and Dr. Church, on the authority of Lady Huntingdon, to +whom it was communicated by his Lordship himself. Lord Bolingbroke +was one day sitting in his house at Battersea, reading Calvin’s +“Institutes,” when he received a morning visit from Dr. Church. After +the usual salutations, he asked the Doctor if he could guess what the +book was which then lay before him; “and which (says Lord Bolingbroke) +I have been studying?” “No, really, my Lord, I cannot,” quoth the +Doctor. “It is Calvin’s ‘Institutes’ (said Lord Bolingbroke); what +do you think of these matters?” Doctor: “Oh! my Lord, we don’t think +about such antiquated stuff; we teach the plain doctrines of virtue and +morality, and have long laid aside those abstruse points about grace.” +“Look you, Doctor (said Lord Bolingbroke), you know I don’t believe the +Bible to be a divine revelation; but they who do can never defend it on +any principles but the doctrine of grace. To say the truth, I have at +times been almost persuaded to believe it upon this view of things; and +there is one argument which has gone very far with me in behalf of its +authenticity, which is, that the belief in it exists upon earth, even +when committed to the care of such as you, who pretend to believe it, +and yet deny the only principles on which it is defensible.”</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_101" href="#FNanchor_101" class="label">[101]</a> Lady Luxborough was the only daughter of the Viscount +St. John, and half-sister to Lord Bolingbroke. His brother John, who +succeeded as second Viscount St. John, had married a daughter of Lady +Anne Furness, the aunt of Lady Huntingdon, and left three sons and +three daughters, one of whom married Lord Bagot. Her Ladyship was +very intimate with the unfortunate Lord Ferrers, who had married her +bosom friend, one of the sisters of Sir William Meredith. The ill +conduct of her only daughter, who was divorced from her husband and +afterwards married the Hon. W. Child, raised a storm, not only in her +own family, but in the world, and drew forth letters of condolence from +the Duchess of Somerset and Lady Huntingdon. The latter she thanked +very politely for her sympathy, but styles the letter of the Duchess +a “kind of sermon,” and spares her correspondent, Mr. Shenstone, the +labour of perusing so “serious an epistle.” Lady Luxborough died in +1756. “Unhappy woman! (says Lady Huntingdon) how insensible has she +been to the many alarming calls of Providence which she has received +from time to time. Such repeated deaths in her family, the awful end of +her brother, Lord Bolingbroke, made no impression on her; and she left +this world, as she had always lived, intoxicated with the vanity of her +numerous accomplishments and literary acquirements.” Yet her letters +to Shenstone, published after his death, 1763, although pleasing and +flattering to the poet, made a weak impression on the public.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_102" href="#FNanchor_102" class="label">[102]</a> This anecdote shows that the interest taken in this +important subject was far from being confined to the vulgar, and that, +even in the Universities, it was not contemplated with indifference.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_103" href="#FNanchor_103" class="label">[103]</a> James Nimmo, Esq., Receiver-General of Excise, was a man +of piety, and connected with some of the first families in the Scottish +peerage. His mother, the Hon. Mary Erskine, was a daughter of Henry, +Lord Cardross, and a near relation to Dr. John Erskine, minister of the +old Greyfriars’ Church of Edinburgh; and one of his sisters married +his cousin, David Erskine, Esq., son of the Hon. Captain William +Erskine, Deputy-Governor of Blackness Castle. Mr. Nimmo married, in +1743, Lady Jane Hume, third daughter of the Earl of Marchmont, by a +daughter and heiress of Sir George Campbell, of Gressnock, in Ayrshire. +She was chiefly brought up by her able, prudent, warm-hearted, and +affectionate aunt, Lady Grizel Baillie, of Jerviswood, whose conduct +and character, as portrayed in Rose’s “Observations on Fox,” it is +impossible to contemplate without admiration. Soon after her marriage +she became a correspondent of Lady Huntingdon’s, and maintained an +intimate friendship with her till her death, in 1770, in the 62nd year +of her age. Her Ladyship was sister to the Hon. Hume Campbell, an +eminent counsellor in London, Solicitor to the Prince of Wales, and +Lord Clerk Register of Scotland. Her eldest brother, Hugh, fourth Earl +of Marchmont, became eminent for learning and brilliancy of genius. +The estimation in which his Lordship was held by his contemporaries +may be judged of by his close and intimate friendship with Lord Cobham +(who gave his bust a place in the Temple of Worthies, at Stow) and +Sir William Wyndham, and by the mention of him in Pope’s well-known +inscription in his grotto at Twickenham—</p> + + <div class="poetry-container1"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="hangingindent">“There the bright flame was shot through Marchmont’s soul!”</div> + </div> + </div> + </div> + +<p>He was one of the executors of Pope, also of Sarah, Duchess of +Marlborough, who left him a legacy of 2,500<i>l.</i>, as such. With +Lady Huntingdon, Lord Marchmont and Mr. Hume Campbell lived on very +intimate terms, and the latter often aided her by his excellent advice. +Lady Jane was distinguished by a sound and cultivated understanding; +by genuine and unostentatious piety, guided by great good sense and +discernment; by uniform mildness and equality of temper; and by those +habitually cheerful and affectionate manners which commanded the esteem +and respect of the society in which she lived, and were the perpetual +delight of her own family. Her eldest sister, Lady Anne, married Sir +William Purvis, Bart., whose grandson assumed, on inheriting the estate +of his maternal ancestors, the additional surname of “Hume Campbell,” +and is the present representative of that family; the Hon. Alexander +Hume Campbell and Lord Marchmont having died without surviving male +issue.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_104" href="#FNanchor_104" class="label">[104]</a> At one period, when Mr. Wesley was at Newcastle, he +rode to Hexham, at the pressing request of Mr. Wardrobe and others. +He preached at the market-place to a multitude of people, who stared +at him, but behaved very quietly. Mr. Wardrobe preached in the +Methodist Chapel, at Newcastle, in 1755, to the no small amazement and +displeasure of some of his zealous countrymen. He died in 1786, and a +very interesting account of his death has been preserved in a letter +from Mr. Adams, of Falkirk, to Dr. Gillies, of Glasgow.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_105" href="#FNanchor_105" class="label">[105]</a> Besides several single sermons, and the volume mentioned +by Mr. Hervey, Mr. Hartley published a treatise on the Millennium, +under the title of “Paradise Restored.” (one vol. 8vo.) He became an +admirer of the Baron Swedenborg, and translated several of his works.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_106" href="#FNanchor_106" class="label">[106]</a> Mr. Hervey’s work occurs in Mr. Bohn’s “Catalogue of +the Library of the late Rev. and learned Dr. Samuel Parr,” with the +following remarkable note attached to the volume—“This book was the +delight of Dr. Parr when a boy, and, for some time, was the model on +which he endeavoured to form a style.”</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_107" href="#FNanchor_107" class="label">[107]</a> The above was written by Mr. Joseph Smith, some time a +preacher in Mr. Whitefield’s connexion, and addressed to the late Mr. +Edwards, of Whitechapel, Leeds.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_108" href="#FNanchor_108" class="label">[108]</a> He was himself a successful preacher, both at Lady +Huntingdon’s house, before the nobility, and to a very opposite +auditory on Garlick-hill, where he was stationed for some time. Among +his converts was Mrs. Kent, of Edmonton, a venerable sister, aged 104.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_109" href="#FNanchor_109" class="label">[109]</a> The trustees of the colony of Georgia made him rector +of Savannah, and granted him 500 acres of land, whereon to erect an +Orphan-house. To endow this institution he sought friends in England.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_110" href="#FNanchor_110" class="label">[110]</a> The Bishop, who was a correspondent of Dr. Watts, and +who remonstrated kindly with Mr. John and Mr. Charles Wesley, when +complaints were made to him against them, often expressed his zeal +for the interest of religion, as well among the Dissenters as within +the Church. His dislike to masquerades offended the Court and stopped +his preferment. He died in 1748. His daughter married Dr. Tyrwhitt, +residentiary of St. Paul’s, Canon of Windsor, Archdeacon of London, +and Rector of St. James’s—a pluralist indeed! This gentleman had a +son, Mr. Tyrwhitt, who resigned a fellowship at Cambridge, and all his +bright prospects, rather than subscribe to the Articles of the Church +of England; he was one of the Feathers’ Tavern Divines, who, under the +pretence of relief from subscription, set forth an opposition to the +doctrine of the Trinity.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_111" href="#FNanchor_111" class="label">[111]</a> The Rev. Bryan Broughton, in reply to a demand made on +him to deny his pulpit, said, “Through Mr. Whitefield’s influence I +obtained the living of St. Helen’s, and if he insists upon it he shall +have my pulpit.” Mr. Whitefield did insist, and Mr. Broughton lost his +lectureship.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_112" href="#FNanchor_112" class="label">[112]</a> Both the Bishop of London and Dr. Trapp were answered +by Mr. Whitefield, whose pamphlets were purchased with the greatest +avidity. His portrait was multiplied by various competitors; and his +journals were eagerly contended for by rival publishers. The Bishop, +in a personal interview, charged the “Journals” with enthusiasm. Mr. +Whitefield replied that they were written for himself and private +friends, and were published without his consent.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_113" href="#FNanchor_113" class="label">[113]</a> <i>The Societies for the Reformation of Manners</i>, +which had been the soul of the Establishment, and had assisted Mr. +Whitefield in various plans of great utility, now turned against him, +and the new societies were founded with a view to something more than +the Reformation of Manners. “Societies” and “congregations” became +nearly synonymous terms.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_114" href="#FNanchor_114" class="label">[114]</a> Henry, third Viscount Lonsdale, was a great patriot, +and had been one of the Lords of the Bedchamber, Constable of the +Tower, Lord Privy Seal, and Custos Rotulorum for Westmoreland. His +Lordship was very intimate with Lady Huntingdon, and used to attend the +preaching at her house. He died March 12, 1753.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_115" href="#FNanchor_115" class="label">[115]</a> Among these “others” were William Augustus, Duke of +Cumberland, youngest son of George II., and his brother Frederick, +Prince of Wales; Charles, third Duke of Bolton, who had been +thirty-eight years married to the Lady Anne Vaughan, daughter and +sole heir to the Earl of Carbery, but from some unaccountable cause +never lived with her, and who was afterwards married to the well-known +actress, Mrs. Lavinia Beswick: [two of his illegitimate issue were +clergymen—one rector of Itchen, Hants, and the other rector of Stoke, +near Alresford, Hants;]—the celebrated Lord Hervey, who was so lashed +by Pope, possessed, however, more than ordinary abilities, and much +classical erudition; and who, for his political abilities, was raised +to the post of Lord Privy Seal: [three of his Lordship’s sons were +successively Earls of Bristol, and his second daughter, the excellent +Lady Mary Fitzgerald, the correspondent of Lady Huntingdon, Mr. Wesley, +Mr. Fletcher, Mr. Venn, &c.;]—Lord Sidney Beauclerk, fifth son of the +Duke of St. Alban’s, styled by Sir Charles Hanbury Williams, “Worthless +Sidney,” notorious for hunting after the fortunes of the old and +childless; Lady Betty Germain, in her old age, was only dissuaded from +marrying him by the Duke of Dorset and her relations: he failed in +obtaining the fortune of Sir Thomas Reeve, Chief Justice of the Common +Pleas, but succeeded in inducing Mr. Topham, of Windsor, to leave +his estate to him; he married a Miss Norris, and left a son, Topham +Beauclerk, whose letters and other literary efforts are well known, and +who married Lady Diana Spencer, sister to the Duke of Marlborough.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_116" href="#FNanchor_116" class="label">[116]</a> See the “Diary and Correspondence” of Dr. Doddridge. +The letter of Nathaniel Neale, Esq., whose father was the historian +of the Puritans, deserves particular attention, for the severity and +bitterness of its style. The Christian simplicity and gentle firmness +displayed in the Doctor’s able and manly defence of himself and his +pupils from the aspersions of their assailants, reflect the highest +honour on his character.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_117" href="#FNanchor_117" class="label">[117]</a> One one occasion, Dr. Doddridge being in London, he was +invited, with Lady Huntingdon, to dine at Stoke Newington, at the house +of Lady Abney, with whom Watts was resident. Lady Frances Gardiner, Dr. +Gifford, Dr. Gibbons, the Rev. Samuel Price, Watts’s colleague, and +Dr. Langford, pastor of the church at the Weigh House, were present. +Lady Abney having mentioned the influence which appeared to attend the +preaching of Messrs. Wesley and Whitefield, Dr. Watts said, it is a +blessing of incalculable value that such men should have been raised +up as ambassadors of Christ, to make known the great salvation to the +minds of men. Lady Huntingdon instanced several remarkable effects +of their powerful preaching, and the Doctor (Watts) added, “Such, my +Lady, are the fruits that will ever follow the faithful proclamation +of divine mercy; the Lord our God will crown his message with success, +and give it an abundant entrance into the hearts of men.” At parting +he took the Countess most affectionately by the hand, pronounced a +paternal benediction, and concluded with a memorable remark on his +approaching dissolution:—“I bless God (he said) that I can lie down to +sleep in comfort, no way solicitous whether I awake in this world or +another.”</p> + +<p>When on his death-bed, Dr. Watts was visited by Mr. Whitefield, to whom +he described himself as a “waiting servant of Christ.” Mr. Whitefield +assisted in raising him to receive some medicine, and would doubtless +have prolonged his visit could he have foreseen that his venerable +friend was then within half an hour of glory.</p> + +<p>The Doctor died at Stoke Newington, in the house of Lady Abney. “You +have arrived on an extraordinary day (said he to Lady Huntingdon, on +one of her visits), for on this day thirty years I came to the house of +my good friend Sir Thomas Abney, intending to spend but a single week +under his friendly roof, and I have extended my visit to the length of +thirty years.” “I consider your visit, my dear Sir (said Lady Abney), +as the shortest my family ever received.” “A coalition like this (says +Dr. Johnson), a state in which the notions of patronage and dependence +were overpowered by the perception of reciprocal benefits, deserves a +particular memorial.”</p> + +<p>Sir Thomas Abney was Lord Mayor of London, but his dignities did not +seduce his heart from the duties of the unfashionable religion he had +chosen; on the very day of his inauguration he left the mayoralty feast +to read prayers in his own family. He died eight years after Watts +had accepted a home in his house (on the 6th Feb. 1722). Lady Abney +died one year after Watts (Jan. 12, 1750). Watts was resident in this +hospitable mansion thirty-six years.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_118" href="#FNanchor_118" class="label">[118]</a> Mr. Barnard was one of Mr. Whitefield’s early converts, +and began his ministry among the Independent Dissenters. Afterwards, +becoming acquainted with Mr. Sandeman, Mr. Pike, and others, he +embraced the Sandemanian principles, was ordained an elder in their +societies, and became an eloquent preacher. He died in 1805.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_119" href="#FNanchor_119" class="label">[119]</a> Afterwards Bishop of Rochester—a man very celebrated +in his day as a scholar and politician, and a determined opposer of +Methodism.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_120" href="#FNanchor_120" class="label">[120]</a> Mr. Hume (who took the name of Campbell, from his +mother, daughter of Sir John Campbell, of Cessnock, Ayr) was brother +of Lady Huntingdon’s friend, Lady Jane Nimmo. He was an eminent +counsellor, solicitor to the Princess of Wales, Lord Clerk Registrar of +Scotland, M.P. for Berwick in several Parliaments, an occasional hearer +of Mr. Whitefield, and a liberal contributor to the Tottenham-court +Chapel. He died at London, July 18, 1761.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_121" href="#FNanchor_121" class="label">[121]</a> Robert, Earl of Holdernesse, chosen one of his Majesty’s +principal Secretaries of State, July 12, 1751, in which office he was +associated with Henry Fox, afterwards Lord Holland, and William Pitt, +the celebrated Earl of Chatham.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_122" href="#FNanchor_122" class="label">[122]</a> One of the threats against the life of Whitefield was +contained in an anonymous letter, which the writer or his accomplices +contrived to lay upon the cushion of his pulpit.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_123" href="#FNanchor_123" class="label">[123]</a> Mr. Whitefield continued to preach occasionally at +Long-acre Chapel, after his chapel in Tottenham-court-road was opened. +In the year 1780 it was again used, and for many years the late Rev. +Henry Forster was the licensed minister, in connexion with the late +Rev. Richard Cecil; on whose removal to St. John’s, Bedford-row, Mr. +Forster was associated with Mr. Cuthbert and Mr. Watkins, afterwards +rector of St. Swithin, London-stone. In 1806 the Rev. John King became +associated with Mr. Watkins in the pastoral services of Long-acre +Chapel. To him succeeded the late Rev. Mr. Howells, who continued his +useful ministry there till his death.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_124" href="#FNanchor_124" class="label">[124]</a> Once a celebrated lawyer, but afterwards minister of the +Lock Chapel, brother of the late Bishop of Peterborough, and cousin to +Cowper, the poet.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_125" href="#FNanchor_125" class="label">[125]</a> Tottenham-court Chapel, when first erected, was a double +brick building, seventy feet square within the walls. Twelve almshouses +and a chapel-house were added in 1758. But the chapel being too small +for the accommodation of those who wished to attend, an octangular +front was added to it in the winter of 1759–60. The lease granted by +General George Fitzroy to Mr. Whitefield having expired in 1828, the +chapel was closed until 1830, when the trustees purchased the freehold +of it for <i>fourteen thousand</i> pounds, and laid out about <i>six +thousand</i> more in repairs. It was re-opened October 27, 1831. The +Rev. William Jay preached in the morning from Rev. xxi. 22; and the +Rev. J. Parsons in the evening, from Jer. ix. 3. The chapel at present +is a handsome building—the exterior coated with stucco and ornamented +with pilasters having a boldly projecting moulding. The interior is +neat and in good taste, the cupola being supported by twelve columns. +The present pulpit is the same as that in which Mr. Whitefield +preached. The length is one hundred and twenty-seven feet, the breadth +seventy, and the height of the summit of the dome one hundred and +fourteen feet. It will accommodate from three to four thousand persons, +and very many of the seats are free. The voice of the preacher may be +distinctly heard in every part of the building. Among the monumental +tablets are memorials of Whitefield, Toplady, and Joss. And in the +mausoleum are deposited the remains of several clergymen and Dissenting +ministers.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_126" href="#FNanchor_126" class="label">[126]</a> Foote was a native of Truro, in Cornwall, and in early +life the school-fellow and companion of the late Dr. Haweis. His father +was a justice of the peace, and his mother the sister of Sir John +Dinely Goodere, who was murdered by his brother, Captain Goodere, in +1741. He had a most amazing talent for imitating, even to the very +voice, those he intended to take off. For this species of amusement he +had several actions brought against him, and was cast in heavy damages. +One of his biographers tells us, that “very pressing embarrassments in +his affairs compelled him to bring out his comedy of <i>The Minor</i>, +in 1760, to ridicule Methodism, which, though successful, gave +great offence, and was at last suppressed.” His talent for ridicule +ultimately proved his destruction. In 1776 he drew a character of the +celebrated Duchess of Kingston, then much talked of, who had influence +enough to hinder his play from being represented. He then threatened +to publish, and endeavoured to extort a considerable sum of money from +the Duchess. The affair ripened at length into a legal charge, and the +shock he received from this disgraceful exposure is believed to have +had a fatal effect upon him. After a life of great vicissitude and +irregularity, he died at Dover, in 1777.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_127" href="#FNanchor_127" class="label">[127]</a> Her Grace, of whom there is such frequent mention in the +Letters of Junius, was a daughter of Lord Ravensworth, and after the +dissolution of her marriage, was united to the Earl of Upper Ossory, by +whom she had two daughters, Lady Anne and Lady Gertrude Fitzpatrick. +Lady Ossory died in 1804.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_128" href="#FNanchor_128" class="label">[128]</a> Whilst in America at this time, Mr. Whitefield was +presented with a portrait of himself, done by a painter at New York. He +sent it to England by the Philadelphia packet, directed to Mr. Keene, +and in the letter which accompanied it he says:—“The painter who gave +it me having now the ague and fever, and living a hundred miles off, I +must get you to have the drapery finished, and then, if judged proper, +let it be put up in the Tabernacle parlour.”</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_129" href="#FNanchor_129" class="label">[129]</a> Mr. Matthias Peter Dupont, from the first opening of +Spa-fields Chapel as a place of worship, was one of its managers. He +was also a principal means of introducing the Gospel to Enfield and its +neighbourhood, and of erecting a chapel in the Chase-side; and was one +of the original trustees appointed by Lady Huntingdon for her College. +He died at his house in Canonbury-lane, Islington, November 2, 1816, +three weeks before his old and intimate friend, Mrs. Peckwell. He was +in his seventieth year.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_130" href="#FNanchor_130" class="label">[130]</a> Haweis’s “Church History.”</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_131" href="#FNanchor_131" class="label">[131]</a> We grieve to say, that this encomium must be qualified, +as it respects the language of this great man, at one time of his life +at least.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_132" href="#FNanchor_132" class="label">[132]</a> Now Attingham-house, a handsome modern mansion, on the +right of the Wellington-road to Shrewsbury, at the confluence of the +Tern and the Severn.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_133" href="#FNanchor_133" class="label">[133]</a> One day Mr. Hill informed him that the living at +Dunham, in Cheshire, then vacant, was at his service. “The parish (he +continued) is small, the duty light, the income good (400<i>l.</i> per +annum), and it is situated in a fine healthy sporting country.” After +thanking Mr. Hill most cordially for his kindness, Mr. Fletcher added, +“Alas! sir, Dunham will not suit me; there is too much money, and too +little labour.” “Few clergymen make such objections (said Mr. Hill); it +is a pity to decline such a living, as I do not know that I can find +you another. What shall we do? Would you like Madely?” “That, sir, +would be the very place for me.” “My object, Mr. Fletcher, is to make +you comfortable in your own way. If you prefer Madely, I shall find no +difficulty in persuading Chambers, the present vicar, to exchange it +for Dunham, which is worth more than twice as much.” In this way he +became vicar of Madely, with which he was so perfectly satisfied, that +he never after sought any other honour or preferment.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_134" href="#FNanchor_134" class="label">[134]</a> The elder of these pupils, the sons of Mr. Hill, died on +coming of age; the younger became M.P. for Shrewsbury, afterwards for +Shropshire, and at length took his seat in the House of Peers, as Baron +Berwick, of Attingham-house.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_135" href="#FNanchor_135" class="label">[135]</a> The family of the Delamottes, of Blendon, in Kent, +were all converted by Mr. Ingham; and his son, William, a student at +Cambridge, was the means of introducing to the University that zealous +preacher, Mr. Lawrence Batty, of Catherine Hall, and his brother, who +all became Mr. Ingham’s assistants in Yorkshire.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_136" href="#FNanchor_136" class="label">[136]</a> It was by the advice of the Count and the Rev. Peter +Boehler, of the University of Jena, that Mr. Ingham visited Germany. +They both came to England in 1737, on business connected with the +affairs of the Brotherhood in Georgia.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_137" href="#FNanchor_137" class="label">[137]</a> <i>Mr. Lawrence Batty</i> is said to have been an +extremely eloquent preacher; but from intense study and violent +exertion became weakened in his intellects. He was taken to London by +his brother Christopher, for medical advice, and remained there some +time. Some years after his return to Yorkshire he took a fever and died.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. William Batty</i>, the eldest brother, a popular preacher +among the Inghamites. In 1760, he was ordained pastor of the church +of Wheatley, in conjunction with the Rev. John Green, who afterwards +removed to Nottingham, and became pastor of a congregation there in the +same Connexion. His labours were entirely gratuitous, as his paternal +inheritance was ample. In the year 1786 he was seized with fainting +fits, and was ordered by medical men to desist from preaching; but this +he refused. He died suddenly, without a sigh or a groan, December 12, +1787, aged 72.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. Christopher Batty</i> died at Kendal, in the county of +Westmoreland, on the 19th of April, 1797, aged 82, and was buried in +the ground adjoining the chapel, where there is a monument erected to +his memory.</p> + +<p>Alice, wife of the Rev. Christopher Batty, died March 29, 1794, aged +66. They had two sons, Giles, who died November 29, 1797, aged 32, +and Christopher, who was bred to the profession of a surgeon, and +died January 25, 1803, aged 40; also two daughters, Jane, wife of Mr. +William Knipe, of Kirkland, died February 9, 1802, aged 45; and Alice, +wife of Mr. John Brockbank, of Kendal, who died May 15, 1801.</p> + +<p>The three brothers possessed considerable poetical talents, and some +of their hymns are amongst the best and most poetical now in use. +Mr. Christopher Batty composed the <i>first</i> hymn used among the +Inghamites, soon after his conversion. It begins—</p> + + <div class="poetry-container1"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div>“Sweet was the hour, the minute sweet,” &c.</div> + </div> + </div> + </div> + +<p>At an early period of this Connexion, a hymn-book was printed at Leeds, +chiefly composed by the Messrs. Batty; from whence several hymns in the +Tabernacle and Lady Huntingdon’s Connexion are taken. That well-known +missionary hymn—</p> + + <div class="poetry-container1"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div>“Captain of thine enlisted host,” &c.</div> + </div> + </div> + </div> + +<p class="p-left">was composed by one of the Battys; also the following, which are to be +found in many collections, with several others in general use:—</p> + + <div class="poetry-container1"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="hangingindent">“What object’s this which meets my eyes,” &c.</div> + </div> + </div> + </div> + +<p class="p-left">or, as it is altered in another edition, commencing thus—</p> + + <div class="poetry-container1"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div>“From Salem’s gate, advancing slow,</div> + <div class="i1">What object meets my eyes!</div> + <div>What means this majesty of wo?</div> + <div class="i1">What mean these mingled cries?” &c.</div> + </div> + </div> + </div> + + <div class="poetry-container1"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div>“Beloved Saviour, faithful Friend,” &c.</div> + <div>“O, my Lord! I’ve often mused,” &c.</div> + <div>“Saviour, canst thou love a traitor?” &c.</div> + <div>“O Lord, how great’s the favour,” &c.</div> + <div>“I wait the visits of thy grace,” &c.</div> + <div class="hangingindent">“How blest are they whose feet have found,” &c.</div> + <div class="hangingindent">“How shall I speak my Saviour’s worth?” &c.</div> + <div>“Strangers and sojourners below,” &c.</div> + <div>“Encouraged by the word of grace,” &c.</div> + <div class="hangingindent">“The God of Salvation, Jehovah by name,” &c.</div> + <div class="hangingindent">“Compassionate Bridegroom, my Shepherd and Friend,” &c.</div> + <div class="hangingindent">“O Jesu, my God, come make thine abode,” &c.</div> + <div class="hangingindent">“O Jesus, my Saviour, I fain would embrace,” &c.</div> + <div>“Sinner, attend! attend, I pray,” &c.</div> + <div>“See Jesus, our Deliv’rer great,” &c.</div> + <div>“Nothing in this world I want,” &c.</div> + <div>“The God whose smiles we court,” &c.</div> + </div> + </div> + </div> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_138" href="#FNanchor_138" class="label">[138]</a> <i>Tatler</i>, No. 42, dated July 16, 1709.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_139" href="#FNanchor_139" class="label">[139]</a> The half-brother and predecessor of Theophilus, husband +of the Countess.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_140" href="#FNanchor_140" class="label">[140]</a> Lady Betty bequeathed large sums of money for charitable +purposes, and devised lands of considerable value to the Provost +and Scholars of Queen’s College, Oxford, for the interest of twelve +Northern Schools. In the “Historical Character” of her Ladyship, by the +Rev. Thomas Bernard, Master of the Free School in Leeds, dedicated to +Francis, Lord Hastings, then a youth at Westminster School (eldest son +of Lady Huntingdon), there is a list of the lands given by Lady Betty +in mortmain, and vested in trustees, for the maintenance of perpetual +charities.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_141" href="#FNanchor_141" class="label">[141]</a> See Memoirs of Mr. Grimshaw, by the Rev. J. Newton.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_142" href="#FNanchor_142" class="label">[142]</a> The Wesleyans, therefore, err in claiming Mr. Grimshaw +as exclusively connected with Mr. Wesley. Mr. Ingham had the priority; +and as to his faith, if the doctrine which ascribes the whole of a +sinner’s salvation, from the first dawn of light to the first motion +of spiritual life in the heart, to its full accomplishment in victory +over the last enemy, be Calvinism, we have his confession, sent to Mr. +Romaine, to prove that Mr. Grimshaw was a Calvinist. Mr. Ingham had +established seventy societies before he was invited by Mr. Wesley, +and Mr. Grimshaw had preached at Haworth before either of the Wesleys +reached Yorkshire.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_143" href="#FNanchor_143" class="label">[143]</a> “It caused a sore temptation to arise in me (said John) +to think that an ignorant, wicked man should thus torment me, and I +able to tie his head and heels together. I found an old man’s bone in +me; but the Lord lifted up a standard when anger was coming on like a +cloud, else I should have wrung his neck to the ground, and set my foot +upon him.”</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_144" href="#FNanchor_144" class="label">[144]</a> She was a Miss Titchborne, niece to Lord Farrand. +Her sister married Daniel Pulteney, a statesman of some eminence, +grandfather of the late Countess of Bath, and cousin to William +Pulteney, Earl of Bath, of whom frequent mention is made in this work.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_145" href="#FNanchor_145" class="label">[145]</a> This wretched enemy to all serious religion was educated +at Douay, in France, for orders in the Church of Rome; but, upon his +recantation, was noticed by Archbishop Potter, and by him recommended +to the Vicar of Whalley, who appointed him Vicar of Colne. He was +neither devoid of parts nor literature, but childishly ignorant +of common life, and shamefully inattentive to his duty, which he +frequently abandoned, for weeks together, to such accidental assistance +as the parish could procure. On one occasion he is said to have read +the funeral service more than twenty times in a single night over +the dead that had been interred in his absence. With these glaring +imperfections in his own character, he sought to distinguish himself by +a riotous opposition to the Methodists. He was a notorious drunkard, +and drank himself first into a gaol, and then into his grave. He was +interred in his own church, April 29, 1751. It is reported and believed +in the neighbourhood of Colne, that Mr. White, when on his dying bed, +sent for Mr. Grimshaw, expressed his concern for having opposed him, +being fully convinced of the impropriety of his former conduct, and +begged the assistance of his instructions and prayers. See History of +Whalley, part ii. 139, &c., by the Rev. T. D. Whitaker.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_146" href="#FNanchor_146" class="label">[146]</a> This name he owed to his adoption (confirmed by an +imperial diploma) by the Baron de Watteville.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_147" href="#FNanchor_147" class="label">[147]</a> It was customary at these times to read the prayers in +the church; they then went into the churchyard, and, upon a scaffold +erected for that purpose, addressed listening thousands, who seemed +to hear as for eternity. Having finished the discourse, they returned +into the church, and administered the Lord’s Supper to as many as the +church would contain; when these had received they withdrew, and the +church filled again, and this was repeated until all had communicated. +A succession of sermons were preached at short intervals, interspersed +with appropriate hymns, and the people returned to their houses +grateful and rejoicing in the love of the Lord.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_148" href="#FNanchor_148" class="label">[148]</a> See page 149. Mr. Thorpe, after his conversion, joined +the Wesleyans, and Mr. Wesley wisely stationed him at Rotherham. He +afterwards withdrew from the Methodists and became the pastor of an +Independent congregation. His son, the Rev. W. Thorpe, was minister of +the Castle-green, at Bristol.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_149" href="#FNanchor_149" class="label">[149]</a> “I lay under the scaffold (said the Rev. Dr. Fawcett, +then a boy, but afterwards a distinguished preacher), 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 +(he would say) I shall remember both the text and the sermon.”</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_150" href="#FNanchor_150" class="label">[150]</a> Mr. Graves, the vicar of Clapham, Yorkshire, was now +visited by Mr. Ingham; and now it was that Mr. Milner, incumbent of +Chipping, near Bolton, in Lancashire, put his lips to the Gospel +trumpet and proclaimed the truth in Yorkshire. “Mr. Graves (says he, +in a letter to Mr. Wesley) is convinced of the truth, and preaches it +with power, not only in church but also from house to house; but he +has had much opposition from the Moravians on the one side, and the +profane scoffers on the other.” He then goes on to deplore Mr. Ingham’s +“entanglement” with the “still brethren,” and earnestly recommends to +Mr. Wesley to conciliate Mr. Ingham, “who (he says), with all respect +for you, thinks you have not done justice to Count Zinzendorff.” It +was now, too, that the Rev. John Bennet, of Chinley, in Derbyshire, +separated from Mr. Wesley, and a portion of his congregation taking +part with him, a chapel was raised for him at Bolton, and the +congregation organized on the plan of an Independent Church. Here he +continued ministering until his death, in 1750. He was married, in the +presence of Messrs. Wesley and Whitefield, at Newcastle, in 1749, to +the celebrated Grace Murray, whose memoirs were published in 1804, by +her son, the pastor of a Dissenting congregation in London.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_151" href="#FNanchor_151" class="label">[151]</a> While he was absent, Mr. C. Wesley, who had been +employed in York, not only in preaching, but of attending persons of +learning and character, who were desirous of stating their objections +to the doctrines and economy of the Methodists, and to hear his +answers, went to Aberford. “I had the happiness (says he) of finding +Lady Margaret Ingham at home, and their son, Ignatius. She informed me +that Mr. Ingham’s circuit takes in about four hundred miles; that he +has six fellow-labourers and several thousand persons in his societies, +most of them converted. I rejoiced in his success. Ignatius would +hardly be satisfied at my preaching.”</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_152" href="#FNanchor_152" class="label">[152]</a> On one of his excursions into Yorkshire, being at Leeds, +Mr. Newton was requested by the Rev. Mr. Edwards to preach for him at +White Chapel. He met a party of religious friends at Mr. Edwards’s +house, which adjoined the chapel, and took his tea (of which he was +remarkably fond) with them. When the hour of preaching approached, +Mr. Edwards intimated to him that if he was desirous to retire before +the service (as was then customary with most serious ministers) there +was a room for his reception; but Mr. Newton declined this, saying he +was so well pleased with his company, that he was unwilling to leave +it; and added, “I am prepared.” At the appointed time the service +commenced, and after prayer Mr. Newton read his text, which was, “I +have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I +shall not be moved.” He began fluently; but in a few minutes he lost +all recollection of his plan; was confused, stopped, and desired Mr. +Edwards to come up and finish the service. Mr. Edwards urged him to +proceed; but Mr. Newton left the pulpit, which Mr. Edwards ascended, +and concluded with an address to the audience on the importance of +the Spirit’s agency to help our infirmities. Such was the confusion +occasioned by the young preacher’s failure, that for some time after +he could not see two or three persons standing together in the street +without suspecting that he himself must be the subject of their +conversation. From this mortification, doubtless, he learned the +important lesson, to put his trust not in his memory or preparation, +but in the Lord alone. See some admirable “Thoughts on the Snares +and Difficulties attending the Ministry of the Gospel”—Omicron’s +Letters—Letter V.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_153" href="#FNanchor_153" class="label">[153]</a> It was customary for those who desired to be admitted +into Church fellowship to declare their experience publicly; when any +difference of opinion took place about the reception of any member, it +was referred to the lot; and all other matters, where unanimity could +not be obtained, were likewise decided by lot. Elders were ordained by +the holding up of hands.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_154" href="#FNanchor_154" class="label">[154]</a> The Rev. G. Burnett was early impressed with a deep +sense of divine things by Mr. Walker, of Truro. On his ordination he +became curate to the Rev. Mr. Rawlings, of Padstow, whence he came to +Yorkshire, and remained there two years. He then resided about half +that time in Kent, and by the presentation of Dr. Leigh was ultimately +seated at the vicarage of Elland, in Yorkshire. In this parish he spent +his large fortune in works of charity, and his exertions in acts of +grace, until, after a life of indefatigable labour, he gave up the +ghost, in the 59th year of his age, July 8, 1793.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_155" href="#FNanchor_155" class="label">[155]</a> After such insults, the Doctor, instead of spending the +afternoon with his reverend brethren, dined with a party of friends +at another inn. His brother-in-law, the well-known Mr. Thornton, of +Clapham, was of this number, who, while sitting by him, slipped the +sermon from his pocket, and printed and dispersed it about the country. +This was the only production of the Doctor’s that ever appeared from +the press.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_156" href="#FNanchor_156" class="label">[156]</a> Mr. Knight’s ministry was blessed; his congregation +continually increasing, it soon became necessary to erect a gallery as +large as the building would admit, then a larger and more commodious +house became rather desirable than attainable. At length, however, it +was cordially set about, and a very spacious and elegant structure +completed, which was opened in May, 1772. Here he exercised his public +ministrations to very large congregations, till it pleased the Lord to +incapacitate him for public service; and, to use his own expression, +to reduce him from a <i>working</i> to a <i>waiting</i> servant. Mr. +Knight was released from the burden of the flesh, and removed to a +better and indissoluble mansion, March 2, 1793. In 1766 he published a +volume of sermons, an elegy on Mr. Whitefield’s death, and a few single +sermons and pamphlets.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_157" href="#FNanchor_157" class="label">[157]</a> A dear old friend of his, Mr. Jeremiah Robertshaw, +called to see him. When they parted, Mr. Grimshaw took hold of his +hand and said, “The Lord bless you, Jerry; I will pray for you as +long as I live; and if there be such a thing as praying in heaven, I +will pray for you there also.” His last words were, “<span class="smcap">Here goes an +unprofitable servant!</span>” Mr. Robertshaw was one of the first race of +Methodist preachers: he travelled twenty-six years with an unblameable +character, and died at Bradford, in February, 1788.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_158" href="#FNanchor_158" class="label">[158]</a> At his own desire, his remains were brought to Ewood, +the farm-house, in the parish of Halifax, where his son resided, and +from thence they were followed to Luddenden chapel, near Halifax, by +great numbers, who, with intermingled sighs and tears, sang, at his +dying request, all the way from the house to the chapel. They lie near +the communion-table, without any monumental record, except his name, +&c., on the stone which covers his grave. Mr. Venn preached his funeral +sermon, in the churchyard at Luddenden, the church itself not being +sufficiently large to hold the congregation; and the next day (being +Sunday) at Haworth, to a numerous and deeply-affected assembly, many of +whom came from a great distance to testify their respect and veneration +for their departed minister. This sermon was afterwards published, and +contains the earliest and most authentic account of him. Mr. Romaine +also preached a sermon on the occasion of his death ten days after his +decease, at St. Dunstan’s in the West, London, from Phil. i. 21—“For +me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Both Mr. Venn and Mr. +Romaine fixed upon a text which had been peculiarly precious to him, +and of which his life had been a bright illustration.”</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_159" href="#FNanchor_159" class="label">[159]</a> One time, after Shent had been preaching in Mr. +Grimshaw’s kitchen, that good man fell down before the humble +itinerant, saying, “I am not worthy to stand in your presence.” Shent +suffered many hardships, and was pressed for a soldier, but was set at +liberty through the interest of Lady Huntingdon, who frequently called +him the “<i>guileless Israelite</i>.”</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_160" href="#FNanchor_160" class="label">[160]</a> Notwithstanding this direct assertion, we are greatly +mistaken if this pious lady did not often attend the preaching of the +Rev. W. Jay, and occasionally receive at his hands the Lord’s Supper!</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_161" href="#FNanchor_161" class="label">[161]</a> James Ireland, Esq., of Brislington.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_162" href="#FNanchor_162" class="label">[162]</a> Afterwards Sir Richard Hill, Bart.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_163" href="#FNanchor_163" class="label">[163]</a> Lady Irvine is said to have been a woman of great +excellence, and at one period of her life much impressed with divine +things. To her intercourse with Lady Huntingdon was attributed that +clear and comprehensive view of the plan of redemption which she +attained; and the influence of the great truths of the Gospel in all +the relations of life shone conspicuous. Her Ladyship survived Lord +Irvine nearly thirty years, and died at Temple Newson, November 20, +1807, in the 74th year of her age, much regretted. She outlived the +death of her dear old friend and relative, Mrs. Deane, about nine +months. Her charities were as extensive as her rank was elevated; and +by her death the poor of the surrounding villages lost a munificent +benefactress. Lord Irvine dying without male issue, the title became +extinct, after it had been possessed by nine individuals in the period +of one hundred and seventeen years, making the small average of +thirteen years to each. Lady Irvine was the grandmother of the present +Marquis of Hertford, to whom descended a great portion of the estates +of the Ingram family.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Deane lived near nine years of that period when even a “man’s +<i>strength</i> is labour and sorrow.” She was, however, no worse than +usual till the morning of February 3rd, 1807, and then the springs of +life began to ebb in death. She repeated often that morning—</p> + + <div class="poetry-container1"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="ileft">“Christ in me—my hope of glory,</div> + <div>Christ in me—my God of love.”</div> + </div> + </div> + </div> + +<p class="p-left">She seemed to have a presentiment of her approaching +change, breathing out for some time, “Dear Jesus, be with me to my +journey’s end, <i>which I believe will not be long</i>.” On being asked +if she wanted anything, she answered—</p> + + <div class="poetry-container1"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="ileft">“None but Christ for me;</div> + <div>No music like thy charming name,</div> + <div>Nor half so sweet can be.”</div> + </div> + </div> + </div> + +<p class="p-left">About three hours before her dissolution, as if gazing +on celestial glories and listening to angelic praises, completely +victorious over the last enemy, she cried out, “Glory! glory! +glory!—Hallelujah! hallelujah! hallelujah! to God and the Lamb for +ever, and ever, and ever!” The powers of language never failed, and she +gradually sunk into the arms of death, falling asleep in Jesus, the 4th +of February, aged 88 years and nine months.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_164" href="#FNanchor_164" class="label">[164]</a> Dr. Isaac Milner, Dean of Carlisle, Master of Queen’s +College, Cambridge, and Vice-Chancellor of the University.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_165" href="#FNanchor_165" class="label">[165]</a> If Mr. Venn, of Holloway, Islington, had been acquainted +with this true history of the gradual change wrought in the mind +of Mr. Milner, he would not have asserted, as we find he has done, +in the Life of his grandfather, that “Mr. Milner was one of those +evangelical labourers who derived their view of the truth directly from +the word of God, who were independent of the Methodists, and nearly +contemporaneous with them, and whose labours had an immediate and +remarkable influence upon the clergy of the Church of England.” This is +not the only error Mr. Venn commits in the long list of names prefixed +to his grandfather’s correspondence. It would be easy to prove that the +light which then fell upon the Church was poured through the channel of +Methodism.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_166" href="#FNanchor_166" class="label">[166]</a> Mr. Wren’s original scene of duty was in Wales, and it +was because his health appeared to have sunk beneath his labours there +that her Ladyship recommended a tour in England. “Now, Wren (says the +Countess), I charge you to be faithful, and to deliver a faithful +message in all the congregations.” “My Lady (said Wren), they will not +bear it.” She rejoined “I will stand by you.” His tour was marked by +the seal of utility, especially at Oxford and at Grimsby, where, being +overtaken by a shower of rain, he took shelter in a wayside house, +in which many labourers had assembled to take refuge from the rain. +Hearing them swear, he went out of the parlour to them, and upon the +promise of giving them half-a-crown, obtained their attention while he +read two sermons to them, and spoke urgently as to the state of their +souls. On his return, he found that two of these men had, by his means, +been awakened to a due sense of their eternal interests. He was invited +to remain at York, which Lady Huntingdon not approving, he withdrew +from the Connexion of his noble patroness in the year 1780. On the 4th +August, 1784, in his 34th year, he fell asleep in the Lord. He died +at Scarborough, but was buried at York, in the chapel which Mr. Batty +built, and where he, too, was interred.</p> + +<p>In his doctrine, Mr. Wren was strictly Calvinistic. His manner of +preaching was warm and fervid, and but that his voice was sometimes +pitched too loudly, he might have been called an orator of nature’s +making. Seeing the people inattentive to one of his unprepared +discourses, he hastily descended from the pulpit, and walking rapidly +towards that part of the congregation that betrayed neglect, addressed +them with the Spirit and with power, and the Lord blessed the word. +In Wales, hearing of the reputed efficacy of St. Govin’s well in the +cure of bodily diseases, he resolved to carry thither his medicines +for the bruised spirit. The Welsh Bethsaida stands at the foot of +immense rocks, quite open to the sea, and far from any town. Multitudes +assembled in so strange a scene whom he addressed from the words, +“Rocks, fall on us,” &c. (Rev. vi. 16, 17). One man, who had opposed +the dedication of a place of worship, was convinced, and immediately +appropriated the place to its purpose.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_167" href="#FNanchor_167" class="label">[167]</a> A respectable surgeon, with whom Mr, Wren resided till +his marriage.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_168" href="#FNanchor_168" class="label">[168]</a> Among his then congregation was the late Mr. Tuppen, +predecessor of Mr. Jay, at Bath. He was brought up by a pious mother +in strict observance of the externals of religion; but at eighteen +years of age, when he first heard Mr. Whitefield, he was ignorant of +its essentials. He attended from curiosity, ready to stone this second +Stephen, or to hold the clothes of those who did; but the words, “Turn +ye, turn ye,” were not lost upon him, but became the means of grace to +his soul.</p> + +<p>Another convert gained on this spot was Mr. Edward Gadsby, who was now +first called from darkness to light: during his after life he realized +the venerable Newton’s picture of a true saint; and when he died, +on the 9th April, 1785, the Rev. Cradock Glasscott preached at Lady +Huntingdon’s a powerful sermon, from the words—“Mark the perfect man, +and behold the upright; for the end of that man is peace.”</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_169" href="#FNanchor_169" class="label">[169]</a> The following account of her Ladyship’s jewels sold for +this purpose was found amongst the papers of a lady who had resided a +considerable time with her, and was well acquainted with her concerns:—</p> + +<table> + <tr> + <td class="cht">Two 15 <img src="images/b314.jpg" alt="small x" +style="height:0.75em; padding:0 0em 0 0em;"> + drops</td> + <td class="right"> £400</td> + <td class="right">0</td> + <td class="right">0</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="cht">Twenty-eight 13 <img src="images/b314.jpg" alt="small x" +style="height:0.75em; padding:0 0em 0 0em;"> 2</td> + <td class="right">90</td> + <td class="right">0</td> + <td class="right">0</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="cht">Thirty-seven pearls, at 4<i>l.</i> 15<i>s.</i> each</td> + <td class="right">175</td> + <td class="right">15</td> + <td class="right">0</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="cht">Seed pearls</td> + <td class="right">10</td> + <td class="right">0</td> + <td class="right">0</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="cht">Gold box</td> + <td class="rightb">23</td> + <td class="rightb">0</td> + <td class="rightb">0</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="cht"></td> + <td class="right">£698</td> + <td class="right">15</td> + <td class="right">0</td> + </tr> +</table> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_170" href="#FNanchor_170" class="label">[170]</a> Sir Anthony Shirley, the original proprietor of Oathall, +was one of the gallant adventurers who went to annoy the Spaniards +in their settlements in the West Indies. He afterwards travelled to +Persia, and returned to England in the quality of Ambassador from the +Sophi, when he published an account of his travels. The Emperor of +Germany raised him to the dignity of a Count, and the King of Spain +made him Admiral of the Levant Sea. He died in Spain. A spirit of +adventure ran through the family of the Shirleys. Sir Anthony had +two brothers, who were noted adventurers. Sir Francis, the elder +brother, was unfortunate. Sir Robert was introduced to the Persian +Court by his brother, Sir Anthony, and was also sent Ambassador from +the Sophi to the Court of England. According to some accounts, he +married a near relation of the Sophi of Persia; according to others, a +Circassian. Lady Shirley was confirmed in England, to whom the Queen +stood godmother and Prince Henry godfather. Her portrait was painted by +Vandyck, from which a print was taken, that is now very scarce.</p> + +<p>William Shirley, of Oathall, emigrated to America, and was Governor of +the province of Massachusetts Bay and of the Bahama Islands. He visited +England in 1760, where he remained some years, but returned to America, +where he died in 1771. His only surviving son was Governor of the +Leeward Islands, a Major-General in the army. He was created a Baronet +in 1786. His son was named Sir William Warden Shirley, on whose death, +in 1815, the title became extinct.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_171" href="#FNanchor_171" class="label">[171]</a> The apostolic Griffith Jones, rector of Llandowrer, in +Carmarthenshire.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_172" href="#FNanchor_172" class="label">[172]</a> The worthy doctor was not without his singularities. He +would never preach in any pulpit but his own, not even when nominated +expressly by his diocesan to preach in another church, and it was +very rarely that his most intimate friends could engage him to lead +in family worship at their homes. A continual hurry and flutter of +spirits, to which he was unaccountably subject, thus contracted his +usefulness. The sight even of a stranger in his church would disconcert +him, especially if he thought him a minister. He used to say to Mr. +Thornton, “If you expect any blessing under my ministry, I beg you will +not bring so many black coats with you.”</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_173" href="#FNanchor_173" class="label">[173]</a> The ninth Earl. Theophilus, the eleventh Earl, was the +eldest brother of Colonel Hastings; he was the godson of the ninth +Earl, and educated by him. He took orders, and obtained the family +livings of Great and Little Beke, Osgathorp, and Belton. He was twice +married, but died without issue. His first wife, Miss Pratt, died soon +after her marriage. His second wife was Betsy Warner, a domestic of +Donnington Park, with whom having had some dalliance in his youth, +and having promised her marriage as soon as he should get the living +of Beke, was reminded of his promise thirty years after it was made. +Astonished, but not ashamed of his early choice, he enquired into her +character, and finding that clear, he kept his promise. He himself +published, in his own village church, the bans between the Rev. +Theophilus Hastings and Betsy Warner. “My name (exclaimed the lady from +an adjoining pew) is Elizabeth!” And they were married accordingly. He +had never legally claimed the title, which, however, he had personally +assumed, and to which he had an undoubted right. He died in 1804, in +the 76th year of his age.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_174" href="#FNanchor_174" class="label">[174]</a> Mr. Hudson was brother to one of Mr. Venn’s most valued +and faithful friends and correspondents, who married, in 1768, the Rev. +John Ryland, then curate of Huddersfield, and afterwards successively +minister of St. Mary’s, Birmingham, and rector of Sutton Coldfield, +Warwickshire. See some letters to Miss Hudson, on the death of her +brother, in Mr. Venn’s Life and Correspondence.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_175" href="#FNanchor_175" class="label">[175]</a> Rev. George Dyer, then resident minister at Tottenham +Chapel, and lecturer of St. George the Martyr, Southwark.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_176" href="#FNanchor_176" class="label">[176]</a> Rev. John Green, formerly curate of Thurnscoe, in +Yorkshire.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_177" href="#FNanchor_177" class="label">[177]</a> Messrs. Madan and Haweis.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_178" href="#FNanchor_178" class="label">[178]</a> Mr. Romaine.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_179" href="#FNanchor_179" class="label">[179]</a> Dr. Venn’s son, Edward Venn, Esq., married his cousin, +Charlotte Mary, eldest daughter of William James Gambier, Esq., of the +family of Lord Gambier.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_180" href="#FNanchor_180" class="label">[180]</a> One of the first lay preachers—one of the first who +visited Ireland, and was included in the memorable presentation of +the grand jury of Cork, in 1749. He afterwards obtained Episcopal +ordination, and was for some years minister of Magdalene Hospital. +Here, however, the governors forbade his preaching after his own +manner, and constrained him to read from time to time a sermon of +Archbishop Tillotson. When he became a lecturer of Whitechapel his +ministry was more popular and useful, and he often preached at +Brighton, Oathall, Everton, &c., with success.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_181" href="#FNanchor_181" class="label">[181]</a> The predecessor of Mr. Romaine was Dr. Terrick, +afterwards Bishop of Peterborough: he held two lectureships in the +same church—one a common parish lectureship, supported by voluntary +contribution—the other founded and endowed by Dr. White, for the use +of Benchers of the Temple. Mr. Romaine had been elected to both, but +Lord Mansfield’s decision deprived him of the parish lectureship, while +it confirmed him in that of Dr. White.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_182" href="#FNanchor_182" class="label">[182]</a> His allusion to this complaint, and the admirable answer +to it in his probation sermon, we think it right to extract:—“Some +have intimated that it was from pride that I would not go about the +parish from house to house, canvassing for votes; but truly it was +another motive. I could not see how this could promote the glory of +God. How can it be for the honour of Jesus, that his ministers, who +have renounced fame, and riches, and ease, should be most anxious +and earnest in the pursuit of those very things which they have +renounced? Surely this would be getting into a worldly spirit, as much +as the spirit of parliamenteering. And as this method of canvassing +cannot be for Jesus’ sake, so neither is it for our honour: it is far +beneath our function. Nor is it for your profit. What good is it to +your souls? what compliment to your understandings? what advantage to +you, in any shape, to be directed and applied to by every person with +whom you have any connexion, or on whom you have any dependence? Is +not this depriving you of the freedom of your choice? Determined by +these motives, when my friends, of their own accord, put me up as a +candidate, to whom I have to this hour made no application, directly or +indirectly, I left you to yourselves. If you choose me, I desire to be +your servant for Jesus’ sake; and if you do not, the will of the Lord +be done.”</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_183" href="#FNanchor_183" class="label">[183]</a> The letter from which this extract is made is dated +Ipswich, May 8, 1765. The Rev. David Edwards was originally fixed at +St. Neot’s, near Everton and Golling, where he became the friend and +correspondent of Mr. Berridge and Mr. Venn. He went to Ipswich, and +remained there till 1791, and died at Walton-under-Edge, 1795.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_184" href="#FNanchor_184" class="label">[184]</a> Rev. G. Dyer, lecturer of St. George the Martyr.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_185" href="#FNanchor_185" class="label">[185]</a> A traveller passing through the town saw, as he +approached the market-place, a great concourse of people in bitter +lamentation; some wringing their hands, others in a state of +distraction, the tears running down their cheeks, and with all the +evidences of an agony of distress. Enquiring into the cause of their +affliction, the traveller learned with surprise that they were mourning +over the irreparable loss they were about to sustain in the removal of +their minister. Many of them declared that they would lay themselves +along the road, and if he was determined to leave them, his carriage +should drive over them.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_186" href="#FNanchor_186" class="label">[186]</a> Thomas Powys, Esq., of Berwick, in Shropshire, was a +gentleman of large fortune and of high connexions; he became very +conspicuous about this period, in conjunction with Sir Richard Hill and +Mr. Lee, of Cotery, in the same county for zeal in the cause of God and +truth.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Powys was daughter of —— Poole, Esq., of Radbourne, in the +county of Derby. After the death of her husband (in 1775), she +became (September 23, 1776) the second wife of Sir Rowland Hill, of +Hawkestone, Bart. She died in 1790. The present representative of Lady +Hill’s family is Sacheverel Chandos Pole, Esq., of Radbourne; whose +daughter, Elizabeth Mary, married the present Lord Byron.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_187" href="#FNanchor_187" class="label">[187]</a> Mr. Venn, Mr. Ryland, Dr. Conyers, and Mr. Powley, vicar +of Dewsbury.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_188" href="#FNanchor_188" class="label">[188]</a> It was not unusual with her Ladyship to anticipate the +public prayers of her chaplains, by her own private intercessions +for the congregation. Before the officiating minister entered upon +the performance of his duty, it was her custom, knowing the awful +responsibility of his situation, and the inestimable value of immortal +souls, to request the Great Master of assemblies to furnish him with +a subject adapted to the conditions of the people; at the same time +earnestly soliciting for the preacher, wisdom, utterance, power, and +fidelity; and for the hearers a serious frame, an unprejudiced mind, +and a retentive heart. Whilst he was employed in proclaiming the glad +tidings of salvation, she was engaged in pouring out her soul to the +Great Shepherd and Bishop of souls to bless his own word; pleading that +last great promise of her crucified Lord, “Lo, I am with you always, +even unto the end of the world.” And when the service of the sanctuary +had ceased, she withdrew to her closet, and earnestly implored the +benediction of the Spirit to accompany the labours of his servants, +that many might be led to the knowledge of his grace and faith in +Him. From year to year sinners were converted from the error of their +ways, and believers were built up in their most holy faith; while she +appeared among them as a happy mother rejoicing in their prosperity, +and blessed in the blessings of her spiritual children. Thus the seed, +which she had so often watered with her tears, and followed with her +prayers, produced at length a plenteous harvest of immortal souls, +redeemed by the blood of Jesus.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_189" href="#FNanchor_189" class="label">[189]</a> He was the eldest son of Major-General Talbot, and +grandson to the Bishop of Durham, and nephew of Lord Chancellor Talbot, +and had just been presented to this living by the Lord Chancellor +Bathurst.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_190" href="#FNanchor_190" class="label">[190]</a> Lady Huntingdon, with that boundless generosity of +heart which she possessed, wrote to this worthy man by return of post, +enclosing a bank post bill for the supply of his temporal necessities. +It was said by Captain Scott that her Ladyship was so generous and +bountiful that she did actually give to every one who asked her, +until her stock being exhausted, she was destitute. At length it +became really necessary to conceal cases from her. On one occasion the +Captain, with some other ministers, having a case presented to them, +and believing that the good Countess would give, though she could +ill afford to do so, resolved not to acquaint her with it. By some +means, however, her Ladyship heard of the case, and likewise of the +combination of the ministers to conceal it, with which conduct she was +exceedingly grieved; and the moment she saw Captain Scott, said she +could not have thought it of him. She burst into tears and exclaimed, +“I have never taken anything ill at your hands before; but this I think +is very unkind!” She then gave a hundred pounds to the case.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_191" href="#FNanchor_191" class="label">[191]</a> Rev. Charles Wesley.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_192" href="#FNanchor_192" class="label">[192]</a> Rev. John Wesley.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_193" href="#FNanchor_193" class="label">[193]</a> Rev. G. Whitefield.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_194" href="#FNanchor_194" class="label">[194]</a> The reader will form his own opinion on the propriety of +such appeals to the <i>Sortes Biblicæ</i>. There is perhaps something +too Delphic and oracular in the form for Christian practice.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_195" href="#FNanchor_195" class="label">[195]</a> Mr Toplady’s style is said to have been admirably suited +for the pulpit. His hearers were not puzzled with hard words. His +references were in general short; and when they were long, the members +were so constructed and arranged as to create no obscurity. There was +at the same time a vivacity and animation in his manner which riveted +the attention of his hearers.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_196" href="#FNanchor_196" class="label">[196]</a> Through the greater part of his life this good man +was the subject of considerable weakness of body. This circumstance, +in addition to his lameness, confined him much to his parish, where +he constantly and faithfully performed the important duties of his +function, till he was absolutely incapacitated by disease. He had +occasionally preached for Lady Huntingdon at Bath; and with the hope of +dispelling his nervous disorders, which were sometimes wrought up to a +high pitch, she prevailed on him to take a journey to Brighton, where +he preached the pure Gospel with the seriousness and earnestness of a +man who had a deep conviction of its truth and value. He was a native +of Oxford, and descended from a respectable family there. His father +was Professor of Astronomy in the University. He was intimate with the +Duke of Marlborough, and, being at Blenheim on one occasion, he was +asked by the Duke to recommend a tutor for his son. The doctor at the +moment cast his eye on a young Oxonian strolling in the park. He knew +and recommended him. The tutor was received, and so much pleased the +Duke that all his influence was exerted for his elevation, and he lived +to be Archbishop of Canterbury.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_197" href="#FNanchor_197" class="label">[197]</a> An eye-witness described the church at Everton as +crowded with persons, from all the country round; “the windows being +filled, within and without, and even the outside of the pulpit, to the +very top, so that Mr. Berridge seemed almost stilled; yet feeble and +sickly as he is, he was continually strengthened and his voice, for the +most part, distinguishable in the midst of all the outcries.”</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_198" href="#FNanchor_198" class="label">[198]</a> On the 13th of July, Mr. Romaine and Mr. Madan went, +with Mr. Berridge and Mr. Hicks, to Tablow, in Cambridgeshire. Great +numbers, feeling the arrows of conviction, fell to the ground, some of +whom seemed dead, and others in the agonies of death; the violence of +their bodily convulsions exceeding all description. There was also a +great crying and agonizing in prayer, mixed with deep and deadly groans +on every side.</p> + +<p>At Harlston, Mr. Berridge was greatly fatigued and dejected, and said, +“I am now so weak, I must leave off field-preaching.” Nevertheless, he +cast himself on the Lord, and preached with amazing energy to upwards +of three thousand hearers. At Stapleford, where he had been curate +for five or six years, at Grandchester, at Driplow, Orwell, and other +places, the like effects followed. At Everton, the next Sunday, about +two hundred persons, chiefly men, cried aloud for mercy; but many more +were affected, perhaps as deeply, though in a calmer way.</p> + +<p>On these extraordinary manifestations Mr. Ralph Erskine +observes:—“What influence sudden and sharp awakenings may have upon +the body I pretend not to explain. But I make no question Satan, so far +as he gets power, may exert himself on such occasions, partly to hinder +the good work in the persons who are thus touched with sharp arrows of +conviction, and partly to disparage the work of God, as if it tended to +lead the people to distraction.”</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_199" href="#FNanchor_199" class="label">[199]</a> Lord Hertford, at the head of the Governors, with white +staves, met the Prince at the door, and conducted his Royal Highness +into the chapel, where, before the altar, was an arm-chair for him, +with a blue damask cushion, and a footstool of black cloth. Lady +Huntingdon, Lord and Lady Dartmouth, Lady Fanny Shirley, Lady Gertrude +Hotham, Lady Chesterfield, Lady Selina Hastings, and several persons of +distinction, occupied forms near his Royal Highness.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_200" href="#FNanchor_200" class="label">[200]</a> At the moment of the Prince’s departure, some nobleman +observed to Lord Hertford that he thought the sermon savoured a good +deal of Methodism. His Lordship was about to reply, when the Prince, +who had overheard the remark, turned hastily round, and said, “Your +Lordship must be fastidious indeed; I thought the discourse excellent; +and well adapted to this most useful institution—a sentiment in +which my Lady Huntingdon, I am most happy to say, most cordially +coincides with me. Her Ladyship, I suspect, is much better versed +in theology than either of us.” The astonished noble bowed, and the +Prince withdrew. It should be noticed, that Dr. Dodd was at this time +considered decidedly evangelical in his preaching, and there have been +instances of persons called under his ministry to a saving acquaintance +of divine things. This was some years before his awful fall.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_201" href="#FNanchor_201" class="label">[201]</a> Page, a robber of extraordinary courage and singular +adventures and escapes, had stopped Lord Ferrers. His Lordship pulled +out a pistol, but while he held it, trembled violently. The robber +laughed and took the weapon out of his hand, quietly observing, “I +know, my Lord, you always carry more than one pistol about you, +let’s have the rest.” At the trial Page pleaded that his Lordship +was excommunicated, and could not give evidence. He was consequently +acquitted.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_202" href="#FNanchor_202" class="label">[202]</a> Mr. Johnson had been taken into the family of Lord +Ferrers in his youth, and was then his Lordship’s land-steward. Hoping, +probably, that he should have sufficient influence over him to have +procured some deviation from his trust in his Lordship’s favour, he +soon found that Mr. Johnson would not oblige him at the expense of his +honesty. From that time he conceived an implacable resentment against +him; and it is easy to conceive that every opposition to the will of +a man so haughty, impetuous, and irascible, would produce the most +disastrous effects. Mr. Johnson lived at the house belonging to the +farm which he held under his Lordship, called Lount, about half a mile +distant from Stanton.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_203" href="#FNanchor_203" class="label">[203]</a> From this period, till he was arrested, Lord Ferrers +continued to drink porter, and in proportion as it took effect, his +passions became more tumultuous. Having shot the steward at three +o’clock in the afternoon, he persecuted him till one in the morning, +threatening to murder him, and attempting to tear off his bandages. The +last time he went to him he pulled him by the wig, calling him villain; +and it was with great difficulty that Miss Johnson and those about her +father could prevent his Lordship from striking him. The poor man was +so terrified by his outrageous conduct, that Dr. Kirkland at length +succeeded in removing him in the middle of the night to his own house, +where he languished till the next morning; and when the Earl heard the +poor creature was dead, he said he gloried in having killed him.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_204" href="#FNanchor_204" class="label">[204]</a> “His brothers (says Horace Walpole) were brought to +his trial to prove lunacy against their own blood. One of them (Mr. +Shirley) is a clergyman, suspended by the Bishop of London for being a +Methodist.”</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_205" href="#FNanchor_205" class="label">[205]</a> “Many Peers (says Horace Walpole) were absent. Lord +Foley and Lord Jersey attended only the first day; and Lord Huntingdon, +and my nephew, Lord Orford (in compliment to his mother, as related to +the prisoner), withdrew without voting. But never was a criminal more +literally tried by his Peers; for the three persons who interested +themselves most in the examination were at least as mad as he—Lord +Ravenscroft, Lord Talbot, and Lord Fortescue. Indeed, the first was +almost frantic. The seats of the Peeresses were not nearly full. Lady +Coventry was there, I sat next but one to her, and would not have +thought she had been ill; yet they are positive she has but a few +weeks to live. Lady Augusta was in the same gallery; the Duke of York +and his young brothers were in the Prince of Wales’s box, who was not +there, no more than the Princess, Princess Emily, nor the Duke. It was +an agreeable humanity in the Duke of York, who would not take his seat +in the House before the trial, that he might not vote on it. There are +so many young Peers, that the show was fine even in that respect. The +Duke of Richmond was the finest figure; the Duke of Marlborough, with +the best countenance in the world, looked clumsy in his robes; he had +new ones, having given away his father’s. There were others not at all +so indifferent about the antiquity of theirs. Lord Huntingdon’s, Lord +Abervagenny’s, and Lord Castlehaven’s, scarcely hung on their backs; +the two former, they pretend, were used at the trial of the Queen of +Scots.”</p> + +<p>Horace Walpole, in this note, refers to the mother of his nephew: she +was Margaret, Countess Dowager of Orford, who had married the uncle of +Lord Ferrers, the Hon. Sewallis Shirley, Comptroller of the Household +to Queen Charlotte, and M.P. for Brackley and Callington. The Lady +Coventry, to whose illness he refers, died on the 1st of October in +the same year. (See Mason’s elegy on this celebrated beauty in his +poems). She was the eldest daughter of John Gunning, Esq., and sister +to the Duchess of Argyle. Lady Coventry left two daughters, who were +both married, and, strange to say, both divorced on the ground of ill +conduct.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_206" href="#FNanchor_206" class="label">[206]</a> The Earl wanted much to see his mistress: my Lord +Cornwallis consulted Lady Huntingdon whether he should permit it. +“Oh! by no means (said the Countess); it would be letting him die in +adultery.” He resolved not to take leave of his children, four girls, +but on the scaffold, and then to read to them a very bitter paper he +had drawn up against the Meredith family, and on the House of Lords, +for their first interference in separating him from Lady Ferrers. This +Lady Huntingdon, with her usual good sense, persuaded him to drop, and +having brought his children to him, he took a cold farewell of them +the day before. He had written two letters during the week to Lord +Cornwallis on some of these requests: they were cool and rational, and +concluded with desiring him not to mind the requests of his family in +his behalf, which he considered extremely absurd.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_207" href="#FNanchor_207" class="label">[207]</a> First went a large body of constables for the county +of Middlesex, preceded by one of the high constables—a party of +horse grenadiers and a party of foot—then Mr. Sheriff Errington +in his chariot and six, the horses dressed with ribbons—next Lord +Ferrers, in his own landau and six, escorted by parties of horse and +foot—Mr. Sheriff Vaillant’s chariot, followed with the under-sheriff, +Mr. Nicols—a mourning coach and six, with some of his Lordship’s +friends—and a hearse and six, which was provided for the conveyance of +the corpse from the place of execution to Surgeons’ Hall.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_208" href="#FNanchor_208" class="label">[208]</a> “This extraordinary history of Lord Ferrers is closed +(says Horace Walpole to George Montague): he was executed yesterday. +Madness, that in other countries is disorder, is here a systematic +character: it does not hinder people from forming a plan of conduct, +and from even dying agreeably to it. You remember how the last +Ratcliffe died with the utmost propriety; so did this horrid lunatic, +coolly and sensibly. His own and his wife’s relations had asserted that +he would tremble at last. No such thing; he shamed heroes. With all +his madness, he was not mad enough to be struck with Lady Huntingdon’s +sermons. The Methodists have nothing to brag of his conversion, though +Whitefield prayed for him and preached about him. I have not heard that +Lady Fanny dabbled with his soul.”</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_209" href="#FNanchor_209" class="label">[209]</a> Widow of Henry Hastings, Esq., and mother of the Rev. +Theophilus Henry Hastings, <i>de jure</i> 11th Earl of Huntingdon, and +Colonel George Hastings, father of Hans Francis, the late Earl.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_210" href="#FNanchor_210" class="label">[210]</a> That is, that some should remain regular, others +irregular; some either of the two, and some again neither one nor the +other.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_211" href="#FNanchor_211" class="label">[211]</a> The remainder of this letter is like that addressed to +the Evangelical clergy before alluded to, and which is so well known +that we do not think it necessary to insert it at length.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_212" href="#FNanchor_212" class="label">[212]</a> Sir Walter Scott, then a youth, heard him; but he +remarks that Wesley was too colloquial for Sawney.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_213" href="#FNanchor_213" class="label">[213]</a> Samson Occum, whom Lady Huntingdon considered one of the +most interesting and extraordinary characters of her time, was born at +Mohegan, near Norwich, Connecticut, about the year 1723. His parents, +like other Indians, led a wandering life, depending chiefly upon +hunting and fishing for subsistence. Not one then cultivated the land, +and all dwelt in wigwams. None of them could read. During the religious +excitement in America, about the year 1740, Mr. Whitefield, Mr. Gilbert +Tennant, and several other ministers, visited these Mohegan Indians, +after which many of them used to repair to the neighbouring churches. +Occum, at this period, became the subject of religious impressions, +and was soon desirous of becoming the teacher of his tribe. In a year +or two he learned to read the Bible. At the age of nineteen he went to +the Indian school of Dr. Wheeloch, of Lebanon, and remained with him +four years. He afterwards kept a school amongst the Indians for ten or +eleven years; and was eventually ordained by the Suffolk Presbytery, +in 1759, after which he became very zealous in preaching amongst the +scattered remnants of the Mohegan Indians.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_214" href="#FNanchor_214" class="label">[214]</a> After his return to America he sometimes resided at +Mohegan, and was often employed in missionary labours amongst distant +Indians. In the latter years of his life he resided at New Stockbridge, +near Brotherton, where he had collected a numerous congregation of the +Mohegan root. He died in July, 1792. An excellent portrait of him was +given in one of the early volumes of the <i>Evangelical Magazine</i>. +He published a sermon preached at the execution of an Indian, in +1772. His sister, who was regarded as a pious woman, died at Mohegan, +in June, 1830, aged 97. Samson Occum and his sister were descended, +by their mother, from Uncas, chief of the Mohegans. The family have +declined in power with the decay of the tribe. Isaiah Uncas attended +Dr. Wheeloch’s school. About the year 1800, Noah and John Uncas were +living: but the name is now extinct at Mohegan. The royal burial +ground is not at Mohegan, but at Norwich city, a short distance from +the falls of the Yantic. A few months after the death of Occum’s +sister a <i>Sunday-school</i> was opened at her house, where three or +four generations of her descendants lived; and this commencement of +benevolent efforts for the remnant of a once powerful tribe has led to +the erection of a commodious place of worship, and the establishment of +a teacher among these Indians.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_215" href="#FNanchor_215" class="label">[215]</a> “There are less than a hundred Mohegans (says a late +American writer), including those of mixed blood, now remaining. The +French and revolutionary wars, and, above all, the use of spirituous +liquors, have nearly exterminated the tribe. However, there is now +reason to hope for amendment. They retain of their large territory +2,700 acres of good land, and have several houses, which they rent +to white men. They have now schools and a preacher. If they renounce +strong drink and cultivate their remaining land diligently, and +especially if the power of religion should ever be felt among them, +they will become a respectable and happy community.”</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_216" href="#FNanchor_216" class="label">[216]</a> We have already adverted to the expulsion of Dr. Haweis +from Oxford, and we ought now to state that it was through the absurd +authority of Hume, Bishop of that See, in whose eyes it was a crime to +attract a great auditory, and be blessed in the conversion of many. +His Grace of Canterbury (Seeker), of whom Dr. Haweis begged a fair +investigation of his case, offering for inspection three hundred of +his sermons, and courting enquiry into his life and actions, coldly +said—“Sir, whether <i>you gave</i> the offence, or <i>they took</i> +it, I shall not take it upon myself to determine.” In this way was Dr. +Haweis deprived of his curacy without redress; yet he had influence, +and was of a good family, long resident in Cornwall, and well known as +Haweis of St. Coose. His mother, Miss Bridgeman Willyams, was the only +daughter of John Willyams, Esq., of Carmanton, by the youngest daughter +and co-heir of Colonel Humphrey Noy, whose father was attorney-general +to Charles I. Her mother was a sister of the last Baron Sandys, of the +Vine, on whose death, without issue, the title fell into abeyance among +his sisters. Mr. Willyams (the father of Mrs. Haweis), of St. Coose, +was conspicuous for his active and zealous adherence to the Stuarts, +and suffered much persecution for his attachment to that unfortunate +house. He was deprived, during the reign of William and Mary, of his +commission of the peace, but was restored soon after the accession of +Anne. When the old mansion was taken down, some ninety years ago, a +fine picture of James II. was found curiously concealed in the roof. +This valuable Jacobite relic is now at Carmanton.</p> + +<p>Hester, the eldest sister of the Lord Sandys above referred to, was +granddaughter and heiress of Lady Sandys, daughter of Edmund Brydges, +second Lord Chandos. She was the great grandmother of Dr. Haweis, and +her direct descendant is Davies Giddy, Esq. (now Davies Gilbert, F. R. +S.), late M.P. for Bodmin, who is co-heir to the Barony of Sandys, of +the Vine, in Hampshire.</p> + +<p>John Oliver Willyams, a cousin of Dr. Haweis, married Charlotte, +daughter of Chauncey Townsend, Esq., M.P. for London, sister to Mrs. +Biddulph, whose son, Mr. Biddulph, is minister of St. James’s, Bristol. +Another of his cousins became the wife of Lord James O’Brien, brother +to the Marquis of Thomond. She died at Clifton, of consumption, leaving +no child.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_217" href="#FNanchor_217" class="label">[217]</a> However severe might be her Ladyship’s opinion of this +transaction at the moment, she had always entertained a high opinion +of the piety and moral worth of Dr. Haweis: he became one of her +preachers, then her chaplain, and he was appointed in her will one of +the chief managers of her chapels.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_218" href="#FNanchor_218" class="label">[218]</a> The publication of these narratives produced two +pamphlets from Mr. Brewer—the first entitled, “An Exact Copy of +an Epistolary Correspondence between the Rev. Mr. Madan and the +Rev. Samuel Brewer, concerning the living of Aldwincle; before the +publication of either Mr. Kimpton’s or Mr. Madan’s narratives; +with a design and desire of gratifying the public, answerable to +their repeated demands on that unpleasant subject.” The second was +published soon after, and entitled, “A Supplement; or the Second Part +of an Epistolary Correspondence relative to the living of Aldwincle; +containing several important letters, now forced to be made public to +vindicate injured character and to undeceive the friends of religion.” +From which publications it appears that Mr. Brewer thought with Mr. +Kimpton on the subject. Captain Alexander Clunie, a hearer of Mr. +Brewer’s, and his friend Mr. West, exerted themselves with great zeal +to prevent these contradictory publications, and to reconcile Mr. Madan +and Mr. Brewer without either appearing in print. “Mr. Madan (says +Captain Clunie) told me he did not mind 1,000<i>l.</i> if Kimpton had a +claim upon him; but to give one penny as hush-money was what he neither +could nor would consent to.” Mr. Mays, one of Mr. Kimpton’s friends, +published a pamphlet which Mr. Madan’s advisers thought libellous; and +Mr. Madan’s brother, William Hale, Esq., of Kingswald, the candidate +for Hertford, advised a prosecution.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_219" href="#FNanchor_219" class="label">[219]</a> This letter enclosed a copy of an advertisement, which +her Ladyship wished Messrs. Madan and Haweis to sign and insert in the +papers of the day. The following is a copy. It was drawn up by the +Countess herself:—“As the public have received much offence by our +mutual transactions in the affair of the living of Aldwincle, we take +this method of informing them that we are assured that Mr. Kimpton +is honourably satisfied by the purchase of the advowson, unknown to +us or our friends, and an end put to any further altercation on this +subject; so we are desirous of saying that anything which might appear +in our conduct contrary to the spirit of Christianity, through the +weakness and various temptations attending this severe attack upon +the honour and honesty belonging to Christian ministers, we think +ourselves bound, from the grief occasioned to the religious world +through our mistakes, or the willing prejudices of others against our +characters, as ministers of Christ, to give every future proof which +(notwithstanding so many unfortunate and various difficulties) shall in +the issue convince even our worst enemies we have no meaning but to be +found faithful messengers of peace, by the dispensation of that Gospel +which renders this submission the consistent as well as genuine fruits +of it.”</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_220" href="#FNanchor_220" class="label">[220]</a> Among his converts was an old innkeeper, who, having +been a good customer to his own barrel, had carbuncled his nose into +the sign of his calling. He was from nature and interest averse to +the Methodists, and could not see what all the world, in his part, +had to run after at Aldwincle church. Being fond of music, however, +and hearing that the singing was admirable, he contrived, at the next +feast-day, to go six miles, avoid a drinking party, and squeeze himself +into a pew somewhat too narrow for his portly person, where he listened +with delight to the hymns, but stopped his ears to the prayer. Heated +and fatigued, he closed his eyes too, till a fly stinging his nose, he +took his hands from the side of his head to punish the intruder; just +then the preacher, in a voice that sounded like thunder, gave out the +text—“He that hath ears to hear let him hear!” The impression was +irresistible; his hand no longer covered his organs of hearing; a new +sense was awakened within; it was the beginning of days to him. No more +swearing, no more drunkenness, but prayer and hearing occupied his +time, and he died after eighteen years walking with God, rejoicing in +hope, and blessing the instrument of his conversion.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_221" href="#FNanchor_221" class="label">[221]</a> Mr. Jones <i>was</i> originally a hair-dresser, and a +letter was produced among the evidence on this occasion, in which the +writer stated that Mr. Jones had made a very good periwig for him only +two years before. The fact was, however, that he had left the business +at seventeen years of age, four years before he went to College. He +had resided some time with Mr. Newton, then curate of Olney, and under +his instruction made considerable progress in acquiring a knowledge, +grammatical and critical, of the Greek and Hebrew Scriptures. His moral +character was unimpeached even by his accusers, and the charges against +him were chiefly that he had been brought up to a trade, and had +been guilty of praying, singing hymns, and expounding the Scriptures +in private houses. After his expulsion he was much noticed by Lady +Huntingdon, was ordained, became curate of Clifton, near Birmingham, +married the sister of Cowper’s friend, the Lady Austin, and died rather +suddenly several years ago.</p> + +<p>Mr. Kay was of respectable family, and an excellent scholar. He was +bible clerk at St. Edmund’s, and had an exhibition, paid by the +Ironmongers’ Company.</p> + +<p>Mr. Grove had been admitted in 1767, and was twenty-one years of age. +He was expelled for barn preaching, a new crime, of which, however, +there was no proof. In a petition to the Archbishop of Canterbury he +acknowledged that his zeal had led him into certain irregularities, +but he was not aware that they violated any statute. The Chancellor +consented to his re-admission, but the Vice-Chancellor and his +assessors refused, even after he had declared his willingness to make +submission for irregularity.</p> + +<p>Mr. Matthews was charged with having been instructed by Mr. Fletcher, +a declared Methodist, of associating with known Methodists, and of +attending illicit conventicles. He was afterwards received into Lady +Huntingdon’s College, at Trevecca.</p> + +<p>Mr. Middleton was accused of preaching at Cheveley, in Berkshire, +not being in orders. This occurred three years before he entered the +University, for which “daring impiety,” as Mr. Durrell called it, he +was expelled by those who looked over a charge of blasphemy against +Mr. Welling, on the ground that he was in drink when the blasphemy was +uttered. But Mr. Middleton was further charged with having refused +ordination from the Bishop of Hereford, and attaching himself to Mr. +Haweis, who had boasted that he could get him into orders. Erasmus +Middleton was, perhaps, the most distinguished of those persecuted +students. He was supported at Cambridge by Fuller, the banker, a +Dissenter, and ordained in Ireland by the Bishop of Down. In Scotland +he married a branch of the ducal family of Gordon. In London he was +curate to Romaine and Cadogan, and there he wrote his “Biographia +Evangelica.” In his old age he was presented, by the Fuller family, +with the living of Turvey, in Bedfordshire.</p> + +<p>The accusations Mr. Shipman had to sustain were similar, and equally +unfounded. He was, after his expulsion, admitted to the College of +Trevecca.</p> + +<p>The morality, then, of the students was not impugned. They were +arraigned and expelled because they met together at Mrs. Durbridge’s, +to read and expound the Scriptures, sing hymns, and pray extempore. +This was construed into “attending an illicit conventicle;” but surely +the words of the canon, of the University statute, and of the preamble +to the Act of Parliament, plainly define a conventicle to be a meeting +contrary to the doctrine and discipline of the Church of England, or +dangerous to the public peace; whereas the writing at Oxford were of +persons whose attachment to the doctrines of the Church, attendance +upon her worship, and subscription to all her Articles were manifest +and undeniable. Very similar were the charges of associating with +Stillingfleet, Fletcher, Haweis, Venn, Newton, and other excellent +persons. But the chief cause of the displeasure of their judges was the +doctrine of these pious men. At that time their tenets were considered +hostile to the Church to which they belonged; but time has done them +justice, and the Church of England is daily adding to the number of +her zealous and active ministers men who consider their doctrines +not at variance with her Liturgy and Articles, and who, without any +infringement of her rules, are preaching salvation through faith alone, +and whose works are an answer to those who insinuate that they lay no +stress upon them as evidences of their belief.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_222" href="#FNanchor_222" class="label">[222]</a> As early as the year 1757, her Ladyship engaged Mr. +Madan to itinerate through several parts of the kingdom, and preach, +whenever an opportunity offered, that Gospel which bringeth life +and immortality to light. Through Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, and +Buckinghamshire, he was accompanied by Mr. Romaine; and on their +arrival in Warwickshire they were joined by Mr. Talbot, then vicar +of Kineton, in that county, from whence they proceeded through +Worcestershire into Gloucestershire.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_223" href="#FNanchor_223" class="label">[223]</a> He had just been admitted into orders, and shortly +afterwards served us curate to Mr. Hervey, at Weston Favel.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_224" href="#FNanchor_224" class="label">[224]</a> Articles intended to be proposed, mentioned in the +foregoing letter:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p><i>The work of righteousness shall be peace, and the effect of +righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.</i> (Isaiah +xxxii. 17).</p> + +<p>Proposals of peace and union for the most universal spread of +the Gospel in the Connexion of the Rev. Mr. Rowlands, Mr. Hogg, +and Lady Huntingdon.</p> + +<p>I. The Gloucestershire Connexion to deliver up to the Welsh +Association all light, power, or influence in Haverfordwest, or +elsewhere in Wales, held by them: thus having no preference.</p> + +<p>II. That each Connexion take their own private cares and +expenses upon themselves; and that those ministers that have +been found most faithful to the Lord, and have been owned by +him in each Connexion, shall by the other Connexions ever be +accounted worthy of double honour, and be universally received +by the several Connexions, when applied to for their services.</p> + +<p>III. When any minister or ministers are wanted, a letter to +be wrote to the immediate Connexion to which they belong, +requesting their assistance, and for what time, that the most +general help to the whole may be considered, and thus best and +most universally served.</p> + +<p>IV. No minister or principal in any of the Connexions to +interfere in any other than their own, that no divisions may +arise, and that, if such are known, it ought to be mutually +agreed by all to discard such an one, and that all possible care +be taken to prevent perplexities to the people, and that mutual +love and unwearied diligence alike be expected, having this one +point only in view, viz., the enlargement of our precious Lord’s +kingdom, by the call of perishing souls all over England and +Wales.</p> + +<p>V. In order that this may be best effected, four general +meetings in the year will be needful. To each of these a +deputation, agreed upon, should be sent of six chosen out of +each Connexion, to represent the bodies to which they belong, +and to give in such particulars as they may want to communicate, +and what mutual help from any quarter they may be best assisted +by. These meetings to be at Mr. Rowlands’ Association, the +College anniversary, the Gloucestershire Association, and +another in London once a year, to have a full account of the +last year’s success, and to agree upon the future steps for each +Connexion unitedly to follow the ensuing year.</p> + +<p><i>Memorandum.</i>—These hints are given for the benefit of the +Gloucester Connexion, upon a supposition they act separately +from the Tabernacle and other Connexions; otherwise Lady +Huntingdon could not think of appearing to interfere with them, +or in the smallest degree to divide friends, having no other +meaning than those already mentioned, and to show by this her +readiness to serve and comply with the wishes of Mr. Hogg, Mr. +Vines, and Mr. Butler, as her own and Mr. Whitefield’s old +friends.</p> + +<p>If the first article respecting Haverfordwest is not complied +with, the whole will drop.</p> +</div> + + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_225" href="#FNanchor_225" class="label">[225]</a> In the year 1807, an appeal was made to the liberality +of the religious world in behalf of a chapel intended to be erected +at Cheltenham, wherein the Gospel should be plainly preached, and +the mode of worship should, as much as possible, meet the prejudices +of all Christians, without invading the rights of conscience. The +service was to be conducted on the plan of Lady Huntingdon’s chapels; +the Liturgy to be read, and the pulpit open to ministers of various +denominations who embraced orthodox principles, and whose characters +were unblemished, till the congregation that might be gathered should +fix upon a settled minister of sound piety and approved and suitable +talents.</p> + +<p>On the 5th of July, 1808, the foundation of this chapel was laid by +the Rev. Rowland Hill, who addressed a very numerous assembly of about +three thousand, in an energetic and appropriate speech; after which the +Rev. John Brown, then minister of Lady Huntingdon’s chapel at Ebley, +in Gloucestershire, concluded with prayer. On the 2nd of August, 1809, +the chapel, being entirely finished, was opened for public worship by +Mr. Hill, who preached in the morning, and Mr. Jay, of Bath, in the +evening, to very crowded congregations. A variety of ministers supplied +the chapel till the year 1813, when Mr. Brown, the present gifted and +respectable minister, commenced his pastoral charge.</p> + +<p>In 1816, Robert Capper, Esq., having taken up his residence at +Cheltenham, built, at his own expense, a very handsome and commodious +place of worship, called “Portland Chapel,” which, in the year 1819, +he vested in the present trustees of Lady Huntingdon’s Connexion. This +neat and convenient chapel was opened for public worship on Sunday, +June 27th, 1819, by the Rev. James Sherman, now minister of Surrey +Chapel, who preached both morning and evening. Portland Chapel was +supplied by various ministers in the Connexion till the Rev. Elias +Parry, who had his education at Cheshunt College, was appointed +minister. On his removal to London, as minister of Northampton +Tabernacle, the chapel was supplied by the Rev. J. L. Wake, who +continues to be the minister.</p> + +<p>Mr. Biddulph, when residing at Henwick Hill, within a mile of +Cheltenham, opened his house morning and evening for family prayer; the +faithful few who profited by this followed him to Tibberton church, and +when he went away from Worcester (1767), assembled in a garret of Mr. +Skinner’s warehouse. There Sir Richard Hill and his venerable brother, +the late Rev. Rowland Hill, often preached. A few years ago, the +latter, while passing with the present minister through the street in +which the old building stood, immediately recognized it, and said, in +a way peculiar to himself, “Why this is the place, is it not, where we +used to preach at Mr. Skinner’s? Yes, in Mr. Skinner’s <i>garret</i>!”</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_226" href="#FNanchor_226" class="label">[226]</a> As “a Methodist,” in the usual acceptation of the +word—that is, as applied, by the world indiscriminately to religious +persons.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_227" href="#FNanchor_227" class="label">[227]</a> See Nichols’s “Literary Anecdotes.”</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_228" href="#FNanchor_228" class="label">[228]</a> We have already noticed (see page 22) the intimacy of +Lady Huntingdon with Lord Bolingbroke; and from her frequent visits to +Twickenham, where her aunt, Lady Fanny Shirley, then resided <a id="FNanchor_229" href="#Footnote_229" class="fnanchor">[229]</a>, her +early acquaintance with Pope may be inferred.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_229" href="#FNanchor_229" class="label">[229]</a> Lady Fanny Shirley, the aunt of Selina, Countess of +Huntingdon, had a house at Twickenham, very near the residence of Pope. +Lady Fanny was a reigning beauty of the Court of George I. Pope’s +lines—</p> + + <div class="poetry-container1"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="ileft">“Yes I beheld th’ Athenian Queen</div> + <div>Descend, in all her sober charms,”</div> + </div> + </div> + </div> + +<p class="p-left">were addressed to her in return for “a standish and two pens.” Lord +Chesterfield’s verses, commencing</p> + + <div class="poetry-container1"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div>“So the first man from Paradise was driven,”</div> + </div> + </div> + </div> + +<p class="p-left">were also written in celebration of Lady Fanny Shirley. To her were +addressed Hervey’s “Theron and Aspasia,” and his observations on +Bolingbroke’s “Use and Study of History.” Here it was that Lady +Huntingdon became intimate with the celebrated men of the day. The +house, which was left by Lady Fanny to her brother, the Hon. G. +Shirley, of Eatington Park, Warwickshire, is now one of the residences +of the present representative of that branch of the Shirley family, +Evelyn John Shirley, Esq., M.P. for South Warwickshire.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_230" href="#FNanchor_230" class="label">[230]</a> When Mr. John Wesley was preaching at Bath, some +time before the coming of Charles, Beau Nash entered the room, and +approaching the preacher, demanded by what authority he was acting. +Mr. Wesley answered, “By that of Jesus Christ, conveyed to me by the +present Archbishop of Canterbury, when he laid his hands upon me and +said—‘<i>Take thou authority to preach the Gospel!</i>’” Nash then +affirmed that he was acting contrary to law. “Besides (said he), your +preaching frightens people out of their wits.” “Sir (replied Mr. +Wesley), did you ever hear me preach?” “No,” said the Master of the +Ceremonies. “How, then, can you judge of what you never heard?” “By +common report,” replied Nash. “Sir (said Mr. Wesley), is not your name +Nash? I dare not judge of you by common report.” Nash, finding himself +a very different person in the meeting-house from what he was in the +pump-room, thought it best to withdraw.</p> + +<p>Nash sometimes conversed with Lady Huntingdon on religious subjects, +and was once prevailed on to hear Mr. Whitefield at her house. Beau +Nash was congratulated on his conversion by his gay associates, who +failed not to rally him on his turning Methodist. Verses were written +on her Ladyship and Mr. Nash, which were fastened to the walls of the +pump-room and assembly-room; and printed notices were circulated in +every direction, one of which was shown to the writer, many years ago, +by Dr. Haweis, stating that “the Countess of Huntingdon, attended by +some saintly sister, purposed preaching at the pump-room the following +morning, and that Mr. Nash, henceforth to be known as the <i>Rev. +Richard Nash</i>,” was expected to preach in the evening at the +assembly-room. It was hoped that the audience would be numerous, as +a collection was intended for the late Master of the Ceremonies, who +was retiring from office. This profane raillery never discomposed the +Countess, but gave great offence to Mr. Nash; and no inducement could +ever after prevail upon him to go to Lady Huntingdon’s house.</p> + +<p>This man of pleasure died as he lived—a monument of irreligion, +folly, and vice, in the year 1761, aged 87! He dreaded the approach +of death more than the generality of mankind; and sought refuge in +some fancied devotion while it threatened him. Though a complete +libertine in practice, none trembled more than he did. To embitter his +hopes, he found himself at last abandoned by the great, whom he had +long endeavoured to flatter and to serve, and was obliged to fly for +protection to those of humbler station, whom he had once affected to +despise. The corporation of Bath allowed him a scanty pittance, which +saved this miserable trifler from starvation in his last days.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_231" href="#FNanchor_231" class="label">[231]</a> Mr. Larwood withdrew from Mr. Wesley’s Connexion about +the year 1753, at which time four others left the itinerant plan, +and established Independent congregations in different parts of the +kingdom. Mr. Larwood took an old Presbyterian chapel in the borough of +Southwark, called Zoar, where he continued to preach till God called +him hence, by a fever, in November, 1756.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_232" href="#FNanchor_232" class="label">[232]</a> Of this gentleman, so distinguished for his zeal and +imprudences during the early struggles of Methodism, an ample account +will be found in the history of the Tabernacle at Norwich.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_233" href="#FNanchor_233" class="label">[233]</a> Of this zealous itinerant, Mr. Wesley says, “He was an +old labourer, worn out in the service of his Master.” He finished his +course at Clones, in Ireland, in the year 1777.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_234" href="#FNanchor_234" class="label">[234]</a> Herbert Jenkins joined Mr. Wesley’s society in 1743, +and itinerated for some years in that Connexion, with great zeal +and success. He afterwards joined Mr. Whitefield, and laboured in +conjunction with Mr. Cennick, Mr. Adams, Mr. Godwin, &c., in the +Tabernacle Connexion. He preached frequently for Mr. Kinsman, at +Plymouth, by whom he was highly esteemed. He also laboured much in +Wales; but when or where he finished his course we have not been able +to learn.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_235" href="#FNanchor_235" class="label">[235]</a> Mr. Richards afterwards left Mr. Wesley’s society, and +obtained episcopal ordination through the interest of Lady Huntingdon. +Mr. Meyrick, who preached more frequently than the others at her +Ladyship’s residence, was a native of Cornwall, and brought up and +educated for the law. He was remarkably zealous in propagating divine +truth, and endured great persecutions in various parts of the kingdom. +Having obtained episcopal ordination, through the intervention of +Lady Huntingdon, he became curate of a small chapel in the parish +of Halifax, in Yorkshire. A short time before his death he was made +afternoon lecturer of the parish church of Halifax; and there he ended +his days about the year 1770. Mr. Moss resided for some time with her +Ladyship, who had a very sincere friendship for him, and showed him +many acts of kindness. He was afterwards ordained by the Bishop of +London, as a missionary for the Island of Providence, one of the Bahama +Islands, in the West Indies, where he preached the Gospel for several +years, in company with Mr. Tizzard, his fellow-labourer.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_236" href="#FNanchor_236" class="label">[236]</a> Letters to and from Dr. Doddridge, edited by the Rev. +Thomas Stedman, vicar of St. Chad’s, Shrewsbury.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_237" href="#FNanchor_237" class="label">[237]</a> Belsham’s “Life of Lindsay.”</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_238" href="#FNanchor_238" class="label">[238]</a> Afterwards the Rev. Sir James Stonhouse, Bart., rector +of Great and Little Cheveril, Wiltshire, the friend and correspondent +of Lady Huntingdon, Whitefield, &c.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_239" href="#FNanchor_239" class="label">[239]</a> Mrs. Scawen was the only daughter of Lord James +Russell, fifth son of William, first Duke of Bedford, and niece of the +celebrated Lady Rachel Russell, whose piety, virtue, and congenial +affection have immortalized her memory. Mrs. Scawen was introduced to +the notice of Lady Huntingdon by Dr. Doddridge, at a season of parental +bereavement, when, in almost hopeless anguish, she was lamenting the +loss of a child. The consolatory letters of Lady Huntingdon and of Dr. +Doddridge were of singular service in leading her to more correct views +of God, and the designs of Providence, in his afflicting dispensations.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_240" href="#FNanchor_240" class="label">[240]</a> This gentleman was the very particular friend of Lady +Huntingdon, Mr. Whitefield, and Mr. Hervey. He was nephew to the Rev. +Robert Bragge, minister of an Independent congregation in Lime-street, +London. He was educated for, and called to the ministry, and preached +frequently in his uncle’s pulpit. Finding, however, that his conscience +would not permit him to believe the truths which he from time to +time delivered from the pulpit, he had the honesty to desist from +preaching, and, in process of time, was chosen the Lord Mayor’s Common +Hunt, a place of considerable profit. He possessed a large fortune, +a considerable portion of which he lost in the South-Sea Bubble. In +the fifty-second year of his age the Lord was pleased to pluck him as +a firebrand out of the burning, under the powerful ministry of Mr. +Cennick; in what manner he himself informs us, in the narrative of his +experience, delivered before Mr. Richardson’s church, at the time of +his being admitted a member, June 4, 1743, and afterwards published, +with a recommendation by Mr. Whitefield. He survived his conversion +upwards of twenty years, and during that time bore a noble testimony to +the truth and power of religion. He died happily, June 23, 1763, aged +seventy-three. When writing to Mr. Keene, Mr. Whitefield speaks thus of +his death:—“Mr. Cruttenden, I find, is gone. God be praised that he +went off so comfortably! May our expiring hour be like his.”—<i>See +Whitefield’s Letters, Brown’s Life of Hervey, and Porter’s Sermon on +the Death of Mr. Cruttenden.</i></p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_241" href="#FNanchor_241" class="label">[241]</a> This gentleman was the son of the Rev. Dr. Neale, who, +as a historian, has obtained considerable celebrity. His son, Mr. +Nathaniel Neale, was an eminent attorney and secretary to the Million +Bank. His mother was a sister of the learned Dr. Nathaniel Lardner. +He was also secretary of Coward’s trustees, and wrote some insolent +letters to Dr. Doddridge, on account of his liberality towards the +Methodists.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_242" href="#FNanchor_242" class="label">[242]</a> Pope’s introducing Warburton to Mr. Allen led to his +marriage with Miss Gertrude Tucker. The splendid seat of Mr. Allen, +Prior Park, immediately became the residence, and afterwards the +property, of Warburton.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_243" href="#FNanchor_243" class="label">[243]</a> Dr. Hartley was a man of genius, and had a wide +acquaintance with books, and a mind active and adventurous, eager to +pursue knowledge, and attentive to retain it; always investigating, +always aspiring; and therefore not easily silenced by the violence and +arrogance of Warburton. He received his academical education at Jesus +College, Cambridge, where he took his degree of A.M., being intended +for the Church, but having some scruples about subscribing to the +Thirty-nine Articles, turned his attention to the study of physic. He +settled for some time in London, from whence he removed to Bath, where +he practised with great reputation till his death, August 28, 1757, +leaving two sons and a daughter.—<i>See Hartley’s Life, by his son, +who was M.P. for Hull, 1766.</i></p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_244" href="#FNanchor_244" class="label">[244]</a> This eminent physician, so celebrated in his day, had +long resided at Bath, where he had great practice, and acquired a large +fortune. Although he had long been intimate with Lady Huntingdon and +Dr. Stonehouse, after his conversion to Christianity, yet he remained a +most inveterate infidel till a short time before his death. In his last +illness the arrows of conviction stuck fast in him. Lady Huntingdon +said she never saw a person more thoroughly humbled, distressed, and +broken in heart. Visiting him a few days before he died, he lamented +not only his own past infidelity, but the zeal and success with which +he had endeavoured to infect the minds of others. “O that I could +undo the mischief I have done! I was more ardent (said he) to poison +people with the principles of irreligion and unbelief, than almost +any Christian can be to spread the doctrines of Christ!” “Cheer up! +(answered Lady Huntingdon). Jesus, the great sacrifice for sin, atoned +for the sins of the second table as well as for those of the first.” +“God (replied he) certainly can, but I fear he never will, pardon such +a wretch as I.” “You may fear it at present (rejoined her Ladyship), +but you and I shall most certainly meet each other in heaven.” The +Doctor then said, “O woman! great is thy faith! my faith cannot believe +that I shall ever be there.”</p> + +<p>Soon after, the Lord lifted up the light of his countenance upon Dr. +Oliver’s soul, and he lay the rest of his time triumphing and praising +God for the free grace he had bestowed upon him.</p> + +<p>Dr. Oliver’s second daughter, Charlotte, married Sir John Pringle, +Bart., a celebrated physician, philosopher, and president of the Royal +Society. He favoured the public with many useful works, some of which +are translated into several of the European languages. On the accession +of George III., Sir John Pringle was appointed physician to the Queen’s +household. For many years he constantly attended Lady Huntingdon, +and entertained a high veneration for her Ladyship. He died, greatly +beloved and respected, Jan. 18, 1782.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_245" href="#FNanchor_245" class="label">[245]</a> Aunt of the late General Grinfield and the Rev. Thomas +Grinfield, of Kensington, who espoused Anne, daughter of Joseph +Forster, Esq., youngest son of Colonel John Forster, of the island of +Jamaica, who afterwards assumed the surname of Barham.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_246" href="#FNanchor_246" class="label">[246]</a> But Mrs. Grinfield continued her intimacy with Lady +Huntingdon and her friendship for Mr. Whitefield, and when the +Tabernacle-house at Bristol was without a servant, she lent her +own, Mrs. Elizabeth King, for that purpose. This respectable woman +afterwards kept the Tabernacle-house in London, and found at last +shelter in the house of the Rev. Dr. Winter, enjoying a pension for her +services, and blessed with the means of grace as long as she could use +them.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_247" href="#FNanchor_247" class="label">[247]</a> Mrs. Bevan was a daughter and co-heiress of Mr. +Vaughan, of Derllysg, in the parish of Merthyr, Carmarthenshire, and +received her first serious impressions under the apostolic ministry +of Griffith Jones, rector of Llandowvor. She was very handsome, +sensible, and accomplished. Her husband, Arthur Bevan, Esq., of +Langharne, was rector of the county-borough of Carmarthen, and for +fourteen years its representative in Parliament; his public conduct +was at once dignified and endearing, and he died March 6, 1745, aged +56, beloved and lamented. To Mr. Jones, Mrs. Bevan was ever grateful +and affectionate, attended his ministry at Llandowvor and Llandilo, +powerfully assisted his efforts in establishing that blessing to the +poor of the principality, the Welsh Circulating Charity-schools; and +at last, in 1761, it was in her house at Langharne that he died, and +at her own expense she erected a monument to his memory in the parish +church he had so faithfully served. For twenty years after his death +she continued his schools, and in her will left 10,000<i>l.</i> to +perpetuate their good effects. The executrix, Lady Stepney, disputed +the legacy, and it was thrown into Chancery, whence, in 1808, it came, +increased to a vast sum, and was applied to the purposes willed by +the testatrix. At every visit of Mr. Whitefield to Bath he preached +in Mrs. Bevan’s house, and at the period of which we speak the +Earls of Chesterfield and Huntingdon, and Mrs. Stanhope, were among +the distinguished auditory. Mrs. Bevan’s elegant and accomplished +manners attracted Lord Chesterfield’s attention, and having studied +the Deistical writers of the age, she was enabled to give all her +eminent ability and clearness to the discussion of the topics he was +fond of introducing. She easily and solidly refuted his plausible +objections to revealed religion. “Lord Chesterfield’s inclination to +subvert Christianity (she writes to Lady Huntingdon) has involved +me in many inconsistencies. A greater proof of his prejudices and +his being reduced to the last distress in point of argument is his +general clamours and invectives against <i>all</i> historical evidence, +as absolutely uncertain; and it is not so much the corruptions +of Christianity that his Lordship finds fault with, as with the +Christian revelation itself, which he does not scruple to represent +as the product of enthusiasm or imposture. Yet, at other times, he +will agree with me, that never were there any facts that had clearer +and more convincing evidence attending them than the extraordinary +and miraculous facts whereby the divine original and authority of +the Christian revelation was attested and confirmed. This strange +fluctuation of opinion I can account for only on this ground—that the +incontrovertible and undeniable evidence of these facts has overcome +the notions and prejudices with which his mind has been so strongly +prepossessed; and it is this shaking of the Babel of unbelief that +fills me with hope that the Great Dispenser of spiritual benefits will, +of his free grace and mercy, reveal to his Lordship’s mind the grand +and harmonious system of revealed truth, the several parts of which are +like so many links of a beautiful chain, one part answering to another, +and all concurring to exhibit an admirable plan, in which the wisdom, +the grace and goodness, and the righteousness of God most eminently +shine forth. Your Ladyship’s great intimacy with and friendship for +Lord Chesterfield has induced me to be thus minute in what related to +him. Of Lord Huntingdon I have not had much opportunity of forming an +opinion; but I hear from good Lady Gertrude, that Sir Charles and his +Lordship are inseparable, and have long and animated discussions on the +most interesting topics. He has called frequently on Mrs. Grinfield, +with whom he seems much pleased. Your Ladyship is well assured she will +not lose a favourable opportunity of speaking a word in season.”</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_248" href="#FNanchor_248" class="label">[248]</a> At the moment of Miss Hotham’s triumphant departure, +Mr. Whitefield was at Portsmouth, and, as soon as he received the +intelligence, he wrote an affecting letter to Lady Gertrude. On +his return to town he preached a funeral sermon at the Tabernacle +on the death of Miss Hotham, to an overflowing and deeply-affected +congregation; and, having heard from Lady Huntingdon of the Christian +fortitude with which Lady Gertrude supported her deprivation, he wrote +a kind and consoling letter to the bereaved mother, who was greatly +comforted by religious resignation and the sympathies of tender +friends.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_249" href="#FNanchor_249" class="label">[249]</a> See, in the second volume of Mr. Whitefield’s Letters, +a narrative of his last interview with Miss Hotham, addressed to Lady +Elizabeth Hastings, afterwards Countess of Moira, the eldest daughter +of Selina, Countess of Huntingdon.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_250" href="#FNanchor_250" class="label">[250]</a> This interesting account of the death of the good and +pious Lady Gertrude Hotham the writer received from the lips of Lady +Maxwell, of Edinburgh, one well acquainted with the leading worthies +mentioned in these memoirs. The reader is referred to a letter from +Mr. Venn to Mrs. Ryland, Lady Huntingdon and Mr. Venn’s friend and +correspondent, wife of the Rev. John Ryland, formerly curate of +Huddersfield, and afterwards minister of St. Mary’s, Birmingham, and +rector of Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire, who died in 1822.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_251" href="#FNanchor_251" class="label">[251]</a> We have elsewhere adverted to Mr. Lindsay. His mother +had lived many years in the family of Frances, Countess-Dowager of +Huntingdon. The Earl was his godfather, and gave him the name of +Theophilus. By the kindness of Lady Betty and Lady Anne Hastings, he +was placed at the Free Grammar School at Leeds, under the Rev. Mr. +Barnard (the biographer of Lady Betty), and his vacations were spent +at the house of his noble patrons. With them, too, his mother and only +sister continued to find a shelter after the death of his father. The +mother died in 1747, and over her remains was erected a stone, on which +we read, that “while a child she had been the playfellow, and when a +widow the friend, of Lady Anne Hastings, who erected that monument +to her memory, and was a sincere and affectionate mourner for her +death.” The Rev. Theophilus Lindsay was appointed by Lord Huntingdon +to the living of Piddletown, in Dorsetshire, which he exchanged for +the vicarage of Catterick. Afterwards he seceded from the Established +Church, and the personal intercourse with his noble patron was +suspended. Yet in 1786, when he visited Trevecca, the Countess gave +orders that all attention should he shown him, and received himself +and wife “most graciously, as usual,” as he himself has recorded. +<i>Much and earnest conversation passed between the Lady Selina and Mr. +Lindsay on the subject of the Earl, her son.</i> Mr. Lindsay hinted, +that possibly the state of future punishment might be only a process +of severe discipline, and that the greatest sinners might ultimately +find mercy. These words sank deep into her heart. “Some good, I hope, +is done (says Mr. Lindsay), where much is intended by this praiseworthy +lady, who has <i>for full forty years</i> devoted her fortune, time, +and labour to promote what she believes to be the truth.”</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_252" href="#FNanchor_252" class="label">[252]</a> A Danish Count, brother to the ambassador, who was a +constant attendant on Mr. Whitefield’s preaching at Lady Huntingdon’s.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_253" href="#FNanchor_253" class="label">[253]</a> Her Ladyship sent for Mr. Rowland Hill, but Lord +Chesterfield refused to see him. After his Lordship’s death this +reverend gentleman became chaplain to Lady Chesterfield; and she, like +Lady Huntingdon, used to open her splendid mansion for the preaching of +the Gospel.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_254" href="#FNanchor_254" class="label">[254]</a> Lord Chesterfield’s character is too well known to +require much comment.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_255" href="#FNanchor_255" class="label">[255]</a> The Countess of Bath was one of the daughters and +co-heiresses of Colonel Gumley, so frequently mentioned in these +memoirs. Horace Walpole, writing to George Montague, says—“Gumley, +whom you know, has grown Methodist. His wit is at its wit’s end. +Whitefield preaches continually at Lady Huntingdon’s, at Chelsea. Lord +Chesterfield, Lord Bath, Lady Townsend, Lady Thanet, and others, have +been to hear him; nor shall I wonder if, next winter, he is run after +instead of Garrick!”</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_256" href="#FNanchor_256" class="label">[256]</a> The letters of Mr. Romaine to Mrs. Medhurst, of Kippax, +published by her brother-in-law, the Rev. Thomas Wills, refer to this +period and to his preaching at Derby, both at the great church and at +St. Werburgh’s. “Fifteen pulpits (he says) were open, and showers of +grace came down; but Mrs. Wordsworth was taken ill and obliged to go +to Bath, and this broke up the party.” The late Zachary Shrapnell (a +man of great piety, and the intimate friend of Lady Huntingdon) was +then at the Park. In his rambles he met with a poor cottager, whose +account of her own conversion, by Mr. Romaine, produced a very powerful +impression on his mind. “Some time ago (she said) there was a famous +man down in this country, called Mr. Romaine; he preached some miles +off, and many of the neighbours went to hear him, so I thought I would +go too. Accordingly away I trudged; and he had no sooner begun his +discourse, but it seemed all directed to me: he opened the depravity +of my heart and nature, convinced my conscience of the awful condition +in which I had been living, showed me the wages of sin which was due +to me, the truth of which I felt in my own soul. He then spoke of the +fulness and glory of Christ, described his sufferings and passion, and +the design of them, displayed the riches of his grace to the miserable +and the desperate, and invited them to embrace it and be blessed. Sir, +you cannot think the instantaneous and wonderful effect it had upon me. +I was convinced of sin, justified by faith, and came home rejoicing; +and from that day to this have never lost the sweet savour of the +truths I then embraced. How I should long to hear the gentleman! Do +you know him? I think they said he came from London.” Mr. Shrapnell, +who was himself a convert of Romaine, was proportionately affected by +this singular proof of God’s grace to him and Lady Huntingdon, and +of his blessing on their endeavours. Mr. Shrapnell was the father of +Major-General Henry Shrapnell, and Miss Rachael Shrapnell, who married +the Rev. Thomas Tregenna Biddulph, minister of St. James’s, Bristol. +The Rev. Thomas Shrapnell Biddulph, eldest son of the last-named, is a +prebendary of Brecon, and a magistrate of the counties of Carmarthen +and Pembroke. He married a daughter of the Rev. James Stillingfleet, +prebendary of Worcester, the intimate friend of Lady Huntingdon.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_257" href="#FNanchor_257" class="label">[257]</a> Relict of John Wordsworth, Esq., of the Isle of Thanet, +to whom she was united in 1758. She was sister to Mr. Townsend, rector +of Pewsey, in Wiltshire, was a woman of talent, and for many years the +intimate friend and correspondent of Mr. Romaine. In January, 1771, +she became the wife of Dr. Haweis, rector of Aldwincle. She was a +good Hebraist, and the <i>Clavis Hebraica</i> of Julius Bates was Mr. +Romaine’s present to her at her wedding.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_258" href="#FNanchor_258" class="label">[258]</a> The Duchess-Countess of Sutherland died in London, +in February, 1839. Her remains were conveyed (in a steam-boat) to +Aberdeen, to be deposited in the vault of her ancestors.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_259" href="#FNanchor_259" class="label">[259]</a> Margaret Rolle, a great Devonshire heiress, the wife +of Robert Lord Walpole, afterwards Earl of Orford, separated from +her husband and quarrelled violently with his whole family. On the +death of Lord Orford she married the Hon. Sewallis Shirley, uncle to +Lady Huntingdon, from whom she also separated in 1754. She affected, +at times, great friendship for Lady Huntingdon, and often attended +her chapels and the preaching at her house. She was a woman of very +singular character, and considered half mad; this last quality she +communicated to her unfortunate son, George, third Earl of Orford, the +nephew of Horace Walpole. In 1751 she succeeded, in her own right, to +the baronies of Clinton and Say, on the death of Hugh, Earl Clinton. +She died at Pisa, in Italy, in 1781, and was buried at Leghorn.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_260" href="#FNanchor_260" class="label">[260]</a> There was something else which Walpole did not know +of—a seat for Bishops. It was often occupied too! The witty and +eccentric Lady Betty Cobbe, daughter-in-law of Dr. Charles Cobbe, +Archbishop of Dublin, was cousin-german to Lady Huntingdon. Her +influence was extensive, and frequently exerted in bringing Bishops +to the chapel, whom she always contrived to <i>smuggle</i> into the +<i>curtained seats</i> immediataly inside the door, where they heard +without undergoing the dreadful disgrace of being seen in such a place. +This seat Lady Betty facetiously termed “<i>Nicodemus’s corner!</i>”</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_261" href="#FNanchor_261" class="label">[261]</a> Amongst the number of the great and honourable who +at that period frequented her Ladyship’s chapel was to be found Dr. +William Barnard, formerly Dean of Rochester, but at that time Bishop of +Derry, a man advanced in years, and one who professed a friendship for +those who were stigmatized with the name of Methodist. It was at the +recommendation of Mr. Wesley that his Lordship ordained Mr. Maxwell, +the <i>first</i> Methodist lay-preacher. Increasing infirmities obliged +his Lordship to reside at Bath, where he had frequent opportunities +of enjoying the society of Lady Huntingdon, to whom he was introduced +by Lady Betty Cobbe. The Bishop frequently accompanied Lady Betty +to hear the Methodists unseen, and was always very friendly towards +the ministers who supplied the chapel. On one occasion Mr. Wesley +says—“In the evening I left London, and reached Bath on Tuesday, in +the afternoon, time enough to wait on that memorable man, the Bishop of +Londonderry. After spending an agreeable and profitable hour with him, +my brother read prayers, and I preached in Lady Huntingdon’s chapel. +I know not when I have seen a more serious, a more deeply attentive +congregation. Is it possible? Can the Gospel have place where Satan’s +throne is?”</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_262" href="#FNanchor_262" class="label">[262]</a> One proof of his cheerfulness may take the form of +an anecdote:—Passing through Towcester, in one of his preaching +excursions for Lady Huntingdon, he asked the innkeeper where he put +up, it being Saturday morning, who was the vicar, and, as he should +stay the next day, whether he would be glad of assistance? “Oh! yes +(said the landlord), I dare say, Sir, he will be glad to have his duty +done.” “Then carry my compliments, and say a clergyman out of Yorkshire +is passing, and will stay to-morrow at the inn, and is ready to read +or preach for him, if he needs assistance.” Away went the innkeeper, +with what he thought welcome intelligence, to the parson. “Gladly (said +the vicar); but what sort of a man is the Yorkshire clergyman? There +are Methodist vagrants you know—eh!” The innkeeper laughed, shook his +head, and replied, “Ah! Sir, only look at his face and nose, and you +will see he is not one of that sort.” In truth, a rubicundity of face +and rotundity of form gave Mr. Venn no very Methodistical appearance. +“Well (said the vicar), let him come to me in the morning, and then I +will see whether I like him to preach or pray.” The landlord returned +with the message, and the next morning Mr. Venn waited on his reverend +brother. “Sir (says he, after the first bows), you are from Yorkshire?” +“I am.” “Will you drink a dram this morning?” “I have no objection.” +The bottle came from the closet, and Mr. Venn took a sip. His character +was now decided. “Sir, you will preach for me this morning?” “With +pleasure.” Robed and ready, they parted to the church, and Mr. Venn to +the pulpit. There, his Bible no sooner opened, than the congregation +stared, and the vicar hid his face in the surplice. The energetic truth +awakened up an attention to which that congregation had been little +accustomed. The vicar was done, and left Mr. Venn to retire to his inn +alone. A very similar incident occurred during this visit to Bath, and +is given in Mr. Venn’s Life, by his grandson. The anecdote we have just +related is given verbatim from the mouth of Dr. Haweis.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_263" href="#FNanchor_263" class="label">[263]</a> The Rev. John Andrews was originally of St. Mary’s Hall, +Oxford, where he took the degree of LL.B. He resided in America for +some years, but was obliged to return to England on account of the bad +state of his health. The Archbishop of Canterbury offered him, on his +coming over, a living of eighty pounds a year; but, alarmed at the +laborious duties of the parish, he requested the Archbishop to give him +the living of Stinchcombe, of thirty-six pounds a year, in the diocese +of Gloucester, and in the Bishop’s patronage. The see of Gloucester +was at that time vacant, and his Grace asked the living of the Lord +Chancellor, who presented it to Mr. Andrews. In the parish of Mr. +Andrews lived a Mrs. Brown, who used to exhort the people every Sunday +evening in the parsonage-house, and, according to high authority, with +very great power.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_264" href="#FNanchor_264" class="label">[264]</a> Although the living was given to Mr. Andrews by the Lord +Chancellor before Warburton was appointed to the see of Gloucester, yet +he calls himself his <i>patron</i>!</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_265" href="#FNanchor_265" class="label">[265]</a> As he was walking early on a Lord’s-day to preach, he +was accosted on the road by a clergyman on horseback, who was on the +same errand, but from a different motive. The latter gentleman was +complaining that the drudgery of his profession was unprofitable, +for he never could get above half-a-guinea for preaching. The honest +Welshman replied, that he preached for a crown. The hireling retorted +and said, “You are a disgrace to the cloth.” “Perhaps (said Mr. Davies) +I shall be held in greater disgrace, in your estimation, when I inform +you that I am now going nine miles to preach, and have but sevenpence +in my pocket to bear my expenses out and in, and do not expect the +poor pittance remitted that I am now in possession of. But I look +forward for that <i>crown of glory</i> which my Lord and Saviour will +freely bestow upon me, when he makes his appearance before an assembled +world.” In the same way Mr. Venn, in one of his excursions to preach +for the Countess of Huntingdon, while riding on the road, fell in +company with a person who had the appearance of a clergyman. After +riding together for some time, conversing on different subjects, the +stranger, looking in his face, said, “Sir, I think you are on the wrong +side of fifty?” “On the wrong side of fifty! (answered Mr. Venn)—no, +Sir, I am on the right side of fifty.” “Surely (the clergyman replied) +you must be turned of fifty?” “Yes, Sir (added Mr. Venn), but I am +on the right side of fifty, for I am nearer my crown of glory!” This +unexpected explanation damped the conversation on the part of the +stranger, whilst it strikingly evinced the happy state of Mr. Venn’s +mind.</p> + +</div> +</div> + + +<p class="transnote">Transcriber’s Notes:<br> +<br> +1. Obvious printers’, punctuation and spelling errors have been +corrected silently.<br> +<br> +2. Some hyphenated and non-hyphenated versions of the same words have +been retained as in the original.</p> + + + +<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77517 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/77517-h/images/b314.jpg b/77517-h/images/b314.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1e97b62 --- /dev/null +++ b/77517-h/images/b314.jpg diff --git a/77517-h/images/cover.jpg b/77517-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4e2e1ba --- /dev/null +++ b/77517-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/77517-h/images/frontispiece.jpg b/77517-h/images/frontispiece.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ba30879 --- /dev/null +++ b/77517-h/images/frontispiece.jpg diff --git a/77517-h/images/i_b000.jpg b/77517-h/images/i_b000.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ea23427 --- /dev/null +++ b/77517-h/images/i_b000.jpg |
